JESUS COMFORTS HIS DISCIPLES

PART 3

JOHN 14:18-26

I. JESUS DID NOT LEAVE HIS DISCIPLES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES 14:18-20

Like a dying father concerned about his children, Jesus promised the disciples that He would not leave them as orphans, comfortless and fatherless.

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ will come to indwell all those that the Father has given Him.

Christ “indwelling the believer” is the mystery Paul spoke of that was hidden for ages, but was now disclosed to the church; namely, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

The unbelieving world would not see Jesus physically after His resurrection (since he appeared only to His disciples) nor would they have any capacity to know Christ’s presence spiritually (since they were spiritually dead) and devoid of the Spirit.

As witnesses to the resurrected Savior, the disciples were given the hope of eternal life and the visible proof that they too would one day be raised at Christ’s return for His church.

Jesus made a profound promise. Not only would the disciples know that He is in the Father; but also, as He went on to tell them, “you will understand that you are in Me, and I in you.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

Jesus was reassuring His disciples that His death would not end their relationship with Him. He would continue to live with them and in them by the power of the Holy Spirit to do and to will according to His good pleasure.

II. JESUS AND HIS FATHER WILL LOVE AND HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH THOSE WHO KEEP THE LORD’S COMMANDMENTS 14:21-24

Only those who by the power of the Holy Spirit obey Christ’s commands will enter into a love relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

It is Christ’s obedience and righteousness alone that is the ground and cause of our salvation.

It is obedience flowing from a heart transformed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit that marks the one who truly loves Jesus Christ.

It is wrong to arbitrarily say to someone you are talking to about Christ and the gospel that “God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life.” He loves those who love His Son and keep His commands!

You cannot say that you love God or claim that God loves you if you do not love Jesus and prove it by doing what He says.

Jesus was not telling His disciples not to take the gospel into all the world. He was merely saying that He was not going to reveal Himself to everyone who hears the gospel. Jesus was saying to Judas that He will not reveal Himself to those who refuse to love and obey Him.

III. JESUS WILL SEND THE HELPER (THE HOLY SPIRIT) TO TEACH HIS DISCIPLES 14:25-26

Jesus seeks to comfort His disciples by explaining to them that just as He would not leave them without a source of comfort, so also, He would not leave them without a source of truth.

If you are a believer, whatever you correctly understand about God’s word, the Spirit taught you (revealed it to you).

The Bible says that the world through its wisdom cannot come to know God and that fallen man is always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Corinthians 1:21 & 1 Timothy 2:4

As another comforter and teacher like Jesus, the Spirit will always act in perfect harmony with Christ’s desires, purposes and will. Jesus said of the Spirit in John 16:14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Someone who was truly “Spirit Filled” would be exalting Christ, not the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s supernatural guidance granted the New Testament writers an inerrant understanding of Jesus Christ’s person, work, and teaching. 2 Peter 1:20-21

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:13 that the Holy Spirit inspired the very words of Scripture, not merely the thoughts of the writers: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

The Bible is therefore inerrant and authoritative, and thus the only infallible standard for faith and practice. 2 Timothy 3:15-17.

The more we read God’s Word in dependence on the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the more it will be opened up to us and the greater our growth in Christ will be.