"The King Who Reigns and Gives us Rest"

Bible Passage: John 14:21-31

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

In this passage, Jesus reassures His disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit as their helper who will teach them all things and remind them of all that Jesus has said, emphasizing the importance of His presence and supernatural peace in their lives amidst uncertainty and fear.

This is how the whole Chapter has begun. John 14:1–2 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

Big Idea: True supernatural peace comes from the abiding presence of Christ in our lives through the Holy Spirit, settling our unsettled hearts us as we face challenges without fear and with confidence.

INTRODUCTION:

He promises the disciples “another” paraclete will come. Another means they currently have a paraclete. The Holy Spirit will come and fill the role Jesus has been fulfilling with the disciples. He will comfort, strengthen, and teach them, just as Jesus has been doing.

Have you ever wished Jesus was sitting next to you and you could have a face-to-face conversation with him?

Have you ever found yourself longing to tell him all about your day and ask him to help you make sense of it all?

We have that ability and opportunity because of the Spirit. Just as Jesus could comfort and strengthen his disciples, we can be comforted and strengthened through his Spirit who dwells within us.

Have you really embraced this promise?

You may be able to theologically discuss why the coming of the Holy Spirit is a good thing, but can you honestly say his role in your life is similar to the presence of Jesus in the lives of the disciples?

We have downplayed this promise from Jesus in our lives and churches. Because of our zeal to defend the sufficiency of Scripture, we have forgotten the significant role the Holy Spirit is to play in the life of every disciple of Jesus Christ. This promise is not given so the disciples can get the answer correct on a theology midterm. Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit so they will know that his love for them will never falter or die but will grow and flourish, even though he’s returning to the Father. This promise of the Holy Spirit is their lifeline when the seas get rough over the following days. We can easily take the blessing of the Holy Spirit for granted.

Jesus has, as we have seen earlier in John, promised he is going to prepare a home for them in heaven, and now he says he’s also preparing a home for himself in them (v. 17) (2X!)

When the Spirit makes his home in the disciples, he begins his ministry of pointing them to Jesus. Throughout the New Testament we find the Holy Spirit doesn’t take the spotlight and shine it on himself; rather, he is the spotlight operator and always focuses the light on Jesus. Even here Jesus promises the disciples the Holy Spirit will come in his name and remind them of his teaching (v. 26).

He manifests Himself when our love for Him compels us to obey Him. John 14:22-24

How do we experience His promise in our lives?

What is it that opens the way into Jesus’ promise?

1. Obedience Opens the Way

John 14:21–24 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

Judas’ question is interesting. He asks how Jesus will manifest Himself to them but also adds “and not to the world”.

Jesus has already said in John 14:19 that the world won’t see Jesus but His disciple’s will! And again in our passage in verse 21 Jesus says he will manifest Himself to His disciples. His manifest presence is experienced by disciples who have His commandments and keep them which is proof of a love we have for Jesus. He it is who loves me by being a disciple who has my words/commandments and keeps them.

What will determine your obedience to His commands is your love of Christ! (2X).

It is the disciple, the disciple who has a deep love for Jesus, is given the peace Jesus offers which settles our trouble souls!

Love expressed through our acts of obedience that is compelled by our being loved by God opens the door to His presence and peace and settles our hearts when they are stirred (see John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

TRANSITION:

This sets the stage for understanding that true peace comes through a relationship with Christ, where love and obedience intersect,

Jesus gives what he offers in verse 27 in the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence dwelling within us.

How does it all work? Experience of His love, compulsion to obey the commandments He has given us?

2. Spirit as Our Guide

John 14:25–26 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

The role of the Holy Spirit as the ongoing presence of Jesus in our lives finds expression in our lives as the Spirit reminds and teaches us of Christ's words and teaching, enabling us to experience His peace amid life's chaos. He is the one who gives us what we wish for! Remember what I asked just a few minutes ago.

Have you ever wished Jesus was sitting next to you and you could have a face-to-face conversation with him?

Have you ever found yourself longing to tell him all about your day and ask him to help you make sense of it all?

The world cannot see or experience God’s manifest presence because they have no love for Jesus! They cannot see His sovereign actions, His perfect truth, because His Spirit is not in them!

The world cannot see or know God manifesting Himself in His sovereign actions, His Perfect Truth, taught to us by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Let me build this out a bit here.

Who do we go to to make sense of our lives? Is it Jesus teaching? The Spirit will remind us of Jesus words and give us understanding of all things related to life direction, struggles, pains, hurts, everything!

What Jesus offers we receive through the guiding and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

The worlds offer of peace is by circumstances being ideal or close to it. It cannot give peace and looking for it as the world can only offer it is why most people are are not settled and at peace in life.

Their hearts were troubled and Jesus’ offer of Peace comes when His abiding presence in the person of the Holy Spirit teaches us, brings us into fuller understanding of all things and reminds them of all Jesus has taught.

He reminds of us Jesus teaching and teaches us to understand all things in light of that teaching! (3X)

Transition:

True peace is not circumstantial but comes through the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit and His leading us in understanding all things as He reminds of Jesus' teachings.

3. Peace Unlike the World

John 14:27

Jesus is unlike any other prophet! Jeremiah 6:13–14 “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”

Jesus gives full healing and help to hearts deeply troubled! He does not heal the deeply troubled hearts of His people lightly with platitudes or seven step plans to the best life now!

Jesus’ offer of peace is a distinctive peace. This supernatural peace, grounded in His presence and promises, enabling believers to face fears and uncertainties. The fleeting peace offered by the world is that and that alone. Christ's peace remains steady through trials, providing a profound sense of things settled inside our souls because His promise of peace is Himself in the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit. Knowing Jesus' presence is always with us guiding and directing us to understand all things and remind us of His teaching.

During World War II, a soldier was found scribbling the phrase 'peace in the storm' on the back of an old photograph. Despite being surrounded by chaos, he clung to the promise of Christ's abiding presence. This soldier understood that while the world raged around him, he could experience tranquility through obedience to God. His spirit was unshakeable because he had set his heart on something greater than his circumstances.

4. Preparation and Promise

John 14:28-31

Jesus’ preparing of His disciples for His departure is Him offering reassurance and challenging them to rejoice in His return to the Father. These verses show us how understanding and accepting Jesus’ mission provides deeper peace and joy, even during His apparent absence.

How?

He is now our advocate in Heaven!

The Spirit led the apostles in understanding all things and Jesus’ teaching and gave it to us through them in what they wrote in our New Testament. John in 1 John 2:1–2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

He is our eternal intercessor.

Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Jesus’ mission in going to the Father included not only those actions in Heaven but a continuation of His work on earth in the sending of His Holy Spirit to dwell in us!

Recall Jesus words of promise in John 7:37–39 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

CONCLUSION:

Rapping up John 14 we can see now the offer of peace to unsettled hearts is a supernatural one that only comes to those who see what Jesus reveals.

How?

Our farewell discourse of Jesus in Chapter 14 began with the words John 14:1–2 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

We believe in God and Jesus by accepting their divine purposes ,over our limited emotionally laden sinful at times understanding, which fosters unfaltering supernatural peace and unwavering trust amidst life's transitions, troubles, and tumults.

What Jesus was doing for the disciples themselves, preparing them to accomplish His mission upon His return to the Father is our preparation as well.

Jesus truly has prepared us for the good works prepared for us to walk in as a church.

May we receive what He offers and with it comes His supernatural unfaltering peace and joyful unwavering trust in all He has commanded us amidst a world that knows no such peace and has no one nothing in which to trust.

It is then they will know we are Christians by our love. A love for Christ that compels us to obey all He has commanded us! You get the point here, I hope! The love they see is a church whose joyful obedience to all He has commanded us is a love which can only come from a love for Christ. The love that compels us is what proves we are Christians. It is this love they must see and no other “kind” of love. Not a love that accepts everyone and does not call them to repentance for sin. Not a love that is love, whatever that might be!

Let us pray!

Imagine a tightrope walker high above the ground. The crowd watches with bated breath, but the walker moves slowly, confidently, because he has practiced and prepared well. Just like that walker, when we abide in Christ, our obedience gives us balance amid life's challenges. Instead of stumbling, we can walk the line of life with peace, knowing He is our safety net—even in uncertain situations, we can move forward calmly without fear.

In the book of Psalms, David describes his heart as being like a sheep by still waters. When we love Christ and obey His commands, we find ourselves drawn to those still waters too. Just like David, we must learn to trust in the Good Shepherd, who leads us through life's valleys with His peace, and we can rest easy knowing our hearts are safe in His care, amidst the chaos.

A well-loved story tells of a lighthouse keeper who lived alone for years. Despite the storms and waves crashing against the shore, he never feared because he knew his lighthouse stood strong, guiding ships safely home. Similarly, when we cultivate our relationship with Christ and demonstrate our love through obedience, we become like that lighthouse—shining with the light of His peace, offering hope and direction to others lost in life's tempests.

Think of a garden thriving under the care of a diligent gardener. Each plant is nurtured through watering, pruning, and attention. Our hearts are similar; when we love Jesus and obey His teachings, we create an environment for peace to flourish. No matter the storms of life, our hearts can bloom beautifully, reflecting the care of the Gardener who holds our lives in His hands.

Application: This sermon can help you recognize the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in your daily lives, encouraging you to seek comfort and peace in times our hearts are unsettled. It reminds us that God’s abiding presence settles our unsettled hearts when we experience His love and are then compelled to obey His every command!

I hope this assurance that Jesus provides through the Holy Spirit, encourages you to cultivate a relationship with Him that depends on Him to define what is true and not our unsettled hearts!

QUESTIONS:

What is the primary assurance that Jesus provides to His disciples in John 14:22-31?

Answer: I will be present with you and manifest myself to you in and through the guiding teaching work of my Holy Spirit.

How does the Holy Spirit serve as a teacher and one who reminds us according to this sermon?

Answer: He teaches us all things. I take that to mean He shows us His sovereign purposes in things. He helps us understand life in all its complexities. He reminds of Jesus words and teaching.

What role does obedience play in the relationship between believers and the Holy Spirit as discussed in the sermon?

Answer: He reminds of us Jesus teaching and teaches us to understand all things in light of that teaching! As we see what He reveals through His manifest presence we rest peacefully even when the world is on fire!

How is the peace that Jesus offers described as different from worldly peace?

Answer: His is supernatural and the world’s is circumstantial.

How can we apply the message of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives?

Answer: Listen and trust and joyfully obey!

How might understanding the Holy Spirit as a guide who teaches and reminds us of Jesus commands change the way you approach challenges in life?

Answer: I see more fully God’s purposes beyond even the immediate purpose for my own life!

What practical ways can believers stay aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence in their lives?

Answer:

What does Jesus mean by saying 'peace I leave with you; my peace I give you' in John 14:27?

Answer: