Truths to Build Your Life Upon - John 14:18-26

©Copyright July 25, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Many people have sayings or little bits of wisdom that guide their lives. For some it may be song lyrics, a poster, a particular verse in the Bible. I’ve got a few of those reminders around the house and in my office. Down where I exercise is a sign that says, “It doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger.” There is another quote I have up that says, “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” It’s a quote from Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

If you have been here for awhile you have likely heard a theological construct I adopted or created 20+ years ago: God is in Control, He Loves Me, and He never ever makes a mistake. These truths help keep me focused.

Such nuggets can be very helpful in life. This morning as we continue our study of John 14:18-26 we will see four of these bits of truth that could serve as guide lights (or landing lights) for our lives. Each one can stand alone, but together, they carry a great deal of power. Let’s dig in.

He Will Not Abandon You

No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.

Jesus is talking to the disciples here. They are concerned that if Jesus goes away, they will never see Him again and they will be cast adrift. Jesus said that was not going to be the case.

I remember vividly how I felt when my parents died. When my dad died, I felt like a flag that had been partially unhooked and flailing in the wind. When my mom died, I felt like an orphan. I had no parent to talk to, no parent to run to when life was hard. Jesus says he will not leave the disciples that way.

Before Jesus left the earth He said to the disciples and to us. “I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.” This is a promise we can claim.

We have all had friends or family members who have told us they would “always be there” or said, “Till death do us part” or even, “I’ll never forget what you have done for me.” And then, they wander away. They don’t like something, don’t feel you gave them enough attention or, they found someone else “more satisfying.” So our guard is up! We tend to distrust anyone who says, “I will never leave you.”

But this is the Lord making the promise! Practically, it means,

· When life is hard, He will give you strength.

· When you swell with joy, He will celebrate with you.

· When your business is failing, He is with you propping you up.

· When you have suffered loss, He is there to catch your tears and help you get back up.

· When you are facing physical challenges of any kind, He is the One who heals you.

· When you feel you don’t measure up, He reminds you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

He will not abandon us, because He loves us. He proved that love by giving His life for our sin, facing the wrath reserved for us so we could be forgiven. One who has given so much to save us, is not going to walk away from us because life gets hard.

The Resurrection of Jesus is Where Our Hope is Anchored

19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

I suspect what Jesus says here was not fully understood by the disciples until later because it is somewhat of a cryptic statement. We can see that Jesus is saying the resurrection is where our hope and confidence is anchored.

Jesus knew he was going to die and be buried within the next 24 hours but Jesus knew He would be raised. This would be the proof that He was who He said He was. And, because we are “in Christ” the resurrection is the declaration that we will live even though we die! This is why the apostle Paul referred to the resurrection as the pivotal truth of the Christian faith in 1 Corinthians 15,

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. (1 Corinthians 15:13-19)

The resurrection is the doctrine on which the Christian faith stands or falls. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we are pinning all our hopes on a dead man we believe spoke truth . . . which makes us no different than any other religion in the world! However, if Jesus did rise from the dead, then He stands above all other founders of religions as the one true Savior.

This is why it is important that you examine the resurrection for yourself. Look at the evidence. It is a study that will strengthen your faith and your joy in living. It is important to ask,

· Why would these witnesses testify to something that didn’t happen?

· Why would they give their lives for a lie?

· What else could explain the radical change in the disciples?

· Where is the body of Jesus that was under guard by the authorities?

· Why did the Apostle Paul suddenly change direction in His life?

· Why are people around the world today having vivid dreams about Jesus?

Anyone, of course can sayanything. Jesus can say He is the way, the truth, and the life, but how do we know it is true? The resurrection is the stamp of authenticity on everything Jesus said. It proves He was who He said He was, and He can do for us what He promises to do. When we become convinced of the resurrection, we have assurance, we have an anchor for hard times, we have a new view of death when we stand at a cemetery, and we have a new urgency for the preaching of the gospel.

Let’s keep moving through the text.

Obedience is the Door to Relationship

21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

We have repeatedly heard Jesus talk about obedience in this final discourse before His death. Jesus here promises that as we respond in obedience, he will make himself increasingly real to us.

Throughout the Bible God asked people to take a step of faith before He revealed Himself. Moses had to first go to Pharoah before the plagues took place. The Levites carrying the Ark of God had to step into the Red Sea and the Jordan River before they saw the water part. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to take a stand AND be thrown into the fire BEFORE their supernatural rescue. Daniel had to refuse to stop praying before he experienced God’s miraculous deliverance in the Lion’s Den. Elijah had to douse his sacrifice with water many times before he saw God consume it in answer to his prayer.

This is generally the course we must take. We will only go as far in our relationship with God as we are willing to follow Him. The more we do what He says, the more faithful we see He is. We show our faith by doing what He has told us to do.

One author wrote,

If we find that our relationship with Christ has dulled, it is probably because we have turned our passions back to the world, ceased our hunger for biblical truth, and settled for the initial spiritual gains of our first days as a Christian. Dry-souled and barren-hearted Christians should be motivated to renew their passion for Christ by his promise to respond with a greater knowledge of him and display of his glory.[1]

Obedience to the Lord is a wise thing to do because God knows the best way to do things. It is also a doorway to a richer relationship with God. In other words, it will keep you out of trouble and introduce you to new level of intimacy with God.

The Word of God Has its Origin in the Holy Spirit

25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Were you a good note-taker when you were/are in school? I jotted lots of things down, but I had a terrible time reading or making sense of those notes later. I am better at writing notes now because if I don’t, I forget what I was doing. Of course, the corollary to this now is: when I read my notes, I know what they say, I just don’t know why I wrote the note!

Have you ever wondered how we got the gospel records of the life of Jesus? He taught so many things and did so many things that John said a whole library couldn’t contain it all. How did they remember it all? How do we know they remembered correctly?

In the TV series the Chosen, I have been intrigued by the fact that they have Matthew writing down everything. At one point John is listening in on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and taking notes. It is certainly plausible that some note-taking was going on. However, during the time of ministry they had no idea they were going to be the ones recording the life of Christ. (Yet, Matthew wrote his gospel, John wrote His, most believe Mark was primarily written from conversations with Peter, and Luke was written more as a historical document by one who traveled with Paul and undoubtedly on occasion met the various disciples.)

Last week we talked about the Advocate, or the Holy Spirit. He is the One who comforts, strengthens, guides, gives gifts, and cultivates within us the character of Christ. There is much more He does, but in this text, we are told a couple of important things the Holy Spirit was going to do: He would bring understanding and He would help the disciples to remember.

Peter tells us,

Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Paul said much the same thing,

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16,17)

Don’t you wonder if the disciples got together to pool their memories and the Holy Spirit brought specific things back to their memory? The Bible is not a book of vague recollections. It is an accurate, in fact, an infallible, record of what Jesus did and said. That would make sense if it was inspired by the Holy Spirit who reminded the Biblical writers of what took place while giving others divine guidance in what they wrote.

Since this book of ours is inspired by the Holy Spirit, it means it is the very Word of God! It is to be treasured, studied, memorized, obeyed, and applied. You read it like you would a memo from your boss, or from the one you loved. I remember how coach Lafferty took the time to write down for individual players what exactly they needed to do to get more playing time. And the ones who wanted to play, followed the plan he laid out. In like manner we should give even greater attention to the words of our Creator and the Ruler over all that is and ever shall be. If we want to live vibrant and victorious lives, we must study His Words carefully.

The Holy Spirit not only inspired the Word of God. He also illumines the Word of God. He is the One that helps us understand the Bible, helps us apply the Scriptures and helps us remember the Word in those times when we need it the most. If you watch clips at the United Nations everyone listens to the speaker through headphones that allow them to hear the speech translated into their language. Think of the Holy Spirit as God’s translator given to us. He takes the truth of Scripture and makes them come alive in us.

Through the years skeptics have tried to say the Bible was wrong on various topics. They pointed to places they said did not exist or that certain practices “were not observed. And then, archaeology discovered evidence of the city or the practice the Bible records. The study of archaeology has shown that the Bible is a historically viable record of what Jesus said and did.

Conclusions

We have looked at four principles that will help us in life:

1. He is Always with You

2. The Resurrection Is the anchor for our faith and our lives

3. Obedience is the key that unlocks the door to a vital relationship with Christ

4. The Holy Spirit is the One who leads us to truth and will remind us of those truths when we need them.

So, with these truths in mind, lets draw some implications and conclusions. First, we have no reason to fear anything the world can throw at us. This doesn’t mean there will not be hard things, but we won’t have to face those hard things alone . . . the very Spirit of God walks with us, strengthens us and leads us.

Second, Death should lose its sting for the child of God. How many times have you heard someone talk about their troubles and you said, “Well, it’s better than the alternative!” (Referring to death). Or maybe someone has said it to you. The next time that happens, stop and say (to yourself or the other), “Is that really true?”

Because of the resurrection, we know death is not the end of the story. It is, to quote C.S. Lewis only the title page to the great story, the one in which every chapter is better than the one before.

In those times of doubt (and we all have them) remind yourself of the evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus and recommit yourself to the man who came back from the dead to show you the way to Heaven.

Third, when you don’t know what to do in life: do what He told you to do! If you find yourself ignoring Him and doing what you want to do despite what He said, remind yourself that you are walking away from Him rather than walking toward Him or with Him. When what He tells you to do is hard and runs against the grain of your desires, (like when He tells us to forgive) remind yourself that successful people are often those that do what seems counterintuitive to everyone else. We need to remember every day, that the Lord is WAY smarter than we are. He sees what is unseen, He is aware of all contingencies, He NEVER makes a mistake. The wise person is the one who does what He says.

Finally, remember the words of Jesus. He told us not to be afraid of being dragged into court for our faith. He says He will give us the words to say. We spend a lot of time avoiding conversations because we think we won’t have good answers to questions. First, it is OK not to have the answer to every question. But second, God has promised He will give you what you need in those times when you are at a loss for words. Our job is to trust and to listen. Sometimes it is not the right time to answer a question. It is better to be quiet and listen. If we stay close to Him, those words are much easier to hear.

Instead of avoiding talking about your faith out of fear, dare to engage people in conversations out of trust that God is true to His Word and the Holy Spirit will provide what you need.

These four principles may never make it to a plaque for your home . . . but maybe they should.

[1] Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 268.