My
highlighted verses:John 14:15 If ye
love me, keep my commandments.
16
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever;
17
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you.
18
¶I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because
I live, ye shall live also.
20
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in
you.
21
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.
22
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest
thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him.
24
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear
is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
25
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26
But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jesus told His disciples (even you and me) that greater works than He had shown them, they/we would do, because He was going to the Father in heaven, to the very throne where all power and authority in both heaven and earth reside, to be seated at His right hand. And whatsoever we need to get those "greater works" done, those works that will glorify the Father, we are to ask of Him and He will see to it! And just who would be asking Him for all that wisdom and understanding and perhaps an open door? Those who really and truly love Him, of course! And they have a special quality about them, they keep His commandments, which is all of His Word.
The word "Comforter" used here is the Greek word parakletos and means "Intercessor" or "Advocate", the same word John uses in his 1st Epistle.John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
He is our advocate.1 John 2:1
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
We'll find out exactly why the world cannot receive Him in a few verses hence.John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Jesus is about to depart the flesh and no longer be present with them (in the flesh). He is explaining that His departure doesn't mean that "He", the I AM, will no longer be with them to comfort them as He has been doing, and to give them power for the "greater works". Again, they will understand after the crucifixion and especially on Pentecost Day.[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
And for us, since those events have taken place and we have read His Word, we know that we are NEVER alone! We are NEVER without an advocate. Even though Satan the adversary walks about heaven as a roaring lion, accusing the brethren "twenty four / seven"* (Rev. 12:10), do we have to worry? No Way! He told us not to! He will be there at the right hand of the Father, as our Advocate, and if we need anything He'll handle it. Besides, have you read Luke 10:19? "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." He's in charge, completely!
* 24 / 7 is a new term, meaning day and night, i.e. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The world won't see Him because all they have are flesh eyeballs. They will need spiritual sunglasses to see Him. Do you understand that although Jesus is about to be crucified, He is not going to die? Just His flesh will die, but He is Life, remember?[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
"At that day" refers primarily to the 40th day when He would appear unto them but it is also the same "at that day" used of the Day of the Lord, which is His second advent.[20] At that day ye shall know that I AM in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Jesus would perform an amazing, astonishing, miracle on Pentecost Day, without His "physical presence" that they were used to, and they would KNOW that it was Him who "manifested" Himself in those Galileans who would speak in a language that went forth whereby everyone present clearly understood what was being said in their own dialect (Acts 2:7). It is a miracle that cannot be duplicated by babbling unintelligible syllables to impress others that you are something special. Read on.
There is more to just "believing" than saying "I believe", isn't there? You first have to know the commandments in order to keep them, and this isn't just referring to the 10 Commandments, though they are included. But Jesus Christ, the Word of God, gave many commandments throughout the scriptures, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Do you know them? For example, He gave the commandment to "Learn the Parable of the Fig Tree" in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Have you learned it? If not, you haven't kept His commandment, have you?John 14:21
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Note: The word "manifest" means to cause to "see" or "know", i.e. to "reveal".
How well do you receive truth? The reason I asked is that we are about to learn a great truth. It begins with a question from Judas, the brother of James, concerning Jesus last comment:
This is an excellent question! It has two parts and will be answered in two verses! But first, let's read it again slowly and think about it: How is it... that Jesus Christ... can manifest [reveal] Himself... (1) to His disciples only... and (2) NOT unto the world? The answer is so simple that it is truly astounding! Here is the answer to part one (1):John 14:22
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
If a man (no gender implied. i.e. a human being) loves Jesus Christ, he will "Keep His Word". He will be "hungry" and not only desire to eat, but he will EAT of the true "Bread" which came down from Heaven, the Word of God (remember?). He will be thirsty and will DRINK from the "Living Water", His Word (remember?). And the Father will LOVE YOU for it and Jesus Christ will BE REVEALED unto you so that you can SEE HIM and the FATHER both! And there you have the COMFORTER![23] Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Keep His Word and the Father will love you. That really is comforting to know.
Now here is the answer to the second (2) part of the question concerning the world:
Now understand the depth of this saying. Jesus didn't make it up! The Father WANTS US TO KNOW, and so Jesus just told us! If you DO NOT study the Word of God, then how can you keep it? You cannot! If you do not study the Word of God, then sorry, you DO NOT love Jesus Christ! Those are the Father's words. If you disagree or you are offended, take it up with Him! He's the one who told Jesus to tell us![24] He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
He wanted His disciples to hear these things directly from Him while He was still present with them.[25] These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
We just covered in verses 22 and 23 that those who love Him keep His Word, all of it. Then in order for the Holy Spirit to teach you all things, you MUST show up for class!...unless you think He will teach you while you watch TV or sit around on the dock of the bay? Please don't let some foolish preacher tell you that you don't have to study to show yourself approved by God. We just read in verse 21 that the Messiah said the Father LOVES YOU when you keep His Word. But if you must listen to a preacher then listen to preacher Paul, a wise and knowledgeable teacher personally approved by Jesus.John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Who you gonna believe, a preacher who says you don't have to know the Book of Revelation, or the Word of God?2 Tim. 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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