#1521 John 14 Part 4 Out of the Orphanage

 

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20 On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14: 18-21 LSB

John 14: 18-21 LSB

Yahweh is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever. Psalm 23

V. 18 I will not leave you as orphans - When our earthly parents die we are considered orphaned, but Christ does not die, and in Him we have been adopted by the Father, through the Spirit, as sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell the believer.

Adam Clarke - “The disciples of a particular teacher among the Hebrews called him father; his scholars were called his children, and, on his death, were considered as orphans.”

Guzik notes that Spurgeon on several ways that the followers of Jesus are not like orphans.- (1) An orphan has parents who are dead; the Spirit shows us Jesus is alive. (2) An orphan is left alone; the Spirit draws us close to God’s presence. (3) An orphan has lost their provider; the Spirit provides all things. (4) An orphan is left without instruction; the Spirit teaches us all things. (5) An orphan has no defender; the Spirit is protector. (See Spurgeon's sermon THE BELIEVER NOT AN ORPHAN) - Precept Austin

1Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.… Isaiah 43: 1-3

…19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20

V. 18b - 19 - I will come to you - Jesus will go to the cross, and their whole world will fall out from under them. They have walked with Him for three years now, have seen countless miracles, but have enjoyed close fellowship as well. When they come for Him in the garden and take Him to be tried, the disciples scatter, as the Shepherd heads towards Calvary, Peter has already denied Him and they can only follow at a distance. That immediate proximity fades into the impossible void of death. They can't see to the other side of that, but in their experience it is usually a permanent condition, total separation. I mean, Jesus has raised others from the dead, but who will raise Him? He says, "after a little while, the world will not see me", but rises from the dead, and He comes to His disciples, to those who believed in Him. He is still dead to the world, but He makes Himself known to His flock. They will see that He is the resurrection and the life.

…24Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”… John 11: 24-26

V. 20 On that day - He makes Himself known to them, coming back to them shortly after His death. This proves His statements not only of a resurrection but that He is the resurrection. Yet, I believe that after this revelation is His ascension to the Father and then Pentecost. This moves beyond the Spirit's presence to His indwelling of the believers, empowering them for their ministry. It is astounding in Peter, who moves from denial to boldly preaching the gospel in a hostile environment, relying on the Holy Spirit to provide the increase. I wish that men would move back to that today, that they would allow Christ to build His church through the bold and unwavering preaching of the gospel. 

Utley points out that Jesus "adds the truth that as the Father and Jesus are intimately linked, so too, Jesus and His followers (cf. John 17)!"

F B Meyer - In the translucent depths of the southern seas, the voyager is aware of the infinite variety of sponge growth, waving to and fro with the gentle movement of the tide; and the ocean is in the sponge, whilst the sponge is in the ocean, illustrating the reciprocal indwelling of the believer in Christ, and Christ in the believer. - Precept Austin

…37If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. 38But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.” 39At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.… John 10: 37-39

…21that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— 23I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.… John 17: 21-23

…29so that no one may boast in His presence. 30It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”… 1 Corinthians 1: 29-31

V. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me - Jesus never teaches a sentimental love, a feels sort of thing that is without action. Remember, faith without works is dead. When we say we love our wives, we are reminded in Scripture that it is to be as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. This is fruit, how we know the tree, what makes the words, the label, believable. 

…3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”… Genesis 26: 3-5

…6The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 7Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. 8And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today.… Deuteronomy 30: 6-8

…16Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it. 18To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.… Revelation 2: 16-18

A W Pink - Two things are true of every Christian: deep down in his heart there is an intense, steady longing and yearning to please God, to do His will, to walk in full accord with His Word. This yearning may be stronger in some than in others, and in each of us it is stronger at some times than at others; nevertheless, it is there! But in the second place, no real Christian fully realizes this desire. Every genuine Christian has to say with the apostle Paul, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may lay hold of that for which I am laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12). (John Commentary)