John 14:1-14
"I will come again."
"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Jesus was personally present with His disciples when he spoke these words. He had been with them in bodily form for several years, and they had looked upon Him and handled Him, and had walked and talked with Him in loving companionship. His presence was as real as their own, and they delighted in it. But now He had told them plainly that He was going away, and that they could not follow Him. This had filled their hearts with sorrow; for they had yielded to the powerful attraction of Jesus, and since He had first said to them "Follow Me," to be with Him had been their joy. Now they felt as children do when the loved and loving mother is taken from them. They were in great heaviness of heart, and therefore Jesus spoke the comforting words that we have just read.
"The glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ," is the "blessed hope" of all His true disciples. (Titus 2:13) It is the comfort for all who mourn loved ones who have fallen in death. The words of the Apostle, direct from the Lord Himself, are: "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess. 4:13-18) One more text will be sufficient for the promise of His coming. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus led His disciples out of Jerusalem "as far as to Bethany," telling them of the power by which they were to be witnesses to Him. "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:9, 10) Looking at these statements, we see clearly that Jesus will come again, and that His coming will be as literal as was His first advent. "This same Jesus" is to return again. It is to be no secret coming, no snatching away of His people by stealth. No; the "voice of the Archangel and the trump of God" will make known the second coming of Christ, and every eye must see Him, whether it wishes to or not (Rev. 1:7), "for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:27) Object of Christ's Coming
This is the all-important thing. Why will He come? What necessity is there for it? Thai His coming is necessary, is evident, since the Lord does nothing in vain. He will not come in all the pomp and splendour of heaven, with all His angels, and with earth-shaking peals of the trumpet, for nothing. The object is plainly stated in our text." I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Take this in connection with the statement to the disciples, recorded in the preceding chapter (verse 36), "Whither I go, thou canst not follow (or, go with] Me now: but thou shalt follow Me afterwards," and we see that no words could make it plainer that only by the second coming of Christ in glory can His disciples be with Him again. It is not only those who chance to be living when He shall come, that He takes to Himself, but the eleven to whom He was talking. They can never be with their Master again, except by His coming again to receive them. Until He comes, they are away from Him.
Here is where the comfort comes in. When it is known that none can be with Christ except by His second coming, then everybody who loves the Lord will also love His appearing. That none can be with Christ in any other way, is evident from the whole Bible. The dead are not with Christ, for "the dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." (Ps. 115:17) "In death there is no remembrance" of the Lord. (Ps. 6:5) "The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished." (Eccl. 9:5, 6) The old hymn tells us that "death is the gate to endless joy," but the Bible tells us that death is an enemy. (1 Cor. 15:26) Since it is an enemy, we may know that it does not admit us to heaven, and the hymn is false. Moreover "death came by sin." (Rom. 5:12) If it were true that death is the gate to endless joy, then it would follow, since death came by sin, that sin admits men to heaven; but that is so palpably false and unscriptural that no one with any respect for the Bible can hold it. Still further: the devil is the one who has the power of death. (Heb. 2:14) Now if death were the way to be with Christ, and the gate of heaven, then we should have the devil as the gate-keeper of heaven! But that is too monstrous for consideration. So we must accept the common-sense Scriptural fact, that death is an enemy, of the human race, and that Christ came to deliver us from it. He came to destroy death, and him that had the power of death. Through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the power of death, yea, death itself, is destroyed, and Christ's second coming is simply the consummation of Calvary. He comes for the salvation of His people. (Isa. 35:4) We see friends sicken and die. We see them carried, cold and silent, to the grave, and every tear that is shed, and every funeral train and procession of mourners gives the lie to the statement that death is a friend. One may say it as a matter of theology, but when he meets it face to face he gives involuntary testimony to the fact that it is a bitter, cruel enemy. At such times the heathen cannot but break out into wild wailing; for death has no hope in it. But the Christian, while he must sorrow for the loss of loving companionship, cannot sorrow as those who have no hope, for Christ's coming gives hope in death. He will come. This is the comfort of those who mourn. Loved ones who have been separated by death shall thus be united; for at the sound of the trumpet the dead shall be raised incorruptible, then the living, also made immortal, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That is the only way, and that is what makes the promise of Christ's coming such blessed comfort.
Ever with the Lord! Yes, that is the comfort. Friends are to be united at the coming of the Lord, but only the presence of the Lord will make that a joyful meeting. We long for His coming in order that we may be with Him. He is coming to receive us to Himself. Do not lose sight of that. It is Christ alone who can sanctify all earthly friendships. "Love is of God." Therefore it is only the fact that we shall ever be with the Lord, that will make the meeting with friends a heaven. His presence outshines everything else. Without Him friends would be enemies.
Preparing a Place
"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, 1 will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." He knows when the place is prepared for His people; we do not. He has said that when the place is prepared He will come for us; we must believe that He will keep His word. Suppose for a moment that we had the power to do as we pleased, and should go to heaven before Christ's second coming; we should find no place ready for us. We should be in the embarrassing position of guests coming before the appointed time. But there is no danger that anybody will be in that position; for we have the assurance of Christ's words, that the only way we can go to be with Him is for Him to come again and take us. Knowing this, all His true disciples will join in the prayer of the beloved disciple: "Come, Lord Jesus."
The Way
Yet we are in danger of making that petition misunderstandingly. We are in danger of forgetting that Christ is the way to the heavenly mansions; that none can attain to the resurrection of the just except those who are "found in Him" at His coming, not having their own righteousness, "but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." (Phil. 3:9) No man cometh to the Father, to the place where God sits "in light that no man can approach unto," except by Christ, who hath once "suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18) But in order that we may at the last day and so on throughout eternity be able to stand before God and see His face, we must now draw near. Even now must we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and full provision for this has been made, for now, even "now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Eph. 2:13) "Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." We must come to God and become acquainted with Him before we can see Him; and Christ is the way.
Oh, what depth and breadth of comfort there is in those words of Jesus, "I am the way"! We have all sinned, "all gone out of the way," and know not how to find God. We would gladly return to the Father's house, but we know not the way. Jesus says, "I am the way." His name is Emanuel, God with us, and He is with us all the days, even unto the end of the world, so that although we may wander far from God, behold, the way back to Him is close beside us. Though we wander out of the way, it goes with us, so that even while we may be fleeing from the way, the way is seeking us; for "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19: 10. What a wonderful way is this, that itself seeks the wanderer! How easy it is to find our way back to God! "I am the way." You do not know how to do that which you would? Jesus is the way. "I have a frightful temper, and don't know how to get the victory over it." "I am the way." Are you overburdened with cares, and know not how to accomplish the tasks that must be done? Still Jesus says, "I am the way." Would you learn the best way of doing the work to which you are called, so that you can be "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed?" Jesus is the way. He knows how to do that of which you know nothing; and that which you know how to do well, He knows how to do better. And not only does He know how to do it, so that He can teach you, but He is the way to do it, for He is the life.
The Life
Christ is the life, as well as the way, therefore He is the living way. We cannot get the benefit of Christ as the way, unless we know Him as the life. He is the Word of life, the light of men. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." In other words, "the life was manifested, and we have seen it." There is no real life but the life of Christ--Christ Himself. His life--He Himself--is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He has forever identified Himself with humanity, that men may forever be made one with Divinity. He has taken all mankind upon Himself, and is the bearer of all the burdens of humanity. His life given freely to every soul, is the way from sin to righteousness. It is the victory.
Altogether too much is Christ kept at a distance. He is near, but men persist in building up barriers which God has broken down. The middle wall of partition between man and God has been broken down and taken away in the flesh of Christ, so that every man may be, if he will, what Christ is. "The Word was made flesh," and He has "abolished in His flesh the enmity," even the fleshly mind. Now He was made our flesh. "There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, another of birds." (1 Cor. 15:39) It was the flesh of men that Christ took. It was the flesh of sinful men too that He took, for He was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." (Rom. 1:4) Yet He "knew no sin." (2 Cor. 5:21) "He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." (1 John 3:5) If therefore we will believe, and acknowledge, and hold to, the truth that Christ is our life, we shall find in reality that "as He is so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17) "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." (1 John 4:2) "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. 10:9) How shall we confess the Lord Jesus? What shall we confess about Him?--Confess the truth, namely, that He is come in the flesh, even in our own sinful flesh. Reckon ourselves to be dead, and Him alone to be alive--the life. Then will all things be of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. Then it will no longer be we who profess to be living, and bunglingly trying to manage our own affairs, but Christ who actually lives, and who successfully does the will of God in us. The connection between us and Christ must be a vital one, if we would walk in the way. It must not be simply a joining of hands, that He may lead us in the way, but a union of hearts and lives. We must be lost in Him. Remember that He is the way; therefore if we would walk in the right way, we must live in Him. The identification between us and Him must be complete. What wondrously glorious possibilities there are for us in the fact that Christ is the way and the life--the living way. Let Him be it, and all will be well.
The Truth
Jesus is the truth. He says, "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." "If the Son therefore shall set you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:31, 32, 36) Thus we see that the Son is the truth which makes free. Only He can give freedom, for nothing but the truth can make men free. Apart from the truth there is only bondage.
"The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness." (Rom. 1:18, R.V.) That is to say that God's wrath is manifested against the ungodliness of those who repress Christ, and refuse to let Him live His perfect life in them. This corroborates the statement that Christ is in every sinful man, ready and anxious to make his life perfect. The fact that a man lives and has breath, which he may use in denying the existence of God, is proof of the presence of God in his flesh. And He is there not to condemn or destroy, but to save. The fact that He stays there and endures all the abuse and shame that is heaped upon Him, proves His forbearance and longsuffering and love. If therefore one will simply "give up," let go of himself, the truth--the life of Christ--will just as surely manifest itself in him, and will be his life, as grain will grow when good seed is sown in the ground. God has made the way of truth so easy and simple that there is no excuse for those who do not walk in it.
Christ is the truth. There is no other. There is no truth in the universe that is not true simply because it is some part of the manifestation of Christ. And there is nothing true that is not in Him. Now it is evident that that which is not true does not really exist. We admit this when we say, "It is not so." When God made all these things, He created them by His Word. He said, "Let it be," "and it was so," that is, it came into being. That which is not so has only a fictitious existence. It seems to be, but the end will show that it is not. If sought for, it cannot be found. In the Sanskrit, from which our language originates, the word for "truth" means simply "that which is." Christ is; His name is "I AM," and so He is "the truth."
There are men who deny Christ, the truth. How much do such men really know?--Nothing. This is plain enough if we stick to the text. The truth is that which is. But no one can know that which is not. Nobody can know that a thing is so when it is not so. Suppose now, as often happens, that a man has spent a long time diligently studying, and thinks that he has reached a profound conclusion, and it turns out that there is not a word of truth in all that he has been studying. His supposed facts are only fancies. What has he gained? How much does he know as the result of his studies?--Simply nothing. So we see that only in Christ are to be found "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." He is the author and perfecter of faith, and only by faith can we understand. That which is, is the thing that hath been, and which will be. Christ is the One "which was, and which is, and which is to come." The truth endures forever, simply because it is, and therefore whosoever doeth the truth, or abides in the truth, abides forever. Men may think that they can acquire vast stores of wisdom, and yet deny Christ, that is, deny Him in their lives, deny His right to be their life; but all their seeming knowledge will at the last perish with them, showing that both it and they were in reality nothing. Then will it be demonstrated that only in Christ, in knowing Him, can men know anything. Therefore become acquainted with Christ.
The Word and the Work
"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father which dwells in Me, He doeth the works." (John 14:10) Note the change in expression, showing that the Word is the work. We should naturally expect the sentence to run thus: "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father which dwelleth in Me, He speaketh them." And that is what Christ really said, for whenever God speaks something is done. "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made." (Ps. 33:6) Now read (John 8:28), and find the counterpart of the verse in our lesson. "When you have lifted the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am (He), and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things." In the first text quoted, we read that Jesus does not speak His own words, but that the Father does the works; in this we read that Jesus does not do the works Himself, but that the Father speaks in Him. Thus we see that the Word and the work of God are one and the same thing. If the Word of God abides in us, then the works of God will be manifested. "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:29) Great Works and Greater Works
Here is one of the positive assurances of Jesus, that are specially noted by John: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." (John 14:12) How can this be? Do not ask; for just as no man can by searching find out God, so no man can expect to understand how He works, and so of course no one can hope to know how the works of God are wrought in him. The fact is enough for us. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) Christ was not a monstrosity, a freak of nature, a unique specimen of humanity, never to be paralleled. No; He is "the Man." He was sent into the world in order that all might have before them an example of a perfect Man, and as a proof that God can make such men. Only as we arrive at "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," do we come to "a perfect man." (Eph. 4:13) God has put into us the same word of reconciliation that was in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19); and as it is the word that works, it follows that the same works will be done by those in whom the Word dwells as were done by Christ. Christ's ministry of reconciliation is committed to us. We are now to appear before the world "in Christ's stead," as witness for Him, that through us the world may believe in the existence of Christ. This being the case, it follows that the same works that He did must be done.
"But we don't see them done now." That makes no difference with the truth of Christ's words. It only shows how little faith there is even in the church. Men have been too slow to understand the wondrous possibilities embraced in the faith of Jesus. When we receive "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him," then we shall "know what is the hope of His calling," and "what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead." (Eph. 1:17-20) Why not receive that Spirit now?
But what about the "greater works" than those which Christ did? What are they? and how is it possible for us to do them? To both these questions we can only say that we do not know. Moreover it is not likely that we ever will know. Certainly we shall never know how the works are done, for it is only by God's almighty skill that they are wrought. If we cannot know how the least works are done, we certainly cannot know how the greatest are done. We do know that the just will come up to the day of judgment totally unconscious of many good deeds that they have done. (Matt. 25:37, 38) What mortal man could endure the knowledge that he was doing greater works than Christ did? If he should think such a thing, the thought itself would lift him up above his Lord and Master, and would ensure his fall. So we must be content and even glad not to know how or what God works in us. The root, buried in the soil, cannot see the glorious fruit that is borne through its faithful ministry, but it works steadily in the place assigned it, content simply to be what God will have it; even so it should be with us. Our part is to trust; God is then responsible for results.
"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it." (John 14:13, 14) A most wonderful promise, and yet a most natural one, when we think what it means to pray in the name of Jesus.
In the first place, it does not mean simply the repetition of the word Jesus. That would be but mockery. In (Acts 19:13-16) we have an instance of the uselessness of that. The name of Jesus is not to be used as a charm. There is power in it, but it is not the power of magic.
We are to pray in His name. That is, we are to be in the name, and the name is Himself. We are to come, not in our own name and person, but in the name and Person of Jesus of Nazareth. We are not to personate Him, however. Such a fraud would quickly be detected. No; we are to be left entirely out of the question. We are not worthy to approach the throne of God. People say, "I am so unworthy: I am not fit to come into God's presence." Very well, provision has been made for all such cases. We know that Christ is worthy. "In the day of His flesh" He "offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard." (Heb. 5:7) God never turned away the prayer of His only begotten Son, even "in the days of His flesh," when He was clothed with our sinful flesh. Everything that He asked was granted. Let us therefore confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh--our flesh. Let us deny ourselves,--deny our own existence,--and acknowledge Him as the only One who liveth. Then it is "not I, but Christ" who approaches the throne of God. Then the answer to our prayers is assured beforehand; for it was for deliverance from our sins that He prayed. Coming thus in His name, we are as sure of receiving the things that we ask for as He was. Our sins were upon Him, and they are upon Him still, for He is still in the flesh, and is still praying for us. The burden of the world's sin was upon Him, and from this He prayed to be delivered. So we can leave ourselves out of the question, and be lost in pity for Christ, as we see Him struggling under the load of sin. Then our pity moves us to make an unselfish prayer, "for the sake of Jesus." Oh, that He may be delivered from the oppressive load, and may receive His heart's desire! We make common cause with Him. The prayer is heard. He is delivered. But lo, it was our sin that He bore, and as we prayed for deliverance "for Jesus' sake," that He might be freed, our sin was removed, and deliverance came to us. Thus His victory is our joy. We prayed in His name, and the Father could not but grant the petition. But it is self-evident that no prayer "in the name of Jesus" can ever be selfish.
The name of God is in Christ. (Ex. 23:21) So when we pray in the name of Jesus, we are presenting God's own name as the Surety. With what delight then we read the assurance, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." That is a commandment, say you? True; but you must know that in Christ all the commandments of God are blessed promises. Truly, "His commandments are not grievous." "In keeping of them there is great reward."
--April 13, 1899