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John 14
Evangelist Bob Sanders
November 1, 2007
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For quite some time my heart
has been drawn to the opening verses of John 14. “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. And
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” John 14:1-4
It is evident that chapter
fourteen is to be one of comfort. For the most part, for three
and one half years Jesus and His disciples have not been
separated for any length of time. He took them to a wedding,
together they fed the multitudes, they were present at the
opening of blinded eyes, the healing of crippled legs, and the
raising of the dead. While I do not think they comprehended it,
Jesus had began to tell of His departure and His death. He was
now trying to comfort them for that coming day of separation. In
an effort to comfort them, He asked them to trust Him,
“believe . . . me” (John 14:1).
Within this chapter is an
underlying truth that will comfort the hearts of all God’s
children. This belief or trust that Jesus is asking for will not
be in a mortal, but in deity! In the process of encouraging them
to take comfort in Him, He gave some great insight into the
truths of deity.
(I) The Image of
Deity - “ye believe in God” verse 1
It is interesting that Jesus
did not say, “Ye believe in “a” God.” He said, “Ye
believe in God” (John 14:1). There is only one True and
Living God! While we as Christians may be tolerant of the
beliefs of others in other gods; it is imperative that we
remember that these are only the beliefs of men! The word that
Jesus uses for “God” means deity, especially the supreme
Divinity. God gave this testimony of Himself, “Thus saith the
LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I
am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that
time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a
God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” Isaiah 44:
6 & 8 “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no
God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the
west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is
none else.” Isaiah 45:5-6
At first this truth does not
seem to be necessary, but if the disciples do not have an
understanding of who the True and Living God is, they will never
know who Jesus is!
(II) The Trust of
Deity - “believe also in me” verse 1
In verse 1, Jesus uses
the word “believe” two times, one in respect to God and
the other in respect to Himself. The word “believe” means
to believe, commit trust, to have faith with respect to a person
or thing, to entrust ones spiritual well-being to.
Jesus wants the disciples to
take the trust and faith that they have in the True and Living
God and transfer it to Him! Jesus wants the disciples to
understand that whatever comfort they get in knowing the True
and Living God, they can get in knowing Him.
(III) The Equality of
Deity - “my Father's” verse 2
Here Jesus declares Himself
to be the Son of God. This God that you know and trust; He is my
Father! While this is a declaration of son ship, earlier in the
book of John, we are enlightened to the fact that He is
more than just a son of God, but the “only begotten Son”
(John 3:16). The phrase “only begotten” comes from
two words meaning, only-born or sole. God has no more sons like
the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the only one. The fact that Jesus
is God’s Son, it makes Him equal with the Father.
(IV) The Illumination
of Deity - “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” verse
10
If the disciples had ever
tried to perceive what God was like, the day of bewilderment was
over! All they had to do was look at Jesus and they were looking
at the Father. Jesus told Philip, “he that hath seen me hath
seen the Father” (John 14:9). The works and words of Jesus
are a manifestation of the character and nature of God. On
different occasions Jesus reminded the disciples that the words
that He spoke and the works that He did were not His, but those
of the one that sent Him and it was the Father that sent Him.
It would only be a short time
and Jesus will be separated from His disciples. He did not want
them to be disturbed or agitated, so He began to speak words of
comfort. The real comfort was not in the place, the preparation,
or the plan; but in the person behind it all. True comfort is
not in some mortal, but deity! All that you know and
understand about the words and works of God; transfer that same
confidence over to one who is the only begotten Son of God. He
came not only as God in the flesh, but He came to reveal God.
Children take comfort in this
great truth, if you know Jesus, you know God! You don’t just
know “a” God, but the True and Living God! He is sufficient to
handle any problems and meet any needs no matter what they may
be!
“And we know that we are of
God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that
we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal
life.” I John 5:19-20
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