John 14, verses 15 to 31, Peace I leave with you

 

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.

Here is a clear statement of what it means to be a Christian. If His followers love Him they will keep His commandments. He commanded them and us to;

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Again, He will repeat this command.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you…17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

John will repeat this most basic of Jesus’ commands for the church.

1John 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

This is a common thread throughout the letters of the New Testament. We cannot be Christians unless we care for one another in love and respect and that is never said to include controlling, bullying, self-righteous, or dominating behavior.

The promised Comforter is the Holy Ghost, as will be declared in verse 26. The Holy Ghost, as does God the Father, and Christ the Word of God, indwells the believer by the Spirit.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Here is evidence that you cannot lose your salvation as the promise of the Comforter is for ever.

John 14:18 ¶  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.

Jesus promises them something they, at this time, do not understand, that proof of who He is will be provided at His resurrection and ascension. The believer that follows Jesus’ commands loves God and is loved by Him. Just read the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ in Matthew, chapter 5, and the ‘Sermon on the Plain’ in Luke, chapter 6. Pay attention to the things Jesus said to His Jewish disciples and the things that Paul confirmed for Christians everywhere and in every time and give up your fear, your paranoia, your bigotry, and your anger. Trust in Christ. The attitude made popular by the movie Network of, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” is not what Jesus Christ left for us to represent Him by.

The three parts of God will live in the believer by the Spirit.

John 14:25 ¶  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. 27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The Holy Ghost is the One who teaches us as we read the Bible over and over, from cover to cover, as long as we are alive. It is the Holy Ghost who blesses us as we have daily Bible reading with our children with understanding of God’s word. It is the Holy Ghost who shows us what God wants from us. While Jesus is not walking on earth at present, the Holy Ghost is here to show us, through God’s words in His Book, who God is and what His will is.

Christ here tells His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled or to let their hearts be afraid. He does not tell them to collect as many swords, spears, catapults, and knives as possible so they can hold up against the Romans. He does not tell them to be afraid that perverts are going to take over their country. He does not tell them to read the latest prophecy expert and spend one second crying about the end of the world coming this weekend. He tells them to not be troubled or afraid. From Job to Revelation one very important theme of the Bible is to trust God as He has it all under control and nothing will happen that He doesn’t cause to happen or allow to happen for reasons we may never know in this life. From ISIS to the Federal Reserve at no time are we justified in our fear, fretting, worry, or rage. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:28 ¶  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. 29  And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31  But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Again, Jesus reinforces that He is leaving them to go to the Father. Their proper attitude is to rejoice not mourn as our proper attitude when a believer dies should be to rejoice. If our faith was sure we, too, would rejoice when a family member or dear friend who is trusting Christ died. We would rejoice that they were in the presence of the Lord.

2Corinthians 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

The fact that we don’t is a token of our humanity, our temporal view of life, and our weak faith. What a great witnessing opportunity, what a great testimony to a lost and dying world, if we were able to say, “Hallelujah,” when a brother or sister in the Lord goes to be with Him! Next to rejoicing when told we are probably going to die from a disease there are very few more clear ways to manifest complete and total trust in God.

Jesus Christ, as a man, has subordinated His standing as God to God the Father on the throne of Heaven. Therefore, He can be a perfect example to us in obedience and faith.

Jesus gives them the reason that He is telling them now, so that they will understand and believe when He does ascend to the throne of God. See how Peter goes from receiving the rebuke for his lack of understanding of Christ’s mission in Matthew 16:23 and then can give the speech that begins in Acts 2:14.

Warning them that the prince of this world is coming, He says that this individual has nothing in Jesus.

The prince of this world is the god of this world, Satan aka Lucifer. A prince is a ruler, of course, and not necessarily a specific title of nobility just as a god, lowercase g, refers to a deity, imagined, or a devil, as well as The Devil in 2Corinthians 4:4. In two other places, the phrase the prince of this world apparently referring to Satan, is mentioned in this gospel.

John 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

John 16:11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

While we give Satan far too much credit for the works of our flesh it is clear that he is instrumental in the leadership activities of the princes, presidents, kings, and prime ministers of this world’s governments, as well as in the institutions followed in this world, including churches.

Arise, let us go hence. The believer is always to be looking ahead, moving forward. Your best time with the Lord is right now and going forward. This constant morbid, looking backwards at a time when you felt really close to God accomplishes nothing. If you are dissatisfied or feel cold now is the time to get down on your face in prayer, speaking to God, or open His Bible and ask Him to speak to you. Stop letting preachers with an agenda manipulate you emotionally in regret and self-loathing, which is just morbid, self-attention. Arise, let us go hence.

Philippians 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended [to know or understand in the context]: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.