Lesson 235 - Senior
Memory Verse
"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" (John 14:1, 2).
Cross References
I Words of Comfort from Jesus to the Troubled Disciples
1. Jesus promises to prepare a place for them, [JHN:14:1-3].
2. The Way, the Truth, and the Life are explained to doubting Thomas, [JHN:14:4-7].
3. The mystery of the divine "Father and Son" are explained to troubled Philip, [JHN:14:8-11].
4. Jesus promises that greater works will be wrought by believing disciples, [JHN:14:12-14].
II The Promise of a Comforter
1. "Another Comforter" shall come to abide forever, [JHN:14:15-17].
2. Jesus will be manifested to His disciples, but not to the world, [JHN:14:18-24]; [MAT:18:20].
3. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost," will be their Teacher, [JHN:14:25];[JHN:14:26]; [JHN:16:12-14].
4. Jesus gives closing words of comfort, [JHN:14:27-31].
Notes
Troubled Hearts
The disciples were troubled at the thought of their separation from Jesus, for He had said, "Yet a little while I am with you," and "Whither I go, ye cannot come" [JHN:13:33]). But Christ, with His compassion and desire to comfort the hearts of those who followed Him, brought forth these beautiful words: "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" [JHN:14:1-3]).
There was a time when the "morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" [JOB:38:7]); but the day came when sin disrupted the harmony in God's creation and brought a curse upon the earth. Sin ruined the fellowship of God with mankind and wrought havoc in the world; but the heart of God yearned for His creatures, and in His infinite wisdom He brought forth a plan whereby sinful man could be redeemed. "In my Father's house are many mansions." God the Father sent Christ into the world to reconcile it unto Himself that the people who are redeemed by the Blood of Jesus might dwell with Him throughout eternity. Think what it will mean when the words of that great voice that John heard out of Heaven are fulfilled: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" [REV:21:3])!
Father's House
That Holy City, the New Jerusalem that John saw descending, is the Father's house. In it are many mansions, beautiful beyond description; Jesus has gone to prepare them -- get them ready for those who love Him. Think of those transparent golden streets, those clear walls of jasper, the river of life, the trees whose fruit ripens every month, the soothing balm of the leaves -- it is all our Father's House. And He has invited us Home to live with Him forever. We, the prodigals, are welcomed home with a great feast -- our sins forgiven, our debts cancelled at the cost of His own dear Son. The Pure and Holy One sacrificed Himself that the defiled and unclean might be redeemed. Who is there so foolish as to refuse the great plan of God? Who is so wise as to have a better place or a happier way than that which He offers?
"And whither I go ye know, and the way Ye know" [JHN:14:4]). Jesus made it as plain as He could that He came from God and was going back to God. For three years His ministry was spent in pointing the way to eternal life. He taught the people repentance and the new birth. He told them of a life above sin and how they could be sanctified and made pure and holy. He asked them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on High. He told them of the Comforter who would abide with them forever. He instituted the Lord's Supper and the Washing of the Disciples' Feet. He commanded them to observe water baptism -- baptizing "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." But above all this, He is the Way. It is only through His sacrifice and the shedding of His Blood that men find pardon for their sins.
The Trinity
"Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." Jesus wanted the disciples to recognise His Divinity. When Peter received the revelation and recognised who Jesus was, he said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus' reply was that that revelation came from Heaven and that "upon this rock I will build my church" [MAT:16:16-18]). The Church of Christ must recognise not only that He was a Teacher sent from God but that He is God, that He is the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the world. "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." In other words, "Believe that I am God." "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Christ was the perfect revelation of the Father. As the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ was "the express image of his person" [HEB:1:3]). This does not mean that he was the same Person, but an exact likeness. There is no discrepancy or conflict in Their plans or purposes. The one reveals perfectly the will of the other.
The distinct personalities of the Trinity are revealed in this chapter. Jesus said, "I go unto my Father." This teaches that the Father in Heaven, and Jesus on earth, were separate personalities. He also states that "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" [JHN:14:26]). Here in one verse of Scripture we see the Trinity revealed through the Father's sending the Holy Ghost to bring to remembrance the things that Jesus, the Son, had said. The Holy Ghost is here spoken of in the third person, as He, a Person. There is a unity in the divine Godhead that we do not fully comprehend, but we can see that there is a blessed Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We also see the Trinity revealed at the baptism of Christ when the Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove and the Father spoke out of Heaven.
When Jesus said to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," He meant more than just what Philip could see with his natural eyes. These physical, mechanical bodies are not the real essence of our true self. We may recognise people by their physical appearance; but when we really become acquainted and know them well, it is the character and inner life that endears them to us. So it was with Christ -- it was not His stature nor the colour of His hair that revealed the Father, but that great heart of compassion, the love that He had, the life that He lived, and the works that He did that showed the disciples the Father.
The Baptism of the Holy Ghost
"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" [JHN:14:12]). This promise gives us all idea of the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is the gift of power for service. "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" [ACT:1:8]). This gift of power, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, should not be confused with sanctification, which is the cleansing of the heart.
Sanctification is holiness, and the baptism is the enduement of power. David was sanctified when he prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God" [PS:51:10]). Isaiah was sanctified when the live coal of fire from the altar touched his lips. But it was not until the Day of Pentecost that the Holy Ghost was poured out and men were baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; John was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb; but on the Day of Pentecost the hundred and twenty were baptized (immersed) in the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost not only filled them but also the house where they were sitting, and out of their innermost being flowed rivers of Living Water.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost was not limited to the Day of Pentecost, for we find that it was poured out eight years later at the house of Cornelius [ACT:10:44-46]) and twenty-three years later at Ephesus [ACT:19:6]). Each time they spake with tongues, which is the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This marvellous experience was not limited to Bible times; but, according to the Scriptures, "The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" [ACT:2:39]). God is still calling and pouring out His Spirit upon those who are sanctified wholly. "Have ye received the How Ghost since ye believed?" [ACT:19:2]).
Questions
1. Where is the most complete description of Heaven found?
2. Explain the second coming of Christ.
3. What is the difference in the manifestation of the How Ghost in Old Testament times and today?
4. Why were the disciples troubled at this time?
5. What promise brought a comfort to their hearts?
6. How many promises can you find in this chapter?
7. Are these promises applicable to us today?
8. Name some of the functions of the Holy Ghost in the world today.
9. Give several Scriptural proofs of the Trinity.
10. When was the fulfilment of the promise of a Comforter?