John 14:12-31 Come now let us leave.
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
What should we ask? Not my will but thine be done. We should pray that God’s name would be sanctified, and that the Kingdom would come. Ken Peters dream of the tribulation saw a revival in which this word was fulfilled where all the works we saw in the gospel from the Lord were going on all over the world in small christian gatherings. We want all those who promote lies to be exposed and their jaw broken. We want all those believers who sat on the fence to stand up for the Lord.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
I really love this concept "if you love me you will keep my commands". There will be a distinction at the rapture, those that keep His commands (the ones who really love Him) and those who don't. Never has this been more obvious. There isn’t even an attempt to embrace the truth. I don’t want to get political because the only savior I see is Jesus. If you think a man is going to save you whether he is Republican or Democratic you are deceived. The Lord will use the jawbone of an ass to bring judgement on the Philistines. But the media doesn’t even pretend to be fair and balanced anymore. Turn on CNN and you will hear how terrible the last thing that Trump did is, and he hasn't been president for ten months! Turn on Fox and you will hear how terrible the last thing Biden did. There is so much going on these days in the world and yet the “news” from the “major media outlets” are only focused on one message, either “Trump is bad” or “Trump is good”. We had an immigrant woman from Jamaica who grew up in poverty elected as lieutenant governor of Virginia and MSNBC was portraying her as "the latest variant of Trumpism". The world has no clue what truth is.
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
There is a lot of focus right now on “the end times” and “prophecy” and the rapture and dreams and visions. But everything boils down to one thing, on that day are we in Christ, in God, and Christ is in us as the hope of glory? Are you coming to the Lord every day hoping to get a fresh new word?
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
This chapter began with “do not let your hearts be troubled”. Calm down, pick up the word of God, take one of His words, let it dwell in you so that you become its keeper. You don’t need to try and keep the entire Bible, start with that one little word that the Lord has already spoken to your heart. George Mueller got one little word about seeking the kingdom first and all the other things would be added to him. Based on that one little word he started an orphanage and trusted the Lord to always supply and the Lord always did. His entire ministry was based on that word.
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Why is it that the Lord reveals Himself to some and not to others? It depends on their heart. You can know their heart because if they obey the Lord’s teachings it reveals they love Him, if they do not obey His words it reveals they don’t. These words aren’t His, they are the Father’s. So if you keep these words you love the Lord and the Father. If you love someone you spend time with them, you talk to them, you fellowship with them.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Isn’t that funny? He is sending us a lawyer to teach us everything He said. Not a prosecutor, but an advocate, someone who will help guide us while we endure the accusations of Satan. This is the best way to learn about the power of the cross, the Lord’s redemption, and how He has freed us from the power of sin. Every time I felt like I was on trial, those were the times I really got into the word and prayed for the saving power of faith.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.
Once again this is why it is important for us to share our testimony before it happens, share our faith, let the world know about the resurrected savior and our hope of glory. You need to speak it before it happens so that when it does happen they will believe. The great delusion is designed to give an alternate explanation to the rapture. UFOs and a close encounter of the third kind.
30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming.
Have we seen that the prince of this world is coming? People talk about 2020 being the “year like no other”. Yes there have been a lot of natural disasters, fires, protests, and pandemic. But then look at 2021, what really makes 2021 stand out to me is the total inability of the world to know the truth or speak the truth. Why? Because they refuse to obey the Lord’s commands and to speak the truth requires that they confess they were wrong and repent, and turn again to God. Why can’t they do that? Because they don’t love Him. But now in 2022 we see the consequences of those decisions. Why is Biden's approval down in the 20% range? It is because people are seeing they are wrong. Inflation, War, the collapse of the stock market, countries going bankrupt, runs on banks, food processing plants being destroyed and famine taking place. Meanwhile the evidence of the election steal has been seen.
He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
The world is going to learn a lesson. We needed an advocate to teach us about Satan, the accuser of the brethren, and to guide us into all the truth. The world needs a great tribulation to learn that the Lord Jesus loved the Father and that they need to do exactly what He commanded us to do. Last year was very polarizing with a lot of hateful rhetoric flying back and forth. This year we are seeing the collapse of the world's economy. At the rapture you will realize that those ones you were attacking loved the Lord and they were the ones you should have been listening to.
“Come now; let us leave.