3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
The rapture is an essential part of the gospel. Many have distorted this message to be that we will live with the Lord in Heaven. But what is He saying? He rose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven with a purpose to prepare a place for us to also join Him. We are following in His footsteps, He had an earthly ministry we have an earthly ministry.
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
He rose from the dead, we will be raptured. Not only the living but the dead in Christ will also rise and be raptured.
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Jesus let His experiences of the Father shine through in His ministry. In the same way if people see your ministry then they should know Jesus and see Jesus.
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.
Real freedom, real liberty is when your head is covered. When I speak the Lord’s words I am free. If you don’t like it, if it offends you, it isn’t me that is offending you, it is the Lord. Your issue is not with me, it is with God. In one very short life Jesus changed the age, He changed the world. Yet the words He spoke, He didn’t speak on His own authority. He came from God the Father with a message from God the Father and spoke the words of the Father with the authority of the Father. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. God promises us that His word will not return void. Aspire to speak God’s words and those words will be powerful and effective.
11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
The strongest, most compelling evidence was the resurrection of the dead. That is why I say the rapture is an essential element of the gospel. Jesus told them beforehand that He would be raised from the dead and they didn’t know what He was talking about. In the same way we tell people about the rapture and they don’t know what we are talking about. But, when it happens it then they will know and they can repent and believe.
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.
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.
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. 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. Turn on Fox and you will hear how great that very same thing is. 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”. 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 we are in Christ, in God, and Christ is in us as the hope of glory.
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.
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.
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.
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 what really makes this year 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.
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. “Come now; let us leave. Amen, come Lord Jesus, let us leave!
