The Comfort Chapter
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We remember the statement, "Never man spake like this Man." These words were true from many viewpoints. However, of all the wonderful things which our Lord said, there were no words which could have surpassed the statements contained in the 14th chapter of John. Chapter s 15 and 16 complete the message, and present to us the very heart-throbs of the Son of God as He faced the Cross.
Following the message spoken to His disciples is the prayer of Christ to the Father. This is in chapter 17, and it stands as a marvelous revelation of the union and communion of the Father and the Son. We should remember that all of these wonderful words which fell from the lips of the Master, were spoken just after He had kept the passover feast, and had established the Lord's Supper with its breaking of bread, and its drinking of the cup; just after He had risen from the table, and had taken a towel and girding Himself had washed His disciples' feet. It was then, with His Calvary anguish in full view that Christ said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him."
Christ had told Judas, "That thou doest, do quickly." He later on said to Peter, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." With all these occurrences behind Him, He now turned His face stedfastly toward the Cross. Before He went out out to the Garden of Gethsemane, out to the betrayal, to the home of Caiaphas, to the hall of Pilate, to the presence of Herod, to the whipping post, and to the Cross before He went out He spoke these words and uttered this prayer. His whole thought and heart seemed consumed, not with the agony He was about to suffer, not with the ignominy and shame that was about to be heaped upon Him.
He was overwhelmed with a desire to glorify the Father. Never once in His Words to the disciples, or in His prayer to the Father, did He directly refer to the bitterness of the cup He was about to drink.
He knew all that lay before Him. Toward that Cross and its overwhelming floods of sorrow He had been steadily moving since before the world began.
Now, in the face of it all, He speaks of going away to the Father; He speaks of being hated without a cause; He says, "The hour is come," but beyond that, there is no plea for sympathy, and no prayer for deliverance from Calvary, We stand amazed as we note that the final message of our Lord, spoken under such conditions and environments as we have shown, and under the very shadow of the Cross itself, should be so occupied with others, so filled with glory. It will be impossible for us, in one study, to touch the hem of the garment, of the message of John 14:1-31; John 15:1-27 and John 16:1-33, or of the prayer of John 17:1-26. Therefore, we are bringing before you today only an exposition of the depth of one ex-expression found twice in the 14th chapter. It is this: "Let not your heart be troubled." The words occur in chapter John 14:1, and again in John 14:27. The words seem to act as a sort of parenthesis in which are included so many as fourteen different reasons why saints should not be troubled.
We will explain seven of these reasons for comfort.
I. COMFORT, NUMBER ONE THE COMFORT OF FAITH (John 14:1)
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me." It is faith that carries us through the hours of darkness. For three years the disciples had journeyed with their Lord. They had learned to love Him and trust Him. He was now about to be taken away from them. The Cross and its suffering lay just before Him. After His Calvary Passion He was going back to the Father. He knew the Eleven would miss Him. His presence. His words of instruction, and His counsel had been everything to them.
As He thought of His going away, He turned to the disciples and said, "Believe * * in Me."
Perhaps, Christ realized that in His death their faith might be shaken. At least their faith in the fact of His Deity, and His wondrous claims of unity with the Father might be shaken.
For awhile, indeed, as His body lay in the tomb, they were filled with doubt, but when He came forth in resurrection power and glory they were begotten again unto a lively hope.
The great bulwark of the saints from that day unto this has been their faith in God, their Saviour. How could we but believe Him! He has proved Himself worthy of every trust. He has never deceived us. His promises are "yea and amen." Believing, let us not be troubled.
II. COMFORT, NUMBER TWO THE COMFORT OF HOPE (John 14:2)
"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." The Lord Jesus Christ opened the doors of Heaven that we who believe might look through. How vital, therefore, is the first statement. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."
This faith prepares us for the second statement relative to the many mansions. If we believe Him, we can believe that He has gone to prepare abiding places for His saints. We can believe in the new Jerusalem with its streets of gold, its gates of pearl, its river of water clear as crystal, its trees of fruit, its wondrous light, and the mansions there awaiting those whose hope is wedded to faith. We are not troubled though the heavens and the earth be moved, for we know there is a city awaiting us on the other side.
The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us of things which will be shaken, and of things which cannot be shaken. Though the heavens and the earth pass away, though the elements thereof shall melt with fervent heat; yet, we are comforted, for we shall receive a country which cannot be moved.
III. COMFORT, NUMBER THREE CHRIST'S RETURN (John 14:3)
Our Lord said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." Farther on in His message to His disciples, He said that though they would experience sorrow, the time would come when they would rejoice.
The Lord's going away left us in a world which hated Him. That world also hates us. However, sorrow abideth but for the night. "The morning cometh."
The Lord shall descend from Heaven, and the saints shall go forth to meet Him. Paul, in line with the Master's words of comfort, said concerning Christ's Return, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
The Second Coming of Christ is, indeed, a comfort. It is a comfort to hear the Lord say, "A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father."
And so we are watching quietly every day for His Return. We are always lifting our eyes and looking to His high place, for we know that His Coming draweth nigh.
IV. COMFORT, NUMBER FOUR THE WAY TO GLORY (John 14:6)
Thomas questioned the statements of comfort, which the Lord offered, saying, "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way?" He, perhaps, accepted the fact of the mansions in Heaven; and, perhaps, the fact of the Lord's Return; but he did not comprehend how he could bridge so great a chasm as that which lay between earth and Heaven.
Have you ever been traveling in your automobile toward some cherished goal, and yet, you did not know the way? How diligently you looked for "signs." How carefully you studied your maps. How earnestly you spoke to some passer-by, asking him to tell you of the way.
Thomas wanted to know the way to a far better goal than you and your auto had in view. He wanted to know the way from earth to Heaven.
In answer to Thomas the Lord Jesus gave His fourth statement of comfort. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." We first see Nathanael, as he sat under the fig tree reading the story of Jacob's ladder which reached from earth to Heaven. We next see Nathanael as he stood before the Lord Jesus listening while Christ said, "When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee," and "hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
Jesus Christ is the only ladder that spans the distance that lies between this planet and the new heavens and new earth. There is no other way. What a comfort that we know the way, and that we may go over the God-marked route from earth to Heaven!
V. COMFORT, NUMBER FIVE THE VISION OF GOD (John 14:8-9)
The Lord Jesus Christ had spoken of the Father, of Himself, of the mansions, and of the Way. Philip followed Thomas, and interrupting the Lord's discourse, said, "Lord, shew us the Father." They had known the Son, but they thought they had not known the Father. Thus, with the Son, their Lord, returning to the Father, they wanted to know more of the Father.
The Lord Jesus, therefore, added this comfort, by saying, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." How wonderful it all is!
No man hath seen God at any time, and yet, the only begotten Son who dwells in the bosom of the Father, hath declared Him; He hath shown Him forth. He who hath seen Jesus Christ, hath seen the Father.
Our Lord went on to say that the words of the Son had been the words of the Father; that the works of the Son, had been the works of the Father; and that the will of the Son had been the will of the Father. Jesus Christ was, therefore, the very expression of the Father.
Hebrews puts it this way: "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person." Thus, those of us who know Christ know the Father.
VI. COMFORT, NUMBER SIX THE COMFORT OF PRAYER (John 14:13)
With the Lord going far away, there were certain comforts to those who believed in Him. There was the comfort of His preparing mansions for us. There was the comfort of His coming again. There was the comfort that He is the Way from earth to Heaven, and that He is the manifestation of the Father.
Now we are given another comfort. During His absence we are privileged to have direct contact with the Father and with the Son.
The Lord Jesus added this comfort when He said, "Let not your heart be troubled, * * Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My Name, I will do it."
Oh, the blessings of prayer! Oh, the fellowship of prayer! To think that we have the right of approach unto the Father through the Son. To think that while He, in His glorified body, is so far away, yet, in the closet of prayer, He comes to manifest Himself to us, and he gives us the privilege of fellowship with Him.
Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, the Christian's native air. Some people, in these last days, have sought to belittle the prayer-life as though God knew the things we wanted before we asked Him. This being true, does not do away with the necessity of the prayer of petition. By no means, also, does it lessen the chief value of prayer the personal, direct, and meaningful fellowship of the saint and the Saviour; of the saved with the Father.
VII. COMFORT, NUMBER SEVEN THE COMFORT OF THE SPIRIT (John 14:16)
Even with the blessing of prayer assured to us, we might feel our inability to effectively reach the Father through the channel of prayer. Therefore, the Lord added a seventh comfort. He said: "Let not your heart be troubled." Then He added, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth." The disciples thought, perhaps, that they would be left orphans, but Christ said, "I will come to you."
He had spoken of His personal Return in the clouds; of His bodily Coming Again. Here, however, He adds another comfort. The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth and power, would be sent down, shortly, as a Comforter.
In the Greek, the word is, " Paracletos." The word, literally translated is, "One at your side." In other words Christ said, "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another One to journey with you."
During three years, wherever they had gone, the Lord had been with them. They had walked and talked together, as friend walketh and talketh with friend. Truly they would miss Him, but He said, "I will send you another One to walk at your side." Yet not merely another, because. He Himself would, in that One, the third Person of the Trinity, be with them.
This Comforter was to keep them in touch, through prayer, with their departed Lord. He, the Comforter, was also to make their prayers effectual.
No wonder that before the Lord closed the message of His comforts, He included the coming of the Spirit. Now, He could add His final word: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you." Blessed are the comforts which He has extended. Blessed the comforts which we have received. May we never let our hearts be troubled.
AN ILLUSTRATION
A young man said to his father, "I'm going off: I will write to you at the end of seven years and tell you where I am." Many years have passed since that son went away, and for years that father has been going to the depot in the village on the arrival of every train, and when he hears the whistle in the distance he is thrilled with excitement, and he waits till all the passengers have come out, and he then waits until the train has gone clear out of sight again, and then he goes home, hastening back to the next train: and he will be at every train until that son comes back, unless the son waits until the father be dead. But ah, the greater patience of God! He has been waiting for you not seven years, not nine years, but, for some of you, twenty years, thirty years, forty years, fifty years waiting, calling waiting, calling, until nothing but omnipotent patience could have endured it.
Taken from Talmage's sermon "Caring for Your Soul.