John 14:21
Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him."
Sermons
Apprehending GodA. W. TozerJohn 14:21
Character and Privilege of True ChristiansJ. Brown, D. D.John 14:21
Christ Known Only to the LovingHomiletic MonthlyJohn 14:21
Love to ChristT. Kidd.John 14:21
Love to ChristA. Maclaren, D. D.John 14:21
Obedience the Proof of LoveA. Warrack, M. A.John 14:21
Obedience the Sign of LoveMrs. Geldart.John 14:21
Practical ReligionT. H. Leary, D. C. L.John 14:21
The Secret of Self-ConsecrationJ. Culross, D. D.John 14:21
The Comforts of ChristB. Thomas John 14:18-21














The "little while" doubtless refers to the very short time which was to elapse before Jesus' removal from the view of men. Thenceforth, he taught, the world should lose sight of him, but he should be plainly apprehended by the gaze of faith.

I. UPON CHRIST'S DEPARTURE THE WORLD CEASED TO SEE HIM.

1. Whilst Jesus was upon earth, the unenlightened and unspiritual saw but little of him. It had been foretold that men should "see no beauty in him." "His own received him not." They saw in him a Friend of sinners, a carpenter's son, One unlearned. But they saw in him no Divine glory, for they had no spiritual eyesight with which to discern it. Some there were who wished to behold his form and features, e.g. Zacchaeus, Herod, the Greeks, etc. But generally speaking, the Jews, because there was no sign such as they desired to witness, cared not to see anything of him. In his humiliation Jesus disappointed the expectations of the carnal, and offended their prejudices.

2. After Jesus was crucified, he was not - to the apprehension of the world. Those who had seen but little of the Lord during his ministry, after his departure saw nothing of him. His enemies thought they had succeeded in altogether expelling hint from the world he came to save, and they had no further concern with him. And ever since, to the irreligious, Jesus is invisible and as it were non-existent. Perverted by prejudice and self-sufficiency, their minds are open to what interests them, but are closed against any communication with the Savior and the Lord of men.

II. WHEN CHRIST WAS HIDDEN FROM THE EYES OF THE UNSPIRITUAL, HE WAS SEEN BY HIS FRIENDS MORE CLEARLY THAN BEFORE. There were those who learned to see in Jesus after his departure more than they had seen during his residence on earth. Just as the sailor can see a distant ship which the landsman's eyes cannot discover; just as the scholar can read a difficult manuscript which is unintelligible to the unlearned; just so there were those who, during Christ's ministry of humiliation, saw him to be full of grace and truth. Lowly, penitent, devout souls recognized his authority and felt his love. And after his departure, taught and illumined by the Spirit, they beheld indeed their Friend and King. Like the blind man whose eyes Jesus opened, they saw their Benefactor, believed, and worshipped. Stephen saw him in the hour of martyrdom; Saul saw him by the way. Christians see their Lord, in all the glory of his moral attributes, in all the adaptation of his mediatorial grace, in all the authority of his world-wide rule. Christians see their Lord so as to correct their views of all beside, and especially to moderate their earthly affections by the recognition of his superior excellence. Christians see their Lord as the Guide of their present course, and as the Object of their aspiring hope. He is now discerned by the eye of faith, and this vision is the pledge and the preparation for a vision fuller, clearer, and immortal. Faith shall give place to sight. The confident expectation of the Christian is that expressed by the apostle in the simple but soul-stirring words, "We shall see him as he is." - T.

He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.
I. THE REASONS WHICH JUSTIFY ITS EXERCISE. If we love an object, it is because of something amiable in that object.

1. And is there not real excellency in Jesus Christ — "the brightness of His Father's glory," etc. "He is altogether lovely!"

2. Is He not nearly related to us (Hebrews 2:11; Matthew 12:48-50)?

3. Is He not our Friend, our kindest and best Benefactor? "He gave His life a ransom for us."

II. THE PROPERTIES BY WHICH IT IS DISTINGUISHED. It must be —

1. Sincere (Romans 12:9).

2. Supreme. Love to any object should rise according to its worth.

3. Constant.

III. THE TEST BY WHICH IT IS ASCERTAINED. It is good to have the commandments of Christ, to be born in a land of Bibles; but this is not enough. He that hath them, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Him. And what is this keeping the commandments of Christ? Do they keep them —

1. Who are ignorant of them, and who discover little concern to become acquainted with them?

2. Who have no relish for them?

3. Who do not obey them?

IV. THE REWARD WITH WHICH IT IS CONNECTED.

1. The favour of the greatest Father.

2. The affection of the kindest Saviour.

3. The presence of the best Friend.From the whole, learn —

1. The insufficiency of external privileges.

2. The honour which attends real Christianity.

3. The proper use of religious ordinances, and the spirit in which we should attend them.

(T. Kidd.)

I. THE OBEDIENCE WHICH IS THE SIGN AND TEST OF LOVE. The words are here substantially equivalent to ver. 15. Only the former begins with the root and traces it upwards to its fruits, love blossoming into obedience. Our text reverses the process. Note —

1. How remarkably our Lord here declares the possession of His commandments to be a sign of love to Him. "He that hath," etc. There are two ways of having: in the Bible, and in the heart; before my eye as a law that I ought to obey, or within my will, as a power that shapes it. And the latter is the only kind of "having" that Christ regards as real and valid. Love possesses the knowledge of the loved one's will. Do we not all know how strange is the power of divining desires that goes along with true affection, and how the power, not only of divining, but of treasuring, these desires is the thermometer of our true love. Some of us, perhaps, have laid away in sacred, secret places tattered yellow old bits of paper with the words of a dear one on them that we would not part with. "He that hath My commandments" laid up in lavender in the recesses of his faithful heart, he it is "that loveth Me."

2. Obedience: There are two motives for keeping commandments, one, because they are commanded, and one because we love Him that commands. The one is slavery, the other is liberty. The one is like the Arctic regions, cold and barren, the other is like tropical lands, full of warmth and sunshine, glorious and glad fertility.

3. The form of the sentence suggests how easy it is for people to delude themselves about their love to Jesus Christ. That emphatic "He," and the putting first of the character before He states its root, are directed against false pretensions to love. The love that Christ stamps with His hallmark is no mere emotion, however passionate and sweet; no mere sentiment however pure and deep. The tiniest dribble that drives a mill is better than a Niagara that rushes and foams and tumbles idly. And there is ever so much so-called love to Jesus Christ that goes masquerading up and down the world; from which the paint is stripped by the sharp application of the words of my text.

II. THE DIVINE LOVE AND MANIFESTATION WHICH REWARD OUR LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. Note —

1. The extraordinary boldness of that majestic saying: "If a man loves Me, My Father will love him." God regards our love to Jesus Christ as containing in it the germ of all that is pleasing in His sight. And so, upon our hearts, if we love Christ, there falls the benediction of the Father's love.

2. Of course, our Lord here is not beginning at the very beginning of everything. "We love Him because He first loved us" digs a story deeper down than the words of my text. That being understood, here is a great lesson. It is not all the same to God whether a man is a scoundrel or a saint. God's love is a moral love; and whilst the sunbeams play upon the ice and melt it sometimes, they flash back from, and rest more graciously and fully on, the rippling stream into which the ice has turned. God loves them that love Him not, but the depths of His heart and the secret sacred favours of His grace can only be bestowed upon those who love Christ and obey Him.

3. If, then, we seek to know that dear Lord, the path is plain. Walk on the way of obedience, and Christ will meet us with the unveiling of more and more of His love. To live what we believe is the sure way to increase its amount. To be faithful to the little is the certain way to inherit the much. He gives us His whole self at the first, but we traverse the breadth of the gift by degrees. The flower is but a bud when we get it, and as we hold it, it opens its petals to the light.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

I. SOME WHO THINK THEY LOVE JESUS ARE MISTAKEN AS TO THE GENUINENESS AND SINCERITY OF THEIR LOVE TO HIM. There is an emphasis on "He it is," singling Him out as the only real lover. Men may be misled as to the reality of their love.

1. By regarding strong, keen and frequent feelings of sorrow and compassion for Christ as an innocent sufferer, as evidence of true love. Such an emotion is an element in, but is not love.

2. By substituting an intellectual and moral admiration of Christ. But many infidels evince this.

3. By counting sufficient an outward and decorous attention to His laws and institutions. This is sufficient to keep from sins of a gross nature; but at the bottom it may be self-love, a bid for the world's good opinion.

II. THEY ONLY WHO HAVE AND KEEP CHRIST'S COMMANDMENTS TRULY LOVE HIM.

1. Having Christ's commandments implies —(1) A recognition of them as of binding authority being enforced by His love.(2) An intelligent appreciation of their meaning and spirit.(3) Treasuring them in the head and heart.

2. Keeping them. We may have without keeping them. Practice and knowledge must keep step.

3. Here is —(1) A test of Christian profession (1 John 2:3-5; 1 John 5:1-3).(2) A ground of comfort to doubting Christians. Their Lord does not insist on warm feelings which are fluctuating, but on obedience.(3) An inducement to obedience.

(A. Warrack, M. A.)

A king in ancient times made some wise laws for his people, and most of them loved and reverenced him as a father, but not all. Some who professed a great affection for him were very unwilling to obey him; and a few complained that his laws were too strict, and, whenever they could do so without fear of punishment, they broke them. Now the king had a country far off where troubles and tumults bad arisen, and the governor wrote to ask the king to go and visit his discontented people, and try if his own presence would win them to obedience and love. The king promised to go; but before he left, he gave every family a copy of the laws. He was away a long time, and on his return there were loud rejoicings. But when he came to his council chamber, there were some sad stories of rebellion and disobedience, not among the poor alone, but among the nobles, who had been louder than all the rest in their professions of love and songs of welcome. But when the king, having discovered the offenders, asked for a copy of the laws, and one by one read them to the rebels, they were confused and silent. Some, indeed, had lost the paper he had given them; some had wilfully burnt it, and declared that they would not obey; many had broken one or more of the rules. He was a gentle king, but firm and just; and so he gathered his disobedient subjects together, and looking sorrowfully at them, he gravely asked each, "If he loved his sovereign?" They all answered "Yes," but on holding up a copy of his laws, they all hung down their heads. "He that hath my laws and keepeth them," he said, "he, and he only, loves me." So with Christ's laws.

(Mrs. Geldart.)

Homiletic Monthly.
I. WE CANNOT KNOW CHRIST THROUGH THE INTELLECT. The intellect has tried for ages to find out God, and after all its investigations it has pronounced Him unknowable, "The world by wisdom knew not God."

II. WE CANNOT KNOW CHRIST THROUGH THE IMAGINATION. Imagination has filled the world with myths, superstitions and idols, but has never, unaided by the heart, found Christ.

III. WE CANNOT KNOW CHRIST THROUGH AN EXCITED CONSCIENCE. Conscience has formulated a god of vengeance. Christ is God and reveals Himself to the loving.

(Homiletic Monthly.)

I. THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF TRUE CHRISTIANS.

1. They love Christ.(1) They love Himself —

(a)As a Divine person, glorious in moral perfection and loveliness.

(b)As the incarnate Divinity, the image, of Him whom we should "love with all the heart, and soul, and strength."

(c)As the God-man Mediator, the Only-begotten of Him whose name and nature is love.

(d)As the man, Christ Jesus, possessed of every quality which can command esteem and excite love.(2) This love extends to everything in the Saviour — His holiness, as well as His grace; His laws, as well as His promises; the yoke He lays on them, as well as the crown He is to confer; His house, His word, His day, His people, His cause.(3) This love leads them to seek intercourse with Him; they cannot be happy away from Him.(4) This love is common to all the saints. They have not all the same measure of it — that depends on the measure of their knowledge and faith and capacity of affection; but they have all the same kind of love.(5) And as this love is common to all the saints, so it is peculiar to them. To the unbelieving world "He has no form nor comeliness," etc.

2. They have His commandments, words, sayings. These are not to be confined to what was preceptive in our Lord's teaching; they include all His communications.(1) To "have" is something more than to possess the Bible, or even to have a general knowledge of its contents. It is to have it in the mind and the heart.(2) They who receive our Lord's words cannot but love Him, for they, in the degree in which they receive them, know and believe Him to be the proper object of supreme affection.

3. They keep His commandments. As it is by having the words of Christ that men come to love Him, so it is by keeping His words that they manifest and prove their love to Him. They must be kept —(1) As He gives us them. We must not detract from them, nor add to them, nor modify them (Deuteronomy 4:2).(2) In the mind. There are men who find it disquieting to them, and seek to get rid of it as soon as possible. There are others who, ceasing to give it any attention, suffer it to "slip out of their mind." And there are others who permit, who invite, "the wicked one to come and take away what was sown in their hearts." But the lover of Christ "lets the word of Christ dwell" in his heart, and often reviews it as his most precious treasure.(3) By our having no other opinions on the subjects to which they refer than those unfolded in them, and by fashioning the whole system of our sentiments and judgments with a reference to them.

(a)The promises are to be kept by firmly believing them in the most trying circumstances.

(b)The warnings are to be kept by keeping at a distance from their subjects, and by cherishing a habitual holy fear of sin.

(c)His commandments, with regard to tempers and dispositions, are to be kept by "keeping our hearts with all diligence."

(d)Those with regard to our general conduct are to be kept by our not following "the course of this world," but walking according to the will of God.

(e)Those with regard to institutions are to be kept by 'observing all things whatsoever He has commanded.

II. THEIR PECULIAR PRIVILEGES.

1. They are loved of the Father and the Son.(1) As elected in sovereign love to eternal life.(2) As actually united to Christ by believing.(3) As transformed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

2. This love is discovered in the Son's manifesting Himself to them, and in the Father and the Son coming to them, and making their abode with them.

III. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO.

1. He only who possesses the character can enjoy the privilege.

2. He who possesses the character must enjoy the privilege.

3. The measure in which the character is possessed is the measure in which the privilege is enjoyed. The more a man loves Christ, the more must both God and Christ love him.

(J. Brown, D. D.)

Here is the secret of self-consecration: in our being "possessed" by the love of Christ; and feeling — He loves me more than I love Him. Possessed by this love, I yield myself wholly and joyfully to Him. My hand is His, redeemed by Him, sacred to Him, and cannot do unholy work; my foot is His, and cannot go on unholy errands; my ear is His, and cannot listen to unholy words; my eye is His, and cannot look upon unholy deeds; my tongue is His, and cannot utter unholy speeches; my mind is His, and cannot think unholy thoughts; my heart is His, and cannot cherish unholy feelings and desires; my whole being is His, redeemed by Him, sacred to Him, and is surrendered to His will.

(J. Culross, D. D.)

Since a vestment ornamented with gold is a beautiful and conspicuous object, but seems much more so to us when it is worn upon our own persons, thus also the precepts of God are beautiful when but praised, but appear far more lovely when they are rightly observed, and conspicuous in our own life.

(T. H. Leary, D. C. L.)

People
Jesus, Judas, Philip, Thomas
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Clearly, Commandments, Commands, Disclose, Keepeth, Keeping, Keeps, Laws, Love, Loved, Loves, Loveth, Loving, Manifest, Myself, Obeys, Reveal
Outline
1. Jesus comforts his disciples with the hope of heaven;
5. professes himself the way, the truth, and the life, and one with the Father;
13. assures their prayers to be effectual;
15. requires obedience;
16. promises the Comforter;
27. and leaves his peace with them.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 14:21

     2212   Christ, head of church
     2425   gospel, requirements
     5030   knowledge, of Christ
     5895   intimacy
     7922   fellowship, with God
     8115   discipleship, nature of
     8117   discipleship, benefits
     8136   knowing God, effects
     8209   commitment, to Christ
     8296   love, nature of
     8316   orthodoxy, in NT
     8405   commands, in NT
     8454   obedience, to God

John 14:10-24

     5627   word

John 14:15-21

     5805   comfort

John 14:20-21

     2057   Christ, obedience

Library
Paul a Pattern of Prayer
TEXT: "If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it."--John 14:14. Jesus testified in no uncertain way concerning prayer, for not alone in this chapter does he speak but in all his messages to his disciples he is seeking to lead them into the place where they may know how to pray. In this fourteenth chapter of John, where he is coming into the shadow of the cross and is speaking to his disciples concerning those things which ought to have the greatest weight with them, the heart of his message
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

May 22 Evening
The Spirit helpeth our infirmities.--ROM. 8:26. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.--What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?--It is God which worketh in you. We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 7 Morning
The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.--JOHN 14:26. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.--If ye . . . being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?--Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 22 Morning
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.--JOHN 14:27. The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.--Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches. and knoweth not who shall gather them.--What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. Martha, Martha, thou are careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 14 Morning
My Father is greater than I.--JOHN 14:28. When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven.--My Father, and your Father; . . . my God and your God. As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.--The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.--Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Lord, shew us
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 13 Morning
He hath prepared for them a city.--HEB. 11:16. 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.--An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.--Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.--Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 26 Evening
He is able . . . to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.--HEB. 7:25. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.--Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.--He which hath begun a good work
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 23 Morning
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.--JOHN 14:16,17. It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if l depart, I will send him unto you. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.--Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.--The Spirit . . . helpeth our infirmities;
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 21 Evening
The communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.--II COR. 13:14. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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.--He shall not speak of himself. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 29. "He Dwelleth with You and Shall be in You" (John xiv. 17).
"He dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John xiv. 17). Do not fail to mark these two stages in Christian life. The one is the Spirit's work in us, the other is the Spirit's personal coming to abide within us. All true Christians know the first, but few, it is to be feared, understand and receive the second. There is a great difference between my building a house and my going to reside in that house and make it my home. And there is a great difference between the Holy Spirit's work in regenerating
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 9. "Because I Live Ye Shall Live Also" (John xiv. 19).
"Because I live ye shall live also" (John xiv. 19). After having become adjusted to our Living Head and the source of our life, now our business is to abide, absorb and grow, leaning on His strength, drinking in His life, feeding on Him as the Living Bread, and drawing all of our resources from Him in continual dependence and communion. The Holy Spirit will be the great Teacher and Minister in this blessed process. He will take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and He will impart them
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May 21. "We Will Come unto Him and Make Our Abode with Him" (John xiv. 23).
"We will come unto Him and make our abode with Him" (John xiv. 23). The Bible has always held out two great promises respecting Christ. First, I will come to you; and, second, I will come into you. For four thousand years the world looked forward to the fulfilment of the first. The other is the secret which Paul says has been hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to His saints, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is just as great a revelation of God as the incarnation
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 1. "We Will Come unto Him and Make Our Abode with Him" (John xiv. 23).
"We will come unto him and make our abode with him" (John xiv. 23). This idea of trying to get a holiness of your own, and then have Christ reward you for it, is not His teaching. Oh, no; Christ is the holiness; He will bring the holiness, and come and dwell in the heart forever. When one of our millionaires purchases a lot, with an old shanty on it, he does not fix up the old shanty, but he gets a second-hand man, if he will have it, to tear it down, and he puts a mansion in its place. It is not
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May 3. "My Peace I Give unto You" (John xiv. 27).
"My peace I give unto you" (John xiv. 27). Here lies the secret of abiding peace--God's peace. We give ourselves to God and the Holy Spirit takes possession of our breast. It is indeed "Peace, Peace." But it is just then that the devil begins to turn us away, and he does it through our thoughts, diverting or distracting them as occasion requires. This is the time to prove the sincerity of our consecration and the singleness of our heart. If we truly desire His Presence more than all else, we will
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Faith in God and Christ
'Let not your heart be troubled ... believe in God, believe also in Me.'--JOHN xiv. 1. The twelve were sitting in the upper chamber, stupefied with the dreary, half-understood prospect of Christ's departure. He, forgetting His own burden, turns to comfort and encourage them. These sweet and great words most singularly blend gentleness and dignity. Who can reproduce the cadence of soothing tenderness, soft as a mother's hand, in that 'Let not your heart be troubled'? And who can fail to feel the tone
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Many Mansions'
'In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.'--JOHN xiv. 2. Sorrow needs simple words for its consolation; and simple words are the best clothing for the largest truths. These eleven poor men were crushed and desolate at the thought of Christ's going; they fancied that if He left them they lost Him. And so, in simple, childlike words, which the weakest could grasp, and in which the most troubled could find peace, He said to them, after having encouraged their
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Peace
'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.'--JOHN xiv. 27. 'Peace be unto you!' was, and is, the common Eastern salutation, both in meeting and in parting. It carries us back to a state of society in which every stranger might be an enemy. It is a confession of the deep unrest of the human heart. Christ was about closing His discourse, and the common word of leave-taking came naturally to His
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Love and Obedience
'If ye love Me, keep My commandments.'--JOHN xiv, 15. As we have seen in former sermons, the keyword of the preceding context is 'Believe!' and that word passes now into 'Love.' The order here is the order of experience. There is first the believing gaze upon the Christ as He is revealed--the image of the invisible God. That kindles love, and prompts to obedience. There is another very beautiful and subtle link of connection between these words and the preceding. Our Lord has just been saying, 'Whatsoever
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Works and Ours
'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. 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.'--JOHN xiv. 12-14. I have already pointed out in a previous sermon that the key-word of this context is 'Believe!' In three successive verses we find it, each time widening
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Comforter Given
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; 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.'--JOHN xiv. 16,17. The 'and' at the beginning of these words shows us that they are continuous with and the consequence of what precedes. 'If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments, and I will pray ... and He will
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Absent Present Christ
'I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.'--JOHN xiv. 18,19. The sweet and gracious comfortings with which Christ had been soothing the disciples' fears went very deep, but hitherto they had not gone deep enough. It was much that they should know the purpose of His going, whither He went, and that they had an interest in His departure. It was much that they should have before them the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Forerunner
'... 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.'--JOHN xiv. 2, 3. What divine simplicity and depth are in these words! They carry us up into the unseen world, and beyond time; and yet a little child can lay hold on them, and mourning hearts and dying men find peace and sweetness in them. A very familiar image underlies them. It was customary for travellers in those old days to send
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gifts of the Present Christ
'At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. 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.'--JOHN xiv. 20, 21. We have heard our Lord in the previous verse unveiling His deepest and strongest encouragements to His downcast followers. These were: His presence with them, their true sight of Him, and their participation in His life. The
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Who Bring Christ
'Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 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. 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.'--JOHN xiv. 22-24. This Judas held but a low place amongst the Apostles. In all the lists he is one of the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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