John 14 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00John chapter 14.
2. 0:02I want to draw attention to the fact
3. 0:05that all of these chapters
4. 0:08are happening in the last [music] hours
5. 0:11of his time on Earth.
6. 0:13These chapters do not describe his
7. 0:16general ministry throughout the three
8. 0:19and a half years. These chapters
9. 0:21describe the last things he [music]
10. 0:24said. John devotes almost half of his
11. 0:28book
12. 0:30to the season from the Passover until
13. 0:33after he ascends into heaven.
14. 0:36This is the most important part that
15. 0:38John wants us to understand.
16. 0:41John chapter 14 verse 1.
17. 0:44Do not let your heart be troubled.
18. 0:47Believe in God. Believe also in me.
19. 0:51In my Father's house are many dwelling
20. 0:53places.
21. 0:55If it were not so, I would have told
22. 0:57you.
23. 0:58For I go to prepare a place for you.
24. 1:01If I go and prepare a place for you, I
25. 1:04will come again.
26. 1:05And I will receive you to myself. That
27. 1:08where I am, there you may be also.
28. 1:12And you know the way where I am going.
29. 1:17Okay. So,
30. 1:19Jesus has been telling them
31. 1:21that where I am going,
32. 1:23you cannot come yet, but you will come.
33. 1:26And Peter is disturbed and he says,
34. 1:28"Where are you going? I will follow you
35. 1:30even to death." He says, "No, you
36. 1:32won't." In your current condition,
37. 1:34[music] you're going to deny me.
38. 1:36Before the rooster crows, you're going
39. 1:38to deny me three times. And then
40. 1:40immediately, he says, "Don't let your
41. 1:42heart be troubled."
42. 1:44Don't be freaked out that you're going
43. 1:45to blow it.
44. 1:47Because where I'm going, I'm going to
45. 1:48bring you along.
46. 1:51The assumption
47. 1:52here is that he's talking about heaven.
48. 1:56And he certainly is talking about
49. 1:57heaven, but that's not the point of what
50. 1:59he's saying.
51. 2:01He is suggesting
52. 2:04that he is going to lead his disciples
53. 2:08into a place of God's indwelling spirit.
54. 2:14And the many rooms that he's talking
55. 2:16about making,
56. 2:18that's not just talking about heaven.
57. 2:20That's talking about building the
58. 2:22spiritual house of the temple of the
59. 2:24church here in this world.
60. 2:28And that's his father's house.
61. 2:31Do you understand?
62. 2:33He's talking about the day of Pentecost.
63. 2:36He's talking about the indwelling of the
64. 2:38Holy Spirit. He's talking about the
65. 2:41change that's going to happen in Peter's
66. 2:43life that's going to turn him from a
67. 2:45scared person who denies Jesus in front
68. 2:48of a servant girl to a very courageous,
69. 2:51powerful person who stands up in front
70. 2:53of a multitude on the day of Pentecost
71. 2:56and tells them they're guilty of killing
72. 2:58the Lord of glory.
73. 3:00Peter followed him. Peter came. He
74. 3:03wasn't ready to come now, but he did
75. 3:05come.
76. 3:07Because the glory that Jesus was living
77. 3:09in was the glory of the almighty spirit
78. 3:12of God living in the frailty of human
79. 3:14flesh.
80. 3:16And that glory he was going to give to
81. 3:18his disciples.
82. 3:19Do not let your heart be troubled.
83. 3:21Believe in God. Believe also in me.
84. 3:24In my father's house are many dwelling
85. 3:26places.
86. 3:27If it were not so, I would have told
87. 3:29you. For I go to prepare a place for
88. 3:32you. If I go prepare a place for you, I
89. 3:35will come again
90. 3:37and receive you to myself that where I
91. 3:40am, there you may be also.
92. 3:44And you know the way where I am going.
93. 3:49So, he's going to come again in the mode
94. 3:52and form of the spirit. He's going to
95. 3:55say just a few verses later, "I will not
96. 3:58leave you orphans. I will come to you."
97. 4:01This isn't talking about the second
98. 4:03coming of Christ in bodily form at the
99. 4:06end of the age. This is talking about
100. 4:08the coming of Christ in the form of the
101. 4:10spirit.
102. 4:11When he comes on the day of Pentecost.
103. 4:14But he says, "And you know the way where
104. 4:16I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord,
105. 4:19we do not know where you are going. How
106. 4:22do we know the way?"
107. 4:24Jesus said to him,
108. 4:26"I am the way,
109. 4:28and the truth, and the life. No one
110. 4:32comes
111. 4:33to the Father
112. 4:35but through me."
113. 4:37So, where he's going is to the Father.
114. 4:41But he's the way.
115. 4:43He's the living, breathing example of
116. 4:46how we are going to be one with the
117. 4:48Father.
118. 4:49That's why he says, "You know the way."
119. 4:52Because he is the way.
120. 4:54"I do nothing of my own initiative, but
121. 4:56only as I hear I speak. That's the way."
122. 5:00"He has taught me what to say and how to
123. 5:02say it. That's the way."
124. 5:04"I lay my life down freely. I don't try
125. 5:07to preserve it. That's the way."
126. 5:10He is the way. He is the example of how
127. 5:14we can be one with the Father, with the
128. 5:18Holy Spirit that lives inside of him.
129. 5:21"If you had known me,
130. 5:23you would have known my Father, also.
131. 5:27From now on, you know him
132. 5:31and have seen him."
133. 5:37Where is he going?
134. 5:39He says, "Because I'm the way, you know
135. 5:42the way, cuz you know how I live."
136. 5:45And he says, "If you knew me, you'd know
137. 5:47my father." And then he tells his
138. 5:48disciples, "From now on, you know him."
139. 5:53You think you just know Jesus, but it's
140. 5:56not just Jesus.
141. 5:58Living in Jesus is the God who is
142. 6:01spirit, the almighty father.
143. 6:04And he says, "You know him,
144. 6:07and you have seen him."
145. 6:10Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the
146. 6:13father, and it is enough for us."
147. 6:17Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long
148. 6:22with you, and yet you have not come to
149. 6:25know me, Philip?"
150. 6:28The father is speaking through Jesus,
151. 6:31saying, "Philip, why don't you see me?
152. 6:34Why don't you recognize
153. 6:36that it's not just a man?"
154. 6:39"Have I been with you so long, and yet
155. 6:43you have not come to know me, Philip?"
156. 6:47Jesus is the father.
157. 6:50That's why Isaiah 9:6 says, "Unto us a
158. 6:54child is born, a son is given, and his
159. 6:58name will be called wonderful counselor,
160. 7:01mighty God, everlasting father, prince
161. 7:05of peace."
162. 7:08"Have I been with you so long, and yet
163. 7:10you do not know me, Philip? He who has
164. 7:13seen me has seen the father. How can you
165. 7:18say, 'Show us the father?'"
166. 7:21Jesus thinks it's absurd
167. 7:24that Philip would say that, because the
168. 7:27whole point of his ministry for all of
169. 7:29these chapters is, "It's not just me. I
170. 7:33am a twofold being. Yes, I am physical.
171. 7:37Yes, I am flesh and bone, but living
172. 7:40inside of me is the Father, and it's his
173. 7:43voice.
174. 7:44It's his presence. It's his glory that
175. 7:48you are encountering.
176. 7:51Do you not believe that I am in the
177. 7:55Father and the Father is in me?
178. 8:00He doesn't say when you've seen me,
179. 8:01you've seen the Father's look-alike.
180. 8:04You didn't He doesn't say when you've
181. 8:05seen me, you've seen the kid who kind of
182. 8:07looks a little like his dad.
183. 8:09That's not what he says at all.
184. 8:11The Father is spirit. You can't visibly
185. 8:14see God. No one has seen God at any
186. 8:16time. Paul said that after
187. 8:19the resurrection.
188. 8:22Amen. But he said Jesus is the image,
189. 8:26the face of the invisible God.
190. 8:32Amen. So, he is the Father changing from
191. 8:37merely a spiritual form and taking on
192. 8:41the flesh of a human being.
193. 8:44And we are seeing a perfect unity
194. 8:47between human and divine.
195. 8:50We are seeing the Father.
196. 8:52Do you not believe that I am in the
197. 8:55Father and the Father is in me? The
198. 8:57words that I say to you, I do not speak
199. 9:00on my own initiative, but the Father
200. 9:03abiding in me, he does his works.
201. 9:09This is the way.
202. 9:12He's like, how can you say show us the
203. 9:14Father?
204. 9:15Everything I've been doing is the
205. 9:17Father.
206. 9:19Believe me that I am in the Father and
207. 9:22the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe
208. 9:25because of the works themselves.
209. 9:28Truly, truly I say to you, he who
210. 9:31believes in me, the works that I do, he
211. 9:34will do also.
212. 9:35And greater works than these he will do
213. 9:38because
214. 9:40I go to the Father.
215. 9:47But when he goes to the Father,
216. 9:49he's going to send the Spirit.
217. 9:51And because the Spirit of the Father
218. 9:53comes inside of us, we can do greater
219. 9:57works
220. 9:58because he goes to the Father.
221. 10:01Now, when John
222. 10:02told about Jesus standing in on the last
223. 10:05and greatest day of the feast and
224. 10:06saying, "If any man thirst, let him come
225. 10:08to me and drink,
226. 10:10out of his innermost being will flow
227. 10:12rivers of living water." He said, "He
228. 10:13spoke this concerning the Spirit whom
229. 10:17those
230. 10:18believing in him presently would future
231. 10:21receive, for as yet the Spirit was not
232. 10:24yet given." Why? Because Jesus was not
233. 10:27yet glorified. Jesus had not ceased his
234. 10:30limitations, his season of emptying
235. 10:33himself. Jesus had not risen to the
236. 10:36throne of the Almighty. Jesus had not
237. 10:39taken his seat as the Lamb on the
238. 10:41throne.
239. 10:43Okay? But when he takes that seat,
240. 10:46then he releases upon humankind
241. 10:50the same Spirit that dwelt in him.
242. 10:54So, he says,
243. 10:56"Truly, truly I say to you, he who
244. 10:58believes in me, the works that I do, he
245. 11:00will do also.
246. 11:02And greater works [clears throat] than
247. 11:03these will he do because I go to the
248. 11:06Father."
249. 11:08Because I'm going to the Father, the
250. 11:10Spirit is coming upon you. And what has
251. 11:12been true and powerful in one individual
252. 11:15is going to be true and powerful in a
253. 11:17Messianic nation, in a mighty movement
254. 11:20of people who simultaneously start
255. 11:23operating in the power of the Spirit.
256. 11:26You remember when he first introduces
257. 11:28the word church,
258. 11:29he says, "Who do you say that I am?" to
259. 11:31Peter. And Peter says, "You are the
260. 11:33Messiah, the son of the living God." He
261. 11:35says, "Blessed are you,
262. 11:37not because you got it right, but
263. 11:39because flesh and blood didn't reveal
264. 11:41this to you, but my father who is in
265. 11:44heaven. And upon this rock, this
266. 11:47precedent of the father
267. 11:49speaking through people on Earth, I'll
268. 11:52build a church. I'll build a community.
269. 11:54I'll build a new nation. It won't be
270. 11:57just one man
271. 11:58in submission to the father.
272. 12:00It'll be the father incarnating himself
273. 12:04in a whole people according to the
274. 12:06individual measure of Christ's gift
275. 12:08deposited to each one.
276. 12:11Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
277. 12:13believes in me, the works that I do, he
278. 12:14will do also. And greater works than
279. 12:16these will he do because I go to the
280. 12:19father. Whatever you ask in my name,
281. 12:22that will I do, so that the father may
282. 12:25be glorified in the son.
283. 12:29If you ask anything in my name, I will
284. 12:31do it.
285. 12:32If you love me,
286. 12:34you will keep my commandments.
287. 12:37What is his commandments? Well, it's
288. 12:38everything he's taught, but it's the
289. 12:40commandment that we love one another.
290. 12:44I will ask the father,
291. 12:47and he will give you
292. 12:48another helper
293. 12:51or advocate.
294. 12:54Paracletos,
295. 12:56one called alongside to help another.
296. 13:00It's like a defense attorney.
297. 13:02Some people translate it as comforter,
298. 13:05but advocate is better.
299. 13:07I will ask the father, and he will give
300. 13:09you another advocate,
301. 13:12a helper who comes alongside you, that
302. 13:15he may be with you forever. That is
303. 13:18the spirit of truth.
304. 13:21The voice
305. 13:22of of the almighty will begin to speak
306. 13:24through you.
307. 13:26Whom the world cannot receive because it
308. 13:29does not see him or know him, but you
309. 13:31know him because he abides with you
310. 13:35and he will be in you.
311. 13:38Well, who abides with them?
312. 13:40Jesus does.
313. 13:42>> [snorts]
314. 13:43>> So, who will be in them? Jesus in the
315. 13:45mode of the Holy Spirit.
316. 13:48You know him. When he talks about the
317. 13:50Holy Spirit, he doesn't say, you don't
318. 13:52know him. It's a very strange thing. He
319. 13:54says, you know him.
320. 13:56You know him. The world doesn't know him
321. 13:59because they don't hear his voice.
322. 14:00Remember he said, why do you not hear my
323. 14:01voice? Because you do not belong to God.
324. 14:04They don't recognize that this isn't
325. 14:07just human thought. This is the almighty
326. 14:10and it's the almighty voice from heaven.
327. 14:13>> [clears throat]
328. 14:13>> It's the voice of God. It's the word
329. 14:16made flesh. The logos, the rhema, the
330. 14:20utterance of the almighty taking on
331. 14:23human form.
332. 14:27The spirit of truth whom the world
333. 14:29cannot receive because it does not see
334. 14:31him or know him.
335. 14:33But you know him because he abides with
336. 14:36you and he will be in you. Who is he
337. 14:39talking about? Next verse.
338. 14:41I will not leave you
339. 14:43as [clears throat] orphans.
340. 14:45I
341. 14:46will come
342. 14:48to you.
343. 14:50Now, if they are orphans before Jesus
344. 14:53comes to them,
345. 14:57then Jesus is the father.
346. 14:59Because we are orphans when we lack the
347. 15:01father, but when we get a father back,
348. 15:04we're no longer orphans.
349. 15:06So, this is what he means when he says,
350. 15:09I will come to you. I will come again so
351. 15:12that where I am, there you will be also.
352. 15:15I will not leave you as orphans. I will
353. 15:19come to you.
354. 15:21This is the promise of Pentecost.
355. 15:24They were orphans when he ascended into
356. 15:26heaven, but he was just changing the
357. 15:28mode of his relationship. He didn't want
358. 15:31them dependent only
359. 15:34on Christ in the his humanity. He wanted
360. 15:36them to become dependent on the spirit.
361. 15:40I will not leave you as orphans. I will
362. 15:42come to you. After a little while, the
363. 15:45world will no longer see me, but you
364. 15:47will see me
365. 15:49because I live, you
366. 15:52will live also.
367. 15:55We're going to see him because we live
368. 15:57also.
369. 15:58The life he's talking about here is not
370. 16:01natural life.
371. 16:02He's talking about resurrection spirit
372. 16:05life.
373. 16:06The life that was symbolized in the
374. 16:09resurrection of Lazarus,
375. 16:11but the resurrection of the Holy Spirit
376. 16:13coming inside of human beings. Because
377. 16:16he lives,
378. 16:18we will live also. And that's how we
379. 16:21will be able to see him.
380. 16:23Beholding the glory of God in the face
381. 16:26of our brothers and sisters.
382. 16:29In that day, you will know that I am in
383. 16:32the Father,
384. 16:34and you
385. 16:35in me,
386. 16:36and I
387. 16:38in you.
388. 16:39We're going to be in Jesus,
389. 16:42but the spirit is going to be inside of
390. 16:44us.
391. 16:45And we're going to we're going to be
392. 16:46able to see
393. 16:47Christ in the mosaic of a people filled
394. 16:51with his presence.
395. 16:53He who has my commandments and keeps
396. 16:55them is the one who loves me.
397. 16:58And he who loves me will be loved by my
398. 17:00father,
399. 17:01and I will love him and will disclose
400. 17:04myself to him.
401. 17:06Disclose myself.
402. 17:09He's going to see who I really am.
403. 17:13Judas,
404. 17:15not Iscariot, said to him, "Lord,
405. 17:19what then has happened that you are
406. 17:21going to disclose yourself to us
407. 17:24and not to the world?"
408. 17:28Jesus answered and said to him,
409. 17:31"If anyone loves me, he will keep my
410. 17:34word,
411. 17:36and my Father will love him,
412. 17:38and we will come to him and make our
413. 17:42home
414. 17:43with him."
415. 17:45"How are you going to disclose
416. 17:47yourself?"
417. 17:48By making my home
418. 17:50in a people.
419. 17:53Do you understand?
420. 17:55So,
421. 17:57there's there's a duality.
422. 18:00>> [snorts]
423. 18:00>> My Father and I, but it's one in the
424. 18:03same. The duality refers to
425. 18:06the dual nature of Christ.
426. 18:09Christ in His fleshly humanity,
427. 18:12in His human form,
428. 18:14and Christ with the almighty Father
429. 18:17living inside of him.
430. 18:19So, that's the we-ness.
431. 18:22Does that make sense? We will come to
432. 18:24him.
433. 18:26So, we will see Jesus in both a physical
434. 18:30and a spiritual form, is what he's
435. 18:32saying. We will come.
436. 18:37There's so much that could be said here.
437. 18:41"He who does not love me does not keep
438. 18:43my words, and the word which you hear is
439. 18:45not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
440. 18:48These things I have spoken to you while
441. 18:50abiding with you. But, the Helper, the
442. 18:53Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
443. 18:55in my name,
444. 18:57will teach you all things and bring to
445. 18:59your remembrance all that I said to
446. 19:01you."
447. 19:03The agency of anointing.
448. 19:08The Helper, the advocate, but he's
449. 19:09already told us that that that helper is
450. 19:12called by the name Jesus.
451. 19:15And that helper is him. I will come to
452. 19:17you.
453. 19:19Peace I leave with you.
454. 19:21My peace, my shalom, I give to you.
455. 19:25Not as the world gives do I give to you.
456. 19:29Do not let
457. 19:31your heart be troubled
458. 19:34nor let it be fearful.
459. 19:37You heard that I said to you, I go away
460. 19:40and
461. 19:40>> [clears throat]
462. 19:41>> I will come to you.
463. 19:45So the reason we shouldn't be afraid
464. 19:48is because he's coming back in the form
465. 19:50of the spirit.
466. 19:52He won't leave us as orphans.
467. 19:55If you loved me, you would have rejoiced
468. 19:58because I go to the Father.
469. 20:00For the Father is greater than I.
470. 20:03Now this is not the co-equal person of
471. 20:06the Son.
472. 20:08This is Christ in his humanity
473. 20:10acknowledging, of course, the Father is
474. 20:11greater than I.
475. 20:13Because the Father refers to that which
476. 20:14is spiritual in the Son.
477. 20:18And the Son refers to that which is
478. 20:19human
479. 20:21in Jesus.
480. 20:22But Jesus refers to both.
481. 20:25Now I have told you before it happens so
482. 20:28that when it happens, you may believe.
483. 20:31I will not speak much more with you
484. 20:33for the ruler of this world is coming
485. 20:36and he has nothing in me.
486. 20:39He has no foothold. He has no claim on
487. 20:41me.
488. 20:42No sin that he can exploit.
489. 20:46No reason or right to control me.
490. 20:49And so when he lets the ruler of this
491. 20:50world touch him and kill him,
492. 20:53he does so to undermine the legitimacy
493. 20:57of Satan's authority.
494. 20:59To make Satan commit a great injustice.
495. 21:03So that there is one place where Satan
496. 21:06has forfeited control over the earth and
497. 21:09that is the place where the blood fell.
498. 21:11Where he touches the son of God but had
499. 21:14no right to do so.
500. 21:17I will not speak much more with you for
501. 21:19the ruler of this world is coming and he
502. 21:22has nothing [music] in me.
503. 21:24But so that the world may know that I
504. 21:26love the Father, I do [music] exactly as
505. 21:29the Father commanded me.
506. 21:31Get up. Let us go from here.
507. 21:34And all of this describes their dialogue
508. 21:37when Judas leaves the room.
509. 21:41And the whole point is to say
510. 21:44I
511. 21:46am a living example of what it means to
512. 21:48be reconciled to God.
513. 21:51In my humanity, I'm in total submission.
514. 21:54The Father is greater than me.
515. 21:56But what I speak is not me, it's him.
516. 21:58And what I do is not my thoughts and
517. 22:00words [music] and ambitions, it's his
518. 22:03works.
519. 22:04But I'm going to bring you into this
520. 22:06same place of indwelling power. The
521. 22:10spirit is going to live inside of you.
522. 22:13We're going to make our home in you. And
523. 22:15you're going to look for me and you're
524. 22:17going to see me even though the world
525. 22:19does not because I'm going to live in a
526. 22:22people who are going to be my body, my
527. 22:25image, my reflection as they are
528. 22:27conformed into the image of God's son
529. 22:31together.
530. 22:32And that people is going to be called a
531. 22:34house and in that house are many rooms.
532. 22:37There's a place for you to fill [music]
533. 22:39and him to fill. Jesus was the whole
534. 22:41tabernacle but when he departs into
535. 22:44heaven, it's going to be a tabernacle of
536. 22:46many rooms. It's going to be a temple of
537. 22:48many [music] spaces, many faces, many
538. 22:50hearts, many gifts. None of us are going
539. 22:53to have it all. He had it all. We're
540. 22:55just going to have a reflection a
541. 22:57portion according to the measure of
542. 22:59Christ's gift but the idea
543. 23:01>> [music]
544. 23:01>> and the whole point is that those who
545. 23:04have the heart to see it are going to be
546. 23:06able to perceive
547. 23:08not us, but him who sent us,
548. 23:12the Father, in a people. Where God says,
549. 23:15"I will live among them. I will walk
550. 23:18among them. I will be their God, and
551. 23:20they shall be my people."
552. 23:23>> [music]
553. 23:34[music]