Calvary Road Baptist Church
“PARTING PROMISES”
John 14.18-24
We are living in difficult times. We are experiencing governmental overreach of a type never before seen in the history of the United States.
For the first time in the history of the human race, governmental agencies and officeholders have mandated a pandemic quarantine of healthy individuals. Previous health crises were met by governmentally imposed quarantines of individuals who were sick. Thus, citizens of the United States and other countries face unprecedented restrictions of Constitutional liberties.
Of course, this creates a dilemma for Christians who seek to be law-abiding and submissive to governmental authority. Our primary desire is to comply with lawful orders and directives. And this is only right because a signature characteristic of a Bible-believing and spiritual believer in Jesus Christ is humility, which shows itself by compliance with appropriate exercises of God-given authority.
On the one hand, we want to be good citizens of our country, in our state, and as neighbors in our community. But what happens in the case of governmental overreach, and the misuse and abuse of public officeholders, who apply entirely different rules of conduct for themselves and their cronies than for the population at large?
One example is the mayor of Chicago, permitting herself to go to a barber for a haircut while warning every other citizen of Chicago that they would be arrested for going to the barber themselves.[1] Another example is the governor of Michigan, who went so far during the lockdown as to prohibit the purchase of seeds so that Michiganders would not be tempted to go outside in the springtime to plant their gardens.[2] At the same time, her husband made use of his relationship with the governor to arrange for his boat to be taken out of storage and placed on the lake, though no one else in the state was allowed to have a boat with a motor on the lake.[3] A third example is our governor of California, Gavin Newsome, who has decided to shut down most businesses in California, exempting the vineyards in the Napa Valley region and the vineyard he owns.[4] Isn’t that wonderful?
And now for the most recent imperious edict of our state’s governor. Gavin Newsome, with a license to practice law, but no license to practice medicine that I am aware of, and no formal theological training that I am aware of, has decreed that congregations of worshipers in the state of California are prohibited from singing in worship.[5] Has that ever before happened in human history, that worshipers were denied permission to worship according to the dictates of their conscience by singing? Oh, I know that Christians have often been persecuted for worshiping, with laws passed against Christians gathering to worship. But I am unaware, and I read a lot of history, of any time in history when Christians have been allowed to worship but not allowed to sing.
How are we to take this as Christians? We are told, as if on the authority of medical experts, that singing increases the risk of spreading the virus. Really? And this from the same people who initially told us that wearing masks was unnecessary and inappropriate?[6] And this from the same authority structures that mandate warnings on the packages of masks being sold that the masks are ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus.
For the last several weeks, I have noticed that restaurants are opening, legally, and with the approval of the authorities, so long as you are wearing a mask when you enter the restaurant. You are not allowed to enter the restaurant without a mask. The mask may be good, bad, or indifferent. The mask may be made of paper or cloth. But without a mask, you are denied entrance. With a mask, you are granted access. But in every case, once you enter the restaurant and are seated at your table, you may remove the mask.
Of course, it is pointless to keep a mask on in a restaurant while you are trying to drink a beverage or eat food. The mask gets in the way. So, why wear the mask? The purpose of wearing the mask is so obvious that only a child needs an explanation. The mask serves no medical or public health function besides calming the nerves of the uninformed, the misinformed, and the timid. But I’m okay with that.
What I am seriously concerned with is the state government, and perhaps governments at the more local level, presuming to tell Christians how they ought to worship God. I am exasperated when anyone tells me how I ought to worship God. Were I you, I would refuse to listen to anyone who tried to tell me how to worship God. You have no business allowing me to tell you how to worship God. I strenuously object to not only the governor of California telling me how to worship God, but I also strenuously object to any pastor of any church telling me or anyone else how to worship God.
To tell me how to worship God is an outrage to my Christian sensibilities. It infuriates me as a child of God that anyone would presume to tell me how to worship God, other than God. So you can understand my irritation, when not only the governor presumes to tell me how to worship God, presumes to tell anyone how to worship God, but also violates the U.S. Constitution in doing so, violating not only the Constitution of the United States but also the Bible.
No one has any business telling anyone how to worship God. What I am called by God to do is not tell you or anyone how to worship God. My calling as a minister of the Gospel is to declare to you the unsearchable riches of Christ and to share with you the whole counsel of God’s word. As I do that, I will seek to make the application of Bible truth to your life, as the Bible shows is appropriate.
However, once that is done it is up to you, as a free moral agent, as an individual who enjoys the benefits of soul liberty, to do that which you believe is right before God to do, not violating your conscience, or the will of God as you understand it. This, of course, will result in different decisions made by different people based upon their understanding of their Christian liberty, of the U.S. Constitution, and the Word of God. Bravo! You may choose to attend public worship or stay at home. That is your choice before God.
You may choose to sit in our auditorium, exposed to the singing of the choir and the preaching of God’s Word, wearing or not wearing a mask. That is your choice before God. You may also choose to sit in one of our social distancing rooms, where people are more widely spaced, where people are wearing masks, and where people watch the preaching of the Word of God via live stream, with a projected video and speakers.
It is not my business to tell you what to do. I don’t think it is Governor Newsome’s business to tell you what to do. I don’t think it’s a husband’s business to tell his wife what to do. I don’t think it’s a wife’s business to tell her husband what to do. I believe it is appropriate to convey Bible truth and to make requests of others. I think this to be consistent with what the Word of God teaches us about our standing before God, our reputation before our fellow man, and our God-given rights as free men and free women.
With our challenging situation now reviewed, let me urge you to turn in your Bible to John 14.18–24. As you are making your way to that passage, allow me to review and remind you of the similarities that exist between the mental states of the Lord Jesus Christ’s remaining 11 apostles as they were walking from the Upper Room toward the Garden of Gethsemane, and the state of mind of many of us sitting here in the auditorium, sitting in one of our social distancing rooms here on the property, or sitting at home and watching this message from God’s Word via live streaming.
Only minutes before the Lord Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles had celebrated Passover. Before the Passover meal, the Lord Jesus Christ had demonstrated an astonishing humility by washing the feet of all 12 apostles, a task usually reserved to the lowest of personal servants.
Near the end of the Passover meal, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the communion of the Lord’s Supper. I have asked again and again (almost every time I refer to Passover and the Lord’s Supper) why the Lord Jesus Christ did not invite His mother to this meal? Why did the Lord Jesus Christ not invite His siblings to this meal? And why the Lord Jesus Christ did not ask Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to this meal, though we know they lived nearby?
Of particular importance to these men’s mental state was the Lord’s declaration that He was leaving them, and they could not follow Him. This left them very unsettled. They did not know what was coming next. They had no idea He would be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in about 12 hours would be hanging from a cross on Golgotha’s brow.
What is essential for us to know now is that they were unsettled. What is crucial for us to pay attention to at this point is their discomfort, their disorientation, and their nervousness about their present situation and their immediate future. In that respect, my friends, their state of mind may approximate your state of mind. Their nervous disposition and un-settlement are similar to the situation many find themselves in, to a greater or lesser degree, because of what’s going on with this pandemic. Will I keep my job or lose my job? Are the restaurants open or are they closed?
Will the shelves be stocked the next time I go to the grocery store, or not? Will this small retail business survive, or will it be shuttered? Why are large stores open, and small stores shuttered? Why are conservative protests decried while Antifa riots are not criticized? We know things are going to change as a result of this lockdown, but we don’t know what those changes are going to be, or when they’re going to occur, or whether or not we will be able to recover?
Some of you in this room have already lost your jobs. Some of you in this room may soon lose your jobs. Some of you in this room desperately need to get jobs, not only because your family cannot survive without your income, but because you’re standing as a husband and as the head of your home requires that you be gainfully employed and providing for your family. If you are not in some sense unsettled, it might be necessary to call the undertaker because now that you are dead, your body will spoil unless it is buried.
Thankfully, the same Lord and Savior those 11 apostles were walking with and were listening to is our glorified, exalted, and enthroned Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Therefore, what the Lord Jesus Christ did with those men, and said to those men, has application to you and me, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Though you have John 14.18–24 located, I want to read to you Second Peter 1.4:
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
The 11 men who strolled with the Lord Jesus Christ that evening faced a dilemma. With an unknown future, they were not sure what they ought to do and how they ought to live. So, what the Lord Jesus Christ provided for them, as we shall see this morning, were promises.
The verse that I just read to you is the Apostle Peter’s declaration of the vital role that promises ought to play in the life of every Christian. Many of the promises that we have been given will not be fulfilled in this lifetime. But God is true, His Son is true, His Spirit is true, and His Word is true. What we have been given and what we must have are promises. These are promises to know and promises to cling to.
The question, of course, is, what is a promise? Webster’s definition of promise is “a statement that is the basis for an expectation.”[7] The Greek word that is translated promise in this verse, á¼paggá½³lmata, reflects that same understanding.[8] But do not think that a promise made grants to you permission to sit idly by and do nothing while you wait for God, God’s Son or God’s Spirit to do something. That is not the way of God with His people, and we do not see that to have been the response of the apostles of Jesus Christ after they had been given their promises.
Listen as I read verses 5–9, where the apostle informed the Christians he was writing to, and informs you and me, of our responsibilities and an accompanying warning as God’s people concerning God’s promises:
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Looking now to our text, John 14.18–24, I invite you to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word:
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 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.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 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.
24 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.
By our understanding of what a promise is we see that these seven verses are packed full of promises. Consider with me the three kinds of promises we find the Lord Jesus Christ made to His apostles:
First, HE PROMISES HIS CONTINUING CARE FOR THEM
Verse 18:
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
Observe with me this word, “comfortless.” It translates the Greek term á½€rfanoá½»s, from which we get our English word orphan, meaning fatherless. Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ has told them that He was leaving them, going someplace they could not follow. This very naturally disturbed them greatly. People tend to read into what you’re saying meanings to comments that are not intended. However, the Lord Jesus Christ always precisely stated what He meant. Just because He was leaving their geographical location for a while did not mean that He was either emotionally or spiritually abandoning them, which was their fear. That is the reason He said, “I will not leave you comfortless,” He would not leave them as someone without a father to take care of him.
As a side note, this suggests to us the greatest fear of a child; to lose a father or a mother. This has been shown in studies. Children are more afraid of losing a mom or a dad than they are scared of dying. How this ought to govern the conduct of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, who would like to think of themselves as not being cruel tormentors of young children, yet creating the comforting fiction that the breakup of their marriage and the loss of a mother or a father can somehow be justified.
Now fix your attention on the final promise of verse 18, where the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I will come to you.” Matthew Henry astutely observed that the Lord Jesus Christ’s promises in this verse show two things:
First, His departure from them was not total. His was not abandonment. He would be physically removed from them, yet their relationship was maintained, and even improved by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Second, His departure from them was not permanent. He would come to them, in three ways: #1 He would come to them soon, by rising from the dead after three days. #2 He would come to them continually, by the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit that He would give to them. #3 He would come to them permanently, gloriously, and majestically, at His Second Coming in power and great glory.
Next, HE PROMISES HIS CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Three observations related to these two verses:
First, the Lord Jesus Christ commented on seeing. He mentioned that, shortly, the world would no longer see Him, but they would see Him. I think this comment in verse 19 can be taken in two ways, materially and spiritually. Materially, of course, He was departing from them through His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, His unjust and illegal trials, followed by His crucifixion and burial. In that sense, He would no longer be materially visible for a while. When He rose from the dead, He would be physically seen again by His followers but not by those who denied Him. On one occasion, He would be seen by 500 believers at once, after His resurrection and before His final ascension.[9] With reference to spiritual sight, while Christ’s followers could not see Him materially, we have been able to “see” Him spiritually, with the eyes of faith. Of course, without faith from the Holy Spirit, no unsaved person possesses this spiritual “sight.”
Next, He points out the basis for their confidence and assurance of life:
“Because I live, ye shall live also.”
They would certainly remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said to Martha, in John 11.25-26:
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Notice the “whosoever” in the Savior’s promise to Martha. “Whosoever” would apply to the 11. “Whosoever” would apply to me. “Whosoever” will also apply to you. Faith in Jesus Christ results in such a union with Christ that the life of Christ is also your life, and since His life is eternal, so is your life eternal in Christ.
Finally, notice the assurance He promises them in the future:
“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
Key to understanding verse 20 is the initial phrase, “At that day.” I am persuaded this is an allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection day when He rose victorious from the dead. When these 11 men came to appreciate their Savior’s physical resurrection from the dead, His great triumph, they would come to appreciate in a way they never had before the relationship between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and also the relationship they had with the Lord Jesus Christ. His union and communion with the Father could not be denied after He rose from the dead. Neither could their relationship with their risen Savior be denied. Whatever assurance they had at that moment, He promised them more assurance “At that day.”
Finally, HE PROMISES HE WILL LOVE THEM AND MANIFEST HIMSELF TO THEM
21 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.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 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.
24 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.
At present, we can only touch lightly on these four verses:
Verse 21:
“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.”
In this verse, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals four characteristics related to His followers:
First, a person who loves Christ can be identified as someone who has His commandments and keeps them. Thus, love for Christ is elevated above the merely emotional and sentimental to the place of obedience, compliance, and activity. Love for Christ is so much more than strong and passionate feelings for Him. Love for Christ is seen in possession of and keeping of his commandments.
Second, the person who loves Christ can be assured of the love of the Father. Do you want to know whether God loves you or not, with the love that the heavenly Father has for His spiritual children? You will have this assurance of love from the Father when you display your love for Christ by your obedience to Christ. Thus, very much like First John 2.3, assurance is the consequence of obedience.
Third, “and I will love him.” This is the future tense of the verb to love. Thus, the person who presently loves Christ will not only be loved by the Father, but Christ promises to love that individual in the future.
In the final phrase of this verse, the Lord Jesus Christ promises to manifest Himself to that person who presently obeys Him, showing that he loves Him, who will be loved by the Father in the future, and who will be loved by the Lord Jesus Christ. The word translated “manifest,” emfanisoo, is the future tense verb that refers to revealing someone or something.[10] If you love Christ, and if you will obey Christ, He will somehow and in some way reveal Himself to you convincingly. His manifestation may not be convincing to anyone else, but it will convince you. And you will thereby be assured.
Verse 22:
“Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?”
Of course, there were two of the 12 apostles named Judas. Judas Iscariot has already departed to bring to fruition his conspiracy to betray the Savior. This man is the other Judas, who seeks clarification from the Savior regarding His manifestation to them, but not to the world.
Verse 23:
“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.
Restating what He had declared earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ asserted that someone who loves Him will keep His words (which is to say, obey Him). A person with that relationship with the Savior is someone who is the object of God’s love toward His children. This is not to suggest that God does not love the world, which is clearly stated in John 3.16. However, no one should be so naïve as to imagine that God’s love for the lost is comparable to His love for His children. In this verse, the Lord Jesus Christ promises that obedient and Christ-loving person that the Father and the Son will come unto him and make their abode with him.
Verse 24:
“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.”
Two comments:
How can you tell who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ? The Savior Himself provided a clear and objective means to make this determination. Does that individual keep Christ’s sayings? Does that professing Christian do what Jesus tells people to do? Does that person who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ obey the one he calls Lord? To elevate the significance of the point He is making, the Lord Jesus Christ concludes the verse by pointing out that the word heard and disobeyed by someone here is not Christ’s word, but the Father’s which sent Him. Such harmony exists between the Father and the Son that the words of the Son were not His, but the words of the Father who sent Him.
The implication? If you do not obey Christ, which means you do not hear His words, it is not His words that you are not hearing, and it is not His words you are ignoring. You are refusing to hear or are spiritually deaf to the words of God the Father. What does that mean for the disobedient professing Christian? It means your soul is in peril.
Let us take a step back from our text and make an application to our present situation, finding ourselves in an environment of uncertainty, perplexity, and confusion regarding our next step. We want to do the right thing. We want to be good citizens. We desire to be law-abiding living in a civilization subject to the rule of law. We pray for our leaders. We seek to support law enforcement.
How are we to know what to do next? If we learn from the example of the 11 apostles, as they faced a far more uncertain and chaotic future than is in store for us, we take note of how the Lord Jesus Christ prepared those men for a future that was uncertain and unpredictable for them, but not for Him.
What did the Lord Jesus Christ do to them and for them? He made promises to them. Depending on how you count them, He gave them four or five or six or seven promises. The point is, He prepared them for the future by presently providing for them promises. But what is a promise? A promise is a statement made that creates an expectation. But what is an expectation when that expectation is a future blessing? If there is an expectation of future blessings based upon the promise of God, you have hope.
However, to have hope, you have to know the promises. Promises that are made, but which are unknown to you, provides for you no hope whatsoever. For you to have hope in your present distress, you must know the promises, because it is through promises in the present that God prepares you for the future.
Did the Lord Jesus Christ teach those 11 men a how-to seminar? Did He provide for them a skill set so they would know what to do when this occurred or what to do when that occurred? No. He did not impart to them a set of skills on this occasion, but promises they could cling to, which would establish their hope, which would establish their attitude.
Do you see how the experiences of those 11 men in our text, and the promises the Lord Jesus Christ made to them at a time when they were perplexed and confused, apply to our present situation? You and I are not in great need of the specific details of how to do this and how to do that if something happens. I am not denigrating a set of skills that you will acquire over time as you grow in wisdom. That will come. What I am pointing out is that you have promises that have been made to you by God and by the Lord Jesus Christ, that are written in God’s Word.
Read your Bible.
Conscientiously look for God’s promises.
Depend upon God and the Son of God to be true.
Make application of those promises to your life and situation.
And know that there is no new thing under the sun.
You and I are not the first of God’s people to face perplexity and uncertainty. And we will not be the last. Therefore, let us act and react in a manner pleasing to God and showing His Son in a good light.
Let us claim the promises. Let us be those we sing about when we sing “Standing On The Promises.”
And if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are without hope, you have no promises, and you are without God.
__________
[1] https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/07/chicago-mayor-blasted-for-getting-haircut-after-telling-chicagoans-to-shut-down-shops/
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2020/04/16/michigan-bans-many-stores-from-selling-seeds-home-gardening-supplies-calls-them-not-necessary/#5a0348825f80
[3] https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/499483-michigan-governors-husband-criticized-over-alleged-boating-request-amid
[4] https://ussanews.com/News1/2020/07/03/gavin-newsom-keeps-his-winery-open-for-tastings-over-4th-of-july-weekend-as-he-orders-beaches-restaurants-closed-and-targets-family-gatherings/
[5] https://www.gopusa.com/singing-in-church-banned-under-new-order-from-newsom-as-covid-cases-rise/
[6] https://youtu.be/ThSApOeeWiM
[7] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 1440.
[8] Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), page 356.
[9] 1 Corinthians 15.6
[10] Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1980), page 252.
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church