THE BELIEVER'S PRESENT PRIVILEGES
John 14:1
Morning Meditation 7/31/2014
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."
This meditation will cover several verses in John 14, but rather than print all of them as the text, I have printed the first verse and will print the others as we go. These words of our Lord were spoken at His last Passover and contains a revelation of the precious privileges conferred on His believing people. Let's look first of all at--
A CURE FOR HEART TROUBLE
Jesus is about to leave them by way of the cross and He anticipates a time of "heart trouble" with reference to His departure. I can't imagine the grief and loneliness that the disciples experienced when Jesus died. He had taught them that He would die and be raised again for their salvation. He had taught them that it had to happen. But at the time of His teaching, they were not able to comprehend what He was saying.
So Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." In other words, they had control over how they felt in their hearts. Jesus is teaching that faith in Him was the answer to a troubled heart. They believed in God. They were firm in that faith. So He says, "believe also in me." To believe in Him was the same as believing in God. There is no way to reject Him without rejecting the Father. To say you believe in God but you don't believe in Him is a Satanic lie. Faith in what Jesus says is a cure for heart trouble. Next let's look at--
THE BLESSED HOPE
He tells them in John 14:3, "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."
He would be leaving them only for the period between His death and coming again. These men who had been with Him during His entire ministry had grown so attached to Him that they could not bear the thought of his not being with them. So He gave them a promise that would become their blessed hope.
Titus 2:11-13, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" "Hope" in this passage is not a weak word. It is, "The joyful anticipation of a reality." To wait on the Lord's coming is one of the imminent activities of the saints. Next let's look at--
THE VISION OF THE FATHER
John 14:6-9, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"
Jesus is telling Philip that He is the visible image of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" An express image of someone is the materialization of the a person or thing so that when you see the image you see who the image represents. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Next let's look at--
THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY
John 14:13-14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Here is one of the great promises of our Lord to answer prayer. He opens it up when He says, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. . ." You really don't have to say, "I wonder if He will do this or that," because He opens the door wide in this statement. "Whatsoever" is "Whatsoever.." One cannot trim the scope of that promise away. Next let's look at--
THE ABIDING BEQUEST
John 14:27, "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."
This peace has to do with a troubled heart. This text brings up the troubled heart again: ". . . Let not you heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
