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      "Discipleship 101"
      John 14:22-26
      Theme: To be a good "learner" of Christ, we have to recognize His prerogative to instruct us.

        1. Resist the Impulses to Advise God – 14:22

          1. The Inability to Appreciate God’s Agenda

            1. Jesus had just indicated in the previous section that there was an inability of the world to receive the Holy Spirit because of their rejection of Christ.
            2. Thus, Jesus focuses directly on the fact that the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be to those who responded by faith and who surrendered to the Lordship of Christ resulting in obedience (not in order to be saved, but as proof that the work of redemption had indeed occurred.).
            3. However, "Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world’?"
              1. This Judas was not the one who betrayed Christ, but the "son of James" who may have been the brother of "Simon who was called the Zealot" – cp. Luke 6:15-16
              2. The NT does not provide us any additional information with respect to who he is or what his contribution was beyond what we find here in John.
            4. If indeed he was the brother of the "Zealot" – it was probably tremendously disturbing to him to hear Jesus talk about a small, relatively obscure impact among only the believers and not the whole "world"
            5. Essentially, he is saying that he cannot believe that Jesus isn’t going to have a world-wide impact with everyone bowing to Him (and to those who were His closest disciples)
            6. He clearly misses that fact that Jesus "kingdom" is not of this world – at least right now – but is rather a spiritual kingdom brought into unity during the Church Age through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
            7. The fact that some weeks later at the ascension, the disciples were still dreaming nationalistic dreams causes us to interpret Judas’ comments here along the same lines – cp. Acts 1:6
            8. Like many of us who find God’s will to be out of sync with our presuppositions or firm persuasions, he couldn’t accept the implications of what Jesus was saying.
            9. Therefore, he wanted Jesus to change His plans ….

          2. The Initiative to Amend God’s Agenda

            1. In questioning Jesus by saying: "What has happened …" he implies that Jesus has changed the plan – something that is clearly viewed as undesirable.
            2. By saying: "… that you are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?", Judas is asking that Jesus go back to the original plan of public manifestation of Jesus power - not just to the small band of people who already believe.
            3. Essentially he says, "Wouldn’t it be a better idea to do as we originally planned – it may not be too late … do something great so that the whole world can see and they’ll come around…."
            4. We so often ponder the issues of life and consider that innovations and changes in our convictions or methods are warranted because things are not going the way we think best.
            5. People will say things like … "I know what God’s Word says about … but I can’t believe that God would want me to do that in my situation."
            6. The mark of true discipleship is the ability to accept God’s Word and Will as "good, and acceptable, and perfect" even when it may run cross-grain to our own perspectives.
            7. Far too often, men will subject the Scriptures to their own adjudication – presuming that they know enough to determine the reliability, relevance, or reasonability of God’s Word.

        2. Realize the Intimacy Available with God – 14:23-24

          1. The Process of Intimacy with God – v. 23

            1. In response to Judas (the Greater), Jesus resumes his discussion on the role of the Holy Spirit.
            2. He states: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word."
              1. This is a reference to the singular word – emphasizing that the "commandments" mentioned in v. 15 and even the most casual comments by Christ are equally important.
              2. We are told here that loving Christ means not merely must we attentively obey every direct command, but we will also concern ourselves with God’s perspectives and opinions as well.
            3. Essentially we have an example of an individual in Judas who felt that the words of Jesus were errant or undesirable and who wanted Him to change.
            4. Jesus states here that those who truly love Him will value His expressions – regardless of whether He demands that we obey or merely gives His perspective.
            5. Here we see an important cycle of responsiveness in our relationship with Christ: (we do not serve a system but a person)
              1. The love of God is poured out upon all of humanity – God so loved the world – John 3:16
              2. We respond to that love by faith – bringing us reconciliation with God and a relationship with Christ is begun wherein we desire to please Him – 1 John 4:19
              3. When we respond to God by faith in Christ Jesus, God’s love for us changes from a general, universal love to an intense and intimate love reserved for those who are in His Son – "and My Father will love him…" – cp. Romans 8:31-39
            6. God’s most intense and intimate love is therefore withheld from the world and extended to those who are in Christ Jesus.
            7. As such, God promises that "…We will come to him and make Our abode with him."
            8. This clearly refers to the Holy Spirit who is mutually sent by the Father and the Son.

          2. The Priority of Intimacy with God – v. 24

            1. Jesus now clarifies for Judas that those who fail to trust in Christ Jesus reveal it by their refusal to obey Him – "He who does not love Me does not keep My words;"
            2. Clearly sinners who reject Christ are without excuse in that God’s love has been extended toward them in various ways:
              1. Common Grace – that provision by God of a basic orientation to God that allows us to know He exists and that we are accountable to Him – Acts 14:16-17
                1. Conscience - a work done graciously by God through which our depravity is restrained and we know guilt – Romans 2:14-15
                2. Creation – the evidence in God’s creation that He exists and is powerful – Romans 1:18-20 . 
              2. Compassion – that which demonstrates kindness and goodness toward the unrepentant – Romans 2:4
              3. Counsel – the repeated warnings by God to flee the wrath of God through repentance demonstrates clearly the love of God to them
              4. Call to Salvation – the genuine offer to save any who would come to Him for forgiveness of sin – cp. Matthew 11:28-29; John 6:37
            3. Because of the continual and persistent rejection of God’s compassionate love and goodness gives way to hatred and judgment.
            4. God is grieved when in righteous anger and justice He casts those who had previously been the objects of His love into eternal judgment and torment – cp. Ezekiel 18:23, 32
            5. Jesus then reminds Judas and the rest of the disciples that "the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me." – indicating that to reject and disobey Jesus’ words is to reject the Father Himself since Jesus was sent to deliver it to them.

        3. Receive the Instructions Administered by the Holy Spirit – 14:25-26

          1. The Groundwork for the Holy Spirit’s Instruction – v. 25

            1. Thus, God’s Word is extremely important and must be heeded if blessing is to be known.
            2. Jesus indicates that He has done His best to educate them in the Word of God while He was with them.
            3. He says: "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you."
            4. By "these things …" he is referring to all that He had taught them up to that very moment – the task given to Him by God was to reveal the truth to them – and to speak what God had given Him to say – cp. John 12:48-50 .
            5. However, the disciples were not yet equipped to handle everything that the Father desired that they know – cp. John 16:12-13.

          2. The Goal of the Holy Spirit’s Instruction – v. 26

            1. Thus, the goal of the Holy Spirit is to complete the revelation of God to men – primarily by means of inspiration of Scripture – "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
              1. First, the "all things" initially referenced addresses the things that they were not prepared to hear prior to Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
              2. In addition, He would "bring to your remembrance" all the things that Jesus had taught them that they had yet to fully grasp – cp. John 2:22; 12:16
            2. Hence the Holy Spirit will promote our awareness of Who Christ is, and the tremendous need that we possess to trust in Him – the central theme of all Scripture - 1 Corinthians 2:13.

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