Jesus’ Full Disclosure
Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” (Jn 13:36). Thomas asked, “Lord, how do we know the way? (Jn 14:5). Philip requested for their Lord to show them the Father (Jn 14:8). Next, Judas, the son of Alphaeus and brother of James inquired, “Lord, what then has happened that you are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” (Jn 14:22). These four questions shaped Jesus’ farewell discourse in the upper room on the eve of His crucifixion.
Jesus was departing His disciples to go to His Father’s house in heaven (Jn 14:2–3). He assured His disciples they knew the Father and the Spirit of truth. They were not so sure. He informed them that He Himself was the way to the Father who is in heaven (Jn 14:6). In John 14:18–24, Jesus discloses Himself to His disciples. It was Judas (not Iscariot) who detected the exclusivity of God’s love in what Jesus was saying to His disciples.
The fact remains that most people want to go to heaven; but most people actually go to eternal hell (Mt 7:13–14; 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15). It is the stumbling block, the rock of offense on the way to heaven that prevents the great majority from going there. People do not believe Jesus is the one and only way to God in heaven (Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12). They live and die without Christ, the Savior (Titus 1:4; 2:13; 2 Pet 1:1).
The world does not love God (Jn 5:42). People do not love Jesus Christ (Jn 14:24). Instead, men love darkness because they belong to Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Mt 12:24; Jn 3:19). Reprobate sinners are children of the devil (1 Jn 3:10), who is the father of lies (Jn 8:44). They seek the approval of men rather than the approval of God (Jn 12:43).
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was sent into the world by God the Father (Jn 3:16; 5:24, 36; 17:18; etc.). It was the Father’s initiative for Jesus to come and save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21; Jn 8:42). In fact, Jesus confessed that He could do nothing on His own initiative (Jn 5:30; 8:28). He sought only to do the will of the Father who sent Him (Heb 10:7, 9). When Jesus spoke, He spoke the words of the Father (Jn 8:28; 12:49; 14:10). In the same way, today, the Spirit does not speak on His own initiative; but whatever He hears He speaks and discloses the will of God through the Word of God (Jn 16:13–15).
It is God’s will to reveal Himself to whomever He wishes (Mt 11:27; Lk 10:22; Jn 14:22). The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:19); therefore, God reveals, through the Spirit and the Word, all that He has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor 2:9–10). Those souls, the Spirit has caused to be born again (1 Pet 1:3), believe the Word of Christ preached to them (Rom 10:17). They believe because they belong to Christ (Jn 10:26); but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him (Rom 8:9). Simply put, people either have the Son; or they do not have the Son (1 Jn 5:12).
The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17) because He has only been sent by the Father and the Son to those who have been chosen for salvation (2 Thess 2:13), according to the foreknowledge of God the Father (1 Pet 1:2), in His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23).
Receiving Christ, by the will of God (Jn 1:12–13), means one receives the Spirit of adoption (Jn 7:39; Rom 8:15, 23), who pours out the love of God in the hearts of God’s elect redeemed people (Rom 5:5; Titus 3:5–6), who keep His Word (Jn 14:23).
The Word of Christ that brought faith to the believer now dwells richly in the saints (Col 3:16). The words of the Son belong to the Father (Jn 14:28). Jesus’ words will be the judge on the last day (Jn 12:48). Thus, the Word of God is spirit and life (Jn 6:63); and it gives life to whomever God wishes to give it.
The recipients of God’s implanted Word of life are loved by Him (Jn 14:23; Jas 1:21). That God would disclose Himself to any one of us is merciful and gracious (Rom 9:15–16; Eph 2:8–9). The reason is that God Himself is our salvation, our inherited reward reserved for us in heaven (Heb 1:14; 1 Pet 1:4). There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
God has ordained that by means of the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor 1:21, 23), He would disclose Himself to humanity. The subject of true preaching that brings salvation is Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Word of God (Jn 1:1, 14). We proclaim Him (Col 1:28), the Word, glorified. It is the life-giving Spirit who is giving the Word and keeping the Word in us. He who is hidden in our hearts has hidden the Word, and the Word finds good soil and grows (Mt 13).
The Christian knows the life of God is in him or her because the Spirit and the Word are there. The Christian knows the love of God because of the mutual indwelling that comes from union with God in the Spirit. He is in us, abiding, and we are in Him (1 Jn 4:13). The world knows we are His disciples because of our union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who according to John 14:23, are all abiding with us.
Because we have the triune God in us, by the Spirit, we have the life of God, the Light of God, the truth of God, and the love of God in our hearts. The Word of God reveals all of these things, which is full disclosure. The world cannot see any of these things because people are blinded from seeing and knowing that which can only be spiritually appraised (Is 32:3; Jn 12:40; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4).
Spiritual discernment is the work of the Spirit in us. The Word of God is the standard by which all things are judged to be true or false, in these matters that pertain to the life of God. The world is dead to God; but for the elect redeemed, He has made us alive by giving us His Word of promise that we have a hope and a future because His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God and no longer orphans (Jn 14:18; 15:26; Rom 8:16).
Therefore, little children, let us love one another and by doing so, demonstrate that we have been loved by the Father and Son (1 Jn 4:19), who have poured out their love in our hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit, the very token of God’s love for His children (Rom 5:5; 2 Cor 5:5).
Just as Jesus proved His love by keeping the Father’s commandments; let us prove our love for Christ by keeping His commandments…and thank God we have a Helper in this most formidable task.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 13, 2024
John 14:18–24
To hear this message preached on May 12, 2024; go to www.chestercommunitychurch.com/oursermons/
