THE JESUS SECRET

JOHN 14

Jn. 14:12 [HCSB]. I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

      On the evening before Jesus’ death after the Passover Meal, Jesus walked with the disciples from the upper room toward Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives. Along the way, Jesus taught the secret of the Christian life which depended upon the ascension of Jesus to the Father. Jesus’ absence from the disciples and presence with the Father meant greater works through the secret of spiritual union.

  I. Jesus is the secret to the Father (14:1-14)

      A. To believe in Jesus is to believe in the Father (14:1)

      B. To know Jesus is to know the Father (14:7)

      C. To see Jesus is to see the Father (14:9)

      D. To hear Jesus is to hear the Father (14:10)

      E. To watch the works of Jesus is to watch the works of the Father (14:11)

      F. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray to the Father (14:13-14)

 II. Jesus is the secret to the Spirit (14:15-18)

      Andrew Murray wrote, “With His ascension He was to receive the power to communicate the Holy Spirit so fully to His own; the union, the oneness between Himself on the throne and them on earth, was to be so intensely and divinely perfect, that He meant it as the literal truth: ‘Greater works that these shall he do, because I go to the Father.’”

      A. Work of the Spirit is the work of Jesus (14:12)

      B. Comfort of the Spirit is the comfort of Jesus (14:16, 18)

      C. Reception of the Spirit is the reception of Jesus (14:17)

III. Jesus is the secret to the spiritual life (14:19-24)

      Farrar noted, “That the two words ‘in Christ’ sum up the distinctive secret, the revealed mystery of the Christian life. . . . The Christian life is a spiritual life, a supernatural life, and one which we can only live by faith in, by union with, by partaking of the life of the Son of God.”

      A. Life in resurrection power (14:19)

      B. Life in mystical oneness (14:20)

      Jesse M. Hendley wrote, “One of the most profound thoughts in God’s Word is that when you open your heart to Jesus Christ with all honesty as your Savior and Lord, three divine Beings come to dwell in your heart: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Col. 3:4 (GW). Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.

      Salvation places believers in Christ. A believer died in Christ and lives in Christ.

Christ died and arose to join believers together with Himself (sun–Rom. 6:6-8; Col. 2:12; 2 Tim. 2:11-12).

•          Quickened together (suzwopoiew–Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13)

•          Raised together (sunegeirw–Eph. 1:20, 2:6; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12, 3:1)

•          Seated together (sugkaqizw–Eph. 1:20, 2:6)

Gal. 2:20 (ESV). I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

      A. T. Robertson called Gal. 2:20–“One of Paul’s greatest mystical sayings.” Paul explained “identification with Christ.” The Christian life is “a Person within a person.” It is the union of divine life with the life of the believer (Jn. 14:20).

Col. 1:27 (GNB). God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

      Jack R. Taylor testified, “A hungry heart stirred anxious hands to search the Scriptures. The first place I remember reading was the first chapter of the book of Colossians. The mystery of it intrigued me. Paul spoke of a mystery that had been hidden from ages and generations and now was made known to all the saints. I read with increasing anticipation as if I had never read the book before, feeling myself to be on the verge of an exciting discovery. (Little did I know what a discovery it would be!) Then I came across it! ‘TO WHOM GOD WOULD MAKE KNOWN WHAT IS THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES; WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY’ (Col. 1:27).”

      Taylor wrote, “For the first time I looked at both those facts together–CHRIST IS IN ME. . . THAT IS THE HOPE OF GLORY! The hope of my ever being what I was made to become is that Christ lives in me to assure it and achieve it!”

Rom. 5:10 (HCSB). For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!

      Major Ian Thomas wrote, “There is something which makes Christianity more than a religion, more than an ethic, and more than the idle dream of the sentimental idealist. It is this something that makes it relevant to each one of us right now as a contemporary experience. It is the fact that Christ Himself is the very life content of the Christian faith.”

      Major Ian Thomas wrote, “To be in Christ –that is redemption; but for Christ to be in you–that is sanctification! To be in Christ–that makes you fit for heaven; but for Christ to be in you–that makes you fit for earth! To be in Christ–that changes your destination; but for Christ to be in you–that changes your destiny!”

Jn. 10:10 (GNB). The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life---life in all its fullness.

      Jesse M. Hendley said, “I cannot say Christ lives in me unless I can say `I NO LONGER LIVE.’ Two persons cannot live in my mind and body at the same time. Jess Hendley and Christ cannot use this mind and body together. I must give up my life and let Christ live. I must give up what I want so He can get what He wants. So I get up each morning–if I want to live a Jess Hendley life, that day is wasted forever. But if I say to the indwelling Christ `I want you to live on earth again today, so I give to you my mind, eyes, ears, hands, feet–He literally lives His life in my mind and body–and divine things happen! Christ is on earth again–people see it and are blessed. I asked a godly Christian lady (eighty years old who has people beating a path to her door and whose telephone rings day and night) `What is the secret of your life?’ She replied `When you led me to Christ, I thought the Christian life was gritting your teeth and struggling to imitate Jesus! I found it didn’t work. The secret of power is letting Christ live His life through me–this involves giving up my will for His! George Muller of England never asked anyone for a penny to feed his orphans. God sent all their needs in answer to prayer. Someone asked him `What is the secret of your power?’ He replied, `There came a day when George Muller died, then Christ began to live–‘not my will but thine be done.’”

      C. Life in obedient love (14:21-24)

 IV. Jesus is the secret to heaven on earth (14:25-31)

      Ron Dunn explained, “Jesus is emphasizing the union that will exist between them although they will be separated physically. He is going away but He will remain with them, and if they trust Him, the work that He started will continue and even increase. His physical absence will not diminish the work–it will enhance it. In other words, when they work, it will be Jesus working still; His works will be their works and their works, His.”

      A. Heavenly presence (14:26)

      B. Heavenly peace (14:27)

      C. Heavenly power (14:28)

      D. Heavenly protection (14:30)

      E. Heavenly performance (14:31)

      In a letter on 17 October 1869, J. Hudson Taylor wrote, “I felt ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted strove made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation–but all was without effect. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.”

“Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin: and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting very low. I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it.”

“When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter. . . was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.”

“I am no better than before. . . but I am dead and buried with Christ–aye, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me, and ‘the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me’. I now believe I am dead to sin. God reckons me so, and tells me to reckon myself so.”