January 6, 2021
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
January 06, 2021
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:1-4
“Whatever you ask in my name this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him or knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:13-17
Jesus is speaking here to troubled hearts. His disciples are about to face the darkest hour of their lives and so is He. He is going to be tried and crucified, also he is going to come under a tsunami of divine wrath. I find it amazing that Jesus, knowing that the cross is just around the corner isn’t talking so much about himself or his future sufferings or pains. He is focusing upon his disciple friends. Personal trials and afflictions can be so self-absorbing, they can drive us into ourselves. But not Jesus, he is thinking about them. He wants to comfort them, help them, and bring consolation to them. So what does he do? You could say he opens up His Bible and begins to preach to them and teach them. I think it is the most comforting, the most encouraging sermon in the whole of Scripture. It is jam packed with encouragements, comforts, blessings, and privileges that belong to every child of God. When you are down and discouraged this might be a good portion of Scripture to go to. He gives them the hope of heaven, the assurance of answered prayer, the promise of peace. He tells them that he loves them and he is going to lay down his life for them. He mentions that word friend, He calls them his friends three times. He promises joy and a life of fruitfulness if they abide in him. There you have sort of a synopsis of comfort after comfort, consolation after consolation.
Jesus also weaves in the doctrine of the Trinity. He mentions the Father 50+ times; He mentions the Holy Spirit 10-15 times; He mentions himself some 50+ times. He refers to himself as the Son at least five times. He gives a stunning exposition of the doctrine of the Trinity. There are two other places where the doctrine of the Trinity is opened up in a very definitive way, Romans 8 and Ephesians 1. If you read these three passages you will find that all three persons of the Trinity are actively engaged in our salvation. The Father planned and authored our salvation; the Son, Jesus, accomplishes our salvation; and the Spirit applies our salvation. So there is no salvation apart from a three person God at work. The gospel demands the Trinity. Here is how the Trinity has been stated in simple terms. It is a complex truth that none of us will ever fully understand, but here are seven propositions: God the Father is God; God the Son is God; God the Holy Spirit is God; the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Spirit; the Spirit is not the Father; there is only one God. There is one God, three persons, co-eternal and co-equal. You need all three persons when it comes to salvation and when it comes to prayer. When we go to the throne of grace we shouldn’t forget the three persons of the Trinity. It shouldn’t be a Jesus only prayer, (not that it is wrong to focus on Jesus or the Father sometimes). There should be a self-consciousness that we are praying to a Triune God. When we come to the throne of grace this should be one of the most thrilling things for us that we come to talk to a three-person God. The Spirit hears, the Spirit speaks, the Father hears, the Father speaks, and so does the Son. We have a father who loved us from all eternity; a father who loves to answer our prayers when we pray in the name of His Son. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in my Father’s name it will be granted to you.” He is a father who loves to answer our prayers that are Holy Spirit engineered or inspired by the spirit of adoption. We cry out, “Abba Father,” by a spirit of adoption. We are coming to a Father, to a Savior, the great high priest who sympathizes with all of our weaknesses. He knows us better than anyone else, and we have the Helper or the Comforter who is to help us in our prayers.
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