John 14 – Emmanuel Pentecostal Church Gateshead Resources

WEDNESDAY 19^th

John 14:15-31

NIV (v16) – ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—’

ESV (v16) – ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever . . .’

This fourteenth chapter of John contains two promises that gave the disciples hope, the first as we saw yesterday was of a future home, here in this section was the promise of a present helper. The disciple having spent three years with Jesus, watching and learning are told he was about to leave them, but not without promising that he would ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit who would come alongside them to help them, or as the KJV puts it to be a comforter.

I know this is a poor illustration, but it does in some way show a similar lesson. When I left school, I went into the motor trade to learn to be a panel beater and car sprayer. I was privileged to learn from one of the best, as the man who I was going to be working alongside and learning from had spent several years in the Rolls Royce factory. One day after I had enjoyed learning from him for a couple of years he announced he was going to be leaving, he had decided to retire, but then he added, don’t worry (or words to that effect) someone else is coming to take my place and he will continue to train you.

The disciples had spent three years learning from Jesus, but there was still so much more they needed to know, and when Jesus announced he was leaving them he said (my paraphrase) ‘Don’t worry someone else is going to be coming to take my place and he will continue to train you’. We read it in verse 29, ‘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 have said to you.’

The present helper was to be none other than the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, and we know that a few weeks after the ascension of Jesus he arrived to come alongside the disciples to help them, to empower them, to strengthen and enable them for the task in hand. And he is still here, as he came alongside the disciples, so he is wanting and willing to come alongside us to be with us, to be our helper, to be our comforter, to enable, equip and empower us for the task in hand.

SUNDAY 24^th

Reading – John 14

When I was preparing the devotions for last week, at the same time I was also reading through the books of John and Acts, and toward the end of John and into Acts what kept getting my attention were verses that had reference in some way to the ‘name.’ (referring to Jesus)

In the beginning of John’s gospel we have, ‘believing in his name’ (1:12), ‘believed in his name’ (2:23), ‘not believed in the name’ (3:18), Then in particular within the dialogue Jesus is having with his disciples prior to his going to Calvary we have, ‘ask in my name’ (14:13) ‘ask me anything in my name’ (14:14), ‘the Father will send in my name’ (14:26), ‘ask the Father in my name’ (15:16), ‘on account of my name’ (15:21), ‘ask of the Father in my name’ (16:23), ‘you have asked nothing in my name’ (16:24, ‘ask in my name’ (16:26), ‘by believing you may have life in his name’ (20:31).

Now I have only given a highlight from each of the reference, you need to read the surrounding verses to find the context for each of them, but what I want to draw from this short list is the conclusion that they reveal to us that there is and must be something unique and special about ‘his name’. There is little point in me suggesting today that you should believe in my name, or ask anything in my name, nor any point in me suggesting that the Father will send anything in my name. My name is just a normal (or maybe odd, unusual) name that has absolutely nothing significant attached to using it. But when we come to this name it is a uniquely and particularly special and important name because it is the name of Jesus. Now, the name Jesus in itself is not unique, it is still used as a popular Christian name in some parts of the world, but with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ it is uniquely special because it is the name that God has given to his eternal Son. Luke 1:31 ‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.’ Luke 2:21 ‘And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.’

The name ‘Jesus’ (Gk Iesous) is the equivalent to the Hebrew ‘Joshua’ (Heb Yehoshua) and means ‘The Lord is salvation’ and this baby born in Bethlehem and given the name Jesus was to be the Saviour, the ONLY Saviour, who would bring redemption for mankind. He would be the only person in the history of the world named either Joshua or Jesus who would literally be what his name declares about him. In Luke 2:11 as the angel came to make the announcement to the shepherds about the birth of Jesus we read ‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.’ Most translations have ‘a Saviour’ The NLT puts it this way, ‘The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!’ The NET translation, ‘Today your Saviour is born in the city of David, he is Christ the Lord.’ Jesus is ‘THE SAVIOUR’, Christ the Lord.

Now why is this name when given to Jesus different to when it is given to any other? Why does it contain power and authority, why can we ask through it, why should we believe on it etc.? Well, as I’ve already mentioned, because it is the name his Father gave him, but Philippians 2:9-11 enlarges the answer for us, ‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (See also Ephesians 1:20-22)

He was given the name Jesus by God the Father at his birth, and because of his obedience in accomplishing what God the Father had sent him to do, that was to live a sinless life, to die a sacrificial death and to be spectacularly raised from the dead, God has exalted him, and bestowed on him a name which is above every name. The name bestowed upon him was Lord. By exalting his name, God is declaring the one born as Jesus, to be Lord. Therefore, we declare that Jesus is Lord. Remember what Joshua means ‘The Lord is salvation’ and in the person of Jesus, in his name as Jesus he truly is Lord. It is a name that has power, it is a name that has authority, and Jesus prior to his ascension, declared to his disciples ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.’ There is a song made more popular by the Gaither’s which has the line, ‘Mary called him Jesus, but I call him Lord.’ What we can declare is this, Jesus is Lord, or our Lord is Jesus!

Another reason why the name is unique when given to this Jesus is found in Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ It is only in this one who is called Jesus, the one who has become Lord, that salvation can be found.

There are some lovely songs that are composed around the name of Jesus, and I will mention just a few of them here, I love to sing about Jesus, I love to sing about his blood, I love to sing about his name, for it is the highest name that heaven and earth affords.

We will continue the theme on the name of Jesus tomorrow from the book of Acts.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

There’s just something about that name

Master, Saviour, Jesus

Like the fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all Heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

But there’s something about that name

^{Gaithers CCLI788682}

Just the mention of Your name

Causes me to fall before You,

Tears flow as I adore You,

At the mention of Your name,

Just the mention of Your name.

Just the mention of Your name,

Reaffirms the love that holds me,

Speaks once more of love that knows me

At the mention of Your name,

Just the mention of Your name.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

At the mention of your name,

I worship.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

At the mention of your name,

I worship.

^{Chris Bowater CCLI788682}

Jesus, at your name we bow the knee,

and acknowledge you as Lord.

You are the Christ

You are the Lord

Through Your Spirit in our lives

We know who You are

^{Chris Bowater CCLI788682}