Sermon Transcript
(John 14:18–26)
May 31, 2026
Introduction
All right, go ahead and turn on over to John chapter 14 this morning. You know, historically, Baptist churches, they don’t tend to really keep an eye that much on historical calendar events in the Christian calendar. But I think there’s something beautiful to recognizing certain historical events because it puts us in the midst of history and it helps us to feel connected to the ancient religion that we follow.
Christianity is thousands of years old and we have millions of brothers and sisters that await for us to enter the kingdom. And so our brothers and sisters over the last 2,000 years, they would typically follow the celebration of the coming of the Spirit, which is what our brother Will Johnson did while I was away. We celebrated the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Well, in the ancient Christian calendar, they would look at today and they would celebrate what’s called Trinity Sunday. And this is where they look at the Trinity and they just relish in glory in the beauty of the entire Godhead. And that’s what we’re going to do today. So today we’re going to be in John 14 as we do that.
Now, I want to bring your attention to a thought. I want you to recognize that within yourselves, we relentlessly pursue things as creatures. From birth, nothing ever satisfies us. If you have children, you know what I mean, right? The first time you feed it, okay, I’m done. I want something else. The first time you give them a toy, just give me the box. Forget about the toy.
Humans are never satisfied. The modern phenomenon of short videos in social media, I know a lot of our people are not there, but the young ones are. These short videos, you just swipe up for the next video. And every time we swipe up, that’s an expression, I’m not satisfied. What else you got? You follow me? It’s in our heart. You do not satisfy me.
And here’s the good news. God’s word tells us that there is only one thing that will satisfy our hearts, and that’s being in God’s presence. Deep down, we are yearning to have fellowship with the divine. The desire of the heart comes out of Jesus’ disciple, Philip, in John 14:8, when he tells Jesus, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough.” He recognizes the greatest yearning in the human heart. Just give us the Father. And it’s true. That is all we need.
We do not need to wait until Christ comes back to enjoy it either. Jesus is going to tell us today how to make that happen—how we can have intimate fellowship with the Father.
So, please stand with me as we read John 14:18–26. I’m reading from the CSB this morning.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
“I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”
This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
Father, I joyfully come to You because You have given us access to You through Your Son and by the power of Your Spirit. Today, Lord, I pray that You would give us strength and wisdom and cerebral power, brain power to understand the incredible, glorious phenomenon known as the Trinity. It breaks all logic in our brains. Physics does not have any kind of earthly proper representation of what the Trinity is. And I pray that You please help us to do that, to grasp that concept—the concept of who You are in all of Your glorious personhood and what it means for us.
I pray that You would open our eyes today to see, to feel, but also to feel confident as we leave these doors that we can go and make disciples, that we can talk to people about Jesus, that we can show them the love of God because the entire personhood of God is with us. Be with us today. Protect us. Help us to focus. And Lord, I pray that You help me to focus. Help my words to be Your words, just as Jesus only spoke what You gave Him. Let me speak only what You have given me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
When I was in Ireland, I met this great person named Noelle, and we’re still in touch with her. And Noelle was so sweet. Most of the Republic of Ireland is Catholic.
The words that Noelle spoke, I’ve never heard from a Catholic before, and it just warmed my heart through and through. So, and also if you’re Irish, I’m so sorry if I butchered the accent, but I said, “Noelle, do you know Jesus?” And she goes, “Oh yeah, I know the main man.” And she just pointed to Jesus on her truck, right? And she kept calling Him the main man, and I just loved it so much.
And I was like, “Well, Noelle, the important thing is, do you read the Bible?” She goes, “I do.” And she pulled it up from behind her, and she lifted a Bible. And I was like, not only is she a Catholic that reads the Bible, she carries it with her to work. This is, I’m just getting very excited, right? Very excited.
And then I asked her sister, I said, “And what about you? Do you read the Bible?” And she said, “Oh no, I’m not as religious as her.” And then she said, “It’s not religion, it’s a relationship.” And I was like, “Yeah!”
I mean, it was a gift to me because as Stephanie and I were preparing for our vacation, we were asking the Lord to schedule divine appointments. We wanted everywhere we go to just leave a trail of light and salt. We wanted to talk to as many people as organically as we could, telling them that Jesus is King, He loves you, and He’s coming back. Get ready.
And this was nearing the end of our trip that we meet Noelle, and it was such a gorgeous reminder from the Father where He’s saying, Josh, you asked to bring my light from America. I’m already here. Amen, right? I’m already here, and Josh, I’m letting you be a part of what I’m already doing. I mean, those words left my mouth just now, and my skin turned to goosebumps.
I’m so moved to see that we are a part of a global movement. I mean, our body’s small and it’s growing, but I want you to recognize how global and magnificent the magnitude of what is happening here is in every nation around the world, and you get to be a part of it. If you’re like me, you’re going to say, Who am I?
By the way, our brother, Tom Hopper, he’s here from the Gideons. I love the work that you guys do. I kid you not, I needed your Bibles with me. We kept talking to people, and I would say, “Do you have a Bible?” “No, I don’t.” I only brought one pocket Bible, because I had to buy them. That’s why I needed Tom Hopper with me. It’s beautiful.
So we’re part of this mission, right? We get to be that, and Noelle, she hit the nail right on the head. It’s about a relationship, and the only reason that you and I can have a relationship with God is because the Spirit enables it. There is no religion on planet Earth that even remotely answers the question, How can I have a relationship with God? And the closest that you get is Judaism. You’ve got to submit to the law. But even then, God is still very distant because as sinners, we cannot ultimately draw near.
Jesus has made it possible through the Holy Spirit to let us draw near to God, the maker of heaven and earth, the maker of Noelle, who lives in the Republic of Ireland, of Pastor Abraham in India, of our brothers and sisters, the Bartuskas that we saw on the TV screen a few weeks ago. He is everywhere, and we have access to Him through the Holy Spirit. We have that relationship.
And Church, I want you to know in this main point of today’s sermon: We must confidently believe that through the Holy Spirit, we have fellowship with God the Father and God the Son. You leave here today, I don’t want any weak faith. I want you to walk out these doors with mountain-moving faith that you have access to God, and He loves you, and He is near. Amen?
We’re going to let the Word of God do that to us today, so let us begin our deep dive into the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But before we get into that ministry, we must first be reminded of the Son’s mission.
The Son came to return us to the Father
So on your sermon leaflet in the bulletin, you will see the first point: The Son came to return us to the Father (1 Pet 3:18).
In the Garden of Eden, humanity was exiled from God’s presence (Gen 3:23–24). God created us. He wanted us to dwell with Him in perfect harmony. Satan tempted Eve, and he asked her, Does God really have your best interest in mind? (Gen 3:1–5). And she’s like, You know what? Maybe he doesn’t. I want to be like God. So she eats the fruit. She tries to replace God.
And then God says, You cannot be in my presence now. You disobeyed me. Instead of submitting to the loving father king that I am for you, you decided to be your own God. Now, since you tried to take over my kingdom, I cannot let you be here. As a result, Adam and Eve, they’re kicked out of God’s kingdom outside of His beautiful fellowship.
Ever since then, humanity has been yearning the same thing. We want the Father back. This is why Philip asked in John 14:8, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough.”
And guess what Jesus does? Look at John 14:6:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The way for what? No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus is specifically the way to the Father. You cannot get your heart’s greatest desire, God the Father, without Jesus being the path on which you take to get back to the Father. Jesus is undoing the exile that we started in the Garden of Eden with our ancestors. Jesus is returning us to the Father.
But Jesus was not meant to stay on earth forever during this period of repentance. That’s what we are in, Church. We are in a time period where God’s mercy and grace is being allowed to be spread all over the planet. But during this time of repentance and faith and gospel sharing, Jesus was not meant to be here. But His ministry was not supposed to end.
The Holy Spirit continues the ministry of the Son
You see, the Holy Spirit continues the ministry of the Son. That’s the next point. Though Jesus had to return to the Father, the ministry of Jesus does not end.
Jesus says in John 14:2–3:
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.”
That is one of the reasons why Jesus could not stay on earth—because by departing, He is preparing our eternal home.
But there is another reason. John 14:12:
“Truly, I tell 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.”
By Jesus returning to the Father, He paves the way for humans to do the mighty works and miracles that Jesus did on earth, and He says, even greater than these.
And there is another reason why Jesus had to return to the Father, and it goes back into the last one. In John 16:7, He says:
“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away, the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.”
By Jesus departing, for some reason unknown to us, it opens the possibility for the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
So those are the three reasons Jesus needed to depart. So His ministry is to bring us back into fellowship with the Father and to teach us everything the Father taught Him, right? But Jesus cannot remain on earth during this time of repentance. He has to return to the Father. That opens the door for something greater to happen, and that is the ministry of the Son continues.
Jesus has not stopped working even to this day. And the beautiful part is He is using you to get it done because His Spirit is inside of you. Because His Spirit is inside of you.
I love the way Jesus opens up this discourse that we’re in here. He says in verse 18, “I will not leave you as orphans.” You see the word orphanos—by the way, King James Bible, they use comforter, right? Yeah, so comforter is not the translation for orphanos. No English translation is perfect. I pick on all of them, okay? But here, you need to know the word here is orphan, orphanos. That’s where we get our English word orphan from. And so He says, “I will not leave you as orphans.”
So in the ancient world, in ancient Israel, in ancient Greece, and in ancient Rome, someone who was an orphan did not mean what we usually think it means in English. It does not mean both their parents were lost. It means the father was lost. So that means that single mothers are mothers of orphans.
So when Jesus tells you to take care of widows and orphans, He’s talking about the two that live together: the widow who has the child who was called an orphan because his father is gone. God’s call to take care of widows and orphans is to take care of single mothers (Jas 1:27). This is for free. Let’s come back to our text.
Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans.” What does He mean? This whole time He has been with them and He has been teaching them the words of the Father. And He tells Philip, If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9). So when Jesus leaves, it makes them feel fatherless. And He’s prepping them. I’m going to depart, but you’re not going to be without a father. The ministry where I gave you the words, the wisdom, the truth, the beauty, and the love of the Father, that will continue when I leave.
And this is what I believe He means by, “I am coming to you.” Scholars debate what Jesus means by this in verse 18 when He says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” It can be one of three things. Either “I am coming to you” refers to Jesus’s resurrection, which is possible, right? Because He does say that “I live” in verse 19. So it could be referring to the resurrection, or it could be referring to His second coming. Or scholars think that it could be the Holy Spirit.
I think the case is that it is the Holy Spirit for very good reasons. First of all, in verses 16 through 17, Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. That’s before our passage. Then, after our passage, in verses 25 through 26, He’s also talking about the Holy Spirit. I’ve said it time and time again in my sermons: this is what we call bookends. So when you have two bookends, a bookend here and a bookend here, what do you expect to see between them? Books. When you see the Holy Spirit here, and you see the Holy Spirit here, what do you expect in the middle? The Holy Spirit.
Not only that, when Jesus says in verse 19, you are going to see me, but the world will not, does that sound like a bodily resurrection? No, it doesn’t. Jesus, when He is resurrected, He appears to over 500 people (1 Cor 15:6). That doesn’t sound like it was for an exclusive club. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that when He was resurrected, He only appeared to believers. So I think that when He’s saying, you will see me, but they will not, it is because He is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Not only that, but Judas asks a question in verse 22: How is it? See, Jesus just said, you’re going to see me, they aren’t. This befuddles Judas. And so Judas asks, “Lord, how is it that you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” How is that going to work?
And guess what Jesus’ answer is? It’s in verse 23:
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Jesus, how are you going to only reveal yourself to us? The answer is, Me and the Father are going to come live with you. Now, how is that possible unless it refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
So, if you ask me, I believe the correct way to interpret “I am coming to you” is that the Holy Spirit is coming, and He’s going to continue the mission and work of Jesus here on earth through His people.
That should light you up. You are not called to get comfortable. They said to Jesus, I want to follow you. I’m going to follow you wherever you go. Jesus said, Are you sure? The Son of Man doesn’t have a place to lay his head (Luke 9:57–58). A prophet has no honor in his hometown (John 4:44). They’ll hate you because they hated Me (John 15:18).
Just like our brother Abraham, he was showing me how two of his pastors were murdered last week, or one was attempted to be murdered and one, it looked like in the video, he was gone. This is the promise of Jesus. As followers of Christ, we lay down our lives and pick up our cross (Matt 16:24), but we don’t do it alone. The Holy Spirit is within us, equipping us, enabling us, and helping us to serve the Lord.
But it’s not for everyone. This is going to break some people’s theology because look at verse 21. It says the Holy Spirit’s gift is for only those with obedient lives of faith and love.
“The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
When Jesus says, “I also will love him and will reveal myself to him,” in the larger context of this passage, this is going back to when He says, you will see me, but they will not. This means the Holy Spirit is for those who show they love God by being obedient. This isn’t a one-time obedience. This is in the present tense. It has a continuous aspect, which means this is a lifestyle.
So you might be asking yourself, Why don’t I feel the presence of God? Why do I not feel like God is revealing himself in my life? Why does he feel so distant? Not every time, but a lot of times in light of this passage, you might want to ask yourself: Are there pet sins in my closet that I’m not getting rid of? Am I lusting after people or objects? Am I trying to satisfy myself with idols? Am I not loving my brothers and sisters like Christ did?
Jesus says that He will reveal Himself to the ones that love Him through obedience. You see, James says, draw near to God and He will draw near to you (Jas 4:8). If you make the effort to submit to Christ as King and obey Him, then He will draw near to you. That’s the gift and the reward. The reward of obedience is God Himself.
But John actually has some specific commands in mind. In John 13:34, Jesus says, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.” That’s John 13:34. And then He gives another command not long after that, and that’s in chapter 14. He says, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1).
Those are the two main commands in the book of John: believe in Jesus and love one another. The most famous verse in John is what? John 3:16. The entire purpose of the book of John being written, he says at the end of the Gospel, I have written these things so that you may believe (John 20:31). He wants you to believe. This is a command of God. He says it right here in John 14:1: Believe in Me.
And the second major command of John is to love one another. We love the way Christ loves. This isn’t the way our world is going to tell you what love means next month, right? Next month, they’re going to tell you “love is love.” Love is not some physical intimacy. It has nothing to do with that. It has nothing to do with what they will tell you love is next month. Love is laying down your life for one another (John 15:13). And it doesn’t require a marriage certificate. True biblical love is what Christ did for us.
Those are the two commands: believe and love. That is the lifestyle we are called to. For those who love and believe, they get the beautiful gift of being revealed the person of Christ and God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the Spirit confirms our intimacy with the Father and the Son
The ministry of the Spirit confirms our intimacy with the Father and the Son. That’s the next point. The ministry of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us confirms our intimacy with the Father and the Son (vv 20, 22–24).
Remember Philip’s question or request, show us the Father. Well, He now tells you this is when you’re going to get your request. In verse 20, He says:
“On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.”
Here’s the logic. If you’re in Jesus, that means that you are also in the one that Jesus is in, right? It’s kind of like if you live in Wake Forest, you are automatically in Wake County. Well, Jesus is in the Father, so if we’re in Jesus, we’re also in the Father.
And you might be asking at this point, what does in me, in you, in the Father, what does all that mean? That’s not language we like to use. This is the way Greek would communicate close proximity and intimacy with someone—close allegiance and fellowship.
So when Jesus says in verse 20, in that day that the Spirit of God fills you, you will know that I truly am in the Father. I am in fellowship with the Father. And you will be in fellowship with Me, and I will be in fellowship with you.
For those who are truly born again of the Spirit, you will have a testimony that says, I could feel God as clear as day. For those who are born again and filled, it’s not going to manifest itself in tongues. It may—I mean, I’m not going to put God in a box. But what you should be looking for is, did I feel the presence of God? Because that’s what Jesus is saying happens here. When the Spirit fills you, it will confirm that you have intimate fellowship with God the Father and God the Son.
So Judas, remember he asks, how is it that the world will not see You, but we will? And Jesus’ answer is that the Father and the Son will make their home with us (v 23). The fellowship is complete.
But I want you to look at verse 24 because there is a very clear warning for the world. We must never forget the warning that exists for those who reject Jesus. You see, Jesus says:
“The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine, but is from my Father who sent me.”
So follow this logic with me. For those who love Jesus by obeying Him, He says that the Father will love him and draw near to him (v 23). Jesus reminds them in verse 24 that if they disobey Jesus, who were they really disobeying? The Father.
If the Father draws near to the ones who love the Son by obeying Him, what is the flip side saying of those who do not obey Jesus? The Father will not draw near to them. This is an allusion to eternal damnation (John 3:36). For those who refuse to believe in Jesus, they will not receive the loving intimacy of God the Father.
This was a devastating reality for the Jews who were listening to Jesus that day. As the crowd was around Him and they hear Him saying things like, you must obey me, and by the way, my words are from the Father, because that implies that if you don’t listen to Me, He are not going to like it.
But there is good news. You can be in the presence of God today. You can feel His peace and His presence. You can soak up the glorious rays of His mighty love that He has shown down on earth. It began with His Son, but now it continues through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can live through you. You can take that power of God. You can perform the acts of Christ—the greatest acts of these being loving sacrifice—and you can tell the world that Jesus is the Son of God and He is King and He wants you to dwell in His kingdom because He loves you.
You only need to call out His name. No one will be turned away who calls on the name of the Lord (Rom 10:13), and the Lord’s name is Jesus. So please come to Him today if you have not already.
But for those of you who have, leave today with confidence knowing that God the Father is with you, satisfying your heart. You just have to listen to the Spirit’s voice.
Let’s go to Him now.
Father, I thank You so much for the beautiful reality and reminder that we are Yours and You are ours. Help us to have deep-seated fellowship with You, and to always look for ways to continue the ministry of Jesus in our neighborhood. Use us for Your glory. And Father, I pray that You would please protect us from the evil one (Matt 6:13). We love You, Lord. We thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.