I will manifest myself to him

The pastor asked a great question Sunday when he was discussing John 14:21 and the phrase, "I will manifest myself to him.” He asked something like, “What do I do when I don't feel the presence of Jesus? How do I assure myself he's with me?”

As I said, a great question! This is a really big question. It is a question of Jesus manifesting himself to us and what if anything we can do to facilitate this, to experience and enjoy this.

First, the verse itself.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Jesus is very clear here: The one who keeps his commandments loves him, and Jesus will love this person and will manifest himself to him. The promise is to the one who is consciously seeking to follow Jesus by keeping his commandments. Such a one can expect Jesus to manifest himself to him.

That’s faith. I believe in Jesus, I'm a follower of Jesus. I’m doing my part and I believe him to do his part – manifest himself to me.

But I confess, if I have to be argued into this confidence, either by myself or by another, it's not really worth very much. And thank God I don't have to argue myself into this! Jesus said he would manifest himself. I don't work it up, I don't go looking for it, I don't discover it, I don’t convince myself of this. No. No! NO! He makes himself known to me! Jesus reveals himself to me! So the question then is, How does he manifests himself to me? How does he disclose himself to me? How does he make his presence in my life known to me?

Let me just make a list: There is the gift of the Spirit (baptism/filling of the Spirit); the gifts of the Spirit; the fruit of the Spirit; the witness of the Spirit; the leading of the Spirit; the conviction of the Spirit; the assurance of the Spirit. I can add the reading of His word – as the Holy Spirit witnesses, convicts, assures, enlightens etc. The sacraments, especially the Lord's Supper. Jesus manifests himself to me: makes himself known to me, causes me to be aware of his presence. Amen!

Jesus is well able and has fully promised to manifest himself to me. Him to me. I don't have to work it up, I don't have to argue myself into it, you don't have to argue me into it, Jesus himself manifests himself to me. I can expect it. I can trust him to do just that. This is normal Christian experience.

But enough of my thoughts. Let me add the words of two great men of God . . .


Adam Clarke (from his commentary on Romans 8)

Whereby we cry, Abba, Father - The introduction of the words here shows that the persons in question had the strongest evidence of the excellence of the state in which they stood; they knew that they were thus adopted; and they knew this by the Spirit of God which was given them on their adoption; and let me say, they could know it by no other means. The Father who had adopted them could be seen by no mortal eye; and the transaction being purely of a spiritual nature, and transacted in heaven, can be known only by God's supernatural testimony of it upon earth. It is a matter of such solemn importance to every Christian soul, that God in his mercy has been pleased not to leave it to conjecture, assumption, or inductive reasoning; but attests it by his own Spirit in the soul of the person whom he adopts through Christ Jesus. It is the grand and most observable case in which the intercourse is kept up between heaven and earth; and the genuine believer in Christ Jesus is not left to the quibbles or casuistry of polemic divines or critics, but receives the thing, and the testimony of it, immediately from God himself. And were not the testimony of the state thus given, no man could possibly have any assurance of his salvation which would beget confidence and love. If to any man his acceptance with God be hypothetical, then his confidence must be so too. His love to God must be hypothetical, his gratitude hypothetical, and his obedience also. If God had forgiven me my sins, then I should love him, and I should be grateful, and I should testify this gratitude by obedience. But who does not see that these must necessarily depend on the If in the first case. All this uncertainty, and the perplexities necessarily resulting from it, God has precluded by sending the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, by which we cry, Abba, Father: and thus our adoption into the heavenly family is testified and ascertained to us in the only way in which it can possibly be done, by the direct influence of the Spirit of God. Remove this from Christianity, and it is a dead letter.


A.W. Tozer (The Necessity of an Encounter With God)

We are in tune with the plain teachings of the Bible when we attach great importance to genuine Christian experience. But I will take immediate objection to the charge, "Tozer preaches experience!"

I do not preach experience. I preach Christ. That is my calling, and I will always be faithful to that calling.

Nevertheless, I insist that the effective preaching of Jesus Christ, rightly understood, will produce spiritual experience in Christian believers. Moreover, if Christian preaching does not produce spiritual experience and maturing in the believer, the preaching is not being faithful to the Christ revealed in the Scriptures!

Let me say it again in another way. The Christ of the Bible is not rightly known until there is an experience of Him within the believer, for our Savior and Lord offers Himself to human experience.

Our shortcoming in spiritual experience is our tendency to believe without confirmation. God Himself does not need to confirm anything with His being. But we are not God. We are humans, and in matters of our faith we need confirmation within ourselves.

Why are so many Christian believers ineffective, anemic, disappointed, discouraged? I think the answer is that we need confirmation within ourselves, and we are not getting it.

I have no doubt that God, in love and grace and mercy, awaits to confirm His presence among those who will truly hunger and thirst after righteousness. For a long while I have been on record insisting that true spiritual experience is conscious awareness.

The human personality has a right to be consciously aware of a meeting with God. There will be a spiritual confirmation, an inward knowledge or witness.

I repeat: Experience is conscious awareness.

Conscious awareness of the presence of God! God has given us the Bible for a reason. That reason is so it can lead us to meet God in Jesus Christ in a clear, sharp encounter that will burn on in our hearts forever and ever!

The Spirit of God has compelled me to preach and write much about the believer's conscious union with Christ -- a union that must be felt and experienced. I will never be through talking about the union of the soul with the Savior, the conscious union of the believer's heart with Jesus. Remember, I am not talking about a theological union only. I am speaking also of a conscious union, a union that is felt and experienced.

For men and women who have met God, we may say that the sun -- the Son -- has come up in their hearts, and His warmth and light have given them a distinguishing radiance. They have the inner witness. Perhaps you will agree with me when I say, sadly, that the average evangelical Christian is without this radiance. Instead of an inner witness, he or she too often is found substituting logical conclusions drawn from Bible texts. There is no witness, no encounter with God, no awareness of inner change. The whole point I am trying to make about the fellowship of a person with God is this: where there is a divine act within the soul, there will be a corresponding awareness. This act of God is its own evidence. It addresses itself directly to the spiritual consciousness.

Certainly, we can be sure of this: whenever a person truly meets God in faith and commitment to the gospel, he will have a consciousness and a sharp awareness of the details of that spiritual transaction.

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So, how do I assure myself he is with me? Actually, I don’t assure myself, he manifests himself to me! I believe his promise, I obey his word, and then trust him to manifest himself to me.




Adam Clarke (1760–1832) was a British Methodist theologian and biblical scholar. As a theologian, he reinforced the teachings of Methodist founder John Wesley.

A.W. Tozer (1897–1963) was a pastor with the Christian & Missionary Alliance for 44 years, serving churches in West Virginia, Chicago, and Toronto