Promises (2)
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Jesus comforts His disciples with life forever with Him in heaven and how to get there. John 14v1-11
Jesus comforts His disciples with life forever with Him in heaven and how to get there. John 14v1-11
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
Why are the disciples troubled?
Jesus has revealed he will be betrayed.
For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Betrayed for what? One of his disciples is going to leave following Him to follow some other Rabbi? No. One of His disciples is going to betray Him and hand Him over to His executioners.
Not only is he going to be betrayed, he is going to be denied by and forsaken by his disciples.
Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.
This forsaking wasn’t just done by Peter… it was going to be done by all except for John.
Imagine hearing the news that the most loyal follower of Jesus was going to abandon Jesus. That would cause some sorrow.
They are troubled because Jesus said He is going somewhere that they cannot go… yet.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
On top of all of this Jesus is telling them that they cannot come with Him even if they want to.
I picture Teller and Letty when I say I have to go. They can’t go with and it breaks their hearts.
Transition: So, they are troubled, but what does Jesus tell them to do?
Jesus tells them to trust Him.
Not for the first time. They need to keep believing in Him.
There are a lot of sicknesses going around right now. A lot of viruses. For viruses we don’t have a cure. No vaccine. (Talk about 2020) For the virus of anxiety we have an antidote - trusting in Jesus.
Jesus tells them to trust His promises.
What are His promises?
He is going to prepare a place for them!
Heaven isn’t a figment of our imaginations. It is a real place that Jesus is prepping for us right now as we speak.
Listen to this awesome quote by C.S. Lewis…
“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 136–37)”
Jesus isn’t just going to prepare a place for us, He has promised He will return to pick us up and take us there!
Transition: The disciples themselves provide us with the tension of the text… “How do we know we can go there with you? What path do we need to take?
We talked last week about this question, “If you died tonight, do you know for sure if you would spend an eternity in heaven?”
How in the world can one be so certain about the answer to that question? Jesus makes it clear.
The path to heaven is Christ!
Religious people throughout history have acknowledged this one truth: The path to God is blocked. That is why for thousands of years people have strove to gain access to God by what they do!
We need not strive, we need not earn, we need not bank on anything that relies on us… we must trust Christ and Him alone.
This is what heaven is all about - Jesus. He isn’t just the path to heaven, He makes heaven heaven. Without Him there, Heaven would be pointless.
This is why we emphasize spending time with Jesus every day.
If Jesus is boring to you now, heaven ain’t gonna be all that great to you later.
Jesus promises His disciples help from heaven while they follow Him on earth. John 14v12-14
Jesus promises His disciples help from heaven while they follow Him on earth. John 14v12-14
Jesus isn’t leaving His disciples here on earth to go sit in a La-Z Boy. He is from heaven going to be the source of all their power from heaven.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
The first things that Jesus promises He will do for His disciples is through them He will accomplish…
Greater works
Now greater works than the works of Jesus?
What about all of the healing? What about turning the water into wine? What about walking on water? What about raising people from the dead?
Here are four ways Jesus is going to accomplish greater works through His disciples on earth...
Geographically
Ethnically
Numerically
Spiritually
None of those things would have ever been accomplished if Jesus wasn’t supplying the with power from heaven.
But notice, it isn’t just for the disciples then… It is any one that believes in Jesus!
Transition: The Spirit’s power will not only be seen in greater works, but it will also be evident through answered prayer.
Answers to prayer
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Ahhh yes, here is some Bible that I can get behind. God will give me stuff and all I have to do is ask in the name of Jesus? Not exactly. There are actually christian denominations that believe this nonsense. They treat God like He is their genie in a bottle and it is their right to anything they want in the name of Jesus.
Rather, as one commentator puts it, “Jesus defines genuine prayer as prayer in his name and prayer that when answered will bring glory to God. To pray in Jesus’s name is not to recite a magical incantation but to pray in line with his will. It’s to pray with the understanding the request you bring is one Jesus would sign his name to. It’s a request that, if answered, would show the world who God is and what he cares about.”
Matt Carter and Josh Wredberg, Exalting Jesus in John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), Jn 14:4–14.
Hudson Taylor said this...
Exalting Jesus in John (Answered Prayer)
“I used to ask God to help me. Then, I asked Him if I might help Him. Finally, I ended up asking Him to do his work in me and through me, if He would be so pleased.” - Hudson Taylor
This is the essence of getting God to answer your prayers. If you want answered prayer in your life, pray the will of God, pray that God would do amazing things through His Son, through you.
John Piper said this…
Exalting Jesus in John (Answered Prayer)
“Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” - John Piper
I want to challenge you this coming year to pray prayers of faith. Pray Christ exalting, God glorifying prayers. Specific prayers.
I heard one man say this...
General prayers will yield general answers; specific prayers will yield specific answers.
Conclusion:
These are glorious truths. Pick one and meditate on it for the rest of the week.
Trusting in Jesus is the answer to our worries.
Jesus has promised us an eternity with Him forever.
Jesus has promised us a for sure path to that eternity.
Jesus has promised to do greater works through us.
Jesus has promised to answer our prayers that glorify God.