The Way, the Truth, and the Life

John 14:1-6

“Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you are no earthly good.” I’ve heard this saying many times. But is this what the Bible teaches about how we ought to live? Does the Bible warn us against being so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly good? No. In fact, it teaches exactly the opposite. If we are to be faithful and obedient in this world, we must have our eyes fixed on heaven.

Do not let your hearts be troubled

He is going to leave them

This is not simply a tough day in which they need an encouraging word

Their Teacher and Lord is about the be brutally killed before their very eyes and they are going to be in danger of having their faith torn to pieces

If Satan demanded to have Peter and his faith is going to be shaken, then so it is for th rest of them

Their eternal lives rests in the balance

They will either walk away and join Judas in the camp of the apostates

Or they will stand firm in their faith

In this world we will have trouble

John 16:33- I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Our hearts are easily troubled

It doesn’t take much for us to begin to fear, worry, and become troubled

God knows this about us

He knows what is at stake

Millions of professing Christians have walked away from the faith in the past 2 years alone

The pressures of life mount

Unanswered prayers ensnare

Tragedies strike

Cancer kills

Sinful passions consume

Questions go unanswered

Relationships fall apart

The horror of war decimates nations

And if there is not a word from God in these times, we will be undone in our faith

Believe in God, believe also in me

He is commanding them to have faith

Why does He command faith when what they are dealing with is fear and troubled hearts?

It is because fear and anxiety are faith problems.

Fear and anxiety reveal themselves from the heart’s shadows of unbelief.

Two commands, not just one

He commands them to believe in God

He commands them also to believe in Him

This has been the theme of much of this Gospel

He and the Father are one

If you believe in one, you must believe in the other

You cannot know God without knowing Jesus

Anyone who rejects Christ but professes faith in God is deceiving themself

Anyone who claims to know Christ while rejecting the God of the Bible is a liar

John 8:19- They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

He goes to prepare a place for His people

He is going to where His Father is

This is broadly speaking of Heaven

The specifics of how that works itself out will come later in the passage

He is going to make all of the proper preparations for His people

He is going to go for a time and prepare their place to dwell with Him

He will certainly come again for His people

He isn’t going to prepare a place for no reason

He isn’t going to be thwarted in the middle of His preparation

He is going to come back and ensure that His own will dwell with Him forever

Take heart!

We do not have to be consumed by the events, turmoil, evil, and difficulty of this world

Christ reigns in power in heaven and He will forever

This same Savior King has promised to bring His people safely home to Himself

No matter who is President, Christ sits on His throne

No matter what happens on Tuesday, Christ reigns Supreme

No matter how bad it gets in our fallen world, Christ has promised to bring us safely home to Himself forever

Is this what people know us for?

Are we known for

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Thomas says that he doesn’t know the place or the way

He has shown them the place by saying that it is with His Father

So, what is the way to the presence of God?

Jesus says I AM the true and life-giving way

The way

John 10:1- Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

John 10:7-9- So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The truth

John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14- And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8:31-32- So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The life

John 1:4- In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 5:24- Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 11:25- Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live

No one comes to the Father apart from Him

He is the only Perfect Substitute

He is the only Atoning Sacrifice

He is the only eternal High Preist

He is the only true way wich gives life and apart from Him we are condemned

John 3:16-18- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Therefore, fear not, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

We do not need to fear because He has made a way to the Father by the shedding of His own blood

We don’t need a way to make America Great Again if we know the one who has made a way for us to dwell forever in an endlessly better country

We do not need to fear because God has revealed the Truth to us in the face of Christ Jesus

We don’t need to be consumed with worry about personal or political lies becasue the unchangeable Truth of God has been given to us in Christ

We do not need to fear because unshakable life has been given to us in Christ

We don’t need to be anxious about our lives or what tomorrow will bring if we have eternal life in Him who will hold us fast to the end until He comes and takes us to be with Him forever

We don’t need to be careful of being so heavenly-minded that we’re no earthly good. We need to be so heavenly-minded that no earthly threat will shake our faith in Him who said “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.