Many Rooms

- John 14:1-6

John 14:1–6 (CSB)

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 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? 3 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. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

- Different types of Christianity

I once heard this explanation of all of the different types of Christianity out there.

Because there are

Methodist,

Episcopalians,

Baptists,

There are Pentecostals,

American Baptists,

Freewill Baptist

Lutherans, etc.

How is it that we all call ourselves Christians?

If we in fact obviously believe differently?

Notice, I did not include Catholicism.

Because there are eternal doctrinal divides that forever cement our differences,

IE: They believe in a plurality of Saints etc

Protestant Christianity does not agree with this

Anyway, to explain the differences I heard this anecdote

- A Large mansion with many doors

Picture there is a large mansion and it takes up the entire block square.

There are many doors, in this mansion.

There are noises, talking, and different kinds of music coming from each of the different doors and windows.

A person walks by one end of the mansion and hears country music coming from one of the windows.

That person happens to like Country music, so he goes inside to see where it is coming from or whats going on in it.

To another, they hear rock music, and likewise goes inside to see

To others, they hear folk music, and they also go inside to see

On down the list to other types of likes and dislikes,

Until one hears What ever it is that attracts them, and they like wise go inside

Its the same mansion, only the draw and/or the method of attraction differs,

The end result is the same, they find salvation inside the mansion

Regardless of what the attraction is or was, they find Jesus inside

I personally like that illustration.

I like the idea of explaining it like that.

This goes a long way in helping people understand the differences across the denominational lines.

Some like Contemporary worship, others more traditional hymnal music etc.

Some like lights and pizazz, and others like it more quaint and quiet etc

- They should lead to Jesus

But they all should lead to Jesus. Amen!

This illustration is brought to life with Jesus’s words in

John 14:1–4 (CSB)

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 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? 3 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. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”

So, in the fathers house there are many different rooms

Some for the pentecostals, some for the Baptist

And some for the Bapti-costals, lol

But the good news is, as long as you accept Jesus into your hearts

And live according to complete trust in Him

You will find your name on a doorway into a Mansion within the fathers house.

Now, notice, I said, live life in accordance to trust in Him?

Jesus said plainly

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

And if you try to get win by any other means

John 10:1 CSB

1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.

So, this makes me want to reflect and ask myself

Am I going through Jesus?

Or am I trying to get in some other way?

Like, if certain things I do aren’t right, can I find a loop hole somehow?

- Many make up there own rules

Unfortunately many people fall into the trap of making up stuff

Even though they have no actual clue what the Bible says about it.

But, as soon as you poke holes in that belief they have created

They immediately want to throw you under the bus for even suggesting

That What they have come to believe is okay is actually not okay

And is actually a sin, and trap of the enemy of God!

As you all know, I am constantly debating world religions.

One story, out of many, comes to mind I was debating Catholicism with an older Catholic woman.

We had gotten on to the subject of faith healings

To which I challenged her on the cleansing the body with an egg.

To which she immediately jumped on board, and began by testifying she not only believes in it, but also practices it

I called her out on it as having participated in Witch craft.

She immediately lost her supposed Christian composure and kindness.

Then began to berate me as if I were the stupid one,

She was oblivious to the practice as witch craft.

She swore in anger, that this was totally spiritual and permitted

And widely practiced,

So, I asked her,

Have you consulted with your local priest about such practices?

Silence!

She had no answer.

Because she inherently knew it was wrong, but she defended it until she was faced with having to secure its validity before what she considers Godly

So, even us today.

Here in this church

Do we consult with what we know as Holy before committing to anything?

Or do we just jump right in because it feels right?

Because everyone else is doing it?

Because YOU don’t see anything wrong with it?

Or any of the millions of other excuses we dig up when we want to justify anything we want to do, regardless of its level of Holiness?

This applies to the saying, “Ignorance is Bliss”

That saying is from the enemy of God,

Along the lines of the old occult saying, “Do what thou wilt”

This is from the enemy of God

- There are limits to our freedom in Christ

There ARE limits to our freedom in Christ.

We are free in Christ, within the boundaries set forth before us in scripture

Am I free to kill my neighbor?

Not within the boundaries set forth by the law that is written on our hearts before God.

Am I free to engage in sexual immorality?

Not within the boundaries set before us in scripture.

So, how do we know then that what we are engaging in is not against the boundaries set forth before us in scripture?

Or do we dare to continue engaging in them because we believe “Ignorance is bliss?”

Or, the old, “surely God won’t hold it against us if we are sinning?” mentality.

Wrong!

Hosea 4:6 (CSB)

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.

Just because you didn’t KNOW is not going to get you off the hook.

So, then we should consider what God’s Word says on the matter before engaging in anything at all.

Just like the belief that if you just Believe in Jesus you are going to heaven

The demons believe and tremble at His name Just believing isn’t going to do it for you.

Jesus said you must pick up your cross and follow after Him

If you don’t, you aren’t getting in, Period!

In this day and age, go to any supermarket line and you are bombarded with astrological advice for your love life, advice for your social life etc.

Turn on the tv and there’s all kinds of ways to engage in things that are designed to keep you in sin.

And the moment someone speaks out against one of those things they are demonized,

For instance, speak out against the practice of

YOGA

or Halloween,

Or new age meditation,

and tapping

Or what ever fad there currently is guaranteed to Heal your body and diseases, etc.

Immediately people who obviously have absolutely no clue what the Bible says in the matter

Will set out to crucify those of us who speak against it

These are supposed to be Christians as well,

Some who have never ever actually read the Bible, come running to Halloween’s defense or to the defense of the latest fad

As if they have somehow become Experts at what is considered sin or not

I will remind you that those very same people are infected with the same Spirit that found the radical things

Jesus was saying offensive and dragged Him to the cross and crucified Jesus to defend THEIR Understanding of what THEY considered Holy and unHoly

Unfortunately there are many people like this even in our churches today

They have somehow become convinced, they have the right way to worship, etc.

Or they are experts, at how we should dress in church

Somehow they have become experts on Biblical matters or church Etiquette without Ever having done a serious study of the facts

Not once considering the fact that they themselves could be sinning in their practices themselves.

I remember once, we at a men’s night service were waiting on the pastor While we are all waiting, one of the young men arrived

Whom the pastor and myself had been openly praying for due to his heroin Addiction

Anyway, a short while before the pastor arrived, I was leading service when this young man came in,

It was obvious to all of us men that he wasn’t in his right mind, he was high

But, he knew he had made a commitment to myself and the pastor, so he showed up, Albeit “high” on heroin.

To my dismay, one of the deacons, pulled me aside and asked me to throw the young man out on the streets.

I said absolutely not man, have you lost your mind?

This young man is exactly where he should be right now.

And I am going to minister to him

Shortly after this conversation, the pastor arrived and we continued to minister to him

The next day or so, I called in a favor to a hotel manager friend and together we baptized this young man into Jesus.

In that hotel swimming pool in the dead of winter

Because the next day he was leaving for rehab. AMEN!

That deacon had convinced himself he knew what was best completely ignoring what scripture says in

John 15:13 (CSB)

13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.

- We are to worship Jesus

So, as I said in the beginning, the mansion is huge,

And though we are all attracted to come inside to find Jesus

We need to remember that though we may be different,

In certain likes and dislikes, we are all here to worship Jesus

The Rules, don’t change just because one likes Rock music vs Hymns

Or one prefers soft rather than loud music.

Or most importantly because we didn’t KNOW what we were doing was wrong!

Try getting out of a murder case by telling the judge,

You didn’t know that guns could be used to kill

Like that famous actor who just the other day shot and killed a Cinematographer and wounded the director.

Because of an accidental shot from a blank gun

Someone is going to have to pay for that life.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

We should continue to pray for the families involved.

Just because You didn’t KNOW will not save you from justice

And for those of you who decide to celebrate Halloween, Yoga, Cleansing with eggs etc.

Just remember, A Myriad of studies and books HAVE been written against the celebration Of thess pagan and satanic rituals

Though giving and receiving candy in, stretching muscles etc in and of its self are not evil

However, it is deeper than the innocent surface things of Candy and costumes and stretches

It is a celebration and practice that involves the setting up against Christ and His Followers,

Its as if, you were to walk all around Jerusalem with a Nazi symbol around passover.

It really is.

Or, walking around Saudi Arabia handing out free bacon

If you are a Christian, what in the world are you doing standing in the enemies camp?

In Vietnam, we hear that one of the reasons why it was so difficult to win

Was because no one really knew who the enemy was,

They all acted the same and dressed the same.

On Halloween, I imagine the angels have the same problem

Trying to figure out which one of us are really Christians among all the people

acting the same as the world,

looking the same as the World

And caught up in the same debauchery as the rest of the world

So, no matter what door you happened to walk into to find Jesus, although it may be different than that of your bothers and sisters

We should all look the same to the father in heaven.

Covered in the blood His son shed for us on the cross all those years ago.

Those of this world are not covered in the blood, they are still Covered by their sins.

We are washed clean, so why mingle that which is now clean and pure with that, that is dirty and defiled?

Ephesians 5:11–12 (CSB)

11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.