Assurance

Assurance in Him

February 10, 2025

John 14:8-14

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In my humble (maybe not so humble) opinion, I think there should be three books that are required reads for every believer. Without compromise or apology, these books should be at the fingertips of every follower of Christ. Now, I am not a “good” reader and I would argue I read like a 4th grader (nothing against any 4th graders) but that is no excuse. Even if you struggle, I encourage you to sharpen this skill. It’s the primary way God speaks to you.

Book #1: The Holy Scriptures. The Word of God must be our daily bread, our daily substance to carry us through the world around us. Psalm 119:11 says; “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Our Lord even said that man shall live on the Word of God.

Book #2: The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan is a masterpiece of English Puritan tradition. Written in vivid imagery, it recounts the story of Christian, the main character, who travels through life, encountering every temptation and trial that we do today. I blackmailed Zach into reading this novel, and because of it, I have seen a change in him. You can even get the kid’s version!

Book #3: John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Foxe wrote this book to defend and promote the Protestant faith during the English Reformation, specifically by detailing the stories of Christian martyrs, particularly those persecuted under the Catholic Queen Mary. In this masterful work, Foxe records people who were killed for their faith in Jesus, starting with Jesus Himself, moving to Stephen (the first) all the way through the reformation.

By its title, you can gather that Foxe’s book is heavy and, at times, dark. But did you know that his book was second in popularity during his time, only to the Bible itself? His work did more for those being persecuted than any other book besides the Bible. You see, reading of people who have walked the walk of persecution confidently brought others strength. As the Roman Catholic church brought crushing persecution down on Protestants, Foxe’s little book assured believers to stand strong.

Why these books? Assurance in the faith is the thread of hope linking the believer to the promise of salvation. Assurance that your faith is real is the single most valuable thing that you and I can find. Without this blessed assurance, we wander aimlessly through life just hoping that what we believe is more than “belief” rather a saving faith unto salvation.

Today’s message is one of assurance. What Bunyan and Foxe tried to do in their books, Jesus teaches the disciples the assurance that can only come from Him. Remember from the last sermons where we are.

We are in the upper room. Jesus is sitting with His true followers around the table and teaching them the last and most intimate lessons before He goes to the Cross in just a few short hours. He had just taught that He is the Way, Truth, and Life in response to troubled hearts and Thomas’s question of where He was going. Now, we have an opportunity to look at Philip’s question, which we have all pondered.

When Jesus teaches Philip and us, He does so in unimaginable patience.

1.      Undeserved patience.

I need to offer just a little more context. Philip, a Jewish young man, is a saved follower of Christ. Remember from last Sunday that this account we are studying is a transitional period. They do not fully understand because the HS has yet to be sent on the day of Pentecost. These who are sitting around Jesus are saved followers. Judas has left the room. The disciples had just had their minds blown with the lesson on the “way”.

Now, Philip asks the questions that in any normal setting may have gotten a frustrated answer. But, Jesus proceeds to circle back and re-teach a lesson on assurance. Jesus patiently asks the question that strikes to the heart of the issue.

Vs 9 “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip.”

To use his specific name in the response directs the question personally to the person asking the question. Philip, seriously, I have been with you for 3 years. Can’t you see it yet? The question Jesus asks is 1 of three that He will use to direct the conversation for Philip, the disciples, and us.

What Philip is asking is similar to the question of non-believers. Remember, back in John 8:18-19, the Jews wanted Him to show them the Father. He responds, “I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” And they said, who is your Father? Philip’s question is not out of line with what nonbelievers ask every day. Show me the Father, and it will be good enough for me.

We all have people in our lives with this attitude. If I can’t see it, touch it, study it, and understand it completely, I don’t believe it (Materialism/Humanism). We hear nonbelievers say that I asked God for a miracle, and since He did not answer, He doesn’t exist or doesn’t care.

“You do not know me, Philip?” The tone of the question feels like a rebuke and we would be on good ground to assume that. We see Jesus patiently instruct a heart that needs assurance. We can’t begin to put our minds into Philips. Remember what I said that the Word of God is not written about us or even to us. It was written about Jesus, Jewish minds in a time that is not ours. But, the applications are for us. In this exchange, there is an immediate application.

Put yourself in Jesus’s shoes for a second. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders, you are going to be abandon by everyone around the table you are sitting at. The betrayal by a friend is happening right now, you will soon be arrested, beaten, tried and hung on a Roman Cross, separated from the Heavenly Father and you pause and handle one man’s unbelief.

Jesus patiently asks, Philip, are you seriously asking me this? This proves that:

a.       Belief comes slow: As Christ shows Philip patience, we have to see the application when we talk to people who do not believe. Maybe you need to hear just this today: sanctification is a process and at times slow, painful, and suffering is part of the journey.

If you are IN Christ just know that no matter where you are in this process of sanctification, God is working all things out for His Glory and your good.

Personally, I look back at how I have taught God’s Word over the years. I praise God that He is so patient with me. I have taught it wrong, said it wrong, presented it harshly, used it to “manage” people, argued over stupid things to win arguments, all the while losing the war. My kids would attest to this. I have been wrong more than I have been right. I have been impatient as I know, if you are honest, we all have been. My challenge to all of us is to ask, how patient has He been with us?

b.      God does love the unbeliever: Mark 10:17-21

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him…”

We forget why Jesus came when we turn inward and focus on ourselves. We forget, Jesus came to save the lost of whom we all once were. He did not come for the well, He came for the hurting and the sick in sin. We are quick to forget that in the needs of our day-to-day lives.

Jesus shows undeserved patience with Philip and us. But that is not all. Jesus shows us an undeserved promise.

2.      Undeserved promise.

The promise of the Father is in the SON is the very essence of Jesus. The promise of the redemptive plan from eternity past is found in the one who just washed the feet of the disciples. Think for a second like Philip, a Jewish man who, like His people, has been waiting for the promise of the LORD for hundreds and hundreds of years. The anticipation for what sat at table with him should have been mind blowing, and yet, He asked, Show us the father?

It is no wonder that Jesus responds like He does to Philip!

Vs 10 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works[1]

Again, Jesus uses these same words back in John 10:38 to the nonbelievers! He is saying, fine you don’t believe my words, at least look at the signs! In John 5:36 Jesus speaks to the Jews and pleas with them to at least believe the signs!

While preacing the promise of His coming and the fulfillment of the plan of salvation to the lost, He is also teaching the relationship of the Father with the Son. Because of this relationship, the works performed and salvation to the lost are images of the relationship and connectedness that the Father and Son share. Church, this relationship is key to understanding our passage today!

We all search for clarity to understand the Trinity. It is a paradox or question we all struggle with. Just like Philip, we are tempted to ask, can you just show us the Father? But, there is no greater way to show you the Father than showing you the Son.

Charles Swindoll responds to Philip’s request by saying, “Jesus reminded Philip and the others that He is the perfect representation of the Father. The father cannot take a visible, audible form more suitable than the Son. Because they are the same being, everything the Son says or does is a reflection of the Father’s words and deeds.”

Remember, please, these men have given everything to follow Jesus. They know that the truths He preached, and they know it may cost them their lives if it weren’t for Jesus. When Jesus says, “I am going away,” Philip and Thomas’s questions are not outlandish! Without Jesus, these men lose His protection. He has walked with them, protected them, kept the ruling class at bay, and required complete dedication. And now you say you are leaving?

These are men who needed assurance that it will be okay! Maybe you are here today and you have committed to walk with Jesus. You would say that you are all in and yet, you feel as if He is a long way off. Maybe sickness, maybe pain, maybe loss. No matter the situation, stay with me, our hearts are going to be assured! He does provide in our time of hurt!

3.      Undeserved provision.

Vs 12-14 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it[3]

Many poor ministers of the faith have taken this passage and destroyed it’s intent, meaning and promise. Many use it for their own gain for popularity and even wealth. I’ll tell you, the ones who do this, are easily spotted and quickly identified. When used incorrectly, it always points back to self and wealth. You can see it a mile away. It’s called the Prosperity Gospel. Pastors that hold to this blasphemy would include: Joel Olstien, Kenneth Copland, Steven Fertick, just to name a few.

Remember please, this passage IS connected to the conversation we are studying. It does not stand by it’s self. It is not intended to be ripped from it’s context or place in John’s Gospel. It is very much connected to the discussion with the disciples. Again, it is not written to you and me. It is written for you and me. We learn from it’s application while keeping it in the context it was given.

So, let me tell you what Jesus is NOT saying first:

a.       Jesus did not say that you would do greater works in power-

b.      Jesus did not just teach the “name it and claim it” theology

c.       Jesus did not just teach that you have endless wishes that an infinite God has to answer because you followed a formula. “In Jesus’s Name”

But, What Jesus said was this:

a.       Greater works in extent: In Acts 2, Luke records Peter’s sermon. It is the greatest sermon recorded by a man of God. At the conclusion of the sermon, Luke records in verse 41, “41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [4]

b.      Specific for the APOSTLES: they were given the ability for signs and wonders:

Now, this is where things get really important to understand. It has caused church splits and divisions among the children of God.

The apostolic age (the age of the Apostles) in particular, the men who Jesus is talking to here, were given the gifts of healing, raising the dead, and healing the broken. For that time period and the advancement of the Gospel message, these men were equipped to do these signs.

However, these gifts were specifically given to these men and Paul. I am NOT saying that God has stopped healing people and working amazing acts through prayer today. God does still work today, but NOT like these men. They were specifically equipped to advance the Gospel in the first century.

Moving forward, the focus here is on spiritual rather than physical miracles. The book of Acts constitutes the beginning historical record of the impact that the HS empowered the disciples had on the world for the Gospel, not for healings. The focus is always on the Gospel, not on the signs.

Remember, this is recording the conversation from Jesus to the disciples. It is a transitional period, telling them that they will do great works by means of the HS. It is for us to read and learn its principles but we need to read this correctly. The apostolic age is complete. We don’t have the power to raise the dead, cast out demons, heal cancer, etc.

BUT, we DO have the power to pray and submit this to the work of the Father. When we obediently submit to the will of the Father, we will pray. There are times when prayer is answered, healings happen, and God does amazing things. But, thanks to the HS, we submit our petitions to the feet of Christ and wait for His answer.

c.       Pray IN My Name: When Jesus says this, it is not a formula. It means IN HIM and IN His name!

We do have a provision. When we abide, dwell with and in Him, we ask according to His will and act according to His will, then we will pray correctly. When we are praying according to the will of the Father, then we are praying correctly. When we pray with this perspective, we see the heavens open up and the Glory of the Father rest on prayers that are right and in line with His will.

How do I know what to pray? Romans 12:1, 2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[5]

A sacrifice is an all-in type of lifestyle. You can’t take back a true sacrifice. Think of a burnt offering. It’s burnt, gone and submitted. It has been offered and can’t be taken back.

When we fully commit and are now transformed, abiding IN Christ, and He in us, we will pray the will of the Father. We will know what to ask for and trust in the outcome, even if it is the outcome we did not have in mind.

The relationship of the Son being unified to the Father is an expectation that we too be united to the Son and thus, be praying as He would pray, asking as He would ask, submitting like He submits to the Father.

What we see with our eyes may not be “good” from a worldly perspective but truly praying IN HIS name, the good that we pray for will be truly good in Him and we will trust that His glory will come from it.

4.      Be assured IN Him

Each of those words has a purpose. I want to tell of John Bunyan’s story (the author of the Pilgrim's progress. Before being saved, he was sitting in a room hearing two women share the Holy Word of God with such joy and love that it drew Him in. He would become saved shortly after that and in 1654 he started to preach openly. According to the Christian History Institute:

“His ministry coincided with the Stuart Restoration of 1660 which meant that unauthorized preaching would lead to a punishable offense. Arrested in November 1660 for holding a conventicle (an illegal religious meeting), Bunyan was sentenced in January 1661, initially for three months, to imprisonment in Bedford jail. His continued refusal to assure authorities that he would refrain from preaching if released prolonged his imprisonment until 1672. In prison, he made shoelaces (to support his family), preached to prisoners, and wrote various works.

Bunyan’s first prison book was Profitable Meditations, followed by Christian Behavior, The Holy City, and Grace Abounding To the Chief of Sinners. From 1667 to 1672, he probably spent most of his time writing The Pilgrim’s Progress. This book, published in 1678, was for generations the work, next to the Bible, most deeply cherished in devout English-speaking homes. When the great missionary surge began, Protestants translated into various dialects first the Bible, then The Pilgrim’s Progress.”

I wonder, when he was arrested, leaving his wife and children (1 blind daughter), if they saw his imprisonment and separation as “good”. I wonder, would Pilgrim’s Progress have even happened apart from prison? I wonder if he, his wife and his children asked God if He would not go to jail? After all, he was preaching the Gospel. I wonder if, as he was writing about the main character doubting in his book, do you think he was wondering if his prayers were being heard?

Prayer is for the “believer” to commune with, in, and alongside with God. When the Spirit guides the heart and mind of the believer along the road of prayer then we know that our prayers are His prayer. Anything good that comes from our prayers is from HIM and are not ignored. They are heard!

Look back at the inner relation between the Father and the Son. The Son’s words were that of the Father. The Son glorified the Father because the Father was in the Son.

But, if your prayers are truly for His Glory, your requests will be in line and proof of a relationship that is authentically IN Him and eternally focused. Grace will flow from your petitions, understanding will be cascading into your mind, peace will settle your heart, wisdom will be your calling card to others, and you will be assured!

Unbeliever:

This is NOT a sermon to say that if you just say some prayer, you will get all that your heart desires. NO! What it means to be IN Christ means that you know not just in your head but in your heart that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, suffered and died on a Roman cross all because a loving Father saw your sin debt from the beginning of time and offered a payment for that cost. God, in His love, crushed His Son so that you are not crushed.

When Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life” He says that exclusively there is no other way for your salvation. It’s free to have as long as you believe that He is who He says He is.

For the believer, there are many reasons to be assured. Our Lord is patient, teaching us today the provisions that he is constantly providing. We only need to be assured that we are IN Him!

Read letter from Tracy!

Church, I know Tracy’s heart, and it is assured that the Father will be glorified in this.