John 14:7-15

I. Introduction

a. Scripture: John 14:7-15

And as always, I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

II. Contextualization

a. Feast of the Passover - In the upper room with the Disciples

b. He is there for the Last Supper with them - Just washed their feet

c. He has just predicted His betrayal...”Lord is it I???” All confused - Identified the betrayer with dipped morsel of bread…and it was Judas… - really this was a final a warning to Judas…Jesus washed His feet, shared the Word with Him and warned Him…Judas had time to change his mind...

a.

Gives the betrayer permission: - “what you do, do quickly”

d. Jesus sensed that His disciples were troubled and wanted to encourage them…

John 14:1 NASB95

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

John

Let’s them know that He is where there hope is found…and that HE is the only way.

e. Jesus is still there in the upper room…reclining and relaxing w/disciples…will spend a great deal of time there with them over the next couple of chapters, in order to teach them....this is a special time....it is their very last meal together in this life....and that’s where we left off last time.

John 14:7–15 NASB95

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

John 14:

III. Major Points

1. Get Out of Your Head

2. You Must KNOW Jesus; Not Just Know ABOUT Him

3. Prayer is a Privilege

IV. Point #1: Get Out of Your Head

John 14:7-8

Explanation

a. Philip seemed to have trouble with his eyes…back in Chapter 1 and verse 46 he said “Come and see!”.....he saw a big crowd in Chapter 6 and verse 7 and thought there was no way Jesus could feed them....and NOW He tells Jesus that if ONLY Jesus will let them SEE the Father, that will be enough for Him...

b. Sounds like he has eye trouble, doesn’t it? But really, what Philip has is heart trouble…His heart isn’t right because He isn’t trusting God’s Word.

c. Jesus told the Disciples clearly: if you’ve seen HIM, you have seen God Himself....you have seen the Father....

d. But Philip couldn’t get out of His own head....He was simply trying to hard and over thinking it....Jesus said “trust me”....and He couldn’t figure it out....He was simply stuck in his own head.

Illustration

In college, I had the opportunity to hear a lecture by Dr. Jim Lovell....for those of you who remember, Dr. Lovell was the commander of the Apollo 13 mission…At that lecture, he explained the disaster his crew encountered in outer space....While on their mission, there was an explosion on board. Several major functions on the aircraft lost function, including their air supply. The autopilot was also damaged…so Lovell had to bring the ship back in manually. On the Apollo ships, there was a control for the aircraft to go up and down and a separate control to go right and left....and the window to see what was happening outside was not like the large windows that the space shuttles of today have....it was less than a foot wide and a foot high....Jim looked out of the small window and operated one of the controls and one of the other astronauts, Fred Haise, operated the other control as Jim shouted instructions....two men steering together, but only one could see....if the aircraft came in too steep, it would come in at the wrong angle and burn up in the atmosphere....if it came in too shallow, it would bounce off of our atmosphere and go flying off into space....and if that happened, there was not enough fuel to turn around and try again......

Application

a. What if Fred Haise had questioned everything Jim Lovell said to him as they were zipping back towards earth at 2,000 mph....when milliseconds count because you don’t even have seconds....Fred couldn’t be inside his head and question everything....He had to TRUST his commander and do as he was told.

b. Church: Philip wasn’t trusting Jesus....He loved Jesus and respected Him....He spent time with Him....but He wouldn’t TRUST Him....Is there ANYTHING God can’t do? - Philip saw large crowd and said “we can’t feed all these people!”....REALLY? Jesus couldn’t handle that?

c. Church: In our own lives....a lot of times we LOVE Jesus....we appreciate Him and what He did on the cross, but we don’t TRUST Him....

That’s why:

We worry…what good does it do to worry? Drives up your blood pressure, shortens your life, and doesn’t do a thing to help your situation....98% of what we worry about never happens. We worry and say things like “well I know God’s got it in His hands,” but we don’t really believe it because we continue right on worrying about it! Give it that thing you’re worried about to God and leave it....quit dwelling on it....

You might say “well Vic that’s easier said than done”....yes it is if you try to handle that anxiety and even depression on your own

That’s why we need to pray....write this down: ”your prayers are only as powerful as you believe the One who hears them is.”

You cannot “give your worries” to God if you don’t pray to Him about them....

That’s why we need to turn to His Word....because in life, we don’t understand everything....Philip didn’t understand this oneness between Jesus and God....that Jesus is part of the Triune Godhead....so he dwelt on it and asked for proof....

Proverbs 3:5–6 NASB95

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

When you don’t understand, you have to rely on HIM! Put your faith in HIM! Give HIM your worries....because Philip looked at a crowd and said “this is impossible” and Jesus said “watch this!”

Church: how many of you are glad that nothing is impossible with God, amen? Get out of your head....if Jesus says it is so, it’s so, regardless of what the world tries to tell you. Get out of your head, and trust the Lord, amen?

V. Point #2: You Must KNOW Jesus; Not Just Know ABOUT Him

John 14:9-12

Explanation

a. Jesus is pressing the point “I and the Father are ONE”....what He is saying is that there is a Trinity....the word isn’t in the Bible, but the doctrine and concept are taught clearly....God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit....and this is a difficult concept....but Jesus is just trying to get Philip to understand His Deity....that He is MORE than just a man: That He is also coequal with God the Father and Holy Spirit....that He IS God…and that if you know HIM, you know God...

b. Philip’s response shows just how little he understand about Jesus…and Jesus tells Him that he has spent all this time with Him, but he misses this fundamental truth....that Jesus is SO MUCH more than a man: He is GOD in flesh. Philip spent three years at Jesus’ side but still missed this.

c. Jesus says: if you won’t believe my words (lack of trust), then believe my works!…

d. But then Jesus fully defines faith: He says those who are TRULY blessed are those who have learned to really trust me....Jesus says “if you can believe me based on my works, then latte da, good for you....but that requires no trust on your part....If you can trust based on my WORDS....THEN you have fully submitted yourself to God and you REALLY trust Me....”

e. See this is the difference between knowing about Jesus and truly knowing Him....Philip knew Jesus in the flesh....spent time by His side....could probably quote Him....but He didn’t truly understand who Jesus REALLY was....and His ignorance here showed that....He didn’t even believe it based on Jesus’ works…he couldn’t have possibly trusted Jesus to be that skeptical.

Illustration

I need to take a moment here to apologize to my wife....because I SHOULD trust her all the time....but I can be a bit skeptical sometimes…A couple of weeks ago we were in Wal-Mart....and she saw a person there that lives over an hour away and, the best I could tell, had no reason whatsoever to be in Swainsboro, never saw the woman....but when we got to the car, Hannah told me that she saw her....and I didn’t believe her....I even confessed to her “babe, I’m not calling you a liar, I just think you may be mistaken....I would need to see her because her being there was so out of context and crazy in my mind....” Hannah got mad at me and said her word should’ve been enough for me....and I confessed that it just wasn’t, I would’ve needed to see the woman.

Now that was wrong....I should’ve believed her to start with....but fellas I made a mistake and should’ve let it go....but instead I stood my ground....which we all know is a fruitless endeavor....It wasn’t even that big a deal....I should’ve TRUSTED her, despite my lack of evidence.

So Hanner, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.

Application

Church: Let me tell you WHY I’m sorry about that, because I KNOW my wife…and she has NEVER lied to me....not once....she is usually better at identifying people than I am....I had no reason to doubt her, no matter how unlikely the situation was.

I SHOULD have trusted my wife like that....and WE should trust God like that. Why? Because I KNOW my wife....we’ve been together for a decade and married for half of that time....that should be enough for me....but you know what? I’ve known Jesus a lot longer than that....and if I can’t trust Him, maybe I don’t REALLY KNOW Him, you know?

The same Jesus that was the agent of creation....the same one who healed the lame and the blind....the same one who flipped the world upside down and saved my soul....the same Jesus that conquered death and was raised from the dead....WHY don’t we trust Him? Because we know ALL about Him....but many of us don’t really know Him....If you don’t REALLY KNOW Jesus, it’s because you don’t do these four things:

Spend precious time in prayer with Him

Spend time in His Word

Spend time with His people

Spend time serving Him

- That’s what Heaven is going to be all about....serving and worshipping Jesus....if you don’t like serving him now I don’t know what you want to go to Heaven for…you wouldn’t enjoy Heaven....that’s all we’re going to do there, amen? You better get used to serving Him now.

Church: it’s time we got to really KNOW Jesus and spent time with Him…

VI. Point #3: Prayer is a Privilege

John 14:13-15

Explanation

In verse 13, Jesus is saying something very important, but let me first tell you what He is NOT saying....He is NOT saying that He will give you anything you want in this life....That’s not God’s role....

Jesus is saying that if you pray in HIS name....that you pray THROUGH His blood, then God will hear your prayers. He is also saying that when you pray through Him, God is glorified. When you glorify Jesus, you ARE glorifying God.

Finally....Jesus defines love very simply: If you love Him, you keep His commandments…you’ll be obedient...

Being able to pray to God, really is a privilege.

Illustration:

“I’d rather be able to pray than be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.”—D. L. Moody

“There is more that you can do after you pray, but there is nothing you can do until you pray.”—Dr. Curtis Hutson

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”—Abraham Lincoln

“Life is fragile, handle with prayer.”—Unknown

Application

Church: Here’s the point....imagine having a God who is all powerful and in control of your life…but no way to contact Him....that would be pretty rough! But you don’t have that at all....you have a God that LOVES you…that HEARS you!

But He hears you only through Jesus Christ....as sinners, we are so filthy we have no access to God at all because of His holiness…but because of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, that barrier has been broken down....that chasm has been crossed over....we now have the ear of God and He HEARS us....and not only that, He cares.

How many of you are glad God can hear your prayers!??

VII. Conclusion

a. Let me ask you this morning, are you inside your own head trying to rely on your own understanding? Imagine…thinking that with our finite minds that we could ever possibly fully understand an infinite God....God doesn’t ask that we understand Him....He ask that we trust Him, amen?

And that starts with knowing Jesus....not just knowing ABOUT Him…really knowing HIM....having a real relationship with Him....do you have that this morning?

Kaley and Blaine just started theirs and proclaimed that publically like God commands us to do in His Word…what about you?

That relationship starts with a prayer…and it is sustained by prayer....and like the old hymn says “what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer....”

And with that being said:

b. Let’s Pray