The Gate is Down

Hopewell Baptist Church

March 15, 2020

Opening Illustration – In space, when floating in Zero Gravity, there is no defined up and down. What is up to me might be down to you. There is movie, based on a book, called “Ender’s Game”, in which youth are recruited and trained as possible future military leaders. Ender and others are taken to a military school that floats in orbit around the Earth. And, in one of the training rooms, there is no gravity. They have to orient themselves towards the opponent’s side, towards the “enemy”, in the training exercises. One of Ender’s peers says “The enemy’s gate is down” to help orient themselves, to help them get used to their new station in life.

Transition: As we look through the text, Jesus begins to help His disciples realize that something new is coming, and how it should look, how people will tell it apart from other things.

Big Idea: Jesus knew what the disciples did not: His death on the cross (and subsequent burial and resurrection) was not the end, but really a beginning. A new beginning for a new community called “The Church”.

Pray

The setup for this passage is that is occurs immediately after Judas’ departs the Upper Room, leaving Jesus and the remaining eleven Disciples. We see this in the narrative statement, “When he [Judas] had gone out,…” (v.31).

I. The Ending –

a. The Glory of God – v.31-32 – Jesus’ talk of His glorification is regarding His death and the glory that it brings to God.

i. The betrayal is as good as done, for Judas has gone out to do it (v.27).

ii. God’s glory is revealed in the perfect obedience of God the Son to the will of God the Father ().

iii. However, this glorification will not occur without Jesus’ imminent departure…

b. The Departure of the Christ – v.33 – For things to move forward, Jesus must depart

i. Jesus is only with them as the God-Man for a short while longer. Jesus comes back shortly after the resurrection.

1. Jesus then sends His Holy Spirit to indwell within the believers ()

2. Jesus will come back in the end times to make all things new

3. As followers of Christ, we look back at His first coming and also forward to His second.

ii. He tells them that where He is going, they cannot come, because only He can go and die as the perfect Passover lamb.

1. He echoes what he told the Jews in , when speaking to them of His coming death, albeit much earlier in His ministry than He is now.

2. He does not mean they will never go to be with Him, they will (v.36), but at a later time

II. The Beginning –

a. A New Commandment, A New Community – v.34-35

i. Jesus continues to lead His disciples to follow His example, “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (v.34)

1.

ii. In these two verses, Jesus hints at the new community that is to come, that is going to form around this new commandment: The Church

1. is a mark of what that community will look like

2. is an example of what that community looks like.

b. Do as I say because you cannot do as I do (yet) – v.36-38 –

i. Peter, whom Jesus once referred to as Satan (), is crying out to Jesus, wants to know where He is going, why he cannot go, and that he will follow Jesus wherever (v.36-37).

1. Jesus tells Peter that he can’t go now, but that he will go after Him in the future. All followers of Christ will go to be with Him in the future.

ii. Good intentions in a secure room don’t always pan out when standing amongst an unruly, hostile mob of people.

1. Jesus predicts Peter’s denial – (Makes me think of )

a. Jesus is God, so He knows what’s going to happen already, as it’s part of the plan.

b. Peter is a very prideful disciple of Christ, so this is something that, after it happens, really humbles Peter ().

c. And we know that Jesus restored Peter ().

III. Application

a. Because of Jesus’ great example of perfect obedience in all things to God the Father, we, too, must be obedient to God and how He desires us to live our lives!

i. ,

ii. Jesus gives us example after example (v.1-30) on how we must live our lives, so we, too, must be obedient.

b. Just as Peter was prideful, we, too, will fall into the the same trap, thinking we can do it all on our own. We can’t, and God will sometimes remind us of that. We must stay humble.

i. Jesus just telling Peter that he would deny Him would be humbling.

c. We, as the church, must be taking care of one another in fellowship, in love, in service. Does the universal church look like that to you today?

i. Do we see in churches today? I do see it here in Hopewell Baptist Church.

ii. This is how people will be able to tell that we are different, opening-up the opportunity to have a Gospel conversation ( – praising God and having favor with all the people…”

1. And what do they need to know?…to repent and believe! (lead into invitation…)

IV. Invitation

a. Repent and Believe

b. Be Baptized

c. Surrender to ministry (do not mention nursery).