COMFORT IN CHANGING TIMES

Introduction

There are times in our lives when we feel the great insecurity that comes when those we depend upon leave. Like the transfer or retirement of a trusted supervisor or the death of someone very close to us. Graduation can also give us a glimpse of this insecurity - teachers, family, and friends have been our much-needed cheerleaders when our confidence is weak. Who will be there to help us? To give us answers? To point the way we should go? Or to be the listening ear when we need it?

Jesus’ disciples felt this way the night He was betrayed. The air must have been thick with fear as Jesus finished telling them that one of them would betray Him; another would deny Him; and that He was leaving.

But Jesus loves His disciples - and He loves us, too. He loves each of you just as much as He loved them. He gives them JUST what they need. He gives them Hope - a certain Hope.

We can need a certain hope in our times as well - not just when the people we trust leave, but also when the institutions, traditions, and values of the world around us change; when prices skyrocket and the systems available to us in times past disappear. We need that certain hope then, as well. The Hope that is given to us by God is a certain hope - if we will but take it and live by it. Do you need that Hope today?

Let’s Read John 14:1-11 John 14:1-7

John 14:1–7 NKJV

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

John 14:8–11 NKJV

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Pray

Belief: The Remedy for a Troubled Heart (vv. 1-3)

Believe in Jesus

Jesus starts by saying, “Let your hearts not be troubled.” We need to do that, but how? By believing in God and Christ.

“I know, pastor, but it’s just not that simple,” you say. “I believe in Jesus, but I’ve prayed and He didn’t answer plenty of times.” Or, “You just don’t know how empty my heart is because of the changes I’m facing.”

Well, the good news is that Jesus has just the answer. And He is the answer. It really starts with an understanding of where and to whom we belong. We will have troubles here on earth. But we need learn to start pressing into Jesus more. Rather than trusting the things the world teaches to trust, we need to trust Jesus. The world’s solutions will all eventually fail us. But Jesus never will. He never promises to deliver us from all the troubles in the world while we walk through; He is promising to deliver us from the world in His time.

Jesus gives us three things to believe - meaning trust without fail.

Believe in His Return (to the Father) - it’s been done!

Believe in His Return (for YOU) - we’re each still waiting; though others have gone before us.

Believe in His Relocation (of YOU) - He has already relocated many we love. Our turn lies ahead. Believe that it will happen. Look for it. Desire it. And serve Him until it happens!

Jesus also gives us more about what to believe. Trusting Jesus is a lot easier if we know Him better. All who believe in Him also trust Him. But not everyone knows Him as He wants us to know Him. He wants us to know Him intimately - so when trials come, when our faith is challenged, and our world starts to collapse around us, we can still trust in Him. This is more than education, it’s education plus experience.

Jesus says in verse 4 that His disciples already knew where He was going. Yet, they kept asking. So, He answered them. People today still ask.

How to Be Where Jesus Is (v. 4-11)

There are three things we need to know. They all come by believing. Jesus has given us the answer, just as He did His disciples the night of His betrayal. Each one challenges us further in our faith, but each is accessed the same way - by trusting it to be so.

1. Know Jesus (vv. 1-4)

We’ve pretty much covered this, but I need to address one thing quickly here. Jesus says in v. 4, “The way you know.” Later, in v. 6, Jesus identifies Himself as the way. If you know Jesus, you know the way. The way is Jesus. This means Jesus’ teachings, Jesus’ way of life, and so much more. Paul is quoted as saying, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.” Following Jesus means loving Jesus, obeying Jesus, serving Jesus as Jesus served the Father, and glorifying Jesus.

Some people want a way to get to heaven without Jesus. There is no way but by knowing Jesus. He is the way. Some people want to know Jesus only a little bit; they want Him to do things for them, to comfort, provide, protect, heal, and bless them. But they aren’t exactly interested in loving Him, serving Him, obeying Him, and the like. That’s too much religion for their liking. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” We must know Jesus.

2. Know WHERE Jesus Is (vv. 5-6)

We must also know where Jesus is. Jesus is with His Father - in Heaven. That’s physical location. Jesus is eternally connected to the Father. He has gone to sit at His Father’s right hand. He has finished what He came to do. Now, He serves and glorifies the Father from Heaven.

If you want to get to heaven, you must go through Jesus. Jesus must be in relationship with you - good relationship. There will come a day for many who think they are in that relationship when they are not. They may have joined the church. But Jesus never knew them. They may have been baptized. But Jesus never knew them. They may have tithed, or held church office, or even been ordained. But Jesus never knew them.

We must actively seek to behold Jesus as He is - in the Bible. That’s another place we can find Jesus. He is the ONLY Jesus that can and does get people to Heaven. He may be master over nature, but He is not IN nature. He is sovereign over all of creation: the universe, the spiritual beings (angels, Satan and demons, etc.), and the affairs of mankind. He is more than just involved in politics, but He IS involved in politics. And He is able to turn hearts to stone. All from the throne room of Heaven.

3. Know WHO Jesus Is (vv. 7 - 11)

We must know Jesus, and know that He is in heaven over all of Creation. But we also must know WHO Jesus is.

Jesus is the express image of the Father. What God thinks, says, or does, so thinks, says and does Jesus. Truly, Jesus takes every command of the Father and puts it to life.

If we are connected to Him by faith, we must seek to become the express image of Jesus as well. What Jesus wants, we give Him. What Jesus seeks, we seek as well. We let Him have our life as our gift to Him; and with it, He will live His life through ours.

This means that Jesus is Divine in nature. Many struggle with this truth; often flatly denying it. The Jewish leaders did, and they persuaded others to do so, too. That’s how they got the crowd to crucify Jesus. They denied that He was truly God in human form. They could not accept that the real Savior had come - or that they were about to offer Him up as the sacrifice for sins on the Passover. They considered Him a blasphemer when He was telling the truth all along.

If you see Jesus, you see God. And God is holy. God is sanctified. And by following Jesus, we become Holy, too! These days, godly holiness is an idea from the past. But unless we are transformed into the likeness of Christ, by the sanctification of the Spirit, we will not be on the way to heaven. We must let Jesus do His part by being obedient to His Spirit and Word. And such teachings are missing in many Christian circles today. Yet, this is what the Bible teaches. And the Bible is the Word of God.

Conclusion

God has given us every comfort we need if we will just trust Jesus. When the world is crumbling around us, when death is encroaching on our lives, we have all that our hearts need to not be troubled - in Jesus. Jesus is building our eternal homes, and will return for us to take us there. We are not of the world. Jesus has overcome the world. All we need is to follow Him. To follow Him we must know Him, and know Him well while we have time. We must trust Him. We must believe that He is God and serve Him as God. We must seek Him to know Him, and serve Him because we love Him - all because He first loved us!

He gave His life for ours. We can be sure that giving Him ours, He can truly do great things with it - by His definition, not our own. Let’s disregard the words of Barack Obama, and let us cling to Jesus - His Word - as our hope, not cling to the changes the world is making today. Our hope is in Christ alone.