14:1-11 READ V:1-6 PRAY

Transcription

1 The Cure for a Troubled Heart John 14:1-11 READ V:1-6 PRAY It s not possible to properly understand any text of scripture without an awareness on the context We must understand the great thought that dominates this chapter SEPARATION Cp. 13:33 preparing His disciples for His departure Peter was so shook up by 13:33 that he missed Jesus important teaching on love (34-36a) No chapter breaks in the original 14:1 - Jesus is now seeking to comfort His disciples in the light of this new information We all have occasions for a troubled heart So this chapter is for all of us The disciples have had a hands on relationship with Jesus for over 3 years 1John 1:1 They are now about to transition to a faith relationship with Jesus (i.e. The Father) They had a faith relationship with the Father through walking by sight with the Son. But that is all about to change (Faith based) Soon, just like us, the disciples will have to walk with Jesus by faith cp. The Father Page 1 of 7

2 V:1 What a bold thing to say! Speaks of DEITY! No one else could say such a thing Pisteuo = To trust in, have confidence in, commit to Jesus is saying, Have the same confidence and trust in me as you have in God the Father Continually in the Gospels Jesus puts Himself on the same level as the Father EQUAL TO I and My Father are one. John 10:30, NKJV. In a few verses He is going to say V:7-11 So Jesus is saying in V:1 instead of having a troubled heart, trust Me AND the Father! (explore?) Next, a glorious promise V:2-3 This promise is best understood if you understand Jewish tradition. This is ancient Jewish imagery In ancient Jewish tradition when a man would own property, he would build his house upon his land When he had sons, custom was that when his sons grew up and it was time to marry (they would have arranged marriages ) But once the marriage was arranged, there would be a year engagement During that year the son would return to the father s house to make ready for the bride Page 2 of 7

3 He would ADD ON to the father s house a living quarter for his wife and new family o (Totally different from today s culture) In ancient times there was safety and security in families staying close Jesus is painting the picture here of His engagement & arranged marriage to His bride (the church) & His preparing a place for her Jesus will someday come and get His bride and bring her to the Father s house to forever be together with Him AND His Father BTW - That s what makes heaven, heaven (V:3) Not independent living in our gated community mansions But living in the presence of God! Imagine, The family of God living together in the Father s house UNITY and LOVE o No more division & separation BTW - God created the heavens & the earth in 6 days. He has been preparing heaven for over 2,000 yrs Some are frustrated over the fact that we don t have much detailed info about heaven How we will occupy How we might look More? I believe that is intentional. I believe that the most important thing about heaven is that we will be with Jesus & the Father! (Besides, it s beyond description) Page 3 of 7

4 (It could be the most beautiful place in the universe, but without God it wouldn t be heaven! ) Heaven is a certainty of our future. It is a reality that we too often minimize (The promise of eternity) How much better off we would be if we lived each day with heaven perspective (In the light of ) (Scripture texts to consider ) All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 1 Peter 1:3, 4, NLT. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20, 21, NKJV. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, NKJV. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring Page 4 of 7

5 to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 2 Corinthians 4:17-5:2, NKJV. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18, NKJV. V:3 At first glance you may think Jesus let His apostles down. They all died without Him coming NOT True! Cp. Stephen s stoning But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! Acts 7:55, 56, NKJV. I believe this is a sneak peak at every believer s death. (V:3 happens every time a believer dies ) V:4-5 Aren t you glad Thomas asked questions? V:6 If Thomas hadn t asked this question, Jesus may never have made such a rich & powerful statement This forever settles the exclusivity of Jesus There is only one way to heaven! Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12, NKJV. Jesus DIDN T say, I KNOW the way. Follow me He DIDN T say, I will MAKE a way He said, I AM the way! Not only that. He said, I AM THE TRUTH Page 5 of 7

6 HE IS the truth because He is GOD S (Who cannot lie) LIVING WORD! And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14, NKJV. Not only that. He said, I AM THE LIFE All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was LIFE, and the life was the light of men. John 1:3, 4, NKJV. V:7-11 Comments (He says to us today) CS Lewis quote about Jesus I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. We all have a crucial judgment to make Will we believe in God and believe also in Him? Will we BELIEVE He is everything He claims to be? Will we TRUST HIM with our souls? Page 6 of 7

7 Will we trust Him with our lives here and now? (That s the cure for a troubled heart) PRAYER Prayer over potluck END Page 7 of 7