DIRECTIONS TO HEAVEN MORE THAN A MAN SERIES

Transcription

1 Good morning, Life Fellowship. It is good to be back. Last week I was on the road doing a Family Life Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a two hour and forty five minute trip to get to the hotel. My wife and children were with me, and when we got to the hotel we took out all the luggage from the car and loaded it on a bell cart. And as I looked at all that luggage I thought that my wife might have packed enough for three or four months. Then we made our way with the luggage cart into the hotel, and I walked up to the front desk to check in. The guy started to look for the reservation under Conway, and he began to look, and he began to look, and he began to look again. And I was having one of those feelings like maybe I was not in the system. So I told him we were with the Family Life Conference and he said, Unfortunately, we don t have your name in our system, and Family Life isn t staying here this weekend. They are at the other Embassy Hotel. Great! This is what you call Here is Your Sign moment. So I told my wife I was going to go out and put the luggage back in the car. And while I was putting all that luggage back in the car, I saw a guy out there and we started talking. I asked him if he could give me directions to the other Embassy Hotel. And he started giving me directions just as Heather walked out and told me she had got the directions from the front desk guy. Well, I decided to follow the directions I had gotten and we started to drive. And after a while I had this feeling that you start to get when you think you are going in the wrong direction. And I started to feel that reality right then, but I didn t want Heather to know that, so I kept up a pseudo confidence in my directions. But I was asking the Lord if He could just adjust the landscape a little and put the hotel right over here. It is sometimes easier to pray for a miracle than to ask for forgiveness from your wife. But eventually I had to acquiesce, and I asked Heather to call the guy back at the hotel and get the directions again. She did, and when she told him where we were, he told her that we were headed to the third Embassy Suite. And I thought, What are the chances of three Embassy Suite Hotels being in about a ten mile radius? So we finally made our way to the right Embassy Hotel. Now what is the moral of the story besides the fact that wives are always right? The moral of the story is directions are important if you want to reach your destination, especially the right directions. Because many people can go through life trying to navigate to a destination, but they don t have the right directions, and therefore they won t arrive at the right place, as was evidenced in my story. Now I was sincere and I meant well as I was driving to the hotel, but the problem was I was sincerely wrong. And that is the problem with sincerity. You can be deceived. Page 1 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

2 You can think you are headed to the right place and be going to the wrong place. In the last service I asked, what was the moral of the story of me going to the wrong hotel, and someone said, That your name was not going to be found in the book? Well there is a moral right there too. Many people think they are on the way to the right place, and what they are going to find someday is, Sorry, your name is not here. What I want to talk to you about today is the directions to Heaven, because it is so important that we know where we are going. And it is amazing to me, when it comes to this idea of Heaven, how many people are willing to say, You know what, I am just going to kind of wing it. I am just going to trust in my sincerity. I am just not going to really think about the afterlife while I am here. I am just going to kind of keep my fingers crossed. But we don t want to keep our fingers crossed when it comes to the most important decision we will ever make in life. And that is where we are going to spend our eternity. Sincerity is not enough. And by the way, we don t apply that logic in anything else in life, do we? I mean, if I decided to make Rice Krispies treats, but when I went to the cupboard I found that I had no marshmallows and no Rice Krispies. Well sure enough in this moment I am not going to think, You know it doesn t matter because I have black eyed peas here. I have some spinach. I have some flour. I am just going to mix it all together and be sincere and hope it all works out. No, we don t operate that way. But for some reason, when it comes to our afterlife, we don t want to follow directions. And yet we know the importance of it in every other area of life. So what you do with God, what you do to answer the question of, where am I going when I die, there is not a more important question that has to be answered while we are here on earth. Do you know the way to Heaven? You will remember that the last time that we were in John Chapter 14 that Jesus was comforting His disciples anxieties. They were fearful because Jesus has announced that He is going away. Jesus knows that His death is imminent. He is going to die within 24 hours of time. And the disciples did not like the language of, I am going away. Why? It was because they have been together for three years. They love Jesus, and they don t want Him going anywhere. They want to be tethered with Him. And that created anxiety in them. Jesus told them they did not have to be anxious. He said to them, Let not your hearts be troubled. In my Father s house are many rooms. And I am going to go and prepare a place for you. Now what is His Father s house? The Father s house is Heaven. And Jesus holds out the promise that He is going to Heaven and that someday they will be with Him in His Father s house. And we ended on verse 4 where Jesus said, And you know the way. And I said surprisingly enough that you would be interested in the disciples response when we Page 2 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

3 come to John Chapter 14 and verse 5. Jesus now is going to help them understand the directions to Heaven. Verse 5, Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. Now, that is a preacher s worst nightmare, right? Jesus has been clearly articulating where He is going, and right here in the immediate context, He just said He was going away and He was going to prepare a place for them that they may be where He is. And they still do not know where He is going. You know what happened in that sermon? It just flew right over their heads. And we see that happen a lot, don t we, when Jesus is teaching the disciples. I wonder how many things Jesus is trying to get across to me in my own life, and it is just flying over my own head. This would be an equivalent right here where Thomas said, We do not know where you are going, to someone who has been a longtime church member saying, What is the name of the series we are doing now? Well, what is the name of the series we are doing? It is More Than a Man. In the last service I was so blown away that everyone got it, and then they said, Well, it s up on the screen. And I thought, Here s your sign, right? The good news is this: Jesus is going to share the directions to Heaven. He is going to crystalize it for them. Verse 5, Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? What a great question. Has anyone ever asked you that question? Tell me, how do I get to Heaven? That is a great question. It doesn t get any better than that when someone asks that kind of a question. That is a metaphysical question right there. That is one of life s largest questions, if not the largest question, outside of understanding that we exist to glorify God. Jesus answers Thomas in verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. So what does Jesus do in this moment? He tells them that He is the directions to Heaven. It is personal. It is relational. If you are going to get to Heaven, you are going to do it through Jesus. He is the way. We can harken back to John Chapter 1 and verse 29, when Jesus came on the scene and the preparer, John the Baptist, said, Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In other words, behold the way to Heaven. Here is the one who will forgive us of our sins so that we can go be with the Father. And we need to understand this verse because this verse is a very, very important verse. In today s passage we are going to see Jesus answer to Thomas question. He is going to give the directions to Heaven. And then we are going to see a comment that Philip will make in regards to what Jesus will say about how to get to Heaven. So here Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. Page 3 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

4 Let s just begin to peel that verse apart. I believe this is one of the most important verses for today s culture that is pluralistic in America today. Jesus said, I am, and this is number six of seven I am s that Jesus has used in the gospel of John. We know that Jesus said, I am the light of the world, in John Chapter 8 and verse 32. He said, Before Abraham was, I am, in John Chapter 8 and verse 58. He said, I am the door. And He uses these different phrases like, I am the bread of life, to describe Himself. Now I like to remind you each time we come to these I am statements so that it can sort of be locked in for you. This I am phrase is the sacred covenant name for God. And it harkens back to Exodus Chapter 3 and verse 20, where Moses saw a burning bush and he heard a voice out of the burning bush speaking to him saying, Moses, go and deliver my people Israel out of Egypt. And Moses asked, Who shall I say sent me? And God said, Tell them I am has sent you. What does God mean? He didn t say for Moses to tell them I began sent you, or I will sent you. But He said to tell them I am has sent you. What this name implies is God is self-existent. God has no beginning and God has no end. God is the uncaused cause. God is the one who started everything, and everything that starts needs a starter. Everything that begins needs a beginner. Everything that is created needs a creator. Everything that is designed has a designer. Every effect has a cause. And so Jesus is self-existent. Jesus existed before He existed. I have said that several times. He existed as God before He existed as man. He took on flesh in the virgin birth and He became a human being. And now Jesus has been using this I am phrase to describe all that He is. And He is basically equivocating Himself with divinity. And here He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now the reason Jesus is the way to Heaven is because He is the truth, and He is the life, who offers life. And notice Jesus doesn t say, I am A way. He uses the definite article and says, I am THE way. And in Acts Chapter 9 and verse 2, this was one of the first names that the church was known for. They were known as followers of The way. We have other names that the church was known for like, the body of Christ and the bride of Christ. So the followers were known for whom they followed. They followed Jesus. Now He says, I am the way, and some of you may think that sounds exclusive. It is exclusive. These are exclusive claims. You have what is known as Christian particularism, meaning there is a particular way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus. And then there is pluralism, which says that there are many ways to God. And many people in our culture, and even inside the church today, believe that there are many ways to God. Page 4 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

5 But Jesus is not a pluralist. Jesus is a particularist. He says that the way to Heaven is through Him. It is relational. And we must really grab ahold of that. Our way to Heaven is not through Krishna. It is not through Buddha. It is not through Allah. Our way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. He is the directions to Heaven. And it is so important that we grab ahold of the gravity of what Jesus is trying to say, because in our culture today, many people want to reduce His words down and to say that He is the best of all possible options. But He is not the best of all possible options He is the only option. He is the only way. And if you want to get to Heaven, Jesus is the road map. Jesus is the one who will lead you there. Now some will say, Bobby, that just sounds really narrow minded. As Christians we are very narrow minded. But guess what? Everybody is very narrow minded. And I have tried to teach this to you before, but let me do it again. Everybody is narrow minded. Did you know that Muslims are very narrow minded people? Muslims believe Allah is the only way to Heaven, and if you don t believe that then you are wrong. Isn t that narrow minded? Atheists are very narrow minded people. They believe that there is no god. And if you believe in God, you are wrong. Isn t that narrow minded? Pluralists, who believe that there are many ways to Heaven are narrow minded people. They believe that there are many ways to Heaven. And if you believe there is only one way to Heaven, you are wrong. Relativists are narrow minded people. They say that it doesn t matter what you believe, but if you say it does matter what you believe, then they say you are wrong. Isn t that narrow minded? Christians say Jesus is The way, the true and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. They are very narrow minded people because they believe Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Are you following my logic here? Are you with me? Because the truth is Jesus IS the only way to Heaven. And in the Greco-Roman culture, this was shocking that Jesus followers were going out saying the only way to Heaven was through Jesus. This was a very pluralistic culture, so that is why they were experiencing persecution. When the early Christians came on with those startling statements claiming that there was only one way to God, it became a problem. The people looked at their emperor as a deity so this was astounding. And when the Christians would not worship the emperor, and when the Christians would not worship their gods, that was a problem. Now maybe you are wondering what about the Jews. Weren t they monotheistic in their beliefs? They were, but they weren t out trying to pull everyone else into their beliefs. The Christians were on a mission to evangelize both Jew and Gentile, and that became problematic. Page 5 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

6 I am taking time for this because this is a very important doctrine. Let me help you understand more. Where did this doctrine of exclusivity start to become problematic, because for church history it was very clear that Jesus is the way to Heaven? Now even in many churches, like the Emerging Church and in other places, we have people trying to softball that. And to say, Oh you know what, there are other options out there. Between about 1420 and 1720 you had different explorers navigating the world, like Ferdinand Magellan and Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus. And as they were going and checking out the world what began to happen is they started discovering colonies where people existed who had never heard the gospel. And that became very problematic and it created two problems. One problem was, Are all of these people who have never heard about Jesus lost? And the second problem it created was it made Christians look very, very narrow minded. And you can see how that happened. In today s culture because of technology and the Internet, now we have an even greater understanding of all the unreached people. And so that has become very problematic for some people where they have walked away from saying Jesus is the only way, and just thinking that He is the best probable way. And even in the church, people have arrived there because of that. So here is why I am taking time for you to understand this. We can t slip into Jesus being the best possible option or we slip into heresy. So what do we do then? What about those who have never heard about Jesus? What do we say to that? First of all, as I have shared with you before, there are three lights that God gives us in the Bible. There is the light of creation, which is general revelation. Psalms 19 and verse 1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God. In Romans Chapter 1 we see very clearly that the creation testifies to God s existence so that all people are without excuse. In other words general revelation is enough for people to recognize that God exists so that all are without excuse. Then we go into Romans Chapter 2 and we see not only the light of creation as seen in Romans Chapter 1, but we see the light of conscience. That on our hearts God has inscribed the moral law. That we have a sense transculturally of right and wrong. And people in different cultures, except for a few fatalistic cultures, all grasp that murder is wrong. They grasp that lying is wrong. They grasp that it is wrong to steal. It is like the Ten Commandments have been inscribed on our hearts. God s moral law has been written there. And so if we respond to the light of creation and the light of conscience, then God will give us the third light, the light of Christ s special revelation. And that is why Muslims all throughout the world who have just had the light of creation and the light of Page 6 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

7 conscience, go to bed at night and have a dream about the light of Christ, wake up and place their faith in the cross of Jesus Christ and get saved. Now the other thing that is so important to know is if there is another way to Heaven, and if Jesus is not the only way there, and if those in other parts of the world don t need to know about Jesus to be saved, if they don t need to know that, then let s shut down all of our mission agencies. Because missions may put them in a position to reject Jesus, so why do missions, if there is another way to Heaven? We do missions because we know when we go to the mission fields that Jesus is the only way to Heaven; otherwise we would not do missions at all. Why? We would not be willing to go to the 10/40 window to reach people about Jesus if we thought that going and telling them about Jesus could mean that they would reject Him. We might think that they may already be safe and secure without knowing the gospel if there were another option. So it is so important that we grasp the words that Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. We are in a culture today that even in many churches, many so-called Christians, believe in their heart of hearts that God is going to give people a pass. That they are going to show up and God will say, Hey you were a great model for people in your life. But that is not the way it is going to work. We have to place our faith in Jesus. No one comes to the Father except through me. The disciples got that message very clearly. After the Spirit of God came on Pentecost, we read in Acts Chapter 2, There is no other name given under Heaven whereby men must be saved, but at the name of Jesus Christ. So the disciples weren t getting it at first when Jesus was telling them, but obviously the message got through in John Chapter 14 and verse 6, and they got it! And that is why they were willing to die. Who is going to be willing to die for their faith if you believe there is another way to Heaven? And if you really believe there are other ways to Heaven, or that God is going to give you a pass, it is going to shrink your passion for evangelism. You are going to lose your passion for evangelism, man. You are not going to feel burdened to go because you are going to think that God is going to give you a pass. But God does not give out passes. We go to Heaven through Jesus Christ alone. Listen to what R. C. Sproul said about this idea of people thinking that it really doesn t matter what you believe. I really cannot think of anything more antithetical to Biblical Christianity than the idea that it doesn t matter what you believe. I think it is because in the United States all religions are equally tolerated under the law, so we make a gratuitous leap from equality under the law to equal validity before God. That is a perilous place to stand because the Scriptures say there is a difference between truth and Page 7 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

8 falsehood, between the true Messiah and false messiahs, and between Christ and anti- Christ. Well said, Mr. Sproul. Let s continue on in the Scriptures and understand that this idea that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no one gets to the Father except through Him. When you get to the Father you get to the Father s house which is Heaven. So Jesus is saying that He is the direction to Heaven. I think every Christian should subscribe to the Christian Research Journal. It will keep you fresh on the different issues that are attacking Christianity today. And it will equip you with answers to give to people. Mark Mittelberg wrote an article in the recent Christian Research Journal talking about the different ways people try to arrive at truth. Jesus has said that He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the substance of all that. But in our culture there are six paths, or six ways that people try to discover that. The first common path that people try to discover the way or the truth is this: The Relativistic Faith Path. Truth is what you make it. Have you ever heard that in culture? You design, you create your own truth. But we would never follow that. When going through a red light, we realize that truth has absolutes. If the light is red, don t run it or you might get killed. The second way that people try to discover truth is through the Traditional Faith Path. And this is the truth that you have always been taught. And so many people grow up, and they never even examine why they believe what they believe. In fact that even is true for some Christians. Now am I saying go off and study whether or not Christianity is true? Of course not. I do believe if you go off to study it you will discover Christianity is true. But many people may grow up in a Catholic home, or they may grow up in a certain tradition, and they believe what they have been taught, and then they pass it on to the next generation. But are you willing to entrust your eternity to what your parents say truth is, or to what a relative has to say about what truth is? Then there is another way that people try to discover truth and that is through the Authoritarian Faith Path truth is what you have been told to believe. This is very true in the Islamic world. Many Muslims grow up being told this is what you will believe. Sharia Law is very prevalent and systemic in those cultures, and they are told that this is what they are to believe. And so they believe that. And many cults are that way. They tell you this is what you are to believe. Then you also have what is known as the Intuitive Faith Path where people try to find the way of truth. And truth for them is what you feel in your heart. One of my favorite childhood movies growing up was Star Wars. And Mittelberg talks about it in the article when Obi-Wan Kenobi is teaching Luke Skywalker how to use his light saber. He tells him, Luke, do not trust your instincts. Do not use your eyes. Your eyes will Page 8 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

9 deceive you. Then he puts a hood over Luke s face, and he starts to use his light saber, and he says, Feel the force, Luke. This is this intuitive way of arriving at truth. But our feelings are subjective. How many of you have ever realized that your feelings are false. Our feelings don t always correspond to reality. What is truth? Truth is that which corresponds to reality. My name is Bobby. That corresponds to reality. My name is Fredrick. That is not a true statement, because my name is not Fredrick. That statement does not correspond to the reality that my name is Bobby. That statement is false. Then there is also this type of way that people try to arrive at truth the Mystical Faith Path. Truth is what you think God told you. So what happens is we arrive with beliefs such as Islam. Muhammad, in the 7 th Century, goes into a cave and he hears from the Angel Gabriel. And he walks out after many, many, many visions and he puts together the Koran. Well, when Muhammad first got those revelations in the 7 th Century, he thought he was demon possessed. Did you know that? Muhammad thought he was demon possessed, but then his wife said, No, no, no, you are hearing from God. And then there is Mormonism. If you have ever had a Mormon come to your door, what do they do? They will come to your door and they will tell you if you will just pray about it, God will show you by giving you a burning in the bosom. And by having that burning in the bosom you will know that God will show you that it is true. Well, we don t need a burning in the bosom. In Deuteronomy, Proverbs and Revelation, there is a phrase, Do not add to the books. And the Mormons have added books The Pearl of Great Price, Doctrines and Covenants, and The Book of Mormon. And we read in Galatians Chapter 1 and verse 8, But even if we or an angel from Heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. And oh how we wish that Muhammad would have realized that that wasn t the true Gabriel. Gabriel is not the messenger of Allah, Gabriel is the messenger of Jesus Christ. So are we going to believe in Muhammad s experience in a cave with nobody else around to testify to his subjective experience 700 years after Jesus existed? Are we going to trust what he has to say about Jesus? Or are we going to believe Jesus community, which was His disciples who walked and lived with Him, and the many other multiple witnesses? Then there was Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. He hears from the Angel Moroni in upstate New York. And there he begins to interpret the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and then produces their revelation of what that belief is about. What happened? I believe that they were demon possessed because they were trying to arrive at the way of truth through a Mystical Faith Path. And that is not the way to arrive at the truth. Page 9 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

10 And then finally there is the Evidential Faith Path to discovering the way of truth. And this teaches that truth is what logic and evidence point to. And this is what I believe is the true way for us to discover if Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The beautiful thing about Christianity is it is testable. We have archaeological evidence. We have prophetic evidence. We have great manuscript evidence. We have all kinds of evidence that helps us to realize that we have a reasonable faith. Yes, we have faith, but we place our faith in a reasonable faith. Now some people in the other camp say they don t believe in reason. And Mark Mittelberg had this to say about reason. When people tell you they don t trust reason, just ask them why. And they will start giving you reasons against reason. So when you talk to someone and they say, Man, I don t believe in your reasons for why Jesus is the only way. I don t think you can reason that. I don t think you can use reason. Then you can just say, Well, why don t you think you can use reason? And then they will give you the reasons for why you can t use reason. Does that make sense? When Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, we have so much manuscript evidence that backs it up, folks. And in this culture, many people are going to attack John Chapter 14 and verse 6, and we have to be equipped to navigate in a pluralistic age the true gospel of Jesus Christ. So now let s see what Jesus says to Thomas in verse 7. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him. What a gracious statement that was for Jesus to say that. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him. And they are going to understand what that means more now because to see Jesus is to see the Father, as He is going to share with the next participant in the conversation, Philip. In verse 8 Philip comes on the scene and he says, Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us. In other words Philip is saying, It is not enough for us to just to hear you say that you are the way, the truth and the life. I want some evidence. I want a miracle. Now Philip was a Jew and in that culture Jews were always looking for a sign or a miracle. Philip wanted a theophany. Maybe he was thinking about Moses when he asked God to show him His glory. Philip wanted to see a sign, so He asked Jesus to show them the Father. And sometimes that can happen in our own lives, can t it? Jesus words aren t enough. Oh, if you would just give me a circumstance to confirm, then I would believe, Jesus. So in this particular situation let s see how Jesus answers Philip. Verse 9, Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Now let me answer this. First of all, Jesus said a similar thing to Thomas in verse 7. If you had known me, and then He says to Philip, Have I been with you so long, Page 10 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

11 and you still do not know me? There is what I would call salvation knowledge and discipleship knowledge. I don t believe that Jesus is saying that they are lost. They are His disciples. They have been traveling with Him. They have been walking together. But there is discipleship knowledge, and they were not as intimately acquainted with Him as they should have been. They should have been past these elementary things. And so often as Christians we stay satisfied on the milk of the word and God wants us to digest the meat of the word. And here are Jesus own disciples and they should have been further along in their development. They should have been further along in their understanding of who Jesus is. But they were stuck. It is not that Jesus hasn t been clear; it is that Thomas and Philip were clouded, and that was the problem. And that can happen in us as well, where Jesus is more than clear, but we end up staying clouded. So now let s look again at verse 9 to see what else Jesus says. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you even say, Show us the Father? What is Jesus saying here? He is basically saying that if they have seen Him they have seen the Father. Like in Colossians Chapter 1 and verse 15 where we read, He is the image of the invisible God. Or in Hebrews Chapter 1 and verse 3 where it says, The Son is the radiance of God s glory, the exact representation of His being. Today we have these signature machines, don t we? Now when they first started doing these replica signatures, you could tell it wasn t the true signature because it blurred some. But now they have it down to such a fine art that if you want to sign your name, they can make it literally indistinguishable between your signature and what the machine can produce. And Jesus comes on the scene and He says that He is the signature of God. He is the exact representation of God. If God the Father was incarnate, He wouldn t look any different than Jesus. His morality would be the same. His attributes would be the same. They are one. Again this goes back to John Chapter 1 speaking of the logos, the word of God, God s signature on the scene. The word has become flesh and dwelt among you. Jesus again is just loaded up with divine claims. Now we have to be cautious because oneness Pentecostals take this verse right here and they end up saying there is no difference between the Father and the Son. And they will say they are the same. To them there is not a Trinity as we experience it one God revealed in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They say there is no difference between the Father and the Son, but they have a real problem because when they get to John Chapter 17, Jesus is going to be praying to the Father. Not only that, the Father talks to Jesus at the transfiguration and at the baptism. The Father speaks as a separate person of the Trinity, This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. Page 11 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

12 Let s continue on in our reading. Verse 10, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. So Jesus is saying, If it is not enough just to take my word for it, then look at the works that I do. They show that I am more than a man. The works that I do give attestation that I am more than a man, that I am God in the flesh. I forgive sins, I raise the dead, I walk on water, I feed the multitudes. And so Jesus says, I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. What He is not saying here is that they are the same person in personality, they are three persons, but they are the same in essence. And you are going to see next week as we carry on in John that the third person of the Trinity is going to come into the picture, because Jesus is going to talk about how He is going to be sending His comforter, the Holy Spirit. So there is one God in three persons. It is not one plus one plus one that equals three, it is one times one times one that equals one. Verse 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. What is Jesus doing? You are going to see next week that Jesus is going to go to the Father and they are going to do greater works. Why? Because Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit, and they are going to be able to do greater works in a compound way. And we see that when the Spirit of God is poured out in the book of Acts. All we have to do is read the book of Acts to see that the works that the disciples did were more far reaching than what Jesus had done. They did greater works. They did greater works in a corporate unit together. The gospel spread further. More people were getting saved. And Jesus had to go away to send the promise of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says in verse 13, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So Jesus is saying here that whatever they want in life they can have, right? Just name it and claim it. No, that is not what He is saying. The problem with name it and claim theology is name it and claim it theology makes us the God and God our servant. We tell God what we want and then God gives it to us. But God is not our servant; we are His servants. And so we seek God and we pray in His name. If you ask in His name, you will receive it. Now what does it mean then to pray in His name? It means to pray according to His will. And so when we are praying according to His will, and when we are aligned with His will, He will give us what we ask for. Like if I said, I am really bored with my wife, God, I kind of want three extras. Can I name that? No way! The Bible says a Page 12 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

13 leader needs to be the husband of one wife. So why wouldn t God answer that? It is because it contradicts Scripture. We have to pray in light of revealed Scripture. So here we are. Jesus tells them not to be anxious. He is going to His Father s house and He is going to prepare a place for them. And they are going to go and do greater works and tell people how to get there. There are many rooms, not just twelve, and if they want people to get there too then they need to understand that He is the directions to Heaven. And He tells them there is no other way but through Him; they are not to compromise on that. They are going to get persecuted, the church is going to go through a lot, and they are not to buckle. And Jesus clarifies their questions and He tells them they don t need to know more, and they don t need to see the Father, because if they have seen Him they have seen the Father, in the sense that they have seen God in the flesh. Now we step back and we need to know what we can learn from this passage. I believe that there is an application for believers and that there is an application for nonbelievers. First, the application for believers is this: If Jesus is truly the directions to Heaven, then we have got to go tell the world about how to get there. We can t stay silent. We can t ignore the fact that people need Jesus. And I want to answer this question then why is it that people don t share Jesus with others? What prevents us from sharing Jesus? I am going to give you some different reasons that are my observations. First, I think we are closet pluralists. What do I mean by that? I think there are people inside the church who say out loud that they believe Jesus is the only way to Heaven, but in their closet they believe that God is a sugar daddy and when all is said and done, the people that they work next to, the people that they live next door to, that God is going to give them a free pass. I believe there are people in the church today who are closet pluralists. They won t say it, and they like church and are comfortable being in church, they like the morality church offers, they think it is a good place to raise their children, but deep down, they don t believe their neighbors are going to die and go to hell without Jesus. They don t believe those they work with will be separated from God forever without Christ. They are closet pluralists. They don t really believe the Bible. They don t really believe Jesus words. There are people that are like that. Are you a closet pluralist? It is one of the reasons that people don t witness. You have to ask yourself if that is why you don t do it is because you really genuinely don t think God will allow people to spend an eternity in hell. Because if you don t believe God will let people spend an eternity in hell, guess what? You won t give a damn if people go there. And frankly, some people are more concerned about the word I just said than the fact that people are dying and going to hell. Page 13 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

14 Secondly, we are spiritually numbed. We are just indifferent. We are complacent. We don t care. We are too wrapped up in our own lives. Third, we are living in sin. I can t tell people that I work with about Jesus because they know I am having an affair. I can t people that I believe Jesus is the only way because they will know that I am a hypocrite. And sometimes people have so much sin in their own lives that they can t witness to others. It could be a secret sin, such as pornography, that just totally toasts you from sharing Jesus. Another reason we don t share is because we are not Spirit filled. We need to be filled with the Spirit of God because that equals boldness. And so often people are filled with the Spirit of God but they don t even have a clue when the Spirit is working around them. The Spirit of God has all these relationships around, but we are just so cluttered we don t even sense it. Another reason is we are too busy. We are chasing our own dreams at the expense of ignoring God s main dream to go into all the world and make disciples. Another reason is we just don t feel equipped. And that is our responsibility we have to equip you. We have to give you tools. And that is why we like teaching through the Bible. That is why I will bring out different things to help you understand the way our culture works, and how we arrived at this pluralistic view of things through different explorers like Marco Polo. It is because I want you to understand why we believe what we do and how we got to where we are, so that you will be equipped when you get in conversations. I want you to realize that you are not the only narrow minded ones out there, but that everyone is narrow minded. They believe that they are right and if you don t agree with them, you are wrong. And we all believe that. But what happens is people come on the scene and they get disturbed with us as Christians saying that Jesus is the only way. Why is that? It is because Jesus is their problem, not narrow mindedness. The name of Jesus is their problem. There is something about the name of Jesus. Then another reason we don t witness is we are not banded together. I mean we live in such a time where Jesus Great Commission is so unbelievably ignored that you look like a freak if you share your faith. That is how absent the Great Commission is in our culture. You are like a weirdo if you go out to lunch and ask your waitress if she knows Jesus. I dare you to do that. Just try it out. Just say, Hey, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? See how that falls out. See what that feels like. The early Christians were banded together in the New Testament. When the Spirit of God fell on them, they were going out in teams and they were banded together. And you would have been the weirdo if you didn t do it. Now it has flipped. And we need people to just bleed in their hearts with a passion to go share Jesus. We must grab Page 14 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

15 ahold of that. I don t want to stand before God someday and look at all the people that I worked around, that I lived next to, that I interacted with, that I flew next to, and I just lived comfortably numb. We, as a church, have got to come out of our stupor. The church has to desperately wake up. Now I am not speaking to you individually, please understand that. I know many of you and you love God, and I love you for that. But the church has to get radical. The church has to get sold out. The church actually just has to get normal again. It has to go back to the book of Acts, which was normal Christianity. Maybe you think you don t want to be looked at like you are nuts. That s okay, just tell them you are screwed on the right bolt. We have to band together. We have to do this. We can t be numb anymore. I was sitting at Life Group a week or so ago, and I thought to myself I can t handle this anymore. I am sick and tired of coming to Life Group and sitting around talking about all the things we need to do. I said we need to go witnessing. And so Jean got on the phone, and I don t know where we are going, it may be to Birkdale this week. But we are going to spread out and share Jesus with people. I am tired of showing up in Life Group and listening to people say we need to pray more, and we need to have a heart for lost people. We need to stop talking about it and just go do it. Are you with me? That is what we do. We commiserate week after week after week and we just stay complacent. It is time for a little shock and awe in our soul for Jesus, and to go tell the world about Him. I am just tired of it. I taught Youth Ministry four weeks ago after talking week after week with the youth kids about sharing Jesus. We went to the gas station afterwards and filled up the tank and then Haley and I went inside. I asked her to pray for me because I was going to witness to the cashier. I was just so overwhelmed that I had to tell somebody about Jesus. And I am a dad and my daughter has to see her dad witnessing. She has to know what it looks like to be a witnessing person that cares and has concerns for those who don t know Jesus. Another reason we don t witness is we fear rejection. The truth of the matter is we are more concerned about what that person thinks of us than where that person is going to spend eternity. And another reason is we are confused by too many methods. Every time you turn around there is a new book on how to do this. Look, it is not that complicated. Just go and tell people that Jesus Christ died on a cross for our sins, three days later rose from the grave, and if you place your faith in Him you can experience forgiveness. It is pretty simple. We don t need any more books on this. You can write it on a 3 x 5 card, Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Don t get paralyzed by all the methods out there. People get shook up about this idea of street witnessing but if everybody in the church left today and we hit the streets Page 15 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

16 banded together, we would be all over the news. What has happened to the church? They are on the streets telling people about Jesus. What is this that is happening? And I believe that is what church is supposed to look like. Go out and execute what we learned in church and make it happen. But we leave and we go get our buttermilk pancakes, we spread on the butter and we talk about the game while souls hang in the balance. So what can we do? I would encourage you, as well as myself, to band together and to be missional. Let s reach people, all kinds of people. Let s relate to all types of people. And let s do this thing. Life Group leaders, charge your groups to do this. Model it for them. Start your next Life Group off with the question, How has God used you in the last two weeks to spread the good news of Jesus Christ? That will help motivate your group when they leave. Next I would encourage you to invite people to church. If you are not comfortable sharing the gospel, then at least start by inviting people to church. Studies show that it is the number one way that churches grow, just by personal invitation. Bring people to church and I will share the gospel. That is the application for the believer. Now what do you do if you are a non-believer? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that He is the directions to Heaven. Believe that He is the way, the truth and the life and you will not get to Heaven except through Him. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross to forgive you of your sins and three days later rose from the grave? Have you trusted in Him? It is the only direction to Heaven. This application is simple. Just believe. Don t hold on to what you think is right, let go of your own directions and place your faith in Jesus. In the movie, Polar Express Tom Hanks is the conductor of the train. He goes from little town to little town picking up little children and taking them to the North Pole. But before those children could get on the train, he asks one question, Where are the tickets? Tickets, please. That s what we must understand. If we are going to get to Heaven, we have to have our ticket that says, I believe in Jesus. Someday we are going to stand before the Heavenly conductor and He is going to ask, Got your ticket? And hopefully you have trusted in His directions to Heaven. Let s pray. Father, I just thank you so much for your Scriptures. And I just want to pray that you will forgive me for when I am just numb and indifferent. God, I just don t want to waste my life. You know in my heart of hearts that if there is one thing that I know in my life it is that I just don t want to waste it. I fear, Lord, we live like we will be here forever, and we don t live like we are a people on a mission at times. Help us to really believe your word. Help us not to just play at this Christianity stuff. Page 16 of 17 pages 11/14/2010

17 Father, forgive me for the times I disappoint you or fail you. I am just a wretch, Lord, and I need your grace and mercy. We all do, and we want to follow you, Jesus. I know this church and the people, and I know how much they love you and want to walk with you, but I think we all just feel stuck sometimes. And we need to remember what church should look like. Free us up, God. Help our Life Group leaders to be bold and courageous and to set the example in the way they lead the groups and in sharing the gospel. Help us, Lord, as parents to show our children what it looks like to live for you. If we don t ever talk to people about Jesus, our children won t either. They will have that spiritual numbed view of the mission that you gave us to share with the world. If you are in this room and you don t know Jesus and you want to be saved, the Bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Have you called on Him? In the quietness of your heart you can do it right now by saying this: Jesus, I believe you are the directions to Heaven. I want to go there when I die, and I want to know you more now. Forgive me of my sins. Thank you for dying on a cross for me. Thank you that you are alive and that you went to prepare a place for me. In Jesus name. Amen. The preceding transcript was completed using raw audio recordings. As much as possible, it includes the actual words of the message with minor grammatical changes and editorial clarifications to provide context. Hebrew and Greek words are spelled using Google Translator and the actual spelling may be different in some cases Page 17 of 17 pages 11/14/2010