Jesus Is Coming Back, He Said So Series

“Jesus is coming back, HE SAID SO”

Week 1 of 5

John 14:1-5

Today we start a new series called “Jesus is coming, BACK”:

Today is “Jesus is coming back, HE SAID SO”

Next week Jesus is coming back, SOON.

Then Jesus is coming back, UNEXPECTEDLY.

Week 4 is “Jesus is coming back, JUDGMENT DAY.”

Finishing with our response “Jesus is coming back, GET READY”

The entire Bible leads up to the birth of the Messiah Jesus:

From the first Messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15

To Messianic prophecy in Psalms/proverbs/Isaiah

To the birth of Jesus, born of a virgin, and to the cross and the empty tomb.

We spent about 6 weeks studying the cross, the death burial and resurrection

But there is more to the story:

Not only was Jesus coming to save the world

Not only did Jesus come and save the world

And Jesus is coming BACK again

Jesus told of His second coming:

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Matthew 24:30-31

The main text for today is John 14:1-4:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus told those closest to Him:

Don’t let your hearts be troubled

It was a message they needed to hear, and we need to hear

“Let not your hearts be troubled”

Jesus COMFORTED His Disciples, after speaking words that STUNNED them:

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you: Where I am going, you cannot come.” John 13:33

The disciples:

Had left all they had to follow Jesus

And now Jesus said He was going, and they couldn’t follow

Was Jesus abandoning them?

Were they fools to follow Jesus?

Their future was UNCERTAIN:

We’ve all been there

Our world falls apart,

And we find ourselves “ALL SHOOK UP”

It’s in those seasons we might say with the Disciples:

“What would can I do, where should I GO?

And we feel LOST

Back in 1950s & 60s, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra:

played for NY Yankees and became close friends. One day, Yogi Berra invited Mickey Mantle to his apartment, but Mantle… got lost. He stopped at a pay phone and called Yogi and said, “I'm trying to find your apartment, where is it?” Yogi said, “Where are you now?” Mantle replied, “I'm at the corner of 5th and Main.” Yogi said, “Well, you just keep coming in this direction” and then… he HUNG UP.

(PAUSE) Now, how helpful were those directions?

Well, not very! But why not ? Why weren’t they helpful?

Well - because Mickey Mantle still didn’t KNOW THE WAY.

And until he knew the way he was still going to be lost. (Jeff Strite)

Many people look at their lives and they feel:- lost,

they feel uncertainty,

and… they are TROUBLED.

It’s the uncertainty of life that drives us nuts

Man’s problem is that:

we look for certainty where in the exact place

Jesus said we WILL NOT FIND SECURITY:

Jesus promised us Trouble, not EASE and SECURITY;

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. #1 In this world you will have trouble. #2 But take heart! I have overcome the world.”John 16:33

Back to John 14:

Jesus offers these words of encouragement:

After telling His disciples that He would be leaving soon

They couldn’t comprehend the crucifixion

But they could understand that Jesus clearly saying He was going away

Jesus was going, and they couldn’t come

Though Jesus was going where they could not go, He was leaving them with another:

Parakletos is the Greek word we see as “Advocate, Helper, Comforter”

The root word Paraklete means “to come alongside”

We understand that to be the Holy Spirit

The Christians receives the Holy Spirit at the point of Baptism

Jesus wasn’t abandoning ANYONE John 14:16:

The NIV translates

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever—”