Believe On The Lord Jesus Christ! Series

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Gospel of John

John 14:6-12 (Read vs. 1-12)

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - August 2, 2017

(Revised January 21, 2020)

BACKGROUND:

*It's amazing to me that God chose to give us such a long, close look at the last few hours Jesus spent with His disciples before the cross. This night was so important that God gave it almost 6 whole chapters of the 21 chapters in John.

*In those final hours before the cross, the Lord spoke with His disciples about the most important things, and one of the most important of all is believing in Jesus Christ. John's Gospel especially stresses the importance for us to believe in Jesus. The original word is found 135 times in the Gospels, and 100 of those times are in the Gospel of John!

*In tonight's Scripture alone, the Lord stressed believing in Him six different times. In vs. 1 Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." Then in vs. 10-12, Jesus said:

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.

12. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

*We must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and tonight's Scripture help us see why. Let's get started by reading John 14:1-12.

MESSAGE:

*In 1912, John Harper of Glasgow, Scotland was the newly called pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. He headed to America with his 6-year-old daughter, Nina, and her Aunt Jessie. John's wife had died when Nina was born.

*They were all excited to be on the maiden voyage of the greatest ocean liner ever built -- the Titanic. When the ship hit the iceberg, Nina was saved in lifeboat #11, sitting on her aunt's lap. Her daddy gave his lifejacket away, stayed with the ship, and began to witness to anybody who would listen.

*Pastor John was one of the 1,522 people who died that night. Four years later, a man at a church meeting in Hamilton, Canada gave this testimony: "I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the tide brought Mr. Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of the wreck, near me.

*'Man,' he said, 'are you saved?' 'No,' I said, 'I am not.' He replied, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' The waves bore him away, but, strange to say, brought him back a little later, and he said, 'Are you saved now?' 'No,' I said, 'I cannot honestly say that I am.' He said again, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!'

*Shortly after he went down, and there, alone in the night, with two miles of water under me, I believed." (1)

*That man will be eternally grateful for John Harper's faithful witness! It came from Paul and Silas's testimony to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

*We must BELIEVE in the Lord. Jesus wants us to believe in Him because it is the only way for us to be saved. We must believe what Jesus says about our sins and about Himself. We must believe that God the Father sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, into the world to die on the cross for our sins. We must believe that Jesus also rose again from the dead. And we must believe enough receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Tonight's Scripture shows us why.

1. FIRST: BELIEVE IN JESUS BECAUSE HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WILL BECOME YOUR FATHER.

*This is God's message for us in vs. 6-7, where Jesus told Thomas, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.''

*When the Lord spoke about knowing Him and His Father, Jesus wasn't just talking about head knowledge. He was talking about knowing someone in a close, personal way. He was talking about having growing, personal experience with someone. This same original word was also used in the Bible to describe the close, physical relationship between a husband and his wife. It's talking about a close, loving, caring, trusting relationship.