I Will Come Again!

I WILL COME AGAIN!

John 14:1-11

INTRODUCTION

You know in our family, we have sort of a rule, and that is, that we never make promises. Because, you can have the very best intentions, but unforseen circumstances can cause you to unintentionally break that promise. If I say something like, ‘look I promise I will be there’, Daniel or Sharayah are bound to give me that sort of look that says, ‘wow, my Dad is in control of the universe, nothing , no matter what is going to prevent him from being there’.

And sometimes people are just plain unreliable – they promise and never seem to deliver. I promise this & I promise that, and it just doesn’t happen. I have had people in the building trade promise, over & over again, that they are going to turn up on a certain day, or at a certain time, and they don’t. It is almost as if their understanding of the word ‘promise’ is different to mine. My understanding of that word is the same as that of the dictionary – ‘Assurance that one will do or not do something’.

Well, the apostle Peter in 2nd Peter 1:4, speaks of promises Christ has made for those of us who trust in Him. Peter says:

‘…He (that is Christ) has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’ (2 Pet 1:4) (NIV)

This morning I would like to consider one of Christ’s ’great and precious promises’. Please turn with me to John chapter 14 verses 1-11 (keep your Bibles open at that passage please). I am reading from the NIV.

14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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."

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9 Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’?

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."

In this passage we have the promise of Christ’s return. There are other promises made here, but the one we are going to briefly consider this morning is the promise of His return as proclaimed in verse 3, ‘… I will come back …’.

In the verses that encompass this promise we are told something about:

1. The Person of Christ

2. The Promise of Christ

3. The Purpose of Christ’s Coming

Lets consider point one:-

1. THE PERSON OF CHRIST

Because the value of any promise depends upon the one who makes it, we need to consider who it is that makes this promise. Read in its context, we see that it was made by Jesus. But is Jesus able to keep such a promise?

In the early verses of John 14 we find 4 statements concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus:-

Firstly, - He is the Son of God

Look at verse 1, - ""Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me”."

What an incredible statement! Jesus is claiming equality with God – For He says in effect, ‘in the same way you trust God, trust Me, all that God can do for you, I also can do, because I am God’.

Then look at verse 2, "In my Father’s house …" He is the Son of God & God is His Father.

Throughout Scripture there are countless references to the Sonship & deity of Christ.