What we have in Jesus. John 14:1-4, 12-14, 16, 21, 23, 26, 27
In 1997 there was survey taken by U. S. News and World Report, “Who do you think is mostly likely to get into heaven?” Mother Teresa had a 79%, Oprah Winfrey 66%, Michael Jordon 65%, Colin Powell 61%, Dennis Rodman 28% and O. J. 19%. The person completing the survey said there was one person who had better chance than all of these and it was him. It causes me to wonder how they rated the chances. I know there is only one way to heaven and that is by the blood of Jesus Christ. I read a story of a man who was on his way to the airport to catch a plane. He came to an intersection where his wife had told him he needed to turn left to get to the airport. It was a narrow little road and he was on a board road that also would let I see some of nature’s beauty. He decided to take the more scenic route. There is a way that seems right to man the Bible says. The time was getting away and little voice kept saying turn around and take the narrow road. He reasoned “I feel like an idiot.” Pride and stubbornness kept him going on the scenic road. He got to the airport and raced to the where he was to board the plane only to hear, “The gate has been shut. The doors are locked. The plane is leaving. You have been left behind.” He was to late because he made the wrong choice. The plane would not be coming back for him. Does that awaken you to the fact that no survey or bad choice will get us into heaven.
We want to look at the promises that are given here that IS based on the oneness that Jesus has with the Father and their love for the church.
1. We have an Uniting Promise. Vs. 1-3 “Don’t be troubled. Believe in God, and believe in me. [2] My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not true, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? [3] If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. Then I will bring you into my presence so that you will be where I am.
When I confronted my daughter after she hurt another child with a mean comment, she cried and immediately wanted to apologize. That was a good thing, but I wanted her to know an apology can’t always make things better. I told her the parable of Will, a 9-year-old whose father abandoned his mom two years earlier. Will was angry, and he often lashed out at others with hurtful words. He once told his mom, "I see why Dad left you!" Unable to cope with his cruel outbursts, she sent him to his grandparents for the summer. His grandfather’s strategy to help Will learn self-control was to make him go into the garage and pound a two-inch-long nail into a four-by-four board every time he said a mean thing. For a small boy, this was a major task, and he couldn’t return until the nail was all the way in. After about ten trips to the garage, Will began to be more cautious about his words. Eventually, he even apologized for all the bad things he’d said. That’s when his grandmother stepped in. She told him to bring in the board filled with nails and instructed him to pull them all out. This was even harder than pounding them in, but after a huge struggle, he did it. His grandmother hugged him and said, "I appreciate your apology, and of course I forgive you because I love you, but I want you to know an apology is like pulling out one of these nails. Look at the board. The holes are still there. The board will never be the same. Your dad put a hole in you, Will, but please don’t put holes in other people. You’re better than that." Michael Josephson
Jesus gave them the assurance that He was still in control. Over 318 times it tells us in the New Testament that Jesus is coming again.
2. We have an Uniting Presence. Vs. 10-12 “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I’m telling you doesn’t come from me. The Father, who lives in me, does what he wants. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of the things I do.
"I can guarantee this truth: Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing. They will do even greater things because I am going to the Father.” Jesus was there with them. Do you wonder why no one took the task of washing feet? I know that many of us think we are too good to have to do a lowly job. I heard of a man who asked his wife what she hated to do worse after they were married and she said she hated to clean the Bathroom. He said that was OK and now after they have been married over 20 years the Bathroom has never been cleaned. Who cleans the bathroom in your house? I have been in the church many years and have stood back and watched people come to church dinners and they did not bring food yet ate like it was their last meal. They used dishes and silverware but never offered to wash them. They might have spilled or made a mess on the table but never stayed to clean up the tables. They used the room but were gone when it was time to clean up the floor and carry our garbage. I know of people who expect the church to be clean yet have never shown up to clean the church. Jesus in washing the disciples feet put many of us to shame in our thinking we are to be served and not be servants. He was and is the King of kings, He was and is the Lord of lords yet He spent time to wash those He had created feet. His presence in our lives should make us want to be first in helping others.
Johnny the store bagger heard a speaker talk about serving others. He was just a box boy and had Down syndrome. What could he do? He went home that night and put on pieces of paper a thought for the day for his next working day. It would be something to remind people how good it was to be alive and positive. He with the help of his dad would print it off on a page six times on one page. He would then take it and make fifty copies. He would cut them up and sign each one. When he went to work he would pile the papers by his place of work. When he bagged the items he would put one of the papers on the top. As he walked out he would say, “I have put a great saying in your bag. I hope it helps you have a great day. Thanks for coming here.” In a month’s time people would line up just to get in Johnny’s line. The manager seeing this asked the people to move to another line. They said they would wait. Johnny was filling people’s lives with hope. Does Jesus’ presence in your life give others hope?
3. We have a Uniting Privilege. Vs. 13-15 ‘I will do anything you ask the Father in my name so that the Father will be given glory because of the Son. If you ask me to do something, I will do it. "If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” We have a purposeful presence. Jesus says I will do anything you ask so that the Father will be given glory. There I no doubt for He says If you ask me to do something, I will do it. I am of nature to grow old. There is no escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape sickness. I am of nature to die. All are appoint to die once. All that are dear to me and I love will change. I must accept I will be separated from them. My actions are what belong to me only. I have to live by their consequences. I have the privilege to choose. What does it take to satisfy you? Stuff does not make you happy.
4. We have a Uniting Comforter. vs. 16-17 “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That helper is the Spirit of Truth. 26 THE Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you. “ The Holy Spirit is in the world now to give us the energy that we need to believe the promise of Jesus. He is here to release the presence of Jesus in our lives. He is here to help us know the blessings we have in Jesus Christ.
He is the Cause of us having peace in this troubled world today. Wes Seeliger gave me these insights: “I have spent long hours in the ICU waiting with people with questions beyond answering. The ICU waiting room is different from any other place in the world and so are the people there. They want to help each other. No one is rude. There is no distinctions with race or positions in life. Each person pull for the other. In the ICU waiting room the world changes. Superiority and pretense are gone. In that room every one is focused on what the DR. will report. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about. Think about this we are all in this waiting room. The Holy Spirit is here to bring the comfort we need.
5. We have a Uniting Peace. vs. 27-28 "I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. Jesus gives a peace that soothes the troubled heart. That Jesus continues to show His love is given 30 "I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the prince of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31 but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going. We are to rejoice because Jesus went away to prepare a place for us. We are to rejoice because he is coming again. We are to rejoice because while He is gone the Holy Spirit is here to comfort and guide us every day.
Let not your heart be troubled!
