SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). One key Principle (vs 1).
‘Personal faith in a personal God brings personal strength!’
(2). Three Guarantees of Jesus:
• Guarantee #1: "I GO" (vs 2) – that speaks of a place.
• Guarantee #2: "I WILL" (vs 3) - that speaks of a promise.
• Guarantee #3: "I AM" (vs 6) - speaks of provision.
(3). Three Claims of Jesus:
• Claim #1: He is “The Way” (vs 6a)
• Claim #2: He is “The truth” (vs 6b)
• Claim #3: He is “The life” (vs 6c)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• A father came home from work and was met by his five-year-old daughter,
• She didn’t normally run up to him in the garden and enthusiastically greet him.
• He looked at his daughter and she was not smiling.
• So he asked her a question, “what’s wrong darling?”
• His daughter replied. “All day long I’ve been having trouble with your wife.
• TRANSITION:
• We all have trouble, sometimes it’s a result of our own foolish actions,
• Other times it is the result of circumstances out of our control.
The disciples of Jesus have troubled hearts at the start of this chapter:
• The reasons (in the previous chapter):
• Jesus has spoken of his betrayal and death (chapter 13 verses 21-30),
• They assumed he was going to be around forever and now they are told he is going away.
• And his departure will not be a pleasant one…betrayal and death!
• And they are not stupid,
• They know that what happens to the master can also happen to the disciples.
• So they are also troubled for themselves as well.
• Not only is Jesus going away but he is going away without them!
• “Where I am going, you can’t come” (chapter 13 verse :33).
• For disciples who have left everything to follow Jesus,
• It must be terribly disorienting to hear Jesus say that he is leaving them.
• So that is why their hearts are troubled,
• This news will mean that their whole world will be turned upside down!
• Those three things will always trouble people,
• No matter who you are or what time period you live in,
• Human beings will always be troubled by death, by trials and by disloyalty.
(1). Key Principle:
• Now in chapter 14 Jesus gives the disciples words of comfort:
• The key principle is this:
• Personal faith in a personal God brings personal strength!
• Verse 1:
• “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
Ill:
• In the Greek text all the verbs are present imperatives;
• That simply means they carry the idea of;
• “Keep believing in God…keep believing in me”
• Circumstances have changed but God hasn’t!
• Circumstances have changed but Jesus hasn’t!
Ill:
• One day, the great Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon,
• Was walking through the English countryside with a friend.
• As they strolled along, Spurgeon noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof.
• At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE.
• Spurgeon remarked to his companion;
• That he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message.
• "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God’s love is constant."
• His friend said: “Charles you’ve misunderstood the meaning.
• That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love."
• TRANSITION: Circumstances change all the time, but God doesn’t!
• Circumstances change all the time, but the promises of Jesus do not!
• They are anchors for the soul however rough the sea of life might be!
Notice: Jesus gives the disciples some assurances concerning the future:
“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; 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 his disciples not to be troubled.
• If they trusted God, they needed to trust Him!
• Then he gives to them three reasons or three guarantees for trusting him.
(2). Three Guarantees of Jesus:
Guarantee #1: "I GO" or “I am going” (vs 2) – that speaks of a place.
• Jesus came from heaven to earth,
• We celebrate this every Christmas.
• Now he says it’s time to go home, time to return.
• He who descended will ascend back to heaven.
• Heaven according to Jesus and the Bible is a real place.
Ill:
• Peel Common school in Gosport asked if I would do an assembly for them on heaven.
• I agreed and it went very well.
• The teacher then followed up with a question;
• “Well, boys and girls who would like to go to heaven?”
• Everyone put their hand up apart from one little girl.
• “Tracey”, the teacher said; “Don’t you want to go to heaven?”
• Tracey replied:
• “I do miss but mum said I had to go straight home after school!”
Ill:
• A friend of mine moved home to Ashington.
• Ashington is a town Northumberland, England,
• The town is about 15 miles (24 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
• It was once a centre of the coal mining industry.
• And its claim to fame Bobby & Jackie Charlton were born there!
• TRANSITION: Now here is the point!
• I have never been to Ashington but I know it exists.
• (a). Because it is on a map. (b), Because my friend is there!
• When I speak to him on the phone I know he is not lying,
• His character is trust worthy and his word is true.
• Our hope of heaven is based on the very words of Jesus Christ!
• You will not get a more trust worthy person,
• Or a greater assurance that heaven exists than his word.
Guarantee #2: "I WILL" (vs 3) - that speaks of a promise.
Ill:
• The Pilgrim’s Progress is also one of the bestselling ‘novels’ of all time.
• And in my opinion, it is a book every Christian ought to read!
• It is an allegory (full of metaphors) and not really a novel.
• The main character in the book is called Christian;
• As he makes his journey, he foolishly decides to leave the Main Highway,
• And follow another Path which seemed easier.
• But this Path leads him into the dangerous territory;
• The territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle.
• Eventually he is captured by Giant Despair and kept in a dungeon.
• He is advised to kill himself.
• The Giant said there was no use trying to keep on with his journey.
• For the time, it seemed as if Despair had really conquered Christian.
• But then, Hope, Christian’s companion, reminds him of previous victories.
• So, it came about that on Saturday about midnight they began to pray,
• And continued in prayer until almost morning.
• Now a little before it was day, good Christian,
• As one half- amazed, broke out in passionate speech,
“What a fool am I thus to lie in a stinking Dungeon, when I may as well be at liberty. I have a Key in my bosom called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.”
• Then said Hopeful,
• “That’s good news. Good Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.”
• And the prison gates flew open
• TRANSITION: A promise is only as good as the person who made it.
• And it was Jesus himself who made this promise!
Guarantee #3: "I AM" (vs 6) - speaks of provision.
• There troubled hearts could be stilled because Jesus has provided all that they needed.
• For this life and the next.
Ill:
• A Native American Indian walks into a bank;
• He looked at the bank manager and said;
• “Grass gone, well dry, sheep dead”
• The bank manager took him into the back room & the Indian opened up his security box;
• It contained a number of gold nuggets.
• The Indian the replied:
• “Grass green, well full, sheep happy”
• Now the man’s circumstances had not changed;
• But he realised he had the resources to overcome his circumstances.
• Quote: The Scottish preacher George Morrison used to define peace as:
• “The possession of adequate resources”.
• In other words, if there is enough money in your bank account;
• You don’t worry when the postman delivers bills.
Jesus has the resources we need:
• He is the Way – so follow him.
• He is the Truth – so believe in him.
• He is the Life - so experience him!
(3). Three Claims of Jesus:
• Verse 6 is amazing if you are English;
• But it has been said it is even more amazing if you were Jewish:
• Because Jesus summarises in verse 6:
• Three of the great basic conceptions of the Jewish religion.
• As he made these tremendous claims,
• We see all three great truths find there full realisation in him
Claim #1: He is “The Way” (vs 6a)
• To any Jew familiar with their Old Testament;
• They would be familiar with the idea of ‘The Way’.
e.g. #1:
• God once said to Moses,
• (Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 32-33).
“So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”
e.g. #2:
• God said through Isaiah the prophet
• (Isaiah chapter 30 verses 21).
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."”
e.g. #3:
• It was the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 27 verse 11:
• “Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path”.
• Any Jewish person who knew their Old Testaments (Tanakh),
• Would be familiar with the idea of walking in the way of God.
• And Jesus is now declaring to be that way.
Question: What did he mean by saying that he was “The Way”?
Answer: by way of an illustration:
Ill:
• Suppose we are in a strange town and ask for directions.
• The person you asked says:
• "Take the first to the right, and the second to the left.
• Cross the square, go past the church, take the third on the right and;
• The road you want is the fourth on the left."
• The chances are that we will be lost before we get half-way.
• But suppose the person we ask says: "Come. I'll take you there."
• In that case the person to us is the way, and we cannot miss it.
• That is of course what Jesus does for us.
• He does not only give advice and directions.
• He himself takes us there!
• He does not tell us about the way;
• He himself is the Way.
Quote:
“The pathway to God is not found by following a creed, developing moral character, or attending Church. It is found by trusting Jesus Christ alone!”
Note:
• The personal pronoun “I”
• Jesus Christ himself is the way!
Claim #2: He is “The truth” (vs 6b)
Ill:
• A lady entered a butchers shop in a butcher is a small town in Hampshire,
• Just as it was closing and most things had been packed away.
• She explained that she had just had a phone call;
• And as a result she was going to have unplanned guests and so she needed some meat.
• She told the butcher she needed a "large chicken".
• He went out back to the refrigerators and came back with the shops only unfrozen chicken.
• When he put it on the scale;
• She stretched to see the weight and declared, "I need one larger than that!"
• So he took it out back and a few moments later returned with the same chicken,
• This time when he weighed it, he added a hidden finger on the backside of the scale.
• When she eye-balled the scale;
• She confidently declared, "Excellent, I’ll take both chickens please!"
• TRANSITION: When you deal with the truth be careful!
• Sooner or later, like cream it rises to the top and can be seen by all.
Note: We live in what is called post-modern times:
• Post Modernism is a term applied to a number of trends in Modern Culture
• One of those trends tells us that there is no such thing as ‘fixed’ truth:
• "All truth is relative. There is no absolute truth."
• What you believe is truth for you & what someone else believes is truth for them!
• In our schools, colleges and universities etc
• Students are taught this nonsense that, “All truth is relative”.
• e.g. What Christians believe is true for them,
• e.g. What Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs believe is equally true for them
• They are all are right because; "All truth is relative. There is no absolute truth."
• That is the modern thought of the times in which we live.
Quote: Former Prime Minister. Winston Churchill once said,
"Truth is incontrovertible, panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it;
malice may distort it; but there it is."
Now modern philosophers will always have a major problem with Jesus Christ and the Bible:
• If only he said; “I am a way” – no problem.
• But he insisted on being, “The way!”
• He is the only way to God;
• Because he and he alone is the only person who has dealt with sin.
• Quote: 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 24 24
• "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross,
• Quote the old hymn:
• “There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin…”
When it comes to the claim of truth, once again to the Jews ‘truth’ was a familiar concept;
• You will not have to look too hard in your Old Testament:
• Before you find mention after mention after mention.
e.g.:
• The Psalmist prayer was (Psalm 26 verse 3):
• “For your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.”
e.g.:
• Psalm 86 verse 11:
• “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth”;
e.g.:
• Psalm 119 verse 30:
• “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.”
Throughout the Old Testament and throughout history:
• Many people have desired after the truth;
• Many have told us the truth,
• But only ONE person ever fully embodied it.
• That person being Jesus Christ!
• Quote: John the apostle said of Jesus (John chapter 1 verse 14)
• “He was full of grace and truth”
Note:
• There is one all important thing about moral truth.
• By moral truth we mean; ‘Truth that is good, virtuous, ethical, honest, just.’
Ill:
• A person's character does not really affect his teaching of subjects like:
• Geography or physics or English etc.
• But if a person intends to teach moral truth,
• Then that persons character makes all the difference in the world.
• e.g.: A practising adulterer who goes round teaching the necessity of purity,
• Will be wasting their time and their listeners time.
• e.g.: A mean scrooge type person who teaches the value of generosity,
• Will once again be wasting their time with that particular message.
• e.g.: A domineering person who teaches the beauty of humility,
• e.g.: Or an embittered person who teaches the beauty of love, is bound to be ineffective.
Quote:
“Moral truth cannot be conveyed solely in words;
It must be conveyed in example”.
• And at this point even the greatest human teacher must fall down.
• No teacher has ever embodied the truth he taught-except Jesus Christ.
• Many a person could say: "I have taught you the truth."
• Only Jesus could say: "I am the Truth."
• Moral perfection not only finds its peak in Jesus Christ;
• It also finds its realization in him.
Claim #3: He is “The life” (vs 6c)
• The word "Life" is a favourite of John;
• In fact, he uses it thirty-six times in his Gospel:
• He tells us in his prologue of this Gospel (John chapter 20 verse 31).
• That it was motivation for writing the gospel in the first place.
“These things have been written…
that sinful people might trust Christ and move from death to life”
Quote: Richard J. Needham, The Wit and Wisdom of Richard Needham.
“The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills.”
Quote: Defenders of the Christian Faith
“You can't control the length of your life, but you can have something to say about the width and depth.”
Now as I said earlier, to the Jews ‘life’ was a familiar concept;
• Once again, you will not have to look too hard in your Old Testament:
• Before you find mention after mention after mention concerning it.
e.g.: Proverbs chapter 6 verse 23:
“For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way to life.”
e.g.:
• Proverbs chapter 10 verse 17:
• “People who accept correction are on the pathway to life.”
e.g.:
• The Psalmist (Psalm 16 verse 11).
• “You have made known to me the path of life”.
• When it comes down to the core;
• All of us are seeking for life. and life in its fullness!
• ill: We don’t just search after knowledge for its own sake:
• But what will make life worth living.
• Books open up a whole new world, they give a whole new dimension to life.
• ill: A novelist makes one of their characters who has fallen in love say:
• "I never knew what life was until I saw it in your eyes."
Jesus has brought life to that individual.
• And that is exactly what Jesus does for those who trust in him!
• He puts us in touch with the living God and we can say:
• "I never knew what life was until I found the Lord."
The big difference with Jesus and anyone else is;
Jesus spoke again and again, of not just life but eternal life!
Question: What do we mean by the term "eternal life"?
Answer:
• ‘Eternal life’ is certainly more than an extended life;
• That is simply living forever, because even the lost will live forever, separated from God.
• Eternal life is not endless time;
• It has been described as ‘God's own life shared with us now.’
• It is not a quantity of time;
• But a quality of experience.
Quote:
• The great British preacher Dr. G. Campbell Morgan has pointed out;
• That John in his gospel describes for his readers all the essentials for life.
(a).
• That there can be no life without light (John chapter 1 verse 4).
• "In Him [Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men"
(b).
• That there can be no life without birth (John chapter 3).
• Eternal life comes through what Jesus called "being born again".
(c). Nor can there be life without breath.
• "He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit' "
• (John 20:22; and see also the Holy Spirit as "wind" in John 3:8).
(d). Water is another essential for life (John chapter 4 verse 14).
" . . . whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life"
(e).
• A fifth essential for life is food, (John chapter 6 verse 35).
• And Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. . . "
• So John in his gospel describes for his readers all the essentials for eternal life.
• And all those essentials are all found in Jesus Christ the life-giver!
Notice: Just in case anyone should misinterpret the statement he has made;
• He clarifies it by saying:
• “No one comes to the Father except through me”.
Ill:
• During the American civil war a family tragedy took place;
• As a result an American soldier was granted a hearing with President Abraham Lincoln.
• To see if he could be granted an exemption from military service.
• When he arrived at the White House he was sent away by one of the many aids;
• Told that the president was too busy to see him
• He walked over to a near by park sat down and felt sorry for himself.
• A small boy noticed how sad he was, went over and the two started talking to him.
• Surprisingly the soldier found himself pouring out his troubles to the young boy.
• The boy stood up and said to the soldier and said; “Come with me”
• They walked back over to the White House only this time they entered by a back door.
• They both walked down a variety of corridors;
• And passed a number of Generals and officers on the way.
• Then they came to the presidents office and without knocking the boy walked straight in;
• The president was talking to the secretary of state stopped and said;
• “What’s the matter Todd?”
• The boy replied; “This soldier needs to talk to you!”
• When someone becomes a Christian;
• They have access to the father through the Son!
• TRANSITION:
• Now the story may be apocryphal, but it does make a clear point.
• “We have access to the Father, though the Son”
Christianity is the only religion in the world which rests on the person of its founder.
• When you consider the claims Jesus made;
• You are driven to the conclusion that Jesus was either who he claimed to be;
• Or he was the most outrageous madman the world has ever seen.
Quote: C.S. Lewis:
“The discrepancy between the depth, sincerity, and may I say, the shrewdness of his moral teaching, and the rampant megalomania which must lie behind his theological teaching
unless he is God has never been got over’
• Well the depth, sincerity and shrewdness of his teaching;
• Couldn’t be put more clearly than by John in his gospel and remember;
• He is not writing about someone he has merely read about.
• As he puts it in one of his other books (1 John chapter 1 verse 1);
“That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim”
FINAL CHALLENGE:
• Jesus is the way to know God / truth about God / life of God!
• Do you have that assurance for yourself?
ill:
• Just before the death of actor W.C. Fields,
• A went to visit him in his hospital room.
• As he entered the room he was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible.
• So he asked him; “W.C. what are you doing with a Bible,”
• W.C. Fields replied,
• "I’m looking for loopholes."
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=UlVN9YphZHQ3N9JWTDii6hXSEDmGy9Q8
