Intro – John 14
Oftentimes we will come to a service like this and maybe the topic we are dealing with or the subject that we are preaching on, doesn’t necessarily apply to you…well, this one applies to everyone!
We all experience anxiety from time to time. Some are more serious than others, but it affects all of us. We all know what it is to have worries and fears…NONE of us are immune to it. NONE of us. Not even preachers and those of us who teach God’s word.
Illus. Jarrid Wilson – Perhaps you saw in the news where a young pastor, 30 years of age who had admittedly struggled with mental illness through the years took his own life.
He was on the staff at Greg Laurie’s church and had actually started a ministry called Anthem of Hope that he was about to begin running full-time. This ministry’s mission statement was to amplify hope for those “battling brokenness, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addiction and suicide.”
This married father of two precious little children…sweet wife…pastor in an incredible church had just tweeted a few hours before passing;
“Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that…”
He tweeted this at 5:01 pm on Monday afternoon and was in the presence of Jesus at 11:45 that evening.
I highlight this at the start of this message simply to highlight the fact that no one is immune to worry, anxiety and fear…not even those that seem to be closest to Jesus.
It affects everyone and I want all of us in this message series to be VERY sensitive to this and when we come in the room each week…even though the person sitting next to you looks as if they have it all together on the outside, it could be on the inside, they are falling apart.
And if the message on a given week doesn’t necessarily apply to you, then as you take notes and listen in, commit yourself to praying for the person to your right, left, in front of you and behind you because you just never know the depths of the emotions that people may be experiencing at this very moment.
Listen…we are in this together! As Christians we are to “bear one another’s burdens” and when it comes to talking about fear and worry and anxiety, we want you as a church today to know you are not alone.
Again, even those we would consider that have a strong relationship with Jesus experience these types of emotions. This is the story of the disciples in John 14. Talk about feeling fear…knowing what it is to worry…having some anxiety?!
You remember the context of this passage. Jesus has shared his last meal with the disciples. And he has told them on a number of occasions that he is going to be arrested, tried and then put to death, but they never really could wrap their minds around what he was saying.
And so one final time, after serving what we know as the Lord’s Supper, he has a final teaching moment with the disciples and prays for them before they will go across the Kidron Valley and into the Garden of Gethesmane. And just listen to what Jesus says to them:
John 13:33, 36 – “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’… Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”
“What do you mean, where you are going we cannot come?
“What do you mean where you are going, we can’t follow?”
These men had left everything to follow Jesus. Most had left the jobs they held…left the communities in which they lived…some had left their families.
And it paid off…everywhere they went they were surrounded with people. With Jesus by their side, the religious leaders didn’t dare mess with them.
If there was a troubling circumstance like a storm, Jesus would just calm it.
If there was a danger like a demon-possessed man, Jesus would cast the demon out.
If they were starving and in need of food, Jesus could multiply what they had and fill them up.
With Jesus by their side, they could do anything…couldn’t be stopped. But now, Jesus says he is leaving them and where he is going, these men that had followed him for three years, they can’t go!
Put yourself in their position – this no doubt would have created some worry…caused some fear…created some anxiety. Jesus knows this!
And in order to HELP them, if I was to sum up what he says in the rest of John 14…what I’m about to tell you is the antidote to worry, fear and anxiety.
Here it is…two words: BELIEVE and RECEIVE
Now, I have to tell you I really struggled with writing this message this week. Talk about fear and worry and anxiety…I had them all in preparing to teach this week because here is what I don’t want to do:
I don’t want to take complex emotions like fear, worry and anxiety…and in any sort of way minimize how BIG of a problem this is for many people. I also did NOT want to give what would seem to be simplistic counsel to what can often be very complicated in our lives.
All this to say that for some, the biblical counsel I offer today needs to be in addition to medicine that is prescribed by a licensed doctor. For some, the anxiety or fears you have need to be treated professionally.
For example, I would NEVER tell a soldier home from war that is suffering from anxiety that his problem is ONLY spiritual.
I would give him the counsel the Bible gives, which we are about to discuss, but I would fully encourage him in addition to it, to get to a licensed counselor (preferably a biblically based one), psychologist or psychiatrist and get the help he or she needs.
We should not trivialize or minimize the help that God has graciously given us in medicine. At the same time, there are some that don’t need medication for your worry, fear and anxiety, what you need is a good come to Jesus meeting.
Illus. Trypophobia - Did you read this week about the new iPhone coming out. It’s going to cost you $1000 and it comes with a three-lens set up that will allow your phone to take incredible…nearly professional pictures!
What was NOT expected though by Apple is that when they introduced the phone and showed the three lenses (SHOW PIC), social media went crazy!
One person tweeted, “The new iPhone is creeping me out…” And here’s the article. It reads: “The backlash comes from people who say they suffer from an obscure and perplexing condition called “trypophobia” – a fear of clusters of small holes like those found in shoe treads, honeycombs, and lotus seed pods.”
You can’t make this stuff up! The article goes on to call trypophobia the most common phobia you have never heard of…it can cause itching, goosebumps, and even nausea and vomiting.”
Now, if you suffer from trypophobia, I’m not going to tell you to get on medicine, I’m going to tell you get a life!
NO…we don’t need to trivialize or make light of that which is serious and that needs the scriptural counsel combined with medicine to help. And let’s not medicate that which is spiritual that can be healed by putting into practice exactly what Jesus says here in John 14.
His words are for ALL of us. John 14:1 – “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
We are to believe. Seven times in John 14 this word “believe” is given. It means to “trust in”…it’s not just a mental ascent, but it is the placing of your heart and life in hands of God. As the ESV Study Bible notes, “it denotes personal, relational trust.”
Jesus is calling us here to believe in him and to believe in what he does…who he is in our lives. When you think about…truly, when you boil it down to its most fundamental level – worry, fear and anxiety is a result of not fully believing who God is and what he has said he will do in our life.
If you recall in the scriptures, God often revealed himself by his names. I have a book that I have been reading devotionally for a while now called, Praying the Names of God.
And it’s great because every week it gives a different name of God given in the Scripture…shows where it is used in the Bible and gives a little devotional thought to it. And it’s been serving as a great reinforcement to me about who God is and what God does.
See, we’ll never put our trust in or believe in someone we don’t know!
Illus. Babysitting – I’m never going to trust someone with my girls that I don’t know!
And so growing in our knowledge of who God is, is very important! It’s in the study of scripture that we learn how he reveals himself, who he is…and as we give ourselves to his word and GROW in our knowledge of him, it will therefore strengthen our belief in him!
Some of us are overwhelmed by our worries, fears and anxieties because we spend more time thinking about the “what ifs”, when we need to be thinking about the “who is”.
We grow in our knowledge of God and as we do, our belief strengthens and therefore the chokehold that worry and anxiety and fear has on our life will begin to weaken.
Let me give you some examples of how growing in the knowledge of God…believing who he is and what he does can HELP us as we navigate these emotions that can so easily hold us back.
Think right now of what is causing in you anxiety…think about what is prompting worry to live inside of you…think about the fears you are facing…and just listen to who God is:
Maybe you are worrying about a circumstance that is beyond your control. You need to know and believe that he is Elohim – Creator God.
Maybe you are fearful that the Lord has forgotten you and doesn’t care about you. You need to know and believe that is he El Roi – The God who sees me!
Maybe you are broken and need physical healing in your life. The tests results coming back have you fearful and worried. You need to know and believe that he is Yahweh Rophe – the Lord who heals.
I could go on and on…maybe you have anxiety over whether or not God is going to meet a need in your life…perhaps it’s a job or a relationship. You need to know and believe that he is Jehovah Jireh – the God who provides!
Are you like Roger? Just being robbed of peace. God is your peace. Yahweh Shalom.
In the scripture we see God as Shepherd, Lord, King, Refuge, Shield, Strong Tower, Lord of hosts, Living God, Yahweh Shammah (He is there! He is present!) He is Father!
Tell me, what worry, fear or anxiety can control and overwhelm when you know who God is, what he does…and BELIEVE it!
John 14:1 – “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
So often fear and worry and anxiety are driven by…they are fueled by times in the past where we have been let down and disappointed.
But, when we think on God, he has NEVER once let us down! He has NEVER once failed us!
And this is why Jesus calls these disciples in this moment to believe. He knows worry and fear and anxiety can fog the mind – and it’s when we BELIEVE who God is and what he has done, that will oftentimes help lift the fog.
When we believe, we have no problem taking Peter’s command to heart in 1 Peter 5:7 – “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
When we believe who he is and what he can do, why wouldn’t I cast my anxieties on him? I know him…and I believe he can carry them for me and help me with them.
Believe. Second word: RECEIVE
John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Amazing! Did you notice that “Don’t let your heart be troubled” sandwiches BELIEVE (v. 1) and RECEIVE (v. 27).
This is why I say it’s the antidote to worry and fear and anxiety. We believe God – who he is and what he does. And we RECEIVE his peace.
Now, I need you to listen to this…you can’t receive the peace of God until you have made peace with God.
There are some here that are suffering from worry and fear and anxiety and you are reaching for anything and everything to bring you peace.
It’s that next relationship…
It’s that next deal you make…
It’s that next purchase…
It’s that next like or follower on your social media…
It’s that next drink…
You are trying anything and everything to be at peace and the reality is you’ve never been in more turmoil…never been more twisted up on the inside.
The peace of God only comes when peace has been made between you and God…and this is why Jesus went to the cross, died for your sins and was raised to life on the third day. It’s his death on your behalf that brings peace with God.
Colossians 1:19-20 – “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
When we BELIEVE in Jesus and what he did for us and we RECEIVE him into our life, we RECEIVE the peace that comes with him.
You read John 14 and what you will find is Jesus teaching about the Holy Spirit that is sent from God to live in us when we enter a relationship with him. And it’s his Holy Spirit that gives us peace helps us have peace when the circumstances of life weigh us down.
And so, for the unbeliever – if you want to receive peace in your life, you need to believe in Jesus and receive him into your life. Only then will you truly experience peace.
And for the believer that HAS BELIEVED and RECEIVED Christ, it’s going back to the drawing board and realizing who you have living inside of you! You have God IN you!
THIS means supernatural power and supernatural strength is yours for the taking…you just have to tap into it and I want to give you two ways in which you can do this:
Choose truth over feelings
We talked last week about the role of the mind as it relates to being healthy spiritually. And what we said is that the battle for your life is in your mind. I gave you three prayers to pray. Remember them?
“Lord, help me to fill my mind.”
“Lord, help me to guard my mind.”
“Lord, help me to train my mind.”
Our mind is so important in winning this battle against fear, worry and anxiety. And if we want to experience the peace of God that comes from having a relationship with him, we are going to have to make the volitional decision…we are going to have to make the choice to live off of the truth of God’s word over our feelings.
See, feelings come and go. Truth is always the same. Feelings can deceive. Truth by its very definition, does not.
And in order to live off of truth…off of facts, you have to give your mind to God’s Word – I refer you to last week’s message.
Romans 12:2a – “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”
We talked about the importance of meditation upon God’s Word. Listen, it’s not enough to say to ourselves or to anyone else STOP being anxious…STOP being worried…STOP being fearful.
Illus. Purple Elephant – That’s like saying don’t think about the purple elephant!
We don’t STOP worrying and having anxiety and being fearful by repeating to ourselves over and over again, NOT to do it!
Instead, we replace those thoughts with something else…we don’t STOP thinking about whatever it is weighing us down, what we do is START thinking about something else.
Namely, someone else…and that is who God is and what he does. Knowing this and more importantly, BELIEVING these things will lead to peace.
We’re not going to live off of what we feel, we are going to live off the truth of God’s word and what it says to us/about us.
Feel anxious – Truth: Matt. 6
Feel fearful – Truth: Ps. 23
Feel worried – Truth: John 14
The second way we can tap into this peace that is living in us:
Choose trust over feelings
Feelings…emotions like worry and fear and anxiety can lock us up! It can stop us in our tracks…immobilize us. But, when we choose to walk in the truth that we know (that’s trust)…when we act on what we know and believe more often than not our feelings will follow.
Illus. getting back in gym – Don’t feel like going…but I know the truth…than I act on the truth…and you know what – more often than not the feelings follow!
Philippians 4:6-7 – “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (choose to trust even when feelings are not there and then the feelings will follow!) 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Proverbs 12:25 – “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
If you are here today and weighed down by whatever life is throwing your way, we have a good word for you today. And that is that you’re not alone and it’s not over.
You can have God’s peace as you choose to trust him over whatever you may be feeling.
Whatever help you need, we are here for you. Would you pray with me?
(If you have a moment, check out my new book, THE ALWAYS GOD, available now)
