John 14:1-14
After Jesus showed his love by washing the disciples feet he said, "I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. We are blessed if we know the greatness of Jesus and we go out and demonstrate to the world his way of teaching. Always be prepared to serve the Lord by knowing Him as your personal friend. Our relationship with Jesus needs to be our way of life. It is the only way in which we can be prepared for the storms of life. Jesus is the only way; we are able to be victorious when the spiritual battles or trials come in this life. Our strength must come from our relationship with Jesus.
Monday afternoon, Deb and I, walked past the Methodist Church. There was a large group of men taking off the shingles of the roof, preparing it for the roofers coming on behind. It was sunny in Rock Valley, although it was stormy to the south and east. It appeared to be somewhat risky but as long as the sun was shinning and they had lots of bodies they kept on working.
It is strange how some of the storms of life come upon us. They don’t always hit everyone but the one on Monday evening did hit the church. With the shingles off the church, it was exposed to the hail and the hail did come. The water poured into the walls creating a disastrous mess. Fortunately no one was hurt but the church was damaged on the inside.
We are like that church building in many respects. We might have a strong foundation is Christ and we might worship him but there are times in our life that we are exposed to the attacks of evil. There are times temptation and various other attacks come our way and the result is we are damaged on the inside. A church building is a place where people gather to worship God. Many religious things take place there such as worship, weddings, baptisms, and funerals. It is a place where we meet God. Just as the Methodist Church was taking a risk, we too need to take risks in our life. When we take risks, we may come under spiritual attack but if we do not take a risk, we cannot defeat that which is evil in the world.
Those of us who are gathered here tonight are Christians. Most if not all of you have asked Jesus into your life and you came here tonight to worship him and to learn from God’s Word. As the old hymn goes, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back." The fact is when we decide to follow Jesus; we come under the attack of Satan’s arrows. I don’t think it is a continuous attack but it does come especially when we least expect it. We know that he is around because we have seen the storm clouds gathering around us. We have seen other Christians struck by his evil, just as other communities were being hit by the storm last Monday. The important thing for us is that we not be exposed to his attacks.
Knowing that we might be under attack might be somewhat intimidating but Jesus reminds us that we belong to him. Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." Our main line of defense against evil in this life is Jesus Christ. In I John 4:4 we read, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Jesus is greater than the one who may attack us. Jesus gives us the power to defeat this one who comes and attacks. But the reality is Jesus is not only our mainline of defense against evil but he is our only defense. And while he is our defense against evil Jesus must also be our offense against that which is out to destroy God’s creation.
I believe that spiritual attacks come in many different ways. I would not say that all sickness is the result of spiritual battles but there are times that it is. Disease has a way of causing us to become weaker physically, emotionally, and mentally. It is during those times Satan tries to keep us down. Sometimes the attacks become so furious a person feels like giving up on life and there have been those who have taken their life because of the battle they were in. Evil does not fight fare. It knows our weakness and it know where we are vulnerable, therefore, if we show any weakness it will attack those areas of our life.
Some of those who we consider the heroes of the faith came under attack and they too felt like giving up. Depression became so great for Elijah, Job, and Paul, the asked God to take their life. These men were in spiritual battles against the sin of their age. They were in the world trying to make a difference. It was important for them that people follow after the true God but there were times even for these men, that the battle seem to be too great. They may have been strong men of faith and men called to the ministry of God but that did not mean they were exempt from the struggles all of us go through.
Jesus promises us in this text that someday, we will be free from these attacks. He is preparing a mansion for us. Therefore, we know our future. We know that for those who keep the faith, there is a place being prepared for us. The struggles of this world may be real but they are also temporary. The time will come when Jesus will greet us in our Heavenly home.
Yet, even though Jesus is preparing the home for us we do not have the right to decide our fate. We do not have the right to decide when we have had enough of the battle and want to quit. Euthanasia and suicide are never an option because we are to have enough faith in God believing that he will give us the power to make it through these spiritual battles. We have to trust that God does love us and gives us the strength to defeat the enemy. Part of the spiritual battle is that Satan tries to convince us that the world would be better without us, when in reality all God’s children are needed to help in the battle. It never helps the cause of Christ when one of his soldiers is takes himself or herself out of the battle. It is important that we receive encouragement from one another because we all have the same goal and that is to reach the place prepared for us but that does not come until God tells us that it is time to come home.
Therefore, if Jesus tells us to trust him how do we do that when we are in the battle? Jesus tells us to know that he is the way to God. God is our source of power. He is the one who gives us the ability to fight that, which is evil in the world. However, in order to plug into that source of strength, we need to always be working on our relationship with Christ. We need to know where God is leading us, so that we might be prepared for battle.
Thomas in this text asked Jesus the way one is to live and Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." There is only one way we can know what is true in this world and what is false and it all depends on following after Jesus. As I have been saying over the past several weeks, we have the ability to bring in blessings or curses into this world through the choices that we make. It is the choices that we make that protect us from the attacks of Satan. If we succumb to the attacks of Satan we bring about curses in the world but if we follow after God’s Sovereign will we bring about his blessings.
If Jesus is the way the truth and the life then he must be the Lord of our life. He must be our standard of living. But what does our life look like to Jesus? Do we just put on a false façade or do we really love him and desire to become like him? I heard about a comment a young man made the other day. He said that he was glad he wasn’t a Christian because then wouldn’t be able to do what he wanted. Do we sometimes think the same thing? Do we think that since we are a Christian, we are not to enjoy life? The reality is those who become like Jesus are the only ones able to experience God’s blessings in life.
Last Sunday evening I talked briefly about the role of being a servant. When Jesus fills our life being a servant gives real satisfaction in life and it counteracts the evil in this world. Jesus is becoming a lifestyle for us when our life begins to produce fruit. Fruit is a life-giving by-product of being in relationship with Jesus. Jesus does begin to impact the choices that we make in this life to bring about either blessings or curses into the world. As we live in this world we discover that we counter act the attacks of Satan by doing God’s works of grace.
Jim McGuiggan in his book "Jesus, Hero of Thy Soul" gives this illustration. In a small Jewish town in Russia, there is a Rabbi who disappears each Friday morning for several hours. His devoted disciples boast that during those hours their rabbi goes up to heaven and talks to God.
A stranger moves into town, and he’s skeptical about all this, so he decides to check things out. He hides and watches. The Rabbi gets up in the morning, says his prayers, and then dresses in peasant clothes. He grabs an axe, goes off into the woods, and cuts some firewood, which he then hauls to a shack on the outskirts of the village. There an old woman and her sick son life. He leaves them the wood, enough for a week, and then sneaks back home.
Having observed the rabbi’s actions, the newcomer stays on in the village and becomes his disciple. And whenever he hears on of the villagers say, "On Friday morning our rabbi ascends all the way to heaven," the newcomer quietly adds, If not higher."
This is what Jesus was calling his disciples to do. The Rabbi spent time with God in his prayers and of courser there would be times studying God’s Word. Prayer and scripture reading are key elements and are a source of defending against the evil of Satan. But prayer and studying God’s Word was not the only thing a person was to do. Remember a few Sunday evenings ago that I talked about Mary and Martha. Mary was known for her time spent with Jesus and Martha was known for her actions. They teach us that there needs to be balance in our life. It is the only way that we can defend against the attacks of Satan.
The time we spend in prayer and God’s Word is important because it helps us to defend against that which is evil in this world. It helps us to know the truth and we are guided through our devotional time. It is God’s way of communicating with us and it is our way of communicating with God.
However, Disciples of Jesus Christ are also called to be on the offensive against what is evil in this world. I think often times we have a defensive attitude rather than an offensive one. When we have a defensive attitude, we can be easily overwhelmed by what is evil in this world. I think we sometimes spend too much time trying to prevent our families and communities from being hurt from the negative things of this society rather than concentrating on bringing about positive social change through our daily life. However, that does not mean we do not look at the warnings scripture gives us about the choices that we do make.
In chapter 17 of John, Jesus prays for his disciples and essentially for us. Jesus knew then already that we would be under attack. Satan would come with temptations that would make it difficult for us to choose what was right. But Jesus prayed that we would follow him and live our life as he lived his life. In John 14:15 Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." In John 15:14 Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command." You cannot separate faith from action. You cannot separate the disciple from the teacher. One is either fighting against evil in this world or agreeing with it. A disciple reveals the truth of Jesus Christ by living according to what Jesus’ commands.
In Romans 1:24-25 Paul shares with us the distorted view the world has concerning life and in this case Paul is addressing the subject of sexuality. Paul writes, Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator-who is forever praised. Amen. In other words God allowed people to make choices that really began to distort their view of reality. It led to a sickness in society that can only be countered by Christians promoting what is truth.
I don’t watch too much late night TV because I would rather sleep than waste my time. I did not see this program but recently "Politically Incorrect" with Bill Maher was discussing the subject of relationships between men and women. He said that with regard to pornography women should not complain.
When a panel of three women asked him to explain, he said, "Unless you, (speaking of women in general) are willing to give us sex whenever we want, you don’t have the right to gripe if we use pornography."
Surprisingly, all three women agreed that the rule made sense. This rule and response demonstrate the distorted attitude evil has on our society. Women are considered to be less than human. (Preaching Today.com). It shows that much of our society is so far from the truth that it no longer knows right from wrong.
Therefore, how do the followers of Christ counter this attack? It would be a waste for disciples of Jesus Christ to go on the TV show with Bill Maher because he would make them out to be fools and out of touch with reality. What needs to be done is that disciples demonstrate to the world their way of living. Let the world not only see the lifestyle but also let the see the results.
Disciples who are also husbands need to show the respect to our wives that demonstrate to them the importance of love. It also becomes important that as fathers we teach our sons the way a woman is treated through the way we treat our wives. It is through our actions that change can take place.
One of the things I inform a perspective husband in premarital counseling is that the husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the church. Jesus died for the church therefore God calls husbands to love their wives to the point where they are willing to die for her. It is not the role of the wife to be willing to lay down her life for her husband but the other way around. A Christian husband will go completely against what society teaches. He will show love to his wife in a way that is contrary to the teachings of culture. He will also demonstrate it to his children so they see that what this world promotes is evil and the way you battle evil is through following the commands of Jesus.
Jesus said in verse 11, "Believe in 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 the book "Just Like Jesus", Max Lucado writes, "There were a few occasions in Brazil when I served as a translator for an English speaker. He stood before the audience, complete with the message. I stood at his side, equipped with the language. My job was to convey his story to the listeners. I did my best to allow his words to come through me. I was not a liberty to embellish or subtract. When the speaker gestured, I gestured. As his volume increased, so did mine. When he got quiet, I did, too.
When he walked this earth, Jesus was ’translating" God all the time. When God got louder, Jesus got louder. When God gestured, Jesus gestured. He was so in sync with the Father that he could declare "I am in the Father and the Father is in me."
It this is true about our master than it needs to be true for us as well. Jesus was able to defeat Satan when he battled Satan because of his relationship with His father. His father told him what to do and what to say. The Father gave Jesus the guidance and Jesus gives us guidance through the means of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of Jesus is able to open our eyes to what is truth and what is the right path to follow. He is the one who is able to equip us so that we can go on attack against that which is evil in this world.
Do not be overwhelmed by the evil in this world. Do not be afraid of taking it on through bringing about positive change. It all begins with our life and our walk with Jesus Christ. Do not let your hearts be trouble. This world and the evil will not last but those who follow after the truth shall someday be spending eternity in Mansions in Heaven. Amen.
