JESUS: PROMISES & PROVISIONS
5-19-02
John 14
A common question today is: What’s in it for me?
If that question has ever crossed your mind concerning Jesus as your Christ ... consider what He said in John ... Chapter 14.
In checking the net worth of your spiritual portfolio ... exactly WHAT is Jesus worth to you?
Okay... okay! I understand there is no up front charges—He’s a ’no load’ investment.
· Jesus paid it all ... when he closed the deal
· Paid the total price for every last one of our sins ... past ... present ... future.
Please listen now ... as Jesus explains
· What we have ...
· When we invest ourselves TOTALLY in Him ... and his completed work.
14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
When Jesus said this ... His disciples were completely bewildered.
· They had given up everything to follow Him.
· They had been with him a couple years ...
· Then ... He said he was leaving ... and
Where He went, they could not go ... not right now.
He said Peter would disown him... three times!
He said Satan was working against them... and would continue to.
He said all of them would abandon Him.
To say the least... they were confused.
So Jesus said:
”Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
First of all ... there is no need to worry! Let NOT your heart be troubled!
David said in Psalm 37: Fret NOT ... or don’t get hot under the collar ...
3 “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt feed on His righteousness.
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
Jesus simply says: You believe in God... believe also in me.
BELIEVE... by the way... is more than simple knowledge.
It involves all three words that David used: TRUST... DELIGHT... and COMMIT!
When Jesus says BELIEVE, he means, we should be willing to stake our lives on that knowledge.
· TRUST means to take refuge in. We have found a safe place ... we are protected.
We commit ourselves totally to his haven, completely and eternally secure.
· DELIGHT ... since we are secure we can relax…and enjoy the protection and provisions.
It’s like a pig in a wallow. We’re not merely happy. We’re wallowing in glee!
It means: It just doesn’t get any better than this!
· COMMIT ... here’s that old camel driver’s term ... you roll your burden off of yourself… and upon the Lord.
In short: You can bet your life—totally invest yourself—in Jesus as your Christ.
You can relax and enjoy with abandon the garrison he puts around you.
And, you can transfer your burden to Jesus, himself, and let him carry the whole load.
To John ... the completed work of Jesus is proof of God’s love toward us.
Jesus presents himself as proof of God’s provisions for us.
Jesus also presents himself as the total embodiment of God, himself.
THEN he says: you have trusted Him ... NOW trust me!
In Romans 8:32 ... Paul elaborates by saying: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”
Now ... in verse 2 ... Jesus tells us:
2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
In saying this ... Jesus tells us three things:
1. God has a permanent home for everyone who trusts Him.
The word MANSION means Permanent dwelling.
Earth is a temporary home.
We’re listed as pilgrims—tourists—just passing through.
But, in Christ, we have a permanent residence in Heaven—in our Father’s neighborhood.
Our body—the flesh—is referred to as a tent—a tabernacle—or temporary abode.
But, God has a permanent place for us—a new body—for all eternity!
2. Jesus is honest! We can trust him.
If God didn’t have any place for us ... Jesus would have told us.
3. He is preparing our place for us.
Prepare in the Greek means more than fixing it up.
It means clearing the way ... as well as making the place ready.
It’s a military term ... it describes the ones who scouts out the terrain and the enemy ... before troops are committed.
It describes the guy who pokes and probes his way through the minefield ... so his outfit can follow safely in his footsteps…protected from all danger.
God has a permanent place for all who TRUST Him.
Jesus has cleared the way ... and has our place ready for us ... when we shed our temporary bodies.
And then he adds: “I will come again, and receive you unto myself (Why?), that where I am, there ye may be also.”
“Come again”, in the Greek, is in the futuristic present tense ... which literally means He definitely… without fail… is coming again.
This takes all the IFs out!
It is not a MAYBE ... or perhaps.
He’s already in the process of coming again.
It’s a sure thing!
There’s a note of urgency ... of certainty.
It’s happening!
4 “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”
Thomas is about to flunk his mid-term exam. He better listen up!
Jesus said: You know WHERE I’m going!
You know the WAY I’m going!
And Thomas says: No we don’t... tell us!
Jesus has been talking.
Thomas... and the others... have not been listening!
The BIG question is: Have WE been listening? Or...
U Will we be at the wrong station,
U Waiting for the wrong train,
U Headed the wrong way,
When the time comes?
But Jesus clears it up by adding:
6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
This ... by the way ... is the 6th ... of the 7
I AM’s ... that Jesus shares with us in the Gospel of John:
1. He said, I am the Bread of Life ... in 6:48.
2. The Light of the world ... in 8:12
3. The Door ... no man enters but by me ... in 10:9
4. The Good Shepherd ... who lays down his life for his sheep ... in 10:11
5. The Resurrection and the Life ... in 11:25
6. I am the WAY ... TRUTH ... and the LIFE!
7. In the next chapter ... He says: I am the True Vine.
But ... here ... what He does NOT say is as important as what he does say:
He does not say:
I’ll SHOW you the WAY.
I’ll TELL you the TRUTH.
I’ll GIVE you the LIFE.
What he says is: I AM ... the way ... the truth ... and the life!
Doctrine becomes flesh and blood.
Everything God is,
Everything God said,
Everything God promised,
Is standing there... in flesh and blood... in Spirit... Living... Breathing...
Loving... Longing... Waiting.
A permanent home is waiting.
Jesus is preparing it.
Jesus IS coming... to give us a new body… a new name… and a new home.
If there’s any doubt ... Jesus says ... in verse 7:
7 “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?”
Are we like Philip?
· Have we been to church lo these many years and still don’t know?
· Have we heard the Gospel over and over and still are not sure?
· Do we still wonder about who God is ... how He is?
Is He still the great mystery?
Jesus says: LOOK AT ME!
10 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake”.
Golly!
· Jesus has turned water into wine ...
· Healed the sick ... the lame ...the lepers ...
· Has given sight to the blind ...
· And life to the dead.
Jesus said: I did nothing by myself ... but by the power of God within me
12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
Greater works?
Literally ... this means MORE THAN.
It’s not one upsmanship—not better than.
The apostles will heal the sick... give sight to the blind ... and bring the dead back to life... BUT…
The emphasis here is on MORE THAN.
When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter at Pentecost... Peter proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ... and 3000 believed—accepted Jesus as their Christ—and were added to the church.
How many accepted Jesus as their Christ ... from the words of his own lips?
There were only about 500 on the hill... after the resurrection!
How many have believed since then?
13 “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
Man... how this has been twisted... down through the years!
We use these words—in the name of Jesus— like a postage stamp!
We think... If we tag it on the end of a prayer ... it’ll get through... postage paid!
That’s not what it means at all:
John clears this up a bit in his first epistle:
1John 5: 14 “... that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
To ask in Jesus name ... simply means to ask exactly as he would have asked ... out of his WILL ... out of the FATHER’S will ... led by the Holy Spirit in what we asking ... not for our own selfish purposes ...but for the good of Christ himself.
15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Now we come to the sticky wicket!
It’s nothing more than CAUSE and EFFECT!
The whole point is: IF we love Jesus as our Christ ... we WILL do what he says!
The BIG question today is: Are we Loving Jesus?
Are we doing what Jesus says?
Are we Christ-like
· In our attitudes?
· In our feelings?
· In our actions?
Do we Love the Lord our God ... with ALL our HEART... SOUL ... MIND ...and BODY?
Do we have a like passion for the souls of those who do not know Jesus as their Christ?
Are we willing to GIVE our life ... so that we can SAVE them?
Jesus says ... Keep my commandments!
16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
This promise was kept at Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit was poured out on all who BELIEVE ... who TRUST completely in Jesus as their Christ... as their only HOPE—the only GUARANTEE—
· That we are linked eternally with God the Father ...
· That reservations are made and paid in full in our new PERMANENT residence that Jesus is preparing for us.
18 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
We are not alone!
We are secure in the Holy Spirit!
Jesus—the fullness of whe whole Godhead—is here with us!
19 “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
It was future for them ... when these words were spoken ...
· But for us ... it’s NOW!
· Jesus has delivered on his promises.
· The price of SIN has been paid.
· There is NO excuse for us NOT to be saved from the eternal separation that awaits those who neglect and reject Jesus as their Christ..
21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
If Jesus is not real to you ... try a little faith.
Know Him ... TRUST Him ... and
He will reveal Himself completely to you ... in all of his splendor ... in all of his power ... in all of his love.
Let’s not squander all that God has prepared for us… on a fleeting fling in the flesh.
The return on your investment in Jesus as your Christ is worth it—now and forever.
John 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
