Threefold Thanks John 14-5-6
We have much to be thankful for.
Just a handful of some of the things we can be thankful for : Love, Peace, Freedom, Strength, Eternal Life and more…
But above all else we have to be thankful for… it is Jesus that we can most… give thanks for.
He alone is the way to God.
In John chapter 14 we find what I call a threefold reason for giving thanks.
We can give thanks because
I. God is our help… in keeping safe… from SATAN’S DETOURS
We can give thanks because
II. He has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
and we can also can be most thankful that
III. God will Safely Deliver us home.
In John chapter 14
Jesus and His disciples are talking in the time just shortly before Christ will go to the cross and Jesus tells them He is going away to prepare a place for them and the obvious question by one of Jesus’ followers is asked by Thomas who asks in verse 5
5 … "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus answered, (saying) "I am the way… and the truth… and the life.
No one comes to the Father… except through me.
Above all else we have to be thankful for, it is Jesus that we can most give thanks for.
There are so many ways we can be thankful for Jesus but perhaps John chapter 14 and verse 6 best helps us appreciate our Savior.
Jesus said in verse 6
I am THE WAY,… I am THE TRUTH …and He said I am THE LIFE.
Let us all remember how valuable that is to each of us…
You see without the WAY -..there is no GOING
And without the TRUTH -…There is no KNOWING
And without the LIFE there really is no LIVING.
Let me ask you this morning and I am hoping for a response from you…
I want to ask you…
Jesus said I am the way….ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR THE WAY?
We ought to shout and sing and say GLORY TO GOD, Hallelujah Jesus Christ is the WAY TO GOD.
Jesus did not say I am “a way”…He said I am THE WAY.
He alone is the way to God.
I don’t care who you are or where you have been or what you have done.
God wants to show you the way.
It does not matter if you have a problem with profanity, pornography or sexual promiscuity God has a way for you and the way is Jesus.
It does not matter if you are a drunkard, a drug attic, or just drowning in a sea of lies you tell every day…God has a way for you….Jesus is the way.
No matter what direction you have been going God reaches out to you with arms of love and says over here…Here is the way…the only way …it is JESUS.
Now most of us are THANKFUL for the way but there is one individual in particular that does like care at all for the way…
Satan wants to detour everyone of us from the Way….from Jesus
If this is not something you have thought about recently I want you to think about it with me today and that is we can be thankful that
I. God is our help in keeping our WAY safe from Satan’s Detours
Jesus is the way
He is not only the ONLY way to salvation but He is the
to a happy home
,He is the way to
to a happy marriage,
He is the way
to healthy relationships
and He is the way
to satisfaction of spiritual hunger
Jesus is the way but if Jesus is the way then who do you think is the head honcho of detours.????
SATAN….is the King Ding Dong of detours.
God says here is a way for you….
Satan says ya but look over here and look over here and check out this route over here.
1 Peter 5:8 says that Satan is like a roaring lion looking for those he might devour.
I want to assure you that Satan is the D.O.D. the Department Of Detours.
He wants to get your marriage of route.
He wants to get your family of course
He wants to get your integrity and your witness and your work for the Lord going down the wrong path.
Some of you have seen that happen in your life BUT GUESS what here’s good news JESUS IS THE WAY BACK.
Satan wants to detour all those things in your life….but most of all Satan wants to get your relationship with Jesus Christ off course.
Rest assured that there is a way….a path that God is leading you on every day of your life and if we follow Jesus every day then we will walk in the way and we will be blessed and life will be good.
It is when we get off course that we find disappointment and discouragement because we have taken the detours of the devil instead of walking in the way Jesus leads us.
Satan tried to play this detour game even with Jesus.
In MT chapter 4 we see how Satan offered Jesus a lot of other paths a lot of different ways but each time Jesus said God’s way is the only way.
In Mt 4
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Satan said
“take this other path…but JESUS said “NO WAY”
(so then)
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Satan said to Jesus
“well here is an interesting path …go down this path Jesus.”
Jesus did not accept the detour.
(then verse 8)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’
The Bible tells us that while Jesus is the Way that Satan wants to DETOUR us from THE WAY.
Jesus was offered… detours by Satan… - wrong paths
You and I ….are offered wrong paths by Satan.
But how Thankful we ought to be …
Thankful that Jesus is the right path…He alone is the way
The way to salvation and also the way to a wonderful blessed life.
Let’s remember to be thankful that there is a way like no other way the way of Jesus.
So we can be Thankful that
God is our help in keeping our WAY safe from Satan’s Detours
but also as we ponder John chapter 14 let’s remember to be thankful for the simple details.
II. That God has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
Jesus said I am the way and we are thankful for that way but Jesus also said I am the truth.
Whereas the Way is all about GOING.
The Truth is all about KNOWING
I am thankful for the truth that God has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
What is the truth of salvation?
It is simple details….
It is John 3:16
The simple details that :
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
It is the simple details of 1 Pet 1:18-19 that says
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
The simple details by which we are saved expressed in John 8:36
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
The simple details by which you are saved of Ephesians 2:8-9 that say of our salvation
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Aren’t the details of your salvation wonderful?
They are simply wonderful.
Aren’t you thankful for the simple details by which Jesus has saved you?
Not from works!
I don’t want to be up in heaven one day and there is one ol boy talking about
“Let me tell you about all the old ladies I helped across the street to get here.”
I don’t want to be in heaven listen to some guy saying …
“Let me tell you about all the money I gave to the poor and to the church and so here I am in heaven.”
Oh no, There will be no bragging or boasting in heaven about the merit of our salvation EXCEPT FOR the bragging and boasting of praise and glory to the name of Jesus for he alone is the equivalent of details of my salvation and your salvation.
I am glad I don’t have to be able to quote the entire New Testament or regurgitate a load of Biblical knowledge to get into heavens gates…. but this I know …
It is the simple fact that God loved me enough to make a way …A way called Jesus and that as I place my trust and faith in His work on the cross and His risen victory that I have salvation.
I am so thankful.. that God has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
What have I got to be thankful?
PLENTY
I am thankful for
The way
that God is our help… in keeping safe… from SATAN’S DETOURS
I am so thankful for the truth
He has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
and I am also thankful that I have full assurance that
III. God will Safely Deliver us home.
Jesus said in John 14 I am the life.
I want to say to God and to all of you I am Thankful for the LIFE that Jesus has given to me..
Jesus gives us a great life …here on earth and in our final destination our home in heaven where we will really be living and be living forever and ever.
But it is in Jesus that we find the life ….that will safely deliver us home.
What about this life I have right now?
Am I thankful for it?
I most definitely am.
God has given my days here on earth meaning and purpose and value and I am glad to live out everyone of them for Him.
He has made my life on earth a blessing even now.
Paul knew something about that great life …to walk the earth and live for Jesus
Paul wrote Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Man what a life… to live for Christ)… but the best part still lies ahead.
Jesus is my life now… filled with joy and blessings BUT oh what a wonderful life lies ahead.
The writer of Hebrews wrote about those people who lived a life of faith following after God on this earth while still looking for the even better experience with Him that was still ahead.
Hebrews chapter 11 is the hall of the heroes of faith.
It records the names of people who walked with great intentionally in their faith in God.
It records the names of such individuals like Noah and Abraham.
Heb 11:16 says
they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Are we like Abraham who walked with God closely enough to know…. that pleasure and joy of His presence …but at the same time still conscious that there is still even more and greater joy to be received in the fulfillment of the promise, of even better things, that still await us.
We can be thankful for a life that we have now…. and an even greater life we will have when we see Him in that new city. Face to face.
John chapter 14 Jesus said in v2
I go to prepare a place for you. 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.
John 14:2-3 KJV
We can be thankful that
God is our help against Satan’s Detours
That God
He has Saved us through SIMPLE DETAILS
and we can also can be most thankful
that God will Safely Deliver us home some day.
I am looking forward to being safely delivered home to be in heaven one day.
The story is told of the English evangelist F.B. Meyer.
Meyer traveled miles and miles preaching many places…traveling those many miles by train.
He had a particular custom about his train travel however. At the end of each trip he would never fail to seek out the engineer and THANK him for safely delivering him to his destination.
This is why we can give thanks to God because we know that as we walk with Him
and as we trust His truth that
One day He will safely DELIVER us home to heaven where we will be forever with Him.
We can be Thankful for many things this holiday but most of all let’s be thankful for Jesus.
For He is the Way… the Truth… and the Life.
