Sermon Central
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Rest In The Future!
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: God from the beginning of time mandated/demonstrated that we all must rest in Him. We have to connect with Him to get energized! We also have to learn to rest in the future – placing our lives into the hands of the Lord.
iii. When Jesus nears His death He tells the disciples He will be leaving them in John 13:36 and Peter gets upset and wants to know where He is going!
1. Peter is angry because He left His fishing business to follow Jesus and now Jesus is leaving – Peter not calm says – wait a minute!
a. If you read about Peter he was not a calm person at this point in his life!
2. If you think about the disciples and what they have experienced for 3 years you can see why they became upset – even fearful of the future because Jesus was leaving them and He had taken care of them for 3 years.
a. This is why Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled!” (John 14:1)
c. There is a spiritual lesson in this scenario from the Bible.
i. We need to learn to rest in the spiritual truth that Jesus can keep you calm about what lies ahead in the future.
ii. You may be thinking “How do we receive comfort and the ability to rest in the future and in the unknown?”
iii. I read of four things that Jesus asks us to embrace to help us rest in Him and be calm in the storms of life: (From Dr. David Jeremiah)
1. Jesus asks us to believe in a person!
a. “Let not you heart be troubled, You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1)
i. We are told to have faith – to trust in Jesus – He promises to never leave us or forsake us and also to take care of us!
2. Jesus asks us to believe in a place!
a. “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)
i. The scriptures paint Heaven as a marvelous place, beautiful and wonderful beyond imagination.
ii. There is special house for us in the future prepared by Jesus.
1. Like my grandma’s house in Carnegie!
2. I always loved going to their house – it was peaceful place and a calming place.
iii. Heaven is a paradise we can all look forward too if we are in right relationship with Jesus.
iv. I don’t know about you but this helps me to stay calm for the future! I can rest in this truth spoken of by Jesus.
v. There is a special place for me in Heaven.
1. Jesus has prepared it just for me!
2. It will be a place of peace-rest and my eternal home.
3. Jesus asks us to believe in a promise!
a. The Bible is filled with thousands of Promises.
b. When God makes a promise you can be sure it will be fulfilled.
i. The Lord never breaks His promises!
c. John 14:3 “3And 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.”
d. Quote: “How much different would our lives be if we could only begin to embrace the truth that the God of Heaven desires to spend eternity with us (Jeremiah, page 12)
4. Jesus asks us to believe in the plan!
a. John 14:5-6: 4You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
