“Appearance” – John 20:24-31

Last week I asked those who were here how many were good at math and I then explained that I was not good at math and never cared to be because I never saw much use in it; that and I’m not very smart and math is hard.  But what I failed to explain is that I am quite the physicist.  You didn’t know that?  Oh, yea.  I’m all about physics.  Love it.

 

So, you can imagine how excited I got lately when I heard that some other physicists had discovered the Higgs-boson particle.  Are there any other physicists here who know what that is?  It is the God particle.  Yes, very exciting.  Some egg-heads, I mean, physicists have now proven how the universe came into being.  As one of my colleagues said, “The long-sought particle may complete the standard model of physics by explaining why objects in our universe have mass—and in so doing, why galaxies, planets, and even humans have any right to exist.”  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120704-god-particle-higgs-boson-new-cern-science/

 

This one particle explains what happened after the Big Bang and proves without a doubt that some particles over here collided with some other particles over here and “Boom!” – the universe.  Pretty exciting, huh?  My only concern is what is going to happen when somebody – you know, somebody not a physicist, like me – asks the question, “Where did the Higgs boson come from?  From where – or even, whom – was it created.”  I sure hope nobody ever asks that question because then we would have to build some more multi-billion dollar centrifuges and atom-smashers and who knows where it would all end?

 

Because we have to have proof, right?  Without proof, we can’t believe it and if we can’t explain something then we just haven’t done enough scientific research.  If we do enough scientific research, we will surely see how the world was made and it will surely change our lives forever and for the better.  Surely it will, right?

 

The problem with physics is that no matter how far back you go or how small the particle is, somebody will always ask, “Well, ok, where did that come from?  Who created that?” and even if you could prove something like the “Big Bang Theory”, will that bring you joy and peace and change your life forever and for better?  No, of course not.

 

At some point you just have to have faith and I choose not to put my faith in physics or science or scientists who are sometimes right and sometimes wrong.  I choose to put my faith in holy scripture that has proven itself to be true all through the Old Testament and into the New Testament and into my life.  I choose to believe Genesis 1:1 that simply says, “In the beginning God…” and while I may not understand everything I understand enough to know that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.

 

I know I need Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to die on the cross for those sins to pay the price that I couldn’t pay.  That brings me great joy and peace and has changed my life forever and for better.  The really good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  He overcame death with His resurrection and He overcame this world with His life and because He lives I can celebrate Easter every single day.

 

We have been going through a sermon series entitled, “It’s All About Easter” seeing how Jesus prepared His disciples, His friends, for His death, burial and resurrection.  He didn’t want them to be sad or surprised at what happened so He told them what would happen, when it would happen and what would be the outcome.

He clearly said that He would be arrested, deserted, tried and killed but, and this is a direct quote, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  He explained how He would come back and see them again and He would go and prepare a place for them in Heaven and basically…It’s gonna be okay.

 

Do you know what happened?  Well, to put it in a nutshell, their hearts were troubled.  They were sad and surprised and they didn’t believe it.  Even when He did appear to some of them the same day as His resurrection, it says that Thomas wasn’t there and when they all saw Thomas later on they told him what happened and he still didn’t believe.

 

Let’s read about that in the Gospel of John chapter 20, verses 24-31.  It’s on page 769 of most of the Bibles in the pew.  We find the disciples and some others gathered together on a Sunday morning one week after Jesus had been resurrected.  They were all gathered together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews.  The disciples knew they hadn’t done anything with the body of Jesus but they knew the Jews who crucified Him might not know that so they are basically hiding and waiting.

 

Let’s see what happens in John 20:24-31.

 

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

 

Poor Thomas!  Even today he is known as what?  Doubting Thomas, right?  Even after Jesus had told him how all of this was going to go down, he still doubted.  He still wasn’t sure even when all of his friends told him they had seen Jesus.  Even having it explained to him and told to him, he still doubted and don’t you know it made him miserable?  All of his friends had seen Jesus and they were happy and smiling and excited but Doubting Thomas was bitter.

 

You can see it in the words he uses in verse 25.  “I will not believe it.”  Commentators tell us that in the Greek that is a strong negative.  It is used when you don’t expect to ever believe that it could be at all possible.  It just didn’t make any sense to him.  This is not how he would have done it if he were God.  We can criticize Thomas all day long and joke about him and talk about how we can’t believe that he couldn’t believe but aren’t we all like Thomas sometimes? 

 

The name Thomas and also Didymus means “twin”.  We don’t know anything about his twin but can’t all of us look just like Thomas in our unbelief?  Maybe it’s not in our unbelief that Jesus is the Messiah and the only way to Heaven but sometimes we have a hard time believing what God has revealed to us.  He has explained the way things should be but we have a hard time believing that what the Bible says is always true and always going to be relevant and beneficial to us.  We would say here at church this beautiful Easter that, yes, of course we believe Jesus and we believe what the Bible says but, you know, sometimes it doesn’t really apply to what we are going through, right?  If Jesus had known what we are going through then He would have made an exception.

 

We are twins with Thomas when we don’t believe it when God says something and I would like to think that we all believe the Bible to be absolutely true.  It’s just that surely not all parts apply to us or at least that’s what we live out. 

 

Jesus said some pretty radical things in His great Sermon on the Mount and surely these don’t apply to us.  Being angry is the same as murder.  Looking lustfully at a woman is the same as adultery.  Divorcing except for marital unfaithfulness is sin.  Turn the other cheek when somebody hits you.  Love your enemies.  Do your good deeds in secret.  Don’t worry!  Oh, man, those surely don’t apply to us in our situations, right?  Right, Thomas?

 

Every time I hear the words, “Well, that doesn’t apply in my situation”, I know that person is about to sin.  That person is doing just what Thomas was doing.  The sin of Thomas was unbelief and that is exactly what we all do when we know what the Bible says; we know what God has revealed in His Word but we think it doesn’t apply to us in our situation.

 

Alright, I’m not trying to get anybody all stirred up or start any riots here but I just have a simple question.  I would like to know if there is anybody here that has been helped by the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.  Maybe somebody here has been helped.  I hope so.  That’s good.  I have not.  It has driven the price of insurance up to the point that I just can’t afford it.

 

So, the last few years I have gotten a call from Jackie, who does my taxes, and she always asks me if I have insurance yet because now you have to figure it on your income tax, right?  I told her to just put “N/A” on there for “Not Applicable”.  She said okay but then she would have to figure out the amount extra I would have to pay and put that in the next line.  I told her to just put “N/A” in that box too but she said she couldn’t do that.  So, I told her to just check the box that says Obama can kiss my foot but she said that wasn’t an option either.

 

Just saying that something doesn’t apply to you doesn’t make it so.  I love how all the rock trucks around here have a sign on the back that says, “Not responsible for cracked windshields.”  Really?  Then who is because the rock just flew out of your truck?  Just saying the rules don’t apply to you doesn’t mean that they don’t apply to you.

 

When we think that it’s okay to tell just this little lie or it’s funny to take the name of the Lord in vain or that God will look the other way when we miss church to go to work because of our special situation then we are telling God that the rules don’t apply to us and we are just like Thomas who didn’t believe.  We are telling God that we know better and we don’t have any right to say that any more than we can tell the IRS that the tax code doesn’t apply to us.

 

I’m going to give you some good news about all of this but I want you to look at verse 26.  Jesus walks through the locked doors and what does He say?  “Peace be with you!”  The Jews still use that greeting today.  It’s “Shalom!”  Why do you think He said that?  It was probably the standard greeting for most people back then but don’t you know it held special significance for the disciples that day?  It was like a great general showing up on a chaotic battlefield.  All the soldiers took a collective sigh of relief knowing that they really could have peace because Jesus was there!

 

With Jesus we, too, can have great peace when we are obedient.  We don’t have to understand everything.  The disciples sure didn’t and yet they had great peace.  But look who Jesus goes to first.  He doesn’t break stride.  He goes immediately to Thomas and offers proof that it is really Him.  Jesus knew what Thomas had said and how he was feeling.

 

He knew his unbelief.  He knew his sin and the bitterness that went with it and so Jesus tells him to do just what Thomas had said he had to do to believe.  Jesus told Thomas to touch Him.  Put your hands in my hands.  Put your hand into the wound on my side.  Do it and then…stop doubting and believe.

 

Stop doubting and have peace.  Stop doubting that what was said is truth and enjoy the peace and joy that comes from being obedient even when you don’t understand everything.  Stop doubting and let Jesus be in control of the situation, knowing that He loves you and wants only what is best for you.

 

What is interesting is that there is no indication that Thomas ever did any of that.  He didn’t have to touch Jesus.  He didn’t need proof.  The presence of Jesus and the peace that He brings is enough for Thomas just like it is for us today.  We don’t have to understand everything and we don’t have to have proof.  We know what Jesus has done in the Bible and in our lives and we can put our faith and trust in Him and believe that He is in control and that He loves us and that has changed our lives forever and for the better.

 

In verse 29 Jesus says that Thomas has believed because he has seen but “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”  That word “blessed” means fortunate or well-off or happy.  That is us when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.  We are blessed and happy because the same God who was there in the beginning to create the world is the same God who came in the form of man and died on the cross and is the same God who wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us.

 

I don’t understand how it happened or why but I believe it and I believe every word that God has given us in the scriptures.  Now we just have to be obedient to what He says knowing that it all really does apply to us.  That is what John meant by the last sentence in this passage.  In verse 31 John says, “that by believing you may have life in His name.”

 

We know that life that John is talking about starts right here and right now but lasts for eternity.  Can you imagine eternal life with joy and complete peace with no more tears and no more struggles?  Did you hear about the man and woman who had been friends for many years, who had died and gone to heaven. They told St. Peter that they wanted to be married.

“Take your time and think about it,” said Peter, “you have eternity so take fifty years and see me then.”

Fifty years later, the couple returned and again told Peter they wanted to be married. “Well,” said Peter, “take another fifty years and really think about it….” But the couple was insistent, “We know we want to be married now….”
Peter replied, “Well, take another fifty years anyway, and if we don’t have a preacher up here by then, I’ll marry you myself.”

 

I think part of Heaven is going to be not having to hear corny jokes but we will have joy.  We will have peace and we will be happy and Jesus said all we have to do is believe in Him.  Now, that word “believe” means more than just believe in your mind that He exists.  It literally means to fully rely on or commit to.

 

Have you done that?  Is there a time in your life where you can look back on and know without a doubt that you have believed – fully trusted and committed yourself – to Him and for Him?  If not, then what do you need?  Proof?  Do you need a physicist to show you on a graph or some kind of chart?  Repent or turn away from your sins and ask Jesus for forgiveness of those sins and you will know without a doubt when He comes into your life.

 

Do that today.  We are not guaranteed another tomorrow or even another breath.

This is beautiful little Miracle.  She is wearing purple that matches the beautiful little irises at Christ Fellowship.

“Leaving” – John 16:33

How many of you are good at math?  I don’t mean you know what 2 plus 2 is real good-like.  How many of you took college-level math or at least some serious high school math like physics or quantum equations or like… division and stuff?  I hated math.  I wasn’t good at it and didn’t want to be good at it.  I didn’t see the need for learning anything past addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.

I asked the teacher one time why we needed to learn how to do all this stuff and she told me that I wouldn’t always have a calculator with me.  (Pull out iPhone) Really, Mrs. Overman?  Really?  Not only does it have a calculator but I don’t even have to use it.  (Ask Siri) I had another teacher tell me that learning all this different kinds of math would expand my mind.  Expand my mind?  I don’t even know what that means so obviously she was wrong.

I have always been the kind of person who wanted to know why I needed to learn something before I learned it.  I understand learning history.  I don’t want to make the same mistakes that others before me have but why do I ever need to know the square root of anything?  Not one time in my life have I thought, “Man, I wish I knew what the square root of this hamburger is.”  Sorry kids, but anything beyond about 12 times 12 is a waste of brain cells.  Just my opinion.

We are continuing our sermon series entitled, “It’s All About Easter” with Jesus telling His disciples why He has been teaching them all the things they have been learning over the past few weeks.  He has been preparing them for the day when He will be tried, convicted, killed, buried and then resurrected.  He wanted them to understand what was going on and why and so, like a good teacher, He tells them in John 16:33 why He has taught them all this.

He has told them that they would abandon Him, deny Him and sell Him out.  He has told them that He would die, be buried and come back but that He would leave them again.  He would send the Holy Spirit.  He would go to prepare a place for them and then come back to get them.  You and I have grown up hearing all of this but don’t you know the disciples were drinking from a fire hose with Jesus trying to tell them all of this?

Jesus had started out teaching in parables but as time got closer to the cross, He started teaching them more plainly.  Now, He has given them a lot to think about and He could see their minds were smoking and their eyes were starting to glaze over and the night was getting late and so He finally said, “Ok, let me tell you why I have been teaching you all this stuff.”  He said, “It’s to expand your mind.”  No, no!  That’s not it.  Let’s read what He said in one little beautiful verse.

John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

My friend Gerry Lewis at Harvest Association taught us how to give criticism one time.  He said we are to use the sandwich method.  The sandwich method is starting with a nice, soft, piece of bread, you then add the meat and then end with another nice, soft, piece of bread.  If you are giving criticism or bad news or something negative about somebody, start with something nice, then tell them the bad stuff but end with something else nice.

In John 16:33, Jesus uses the sandwich method on the disciples.  In me you may have peace.  There’s some lovely bread.  In this world you will have trouble.  That’s the meat.  But I have overcome.  More bread.  Great sandwich!  Right?  Jesus was a great sandwich maker and the sandwich He made the disciples tastes just as sweet and is just as filling today as it was back then.  He may have been speaking just to the disciples here but this is definitely something that can benefit us as well.  Let’s look at it closer.

“In Me you may have peace.”  We all want peace.  We all need peace.  The older we get the more valuable it is and here Jesus explains in just two words how we get it.  “In Me.”  Sounds pretty easy, right?  But what does it really mean?  Well, first off, notice what He doesn’t say.  He doesn’t say, “In church you may have peace.”  While that may be true, it’s not the secret to finding peace.

He doesn’t say we find peace by being in wealth or by being in health or by being in anything except Him.  It’s not about being pretty close to Him or in Him sometimes.  He says peace comes by being in Him.  It means to be right with Him; to be right with Him in every way.  It means He is your hope, your faith, your rock and you are obedient to Him.  Your sins are forgiven.  He has searched you and tried you and has not revealed any hidden sin or evil motive.  You are not perfect.  You are abiding in Him.

Being in Him means that what is important to Him is important to you.  What is not important to Him is not important to you.  While church is not the secret to having peace, without church you will not have peace because church is important to God.  Worship is important to God.  Prayer and Bible study are important and without all that you can’t say you are in Him or abiding in Him so don’t be surprised when peace seems like a distant dream.

I heard a good definition for peace.  It said that peace was being in possession of adequate resources.  However you want to define it, you know when you have peace and when you don’t.  It’s easy to have peace when the sailing is smooth and the wind is calm.  You don’t need many resources then, do you? But what about when the storm comes? 

What about when the doctor says you have a horrible disease from which you will never recover?  Only God has the resources to weather that.  What about when your spouse, your boss and your last dollar all say “See ya” and there seems to be no way out of it all?   That’s when, as you abide in Him; following Him, worshipping Him and being in Him you realize that He has all the resources you are ever going to need.

Peace manifests itself in the person who says, “I don’t know how to do it.  I can’t do it.  I want to give up.  It seems hopeless to me but I know, in fact, I am in the One Who does know and my peace is in Him.”  That’s what peace looks like and do you know why you can have that kind of peace?  You can have that kind of peace because you know that you are forgiven.  You have peace because you are loved and you have peace because you are secure.

Do you really need any other resource than that?  You are forgiven.  You are loved and you are secure.  When you have that you have peace with yourself.  You have peace with others.  You have peace with God.  Hebrews and Romans both say to live at peace with others to the best of your ability.  We all know some people who don’t have peace and don’t want you to have it so they need to manufacture some drama.  But to the best of your ability you have peace with others, yourself and even with God.  Now, that’s peace.

That’s the first piece of bread but now we come to the meat.  Unfortunately, you don’t get to decide if you want meat or even what kind.  Jesus says, “In this world, you will have trouble.”  The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. 

"Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." 

"Why?" asked the pilot. 

"Because I'm going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!" 

After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?"  The Jokesmith.

I don’t know if either one of those guys had peace but it is always available because we are always going to need it.  Job knew about trouble if anybody ever did.  He said “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”  (Job 14:1) Sometimes we have trouble because of other people.  Sometimes it comes from circumstances we can’t control.  Sometimes it comes from circumstances we should have controlled but didn’t and sometimes it comes from God Himself, as Job can attest.

Paul knew that as well.  He said in Romans 8:18 that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  That was said by a man who knew peace; by a man who knew what it meant to abide in God and because he did he said he could be content in whatever state he was in. (Philippians 4:11)

Peace!  Contentment!  How is that possible in this nasty old world?  Do you ever wonder why Jesus would tell His disciples this?  Do you think Jesus knew that His disciples would be attacked and put in prison and killed all for His name?  Of course He did.  That’s why He told them this.  What better example of this being taken to heart by a disciple than good old Peter who was put in jail and was to be killed the next day.  Do you remember what happened?  The angel came and had to wake him up before he could get him out of there.

How do you have that kind of peace?  Jesus tells the disciples and us the answer to that question in the last sentence; the last piece of bread, if you will.  He says that we can have peace because He has overcome the world.  He says, “Take heart!”  which literally means, “Cheer up!”  Jesus has just given them all this bad news including that He is leaving and then says, “Cheer up!”

Have you ever had a really bad day and somebody comes along and says, “Hey, come on.  Smile!”  Don’t you just want to poke ‘em in the eye?  But Jesus then goes on to tell them why they should take heart.  He says, “In this world you will have trouble.  But I have overcome the world!”  Isn’t that great?  I love that.  But wait a minute.  Maybe Jesus misspoke here.  Maybe it is mistranslated or something because He uses the word “overcome” like it’s already done; like He has already overcome the world.

His death, burial and resurrection is not for another couple of days so why do you think He said “I have overcome”?  He says, “I have overcome” because it was not His death that overcame the world.  It was His life.  His death and resurrection overcame sin and the power of sin that leads to death.  His resurrection overcame animal sacrifice for redemption.  His resurrection overcame Satan and his schemes but it was the life of Jesus that overcame the world and it gave us hope, joy, comfort, truth…and peace; that ever-elusive peace; peace that passes all understanding as Philippians 4:7 says.

His life overcame this world because He overcame lies with truth.  Satan is the father of lies and has lied since at least the Garden of Eden and he is the prince of this world so we know that this world is full of lies.  This world lies about the resources we need.  I told you the definition I heard that peace is the possession of adequate resources and the world lies about what we need.

The world says we need nice stuff; in fact we deserve nice stuff.  How many times have you heard a commercial that says you deserve our product?  Really?  How do you know?  You don’t know me.  I might be a serial killer.  It says it because it lies.  How much stuff do you really need?  Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus overcame the world by overcoming the lies of the world with truth.  He also overcame the world by overcoming sin with holiness.  His life was perfect.  He was sinless.  He was perfectly holy and while none of us can be perfectly holy and sinless we can be more like Jesus by being “in Him”.  See how all that ties in?  His life affects our life even today.  Even today His overcoming helps us to be overcomers as well.  1 John 5 says that we, too, are overcomers when we obey the words of Jesus.  That’s just what it means to be “in Him”.

His life overcame this world by overcoming lies with truth and sin with holiness and also hate with love.  This world lies and this world lives in sin because this world hates.  Jesus said to expect it.  Go left in your Bibles just a chapter over to chapter 15 of John and look at verses 18 and 19.  Jesus said to expect the world to hate you because it hated Him first.  If you belonged to the world it would love you.

But Jesus overcame that hatred by loving and we can have peace when we do the same thing.  Have you ever, even one time, had peace with someone who hated you by hating them back?  No.  that’s impossible.  But you say, “Yeah, but it’s impossible for me to love someone who hates me.  That’s not how I was made!”  That’s exactly right.  You can’t do it because that is how you were made but when you became a believer in Jesus, you were re-made.  You live a new life; a life “in Him” and through Him you can also be an overcomer.

What do you need to overcome today?  Is it worry, lust, greed, food, alcohol, drugs…math?  What resources do you need?  Now, do you think the Creator of the universe has those resources?  Of course He does and that should bring you great peace.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

“Promise” – John 14:1-4

If I were to say the words, “It doesn’t get any better than this” where does your brain go?  To what place does your mind take you?  Maybe it is the beach or the mountains.  Maybe you have your family with you or maybe it is all by yourself.  Are you doing something fun or doing something relaxing?  Somebody tell me what you are doing when you say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

For me, I think it would be sitting on a back porch overlooking the beach watching the sunset while eating what my Mama and my sisters have cooked with all my family.  Man, that would be great!  You may not believe this but, for me, another place I love to be is right here on Sunday morning worshipping with my church family when everybody just forgets themselves and lets the Holy Spirit move however He wants to. “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

But wherever that takes you, wherever it is, whatever you are doing, there is a problem.  All good things must come to an end, right?  The sun goes down.  The food gets eaten.  You run out of gas or the cops come or whatever happens, it’s always going to come to an end.  Don’t you hate that?  Don’t you wish times like that could go on forever?

Well, I have some good news and I like the way one man wrote it.  Thinking of the fullness and duration of this wonderful life, W. B. Hinson, a great preacher of a past generation, spoke from his own experience just before he died. He said, "I remember a year ago when a doctor told me, 'You have an illness from which you won't recover.' I walked out to where I live 5 miles from Portland, Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love. I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God's own poetry to my soul. Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps, and I said, ' I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down pulling of the material universe!' "  sermonillustrations.com

Hinson is obviously referring to having eternal life in Heaven with Jesus Who has made all things new. (Revelation 21:5)  As great as it would be to sit on the seashore and eat a great meal, it can’t compare; it’s a waste of time and energy  and I despise it; I’m bored with it and I don’t want to ever do it again, compared to spending eternity in Heaven with the Creator of the universe.

This life is too hard.  There is too much pain and sorrow and difficulty but the good news is that this life is short and for believers in Jesus Christ, we have a most comforting promise that when this nasty old life ends, we will immediately be in the presence of Jesus.  (2 Cor. 5:8)  While we may have some good times and we may live a full life like God says we can and we may have friends and family that support and love us, I can’t wait to leave this place and spend eternity in Heaven with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Now, some of us need to learn a word.  It’s a good word and it applies to this situation in which we find ourselves today.  The word is “amen.”  Do you know what “amen” means?  It means “So be it” or “That’s truth and I believe it.”  I’m not complaining that you don’t say it enough.  I’m not talking down to you at all but “amen” just fits here.  It’s not complimenting the speaker.  It’s just saying that what you have heard you know to be truth.

“Amen” fits here and you know it is truth because you read it in scripture.  You know it’s truth because in John 14 it is written in red as the words of Jesus and it is the most comforting words in all of scripture.  Do you know why I say it is the most comforting?  Because Jesus intended to comfort with this promise.  He intended for His words to bring comfort and joy to His friends and we can take comfort and joy from them still today.

Let’s read John 14:1-4 and let’s see why these red words are so comforting.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And 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. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Have you ever been in a really serious life crisis and some well-meaning person says, “Don’t worry.  It’s gonna be ok.”?  Don’t you want to look at that person and ask them just where they get their information?  I would like to believe you but it looks to me like my life is a train wreck and that it’s not gonna be ok for a long, long time.  Why should I believe you when you say it’s gonna be ok?

Well, Jesus doesn’t just say, “Don’t worry about it.”  Even if He did that would be fine.  We know we can trust Him but He actually backs up that first statement of “Do not let your hearts be troubled” with three reasons why we should not have troubled hearts.  Jesus is speaking to His disciples and they needed to hear this if anybody did. 

For three years they had been with Him and He had protected and provided for them.  He had educated them, given them great wisdom, laughed with them, cried with them, motivated them to be better people and now Jesus has just told them that He is going away (13:33).  Not only that but one of them would betray Him (13:21), they would all abandon Him and Peter would deny Him 3 times. (13:38)  Oh, and by the way, Satan has said He wants to sift you as wheat. (Luke 22:31)

Don’t you know they had to be looking at Him like the guy in the movies who has been shot and is bleeding like crazy from this sucking chest wound and the medic says, “Don’t worry.  You’re gonna be ok.”  Then the medic looks at the other medic and shakes his head.

Jesus said “Don’t be troubled.  Don’t worry.  It’s gonna be ok.”  But He’s not just trying to make them feel better so that their last moments are a little better.  He is telling them truth and then He backs it up with three reasons why they - and we - should not be troubled, no matter what this life brings.

In verse 1 He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”  “Believe in God; believe also in me.”  This command to believe in God and in Him is not just a command.  It’s deeper than that.  This is an encouragement.  Yes, we should trust God, and Jesus is God so we should trust Him but the biggest part of what He is saying here is what He leaves out.  He leaves out what we are not to trust, namely ourselves.

I have bad news and I have good news.  The bad news is you are going to fail.  You are going to fail at pretty much every aspect of your life.  I’m sorry but it’s true.  You are going to fail at being the person you should be.  You are going to fail at being the spouse you need to be.  You are not going to be the employee or employer that you should and you are going to fail at being the parent that God wants you to be.  The bad news is that you cannot trust yourself to be good enough at anything.  Some of you should say “amen” right there.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to be the people God wants us to be at all, but in the end, your peace and your joy, your comfort, your forgiveness and your happiness, not to mention your salvation does not depend on you at all.

Can you imagine if Jesus had said, “Don’t worry.  I know you will be good enough to get through all this.”?  I would be a nervous wreck.  When He said to believe in God, He is not saying to believe that God exists and then everything will be ok.  He is saying to put your faith and trust in Him.  Know Him.  Have a relationship with Him.  Be close and intimate with Him and then you will understand that your peace and comfort depend on the One Who can be depended on.  Not on you.  Isn’t that great news?

Now, Jesus could have stopped right there by just saying that we should believe in God and not in ourselves but He continues with this great promise.  Not only will He provide everything you need but He will also prepare a place for you.  Look at verse 2.  He says that in His Father’s house are many rooms.  That word “rooms” is sometimes translated mansions but it really just means “abiding places” or places to live.

Some of the commentaries spend a lot of ink debating whether it is mansions or rooms in a mansion and just what that’s going to look like and I believe that is missing the point Jesus was trying to make here.  The emphasis is not on what the place is going to be like.  The emphasis is on Jesus going to Heaven to prepare it just for us.

I think if a person wants to be a preacher, they need to have either kids or dogs so you can have some illustrations and I highly recommend dogs over kids any day.  I have two dogs.  Sometimes they are in the yard and sometimes they are in the house but if I say, “Let’s go for a ride” they know what that means and they jump around and bark and run to the door and just go crazy because they can’t wait to go for a ride.

Now, life for my dogs is not too bad.  They are not mistreated.  They get plenty to eat and we have fun there at the house but they know that going for a ride is going to be better than anything they are doing right now.  I don’t have to explain where we are going or what we are going to do.  They wouldn’t understand anyway.  They know I would never take them someplace that is going to hurt them.  They know I’m not going to put them in the car and leave them or tell them we’re going for a ride and not take them.  They know we are going to have fun and adventures if we go for a ride.  That’s all that matters.

I don’t know what Heaven is going to be like.  I have read books on it.  This book by Randy Alcorn (Heaven) is about the best of them and it goes into as much detail as possible but I can still say that I don’t really know what Heaven is going to be like exactly.  I know it is a physical place.  In Revelation 21 and 22, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem are described as actual places, with detailed physical descriptions.  It is real and not just a state of mind or an altered state of consciousness as some people like to make it out to be.

Also, there is no reason to think of Heaven as being a figurative place.  When Revelation 21 and 22 talk about Heaven having rivers, buildings and streets, we know what those are and we can expect something very similar to what we know in Heaven.  We know what cities are and Hebrews 10 and 13 describe Heaven as having cities.  Cities have buildings, culture, art, music, athletics, and fun.  We can expect something very similar in Heaven.

We are told we will have resurrection bodies in 1 Corinthians 15 and while we can’t imagine having perfect bodies, as least most of us can’t, we do know what bodies are like and we can expect something very similar in Heaven.  We will rest (Revelation 14:13) but we will also serve and work and we will find great reward in our work.  (Rev. 22:3)  The Bible talks about there being mountains, trees, water, people, animals and while I don’t know if your pet is going to make it or not, wouldn’t it be just like Jesus to prepare a place for you that included little Fido or Fluffy?  We don’t have all the details and I believe we don’t because that is not the emphasis.

Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:

My knowledge of that life is small,

The eye of faith is dim,

But it's enough that Christ knows all,

And I shall be with him.

That’s the emphasis – being with Jesus.  He is going to prepare a place for us and it is enough to know that.  Amen!  Now, while the thought of Heaven ought to blow your mind, I am going to top that with something else.  It’s not me saying it.  Jesus says it in the next verse.  Verse 3 says, “And 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.”

Have you ever known a little kid who asks “Why?” all the time?  That’s how I feel sometime when I think about what God has done for me.  I’ll admit there have been bad times in my life when I have asked God, “Why me?”  But the longer I live and the closer I get to Him the more I ask it in the good times.  Why, Lord, have you been so good to me?  Why do you care if my heart is troubled?  Why would you allow me to trust in you?  Why would you prepare a place for me and now I ask, “God, why would you make a special trip to come back to get me?”

I won’t go into great detail about this because I don’t believe it is needed but you need to know or be reminded about what Jesus is saying here.  The first time Jesus came to earth was when He was born as a baby in Bethlehem and we celebrate Christmas because of that day.  He is also coming back to earth a second time and we cleverly call that His “Second Coming” but there is also going to be a rapture and it is different than the Second Coming.

The rapture will happen before the Second Coming and Jesus will not come all the way to earth.  1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we will meet Him in the air and that is what Jesus is talking about in our passage this morning.  He is talking about the rapture.  We will actually be coming with Him back to earth at His Second Coming.  That’s different. 

So, in verse 3 when Jesus says He is coming back to get us, I don’t know why He would be so good but I believe it.  I look forward to it.  I’m ready and I want you to be ready.  I heard the story about a little girl who was quizzing her mother after church one day where she had learned about the rapture.

"Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?"

"Yes."

"Today?"

"yes."

"In a few minutes?"

"Yes, dear."

"Mommy, would you comb my hair?"  Don Hussong

Thankfully, we are not going to have to look good and he is not going to wait for you to brush your hair.  I know how long it takes some women to get ready and we don’t have that kind of time.  1 Corinthians 15:52 says it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. But like this little girl, we should want to be ready, expecting the rapture at any minute; living like this is our last day on earth and knowing that all of our problems are almost over.

I don’t have all the answers.  I don’t always know why.  But what I do know is that Jesus loves us so much that He doesn’t want our hearts and minds to be troubled.  He is going to prepare a real place for us and then come back to get us when He is ready.  We don’t have to trust in our own ability for any of it.  That ought to bring great comfort and joy if you really do know Jesus.

In verse 4, Jesus says, “You know the way to the place I am going.”  It’s not that we know where Heaven is or the latitude and longitude coordinates.  We know the Way and Jesus is the Way as He says in verse 6.  If you know Jesus, you know the Way.  It’s more than knowing about Him or believing that He exists.  It is having an intimate relationship with Him, worshipping Him daily in scripture and prayer and even in song.

Let me close with the words to this old hymn.

VERSE 1
It could happen in a moment, In the twinkling of an eye,
It could happen in a moment, He could break the Eastern sky,
Tho our hearts will feel unworthy, yet how happy we will be
When the Savior comes from heaven, When His blessed face we see.
CHORUS
I am list'ning ev'ry moment for the mighty trumpet sound,
What a time we'll have together when the saints shall leave the ground.
All our toiling will be over, all our sorrow and its pain,
It could happen in a moment, Jesus Christ could come again.

And everybody said…Amen!!!