Father in heaven, as we open Your word, as we hear through
Your spirits illumination the truth, we pray that You would
overwhelm us and bury us in this wonderful word.
As we looked upon what the disciples were experiencing as
they were troubled, we see the way in which you responded to
them and the words that you spoke.
Father, these words are true words and we pray that we would
hear them and believe them 'cause each person that is here,
those worshipping with us online, causes Lord to believe
more and more deeply that you truly are who you say you are
and you will keep every promise that you've made.
This we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
We are in John 14. Go Romain standing please.
Sorry for the reading of the Word.
We're in John 14. This is at the beginning of the
farewell discourse, John's Gospels, the only one that
records many of the things in this section, which is very,
very powerful. Last Sunday I talked about the
trouble, the heartbreak that the disciples are experiencing.
This passage begins with Jesus saying, let not your hearts be
troubled, but they're very troubled because what's happened
in that room is that Jesus has said, I am going to depart.
He has spoken of one who was going to betray him who's
already left the room. He's also spoken saying to
Peter, you are going to deny me. We will not hear from Peter
again for quite some time. This is a powerful word that the
Lord gives as He seeks to bring hope and encouragement to the
disciples as they are deeply troubled.
I'll begin at verse one and read through verse 11.
Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in
me and my father's house are many rooms.
If it were not so, what I have told you that I go to prepare a
place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may
be also, and you know the way to where I'm going.
Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.
How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. If you had known me, you would
have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and
have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show
us the Father and it is enough for us.
Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and you still
do not know me? Philip, whoever has seen me has
seen the Father. How can you say, show us the
Father? Do you not believe that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own
authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his work.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the
works that I do, and greater works than these will he do,
because I am going to the Father.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Please be seated. Because we know the end of the
story, it's often difficult for us to really appreciate what's
happening to those who did not know the end of the story.
The disciples had left everything to follow Jesus.
I want you to hear me. They have left everything to
follow Jesus, their homes, their families.
They have been following him for three years.
But now Jesus is beginning to say things, more focused things
that he's been saying all along. But when he speaks of one of
them betraying him, when he speaks of his departure, when he
tells the leader of the group, you are going to deny 3 times
that you even know me. These men are scattered in their
thoughts. They are frightened, they do not
understand what's happening. They are confused and hear Jesus
in his farewell discourse seeks to bring them hope and
encouragement that will move them through the next few days
and all the trauma that they're going to experience as well as
prepare them to lead the church. How does he do it?
Well, in the words that we've heard, and this is just the
beginning of the farewell discourse, we're going to be
here for the next 4 weeks, Jesus speaks of a place.
He speaks of the way, and then he begins to speak in a more
detailed way about the union that he has with the Father and
the union that we have with him. What we're going to hear about
that over the next few weeks is the essence of Christianity and
it's what so many people who claim Christ miss all the time.
So let's begin with the place. Go back to verse one.
Jesus says let not your hearts be troubled. believe in God,
believe also in me. Remember John tells us the
purpose of his gospel. The gospel according to John as
he wrote it, is that we would believe that Jesus is who he
says he is. Verse 2 he writes in my father's
house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have
told you that I'd go to prepare a place for you and if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and we'll take you to
myself that where I am I you may be also.
This is one of those passages that is so often taken out of
context because we don't really understand what Jesus is saying.
Remember the state of the disciples, They are confused,
they're terrified, they're troubled.
Jesus says don't be troubled. And the first thing he says to
them is that I am going away, and I'm going away for a
purpose, and that purpose is to prepare a place for you.
He says in my Father's house are many rooms.
For many of us, we have been deceived into thinking that this
is really what heaven is ultimately about, that I'm going
to have my forever home. Well, you actually are.
But because of the way the King James Version translated verse
2, where it says in my father's house are many mansions, we
began to think that that's what it's really all about.
When I was around 5th grade, I had moved from wanting to be a
fireman to a pilot and then to an architect.
And the reason I wanted to be an architect, honestly, was because
of how small the house was. I grew up in five children.
I'm the middle child, 1 bathroom, single car garage,
barely 1000 square feet, and it was pink.
I lived in a little pink house. I began to design houses, kind
of the dream for what I might live in.
And some of my best work had a Moat.
It was really remarkable. I wanted to live somewhere much
larger, much grander. This is not what Jesus is
saying. I'm not saying it's going to be
all glorious, but what I'm telling you is that the word
mansion is the 17th century word that meant kind of a common
house. The way houses were built in the
way they would have understood it was a father would
essentially build a home, and then the sons would continue to
build houses that were next to it kind of on a compound.
Jesus is not in this moment when they're desperate for answers,
trying to help them by saying dream of a big house, dream of
luxury. What Jesus is saying is that I'm
going to prepare a place for you.
And what matters most is that that is where I am going to be.
My presence for eternity is everything.
Now here's why that matters. He is just told them that he's
leaving. They have been walking for three
years with the living God physically present, eating with
them, doing miracles in their presence, teaching them he is a
man that never sinned, never had a wrong thought or a wrong word.
The perfect man. They've walked intimately with
him, but now he says he's leaving.
The presence of their leader is soon to be gone.
And so he speaks of a house with many rooms.
But what he says that's most significant is in verse 3.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.
Think about this. Because of the fall in the
garden, where Adam and Eve were in perfect harmony with the
Lord, in perfect presence, that relationship was severed.
Jesus was then sent to the earth.
He is now blazing the way back to the Father, to a place where
there are many, many rooms for all of those who've trusted in
Christ. And the most significant thing
isn't that we will be doing our favorite hobby.
It's not that we will have our dream home.
It's that we will be living in the very real presence of Christ
for all eternity. He will come again Speaking of
His second coming and I will take you to myself that where I
am you may be also. Now listen to what he does next
verse 4 and you know the way to where I'm going.
Jesus makes this statement that is going to then lead to a
question that's understandable, that comes to us from Thomas.
Jesus will use this opportunity then to teach such deep
theological truth about who we are if we trusted in Christ.
So Jesus says, and you know the way to where I'm going.
Thomas says to him, Lord, verse 5, we do not know where you're
going. How can we know the way Thomas
is practical here. You have not told us really
where you're going. We don't know the way.
How could we know the way you say we know the way you speak
truth. We don't know the way.
Thomas wants a map. Thomas wants the directions and
Jesus is now going to give in the Gospel of John, his sixth I
am statement. Do you remember the first five?
I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world.
I am the door. I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the resurrection and the life, and then this one.
I am the way, the truth and the life. 15 John 15.
He will say his final one. I am the true vine.
My father is the vine dresser. Jesus.
In answering Thomas's question, Thomas, who wants a map, who's
very confused, Jesus says something that shocks him.
I am the way. The way is a person.
The way is not a plan, The way is a person.
When Jesus says I am the way and the truth and the life, he then
says something that we can never run away from.
Yet so many Christians are tempted to do this.
He says no one comes to the Father except through me.
If you're new to our church, it's very important for you to
know that we believe every word of this Bible is God's word.
When Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life, He is
not saying I am one way of many, I am the way.
We live in a pluralistic culture where what really rules is
whatever you believe to be true. Recently I encountered a man who
I think was a very devoted religious man to his religion.
He asked what I did. I told him and he said we are
the same. We have some differences, but we
are the same. I look forward if God will allow
it, for the opportunity to tell them lovingly we're not the
same. Because you don't see Jesus as
the way. You see Jesus as one of many
ways. And as long as you seek to be a
good person, then whatever path you're on will lead to eternity.
That is not what Christ is saying, and this inclusivity
causes people, because people respond to it with such passion
to be unattractive to Christianity, causing many who
would say I actually believe that, but I don't want to say it
out loud. We cannot cower away from the
truth of what Jesus is saying. He's not saying I'm one of many
ways. He's saying I am the way.
He's not saying you can get to the Father by being good.
He's not saying you can get to the father by following me as a
good example. He's not saying I am one who
brings the words of the father. He's saying I'm the way.
And because he's the way, he is also the truth and he is also
the life. It's an amazing statement that
you need to swim deeply in. If you find yourself in places
of work or recreation or in your classrooms in school and you're
tempted to quiet this verse or even deny this verse, you can't.
These words are true words. And if someone doesn't hear what
Christ has said and they see somebody that says they follow
him and him, tonight friends, we can't.
Jesus is the way, He is the truth.
He's the life. If you believe that, never stop
thanking Him for the grace that He gave you to believe it.
Imagine though for a moment as these disciples hear Jesus give
the 6th I AM statement. Leon Morris says we should not
overlook the faith involved as Jesus spoke these words on the
eve of the crucifixion. For the one who spoke these
words, who said I am the way, would shortly hang impotent on
the cross. The one who said I am the truth,
we'll be there because of the lies of evil people who were
about to celebrate a spectacular triumph.
And the one who said I am the life, within a matter of hours
is going to have his corpse placed in a tomb.
I am the way, I am the truth. I am the life.
Then Jesus moves into a common conversation about his
relationship with the Father and his relationship with us.
And this is where I want to spend the rest of the time this
morning and where we will be over the next few weeks speaking
about union with Christ. Philip says to Jesus in verse 8,
Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.
Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still
do not know me? Philip Belief was still the
biggest issue for them. They were struggling to truly
believe all that Christ had said.
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
Think about that statement. How can you say show us the
Father? Verse 10?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in
me? The words that I say to you, I
do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who
dwells in me does his works. Verse 11 Believe me that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account
of the works themselves. This little word in 2 letters is
so significant to what John is teaching, what Jesus is saying,
what John is recording, that Jesus said.
During the rest of this farewell discourse, John is going to
highlight the significant statements Jesus has made about
what it means to have union with him.
He speaks of his relationship with the Father and that little
word in is there verse 10 again, do you not believe that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me?
What he's saying is I'm not just a teacher from the Father.
I'm not just a messenger. I'm not just an example.
He's saying I and the Father are one.
You don't have your Bible necessarily opened if you're
using the bulletin, but I want you to hear this language that's
coming over the next few weeks. Jesus is going to move from just
talking about Him being in the Father to Him being in us.
If you look with me at verse 16 and 17 says, and I will ask the
Father and He will give you another helper to be with you
forever. Verse 17, I know it's not in the
bulletin, so just listen. Even the spirit of truth in the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
In chapter 15, one through 11, Jesus is going to talk about the
vine in the branches and that we are in the vine.
Then in the High Priestly prayer in John 17, I want you to hear
what Jesus is saying. I'll be preaching on this in a
few weeks, he says in verse 20 of John 17 to the Father,
praying. I do not ask for these only.
That's the disciples around him, but also for those who will
believe in me through their word.
That's us, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in
me, and I in you, that they also may be in US.
What does that mean? It means that if you have
professed faith in Jesus Christ, you haven't just received a
worldview, you haven't just received some good teaching.
You have received the only one who's the way, the truth, and
the life. And if you've received him, he
lives inside you right now, not just his teachings, not just his
ideas. This is called union with
Christ. What is union with Christ?
And the simplest way for those who trusted Christ, union with
Christ means that you are in Christ and Christ is in you.
This is a big deal. Christianity is not just a
motivation message. It's not just a bunch of
principles for how to live a better life.
It is about this union in Christ with Christ that we have now and
forever. When I became a Christian June
of 1982, I received the Bible and the Topical Memory System.
Many of you have taken hold of the topical Memory system as we
made them available many months ago.
And if you remember the very two first verses you memorize, and
these are the 1st 2 verses I memorized in my life before John
316. It was Second Corinthians 517.
Here's what it says. Therefore, if anyone is what in
therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,
the oldest gone, the newest come.
I had no idea what that meant, that I was faithful to please my
father, spiritual father Tom Miller.
Then the next verse Galatians 220 Listen to this I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live the life I live by
faith. I live in the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me.
I had no idea what that meant. I memorized it word for word to
please my Bible study leader, my father in the faith, but he
would spend the rest of his earthly life almost every time
we had a conversation. Speaking of Galatians 220, he
said No matter what is written on my headstone, when I die, I
want this phrase. What a deal.
I want it to be larger than anything else except what
follows. Galatians 220.
I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live the life.
I live by faith in the stomach God.
I live by faith in Him, in Him. What a deal.
What a privilege to have a man who understood union with Christ
pouring into me. In 1990 New Year's Eve, my wife
and I met with him for our first premarital counseling.
He was going to do our wedding May 18th of 91, same week that
this church started. Very next day, Tom was killed in
a car wreck. Over the next week and a half,
there were three memorial services, one in Lexington, KY,
where he was the regional director of Young Life, one in
Oklahoma City, which is where he'd been for a long time, and
one in his hometown of St. Louis, MO.
I spoke at all three of those services and I spoke of
Galatians 220 of what a deal if you go to Saint Louis, which I
eventually made my way there four years later for seminary, I
found his grave and his wife made sure his wishes for help,
health in that cemetery, there's his name, Thomas Edward Miller.
What a deal, Galatians 220. The deal didn't start after he
died. The deal started the day the
Holy Spirit illuminated his heart and mind and he received
Jesus. When he received Jesus, he
didn't just receive ideas about Jesus, he received the very
person of Christ through his Spirit.
This is a big deal. If we have faith in Jesus, we
are united to Christ. And what that means is we are
united to him in all that he has done for us.
His life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension,
even his being seated in the heavenly places.
Nobody has said this better in my estimation.
Sinclair Ferguson, who said having the Spirit in US is the
equivalent, indeed the very mode of having the Incarnate,
obedient, crucified, resurrected and exalted Christ, indwelling
us so that we are united to Him as He is united to the Father,
union with Christ. It's not an idea just to be
understood, but a new reality to be lived.
What Jesus knew those men would need most was to understand
something of where he was going and that He promised to return
while they waited. To know that though He will die
on the cross, the intimacy that they had known with him is going
to become greater. That's why Jesus is going to say
it is better for you that I leave because you know the end
of the story. It's hard to comprehend that
they did not know the end of the story.
They didn't believe it. At least Jesus said it's better
for you that I go, because when I go, my Spirit, the Holy Spirit
is going to be in you. What's better than walking side
by side with the physical Jesus? What's better than that?
What can be better than that? Jesus living inside you.
If you're in Christ right now, He lives inside you if you're
not in Christ, that you have not trusted the one who is the way,
the truth, and the life. It's very possible today that
you've been brought to this place so you could hear that
truth and wrestle with it. We would love to help you do
that. If you're in Christ, though,
friend, this intimacy that the disciples had with him while
they walked up on the earth, that physical intimacy is not
greater than the intimacy you and I have in Christ right now.
Lord Jesus, as we close our service, we have so much to
celebrate. This mystical union that exists
with you is. It's truly beyond our
comprehension, but we understand enough to know that what you're
saying is true, that you, the living God, are living in us.
We pray, Father, that you would keep us.
Would you please keep our eyes fixed upon the promises that
Christ has made, the promise that He is going to return and
when he does, he's going to take us to Himself forever?
Oh Lord, we long for that day. We cry out for that second
coming. He gives us hope.
Thank you for your word. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.