I was a senior in high school, ready to graduate from DeLand High School, and our youth group took a bus trip - the coolest thing ever. It was called a Lynx bus. This ministry had converted buses to sleep 40 or 50 teens. We'd sleep on the bus and wake up each day at a new place to do fun and exciting things. The first morning, we awoke at Chimney Mountain a few miles outside of Gatlinburg. We started climbing. Back then, I was in pretty good shape and before long I was out in front of everyone else. I reached the top of the mountain 5 or 10 minutes before anyone else arrived. It was awe-inspiring - a "religious experience" for a guy who wasn't really walking with the Lord back then!
John 14 is a scriptural mountaintop. The last couple of days we've been reading 1 Chronicles 1-9 and the genealogies. They are inspired, important, but not necessarily inspiring. That is not the problem here. Jesus, the night he was betrayed, hours before he died, gathered his disciples together and gave them his "Farewell Discourse" (John 14-16) which gave them the spiritual resources needed to handle the turbulent and terrible days that lay ahead. With Romans 8, Psalm 23, 1 Corinthians 13, John 3 and several other passages, it is among the breathtaking Himalayan peaks of Scripture. It is almost a shame to read it all in one day!
The entire sermon is about the peace that God gives in tough times. He knew the disciples lives were about to be shattered into a million pieces and so he wanted to give them peace - real peace, God's peace. Is peace possible when storms rage all around? Do we have resources beyond those of our circumstances? According to Jesus, we do.
First, Jesus told them that he was going to prepare a place for them - one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. People assume that Jesus is in heaven working on a home improvement problem. But he was going to the Cross when he said that, not to Heaven. He was going to the Cross to prepare a place for us in eternal Heaven. You have an eternal home that nothing in this world can shake because of what Jesus did on Calvary. Take heart, my friend. No matter how bad the storms, you have a glorious future ahead regardless of how difficult the road is that lies ahead.
Second, Jesus let them know that he was all they needed. "I am the way, the truth and the life." (14:6) Jesus is not the means by which we attain these things. He IS these things.
Third, Jesus assured us that in his name we could pray and the Father would hear and respond to our requests. What a blessing that is. God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, hears my prayers when I pray in the name of Jesus. He hears and he cares. (14:13).
One of the most common themes throughout the entire sermon is the present ministry of the Holy Spirit - the comforter, our counselor, our Helper sent from God. When Jesus left he would be sent to the disciples. Jesus makes the remarkable point that we are actually better off having the Spirit in us than having Jesus with us.
Jesus sums it all up this way.
John 14 is a scriptural mountaintop. The last couple of days we've been reading 1 Chronicles 1-9 and the genealogies. They are inspired, important, but not necessarily inspiring. That is not the problem here. Jesus, the night he was betrayed, hours before he died, gathered his disciples together and gave them his "Farewell Discourse" (John 14-16) which gave them the spiritual resources needed to handle the turbulent and terrible days that lay ahead. With Romans 8, Psalm 23, 1 Corinthians 13, John 3 and several other passages, it is among the breathtaking Himalayan peaks of Scripture. It is almost a shame to read it all in one day!
The entire sermon is about the peace that God gives in tough times. He knew the disciples lives were about to be shattered into a million pieces and so he wanted to give them peace - real peace, God's peace. Is peace possible when storms rage all around? Do we have resources beyond those of our circumstances? According to Jesus, we do.
First, Jesus told them that he was going to prepare a place for them - one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. People assume that Jesus is in heaven working on a home improvement problem. But he was going to the Cross when he said that, not to Heaven. He was going to the Cross to prepare a place for us in eternal Heaven. You have an eternal home that nothing in this world can shake because of what Jesus did on Calvary. Take heart, my friend. No matter how bad the storms, you have a glorious future ahead regardless of how difficult the road is that lies ahead.
Second, Jesus let them know that he was all they needed. "I am the way, the truth and the life." (14:6) Jesus is not the means by which we attain these things. He IS these things.
Third, Jesus assured us that in his name we could pray and the Father would hear and respond to our requests. What a blessing that is. God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, hears my prayers when I pray in the name of Jesus. He hears and he cares. (14:13).
One of the most common themes throughout the entire sermon is the present ministry of the Holy Spirit - the comforter, our counselor, our Helper sent from God. When Jesus left he would be sent to the disciples. Jesus makes the remarkable point that we are actually better off having the Spirit in us than having Jesus with us.
Jesus sums it all up this way.
"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful."
Father, thank you for providing all I need to have peace in this troubled world.
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