JCSLK 65 Jesus Teaching in the Upper Room #1 Hope John 14:1-11

 

JCSLK 65 Jesus Teaching in the Upper Room

#1 Hope John 14:1-11

 Sermon Video

Years ago I attended the funeral of a young Christian boy who has committed suicide. As I sat in the service, I kept asking, “what would make someone, who had confessed Christ as their savior, take their own life? I remember once, talking to a young teen girl, she was pregnant and while we spoke, she lit up a cigarette. Later in the conversation she told me with a bragging tone that she was still smoking pot and drinking as well. Why would she do those things? And they are not the only ones, we all see around us people who are destroying their lives in so many ways. What drives people to such destructive, self-annihilating actions? I think on of the answers is hopelessness. They feel they have no hope and so why care and why stay in this world any longer.

Jesus knew the danger of hopelessness even to his own disciples and on the night he was arrested and taken from them He gave them the way to have hope no matter what hardship, sorrow are suffering they would have to endure.  The Upper Room Discourse is found in John 14, 15 and 16 and it contains some of the most intimate and powerful teachings of Jesus Christ. This teaching of Jesus is called the Upper Room Discourse, the name for where it is given but it seems a stale name for the words Jesus shared that night with His disciples and now with us. These chapters to us as believers are more personal than the Sermon on The Mount, more direct than the parables, more important to our daily lives as believers than the Bread of Life discourse. What Jesus shared in the upper room are words we must take and place in the innermost room of our heart.

The Passover has passed, Judas has been identified as the betrayer and has left and then Jesus tells the disciples He is leaving, He is going away and this announcement devastates them.

John 13:33-38 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

How there must have been a total, terrible silence after Jesus spoke. The look of hopelessness must have been on every face. What happens now? What are we to do without our Messiah, our Lord, our Friend. How do we make it through what is about to take place?

Jesus then says the words we know so well.

Believe In Me - John 14:1-3

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. 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.

Peter’s Question

Lord, whither goest thou?

Jesus assures the disciples now as he has always assured them, by putting himself center stage as their cornerstone of their faith. He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” The same faith you have in the Father above have in me as I stand before you in this room. God has never failed you, I will never fail you. This is Jesus in one of the clearest statements in scripture saying “I am equal with God, your faith in Him must also be in Me.”

He then tells them, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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.”

This is the answer to Peter’s question, “John 13:36 whither goest thou?” Jesus says I’m going to my Father’s house, you can’t go there now, but you will come one day. But first before you can come, I must prepare a place for you. So that one day, once again we will be together. When I come again, I will take you and where I am you will be.

Jesus uses three words to tell the disciples where He is going, my father’s house, our mansions and a place with Him. All descriptions of heaven. 

One of these words, mansion has given inspiration to many joyous and downright toe-tapping songs. We love to sing about Mansions over the hilltop or my new favorite A Mansion, robe and a crown.” I love to sing about heaven. We all should love singing about heaven. And we should be able to answer Peter’s question ourselves. How can I go with you? How can I get to where Jesus is now?

I don’t have to tell you that the word mansion, is a Greek word that simply means “a dwelling place.” In the time of Jesus and for centuries before houses were built around a central courtyard with rooms or dwelling places adjacent to it. The disciples would have understood it this way. We will dwell in the Father’s house in our place, our mansion no matter its actual size will be connected to the throne room of God the Father and God the Son. Now, won’t that be a view, won’t that be the best neighborhood you ever lived in? Won’t that be what really makes it heaven?

But how do we go to this dwelling place? Jesus tells us, Believe in me!” Believe in me because I am going to “make preparation” for you in heaven. Now some see this as Jesus going to heaven, strapping on a carpentars belt, picking up a celestial hammer and then building each of us our own mansion in the sky. Seems a lot of time for the One that spoke the universe into existence doesn’t it.

The context of this passage and of this entire week was Jesus going to the cross. Jesus dying for man’s sin. Jesus offering His sinless life as ransom for our sinful souls. Jesus wasn’t  talking about building mansions after he gets to heaven. No, Jesus praepared a place in heaven not with a hammer and nails in heaven but with a hammer and nails on Mt. Calvary.

That very night He would be taken, mocked, scourged, beaten, tried and the next day crucified. Jesus prepared our place by going to the cross and giving His life so that all who believe in Him as the disciple did, would have a place in the Father's house.

Then He gives them this promise, "If I go then I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also." Jesus is telling them, “As surely you see me going away, dying on the cross and buried in a tomb and ascending back to heaven, I will just as surely return and gather you in my arms and take back home with me.” This is what they needed to hear that dark, dreadful night. “I’m going but know this without a doubt, I am coming back to get you and take you with me.”

Our Belief In Jesus

Who do you look to when your world falls apart? Who do you trust when everything you once believed in has failed? Who will give you hope when all hope is gone?

Will you look to yourself? So many times, in our modern society, we are told to have faith but never told who to have faith in. Most times the world tells us “Have faith in yourself.” Yet we know that we are usually the reason for the hopeless condition we are in. How can I believe in myself when I’m the reason for the mess I’m in?

Or we are told, have faith in your family and friends? Honestly, aren’t they in the same situation or worse than we are. How can they help me when they can’t help themselves?

All around us are weak, finite and failing creatures. We can’t look to ourselves we don’t need weakness we need the stength of the one who never failed, one who never sinned, one who had the power to speak the universe into existence and to defeat sin, death and the grave. Jesus stands before us and challenges us, “Believe In Me.”

Believe in me, I went to the cross, I went to the grave. I rose in victory and just as surely as I did that, I will come again, I will receive you, I will take you in my arms and take you home. Believe in me that where I am you may be also.

With Jesus trust in a personal experience. He brings me face to face with Himself and says, "You must believe in me there is nothing else. "

He makes no excuses, allowances nor allows makes any conditions other than faith. He just stands before us and says, "Believe in me.”

Jesus once questionedthe apostles after the Bread of Life discourse when most of those who followed him deserted.

John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.  67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

That night in the upper room Peter had questions about Jesus destination in the next few hours but he had no question about Jesus destiny as the source of eterrnal life, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus is our hope and yet my hope in him will only be as strong as my knowledge of Him.

 Know Me - John 14:4-7

John 14:4-7 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Thomas’ Question

“We know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”

Jesus reminds the disciples that he has told them where He is going. Many times over that past few years, He has told them about His death, as reacently as this past week He has reminded them, and yet there is still confusion and questions in the minds and hearts of his disciples.

It was Thomas when Jesus left Perea in this final journey who said, “Let us go with him that we might die with him.” And now it is Thomas asking, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” I think He is still looking to die with the Lord he loves and he is just asking, “Tell us where you are going, what path you are taking and we will follow you.” Even after 3 1/2 years Thomas still does not fully know Jesus.

He knew him as teacher, healer, miracle worker, Son of God, and Lord, but he did not yet fully know him as the Lamb of God who would the next day die for mankind's sin.

Jesus looks at Thomas, faithful, dedicated and very literal Thomas and He says, “I am the way the truth and the life.  No man comes to the father but by me."

This is the sixth of the seven “I AM” statements recorded by John. In 6:48, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. In 8:12, I am the light of the world. 10:9, “I am the door.” 10:11, “I am the good shepherd” 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. And finally in 15:1, “I am the true vine.” 

Jesus is trying to make Thomas see it is not the path I’m walking tonight, it the path you must walk into eternity. Thomas I am that path, I am the way. This way leads to the Father’s house and I am the way there. The words are emphatic and they are exclusive. “I am THE Way, no man comes to the Father unless they come by me.” Not only is Jesus where we find hope and heaven but Jesus is the only way we find hope and heaven. Jesus is the way or there is no way.

Once again Jesus equates himself of God the father, John 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Jesus in his answer to Thomas, trying to make him see a spiritual path not just a trail to Gethsemane. He tells Him, “If you know me you know the father and henceforth, from this point forward after the crucifixion, resurrection and gift of the Holy Spirit, you will truly, fully more completely know Me and see and know Go because you have seen and know Me.”

Our Knowing Jesus

Our hope, our faith is only going to be as strong as our knowledge of the Jesus. The more I know Him, the more I know God the Faither. The more I know of Him, the more I know of salvation, of heaven, of hope, or strength, of joy, of peace, of life.

I must know Him as the only way to God. When Jesus declares himself the way, the truth and the life, it excludes all others and all other means. There can be no mixture, there can be no other alternate routes.  The world and many who call themselves Christians say there are many ways to God, Jesus’ statement declares them all as liars and deceivers. “I am The way, the only way.”

Peter understood and told the Sanhedrin, Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  None other! It is Jesus the way to heaven or it is the way to hell.

I must know Jesus as Savior, the way to heaven, but I also must know Jesus as teacher, as Lord, as leader, as friend and companion in my daily way of life.

Many of us are like Thomas, we know him through the Bible as Savior, as teacher, as miracle worker, but we don't really know Him in our everyday lives. We are still living according to our own agenda, goals and plans.  We don't know Jesus in all the ways and walks of my life. I know him up there but not down here.

Listen to Paul who truly knew Jesus in his prayer for the Ephesians 3:14 -19 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Do you know Him that deeply, that intimately, that fully? Do we really have that all around, up and down, at all times and in all places in my life knowledge of Jesus?

Illustration:  Death of Mrs B

Keeping a deathbed vigil by a 50 year old woman dying of cancer. In her life she was someone who really was her own hope. I remember talking to her about problems and difficulties in her life and without fail, she was never wrong, she always could delude herself into believing that she had the strength to deal with life.  Until cancer put her in a hospital bed for 2 months before she died.

I remember wondering how she was going to make it since she had not shown a close walk with God before now. But as her own strength failed, her hope in Jesus increased.  Each day was now a struggle between life and death and the most important things were not who was right or wrong, or her career but simply and absolutely knowing Jesus in every moment by moment struggle with death. The only hope she had ever minute of the last months of her life was in knowing Him.

I was amazed at her faith and hope but couldn’t help but think wouldn't it have been worth it to see this same knowledge of Him for the last 30 years instead of the last 30 days. Wouldn’t it have be such a joyous life, a life filled with hope if she had just really known Jesus more fully, more deeply, more personally all those years. 

There is another question that must be asked and it is asked by Phillip, one of Jesus very first disciples.

 Look To Me - John 14:8-11

John 14:8-11 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

Phillips Question (Request)

“Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us”

The apostles are facing a crisis and in the midst of that crisis, Phillip looks for a  sign, something to bolster and strengthen his faith. “Lord just let us see the Father, let us have a glimpse of His glory and majesty in heaven. If we could just see that, it would be enough. We could make it through this crisis that is coming.

Jesus answer is not really a rebuke, though some my read it that way. To me it is a loving response, a reminder of once again of who Jesus really is. Here is another declaration of his equality with God, "Phillip, how long have I been with you and still you don't know me? If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father.  - Phillip, I am your sign, I am your miracle, I am God in the flesh, I am the invisible made visible. I have walked with you, taught you, fed you and loved you for all these years. Don't you know me?

My words are His words, my works are His works. Believe me, I and the Father are one. He is in me and I am in Him at least believe me for what you have seen me do, the acts, works, miracles that only God could do. Phillip, believe in me.

Our Sign Is Jesus

Many people today are saying, “If I just had a sign and I would believe.  If I could just see God. If He would just make himself known.” The answer to that request, that challenge is the same today as it was in the upper room that night. Jesus through the Bible still says, “I am your sign. I am your miracle. I am the way you can know God.”

We must see Jesus today. We must to Him to answer all our questions, meet all our needs and to reveal to us God?  We must look to Jesus, not just for salvation but in the tests and trials of your life and even in the day to day mundane events of your life.

Look to Jesus when you are breaking down under the burdens of this world and then hear Him say, "My yoke is easy & my burdens light." Give our life to Jesus and He takes our heavy burden and gives us His, a burden that is light because He shares it and bares it with us.

a) Look to Jesus when you are struggling with darkness, depression and despair and hear him say, "I am come that ye might have life, joy, peace?" Then shouldn’t our life be showing that truth? We don’t have to force it or fake it. Just live it. Live the truth that is Jesus in me. It should be a truth that cannot be hidden.

Look to Jesus when you need to share the gospel and hear him say, "I will give you words to say. Then why do you not open that mouth that he will fill and tell others about Him.  Or invite them to church where they can hear about Him?

Look to Jesus when you are utterly and completely alone and hear Him say, "I will never leave you or forsake you. I will come to you."

The answer Jesus gave to Phillip that night during the crisis of faith they faced, is the answer Jesus gives to us in our own crises of faith. John 14:9 Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Kris? I am all you need. I am your hope, I am your way, I am your proof that God loves you and is with you.

Conclusion:  On Christ the solid Rock I stand.

Edward Mote (1797-1874) knew nothing about God or the Bible as he grew up in England, the child of poor inn keepers. At the age of 16 he was graciously converted to Christ. Mote later settled in a suburb of London where he became known as successful cabinet maker and a devoted church laymen.

After a time a Baptist chapel was built in Horsham, England largely because of Edward's effort.  The grateful church members tried to give him the deed to the property. But he refused it saying "I only want the pulpit, and when I cease to preach Christ then turn me out of that.' Here Mote ministered faithfully until forced to resign because of poor health one year before his death.

He once said, "The truths I have been preaching I am now living upon and they will do me very well to die upon."

Edward Mote also wrote the famous hymn "The Solid Rock"

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;

in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming food;

when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found,

dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:  On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand all other ground is sinking sand;

all other ground is sinking sand.

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