Title: Urgent Word to You and Me
Bible Book: John 14 : 1-7
Author: Johnny L. Sanders
Subject: Believing Faith; Salvation
Objective:
Introduction
In a sense, our Lord’s Farewell Discourse in John 14-16 is about you. No joke! It’s about you. And me. And all believers. I went through this passage and highlighted the personal pronouns. In fact, we cannot tell the complete story of Jesus without the personal pronouns: He, Him, His, me, my, mine, I, our, ours. I thank Him that He is My Savior.
It doesn’t take long for even the newest Christian to read Jesus’ Farewell Discourse and sense the urgency with which Jesus speaks to His eleven faithful apostles about His imminent death, Resurrection, and Ascension, as well as His ultimate return. That is especially so in John 14:1-6. The time for His violent, but victorious death, burial, and resurrection was at hand. They still could not comprehend His death, nor did the promise of His resurrection register with them. In fact, following His resurrection and initial appearance, Peter and John ran to the grave, with John outrunning Peter. He arrived at the grave, looked in, but remained outside. When Peter arrived he rushed into the grave and then John followed him. As soon as John saw the burial cloths where they had collapsed where the body of Jesus had lain, and the cloth strips that had been wrapped around His head lying separate from those that had been wrapped around His body, John believed. He was the first apostle to believe that Jesus had risen.
When we read the Farewell discourse we see the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the invitation to pray in Jesus’ name. What one may not consider is how much the mind and heart of Jesus focused on you and me. That’s right, everything in the Farewell Discourse related to those early disciples, but there is more. What Jesus said included all believers of all ages. We shall see that while Jesus addressed those faithful disciples, He was including all believers. If there is any doubt about that just look at our Lord’s prayer in John 17: The real Lord’s Prayer.
I would like for us to spend a little time with some of the pronouns in John 14, and as we do so I would like to call your attention to the significance of the pronouns that proclaim our relationship with the Lord. Think of the pronouns that tie us to our Lord: I, me, we, our, you, my mine, theirs, and so on. First,
I. I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO LOOK AT HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE.
A. You Were Created in His Image, Genesis 1.
Let me stress that you (human beings) and you alone were created in the image of God. He created the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every animal that creeps, slithers, or slides across the face of the earth. However, not one of those critters was created in the image of God, and when He walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, it was not with the birds, bees, squirrels, or bears that He enjoyed a personal fellowship. It was with Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman on earth. Now, before you criticize me for not loving the animals of the earth, let me suggest something here that I have never thought of before. When God was walking and talking with Adam and Eve, do you think it is possible that they may have made comments like, “Did you see that beautiful fawn?” Or, “Look at that amazing monkey” (lion, tiger, horse, dinosaur, eagle, or chimp). I have no doubt that they discussed the beautiful plants and flowers in the Garden.
For some time now, someone has been running commercials on television asking people to donate money to take care of animals, which is a worthy cause. I found myself wondering where some of those animal rights people stand on abortion. Can you imagine what kind of person would say, “Help us take care of puppies and kittens, but don’t you dare get between us and the abortion clinic!” I love my border collie and I love to take him riding in the back of my truck. When I first bought the truck I am driving now, Beaux saw it and sailed over the tailgate, waiting for me to take him for a ride. I love Beaux, but he is not human and he was not created in the image of God. Some times a pastor is asked if one’s dog or cat will go to heaven. The answer, of course, is no. Now, you might want your dog to be in heaven with you, but I doubt that you would want to spend eternity with my old dog Bear, who had a lot of offensive habits. Bear had one really bad habit. If a lady came to the door wearing a skirt or shorts Bear would look for an opportunity to stick his nose under the hem and go north with it! It is embarrassing to see a mature woman dancing around one’s carport, pretending nothing was wrong.
You, and all other human beings were created in the image of God. He breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul. You were created with the capacity and privilege of fellowship with your Creator
B. You Are a Part of a Fallen Race of People, Genesis 3.
Adam and Eve were given specific instructions as to what they could do and what they could not do. They rebelled against Him and when they did death entered the human experience. Paul was inspired to write, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). John wrote, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Again, Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a). The Bible is clear on this: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze. 18:20).
C. You Were Lost, Dead in Sin, John 3:18.
Let me explain something here. I stated that you “were” lost in sin. All of us were lost in sin until we received new life in Jesus Christ. All who have never repented of their sin and believed in Jesus Christ for His great salvation are still lost in sin, or in other words, dead in sin. “He that believeth in Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God” (John 3:18).
II. GOD GAVE HIS SON SO YOU MIGHT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE, JOHN 3:16.
A. Jesus Gave You Everlasting Life when You Believed in Him, John 3.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Paul wrote, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Jesus stated clearly, ‘I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
God loved you enough that He gave His unique (only one of His kind) Son to die on Calvary’s cross to pay the price for your sin. Jesus assured us that no one could take His life. He laid down His life for you.
B. God Sent His Holy Spirit to Indwell You, Acts 2:4.
Jesus, in this critical Farewell Discourse, promised to send the Counselor (Comforter in the KJV), the Holy Spirit, to convict lost people of sin and their need for Jesus Christ, who offers salvation to all who believe in Him: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16). He added, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26, HCSB). Jesus expanded on this promise in John 16:
“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in Me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:7-11).
The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and filled the hearts of all believers and blessed them with amazing gifts, which they used to lead multitudes to faith in Jesus Christ in a remarkably short period of time. The Holy Spirit convicts lost people of sin and its consequences, and draws them to the Father, through the Son. When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our heart. He give all new believers at least one spiritual gift so that we might serve our Lord. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the point of our new birth. I realize that some do not accept that, and quote Acts 19:2 to prove their point. That verse, in the Authorized Version, reads: “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2, KJV). If William Tyndale had done a better job with that verse back in 1526 he might have prevented a lot of confusion. About 90 percent of the Authorized Version is Tyndale’s translation.
The Holman Christian Standard Bible renders Acts 19:1-2 like this: “While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples (2) and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” The New American Standard Bible agrees with the HCSB: “ He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" (Acts 19:2).
Those, by the way, are my two favorite translations for personal study.
III. EVERYTHING IN JOHN 14:1-7 INCLUDES YOU AND ME.
A. Jesus Began His Farewell Discourse with a Direct Word to His Disciples, John 14:1-6.
I would like to read this in the familiar King James Version first:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) 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. (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” (John 14:1-6).
Let me now read this familiar passage in the Holman Christian Standard Bible:
“Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way where I am going” (John 1:1-4, HCSB).
We know where Jesus is, and we know how to be with Him where He is. Forever.
“Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way?” (Vs. 5) Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6a). Jesus is, for all believers, the Way. The Scripture stresses that “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only Savior and there is but one way to know Him: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9).
Jesus is the Truth. John wrote, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Again, He wrote: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth...” He also wrote, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me” (John 15:26).
Jesus is also the Life. Jesus is the source of eternal life: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one” (John 10:28-30).
B. Jesus Returned to Heaven to Prepare a Place for Us.
I would like for you to look with me at the personal appeal and application of verses 1-2. “Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe (the believer) also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you (John 1:1-2). This in intensely personal. Jesus, in His Farewell Discourse had no time to waste, and there is no space to waste in the Bible. His time for teaching His disciples was running out. John tells us that if all Jesus said and did on earth were to be written in a book he did not suppose the world would hold all the books. That means that every word of the Bible is precious and should be given our full attention. What ever He might have said about Heaven in other places, He says it here at a most critical time. He left this earth to prepare a place for those who are born again by grace, through faith.
C. He Offers You a Personal Relationship with Him Right Now.
That is about as personal as it can get. Everything He did, He did for you and me. There is more: Everything He will do, He will do for you and me.
The sin that plagued the Children of Israel throughout their history, from the Exodus to the Babylonian Captivity was idolatry. For those of us who know Jesus Christ as Lord, nothing could seem more preposterous than that. What could be more ludicrous than going to a shop to buy a god someone made the day before, and then worshiping it as though it had life in it? Yet, that is what they did.
The world is filled with false gods, false priests and prophets, false doctrines, and false hope. America has invited Muslims and Hindus into this country and permitted them to worship and serve pagan gods in our midst. No effort has been made to deprive them of their form of worship. My brother-in-law, Jimmy Furr, was for 12 years the Regional Director for the Interfaith Witness Department of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, and in that capacity spoke all over the country, in churches, colleges, conventions, and conference centers on false religions, cults, and the occult. Those false religious beliefs abound in America today. How can anyone with a sound mind reject Jesus Christ for a god who does not exist, has never existed, and cannot possibly exist? It blows one’s mind.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is not a way, He is not a truth, and He is not a life. He is the way, truth, and life. The Bible is all about Jesus. My life is all about Jesus. Our hope is Jesus Christ. This is deeply personal with true believers.
I heard someone say that the great Bible scholar William Barclay was once asked, “What is the greatest thought you ever had?” Without any hesitation, Barclay answered, “Jesus loves me.” No one has ever asked me that question, but it has occurred to me that one answer that I might consider would be: The one true God has given me the privilege of calling him “My Father.”
I once heard the great Hebrew scholar and educator Dr. H. Leo Eddleman say that the picture we often have of our Savior today is that of the Son of God seated at the right hand of the Father. However, he added that when His children are in trouble he liked to picture Jesus standing as one would look over a banister to get a closer look at us. He has returned to Heaven, but He has never lost sight of us.
D. He will Come Again to Receive Us unto Himself, (John 14:3-4).
Jesus said, “If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way where I am going” (John 1:1-4). The New Testament is filled with the hope of eternal life, life in Heaven, life with Jesus. And that is not just in the New Testament, David was convinced that his son who died in infancy would be in Heaven, and that he would see him some day.
The Revelation is not the Revelation of St. John the divine, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as recorded by His servant John. There are many wondrous and glorious pictures on Heaven in the Revelation, as there are many wondrous and glorious pictures of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. After receiving those unspeakably glorious revelations of his risen, glorified Lord, what did John say? Right! He said, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
IV. THERE IS MORE FOR ALL OF US.
Consider a Few of the Blessings We Are Promised in the rest of John 14.
A. Jesus has great work for us to do.
“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). I don’t know about you, but I cannot imagine doing greater work than Jesus did when He was on earth. There is the possibility that He means that after He returned to heaven He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers, and collectively, we should do greater work, as far as the day to day ministries are concerned. We can speak personally to many more people.
B. Jesus invites us to pray to the Father in His name.
“Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14). This is not the only time Jesus invited His disciples to go to the Father in prayer, in His name. We need to stress one important point here.
While we close our prayers with the words, “In Jesus’ name”, those words were not given as some kind of magic formula. One may simply say those words out of habit at the close of his or her prayer, without really praying in Jesus’ name. The words “name of” in the Bible denote the person mentioned. We are only praying in Jesus’ name if we are praying in, and through Jesus Himself. Neither the Father nor the Son is fooled when we use those words like a magic formula.
C. He is in Heaven, but you are on his mind, John 14:19-21.
“In a little while the world will see Me no longer, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live too. (20) In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you. (21) The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him” (John 14:19-21).
CONCLUSION
The Farewell Discourse of Jesus has a sense of great urgency about it. After three years of teaching and preaching, counseling, miracles, and His example, His time on earth has all but run out. He knew He was about to lay His life down for those disciples, and for you and me. Make no mistake about it: Jesus emptied Himself of His glory, power, and majesty in Heaven, and took on the form of a human being so that He might pay the price for your sins and mine.
The personal pronouns make this intensely personal. He came for us, He died for us, He is making intercession for us, and He is coming again for us. Right now, the Holy Spirit, Who came in His name, to do His work, is knocking on the door of hearts around the world. He may well be convicting someone in this service that you are lost, dead in sin, and need the new life Jesus has provided for you, and wants to give you. If you feel a strong urge to go to God the Father, you must go through Jesus, His Son, and you can be sure if you sense that need today it is because the Holy Spirit is convicting you of that need today.
What do you need to do? Just like the old hymn says, “Trust and Obey.” Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. My little sister Linda asked Jesus to come into her heat when she was five years old. My little brother Mike placed his faith in Jesus when he was six or seven years old. My younger brother James was eight years old. I was twelve years old. Our Director of Missions, M. C. Waldrop had been in the army when I was younger, but came back and began preaching at our mission church after a significant absence. Now, I would like to tell you about a man who was saved under totally different circumstances.
My good friend, Wayne Whiteside visits prisoners on death row, and he has seen a number of the saved over the years. He sent me this note about the most recent visit:
“This will be a very short update; I'm exhausted. The inmate who was scheduled tonight for execution has received a stay from the courts. The stay came about 30 minutes before the scheduled time. I don't know the details nor do I get involved in the legal process.
“The man knows the Lord and had great peace these last few days. There was a lot of drama from a family member. We thought there would be and we were not disappointed. The take home message? Our lives(days and plans) are ordered by the Lord. God knows when we will leave this earth. Be saved, be focused on Jesus, and be found obeying Him. Thanks for your prayers, love and support.”
I have personally seen murderers saved and had an opportunity to preach to them at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. I have seen young children place their faith in Jesus and receive His salvation. I have seen many others saved under a various circumstances, so I know He can and will save you if you repent of your sin and place your faith in Him.
