Good morning. It's great to see all of you here this morning. And I invite you to take your Bibles and open them back up to John chapter 14. We're going to be looking at John:14:1-6 for our time in God's word, here this morning. I think most of you know that my wife and I moved here a few months ago from Texas. And when you move to a different state, there are a number of things you need to do. You need to get your driver's license, you need to get your cars registered, and there's a list of other things you need to do. And on that list, if you're somebody my age, is you want to find a doctor. And so, we looked around, found a doctor, made an appointment, and I went in and met with the doctor. And when he found out I was a pastor, well, he got very interested. And he asked me, is your job stressful? And I said, well, it keeps me busy, but I don't know about stressful. And he says, oh, I have six other patients who are all pastors and they're telling me how stressful it is all the time, especially this last year, how hard it was, how stressful it was on all of them. And I said, this last year was the most fruitful, joyful year of my ministry. Coronavirus was like the best thing that ever happened. Our little church in Texas went from 500 people to 700 people, and that's just one little indication of all the good things that the Lord did during that year. And he said, yeah, but weren't people arguing and disagreeing about all this stuff like lock downs and masks and vaccinations? I said, of course they were. We had every kind of opinion you can imagine represented at our church. But we were able to keep that all to the side because we get the focus on the main thing. And the main thing is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the reality is, everybody's going to die. And Jesus is the only way of salvation. And we don't need to be afraid of pandemics because Jesus assures his people that no matter what happens, we're still going to heaven. Yeah, now I don't normally preach at the doctor's office, but, hey, he brought it up.
Now, saying, we're still going to heaven, that doesn't mean that we aren't concerned about things that are going on. We are. And it doesn't mean that we don't take anything seriously. We do take things very seriously. And it doesn't mean that we don't have responsibilities that we need to fulfill. We do. But Jesus tells us over and over again, we don't need to be afraid. And we don't need to worry. And we don't need to let our hearts be troubled. Now, we've felt the bite of the pandemic here at Compass Bible Church these last couple of weeks, we know it's real. We know it's serious. We know people are sick, we have people in the hospital. And we know that just repeating some kind of a trite cliche isn't going to bring real relief. So how does a statement, how does a truth like we're still going to heaven, how does that help us practically? That's what we want to think about this morning. And I want to begin by considering the condition of the disciples as we come to our text in John 14. They are meeting with Jesus in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem, and they've just had what we call the Last Supper. It's the Last Supper, because shortly after this, Jesus is going to be arrested. And then the next day he's going to be crucified. And that reality is starting to sink in for these disciples, and their hearts are troubled. In fact, look at some of the things that have just already occurred. Look back in John 13:21, where Jesus makes this announcement to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” That's got to be pretty troubling news right there. Or you look down at John 13:38, and what Jesus says to Peter, and despite Peters protests to the contrary, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” Well, that's not encouraging news to hear that. And the worst of all is in John 13:33, where Jesus says to them, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you. ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” Basically, he's saying, I'm going to be leaving.
These are men who had left everything to follow Jesus, and now he's telling them that he's going to be leaving them. To them it seems like everything's falling apart. To them this is a totally overwhelming kind of a situation; their circumstances would appear to be way too big for them. So, I would suggest to you that what Jesus says to them and their troubling times, he says to us, he says to all of his people facing troubling times. And what is it that he says to them? Look at it there in John 14:1. He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Let not your hearts be troubled. Do not let your hearts be troubled, it's a command. Do not let your hearts be troubled. That could seem like pretty harsh counsel from Jesus to these men at that time. But again, he's not saying that they don't have anything to be concerned about. He's not saying that they don't have some responsibilities that they need to fulfill. But he is definitely and clearly saying, don’t let your hearts be troubled. Now there are reasons for their hearts to be troubled, but what Jesus is getting at is that there are greater reasons for their hearts not to be troubled. And Jesus is going to explain why that is. And what we're going to see is that Jesus can tell them not to have troubled hearts because of who he is, and because of what he promises, and because of what he does. That's what we're going to see as we look at the text. The cure to the troubled heart is found in the confidence that you have that you're still going to heaven. And that confidence is cultivated by hearing, believing, and responding to what Jesus says in the text that we're going to be looking at. These are really powerful words from our Lord. It was Martin Luther, the reformer Martin Luther, who said regarding this passage that we're looking at, this is “the best and most comforting sermon that the Lord Christ delivered on earth, a treasure and a jewel not to be purchased with the world's goods.” These are great words that we're about to look at. These are words addressed to people with troubled hearts, to give them the assurance that they don't need to be troubled. Are you ready to look at these words? Yeah, let's do it. Let's look at John 14:1 again, and see what Jesus says. He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” The command here is not to just believe in God and Christ, but to keep on believing. That's the sense of a keep on believing. Hold fast to what you have confessed to believe.
So, if you're taking notes, you could put down for number one, what he's getting at here is that we need to confess Christ's deity, to confess Christ's deity. I think that's our big challenge in troubling times when it's Thursday afternoon, and the troubles are piling up, we often forget, well, we just confessed at church over the weekend. We confessed. We forget those great words that we just sung about; we forget what we believe. And we start just focusing on the problems. And our faith begins to sink. Troubled hearts are due to wavering faith. Look with me, keep your finger here.
Let's just turn over for a minute to Colossians chapter 2. Let me just remind you of some of the things that we believe regarding Christ and our position in him as a Christian. Colossians 2:9. The apostle Paul writes, “For in him,” in Christ, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” There's a clear statement of the deity of Christ, the fullness of deity dwells in Jesus Christ. And Colossians 2:10, “and you,” Christian, you believe are you follower of Christ, you “have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” So, in him is all the fullness of deity and you are fulfilled with the fullness of Christ. That's the reality. And the way to think about that, it's difficult to comprehend the fullness of deity in Christ and what it means to be full in him. So, an illustration that I found helpful is, just imagine you go down to the Pacific Ocean right down the street here, and you look out and it's too vast to comprehend all of it as you just stand there on the beach. I mean, as far as you can tell is this ocean forever, it's too much for you to comprehend. That's like Christ’s deity. It's too big for us to fully comprehend. Too great for us to take it all in. But you know, if I'm down there at the at the beach, and I have a jar with me, I can fill it with ocean water. And the jar can't contain the whole, but it can be filled with the ocean. You get that? I am filled up with the ocean, I am filled up with Christ. I am full in him. And we can say that we believe that, we can affirm that that's true, that's what the Bible teaches, but we often act like our problems are too overwhelming, and Jesus, well, he's not quite enough.
We can understand troubled hearts if we were just left to ourselves, but we aren't left to ourselves because we have a Savior. And Jesus tells his troubled disciples that they must continue believing in him. And even there in John 14:1 he makes a clear statement of his deity by saying that they should believe in him just like they believe in God. He's making himself equal to God, that you believe in God, and believe also in me in this exact same way. He's claiming his deity there by making that statement, and Jesus often declared his deity. That's the clear and radical statement that he made repeatedly throughout his ministry. Let me just show you a few places here in John's gospel. Turn back to John chapter 5 because this is where it really all started, this is where the trouble got started. It's John 5, and it talks about Jesus healing a man at the pool of Bethesda there in Jerusalem, a man who had been in invalid for thirty-eight years. And Jesus heals him. And Jesus tells them, hey, pick up your mat and walk. And the guy does that. And the thing is though, that he did this miracle on the Sabbath. He did it on the Sabbath, which to the Jews, you just didn't do that, hey, none of this healing stuff on the Sabbath, can’t be good to people on the Sabbath day. And so, Jesus in response in John 5:17 says, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” And John 5:18 explains what he meant by that. That says, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” Exactly. They got that exactly right. That's exactly what he is doing. That's exactly what he is saying. And he never corrected them. He didn't say, no, no, no, you didn't quite understand that right. That's exactly what he is claiming. And in their mind, that's blasphemy for this man to claim that he is equal to God. Well, he kept doing it.
Turn over to John chapter 8, and then another discussion with the religious leaders. Jesus makes this shocking statement to them. And this verse, John 8:24 is a good verse for you to keep in your back pocket when you have people knocking on your door, who want to tell you that Jesus is not God. Look at John 8:24. Just as “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am…you will die in your sins.” That'd be the proper way to read it. It's I am. Your translation probably says, “I am he”; the “he” has been added. It's clearly “I am” in the original. Jesus is saying, “unless you believe I am,” you're going to die in your sins. And they understood what he was getting at because God said to Moses back in Exodus chapter 3:14, that his name was, “I Am who I Am.” So, Jesus is claiming that name for himself, he’s saying, “unless you believe I am, you will die in your sins.” And that's why this is an important verse to talk to people about who don't believe Jesus is God, because they need to be warned that unless you believe Jesus is God, you will die in your sins. Jesus is saying, “I am.” And that's perfectly clear by the end of that conversation in John 8:58, where Jesus says to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” And they understood exactly what he was saying. So, John 8:59 says, “they picked up stones to throw at him,” because they understood what he was saying. In their mind, that's blasphemy. But Jesus is just telling them, this is who I am. He's declaring his deity.
And that's practical, because when you get over to John 13, and he's talking to his disciples in that Upper Room, and he's telling them what's going to happen, he tells them this in John 13:19, “I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am.” Jesus is declaring his deity. And he's telling his disciples that when all these things happen, just like I told you that they would, you will believe that “I am.” Jesus declared his deity, he made it perfectly clear. And he demonstrated his deity as well. It's not just in his words, but he did works that can only be explained by the fact that he is God. And I want to just take the time to review some of those with us.
So, turn with me back to Mark's gospel, Mark chapter 4. We're familiar with the accounts of the miracles that Jesus did, and we know all of these, but it seems like sometimes when troubling times come, we forget about them. And so, it's good for us just to put our eyeballs on these and to be reminded of them. Mark 4:35-38. Look at what happens here, it says “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he,” Jesus “was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” Here are these experienced fishermen. They're out on the Sea of Galilee. They've experienced storms like this before, but they think that they're going to die, they are perishing. They're about to die. And so, they wake up Jesus. Mark 4:39-40 says, “he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid?’” Have you still no faith? That's a rebuke from Jesus to these fearful disciples. If you get in the boat with Jesus, and he says, we’re going to the other side, we're going to the other side. Doesn't matter how many storms we encounter on the way. If you believe Jesus, and you believe who he is, we're going to get to the other side. Look at their reaction to this. They were afraid from the storm. But look at what happens now. Mark 4:41, “And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” They found out that it's one thing to have the storm outside the boat and be fearful because of the storm, but it's even more fearful to realize we've got God in the boat. And when they realize who was there, and who he was, then they were filled with great fear because they recognize this is the Son of God, only he could have done what he just did.
Look at Mark chapter 5. Mark 5 gives the account of Jesus encountering a man on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a man who was filled with a legion of demons. And you remember that people of the city didn't know what to do with them. They tried chaining him up, he broke the chains. And so, they basically banished him to live out in the cemetery on the outskirts of town. And that's where Jesus encounters this man. And you know the story, he casts out the legion of demons, he casts them into a herd of pigs that were nearby, two thousand of them, and they run down the hill, jump in the Sea of Galilee, and all drowned. Pretty dramatic, a demonstration of his power over the demons, and the demons knew exactly who he was. If you look there at Mark 5:7, there are the demons speaking through this man. It says, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” Demons knew exactly who he was. And they knew exactly what he could do. And he did it. He demonstrated his power that day over the demonic. He has power over the elements in the world. He has power over the demons. He has power to raise the dead. And if you keep reading in Mark, chapter 5, read the story of a man named Jairus, who had a daughter who was at “the point of death.” And so, he comes to get Jesus to come and heal his daughter, but by the time they get there, she is dead. And Jesus goes into the room just him, James, Peter and John, and the parents, and he raises the girl from the dead. And Mark 5:42 says, “And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age}, and they,” the people there, “were immediately overcome with amazement.” With amazement. Yeah, because he's raising the dead. That's a clear sign of his deity. And so, he has power over the elements. He has power over demons. He has power over death. But most significantly, he has power to forgive sin.
So go back to Mark chapter 2. And let's read this account. Mark 2. This is a great story. And we're familiar with it. It says in Mark 2:1-7, “when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.” I wish we had the DVD of that one. “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” Exactly. They're getting it. They don't really get it, but they understand what he's claiming. And Mark 2:8-9, “And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk?’” Well, it's a lot easier to say, your sins are forgiven because how would you know if that happened or not? So, Mark 2:10-12 says, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’ And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’” Exactly. That's Jesus demonstrating his deity, not only declaring it, but he's demonstrating it.
And so, the point for you and me if we're confessing Christ’s deity, is that we need to remember that Jesus is more than just a friend. He is a friend. He's a friend who promises to never leave you or forsake you. But he's a friend who was also the eternal, Most High, all powerful, all knowing God. You need to, and I need to, remember our confession that Jesus is God, and you can trust in him. And we need to preach this to ourselves. You need to evaluate your situation in light of this truth. You need to look at the situations in your life and look at them from the perspective of the fact that Jesus is God. Not looking at your circumstances, and based on your observations and feelings, evaluate what kind of God Jesus is. Because a lot of times, it seems like we're acting like, he's not really very good, he's not very powerful. Maybe he doesn't love me. We need to evaluate our situation based on this truth, holding on to this truth, that Jesus is God. I'm still going to heaven, because Jesus is God.
Let's go back to the text there in John 14:2-4 and look at what else he says. He has told them that they don't have to have troubled hearts. And here's the reason why one reason, number one is because He is God. Let's look at what else he says. John 14:2-4 says, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would 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 am going.” The disciples are most troubled by the news that Jesus is leaving. So, he gives to them and to us this promise that he's going to come and take us to be with him.
So put this down for number two: You need to claim Christ’s Promise, claim Christ's promises. He refers to the Father's house as just a reference to heaven. Which is also referred to in the Bible as a country, as a city, as a kingdom, and as my favorite, as paradise. As Jesus said to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43, “today you will be with me in paradise.” And he says that there are rooms in the Father's house, or dwelling places would be another way you could translate that. It speaks of a place where you're going to abide, a place where you're going to remain. And so that speaks of the permanence, you're going to go there and you're going to stay there. It's a permanent place. But it also speaks of intimacy too, doesn’t it? That you're going to be in the father's house, you're going to be there with him. It speaks of an intimate, permanent condition that you will be in there in the Father's house. And there might have been a lot of things that they were thinking about from their culture that would have tied into this. For example, when a man and a woman would get betrothed, the thing that the man would do is go and add on to his father's house. And once that was all done, the house was completed, the add-on was finished, then he would go get his bride; they would consummate the marriage and they'd move into the house. And that's exactly what Jesus is doing. He's building the place for us at the Father's house. And someday he's going to come and get the Church, his bride and take his bride to go and be with him at the Father's house. That's what he's saying. That's the promise. That's the assurance that he's giving. And there's no doubt about it. Because if this was not so Jesus would have told us as he points out here, but he has prepared a place in heaven for us. And he's doing it by the means of his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, and his exaltation there in heaven. Everything is ready for us to go and be with him forever. And he says, he's going to come and take his people to be there with him, John 14:3. So, the disciples can overcome the pain of separation, by the confidence of a grand reunion, permanent reunion with Jesus, and he's going to come and take us to be with him. And he could come and get us at any time. Do you know when he's coming? Anytime is when he's coming. Could be anytime that he's coming.
Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and let's take a look at that. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. He's coming again, Jesus is coming again. He's going to come and take his people to be with him forever. And that coming could happen at any time. Any time. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep” or those who have already died, “that you may not grieve as others who do who do not have hope.” Don't grieve like those who have no hope because we have a hope. “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this, we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.” So, he's indicating that there are going to be people alive, Christians alive, when Jesus comes to take his people to be with him. And it almost sounds like he's expecting, he's going to be one of those people. And this is how it's going to happen. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will be raised first.” As they’ve got six feet further to go, they'll be raised first, then we who are alive, “who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” And here's the climax of it. Here's the highlight of it. So “we will always be with the Lord.” That's the highlight. You know, I'm not looking for the return of Christ to get me out of my troubling circumstances. I'm looking for him to come so that I can be with him. I want to be with him. That's the highlight. That's the highlight of heaven is being there with the Lord. And that could happen at any time. He could come at any time to meet us.
You know, when my younger son turned 30 A few years ago, I was talking to him on the phone wishing him Happy birthday and talking with him. And he says, Yeah, you know, I never thought I'd see 30 years old. And I thought, well, why would you say that? Why do you say that? Just because I thought the Lord would come before now. And as soon as he said that, I thought, yeah, I never thought I'd see 30 years old either because the Lord could come at any time, and we need to be ready for that. And look at what it says there in 1 Thessalonians 4:18. It says, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” How do we encourage others who have troubled hearts? Point them to the promise, point them to the promise, claim Christ's promise that he's preparing a place for us, and at the appointed time, he's going to come and take us to be there with him? Does that sound okay to you guys? You want to sign up for that trip? I'm not feeling a lot of excitement there. He's coming to get us. Are you on the bus? Are you going to go with him? Yes, that's a little better. But I had to coax you. So, I don't know. But you know if we're going to really be eagerly anticipating that on a regular basis, not just when the preacher pumps you up on Sunday morning. If we're going to be really eagerly anticipating that, then we have to deal with our attachments to the things of this world. We don't have any assurances in this world. And so don't get sucked into thinking that this world, life in this world, is all there is. And don't try to create heaven on earth. That's what most people are really busy at, trying to create, some kind of heaven on earth. If I could just line everything up just right, I could have heaven on earth. You know what that kind of a pursuit leads to? A troubled heart.
It's not heaven until Heaven. And the closest thing to heaven on earth is the full assurance that when I leave earth, I'm going to heaven. So, you want to experience the closest thing you can to heaven on earth? Then you just need to be fully assured that because of what Jesus has done, and the promises he has made, that as soon as I leave this earth, I'm going to be with him. No matter what happens, I'm still going to heaven. We need to claim Christ's promise. There's a place reserved in heaven, fully paid for by Jesus Christ. And he says here in John 14:4, that the way there has been made known that Jesus has made it known throughout the Gospel of John, and throughout all of the Gospels, his most common statement is, follow me. Follow me. And so that's the way to heaven is follow Christ. You can call him your troubled heart by confessing Christ’s deity and claiming Christ's promise. So, at that point in the discussion there, there in the room, Jesus has told me, hey, you don't have to have troubled hearts. And here's why. Well, Thomas raises his hand. See that in John 14:5, Thomas raises his hand, thank God for Thomas. Amen? “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? You’ve got to be thankful for Thomas. There was a Thomas in every class I was ever in in school. There's a question everybody's thinking. This question. But most of us are too afraid to ask it. But thank God, Thomas, he's going to raise his hand and ask it on behalf of all of us. And Thomas is saying, I'm not really sure what you're saying. The question reveals that Thomas hadn't been paying attention. But I think it also shows his devotion to Christ. He may not quite get what Jesus is saying, but he wants to be wherever Jesus is. So, it does speak of his devotion. And I think that many people have troubled hearts because they aren't confident that they're going to arrive in heaven. They may know all of this truth, they may know about Christ, they may know about what he said and what he did, and they may know all of that. But they're still looking at themselves and saying, yeah, I'm not sure that I've done everything I'm supposed to do. I'm not confident that I'm going to arrive in heaven. But the reality is and what Jesus is going to point out here is the entrance into heaven, it isn't dependent upon me. It isn’t dependent upon me in any way at all. There's no way I would get there. But it's not dependent upon me at all. It's totally dependent upon Christ, and what he has done. And so, look at his answer there, John 14:6, to what Thomas asked, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
So, here's point number three: We need to cling to Christ’s person. Cling to Christ’s person. This is a profound answer. Jesus doesn't just show us the way, he is the Way. Salvation is in Jesus. It's in Jesus. Salvation isn't a recipe, it's a relationship. We're not saved by principles, we’re saved by a person. We don't go to heaven by keeping a list of principles. We go by following a person. You know, there's an awful lot of people who think that that's what Christianity is, it's about keeping these rules. You know, it's things that you’ve got to do, there's certain things you got to do in certain things, you better not do those things. You better not do those things. And some churches are really good with the rules. My dad once told me that when he was in high school, his parents gave him the option to go to whatever church he wanted to. So, he started visiting around churches, he walked into one church, and in the lobby, they had a list posted on the wall of movies. And it said, if you've seen any of these movies, you're a sinner. He'd seen all the movies on the list. So, he decided maybe this isn't the church for me. But that's the way a lot of people think it is. It's based on our performance, what we do and what we don't do. That's not the case. It's based on a person, the person is Jesus Christ. And that person is the way to the Father, that person is the personification of truth and eternal life. To know him is to know eternal life. To know him is to know the truth. Salvation is only in Jesus. Christ is everything you need. And here he declares his unique and sufficient work for men. He is the way. He is the only way. He's the only way.
You know, sometimes around here, we talk about the Jesus movement. Well, some of us old people do, but one of the things that was characteristic of the Jesus movement is we had this kind of sign language. And one way, just one way. That a lot of times the sermon, if somebody they said something about Jesus, you would go Amen, you’d go, oh, yeah, one way, you know. You see another Christian on the street? One way, bro. And that was kind of cool. I think I'd like to see it make a comeback. But anyways, the point is, there's only one way, he's the only possible way to the Father. And he is everything. The cure for a troubled heart is found in holding on to Jesus Christ, there isn't any greater comfort than what you can find in him. And this is one of the “I am” statements that are throughout the Gospel of John, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life.” And I want to just review the other statements with you. Because I think it's good for us to be reminded of the of the sufficiency of Christ, that he is everything that we find, everything we need in him.
So go back to John 6:35, and we'll start with the first “I am” that's listed here in John's gospel. And here's Jesus talking to a crowd of people. He's fed the multitudes, five thousand miraculously, the day before, and they're chasing around after him because they want more of this free food. And Jesus says to them, I’ve got something better than physical bread for you. He says, John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He’s saying, everything your soul needs, I've got it for you. Come to me, eat from me. “I am the bread of life.” As a statement of his how complete he is in providing everything that we need. Look at John 8:12. And this is in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the annual feasts that the people would go up to Jerusalem and observe. And during that time, they would set these huge like candelabras in the temple courtyards and light them up at night. It would light up the whole city of Jerusalem. And what they were remembering at the Feast of Tabernacles was the Lord taking them through the wilderness, and being led by the light, the fiery light. And so that's what they're remembering. And perhaps Jesus is even pointing to one of those candelabras as he says this in chapter John 8:12, he “spoke to them saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” He’s saying, the light in the wilderness was great, and it led you through the wilderness, but I am the light of the world. You follow me, you'll never walk in darkness, you'll have the light of life.
In John 10 we see another “I am” statement of Jesus. John 10:7-10, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He's the door of the sheep. You go in through the door, you go into the sheepfold through the door, he's the door. And he provides life. He gives life abundantly. You know, when we get troubled by the circumstances of our situations, we act like this life that he gives us not really very abundant, it's not abundant enough to overcome these circumstances in my life. We’ve got to understand that not only are we saying something about ourselves when we get anxious and fearful, we are saying something about our Savior. We need to remember what he has promised, and we need to cling to him. The next “I am” is in John 10:11. “I am the good shepherd.” What makes him the Good Shepherd? “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Now he's done it all for the sheep. He gave it up for the sheep. And that's another you know, this whole idea of the shepherd and the sheep. That's another common picture in the Bible, picture that people would have been familiar with. You can think of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Or as the little girl in Sunday school class said, “the Lord is my shepherd. That's all I want.” Now she didn't get it right, but she did get it right, didn't she? She did. The Lord is my shepherd. That's all I want.
But go read John 11: 25, this is Jesus standing outside of the tomb of Lazarus who's died. And Jesus is talking to Lazarus’ sister, Martha, and Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus said, I'm going to give you eternal life. The end of your physical life is not the end. And he's going to prove it just a few minutes later by calling Lazarus out of the tomb. He's the resurrection and the life. And John 15:1. This is the last one. “I am the true vine.” He's the vine, we're the branches. The life comes through the vine. If you're a branch attached to the vine, then you're tapped into the source of life, which is Jesus Christ. He is the vine. See, this can calm even the most troubled hearts. You know, we live in a world full of troubled hearts. We're hearing a lot even if you're watching any of the Olympics, you're hearing about mental health. And what that's getting at is not just a lack of confidence. What that's getting at is people are anxious. They're depressed. They have what are called panic attacks. And they just can't deal with everything, that it's a mental health issue to them. Jesus is saying, I can calm your troubled hearts. And there's a commercial. I don't know, if you pay attention to the commercials, there's a Prudential commercial, you know, the Prudential rock. And at the end of the commercial, they actually say, who's your rock? I mean, I'm saying, do you really want my answer? Are you ready for my answer? Who's your rock? It's not Prudential insurance. I've got the eternal God, I'm picking him over Prudential. Nothing wrong with Prudential. I mean, nothing wrong with insurance. But, hey, if you're asking me the question? That's the answer.
Look with me at Colossians again. Colossians, chapter 3. You know, we need to confess Christ’s deity, we need to claim Christ's promise, we need to claim Christ’s person. That’s the best claim that's being talked about here in Colossians 3:1-4. “If then you have been raised with Christ.” And that's not a question, that's a certainty since you’ve been raised with Christ, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” What a great passage. And that statement there in verse 3, “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” That would give you something to think about while you eat your Double Double this afternoon. That gives you something to chew on for a while. My life is hidden with Christ in God. I'm already dead, the old person is dead. I'm a new person. I'm in Christ. And when he appears, I'm going to appear with him in glory. Yes, set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth.
We'll go back to John 14. And let's just consider some concluding thoughts here. Jesus said there in verse John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” That's the command. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And he's giving the reasons because of who he is. He's God. Because of what he's promised, a place, a permanent place with him in heaven. And because of what he's done, he is the way, he's made the way to the Father. Because of all those things, he's saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” But just look back at John 13:21. We read the second half of this verse, I didn't read the first half, where it says “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled.” Jesus was troubled “in his spirit,” same word, they're stirred up, agitated. Jesus was troubled. Seems paradoxical, doesn't it? He's got a troubled heart. He's telling us not to have a troubled heart. But that's exactly the point, isn't it? That's the heart of the gospel. Because Jesus was troubled you and I don't need to be troubled. And what troubled him? Well, he's talking there about his betrayal. Jesus is troubled by the events that are about to occur, he's going to be betrayed, he's going to be arrested, he's going to be tried, and he's going to be crucified. And on top of all of that, the wrath of God is going to come down on him. The perfectly righteous, perfectly sinless Son of God is going to experience the wrath of God for our sin. In his trouble, he bore the root of our deepest trouble, he took upon himself our sin and our guilt. So, because he was troubled, you and I, we don't need to be troubled. And also, I think that that tells us Jesus understands the troubled heart. Jesus can sympathize with a troubled heart. But because he was troubled, our hearts can find peace in him. You know, in this life, there's a lot of things I'm not going to be able to do. A lot of places I'm not going to be able to go. You know, I think about our junior high and high school students that couldn't go away to camp this last week. And you know, there are a lot of things like that in life, a lot of things, I'm not going to be able to do, a lot of places I'm not going to go for a wide variety of reasons. But there's one thing I know for sure that no matter what, I'm still going to heaven. Amen. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You for this assurance that we have in our Savior. We thank you that this isn't just a statement that he makes about us going to heaven. There are reasons why. Those reasons are firmly rooted in who he is, and the things that he said, and what he did. We could have confidence that Jesus is the Son of God, we could have confidence that he did die for our sins, taking upon himself the wrath that we deserved. He really did rise again. He really is in heaven now. And someday, he's going to come back and take us to be there with him forever. We have a permanent place secured in heaven, because of Jesus Christ, and we can rest in him, we can have confidence in him. We can say with certainty that no matter what happens today, I'm still going to heaven, not because of anything I've done, but because of what Jesus has done. And Lord, I pray that we all might find great comfort iIn these words, they have prayed, particularly for those who are home sick, and even those who are in the hospital, that they might be greatly comforted by knowing that Jesus is not only a friend who promises to be with you, but he is all that he says he is, he is God. And we can trust in him and in his promises. So, Lord, I pray that you would use these words spoken by our Savior, to calm troubled hearts, and to increase our confidence in you as we seek to live for you in this world. And I pray, Lord, that as we go through times like this, as individuals or as a church, that we might be a real testimony to you of how powerful you are, how good you are, even in the difficult times, that people might see that there is a savior there is a great Savior, and that he is the way to heaven. So, Lord, we thank you, for your goodness to us today and the confidence that we can have in our Savior, and we pray all of this in his name. Amen.