Encouraging Words for Troubling Times

If I went around the room this morning and asked who all has been discouraged this week, maybe one or two or handful would raise their hands.  However, we have all seen and heard the news this past week in some form. 

 

We are approaching a year with the war in Ukraine.  Multiple surveillance balloons have been shot down in our country, and how many more are there?  The causality number in from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is now in excess of 35,000.  Mass shootings seem to be becoming more prevalent, and inflation is running wild. 

 

This morning we come to John 14.  It is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible and one that I have used so many times to encourage families at funeral services. 

 

Remember that it is Thursday night before Friday’s crucifixion.  Jesus and His disciples had gathered in the upper room to celebrate the Passover, and He had washed the disciples’ feet.  He had dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas, and Judas left.  That left Jesus in the upper room with 11 disciples and leads us to John 14:1.

 

In John 14:1, Jesus encouraged His disciples not to let their hearts be troubled or stirred or agitated.  Why would He say that? 

 

They had recently heard some very hard truths.  See 13:18, 21, 33, and 38.

 

18 “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’

 

21 When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

 

33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.

 

38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

 

In today’s troubling times or tomorrow’s or next year’s or 15 years from now, I want to show you 5 timeless truths for your encouragement.

 

 

1. Jesus is God, 14:1, 6, 7, 9-11.

 

In verse 1, Jesus challenged His disciples to believe in Him personally.  That is a challenge for us today as well because Jesus isn’t just a good person or a good moral teacher or a good prophet.  Jesus is God.

 

In verse 6, He said that He was the only way to the Father.  This is the sixth I AM statement.  He is the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and life, the way, the truth, and the life, and the true vine.

 

Again, Jesus isn’t just one way among many to the Father.  He is in the only way, and no one comes to the Father except through the son. 

 

In theological terms, this is called the exclusivity of Christ.  Going through Jesus to get to God is exclusively the way. 

 

In other words, unless you go through Jesus, you cannot and will not be saved.  That applies to any other religion or belief system including Judaism and Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism. 

 

In verse 7-9, Jesus said He and the Father are the same.  If they had known the Father, they would have known Him.  He and the Father are the same. 

 

It is a common misconception in our world today that you can know God and have nothing to do with God’s Son.  I would submit to you the impossibility of that experience.  If you reject Jesus, then you are rejecting God because they ARE the same.

 

Jesus and the Father also SPEAK the same.  Look at verse 10.  Jesus did not speak on His own initiative but the words of His Father.  So again, if you don’t agree with that which Jesus said, you are disagreeing with God the Father because Jesus and the Father SPEAK the same. 

 

Finally, Jesus and the Father ARE the same and SPEAK the same and DO the same.  In verse 11, Jesus said He was in the Father and the Father in Him, and that reality is affirmed by their works.  What Jesus did was what the Father did.  Jesus and the Father DO the same.

 

Therefore, if Jesus and the Father are the same and speak the same and do the same, guess what?  Jesus is God.

 

 

2. Heaven is real, 14:2.

 

Secondly, heaven is real.  In verse 2, Jesus called heaven His Father’s house, and this house has many dwelling places or rooms, and Jesus is preparing them for His disciples. 

 

The KJV uses the word “mansions.”  However, that word does not mean lavish and expensive but abundant in number.  The Father’s house has MANY dwelling places for all of His children. 

 

When the disciples heard this, they immediately thought of the custom of the day for a son to marry and then add on a room for his new family to his father’s home.  Therefore, if a family had 4 sons, then there would be four additional rooms or dwelling places added on to the original family dwelling.

 

I would submit to you this morning that heaven is real.  It is the Father’s house, and it is the place where Jesus currently dwells, and John described the Father’s house in Revelation 21 as a place of no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, and no pain.  I love to think of heaven and being there one day.  Heaven is real.

 

 

3. The Bible is true, 14:3-4.

 

The Bible is true because it is the word of God, and therefore, whatever it says, we can believe.  For example, Jesus is coming back for us, and because Jesus is God, and because the Bible is God’s word, I can trust this promise.

 

Look at verse 3.  Jesus said He was going to prepare heaven, but He would return for His disciples.  That is a promise, and a promise that will not be broken. 

 

I have broken promises in my life.  I have been on the other end of broken promises, but Jesus has never broken a promise, and He won’t begin with this one. 

 

The question arises if His statement here is talking about the Rapture or the Second Coming.  I have no problem in saying both.  He will return for His Church before a 7- year tribulation period, and He will return to this earth after the 7-year tribulation period for those who became Christians during that time. 

 

Therefore, even though the context is vague, we can say both this morning.  We can trust or believe in the promise of Christ’s return.  We trust the Bible is true.

 

 

4. The Holy Spirit is powerful, 14:12.

 

In verse 12, I believe Jesus is pointing to the power of the Holy Spirit in this lives of His followers.  Allow me to explain what I believe Jesus meant when He said greater works.

 

He told His disciples and us that they and we will do greater works than Him.  I believe He certainly was talking about quantity of works as Jesus lived on earth only 33 years, and His disciples have been doing works for approximately 2000 years. 

 

However, in another regard, He may even have been talking about quality of works as well.  Here is one example.  As odd as it may sound, when Jesus preached, we don’t have any record of mass conversions.  However, when Peter preached in the book of Acts, thousands were converted.  Therefore, “greater works” could have multiple meanings. 

 

Regardless, if you are follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit is the seal on your heart, and when you surrender completely to Him, His power is unbelievable!

 

 

5. Prayer works, 14:13-14.

 

In verses 13 and 14, Jesus gave His disciples the formula for success in prayer as He instructed them to pray in His name.  He said that they could ask whatever, and He would do it if they ask in His name. 

 

He even said it twice, once in 13 and again in 14.  It applies to anything and everything: marriage, work, school, finances, future, houses, cars, guidance, health, whatever. 

 

However, here is the question, what does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?  Is it some ritualistic formula?  Jesus will repeat it two more times in John 15:16 and 16:23. 

 

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

 

23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

 

For maybe the best explanation, let’s turn to another NT book written by the same author of this gospel.  Turn to 1 John 5:14-15.

 

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

 

I would say that to pray in Jesus’ name is to pray according to God’s will or wanting the will of God to be accomplished in our prayers. 

 

It means His purposes not ours.  It means what He has done and what we cannot do.  It means His glory and fame not anyone else’s. 

 

 

Conclusion and Invitation

For some of us today, our hearts are being attacked this very minute.  We are being attacked by distress and doubt and depression.  My invitation for you this morning is to believe and remember the truths of God as revealed in the Bible. 

 

Do you believe that Jesus is God, heaven is real, the Bible is true, the Holy Spirit is powerful, and prayer works?  If not, would you believe this morning for the first time and be saved?  If you already believe, my invitation for you is to remember and be encouraged in these troubling times.