Sunday Sermon
sunday morning service 31st August 2008
John 14:1-3
A command v1 : A statement of fact v2 : A promise v3 no-one left out!!!
V1 Jesus was troubled at the actions Judas was about to take 13v21.
Now he tells the disciples not to be troubled!
But why not? was this not a time to get really very upset. Dark things were happening!
Jesus was leaving, Judas was going to betray him, Peter was going to deny him.
So why not be troubled?
Life is full of troubling circumstances.
Maybe in these days we have more troubles than we have had for a long time.
The price of living is going up, heating is costing more, petrol costs more, bread costs more. The climate is changing. We have many social problems. The elderly are going uncared for, the unwanted young are being killed by the thousand.
Our teenagers are making large areas of our towns and cities no go areas!
Jesus says: do not let your hearts be troubled!
What is this “heart”?
The heart is the spiritual core of a person.
It is from the heart that everything else runs - the mind, the emotions, the body.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
So Jesus says : deep down in your core don’t get upset.
Don’t be troubled, don’t “lose it” there!
notice he says “don’t let”. In other words this is within our control!
The Christian is someone who is in control of their being!
We have been born again and thus are no longer controlled by evil desires and sinful passions.
These things still tempt and affect us to some degree but they no longer control!
So Jesus says “don’t let your heart’s be troubled”.
Don’t allow yourselves to get upset deep down in your spirits, Jesus tells us.
No matter what problems you face. No matter how dark things seem.
Don’t let circumstances control you, rule over you.
That is not to say that we are not allowed to respond properly to any given situation.
We are to grieve and morn when that is called for.
We are to empathise with those in trouble. We are to show compassion.
We are also to rejoice with those who rejoice.
Jesus is not calling us to amputate our emotions.
So what is it then that we are being called to?
We are being called here to faith in God and Christ Jesus.
Jesus takes is for granted that the disciples trust God. “you trust God”
But what he calls forth is an equivalent trust in himself “trust also in me”!
Don’t let your spirits get unduly upset but trust in me!
Living by faith in Jesus is the way to confront all lives troubles!
Because He is the one in whom we are to place all our security.
Troubles trouble us because they take away our sense of security.
The sense that we are in control of our lives and therefore our well being.
Troubles put us in a position of needing help. We see that we can’t go it alone.
Jesus says, trust in me - place your security in me!
And we can do that because of what he is doing for us:
This is the great antidote to troubles - trust in Jesus!
It is as simple as that!
But what were the disciples to trust? They were to trust in the word of Jesus.
2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
Jesus furnishes them with information that they were to hold onto and hope in!
This information is all about their future security!
Up until now their lives were bound up in his. Following Jesus around was their full time occupation. But now he is leaving what are they to do?!
Well they are not to worry because their future will be taken care of!
Here are the facts: 1 - there are many rooms. 2 - Jesus is getting them ready !
Jesus is leaving the disciples in order to prepare their place.
In the first instance He is pointing to the cross.
He prepares a place in heaven for us by going to the cross for us.
His preparation is not about painting and decorating! But about sacrificing and atoning.
Finally Jesus leaves them with a promise.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
They most definitely need not be troubled because Jesus is coming back to get them! He is going to prepare a place for them and then he is coming back to get them!
What is the great truth here?
Simply that no-one will be left out! None left behind.
Space for everyone.
In the immediate context Jesus must be referring to his resurrection.
After the cross he rose from the dead and came back to the disciples. Then following the Ascension He came back to them again in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Thus Jesus never left the disciples he was with them as they walked the earth and he is with them now in heaven!
The same is true for us also. Jesus is with us now by the Holy Spirits ministry.
He will never leave us, never forsake us!
Thus don’t be troubled - instead trust in the ever present Christ.
sunday evening Gen 15 v1-8
Gen 15
Learning to live by faith, even as our father Abram did.
Context:
after a great chapter showing Abram to be a warrior and faithful to God what will happen next?
It seems that after a victory the man of faith begins to cower and doubt!
Often in the bible we see great victories of faith are followed by failures by the very same people who had the victories. Elijah - David - the disciples etc.
V1 here the word of God comes to Abram telling him “not to be afraid”.
Abram is instructed to look to God as his protector and reward. God is his inheritance!
We can gather from this word that Abram was discouraged! He was downcast and doubting. Time was passing and he was not seeing God fulfilling promises!
V2-3 back up this claim that Abram has become despondent.
Lesson 1: faith wrestles with God in prayer.
when we are struggling we cry out to God.
V2 - “what will you give me”.
We seek God. His blessing is all that counts and faith knows that!
Abram was not giving up here. He was not losing faith.
Instead his faith was maturing and he was beginning to wrestle with God in prayer.
How mature is you faith? Do you wrestle with God for his blessing?
V4-5 Yahweh comes to him again to encourage him. He tells him to look up!
Next we see God responds to Abram’s wrestling in prayer.
He comes to him encouraging him to hold on, to be faithful.
Not to give up hope that he will have a son of his own.
V6 this time Abram believes.
In hearing Gods reassurance Abram believes.
Here it is noted that because he believed, God counted him as Righteous.
Simply put he trusted God, thus God blessed him with righteousness.
He was made right before God by his faith.
Lesson 2: the effects of faith
faith makes us right before God.
God wants us to believe in Him! And if we do we are made right in his sight!
What are we to believe about God? We are to believe in Him, in who he is.
We are to believe? v1. That God is our protector, Saviour. Thus we need not be afraid.
V7 God speaks - reaffirming the promise of land. (similar to v1)
V8 Abram seeks assurance of Gods promise. (similar to v2)
- is his faith doubting here? Why does he want more than the word of God?
The simple answer is because he is human. He needs more than words.
Words alone are never sufficient. We need the experience of the word, the power of the word in our hearts. We need the holy Spirit. (2Cor3v6)
Lesson 3: Faith needs to work to draw out Gods promises.
We have seen this already as our first lesson. But the chapter underlines it so must we.
Faith does not just “let go and let God”! faith seeks God all the time.
Pursues Him for His blessings. The blessing of God do not just come to us on a plate!
We need to seek God! Why? Because that develops maturity of character!
Gods blessings are so great that we cannot handle them correctly until we have the right character.
And it is our character that God is interested in about us!
To pour blessing on us without the required level of character maturity would simply spoil us and hinder our growth!
In wrestling with God Abram receives further blessing:
Abram learns that God is gracious and gives him a sign v9-21.
