John #21

God of all Comfort
John 14:1- 14
December 6, 2009
Pastor Ben Fleming

Turn to the gospel of John 14. When my grand daughter cried – I had this ache to comfort her. Most people like to try and comfort a baby. Some of us get the opportunity to comfort those who grieve. We want to comfort people who are fearful and we want to comfort someone who has failed. We want to comfort someone who has just gotten the news from the doctor…. Everyone needs comfort sometime in their life. Some people think they will find comfort in a bottle of Southern Comfort. But how do you find comfort from your sins? How do you find comfort when you feel guilty and burdened because of your sin against God? How do you find comfort when you feel condemned and have no peace?

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Cor 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles..” In chp 7:6 he writes “but God, who comforts the downcast or depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus. People who are downcast and depressed need comfort from believers --- Jesus said in Matt 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn over their sin for they shall be comforted” --- have you ever thought what does mourning over your sin look like? and David wrote in Ps 23 “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” The comfort of God to His people is a major theme throughout the bible.

In the New Testament we find the greek word parakaleo translated as “comfort,” “exhort,” “beseech,” the exact translation is always determined by the context. Its root means to “to call alongside of,” i.e. to summon for assistance. To comfort is to cheer and encourage. Today we are going to examine the comfort that Jesus gives to his disciples and to all believers everywhere. In the first 14 verses of John 14 but I am only going to tackle 6 verses today. John lays down the foundation for that comfort. Please stand as we read God’s Word in John 14:1 – 14.

We left off two weeks ago in chapter 13 with Jesus teaching his disciples “what does it take to be a servant like Jesus.” He closed out that section by book ending it with the words “a new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Peter responds to those words of Jesus and tells Jesus that he will lay his life down for him and then Jesus says to Peter – “when the rooster crows you will have denied me three times.” The other disciples where obviously there…. and were obviously troubled by the words of Jesus. You could say their faith was beginning to falter. Jesus was telling them that he was going to leave them and the words about Peter must have shocked them. Jesus then comforts his followers – this is the context of these 14 verses.


How does Jesus Christ give us His comfort?

1. The comfort of Christ comes from His presence. (Vs. 1) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.”

These men had been with Jesus for three years and they had seen him do all kinds of miracles – he was now telling them that he was going to leave them – in (13:33) he said, “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, now I say to you, Where I am going, you cannot come.”….. This must have confused them and worried them. These guys were just like their fellow Jews and they were expecting him to be a conquering King – they were not expecting him to leave them alone.

Jesus knew these men’s hearts – he knows your heart right now. He knows when you are troubled. He knows when you are full of fear and confusion. Jesus knows the condition of our hearts in every situation – he knows when you are at peace and when you are in turmoil. He gives his men three commands in this verse --- #1 do not let your heart be troubled. If we are commanded to not let our hearts be troubled then we have been given control over how our hearts are – Have you let your heart get troubled at times? I know I have --- I have to fight to have a heart that is at peace. The second and third commands he gives is the solution to keeping your heart from being troubled #2 Believe in God and #3 Believe in Me. We have a choice of where were are going to place the attitudes of our hearts --- in our trouble or in God and Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Prayer guards your heart and your mind.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth.” When we practice believing in God and believing in Jesus we have hearts that are at peace… and when your heart is at peace you will experience the presence of Jesus – it does not matter what the situation is…………

June 9th, 2008 flying to Seattle 3 hours after my son told me that my grandson had died – I sat in that Southwest seat quietly sobbing I could feel and sense the very presence of Jesus. It was the same presence I felt that Saturday morning when they told me my grand daughter was alive. It’s the very same presence I feel when I ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a Sunday morning when I prepare to speak to you. Do you not want to feel.. the presence of Jesus in your life? Sure you do. I can see hundreds of pictures of my grand daughter on the internet but there is nothing like holding her and hearing her breath. I talk to my dad all of the time but there is nothing like his presence. I plan to see him this spring. When I spoke to you about suffering and the glory of God I told you that the number one what that you can comfort someone who is suffering is by your presence --- you do not have to have anything to say to that person.

Story: 6 year old Jody lost her next door friend Sally to cancer. These two girls had been the best of friends. One day Jody came home to her mom and told her mom that she had gone to comfort Sally’s mother. What did you say – her mom asked? Nothing she said --- I just climbed up on her lap and cried with her……..

Jesus comforts his children with his very presence and as we are going to find out he does that by giving them his Holy Spirit to dwell within them --- he even calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter. Its not a coincidence that the word comfort and Holy Spirit are both part of the same root Greek word. We will look at the Holy Spirit more in future messages. #1 The comfort of Jesus comes from His presence.

2. The comfort of Christ comes when we trust His preparation. (Vs. 2 - 3) “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.”

This is one of the main text I use when I am asked to perform a funeral for someone I do not know. At a funeral, people want comfort and they want to know where a person goes when they die and most believe everyone goes to heaven. I go back to verse one and camp on the fact that these words in verse 2 -3 only apply to those who believe in God and who believe Jesus. When you read of Jesus saying that his father’s house has many rooms – he is speaking of heaven ---- Never picture heaven as some kind of big housing tract that Jesus is building since he has been there for over 2,000 years and that everyone is going to have his or her own place. There is no key at the pearly gates with your name on it that fits a specific room. Jesus says “In My Father’s house are many rooms” not a literal reference but a reference to intimacy - other places in the bible refer to heaven as a country or a city. Revelation 21:16 says this city is laid out as a square – its length is as great as the width and he measured the city with the rod – 1500 miles – its length and width and height are equal.” In modern terms – the base of the city is over 200 million square miles – more than half the size of the United States. ---

Hebrews 11:16 “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” --- not rooms but intimacy

Revelation 21:3 “the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” ]

Can you imagine what the disciples where thinking when Jesus spoke these words? Go back to verse 3. he says, “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” Jesus felt these words ought to bring comfort to his men. I am going away but I am going to come back again – the second coming. When Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1 – the angels said to the disciples in verse 11 “why do you stand looking into heaven?” This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way you saw him go into heaven.” One day that is going to happen and the day it happens is coming closer and closer – we are in the end times. Jesus has prepared for us to come to him and for him to come back. Are you prepared for that? Are you prepared to met Christ face to face? (TO THE RIGHT) For some us of it is right around the corner. For some of us we simply do not care –we think we do not need Christ and the comfort he gives – we can handle life ourselves. I am sad and grieved for you - Satan has fooled you and blinded you. The comfort of Christ comes when we trust His preparation. Would you trust Him today?

3. The comfort of Christ comes when we trust His claims. (Vs. 4 – 6) “and you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” By now the disciples were so blown away by what Jesus was telling them – you can see how Thomas responds to Jesus almost as if he threw his hands up and said “we do not know the way where you are going - how can we know the way?”

People are shocked when real Christians insists that Jesus is the way and the only way to God. Christians did not invent that claim. There was no committee that made it up. It is not a question of tolerance or being open to diversity. It is simply a question of accepting and believing what Jesus claimed. Why do people reject Jesus claim of being the only way to God?

* They are satisfied with their own way or doing nothing. They refuse to examine Christ claims. They are like a person in a smoke filled room who doubts there is a fire, they insist that they are going to find their own way out – some of you are like that sitting right here. I know it – you know it – God knows it and Satan knows it. Your pride and spiritual arrogance makes you satisfied to do nothing.

* They deny their lostness. They do not see any need to be rescued. The bible says Christ died for our sins, he was buried and raised again on the third. They do not see that they have any sin for someone to die for. These people are so lost they do not see any need of a savior. It is kind of like they are debating whether there is a fire or not. For you believers – many times we do not realize how lost… lost people really are. We do not understand how they are content with having no comfort – no peace and no hope. Why do people reject Jesus? #3

* They are convinced that there must be several valid ways to get to God besides Jesus. I was in LA this past week – going from West Hollywood to Pasadena and the GPS put me on the 101 and as I sat there for 20 min going now where I was convinced that I could do something to this GPS to figure out another way to get where I wanted to go quicker --- we humans rebel at the notion of there only being one way. These people are in the smoke filled room – they agree there must be a fire – but to them any way of escape is as good as the other – even though they have not actually chosen a way themselves. Jesus claims to be the only way to the Father – He knew that could comfort his disciples --- it is narrow but it is wide enough for the entire world. In verse 6, Jesus says that He is the way the truth and the life. Jesus provides for man as much as we need to know and can know about God. Scripture says that no one has ever seen God. It is only Jesus His Son who is close to the Father’s heart – who has made him known. He said – if you have seen me you have seen the Father. Look in verse 6 --- Jesus is not talking to his men about finding a place or a physical destination – the end of the verse makes it clear – he is talking about a person – he is talking knowing God – coming to God – being with God – being God’s friend instead of his enemy. Look at this closer with me:

* Jesus is the way. Jesus is both God and man. He knows intimately your experience and your needs. He is your path – he is your bridge – he is not just an example or a road sign. Jesus allows you to know God the Father. He glorifies Him. Jesus makes God beautiful. When Jesus said this, he said, I am the hodos or the only road or the only way to the Father. He was very careful with his words. He did not say I am a way or one of the ways he said I am the way.

John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made Him known.”

* Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the reality of all that God promised. He is the source of knowledge of the Father – His answers – His teachings – His commands are all right. There is no shadow of dishonesty – falsehood or lying in His life. Jesus is complete holiness.

John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”

* Jesus is the life. Jesus gives us life both now and eternally. He gives life on this earth and He gives life after this body stops working. He provides for us the example of how to live life on this earth. Not only that – He promises to join His life with our life as we live. Jesus spoke the word zoe – which also means breath. So he is saying as well – I am your breath. We do not live on this earth in our own power – He pours His Spirit within us to live it. There is no other source of life than beside Jesus. Our response to that is to receive that life and allow it to work itself out in our daily lives.

Ok – the claims of Jesus are unmistakable. He gave these claims to his disciples to comfort them. Truth comforts – tolerance condemns. Jesus invited his disciples – He invites you and me to receive His truth claims or reject them. For those of you who are apathetic to them – you are doing the same thing as rejecting them. When you reject the truth claims of Jesus you in fact are refusing to see the state of your human condition. You are drowning and Jesus is throwing you a life saving rope and you refuse his rope – you think there is going to be another one or you can choose to swim to shore and safety in your own power. God have mercy on you.

Closing: Merrill Womach was a brilliant Christian gospel singer in the 60’s. He was in a plane crash in the winter of 1961. The plane caught fire on takeoff and was engulfed in flames. Womach tumbled out of the plane – some people found him and drove him to the hospital. On the way to the hospital from a body squealing with pain of 3rd degree burns – came these words: PHOTO

I’ve found the dear Savior and I am made whole,
I am pardoned and I have my release.
His spirit abiding and blessing my soul,
Praise God in my heart there is peace.
Wonderful peace, wonderful peace.
When I think of how he brought me from darkness to light,
There’s a wonderful – wonderful peace.

Prayer:

Song: