John 14 - Wade Branch

Good morning, everybody. It's good to be here with you,

all. It's good to worship together.

I'm just excited to be here, but to be able to speak for you,

it's special. So thank you for having me and

I'm excited for a week for what we have to study this morning

and John chapter 14, if you'll turn with me there.

John 14 · chapter mention

Thank you for your prayer this morning.

Darren one of the things you mentioned was the promises that

we have and I want to study a little bit about those promises

because things clutter our mind things, get us distracted on

daily basis and we get layers in our mind that cover the things

that we used to have as a foundation.

And so I want to study through this chapter and unpack the

richness that we have in John 14.

One of the things that's amazing about it is for a lot of the

Bible. We have Snippets of God.

Of speaking, we have Snippets of what Jesus said, to his

followers in different situations.

But for about John 14:2 about 17, he just just pours out his

John 14:2

heart. We just get a one way with a

little bit of interaction with the disciples almost a one-way

stream of Jesus. Just just pouring out his heart

to them telling them all these things.

He has to let them know before he goes.

And so this is special what we're about to read at this

point. John chapter 14, we're going to

John 14 · chapter mention

pick up, Jesus has just called out his disciples in the upper

room. He's up there with him.

He told him Judas, you're going to betray me, he walked out and

left him. Then he told Peter, Peter,

you're going to deny me and Peter's, like, oh no, I'm gonna

be there for you and he's like, no, you're going to deny me?

So there's a lot of tension going on because he tells them

that he's about to leave and they throughout the throughout

the gospel they they clearly didn't get it.

They didn't get the fact that he said, I'm going to leave but

they're like, no, you're not. Where we're going to set it up.

It's gonna be great here. And when he said he's going to

leave, they start to get worried because they're like, what are

you talking about? No, you're not.

And so it's all this with all this turmoil going on.

It's with all their anxiety in this stress that's building

after. He's just told him all these

things that are going to happen that we read it.

Beginning in verse 1, John 14:1, he says, Let not your heart, be

John 14:1

troubled, you believe in God believe.

Also in me and 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. And if I go and prepare a place

for you, I will come again. And receive you to myself that

where I am, there you may be also and where I go, you know,

and the way, you know, so let's back up to verse 1 and see what

he's saying. Here verse 1, he says let not

your heart, be troubled. He starts out by saying,

regardless of what's happened? You can't get worried.

You can't let your heart get anxious and stirred up about

this. You can't, it's imperative,

don't let it happen and usually when people tell us, you know,

don't worry. Uh something they just say that

they say don't worry about it and they don't really give you

anything to make you not worried and so it doesn't really help.

But I think Jesus is going to give us three things that will

help us to not worry for good. He's going to tell us to not

worry because of what he'll show.

Because of where we'll go. and because of who, we know, He

said, you can't worry because of what he's going to show us

because of where we're going to go.

And because of who we know he says you believe in God believe.

Also in me. I can see him just sitting

across the table under candle light.

Talking to his close friends, and remember that.

He's saying this to you by extension.

That whatever you're going through.

These are his words directly to you.

Because you were his friends. You believe in God believe also

in me in my father's house are many mansions.

As I understand this words actually better translated rooms

this word Mansions but because of some issues with the Latin

Vulgate, they translated it Mansions but it makes sense more

with rooms when you look at kind of the context It Was Written in

because during this day and time they would live together as

families. If you had your extended family,

you would all kind of share a big dwelling together and when

your family grew, They just added on room.

And it made sense because you live together to feed off of

each other. You have support systems for

each other. They didn't have social security

like we do. So you need to support the

elderly, you need to share resources together and this is

how they did that they would live together and they groups.

And so they would just add on a room when the family got bigger

and he says, don't worry. There's plenty of room for you.

There's plenty of rooms for everyone at you if it were not.

So I would have told you, I love this.

Chapter is so Full, because it deals with things that seem very

distant and very far out and very simple ways.

He's like, it wasn't this way. I want to told you.

I'm here, I'm being straight up with you.

I'm being face value with you, you can trust what I'm saying.

He said, this is the way it is, if it weren't.

So I would have told you He says I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and

receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also now

as this picture of their own Traditions at the time is drawn

here, it's amazing. What Jesus says, when you look

at kind of the history behind it, and it has to do a lot with

the Jewish marriage traditions of the time.

Because during this time, a man When he was looking for a wife,

he had a prospective bride. He was living in his father's

house at the time. They probably didn't look

anything like that, but he would see a prospective bride living

somewhere else. And what he would do is he would

leave his father's house. To go to meet them to spend time

with him. And when he went, he came with a

gift from his father. Maybe you've known as a dowry.

He came with a gift to give to her family.

And if all went well and they worked it out, they would say,

okay, this is decided, you're going to be engaged, you will be

married. And so at that point, the Dowry

was given everything was set up. The gift was paid, they were

engaged. Or betrothed.

Then after everything was climaxed after all, this was

decided, it was such a big deal. You turn around and leave this

man went turn around and go back to where he came from right

after they got engaged. That doesn't really make any

sense to us, but he had to go back to add on a room, he had to

go back to get his father's house.

Ready for them to live together. And so he would turn around

leave right after all this happened.

And he would tell her. Don't worry, I'm coming back to

get you. I'm going to go get ready and

get things ready for you and you can trust in that, but he would

leave for an unspecified amount of time and she just had to

trust that was going to happen and it could be up to about a

year before he got this house. Ready for them to live together.

And when he finally finished, he started to make his way back to

the woman. Now, they didn't have a

communication platforms that we do now.

And so, when you start to come back, people to see him coming

and they said, hey, he's coming. He's coming to get, you get

ready in the word with pass along a heaven ahead of him

because word travels faster than foot, the word would get ahead

of him and people would start talking, hey, this guy's Getty.

This guy is on his way, get ready, get yourself ready, he's

coming. And when they finally got back,

she was ready to go and they reunited and then they turned

around and went back together to live in the father's house.

Now, this is amazing. When you look at what Jesus just

said, he said, I'm going to go away, but I'm going to prepare a

place for you. There are so many overtones of

what Jesus did we learn in John chapter 1, the in the beginning

John 1 · chapter mention

was the word, the Word was God, the word was with God, just was

there a living in his father's house and the special place and

he left. He left and came to offer a gift

from the father to pay for a new relationship.

We know that is the New Covenant.

He came and brought a gift from the father.

That gift was his life. And when you paid that gift,

that gift of his life, a New Covenant was set up.

His betrothed, he was betrothed to the church.

We learn about Jesus being the church be like the bride of

Christ. This is all tied in with this

and he came and set up this relationship with his life but

he turned around and he left and that's what his disciples are

going through right now. They're struggling with is

what's going on, you're leaving. But he's like I'm setting this

up because I'm going to come back to you.

I'm going to come back to get you.

Don't worry. And the beauty of all this is,

we see this a lot of times we're frustrated, we're tired, were

anxious, we're worried and we get slow in our faith.

And we forget the big picture. The big picture is that half of

this most of this has already been done because in the Old

Testament know, they had to wait, they were still looking

for the Messiah to come. There is a whole process that

still had to happen. But at this point where we're at

right now, Jesus has already left the father's house guard.

This world came in the flesh. He left, he came.

Paid a gift. He died.

It's proven, you can look at history and he left.

So we're already here and so the only thing we're waiting for is

for him to come back and it seems like it's been so long.

What's going to happen? And the early church, they were

frustrated because they were like, it's been like 50 years.

What are we gonna do? But it's been like, two thousand

years and so we feel the weight of that.

We naturally feel that kind of sense of what is it really going

to happen, but you can know that it is because of what he said is

he says all the plans. It's not like weirdest a dead

state with this whole process God is working.

Now, the cogs are moving, everything is turning.

It's all in his timing. And so wherever you're at, you

can know that we're at this point right here.

He's getting that place ready for us.

Are you ready for that? Are you?

That bride here. Getting ready.

Are you looking forward to that? I kind of doubt that bride just

forgot about it. We showed up, he was like oh man

I yeah you're coming back I forgot about you.

Is that how we are? Do you everyday wake up with a

joy knowing that it could be today?

And if you don't that's that's real, that's that's life life.

Just covers our priorities with layers with distractions.

But it's so important to see the big picture.

Because Jesus is doing things right now.

He's getting things, ready for us.

I will come again and receive you to myself.

That where I am there you may be also, he doesn't where I go, you

know, and the way you know, I love Thomas because he pretty

much says, what everyone was thinking but he's the only one

that pulled up to say, it Thomas said to him.

Lord, we don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way that's like saying, hey, I'm going

somewhere, you want to meet me there?

Like, what? What are you talking about?

He says, Jesus said I am the way.

The truth and the life. No one comes to the father,

except through me. I think that's true in a couple

different ways. One, Jesus said, in John chapter

John 10 · chapter mention

10, the he is the gate to the Sheepfold.

He is the door, you can't get in without him because if you go in

any other way, you're not legitimate.

Jesus says, I am the door, I am the way in, but it's also true

in the sense that, you know, if I was going to tell you how to

get somewhere, I could say up on the main road, you're going to

go left, you're going to turn left.

You go about a mile. No way.

You're gonna hang a right in about a quarter mile and it's

going to be the third house on your left, whatever.

I can give you those kind of vague instructions or I could

say, hey, I'm going to get my car.

You get in yours and you follow me, I'll take you there.

And Jesus. So to speak.

Didn't both of us. He got in his car so to speak

and he took us there. He spent the time he took the

time out of his Heavenly existence where everything was

perfect, he came down and he got in his car so to speak and took

you there. That's special says I no one

comes to the father, but through me, I am the way, the truth and

the life. Verse seven.

If you had known me, you would have known my father also and

from now on, you know, him and have seen him, you know, this

idea for me I'm kind of visual. So if this seems extra to you, I

apologize. But this is this helps me.

Sometimes it when when I think of the idea of seeing God it

seems like it's a distant idea. Like when I go up in the

mountains and I'm back packed in and I'm in the middle of the

clearing and there's not a light around except for this guy, and

it's glowing, like I never seen it before and not moment, I try

to see God for whatever that means.

I try to see God and understand him or if I'm standing on the

edge of the ocean, I look out. I try to see God.

And honestly, I kind of get confused.

I'm just kind of unsettled. I don't quite get it, I can't

comprehend it. But one of the things he's going

to tell us in just a minute will clear that up a lot.

He says, if you had known me you would have known my father also

and from now on, you know, him and have seen him.

So he says, if you know me, you know the father, okay?

So was its physical qualities. Was it seeing his physical form

and the things he did fleshly that we need to know?

Well, no, because we learn in John, chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

The Jesus came and he was, he was feeding the multitudes.

He added, give him physical food, and he was feeding

thousands, and it was an amazing scene And they saw that and

they're like, yes Jesus, give us this bread.

Always, we love it. This is great and Jesus is like,

you don't get it. I'm the bread it come from God.

I am the Manna From Heaven. I'm the one who should be paying

attention to do? You look at me and he's like,

they're like well Jesus, we know your parents.

So And they just didn't get it. So it's not the physical

qualities. Jesus possessed.

It's not the things he did for them physically.

It's a spiritual, it's his character.

It's the things he teaches as the things you live by its his

ideologies. It's his life.

It's the things you brought those different than anybody

ever brought. He's like, if you know me, you

know, the father, And a little bit, he says, if you love me,

keep my Commandments. And I will pray the father and

he will give you another Helper and he may abide with you.

So, as you think about knowing god, Jesus says, just follow me.

Just follow my footsteps. And you what happens with me I

think is you know I think I tried and do that but I'm just

sitting there looking down at the ground trying to follow in

his footsteps and I never take the time to look up and see

where I'm going. I never take the time to look up

and realize. Wow, I'm getting closer to God.

Do you realize that that it might seem like a for I far-out

idea to know God but if you're walking closer to him, you're

following in his footsteps. You're getting closer to the

Creator and you can know him. You can own it for sure.

That's what Jesus says. He's like if it wasn't so but I

told you it's that simple and you can know that you know, him

If you had known me, you would know, my father.

Also Philip said to him verse a lord, show us the father and

that is sufficient for us. He's like just just show us this

and then that's enough. You know what amazes me is, they

had the Son of God walking with them and talking to them,

they're close to him and they look past it like no just shows

this and then Does your faith feel that way?

Does your faith feel like an if-then Faith?

Just just show us this and then it'll be enough.

Just just do more than then you're doing right now and then

I will that's a trap that even they fell into his close.

Friends is his disciples fell into so it's not as nothing new

but we have to read, you have to understand this so we can get

past in our own faith. He said just show us the father

and that's enough. Jesus said to him have I been

with you so long and yet you have not known me Philip he who

has seen me, has seen the father.

So how can you say show us the father?

Do you not believe that I am in the father?

And the father in me? The words that I speak to you, I

don't speak on my own authority but the father Other dwells in

me, does the works believe in me and I am in the father and the

father in me or host believe for the sake of the works

themselves. See, they all kept looking past

and he's like, you don't don't look for more than what I have

provided you with. Don't take rest anywhere but the

plan I have for you and what I'm showing you pay attention, dig

into this. It's got right here with you

still Verse 12, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in

me. The works that I do.

He will do also and Greater Works than these.

He will do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in

my name that I will do that, the father may be glorified in the

son. That's an amazing thing.

You just said, whatever, I ask, whatever you ask in my name that

I will do. Do you realize that he's

provided you that outlet, that you can literally talk to this

God that we've been talking about.

You can literally speak to him. He's like, I got you, I'll give

you what you need. But it is lines up its when you

line up with his will he says, and whatever you do, whatever

you ask, in my name that I will do that.

The father may be glorified in the son, if you ask anything.

In my name, that in my name is really closely tied with, you

know, if it's, if it's in our best interest and part of that

is in your life, we need to line our interests up with gods.

And if you don't feel like they are pray about that.

Say, God, my interests aren't lined up with years and maybe

that's why you don't feel like your prayers are being answered.

Is because you're Interest don't line up with God's.

What are your interests? Do you really care about the

things that the Creator cares about do?

I really care about the things, the Creator cares about, he

says, if I do he's like, ask I'll give you it.

No one else can say that you can, you might have a boss that

gives you some perks. It's like, hey, can I get the

tickets? And he's like, yeah.

And that's a amazing thing for us.

Like if we get one little perk for a boss, when we feel like,

man, he's powerful, he helped me out big time, he says, whatever

you ask in my name. Your life can have, meaning your

life cannot value connected to the real source of value.

Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches.

Just connect to me and you'll have fruit if you want value in

your life. Connect to me, just stay in me.

Have your interest in line with where I'm going.

It'll be good. I will do for you.

I won't work fruit through you. Are you producing fruit?

Am I producing fruit? Whatever you ask in my name,

that I will do verse 15. If you love me, keep my

Commandments and I will pray the father and he will give you

another helper that he may abide with you forever.

So when Jesus left, he said, I'm going to leave something with

you. He told us he's not gonna leave

us orphans. My question for you is, do you

feel like an orphan spiritually? So, we can look at the old test

and we can say, yeah, you know, Adam God was with Adam in the

garden. He spoke to him, he was in the

air in the Old Testament. He was doing these amazing

Miracles. The ground would open up and

swallow people. He was on the mountain, he made

the mountain blow up with a storm, and he was there,

literally, with a cloud of smoke by day.

Cloud of Fire by night in the Old Testament, he was there

everywhere, man, you could see it.

And then when Jesus came, wow, that was Jesus.

God In the Flesh. Walking among them.

Man, they have all this. What do I have?

I can't see it. Do you feel like you're an

orphan spiritually right now? Inferred in chapter 15.

Jesus says, excuse me, verse chapter, 16 verse 7.

He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your

advantage that I go away for. If I do not go away, the helper

will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send him to you.

So there's a lot. I need to learn about this

Helper but one of the things he says that it's to our advantage.

Aged if Jesus, the son of God, Walking In the Flesh, doing

Miracles, healing people talking with it as like a close friend

right there with them back and forth.

Jesus says it's better for you. It's to your advantage that I go

away. So, whatever our state of mind

is, you know, I could, I could see in the Old Testament, the

Bible, how people God was there with them?

What about me? We're going to study a little

bit about this afternoon, but one of the things that we can

see is that this helper was going to come, he says I will

give you another helper that he may abide with you forever.

That forever is forever. That's us included, the spirit

of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees

him nor knows him. So, the first thing about this

is I just need to learn to appreciate this helper this Holy

Spirit, obviously because it's a big deal.

I might not ever see understand everything about it.

But I can't look at God and feel like, hang on, what are you

doing? Where you're not coming through

for me? Because he has, it's a matter of

whether I see it. Whom the world cannot receive

because it neither sees him nor knows him. but, you know, him

for he dwells with you and will be in you I will not leave you

orphans, I will come to you. The reality is, you're not an

orphan. But whether you feel like it or

not, that's that's in our own mind, a little while longer in

the world will see me, no more. But you will see me Wow, do you

see? Because I live, you will live.

Also at that day, you will know that I am in the father and you

and me and I in you, he who has my Commandments and keeps them.

It is he who loves me and he, who loves me, Will Be Loved by

my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

Judas not Iscariot said to him. Lord, how is it?

You will manifest yourself to us and not to the world.

Again, it's almost like it's kind of a mystical question.

Like, how are you going to show yourself to them and not to us?

And Other people, and Jesus answered and said to him, if

anyone loves me, he will keep my word.

And my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our

home with him. He who does not.

Love me, does not keep my words and the word what you hear is

not mine, but the fathers you sent me.

So, it's not mystical, it's not some far-out idea.

He's like, just do what I say and you can know me.

You can be close to me. So, whatever we understand about

this, we learned in chapter 16 verse 12.

He says, I still have many things to say to you, but you

can't hear the know. However, when he the when this,

however, when he the spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you

into all Truth for he will not speak on his own authority.

So we learn that the Holy Spirit at least what we can know, is it

came and it delivered the word on the day of Pentecost,

starting on the day of Pentecost.

And so whatever we need to know, we've got it right here.

Do we appreciate this? Like it's literally part of God

With Us and I think a lot of times we we might fall into the

Trap and we hear the world talking about the Holy Spirit.

We want some infomercial holders infomercial, Holy Spirit, like

being bang. Boom.

There's there's one right there. There's one under your seat.

That's not how it has to work, though.

He's like, just follow me, keep my Commandments and it's simple.

We can live inside you and we can mistake these simple reading

the Bible and take it in praying about it.

We can look past I go and I want something bigger than that.

We mistake and we don't understand the value.

At least I fail to a lot of times the value of just reading

it and having them, aha moment. And it's understanding of what's

in there. He says, I'm going to be with

you. I'm going to live in you today.

If you don't have that in your heart and your life, why not?

He only offers us good things. The fact that all this plan is

set up for you. We've already made it most of

the way through its we're just waiting on him.

If you're not ready this morning, why there's no reason

not to be. You can leave here and wake up

every morning with this real. This realization that your life

means more. Life is going to be born.

More than you can make out of it, more than your schooling or

your career, or your eight hours a day.

You're going for something more. You've heard a little bit that

were this morning, if you believe it, you can repent of

your past life and say, I want to change.

I want to wake up. I want to live a new life, you

can confess that Jesus Christ. Is the Son of God, we learned

that he will confess us back, you can be baptized and added to

the church as they were on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38.

Acts 2:38

Or if you've done that and you just need some help.

You want our prayers. I know I need yours.

It's okay to not be okay. And we all need to wake up.

We all need the revamp. We all need to repent daily but

if you want the prayers of the church to help you with that

together, please do that. If there's any Kate want to be

the case, come on waste. And what we see We thank you for

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