WEBVTT 00:00:00.380 --> 00:00:03.910 I'm going to invite you this morning to John chapter 14, John 14's where we're going to be. 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.840 We're only going to look at six verses in John chapter 14 this morning. 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:12.560 But these six verses are very powerful verses for the troubled heart. 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:20.530 I remember about this time last year, we had a member in our church pass away and they knew that their time was very limited. 00:00:21.380 --> 00:00:28.480 And I remember meeting with them, talking to them as they were getting towards the end of their days here on earth and I 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:35.560 asked them if there's any sort of passage they just want to go through together to read just for comfort’s sake, and they immediately knew the 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:35.920 answer. 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:41.830 And it was this section of scripture, John chapter 14, verse one. 00:00:42.440 --> 00:00:49.660 In this section, Jesus gives a very comforting, encouraging passage of the Bible to reflect on for our soul, especially 00:00:49.660 --> 00:00:51.960 in troubled times that we face in life. 00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:59.380 If you remember where we are in this story, in John 13, Jesus has taken his closest followers 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:06.820 in the most intimate of settings into the Upper Room where he spends the last six hours of his life before he goes to the cross for six hours. 00:01:06.860 --> 00:01:13.880 He's up in the Upper Room with his 12 disciples and he's teaching them some of the most in-depth, I think, personal lessons that 00:01:13.880 --> 00:01:20.660 Jesus gives throughout his entire ministry on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, very important passage. 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.760 And then John 14, verse one, he gives this statement. 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:28.340 He's just announced to his disciples he's about to be betrayed by one of them. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:35.600 Peter's going to reject him after Peter says, "There's no way we're letting this happen." Jesus says, the end of 13, though, "This is going to happen 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:42.860 and you're even going to reject me, Peter." And then in John chapter 14, on the backdrop of all of that trouble, you 00:01:42.860 --> 00:01:49.960 can imagine being a disciple, having given up everything to follow Jesus for the last three years, now Jesus is giving you these kinds of statements, how 00:01:49.960 --> 00:01:50.840 you might feel. 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:58.980 In John 14, verse one, Jesus gives this statement, "Do not let your heart be troubled." I love the 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:00.120 way the King James says it. 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:07.140 It says, "Let not your heart be troubled." Very important thought Jesus gives in 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:07.760 this moment. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.300 I mean, he's reading this moment. 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:14.240 He sees the angst in the heart of the disciples and he gives this statement. 00:02:15.260 --> 00:02:22.480 And I really want to look at this phrase that Jesus says, as he goes on to explain it in the next few verses why he gives us this 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:22.940 statement. 00:02:22.940 --> 00:02:24.330 I want to ask two questions. 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:26.460 Why does he say it? 00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:28.500 And why should we believe it? 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:35.780 In this moment, Jesus, why are you saying what you're saying and why should we believe it? 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:42.360 And if you've got the notes this morning, they were on the information counter, but there's a few blanks related to this section of scripture. 00:02:42.380 --> 00:02:46.540 And we talk about why does Jesus give this statement or why does Jesus say this? 00:02:46.540 --> 00:02:49.620 "Do not let your heart be troubled." Why is Jesus saying that? 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:56.000 It's just a couple of answers I'm going to look at it very quickly, to then answer I think the more important question for us, why should we believe it? 00:02:57.020 --> 00:02:58.260 So why does Jesus say this? 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:05.500 First of all, in your first blank in your notes, it's because of Jesus's personal experience 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:12.340 that I think Jesus begins to say this, Jesus gives this statement because he's walked a particular path in flesh. 00:03:12.440 --> 00:03:15.520 God became flesh, lived as we are, endured what we've gone. 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:22.880 The Bible tells us, "He has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Jesus knows what it means to walk in the flesh and because of Jesus's 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:24.940 personal experience, he gives us this statement. 00:03:24.940 --> 00:03:32.080 And there's three reasons I want you to see here in the slides as to why Jesus, from his own personal experience, is able to say 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:32.680 this to us. 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:39.960 But if you go back to the gospel of John, just in these previous chapters, very recent chapters, Jesus's own soul 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.880 is talked about as having been troubled. 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:51.940 And what this word troubled means is he's anxious within himself, in his spirit, there's this anxiety that builds within him because 00:03:51.940 --> 00:03:55.420 of the circumstances that he is enduring. 00:03:55.420 --> 00:03:57.580 Jesus has walked this path. 00:03:58.820 --> 00:04:05.820 And in walking this path, he's also found a place of comfort, security, and hope, and he desires 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:07.440 this for his disciples. 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:13.780 So from his own personal experience, he's sharing with us why we should not allow our heart to be troubled. 00:04:14.480 --> 00:04:18.920 When Jesus was at Lazarus's tomb, it says that he was troubled in his soul. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.960 When Jesus thought, in chapter 12, about the cross, it says to us from verse 27, that he was troubled in his soul. 00:04:25.320 --> 00:04:33.020 When Jesus reflected on the betrayal of Judas, it tells us that he was troubled, in chapter 13, verse 21, 00:04:33.080 --> 00:04:33.640 in his soul. 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:42.340 And now as Jesus, fulfilling that trouble in his soul, and he finds comfort, hope, security, in the midst of 00:04:42.340 --> 00:04:48.920 this struggle, he then looks at his disciples who are experiencing the same thing and then he says... 00:04:49.260 --> 00:04:55.500 On the basis of his disciples, he gives us four reasons where his disciples have experienced the same trouble. 00:04:55.500 --> 00:05:02.600 So in the next slide, it says this, "The disciples' hearts are troubled that, one, Jesus was gone away, for three years they followed 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:03.300 Jesus. 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:06.200 This has been their desire to pursue him. 00:05:06.200 --> 00:05:11.340 They see him as the Messiah, the anointed one, the king who is to come to deliver his kingdom. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.000 And now he tells them that he's going away. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.920 So their soul is troubled that he's going to die. 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:23.440 He delivers to them that he's going to be betrayed by one of the closest followers, one of the 12 would betray him. 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:30.860 And he even tells Peter at the end of chapter 13, that, 'Peter, you will even deny me.'" So 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:38.700 why Jesus says this is a related, one, to his own personal experience and walking through adversity, having that own anxiety 00:05:38.700 --> 00:05:40.740 within in his soul. 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:48.940 And two, recognizing that the disciples need to know how to walk in faith in 00:05:48.940 --> 00:05:56.800 these moments, "Let not your heart be troubled." In chapter 13, 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:03.560 we saw two responses to the circumstances, that were not healthy. 00:06:04.760 --> 00:06:11.820 And what I mean is, remember when they were in the Upper Room, Jesus declares to the disciples, "I'm going to die. 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:19.200 Not only I'm going into die, one of you is going to betray me." And the question of the disciples, interesting question 00:06:19.200 --> 00:06:21.840 they asked Jesus, "Is it I, Lord? 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:23.840 Is it I, Lord? 00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:30.960 Is it I, Lord?" Which is a pretty profound question to ask in the moment. 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:31.770 I mean, you would know... 00:06:32.140 --> 00:06:39.140 I'm assuming if you were spending these last hours with Jesus, if you were one of the disciples in the Upper Room that if you were about 00:06:39.140 --> 00:06:43.660 to betray the Son of God, you would probably know if it were you, right? 00:06:44.820 --> 00:06:52.640 And the disciples are asking the question, "Jesus, is it I?" And it gives us a little bit of insight to the circumstances, the moment, that 00:06:52.640 --> 00:06:54.440 they are starting to feel the pressure. 00:06:54.440 --> 00:06:59.920 They see the tide turning against Jesus and they're seeing the writing on the wall that their days are numbered. 00:07:01.020 --> 00:07:08.160 And I speculate a little bit in the life of the disciples here that most likely the leadership of Israel has 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:15.320 approached all of the disciples in a private manner, trying to see if they could get one of them to crack, to betray Jesus. 00:07:16.460 --> 00:07:23.480 And that's why I think all of them are asking the question this moment, "Which one of it is it, Jesus?" Because all of them have felt the pressure of the 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:30.240 circumstance and all of [inaudible 00:07:25] any moment probably felt that they could just run away from Christ and one of them does, Judas. 00:07:31.140 --> 00:07:38.140 Judas [inaudible 00:07:32] gets labeled in history as that coward who turns in the Son of God and that of all of the things 00:07:38.140 --> 00:07:42.320 to be known for in history, I'm pretty sure that label is the worst one, right? 00:07:43.380 --> 00:07:48.380 And Judas turns in the Son of God, he's a coward. 00:07:51.020 --> 00:07:55.330 And at the same time, at the end of the story, you see Peter. 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:04.260 Peter gets angry about the circumstance, that at one point, he even lops off the ear of the high priest servant, 00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:06.680 and Jesus heals that ear. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.580 That's how the end of Jesus's day... 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:13.640 Moments ago before he goes to the cross, as Peter is so angry about what's going to happen to Jesus. 00:08:13.700 --> 00:08:20.320 He tells Jesus, "No way." He pulls out a sword and he starts to fight to defend Jesus and he's angry. 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:28.420 But when I look in both of those circumstances, whether Judas, who just walks as a coward or 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:33.820 Peter, who is angry, I feel both hearts are driven the same way. 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:39.740 And what I mean is, honestly, anger is really the disguise of a coward. 00:08:41.380 --> 00:08:48.820 And what I mean is Peter in those moments is so afraid about what he might lose that rather than just become like 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:56.320 a coward and hopeless, he decides to fight to try to hold onto what he's afraid to lose. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:03.420 Both individuals, whether Judas or Peter, they're both concerned to a level that one runs away and 00:09:03.420 --> 00:09:04.760 the other decides to fight. 00:09:06.180 --> 00:09:09.180 But Jesus, in these moments, teaches a different path. 00:09:11.560 --> 00:09:19.200 Jesus talks about the strength of your faith in circumstances, to the point where he can say to us, "Do 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:26.280 not let your heart be troubled." Now we talked about why did Jesus say it, related 00:09:26.280 --> 00:09:29.010 to his own personal experience and the need of the disciples. 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:36.060 But I think the bigger question for us when Jesus gives this statement is, why should we believe it? 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:40.260 Why should we believe it? 00:09:42.420 --> 00:09:50.580 Or if you haven't gone through a circumstance in life where you felt this sort of angst where your life has been troubled, you 00:09:50.580 --> 00:09:51.660 will, right? 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:59.700 I mean, maybe you might be so fortunate as to live your entire life in some sort of comfort or luxury, but 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:03.780 at some point in your life, you're going to come to the end of your days. 00:10:05.880 --> 00:10:09.000 And there, welling up within you could be a concern, [inaudible 00:10:08]. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:13.140 Why should we believe what Jesus says? 00:10:13.280 --> 00:10:20.340 "Do not let your heart be troubled." And the first answer of your blank here under this question, it's to say 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:27.360 this, "Because of who Jesus is." He wants us 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:34.860 to base our ability to trust in this statement, not in ourselves, but 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:37.900 in his identity and what that represents for us. 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:45.420 In fact, if you go on just a little bit further in verse one, John 14, verse one, it says, "Do not let your heart be troubled." And then Jesus does this, "Believe 00:10:45.420 --> 00:10:52.580 in God, believe also in me." He wants us to equate the significance of who 00:10:52.580 --> 00:10:59.960 God is and our understanding of God and the authority of God and the sovereignty of God and everything in this God's 00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:02.540 control, the God that created everything, right? 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:09.920 He's looking to the Jewish people and saying, "You and your monotheistic society, who has this faith in this one God, as 00:11:09.920 --> 00:11:17.080 you believe in God, I want you to equate that same belief in who I am." In the gospel of John, John talks frequently about 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:18.880 this idea of believing in. 00:11:19.660 --> 00:11:25.460 It's really the first time in Greek literature that we've discovered this, the word believe connected to the word in. 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:32.820 There's talk of belief in Greek literature, but never before has it's taken these two words, believing in and associated them together. 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:35.140 And what John is referring to here is this idea of trust. 00:11:36.020 --> 00:11:37.920 When he talks about believing in, what he means is trust. 00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:45.940 And so what Jesus is saying is, "As you have trusted in God, what you need to do in these moments is also trust in 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:50.040 me." Which is sort of backwards to the moment, right? 00:11:50.060 --> 00:11:57.370 You think about what Jesus has just declared to the disciples, it would be opposite of what would be innate in their nature under the circumstance. 00:11:58.420 --> 00:12:02.320 "You're leaving because you're dying and you're telling us to trust in you. 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.130 What is there to trust in when you're no longer here? 00:12:05.300 --> 00:12:12.380 We've given up everything to pursue you because we felt you were the Messiah who was to bring the kingdom and now you're saying the exact opposite 00:12:12.380 --> 00:12:19.480 of where we feel our souls should go in these moments." And we see it from the disciples after Jesus is taken to be crucified, they run away 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:20.000 and hide. 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:24.130 That's what they feel in their nature they should do because the writing is on the wall. 00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:28.380 The Jewish leaders are killing Jesus and now they feel their own life is at risk. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:32.850 And Jesus is saying, "Rather than this, here's what I want you to do. 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:41.920 Lean harder into me." This idea of believing in or trusting is not wishful 00:12:41.920 --> 00:12:42.200 hope. 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:51.620 We talk about faith, typically in our culture today, we sort of antiquate faith with the idea of just guessing 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:52.600 and hoping you're right. 00:12:53.020 --> 00:12:54.040 "I sure hope so. 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:55.400 You just got to have faith. 00:12:55.420 --> 00:13:02.540 You just got to be blind about the circumstance and in the end, just hope you were the one that were right out of all the beliefs that you can have in this world." But that's not the way the Bible 00:13:02.540 --> 00:13:03.500 talks about faith. 00:13:05.060 --> 00:13:12.380 There's a degree of certainty that comes with our faith because our faith is rooted in historical 00:13:12.380 --> 00:13:13.400 reliability. 00:13:14.640 --> 00:13:20.460 And what Jesus is saying to the disciples here is, "Look, in these moments, I know you're concerned. 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:27.580 I know there's this trouble welling up within you, but I need you to lean harder into who I am 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:35.000 and see who I am connected to who God is because I am God, and you're going to find that this works 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:42.380 out in your favor." And what we discover as believers on the backside of this is the resurrection of Jesus, 00:13:42.400 --> 00:13:44.580 his ability to overcome the grave. 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:51.600 So because of who Jesus is, this gives us a place to put our faith in him. 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:59.120 Jesus is showing in this section that faith in God is not separate from faith in who he is. 00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:08.660 What Jesus is really saying to the disciples is, "Look, you need a bigger God, you 00:14:08.660 --> 00:14:16.240 need a bigger God and I need you to see me as that God, and here's why." Because when Jesus is 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:22.580 resurrected from the grave, what it's going to demonstrate to the disciples is nothing can stop Christ. 00:14:24.640 --> 00:14:31.460 And his promises that he makes to us are true because not even the grave can hold him. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:40.000 That Jesus, in his resurrection, is seen as favorable to the Father because his life has been accepted 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:41.460 as our sacrifice. 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:48.940 And the resurrection is the proof that validates for us, that Jesus has been approved by 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:54.280 the Father in his sacrifice on our behalf, we need a bigger God. 00:14:56.660 --> 00:15:03.860 Within the last couple of weeks, I spent some, let's say quality time with an individual, not a part of our church, that had just gone 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:05.780 through some difficulty in life. 00:15:07.180 --> 00:15:14.480 And it was an interesting conversation because everything that we discussed was this laundry list 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:18.960 of going historical with their life of everything bad that had happened to them. 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:26.660 And some things rough, other things you hear, and you think, "How are you not past this?" 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:31.780 But it was just this laundry list of everything in their life. 00:15:31.780 --> 00:15:38.900 Just reviewing it over and over and sharing every detail with me like 40 years after the fact, there's going to be something done 00:15:38.900 --> 00:15:39.200 about it. 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:42.730 And finally, I just looked at the person and said, "You know what you need? 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:51.760 You need a bigger God, because right now in your life, you see yourself as the judge and jury that needs 00:15:51.760 --> 00:15:55.060 to compensate for everything bad that's ever happened to you. 00:15:57.760 --> 00:16:04.940 But if you had a bigger God, you'd be able to understand and see that 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:11.480 this God holds it all in his hands and he cares for you. 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:14.960 He cares for you. 00:16:15.520 --> 00:16:22.680 That all of this stuff you're carrying in your life, there is a God who 00:16:22.680 --> 00:16:30.100 has a plan to do things, to rectify and bring the vengeance and bring justice 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:37.440 and to bring you grace and to reconcile all wrong that's ever happened in your life, that's far greater 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.500 than anything you're ever going to do in your own strength. 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:46.680 You need a bigger God." And this is what Jesus wants the disciples to begin to understand here. 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:53.260 Jesus is saying, "Look, as you've thought about the Father and how great he is, I need you to see me as the same. 00:16:54.640 --> 00:17:00.080 Believe in God, believe also in me, because what I'm about to do, the last chapter has not been written yet. 00:17:01.880 --> 00:17:09.660 You need to see a God who has pursued you with his life, who has given everything for you and has been victorious in all 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:11.180 of it on your behalf. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:18.300 You need a bigger God." And Jesus is giving this thought to the disciples to help 00:17:18.300 --> 00:17:25.440 them see in this moment that the reason that we get into despair as people is because 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:26.300 we lose hope. 00:17:28.520 --> 00:17:36.100 We lose hope but when we see a God who is greater than our circumstances, it gives us a place to move from despair 00:17:36.100 --> 00:17:42.570 to great anticipation in what is to come because he is greater than our circumstance. 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:44.840 So, when we look at a verse like this... 00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:51.940 Guys, I think it's important to say, "Look, it's not possible to remove all trouble that you're going 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:57.700 through in life." I'm not saying to you, look, when you look at this passage, that never again will your soul feel angst. 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:05.760 What I'm saying is when we look at a passage like this, because of a passage like this, we have a truth to declare to our soul when 00:18:05.760 --> 00:18:06.540 it does feel angst. 00:18:09.600 --> 00:18:13.040 And then as we have a greater God than our circumstance. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.110 So here's the question for you. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.060 Does Jesus have credibility in your life? 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:26.320 I mean, who is this Jesus, right? 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.260 That is the most, I think, important question we can answer. 00:18:31.320 --> 00:18:38.320 I think it's what John has unfolded for us for the last 13 chapters leading into this so that we could see the very heart of 00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:41.060 God and our lives could begin to trust in this God. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:48.220 To see him in a personal way, that as he pursued the lives of individuals in the first century, that God is still alive today, pursuing your soul with the 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:55.260 same desires that he's saying to his disciples in John 14, he says to his disciples today that this lesson that he taught 00:18:55.260 --> 00:19:00.440 in the Upper Room, he wants your heart to rest in this section of scripture. 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.780 Does Jesus have credibility in your life? 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:11.140 Trust, trust is the most valuable commodity if you were to experience intimacy 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:12.780 with him. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.760 Do you trust in Jesus in this way? 00:19:20.760 --> 00:19:28.260 When Colossians chapter one and two were written, the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Colossians, and in chapter one, verse 15 to 17, 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:35.480 especially, he describes for us the significance of who Jesus is, how he created all things 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:38.580 within his hand, and all things consist by him and for him. 00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:45.860 And then in chapter two, verse nine, he says this about Jesus, "In Jesus, the fullness of deity dwells in bodily 00:19:45.860 --> 00:19:46.100 form. 00:19:48.600 --> 00:19:52.120 All of that God is, wrapped up in Christ for you. 00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:57.580 For you believe in God, believe also in me." That's number one. 00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:58.400 Why should we believe? 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:01.600 Because of who he is, and number two, because of what Jesus says. 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:06.700 In verse two and to the first half of verse three, look at what he says in this section of scripture. 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:13.760 He says, "In my Father's house are many rooms." I'm just going to break this down just section by section for a minute, I'm 00:20:13.760 --> 00:20:18.510 going to explain the bigger picture of what Jesus is saying here because of what he says, this is very powerful. 00:20:18.760 --> 00:20:26.080 He says, "In my Father's house are many rooms." And what Jesus is saying here is, he's not emphasizing the size 00:20:26.080 --> 00:20:27.140 of the house. 00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:32.860 That's not he's point of what he's telling you, but what he wants you to understand is the permanence of the place for which he is calling you. 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:38.500 There exists a place for which you belong as a follower of Jesus. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.740 That this is a permanent dwelling that Jesus desires for your life, this is why he came. 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:45.920 This is not about God. 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:47.350 God's got a mansion and it's ginormous. 00:20:47.620 --> 00:20:50.010 That's not what he's saying, which he does and it is. 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:54.080 But what he wants you to understand is the permanence of where God is leading your life. 00:20:55.040 --> 00:21:02.190 And he says, "If it were not so, I would have told you." Meaning, when it comes to faith, Jesus doesn't want to just give you false hope. 00:21:03.060 --> 00:21:09.420 He's not just trying to puff you up so that way you can just wishfully look for something that doesn't exist. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.540 This is not what Jesus is saying. 00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:13.100 This is not false hope for your life. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.320 This is certainty for you. 00:21:16.580 --> 00:21:23.700 "If it were not so, I would have told you." When I consider the significance of what he's saying to you 00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:31.100 personally, this is a very important phrase that you find your security in what he is saying for your life, that you own 00:21:31.100 --> 00:21:33.320 this passage of scripture. 00:21:33.320 --> 00:21:40.500 Because what I find in life is when you interact with people, no one that you interact with in life is like, "I'm the person going to hell." Everyone assumes 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:42.620 they're the person going to heaven, right? 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:49.380 But when we read this, we want to read this with absolute certainty that when Jesus says, "You," in this section of scripture, he means me. 00:21:50.280 --> 00:21:53.140 So he say, "Look, in my Father's house are many rooms. 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.620 This is a permanent place for you, I'm not giving you false hope. 00:21:55.620 --> 00:22:02.050 If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:14.560 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'm coming again, and will take you to myself." 00:22:15.040 --> 00:22:20.800 Now think about, for just a moment, these are the final moments of Jesus's life. 00:22:23.540 --> 00:22:30.600 If you knew what you were doing was a sham, right now is when you pack up shop and run, 00:22:30.800 --> 00:22:31.040 right? 00:22:31.040 --> 00:22:33.780 This is it, this is your escape route. 00:22:34.120 --> 00:22:41.220 Understand, when life gets difficult, when the building's burning down, when you're inside of a facility and the ground 00:22:41.280 --> 00:22:46.120 starts to shake because of an earthquake, I'll tell you what people do, it's every man for themselves, right? 00:22:46.340 --> 00:22:50.140 Grab what you and yours and you get lost and you hope everyone else can make it out as well. 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.440 Save yourself before you can even begin to think about someone else. 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:54.680 [inaudible 00:22:54] this is what we tell you on the planes. 00:22:54.840 --> 00:23:01.880 Plane goes down, grab the oxygen and you suck it in yourself before you give it to somebody else, it's going to do you no good to share when you're going to be passed 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:03.200 out because you can't breathe. 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:08.100 Take care of you first and then maybe if you've got some time, you can think about some other people. 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:15.300 That's generally how we go, every man for themselves, and the disciples in these moments, Jesus has declared, "Look, the house is on fire, everything's 00:23:15.300 --> 00:23:18.180 going down." But what does Jesus do? 00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:21.140 He doesn't run. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:30.280 With more authority and certainty, he continues to share with us what he 00:23:30.280 --> 00:23:34.420 knows is true for your future. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:39.820 I mean, he goes to that cross with arms wide open, not fighting against it. 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:44.520 Hands completely accepting the nails that are about to pierce it. 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:44.900 Why? 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:48.120 Because he knows, he knows [inaudible 00:23:48]. 00:23:48.120 --> 00:23:55.520 Hebrews says this, "For the joy set before him, he endured the cross." It's incredible 00:23:55.520 --> 00:24:02.580 to see that the demeanor of Christ in these final moments that are, for us, we would say catastrophic, but 00:24:02.580 --> 00:24:05.520 for Jesus, it's exactly why he came. 00:24:05.540 --> 00:24:08.380 And this is what his demeanor says to us. 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:13.030 Without even having to echo the words, "You are not forgotten. 00:24:15.860 --> 00:24:22.990 In these final moments, my life is being sacrificed for you, but what's on my heart is not mine well-being, 00:24:23.020 --> 00:24:30.080 but yours, because you are not forgotten." In the midst of a moment where your soul 00:24:30.080 --> 00:24:37.340 feels anxious and you feel distant, you might ask the question, "God, where are you?" This is Jesus's declaration to you, that, "I'm right here with 00:24:37.340 --> 00:24:37.860 you. 00:24:38.060 --> 00:24:44.600 You are not forgotten." And let me just tell you, what Jesus says here, because of what Jesus says, this is why we should believe it. 00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:48.240 Let me just paint for you the bigger picture of what Christ is saying for us. 00:24:48.340 --> 00:24:55.660 This is the most important thing I think of this section of scripture that your soul can grab a hold of because what Jesus is saying is a 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:00.440 first century response to a betrothal between a husband and wife. 00:25:02.300 --> 00:25:09.380 When you think about the illustration that Jesus is giving here, as it relates to a betrothal, the most intimate of relationships that we 00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:11.340 have in life is marriage. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:19.590 And the covenant that we have in marriage is a life covenant to love and care for someone else, for their well-being. 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:25.020 It's a giving of all you are to help someone else become all that God has called them to be. 00:25:25.020 --> 00:25:30.480 That is the marital covenant that God gifts us with to experience in this world. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:35.500 It's the most sacred, intimate of relationships and of covenants that we can have as people. 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:40.920 That when you say, "I do," you say to your spouse... 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:49.260 We don't enter in marriage, as Christians, because of what we have to get or what we want, we enter into marriage 00:25:49.260 --> 00:25:52.740 because of what we desire to give for the benefit of someone else. 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:54.140 That is the marital covenant. 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:57.220 Sacrificing all that I am for your benefit. 00:25:58.780 --> 00:26:04.420 And Jesus in these moments, in chapter 13, has just said to the disciples, "Look, my life for yours. 00:26:04.520 --> 00:26:11.780 I'm about to die and I'm gone." Disciples, the angst to that, having giving up everything to pursue Jesus, they're wondering, "What is 00:26:11.780 --> 00:26:13.140 this for us? 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:14.040 Where does this leave us? 00:26:14.060 --> 00:26:19.180 What are we supposed to do?" And this panic, that Jesus looks at them and says, "Don't let your heart be troubled. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:28.020 And let me tell you why, because I am producing for you the most intimate of relationships you 00:26:28.020 --> 00:26:28.880 will experience. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:38.200 It is this covenant of my life for you to help you become all that you were created to be in me." In 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:45.200 Jesus's day, when a young man desired to marry a young woman, he would go to the father and 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.960 he would discuss with the father, a dowery that he would pay for the bride. 00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:57.880 And once they agreed upon the dowery, the bride and the groom would partake of a communion glass together as 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:05.100 if to say, "These two are now the truth." In Jewish culture, at that moment, when they were betrothed, if the young man were 00:27:05.100 --> 00:27:12.280 to die, even though the wedding had not taken place, their marriage had not been consummated yet, if the young man were to die, that young 00:27:12.280 --> 00:27:13.720 lady would be considered a widow. 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:22.580 Once they partook of communion together, the young man would leave and when he left, his number one goal would 00:27:22.580 --> 00:27:25.320 be to prepare a place for his future bride. 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:30.300 And when he completed the place, he would return for his bride. 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:36.010 And as he would return for his bride, the people would await for his coming. 00:27:36.120 --> 00:27:43.120 And when he would receive his bride, they would celebrate all the way back to the home that the young man had prepared for his bribe, where 00:27:43.120 --> 00:27:46.500 they would consummate their marriage and enter into that holy union together. 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:50.530 And here's what Jesus is saying for you. 00:27:51.760 --> 00:27:58.840 "I have come to the father and we have agreed upon a dowery and the dowery 00:27:58.840 --> 00:28:02.800 for your life to belong to me, is my life for you. 00:28:04.520 --> 00:28:06.480 And I have given my life for you. 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:10.240 And now I am going to prepare a place for you. 00:28:10.800 --> 00:28:18.360 And I will return for you to receive you to myself that where I am, there you will be also." 00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:24.060 What Jesus is saying for us is he is creating the new covenant in his blood. 00:28:25.620 --> 00:28:32.680 When we think about what Jesus has done for us on the cross, some people think that Jesus had to 00:28:32.780 --> 00:28:36.010 pay Satan for our debt, and that is not true. 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:44.000 Our debt was paid to the Father because God is just and our sins were an offense against God. 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:51.580 And Jesus, on your behalf, agreed to pay what you owed because of your sins, because it would cost the rest of eternity. 00:28:53.900 --> 00:29:01.320 An eternal God became flesh and paid for your sin, that you could experience relationship 00:29:01.320 --> 00:29:03.580 with him for all of your days. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:13.400 It's because of who Jesus is and because of what Jesus says, that we can 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:15.440 believe in him. 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:22.100 And the third is this, because of where Jesus leads. 00:29:24.080 --> 00:29:31.600 The last half of verse three, he says this, "So that where I am, there you 00:29:31.600 --> 00:29:39.660 also will be." Guys, when we think about heaven, I 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:46.000 typically think when we think about heaven, as people, we misconstrue what God's picture of heaven really is. 00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:49.960 We tend to see heaven sometimes this way, this is the presentation. 00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:57.900 "You don't want to go to hell, do you?" "No, I don't want to go to hell." "Okay, if you don't want to go to hell, then take Jesus, so you can go to heaven." And we make Jesus the tool 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:05.060 to leverage so that we can be in this place that we think is heaven, which is our ultimate goal, but that's not the Bible's picture 00:30:05.060 --> 00:30:05.420 of heaven. 00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:10.480 The Bible's picture of heaven is Jesus. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.520 Jesus is the goal of our heart. 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:18.200 Jesus is the goal of our life because where Jesus is, that is heaven. 00:30:19.620 --> 00:30:22.620 Just some physical place without the presence of Christ, that is not heaven. 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:25.260 Where Jesus is, that is heaven. 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:30.480 And that's what he's saying to us in this passage of scripture is, "You know what you get with this? 00:30:31.540 --> 00:30:37.680 My presence forever." No one has ever loved you to the degree that Jesus has loved you. 00:30:37.820 --> 00:30:42.400 No one's going to care for eternity the way that Jesus wants to care for you for eternity. 00:30:42.460 --> 00:30:48.980 What Jesus desires is you with him forever, and the moment you trust in Jesus, that's when your relationship with him starts. 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:56.000 It's not when you die and get to a location, it's in the moment you put your faith in Christ that you enter into this union, that God 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.560 has promised you because of what Jesus has done by paying the dowry for your life. 00:31:01.760 --> 00:31:09.500 Because of where Jesus leads, the greatest gift we have is 00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:16.820 his favorable presence in your life that God would desire to be with you in any 00:31:16.820 --> 00:31:22.290 circumstance you face in life, that his presence is always there and Jesus sees. 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:23.290 And then he goes on verse four. 00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:26.740 "And you know the way where I am going. 00:31:27.640 --> 00:31:29.320 Saying, "Look, this should not be a shocker. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:31.550 This is what my whole life has been about. 00:31:32.100 --> 00:31:39.300 You know the way that I'm going." And then in verse five, it kind of shares with us in the backdrop that when we live this life, that God calls 00:31:39.300 --> 00:31:46.480 us to, in the midst of our soul, experiencing some anxiety in times of uncertainty and learning to share this truth with us, 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:47.960 it's not always perfect. 00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:49.200 In fact, sometimes it's messy. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:58.120 And in verse five, Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you're going." If you think for three years, you'd 00:31:58.120 --> 00:32:01.200 follow Jesus, and he's like, "Okay, peace out guys." You're like, "Wait a minute. 00:32:01.220 --> 00:32:02.920 Where are you going? 00:32:02.980 --> 00:32:04.180 How do we know we're going to be okay? 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:05.980 You've said this so confidently. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:08.740 How do we know the way?" That's what he says. 00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:14.470 So at the end of chapter 13, Peter actually already asked this question, "How do we know where you're going in?" And Jesus really... 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:19.280 He hadn't answered yet, but in chapter 14, he starts to answer it for us. 00:32:19.380 --> 00:32:21.440 And then Thomas shows up and he's like, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. 00:32:21.460 --> 00:32:24.660 I just need more clarity here." So he asks the same question again. 00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:27.860 And then he adds this to it, "How do we know the way? 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:33.640 Jesus, how do we know?" And so then Jesus gives us this concise statement. 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:40.760 He takes everything that he just declared to us and he gives this summary phrase, is a very powerful phrase, is one of those passages in the Bible 00:32:40.760 --> 00:32:47.980 that it's just a good memory verse, John 14, verse six, Jesus says this [inaudible 00:32:47], he says, 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:55.060 "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to 00:32:55.060 --> 00:33:02.100 the Father, except through me." Jesus concisely declares 00:33:02.100 --> 00:33:04.520 for us everything that we just said in these first five verses, right? 00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:12.140 The way that we trust in where we're going, he is the way, he is the bridge that connects 00:33:12.140 --> 00:33:15.440 us to our eternity with God. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:18.180 That's Jesus, he is that passage way. 00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:20.220 He is the way in which we [inaudible 00:33:20]. 00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:26.220 It's not this idea, it's not this system, it's a person, it's Jesus. 00:33:26.220 --> 00:33:33.340 When you think about what Alpine Bible Church is about, it's not this calling to religion, it's this calling into relationship with Christ because it's what 00:33:33.340 --> 00:33:38.560 he's done for us, it's the way of Jesus, we trust in him. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:44.260 And then he says this, that he is the truth, we trust because of who he is. 00:33:44.260 --> 00:33:49.240 So there's where he's going, he is the way, and because of who he is, he is the truth. 00:33:50.580 --> 00:33:53.340 Truth is the highest virtue in life. 00:33:54.060 --> 00:33:57.320 It is the building block for every other step that you will take. 00:33:57.320 --> 00:34:04.760 When you have the truth, you can then follow the correct path, the truth is essential to understand how we should live, 00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:08.600 the truth, the highest virtue in life. 00:34:08.600 --> 00:34:11.100 He's the way, he is the truth and then he is the life. 00:34:11.100 --> 00:34:12.880 We trust because of what he offers. 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:19.040 So there's where we're going, the way, who he is, the truth and what he offers, life. 00:34:20.540 --> 00:34:27.659 If you think about what God is, God in the beginning, he spoke, life came into existence and then he formed us 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:32.159 and breathed into us the breath of life and mankind became a living being. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:40.679 And as soon as man sin in scripture, we cut ourselves off from the life source, who is God, because sin separates 00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:45.100 us in relationship and therefore sin has separated us in our relationship with God. 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:49.360 And Jesus has come to pay for that sin. 00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:54.719 Reconnecting us to the life source, he is life itself. 00:34:56.340 --> 00:35:03.680 And now being in him, trusting in him and having life through him, he 00:35:03.680 --> 00:35:07.520 becomes our life source for all of eternity. 00:35:09.240 --> 00:35:16.240 What Jesus gives us in verse six is this robust theological claim on the significance of who 00:35:16.340 --> 00:35:16.820 he is. 00:35:17.300 --> 00:35:25.220 "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but by me." Some 00:35:25.220 --> 00:35:31.200 people read a passage like this and get frustrated by the exclusivity of Jesus's statement. 00:35:33.560 --> 00:35:41.620 But I want you to know Jesus intended it to be, in this passage, not primarily about exclusivity, though 00:35:41.620 --> 00:35:49.080 it is certainly exclusive, Jesus intended it to be an affirmation that the disciples 00:35:49.080 --> 00:35:56.760 had found the right way and that they had the privilege of being able to follow after 00:35:56.760 --> 00:35:57.560 Jesus. 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:07.420 The only reason you can find the way, is because the truth has come to 00:36:07.560 --> 00:36:08.800 give you life. 00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:13.640 This is a privilege for your soul. 00:36:15.100 --> 00:36:22.520 This is intended to be an encouragement to you, that if you have Jesus, you have what 00:36:22.520 --> 00:36:27.780 you need, the way, the truth and the life. 00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:35.120 Every once in a while, I'll meet someone, and even a Christian, that wants to back away from the significance of this statement. 00:36:36.600 --> 00:36:43.840 And they'll do it by saying something like this, "In the end, as long as you're good, that's all that matters." Because that's 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:44.760 not what Jesus says. 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:51.180 What Jesus says is, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. 00:36:51.640 --> 00:36:58.660 No one gets to the Father, but by me." Jesus made it crystal clear that if there were another way, 00:36:59.660 --> 00:37:03.220 he would not have come to provide his way, because his way cost his life. 00:37:05.040 --> 00:37:08.780 And there's been no higher payment for your life than what Jesus has paid. 00:37:10.640 --> 00:37:17.640 "I am the way, the truth and the life." This is an encouragement for us not to step away from the exclusivity of the statement, but to run harder 00:37:17.640 --> 00:37:24.700 into it because the significance of what it means for your soul and the certainty that you can have in Jesus and people will say, "As 00:37:24.700 --> 00:37:31.740 long as you're good, that's all that matters." But here's the reality, [inaudible 00:37:29] people can be good all day long and never 00:37:31.740 --> 00:37:33.140 have a relationship with God. 00:37:34.600 --> 00:37:41.720 And we could ask the question, "And if you don't really have God, how can you fully understand what it means to be good anyway?" I 00:37:41.720 --> 00:37:45.120 mean, Jesus gave us the warning of the significance of who he was. 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:52.500 And in Matthew chapter seven verses 19 to 22, "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not do many great works in 00:37:52.500 --> 00:37:59.620 your name?' And he will say to them, 'Depart from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.'" And Jesus 00:37:59.620 --> 00:38:06.680 say in John seven, "The most important thing is not what you do, it's in who you trust in." He says, "I never 00:38:06.680 --> 00:38:10.120 knew you." And refers to people that are doing good as workers of iniquity. 00:38:12.740 --> 00:38:15.900 The significance of Jesus matters. 00:38:17.120 --> 00:38:24.280 This passage matters because of who he is the very foundation for why my soul, in 00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:31.460 the midst of adversity, can still hope because I have trusted in one who is victorious and when life was falling apart around 00:38:31.460 --> 00:38:38.500 him, the pursuit of his heart was not for himself, it was for me, he gave everything for me to the point that he offered his 00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:45.950 life as a dowery for me, that he could lead the way for all of eternity, that I could be secure in him. 00:38:48.540 --> 00:38:56.600 Don't back away from the power of this statement because the power of this statement holds 00:38:56.600 --> 00:39:02.240 the security of your soul and the significance of who Christ is. 00:39:03.600 --> 00:39:06.060 Let me give you a little quote, a couple of things to close here. 00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:11.780 There was a man in Nazi, Germany named Victor Frankl. 00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:14.940 He was actually in a concentration camp twice in his life. 00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:21.280 And he gave an interesting statement about the idea of the significance, I think, of Christ. 00:39:22.180 --> 00:39:29.520 Of how important it is that we encourage the society and in John 14, verse six and the significance of Jesus. 00:39:29.540 --> 00:39:36.640 Don't cower away from the power of who Christ is, but rest your soul by faith in the power 00:39:36.640 --> 00:39:37.510 of who Christ is. 00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:46.800 And he said this, "I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:53.980 and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some Ministry or other in Berlin, but rather 00:39:53.980 --> 00:40:01.200 at the desks in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers." What 00:40:01.200 --> 00:40:03.640 he's saying is this, do you know where the world got off track? 00:40:06.100 --> 00:40:09.100 It wasn't in the Ministry of Defense in Berlin. 00:40:10.620 --> 00:40:12.000 It wasn't when they went to war. 00:40:13.180 --> 00:40:19.020 It wasn't even when they got to the position of leadership, the Nazi regime, it was years before that. 00:40:20.520 --> 00:40:27.580 When their minds were being trained in a different pattern, really when they let go of the significance of who Christ was, and they started 00:40:27.580 --> 00:40:31.920 to follow a different faith or belief in a different type of God or idol. 00:40:34.080 --> 00:40:35.470 That's where the problem happened. 00:40:37.680 --> 00:40:44.980 And his statement is intended to be an encouragement to the society to say this, "You don't change society today 00:40:44.980 --> 00:40:52.080 by waking up and saying, 'Let's change society today.' You change society when you begin to reach a younger generation over the 00:40:52.080 --> 00:40:59.360 importance of who Jesus is, it's when you help a generation raise up in the validation 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:06.380 of Christ and you don't back away from what Christ says about himself, that hearts and lives begin to change 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:13.740 and a generation moves within a country and things become different." The reason I want you to see the importance of 00:41:14.080 --> 00:41:17.240 where our heart rests and the truth of who Christ is, because... 00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:18.580 Look at this next picture for just a moment. 00:41:19.780 --> 00:41:22.300 This is going to pull your heartstrings a little bit. 00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:29.580 I want you to know I don't just simply want to work up your emotions, but I want you to see this through a spiritual lens for a minute. 00:41:30.620 --> 00:41:37.040 This picture was taken in 1993 by a man named Kevin Carter who won the Pulitzer Prize for this picture. 00:41:37.140 --> 00:41:38.240 He was in Southern Sudan. 00:41:39.140 --> 00:41:46.140 And if you know anything about Southern Sudan, this was a war torn country that also experienced extreme famine because of the battles that were happening 00:41:46.140 --> 00:41:46.980 in Sudan. 00:41:47.720 --> 00:41:54.760 Just moments before he was leaving Sudan, he happened to take this picture on his way out as he 00:41:54.760 --> 00:41:55.920 was getting ready to catch his plane. 00:41:57.400 --> 00:42:01.760 And what this is a young little girl who's trying to make it to a UN food camp. 00:42:03.060 --> 00:42:08.680 She's just a kilometer away and she doesn't have the strength to get there because she's so emaciated and starving. 00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:14.780 And there was a vulture following behind her that's just waiting for her to take her final breath so he could pick the meat off her bones. 00:42:17.080 --> 00:42:23.620 And he snapped this picture and the story goes that he shooed the vulture away and he had to leave. 00:42:23.620 --> 00:42:26.880 He had no time to do anything else because he was going to be late to get out of the country. 00:42:28.620 --> 00:42:34.420 This little girl was just one kilometer away from food that's going to save her life. 00:42:36.120 --> 00:42:39.470 Now I'll let you know, I looked a little further into this picture and she made it. 00:42:39.480 --> 00:42:44.700 Unfortunately, she died in 2007, but in this moment, she made it. 00:42:46.600 --> 00:42:48.820 The reason I show you this picture, one, is... 00:42:49.300 --> 00:42:51.660 Well on a personal note, I'll tell you this... 00:42:53.140 --> 00:42:59.690 Maybe this is too personal, but I get a little frustrated sometimes in our country, [inaudible 00:42:59] watching the Olympics. 00:43:00.180 --> 00:43:07.280 I remember watching the Olympics as a kid and seeing the American flag and being proud and for some reason, this Olympics has just felt like our 00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:08.400 country has just been... 00:43:09.820 --> 00:43:12.120 Just people have not been very thankful. 00:43:13.300 --> 00:43:18.850 I know we're not a perfect country, but we're certainly a blessed country, in the things that we possess. 00:43:21.320 --> 00:43:25.320 There are places in the world that I have been where I've stood next to a mother... 00:43:26.120 --> 00:43:33.780 And I'm a pastor in America, so that means I'm not real wealthy, but I've stood next to mothers in India who were in such dire situations 00:43:33.780 --> 00:43:36.860 that they are intentionally allowing their children to starve. 00:43:38.420 --> 00:43:43.980 Holding them in their arms so that they look as desperate as they can in order to beg for money so they can survive. 00:43:45.240 --> 00:43:52.440 And they will actually have children, let those children die in their arms and go and have another kid so they can be better at begging on 00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:56.300 the streets and continue to starve those children, keeping them barely alive, just so they can have enough money. 00:43:58.220 --> 00:44:00.820 And here we are in a country where people just can't appreciate what they got. 00:44:03.640 --> 00:44:10.640 God's got you in a place in life where you're extremely privileged in comparison to the rest of this world, to 00:44:10.700 --> 00:44:11.240 do something. 00:44:12.340 --> 00:44:17.120 I know when you look at a picture like this, you just want to reach through it and grab that child and be like, "I'll take them. 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:24.540 I will take them." But that moment has passed, but I just want you to know, guys, you can't change everywhere, but you can change somewhere. 00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:31.010 You can change somewhere, do for one what you wish you could do for everyone, you can do something. 00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:38.420 I know in life, you look at your life and you feel like, "Man, I'm not as well off as that person, they should be doing something." I think God's given you plenty in your life to 00:44:38.420 --> 00:44:39.560 be able to do enough where you are. 00:44:39.560 --> 00:44:47.720 And let me just give you one more illustration from this picture as to what I mean, the way that we look at this picture and see this girl physically is 00:44:47.720 --> 00:44:50.500 the way Jesus looks into this world and sees us spiritually. 00:44:52.480 --> 00:44:59.640 I think God is concerned about our physical well-being, but your spiritual need is far worse, I think, even from this picture and what this little girl is facing 00:44:59.640 --> 00:45:00.100 in these moments. 00:45:01.580 --> 00:45:08.600 And because of the desperation of your soul and the emaciation of your spiritual state, God looked down into this world 00:45:08.600 --> 00:45:12.860 and he pursued you with a fury because he loves you. 00:45:14.260 --> 00:45:20.180 He loves you and he's given his life for you that you could have a hope that would transcend the circumstances of today. 00:45:21.560 --> 00:45:28.740 And he looks in these moments and his disciples in the Upper Room, and he says, "Guys, I know the moment is tough, and this is why I want to tell you this, do not let your 00:45:28.740 --> 00:45:29.700 heart be troubled. 00:45:31.460 --> 00:45:33.540 Believe in God, believe also in me. 00:45:33.600 --> 00:45:35.240 In my Father's house are many mansions. 00:45:35.260 --> 00:45:42.960 If it were not so, I would have told you, but behold, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there 00:45:42.960 --> 00:45:50.340 you may be also." That promise of Christ is one that furiously loves 00:45:50.340 --> 00:45:57.380 your life, that wants to bring you in and fill you up to see the joy and the significance of who he is that 00:45:57.380 --> 00:46:02.030 your soul could hope for all of eternity, knowing that in this world, there will be trouble. 00:46:02.040 --> 00:46:07.100 Jesus promises that there will be trouble, but rejoice, because he has overcome. 00:46:09.720 --> 00:46:15.320 This God desires to make all things new because he loves you. 00:46:17.500 --> 00:46:24.780 "If in these moments, your soul would believe in God, believe 00:46:24.780 --> 00:46:29.940 also in me, with all that you are, trusting in all that he is."