SPEAKER_00: Scripture reading for today is John chapter 14, verses 1 through 14.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Scott Braun, and I serve here in Harbor Kids, and I have the privilege of reading God's word in our gathering this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Again, John chapter 14, starting with verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Let not your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_00: Believe in God, believe also in me.
SPEAKER_00: In my father's house are many rooms.
SPEAKER_00: If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
SPEAKER_00: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also.
SPEAKER_00: And you know the way to where I am going.
SPEAKER_00: Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.
SPEAKER_00: How can we know the way?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
SPEAKER_00: No one comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_00: And if you had known me, you would have known my Father also.
SPEAKER_00: From now on, you know him and have seen him.
SPEAKER_00: Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip?
SPEAKER_00: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
SPEAKER_00: How can you say, show us the Father?
SPEAKER_00: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
SPEAKER_00: The words that I say I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
SPEAKER_00: Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on me on the account of the works themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
SPEAKER_00: If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Scott.
SPEAKER_01: Well, good morning, everyone.
SPEAKER_01: Uh before I get started, let me just say how much of a joy it was to serve our Lord on Easter Sunday this last week.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we had 280 people in our gathering, and uh many of them heard the gospel for the very first time because uh you invited, because you welcomed, because you served and you gave and you made a way for people to be here on Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's such a joy to be one of your pastors and such a joy to labor in the gospel alongside of you.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're new to Harbor, welcome.
SPEAKER_01: My name is Trevor.
SPEAKER_01: I am one of the pastors here, and we're so glad that you've chosen to join us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We are in uh, I think week seven of our sermon series, I am discovering who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: In a world full of opinions about the personal work of Jesus, we wanted to take a few weeks to just examine what Jesus has to say about himself, and that's what we're doing together this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're looking at the statement, I am the way.
SPEAKER_01: And we're continuing to unpack what Jesus has to say about his own identity and his own mission.
SPEAKER_01: Um, when I was in my 20s, I worked at a place called Clorinda Academy.
SPEAKER_01: It was a boarding school for delinquent youth who are transitioning from juvenile detention back into everyday life.
SPEAKER_01: It was one of the most adventurous jobs I've ever had, where some days I'd go to work and be like, man, I can't believe I get to do this job.
SPEAKER_01: All I did was play basketball teenagers all day.
SPEAKER_01: And then the next day I turned up like, I cannot believe I have this job.
SPEAKER_01: All I did was break up fights all day long.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I was in my 20s and in college and met a lot of interesting people, not only those who were in school there, but also uh some of the people who work there.
SPEAKER_01: And one of those people that I met was a school psychologist named Ed.
SPEAKER_01: Ed was the guy who was responsible for doing a psychological evaluation on the students when they found their way at Clarendon Academy, as well as when they exited Clarendon Academy.
SPEAKER_01: And his job was basically to make sure they're in their right mind and safe to go back home.
SPEAKER_01: And Ed was an interesting guy who had a lot of interesting beliefs.
SPEAKER_01: And one of those interesting beliefs was the assumption that it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you're sincere.
SPEAKER_01: In his opinion, there are lots of way to God, and God is completely content for you to believe whatever you want to believe as long as you believe it with a whole heart.
SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who would naively agree with Ed's conclusion.
SPEAKER_01: In a relativistic culture that is concerned with inclusion, there are a lot of people who would look at Ed's assumption and totally agree with it without giving it any second thought.
SPEAKER_01: But as popular as it is, if you begin to examine it a little bit, if you begin to scratch beneath the surface, you begin to realize that it's just simply not true.
SPEAKER_01: Um, take, for example, what happened to me this past Friday.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, not this past Friday, the Good Friday.
SPEAKER_01: Good Friday, I left our gathering here at uh Liberty.
SPEAKER_01: It's probably about 8 30 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: It was stormy, it was rainy, it was dark, uh, it was hard to see, especially for a guy who has bad eyesight.
SPEAKER_01: And uh I was making my way home down um Giles towards 680.
SPEAKER_01: Normally get on the 680 on ramp and head home.
SPEAKER_01: The problem was the on-ramp was blocked.
SPEAKER_01: For some reason or another, I don't know if they were doing road work or whatever, couldn't go that way.
SPEAKER_01: So I continued on around Giles to Harrison that loops around in one of the most unique and difficult streets to like navigate in all of Omaha.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought from Harrison that I was taking a right onto 108th Street and continuing my way home.
SPEAKER_01: And I drove for a little while and started realizing nothing looks familiar.
SPEAKER_01: Where am I?
SPEAKER_01: And so I drove a little further and a little further, and about 10 minutes in, I realized this is not the way to my house.
SPEAKER_01: And what had ended up happening is instead of turning right into 108th Street, I somehow turned right from Harrison Street onto Harrison Street.
SPEAKER_01: And I was driving down Harrison towards South Omaha.
SPEAKER_01: And uh the interesting thing about it was it didn't matter how sincere I was in my belief that I was driving home.
SPEAKER_01: I was completely going the wrong way.
SPEAKER_01: And uh I was in my sincerity, I was sincerely wrong.
SPEAKER_01: So I made a pit stop at the closest tacos truck and turned around and went home.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't really do that, but I probably should have.
SPEAKER_01: Uh all joking aside, though, here's the point.
SPEAKER_01: It actually does matter what you believe, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you believe the wrong thing, you end up going the wrong way and ending up in the wrong place.
SPEAKER_01: If you believe the right thing, you end up going the right way and ending up in the right place.
SPEAKER_01: It's simply not enough for our beliefs to be sincere.
SPEAKER_01: Our beliefs have to be true as well.
SPEAKER_01: Well, in today's passage, we're looking at John chapter 14.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is giving his disciples the news that he is only going to be them with them for a short while longer, and then he's going to go back to be with his heavenly father.
SPEAKER_01: The disciples are feeling a little bit anxious and unsettled about this, so Jesus is trying to uh speak peace into their nervous anxiety by reminding them that he's the truth and that he is the way.
SPEAKER_01: So, to make it easy for us this morning, our big idea is gonna come straight from the text, and that is no one comes to God except through Jesus because he is the way.
SPEAKER_01: And as we kind of explore that argument together, there are three things that I want you to see.
SPEAKER_01: What Jesus is the way to, how Jesus is the way to it, and the difference that it makes.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna start with that first point.
SPEAKER_01: What Jesus is the way to.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bible, go ahead and grab it and open it with me to John chapter 14, and we'll begin in verse one.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Let not your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_01: Believe in God, believe also in me.
SPEAKER_01: In my father's house are many rooms.
SPEAKER_01: If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
SPEAKER_01: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again, and I will take you to myself, that where I am you may also be.
SPEAKER_01: And you know the way to where I am going.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going.
SPEAKER_01: How can we know the way?
SPEAKER_01: So it's the last week of Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually the last night of Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to the cross the following day, and before he leaves his disciples, he tells them two things.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going away and I'm coming back again.
SPEAKER_01: So after Jesus' death and resurrection, he's going to ascend into the heavens, returning back to God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to prepare a place for all who follow him to live with him forever.
SPEAKER_01: And then at some point in the distant future, he's going to come back again and bring all believers with him to live in heaven with him and the Father forever.
SPEAKER_01: Now, from where we sit in Redemptive History, we have the privilege of looking back on that and kind of seeing that all tidied up with a nice little bow.
SPEAKER_01: We're like an audience watching a movie.
SPEAKER_01: And from where we sit, we have the privilege of fast-forwarding to the end of the movie to see how it all ends, and then coming back to this moment and making sense of what's happening here.
SPEAKER_01: But the disciples, they're like characters in the movie.
SPEAKER_01: They're like right in the middle of the plot, and they don't know how this thing ends.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has told them they have a conceptual understanding of what's happening, but they haven't actually lived through it yet, so they don't quite understand exactly what Jesus means or exactly what he's getting at.
SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus says, Hey, you know the way, Thomas kind of has a little freakout moment.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, We have no idea where you're going.
SPEAKER_01: How could you possibly expect us to know the way?
SPEAKER_01: And uh, I love Thomas because he makes me feel so good about myself.
SPEAKER_01: This guy's been with Jesus for three years.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has been telling him time again, sometimes quite explicitly, what's about to happen.
SPEAKER_01: And Thomas is like, Lord, we don't get it.
SPEAKER_01: And I find that really encouraging because as somebody who finds faith sometimes to be a struggle, uh, it gives me a lot of hope knowing that the disciples were literally with Jesus for three years and still struggling to grasp what it means to believe in and follow him.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're here this morning and you're like, I don't know about this whole Christianity thing, it sounds nice, but is it true you're in good company because the early disciples had questions and didn't always get it as well.
SPEAKER_01: So I love Thomas, but at the same time, I really love Jesus as well.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is not bothered by Thomas's comments whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: He immediately just like continues to double down on the very thing that he's already been saying.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, in verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_01: No one comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_01: If you had known me, you would have known my father also.
SPEAKER_01: From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus essentially just repeats himself, but there's one subtle difference.
SPEAKER_01: Did you guys catch it?
SPEAKER_01: He shifts his attention from a place, the Father's house, to a person, the Father Himself.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is essentially saying two things.
SPEAKER_01: One, he's not just a way or one among many ways, he is the way, the only way.
SPEAKER_01: And two, he's not just saying that he's the way to heaven, he's saying that he's the way to God.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there's two ways that you could um interpret this text.
SPEAKER_01: On the one hand, you could interpret this text as a prohibition.
SPEAKER_01: No one comes to God except through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Now, um, as the as there's just simply no other way except through the Son.
SPEAKER_01: You get to the Father through the Son.
SPEAKER_01: And as the father of two kids who I love very much, I can understand where God the Father is coming here, right?
SPEAKER_01: You don't get into my house unless you're willing to accept my kids.
SPEAKER_01: Like we're a package deal.
SPEAKER_01: My the father and the son come together.
SPEAKER_01: That's simply how it works.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to get to the father, you have to come through and with the Son.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's no other way to God except through Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But on the other hand, you could also read this passage as an invitation because it means you can come to God through Jesus Christ because he is the way.
SPEAKER_01: But let me put that into perspective.
SPEAKER_01: When you believe in Jesus, you don't just get God's blessings, you get God Himself.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to think with me for a minute about what that means.
SPEAKER_01: In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So when you come to faith in Jesus Christ, God blesses you with things like forgiveness, righteousness, adoption, salvation, eternal life, a heavenly inheritance, and so much more.
SPEAKER_01: But of all the blessing that God gives, the very best one is the blessing of Himself.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the good news isn't just that if you put your faith in Christ, you get your sins forgiven, or a fresh start, or a place in heaven when you die.
SPEAKER_01: The good news is that when you believe in Jesus, you get God.
SPEAKER_01: To put that in different terms, borrowing from Pastor John Piper, we could say that God is the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what that means: the ultimate goal of the Christian life is not the forgiveness of sins, heaven, or eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: The ultimate goal of the Christian life is God.
SPEAKER_01: Each of these things that we've mentioned, forgiveness, heaven, and eternal life, are not ends in and of themselves.
SPEAKER_01: They are ultimately means to a greater goal.
SPEAKER_01: And that greater goal is God.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiveness, for example, says Pastor John Piper, is precious for one final reason.
SPEAKER_01: It enables you to enjoy a fellowship with God, which is precisely what you were made for.
SPEAKER_01: So forgiveness is not the end.
SPEAKER_01: Fellowship with God is the end.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiveness is simply the means to that end because it's the removal of the sin that keeps us from Him.
SPEAKER_01: So the gospel is the good news about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, not just as a way to get sinners into heaven, but as a way of getting sinners back to God.
SPEAKER_01: And heaven is good news, not simply because there's no evil or no suffering or no difficulty or no sorrow.
SPEAKER_01: Heaven is good news because God is there.
SPEAKER_01: And the if you want biblical proof of this, just look at John chapter 17, verse 3, where Jesus says, This is eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: That they may what?
SPEAKER_01: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
SPEAKER_01: That's the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus Christ, God's Son, would enter into human history to remove that sin that keeps you from God so that you could know and enjoy Him forever.
SPEAKER_01: Of all the blessings that God gives, they all lead to one ultimate blessing.
SPEAKER_01: To bring you back to God for the fullness of everlasting joy.
SPEAKER_01: Several years ago, um, a friend of mine set up a surprise birthday party for me.
SPEAKER_01: I was going through a really difficult season in life.
SPEAKER_01: I was stuck in my head, I was down on myself, I was withdrawing from community, uh withdrawing from my friends, withdrawing from my coworkers, withdrawing from my family.
SPEAKER_01: I'd wake up in the morning depressed, I'd go to bed at night depressed, and uh everything about my life just felt incredibly heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And as my birthday approached, the last thing that I wanted to do was party.
SPEAKER_01: Like I kind of just wanted to crawl into a hole and die and pretend like that was it.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but my friends wouldn't let me do that.
SPEAKER_01: And one night, I'll actually on my birthday in December of I think 2022 or 21 or something like that.
SPEAKER_01: I was sitting down with my family and uh having a nice little dinner, and I heard a knock at my door.
SPEAKER_01: It was my friend Kevin.
SPEAKER_01: And uh without any explanation, he said, get in the car and grab your swim trunks.
SPEAKER_01: And uh I thought, this is called kidnapping.
SPEAKER_01: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, you're not telling me where we're going and you're forcing me into a car against my will.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, You're gonna have a good time, just do what I say.
SPEAKER_01: So I got in the car and uh he began to drive me to an undisclosed location.
SPEAKER_01: Thankfully I wasn't blindfolded or anything, but he uh he drive me, drove me to Ryan's house.
SPEAKER_01: And we got out of the car, we walked inside, we walked into Ryan's kitchen, and there on the kitchen was a massive spread of some of the best food you could possibly imagine.
SPEAKER_01: There's like uh like a man's charcuterie board, right?
SPEAKER_01: And like we're not we're not talking little thin slices of salami, we're talking about like full deer sausages for every man.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're talking some of the best quality cheese and chocolate and drinks and food and I think probably some goodies that Kelsey had made for the event.
SPEAKER_01: And uh there was like every blessing a man could possibly want in that room, right?
SPEAKER_01: And uh so we ate and then we went outside in the like 12 degree December air and we hot tubbed for like three hours.
SPEAKER_01: And while we were in the hot tub, we talked, we laughed, we caught up, and uh each of those guys um they went around the room and just one by one began to encourage me.
SPEAKER_01: Began to speak into some of the difficulties that I was experiencing in life, and uh it was uh an incredible, unforgettable evening.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, when I think of some of my best birthdays, uh that that is easily on the top of the list.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what the best part was?
SPEAKER_01: The best part wasn't the surprise, it wasn't the food, it wasn't the hot tub, it wasn't even the encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: The best part was being with my friends.
SPEAKER_01: All those other blessings, the food, the charcuterie, the sausage, the cheese, the drinks, they were enjoyable in and of themselves.
SPEAKER_01: But what made them better was that I got to enjoy them with the people that I loved.
SPEAKER_01: And the gospel is Jesus doing for us what my friend Kevin did for me.
SPEAKER_01: He's showing up into our life unannounced and he's saying, Hey, come with me.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna enjoy it, I promise.
SPEAKER_01: And when we say yes to Jesus, Jesus not only brings us to a place of spiritual blessings, he brings us back to God, where we get the opportunity to know and enjoy God forever through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what Jesus is the way to.
SPEAKER_01: Grab your Bible and turn to verse 8 with me, where it says this.
SPEAKER_01: Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough for us.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long?
SPEAKER_01: And do you not still know me, Philip?
SPEAKER_01: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
SPEAKER_01: How can you say, Show us the Father?
SPEAKER_01: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
SPEAKER_01: The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
SPEAKER_01: Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Um so Thomas, one of the disciples, missed the point earlier, and now it's Philip's turn to miss the point as well.
SPEAKER_01: So he takes his turn to chime in, and uh, throughout Jesus' earthly ministry in general, but also in the I am statements in particular, Jesus has repeatedly and emphatically been declaring that he is God the Son in the flesh, and that he has come to make a way back to God.
SPEAKER_01: Um, this teaching is not new.
SPEAKER_01: This is like what Jesus has simply been telling his disciples from the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01: To see Jesus is to see God Himself because God the Father reveals himself through Jesus Christ the Son.
SPEAKER_01: The question is, how?
SPEAKER_01: Well, verse 11 gives us the answer.
SPEAKER_01: It says that Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this, of course, is a reference to the Trinity: that there is one God who eternally exists in the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: One divine being in three distinct persons.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus is therefore God, but not the Father, and the God like Father likewise is also God, but not Jesus the Son.
SPEAKER_01: And so they mutually indwell one another without confusing or mixing one another.
SPEAKER_01: The same substance in three persons.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word for this is pericaresis.
SPEAKER_01: It's a word that means to flow, ebb, or dance around.
SPEAKER_01: If you listen carefully, you can hear the echo of the English word choreography, which means to the art of coordinating a dance.
SPEAKER_01: In his chapter called The Dance of God, in his best-selling book, The Reason for God, Tim Keller explains how this works.
SPEAKER_01: He argues that the doctrine of the Trinity means that God is an eternal community of love where the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are mutually glorifying each other in self-giving love.
SPEAKER_01: Keller in his book says it this way: He says, Each of the divine persons centers on the others.
SPEAKER_01: None demands that the others revolve around him.
SPEAKER_01: Each voluntarily circles the other two, creating a dynamic, pulsating dance of joy and love.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus says that he and the Father are in one another, what he means is that they indwell each other, they dance around each other, they revolve around each other in mutual, self-giving, others glorifying love.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you've ever been to like a ballet or a dance recital, you know how this works, right?
SPEAKER_01: The dancers take their positions, the curtain opens up, and the music begins to play.
SPEAKER_01: Suddenly, before your eyes, all of these individuals begin to dance together in a beautiful, rhythmic way.
SPEAKER_01: Everything flows together perfectly.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone is in harmony, not a single step out of place, not a movement that looks off.
SPEAKER_01: And for a moment, each person on that stage becomes one, dancing together in unison, performing one dance.
SPEAKER_01: And in the very best performances, what happens?
SPEAKER_01: The audience gets drawn into the dance too.
SPEAKER_01: Even though they're still in their seat, they've lost themselves in what's happening on stage, just as each of the dancers completely loses themselves in the dance that they are creating together.
SPEAKER_01: And essentially, that's the Trinity.
SPEAKER_01: The difference is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit don't come together momentarily.
SPEAKER_01: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are doing a dance of divine love eternally.
SPEAKER_01: An eternal, uncreated community flowing and ebbing towards each other in love, in mutual glorification.
SPEAKER_01: And that means, says Keller, that salvation is not merely legal, it's also relational.
SPEAKER_01: See, God made us ultimately to share in the dance of divine love by being an intimate personal relationship with him.
SPEAKER_01: But sin is ultimately a refusal to participate in the dance.
SPEAKER_01: It's saying, God, no thanks.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be in relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be caught up in the dance of what's happening in the Trinity.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Jesus comes to earth, what he does, in a sense, is not just pay the penalty for sin, which he does, but he also invites us into the dance.
SPEAKER_01: It's almost as if through the incarnation, God the Father is reaching down through Jesus the Son and saying, May I have this dance.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's poetic and creative imagery for what the Bible describes as the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And so to believe in Jesus, in some sense, is to join the dance of the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why Jesus can say that he is in the Father and the Father is in him.
SPEAKER_01: Because they are one together in the Godhead, flowing and ebbing towards each other in the divine love.
SPEAKER_01: And that's how he's the way to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: He's of the Father and comes from the Father.
SPEAKER_01: And so he can bring us back to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: So that's uh how Jesus is the way.
SPEAKER_01: But let's consider now the difference that it should make in our everyday lives.
SPEAKER_01: Look with me again here at verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
SPEAKER_01: If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Jesus is essentially saying that believing in Him does two things.
SPEAKER_01: It should change the way we live, and it should change the way we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Regarding the way we live, Jesus says that those who believe in him not only do the works that he does, but they will actually do greater works than Jesus does.
SPEAKER_01: Now, charismatic teachers love to take this Bible verse and say that uh you get to do miracles and signs and wonders just like Jesus did.
SPEAKER_01: The problem with that is like Jesus died on the cross for your sin and rose from the dead to make you right with God.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think you're doing a greater miracle than that.
SPEAKER_01: I love you.
SPEAKER_01: I hope the Spirit does some cool things through you.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think you're gonna be able to top that.
SPEAKER_01: So the greater works can't mean doing a greater miracle than Jesus has done, because your salvation is the greatest miracle that exists.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but if we we look at verse 11, we can actually get an understanding of what Jesus is actually saying.
SPEAKER_01: He says, believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on the count of the works themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see how Jesus is connecting the works with belief here?
SPEAKER_01: Whatever these works are, they're simply deeds that lead people to believe in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is saying, Hey, if you don't believe what I have to say, look at what I've done and believe that, because the whole reason that he's been doing all these works, including his teaching and his miracles and his ministry of compassion, is ultimately to reveal to the world that he is God the Son incarnate, come to save us from our sins.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you were to put these together in an equation, you would have Jesus saying, Hey, when our words are added to our deeds, we put on display the glory of Jesus Christ so that other people can believe.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is saying, Hey, listen to my words and look at my works that you too may believe.
SPEAKER_01: And so, whatever these works are, they are in their most basic sense a sign that points people to Jesus as the Savior.
SPEAKER_01: They could be miracles.
SPEAKER_01: Hope God does some through you, but there's also a very real possibility that they're not.
SPEAKER_01: Either way, what Jesus is saying is that those who believe in him, their actions and words are going to put the glory of Jesus on display in a way that other people would come to believe in him as their Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_01: So that's the works, but we still haven't answered the question like, what are the greater works that Jesus is referring to here?
SPEAKER_01: If they're not miracles, then what are they?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Jesus answers that question in verse 12 as well.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Because I am going to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: So what happens when Jesus goes to the Father?
SPEAKER_01: He sends the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And what does the Holy Spirit do?
SPEAKER_01: He dwells in believers to give them power to be Jesus' witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: If you read the rest of John 14, that's what John 14 is all about.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to spend like 20 some verses explaining to you that when he goes to the Father, the Holy Spirit is going to come dwell inside believers.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so the works of the Holy Spirit, up until this point, are confined to one person, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And they're confined to one place, Israel, where Jesus Christ is doing his life and ministry.
SPEAKER_01: But when Jesus returns to the Father, he's going to send the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And then the same Spirit that dwelled in Jesus Christ is now going to dwell in the lives of believers, working in and through them to proclaim the good news of the gospel to the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so what Jesus does on the cross in a particular way, in a particular place, believers everywhere get to proclaim to the whole world, across the globe and throughout history.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus Christ is going to the Father and sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
SPEAKER_01: And so what that means is ultimately that these greater works are not more impressive miracles.
SPEAKER_01: They're more numerous demonstrations of the person and work of Jesus Christ across the globe and throughout history that would cause other people to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son.
SPEAKER_01: Practically, what that means is that when you go to church on Sunday mornings, when you participate in a harbor group throughout the week, when you invite somebody to be a part of this church community or you share your faith at work, you are in some way doing the greater works that Jesus is talking about because the Holy Spirit is working through you right here in this time and place in a way that he wasn't back in that time and place.
SPEAKER_01: And so you get to be a part of the greater works that Jesus is doing in the world through the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: But the believing in Jesus not only changes the way we live, believing in Jesus also changes the way we pray.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 13 and 14, Jesus says twice that if we ask in his name, whatever we ask, he will do.
SPEAKER_01: Now, again, this is one of those places where like prosperity preachers really like to take this out of context and basically it's like, hey, you can kind of pray for whatever you want and ask the Father anything you want.
SPEAKER_01: As long as you slap in Jesus' name, amen, at the end, God is required to give you whatever you ask for.
SPEAKER_01: If you uh want a spouse, just pray in Jesus' name and you'll get it.
SPEAKER_01: You want a better standard of living, just pray in Jesus' name and you'll get it.
SPEAKER_01: You want your life to improve or your marriage to be better or whatever it might be, just pray in Jesus' name and everything will go well for you.
SPEAKER_01: Um and as nice as that sounds, that's not actually what Jesus is saying.
SPEAKER_01: For one, praying in Jesus' name is connected to the works that Jesus is doing.
SPEAKER_01: So whatever praying in Jesus' name means, it's ultimately for the purpose of empowering believers to do works that glorify Him, that don't necessarily draw attention to us or fulfill our dreams, but fulfill his mission and put his beauty and worth on display for other people to believe.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, to do something in somebody's name is to do something in line with their character and their will.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_01: You guys have probably heard that phrase, stop in the name of the law, right?
SPEAKER_01: And when a police officer is saying that, they're they're saying two things.
SPEAKER_01: They're saying, hey, the behavior that you're doing right now is against the law, and I have authority to enforce the law, so you should stop what you're doing so that I don't have to.
SPEAKER_01: The police officer is helping you see that it is the law that is to bring your behavior back into an orderly place.
SPEAKER_01: So to pray in Jesus' name is to reflect his heart and to honor his authority.
SPEAKER_01: Praying in Jesus' name is not a magic wand, it's not a lucky rabbit's foot, it's ultimately an act of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Praying in Jesus' name is taking all of your requests about your job, about your family, about your marriage, about your relationship status, about your college scholarship opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: It's laying it at the feet of Jesus and saying, Lord, here it is.
SPEAKER_01: It belongs to you.
SPEAKER_01: Do with it what you will.
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, says uh I think verse 13, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
SPEAKER_01: So praying in Jesus' name means praying that God would be glorified in Jesus through your life, your decisions, and your actions.
SPEAKER_01: When I read this passage, there are a number of people who come to mind, but one particular person is a gal in our church who is a single mom and has been uh longing, praying for a husband for years, and uh found herself in a relationship and uh thought that this person was going to be the person that she would marry.
SPEAKER_01: Everything looked great, everything seemed to be progressing in the right direction, and as they progressed closer towards marriage, she discovered, hey, there's actually some pretty deep, significant theological differences here.
SPEAKER_01: And those theological differences were deep enough that it would ultimately mean going to different churches.
SPEAKER_01: And she just said, Hey, I can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: I have to be in a place where I know I'm gonna be growing in Christ and I have to prioritize Jesus over an earthly relationship.
SPEAKER_01: The old her would have prayed definitely, desperately that God would make a way for that relationship to work.
SPEAKER_01: The old her might have compromised her faith to make it work, even though there were some red flags that it could be a really difficult marriage.
SPEAKER_01: The new her, the new that her that's walking with Jesus, that's believing the gospel, said, Hey, no way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not compromising my convictions for an earthly relationship.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna put Jesus first in everything I do, even if it costs me dearly in my earthly relationships.
SPEAKER_01: And now her prayers is that she would walk with Jesus, that she would honor him in her relationships, and that she would parent in a way that puts the beauty and worth of Jesus on display in her life.
SPEAKER_01: She has had her life changed by Jesus and believing in Christ completely changed the way she lived, and completely changed the way that she prayed.
SPEAKER_01: And she's no longer living for herself, she's living for Jesus and his glory.
SPEAKER_01: She's no longer praying for herself, she's praying for Jesus and his mission in and through her life.
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you this morning, Harbor, what might it look like for you to live in a way that causes other people to believe in Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_01: What might it look like for you to pray in a way that seeks God's glory above everything else?
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like if in your marriage you lived and prayed that God's glory would be displayed through redemption rather than that things would go well for you or be an easy road?
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like for you in the workplace to stick tight to your Christian convictions, even if it means getting passed over for a job opportunity?
SPEAKER_01: And your prayer was that God would use it to bring people to faith in Jesus instead of change the boss's mind?
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like for you in your neighborhood or on your sports team or at your university to say, hey, I am going to choose to live for Jesus Christ, even if it means I get excluded, even if it means there's opposition.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of praying for an easy road, I'm praying for God the Spirit to be at work in this circumstance so that other people could know Jesus through my life and my witness.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't just want to leave you with an invitation to live and pray differently.
SPEAKER_01: I also want to encourage you because you guys are doing that.
SPEAKER_01: There are people who are in Harbor Church right now because you, as church members, are living out your faith in a way that is displaying the glory of Jesus, and other people want to learn about it.
SPEAKER_01: You're praying right now for people in your daily lives to come hear the good news and believe in Jesus Christ so they can be saved.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm confident that God is going to hear those prayers, that God is going to answer those prayers, that we're going to see more people baptized in the name of Jesus because you are living and praying for the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in some way, Harbor Church exists because Jesus' words are proved true.
SPEAKER_01: And we together, as a church community, by the Holy Spirit, are doing the greater works that Jesus said that we would do.
SPEAKER_01: We're praying for the lost.
SPEAKER_01: We're preaching the gospel, we're taking the good news of Jesus to our relational networks and neighborhoods, and people are hearing and believing because of the works and the words that are coming from your lives and mouths.
SPEAKER_01: And so be encouraged.
SPEAKER_01: There's an invitation for us to continue growing, believing in Jesus and having our lives transformed.
SPEAKER_01: But God is also doing that work, and we can celebrate that.
SPEAKER_01: Um, when I left on Friday night, on Good Friday, I lost my way home.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps there are some of you this morning who feel that same way.
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to find your way back to God, but you're lost.
SPEAKER_01: You're disoriented and you're confused.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to hear the good news this morning and that you don't have to find your way.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to make your way, you don't have to earn your way, because Jesus is the way.
SPEAKER_01: And when you come to Jesus, he will bring you home to God.
SPEAKER_01: But you have to believe in him.
SPEAKER_01: And when you do, I promise it'll make a difference.
SPEAKER_01: Because believing in Jesus changes everything.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you for your word and for the good news that we can come to God through Jesus Christ because He is the way.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you, Jesus Christ, that you can bring us to God because you're one with the Father.
SPEAKER_01: You're in him and he is in you.
SPEAKER_01: And through the Holy Spirit, you invite us to be one with you as well.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord, that salvation, yes, means you paying the penalty for our sins so we could be made right with God.
SPEAKER_01: But also that through you we could be brought back into relationship with the Trinity, invited into the dance of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, participating in your self-giving love forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Would you give them eyes to see Jesus in a new way today?
SPEAKER_01: Lord, give them eyes to see the gospel as the good news that we get God as our full and everlasting joy.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, give them eyes to see that their relationship with Jesus is an invitation into the chance of the Trinity.
SPEAKER_01: And give them a longing to have belief in Jesus continue to change the way they live and pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that you would continue doing the greater works through us, that we'd be faithful and living out the gospel in our daily lives, that you'd be faithful in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we'd be faithful in inviting people here on Sunday gatherings and into our harbor groups.
SPEAKER_01: And that through us, many, many more people would come to a saving knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for my friends who are gathered here with us this morning, who do not yet know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that you would give them a longing for the way home.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that you would help them to believe that Jesus is the way.
SPEAKER_01: When they trust in him, they too can be brought home to God.
SPEAKER_01: May they today, with the help of your Holy Spirit, turn from their sin and trust in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
SPEAKER_01: In whose name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.