03.09.2014 John 14 - We Need to Be Kingdom Focused, not Self Focused

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Lord, thank You for this day – that we begin to look forward to Easter – to Your death and resurrection – that which changes us completely – without that, none of this would matter. Had you not gone to the cross, we would have no hope. No matter what else is happening – we have hope in You – any other hope will fail – but You will be found to be trustworthy. At the end, we will say, You were faithful and can be trusted.
John 14
Let not your heart be troubled…
This follows – Jesus just told the disciples that one would betray Him – each says, not I – and He tells them that He is going to die. In this discussion – twice it says He was deeply troubled – He knew what was about to happen. He has just shaken up their world – to this point, life was pretty exciting – they were seeing these unbelievable miracles taking place and THEY were right there on the ground floor of all of it. A day or so earlier, the people had taken the palms and said Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord – and now Jesus is telling them – do not be troubled. They will be shaken at the foundation – and the solution? Believe in God. With what is about to happen, Believe in God! This is not going to go away, this is going to happen – and you will scatter – and they will come after you! So activate your faith! When trouble comes into our lives – that is our only solution. God brings us to times where all we have is FAITH! That is what it means to be a Christian – and we have to learn to do that even when the big trouble is not hitting us. We tend not to, until we find ourselves in a situation where we have to.
Later in this chapter, in v. 27 – Peace I leave with you – not as the world gives – Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. We have fear. We become afraid of what might happen next. Peace I leave with you – Peace – security – the word was ruined in the 60s – Peace Brother! But it means security, stability, well-being, shalom. I give peace, but not as the world gives it. It is a peace that the world would not recognize. It is not the removal of the shaking or the trouble – the trouble will remain, but I give you peace within the trouble.
This world – with all that is going on – in Ukraine, etc. – it is constant – there is no peace in this world – there will be none in this age, until the age to come.
There will always be another war – and there always has been! Just think of this nation – how many wars have we had? There may be times of cessation of hostility –
John 16:33 –
Peace is found in ME – not in this life, - and that is where you need to look in this life. We need to learn to not be surprised when turmoil enters our world. That is our calling – to live in a world of turmoil.
One thing that became conflicting to me – you will never live in a world of peace – but throughout the New Testament, Jesus tells us to work for peace, justice, mercy… - Why are we working for it if we know it will never happen – and why pray for it if we know it cannot be achieved. And as I thought about that – when we work for peace, justice, mercy, compassion, righteousness – those things that make up the Kingdom of God – we are transformed into those types of people. Without engaging ourselves in this world for those things that won’t happen in this world, we will not be transformed into those types of people.
Some have said, it will never happen, so only engage in spiritual things! But then you will never become a person of hope, peace, and righteousness. We become those things when we engage in those things in this world.
The other things that happen – when we work and pray for these things – read the Beatitudes – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – Blessed are the peacemakers – Matthew 5 – we have to BE people of peace and righteousness and mercy and compassion. That is how others’ lives are changed – and when a community does it, it becomes a community of transformation. When we do these things in this world, the community has a transforming effect on all they reach. We are, in a small way, creating the kingdom of God now, here, in our lives. That is what the sermon on the mount is all about – the ideals are impossible to achieve in this life – it is what will be accomplished in the kingdom. Already and not yet! We can experience a foretaste of it. The church should be a taste of what it would be like if Jesus were here and part of this world. The church is to begin that process and when we work for peace and righteousness, we begin the process now and prepare to live in it when Christ comes. This is preparation to live in the kingdom. Yes, we will be transformed – and to the extent you begin now, to that extent you will have a head start then.
John 14: 14 “Do not let your heart be troubled; [a]believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going.”
How do we live in peace in a troubled world? By focusing your attention on the future world. Don’t be troubled… why? Because I am going to prepare a place for you! You will be a part of that house! You will be with God for all eternity. He is making a place for you. The only way to survive this world is to have our hopes fixed on that world.
What He is asking them to do – be so zeroed in on that world that we are able to live out those ideals in this world. The more you zero in on being in His kingdom – the better you will do at living out the kingdom principles now. The more your hope is fixed on being with Him – the more you will be like Him.
1 John 3: 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
So it is a balancing thing on focusing in on the kingdom and being like Christ – and in doing that correctly.
5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
Again, the disciples are thinking physical, and Jesus is talking spiritual! We don’t have Google Maps – which way are you going?
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
Before the resurrection, it was impossible to understand these things. All understanding rests upon the reality and hinges on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once He is raised from the dead, they get it! It would have been the same for us. It all hinges on the resurrection! I am going and I am coming back. Jesus is elevating Himself – I am not just, they are still thinking earthly king and messiah – I am not here to show you the way – I AM the way! I am not here to show you truth – I AM The truth.
It is not about us doing things a certain way – there is NO OTHER WAY. Isn’t there a lot of truth? He is THE TRUTH. It is only through Him. He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. He is God come to earth - and that is why He is the answer.
8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
He goes back to doing the work of God – the Blind man – his fault or his parents? No, so the work of God might be displayed. We need to do the works of God in the light. He says this amazing statement – If you have faith and believe, you will do even greater works than I have done.
What does it mean? To do greater works? It does not mean ‘more spectacular’ or bigger – or more supernatural. What He is talking about - With more clarity and more effectiveness – Post resurrection – everything that is done for Him will have greater clarity and greater effectiveness.
Everything that Jesus had done was only slightly effective – Here is what I mean – He heals a blind man – does anyone GET it? No! He raises Lazarus from the dead – does andyone get it? No – it is not until the resurrection. The disciples do their work post resurrection –and because the Spirit is given, they are able to do His work with more clarity and effectiveness, because everything has been accomplished by Jesus on the cross. There is a new kind of power.
Of men born of women, there is none greater than John the Baptist – but then He said – He who is the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John – Why? Because anyone who is part of the Kingdom is post resurrection and has received the power of the Holy Spirit - who comes directly inside of us and can transform us from the inside.
That gives us hope that the gospel CAN transform a life. That is really what He is saying here. IT has the power to completely change somebody.
He goes on – to tell us HOW this will happen:
13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
The key to a lot of this is prayer! The key to these works, doing the work of the kingdom – the work of transformation, justice, and peace – is prayer. Prayer has been around for a long time – but just like greater works could be done after the resurrection – so prayer has changed. There is a completely different power in prayer. How? In MY Name – now we get to pray in Jesus’ name. That doesn’t mean simply tacking it on at the end of a prayer – it means praying with the authority of the risen savior. John the Baptist could not pray in Jesus’ name – because Christ hadn’t risen from the dead. Now He is in heaven, working on our behalf. When you pray – Jesus is like, let’s get things rolling here!
Thy kingdom come – And then He says – thy will be done…
That prayer could not be answered before the resurrection. What is going on in heaven can begin to go on on earth, through us, because of the Holy Spirit. In a partial way, the life of heaven can start here through us. That is what it means to pray in Jesus’ name. We need to take advantage of this – whatever you ask in My name…
The key – asking in His name – is asking for the kingdom to come and His will to be done
Yes, there is praying for needs,
And forgiveness –
But this prayer is kingdom focused, not self-focused. And God answers Kingdom-focused prayer. That does not mean that He doesn’t want to meet our needs, but He answers Kingdom-focused prayer.
When we think of working for peace, and mercy, and justice – what needs to engage in our mind – what is the most important peace we can give to a person? Eternal peace. Eternal Mercy. The most important aspect of things – yes we are to work for these things in their temporal sense – but our priority should be on the eternal sense – transforming people so that they can have eternal peace – and that comes down to this thing of making disciples – the church’s role – to bring people into a relationship with Christ and then growing in that relationship. It must unleash/burst forth from that – to engage with people in this world, and to begin the process – that is what it means to be engaged in kingdom work. It is many things – but ultimately – it is THAT>
Lord, we thank You – You have given us a great promise – whatever we ask in Your name, we will do 0- that the father may be glorified in the Son. Give us faith to operate in a prayer life that believes that and acts as if that were true – whatever we ask – in Your name – in the realm of Your kingdom – coming and your will being done – in Your name we pray.