8/22/23
John 14: 12-14
If I told you once, I told you twice
• This promise I give
It’s been Promises, promises, promises… and they/we still don’t get it!
• Prayer 101
Learning to pray – Is to ask “In Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer a magical formula for success?
• The Decision Maker
Who do you allow to make decisions for you?
In John, Chapter 14 verses 1-11, The Passover dinner attended by Jesus’ disciples has turned into the Last Supper, as they realized that Jesus, whom they had believed to be their Messiah and King, would be leaving them. They were left feeling overwhelmed and hurt, and Judas even got up and left. Despite having followed Jesus for three years and being encouraged by his teachings, the disciples feared how they would survive without him. It was a difficult and confusing moment for them. Let’s begin, John 14:12-14
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. 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.
In verse 12, Jesus is still speaking to His disciples in the upper room. They are so full of fear and confusion. They are questioning everything….. But Jesus is giving them the most beautiful Promise.
My first point- The promise that only He can give
‘Anyone who believes in Me shall do the same miracles I have done, and even GREATER ones, because I am going to be with the Father.
According to the promises of Jesus, those who believe in Him are capable of performing miracles just like He did, and in fact, they can even do greater works. This is because, as Jesus’ followers, they continue His work on Earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit. The “greater works” mentioned here can refer to the magnitude of the works. The disciples had a wider outreach than Jesus did during His time. The “greater works” can also refer to the ongoing work of sharing the message of salvation. The disciples’ mission is not only to perform miracles but also to spread the good news and bring people to salvation.
In Verse 12, we are encouraged to have faith and hope in Jesus, knowing that we also have the power of the Holy Spirit to continue His work and bring about salvation. This is a powerful message that reminds us of the importance of our faith and our mission as followers of Jesus.
Jesus provided the disciples with tangible reasons to have hope and faith. He supplied them with everything they needed before his crucifixion, and even though his death was approaching, he remained focused on the well-being of his disciples.
Jesus’ words in the following verses provide his disciples with comfort and encouragement to continue having faith, trust in Him, and reject fear. He reassures them of His presence, care, and the unparalleled peace that He offers, reminding them that they are valued and loved by God.
In Luke 12:32, Jesus addresses His disciples,
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
In Matthew 10:31, Jesus again addresses His disciples, He encourages them not to fear persecution or opposition,
“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
The comparison to sparrows is unique. It emphasizes the concept that if God takes care of even the tiniest and seemingly unimportant creatures, then He must care even more for His followers who are made in His image.
We are so LOVED
In John chapter 14:13-14 “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.
In verses 13-14, Jesus is reaffirming His promises to the disciples…. TWICE! Twice that when He leaves to be with the Father, he would continue to supply their every need, when they asked in His name.
Jesus had taught them how to pray, but not yet how to pray In His name.
Luke 11:1-4 shares
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead us into temptation.”
2nd Point- Prayer 101
To truly ask in Jesus’ name, it’s not enough to simply tack on those words at the end of a prayer like it is some ‘Magic Formula’ for success! It requires a genuine understanding of the relationship between Jesus, us as believers, and God the Father. When we pray or make requests in Jesus’ name, we’re doing so with his endorsement and authority. To deepen our faith and connection to God.
PRAYER 101
When we pray using the name of Jesus, we express our belief that Jesus is our representative to God. We come to God the Father through Jesus, acknowledging His power and the accomplishments He has achieved on our behalf.
Praying in Jesus’ name is crucial in aligning our prayers with His character, His will, and His purpose. Our focus should be on praying in accordance with God’s Word and prioritizing His glory over our personal desires. This is all Jesus wanted for His disciples.
It is imperative to note that Jesus always acts with the intention of bringing glory to the Father through the Son. However, it begs the question, how can we glorify God while still living in the flesh and not filled with the Holy Spirit? We only honor Him by putting to death our fleshly desires and resisting the seductive temptation of this world. This sounds so easy, but to put it into practice, to me, It’s impossible!
It is a fact that the Holy Spirit will guide faithful individuals toward the truth, just as promised.
Jesus gives assurance In John 16:13. It states:
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
Empowering us to be witnesses for Christ!
In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes…
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit is key in initiating a powerful spiritual rebirth and transformation, which ultimately leads to being “Born Again!”
The Holy Spirit renews and regenerates believers, washing away their sins and giving them new life, In Titus 3:5.
5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
Born AGAIN!
Final Point- The Decision Maker
As believers, we receive spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit to uplift and strengthen the Church. In the Bible, the term “church” is used to refer to the community of believers who follow Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia,” which means “assembly” or “called-out ones.” “We are His “Called-out Ones”!
We see various gifts of the Spirit in In 1 Corinthians 12.
In verse 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other
Verses 8-10 list various gifts of the spirit, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, and prophecy, but verse 11 says it so perfectly…
11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
The Decision Maker!
The Holy Spirit is crucial in our salvation as a Decision Maker and guarantee.
Ephesians 1:13-14 reads,
13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ —you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
What is the seal of the Holy Spirit?
According to compelling truth.org
In biblical times, a seal was a guarantee. The seal of the Holy Spirit takes place at the point of salvation. It promises their eternal inheritance with Jesus Christ.
A seal can be used to guarantee a document or letter, indicate ownership, or protect against tampering. The Holy Spirit unequivocally acts as our seal in every conceivable manner.
First, the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life helps to guarantee he or she is a child of God.
Romans 8:16 shares, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Second, the seal of the Holy Spirit serves as a mark that we truly belong to Christ.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 states, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Third, the seal of the Holy Spirit helps protect against tampering or attack.
Romans 8:13 declares, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
At what point does the sealing of the Holy Spirit take place? It takes place when a person believes the gospel.
Earlier I had asked, how can we glorify God while still living in the flesh and not filled with the Holy Spirit? I can share an example with you where I truly thought I was filled with the Holy Spirit but looking back at it now… I wasn’t and I surely didn’t glorify God!
One day, I am at the mall with my 3 kids and 4 other kids from CCBC youth group when there was a BIG earthquake. When the shaking stopped, an announcement came over the speakers to evacuate the Promenade. People were freaked out, it wasn’t just a small roller.
We were all just trying to get our loved ones to our cars as fast as possible.
With 7 kids in tow, I am shuffling them all together out the doors and through a hurried parking lot.
You could see lines of fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances in front of the mall. We had parked in the upper parking lot where the Cheesecake Factory is now. If any of you are familiar with this parking lot, you know there are only 2 exits…. For HUNDREDS of cars! I’ve got the kids all strapped in and we try to begin our departure from this, for lack of better words, chaos! There was nothing glorifying about this worldly situation. Trucks were driving over medians and planters then small cars would try to follow only to get themselves stuck. Horns are honking and people are yelling and cussing at each other,
Totally glorifying situation, right?!
I see a woman on the right of me and she is doing all kinds of hand gestures at, what I can only assume, is me and she is obviously yelling because I’m pretty sure there is spit flying.
My poor Bubba was in the front seat. He doesn’t do well with “loud” uncomfortable situations, but it wasn’t over yet..
I roll his window down and the woman tries to pull up on the side of me at almost an angle, like she is just going to ram into my car to get in front of me. She begins yelling something about needing to get out of the parking lot and I’m like ‘yea lady, we all need to.’ There is literally nothing I can do, we are all trying to escape the same place. The lady starts shouting she has a sick child in the car and she needs to get in front of everyone to get out of there.
I am a mom of 3 and have total compassion for that, but do you remember what I said in the beginning about all the Fire trucks, ambulances, and Police all lined up in front of the mall? I looked at that mom and asked her what in the world she was trying to do by getting caught up in this traffic when there is help right behind her!! There weren’t any cars behind her because they were all where we were, trying to get out. She had a clear line straight to help. That did not go over too well with her. She saw my NOTW sticker on my car and took action! She lifted her bible and shook it at me calling me the ‘Anti-Christ’ all because I wasn’t letting her have her way.
In looking at it now, was it really any of my business, regardless of my feeling that she was lying (…just because you FEEL it doesn’t make it true, right?), it wasn’t my place to judge her. I should’ve glorified God, Been filled with The Holy Spirit, and just let the woman get in front of me and not been called, “The Anti-Christ”! Which did sting, especially because all the kids in the car heard it. What example did I set being caught in this worldly situation instead of remembering God’s Word and Promises?
Much like that Earthquake at the Mall, the Disciples felt their world shake in that Upper Room. There was fear and confusion… Chaos. Nothing was making sense anymore. No, they weren’t driving over medians but Judas is entered by Satan to betray Jesus…
FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER!
And No, they weren’t yelling and cussing at each other but they are repeatedly questioning Jesus, asking for the “way” and for “tangible” proof.
But lastly, No one gets their feelings hurt by being called the ‘Anti-Christ’, instead they sadden Jesus by forgetting all the promises and countless miracles He Himself had performed and the many miracles He empowered these very disciples with.
All believers in Jesus Christ have God’s Spirit living within them, or dwelling within them
but not all believers live filled or controlled by the Spirit’s power.
As Christians, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of our salvation.
But we are filled by Him only when we truly and completely
submit to Him.