I read of a couple who moved to a new city four months ago who were telling their neighbors that they were “Climate refugees.”
They did their research, and they settled on a city that had mild summers, less drought, low wildfire risk, distance from the coast and sea level rise.”
There were no hurricanes and not even a significant tornado risk.
Where did they choose?
Yep, Asheville, NC.
Which of course was virtually destroyed several weeks ago because of Hurricane Helene.
One family lived by a tiny creek that was so small it didn’t even have a name, and that unnamed creek washed their entire house away…nothing but foundation left.
This climate refugee couple had feelings of peace as they settled into their new weather secure home…but it was not based on reality…it was a false sense of security.
We as believers can have a “false sense” of insecurity.
Our insecurity is often based on our current emotions or circumstances…verses the reality of the solid claims of the gospel.
Not that our current emotions and circumstances are not real and relevant…but they must not be allowed to dictate the course of our lives…starting in our thinking and moving to our living.
Today we are in John 14
“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”,
At supper with his disciples Jesus has told them he is going away, clearly this is troubling news.
But on this night when Jesus knows what is coming for him…it would have been appropriate for his friends to comfort him, but he is the one giving them comfort.
Jesus, here on this dark night, his own dark night, is looking to the interests of others.
We should, at the very least, be challenged by this…if not changed by it.
Often you will hear of people using, “I’m going through a hard time” as an excuse to be selfish or to engage in some other form of sinful behavior…and selfishness is sinful behavior.
Hard times can explain our emotional struggles…but they do not excuse us from obedience during them.
Phil. 2…we are to be like Jesus in putting the interests of others ahead of our own.
If our lives are hard we could rightly hope that our friends would come alongside us…but we do not demand it…and we cannot turn hard times into excuses to make life about ourselves.
Notice the wording here…it is very important.
It is not, “I will not let your hearts be troubled.”
It is, “You guys, do not let your hearts be troubled.”
The Lord is indicating that we have agency in whether our hearts are “troubled or not”.
I find this fact…troubling.
How do we “not let” our hearts be troubled?
Well, he is not saying…”deny your feelings”…this is not merely, “Suck it up.”
But he is saying, “What you feel must not become the boss of your life.”
So, there is a good bit of “suck it up” in this.
“Don’t let” means “Don’t let”
Following Jesus is about love for him, but love for him, he will soon make clear…is about obeying him…wanting his will not our own.
Love for my wife is about choosing to do what love looks like…that is obeying the parameters of exclusive commitment to her. Love is always going to require obedience.
Christy and I have warm feelings for each other…until we don’t…but we always keep our covenant commitment to each other…commitment keeps love alive, not the other way around.
Part of the answer to “how do we not let our hearts be troubled”…is in again understanding that when Jesus refers to the heart he means more than merely how we feel…he is referring to the will…ultimately…to what we choose to do.
We may feel one way, but we do not have to allow what we feel to dictate how we choose to live.
For instance, we may feel troubled…but we do not have to make life about ourselves in that moment…we can, even then, continue to look to the interests of others.
Paul wrote in Phil 2, that we are to look to Jesus and see how he looked to the needs of others.
Let’s look to Jesus and see if we can get a clue as to how this works.
John wrote in 13:21 that Jesus was troubled…it’s the same word Jesus used here to tell us that we are not to allow our hearts to be troubled.
Jesus was not being a hypocrite…he modeled what this looked like.
He was troubled…and still he went to the cross.
When I say troubled, I mean troubled.
In the garden he will feel such extreme stress that he experienced what was most likely a rare medical condition known as hee·muh·ti·drow·suhs (Hematidrosis).
He sweat blood.
Soldiers have been known to have blood in their sweat after the extreme stress of battle.
The Lord’s physical feeling of stress was high, as high as it can get…but his feelings did not dictate his behavior…he went to the cross.
This challenge and comfort the Lord is giving is initially to a group of men who will soon experience catastrophic failure.
They are going to be cowards, deserters…their feelings of fear will dictate some bad choices.
Eventually, they will learn how to choose to believe the truth…not to obey their feelings.
So, Jesus tells them…do not allow your hearts to be troubled…instead…put your faith fully in me.
“I am going, but I am going to the cross and to resurrection…my going is to your ultimate advantage.”
Two things stand out so far as the Lord prepares his followers for the coming storm
- A present peace is tied to a future hope.
- A present peace is more of a choice to believe and to act on that on that belief than a feeling to experience.
5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives 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 I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.,
In this passage we find three fairly well-known and sometimes misunderstood verses.
They must all work together if we are to appropriately understand and apply them.
- V.6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- V.12 “the one who believes in me will do even greater works than these.”
- V.14 “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
The exclusive claims of Jesus (V.6) are key to understanding what he means by us doing greater works & us asking anything in his name.
Jesus said that he is THE way, truth, and life.
Thomas enthusiastically replies…”Show us the Father and that will be enough.”
He missed the point…Jesus IS the way, he doesn’t merely show it…when you see him, you see God.
Thomas got one thing right here…there is no greater good, no higher goal than to experience our Creator, our Father.
“Show us the Father and that will be enough.”
Moses, the one God called a friend once prayed, “Please, let me see your glory.” Ex. 33:18
John talking about Jesus in his prologue to this gospel wrote:
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
I watched part of a show recently but abandoned it because it was just so dumb.
In it, an arrogant character, who represented a real historical figure…was waxing elegant on how we don’t really know what is real.
The show was set in the 19th century and tied to the rise of spiritualism and skepticism as traditional religion was losing influence and science as a sort of faith system was gaining influence.
The emptiness of the arrogant character was revealed in his vain search for meaning that was tied to a desire to have evidence that life is ultimately more than just dust and death.
He was an arrogant skeptic about spiritual realities…who wanted to be wrong about his own skepticism.
“What is real” he asked cyncially.
I answered him out loud…Christy heard me, he didn’t.
“Ultimate reality is the Triune God and what is real is what he has made.”
What is true is what God knows to be true…there is no “your truth and my truth” there is only the truth.
God has put eternity in our hearts…our hearts were made by him and for him…and to deny that is to deny reality itself.
The intellectually brilliant unbeliever who can destroy some less eloquent believer in a debate has won an argument but denied his own heart and reality itself.
Like winning a debate and proving there is no gravity…you used words and ideas and emotions…to deny what is obviously real.
The reason you are drawn to worship, drawn to God’s word, drawn to God’s people…have a yearning for meaning and purpose…is because you were made by God to know God and glorify him.
Never mind if you can win an argument about it or not…it is simply, factually true.
Your heart is a homing pigeon programmed and determined to get home to God…denying it is self-destructive.
So, we have the exclusive claims of Jesus.
He is the way to the Father…he is the way, he is the truth.
There is no way for human meaning, purpose, life apart from him and his totally exclusive claims.
And then he says that those who love him will do greater works than he did.
And will have their prayers prayed in his name answered.
What does that mean?
- What they are going to do are greater because they are done after the Lord’s death and resurrection…after the coming of the Holy Spirit.
The words and deeds of Jesus before the cross were veiled…now they are crystal clear.
AND
Now many more will follow Christ in the coming years through the testimony of his body, the church, than did during his earthly ministry.
- How will this be accomplished? Their prayers will be empowered as they ask God to glorify himself through the church.
“You ask in my name, I will do it, so the Father will be gloried”
“In my name” means” literally for my sake.”
The “greater works” is not a contrast between Jesus and his disciples.
It is the difference between Jesus works during his days of flesh and his works through his disciples after his death and resurrection.
“I did this much now”
“I will do more through you later.”
The Lord’s purpose was his father’s glory, he made that clear…our purpose, is the same.
Now Jesus intends to glorify his father through his people, us.
So, the prayers in his name are offered in accord with all that his name stands for…the purpose of God, the glory of God.
This is not a demand, or a magic incantation…
“In Jesus name, I claim health…or a spouse…or a job.”
Nonsense.
What this prayer is about is ordered priorities…Our greatest good is the glory of God, experiencing him our lives.
Jesus intends to glorify himself through us…in greater, more expansive ways than he did in his three years of earthly ministry.
And we can expect to have all our prayers, in line with this truth, to be heard and answered.
When our hearts are set on the glory of God, and our lives oriented to faithfulness to him…when this is our desire, and this is our prayer…we can fully expect God to answer our prayer.
This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14
“So, what you are saying is that basically, God will answer my prayers if I pray what God wants me to pray.”
Yes.
“Well, that’s disappointing.”
Not if you pay attention to what is true about your own heart.
When you see that you were made by God for God…if we could see that.
Your only prayer would be for God to be glorified in you…that is what we would want the most.
So, we pray, like Jesus did in the garden…”Lord if possible, remove this cup from me…but, not my will but yours be done.”
I don’t know if God wants to be glorified through healing my loved ones or friends or me…so I ask him to heal
But if he wants to be glorified through not healing…will I trust him?
I’ve seen him do both.
How will these greater things happen?
- Obedience to Jesus
&
- The Power of the Holy Spirit.
The enabling power of the Spirit is tied to ongoing obedience, staying plugged into that power.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.
Love is shown primarily in obedience…not in warm fuzzies, or feelings of devotion.
Just as experiencing the peace of God is a settled choice, love for God is likewise a choice to obey, not merely a feeling to pursue.
Often just as we turn peace into feelings, we turn love into it as well.
If you feel warm feelings towards God in worship that’s great.
But It means nothing if you don’t go and love others in practical, sacrificial ways.
What you know for certain if you have had warm feelings is that you have had warm feelings.
What you know for certain if you have loved others out of obedience to God is that you have shown your love for God in that obedience.
Imagine this:
“I have warm feelings of deep love for my wife, but I choose to give my time and attention to other women.”
Nonsense…Love for my wife is revealed in complete and exclusive devotion to her.
This is not less true for relationship with the Lord Jesus.
1 John 5:3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
This is not merely rule keeping, his commands are what empowers relationship with him and they describe what a thriving life looks like.
First, he tells them that…Love is seen in obedience.
Second, I will send “another counsellor, the Holy Spirit.”
Why that order? Because to live in the ongoing power of the Holy Spirit…you must obey.
Counselor…paraklete…para and kaleo…parakaleo (encourage)…call alongside
Some translations translate this as: helper, comforter
This is not like “a marriage counsellor, or a quilt, or a friend at a funeral.
But to get the fuller meaning we must look at the life of Jesus.
“Another counselor “means the role of the Holy Spirit will look much like the ministry of Jesus among them.
Who was Jesus to them and how would this look when his ministry is discharged through the Spirit?
He strengthened them, rebuked them, helped them, comforted them, sent them, taught them, empowered them, he was with them.
Now, he is going, and he will send the Spirit…to multiply this powerful ministry of the presence of God in his people.
They were going to feel abandoned, like orphans…but that is far from the case.
He would come to them…first in the resurrection, and then he would send his Spirit to remain with them always.
21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
That is a verse worth memorizing
It summarizes what we have seen thus far… what the highest human good is and how we can experience it.
Highest good: The love and presence of the Lord Jesus revealed to and through us.
The pathway to that good: Have and keep the Lord’s command.
To see Jesus revealed in and through us is tied to active obedience to his will and ways.
Love for Jesus is seen in obedience to him…to obey is to love, to love is to experience him.
This is our greatest good.
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me. 25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
The Holy Spirit will teach you and remind you of everything I have told you.
The Holy Spirit was not going to come and bring them some brand new truth…or warm spiritual fuzzies.
He was going to teach and remind them of what Jesus had already told them…so that they could obey.
He was going to bring to their minds what they had already heard.
We have the Scripture now…it is all the word of the Lord.
You don’t need, nor will you get some “brand new truth”…if its completely new, it’s not true.
The Bible is complete.
But if you don’t put the truth in your mind, you have nothing there for the Spirit to “remind” you of.
Back in verse 17 Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.”
His role as Counselor isn’t to primarily provide warm and vague “feelings”
His primary role is to remind us of the rock-hard foundation of truth on which we are to live our lives.
He reminds of us of the truth and empowers us to choose to believe and live in the truth…regardless of how we feel or the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Look at the next verse:
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
“Oh, I love that verse, I use it all the time.”
Okay, then what does it mean?
“It means I will feel peaceful”
Does it?
Have you found that be always true, I haven’t…Jesus didn’t.
Peaceful feelings, for me, are more dependent on my moods than the reality of who Jesus is.
What does Jesus say here?
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful
He offers us peace…peace more than the world offers.
And we are responsible to NOT let our hearts be troubled or fearful.
The peace he refers to is the presence of the Holy Spirit reminding us of the truth of the gospel and empowering trust and endurance even in the absence of the feelings of peace.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid.
What does this imply?
We are going experience troublesome and fearsome things! We will be often tempted to be trouble and afraid.
We are not to allow those things to rule, but rather we are to allow the peace of God to rule our hearts.
His peace is different than what the world gives…the world gives false peace, temporary peace, a peace based on what is not going to last.
Like the couple looking for weather peace.
This is what the world gives…you can have its peace through a large bank account, a new job or relationship, self-medication, believing a lie, social media highs.
None of this is secure or lasting peace…it is certainly not working out there is it?
The peace Jesus offers is the peace of truth.
Notice, he doesn’t say, “I will make sure that your heart is not troubled or fearful…I will put my Spirit in you so you won’t have any bad feelings.”
What does he say…”Do not let your heart be trouble or fearful.”
“What…it’s on me?
“What is the Spirit’s role then?”
To remind us of truth, to apply truth to our current situations…to empower us to believe and obey the truth
We plug in to that power by obedience…we choose to believe…we are not to let our hearts be troubled or fearful…we are to choose to believe what is true.
This is challenging, volitional, gritty proactive choices.
Feel what you feel, believe what is real.
Look at another famous peace verse that Paul wrote.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7
What does “guard” mean?
It means just that…it will set a guard.
It is literally “garrison” your heart.
This is a military term.
What is a garrison?
A garrison is a group of troops stationed in a specific location to protect it.
Or a fortified headquarters where the troops are positioned.
What does it mean that God’s peace will garrison our hearts and minds?
It means post troops around it…keep enemy thoughts and ideas at bay.
How does this happen? Through our proactive choices.
Let’s back up a couple of verses.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
How do we have the peace of God?
We are to choose to not worry…we are to go to God instead.
Wait…I thought that is what the peace of God was…the absence of worry.
But Paul says, “First I am not to worry…then I will have the peace of God.”
Yeah…Don’t worry…but in everything…pray.”
This is the choice to trust and believe in God.
When we are actively putting our confidence in him and not in our feelings…then his peace will garrison our hearts and minds.
Believe what is real, not just what you feel.
You can read the last four verses of the chapter this week.
There you will find that disciples are far more alert to their own grief and sorrows than to what brings Jesus joy.
I find this very personal and challenging.
I am often more focused on my own troubles than on God’s glory revealed in my life.
He is not telling them this to shame them but to prepare them, train them left of the bang.
“I will not talk with you much longer” he says, “because Satan is coming.”
This doesn’t mean his teaching is done…but it is a signal that the reason he has come is imminent…he is going to cross.
Satan is coming…but Jesus is not his pawn, the reverse is true.
Satan has no power over Jesus…Jesus has all authority.
APPLICATION:
There is so much in this passage I’ll give you three options for application, perhaps you can focus on one as we go to prayer and worship.
- Have you waited for or demanded that God give you what he has not promised…ongoing feelings of peace?
*Children can be trained to mature in their emotional responses…so can we.
*We can train our brain and minds to trust and this can impact our “feelings” but that is a longer term project.
Regardless of how our emotions have been trained…
We are told to not allow our hearts (command posts) to be troubled…instead we are to put our faith in Christ.
We must resolutely believe the truth of the Gospel…regardless of how we feel, or the circumstances of our lives.
We must lean into God’s provision of: His Word, Spirit, and People
Our present peace is tied to our future hope…we train to trust…feelings of peace are not going to just be dumped on us.
Now you may have times when God in his mercy gives feelings of peace in terrible times…I’ve had that.
I’ve also had times when feelings of peace and well-being were completely absent…what then?
Will we continue to put our confidence in God and not in the absence of feelings.?
We must doubt our feelings of doubt and not the facts of our faith.
We must not allow our present feelings to undermine our future hope.
- Our highest good is to experience and reveal God glory.
*We must continually tell ourselves this fact and train for this truth in order for it to shape our minds and lives.
Even if we struggle and suffer…God’s glory is our highest good…we must trust that this is true.
Maybe today you just need to remember or understand…”Show us the father and that will be enough.”
It really will be.
You were made by him and for him…this is fact.
Those who deny it, are wrong…and they are denying their own heart.
You don’t have to do that.
- Love for Jesus is revealed in obedience to him not in warm feelings in worship or otherwise.
Obedience to Jesus, John writes is most clearly revealed in love for others.
Warm feelings come and go
Obedient love is a settled choice.
Are you seeking warm fuzzies or sacrificial obedience?
Chasing warm fuzzies will not lead to a resilient faith.
Pursing loving obedience will make you more like Jesus over time.
This is how you train to trust…how you are able to “Not let your heart be troubled and not live in fear.”