This is the manuscript of the third sermon in the series "Lessons from the Upper Room". In this sermon series I want us to look at the lessons that Jesus taught in the Upper Room. In the final hours before His death with His disciples, His closest friends Jesus served them, He taught them, and He prayed for them.
The first lesson that Jesus taught, and that needed to learn was the meaning of love—Jesus’ love and their love.
John 13:1 NIV It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The next lesson they needed to learn was that Jesus was going to prepare a place for them where they would be with Him forever. That place is heaven where they would have eternal life.
John 14:2 NIV My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
Today the lesson is on Jesus’ promises to them and to us.
Scripture
John 14:7-31 NIV If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.
Text
John 14:10 NIV Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Introduction
Remember as I started this new series on the “Upper Room Lessons", I said that knowing the time was fast approaching for Him to depart this world, Jesus spent His final hours before His death with His disciples, His closest friends and in that Upper Room Jesus served them, He taught them, and He prayed for them.
The first lesson that Jesus taught, and that needed to learn was the meaning of love—Jesus’ love and their love.
John 13:1 NIV It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The next lesson they needed to learn was that Jesus was going to prepare a place for them where they would be with Him forever. That place is heaven where they would have eternal life.
John 14:2 NIV My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
Today the lesson is on Jesus’ promises to them and to us.
Jesus had been preparing the disciples for his imminent departure, and he told them He was going to prepare a place for them
John 14:1-3 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
His assurance of coming back for them calmed their hearts, but at the same time they wondered how they would cope during his absence. Every day Jesus had been with them answering their questions, directing their thoughts, settling their arguments, and strengthening them by his presence. Now he would be leaving them. Without Him they would be like helpless orphans.
Jesus told his disciples,
John 14:4 NIV You know the way to the place where I am going.”
But Thomas said that they didn’t know where He was going and they didn't know the way.
John 14:5 NIV Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
John 14:6-7 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Like I said two weeks ago Jesus is the way—the only way. Jesus is the truth—the only truth. Jesus is the life—the only life. Jesus alone is the way to the Father.
Then Jesus made some promises to them.
The promise of knowing the Father through Him
The promise of greater works
The promise of a helper, the Holy Spirit
The promise of blessings through the Holy Spirit
The promise of peace
Now these promises were made in the Upper Room to the disciples who were there with Jesus but they apply to believers today. Here's how we know that these promises are to us too. These promises all involve the work of the Holy Spirit and we know that every believer has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit so we can claim these promises.
Here is some Scripture to back that up.
Romans 8:9-11 NIV You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
The first promise was that of knowing the Father through Jesus (John 4:5–11).
If you know Jesus, you know God. The knowledge of Jesus that stops at Jesus the man and Jesus the martyr, Jesus the teacher and Jesus the brother, is only a partial knowledge of him.
John 14:8-14 NIV Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
In Jesus we see the Father.
You probably have seen a little boy who looked, talked, and walked like his father. What do you say about the boy? You likely remark, “He is the spitting image of his daddy.” To see Jesus is to see the Father.
If you want to know how God feels about those who are sick and suffering, see Jesus healing the blind, the crippled, and the lepers. If you want to know how God feels about grief, see Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus.
John 11:1-7 NIV Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
After her brother Lazarus died and Jesus showed up late to the funeral, Mary openly and honestly let Jesus know how hurt she was. When He saw Mary’s grief Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” and later wept.
John 11:32-35 NIV When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.
If you want to know how God feels about children, listen to Jesus.
Luke 18:15-17 NIV People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
If you want to know how God feels about sinners, look at how Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Romans and they were notorious for being corrupt and the Jews hated them. Zacchaeus was a short guy and when he heard Jesus was coming he climbed a tree so he could see. I am going to start reading at;
Luke 19:5-10 NIV When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Then there was the promise of greater works (John 14:12–14).
John 14:12-14 NIV Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
The disciples had seen Jesus do many miraculous works, but he encouraged them by saying that they would do even greater works. Let’s talk about this a minute.
Jesus performed many amazing and wonderful works; raising the dead, walking on water, and feeding thousands and many more. How can it be true that those who have faith in Him will perform “even greater” works than those?
Well, in saying that those who believe in Him would do the works that He did, Jesus was not saying that every Christian would walk on water and raise the dead. The book of Acts does record the apostles performing some miracles that were similar to Jesus’ works, but even they did not walk on water or feed multitudes, as far as we know.
So the question is did they perform greater works? If not what did Jesus mean that His faithful followers would do “greater” works than He? Without a doubt, the works of Jesus’ followers would be greater in extent, meaning in scale. Jesus’ earthly ministry had been largely limited to Galilee and Judea; His disciples, however, were going to extend His ministry throughout the earth. When Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers numbered in the hundreds; forty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, in response to the preaching of the apostles, that number leaped into the thousands.
Acts 2:41 NIV Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Later on when the apostle Paul was on one of his missionary journies in Thessalonica they said that the gospel message he was preaching was turning the world upside down.
Acts 17:5-7 NIV But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”
By the end of Acts, the gospel had made its way to Rome.
Acts 28:16, NIV When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
30-31 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that his power would reside in them.
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Then Jesus made them the promise of a helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–24).
Jesus promised not to leave the disciples as helpless orphans.
John 14:15-18 NIV “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
He promised that through the Spirit he would come to them. He promised them an abiding presence that would bring both love and obedience.
John 14:21-24 NIV Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Along with the promise of the Holy Spirit comes the promise of blessings through the Holy Spirit (John 14:25–26).
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit as the Advocate
John 14:26 NIV But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
An advocate is one who assists someone in a court of law, someone who actively supports and promotes the interests of another person .
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, was to be Christ’s representative. He would guide the disciples into truth and help them recall everything Jesus had told them.
During the events that unfolded in the lives of the apostles, they did remember the words that Jesus had spoken to them before his crucifixion—and they understood them in a new light, for example;
John 2:19-22 NIV Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
John 12:14-16 NIV Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Then there was the promise of peace (John 14:27–31).
Jesus did not promise his disciples that their lives would be easy. The peace Jesus promised was a triumphant overcoming of difficulties and problems.
John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
The world thinks of peace as being where there is no pain or sorrow—a peace of escape. The peace Jesus gives is shalom, which means everything that makes for our highest good. It is a peace that is independent of our outward circumstances.
The best we can expect from the natural world is unfairness and death. Even attempts to be moral, without God, lead only to frustration
2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Christ's "peace" refers to a hope and reassurance that goes beyond what a fallen world can offer.
Philippians 4:5-7 NIV Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This peace is permanent, guaranteed, and eternal.
Hebrews 6:18-19 NIV God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
When Jesus said;
John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
He was encouraging His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. What He calls for here is for Christians to acknowledge the reality of suffering while at the same time trusting in God to make good on His promises.
The abiding presence of Jesus in your life brings peace.
Conclusion
Today by faith you can appropriate the promises Jesus made to the disciples in the upper room.
Charles Spurgeon stated, “Do not treat God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum; but believe them and use them.” We appropriate God's promises by learning them through reading and memorization, by seeing our need for them through meditative prayer, and by giving God time to work them out in our daily experience. Any of God’s promises that we can claim in Jesus’ name are guaranteed and will be performed for us by God for His glory.
John 14:13-14 NIV And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
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