Final Words: John 14:1-6

Final Words: How To Get To Heaven

February 11th, 2024/Casey Middle School

Intro: Superbowl Sunday! Who is your team? Let me hear it for the 49ers? How about the Swifties?? I mean… the Chiefs??? It’s gonna be a great game. Big game with an anticipated 114 million views. I’m a big football fan, as a football fan I am excited to see that our two starting quarterbacks are confessing born again believers. Having expressed that “faith” is the most important part of their lives. So as brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s pray for them, that they would continue to honor God with their platform and point people to Jesus!

C’mon! Go NINERS! Feels great baby!

Passage: John 14:1-6 CSB

Background:

This portion of texts are the beginnings of what's known as the “Upper Room Discourse”. These teachings take place the night before Jesus' crucifixion in a large upper room of a home. So these would be some of Jesus' final words to His disciples before He would be tortured, falsely accused, and brutally murdered on a cross.

Chapter 14 begins and ends with the statement “don’t let your heart be troubled.” Why would their hearts be troubled? Let’s look at chapter 13. First, just a few moments prior, Jesus predicted that one of the disciples would betray Him, He was speaking of Judas. Secondly, He tells Peter that he will deny even knowing Him 3 times before daybreak. This was after Peter declared “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”

So we have the one entrusted with the money is now the betrayer. Fearless Peter is a denier… you can imagine the other disciples thinking “What hope do we have then?” They were deeply troubled.

And finally, in John 13:33 Jesus says “I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” What’s that Jesus!? Come again?! You mean that we left everything to follow you, and now you’re leaving us… here… alone?!

Passage: John 14:1-6 CSB

“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.”

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.”

Pray:

Title: How To Get To Heaven

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms.

Charles Spurgeon gave this advice to young ministers: “When you talk about Heaven let your face light up with a heavenly glory. When you talk about Hell, your everyday face will do.”

• Heaven is mentioned over 275 times in the NT & another 300+ in the OT
• Heaven is the habitation of God and the eternal home for those who trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (1 Kings 8:30, Psalm 103:19, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Revelation 21:27)
• Heaven has streets of gold, gates of pearls, walls of jasper, foundations of precious stones, and a crystal-clear river. (Rev.21:15-21, 22:1)
• Heaven is a place of “no mores”… no more death, no mourning, crying or pain, no more sorrow or sin, or sickness. (Rev 21:4)
• Heaven is a place of reunions with loved ones and friends who knew Christ as Savior. (Matt 17:3-4, John 21:1-7, 2 Samuel 12:23 Matthew 8:11)
• Greek word for “mansions” is mone (mo NAY), a home, a dwelling place, or rooms.

Favorite Quotes on Heaven:

“I would not give one moment of heaven for all the joy and riches of the world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of years.” - Martin Luther

“Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.” - DL Moody

“A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.” - CS Lewis

Big Idea:

Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples that gets the modern day title of “doubting Thomas”, asks a very sincere question. One that I believe many are asking here today.

5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

How can we know THE WAY? This is the question I hope to answer in our next few minutes together.

Main Points: “I Am” (Sixth “I Am Statement”)

1. The Way

   1. 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.”

   2. The Way is accessible

      1. It is the narrow road, door, and accessible today

         3. The Truth is available

      2. It is the standard, Word of God, and available to all

         4. The Life is abundant

      3. It is eternal, supernatural, and abundant

         5. Some people want the truth & life, but you aren’t willing to go the Way of God.
         6. Some people want the way & life, but you reject the Truth.
         7. Or maybe you follow the way and embrace the truth, but you aren’t truly living.
         8. To believe and follow Jesus is to know and have the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
         9. Question: Have you ever been lost?

      4. Story: Driving home from Christmas break and trying to get home through a blizzard.

      5. Application: Thomas was looking for a path, but the answer was in the person!

         10. The cost of following the Way

      6. The Way is narrow

      7. The Way is dying to self
      8. The Way is full of suffering

      9. The Way demands everything

         11. The outcome of following the Way

      10. The Way leads to life

      11. The Way brings the blessing
      12. The Way breaks the chains.

      13. The Way is a person (the way is not simply a change of behavior, but the Way is about WALKING with God, GUIDED by the Spirit, and FOLLOWING the example of Jesus)

          12. The way of Jesus leaves anxious people with peace, hopeless people with hope, lonely people with a family, and dead people with life.
          13. Early Christians were referred to as followers of “the Way”. (Acts 9:1-5)
          14. The Inclusive & Exclusive nature of the Way

      14. It is inclusive in the sense that everyone has access to Jesus. A way to the Father. And the hope of eternity in Heaven. Rich and the poor. All nations, tribes, and tongues.

      15. It is exclusive in the sense that there is ONLY one way to enter in, and that is through Jesus. The Apostle Peter reiterates this truth later in Acts 4:12 where he says “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”

2. The Truth

   1. Truth is a Person

   2. Truth through the book of John:

      1. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14
      2. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:24
      3. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:32

3. The Life

   1. “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” - John 10:10 CSB
   2. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:16-17

Closing: The Narrow Road

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14 CSB

Paint A Picture:

Big gate, broad road, lots of people choosing that path. The road of pleasure. The road of comfort. The road that had temporary satisfaction as its primary value. MANY choose this road… “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 CSB)

Narrow gate, difficult road, and few find it. The road of suffering. The road that prioritizes eternal values over temporary satisfaction. The road that is full of unknowns, spiritual warfare, and rejection. Few people choose this road, few people choose Jesus, but this road is the ONLY WAY that leads to life, blessing, and abundance.

Question: So how do you get to heaven? You put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And I’m going to give you an opportunity to do that right now.

Invitation:

If you want to make a decision to follow Jesus. Then join me and everyone else in the building as we pray out loud together. It’s not the prayer that saves you, but your faith, making Jesus Lord of your life. We don’t let anyone go on the journey alone. If you have faith in Jesus, then let’s join together as we pray…

Prayer of Salvation:

Jesus, I acknowledge that I need you

I confess that I have sinned against you

I believe that God raised you from the dead

And right now, by faith, I say “Jesus is Lord”

Thank you for forgiving me

By your grace I am saved

And by your power I am set free

If you prayed that prayer for the first time then Scripture says “anyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge them before my Father”. I’m going to ask that if you prayed that prayer for the first time would you lift your hand and let me know so that I can celebrate with you.

1. God is so proud of you.

2. The angels are rejoicing.

3. And we believe God has a purpose for your life.

Would you let us know that you made a decision so that we can follow up with you and help you on your next steps?