All right. John chapter 14 is
where we're going to be. John chapter 14-- the title
of my message is Welcome Home. Two simple words-- welcome home. And John 14, we
find the fifth I am statement that we're looking
at in this series of messages, this collection of talks. And it says this in John
14, starting in verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in Me. In my father's house
are many mansions. If it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And 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. And where I go you know
and the way you know. Thomas objected at this
point and said to Him, Lord, we have no idea
where you're going. And we have no idea
how to get there. We don't know the way. How can we know the way? I like his honesty, by the way. Can we just admit that we're
grateful He interjected? Because if he hadn't
objected and-- because you see in this scene, Jesus
is talking eloquently about all this stuff. You know exactly
where I'm going. You know exactly how
I'm going to get there. And you just imagine Peter. You imagine John. You imagine James just
all trying to look deep, trying to look smart. They furrowed their brows
like, yes, we do know the way. And yes, we do understand how
you're going to get there. And Thomas seeing
this, raises his hand. We have no idea where
you're going, and none of us have any idea how you're
going to get there. And Jesus probably looked
at the group and was like, is that true? And they're like,
yeah, technically true. But we were trying to look
smart and sophisticated. I'm thankful for Thomas. This is one of those
Thomas epic days. Come on, we trash
Thomas when he fails. Let's celebrate Thomas. [APPLAUSE] Tell you what. If you're new to
church, people like to call him "doubting
Thomas," right? How would you like it if
the biggest mistake you ever made in your entire life
became your nickname? I'm thankful that
Jesus never once called him "doubting Thomas" and
neither does He summarize you by your greatest failure. We have no idea where
you're going-- verse 5. We have no idea
how to get there. Jesus has a helpful
answer for him. Verse 6-- look at this. Jesus said to him, I am the way. "Ego eimi"-- I am, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. Welcome home. Welcome home. Those two words
are simultaneously what we hope you feel
here in our church. We hope you feel welcome home. We hope you just feel
that you're wanted here, and we're not trying to
size you up to figure out what you believe so we can
determine whether or not you belong. Let me just tell you something. This is a place where you can
belong before you believe. You can belong
without believing. We're glad you're here. This is a place where you
are welcome to be here as you explore the Jesus
that we believe in, and we are honored
by your presence. We hope you sense hospitality. We're not waiting for you
to go or hoping you'll fit in so that you can stay. We're glad that
you're here so we can tell you about the Jesus
who has saved our soul. You're welcome here in
this Fresh Life home. But it's also-- listen to me-- if you do believe
in Jesus, if you have given your heart to Him. I was talking to
someone this week who said, what do I have to do? They've been coming to
our church for a while. They said, what do I have to do
to be saved like you're always talking about? I said, you don't
have to do anything. It's been done. You just have to believe. The gospel isn't
behave and get saved, it's believe and
receive salvation through the name of Jesus. So I took him to Ephesians 2,
and I showed him in the Bible. I said, salvation is
by grace through faith, not of works, because
otherwise, you would boast. And I said, look. If you could earn heaven-- if you would do
something and earn it-- you would brag about it
to everybody you meet. But when salvation is
something God gives you because of what His son has
done, all you want to do is react with worship and
praise because of what He did for you in salvation. He said, I'm glad I
asked that question. I said, so am I. But let
me just say this to you. The title of this message
and what we see here is this the fifth
statement of Jesus about who He is that helps us
figure out who we are is this. If you do believe in Jesus,
and as a result God puts the salvation into your soul
that you could never earn, then the moment you die-- the moment you
leave this world-- those will be the
first two words you hear a minute after
you die as God greets you into paradise by saying
to you with a big smile and arm extended, welcome home. That is the promise
of the gospel, and it is the living hope
of the Christian church. It is that which we
get excited about. So here at the beginning
of the message, I'm rolling it out for you. That's all we got. That's the big climax
of this message. We get heaven. We get home. We die, but we win. Because the worst
thing that could ever happen to us actually
because of Jesus becomes the best thing as
we are ushered into eternity with the smile of our
Father and all of eternity to look forward to in a
place called Paradise. Come on. Take a second early
on in the message and celebrate if you are
thankful for the hope of Heaven. And that is what
Jesus gives us here-- the promise of a welcome
home into Paradise when we leave this world. Now, to get context--
because I think it will become even
more powerful when you understand these words
in the setting in which they occurred. Jesus is with His disciples. It's Thursday night--
the Thursday night before He dies on Good Friday. It's the Thursday
night where He'll get arrested in just a little bit. It's the Thursday
night where He had just washed His disciples'
feet, including Judas, who was welcome with Jesus. And all the way to
the very end, Jesus gave him opportunities,
opportunities, opportunities. He wasn't waiting
to condemn him. He was hoping to forgive him. And so Jesus washed
the disciples' feet. He had had that communion meal
with them, where He gave bread out and gave juice out and
spoke about His death and all of that. And in that supper, He
dropped a bombshell on them. And the bombshell wasn't just
that He was going to die. He had been talking about
that for quite a while. In fact, Matthew 17 tells
us very specifically-- it's rather 16. From that time-- this was
earlier on in the story. From that time, Jesus began
to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things from
the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and raise the third day. So Jesus did on this night
tell them, I'm about to die. But that's not why their
hearts were troubled. That's not why they were afraid. That's not why they
were stressed out. That had been like
a skipping record-- the story He had
been telling them. And they tried to
talk Him out of it. They learned the hard way
that is not a good call. Peter was like, no, no, no. We can't have you
down on the cross. And Jesus was like,
get behind me, Satan. And it's not a great day
when God calls you the devil. So they learned that He is
not to be talked out of that, but He had been telling them
that He was going to rise. So that wasn't the new news. The new news was this. After He died and
rose, He was going to leave and go back to Heaven
and that His plan was not to stay with them physically,
bodily on Earth any more. And that frazzled them. That shocked them to the
core, because that was not their life plan. Their life plan was stay as
close to Jesus as you can and enjoy everything that comes
your way as a result of that. They thought He was going
to usher in Heaven on Earth right then, you see? And so they, who had given up
everything to follow Jesus, now all of a sudden everything
was thrown into upheaval. Why? Because they didn't have the
revelation of the Holy Spirit. They didn't
understand how good it was going to be to have the
Holy Spirit put into our hearts by the Father. You have to understand. For them, all they could see
was walking around with Jesus. And when they had
a need, they had Jesus to take care of the need. But they couldn't see past
their own personal selfishness to understand that's what
it's like for all of us today who have the Holy Spirit
with us all the time. Jesus said, it's far
better that I go. Because if I go, everybody
can have access to God like you have access right now. And listen. According to Jesus, what
you and I get to enjoy-- is this your daily
life with God? What you and I are supposed to
be enjoying is the same thing-- even He said, a better thing-- than the disciples
getting to have Jesus. They had answers
to every problem. They had comfort for everything
that stressed them out. They had hope for every fear. They could, when they got
stressed out, look to Jesus. They could freak
out, look to Jesus. That's what you have. Do you see that? That's your life right now. Are you stressed
out about something you haven't brought to Him? It's not because you can't. It's simply because you won't. All you have to do
is look to Jesus. According to your
Savior, you right now have something every
bit as powerful and as potent as what the 12
disciples had for 3 and 1/2 years on the earth. Only the Holy Spirit is in you,
where Jesus was just with them. Holy Spirit's in
us in a unique way and willing to come upon us. And our failure to
understand the Holy Spirit will always cause us to be
experiencing unnecessary fear. But where we know we
have the Holy Spirit, we can tap into that. We can walk in that. The person who says in response
to that, that sounds fantastic. Pastor, how? You ask, you receive,
and you obey. You ask, you receive,
and then you obey. So whatever it is that
you need the help for, you ask for the help. You receive it with
hands open, hearts open. What does it look like? Well, practically,
it's as simple as, God, I need your help today. And I believe that you're
giving me power for it. This meeting is hard. Parenting my kids is hard. Being a good employee is hard. God, this is hard. I want to have a tantrum. I want to pout. I want to bite somebody. God, I ask for it, I receive
it, and then I go obey. And the blessing
is in the going. You see, the last
step's crucial. The blessing's in the going. You go and act. I can't do it, but
you step out in faith. The power kicks in. You step out in faith. The power kicks in. The Holy Ghost is like one of
those treadmills or ellipticals or exercise bikes where
nothing's on the screen until you start moving. You ever get on one? Oh, why isn't it on? I want to pick one of the loops. I want to pick intervals. I want to pick hills. Get moving, and you'll
see it spring to life. The Holy Spirit-- He's motion activated. So you ask, you receive. You step out in faith. The moment you do, He's going
to flood into your life. He's going to give you power. He's going to give you energy. So they were freaking out,
because they didn't understand what it was going to be
like when Jesus went away to come back. So ultimately, it
was their response to his death that was causing
them to be so freaked out. And so Jesus in response
gave them words of help, and he gave them words of hope--
six short verses that we just read that are some of the
greatest, most poignant, most profound in all of scripture
that He knew they needed on this day of them slipping
and being afraid and plunging into despair and into doom. But these verses
were not just to help them understand and come
to terms with His death. He gave them these
words, not just to transform how they
thought about His death, but to transform how they
thought about their own death. And what we find in
them is the proper way to think about our own
death-- the proper way to look at our own death
and make sense of it. And that's what we find. And so I've jotted down just
a couple quick takeaway truths that could help you-- not just
make sense of Jesus' death but make sense of
your own as well. Number one is this. Jot it down. Jesus is the answer
to the ache within. He's the answer to
the ache within. Now, the truth is, all of us
have an ache on the inside. There's something
inside of all of us that just feels like our
hearts are a puzzle that's missing a piece. How frustrating is
it to do a puzzle and then to get to the end
and realize, oh, my gosh, we're missing a piece. This is stressful. This is hectic. You almost want to call the
manufacturer and be like, no, no. No, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no. Not on my watch. I miss it. It's got a little bit of
a kitten's tail on it. I need it. I need my piece. I need my piece. I'll go make one. You need the satisfaction. Because how many of you know
the joy of doing a puzzle is actually all about putting
the last piece into place, stepping back,
and going, ka-bam! That's what you got to say. How you like me now, right-- and to just feel
like this is done. Why is it that for all of us, no
matter how much we accumulate, however many trips we take
and shiny things we can buy, places we can go, and
followers we can get, and people we can
sleep with, and things we can drink-- why is
it that we're always feeling like there's
one last puzzle piece we haven't found yet? No one gets drunk and
the next day goes, yeah, I don't need to
get drunk ever again. I was drunk last night. It was fantastic. I never need to get-- some of
us in the early morning hours have felt in our lives like, I
never want to get drunk again. But a week later when
the next party comes, you don't think, no. I don't need to go party
now, because I was drunk six months ago. It was so great I'm going to
live on that high forever. No, no. We chase the initial high. We're looking for
one more thing, looking for one more thing. What are our hearts in a word? Our hearts are troubled-- troubled. That's why Jesus
spoke immortal words when He told them, let not
your hearts be troubled. That's a big word in the Greek. It means being agitated,
being churned up. It means being very afraid. One time, Jesus-- He was just a sneaky guy. I mean, He was a prankster. The disciples were in the storm
that He told them to go into. He's like, go to the other side. You just see Him-- I see mischievous Jesus. He said, go to the other side. I'll meet you over there later. And He runs off, and
then a storm comes. And they get afraid. Their hearts are troubled. Now, here's the thing. The answer to their fear is in
His instructions originally. He said, I'll see you
on the other side. He didn't say, go die in
the middle of the lake. But when they got
into the storm, they started acting
like they were going to die in the
middle of the lake. I came to the church
and tell somebody, never doubt in the shade what Jesus
told you in the sunshine. You just got to
hang on to whatever He told you on the
shore when you're in the middle of the storm. If He said, go to
the other side, He's not going to let
you drown in the middle. And I think sometimes we get
so freaked out and emotional. And when things are bad,
we make permanent decisions because of temporary emotions. We're mad in the moment,
so we hit the ejector seat on the relationship. We bounce from the job. What are we doing? We're reacting to
the storm instead of remembering the revelation
He spoke to us on the shore. Why don't you just keep going? My wife and I-- we
encourage each other not to make drastic decisions
when we're feeling agitated. If we committed to something
with saner emotions, then we just got to
walk out of that word and walk out of that through
this present difficulty. Just keep going. Just keep marching. Just keep rolling. Eventually, you're going
to get to the other side. And you'll think,
gosh, did I ever think about jumping
out of this boat? So Jesus came to them
walking on water. That's the part
that's funny to me. You're like, where the
part that's mischievous? Well, it's the part
where He just-- listen. I don't have time for
this, but I have to do it, because it's so good. They're in the
middle of the storm. The Bible says, Jesus came
to them walking on water but was going to walk by them-- was going to pass them by. Had they not been
like, hey, you, He was just going
to keep on walking. He's just, hey, just
out for a walk, guys. Just out for a walk, right? And He waited to be wanted. He waited for them to
invite Him in the boat to actually get into the boat. Right now, Jesus is waiting
to be wanted by you. He's ready to come
into your life. He's ready to come
into your relationship. He's ready to surge into
what you're struggling with. But He's waiting to be asked,
because He's a gentleman. He's not just going to
come take over unless you ask Him to take the wheel. Hey. So listen, listen, listen. The Bible says that when they
were afraid at the storm, their hearts were troubled. Same word in the Greek. So now the panic
of a storm is what He says, don't let
your hearts do, because that's what
was happening to them. And I think all of us if we're
honest are going to-- if we haven't yet-- feel those kinds of feelings-- fear, dread, agitation. It's how we feel when
we read about shootings that have taken place. Another one? Vegas, and Parkland, and
Columbine-- all these things. They just swirl together into
this agitation that we feel. We feel so unsettled. And then we think about our
own personal difficulties-- people that we
love who pass away, and hardships that we
face, and difficulties that come our way, dreams that
are snatched from our hands viciously and unexpectedly. And what Jesus is saying is, I'm
the answer to the ache within. Let not your hearts be troubled. And then He spoke
Himself into their lives, because I am was just
a couple verses away. Let not your hearts be troubled. I am here for you. You see what I'm saying? Whatever's troubling
your heart today, Jesus is the answer for the
ache that you're feeling within. You were made for a place, and
you were made for a person. The place is Heaven,
the person is Jesus. And until you're
headed to Heaven in a relationship
with Jesus, you're always going to be scrambling
around for one more puzzle piece, one
more experience, one more purchase, one more,
one more, just one more, and one more. But it's in knowing Jesus. Max Lucado-- he said,
the greatest calamity is not to feel far
from home when you are, but to feel right at
home when you're not. We shouldn't feel like
everything's right, because we lost Eden. We lost the presence
of God face to face. Those things that
are in our future-- if we're believers, they
are what we were made for. So we should struggle and
recoil to make sense of death. We were never meant to die. That's why He said,
don't eat from this tree. But we fell for
the original lie-- that richness is
possible outside of God if you just take this. And what we found-- we found ourself evicted. We found ourselves
cast out of the garden. Homelessness was the original
penalty for disobedience, and we've been grasping for
a home, grasping for a home ever since. And to feel like we're
at home when we're not is actually the biggest
problem in this life. We should remember we are
headed home, not currently home. But in Jesus, we
find that answer to the ache that's within. There's a second thing. Jot this down. This passage tells us
death is not the end. It tells us that
death is not the end. Jot that down in your notes. It's a different way
to think about death. Why? Because-- listen to me-- you have body, and
you also have soul. And we tend to think
about our physical body as our true life-- as
everything that there is. But the proper way
to look at it is to remember that you are a soul. You currently have a body. Therefore, death is not
the end of the road. It's merely a bend in the road. And that's why it's
important once more to look to the words of Jesus. They were freaking out. They were panicking because
of their misunderstanding about the actual
facts about death. So Jesus spoke to them. Look. In my father's house,
there are many mansions-- meaning there's
more after death. If it were not so, I
would have told you. If it were not so, I
would have told you. I wouldn't have been
telling you all these lies about eternal life
if all you got was this life here on Earth. So what happens
when a person dies? Well, their body becomes
a lifeless shell. Their body is lifeless, at
least for the present time. And we'll talk a little bit
more in the coming weeks as we get to number seven
about what awaits the body. But presently, the
moment someone dies, their soul leaves their
body-- their soul, which is still them. But out of your body,
you're still you just as much as you were
inside of your body. And if you don't
understand that, it will cause there to be fear. So when you go to
a cemetery, there's not a single person to be found
except the caretaker and those who are well-wishers and
those who are leaving flowers. There's not a person
in the cemetery. It's just full of
lifeless shells. It's just full of places
where people at one point used to live. So the question--
and listen to me-- is not will you live
forever, but where will you live forever? Since one minute after you die
and 1,000 years after you die, you will still be you just
as much as you are currently. You will be ultimately. Jesus put it this way
in Hebrews chapter 9 speaking to the author
of the book of Hebrews. It is appointed for
men to die once, but after this
comes the judgment. So there's something
after death, you see? There is something after
death, and it's a sorting. It's a sifting. It's a judging. It's where is this going to go. When you put away your
groceries, you're judging. You take these bags now. You assemble them
on the counter. Are they recyclable bags? Well done, Portland. We're glad to have
you with us as well. Are they eco-conscious
and full of organic, farm raised chickens
that you know their name? OK. So anyhow, you're sorting now. Where do I put these groceries? You see, everyone has to choose. You're judging where they go. When we die, there's a judgment. It's a sorting. Where is this going to go? Jesus said there
are only two roads-- a broad road that leads
to destruction that many are on and a narrow road that
leads to everlasting life. So it's Hell and it's Heaven. It's life and it's death. But regardless of which of
the two waiting for you, death is not going
to be the end. There is something more. For the believer, we have
this great confidence that comes from knowing that-- 2 Corinthians 5:8--
absent from the body, present with the Lord. That's how we think about death. That's what Jesus
secured for us-- absent from the body,
present with the Lord. You don't pass go. You don't collect $200. There's no waiting in
purgatory for people who love you to do
some nice things, rack up a few more points,
and then maybe you can get. No, no. It's immediately to be
present with the Lord. It's a helpful way
to remember it. Death is then not leaving
home, but going home. We think about
leaving this world. That's so sad. Gone too soon. No, no. It's not leaving
home, it's actually heading home where Jesus
says to you, welcome home. Enter into the joy of your Lord. That's death. That's what happens when someone
who loves Jesus and believes in Him dies. But it's only possible because
of the price that was paid. That's what Jesus said when
He said to the disciples, I go to prepare--
look at it-- prepare. Jot it down. He's preparing a place for them. What does that mean? I've heard so many sermons
about Jesus up there in Heaven as a carpenter working to get
all the dwelling places done. Not how Jesus builds, FYI. He says, let there be
light, and there is. When He needs to speak
something, He uses His words. By the way, you were
made in the image of God. And when you speak something,
it creates something. It's either life or death,
depending on how you talk. How do you talk about your job? How do you talk
about your marriage? How do you talk
about your church? How do you talk
about this sermon? Oh, this one-- you
could speak life. This is going to be amazing. God's going to speak
to me through His work. That's why we encourage talking
back throughout the sermon. It's because you're
speaking life just as I am. When you say that's
good, that's for me. That's fantastic. You're speaking life. What are you doing when
you sit there like this? What are you doing? You're not speaking life,
you're speaking nothing. See what I'm saying? And that's why we encourage
that-- using our mouths. Because the Bible says, let
the Redeemer, the Lord, say so. If it's true, it's if
it's in your heart. Well, no, I have a good heart. No, no. We only judge your heart by
what comes out of your mouth. It's important what you
post on social media. It's important what you speak. All anyone gets to
judge about you is this. Well, I care about my church. I care about my faith. No, no. We only get what you say. We only get what
you put out there. We only get what you tweet. We only get what you text. We only get what you email. You might have a golden
heart just like an egg might have a golden heart. But we only get your words
to judge you by, so we speak. So Jesus doesn't create with
hammer and nails up in Heaven. He's not struggling
to get it done like, no, no, don't send me back
on the Rapture yet, God. I haven't finished it yet. No. That's not what is meant by I
go to prepare a place for you. What He's talking
about is this-- hanging from the cross. That's how He prepared the means
by which we would enter glory. He allowed himself to
be nailed to a cross and He hung there as the
weight of all of our sins was placed upon Him. And like a lamb led to the
slaughter with silence, so He opened not
His mouth except to speak golden words that
came down from Golgotha-- words of forgiveness,
words of love, words that fulfilled
prophecy, and words that indicated He was done
and could leave this world and go home into
His Father's hands. He committed his spirit when
all had been accomplished. And after He rose from the dead,
He then had prepared the way. He was the forerunner. He went behind the veil
as the great anchor, and the Holy Spirit change
our hearts to Heaven. And each day as believers, we're
being winched in inch by inch by inch. We're getting closer to Heaven. Any other way to
think of it will keep you spinning your
wheels in unnecessary fear. He prepared the way
by dying and rising, and now the way is prepared. The accommodations
have been purchased. It's been paid for in advance. Not a cent remains. It's all been taken care of. Everything is ready for you. All that remains is for us
to finish the work that He's given us to do, and
then we get to enter into the joy of
our Lord as well. But take that as
a cautionary tale as well, because night is
coming when no one can work. Yeah, Heaven's waiting for you,
so what are you waiting for? Heaven's waiting for you,
so what are we waiting for? Let's go into all the world. Let's preach the gospel
to every creature. Let's believe that after the
gospel has been proclaimed to the ends of the Earth then
the end can come, so let's be after our Father's business. Let's work, and let's testify. Let's shine our lives. Let's live beautiful
lives that are winsome, that attract people in. Let's be generous. Let's be sacrificial. Let's live crazy. Let's give our lives to God-- only one life. And soon it will be past, and
only what's done for Christ will last. All right, so Jesus is the
answer for the ache within. Death is not the end. Third thing-- jot this down. Heaven is an upgrade. Heaven is an upgrade. A question that a lot of
us ask is, what is Heaven going to be like? And I think here
in this passage, Jesus gives us one of the most
helpful descriptions of it possible. Why? Because He used the
word "mansions." Does that help anybody else? What is it like? Wayne Manor, anybody? When do you think
about a mansion that it's ever a bad thing? It's like, what's
Heaven like, God? Mansion. I'm good. I understand. That sounds fantastic, right? Mansion? He didn't say crappy
studio apartment. See what I'm saying? He chose the word that
he did intentionally to speak of permanence. And obviously, He does
want you to conjure up an image of niceness. He would have used a different
word if He didn't want to. He doesn't do anything badly. This world, fallen as though
it is, is still beautiful-- breathtakingly so. You see vistas. You see things. You enjoy His creation. You see what comes back from the
images NASA sends back from-- follow NASA on Instagram. It's like, well done. I'm always in a worship moment. Good job. And all that's been there
for all of human history. It's the first time
we've ever seen it. God's been enjoying it forever. He's been enjoying it since
He spoke it into existence. We're like, wow, look at that! He's like, yeah, I have
that over my fireplace-- a picture of that. I'm glad you guys finally
got around to seeing it. And what have we not discovered? And what's awaiting for us
there in fullness of life where there's not any
more anything being tarnished by sin-- I like to think about
Heaven as the grape, and this Earth is the raisin. The raisin is still
sweet, but so much has been sucked out of it. What is it going to be like
once again for our bodies and our lives in this world to
be re-energized with the glory of God that will cover the world
like the water currently covers our planet-- when God's glory
is thick everywhere and we can breathe it in? We won't just be able to
look at beautiful things. We'll be almost able to enter
into the beauty in a way that we want to now. It's almost like today when we
see creation that's stunning, you're a little
bit sad at times. Because you know as beautiful
as it is, you have to walk away. You know as beautiful as
it is, the picture isn't going to capture it. You know as beautiful as it
is, you want to almost soar. You almost want to
jump off that cliff. There's almost like something
in you that feels bittersweet when you see something
really beautiful, and that's you longing for
things to be full, in a sense. CS Lewis talks
about in that day, we won't just be able
to see the beauty. We'll be able to almost
absorb the beauty. And there will be
a fullness to it that will cause the trees in
the forest to clap their hands. If trees are going to clap
their hands in Heaven, what will you be able to do? You think about it. It's overwhelming
to think about. And by the way, all of this
that we're talking about is the cure for a
broken marriage. When your wholeness
is in Jesus, and you know you're headed
to Heaven, and you know there's going to be
an ache here on this Earth until you're back
where you should be, then you don't
look to your spouse to fix what you have
inside of you missing. And instead, you both look
at each other and you go, we both know we're broke. And we both know we're lost. We both know Jesus
is what satisfies us. But ultimately, we're both
still empty in a certain way, because we're still out of Eden. And so you look to each
other, and you both can just grow-- not expecting
each other to fulfill that, but to look forward
to your homeland when that ultimately
is fulfilled. You see what I'm saying? So you could get married again. You could divorce and
get married again. You could do it 19
times, but they're not going to have what
you need either, and nothing on this Earth will. You know Jesus. You know you're
headed to Heaven. And so now you just do life
together, and serve together, and forgiveness with
a mind towards heaven. So Heaven-- what is it? It's an upgrade. The two words that
help me the most-- and there's nothing I wish
I knew more than, what is actual the day to day
details of Heaven like? Because I have a child there. And when I travel, I like to
know what my kids are doing. If I am preaching somewhere,
leading somewhere, doing something, I like to just know. Are they at ballet now? Good. Do you need to do something? No, I just want to know. I just what to think about it. I like to picture
them doing ballet. I want to FaceTime. I just want to know what's now. Where are they now? Did they get ice cream? Are they finished
with school yet? Are they just sitting
around doing nothing but laughing at
[? Tabasco ?] and watching Lennox play and drool? I just like to know
what they're doing. And with the child in
Heaven, I think often, what's happening now? What are they doing in
Heaven at this moment? What's Lenya experiencing here? And so what helps me is
just remembering far better. Paul got to go to
Heaven one time. Paul got to go to
Heaven one time. Humble brag. Biggest humble
brag in the Bible. He says, I know somebody. I'm not going to mention
any names-- it was me-- and they got to go
to Heaven one time. And what they saw-- listen. He said this. It's far better-- far better. And so think about that. Heaven is an upgrade. So all of our fears about
death, all of our fears as Christians about dying-- they're unfounded. They're unnecessary. I saw a guy one time struggle
against a flight attendant changing his seat. My daughter and I got separated. We were supposed to sit next
to each other in this plane, but there's a man sitting
in my daughter's seat. And he was adamant
that he sit there. I said, my daughter--
can you move somewhere? No, it's my seat. They both had been
assigned the same seat. The flight attendant--
can you please? No, no. This is my seat. So finally, she said, sir,
I'm going to move you. And he goes, listen,
this is my seat. It's on the ticket. This is where I'm going to stay. She goes, but your
seat's in first class. The one I'm going to give
you is in first class. Oh, well, yeah, yeah. Please take it--
grabs his stuff. And I wonder if that's
going to be some of us when we get to Heaven. We've been afraid
our whole lives. I don't want to die. This is terrible. Death is awful. And then it's like, but
this is first class. It's an upgrade. Heaven is an upgrade. It's a beautiful place. It's filled with
glory and grace. We're going to see our
Savior's face, because Heaven is a wonderful place. I want to go there. I want to see my
daughter's face. I want to be reunited with
creation in perfection. No more sickness. No more disease. No more anxiety. No more sinful nature. No more bitterness. No more anger. No more dying. These things will
be swallowed up. This life's a tent,
Heaven is the home. And here's something
good about Heaven. Jot this down. There's room for everyone. There's room for everyone,
like every one of you and everyone you know. There's room in
Heaven for everyone, both from a space perspective
and from the desire of God. You're like, I'm going to
need to see that in the text. He didn't just say
there are mansions. Look what He said. He actually said, there
are many mansions. Or as the New Living
translates it, there's enough
room for everyone. There's plenty of room--
more than enough room in my Father's home. So just know this about God. However you feel about Jesus
and whatever bad experience you've had with
Christianity, just know this. God loves you, has a
plan for your life. And that plan for your
life includes Heaven. He wants, when you die, to
go to His Father's house, for you to be shown
around by the angels, and to enjoy protection,
enjoy that life. That's God's plan for you. God's been portrayed as this
angry God, this vengeful God, this God who just
can't wait for you to get out of line so He can
throw a lightning bolt at you. And nothing could be
further from the truth. Scripture actually
tells us point blank. Look what God says about
the death of the wicked. He says in Ezekiel,
I have no pleasure in the death of sinful
people, no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I don't get any joy
out of that, like, yay! No. In fact, He says, I wish
that the wicked would turn from his way and live. So turn. Look. He just starts screaming,
turn from your ways. Turn from the way you're going. If today you're not
believing in Christ, and you're headed the wrong
way, what is God saying to you? He's saying, turn around. It's as though you saw
someone driving on a road at 90 miles an hour and you
knew the bridge was out. You would be saying to them, no! Turn from your wicked
ways and repent. God loves you-- so much that
He sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you
to demonstrate his love. God demonstrated
His love in this that while we were sinners,
Christ died for us. And it was necessary,
because not only is there room for everyone in Heaven, but
everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You and me and everyone
we'll ever meet-- all of us have sinned. And it's not good people
that go to Heaven. Listen to me. It's forgiven people. And that's why Jesus
Christ died on the cross-- so you could be forgiven. Christ has already
paid the bill. All that's necessary is for
you to receive the price that was paid into your life so that
it can be applied to your bill and so everything
can be sorted out. My dad stayed with me in
a hotel room a while back, and he wanted to just
hang out with us. So I said, I'll call
for a rollaway bed. And I called the front
desk, and they said, it's going to be $50
for rollaway bed. And I thought that
was interesting-- to have a crappy twin bed
on wheels for the night. But my dad said,
look, I'll pay for it. So he's like, I'll go
down to the front desk and pay for that extra $50
so it's not on your bill. And so he did that, and then
he got home and called me. He said, did you
know that hotel where I stayed in that rollaway bed? He said they applied $1,000
bill to my credit card. They charged me $1,000. I only tried to pay $50. He's like, they
charged me $1000! So what did he do? He called them up. And what did they do? They reversed the charges,
and they applied that credit. But if he hadn't
have called, they wouldn't have
applied the credit. I'm telling you, if you don't
call out to God in faith, He can't apply the credit
of Jesus' righteousness that was shed at
the cross for you. God wants to apply
that to your account, but you must call out to him. Isaiah the prophet
said, look unto Him, and you will be saved. Everybody all the way
to the ends of the Earth can be forgiven if you
would look to Jesus. There's no one so good that
they don't need to be forgiven, but there's no one so bad
that they can't be forgiven. If you would just trust
Jesus, He would save you. There's room for everyone. There's one last thing. You need to not miss this. There are many ways
to miss Heaven. That's what this
passage tells us. There are many ways-- endlessly
possible variations of ways-- to miss Heaven, but there
is only one way to go there. According to Jesus,
He put it this way. Let's read it again. This is the "I am" statement
we've come to consider. I am the way, I am the
truth, and I am the life. No one, He says-- come on, everyone. Say "no one." No one. No one comes to the
Father except through me. Heaven is closed off to no
one, but it is accessed only through the name of one. His name is Jesus, and
he is God's open sesame to everlasting
life and abundance. There's one way that
gets to the Father. John Phillips and his
commentary on the Gospel of John put it this way. In that magnificent
statement, Jesus answered the three greatest
questions of the human heart. What is the way? What is the truth? What is the meaning of life? Is there anything people
puzzle over more that that? Is there anything people go
to college or travel the world or get high to try and figure
out, what is the truth? What is life? What is life? What is life? That's a question
asked on social media. The answer is Jesus. Life has a name. Truth has a name. The way has a name. And I'm told that in the
Greek, the way that these are spoken build on each other. They build on each other. It's not like, I'm the way,
comma, the truth, comma, the life, as though they were
three separate categories of things. No, no. He's actually
saying, I am the way. It builds on it,
because I am the truth. Why? It builds on it--
because I am the life. He's able to be the way
that you can get to Heaven. Do you know the way--
the way to San Francisco? Do you know the way--
the way to Albuquerque? Do you know the way-- the way to Starbucks? Here's what He's saying. You want to get to Heaven? I'm the way. I'm the directions. You don't need to look to a map. You to look to the Messiah. I can get you there. Why? Because I am the truth. I am God's truth. I am God's word spoken. And why can you do that? Because I am life. To know Jesus is to know life. Therefore-- listen to me. 1 John 5:12-- if you have
the Son, you have life. If you don't have the
Son, you don't have life. So my question to you
as we close is this. Do you have the
Son, or do you not? And you're saying,
what do you mean? Do I go to church? Here I am. Is that good? No, it's good. That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking, do you have the Son? You're saying, do
I know some verses? And I'm not asking about verses. Verses are good. Verses can tell you about
Jesus, but do you have the Son? You're saying, do
I do good deeds? No, I'm not asking if
you've done good deeds. I'm asking, do you have the Son? Do you or don't you? Do you have life? Because if you don't have
the Son, you don't have life. But what's for sure is this. If you were to believe on Jesus
today, you could have the life. Because who the Son sets
free shall be free indeed, and Jesus is the way. And He's the truth,
and He's the life. And no, no one can get to the
Father except through Him. But listen-- if you go through
Him, you can get to the Father. Don't bury the lead. Don't bury the lead. A lot of people get
lost in this statement, because they start
arguing about why there's only one way to the Father. That's pretty intolerant. That's pretty arrogant. Not if it's true. Not if it's true. It's only intolerant and
arrogant if it's not true-- if we're making up a
religion, and we make one up that just excludes all sorts
of different people and belief systems. Yeah, that's so screwed up. But if it's true, then it's
loving and kind to tell people the truth about it. Let me mix it up a little bit. If you're drowning in the ocean
and a Coast Guard helicopter comes for you and a rescue
swimmer dives down to get you, pulls you to a rubber
raft or pulls you to a cage attached to a rope
and you begin to get winched up, are you going to argue
with him about why there weren't many
helicopters sent, why there aren't
many divers sent? Oh, Christians are so arrogant. They think there's
only one way to God. Let's not bury the lead. There's a way to God. It's not like there was a
line of people lining up to die for you and rise
from the dead to save you. There is one way to the Father,
because only one came down from the Father-- only one who was willing
to go to the cross and die for your sins. Only one rose from the dead. Only one sent his
fear into the world. Only one, even now, will
forgive you and save you. No matter where you've
been or what you've done, you're not messed up enough
that God can't save you. But you're not so good you
don't need Him to save you. And if you believe in Christ,
the one name that can save is able to save you
in this very moment. So my question for you is this-- sitting there in Jackson
or watching Salt Lake City, Church Online in front of your
computer or on your phone-- would you like to give
your life to Jesus Christ? Would you like to accept
Him as your Savior? Would you like to put your
faith in Him as your Lord so that the grace of God can
be poured into your life-- grace that you don't deserve-- so that you'll not only
have the hope of Heaven to look forward to
but the plan of God to walk out while you're
still on this earth? Would you bow your
heads with me and pray? All of us pray. God, we're thankful
for those in Montana. We're thankful for
those in Portland. We're thankful for those-- every part of our
church and Church Online and on TV as well
or even right now, sensing you knocking on
the door of their heart, ready to give
their lives to you, be forgiven, be
headed to Heaven. And while we're praying
with heads bowed, eyes closed but
hearts open, if you would like to trust
Jesus as your Savior, I'm going to pray a prayer. And I'm going to ask you to
pray it out loud after me. I'm going to ask
the church family to pray with us to show that
we're all in this together. Say this. Say, Dear God. Dear God. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I'm a sinner. I can't fix myself. I can't fix myself. But I believe you can. But I believe you can. Because Jesus died for me. Because Jesus died for me. And rose from the dead. And rose from the dead. Please come into my heart. Please come into my heart. And make me new. And make me new. I give my life-- I give my life-- --to you. --to you. What an incredible message. Thank you so much for joining
us in this teaching from Fresh Life Church. If during this
message you felt led to make the decision
to follow Christ, we'd love to send you a
21 day devotional that goes through the book of
John that Pastor Levi Wrote. And you can also
register your decision on our website,
freshlife.church. Just click the Know
God tab, and we'd love to get connected with you. If you've been impacted at all
through what God is doing here at Fresh Life Church,
we would absolutely love to hear from you. All you gotta do is click
the Share your Story tab at the top of our website. Or you can email us at
story@freshlife.chruch and share how God is using
this work to impact your life. And finally, if you'd
like to partner with us financially and
support the things that God is doing in
and through this house, you can text the word
"fresh" to 45777. You can click the Give
button at freshlife.church, or you can give via
the Fresh Life app. Thank you so much for watching.
