Last Words | Week 4

Hey there. How are doing? Good. Alright. Everyone's awake. That's good because buckle up. Here we go. No. Hey. We're continuing in this series called last words, and it's really looking at the chapters of the book of John where Jesus is having his final conversations before he

before he's crucified. And it's interesting that these are powerful. They're important because the book of John is about 20% of it is centered around just this one day. This this one night of conversations.

We've And been unpackaging what is Jesus really saying. It's so important that he's been saying to his disciples, and and we're gonna continue on. And today, we're gonna be in chapter 16 of John.

And what's interesting is is to to really wrap our arms around what he's talking about and and to really understand. I wanna share with you a story

that that helps me understand this, and it helps it kinda just lay it down there so we can get it. And it comes from, my my dad's life. And I I've used this for in the past, so if you've been around the church for a while, might have heard me share this before and both, tough.

You're getting it again. So I know I'm I'm gonna be a grandpa, so I might as well start retelling stories over and over again. Right? And, actually, I already am a grandpa. Just haven't met the child yet. So, anyways, back to what I was talking about. My dad when my dad was 17 years old

and he was a finished junior about going into senior high school, it was the middle of World War two. And, he had already GED'd and left high school because he had signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was playing professional baseball.

And he finally felt convicted and and wanted to walk away from it, at least for time being because the war was, you know, war is always bad, but this was kind of a just war, and he didn't wanna be the one that waits till he's 18 and gets drafted. He wanted to volunteer to go believe in something greater than himself and and and fight. So he got his dad to sign a waiver, and he went into the navy at at 17

and did eight weeks of boot camp and then shipped out on a boat. And the first place he went was a little volcanic island called Iwo Jima.

Now I oh, this crowd knows what you you know your history. Good job. And and and so he was a a machine gunner on the landing craft as they took these beaches. I got a couple pictures here. This is a picture of the you see the landing craft going. He would have been in probably in one of those boats in this picture. And and they go ashore, and it was a little volcanic, and they needed to take the the airstrip and all that, and it's near the end of the war, but in not the end, but the the Japanese are already losing badly.

But they needed to take this this island. And the the key thing is you gotta get a beachhead, so they gotta take the beach.

And then the most critical thing is they gotta take that mountain, the volcanic mountain. That's that's the only high point. That's where the Japanese had a lot of big guns, a lot of stuff. You take that high point, you take the island. So so that's Mount Suribachi. That was the goal. Take the beach. That was hard fought. And matter of fact, I have a picture of a little bit of the carnage of of the boats blown up and stuff like that as they took the beach. But then the next objective is if we can get the mountain, we're gonna win. We're gonna we're gonna take the battle.

And so four days in,

four days in, they actually got to the top of Mount Suribachi and took it. And my dad witnessed this happen, and I want and and then the picture I'm about to show you is probably a picture you will see. It's the most famous picture really from World War two, especially in the Pacific. It was a symbol of victory. It was very well known picture, and he watched this happen, and I have that picture right here.

Have you seen this picture before? How many this is the first time you understood where it was at and what it was for? Be honest. Come on. Let's see. Yeah. You never put two and two together. This was this flag going up, and that became the symbol

of victory for The United States. And here's the crazy thing. My dad was down below. They cheer. They they knew, we took the mountain, we're gonna win. The battle is won.

But what you might not know about this picture they say victory is the battle may be won, but the fighting wasn't done. They knew they had won the battle, but that was four days in. The fighting went on for another three weeks. 90% of the casualties happened after this picture was taken.

Even though they knew they won because the Japanese knew they had lost. They knew they couldn't win. They had orders. Dig in, fall back, and your job is to kill as many American soldiers as you can before you die. That was the goal. That's why Iwo Jima was the bloodiest battle of the South Pacific.

And and and and all these casualties happened. But here's here's the crazy. My dad said, we knew we won, which gave us hope. But we knew the fighting wasn't done, which can be overwhelming.

And and that's really when he explains. My dad used to use this as he became a Christian and got stronger. He would talk to me about this. He goes, this is how he understands the words that Jesus says in the passage today.

Is is is basically what John 16 is about is is to remember. He's trying to give comfort to his disciples because he knows he's about to die. They're about to freak out. They're gonna be overwhelmed. And and he basically is trying to tell him this.

When I feel overwhelmed here's the big idea for today. When I feel overwhelmed,

remember that Jesus overcame.

When I feel overwhelmed, remember that Jesus in other words, we're gonna go through life and and and we're gonna have moments where we're very overwhelmed. We're gonna have, and now, you're sitting here. You feel overwhelmed by life. Life is hard. Life is tough. Things are happening that's just not working well for you, and you feel like the weight of the world is just crushing you. And and yet, if you come to church and you follow Jesus, you're like, I don't get this, Jesus. I'm following you. Why is it so hard?

And and what Jesus is gonna share to his disciples today, which he still is saying to us today is, hey, guys. Guys. Guys. You gotta remember, the battle's won, but the fighting's not done.

Because there is an enemy that's dug in that says, want to take out as many of you as I can along the way. And and that's really what we face. And he shares this to bring them comfort. And he wants them to have have joy and peace. So as as chapter 16 begins,

he he picks up where he left off in chapter 15 where he says, hey, you know, it's about my plans, about loving people. You gotta reflect me with your life. But you know what? You're gonna have problems, and and you need to make it through these problems. But he says, but remember,

I I have to go. Because what they're really freaking out about is Jesus. They're finally understanding that Jesus was serious when he says he's leaving, he's dying. And they don't get it.

They're panicking. They're they're they're they're overwhelmed like, wait, we gave our life to this cause. I don't understand what this means.

So And he says, but don't worry, I have to go because then he starts 16 because then your sadness will be turned to joy because the Holy Spirit will come, and you'll have my power in you wherever you go. You're gonna have joy.

And then he ends at the end of the chapter, he starts to say, and peace. He wants us to have joy and peace. So he's trying to bring comfort to him. Before I dive in here, I just wanna set up this idea of joy and peace. Because when we're overwhelmed, we often don't feel joy and peace.

Because a lot of times when we're overwhelmed is we're running after pleasure and happiness. We think joy and peace is really lack of problems and lots of blessing.

That's what gives us joy and peace. And he's trying to say, no, you can have joy and peace no matter how tough it gets, no matter how overwhelmed you are, No matter how you're just hanging in there because joy and peace are different than being problem free and and having happiness.

And and like we said, last week we talked about joy. Remember I said, what I say joy? Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is controlled by our circumstance. Meaning,

if the circumstances are good for me, I'm happy. If they're bad, Bill isn't happy. You know, it's like you're not happy. I go, joy is this ability to have exuberance despite your circumstance.

Well, now he brings up peace. We're gonna see that peace is the is the other side of the same coin. Peace is when you're in a circumstance that's overwhelming that you wanna freak out. Peace is a tranquility, a calm that can overcome me in a moment where I should freak out.

So Jesus is saying, hey, in life, what I want to really bless you is you gotta trust. I'm sending the Holy Spirit. And if if you trust me and you follow me and believe my plan, you're gonna have a lot of problems. You're gonna be overwhelmed in life. There's some fighting to happen, but you can have peace and joy.

And and and that's really what he he he wants for them. And so he's gonna try to comfort them, and and and in there,

he talks about this. So I wanna, you know, we're gonna focus now on verses 25 through 33, but I wanna Quentin Tarantino this thing. And I'm gonna start with 33, and then we're gonna go back through. Alright? So so I'm gonna start with the end in mind here. So verse 33 says this. Jesus is trying to bring them comfort. He says, I have told you all of this

so that you may have peace in me. See, he's talking about this peace. And I've told you also all what he says before. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. So he goes, I'm I'm trying to give you peace. So I've told you these things so you can have peace. Life's gonna be hard.

He basically says, want you to have peace, but just know there's gonna be sucky moments. And they're like, that's not very comforting, is it? But he's trying to explain. You can't. Joy and peace is different. He goes, here on earth you have many trials and sorrows. And then he says this, but take heart. But take heart.

Give give take heart. In the Greek, you know what that means? He said cheer up. Have you ever had anybody try to do that when you're overwhelmed, when when things are the word there for trials and sufferings means crushing weight. Have you ever been under a crushing weight of life and someone just told you to cheer up? You

ended up giving them some crushing weight in their in their throat or face region. Right? Didn't that just make you mad? Isn't it the worst when someone says, you know you know, here's the other way we say it. And and I say it when we run into someone who's under crushing weight, we don't know what else to say. We say this, what?

Hang in there. You know, just hang in there. It'll it'll be okay.

You know, we don't know what else to say. We're like we're like, just hang in there. It's like, is that what Jesus is Jesus giving the worst pep talk in the world? He's like, I want you to have joy and peace. You're gonna have a lot of problems. But guess what? Hang in there. That's that sounds terrible.

Matter of fact, I had something happen just yesterday that reminded me of another thing we say that's very similar when someone's overwhelmed and they don't have peace, they don't have tranquility, there's not calm, they're worried, they're overwhelmed, and they and they may and and I know this isn't a marriage series, but I'm just gonna tell you guys, take notes right now. Is is is it happened yesterday with my wife. Something came up. She got very overwhelmed,

and I said words. Just take these words out. I said, hey. Relax.

I guess everyone in here is smarter than I. I said, relax. That was not it was dumb. I mean, it involved my son, which is that's what made it a part. He's he's he's almost 20,

and but, know, he's he's my my Sicilian wife's only begotten son. And and and so she has a special she's she's she can be harder and push the our two daughters more than my son because because it's her boy. And and and so she's engaged. So she gets up. I'm up in the morning. It's Saturday. I'm getting ready to come over here and preach, I'm gonna get okay. I'm overwhelmed. I gotta figure out how not to talk too long, And I still have not figured that out in my entire twenty nine years of being a pastor. So this is every week, I'm like, alright. How do I narrow this down? Probably not tell random stories like this that I never plan to tell. But anyways, I'm gonna do it anyways. So as as I as I started it, I I I go she comes in and bugs me, hey, I gotta bug you. I'm like, what's going on? It's it's our son. I'm like, what's wrong? And he goes, he had driven all the way to Buckeye to to to hang out with his apparently new girlfriend, lives in Buckeye.

Oh, well. But

but but he's out there and he goes, he was driving home and and his car broke down and it it overheated. And I go, well, what's what's going on? What's he doing? He goes, well, said he knows what's happening and and so he's gonna go to car auto parts. He says he thinks he has it figured out. And I go, okay. So what am I supposed to do about it? Don't well, you care about our son. Right? I'm like, yeah. And it's almost like this attitude of you need to freak out like me or you don't love. And so I'm like, okay. Well, he's sounds like he's figuring it out. And she's like, but what if he he's way over there. He he he's way over there in Buckeye. I looked him up on the on the find your phone thing. I go, he's 38.5

miles away. But yeah. But he's out there by himself. 38.5 miles away in Buckeye, Arizona. What story did you just tell? When my dad was two and a half years younger than him, he was storming the beaches of Iwo Jima

to free the world in a world war. And you're panicking because my son is 38 miles away with a car that's overheating. I went, relax. Wrong thing to say. That was the worst motivational speech in the world. She didn't wanna relax. She wanted me to get all worked up because that's love.

And so then I call him. I'm like, alright. Fine. I'll call him. I call him. He's like, yeah. I got it figured out, man. I I know it's overheated, but I took it across the street and this auto dealer said, have to flush the whole system. You gotta do this. I could just change those myself, but you gotta change them. I go, that's not really the problem. I'm like, oh, really, son? What's really the problem? He goes, it's the fact that the the coolant is spraying onto the engine. It's creating smoke, and that's what's making my car not drive right.

I'm not the pet boys, but I know that's not the problem. The problem is coolant spraying out of your engine. That's why the little l and h sign is maxed out at h and your car won't drive right. And you can he goes, so I just read if I just go, no a AC, I topped it off, I'll drive really slow. You're not gonna make 38.9

miles. You're just not. So but I my wife's standing there, and I know that I can't. I'm like, I wanna say, no. Just fix the stupid hose. You know how to do it. But she's staring at me. I'm like, alright, son. Just do it. Drive slow.

Call me if you have another problem. I'm I'm have to hold back the laughter. If. It's like, call when your car overheats again. And and so I hang up. Fifteen minutes later, calls back. He's now 34.9 miles away.

How'd that plan work for you, son? So I'm sitting here trying to stay calm, and so then she's panicking. I go, alright. Here's what you gotta do. If you're in the middle of nowhere,

just pull out your insurance card. We have towing. Just have it towed here. We'll figure it out when you get home. And he's like, I don't have my insurance card.

Iwo Jima, and you can't do this. I'm like, okay. And I look at my I was like, alright. Fine. Well, hey, Carrie. Pull up the guard to send him a picture of it so he can call the number to call. She's like, why does he have to do that? Because he's the one stranded in Buckeye.

And you're getting mad because, like, he needs to be the one that can do this when he's older. He's gotta figure this out. And I was like, I'm trying to fight this. Like, just relax. He can figure it out. That's not going over well because she's her only begotten son is stranded there on the side of a freeway,

sitting at a air conditioned place getting a Coke. Somehow, it's terrible. So he we give him the number. She agrees with me. She he calls. He goes, they're coming. And then she's getting ready. I go to you. She said, I'm gonna go pick them up. Why? She goes, well, how's he gonna get home? I go, he gets in the tow truck

with tow truck Bob. Who's gonna bring the car? He can come with the car.

But that would be awkward. He'd have to sit in a car with someone he doesn't know. I go, you do know our son. Right? You know he's the one that could meet a kid and two seconds later, can we have a sleepover with my new best friend? He'll be fine.

And if he doesn't wanna do that, he'll figure it out. He did. He got his girlfriend to drive him home. So, oh, well. Relax. You know the reason why my wife got so stressed at me in that moment? And why you get so frustrated when someone says, hang in there? And why this is not what Jesus is doing?

Because when I say relax, she knows I can't actually physically make it be different. When you say tell someone to hang in there, you they know that you're saying that is because you have no answers and no power and no ability to help in any way, shape, or form.

And that's why that phrase in the Greek, take heart or cheer up, is found multiple times in the New Testament, but it's always only said by one person. Jesus is the only one that says it. Because he is the one that can say cheer up because I've already made a way and showed you how.

And that's why he says that right after he says, I've told you these things so you can find peace, so cheer up. And then he kinda lands where I said the the final thing. He says, but take heart because I have overcome the world. He's saying, I've already got the plan. I've already I have the ability

to give you what you really are craving despite the problem you're in. You can have peace. You can have joy.

The problem is if you run out of happiness and problem free and whatever else you think it is, if you if you're running after if you think that's the answer, you're gonna be constantly frustrated trying to follow Jesus.

Because you're gonna go after the wrong thing and you're never gonna get it. So when he says that, he's basically saying, okay. So what I've already told you so back to verse 25 now, he gives three things as he talks these last few words that actually is here's how to have the peace and joy. Here's how to take heart. Here's how to cheer up. Here's how to have courage. He's being very comforting. And what I wanna tell you is there's three things, but I'm gonna tell you what they are first. Because you're not gonna readily just notice it when I read the verses. But it's there because we see it all through scripture. There is three realities, three gifts from God, three things that every human being, if you understand scripture, says here's what we were really wired. The irreducible minimum of what we as a human being really crave.

We run after all kinds of things thinking we're gonna get that that that longing fulfilled, but it's really these three things. It's talked about clearly in in first Corinthians 13, Paul writes all about it. And the three things are love, faith, and hope.

And and what the Bible clearly says is if if I have those three things, I can go through the worst possible crushing moments in my life and still have joy and peace. It also says if I don't have those three things, I could have everything I ever dreamed of

and still not feel comfortable, still feel bad. It's like you see it all the time. So many people get all their dreams and they kill themselves. Like, you know, like, and we think why would you do that? You know why we think they're stupid is we don't get all of our dreams. And we really think if I got everything I longed for, I'd be okay. And then you see people get it all the time and they're still not happy. You know why? They might have got all that stuff, but they did not have love, they did not have faith, they did not have hope. In other words, we need someone to love us so clearly, so deeply, so completely, so unconditionally

that they love us and even like us right where we're at no matter how dark we are. The darkest, deepest, you know, junk of us, they love us anyways. The humans being, we are created to long for that kind of a love. But here's the problem. Another person cannot love you like that.

Matter of fact, another this isn't a marriage series. But a lot of marriage trouble is because we try to get out of a spouse something only God could give. We can love each other deeply. We can love each other sacrificially. We can really meet that kind of a need. But the longing for this level of love is not possible

because we are broken hurting people too. We have the dysfunction. We can't love as completely as God.

So the second thing is we need that kind of love. The second thing is faith. Meaning, we need somebody to trust in. And we need to have a trust that says, I completely trust that you have the ability, the power to actually care for me,

and you really want to, and you're committed. Once again, we can do that for each other in human relationships, but not perfectly at the level that God can.

So we're always feeling slightly cheated. That longing to have a little bit more, a little bit more even out of your relationships is a longing for what God built us to be, a longing to for him. And yet we we we we we try to suck it out of all these ways, and it doesn't happen.

And then the last thing is through that faith comes a hope. Every one of us has hope that we can go through incredibly tough things if we know there's something on the other side of that. Just like my dad. He can look up at that flag and go, I know the next few weeks are gonna be brutal, but I know we won.

If you know there is hope, that is really the irreducible minimum of the human experience.

You were created that way. The Bible is clear about that, and we try to fill that with all kinds of stuff. And and we think that that marriage will fix it, Or having this job will fix it. Or having a house or the next thing or the next toy or the next that or the next this. We think we think just having stuff will fix it. We think having relations with it. We think politics. Eventually, we're gonna get the right kind of political mix that we're all gonna have joy and peace.

Good luck. And and and we think those things. He's saying, no. It's it's it's it's love, faith, and hope.

And that's what he lands here. He that's what he's talking about. So with that context, I'll show you how it comes out in this. Let's read. Starting verse 25. I've spoken of these matters and figures of speech, but soon I'll stop speaking figuratively and I'll tell you plainly all about the father. He says, hey, I've been speaking in veiled language and parables and Jesus was tired. He goes, but I'm running out of time and I need you guys aren't figuring this out fast enough, so I'm just gonna flat out tell you.

And so then here's what he says. Then you will ask in my name,

and he says, I'm not saying I will ask the father on your behalf. That's a random verse. You think you just read right past it. There is so much depth right there. Cause what he's saying is he goes back to I'll you'll ask in my name. We saw that last week when he says, hey, if I really go after God's plan for my life, I can then ask for anything I need to accomplish God's purpose,

and God will always take care of us. To accomplish his purpose. It's not anything I want,

more is anything you need. But what's funny is he doesn't even finish the scent. He doesn't even finish the thought. It's like he's so caught up on what he wants say. He says, hey, and you realize when I speak cleanly, you understand the father. Do you understand what I'm about to say? When you get this, you're gonna be able to ask for anything you need. And

and but by the way, I'm not the one asking. It's you. He he just landed with them something so deeply profound. Because as Jews, they knew they worshiped a holy God. They knew God was called father in the Old Testament, but not ever called Abba father like Jesus told them they can call him. Abba means daddy.

He was more of like the formal father. Father.

You know, there's father over there. And even matter of fact, when they worshiped God, the holy of holies, they had this huge tent, this this this curtain, and this is and you couldn't couldn't go in there because it represented God's holiness in our brokenness and sin. We're so far away. So they kind of thought, Jesus the reason they're freaking out that Jesus is leaving, how are we gonna get anything from God? You're our end. You're you're you're like the popular chick child in the house. You know? You're the one that mom and dad will listen to. So if we talk to you, hey Jesus, go ask dad if we can have this. Okay.

Alright. He said, yes. You know, it's like they're thinking that. I go, what are we gonna do without you? Because you don't need me. I'm the one that's putting this together so you understand that when this happens, he's basically saying there's no curtain separating you. God the father is daddy now. You can go straight

to him. So when you're overwhelmed,

God the father, the creator of the universe wants to talk to you.

That could help us take heart. And then he says, why? Because he he he has what you really need. He goes, four verse 27, the father himself loves you dearly. He just said the father himself you know, I've loved you and you're worried about me leaving, but you realize the father, God, loves you dearly, deeply,

unconditionally, unconditionally,

powerfully, and that's that's a that's the kind of love. And and and what's really powerful about when he says he loves you dearly, this is where, you know, I'm into this a lot, but if you look into the Greek, it says something more than you even think. There's three primary words for love in the Greek language. The first one's agape. That's kind of this this known of this perfect love of God. It's like it's God is love, and he's the one that can agape with this perfect perfect God like love. In John three sixteen, the most famous verse in the Bible always held up at football games, for God so loved the world, the word there is agape.

There's another word for love that's eros, where we get erotic from. That's like, I love the way you look and the way it makes me feel when I look at you, of a a love. That's that's that's love. It's a physical kind of love. But there's a third one, phileo. It's where we get the name Philadelphia,

city of brotherly love. It's family love. I love you as a cherished member of the family. That's the love God uses here. You would think, well, isn't Agape the better one? Well, Agape is God's perfect love. He loves everybody

in the way that he's loved, but not everyone on this planet is part of the family is what he's saying. God the father, you can go straight to him because you are his son. You are his daughter. You are in the family. That is powerful.

He's saying that if I have faith in Jesus, I'm different. I I get to be in the family. I've been adopted. I'm one of the children. He actually loves me. But you know what? And it's I don't about you, but it's weird. It means he actually likes you too. He knows everything about you and likes you.

If you're a parent, you get what I just said. Agape would be like, I love all my children the same. That's probably true in this generic love kind of a way, but you know that you like some of them more than the others.

And if you're sitting here kids, you have siblings, your parents do. They like one of you more, and usually it's the one that listens. So there you go. And so it it it says like God actually doesn't just love you because he's God, he likes you.

I struggle with that. It's hard for me to think. How about you? Do you ever like, I can embrace this concept with all my head, but I often struggle with feeling it with all my heart. And I think that's what when we're overwhelmed and crushed in the world, I think some of the reasons we can't have joy and peace is

we just can't embrace the fact that God loves you, and he likes me too, and I'm part of the family if I know Jesus.

That should help us cheer up. But why do we wrestle with it? Because some of you say, I I, you know, I I you said it, Bill. I get it. I'm like you. I could say it. I know it with everything in my head, but why don't I feel it? Why do I struggle with feeling the love of God?

And and and some of it could just be, you know, just upbringing issues. Some of you just struggle with those kind of stuff and intimacy, you need to unpackage that. But a really common one is because I'm the one that's running away from the love.

It says the very next statement. He says, because God loves you dearly, your family. But then look what he says, because. He says, here's why God loves you dearly, because you love me. See what he said? He says, we're family to God, the father, when we love Jesus. That's what makes us family. So am I saying that

if I'm not loving Jesus, then I'm not part of family anymore? No. What he's saying is when I know Jesus, I'm in the family. When I love Jesus, when I choose to to embrace Jesus' love, when I become a Christian, I am now part of the family.

The problem with me feeling it, if I have embraced Jesus, is I often run away. The parable of the prodigal son, it's I leave Jesus. I'm fighting with Jesus. When I'm fighting with Jesus and his will for my life, I'm not gonna feel the love of the father. And it's not that he stopped loving me, it's because I ran away from home. When I run out of the house, you know, if your father you know, the parable of the prodigal son. The peril the parable of the prodigal son. Say that three times fast. But it was it was this idea that when I run away, if you run away from home, your parent the father still desperately loved the son. But the problem is if I'm running from the plan,

I'm not actively feeling and experiencing the love at that moment, am I? And that's why he says you have loved me. Well, chapter 15, what did Jesus say is loving him? Remaining in him. And he says, does it mean to remain in me? Obey me.

So if I fight Jesus' plan, if you got something that the word of God says, here's how I want you to trust me. Here's where you live. A lot of times we fight that out of fear. We fight that, but that's not gonna make me happy.

That's not gonna make me feel secure. That's not gonna make me feel we run after our version of happiness, and we don't trust God with something. And when we don't do that, we're running away from that love. We are the ones that's pulling away. We're still part of the family, but as you run away, you will not feel

actively the present love and family love of God the father because you ran out of the house. That's why we repent and run back to Jesus. Not because you're gonna get in trouble. It's because you need the love of God to take heart, to take courage.

And so how do I embrace our love? He finishes it with when he says this. He says that that we go from love to the next thing. How do I embrace this? He says the very next phrase.

The father himself loves you dearly because you love me and these are all connected. Father loves you because you love me and believe that I came from God. Yes. Verse 28. I came from the father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the father.

You realize in two sentences, he just repeated the whole gospel, whole incarnation, means in the flesh. Meaning, this is why Jesus, the third member, the the the son, the second member of the trinity, came to earth, took on the nature of a man, and lived, and then died, and then returned to the father.

He's saying, you have this love. You're able to love me because I loved you first, and you put your belief, your faith in me. That's what he's saying. The reason how you engage in that love is by believing in me,

and you've done that. You've put your faith in me. What he's saying is I can't experience that love of God and loving Jesus if I don't put my faith in the gospel. And that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. There's no way to the father but by me. Only in believing that Jesus came, lived that perfect life, died on the cross for my sins, and and then returned to the father, given me the holy spirit, and that is the way I made right and whole and truly experience love. I have to put my faith in that. It's not come to church for self help. It's not come here to be a better person. It's not come here, I believe a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of the other thing, and then still it and then still run after what I think is gonna give me happiness, what I think is gonna give me problem free living, and then try to beg God to give me my plan. It's I have surrendered my life

and put my faith and trust for all time and eternity in Jesus.

That's how it's unlocked.

But we put our faith in so many things. But what did I say? The human soul was created to have faith in something that actually completely cares for me, has all the power to completely get me where I'm supposed to go. And Jesus says, I am the only thing that can do that. So I am the one to give you faith.

Put your faith in me. Make sense? So then look what happens next. So he says it's the love through the faith. And then in verse 29, they say, then his disciples said, at last, you're speaking plainly not figuratively. Now we understand that you know everything.

Wouldn't you love it if your kids ever said that to you? And there's no need to question you.

From this we believe that you came from God. So they say, we do believe that. We believe you're the way, the truth, the life. We get it now. We understand you. Think about it. They've been with him for three years. They've watched every miracle. They've heard him every speech he's ever given. He's even explained a lot of his parables to him. And now right at the last second, they're like,

finally, now we're talking. I know what you mean. It's like a light went on. Bingo. Bingo. The light went on. You know what? That happens to a lot of us. Some of you are probably just gonna like go on today because you've come to church all bunch. You've been around Jesus, but it never clicked.

It never clicked that they go, that's what it means. We understand why you're dying. We understand what's going on. You're the savior of the world. You are God in the bod. You came to do this for us. You love us. You gave us the way to have the father's love. We can go to God. We can have love through the faith in you, and that gives us a hope.

We get it. The light went on. But then look what Jesus says. Jesus asked, do you finally believe? It's like, oh, man. What a quit harsh and Armello, Jesus. He goes, do you really believe? But the time is coming. Indeed, it's here now. Literally, he's like looking at his sundial. It's here now. He goes, where you will be scattered,

each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Man, talk about guilt trip. He's like, you're all gonna leave me alone. But then he says, yet I'm not alone because at least the father's with me. You know, it sounds like he's ripping on him, doesn't it?

Doesn't it say, but that's not what that's not possible. It makes no sense. Because what he say, I'm telling you this stuff so you won't be abandoned in your faith. I'm telling these things so you can have peace. And then right after he says this, I have told you these things so you'll have peace. I have told you to cheer up because of this. You understand what he's saying here is not doubting their faith.

He's telling them, you get it. Matter of fact, the way that it's written in the Greek, it doesn't really have to say, do you finally believe with a question mark. It just as easily, because the way Greek is structured, could say, you do really believe.

You do really believe, but you finally get it. But I need you to know something else, or you're probably not gonna come back and you're gonna miss out. You do believe, but we understand is you're gonna have a moment of weakness. You're gonna get overwhelmed

because you think you get it, and then this is about to happen. I'm about to go die, and you're gonna be confused all again. You're gonna have another overwhelming moment, and you're gonna scatter.

But I need you to know this now. The reason he's saying you need because he's saying, I know I'm getting the band back together when this is all said and done. You're gonna come back. It says in the Bible that he is perfect and he always, you know,

how's it worded? It says that he who began a good work in me will see it to the end. He's saying that if you know me, I will see it out. When you are faithless, I am faithful.

And I need you to know this. I'm calling my shot now because you thought you got so on that high. I get it. I'm all in with Jesus now. I get it. It's like it's he's basically talking about the camp high. You go up in a camp, you're a retreat. I get it. I am so committed to Jesus. This is awesome. And then like immediately you get challenged and you walk away and you feel I'm such a failure. I'm such a loser. I wanna quit here. I can't do this. He's saying, no no. I'm telling you this is gonna happen.

So you know I'm expecting you to come back because I want you to come back. Maybe that's you. Maybe your struggle is is you've tried this Jesus thing. You've tried, and then you just keep falling back. You have those weak moments. You run back to the other thing. You run back, and you just think God's done with me.

He's saying, man, he's you've spent three years with me. You finally get it, but you're still gonna blow it in about twenty minutes. Peter, you're gonna deny you even know me. And just before that, he said, I'll die for you. And then you're gonna be like, I don't know who he is. I can relate.

He says, I'm telling you this so you won't freak out when it happens and think you're done.

Because he loves us. That's why he's saying these words to encourage us. And in that is the hope. That's the third thing. Because right after he says it, I've told you this so you'll have peace. You'll have peace not just in me, you'll be enough to have peace with me. You'll come back.

And he goes, here on earth, you will have many trials. You're gonna have crushing moments. You're overwhelm. You're gonna fail. Some of the crushing moments are same things that happened to us. Some of the crushing moments are things we caused ourselves.

But take heart because I have overcome

the world. Get what he's saying? What's beautiful about that? You catch when he said I overcome? He didn't say I'm gonna overcome. He didn't say I hope to overcome. This is gonna be a really hard fought battle, but I'm pretty sure we're gonna win this thing. He says I have. That's in the Greek in the past tense.

Past present, actually. It means I already have and I always will overcome. He's saying it's a done deal.

He's basically saying the war is won. The fighting's not done. I need you to know that because you'll get discouraged when you end up in a fight. You're gonna get discouraged when it's hard. But you gotta understand, you gotta embrace the fact we've already won. In other words, here's what he's saying is, if you could just embrace this, if you could if you're overwhelmed right now and wondering about this whole God thing and and you just feel like or if you know Jesus, you feel like you're about to quit or give up, if you could just look through the look at your problem through the lens of this statement. What he is saying is you are not out there fighting for victory. You're not fighting for victory.

You're fighting from it. You're fighting from victory is what he's saying. And that's a complete different story. When you're in a really tough battle, when life seems like you wanna quit, when life you think I don't think I can win this, you don't have to worry about it because Jesus already won it.

We're just in the fight, but we win. We win. My my dad was saying at Iwo Jim when he says, hey, I looked out over that picture I showed you the carnage. I saw all the carnage and all the battle. But as you looked at that fight and you wanna get discouraged, all he had to do was look up, and he could look past the fight and see the flag up on Mount Suribachi. He saw the symbol that said, this isn't good, but it's already got the hope that it's already been won. So I can handle this because I look at that. What Jesus is saying is exactly that when it comes to him. And you guess what? He gave us a flag. He gave us a symbol of victory up on a hillside that in the battles of life you have, you can look up past the battle and look up on that hillside. I got a picture of that right There it is. Right there. The hill is called Calvary, not Mount Suribachi,

but it is Calvary. And when Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, he says, you're gonna have fights. You're gonna have battles. You're gonna have struggles. You're gonna have these moments, but you can look over it and look to the fact that we've already won. Does that make sense? Let me kiss my brother.

So relax. That's what he's saying. Relax. But he can say it because he gave us the way to relax. Do you know that's why the night that these conversations we've been looking at, it started with a meal? That he took some bread and he broke it. And he would freak him out. He says, this is my body broken for you. What?

This is my blood. It's built for you. What? His plan seemed scary. But he said, this is for you. This is the how I overcame. This is the win. This is the victory. And then he said do this in remembrance of me. We call it communion. But why do we do this?

Do you think that it's some mystical moment where this cardboard tasting Styrofoam thing and a thimble of grape juice somehow magically transforms in a magic fairy savior dust? As it goes through our system, it cleanses of all unrighteousness? No. Jesus knew we would be under crushing moments that seemed to overwhelm us.

And he says, look past it. Look up on that hill. I overcame. This is a moment to cheer up. This is a moment to come home.

If if if I've been the one that I've I've blown up, ran away from God. I I haven't trusted. I've been so overwhelmed. I've I've I've just don't wanna trust him. I've I've run out of the house. He's saying, come home. Because you're not fighting for it. You're fighting from it. That's what communion is for.

Communion is a moment that we could take our head instead of looking down into the muck because we've been so defeated, instead of looking out at the fight in front of us and getting scared, we look up to that hillside where Jesus proved

he loves us like no other, where Jesus proved he's the one you can put your faith in. Where Jesus declared it is finished.

This is not it is finished. Not it will be finished, not hope it is, not you're finished. He says it is finished. That's the hope. That's what you need to look at. So here's what we wanna do. If you are in the family, you've confessed Jesus as Lord and savior,

this is a moment for you to kinda maybe come home if you've been running around or to reflect on the battle you're in, the fight you're in, and reflect on the victory you have to take heart.

So if that's you, start praying. Prepare your heart. We're gonna take this, and we're gonna sing a really cool song and be about our day. But some of you, the reason there's no peace or joy in your life, no matter how hard you try, is because you don't have the family. You're not in the family. You don't have the love.

Because you've never put your faith in Jesus, and you are living without hope. You might have a lot of hopes to get stuff in this life, but in the end, it leads to death. Do you want to have the peace and joy that comes from real love, faith in the right thing, and a hope? You

need to believe what Jesus said those disciples believed. The gospel. That the only way to be right with God, the only way to get what we were built to have is to say, don't believe in myself. I look past myself and my sin and my brokenness,

and I put my faith in Jesus that he died on the cross. He came back to life. And I say, thank you, Jesus. I put my faith in you. That's what it means to be Christian.

And I don't care if you've been church your whole life, just like these disciples have been with him for three years, and they did the light finally went. Maybe the light's coming on for you right now. So what I wanna do before we take communion and sing is while the rest of you believers are already

doing business with God right now, some of you have never put your faith in Jesus. I wanna pray with you. Then you can take this and have it mean something. Otherwise, it's useless. So if the Holy Spirit's speaking, you just close your eyes. Will you pray with me?

If you're one of those people says, you know, I don't think I've ever just surrendered my life to Jesus, you can do that right now. It's simple as this. Just pray to God, but make it your own words, your own heart. But just pray something like this. Jesus, I have been overwhelmed

by life, by my own sin, by my own brokenness, by my own plans for personal happiness, personal pleasure, personal calm, but it doesn't doesn't work. So Lord, I I I realize you overcame. So I am sorry for running away, but I wanna come home. So right now, in the best way I know how, I put my faith in Jesus

and and what you have done on a cross for me. And you not only died, you came back to life proving you have the power to do what you said you did. You provided victory. So, Lord, I turn from myself and turn to that, and I want to embrace the family love of the father through faith in you, Jesus, so I can see the hope

that is found in you. So thank you. Help me as I take communion here to understand each and every day what it means to live in that hope. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. So he took the bread and he broke it and said, this is my body broken for you. Take and eat. He then took the cup,

for this is my blood, spilled for the forgiveness of sins. When you're overcome, remember I overcame. Drink.

Do what you say you'll do.

And you'll be who you've always been to us. Jesus. And I'm

Amen.