The Triumphal Return

There are a lot of worried people in the world today and in the West in particular. They fear both acts of physical terrorism and acts of moral terrorism. They see individuals maimed or murdered by the actions of Muslim extremists. They see marriage and the family destroyed by the teachings of liberal extremists - including liberal extremists in the Church. Then there are all the personal worries people have - about their homes, their work, their money or their health. The good news this evening is that you do not need to worry as so many do. That is the message of John 14.1-21, our passage for tonight.

I want, tonight, to have as my headings, first, THE TRIUMPHAL RETURN; secondly, THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST; and, thirdly, THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. But by way of introduction look at verse 1: " Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." The disciples had just had the Last Supper. They had been told that Jesus would be betrayed by one of their own number and would die. They could hardly take this in. They half-thought that Christ was going to be a Messiah-King, and help re-establish the Jewish nation. But he was now talking about his departure, having done nothing like that. They were not only perplexed: they were frightened. That is why Jesus says: "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." You say, "what is involved in trust in Jesus Christ"? That brings us to our ...

first heading and the fact of THE TRIUMPHAL RETURN

This is the first antidote to discouragement or worry, or fear for the future - believing in Christ's return. Look at verses 2 and 3:

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Do you look forward to Christ's triumphal return one day and to heaven? The early Christians certainly did. One of their earliest prayers was, "Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22.20). A Christian, says Paul, is someone who has

turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath" (1 Thess 1.9-10).

So what does Jesus teach about his triumphal return? He teaches unambiguously that it will happen - verse 2, "I am going", and then, verse 3, "I will come back". Jesus Christ and the whole Bible is clear. History is like a line. It will not go on for ever. There was a beginning. There will be an end. Some Eastern Religions and some Greek thinkers taught that history is cyclical - like a great wheel that is for ever returning on its self. "No!" says the Bible. There will be an end. And that end will come when Christ returns. Imagery and picture language may be used to describe that event. But Christ's return will be definite, visible to all, and triumphant.

Jesus teaches here that the individual Christian is to think of this present period as just a period of separation between Christ's first coming and his triumphant second coming. It is a temporary arrangement that will one day end with a wonderful reunion. And Jesus implies that death, if that occurs before Christ's return, is not a leap into the dark, but a journey to a prepared place. He says he is "going to prepare a place for you." In the same way as Jesus had sent on two disciples to find the room to "make preparations" for the Passover in that first Holy Week (Mark 14.15), so Jesus himself has gone on ahead to "make preparations" for us in heaven.

When Christ returns there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There will be a total transformation and recreation. It will be no less, but much more than, this present universe of space and time. We certainly cannot understand all that God has in store. Isaiah in the Old Testament and Paul in the New both say:

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2.9).

But Jesus gives us sufficient for our encouragement. He tells us that this new existence will be in (what he describes as) "my Father's house". So we are not to think of it as cold and impersonal but like a family home. Nor are we to think that only a few people will be there in a tiny, poky huddle. No! There are "many rooms". The book of Revelation tells us to expect ...

" a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language" (Rev 7.9).

Nor are we to think of this as a disembodied spiritual ghostlike existence. Christ is preparing "a place". Heaven will be no less than, but much more than, a physical place. The imagery of the Holy City in the book of Revelation with all its precious stones, suggest elegance, luxury and something far better than the best this world can offer. And there will be transformed people with transformed bodies - like Christ's glorified body. The empty tomb says that Christ's body is no less than, but much more than, his incarnate body. So death and Christ's return will mean a going home to a glorious home. Nor will that "journey home", whether at death or when Christ returns, be lonely.

My first journey abroad was just before going to the university in 1958. I was going to Eastern Europe, to East Berlin - at the height of the Cold War - with a friend. At the last minute he pulled out. So I had to travel alone. I had an address which was, if you like, my "prepared place". But that journey was quite frightening - abroad for the first time in Communist East Germany and East Berlin, with unfriendly Russian or East German heavily armed soldiers seeming to be everywhere - and on my own. Some Christians think that after death there will be something like that - a frightening journey. But "no!" says Jesus. I am not only going to prepare a place for you and coming back, but, verse 3:

I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

So you won't be travelling on your own. Christ will be with you. And most important of all, he is not only your escort, he is your destination - if you trust him. He will be taking you to be with himself. Here is the fundamental New Testament teaching about the next life for believers - being "with Christ". This is true whether you are thinking about the final state after the general resurrection or the intermediate state between death and the resurrection. Paul said regarding the intermediate state that he had a ...

... desire to depart and be with Christ" (Phil 1.23).

He said regarding the final state:

and so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thess 4.17).

So you don't have to speculate too much about heaven. Christ tells you that you are to think of it as his Father's spacious home that he has prepared, to which he will accompany you on your journey home; and he will be there with you for ever. That should give you great confidence for the future. But still some ask the question, "how do you ensure you get there?" On that journey of mine to East Germany, I needed a ticket and I needed to know which trains to take. So what is the way to heaven? That brings us to our second heading this evening.

Secondly, THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST

Look at verse 6:

Jesus answered: 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The first great encouragement, when you are troubled or despairing, is Christ's return and the hope of heaven. The second great encouragement is the fact of the uniqueness and finality of Christ. That is what these disciples needed to know. Some of them couldn't understand why he was having to die and not be a conquering political leader. They had to learn that there was no other way for this life or for eternity than the way of Christ through the Cross where he died for them and for you and me. Listen to Article XVIII of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. It is entitled Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ:

They also are to be had accursed that presume to say that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.

That is so "politically incorrect" for today. The primary value for millions today is "openness". To be convinced that one way is true and another way false is said to be the mark of an arrogant bigot. That is what G.K.Chesterton called Misplaced Humility. Let me quote:

What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth. This has been exactly reversed.

You see, you can't be bigoted or arrogant about the truth. What you say is either true or false. If you think that Arsenal beat Manchester United yesterday in their FA Cup semi-final and I say, "I am awfully sorry, but you are wrong. Manchester United won 1-0", that is not arrogant. It may be rude, if I say it in an aggressive way. But it is not arrogant. This is so serious because people today boast of openness. They ignore C.S.Lewis' wise remark, with regard to fundamental beliefs, that ...

... if a man's mind is open on these things, at least let his mouth be shut.

Jesus was so clear. And he says not only that he is the only "way" to his Father. He is also "the truth and the life". First, he reveals the truth about God - verse 9:

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

And verses 10-11:

Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

Jesus Christ uniquely reveals God by his character, by his words and by his deeds. But, secondly, he uniquely reconciles us to God and so gives us new life. That is what he was doing on the Cross. That is what we celebrate this week on Good Friday. It is self-evident as you study other religions that the person of Christ is unique, his teaching is unique, but so is his cross. Listen to this famous Japanese convert and Christian leader, Toyohiko Kagawa:

I am grateful for Shinto, for Buddhism, and for Confucianism ... Yet these three faiths utterly failed to minister to my heart's deepest needs. I was a pilgrim journeying upon a long road that had no turning. I was weary. I was footsore. I wandered through a dark and dismal world where tragedies were thick ... Buddhism teaches great compassion ... but since the beginning of time, who has declared, 'this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins'?

Is it arrogant to say that? Of course, not. If it is true, it is wicked not to tell our fellow human beings. So the second great encouragement when you are troubled or despairing is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. He is the one and only. He has no peers and no successors. He is the divine Son, the second person of the divine Trinity, who is one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That brings us to our third heading tonight.

Thirdly, THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Holy Spirit is, indeed, a great encourager. Look at verses 15 - 18:

If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

The word translated "counsellor" can also be translated "encourager". Jesus is here teaching that there will not only be, one day (at the end of time), his ultimate triumphal coming. He is also teaching that there will be an immediate triumphal coming, when he comes through the person of the Holy Spirit. There is a mystery about the divine Trinity - one God in three persons. But Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is a person - a "he" not an "it". And he is the Spirit of Truth.

Of course, the Holy Spirit was at work in Old Testament times and in New Testament times before Pentecost. But Pentecost was the occasion for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus says to his disciples, "you know him, for he lives with you." But he adds and he "will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" - the promise fulfilled at Pentecost. Why was this so encouraging? Look at verses 12- 13:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

This is another wonderful promise. You ask, "What are these greater things?" In John chapter 5 Jesus claimed that greater than his miracles of healing was his giving of ...

life to whom he is pleased to give it" (John 5.21).

Yes, miracles have occurred and do occur from time to time in the life of the Church. But the book of Acts shows that when the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost, the Christian mission was no longer just for a few people in Palestine, as in Jesus' time. It was now world wide - from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth.

And the giving of the Holy Spirit with Christ Ascended and at God's right hand, praying for us and, by his Spirit, guiding us, has meant that millions upon millions can now relate and have related to Christ personally as their Saviour and Lord. These are amazingly greater works. The current edition of the International Review of Missions says that there are now over 2 billion Christians in the world. Before Pentecost there were not even 200. We read only of 120 in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.

Supposing the Holy Spirit hadn't been given? What would it have been like? Supposing Christ had remained on earth in an ever youthful form. Do you know what would have happened? There would have been charter flights to Tel Aviv arriving every hour; and thousands upon thousands every day would have been amassing in the Holy Land, for all its current troubles. t would have been like those Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca with millions present, but every day! If you went, would you be able to talk to Christ about your personal problems? Of course, not. A token handful only would be able to talk to him.

But this wonderful promise that if you pray, in his name (that is, according to his character and will), he "will do it" - this means you can talk to him now here on Tyneside, and he will hear. Who has never yet prayed to Christ as Saviour and Lord, in a personal way, and for forgiveness and for new life? If you haven't, why not pray now and say,

Lord Jesus Christ, I accept that you are the way; I believe your truth; and I now ask you for the life you give through your Cross and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

And you will be encouraged. But there then needs to be obedience. There is a connection between obedience and the Holy Spirit's working. Jesus says, verse 15:

If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor.

Acts 5.32 says God gives the Holy Spirit "to those who obey him".

I must conclude.

Are you troubled and despairing about the world in general or something in particular? Without God and without Christ, you need to be troubled. But if you trust in God and also in Christ you will be encouraged. by his triumphal return and the hope of heaven; by the fact that he is the unique way to God; and by the gift of his Holy Spirit.