Sermon Notes, July 24, 2016 AM
Are
You Troubled?
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. Are
you troubled?
1. Are you concerned about the violence
that has occurred in our country in the past
several months? Most of us have seen
reports of violence in Minnesota, Baton
Rouge and Dallas. How has this affected
you?
2. Just two weeks ago two court bailiffs
were killed and a deputy was injured when an
inmate grabbed the deputy's gun outside
a holding cell in St. Joseph, Michigan, a
small town that is the hometown of one of our
members, John Boone. Such an
incident could occur anywhere.
3. Are you concerned about the terrorist
attacks in France, Belgium, Orlando
or San Bernardino? Do you wonder when or
where the next one is going to occur?
4. Are you troubled about the moral
degradation of our society and the culture in
which
our children and grandchildren are being raised?
B. The
great dichotomy of faith is that we are admonished to maintain calm in the
midst
of a turbulent world.
1. Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known to God; 7 and the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
2. Peter said, “Casting all your care upon
Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pt. 5:7).
3. How do we reconcile God’s call to a
life of peace with a world full of violence?
C. Two
artists were asked to paint scenes depicting serenity. One painted a beautiful
pastoral scene of sheep grazing in a green
meadow on a beautiful sunny day. The
other painted a tumultuous river hurtling
through a gorge with water crashing over
jagged rocks. Just a few feet above the
river hung the low branch of a tree. In that
branch a bird had built a nest and was
peacefully and protectively feeding her babies.
D. God
has not left us to face the dangers of life by ourselves.
1. In Luke 24:26 the eleven remaining apostles
came together in Jerusalem after the
crucifixion of Jesus.
a. Their world had been turned upside
down by Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.
b. Though Jesus had been raised from the
dead this passage indicates that they
were still confused.
2. In
this situation Jesus appeared to them. Verse 37 says they were terrified and
frightened. Do you ever feel that way?
Discouraged? Depressed? Disillusioned?
3. In
verse 38 Jesus asked, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your
hearts?”
E. As
you consider Jesus’ question let me remind you of something Jesus said shortly
before His death. In John 14:1-3 the Lord
said, “Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 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. 3 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.” In these verses Jesus made three specific statements we
need to keep in mind today.
I. UNDERSTANDING.
A. Jesus’ words are part of a broader
context that begins in John 13 when Jesus met
the disciples in the upper room for the
Passover and continuing through chapter 16.
In that upper room after Jesus washed
their feet and ate with them he carried on a
lengthy discussion. John wrote about it
in greater detail than other Gospel writers.
1. Jesus told the disciples He was going
to be betrayed and taken from them.
2.
They were troubled and had many questions that are mentioned throughout the
entire section of Scripture.
a. Peter said in13:37 - “Lord, why
can I not follow You now? I will lay down my
life for Your sake.”
b. Thomas said in 14:5 – “Lord, we
do not know where You are going, and how
can we know the way?”
c. Phillip said in 14:8 – “Lord,
show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
d. Judas (not Iscariot) asked
another question in 14:22.
e. Other disciples also had
questions according to 16:17.
B. It is obvious the apostles did not
understand everything Jesus was talking about.
Do you? I certainly do not. Faith is a
continual process of learning and growing.
1.
They were troubled.
2.
Jesus said in 14:1 – “Do not let your heart be troubled.” Do we need to hear
this
in the midst of a world that has
gone crazy? We certainly do.
a. “Lord, I am afraid…” “Don’t
let your heart be troubled.”
b. “Lord, I am worried . . .” “Don’t
let your heart be troubled.”
c. “Lord, I am so discouraged . .
.” “Don’t let your heart be
troubled.”
d. “Lord, I am just so upset . . .” “Don’t
let your heart be troubled.’
II. BELIEF
A. The antidote for trouble is found in
Jesus’ next statement. “Believe!”
1. Jesus said, “You believe in God,
believe also in Me.”
2. Believing in Jesus Christ is the most
important thing you can do in your life.
a. It is more important than your
education, job or career.
b. It is more important than
planning for your retirement.
c. It is more important than your house
or your car.
3. Believing (trust and obedience) in Christ
is more important than anything you will
ever do and has greater power than
any trouble you will ever face.
a. In John 16: 21 Jesus compares the
struggles of this life to the pain of a woman
giving birth to a child. All
mothers can relate to this. Giving birth is
not a picnic in the park. But,
after the child is born there is inexpressible joy.
b. John16:33 – “These things I have
spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.”
B. Times of trouble are when we need to
believe in Christ more than ever.
1. Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) was a
survivor of the Nazi concentration camps
whose faith in Christ enabled her to
endure the atrocities of the war. Someone
asked her how she could endure such
suffering and still hold on to her faith. She
replied by saying, “When you are
aboard a train traveling through the darkness of
a tunnel you do not tear up your
ticket and jump off. You trust in the engineer.”
2. When your life is derailed you need
to trust the one who can put it back on track.
III. HOPE
A. When your world is troubled you need the
hope of better things. This is precisely
what Jesus offers.
1. In verses 2-3 – “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. 3 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.”
2. The word translated, “Mansions”
means, “permanent dwelling.”
a. Wherever you are living is
temporary.
b. This body is temporary. It will wear out. Medical science can do
tremendous
things but eventually we are all
moving to another location.
c. Trouble is temporary. There is a
dwelling place that cannot be destroyed. 2
Corinthians 5:1 – “For we know
that if our earthly house, this
tent, is
destroyed, we have a building
from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.”
B. Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a
place for you.”
1. He has made the journey you are going
to make.
2. He has paid your fare.
3. He has arranged your housing and
furnished it beyond your wildest expectations.
CONCLUSION:
A.
Like the disciples, we do not understand every event that happens in life. We
do not
understand everything Jesus said. We have
trouble. But we can have the assurance
that God has a plan for us.
B. A
man was walking along a sidewalk one day. His heart was heavy with grief over
the death of his child. He wondered what it
could possibly mean. How could
anything good come of it. About that time
he passed a construction site where a
beautiful building was being built of expensive
cut stone. He noticed a craftsman
cutting a piece of stone in a triangular
shape. “Where does that piece go,” he
asked? The workman pointed to the very top
of the building – the very pinnacle and
said,
“I am shaping it down here to fit up there.”
C. My
hope is that you will allow God to shape your life for a higher purpose, a
greater
calling and a more permanent dwelling than
you have ever imagined. Are you
troubled? Come to the one who says, “Do not
let your heart be troubled. Believe!”
If we may assist you in your faith or in
repenting of your sins, confessing Christ and
being baptized into Him for the forgiveness
of sins we invite you to come.
