Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
5/18/97 am
When Life Tumbles In — Help For The Hurting
Reading — John 14
The past two weeks have been tough ones for this congregation. We have spent time in the hospital when the news was not always good. We have been to the cemetery twice. How do we deal with such crises? Is there any hope for the hurting?
Perhaps the saddest verse in the Bible is John 13.30, And Judas went out and it was night. Darkness all around, but the sad part was that there was darkness on the inside. All of us have experienced darkness on the outside. We’ve all gone through some dark moments in life. But let us earnestly pray that we never experience this darkness of the soul, this hopelessness of heart known to Judas Iscariot. For Judas there was:
- No light at the end of the tunnel,
- No rainbow behind the cloud,
- No silver lining to this cloud in his life.
This kind of darkness means there is no hope, no help for the hurting spirit. We must never allow: The cares, the troubles, and crises of this life to lead us to that point where Judas was.... And he went out and it was night.
Go with me to the upper room in downtown Jerusalem, Jesus is there with His apostles. You see, Jesus knew the world of the apostles was about to tumble in around them. In a few hours they’re gonna be dealing with some heavy stuff. They have given up everything, followed Him for three and a half years, thinking He was going to be a political Messiah. They thought Jesus was going to be king.
- He came healing the sick, feeding thousands, raising the dead.
- He talked of establishing His kingdom.
- After the triumphant entry earlier in the week, they were certain they had made the right choice.
They thought Jesus was going to pass out thrones. James and John’s mother had even asked for a place for her sons on his right and left. You talk about disappointment, disillusionment, panic, fear; not knowing where to turn! These men were in trouble. They had left all, given up everything, to follow Jesus. Some had given up good jobs banking on Jesus’ success.... Some were prominent fisherman, Matthew was a tax collector. Now what are they gonna do?
Let’s leave the upper room for a few moments and go to a cave in central Palestine, a thousand years previous. Psalm 57 was written in a cave. David, like these apostles, was in serious trouble. Calamity had struck his life, and he like most of us, knew he could not really handle the situation by himself. Listen to David, Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until this calamity has passed. David was on the run from Saul and his army. He had taken refuge in the a cave of Adullam. David was: Emotionally, Socially, Physically and spiritually spent, worn out, seemingly without friends, uncertain of tomorrow and under attack from his enemies.
David was scared. David didn’t know what to do. But instead of ringing his hands in hopelessness, or taking his own life as did Judas, he turns to God.
Ever been there?... Ever lived in a social, financial, emotional and spiritual cave? Ever feel like David, scared, uncertain of tomorrow, isolated, helpless, lonely? Ever been to the point where regardless of what your do, nothing appears to work? Regardless who you turned to, nobody is able to help. You find yourself going repeatedly to Him saying, O God please help me, please help me. Have you been there? Sure you have, we all have. And the truth is we’ll probably return there again before to long, that’s the ways life is. The question is not will it happen or even when, but how will we handle the crises? We need help And Jesus gives us the kind of help and comfort we need in our text this morning.
John 14 was written to assist us in time of trouble. The chapter opens with promises of help from above, Divine help: Hope for the hurting.
- These promises can be taken to the emergency room.
- They can be taken to the cemetery.
- They will help with the tumor is malignant and the heart attack is fatal.
- When friendship fails and family relations rupture.
FIRST, THE PROMISE OF HEAVEN.
Note verses 1-3, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 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.
- When sickness and uncertainty comes,
- When we have to visit the cemetery, nothing helps, nothing comforts us like the promise of heaven... Life after life. We gotta have faith. John tells us that his gospel was written that we might believe. Do you believe in heaven? Paul said:
- Regardless of how rough the road,
- How dark the moment,
- How painful the hurt,
- How uncertain tomorrow may be, Heaven is worth it all. He writes in Romans 8.18, For I reckon that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
JESUS’ SECOND PROMISE OF HELP FOR THE HURTING IS THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD.
Read verses 6-11 with me, I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? 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.
The word father is used 53 times in John 13-17. Jesus constantly talked about God as: The Father, His father, our father.
In the Old testament, the Jews on random occasions would use the word father in reference to God, but it was distant and somewhat figurative in nature. But Jesus came giving us the Fatherhood of God... Not in symbolism but in reality. This reality is made possible through the forgiveness of our sins. In Romans 8, Paul says, Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God... Joint heirs with Christ. I believe Paul is saying that we are can be as much a son of God as Jesus... We can be joint heirs to all the blessing that belong to Christ.
Will you catch a glimpse of the possibilities?
- You talk about weathering the storms of life,
- Talk about a crises management tool,
Life can never really tumble in if we understand and live as if God were our Father.
- So, the bank takes everything we have... Our father owns the bank. Scripture says, the world is His and everything in it.
- So we lose the farm, The cattle on a thousand hills are his.
- So what if the tumor is malignant.... Blessed are those who die in the Lord... To be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord.
Paul in rhetoric asks, What is it that can remove us from the Fatherhood of God, from the love of God. Not trouble, hardship, persecution, not famine, poverty, not war or angels, or demons, not tomorrow... No, nothing in all of creation... Not even death can separate us from the love, the fatherhood of God, that is ours in Christ Jesus. David says, Surely His mercy, His grace, His loving kindness, will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the fathers house forever. Read it! Believe it! Live it!
PROMISE NUMBER THREE IS THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER.
Read verses 13-15 with me, 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. If you love me, you will obey what I command.
Church listen to Jesus from the sermon on the mount, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Remember what James tells us in James 4? He says, prayer is the Christian’s crises management tool.
- Are you in trouble — Pray
- Are you sick — Pray
- Are you caught up in some sin — Pray
Then he says, and ask others to pray for you and with you, The fervent prayer of the righteous is both powerful and effective.
Seldom has a day gone by the past two weeks that someone has not called or came into my study telling me about answered prayer in our church family.
- John and Phyllis Archer believe in prayer. We got an opportunity to witness the result of prayer, last week, as we visited with Lisa and Trey. Trey wasn’t expected to live, but he did. What a beautiful child!... What a witness to the power of prayer.
- One of our deacons came in this week telling about a situation that he had been praying about concerning one of our members. When he went to visit this individual, his prayers had been answered.
- Gene Willmon was diagnosed with serious back problems due to deteriorative bone disease. Then this week, the x-rays indicated the problem is gone. I can’t explain these, I just accept them.
Let me tell you this story. Zola May and Auther Bill have a son, his name is Arthur Jr. He is out of duty spiritually. Arthur and Zola May pray for him every day. They pray that someone, somewhere be able to reach him. As she talked to him on the phone about her upcoming surgery. He tried to comfort his mother by reminding her that she was a Christian and that God would be with her. And besides he said, if anything does go wrong, you are ready to go be with the Lord. Zola May replied, no I’m not ready to go and won’t be until you return to the Lord. The next day he called and told how he was sitting on the beach crying, with his head buried in his arms and sensed someone standing beside him. When he looked up, the man said, son, you look like you could use some help. So, he told him about his mother’s surgery and his anxiousness. The gentlemen asked him if she was a Christian? Their son assured him she was.
- They are members of the church of Christ in Arkansas, and have been for years,
- They raised their children in the church,
- They go three times a week, never miss a service.
The man assured him that his mother would be in God’s care and keeping. Then he said, I am preacher for the church of Christ here in town, perhaps you and I could get together and visit soon. Arthur told his mother, I’m planning to going to see him. I looked at Zola May and said, do you believe in angels? She smiled and replied, that’s just what I thought. Church, when life tumbles in.... Take it to God in prayer.
PROMISE NUMBER FOUR IS PRESENCE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.
Look at verses 16-18 and 26, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever--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. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
When life tumbles in, we need to know that God is with us. Jesus promises us just that, I will not leave you orphans, I will send:
- The Comforter,
- The Counselor,
- The Holy Spirit,
- The Paraclete,
One who will run along beside you.
David said, “God is our refuge and strength. He is an ever-present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear; even though the world be shaken, even though the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, and the waters of life roar and foam.”
- In the 23rd Psalm David says, Even though I am called to walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, WHY? Because God is present in our lives
- The Hebrew’s writer tells us that, God will never leave us, that He will never forsake us.
- Later, this same John, tells us in 2 John 3.24, Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
- Paul admonishes Timothy and us, Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you, guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Look at verse 23 of our text, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home, our abode, with him. The Greek for home or abode is Mone. It’s the same word translated here rooms or mansions in verse 2. When your put verse two and verse 23 together we find Jesus saying this: You make a place for me and the Father to live in your heart, by loving us enough to keep our commandments and we’ll give you an abode, a home, a mansion in heaven. Question! Have you given Jesus and the Father a home in your heart by being obedient to their will, their commandments through the Word? If so, then heaven is yours... And God makes His home, His abode in your heart.
Church, when life tumbles in; when troublesome times are here; when I am hurting, I want to know that God, the omnipotent creator, provider, sustainer of the is with me? And Scripture promises that He is.
THE LAST PROMISE JESUS GIVES FOR TROUBLED TIMES IS HIS PEACE, VERSE 27.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The peace that the world gives is nothing compared to His peace. The world’s peace is based upon external situations and circumstances. The world looks for peace and happiness in: a new car, a new house, a bass boat, or in new clothes, an education, or a better job.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us what we call the beatitudes. That’s just what they are ATTITUDES-TO-BE.
Happy are the poor in spirit.
Happy are they that mourn.
Happy are the meek,
Happy are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Happy are the merciful.
Happy are the pure in heart.
Happy are the peacemakers.
Jesus is saying that genuine peace and happiness are from within. The peace that Jesus promises is a HEART CONDITION.
You see, God’s peace is based upon relationships:
- Right vertical relationship with Him,
- And a right horizontal relationship with others.
We need to know this morning that when life tumbles in, we are equipped to handle the crises, whatever it is, if we have the proper relationship with God and with His people.
As Bible students, we know that nowhere has God promised His people, a life without troublesome times. But what He does promise is HOPE AND HELP FOR THE HURTING.
However, we must know this: That Heaven is not our home, God is not our Father, Prayer is not our privilege, God does not live within, and Jesus is not our peace, unless we are in Christ.... a Christian.... a baptized believer. We are children of God by faith, for as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ... Have been clothed with Christ.
If you don’t have the correct relationship with God and with others, we give you the opportunity to make all these promises yours. Will you come?
