John 14:1-14 - Eagerly Wait For Me

Main Idea: Believing in Jesus brings ultimate peace and purpose for your life.

Vs. 1-4 — Jesus comforts the disciples that He is preparing a place for His Bride in His Father’s house, and that His Bride will get there through belief in Him.

Vs. 5-7 — Thomas didn’t realize what Jesus meant, so Jesus directly states that He is the only way to God, He is the Truth about God, and He is the Life that sustains all other life. He also clarifies that to know the Son is to know the Father, and to see the essence of the Son is to see the essence of the Father.

Vs. 8-11 — Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father (implying Jesus has a lesser status) - Jesus responds that He is equal with the Father, that they have a shared essence and nature, and that there is no difference in the character, the word, the authority, or the abilities of the Father and Son.

Vs. 12-14 — Jesus then instructs the disciples to 1. Believe in Him, 2. Do the same things Jesus has done, and 3. Ask for Jesus to work on their behalf in His name/authority and for the Father’s glory.

• JESUS IS ACTIVELY PREPARING YOUR PLACE IN GOD’S KINGDOM

• JESUS IS ACTIVELY PREPARING YOU FOR GOD’S KINGDOM

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

And with this new month of February, we are beginning a new series, continuing right along, next chapter, next verse, in John 14 through 16. And the title of this series is Last Words of Jesus. The Last Words of Jesus.

From John 13, all the way through 17, if I remember correctly. We're looking at Jesus' last meal here on earth. All the rest of the passages that we have looked through, it's covered a lot of ground, it's covered a long time period.

We went from John 1, where we read, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and from all eternity past, we have now zoomed in to the one night before Jesus died.

I want to ask you, what would you want your last words to your loved ones to be? Hopefully, you won't have to worry about that for a very long time.

But if you knew, as Jesus did, that he would die the following morning, what would you want to say to those closest to you? Would you impart your wisdom, share some jokes, or tell them how much they mean to you?

Over these next seven weeks in John 14-16, we will be reading and studying Jesus' last words to his disciples during his last meal before the crucifixion.

And specifically in John 14-1-14 this morning, we're going to be reading Jesus' words, eagerly wait for me, eagerly wait for me, with his main thought that believing in Jesus brings ultimate peace and purpose for your life.

Believing in Jesus brings ultimate peace and purpose for your life. Let's pray together. We'll dig into the word.

Dear Jesus, we are so grateful for your kindness to us. Lord, thank you for giving us both the health and the transportation and the parking to be able to be here today. God, we don't want to take any of that for granted.

Lord, we thank you for every person that is here.

Lord, we ask for those of us that do know Christ as our Savior, that we would be encouraged and comforted and motivated through this portion of Scripture today to live in light of eternity, to live in light of your incredible love and affection for

us. And God, we pray today for anyone that is here that maybe they're still deciding on whether or not they will be a Jesus follower. They don't know yet what they will choose to do with Christ.

God, I pray that today that they would make that choice to follow you wholeheartedly. God, we thank you and we pray that you would speak to our hearts this morning. We love you and we ask all of this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Let's begin in verse number one.

This comes right on the heels of Jesus showing his sacrificial love, his servant-hearted love for the disciples in washing their feet and telling them that he had done this as an example for how they ought to serve each other.

And, in fact, he also washed the feet of Judas, who would go out and would betray him.

In just a couple of hours, Judas will bring the temple guards, the temple officials to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he will identify Jesus as the one they were to arrest, and Jesus would be taken away to his trial, beating, and crucifixion.

Peter, ever the bombastic, thinks that he will be the one to save Jesus from this fact. And he tells Jesus in chapter 13 and verse 36, Lord, Simon Peter said to him, where are you going?

Jesus answered, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later. Lord, Peter asked, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.

And Jesus replies, will you lay down your life for me?

Truly, I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times, saying before about four or six o'clock, Peter would even deny that he knew Jesus at all, let alone laying down his life for Jesus.

And into that prophecy of Peter's abandonment and his betrayal, Jesus says this sentence, don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

The whole point of this passage that we're going to look at today is the comfort that believing in Jesus brings.

So he says, you believe in God, you believe that God can do great things, but Jesus makes it clear that he is not some lesser deity, he's not just a great prophet, Jesus himself is God.

And so based on the fact that you believe in God, you ought to also believe in Jesus.

5:29

Preparing a Place

And he tells them then in verse number two, in my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

Pastor Ron has talked about this at length, and I know many of those that have been in his class could tell us about Galilean Jewish weddings and how that looked back in the time of Jesus.

I won't steal his thunder, but if you ever have more questions about what the kinds of weddings that Jesus would have gone to growing up and even as a young adult in his twenties, talk to Pastor Ron and he'd be able to give you lots of great details.

Here is Jesus is describing why he would die and be buried and rise again and then ascend into heaven. He says, this is for you. Think about that.

The fact that Jesus went through everything that he went through was not simply for the glory of God, though ultimately that is the purpose why he did everything that he did, but he didn't do it solely for the glory of God.

He did it for love of you and I. And that love, he describes it like someone would describe their love for their spouse.

And here during this time period of human history, here in this location in first century Israel, when you were going to marry your bride, you wouldn't go and then find your own place, you know, far away from your families.

No, you would build an addition onto your house. And I know we have some people in here that are particularly skilled with making things.

I saw Zach had posted just the other day remembering, it was like three, was it like duplexes or houses that you guys were retrofitting and doing all sorts of work on. And I'm grateful for people that can do that. I am not one of those people.

If you said, Brian, you have to build an addition onto your house before you can marry Samantha, I would have never gotten married. I would have tried my best and I would not have succeeded. Either that or the addition would have been not up to code.

And no one would have wanted that. But here, Jesus, who, if you remember, his stepfather, Joseph's trade was a carpenter. And here the carpenter's son says that he is going to prepare a place in the father's house for us.

Think about the wonder of that, that right now in heaven, the eternal God himself is preparing your place and my place. There's a great old song that says, he's still working on me to make me what I ought to be.

It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient he must be. He's still working on me.

And what a wonder that God himself, as he washed the dirty feet of his disciples, even the ones that would betray him, even now he is preparing a place for you and I.

This is one of the reasons that as Christians, we would believe that to be absent from the body, as Paul tells us, is to be present with the Lord.

That the moment you or I take our last breath, that moment that our heart stops beating for the final time, that we will be in the presence of Jesus himself, and that we will not be an unwelcome guest there, we will not be an unwanted or unexpected

guest, but there is a place that my God is preparing for me in His presence. What a joy. I do want to mention one thing as well though. Here when it says, in my father's house are many rooms.

There's an older English word that you might have if you have maybe the King James Version or before that, the Geneva Bible of 1560. I know we have a lot of Geneva Bible fans right here in the room today. You might read sometimes the word mansions.

We even sang about it in my Jesus, I love thee, I know there are mine in mansions of glory and endless delight. The word mansions when those translations were in use did not mean what it means today.

So many of us would be familiar with the song written in the last century. I've got a mansion over the hilltop. And what a joy that we can think about heaven with joy.

But that is not the picture that Jesus had in mind. He's not saying, listen, Roy, I know you can be an introvert sometimes. And so in heaven, your living place will be far away from anyone else.

You can have your super decked out mansion and it'll have all of the spreadsheets that you could ever hope to have. It's not that you get your own isolated place away from anyone. This Greek word would be the word dwelling places.

It's where you live. Here, rooms is a very apt translation that we are connected with the heavenly father. Here, we are connected with all of God's people.

And you notice here, he says there are many rooms, that it's not just one room. So you introverts, you don't have to worry.

You don't have to spend all of eternity, all of the time with all of the other people that have ever existed and placed their faith in Christ. There are rooms that our God is preparing for us. But I'll talk a little bit more about that at the end.

Verse number three, as Jesus says, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Jesus' lack of presence here on earth bodily is because he is doing work in his father's kingdom to welcome us in.

Verse number three says, If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am, you may be also. This was part of how weddings worked during that time period.

And actually, Jesus gives a lot of examples of weddings even in his parables and different things while he was teaching here on earth. What would happen is, let's say I go to Chuck Buck, that's my wife's father.

And I say, okay, you know, Chuck, I would love to marry your daughter, Samantha. And he goes, okay, you know, give me the dowry price of, you know, Samantha's worth at least 1500 camels. And so he says, all right, give me 1500 camels.

I go, great. I give him the dowry price, but then I have to have a place that I can bring Samantha back to. And so I would go and I would build an addition onto my father's house.

And the moment that the father says, everything looks good, it's ready, go and get your bride. Then there would be a whole procession and joy as I would go to Roarsville, where my wife's family lives. And we'd pick up Samantha.

I don't think literally though, maybe literally, I don't know. We'd pick her up and we would have a joyful way back. And then there would be a feast, normally about seven days or so of feasting and rejoicing that happens during that time period.

And here, that's what Jesus says he is doing for his people, for his church, that he says, if I'm going away, I am coming back for you. Jesus didn't forget about us.

He is not limited by anything that he says, man, I would love to come back, but America just really needs to get its act in line.

And as soon as America is righteous enough, or as soon as the people of Tabernacle Baptist or Canton Baptist are holy enough, then I can come back. No, no, no.

He is waiting for the command of the father, who when he says, go get her, Jesus will return.

This has been the hope of the church for 2,000 years, that Jesus himself will bodily return to this earth, that he will catch up his bride with him, and so we shall ever be with the Lord, as we would read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

So this is the hope that we have, that whether here, there, or in the air, we will be with our God. And Jesus, I love this end line.

He says, if I go away, prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also. Your God is not indifferent to you. Your God isn't like, I guess I can save Laurie.

No, no, he is thrilled to death that you are his, that you are his chosen, his beloved, his accepted, his own child. And he wants to be where you are. Can I ask us this morning, do we want to be where God is?

Do we want to enjoy his presence? Do we want to spend time in his word? You're here today.

Do you love being in the house of the Lord, gathered with the people of God to sing his praises, to bring him honor and glory? And then Jesus says this in verse number four. He says, you know the way to where I am going.

Okay, let's break this down a little bit. Where was Jesus going? Heaven, okay.

And what is the way to heaven? Everyone shout it out. Jesus, Jesus is the way to heaven.

So he goes, you know the way where I am going. This is wonderful. It's comforting that even in the disciples failure, even in their betrayal, their abandonment of Jesus, Jesus says, don't let your heart be troubled.

Be comforted because even though I'm dying, even though I will be ascending to heaven, I'm going to prepare a place for you because I want to be with you. I'm not embittered against you. I'm not holding it over your head that you betrayed me.

No, everything I'm doing, I'm doing for the glory of God and because I love you. And here it ends with, you know the way to where I'm going.

15:00

The Only Way

Lord, Thomas said, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way?

Certainly, as we have 2000 years of history to look back on, of course, we know how the story goes, but this was not the way that the disciples thought that the story was going to go. And so Thomas says, we don't know where you're going.

You're talking about going away and preparing a place. We don't know where that is. For all Thomas knew, Jesus could be going to Rome.

He could be going to Babylon. There was no definite place that Thomas knew, though the phrase, in my father's house, should have clued him in. Verse number six then, Jesus responds with this wonderful truth.

Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Here, Jesus says, you want to know the way to where I am going?

It's me. You want to know the truth, like what is most ultimately real and factual and can be depended on and you can base your life on? It is the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And he says, and I am the life. You want to experience eternal life? The way is Jesus.

You want to enjoy life to the fullest, that abundant life? It is found only in and through Jesus. And then he says here, no one comes to the Father except through me.

You see, there are not multiple ways to a relationship with God. You can follow all of the teachings of Buddhism. You can trust that Muhammad had everything right.

It will not get you into relationship or eternal life with the Father. Jesus says, I am the only way. That means, Brian's good works cannot endear me to my God.

I don't have enough good works. My good works are tainted by my own sin that I have bad motives.

I want people to think well of me, that I don't do kind things out of just the genuine goodness of my heart that the Lord has, but I do things because it's expected of me or something like that.

When Jesus did all of his actions here on this earth, he did it out of pure motive, with pure heart, with good intention.

And that is why he is the life, our only way of reconciling our broken relationship with God due to our sin is the sinless Son of God. And because he was perfect, he makes a way for those who are imperfect, which is each and every one of us.

Scripture tells us all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are told that by doing the works of the law, by keeping all of the things in Scripture, no one will be justified in the sight of God.

Instead, it is through the righteousness of Christ Jesus that through believing in what he did for us, what he offers to us freely as a gift, the gift of eternal life, we can experience salvation both now and forever. What a joy that that is.

So Jesus says, no one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus says this, by the way, to the disciples. He's saying this to people that have been following him for about three years at this point.

I think that those of us who profess to be Christians should keep this in mind to go, God, am I trusting in my works, in my goodness, or am I trusting in the goodness of Jesus for my relationship with God?

Because can I tell you, if our salvation, if our walk with God is reliant on our own goodness, it will cause us to constantly fear what our relationship with God is.

We might wonder, am I truly saved because we're focusing on our goodness instead of focusing on the goodness of Jesus. I love, there's a song, I think it's the hymn, Rock of Ages. Laurie, give me a thumbs down if I'm incorrect on that.

Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. And what a wonderful joy. That's not Rock of Ages, is it?

I think it's Hallelujah, what a Savior. Nothing in my hands I bring. Something.

I'll look it up afterwards, and then you guys can all be like, come on, Bryon, you're supposed to know every song that exists. So Jesus says, no one comes to the Father except through me.

Our relationship with God, the truth that we build our life on is the Word of God that tells us of Jesus Christ himself and his goodness, his righteousness, and he is the way, the truth and the life.

19:50

Father and Son

Verse 7, he says, If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Now, does this say that Jesus is the Father?

Is that what he says here? No. But he says, to have seen Jesus, to have known Jesus, is to have seen and to have known the Father.

That there's no difference in the character of the Father and the Son. There's no difference in the ability or power or capabilities of the Father and the Son.

As Christians for a couple thousand years have testified that what the Father is, the Son is, and what the Son is, the Spirit is, that there's not a hierarchy of gods, but this triune God that we worship is one and three.

You go, my head's blowing up a little bit. Absolutely, you can spend a lot more time on your own reading and enjoying that. But here, to know Jesus is, and to know Jesus' heart is to know the heart of the Father.

To hear the message of Jesus is to hear the message of the Father. There's no difference in the mission or the purpose or the essence. These two persons are one God.

Then verse number eight, Lord said, Philip, show us the Father, and that's enough for us. Okay, Jesus just said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And now Philip says, okay, show us the Father.

He still thinks, yeah, Jesus is great, but the Father is even greater than the Son, or there's something about the Father that is better than what we are seeing in the Son.

Verse nine, Jesus said to him, have I been among you all this time, and you do not know me, Philip? The one 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 the Father is in me? The truth of the Trinity is one that absolutely blows up our minds here.

There is this unity within the Trinity that Jesus does everything that he does in the will and purpose and power of the Father, and the Father accomplishes his will in the person of the Son. And his presence goes wherever the Son is.

He says, the words I speak to you, I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. He says, the message that I bring is the message of the Father.

The works that I am doing, it's actually the Father that's doing them. Here there is this unity. He says, believe in verse 11, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.

Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. He says, okay, you can trust in what I'm telling you about the Trinity, or just look at the works that I'm doing, and it will tell you only God can do the things that Jesus has done.

So he says, believe my words, look at my works. It will clearly declare to you what the truth is that I am God. There's not a hierarchy.

Instead, the Father, Son, and Spirit are co-eternal, co-equal in majesty. And then he gives, if you will, some action steps. So if all I had today was, here's the truth about the Trinity, man, it would be valuable for us.

We would be able to maybe not understand some things about God, but we would be able to know some things about God. But we might just leave doing some head scratching. So then Jesus gives us some cookies on the bottom shelf.

Here's what you do as a result of knowing this unity of father and son.

23:26

Greater Works

He says, truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. So as you think about the ministry of Jesus that he loved, he taught, he healed, he rebuked, he did all of these things to be able to be a blessing to people.

You can think of even the works, the good works that he did to people. Many of the things weren't incapable of being done by other people. So now, Jesus fed the 5,000.

And though, actually, Teresa is over in kids class today, though Teresa would love to feed 5,000 at one time, she does not have the multiplying powers of Jesus himself. But can you share a meal with someone else? Can you give some food to someone?

Well, you can do the works that Jesus did.

Many of us that aren't in the medical field, I know we have some people here that do serve in that particular field, many of us don't have the ability to heal someone, but we might be able to take someone to their doctor's appointment.

We might not be able to heal ourselves, but we can bring them to someone else that might be able to help them. There is this kind work, these teachings. We can teach the exact same things that Jesus taught us.

That's why every Sunday, I get up here. It's not because I have anything great. It's because the Word of God is the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so I can continue to do the work that Jesus has done.

And even here as Jesus is talking to the disciples, they would over the course of the next 30 to 50 years, they would actually be doing some of the same miracles that Jesus himself had done. And you can read about that at length in the book of Acts.

You can read about it in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And I believe there might be some in Romans 12 as well. And so here for these people, Jesus says, what I want you to do is do what I've been modeling for you.

Follow my example. And he, Jesus says, will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father. Now here, this is not necessarily saying, okay, Jesus raised the dead.

And so Peter will super raise the dead, or he will raise, you know, five people instead of one person.

Here, what's being declared is that as Jesus's body, the church, would fan out, they would do more and more, a greater amount of the works that Jesus had done all throughout the world. You think about Jesus and his preaching and his teaching.

And at the kind of end of his ministry, he has the 12 apostles, he has a group of about 70 disciples, he has various men and women that are supporting his ministry. You can think of even the women that came to anoint his body at the empty tomb.

He had those people. And then you look at Acts chapter 2, and you see that as Peter preaches, you have 3,000 people that get saved and are baptized on that day of preaching, that there is a greater amount of work that is done by the people of God.

Well, what does Jesus mean by this?

As he ascends into heaven, what he'll tell us in the subsequent verses and chapters is that he is going to send the Holy Spirit so that Jesus' own presence and Spirit is at work in and through every single one of us.

That as Jesus, when he became human, he was limited to one time at one place as a human.

Now, of course, we know, especially post-resurrection, he had incredible abilities and powers that he utilized in his resurrection body, but he was still one person.

And so what he then gave to all of us is that his spirit is at work in each and every one of us so that God can be at work in Middle River, and he can be at work in Bully's Quarters, and he can be at work in Dundalk and Essex and Bel Air and Abingdon

and Aberdeen and Canton and a whole bunch of other places, and it is Jesus at work in us. What a joy that I know I'm not greater than Jesus. I can't do all of the things that Jesus did. But part of it's not, not part of it, all of it isn't about me.

It's about Jesus doing his work. It's not about me creating new works. It's me following in the footsteps of Jesus, accomplishing his will.

That there can be 80 or 100, I don't know how many people we have here today, but there can be a number of lights that are all across our area, speaking the words of Jesus, loving the way that Jesus loves, doing good to others in all of these places.

And so Jesus says, because I'm going to the Father, because I'm sending the Spirit, you will be empowered for the work that I have called you to do.

And verse 13, he says, whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Now here's what this verse doesn't mean. In Jesus' name, I want a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Boom, Harley Davidson motorcycle. Yes. In my name is not a magical formula that if you say, in Jesus' name, you get whatever you say.

This is upon Jesus' authority. Like on his reputation. And he says, for the purpose, I will do it so that the Father may be, what's that word?

Glorified in the Son. Many times when we pray, we don't receive what we have asked for. And I wonder how much of it's because we are not seeking the glory of God or the name, the reputation, the work of Jesus.

Instead, we're just trying to focus on our own desires. As James would tell us in James 4, you war and desire and want to have, and yet you don't have it because you're asking for the wrong reasons so that you may consume it upon your own desires.

And so here, Jesus encourages us, as we are doing the works that he has called us to do, that we would ask for Jesus' help in doing Jesus' work.

It can be really, really easy, especially if you've grown up in church, if you've been in church a long time, to just keep doing church, and it becomes second nature to you.

And yet so often, we forget to ask for the hand and the work of God in what we are doing. We can sing praise to God. We can preach the gospel.

We can observe the ordinances that the Lord has for us. We can even try to evangelize others. But if we do so without a definite, intentional reliance on the Holy Spirit, then we're just doing it in our own strength.

We're just being religious for religion's sake. May we never forget that our life is not just meant for us to be checking off check boxes of religiosity.

Instead, we are intended to do everything we do in the Holy Spirit for the glory of God through the power of the Son of God. This is a relationship with God that motivates us into everything that we do.

And then verse 14, he ends, If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. This is for the work and purpose of God in accordance with his will. God will never say yes to a prayer request that we have that is not for the glory of God.

He will never say yes to a request that will actually end up in our own spiritual harm that we would not be able to accomplish what God has for us because he gave us something bad. God will never give you a bad thing that you ask for.

This is why we pray for the will of God, because we don't know what we should pray for. But as we rely on God to say, God, I'm asking for this. If it's your will, God, may it come to pass.

Lord, if this isn't your will, help me to understand, help me to accept it and to obey and follow you regardless of how you answer this request.

31:40

Kingdom Preparation

There are just two truths that I want us to look at very briefly as we end. Number one, Jesus is actively preparing your place in God's kingdom. Jesus loves you, and the carpenter's son is preparing your room in his father's house.

There's not a room that he's preparing that he will leave unfinished, or that he'll have to repurpose. Once you have entered into relationship with God, you are his forever. The rooms have already been made.

He says, in my father's house, there are many rooms. The rooms have already been made. And Jesus is preparing those rooms for those written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world.

As we're told in Revelation 13. Can I tell you today, thank God for his love and his rescue and his personal care. And witness to others so that all that the Lord or God has called may experience heaven.

Don't fear death. Don't let your heart be troubled. Instead, eagerly await Jesus.

And I love that God's kingdom is not simply in the skies, but the work Jesus is preparing is the new Jerusalem that he will bring down to earth when he returns. That's why we pray your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

What Jesus is preparing for you right now will be a part of your life and your story when we're here on earth reigning for a thousand years with Christ. So pray for Jesus' return. Even the prayer of John, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

And Peter would tell us in 2 Peter 3 that we can hasten his return by sharing the gospel with others. Also notice that Jesus doesn't say a room. He doesn't say, in my father's house is a room.

He says there are many rooms. As our walk with God is personal, as our obedience to God is personal, we will be personally rewarded for what we do in the here and now.

How you live your life today, how you react to others this week, how you obey God determines what your eternity will look like.

1 Corinthians 3 puts it like this, if anyone builds on the foundation of Jesus Christ with good things, gold, silver, precious stones, or worthless things, wood, hay, and stubble, each one's work will become obvious.

For the day of judgment will reveal it, because it will be revealed by fire. The fire will test the quality of each person's work. If anyone's work that they have built survives, they will receive a reward.

If anyone's work, their life work, is burned up because it was worthless, it wasn't lived for God, they will experience loss, but they themselves will be saved, but only as through fire.

Today, obey Jesus, live your life exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and live with eternity in mind. So Jesus is actively preparing you a place in God's kingdom, but then Jesus is also actively preparing you for God's kingdom.

What Jesus emphasizes in verses 12 through 14 is that in light of God's kingdom and Jesus's preparation, we are supposed to believe in Jesus, do Jesus's works, and ask Jesus to work for God's glory through us.

It's a wonderful thing to be going to heaven, to join God's kingdom, but are we ready for that kingdom? It's a great thing to be part of a singing group or an orchestra, but if you haven't practiced the music, you won't enjoy it.

You'll just be overwhelmed. You'll feel stupid trying to play in an orchestra with music you've never practiced. Marriage is an awesome thing, but you need to learn about your prospective spouse.

You need to go through premarital counseling, or it'll be quite the rocky road as you get used to living with another person. In the same way, God is preparing us now for what we will be doing in his kingdom.

He's preparing us now to have the responses and priorities and worship that we will experience one day. Many people live like this life on earth is all that matters, but they expect heaven to be wonderful and incredible.

But how we live today shapes us. It shapes what we value, what we enjoy, what we invest in, is how you are living your life right now, preparing you for heaven and the kingdom of God on earth. What are you investing in eternity right now?

Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves don't break in and steal.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, his way of living and interacting with God and others. And all of the things of life, food and clothing and shelter, will be provided for you.

People know where someone is from by their accent, by their clothing, by if they say, a boot instead of a bout, to our northern neighbors.

Do you have the accent of heaven in the way that you talk to people, in your language, in your kindness, or in your gospel witness? Or do you live just like a citizen of this earth, with a love of money, a love of pleasure, a love of selfishness?

Jesus tells us that our purpose here on earth is to glorify the father by doing good works in the power of the son of God. What did you do in the last seven days that could be categorized as a good work to others?

Or what are you planning on doing in the next seven days that would be a good work to others in order to glorify God?

If you feel like you've been failing in your purpose, you haven't been living for God or for eternity or doing good to others, well, that's why Jesus says that he will do it. He will do the works as we pray to him.

We can pray to him, ask him to work in and through us this week. We can't do enough. We can't change us, but he can.

Today, Jesus says, don't worry. For all of your failures, for all of your betrayals, it doesn't alienate me from you. I love you.

I'm preparing a place for you. I want to be where you are. I want you to be wherever I am.

And until that day comes, do the same things that I did. Pray for me to accomplish my mission throughout the world for the glory of God. And we await our king, our bridegroom who will return one day and call us home.