Sermon: REAL TALK
Sermon delivered by:
Pastor Henry S. Cotton, Jr. of St.James Missionary Baptict Church in Philadelphia.
Subject – REAL TALK!*
Text – John 14:2-3 (read: John 13:36-38; 14:1-7)
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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.
INTRODUCTION – Jesus Comforts His Disciples with some real talk.
I know that some of you have heard this passage of scripture many times; usually at funerals. But today I want us to look at this passage of scripture from a different perspective. I would like for you to look at this passage of scripture as if Jesus was having a conversation with you personally. You have been walking and learning under Jesus for a while, and Jesus had already told you that the time would come when He would have to leave you; well that time has come, and Jesus realizes that you need to be assured and comforted, so He starts to engage in some REAL TALK with you (expound).
John 13: 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
John 14: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
CONCLUSION –
As you are listening to what the Lord is saying, your mind begins to think about some of the lessons you have learned from the word of God. You begin to think about how Jesus has many Angels at His disposal; you don’t know how many, but if Satan carried a lot with him, and at one time over two thousand demons were in one person, that’s a lot. Then you begin to think about the scripture that let you know that John saw a number in Heaven that no man could number; that’s a lot of people.
Then you began to think about all the people who will be residing in Heaven and you came to the conclusion that God’s house must be humongous if it contains enough mansions or rooms to accommodate all of the people who are going to be there. Or maybe this should not be taken literally; maybe a better word would be “ABODE?” Maybe I should take it to mean that “In my Father’s Abode . . .”
But no matter how I look at it, Jesus is letting me know that He is going to prepare a place there for me! Just knowing that no matter what happens here in this life, and no matter how long I stay here, Jesus is preparing a place for me in His Father’s abode where I can live with Him!
*This is an Expository Sermon so I will be expounding on all the verses noted in the text.
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