The homecoming message was preached by Tim Surber.
There will be some basics today, but the basics are sometimes what we need to be reminded of. Christ had just told his disciples that he would go to Jerusalem and die and be buried. Being upset he gave them some encouraging words. In John 14:1 he said “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” In these bodies of flesh we’ll have troubles, trials, and pain-even as a child of God? Yes. God deals with our hearts to bring us comfort. The world is in turmoil; our problems are big. How can we have peace? Be disciples that look higher to Jesus at the right hand of God.
Philippians 4: 6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Don’t let fear and worry grip you. God is a present help in time of trouble. In our time of need he is there. Don’t worry about what you can’t change; with all that may be going on around you, the peace of God can be there. “Let not your heart be troubled.” Let’s pray before we start worrying.
Jesus gave his life before he even went to the garden. When they came to get him he asked them who they were seeking. They said Jesus of Nazareth. He said “I am he.” He honored the will of God. We believe on him to be saved. John 14:2 says “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.” How many times have you thought about heaven even when no one else is around? We can still praise him then. When we think about heaven, it should cause us to praise him. I Corinthians 2: 9 says “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” We don’t know what it’s going to be like, but God has given us a glimpse through his word. Don’t be troubled. In Revelation 21: 4 John wrote “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” God makes all things new.
John 14:3 says “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Peter says that people say they’ve heard all their life that Jesus is coming back—but he hasn’t. He will! What we have to do is be ready. In not being troubled, Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 4: 13 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” These are comforting words. We have hope. The book of Titus says we have a “blessed hope.” Jesus said he was going away. Here is Thessalonians Paul reminds us he is coming again. What a homecoming! In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, things will change.
All that Jesus did for us was done in the open. He gave his life openly on the hill of Calvary. Marred more than any other human being, the Bible says that by his stripes we are healed. From Genesis to Revelation we are given the Bible that we may know and fellowship with him. Thomas asked Jesus how they could know the way. Jesus told him “I am the way.” God told Moses to tell the people the “I AM” sent him. Jesus is the “I AM.” He’s not a has been; he’s always been. He’s eternal. Gideon said he remembered God from times past. He’s the “I AM” of the fiery furnace and the “I AM” of the lion’s den. He’s with us in our troubles. He’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He’s not old. He is “I AM.”
Many times Jesus used this name in reference to himself. “I AM” the bread of life. He’s our living bread. “I AM” the light of the world. His light shined in our darkness. Now we can walk in the light. “I AM” the door. If we walk through him, we SHALL BE saved. That’s not a might but a SHALL BE saved. It’s vital that we believe. The Bible says there is salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus. “I AM” the good shepherd. Psalm 23 says the shepherd is there even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Pilate asked for truth. Jesus said “I AM” truth. We’ll get to heaven only by Jesus and our faith in him. I John 5:11 says “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” We can know. We have the promise. Believe. Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Let not your heart be troubled.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 