As we've gathered on Easter Sunday, this Resurrection Sunday, I want us to turn in our Bibles again to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. I love this season and this particular Sunday that we set aside to celebrate, rather to renew our celebration of the day that our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And just to clarify, just to make sure that we're all on the same page, I do believe on the authority of God's inspired and inerrant Word, that after Jesus took the punishment for our sins in His death, He was buried, and on the third day, He literally, physically, bodily, miraculously rose from the dead. That's what we're here to celebrate today. Jesus is, right now, alive. And while I'm thankful that the church for centuries has celebrated on a universal day the resurrection, I also want to acknowledge that every Sunday that the church gathers to worship, it's because of the resurrection. So in one sense, this is just an ordinary Sunday for us. We just had breakfast. But I'm glad we celebrate on Easter because it does remind us that every Sunday is an extraordinary Sunday for Christians. Amen? That said, if you're here for Easter, I'm glad you're here. And I hope you'll come and celebrate with us again next Sunday and the Sunday after that. We do this all year long. Today, let's begin this ordinary Sunday by returning to our studies in the Gospel of John. And today being an extraordinary Sunday, let's consider this passage in light of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. John chapter 14, verse one. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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. And where I go you know, and the way you know." And Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on, you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "'Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' Jesus said to him, "'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves." I hope that by now, you who have been with us through the entirety of our studies in John are fully aware of John's purpose in writing the book, the witness to the life and ministry of Jesus. John records the ministry of Jesus in the first 12 chapters, His teachings and His miracles. In chapters 13-17, he records Jesus' final night with His disciples and all the things that He commanded them and that He promised them. Chapters 18 and 19 record the account of Jesus' arrest and trial, His crucifixion, and His burial. And in chapter 20, John gives us his eyewitness account of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. And as he nears the end of the book, he writes these words about all that he's said so far. He says, "...and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book." But these are written." That is, John has recorded for us these signs. The last and greatest sign being the resurrection itself. These are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. The purpose of the signs and the miracles of Jesus And the reason that John wrote them down for us in this book is that we might have confidence and faith to believe that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be, the Christ, the Son of God, and that everything He said was true. One of the benefits provided to us in the resurrection is that God the Father in heaven put His stamp of approval on the work and the words of Jesus by raising Him from the dead. Now, let's apply that to our passage in John 14. Because in John 14, Jesus makes a promise to His disciples that would be impossible for Him to keep without the resurrection. And He makes a couple of claims about Himself that would be absurd for anyone to believe if there is no resurrection. Let's look at them together. Number one, the promise of heaven. Remember that the disciples are troubled on this evening before Jesus' death. They don't know He's going to die. He says in chapter 13 verse 33, Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. So now I say to you. He's going away. He says that they can't come with him. They don't understand why. They're troubled. So Jesus says in chapter 14 verse 1, Let not your hearts be troubled. And what's to be at the bottom of their hope? What is to give them assurance as their hearts are troubled? He says in verse 2 and 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. 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." Their hope when their hearts are troubled, and our hope as Christians when our hearts are troubled is this, we have a better home to look forward to. We have the promise of God that He will come again and take us there. We have the promise of heaven. We've been promised to live forever in a land where there is no more death, no sorrow, no crying, no pain, and best of all, it's the place where God dwells with His people. He will be with us and will forever be our God. But what happens to that promise if Jesus died on the cross? and stayed dead. How can we be sure that we will live again if He didn't live again? The Apostle Paul followed that line of thought with its logical conclusion. In 1 Corinthians 15, he said, if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ, that is, Christians who have died, have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. If Jesus is dead, then everyone who believed in Him and has died, has perished. There's no hope that they will ever and we will never go to the heaven that He has promised. And if He was wrong about that, then He was wrong about who He was, and we're all still lost in our sins. And Paul continued in that chapter. He said, but now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, after those who are Christ that is coming. Since Jesus did rise from the dead, since He is risen and lives today, we can have confidence that He is only the first of many. Just as He was raised in a glorified body that will live forever in heaven, so also we will be raised in a glorified body that will live forever in heaven. Because Jesus died and was raised from the dead, I can be confident that He will fulfill His promise and raise me from the dead. And you can be confident that He will raise you from the dead if your trust is in Him. If you've repented of your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, if you have been born again, you have that confidence that where He is, there we may be also. Jesus promised an eternal home in heaven for those who put their faith in Him, and His own resurrection guarantees that promise. So, number one, the promise of heaven. Number two, the way to God. Well, after Jesus made that promise of His return, to take His people to heaven, to live with Him there. Thomas, he still wasn't quite getting it. Jesus said in verse 4, you know the way to where I'm going. In verse 5, Thomas said, Lord, we don't even know where You're going. How can we know the way to get there? And you criticize Thomas all you want, but I'm glad he asked the question. Because Jesus answered it with probably the most straightforward answer concerning the way to heaven, or more specifically, the way to God. Jesus says, you know the way. Thomas says, how can we know the way? And Jesus says, I am the way. The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Is that an exclusive message? Yes. Does that discriminate against all the religions of the world? Yes. Is it a narrow way of thinking? Yes. Is it arrogant to say that we who believe in the biblical Jesus are the only ones with the answers about how to get to God? Only if it isn't true. How can Jesus make such a claim? How can He say that He is the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him? How could He be so narrow-minded? What gives Jesus the right to claim exclusive access to God? What about Muhammad? What about Joseph Smith? Confucius, Mary Baker Eddy, did they not know what they were talking about? How can Jesus say that He's right and everyone else is wrong? That He is the only way? Muhammad, Confucius, and all the others died. You can study their works and their ideas, you can read their writings and see what you think about it, but they died and are still dead. No one disputes that. But if a teacher were to come along and say, I'm going to tell you ahead of time that I'm going to die, and that I'm going to rise from the dead three days later, and then he dies and he rises from the dead three days later, I think he might know what he's talking about. You better believe I'm going to cling to every word He says. Of all the religious teachers and leaders who have ever lived and died, not a single one of them has ever come back from the dead or even claimed to, except Jesus. And not only did He die and rise from the dead, but He told His disciples ahead of time that that was exactly what was going to happen. And if He told the truth and His Word was fulfilled in that, something as magnificent and humanly impossible as rising from the dead, who am I to question Him about the way He has chosen for men and women to come to God? Paul said, if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is empty. That is, if Jesus is dead, then we're wrong to preach Him as the only way. If He is dead, I am telling you a lie. By implication, if He's alive, then we must preach His message faithfully. Could God have made more than one way to be saved? Sure. He's God. Our human nature is to say, why didn't He? But I promise you that when you stand before Him at the judgment and you see His wounds, the scars around His brow, the nail prints in His hand and in His feet, I promise you, you will not be able to bring yourself to say, why didn't you do more? The real question is, why did God provide even one way? Why does God give us any way to Him at all? Much less to send His own Son to die for us. The resurrection gives us assurance of, one, the promise of God, the promise of heaven. And it confirms, number two, the way to God. Jesus is the only way. Number three, the revelation of the Father. At the end of chapter 13, Peter spoke up. Here in chapter 14, we've just heard from Thomas. And now it seems to be Philip's turn to chime in. He said in verse 7, or Jesus said in verse 7, if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also, and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. So Philip speaks up in verse 8 and he says, Lord, show us the Father. And it is sufficient for us. Just show us God the Father. No big deal. Yeah, we've seen your miracles, Jesus. Those are pretty good. We've heard you teach. You're a good communicator. We hear your words of comfort and we really appreciate that. But I'll tell you what, why don't you just let us see God? That should do it. Are you kidding me, Philip? I really wish we could hear Philip's tone of voice here. It's almost funny how casually he seems to say this. At least that's how I hear it. Just show us the Father. That's enough. But then what Jesus answered is more shocking to some than what Philip said in the first place. Verse 9, Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long? Yet you have not known Me, Philip. He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works." That's a bold statement. Consider the things He said, whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father. I am in the Father. The Father is in Me. The works I do, the Father does through Me. My words are spoken on the authority of the Father. You could be stoned for saying things like that in Jesus' day. In fact, on more than one occasion, they tried to stone Jesus for saying it. It was a capital offense. To claim equality with God is blasphemy. Unless it's true. But how would you ever go about proving that it's true? Jesus makes a magnificent claim. It's one that's understood in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. There are three distinct persons who we can rightfully call God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. Yet the three persons are one in essence. He is one God. One God in three persons. And here in the verses we just read, Jesus claims equality with God. He's claiming to be one with the Father. Again, that's blasphemy, unless it's true. But how do you prove that you're telling the truth? He did things only God could do, right? He gave sight to the blind. He made the lame walk. He caused the dumb to speak. He gave hearing to the deaf. He cleansed the lepers. And He even raised the dead. I think that might convince someone. But the one final sign that He gave that settles once and for all that Jesus really is who He claimed to be is His own resurrection from the dead. If a mere man blasphemed God and falsely claimed to be equal with God, which is what the Jews believed Jesus was doing, then God would not do anything to give this man credibility. That's why they said, oh, he's casting out demons by the power of the Prince of Demons. He's got Satan's power. Because they thought surely God would not give such a man this power. But when Peter preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, he said, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it." At least seven times in the book of Acts alone, by my counting, the apostles said, God raised Christ from the dead. If Jesus was telling a lie about God, God would not have raised Him from the dead. If Jesus was lying about who He was, being one with the Father, He would still be dead today. The resurrection is His vindication, the validation that He was telling the truth. Jesus made statements all throughout His ministry that would be utterly ridiculous if they had been uttered by a mere man. In John 14 alone, we have a promise of heaven, a declaration of the only way to God, an equating of Jesus with God Himself, If Jesus were still dead, we would have no reason to believe a word of it. But if He has been raised, then we must believe it. And friend, let me assure you, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Hundreds of eyewitnesses saw Him. Some of them wrote about it, Most of them died as martyrs because they preached about it. The power of God that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that has sustained His church through good and bad, through prosperity and persecution for 2,000 years. And the message of the resurrection has miraculously transformed millions of lives of people who have been converted by faith in Jesus. There's plenty of evidence Jesus is alive. He told Philip in verse 11, Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Or else believe me, for the sake of the works themselves, He commands you, just as He commanded Philip, to believe in Him. The reason Jesus died was to make payment for sins. You've offended God by breaking His laws. You deserve to die. But loving you before you were ever born, Jesus died and made payment for your sins. He took the punishment from God that you deserve. They took His body from the cross and laid it in the tomb, but on the third day, God raised Him from the dead. He is who He says He is, and He commands you to repent to forsake your sins and to put your trust, your faith in Him alone. Come to Him for mercy and He will forgive you and grant you everlasting life. And just as He was raised from the dead, so also we who trust in Him will be raised when He comes again. The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Let's pray. Would you stand? God, we thank You for the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins and rose from the dead. We praise You. We thank You. We give You glory for the great works You have done. And I ask you that if someone here doesn't know you, that their eyes would be open to the truth and that their hearts would receive Christ even today. In Jesus name. Amen.