Sermon Tone Analysis

Blessed Assurance

Sing a verse of “Blessed Assurance”

God always reassures us.

He is always giving us hope, an expectation of good things in middle of whatever difficult circumstances life may bring.

God intends for us to live a life of hopeful anticipation…this should define our life…Hope…a hope produced because our eyes are on Jesus.

When you are facing hard times turn to Jesus.

Go to His word and find assurance…you will find some there…and through faith, the Holy Spirit will take you deeply into the meaning of His assurance, apply it to your specific circumstances and give you hope…an expectation of good even in the middle of a tumultuous circumstance in which there seems to be none.

God always reassures us.

He is always giving us hope, an expectation of good things in middle of whatever difficult circumstances life may bring.

He intends for us to live a life of hopeful anticipation of what is to come not.

The disciples were hurting because of all the things told them in chapter 13…one of their number would betray Jesus, Peter would deny Him, He would leave them and go someplace they could not come.

They had to have felt abandoned and depressed.

These men were low on hope.

They were not expecting anything good anytime soon.

So Jesus gives them assurance…tells them of His plan and what they had to look forward to.

He told them of the light at the end of the tunnel and then told them of what was in store when they reached the light.

Here we see the tenderness of Jesus.

He was a strong and powerful man but He was also kind, generous and tender.

Love expresses itself in all of these ways and many more.

Let’s look closer at this assurance...

In these first two verses we see the tenderness of Jesus.

He was a strong and powerful man but He was also kind, generous and tender.

Love expresses itself in all of these ways and many more.

The disciples were hurting because of all the things told them in chapter 13…one of their number would betray Jesus, Peter would deny Him, He would leave them and go someplace they could not come.

They had to have felt abandoned and depressed.

“I will not leave you as orphans.”

— In that day an orphan was a child who lost his parents or a disciple who lost his master.

Jesus was going away and would not be seen.

However, He wanted to assure His followers, He would not leave them as orphans.

He was not going away forever.

The world wouldn’t see Him but His followers would.

Jesus would appear before many people over the course of 40 days after His resurrection but every one of those people would be believers in Him.

Why would He do this?

Why not just appear to everyone and let believers and unbelievers alike see Him?

More on that later!

It is enough at this point to note...Jesus intended for them to know and remember, in the midst of what was about to happen, He was not leaving them forever.

He would die and be separated from them for a time, but He would rise again, live and they would see Him again.

Let’s look closer at this assurance...

Because He Lives

Because I live you shall live — Jesus begins with the reason for His departure and the climatic conclusion of His return.

He is going to die and be separated from them but He will return and be with them, never to be separated from them again!

We will live forever because of what He is about to do!

This separation would be a good thing for through the sequence of events which would soon transpire He would never be separated from them again.

The resurrection of Jesus is a watershed moment in the history of humanity.

Since the fall of mankind we have all lived with the terror of physical death and all of the questions which arise from it.

There are two things you can be assured of in life, death and taxes.

Some will cheat their way out of paying their taxes but no one can avoid death.

It comes for us all.

For many it is the great unknown.

What happens when we die?

Is there life after death?

Do we just cease to exist?

Followers of Jesus need not walk around with those kind of questions in their head, robbing them of joy and the hope He came to give.

We will never cease to exist, never pass into nothingness.

We will live!

We will live with Jesus.

Jesus told them, “Because I live, you also will live” — We…are…never…going…to…die! Sure we will die a physical death but we will never face what death really is…eternal separation from God.

We will never cease to exist, never pass into nothingness.

We will live!

We will live with Jesus…we will live in a new heaven and new earth in new bodies forever.

The resurrection of Jesus is proof that He defeated death.

It has no hold on Him.

This means that if we place faith in Him to save us it will have no hold on us either.

I read once of a little girl whose home was near a cemetery, and in order to go to the store, she had to follow a path that led through the cemetery.

But this little girl never seemed to have any sense of fear, even when she returned through the cemetery at dusk.

Someone said to her, "Aren't you afraid to go through the cemetery?"

"Oh, no," she replied, "I'm not afraid, for my home is just beyond."

Are you afraid of the cemetery?

Not if you are a Christian, and know that your Home is just beyond.

I read once of a little girl whose home was near a cemetery, and in order to go to the store, she had to follow a path that led through the cemetery.

But this little girl never seemed to have any sense of fear, even when she returned through the cemetery at dusk.

Someone said to her, "Aren't you afraid to go through the cemetery?"

"Oh, no," she replied, "I'm not afraid, for my home is just beyond."

Are you afraid of the cemetery?

Not if you are a Christian, and know that your Home is just beyond.

Jesus

Someday separation ends forever.

We will see Jesus with our eyes.

We will see our loved ones who died in Christ with our eyes.

We will hold Jesus, kiss His face…We will hold our loves ones and hear their voice again.

Death loses…Jesus wins!

We will not be overcome by death!

And He Walks With Me

The resurrection of Jesus would forever change the way the disciples see the relationship between He and the Father.

Jesus and the Father, along with the Holy Spirit, are One.

There is a unity but a distinction of persons here.

They would see that the Father and Son are One.

And then there is the next assurance given to us by Jesus...

Their relationship with Jesus would become

His temporary separation from them would not only give them hope of eternal duration of life but one of extraordinary, indescribable quality as well.

We are to enjoy an intimate relationship with God…so intimate that it can only be illustrated by the relationship the Son has with the Father.

We are forever in Jesus and Jesus in us…Jesus is in the Father…So we have an incomprehensible unity of relationship with God the Father as well.

We are not God, we are unique persons, but we have an incredible relationship and union with Him which surpasses comprehension.

The resurrection of Jesus would forever change the way the disciples see the relationship between He and the Father.

Jesus and the Father, along with the Holy Spirit, are One.

There is a unity but a distinction of persons here.

They would see that the Father and Son are One.

The pattern of relationship we have with Jesus is the pattern of relationship Jesus has with the Father.

What does that pattern of relationship look like?

The Father and Son love one another and work together.