“Jesus, Eternity - the World, Nothing!”

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 6:26-27; John 14:23-26; 2 Timothy 3:12-17

For the past 10 weeks, we have been considering what Jesus has been telling us through some of his parables. Sometimes, the Lord spoke directly and forcibly, and other times, even though he was less direct, he was still just as pointed in the lessons he offered for each of us. And what do those lessons teach us?

They tell us about the kingdom – what it is all about, why faith is such an integral part of kingdom life, and why it is for each and every person.
They tell us about service – service to God and to each other.
They tell us about the power of prayer and how to be a loving neighbor.
They tell us about the depth of God’s love for all people, and the lengths that he will go, to show us that love.
And they tell us about the day when Jesus will return to earth to bring about the final Judgment, and when that day is complete, how he will claim his Church and take them home for eternity.

Today’s message is about all of these things, tying them together, and showing that the Lord’s purpose in all that he taught is firmly based in the love that only our Triune God could show.

Read 2 Chronicles 6:26-27

First, a little background on First and Second Chronicles. Remember that a chronicle is a written history of an important event or person. In this case, the first book is both a genealogy of Israel, as well as a history of David’s reign, while the second book features the nation’s history from Solomon’s reign, through the split that the kingdom experienced, and until the conquest that led to their captivity and exile.

As our passage for today begins, the temple has been completed and in the last verse of chapter 5, we read “13cThen the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 14and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.” (2 Chronicles 5:13-14) The temple had truly become a place to meet and experience the presence of the Lord God Jehovah. Our two verses, then, are part of King Solomon’s prayer of dedication of this holy space (2 Chronicles 6:12-42).

Specifically, this is one of several petitions that the king offers up to God, and this one is basically saying that when our lives begin to fall apart because of our sin, because we have moved away from your presence, forgive us Lord for our transgressions, and teach us what we need to do to return to your ways.

He talks about the “afflictions” that God brings to our lives, understanding that the problems we suffer only become problems because our trust in God isn’t as strong and focused as it needs to be. Sometimes our struggles tend to consume us because we have strayed from the path that God has laid out for our lives, but other times, it is because the world order, which hates our obedience to the Lord’s way, is striving to break us, distract us, convince us that divine truth is anything but truth!

And the last sentence of these verses holds three requests and proclamations:
1. “Teach us the right way” – asking the Lord to reveal the truth and righteousness that can only come from God and nowhere else.
2. “.. send rain on the land” – renewal and refreshing and nourishment can also only come from God. Whether it is for our lives or for all of creation, God created it all, and therefore he knows our every need, and gives us the best for our lives.
3. “.. you gave [us this] for an inheritance.” Basically, an inheritance, in legal terms, is a gift that is given to living family members and/or others who a deceased grantor trusted and cared for. In a heavenly context, our Living God, not a deceased one(!), grants his blessings, including eternal life, to all who accept him and his ways – to his family, if you will.

When we learn from the teachings of Jesus, all of God’s goodness can be ours, simply because of the Godly relationship that becomes ours by faith in Christ. And if that sounds like a pretty good idea, that’s because it is!

Read John 14:23-26

Jesus is connecting the issues of loving God and obeying his teaching as two mutually dependent concepts. Can we truthfully say we love the Lord if we, at the same time, dispute and disagree with his teachings? Essentially, this would mean that we think that Jesus has made a mistake, one that we have to correct, and if Jesus made a mistake, then he can never be God, and is, therefore, unworthy of our love and obedience.
And can our obedience have any meaning other than “God is love” - just as Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also based in love? But love of what? Love of other people, love in the relationship that each Person of our Triune God has for the others, and the love that they have for you and me, that was so incredibly demonstrated at Calvary. Without love of God and obedience to his word, neither obedience nor love can have even an ounce of holy significance for our lives.

The second message that Jesus offers us is in regard to the coming of the Holy Spirit. He will give several “hints” to his followers that there is another who will come to carry on after he has left the earth. Of course, the disciples never quite understand what this is all about until after the Lord’s ascension, but for now, they get a word of encouragement for what the Spirit will be doing for them when he arrives.

It appears that the Spirit will continue the teaching that Jesus had begun, but that it will always be completely in line with what the Lord taught when he was with us. There will be no contradiction in the teaching, there will be no changes and there will be nothing new – it will perfectly compliment and reinforce all that Jesus had ever taught to the people of earth.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone will respond to the teaching in exactly the same way. We have all been created in unique and special ways, and God desires to use our uniqueness in unique ways and places. But it also doesn’t mean that we can freelance in life, and begin doing things and proclaiming ideas that we like – those things that may look nice, but are still foreign to the divine way!

It is all based on how well we listen to the teaching of Jesus, and how obediently and lovingly we respond to the call that he places on our hearts. John’s gospel, as well as the three epistles that are credited to him, are all about the love of God and how it comes to work in our lives. And quite honestly, the love that we see at work in Jesus Christ, the love that took him to Calvary, and the love that held him on the cross, is all about the love that our Almighty God has for each and every one of us. And our obedience to his teaching is the proof that our love for God is true and complete.

Read 2 Timothy 3:12-17

As Paul writes this letter to his young pastor friend Timothy, he is sitting alone in a Roman prison. This letter is also traditionally believed to be the last one he will ever write. It is one of encouragement and preparation for what his friend will be facing in his life of faith, as well as in his ministry, and Paul wants him to be ready for the persecution that will most assuredly be coming his way.

The truth is that trials and persecution of all sorts will be ours, too. It isn’t that God is testing our faith by putting these problems in our lives – it’s that the world, in its hatred of Godly ways, and since they can’t take their anger out directly on the Lord himself, they take it out on Jesus’ followers. We can’t avoid it, we can’t escape it, and the only way we can end it is to give up faith in Jesus, and give our lives back to the world and its lies. Of course, that is a decision in favor of defeat, and not victory, and we lose out on all that the Lord Jesus has already done for us. So we should probably see their oppression as proof of our faithful walk with the Lord, just as our obedience can be the proof of our love for him!

Paul reminds Timothy of all that he has learned through the years from his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5), as well as others, and that he has always trusted that all he has learned from them is true. And Timothy is also to remember the word of God that has come to him from Christ and his life, and that his faith has produced Divine wisdom and salvation for him to use on behalf of Christ. Everything that Paul is reminding Timothy of, comes directly from all that Jesus had taught years before, perhaps even before the man was born.

And he wants his friend to remember that scripture is not a bunch of concepts that blow in the wind, they aren’t ideas that had come from human thoughts and plans, but that they are “breathed” by God himself. We read that God spoke creation into being (Genesis 1:3-26), and that he breathed life into his created humanity (Genesis 2:7). All goodness has come from God’s very Being. So why shouldn’t we believe all that God has taught us through his Son Jesus?

The teaching that comes from Christ is all that we will ever need for both this life and the one to come. Paul tells us that scripture is useful for four things:
- teaching – that when we teach others about Jesus, we should always base it in the Word of God.
- rebuking & correcting - when a friend has left the light of Christ, and has begun to walk in the darkness of the world, we need to be discerning of how Christ would love them back to the truth, and we must encourage them in the same way. And the only way we will ever know how, is through scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
- training in righteousness – this isn’t just our efforts in teaching others, scripture is to be our source of growth in the ways of Christ, our gaining the fullness of life in God’s precious way.

This is why Jesus came to teach. Everything he did was intended to lead us into the truth and love of God, and away from the legalism that mankind had created through their misguided faith. The Lord’s sermons, his example in life, his death and resurrection – everything was given that we might find our way back to the glorious light of Almighty God. And his parables were based in examples of earthly life, which we should all recognize, and by Christ’s explanation of what a Godly way would be, we discover the errors of our life expressions, and the truth of Godly wisdom.

May we all learn well, live well, and share the truth of Jesus Christ, without addition, correction, or omission of any portion of his holy and marvelous word. May his truth prevail within us all.