The Upper Room – Week 3 (9-21-25)
The Upper Room
No Longer Orphans
September 21, 2025
John 14:1–4 NIV
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Earth / Sky / Heaven
Us ————> God’s House
Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
“Rooms” → monē – noun (dwelling place)
menō – verb (abide, remain, dwell)
Presence > Place
What makes a house a home?
Question:
What if what Jesus is talking about is not necessarily preparing a place but rather preparing you to be a place God dwells?
God only promises his presence!
John 14:5–8 (Thomas & Philip, NIV)
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
John 14:15–18 (NIV)
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
PARAKLĒTOS = Helper, Advocate, Comforter, Counselor
Adversary or Advocate?
John 14:22–24 (NIV)
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
You don’t have to find a way into God’s house —
He’s moved into yours.
The promise of Jesus is not escape from the world but His presence in the world.