Summary of Dr. Péter Hack’s Sermon from August 2, 2026

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He was together with His disciples. The disciples had followed Him for years, listened to His teachings, and witnessed the miracles and signs He performed. They were all waiting for the Messiah, and therefore they believed that the Millennial Kingdom would come during Jesus’ earthly lifetime: that the Roman Empire’s rule would come to an end, that Jesus would restore the kingdom of Israel, and that He would sit on the throne.

The disciples expected the Millennial Kingdom to come, with Jesus taking His place on the throne and restoring the kingdom. They still believed this even after His resurrection. When Jesus spoke to them before His death about leaving them, their hearts became troubled. This was not the future they had imagined for themselves; things were not turning out the way they had expected. But Jesus said: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

Our hearts should not be troubled even when things do not turn out the way we imagined.

The peace of a believer does not come from everything happening according to his own plans, but from knowing that God’s will is being fulfilled. We, too, often form a picture in our minds of how we think our lives should unfold. However, when things happen differently, we can easily become troubled. God’s will, however, is better than anything we could foresee or imagine. What He has prepared for us is good even when, at first, we do not understand the path that leads us there.

God has prepared something far better for us than what we imagined for ourselves.

Jesus told His disciples that there are many dwelling places in His Father’s house, and that He was going away to prepare a place for them. This means that there is a place for us with the Father. The reality of heaven is not inaccessible to the believer, because Jesus has opened the way that leads there.

We are living in a transitional period: we live on this earth, but we are heading toward a heavenly destination. Therefore, an important question is how we can know that we will truly reach that destination. The answer is that we must walk on the path that leads to the right destination. If we follow Jesus’ way, we can be certain that we are heading in the right direction.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

He is the truth in contrast to falsehood, and reality in contrast to appearance. Satan is the opposite of this: he represents falsehood rather than truth, and appearance rather than reality.

In today’s world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from appearance and truth from falsehood. During the confrontation between capitalism and socialism, it was easier to recognize what was false—for example, we did not believe that a Trabant was a better car than a Mercedes. Today, however, people are much more susceptible to manipulation. The sheer amount of information available does not in itself mean that people are getting closer to the truth. Quite often, it is precisely the overwhelming amount of information that obscures what is actually true.

The truth is what God says. The truth is the Word. The truth is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Therefore, a believer should not conform to the changing opinions, ideologies, or social systems of the world. Everything must be measured against Jesus and the Word of God. Falsehood has power: people often place their trust in institutions and other people without critical examination. We, however, should place our trust in God and Jesus without reservation! The world promises to make human life better, but no system in itself is capable of creating a perfect world.

We must stand firmly in the Lord and come to know reality on the basis of the Word of God.

The Word helps us distinguish between truth and falsehood so that we can make the right decisions and remain on Jesus’ path. We must walk in His way. He is the way that leads to the Father; He is the truth against which we must measure all our thoughts; and He is the life that gives us eternal fellowship with God. Our goal is to know and understand reality on the basis of the Word. If we do this, then regardless of what happens, our lives will ultimately turn out well.

Scriptures quoted in the sermon:

• John 14:1–7
• 2 Thessalonians 2:8–12

Notes prepared by: Dr. Bálint Molnár