The Lord may graciously help
me. I return your prayerful attention to the Gospel of John, Chapter
14, and reading verses 1, 2, and 3. John, Chapter 14, and
the first three verses. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye 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 unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. John's Gospel, Chapter 14, and
the first three verses. Because of the chapter beginning,
chapter 14, with let not your heart be troubled, it's easy
perhaps to divorce this chapter 14 from chapter 13. And which
is why I read chapter 13 really, to try and give the background
to what was going on when Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. This was on the night before
he was going to be betrayed And the next day he was going to
suffer, bleed, and die at Calvary. And he was with his disciples. He had met with them to observe
the Passover. And it was a difficult time for
the disciples. They had many things that would
have been difficult for them to grasp and to understand. Firstly, we see that Jesus takes
his towel and washes his disciples' feet. I understand it would be
normal that a servant would do this, but none of them offered
to do this. We read in another gospel, there
was a strife amongst them. Also, who should be accounted
the greatest? They didn't want to stoop down
and wash one another's feet. The Lord Jesus showed them, he
took that towel and humbly washed their feet and showed them how
that this is what they must do. He loved his own that were in
the world, he loved them unto the end, the love of Christ.
So firstly there was this display of pride really in the disciples
that were not willing to wash one another's feet, and Jesus
himself ends up doing that, showing them how they should act to one
another. Then Jesus says in verse 21 of
chapter 13, When Jesus had said thus, he
was troubled in spirit and testified and said, verily, verily, I say
unto you that one of you shall betray me. So Jesus tells these
12 disciples. He confronts them. He's troubled
himself, we read, in spirit and says, one of you is going to
betray me. And we read in another gospel,
a lot of them said, is it I? Is it I? And they didn't know
who it was. And Jesus then gave this sop
to Judas Iscariot, showing that it was Judas that was going to
betray him. And then Judas goes out into
the night. So that was a troubling experience.
The disciples, their life was being turned upside down. One
of the disciples, who was their friend, for three years they'd
worked together, they'd walked together, they'd been with their
saviour together. And now one of them was going
to be a traitor. One of them was going to deny the law, not
just deny him, but sell him for 30 pieces of silver. Going to
be proved to be an enemy. of the Lord Jesus. Well, we go
on. Then what does he say else in
verse 33? Little children, yet a little
while I am with you, ye shall seek me. And as I said unto the
Jews, whither I go, ye cannot come. So now I say to you, Jesus
tells the disciples plainly, I'm not going to be with you.
So the disciples kept on having this mindset that the Lord Jesus
is going to set up an earthly kingdom. that there was going
to be an earthly kingdom and they were the two disciples wanted to be
on the left hand and the right hand of the kingdom. They wanted
all this. They had this idea of an earthly
kingdom very much. But this was going to be shattered.
I'm going away. So the idea of this one that
they'd followed for three years was now going to leave them.
One of them was going to betray them. This was a worrying evening
for the disciples. As it were, what they'd lived
for, for these three years, was being very shaken, shaken to
the core, as it were. And then we read in verse 37,
Peter says, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay
down my life for thy sake. That's what Peter thought. And
then Jesus says another very worrying statement. Jesus answered
him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied
me thrice. So here, the disciples hear that
three times before the morning, the cock was going to crow in
the morning three times. Peter was going to deny his Lord. Surely this was a very difficult
time for the disciples. As it were, the bottom had fallen
out of their world. Everything was going upside down.
They must have been very troubled. And it is to this, you see, that
John 14, the words come. Let not your heart be troubled. You can read them just on their
own, but The disciples had an awful lot of trouble. They must
have been very concerned. One of them was going to... Judas
had left them as a traitor. Peter was going to deny their
Lord. The Lord was going to leave them, surely. Trouble was the
reaction, surely, that you would expect. But you see, Jesus then
comforts his disciples. But you see, the comfort was
not to cover the reality. Jesus comforts his people but
he does not comfort them without also showing the right way. He was not able to leave them
thinking that Judas was right. He had to expose that which was
wrong and yet he was going to comfort his people. Let not your
heart be troubled. be troubled.'" This is the purpose
that the Lord Jesus then goes on and speaks these many words
to the disciples on this last evening that he's with them.
And his intention, you see, is to comfort his people. to separate
the precious from the vile, to show that Judas was out of the
secret. And they naturally would say,
well, if Judas is out of the secret, surely, where does that
leave me? Let not your heart be troubled. Let it not be troubled. But why
not? Why shouldn't it be troubled?
And you see at this time when he had Calvary before him, and
we read, as I said, in verse 21 of John 13, that Jesus himself
was troubled in spirit. It was a very troubling thing
for him to expose that, that Judas was going to prove to be
a traitor. Let not your heart be troubled. And why shouldn't it be troubled?
This comes back to the core thing of the Gospel of John. Ye believe
in God, believe also in me. Yes, they believed that God was
a great God and a mighty God. Yes, the disciples did believe
in God. But the Lord Jesus is saying,
you have to believe also in me. I am the way to God, and of course
he goes on to say that later. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. If you believe in God, you can
never get to God without the mediator, the man Christ Jesus. Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. So the answer to the turmoil
and the trouble that the disciples felt was to believe. to believe in God, to believe
that he was able to bring them through and that what was taking
place, the fact that he was going to leave them, you see, if he'd
have never left them, if he'd have never gone through Calvary,
how would they ever get to glory? How would they ever be justified?
How would the price of sin ever be paid for? You see, he had
to do it. Let not your heart be troubled.
But for them, it was a difficult time. They didn't want to see
their master go. They thought that he was too
on the road to Emmaus. We thought that it was he that
should have redeemed Israel. In other words, they'd come to
put a massive question mark on about this man, Christ Jesus. Was he really who he said he
was? Or what was the thing? And Jesus
says here, let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God. believe also in me." That's the
way to have peace. In these troubling times, they
were troubling times, to see others falling away, to be told
that Peter, one of the spokesmen for the disciples, was three
times going to deny that he even knew who Jesus was. But Jesus says, Let not your
heart be troubled. He was troubled and yet he was
concerned, you see, that his followers, his people, should
not be troubled. In the time of his own trouble,
the time when Calvary was looming before him and all the trials
and all the injustice and all the hatred and all the difficulties
that lay before him, the crucifixion, the scourging, He says to his
disciples, let not your heart be troubled. It was not said
to people who were sitting there in a lap of luxury, with no problems,
with no difficulties, with no great massive problems before
them. He said it to a group of disciples. which had their world
turn upside down really. They'd left all to follow him,
hadn't they? They'd left their fishing nets,
they'd left everything to follow Christ for three years and now
he's going to leave them. One of them's proved a traitor
and the spokesman's going to deny him. Has everything come
to nothing? Jesus says, let not your heart
be troubled. Well, I've tried to open up some
of the difficulties that the disciples were passing through. But the Lord knows what each
of his people are passing through, the impossibilities, the things
that seem to threaten the whole of your faith. seem to shake
you to the very core. And Jesus says, let not your
heart be troubled. And the reason you believe in
God, believe also in me. So a true faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, a belief that he will do everything well, is the comfort
of God's people. It was to be the comfort, and
Jesus points it to be the comfort for his disciples in all that
lay before them, that they may grasp hold of this, you believe
in God, believe also in me. You can't get to God without
me. And Jesus says that later in
this, as he expounds it, that nobody comes to God but by me. You believe in God, but you won't
be able to get to God. God will just be a consuming
fire to you without me. You need me. You need Christ. Otherwise, the Father will be
unapproachable. Yes, he's God, but you won't
be able to get to him. You won't be able to know him.
You won't be able to be with him. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also
in me. But he was about to be ridiculed.
He was about to be bound. He was about to be kissed by
Judas and then taken away, falsely accused, buffeted, spat upon,
his beard plucked off. Believe also in me. when everything seems to be going
the wrong way, believe in me. This centre part, and it's interesting
that James in the Sunday School was so much focusing on belief,
believing, and so important it is to our faith is to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and to savingly believe. You see,
we have those in the Word of God, the devils it says believe
and tremble but they don't laugh. They hate Christ. They know he
is Christ, but they hate him. But what a mercy if we come to
know him, believe him and to love him. To realise we need
him because we're sinners. Well then, Jesus goes on to comfort
his people. Believe in me. What's going to
happen to us? If the Lord Jesus is going to
leave us and we can't go with him, what's going to happen to
this band of disciples? Well, Jesus comforts them. In my Father's house are many
mansions. In my Father's house. A lovely
description of heaven, isn't it? In my Father's house. The idea that God's people, you
see, when they pass from time into eternity, they're going
to my father's house, what Jesus
said. Later on, when Jesus rose from
the dead and was speaking to Mary Magdalene, Jesus said this
in John 20 verse 17 and Jesus said unto her touch me not for
I'm not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say
unto them I ascend unto my father and to your father to my God
and to your God you see there was a bringing bringing them
into relationship in that sense in my father's house are many
mansions And that means resting places, abiding places. There
is room in my father's house. You see, one of the things I
mentioned was yet there is room, yet there is room. And that's
the point he's making here. You see, they say, well, if Judas
is cast out, is there room for us? And Jesus saying, yes, there
is, if you believe on me. And later on, you see, he comes
down with that very well-known saying, Jesus said unto him,
I am the way. How do we get to God? How is it going to be safe with
us? How is it that we're not going
to end up denying our Lord and leaving him completely? I am
the way. That's the way to get to this
place. This is the way to get to the Father's house. There's
no other way. In my father's house are many
mansions. An idea of the space, this room,
this room for all his people, for all those who he's called
by his grace, all those who have come to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, all those that have left their life of following the vanities
of this life to lay hold upon the hopes that before them in
the gospel. all of those who have that living faith. But faith, you see, has measures. There is little faith and there's
great faith. But the object of faith is the
vital thing. Is it faith in Christ? And if
it is, in my Father's house are many mansions. There is mansions
and there is space for all of His people. I was thinking of
this in the Pilgrim's Progress. Pilgrim's Progress pictures many
people, many characters in the Pilgrim's Progress. And as Christian
goes through his pathway to the Celestial City, he meets with
many different people. But it's interesting to note
that Bunyan picks up a number of characters who were true Christians
that had all manner of difficulties. There was a Mr Fearing who was
always fearing and yet in his fearing he was always pressing
on and yet had many fears. There was another person called
Little Faith and yet he persevered and he gained heaven. There was
Mr Feeble Mind and he gained heaven. There was Mr Ready to
Halt that got along on crutches. But you see, all of them, all
of those characters, yes they had their problems, yes they
didn't, they hold, as it were, in the same, they didn't have
the same level of assurance. That's the point I want to make.
They didn't have the same level of assurance. But they all were on the way.
And they all were going to get safe to their father's house.
Because Christ to them was their only hope. There were others
you see in the Pilgrim's Progress we read of ignorance. He was
a man that Climbed over the wall. He didn't
go in through the wicked gate. The wicked gate was Christ. At
the beginning of the way they need to enter. It's as we know
the Lord Jesus that we can enter into the way, but they didn't
want to do that. They climbed up some other way. Jesus talks
about that in John 10. I am the door. Anybody that comes
in another way is a thief and a robber. But ignorance said,
well, he could get over another way and he could be on the journey. And he carried on. is he didn't
have Christ. And so you see here, the word
of God is discriminating in that sense. Jesus did not, he said
the truth as it was, he showed that there is, the way to God
is to have union with Christ and without union with Christ
there is no way, there is no heaven, there is no safety. but for those who put their trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Though they be mister fearing,
though they be little faith, though they be mister feeble
mind, though they be ready to halt. Yet in my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. There is room in our Father's
house And, sorry, in the Song of Solomon, isn't it? Others had come to see the beauties,
and they say, you come too. There's room, you see. You can
come and experience these things too. Come and hear and see the
preciousness of Christ. If thou know not, O thou fairest
among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.
Go, and then you find him to be precious too. If it were not so, I would have
told you. You see, Christ is the way, the
truth, and the light. He doesn't lead people up the
wrong way. He doesn't give them a false
hope. You see, the disciples were coming
to wonder whether the whole of their understanding of these
things was going to fall to nothing. But Jesus says, no, your understanding
of some things have had to change radically and will have to change
radically. When I spoke about what I was going to accomplish
at Jerusalem, you've got to understand that that was real. You can't
keep ignoring that. You can't keep pretending that
that won't happen. I did say I was going to suffer,
bleed, and die at Jerusalem, and I'm going to. And that's
something you've got to come to terms with. And the disciples
hadn't yet. They had to learn that. Ultimately,
it was going to be for their good. Let not your heart be troubled. The disciples said, but surely
if all this is going so different than we thought, the way is so
different than we thought, the things that are coming to our
pathway are things that we look not for. Jesus says, let not
your heart be troubled. You say, well, it's a natural
response. It is a natural response. But you see, there's an antidote.
You believe in God. Believe also in me. To believe
in God. To believe in what he has done.
To believe that he has gone before his people. To believe that he
is going to stand in his people's place. To believe that he is
going to endure the wrath of God against sin. And that's going
to be the way to the Father's house. There would be no way
otherwise. There would be no, this is what the whole Old Testament's
pointing to, that the coming Messiah would be one that would
make, would stand in the place of his people. In my father's
house are many mansions for all the different flavors, as it
were, of God's people in all their different measures of assurance.
The little faith to the great faith. Paul who could stand and
say, I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. Paul had great faith and
great assurance. But not all God's people have
that. But all God's people find Christ to be precious. I am the
way. I go to prepare a place for you. So
his leaving the disciples was not for some selfish motive of
his own. It was for them. It was for them. They didn't
want it. They didn't want him to leave
them. They didn't want him to go. They thought this is a bad
thing. We don't want this. This is going to ruin our fellowship
with him. But it wasn't. It wasn't really. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Put your faith in me. You can't
see what God is doing. We read it earlier, didn't we?
What he says to Peter, what thou doest, Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
And how many times in our lives we see things coming into our
pathway and we can only see all the terrible things that are
associated with it. We can't see that it's a blessing.
But you see, you believe in God, believe also in me. That's the
place of refuge. That's the place of peace. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. So we read, you see,
that heaven is a prepared place. His people There is a space for
each of his chosen. Each one who has come to turn
aside from all the emptiness of this world, come to see themselves
as sinners. There is a place for them. There's
many mansions, there's space. There's room in my father's house.
But only room for those who have come to lay hold upon the hope
set before them in the gospel, for only for those who find Christ
precious, only for those who have come to the end of their
own righteousness. But for them, there is these
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. He's going to come again
and be with his people. and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. You see, he wants his
people with him. Think of the picture often taken
of Christ and his church as the bridegroom and the bride. You
see, the bridegroom has that desire that the bride should
be with him. And so the Lord Jesus has a desire
that his bride should be at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
That she should be there. And he's gone to prepare a place
for her. She's got that place to dwell in and there's plenty
of space, the correct amount of space, the exact amount of
space needed for each one of his people. If I go and prepare
a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am There he may be also. How he wants his people with
him. Yes, we're here being prepared,
you see, as those stones chipped away so that we're the right
shape and size, ready for that heavenly building. But he ultimately
wants them to come to that building. He wants them to be, when they're
ready, when they're prepared, then they are to go to be with
him. where Thomas says, whither I
go you know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him,
Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the
way? And this prompts Jesus to come
to that beautiful text. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. Thomas, the way to the Father
is through me. I am the way, the Father is in
me and I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the truth. The only truth is in God. And so this is life eternal. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. This is the exclusive nature
of salvation through Christ. There's only, that only way to
come to the Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the only way. He is the way. He is the truth. Because you see, He deals with his people in truth. He doesn't sweep sin under the
carpet. He exposes sin for all its filthiness, but then takes
it on himself and cleanses it all away. So that he brings his
people to that marriage supper of the Lamb as spotless. Amazing, isn't it? We can only
see our sins and our departures from God, but we read that he
presents himself a glorious church, having neither spot nor wrinkle.
This is what he does, the way, he's the way, he's the truth.
He doesn't sweep it under the carpet, he deals with it, he
cleanses her, and he satisfies all the requirements against
her. As we looked in the life of Ruth,
But when Ruth was, there was that nearer kinsman that could
have redeemed her. And yet Boaz took it to that
court with those ten elders and gave him a fair chance to have
Ruth. But no, he said, I cannot redeem
it. You redeem it. And so then Boaz
could go ahead and redeem Ruth. And that nearer kinsman, that
other kinsman, could never again say, well, Ruth is not really
yours. He purchased Ruth and cleared all the other contesters. And so Christ, you see, he purchases
his bride. And there can no other be against
him. If I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. that where I
am there ye may be also. And you see how the Lord prepares
his people and he goes before his people and it's very interesting
that things are very different than what we might think they
are. See, Psalm 73 says these words, Psalm 73, this is Asaph looking
on at the ungodly. Psalm 73 verse 4, for there is
no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other
men, neither are they plagued like other men. Here Asaph sees
the ungodly going headlong to a never-ending eternity, they're
not troubled about it, they're not worried about it, they're
not concerned about it. Therefore pride compasses them
about with a chain, violence comes with them as a garment.
There's just a headlong going on. It seems they come right
to death. And they're not troubled. But these disciples were troubled.
These disciples were troubled. But you see, Jesus then speaks
to these disciples and says, let not your heart be troubled. The world, the ungodly, they
go headlong and they're not troubled. God's people are troubled. They
realise how easily they could be a Judas, how easily they could
deny their Lord, how easily they could perhaps leave the way as
well. They're troubled. What's going
to happen? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. Bunyan, writing of Christian
going through that river of, that river Jordan, the river
of death. Christian was with hopeful. Faithful had already died in
Vanity Fair. He'd been faithful under death.
But then you see his faith, there was that hopeful. Hopeful was
with Christian, and he went as they began to go through that
river. You see, there was ignorance. He got across the river with
a boat called Vain Hope. He wasn't worried. He wasn't
troubled. He got across the river on Vain
Hope, and then suddenly realized that he'd quite mistaken the
road. He'd never entered in the road
through Christ. For there is no bands in their
death. And this is the verse that hopeful, comforted Christian. He started to sink as he went
into that river. And Christian said, it's all
up with me. And hopeful said to him these words
in Psalm 73. For there is no bands in their
death, but their strength is firm. And as Christian was floundering,
he then took him to that other place. And in Isaiah 43, when
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned. And neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I go and prepare a place
for you. I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. We would think, you see, that
God's people would just go on easily through all these things.
But we see that God's people, the disciples struggled. They
were troubled. They were at their wits end.
They didn't know what was going to happen. And Jesus points them
back. Comforts them. They were troubled.
That's why they needed comfort. The Lord never comforts people
that don't need comfort. He comforts those that do need
comfort. Because they are troubled. Let
not. your heart be troubled." It was
troubled. Their hearts were troubled. They were in confusion. All that
they'd hoped for in those last three years was all being shaken. But Jesus says, let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe.
also in me. It comes back to that central
theme that the Sunday school had this morning, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way, the truth, the
life, there is no other way, there is no other place of safety.
Every other way you see, the world had that way of going headlong
into eternity, no fear, no bands in their death, their strength
is firm, they don't need comforting. But God's people need comforting.
Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people, saith
your God. Because they come to realise
how far short they come. They see sin is mixed. And Christian,
as he went down into that river, all the sins of his past, before
his conversion and after his conversion, seem to come tumbling
upon him. And hopeful said, I see the other
side, they've come to welcome us. He said, they're welcoming
you, they're not welcoming me. And he encouraged him, you see,
that the Lord could help him through. And so the Lord's people
need comfort in the path that he has accorded. The disciples
were about to go through a very difficult path. And yet the Lord
was able to comfort them and did comfort them. And yet they
had a lot of difficulties. All the disciples we read forsook
him and fled. All of them. but they were going to come.
You see, their faith didn't fail, did it? Apart from Judas, none
of their faith failed. They were all brought through
and raised up to be a blessing, raised up to be the apostles,
raised up to preach on the day of Pentecost, raised up to preach
a precious Jesus, raised up to put the crown on his head, raised
up to preach Christ and him crucified as the central central way of
salvation, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, Believe also in me. I am the
way to God. Christ is saying, I am the way
to God. There is no way to God without
it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he's going to do
some things that are going to shatter you. Yes, he's going
to be taken. He's going to be abused. He's going to be scourged. He's going to be crucified. He's
going to cry out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
But believe in me. I'm doing this for a purpose
and the purpose is I go to prepare a place for you.
I'm doing this for your good. You don't realise it. You don't
think it's true. You can only see it as negative.
But Jesus is saying here, I go to prepare a place for you and
all that was accomplished at Calvary, going down into the
tomb, rising again the third day, then ascending into glory,
where he ever sitteth at the right hand, ever liveth to intercede,
all these things he's doing for his people's good. And as you
go through John 14, he says, if I go away, I'm going to send
the Holy Spirit. You're not going to be alone.
And then later on, he says that he's going to give my peace.
Verse 27 of John 14, peace I leave with you. These disciples were
gonna, it was a time in their life which was anything but peace.
They were gonna be totally confused and totally disorientated with
what was about to take place. But Jesus is telling them these
things. That ultimately, let not your heart be troubled. Yes,
there's big things, difficult things that were going to challenge
the pathway of the disciples greatly. But they were not going
to betray Jesus as Judas did, because they had believed in
the Lord Jesus Christ and they had a place prepared for them
in their father's house. He was going to his father. 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 unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also." He wants them with
him. He didn't purchase these people for them to live on their
own. He purchased them to be with
him. And of course, he carried on
on this discourse and ended up in John 17. And John 17 verse 24 has that
lovely verse. Father I will, a prayer now to
his father. Father I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold
my glory. That's what he wanted for them.
He prayed for his people down through the ages of time that
this chosen people, the one he'd gone to Calvary for, would be
brought to himself. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. 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 unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. Amen.