John chapter 14. And I'm going
to read from verse one. Let not your heart be troubled. It's the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking to his disciples. 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. And whether I go ye know, and
the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me. He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works'
sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also,
and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto
my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. I wonder if you've ever heard
the phrase, you can't see the forest for the trees. Is that
something you're familiar with? That's been a phrase that has
been known for a long, long time. That proverb was first recorded
in the writings of a man called John Heywood in 1546. So for a long time, people have
been saying, you can't see the forest for the trees. What does it mean? It means that
we've become too involved in the details of an issue to see
the complete picture. It means that we've become too
preoccupied with the parts and we fail to see the grandeur
of the whole. Do you ever wish that you could
see the big picture? be less preoccupied with the
bits and pieces of life, less tied down to the clutter, to
be able to rise above the daily grind, rise above the mundane,
and as it were, to look down from a great height and see the
big picture. to see what it's about, to see
what the meaning is, to see what's behind the stuff that goes on
in our lives day by day, to get a different perspective upon
what's happening to us and in the world, to see the end from
the beginning, as it were, and the stuff in between as well. You know, if we could see the
really big picture, then we would be like gods. We would be like that one who
is himself the beginning and the end. The great I am. That name, we
spoke about the importance of the name of God, the name of
the God of his people. That name, I Am, it can be transliterated
as I was that I was. I am that I am. I shall be that I shall be. It speaks about the eternity
of God. It speaks about the end and the
beginning, the alpha and the omega, the author and the finisher. It speaks of the great all-knowing
God, our savior. He is the I am. And of course, it's impossible
for you and me to see the really big picture, because we're bound
in time and in space. We're constricted by the daily
occurrences of our life. But here's the thing that I want
to say to you this morning. If it's not possible for us to
see the really big picture, then perhaps the next best thing to
seeing that really big picture is to know the one who does see
the really big picture. You know, I've thought how cold
and hostile the universe must appear for those who don't believe
in God. Have you ever thought about that? How cold and hostile the universe
must appear to those who don't believe in God. How meaninglessness,
how meaningless, how random life must be for them. The events
of life are purely arbitrary, circumstantial, coincidental,
meaningless, haphazard, accidental, futile. It's to have a conviction that
nothing really matters. Not really. The belief that there are no
answers to man's curiosity. There's no reason for us being
here and there's no future ahead of us. No explanation as to what we
see, what we are and what we shall become. No justification
for the universe to be existing at all. The world or what the world is
all about doesn't have any reason, no truth, no meaning, no right,
no wrong, no absolutes. Perhaps beyond a few changing
social norms, nothing that we can lay hold upon and say this
is true. And that means that there's no
hope. It means that there is complete
and utter insignificance in everything that we do, in everything that
we say, and in everything that we feel. If there is no God,
everything is meaningless. To quote a wise man, Solomon
said, vanity, all the world is vanity. And that's all that we
have if we don't have God and we don't see him for who he is.
That is the hopelessness of atheism. That is the senseless futility
of everything that's around about us. And what a troubling outlook
you must have in this world if that's as much as you're prepared
to believe. The Lord Jesus Christ cautioned
his disciples against such vain philosophy in life. And he said
in John chapter 14 and verse one, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also
in me. The Lord was saying to his disciples
there as he was preparing to go to the cross, as he was preparing
to leave them behind, he was saying to them simply this. Let
me show you the big picture. Let me tell you what this is
all about. Let me lift you above your troubles,
these immediate concerns that you have. Let me give you a new
perspective. Let me give you meaning to the
things that are about to happen to you. And let me calm your
fears in the midst of your trials. So this morning I want to follow
in the Lord's footsteps, if I may. And I want to show you the big
picture. And I hope that it will strengthen
your faith, that it will bless your heart, that it will comfort
your spirit, and that it will ease your mind. And here's the
first thing that I want to show you about the big picture. God is in control. God's in control. The God of the Bible, the God
who has revealed himself to us in the midst of this universe
with all its questions is the God who is the creator of all
things and he gives meaning to all things because he is who
he is. The God of the Bible is right
now upholding and sustaining all things, safeguarding this
world right now and always. What a terrible place this world
would be if there was no God. Can you begin to imagine if this
world was populated by millions of hazels? and that there was no withholding
sin and it was allowed to vent itself and run its course with
all the viciousness of such wickedness. Hell is going to be a terrible
place. but our God is in control. Hebrews 1, verse 3 says that
he upholds all things by the word of his power. Sometimes
our view of God is too small. Everything is upheld by the word
of his power. He doesn't even have to lift
a finger. The word of his power. And I
hope that you have seen over the past few weeks as we've been
having our various studies and our various passages from scripture,
how that the smallest and the most insignificant of circumstances are all important in the building
up of this great big picture. Nothing is independent, nothing
is without meaning. Nothing is random, but it's organised
because God is upholding it and sustaining it. It is arranged,
it is purposeful, it is bringing to an end those things which
God desires. The God of the Bible has revealed
himself The God of this universe has spoken. The God of the Bible
has shown himself to be a personal God, a God who will come to individuals,
a God who is approachable. Mitch spoke last night at the
mission of the lady with the issue of blood who came to the
Lord and touched him. She touched God. God is touchable. God can be approached and he
has arranged it so that in the vastness of this universe, the
handiwork of his creation, that which is sustained by the word
of his power, yet he is come to-able. Have you come to the
Lord? Have you seen the big picture? He's personal and he's loving
and he's merciful and he's gracious and he doesn't for a moment give
up his holiness or his majesty, but he's approachable by people
like you and like me. The Lord says to his disciples,
you believe in God, Believe also in me. You believe in the God
who is revealed in scripture. You've seen him. You've read
about him there. The Lord is saying to his people,
you believe in him. Trust him. This is his nature. This is his character. This is
who he is. Believe in him. If you would see the big picture,
then you need to see and you need to know the God of the Bible. Here's the second thing. If you
want to see the big picture, you've got to know that there's
a plan. There's a plan. We might call it the master plan. The big picture isn't a work
in progress. It's not an initiative, a project
that we're not sure how it's going to turn out in the end. God's plan is his covenant purpose. It has structure. It has reason. It has method. and it all falls into place according
to the precise and perfect timing of the Lord our God. History
is unfolding before us according to the pattern and plan of God's
decree. This God who is in control has
a plan and a purpose and a covenant that he is accomplishing before
our eyes. And if we don't see it all, if
we get preoccupied by the little things, the brushstrokes, the
blurred colours, the indiscernible moments. If we feel as if we're
getting brought into the detail so that we can't see, it's enough
for us to know that this one who has revealed himself as the
God of all the earth has a plan that he is bringing to perfect
fruition. There are no mistakes. There's no plan B. There's no
changes of mind as far as God is concerned. There's no spread
of options and he'll choose one way or another depending on how
things go. But rather there is the relentless
pursuit and prosecution of the will of God to achieve the purpose
that will satisfy and please him in his holiness and power. In the big picture, the covenant,
the plan, is described as everlasting because it achieves the everlasting
goal of God. What is that goal? It is the
marriage of the Son of God with the people of His choice. That's
what this world is about. It's about a union. It's about
God being united with man in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that
plan is designed to recover and to restore and to save and to
deliver a select people. The big picture is that that
plan will not fail. because it is the plan of God
and God is in control. The third element that I want
to leave with you this morning is this, that if you would see
the big picture, you've got to know that the Lord Jesus Christ
has done it all. Everything that was needful,
everything that was required, For this big picture to be completed
and fulfilled has been done and satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. This covenant and the terms of
the covenant, this contract and the terms of the contract, this
plan of salvation, The Lord Jesus Christ took it upon his shoulders. He took the responsibility for
it. He said, what are the demands?
What are the requirements? What needs to be fulfilled? Right,
I'll do it, send me. Who will go for us? Who will
do? I'll do it, send me. And so the
Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has done all that is needful. Covenant to be made has to be
made between two parties. But man would never have been
able to hold up his end of the contract. It needed to be God
himself. But equally, it was no use God
himself fulfilling the contract because then there were not two
parties to it. So it had to be man. So therefore
God became man in order to satisfy all the needs of men and accomplish
the purpose of God. It is an incredible plan of salvation. It is beyond the mind of man
to conceive of, the ability of man to fulfil, the desires of
man to achieve, and yet Christ has done it all. Christ has done
it all. He has satisfied and completed
and accomplished every condition to secure the purpose and the
plan of God. And he says to his disciples,
you believe in God. Believe also in me. Believe in my work of representation
on your behalf. Believe on the efficacy of my
redemptive work, the cleansing power of my blood on your behalf. Trust me. Have faith in me. As you believe in God, have faith
in me. And faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
is called for. That's all it's called for. I
don't want your money. I don't want your energy. I don't want your time. I don't
want your strength. I don't want your resources. Just your faith. Just believe
in me. Just trust me. I've done everything
that is needful for your salvation. And peace, peace comes by faith. Peace is the gift of God that
he gives us when we trust in him, when we see who he is. And that's the big picture. He says, I go to prepare a place
for you. Now remember, this was just before
the Lord went to the cross. So we're not simply saying that
when the Lord in his ascension went up into heaven, that he
was going to prepare a place for us. Yeah, he was, and we
can think about that. There's nothing wrong with that
picture. But it's everything that the Lord did that has prepared
this place for us. The Lord didn't just prepare
a place for us by going back to heaven. He prepared a place
for us by coming down from heaven. He prepared a place for us by
living a perfect holy life. He prepared a place for us by
going to the cross. He prepared a place for us by
dying and being laid there in that sepulchre. And he prepared
a place for us by rising from the dead. And he's preparing
a place for us when he comes again to take us and receive
us unto himself that where I am, there ye may be also. The Lord Jesus Christ has entered
in as our great High Priest into the presence of his Father, bearing,
as it were, the blood of the sacrifice on our behalf. That's the big picture. That's
what He is doing for us right now. He is interceding with us,
with the Father. He is preserving, protecting,
delivering, redeeming, saving us. All together, this great
work of salvation is ours because of what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. And our fitness for that place
that He is preparing. I go to prepare a place for you.
And you know, Sometimes, sometimes when I go
fishing, I get a little trout and you catch it on the end of
your hook and you bring it in and you lift it up out of the
water and you hold it there in your hands and it's little mouth's
going. Why is it like that? Because
it's in the wrong place. It doesn't want to be in my hands. It wants to be in its proper
medium. It wants to be back in the water.
So we kind of do a catch and release, that's good. But the
Lord fits us for heaven. He's preparing us for heaven.
When we get to heaven, it will be absolutely perfect for us. It wouldn't be perfect for us
right now because we're in that fleshy body, because we are constrained
by all the things that are going on around about us, but God is
changing us these days, these weeks, these months, these years
of our lives. God is preparing us just as much
as he is preparing that place for us, so that when he comes
again to take us unto himself, there will be a perfect union
there and we will be perfectly fitted for that perfect place
that has been prepared for us. Why is the Lord holding back
and taking us into that place right now? Because we're not
ready for it. We're not ready for it. Not yet. but he is making
us ready all the time. Our fitness for that prepared
place, it's not our merits, but God's righteousness imputed to
us. And Christ is our mediator, he
is our forerunner, he has entered in for us, and soon he will bring
us to himself. Our confidence in this world,
our assurance in this life is founded not in ourselves, but
on His ableness. His ability, His success, His
accomplishments is the ground of our hope and our assurance
and our peace. God's in control. He has a plan. The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
everything. And here's the fourth thing and
the last thing about the big picture that I want to leave
with you today. The end is coming. The end is
coming. And more particularly, the Lord
Jesus Christ is coming back. And soon we'll see him. Job could say, I know that my
Redeemer liveth. And I will see him with my own
eyes. With these eyes, I will see him
in the last day. And we will see him. And he's
coming back. He's coming. The end is coming.
Christ is coming. And soon we shall look upon him
who loved us and gave himself for us. We shall look upon him
whom we love. Believe in God, believe also
in me. He has promised to come. I go
and prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again
and receive you unto myself. That's a promise. So why the
delay, Lord? Why the delay? Well, only one reason. Not everyone
for whom the Lord died is yet ready to go into that place. Not everyone for whom a mansion
is prepared is yet called to enter into that place. But soon, when he comes to receive us unto
himself, he doesn't say He's going to come to take us unto
Himself, but to receive us, because we are God's. We are not G-O-D-S,
G-O-D apostrophe S. We are the Lord's people. God
gave us to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us to Him. to deliver,
to redeem, to preserve, to liberate, and to receive to himself as
a bride in that eternal marriage union. The Lord God the Father
has given us to the Son. We are the fathers by choice,
and we have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We have
been called by God the Holy Spirit and we shall enter into that
prepared mansion as the united bride of Christ, there to dwell
with him for all eternity. Christ's coming will usher in
that day of judgment, what the scriptures call the end of all
things. Peter again says in chapter four,
verse seven of his first epistle, but the end of all things is
at hand. Be therefore sober and watch
unto prayer. I was thinking, we were talking
a little bit about revelation coming down in the car this morning,
and Chris was talking about that scroll that was bitter in the
belly and sweet in the mouth, and maybe there is something
there about the preaching of the gospel and the obligation
that falls upon a preacher. But I was thinking else about
revelation and the fact that the Lord speaks about his coming. In Revelation 2.25 he says, I
come. In 3.11 he says, I come quickly. In 22 verse 12 he says, I come
quickly and my reward is with me. And in 22 verse 20 he says,
surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. He's on his way. He's on his
way, and it's not the Lord that is delaying. It's not the Lord
who is being tardy. He is coming quickly. There's
an urgency about this. Soon, very soon, the Lord Jesus
Christ is coming back. Soon, very soon, the end is coming. You wanna know the big picture?
That's the big picture. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
back soon. We are to use our time wisely
in this world. We are to pray for the gospel.
We are to pray that that gospel will be placed into the hearts
of those who will join us in those many mansions in the eternal
days to come. Pray for our children. Pray for
those that we love. Pray for those around about us
in these streets and towns. Pray for the access of the gospel
into the hearts and lives of men and women, because soon the
Lord will be here and the end will have come. Taking the picture analogy, the
big picture, There are many individual brush strokes that go to form
a masterpiece. I guess in a computer age, we
would have to say that there are many individual pixels that
go to make up a picture. And sometimes we get right up
close to it. You pick up your screen and you
look at it from here. It's just all a blur. We can't
see it. We can't make sense of it. It
doesn't seem to jive. It doesn't seem to resonate. We can't see the big picture. not with our nose to the canvas,
not with our eyes against the screen. We lose sight of that
big picture and that's what's happening in our daily lives.
We lose sight of that big picture because we get so taken up with
the problems and the struggles and the trials and the responsibilities
and the challenges that are there for us. But if we see the Lord Jesus
Christ, If we see God in control, if we see that He has a plan
and a purpose, if we see the accomplishments that Christ has
done for us, and if we see that soon He's coming back, then we
will have seen the big picture. Lord Jesus Christ is coming for
His church and His people, and He comes with this promise upon
His lips, that where I am, there ye may be also. There is no doubt
about that. That is absolutely certain and
it is assured. God is in control. His plan is
certain and it is imminently reaching its conclusion. The
Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished everything that is needful to
assure the success of God's covenant, plan and purpose. We are going
home to glory soon. That's the big picture. May the
Lord bless us. Amen.