So there are four words of comfort
and consolation in these verses that we read earlier, and I just
wanted to go through them briefly. I have found them comforting. I find the circumstances of seeing
trials that happen in fellowships are deeply distressing. We don't wish for that to be
the case and we grieve for the hurt that comes to so many people
and so many genuine and sincere people. And in a land Like India,
there is just such a huge, huge need for the Gospel. It's now
the most populous nation on earth, India, and the Christian presence
there is so corrupted and polluted by so many things that it has
a very marginal impact. And so they feel very much alone
and so that we can pray and we can help in other ways. So let's
turn to these verses which I found comforting. I love the fact that
it says in verse 1 of chapter 14, he said, Let not your hearts,
it's plural, so let not your hearts. This is a word from the
Lord Jesus Christ in response to the pride of the Apostle Peter. And I just love how the Lord
turns the wickedness of man for his glory and the comfort of
all of his people. Now how many people have been
comforted by these words? Let not your hearts be troubled. their words of comfort, their
words for troubled souls. And it's lovely how he begins
this word of comfort to these apostles who that night are going
to fall, all of them, so, so badly. They'll all run like rabbits
in the headlights when they can from the garden and the ones
that are brave enough to follow the Lord Jesus Christ into the
courts find themselves embarrassed by their weakness. So as I said earlier, it's a
great consolation that where there is these apostles are told
to believe in God, where there is the pride of Peter there is
no belief in God. Pride. And where there is unbelief
in Thomas, there is at that moment no belief in God. And where there
is the ignorance of Philip, there is a very distorted belief in
God. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
takes these activities of these men and calls it to be for the
glory of His people throughout time. His desire, the Lord Jesus
Christ's desire, in the midst of what's about to happen to
Him that night and the next day on the Cross of Calvary, His
great desire is the comfort of His people. The one night on
all the time He was on earth when He needed the comfort of
friends around Him, He was left alone. And it was to be because
the work was His and the work was His alone, thankfully. So much was on his heart. His
heart was troubled as well, we read in chapter 13. See the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
remove the cause of their troubled heart, but he gives them himself
as the source of comfort in their trials. Few have been through
trials And we're all either coming out of a trial, we're in a trial,
or we're about to be in a trial. And the trials come, like the
ones that I've just experienced in India, they come out of what
we would say left field, which is rubbish. Of course they actually
come from the hand of God Almighty, but they come in unexpected ways
and they come at times when we can be completely overwhelmed
by them. But listen to what Paul says
in 2 Corinthians. He knew about trials, he knew
about trials in life, he knew about trials in church. He said,
Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Isn't that an amazing description
of our God? The God of all comfort. who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, and there's a reason for it. There's a reason for
the trial and there's a reason for him coming as comfort, isn't
it? That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted. the trial that causes your heart
to be troubled, and the dark cloud that comes upon your life,
and they come in waves, and often the darkest clouds come when
there's already a dark cloud, and you get another one, and
you think, how on earth am I going to stand here? And yet, the Lord
in grace and mercy comes with healing in his wings. And then
it comes again. But part of the reason, as 2
Corinthians says, is that we might be able to comfort our
brothers and sisters who have fallen. How much more comforting
would it have been? Peter was told, wasn't he, in
Luke's Gospel, that when you are turned, when you are converted
from this state, you comfort your brethren. How was Peter
to comfort the brethren? How was Peter who cursed and
swore and denied that he even knew the Lord? How was he to
comfort the brethren? Well, they were going to fall
in similar ways, just like all of us fall in similar ways. But
Peter would be able to say, salvation is all of grace. Salvation is
all in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by what he did. is purely on the basis of who
the Lord Jesus Christ is before God. And he is this great high
priest, he's a sympathising high priest, and he draws these saints
to go to him. You believe, he said, you believe
in God, believe also in me. He and God are exactly the same,
aren't they? He is the Son of God, but you
believe in God, you believe also in me. You take your concerns,
you take your cares, you take your troubled heart to God Almighty. It is so important that we just
lay our life out before Him and say, this is what I am. Weak,
frail, fickle, and troubled. See, I love what one other writer
said. He begins with faith, because
faith makes an absent Christ present. I love that. Faith makes an absent Christ
present. See, faith looks up, doesn't
it? Faith takes the heart of a child
of God beyond the earthly realities that we see and takes us to heaven's
throne of grace and takes us to heaven's realities. The realities
that we see with our eyes and understand with our minds in
this world but the reflection of spiritual realities that are
at the heart of all of what's going on. This is God's universe.
There are no accidents happening here. There is nothing out of
control. He reigns and rules over all things. We come to Him. Don't let your hearts be troubled.
What's the solution, the first comfort He brings to troubled
hearts? Just believe in God. You've done this. You have done
this. You have brought this. You believe in God, believe also
in me. The sending Father and the sent
Son is the sole object of faith. It's lovely to think about the
Trinity. How on earth would we know that God is Trinity unless
he'd written it in a book? No man could ever figure out
Trinity. Even the best of the theologians
get bogged down in all of their words trying to explain it. We
just believe it, don't we? In the Son, the children of God
have eternal redemption. They have everlasting righteousness.
In the Son they have a satisfied Saviour and we have an exalted
Son who declares it is finished. All of the works were finished
from the foundation of the world, including the works that are
happening now, including the works that are happening all
over this world. The works of salvation, the works of grace,
they're just being applied by the Blessed Holy Spirit. In the
Father we have infinite love, the children of God. acceptance accepted in the beloved
by the free grace of God And in the Blessed Holy Spirit we
have infinite virtue and power. He has the glorious task of applying
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to the hearts of His people.
Believe in God. Believe what He said. Believe
His Son. And in all of the Members of
the Godhead, we have the infinite power of God Almighty upholding
and preserving the elect all the way in this life into heaven. We are accepted in the Beloved. His second consolation is, and
I just want to deal with these briefly, but I found them very
refreshing to me over these last few days, The second consolation
he gives is in verse 2. He says, in my father's house
are many mansions. And I love what he goes on to
say to reiterate the power of his words. He says, if it were
not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. I go to prepare a place. I go
to the cross to prepare a place in heaven for you. He says, I'm
going to my father's house. He's not just going to be absent,
is he? He's going to a place. He's going
to his father's house. He's going back to heaven. I'm
going to a house. I'm going to a place where there
is much room for you. Much room for you to rest and
remain. It's an interesting description,
isn't it, that the Lord Jesus Christ gives of heaven. He says
it's a house with mansions. It's remarkable, isn't it? It's
a spiritual house and the mansions are spiritual mansions. The word
mansion means a place of abode with the notion of continuance
in occupancy. It's a place of abode that you
remain in. O to see heaven's glories. When the saints of God close
their eyes here, what they open them to should boggle our minds. We should be amazed. We should look with longing expectation
that someday soon the Lord Jesus Christ, that great trumple sound
and all of this will be wrapped up. But there will a time come
when he comes to his own and he brings us home. It's home
with him, isn't it? The picture that he paints here
is one of abundance for many. don't doubt that there's room
in heaven. There's abundance for many and
there's security. We're strangers and pilgrims
here, but there were sons and daughters welcome home. I like
coming home. I really like coming home. There's
a beautiful familiarity about it, isn't there? There's a beautiful
return to the company that you love. Lisa took my dog away and
I wrote to return home and my dog was missing. I don't know
how many times over the next 36 hours I looked around for
Millie. Where's Millie? Where's Millie? What's she... What's it going to be like when
we go to heaven? There will be an extraordinary
familiarity about it. And I love what my friend Greg
Elmquist said, when we get to heaven. It's not our home. We are people
that are passing through here. We're here for just a little
while. It's interesting how the scriptures
describe life on this earth, isn't it? It's just flowers that
fade away, just grass. The flowers are the grass that
come and wither and disappear. A vapour. You've been out in
a cold morning and breathed out. That is the sum total of life
here. And yet all of these things are
designed by God to wean us off the attraction of this world
and the captivity of it. My father's house. It's my father's
house. And they're the words that the
Lord Jesus Christ used when he went to that temple in Jerusalem
and he said, this is my house. This house is about me. This
house is about my father. This house pictures how sinners
come into the house of God by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How great Christ, the anointed
high priest, has entered into the Holy of Holies. And how did
the high priest go into the Holy of Holies? He went in with blood.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't have to take blood for himself.
He went in there with blood shed for us. He entered into the Holy
of Holies and what did he carry with him? The High Priest. The names of all of the elect
children of God are written on his breastplate and he carries
them close to his heart into the Holy of Holies. and their
names are written on his shoulders, the government's on his shoulders. He holds them in his heart and
he rules the whole universe and all the events of their lives
to bring them home. To bring them home. One of the
things that should captivate us is how precious the children
of God are to God Almighty. They were before the foundation
of the world. He gave them as a gift to his
son. I don't, all I can do is imagine
what that transaction was like. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
looked through the eyes of omniscience, seeing all things, and he saw
everything that lay before him, and he saw them as beautiful,
so beautiful, so beautiful that he was captivated He came down
here for the joy that was set before him, the joy that was
set before him before the foundation of the world, the joy of glorifying
his father. He by himself purchased our right
to come to heaven. We are entitled, the children
of God, that's our home. And I love what he says, if it
were not so, I would have told you. Isn't he extraordinary? He only has to speak, our God,
and he can create a universe. He only has to say the word and
it's true. His word just is spoken and it
stands fast forever. But he who swore by himself in
Hebrews 6, He makes this declaration again just as he's going to the
cross and just as he's about to leave these apostles behind.
He is the faithful and true. He is full of grace and truth. He swears by himself. And I love
what Hebrews goes on to say in that passage in Hebrews chapter
6 of the Lord Jesus Christ swearing. He says, Wherein God, verse 7 of Hebrews
6, got willing, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs
of promise. He's just made a promise here,
hasn't he? To show more abundantly, to show under the airs of promise,
the immutability of his counsel, the unchangeability of his counsel,
he confirmed it with an oath that by two immutable things,
his will and his purpose, his word and his covenant, in which
it is impossible for God to lie. It's impossible for our God to
lie. that we might have strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. He swore by himself
and here he does it again. If it wasn't so I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. The place and entrance
into that glorious place is by His preparing, isn't it? All
the shouts of all of redemption, all the shouts of all of salvation
are the shouts of grace. Grace unto it. He shall build,
He shall bear the glory. It's prepared for you. He says
in Matthew 25, when all are gathered, He says to the sheep, He says
to His bride, He says, Come, come, ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. I love what he said to Mary. He
says, I sent to my father. And my father's your father,
Mary. and I ascend to my God, and my God is your God, Mary.
Such is the union of the Lord Jesus Christ with his people
and such is the glory of what he came to do. Our great Christ,
the anointed High Priest, entered into the Holy of Holies and he
had those names on him. And when the High Priest comes
out, you probably know the verse as well, the Lord Jesus Christ
purchased his church from her captivity and her depravity and
her darkness and he purchased her to himself. When the high
priest came out in Numbers 6.24 he says, The Lord bless you and
keep you. The Lord God the Father bless
you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine
upon thee. Whose face do we see when God
shines? We see the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious
unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance,
the Holy Spirit lifts up the countenance of the Lord Jesus
Christ and takes the things of him and reveals them to us. The
Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. And then he says, this is what
the high priest says as he comes out, having that blood being
accepted by God Almighty, and they shall put my name upon the
children of Israel has his name. We're named with
him. We bear his name. What's his name? The Lord Our
Righteousness. What's the name of the bride?
What's the bride's name? Jeremiah 32. The Lord Our Righteousness. Verse 3 says, And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He will come
to each of his bride, and he welcomes them into heaven. Please
don't think you're alone. When you're dying, when you're
closing your eyes here, you're not alone, brothers and sisters.
It might seem that way to the world, and it may well seem that
way to you, but in a heartbeat you'll realise that you're in
the most glorious company. I love what happened when Stephen
was being stoned to death for declaring the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ to the religious crowd in Jerusalem. It says in
Acts 7.55, it said, he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked
steadfastly into heaven. Isn't that remarkable? There
he was on earth, and he could see into heaven. And he saw the
glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right
hand of God. He has a three sits in heaven,
doesn't he? But he stands to welcome his
bride home. And he said, Behold, this is
Stephen saying, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing
on the right hand of God. And of course these religious
people found it horrifying to think that the Lord Jesus Christ
was God and stood at the right hand of God and was welcoming.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God. And this is how he
died, isn't it? must spend its time in the dust
of this earth. And he kneeled down and cried
out with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he,
how does God describe the death of his saints? He fell asleep. He fell asleep. Very soon the
trumpet will sound for individuals and for all of this world in
time. And he'll receive you unto myself
that where I am there you may be also. Faithfulness has its
reward in the joy and peace of believing. And it will also have
a glorious end in heaven. That's what heaven is, isn't
it? Being received unto myself. What an extraordinary comfort.
He's coming. He's coming back again. And when
the Blessed Holy Spirit comes and reveals the Lord Jesus Christ
to the children of God, it is, for them, the Lord Jesus Christ
coming in the most remarkable way. We see Him in ways that
we have never ever seen Him before. The elders in heaven said to
John, what are these? What are these which are arrayed
in white robes? Where do they come from? He said,
I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. He said unto me, they are they
which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore they are
before the throne of God and serve him night and day in his
temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. And they shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat. For the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto
living fountains of water, and I love the intimacy of this next
phrase, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. We have a great consolation,
don't we? We have many extraordinary consolations. He says, believe. He speaks of the necessity of
his going and his mission. He says he's coming again. He's
going to come and he's going to receive his bride unto himself.
And then in verse 4 he says, and with her I go, you know.
He tells them that they know the way, and the way you know. Where did he go? Why did he come? What was his journey here like? Your hearts are troubled. His
hearts were troubled. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do when his heart was troubled? He says, Father, glorify your
name. caused me to see again and again,
open my eyes to see the glory of God Almighty reigning and
ruling over all things. His heart was troubled. He was
going to be despised and rejected of men. He was a man of sorrows
and familiar with suffering. And why? So that he might bear
our infirmities and be a sympathising High Priest. He knows every trial. He brings the trial. He's with
his people in the trial. And he will carry his people
through the trial. But they will see again that
our God is faithful. Our God is faithful. You know the way. His heart was
troubled. Their heart was troubled. But
he was saying, you believe. You know why I've come. I'm telling you why I've come.
I'm telling you I'm coming back. You're not going to be left alone.
He says at the end of verse six, He says, no man, after he's spoken
to Thomas, which we'll look at a little bit later on, he says,
no man cometh under the Father. No one gets into heaven but by
me. Isn't that lovely? I love looking
up these little words. Sometimes the little words in
the Bible say the most remarkable things. That little word by says
with. In. No man comes to the Father
but with me. No man comes to the Father but
in me. Isn't that glorious? How do you
get into heaven? In the Lord Jesus Christ. How
are you accepted? You're accepted in the blood.
How secure are the children of God? They're in the hands of
the Lord Jesus Christ, whose hands are in the hands of the
Father. No one, no one will ever pluck
them out of my hand. We come to the Father with Him. We come to the Father in Him. We come to the Father by means
of Him. We come to the Father by reason
of Him. We come to the Father on account
of Him. Let your hearts be comforted. I pray that that might be our
portion. Let's have a break.