Thank you. Our main text today
will be John chapter 14, verse 1 to 3. Now, good morning, brothers
and sisters. It is good to be with you all. As the psalmist says in Psalm
118, verse 24, this is the day that the Lord has made. We will
rejoice and be glad in it. Let us rejoice today in the goodness
of our Father, and let us be glad because of all that our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has accomplished for us. Let
us rejoice in the fact that we are God's children if we believe
the gospel. Let us be glad in the fact that
our sins have been paid for and we are now reconciled with God
Almighty because of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think you will agree with me that these reasons are more than
enough for us to rejoice and be glad. Now, if you are going
to take notes, write one, two, three, four, five, six. Six points,
that's all I have. I know it's the longest sermon
I would preach thus far, it's six points. I think the last
three, four sermons that I preached here, it's only been three points.
So as Brother Brad was asking me earlier, we don't have outlines. Normally, I think I need to talk
to Rick about this. When I do preach, I would like
to have outlines for you all, so that way you all could follow
me. But if you are taking notes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and I will
be giving you the points as we go. As a way of introduction,
though, My introductions seem to be a little bit longer just
because I actually like my audience to be, for me to provoke thoughts
in my audience. So I would ask of you that as
I will introduce the sermon today, just think about with me about
what I'm trying to lay for us. And again, this is not one of
the six points, it's just the introduction. So today's sermon
will be on a topic that most of us hardly even think about.
There may be several reasons as to why we fail to think about
this particular and wonderful topic. However, if I may be a
little pastoral with you all, we often do not think about this
topic because we walk by sight and not by faith. We are more
often than not consumed with our daily living in our world.
We are consumed with the struggles of this world that we walk as
if there is a daily thick fog that does not allow us to see
the bright light of our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Which topic am I talking about? Well, let me read to you several
Bible verses to get us properly thinking about this. You can go with me too, if you
like. I will wait for you to get there. The Word of God says, You are no longer strangers and
sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and
are of God's household. Now here the Apostle Paul, right,
is the author of Ephesians. Here the Apostle Paul is saying
that we used to be something and now we're no longer that.
I don't know if you caught that. The word for strangers is the
Greek word, thenos, which means a foreigner, a stranger, or without
the knowledge of, without a share in. And then the other word for
sojourners is the Greek word, parioskos, which means a person
who lives in a country without the right of citizenship. or
without a citizenship in God's kingdom. Why do I point these
two Greek words and their meaning to you all today? Because I want
us to recognize that there was a time in which we were without
the knowledge of, there was a time that we did not share in, and
there was a time in which we were all without a citizenship
in God's kingdom. Aren't you blessed that that
has changed because of the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean, you should
be! You were once a stranger. You were once a sojourner. But
read it again with me. It says, so then you are no longer. We're no longer that, ladies
and gentlemen. We're no longer strangers, and
we're no longer sojourners. But there's the gospel. You are fellow citizens. with the saints and are God and
are of God's household. That's amazing, brother. That's
amazing. So all of that changed because
of the death, burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is what made the difference. Christ is what makes
the difference in our lives. You guys do know that, right?
We are no longer strangers and sojourners, but rather we are
children of God and citizens of his house. That's amazing. Go with me to Colossians chapter
three, verse one through two. Colossians chapter three. And
again, I just wanted to build a foundation as to the topic
that we will talk about today. Colossians chapter three, verse
one and two says, the word of God says, therefore, If you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on
the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Here
again, the Apostle Paul is telling us that if we have been raised
up with Christ, the manifestation or result of this will be that
we will be seeking the things above, where our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ is. The result, the byproduct, if
we have been raised with Christ, ladies and gentlemen, is that
we will put our minds on things above. We will seek to store
treasures in heaven and not here on earth. Our earthly living
will not be merely earthly, but rather our earthly living will
be informed by heavenly things, so much so that it will guide
us on our daily living. Think about that. Think about
what I just said. Our earthly living, your daily
living, in everything you do, in anything that you do, whether
it be at work, whether it be at home, whether it be in school,
whatever you do, your earthly living, if you're professing
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, must be informed by heavenly
things. So much so that the heavenly
things impact your earthly living. Okay? What I am trying to say is that
heaven must impact our lives here. Do not wait till you go
to heaven to think about heaven. Do not wait till you go to heaven
to act as if you are a citizen of heaven. Heaven is our topic. Or as the text, John chapter
14, verse one through three says, the Father's house. Heaven is
a topic that I feel is often neglected in our lives. So I
truly hope that you are one. that this message bring comfort
to you, and then two, that this message will encourage you. Those
are the two things that I want, the entire thing, you know. You
can give me some constructive criticism later on, and I appreciate,
I take that, but if the Holy Spirit actually impacts you all
the way he has done with me as I prepare this message for you,
you will have two things. You will be comforted, and you
will be encouraged, okay? The Apostle Peter, and I'm just
going to read this for time's sake. The Apostle Peter says
this in 1 Peter 1, verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiable and unfading, having been kept
in heaven for you. Wonderful words by the Apostle
Peter. He's telling us that God's great
mercy has caused us to be born again. And we are born again
to a living hope through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He doesn't stop there with these wonderful words. He's
telling us that we have an inheritance that is uncorruptible, that it's
undefiled, that it's unfading. And this inheritance is in heaven. for us. Have you ever thought
about that? That you and I, once we were
enemies with God, you and I, we were once without righteousness
with which we could stand on the side of God, and now we are
being reconciled to God, and now we have the very righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on top of that, now we have an
inheritance? Have you thought about that?
You and I, if we believe the gospel, we have an inheritance. You and I, sir, we have an inheritance
whether you feel good or you're in your deathbed if you believe
the gospel. We walk by faith and not by our
feelings. We walk by faith and not by our
feelings. We must. Our feelings, man. I could tell you all, and I will
definitely share with you all after I go through this trial
that God has brought into my life, of all the things that
God is teaching me through it. But I tell you, if it was just
because of feelings, I would not even be here today. I'll
be somewhere over there in the world. But because we walk by
faith, and no matter how weak your faith is, because mine is
weak, still we walk by faith and not by sight. And ladies
and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you, this is not even in my notes,
but we have an inheritance where Christ is. You could ask my children,
if you ask my children, ask them where Christ is right now. Graciela
often says, He is sitting at the right hand of the throne
right now ruling everything. That's her short answer. And
right there where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God ruling
everything, ladies and gentlemen, we have an inheritance for you
and me. That's an amazing thing. So no wonder the old school hymn
says, amazing grace, because this is truly amazing grace for
sinful people like us. So now that I have laid the introduction
for my sermon, point number one, okay, if you are taking notes,
this point number one of the six, point number one of my sermon,
the context. The context in which, let me
read to you again, the three verses in which our sermon is
going to be founded on, okay? Let's read together, John chapter
14, verse 1 to 3. I had Brother Justin read John
chapter 13 to provide us the context. Without the context,
these three verses that I'm going to, by the grace of God, try
to exegete, try to explain to you all today, would mean nothing
in the world. In real estate, they say the
primary thing about real estate is location, location, location. The primary thing, as you read
in the Word of God, is context, context. Come on, you guys got
to be a little charismatic. Context. A little bit. I'm different than Rick. I think
you could tell. Just a little bit. Let's read the Word of God together.
John chapter 14, verse 1 to 3, and I'm reading from the Old
School King James Version. Now, before I say this, this
is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to us. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking to the eleven, okay? This is the Lord Jesus
Christ, one, in the context, He's speaking to the eleven.
It can be said, truthfully, I'm not lying to you, that this is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to us. Because isn't it, after
all, this is the very Word of God. Even in the year 2023, you
yourself had the great privilege of having the Word of God in
your own language. Think about that! Think about
that! The Word of God says, John chapter
14, verse 1 to 3. 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. Verse 3. 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. Those are gonna be the verses. But point number one, the context.
The context matters to these three verses. Now, the context would serve
as the reason why our Lord Jesus Christ would speak these words,
which is found in John chapter 14, verse 1. The setting, here's
the setting, okay, is the Last Supper. The disciples and the
masters have come to the room that was prepared for them in
order to share what in Christian history has been labeled as the
Last Supper. But here, right now, where we
find ourselves in chapter 14, the traitor has just left the
room. Judas Iscariot left. Read with
me, John chapter 13, verse 25. This is where, I believe, Brother
Justin started reading for us. I want us to actually, we're
going to do a lot of reading in the Word of God. I hope you
don't mind. So John chapter 13, starting
at verse 25, and we will read all the way to verse 30 to give
us that point right there. Judas, the betrayer, the son
of perdition, has just left, okay? That's the context. Verse
25, John chapter 13. And now this is John the apostle,
John the disciple, the one whom Christ loved. The one whom Christ
loved, he was the apostle who was always near to Christ, so
much so that he was on Jesus' breath. He was like next to,
on the chest of Christ. And he asked him, he said, Lord,
who is it? Verse 26, the Lord Jesus answered,
He it is to whom I should give a soap when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the soap,
he gave it to Judas, scary, the son of Simon. And after the soap,
Satan entered into him. Now, no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought
because Judas had the bag, You know, he carried the money. Verse
30. So we find ourselves at the Last
Supper, and we find ourselves right there, right before John
chapter 14, verse 1 to 3, we find ourselves that the betrayer
left, right? We just read that. The son of
perdition left at night because he was a child of the night.
He was a child of darkness. So 11 disciples remain. Only true believers hear these
sweet promises of our Lord. If you find comfort today in
the words that we are going to explore, that flow from the very
mouth of our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a
child of God, if you believe in Him. You are not a child of
night, you are a child of light. The Lord Jesus Christ has just
told them that He will be betrayed. He told them, right? This is
why John asked Him, who is He? And his betrayal has been put
into motion the moment Judas left the room. The Lord Jesus
Christ had just told them that he was going away and that the
disciples could not follow him, at least not yet. If you read
verse 33 and following to 36, you will see that. I think Justin
read that for us. And actually, let's read it just
to give the context. He told his disciples, now Judas
has left, ladies and gentlemen. I'm telling you, the context
is very critical to come to understand the three verses that I'm trying
to explain to us today. So Judah's left, and then Christ
is telling them that he is leaving. But they cannot follow him where
he's going, right? Right now, at this moment. Right? Verse 33, or John chapter 13. Little children. Yet a little
while I am with you, ye shall seek me, and as I say unto the
Jews, whither I go, ye cannot come. So now I say to you, a
new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I
have loved you, that ye also love one another. Verse 35. Verse
36. Jesus answered him. Notice what he's saying to Peter.
He says, So the Lord Jesus Christ has
just given the eleven disciples a new commandment, right? That
they may love one another as he had loved them. And finally,
Peter was just told that the Lord Jesus Christ, that Peter,
if you read the latter verses at the end of the chapter, Christ
tells Peter that Peter is going to deny Him. So the context,
we find ourselves in the Last Supper, Judah's leave. He tells
them that Christ Himself is going to leave. You cannot come with
me. You will come, just not now. Oh yeah, by the way, Peter, you
will deny me. That is the context. That is the context in which
Christ speaks. Go with me to John chapter 14,
verse 1. Let's read it again. I'm just
going to read the first portion of the verse. Let not your heart
be troubled. That is the context. So point
number two, so point number one, what's the context? Point number
two of today's sermon is the words of the Son of God to a
troubled heart. I know some of these points are
long. I tend to be a Puritan. That was a joke, if you guys,
okay. The fact that the eleven remaining disciples were having
trouble hard should demonstrate to you and I, once again, that
no matter who it is in the world of God, the eleven disciples,
Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, anyone, they too felt things
and went through things just like you and I. Don't miss this
point, because sometimes we try to make these characters in the
world of God like superheroes. I love taking my oldest son to
go watch superhero movies. I do. We enjoy superhero movies.
But I'm here to give you a secret, OK? In the world of God, there's
only one superhero. His name is Jesus. Everyone else,
it's a bad sinful. That's all we are, sinners. Sinners
saved by the grace of God. So, don't we have troubles of
the heart sometimes? Do you know that people in the
Bible, they too suffer like we do? They too have troubles like
we do? They too have troubles of the
heart just like you and I do? And isn't it sweet to hear the
Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking so soft words to them? He tells His eleven disciples,
You see, they didn't have to express that their hearts were
in trouble for Him to know. He is Immanuel, God with us. He knew what was in their hearts
without them even speaking a word. He being the good shepherd says
to his sheep, let not your heart be troubled. The great J.C. Ryle says this regarding heart
troubles. Heart trouble is the most commonest
thing in the world. No rank in the army or class
or condition is exempt from it. No bars or balls or locks can
keep it out. partly from inward causes or
partly from outward causes, partly from the body or partly from
the mind, partly from what we love and partly from what we
fear. The journey of life is full of
trouble, J.C. Rowe says. Even the best of Christians
have many bitter cups to drink between grace and glory, even
the holiest of saints find the world a valley of tears." End
quote. Hearts of Troubles, as J.C. Ryle
points out, is something that the best of Christians, something
that even the holiest of saints will face in this world as we
head towards the Celestial City. Hearts of Troubles is something
that we all tend to share. But I don't want us to be focused
on this condition now, in which these 11 disciples found themselves
in. Or perhaps we may find ourselves
in this morning. Don't concentrate in what you're
going through. Concentrate on what the Word
of Christ says. He's saying to his 11 disciples,
he's saying to you right now, if you're a child of God, let
not your heart be troubled. Now these words will not impact
you today if you merely are hearing me, nor could have impacted the
eleven disciples if merely all they heard was a mere man speaking. They did not hear a mere man,
but rather this was the Son of God speaking to them, and speaking
words that will vibrate in their souls to give them comfort. To give them peace that will
surpass their own understanding, these words are from the Good
Shepherd. He's saying to his sheep, If
these words today are not echoed in your hearts by the Holy Spirit,
you will continue living with your troubled heart right after
church. You will live the same way you
came in today. You want to come, and this is
a very practical thing that I wanted to share with you. You want to
come to church, ladies and gentlemen, expecting to hear from God, expecting
to live change, not the same. May God actually impact you and
I at the level in which we need it the most today. May the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ actually vibrate in your soul so that
you can take comfort in his words. He says to you, let not your
heart be troubled. He who gave us his peace, not
like the world, is saying to us, let not your heart be troubled. He who calls us to cast all of
our cares upon him, for he cares for us, he's saying to us, let
not our heart be troubled. James Smith actually said it
best. I often find brothers that are dead actually proclaim the
gospel a lot better than I could ever could. So I often quote
them. I'm not ashamed of that. James
Smith, way back in the 1800s, he said this. He said, remember
Jesus, that Jesus who lived for you, labored for you, suffered
for you, died for you, rose for you, and is now in heaven pleading
for you, says, Let not your heart be troubled. Oh, sweet words from our Savior
to his beloved eleven disciples. To us today, so shall God, let
not your heart be troubled. So the Lord Jesus Christ spoke
words that were suitable to their situation. He told his 11 disciples,
let not your heart be troubled. And in fact, he sets it again
for their and our own benefits in the same chapter. Go with
me to verse 27, right there. And I want you to mark this.
When you find in the chapter and you find that things are
repeated, you might want to take notice of that. Be sensitive
to how you read the Word of God. If the Lord Jesus Christ said
it twice to them, don't we need it to hear it twice for us, too? Verse 27, right? Peace, now this is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking, obviously. He says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, I give
unto you. What's the next word? Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Here the Lord
Jesus Christ adds the common feeling that pairs with troubled
heart. He adds fear. His peace that
is living with them and left for us will suffice for troubled
hearts and our fears. Think about that. Take the Lord
Jesus Christ at His words and seek His peace. Ask for His peace
and witness your troubled heart and fears be solved. Who can you go to when you have
a troubled heart? Good question. Who can you go
to when you're fearing? Great question. Go to Christ. Children, go to Christ. Point number three. See, I'm
going fast today. Don't worry. Point number three
of our sermon today. The confirmation of the exclusivity
of Christ. The confirmation of the exclusivity
of Christ. I will read verse one again of
John chapter 14. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. You see, he tells his disciples
to not let their heart be troubled and reminds them of their faith
in God the Father, but makes the necessary connection to himself. When he says, Ye believe in God,
believe also in me. See, I often tell my children
that there is no one on earth right now, and never has been,
that can have a true claim to believe in God apart from believing
in God's Son. No one can say they truly believe
in God and not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are
no true believers that do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the following verses,
and I hope this point is very clear to us. 1 John 5, verses
10-12. For the sake of time, I'm just
going to read. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. And this is the record that God
has given us, eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life,
and he that has not the Son of God has no life. I love that
the Word of God is very simple, so simple that a simple man like
me can understand it. If you have Christ, you have
eternal life. If you claim to not have Christ, you do not have
eternal life. The exclusivity of Christ. If
you say you believe in God and you say you don't believe in
Christ, you don't truly believe in God, ladies and gentlemen.
John chapter 5 verse 23 says, If you claim to honor God and
you speak holy and wonderful things about God and dishonor
His Son, guess what? Your talk is rubbish. It's nonsense. It don't mean nothing. John chapter
17 verse 3 says, If you claim to have eternal
life, ladies and gentlemen, and do not believe Christ, I'm here
to love you like Christ has called me to love you. And I'm here
to tell you, you're still dangerous, baptizing sins. You're not alive. 1 John 2, verse 23 says, He that
acknowledges the Son hath the Father also. It's very clear. You deny the
son, you are denying the father. You proclaim the son, you're
proclaiming the father. Now, these are not the same person. These are distinct persons from
eternity past to eternity future. But to deny the son is to deny
the father. To not have belief on the son
is to not believe on the father. Lastly, 2 John 9 says, If you
believe in Christ, you have the Father and the Son. Faith in God, apart from faith
in His Son, is meaningless and is not salvific. You must believe
in God and in His beloved Son. The Lord Jesus Christ said it
best. in verse six in your chapter that we're on. See, I always
try to just hone into the chapter that we're on. I do read a bunch
of verses because that's what good biblical teaching does for
you to allow you to learn from the entire world of God. From
the Old Testament and the New. I love the Old Testament just
as much as I love the New Testament. The world of God in the Old Testament
is just as good as the world of God in the New Testament.
No different God, just different people. Okay, I'm just here to
tell you that. But in the chapter that we're
on, in verse 6, he says this. Jesus Christ is saying it a lot
better than I can. He says, Jesus said unto him,
now this is Christ speaking to Thomas here in verse 6 of John
chapter 14. This is a wonderful, and obviously
most of us have memorized this verse. He says, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. There it is. Remember, the context is everything
that occurred And Christ has told the 11 disciples, let not
your heart be troubled. And he's recalling to them, you
have faith in God, have faith also in me. That's what he's
telling them. That's what he's telling us.
Again, I turn to the great J.C. Ryle. He speaks of faith in Christ. He says this. No doubt, the members of that
little band which sat around the table at the Last Supper
had believable reign. They had proved the reality of
their faith by giving up everything for Christ's sake. You remember,
right? Christ came and was calling Peter,
John, Mark, all his disciples, and what did they do? Immediately,
they left whatever they were doing, they were fishing, they
left it. They were doing business, they
left it. Oh, that you and I may leave
everything behind to follow Christ. That you and I may actually be
willing to do that. Continuing with the quote, he
says, J.C. Rouse says, Yet what does their
Lord says to them here? Once more he presses on them
the old lesson, the lesson in which they first began. Believe,
believe, believe on me. That's what Christ is telling
them. Oh, let not your heart be troubled, but rather believe
in me. That's what he's calling us to
do. Believe in Him. The solution for our troubled
hearts is not just mere words that He spoke. The solution for
our troubled hearts, ladies and gentlemen, is an actual person,
Christ Himself. Believe in Him. So that's point
number three. Point number four, the Lord Jesus
Christ does not deceive His disciples. The Lord Jesus Christ don't lie.
You guys do know that, right? When He says in verse 2, okay,
He's telling them in verse 2, chapter 14, He's saying this
to His disciples. He's saying, The Lord Jesus Christ is truth
after all. That's what verse 6 says. He's telling them and telling
us today that in the Father's house, there are many mansions.
And if that was not the truth, then He wouldn't have not told
them that. The Lord Jesus Christ was providing
comfort to them. They knew He was about to go
away. Remember that. But He is reassuring
them that where He is going, there's also room for them. Where Christ is at the right,
where Christ is right now, there's room for you. The Greek word For what the King
James Version translates as mansions is the Greek word manē. Now the
modern translations translate the word mansions as dwelling
places or many rooms. And here I would like to say
that I think I do like those translations a little bit better
because it's given us a better view of what Christ was actually
trying to say. But I could actually, however,
I could actually see why they translated mansions in the King
James Version as well. I say this because back in the
days when a father had children and their children got older
and got married and started having children, what the father would
do back then is to build houses or mansions next to his, for
his children. to live with their families.
So the family would stay together, the family would stay connected
so he can witness his grandchildren grow. Okay? So I have children
and they get older and they get married. Right? Back in the days,
what they did is, I have my house here. Well, let's build another
house so Josue and his wife and his children could live here.
And then let's build another house here so Brianna and so
on and so forth. We don't do that nowadays. Right? I think I like the idea
myself. I would love to have my children
to grow and get married and have children of their own. And I
would love for my wife and I, maybe her not, but can say, to
be living close to them so that we can witness our grandchildren
grow. In any case, what the Lord Jesus
Christ is saying to his disciples is that where the father is at,
there's room for them also. What the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying to us today, where the Father is at, there's room for
us also. What an amazing thing. We can
have a dwelling place where the Father dwells. 2 Corinthians
5 verse 1 says, The goal that the Lord Jesus
Christ had for these 11 disciples and the goal he has in mind for
everyone who believes in him is for all of us to dwell with
God, to dwell with the Father in his house. That is the desire
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry said, To Christians,
heaven is a house, a dwelling place, a resting place, their
everlasting home, their Father's house, where there are many mansions. It is a house in the heavens
that as far excels the palaces of this earth, as the heavens
are high above the earth. It is a city whose builder and
maker is God Himself. It is eternal in the heavens.
The most marvelous thing about it is that God has prepared it
for those who love Him. John chapter 17 verse 24 says,
Father, I will that they also whom Thou has 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. What a promise! What a request
from the Son to God! He desires that everyone whom
the Father has given to him may be with him where he is at. Can Christ fail? He can't. Every single person whom he bought
by his precious blood surely will be with him where he is
at. This is the heart of my sermon
today. As we think about heaven, or as we think about the Father's
house, my intent is to not so much to talk about what heaven
or the Father's house is like or will be like, but rather just
to think about this promise that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to
His 11 disciples and to us. The Lord Jesus Christ says that
there's room for us! There's room for us! in the Father's
house. I go to prepare a place for you,
he says. Read it with me. Verse one says,
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. That is point number five. He
left to prepare a place for you. Remember, he told his disciples,
I'm leaving. No, no, no, no, Peter, you can't
come. But you will be able to come later. Where are you going? What is
he doing? I go. to prepare a place for
you. When he says he's leaving to
prepare a place for you, he's telling them that he will make
all the necessary preparations, get everything ready. There will
be no need for his disciples to do anything to get this place
ready. Yesterday, and I'm going to take
a break from my own sermon. Yesterday, we were actually in
the Bay Area celebrating My oldest nephew graduating from university. That's an amazing accomplishment. What a wonderful thing that is. My sister, my older sister, who
is his mother, they were at the ceremony, right? They were at
the ceremony taking pictures while he was, you know, walking
with his gown and his hat and all this, you know, getting his
diploma, right? But as soon as that ceremony was over, guess
what she had to do? She had to speed, go fast from
Sonoma all the way to Castro Valley. If you know where the
location is, it's a little bit far away. But nevertheless, she
made it in time to do one thing. to prepare, to prepare the place
so that His Son could come and to celebrate. She got a bunch
of tables and a bunch of chairs. She got, I think we got a taco
man to come over there and got rice and tacos prepared. I just
want you guys to get this picture now. She left and went to prepare
a thing for Him, right, to celebrate Him. You and I, ladies and gentlemen,
don't have to do that. Christ himself prepared a place
for us. There's no need. Lord, do you
need us to bring anything? Nothing. It's all of grace. Christ prepared a place for us. What an amazing thing that is.
I must say, this is a humbling text. And again, be sensitive
to when you read it. This is a humbling text if you
read it and think about it. That the Lord of glory will be
so kind to them and to us that he will give us the promise that
a room is waiting for us where the father dwells. But on top
of that, that he will not have his angels or any of his servants
prepare the place for us, but that he himself will make all
the necessary preparations. He Himself will get everything
ready for us. Amazing grace. Let us rejoice
and be glad therein. We truly do have an awesome God
and Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me remind you
This is where good biblical teaching comes, okay? Let me remind you
now, that in the Old Testament, the saints had a place prepared
by God himself. Making the connection now, because
remember, this is the same God. The same God in Genesis is going
to be the same God at the end of your book. I'm just telling
you, I'm giving you, I'm giving you, I'm giving you the end already,
from the beginning, okay? The same God. The same God. God hasn't changed. Right? In the Old Testament, God, the
saints of God in the Old Testament, had the privilege of having a
place prepared for them by God himself. They did not toil, they
did not do anything, just like you and I. Now, you remember Abraham? who had Isaac, and Isaac who
had Jacob, and was later renamed Israel, right, by God himself.
You guys remember that, okay? I'm giving you point number one.
Context again, okay, to the thing what I'm trying to share with
you all right now. And now, do you remember, though, the nation
of Israel that were some rebels, weren't they? Those sinful people
of God. Remember them. They represent us. If we are
honest today, we're not better than the nation of Israel in
the Old Testament. And do you remember that when
they were in slavery in Egypt, when they were in bondage in
Egypt, that God came just like He had promised Abraham He would?
And you remember He came to rescue Israel? Just like He told them
He was going to, to the exact moment, to the exact time. God
can't fail, God don't lie, God don't change. He says in the
Word of God, in the Old Testament you read, He did that for the
nation. Now, you remember all of that?
And do you finally remember that God promised them a land? A land
where there will be milk and honey will flow, right? Remember
that? I hope you were reading your
Old Testament now. Just saying, you remember, okay? Go with me to the fifth book
of your Bible, chapter 6. Fifth book. It's a tricky question,
tricky thing, but fifth book. Chapter six, the fifth book of
your Bible. I just want to make the connection
between the old saints and the new saints, okay? So we can see
that Christ went to prepare a place for us. God in the Old Testament
also prepared a place for them, okay? They got to enjoy a physical
promise. that pointed to the spiritual
promise. Deuteronomy 6, verse 10 says, The point I'm trying to make
here, and I will stop there, they didn't do anything. God in the Old Testament prepared
a place for the saints in the Old Testament. The same God that we find ourselves
in John chapter 14 is telling us He goes to prepare a place
for us. So much so that you and I won't
have to do anything. The place will be prepared for
us. We share the same grace as Israel. Israel did not do anything to
gain that land. The land was already prepared
for them by God himself. The place that our Lord Jesus
Christ went to prepare for us will not require that we do anything. It is all of grace. Our Lord
Jesus Christ has done all the necessary preparation for us.
With His perfect life, upholding all the commandments of God,
He established a righteousness for us. With His death at the
cross, praying for all of our sins, our sins will no longer
separate us from God. With His death at the cross,
satisfying the wrath of God, we no longer are under the condemnation
of God. And after three days with His
resurrection, He justified us before God. And with His resurrection,
He brought up permanent peace with God and us. With His ascension
to the right hand of God, He left to be the forerunner for
us. And where He's sitting at the
right hand, even right now, making intercession for us, He ensures
that our prayers are prepared, are answered for the man because
of Him. He did all of that from His living
here on earth and holding all the commandments of God, which
you and I have broken, by the way. He fulfilled the law. When He was at the cross, being
under the wrath of God, satisfying the wrath that you and I deserve,
He was preparing a place for us. After three days, when He
rose again, and He has risen from the dead, ladies and gentlemen,
the King is alive, He prepared a place for us. And after He
left His disciples, when He said, hey, I'm leaving, He literally
left, and He left. and a cloud back to the Father
where He was at before He even came into the world. He was preparing
a place for us. He did it all, all of it, all
the preparation for you and I. We have a place prepared by the
Son of God for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ has done
all the necessary preparation for us. He went to prepare a
place for you. John chapter 14 verse 1, I'm
almost done. Verse 1 to 2 and 3. My last point will be verse three.
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. That is the sixth and final point.
The promise of a triumphant savior to his disciples everywhere.
The promise of a triumphant Savior to His disciples everywhere. Verse 3, let me read it again.
If I go and prepare a place for you, if He's going to do that,
which He did, by the way, but if He's going to do that for
them and for you and I, I will come again. That's the promise. Highlight that. Circle that.
Bold that. I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there may be also, that you may
be with me. I hope that you and I truly have
this sentiment. We're awaiting the return of
our Savior. For some of us, this return will
occur when we die and go from this world into the Father's
house, where our Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a place for us.
And for few of us, perhaps, I don't know, children, This will occur
when Christ himself comes back. Christ himself will return Josué
with all his mighty angels as a triumphant king. He's not coming
back as a humble servant anymore. No, no, no, no. He already did
that. He's coming back as a triumphant king. And every knee brother
will bow. Every knee will bow, and every
mouth will confess. Every knee will bow, and every
mouth will confess. We're told in Philippians 3,
verse 20, for our citizenship. Go with me there, so we can just
read it together. This is the last verse, I promise, and I'm
done, like, once I read. Actually, believe it or not,
I'm surprised myself that I'm in at the time that usually where
Rick ends. So I'm like, wow, this is the
mercy of God to me. Maybe on to you because then
you guys got to hear me talk over and over again. In all seriousness, I really
do hope that this message impacts you like it has impacted me.
And if it doesn't impact you, I would encourage you to just
listen a couple more times. There's a lot here. There is.
There's a lot here. You all are aware of everything
that I've been going through with my health issues and all
that. I was given, before we read the verse, I was given godly
counsel by my wife. She was like, hey, what are you
going to teach? You know, you're going to be
teaching in May, and what are you going to teach? Are you going
to be teaching a book of Job? Because you're going through
some, you know, affliction, just like Job. And I thought about
it, and I'm like, are you going to do a sketch of him like you
did the Apostle Paul? And I'm like, hmm, that's a great
idea. But as I started to study, God didn't want that for me.
God led me to this text to think about heaven more, to think about
the Savior's words. Let not your heart be troubled,
Romell. I go and prepare a place for
you, Romell. Oh, and I will come back, Romell. Those are the things that God
was imprinting in my soul. So I just couldn't. But I will
heed to the godly counsel that my wife gave me. Maybe one day,
if I had the privilege again to speak to you all, I would
probably would like to do that. After I see one of the things
that one of the main reasons why I didn't also want to do
job is because I'm still going through my trial. See, I want
to be able to be at the other end of the trial, be over with
the trial perhaps, or maybe learn more of my failures through the
trial so I could help you. I could help you when you're
going through your struggles to be a better Christian than
I am. That's what I really want to do. As a pastoral, like I
desire, I love my job that I do, by the way, in the Army. I am
Chief Warrant Officer 1, Romel Flores. I love that. But there's
a bigger job that I desire. It's in my heart. I really would
like to be a servant of God to the people of God. I want to
be a pastor someday. And maybe God doesn't want that
for me. Maybe I don't have a gift to preach. Maybe I don't. And
it's fine with me. But I desire that. You know,
and then as I think about that, and I want to be really pastoral,
I want to actually encourage you and give you comfort. I want to first learn the lessons
myself before I even share it with you. That make sense? Okay,
let's read the Word of God, Philippians chapter three, verse 20, and
we will finish here. Again, I just want you to have
these three things in mind. Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe in the
Son of God, okay? Two, there's a place prepared
for you where the Father dwells. There's a place prepared for
you by Christ Himself. And three, He went to prepare
that place. He will come back for you, even
if it means that you go to Him by death. But take comfort in
that. Remember, the two things that
I wanted is comfort and encouragement. I'm not here giving you gloomy
stuff. I'm not here like, oh, let's just all die. No, I'm not
here to tell you that. What I'm trying to do is encourage
you and give you comfort at the same time. I hope that that makes
sense. Verse 20, Philippians chapter
3, verse 20. For our citizenship. Remember,
I started by saying, you used to be strangers and sojourners.
You used to be that. You and I used to be that, ladies
and gentlemen. But now we're citizens. I recall the day, and I just
want to do a little application here on myself. I recall the
day that I became citizen of the United States. I wasn't born
in the United States, so I'm not a citizen, but I became a
citizen in the United States. The citizenship of the United
States, ladies and gentlemen, don't mean nothing compared to
the citizenship of God, of where God dwells. Take away the citizenship
if you want to. I don't care. This is not even
my country anymore. It used to be. I hope that makes
sense for you. I don't know if it does. But
it used to be. Because I used to be earthly.
But I'm heavenly bound now, ladies and gentlemen. I'm looking forward
to a city not of this world. A city where Christ is sitting
at the right hand of God. A city where my Father is. I am a citizen of that city.
I don't care what my feelings are telling me. I have weak faith,
but faith in Christ, even if it's weak, it's faith. Continue
with the verse. He says, for our citizenship,
it's in heaven. Where is your citizenship, Christian?
Where is your citizenship? Ask yourself that question this
week. Where is my citizenship? Point number seven. I'm just
kidding. Where is my citizenship? Okay, my citizenship is in heaven,
the Word of God says. And it says, from which, look
at this, from which we eagerly, are you eager? Are you eager? It says eagerly wait for our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you eagerly waiting for his
return? He promised us, let not your
heart be troubled. I go and prepare a place for
you. And if I do that, Brad, I will come back again. That's
what the word of God says. So here I finish with this. I won't sing it because I don't
know how to sing. These wonderful lyrics of a wonderful
song by City Lights. Maybe Josue knows, Josue finds
these amazing songs and he doesn't know it, but I listen to them
and I like the lyrics and I'm like, hmm, I'll probably use
that in my sermon. But he finds some really good
Christian songs. City Lights, if you want to write
it down, City Lights, these are the people that are singing,
and the title of the song is called On That Day. This is the lyrics. It says,
I believe in Christ, risen from the dead. He now reigns victorious. His kingdom knows no end. Through
his resurrection, death has lost its hold. I know on that final
day, I will rise as Jesus rose. On that day, we will see you
shining brighter than the sun. On that day, we will know you.
as we lift our voice as one. Till that day, we will praise
you for your never-ending grace. We will keep on singing on that
glorious day. What a blessed hope! Though now
tired and worn, we will spend eternity around our Savior's
throne. Though we grieve our losses,
we grieve not in vain. For we know our crown of glory
weighs beyond the grave. Amen.