If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in John chapter 14. John chapter 14. I'm just gonna read the very first
verse, and then we'll go from there. John chapter 14, verse one. These
are the words of Jesus Christ. Let not your heart be troubled,
You believe in God, believe also in me. Now, I've had some thoughts over
the past couple of weeks here and there. And here's one. If you wanna know what God is
doing, look in his word. Look in his
book. Old Testament, New Testament.
Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter, because here's
the thing, God is always the same. What God has done, God
is doing, and what God is doing is what God shall do. He is still,
right now and forever, working his sovereign will in this world. Now, I'm not gonna keep you long,
because I have absolutely nothing new today. However, I do have
good news today, which is right here in John 14 verse one. Jesus
Christ came to save his people from their sins. And he did. He did. We're just the ones that's
too dumb to know that. We're the ones that's too dead
to know that until he gives us life. And this is my message
from God to his people. And the message is the same to
unbelievers. If you're streaming and you don't
know God, if you're watching this on the TV and you don't
know God, the message is the same. Jesus Christ saves. And he keeps on saving until
the last day. What's he say, verse 14. John
14, chapter 14, verse one. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Now I've got three words for
you. Context, context, context. I read this single verse by itself,
on purpose. Because I'm gonna tell you something,
I love these words. You know, this is a glorious
verse of scripture from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
every single word of it is true. Let not your heart be troubled,
ye believe in God, believe also in me. Understand that is a gracious
and merciful declaration of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh. And just as it stands, it's gracious,
it's glorious, and it's merciful, but here's the thing I'm gonna
tell you today, it's even better in context, with the context. Because here it is, what's important,
when Christ said it, to whom Christ said it, and most of all,
of course, what he said, what he said. So what is the context
of this gracious statement? Well, in order to see this, we
need to just back up a little bit to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, here's the context. Verse two, and supper being ended,
the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, to betray him. The last supper, the Passover
supper, is over, is over. And Judas is set to betray Jesus. Then you go to verse five. Jesus
washes the feet of the disciples. And he tells Peter, I gotta wash
your feet. He said, oh, wash me all over. No, no, if you're
clean, all you need's your feet washed. Anyhow, we're not going
into that. Verse 21, Jesus declares his
betrayal. When Jesus had thus said he was
troubled in spirit and testified verily, verily, I say unto you
that one of you shall betray me. Now, verse 30, Judas leaves. Judas leaves. And then, having
received the sop, he went immediately out. It was night. Well, verse
27. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him, speaking of Judas Iscariot, then said Jesus unto him, that
thou doest do quickly. And Judas left, so Judas is gone. This is the context. Verse 34,
a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another
as I have loved you that ye also love one another. And by this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love
one to another. You understand, Jesus gave a
new commandment. But that's okay. He's the one
that gave the old commandments too. Understand, that's who talked
to Moses. That's who made those stones,
tables. I'm not going into that. But Jesus gave a new commandment. Love one another as I have loved
you. Love one another. Verse 37, and
here we're getting close to it. Then Peter states he would lay
down his life for Jesus' sake. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
can I not follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Verse 38, 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. Now that is a statement of fact. That is a statement of fact.
This is the context for the very next verse. We haven't gone anywhere
in between chapter 13 and chapter 14. It's still the same people. The disciples are there except
Judas is gone. Now there is a little debate
among some people saying that this next verse is directed just
to Peter, but no, it's directed to the disciples and they wanna
argue about that. It doesn't matter. It's the words
of Christ. Peter was there, they were to
him. The disciples were there, they were to him. You're reading
it right now, it's to you. Because anything Jesus Christ
said is still true. You understand? But the context
of this, the context of this. Peter, you will deny me. You will, you will. This is a
flat statement. In Luke, we find it this way. Let's see. Luke 22, verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. And you look right on, verse
33. And he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee, both
unto prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter,
the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me. It's the same context. Notice very carefully that Jesus
Christ did not pray that Peter wouldn't fail. He told him, I
pray that your faith fail not. And it didn't. So what did Peter do after this?
I'm not gonna turn to it, but we all know the story. Peter
did exactly what Jesus Christ said he was going to do. He denied
the Lord, Jesus Christ. Just exactly as he said, Peter
did fail. Peter did deny Jesus Christ publicly. But Peter did deny him loudly. And he vehemently denied Jesus
Christ with cursing. And then the cock crowed. And
Peter remembered what the Lord had told him. This was all coming at this present
point. But before it came, the Lord
spoke these words. Now that's the context. Let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Oh, I love that. Oh, I like this. First and thankfully, also, this
is not a request or a suggestion or a good thing to do. This is
a royal command from the Lord of glory. Let not your heart
be troubled. Let not your heart be troubled.
As a matter of fact, this is an order. He's not asking Peter,
his disciples, or you. He is telling them, and he is
telling us, don't let your heart be troubled by what you've done,
by what you do. Because you are going to do,
and you are going to think, even, some horrible stuff. That's the
way we are. This is a royal command from
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let not your heart
be troubled by the fact that you're going to deny me. And
listen, none of the other disciples did any better. John followed
a far off, but he was still a far off. All the rest of them kind
of scattered. John and Peter are the only two
that we know of were anywhere near Jesus Christ at this time. Here's the thing, and this is
for the people of God, understand this, you are going to fail. You, I'm gonna point the finger
at all of you, me, are going to sin. You're gonna sin against
God. It's going to happen. You're
not gonna be happy about it if you're a child of God. You're
not gonna enjoy it, you're not gonna live in it. But it's gonna
happen, it's gonna happen. What's he say? How can I not
let my heart be troubled? Why shouldn't my heart be troubled?
How can I not be despondent and down in on myself? because of my sin and my failure,
or your sin and your failure. Jesus Christ tells us. It's not
you. It's by faith. By faith. And what'd he say? Let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also
in me. Believe in me. And just in case
you're checking, this is also a command, not a request. You
believe in God, believe in me. That's what he said and that's
what he meant. And what's it mean? He means
believe him. Believe him. Believe him when he says let
not your heart be troubled. Believe him what his book says. when he told them that their
hour was now come when they took him prisoner. Believe him when
he said you must be born again. You must be born from above.
You must be born of God. But also believe him here, let
not your heart be troubled when you deny him. Oh, I'm gonna tell
you something, folks. That's grace. That's grace. That's grace. Jesus Christ prayed
and Jesus Christ prays for his people. What's he pray? He prays for
them just like he prayed for Peter. You understand? He's doing
the same thing he's always done. I pray that your faith fail not. You're gonna fail. It's nothing
to be happy about, but we need to realize it. We need to know
it. You understand, here, don't let
your heart be troubled. Your salvation doesn't depend
upon you. It never has. And thank God,
it never will. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. He prayed that his faith that
he gives shall not fail. And I'm gonna tell you something,
his faith that he's the author and the finisher of and that
he gives shall never fail, shall never fail. Oh, I like that,
because here it is. This is the answer, this is the
cure for heart trouble. His faith, it's his faith. You
believe in God, believe also in me. Understand, we are saved
by grace, what? Through faith. We can get Baptist
here, I don't mind. By grace, through faith, and
what? And that not of yourselves. That not of yourselves. It is
the gift of God. And the gifts of callings of
God are perfect. And without repentance. His faith will never fail. His
faith will never fail. And if he gave you his faith,
your faith will never fail. He's prayed for you. He's the
author and the finisher of faith. He's the giver of faith. And here's the thing also. Understand
this. We are kept by the power of God
through faith. Through faith. Oh, I like that.
What? To salvation. The complete salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last
day. Oh, I like that, I do. You understand,
I didn't save myself, I'm not keeping myself. If Christ saved
you, he's saving you, and he's gonna keep you saved. What? By the power of God through faith,
which is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. What did he say here? If you
believe in God, believe also in me. He said in another place,
I and my Father are one, are one. We are told in the epistles
that he is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God, understand? And as God, what he says goes. He said what he meant, he meant
what he said, and everything he said is true and shall happen
just exactly as he said it. That goes for Peter denying him,
and that also goes for I prayed for you that your faith failed
not. It's all true. It's all true. It's all good
too. Whether we know it or not, Jesus Christ is God. Believe Him. Believe what He
says. Trust Him. Love Him. And love one another. Oh, I like
that. That's part of the context, too.
A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Oh,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He says in John 17, In his prayer,
I have power over all flesh. With what? To give eternal life
to as many as thou has given me. Oh, I like that. To save
all of those that the Father gave to him. And he will raise
them up at the last day. You understand, folks? That's
good news. That's good news. My salvation,
my keeping of my salvation, the finish of my salvation does not
depend on me. And your salvation does not depend
on you. And therefore, you can let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
me. Oh, what's he say next? In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I'd have told you. I would have
told you. But here it is. I go. And he had to go. But I go. What? To prepare a place for
you. Let not your heart be troubled.
You understand? I'm going, and he went, to prepare
a place for you. And for you, and for you, and
for you. If you're his, he's prepared
a place for you. Well, that's not here. It's with
him. It's with him. Let not your heart
be troubled. Oh, let's see, where is it? Excuse
me, John 14, verse three. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. Let not your heart be troubled.
I will come again, even better, and receive you unto myself. Now that's something worth looking
forward to. Let not your heart be troubled. I will come again
and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may
be Also, let not your heart be troubled. And whither 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. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. And no man comes, what, under
the Father, but by me. By me. Oh, I love that. Jesus Christ has promised, and
Jesus Christ is performing that promise. Let not your heart be
troubled. Believe him. Oh, you understand,
there's no want he cannot supply. There's no sickness he cannot
heal. I'm not telling you he's gonna
cure every sickness. Because one day sickness may
take you out of this world. There's no danger he cannot prevent. And there's no misery he cannot
remove. And here it is, there is no sin
he cannot forgive. Oh, I like that. Yeah, there's
no enemy he can't defeat because Christ is God and man. And man. He's so near at hand
and accessible to our faith because here it is, the Lord is your
shepherd. You shall not want for anything
of any eternal value. Not because of yourself, but
because of him. Because of him. Say it again. There is no sin he cannot forgive. I tell you. Paul wrote it. Second Timothy
two and verse 13. If we, and this is believe not,
Yet, he, he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. Ah, I like that, I do. Our salvation
is correctly described in the scriptures as being in Christ
Jesus. And if you are in Christ Jesus,
he is your head, you are part of his body. He cannot deny himself. Let not your heart be troubled.
Let not your heart be troubled. Oh. Believe. Believe him. Oh, I like that. Charles Spurgeon put it this
way. The glory of God's faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever
made him unfaithful. I thought about singing this
song, but I didn't think I could do it today. But here's the thing, faith in
Christ Jesus is the answer. It's the cure for our heart trouble,
the cure for sin and denying and all of our sinful flesh that
we still have. In my flesh dwells no good thing,
that's right now. But the cure is his faith, given
by him to you. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Why? because thou art with me,
always, until the ends of the earth. Great is thy faithfulness, O
God my Father. There is no shadow of turning
with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions,
they fail not, as thou hast been thou forever wilt be. I like
that. Pardon for sin and a peace that
endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength
for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine
with 10,000 beside. Let not your heart be troubled.
Here's why. Great is his faithfulness. You
only got faithfulness as he gives it to you. But great is his faithfulness. And he never fails. Never fails. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
for this day and this time. Lord, most of all, most, most,
most of all for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given
us life, who has given us faith, who has given us love, who has
given us hope. He is our hope. He's given us
peace and joy and some understanding of your will and your way in
this world. Thank you, Lord, for all you've
given to us and all you shall give. Be with Paul and Walter
as they come to preach your word Give them the message we need
to hear. Help us to rejoice in your name. In Christ's name we
pray.