a bookend. Turn with me to John
chapter 14. And I'm not being mean when I
say this, but I pray that, and you'll see
what I mean, I pray that if you don't know the gospel, if you
don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, tonight that your heart would
be troubled. Your heart would be troubled.
It needs to be. It needs to be troubled. We don't like trials and tribulations.
but they're all part of what God's purpose for his people
are. And I know we've all, if we know
anything of the truth, not only is it given, as Paul says to
the Philippians, on behalf to believe on Christ, but to suffer
for his namesake. And I know some of you have,
and all of you have, who trust Christ. My desire for us this evening
is this. Our faithful brother of consolation
is his name, Barnabas. He said this. An axe, you don't have to turn
there. Barnabas exhorted them all, the
church, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto
the Lord. And that's my desire for me,
for my wife, for everyone here. Purpose of heart would cleave unto the Lord. Now
this heart issue, it's a funny thing. Give me thine heart, he
says, for out of it are the issues of life. Stiff-neckedness, I
pray that that message, if we have a new heart, he's cleansed
us and washed us with regeneration that's only found in the Lord's
blood. There's times I have a stiff neck. There's times I get mad
at my brother. There's times I don't want to
be with anybody. Leave me alone. That's my nature. But I'm thankful
that sin does not have dominion over me. John chapter 14. My desire for us this evening
is that we would cleave, cleave. You know what that means. I didn't
look it up because I just wrote it down. In John chapter 14, this is the
Lord's words to his people. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. Now we'll stop there. But I want
to illustrate why perhaps the saints' hearts were perceived
by Christ to be troubled. To do that, we need to go back
to chapter 13 and look at this unique chapter. Why did our Lord
tell his disciples, let not your hearts be troubled? Luke chapter 13 verse 1. Now
before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour
was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,
having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end. He loved these men. He loved
these women. He loved his people, his sheep. He knows our risings and our
slumberings. He knows that their hearts were
heavy because he loved them. And that's essential. You may have a friend, I've had
friends bothered by something and I say, man, I'm really bothered.
They don't ask why. Not him, not our Lord. not our
Lord and Savior. He knows all about them. Well,
in chapter 13, verses 5 through 7, after that Christ poured water
into a basin, he began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe
them with towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh to Simon
Peter, and Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what I do, Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter. Truth be known, and Norm alluded
to this last night in his message in Acts, truth be known, these
apostles really understood very little about what was going on
or going to happen. They really didn't have a clue.
Not because their necks were stiff, but they just didn't know. It wasn't revealed to them. That's
the main thing. And even as believers, I'm convinced,
based on the scriptures, those two on the road to Emmaus who
were believers, Christ was in their midst and they didn't know
that until he revealed them. So even if you know the gospel
and you believe the gospel and you trust the gospel, It's only
until Christ reveals what we need to know will we understand
and hopefully act appropriately. Now look at verse 21 in the same
chapter. The same came therefore, I'm
sorry, I'm in chapter 12, I need to flip the page, verse 21. When Jesus had thus said, he
was troubled in spirit. Christ himself was troubled in
spirit and testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you
that one of you shall betray me. Their hearts were upset because
they didn't understand what was fully going on. Their hearts
were upset because their master was upset. Now I liken to this,
if you have children, you know this. If you're a parent and
you have a little one, and you're upset, and you start crying,
the kids sense that, they pick up on that, and they begin to
cry. And they don't know what they're
crying about, they're just upset because those whom they love are upset. Their all in all was troubled
in spirit. Verse 22, then the disciples looked on one another
doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus'
bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved and Simon Peter therefore
beckoned him that he should ask who it should be that he spake.
He's going to be betrayed. He's going to be betrayed. Their
master's going to be betrayed. And then in verse 33, He says,
little children, yet a little while I'm with you. You shall
seek me and as I said unto you, to the Jews, whether I go, you
cannot go. So now I say unto you, you're
leaving us? Well, here's this intimate scene. You're leaving us? Where are you going? Where are
you going? Don't leave us. Peter, verse 37, the next reason,
perhaps, said unto them, Lord, why cannot I follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you. Jesus said, will you lay down
your life for me, my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the cock shall now, not crow, till you've denied me three times.
Three times. Have you ever denied your Lord,
my Lord, our Lord? Sin. Sin is always present in
the believer. It's always near. It sticks tight
to us and it'll ever be with us until we see him face to face. Oh, all these things must have
thrown the disciples sideways Troubled in heart, yes, they
were troubled in heart. We would be stricken as well. Sin, sin. Oh, weak, misunderstanding, and
unbelieving disciples, can we not everyone here relate to this
very heart trouble? If your heart's not troubled, I wish it would be. I wish it
would be. I wish you'd begin to seek Christ,
seek answers. Lord, like the message we heard,
my neck is stiff, I can't, I've tried, I've tried. I pray that your heart would
be troubled. But I have good news. I have seven encouraging statements
that Christ gives to his dear, frail, weak people as he notes
their hearts. Our heart aches. Our heart piercings. Our heart troubles. Because we
need it. Oh, how we need it. Encouragement number one. Now
before I start, I want you to notice, these are the words of
Christ. These are not my words. These
are the words of an inspired scripture. So it, as all of the
word is, these are words without air. Every word of God says the
scripture is pure. The first encouragement, you
to his people, his own disciples, his own children, his elect.
Verses two and three, heaven is sure. Heaven is sure. 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 you may be also. Where I am, there ye may
be also. Isn't that what we want? I mean,
isn't that what we really want? Glory for the believer is sure,
is without question, is without a doubt, it's undeniable. There's
so many scriptures that show this and put this forth. He that
hath begun a good work in us, good work. Stiff neck, we can't do a good
work. Not in the eyes of God, in the eyes of men, perhaps.
He that hath begun a good work, he, the Lord Christ, God, the
Father, God, the Son, God, the Spirit, hath begun a good work
not our puny, quote, free will works that amount to nothing. Salvation, his work. Sanctification,
his work. Justification, his work. Righteousness
is his work. Peace, hope, and eternal life. He hath begun this good work.
Only him, he, singular, will perform it, accomplish it, Work all things
out for the good of his people until the day of Christ Jesus. His work for us is finished,
it's complete, it's settled, and I love this word, absolute.
There is no absolutes in this world, but the gospel is absolute. The work of Christ is absolute.
His righteousness for my unrighteousness is absolute. Second encouragement found in
verses four through 11. In our beloved, we have an unquestionable
way to heaven. Not only is heaven sure, we have
an unquestionable way to heaven. Whither I go, you know and the
way. You know, Thomas said unto him,
Lord, we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the
way? And Jesus said unto him, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh
unto the father. But by me, no man cometh but
to the Father, but by me. There's free, sovereign, immutable,
majestic grace. But our message, I've heard people
say our message is a message of a monster. Our message is
a message of it's harsh, it's cruel, it's hard. Not to his
people. No. He is the way, the only way. the way we know. Acts chapter
4 and verse 12, neither is there
salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. So we know heaven to
the believer is sure. Why do you believe, you're so
cocksure, you talk like it's, it is, it's sure, heaven is sure.
And the way, it's not through Muhammad, it's not through Joseph
Smith, it's not through me. I heard somebody put it in context
and I thought it was, I needed to hear it, because I'm like
Norm, I loved Henry Mahan. And I was talking to this man
and he said, And I was quoting Henry a lot, and he says, I understand,
but Henry's not sovereign. Henry's not sovereign. I'm not
sovereign. And that's, no, I'm not disparaging. That man is used amazingly, wondrously. I call him, personally, I call
him the Spurgeon of our time. That's how highly I esteem him. But Christ is the way, and we
know, we know that he is the way. The third encouragement,
do not fear, brethren, let your hearts not be troubled. Perhaps
that with the departure of Christ, these brethren thought that the
work would cease. Well, look at verses 12 through
14. Verily, verily, Christ is speaking
to his disciples again in the words of comfort and tenderness.
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. He's gonna use Now there's churches
that are struggling right now. Not not Armenian churches. I
don't really care about them. Not these TV preachers. I don't really care about them.
I care about the sheep. Their welfare. That their hearts be
not troubled, but there's some struggling. Rest assured. His church is safe. His church
is safe. It's safe because He is, I am,
I am. Greater, or that means, or that's
more, or larger works. And he says, you shall ask. Well,
that shows a continuation, does it not? A continuation, you shall
ask. It's a continuation of God's
work among men. The fourth encouragement that
we see here is fear not, little flock, just because Christ is
departing, he will give the help of the Holy Spirit, verses 15
through 17. And if you love me, keep my commandments. And I will
pray that the Father and he shall give you another comforter that
he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be
in you." Comforter. He's given to comfort. He's given to comfort. He abides with us forever. Oh, I pray that we would see
this and we would be given an understanding To believe this,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. The Holy
Spirit is God in the third person. Believe also in me. Norm and
I were talking and he brought up a good point this morning. We were outside and he said he
feels that the church doesn't give the Holy Spirit enough honor. Was that about what we were talking
about? They're all sovereign, God the
Father, God the Spirit, God the Son, they're all sovereign. It
was important enough for Christ to say this in his own words,
I'm giving you the comforter that is given to comfort, abiding
with you to truly believe this and ask for the assistance of the Spirit
in everything we do. The fifth encouragement, Christ
will never leave us forever, but will most assuredly come
back again, verses 18 through 24. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you in a little
while, and the world seeth me no more, but you see me, because
I live, you shall live. He's coming back. And I know
people have been talking about this, but that's a hope that
we have. It's as sure as heaven that he's
returning. And that day you shall know that
I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath
my commandment, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest myself to him. It's a promise. I will come to
you. He says, you see me. It's a promise. These promises
in Christ, all these promises are given to the believer are
yes and amen. Why don't we use the promises
more? Wayne and I have talked about
this for years. Charles Spurgeon's got a beautiful book, According
to Promise, it's wonderful, and he says, When you're going through
troubles, trials, anything, and the Lord lays something on your
heart that's specific to the situation, it's a promise. If you're a believer, it's a
promise. You can lay hold of it. Because if you're in Christ,
it's just an amen. And Spurgeon says, take it and
spend it at leisure. Spend it at leisure. I need your help. I remember
a situation where I was threatened to get the tar beat out of me,
and it was gonna happen, and I went to my bedroom and started
looking at the scriptures, and out of Isaiah, he said, ain't
nobody gonna touch you. The lion, nobody's, and I just
looked at that, and I dated it in my Bible, and I said, I'm
standing on this, come what may. I got a phone call about 20 minutes
later, apology, I love you, I'm not gonna harm you. These are real to each believer.
Let not your heart be troubled. Let not your heart, why are we
afraid of the promises of our elder brother? If a brother in
Christ would say something and give me a promise, I'd bank on
that. My, my, my, how weak and frail
we are, just like our brothers in the New Testament. The sixth
help and encouragement that the Holy Spirit left for us will
teach us and will guide us and lead us in understanding what
we need. Verses 25 and 26. These things
I have spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. I told Norm one of the problems
that I see with me and with the church is that we don't pray
enough. We don't pray enough. We're not
thankful enough. That's what he brought up about
the Holy Spirit. We don't see him as as essential or whatever
phrase he used. I will, whatever I have said
unto you, I'll teach you. I don't think we open our Bibles
enough. Be honest with you. Spurgeon
said it this way, before we meet the face of man, every morning
before we meet the face of man, we ought to meet the face of
God. I'm not talking down to you,
I'm telling you my issues as well. I'm a sinner saved by God's
grace. Doesn't the scripture say he
longs to hear from us? I believe it does. This is a fact, this is the truth,
that the Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us in whatsoever
things Christ has said unto us. With this being a fact, with
this being truth, with this being our privilege, let us make full
advantage here. That means not leaning on the
arm of the flesh. That means not seeking the help
of man first. not looking to this vain world
for spiritual assistance, but simply implore our God to support
us at all times and in every occasion. You wanna see a good
example of this? Look when you get home at Acts chapter four,
beginning in verse 23 to 33, the church is gathered, they're
huddled together because they're getting hammered, they're getting
persecuted, they're huddled together. And brethren just got out of
jail. And they told them what happened when they were assembled
together like this. They told them what had happened
and the abuse they had taken. And they began to pray and the
building shook. And they had boldness to go out
and preach the word. Why? Because it's by the foolishness
of preaching that God saves them that believe. Yes, it is indeed. Look at that
when you get home. Lastly, Christ's word of encouragement
to his distraught disciples. In my absence, he says, our sweet
redeemer proclaims, I will leave you an inheritance, a legacy
of peace. Verse 27, peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. He gives us peace of heart and
soul. He gives us peace with God in
and through his substitutionary work for us. He gives us peace
with the Holy Spirit as he abides with us. Peace of conscience
and mind, truly, as the scripture says, a peace that passes all
understanding. Let me read to you a passage
out of Isaiah. 26. Isaiah 26 verses 1, 2, and 3. In that day shall this song be
sung. In the land of Judah, we have
a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and boards. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he
trusts in thee. Do you trust in Christ? Is your
heart troubled? is did the message, the prior
message, did it shake anything? Did it stir anything in you?
Young, old, middle-aged, male, female, did it shake you? Let your heart not be troubled. You believe. In God, believe
in me. Now I think it's interesting
in this first verse in chapter 14 and verse 27, it's a bookend. Let not your heart be troubled,
turn over to verse 27. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither be afraid. Bookends of free, unmerited,
often unasked for, sovereign grace. Bookends let not your heart be
troubled Believe upon Jehovah God and be at peace Be still
and know that God that he is God Be still we're too busy in
this country. We are too busy He has finished the complete
work of salvation for his people I pray that we are his people. I pray, believe, rest, and have
peace. And I don't have to explain.
It was explained last night. It was explained this first message. It was explained. You can't do
anything. You're stiff-necked. You're hard-hearted. That's why
in Ezekiel 36, it says, I will. God says, I'll do this. I'll
take this stony heart. I'll do this. I'll get a heart
of flesh. I'll do this. I'll clean you.
I'll wash you. I'll supple you. I'll deck you
with the finest jewelry on the authority of God's word
and Christ himself. I can tell you, let your heart
be not troubled. there's a lot of things that
trouble us, a lot of things. To God be the glory.