John chapter 14, reading from
verse one. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. And 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
short reading from his word. It will do us all good, I feel
sure. to realize that these opening
words of John chapter 14 were spoken by the Lord to his disciples
precisely because their hearts were in that moment exceedingly
troubled. The Lord, in saying, let not
thy heart be troubled, was addressing the fact that their hearts were
troubled. And therefore, if we read this
verse, if we read this passage in the context of its direct
application to the senses, the emotions, the condition of these
men that he was with there in that room, We can see that there
is a greater dimension and depth to this moment. There is gentle
care in the phrase. There's a loveliness, a sensitivity
about the Lord's words here. It's lyrical, it's even poetic,
the quality of the Savior's comments. He says, let not your heart be
troubled. This isn't simply a glib or a
dismissive, don't worry, it's gonna be all right. And to be sure, this is the beautiful
language of our 1611 King James Version of the Bible. But these
are words of genuine concern and sympathy and comfort from
the Lord Jesus to his beloved friends in their moment of need. As they listen to his words,
what he's been saying to them in chapter 13, as they listen
to his words and try to absorb what he is telling them. He has told them that he is about
to be betrayed, that he will be arrested, that he will be
put to death, that he is going away. He has told them that the
aspirations that they had, the ambitions that they had, were
not going to come true. These were incorrect ambitions. But as the Lord watches his disciples,
as he sees them wrestle in their childlike way with, first of
all, disbelief at what he is saying to them, and then disappointment
as it dawns upon them he is serious, and then anxiety as that builds
up to a question and a doubt as to what on earth is going
to happen now, rightly or wrongly, These were still matters beyond
the disciples' understanding. I say rightly or wrongly because
they had been told before and yet the dullness of their minds
had not absorbed what the Lord had said. And I want us to notice
the tenderness of the Lord's own heart in these few verses. He knew what his disciples were
feeling. In fact, there's another layer
to this that I want us to notice, because back in chapter 13, verse
21, we're told there that the Lord himself was troubled in
his spirit at this very moment. And so the disciples were troubled
in their hearts, Christ was troubled in his spirit, and here he is. knowing exactly what they were
feeling, touched with the feeling of their infirmities. Empathizing, sympathizing, sharing
with them in this moment of anxiety. Let us not imagine that the Lord
is here in any way rebuking his disciples. On the contrary, his
words are intended to comfort and encourage and inspire these
men who in this moment we're seeing their hopes and aspirations
crash around about them. Now we could argue that they
ought to have been wiser. But would we have been? The point is this. Jesus was
telling them not to be anxious. He saw their heart. He saw and
understood their sense of loss and confusion. And like a loving
parent, he says, don't worry, I've got this. Now I much prefer, let not your
heart be troubled. But let's be sure we know what
is being said. Looking on these downcast and
dejected faces, the anxiety of his friends, our Savior says,
everything is under control and I want you to trust me. Let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Let not your heart be troubled.
Trust me. The disciples had grand ideas
that Christ was going to overthrow the Roman occupiers, the Roman
Empire for that matter. He was going to restore the glory
of Israel, reestablish the kingdom of David. He would reign in Jerusalem
and there would be an earthly empire. And these men, would
be honoured and privileged in it as the friends and followers
of Jesus. What the Lord was now suggesting,
that they would be poor itinerant preachers, alone and isolated
in the world, was not part of their plan at all. In Christ's
absence, he knew his absence would be forced on them in the
coming hours when Jesus was arrested and then crucified. And yet much
had to be communicated and understood by these disciples. So for now,
the Lord says, trust me, trust me. Believe in God and trust
me. And I think we all can learn
a lesson from this. For we all find ourselves from
time to time in the position of the disciples. Our assumptions crash around
us. What we're familiar with changes
abruptly. We all find ourselves having
to lean upon the Lord. And the best and the only help
for a believer in trouble is to trust the Lord, our God and
our Saviour. So the first thing I want us
to think about is the way in which the Lord addresses the
issues of these men. How it is that he comforts them
and what it is that he says. We're going to think about the
many mansions, then we're going to think about the Lord's promise
to come to his people and then we're going to think about his
words in verse 6 where he identifies himself as the great I am, the
way, the truth and the life. But I think it's interesting
the approach that the Lord takes here and even the order in which
he speaks to these men. There's something very gentle
and considerate in the way in which the Lord deals with his
little ones here by this reference to many mansions. Now, if you are a believer, in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you have heard and you've
believed what I preach to you week by week, you know that God
is in control of your life. And you know that all things
work together for your good. And yet I know and you know that
in the moment of loss, In our life's experience, as
the storm breaks, it's emotions that kick in first. Yes, we know
the truth. Yes, we understand the scriptures.
Yes, we have the verses at our disposal. Yes, we have the teaching
and the messages that we have heard. But in the moment, On
the eve of destruction, in the aftermath of catastrophe, it's
emotions that kick in first. And I feel sure that is why the
Lord speaks about mansions here. Mansions were something concrete
that they could immediately focus upon. The first thought of the
disciples was what they were about to lose and all that they
would forgo and all that they would miss under this new reality. And so the Lord very gently and
carefully tells them what lies in store for them. Now, he had
never promised them mansions on earth. That was false speculation
on the disciples' own part. But knowing that, he promises
them mansions in heaven. He promises them what they feel
they're about to lose or what they are losing given what the
Lord is telling them here about the establishment of the gospel
and the kingdom and the spread of the gospel. Isn't that wise
of the Lord to do it like this? He presents what we shall gain
in terms of what we've lost. The Lord met these men at the
point of their affections and their perceived needs. Often
our first reaction to a trial is emotional. Our passions run
near the surface and they spill over when we face these various
trials and tests of life. and the deeper convictions of
faith, of God's love to us and God's mercy, they will reassert
themselves. But that can take time. The rawness
that first appears doesn't lay hold on the promises as they
will in times to come. Tears and fears and fretting
come first. When our heart is troubled, when
our emotions are stirred, the Lord calls us to trust Him for
the real and personal and practical provision that He knows that
we need. Now, I am not saying that these
mansions are not real. What I am saying is that the
Lord is telling his disciples here that they will lose nothing
in this world that will not be recompensed to us in glory many
times over. We shall all in this life be
called to give up things and people that are precious to us. But the Lord will grant us here
on earth sufficient supplies to suit our case. He will meet
our needs. He will add the promise of more
and better to come. Let not your heart be troubled.
Trust me. says the Lord, just trust me
in this moment, in this trouble, in this dilemma, in this trial,
trust me. What does it mean? What does
it mean? Well, have we lost a loved one? Then hold fast the profession
of your faith without wavering. Are you anxious for the future?
Hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering. Are you lonely? Are you poor? Are you sick? Are you suffering? Hold fast the profession of your
faith without wavering. Are you fearful of those around
you? Then hold fast the profession
of your faith without wavering. You believe in God, believe also
in me. I've got this covered. I'm in
control. I'm dealing with these things. Have you ever wondered how it
is that the Lord Jesus Christ could make the universe in six
days but he has been away for 2,000 years preparing our mansions. Perhaps the specification changes
of those mansions according to the troubles that we face in
life. My ideal mansion is different
today than it was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. And I'm not saying that there's
different levels of reward or degrees of reward in heaven. But I am saying this, be assured,
brother and sister, be assured, child of God, God is no man's
debtor. And whatever it is we give up
in this world, he tells us we shall all be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just. Great is your reward in heaven. And we shall all be satisfied
with whatever it is that the Lord has prepared for us. For
we shall see Jesus as he is in all of his glory, and we shall
be like him. Know this, when our earthly house
of this tabernacle is dissolved, We have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Jesus is telling
his disciples their eternal salvation is sure and secure and what he
has in store for them is beyond their imagination. And he says,
trust me. Trust me. And that's what he
says to you and me today. Whatever it is we face, whatever
it is the trial, whatever it is the problem, trust me. Are there more grounds to believe? Are there more reasons to believe?
More grounds by which we should not let our hearts be troubled?
Certainly there are. Because the Lord also says to
his disciples, I will come again. As the disciples faced the future
without the presence of the Lord, they must have wondered what
would become of them. You'll remember that there was
a time when Peter said, I'm going back to the fishing. He'd spent
three years with the Lord. And now, in Christ's absence,
the best he could think about doing was going back and digging
out his old boat and getting his nets dusted off and going
back to catch a few fish. But the truth is, when the Lord
calls a man or a woman or a boy or a girl, there is no going
back. We are called with an holy calling. according to his own purpose
and grace. And when we are tempted and tested
and tried in this life, the promises about the coming Holy Spirit
are given to comfort us. Christ himself says he will come
to comfort us. Now as we go down through John
chapter 14, the Holy Spirit is spoken of frequently. And in
the coming weeks, we shall think about His coming as the Comforter
from the Father. But the Lord Jesus here in these
verses today also tells His people that He will come to His people. And He says to us, Lo, I am with
you always. In truth, the Lord never leaves
his people. Though he would be absent in
body from his disciples as a result of his crucifixion, as a result
of his death, Following his resurrection he would ascend up into heaven
and these disciples would be then blessed by the coming Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost and they would be sent out into
the world to preach the gospel. This was the plan, this was always
the plan. But the Lord says, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. And though he is absent in body,
being in body in heaven, he remains with us in his omnipresence. Because he is still God. He is
still omnipresent. And so too in our life's experience
as believers, the Savior reveals himself to us for the comfort
of our hearts and the encouragement of our souls in times of trouble. His presence may be felt in the
reading of the Word of God. Maybe he draws close to us in
the preaching of the gospel. Maybe we see him revealed in
the words and actions of a brother or a sister. Or we encounter
him in the fellowship of the Lord's people where two or three
are gathered together. There he is in the midst. And we may be sure when the fiercest
trials of this life come, we shall discover him close by. standing at our bedside in a
night vision as he did with the Apostle Paul, or walking with
us in the fiery furnace as he did with the Hebrew captives. And here is a blessed promise.
When the days of our pilgrimage here are done, It will be the
Lord himself who will come for to take us to be with him. He says, I will come again and
receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. The Lord's not going to send
an angel to take us home to glory. He comes himself. And He brings
us personally into the presence of His Father. Such is the Lord's
love for His people. Such is His tender, loving care. So mark it down, you who are
older, you who are frail, you who are sick, you who are anticipating
the demise of your body, this tabernacle. in which our new,
regenerated, lively soul now dwells. As this body comes to
its end, The Lord Jesus Christ will come and take us. When the day of your death arrives,
it will be the Lord Jesus Christ, Him whom you love, who will come
and take you to be forever with Him in glory. That where I am,
there ye may be also. Do you remember what the Lord
said in this opening verse of the passage? He said, What grounds have we, brother and sister?
What grounds have we to allow a troubled heart to remain when
the personal presence of the Lord is promised to us? and the sure testimony of Christ
is given to us that he will come again and take us ever to be
with him. This is not nonsense. This is
not imagination. God himself, the Lord Jesus Christ
has promised these things are so. This is what faith is. Faith
is believing. Faith is trusting what the Lord
has said. This is not nonsense. This is the Lord's closing statement
to his people before his death. He looked these disciples in
the face, these confused, perplexed men, and he says, trust me, believe
in me. And such trust and faith in Jesus
Christ must calm a troubled heart. These men were encouraged, firstly,
by a promise of a heavenly mansion, that we shall lose nothing by
what we give and sacrifice for the Lord. And then the deeper
matters of affection were mentioned. And the Lord, our friend, our
dearly beloved, promises never to leave us. He will come to
us. He will be with us. He will come
for us. But there's more as well, because
this Jesus Christ who has spoken is the Son of God, is the Saviour
of the world, is the Great I Am. It is He who calls us to believe. It is He in whom we trust. Jesus Christ is the great I am. The question that Thomas asked
seems odd, it seems peculiar. I think I said in yesterday's
little note that it was ridiculous. This is the same man who expressed
so much doubt in the Lord following his resurrection. You know, sometimes
as believers we feel so inadequate, we feel so, So shallow, so failing
in understanding and the ability to grasp the truths even of the
gospel. Well, the Lord's own disciples
struggled with these things. Thomas had been three years with
the Lord, and yet he cannot discern from the words of Christ in this
moment that the Lord is talking about going to his father in
heaven, that the Lord is talking about his death and being taken
into his father in him. And so it's almost as if he's
saying, well, Lord, just tell us where you're going. We'll
follow you there. He expects it to be, what, some city in
Galilee or some place in Judea. Do you not understand what I'm
saying, Thomas? Can he really not have grasped
that the Lord was speaking about his death? And yet in the moment, this is
what we're talking about, in the moment, how often do we succumb
to foolish reasoning when confronted with life's challenges? Get overtaken
in the moment by doubt and fear and uncertainty. What are our
grounds for fear? Why do we worry? Has not the
Lord spoken? Have we reason to doubt? How
many times must we hear the truth for it to take root and to stick
and to grow and to make a difference to our way of thinking and acting? Thoughtless as Thomas's question
may appear, it drew from the Savior a beautiful statement
of divine revelation. Jesus said to Thomas and to the
rest of the disciples gathered there, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And the church and the Lord's
people has been blessed by this question and answer ever since. We would be poorer, the church
would be poorer, had Thomas not asked this question in his foolish
naivety and had Christ not given him such a beautiful response
in answer. This is who we trust. When our hearts are troubled,
when our hearts do feel weak, as though they might fail under
the challenges that we encounter, when fears arise and conflict
with the old man grows fierce, Every fresh view of the Lord
Jesus Christ, every fresh view of Him as the way, as the truth,
as the life, will encourage and comfort and strengthen us to
face the challenge and to carry on. That is why the gospel is
so important to us. That is why we have a desire
to hear the gospel, week by week. It is why we turn to our scriptures
and we find comfort in those scriptures day by day. It is
why we have moment by moment a personal relationship with
the Lord Jesus Christ by faith in which we speak to him and
he speaks to us in our prayer life. There is this need to be
constantly reassured, constantly be seeing glimpses of the Savior
in the capacity as the way, the truth, and the life. This is the one of whom we speak,
and this is the one in whom we believe. The Lord Jesus Christ
gives us courage and strength to press on in the Christian
life. Jesus Christ is our all-powerful,
all-knowing, all-sufficient, ever-living God. He is the great
I Am and he declares himself, I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. Christ is the way, not only in
the sense of guiding us in the way. We talk about the Christian
way or the Christian walk. It's not just that he's an example.
Yes, he is an example, but he's not only an example. It's not just that he's a leader
to his people. The Lord is the way. I am the way. He doesn't just
teach us about the way. He is the way Himself in His
person. He is the God-Man who has opened
the way, who has opened the door of access into the presence of
God. He is the way to God. He is the
way to God in his works of perfect obedience, even his obedience
unto death, by which he makes us righteous and acceptable and
reconciled by the Father. He is the way to God as the prophet,
priest and king. He teaches us about God. He intercedes for us and offers
his own blood in the presence of God. He reigns and rules in
his kingdom and his people as our head when we are his body.
He is the good shepherd. He is the living bread. He is
the resurrection and the life. As our father, as our brother,
as joint heirs with us in all things. His obedience, His death, the
cross, His blood, open up and form the way of salvation for
us. And there is no other. He is
the singular, unique way to God and way of salvation. We do not trust in any other.
We cannot trust in any other. He is the truth. He is truth
itself. All grace and all glory is centered
and fixed and assured in Him. He is the Amen. He is the faithful
and true witness. And all the names of Christ,
and there are hundreds in scripture, speak of the fullness of the
divine revelation that is communicated to the world by him. And it is
all true. He is all truth and is to be
believed and trusted and relied upon as such. and in him is life. He is the
author and giver of all life. He is life to his people. It is our privilege to trust
him for all natural and spiritual and eternal life. We are here
today because Christ has given us natural, physical life and
because he upholds us in that life. Our lungs breathe, our
hearts beat at his will. If we are saved, he has given us the free gift
of spiritual life. entirely at His own discretion
and according to His own good pleasure. And if we have that
spiritual life, we have eternal life. He has given us that too. We already have it. And what
He has given, He will never take away. These are our blessings. This is our inheritance. Christ
is our Saviour. Sometimes we feel like Jacob
of old, the patriarch, the father of Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Sometimes we feel like Jacob.
He told Pharaoh, few and evil have the days of the years of
my life been. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been. And sometimes we feel like that,
like the disciples. We see life crashing around us,
or we feel disappointment, or we feel hurt, or we feel loss,
or we feel sadness. And yet in Christ our Saviour,
we now say, surely, goodness and mercy have followed me all
the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Let not your heart be troubled.
Trust me, says the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4, verse
17 says, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. May the Lord give us grace to
trust him for all these things. Amen.