John chapter 14. I want to read
from verse 1 and we'll read down to verse 14. 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 whether I go, ye know, and
the way ye know.' Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whether
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. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how
sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works'
sake. Verily, verily, 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. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it. Amen. May God bless this reading
also in our hearing this day. Recently, We've been thinking
about the doctrines of grace and we've been reflecting upon
that message which goes by the acronym of the mnemonic TULIP
and we've been thinking about how men were totally depraved
in their nature because of the fall, because of sin, and how
that total depravity means that we have nothing within us, nothing
that we can say, do or think that in any way makes us attractive
or appealing or represents us to God and that we are in a state
of deadness spiritually with respect to all good and all glory. And yet in that dead state, in
that awful condition, God had love for a people and we also
learned that not only there was a T in tulip, there was a U in
tulip and that U stood for unconditional election and God had chosen a
people in his own mind, in his own purpose, in that eternal
covenant of grace that he would bring to himself and that he
would make right by grace through mercy with himself. And then we learned that there
was an L in tulip and that that L spoke for limited atonement.
How that the Lord Jesus Christ, consistent with the elective
purpose of God, came into this world and went to the cross. perfectly obeying the will of
God, showing himself to be a fit and able sacrifice for his people,
the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross and that precious
blood cleansed the sins of his people, brought them a righteousness,
took away their need and reconciled them to God. And the Lord Jesus
Christ secured that great privilege by his death, by his obedience
to death there on the cross. And we understood that the little
phrase limited in there doesn't limit the efficacy of the power
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it reinforces the
teaching of the Word of God that the death of Christ was designed
to be particular. It was designed for certain individuals
out of this world. that the blood of Christ was
shed for those that God had chosen in his election, in his unconditional
election. So that gave us the Q, the T,
the U, and the L. And then we thought about the
I, which is the irresistible grace, and we see here that all
three persons of the Godhead are engaged in the salvation
of those who were totally depraved, the Father in his election, the
Son in his atonement, and now the Holy Spirit in bringing the
benefits of God's purpose, Christ's satisfaction and his death on
the cross to those individuals who are the chosen of God. is
a consistency in the work of the covenant and the work of
God in salvation and the Holy Spirit brings the grace of God
irresistibly to the hearts of those for whom Christ died and
those who were chosen in eternal election by God. And then we
saw that there was a pea at the end of tulip and that pea spoke
about the perseverance of the saints. So the preservation of
the saints sometimes and how it is that the Lord's people,
once chosen in eternal election, redeemed by the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, illuminated and regenerated by the work of
the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel and the gift of
faith in God, will always persevere to the end. They will be held
safe and sound, and they will end in the family of God, as
was always the purpose of God to accomplish. So that's what
we've been thinking about in recent weeks. And I took the
prompt from somebody who spoke to me about this tulip the other
day, and I thought, you know what? We'll just have another
little study on this to show how that the tulip that we've
been thinking about had an end. How that the work of God and
the covenant of grace is designed to an end and an objective. So we see that God had eternally
set up a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the way of salvation. He had devised the means. It
would be the death of Jesus Christ on the cross that would bring
about the satisfaction of God's justice and the cleansing of
our sins. And that this would be the method
of the Holy Spirit in giving faith to men and women that they
would believe in the work of God and in the work of Jesus
Christ. And this covenant purpose of
God was designed to save and to recover his people that had
fallen in Adam. A people from amongst Adam's
race. The man is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the eternal Son. The means is the blood of the
sacrifice. And the method is by grace, God's
grace, freely given to individual sinners like you and me. And that little tulip acronym
beautifully sets forth that picture for us. It is a statement of
the pure gospel in a very simple and summarised way, which helps
us, I trust, to learn it and to remember it, even the very
youngest. But let us remember that reason
also. Let us remember that it was done
to this end. It was done to the purpose. We've
thought about in recent weeks what God has done, but let us
remember why He did it. What was the end? What was the
objective? What was the purpose? Well, like all things to do with
God, the purpose is His glory. The purpose is the glory of God.
And that is why God set this whole covenant of grace, or covenant
of peace as it is sometimes called, in place as his eternal, resolute,
predetermined, predestinated will. He would accomplish his
purpose to the glory of his name. But there was another aspect
also of this purpose. It was to exalt the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was to lift up the Son of
God and show Him in all of His glory and beauty and majesty
and power. And there is another reason too.
And that is the eternal union of God the Son with his church,
his people whom he loved before time. So God takes all the glory,
the Lord Jesus Christ is lifted up in his preeminence, and we
poor sinners are gathered in as part of the Lord Jesus Christ's
glory and exaltation. And we trace all these things
back to God's glory. And we might wonder, how is it
that a particular thing glorifies God? How is it that a particular
event glorifies God? Well, you know, it isn't always
easy to see that in our lives. And whether we're thinking personally,
or whether we're thinking as a family, or whether we're thinking
as a church, or whether we're thinking as a society, it's not
always easy for us to understand why something happens. Why did
this have to happen to me? Why did this have to happen to
my family? Why did this have to happen to
my church? My nation. And we don't always see an answer
when we ask those kinds of questions. But here's the thing that the
Word of God teaches us. Here's the thing that the revelation
of God brings to our knowledge, that all things that work in
this world work to God's glory. Whether they're little things
that seem very insignificant, or whether they're huge things
that seem immensely significant, God will take the glory out of
everything. And it's not for you and me to
be asking God to explain everything that he does. But it is for you
and me to recognize that He knows what He's doing, He's fully in
control of these things, and He will reveal it in a day to
come, how all of this worked together for His glory, for the
preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for our eternal well-being. I can't explain all the things
that happen in the world. And we have to shed many tears
in this life because of the hurt and the difficulties that we
find. But the Lord Jesus Christ has
walked this way before us. And the Lord Jesus Christ shed
tears also in this world. He was called a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief. And Job, in the Old Testament,
he could say, man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. You ever sat in front of a campfire
throwing on a good old dry log? What happens to the sparks? Up
they go. You know, the next time you see
those sparks flying up, I want you to count them because that's
your troubles. Right there, that's your troubles.
As the sparks fly up, we are born to trouble. The Apostle
Paul, many years later, he could say something similar. He could
say, we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. And you know, it's hard to know
where to put the emphasis in that verse when we read it. We
must. through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of God. But we will enter it. We will
enter it. You know why we'll enter it?
Because despite our total depravity, Our God has chosen a people to
salvation and the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished everything
needful for that salvation and God the Holy Spirit has applied
the blessings and benefits of that new life, that new creation
and the people of God will persevere to the end. Because that's God's
will and He will be glorified. That's God's will and Christ
will be exalted. That's God's will and His church
will be united to Him and not one will be lost. Not one will
be misplaced. Every single one for whom Christ
died, every single one for whom the Holy Spirit intercedes, every
single one that God chose in eternal purpose will be saved. No more and no less. And here we see, in this little
passage in John chapter 14, the way in which this message is
applied to us particularly. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is saying to us, yes, you shall enter, and even although you
go through troubles, let not your heart be troubled. Believe
in God and believe also in me. The Lord Jesus Christ is promising
to his disciples, his apostles, and he is promising to his church
and to his people. He is promising to you and to
me who believe in him, who have received these graces, these
blessings, these mercies and trusted in him. I go to prepare
a place for you and I will come again. I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. So the title of our sermon this
morning is, I Will Come Again. And these are words of promise.
These are words of promise. I will come again. And that's
what I'm going to leave you with, as it were, today. That's what
I want you to take away from the service this morning. That
the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. It's a well-founded promise that
he made because he has evidence that he has done everything needful
to secure that end. All the means are in place. Every
requirement has been provided for. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is now simply waiting until that right moment, that precise moment,
that moment that won't come a minute too early or a minute too late. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
coming back. Tulip has set plainly out the
steps and the stages of God's purpose, and each part has revealed
something of the glory of God. But this culmination, this end,
will demonstrate to eternal ages the power and the wisdom of God
in salvation, because he will wrap up everything entirely according
to his goodwill and purpose. And we who trust in him and believe
in him will be taken to be with the Lord Jesus Christ into that
eternal union where we will see things and hear things and smell
things and touch things and do things that are inconceivable
to us right now. And Jesus Christ has said, I'm
coming back for you. I'm coming back for you. I will
come again. Child of God, Christ is our life. Christ is what we have. This
world can take away so much from us. We can lose so much in this
life, or we can gain a lot. but it's easy come and it's easy
go, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our life, and we can no more
die than He can. Colossians 3, verse 4 says, when
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory. You'll appear with Him in glory.
God's purpose was to glorify Christ. God's purpose was to
exalt His Son. Where are we? Oh look, we're
there right with Him. We're with Him, in glory. Our verses speak of that time
when Christ will appear for us. And he's speaking to troubled
disciples. He's speaking to people with
anxiety. And you know, I have found in
my life that trouble and anxiety, it's just like a list. I've said
this before, haven't I? You knock the top one off, what
happens? Do your troubles disappear? No, you go to the second one
and you start worrying about that. And it goes away. Wonderful, it's gone. I've solved
my second most troublesome problem. What are you going to do? Start
worrying about your third one. Is it not so? But here's the Lord. He's speaking
to his people and he's saying, don't be troubled. I'm coming
for you. Let that be the context in which
we see all our problems. Is it family? Is it relationships? Is it money? Is it jobs? Is it
education? I don't know. Is it health? As
you get older, health is more and more of a trouble, isn't
it? But remember, it's just a little while and the Lord Jesus Christ
is coming for us. So here we've got these words
for us. And the Lord Jesus Christ says
to us, I am coming. I will come again. And I want
you just to see that the one who speaks is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we don't overlook this because
this is the personal relationship that we have with Christ. You
know, if someone's in love with us and they say, yeah, I'm going
to get you to be with me and I'll send somebody to pick you
up. Well, that's maybe good. But isn't it better if they say
I'll be there in the morning? Because that shows the desire
in their part also. And we may long to see the Lord
Jesus Christ, but he longs to see us because that moment when
he is coming, he's not going to let someone else get us and
bring us back to him. He's going to come for us himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. A little verse in Matthew 24
verse 31, it says this, That's not at the end of time. That is preachers preaching the
gospel throughout town and gathering the elect from the four corners
of the earth. Do you know why I know that's
not at the end of time? Because Jesus isn't going to
send somebody to get us at the end of time. He's going to come
and get us himself. These preachers go out There's
a blessing there for us. It took the Lord Jesus Christ
to come personally the first time. No one else could do that
job. There wasn't anyone else good
enough to do the job that needed to be done on the cross. There
wasn't anyone else fit enough, able enough to fulfil the law. There wasn't anyone else good
enough to carry our sin, to pay the debt, to win the victory.
It had to be Christ. He, was the only one who could
do all those things and rise again and ascend back into heaven
to be with His Father in glory. It took the Lord, it took God,
it took the Son of God to do those things. And as He came
the first time as God on earth, as God and man, so He, the God-man,
will come a second time. He is coming. All that was required for a full
and free salvation for his people according to the election of
God was secured and accomplished by Jesus Christ. And it's the
same one who is coming again. Who do we look to for our salvation? A Pope? A church? A preacher? our own good behaviour,
some baptism water. We will look in vain if we look
anywhere else than to Jesus Christ. To whom do we look for redemption?
To pay that debt of sin. Who will pay for my soul? Only the blood of Christ can
atone for sin. Only that pure and precious and
powerful blood of Christ, to whom will we go for forgiveness? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one to whom we go, the one to whom we look, to His cross, to
His sacrifice, to His substitutionary work on our behalf. And it's
to him that we are looking for his second coming. We are looking
to Christ to come again. He was the one that Job, we talked
about Job and the sparks flying up. He was the one that Job looked
to. He knew that in the midst of his troubles, he was looking
to Christ. Whom I shall see for myself,
he says, and my eyes shall behold and not another. And whether the Lord comes for
us in the second coming, when he comes to take his church,
or whether he comes personally in death at the end of our time
in this world, it will be the Lord Jesus Christ that will come
and it is the Lord Jesus Christ that we will see. He says, I
will come. And there's an emphasis there
to be noted also, because many people today deny that the Lord
Jesus Christ is coming back. And maybe it's a bigger thing
about denying the Lord Jesus Christ altogether, or maybe they've
got their own religious views about what is going to happen.
This world is full of religions, but the Lord Jesus Christ says
that I will come again. So who are you going to believe?
Man or God? 2 Peter 3, verse 3 says, knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days. These
are the last days, we're in the last days. Peter says, there
shall come in the last days, walking after their, sorry, scoffers,
walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise
of his coming? You've been telling us for years
that Jesus is coming again. Well, where is he? We're waiting. We're waiting. You think perhaps
you got it wrong? Scoffers. Walking after their
own lusts. You see, that's interesting.
Walking after their own lusts. They say, where is the promise
of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Well, we do live in the last
days and Peter was surely right in this prophecy because there
are plenty scoffers around. And that's exactly the question
that they're asking. You know what that question really
means? Well, it really means what it says, but let me interpret
it another way for you also. See, people want to do what people
want to do. People want to follow their own
lusts. me, what pleases me, what satisfies
me. And that's what they want to
do. And they don't want to be held accountable for their lusts,
for their sensual pleasures, for whatever it is that pleases
their appetites. So they say, where's the judgment?
You know, you say that people aren't to live like this or to
do these sorts of things or that they have to be careful or they
have to be thoughtful or... Why? Why? All of these years,
if all of these people had listened to you, nobody would have done
anything that they wanted. We'll just go ahead and do what
we want to do because we don't actually believe there's going
to be judgment at all. We don't believe that we'll be held accountable
for the things that we say and the things that we do. Where
is he? You've said he's coming back. Well, he's never arrived
yet. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I
will come. I will come. And whether that's
to judge or whether that's to gather his people, the Lord Jesus
Christ is coming. You better believe it. You better
believe it. and he's coming back soon. Does
this world seem dark? Does it appear that there is
an abounding, an abundance of evil in this world? Jesus says,
I will come. Discoffers mock what is good
and honourable and decent and lawful and holy. Jesus Christ
says, I will come. The systems of our society appear
increasingly godless. And the lusts of men and women
are going unchecked. And Jesus Christ says, I will
come. Peter says, the Lord is not slack
concerning his prophets, as some men count slackness. But his
longsuffering to us were not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. I wish, I wish men and women,
all men and women understood what this delay in the Lord Jesus
Christ's coming is all about. The only reason why the Lord
Jesus Christ has not come yet is because the fool quantity
of the elect of God have not yet been gathered in. The only
reason why the Lord Jesus Christ hasn't come back yet is because
those for whom he died on the cross have not yet been called
by the powerful will of the Holy Spirit into the experience of
grace. Well, you say to me, why doesn't
the Holy Spirit call these people into the grace and let's get
this whole thing wrapped up? Well, because they haven't been
born yet, perhaps. If I think of that, the world
has not yet run its course. The purpose of God has not yet
been completed. The elect of God have not yet
been gathered. And until they do, this world
will go on. God's not slack concerning his
promises. But that moment, When that last
child of God is brought powerfully by the Holy Spirit into the experience
of God's grace by faith, then it's over. Then it's done. Then the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And don't imagine that there
will be a second chance. Don't imagine that there will
be an opportunity to redo and sort out and get things in order,
because it's done then. It's over. and either judgment
will fall upon our heads or we will rejoice to see the face
of the one who has promised, I will come again. Galatians
6 verse 7 says, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And in 1 Corinthians 6,
there's a few verses there, starting at verse 9, which says, Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived. neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you, but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, but
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of God. Let me say another thing about
Christ's coming. He says, I will come. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to return bodily to this world. And we are told that when he
does, every eye will see him. A day is coming when the Lord
Jesus Christ will return to this earth. The angels at his ascension
declared, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
so shall come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. And in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse
16, we read, And the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. That return of Christ is going
to bring judgment upon the wicked for salvation and the experience
of eternal salvation and union with Christ to his people. What
will be blessed for believers will usher in judgment and separation
for this world. 2 Peter 3 10 says, But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. That is going to be one horrendous,
fearful day. And to be without Christ on that
day is to be in the most dire place possible. There is also a coming of the
Lord that comes before that day. because the Lord Jesus Christ
may come for his people in death, and it may be a personal coming
for them. It is appointed once to die,
says the Scriptures, but that is no less than the Lord Jesus
Christ's, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there he may be also. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is going to come on the last day and judge this earth. And
the church will be gathered up to join him. But there will be those who will
be coming back with him. they who have been taken out
of this world before that day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall
return to judge the earth. Maybe you have experienced in
your life, I know some of you are younger and some of you are
older, but perhaps if we haven't experienced it already, we soon
will, the loss of someone that we love. And when we think about the death
of a loved one, we perhaps might speculate which one of us will
go first. Will it be you or will it be
me? Will I have to live my life without
you or will you live your life without me? I imagine that many of us have
thought about those things, speculated and perhaps even discussed with
our spouse or loved ones. The Lord comes again for a husband
and a wife becomes a widow. The Lord comes again and takes
a wife to glory. and leaves a husband to live
in an empty house. The Lord takes a child or a parent
and those who remain feel the hole that is left. And there's a word of comfort
here for us also. For all who love the Lord Let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. What the Lord is telling his
disciples is, trust in me. Trust the Lord. Trust that the
Lord knows what he's doing. Trust that the Lord is working
these things well. John 14 verse 27 says, peace
I leave with you. Let's just take that back for
a moment and apply it to the circumstances of a bereavement. If the Lord Jesus Christ comes
and takes our loved one and leaves a gap and leaves a hole and leaves
a space where that person once walked and talked and sat and
shared our life, are we going to be broken and
destroyed and distraught and not go on? Or are we going to
say, you know what? The Lord has prepared me for
this. The Lord has shown me that I
have to trust Him. I have to be ready for this moment
and I have to have peace. despite the challenges that it
brings to me. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The peace that
the world gives is a feeble peace, it's an ignorant peace, it's
a deceiving peace, it's a peace that says, peace, peace, when
there is no peace, but the peace of God passeth
understanding, and it sustains, and it upholds, and faith in
the face of trial, faith in the midst of loneliness, faith when
there is just fear is what proves the promises of God to his people. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
will come again. Philippians 4 verse 7 says, And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Our hearts and
our minds. You know, We spoke last week
about the preservation of the saints or the perseverance of
the saints. Our hearts and minds will be
kept. Our hearts that trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ, let not your heart be troubled. And our minds,
which have to wrestle with all the complexities of the emotions
and the feelings and the losses and the trials and the fear and
the anxieties, He will give us a peace that passeth understanding
in our hearts and in our minds. We do not sorrow as others which
have no hope. We grieve in hope. We continue in comfort. We live by faith. We joy in the Lord. The doctrines of grace that we
have studied in recent weeks have shown us the means to the
end of God's glory and the church's salvation. And these truths do
not stand simply as doctrinal pillars that we watch and look
at and admire and even extol. They have a practical, personal
implication for our lives. This isn't just doctrine and
theology. This is truth, and this is the
Lord's comfort to our souls. It supports God's people who
wait on the consummation of all things, and we press forward
to that goal by faith in Christ. We await the sure promises of
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. 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. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us and encourage our hearts in them. Amen.