Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. Now this is not talking about
the one just over the hilltop. I don't have to tell you that
some people in this world with literal mansions blow their brains out, overdose
on drugs, drink themselves to death. You need something better
than that. This is the only place in the
Bible we find the word mansions. Nowhere else. And it simply means
plenty of room. In my father's house, house means
family. The house of Judah meant the
family, the people of Judah. The house of David meant the
family of David. The house of Israel meant the
family or people of Israel. In my father's family, there's
plenty of room. That's what it's saying. But people have such a materialistic
mindset about heaven till it's almost like they're
saying, if Jesus is there, okay. But it's that mansion I'm after. 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."
Now, where is it he's going at this moment when he speaks these
words? I go to prepare a place for you. He's not bypassing his
crucifixion and resurrection to speak of his ascension. Where
is it he's going? He's going to the cross. And he says, I go to prepare
a place for you. The place he's going to prepare
is not a geographical location, not that kind of place, but a
place of acceptance with the Father. That's what he went to
the cross for. That's why he died. 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 you may be also. Now, we don't
have a problem with including the second coming and are going
to be with him. We don't have a problem with
including that. But initially here, he said that where I am in the
father's good pleasure, There may ye also be in the Father's
good pleasure. That's what I'm going to prepare.
There's a place for you to be accepted in me. And that's what
Paul said in Ephesians 1, 6, that we are accepted in the beloved
in Christ. All right, back to verse 1, which
is what we'll look at a little bit this morning. Let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In the hearing of eleven men, Judas Iscariot having already
gone out, the eleven heard the Lord Jesus
say, let not your heart be troubled. Notice it's not hearts, plural,
though there's 11 of them, Christ knew they all had the same heart, a troubled heart. And these precious
words spoken from the lips of God the Son, initially to the
11, are also by divine inspiration recorded here in the 14th chapter
of John, for all God's elect in all the world in every generation,
including you and I this morning. Christ's interest in this world
and always has been is his sheep. Now, man-centered religion hates
this, but I'd remind us Christ did not say to Judas Iscariot,
Let not your heart be troubled. He did not say it to any doomed and damned who would wind
up in hell, but he says it to his own. Let not your heart be
troubled. And so my thoughts this morning,
quite brief, I hope, and you hope. Well, this come under three
headings. First would be that reason for
a troubled heart. Or we could say the very core
or the essence of a troubled heart. At the very core of a troubled
heart is a sinful heart. Nothing troubles a child of God
any more than simply what he or she is. our sin. When I really see myself, I don't
hate you, I hate me. What wrong we've done is awful,
but what made us do it is more awful. It's what we are. And the times you've resisted
temptation and didn't do wrong. We cannot boast about it because
there was something in here that wanted to do it. It's what we
are. It's what we are. I know to talk
about sin is kind of a forbidden subject nowadays, but that don't
change it. God's word is God's word. And I think about some of the
great heroes of the Bible that we consider such great people,
spiritual people, God-fearing people, God-honoring people.
But this thing I'm talking about, a sinful heart, it's what made
Isaiah the prophet confess, woe is me, for I am undone. Was He undone? Not before men. He was a great and a godly man. But in Isaiah 6, with a glimpse,
a vision of God in His glory and in His holiness, it brought
these words of confession from Isaiah. Woe is me, for I
am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips." Was he bad to cuss? Is that what
that meant? Bad language? A man of unclean lips? No. The
unclean lips was a term referring to leprosy. The awful disease
of leprosy would eat away at the flesh of the lips and around
the mouth. It was a very sickening, disgusting
sight with a foul odor. And of course, you know, by law,
the leper had to keep their mouth covered and lips covered. And Isaiah,
godly man as he was, he is confessing before God. I'm so corrupted. I'm such a sinful being. I'm so eat up with spiritual
leprosy. The leprosy of sin. Such a foul
odor it must be in the nostrils of God, just what I am. such a sickening and disgusting
sight to a holy God. But it's what I am. And my heart is troubled. My
heart is troubled. A sinful heart is what made the
Apostle Paul confess something. The great Christian that he was
in the eyes of men Yet he confesses, O wretched man that I am. It's not about all I've done,
good or bad, or haven't done good or bad. It's about what
I am. David the man after God's own
heart. He said the whole trouble is
what I am Conceived in sin Shapen in iniquity We go astray from
the womb We come forth speaking lies We weren't born with the
privilege to decide if we'd be a sinner We were born sinners. So much for the so-called age
of accountability. You were accountable to God for
what you are the moment our father Adam sinned. You say, well, I wasn't even
around then. Oh yeah, you were around. You were in him. You were in him. That's all we
are, is Adam reproduced. We sinned in him. Romans 5.12
said, for as by one man's sin entered, that was Adam, and death
by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Including babies. Every man, woman, and child,
born or unborn, was in Adam when he shook his fist in God's face
and said, I can ignore your word. I can do as I please. I'll be my own God. And that's
the reason for the troubled heart in all humanity, what we are.
Especially know in God's people what we are. It doesn't seem
to trouble the unregenerate at all. But it troubles God's child. Why? Because we know. We are sure. That our God would
be just. And he would be right. To leave
us to ourselves. to follow on in our corrupt nature
and in our rebellion after rebellion after rebellion until we die
in our sin and shame and drop into hell. So this is the reason of a troubled
heart, our sin, our sin. Before Adam fell, there was nothing
that could possibly trouble the heart. But since he fell, we've had
nothing but a troubled heart. All right, the second thought
would be the elevation or the stirring up of a troubled heart.
And what I mean by that is there are times when things happen
and fears arise and we're threatened In some
way and circumstances seem to warrant our troubled heart being
elevated to another level. We'd say in this text, John 14, I trust
you're familiar with these chapters. Previously, the Lord had told
these men I'm going to die. They were convinced in their
heart that would never be the case. I cannot conceive the shock this
must have been to them and the fear that must have gripped the
disciples at that statement. They couldn't get a hold of it. This is the one who had told
them, I am the light of the world. I am the bread of life. not death. I am the way, the truth and the
life, not death. I am the resurrection and the
life, not death. And yet he says, I'm going to
die. He had told them, he that liveth and believeth on me shall
never die. And now he says, I'm going to
die. Of course, they're troubled,
very troubled. They felt trouble in the very
atmosphere. Can you imagine when he said
in chapter 12 in verse 27, now is my soul troubled. Lord, you got nothing to be troubled
about. You can do anything you want. You can perform any miracle.
You got nothing to be troubled. But, oh, it was different. It was an atmosphere. It was
trouble that they even felt. And these words coming from him,
now is my soul troubled. They hadn't seen, they hadn't
seen him like this. Oh, they're troubled and it's
elevated. It's elevated more by what he says to them and about
them in the 13th chapter. He'd said, one of you shall betray
me. They never dreamed it would be
Judas Iscariot, but they all begin to ask, Lord, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? One by one
they ask, all of them. Lord, is it? I, none of them, they, they, they,
they realized that not one of them was above being deceived and thinking they were God's
child and might not be troubled about these things. And they'd all heard him tell
Peter. You'll deny me thrice. And then I heard Peter argue
back. Uh, not me, but the Lord said, yeah, you'll
do it this night. Three times. What did they think? What did the others think? Well,
tough as that guy is, if he's not going to be able to stand,
what about me? And then they'd heard him say in so many
words that the shepherd will be smitten
and the flock will scatter. You'll all scatter. Why wouldn't they be troubled?
They were very troubled. And it was elevated trouble,
a troubled heart. And you and I this morning, in
your life and in mine with all of life's troubles and problems
and experiences and with loved ones and family and friends and
workplace, neighbors, everything concerning our lives, all the
troubles, what we call the good and the bad. The times when we use the expression,
the bottom falls out. Everything goes haywire. We don't
know which way to turn. We don't know which way's up.
A lot of little things like that we say. And we're left speechless
and we're left shamed. And the trouble in our already
troubled heart is elevated. As God's child, we're troubled
all along about what we are. But at times that trouble is
elevated by so many other things and people. What do we do? What
can we do? Well, here's the third thought. What can we do about it? eliminate? How do we survive? How do we
get beyond the troubled heart? What's the remedy? Can it end
anywhere this side of the graveyard? Yes. Yes. All the trouble won't end until
the graveyard. But the troubled heart can end. Let not your heart be troubled. This is not a command to avoid
a future condition. He's not saying let not your
heart become troubled. It's already troubled. Christ is dealing with a condition
in these disciples already present. It's already present with us.
Some of you have a very troubled heart this morning. I trust over
what you are, that should be the case, but also over so many
other things. But the command is this, stop
letting your heart be troubled. It's as if the Lord said this,
stop it. I see your countenance. I see
your chin dragging the ground. Stop it. Let not your heart be troubled.
Be troubled no longer. I am still in control. Stop acting as if you've lost
control. You've never been in control.
That's what He's saying to us. You believe in God, believe also
in Me. These disciples believed the
Word of God, the Old Testament. And that's all there was at the
time. They believed the prophecies.
They believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. But they believed it with a very
strong Jewish prejudice. They believed because he was
a Jew, surely his kingdom that he talked about would be the
kingdom of Israel. He would ascend the throne. He
would free them from Roman oppression. This was at the height of the
Roman Empire, Roman oppression. and they believed that right
up to the time he ascended. The very last question they asked
him before he was taken up in their sight in Acts chapter 1,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of
Israel? So what if you hung on a cross
and bled and died and rose again. This is not about you. This is
about our kingdom. Oh, but it is about him. It is
about him. These disciples were so pitiful.
They all had on their Jesus caps. That said, make Israel great
again. They missed it. They missed it. They'd missed it when he said,
my kingdom is not of this world. That's not why I'm here. They
didn't understand. If I be lifted up on the cross,
I'll draw all kinds of men to me. I'm not here just for Jews. They didn't understand. I laid
down my life for the sheep. They didn't understand. If the
son make you free, you shall be free indeed. They didn't understand as yet
what he told the two on the road to Emmaus on the afternoon of
the resurrection. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to have entered into His glory? Everything's
on schedule. He hadn't lost control. We've
no reason to have a troubled heart. He told those two later in that
same text, Luke 24. The Bible said they were terrified,
supposing they had seen a spirit, a ghost. Well, the Lord Jesus
has been accused of that before. And here's what he said to them. Why are you troubled? There's
the word troubled again. And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Well, everybody has thoughts
in our hearts. He's really saying, why do these crazy thoughts arise
in your hearts? Why are you troubled? I've got
this. Nothing's gone wrong. I'm going
to get you. So I'd asked you and I this morning,
why are you troubled? Why are you troubled? Well, yes,
what you are is reason enough. And what life throws at you is
certainly reason enough. But I want to say to you what
Christ has done for us is reason enough to know that He is bigger
as we had in that song. He's bigger than all hell and
all that hell can do. Let not your heart Be troubled. You remember. When he told Peter
or Simon, he called him. That's an interesting study.
The Lord usually called him Simon, which was his given name, Wishiwashi. But Peter means the rock. Call
him that sometimes, too. when he was in his right frame
of mind. But when the Lord told him that,
you'll deny me three times. He told him that truth beforehand. He didn't say, now, Simon, you
be careful, bud. I mean, you know, there's a devil
out there. He tried to tempt you. No, no, no. He didn't tell
him there's a possibility. He said, bud, You are going down
three times tonight. And the Lord tells us in His
Word that life is full of troubles
and trials and tribulations and faults and failures and that
we haven't made the grade and we're not going to make the grade
in ourselves. He tells us the truth about ourselves. That's
the first thing He told Peter, the truth about him. Secondly, he didn't tell him.
He said, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you
as wheat. But I've told him, no way, you're mine. No, he didn't. He didn't. Here's what he said. But I have prayed for thee. Yeah, what you are is going to
come out. It does with us. But we have a great intercessor,
one at the right hand of the Father, one who has conquered
death, hell, and the grave. And he says we're going to make
it through. A lot of people tell me we're not. He says we are. Who are we going to be? How do we survive? Get beyond this thing of a troubled
heart. How can I get there? Well, to answer that I can do
no better than reading to you. I do this a lot. Y'all know other people say better
stuff than I do. This is a preacher by the name
of Horatius Bonar. He lived 1808. to 1889, most of the 1800s, when a lot
of people had good sense, unlike today. Here's what he says, talking
to believers like you and I. Look my soul at yon cross. What seest thou? A dying man. But who is that dying man? It
is the prince of life. It is he who has life in himself. Why then does he die? He dies
because thou shouldest have died. He's not there for himself. He's there for you. He dies to prevent thee from
dying. It's not talking about physically
now. It's talking about dying in your sin, going to hell. He
dies to prevent thee from dying, to give thee life. His death
is the sinner's life. And without that death, there
could have been no life to those dead in sin. For the law needed
to be satisfied with a true life. That life must be either ours
or another's in our stead. If the life of that other satisfies
the law, then thou does not need to die. And my soul, that true life which
has been given to the law, the law of God, the law that said
the soul that sinneth it shall die. Since that life has been given
to that law and with which the law has dealt, as with the life
of the guilty, it has sufficed instead of thine. The law of
God is satisfied. with what his son did in your
stead. For it is to the very fountain
of life that law has gone to get its satisfaction. Christ
is the fountain of life. He is life in him was life. The life of the Prince of life
has been given and accepted instead of thine. But look again, my
soul, at that cross. And as thou lookest, hear the
loud cry. It is finished. The great work is done. The sacrifice
has been offered. The blood has been shed. The
ransom has been paid. He has finished the transgression.
He has made an end of sin. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness. There is no more needed to be
done for the putting away of sin. All the doing and the suffering
that was needed or that ever can be needed was done and suffered
then and there upon yon cross. Henceforth. It is not our doing or suffering
that is required for pardon, but taking the benefit of what
another has done for us. Christ has done enough. And he
who knows this has peace with God. I don't miss this last line.
If then my soul. Thou hast not peace with God. It must be because thou thinkest
that Christ has not done enough, but has left something for thee
to do in order to complete what he began. I asked you this morning. Has
He not done enough? Why is your heart troubled? Over
what you are? Over what you've done? Over what
you haven't done? Over what's been done to you? Over a ruined life? Over a sense
of failure? over false accusations, over
true accusations, over loss of reputation, over having grown old and still
nothing good seemingly to show for life. And I'm the only one that faces
those nine things. None of those are valid reasons
to disbelieve the words of our Lord. He did not say, let not your
heart be troubled unless you've done this or that or the other.
And I got nothing for you then. No, there's no unless in there.
There's no if in there. It's simply let not your heart
be troubled. He came and did what he said
he came to do. If you could really believe that
this morning, it would help you. You believe in God, you know,
he told you the truth. Believe also in me. I'm telling
you the truth. Stop the direction you're going.
Quit the mindset you're in. Let not your heart be troubled
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Believe in me. Believe in me. Trust me. Trust me. When you hear a politician say,
trust me, do you? When the Lord Jesus says, trust
me, you can. You can. Amen.