John chapter 14, where Brother
Bob read for us. Let not your heart be troubled. What trouble time it comes for
these apostles. It came on them. We're told there
in verse 33 of chapter 14 that the Lord Jesus was going away.
Little children, a little while, I am with you. You shall seek
me. And as I said unto the Jews,
where I go, you cannot come. So now I'm telling you, I'm leaving
and you can't go with me. And then he tells them there
in verse 21 of the 13th chapter, Verily, verily, I say unto you
that one of you shall betray me." One of you is going to betray
me. And if they were anything like
us, they begin to ask, Lord, is it I? Is it I? And then he tells Peter there
in the same chapter in verse 38, before the cock crows, you
shall deny me three times. Man, they were in trouble, weren't
they? They began to feel this trouble. Peter never asked another
question. Everybody else was looking to
Peter, I imagine. Why isn't he asking this question?
We know what he's thinking. But Peter never spoke another
word that we have recorded. Thomas asked a question. The
other Judas asked a question. But Peter never spoke another
word, probably anticipating his fall. How is this going to happen? Poor Job said about his trials
that he got into, he said, that which I feared has come upon
me. Have you ever thought, it may
not be tomorrow, it may not be next week, but I'm just scared
to death and I'm going to fall. Somewhere down the road, it may
be a wall, but I'm going to fall. And boy, you get that thought
in your heart, that's troubling, isn't it? These fellows were
in trouble. And the Lord said here, let not
your heart be troubled. I tell you, there's no trouble
like heart trouble. And the Lord is concerned. He's touched with
the feelings of the heart. He can sympathize with our bodies
when we're in pain. I bless Him for that. But I tell
you what, He bows, He bends, He stoops when He sees the heart's
in trouble. He can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. Everything seemed out of control
to these men. The one that they loved dearly
was leaving them. Somebody was going to betray
them. Another was going to deny that they even knew them. Everything
seemed out of control to these dear men. And yet it is right
here in the midst of this dilemma that they face that we have this
word, Let not your heart be troubled. And he tells them here, you believe
in God. He begins to tell them why. He
don't want their hearts to be troubled. Here's why your hearts
shouldn't be troubled. You believe in God. Now, they
didn't believe in a false God. These men wasn't worshiping some
kind of an idol. They believed in the true and
living God. They'd been taught of Him, that
God is Everlasting to everlasting. That He's holy. That He's high. That He's immense. That He's
good. That He's gracious. And that
God is love. They believed in God. They had
their confidence. They put their trust. They relied
upon God. That's what that word means.
Then He says this. Put your trust in Me. Rely upon
Me. Depend upon Me. You depend upon
the Father. depend upon me. And they believed
in God, and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He
was the Son of God. Now, they believed this. And
I'll prove that to you from a very verse of Scripture. Do you remember
when the Lord Jesus asked Peter who I am? Peter, who do you say
I am? Peter knew who He was, didn't
he? He said, You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. They knew Him to be the Son of
God. They knew who He was. They believed
on Him. Because the Father had revealed
Christ to them. Believe in Me. You know who I
am. Believe in Me. Exercise your
trust, your confidence in Me. Have you got a troubled heart?
Then believe in Me. Believe in your Father. Believe
in Me. After the Lord had raised from
the dead, it revealed to us that they knew
a little bit more about the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when Thomas
saw the prince in His hands and the hole in His side, remember
how he addressed the Lord Jesus. My Lord and my God. You believe in God. Believe in
me. You believe that I am one with
God. You believe I am equal with Him. You believe I am eternal
with the Father. They believed that, didn't they?
That's why they said, You're my Lord and You're my God. That's why He told us down here
in this passage that Bob read to us. If you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. The Father's in me and I'm in
the Father. Believe in God. You do. Believe in me. The Lord Jesus would never have
His people to despair because of trouble. But here's what He
tells them to do in their troubles. Trust. Rely. Depend upon this triune God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Look what He went on to tell
them in verse 27 of the 14th chapter of the Bible read to
us. Look here what he says. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you, not as the world give unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Don't we think sometimes
there's a little bit of merit in sadness? I need to be, I need to feel
just a little bit sad and downcast because there's some kind of
a merit, there's some attention I'll get from God if I can just
go around and be sad. Don't we think there's some kind
of merit in that? I think we do sometimes. But the Lord said
this, don't be troubled. Be trustful. Rely upon me. Be peaceful in your soul. My
peace I leave with you, let not your heart be troubled." Other
places we are told the joy of the Lord is our strength. Rejoice
in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. These things have
I written unto you that in me you may have joy, you may have
peace. And I have written these things
unto you that you can read them and that my joy will be in you. And your joy will be full. Now,
sometimes you can say this to a troubled heart and it makes
them almost grievous. But the Lord was preaching to
their troubled hearts. What time I'm afraid, David said.
I'll trust in the Lord. And then he turned right around
and said, I'll trust and not be afraid. And that's what the
Master said. You believe in God? Are you trusting? Are you reliant upon Him? Then
trust and rely upon Me just as you do Him. He says you are in verse 2. He
says something else I think here that surely had to comfort their
hearts. Not only to trust and be reliant
upon the Father and upon the Son. But He says you are in verse
2. In My Father's house are many
mansions. That word mansions, it means
dwelling places. In my Father's house. Isn't that
a comforting word? In my Father's house. I tell you, these apostles, boy,
they found no home here, did they? They weren't as comfortable in
this world as you and I are. They threatened these fellas.
And they not only threatened, but they beat them. They killed
James, and Boxer's Book of Martyrs tells us they finally killed
all of the apostles. They were killed. They didn't
find a dwelling place in this world, did they? But the Lord
Jesus says here, in my Father's house, in my Father's house. They weren't at home in this
world, and they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
upon this earth. And they said, in this world,
we have no certain dwelling place. But there's one above, Christ
said. My Father's house. I love it when He calls heaven
that, don't you? What's heaven? It's my Father's
house. I had such a good dad. He was
hard on me sometimes, but not hard enough, really. But I never
felt in all my life that I couldn't go home. I was always welcome
home. And I tell you, if we'd think
about that, we're welcome in heaven. Dear child of God, you'll
be welcome in your Father's house. Your Father's house. Dwelling. It's a dwelling. A continual
place of residence. Never be turned out. Dwelling. Dwelling. The Lord Jesus said,
He shall dwell with you forever. This is the same word. A dwelling
continually. They're already there. In my
Father's house are many dwelling places. God has already prepared
them. The Lord Jesus is not up in heaven
preparing dwelling places. Those dwelling places are already
there. And you know something? The Father's
not going to have these dwelling places in heaven. And then not
have every one of them occupied. There'll be no vacant houses
there. He's going to fill every one of them. And he tells us
here, there's many. In my Father's house are many
dwelling places. Aren't you glad that Jehovah's
Witnesses have erred in the number that they think is going to heaven?
Aren't you glad there's more than 144,000? If there was, I
assure you right now, that would leave you out and that would
leave me out. But what does the Scripture say? There's many.
There's many. This is my blood of the new covenant
that is shed for many. Not just a few, but many. John said, I looked up into heaven
and I saw much people there. Much people, a number that no
man can number. There's a heaven, the Father's
house, and it's vast. It's roomy. It has many dwelling
places in it. And I'm telling you, there's
room for you. Dear child of God, there's room
for you. And that's what He's telling
these dear saints here. Heaven is a comfortable place. It's mansions. It's a welcoming
place. It's the Father's house. It's
a vast place. There's many dwelling places
there. And it's a place adopted and adapted and made for the
redeemed out of humanity. And wouldn't that have a tendency,
no matter what your trouble is, to help your troubled heart?
If you could remember this, that no matter what you have to suffer
in this lifetime, in your body or in your soul, what conflict
you may be in, it doesn't matter. When it's all said and done,
you're going home to your Father's house. Wouldn't that make this
life more bearable? Let not your heart be troubled. And how sure are these mansions?
How sure is this promise in my Father's house or many mansions?
Well, it's awfully sure because He tells them here, if it were
not so, I would have told you. He's not going to lie to anybody,
is He? One thing about our Master that you'll notice about Him,
buddy, He was brutally honest. He never tried to flatter or
impress anybody. He never exaggerated what He
had to say. When he talked about hell, he
was brutally honest. He said it's a place of outer
darkness. A place where there's weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth. And he looked at those Pharisees
and said, how can you escape the damnation of hell? But when
he talked about heaven, oh, it was sweet. It was sure. I'm telling you, if this wasn't
true, if there wasn't a heaven for the saved, he'd never tell
us that. He's just not that way, is He?
No. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Now He's going to tell them something
else to comfort them. They may not fully realize it
at this time. No doubt they didn't. But they
will soon. I go to prepare a place for you. He wasn't talking about
the mansions now. He's talking about something
else, isn't He? The mansions are already there. Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, prepared for
you from the foundation of the world." It's there. And in that
new heaven and new earth, it'll be there. But this is something
else he's talking about. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. That's why I've got to go away.
It's essential for you that I go away. It's expedient for you.
If I go not away, there ain't going to be a place prepared
for you. And where is that? Well, look here in Hebrews with
me. He gives a little bit of hint there in verse 6 when he
said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to
the Father except by me. And he hints there what he's
talking about, the place. Look in Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrews
chapter 9, and look in verse 11 and 12. Hebrews chapter 9,
verse 11 and 12. But now Christ being come, then
high priest of good things to come. Good things. Thy greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of this building,
neither by the blood of bulls and calves, but by his own blood
he entered once into the holy place. There's a place, and Christ
has entered there with his blood. having obtained eternal redemption
for us. And look over verse 24. For Christ
is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which
are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. He's there for us at the right
hand of God. Now, what advantage does that
give us? We'll turn on over to the 10th
chapter and read a few verses here with me. Look in verse 11. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
11. And every priest stands daily,
there in that Levitical priesthood in the temple, ministering and
offering all times the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God." That's a place, isn't it?
"...from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us." Well, after that, he had said before, this
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts, in their minds
will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Now, where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. That's settled, isn't
it? Sin has been purged by one offering. by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which He has made for us through the veil, that
is to say His flesh, and having that high priest over the house
of God at God's right hand, let us draw near with a true heart
and full assurance of faith." What place has He prepared for
us? He's prepared an access. He's the door. He's the way that
you and I can go to the Father and pray unto the Father and
be accepted of our Father. He's the mediator between God
and man. That's the place that He's provided.
Come boldly to the throne of grace. I go to prepare a place for you. And every time you go to God
in prayer, you have access through Jesus Christ. 24 hours a day, free, unfettered
access into the presence of God. That's the way. That's the place
that He's preparing. I am the way. Ain't that a wonderful
thought? When your heart is troubled,
when your heart is broken up with a bitter, woeful cup, then
is the time to go to the Father. No matter what your state of
mind, the state of your body, your situation in this world
is, you can go right into your Father's presence, because Christ
has prepared the way, the place. And there you can find rest.
There you can find comfort. I for my one, for myself, will
testify this, that I have found as much comfort for my broken
heart by just saying, My Father, than reading a whole bunch of
books or doing a whole bunch of religious activities. My Father. And you can go address Him and
pray unto Him as your Father anytime, because the Lord Jesus
I prepared the place. It's prepared. It's prepared. I go to prepare a place for you. Look back in our text again.
I imagine that's why Peter was
sleeping between those soldiers, don't you? There in Acts chapter
12. When the next day he just knew he was going to be killed.
He was resting. He says here in 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. I will come again and receive
you. I will receive you. Here we receive
Him, don't we? As many as received Him. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk you in Him. Here we receive His atonement
as our reconciliation to God. We receive His blood as our fountain
open for sin and uncleanness. And here He says, I'm coming
again, and I'm going to receive you. You receive me in the world,
I'm going to receive you into heaven. You own me before men, I'll own
you before my Father. You confess my name before devils,
I'll confess your name before angels. I'm going to receive
you. And I love this, that where I
am, That where I am, where is He? We just read about it, didn't
we? He's in heaven. He's in heaven. Those angels
that stood there with those apostles on the Mount of Olives, and the
Master just went up in that cloud, and those angels said, why do
you stand here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus that
was taken up into heaven, He's going to come again. He's in
heaven. Peter says He's going into heaven. and is on the right
hand of God, and everything is subject to Him. He is in heaven. Well, He says that where I am,
there you shall be also. Father, I will that they that
You have given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold
My glory. The Lord doesn't tell them how
this is going to happen, does He? I love hearing how He just
skips over that. He doesn't. He leaves them in
the dark. How in the world is this going
to happen? How am I going to get where you are? He doesn't
tell them, does He? You know what He does? He expects
them just to believe it. The Lord doesn't have to explain
everything to us. That's what makes the lost men,
what makes atheists so mad. They want the Lord to explain
every little jot and every little detail. But you and I shouldn't
expect that, brothers and sisters. It's enough for Him to say that
where I am, there you'll be also, without saying, Lord, how in
the world am I going to get there? And this is one thing that you'll
find out. When you walk in the light that He's given you, He'll
give you more light. It's not long until He begins
to tell them how you're going to get there. When he said, I'm
going to come again, Paul said, I'll show you a mystery. He's
revealed this to me. What those poor apostles didn't
know there in that upper room, Paul said, He's revealed it to
me and I'm going to tell you. I'm going to show you this mystery.
The Lord is coming again. He's going to come down from
heaven with a shout and with a voice of the archangel and
the trump of God. And we're going to be chained.
The dead are going to get out of their graves. The graves are
going to open. There's going to be a resurrection.
The saints are literally going to rise out of their graves,
and we which are alive and remain, and all of us are going to be
changed. This vile body is going to be
fashioned in a moment's time like unto His glorious body.
Those who are corrupt and decayed, they're going to put on incorruption.
These mortals are going to put on immortality and we're going
to be caught up in the air to meet the Lord. And so shall we
ever be with Him. Wouldn't that comfort your heart
if there's trouble? I can bury the wall on me. I
can bury the trouble if I'm going to be with Him. I will come again and receive
you unto Myself." And John said, still, I don't know what we're
going to be like. But we know this, when He shall
appear, we'll be like Him. But we shall see Him as He is. And he tells them here in verse
4, And whither I go, you know. You know where I'm going. Thomas
said, Lord, we don't know where You're going. The Lord says,
you do too. You just don't know it. He said,
Thomas, do you believe in heaven? Well, sure I do, Lord. And you
know where I'm going. I'm going to heaven, Thomas.
Lord, I don't know the way there. Yes, you do. You just don't know
it. You know me, Thomas? Lord, I
know you. You're the Son of God. I'm the
way. You know where I'm going. And you know how to get there. Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Are you relying upon Him? Do you know Him? Then you
know where you're going. And you know the way there. You're
going to heaven. And Christ your Lord, your Savior,
is the way. And you don't have to be in a
strain about it all. You don't have to worry about
how you're going to get there. He'll get you there. These men
are there, and their bodies are decayed. They're gone, and they're
waiting on His return, just like you and just like me will be
waiting on His return. And when He comes again, He's
going to receive them, and He's going to receive us unto Himself,
the whole man. They're there with Him now in
their spirits, the spirits of just men made perfect. If you
and I die, we'll be with Him in our souls. And someday He's
going to descend and bring our souls with Him. And He's going
to reunite these bodies and the souls, and He's going to take
us up to heaven to be with Him. And if you know Him, that's all
you need to know. He's all you need to know. This
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. Believe, rely, depend upon this
redeeming, triumphant God, the Father who chose us, the Son
who reconciled us, the Holy Spirit that calls us and sanctifies
us and seals us. Depend, trust, rely upon this
blessed, triumphant God, and let not your heart be troubled. Let's pray.