Chapter 14, The Master Comforts
the Troubled Heart. There's no separation, or shouldn't
be, between chapter 13 and 14. In chapter 13, our Lord was speaking
to his disciples. They loved him. They loved him. Peter called on Christ to witness
that fact. He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know I love you. They loved him. They believed
him. The Apostle Peter said, we believe that thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God, we're sure. But they couldn't
comprehend what he was saying. They just couldn't understand
it. You see, he told them in chapter
13, there will be no earthly Jewish kingdom. They were counting
on that. They were counting on the Lord
restoring the glories of David's kingdom and Solomon's kingdom.
In fact, they thought of a contest between them who was going to
have the most glory in that kingdom. He said on his right hand and
his left hand. But he told them there'd be no,
my kingdom's not of this world. Not of this world. He told them
he'd be leaving them. Not only leaving them, but he
would die. told them he'd rise again, but they didn't understand
that. He said, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it
again. And he told them, look back at verse 36 of chapter 13. He told them this in chapter
13, verse 36, Simon Peter said, Lord, whither goest thou? And
he said, well, whither I go, you cannot follow me now, but
you will. And then Peter made this idle
boast in verse 37. He said, Lord, why cannot I follow
thee now? I have laid down my life for
your sake. And then he really shocked the apostle. He said,
Peter, Jesus answered him, verse 38, Will you lay down your life
for my sake? Truly, truly, I say to you, the
cock shall not crow. So you've denied me three times,
not just once, but three times. He said back in verse 21, one
of you will betray me. You say I'm leaving? Peter, you
deny you know me. If one of you betray me, tell
me out. And Matthew reporting on this
said that Christ told him also, all of you will be offended this
night because of me. It's no wonder they were troubled.
It's no wonder they were distressed. I understand the source of their
trouble and their distress and their fears and their doubts
and their depression. I understand that. I do. Our Lord said in verse 1, let
not your heart be troubled. They were troubled. They were
troubled. But you know when we are confronted
with the very majesty and holiness of God. When we find ourselves
in his presence, which is two-seven, it's an awesome experience. Breathtaking
experience. That's what these men were facing.
They were sitting before the Lord of Glory, listening to him
talk about the mysteries of the kingdom. And they were just troubled. Awesome. And when we looked,
when you and I looked into the mysteries that they're looking
into here, the incarnation, God became a man. And the cross. He's talking to them about dying. They said, we believe you're
the Son of God. Well, how does the Son of God die? He's talking
about the tomb. He's talking about his declaring
all of these things, and it's staggering to them. Absolutely
staggering. Isn't it to you? And when we
consider, as I know they were considering, when we consider
our fallen condition in Adam, our sin. David said, My sins ever before
me, against thee and thee only have I sinned. Our guilt, our
inability to walk in holiness. When we understand that even
our best state in God's eyes is vanity, altogether vanity,
That's humiliating. That's depressing. And when we're made to, as one
writer said, to sail in deep waters, which is common to all
flesh. And our sailboat trembles. And
this is where they are now. They're going through some awesome
waters, some deep waters. And their little boats were trembling.
And they were full of doubts and fears and depression. And
the same writer said, when your disappointments outnumber your
appointments, seemingly. And death is so near, you can
feel it. Like these disciples. If you're
not troubled, you ought to be. Isn't that right? If you're not troubled, you ought
to be. This is awesome. Awesome. Awesome. The words of
Zophar, who spoke to Joe and the other friend. He said this,
Can you, by searching, find out God? Can you find out the Almighty
to perfection? I hear some preachers on television
and other places, it sounds like they have a corner on God. It
sounds like they have a relationship with God that nobody else quite
has. Can you find out God to perfection?
Can you speak for God? It hides the heavens," he said. What can you do? It's deeper
than hell. What can you know? His wisdom is longer than the
earth. His wisdom is broader than the
sea. If he cuts us off, if he shuts
us up, or if he's pleased to gather us in, who can hinder To whom does he give an account
of his ways, and his doings, and his will? To you, please. He's God. And that's where they
were. They were hearing things that
were mysterious to them, and troubling to them, and awesome,
higher than the heavens. The counsels of God, the purposes
of God, the doings of God. This is the doings of God. And
they didn't understand. And they were honestly very depressed
and very troubled. How can he die and leave us and
yet be with us? Well, if there's any good news,
it'll have to come from the same source from which the mystery
came. If there's any good news, it'll
have to come from him. I know that. If there's any help or any comfort,
it's going to have to come from him. It's not going to come from
somewhere else, or some paid preacher, or some evangelist. It's going to have to come from
him. He's the one that purposed the mystery, and he's the one
that has to explain it. He's the one in whose awesome counsels
all of this came to pass, and he's going to have to teach it.
No man can come to me, Christ said, except my Father draw him.
and it's written in the prophets, they'll be part of God. Every
man that has learned of God and is part of God, he'll come to
the truth. You'll know the truth, and it'll
make you free. But the Son's got to teach you. It's got to
come from Him. If we go out of here this morning with any hope,
it's not going to come from me, or you, or your sharing or testifying. It's going to have to come from
Him. If we go out of here with any answer, it's going to have
to come from him. If we go out of here with any
grace, it's going to have to come from him. So right here
it is. They're sitting before him. And
he talked about all these things, and the more he talked, the lower
they got. The more hopeless and helpless the case seemed to be. And then he said six things. Let not your heart be troubled.
Let not your heart be overwhelmed with depression and trouble. You believe in God. Is he asking
them if they believe in God? Why no. He knows they believe
in God. He's saying you do believe in
God. I know you believe in God. Only a fool doesn't believe in
God. Of course you believe in God. You know that God's almighty. You know that God's holy. You
know that God's just. You know that God is true. You
know that God made all things. You know that. You believe in
God. Well, let me tell you something. He said, you believe in me. You
believe in God. I believe in me. Your comfort
and your hope is to believe in me. That's where you're going
to get the answers. That's where you're going to
get the comfort and the hope and the help and the faith is
by believing in me. You see, God's just. But in me,
God is just and justified. In me, God is just and justified. He set forth me that by my death
and by my life and by my sacrifice, you might be justified while
God remains God. And then God is righteous and
God is holy. And you can't approach that life
in which he dwells, because you don't have any righteousness.
But in me, he has made me, who knew no sin, to be sin to you,
that you might be made the righteousness of God in me. You believe in
God, that God is just? Well, in me, God's just and justified. You believe God is holy? Well,
in me, you have a holiness. You have a righteousness by which
you can stand before God with the spotless garment of his Son
to cover your nakedness. God is just. You know that. God is just. And God will punish
sin. He said over and over again, the soul that sinneth shall die.
Sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. In me, by my death, your sins
are paid for. By me, there is no condemnation
to them who are in me. Who can lay the blame to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemns? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
makes intercession for us. There is your hope, there is
my hope, to believe in Christ. Now, let not your heart be troubled.
There's one advocate between God and you, and that's me. There's
one redeemer between God and you, and that's me. Turn to John
chapter 3, John the third chapter, and listen to it. In John the
third chapter, verse 34, John chapter 3, verse 34. That's the Savior, Christ Jesus.
He speaks with the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hands. He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So let
not your heart be troubled. I do. I know God's just. Righteous, holy, will punish
sin. Will you believe in me? In me,
God can be just and justify you. In me, you have a perfect righteousness
and you'll be accepted of God, holy, without blame, before him
in love. And God will punish sin, but
God has punished your sin. By one offering, he perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And their sins and iniquities,
God said, I'll remember no more. So that's comfort, based on the
words of our Lord. Secondly, in John 14, he says
in verse 2, in my Father's house are many mansions, dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. He's talking about heaven. He's
talking about his Father's house. He's talking about the slowest
kingdom of God. He's talking about the death
of these men. These men are going to die. You're going to die.
I'm going to die. So let's turn to 2 Corinthians
5 and find what our Lord is talking about here. In my Father's house
are many nations. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Many dwelling places. 2 Corinthians 5. We know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle, that's what this
flesh is, it's It's like a shepherd's tent, temporary dwelling. Someday
it will be folded up and put away. It's not a permanent dwelling.
It's not made out of permanent material. It's just a tent. And
it's going to be dissolved. But if it's dissolved, we have
a house. We have a building of God. We
have a dwelling place. That's what he's talking about.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. We have
a dwelling place. We're not going to be disembodied.
disembodied spirit floating around, when we die, we're going to go
to the kingdom of God. The body returns to the earth
from which it came, and the soul to God that gave it. But the
soul is not disembodied, it has a dwelling place. A dwelling
place. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heaven. Look at verse 2, it says, In
this body we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with
our house, our dwelling place which is from heaven. It so be
that being clothed we shall not be found naked, but we that are
in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Not that we would
just be unclothed, but we want to be clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up in life. There is no need to be troubled
about this state between death and resurrection when we consider
that our Lord experienced this same thing. Our Lord had a body. Made in the womb of the virgin.
He came forth into this world with flesh and bones, he said.
Flesh and bone and blood. And he died. And he took this
body and buried it. Just like the way you and me
some day. Take this body and bury it in the ground. Well,
where was he? Where was Christ? Where was he buried? He was out
of that body. He was with his father. And he
wasn't disembodied. Let me show you in Matthew chapter
17. This is interesting here, in Matthew 17, verse 1. Listen
to this. Christ is explaining them death
and that which follows, in Matthew 17, verse 1. After six days,
Jesus, taking Peter, James and Johnny's brother, brings them
up to a high mountain, the Pyre, and he was transfigured before
them, and his face did shine as the sun. And his raiment was
white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses." Now, wait a minute. How long had Moses been dead? Hundreds of years. Moses was
buried. God buried him. Moses died on
top of that mountain, and God buried him. But here he was sitting
in front of the disciples, and they saw him. And Elijah didn't die, but he's
translated that he should not see death. But flesh and blood
came into the kingdom of God, so he was changed. But here they
are sitting here talking to the Lord Jesus Christ about his death.
And that's what I'm saying to you. When we die and our bodies
go to the grave, in God's house, in my Father's house, there are
many dwelling places, many dwelling places. He said, if it were not
so, I would have told you. That's right. And let me tell
you this. He says this, in my Father's
house are many, many, many, many. You keep this in mind. All these
folks who think they've got a corner on God, and they try to make
salvation depend on your being one of them. and doing things
the way they prescribe and subscribe and predict and so forth. And
the number is so small, just a handful, just a few. Any time
that you hear these fellows saying that salvation depends on what
you do for God and what you do for us and this sort of thing,
you just remember that when John got a glimpse of heaven on the
Isle of Patmos, He saw a multitude which no man could number. A
multitude which no man could number. Of every tribe, and kindred,
and nation, and tongue, and people under heaven. Multitude, as the
stars of the sky, the strangers that we saw. Let me tell you
something. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. It's not who subscribes to my
way of doing things. Oh, it's his way. It's his way. That's right. His way. Oh, my. Don't. Don't be troubled. Well, you believe in God? Christ
said, you believe in me. I'm your prophet, priest, and
king. I'm your mediator. I'm your redeemer. I know my
redeemer living. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. And when you leave this earth, you're not going
to some place called purgatory, where people have to pay somebody
to get you out of there. So you have to serve a certain
length of time so you can get a little better, so you can be
equipped for heaven. To be absent from this body is
to be present with the Lord. And one of those many, many,
many dwelling places for his people. Now look at the next
thing he says to them, verse 2. And I go, verse 2 says, I
go to prepare a place for you. He looked around. This is awesome.
He looked around at these fellas. There's Peter the fisherman.
There's John and James, sons of Zebedee. There's Thomas, filled
with so many troubles and doubts. Just people like you and me,
looking around like I'm looking around this morning, like you're
looking up here. These fellow men, troubled men,
fleshly men. listening to these awesome, overwhelming
words of their God. And he says to them, ah, ah,
who thought it robbery to be equal with God, on earth a son
is given, the government's on his shoulders. His name's wonderful. Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Ah. I go. I go. I'm on a mission. Father,
I've glorified you on earth and finished the work you gave me
to do. Call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their
sins. He's got a work to do. And I go. I go. I go to Gethsemane's
garden to sweat drops of blood. I go to Calvary's cross, that
ignominious tree on that hill of suffering. I go to be separated
from my Father. to bear your iniquity and your
guilt. I go. I go to the dark tombs. I rise
and I go to the Father with the blood of atonement and put it
on the mercy seat for you. I go. I go to the throne to be
seated at the right hand of majesty on high as your forerunner. I
go. One place left. A powerful about that. No, no big trouble. This is in my hands. It's not
in the hands of the preacher. Walk down there, shake the preacher's
hand, and he does all this mumbo-jumbo, you know, and you're all fixed
up. Now, now you're not fixed up till he fixes you up. I go
to prepare a place just for you. Just for you. I believe that.
I believe that. Prepare a place for you and you
for the That's just as important as the place. Don't get mixed
up here now. Heaven's a holy place, so it's
for holy people. It's for redeemed people. It's
for righteous people. It's for people whom God has
done a work of grace. I prepare you for the place,
and the place for you someday. That's what he says over here
in Ephesians 1. Look at Ephesians 1. This is one of my favorite
passages of scripture. Oh, boy, it fits good. It's like
an old pair of shoes. It just fits real good. I got
dressed for church down in where I was preaching last week. I
had my suit and my tie and my glasses. I always checked to
see if I got my glasses. And I said, let's go, honey.
And I looked down, I had my house shoes on. But they felt so good,
you know. She said, I wish you would have worn those to church.
But I love Ephesians 1, I feel so good in Ephesians 1, I feel
so good, just so comfortable. Listen, Ephesians 1 verse 3,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, and the heaven is
in Christ. According to He chose us, He chose us, where did you
see Him? He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, and we should be holy in Christ.
without blame, before him in love, and predestinated us to
the adoption of children of God, heirs of God by Jesus Christ,
to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his graces. He made us accepted. He made
us accepted. I prepare for you a place where
I prepare you for the praise. I make you accepted. In Christ
I am accepted. In myself I don't map to anything,
but in him I'm perfect, wholly accepted in the beloved. In him
I have redemption through his blood, I have the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace." Doesn't that feel
good? You talk about house shoes! Oh, boy! That's standing on a
rock in total comfort, total comfort. Incredible! So don't
be troubled. You believe God, you believe
me. You've got nothing to worry about. When you leave here, you're
going home. Because I go. I go. Not up there. Somebody
said he'd been up there 2,000 years working on that place.
No, come on. That's not what he said. He said,
I go to the cross. That's where that place was accomplished. To the tomb, to the cross, to
the right hand of God redeems you. Now, look at the next verse
3. And if I go, I like to use the
word when. When I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again. I'll come again and receive you
unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. My friends,
I know that people enjoy inquiring into the mysteries, the mysteries
of Scripture and the events of prophecy. I know folks enjoy
that, and I understand. I do. The events that surround
the end of the world and the coming of the Lord, the mark
of the beast, the great white throne judgment, the tribulation,
the times and times and a half of time, and all this sort of
thing. But let me tell you something. All you need to know, all a beloved
son or daughter of God needs to know about the Lord's return
is found right here in these words. All you need to know. I go to prepare a place for you. And when I go to that place,
I'll come again, and I'll gather you to my bosom. I'll gather
you to myself, and I'll take you home with me. That's all
I need to know. Yeah, that's all I need to know.
I don't need to do anything else. I'll come and receive you unto
myself. That's a promise. In order that
I am there, you may be also. That's the promise of God who
cannot lie. from all eternity, confirmed
by his word. Number five, look at verses four
through six. And whither I go you know, and
the way you know. And Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, how can we know the way? And
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. You know, I've heard preachers kind of get rough on Thomas here,
but I understand. I understand Thomas. I find it difficult to criticize
Thomas, because I'm standing on this side of the cross. It's
already taken place, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection, the
ascension, and the completed work. I don't have to have any doubt
at all about what Christ came to do. But Thomas is on the other
side. And I know he's full of questions and doubts. If you
were back there on that side, you would have a lot more than
you do now. But we're on this side. I think
also it was ordained of God for him to ask that question. I think
it was ordained of God for him to ask that question in order
that we might hear the answer our Lord gave. So Thomas said,
Lord, we don't know where you're going. Christ going to the cross,
the tomb, the resurrection, to the right hand of the Father,
our great high priest, our intercessor, our forerunner, the anchor of
our soul on the right hand of God. We don't know where you're
going. How can we know the way? And
he said, promise, I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. I am the way. I've preached this
many times, but you've got to turn with me to Exodus 3. Let
me say it one more time. Exodus 3. Let me say it one more
time. At least one more time. When Moses in Exodus 3 asked
God his name, Moses is speaking to Elohim. He's speaking to the
Father, speaking to Almighty God, who wrote the Ten Commandments,
who created the world. Chapter 3, verse 13, Moses said
to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall
say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,
and they shall say to me, What is his name? What is his name? The person's name is who he is,
it's his character, it's his ability, it's his power, it's
his mental capacity. everything he is and has and
does, his name. When you call a person's name,
you visualize him in all of his capabilities or incapabilities. It's all right there. What's
his name? Well, what shall I say to him? And God said, Moses,
I am that I am. And he said, I shall say unto
the children of Israel, I am that I am. Now, listen to the
question. Thomas said, Lord, we know not
where you go, how can we know the way? Thomas, I am. I am. I am. He said, if you believe not that
I am, you'll die in your sins. He said, before Abraham was,
I am. When they came to arrest the
Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the soldiers, he said, Whom seek
ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. What did he say? I am. I am. And they fell backwards. Just when he identified him,
he said, I am. They didn't fall forward worshiping
as you would. They fell backwards. I am. How can I know the way to where
you go? Where I am, there you may be.
How can I, a man, know the way? Thomas, I am. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the light.
He has a seven-fold declaration in the book of John. Don't you
listen to it. Christ uses this seven times. He said, I am the bread. I don't
just give you bread. Moses gave you that bread and
you died. I am the bread. You eat my flesh
and drink my blood. I don't just give you bread.
I am your bread. I am the light. I don't turn
on the light so you can say, I am the light. I am the light. I am the door. I didn't make
a barrier. I didn't make a way. I am the
door. That door between God's wrath
over here and God's glory is me. By me, if any man enter in,
he'll be saved. Go in and out. I'm the door. I am the shepherd. I'm not just
going to put someone in charge of leading you. I'll lead you.
Green pastures, beside stale waters, restore your soul. I'm
the shepherd. I'm the man. You're both. You're not a whole vine over
here. You're not even a vine. You're
a branch. The fruit's mine. You have some
goodness and some grace and some love. You got it from me. It
doesn't come out of you. The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine. I'm the vine. We're
going to serve Jesus. We're going to serve him, Jesus.
If he was hungry, he wouldn't ask you. Jesus serves his people
through you. He says if you don't serve him,
he does. You don't have a nickel's worth
of grace to give anybody. He's rich in grace. I'm telling
the truth. I am the resurrection. Marcus said, Lord, I know my
brother who was out in the dead on the last days. He said, Lord,
I'm the resurrection. He's already risen. He lives. If you ask me, he can't die.
And furthermore, you can't die if you have me, because I'm resurrection.
I can't die and you can't die. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. He doesn't show us the way, he is the way. His blood and his righteousness,
his truth. When Christ, who is my life,
shall appear, I'll appear with him in glory. I am the way. Man lost three things in the
garden. Adam lost three things. He lost the way to God. God put
him out. Just a plain old soul. He can't come back. He can't
come back, Adam. Not like you are. He lost the
way to God. Christ set him on the way back.
He lost the truth. He believed a lie. He believed
a lie. And man doesn't believe in the
lie of sin. Because man is a liar, his father is a devil, the father
of liars. And if a person comes in his
own name, man will believe him. Christ comes in his name, man
doesn't believe him, he believes a lie. But when Christ comes
and reveals the truth to him, he sets that man free. He is
the truth. And he is the life. Here is the
last statement. Now, if you've known me, you've
known my father also, and from henceforth, you know him, you've
seen him." Philip said, Lord, show us the father, and it suffices
us. Like I say, he's back on that
other side, and I know he loved Christ and believed Christ, but
he just didn't have the revelation you have. He didn't, and Christ
rebuked him. He said, I've been with you this
long time, you still don't know me. Now Christ is not talking
about seeing a bodily form, seeing a man, because a lot of people
say, well, he's a carpenter. Well, he wasn't a carpenter to
Peter, he's the son of a living God. Somebody else said, he's
the son of Mary and Joseph. No, he's the son of God. They've
seen him totally different. So a lot of people saw Jesus
of Nazareth who didn't see the Father. But everybody who had
his eyes opened by the Holy Spirit and saw not just Jesus the carpenter
and Jesus the man, but the Lord Jesus Christ, their God of their
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, that man
saw God. That's how you see God when you
see Christ, you see God. There are three that by record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, the Holy Spirit, and these three
are one. Oh, what blessing assurance and
comfort to every believer to hear Thomas say when he fell
at his feet, my Lord and my God. Don't be troubled. Don't be troubled. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him. And I go out of here this morning with peace in my
heart and joy in my soul and comfort and assurance, not in
anything I've done or will do or can do, but in him and what
he did. Isaac Watts wrote this, "'Til God in human flesh I see,
my thoughts no comfort find. the holy, just, and righteous
three are terrorists of my mind. But when Emmanuel, peace appears,
my hope, my joy begins, his name puts off my slavish fears, his
blood removes all my sins. And while Israel on their law
relies and drinks of wisdom boasts, I love that incorrupt incarnate
mystery. And there I'll fix my trough. Do you believe in God? Yes? Believe in me.