Turn back to John 14. Our Lord is speaking here to His
troubled children, His troubled disciples. They believed Him. They believed Christ. They loved
Him. But they just couldn't understand. They couldn't comprehend all
that He was saying to them. in these four chapters. There will be no earthly kingdom.
That's what he said to them. My kingdom is not of this world.
That's what they were expecting. Argued about who was going to
sit on his right hand and left hand. Their hopes of an earthly
Jewish kingdom, restoration of the great days of David were
dashed to pieces. Besides that, their Lord was
leaving them. I go to my father. And your father,
he said. But that didn't encourage him
too much. Because of the way that he would
leave. He was going to be crucified. A
death of shame. Humiliation. They thought about
that. They couldn't understand it.
An angel couldn't understand that. One of them, he said, would betray
him. One of them, he said, would deny him. All of them would forsake
him. No wonder their hearts were broken.
No wonder they didn't understand. And then when he sent them out
to preach this good news, these glad tidings, they would be exposed
to hatred. and persecution, all men would turn their backs on them,
and finally they'd be slain for preaching the gospel. Oh, the mysteries of God. He said, let not your heart be
troubled. Oh, the great of God's grace
and power and goodness and mercy to sinners. Oh, the mystery of
Godliness. God in human flesh, dying on
the cross. What mystery. Beyond human understanding. Comprehension. The hymn writer
said, yonder, amazing sight I see. the incarnate Son of God dying
on a cursed tree, weltering in his own blood, the trembling earth, the darkened
sky, proclaim this truth aloud, and with the amazed centurion
cry, Truly, this is the Son of God. beyond understanding, unspeakable,
both the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
His ways. How unsearchable are His ways,
His judgments, past finding out. Who has known the mind of the
Lord? It's no wonder their hearts were
troubled. It's no wonder to me, I sat and thought about this,
looked at this, it's no wonder that they were confused. And like these disciples, when
I consider the majesty of God, the holiness of God, When my heart is literally overwhelmed
with a sense of my weakness, flesh, sin, inability, foolishness, when I see even in my best times
of devotion and prayer and study, the vanity, the pride, the self-righteousness,
I am made to be embarrassed to even call his name. And when we are made to sail
in deep waters, and our frail boats tremble, and the wind blows
them so hard, and then when we grow old and weak, and our disappointments
outnumber the appointments, And when death is so close you
can feel it, and the day of your departure is so close you can
sense it, perhaps then and then only can
we appreciate the word that our Lord speaks to these troubled,
confused disciples. We just do not understand. Well, here they are, six words
which he gave to them in this most troublesome time, in the
time that they needed them the most. And if you are in need and are
troubled and overwhelmed by the mysteries of the kingdom of God
and the ways of God. Paul is finding out. Mysterious. Then these six words will meet
every need you have and I have. And the first one is this. He
said don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. You do believe God. Believe me. Believe in me. God is just. God
is just, but in me, God is just and justified. In me, believe in me, believe
in God, He's just. But in me, He's justified. And
the throne of majesty and holiness and justice becomes to you, through
me, in me, because of me, the throne of grace and love. mercy. God will punish sin. There's not a doubt in this world
concerning the proof of that statement. The judge of earth
will do right. He must, he will punish sin. But in me, in me, he puts away
sin. Casts them into the depths of
the sea. Remembers them no more. puts them away, cleanseth us
whiter than the snow. You believe in God, you believe
in me. Yes, God is righteous. God is
righteous. But in me, you have a righteousness
which is literally called by God, the righteousness of God. Accept it. Accept it. perfect. A person wants no dealings with
God apart from me. There must be a mediator. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ,
in Christ, according as he chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him before him in love having predestinated us to the adoption
of children according to the good pleasure of his own will
in Christ wherein he hath made us accepted into the love you
believe God he's just believe me in me he's justified You believe
God, He will punish sin, He will do that which is right, He cannot
do wrong in me. He puts away sin. He's righteous,
He must have a righteousness, He cannot look upon anything
that's not as righteous as He is, nor embrace anyone that's
not as holy as He is in me. Believe in me! In me, you're
as holy as God. There you have it. There you have your comfort.
Believe God, not without me. We want nothing to do with an
absolute God. We want all our dealings with
Him to be in the name of, in the hands of, and because of
our one great High Priest and Mediator. It's all right, if
that be true. And it is. Verse 2, in my Father's
house. Here's the second word, in my
Father's house. Where is His Father's house?
It's heaven. It's His glorious kingdom. It's
the kingdom of His dear Son. In my Father's house are many
mansions, not palaces. There are no degrees of glory. Not built more estates. Dwelling
places. Dwelling places. If this tent,
this tabernacle, be folded up and laid aside, we have a dwelling
place. A dwelling place. An abiding
place. We have a building, not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. Built by God. a dwelling place
of love and joy and peace in my Father's heaven, kingdom are
many, listen, many, here's the key word, many dwelling places. Foolish
and short-sighted are people who speak of smallness in regard
to God's kingdom and God's people and the Lord's bride. There are
many. You keep this in mind. Our Lord
delights to show mercy. The Scripture says He's plenteous
in redemption. His grace, His blood, His righteousness
is sufficient, abundant, to save all who come. Turn to Revelation 7. Let John
tell you what he saw. Not what he dreamed, or what
he speculated, or what somebody with no understanding passed
along to him. In Revelation 7, verse 9, he
said after this, I beheld, oh, I beheld and lo, a great multitude. A multitude which no man could
number innumerable. of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, stood, accepted, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in righteousness, holiness, in
white robes, and palms of victory in their hands, and cried with
a loud voice, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne
and to the Lamb." Many prepping places. 144,000, oh, that's a
definite number for an indefinite number. 10,000 upon 10,000 upon
thousands and thousands. Indefinite number. A room for you. A room for me. In my Father's house of many,
many. If that wasn't so, I'd have told
you. I would have told you. I would not have kept back something
like that from you. Come, there's plenty of room.
All things are ready. The feast is prepared. Come and
dine. And the third word, verse 2,
I go to prepare a place for you. These words to me are overwhelming.
And think now to whom he's saying it. why he's saying it, the condition
in which they were in at that time, so low, so depressed, so
troubled, so confused, couldn't understand, too great for my
mind. I, listen to this, I, his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, the Government on his shoulders.
King of kings, Lord of lords, I, Son of God, exalted above
all exaltation, name above every name, I personally go. I go to Gethsemane's garden, bearing sorrow like no man's
ever known. Is there any sorrow like unto
my sorrow? So that the very blood going
through his veins had to find a way out and came through the
pores of his skin. As he prayed for his people.
I pray not for the world. I pray for them which thou hast
given me. Thine they were and thou gavest
them me. And I kept them. I pray for them. I go to the garden. pray for
you. And I go to the cross as your
lamb, as your sin offering, as your
sacrifice, bearing your sins in my body on the tree. I go
to the cross, putting away all your transgressions under the
wrath of an offended God. And as your sin separated you
from your God, Your sins on me separated me from my God. And I cried, My God, why hast
thou forsaken me? I go to the cross for you. And I go to the tomb as your
scapegoat. All your sins confessed on my
head and borne by me. He'll bear the transgression
of many. I go to the tomb, in the darkness
of the tomb, dead, as your scapegoat. And I bear
your sins away so that they'll be remembered no more. No more. You can't be remembered
because they're not there. You can't remember something
that doesn't exist. And then I go to the Father.
like the high priest so many times in the days of Israel took
the blood of the Lamb crept under the veil sprinkled it on the
mercy seat covering that broken lot as an atonement I drove not
into the tabernacle made with hands not behind the veil which was
rent in flame but into heaven itself not bearing the blood
of someone else but my own blood, spotless, pure, perfect blood. And there I put it before the
Father as your atonement. In Christ we have an atonement. And then I sit down at his right hand as your mediator,
your intercessor, your representative, your forerunner, you in me and
I in you. I take the host of all the innumerable
multitude He has given to me and we sit down together. I go
to prepare, to prepare through a finished work that which has
been prepared since the foundation of the world. Enter ye, blessed,
into the kingdom prepared for you before. foundation of the
world. In the mind and heart and purpose
of God, all that Christ did was planned and purposed and determined
by the Father. And He finished it. And I'll
prepare that place for you. And I'll tell you this,
though it's not written here, But it's true. It's not written
in this place. It's written in a lot of other
places. If I prepare a place, not temporary,
permanent place, not as a servant, as a son, not as a renter or
leaser, but an owner, I prepare a place for you. for you. And I'll prepare you for the
place. I'll prepare you in such a way
that you'll not only love the place, you'll look forward to
it. You'll really look forward to it. It's all you want. It's where you want to be. It's
with whom you want to be. When you want to be. I'll prepare
you. Somebody said to Spurgeon, I
don't have dying grace. Spurgeon said, are you dying?
He said, no sir. He said, you don't need it yet. God prepares His people for whatever
experience He has purposed for His people. There are a lot of
people who wouldn't enjoy heaven. They wouldn't enjoy it. That's
not their nature. But he gives to his people for
whom he prepares the place a heart that would be happy in that place. And a heart so in love with him
that it's not ever fully happy until he gets to that place.
David said, I'll be satisfied when I get to that place. That's
when I'll be happy. I'll be satisfied. And look at
verse 3. He said, And when I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again. That's the fourth statement.
I will come again. I will come again. And I'll receive
you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. Listen
to me. The return of Christ, the second
coming of Christ, has been studied argued, debated, preached, and
looked upon in various ways. I prefer to anticipate his coming,
expect his coming, look upon his coming, and preach his coming
as he himself referred to it here. Now this is the Redeemer who
loves us, who loves these disciples to whom he's speaking. He's always
loved them. He's loved them with an everlasting
love. He chose them. He said, you didn't choose me,
I chose you. I lay down my life for you. I
prepare a place for you. I'm going to leave you in this
world to finish your course. to finish and complete your ministry
and the will of God for you. Father, don't take them. I don't
pray that you should take them out of the world. Keep them from
the evil one. But I leave you here in this
world to finish your course. And I'm going to prepare for
your place. And I'm coming back for you. I'm coming to get you. See, my husband, my Lord, my
beloved, has gone to prepare for me an eternal place of happiness
and joy, glory and fulfillment. He knows where I am. He knows
what I'm doing. He's left me here for a purpose.
And when that purpose is finished and completed, he's coming back
for me. No matter how old I am, young,
middle age, or old age, but He's coming back. When my course is
run, my days are finished, His purpose fulfilled, He's coming
back. I'm coming, I'm coming back for
you. I'm coming for you. And that's
His coming to me. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you and When I go and prepare a place for you and you're prepared
for the place and the work is completed, I'm coming back to
receive you to myself. Why? That where I am, there you
may be. This preparation has been in
effect since the beginning of time. And the results are soon
for most of us to be realized. at his return. And I see no cause
or room to discuss or debate or quibble over the events that
shall take place and accompany his return. I just know one thing. He said, I'm coming for you. I go to prepare a place for you.
I'm coming back for you. That where I am, there you may
be. Not visit, be. Always. That where I am, there you may
be. Always. We shall see Him and be like
Him. And you know, Thomas said here, listen, Thomas, now he
said in verse 4, And the way, where I go you know, and the
way you know. And Thomas said, Lord, you're talking to a bunch of
children. You're talking about mysteries
and magnificent things that we just cannot comprehend. We do not know where you're going.
We should. They should have. I know that.
We don't know the way. I hear a lot of people criticizing
Thomas for his doubts and Philip for his problems, but I find
it difficult. to stand on this side of the
cross, this side of the resurrection, this side of the red veil, this
side of the written word, and find fault with Thomas who stands
on that side, who did not have the revelations that I have."
He did later, but he didn't hear. He didn't hear. I know they should
have known. He told them over and over again
that he was leaving and how he was leaving and where he was
going. I go back to the Father. I came from heaven, I go back
to heaven, he said. I know that. They should have known the way. We should too. But there's a lot we don't know.
And yet it's all revealed. And I believe Thomas asked this
for several reasons, but one in order that the Lord might
sound for him and them and us this clear, unmistakable, undeniable
note of assurance. I'm the way. See it there, verse 6. Thomas,
I am the way, the truth and the life. And no man cometh to the
Father. That's where I'm going, to the
Father. No man comes to the Father but by me. All of us are familiar
with Moses' inquiry in Exodus 3 when he said,
as God spoke to him out of the burning bush, what's your name?
When I go down to tell Israel, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob sent me to deliver you out of bondage. And they said,
what's your name? What do I say? I am. I am that I am. That's my name. I am that I am. And our Lord used this so many
times, Thomas, I am. the way. He said in John 8, if
you believe not that I am, you're dying a sin. He said in verse
58 of that same chapter before Abraham was, I am. We seek Jesus of Nazareth, I
am. They fell over backwards. John
records the seven great I am's. I am the bread, from heaven,
I am the light of the world, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am
the resurrection, I am the true vine, I am the way, the truth and the Without doubt, our condition
of confusion and ignorance is because in Adam we lost three
things. We lost spiritual life. In Adam
we died. By one man, sin entered this
world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men. All died. We lost the truth. Adam believed
a lie, and men have been believing lies ever since. Satan said,
do this and you'll be like God. That's wrong. Do this and you'll be like Satan. We've lost the truth. People
believe everything but the truth. Christ said another could come
in his own name and him you will receive. I come in my Father's
name, you receive me not. We lost life, we lost truth,
and we lost the way. Your sins have separated you
from God. We're without... Paul said in
Ephesians, we're without help, without hope, without God, and
without Christ in this world. And he says, I'm the way. I'm the truth which you lost,
and I'm the life. He didn't say, I'll show you
the way. I'll lead you to the way. He
didn't say, I'll teach you the truth. He didn't say, I'll give
you life only. He said, I am the way. Christ Himself, His blood, His
righteousness is the way. He Himself is the way. He Himself
is the truth. He's the wisdom of God. He's
the key of knowledge. If no one knows anything about
how this world started, or what's going to happen, or what hope
and help anyone has except the man who knows Christ, he's the
key. He's the key of knowledge. Religious
leaders are keeping from the people the key that opens a treasure
house to God's mysteries and glory. and grace and goodness. I am the way. I am the truth. And I myself am life. Christ who is our life shall
appear. We shall appear with him. Well, he said in verse 7, if
you had known me, you would have known the Father. From henceforth
you know him and have seen him. And Philip said, We'd like to see the Father.
Show us the Father, and He'll satisfy us. Ah, have I been so
long time with you, and yet you've not known me, Philip. Here's
the sixth comforting statement. He that has seen me, he has seen
the Father. He that has seen me, He has seen
the Father. I and my Father are one. To see
Christ is to see God. To know Christ is to know God. To worship Christ is to worship
God. For I and my Father are one.
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. When we
think of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we must not think
of three Gods. O Israel, the Lord thy God is
one God. God is Spirit, and the revelation
of God to us is Christ. That's right, the revelation
of God. All the revelation that God gives to men of himself is
Christ. And all that men need is Christ.
Christ is God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things
were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, His
person, His character, His will, His purpose, His kingdom, Himself. We beheld His glory as the glory
of the only begotten of God, full of grace, all the fullness
of grace and truth. It's not Christ that takes us
by the hand necessarily and leads us to another God. It's when
Christ receives us and redeems us and we're in God. We know
God. We see God. He is God. My Lord and my God. See? So there it is. For anyone who wants it. No matter
the condition or the environment conflicts or the misunderstandings,
you believe in God, believe me. My father's house, many dwelling
places. It wasn't so I told you. And
I go to prepare for you a place. And when I go and prepare a place,
I'll leave you here a while. But I'm coming back for you.
Every one of you. Of all that you've given me,
I'll lose nothing. I'll raise it up at the last day. I'm coming
back for you. That where I am there, you may
be also. And I'm the way, the truth, and
the life. He that has seen me has seen
God. Isaac Watts wrote this, Dearest
of all the names above, my Jesus, my God, who can measure his heavenly
love or understand his blood? Tis by the merits of his death,
the Father smiles again. Tis by his interceding breath,
the Spirit dwells with men. Till God in human flesh, I say,
my thoughts no comfort find. The holy, just, and righteous
three are terrors to my mind. If Emmanuel's face appears, my
hope, my joy begins. His grace puts off all my fear. His name removes my sin. And
while Jews on their law rely and Greeks of wisdom boast, I
love that incarnate mystery on Him. I fix my trust. Don't be troubled. believe in
me. Alright, may God bless that,
to our prophet, to his glory.