We're going to continue tonight
in the Gospel of John, looking at Chapter 14, the first three
verses, maybe some of the most familiar verses of Scripture
in the Word of God. John Chapter 14. The title of
my message is, The One Remedy for a Common Problem. The one
remedy. for a common problem. Let not
your hearts 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 you may be also. The one remedy for a common
problem. First, the common problem. Troubled hearts. Troubled hearts. I'm thankful tonight, as I know
all of us are, At one point in the history of Christianity,
someone took the Bible that was not written in chapters and verses
and first divided them into chapters and then into verses. But we
must realize many times that where we have a chapter division,
there is no division in the experience. In other words, what we have
just read here in John 14 verses 1 through 3 is a continuation
of what we have in John chapter 13 when the Lord Jesus Christ
was alone with his 11 disciples. Let not your hearts be troubled. Now the disciples had troubled
hearts. And their problem might have
been the result of any one of a number of things that we see
in chapter 13. Let me point three things out
that they heard. They heard in chapter 13. First of all, if you look in
verse 21, they had just heard that one of the 12 would betray
Christ. Verse 21, when Jesus had thus
said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, verily,
verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Surely
that was troubling to these 11 disciples. There were 12 when
our Lord spoke those words, but one of you, there they were sitting
around the table and our Lord spoke these words, one of you,
will betray me this evening. Verily, verily, I say unto you
that one of you shall betray me." That was certainly disconcerting. That was certainly something
that would be troubling. But notice the second thing also,
and before I go to that second thing, you might say, The Lord
Jesus Christ gave the sop to Judas and identified Judas as
the traitor. But John, notice he makes it
clear that the other 11 did not recognize when Judas went out
that he was a traitor. Notice that in verses 28 and
29. It says, now no man at the table knew for what intent he
spake this unto him. That is, when the Lord Jesus
Christ gave that shop to Judas and said, that that thou doest
do quickly, now no man at the table knew for what intent he
spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because
Judas had the bag that is the treasury, that Jesus had said
unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast,
or that he should give something to the poor. That is something
that no doubt would cause troubled hearts. One of you shall betray
me. And then a second thing, if you
notice in verse number 38, he told Peter before this morning,
before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me three times. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock, the rooster shall not crow till thou hast denied me
thrice. Reading through the Gospels,
it certainly seems to me that Peter was sort of looked up to
as a spokesman. He's the one who usually spoke
out, at least, as far as what is recorded in the Gospels. And
then to hear the Lord Jesus Christ say to him, Peter, before the
rooster crows in the morning, you're going to deny me three
times. That had to be something that
would have caused them trouble. And then in verse 33, think about
this. They had just heard the Lord
Jesus Christ tell them that he was leaving them. Little children,
yet a little while I am with you, you shall seek me, and as
I said unto the Jews, whither I go, you cannot come, so now
I say unto you. Now, we shouldn't forget that
these disciples, like the Jews of that day, had been taught
and had come to believe that the Messiah, the Messiah who
was promised, the Messiah who was coming, would be like unto
a king like David, that he would rule, set up his kingdom here
in this world. And we see that even after our
Lord's resurrection, when they spoke to him on the day of his
ascension, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom unto
Israel? Now after the Spirit of God came
upon them, none of them ever talked like that again. But they
at least believed. They'd been taught to believe.
They were not looking for a Messiah, a Redeemer, to redeem them from
sin. They just were taught to believe
the fact that they were the linear descendants of Abraham. They
were okay. Everything was all right with
them. Everything the Lord Jesus Christ taught, if you look at
the Beatitudes, everything that He spoke and said, blessed are
the poor in spirit. Everything, every blessing He
pronounced just flew in the face of everything these Israelites,
these Jews, had taught to believe. Everything. And they had left
all. Peter said that in one place,
didn't he? Lord, we've left everything.
And now he tells them, I'm going to leave you. And where I'm going,
you cannot follow me now. You see why there's several things
in this episode that could have caused them to have troubled
hearts. What may have been the cause,
let me say this, what may have been the cause of the 11 disciples
having troubled hearts would not be true of you and me today,
but here are some things that are true of all of God's children. As we read in the book of Job,
as sparks fly upward, man is born unto trouble. On the way to the service tonight,
my wife told me something that she had heard, and I said, many,
what came to my mind, many are the afflictions of the righteous.
But, that's not the end of that verse, is it? The Lord delivereth
him out of them all. But as sparks fly upward, as
we read in the book of Job, as sparks just naturally fly up
from the fire, Man is born under trouble. A person, think about this, a
person knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior
does not mean that he does not live in a world that is under
the curse of sin because we all live in this world and this world
is cursed for man because of man's sin. to man, God told Adam,
and this hasn't changed. This hasn't changed, my friends.
God told Adam this. Cursed is the ground for thy
sake, and sorrow, and sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the
days of thy life. And a person who knows the Lord
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior doesn't mean that we do
not live in a world that is under the curse of God. A second thing,
a person knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior
does not mean that he does not live in a body, a body that will
return to the dust, because we all do. We live in a tent. Not a structure, not a strong
building, but a tent. And you know a tent can be taken
down quickly, easily. And so we all live in a body
that came from the dust and will go back to the dust. The prophet Isaiah in that wonderful
53rd chapter that speaks of our suffering Savior, he said, by
his stripes we are healed. By his stripes we are healed.
And we are, thank God tonight, we are healed of the greatest
and worst disease of all, the disease of sin. By his stripes. But it does not mean, as some
people would like to believe, and as some people teach, by
his strengths we are healed. It does not mean that we are
healed of the diseases of the body, such as blindness. If that were true, if there were
healing in the atonement, as some people teach, then a blind
person, when he was saved, he'd immediately receive his sight.
A lame person would immediately receive strength to walk. It
doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean when he says
by his stripes we are healed that we are healed from diseases
such as blindness, such as diabetes, such as arthritis, and as John
Newton said, the incurable disease of old age. Does it mean by His
stripes we are healed? Yes, thank God, in one sense
it does. I recognize that because we are
going to receive a new body. But by His stripes we are healed
is not speaking about physical healing. It's speaking about
the healing of the soul, that separation from God. that we
know because of our sin, that breach between God and us, the
Lord Jesus Christ has brought us unto Him. Third, a person knowing the Lord
Jesus as his Lord and Savior does not mean that he does not
still have an old nature, because we do. In God's effectual call,
in regeneration, in the new birth, we receive a new man, but the
old man continues. The old man continues. So, as
the apostle Paul said, the flesh lusteth against the flesh, or
against the spirit, rather, and the spirit against the flesh. And number four, a person knowing
the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior does not mean
that he does not have a powerful enemy, a powerful enemy. The Apostle Peter, writing to
believers, said, your adversary, and he's your adversary, he's
my adversary. Your adversary, the devil, has
a roaring line, walketh about seeing, whom he may devour. One of the books that I bought
early on in my ministry is entitled Absolute Predestination, Absolute
Predestination by Jerome Zankeas. He was a reformer, lived in the
1500s. But he pointed this out at that
time. He said that without a due sense
of predestination, Without a due sense of predestination, we shall
lack the surest and the most powerful inducement to patience,
resignation, and dependence upon God under every spiritual and
temporal affliction. How sweet, he said, must the
following considerations be to a distressed believer. Number
one, There most certainly exists an almighty, all-wise, and infinitely
gracious God. There it is, no matter what the
circumstance, no matter what the trouble is, the troubled
heart. Number two. He said, it has given
me in times past and has given me at present, if I had but eyes
to see it, many and signal intimations of his love to me, both in a
way of providence and grace. And number three, this love of
his is immutable. He never repents of it nor withdraws
it. Whatever comes to pass in time
is the result of His will from everlasting. Consequently, my
afflictions were a part of His original plan and are all ordered
in number, weight, and measure. The very hairs of my head are
every one counted by Him. Nor can a single hair fall to
the ground but in consequence of his determination. Hence,
my distresses are not the result of chance, accident, or fortuitous
combination of circumstances, but the providential accomplishment
of God's purpose. And designed to answer some wise
and gracious ends, nor shall my affliction continue a moment
longer than God sees fit. He who brought me to it has promised
to support me under it and to carry me through it, and shall
most assuredly work together for his glory and my good. Therefore, the cup which my heavenly
Father has given me to drink Shall I not drink it? Yes, I
will, in the strength he imparts, even rejoice in tribulation. I will commit myself and the
event to him whose purpose cannot be overthrown, whose plan cannot
be disconcerted, and who, whether I am resigned or not, will still
go on to work all things after the counsel of his will. I agree
wholeheartedly with that and I believe one thing that this
generation of believers has been deprived of for the most part
is the truth concerning God's sovereignty and the fact that
God is in control of all things and that he works all things,
not most things, but all things after the counsel of his own
will. So that's the first thing, let
not your hearts be troubled. The common problem, troubled
hearts. Now the one remedy, the one remedy. You believe in God, believe also
in me. And four things I want us to
look at in these two verses, in the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You believe in God, believe also
in me. First of all, I want us to notice
that He speaks of His Father. He said, and my Father's house.
He speaks of His Father. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians
1 in verse 3 said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is His Father as He is the
Lord, and He is His God as he is Jesus Christ. Do you understand
that saying? The man, Christ Jesus, is God,
and so God is his father as God. He's the man, Christ Jesus, so
God is his God as the man. That's the reason he told his
disciples after his resurrection, I believe it was to Mary, I send
unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God. Our Lord Jesus here, dealing
with these disciples with their troubled hearts, he speaks to
them of the Father's house. When our hearts are troubled,
the one remedy is faith, faith. Believe in me, our Lord said. You believe in God, believe in
me. Believe that I am God and I have
come into this world on purpose. And my purpose in coming into
this world was not to condemn this world. It was not to set
up an earthly kingdom. But my purpose in coming into
this world was to seek and to save that which is lost. Luke 19 and verse 10, in the
house of Zacchaeus, that publican that the Lord saved that day,
called him down out of the sycamore tree. Come down. There was, of course, all those
self-righteous people around that found fault with the Lord
Jesus Christ going into the house of a publican. He was probably
notorious. A notorious sinner. About like
Barabbas. About like you. About like me. Notorious sinners. And that's
what he said. For the Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. I remember my experience
when I heard for the first time. I mean I heard. Now I'm sure
I'd read that. I'm sure I'd heard it. But I
remember the first time I heard that. For the Son of Man is come
to seek and to save that which is lost. Old Ralph Barnard went
on to say, and he's going to seek until he finds every lost
sinner. Are you lost? Oh, I'm not lost. I'm fine. I'm okay. Well, he
came to seek and to save that which is lost. It's a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. One of the most difficult things,
impossible I should say, for any of us is to see ourselves
as the Bible declares that we are, by nature, lost, alienated,
separated from God, having no interest in God, having not the
ability to seek God on our own. And unless he seeks us and finds
us, We'll just go on our merry way to hell. Thank God. If you've been convinced by God
the Holy Spirit that you're lost, that you're a sinner, apart from
His righteousness, apart from Christ as your Lord and Savior,
you have no hope. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. Whatever it is that troubles
you, believe on me. Trust in me. You love God and
have been called by His grace. Now trust that I make all things,
even this, whatever it is that troubles your heart, I make work
together for your good. The second thing I call our attention
to. So first of all, He speaks of
the Father in my Father's house. And because He is His Father,
and became his God, then you and I may know him as our God
and as our Father. The second thing he speaks of
is the Father's house, and my Father's house. It is a place
of many mansions. I know that word is better translated,
I suppose, dwelling places, but the fact is there are many places
many dwelling places, many mansions, and every one of them, every
mansion, every dwelling place in heaven is sure to have someone
to dwell in it. There's not going to be any empty
mansions. There's not going to be any empty
dwelling places. You look back to John chapter
six, you're familiar with these words. John chapter 6 and verse
37 through 40 he said, all that the father giveth me shall come
to me and him that cometh to me I will and no wise cast out. You say, well preacher, how do
you come to Christ? You just, you just look to Christ. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. You just look to Christ. Faint. I like that term. I read that
in one of Spurgeon's sermons. You know, you just faint. You
just faint. Just fall over into the hands
into the arms of Christ, without moving a muscle. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven.
Well, why did you come down from heaven? Not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me. And here it is, this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. God's will is absolute. And His will is that the Lord
Jesus Christ lose nothing. None should believe that Christ
is going to fail in accomplishing His Father's will. Each dwelling
place will have one who has dwelt in the heart of God from eternity. In my Father's house are many
dwelling places, and each one of those dwelling places is going
to be one who has dwelt in the Father's heart of love from all
eternity. And each one who's going to dwell
in one of those many mansions is one who has dwelt in the hand
of the Lord Jesus Christ as a good shepherd. And no man is able
to snatch them out of his hand. Each dwelling place will have
one who had pleased the father to bruise his son to redeem.
Let me make that as clear as I can. I don't want to be misunderstood. Every one of those dwelling places,
there's going to be someone in every one. And it has pleased
God Almighty to bruise His Son in order for each one to dwell
in that dwelling place. Apart from God bruising His Son. pouring out his justice upon
his son. No one would live in the father's
house. Each dwelling place will have
one that Christ loved and washed from his sins in his own blood. And many, I know you know this,
many is not all. Many is not all. But it is, in
this case, a great multitude. It is. It's a great multitude
which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and
people and languages. Turn back with me to Genesis
chapter 15, just a moment. Heaven's going to be a place
that's full. It's full of God's glory. It's
full of the glory of the Lamb. And it's full of the redeemed
people of God. And amazingly, as I think about
it and try to meditate on it sometimes, I'm convinced that
with the millions of people, each one is going to be near
to Christ. You're not going to be way out
there in a left field somewhere. And Christ is, no, everyone is
going to be equally near to the Savior. You say, well, explain
that to me. I wish I could. I wish I could. But notice here in Genesis 15,
verse 1 says, After these things the word of the Lord came unto
Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of
my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, to me
thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine
heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bow shall be thine heir.
And he brought him out. Come on, Abram. Come out of that
tent. Come on out here. I want you
to look up into the sky. And I want you to count the stars. Now the stars, the number of
the stars is not an infinite number. It's a fine, only God
is infinite. But this is what he told Abram.
You count the stars. Look now toward heaven, and tell
the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto
him, so shall thy seed be. his spiritual seed, mystical
Christ, his church, his body. So shall thy seed be. We live in a large city and there's
lights and it's hard to see the stars sometimes, isn't it? But
I always like to think back in that time, there was no electricity,
no street lights. And when he went out and looked
up into the heavens, the number of stars that he saw. Count them? No. So shall thy seed be. In Galatians 3, Paul speaks of
Abram's seed, Abraham's seed. He said it's singular. If you
be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. Number three, notice. He speaks
of his going to prepare a place. One writer said, the manner in
which Christ prepares a place is mysterious, but not inexplicable. I attended a funeral one time
and the man whose funeral it was, I believe he had been a
carpenter and the preacher. took that as an opportunity to
tell us about the Lord Jesus and you would have got the idea
that he went to heaven, put on a nail apron and took a hammer
in his hand and started preparing a place, started building a mansion.
No, no. We know that the throne of God,
when it speaks of the right hand of God, all of these are metaphors
to begin with. But in Hebrews 9 and verse 24,
we are told that he entered into heaven itself now to appear before
the face of God for us. I go to prepare a place for you. He entered heaven as our high
priest and he's there constantly, always to intercede for us at
God's right hand. And he entered heaven as our
high priest with our names on his breast and on his shoulders. And he entered heaven as our
advocate with the father and makes us always acceptable in
him, though we are unworthy in ourselves. He enters heaven as
our forerunner to take possession. He's the first fruits of them
that slept. And I would remind us of this,
that he is there having all authority and all power. I go to prepare a place for you. He's there with all authority
and all power. We're told upon entering heaven
that he sat down. His work of atonement and satisfaction
was finished. But yet we're told that he intercedes. He continues to serve. And he
will do so until the very last of his elect has been delivered
from sin and death and safely gathered into the fold. And notice
the last thing, number four. He speaks of coming again to
receive us, to be where He is. I know He speaks of His second
coming, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come again, but I
must understand this also, of Him speaking as coming to every
believer at death, to receive us, because these 11 disciples,
they died a long time ago, and He told them I will come again
to receive you. So I know it speaks of his second
coming when he comes again, but also it tells us that he comes
to receive us and notice that we may be where he is. Where is he? Where is he? He's in heaven. I read this story a couple of
weeks ago. I believe D.L. Moody told it. He said several years ago there
was a young girl about four or five years of age and her mother
was very sick. And so her aunt took the little
girl to stay with her while her mother recovered from the sickness.
But her mother didn't recover. Her mother died and they had
her funeral. And so the aunt brought the little
girl back to the house, the home where she had lived. And she
ran in the house and looked in the living room and ran into
the kitchen and ran into the bedroom. And she came back out
and she said, where's my mama? And the aunt took her and embraced
her and told her what had happened. And the little girl said, I don't
want to live here anymore if my mama is not here. Heaven is
where Christ is. Heaven is Christ, to be with
him, to be embraced, to be in his presence. to be blessed. That's heaven. And that's where
every child of God is destined. And not only to be with him,
but this is, think about this, to be like him. To be like him. Amen. Let's sing a couple of
verses of a hymn.