April 15, 2018
Morning Service

In chapter 13 we saw the attitude of servant leader that the Lord would have us to imitate.  Jesus humbly lowered Himself to the level of a servant and washed the feet of the disciples to be an example for them and us to follow.  As Jesus loved and served them, so are we to love and serve one another.  If we are to follow the example of Jesus who gave His all for us, we all have our work cut out for us.  Later in the chapter, Jesus revealed to His disciple that one of them would betray Him and that Peter would deny Him as well.  He also really summed up what our life as a Christ follower should look like in verses 34-35.

John 13:34-35 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another.  (35)  By this all shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love toward one another.

·        Love defines us as a disciple of Christ; the world will know we are Christians by our love one for another.  We are commanded to love others as Jesus loved us.

·        Today we will see a wonderful promise(s) from Jesus to us that we can cling to in times of trouble.  Again I ask you to picture yourself there in the room with Jesus as He speaks these words.  He senses in our attitude that our hearts are troubled for some reason and then He looks us in the eyes and says:

John 14:1-4  Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.  (2)  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.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.  (4)  And where I go you know, and the way you know.

·        I can’t think of a more comforting scripture that is in our Bible.  It is definitely one we all need to memorize.  Let’s break this down into three sections.

First, He cares enough about us to address our troubled heart.  “Let not your heart be troubled.  You believe in God, believe also in Me.”  As we learned at the resurrection of Lazarus, our Savior not only is present in our suffering He suffers along with us.  At these times of trouble He is simply asking us to believe, trust and have faith in Him and who He is.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

·        We must believe, trust and have faith that He is who He said He is and that He will reward us when we diligently seek Him.  Our part of the equation is not to over analyze the details of our suffering but to believe and then trust Him to do what is best for us through the suffering.  In times of trouble look to Him knowing He is God and trusting that He loves and cares for you.  Peter put it this way for us in his letter:

1 Peter 5:6-7  Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time,  (7)  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

·        We serve a God who is never too busy for us.  He asks us to humbly cast all of our cares, troubles, and concerns upon Him.  It is not a burden for God to hear from us and tell Him what is on our heart.  He wants it and desires it!  In times of trouble we need to learn to lean upon Him and He will never let us down.  Love never fails, and God is love. (I Cor. 13 & I John 4).

Secondly, He tells us that in His Father’s House there are many mansions or rooms and He is going away to prepare a place for us.  In the first century, it was a custom for the groom to build a room onto his father’s house in which he would bring his bride to live.  He would make it a place that she would feel loved and live comfortably.  Each board would be nailed with her in mind as he prepared a special place for his beautiful bride to live with him.  They both would anticipate the time in the future where they would live there together.

·        Jesus promises us the same.  In heaven, He is building a place for us to live with Him.  It is a place that we will feel loved and live comfortably.  He builds it with us in mind because we are His Bride.  As we anticipate that day we often wonder what our heavenly home will look like.  Paul quotes Isaiah in his Corinthian letter:

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," nor has it entered into the heart of man, "the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

·        Try your best to stretch your imagination to its limits on what heaven is going to be like and you will come up short.  No man has ever seen or heard what it will be like and its beauty has not even entered the heart of man.  He is there now preparing a place for you so great that you can’t even imagine it.  It won’t only be a beautiful place with streets of gold and gates of pearl but listen to this.

Revelation 21:4 And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away.

·        None of us have ever lived in a world without these things being very present in our daily lives.  The old has passed away and He prepares all things new.

Thirdly, Jesus promises us that if He is preparing a place for us He will return to bring us home.  When the Groom has completed the time of preparations for His Bride, He will return to get her.   Paul described it to the Thessalonians like this:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (16)  For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.  (17)  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord.  (18)  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

·        It will be a dramatic moment indeed as the Lord fulfills His promise to His church to return for them.  With a shout and the sound of a trumpet loud enough to awake the dead.  Together we will all rise to meet Him in the air and there “always be with the Lord.”  Paul tells us to “comfort one another with these words.”  Do you feel comforted by them?

·        Maybe the greatest part of that promise is that Jesus says; “where I am you shall be also.”  He tells us not to let our heart be troubled because in the end we will be together with the One who created us and loved us enough to die for a chance to have fellowship with us.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

·        Jesus will live among us we shall be His people and He shall be our God.  We shall see Him as He is and dwell with Him forever fellowshipping with Him and other saints. Will He be in His glorified body or will He look like the man Jesus who walked this earth?  We don’t know but I hope we get to see both.

·        The good news is that He has told us all that we need to know in able to make this statement into reality.  As we finish this chapter tonight, Jesus will reassure us the Way.

 

Lord, thank You for these promises and may we cling to them when our heart is troubled.