Marcus Hays Jr

John 14:1–3

1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2In 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.                                                                                           

The Promise Beyond the Pain!

John 14:1–3 is like going to the Atlantic Ocean. When you take a dip, you hardly reach the surface. This passage is deep enough for scholars to dive in and never reach the bottom. Yet, it is shallow enough for babies to swim in and never drown.

These words have visited more homes, hospitals, funeral homes, and cemeteries than any other passage in the Bible.

This passage seems to give you strength at the hour of weakness.

It is like a pack of handkerchiefs; it dries tears.

It is like an in-house surgeon; it mends broken hearts.

This passage works when nothing else will work. It handles life. What a powerful piece these three verses are! They are power packed. They have great force behind them.

This passage is a head lifter. When other things seem to send you down stream, this passage will help you go upstream.

It has a way of lifting heavy burdens.

It has a way easing troubled minds.

There is something in this passage that your medical doctor can’t discover.

There is something about this passage that you can get without money; that you can get without a price.

You can be ignorant or you can be a professor, you can be rich or poor; learned or illiterate. It makes no difference because this passage will work for any person—regardless of race, creed or color.

Our scriptural text opens with Jesus and His disciples sitting around a table. The disciples had just received bad news. It was time for Jesus to leave. He had been with them for over three years. He had been there to help with whatever their needs were.

He was their supplier. If they were hungry, He supplied two fish and five loaves of bread.

He fed everyone who followed Him and He rewarded the servants by giving them an extra basket.

If His disciples ran into demons, He cast them out.

If their mothers-in-law had fevers, He spoke a word and the fevers would flee.

When they ran into a storm, He awakened out of a peaceful sleep, in the deep waters, walked to the edge of the ship, said, “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39), and there was a great calm.

Whatever their needs were, He could and would supply ALL of them

Jesus made the disciples look good because He lifted them up. When He found them, they were fishermen, farmers, tax collectors, publicans and sinners. He took nobodies and made somebody out of each of them.

Jesus majors in taking nothing and making something out of it.

He lifts you up.

He gives you sense.

He takes the bend out of your back.

He puts a smile on your face.

He puts joy in your heart.

He puts a glow in your eyes.

He makes you feel like you are something.

When someone says you are nothing, Jesus will shout,

“You are a royal priesthood. You are a chosen generation. You are a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9).

When others say you are nothing, He’ll say,

“You are my people, the sheep of my pasture (Psalm 100:3).

When you feel like a nobody, Jesus makes you feel like you are really somebody  “You are a royal priesthood. You are a chosen generation. You are a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9).

When others say you are nothing, He’ll say,

“You are my people, the sheep of my pasture (Psalm 100:3).

When you feel like a nobody, Jesus makes you feel like you are really somebody

We receive marginal benefits for working for the Lord.

When we’re am sick, He heals me.

When we’re am down, He lifts me,

When we’re am weak, He gives me strength.

When we don’t know my way, He’s the way, the truth and the life.

When we need someone to talk to, He’s my walkie talkie.

The thing I love about talking to Him is I don’t have to pay any long distance fees. I can talk to Him all day. And when I get tired of talking, I can leave the phone off the hook and come back and pick up where I stopped. For all this, I repay Him by simply saying, “Thank you, Jesus! Hallelujah! I praise Your holy name!”

The news of Jesus’ leaving left the disciples upset, nervous and baffled. Jesus looked at them and saw them sitting around Him with their heads hung down. What was so amazing was that Jesus on the way to Calvary.

There was an old rugged cross waiting for Him

There was a spear waiting for Jesus’ side

There was crown of thorns waiting for His head.

There was a Cat-Of-9-Tales Waiting on Him

You would think that someone would have been encouraging Him. He turned to His disciples and said, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1).

God deals with the heart and the emotions of man. When our emotions get out of whack, nothing else works.

If our hearts are messed up, we do not think straight.

When our hearts get messed up, our feet do not move right, our ears do not hear right, and our hands do not work right.

When our hearts are troubled, sleep will not come.

We could have favorite meal before us and no desire to eat when we have a troubled heart.

We might own your dream car and not feel like driving.

We may have a big screen television in the house and not want to watch TV.

We may have a phone in every room and not want to talk to anyone.

We may have a newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other, and not want to read.

We may get on our knees and be unable to get a prayer through.

Our friends may want to talk, but we don’t want to talk to anyone because of a troubled heart.

We can buy medicine over the counter for everything but a troubled heart. We can get aspirin for a headache, Advil for a backache and Rolaids for gas. But when it comes to the heart, we cannot find anything over the counter. We can go to the doctor and he will send us home unable to find anything wrong, but we know we are hurting somewhere.

In Revelation 3:20, God said, “Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” You may be in church with the Word going forth, but the Word will do you no good, if you do not let it work on you on the inside.

When people are hurting, they should remember at least three things.

First, don’t curse whatever you are hurting over because when you curse it, you will get angry. When you get angry at something, it lingers.

Secondly, don’t nurse it. If you nurse it, you become attached to it. That’s why it is difficult to get nursing babies out of the house. They become so attached to their mamas that a babysitter can’t keep them. They know the babysitter doesn’t have what mama has.

Thirdly, don’t rehearse it. When you rehearse something, it’s like scratching a scab off of a wound that is healing; it just makes it start bleeding all over again.

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). We must admit, there is a lot around that can trouble us. We would have to be almost blind not to see the things that trouble us. Everywhere we look, there are strange things going on. We hear strange things and we dream about strange things. If you believe in God, do not let your heart be troubled. The word believe comes from the word meaning “trust.”

I like the way an old preacher described how God works. He said God came from nowhere, stood on a platform of nothing, reached back through nowhere, caught something while standing on nothing, slung it into existence, and the sun started shining, the moon started glowing and the stars began to glitter.

The preacher said that God painted the sky blue without using a stepladder, took an eternal brush and painted a rainbow in the sky, and then took the rainbow and threw it over the shoulder of a dying storm. Every time He spoke, something happened.

John 14:2 says, “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.” Here, heaven is called a house, but heaven is also called a city.

In the Bible, heaven is called a country, a city, a kingdom and a paradise.

It is called a country because of its vastness;

a city because of its huge population;

a kingdom because it is in order;

and a paradise because it is a place to rejoice.

Jesus told the disciples that He was going away. If I had been there, I would have asked Him where He was going.

“Are you on your way to Bethlehem?”

“I’ve already been there.”

“Are you on your way to Galilee?”

“I’ve been there.”

“Are you going to Jordan River?”

“I was baptized there.”

“Are you going to Nazareth?”

“That’s where I came from.”

“Are you going to Bethany?”

“I’ve already healed Lazarus.”

“Tell me where you’re going.”

“I’m on my way to a city called heaven and I have children who are on their way there too. I’m going to prepare a place for them.”

Is that good news? Is it good news to know that one day we will be there? Isn’t it good news to know that one of these days we will all be in that city where wickedness will cease from causing trouble, where the weary will be at rest, and where every day will be Sunday and the Sabbath will have no end?

Some people say, “When I get ready to go, I’m going to walk right in and sit right down.”

Others say, “I’m going by way of chariot.”

Someone says, “I’m going on the morning train because the evening train might be too late.”

Someone else says, “I’m going to catch a flight, fly away and be at rest.”

Someone say, I’m going by way of the ship called the Old Ship of Zion. I like the ship because Jesus is the captain.

Notice God said, “I’m going away to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come back again.” Now, there are some things the Lord does and other things He will send folks to do.

When He was ready to lead Israel out of Egypt, He sent Moses.

When He was ready for Israel to march across Jordan, He sent Joshua.

When He was ready to build His temple, He sent Solomon.

When He wanted a man with a vision, He sent Isaiah.

When He wanted us to have patience, He sent Job.

When He wanted us to be baptized, He sent John the Baptist.

When He needed a preacher, He sent Paul.

When He was ready to save mankind, He said, “This job is too big for them.

I don’t won’t to send Moses because he may get angry before he gets to the last saint.

I don’t want to send Solomon because a pretty woman might get his attention.

I don’t want to send David because David’s too busy blowing his horn.

I have to go myself.” He said, “I’ll come again and receive you” (John 14:3). Isn’t that good news? That is good news because one of these days—I don’t know when or where—He’s coming back.