Comfort at His Return Part 1

Text

Let not your heart be troubled: ye 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Introduction

Continuing our series of messages on the return of Christ:

We talked about:

Confidence in His Return “looking for the blessed hope”

Conditions for His Return “perilous times shall come”

Commission for His Return “occupy ‘till I come”

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

TODAY - Comfort at His Return

Conclusion

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Background

To study this inspiring passage of Scripture from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John concerning the comfort which is founded and fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus Christ, we note the precepts for the comfort (), the prospects for the comfort (), and the promise for the comfort ().

Analytical Bible Expositor: John A. Precepts

It was a very bleak and troubling hour for the disciples. Christ had announced that one of them would betray Him and that their leader (Peter) who was the boldest of them all would deny Christ three times before the night was over. This was added to the fact that Christ said He was leaving them and it sounded like it was through death. The three items of news were very discomforting to the disciples and made this time in the Upper Room a very troubling time for the disciples. So Christ gave two precepts or commands for the disciples’ troubled hearts.

I. The Precepts for the Comfort

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

Blessings are often preceded by commands.

Promises seldom come without precepts.

If you want God to do something for you, do not be surprised if God will ask you to do something for Him.

Of course, we much prefer the promises to the precepts. People are more likely to talk about the wonderful promises in the Scriptures than about the precepts in the Scriptures. But do not ignore the precepts or you will be without promises.

Here in chapter 14 of the Gospel of John, Christ is giving His disciples some much needed comfort.

And it all starts with two precepts, These two precepts are be tranquil and be trusting.

1. Be Tranquil

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

This is the first precept for the disciples.

The defining of the command. This command does not mean, “ ‘Do not begin to be troubled,’ but ‘Stop being troubled,’ or ‘Do not be troubled any longer!’ ” (Hendriksen).

It was primarily an order to stop being troubled. The command here indicated that the disciples were having a real problem with troubled hearts.

Indeed, the disciples had a lot of things at that moment that were troubling them while they were sitting around the table in the Upper Room the night before the crucifixion. First, they had been told by Christ that one of the twelve would betray Him (). Second, they had just witnessed the leaving of Judas Iscariot (one of the twelve) from their presence under some ominous and puzzling conditions (). Third, Christ had told Peter in the presence of the other disciples that he would deny Christ three times that very night (). Fourth, Christ had spoken earlier about His death (), in fact this theme (which the disciples tried to ignore) was found more and more in what Christ spoke to the disciples—and it did not sound to the disciples like the Messiah setting up His rule over Israel and running out the hated Roman government in Palestine. Fifth, added to these recent concerns was the fact that in the past year hostility toward Jesus Christ was becoming very strong. Everywhere Christ went He was confronted with a snarling bunch of critics. This hostility was so evident and so bad that when Christ started to go towards Jerusalem again, Thomas said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (). So the disciples had many things that were troubling their minds, yet Jesus told them to not be troubled.

When people are “troubled” they do STUPID things!

Fear causes people to act irrationally and foolishly!

When the Bible says “Let not”, it implies you have the power to stop it.

Let not your heart be troubled....

When God gives us a command, God will always enable us to fulfill that command.

Your heart does not have to be troubled

You do not have to live in fear

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Realize: We will never have complete control of all the circumstances, but we can control our responses to them.

Explain: Someone is mean to you…you have choices...

Punch them

What’s done is done

Say something mean to them

It is what it is...

Leave and pray for them

Believing in God is the Entry Point into God’s Comfort

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

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit that you receive when you get saved

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

When God gives us a command, God will always enable us to fulfill that command.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Transition: Stop being troubled, Start Trusting...

The dynamic for the command. When God gives us a command, God will always enable us to fulfill that command and duty. No matter how difficult the command, there will always be the dynamic for doing the command.

Therefore, here in our text Jesus Christ will give the disciples in the Upper Room plenty of help to do both of these precepts. The help will be in what He says to them. In our text, Christ will give ample reasons for the disciples to not be troubled. And all the help Christ gives focuses on and climaxes in the grand promise of His Return.

2. Be Trusting

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

“Believe also in me” is the second precept for the disciples

“Believe.”

Keyword: “Believe.”

The disciples were exhorted to believe God and to believe Jesus Christ.

(add more info about believe)

We note two things about this second precept given the disciples. They are the remedy in the precept and the rebuke in the precept.

“The Greek word for believe literally means “to place one’s trust in another”; it occurs over 90 times in the Gospel of John alone. To believe in Jesus is to believe in His person and to trust in Him completely for salvation (3:15, 16). Many of Jesus’ contemporaries believed in Jesus’ miraculous powers, but they would not believe in Jesus Himself (6:23–26). Others wanted to believe in a political Messiah, but would not believe in the One who suffered for their sins (). But we must be careful to believe and trust in the Jesus presented in the Scriptures, in the Son of God who sacrificed His life for our sins (, ; )”

Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), .

Jesus is always testing the Disciples’ Faith

a faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted

Feeding of the 5,000

Tranquility comes from believing what God says about things...

And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

Illustration: I ask David what tools do I need to change the propane

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

The Testing Continues

When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. 18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

When the circumstances are out of YOUR control, God is still in control!

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

Don’t be troubled, but TRUST!

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Don’t rely upon your own strength, don’t put confidence in yourself, put your confidence in Jesus!

Peter struggled with it:

Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

“Heart trouble is the commonest thing in the world. No rank, or class, or condition is exempt from it. No bars, or bolts, or locks can keep it out … Even the best of Christians have many bitter cups to drink between grace and glory. Even the holiest saints find the world a vale of tears. [But] Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts” (Ryle).

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

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The rebuke in the precept. The precept given by Christ to the disciples in our text revealed that the disciples were wavering in their faith. “Though they had faith, that faith was beginning to waver … Though the disciples still loved the Master, their faith in him as Messiah-Savior was beginning to waver” (Hendriksen). They were looking more at circumstances than at the Word of Christ, and that will always weaken one’s faith. Circumstances seldom if ever encourage one to believe more; generally circumstances encourage one to doubt, to disbelieve. So it was with the disciples in the Upper Room. And Christ’s precept exposed their problem of wavering faith.

II. The Prospects for the Comfort

“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” (). In this verse Christ shows the disciples that in spite of their troubled hearts, their prospects actually were very good. The basis for their prospects are threefold, they involved the informing by the Lord, the integrity of the Lord, and the industry of the Lord. And all three were related to the return of Christ.

1. The Informing by the Lord

“In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Christ is informing the disciples of their eternal dwelling place—the place where He and they will be together after He returns for them (). This is a great prospect for the disciples, and the informing by Christ said the prospect was founded upon the Word of God.

This place Christ spoke of is quite a place. “Mansions” mean “abiding places.” And “many” says there is room for all the saints. Heaven “is wide enough to receive them [disciples] all and many others with them. The image is derived from those immense oriental palaces in which there is an apartment, not only for the sovereign and for the heir to the throne, but for all the king’s sons, however numerous they may be. The term … ‘many,’ does not by any means refer to a diversity among these mansions … but only to their number. There are as many as there are believers; each one will possess his own in this vast edition” (Godet). There is “plenty room in heaven, room for me but also room for you” (Hendriksen). In heaven, “there will be room for all believers and room for all sorts—for little saints as well as great ones, for the weakest believer as well as the strongest” (Ryle). But there will be no room for the unsaved. This promise in our text is for those who follow the Lord, not the Lord’s enemies.

2. The Integrity of the Lord

“If it were not so, I would have told you.” One of the great blessings Christians have is the integrity of God. It gives our prospects certainty. We can believe God because God does not lie. In this world one sometimes wonders if he can believe anyone. The salesman lies at the store, the student lies at school, the businessman lies to the IRS, the government lies to the people, and politicians have to lie or they would seldom make it as a politician. But Jesus Christ does not lie. He is the personification of “Truth” (). What He says is what it is. If Christ says there are mansions in glory for the saints—there are indeed mansions in glory for the saints. If Christ says He is going to return—He is going to return.

Furthermore, the fact that Christ does not lie, means that all Christ says about everything is the truth. When He warns about hellfire, believe Him! When He warns about the curse of sin, believe Him! The world lies about hell and about the curse of sin and many have been ensnared by these lies and will, as a result, spend eternity in hellfire. It is the world, not Jesus Christ, that you cannot trust.

3. The Industry of the Lord

“I go to prepare a place for you.” The great prospects of the disciples and of all believers is assured by the industry of our Lord. Through His industry, our eternal abode is being prepared by Jesus Christ Himself. He is busy now preparing it for us. This means heaven is not a mere state of mind, a fanciful dream. It is a literal place that is prepared for those who will dwell therein. “He does not explain how the place in the Father’s House should be prepared for them” (Pink). But “the fact that Christ has promised to ‘prepare a place’ for us … guarantees that it will far surpass anything down here” (Ibid.). You can be assured that its splendor will exceed anything we have ever seen in this earth.

That this place will be a great place is assured by the fact that Christ has proven His skill in preparing places. Christ made the universe, the earth, the stars and all creation. It is rather obvious that with such skill and power and means, Christ will prepare quite a place for those whom He loves.

And this preparation will be tailor-made, for Christ is preparing the place of “us.” Everything will fit and be appropriate and delightful for each individual saint. “The naturalist who is notified of the shipment of some new specimen, prepares a habitat as suited as possible to its peculiarities. The mother whose son is returning from sea, prepares a room in which his favorite books and pictures are carefully placed, and all else that her pondering heart can devise to give him pleasure. So, our Lord is anxious to give what is best in us its most suitable nourishment and training. And He will keep our place against our coming. It will not suit another, and will not be given to another” (F. B. Meyer).

That Christ will prepare a place of us says, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people” (Ryle). Pink adds, “God never has, and never will, take His people into a place unprepared for them. In Eden God first ‘planted a garden,’ and then placed Adam in it. It was the same with Israel when they entered Canaan—‘And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not’ (, )”—God had the land of Canaan prepared for the Israelites by using the efforts of the previous residents to prepare the land for the Israelites. And God is still in that business for the saints today not only in preparing a heavenly place but in preparing places for us right here on earth. We witness this truth often by the working of providence in our lives when we arrive on the scene of some place of dwelling or place of service. The fact that He prepares the place is most encouraging.

III. The Promise for the Comfort

“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” (). Here we come to the emphasis on the return of Christ in this passage of Scripture. This announcement of His return and what it meant would be the best part of what Christ was saying, for the disciples had been told that He was leaving them () which greatly upset them. The disciples’ great desire was to be with Christ, so the announcement that He was leaving them greatly disturbed them. Peter, the outspoken disciple, plainly asked Christ in the Upper Room, “Whither goest thou?” (). Christ told them where He was going and what He was going to do (), though Thomas did not catch on at first (), for Thomas did not listen well to what Christ was saying.

In verse three of our text, Christ climaxes His announcement about preparing a place for the disciples by telling the disciples that He is going to return for them. This was good news indeed to the disciples, as the return of the Lord should be good news to every saint. It is the “blessed hope” of the saints. Take out this good news and the other loses its impact.

To look into this promise of His return given in our text, we note the reason for His coming and the reception in His coming, and the results of His coming.

1. The Reason for His Coming

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again” (). The reason for His coming is logical—if He is going to prepare a dwelling place for the saints, then He must come back and take the saints to the prepared place. You do not fix up a place for someone without eventually taking that someone to the place. So the very fact that Christ is going to leave the disciples to prepare a place for them is the assurance that He will come back again to take them with Him to the place. “The coming again of which Jesus speaks in this verse is the counterpart of the going away” (Hendriksen). The disciples had been upset that Christ was leaving them, but here Christ said that His leaving is actually the assurance of His coming back.

There is a truth here we need to note about His return. Many who believe in the “many mansions” message for the saints do not readily accept the message about the return of Christ or the “come again” of Christ. But if the “many mansions” message is true, then so is the “come again” message true; for the Same One who spoke of the “many mansions” also predicted the “come again” event, and He did so at the same time. The second coming message, therefore, is just as valid as the message about heaven for the redeemed. If you deny the second coming message, you might as well deny the message about heaven for the redeemed; for both messages come from the same source.

2. The Reception in His Coming

“I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (). There are two thoughts here about the reception of the saints. They are the personalness of the reception and the pleasure in the reception.

The personalness of the reception. “I will come … receive you unto myself.” The “I” and “myself” inform us that Jesus Christ is personally going to receive the saints. He is not sending some angel to gather the saints together to take them to heaven to be with the Lord, but He is Himself coming for the saints. This would go over big with the disciples. Their focus was on Christ, not some angel.

The personalness of this reception was emphasized in one of our previous chapters when we focused on the text in about the return of Christ. There the Scriptures say, “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven” (). The great delight and excitement about the event we call the Rapture of the saints is that Jesus Christ is coming Himself to receive, to gather up the redeemed. We could not complain if He sent some angel to do this, but the personalness of the reception really thrills the soul, for none other than Jesus Christ is coming to gather the saints together to take them to heaven to the place He has prepared for them.

The pleasure in the reception. Hendriksen says, “The verb translated ‘and will take you’ … [has] a wide variety of shades of meaning … here the sense [is] of welcoming someone.” The sense of welcome and pleasure in reception is also very evident from the general message of the text. Christ is going to receive the saints “unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also” (). That is the unmistakable language of affection. The return of the Lord is going to be a great blessing to the saints. The place to which Christ will take the saints and the fellowship of the saints will be a pleasure that can be spelled in all capital letters.

3. The Results of His Coming

“That where I am, there ye may be also” (). There are many results from the return of the Lord be it the Rapture or the Revelation. Here we focus on one great result regarding the Rapture. That result is that the saints will be with Jesus Christ. Wherever He is, there they will be. This was the great promise in the text in Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians. “So shall we ever be with the Lord” (). F. B. Meyer said, “The charm of Heaven will be the Lord’s presence.”

This promise would greatly comfort the disciples. Christ had spoken of separation () as we noted earlier—and that upset them; but now the promise of His return means the separation will end, and it will end permanently. Never again shall the disciples be separated from the presence of Jesus Christ once Christ comes back for them. “This familiar and almost childlike language [of our text] resembles sweet music by which Jesus seeks to alleviate the agony of separation in the minds of the apostles” (Godet).

All of this again reminds us that the great truth of the return of Jesus Christ, the great emphasis in eschatology about the Rapture and the Revelation, is that the saints will one day be with Jesus Christ. All the interest in prophecy should focus chiefly on Jesus Christ. All the interest in prophecy should climax in the person of Jesus Christ. It is not the airport and its facilities that should excite us the most (though it can be very exciting), but it is the loved ones that we are going to meet at the airport that should be the chief excitement. So it is Jesus Christ Who is to be our chief interest and excitement about eschatology and prophecy and the second coming events.[1]

[1] John G. Butler, Jesus Christ: His Return, vol. 10, Studies of the Savior (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2006), 73–83.