Jesus Comforts The Troubled Heart
Notes
Transcript
1 ”Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for 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; that where I am, there you may be also.
4 “And you know the way where I am going.”
5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
1 ”Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
Why would the Lord Jesus say to His disciples, Let not your heart be troubled (shaken or stirred up)?
Because the disciples were distressed.
Strife had set in among them, as to who would be the greatest among them.
It was now known, that there was a deserter and a betrayer of Jesus, among them.
Uncertain of their own hearts, the disciples questioned “is it I”?
The disciples were beginning to realize that Jesus was going to be seperated from them in death.
It had just been revealed to John, that Peter a spokesperson for the disciples, would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows. Peter had seemingly been the strongest and boldest of them all. They must had wondered, “How can it be that a “Rock” like Peter,could deny Christ three times?”
They had been shamed by their prideful refusal to wash one anothers feet.
Things were not going as the disciples had hoped.
Like their fellow Jews, the disciples saw the Messiah as a conquering king.
They truly believed that the Messiah would free Israel from Roman bondage, restore Israels sovereignty and glory, and extend it over the world.
The disciples had forsaken everything to follow Jesus; and now it seems that the Messiah was forsaking them.
By no means were they expecting a Messiah to come to die.
So their hopes were crushed when the Lord announced publicly, that His death was on the horizon.
So Jesus tenderly says to them, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
Knowing their troubled hearts, the Lord asserts to them as a fact, “you believe in God, therefore, you believe also in Me.
These are words of comfort for them.
To have instructed the disciples to believe would have made matters worse; they would not have known what to think, knowing that they believe in Him already!
!!!Rather, Jesus implied that their faith in Him rises above their betrayals, above their weaknesses, and their faith in Him rises above their denials!
Therefore, the soul rises above the trouble.
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
The Lord then turned their thoughts to their heavenly inheritance, a place of inexpressible beauty, saying, “In My Father’s house are many dwellings places.”
The Father’s House is another name for Heaven.
It is also discribed as a heavenly country.
In the Book of Hebrews, it is discribed as Mount Zion, as the Heavenly Jerusalem as the city of the living God.
The Apostle Paul, assured Timothy, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom;”
So the Father’s House is discribed as a kingdom that is heavenly and God is its King!
Jesus called it Paradise as He comforted the thief hanging next to Him on a cross.
It’s a place of indescribable beauty and a place of perfect peace. Nothing to trouble us will be there!
And the Father’s House has many dwelling places.
Every dwelling place is intimately added to the Fathers House.
In Israel a father would build additional rooms onto his house for his sons and their families.
I can only try to picture in my tiny mind, and I know that I fall way short of the true scene, but I try to envision a heavenly royal suite with all the amenities that heaven has to offer. The suite is furnished and fit for a king. The food must be amazingly prepared and every dwelling must have a spectacular view of Paradise. The music must be beautiful and the weather must be perfect. It is a place of dazzling, inexpressible beauty!
To live “with God,” would bring safety, comfort, and peace, like we have never known.
And there is room for all who will come to Christ!
The Lord affirms to His disciples...if it were not so, I would have told you;
Jesus didn’t lie. He only told the truth.
Jesus came from Heaven to earth, therefore, He knew exactly where and what He was returning to.
The promise of eternal life in the indescribable country of God’s Paradise, should bring joy and great anticipation, to the hearts of every believer, regardless of our troubles or circumstances.
Picture Jesus sitting in the Upper Room speaking with His troubled disciples who couldn’t understand why He was going to be leaving them, Jesus said, “for I go....to prepare a place for you.”
He had to go die on a cross to prepare redemption by giving His life a ransom and the shedding of His blood, for the forgiveness of sin.
He had to go into death, in order that He could be raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
He had to go into heaven and be exalted, to prepare a place for us in the Fathers House.
3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Verse 3 seems to have a very caring and loving tone, but with conditions, as Jesus spoke with His disciples.
If I go.......and prepare a place for you, I will come again
There is no reference made here to judgment of the world as will occur at His second coming. Nor is there referrence made here, to the establishment of His Millenial Kingdom.
So, Jesus must be referring to His personal appearing, where He Himself will “catch up, or rapture” the church out of this world, into heaven.
1 Thess 4:14-18
It is worth noteing, that at His second coming, at the end of the Great Tribulation, it will be the angels who will gather the elect, who come out of the seven year tribulation.
Friend, As surely as He came the first time, He will come again!
But here, Jesus tells His disciples, that it is He Himself who will be coming back!
Jesus’ made a promise to them saying, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again...and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also.
Again, this is rapture language.
As a groom would prepare for his bride before the wedding, so the Lord is preparing for His bride.
He will receive us, and present to Himself “a glorious church”
No more to be seperated, eternally where He is, in perfect fellowship with our God.
The past may seem gloomy, but there should be not trouble of heart, since the infinitely better future lies ahead, with His return.
4 “And you know the way where I am going.”
They knew, for Jesus had told them time and time again, the way to where He was going.
He had frequently told them that He was to die and rise again.
He had frequently told them that He must go to the Father.
The disciples were rattled so badly by the Lords discussion of His leaving them that they were not sure of anything.
Now look at the response of Thomas!
5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
They could not see past the inevitable death that Jesus would face.
They failed to grasp or comprehend what lies beyond the grave.
They were misunderstanding what Jesus was saying and doomed to fail in their allegiace to Him.
Those who think in worldly terms and lives life their own way, will never know where Christ has gone nor how to get there.
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
By now they should have understood that Jesus was leaving earth to return to the Father. Thomas professed ignorance: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?”
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
This verse is packed with so much glorious truth, that many, many sermons could be drawn from this verse alone.
Jesus says to His disciples, I AM the way- We are reminded, HE is diety. He is God.
Jesus is the way -
Our Lord had already told His disciples in Chapter 10 of John verse 9, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. He was making reference to the care of the Good Shepard over His sheep.
Access to the Fathers house is obtained through Him by faith, into this grace in which we stand. To the saints in Ephesis, Paul says, that thru Christ we have our access in one Spirit to the Father. The veil has been torn, access has been gained by His sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus’ death is the means by which the divine wrath of God is turned from the repentant sinner. Jesus was and forever will be, the ONLY Way to God!
Jesus alone is the truth about God-
The Apostle John testified this and much more.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus alone s the life of God-
Apostle John testifies to this to this truth....
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
In Him was life, and the life was bthe light of men.
Jesus says to Martha.....
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
No one comes to the Father, but through Me. (Jesus says)
Jesus alone is the door of the sheep, all others are thieves and robbers, and it is only the one who “enters through Him who will be saved.
The way of salvation is a narrow path entered through a small, narrow gate, and few find it.
I hope you realise that the postmodern belief that there are many paths to God is a satanic lie.
Peter affirms...
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”