Quieting the Troubled Heart - John 14:1-7

© Copyright July 4, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

There is quite a difference between doing (or for that matter attending) a funeral for a strong believer and a funeral for a marginal or non-believer. In the first funeral you may find a sense of true hope and even rejoicing. Those who are rejoicing are looking PAST the departure of a friend and rejoice over their good fortune to be home with the Lord. Their grief is mitigated by their hope that is found in the promise of God.

On the other hand, the marginal believer (one who may or may not be a genuine believer) or an unbeliever’s funeral is somewhat of a sad affair. At best you may think this is the end. The person’s existence has come to an end. It’s the idea: “we live, we die, that’s it.” It is worse for believers in attendance because they shudder at the possibility of the eternal torment of the one who was indifferent to Christ.

One of my favorite texts for funerals (of believers) is this text in John 14. It is filled with hope and provokes anticipation.

Once again, let me remind you of the profound truth that John 14 comes directly after John 13.

It should be pointed out that John did not put the chapter divisions in the Gospel. That was done at a much later time for the purpose of making the Bible more accessible to people. At the end of chapter 13, the disciples were understandably upset because Jesus announced He would soon be leaving them. Peter seemed especially distraught. Jesus had just told Peter he would deny him three times before the next day dawned.

It was in this situation and context that Jesus spoke the words from John 14.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

I want to spotlight some key truths for you this morning.

We Choose Whether to Be Troubled or to Trust

The disciples were troubled at the thought that Jesus was leaving them. We find ourselves troubled by many things. We are troubled over family problems, financial stresses, demands of work, political decisions, our health, our retirement, and rising prices. It is easy to have a troubled heart. But it does not have to be that way.

Notice Jesus is giving instruction: “Don’t let your heart be troubled.” He sees the troubled heart as the result of our choices rather than our circumstances. And we know from experience that some people seem to view any situation in a positive or optimistic light. Others seem to find a reason to be troubled in any circumstance.

This is one of the most important insights we can gain. We must learn that we CHOOSE our emotions. Our emotions are the result of the choices we make. We choose how we will respond, and we choose where we will place our focus.

There was a contestant on this year’s America’s Got Talent who is a great example of this. She had been fighting cancer. She revealed afterwards that she has been given a 2% chance of survival. Yet she had an incredibly positive attitude. She said, “I don’t want to be defined by what’s wrong with me.” Later she said, “I’ve decided you can’t wait to be happy until all your problems go away.” She understands about choosing your attitude.

There are all kinds of things coming at us on any given day. We can choose to be overwhelmed or we can choose to adjust our expectations. We can choose to focus on the problems or focus on the One who is greater than any problem we face. It is largely this later choice that Jesus zeros in on. He seems to be telling us that you can focus on the things of this earth and be troubled, or you can focus on eternal things and find reason for rejoicing.

We Should Focus on the Destination More Than the Journey

I’ve taken a number of driving vacations. Our family drove out to Colorado one summer. It wasn’t a particularly fun or scenic drive. But we kept going because I looked forward to the chance to introduce my kids and grandkids to the mountains. I focused on the destination rather than the journey.

This is what our Lord is asking us to do. He tells us there are plenty of rooms in His Father’s house and He is preparing one of them for you! Would you be excited if you knew you were going to spend the night in Buckingham Palace and would visit with the Royal Family? If that doesn’t excite you maybe it would excite you to think of spending the night in a suite on the Disneyworld Campus with the chance to have breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, and Donald Duck. Whatever your taste . . . this is better by far!

Jesus said, “Would I have told you, if it were not so?” It’s as if he was saying, “Have I ever lied to you before? Do you trust me?” I am preparing a place for you and when that place is ready I will come and take you to be with me.” It is a wonderful picture which we need to bring to mind more often than we do.

I don’t have first-hand knowledge of what happens when we die but I can tell you what the Bible says. It says the moment we die we will either be with Jesus or in Hades or Sheol (these words mean the same thing one is Hebrew the other is the Greek equivalent). Sheol is a holding place for the souls of those who die.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 23 about a rich man and Lazarus. From that parable we learn some things (since Jesus had “inside information”). First, before the resurrection of Jesus, everyone went to Hades immediately when they died. There were two regions in Hades . . . one of bliss and one of torment. People were conscious and aware that they are where they deserve to be. At the end Hades will be thrown into Hell (or the Lake of Fire). In other words, the torment of Hades is nothing compared to what is coming in Hell.

Those who are believers no longer wait in the blissful section of Hades . . . they go to be with the Lord. The death and resurrection of Jesus made it possible for us to be with the Lord forever. The moment we die our souls go to be with Christ. I don’t have any way to truly understand or picture this because it is an existence different from what we know. Jesus gives us a wonderful picture: when the Lord has a place prepared for those who are His, He will come and take us home. I cannot imagine a better way to step into eternity than to step into His arms.

I was talking to a Hospice nurse once. She told me that in her experience she could tell those who had faith and those who did not. The people with faith, died simply. There was no struggle, just peace. The others fought it all the way. This fits what I have observed over the years. I have watched people I was sure saw the Lord and then breathed their last.

This is our great hope! It is the Christian promise! We spend too much time fretting about the journey of life and too little time reflecting on our destination. The journey is temporary, the destination is forever. This puts the struggles of life in perspective. We are living now to live again!

One commentator wrote,

Christians are, or at least should be, the world’s great realists. Consider, in contrast, the attitude of today’s secularism, as expressed by the lyrics of a once-popular song, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Since this life is all that there is, we should just keep trying to have a good time. Or consider stoic philosophy. Stoics seek to remain calm during trials because they despair of the future. Life has no meaning, and therefore problems are not faced but ignored. Christians, however, face their troubles, finding a great hope in our confidence for the future. Christians are the world’s great realists, but also the world’s great optimists: trusting God to uphold us, we can be honest about the world and life, since we look ahead to heaven where our hopes are held fast and secure.[1]

This raises an important question: How can I know I am going to Heaven? Fortunately, Jesus answered this question for us in the next verses. Jesus had told them they know the place He is going.

5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

How to Know You are on the Right Path

Jesus has painted a great picture of hope. He has given us an antidote to fear and says, “and you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas says what everyone else was thinking, “Um . . . actually, we don’t know the way. . . we don’t even know where you are going.”

Imagine someone said to you, “I am going to get things ready for a great vacation we’re going to take together. Just follow your GPS and you will get there fine.” You would say, “How can I follow my GPS if I don’t even know where we are going?” I love GPS but you do have to give it some parameters before it can lead you anywhere. I get the impression Thomas wanted to be where Jesus was but had no idea how to get there.

Jesus responded with some very important words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” They are important words but also contentious words in our day.

First, notice that Jesus does not say, “I will lead you to the way, to the truth, and to true life.” He said HE IS those things. Jesus doesn’t just show us the way to life beyond the grave, He IS the way. Jesus is the way to a relationship with God because He provides what no one else can provide. He provided payment for our sin.

Later in the same verse he says “No one CAN come to the Father, except through me.” There are no alternate routes. In logic this is called a universal negative. This means there are no exceptions . . . not even one!

We can’t get to God, we cannot get to Heaven in any other way except through Christ! This is an offensive statement in our pluralistic society. People like to say, “you go your way, and I will go mine, and I’ll meet you in Heaven.” Jesus says without stuttering or qualification He is the SOLE way, the ONLY way to have a saving relationship with God. He is the only way to Heaven.

We can’t get to Heaven by

· Being religious

· By doing good things

· By donating a significant amount of money

· By abstaining from certain vices

· By going on mission assignments

· By being a devoted follower of another religion

Many people view this as arrogance. They say, “Who do you think you are to say your way to God is superior to mine?” To which we must answer, “I’m not saying this. Jesus is. The man who rose from the dead said He was the only way to get to God.”

Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, and even some individual churches believe THEY are the only way to be right with God. So the question becomes whose belief is the most credible? These words were spoken by our Lord and then backed up with fulfilled prophecies, His crucifixion, His resurrection from the dead, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus doesn’t merely speak truth, He IS the truth. When you look at and listen to Jesus, you are listening to the One who IS truth. Jesus is the One by whom we measure our behavior, our beliefs, and our lives. People resist this.

God did not have to provide any way. The fact that He provided ONE way is a gift of grace far greater than we deserve. Those who don’t like the way He provided are allowed to reject it. But in doing so, they will spend eternity in Hell and torment. But this will not be because of God’s lack of mercy, it will because of man’s stubborn refusal to submit to Him as the Lord over all of life and eternity.

In much the same way, the person who tries to correct and improve on what the Son of God is teaching is a fool. He speaks with the authority of the perfection of God Himself. Listen and follow or ignore and face eternal isolation from God and His blessings.

An athlete who wants to last on the Professional level must watch, listen and learn from the more experienced. The wise person notes what they said, they don’t try to correct the person who has been doing the job successfully for many years. That is foolishness.

Finally, Jesus says He is the life. He doesn’t only lead to life, teach about life, and understand life better than we will ever understand it, He IS life. He is the One who spoke the world into existence, He is the One who sustains us, guides us, and gives us every single breath we take. We CANNOT get to Heaven apart from Him!

One author shared this account,

Skip Ryan tells of having served on a special project for the United States Department of State. The working group to which he was assigned once held a briefing at the White House. The meeting took place in the Roosevelt Room, a conference room across the hall from the Oval Office. After the meeting, the State Department official in charge asked whether Ryan would like to see the Oval Office, the official working place of the President of the United States, since the President was out of town. Ryan recalls two things about that visit. The first was the awe he felt at being in such a place. The second was that he could not possibly have entered the Oval Office unless he was taken there by someone authorized to bring him.

If that is true of the office of the President of the United States, how much more true is it of the glorious presence of almighty God in heaven? People who would never think to enter the White House simply assume that they will go to heaven after they die. But heaven is far more restricted than any high-security location here on earth. Heaven is guarded by mighty angels armed with swords of divine power (Gen. 3:24). Entry into heaven is governed by the perfect and unyielding justice of God’s holy law.[2]

No one can come to the Father except through Him. This is a gift of immeasurable worth. As you reflect on this text, I encourage you to do four things,

1. Look at your fears and remind yourself that you have a choice in life. If you are churning, choose to trust the One who is beyond the trial. Focus on what awaits rather than be mired in what is just a temporary counterfeit of something more wonderful than we can imagine. Don’t let the world rob you of your inheritance. Close your eyes and see yourself taking all those things that cause fear and lay them at the feet of Jesus. Believe and trust Him.

2. If you have not trusted Christ, don’t delay another day! Run to Him! Jump into His arms and let Him wrap you in His grace and mercy. Follow Him as the only One who can forgive your sin and make you new. Don’t just become religious, let Him lead you, transform you, and someday lead you to the place He is preparing for you.

3. Regularly stop and allow your mind to imagine Heaven. We ponder lots of things. . . why not the glories of Heaven? Imagine seeing Jesus for the first time and fully realizing the magnitude and true wonder of His grace. Imagine looking around and seeing none of the effects of sin or rebellion.

4. Finally, let nothing, or no one turn you away from the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. Many will call you foolish, ignorant, and narrow-minded. When they do, remind yourself that God calls you His Redeemed.

Most people are looking for something in life. They run from one thing to another in the hope they will find the secret to life. I hope today you have learned what you are looking for is found only in Jesus. And it is not hidden. There is no secret combination, no test you must pass, it is a relationship . . . with Him.

It is my sincere hope that we will not be conducting your funeral any time soon. But when that time comes, I hope we can say with absolute confidence that you have gone home to the place the Father has prepared for you. The place you have longed for all your life.

[1] Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 193. [2] Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 206.