By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 1045am Svc, 2010-03-07

Text: John 14:1-14

Did you know that heart trouble is the leading cause of death in the world today? I'm referring to the medical kind of heart trouble. It is the cause of more than 7 million deaths a year, which accounts for 12% of all deaths. The most common kind of heart trouble is coronary heart disease, which is the failure of the blood circulation to the heart muscles, resulting in a heart attack. This may result either from the thickening of the coronary arteries or from a blood clot that blocks the flow of blood through them. 

Because of this many of us have been advised by our doctors to change our diet to low-fat and high-fibre food, and to change our lifestyle to include more physical exercise and better stress management. Some of us here may be taking cholesterol-lowering medicine. Others may have had 1 or 2 stents inserted inside our coronary arteries or have undergone a heart by-pass operation. These are the remedies commonly prescribed for heart trouble. 

This morning we are going to look at a different kind of heart trouble - one that afflicts not our blood-pumping 4-chambered organ, but the very center of our being or personality which is the seat of all our emotions. This kind of heart trouble can afflict anyone - young or old, good or bad. Nobody is immune to it. Even our Lord Jesus was not immune to it. In our study of John's Gospel we have already seen 3 instances when His own heart was troubled. The first was in John 11:33 when Jesus felt the sorrow of losing His good friend Lazarus. The second was just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem when He told Philip and Andrew that His hour had come - referring to His fast-approaching death on the cross. According to John 12:27 Jesus said, 'Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.' And the third time was in John 13:21 when Jesus revealed to His disciples that one of them would betray Him. 

All these show that there is nothing wrong with having a troubled heart - it is part of life on this side of glory. What is important is how we deal with a troubled heart. For this, we need to make use of the right remedy which comes from the great physician, our Lord Jesus Himself. And since He understands perfectly what it feels like to be troubled in His own heart, His remedy is bound to be most effective to deal with it. 

We have already reached the stage in the Gospel of John when Jesus was at the Last Supper with His disciples, and was sharing His final moments with them. Jesus knew that He was going to be crucified the next day. He had told them that He would have to leave them soon, and naturally, this made the disciples feel quite fearful and anxious. In their hearts the future seemed very uncertain. There were many questions. Why did their master have to leave them? Why could He not stay with them longer? What will become of them after He is gone? 

I think most of us are no strangers to questions of this nature. They tend to trouble us most when there is an unexpected turn of events. Perhaps the person you depended on a lot suddenly has to leave you for work overseas for a few years, and you wonder how you will cope with life without him around. Perhaps the company that you have been working in so comfortably and securely for many years merges with another and suddenly your post becomes redundant, and you find yourself having to sink or swim in a highly competitive job market to provide for your family. Or perhaps a member of your family is diagnosed to have an incurable cancer. In all these situations the question that troubles us is 'Why must this happen? Why can't things just remain the way they have been?'

Whenever you feel as if the walls of your life are closing in on you and there is no way out, you must apply to your troubled heart those tender words of comfort which Jesus gave to His disciples in John 14:1. He said 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.' Look also at v.27 where Jesus says almost the same thing, 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'

What does it mean to 'let not our hearts be troubled'? It means 'Stop being troubled in spirit. Set your heart at ease. Keep on believing. Keep on trusting in the Lord. Keep looking up to Him. Don't give up hope.' After saying this, Jesus gave His disciples 3 things that would help them to stop being troubled. And they can be a great source of encouragement to us: 

I. Our Eternal Home in Heaven, With Jesus (vv.1-4)

We see this in v 2 & 3, where Jesus said: '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. 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.'

If you ever feel discouraged because you have no permanent home in this world, please remember this: Jesus has promised to provide you with a permanent home one day - in His own heavenly home. At the time that Jesus lived in Israel, it was common for closely-related families to live together under one roof as one extended family. As the sons of the family grew up and got married, additional rooms would be added and prepared for them and so the house got bigger and bigger. The son who was going to get married would assure his bride that after he has got their room in his father's house all prepared and ready, he will come and take her to live with him on their wedding day. 

In this passage, we see Jesus doing the same thing. He promises the disciples that He is going back to prepare places for them in the many rooms or mansions of His father's house. Jesus is like the groom promising his bride that he will come to take her to live with him after he has prepared their apartment.

Isn't it exciting and encouraging to look forward to the time when Jesus will return and take us to heaven to live with Him forever? What makes heaven such a wonderful place is that there will be no more sorrow, nor tears; nor more pain, no more suffering and no more sin. But the most attractive feature of all is that we will be together with Jesus forever. 

Look at v. 3 again: '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.' Jesus will be there not just in Spirit, in the way He is with us now, but in Person, fully perceptible to us. And we will find our greatest delight in just being with Him and talking with Him.

One hymn that expresses such a desire for heaven is entitled, 'Over the Sunset Mountains.' It was composed by John Peterson and goes like this: 'Over the sunset mountains someday I`ll softly go into the arms of Jesus, He who has loved me so. Over the sunset mountains heaven awaits for me. Over the sunset mountains Jesus my Saviour I`ll see.' When Peterson took his new hymn to the song publisher, the publisher listened to it and said, 'We would like to use it, but we have one suggestion. Can you take out that reference to Jesus and enlarge a little more on heaven?' Peter said, 'Heaven without Jesus? Unthinkable!' He took back his manuscript and went to another publisher. The point is this: Jesus is what makes heaven heaven. Heaven is so heavenly only because He is there.

Doesn't it comfort you now to know that no matter how bad things may become in this world, you will one day be with Jesus in a wonderful home and with a better life that is waiting in heaven for you? Doesn't this give you the security you need to cope with any losses you may have to endure here for a while? Now you can say, 'So what if I am not so well off in this world? So what if I have to lose everything now? My ultimate future is completely assured by Christ. I am on my way to heaven. And nothing, absolutely nothing at all can ever change that.'

This comforting thought can remove any fear or anxiety you may have about your immediate future. It will stop your heart from being so troubled by your circumstances, and will give you the strength to go on with life and make the best of what you have at present. But this is not the only encouragement there is. Let us go on to see the second encouraging thing that Jesus mentioned to His disciples:

II. Our Privilege to Know God, through Jesus (vv.5-11)

Whenever our hearts are troubled, it always encouraging to know that there is someone we can turn to for help. And the best person who can help us is God Himself. But this assumes that you can find God, and people throughout all ages and nations have always been trying to find God and know Him, but without success. And how can anyone turn to God for help in time of need when he does not even know Him yet? This is where we can see now how privileged we all are. Those who believe in Christ have the wonderful privilege of knowing God and of being helped by Him. Let us read vv.5 & 6 'Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' 

Verse 6 is one of the most important verses in the whole Bible. As one commentator put it, this verse, 'is the ultimate foundation for a satisfactory philosophy of life.' This verse is also the greatest revelation that Jesus ever gave about Himself in the Gospel of John. Notice He did not say, 'I'll show you to way to the Father.' He said, 'I AM the Way.' He did not say, 'I'll teach you the Truth that you need.' He said, 'I AM the Truth.' And He did not say, 'I'll give you life.' He said, 'I AM the Life.' No one can make such awesome statements about himself truthfully, except our Lord Jesus Christ.

And because He is the way, the truth and the life, He is the only means of reaching the Father. There is no other way to God but through Him. But today there are many who claim that there are other ways to God besides Jesus, and that we cannot be so narrow-minded as to say that Jesus is the ONLY way to God. They get angry when they hear those words, 'No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' To them it is extremely offensive and intolerant to make such a claim as this. 

What can you say to those who tell you that you are too narrow-minded to say that Jesus is the ONLY way to God? You can use this analogy: If you were to mail a letter to a friend but you put any house address on the envelope, can you expect it reach him? Obviously not. How then would you know which address to use? Only by getting it from your friend. No letters can ever reach him except those that are sent by this address alone. In the same way how can we come to God unless He Himself has told us how we can reach Him? And since God has revealed that He can be reached only through His Son, Jesus Christ, can there be any other way to God? 

Therefore it cannot be true that there are many ways to God. In Matthew 7:14 God's Word says, 'strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.' No matter what others may claim, the truth that you and I must be fully convicted of in our hearts and minds is that there is only ONE way to God - that is through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we say that, we are not at all trying to be unkind, proud, bigoted or narrow-minded. We are not saying that we are better than people in other religions who are very sincere or devoted in their own faiths, but we are merely stating with all humility what God Himself has so clearly revealed in His Word - that no one can come to the Him, except through Jesus Christ.

Let us return to our passage and find out why this is so. Look at v.7 onwards 'If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him. Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, he doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.'

Please take careful note of what Jesus said here. Philip's request to Jesus seemed to be good and reasonable enough: 'Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.' After all isn't that what Jesus had come to do in this world? But Philip was expecting to see something more, not just a plain human form that lived, talked, ate and slept like everyone else did. He wanted to see some special material image or the likeness of God Himself. But all that he saw when he looked at the outward physical appearance of Jesus was a man, like himself.

Jesus then told Philip that He had been showing them the Father all along, not in His outward appearance but in His words and in His actions, and in fact in His whole personality. God was being revealed in the whole personality of Christ. The personality that Jesus has is really God's personality, and more so since Jesus is God Himself. And only that personality can ever be an accurate representation of God to man.

And although you may look through all of the pages of your Bible and not find a single inspired drawing or picture of what Jesus looked like, you will find instead the full divine personality of Christ revealed in the words He spoke and the works He did that are recorded here. No one else who has ever lived ever had such a personality, spoke such words or did such works because no one else was God's own unique, only-begotten Son. 

When you understand this truth, then you will understand why there can be only one single, solitary, authorized, means of knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him. It is only through Jesus that anyone, man, woman and child can ever know God personally, and have access to Him. 

But once a person has found that way of access, he has found for himself the best Ally, Friend and Companion that this life can afford. There is no greater source of encouragement for facing life's difficulties than to know God Himself personally. He is everything that we need for every kind of need. And when you have this personal relationship with God through Christ, then you also have a new life and power within you to do great things for Him. This brings us to the third and final encouragement that Jesus mentioned to His disciples:

III. Our Opportunity to Do Great Things, for Jesus (vv.12-14)

Whenever we are fearful about an uncertain and difficult future, we will also usually feel quite powerless to do anything. Setbacks in life often leave us feeling very weak and unable to move on. But now we can keep on going, as we discover that through Christ we can actually be strong and empowered enough to face all the challenges of life. 

Let us look at v.12: Jesus said, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.' Here Jesus was telling His disciples that His leaving them was not going to make them weaker, but instead it would make them stronger and even more effective than they were before. This is because the prayers they make in Christ's name will be used of Him to accomplish great things which they could never do on their own. Prayer is a useful resource that every Christian has in times of need, and it is really the most powerful resource you have. James 5:16 tells us that 'the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' I am sure that many of us here can testify of times in our lives when we saw our prayers answered in marvelous ways, bringing God's power, provision, and protection into our experience. Lord Tennyson wrote: 'More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.'

When our motive for praying is to glorify God, our moments of despair and weakness are transformed into moments of strength and boldness. One illustration of this may be found in the book of Acts. Let us turn our Bibles to Acts 4. In this chapter Peter and John were arrested and imprisoned. This was the first persecution that the apostles faced. They were brought to be condemned by a judicial body, which finally released them after giving them a stern warning to stop preaching Christ. 

When Peter and John returned to the church and reported what had happened, they may have felt quite fearful about the beginning of persecution, and so they all prayed together fervently. This prayer begins in v.24 'And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said' Now look at v.31 to see what happened after they prayed: 'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they all had things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.'

Can you see how greatly encouraged they were as a result of praying? There are tremendous opportunities for us to do great things for God. And these become revealed and manifested only as we pray. And you should apply this yourself. If you feel down this week for any reason, because of some sickness, some disappointment or some problem you face, don't be paralyzed by fears or feelings of helplessness. Find a place where you can be alone; get down on your knees and pour out your heart to God immediately. And you will soon notice a great difference. You will find comfort and assurance as you pray, and even more so if you also meditate on a portion of God's Word like our text, John 14. And then, as you entrust all your cares and problems to the Lord, you will find the strength and courage you need to go on, and to take whatever necessary steps you should take. And you can be confident that God will work out all things well.

As we come to the end of our message let me summarize what we have learned from God's Word this morning as the remedy for troubled hearts. Through the words of comfort Jesus gave His disciples, we have seen that we can be encouraged by the security we have of our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. We can also be encouraged by our personal relationship with God through Jesus, and God is the best help that anyone can have in times of need. And finally we can be encouraged through prayer to be strong and to do great things for Jesus.

May the Lord take these words and help us to apply them for His glory.

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