INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• In this evening with Jesus the disciples who were with Him had gone through an emotional roller coaster.
• They had gone from the joy of being with Jesus during the Passover , to arguing over who was the greatest, to hearing that one of them would betray Jesus, to Peter being told he was going to deny Jesus, to hearing once again that Jesus was getting ready to leave them.
• What a ride! Have you had days like that? Days where your world seems to be spinning out of control?
• This is where the disciples are at this point, Jesus knows they need some comfort, so in our passage Jesus gives them a security blanket of sorts.
• There are times when we need a deeper sense of comfort. Let us explore why we can have a deeper comfort!
• Let us begin by looking at John 14:1
• SLIDE #2
• John 14:1 (ESV) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
• Let us begin by seeing…
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
You can have a deeper comfort because …
I. Jesus will continue to provide your needs. (1)
• Jesus had said some things that had caused some anxiety for the disciples.
• The talk of traitorous betrayal in chapter 13 must have been alarming to the disciples.
• He knew their hearts were troubled. Over the course of the evening a lot of things took place that caused anxiety within the hearts of the disciples.
• I bet each one of us has had issues with a troubled heart. Maybe you have one right now.
• Jesus as He looks at these men tells them to STOP letting your hearts be troubled.
• There are times when we are confused and hurt. We look at circumstances and let them get the best of us.
• The word troubled means to be shaken or stirred, it was used when speaking of the waters in the pool of Bethesda in John 5:7
• When we are shaken to the core, Jesus has a cure for our troubled heart.
• Jesus’ cure for a troubled heart is to realize that Jesus will be there for you. He will continue to provide for your needs.
• WE are told that we can get strength from our belief in Jesus and God.
• The disciples LOVED Jesus, there was no question about that. The issue for them was their faith in Him as Messiah was wavering.
• Jesus gives the disciples four grounds in which their comfort could be rooted in. Jesus wants them to know that even though He would not be PHYSICALLY by their side, that He would still take care of them.
• How many times have you been in a tough spot and told someone with you that everything would be all right?
• Did you really have any facts to back those words?
• When Jesus tells the disciples to not let their hearts be troubled, He had facts to back up what He was asking them to do.
• Jesus was not giving them some baseless words telling them it would all be ok. Jesus could back up the command for them not let their hearts be troubled.
• When we allow our heart to be troubled, we are allowing circumstances to be bigger than the God we serve.
• Faith displaces anxiety.
• SLIDE #4
• Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• When we get troubled it is because we do not think God can provide, Jesus tells us HE will be there for us!
• Let’s turn to verse 2 of John 14.
• SLIDE #5
• John 14:2 (ESV) In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
• SLIDE #6
You can have a deeper comfort because …
II. Jesus is preparing a home for you! (2)
• This is the second reason we can have a deeper comfort is the fact that Jesus is PREPARING a HOME for us!
• Jesus follows the command to believe with a promise for his disciples. His departure is for a reason: to make preparations for our eternity.
• We will not be homeless! I know in our economy many people have lost their homes. There are many more who are anxious about the prospect of losing their home.
• Jesus tells the anxious disciples that He is going to His Father’s house, and it is a BIG BIG HOUSE with lots and lots of ROOM!
• We will never be without a home because Jesus is preparing a place for you!
• Jesus tells the disciples that while He is gone, He will be PREPARING a place for them.
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 25:34 (ESV) Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
• God has had a home for those who are His planned from the foundation of the world, now we see that Jesus is saying He will be working to prepare that place for us.
• I cannot imagine what it will be like.
• The word translated ROOMS denotes a dwelling place or personal room.
• If we will but make room in our hearts for Jesus, He will have a room for us!
• When Jesus speaks of His Father’s house, in this context He speaks of Heaven! This is the home Jesus is preparing for those who are His!
• This home will not be a place we cannot find. Let’s look at verse 3!
• SLIDE #8
• John 14:3 (ESV) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
• SLIDE #9
You can have a deeper comfort because …
III. Jesus will come back and bring you home with Him. (3)
• Jesus gives another reason we can have we can experience a deeper comfort no matter what is going on around us!
• Jesus is not only preparing a place for us. He is going to come get us!
• SLIDE #10
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
• Jesus is not going to send a cab for you, He is coming for you!
• Where Jesus is, is where we will be also!
• This is a great promise; we will not be forgotten or left behind!
• When Jesus says He is going to take us to Himself, He is reinforcing our position in Him!
• The disciples were worried since Jesus was saying He was leaving. He reassures them. They will not get lost en route to their home in heaven because Jesus said He is coming for them!
• Let’s look at a final thought in verses 4-7
• SLIDE #11
• John 14:4–7 (ESV) 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can 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 except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
• SLIDE #12
You can have a deeper comfort because …
IV. Jesus has shown you the way home. (4-7)
• As a final reason we can have a deeper comfort is the fact that Jesus is not only going to come and get us, but He has shown us the way to make sure we do not miss the trip!
• Thomas as he is speaking for the group is upset and perplexed because he says he does not know where Jesus is going or how to get there.
• Now Jesus has just said He was going to come for them, but they still did not get it.
• When Jesus spoke of preparing a place, part of the preparation had to do with Jesus blazing the trail for us.
• His blood that was shed for our sins was part of the preparation process.
• Jesus tells Thomas, you DO know the way!
• Jesus reminds Thomas that HE (Jesus) is the WAY. Jesus is the path in which man can come to the Father. Jesus tells Thomas “I have been the example to follow”!
• Jesus tells Thomas that He is the truth! Jesus is the source and originator of ALL truth. IF we follow Jesus we will not walk in darkness!
• SLIDE #13
• John 12:35 (ESV) So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
• Jesus says He is the life. Jesus is the source of Eternal life and life itself!
• SLIDE #14
• John 11:25 (ESV) 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
• When we obey, imitate and depend on God, that path will take us to the very throne of God!
• Jesus prepared the way and He prepares the place for us to go!
• Jesus made it possible for us to be with Him for eternity! By Jesus leaving us for a while, we can reap even greater benefits for eternity!
• As Thomas is focusing on WHERE Jesus is going and the fact he cannot figure out where it is, JESUS is focusing in the WAY.
CONCLUSION
• When your heart is troubled, remember that you can trust God. We are called to trust in God, we are called to put our faith in God.
• When we do that we no longer need to have a troubled heart.
• In Jesus we can experience a deeper level of comfort in life.
• The question is, WILL YOU TRUST HIM?
