INTRODUCTION
All around are signs people have troubled hearts. In the United States of America, it’s common for Congress and the president to disagree on the country’s budget. Occasionally it reaches the point where there is the threat of the federal government shutting down.
Prison overcrowding is a continual challenge. The United States locks up a greater share of its residents than any other nation. The crime rate continues to rise in inner cities as people fight for existence.
The family is in decline. Fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. Sexual immorality is rampant. Sex outside of marriage and unfaithfulness within marriage are both common occurrences. Teen pregnancies are extrememly high as well as are the number of single parent families. Children suffer the effects of absent fathers.
Drug use is also high. Some states are lobbying for legalizing medical marijuana. Papers are filled with the news of drug arrests and crimes committed for the sake of drug use. Natural disasters destroy homes and belongings of people. Things they’ve worked for all their lives are being swept away.
Ethnic and religious rivalries have impacted many countries. And the world is still fighting the war against terrorism.
Examples of troubled hearts and why they are are rife. In our passage, Jesus instructs his disciples and us not to let our hearts be troubled. The disciples had reason for troubled hearts. One of them would betray Jesus with a kiss and sell him to the authorities. Another would deny on three occasions he even knew Jesus. Perhaps the most troubling thing is Jesus would soon leave them to return to heaven and they couldn’t go with him.
Three ultimate cures are found in these verses. They are ultimate cures for none of them may necessarily cure or bring relief from suffering, strife, trials or tribulations in this life. They are ultimately, however, the cure for troubled hearts.
I. TRUST CHRIST
Jesus told them not to let their hearts be troubled. He instructs them to believe in God and also in him. This then is the first ultimate cure for troubled hearts. We cannot separate the two for a belief in God must encompass a belief in his Son Jesus Christ.
The disciples were sick over what Jesus told them. He said one of them would betray him and another would deny him. He also told them he would soon leave and they couldn’t go with him. In the midst of this troubling time, he gives them an antidote-believe in him and God.
Already their world must have seemed empty because he said he was leaving. Their faith in him would keep their world from becoming a haunted house. In spite of all that would take place, he encourages them to trust in the goodness of God. Even though he would leave, they could and should continue to believe. Their strong belief in him would see them through his crucifixion and death.
We too need to listen to Jesus’ challenge to believe in God and him. It’s the ultimate cure for troubled hearts. To believe in one is to believe in both because Jesus says we can’t come to the Father except through him. We must trust by faith that he’s the only begotten Son of God. It involves a willingness to repent of our sins. He’s the only one capable of curing the sin problem in our life.
Beyond the initial experience of trusting him as Savior, it becomes a daily thing for us. This involves placing our lives under his complete control. He must be Lord of every area of our life. No matter the circumstance, we must trust him to do in our lives what’s best. Our belief in him will manifest itself in believing his word, prayer, supporting the work of his church and sharing his love with others.
Well known pastor Charles Spurgeon said; “Although we are sure that men are not saved for the sake of their works, yet we are equally sure that no man will be saved without them.”
Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, said; “When we have thus taught faith in Christ, then do we teach also good works. Because thou hast laid hold upon Christ by faith, through whom thou are made righteous, begin now to work well. Love God and thy neighbour, call upon God, give thanks unto him, praise him, confess him. Do good to thy neighbour and serve him: fulfill thine office. These are good works indeed, which flow out of this faith.”
II. BELIEVE THE PROMISE OF HEAVEN
Jesus speaks of many rooms. He doesn’t use the word heaven, but he captures the essence of it by referring to his Father's house. Some translations use the word “rooms” while others use “mansions.” The emphasis as it comes from the Greek is on a place to stay rather than its beauty. What Jesus is saying is that there’s room for all in heaven who trust him as their Savior.
Believing there is a heaven after this life for those who trust Christ will cure the troubled heart. It’s not a by-product of a religious imagination but a real place. Warren Wiersbe says it’s not “the result of a psyched-up mentality, looking for pie in the sky by and by.”
Jesus also says it’s his Father's house, so it’s the place where God lives. It’s also the place Jesus told his disciples he would soon go. The Bible speaks of Jesus occupying the right hand of the throne where God dwells. His is a place of honor. Heaven is described in various ways in God's word: a kingdom, an inheritance, a country, a city and a home.
Heaven is also the home of every one who trusts Christ. Not only does God dwell there but also all who trust in him. The first cure is directly related then to the second. Robert Frost, great poet, said of home that it “is the place that, when you arrive there, they have to take you in.” This is such a good definition of the Christian's future home.
In heaven, there will be room for all. Some teach faithful Christians inherit a mansion while unfaithful Christians receive a shack. While our rewards in heaven will vary according to our faithfulness and work for him, the Bible never teaches our dwelling place will differ depending on our faithfulness or even what the rewards will be. Each and every place Jesus prepares for his children will be beautiful.
Heaven is a place of joy and love. Death, sorrow, crying, pain and night are absent. It’s a loving yet exclusive place. Only God's people will be there. This assurance of heaven helps us bear all life’s obstacles. Dr. James M. Conay, in a song written years ago, said; “Who could mind the journey, when the road leads home?”
In response to a question about whether dead men know what’s going on or not, Confucius said; “If I were to say that dead men know what's going on I am afraid all of the filial sons and grandsons would inconvenience the living in order to accommodate the dead. But if I were to say that dead men don't know what's going on, I am afraid that unfilial offspring would just leave their dead unburied. Now, Son, if you wish to know whether or not dead men know, wait until you die and you will know soon enough.” As Christians, we don’t have to wait.
Anne Bradstreet expresses this blessed belief in her poem, In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet Who Deceased June 20, 1669, Being Three Years and Seven Months Old: “Farewell dear child, thou ne'er shall come to me, But yet a while, and I shall go to thee; Mean time my throbbing heart's cheered up with this: Thou with thy Savior art in endless bliss.”
III. BELIEVE THE PROMISE OF CHRIST'S COMING
Jesus promises if he goes to prepare a place, he will come again and receive his children so we might be where he is. This is another coming, not his coming the first time as a baby.
Though the second coming of Christ is obviously in mind, we don’t have to limit the coming of Christ to this time. Christ comes in many ways. He comes in death. Many have not and will not live to see the second coming of Christ, but they can experience his coming in death. Death is not something we face alone, for Christ walks with his people through the shadow of death. It’s only a doorway into the presence of God.
He also comes during our earthly life. In these comings, he gives strengthened peace for our troubled hearts. God's people are not exempt from the battles and struggles of life, but Christ assures us of his presence in those times. He gives us grace and strength to carry the load and to withstand temptations.
He will also come at his second coming. Those who are alive and have trusted him will rise to meet him in the air. Then they’ll go to the place he has prepared. The spirits of the righteous dead will come with him to get those who are still alive. Then all will be ushered into heaven.
Whenever Christ comes-in whatever fashion, he brings peace to troubled hearts. When James Gordon Bennett sent Henry M. Stanley to search for David Livingston in Africa, he said; “Draw on me for a thousand pounds today to provide your equipment, and when that is exhausted, draw on me for another thousand, and when that is done, draw another; but find Livingston.” We can continually draw on the assurance Christ will come to us in troubling times.
CONCLUSION
In troubling times, trust in Christ, a home in heaven and his coming.
In the midst of a troubled heart over her father's death, Anne Bradstreet demonstrates the kind of hope we should have:
Now fully rip, as shock of wheat that's grown
Death as a sickle hath him timely mown,
And in celestial barn hath housed him high,
Where storms, nor show'rs, nor ought can damnify.
Ah happy soul, 'mongst saints and angels blessed,
Who after all this toil is now at rest.
Forgotten never be his memory,
His blessing rest on his posterity;
His pious footsteps, followed by his race,
At last will bring us to that happy place
Where we with joy each other's face shall see,
And parted more by death shall never be.'
