Comforting a Troubled Heart.
John 14:1-4
When I was a little boy I remember having nightmares. There were two things that used to scare me to death. One was witches and the other was skeletons. Ooo! I hated those things! It all started when I saw the Wizard of Oz. It was Sunday evening and we were getting ready to go to church. The Wizard of Oz was on and it was right down to the wire! Dorothy and her friends were surrounded by the evil witch’s army. The witch was laughing hysterically! It was awful! Then the worst thing that can happen at a time like that happened! Mom came in and turned off the TV and made us get ready to go to church! I had no idea how it ended! I could just imagine Dorothy and her friends being horribly tormented by the witch! I didn’t know the end of the story till Monday when I got to ask my buddies at school who didn’t go to church on Sunday nights. There I learned that Dorothy melted down the witch with a bucket of water… cheesy way to go, if you ask me. And Dorothy becomes a hero and ends up going home to Kansas and loved ones. There’s no place like home.
Few things calm a troubled heart like knowing the end of the story, especially when the story takes you home to those you love.
In John 14, Jesus tells us the end of the story. Even though he leaves us here for a while and the ride is really rough, he’s coming back to get us and take us home.
We need to replay the previous chapter to appreciate Jesus words here. John 13. First Jesus washes their feet. When Peter tries to stop Jesus from washing his feet he gets a scalding rebuke. Then while they are eating, Jesus says that one of them will betray him. They are all staring at each other wondering who it could be. Judas is secretly pointed out by taking a piece of bread from Jesus and he leaves. Jesus tells them to love one another and then tells them he is going away and they can’t follow. Peter again pipes up and asks why? Then Peter declares that he is ready to lay down his life for Jesus. Jesus, speaking again to Peter says, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!" That’s chapter 13.
Wow! What a disturbing chapter! From arguing about who is the greatest, to getting a humiliating foot washing from their master, to hearing that one of them will betray Jesus, to Jesus confrontation with Peter a second time tonight! Some may have been wondering if Peter was the betrayer.
In the midst of this heart troubling time, Jesus speaks these words of peace and comfort. It was time to settle down and listen. Emotions were probably very high. Jesus tells them, "Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me! In my father’s house are many rooms (mansions is not a good translation). 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 you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know."
We sing a song about a mansion just over the hilltop in that bright land where we’ll never grow old. Well, I’m sorry to inform you that "mansion" is an old word for "manse," or room. Jesus is not talking about a big house of gold that’s silver lined. He’s talking about a room in his Father’s house
When we first moved to Signal Mountain, I remember driving around looking at some of the big houses around here. There’s some pretty incredible ones. But I also know that some of these big beautiful houses have some very unhappy people living in them. You see its not the size of the house or it’s fancy furnishings that satisfy the longings of the heart, it is something much more meaningful.
Through the years Jenny and I have moved from Arkansas to New Hampshire to Vermont to Tennessee. One time we lived in a 16 foot, 1968 Wennabago camper for a few weeks, with no running water, bathroom or toilet. Believe it our not, we were actually happy. Part of the happiness was in knowing we would not have to stay there long. But our real happiness came from being together as a family in the Lord. We were on an adventure together. One lesson I’ve learned in life is this: It’s not so much what you live in as who you live with that brings lasting joy. Home for the heart is where those we love most live.
Charles Spurgeon told this story:
A little child, whose mother was dying, was taken away to live with some friends because it was thought she did not understand what death is. All the while the child wanted to go home and see her mother. At last, when the funeral was over, and she was taken home, she ran all over the house, searching the sitting-room, the parlor, the library, and the bedrooms. She went from one end of the house to the other, and when she could not find her mother, she wanted to be taken back to where they brought her from. Home had lost its attractions for the child when her mother was not there. My friends, the great attraction in heaven will not be its pearly gates, its golden streets, nor its chorus of angels, but it will be Christ. Heaven would be no heaven if Christ were not there.
Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulations" One of the most troubling things in this world is the death of those we love. What can be worse than that? Some of you here today have faced that, haven’t you. I suppose all of us will both face grief and cause it. Death is the last enemy that will finally be destroyed by the power of Jesus Christ. But till then we will face death on a regular basis.
When Jesus told his disciples that he was going away, he meant that he was going to die on the cross. He meant his death… A necessary part of the trip home for all of us. Jesus had to cross the chilling waters of death so that we could go home with him some day. It was the price he had to pay for our heavenly home. Think about the most expensive home you know. Biltmore Estates is supposed to be quite a place. I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s a doosie.
Bill Gate’s Book THE ROAD AHEAD tells about the house he is building. It was to be the height of technology. As you walk into any room the video screen would display paintings consistent with your tastes, the music you were listening to would follow you from room to room, any television program you were watching would be playing in whatever room you were in, a phone call for you would ring in just the room where you were at the time. It sounds intriguing doesn’t it? I wonder how much he’s paying for it?
I don’t know how much Bill Gates is paying for his house, and I don’t know how much it took to build the Biltmore Estates but I know one thing, whatever those cost they are nothing to compare with how much Jesus paid for the home he bought for you and me.
Jesus said, "Let not your hearts be troubled" What are some things that trouble your heart? I heard a sad story about a young man who was afraid he wasn’t good enough to go home.
Dave Galloway told of a soldier who had just returned from Viet Nam. His parents were socialites, very well to do. It was near Christmas, and they were getting ready to go out to the first of the round of parties of the Christmas season.
Just then the phone rang, & it was their son on the phone. "Mom," he said, "I’m back in the States." She said, "That’s wonderful! Where are you? Will you be home for Christmas? Can you get here in time for the parties? Everybody will just love to see you."
He answered, "Yes, I can be home for Christmas, but I want to ask you something first." "What is it?" she asked. "Well, I have a friend with me from Viet Nam. Can he come?"
"Oh, of course," she answered. "Bring him along. He’ll enjoy the parties, too." "Wait a moment, mom," he said, "I need to explain something about him. He was terribly wounded, & lost both legs & one arm. His face is disfigured, too."
There was silence on the phone for a while. Then the mother said, "That’s all right. Bring him home for a few days." "No, mom, you don’t understand. He has nowhere to live. He has no one else. I want to bring him home & to let our home be his home."
The mother was quiet again. Then she said, "Son, that just wouldn’t do. What you’re asking would be very unfair to us. Why, it would disrupt all our lives. I’m sure there are government agencies that would be more than glad to take charge of him. Look, just you hurry home for Christmas now, & then maybe you can visit him once in a while."
"Darling, I’m sorry, but we’ve got to rush or we’ll be late for the party. Call us again as soon as you know when you’ll be home. Goodbye."
When the parents returned home from the party that night, there was an urgent message from the California police asking them to call. They telephoned, & the officer said, "I’m very sorry to have to call you, but we just found a young soldier dead in a motel room. His face is disfigured, & he has lost both legs & one arm. From the documents on him it would appear that he is your son."
Listen! God knows every flaw in your life. He knows how you’ve messed up and blown it. He knows what the war of sin has done to you and he knows your sins better than you do. But listen to me now, God wants you to live in his house! Jesus didn’t die for people who were good. He died for people just like you and me. "Let not your heart be troubled! Believe in God! Believe also in me," said Jesus.
Kay Arthur writes: If only… if only he had known… If only I had known! He had been summoned. What could he do? There was no higher authority to appeal to, no one to mediate. He had been bidden to come – and go he must.
Most people looked on him with contempt because of his physical appearance. Some even derisively spat out the word “cripple” as he passed them by. He hated the stares of the people who watched his rocking body lumber and jerk as he approached the throne – the throne of a man who he was sure desired his death.
He sweated profusely. The fear churning within caused his hands to tremble. He clenched them together to hide the misery from the watchful eyes. But it was no use – both shook.
Bitterness had hardened his countenance, but inside he felt as spongy as mud and as worthless as dirt.
He felt cheated by life, ignored by God.
Robbed of a bright and seemingly certain future at the age of five, when his father and grandfather were killed suddenly in battle, he had spent his life in an out of the way village.
All his life he had successfully hidden from this man – a man who, he had heard from his grandfather, could never be trusted. Now this man had found him! “How much worse could it be?” he wondered in irony… and heard his angry heart respond with a refusal to weaken.
He didn’t know it, but in a matter of minutes he would discover how needless his years of bitterness, fear, poverty, and hiding had been. Even his physical disabilities could have been avoided had he and others known one thing – the covenant that had been made on his behalf! King David had made a covenant with Mephibosheth’s father to care for his descendants. And David made good this covenant! If Mephibosheth had continued to live in the darkness of his lie, he would have died never knowing the home that awaited him in the palace of the king.
There is a world of people who do not know the covenant God has made through Jesus blood on their behalf, so that if they will only enter this covenant with him they will be welcomed into an eternal home. This covenant is not based on how good we are or how well we have performed. It is a covenant of grace freely given to sinners, enemies of God, powerless and ungodly ones. Romans 5: 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
I just finished a difficult paper on Romans 5:12-21. It’s the passage Augustine used to establish the doctrine of original sin back in 411 A.D. I don’t agree with Augustine but I learned one thing that troubles me and another that makes me rejoice. It says in verse 19, "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." I titled my paper, Lost in Adam, Saved in Christ. Paul says, in 1 Cor. 15:22, "For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
You see, God has only two classes to put us in: In Adam, where all die, or in Christ, where all are made alive. These are the only two choices. Who are you in? Adam or Christ? You don’t choose to be in Adam. You don’t have to believe in Adam to be in him and be a sinner, experience death and go to hell. It will happen quite naturally for millions and billions of people. It’s very easy to go to hell. Just make this world your home and live to please yourself. Seek for all the gusto you can get out of this life and take no preparations for eternity.
But Jesus prepares a place for those who are prepared!
Jesus said, 25 "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal." Hate the sin of this life. Hate the corruption and stain of evil. Hate the deception of Satan for those who are trapped in the lies of darkness. This world is not my home, I’m just a passing thru, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue!
Where are you today? Are you in Adam or Christ? Jesus said, "Believe in God, believe also in me!" He also said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me."
Do you believe in God and Jesus his son?
Jesus said, Matt 16:24 If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Do you follow Jesus above all else?
Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish!"
Will you turn from all evil and seek to know Jesus Christ with all your heart?
Jesus said, "If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father who is in heaven."
Are you confessing your faith in Jesus Christ before those you know and see from day to day?
Jesus said, "Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, whoever does not believe shall be condemned."
Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?
Do not wait another day. Let not your heart be troubled Jesus is preparing an eternal home for you and me today. Are you ready to meet him if he calls you home?
