HEART TROUBLE
John 14:1-14
S: Assurance
C: Comfort in the midst of trouble
Th: Jesus going to the cross
Pr: WE CAN BE ASSURED OF GOD’S PRESENCE.
Type: Inductive
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Trust in Jesus
Version: ESV
RMBC 16 March 05 AM
INTRODUCTION:
1. Have you ever been filled with worry?
ILL Worry: two tents
A man went to a psychologist and said, “Doctor, you’ve got to help me. Sometimes I feel like a Teepee and then, at other times, I feel like a Wigwam.”
The doctor thought about it for a moment and then he said, “I better treat you for anxiety. You’re two tents!”
ILL Worry: Snow White
In the classic Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the dwarfs return home from a hard day at the mines, their picks slung over their small shoulders. From a distance, they see that their small cabin in the woods is unexpectedly aglow, and a billow of smoke drifts from the chimney. Warily, they make their way into their cabin and discover that an intruder is asleep in their bedroom. Their imaginations run wild as they discuss what vile creature slumbers in their room.
The other dwarfs urge Dopey to go and investigate. "Don’t worry. We’re right behind you," they assure him. Dopey carefully cracks open the door and enters. Just then, the "thing" under the sheets stretches, and Dopey and the other Dwarfs flee in unbridled terror. "What was it?" they scream. "Did you see it? Did you see it?"
Dopey nods his head vigorously.
"Was it a dragon?"
Again Dopey nods yes.
"Did it have horns?"
Using his fingers to imitate horns, Dopey nods again.
"Did it slobber?"
Dopey nods again, slobbering profusely.
The fears of the dwarfs have grown larger with each question.
"What was it doing?" they ask.
Dopey closes his eyes and snores.
Doc cries, "There’s a monster sleeping in our beds! Let’s get him while we can."
Once again they venture up the stairs to deal with the beast in the bed. Gathering around the bed, they raise their picks to deal the fatal blow to the monster. But when the sheets are thrown back, they find a harmless guest, Snow White.
Have you ever noticed that…
2. Worry can be so paralyzing.
Perhaps there is a “worrier” in your home.
Or perhaps you are the “worrier,” and every situation that occurs there is an anxiety.
Like…
• What did I say yes to?
• How are we ever going to pay for this?
• What if I get sick?
• What if they say no?
• No one can live up to his/her standard!
• How am I ever going to get this done on time?
So why worry?
Someone has compared worry to being in rocking chair.
There is a lot of movement, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
We try all kinds of things to make us feel better.
We explore new philosophies.
We go to counseling.
We go to Barnes & Noble to get a book on self-help techniques (they have shelves of them).
But there is no doubt, there is cause for concern when we look at the problems of the world.
There are rising costs of living.
There is plenty of international crisis – Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, North Korea, Nigeria.
There are judges being shot.
And our own county government figures can’t seem to figure out how to run itself.
When we were last studying in the gospel of John a few weeks ago…
3. The disciples were naturally anxious.
These are hearts that are far from tranquil.
It has been a busy night so far.
They had argued about who was the greatest.
Then Jesus embarrassed them by washing their feet.
Judas’ sudden departure left them puzzled.
And Peter has been silenced because Jesus told him that he was going to deny Him three times.
To top it off, Jesus has said He was leaving.
They were losing Jesus.
He has spoken of His impending departure, and He tells them that they can’t follow.
But He was their Messiah and their friend.
Their hopes were hanging on Him.
They had plenty of reason to worry.
Let’s consider today’s text in its entirety:
(1) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (2) 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? (3) 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. (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.”
(8) Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (9) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? (10) Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. (11) Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
(12) “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. (13) Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
OUR STUDY:
Jesus tells us with resolve and conviction that…
1. Our way through anxiety is trust.
The disciples are certainly stirred up.
Their world is about to crumble and they feel it.
Jesus, though, tells them that the way out is to trust and believe.
And they are not to trust in what they think Jesus should be doing.
They are to trust in who He is.
They are to believe in what He is doing.
They are to have faith that He is doing exactly what the Father has Him doing.
There is no separation between the two.
And this being true…
2. Our future is secure.
When it is all said and done, there is a place for us.
Jesus wants us to see this clearly.
Our service to Him will not go for naught.
When we get to heaven, we will see that we have been thought of and planned for.
The KJV translates the place as a mansion, but this is an “over” translation that was too influenced by the Latin equivalent, mansiones.
The meaning, though, is simply a lodging place, a residence.
The reason that the NIV and ESV translate it as room is because of the cultural situation of the day.
For when a son grew up and got married, his father would add a room to the house.
The house gets bigger and bigger.
And this picture is good news for us.
For in heaven, there is room for all and room to spare.
Interestingly, when He arrived to earth from heaven, there had been no room for Jesus.
But no tit for tat here!
He tells the disciples that He was going to make sure there was room for them (and us!).
It is important to realize that we don’t go to heaven to find Christ.
We go to Jesus to find heaven.
It is as the old hymn states:
No matter where on earth we dwell
On mountain top or in the dell
In cottage or in mansion fair
Where Jesus is ‘tis heaven there.
Oh, hallelujah! Yes ‘tis heaven
‘Tis heaven to know my sins forgiven
On land or sea, no matter where
Where Jesus is ‘tis heaven there.
We have a wonderful future waiting for us.
It is too wonderful for words.
Jesus has gone there.
And He is returning!
This is the promise that we find in I Thessalonians 4…
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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
At this point, Thomas speaks up and we learn that…
3. Our relationship with Jesus is to be characterized by honesty.
We must appreciate Thomas here.
This is not doubt.
This is Honest Thomas.
This is trying to get it right, for he is perplexed by Jesus and he wants clarity.
And Jesus offers some.
For…
4. Jesus is about being.
His immediate emphasis is made with “I AM.”
It is about who He is, not about what He does.
Verse 6 is a familiar verse to us and says so much more to us than we will cover today.
Each description of Jesus can and does stand alone, as well as together.
He is the way.
He is the truth.
He is the life.
Jesus is the link between God and man.
So Jesus not only shows the way, He is the way.
As the truth, Jesus is utterly dependable.
He is the embodiment of that which is true and right, and therefore He is completely reliable.
Jesus is our source.
He even encourages us to feed on Him, for His words are life to us.
He is life.
You know, Jesus is terribly narrow-minded.
His statements are exclusive.
No one comes to the Father except through Him.
But you know, that is the way truth is.
For example, if you want to call someone up on the phone, you have to do it exactly right.
You can’t be off by one number and expect to get the person you were calling.
No deviation is allowed.
The same is true with the IRS.
They are very unforgiving.
You must state your income exactly.
No wild guesses are allowed!
(Analogies are by Ray Stedman)
Jesus continues to offer comfort to them by letting them know that He has not been operating on His own.
In fact…
5. Jesus and the Father are inseparable.
Surprisingly, the usually quiet Philip speaks up.
He seems to be looking for more out of Jesus.
He seems to be looking for a theophany, God showing Himself directly.
Perhaps it would be good for us to remember that he did not share in the experience of the Transfiguration, like Peter, James and John.
John’s point in writing this biography, though, is that Jesus has been giving signs all along.
All the time, by His words, and by His deeds, He has been pointing to who He is.
The disciples did not think they knew the Father in His full significance.
They did not realize that they did.
To know and to see Jesus is to know and to see the heavenly Father, for Jesus is the perfect representation of Him.
As a result, they really knew God.
And what was coming as a result was going to be great.
For…
6. Our future is worthwhile.
Great things were coming.
These disciples, and all disciples that were following after (including us), were going to participate in an ever increasing kingdom.
They were going to scatter all over the world.
They were going to be influencers that would see the nations coming to Christ.
This was all going to happen because He was leaving.
But they were not (and we are not) alone.
7. We have a direct connection to the Father.
We can pray.
And, simply, we receive answers.
Let’s not misunderstand what is being said here.
There is no formula.
It is not praying in the name of Jesus – and “pow” – you get it.
Praying in the name of Jesus is to be in accordance with what the name stands for.
When we pray, we are to pray responsibly, and give expression to what Jesus stands for.
It is then that we will find the true power of prayer.
APPLICATION:
Well…
1. When worry persists, it shows that we trust self more than God.
We all face uncertain times.
But we do have a choice.
We can either worry ourselves sick, or we can trust in the promises of Jesus.
Now trusting in the promises is not always the easiest thing.
So often, the pathway of our life does not go the way we want it to.
But trusting God means that we have to admit we are not in control.
We want to be in control.
But trusting Jesus shows that we are not, and that our faith is rightly placed.
ILL Trust: Mother Teresa
What we most need to practice is what Brennan Manning has called “ruthless trust.” Manning tells the story of John Kavanaugh, who went to work for three months at the “House of the Dying” in Calcutta. He went not only to give help, but to receive it. He was seeking a clear answer as how best to spend the rest of his life. The first morning there, he met Mother Teresa.
She asked, “And what can I do for you?” Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him.
“What do you want me to pray for?” she asked.
He voiced a request he has long been burdened about and had come halfway across the world seeking the answer for: “Pray that I have clarity.”
To that simple, but sincere request she said firmly, “No, I will not do that.”
When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”
When Kavanaugh commented that she had always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed. “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”
When we trust God, we are in His presence.
And…
2. When we have the presence of God, we have all that we need.
Be assured.
He’s looking after us
He doesn’t go through all the work He has to save us and make us holy and then forget about us.
So rejoice in His Presence.
Rejoice in His work for us.
And rejoice that we can trust Him, even at this very moment.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Trust Jesus…for He has come as our King and Lord – it is right to shout “Hosanna” – for He is worthy of our trust;
Trust Jesus…for He has come as our Savior – ready and willing to lay down His life for us – He is worthy of our trust;
Trust Jesus…for He has come as the Lover of our Soul – unwilling to be defeated by death, He is risen – and so, He is worthy of our trust.
Now…
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
RESOURCES:
John: That You May Believe, R. Kent Hughes
NIC: John, Leon Morris
“Life’s ‘What Ifs’ and ‘Should Haves’”, Focal Point, April – June 1992.
“Worry Is Needless”, Focal Point, April – June 1992.
“A Formula for Worry,” George Sweeting, Moody, September 1982
SermonCentral:
Jesus Calms the Storms of Trouble, Joel Pankow
Chill Out and Pay Attention, John Beehler
The Cure for Heart Trouble, Ray Stedman
Home with Our Father, Scott Grant
Getting in the Gate, Dr. Bruce Emmert
Never Powerless, Joseph Smith
