Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled (John 14:1-14) (5/3/26)

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, praise be to your

name. Make us ever mindful that we are the people

of the resurrection and that there is no power

greater than your power, no power that can overthrow

thy purpose and thy kingdom. Help us to hear

and obey your voice. We do humbly ask you now

that by your mercies Your grace that you would

make the words of my mouth and the meditations

of all our hearts Acceptable in your sight o

Lord our strength and nearest kinsman redeemer

Jesus Christ amen As is our habit I know we have

a few visitors today. We will be preaching I'll

be preaching through their gospel reading today,

so once again. Let us hear it as we Prepare to

hear God's word Let us let not your heart be

troubled you believe in God believe also in me

In my father's house or 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 to

myself that where I am there you may be also

and Where I go you know and the way you know

Thomas said to him Lord we do not know where

you are going and how can we know the way? Jesus

said to him I am the way the truth and the life

No one comes to the father except through me

If you had known me you would have known my father

also from now on You know him and have seen him

Philip said to him Lord show us the father and

it is sufficient for us Jesus said to him, I

have been with you so long and yet you have not

known me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen

the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and

the Father in me? The words that I speak to you,

I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father

who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that

I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else

believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes

in me, the works that I do, he will do also,

and greater works than these he will do because

I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my

name, that I will do, that the Father may be

glorified in the Son, if you ask anything in

my name. I will do it. So as we look at this

passage today, I want us to remember three things

or kind of see it through this lens. One, we

are not to be troubled in Christ Jesus. We are

not to be troubled in Christ Jesus. Secondly,

God abides in His temple, the church. God abides

or dwells in the temple, His church. And finally,

God provides all that His people need. God provides

all that His people need. Now the word troubled

is found twice in our text this morning. This

word troubled in the Greek means to agitate,

to cause an inward commotion, and in this case

taking away the calmness of mind. striking at

one's spirit with fear and dread. In today's

vernacular, it is the actual state of anxiousness

and distress. Do you ever feel that way? What

is it in your life that causes you to be agitated

and anxious? By the way, of those two, Right

men lean towards agitation and women lean towards

anxiousness and then sometimes both sexes do

both What is it that makes you uncertain in your

present life and in the future to come? What

worries you what stirs you up? In the book of

John chapters 13 through 17 is Jesus' last discourse

John 13 · chapter mention

with His disciples before His arrest, torture,

crucifixion, and death. Jesus who had been explaining

His soon death and coming absence to them. And

as He was doing this, it was making them to become

alarmed. Earlier in John chapter 12, when Jesus

John 12 · chapter mention

is in the temple, right before they come to this

whole period where they're in the upper room

in chapter 13, forward Jesus declares this now

my soul is troubled same word and what shall

I say father save me from this hour but for this

purpose I came to this hour father glorify your

name then a voice came from heaven saying I have

both glorified it and will glorify it again Then

Jesus cried out and said he who believes in me

Believes not in me, but in him who sent me and

he who sees me Sees him who sent me so here before

they get to the upper room. Jesus is declaring

these exact issues Is saying the same thing except

for he prefaces it by saying that he is troubled

And what does he do? He puts his focus on the

fact of saying, should I ask God to change my

life? No. Here I am. To this, I was caused. This

is very important for us to understand. Do you

realize that all the circumstances that you find

yourself in your life, this very hour, everything,

all of it, your health, your life, your relationships,

Your work, all of these things, the state of

our nation, the state of the church, all of these

things, God has called you to this very hour.

And what does Jesus do? He doesn't focus on what

is troubling so much, but is trusting the Father

to see him through his call, and that in his

call, God the Father would receive glory. Now

this is very important. We're gonna come back

to this, but you're gonna see this word glory

show up again and again And it plays a really

big role as we come towards the end of our text

Jesus is troubled for he knows what is about

to happen and all the difficulties that will

be given to his disciples He knows what's gonna

happen. He knows that he's going to die. He's

gonna be separated that his disciples are going

to flee under the pressure. They're going to

be locked up in ruins, afraid. He knows all this.

But this is the very purpose for which he has

come, to glorify the Father and the atoning work

of reconciling sinners to God, to relieve the

world of condemnation. Still with some ignorance

concerning all their hopes and plans Right their

ignorance. They've got their own agendas They

think they know how the world's gonna turn out

how the them being with Jesus is gonna turn out

And they see that their plans were being drastically

overturned first by the words of Jesus and then

secondly by the way the world opposed them and

They are becoming more and more agitated uncertain

and in John chapter 13 Jesus reveals because

John 13 · chapter mention

he was troubled it tells us most assuredly remember

we talked about this what is most assuredly it's

amen and amen basically he's saying twice to

you truly truly this thing that I'm about to

say is the absolute truth and so I'll say it

again truly truly he says this Most assuredly

truly truly one of you will betray me Now a lot

of times we look at that and we're like when

they start asking around is it me You know who

is it Lord? Right and Jesus answers that it's

Judas We have this tendency to say man that that

sorry guy Judas, but I want you to think about

this Jesus rebuked Peter so hard that he said,

Satan get behind me. He's constantly correcting

them. You got it all wrong. This isn't what God

has for you. This isn't what I have for you.

And this isn't what God has for me as you follow

me. You can almost say in their doubts and fears

with tensions rising and their uncertainty, they're

saying, I'm glad it wasn't me, because it could

have been. The scripture says that they were

perplexed and that they were at a loss with what

to do with Jesus was telling them. They didn't

even know how to respond. Dearly beloved, we

have all found ourselves in circumstances where

we do not know what to do about the enemies that

God has given us. We become uncertain and anxious.

Sometimes we even know what the Word of God says

and we're still stirred up, agitated, troubled,

and anxious. And it is in this context that Jesus

declares, hear it now, let not your heart be

troubled. You believe in God, believe also. In

my father's house or many mansions, if it were

not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare

a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place

for you, I will come again and receive you to

myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

We are not to be troubled, because if we believe

in God, we must believe in Jesus. You can't believe

in God and not believe in Jesus. If you say you

believe in God but you don't want to follow Jesus,

you don't believe in Jesus, you don't believe

you should follow Jesus, you don't believe you

should obey Jesus, you're just wrong. Jesus is

the only way to end the hostilities between God

and mankind. Now most of you have heard verse

two, right? In my father's house are many mansions.

We've heard that many time It is often referenced

to speak of a kind of heavenly reward And it

is true for the Christian to be absent from the

body is to be present with the Lord But the purpose

of this passage is not that Jesus needs to go

to heaven and use his finished carpentry skills

To complete our mansions of reward So, how do

we understand this? The only other place where

Jesus refers to his father's house is in John

chapter two, beginning in verse 15. And it says

this, and he is speaking about the temple. And

he found in the temple those who sold oxen and

sheep and doves and the money changers doing

business. And he made a whip out of cords and

he drove them out of the temple with the sheep

and the oxen. Poured out the changers of money

and overturned the tables and he said to those

who sold doves take these things away Do not

make my father's house a house of merchandise

Then his disciples remembered that it was written

zeal for your house has eaten me up Remember

the temple was where God's people went to dwell

with their God that is abide with him And God

promised to abide with his people by his grace

and mercy. This word translated as mansion is

better translated as dwelling place. But not

like, you know, you just got a shack. No, it

is the place where relationship is. Where God

dwells with his people. Where God abides. Jesus

is assuring His disciples that His disciples

should not be troubled by His leaving them because

He goes to prepare the dwelling place of the

people of God. See, He can't do that unless He

goes and suffers and dies and is buried and is

resurrected. In Jesus Father's house, there's

a new temple made up of the living stones made

possible by the death and burial resurrection

and ascension of Jesus. Today our epistle reading

was from 1 Peter chapter 2 and it reads this

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

in verse 4. Coming to him, that's God, as a living

stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by

God, that's Jesus, and precious. You also, so

now, Jesus is is chosen by God. He's the stone

and he was rejected by these men who didn't want

to follow God But you also all y 'all Here in

the church as living stones are being built up

a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer

up spiritual sacrifices Acceptable to God through

Jesus Christ therefore It is also contained in

the scriptures in this passage in in first Peter

Goes on and quotes Isaiah 28 and Psalm 118. But

then it says this, but you are a chosen generation,

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His, that's

God's own special people, that you may proclaim

the praises of Him who called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light, who were once not a

people, but are now the people of God, who had

not obtained mercy. But have now obtained mercy

Now all this fulfills the promise of God given

to Abraham in general in Genesis 12 where God

points out That in Abraham all the families that

is all the tribes and kindreds of the earth will

be blessed in Abraham As one commentator puts

it Jesus is not merely Just telling the disciples

that they're going to heaven when they die He

is pointing to the fulfillment of the old promise

that God had been had given long ago from the

beginning that he would be our God and That we

would be his people and that we would dwell with

him. This is the fulfillment of the promise Salvation

can be summed up in these words It is being restored

to the eternal communion with God and being made

partakers of the blessedness of God himself as

you live together with others who have been restored

to communion with the living God. The church

is the place where we dwell together with the

living God and thus the church is the fountain

of life to the whole world and this is the purpose

from the beginning that was going to be secured

by Jesus. You know, many of you guys have read

Peter Lightheart's A House for My Name. That's

not just about this house for God's name. It's

not just about the Old Testament temple or tabernacle.

It is about the temple of God built with living

stones, and that is you. And of course we know

that Thomas responds, Lord, we don't know where

you're going. How can we know the way? And Jesus

said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the

life. No one comes to the Father except by me.

And then there's this response about knowing

God the Father. You can't know God the Father

outside of Jesus. You can't find mercy and peace

outside of Jesus and Of course then it just shows

you how confused they were so you got you got

doubting Thomas We're all like, oh, yeah, of

course he doubts but we have Philip who's been

this faithful guy and he said Lord show us the

father and that'll be sufficient and Jesus like

Weren't you listening to me these whole three

years weren't you listening to me earlier today

in the temple when I said That if you've seen

me, you've seen the Father. Speaks to us about

how often we don't understand what God is saying.

Dearly beloved, we need to hear these words of

assurance. When Jesus says, He is the way, the

truth, and the life, those are words of assurance

to us. God's opponents. want to call you to their

most high doctrine of tolerance. Every way is

the right way. Every way is the way to God. Every

religion is the same. That is a lie from the

pit of hell. If you declare Jesus as the only

way to God, the Father, his blessings and eternal

life, the enemies of God will try to shout you

down and shame you. Never dishonored God by being

afraid of those who hate God. Jesus is truly

the only way to God. He is the only truth. And

all those who seek truth outside of Jesus will

never be satisfied. Jesus is the only way to

life. All other paths seeking life die under

the curse of sin, our sin. Be not afraid to declare

Jesus as the only way truth in life Even if it

looks grim even if it's hard or hostile around

you We serve the true living God who because

of the work of Christ Jesus makes our concerns

his concerns You realize that you know, we have

these prayers up here and I know sometimes they

seem long But we are elevated into the presence

of the Almighty in this worship service together

Where we are asking Jesus? Seated at the right

hand of the Father who makes intercession for

us to whisper into the ear of God the Father

on our behalf and truly God the Father makes

our concerns his concerns and for the sake of

Jesus God the Father will protect and provide

and deliver us from all evil consider Romans

8 beginning verse 28 It says and we know that

all things work together for good For those who

love God and for those who are called according

to his purpose Now we hear that I'm gonna read

it a little more of this But but we see this

a lot of times and we just get doubtful Well,

I don't know my call to his purpose Yes, you

are right now in the circumstances. God is giving

you And we say I don't know how these things

work together In Jesus the way the truth and

the life What is this it says it says for those

who love God for those who are called according

to his purpose and it says for him He foreknew

he also predestined to be conformed to the image

of his son That he might be the firstborn among

many brethren Moreover whom he predestined these

he also called whom he called he justified and

whom he justified He glorified first in Jesus.

And then what we do is glorifying God as we worship

him As we rest in him as we believe and obey

him You see as his people God never leaves us

or forsakes us. We have no reason to fear To

despair or to be anxious or agitated Our sovereign

Lord has placed his son on the throne and is

giving him the nations for his inheritance these

converted peoples Including you are the living

stones of the eternal temple founded on the cornerstone

of Jesus The book of Ephesians in chapter 2 beginning

verse 19 tells us this now therefore you are

no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow

citizens with the saints and members of the household

of God, having been built on the foundation of

the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself

being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole

building being fitted together grows into a holy

temple in the Lord, and it's ever expanding,

many rooms, in whom you are also being built

together for a dwelling place, the place where

God abides. in the spirit. Jesus here in John

14 is letting you see the ultimate purpose of

his work through his death and resurrection and

ascension. That is the outpouring of his spirit.

The new temple of God is going to be established

in the world and is now established. The glorified

temple made of living stones made up of his people

who were filled with his spirit and who live

for His glory. We do these things and we do it

to honor God. And we can only do it by the power

of the Spirit and we only have that because of

the work of Jesus. Jesus is completing the work

the Father has given Him to do and in so doing

He brings to reality the vision that God gave

Ezekiel in Ezekiel 47. There God shows the prophet

Ezekiel a new temple. with living waters that

flow out over the threshold. And what do they

do? They flow out, and they get broader, and

they get deeper. And it says it spreads over

the earth. This river of light flows from the

dwelling place where God abides with his people

to the world. And it says in Ezekiel 47, beginning

of verse 7, when I returned, There along the

bank of the river were many trees on one side

and the other. And then he said to me, this water

flows towards the eastern region, goes down into

the valley, and enters the sea. And when it reaches

the sea, its waters are healed. Now, what's in

the sea? In the scriptures, the people of Israel

are the land. And the Gentiles are the sea. So

this is speaking about how the river of life

is flowing out of the temple, beginning with

the Jews, but then going to the whole world through

the Gentiles. This reminds us of Pentecost that's

coming up in a few weeks. And it says this, there

will be a very great multitude of fish because

these waters go, therefore they will be healed

and everything will live wherever the river goes.

And it shall be that fishermen will stand by

it from Engede to Engellum. and they will be

places for spreading their nets, and their fish

are the same kinds of the fish of the great sea,

exceedingly many, a house with many rooms, this

great and marvelous temple. But its swamps and

marshes will not be healed. All those that reject

Jesus, all those that want to try, it says they'll

be given to the salt waters, those waters that

you can't drink, that will destroy you. And along

the bank of the river on this side and that will

grow all kinds of trees used for food and their

leaves will not wither and their fruit will not

fail. They will bear fruit every month because

the water flows from the sanctuary. And of course,

and we see this in Revelation 20 and 21, the

age of the church. Their fruit will be for food

and their leaves medicine. This new temple is

solidified as the true temple by the destruction

of the temple in Jerusalem at 70 AD. This picture

was of course of this new temple the glorious

temple that is going to be the fountain of life

For the world because of the body of Christ and

the entire creation is going to be filled with

God's glory and become the holy dwelling place

of God the holy mansion that temple that God

is building and that's the picture that Jesus

tells us of the Church of the Living God The

creation will be filled with life, with the life

of God through His church in Christ Jesus, and

the glory and the blessedness that flows from

it. Now, you might be saying, this is all great.

I feel somewhat assured. I kind of know the path.

Well, what in the world does this mean for how

I live? It's very important that we understand

this. This is practically how it works out. Number

one, we come together and we worship God beyond

time. Hear God's word respond if you're new to

what we're doing. There's a call them response

going God speaks and We respond God speaks and

we respond We worship God and we fellowship together

The strength of the church is not just here it

emanates from here from this river flowing out

of the doors See when you receive that blessing

at the end If we could change the architecture,

there'd be a blue carpet going out the back door.

So you guys would understand, you're flowing

in the flow, the river of the spirit of life

going out to your outposts. But we need to fellowship

during the week, not just in our household, but

with one another. Sundays are not enough for

your fellowship. We have to faithfully learn

how to serve. One another in this world. How

can you learn how to serve if you're not talking

to people except for five minutes on a Sunday?

Have people over go to their house Listen, I'm

gonna tell you something. I have a tactic or

strategy Right every one of you with every one

of you. You're all kind of different Right. I

know that when I talk to you I've learned different

things about you. What does it take for me to

get past? that I'm fine, everything's OK, the

sky is blue and the weather nice. Right? For

every one of you, it requires something different.

We have to learn one another. We're not going

to be able to serve and care for one another

if we don't get in each other's lives. Make phone

calls, invite people out for coffee, get your

kids together. Then we're going to do all this.

so that we can bear one another's burdens and

rejoice together and mourn together. And in that,

we'll be able to give thanks and pray for one

another. Right? We can give thanks in the rejoicing.

We can give thanks in the hardship. We can encourage

one another. And we can pray with real meaning

because we know what's going on in somebody else's

life. And Jesus will get into this in the next

section of this passage, the next paragraph,

but we have to trust and obey God's word. Those

are the things that we do. That's how we practically

live this out as the new temple, bringing the

rivers of life to the world. As we do all these

things, the life and blessedness is restored

to the world because you are demonstrating how

human beings are to live. Jesus is the only way

to true life and as one commentator puts it as

We live in the way in these ways and we give

the reason for the hope that is within us God

blesses our words and our example by his spirit

and he makes us fountains of life to the world

Dearly beloved our blessed. Hope is not in the

return of Jesus at the last day Not just in the

return of Jesus at the last day and not dying

and going to heaven When we die but being united

to the one who rules overall and abides That

is dwells in an ending communion with us And

it's in these words we come to the last few verses

in our passage Again we have most assuredly truly

truly I say to you, he who believes in me, the

works that I do, he will do also. And greater

works than these, he will do because I go to

my father. Remember, we can do these greater

works because he left them. He suffered and died.

It was buried. It was resurrected. See, now these

words mean so much more because they are looking

through the lens of the resurrection. And whatever

you ask in my name. That I will do that the father

may be glorified in the Sun If you ask anything

in my name, I will do it and here's the qualification

When we go to God and we make prayers to God

and we make these petitions. Are we doing it?

For God's glory What are our motives if we ask

him for something and it's God's glory He's gonna

do it Jesus doesn't just leave us here with the

dream to aim for But with certainty he says if

you believe in him That is living each day see

believing in him is living each day knowing that

Jesus is the only way to truly be relieved from

all fear anxiety and dread of your sin Jesus

is truly the only way to be reconciled to the

Father to find love and peace and joy and certainty.

Not just a certainty that you will dwell with

Him in eternity when you die by going to heaven,

but that He has plans for you here on the earth

right now in all your relationships and in your

words and in your deeds. Jesus does not leave

you weak and uncertain that his kingdom temple

will be built doesn't leave you weak and He knows

that as he builds this that the knowledge of

the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as

the waters cover the sea and He tells us Not

leaving us weak because he tells us that anything

we ask in his name for his name sake He will

do it Because Jesus went away in the death and

resurrection and ascension the spirit was sent

to us with certainty So we are we are able to

not be troubled Not be anxious not be agitated

because we are in Christ Jesus God abides he

dwells in his temple the church, all y 'all.

God provides all that its people need. And of

course, all of this brings new light, sheds new

light on our call to worship this morning out

of Psalm 31. I want you to hear a couple of verses

here. But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord.

I say, you are my God. My times are in your hand

deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from

those who persecute me Make your face shine upon

your servant. Save me for your mercy sake. Oh

Love the Lord all you saints for the Lord preserves

the faithful and He fully repays the proud person

be of good courage He shall strengthen your heart

all you who hope in the Lord Let us pray Heavenly

father we give thanks to you for your great victory

that Jesus has Brought to us and we praise you

that you have seated him at your right hand far

above all principalities and powers And above

every name that can be named so that at the name

of Jesus every knee should bow Of things in heaven

and of things on earth and things under the earth

that every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord

Father help us to be a people faithful to do

everything not fearing life or death or anything

else But rather fearing you and living with joy

and gladness as your servants Hear our prayers

and help us now for Jesus sake amen