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
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
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
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
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