BELIEVE ALSO IN ME
Text: John 14:1-6.
Delivered on: March 23, 2008.
John 14:1-6. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
“LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED…”
Troubled about what?
Why did Jesus feel it was necessary to encourage His disciples at this time?
Notice the previous chapter.
Jesus told them that He was going to be going away.
John 13:33. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.
John 13:36-37 36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." 37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."
Can you imagine what the disciples must have been feeling? Jesus was their whole world.
They had left all to follow Him.
Mark 1:16-20. And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
Matthew. Luke 5:27-28. After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
Luke 18:28. Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."
Imagine how you would feel in their place.
Jesus still tells us today, “Let not our hearts be troubled…”
We worry and fret.
We deal with sickness.
We deal with death.
We worry about money.
We worry about loved ones.
We worry about our own salvation.
We forget that He is with us. Matthew 28:20. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Our God is a God of comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Philippians 4:6-7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 5:6-7. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
“BELIEVE ALSO IN ME…”
Now Jesus tells the disciples why they should not be troubled.
He says, “Believe also in me.”
Jesus never said that He was leaving them forever.
Jesus knew that He would rise again.
His disciples should have known as well.
Matthew 12:40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
John 2:19. Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Mark 8:31. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
The FACT of Jesus’ resurrection ought to be very comforting to all believers.
It comforts by confirming Jesus’ deity. Romans 1:4. And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
It comforts us by showing that death will one day be defeated.
1 Corinthians 15:26. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
John 16:33. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
It comforts us because it is a foretaste of what is coming for us.
1 Corinthians 15:20. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
John 5:28-29. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Philippians 3:21. Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
“IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE…”
Another reason not to be troubled.
Jesus is preparing a place for His followers.
He is not dead.
Jesus is talking about heaven here.
“House” – oikia – house, edifice, dwelling, property, wealth, goods, occupants of a house.
“Mansions” – mone – an abode, dwelling.
The same word in used in John 14:23. Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
Heaven is the final abode of the soul of the righteous person.
Heaven is a spiritual realm.
We often sing the song “Mansion over the Hilltop.”
I trust that we understand that our “mansions” are not made of brick and stone.
Undoubtedly, they are more beautiful than we can even imagine.
One day, the faithful of all ages will dwell in the house of God. Revelation 21:1-3. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
“I WILL COME AGAIN…”
Another comforting thought. Jesus is coming back for us.
Philippians 3:20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Revelation 22:20. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
“AND THE WAY YOU KNOW…”
The only way to heaven goes through Jesus. John 14:6. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Acts 4:12. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
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