"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR TROUBLED HEARTS ABOUT HEAVEN"
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
John 14:2 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.
John 14:3 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.
Some explanatory thoughts, application, and a prayer:
1. Right off the bat, Jesus tells
troubled hearts ( mostly Peter ) what to do, and then explains Himself a
little. John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God,
believe also in Me. Essentially, Jesus was saying to the disciples and
to us, who were troubled, He simply days, "Don't be troubled"
The word troubled, means, to be
agitated, to have inward commotion, to take away one's calmness of mind,
to disturb and disquiet, to make restless. To be anxious, distressed,
and perplexed. Please read the last part of chapter 13 for the context
of what led Jesus to speak this way.
But, the message is clear, "Don't be troubled"
2. Jesus then goes on to say, something
else, in fact, it's really how not to be troubled. John 14:1b you
believe in God, believe also in Me. Or to put it another way, "You trust
God, now trust me" Trust of course, means to have faith in, to rely
upon, to depend upon.
So, Jesus was directing Peter and the
others, and you and I who may be troubled at this time in our lives, on
this very day, to put your ( our ) trust in God. You trust Jesus, now
trust God also, and do it now, do it this hour, put your trust in God,
and not be focusing on your troubles.
3. Next, Jesus talks about heaven, and
what's in heaven, and where He is going, and what He is going to do.
John 14:2 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. Interesting that
Jesus calls heaven, "My Fathers home" That's where God lives visibly as
it were. He is of course everywhere, He is with you at this moment, but
He is visible in heaven. In His home.
And, in our Father's home are many
mansions. People have often been puzzled as to what this means. Many
mansions, many homes. Are they actually buildings, or as they something
else. Here's a clue to what I think they are. As do many. 2nd Cor 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
I believe Jesus is speaking of our new heavenly, eternal bodies.
4. Please notice again what Jesus said
John 14:2 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. He said it's true.
And if it was not true, He would not have told us. So, in heaven, are
our bodies being prepared for us.
And, the other thing that Jesus said
about His departure to His Father's house, heaven, is that He was going
to be working on getting our bodies prepared for us. He is busy in a
sense of making them right now for us. They are going to be eternal
bodies in the heavens. That's what Paul said over in 2nd Cor 5:1. So,
Jesus is at work for you and I at this moment in His Father's house, the
place we call heaven.
5. Here's the last thing Jesus said
about this. John 14:3 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. He was summing it all up. Another way of saying this is "When
everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be
with me where I am." Pretty wonderful don't you think?.
When Jesus is through with His current
task, He is going to return to get us, His followers, so that we will
always be with Him. We will be with Him in His Father's house, Heaven.
6. Here's how Paul addressed this same matter. In 1st Thess about seeing Him, and in Philippians about our new bodies.
1 Thess 4:16 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.
1 Thess 4:17 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.
And, speaking of our new bodies.
Php 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.
A prayer:
Father, You comfort our troubled hearts
by Your Word. Thank You. And, may we follow Your Word, and not be
troubled, but simply believe in not only God, but also in You. Thank You
for the work You are doing at this very moment for our eternal future.
Making us new bodies.
Bodies like Yours. Thank You that You
are coming back to get us, so that where You are, we will be also. What a
glorious future we have. Indeed, thinking about these truths are better
then being troubled by our current problems and circumstances, whatever
they may be. May we think upon You, and follow Your instructions. In
Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.
Calvary Chapel Visalia.
