Sunday, June 5, 2020
John 14:1-3 NKJV
“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.”
Context
One chapter earlier we see that Jesus has washed the disciple’s feet to leave an example of servanthood. He has instituted the first Lord’s supper. He mentions several times that one of the 12 will betray him. In the middle of the Lord’s supper, the Bible says Satan enters Judas who goes out into the dark of night to betray Him. And in the final verses of chapter 13, Jesus informs Peter that he will deny Him 3 times.
So while everything around Him is unraveling, Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled!” (John 14:1a NJKV)
With His betrayal hours away, He spends the next 3 chapters (14-16) teaching His disciples how not to fall apart when everything around them does.
We note that in all 3 chapters He promises the coming of the Holy Spirit. In John 15 He teaches them daily dependence on Him—they are the branches and He is the vine (v.5). And He repeatedly promises His return from heaven at a future time.
Then in chapter 17, He offers His high priestly prayer for the twelve, and by default all the rest of us—that we would be kept from the evil one, that we would be sanctified by the truth of His word, and that we would be one in Him.
Notes
With everything about to explode around them, He gives His disciples 3 anchors to hold them steady when the bottom falls out.
First, the anchor of faith:
I. The anchor of faith:
You believe in God, believe also in Me
John 18:37 NKJV
“Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’”
John 8:57 NKJV
“… before Abraham was, I AM.’”
When Moses asked God who he should say had sent him to Pharaoh, God said: “Tell them I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14)
Jesus said, “I AM the I AM that sent Moses!”
Luke 22:68-69 NKJV
“‘Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.’
70 Then they all said, ‘Are You then the Son of God?’
So He said to them, ‘You rightly say that I am.’”
Notes
The second anchor Jesus gave is about where you place your focus … Jesus said:
II. The anchor of focus:
In my Father’s house are many mansions
John 14:2 NKJV
“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.”
The word John uses in the Greek here means, “a secure place of your own.”
Colossians 3:1-3 NIV
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
John 16:33 NLT
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Notes
III. The anchor of hope:
I will come again
John 14: 3 NKJV
“‘… I will come again and receive you to Myself; …’”
Titus 2:13 NKJV
“… looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, …”
John 14:27-28 NKJV
“… Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard me say, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’”
John 16:16
“‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while and you will see Me [again], …’”
John 16:22 NKJV
“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
The phrase “caught up” means “to snatch away, to seize forcefully.”
Acts 8:39 NIV
“When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.”
Acts 8:40 ERV
“But Philip appeared in a city called Azotus. …”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
The word “changed” means to exchange one thing for another.
Notes
Say with me, “Let not your hearts be troubled!”
Place your faith in Him, your focucs on what’s coming, and your hope in the Lord’s return!