The Cure for a Troubled Heart

Transcript

GR 390
2/15/1981
The Cure for a Troubled Heart.
John 14:1-6
Gil Rugh

John chapter 14 in your Bibles. John chapter 14. We have been considering the discourse that Jesus is having with His disciples in the upper room on the last night before the crucifixion, and there is much discouraging information that He had to relate to the disciples on this occasion. Chapter 13 He shared with them that one of their own number would betray Him. Now the disciples did not understand all that that would entail, but nonetheless, there was a certain gloomy cast to it that one of them would turn and be unfaithful and betray Him. He had also shared the fact that He was going to leave them and they couldn't come with Him at that time. That would be a further depressing note for the disciples. That Jesus says, "I am going away and you can’t come with Me now." We noted that Peter had a hard time accepting that. He said "I am ready to come wherever you’re going.” But it was not God’s time, on this occasion, at this point. And then Jesus added to that that Peter who stands out as a leader among the disciples, he himself would deny Christ three times. These things together press in upon the disciples and cast a rather gloomy note over the dinner that evening, and it begins to disturb and trouble the disciples. Especially the comment about the fact that Christ is leaving and they can’t come with Him. There is a note of despair, a depressing note about this. That Christ, the One we have been with for three years, that we have followed everywhere is now going to leave and we can’t come. So it’s not surprising that chapter 14 opens with Christ saying, "Let not your heart be troubled." That’s a command there. It could be translated, "Stop being troubled in your heart." These things have pressed in upon these disciples. There are only 11 of them here now. Judas has left to carry out the details of the betrayal. This word ’troubled’ we’ve seen before. In chapter 13, verse 21, Jesus is referred to as troubled in spirit. "When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit." That unrest, that turmoil, caused by the pressures, etc. building. We talk about churning on the inside. This word was used earlier in the Gospel of John for waters being troubled or churned, stirred up. We all know something of that feeling when the pressures begin to build. Several discouraging things begin to press in and you begin to churn on the inside, that unrest that unsettled feeling. And Jesus is aware of what is going through the disciple’s hearts and minds.

So He instructs them, as chapter 14 begins. "Stop being troubled in your heart, believe in God, believe also in Me." There is a very simple remedy for their problem. Believe in God, believe also in Me. What He is talking about here is that they are to direct their attention to relying upon God and to relying upon Him. Now. These are His disciples. These are the eleven who are faithful to Him, who do believe in Him. Who have served Him and who are serving Him, and yet He has to command them. "Believe in God, believe also in Me." What has happened? Jesus has shared with them some depressing facts. Shared with them about His betrayal. He has shared with them about His departure and their being left behind. He shared with them about Peter’s denial. And now He says "Stop being troubled." Well, He’s the one who has brought up all this depressing information. What do you expect? You see here the balance that is presented for us as believers in the Word. We are to be realistic. We are to know what God says. But we are not to allow that to burden us and weigh us down. For our attention and confidence is directed toward Him, not toward circumstances.

We have a similar situation where the Bible tells us much of what is going to happen in the future. The Bible says things are going to get worse and worse, and men will become more evil and more wicked. And the turmoil in the world will accelerate and lawlessness will grow. And we as believers as to be aware of these things. But we are not to allow them to trouble us or weigh upon us because we trust in Him. Now we tend to want to go to one of two extremes. We want to stick our head in the sand and try to remain oblivious to what is going on and what the Bible says WILL happen, or we become absorbed with it and it depresses us. The Bible says we are to know about it; we are to be realistic, but our faith is unshaken because we believe in Him. I think it’s important to note the remedy that Christ gives. Here are the facts. Here are the discouraging things that are going to happen, but don’t be troubled by it because your faith is to be in My Father, and in Me. Clear indication of the Deity of Jesus Christ. Believe in God the Father and believe in Me. That is the cure for trouble. Now I’ve told you all the bad things that are going to happen, but it doesn’t change your responsibility. You are to rely upon My Father and rely upon Me. ’But, Lord, we're going to be left behind.' Rely upon My Father and rely upon Me. 'But Peter himself, our leader, our spokesman, is going to deny You.' But you trust My Father and trust Me. 'But even one of us is going to betray You.' You trust My Father and trust Me.

Look over in First Peter. Peter picks up this note as he writes his first epistle. And in First Peter he writes to believers who are under tremendous pressure. They are suffering, they are being persecuted. Things are not going well, humanly speaking. And he picks up on this note in 1 Peter 3:14, "But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled." Same word that we had back in John 14:1. Peter says, 'Even when you're suffering for doing the right thing, don't let that weigh upon you.' Ever had that churning feeling come over you as you begin to accelerate on the inside? Because you've been doing your best? You've been serving the Lord as faithfully as you can and still things aren't going right? And you begin to question the Lord and you say, "Lord, am I not doing the right thing? Am I not serving you as I should? Then why do you allow this to happen?" We need to stop and not be troubled by it. My faith is to be rooted in Him. And even when the circumstances are contrary, even when the
situation is what we would view as negative, it doesn’t change the fact—I trust Him. I trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, and I am not to be troubled by it. Now that’s easy to say. We need to remind ourselves as believers of that.

Come back to John 14. Very simply, the cure, God’s remedy, God’s plan for us for dealing with difficulty, for dealing with depressing circumstances and situations is to believe in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. Even for us as Christians who have trusted Jesus Christ as the Savior who died for us. We need to be reminded in the daily activities of my life to trust Him, to rely upon Him. To not allow my heart to be troubled. And note, He doesn't give a recommendation here. He gives another command. ’’STOP being troubled in your heart." It's indicative of the fact that you're not relying upon Me. You’re not trusting in My sufficiency.

Now He gives some explanation. Picking up on the point that is of most concern. He is leaving and they are remaining behind. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." In My Father's house—a reference to heaven. The Lord's Prayer begins, in Matthew chapter 6, "Our Father which art in heaven..." Heaven is the abode of God. Heaven is the place where God chooses to manifest His presence and His glory most fully. True, God is omnipresent. He is present everywhere, but it is in heaven that He has chosen to reveal and manifest that presence and that glory most clearly and most fully. So when He says, "In My Father’s house" He’s talking about heaven where My Father dwells and manifests Himself, "...are many dwelling places." Now it's hard to beat the King James rendering here. "In My Father's house are many mansions." That still appeals to me although dwelling places is a better translation. Mansions is true—it comes from the Latin word which was used here. You can't imagine in heaven there would be any shanties, and that’s true! But the point here is not on the splendor of the place but rather on the permanence of the place. The dwelling places here—a word that means to abide. In My Father's house are many abiding places. The word carries the connotation of the permanence there. My Father's house, in heaven, there are many places where you will leave permanently. You will live eternally. Because you see, their attention has just been drawn to the fact that their dwelling here is transitory, temporal. Christ is leaving and shortly they too will leave; but in My Father's house, there are many permanent residences. I would have told you if that was not the case, He says. Now, explanation of why I am leaving: "I go to prepare a place for you." I'm going to get things ready for you. It begins to put a different light on His leaving. He has told them 'I'm leaving and you have to stay, but let Me give you further explanation. In My Father's house there are many places where you will dwell permanently. And I am going on ahead to get these places ready for you.' Well, it begins to put things in a different light. He's not leaving us permanently. We're not being cut adrift. He's simply going on ahead to get things ready. Now you can imagine this is going to be quite a splendid place. Here you have the Son of God who has created all things. He sustains the universe and all that it contains. Now He says 'I'm going to give special attention to preparing a place for you to dwell permanently.' You can imagine that it is going to be splendid beyond anything you can imagine. We're given a glimpse of it in the Book of Revelation.

Turn over to Revelation 21. It ought to be one of the favorite chapters of all Christians. You know how people are when they're going to build a new house? They pour over the plans and the blueprints, and they're memorizing every nook and cranny, and they want to be sure the door swings this way and the cupboards here and the shelves here, and all the little details. You know what? Revelation chapter 21 gives a description of the place where you and I are going to live forever. We ought to be pretty familiar with it. But you get the idea when you read Revelation 21 and 22 that the splendor of this place almost defies description. You just can't put it down in a way that you can really comprehend. The New Jerusalem—and it begins the description in verse 10. "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper." All these precious metals and precious stones are like crystal-clear because they are so pure that their color have such depth they seem to be transparent.

"It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel." Then he goes on and describes the gates in verse 14, the twelve foundation stones containing the names of the twelve apostles. The city is measured 1500 miles each direction—across, width, breadth, height. Fifteen hundred miles, either a cube or a pyramid in shape. Then the material that they used. Now you see that you couldn't construct a model of this, we couldn't afford it. Then you spread it out to 1500 miles in each direction.

Verse 18, "The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone." Read down the different precious stones. Down to verse 21, "The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl." Didn't have to piece together several here. One large pearl for each gate. "The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." Then the end of verse 27 says that those who walk the streets of this city are those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The description of this place goes on into chapter 22. Almost defies description. We have it described somewhat here, and yet it is almost impossible to picture it in our minds. That’s where we are destined to reside for eternity. Now you and I ought to have that fixed in our minds. Perhaps while you’re waiting for a home to be built and you live in some temporary quarters. While we were waiting for our home to be finished when I was young, we lived in a rather poor part of Trenton, New Jersey, and I still remember some of the experiences there. A lot of the furniture was just stacked in one room, there wasn't room for it. It was a rather dilapidated kind of place. We didn't focus on that because we were looking to the place that was being prepared. We'd drive over and walk around to see how they had come along in the activities of construction. And we weren't focusing on the place we were living in because that was temporal. We were just here for a brief period of time. We can put up with about anything because we are going to this place, and won't it be exciting when we move. Well, you know you and I as believers are to be living with our attention rooted in Revelation 21 and 22. That's where I am moving to. What a tragedy that we become so absorbed with things here. I become so concerned with my house of brick and mortar and wood and nails. It doesn't amount to anything when I look at Revelation 21 and 22 and see what's prepared for me. And I'm reminded that I'm just a stranger and a pilgrim, just a sojourner. One who is temporarily passing through this world? I don't belong here, I don't live here. I don't have any permanent residence here. You want to know about where I'm going to live. We as believers can spend a lot more time talking about the house we're building or remodeling than we can about Revelation 21. But I'm just dwelling here temporarily. You ought to see what Christ is building me. Next time you're sitting around with some friends and they're talking about the house they're remodeling or something like that, say "I've got to tell you about my house. I've got to tell you where I'm going to live, and you know what? I'm going to be living there a hundred million years from now." Then turn them to Revelation 21. We ought to be excited about it! We add onto the church and I carry the plans around with me just in case somebody wants to know about it. And I'm afraid I tell a lot of people about it that don't want to know about it! But you know, I ought to be excited about this. It ought to put things in perspective. That doesn't mean it's wrong to have a house here. I don't believe it's wrong to fix up your place, but it does seem to indicate that you ought not to become attached. It's just a temporary place. That's just short term lease. You're just staying there until He's ready for you over here in a place of glory that goes beyond what we can imagine.

Come back to John 14. "I go to prepare a place for you." That's great. That answers one question—Where are you going? I'm going to My Father's house to get things ready for you. That makes me an important person, you know. The Son of God Himself, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, has gone on ahead to get things ready for me. Can you imagine that? Ever hurry home after church to straighten things up because you're having company? The Son of God has gone on ahead to heaven to get things ready for me, make sure things are as glorious as they need to be. That's something! Question—When do I get to go? When do you get to move in? When is moving day? If you've ever moved into a new place, you know that's exciting. When are we going to move? And that's what you're looking towards. Verse 3. "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." That's got to relieve a lot of troubled spirits to the disciples. Well, I know one thing— this separation is not permanent. It's just for a period of time. He's going to go get things ready for me, and then He's going to come and get me. Often when we're invited to people's house, they give us directions. When someone is coming to our home, we give them directions. Go here, turn here, come here, this is the address. Know what? He says, I'll come and get you. I'll get it already and then I'll come back for you! Because My intention is for you to be with Me forever. Now that ought to be exciting for the disciples. I'm sure that was a relief for them as they heard this. I know a little bit about where He's going, but they still don't understand. Thomas missed it. But it's nice to know He's going to get things ready for me and then He's going to come back and get me. When He says, "I will come again and receive you to Myself.." Two ways a believer goes into the presence of God. First is by physical death. Many have died physically. All these eleven disciples die. Immediately upon death, a believer leaves his body and is carried into the presence of God. I don't know whether there is some indication that as we move out of this body at physical death, we are met by Christ or a representative, an angel, to transport us into the presence of God or not. That is one way we go into the presence of God. That's not the focal point of this verse. The focal point is when He Himself comes back for us. The reality does occur for us if we die physically as a believer. We'll elude to that again in a moment. I take it the point He is driving home, though, is when He does come back to get His own. For us as believers, we are talking about the Rapture of the Church. When JESUS Christ Himself shall descend in the clouds, in the air, and then we as believers will be called to meet Him in the air and then He will take us back to His Father's house, to the place prepared for us. So I'll come again and get you to be with Me and My Father. Perhaps at death for some. But the point where the Scripture continually focuses our attention is on His coming to receive us. It gives us information about what happens when we die, if we die before He comes. But the point is to be anticipating His coming. To be living as though moving day was today.

Two passages that focus on the Rapture of the Church. We'll look at them briefly. First Corinthians chapter 15. Again, these are sections of the Word that we ought to be saturated with as believers because it gives the details of moving day for us. It tells me what it's going to be like, what is going to happen when I pack up and leave here to go there. First Corinthians 15, the chapter that talks about the resurrection and the resurrection body. But having talked about our resurrection body and being raised from the dead in a glorified state, he concludes his section by saying that not everybody is going to die. Verse 50 of chapter 15. "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." In other words, flesh and blood, this mortal body, is not suitable for God's presence. Incidentally, in Christ's resurrection body when He confronted the disciples (Luke 24), He encouraged them to touch His body, to handle it. He said, "A spirit does not have flesh and bones..." He does not say flesh and blood. Evidently the resurrection body is not sustained by blood as this mortal body is, but it has flesh and bone but glorified. So this body is perishable. It's in the process of dying. It's not suitable for God's presence. It's not eternal in character. So, verse 51. "Behold, I tell you a mystery..." A mystery is something that has not before been revealed. You do not find any information about this event throughout the entire Old Testament. There are no details on this event throughout the four gospels, not until Paul writes about it do we understand it—a mystery. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." Not all of us are going to experience physical death, but every believer in Jesus Christ is going to undergo bodily change. What's going to happen? Verse 52.

"In a moment..." A word that we get the word 'atom' from—the smallest particle of time. "In the twinkling of an eye," faster than you can blink your eye, "at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'" So in an instant of time, an atom of time, faster than you and I can think or blink, Jesus Christ will descend in the air. There will be a trumpet sound, and in a moment the archangel will call on this occasion. And the dead in Christ will rise from the grave, and you and I who are alive will be bodily caught up to meet Jesus Christ in the air. In that instant of time, faster than you can blink your eye, you will leave this earth and be face to face with Jesus Christ in the air in a glorified body. That’s how fast the change will occur. Blink your eyes and you are in His presence in the air. And from there, He leads us back to His Father’s presence where He has prepared a glorious dwelling place for us. So if the Rapture would occur in the next five minutes, instantaneously every person everywhere in the world who has come to trust Jesus Christ as personal Savior would be bodily removed. They'd just disappear like that. Be gone! Caught up and meet Jesus Christ face to face in the air. We would have a glorified body in that instant of time, and then He would proceed to lead us into the presence of His Father. That's what He was promising in John 14. I’ll come again and get you. I’ll come at the Rapture.

Turn over to I Thessalonians chapter 4. Two different emphasis. It’s interesting how God lays out His Word. In I Corinthians chapter 15, the emphasis is on those who are alive at the rapture. Those who are living when Jesus Christ comes. In I Thessalonians 4 the question revolves around what about those Christians who have died. The Thessalonians were concerned, What about my husband or my wife, my parents, my children who have died? I recognize that if Christ were to come today I would be bodily removed from the earth to meet Him, but what about them? Their bodies have been in the grave. Perhaps they’ve decayed. I Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13. ’’But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as the rest who have no hope." I know of no more pitiful statement in all of Scripture than those who grieve with no hope, referring to those who are not believers in Jesus Christ who experience death among their loved ones. They have no hope. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again..." Important here. Note the group that is being talked about. Those who have come to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, come to trust Him as the Savior who died for them, who was raised from the dead. "Even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep with Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

The moment physical death occurs, a person who has come to believe in Jesus Christ as the One who died for their sins, dies. Immediately at physical death, they move out of that body. "The body without the spirit is dead," James writes in chapter 2. So they leave that body and they go into the presence of God in heaven. Their body is put into the ground. At the second coming of Christ, the Rapture of His Church, He descends in the air. He does not come to the earth. He descends in the air, and those who have been in heaven come with Him. Their bodies are called from the grave and glorified in an instant of time, and then they move back into those bodies. Immediately following that, we who are live on the earth are bodily transported in an instant of time, an atom of time, to the presence of Christ in the air and then taken to the place that He has prepared for us in His Father’s presence. Now we as believers are to be living in light of this event, in light of moving day for us. It makes all the difference in the world in our lifestyle, in the focal point of our attention. We live amongst the people who belong here. Who are citizens of this world. Who are rooted and grounded here. They have more in this life than they will ever have in eternity. They live for what they can acquire. They rate success on what they do and what they have in this life. And I am to be one living among them as a visitor, preparing to move at any time to a new home of glorious splendor. Now we know what it’s like to be a visitor. Most of us take vacations at one time or another. And you know, you travel light. And you really don't think about that. I have never yet seen a person who hired a house mover to load up their house to take on their vacation. Now I realize we have some fancy mobile homes today. I'm talking about our homes. We don't pack up our furniture and take it on vacation. We usually take more than we need, but we don't try to assemble all our belongings. We're travelling, we're going on a 2-week vacation. We've got the house loaded up, we've got the furniture loaded up. We've taken everything. Well, No, we say, we're just going on a visit. And you go to a new place and you look around and you see the homes that people have and you don't say 'I wish I had one of those homes on this street.' Why? Because I've got my home back on my own street. I'm a visitor here. And I'm disassociated. I'm unattached, in effect. I walk around those streets there but I'm a visitor. I don't even have a feeling of belonging here. Now that's the way I am to be as a believer living in this life. I don't even belong here. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said 'Our citizenship is in heaven. And that's where we're looking for the One who is our redeemer.' Ought to make all the difference in the world in our lifestyle, wouldn't it? You have two people—one who is living for this life for all he can get out of this life with his whole focal point and mind focused on this life; and you have one who is supposed to be living in light of a future home who recognizes himself as a visitor not belonging here. Should there not be a difference in lifestyle? Should there not be a difference to what we devote our time and energy and thought to? It's so easy for us to live among a people who are citizens of this world, who belong to this world, who live for this world, to adopt their standards. To adopt their goals, to adopt their motivation. We want to be like them. I forget I may be moving today. I may be leaving very shortly. I'm just a temporary resident here. Now again, that doesn't mean you can't have a home or a nice home. Praise God, if He's blessed you. But it does mean that you cannot become attached. You're going to be called upon to leave at any time. You ought to view it that way because it helps put things in perspective. You ever think of how many things that trouble you as a believer are associated with this life and the cares of this life? How many of the burdens that rest upon us have to do with the activities related to this world? And I don't belong here. I'm really not concerned about their problems in the one sense. Concerned in that I have the solution to offer in the person of Christ, but not to become involved in making them my problems. I'm a visitor. I'm on a temporary visa. I may be called home at any time, I may be leaving before the service is over. I should be absorbed in these things? Going to leave them behind for someone to have during the Tribulation? And then burn it up in preparation for the new heaven and the new earth? I need to remind myself of Revelation 21. That's where I am focusing on. That's what I am looking forward to. The time when Christ comes for me to take me there. It doesn't matter that people around me have much more, can do much more. That's fine. They belong here. I am visiting, looking forward to eternity in His presence.

Come back to John 14. One more crucial point to be resolved. How do I get there? Wonderful to sing about heaven. Wonderful to talk about heaven. Wonderful to imagine what it will be like to live in the presence of God for eternity. How do I get there? Thomas has a question, precipitated by Jesus' statement. "You know the way I am going." Emphasis is on the way here. Verse 4, "You know the way I am going." The end of verse 5 Thomas says, "How do we know the way?" Verse 6 Jesus says, "I am the way." Verse 4, "You know the way that I am going." In other words, you know how to get to My Father's house. He's told them, "I am going to My Father's house to make preparation for you. And you know the way to My Father's house." Thomas speaks up in verse 5, "Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?" He’s missed something, hasn't he? You can appreciate he's confused because he's missed an important statement. We don't know where you're going, how can we know the way? Someone walks up to you on the street and says 'Can you tell me the way?' You say, ‘I don't know where you're going so how can I tell you the way?' Thomas says, "I don't know where you're going, Lord, so how can I know the way?" Well, He's just said "In My Father's house there are many dwelling places, and I am going to prepare one for you. To prepare this place for you." So Jesus responds, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way.'" You talk about getting to My Father's house. The way to My Father's house, Thomas, is Me. "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." Now you note here the context is on access to the Father. The way to the Father. How can I know I am going to spend eternity in His Father's house? What is the way there? Jesus says, "I am the way; no one is coming to My Father but through Me." Now that narrows it down as narrow as you can get. I am the way, no one comes to My Father's house but through Me. Now He elaborates that. He says, "I am the way"—the means of access to the Father. "I am the truth." Now I take it He is talking in the context. He's not talking about being the source of mathematical truth or scientific truth. He is talking here about truth relating to His Father, His Father's house and access to His Father's house. I am the truth. What I have revealed about My Father, My Father's house and access to My Father, is the truth. If you want to know reality about going to heaven, you find it from Jesus Christ. Now many ideas—many people think they're going to heaven because they're religious. Many think they're going to heaven because they were baptized. Many think they were going to heaven because they've done their best. Jesus said, "Let Me tell you the truth about going to heaven. No one is going who doesn't come through Me." Wait, Lord, I was baptized. Doesn't say that no one comes to My Father except by being baptized. Doesn't say no one comes to My Father’s house except he go to Indian Hills Community Church. No one comes to My Father’s house except those who do the best they can. Well, none of that counts, does it? Talk about getting to heaven, we’re talking about the most important matter that a person ever confronts. We’re talking about THE issue of eternity where you are going to spend eternity. Jesus says, "Let Me tell you the truth about it, I am the way. That's the truth." Now you may believe what someone else tells you about it, whether he's a preacher, a priest, a Rabbi, a very smart individual, but Jesus says, "Let me tell you the truth about it. The truth of the matter is no one comes except by Me."

The next statement He makes ties to the same issue. "I am the life." When we're talking about life, we're talking in this context. What is life? It is that permanent relationship with that God who created us. Death in the Bible is separation. Physical death is separation from a person with his body. Spiritual death is separation of a person with God. Eternal death is separation from God in hell for eternity. Now Jesus says, "I am the life." The Gospel of John picks up on this note in chapter 1 with Jesus Christ is the life. And in Him is found that personal relationship with God which is eternal. And all of those who have a personal relationship with God are going to spend eternity in His presence. How do I have that personal relationship with Him? Jesus Christ is the way. I come to believe that He is the One who died for me, to pay the penalty for my sins. He was raised because He had paid that penalty. The moment I trust Him as my Savior, then I am set on my way to life. There will come a point in time when I will be called into His presence. Either through physical death or by Jesus Christ descending to call me to be with Himself. No other access. So it becomes a glorious subject that He is talking about. That ought to cause us to deal with our troubles and our problems in a way that He has laid out. What is the solution for a troubled believer? We have many believers who are churning on the inside. Many believers are being overwhelmed by problems and difficulties. We need to reorient our lives to things of eternal significance. To get my attention fixed on a goal which is of eternal significance. That Jesus Christ has left earth to prepare a place for me, and He is coming to get me some day. And the turmoil of the world doesn’t bother me. The trials that come in this world are not to press in upon me. Even the suffering that is brought to bear is mellowed by the assurance that it is temporal—I am leaving at any time, because I have come to believe in Him.

Two questions. One, what is the focal point of your life as a believer in Jesus Christ? If you profess to have come to trust Jesus Christ as the One who died for you, how is your life arranged? Is it different as a citizen of heaven from those who live around you who are citizens of this world? Who belong here, who live for here and now? It ought to be. It better be. It must be. That's the instruction Christ gives here.

Second question. Maybe you're here and oh it's wonderful to talk about heaven. Glorious to talk about dwelling in that place of splendor for eternity. A place that is splendid we can't grasp it with our finite minds. But the question is, Are you going? Are you on the way? If Jesus Christ would come back now, would you be called into His presence for eternity? The issue all hinges on whether you have come to believe in Him. Have you ever recognized that you are a sinner, unfit for God's presence; but God in mercy and grace had His Son die to pay the penalty for your sin so you could be cleansed, forgiven, given life and brought into a personal relationship with Him that will go on for eternity? You can believe in Him right now. The Scripture says that He died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again. If you're relying upon anything else, you're not on the way. But you can change that in an instant of time. Let's pray together.

Father, we praise you this morning for the glorious subject of this portion of Your Word. Lord, what a reminder that we as believers are not to be troubled, not to allow the cares and concerns of this world, the difficulties and troubles and sufferings and discouragements to press in upon us to trouble and distress our hearts.