Comfort For Troubled Hearts 12-14-25 AM

I.            The plea (John 14:1).

a.      It is important to remember the setting of this conversation.

          i.      Jesus has instituted the Lord’s Supper.

          ii.      He’s washed their feet and taught them about the need to serve.

          iii.      He’s revealed that one of them is going to betray Him.

          iv.      He’s told Peter that Peter will deny Him three times that night.

          v.      He is about to tell them that He is going away from them and is going to do His best to prepare them for His departure.

b.    Jesus is concerned about their hearts, or minds.

         i.      Jesus does not want them to be stirred up emotionally, which is the meaning of troubled.

         ii.      He wants them to have comfort of heart before His death.

         iii.      A person with a troubled heart is not capable of making good decisions and is easily dissuaded from good things by Satan while in that state.

c.    Jesus reminds them that they believe in God and pleas with them to believe in Him also.

        i.      You might think it is strange for Jesus to plea with them to do this.

        ii.      They had been with Him and seen all that He had done.

d.   The reason for the plea is that He knows their minds, and how they still view the Messiah.

        i.      These men had grown up being taught that the Messiah would save physical Israel and make her great again.

        ii.      They never believed that their Messiah would die or be put to death.

        iii.      There mindset can be seen when they are with Him right before He ascends to heaven (Acts 1:6).

e.    Jesus did not want them to be led away from believing in Him because of His death on the cross.

f.     The temptation would definitely be there for them so Jesus gave them this plea.

g.   Jesus still gives us this plea today.

        i.      We must believe in Jesus.

        ii.      If we don’t, we will die in our sins (John 8:24).

h.   They way to show our belief in Jesus is to do what He has said to do.

        i.      We must follow His commands.

        ii.      We must love Him with all our hearts.

        iii.      This is belief, not just mere mental acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord.

i.     Belief is shown in and by action.

j.     If we are having troubled hearts, we need to believe in Jesus and not give up that belief.

k.   If we have never obeyed Jesus, we must do so in order to show that we believe in Jesus.

II.            A prepared place (John 14:2).

a.   These men believed in heaven, as did their spiritual forefathers (Heb. 11:13-16).

b.   Jesus let them know there was plenty of room for them in heaven.

        i.      The word for mansions is translated rooms in newer versions.

        ii.      Jesus is letting them know there would be space for them.

c.    He then states that He is going to go to prepare their place.

d.    There are two main ideas about what Jesus means when He says He is going to prepare them a place.

         i.      One idea is that Jesus is preparing heaven right now, getting it ready for the saints to enter it after judgment.

         ii.      The second idea is that Jesus being glorified by dying, rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven prepared heaven to be obtained by those who continue to believe in Him.

         iii.      Either view is good and fitting in the context.

e.     Whichever view we take, we see that Jesus is the One, and has to be the One, to do the preparing.

f.      When our hearts are troubled, and we are in need of comfort, thinking about heaven should bring great comfort.

         i.      If we believe this means that Jesus is presently at work preparing a heavenly abode for us, we ought to be comforted.

         ii.      If we believe this means that Jesus being glorified by His death, resurrection, and ascension has prepared heaven to receive us, we should be comforted.

g.    Our Father loves us enough that He has the Son prepare a place for us.

         i.      The Godhead is not going to be caught off guard by how many make it to heaven.

         ii.      The Godhead is not going to be caught off guard by how many miss heaven.

         iii.      There will be the proper amount of rooms for the people who will spend eternity with the Godhead.

         iv.      There is plenty of room for all that believe, and continue to believe, in Jesus.

III.            The promise (John 14:3).

a.     Jesus makes a promise to those who continually believe in Him that He will come back for them one day.

b.     Thayer’s says the word receive carries the idea of bring into companionship with, “where I myself dwell.”

c.     What a tremendous promise to bring comfort to a troubled heart.

d.     Jesus wants us to be companions with Him in heaven.

          i.      He wants us to spend eternity with Him giving glory to God.

          ii.      He died to make this a reality.

e.      Jesus promises to come back for us.

          i.      Death is not the end.

          ii.      This world is not all that there is to offer.

          iii.      Jesus did not leave us and abandon us.

f.       Jesus is going to return in order to bring us home to be in constant companionship with Him.

          i.      It is such a hard concept for me to grasp that Jesus wants close companionship with me.

          ii.      I’m thankful for it beyond words, but it is hard for me to understand why.

g.     Jesus tells them that they knew where He was going and knew how to get there.

          i.      The whole purpose of the book of John is to inspire belief in Jesus (John 20:30-31).

          ii.      Jesus had just told them where He was going.

          iii.      He just told them the way to Him – believing in Him.

          iv.      Remember, belief means acknowledgement and action.

h.      Jesus promises that He is going to return for us and we know where He has gone and how to be ready for His return.

IV.            The path (John 14:5-6).

a.      Thomas is like me, not very quick on the uptake.

          i.      Jesus had told them He was going to the Father, which means heaven where the Father is.

          ii.      Jesus had told them to make sure they continue to believe in Him, shown by their following His commands.

b.     Still, Thomas did not catch on quickly.

c.      Jesus then shows Him the path to Him in verse 6.

d.     The only way to get to the Father, heaven, where Jesus was going, is through Jesus.

e.     For those who do not believe in Jesus, there is no way to the Father.

f.      There are two ways one can not believe in Jesus.

         i.      The first is to not believe the man Jesus was God’s Son.

         ii.      The second is to believe in Jesus as God’s Son but not follow His commands.

g.      If your heart is troubled because of non-belief in Jesus as God’s Son, there is ample reason to believe so you can be comforted.

          i.      The New Testament lays this out for us.

          ii.      The lives of the apostles, their living for and dying for Jesus, lays this out for us.

          iii.      The change in the life of the apostle Paul lays this out for us.

          iv.      The effect the life of Jesus has had on the world lays this out for us.

          v.      The historical evidence of the fact of the existence of Jesus lays this out for us.

h.      If your heart is troubled because of not following Jesus like you should, there is reason to be comforted.

          i.      You can repent and make sure that you are following Jesus.

          ii.      He has made that possible and God wants that more than anything else.

However, for both groups, unless you follow Jesus as the path to the Father, you will experience extreme discomfort of body and soul when this life is over.