 I believe that a shift is happening in America. And when I met Pastor Lee, I found a brother who is not only sensing that shift, but going after I believe what the Lord is leading us into. And it's just an honor to be in front of you. And I realized this right out of the gates. I want to acknowledge this. You guys spiritually are foodies. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Your pastor is like a sous chef in the spirit. All right? He's very good at feeding you. And so you're like my wife. My wife is a foodie. I'm not as much. Like I like the atmosphere, I like the people. And I just like a lot of food, but she takes her time with food. She eats it very precisely. And I feel like you guys are that in the spirit because Pastor Lee is one of the best teachers I know of. So it's a little intimidating to be in his pulpit. I just so value his revelation and I glean from it often. But I want you to think of me this morning as more since I'm from Texas. I want you to think of me more as a pit boss. And I like to smoke meat. And I want to just put a big brisket in front of you. And I realize that you may not be able to eat all of it, but I do think that this revelation can and will have a lasting impact upon you. And I'm going to ask two things of you. I'm going to ask for you to get your Bible out. And I'm going to ask for you to take notes. Because I want to lay out a process that I found in the New Testament. It was Jesus's last discussion with his disciples. It's called the upper room discourse. And I want to walk you through the discourse and just a breadcrumb trail that I found as I read the upper room discourse over and over and over in the early days of the upper room. We planted the upper room in 2010. It was in the homosexual district of downtown Dallas. A business owner invited me to start a prayer meeting on Sunday nights in a room that he called the upper room. So he was a veterinarian. He had a number of veterinarian clinics. And this was his HQ. And he had opened up about 3000 square feet where he felt like God wanted this room to be designated for prayer and specifically for this community in our city. And I was at a crossroads and had a history in the prayer movement and it just lined up. And so we said, yes. And we began praying April 2010. So we're 13 years old. And I had nothing else to do in the early days of the upper room, but pray. The second thing the Lord told me to do was read the upper room discourse over and over and over again. And so I for two years every day read the chapters I'm going to walk you through. I did not get a lot of revelation if I'm honest with you in the early days, but about a year into it, something popped. And this revelation has not only marked my life, but it's marked our community. And if I could give this a revelation to my kids, a teaching to my kids, my kids are all under the age of 12. Next to knowing Jesus, it would be this revelation. And I want to show that to you. So John chapter 14, verse one is where we'll start. I don't want to pray for us as we dig into the word. So Jesus, would you do surgery this morning? Would you reveal yourself through these texts? And would you heal hearts? I believe that this moment is a divine appointment for many in this room that you're going to heal hearts from disappointment, as the disciples would go through most likely one of the greatest disappointments of their life, Lord, you laid out a trail and that trail led to their hearts being whole, their hearts being healed. And so this morning, would you do that in our hearts? We pray in the name of Jesus, amen and amen. All right, so this is the red letter text in your Bible. This is the most dialogue we have from Jesus, John 14, John 15, John 16, and it's his final words to his disciples. And John 14, one, it starts out this. It says, do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Now this is the canopy for the discussion that he is going to have with his disciples. I believe this conversation fits under this umbrella. And he's saying, don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Now several times in the discourse is he gonna talk about their hearts and guarding their hearts or protecting their hearts. Now there's something really important to understand about your heart. Proverbs tells us that the heart is the wellspring of life. So the issues of your life flow through your heart. It's the filter in which you experience life, your mind, your will, your emotions, they all flow through your heart. Now your heart is a precious, precious, precious place because God Almighty could live anywhere. He could choose to live anywhere. Highest heights, like he could choose anywhere on the earth to dwell or in the heavens to dwell, but he has chosen to make his home in your wellspring, in your heart. 2 Corinthians 4-6 says that God spoke light into darkness and he put the face of his son inside your heart. Your heart. And so Jesus, starting this discussion, he says, don't let your hearts be troubled. And it's an exhortation to them because listen, they're about to face trouble. And here's what they're about to go through. Verse two, John 14, verse two, in my Father's house are many dwelling places for if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go, everyone say I go, for I go to prepare a place for you. Now throughout the discourse, Jesus is gonna use these words. I'm going somewhere and you can't come a little while you see me and a little while you don't. And as he's sharing this with them, the disciples have this realization. They thought we were going this way. They had an expectation where Jesus was taking them, but through this conversation, Jesus is saying, actually we're going this way. And their expectation is not gonna become their reality and there's going to be a gap between what they thought they signed up for and where Jesus was taking them. And this gap has to be reconciled from Jesus' perspective because their hearts will become moved because of the gap. Now I want to put a word in the gap and I want to call it disappointment. Jesus was setting the disciples up for what they were about to go through because it was going to be disappointment. Proverbs says hope deferred makes the what? Come on, hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred, so you put your hope in an outcome. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. If that outcome does not come to pass and you're living in a reality outside of the hope that you thought would come, there's disappointment and the Bible says that disappointment can make our heart sick. And I've been a pastor of 23 years. I'm on the front lines of people's trouble, the day of trouble. The Bible talks a lot about the day of trouble and I have seen firsthand troubles impact upon a heart. And I believe the Lord wants us to live with a whole heart, with a healed heart, with a heart that's alive before Him and others. But unfortunately I've seen troubles toll upon hearts and I think there's many believers that are actually living with a filter that is their heart that has become sick because life has not turned out the way they thought it would. And this morning, if that's you, even in the most subtle ways, I believe the Lord is going to encounter your heart, liberate it from trouble and disappointment so that you can walk in greater measures of faith in the name of Jesus, amen and amen, amen. So don't let your hearts be troubled for I'm going away. This is verse two, verse three. If it were not so, I'm sorry, verse three. If I go, there's that word again. 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. Verse four, and you know the way where I am going. Now Thomas raises his hand in the discussion and Thomas says this, Lord, we actually don't know where you're going. We don't know what you're talking about. You know, what way are you heading? We're your disciples, we've left everything. Can you tell us where we're going? Well, Jesus gives the clearest answer. He says I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to me but to the Father. Trouble forces us to ask a question. The first question that Thomas asked and it's a question that Trouble presents is Lord, where are you? Everyone say, where are you? It's a question that if it's not defined in our hearts, Trouble will attempt to define it for us. Like when trouble comes, Lord, where were you when that happened? There's a second question, verse seven. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also from now on you know him and you have seen him. Philip raises his hand. Lord, we have another question. We're not quite understanding what you're saying. What's the question? Lord, show us the Father and it will be enough for us. Jesus says, have I been with you so long that you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has also seen the Father. How can you say show us the Father? The second question that Trouble proposes is what is God like? I've never heard like, God's good with songs. You are good, good. Oh, you are good, good. Oh, they don't let me lead worship back home, but I still try. But when Trouble hits, Lord, if you are where the Bible says you are and if you are who the Bible says you are, what do I do with this? What do I do with this day of trouble? What do I do with this moment where life hit me? And in the context of the Uproom Discourse, there's some great theological revelations in the Uproom Discourse, but contextually, who Jesus is talking to? He's talking to men that have left everything to follow him. They've put their expectation in where he's taking them. And the context is everything they thought was about to happen, or everything they thought would happen is not going to happen. And these two questions, they'll be forced to ask, but Jesus warns them, don't let your what? Your heart be troubled by this. And so keep following me here. Jesus is gonna talk about prayer and he's gonna introduce in verse 16, the Holy Spirit. And I'll ask the Father, because I'm going away, I'm gonna ask the Father and he will send you a helper and he will be with you forever. And it's the spirit of truth. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans. Although I'm gonna leave you, I'm not gonna leave you as orphans. I will come to you. And then in 27, he warns them again, my peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you? And then he says it again, do not let your what? Your heart be troubled. And then he adds something else. Do not let your heart be fearful. So twice he warns them, don't let your hearts be troubled. Don't let your hearts be troubled. He says, don't let your hearts be fearful. Let's keep reading. From John 14, they go to the garden, they get a cemetery. He lays out the vine and the branches. And then in verse 18 of John 15, he's gonna turn the heat up a little more. And look at this. He says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. Verse 20, remember the word I said to you. A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecute me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. He's turning up the heat because he's saying that persecution is coming. Look at chapter 16, verse two. This is something they did not want to hear. They will make you outcast from the synagogue. But an hour is coming for everyone who kills you. Well, thank you is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the father or me. But these things I've spoken to you so that when their hour comes, you remember that I told you them. These things I say, these things I do not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. Now look at verse five, verse five. But now I am going again, I am going to him who sent me and none of you asked me, where are you going? Now what question did Thomas ask in John 14, five? John asked this question, where are you going? But here in John 16, he's no longer asking the questions that he wants asked. Why? Because something internally is happening to the disciples. Look at the next verse, so, so crucial. Get this, verse six, John 16. But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. He said, don't let your hearts be troubled, but as he's talking to them and he's telling them things they don't want to hear, things they don't understand, guess what's being impacted by this? They're wellspring. Their hearts are being impacted by what Jesus is saying. Even though Jesus said, don't let your hearts be troubled, don't let your hearts be troubled, don't let your hearts be fearful because of what he's saying and because of what he said is coming, their hearts are being moved in this moment. Now what's sorrow? Sorrow, sorrow's so important for us to understand because your heart's incapable of handling sorrow over time. If you study out sorrow, if you look at what it, if you unpack what it is, sorrow's an actual substance. It's similar to faith. Do you know faith's a substance? Like, how does faith work? Faith is a substance of the things that we can't see, but we encounter. So like, it happened today in worship. Like, you're in here and all of a sudden, we sing an anthem like, all hail King Jesus. All hail King Jesus. Like, brings this awareness of his lordship, of his kingship. All hail King Jesus. And you came in here, you know, you're trying to get in coffee inside of you and you're kind of getting kick started in faith, but all of a sudden, when faith enters into the room, your heart hits a substance. Wait a second, he's King Jesus. It happens around like his faithfulness. You're like, you can come in here and he's got faithful. Yes, God's faithful. But when we start singing faithful, he's always faithful. All of a sudden you run into that substance that is his faith. Amen? Are you with me like, like faith is this substance. Well, grief does the same thing. Grief is a substance that can fill your heart as well. Just like faith. And it sways you internally. And that's happening here in John 16, verse five. Their hearts are starting to fill with sorrow. And sorrow resulted in something. From the upper room, from John 16, verse six, where sorrow is filling their heart. Look at verse seven. Look at verse seven. But I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come. But if I go, I will send him to you. So again, it's this cat and mouse like, here I am, but soon I'm gonna disappear. I'm going somewhere, you can't come. I'm sending another. And then the disciples are just kind of glossing over. He's gonna talk about the role of the Holy Spirit. And then look at John 16, verse 16. A little while, you will see me. A little while, you will no longer see me. And again, a little while, you will see me. Verse 17, some of his disciples then said to one another, what is this thing he's telling us? A little while, you will not see me. Again, a little while, you will see me. Because I go to the Father. So they were saying this, what is this that he says a little while? We do not know what he is talking about. Now, we start to see the effects of sorrow on a heart. One, we see Thomas asking a question, but then we see them no longer asking questions that they once asked. But here, in verse 17, it's really important for you to see that now they're no longer asking Jesus questions. They're asking Jesus' disciples questions. And here's what happens is when we can't see him, when we don't understand what he's doing, when disappointment sets in, instead of asking the one that's right before us questions, we start to ask those around us questions about him. We start to have a second hand relationship with the one that's right there. And Jesus, look at what Jesus did. Jesus, verse 19, he knew they wished to question him and he said to them, what are you deliberating about? Is it that I said a little while you will see me and again a little while, you won't see me, hide and seek. And then verses 20, 21 and 22, I really want you to write these verses down because it's a prophetic word for them. And it's a promise that is to come. And this promise will actually heal their hearts. Look at this, verse 20, truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, you will grieve or you will have sorrow, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Look at verse 22. Therefore, you too have grief now or you have sorrow now, but I will see you again. And your heart, everyone say heart, your heart will rejoice when I see you again and no one will take that joy away from you. So this is a prophetic promise and it's a promise that their hearts will be restored in light of what they're about to face. Now, from this discussion, Jesus takes them to Gethsemane and in Gethsemane, they're going to enter into prayer. And so this is the same night, same narrative, different author, hop over to Luke 22. I know I'm giving you a lot of scripture right out of the gates, but I'm going to pull this all together. That's going to be emoji head blown. All right, Luke 22, they go into Gethsemane. Luke 22 verse 39. And he came out and proceeded as was his custom to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed him because that's what disciples do. Verse 40, when he arrived at the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And Jesus withdrew from them about a stone's throw and he knelt down and he began to pray. Now, we're familiar with this text, but I think it's peculiar and a little odd that Jesus would instruct them not to fall into temptation as they're going into prayer. So let's imagine you came to Pastor Lee's office, coming to the pastor's office is always a little intimidating maybe. Here I am, Lee. He's like, hey, I called you in here because I want to pray with you. Oh, great pastor, I want to pray with you. Well, you're actually going to pray over here. I'm going to pray over here, but as you're praying over here, would you please not fall into temptation? It feels a little odd. You're like, do we need to have a discussion, pastor Lee? Like, if we're going into the place of prayer, do you think I have it in sin, a hidden struggle? Because if you fall into temptation, you fall into sin. So Jesus is instructing him and instructing the disciples, hey, as we're entering into prayer, don't give in to sin. Now, Jesus knew what was happening internally in their hearts, and I'm going to show you that not only do they, where they do fall into temptation to sin. Look at this. Jesus is going to sneak, just to the side, he's going to start praying. Father, verse 42, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. And verse 43, now an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. And being in agony, he was praying very fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling upon the ground. So Jesus is in this intense prayer meeting. Angels are strengthening him. It first drops of blood, which is really significant. Every drop that came out of his body was with intent. That's true here. Precious blood of Jesus. But verse 45 is so crucial, because when Jesus arose from prayer, he came to his disciples, and he finds them sleeping. Now, I always thought that the disciples were sleeping because they were tired. I thought it was late. Maybe they had a little too much to eat in the upper room. I don't know if you have fallen asleep in prayer because I'm tired, but the Bible informs us that they don't fall asleep because they're tired. It says that they fell asleep for another reason. Look at this. When he found them, he found them sleeping and they were sleeping from what? From sorrow. So here they are in the prayer meeting. Don't fall into temptation. Jesus goes to pray. I'm sure they tried to engage the Lord in prayer, but ultimately they fell asleep and they fell asleep because of sorrow. Where did the sorrow come from? The sorrow came from John chapter 16, verse five, because of the things Jesus was telling them. And because they had an expectation for where he was taking them and things were not turning out the way they thought. And so the trouble, the fear, the thing happening internally actually led them to the place of sleep. And the truth is, is that some of us in this room, even though we're awake physically and you're listening to me physically, you could be asleep spiritually. Why? Because of the gap. I thought it was happening this way and actually life has turned out another way. And sorrow sets inside our hearts and I don't know what your day of trouble is or has been or will be, but trouble comes in life, yes? Trouble comes in life, yes? And the key is that we rightfully have to deal with trouble internally lest our hearts close off. Because the sleep that the disciples would fall into and this would be the temptation which would ultimately lead to sin, but it was the sin of unbelief. They were falling into unbelief. Things don't get better here in Luke 22 because after Jesus finds them asleep in verse 46, look at verse 47. While Jesus was still speaking, behold, a crowd came and Judas kisses Jesus. And from this state of sorrow, Jesus is going to be taken away, falsely tried and we know the story of the crucifixion. You know, I was praying this morning for today and I felt like the Lord was holding those resuscitation pads, you know, those defibrillators that shock a heart back to life. And I feel like the Lord wants to do that in hearts this morning. As I'll show you, he did it to the disciples because Jesus actually purchased a whole heart for you no matter what your heart has been through. Because of what Jesus went through on the cross, we could trace the steps from the Gethsemane where he would be beaten in Caiaphas' courtyard. He would be taken to Herod, to Pilate. He would be led to Galgotha. And on the cross, I think Jesus' death was very intentional. There's nothing he did not endure that did not have redemptive purposes. Everything had redemption, every insult, every drop of blood, it was with intent and it was with the intent to redeem you and I. And so how Jesus died is really important to understand for our redemption. And one of the things that I've learned about the cross, I got this book by, I think his name's Jim Bishop. It's called The Day Christ Died and he's a medical doctor and he examines the physical toll that Jesus' body underwent through the crucifixion and he talks at the length about how twisted and cruel and excruciating crucifixion was. And one of the unique details about the crucifixion of Jesus is how he died. And it wasn't typical of someone being nailed to a tree because you know the account when Jesus is pierced in the hands, pierced in the feet and he's been hanging on that cross, what typically would happen to someone being executed on a cross is they would have to pull themselves up to what? To breathe. And so over time they would wear out and eventually they would have to break the legs of the one being crucified so they could no longer pull up to inhale air. And as it was getting late on that day because the next day was a Sabbath day, they came to break the legs of the criminals and Jesus and when they came to Jesus because of prophecy actually they did not break his legs because they realized he was already dead. And so you know what they did? They took a spear and they shoved that spear into his side and that spear would have pierced his heart medically and there were sacs around the heart that had filled up with water because that water was actually supposed to be flowing in the blood but because of the trauma that his body had been through his blood became so thick. It's Psalms 22. It says his heart melts like wax. And that was a picture of what was happening to his blood because of the stress that the blood could no longer pump through the heart. And so the blood and water that came out of his side, two things are revealed. One is this is the birth of the church actually from his heart, blood and water from the rib of the second Adam came. Come on. But there's something important to understand about the physical death of Jesus is Jesus didn't die of suffocation. Jesus died, get this. Jesus died from a broken heart. Jesus died from a broken heart. Why is that important? Because so did you. And as the disciples heart was overcome in this process of trouble, fear, sorrow, sorrow leads to temptation. Temptation leads to sin or the sin of unbelief. This is the journey of a heart that's been through anything that life is throwing at us. And Jesus knew that we would be incapable of handling it ourselves. Like without him, the only way to cope with the trouble that our hearts face is to shut down. But that heart is precious real estate to him. Amen. It's precious real estate to him. Do you remember the promise I told you about? In John 16 verse 22, he said, when I what, when I see you again, you're what? Your heart will what? Rejoice. When I, follow me real quick. When I see you again, you're what? Heart will what? Rejoice. Now these are the hearts that have actually been overcome with sorrow and are shut down and filled with unbelief. Now go to John 20. And I wanna show you the fulfillment of this prophecy. John 20 verse 19, this after Mary has seen the Lord. Look at this. John 20 verse 19, when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. This is such a prophetic picture of a heart that's overcome with sorrow. It's locked, shut and scared. Guess what Jesus does? He walks through those walls and Jesus stood in their midst and he said, peace be with you. 2020 is the fulfilled prophecy. When he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side, the disciples, then what? Rejoiced when they saw the Lord. When they saw Him, they rejoiced. When they saw Him, they rejoiced. What's happening? A glimpse of the resurrected Jesus healed their heart. Healed their heart. Their hearts were made whole right here. I believe not only were their hearts whole, I believe this is when they were born again. Jesus in the next verse, it says, peace I give with you and I'm going. And then he says, in verse 22, so receive the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit comes and resides inside their hearts. What's my point this morning? My point this morning is that Jesus purchased a whole heart. Jesus purchased a whole heart and he knows where you've been. He knows what you've faced. He knows the day of troubles in your past, but he's declaring this morning that his past is greater than yours and that his spirit was sent. This is the helper. It's in the context of hearts that are shutting down, but he's saying, I'm gonna send another. I'm gonna send another to you and that other is gonna help you and it's gonna help you have a whole heart. Amen. And so here's what I wanna do. I wanna pray. Would you put your hand on your heart? I'm gonna ask the ministry team to come forward and the Bible says, in this world, you will have trouble. It says, take heart, I've overcome the world. So in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I've overcome the world. And look, there's something about what you've been through that helps us internally, Lord, to get over what we've been through. And Father, from chronic diseases, from loss of loved ones, Lord, from us putting our expectation in one outcome and things turning out another way. Lord, I pray you will step into hearts this morning. And Lord, that you would breathe new life, that you would breathe fresh life, that you would breathe resurrection life, Lord, into hearts. Lord, where kids have wondered, where parents thought kids would turn out one way and things are going another. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would breathe your perspective and your life into hearts. Lord, this is the wellspring, though that we could live with hope in every area of our life. We could live with hope, Lord, that if it's not good, Lord, you're not finished with it. If it's not good, you're not finished with it, Lord. That we can get a glimpse of where you are and where you dwell. So Holy Spirit, would you come and minister to hearts? Would you stand with me? Lord, we entrust ourselves to you. We say, Lord, our life is yours, our heart is yours. Lord, you played a lofty price to call our heart your home. And I pray, Lord, that the one with eyes of fire, the one, Lord, that dwells in our hearts, that you, Lord Jesus, in your jealousies, in your love, you would consume sorrow this morning. And, Lord, we repent, we repent, Lord, for unbelief. And, Lord, we wanna walk by faith. And so if that's you this morning, if you need prayer for an area of your life or a situation, circumstance, if things have not turned out how you thought they were, you're living in a different reality than what you expected, would you just come down and receive prayer this morning? Would you say, I wanna entrust my heart again to the Lord. I want to walk by faith. I want the God of all hope to encounter my heart this morning in Jesus' name. So I'm gonna invite you to come forward and let's receive the freedom that he purchased. It's for freedom that he came. So, Lord, release your spirit into our hearts this morning. You who the Son set free is free indeed, amen.