 The title of our sermon this morning is Don't be troubled. Don't be troubled. We're in John chapter 14 Looking at this passage from verses one through verse six and the Lord says in verse one Let not your heart be troubled believe in God believe also in me the Lord Jesus Christ Has announced to his disciples that his death is looming Matthew records in chapter 16 verse 21 that Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and Be raised on the third day and Matthew chapter 17 verse 22 While they were staying in Galilee Jesus said to them the Son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and The third day he will be raised up and they were exceedingly sorrowful and Matthew chapter 20 verse 18 behold Jesus says We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes And they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge And to crucify The Lord's death for the disciples the Lord's death will usher in a time of great trouble a time of great distress He stood with them on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 24 And he said to them do you not see all these things all these buildings? Assuredly I say to you the Lord says not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down Jesus says to them they will deliver you to tribulation and Will kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake and Then many will be offended and will betray one another and will hate one another Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold no notions of a Conquering messiah who would come and crush the Romans and establish a kingdom and earthly rule have been replaced with a sober Reality the Lord Jesus Christ is going to die Now in the upper room as he spends the last hours of his life with his disciples the Lord has made clear That the hour of his death the hour of his glory is at hand and that even one of his own Circle the one who has broken bread with him at the table is a vile betrayer And Judas has already been sent out into the night on his treasonous errand In John chapter 13 verse 37 with the weight of all of that hanging in the air Peter loves the Lord once the Lord to know that he's on his side to the bitter end Peter said to him in verse 37 Lord, why can I not follow you now? I'll lay down my life for your sake Matthew adds in his account that all of the disciples affirmed that they would do the same thing verse 38 Jesus turns to Peter Answered him saying will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly I say to you Peter the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times While Peter Is considering that statement? Lord says to him in John chapter 14 verse 1 Let not your heart be troubled You believe in God believe also in me and notice in John 14 1 The you and the you're there are plural Meaning that he says this to all of the disciples together of the adversity and The difficulty that these men are going to face cannot be overstated this is life and death the epic of all confrontations The emotional and physical pressure on them would be enormous it was looking as though All that they had invested their lives in was culminating in a catastrophic failure That failure soon including the Lord's death and their own And all this adversity all this difficulty this trial Was specifically because they had attached themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ It's not like the adversity not like the difficulty that others in the world would face This adversity came upon them because they were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ their hearts were terrasso They were troubled they were deeply disturbed stirred up in their hearts stirred up in their minds They were troubled here if you think about it By the same three enemies that we face in our walk with the Lord They were troubled by the world by the flesh and by the devil They were troubled by a hostile world flip the page of John chapter 15 and Look down beginning in verse 18. They were troubled by a hostile world The Lord says to them in verse 18 if the world hates you You know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love its own Yet because you are not of the world But because I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you Remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me They will also persecute you if they kept my word They will keep yours also, but all these things they will do to you for my Names sake because they do not know him who sent me They were troubled By weak and sinful inclinations the flesh Not just troubled by a hostile world, but by the the inclinations of their own flesh They've been arguing here just recently in the upper room over which one of them would be the greatest we've seen their pride and Announcing that they themselves would die for Christ And yet Peter will deny him before the night is out and the other disciples will be scattered back in John 14 Thomas is confused in John 14 verse 5 Philip displays ignorance in John 14 verse 8 All of this troubled by the weak and sinful inclinations of their own flesh But behind much of their trouble we see the work of the devil don't we? The ruler of this world the enemy of the souls of men the accuser of the brethren And he has been hard at work this entire time in chapter 13 verse 2 Planting the seeds of betrayal in the heart and mind of Judas in chapter 13 verse 27 Possessing Judas in order to carry out his wicked schemes Drop down in verse in chapter 14 to verse 29 Verse 29 the Lord says and now I've told you before it comes that when it does come to pass you may believe I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming Pray is God. He says he has nothing in me But that the world may know that I love the father and as the father gave me commandments. So I do in John chapter 17 Verse 15 the Lord Jesus Christ In their trouble facing this enemy prays for them regarding the devil He says to them I do not pray that you should take them out of the world But that you should keep them from the evil one They face those enemies the world the flesh and the devil we face the same three enemies don't we the world the flesh and the devil And with those same three enemies facing us we're going to have trouble Not the standard run-of-the-mill trouble like everyone else faces You're going to have trouble specifically and precisely because you have attached yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ You will face intense difficult Concentrated consistent and even severe trials Some of you right now Some of you right now are facing enduring Persevering through difficult trials Maybe it's a sin that you're battling And you're crying out to God God help me I don't want to sin against you in that way And you battle and you battle you swing the sword crying out to God. Maybe it's your health Or some of you here that are facing difficulties with your health And you're at the point of despair or discouragement joylessness Maybe you're battling discontentment Discouragement in your life you're swinging the sword day in and day out. You don't see much progress. You don't see much fruit And so there's the temptation to grow weary Maybe it's a trial Going on right now in your own marriage with your own spouse in your family Maybe you've faced trials at work That job just can't get any harder right Trials with finances somebody's got their long arm in your short pocket Everywhere you turn right you're standing there with a tangled mess in your hands Every way that you turn it you see another knot and you're just not sure how it's all going to work out You faced difficulties before you came to christ, but not like this Not like this because now you're in christ you live for him who died and gave himself for you And you want to please the one who redeemed you? The world is against you the flesh is against you Behind it all is the devil stomping around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour The world comes along Our first enemy and says think positively right the power of positive thinking the world Whispers in your ear. You're a victim You don't deserve this you deserve you're entitled to better And what's your husband's fault? It's that lousy job that you're in Maybe it's god's fault You're going through what you're going through The first baptist church of the world on the corner of broadway and division They would have you believing That you can sin To get out of the trial and everything will work out just fine because god forgives So do what it takes to get yourself out of the trial god's gonna forgive Divorce that lousy husband right cheat on that tax return lie about the deal at work Did you say that prayer did you mean it then it's all okay? It's gonna work out Your flesh Flesh comes along and tells you that you'll be happier. You'll be happier when you have more money You'll be happier with a different house happier with a different spouse Your flesh cries out for you to turn off your conscience Just give in Sin is pleasurable for a time I don't have time to obey the lord right now in that area. I've got to work Your flesh tempts you to neglect the lord The devil comes along And accuses you and says this trial that you're going through this trial you're going through is because you're condemned That's the accuser of the brethren God isn't going to help you look at how depraved you are Look at how you've sinned against god god's not on your side The means of grace don't really work Why would you put effort into that if it's not going to work besides you have so many other priorities? You have other priorities. Take care of those aren't you tired of keeping up the charade Let's face it. You're not a christian You're going to face trials as a christian paul said We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of god Those trials will often come seemingly one right after the other On top of each other sometimes you'll often feel as though your your back is against the ropes And you're just being beaten to a pulp And the temptation at the end of all of it The temptation is to drift away from the lord your god To retreat Rather than to advance to throw in the towel right to stop striving to stop exercising yourself toward godliness to slip effortlessly into an easy Belivism to become an apostate by the mere force of gravity The lord says In these trials in these circumstances the lord says you're going to need faith Not some Pollyanna pie in the sky kind of faith not the not the disney princess kind of faith. Just believe right But a strong Enduring consistent tested informed and proven faith Not just a little faith to get by in the world not simply faith for daily living But a faith by which you will endure to the end to be saved You can say that you're a christian You can profess to be a christian But the genuine christian that one who has been blood bought by the lord jesus christ and is indwelt with god's spirit That christian will persevere to the end and be saved If you don't persevere to the end you were never a christian to begin with We must exercise faith so the lord Gracious right in his own troubled heart with his own troubled mind troubled over his hour Which is at hand the lord considers us in our weakness He considers us in our need and he says to us in john chapter 14 verse 1 don't be troubled Don't be troubled Believe in god believe in me now considering the grammar in verse one There are three commands here. I know it doesn't read that way very well in the english But all three of these statements are commands in verse one the first command Don't be troubled The lord jesus christ commands you today. Don't be troubled The second command you believe in god. It's a command believe in god Trust in god put your faith in god the third command and jesus here Emphasizing himself as the object of faith inequality with the father says also in me Believe it's a command for the lord jesus christ three commands to his disciples But not a presumptuous belief right i've i've sinned my way into this mess mess and god is going to get me out of it Not a presumptuous belief Not a fatalistic belief you know there's there's nothing i can do about it anyway, so i might as well just Follow god. There's nothing i can do about it Not a fatalistic belief and not a selfish belief everything's going to work out exactly how i wanted to No it probably isn't This is a settled determined resolved informed steadfast and active Faith a faith that rests and trusts in the person word and work of christ on their behalf Not a faith simply to to get along in this life, but for endurance and perseverance to the end It's a faith for the life which is to come your feet in the word your hand of the plow and your heart in heaven, right Jesus says verse one Let not your heart be troubled you believe in god Believe also in me and on john chapter 14 verses one through six We see three basic elements of this saving and persevering faith one It's encompassed by trust in christ Secondly we see hope in christ And third we're to be following christ Trust in christ hope in christ and following christ three elements of this saving and persevering and enduring Trial busting faith. Okay first. Let's take a look at trust in christ Now they're to trust not in their own power not in their own reasoning. They certainly can't trust the world, but they're to trust christ Verse two the lord says 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 Now jesus begins here in verse two By making three basic statements that are truly profound in what they communicate right the first of the three Is this in my father's house are many mansions with this statement verse two We need to trust the wisdom of christ on your notes trust the wisdom of christ And once again in verse two He calls god His father if you remember from john chapter five verse 18 the jews wanted to kill him for that The reason they wanted to kill him for that is because they understood what the lord was saying By calling god his father the lord jesus christ was making himself equal to god And he says not only that god was his father, but god his father has a house my father's house The simplest explanation for that statement is that it refers to heaven my father's house refers to heaven jesus then Think about it is equal with god the father It is his father. He's equal with god the father and jesus has come down from heaven He's come down from heaven. We should trust shouldn't we the wisdom of the lord jesus christ He is sent from the father and the lord made this same argument to nicodemus back in john chapter three verse nine turn there with me john chapter three And beginning in verse nine Can't just gloss over this. This is an important point What the lord is saying here We can trust christ because of the infinite wisdom of christ Now he tells nicodemus in john chapter three Basically nicodemus you cannot be saved unless you were born again by the spirit of god You can't be saved apart from being born again So nicodemus answered and said to him in verse nine How can these things be? So jesus answered and said to him are you the teacher of israel nicodemus and you do not know these things Most assuredly i say to you We speak what we know And we testify what we have seen And you don't receive our witness now think about what the lord is saying The lord has been sent from god He is from heaven been sent down from heaven to earth to become a man to die for sinners And he's saying listen this word this gospel this kingdom that we're preaching is something that we know Father god and god the son and we testify what we have seen And yet the jews at the time not receiving their witness verse 12 If i have told you earthly things nicodemus and you do not believe how will you believe if i tell you heavenly things No one But the lord jesus christ Has ascended to heaven But he who came down from heaven that is the son of man who is in heaven nicodemus Trust the wisdom of christ The fact that he has come down from heaven the lord knows that there are many dwelling places many rooms there Mansions back in john chapter 14 mansions Poor translation of the greek word manne the word actually means Dwelling places or rooms It was a Jerome translating for the latin vulgate Put the word the latin word mancyones in the latin vulgate So when tindale came across that and then later the kjv translators They translated the latin mancyones into mansions and it just stuck But the word really means dwelling places or rooms In my father's house the lord is saying there are many places to stay many places to stay now How would that encourage the body of christ? How would that encourage the disciples heaven is a big place? heaven is a big place and the blessed Dwelling place of the family of god The family of god who will inhabit these rooms revelation chapter seven verse nine says this Lord describes it as the dwelling place of a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes people's and tongues Crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb I think about that crowd Worshiping and praising the lamb who was slain it's a reward of his suffering amen. We think about joy in heaven over