This sermon is based in one originally preached on 2 April 2012
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| In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. The entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
1 Let not your heart be troubled:
ye 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 unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and
the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not
whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If
ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye
know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto
him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith
unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and
yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works. 11 Believe
me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the
very works' sake. 12 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he
do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my
name, I will do it. (John 14:1-14)
The unsurpassed placidity of the heart of Christ is so well demonstrated in His
counsel to us, moments before His passion, to not let OUR hearts be
troubled. What magnanimity is demonstrated in a heart that cares for our peace
at a time when the scurrilous clouds of pain and death hang, as the Sword of
Damocles, over His virtuous head but with a greater certainty of fulfillment.
In fact, the Lord has only sought to lift our hearts and spirits in these last
days of His Passion and Death. Should He not occupy His mind with the thoughts
of a brutally unfair trial that looms ahead….the humiliation and suffering….the
horrible death of the Cross? Yet, instead, His heart is possessed by an undying
Love for His own whose fragile existence will be so rocked by the coming
events. This is the perfect Man and the Perfect God.
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was a stellar cadet in his early years at
the US Military Academy at West Point. He later became the Superintendent of
the Academy and made many improvements to the program there that prevail until
today. Months before his death, MacArthur delivered his Farewell Address to the
Corps of Cadets at West Point on 12 May 1962. The General concluded his remarks
with: “Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that
when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, and
the Corps, and the Corps.” Those were memorable lines with which to
conclude a remarkable and fascinating military career. But look at the
concluding words of Christ, and His Love demonstrated in them, on the eve of an
ordeal of which great men of history could never have contemplated without an
overarching obsession. Truly, He loved us until the end.
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also
in me. In the
concluding verse of the last chapter, Jesus has told Peter that he will deny
Him thrice before the cock crows. Now, He continues with the loving counsel to
us-ward that we not allow our hearts to be troubled on account of events about
to unfold. These words offer comfort to Peter, but not to him alone for the
pronoun ‘YE’ is plural and signifies its meaning to each of us. There are
considerations that transcend pain, suffering and death. The kind of love that
filled the heart of our Lord, and by adoption, our own hearts, is that which
transcends death. Truth, Light, Life, Love – all transcend death for their
quality is not of the temporary expanse of this earthly life, but comes from
the Eternity of Heaven. It is not possible to have a firm faith in God the
Father without a corresponding faith in God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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. As a good Hebrew
Son upon betrothal to His future Bride, He will go and prepare a place of
lodging for Himself and His Bride under the supervision of His Father. Of
course, the provision is made by the Father as well in that He has many
mansions that will afford residence for the fullness of the Wedding Feast. When
preparation are complete, whether morning, noon, or late night, the Son will
come for His Bride – the Church. He prepares a place for us in two ways at
least: by dying on the Cross at Calvary thus purchasing our redemption so that
we would be made worthy through that sacrifice; and, secondly, by ascending to
the right hand of the Father to make timely intercession for His Elect.
3 And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also. Noah found the only place of security was in the Ark of God when God
said unto Noah, And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy
house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this
generation. (Gen 7:1) You will note that God did not tell Noah to GO
into the Ark, but COME into the Ark, because the place of security is always
the place of God’s Presence. Our hope would not be full without the sure
knowledge that we would be called to be with Christ at His Coming. We shall
live by the Rovers of Waters and eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and
every provision made for our souls in an Eternity with Christ. We shall not
hang our harps in despondency upon the willows of Babylon, but sing our songs to
Zion in the New Jerusalem prepared by our Lord. (Psalms 137:3-4)
4 And whither I go
ye know, and the way ye know. Do we KNOW the
WAY? If not, we are about to be told. Oftentimes, we know more than we realize.
The possession of knowledge itself is not always a guarantee of wisdom, but
knowing the means of employing the knowledge that we have is the key to Wisdom.
All of the disciples KNEW Christ, but did they truly know His full Person and
nature? As we read the Gospels, does the beauty and nature of Christ burst upon
our hearts with the warm love of KNOWING Him? Or do we simply read dead words.
If the Words of Scripture are not accented with Love and Life, they remain dead
to the marginal believer.
5 Thomas
saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the
way? If Christ says we KNOW the Way, do we believe
Him? Apparently, Thomas had yet to learn that the Words of Christ were Truth
only. It is, by the way, perfectly normal that we should at times question our
faith and seek further assurance from Christ in study and in prayer. So we
mustn’t judge Thomas more harshly than we judge ourselves. Even when we began
our Bible study with a complete trust in the Word, our studies should lead us
to question and seek fuller Light.
6 Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. There is no Life apart from that offered in
Christ. Have you believed that there is no life apart from that granted in
Christ – that He is the Creator of life itself? All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was
life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:3-4) Have you believed
that He is the Way (DOOR to the Sheepfold) and that there is no other entry but
by Him? If so, you will know that He is the WAY! Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)
Have you believed His message? Have you known Him to be the Truth personified? But ye have not so learned Christ; If
so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in
Jesus: (Eph 4:20-21) You may know all of the above facts
intellectually, but if they have not come to be the Crown Jewel of your heart,
they are dead facts to you.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and
from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. The faith of Abraham was a great faith. It
looked forward in promise and hope to the coming of Christ. In that faith,
Abraham KNEW God the Father. Without that nature of Christ, made visible to us
in His Incarnation, we could not know the mercy, truth, and grace of God the
Father. Christ is, as we would have said in the Tennessee vernacular, “the
spitting image of His Father!” In a note I earlier shared on the Trinity, Dr.
Nathan Wood (The Secret of the Universe) illustrates its nature in terms of
directions (dimensions) in space. Without three directions (dimensions) there
is no space. All three dimensions are required to establish space. He further
disannuls the claim, by some, of the impracticability of Three Persons in one
Godhead when they offer the formula, 1+1+1=3. They claim that this would cause
God to be three gods. But Dr. Wood gives the formula another way, 1x1x1=1 in
which the very nature of each component part of the Trinity equals the whole
and each member totally pervades the nature of each OTHER member.
8 Philip
saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Light itself resides in God – the Father, the son, & the Holy
Ghost. Light itself is not visible to the human eye. It can pass through a dark
vacuum and never be seen by us, yet it is there. In order for us to know light,
it must impact a material object. That material object of god the Father is
Jesus Christ. He came in a physical body so that we may, by knowing and seeing
Him, know the Father and see the Father. Philip desired some partial revelation
of the Father by Christ not knowing that all that Christ was pictured the
Father in full detail.
9 Jesus
saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you,
and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the
Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Jesus exercises a patience dictated by love
when answering Philip. Philip was one of the first disciples to be called (John
1:43) yet he had not learned fully in his heart that Christ was a full
revelation of the Father. After the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord,
we hear no more of these doubtful questions, for the Holy Ghost will bring all
things to remembrance of those things written of Christ in the Scriptures.
10 Believest thou
not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto
you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works. If we
look closely, we may read a stinging rebuke to our own living testimony. All
that Christ did and said was so much perfectly representative of the Father
that it would be nigh on to impossible to miss. When men look at our actions
and words, do they see the Father with whom we, too, are supposed to be One?
11 Believe me that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very
works' sake. If
you do not believe the very Words of Christ, than, at least, believe Him by His
actions and life. Can humankind raise another from the sleep of death as Christ
raised Lazarus? Can humankind restore vision to eyes that have been dark from
birth, or restore a leper, or heal the lame? Can humankind walk on water? Did
Christ these things?
12 Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Please do not misunderstand these words to mean that believers can
entertain with their works, or perform wonders for profit. If our minds are
conformed to the Mind of God, we shall do the works of God without fanfare and
solely to His Glory. Our works, therefore, will never be showy or prideful, but
will reflect the perfect will of God. The Lord Jesus Christ was confined to a
body while in this life. The physical limitations prevented Him from doing that
which He could accomplish on our behalf when He was at the right hand of the
Father. The Holy Ghost, our Comforter, is an omnipresent agency whereby all
things may be accomplished at all places, and at all times, according to the
Father’s will.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. This does not have the meaning that many
modern professors force upon it. As commissioned agents of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we do have the authority to act in His name just as a commissioned
officer of the military has the authority to act in the name of the President;
but we do not have license to act outside the purpose, will, and intent of the
authority in whose name we act. Those things that we ask in the Name of Christ
will never be things that are contrary to His will to grant. The Father is
glorified when the Redeemed of Christ ask only those things which it is the
Father’s good pleasure to grant.
14 If ye
shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. The charismatics have falsely insisted that
we can demand things of God and that He must grant them or break His promise.
Do you agree with this deceptive claim? Suppose we ask and God does not grant?
Why has our prayer failed? There are two primary reasons given in Scripture,
all relating to the Sovereign Will of God: 1) Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (James
4:3) or, 2) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
(Psalms 66:18) Where may we find the perfect solution to the dilemma we may
face in the above? Why not resort to the very counsel of Christ given in
Matthew 6 - Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matt 6:9-13) What untoward
request does this prayer make? Not one! It opens with an honorific to God. It
is a ‘communion’ prayer because it begins with “OUR”. It prays for our daily
bread which it is the Lord’s will to grant always. It evokes the will of God on
our lives on earth as well as it is done in heaven. It begs forgiveness for
transgressions, which are many, and perseverance against the temptations of the
world. It ends with a further acknowledgement of God, His Kingdom, His Power,
and His Glory (not ours). AMEN.
There is not a single selfish request in this prayer; it only asks the
will of God be done – not MY will, but THINE!
Have your prayers been like unto this model of all prayers?
