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This is a text that has particular bearing upon us at the moment. I think about five years ago, I preached from this text as well. And that was also a time of stress and strain for the people of God and especially in this place. We have once again met with death, not directly, but indirectly through the Montalvo's and Elizabeth's work experience at the Camp Glendon incarnation with the death of the young lady who was her superior and also a very close friend. It seems as if almost every time we turn around, there's some disaster, including death, that claims our attention and calls upon us to reflect once again. This is a text that is a corrective to what our world often, the message that we often receive from the world in which we live. It corrects our thinking and corrects our thinking about priorities, about the life that we live and how we view the world around us. And it's the same for the disciples as they meet with Jesus in the upper room. Jesus has drawn near to them in John 13 and to wash their feet to serve them. In John 14, here in the passage that we have before us, Jesus announces his absence. that he is going to leave them. Now he has served them greatly. You can imagine their delight and their joy in having their feet washed and having Jesus speak with them and serve them. But now it seems as if he torpedoes the whole thing by telling them that he is going to leave them. And so you can imagine, and to some degree, it's what we find in the rest of the chapter, the reaction that the disciples have to Jesus and his message, his announcement, loss, confusion. Oh no, we might say, that can't be possible. Now, of course, it reminds us that the world we live in is not a perfect place. It's not paradise. And it is a place that is filled with trauma and trial and all kinds of difficulty. And so in a very real sense, this is medicine for all of us, an antidote to what ails us, not only those who have just experienced the death of a loved one. And of course, the last two or three years, we've seen a fair amount of that in our own church, but also other areas as well. We think of the turbulence that politics in the present day the political countryside in which we live, the power place, even within government circles. We pass through the pandemic, which took a great toll upon us with restrictions, apprehension, and all of the rest. And then, of course, there are protests that never seem to end, both on the left and the right. And then the economy, which seems to fluctuate. Just to mention a few things, and if you think we have a difficult time, imagine given all of the reports that come Through me to you all that our friends in Cuba have to have to have to endure economy politics Economic kind of an economic stranglehold with with a lack of ordinary product. And so if what we're saying is true of us in a relatively safe place, imagine what it's like in another part of the world. Or again, think of Myanmar as well in the reports that are read and the way that the people there, Christians and non-Christians alike, are called upon to endure and to suffer. And as we think of those things, we ought to be careful of the antidote or the corrective that we choose. There is what we might call economic naturalism, marginalizing the presence of God for a hoped for future. a theological optimism that doesn't look squarely in the face of whatever we might have to endure, and the danger of idolatry in that context, of imagining, well, everything's just all gonna work out, because that's the way things are. Or even a cultural restorationism, turning the gospel on its heels and imagining that the work of the church is to bring about the restoration of sort of an Edenic perfection. Even a biblical futurism, idolizing that. We live for the most part, I think, as if the material world in which we live is really all that matters. Now we don't believe that because we're Christians and we're reformed Christians on top of that. And so we think that we have a pretty fair idea of what the Bible teaches about the future. But we live out our lives from day to day all too often as if this is the only world that really matters. And of course it's not. Here rather is a Christ-centered view or perspective of the future. It's not a hope against all hope. It's not believing and hoping that by believing we'll make it happen. But rather Jesus looks to the future And he calls upon his disciples or the apostles, at least present with him, to do exactly the same thing. And he begins with, let not your heart be troubled. And it's possible that this could be translated as well as do not continue letting your heart be troubled. Why would he say that? because that's exactly what we do most of the time, is that our hearts are troubled. As we face death and the death of a loved one, or as we face the various difficulties that our culture and our political stream would press upon us, any one of a number of things, health concerns and all of the rest. Jesus says something startling. It's as if he says, stop it. Don't let your heart be troubled. And he begins to talk about the future. And the future in particular being heaven. And of course, heaven isn't the final state, it's the intermediate state, but he turns their attention to what is in the immediate forecast, which is heaven. Let not your heart be troubled, a present passive imperative, or stop letting your heart be troubled. So what can we say about the future, especially heaven? Well, first of all, heaven is what we might call privative. That is, it contains what we might say the opposite of what Jesus mentions. A troubled heart, a non-troubled heart. A thoroughly different connection to the future that we might ordinarily Now, notice several things then about this privative nature of the future. That is this comforting, the absence of something, hence the word privative. Notice that in its source, it's no light thing. It's not the same as if I were to say to you, Stop being so whatever, fearful. Just stop it. I mean, this is Jesus who's speaking. And he's speaking of the center of our being. He's thinking of the heart. Keep your heart the center and keep it pure. Jesus knew what was going on in man's heart. And he knew what was going on in man's heart because he knew the word of God and he knew the tendency that we have. Psalm 42, Jesus certainly would have known this psalm and was the speaker in the psalm. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Those, in many ways, those are the words of Jesus from the Old Testament. Jesus knew what was going on in the hearts of men and women. Don't let your heart be all stirred up, all troubled, like stirring up a pond of water. And Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about because Jesus' own heart had been troubled on occasion. In the garden, Jesus said, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Jesus knew what it was to be plagued by doubt and insecurity and the prospect of coming death. In John 13, he was troubled in spirit. And so the idea, and then in the garden as well, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So Jesus knew what he was talking about. We must not think that he is a kind of ivory tower figure that had no relationship to pain and suffering, sorrow, the anticipation of death itself. Keep before your eyes then these truths. So heaven is privative, it's the absence of a troubled heart. Secondly, heaven is profound, it's positive. Believe in God, believe also in me. There's the antidote. It has to do with faith. It has to do with faith in God and faith in Christ. The transcendent one, God himself. Or perhaps it could be translated, do you believe in God? Believe also in me. It's a Trinitarian statement. Heaven is profound. Heaven is perfect. There's no trouble in the presence of God. Thirdly, heaven is paternal. There is a father in heaven. Several weeks ago, Larry Vincent was here and more than one person has spoken to me in passing about the sermon that he preached on our father in heaven from the prayer that he taught his disciples to pray. God is a father. God is a heavenly father. God has this paternal perspective and paternal attitude And like a good father, he would wish no harm upon his children. It's the place of God's glory that is heaven. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. So heaven is profound, it's positive, it's paternal, but heaven is also a place. It's a place that has many rooms. Now, we ought not to think in material terms, but certainly in corresponding terms. It's not a mere state of mind. but the word that Jesus uses here is the usual word for place. Paul spoke of entering the third heaven in 2 Corinthians chapter two, and again in chapter 12 and verse two. Bible describes heaven as the dwelling place of God. And so again, in the prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, our Father in heaven. Here it speaks of the atmosphere of heaven and space only in a secondary sense. Here is the place where God is, whatever that means. Heaven is prepared. It's a prepared place. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. He prepares a place for his prepared people. This would not be a reality if Jesus had not gone away. Jesus must go away in order to prepare a place for his disciples. Here is the purpose of the incarnation. Here is the purpose of the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ into heaven to make ready a place for his people. One writer said, it is Christ who obtained eternal redemption for us. And because of this has entered the heavens. So it's a prepared place, it's a place where someone, meaning Jesus, has given careful thought to what that perfect place would be for his people. Heaven is a permanent place. Now we'll come to glorification in a minute, but heaven is a permanent place, the creating of A house, I prepare a place, a house, not a tent, not a rental, not a hotel, but my father's house. It suggests eternity. It suggests family. It suggests security or safety. It suggests perpetuity. The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, for we have not here an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come. Heaven is plentiful. Heaven is a large place. It has room for everyone. "'for everybody and every category. "'None shall be shut out but impenitent sinners "'and obstinate unbelievers,' said J.C. Ryle." As you know, we downsized our house several years ago. And our house is much smaller and yet our family's always welcome. But we have to work a little harder to find a place for everybody to sleep these days. I think we were successful or Karen was successful as she organized all of that. And we've never shut anyone out who is part of our family. And so it is with this house or this room that Jesus is making for his people. There's no homeless problem in heaven. Whatever you think of the homeless problem in our nation and the world today, there's no homeless problem in heaven. When Jesus says he, it was in his father's house, literally there are many rooms. There's a room for everybody. Everybody who believes. Room enough with regard to every category, rich and poor, young and old, new believer and old believer, strong and the weak. There's room. There's room. in the Father's house. Eighthly, heaven is personal. You here is plural. There is a place for disciples, for all of them, for you as a disciple, if indeed you are, of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then ninthly, heaven is proclaimed. proclaimed by Jesus. This is the word of Jesus. These are the words of Jesus, marked by honesty, marked by integrity. Jesus said, if it were not so, I would have told you. He did say something, and that word can be trusted. And we don't need to be moved to and fro by the by the problems that we face, even death itself. Tenthly, heaven is promissory. It's prophetic. Jesus announces the place that he is preparing for them. And yet, as we read the scriptures and read it further, this state is the intermediate state. It's not the final state. The final state for us is resurrection and glorification, but that doesn't make this a substandard state waiting for the resurrection. The point is Jesus will come again and will take us to himself as he returns. J.C. Ryle wrote, Christ will not wait for believers to come up to him, but will come down to them to raise them from their graves and escort them to their heavenly home. The second advent ought never to be forgotten. Great is the blessedness of looking back to Christ coming the first time to suffer for us, but no less great is the comfort of looking forward to Christ coming the second time to raise and reward his saints. And then 11th and finally, Heaven is princely. It is a place with Jesus. And that's what makes it princely, kingly, lordly, and what makes it special. I mentioned this morning in an altogether different context and altogether different sermon, what older writers refer to as the beatific vision. seeing God face to face. We shall see him, 1 John 3, and be like him for we shall see him as he is. And see him exclusively. As I said this morning in another context, I think often even we who are believers have a wrong notion of what heaven is like. It's not uncommon in funeral services of one kind or another to have a sharing time in which people stand and say, well, we're gonna miss so-and-so, but isn't it wonderful they're now reunited with, and then they mention a whole list of relatives as if that's what heaven is all about. Now, I'm not sure. what those aspects of heaven will be like, but this I know that the focus in heaven and in the new world, in the new Jerusalem and the new earth will be, new heaven and new earth, will be on Jesus. He will be the focus. And so we will see him personally See Him clearly, no idols to stand or to get in the way. See Him constantly, see Him satisfyingly. And see Him fully, 1 John 3, 2. Spurgeon said this, the saints in heaven shall have more knowledge of Christ than the more advanced below. In other words, whatever we see now by way of truth will be minuscule compared to what the simplest believer will have in the presence of Christ. As one has said, the babe in Christ admitted to heaven discovers more of Christ in a single hour than is known by all the divines, that is theologians, of the assemblies of the church on earth. So what do we say then about this text? Simple as it really is, it's an antidote to the prevailing ailment of having a turbulent heart. And truth be told, no one is exempt from being torn one way or the other because of the vicissitudes of life in this world. No gender, class, age, or condition, there is none that does not fear something. And already mentioned this differently, but there are a great many things to fear, a great many things to be afraid of. But it is none other than Jesus himself who tells us not to fear or to stop fearing. And again, as I said earlier, he knows what he's talking about. For he too had turmoil and felt turmoil and was disturbed and distressed. He too was afraid. And so secondly, the preparations of Jesus for this new dwelling place are not in vain. We can trust him to fulfill everything his promises. Consider who you are. You're a part of a community that transcends this world. As one of our former members often said, who has been translated From this world, the church militant to the church triumphant was often found saying, the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. And finally, remember that whatever you think of heaven and what you think you might enjoy in heaven, there is no prospect of what that life will be like without Christ. And we must not think of heaven as the presence of Christ as a kind of afterthought, as if to say, oh yeah, well I knew that all along, but it's not an afterthought like that. It's at the very center of the life to come. It was Augustine, sometimes called Saint Augustine, early church father, who said, thou hast made us for thyself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee. There's the key to living out our lives, and there's the key. to Christ, heaven, and eternity. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this brief and hurried study of something exceedingly important for us. May we be able to reflect and contemplate on these words for the hours in the hours and the days to come. And may we be refreshed by them. For we pray in Christ's name, amen.
Heaven
Identificación del sermón | 72125243188096 |
Duración | 30:48 |
Fecha | |
Categoría | Domingo - PM |
Texto de la Biblia | Juan 14:1-3 |
Idioma | inglés |
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