When someone that we love departs, and there is a chance that we don't see them again, or we won't ever see them again for a long time, whether it's through moving away or through death, there is great sorrow, great sadness in our heart. Our hearts are troubled when our loved ones leave. And it's not only just through departure, but there's so many things in this world that will cause our hearts to be troubled, to be anxious, to be worried. The disciples had been walking with Jesus for three years. They had heard his teachings, which surpassed any of the teachings that they would have heard from any other rabbi or religious individual. They heard the wisdom and knowledge of Christ. They saw his miracles, the great signs he went about performing. And not only those, but there's so many that are not recorded for us in Scripture. They saw so much and they heard so much. But in the course of those three years, their hearts were also knit together. Not only to one another, but to Jesus Christ Himself. Their relationship had become more than just teacher and disciple, but one of close friendships. In the previous section we looked at last week, we saw that Jesus called his disciples little children, which is a term of endearment. And we saw as well that at the beginning of chapter 13, as John is now transitioning to record for us the final instructions of Jesus to his disciples, it says that Jesus loved his own to the very end. He loved them and they loved him. And so when Jesus announces that he will be betrayed by one of the disciples, they are troubled. They are deeply troubled in their soul because they love him. And to think that one of them will betray them is hard on them. They're hard to trouble. And now, Jesus had just been saying to them that he will depart, and this is finally beginning to sink in. So on top of the betrayal, Now Jesus tells them that he will depart, that he will leave them, that they won't see him anymore. And so, of course, they are deeply troubled, fearful, anxious that their friend, their Lord, is leaving them. And because of the great love that Jesus had for them, he teaches them that even in his absence, they need not be troubled. We can say even because of his absence, they should not be troubled, but we can have hope and be encouraged. And this is what we will be looking at this morning. When we are troubled, we can take comfort in Jesus, even though he is not physically present with us. And as we consider our text this morning, that we can take comfort in Jesus, even in his absence, when we are troubled, we can look, we're looking at four things here in our text that Jesus tells us, that Jesus points out things that we can have or take comfort in. And we can take comfort in his absence, first of all, because Jesus is preparing a place for us. Second, because Jesus will show us the Father. Thirdly, because Jesus is coming back for us. And then fourthly, because Jesus will remain accessible to us. So let us look at our first point. Jesus is preparing a place for us. So we are not to be troubled because Jesus is not physically, simply because he's not physically present, but we should be comforted because he has gone to prepare a place for us. But if there's going to be any comfort, if disciples, if believers are to experience any comfort, there must be faith. In these final instructions by Jesus to his disciples, He's gonna comfort them by telling them some truths, final instructions, but in order for any of these things that he's about to tell them to be comforting to them, there must first be faith. In life, in the Christian life, there is no comfort, no strengthening, no edifying, no building up of the Christian life without faith. Not only is it impossible to please God without faith, but it is impossible to receive the benefits of Christ for those who believe apart from faith. Faith does not save us. Faith itself does not strengthen us. Faith itself does not comfort us. People often in the world will say to others that are going through difficult times, you just have to believe, just have faith. But believe in what? Have faith in what? You have to believe that things will turn out fine, they say. Well, can any of us guarantee that? That whatever situations we encounter, everything will turn out fine? No, God may oftentimes allow and has allowed for many things in our lives to not turn out fine from a human perspective. So the answer is not just to have faith, but to have faith in Jesus. So it's the object of our faith that is important. And Jesus is the one that saves us. He is the one that strengthens and comforts us. But it is through faith, not by faith, through faith, as an instrument by which the grace of salvation is received by us, and it is through faith that we receive the grace of God's strengthening and comforting us. By faith, we receive all the blessings in the heavenly places that God has for us in Christ. So if there's going to be comfort there here, if there's going to be comfort for the believers, there must be faith. And therefore, Jesus begins this by saying to his disciples, do not let your heart be troubled or do not let your heart be frightened or anxious ever again. Believe in God, believe also in me. Now, he is not commanding his disciples to add faith in Jesus in addition to their faith in God, as if one could separate these two. We've seen that you cannot have the Father without the Son. You can't believe in God the Father and not in Jesus. So he is not saying, you believe in God, now add to that faith and now believe in me as well. The disciples have already believed in Jesus. Since Jesus is a revelation of God and since they have believed in God and Jesus, they already believe in God the Father and in God the Son. But this imperative, this command to believe in God and to believe in Him is a command to continue to look to God. In times of trouble, continue to believe in God and continue to believe in me as well. We must always have our minds fixed on both God the Father and the Son. including the Holy Spirit, the fullness of who God is. We must continue to believe in God. So faith and wholehearted trust is necessary then to receive comfort, God's comfort and the comfort of his promises. Now what is Jesus promising here to his disciples that will bring them comfort? He's not just departing. He doesn't just say I'm leaving and just leaves them at that. He tells them He is going to the Father's house to prepare a place for them. Look at verse 2. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If they were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus encourages His disciples and encourages us by disclosing the purpose for His departure. He is going to the Father's house. Here, Jesus is using a spatial metaphor, an illustration, a picture, to refer to the place where God dwells, and that is heaven. We are not to imagine as though there was an actual house, a building, where God made His dwelling place. The tabernacle or temple in the Old Testament was a picture or a type of this dwelling place. In the New Testament, it is the church, since the true temple is Jesus and the church is His body. But here the reference again is to heaven. Jesus is going back to heaven where his father is. And with this in mind, Jesus says that in this house, in the father's dwelling place, there are many dwelling places. Other translations use the word rooms or mansions. But this too is a spatial metaphor or an illustration for a dwelling place. A more appropriate meaning would be something like apartment units. So, sorry it's not a big house with lots of rooms and a pool in the backyard next to the tennis courts. That is not what is in view here. There is one house in view, the Father's house, heaven, and in this house there are many dwelling places, many units. In Jesus' day, people would often build upon an existing house. So as the children would grow up and get married, they would often move in with their family, with their parents, and they would simply build an extension to the house, more rooms. And so this is the idea here. It is one big building with many units. But again, all of this is a metaphor, is an illustration to describe a dwelling place where the father is. And what Jesus here is describing is a household, a household where one large family lives, where brothers and sisters in Christ dwell together, not separate, not this individualistic view of heaven where you're just in your own house enjoying eternity. No, we are all one family dwelling together. But most importantly, dwelling together with our Heavenly Father in His household. And it is the place of our eternal dwelling place. For those of you who have moved a lot throughout your life, it feels nice, doesn't it? It feels nice to finally settle down somewhere a little more permanent, unless you really do like moving around a lot, but it feels nice to settle down somewhere and call a place home. My wife and I have never owned a house. And since we've been married, we've moved seven times, four times in the past two and a half years. And the main reason for this is that most of our married life, I've been working on going to seminary. And so there was six years between the time that God called me to go to seminary and the time I actually went, and then four years at seminary, and then a year internship. And throughout that time, there was a lot of moving around, But the Lord, in 2023, called us here to Redeemer, in Belton. And though we're still renting and hopefully planning on moving at least one more time when we buy a house, hopefully, but this is our home. We feel God has placed us here, and it feels nice to have this, a place where we can call home. But even then, even then, one day I will pass away. Children will move out of the house and maybe the Lord after 15, 20, 30 years maybe calls me somewhere else, who knows? The point is that even if we have a temporal, a place that we can call home here, this is not our permanent dwelling place. And what Jesus is saying here, he's going to prepare this permanent dwelling place where the entire family of God will be together, dwelling together as one family, brothers and sisters in Christ with our God. He will be your God and we will be his people. This is the imagery that Jesus is painting for the disciples and for us, to encourage us. And another thing that we need to not miss is that Jesus says that in his Father's house, there are many dwelling places. Many dwelling places. What does this mean? It means that there is more than enough room there is plenty of room. So you who are doubting whether Jesus would have you, whether there is room for you, maybe because you're a great sinner, be assured that there is plenty of room, that we need to believe in Christ, trust in Him, repenting of our sins, and there is plenty of room. God will not cast anyone out saying, sorry, there's no more room for you. He will receive us. And so in this dwelling place that Christ is going to prepare for us, Again, it's a dwelling place of God's family and a place where there's plenty of room for people to come in. All we need to do is trust in Jesus, believe in the Lord, repenting of our sins. But this place where Jesus goes is not just a place, but to a person. He is not just going to a place, but to a person. He is not just going back to heaven, but to the Father. And this brings us to our second point. Jesus will show us the father or show the father to us. So this place he is going to is not just a place but a person. Verses 2 and then 4 through 5 it says, in my father's house are many rooms. If they were not so, what I have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And you know the way to where I am going. And Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? And then in verses 6 through following, we see that this place where he is going is to the father. It is to his father's house, but he's going to the father. And so then Thomas then says, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? And Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father. except through me." So he's going to the Father, but we're not only told that he's going to the Father, but that he is the only way to the Father. So if anyone wishes to go to the Father, to be with the Father, to dwell in the Father's household, one must go through Jesus Christ and through Him alone. There is no other way. There is no other way to go to heaven to be with God, the Father, but through Jesus Christ. Now, people often criticize Christianity because we believe that it is the true religion, that Jesus is the only way, and in our inclusivistic culture, inclusive of everyone but Christians, of course, this claim sounds too exclusive. They seem to think that we are the ones being exclusive because it's our religion, and somehow we think that God will favor our religion over against the other religions. But this is not, of course, this is not the case. There is a reason why Jesus is the only way. It's not just because we want it to be that way, because we created this religion and that's how we want it to be. No, there's a reality here. The reason why is because of the reality of who he is and what he has done. It's because of the reality of who we are. And what has happened? It is because of the reality that Adam has fallen, that sin has entered the world, that we are all sinners and are condemned. From the very moment that we are born, we are condemned. And there's no way, there's nothing that we can do about it. There's no amount of good works. There's no, you know, your good reputation, no amount of money, nothing can grant you entrance into heaven. except one thing, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the only way to the Father, because He comes forth from the Father. He is the Son who came down, who became man, who lived the perfect life that we could not live, who went to the cross, bore our sins on the cross, took our judgment in our place, and provided eternal salvation, provided forgiveness of sins, And because of who He is and what He has done for us, believing in Him is the only way to get to heaven, the only way to be with the Father, to go with the Father, to see the Father. During our Sunday schools, we've been looking at the new creation and what that means and and how John shows us the new creation in his gospel. And one of the things that we see about the new creation, especially in Revelation, is that it is a place of righteousness. It is a place of joy and peace and perfection where God, where all things will be restored. And so because we are sinners, we cannot enter that kingdom. We need to be cleansed by the blood of Christ. And again, that is the reason why we must go through Jesus Christ, because it is only His righteousness that covers us, that removes our guilt and our sin. It is only through Him that we can enter into the Father's kingdom, the Father's house. And so Jesus is the only way. But Jesus also reveals the Father to us, as He tells Thomas, that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. Now, what does Jesus mean by this? Does he mean that the Father and Jesus are the exact same person? Because there is a heresy, an erroneous doctrine that teaches that God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are really just the same person with just different modes. He appears as the Father in one instance, and then as the Son, and then as the Holy Spirit. Is this what Jesus is saying? No, he's not. And we've seen this before, but what Jesus says here, whoever has seen me has seen the Father, what He's saying is because Jesus and the Father, or the Son and the Father are perfectly united and share the same essence, when we see Christ in His compassion, in His mercy and His love, the works that He does, the teachings that He taught, we are seeing the Father's love and mercy and works and teachings. He even said, I don't do my own works. I do what the Father shows me. My works are His works. So when we see Him, we are seeing the character of the Father. And so not only is Jesus the only way to the Father, but He's the only way that can truly show us the Father. Because again, He comes forth from the Father. And again, this is confirmed in verses 11 through 12. Jesus says there that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, both perfectly united to one another. Not the same, they are distinct from one another, and not separate, united in the one divine essence. And this is why, again, Jesus alone is the weight of the Father and can show us the Father because He is in perfect union with the Father. And if this is indeed the case, which it is, His departure comes then with a promise and this brings us to our third point. Jesus is coming back for us. The departure of Jesus, though troublesome and fearful to the disciples, should bring encouragement and hope because with his departure comes a promise. A promise to return for us. Jesus is going away to prepare an eternal dwelling place for us. But what good would that be if the dwelling place is prepared, and then no one ever comes to abide there, to live there? Jesus says, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. The disciples can take comfort in his departure, and we can take comfort in his departure, in his absence, because he promises to come back for us. And he is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness. Time cannot nullify the promise. For He is the Lord of time, He is sovereign over time. And death cannot nullify His promise, for He is the Lord of life, He is sovereign over death. Though these are final instructions to His disciples, and there are things here that pertain only to these particular disciples, yet there are many promises here that apply to all believers everywhere and in every era, and this is one of them. Whatever life brings us, whatever causes us to despair or brings us to despondency, to worry, whatever causes anxiety, fear, even for those times when God hides His countenance from us, we are to take comfort in this, that Jesus is coming back for us. He will come for us. whatever tribulation or trials we experience, no matter how hard they get, no matter what, we can trust and believe that Christ has us in mind and will come back for us. He will not forget about us. He is coming back for you. Not just a group and whoever happens to be in that group that is coming. He suffered and died for you. He left to prepare a dwelling place for you, and He is coming back for you. And in this we see Jesus' heart desire that is to be with us. He is coming back for those whom He loves, for His own, those whom He loved to the end. We see His heart in all of this at the end of verse 3. It is His heart and His ultimate purpose for departing. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also. So that wherever I am, you may also be there. His desire is for you to be with Him. His desire is for Him to be with us. He is coming back to receive us, to see us face to face. and us Him and be with Him in His presence. As we said last week, we are not lovable people, but Jesus in telling us that He wants us to be with Him wherever He is, He wants us right there with Him. He says to you and to me, I am coming back for you because I desire to be with you for all eternity. And what a, joy, what a comfort that is to know that Christ is gonna be with us, that He wants to be with us. Remember the thief on the cross? One moment he was cursing Christ and insulting Him, and then in one moment, at one moment, the Lord saves him and he repents and he turns to Christ. And he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And what does Jesus tell him? Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. You who were just a few minutes ago reviling at me and hurling abuses at me, you, I love, I have forgiven you. I'm on the cross to forgive your sins. You will be with me. That is his desire. Sin does not prevent Christ from loving us. Sin only increases His sympathy for us as our high priest. He loves us and He desires to sanctify us, to cleanse us from our sin, but again, our sin will not prevent Him from loving us or prevent Him from coming back for us. So this is His desire. He will come back for us and there's one last promise that we see here in this section. And this brings us to our fourth point. Jesus will remain accessible to us. In his absence, Jesus is still accessible. Before getting to the fact that Jesus will remain accessible, he mentions the work that they will do. In verse 12, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father." Now, this does not mean greater in nature or kind, but in number. What Jesus did, He did in a localized geographical area of the world. From this time forward, the disciples will do great works all throughout the world. They will need His guidance and His help. So Jesus promises that though He is not physically present, yet He will remain accessible. And so He says that whatever we ask in His name, He will do it. And this is a promise that as we come to the Lord in prayer, when we petition the Lord according to His word, according to His revealed will, when we come to Him asking in faith, He will listen and He will do. He will ask of the Father and He will do. And this is a promise to all of us. And this is why prayer for the believer is so important. It is a beautiful time when we can commune with our Lord and Savior. We can lay down our petitions before Him, knowing that if we do so, if we pray, go to Him in faith and according to His will, He will hear us. And He will provide for our every need. He will guide. And so these are the wonderful promises here that we see Jesus explaining to his disciples as he's getting ready to depart from this world. Instructions and promises that he gives for their comfort. And if we think about it, during his ministry, if people wanted advice from Jesus, if they wanted to talk to Jesus, they had to actually travel to go see him, sometimes long distances. But now that he's departing, and we'll see this next week, as he sends his Holy Spirit, he is present with us everywhere and at all times. And so we can go to him. He tells us, he asks us to go to him. So as we conclude, though he is physically absent, yet Christ is more present than he could ever be in his physical body. Again, given the task of the church, the great work that is the task of the church because it is universal and not limited to three years and it is not localized in a geographical area. God Christ sends the Holy Spirit and he is present with his church with us to the end of the age by his Holy Spirit so we can take comfort that while we labor and work for the kingdom of God For the Church of Jesus Christ, He is present with us, though physically absent. He remains accessible to us. But as we journey on our way in this world, laboring for the Kingdom, we will at times be discouraged. We will encounter fear. We will grow weary and tired. We will experience great opposition and even persecution. But as we travel this dark world, let us have hope. Let us be encouraged that the reason why Jesus is absent physically is for our good. He has gone to prepare a place for us in his Father's house, and he will one day come for us to take us to the Father so that we may be with him always. And there will be no more pain there. There will be no more sin, no more struggles with sin, no more sorrow, no more heart troubles. No more death. We will be with Him, with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, forever. We will be with the Father, dwelling with Him forever. We will be with God's people, those that have departed already. We will see them again. We will dwell with them and fellowship with them. But these wonderful promises, as wonderful as they are, are not for everyone. Remember how Jesus began speaking of these wonderful promises. Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. Without faith in God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, these promises are not ours. We must first believe in order to have these promises. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you have not believed and trusted in Him, believe in Him today, right now. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. and these promises will be for you, and you can take comfort in them. And for us who do believe, faith is still necessary to receive the comfort of these promises. They are ours, but oftentimes because of the troubles, the cares of the world, we don't receive the comfort in them because we're not believing, we're not trusting. But the promises are there. I keep thinking when I speak of things like this of Christian when he's in the concasso despair. He's in there for a long time, he comes to the point of almost committing suicide, but then he remembers that he has the key of promise, God's promises, and he uses that to escape the castle. So let us trust in the Lord, let us receive His promises by faith, and take comfort that He has gone away, but He will come back for us, so that where He is, we may be with Him forever. Let us pray.