Turn your attention to God's holy word to John chapter 14 and verses 1 to 3. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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." Again we seek the Lord's blessing. Heavenly Father, we know you do not hear vain repetitions, but we feel the need of your help to bless your Word to our hearts, to meet the need of each particular situation. Lord, you are such a kind and gracious God. Would you visit the heart of each tonight? May we see the glory of Christ and all that you've done for us. And as we prayed earlier, Father, please lift our hearts far above this sinful world and take us even to the borders of heaven. For Christ's sake. Amen. Well, these words were spoken to the Lord's disciples And it was troubling times for His disciples. We can't really understand how difficult it must have been for them to hear the words of their beloved Savior. You could imagine they've just spent the last three years with the Lord Jesus Christ. And you and I know what it's like to have a glimpse of His presence from time to time. Now we hunger for that. But three years they heard perfect preaching. They saw such miracles and such power and such tender and gracious words which the Saviour had shared with them in public but surely in private as well as He was teaching and training them to be His apostles. And yet they were told that in the previous chapter that one of them was going to betray Him. Can you imagine hearing that? And then saying to the Saviour, humbly, Lord is it me? Is it me, apart from Judas? Is it I, Lord?" They were hearing that. They heard that He was going away from them and they were wondering would they ever see Him again. I don't think those words that He would rise again in three days really resonated with them. We know that because they all forsook Him, bar one, and fled. And they heard that he was going to go to the cross. And what a great trial it would be for them as they saw their beloved Saviour crucified. And to them their whole world was turned upside down. To them everything would have seemed to have gone wrong. And so the Lord is preparing and comforting them. And it would be necessary that he would go because he said after he had left he would give them another comforter, meaning that he'd already been their comforter. And that would be God, the Holy Spirit. And of course he would rise to heaven as the great mediator for sinners such as you and I. But a greatly troubled time for the disciples. And of course you and I have great troubles, don't we? And three simple headings tonight, a troubled heart, a faithful Savior and a glorious future. Let not your heart be troubled, in verse one. Some of the troubles in this life, we have troubles within, don't we? I'm sure like me, your sin, your inward corruption troubles you. You look at it, that's a healthy sign. And you long for sin to be gone, it troubles you. We can be overcome with doubts. with fears about life, with temptations, with the loss of our beloved Savior's presence. We long for those sweet days when we tangibly feel His presence. We can be troubled with things without, with persecution. Perhaps as you look at the world we live in, the threat of more severe persecution in our country Though compared to other countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka and India and China and I could go on, we suffer relatively little. In the affairs of providence we look at the future. and think, how will God provide for me? How will I cope with this situation? A difficult person's come into my life. How am I going to deal with this? We're not trouble-free, are we? In fact, the opposite. Our Saviour, through the Apostle Paul, said, through much tribulation you shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. I wonder what troubles we face in our minds tonight and in our hearts. And yet we see something here, let not your heart be troubled. What a comfort that the Lord Jesus notices our troubles. He's not like my old army instructors that would give you a task and you were left to it. You either completed it and passed or you failed and then were binned. He doesn't. He notices our troubles. In Hebrews 4.15 we read, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. One of the wonders of our Saviour is that He is the God-man. There stands a real man in heaven, fully man and fully God, who's walked this troubled pathway. And troubled believer tonight, the Lord notices your troubles. He cares for us. He's not detached. He's not unfeeling. He loves us. In chapter 13, verse 1, we read these lovely words, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And dear brother and sister in Christ, that love remains unabated tonight, whatever situation you find yourself in. you are not alone. We can feel so deserted. But what is this condition then, the troubled heart? Let not your heart be troubled. The heart is the seat of all feeling, the seat of our emotions, our thoughts, our desires. And the word troubled there in the original Greek can mean to be stirred, to be agitated, like troubled water, like the waves on the sea up and down, and we can know grief and fear and despair. And our Saviour knew what it is to be troubled. In John 12, verse 27, we read this, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Our Saviour knew what it was to be troubled. and He can offer us comfort. And we think of our Saviour, the only comfort He had was the joy that was set before Him. He would cry out on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The Saviour knew what it was to be troubled beyond what you and I, we could spend all of our life trying to understand the trouble He went through and we wouldn't even scratch the surface. Our great Saviour knew what it was to be troubled. The difference with his trouble was his was a controlled trouble as he set his face like flint and moved towards Jerusalem. And as the hour comes upon him, yes, he pleaded with his father, but he knew what he had to do, and he went forward willingly, though heavy-hearted. Our trouble is not often controlled, it's uncontrolled, isn't it? The trouble dominates us, it overpowers us, it cripples us. And we don't move forward, we're agitated, we're troubled, and we're not trusting in God as we should do. And that's why the Lord says, let not your heart be troubled. And friends, he says these words very kindly. He's not like the military instructors would shout at you, get a grip man, don't panic, what are you doing? He's not like that. He's very, very kindly speaking to his disciples. And he does us tonight with our troubles. Let not your heart be troubled. Others' hearts may be troubled, but not your heart, because you're my beloved children. You're a child of God. Your eyes have been opened to what life is all about. Your eyes have been opened to me and my power and my love. There's no need to panic, the Lord is saying. Let not your heart be troubled. Walk by faith and not by sight. And we have to work through our feelings sometimes, don't we? It can be a real battle. That's a painful lesson to learn as a Christian, not to be governed by our feelings. Sometimes feelings can be a good thing, but they can be so powerful and so distracting. But feelings are a form of sight, aren't they? If something feels right then we say, well I'll believe it. But the Lord says, no, let not your heart be troubled, have faith in my Word, have faith in who I am and all things will work together for good. And it's very interesting that the Lord says, let not your heart be troubled. That gives me hope. Because the Lord is indicating that we have some control over our feelings. The devil wants you to feel tonight, troubled believer, you can't control this. Just plummet into despair, plummet into misery, plummet into fear. But the Saviour tonight puts His hand on your shoulder and says, let not your heart be troubled. In 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 we read, but God is faithful who would not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation also make a way of escape. And that way of escape is in his Word and in his promises. I think of our Lord almost being like a father. If ever you've taught your children to swim and they're really frightened, they're on the edge of the pool and you're trying to get them to go into the deeper water and you're standing there and your feet are firmly planted on the bottom of the pool and perhaps your torso is visible and they're on the edge. I can picture some of my little ones now. And they're saying, I'm worried, Dad, to get in that water, it's deeper than me. And I say, don't worry, I'm going to help you, I'm going to teach you to swim. Think of our circumstances, brothers and sisters. Christ's feet are planted, like the high priest crossed the River Jordan, the priest crossed the River Jordan. into the promised land, and the rivers rolled back, and the priests set their feet there. Well, in the midst of the Jordan of our troubles tonight, the feet of Christ are firmly planted, and He rides infinitely above the water, and He says, don't worry, I'm with you. In Proverbs 4, verse 23, we read these words, which are so helpful to us as believers, about how to keep our heart Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." And that word keep there means to guard it. And so often feelings, we get into a situation and it troubles us and the feelings can swallow us up, but the Lord says, keep your heart. I can deliver you from this if you'll come to me with your problems and rest in my word. So we see the troubled heart. Secondly in verse one, we see a faithful saviour. See, what is the comfort to our troubled hearts? It can only be the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our only hope in this life and in eternity. He's the only one we can turn to, the rock which never moves. All other ground is sinking sand. The arm of flesh is useless. Men and women, even our closest ones can let us down. But the Lord Jesus Christ is utterly, completely and eternally reliable. And the disciples would have to learn this when he says, let not your heart be troubled. They were told, you believe in God, believe also in me. I don't think they fully understood the depths of Christ being the Son of God, what that meant. That He is God the Son. And they were to believe in the sovereignty of God, and if they knew their Old Testament prophecies, if they just listened to what the Lord was saying, that this was how God would work out His great plan of salvation. And he would say to them, believe in me, I'm here, I'm going to go through this, this is for your eternal good. If I don't go through the cross and rise again, then you have no salvation. He told them he would come back. He said, you believe in God, believe in what he said in Isaiah and places like that, about the suffering Saviour. Believe in me. If you've sinned me, you've sinned the Father. And they were going to have to learn that. And yet it would seem it had all gone wrong. And that's what we have to do, friends, don't we? We have to believe in God, that He is sovereign, He is all-wise, He is all-powerful. He's too wise to be unkind. He's in control of all events. We're to believe in the Lord as our mediator, the great mediator between us and our holy God, our great Redeemer. And he's brought us to God, and we read in this chapter about the great union we have with Christ, who has union with the Father, and so we are one with the Father too. And he's brought us to God, and God is for us. In 2 Corinthians 1.20 we read, for all the promises of God are in him. Ah, yes, and in Him, Amen, to the glory of God through us. Just think of that, God through Christ, Almighty, Eternal God the Father, is completely for us. And His great panoply of promises, His great armour of strength and power, all through the blessed Lord Jesus, is utterly for us in our circumstances and in our trials. But look what the Lord Jesus Christ said in that verse. Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. That word believe means a use of the mind. I shared with and Sister Jackie in our fellowship. I was caught between two sermons to preach tonight. And I prayed about it and I settled on this one. But the other one was set your affections or your mind on things above. Because the relationship between the mind and the heart and the will is vital. What we think about affects our heart. What we feel affects our mind. And once our heart's affected, it affects our will. So it's crucial with our mind that the Lord is saying, believe. Work these troubles out. Look how I can help you. So we think when we are conscious of our sin and corruption, that's a real thing. If you're a young Christian tonight or if you're a troubled Christian tonight and your faith is perhaps, it becomes small and weak at times, doesn't it? Mine certainly does. What do we do when the Lord gives us a sight of our corruptions? And we're like Job and we say, behold, I am vile. Can the Lord really have any dealings with me? We can only look to the cross. And look at the Lord's promise that when we were brought to Him, when we simply rested on the Saviour, truly turning from living life for self and sin, that He forgave all our sins when we turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we look. It's for this purpose the Lord Jesus came. He came into the world. He said, I didn't come to save the righteous. He used that illustration, didn't he? He said, it's the sick that need a doctor, not those that are well. And the sicker you are, the more you need him. And perhaps tonight you're troubled by your old nature. Perhaps you're coming towards the end of life's journey and the devil's got a whole lifetime of sin to throw at you. And he said, I'm going to cross that River Jordan soon and I'll just realize what I'm like, what I've been capable of. And yet the Lord said, I knew what you were like. At Calvary, I said, it is finished. I have borne the wrath for your sin. I forgave all of your sin, not just your sin to the point of conversion, but I looked at every evil thought, every evil word, every evil lust in your whole life, and on that cross, I atone for it. The Lord says, believe. Let not your heart be troubled. We miss his presence, don't we? We miss his presence. we miss those special tokens of His love. And we wonder, was it real? Was I really converted? I knew such power. That's why you can never rest on your feelings. We've had experiences where sometimes some of us have felt the presence of God, not just within us but without us. It's a difficult thing to explain. And yet you go by a few years and you think, was that real? Satan's there with his horrible mirror saying, look at you, the accuser of the brethren. Will the Lord ever come back to me? I forget the verse in the Song of Songs, chapter 2, it speaks about that the springtime will come again, the winter will finish and the voice, I think it is the sound of the turtle dove, will be heard again. Remember the past tokens the Lord has given you. I remember once about 12 years ago, I completely lost my assurance and I was in a bad way. And I was in this horrible circular thought of whether to pray to the Lord to convert me. And my conscience said, you can't pray that if he's converted you, he won't be pleased with that prayer. Then I thought, well, I better pray for him to restore me. And then the devil would say, well, you can't pray that because you might not be a Christian. And I was going round and round, I was reading Scripture, I was listening to sermons, and I was in spiritual agony. And then the Lord was very merciful. In the kitchen one day, he just came to me one evening after work. and I was in spiritual agony and suddenly out of nowhere he came and I felt his presence. almost at the same power as when I was converted. And I remember saying, Lord, I'll never doubt again. Then I said, Lord, I can't say that because I'm so weak. But I say, Lord, I will honor this memory, this token you've given me. I will not dishonor you, what you've done for me tonight. And by God's grace, I've tried to keep that promise when the devil comes. Now we can't rest in feelings, but the Lord does give these tokens. And they're real experiences, which the world knows nothing of. Perhaps we feel threat in our life tonight. There are people that would do us harm and ill. A brother, in the early hours of this morning, he told me something he was very troubled about, hardship he was going through. But you know, no harm can befall you and I unless the Lord allows it. Unless the Good Shepherd sees fit, we've got to walk that pathway. Just read Psalm 91. Ten thousand may fall on your right, on your left. but yet this shall not hit you." I'm quoting it wrongly. But that's the gist of the psalm. Have you ever thought of that? We're not to be reckless with our lives, we're to be wise with our lives, but no harm can come to you unless the Lord says, I want you to walk this pathway because I'm going to teach you about myself in a deeper way. Believe in me. Perhaps you have needs tonight of money, of health, of all sorts of things, of strength in difficult circumstances. Trust Him. The Lord knows what's best. He's promised, as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Perhaps you wonder what His purposes are in your life. You think, well, why am I walking such a bitter pathway? Why is this pathway so dark? Why does it seem so hard and the joy's gone? Well, remember what the Lord says, we go to His Word. Hebrews 12, whom the Lord loves. That's such a crucial word. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. And we need that chastening, friends. One old Puritan said, that commonly speaking, when all things are well in my life, when there's no problems, when there's no issues, when the bank balance is well, when health is well, when life is good in an earthly sense, Generally speaking, that's when I'm furthest away from the Lord. And sadly, that is so true, isn't it? So the Lord sends us trials to draw us back to Him. In Psalm 84, verse 11, He says, No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. You see, often we think, I need this and I need that to make me happy. And our Heavenly Father says, if I give you that, it will ruin you spiritually. It's like young children who just want chocolate. As a young boy, I asked my mother, I just wanted chocolate all the time. And she said, you would hate it after a while. And I argued with her for about half an hour. I'm surprised she didn't discipline me. I said, no, I wouldn't. She said, yes, you would, James. It would ruin you. It would ruin your teeth. You would hate it. And there's things you want to know, and I want, and the Lord says, you can't have them. It's not good for you. And yet the best awaits for us heaven as we will see. Remember His everlasting love. I have loved Thee with an everlasting love. You see, we judge God by our own feeble love for Him. Our love for Him one day can be on fire. We will die for Him at the stake, that hour. And yet the next day at work, it's all gone, it's evaporated. And we feel cold and we think, oh no. What does the Lord think of me now? But his love is described as ivory, Song of Songs 4, I think it is, where it says about his belly, which can be translated bowels, which mean bowels of compassion, like ivory, beautiful, strong, firm, precious, going absolutely nowhere. Matthew Henry said, the joy of faith is the best remedy against the griefs of sense. What a lovely sentiment. The joy of faith is the best remedy against the griefs of sense. What griefs are in your heart tonight, dear brothers and sisters? We all have them from time to time, small ones, big ones. But the joy of faith is the best remedy. And then he says, you've believed in God, believe in me. not just about the Lord Jesus Christ, not just as a theory, not just as a doctrine, but as a real person, a real saviour, a real man in heaven, the God-man that stands there and intercedes for you. Believe in me personally, come to me. Do you talk to the Lord about your problems? Do you use a little child that goes to their heavenly Father and just pours your prayer out? Do you know John Bunyan said, sometimes the best prayers are without words? There are some prayers which are uttered with words that have no heart, and the Lord's not interested in them. But there are some hearts that have no words, that are full of prayer. Go to your heavenly Father, go to the Lord Jesus Christ, and open your heart to Him. Imagine that, a young child, if they knew that Dad and Mum could help them, but they didn't seek His help. And friends, the devil will do all he can to keep us from having a simple faith to speak into God as a small child. Be as little children. Accept you be as little children. Be converted as little children. You shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. One, I think it was an African lady I was speaking to some years ago and she said, the trouble with us Christians is we have great big heads and then small bodies and little feet. And she was saying this really, we have these heads full of all this doctrine and knowledge then we have very small hearts where it's not gone all the way down and then we do very little about it with our little legs. And how true that is. Be a little child tonight If you're troubled after this service, go and find a quiet place and speak to the Lord. Tell him all about it and he will meet your needs, either by giving you the grace or he'll transform the situation. But then we see thirdly, a glorious future. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe also in God. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. What a wonderful thought. Imagine being a soldier with a battle that has no end. And the disciples were being taught by their Lord that, look, at the end of your life, and they're going to go through so much, after he had ascended to heaven, many of them would give their lives for him. And he was saying, beyond this life, you've got such a wonder, and I want you to fix your heart upon that, to fix your eyes upon that, and that is going to greatly help you. The soldier that knows that he has a home to go to at the end of a fierce battle where comrades have fallen, that cheers his heart. At the end of the conflict, at the end of the operation, it's been a cause worth fighting for and there's a rest from the conflict. And Matthew Henry puts it beautifully, he says, we're to trust Christ for our future happiness as long as eternity and our immortal soul last. And look what he says, in my Father's house. It's not a tent, this is a permanent thing, this is a house, this is a permanent fixture. We have earthly tents here. I read about an illustration back in Roman times, the Roman Empire was in its pomp and in its heyday. And the emperor ordered a vast parade, and these vast armies were gathered before him. And the general was standing there looking at it, and the emperor. And the general said to the emperor, look at this, what could be more perfect than this? And the emperor looked at it with a sigh and went, if it could just be permanent. Because he knew it was an earthly army, he knew the soldiers would die, he knew there'd be conflict. But this house is never going to be destroyed. And we read that it's the Father's house. And Christ's Father is God. This is the place where God visibly dwells. Now we know God is Spirit, we won't be able to see Him, but it's glory, which if you and I were to see His glory tonight, it would consume us because these poor earthly bodies cannot take it. But the place where the very glory of God dwells, it's an amazing thing. There's no sin there. In Revelation 2 verse 7, it's described as the paradise of God. That's what Christ said to the dying thief today. Thou shalt be with me. In paradise. It's paradise. It's the palace of a great king. great angelic host, worship and serve God, they're crying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. In Hebrews 12 we're told about an innumerable company of angels, far, far above the troubles of this world, far above the troubles in your life at the moment. The Apostle Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 3 and 4. I'll just find it quickly. a wonderful passage when he ascended to heaven itself. And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. God knoweth how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter. It was so perfect, it was so beautiful, the worship he saw that he was forbidden to take those holy sounds back to earth. Oh, if we can use the telescope of faith to look to what looks beyond this life. The Lord says to us tonight, you have troubles in your life, you have things that deeply worry you. Can you look by faith to what awaits you on the other side of the grave, or if I come again? But look, it was called the Father's house. There's the great love of the Father to the Son. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And we've been joined to the Son. So it's a place where Almighty, Holy God is our Father in Heaven. And He will have all His children with Him in Heaven. In Hebrews 2, verse 10, it speaks about in bringing many sons to glory. That means many daughters too. The wonderful doctrine of adoption. that God wants His children with Him in heaven. That's mind-blowing, isn't it? We thought something of the majesty, the greatness, the holiness of God this morning. What an awful thing it is to be unprepared to meet Him. And yet here in these words we are reading about the preparation God has made for His children to meet Him. Can you see the inversion of the message this morning now? It's a wonderful, wonderful truth. The Father's house. Then he uses this lovely word, mansions. That means resting place. Heaven is going to be a vast place. There'll be many, many homes in heaven. Many homes, mansions, splendid homes for the many sons that will come to glory. There'll be beautiful, elegant, spacious homes. And it'll be lovely because it's where God is. There'll be homes to be greatly desired. sometimes as an estate agent. I was an estate agent for 20 years up until a few years ago. And you would show a couple around a house and the man would try and be tight-lipped and bargain hard and not give the game away. But every now and then the lady who's normally the most invested in the home much to her husband's dismay in my presence would go, this is lovely, this is perfect, this is the one I want. And the poor man would try and negotiate with me. And of course I was representing my client. And I'd always get the best price. And his hand were behind his back, really, if he loved his wife. It was perfect. But the Lord has done this for us. It'll be perfect. There'll be nothing wrong with it. There'll be no disappointment. A home for us. A home is a place of safety, isn't it? Of security, of family. One of our daughters, our youngest daughter when we're away, she loves our home. And sometimes on holiday, even though we're all together, she gets home sick. She loves home so much. She just wants to be home as long as we're there. And friends, there's a heavenly home that waits for us. Perhaps you look at heaven, it's so vast, so great. I heard recently the royal family when they stay at Buckingham Palace, they don't particularly like it and they stay in these little quarters down one end which is a bit more homely. They've got these great big staterooms, these vast rooms for entertaining, very splendid. I've known some Christians been overawed at the thought of heaven and thought, will it be too much for me? The Lord says, no, I've got a home just for you. It's ready just for you. And there'll be no empty homes in heaven. Each one of his sons and daughters will go home to glory. It's the place where the Lord, as we read about in Revelation, will have wiped every single tear from our eye. What a thought that is, the things that make us cry. Our sin that troubles our conscience, there'll be none of that. No loss of Christ's presence. No sin without to harm and distress us. No sickness. No confusion. There'll be no strife within the spiritual family, no arguing anymore. There'll be no churches shutting down. There'll be no persecution, no harm. There'll be no disasters. There'll be no weariness there in the service of God. All we'll know is perfect joy in our hearts, perfect love for the Lord, perfect worship. and no trouble at all. What a thought, friends, how different from life here below. Yes, we have these sweet Sabbaths. Yes, there are times the Lord draws so close, heaven has come near to us. But how often it's broken by tears and heartache and bitterness and pride. And all that will be taken away. But look what the Lord says. It's certain. He says in verse 2, if it were not so, I would have told you. Friends, it isn't a fairy tale, as the atheist says. Don't listen to the devil when he says, it's not real, when you die. Even a Christian he can say that to. He used to say it to Spurgeon in the pulpit. Spurgeon would confess it, say, he came to me and said, it's all made up. Spurgeon, one of the greatest servants of the Lord, and we can suffer that. He says, there's nothing there. There is. Christ has said, if it were not so, I would have told you. This is absolutely real. Heaven is more real than Hellship. Heaven is more secure and certain than your homes. The home which is prepared for you is a real place. It's a real place that, as a believer, you will go to. God would never, ever break His promise. He would never, ever let one of His souls be lost. If you're troubled by that tonight, hear the great voice of Christ. His almighty arm, His hand coming on your shoulder in a kind way and putting your mind at rest through His Word. It's a real place. He says, I go to prepare a place, a real place for you. Jesus, as I said earlier, ascended into heaven in a real body. Christ had a real body and a real soul created for Him. and then rejoin the divine nature to him. Now for a man, a real man, to go somewhere, he has to go to a real place. That's a forgotten doctrine sometime. It's not just some ethereal, strange place. It's a real, wonderful place. And then we read about Christ's love to his people. I go to prepare a place for you. He knows all about you, he knows all about me. I've watched these makeover shows, not for some years admittedly, I was more interested as an estate agent, a home makeover. And it was, well it was sad but also amusing when they've done a makeover and someone walks through the door and then you can see they don't like it and they're trying to be polite. But you can see they're thinking, this is disastrous, this is not what I thought it would be. But friends, the Lord knows you better than you know yourself. He knows exactly what will be right for you. Some of you have children or you're very close to other people and you think, oh I know them, oh I know I like that, well I'm going to get them this gift. The Lord is saying to you tonight, I've prepared a place for you, I know all about you and you will be overwhelmed with it, that place you're going to live in with me for all eternity. It will be too much for you. If I was to show you now, you would struggle to live your Christian life, you'd want to go there now. It would be perfect. I go to prepare a place for you. But friends, that preparation came at a great cost. Because as we thought, you and I don't deserve to go to heaven. All the sin we've committed. And that's what the Lord dealt with on the cross. He atoned for every awful sin we've committed. What cost it came for us to go to heaven. The agonies our Saviour suffered. The great power of the resurrection and how He stands at the right hand of the Father. But sadly, don't we live cheaply as Christians sometimes, so consumed by our troubles, our worries? this world, the pleasures, the cares and pleasures of this life, as our Lord warned us about. And yet all that the Lord has gone for us to go through, that we could go to heaven. And he says here, and this is the most beautiful truth, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I, not an angel, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. When I was a young Christian I used to wonder, will I just sort of arrive in heaven? There's this vast number just on there and the Lord suddenly notices me and then bids an angel introduces me to him. But you read this chapter, I will come and receive you. You will not be alone in death. Christ will be there. Why? Because he's the good shepherd. Because as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." What hope that gives us on our deathbed, brothers and sisters. That darkest hour, the moment of ultimate weakness, the Saviour is there, as from the borders of eternity. And Christ is there with us, and he's welcomed us into heaven. As that godly man said, and I said this this morning, that death is just the latch that opens the door into eternal paradise. What a thought. Did you know Did you know it won't be a quiet entrance? You say, well James, how can you say such a thing? I'll just be grateful for the Saviour to welcome me Himself into heaven. Well if I direct your attention to 2 Peter chapter 2 and read some verses. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 11. No, I've got the wrong, must be 1 Peter chapter 2. Well I'll read the verse here, it's in a slightly different version, but you read this. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Abundantly. Now I think about this, and I take great joy when our Lord said that when one sinner repents, there's great joy in heaven. And I take that literally. The angels praise God. That's what I have lots to praise for. Many people at any one time are coming to Him. Well if that's and we're down in here in all our sin, and then can you picture the scene at death? There's the believer, young or old, middle-aged. their bodies just expired, a grieving family perhaps are around, and the magnificence, the solemnity, the beauty of the occasion, as the eternal Son of God comes to get his precious sheep, who he's loved, and he brings them into heaven. And the angels praise, and that's a great joy. Doesn't that lift your heart above worries about money, or health, or strife, or trouble? By the eye of faith, it's a wonderful thing. An abundant entrance at the hand of Christ. Now why would he do such a thing as we draw to a close? He says, where I am there, you may be also. It's a great motive. Two motives for Christ. One is His glory, the glory of God the Father, that He will have a people perfect, spotless, pure. The devil's rebellion is crushed. But the other motive on the other side of that coin, stamped glory, is love. We don't understand just how much Christ loves us. I remember a dear man at seminary and he took us through the Song of Solomon, one of the lecturers. And he almost broke down going through the Song of Solomon, reading out some of the verses. One of the verses in particular, I think it's in the sixth chapter, where the Lord says words to this effect, turn your eyes away from me, I'm overcome. And he said, gentlemen, with tears running down his face, this is the love of Christ. He said, when I look at my people and you look at me in faith, my eyes are overcome with love to you. When I see a little faint look of love to me, Christ says, look away, I'm overcome with love to you. It's the love. You know one of the The illustrations Christ uses about his kingdom is the bride and the bridegroom. And of course the bride longs to be with the bridegroom. They love him. She loves him. And we love our Lord. He knows that we long to be with him. So he says, I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. So the Lord says to you and I tonight, I know you want to be with me, I know you love me. It's a weak love, it's a faint love, but I've prepared a place for you." It's almost like he's saying, don't worry, you're going to be with me forever. And that's a beautiful thought. But I want to present something to you more profound because the bridegroom loves the bride. And Christ says, I've prepared a place for you that where I am, you will be with me. This is the bridegroom saying, I must have you with me. Why? Because I love you. Isn't that a beautiful truth? That's a wonderful truth, friends. You know, I and you get so downbeat at times and so browbeaten by life and the problems the Lord brings into our life and yet we've got such a wonderful future. But in the last thing which makes heaven beautiful is Christ himself. You read in Revelation about twenty-four elders and two twelves make twenty-four. So you've got the twelve tribes back then in the Old Testament. Then you've got the twelve apostles in the New Testament. It represents the Church, Old and New Testament. And they're represented in beautiful white robes, wearing magnificent crowns. But listen to what they sing. They're not looking at each other going, wow, you look so splendid, you look so marvellous. They sing this. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing. Friends, when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, He will consume all of our thoughts. all of our thoughts, and we will cast our thrones down. We'll look at him and think, you came and died for me? You, whom the universe worships? You, you're magnificent, you're wonderful. And with the praise we'll be able to give in much better ways, our hearts will be filled. And when he looks at you with that look of love, and his holiness and his majesty, it's a wonderful, wonderful thought. Heaven will be all about Christ. Well friends, in conclusion, what do we say? This helps us to look by faith to our future. Many do not have this. It's only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Is he your saviour tonight? Have you known his love and his forgiveness? Is he preparing a place in heaven for you tonight? It's not too late. You can go to him on your knees and say, Lord, I don't deserve your love. I don't deserve your glory to come near me, but I'm a sinner. And I've heard you've come to save sinners. Oh Lord, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And you utter that prayer with a grain of faith, meaning it, wanting him to be Lord of your life at whatever cost it comes, he will gladly answer that. but may this help us to serve him until he calls us home. We may not have much of this world's goods or we may have a lot of this world's goods but we pour them all before the Lord, it more than balances things out. So tonight the Lord bids us look above our troubles to him and to this wonderful future. I'll read our text one more time. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me, in my Father's house and many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And praise God, we read this. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, the way I am. there ye may be also. May the Lord bless these precious thoughts from his word to our hearts. Amen. We are closing hymn. There's a hymn, remember, in the end of the Sabbath, sometimes sung at funerals as well. There's a lovely hymn, 887. The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended. The darkness falls at thy behest. To thee our mourning hymns ascended. Thy praise shall sanctify our rest. Jesus, Lord, is ended, the darkness falls, and life begins. The Holy Gifts ascended, Thy praise shall sanctify the earth. Greed and denial, my church unsleeping, I learn, goes upward into night. Through all the world her watch is keeping, and rest not thou, I take your word. As o'er each continent and island, the Tony's song around her lay. The voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise. that fills us fresh is waking a breath in the western sky. And hour by hour, Fresh bits are making Thy wondrous doings well online. So dear, Lord, Thy throne shall never I heard the crowd echo far away. I didn't understand. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Amen.