Please be seated. Obedient to thy will, we wait to feel thy power. O Lord of life, our hopes fulfilled, and bless this hallowed hour. I trust that is our prayer, asking that the Lord will meet us powerfully as we spend the remainder of our service of worship before him. Please stand with me to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, as you can see in front here, hidden behind the flowers, we have the elements and so we will be spending our time celebrating the Feast of Love which we call the Lord's Supper. And as usual, whenever we do so, we spend our time looking at the upper room discourse of our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the last couple of months, we have been looking at the first few verses of John and chapter 14. So let's just read those verses again, verse 1 down to verse 4. The Bible says there, do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." We will end our reading there. This passage that we have seen thus far is within the context of the words that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to his disciples by way of encouragement so that even as he goes away they would remain knowing that they have not been abandoned like orphans but that they in fact have an agenda on their hands and in due season they will link up once again with him. And the context of these words are the words that we find at the very beginning of chapter 13, where we are told, it was just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved the full extent of his love, So if we are to go through chapters 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 properly, there is one theme we mustn't lose sight of, and it is the theme of love. What we must be looking for as we are making our way through the many verses that are there in this chapter is simply the thread of love. How do we see in these words? the care, tenderness, love of God, our Father, His Son and His Spirit. Now, the passage that we are particularly looking at clearly brings this out because Jesus has just announced the fact that He is about to go away. And the moment he says it, obviously the faces of his disciples immediately become downcast. And so Jesus enters into a process of assuring them. You remember that Simon Peter in fact was saying, look, wherever you are going, I'm going to go with you. Even if it means dying, I'm going to die with you. And Jesus said, you don't know what you're talking about. You won't die for me. In fact, You are going to run away from me when that hour of darkness comes. Three times over you will even deny that you ever knew me. Obviously saying all these words must have added to the sense of depression in this upper room in which the disciples were gathered. Remember they had been with Jesus for about three years. They had literally put their all into this one basket. this Rabbi of Nazareth and all that he was teaching. And now all of a sudden he is saying, I am going away. It's like me, perhaps, if I was some kind of game ranger and I came and picked you up and I took you right into the heart of the game reserve, into the thickest of the forest, And while you are there, your sense of security is really myself, because you know that I am a game ranger. And everything I have been telling you up to that point, you have been following and you can see that there is actual victory and success. And then all of a sudden, in the middle of that thick bush, I said to you, I'm leaving you here. I'm going away. You can almost immediately see on every face, how do you bring us this far and then suddenly abandon us? We have put all our hope on you. And so Jesus' response, as we have noticed in the last couple of months, is to first of all tell them to just relax and trust God. He knows what He is doing. Equally so, relax and trust in Me. I know what I am doing. And then He shifts the attention to the ultimate goal, which is Heaven, which He called My Father's house, and He assures them that, look, the ultimate place of our rest There is enough room for you. None of you is going to get left out. And in fact, the purpose of my departure is the purpose of preparation. I am going to prepare a place for you. And in the last time we met, we were really looking at the statement that Jesus made. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. And really we were being challenged to activate once again our faith in the second coming of Christ. The world will not always be as it is. Read your Bible again and again. It points frequently to the fact that history is moving on to a particular end. And it is not an end because atomic bombs have exploded, it is an end because there will be a trumpet call in heaven and Jesus is going to descend in the glory of the Father with myriads of angels and come and put an end to history as you and I know it. And Jesus was basically saying to his disciples, Take cognizance of this. My leaving you, if I could get us back to that thick forest imagery, my leaving you here in the thickest of the bush is not an abandonment. I have to prepare your final resting place. I'm going to come back. So, just stand here for now. I will return. And therefore, obviously, as you are sitting there in this secret, trembling away, your hope is that this Game Ranger is coming back. And when he does, he will bring to an end any fear that we have, and we will be safe once again. Now, this evening, as we return to the Lord's Supper, I am really asking the question, what does that return of the Lord mean for those of us who are Christians? When we think in terms of the second coming, the Bible is very clear as to how the unbelievers who are alive at that point are going to respond. It will be a terrible moment for them. They will be crying out to mountains and hills to cover them from the wrath of the Lamb. But what about those of us who are Christians? What will the Second Coming mean? Verse 3, the second part of it, tells us what it means to us as believers. Jesus says, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back, and then listen to this, and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. Let's think about that for a moment. First of all, it means that the second coming of the Lord Jesus speaks to us of being taken away from this place. I will take you. Now if you can just go back to that darkness being spent in the middle of a game reserve with all kinds of wild animals that are obviously bloodthirsty, strolling all over the place. The one thing you are longing for for the game ranger to come back is to take you away from this place of insecurity and extreme danger. Now friends, that's the first thing that the second coming of the Lord Jesus must mean to us. It is the fact that we are being taken away from this place of sin and this place of sorrow. No doubt, to the disciples, that is something that was extremely meaningful. Because if you remember, straight after the Lord Jesus Christ left, Persecution broke out. And the very first of them to be murdered was Stephen. But after that we are told that it became so bad that a number of them left Jerusalem. In fact, it was basically the apostles who remained behind in Jerusalem. They scattered throughout Judea, throughout Samaria, and some of them even went into Gentile territory. And the persecution went on year after year, a few centuries long. Indeed, there were a few pockets of respite. But for a very long period, it was suffering, it was sorrow, and it was death for anybody who named the name of the Lord. So clearly, somewhere in their own hearts, the second coming of the Lord Jesus meant an end to this kind of living, where your life is being lived as though you are in the middle of a jungle among ferocious beasts. And if you remember the words of Paul to Timothy in his second epistle and chapter 3 verse 12, the apostle Paul said, all those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. He did not say might be persecuted. He said they shall be persecuted. In other words, the choice of whether they are going to be persecuted or not is the choice of whether they are going to be a Christian or not. Not because you want to be a hyper-spiritual Christian. No, no. simply the fact that you are desiring to live a God-centered life. It means suffering. It means sorrow. It also means death. Now, it's the same for us as well, brethren. If you want the world to smile at you, live a life of compromise. Try and please everybody. on the left and on the right, they will all smile at you. But the moment you take a stand for what is right, you take a stand against what is wrong, it is a matter of time, the very people that may have been smiling at you, soon begin to frown at you, to hiss at you, and persecution comes very close to your heels. The world may pretend to be a place full of joy and pleasure, especially if you are an individual who is carried away with watching Oscars and all other kinds of presentations on TV, when everybody is smiling, and wearing the best of clothes, the most expensive of clothes, gives you the impression that, yes, this is a pleasurable world, full of joy and happiness and pleasure, but the reality is not that, friend. All you need to do is switch off that boob tube for a moment and begin to relate to the real world, and you soon discover that it is not just the sorrow that is coming upon you because you are a Christian, but even those same people who are living in sin are living in sorrow as well. It is for the cameras that they are smiling. In a few moments after that, Life hits them with its reality. Misery catches up with them. Toil and pain become their lot. It doesn't spare anybody. Surely then, doesn't your heart long for something better? Doesn't your heart long for an end? a real end to all this, doesn't it? I was attending a funeral just recently and as we were going to the funeral, to the burial place, I gave a lift to a nurse and she since quit her nursing job but she was just telling me that one of the reasons why she finally quit She just couldn't stomach, she was working, she said, in pediatrics. She said she just couldn't stomach the wailing mothers every day. And that's the reality. Thank God most of us are not there. But that's the reality. That's real life. Misery very close on our heels. Don't you long for the day when that must come to an end. A better ending than quitting a job. Quitting a job is to dig a hole in the ground and bury your head there because the wailing continues. But the second coming of Christ Is there a real end to all this? As the Bible puts it so well for us in Revelation 21. Revelation 21 and verse 4. Oh, what a glorious verse. Revelation 21 and verse 4. It says that he, referring to God, will wipe every tear from their eyes. And listen to this, there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. to be taken away from all that, from quarrelling and fighting and being assaulted as our brother was just assaulted a few days ago. Where you no longer have to fear wild animals, you can pat a lion on the head and not become its next meal. Jesus is saying, I am coming back, and when I do come back, I will basically take you away from this place. But what is even more important is that this being taken away is being taken away to be with Christ Himself. Let's go back to our text, John 14 and verse 3. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you, notice, to be with me. I'm coming to take you to be with me. Now, this is something that happens every time a Christian dies. Death to a Christian means going to be with the Lord. And pardon me for taking you through quite a number of verses for this, but I just wanted to really sink home. The very first person I want us to look at is the first martyr, Stephen, in Acts chapter 7. Let's quickly go there. Acts chapter 7. I'll begin reading from verse 54 so that by the time we get to the verse, at least you will all be there. Acts 7 verse 54, When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven open. and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. At this, they covered their ears, and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, and here is the point. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. In other words, I am now coming to you. My body will remain here. My body will be buried. But my spirit, Lord, may you now receive it. The point there is very clear. When a Christian dies, he goes to be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians and chapter 5. There the Apostle Paul is talking about our heavenly dwelling. And I want you to notice the shift that takes place, the immediate shift. Once you are out of your body, you are at home with the Lord. Let's begin from verse 1. 2 Corinthians 5, Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we grow longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. This groaning will come to an end when Christ returns. But anyway, let's continue. Because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be sold up by life. Now, It is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We live by faith and not by sight. Verse 8, we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Can you see that? He is saying while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. Our preference is vice versa. To be away from the body and at home with the Lord. There is no soul sleep as some Christian cults teach. That everybody who has ever died is still in their grave, heaven is empty, awaiting the resurrection. The moment a Christian dies, In that moment, he goes to be with the Lord, absent from the body at home with the Lord. Philippians chapter 1. This is Paul now speaking about himself. Philippians chapter 1. He is in prison, anticipating either death or liberation. And he is toying with the two. Verse 20, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. Now listen to his desire. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. Now if Paul was going to spend another 2,000 years waiting in the grave, I doubt that he would have said this. What was going to be the advantage? I might as well continue labouring if I'll be sitting there doing nothing in the grave for a solid 2,000 years. But to Paul, death meant an immediate entrance into the presence of Jesus. And he says, that is my desire. Finally, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Let's begin with verse 13. Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. Now, when the Apostle Paul is using the word sleeping, he is not referring to what Christian cults call soul sleep. Because in soul sleep, they are basically referring to a period of absolute inactivity, waiting in the grave for the Second Coming. But as you will notice already in this particular passage, we are being told that when Jesus returns, he is going to come with those who have fallen asleep in him. So the Apostle Paul uses the word falling asleep in contrast to dying. Because he is saying Christians are only asleep. It is but for a period of time we will again have a lot to do with each other. but he is not referring to a period of absolute inactivity. So then, for those who have already died, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, spelling the fact that taking you to be with me, happens at the moment of their death. However, for those of us who are alive, When He comes, it will happen instantly. We will not have to go through death. We are going to be changed immediately, at the twinkling of an eye, instantaneously. our bodies will be changed into something of the heavenly body and consequently we will be caught up with our Lord and we will dwell with Him forever. Now, the point, brethren, is this, that for a true Christian, what makes him long for heaven is primarily this, that I will be with Jesus. Because Christianity is a love affair. It's a love affair. It is the fact that you have entered into a love relationship with the Saviour. And consequently, it's Him you are longing to meet. I've got two hymns in this great supplement that brings this point out. One of them is number 12 by Mrs. Beck, and look at the way she thinks about heaven. She says, number 12, face to face with Christ my Saviour. Some of your hymn books will say Jesus, but it is a mistake there. Face to face with Christ my Saviour. Face to face, what will it be? when with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ, who died for me, face to face I shall behold Him, far beyond the starry sky, face to face, in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by. Look at the fifth stanza, what rejoicing in His presence, when abandoned grief and pain. That's what earth is all about. It's over. The old order is finished. When the crooked ways are straightened. That's what earth is all about. Full of crooked ways. But then they will be straightened. It will be all history. And the dark things shall be plain. That's what earth is. It's about dark things. But they shall be made plain. And all that in the instant instance of meeting Jesus. And the last stanza finally captures this. Wow! Face to face. Oh, blissful moment! Face to face. To see and know. Face to face. With my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who loves me so. Then of course, not to be left behind is our sister Fanny J. Crosby in the hymn that we've been battling to learn to sing, When My Life Work Is Ended, number 88. When My Life Work Is Ended. Again, it captures this point so well You can become like my auntie who died two weeks ago. Each time they would sing a particular song that was tying up to heaven. She would go up to the pastor and say, Pastor, when I die, this is the one you should sing. But I don't want to start speaking so much about my death. I've still got children to raise up. Number 88. When my life work is ended and I cross the swelling time, when the bright and glorious morning I shall see. I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, and His smile will be the first to welcome me. I shall know Him, I shall know Him, and redeemed by His side I shall stand. I shall know Him, I shall know Him, by the print of the neon in his hand. Listen to this, this dear soul that was blind but obviously her soul could see. Oh, the so thrilling rapture when I view his blessed face and the luster of his kindly beaming eye. How my full heart will praise Him for the mercy, love and grace that prepared for me a mansion in the sky. And then just one more verse and then we must move on. The next one, listen to this, where she compares herself with meeting other brothers and sisters who died earlier than her in heaven. Listen to this. Oh, the dear ones in glory! How they beckon me to come! And our parting at the river I recall! To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home. But, he says, I long to meet my Saviour first of all. It's not my brother or sister, my husband or wife or whoever else it might be that I'm longing to meet again there. No, no, no, no. I'm longing first of all to meet my blessed Saviour. I wonder whether that's the way you think about heaven. Now friends, I want to assure you, you cannot think about heaven this way unless already you are in a love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is primarily a love relationship. Who loved me and gave himself for me, I love him too. And I long for the day I will meet him face to face. There are people who claim to be Christians on earth and yet they can hardly spend time alone with the Lord. When they are alone at home and you go and visit them and say, I was there, boring, boring, boring, I was just alone at home, boring. Alone. I thought you were with Jesus. How can being alone with Jesus be boring? How? Let us never conclude we are Christians until we've entered into a relationship of love with the Lord Jesus Christ. that even when we are going to church, it's not just to go and meet brother so and sister so, it is because in that place He has said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them. It's to meet with Him. To meet with Him. And therefore also, when we think about our life's work being ended, It is to go and finally meet my Saviour. Is that the case with you? Do these words resound a year and a man in your soul when Jesus says, and when I return I will take you to be with me? To be with me. to be with me. Does that make you feel that is heaven enough for you? To be with Jesus. But without detracting from what I have said so far, Jesus is also interested in referring to the Second Coming about the context in which we will be with Him. The context. Back to our verse. John chapter 14 and verse 3. He says, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. The context where this reunion is going to take place is that place called Heaven. It is in my Father's house. It is in that place where there are many rooms. That's the place where Jesus is saying, we are going to be together forever. You know, those of you who are married know what it means to be on honeymoon. You don't take your wife on honeymoon to the village. Even if you love your mother, you don't take her there. You take her to that place you can't afford. Do you know what I'm talking about? You pay a fortune just pretending that it's not hitting your pocket. Marble floors, great pillars, air conditioning, waiters running all over the place wanting to save you. fountains with waters gushing forth, swimming pools. Some of you are already beginning to feel romantic here. That's what I mean. The ambience matters at honeymoon stage. And this is something of what the Lord Jesus is capturing for us. He's saying, I'm going to take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. In this place that needs no sun, no moon, because God himself provides the light, in this place where there is no sin, everything is purity, in this place where the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sit on the throne of the entire universe, surrounded by thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels in holy adoration, and the blood-bought throng of God from east and west, north and south, across the entire expanse of history, gathered in that place, bowing down to worship, Saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Power and honour and strength and adoration belongs to our God and to the Lamb that sits upon the throne. Jesus is saying, that's where I want it to be. That's where I want it to be with me. That's where I want us to be together forever. Now surely friends, we should long for such a time, we should long for such a place to dwell there and to dwell there with our bridegroom, to be with him forever. Let me ask as I close, when you think about heaven, what do you think about? What do you think about? What do you long for? To simply run away from problems? Or to simply be walking on streets of gold? Is that all? Or to enter into mansions that have up to this moment simply been your lot in dreams and nothing more? Or is it to be forever with the Lord? To be forever with the Lord. free from sin, free from temptation, staring Him in the face, face to face. May I say again, that this is what differentiates Christians from unbelievers. Indeed, this is what differentiates true Christians from nominal Christians. Nominal Christians have no love relationship with the Lord. They don't have. And even when you spend a day, two days, one week with them, you can even spend one whole month, nothing will come out of their lips that even suggests that there is a dear relationship that they have with the Savior. Nothing! They talk about church and a lot of gossip about that Christian and that brother and that sister and so on. But there is nothing about a passion that shows a love for my Saviour. Nothing suggests that they are a bride awaiting a bridegroom. to take them to that honeymoon place. Nothing. Nothing. And I want to say that if that's true of you, that you've got a Christianity, but a love relationship with Jesus is absent, then don't eat this meal with us, because you're being a hypocrite. You see, this meal was left to us by our bridegroom as he was now going to prepare that honeymoon place for us. It was an engagement meal. It's a love affair. And he's basically saying, each time you eat of this, remember me. Remind yourself. of this love relationship that we have. Keep away any form of compromise, knowing that your bridegroom is coming again, that he'll soon be here. So, if you're not in a love relationship with him, what business have you got to eat of this bread? and to drink of this cup. What business have you got? Nothing! But on the other hand, if you long for Him to come and take you, to be with Him, that you also may be where He is, then let us eat together. Let us pray. Eternal and gracious God in heaven, we thank you that many hearts in here can testify that they feel the pain of an absentee bridegroom. their hearts are seeking for love. Indeed, I long to hear the trumpet that will announce the arrival of the Bridegroom, to take His Bride to be with Him in those mansions bright at the beginning, commencement, of a honeymoon that cannot be compared to anything here below. Oh, Father in Heaven, we thank you that this is your doing. You've done this in our hearts. And we thank you that when we hear these words, it only confirms that we are truly the children of God. Yet we pray for many among us who content themselves with the outward shell of our religion, but know nothing, absolutely nothing, of a love relationship with the Saviour. Oh God, that even today you might awaken them. that they might see the deception they are in and cry to you to save them that the day itself they might enter into a loving relationship that means everything to them that's the very reason why they will obey your law because they love you that's the very reason why they will save you in the church because they love you. That's the very reason why they long to find themselves in heaven, that they might see you face to face. O Lord, those of us who can testify of this, help us today as we break bread and partake of it, as we drink of the cup, to remember once again the promise of our bridegroom, that when he returns, he will take us away from this world of sorrow and sin, that he will take us to be with him, and that he will want us to be in the context of heaven for that great reunion. Grant this, O God, that our partaking of these emblems might have spiritual import upon our lives. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.