Many times we get weary in trying to live a righteous and holy life. It's a struggle in the world. It's a struggle because of our own flesh that pulls us back, and we don't get any encouragement from the world, and that's one reason why we gather with God's people as much as possible, because we need to encourage one another in the way. But you'll notice that as Abraham was interceding for the people of Sodom and said, if there are 10 righteous, would you destroy the place? God said, not for 10 righteous. And so sometimes people use the example and say that God needs to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah because of the state of the United States of America. Why has he not destroyed us? I think one of the reasons is the righteous are here. And that is not to take pride. That means that we need to seek to be the righteous people, right? And so that is not a slam on us. if ever there was a need to devote yourself to being very faithful to God and doing the right thing before God, it's today, not to take it slightly or to slack back. Tonight we're looking at the promises of God, living off the promises of God, interpreting God's promises, and I'm going to look at some of weird interpretation. I was reading after this Puritan about this passage of Scripture, not this passage, but some of these principles, and I thought it really does apply here. And so we're looking at a very precious promise from John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3. It's a promise that we all love to read and keep in our minds, and it will really encourage you, even if you just read it every day, it's an encouraging promise. But as we look at it and look at some of the traps that we get into when we look at just the promises of God and kind of slip into a misinterpretation maybe, and we miss out on the great blessing of God's word being God's word. So let's pray. Father, thank you for this time in your word. I thank you for each person that's here tonight. Thank you that you are here because of your presence as you promised you would be and it is your word and so we count on your spirit to guide us and to take the word of God from the word of God to the people of God and that's your doing and so we pray that you would speak to all of us tonight as we challenge the way that we think sometimes or slip into misinterpreting the promises of God. And so we pray that you give us grace to properly interpret as we look to you in Jesus name, amen. I'm gonna look at John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 tonight. Let me just read it. Isn't that a wonderful thought? He's gone to prepare the place for us and we look at what a blessing this is. Let's kind of break it down section by section here and go through it and kind of consider some things that we sometimes slip into. Well, he begins with, let not your hearts be troubled. I think that's a good way that we start. Sometimes our hearts are troubled. There's a lot of stuff in life that makes our heart troubled. Sometimes it's this very life itself, the struggles that we go through, physical struggles, financial struggles, relationship struggles, whatever it is, we become troubled on all the sides. But notice he says, let not, that means to be on guard. There's things that are going to pull you down all over from within and from without, pull you down so you need to be on our guard. Listen to similar words from Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23 says, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich boast in his riches. Okay, so that means be on guard. It's real easy to do that if you're rich or you're a mighty person or a person who has great wisdom. In Romans chapter 14 and verse 16 it says, so do not let what you regard as good be evil spoken of. Okay, so sometimes the things that we have become evil spoken of because of the way that we live. so people just mock at what we have. In Zephaniah, oh dear Zephaniah, I'm going to bring a series I hope on a Sunday night through the book of Zephaniah, but he says, on that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear not, O Zion, let not your hands grow weak. And that's again from Galatians chapter 6, he says, do not be weary in well-doing, for we shall reap if we do not faint. So what troubles the heart? What are some that troubles the heart? I'll look at one that is a misinterpretation of God's word, or sometimes we have an interpretation. Sometimes we have prayed for healing, and sometimes we go to James chapter five, and it's a great chapter to go to, it's very encouraging, and sometimes we have in our mind how we want to be healed, how God's gonna do that. Sometimes in our mind we discount the healing that he might bring through some medicine or through some other kinds of doctors that bring us different modalities to us. And we discount that, that that might be what God is using. So there's an account. I want you to consider it. It's found in the book of 2 Kings, Chapter 5, around the prophet Elisha, around the prophet Elisha. Now there was a commander of the army of the Syrians. His name was Naaman. You probably remember hearing about Naaman. He was a great man. As a matter of fact, he had high favor with his master, the king of Syria, because he went out and did what he was supposed to do. He had a real problem. He was a leper. Okay? So also during that time, the Syrians in one of their raids carried off a little maid, a little Israeli girl, and she worked for Naaman's wife. And she made the statement one time and said, oh, that my lord would go to Samaria and talk to the prophet. If he were in the presence of the prophet, he could be healed. So Naaman went to and told this to the king of Syria, The king of Syria gathered up all this gold and changes of clothing and all kinds of things and sent Naaman to Samaria to the king of Israel. And the king saw him coming, and he was a little taken back because he said, there was given a letter, and he says, when the letter reaches you, know that I have sent Naaman, my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy. That would have been a little struggle, wouldn't it, if the king received that? So he thought, I'm being set up. And he says, am I God to kill and to make alive? And this man sends me word to cure his leprosy? And so he tore his clothes. That was a sign that he was in great anguish. Yeah, he's thought this is set up by the king of Syria, he's gonna come in and just slaughter me for not being able to heal his servant here, his servant Naaman. So Elisha knows what's going on because Elisha knows what's going on all the time because God's telling him, right? So Elisha sends word to the king, says, send him to me. So they sent Naaman to Elisha. All his entourage of chariots and horses, just stop and think about it. The commander of the army of Syria comes to Elisha's home. I always wonder, I picture his home as one of those kind of homes that you find by the sea, you know, kind of several stories high. I doubt it was that. You know, I sometimes try to picture things in the Old Testament. But he came to his home. I don't know what kind of home it was, but he was there and he had a servant. So when the entourage, Naaman and his entourage shows up, he sends his servant out and says, go wash in the Jordan seven times and you'll be healed. And what happened? Naaman was really angry. And he even made this statement. He says, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of his God and wave his hand over me and cure the leprosy. Okay, so he was looking for some, his idea of being cured was involved this, you know, Elisha coming out and waving his hands, doing something fantastic and all of a sudden. And he went away mad. Now we know the rest of the story is his servant said, hey, if he commanded you to do some great feat, go out and kill an army of people, you'd do that in a heartbeat. And he said, well, we've got better rivers in Syria. And they said, just do it. And of course, you know the rest of the story. He did that. He went down. He dipped in the Jordan River. And when he came up the seventh time, his skin was like brand new. Of course, the other part of that is, he goes back, well, you can read that in 2 Kings. All right, so, what I'm getting at is, sometimes we're apt to turn to new things, or fantastic things, and we miss what God is doing and carrying out, bringing us peace, comfort, healing, whatever it is in our lives, because we're looking for something fantastic. You understand that? That's what I'm getting at here. So let not your heart be troubled. Let not your heart be troubled, because sometimes we're looking for the fantastic. Sometimes we're looking for new and different ways. This really scares me sometimes, because of the internet and because people are looking for things. Instead of coming to the elders or your pastor, they search the internet. and they'll find some teaching, and it sounds right, okay. Well, it says in 2 Timothy, the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate to themselves teachers to suit their own passions. And sometimes people do that. I mean, people will jump churches. Some people will look for something, you know, you've probably talked to people about the truth of the word of God, and as you're talking to them, they'll say, but what about this? What about this? And they'll chase rabbits, and they'll major on the minors. Peter says we have a prophetic word that's more fully confirmed in the word of God, to which we do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in the dark place. Here's a quote from Martin Luther, I thought it was really good. Well, it's not a quote, it's kind of a description of him. It says, he confessed to asking for signs, revelations, et cetera, to confirm him in the way. He finally confessed that he had the holy scriptures in which are all the necessities of life. God has given us some great promises. So Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. Sometimes there are just deceitful ways out there. to pull us into. Listen to these words in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Paul says, I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Sometimes we're taken away from the simplicity because we want something new and different and fantastic. Remember the time that, now Hannah, I understand you studied this today. So here you go. I planned this and Miss Jan told me that you studied this about Samuel had not yet heard from God or had not known the Lord. He didn't realize the revelations from God. And so the Lord spoke to Samuel and said, Samuel, and he went running into Eli because he was there in the house of God where Eli was and said, did you call me? He said, no. And the second time, he went back to bed and, Samuel, he went in to Eli, did you call me? No. Third time, did you call me? No. And he said, must be the Lord calling you. So when the Lord calls you and he speaks to you, just say, here's your servant, I'm ready to hear. Okay? So sometimes, you know, things happen to us in life, we don't realize there's God speaking to us through his word, or sometimes we're not looking for him in his word, and so we have missed out on him speaking to us, bringing us comfort and peace and help through times that we're looking for him to fulfill his promise. Let not your heart be troubled. So we realize there are false apostles, there are false workmen, there are false people who disguise themselves as the apostles of Christ who are speaking for the Lord, and no wonder even Satan disguised himself as an angel of light. So Augustine Not St. Augustine. St. Augustine, well, you know, we call him saint. We, of course, we call, the reality is, Heath is a saint, okay. We'd like to, he'd like to be addressed as St. Heath, okay. Yeah, we all are saints, you know. If the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth and says that they're saints and he describes all the things that were wrong with him, That means saints are not perfect, but they're children of God, right? Well, Augustine said, Lord, let thy scriptures be my pure delight in which I can neither deceive or be deceived. Let thy scriptures be my pure delight in which I can neither deceive nor be deceived. In other words, hold fast to the word of God. What's the simple cure when our hearts are troubled? Let not your hearts be troubled. Jesus says, believe in God, believe also in me. You believe in God, God is the author of salvation, it says in Isaiah 12 and verse 2, God is my salvation, I will trust, I will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, he has become my salvation. Now we would say amen to that, right? Yeah, we believe God. Well Jesus says, you believe God, Now believe me, and John chapter 14 says, do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I say to you, I speak not on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. And believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ did some fantastic things and spoke the words of life. John chapter 6, when all the disciples, fringed disciples, turned away from Jesus. Jesus looked to the twelve and said, are you going to go away also? And Peter said, where are we going to go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life and we believe that you are the Son of God. Okay, so he had that evidence within himself. Well, so do we. Ephesians chapter 1, it says in verse 19 that the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us is seen in the fact that we believe. The reason you believe is God's exceedingly great power has come upon you, working his great might in you, the same work that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, he worked in you to cause you to believe. I think that says amen to that, right? Because that has worked in us. So the same power that is in Christ, to raise him up, is the same power that Jesus spoke by, the power of God Almighty and the work of the Spirit. And so he says, you believe in God, believe also in me. Notice he says in John chapter 8 and verse 31 then, if you're my disciples, continue in my word. He says, and then you'll be my disciples indeed. You believe in him, he says, continuing my word." Isn't it precious to hear those words in John 5 24? He says, he that hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death into life. Alright, another little struggle that we sometimes have is, in my father's house are many rooms. I've never heard this personally, but I've read about it, that somebody has taken that and said, well, see, we're going to have rooms up there, and so we should desire houses with many rooms right here. Get out of town. But anyway, that happens. Because sometimes people take the promises of God and turn them into carnal things. and feel like we should want, we should desire carnal things. But isn't it interesting in 1 Timothy, he says, they that would be rich fall into temptation and a snare, to many foolish and lustful hurts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. And in 1 Timothy, going on in chapter six, he says, charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches. We may not be trusting in riches, but we'd like to be comfortable, don't we? And sometimes, you know, we forget that that's not our purpose in this life, to be comfortable. Now, granted, God gives us many things to give us great comfort, but our comfort is in Him. And the comfort is not in the things we accumulate in this life, but we have things waiting for us. In my father's house are many rooms, and it's a glorious room. It's not a closet. I mean, we're talking about a place where we will dwell with God in glory. It is good. That's why Jesus says that when we... you know, the Holy Spirit leads us to understand that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, we're heirs with him, and we're joint heirs with Christ. So he says that, know for sure, as he makes the statement in Romans chapter 8, that the suffering of this present world is not even compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. So we have this glorious things waiting for us, but sometimes we focus on earthly things, and thereby put the kind of incapacity to receiving divine counsel and comfort from the word of God is in promises. You know in Luke chapter 10 there's a scene where Mary and Martha are hosting the Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples and Mary sat at the Lord's feet and Martha was distracted with much serving. Was the Lord Jesus Christ, when he rebuked her for that, said, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her. Was he rebuking her for caring about things? No, she had misapplied it. She was so caught up with that, she missed out. Jesus was teaching, and Mary sat at his feet, listening. Sometimes we're so caught up with the things of the world, We don't take time to be at Jesus' feet and hear what he has to say. And it's interesting where it says in Proverbs chapter 27, one who is full loathes honey. I like that. One who is full loathes honey, but to the one who is hungry every bitter thing is sweet. Sometimes we're so full of being comfortable that we find that even the good things of Christ we don't desire as we should. Well, let's just look at the cure then. The cure is what he says. He says, "'If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?' Jesus even said in John chapter 5, "'I have to do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own, but the will of Him who sent me. And I bear witness about—if I alone bear witness of myself, my testimony is not true. But there is another who bears witness of me, and that is the Father.'" The father bore witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and raised him from the dead, as he says, he was raised in power, declared by God to be the Son of God through the spirit of holiness in his resurrection. So what do we get out of following the Lord Jesus Christ? He says in James chapter 1 verse 12, blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he is tried, for he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. In Revelation chapter 20, or chapter 2 and verse 10, excuse me, but fear not, those which shall suffer many things, and the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days, but be faithful unto death, and I'll give you a crown of life. He promises the crown of life, this is exactly what Paul was striving for when he said, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept my faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at the day, not only me but also them that love his appearing." So the simple cure is the fact that Jesus has promised us eternal life and he has made this statement. So if it wasn't so, would he say I'm going to prepare a place for you? Okay? If it wasn't so, would he have said, I go to prepare a place for you? But he has said that. So he's gone. So we're looking for the fact. And that comes down to the last point where he says, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. Isn't that a wonderful promise? That he says, I'm going away, but I'm coming back. We look forward to his return. We have the Lord's Supper. We show forth his death. until He comes. We're looking for Him to come. 1 Thessalonians, let me just read you the account. He says, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say then to you, the word of the Lord, that we which are alive remain until the coming of the Lord Jesus shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet them in the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Okay, Paul was given insight into the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus promised that in John 14. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. No wonder Paul reminded us in Philippians. Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our vile bodies to be likened to his glorious body, working in the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Won't that be a wonderful day? Any pain that you have now will be gone forever. I am so thankful I will have good lungs. I mean, I'm very thankful for the healing that God is bringing in my lungs, but wouldn't it be good to, what is that called? Breathing new air. I mean, it'll be perfect air, right? And never a struggle again. Never a sigh, never a sorrow again. So, when we look at the promise of God, we interpreted God's word, and this is important. Our hearts get troubled when we try to hold his word. but we get confused because the world has grabbed our attention and we pollute or get polluted with a misinterpretation of what the promises are all about. They're not about us, it's about him. The simple cure is to go back to the basics. He spoke it, it's his word, and he will see it through. Our hearts want to go to what we know and what make us comfortable, but the cure is focus on the basics again. Jesus Christ has spoken it, he will carry it out. Finally, we know the bottom line is this, that all the promises point to the very fact that God is God and his word is reliable because it's the word of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Your word, thank you for this promise in John chapter 14. We can get confused like Naaman when some fantastic things, we get confused by things we see on the internet or other false teachings around us pulling us away. But the bottom line is you have spoken and it's true. And all the promises of God are yes and they are amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here Jesus has said, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go away, I will come again and take you to myself. Oh, Lord Jesus, we long for that day. Come soon, we pray. Thank you for this time this evening in your word, and we pray that you would take it to our hearts and encourage us through this week as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please take your hymn