Calvary Chapel Modesto, Ca 3 of 3 — William MacDonald

Thank you. It's such an inspiration to be here tonight to hear these songs of praise to the Lord Jesus who alone is worthy. And to see you gathered here for the study of the Word of God. It's wonderful to see people who love the Word of God and want to hear more of it all the time.

The only thing that could be better would be if my friend Damien were standing here and I was sitting down where you're sitting. Would you turn to me in your Bibles to me with John 14 please. We're going to read the first six verses.

Heaven’s Cure for Troubled Hearts

John chapter 14 and verses 1 through 6. And our subject tonight is Heaven's cure for troubled hearts. Heaven's cure for troubled hearts. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me.

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 to myself. That where I am there you may be also.

Where I go you know and the way you know. Thomas said to him Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way. Jesus said to him. I am the way. The truth and the life. No one comes to the father.

Except through me. As I read these verses of scripture I can't help thinking of the vast number of people. Who will be in heaven singing the praises of the Lord Jesus for all eternity because of verse 6.

How the Holy Spirit of God used that verse to bring light to darkened souls. They came to Christ depending on him and him alone. For their souls salvation. I think of people going through trial and difficulty and trouble.

Pain. Sorrow. Tears. And I think of the comfort that these verses have brought to them. I go to prepare a place for you. If 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. And I think of how God has used these verses at times of bereavement when loved ones have been taken away. Taken to heaven and the comfort that has come to troubled hearts.

Through these wonderful verses of scripture. So I'd like to look at this chapter with you tonight. See if the Lord might have. Something for your heart. Especially if you have a troubled heart. Tonight.

Why the Disciples’ Hearts Were Troubled

The Lord Jesus says let not your heart be troubled. Why did he say that? Well of course chapter 14 is closely linked with chapter 13. I'll never get famous for saying that but it's true just the same.

You know that the chapter breaks are rather artificial they're not part of the inspired text. So it might be good if you read chapter 13 and then immediately read chapter 14. And you'd find that there are several reasons in chapter 13 why their hearts might be troubled.

If you just turn in your Bible and look back over chapter just scan chapter 13 you'll see. You'll see first of all the Lord Jesus said he was going away. Well. That's one reason for a troubled heart. He was going to leave them.

There was going to be a time of separation. He also said that one of the disciples was going to deny him. Peter. And if that wasn't bad enough he also said that one of the disciples was going to betray him.

Judas. And it says there that when he thought of Judas and of that betrayal his heart was troubled. So there are four reasons in the preceding chapter why the hearts of the disciples might be troubled.

And so he says that aren't your heart be troubled. And in the chapter that follows in chapter 14. It's just full of reasons why our hearts shouldn't be troubled. They're going to pop out at you at almost every verse that we read.

Trusting God and the Deity of Christ

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. To believe in God means to trust God. There is a cure for a troubled heart. Trust God. God doesn't do anything. But what you yourself would do if you had his wisdom love and power.

Around every one of his people there's a hedge. And Satan can't get past that hedge. We learn in the book of Job. Except by the Lord's permission. Everything that comes into our lives is filtered through the love of God.

The Lord Jesus says you believe in God. Believe also in me. Let me just pause there to say that the chapter is also filled with many statements concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Statements where the deity of the Lord Jesus is implied.

And this is one of them. To believe in Christ is the same as believing in God. To believe in God. Same as believing in Christ. You believe in God. Believe also in me. And I like to substitute the word trust there.

Trust in the Lord. No matter what your circumstance may be tonight. No matter what trial you may be called on to go through. In the home. At work. In school. In college. The answer is trust in the Lord.

When the Lord Jesus said you believe in God. Believe also in me. He claims equality with God. To trust him is the same as to trust God. And he claims to be the sole revealer of God in this chapter. And verse tells me that this verse tells me that the Lord Jesus is just as much to be trusted as God the Father is.

That's wonderful isn't it? Let not your heart be troubled. It's good that he didn't stop after the word troubled. He went on to tell them why they shouldn't be troubled and gives many reasons. Let's go down the chapter and look at some of the reasons.

He was going to the Father's house of many mansions. That's good news. He was going back to heaven. The cross wouldn't be the end would it? He would rise from the dead. He would ascend back to heaven.

And he was going to the Father's house of many mansions. Verse two. He was going to prepare a place for them. It's getting better all the time isn't it? Not only that he was going to the Father's house he was going to prepare a place for them.

Verse three. He would come again and take them to be with him. Does that make your heart rejoice? It should. Verse six. He himself was the only true way to heaven. Only true way to the Father. Verse 12.

They would do greater works after he went back to heaven and the Holy Spirit was given. They would do even greater works than he had done when he was here on earth. He would answer any prayers that were offered in his name.

My it's really just a wonderful collection of promises that he makes here. Then verse 16. Another helper would come and abide with them forever. Of course that was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was going to come and he would stay with his people forever.

Verse 16. This Holy Spirit he was now with them. At that time he was going to be in them. And that's what happens what happened after Pentecost. Verse 18. Jesus would not leave them orphans. Verse 18.

He would come to them. That is he would come back to them in the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came to them in a sense the Lord Jesus came to them at that time. Verse 19. They would share his endless life.

Wonderful. Wonderful Jesus. And verse 20. They would understand in the coming day that they shared oneness with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus his son. I like verses 21 and 23. He said that obedience to the Lord would result in a special bond of fellowship between the Father the Son and believers.

God loves obedient people. He loves everybody. But there's a special way in which he loves his people who are obedient to his word. And then verse 27. He promises peace to his people. Peace perfect peace in this dark world of sin.

The Hope of Heaven and Christ’s Personal Return

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within. In my father's house are many mansions. Well he doesn't tell us all that we would like to know about those mansions. Maybe we wouldn't be able to take it in if he told us.

Somebody has said we have five senses now. Perhaps we'll have 50 senses when we get to heaven. I wouldn't be surprised to take in all the beauty the majesty the fullness of that scene. We probably would need more than five.

If the joy that will be ours then were poured into us now we would burst. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I like that. If it were not so I would have told you.

What does that mean? It means the Lord Jesus tells us everything in the word of God that we really need to know. That's a comfort isn't it? A lot of us have a lot of questions. Like to ask Paul a lot of questions when we get to heaven.

But I like those words. If it were not so I would have told you. I will tell you in the word of God especially in the New Testament everything you really need to know. If it were not so I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. That's wonderful. You know I said that the chapter is filled with implications of the deity of Christ. Here's something that is really wonderful. We read it. We're so familiar with it and we read it kind of as a matter of fact.

But when he says this he's claiming ability to go instantly throughout all the universe to go to the Father's house to go to heaven and to prepare a place for you. If I were to stand here tonight and say that to you what would you ever think?

If a mere man ever said that I'm going to heaven to prepare a place for you and say let's get the little man in the white jacket to come and take him away to the psychiatric ward. But in the lips of the Lord Jesus they sound absolutely perfect don't they?

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's wonderful. How very personal the gospel is. How very personal. Imagine receiving worms unto himself.

Receiving people like ourselves unto him saved by his marvelous grace. When he talks like this it means that he really thinks we are somebody. Isn't that great? He really thinks that we are somebody. We were worth dying for at the cross of Calvary.

That where I am there you may be also. That's wonderful isn't it? The Lord Jesus wasn't satisfied just to deliver us from going to hell. He wasn't satisfied to just give us a long life on earth. He never will be completely satisfied till he has us with him in glory.

With him and like him forever. I think that's wonderful. Salvation could have done less than that. And where I go you know and the way you know. Well he had already told them where he was going and they knew the way as well.

But you know the disciples were just like ourselves. They'd hear a thing and sometimes it didn't register with them. He told them many times that he was going to go to the cross. He was going to be delivered to the Gentiles.

He was going to die. He was going to be buried and rise again. And it seemed at the time that they took it in and then they would go on and they just seemed to be completely forgetful of it all. And we're like that too.

And that's why the truths of God's word have to be repeated to us over and over again. Well Thomas speaks up at this point. He said, Lord we do not know where you're going and how can we know the way?

Jesus Christ as the Only Way, Truth, and Life

Thomas might have thought he was going to Tyre or Sidon or Damascus in Syria. I don't know what Thomas thought. We don't know where you're going Lord. How can we know the way? And then the Lord Jesus came out with those immortal words, I am the way.

The truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am. When the Lord Jesus said I am he took one of the Old Testament names of God to himself, didn't he? God the Father is known as the I am.

The ever great I am. The Lord Jesus. And seven times in the Gospel of John these words are ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the I am. It really means I was, I am, I always will be. It comprehends all tenses of existence.

I am the way. He's not just a sign showing the way. He is the way. And I want to tell you tonight if you have the Lord Jesus as your own you're as sure of heaven as God can make you. That's wonderful isn't it?

If your only hope for heaven is the Savior you're saved. He is the way. He's the truth. He's the true way. And he's the embodiment of truth as well. People go to colleges and universities and they have great philosophical arguments about what is truth.

Well I'll tell you what truth is. Truth is what God says about something. That's true. The Lord Jesus is truth. He's the embodiment of truth and everything he says is true. I am the life as well. He not only is the way he gives us the life to go the way.

So I read this in a way I am the way the true way and the living way. No man comes to the Father except through me. I would suggest to you that those words I just read no man comes to the Father except through me are some of the most hated words in the world today.

People don't like that. They don't like to hear that there's only one way of salvation. That the Lord Jesus is the way. That there's no other way. Nobody else can ever get to heaven in any other way. And that of course excludes all the great world religions except Christianity.

That's why one reason we have such an increase of anti-Christian bigotry in the world today. They hate that truth. It's the truth just the same. And you can fight against it. But that doesn't change it a bit.

God sent his son to die on the cross for mankind. He presents himself as the way. There is no other way. Verse seven. If you had known me you would have known my father also. Another statement. Clear statement of the deity of the Lord Jesus.

To know the Lord Jesus is to know the Father. You say how is that? They're separate persons. Yes they're separate personalities. You look at the words carefully. There's me and there's my father. Separate personalities.

Yet to know one is to know the other. It reminds us of John 1 .1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. In the beginning was the word the eternity of the Lord Jesus.

The word was with God. His distinct personality. The word was God. His absolute deity. All great truths concerning the Savior. And here he says if you had known me you would have known my father also.

And of course he came to tell us what God the Father is like didn't he? There was a little girl that was afraid of being in the dark in her bedroom and her mother came in to comfort her and her mother said to her don't worry now the Lord is here.

She said I want a God with a face. And that's what the Lord Jesus is. He's our God with a face. If you go to Trafalgar Square in London there's a column there and on the top of the column is Lord Nelson.

But honestly Lord Nelson is so high up there that nobody can see him but the pigeons. And so one year they were going to have a great exposition in Britain there and they made a duplicate of Lord Nelson and they brought it down to street level so people could see what he was like.

And you know that's what God did when he sent his lovely son down to this world. The Lord Jesus came down and he fully declared what the Father is like. So if you want to know what God is like look at the Lord Jesus.

And he'll tell you exactly what God the Father is like. From now on you know him and have seen him. That is in the Lord Jesus. There is a question whether we will see God the Father in heaven. And I'm not sure we can solve that problem tonight.

It says blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And Job had the hope of seeing God yet in my flesh shall I see God. Other people say yes but they'll see him as revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus.

God is spirit and you can't see spirit with these eyes. I was at a junior high camp one time speaking and we had a question and answer period and one of the fellows said to me will we see God in heaven?

And I went through quite a long theological discourse that our eyes being what they are we cannot see spirit you know and went through quite an elaborate explanation. He said I know but will we see God?

He wasn't at all satisfied and so I repeated myself again hoping that the mere repetition would help me. But he wasn't satisfied. He said maybe when we get to heaven we'll have bigger eyes. And that was absolutely right.

I think he was absolutely right. When we get to heaven we'll have bigger eyes. Philip said to him Lord show us the Father verse eight and it's sufficient for us. Show us the Father. Dear Philip he had been living with one who revealed the Father.

He was one of the earliest disciples Philip and all that time he'd been traveling with the Lord Jesus and he had seen his miracles and heard his marvelous words and now he says show us the Father and it's sufficient.

That'll be enough for us. Just give us a glimpse of God the Father. And Jesus said to him have I been with you so long. Referring to the fact that Philip was one of the early disciples the earliest disciples and yet the truth had not dawned in him as yet.

Yet you have not known me Philip. He who has seen me has seen the Father. Once again I mentioned to you at the outset how many statements are in this chapter which if you put them in the mouth of a mere man they're absolutely ludicrous absolutely ridiculous and this is one of them.

He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say show us the Father. The Lord Jesus perfectly represents the Father down here. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him and that means he has fully told him forth.

So we don't really have to be in darkness as to what God the Father is like. We see him perfectly expressed in the life words and character of our blessed Savior. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me.

Once again separate personalities but union. Wonderful union of personalities in the Trinity in the deity. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority. That's a wonderful thing. When the Lord Jesus came into the world he came in as in perfect subjection to God the Father.

He always did those things that pleased the Father. He never did anything through willfulness through his own through the exercise of his own will apart from God the Father. The miracles he performed he performed in the power of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to the Father.

And that you know that's a tremendous lesson for us. It should teach us that the greatest glory that any of us can have is subjection to the Lord. To have our wills completely in accord with him. Might save us a lot of misery.

It's so easy for us even in Christian work to decide we're going to do this. We can lay out goals for next year and have everything planned and mapped out. But our really calling is to be so in touch with the Lord that we do what he wants us to do.

How do you do that? Well by prayer by study of the word of God and just by yielding our wills to him day by day and letting him reveal his plan to us. The good works that we're to perform have been foreordained for us and it's just for us to find out what they are and to do them.

So the Lord Jesus was the subject subject son of God. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority. The father who dwells in me does the works. You got the words of the Lord Jesus and you got the works of the Lord Jesus as well.

He says believe me that I am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. The best way the best faith in the Lord is to believe something because he says it.

But here he seems to say if you can't do that then believe because of the works that I do. I would say that's a lesser form of works. People say well if I could just see a miracle I would believe. God is not pleased really with the kind of faith that demands a miracle.

He's not pleased with that kind of faith. Actually unbelievers say well if I could see somebody raised from the dead but the word of God says no you still wouldn't believe. One should rise from the dead.

Greater Works Through the Holy Spirit

The miracle I believe that the great miracle that the unsaved world wants to see today is not the healing of a leper, not giving sight to the blind, or hearing to the deaf. The great miracle that the unsaved want to see today is the miracle of a transformed life.

People who've been saved from sin and defilement and corruption. They're new creatures in Christ Jesus and they're really different persons. Therefore if any man be in Christ he's a new creation. All things are passed away.

Behold all things have become new. And we're going to come to that just a little bit later in the chapter. Believe me for the sake of the works themselves. The Lord Jesus came performing the works that were predicted of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

He performed them all. It's strange that the rabbis of his day didn't realize that and trust in him. He says most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do he will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go to my father.

Well that's something isn't it? Greater works on the Savior. Yes. Well first of all greater geographically. The farthest Jesus ever traveled as far as we know in Palestine was up to Tyre, Sidon. Not very far.

That's the farthest that's described. And when he finished his course here on earth let's say he had about 120 disciples in Judea and maybe 500 up in Galilee. You think of people that travel the world today you think of people who preach the gospel to thousands of people.

You think of the outreach today by radio and by television and by the Internet now. But I think there's something more going back to what I just said. The greater work the Lord Jesus performed healings miracles of healing.

He raised the dead but those people died again didn't they? I think it's a more wonderful work a greater work to witness to someone to see that person led to Christ and that person is going to worship the Lamb of God for all eternity life forever.

That's greater isn't it? I think it's greater. Blind eyes healed yes. But I tell you it's more wonderful to see people who are in the darkness of sin held in the grip of some cult or false religion. See them liberated by the grace of God and they're going to be forever worshiping him in heaven.

To me that's a greater work. So I read the gospel of Mark and I see all these physical miracles that the Lord Jesus did and I realize that there's a spiritual counterpart to every one of them and that's our privilege.

He healed the leper. Leprosy speaks of the loathsomeness of sin. And can we see that? Yes we can see the healing of lepers. Moral lepers sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Demoniacs yes. Once again sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in their right minds.

Paralysis he healed the paralytics. Well that speaks of the paralysis of sin and we can see that miracle performed by being faithful witnesses of the Lord Jesus and leading souls to him. So it's no exaggeration when the Lord said that greater works than these shall you do because I ascend to the Father.

What does that mean? Because I go to my Father. Well it means that when he goes to the Father when he's glorified in heaven the Holy Spirit is sent and the Holy Spirit empowers us in this ministry. We can't do it ourselves but the Holy Spirit gives us the power.

And I think you all know that the work of ministry today is not for a special class of people it's for all believers. Right? If the evangelization of the world depends on a special class the world will never be evangelized.

Never be evangelized. But in Ephesians 4 it says that the gifts were given for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry. Who are the saints? You and me. We are the saints and the work of ministry is given to us for the perfect the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.

My Bible teaches every member evangelism. And of course the greatest is to know the word of God and exemplify it in your life so that people say you've got something I don't have. I don't know what it is but I want it.

I've heard of that happening within the last few weeks to someone. You've got something I don't have. I don't know what it is but I tell you it's easy to lead a Going to the Father meant the coming of the Holy Spirit who empowers us.

He's in us. He's with us forever. And whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You say that's a blank check friends. No not exactly. It says in my name. Asking in the name of the Lord Jesus means asking according to his will.

Prayer According to God’s Will

It means asking according to the principles that are laid down in the word of God. For instance can I get down on my knees and pray that the Lord will give me a million dollars tomorrow. Well he won't.

He loves me too much. He knows that could be the worst thing that could happen to me. God wants me to live a life of faith. He wants me to be dependent on him to look to him for the supply of my needs.

So it would be completely contrary to the principles of the word of God for me to ask for a great sum of money like that. Lay not up treasures on earth. Lay up treasures in heaven. So asking in his will really limits the prayers to prayers in accordance with the principles that he has taught us in his word.

I want to tell you it's a wonderful verse of scripture. To ask the Lord according to his will is the same as asking God. It's the same as asking God because when we pray to the Lord Jesus our prayers go through him and they're purified through him.

Revelation chapter 8 and they go to God the Father and they're absolutely perfect. And I believe that God answers every prayer of mine as I said before in exactly the same way I would answer it. If I had his wisdom love and power.

God nothing does nor suffers to be done but what you would yourself if you could see the end of all he does as well as he. That's a comfort to me. I can pray. I'm a simple believer. I can pray with full assurance that my prayers go to the throne of God and that he answers them in the very best possible way.

And one answer is no. When I was a younger believer there was a prayer I sent up and I insisted on it. God gave me my request but he sent leanness to my soul and I wish today I had never asked for it.

It was a prideful prayer. I should never have asked for it. But we never come closer to omnipotence than when we pray in the name of Jesus. You and I will never be omnipotent. We'll never have all power.

Only God has all power. But when we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus it's the same. It's the closest we ever get to omnipotence. Wonderful. This should be a great inspiration to us to pray. Say what?

Brother McDonald I've been praying for the salvation of a loved one and as far as I know that loved one has never been saved. This bothers me. How do you reconcile that? Isn't it God's will to save? Yes it is God's will to save that person.

But let me tell you something. God is not going to populate heaven with people who don't want to be there. And God has given each person a will and God doesn't trample on the will of any person. He doesn't drag reluctant people to heaven.

And my Bible and my experience tell me that there was a time in my life when by a simple act of faith I had to trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. When I was in the Navy I started to pray for a fellow.

We were friends. We were friends in the Navy. And I think it was a year ago last January he died and I had prayed for him for 50 years. As far as I know he died without Christ. And his wife really read the riot act to me.

She said you think yours is the only true religion. After he died. Why? 50 years of prayer? 50 years of prayer. I still believe that when I prayed for him God brought the word of God before him. God maybe he saw Jesus saves on a rock as he traveled along the road.

Maybe he turned on the radio by accident and heard some gospel. Maybe somebody passed him a tract. I believe that when I pray for an unsaved person God does something. God jiggles the conscience of that person in some way or other.

Salvation, Human Will, and Coming to Christ

But whosoever will may come. And the Lord Jesus taught that he said to the Jewish people of his day you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and these are they that testify of me and you don't want to come to me that you might have life.

He didn't put it to their intellect. He put it to their will. You don't want to come to me that you might have life. There's somebody here tonight who's fighting the Lord on the issue of salvation. Let me say quite clearly there's nothing about Jesus that makes it impossible to believe in him.

Nothing. If there's a problem, the problem is in your will. That will has to be broken to come to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you ask anything in my name I will do it. The Lord Jesus said but notice in my name.

Obedience Under Grace

If you love me keep my commandments. It's interesting the way prayer and obedience are linked together. Prayer and obedience. Somebody might say to me Brother MacDonald commandments? I thought we were under grace not under law.

And here in the New Testament I'm reading about commandments. Are we under commandments? Well let me explain. The New Testament is filled with commandments for the child of God. But they're not commandments like the Old Testament commandments with penalty attached.