101 John 14:1 COMFORT FOR THE TROUBLED HEART Introduction: In this text Jesus speaks to His disciples who were deeply troubled in their hearts. Their troubles were soon to multiply tremendously. They would be devastated when Jesus would be arrested and crucified. In this text Jesus gave them a formula which could not only provide them comfort in the deep sorrow they were already experiencing, but it could provide them comfort and strength for those terrible hours which lay ahead. This formula for comfort which Jesus gave to them can be of immense help to us in our own troubles. I. The troubled hearts of the disciples V. 1, "Let not your heart be troubled.." There was a sense in which Jesus meant "Stop your heart from being troubled by those things which are already troubling you. Stop grieving. Stop worrying. Stop being so depressed." The hearts of these men were already troubled. They were already deeply disturbed. They were already grieving. It stands to reason that they would be. Even before they had reached Jerusalem Jesus had told them that when they got to Jerusalem He would be killed. This was not at all what they had expected. This was far from what they had expected. All of their lives they had been taught to believe that when the Christ would come He would re-establish the throne of David in Jerusalem and drive out the Romans. This is what they had understood John the Baptist to mean when John said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." They understood this to mean that the Christ was at hand and that He would shortly become king in Jerusalem. So when John identified Jesus as being the promised Christ, they had jumped to the conclusion that Jesus would soon go to Jerusalem and establish Himself on the throne of David and drive out the Romans. They had now been with Jesus for three years and each time they would start toward Jerusalem they would wonder if this is the time. Is this the time that He will proclaim Himself as king and take over the government of the land? Just shortly before they left Capernaum to come to Jerusalem something had happened to make them think this is the time. Jesus had miraculously fed a multitude of people with five little pancakes and two little fishes. The miracle of that event was so tremendous that the multitude wanted to take Jesus by force and make Him their king. So when they left Capernaum to come to Jerusalem, I am sure that these men must have thought, "This must be the time." The time seems to be ripe. This seems to be the ideal time for Jesus to take over the throne." But on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus had burst their bubble by telling them that when they arrived at Jerusalem, He would be put to death. You can understand that they were let down. Their hearts were grieved. It would seem that all their hopes were gone. But things changed when they came to Bethany. Just shortly before their arrival at Bethany, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, died. When Jesus arrived at Bethany Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. Jesus and the sisters and a great host of people went out to the tomb where Jesus called Lazarus from the grave. It electrified the town of Bethany. It electrified the whole area, which was filled with people from all the land who were in the area to celebrate the Passover. It seemed then that virtually the whole nation which had gathered at Jerusalem was ready to crown Jesus as king. The disciples must have been thrilled. They thought in their minds, "We believe that after all, Jesus is going to be crowned as king." Then came the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Oh, that magnificent Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem! Jesus, in keeping with Old Testament prophecy, rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass. This was in fulfillment of a prophecy that the Christ, the coming king of Israel would make just such a ride into Jerusalem. When Jesus started down that mountain, a great crowd of several thousand people went before Him shouting to the tops of their voices proclaiming Jesus to be the promised Christ, proclaiming Jesus to be the king of Israel. The disciples were overjoyed. They were on cloud nine. They thought, "In spite of the fact that Jesus said He is going to be crucified in Jerusalem, He is mistaken. He is not really going to be crucified. He is going to be crowned king in Israel." They could not have been happier. But that was then. By now it was obvious that Jesus had been right all along. Jesus was not going to be crowned as king. He was going to be crucified, just as He had said. Then when they ate the Passover Supper, Jesus told them that before the night was over all of them would forsake Him. When Simon Peter boasted that he would not forsake Jesus. He was willing to die with Jesus, but Jesus told Peter that before the cock would crow, he would deny Jesus three times. Jesus had told them that one of the twelve would betray Him into the hands of the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Him. These men were crushed. Their leader whom they loved so dearly was about to be cruelly put to death. All that they had hoped for was about to go down the drain. They could see no light at the end of the tunnel. Furthermore, it was about to get worse --- much worse! It was bad enough while Jesus was still with them. It was bad enough while they could still sit at His feet had listen to Him teach. It was bad enough while they could see His face, listen to His voice and touch His hand. But it was about to be much worse. They would watch helplessly as the Jewish from Jerusalem would lay hands on Jesus and bind His hands and jerk Him around and drag off toward Jerusalem. Peter and John would manage to get inside the courtyard where Jesus would be tried before the Sanhedrin Court and they would witness as Jesus was badly mistreated. They would watch as Jesus was roughly carried off to appear before Pilate. They would hear as the multitude of people, led by the scribes, Pharisees and chief priests cried out and said, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Those were words that would ring in their ears for a long long time. They would watch as Jesus was beaten with the whip until His back was cut to ribbons and He was beaten His until His face was hardly recognizable. They would watch as Jesus was nailed to a cross and that cross was dropped into a hole in the ground. They would watch as a crown of thorns was placed on His head and beaten into His brow. They would watch as multitude of people marched before Jesus beating Him, spitting in His face and denouncing Him with all manner of mockery. They would watch as He would lift His head toward heaven and see Him give up the ghost and His head would drop in death. All that they had hoped for would be gone. Their own lives would now be in danger because they had been His followers. It would seem that the sky had caved and all hope was gone. They were by no means prepared for what was ahead. They were by no means prepared for such a horrible ordeal. But Jesus said to them, "Let not your heart be troubled. Stop your grieving. Stop being depressed. Stop worrying." Furthermore He was saying, "When the worse, which is yet ahead, does come don't allow your heart to be troubled. Do not let it be troubled. Do not allow yourself to grieve. Do not allow yourself to be disheartened." Now let me ask you a question. Just how were they going to be able to do that? Even right at that time when their hearts were already grieving, how could they just shut that off? Could they just turn off their grief like turning off a faucet? Could they just by and act of the will shut off all their grief? No! No! No! No! It was not going to be that simple and Jesus knew it. But Jesus gave them a formula that if they would follow could bring them comfort in spite of their grief and could bring consolation even in the midst of their grief. He gave them something that they could hold on to ---- something they could cling to ---- something that could bring them peace of mind beyond what would seem possible at a time of such calamity. II. The formula for receiving comfort for their hearts Listen to what Jesus told them. Jesus said, "...ye believe in God..." These men did believe in God. They had been brought up from childhood to believe in God. Their parents believed in God. All of their friends and neighbors believed in God. There was never a time in their whole life when they even seriously challenged the existence of God. In their earlier lives they had believed just because their parents believed. But as they had matured in life, their belief in God must have matured also. They no longer believed in God just because their parents did or just because their friends and neighbors did. They believed in God because in their own hearts and minds they had concluded that God is real. Surely they must have looked up into the sky and looked at all of the greatness of the universe in which we live. Surely they must have looked about them here on earth and beheld all of the great intelligent design in the things of nature. Surely they must have concluded that there is one mighty intelligent mind who could design all of the things of nature and there is one mighty powerful force that brought all this into existence. Their has to be an explanation for the existence of all this world and the explanation which is given by the atheistic world surely won't cut it. They say that the world in which we live and the universe in which we live all evolved from something which already existed. They explain the universe by saying that a big bang took place and the universe evolved into what it is today. But they never attempt to explain how the material substance got here in the first place. Nor do they explain how did it got into such intelligent design. When anybody answers those two questions they will have to acknowledge that there is a God and that He is a vastly intelligent and powerful God. But Jesus wanted the disciples to go beyond merely believing in the existence of God. He wanted His disciples to believe in God in the sense of depending on God. He wanted them to learn that when they have a need they should go to God for help. They should then trust in God to fill the need. When there is a problem, go to God and ask God to help with that problem. Then trust in God to help you with that problem. Let God fill your need in His way. Surrender yourself to His will and let God have His way in your life. Just trust Him to take care of your problem in His way and in His good time. Then Jesus said, "...believe also in me." Now these men had already believed in Jesus. They had already believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Back in Matthew chapter 16 Jesus asked them, "Whom do men say that I am?" They answered, "Some say that you are John the Baptist, whom Herod beheaded, come back to life again. Some say that you are the prophet Elijah come back to life. Others just say that you are one of God's prophets." Jesus then asked, "But whom do you say that I am?" Simon Peter spoke up and said, "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" and all of the others agreed. That is what they all believed. Then why did Jesus tell them, "...believe also in me"? Since they already believed that He is the Christ the very Son of God, why would Jesus tell them to believe in Him? The answer is that Jesus wanted them to belive in Him in the sense of learning to depend on Him. He wanted them to learn to believe what He told them. For one thing, He had not only told them that He was about to be crucified, but He had also told them that He would be raised from the dead after three days and three nights. If they would believe that, this would take away the great pain in their hearts which was caused by His approaching death. Even though He would die on the cross, if they would remember that He had promised that He would come forth from the grave, and if they would believe that promise, they would be comforted by it. Jesus wanted them to believe that even after He would ascend and go away from them to heaven He would still be their leader. Through the great truths that He had already taught them and through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit Whom He would send to be with them, He would lead still continue to lead them. He wanted to believe this and to depend on Him. This would take away their grief. Jesus wanted them to know that He would still be able to help them with any problem they might encounter. During the three years when there was a problem they could not handle, they would come to Jesus and turn the problem over to Him and Jesus would handle it. Jesus I will give you grace to endure the thorn." III. What Jesus wants for men today Listen, the Lord Jesus Christ wants men today to put their faith and confidence in God to help them in their time of trouble. For one thing Jesus wants us to believe in the existence of God. It is God the Father who has sent Jesus into the world. Most of us who are here do believe in God. That is, we do believe, at least in the existence of God. Like those apostles, most of us were taught all our lives to believe in God. Our parents believed in the existence of God. Our friends and neighbors believed in the existence of God. We may have had our momentary doubts about God's existence, but we never really seriously challenged His existence. But then there came the time, as we matured, that our belief in God also matured. Mine did. I looked up in the sky at night time and I saw all the great handiwork of God and I believed, not because of what my parents or my friends and neighbors believed. I did not believe just because the preacher said that God is real. I believed because I saw the evidence for myself. In the sky I saw the great handiwork of God. In the laboratory of my science classes in high school I looked into the microscopes and I saw even there the handiwork of God and I believed. Out among the flowers of the garden or walking on the beach at Pensacola, Florida, I saw evidence after evidence of the great intelligence and the great power of God and I believed. I went to the table at meal time and I heard that Jesus is the Son of God. I went to church and I learned that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God. But I never really learned to depend of God until I faced trouble in my life. Then I learned that I could turn to God and ask Him for help. When I heard the gospel I saw myself as a sinner in the presence of a great and powerful and holy God. I saw myself as a sinner who would live for a short while in this world and that I would go out into eternity to spend eternity somewhere. I learned from the Bible as I heard it preached that God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world so that people like me could be saved. I called on Jesus Christ and asked Him to save my soul. I trusted Jesus to same my soul and He did. Since that time I have faced many a trial in my life. I have found that just because I am saved and that I am going to heaven, that does not mean that my life will be trouble free in this world. But I can always call on Jesus in my every trouble and put my faith in Jesus to help me. He will either take away the problem that I face or He will give me the grace to endure the trouble that I face. Either way, Jesus solves the problem for me and I am comforted. Listen, that is what Jesus wants to do for you. Let me ask you this: Are you a lost sinner headed for eternity unprepared to stand before God in judgment? Then let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Call upon Jesus Christ and ask Him to have mercy on your soul. Trust in Jesus and He will save you. The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." It says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Then after you are saved, the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Scripture invites you bring every heartache that you have to Jesus and let Him take care of the problem. He will either remove the heartache or give you the strength and grace to bear it. Either way, He will take care of the problem. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus saves and Jesus cares. Who will come and trust in Him? Conclusion: I am going to let Jesus, Himself, give the invitation this morning. I will read His words to you, but the invitation is not just from me or from this church. It is from Jesus. Listen as I read Matthew 11:28-30: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."