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John 14:2-3 THE ASSURANCE OF A HOME IN HEAVEN

Introduction:

	In our text last Sunday Jesus told His disciples, "Let
not your heart be troubled..."  Then He gave them a formula
whereby they could be comforted in their time of deepest
sorrow.  They were to learn to trust God and to trust Jesus,
the Son of God, no matter what their problems might be.  If
they would trust God the Father and trust God the Son to
take care of their problems, they would find comfort.  This
is something that a Christian cannot do just all of a
sudden, but it is also something that, if he tries, he can
start learning to do.  He will then have to work on it the
rest of his life.
	In our text today, Jesus is still seeking to comfort to
the troubled hearts of His disciples.  He gives them
assurance that no matter how much trouble they have now,
they would at least have a home in heaven.  This is
something that ought to be of great comfort to the
Christian.  It helps to get your mind off the present
troubles and let your mind dwell on the glories of heaven
which is ahead.

I.  What Jesus said about heaven

	V. 2, "In my Father's house are many mansions..."  The
Greek word which here is translated "mansions" simply means
"dwelling place."  Thus he speaks of many dwelling places
being in one house.  Since the verse speaks of many dwelling
places being within one house, many translators translate
the word to mean  "rooms" or "apartments."  But the idea is
this: God the Father dwells in heaven and within heaven God
has many dwelling places.  These dwelling places are for
those who repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ for
salvation.  There are many such dwelling places in heaven.
There is plenty of room for all.
	Here in this life, even as large as this world is, one
can get crowded for space.  He can occupy such a very small
house that he has no more room to put any more people.  Of
he can occupy such a small piece of land that he has no
space in which to enlarge his dwelling or his business.  But
in heaven God is not ever going to get crowded in for space.
God has an abundance of room for Him to furnish dwelling
places for all who will ever get saved and go to heaven.
God is not going to get overcrowded and run our of space and
be unable to house those who get saved.  He has enough space
and enough dwelling places that He could take care of
everybody who ever lives if only they would all repent of
their sins and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
	Take a look for yourself after you leave here this
morning and again tonight.  Look up into the sky and you
will see that there is an abundance of space in the heavens
and God owns it all.  Actually every where up there is His
dwelling place.  In the known universe there are countless
billions and billions of stars.  If there is anything beyond
the outer limits of the universe then God owns that space,
too.  Somewhere out there in all this great big universe or,
perhaps, beyond the universe, is the place where God the
Father Himself dwells.  There is plenty of room up there for
many, many spacious and beautiful dwelling places.
	People are fascinated today about space travel.  Just
you wait until you make your journey to wherever God dwells
to live with Him in heaven and you will know something about
space travel yourself.
	Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions..."
(V. 2), "...if it were not so, I would have told you..."
Then He said, "If there was not such a place as this, I
would have told you.  If there was not sufficient room for
you up in heaven with God the Father, I would have told you.
I would not have allowed you to be uninformed about this
important matter.  I would not have allowed you to be misled
with untrue information on such an important matter.  I want
you to know that heaven is real and there is plenty of room
for you.  There are many mansions there!"

II.  What Jesus said that He would go back to heaven and do

	The Lord's disciples had been all shook up because He
had told them that He was going away.  They acted as though
they thought tat by going away He was going to desert them.
Not all.  The very opposite is true.  He was going to
prepare a place for them.  (V. 2), "...I go to prepare a
place for you."
	This does not mean that He would have to create a new
place although He certainly could and that may be what He
had in mind.  But the language here does not indicate that
it will be necessary for Him to create a new place.  But the
Scripture here does means that in that place which we call
heaven, He would prepare a place especially for them.  He
would adorn it and make it especially beautiful for them.
He would make it especially suitable for them.
	This is one of the main objectives that Jesus had in
going away.  There may be many other reasons for going away,
but one of the main reasons was to prepare a place for His
disciples.  in other words, it was in their best interest
that He not stay here on earth with them.  It was in their
best interest that He go away.  He was going to return back
to heaven where God the Father dwells and He would prepare a
place there for them.
	I might ought to mention this.  The place that He would
prepare for them up in heaven He would only be a temporary
place where their spirits would dwell while waiting for the
resurrection.  It would be a place especially suitable for
spirits which have departed from their earthly bodies.
	But He would also prepare a place for them to dwell in
after their spirits have reunited with their physical bodies
have been resurrected from the grave.  He, along with God
the Father, have plans to renovate the earth which has been
cursed with sin.  They will burn up this earth with fire and
get rid of all the scars of sin.   It will melt with fervent
 heat and a whole new earth will come forth.
	By the time the new earth is made, Jesus will have
completed the building of giant new city up in heaven.  It
is called in Scripture "the Holy City New Jerusalem."  The
throne of God will be placed in this new city.  Then He will
bring this entire Holy City New Jerusalem down to the new
earth with God's throne in it.
	All of the unredeemed of all the ages will be cast into
the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will suffer
forever.  All of the redeemed of all the ages will then
dwell forever in the new earth.
	All of this and more is involved in that statement which
Jesus made to His disciples when He said, "In my Father's
house are many mansions;  I go and prepare a place for you."

III.  What Jesus promised that He would come back to earth
	to do

	V. 3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also."  In this statement Jesus promised His
disciples that if He went away from them He would come again
and take them to Himself.
	I ask you to please note that the word "if" in this
verse does not at all indicate doubt.  Jesus is not
indicating that He might not go away nor is He indicating
that He might not come back.  Rather He is expressing
certainty.
	He had already said in verse 2 that He would go away.
So that was certain.  He would go away.  What He was now
saying was that just as certain as He would go away just
that He would come back.  He was promising that He would
most certainly come back and that He would receive them unto
Himself.  According to I Thessalonians 4:13-17 Jesus would
return from heaven and bring the departed spirits of His
redeemed with Him and those spirits would re-enter their
dead bodies and those dead bodies will come alive and come
out of the graves.
	That is, all of the saved whose bodies are in the graves
will come out of the graves and they will go up in their
resurrected bodies to meet the Lord in the air.  Likewise,
all of the saved who are still alive on earth at that time
will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the
air.  That is, they will meet the Lord somewhere up there in
space.
	The Scripture does not say that they will always remain
up there in the air, but it does say "...so shall we ever be
with the Lord," I Thes. 4:17.  We will always be with the
Lord and He is going to come down to live on earth and rule
the world for a thousand years.  That period of time is
called "The millennium."  The Devil will be imprisoned
during the millennium and God's people are going to have one
great big halleluiah time ruling and reigning with Christ.
	Then after the millennium is over that the Devil will be
loosed for a little season, the earth will be burned up and
the new earth will be formed.
	But the point that I want to make here is that the Lord
Jesus Christ will come back to earth to gather His disciples
with Him and they will be with Him forever.  When He is on
earth during the millennium, they will be with Him.  After
the millennium is over and He is in the new earth and is
sitting upon the throne in the Holy City New Jerusalem, His
beloved disciples will be with Him.  They will be with Him
there forever enjoying the dwelling places which the Lord
has gone to prepare for them.

IV.  What I want you to see about those disciples

	Now I want you to get the picture.  Those disciples of
the Lord right at that very time were very depressed.  But I
want you to see that Jesus gave them something for them to
be happy about.
	They believed that there is a God in heaven who is the
owner and ruler of this great big world.  He is the owner of
all this great big universe.  He wanted them to be reminded
that God is able to take care of them no matter what may
happen to them.  Jesus wanted them to learn to trust in God
no matter what happened.
	Furthermore, they believed that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, the Savior of the world.  They had already
trusted in Jesus to save their souls and He had.  He had
saved their souls.  It is true that He was going away from
them and they would miss Him.  It would never be the same
without Him.  But they should know two important things.
For one thing, He was not going away to forsake them.  He
was going away to work for them and to prepare a place for
them in a better world.
	For another thing, just as surely as He would go away
from them  just that surely He would come back for them.  If
they should happen to be living at the time He returns they
would be caught up in the air to meet Him.  Their mortal
bodies would be changed and glorified and they would be with
Jesus forever in glory.
	If they should die before He returns, their spirits
would immediately go to heaven and their bodies would go to
the grave.  Then when He returns,  they would be reunited
with their bodies and raised from the grave to go up and
meet Jesus in the air.  They would then be with the Lord
forever.
	Now I know that as long as those disciples were thinking
about the Jewish leaders and the fact that Jesus would be
crucified and that He would go away their hearts would still
be troubled.  But if they would just get their minds on the
great promises which Jesus made, their hearts would be
comforted in spite of the terrible events which were about
to happen.

V.  What I want you to see about yourself

	Now let me talk for a few minutes to you about you.  I
want to talk first about those of you who are saved.  I do
not have to tell you that you are living in a world of
trouble and woe.  If you let your mind constantly dwell upon
the terrible things that are happening in this world and
especially upon the terrible things that are happening
around you and to you, you cannot help but be terribly
disturbed.  But if you can get your mind upon the fact that
Jesus is preparing a better place for you and that He has
promised to return to get you and take you to that place,
then your heart will be comforted.  You can, in fact,
experience great joy in spite of all the troublesome things
that are taking place in this world and in spite of your
life.
	Now I know that you cannot help but let your mind be
occupied with your troubles to some degree.  You will never
completely set your mind free of all your troubles as long
as you live in this world.
	But with the help of God, you can set your mind on the
great presence of God who is with now and the great power of
God and the great love that God has for you.  You can, to a
great extent, set your mind on the fact that Jesus Christ,
the very Son of God, came to this world to die for you on
the cross of Calvary and to save your soul.  You can be
reminded that you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior and
that Jesus has saved your soul.  You can be reminded that
one of these days all of your troubles will be over and that
you will be with Jesus Christ in a better world.  If you can
get your mind on the good things which Jesus has in store
for you the troubles which you face now will not seem as
bad.  You will know that everything will be alright one of
these days.  In the meanwhile you can know that Jesus loves
you and that He has not forsaken you.  He will help you even
now in your time of trouble.
	But let me now speak for a few minutes to those of you
who are unsaved.  You, too, no doubt, are faced with
problems in this life.  Some of those troubles can be very
painful.  But there is no trouble which you have ever faced
in this world which is as painful as going out of this world
unprepared to meet God.  You stand as a sinner in the sight
of God and you need to confess your guilt unto God and seek
forgiveness of your sins.  You need to call upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and ask Jesus to have mercy upon your soul and
to save you from your sins so that you will not go out of
this world into a far greater torment than you have ever
experienced.
	Let me tell you what the Bible has to say about you.  It
says in Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved."  In Acts 16:31 it says,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved..."  In John 3:16 it says, "For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Conclusion:

	I am going to ask our musicians to come forward and lead
the congregation is singing an invitation hymn.  I am going
to ask those who are saved and who have a need and a desire
to come forward to step forward and let the Lord have His
way with your life.
	I am going to ask that you who are unsaved and
unprepared to meet God to come forth and trust the Lord for
the salvation of your soul.
	Do that while we sing.