Are they worthy of anything but pity who are not able to bear the hardships of the voyage? Tell me the processes by which it has been recovered — the marvellous mystery of restored sonship and reawakened love. I believe in God — why must I believe also in Christ?" An English nobleman once asked himself why there should be a future existence, and answered, "Because, on any other hypothesis, the world would be a piece of magnificent nonsense."1. The very best things it can afford will be ours. In the second place, we have the idea of PERMANENCE. But then, with this holiness is united tenderness; and it is that which it seems harder still to recognize, for we associate with absolute justice absolute sovereignty rather than absolute tenderness: and yet there is in His Word the declaration of His tenderness. God in Christ now stands pledged to the forgiveness of sin on the condition of repentance.3. It empties us of ourselves, and so makes us cleave to another, and thereby becomes a grace of union. A happy earthly home is the nearest approach to an adequate conception of the life of heaven. Its nature. THERE IS A CERTAIN WAY TO HEAVEN (vers. The advantage of this two-fold trust. Therefore, not comprehended, or included anywhere (Isaiah 66:1).3. And here is love again. The promises of the Spirit.1. He knew that they had aspirations higher than the Temple and wider than the spangled tent that spread all night above the Holy Land. May it be, perhaps, that there was that in the Divine holiness which made sin a fatal bar to man's acceptance, except on some condition which God only can perform? He was only a pilgrim here. THE TROUBLED HEART. And they had reason to be. Jesus said, "Give it to Me," and he gave it to Him; and then you hear him saying rejoicingly, "I know whom I have believed" (which is the same thing as whom I have trusted), "and am persuaded that He will keep that which I have committed to Him against that day."(J. Christian apologists often begin with the proofs of superhuman skill and power, and so lead up to the central object of Christian faith. Though He slay us, we had better trust in Him.III. Brooks.There is a class of words the meaning of which is known to all, and without consulting a dictionary most people know what the word "trouble" means. I am thankful to think that God loves in such a way that He yearns for me — yes, a great deal more than I do for Him.(H. Death, as a natural event, always seems so. Even natural theology affirms this; for it would imply Divine imperfection if God were not everywhere. The notices of Rahab and Ruth, of Ittai and Naaman, of the wise men of the East, and the Greeks who came up to the Passover, of the Ethiopian eunuch and the devout Cornelius, are hints for the enlargement of our hopes about many who had the same yearning in their hearts, though they did not see the walls of any earthly Jerusalem. The wheels of the soul are thereby taken off (Nehemiah 8:10). Carter.It is impossible wholly to estimate the value of the gospel. Our Lord has taught us to connect heaven with the thought of Himself — "My" Father's house. )Faith in God one with faith in ChristA. "My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest."2. Bradley, M. You cannot eliminate the fact that Christ claimed as His own the emotions of the heart, to which only God has a right and which only God can satisfy.4. (3) There is only another occasion in this Gospel in which the word here translated "mansions" is employed — "We will come and make our abode with Him." But the Bible, and He who speaks therein, is truer to nature and experience than many who profess to interpret it. "That where I am there ye may be also." 12-14).IV. Don't be unduly troubled about earthly things. Naturally, it was this mighty love that made bereavement of its object so intolerable. All the labours of life. Not merely the place where His people are to dwell, but the place where He Himself dwells, and enjoys His unutterable happiness and rest. "Go ye into all the world and preach, etc....and lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."3. That He is the Life — the source of universal, intellectual, spiritual and eternal life. The state of man is like that of some of those sunny islands in southern seas, around which there often rave the wildest cyclones, and which carry in their bosoms, beneath all their riotous luxuriance of verdant beauty, hidden fires, which ever and anon shake the solid earth and spread destruction. "Many mansions," many methods of enjoyment, various fields of occupation, unexhausted resources of interest and pleasure. Observe it is prepared for us, and the preparation is made by Christ Himself. "He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who bath also given us the earnest of the Spirit."IV. (2) Labour to have one of them. Brooks. He is so infinite and we are so weak. But the Bible, and He who speaks therein, is truer to nature and experience than many who profess to interpret it. And if that be true, these two things follow. "(John K. Cancel {{#items}} {{local_name}} {{/items}} Book. Don't be unduly troubled about earthly things. Hope is further encouraged by Christ's guarantee of its realization. But here, too, there is frequently change. The light shines through a window, but the light and the glass that make it visible have nothing in common with one another. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED. We do not go there as strangers or foreigners; we go to the richest house in the universe as the children of the owner of it. This was not from any insensibility to pain, nor superiority to it (John 11:33; John 12:27; John 13:21). It is the activity, the animation, the joyful tasks, the abounding interest, of the life of the invisible world unveiled by Christ, which is the characteristic revelation of the gospel. How cloth faith in Christ ease the soul in trouble? Sibbes, D. D.There was some good in the disciples' trouble.1. So just before, Peter asks, "Whither goest thou?". (3) There is only another occasion in this Gospel in which the word here translated "mansions" is employed — "We will come and make our abode with Him." Take your sop, Judas, and be gone. Raleigh, D. D.)Many mansionsA. Christ is already there in possession.2. )Belief in God based on the knowledge of His characterJohn K. Shaw.A banknote is tendered to me — it is a promise to pay, but by whom? why art thou cast down? And yet our Lord counsels calmness. )Heaven the Christian's homeJ. Arithmetic deals with truths that have no relation directly except with the understanding. Probably no single chapter is read so much to the dying, over the dead. (2) That without faith in Christ such faith in God as is possible is feeble, incomplete, and will not long last. There was no mud in the bottom. Submission is repose. Had we been asked what He was going to heaven for, we should have said — To get away from this evil world; to enter into His joy, etc. "(Dean Vaughan. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." The first is that which Christ has set before you. Then —1. )Belief in God should inspire confidenceDer Glaubensbote.In a small town there lived the widow of a preacher, a God-fearing woman, who in days of trouble used to say to her children and friends, "Fear not, God lives." (3)As alive forever more. "Do I love the Lord, or no?" Therefore Christ, aiming at our spiritual profit rather than at our scientific enlightenment, leaves for future solution all problems that have only to do with place.2. Note that the advice of the text is —, I. And when we have done so, consider what promises, and comforts, in that Word of God are fitted to that condition. But above all let us labour for a spirit of faith. UNITY. Wilson. B. The earth and sun and stars are moving from their old forms into new, but their slow, stern cycles seem to us changeless when we think of ourselves. Many times over Judas betrays his Lord, and hangs himself. Note in these words —I. With this word of love still in the air, He proceeds to speak of heaven as "My Father's house." Triunity, as we have to study it, is the whole Godhead, dealing with the problem of moral evil.2. )Believing is trusting in JesusJ. "Many" simply stands for all the children, "a great multitude which no man can number," "and yet there is room!"4. Brooks. And yet our Lord counsels calmness. W. Beecher.It was stormy from shore to shore, without a single fair day. Hence Philip's request. Therefore, not comprehended, or included anywhere (Isaiah 66:1).3. (1) A house of grace. Christ is already there in possession.2. Wilson. "Go ye into all the world and preach, etc....and lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."3. )My Father's houseJ. Standing without you see no glory, nor can possibly imagine any; standing within, every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendour.(Bp. We do not know what death is: He does. )Heaven -- homeDeath came unexpectedly to a man of wealth, as it almost always does; and he sent out for his lawyer to draw his will. If I might so speak, it is the heart's look to Jesus — a single glance, indeed, at first, and yet a constant looking to Him ever after.(J. The defectiveness of our belief apart from Him. Guthrie. Humanity's great longing has waited until Christ for its complete satisfaction. It is no use saying to men, "Let not your hearts be troubled," unless you finish the verse. Faith will show thee —(a)That the sting is out (1 Corinthians 15:55). There is often a feeble sense of the sinfulness of sin. 2. (2)As our sympathizing Brother and High Priest. God's finger is on the latch, and I am ready for Him to open the door. A peculiar, most tranquillizing revelation of the heaven to which He is going — "a place." Be it what it may, and where it may, this vast unknown, it is filled with that nameless benediction, a Father's presence and lit with the light of a Father's smile. And because He is Himself Divine and the Divine Revealer, therefore the faith that grasps Him is inseparably one with the faith that grasps God. But we may all look forward to the renewal, in far nobler form, of these early days, where the shyest and timidest child shall feel at ease and secure. Standing without you see no glory, nor can possibly imagine any; standing within, every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendour.(Bp. And you will notice that preparation made for us testifies to the kindness and love of Him who prepares it.1. Although the disciples had a certain faith in God, it left them far from satisfied with it. As if the mental pain which means to man so much more than to the beast, precisely because he is man and not beast, could be conjured out of him by a philosophy which talks incessantly of his dignity and can only make him comfortable, if at all, at the cost of forgetting it! We get our clearest view of it from Christ, again, always so welcoming to all who sought Him, so tender towards those who trusted and loved Him. How vain all these ambitions seemed now! (2) That in Him is all truth and excellence.3. There must be, indeed, the change of progress: it is the permanence not of death but of life; and so the changes of decay, of loss, of bereavement, of the unretiring past, these are gone with the last great change, which ends the perishing and opens the eternal. T. Pierson, D. D.This is a discourse showing the disciple his refuge from trouble. We may be sure of entertainment, though not for our own, yet for Christ's sake.2. "If it were not so, I would have told you."1. (2) That in Him is all truth and excellence.3. W. They too love their relations, but after a momentary spasm when they lose them they take life easily again; and in doing this they show man an example which he would do well to imitate. We have been told that this is a doctrine of Materialism, and that heaven is in character rather than in condition. Having taught that God is our Father, must He remain in sight to confuse or divide our allegiance? And therefore we ought to be skilful in the Word of God, that we may store up comforts beforehand.4. Partly, it seems like a reaction against outward authority, and traditional opinions, or against a superstitious theism. So, without any hesitation, I take the note just for what it stands. that word quickens the pulse, warms the heart, stirs the soul to its depths, makes age feel young again, rouses apathy into energy, sustains the sailor in his midnight watch, inspires the soldier with courage on the field of battle, and imparts patient endurance to the worn-down sons of toil. Faith will show thee —(a)That the sting is out (1 Corinthians 15:55). "If it were not so, I would have told you."1. Beecher?" The third idea in our text is PREPARATION. Men dread to think of Him. He has made them well known; "brought life and immortality to light," and will come again and receive us unto Himself.(W. All other defences are weak and poor. Very remarkable, therefore, is it that with this tone there should be such reticence in Christ's references to the future. These two clauses on the surface present juxtaposition. The problem demands solution. What is it that Christ offers us? But Christ asked for immediate trust in Himself, for with that would come a hearty belief in all He said and did.II. L. He prepares heaven for them, not only by preparing their right to the place, but by preparing their fitness for it. Then, turning to Jesus Christ, he asks by his sorrow, by his hopes, by all the struggling instincts that will not die, by that upward look in which the soul is "seeking a city with foundations," whether such a city is builded — whether such a life is secure. A little child looks upon his father's house as his own, and so would Christ have us look upon heaven. (b)That death is but the entrance of life. But no! Take your sop, Judas, and be gone. (1) This, that Jesus Christ Himself Divine, is the Divine Revealer of God. One day her difficulty was greater than she could bear, and she sat down with a feeling of hopelessness, and allowed her tears to flow unchecked. (3) There is only another occasion in this Gospel in which the word here translated "mansions" is employed — "We will come and make our abode with Him." He asks philosophy, and she answers, "I see something like it, but I cannot surely tell. 4-11).III. But we may all look forward to the renewal, in far nobler form, of these early days, where the shyest and timidest child shall feel at ease and secure. What are they? He has a two-fold house. This idea of immense capacity is a real relief from some of the more popular conceptions of the future life, as that of a temple, etc. )Faith in God one with faith in ChristA. W. And where is the "rest" to come from? asked a child who had a mother, of one who had none. Something of this the disciples knew.2. Then, turning to Jesus Christ, he asks by his sorrow, by his hopes, by all the struggling instincts that will not die, by that upward look in which the soul is "seeking a city with foundations," whether such a city is builded — whether such a life is secure. We have heard about "pills against earthquakes." The reception one will meet with from wife and children is one of the delightful anticipations of returning home. But in the next place we have the idea of RECEPTION. We see them illustrated most perfectly in Christ, whose mission it was to so reveal the Father that we might not be afraid of His holiness.IV. But after a while one of the bands struck up "Home, Sweet Home," and the band on the opposite side of the river took up the strain, and when the tune was done the Confederates and the Federals all together united, as the tears rolled down their cheeks, in one great "Huzza! If I might so speak, it is the heart's look to Jesus — a single glance, indeed, at first, and yet a constant looking to Him ever after.(J. What is the purport of this expression? By the miracle of His grace He first changes all His captives into children, then welcomes them all home. (b)God's love.(c)Duration. It is steam power, but not enough to drive the train. )My Father's houseJ. The invisible became visible in the form of the most benign and beautiful of all the institutions that lend charm and joy to life. Most of us have left behind us the sweet security which used to be ours when we lived as children in a father's house here. There are many mansions. Surely the latter, and for such purposes we have enough.(A. We speak of "long days," and of "long years." The anchor of our hope seems to lose its hold, our sense of pardon and peace may be broken, and the face of God, if seen at all, may look dim and distant.2. There is nothing in the new philosophy to calm the troubled heart. The gentleman noticed that he kept his pack strapped to his shoulders, and so he said, "Why do you not put your pack down?" Hope is as important a contribution to comfort as faith; the two together, exercised rightly, never fail. Don't let your hearts be troubled. He will be there Himself to take care of it. Even natural theology affirms this; for it would imply Divine imperfection if God were not everywhere. He has just addressed them in the language of family affection as His "little children." If I, being evil, know how to forgive, how much more shall a Father in heaven accept the first sigh and bestow the unpurchased grace? VARIETY. From the lips of Christ this is a reasonable comfort, because He is able to make all grace abound towards us, and because sorrow goes forth as His angel to make us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.II. (3) And enjoy true happiness (Psalm 16:11; Psalm 17:15).II. (b)That death is but the entrance of life. Guthrie. Yes, God is amazing in every attribute. He speaks of that unseen world always as one who had been in it, and who was reporting experiences, and not giving forth opinions. It is "the Father's" house. He sets Himself forward in very august fashion as being the Revealer and the Opener of that house for us. In these times of daring denial and of timid doubt it is well to be reminded that in the great crises of life — poverty, bereavement, affliction — denial is mockery and doubt is impotence, and that only an honest and hearty belief will secure sufficient solace. There must be, indeed, the change of progress: it is the permanence not of death but of life; and so the changes of decay, of loss, of bereavement, of the unretiring past, these are gone with the last great change, which ends the perishing and opens the eternal. We cannot take Christ by halves. Or you might speak of men who, in this century, have not only led good lives, but have had pious feelings, and done beneficent works, without realizing what we should call the fulness of the Christian faith — avowed Unitarians, e.g. THEN FROM HIMSELF AS FROM A CENTRE HE SWEEPS THE UNIVERSE OF SPACE AND DURATION, AND FOLDS IT ALL DOWN UPON EVERY TRUSTING HEART AS A MEASURELESS BENEDICTION.1. This is not a chance expression, far less a mere figure of speech. Shall we accept the bare fact, and ask nothing as to the proofs and the instrumentalities? "Believe in God: believe also in Me," etc. 15-17). CHRIST ASCENDS AND PREPARES HEAVEN FOR US. "It is," I replied. It is really as though He had said, "Heaven won't be a complete home to Me till you are there, and I am sure it will not be to you till I am there; we must be together."2. God's holiness shines upon us through His law in our own reason and conscience and in the person of Christ. "Home" — oh, how sweet is that word! It seems a vast, awful world, this invisible which stretches out to the infinite all round us; the trembling soul may well shudder as it goes forth to meet its destiny. No: "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." The Godhead shines through Christ, but He is not a mere transparent medium. The day of Pentecost had not yet come. How sweet and familiar this conception of heaven! But He who boldly cries, "Let not your heart be troubled" must possess infallible antidotes. If Christendom were only Christian really, how much longer would China probably be Confucian? Then you will further observe, that as to this permanence, there will be ample sources of joy for us throughout eternity.III. Sibbes, D. D.)LinksJohn 14:1 NIVJohn 14:1 NLTJohn 14:1 ESVJohn 14:1 NASBJohn 14:1 KJVJohn 14:1 Bible AppsJohn 14:1 ParallelJohn 14:1 Biblia ParalelaJohn 14:1 Chinese BibleJohn 14:1 French BibleJohn 14:1 German BibleJohn 14:1 CommentariesBible Hub, (c)Faith conquers them (1 John 5:4). )Glimpses of our heavenly homeC. Baxendale.A New Zealand chief who visited England was remarkable for the deep spirituality of his mind and his constant delight in the word of God. Next, Christ says He would have told us if there had been no heaven. Surely if He be the Father, and Heaven be His house, the relation of the redeemed to one another must have in it more than all the sweet familiarity and unrestrained frankness which subsists in the families of earth. His brethren, supported the precept He addressed to them ; but heart. Light and the long delay of punishment Bible, and command it when those of. Speaker who was about to be given to GOD.1 never soul had such difficulties before be gigantic... 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