Sermon

Introduction:

Capture the main points that deal with not letting our hearts be troubled...

Let us pray…

Never before in the history of our country have there been more broken hearts than there are today. The whole world cried with the September 11 attacks. And now thousands/millions are being affected by the corrupt practices of a few CEOs. The imminent war in Iraq, the arrogance of North Korea's leadership, biological warfare – we've seen that with anthrax, terrorists, jihad, all of these make it feel like the signs of the times – wars and rumors of wars.  But not only that – promiscuity – covetousness – adulterous relationships are affecting married people and even our youth.

These are days of fear and tension. We have heard Pastor Catanus preach about the "Last Days" for the past two Sundays. We see the prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes.

Now what is the cause for all this? The cause is, men have forgotten God. Men have set up their own standards for living. You see corruption; idolatry, pornography, evil and wickedness permeate the air. They are knocking at our doorsteps ...Our communities have forgotten God!

What are we to do in a world like this? Must we base our happiness on the world in which we live? It is the task of every Christian to learn how to live in the world, without letting the world live in him!

The Christian need never have an inner disturbance. There is need for concern for the world, but we should never let the world raise within us fear and tension.

In John chapter 14 we will find why no Christian ever has to have a troubled heart.

The heart of a Christian need not be troubled because:

"Trust in God," the scripture says. You believe in Him, you have His love and protection. God is still in control of the universe. God's plan is being fulfilled. And for those who put their trust in Him, all things are working together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to His purpose.

When Jesus announced His going away, in the previous chapters of John, it hit like a bombshell in the disciples. The Lord Jesus had constantly told them that His hour would come, the hour in which He would be betrayed and crucified, the hour in which He must leave them bodily and go to the Father and see them no more in the flesh.

But how tragic, that when the hour finally came, they were unprepared to face it; their hearts were troubled; they began to act as though God was going to die.

How often we find ourselves the same way. The storm clouds gather, friends betray us, we suffer financial and physical downfalls; our world seems to give way and oh, how hopeless we become. We then act as though God is dead! We act as though we have no real faith, we start to doubt, as though we have none to whom to turn. But if we will but stop and think we will realize that Jesus meant it when He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," and "I am with you always even unto the end of the world."

"Let not you heart be troubled . . . trust in God."

(Verse 6) - "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me."

One could preach an entire sermon on this one verse. Jesus is not merely One who has shown men the way; He is the way. It is His death, resurrection, and ascension that have made a way for men to spend eternity with God in heaven. He is not merely a way; He is the way. He is the one and only way that God has provided for men to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. Lest anyone miss this point, Jesus says it again, in the plainest of words: "No one comes to the Father except through Me." To know Jesus is to know the way to the Father, for He is the way.

Jesus is also the truth. He does, of course, teach the truth. His words are truth. But beyond this, He is the truth. He is the "wisdom" of Proverbs chapter 8. All truth has its source in Him, as the Apostle Paul writes in (Colossians 2:2-3): "My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of full assurance in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". Christ and Christ alone!

Finally, Jesus is the life. We know that He has raised the dead to life. In John’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been in the tomb four days! Jesus gives life, but this is because He is the source of life. He is the One who called heaven and earth (and the church) into existence (John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:15-20). To reject Him is to reject life and to choose death (see John 5:21-40; 6:33-63). Because He is the life, His life cannot be taken away from Him. He lays it down, just as He has authority to take it up again (John 10:17-18).

Let me repeat it - He is the way and the truth and the life.

Everything Christ ever did, He did with the Christian in mind. "I go for you…I prepare for you…I come for you…I give to you…I am peace for you." That's the kind of Savior and friend the Christian had.

And you know what – He is the bridegroom and we are His bride, the Church. Oh, don't you want to be a part of this glorious wedding in heaven.

Illustration:  Paul at three years of age cried when I asked, "Who are going to marry?"

Verse 27 clearly states, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Let not your heart be troubled, you have Christ the Savior.

(Verses 16-18) "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever: even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not; neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth in you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

Our God is not something in the wide blue yonder who is difficult to reach. He does not dwell in Mount Olympia as did the god of the Athenians, but our God can be touched with the tears that we shed.

We must remember that the Holy Spirit is not sent to comfort us in our sins, but is sent that He shall " . . . bring to remembrance all things that Christ has commanded us (verse 26), In time when adversity assails us we have the assurance that He "will not leave us comfortless."

Let not your heart be troubled, you have the Holy Spirit.

>>>>>

Wow, what wonderful assurances. Imagine we have the three Persons of the Trinity working together that we may enjoy life to the fullest! Let not your heart be troubled because you have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – what more could you ask for?

But we still feel defeated at times. Our hopelessness, our worry, and our rebelliousness come not because God is not present, but it is because we fail to recognize His presence.

We fail to recognize His presence and we fail to recognize that we . . .

(Verses 13-14) "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son. If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it."

Do you know how close God is to us? He is as close as the distance between our knees and the floor. Meaning, he is just a prayer away!

God is concerned with what may seem to be the most trivial petition. He wants us to have what we need. He will give us what we need, but we must place ourselves in the hands of God if we are to expect Him to provide.

The song, What A Friend We Have in Jesus, succinctly states the grief caused by the lack of prayer….

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and grief to bear!

What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.

Prayer is the expression of the soul's sincere desire to God. Why penalize ourselves with pain and grief by failure to pray? Why don't we pray more? Why would we rather suffer than pray?

It is the business of the devil to cause us to become so obsessed with our burdens and troubles that we think about nothing but ourselves. How can we overcome? The Bible tells us that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us; if we resist the devil he will flee from us. The problem is we do so little drawing near to God, and so little resisting of the devil.

We have to realize that there is a straight communication line to God that is never busy, and we can use that line to ease our troubled hearts!

And there's more….

(Just like in those TV commercials…)

(Verse 2) "In my Father's house are many mansions . . .I go to prepare a place for you."

What a glorious consolation it is to know that for us, Christians, there is more to look forward to than just this earth. In our Father's house are enough mansions for every one of us.

Illustration:  Hard working Filipinos

We may liken it to our experience here in USA. We all work hard and some of us are sending most of our earnings back home to the Philippines for safekeeping. Some are sending their earnings as payment to a retirement place. We keep just enough to provide food, clothing and shelter. We are always thinking about the time when we retire, when we will go to our retirement homes in Florida, San Diego, or even the Philippines and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

That is exactly the same thing that we Christians should be doing. We work hard in the ministry of the Church investing our time, effort, and our financial resources because we know that as we go to our heavenly home, we will enjoy the fruits of our labor. Someday we will move into our heavenly mansion, and then what a time we will enjoy!

It is the thought of heaven's glories that makes earth's hardships bearable!

Let not your heart be troubled, you have heaven.

(Verse 31) "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me a commandment, even so, I do. Arise, let us go hence."

The most miserable people on earth are those who have nothing to do, or rather who do nothing. These are those who have the time to think about themselves and their own problems all the time.

Jesus said to the disciples, "Arise, let us go…" Don't sit around doing nothing. Jesus knew that if His followers sat there thinking about their troubles they would soon become defeated men.

All of us have had the experience if coming to the close of a day and looking back over it and feeling that we accomplished nothing. We know how miserable it makes us feel. On the other hand, there are days when we feel we gave our best and accomplished what we set out to do. This makes us happy.

While salvation is by grace through faith, it is works that keeps a Christian happy after he has experienced grace.

What have you done for the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Illustration:  The troubled boy with one arm.

Your heart may not be troubled but have you ever helped a troubled heart?

Let not your heart be troubled, you have a job to do.

No matter how bad things get, no matter how much it hurts, no matter if it is us or someone else, as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, let us keep on praising God. And we need to praise our Lord who is sovereign and is taking care of these things. There are lots of things we don't know but we do know these things, that

In times of adversity, He is our assurance;

In times of burden, He is our blessing;

In times of crisis, Christ is our comfort;

In times of darkness, He is our light;

In times of decision, He is our wisdom;

In times of defeat, He is our deliverer;

In times of discouragement, He is our inspiration;

In times of failure, He is our success;

In times of grief, He is our glory;

In times of heartache, He is our hope;

In times of turmoil, He is our trust;

In times of weakness, He is our strength;

And we do know this–in times of sorrow, He is our unspeakable joy, the joy of knowing our salvation is secure, and our deliverance will surely come.

May God be praised!*

Let us pray…

(Sermon outline taken from Bill Lewis)