“His Many Mansions, Part Three”
John 14:1-11

August 28, 2005
by C.W. Powell

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In 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.
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.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Introduction: As we saw last week, all of these verses are connected. Today, let us look at this passage again and see other threads of truth that are woven through this marvelous fabric.

I. Review from last two weeks: “Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. [vs. 1] Peace in the heart is the absolute requirement for the growth of spiritual virtues. The agitated heart is no soil in which goodness and holiness can grow.)

a) We saw the reasons for agitation. Ignorance of the promises of God which result in unbelief and unrest. Rebellion against God’scommandment or His lot for us in life. We saw that the cure is faith and trust. “Rest in the Lord, Wait patiently for Him.” Agitation and unrest are intoxicants that bring the whole soul into disorder. Jesus said, “You believe in God, believe also in me.”
b) We see that we are to seek Christ above, and not in thing in the world. He is not on the earth We looked at I Corinthians last week and found that Christ cannot be known after the flesh anymore, for he is in heaven, and will not be seen in the flesh again until the end of the world, when He will come to judge the living and the dead. If we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Now the time will come when we will both be present in the body and present with the Lord, but that will not be until the resurrection of the dead.
c) Until then, we are to labor to be accepted of Him.
d) He has prepared heaven for us, and is now preparing us for heaven. By his discipline of the church and the ministry of the Word of God, he is sanctifying and working in us that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
e) The evidence of the Son of God in Heaven is the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He has poured out upon His people.

Q52: What comfort is it to you that Christ "shall come to judge the living and the dead"?
A52: That in all my sorrows and persecutions, I, with uplifted head, look for the very One, who offered Himself for me to the judgment of God, and removed all curse from me, to come as Judge from heaven, who shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall take me with all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.

f) How do we know the way to this Godly contentment and true worship: “I am the way the truth and the life,” Jesus said. “No man comes to the Father, but by me.” He is in heaven and we must seek him there.

II. God can only be worshipped in spiritual worship, not earthly, carnal worship.

A. This was true even in the Old Testament:

a) “Now therefore put away, [said he], the strange gods which [are] among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” (Jos 24:23 AV)
b) Give ear, O my people, [to] my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.” (Ps 78:1 AV)
c) “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.” (Isa 55:1-3 AV)

B. This was even more manifest in the coming of our Lord Jesus and his death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

a) Our Prophet, our Priest, our King is in heaven, and we must seek Him there, by prayers, by the Holy Spirit, by reading His word. The seat of power and authority is there, and He has been given authority over all things in heaven and in earth. “All power is given me….”

“13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” (Col 1:13-16 AV)

b) What then, validates your faith? People are hungry. They are looking for Christ, but they look for him in the wrong places. They hear that he is here, he is there. They travel to Jerusalem, to walk where Jesus walked, and to feel His presence. They show the emptiness of their lives by flocking to huge church, because they have heard that Jesus is there. They think they find him in the sensuous and emotional music, in the glamour and thrill of thousands of voices. They feel him in the Vatican and the beautiful paintings and sculpture. They hear of holy places and shrines, and we protestants have many of them. We want to find Him in the revival meetings and the campfires. We do not find Him because we are looking for Him in the wrong places. He cannot be found on the earth, and any faithful minister will direct you away from himself to heaven, where Christ alone can be found. “Ye shall seek for me, and ye shall find me, when ye shall seek for me with all your hearts,” is the way Scripture put it.
c) If you are not heavenly minded you are of no earthly good.

(1) Your authority is from heaven, not from earth.
(2) Your wisdom is from heaven, not from earth.
(3) Your righteousness is from heaven, not from the earth.
(4) Your future is in a heavenly kingdom that comes down to earth at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

d) The true temple is in heaven: Heb. 12: Please turn there in your Bibles:

(1) There are many witnesses to Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, enduring the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Father. He is in heaven. You must seek Him there.
(2) There are all kinds of evils when men seek Christ anywhere else than in heaven. Jesus said, “When you pray, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Mt 6:6 AV) The truth is the same even if you pray in church, which is a wonderful place to pray, and where Christ has promised to meet with His children; but no prayer is to be made for the purpose of display, or to impress people, for even in public, you are to pray in your hearts to the Lord. It is not the preacher that you must impress, or the deacon, or the elder, or your fellow Christian; your prayers are to be offered to God, and not for the purpose of being seen of men. Public prayers are commanded to be made; but they must be from the heart.
(3) We are now under chastening, under correction; He loves us and chastens us that we might be partakers of His holiness, dealing with us as sons. We have been in subjection to our earthly fathers, how much more should we be in subjection to our heavenly father.
(4) We are not to despise the chastening of the Lord, but lift up our hands, strengthen the feeble knees, making straight paths for our feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way—and we are to ““14 Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled; 16 Lest there [be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Heb 12:14-17 AV)
(5) Don’t be like Esau who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.
(6) Why are we to do this?

(a) Because the Kingdom of God is from Heaven, and not on the earth. Heb. 12:18-29

(i) We are not come to an earthly mount, as impressive as Sinai was, we have something better, for it is not on the earth. Nothing on this earth can compare with the solemnity, the beauty, the grandeur, the glory, or the impelling authority of our heavenly kingdom. But it must be seen by faith, and not by sight.
(ii) Exodus 11 and exposit briefly.

(b) We have a heavenly kingdom. More glorious, more wonderful, more holy, more beautiful and much more powerful. Vs. 22-24
(c) If the judgments under the first were certain and horrible, how much more if we turn away from Christ. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken so at last nothing stands except those who hear the word of God and do it. If you build on the rock your house will stand; if you do not, it will be shaken down.
(d) Our God is a consuming fire: let us have grace to serve him in humility and peace. See what follows in chapter 12: Common, ordinary decency and mutual respect.

` Humble deeds of service to one another and self-denial and love for the people of God. There isn’t anything else, nor should there be.

Amen and Amen.

May God bless you.