“A Place For Us”
John 14;1-9
David P. Nolte
There are many elaborate, ornate, huge mansions around the world; for
example: the Pittock Mansion The Hearst Mansion
Graceland Mansion J.D. Rockefeller mansion
All of these, however ornate, costly, extravagant and famous will turn to
rubble. Here today, gone tomorrow.
We have all seen houses drop into the sea when the rains and winds and
tides erode the foundations. We have seen million dollar homes go up in
flames. Some have been flattened by hurricanes or earthquakes.
Just living in a mansion does not guarantee a happy or healthy life. Some
of the worst crimes have been committed in a mansion.
But there is good news. We can have an indestructible mansion. Jesus
said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in
Me. 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. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where
I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you
know." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are
going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from
now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord,
show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have
I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who
has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the
Father'?” John 14:1-9 (NKJV).
The theme, if you have missed it, is “Mansions” When we consider the
mansions to which Jesus refers, there are some truths we ought to know.
I. OUR MANSION WILL BE A PREPARED PLACE:
A. “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.”
1. Jesus Himself is preparing it. We will for sure enjoy it
because He has us in mind while the preparation is
accomplished.
2. And we can be confident He will do it! He would not
kid us or have us cherish a pipe dream, or indulge a vain
hope.
B. The song reminded us of the certainty of our future prepared
home:
“In my father's house are many mansions.
If it were not true He would have told me so.
He has gone away to live in that bright city;
He's preparing me a mansion there I know.”
C. It is a prepared place for prepared people. As Matthew Henry
commented, “If He has prepared the place for us, He will
prepare us for it, and in due time put us in possession of it.”
1. Prepared people are believing people: Jesus said, “You
believe in God, believe also in Me.”
2. Prepared people are those who know Jesus, “Philip said
to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient
for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so
long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?’” John
informs us, “By this we know that we have come to
know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one
who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not
keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him.” 1 John 2:3-4 (NASB).
3. Prepared people are those who are bonded to Jesus by
faith: He said, “No one comes to the Father except
through Me.” To come through Him we must be in Him
and He in us! How do we get in Christ?
a. Paul said, “Or do you not know that all of us who
have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been
baptized into His death? Therefore we have been
buried with Him through baptism into death, so
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in
newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4 (NASB).
b. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians
3:27 (NASB).
c. “Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can
now come boldly and confidently into God’s
presence.” Ephesians 3:12 (NLT).
D. Marlene likes a prepared place at home. When we are
expecting company, she is hustle-bustling to get the place
prepared: no shoes in the living room; no dishes in the sink,
no clutter on my computer desk. And that’s as it should be.
Jesus is even more diligent in preparation.
E. It’s like a story I read recently. One excessively hot summer
a father said to his family “I am going to the coast today on
business and while I am there I’ll get a place ready for us near
the beach.” His children asked, “What did Dad mean when he
said that he will get a place ready for us? What kind of
place?” And their mother answered, “I have no idea of what
your father means, but you will see when you get there. But
you know your father and that he loves to surprise us, and that
we have never been disappointed yet.”
Just so, we may ask, “What kind of place?” but we must
remember that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind
has conceived what God has prepared for those who love
Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV).
Although we do not know all that Jesus will do in preparing
a place for us, it will be a surprise and He knows exactly what
He is going to do.” We can rest assured that it will be a
prepared place, and:
II. OUR MANSION WILL BE A PEACEFUL PLACE:
A. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe
also in Me.”
1. Jesus bases His encouragement to have quiet hearts on
their belief and the promise of a prepared place.
2. Peace can begin here and will certainly continue through
eternity.
3. Later in the chapter He said, “Peace I leave with you;
My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give
to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be
fearful.” John 14:27 (NASB) .
B. The song speaks of that peace saying,
“Jesus died upon the cross to bear my sorrow;
Freely died that souls like you might have new life.
However dark and stark it may be now,
there is a bright tomorrow!”
C. The place He prepares will be a peaceful place where:
1. There will be no bad stuff;
a. No worries or anxieties or sorrow to rob us of
peace.
b. No terrorism or violence or crime of any kind.
c. No nation rising up against another nation.
d. No quarreling or striving at all.
e. No sickness or weakness or dying.
f. No temptation and no sin.
g. No politics!
2. But there will be plenty of good stuff:
a. Joy unbounded.
b. Perfect order and harmony, safety and security.
c. Reunion with loved ones.
d. New, immortal, unageing bodies.
e. Perfect health and happiness.
f. The immediate, visible, accessible presence of
Jesus.
D. However tempestuous, or upsetting, or restless your life may
be in this world, He is preparing a place of peace for us in the
world to come!
E. Let me illustrate the desire for a peaceful place. Chris Surbur
tells about his 3 year old son, Sebastian, who had to go
through some medical testing. Sebastian is a very active little
boy and doesn’t like to be still for long. This test involved
having to lay still for about an hour hooked up to test
equipment.
After only a few minutes into the tests, Sebastian began to
cry. He was scared and uncomfortable and didn’t understand
what was happening to him. Through his tears, Sebastian
kept saying, "I go home, Daddy. I go home." He knew that at
home he was safe, and secure and untroubled. It was his
peaceful place.
We often find ourselves in miserable , uncomfortable circumstances,
wondering what is happening to this world with its conflicts and dangers
and pain, and when we are afraid; we find ourselves crying out to our
Heavenly Father, "I go home, Father. I go home" because we know that
the place He has prepared, our home, is a place of peace.
How true the old saying, There’s no place like home, sweet home!”
In this broken world, the ultimate hope that we have in Christ is the
promise that He made to us “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also.” That place is a peaceful place
because “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no
more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the
former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4 (NKJV).
III. OUR MANSION WILL BE A PERMANENT PLACE:
A. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
1. The Hebrew letter speaks of the eternal nature of Christ: “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
(NLT).
2. Peter said. “For you have been born again, but not to a life that
will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it
comes from the eternal, living word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23
(NLT).
3. Since He doesn’t change, and since our new life will last
forever, and since we will always be with Him, it follows that
our prepared place is a permanent one!
B. Can you imagine the discomfort, the inconvenience, the sense of
lostness the folk must feel who are forced by flood or fire or others
disaster to be crammed into temporary shelters? Sure, it’s got to
be better than being totally homeless, but there is a feeling of
insecurity in transient lodgings.
1. Again I quote Matthew Henry, “The house itself is lasting; our
estate in it is not for a term of years, but a perpetuity. Here we
are as in an inn; in heaven we shall gain a settlement.”
2. So Peter’s words are good to hear, “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an
inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not
fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the
power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB) .
C. Think about it:
1. We may love staying in a motel for a vacation, but to live in one
for an lengthy, exceeded time would be crowded and
inconvenient. It would not be my choice for a permanent
dwelling place!
2. We may be refugees here on earth: transient, unsettled, just
passing through. But over there we have a home eternal in the
heavens! Here our houses decay and collapse, but over there
our house is imperishable and undefiled and unfading.
D. The idea of Heaven’s Permanence gives a sense of security,
continuity and belonging. It’s settling down after years of
roaming.
E. Thinking of the eternal duration of this prepared place, W. B.
Hinson, a preacher of a past generation, spoke from his own
experience just before he died. He said, "I remember a year ago
when a doctor told me, 'You have an illness from which you won't
recover.' I walked out to where I live 5 miles from Portland,
Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love. I looked
at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that
are always God's own poetry to my soul. Then in the evening I
looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps,
and I said, ' I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I
shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when
you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when
you have fallen from your sockets in the great down pulling of the
material universe!'”
We can have eternal life in an eternal place especially prepared and
provided for those who love Jesus. PRAY / INVITE
Our mansion in Heaven is not gained by our works, but by His. He offers
it as a free gift by grace through faith! But faith is always belief, trust
Him; and pobedience. If you have not been obedient in repentance and
baptism, you need to make that step!
That kind of faith pleases Jesus. In that faith, reach out to Him – in grace
He’s reaching out to you.
