to surrender troubled hearts. Now, although just a few days ago we celebrated the birth of Jesus, the beginnings of His earthly life, this morning I want to take you on a journey towards the end of it. This morning I want to take you back to the upper room where Jesus and His disciples have shared the Passover feast together. We would have been witnessing the final week of Jesus' life here on earth. It's now Thursday evening. He's going to be crucified tomorrow afternoon. And so Jesus on this Thursday night in the upper room is giving His final words of encouragement to His apostles before He goes to be crucified on the cross. And the words He shares with them are also the words He gives to us this morning. I want you to recall what an incredible week you would have just witnessed. His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The thousands and thousands of people lining the road, hailing Him as the Messiah. All the palm branches. The cloaks being laid down on the dusty path before Him. The loud praises of Hosanna in the highest. And we gaze over and we catch the Apostle's eyes. as their minds raced with excitement, believing that Jesus at any moment would establish His messianic kingdom, that He would soon take over as king and ruler, and that they would be on easy street, having faithfully served Him for the last three-plus years of their lives. And yet, you and I know that by tomorrow afternoon, Friday afternoon, the apostles will see many of these same enthusiastic thrill-seekers that are here lining the streets They will be demanding His blood and screaming for Jesus to be crucified. Their interest in crowning Him king will be over, and instead of praises, they will be demanding for His execution. The upper room on this particular night must have been filled with confusion and anxiety. Please understand that these men, the eleven that now remain, Judas has already been dismissed to carry out his deed of betrayal. These men love Jesus. They believe in Him. They trust Him. But now in this hour, they are confused and bewildered at the things that He has been saying. The things they hoped were going to happen are quickly disappearing right before their eyes. And in just a matter of hours, the world of these 11 men is going to collapse into a kind of chaos that is beyond comprehension. But why? Why do they feel like this? Because Jesus keeps telling them that he needs to go. That he is leaving. That his time has come and he must now depart. That where he is going, they cannot go at this time. You see, these men have forsaken everything to follow Jesus. And now all they can hear is that He is going to abandon them, that they are scared and hurting and confused and shaken. Their hearts are troubled. Please allow me to pile on what else they have heard so that you can truly capture the anxiety and the distress that they must have felt. All of the doubt and fear and hurt that is added to their troubled souls. This very evening Jesus had already told them that one of them, and we know that it was Judas, that one of them was going to betray him into the hands of his enemies. And we know in Matthew 20 verses 17 through 19 that Jesus told them that he was going to be arrested and mocked and beaten and murdered on a cross. They just heard Jesus tell Peter that He, the One who is willing to walk out on top of the stormy waters, the One who at the end of John chapter 13 said He would lay His life down for Jesus, that before the break of day and the rooster crowed that Peter would deny Jesus three times. Oh, but there's much more. Let us not forget the sting of their boasting and painful hearts and prideful hearts, arguing as to who was to be the greatest and hold the highest office, and yet neglecting the basic joy of serving one another by the washing of each other's feet. And because of their pride, the Lord Jesus did for them what they would not do for one another. picture their faces and feel the weight of their hearts as King Jesus stripped down and humbled Himself and performed the lowest of tasks as He knelt before each one of them and washed their dirty feet." Don't you see? Their hearts are shredded. This can't be happening. This can't be the time nor the way. This is all going to end. We've been running around here for three years believing in some fairytale ending. He can't just leave us like this. He can't just die. What about us? Doesn't Jesus care about us? Now, for a moment, I want you to think about Jesus. Can we even begin to comprehend the depth of His loneliness and His pain, knowing that He alone is about to become the sin bearer for His chosen people and that the road that His mission will take Him on We hear no words of comfort from the apostles because they are indifferent to the suffering He has told them that He and He alone must bear. They are too consumed with their own problems and confusion and their own troubled hearts. And yet as frail as their love for Him might appear at this moment, Jesus' love for them is infinite. Even though they seem oblivious to His need of comfort, Jesus is not ignorant or negligent of their needs. Nor, my friends, does He ever turn away from ours. Remember, Jesus has full knowledge that He is hours away from being nailed to a cross, forsaken by His Father whom He has shared infinite communion with. He will be mocked and beaten and spat upon. Man, if this were me, I wouldn't even be able to function right now. I wouldn't be able to even stand. I would not be able to hear a word that you said to me. I would be useless and completely unable to help anyone. And yet Jesus is able to put aside His own trials and becomes completely absorbed in the needs of His 11 dearly loved friends whose lives were about to be turned upside down as these events unfold. Even though Jesus was about to drink the bitter cup of death for the sin of others, the full and holy wrath of God about to be unleashed upon Him, He was still focused and concerned over the sorrows and fears and troubled hearts of his people. Brethren, nothing has changed. This is the same God who loves us. This is the same God who redeemed us. This is the God who cares about us. This is the same God whom we serve. And this is our God in whom we can trust and cast our troubles upon. Because just like the apostles, we too live in troubled times. We too have great fears and anxieties. We too have doubts and plans that don't work out the way we want them to. My friends, it is for times like this that it is critical that your faith be properly placed. A genuine faith, saving faith, the kind of faith that provides rest and peace and assurance in stormy waters is only as good as its object. And for the Christians, the object of our faith is Jesus Christ. And because He is the omniscient, risen, and trustworthy Savior, Jesus in chapter 14 anticipates their troubles. Jesus anticipates their problems of losing Him. Jesus anticipates their already breaking hearts. And He is there to bring them comfort. He knows that their hearts are broken and full of sorrow and anxiety. And Jesus' heart is occupied with their sorrow rather than His own. And as these six verses unfold, they become the foundation for comfort, not only for these disciples, but for us. And if you ever get to a point in your life where you think you've run out of escapes and options and that there are no more places you can find rest, then my friend, grab a blanket and make yourself comfortable in these six verses. Here you will find all the comfort you need by trusting in the person of Jesus Christ. But because in trusting in Jesus, you will find no greater comfort for a troubled heart. Listen, and maybe this is for you. I know it's easier to say and harder to do. But I want you to think about this. If you really trust Jesus, if you truly trust Him, you have trusted Him with your eternity, then what in this life do you really have to worry about? What in this life do you really have to fear? What do you have to be afraid of? What in this life can truly bring you trouble? You see, the reason the disciples were filled with all this anxiety was because their focus was on their problem and not the promises of Christ. And so in these verses, Jesus says to them and Jesus says to us, trust me. You need to trust me. Okay, that was the intro. I'll get you out of here by New Year's Eve. Let's look at verse one together. Let not your hearts be troubled. Again, these words of comfort are coming from the lips of the incarnate Son of God who in just a matter of hours would bear the complete and full and terrifying wrath of God the Father as He would take upon Himself the sin of all those whom the Father had given Him. About to take the bitter cup of divine judgment and drink its bitter dregs. And yet here we find Jesus not consumed by His fate, but consumed with the interest and care of others. Here is God in the flesh standing before these dear men. The humiliation of the cross just hours away, moments away from his betrayal and false arrest and the beating and all his suffering and sin bearing. And he turns to his leaven and he turns to each one of us and says in the midst of his own personal turmoil, let not your hearts be troubled. Don't be confused. Jesus is not saying to them, hey guys, don't allow yourself to become troubled. Don't let things start to bother you. He's not saying that. Jesus already knows they are troubled and he knows that we allow ourselves to be troubled. He is telling them, he is telling us to stop letting your hearts be troubled. Stop doing that. Don't allow your hearts to be troubled any longer. But Jesus does more than just tell them to quit whining, butch up, and face the reality of their troubles. Jesus gives them the cure for their troubled hearts. Jesus tells them to stop letting your heart be troubled and instead to believe in God. Believe in me also. Jesus says that the cure to the troubles and anxieties and issues that they were facing as well as the ones that you and I face is to have a sincere trust, to possess a deep and unshakable belief in Jesus, just like they have in God. Not just belief for the sake of saying we believe in something, but belief in our God, the one who possesses infinite power and wisdom and goodness. Belief in our God who is in the heavens and does all that He pleases. Belief in our sovereign God who knows what is best for you and me and makes all things work together for our good. Belief in our God who at this moment is on His throne ruling amid the army of heaven and among the habitants of the earth. See, Jesus was about to be taken from them. The one that they had spent time with and witnessed miracles and healings and have talked to and laughed with and ate with was soon to be with them no more. So Jesus says, you believe in God who you cannot see. You believe in His love though you have not seen Him. You are conscious of His care though you've never touched the hand that guides and protects you. Then believe in me also. Believe in me in the same manner that you believe in God. If you want to have a trouble-free heart, then have full confidence in my existence, and my love, and my care, and my provision, and my power, even though you will no longer physically see me." Jesus is saying to them, start with God. Start with that all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, all-ruling, all-caring, all-sufficient, all-providing God. Start with the one that you believe in and trust in. You believe in God. You don't have any trouble with that. So you must believe in me also in the same manner that you believe in him. You see, Jesus needs them to be able to believe in him when they can no longer see him in the same way they have believed in God, whom they have not physically seen. Simply put, Jesus, God in the flesh, wants them and he wants us to be comforted by the knowledge of his presence. That means whatever trouble or mess or anxiety or anxious feeling or fear, never forget that the Lord Jesus is right there with you. Now there's more. Jesus not only says our source of comfort is found in trusting in God and trusting in Him, He now goes on to say another source of comfort is the fact that a place is being prepared for the people of God. Jesus is not only going to just provide you with words of comfort, but He's now going to make you a promise to bring you to a place of comfort. Let's look at 14.2 and 3 again. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. Brethren, you must take this in. Jesus is confirming that he is going back to heaven. That's what he means by his reference to his father's house. He was referring to where God lives. I'm going back to my eternal dwelling place. In my leaving you, I'm not going to forget about you. I'm going back to my father's house to make the necessary preparations for you to have a dwelling place so you can be with me where I am. So our Savior went back to a real heaven to make ready a real dwelling place for His real people. As believers, we are now living in a strange house, in a foreign land. We are exiles and sojourners, just passing through this land on our way to another. But in the life to come, followers of Christ will be at home in heaven in the Father's house where Jesus dwells, and we will be with Him there forever. Now I know that Jesus was a carpenter, but he's not saying that he needs to head back to his heavenly abode to start building some new condos for us to live in. What he wants us to know is that in and through his upcoming death, burial, and resurrection, that he is going to secure the right for every repentant sinner to enter into God's heavenly house. His life, death, and resurrection would do all that was necessary to secure for His people a welcome and permanent place in heaven. Because a special people taken from the earth through faith in a risen Christ must have a special place to spend eternity. A new and incredible thing was about to take place. Sinful man will be made clean, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and made ready to be brought into heaven to dwell with God forever. And Jesus tells his apostles these things. And he tells you these things. So then in your hour of need, when your hearts are troubled, you can turn to Christ and you can trust him. You can trust what he says because if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? Jesus is saying, you can trust me on this. I've never lied. I only tell the truth. I'm not just saying these things to make you feel good. I'm not some kind of placebo. Through my leaving, through my dying and my raising, I'm going to prepare a place for you and you can trust me on this. By removing the obstacle of our sin, Jesus can now make a place for us in heaven. Maybe I'm more excited about that than you guys this morning. I think that's pretty exciting. After the shedding of his own blood on the cross for our purification, he returned home to make ready our own homecoming. And if it were not so, then he would not have said this to us. But to have this hope, to enter into heaven, and to dwell in its holy halls, then you must understand that heaven is only for those who have trusted in the blood that Jesus shed for the forgiveness of their sins. Then and only then should you believe that there will ever be a dwelling place for you in heaven. Only those who believe and trust in Christ can know that heaven has been prepared for their arrival because no human will ever appear in heaven either unknown or unexpected because Jesus has only prepared a place there for each and every one of his own. Jesus goes on and says, I want you to remember something else when your hearts are troubled. Not only am I going to go ahead and prepare a place for you, but I'm coming back for you. Jesus said that when it's time, I'm going to come back for you and I will personally take you there to be with me. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. I'm not gonna send somebody for you. I'm gonna come back for you myself because I love you and you belong to me and you belong with me. And when it is time, I will come for you myself and take you to be with me and you will stay with me where I am forever. And because Jesus is the one saying this, we can have absolute security and confidence in these words. If it is looking dark and hopeless, when you are troubled and it seems that I'm not there or that I forgot about you, then it is in these moments that you need to remember my promises and trust me. I've gone ahead and secured heaven for you and when the time is right, I'm personally coming back and will bring you to myself. Brothers and sisters, I know there are hard days. Days when we just want it all to be over. Days that we just want to weep. The pain is great. We just want to get out of here and to be with Jesus and not deal with the heartache of this fallen world. Listen, I have some encouraging news for you. Jesus wants you to be there with Him just as bad as you want to be with Him there. Listen to Jesus in John 17, 24. Jesus says this, 41B, Jesus is speaking to His Father and saying, 42B, What a cure for the troubled times we live in. What timely application for the world in which we find ourselves. When you have doubt and pain and fear and hurt and misery, when you feel that you just can't move on and you just can't do it anymore, when your troubled heart is aching, Jesus says for you to trust Him and to believe in Him. He wants you to remember that you have an eternal home waiting for you in the Father's house and that He is there now taking care of all the details and will personally welcome us to our new home at just the right time. He comforts us by telling us that He will never forget us and that when the right time comes, He will personally come for us Himself and will take us to be with Him where He is for all eternity. What great encouragement to get us through the storms of life. And then Jesus says to them, next in John 14, 4, And you know the way to where I am going. He says, and you already know what it's going to take in order for me to get you there. You know the manner as to how I will get back to my Father. You know because I've been telling you this all along that I have to die. That the way back to where He is going is through the cross because that is the only one, He is the only one that can save man from sin and the wrath of God. The way here was the manger. The way home was Calvary. Since Jesus has told them on many occasions that he was returning to the Father, he expected them to know the way where he is going. But at least one of them was brave enough to admit they weren't sure. As Thomas goes on to question when he said to Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? Now to us, for the New Testament Christian, this seems silly that Thomas has not figured out that Jesus is going back to heaven and that the road back is through a blood-soaked cross. That Jesus' return back to glory would come at the hands of men that would execute him by crucifixion, and that there is an empty tomb, that there is a resurrection beyond his grave. But I am thankful for Thomas' question, and I wish there were more Thomases around. Thomas's heart was troubled and he wanted to be sure that he thoroughly understood the way to Jesus. At least he wasn't so prideful that he refused to ask the most important question in the world. How can a sinful person be reconciled to God and go to heaven? Thomas's troubled heart understood the magnitude of the moment. And so he needed to make sure that he knew how he could get to go to where Jesus was going. He needed a map. He needed directions. And my friend, you must make sure you understand the correct answer to this question as well. And so Jesus answers, Thomas, in verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now, just like for Thomas, if directions are to have any benefit, not only do you need to know the final destination, you must also know the current location. Because the way there is a path between the starting point and the ending point. Therefore, in a spiritual sense, you must know where every man begins. You must know that the spiritual condition that every man finds himself in in his search for the way to God. And according to the Bible, all mankind is utterly ruined. We are condemned before God for the guilt of our sin. In Romans 3, 23, a verse I'm sure you all know, Paul writes, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And because of sin's universal effect, all of man is banned from God's holy presence and needs to be reconciled. We all need to be made right with God. Mankind's starting point says that our sin condition is so bad that there is nothing we can do to reconcile ourselves to God. We're not only condemned in sin, but completely and thoroughly corrupted by it. That means that it is not humanly possible for us to perform any type of moral surgery on ourselves. And if I can state it very simply, we cannot get to God on our own. We cannot get from here to there by ourselves. And that is why Jesus' response there in verse 6 is so offensive to people who are lost. They don't like these kind of directions. Christianity upsets and outrages its objectors because the gospel declares that man's separation from God is humanly hopeless because of sin. And sinful man hates and despises and rejects the message that he cannot save himself. He hates the message that we can only be reconciled and find our way to God through the Savior he sent to die for our sin. The message that only Jesus Christ, God's sinless Son, could atone for our sin through his death and resurrection. The message that Jesus' way of salvation requires us to confess our sins, humble ourselves seeking forgiveness, and surrender our claims to self-rule. These are the kind of directions that sinful man refuses to follow. And yet this is the very thing that distinguishes Jesus Christ and points to him as the one and true Savior. that what you need to get to heaven is not a philosophy or a way of life, but a person. You need Jesus Christ. He makes clear then that He is not simply the one who blazes some trail to heaven, but He is the way itself. He is the Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away sin, and He is the one who can give eternal life. You see, without Him, there is no going to heaven. Without Him, the way in remains firmly closed against us. It is as we come to God through Him that we gain access to heaven. He is the one in whom we must put our trust, that the way to heaven is through Him. Jesus goes on and says, not only is He the way, but that He is the truth. And clearly, very clearly, man needs the revelation of truth because it was through ignorance and lies that we fell into sin in the first place. Our first parents did not accidentally stumble into sin, but they were led into sin by Satan in broad daylight. Satan enticed Eve by asking, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? God didn't say that. God told them they could eat of every tree in the garden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You see, Satan's lie suggested that God's commands and God's truths were not for our own good, and that the way for mankind to really experience freedom and blessing is by breaking God's commandments. And this lie has marked the way of sin ever since that fatal day in the garden. It isn't simply that Jesus is true and that His way is true. He's not just saying that He speaks truth. He's not simply saying that He is the right and true way to God, although He is. Many deceivers have said that very same thing. It is not that He will truly bring His people to heaven. Rather, he is saying that he himself is the embodiment of truth. Jesus is truth personified, that all other ways are false. To trust in anyone else is to reject the truth and to reject the one who is the truth. That truth is found in him and in no one else. We must see this because not to believe in Jesus Christ is to believe a lie. There are many today being tossed to and fro. They find it almost impossible to relate to any kind of reality. People don't know what to think or believe. They don't know who to trust. And Jesus says, believe in me. I am the truth. Jesus says he is the way and the truth. And then his third claim, he is the life. Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, meaning man in sin is falling under death's power and death's curse. Ephesians 2.1 says that apart from Christ we are spiritually dead. We are unable to do anything spiritually for our salvation. But in John 10.10 it says that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. That we may have life eternal. John said in the beginning of his gospel in chapter 1 and verse 4 that in him was life and the life was the light of men. That's why Jesus is the life. He is the source of eternal life for those who believe and follow him. All who are saved come to Jesus by the power of life in his call through the gospel. And those who come to Jesus as the way of salvation and believe in him as the revealer of God's truth receive eternal life in him. He is the way of truth that brings life. Jesus said in John 5 24, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. In John 3.36, for whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Jesus declares that the way home is through him because he is the way, the truth, and the life. And then lastly, he adds our final thought this morning, that he is the exclusive Savior and one way to God. Jesus adds, no one comes to the Father except through me. If you want to go to God the Father, it has to be through the Son. There is no other way. Jesus is revealed in Scripture as the one mediator between man and God. Therefore, He is the only way, the only truth, and there is no life except in Him. If we want to go to heaven, it is possible only through Jesus. And that kind of talk has provoked anger and outrage and hatred from this world. And yet as we ponder these final words, Jesus is saying to us this morning, no one comes to the Father except through me. They seem pretty bold considering it is the eve of the cross. Here is the one that just said, I am the way, but would shortly hang appearing lifeless and helpless. on a cross. Here is the one who claimed, I am the truth, when the lives of evil people were about to enjoy what seemed like a great victory. And here is the one that just said, I am the life, who in a matter of just hours would have his court placed in a borrowed tomb. And now, here he is proclaiming, no one comes to the Father except through me. How could Jesus speak so boldly and confidently when he knew what was about to happen? Because, my friends, Jesus knew he would rise victoriously from the grave and that his truth would be proclaimed with power across the world so that multitudes who believed and followed would be reconciled to God and enter into glory with him. And now, as the possessor of resurrection life, Jesus can give eternal life to those under death's power. And as incarnate truth, Jesus can reveal truth amid the errors and lies of the world. And as the only way to the Father, Jesus has the right to demand our faith and exclusive devotion as our one and only Savior and Lord. For just as Peter declared in Acts 4.12, There is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men which would be saved. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus' claim to be the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to the Father, confronts our postmodern era because it says that there is such a thing as absolute truth in the spiritual realm. And it says that only Jesus is the absolute truth and that all other ways are wrong. You see, people today don't have a problem if you say that Jesus is a way to God. They don't have a problem if you personally believe in him as long as you don't say that all other beliefs are false. But the moment you claim that Jesus is the exclusive way to God, that He is the only spiritual truth, that all other beliefs are false, that He alone can impart eternal life, then you will be accused of being intolerant and arrogant. And they respond this way, and they act this way, because they are oblivious and darkened in their understanding, and therefore don't understand the comfort and hope and forgiveness that verse 7 meant to bring a troubled soul. Believing that Jesus is the way will comfort your troubled heart, because you can be assured that you have found the only access to the gracious Father through Him. Through Jesus, you can bring all of your troubles into the very presence of the same God who spoke the universe into existence. Believing that Jesus is the truth will comfort your troubled heart because everything else is subjective and uncertain, and you can stand securely in the truth of who Jesus is. and believing that Jesus is the life will comfort your troubled heart because trusting in him gives assurance of eternal life and escape from a hellish death. No one comes to the Father except through me. Maybe you've listened this morning and you've heard about heaven and about the comfort that comes by trusting Christ. The peace of knowing that you will have a Savior who has secured your place in heaven, who will personally escort you there to be with Him when your time here on earth has expired. But what if you're here this morning and you know that you will not be there? That He is not coming for you to escort you to your heavenly home, but instead He is coming for you in judgment. That you will not go to be with Him because the only way to get there is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. And you've never done that. You've never put your faith in Jesus Christ. That is the tragedy of all tragedies. Because Jesus just told you that no one comes to the Father except through Him. But listen, I bring you good news this morning. Don't just sit there. Do something about it. Don't do anything else this morning until you have repented of your sins. Just recognize and confess you're a sinner in need of the Savior and ask God to forgive you. Ask Jesus Christ to wash you clean in His blood and stop living for self and start living and serving Him. Give Him your troubled heart this morning. And to my dear brother or sister, I ask you, Have you ever felt doubt and despair and depression and loneliness and hopelessness? Have you had those days when it feels that your life or your job or your marriage or your children is just all in chaos and your heart is aching? Don't you see that Jesus is saying to you, stop. Stop right now. Believe in me. You can trust in me. I'm right here. My fellow sojourners and exiles, don't you see that in Christ our greatest need has been met? With forgiveness through Christ, eternity secured, a new home awaiting me, what else do we possibly need? Our greatest trouble has been crushed in defeat. We are one and at peace with God. A God who loves us and is in sovereign control and reigning on high. Jesus's words, let not your hearts be troubled, means that we can do something about our troubled hearts. It is a command, which means that we have the ability to control our emotions. It means that we don't have to be living as victimized and led by our feelings. That we can do something to deal with anxiety or a troubled heart. We believe in Jesus as God and hope in his promise of heaven. And so, as we leave here today, I don't want you to ever forget that Jesus Christ was troubled on your behalf. So you don't need to be troubled by life's problems. Let not your hearts be troubled. Let's pray.