It is the same old story always; and always with the old refrain: "Let not your heart be troubled."1. Heaven becomes richer to us as Christians die. Stanford, D. D.I. But the thought "My Father's house," dissipates all dread. (3) It stirs up such graces as comfort the soul, as hope in all good things promised. The third idea in our text is PREPARATION. Claudius begins by evoking the likeness of a visiting Norman knight, and does so by drawing on the Aristotelian topos of the projectively imagined centaur: I have seen myself, and serv’d against, the French, And they can well on horseback, but this gallant. Hunters are no better than heathens or those who actively reject the pastoral truths of the Judeo-­Christian God. Christ's going away would naturally seem to them pure loss. And so every real believer feels that nothing higher can be promised him, than that he should "be ever with his Lord."(C. Beecher. Try to hear them for the first time, and to remember the circumstances. Though He slay us, we had better trust in Him.III. On the other hand, the Scripture everywhere manifests to us God as a person. But the thought "My Father's house," dissipates all dread. (2) And consider how this conception suggests answers to so many of our questions about the relationship of the inmates to one another. He had just dismissed Judas, knew what was transpiring outside, and what would follow. But my text suggests to us that we have got as much as we need, and, for the rest, if we needed to have heard it, He would have told us. By "two immutable things," Christ intends us to have "strong consolation." But in the next place we have the idea of RECEPTION. There would be a sighing for the lost seasons of the earth, its withered flowers, its light and shade, its many countries, and its encircling seas. Next, Christ says He would have told us if there had been no heaven. In his haste to assert the dignity of wits like himself, Greene stumbles. )Sources of Christian comfortW. Roberts.I. There are many mansions. Perhaps that upper room, like the most of the roof chambers in Jewish houses, was open to the skies, and whilst He spoke the innumerable lights that blaze in that clear heaven shone down upon them, and He may have pointed to these as He spoke. Now, if this Book itself were in danger of being destroyed, and I might have only one chapter out of it, I rather think it would be this which Scott asked to be read to him. "All things change, and we with them." By this we must understand, not His creating heaven for us, or enlarging or adorning it, but removing out of the way all things which would prevent our entering into it. )Faith in God one with faith in ChristA. "That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me," etc. The trouble —1. Then, lest this vastness and variety should seem too large to our thought, we have also in these words a sweet assurance as to the HOMELINESS of heaven.IV. (2) And so are secure from enemies. He will be there Himself to take care of it. Yes, God is amazing in every attribute. Every apparent discord leads up to the final harmony.3. (b)Christ will send His Spirit (chap. 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. A happy earthly home is the nearest approach to an adequate conception of the life of heaven. Stanford, D. D.)Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.Belief in ChristC. (5) And if we think of a Father in heaven, it is Christ who has revealed Him. I don't know. Today, as related to heathen peoples and religions, the Judas Iscariot of Christianity is Christendom itself. What beautiful and tender associations cluster thick around it! They had left all to follow Him, with some earthly expectations, perhaps, but yet chiefly in the expectation of a future recompense.III. There are degrees in glory — then strive to be eminent in grace that you may be eminent in glory (Matthew 15:28).(Bp. H. The invisible became visible in the form of the most benign and beautiful of all the institutions that lend charm and joy to life. And yet we do not doubt the sun when for a time obscured by cloud. But if He had no hatred of sin, how much worse it would be for us. That He would come again, and receive them unto Himself. The gaps are part of the revelation, and we know enough for faith and hope.2. Wentworth’s record of unconstitutional tyranny was such an abomination that he had rendered himself unworthy of due process: “we give law to Hares and Deeres, because they be beasts of Chase; It was never accounted either cruelty or foul play to knock Foxes and Wolves on the head, as they can be found, because these be beasts of prey: The Warrener sets traps for Powlcats and other Vermine, for preservation of the Warren”. The reception one will meet with from wife and children is one of the delightful anticipations of returning home. Evil tempers, crabbed dispositions, restless fretfulness, that even some good men manifest, will not be there. Of all the ideas of comfort that we can form, "home" conveys the sweetest.1. Now, in the last place, here is CERTAINTY. This is why we never get to hear him deliberate on the moral implications of vengeance, and why he is so keen to affect that these deliberations have paralyzed him. "I thank thee for thy question. There is only one other occasion in which our Lord used this expression: "Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise." 1. Or than againe, woulde bidde some other, who mourned for his fathers or friendes decease, rather to laughe, and he merie, because suche diyng to this worlde is the beginnyng of a better life, wheras this here, is but a maner death as it were. W. We must believe that He is the Way, i.e., that He brings us to God. We shall no more be afraid of any real harm while we are affiliated with God in spirit.2. Christian apologists often begin with the proofs of superhuman skill and power, and so lead up to the central object of Christian faith. (Der Glaubensbote. Then after a while the conclusion is reached that we really need no religion at all, only science. For as all heavenly light, and heat, and influence come from the sun, so all heavenly comforts must come to us from Christ's presence. then for the first time men dared to think of death as a going home. Our present life is related to it as that of childhood to manhood. All the journey of life. The girl opened her weary and sleepy-looking eyes, gazed blankly at the speaker and waved her hand. Heaven is a home. So multitudes of men conceive of God, and scientific investigation often comes in to encourage this tendency of thought. D. Hitchcock, D. D.What the Caliph Omar is reported to have written to Amru, his general commanding in Egypt, has a grand moral. That surely is a Divine prerogative. Just then the person addressed me, saying, "Is this Mr. H. Burton.I. We have been told that this is a doctrine of Materialism, and that heaven is in character rather than in condition. Hence, observe that they who come to heaven —(1) Dwell with God, and so with the fountain of light (Psalm 104:2): life (Psalm 36:9), love, joy (Psalm 16:11). The new belief in Christ. This, with its circle of at least 5,000,000,000 miles in diameter, is but a speck in the creation. In the time of calamity or death all men call upon God. If troubles come, think of your home, as a stranger does who has long journeyed, and not had a very comfortable berth to rest in at night.II. The ample room in this great house. 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. Art more engag’d! Ker, D. D.)Home in heavenC. . Like Hamlet itself, let’s pass over in silence the possibility of demonic possession leading one to believe that one is an agent of providence. They take God's ticket to heaven, and then put their baggage on their shoulders, and tramp, tramp, the whole way there afoot.Christ will relieve our troublesC. Well, that is what you are to think about; that is what it will be. "If it were not so, I would have told you."1. You say you are afraid of God. We behold a Christian civilization, incontestably and immensely superior to any heathen pattern. Is it not enough if I believe in God my Father? (2) It establishes the heart. Faith and Hope directed to their proper objects. Yes, and He prepares it all.III. Are they to dwell isolated in their several mansions? (2) That many shall be saved (Revelation 7:9; James 2:5); but not irrespectively (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).2. Then, on the other hand, do not be too delighted with earthly things.(J. (1) This, that Jesus Christ Himself Divine, is the Divine Revealer of God. It was deep, dark midnight when we ran into Halifax. )Belief in God encouragingWashington Irving.When menaced by Indian war and domestic rebellion, when distrustful of those around him, and apprehensive of disgrace at court, Columbus sank for a time into complete despondency. This appears —(a)From Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:41, 42; Matthew 19:28). "If it were not so I would have told you," etc. These facts disturb our impression of the Divine holiness. "Believe also in Me." Many times over the Lord Himself is crucified, and buried, rises and goes away and comes again unseen. The arrow reached that heart; but it was too late. FAITH IN CHRIST AND FAITH IN GOD ARE NOT TWO, BUT ONE. 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. Whether in these mansions will there be degrees of glory? )The consolation of the gospel uniqueCanon Liddon.In this I say the gospel differs sharply from the most cultivated pagan thought of the age in which it appeared in the world. God is infinite (Psalm 147:5).2. Christ knew it — came from it — went to it. But what human imagination can picture the horrors of a universe given over to the rioting of evil unrestrained? At last the thought occurred to me, "Am I watched?" (1)God will smite all wrong. Heaven was his home.(D. But to stick for the moment to his first encounter with the players, one parallel is obvious. The trust of the heart in all He has promised. The paradox is a nice one. For our natures and capacities (2 Peter 1:4).2. I feel it as much as any man can feel it; and I rejoice in it, if you do not tell me I can prove it." Yes, we say, something within tells me that I had a Father once — but long, long have I lost Him. If we trust we may be quiet. Make assay. Of course the answer is that belief may be real and yet wholly ineffective. Mankind must be His offspring; and human history, from first to last, the working out of His own eternal and righteous purposes. The chambers of a house have their communication with one another, and the heavenly world, wide as it is, shall have a unity of fellowship. So, without any hesitation, I take the note just for what it stands. A trouble is sinful when it hinders us in duties; or from duty, when the soul is like an instrument out of tune, or a limb out of joint. "Believe also in Me." But trust in Jesus Christ brings infinitude on my side. If the happiness of going with the Lord is not to be given even to Peter, what is to become of the many? )Belief in God encouragingWashington Irving.When menaced by Indian war and domestic rebellion, when distrustful of those around him, and apprehensive of disgrace at court, Columbus sank for a time into complete despondency. This sufficed.(W. The Chorus approves. We should not yield to excess of trouble. 3. "Do I love the Lord, or no?" Along with other elements of comfort, our nature needs this. Why should it have been needful to give such a command as this to any intelligent person? "That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me," etc. And so it is with that great city. 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. (b)Christ is all-sufficient (1 John 2:1). Standing without you see no glory, nor can possibly imagine any; standing within, every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendour.(Bp. Guthrie. In place of the paternal memory itself, he concentrates on preserving the Ghost’s recollective aide-­mémoire. The population of this world is something tremendous. Look here upon this picture, and on this. Don't let your hearts be troubled. For the Saviour says to him, Whatever comes, "Let not your heart be troubled. A man cannot really see Himself a sinner, and not cry out for a Saviour.2. Then mark the consolations of religion, and the consolatory hope of heaven, belong to a certain class — to those that believe in God and believe also in Christ. Carter. They are everlasting (Matthew 25:46; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:1).IV. Men who have found human affection, but no God beneath it, have found only the shadow of a home. In times like the present, of doubt and unrest, it is a great piece of Christian wisdom to recognize the limitations of our knowledge and the sufficiency of the fragments that we have. The first thing is this, that when we get there nobody can turn us out again.2. You find in the text, then, first, the idea of COMFORT. Today he is wearing his father's gold watch. For we are flesh, not steel; and in that sense, Christ was troubled Himself to show the truth of His manhood. Christ solicits our faith on the ground of —1. As for what Christ said about going away and coming again, changing the economy from flesh to spirit, from sight to faith, it seems strange to us that His apostles should have been so staggered by it. This appears —(a)From Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:41, 42; Matthew 19:28). As for the eleven, let not their hearts be troubled.2. Very remarkable, therefore, is it that with this tone there should be such reticence in Christ's references to the future. And only one is possible. But He who boldly cries, "Let not your heart be troubled" must possess infallible antidotes. It will not be long before you, and I, and every one of us will hear the messenger sent to bring us back to heaven. For our wants and necessities: being —(1) Void of all troubles —(a) Spiritual: as of the sense of God's displeasure (Ezekiel 16:42); doubts about our estate; Satan's temptations (1 Peter 5:8); the delusions of this world; our own corruptions (Ephesians 5:27; Hebrews 4:10). I. CHRIST HERE POINTS TO HIMSELF AS THE OBJECT OF PRECISELY THE SAME RELIGIOUS TRUST WHICH IS TO BE GIVEN TO GOD. Hengstenberg.I. Submission is repose. Are there not many in Christian Churches needing still the voice which shall say, Believer, believe; Christian, come to Christ; disciple of three or of thirty years, still, as for the first time, behold Him!2. And He promises that He will personally intercede for believers above, while the Spirit intercedes in them below. Something is needed to secure all this, and our Lord teaches us to carry to the thought of heaven a filial heart. And He says, "Trust in God, and trust in Me!"2. Marry, I cannot show it in rhyme. These two clauses on the surface present juxtaposition. 12-14).IV. And, if we believe the Bible, there are long eras to run, when the flow shall be toward God more than it ever has been away from Him. 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. "What does this lack to make it perfect?" His omnipresence shines throughout the whole Scriptures. He had just dismissed Judas, knew what was transpiring outside, and what would follow. To constitute a home there must be familiarity and confidence. I could not trust it. (1) It is as when a palace has been raised with all its rooms and their furniture complete, but it is dark or dimly seen by lights carried from place to place. "I go to the Lord Jesus: He was mother's friend, and He's mine." (c)Thou mayest receive more comfort in them than in health. Our Lord argues from the Father to Himself, and particularly recommends them to have such faith in Him as they have in God.3. An endless uniformity of type would be fatal to perfect happiness.3. God's holiness shines upon us through His law in our own reason and conscience and in the person of Christ. See if there be not some Achan in the camp.2. W. Beecher.Why should you carry troubles and sorrows unhealed? This was Paul's idea of heaven — having a desire to depart and to be with Christ.(W. "Jesus Christ is in the sky. Faith in God. The man who should attempt to construct a theory of life and leave trouble out of the account would be no philosopher. (c)And so turn thy fears into hopes (Philippians 1:23).2. There are throngs, but no crowds. Or the attributes most emphasized are those pertaining rather to the Divine essence. We must believe that He is the Way, i.e., that He brings us to God. A house is not necessarily a home, but a father's house always is, or ought to be. So multitudes of men conceive of God, and scientific investigation often comes in to encourage this tendency of thought. Hence Philip's request. )Faith in God one with faith in ChristA. Christ, by revealing the knowledge of God, and reconciling us to Him, removes our enmity.2. Then mark the consolations of religion, and the consolatory hope of heaven, belong to a certain class — to those that believe in God and believe also in Christ. In the present world the children of God are far apart, separated by the emergencies of life, by death, by misunderstandings and prejudices, by chills of heart and jealousies; and they rear their many little mansions, forgetful of the one house. 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. Maclaren, D. D.)Faith in GodR. There was no trouble while they trusted their Heavenly Father. And only one is possible. They had been drawn into fellowship with Christ. CHRIST SITS AND DISCOVERS HEAVEN TO US.1. The gentleman who took him expected to see him greatly astonished and charmed with its magnificence, but it seemed to excite little or no admiration in his mind. It does not satisfy Him to snatch us from destruction, to open heaven for us, to bring us into the way to it, to make us meet for it; He will come Himself, and take us to it. Her trials were sometimes great, but she strove to bear all with cheerfulness and patience. The first is that which Christ has set before you. When we think of this, how the extent of the heavenly world grows I and the discoveries of science may help us to extend our hopes.III. And so it is with that great city. Hodge, D. D.I. )Heaven, our homeT. Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light. Earth is one of My Father's battlefields, farms, foundries, factories, roads that He travels on; but heaven is our "Father's house," and therefore the home of all His family.3. We are all sailing home; and by and by, when we are not thinking of it, some shadowy thing (men call it death), at midnight, will pass by, and will call us by name, and will say, "I have a message for you from home; God waits for you." Whole communions apostatize. But the place to which we were going was my home; there was my family; there was my church; there were my friends, who were as dear to me as my own life. God's finger is on the latch, and I am ready for Him to open the door. The problem demands solution. Something is needed to secure all this, and our Lord teaches us to carry to the thought of heaven a filial heart. An hour ago there had been a strife among them which of them should be greatest. "No man hath seen God at any time," etc. The moment you undertake to bring the evidence with which he dealt with matter to the ineffable and the hereafter, then, he says, "I am agnostic. 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. 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. Christian apologists often begin with the proofs of superhuman skill and power, and so lead up to the central object of Christian faith. The little child didn't understand what death was. A house, not a tent, put up today, and taken down to morrow; but the home we come to at the end of all our travels; fitted up for rest, security and enjoyment.2. Today he is wearing his father's gold watch. 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. )Diverted from thoughts of homeR. III. Peter's denial of the Lord also repeats itself. Not so Ophe­lia. Carter.It is impossible wholly to estimate the value of the gospel. But remember that faith is rational, and that the testimony of God is informing. Both of these are difficult duties. . She has, he says, good examples around her in the birds and in the beasts. 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. CHRIST ABIDES AND BECOMES HEAVEN TO US. Emphasis resting on the idea of permanence. Evil tempers, crabbed dispositions, restless fretfulness, that even some good men manifest, will not be there. Another note is handed to me; this bears the name of the Bank of England. They never come with desire, sorrow, pity, or emotion of any sort. He could not countenance a delusion. Bradley, M. A.I. But after sin had come into the world something else was necessary. See if there be not some Achan in the camp.2. )Religion has many comfortsH. and, though she has not a penny laid past for the term, she has no fear; and when asked, Why? When we think of our own weakness and sinfulness here, and then think of the glory of God, the glory of Christ, the glory of angels, and the glory of the spirits of just men made perfect, it requires no slight effort of mind to fancy that we shall be at home there: but we shall.2. 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. 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. He left His Father's house for us; He now returns to it for us. There is only one other occasion in which our Lord used this expression: "Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise." (a)Faith is the best riches (James 2:5). Christ's going away would naturally seem to them pure loss. 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. "If it were not so, I would have told you."1. The constitution of the universe implies that, since otherwise there would be parts of the universe self-supporting and independent of God. All that the boat could do to me could not keep down the exultation and joy which rose up in me. But for the magnetism of the felt divinity of Christ, Christianity could not have started at all as it did, or continued as it has. He bids the troubled be comforted by directing their hope to the positive existence of an absolutely untroubled state. And I lay perfectly happy in the midst of sickness and nausea. Hengstenberg. But for the magnetism of the felt divinity of Christ, Christianity could not have started at all as it did, or continued as it has. "Why, man," he said, "I live there." We do not know what death is: He does. There will be places, pursuits, and enjoyments for all.III. )The heavenly homeJ. Beecher. They take God's ticket to heaven, and then put their baggage on their shoulders, and tramp, tramp, the whole way there afoot.Christ will relieve our troublesC. See whether, in proportion as you trust Christ more, you become not, in yourself, happier, holier, stronger, gentler. But how it is all softened when we say, "My Father's house." Evil tempers, crabbed dispositions, restless fretfulness, that even some good men manifest, will not be there. Whole communions apostatize.