Medicine for Troubled Hearts

We live in a day of increasing heart trouble. And I'm not talking about the kind of heart trouble that is addressed with beta blockers and stents and bypasses. I'm talking about the kind of heart trouble that keeps your mind churning through the day and steals your sleep at night. I'm talking about the kind of heart trouble that increases your worry and decreases your joy. Or when we like to use terms that make us appear more spiritual than we really are, the kind of heart trouble that leads to burdens and concerns. Kind of heart trouble I'm talking about is heart trouble that's caused by looking around us and seeing headlines that are full of increasing crime and drugs in our communities. Kind of heart trouble that as we look around us we are concerned for the safety of our children and what kind of world they're growing up in. When we look around us and see uncertain job markets and skyrocketing healthcare costs and political infighting and corruption throughout our land. When we see international terrorism springing up on every front and wars breaking out in the Middle East and Africa and Asia and Europe. That's the kind of heart trouble I'm talking about and it afflicts all of us to some degree. Jesus disciples in John chapter 14 were suffering with heart trouble. This kind of heart trouble. It's been a while since we've been in John's gospel but I remind you we are taking a journey through that gospel and we come to chapter 14 today. I also want to remind you that chapter 13 has been hard on the disciples. Yes they're gathered in the upper room they're there to observe the Passover. The communion is instituted at that time Jesus washes their feet their blessed times but Jesus has also told them in John chapter 13 that one of them will betray him and they are shocked and troubled and asking Lord who is it. And then he tells them I'm going to leave you and he follows that up immediately by saying and where I'm going you can't go. You can't come with me and that Peter responds Lord what do you mean? I can't go with I'll die for you I'll go anywhere with you and Jesus looks him square in the face and says before morning you'll deny me three times. And so after chapter 13 the disciples repuzzled their shock their days they're troubled. And so I think it may be that at this point Jesus pauses and smiles and says the words that we begin with in chapter 14 do not let your hearts be troubled. That's medicine for troubled hearts do not let your hearts be troubled. By the way it's the same word that is used of Jesus. Just back in John chapter 11 when Jesus is at Lazarus tomb the Bible says he saw Mary coming and saw when he saw her weeping and others coming with her weeping. He was deeply grieved in spirit and troubled same word. It's the same word used of Jesus in chapter 12 when the Greeks asked to see him and Jesus is reminded of his impending death and he is very troubled first 27 of chapter 12 says and even considers praying to the Father to deliver him from that hour. It's the same word used a third time of Jesus in chapter 13 in the upper room in verse 21 after he had said this Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified I tell you the truth one of you is going to betray me. Jesus is troubled on three occasions just in the last few weeks which leads me to conclude it is not a sin to be troubled it is a sin to stay troubled. Jesus knew what to do with life's events that troubled him. He brought them to his father and he looked to his father to understand and live out the purpose that God was working through even those troubling times and troubling circumstances. He faced trouble with confidence in God's power, God's purpose and now he will help his disciples understand how to do the same thing and in so doing he will help us to understand how to do the same thing. How do we deal with trouble all around us and how do we deal with troubled hearts. Jesus says this trust in God trust also in me. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Here's the medicine trust in God trust also in me. Now that sounds very simple and it might even sound simplistic. It might even sound like it just glibly rolled off his tongue and we don't really understand what that means and so Jesus doesn't leave it there. He knows that his disciples and us, he knows that we also will need to know more information, will need more explanation on what that means, what that looks like, what it means to trust in the midst of a troubled heart and so what Jesus does, Christ gives us three spiritual realities to bolster our trust in him and to calm our troubled hearts and so here's what Jesus says. Here's the medicine for a troubled heart. Here's what Jesus says when he says I know you're troubled so I'm telling you don't let your heart continue to be troubled trust in God trust also in me. Now here's what I mean by that. First the truth that he gives us to bolster our trust and to calm our hearts is the promise of heaven. The promise of heaven in verses one through six heaven is the deep longing of our hearts whether or not we realize it is the deep longing of our hearts. I love what C.S. Lewis said in his book The Problem of Pain. He said there have been times when I think we do not desire heaven but more often I find myself wondering whether in our heart of hearts we have ever desired anything else. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incomunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. What a longing for heaven. What a passion that desire and pursuit of heaven and Jesus as the first dose of medicine for a troubled heart is to be reaffirmed in that promise of heaven. Let's look at what he says about it. He addresses first of all the place of heaven in verse two. He says in my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you I am going there to prepare a place for you. The place of heaven. He refers to it again in verse three as a place and a third time in verse four as a place. Three times he calls it a place and so he talks to us about the place of heaven. I assure you heaven is a real place. It is not a figment of the imagination. It is not something that you dream up in your heaven or in your mind. It is not heaven on earth. I understand that expression but heaven is a real place just like Princeton is a place and Athens is a place and Bluefield is a place. It's a real place with a real location. It is not only a real place it is a permanent place and that's one of the things that makes it such a comfort. Notice Jesus says in my father's house are many rooms. Now I know some of you feel cheated by that translation. You like the word mansions found in the King James. Sounds a lot better than a room doesn't it? Well in keeping with heaven being the father's house, room is probably the more appropriate word to communicate what Jesus was saying. The word mansions first found its way into an English translation by the way with William Tindale's translation in 1525, published in 1526. It then from Tindale's translation made its way into the King James and has become the standard what we think of heaven as. But really what it has led us to do is to transfer our unfulfilled materialistic desires from earth to heaven. And so what we're looking for is this grand estate and that's what becomes important to us or even worse. It feeds the theology of some gospel songs that seem to imply if you're a real faithful Christian you get a mansion. If you're kind of a shoddy unfaithful worldly Christian you get a shack. That's not at all what Jesus meant to communicate. The word actually is the Greek word moneye which comes from menno, the verb to remain or dwell. The whole idea is it is a permanent place of rest for our souls. I wish I had thought to count up this morning I didn't think about it till I was actually preaching this message in the earlier service. Wish I had counted up how many different places I've lived in my adult life. It's a bunch. I've lived in a lot of different places, a lot of different towns, a lot of different homes and a lot of different states. But there is a permanent place where my soul will rest one day. A moneye, a place of rest, a permanent place where I will settle down and dwell and be at home. I don't care if it's room or mansion. The accommodations are not the issue. It is a permanent place of rest and that brings soul rest. I don't think I'm going to be disappointed in the accommodations. It's a permanent place. But not only does Jesus call it a real place and a permanent place, he speaks of it as a prepared place. And I love this. I don't think we think enough about this. Jesus says in verse 2, I am going there to prepare a place for you. He mentions it again in verse 3. If I go and prepare a place for you. I think quite often we think of that only in terms of Jesus' building. He's in this great building program building all these additions on to heaven. But the idea of prepare is a much more personal concept. It means to lovingly fit out your space, your room, in a way that is consistent with how he's made you. Just like if you would prepare a room for a guest in your home, you would try to make it accommodating to them. You would try to maybe dress it up with a little something you know they would like, or they would appreciate, that's the idea here of preparing a place for you. It is going to be unique to how God has made you. It's a beautiful, loving touches, personal touches that are just what he's made you to be. And we'll fit you. That's the idea of preparing lovingly and uniquely your place for you. If I could extend that just a little bit, so you really get what I'm saying. I think my room in heaven is going to have walls lined with books. It's going to have beautiful music playing. It's going to have a cabinet full of travel, I think it will keep me busy for a couple thousand years. And I think it's going to have a touch screen that will replay all of West Virginia University's wins. That may be a little too far. A lot of what Coach Holgerson and Huggins do couldn't be rebroadcast in heaven. But anyway, you get the idea. I think it will be personalized, prepared, uniquely for us. God is lovingly preparing a place for us. It is a prepared place. So he tells us of this place called heaven. What a joy it is to know that place, permanent, prepared place is being ready for us. But then he talks, talks to us about something even greater. How do you get there? Look at the trip to heaven. He talks about the trip to heaven in verse three. He says, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me. That you also may be where I am. Hey, the trip is pretty great. The place is wonderful, but the trip is grand. Jesus himself is going to come back and personally escort us to that place he's prepared for us. We call that the rapture. Some people don't think the rapture is found in the Bible, but it is. Look at these verses in 1 Thessalonians chapter four. Describing this event, Paul says, for the Lord himself, I'm so glad he said that, he's not going to send angels to get us, he's going to come himself. This is a personal escort, a trip to heaven that he takes us on. The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Now notice this, after that, we who are still alive and our left will be caught up, caught up. The word is literally a word which means to be snatched away or literally harpooned away. The Latin translation is the word rapio, which we get our English word rapture from. So yes, the rapture, right here, word perfect in this verse. We will be raptured up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will we be with the Lord forever. And you're the most amazing thing about that. The greatest thing about this trip to heaven is that we get to do it with him. He comes personally and escorts us to that place he's prepared for us, and that's the beauty and joy of heaven is to be with Christ. It doesn't matter what the accommodations are like. I don't care whether it's a rumor or a mansion, that's not the issue. I'm with Christ, and that's the emphasis of this passage. That's why Jesus said it that way. And if I go in prepared place for you, I will come back and notice, take you to heaven. No, no, take you to be with me. That you may dwell in your mansion? No, no, no, that you also may be where I am, he says. That's the focus to be with Christ. And it's always the focus when Bible writers speak of heaven. It's what Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8, when he said, we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and be in heaven. No, to be at home with the Lord. That's what he said to the Philippians in 1 and verse 23, I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and to be in heaven. No, I mean, that's great. It's great to be in heaven, but I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. So regardless of the accommodations, and again, say, I don't think we'll be disappointed, the beauty of heaven is to be with Him. No wonder this is one of the most comforting passages in all of the Bible for troubled hearts. No wonder it is a staple at funeral services. The old commentator in Bible teacher, conference speaker, AC Gabeline used to tell about one of his family treasures, an old German Bible, he said, that went back many generations. He said one could open that Bible to some pages, and it would look like nobody had ever visited those pages. You know, kind of like the parts of our Bible where the pages are still stuck together. But he said, if you opened it to John 14, it was spotted, soiled, and worn from the tears of many generations. Probably a lot of our Bibles looked like that at this point. John 14 has always been one of those most blessed medications for troubled hearts, to soothe the soul, to calm the troubled heart, to help us look beyond the trouble to that place which is being prepared for us. But Jesus doesn't just leave us with a description of the place, and the trip, he tells us the way to heaven. And it is a wonderful way, versus four through six. Here's the way we get there. Here's the way we know that when he comes back, we'll be among those who will go with him on that trip. First four, you know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way? Oh, isn't it easy to criticize the disciples? Oh, doubting Thomas. He speaks again, doubting all the time. Please remember the context in which this appears. I just told them in chapter 13, I'm leaving you, and you can't go with me. Where I'm going, you can't go. And so I think I would have thought the same thing. Lord, you're talking about going now to this place. You've just told us we can't go. Lord, how do we know the way? Where are you going? I think I probably would have said the same thing. But Jesus brings his mind to what he really is talking about. And that is how do you get to heaven? The place is heaven. And how do you know that you're going to be there? What is the way to heaven? Jesus answered verse six. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What is the way to heaven? Christ is the way to heaven. He does not say, I will show you the way. Or I will teach you the way. He says, I am the way. He does not say, I am a way. I am one of the ways. He says, I am the way. The way. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now that is something that our entire culture bristles against today. We live in such a pluralistic society of unbiblical and even illogical tolerance. That the mantra of today is, wait a second, always are equally valid. You find your way, I'll find my way. You believe in your way, I believe in my way. It's all an individual thing and every way has equal credence. That's what our society believes. That's what our culture believes. In Jesus' flying right in the face of that. And he says, this is exclusive. This is narrow. This excludes every other supposed way, every other religion, every other faith system. Only Christ is the way. Yes, that's exclusive. But it's a blessed exclusivism. He's the one that came from heaven. He's the one that's preparing the place for us there. I'd like to trust someone who came from there and who's living there now to tell me the way to get there. And he's told us, he is the way. I've often illustrated it this way, very crude, simple illustration. If I were in a burning building, and I could not find my way through the smoke to even the nearest door, and two firemen suddenly showed up, and found me on the floor suffering from smoke inhalation ready to pass out. And those firemen said to me, there's only one way out of this building. We know the way. We're going to carry you out. We are your way out of this building. I would be an absolute fool to look at them and say, that sounds awful narrow to me. That's too exclusive. I think I ought to be able to choose my own way. I think I ought to be able to find my own way. For you to tell me there's only one way. Who do you think you are anyway? Are you serious? I'd be absolutely crazy to do that. The person who knows the layout of the building, knows where the fire is, knows the only way out, and is willing to be my way out. I'm going to argue with him. Crazy. And yet that's what multitudes of people are doing today. Thinking I can choose my own way. I will pick and choose how I want to get there. And Jesus says, no, you're in a burning building. There's only one way. I am the way. Can I trust you, Jesus? Can I trust you to be telling me the right way? Yes. He says, I am the way and the truth. I'm not just telling you the truth. I'm not just showing you the truth. I am the truth. So you can trust what He says. Is this really the only way of eternal life? Is this really the only way you get to heaven? Is life really found only in Christ? Yes, because He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. There is no eternal life. There is no heaven without Christ. The same man who wrote this gospel would write three epistles later. And in his first epistle, he would reduce it to this very clear, simple statement. First John 5, it's on the screen for you. And this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. You can't get it any more basic than that. If you have the Son, you have life. If you don't have the Son, you don't have life. Why? Because He is the life. Life eternal is in Christ alone. Why is the message so exclusive? Why is there only one way to heaven? My friend, it's because of the gospel. The gospel teaches us that we are all sinners. So we are absolutely hopeless to get the heaven on our own. By our own merits, our own goodness. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us in our place. Take our punishment. Take the penalty for our sin. That is the gospel. He went to the cross, laid down that sacrifice, rose from the grave, triumphant, showing that what He did on the cross was the sufficient way of our salvation. Jesus did not send Muhammad to die for you. He sent Christ. He did not send Moses to die for you. It was Christ. He did not send Buddha to die for you. He did not even make any arrangements for you to get there on your own. Regardless of how many think they can do that. Last April, the New York Times did an interview with former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. He was attending the 50th anniversary of his college reunion, his 50th class reunion. In this interview for the New York Times, he confessed that his mortality had just started dawning on him at age 72. He also said that he had been sobered by many of his former classmates who had already died. That is a sobering thought. At my 40th high school reunion, five years ago, I was asked to read the names of the 19 of our classmates who had already died. And then it was given the opportunity to make some comments on what that ought to mean to us. It was a great opportunity. But it was sobering to read those names and remember people we sat with in class and they're already gone. That's what Michael Bloomberg was feeling. All the people in his college graduating class that had died. But the editor of the interview went on to say this. But if Bloomberg senses that he may not have as much time left as he would like, he has little doubt about what would await him at a judgment day. Pointing to his work on gun safety, obesity, and smoking cessation, he, Bloomberg, said with a grin and he quotes Bloomberg. I'm telling you if there is a God when I get to heaven, I'm not going to stop to be interviewed. I am headed straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It's not even close. Whoa. You know, he is right about one thing. It's not even close. Not in the way he thinks. It's not even close. And I don't say that harshly against him. My heart greets for someone who feels like they've done enough to get there on their own. My friend is not even close for any of us. None of us are anywhere close to getting to heaven on our record. Based on what we have done or not done. Christ, Jesus, the Savior, is the way, the truth, the life, and he says there is no other way. No one will come to the Father except through me. That, my friend, is the way to heaven. It can't be any clearer than that. The only way to heaven is Christ. And if you're depending on anything else, you're not even close. Not even close. What a joy, however, it is to know that if our faith is resting in Christ, we can rejoice no matter what life is throwing at us. We can rejoice in the promise of heaven. And we can receive it as medicine for our troubled hearts to calm us, to see us through the difficulty, the promise of heaven. But Jesus doesn't stop there. There's more in his dispensary. Not only does he offer us the promise of heaven, he assures us of the presence of the Father. He's just talked about in verse 6. No one can come to the Father except through me. And then he goes on to describe the presence of the Father now as a reality in our lives. So he talks about knowing the Father now in verse 7. Look at it. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well from now on. You do know him and have seen him. You know the Father. Knowing the Father is possible. Knowing his presence. And when he says no, he's not just talking about knowing about him, knowing facts, reading and learning. He's talking about a personal in-depth knowledge, an experiential knowledge. You know him as you would know a family member. Indeed, he is your Father. You know him closely. And you have seen him. He's been shown to you. So Jesus steps right into the next thought. Not only knowing the Father, but showing the Father. Philip, when he hears that, you've seen him. Philip in verse 8 says, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. And again, because we've read the rest of the story, we know Philip kind of gets a mild rebuke and we're thinking, oh, Philip. These disciples, when will they ever learn? Hey, when will I ever learn? A hundred times, I've said what Philip has said. You have to. Lord, it would be so much easier if you just show up. If you just really sit down beside me, just show me the Father. That'll be enough. Lord, Lord, when I'm going through a difficult time, when suffering is my lot in life, it would be so much more bearable. If you would just come, if I could see you, if you would explain to me what your purpose is, not leave me guessing, trusting. If you just sit down beside me and show me, Lord, when I'm perplexed about the next step and what decision I should make, it would be so easy if you just show up. If you just sit down and say, okay, here's my will. I'll just map it out for you. I'll send you the Father and it will suffice. That'll be enough. We've all said that. We've all felt that. And what Jesus is telling us is the Father is shown to us. We can see Him in three different ways He says we can see Him. This is such a blessing. First of all, we see Him in Christ. You see it there in verse 10 or verse 9. This answer, don't you know me, Philip? Even after I've been among you for such a long time, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? What He's saying is you've walked with me for three, three and a half years. You've seen the Father. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And so the Father is seen. He's known to us. He is known closely by us through Christ. If you know Christ, then you know the Father. You've seen the Father. Now I know what some of you are thinking. Well, John, isn't it kind of the same thing? Jesus doesn't show up either. I mean, He's not sitting beside me telling me what the purpose is and the plan is. And the next step is, so I'm still left without seeing someone I can talk to. I find great comfort though in the Gospels. I love the life of Christ. If I could, I would only preach here, but I can't do that. Obviously, there's so much of the Bible to preach. But I love the Gospels because looking at the life of Christ opens up the window into the heart and mind of the Father. And we see the Father. We see God. We see how God lives among us. We see how He responds to life and life's tragedies. We see the troubles. We see that because we watch Jesus. So we see Him in Christ. But just in case you're thinking, well, that sounds great, but I still can't see Him. Jesus also says the Father is shown in a second way in His words. Notice, verse 10. Don't you believe that I'm in the Father, that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. But the Father is the Father living in me who is doing His work. Implication. Doing His work through these words that I'm speaking. Those words that Jesus spoke and many others like them are now recorded in a book, the Bible. And we see the Father. We establish that relationship with Him. He is shown to us in His Word. His words are recorded and all that God wants us to know is found in His Word. So we can see Him in His Word. You want to see Jesus? You want to see the Father? You find that in His Word. But there's a third way that we see Him. He is also shown in His works. He's shown in His works. Verse 11. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. The Word for miracles literally is the Word for works. It's not the normal Word for miracles or signs. It's the Word for works. And so it goes beyond the miracles. It includes the miracles. But it goes beyond that to all of Christ's ministry. All that He does. The way He responds to situations. As you read of Him in the gospels, all of His works, His ministry. We see Him in His works. And I would say to those of us with troubled hearts, I would say, look around us. Look at His works. Open our eyes. Clear our minds so that we can be sensitive and alert to seeing what God's doing all around us. I'm not just talking about looking at creation. I'm talking about recognizing His providence. I'm recognizing how God is weaving together the details of our lives in ways that show His handy work, in ways that we can see Him answering prayer, see Him working through circumstances, even through hardship to conform us to His own image. Look for His working all around us. If you're looking for it, if you're sensitive to it, you can't help but see it. He is everywhere in His works, working in our lives. So how do I know the Father? How can I see the Father? How do I know He's with me when I feel lonely? I've seen Him in Christ. I've seen Him in the pages of His Word. And I see Him if I'm looking for Him every day in His works that He's doing. What a blessing to know the presence of the Father. What a medicine it is when your heart is troubled. To know that He's at work. To know that He's with us. But there's one more vile of medicine and Christ's arsenal He gives us for troubled hearts. Not only the promise of heaven and the presence of the Father, but the privilege of prayer. What a great antidote this is to trouble. The privilege of prayer. In verses 12 through 14 Jesus talks about four elements of prayer. Quickly, let's look at them. The first is prayer and faith. Verse 12, I tell you the truth. Anyone who has faith in me will do what I've been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I'm going to the Father. You say, well, there's nothing about prayer in that verse. Well, verses 12 through 14 go together. This verse leads us right into Jesus' statements on prayer and all goes together. The faith he's talking about here is faith in Him as we commune with Him. As we ask things in his name. As we ask for the glory of the Father as he'll say. We trust Him. We have faith in Him. What Jesus is saying here is I'm going to the Father. And when I go to the Father, you, my followers, my disciples, will fill in the ministry vacuum that I leave behind. And you will carry on the ministry that we've been doing these last three and a half years. And you will even expand it and do greater things. There have been some who have taken this verse, I think in the wrong way, to mean that we'll do bigger, better miracles than Jesus did. That's not at all what he says. There are two key words in this verse. He says, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. Again, it's that word, the Greek word, air gone for work. It's not the word for miracles. It's not the word for signs. It's the word for all of his works, all of his ministry. What he's talking about is you will extend my ministry. You will carry on my ministry. And then he says he will do even greater things than these. Greater things than Jesus? Wow. Yes. But he's not talking about doing more miracles or greater miracles. Do the math, go through the book of Acts, that didn't happen with the apostles. They didn't do more miracles. They didn't do greater miracles. That's not the promise. Now the apostles were gifted with miraculous powers to serve as their credentials for getting the gospel planted and getting the church's foundation started. That was uniquely true of the apostles. But you can go through, actually they didn't do more miracles. They didn't do greater miracles. They didn't feed 6,000 rather than 5,000. That's not what happened. It's not what he's talking about. This is what he's saying. We've been working these last 3 and a half years. I'm going to go back to the Father. My work ceases here on earth after 3 and a half years. You're going to do it the rest of your life. You're going to do greater things, longer. I stayed here in Israel. My ministry was to one nation, Israel. You're going to extend the work across the Roman Empire and ultimately to the end of the earth. You're going to do greater things than we've accomplished in the 3 and a half years. It's not tallying up miracles or greater scope of miracles. It's the ministry will go further and last longer than it did while Jesus was on the earth. You're going to do that. But it's going to require faith. He says you can't do that unless you trust me. You just laid out for you. Pastor Dan has laid out for you 3 weeks ago. A bold initiative for mission in this world. And what we see is the future of our church and our role in spreading the gospel throughout the world. It is a bold plan. And in order to fulfill that work and further the work of Christ around the world, we will have to trust God. That's what Jesus is saying. Pray, pray in faith. Secondly, prayer and Jesus name. This is the second element of this blessed privilege of prayer. To be able to pray in his name, verse 13, and I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. So he ties prayer to praying in his name. And praying in Jesus name is not just a magic formula that you stick on the end of your prayer, guaranteeing that God will give you whatever you've asked. It's not the idea. In Bible times, the person's name stood for their character. And Jesus is saying, if you pray in line with my character, if you pray consistent with my will, if you come in my name using my authority, praying consistently with my character and will, then you'll have those requests answered. We do the same thing today. Jesus is basically saying, when you come to the Father, use my name. And we do the same thing every time we do a resume and ask for people to be references. And we'll ask someone, can I use your name? Would you serve as a reference for me? And what you're basically saying is, can I appeal to that employer using your name? Because your name will carry more credence than just mine on that piece of paper. They'll call you, they'll know who you are, and your place and responsibility. And that will be a good reference for me. That's kind of what Jesus is saying here. When you come to the Father, use my name. You come in my authority. Pray consistent with who I am, with my character, my will. So, tacking the words in Jesus' name on the end of a prayer is neither required by this, nor is it wrong. That's up to you. But praying in Jesus' name means that you come with His name to the Father, using His authority, using His praying in line with His character, His will. Blessed privilege. And then notice, verse 13, the third element, prayer and God's glory. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. Here Jesus gets right to the heart of prayer, right to the motive for prayer. Why are we praying? Is it our goal to bring glory to the Father? Is that our motivation for praying? Is that the end result of what we want to see? Or is it just so that I get what I want? I get relief from this or that or whatever. Is that my motivation or is it really that the Father be glorified? And then the fourth element of prayer is prayer and answers. Notice the bold promise here. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it. Now again, there have been those who take those two words. Whatever anything and build a whole theology on that. Just ripping those two words out of the context. And you know what the theology is. Name it and claim it. Jesus said, whatever, anything, all I got to do is name what I want. Claim this promise. I get it. It's mine. So the whole word of faith movement, this whole name it and claim it, idea, that I can ask God for anything and he's obligated to give me whatever I ask. He told me, whatever, anything. If I don't get it, I haven't, they don't have enough faith. That's always the cop out. That's not what Jesus is talking about. It's absolutely a travesty to scripture. I would go so far as to say sinful to rip two words out of a whole teaching on prayer and build a theology on those two words. What Jesus is, he defines what the whatever is. He defines what the anything is. He puts parameters around that. What Jesus is saying is, are your requests a legitimate continuation of the work that I did here on earth? Verse 12. Are you praying in such a way that you're continuing and advancing the work that I did or is it your work, your kingdom, your desires? That you're trying to build. Big difference. Jesus is saying, are you praying consistent with my character and my will coming in the authority that you have because you are mine, bringing my name to the Father? Is that the way you're praying or are you just praying to improve your situation? Big difference. Jesus is saying, are you praying with the motive of heart to bring glory to the Father and whatever the Father wants to do in fulfilling His will is perfectly the best answer and the answer you want? Or are you simply praying for selfish reasons, greedy reasons? That my own situation made better, my own wants satisfied or is it for the glory of the Father? Now what Jesus is saying is, if you're praying in line with furthering my work on this world, in line with my character and will in my authority and for God's glory, yes, ask anything. You got it. Whatever you ask that way, anything you ask in those parameters, I promise, that prayer is answered. The problem is, we don't often pray that way. Our prayers are motivated by selfish desires, by our own grids at times, by our own passionate longing to be out from under difficulty. When the answer that may glorify God the most will be a conformist to His image through the difficulty, but we don't pray that way. The privilege of prayer, my friend, is not a privilege to be abused. It is not a blank check where we fill in whatever we want to satisfy our greed selfishly. That is not at all legitimate, biblical praying, and Jesus makes that clear. What are you troubled about today? What are you worried about? Oh, I forgot. We're Christians. What are you concerned about? What are you burdened about today? What keeps you awake at night? What steals your joy during the day? What keeps your mind and turmoil as you think about it? Is it the kind of world we live in? Is it the threat of ISIS? Is it the threat of crime? Is it the kind of world our kids are growing up in? Wondering what's going to happen with them? Is it an uncertain job market? Is it health care for you? Or the doctor's diagnosis you received this week? What is it you're troubled about? Here's God's medicine. Here's Jesus medicine to call a troubled heart and to bolster our trust in Him. Promise of heaven. The presence of the Father and the privilege of prayer. Let's receive that medicine. Would you pray with me? Father, thank you. That in the midst of a troubling time, even with your disciples in the upper room, and they're sitting there dazed and shocked and troubled, you paused to give them medicine. You paused calm the troubled heart. Thank you, Father, for the way you do that. And thank you that we've been allowed to sit in on your conversation that you had with your disciples that evening before you died. Thank you that you caused John to write it down for us so that we could learn from it too. Father, I pray that we will receive your medicine. Take it gladly. Exercise it fully in our souls so that our troubled hearts will rest in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.