Day 3 - Week 23 - John 14:3 "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also."

Isn't it amazing that one of Jesus' desires is for us to be with Him...He wants us to enjoy His Father's home alongside Him for all of eternity.  Reminds me of the classic vacation postcard message... "Having a great time...wish you were here!"  But Jesus' message is, "I'm at the best place ever, better than any vacation spot you've ever been to...and I'm coming to get you so you can be here too...we're going to have a great time together!"  What a great friend we have in Jesus...He is not stingy with the grandeur of His Father's home, He is very ready to share it with His friends.

Do you believe that?  Do you believe that Jesus is anxious to spend eternity with you?  I love to read Jesus' prayer as recorded in John 17...read these verses with me:

John 17:20-24, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."

Jesus wants those who believe that God sent Him to earth to share God's love with us, to see Him in His Father's home, being glorified by His Father for His obedience done out of love for us.  He wants to share this with us...He wants us to see God's plan in its completeness. 

It is hard for us to imagine that Jesus views His believers as His friends, but He calls us His friends and He longs to have His friends with Him.  He even takes up for us when we stumble...

1 John 2:1, "But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."

What a friend we truly do have in our Jesus...our Savior.  He loves us immensely and He longs to have us at home with Him....do we have that same burning desire?  

Day 2 - Week 23 - John 14:3 "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also."

We've already established that when Jesus went to the cross for us it was the start of His preparation of our new home.   And when he ascended into heaven, we know that the process moved ahead to the next phase, for Jesus had returned to His Father's house.  So "if He went away", which we know He did, then the next promise is, "I will come back and receive you to Myself." 

Matthew Henry states, "The belief of Christ's second coming, of which He has given us the assurance, is an excellent preservative against a troubled heart."

Christ will come back for His believers...either when you depart from this life through a natural death or upon His triumphant return to the earth.  I believe that when a Christian dies, Christ comes to escort him into eternity, to show the believer the place He has prepared for them.  I like to think of the passage of the Good Shepherd in this connection.  Read these verses with that thought in mind:

John 10:2-4 "The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

Isn't it a nice picture to think that when we close our eyes in death, that Jesus is there leading the way for us, calling for us by name, leading us out, to follow Him through the gate into eternity.  The word that is used in John 14:3, "receive", carries with it the idea of joining to one's self or taking along with one's self...it implies a very intimate journey of Jesus traveling with us to our new home.  Isn't that reassuring? 

And if we are still on this earth when Jesus comes to claim His own, what a day that will be! 

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For 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. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

And the very next verse says, "Therefore, encourage each other with these words." 

ASSURANCE ---Christ's return is assured and should keep us encouraged.  When this life just doesn't seem to make much sense, remember, Christ will come back and He will take us with Him to a life so wonderful we will never tire of the time (no wait, there won't be any time!)...we will never tire of our beautiful life of forever!

Day 1 - Week 23 - No fair skipping "test" day!!

Just like in grade school, there's always a test day --- but this isn't for a grade, it's just to test how well our brains are working in coordination with our "heart storage" system!  Try to say them without looking, but don't feel badly if you have to have a little help here and there!  Remember our groups so far...

Four Corners of the Bible (4 verses - off our review list for now)

Romans Road to Salvation (5 verses)

Gift of Scripture (6 verses)

Gift of Prayer (3 verses)

Gift of Assurance (4 verses - adding 5 tonight - total of 10)

Romans Road to Salvation

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8   But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9  If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 12:1  Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correction and for training in righteousness.

Joshua 1:8  This book of instruction must not leave your mouth, you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  Then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Psalm 119:11  I have treasured Your words in my heart that I may not sin against You.

Deuteronomy 6:6 Listen O Israel: The Lord your God is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I give you today are to reside in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7  Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you are in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lay down and when you rise up.

Hebrews 4:14  The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow.  It judges the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer

Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

This is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And we know that if He hears whatever we ask according to His will, we know that we have whatever we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance

1 John 4:11 

1 John 4:12-13  The one who has the Son has eternal life, the one without the Son of God does not have life.  I tell these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1 Your heart must not be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so,  I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

Wow - I hate to tell you that this was my first attempt tonight!  I want you to see that I'm not getting all of them all the time either!  But look at what I have remembered!  There's a lot of truth that I have held on to, and now I will go back and fill in the blanks and hopefully strengthen my memory so that what I initially missed will be reinforced stronger than before!

Now compare that to the good and complete list of our verses so far:

Romans Road to Salvation
Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8    But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9  If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 12:1  Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness.

Joshua 1:8  This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Psalm 119:11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6  Listen O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I am giving to you today are to be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7  Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Hebrews 4:12   For the Word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow.  It is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
1 John 5:14     Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:15     And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of God's Assurance
1 John 5:11  And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:12-13 The one who has the Son has life; the one who doesn't have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1 Your heart must not be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare place for you.  (KJV)

Don't get discouraged - be encouraged by the words that you have kept in your heart; reinforce the ones you are weak on.  I'm not sure why some are easier than others - it's not always the length of the verse that makes it hard to remember.  And I'm not sure why some of the sources are harder to tie to the verse...that seems to be a bigger problem for me.  But we are making progress and I just know that God is pleased with how far we have come so far.

Let's add one more verse of assurance tonight...it builds on where we left off and we have touched on it somewhat this past week but we'll dig deeper into it this coming week:

John 14:3  If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

On first review, what is your favorite part of this verse?  Mine is, "I will come back"...no doubt about it...and that's assurance!

Day 7 - Week 22 - John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

Yesterday we talked about the fact that Jesus' first step in the preparation of our new home was His obedience in going to the cross for us to provide the ability for us to obtain eternal life.

Have you ever wondered what the last task on His list is in the preparation of our eternal mansion?  Remember when we discussed the comparisons between the Jewish engagement traditions and our betrothal to Jesus Christ our Lord?  The church (the universal body of believers) is the bride while Jesus has gone to prepare His bride's home for her. 

From Jewish Wedding Customs and the Bride of Messiah, written by Glenn Kay,

The final step in the wedding process is called - Nissuin - "to carry." This is a graphic description - as the bride would be waiting for her groom to come - to carry her off to her new home. The period of the betrothal - was a time of great anticipation - as the bride waited for the arrival of her betrothed. One of the unique features of the Biblical Jewish wedding was the time of the groom's arrival - it was to be a surprise:

• The bride took the betrothal seriously - expecting the return of the groom at the end of the year long period of the betrothal.
• She knew the approximate timing - but the exact hour or day was uncertain.
• It was the father of the groom who would give the final approval for the marriage to begin.

This aligns perfectly with Jesus' statement about His return, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  Matthew 24:36

We don't know for sure what the "finishing touch" will be, but God knows...and when He sees our homes made absolutely ready for us, He will give His Son the nod that says, "It's time!"

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology explains,

The return of Christ will usher in the era in which goodness will be triumphant, a truth that is brought out in many ways. Thus throughout the Book of Revelation we are reminded that the power of evil cannot stand up to the might of God. The final triumph of good over evil is brought out in a number of ways, notably in the magnificent vision of the heavenly city and in the vision of the wedding of the Lamb. Sometimes this is emphasized with the thought of the defeat of the forces of evil as when Paul says that Christ will hand over the kingdom to the Father after he has destroyed all opposing powers.

1 Corinthians 15:24, "Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power."

Our eternal homes will be made perfect, holy and absolutely godly.  There will be no room for any thing that poses opposition to what is characteristic of our Father. 

Jesus has gone - Jesus will come - we will live with Him forever!  Amen!

Day 6 - Week 22 - John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples among His final instructions and teachings before His betrayal.  Later in the same chapter He says, "All this I have spoken while still with you."  Jesus had told His disciples He was leaving them.

The first step in the preparation of our eternal home was about to take place. 

Without the cross there can be no mansion.  Jesus knew that He had to pay the price so that we could have the home that He had just spoken of.  Without Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection we have no life to look forward to but only the punishment that we, on our own, deserve.

Again in John 14 Jesus says, "I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me."

Jesus was obedient to His Father---the Father's love for us inspired the command, and Jesus obeyed.  He knew His obedience would bring life to this fallen earth, ruled by the "prince of this world", who had no control over Jesus, but without Jesus in our lives, does have control over us.  He knew His role was to conquer...and conquer He did!

Because of Jesus, we now have the vision of our mansion in heaven waiting for us...what a different future than if Jesus had refused the Father's command and left us without salvation.  What a different life we would live on this earth if we didn't have the gift that Jesus made available to us.

Keep looking forward to your new home and keep remembering that it is available to you only because of the One who "humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!"  Philippians 2:8.