SERMON: “Comfort in the Rapture” (John 14:1–3)
“Comfort in the Rapture” (John 14:1–3)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
14:1–3
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
April
7, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
One
of the great difficulties we face is loss.
It feels as though we’re missing a part of ourselves. Little things remind us of the loss, whether
they be events, places, music, foods, or smells. The moments when that loss becomes clearest
in our minds can fill us with emptiness and loneliness. We need comfort.
So,
the Lord begins promising them particular comforts. These promises extend passed our section of
study today and extend throughout the rest of this farewell discourse. In this chapter, He will, for instance,
promise them to be at work in their prayers (vv. 12–14) and to send them the Comforter
(vv. 15–17). As we move forward in the
text, we’ll note that His comforts them in the fact that His departure is
necessary.
They
are hurting, as many of us are. This
morning, we’ll see three thoughts which will comfort troubled hearts. First, we’ll see we can draw comfort from the
promise of Christ. Second, we’ll see we
can draw comfort from the promise of heaven.
Third, we’ll see we can draw comfort from the promise of the rapture. Let’s consider the first of these, though.
II.
First, Draw Comfort from the Promise of Christ
(v. 1)
“Do not let your heart be troubled;
believe in God, believe also in Me.”
We
read here that their hearts were troubled.
Of course, we understand the heart here to be a metaphor for the
thoughts and emotions of the inner life.
The troubling comes from a verb that means “to shake,” or “to stir up,” describing
“the literal stirring up of the pool of Bethesda (5:7) and, figuratively, of
severe mental or spiritual agitation (Matt. 2:3; 14:26; Luke 1:12; 24:38; John
11:33; 13:21; Acts 15:24).”[1] Jesus
saw how they had been looking at one another with dismay in 13:22; He had also
experienced a troubled heart when He saw the people’s grief over the death of
Lazarus (John 11:33) and when He spoke to them about the betrayal He would
experience (13:21). As Hebrews 4:15
says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” He
is sympathetic to our troubles, which isn’t just empathy — He does something
about it.
Remember
what’s troubling them. He told them minutes
ago that He was leaving and that they were not able to follow Him
(13:33). He’s told them that Satan
desires to disturb their faith (Luke 22:31–32).
And He said that Peter will deny Him thrice (13:38), and that one of
them will betray Him or hand Him over (13:21).
There would be plenty of cause for them to be troubled; as one study
notes, “The cumulative weight of these revelations must have greatly depressed
them.”[2]
However,
He promises them comfort. He says in v.
27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do
I give to you. Do not let your heart be
troubled, nor let it be fearful.” He
understands that they experience present grief — in 16:22, He says, “Therefore
you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away
from you.” While He knows their hearts
are now troubled, and that the cross will cause them greater grief, He promised
them a peace to overcome.
Note
His remedy is faith. Of course,
belief must have an object; we can’t just believe for belief’s sake. The Jews typically believed in God, and Jesus
commands that here — “believe in God.” Today,
we put “In God we trust” on our money, but I often question if that’s true. Many trust more in the money, and many trust
in themselves more than in God.
Note,
though, that Jesus doesn’t stop there. He
uses the same verb twice in this verse — pisteuo, “to believe” or “to trust.”
He even uses it both times as a command
(though it can be translated as a statement, hence the KJV, “ye believe in God”). It’s a present-tense command, which we could
read as “keep believing in God.”[3] As
such, the first part of the remedy He prescribes for the troubled heart is to trust
in God.
The
second half is a command to believe in Him.
It’s the same verb and state. Do
you understand the parallel He makes between Himself and God the Father when He
does this?
Jesus
places Himself on the level of God, calling for the same level of trust! He’s commanding His disciples to have the
same faith in Him that we have for God. That
leads us to a question: do you trust Jesus like you trust God?
As
one study notes,
The Greek word for believe literally
means “to place one’s trust in another”; it occurs over 90 times in the Gospel
of John alone. To believe in Jesus is to
believe in His person and to trust in Him completely for salvation (3:15, 16). Many of Jesus’ contemporaries believed in
Jesus’ miraculous powers, but they would not believe in Jesus Himself
(6:23–26). Others wanted to believe in a
political Messiah, but would not believe in the One who suffered for their sins
(Mark 15:32). But we must be careful to
believe and trust in the Jesus presented in the Scriptures, in the Son of God
who sacrificed His life for our sins (Gal. 1:3, 4; Phil. 2:5–8).[4]
It’s
as important that we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as it is to trust in God. We will not have the peace of the heart He promises
otherwise, even with professed faith in God.
Those who trust in Christ, though, find He can deliver a troubled heart
from the depths of distress, providing a supernatural peace and joy in the
midst of sorrow.
Yet,
that isn’t the only promise given here, bringing us to our next point:
III.
Second, Draw Comfort from the Promise of Heaven
(v. 2)
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling
places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place
for you.”
A
better translation of this is “dwelling places” or, as the ESV has, “rooms.” Thinking of it like this, we might picture a
large dwelling with room additions being added, or perhaps, flats or apartments. It gives us an image of intimate living. That’s not to say that we won’t spread out in
the new heavens and the new earth, but that’s not the focus of this verse. Here, we see a picture of heaven which emphasizes
the closeness that we will experience with God.
Yet,
this isn’t a small household! The word “many”
here alludes to the fact that there will be a great number of residences. As the Reformation Study Bible notes
here, “While
the road is narrow and the gate small that lead to life (Matt. 7:14), it is
also true that the number of Abraham’s children is like the sand on the shore
and the stars in the sky (Gen. 22:17), ‘a great multitude that no one could
number’ (Rev. 7:9).” We see just a small
version of it when we gather together; just as Jesus called the earthly temple “My
Father’s house” (John 2:16), and we might call this church a house of God, we
are seeing just a dim representation of what we will experience one day.
This is a heavenly dwelling. It is currently still under construction, as
it were, for the Lord will return when He’s finished. We might conclude that the building of the household
is complete when the last foreordained soul believe in Christ, when the last
room is added. Until then, this is the
place where the departed believers of the Lord currently dwell.
It’s called a house only because people
are dwelling there. As MacArthur notes,
it’s also called heaven,
which
is variously described as a country (Heb. 11:16), due to its vastness; a city
(Heb. 12:22), emphasizing its large number of inhabitants; a kingdom (2 Tim.
4:18), because God is its King (Dan. 4:37; cf. Matt. 11:25; Acts 17:24);
paradise (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7), because of its indescribable
beauty; and a place of rest (cf. Heb. 4:1–11), where the redeemed are free from
the wearying conflict with sin, Satan, and the evil world system that hates
those who love Christ (John 15:19; 17:14).[5]
So,
we must understand that the expression “the Father’s house” is metaphorical of the
intimacy we experience with God — the reality is that the dwelling will be
enormous. In fact, perhaps this is the
city which will come down in Revelation 21.
Its size, described in v. 16, is mammoth; “the base of the city alone is
over two million square miles—more than half the size of the United States. Its height adds exponentially to its living
space.”[6] And she’ll
be a thing of beauty; “Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone
of crystal-clear jasper” (v. 11). Verse
18 says the wall as jasper, and the city as “pure gold, like clear glass.” The next verses describe the foundation stones
for the city as being “adorned with every kind of precious stone.” The gates of
the city in v. 21 are described as being constructed from single great pearls. Our minds strain to imagine something so magnificent!
Of
course, one of the most beautiful description is in its comforts. This is the final state, when heaven comes
down to earth, and we need not fear any more corruption. Even within this gigantic New Jerusalem, we
get a picture of God’s intimacy, for we read in Rev. 21:3, “Behold, the
tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be
His people, and God Himself will be among them.” In v. 4, we read, “He will wipe away every
tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed
away.” We’ll never again need to live in
fear, for v. 25 says, “In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its
gates will never be closed.” In 22:1–2,
we read, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal,
coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of
life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations.” This will be a place of
complete beauty, rest, and wonder.
This
is the place Jesus goes to prepare for us.
He said that, if this were not so, He would have told us. That, by the way, is probably the best way to
understand the reading of the second half of this verse; Jesus would have told us
differently if there were not many dwelling places in the Father’s house, because
He is the one who is preparing the place!
Just as He is building His church, He’s building a final dwelling for her.
If
He is going, He is not just going to stay there. He’s coming back, too. And that leads us to our final point:
IV.
Third, Draw Comfort from the Promise of the Rapture
(v. 3)
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also.”
Our
Lord begins with the word “if” here, but we shouldn’t read this with any
doubt. As one commentary notes, this “ought
to be interpreted as an adverb of time; as if it had been said, ‘After that I have gone away, I will return to you again.’
”[7] Our
Lord has gone away to prepare this place, and as such, will return again.
Of
course, this return has some questions.
Some might see only a spiritual application here, and Jesus will say He
will come again in the Holy Spirit (vv. 18, 28). Yet, Jesus is speaking of something more; He promised
He would exalt His people. In John 6:39–40,
Jesus said, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given
Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that
everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I
Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Skipping to v. 44, He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who
sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Again, in v. 54, He says, “He who eats My
flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last
day.” Jesus has been clear that He’s
coming again for all who believe.
To
be clear, this is something more. So,
some might understandably conclude that Jesus is speaking of His second coming,
since Jesus says He “will come again.” The
second coming or advent of Christ is clearest in Revelation 19:11–21. That section describes the judgment the Lord
will bring upon the armies gathered for Armageddon, just prior to Him establishing
His kingdom on earth. Yet, in that
passage, we see that the armies of heaven come with Him, “clothed in fine
linen, white and clean,” following “on
white horses” (v. 14). Since we have a
sense of saints returning with the Lord, and judgment in that passage but not
in this one, that one is describing something different.
This
passage is a reference to the rapture. Compare
it to 1 Corinthians 15:51–54, which predicts:
Behold,
I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the
imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come
about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
We’ll
all undergo an instantaneous transformation where our bodies become imperishable. The Lord will glorify us as we meet Him. This is the rapture, and it’s the next event
we await on the prophetic calendar.
Some
argue that the word rapture isn’t in the Bible, but they are not exactly
correct in that assessment. It comes
from another passage, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.
But
we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so
that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the
Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not
precede those who have fallen asleep. For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so
we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore
comfort one another with these words.
We
get the word “rapture” from the Latin translation of “caught up” in v. 17, rapio. In the Greek, it’s harpazo, but it
means the same thing. This is an
experience like that of Phillip, after he baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts
8:39; we read “the Spirit of the Lord [harpazo, raptured,] snatched
Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.” In this case, the Lord returns and raptures all
His people, even the bodies of those saints which lie in the grave, taking them
from the earth into glory.
Note
also there that we are meeting the Lord in the clouds; it doesn’t say anything
about the Lord coming to earth. The language
of this passage parallels John 14:1–3, where we see the Lord coming for us as a
means of comfort for troubled hearts.
Until
this point, He has been saying that He’s returning to the Father and to the
glory that He had beforehand. Now, He’s
saying that He’s not going to enjoy that glory alone. He will bring all believers with Him!
What
will happen after the rapture? As one
study notes, “After being raptured, the church will celebrate the marriage
supper (Rev. 19:7–10), be rewarded (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:9, 10), and
later return to earth with Christ when He comes again to set up His kingdom
(Rev. 19:11–20:6).”[8] This
will take place over the span of the seven year tribulation on earth, and then
the church will return with the Lord’s second coming or advent to earth.
The
Lord promises to return and receive us to Himself. We aren’t waiting for anything else. This is what He wants His disciples waiting
for, and it’s what we eagerly anticipate.
V.
Conclusion
Many people wonder about the solar eclipse tomorrow. They began seeing other signs like earthquakes, lightning strikes, the birth of red heifers, and the like, and wonder if these are signs portending the Lord’s soon return. Well, Jesus is coming back, and it can be at any point — tomorrow or today. The Lord is not promised that certain signs will proceed His return for His church. Such natural wonders certainly remind us of both the creativity and the power of God, but they do not tell us at the time as soon: Scripture does. And our Lord would have us to live in expectation every day!
We
don’t always live in expectation as we should, and we often allow the troubles
and fears of this life to overtake our confidence in the Lord. Yet, as one commentary notes, “Peter may have
failed Jesus (13:38), but Christ will not fail to return for Peter and for
everyone else who has believed in Him.”[9] The
Lord will return for all those who call upon the name of the Lord,
and there is a tremendous comfort to know that there is coming an eternal rest.
[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers, 2008), 98.
[2] Edwin A. Blum, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 322.
[3] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn
14:1.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 14:1.
[5] MacArthur, 100.
[6] Ibid., 100–101.
[7] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, (Bellingham, WA: Logos
Bible Software, 2010), 2:83.
[8] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1613.
[9] Radmacher, et. al., Jn 14:3.
