Christ’s Cure For A Troubled Heart

I want to read the whole passage, verses 1-6, and then we’ll go back and unpack it for you. If you have a red-letter Bible, these first several verses are in red. It’s Jesus speaking.

He said to His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 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. And if I go and prepare a place for you…”—Jesus said—“…I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whether I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, ‘Lord we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way?’ Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.’”

Jesus tells His disciples in verse 1—and I believe that Jesus is speaking to our hearts, as well—“Let not your heart be troubled.” Have you ever had a troubled, fearful, worried, anxious heart? If so, this message is for you today. Forty million adults in the United States suffer annually from anxiety disorders. I looked this up on the Anxiety Website of America. Forty million Americans suffer annually from anxious fear or worry or anxiety or phobias. Many of them resort to therapy or medications. But I believe in this passage we’re going to find the cure for troubled hearts is found in Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Often our hearts are troubled. There is so much that troubles us in this world. Maybe recently you were diagnosed with cancer, or you’re fighting cancer. Every time I turn around, there is somebody who has been diagnosed with cancer or some other life-threatening disease. Or maybe you find out your child is on drugs, or maybe you’ve lost your job and are in danger of losing your home. Maybe you’re struggling in your marriage right now. Sometimes in our marriages there are struggles and hardships, or maybe you’re in the process of going through a very painful divorce. How deep is that pain and that separation and that hurt. Or maybe you’re struggling with the death of a family member. Or maybe you’re fearful about the future or worried about what is happening in this world.

Just in the last week or so we’ve seen two horrible hurricanes hit the United States and the devastation that took place. And then there’s the earthquake in Mexico City and the death that it has brought. Many people are wondering, “What’s going on in the world? Why is all of this happening?” Many times when the earth shakes, our hearts shake and we become fearful.

I believe that Jesus is giving us the cure for troubled hearts. The first thing Jesus does in verse 1 is to tell us, “Let not you heart be troubled.” In the Greek it is actually a command. It’s what’s called an imperative. Jesus is actually saying it like this: “Stop letting your heart be troubled.” The disciples were troubled, upset and worried. You say, “Well, why were the disciples troubled, so that it was needful for Jesus to tell them not to be troubled?”

If Jesus says, “Stop letting your heart be troubled,” that means their hearts were troubled. The reason was that the disciples had heard from Jesus that He was leaving them. Jesus is going away, so sorrow had filled their hearts. Secondly, Jesus said that “One of you is going to betray Me.” We know the story; we know that is Judas Iscariot. But they didn’t know that; they didn’t understand that. It was all part of God’s purpose and plan. God was in control. Judas would betray the Lord, Who would be crucified for the sins of the world. Thirdly, Jesus said, “And you, Peter…”—Peter was kind of the spokesman and the leader of the pack—“are going to deny that you even know Me. By the time the rooster crows three times in the morning, you will have denied Me three times. You’re going to say, ‘I don’t even know the man.’” So it was only natural that the disciples’ hearts were troubled or filled with anxiety. Jesus is going away, one of them will betray Him and Peter, their leader, would deny Him. So Jesus said, “Stop letting your heart be troubled.”

By the way, this command or imperative is actually a negative command. He’s not telling them to do something; He’s telling them to stop doing something. This is important: When God gives us a command, He knows we can do it. When God tells us to do something, He gives us the ability to do it or provides the means that we need to do it. He’s not just saying, “Stop worrying or stop being troubled, but figure it out on your own.” He’s going to give them the cure for their troubled hearts.

Have you ever been anxious or depressed or discouraged or worried and somebody tried to cheer you up by saying, “Don’t worry; be happy.” That’s a cool song, but it’s also very stupid. When I’m bummed out and somebody says, “Don’t be bummed out. Just be happy,” I feel like slapping them. “I’ll give you something to be bummed out about.” Or they try to encourage you by telling you that people are starving or people don’t have shoes or people don’t have a home. I don’t care about other people—at least at that moment right then. I’m having a pity party, and I’m the only one who showed up. Do you ever notice that? That when you have a pity party, you’re the only one who shows up?

Jesus doesn’t just say, “Don’t worry; be happy. Don’t be sad.” Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled,” and then Jesus gives them and gives us the cure for troubled hearts. It’s so simple, but it’s so simply profound. Three things that Jesus gives them.

First, He gives them a command: Believe in a person. There are three things we need to believe. In verse 1, Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God…”—here it is—“…believe also in Me.” Jesus is saying that “The same way you trust in God, trust also in Me.” What is inferred in that statement is that Jesus is equal with God; “I am God.” The Bible teaches that there is one God, Who is manifested in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

You might say—welcome to the club—“I don’t understand the Trinity.”

“Neither do I, but it’s what the Bible teaches.” One God, three persons. So we have God the Father, Whom we trust, and now trust in God the Son. “As you trust in God the Father, so you trust in Me. I am God the Son. I am equal with the Father, and you can trust in Me.”

But why should they (we) trust in Jesus at times when our hearts are troubled? My answer to that is because of Who He is and what He had done. All you have to do is take a look at Jesus Christ, and you come to understand that I can trust Him with my problems. I can trust Him with my marriage. I can trust Him with my health. I can trust Him with my job, my career and my children. If I can trust Him for my eternal salvation, I can trust Him for the needs of my temporal life. So I can trust Him because of Who He is and what He has done.

Who is Jesus? First of all, Jesus is God. No question about it. In John 1:1, we have these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Three things are said about Jesus in that verse. It tells us that He is the eternal Word; “In the beginning was the Word.” He is God eternal. It tells us that He is the personal God; “The Word was with God.” That literally means face to face. So God the Son with God the Father, face to face. The two persons of the Godhead. Then, thirdly, it tells us He is the divine Word; “And the Word was God.” So Jesus is the eternal God, He is the personal God and He is divine just as the Father is.

You say, “How do you know that’s referring to Jesus Christ?” If you jump down to John 1:14, Jesus is also declared, there, to be God in the flesh. It says, “And the Word was made flesh.” That’s what we call the Incarnation. God became a man. He became a human being. He took on flesh. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” That little phrase “dwelt among us” means He pitched His tent among us. It doesn’t mean that He literally lived in a tent. It means that He took on humanity. “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” So Who is Jesus? He is the eternal God. He’s the personal God. He’s the divine Word. He’s the incarnate Word. He always has been and He always will be. He came from heaven through the womb of the Virgin Mary and took on flesh.

I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. I believe that supernaturally the Holy Spirit came upon a young virgin named Mary, and that which was conceived in her was the work of the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus grew up the God-man. He never sinned and He performed miracles; He did things no one else has ever done. He went to the Cross and died for our sins, and He was buried and then rose from the dead. That’s Who Jesus Christ is.

Think about what Jesus Christ has done. He can be trusted. Take, for example, His feeding of the 5,000. There were 5,000 men, not counting women and children, in a wilderness place, and it’s time to feed these people. Can you imagine that? How would you like to have 5,000 people show up at your house for lunch? Unexpected. “Wow! What are we gonna do?” So they find this little boy, who has two loaves of barley and a couple of little fish. They would be like sardines. He gave them to Jesus. Little is much in the hands of Jesus; amen? We take our problems and we take our meager things, and we put them in God’s hands. He blesses them and He breaks them and He gave them to the disciples, who passed them out to the multitude, and everyone ate until they were stuffed. They were filled. They were just full of food. Afterward, they took up the fragments that were left. Twelve basketfuls!

Have you ever complained about leftovers? Jesus provided leftovers; okay? Ladies, if your husband says, “Leftovers again?” say, “It’s Biblical.” When God does something, He does it right; amen? If Jesus is there, we don’t have to worry.
Then when the disciples and Jesus were on the Sea of Galilee one night in a little boat, a storm came up. Jesus was sleeping through the storm. There’s His humanity. The waves were crashing over the boat. He must have been so tired to be able to sleep in a small boat during a storm with the water splashing Him in the face. The disciples woke Him up, and they were in terror. Their hearts were troubled. They were fearful. They said, “Lord, don’t you care that we perish?!” Jesus got up and said, “Oh, ye of little faith.” He stood on that boat and said to the wind and waves, “Peace. Be still.” In the Greek, literally it’s “Be muzzled,” like a wild dog being muzzled. He muzzled the storm. All of a sudden the wind and waves stopped, and there was a great calm. How awesome is our Master! They looked at Jesus and said, “What manner of man is this that even the wind and waves obey Him?!” If Jesus can feed the multitude and calm the storm, then I can trust Him with my problems. I don’t need to have a troubled heart.

How about when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? Not only is Jesus Lord of all nature, but He is Lord of life. Lazarus had died, they sent word to Jesus and said, “He, whom thou lovest, is sick.” Jesus tarried for a few days, and by the time He got to Bethany, about a day’s journey, Lazarus had been dead for several days. Martha ran to Jesus and said, “Lord, if You had just been here—if You had just come when we called You—my brother wouldn’t have died. But even now, I know that whatever You ask God for, He’ll give it to You.” Then Jesus looked at Martha and said, “Your brother will rise again.” She said, “I know, in the Resurrection.” She was looking off into a future time. Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” It’s important to believe in Jesus.

So they went to the place where Lazarus was buried, and Jesus said, “Roll away the stone.” I love that story. And Martha said, “Lord, by this time…“—the King James says—“…he stinketh.” Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?” They rolled away the stone, and Jesus said these words, “Lazarus, come forth!” And Lazarus, who had been dead, came out of the grave. You talk about a mind-blowing experience! Can you imagine going to a funeral, and somebody’s laying in the coffin, and all of a sudden they jump up and run around the church? Freak-out time.

I heard of one minister who went to the Bible to learn how to do a funeral and he came to understand that every time Jesus went to a funeral, He raised the person from the dead. So the minister didn’t know what to do. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead. Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

You can trust Jesus Christ with your problem. I don’t know what you’re going through, but you can trust Jesus Christ with your problem. The Bible says that we can “Cast our cares upon Him, because He cares for us.”

Then Jesus also died for our sins and rose again from the dead. The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” You can trust Jesus with your eternal destiny, and you can trust Him with your temporal needs.

There is nothing more important than faith in Jesus Christ. The famous Bishop J. C. Riles said, “Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts; to believe more thoroughly, to trust more entirely, to rest more unreservedly, to lay hold more firmly and to lean back more completely.” That’s the cure for troubled hearts. Jesus is saying, “Stop being troubled by trusting. Stop your fears with faith. Stop your worry with worship.”

Way back in 1879, a woman by the name of Louisa Stead was with her husband and four-year-old daughter enjoying a day at the beach on Long Island, New York. After some time enjoying a picnic on the beach, they heard the cries of a drowning swimmer. Her husband, as you would expect, ran into the ocean to save the drowning man. In the horrified eyes of his wife and daughter, they watched as the drowning man pulled down their husband and father, and both of them drowned that day. Out of the wife’s struggles with God, Louisa Stead wrote this song:

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more.

At the darkest times of your life, Jesus Christ is the cure for your troubled heart. You can come to Him today. You can believe in Him and trust Him.

There’s a second thing that we need to do. We also need to believe in a place. Jesus then gives His disciples an assurance. So He first gives them a command: “Believe in Me.” Then He gives them an assurance, in verse 2. He said, “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.”

We believe in a person, Jesus Christ. We believe in a place. Jesus called it, in verse 2, “My Father’s house.” What is the Father’s house? The answer is heaven. You say, “Well, how do you know the Father’s house is heaven?” Jesus taught us to pray; it’s called the Lord’s Prayer. How does it start? “Our Father, Who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name.” Where’s our Father? In heaven. So when Jesus uses this picture here of heaven, He calls it “the Father’s house.”

I want you to know some truths about heaven. Heaven is a real place. He calls it a place: “I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus didn’t say that “Heaven is just a figment of your imagination. Or you make heaven whatever you want it to be. Or heaven is just something you dream up in your own mind. Heaven is right now, and we need to make it the best we can.” No. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” There really is a heaven. Isn’t that good news? There really is a “Father’s house.” There really is a place.

Paul the Apostle was actually caught up to this heaven. In 2 Corinthians 12, he said, “I know a man in Christ…”—he’s referring to himself—“…whether in the body, I do not know, or whether out of the body, I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.” He heard things and saw things that were so fantastic that it would be a crime to try to explain them or utter them. Heaven is going to be a glorious place. Jesus is there, the Father’s there and we’re going to be with them.

So Paul was caught up into this place called “the third heaven.” You say, “Well, I don’t get it. Third heaven? What? Are there levels of heaven? If you’re super good, you get to go to the third heaven? If you’re not a really good Christian, you just get the basement or something?” The answer to that is that the Bible describes the heaven above the earth where the birds fly. Then it describes the heaven where the moon, sun and stars are. Then it describes the third heaven as being the dwelling place of God. So it’s not compartments within heaven; it’s a whole other sphere or place. Where heaven is, I don’t know, but it’s real and I’m going to go there some day.

You know, when you take a trip to a place you’ve never been you usually read maps and read about the place and acquaint yourself with the location. You get to know about the people and the history and so forth. So Christians should be all excited about heaven. We should be studying it, talking about it, thinking about it, singing about it and pretty amped that we’re going to go to this real place.

But not only is it a real place, but, secondly, it’s a prepared place specifically for you. Notice what Jesus says in verse 2: “I go to prepare a place for you.” It’s actually being prepared for you. Some of you have extra rooms in your home. A certain person is going to come stay at your house. You may decorate the guest room with some things you know they’ll like. Maybe they like candles burning, or maybe they like a certain picture. Maybe you put a bed spread on that’s a color they like. You’re preparing the room for these special guests. Maybe you stock food in the house that you know they like to eat. You do this because you have this guest coming over.

Now if we do that, how much more is Jesus preparing the ultimate crash pad for us—crib, whatever you want to call it. It’s going to be amazing. He’s preparing it for you. So it’s a place. It’s a prepared place, and it’s specifically for you. That’s what Jesus says in this verse.

Fourthly, I would point out that heaven has room for everybody. I love that. When Jesus says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions,” I will have to admit that the Greek is better translated “rooms.” But I like the King James “mansions.” I love the mansion concept. In the ancient world, when your kids grew up and got married, they didn’t go off and get their own house; you just put more rooms on your house. I think that’s pretty cool myself. You just keep adding rooms, and all the kids are running around. You just keep adding rooms, and everybody lived together in one big house. There was room for everybody.

What Jesus is trying to say when He says “many mansions” is that there is room for everybody. Heaven isn’t going to be too small. You go, “With all these people going to heaven, how are we going to fit up there?” There’s room for everybody. But I do have to confess that I read one translation that took the words “many mansions” and translated them “many apartments.” I thought, Ah, that’s not my favorite translation. Don’t worry; you’re going to go to heaven and have an apartment. Groovy. Like, what’s the deal? I believe that He’s building a mansion for us; amen? I believe that the sights and the sounds are going to be amazing.
I’ve actually met people who say, “I don’t want to go to heaven. I’ve seen the pictures. You sit on a cloud. Play a harp or violin. Fat angels with wings around. That’s boring.” Well, number one, think of the alternative. And number two, that’s not an accurate picture of heaven. I believe that heaven’s the land of “no mores.” No more sorrow. No more sadness. No more sin. No more sickness. No more tears. No more disease. No more crying. The Bible says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” Revelation 21:4. No more hospitals. No more prisons. No more hurricanes. No more earthquakes. No more disease. No more cancer. And no more Satan. Praise God!

You say, “Oh, that’s all pie in the sky in the sweet by and by, and you’re just a preacher who makes up this idea to get people to come to your church.” No. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and rose again from the dead. And since He died and rose and ascended back into heaven, He knows what He’s talking about. Jesus said He’s going to prepare this place. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Who gets to go to the Father’s house? Only those who are born again. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” or you can’t see the Father’s house. So we need to believe in Jesus Christ and be born of the Spirit and have your sins forgiven. Christ comes to live inside you. Being a Christian isn’t going to church. It’s not being baptized. It’s not just believing God or hearing the Bible preached. Or being born in America. “Yeah, I’m a Christian; I’m an American.” “I’m a Christian. I have a Christian haircut; don’t I?” No. A person who is a Christian has the life of God in their soul. God comes to live inside you. You have new life.

We believe in a person. We believe in a place. Here’s my third and last point. We believe in a promise. Notice it in verse 3. Jesus had given them a wonderful promise that is ours to grab hold of to have hope. He says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you…”—here’s the promise—“…I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

I looked up the word “promise.” How does the dictionary define “promise”? Here it is: “A promise is a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing, or that a particular thing will happen.” Jesus gives us a declaration. Jesus gives us a promise. He says, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.” How marvelous that is.

This is called “the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:13. In Acts 1, when Jesus ascended back into heaven, they looked up and saw Jesus going right into heaven. A cloud received Him out of their sight. I believe it was the shekinah glory of God. He just went into the Father’s house. Two men in white apparel, who were angels, stood there and said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into the heavens? The same Jesus Who you just saw go into heaven shall come the same way that He departed.” That’s the promise. Jesus tells us, “I will come again.”

This is also known as the rapture. Maybe you’ve heard that term. You say, “Well, what do you mean by ‘the rapture’?” The rapture is taught in many passages of the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is the classic passage. Basically, the rapture is the time when the Lord comes from heaven. He doesn’t come all the way down to earth; it’s not the Second Coming. I believe the Second Coming will be seven years after the rapture. In the rapture, Jesus Christ comes in the clouds, and the Bible says that “The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” The living will be translated or “harpazoed” or raptured or caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Paul was writing these words to comfort Christians who were sorrowing because their loved ones had died. Their Christian friends had died, and Jesus hadn’t come back yet. They thought, They’re going to be at a disadvantage; they’re going to miss out! They’re going to lose out when the Lord returns because they died! Paul said, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep….”—he uses the metaphor of sleep for the believers’ death—“…For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep…”—or “have died”—“…in Jesus will God bring with Him.”

When a Christian dies, their body goes into the earth—maybe it’s cremated, maybe it’s eaten by fish in the sea, whatever—but their soul and spirit go back to God; you’re in the presence of God. The Bible says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” The moment a Christian dies, he is in the presence of Jesus Christ.

So when the rapture happens, they’re going to be coming back with the Lord. You say, “Well, how are they resurrected?”

“Their bodies are resurrected.” Isn’t that cool?

You say, “Well, what if they were burned in a fire?”

Do you think that’s a problem for God? Do you think that if they were cremated, God goes, “Oh, why did you do that? I was going to resurrect them and you messed things up!” Is anything too hard for God? So out of the graves and out of the sea and out of other places where the dead are buried, they shall be resurrected. Their bodies will be transformed. They will be metamorphosed and reunited with their soul and spirit. They will be in a glorified body for all eternity. You talk about a hope! That’s awesome! That’s amazing to me.

Then “we which are alive and remain…”—if you’re alive when the Lord comes, we’ll be caught up. We’ll be “harpazoed.” That’s where we get our word “rapture”; from the Greek word “harpazoed.” In the Latin, it is “rapiemur.” It means to be raptured or to be caught up. And we’ll “meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words.”

So I want to ask you: Do you have the hope of heaven? Do you have the hope of the coming of the Lord? Are you looking for Jesus Christ? Do you know that when you die you’ll go to heaven? Are you sure beyond any doubt that you will spend eternity with God in heaven? How marvelous is that blessed, blessed hope.

You ask, “Well, how do we get to heaven? How do we know the way?” I’m glad you asked the question, because it’s right here in our text. And we’re going to answer that in verses 4-6. In verse 4, Jesus said, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” And I love what Thomas said in verse 5. He said, “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?”

Do you remember when you were in elementary school or middle school or high school and the teacher would give you some information and then would ask, “Class, do you understand that?” I remember so many times I didn’t understand anything. But I would smile and say, “Yeah.” I didn’t want anyone to know that I’m dumb. I don’t ask questions, I just smile and nod my head. Afterward I thought, What the heck was he talking about? Thomas was that student who said, “No. I have a question. Jesus, can I ask a question?”

“Yes, Thomas. What?”

“We don’t know where You’re going, and we don’t know the way.” The other guys are going, Whew! I’m glad he asked it and not me. He can look dumb. I’m so glad Thomas asked that question, and he’s asking the question that we all need to know the answer to: How do you get to the Father’s house? How do you get to heaven?

Here’s the answer in verse 6. It’s in red letters. “Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.’” Now I know a lot of people hear that and say, “Jesus can’t be the only way to God. Jesus can’t be the only way to heaven. You mean to tell me that all these other ways aren’t true, and they won’t get you to heaven?” Yes; that’s exactly what I mean to tell you. You say, “Well, that’s just too narrow.” That’s true. The nature of truth is that it’s exclusive.

When I was in school I had a math teacher who taught 2 + 2 = 4. “Well, that’s just too narrow minded. Why not 6? Or 5½?” When I would fill out my math papers—“Well, your numbers are your numbers, and my numbers are my numbers. Why do you think yours are right and mine are wrong? I can say whatever I want to. My truth is my truth, and your truth is your truth.” Yeah. Big F on the top of my paper.

When I go to the bank and I’m dealing with my finances, they’re narrow minded and fanatic, too, about the numbers. And when you’re paying your mortgage, they’re real insistent that the right amount be paid. Why is it that in math and science and in other things we have to have exactness, but not in religion, not in faith in God.

Jesus is telling us the truth. God came all the way down from heaven in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He died on the Cross a vicious, cruel death, and He took your sins and mine and paid for them in full on the Cross. He was buried and He rose again from the dead so that you could get to go to heaven. Because Jesus is God, He can lay His hand on God, and because He is man, He can lay His hand on man; He is the perfect bridge builder. Jesus said, “I am the way.” He didn’t say, “I’m telling you the way. I’m going to teach you the way.” No. He said, “I am the way.”

My favorite illustration of that is an escalator. I love escalators. Whenever we’re in an airport or we’re in the mall, my wife likes to walk. “We need exercise, you know.”

“No, I’ll take the escalator.” And I’ll wave at her. Or they have those long corridors in the airport that have those sidewalks that move. Praise God for those! I like to walk on them. It looks like you’re really bookin’ on them. I just wave at my wife as I go by.

But Jesus isn’t a stairway to heaven. Jesus is an escalator to heaven. That means we step onto Jesus, and He takes us there. You reach out and take His hand, and He takes you there.

I’ve heard people say, “Ah, that Christianity stuff. That’s like a crutch.” No. A stretcher, is what it is. You lay on Jesus Christ, and He takes you to heaven. That’s fine with me, because I’m a sinner. My goodness is like filthy rags before a holy God. There’s nothing I can do to get myself to heaven.

So how can I be saved? Jesus is the way. How can I be sure? Jesus is the truth. How can I be satisfied? Jesus is the life. If you’re lost, He’s the way. If you’re ignorant, He’s the truth. If your dead spiritually in your sins, Jesus is the life. The best definition of a Christian I’ve ever heard is the life of God in the soul of man. That’s what a Christian is.

I want to ask you right now: Do you have the life of God in your soul? Is Jesus preparing you a place in the Father’s house? When Jesus comes back, will He receive you to Himself? Will you go to heaven, or will you go to hell? If you die without repenting of your sins and without believing in Jesus Christ, God has done everything He can to save you. The Bible says, “…whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The invitation is offered to you right now. I want to give this invitation to you. If you haven’t yet trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior, you need to do it now. You need to do it today. The Bible says, “…now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” The Bible says, “Today if ye will hear His voice…”—God speaking to your heart—“…harden not your hearts.” You know, you don’t have a lease on life. Any moment you could be passing through an intersection, someone runs a red light and you could be in eternity, in either heaven or hell. I’ve seen many young people die, and many times in their sleep. There’s no lease on life. The Bible says, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

You say, “Well, what do I personally have to do to get to heaven, to get to the Father’s house?” Number one, you have to recognize that you have sinned. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” None of us is righteous enough to get to heaven. Number two, you need to realize that Jesus died on the Cross for your sins. He paid for your sins. And He rose from the dead, conquering sin and the grave. He offers you the gift of eternal life. Then, number three, you need to receive Him today by faith in your heart. The Bible says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Have you trusted Jesus Christ? Have you put your faith in Him alone? Is He preparing you a place in heaven in the Father’s house? Will He come for you? Do you know that if you died right now you’re going to go to heaven? If not, why not? I believe that you can have absolute assurance.

You want to find the cure for your troubled heart? Jesus Christ is the cure for your troubled heart. He created your heart, and He can heal your heart, and He can forgive you, and He can give you hope and He can give you a future. But you must open the door. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me.”