The Christian’s Hope

John 14:1-6; Revelation 22:1-5

GOLDEN TEXT: “In My Father’s house are many mansions.”—John 14:7

AFTER washing the disciples’ feet, and after the sop had been given to Judas, and he had gone out; and after telling the disciples that they all would be offended that night because of Him, and answering Peter that he would deny Him thrice before the cock crew, we may well suppose that the hearts of the eleven were heavy, disturbed, troubled with a fearful foreboding.

Had they indeed been deluded, or had they misunderstood the Master when He told them that He was the Messiah, the heir of the Kingdom, and that they should sit with Him in His throne? How would they interpret His language, seeing that only five days before He had received the hosannas of the multitudes as the Son of David, the King of Israel, when riding on the ass. What could it mean that the Master was now “exceeding sorrowful” and spoke of betrayal, and of their dispersion, and of His own death? It was in answer to these their troubled thoughts that our Lord spoke to them the beautiful words of comfort and consolation recorded in the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth chapters of John’s Gospel, beginning—“Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

The apostles evidently were already consecrated to God as His servants; they already believed in God, trusted in Him, were Israelites indeed without guile. This is testified to further by our Lord’s prayer, in which He says, “Thine they were, and thou gavest them Me.” The trouble in their hearts was not in respect to the foundation of their hopes, for these were all established. They not only knew and trusted God, but knew and trusted also the promises of God respecting the Kingdom and the blessings that should come to all; the families of the earth through it. The whole question before their minds was respecting Jesus—was He indeed the Messiah, or had they built some false expectations upon His wonderful words and deeds?

Our Lord began by reviving in them their faith in the Father and in His plan, saying, “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me,” recognize the fact that all of the Father’s plan will be accomplished, and in as much as you have seen My loyalty to the Father in word and in deed, and in as much as you have seen the Father’s power unto good works manifested in Me, let faith’s anchor hold; continue to trust Me, continue to have confidence, and you shall have a blessing; wait for the development of the Divine Plan, and it will more than satisfy your highest expectations. You are perplexed because I said I am going away—going to the Father, but let Me explain to you that My going is in your interest: I go to prepare a place for you in My Father’s house of many appointments: and as surely as I do this I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that we may henceforth be together forever.

Thus in a few words, the Master declared the work of the Gospel age, His second advent, and the glorification of the church in the end of the age. He did not stop here to give them detailed explanations of the trials of faith and patience they must have; this He had done on other occasions, warning and cautioning them (Matt. 24); now their hearts were troubled, and He would merely console them with the assurance that His going away was necessary, that His second coming would be certain, and that the gathering of all to everlasting fellowship with Him in the mansions prepared was assured.

Our Lord was the way in that only through His sacrifice, the ransom, imputing His merit to sinners, could they be made acceptable to the Father or be received back again into fellowship with Him. He was the truth, in the sense that only through His word, His instructions, His guidance, could there he any hope of coming into harmony with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth. He was the life, in that all the race was dead, under the divine sentence—had forfeited the rights of life—and none could come again into life conditions except through Him—through the life which He gave for ours. Thus He is our ransom, or way; Our teacher or instructor in righteousness, and our life giver; neither is there salvation in any other. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me”—no man need hope for any place in any of the mansions of My Father’s house by any other way, by any other truth, by any other life.—Acts 4:12; John 14:6

The second section of our lesson pertains to the new Jerusalem, which in the preceding context is described as “coming down from heaven as a bride prepared for her husband”—beautiful, pure, gorgeous, resplendent. The city represents the church in glory, this being indicated by the declaration that it was like a bride prepared for her husband, and a further demonstration is in the fact that the angel who called to John, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife,” showed him the new Jerusalem descending, etc.—Rev. 21:9,10

The throne of God and of the Lamb is represented as being in this city. That is to say, the kingdom, the government that will then be established in the world, will have as its center of authority the divine law and the divine power—every feature of the government will be in accord with the divine will. From the throne of God will proceed the river of the water of life, of crystalline purity, not muddy with traditions and false doctrines. It will be the pure message of the Lord, going forth from the Millennial Kingdom for the blessing, refreshment, rejuvenation, and eternal life of the whole world of mankind, or so many of them as will accept the glorious provision.

QUESTIONS:

What were the circumstances which called forth the words of comfort contained in today’s lesson?

What are the many mansions referred to by Jesus?

What is signified by the New Jerusalem being prepared as a “bride adorned for her husband”?

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