John 14:2

With my Father there is such an abundance that he can give everyone the delights of eternal happiness.… He tells us that here since the custom among us, when space is scarce, is to reserve a place to stay in advance due to lack of …

How will there be many mansions in our Father's house, if not to match the diversity of what each deserves? How will one star also differ from another star in glory, unless in virtue of disparity in their rays?

Owing to the fact that our flesh is undergoing dissolution through its sufferings, we shall be provided with a home in heaven.… Because he had called the flesh a house, he wanted to use the same term elegantly in his comparison of the ultimate reward, promising to the very house that undergoes dissolution through suffering a better house through the resurrection, just as the Lord also promises us many mansions like that of a house in his Father's home.

Because, however, he had called the flesh a house, he wished elegantly to use the same term in his comparison of the ultimate reward; promising to the very house, which undergoes dissolution through suffering, a better house through the resurrection. Just as the Lore also promises us many mansions as of a house in His Father's home; although this may possibly be understood of the domicile of this world, on the dissolution of whose fabric an eternal abode is promised in heaven, inasmuch as the following context, having a manifest reference to the flesh, seems to show that these preceding words have no such reference.

Else how shall we sing thanks to God to eternity, if there shall remain in us no sense and memory of this debt; if we shall be reformed in substance, not in consciousness? Consequently, we who shall be with God shall be together; since we shall all be with the one God-albeit the wages be various, albeit there be "many mansions", in the house of the same Father having laboured for the "one penny " of the self-same hire, that is, of eternal life; in which (eternal life) God will still less separate them whom He has conjoined, than in this lesser life He forbids them to be separated.

Are there many mansions in God's house, as you have heard, or only one? Of course you will admit that there are many, and not just one. Now, are they all to be filled, or only some, and others not, so that some will be left empty and will have been prepared to no purpose? Of course all will be filled, for nothing can be in vain that has been done by God.

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. He calls the habitation which is in the heavens, His Father's house. In this then, He says, is your habitation, …

As the presbyters say, then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of Paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour will be seen, according as they shall …

Having forcibly enjoined upon them that they ought not to be troubled, and having bidden them rather believe both in God the Father and in Himself, He now tells them plainly as an encouragement to them to shake off their feebleness of mind, that they shall not be excluded from the holy courts, but shall be made to dwell in the mansions above, living their eternal life in the Church of the Firstborn, in the enjoyment of bliss unending. He says moreover that in His Father's house are many mansions, teaching them thereby that heaven is wide enough for all, and that the world He has created needs no enlargement at all to make it capable of containing those who love Him. And it seems likely that in speaking of the many mansions He wishes also to indicate the different grades of honour, implying that each one who desires to live a life of virtue will receive as it were his own peculiar place, and the glory that is suitable to his own individual acts. Therefore if the mansions in God the Father's home had not been many in number, He would have said that He was going on before them, namely to prepare beforehand the habitations of the saints: but knowing that there are many such, already fully prepared and awaiting the arrival of those who love God, He says that He will depart not for this purpose, but for the sake of securing the way to the mansions above, to prepare a passage of safety for you, and to smooth the path that was impassable in old time. […]

(Hom. lxxiii. 1) Or thus: Our Lord having said above to Peter, Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me afterwards, that they might not think that this promise was made to Peter only, He says, In My Father's house are many mansions; i. e. You shall be admitted into that place, as well as Peter, for it contains abundance of mansions, which are ever ready to receive you: If it were not so, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you.

[They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions."

And if not, I would have told you: I go to prepare, &c. As if He said; Either way ye should not be troubled, whether places are prepared for you, or not. For, if they are not prepared, I will very quickly prepare them.

Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made …

In my Father's house there are many mansions, already prepared, that is, according to eternal election: for in Ephesians 1: "He chose us before the foundation of the world"; Jerome says: "In heaven diverse mansions are prepared for diverse virtues, which not persons receive, but …

(Super Ezech. Hom. xvi.) The many mansions agree with the one penny, because, though one may rejoice more than another, yet all rejoice with one and the same joy, arising from the vision of their Maker. (Moral. ult. c. xxiv.) Nor is there any sense of deficiency in consequence of such inequality; for each will feel as much as sufficeth for himself.

Then when he says, in my Father's house are many rooms, he adds the promise that it is through Christ that they will approach and be brought to the Father. Now a promise to others that they will gain entrance to some place involves two …

The Lord said to Peter: "Afterward you will follow Me." Lest the others think that this promise was given to Peter alone and not to them, the Lord says that the same country that receives Peter will also receive you. Therefore, one should not be …

In my Father's house are many mansions - Enough to receive both the holy angels, and your predecessors in the faith, and all that now believe, and a great multitude, which no man can number.

The happiness of heaven, though prepared before the foundation of the world, yet must be further fitted up for man in his fallen state. It consisting much in the presence of Christ there, it was therefore necessary that he should go before, to enter into that glory which his disciples were to share in. Heaven would be an unready place for a Christian if Christ were not there.

Trust them for a happiness to come when this body and this world shall be no more, and for a happiness to last as long as the immortal soul and the eternal world shall last. Now this is proposed as a sovereign cordial under all the troubles of this present time, to which there is that in the happiness of heaven which is admirably adapted and accommodated.

In my Father’s house, etc. - The kingdom of glory. Many mansions - Though I have said before that whither I am going ye cannot come now, yet do not think that we shall be for ever separated. I am going to that state of glory where there is not only a place of supreme eminence for myself, but also places for all my disciples; - various degrees of glory, suited to the various capacities and attainments of my followers.

MY real text is not in the Bible—it is one of those Christian proverbs which are not Inspired in words, but the spirit of which is Inspired, "Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people." You have often heard that sentence. It is familiar in your mouths as household words, and well it may be. Yet I shall have two texts from the Scriptures. The first will be our Savior's words to His disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you," from which we learn that "Heaven is a prepared place."

In my Father's house are many mansions--and so room for all, and a place for each. if not, I would have told you--that is, I would tell you so at once; I go to prepare a place for you--to obtain for you a right to be there, and to possess your "place."

The three verses we have now read are rich in precious truth. For eighteen centuries they have been peculiarly dear to Christ's believing servants in every part of the world. Many are the sick rooms which they have lightened! Many are the dying hearts which they have cheered! Let us see what they contain. We have, first, in this passage a precious remedy against an old disease. That disease is trouble of heart. That remedy is faith. Heart-trouble is the commonest thing in the world. No rank, or class, or condition is exempt from it.

WE may well feel glad that God's people, whose lives are recorded in the Old and New Testaments, were men of like passions with ourselves. I have known many a poor sinner pluck up hope as he has observed the sins and struggles of those who were saved by Grace. And I have known many of the heirs of Heaven find consolation as they have observed how imperfect beings like themselves have prevailed with God in prayer and have been delivered in their time of distress.

The three verses we have now read are rich in precious truth. For eighteen centuries they have been peculiarly dear to Christ's believing servants in every part of the world. Many are the sick rooms which they have lightened! Many are the dying hearts which they have cheered! Let us see what they contain. We have, first, in this passage a precious remedy against an old disease. That disease is trouble of heart. That remedy is faith. Heart-trouble is the commonest thing in the world. No rank, or class, or condition is exempt from it. No bars, or bolts, or locks can keep it out. Partly from inward causes and partly from outward causes—partly from the body and partly from the mind—partly from what we love and partly from what we fear, the journey of life is full of trouble. Even the best of Christians have many bitter cups to drink between grace and glory. Even the holiest saints find the world a valley of tears. Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts. To believe more thoroughly, trust more entirely, rest more unreservedly, lay hold more firmly, lean back more completely—this is the prescription which our Master urges on the attention of all His disciples. No doubt the members of that little band which sat round the table at the last supper, had believed already. They had proved the reality of their faith by giving up everything for Christ's sake. Yet what does their Lord say to them here? Once more He presses on them the old lesson, the lesson with which they first began—"Believe! Believe more! Believe on Me!" (Isaiah. 26:3.) Never let us forget that there are degrees in faith, and that there is a wide difference between weak and strong believers. The weakest faith is enough to give a man a saving interest in Christ, and ought not to be despised, but it will not give a man such inward comfort as a strong faith.

WE may well feel glad that God's people, whose lives are recorded in the Old and New Testaments, were men of like passions with ourselves. I have known many a poor sinner pluck up hope as he has observed the sins and struggles of those who were saved by Grace. And I have known many of the heirs of Heaven find consolation as they have observed how imperfect beings like themselves have prevailed with God in prayer and have been delivered in their time of distress. I am very glad that the Apostles were not perfect men—they would then have understood all that Jesus said at once—and we would have lost our Lord's instructive explanations. They would also have lived above all trouble of mind—and then the Master would not have said to them these golden words, "Let not your heart be troubled." It is, however, most evident from our text that it is not according to our Lord's mind that any of His servants should be troubled in heart. He takes no delight in the doubt and disquietude of His people. When He saw that because of what He had said to them, sorrow had filled the hearts of His Apostles, He pleaded with them in great love and besought them to be comforted. As when a mother comforts her child, He cried, "Let not your heart be troubled." Jesus says the same to you, my Friend, if you are one of His downcast ones. He would not have you sad. "Comfort you, comfort you My people; speak you comfortably to Jerusalem," is a command even of the old dispensation, and I am quite sure that under this clearer revelation, the Lord would have His people free from heartbreak.

MY real text is not in the Bible—it is one of those Christian proverbs which are not Inspired in words, but the spirit of which is Inspired, "Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people." You have often heard that sentence. It is familiar in your mouths as household words, and well it may be. Yet I shall have two texts from the Scriptures. The first will be our Savior's words to His disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you," from which we learn that "Heaven is a prepared place." And the second will be Paul's words to the Colossians, "Giving thanks unto the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light," from which we learn that there is a prepared people, a people made qualified to be partakers of the inheritance which Christ has gone to prepare for them! I. I am not going to have any further preface, but I will begin at once to speak upon THE PREPARATION OF HEAVEN. "I go to prepare a place for you." It is many months since I began to turn this sentence over. I think I might truly say that for several years I have thought of it, and thought of it again, and thought of it yet again—that our Lord Jesus Christ, before returning to Heaven, should say to His disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you." Is there any difficulty about this passage? Yes, it is very difficult to explain. Indeed, I do not think that we really can know all that Christ meant when He uttered these words. A father said to his children, when the summer sun had waxed hot, "I shall go to the seaside today to prepare a place for you." His little child asked, "What does father mean when he says that he will prepare a place for us?" And his mother answered, "My child, I cannot tell you all that your father means, but you will see when you get there.

In my Father’s house - Most interpreters understand this of heaven, as the special dwelling-place or palace of God; but it may include the universe, as the abode of the omnipresent God. Are many mansions - The word rendered “mansions” means either the act of dwelling in any place (Joh 14:23, “we will make our abode with him”), or it means the place where one dwells. It is taken from the verb to remain, and signifies the place where one dwells or remains. It is applied by the Greek writers to the tents or temporary habitations which soldiers pitch in their marches. It denotes a dwelling of less permanency than the word house. It is commonly understood as affirming that in heaven there is ample room to receive all who will come; that therefore the disciples might be sure that they would not be excluded. Some have understood it as affirming that there will be different grades in the joys of heaven; that some of the mansions of the saints will be nearer to God than others, agreeably to 1Co 15:40-41. But perhaps this passage may have a meaning which has not occurred to interpreters. Jesus was consoling his disciples, who were affected with grief at the idea of his separation. To comfort them he addresses them in this language: “The universe is the dwelling-place of my Father. All is his house. Whether on earth or in heaven, we are still in his habitation. In that vast abode of God there are many mansions. The earth is one of them, heaven is another. Whether here or there, we are still in the house, in one of the mansions of our Father, in one of the apartments of his vast abode. This we ought continually to feel, and to rejoice that we are permitted to occupy any part of his dwelling-place. Nor does it differ much whether we are in this mansion or another. […]

It was the Babylon Hotel. It was the perfect symbol of everything that I should like to pull down with my hands if I could. Reared by a detected robber, it is framed to be the fashionable and luxurious home of undetected robbers. In the …