“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.” ⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord,we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14 is a passage that simultaneously provides comfort and assurances, but it is also one that I find frustrating.  Who is this Jesus?  How does one “believe in God and believe in Jesus”?  What does that look like?  I don’t see anyone today really doing the incredible works that Jesus did, and yet why does He say we will do greater things than what He has done…because Jesus is going to the Father?  And, where IS that?  He goes to prepare us a place, but where is that place?  A kind-hearted, faithful man who I know is dying today, even as I type this.  Where is this place that he is going?

And so, so many more questions……

Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a series of sermons titled “Let Not Your Heart be Troubled”.  They are collected here in this book for us to read, ponder and cherish.  Lloyd-Jones has taught me much.  His book “Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure” is a book I have referred to a number of times, and have pointed others to when they’ve come to me struggling with such issues.  I was eager to read this compilation of sermons; it did not disappoint.

The greatest thing about it is his attention to detail in scripture.  There is no wild explanations or shady interpretations.  Lloyd-Jones is always, always straight-forward.  He deals with what the text says, and admits it when he doesn’t know or isn’t entirely sure.  He is honest; and this sometimes-questioning soul appreciates that.

How I wish I could have heard him preach this series in person, because reading a sermon is definitely different.  I actually prefer reading to listening, but you do miss out on important things such as tone and inflections.  I would have liked to have heard his passion, as a man who has struggled with a troubled heart.

I imagine this, too, will be a book I refer others too.  I am grateful for the free review copy I received from Crossway Publishers, and look forward to sharing the title with others.