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"Words
For Troubled Times" • 2.9.20 • Calvary Christian
Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Jesus has just told His disciples that His going away would actually be
an advantage to them, namely due to the initiation of the ministry of the Holy
Spirit.
- He will be sent to them in short
order and will be their guide into all truth, the world's conscience regarding
eternal realities and the witness of the glory of Christ.
- This is truly wonderful, but there
are difficulties that lay directly ahead. In these verses, the Lord encourages
His disciples with Kingdom truth that we can all relate to.
- What are we to make of
uncertainty and difficulty? How can we stand in the midst of not knowing what
to make of a situation. Let's listen in an glean from what's been left behind.
Verse 16.
Text
• John 16:16-18 : "A little while, and you will
not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.' Then some of His
disciples said among themselves, 'What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will
not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?' They said
therefore, 'What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know
what He is saying.'" : Time
is running out. Jesus is soon to depart from this planet and in a short time, they
won't "see" or "theorize" about Him any longer.
- Their time to
examine and consider Him was coming to an end. Jesus will die for their sins away
from their view and when He rises again, they will see Him!
- This second time
"see" occurs, it refers to their physical ability. These men will lay
their eyes upon the risen Son of God, another benefit of His returning to the
Father!
-
All of this is abundantly clear to us, but as you can see from reading John's account,
it wasn't at all clear to them at this moment.
-
They have been bombarded with grievous news and you can hear in this dialogue,
at the least, a frustration with how out of the loop that they are.
-
Unfortunately, they are demonstrating an error that we need not repeat. Some of
them "said among themselves." Jesus just wondered why nobody asked
Him about His destination in verse 5.
-
Here, instead of asking for clarification, they bat the question back and forth
among each other! No wonder they were left without the ability to understand!
-
The blind are asking the blind for direction! The One who sees perfectly is
waiting to answer their questions. They are overwhelmed and Jesus is standing
right there with them.
-
He begins to answer the exact question that they didn't have the boldness to
ask. Verse 19.
•
John 16:19,20 : "Now Jesus knew that they desired to
ask Him, and He said to them, 'Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little
while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful,
but your sorrow will be turned into joy." : The Lord knew what they wanted to know about without them
having to express it.
-
I wish that we all knew how much more God wanted to communicate to us if we
would ask!
-
He knew that they wanted to know, so He addresses their concern. It's that easy!
Let us be in the habit of going to the throne room of grace to petition Him for
help with our specific needs!
-
That being said, note that they do not necessarily get an immediate answer to
their query. They need to understand what they will experience first.
-
Unbeknownst to them, the disciples were on the verge of being swept away in
utter grief. - They will be
"weeping," which refers to mournful sobbing or "wailing aloud,"
the outer expression of grief. Their feelings will overwhelm them to the point
of loud cries of anguish.
-
They will experience this, as well as the inner expression of
"lament." This, according to Thayers, is "self-contained
grief" normally associated with a family related death.
-
It's the sadness that creeps into every moment and reminds you that life will
never be the same. These men of God, the men that walked with Jesus, would
experience this soon.
-
Their love for Jesus would bring them to the very lowest depths of human
despair. Inciidentally, it is no mark of spirituality to ignore the feelings
associated with loss.
-
The Apostle Paul told the church of Thessalonica that believers mourn, but not
as those who have no hope! (I
Thessalonians 4:13) Jesus speaks
of mourning as a normal part of life.
-
Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:4
that there is a time in this life to mourn.
-
Jesus informs them of what to expect from their emotional state and doesn't add
a rebuke for letting themselves be affected that way!
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They would soon be in a world of hurt while the world celebrated that which
caused the disciples to enter into mourning!
-
Those that opposed Christ would seemingly have a momentary victory and all
indications would be that the Lord's people lost. For all of our lives, this
has been a part of our reality.
-
The world has lived on without the conscious awareness of the risen and
victorious Christ.
-
In this world, generally speaking, it is Christians who weep and lament in a
culture that is being swept away by it's own irrational immorality. But
remember, the story isn't finished!
-
The disciples will momentarily be lost in mourning, but that heaviness will
become their joy!
-
Understand the concept: What made them sorrowful would be turned into what made
them joyful! The same event that caused them sorrow would soon bring them joy!
-
The cross would at first, be the cause of their Savior's death and their misery
over His loss. Over time, they would come to see it as their source of life!
-
Soon, their tears would give way to smiles and celebration that will make it
seem as though they had not sorrowed at all!
As
you think about their recording of His death, throughout Acts and the Epistles,
can you think of any passage where the disciples emphasize the sadness of Christ's
passion? You won't find one!
-
What you will find is a the sounding of a triumphant victory won by Christ in
the event of the cross! On this night, it's hard for them to conceive of such a
thing.
-
They might not believe it, but most of them had already had a similar
experience. Verse 21.
•
John 16:21-23a : "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow
because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she
no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into
the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see
you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one
will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing." : Was there an experience on earth that illustrated the concept
of one event being both the cause of great sorrow and then being the cause of
profound joy? Jesus knew of a perfect one!
-
By the way, only the God that created the female reproductive system can comment
like this! All other men, beware of speaking too much upon the subject of
childbirth.
-
A woman in labor is sorrowful and depending upon the circumstances, especially
sorrowful! There are the sleepless nights before the birth, when the body can't
find a position of comfort.
-
There have been contractions that prior to epidural relief, stopped the
recipient in their tracks! There has been pushing and pushing until one
believes that they can't push anymore.
-
None of this is pleasant and may I say, that as unpleasant as it might be
today, it is a CAKEWALK compared to what women endured during the times that
Jesus lived in!
-
There were no life saving methods available when a baby needed an alternative to
the birth canal. The first C-section wasn't performed until it was performed in
the U.S. in 1830!
-
In the ancient world, many women and their babies simply died together. For
these women, without pain management and the very real threat of death,
birthing a child was indeed a "sorrow."
-
But then, in the midst of that difficulty, when a baby emerges and is deemed
healthy, it's first cry brings such relief and promotes a very different
attitude.
-
The woman previously overcome with angst and sorrow is smiling from ear to ear!
-
The baby that she has been living with for nine months has exited her body and
entered the world! I like the King James here: "as soon as she is delivered of the child!"
-
Truly, that deliverance is a mighty one! But, then, to see your child for the
first time!
-
The tears that were flowing a few moments ago for the agony are now flowing for
the joy! That same feeling will be what it will be like for the disciples!
-
No matter how much preparation they will have, they will not be able to fight
back the tears.
-
And just when they are about to
give into despair, the Lord will show Himself raised from the dead right before
their very eyes!
-
When Jesus resurrects and sees them again, they will be the ones celebrating
with tears of greater joy. Their heart will rejoice and that response will
always be theirs!
- The NLT renders,
"no one can rob them" of it! Their joy will always be growing and
expanding as they walk with the risen Christ! When they see Him, all their
questions will be answered!
-
They won't have to ask a thing regarding their past and even better, they won't
even have to ask Him anything in the future! Verse 23.
•
John 16:23b,24 : "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask
the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will
receive, that your joy may be full." : When Jesus died, He
completed, finished fully, the work of redemption, opening the door for these
men to have free access to the Father!
-
Unless He goes away, the Spirit will not come. Unless He goes away, they will
have no access to the Father! Do you see the advantage more clearly!? "Whatever
you ask!"
-
Whatever they asked in the Name of, for the purpose of, according to the
reputation and mission of the Son, the Father would give! This privilege had
not been on the table until this time.
-
Jesus is calling upon His disciples to make their requests to the Father and
commands them to make this their habit!
-
The language He uses invites them to be persistent and to know that they will
receive from the Father that which they need, for the sake of their joy being
full. Verse 25.
•
John 16:25-28 : " These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but
the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language,
but I will tell you plainly
about the Father. In that
day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the
Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you
have loved Me, and have
believed that I came forth from God. I came
forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world
and go to the Father.'" : What does Jesus refer to
when He speaks of "these things?" He has made reference to His death
and resurrection via the picture of childbirth.
-
He shared this with them at this time in a cloaked manner, literally "in
proverbs," but would soon tell them plainly, openly and bluntly about the
Father.
-
In that day, these men will not have to petition Jesus. They and we will be
able to pray directly to the Father. Why? Because He loves them and us!
-
The Father wants to minister to the needs of His disciples, past and present,
because we have loved the Son and believed the Lord's testimony!
-
In spite of the religious leaders and their hatred for the Lord, these simple
men trusted His word and believed what they had seen. This would issue in
unparralled, divine access!
- Jesus summarizes His
own history in verse 28. He came
forth from the Father. He eternally existed as a member of the Godhead and
issued forth from that fraternity.
-
Unlike all the righteous that have died since Jesus and have gone to heaven,
only Jesus has come from heaven to Earth. At the Lord's death, He returned to
His Father's abode!
-
At these sayings, the disciples became very excited, perhaps too much so! Verse
29.
•
John 16:29,30 : "His disciples said to Him, 'See,
now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all
things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe
that You came forth from God.'" : The
disciples are suddenly hit with a burst of excitement. Jesus was no longer
veiling His speech in proverbs. He was speaking openly in this moment.
-
He was talking to them without a parable. This was a a great encouragement to
them. They didn't need to interpret His words or wonder at what they were
hearing.
-
By this action, they have become confident of His identity and are acting as if
any other questions would be unnecessary.
-
To their minds, Jesus has settled the issue of His divinity for them. They
firmly believed that the Lord had come from God. What did they mean to
communicate by making this admission?
-
Judging by the response, it seems that they meant to indicate to the Lord that
they were sufficiently ready to face the adversity that was coming their way.
-
Their belief, they must have believed would sustain them through any trouble.
Jesus says, "Not so fast!" Verse 31.
•
John 16:31,32 : "Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be
scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me." : It isn't that Jesus wanted to discourage these men and He
certainly wasn't being cruel, but He cannot let them trust in the strength of
their own present convictions.
-
Can you see the look on His face? I see a mix of loving compassion and
incredulity. The NLT translates this verse, "Do you finally believe?"
The FLT translates it "NOW, you believe!?"
-
I see Jesus taking a deep breath
and letting out a sigh. After everything He had done and said, this was what
put them over the top!?
-
Jesus is glad that they believe, but He is not willing to encourage their
belief in their belief's strength to carry them. None of His people will be
able to stand on their resolve to do so alone!
-
Their resolve will not withstand the night! The hour was upon them when they
would be scattered. The word means to be "driven away in terror."
-
The word is employed when sheep flee from a predator or when an army is routed
before an enemy and must fly in every direction for their safety.
-
In just a few hours, these men will abandon their loyalty to their belief, each
other and to their Master. Why does Jesus tell them this?
-
Earlier, He told the disciples about the response of the world to their
ministry to keep them from stumbling. (John
16:1) I believe that He has the same goal here!
-
When they fail, when they are scattered to the four winds, they will need to
remember that the Lord told them it would be this way!
-
They will realize that they gave into a desire for self-preservation and that
they left Him alone with His enemies. Can you imagine the guilt?
-
Instead of standing upon what they believed and standing for their Rabbi in the
midst of His darkest hour, they scattered like scared lambs and left Jesus
there to deal with all of it alone!
-
When their hearts are overwhelmed with condemnation, the Lord wants them to
remember not that He was left alone, but that He was left entirely in the
Father's hand!
-
Despite how it looked to the world, at the moment when His disciples scattered,
His Father remained right there with Him! Verse 33.
•
John 16:33 : "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.'" : Jesus doesn't want His
disciples to wallow in discouragement over their failure, nor to beat
themselves over the head with self-condemnation.
-
Chapters 13 through 16 are the final words that Jesus spoke
to His disciples before the cross. Chapter 17
is a prayer to His Father that they listened in on.
-
With that in mind, verse 33
represents the last of the last words that He wanted them to have before He suffered. He wanted them to
have peace!
-
This is the peace that reflects a settled position between God and us without
the element of fear from their failure.
-
They will have enough trouble and pressure from the world that they will live
in! This is a promise that all of us will have to face.
-
This world, in it's fallen state, will constantly place it's pressure upon us
to conform to itself. As long as we live on this planet, this will be the truth
that we live by.
-
Incidently, this is not to confused with the "Great Tribulation."
That will be a time when God will pour out His wrath upon this God rejecting
world. We are excused from that. Why?
-
Because He already poured out His wrath upon us when we believed upon Jesus!
Jesus took every ounce of the wrath that we deserved. He will not appoint us to
wrath again! (I Thess. 5:9)
-
Those who espouse a "post" or "a" millenial eschatology
often pose the question regarding why the church at the end of time gets to
escape from the suffering of her earlier counterparts.
-
The real question is why did our earlier counterparts not have to suffer the wrath
of God like we are supposed to? There is a giant discrepancy indeed!
-
But that doesn't mean that we won't be subject to the world's hatred! We will
have to endure increasing trouble and pressure by living on this planet among
those committed to worldly philosophy.
-
That has been the story of every Christian, to one degree or another, since the
very beginning of the church! That's the reality of living here, but be of good
cheer!
-
Rejoice! Rejoice because we are treated with contempt? No. Rejoice because
Jesus has overcome the world! He has conquered the world!
-
This doesn't mean that the world is currently bowing their knees to the Lord,
though, they all will indeed one day bow their knees to Him.
- Rather, It means that the world could
not bring Him into submission to their way of thinking! The world could not
dislodge Him from His loyalty to His Father. The world had nothing in Him!
-
We don't have to fear because we have a champion that has gone before us! We
aren't called to be conquerors. There is One conqueror and when we trust Him,
we are in Him!
-
The spoils of His victory are ours to share!
Conclusion
- I mentioned at the beginning of this passage
that the Lord was encouraging these men, preparing their hearts for troubled
times. Perhaps you will be able to relate.
- They would experience confusion, but there
would soon be clarity. They would see and understand the truth regarding Jesus.
- They would weep and mourn, but their
sorrowful event would soon be a matter for their joy. Only God can turn
mourning into laughing, weeping into joy and bad redeemed for good!
• Psalm 126:5,6 : "Those who sow in
tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed
for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with
him."
- The disciples would be be cut off from Jesus,
but would be given direct access to the Father, whose Name they would invoke in
prayer, expecting positive answers to requests linked to the Son!
• Hebrews 4:6 : "Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
- Finally, the disciples would fail in their
resolve, but they could be of good cheer, because Jesus didn't fail in His and
they are with Him!
- Our failures can't affect His victory, so let
us have His peace and let our joy be full! It is Jesus we trust!
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