Pastor (0:00)

When shadows fall and life gets hard, we cling to this promise that Christ has not left us alone. In John 16, Jesus told his disciples that dark days would come, but in time, so would their victory. Be of good cheer, he told them, for I have overcome the world.

Preacher (0:22)

In our culture, we think that there are Christians and there are non Christians and there's people in the middle. We. We think that we come into this world as a blank slate, a blank canvas, and that in due time we hear religious things and we either choose to believe them or we don't. But we think that there's this place that we have been in, in times past and possibly today, that is neutral to the things of God, not necessarily for, not necessarily against. And the culture around us, the academic world, the institutions, believe just that. They believe in this myth of spiritual neutrality. However, that is absolutely, positively not the teaching of Scripture. Last week we saw this. There's no spiritual free agents. There's no spiritually neutral individuals. You know, on the last day, the Day of Judgment, all of mankind is to be gathered before Jesus Christ. In the Book of Revelation, we see this. All of mankind is to be gathered before Jesus Christ. Now, let me ask you, when he separates mankind at that time, how. How many categories or camps does he separate them into? You want to guess? Oh, I heard two. From multiple sides of the room. We agree. We think it's two. Yes, it is two. It's not three. It's not five. It's not 10. Two camps sheep and goats. At that time, God will separate all of mankind into two camps. Sheep and goats. Well, here's the thing. They're in those camps right now. All of mankind right now is sheep or goats. There is none who are righteous. No, not one. There's none who are spiritually neutral. No, not one. One. Well, early in chapter 16 in the text, just prior to the verses we're studying this morning, Jesus said, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. In fact, that's why I came here. News flash. He kept telling the disciples that across the core of his ministry, the whole of his ministry, he said, this is why I'm here. This is the mission. I didn't come just to turn water to wine. I didn't come just to heal people. I didn't come just to do miracles and the like. I came to die. I set my face like a steel flint to the cross. That's why I'm here. Now. When he would say that, his disciples would go, oh, no, it can't be far. Be it from you that that should happen. Even Peter the rock says that far be it, can't happen, won't happen. Jesus looks at him and says, get behind me, Satan. The temptation is that I shouldn't go to the cross, but I must go to the cross, Peter, if you're to be saved. And you and you, and you and you. If anyone is to be saved, it's because I go to the cross and bear the sins of my people. I have to do it. That's why I'm here. Here. With that said, earlier in chapter 16, Jesus said. He says, all right, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to die. And there's going to be two different reactions to my death, to my sacrifice. In John 16:20, he said this most assuredly. I say to you, to his disciples, that you will weep and lament. I'm going to the cross. I'm going to die. When I do so, I know that you will weep and lament. You will miss the time that we had together. You. You will miss me. You will think this is the end. I know that's what's going to happen. You will weep and lament in verse 20, but. But the world, meaning everyone else, will rejoice. Jesus says this sweet, gentle Jesus, this guy that no one should have hated, for what it's worth the fact that anyone ever hated Jesus Christ, this gentle guy who goes around healing everyone he touches. You'd think that would be the most popular guy on the globe, that everyone would love that guy, kind, gentle Jesus that sits with sinners and tax collectors and hears their problem and heals their sicknesses. You'd think he'd be the most lovable guy on planet Earth. Of course, he was not only crucified, but he's been hated with such a lasting hatred that 2,000 years later, people still hate him. If there's anything that demonstrates that he was who he said he was and that they're truly all of mankind would be divided into goats and sheep and no one spiritually neutral. It's the proof that he is still hated with the passion with which he is hated 2,000 years later, despite being the most lovable guy to ever walk the globe with. That said, he says, when I die, you're going to be sad, but the world at large, they're going to have a party, they're going to rejoice, is the word he says in verse 20. You know, the world has always been chomping at the bit to do away with Jesus and Religion and church and all that sort of stuff. In 1966, Time magazine. Is Time even still a thing? Is that still a thing? Time magazine, if you have a little bit of gray up top at some point in your life, you picked up a Time magazine. Well, in 1966, they published a famous cover, famous article, three words, one question. Question was this. Is God dead? Is God dead? And then they went on to make the case that, yeah, he was. Or at the very least, that society had evolved past him, that we no longer really need to believe in a God. Why? Because science has given us all the cures and the answers and the things. We no longer the superstitious rubes that we used to be culturally. So we can kind of do away with all the stuff we used to believe in and so forth. Even in 1966, that was the mindset. Well, that mindset hasn't changed. The mindset to this day is that God, if he's not dead, at the very least he's weak or he's indifferent, or he's far away and that he is not actively present. And so the world goes about its business, thinking that they can do whatever they want to do, as if there's not a holy and transcendent God who's looking down upon them and ready in due time, in his time, in the fullness of time, and to deal with their wickedness. The world goes on doing its thing, rejoicing in the sense that God is not there or not paying attention or possibly dead. And so they live accordingly. Meanwhile, we in the church, and we in the global church that is actively persecuted in many parts of the world, we suffer in the here and now, even while the world continues to party. But, you know, here's the thing. It's not always going to work that way. What happens when Jesus returns? Let me read you one passage, and then I'm going to go on to look at verses 25 through 30 of today. But when Jesus comes back, finally at the end, Revelation, chapter six, here's going to be the reaction. The sky will recede as a scroll and every mountain and island will be moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man will hide themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains. And they'll say to the mountains and will say to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? If you look around and it looks like the world is winning. And to the disciples, it had to look that way. When Jesus was caught up in the garden of Gethsemane and ultimately led to the cross, it had to look like the world had won. Revelation 6 says, not so fast. So let's look at these verses again. I'm going to reread verses 25 through 30, and we'll just work our way through as time permits this morning. Verse 25. This is occurring in the course of a long passage of text. A lot of red lettering, depending on your scripture there. Verse 25, these things I've spoken to you in figurative language. He did that a lot. He explained difficult things in language that at times made it very simple, but at times left the people confused. So these things I've spoken to you in figurative language. But a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language. But I will tell you plainly about the Father. And in that day, you will ask in my name. And I do not say to you that I should pray to the Father for you, because the Father himself loves you. Because you've loved me and you've believed that I came forth from God, I came forth from the Father, I've come into the world again. I leave and I go to the Father. Now. His disciples said to him, see, now you're speaking plainly and you're not using any figure of speech. Now, we're sure that you know all things and you have no need that anyone should question you. By this, we know that you've come forth from God. As a quick side note, you want one of the richest passages of text you'll ever see, where Jesus explains a whole lot of significant things in a very dense set of words. You see his pre existence, his incarnation, his atonement, his resurrection, his ascension, all there in verses 28 through 29. With that said, the disciples were not in any position to pick up on all of that at that time. Pre existence, incarnation, atonement, resurrection, ascension. You know, as he's talking, they're catching about one out of every five or six words and trying to nod and understand exactly what's taking place. Now, you and I, when we open the Bible, most of us know how this story plays out. So we know everything's going to be all right. You know, the disciples freaking out here. Do not let your heart be troubled. Jesus says to the disciples. And we were kind of echoing that. Come on, disciples. It's going to be all right. It's going to be all right. You're flipping the pages. It's going to be all right. He's going to live. He's going to be resurrected. He's going to ascend to the Father. We know how it's going to turn out. They didn't. They really truly didn't. They had Christ's promises, and that did mean a lot to them. It would mean an increasing lot to them as time would continue to go by. But at the same time, they didn't have the benefit of all that we have, which is the entirety of this book, to look at. We know how the story ends. They didn't at this time. And so they were often confused. And they would tell them they were confused or they'd talk amongst themselves about how confused they were. Earlier on, in chapter 16, Jesus said, a little while and you will see me. And then after a little while, you will not see me because I go to the Father. Some of his disciples said among themselves, what is this he's saying to us? A little while and you'll see me. And a little while after that, you'll not see me because I go to the Father. They said, therefore, what is this that he's saying in a little while? We do not know what he's saying. Jesus would talk about dense stuff and they wouldn't get it. As a side note, if you've ever been in church, maybe even right now, and you're like, nodding head and going, all right, all right. I mean, I've did that through all the seminary. I've nodded my head, all right, all right. It didn't mean I understood exactly what was taking place. If there's ever any time where you're hearing stuff and you know it's true, but you don't necessarily know why, and you're not connecting all the dots, join the club. The disciples. The disciples, the apostles were in the same boat, and they had a far better preacher preaching to them. They were hearing words from the lips of God himself that were 100% true down to the very last syllable, and they still didn't get it. For many of us, it's just a process. So whatever the case is, Jesus here is explaining stuff they're not all getting. But among the things that he's explaining to him in verses 25 through 33 is that, hey, guys, you have, through me, direct access to the Father. He says, what you've probably been thinking is that this is the relationship. God, the Father's up there, and I'm Right here in front of you. And I'm sort of a go between intermediary where you can say something to me and, and then I'll go whisper it to the Father. And that. That's exactly how this works. Sort of Roman Catholicism does with the Pope. You have sort of this guy that sort of represents all of us and then takes stuff up the chain of command. Well, what Jesus says here is that. No, no, no, no, no. In so many texts, he says, I and my Father are one. When you're talking to me, you're talking to him. When you're sharing with me, when you're asking me, when you're pleading to me, you're pleading to him. And he says, guys, this is such an advantage that you have. He's talking about the Trinity. And just a few verses earlier, he says, when I go, when I go, I'm going to give you an advantage that's going to be so significant that you won't possibly understand it till it happens. I'm going to send a helper. I am going to send a helper to you. I'm going, yes, I'm going to go. And you're going to be sad because I'm gone, but I'm going to send you a helper. The helper is going to come down in the day of Pentecost. Acts, chapter 2. The Spirit is going to come down. He's going to fill your heart. He's going to fill your heart and lead you in the path of righteousness. And it's such an advantage to you. Again, so much of this, all they could do is just kind of nod, nod politely and accept that it was true, but not fully understand it, at least at this time. But in time, God would open their eyes, open their ears, open their hearts to see and take all this in and understand it to a degree they didn't even understand at this time. This is true of all of us and how we grow in faith. All right, let's look at verses 31 and 32. Now, in the previous verses, the disciples said, hey, I think we're starting to figure this out. Now that you're speaking plainly, I think we. I think we believe. So in verse 31, Jesus answered him, and with either irony or sarcasm, he says, now, now you believe. Now you get it. Now you believe. Now, at this point, he knows that they don't fully believe, or at least they don't believe to the degree that when they're tested, that belief isn't going to crumble like a pile of sand in your hand. Their belief at this time is still weak, and he knows it because look what he says next. He says, do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming. Yes, it has now come. It's right here. It's at the door. My betrayer just went out. He is now come when you will be scattered, each to his own. And you will leave me alone. And yet I'm not alone, because the Father's with me. So they say. All right, we got it, Jesus. Now we believe. We believe. Amen. How many times have we sung that song, I surrender. All right. When in our hearts, if we're really pressed, what we know is, it's I surrender. Some here, they say, we believe you all. We believe we're with you to the end. How many times did Peter says, I'll go with you, right, right to hell's gates. I'll stand to the end. Jesus says, I'm glad you think you have that faith. I'm glad you believe that you do. But a moment's coming when you're just going to be scattered. You're all going to go to the winds. You're all going to go to the winds, and you're going to deny that you even knew me. You know, before the rooster closed Peter three times. Peter is the strongest. Typically, that's how we understand what it would be. Well, the strongest was going to melt in very short order. So Jesus says, do you now believe when he knew what was about to happen and he knew that their faith was about that high and that when it was tested, that it would crumble? Do you now believe? You know, there are few relationships in the first century or any century that are like that between a rabbi and a rabbi's disciples. See, we have no context for understanding that. If you've gone to college, you have a professor and you have students. As a student, do you ever go hang out with your professor? Do you ever follow the professor around? You go to have lunch with the professor? Do you wake up, have breakfast with the professor? Do you just hang out campfires, you know, go to the movies with a professor? Probably not in the case of a rabbi and his disciples. The disciples went everywhere that the rabbi went. They sat at his feet. They learned from him whenever he spoke, which was often. But they also learned just by observing his mannerisms, who he is, his walk of life, the things he did. And the objective is that they ultimately would match the rabbi's stride, where this rabbi's footprints went. The idea is that they would match his stride figuratively. Speaking that in due time after the rabbi was departed, they would have taken so much in from their relationship with the rabbi that when you looked at them, in a sense, you would be seeing him, which is a model. What discipleship is supposed to look like. Christ is our head was supposed to adapt and be modeled after Him. Now, the relationship was so close among rabbis and disciples, it was not unusual for the disciples to be referred to as the children of the rabbi. That's why when you read through the epistles, John does this actually quite a lot. He says, my little children, when he's writing letters. It's because the nature of relationship was so close. So the intimacy and the relationship between the rabbi and the disciples, you cannot overstate it. With that said, this relationship had gone on for over three years where they had eat, slept, gotten up, went, traveled, did all these different things with J. Jesus, with their rabbi. And now he was about to go. The betrayer had just left the enemies of Christ and them were gathering to deal with them. They were freaking out. Christ is going to be gone. We are going to be separated. If they didn't like any part of that, because proximity to him is what made them a disciple. Proximity. But the irony was, even though it was Jesus who was volitionally going to the Cross and ultimately to the Father, although he was volitionally going to go, the irony was that despite their closeness to him and their proximity and how much they loved and desired that what Jesus said in this verse is, he says, you're going to leave me before I ever leave you, before I ever go to the Father. You'll have already run away from me the minute the persecution comes, which at that point was just around the Corner In Matthew 26, in the garden of Gethsemane. Remember, they go up to Mount Olives. They go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Well, Judas is going to come too. And the priests and the soldiers and the like are going to come. So what we read in Matthew 26 is this. In that hour, Jesus said to the multitudes, to those who gathered against him on the Garden of Gethsemane, he says, have you come out to me as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? This gentle Jesus, this guy who heals everyone, who never said a wrong thing, was polite and courteous and the like. They came to get him with swords and clubs. This Jesus. So he questions that. He says, have you come out to me as you would, you know, a robber, a villain, with your swords and clubs to take me. I sat Daily with you. I was teaching in the temple. You didn't seize me then. But all of this was done. Jesus said that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. He says, read your Bibles. You'll see that what you're doing right now in the Garden of Simi, coming after me was prophesied in Scripture. After you do all this, and after I'm dead and buried and resurrected, go back and read it. You'll see. You'll see that everything you did this night was prophesied there in Scripture. Now, after he says that that all this was done, that the Scripture of the prophets might be fulfilled. Matthew 26 says this. Then. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. Not some, not one, not two. All of the disciples forsook him and fled. They thought they were much stronger than they were you. And I think we're much stronger than we are. What if you're tested? What if you're tested? How will you hold up? Well, here's the thing. If God loves you, he will test you. If God loves you, he will bring things into your world that will rock your world and test your faith to see what kind it is. If he loves you, he'll do that because faith grows in hardship. Whatever faith you have today, whatever it is, such as it is, and however many years you have left, however many they are, I assure you this. That if the rest of your days were nothing but sunshine and lollipops, nothing but lottery tickets and big wins and successes and the like, I assure you, you will grow in your faith far less than if God allows cancer. And if God allows difficulty, if God allows hardship, God allows difficulties to come to you. Those things will test and try and refine your faith in a way that a lottery ticket win never would. So if he loves you, what's he going to do? Is he going to give you everything you would want for yourself? Or is he going to give you some things you would never desire for yourself? Why? Because those things will prompt and cause your faith to grow. You know the answer. But even as he does that, even as he brings things into your life that you will never choose for yourself, he says this much. I'm not going to stand back and watch you undergo it from a distance with my arms folded just to see how you do. He says, I'm going to come with you. We're going to lock arms, and we're going to do this together. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. Why, for thou Art with me, God. You have ordained me to sit at a table with my enemies. Yes. You have ordained I should walk the valley of shadow of death. And, yeah, I don't like it. No one would. No one likes the valley of the shadow of death. There's a reason it's called the valley of the shadow of death. It's terrible. Jesus knows that. But he says, I will be with you as you face it. And that's the hope. That's the victory. Not only will I be with you as you face it, but I know the outcome. And so do you. Your story ends well. The victory that's overcome the world is your faith. We read that earlier this morning. The victory that's overcome the world is your faith. Why? Because when those hardships come you through, your faith can see beyond it. You can see, yes, today is terrible and I don't like it. And yes, tomorrow doesn't look any better. But. But my story ends well. I know where I'm going. I know whose hands I'm in. And even if I don't like the circumstances that he allows me to go through, I know he's with me. And it won't change tomorrow. Even when I mess up, even when I'm the Peter, even when I run from God, even when I do what's wrong, even when I should mess up hugely, I know he will not leave me. Why? Because even though while I'm faithless, He's faithful and he made me a promise and he's going to keep that promise. Dear heavens, there's a lot of gray hair in this room. You're on the second half of your journey, if you have some. With that said, the second half of our journey, that's all right. I know where I'm going. Do you? When you know where you're going, then even if tomorrow is terrible, you say, well, yeah, tomorrow's terrible. God's with me, my story ends well. And I've got eternity to dwell in sinless existence without all the hardships and things I hate right now. And that's just around the corner. All right, let's look at our very last verse that ties into this verse 33. These things. I spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. It's not may you will. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. You know, there's a famous hymn. It's by a guy with an old school name, Horatio Spafford. Does Anyone know what hymn I'm talking about? I bet some of you do. Hey, there we go. Horatio Spafford, 1870 something. Horatio Spafford. His wife and his children go on a transatlantic boat. They're going on the ocean, they're in a boat. The boat sinks, the children die. The wife is spared in some way by clinging to the debris. But the children are gone. Horatio Spafford heart is broken. Heart is broken. Over the years, he and his wife have a lot of cause to ask God, what are you doing? What were you doing with this? At the very least, it should have been us. As a parent. Can you relate to that? At the very least, God, I wish you'd just taken me, not them. There could be anger, bitterness and resentment at the circumstances and questions of God about allowing the circumstances. But in working that through, Horatio Spafford came to the consideration of this, that in the end, his story ends well, and so did that of his wife and his children. And so he wrote this famous hymn. It is well with my soul. In spite of circumstances that were not well at all. It is well with my soul. Remember how that song starts? And I'm not going to sing it. I've sworn off singing. But it says this. When peace. When peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll. That's not an insolent word choice for a guy who lost his loved ones to the billows of the sea. When peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. Horatio Spafford believed the same thing. That our circumstances may compel us to believe and grab tight to with all of our strength, that despite the things that we hate in this world, that God is in charge and that he is promised victory. And because that victory is right around the corner, because Jesus says, I have overcome the world, we can have hope and we can go on with our life until the time when God takes us home into a place where he wipes away our tears and we never shed another one. This morning. This morning, all of us collectively. If you ever watch a football game and there's about two minutes left in the game and the 1 team's up 99 to 0, you know how it's going to turn out. There's still time left on the clock. Technically, there's still guys in shoulder pads, you know, bumping up against one another. I'm borrowing an analogy from Gardner's world. There's still guys committed to fighting. There's still difficulty, there's still resistance. There's still all of this going on. But the victory is assured. One team wins, the other team loses. Jesus says to this team, to the sheep, to the church, I have overcome the world, and so have you. Let's pray.