Sermon Notes (10.3.21)

John 16:16-33

16 “In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.”

17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’ and,‘Because I am going to the Father’ ? ” 18 They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

19 Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them,“Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? 20 Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. 22 So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

23 “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

25 “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. 30 Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”

31 Jesus responded to them,“Do you now believe? 32 Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (CSB)

…

Christian people too often seem to be perpetually in the doldrums and too often give this appearance of unhappiness and of lack of freedom and absence of joy. There is no question at all but that this is the main reason why large numbers of people have ceased to be interested in Christianity…In a world where everything has gone so sadly astray, we should be standing out as men and women apart, people characterized by a fundamental joy!  

– Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression

Are you stifling JOY?

Joy in Pain

John 16:16-22

How do you respond to pain?

Forget. Avoid. Deny.

And when the world is new again

And the children of the King

Are ancient in their youth again

Maybe it’s a better thing, a better thing

To be more than merely innocent

But to be broken then redeemed by love

Maybe this old world is bent

But it’s waking up, and I’m waking up

-Andrew Peterson, “Don’t You Want to Thank Someone”

Joy in Prayer

John 16:23-28

…anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you…Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Will you ask in Jesus’ name?

THE FATHER LOVES YOU.

…I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

Joy in Jesus’ Power

John 16:29-33

Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone.

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.

1 John 2:16 – For everything in the world ​— ​the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions ​— ​is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The world is what happens when Adam and Eve’s sin goes viral and spreads through a society. The result? The distorted becomes normative. Sin is recast as any number of things—freedom, human rights, reproductive justice, “the way things are,” nature, science, “boys will be boys”—anything but sin. 

– John Mark Comer, Live No Lies

Colossians 2:13-15 – And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

Will you be courageous?

HOW WILL YOU RESPOND?

Repent.

Remember.

Rejoice.

A Prayer for Salvation

“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”