From Sorrow to Joy

From Sorrow to Joy | John 16:16-24 July 9, 2023 What makes you happy? Is it your spouse? (men, say yes) Your family? (again, yes) Your career? What if you lost those things? Would you still be happy? Maybe. But if you answered yes, what you may be experiencing is joy. Joy is something that is less temporary, less circumstantial. What we will see this morning, in our text from John 16:16-24 is the source and the reason we can have joy. Let's read from our text this morning, and see what Jesus has to say. 16 "A LITTLE WHILE, AND YOU WILL SEE ME NO LONGER; AND AGAIN A LITTLE WHILE, AND YOU WILL SEE ME." 17 SO SOME OF HIS DISCIPLES SAID TO ONE ANOTHER, "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 AM GOING TO THE FATHER'?" 18 SO THEY WERE SAYING, "WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY 'A LITTLE WHILE'? WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT." 19 JESUS KNEW THAT THEY WANTED TO ASK HIM, SO HE SAID TO THEM, "IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELVES, WHAT I MEANT BY SAYING, 'A LITTLE WHILE AND YOU WILL NOT SEE ME, AND AGAIN A LITTLE WHILE AND YOU WILL SEE ME'? 20 TRULY, TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, YOU WILL WEEP AND LAMENT, BUT THE WORLD WILL REJOICE. YOU WILL BE SORROWFUL, BUT YOUR SORROW WILL TURN INTO JOY. 21 WHEN A WOMAN IS GIVING BIRTH, SHE HAS SORROW BECAUSE HER HOUR HAS COME, BUT WHEN SHE HAS DELIVERED THE BABY, SHE NO LONGER REMEMBERS THE ANGUISH, FOR JOY THAT A HUMAN BEING HAS BEEN BORN INTO THE WORLD. 22 SO ALSO YOU HAVE SORROW NOW, BUT I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN, AND YOUR HEARTS WILL REJOICE, AND NO ONE WILL TAKE YOUR JOY FROM YOU. 23 IN THAT DAY YOU WILL ASK NOTHING OF ME. TRULY, TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, WHATEVER YOU ASK OF THE FATHER IN MY NAME, HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU. 24 UNTIL NOW YOU HAVE ASKED NOTHING IN MY NAME. ASK, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE, THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL. As we've discussed already, and I think this is very important, Jesus, in His final discourse, is preparing the disciples of His coming departure, which is why He promises them the Holy Spirit. The command to abide then, which is the title of our sermon series, is an encouragement to remain - abide- in God, so that He can abide in us. It's no coincidence that John uses this language in his first epistle, when he encourages them in 1 John 4:13 - BY THIS WE KNOW THAT WE ABIDE IN HIM AND HE IN US, BECAUSE HE HAS GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT So, we see the need to abide, and the need - as discussed in the previous section - that Christ needed to depart from them, so that the Holy Spirit would dwell among them. I bring this up again because the context of what Jesus is saying here is important. In those opening verses, Jesus speaks of a time that is defined as "A LITTLE WHILE." And, not surprisingly, the disciples were confused to what this meant. Given the context of this entire discourse, I believe it is clear that Jesus is speaking of His death, and His resurrection. Which is why our main idea for this morning is: A follower of Jesus can experience joy because of the resurrection. So, what is joy? I came across several good definitions: Biblical joy is choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction. Joy is a spiritual peace and contentment that only comes from God and is strong even during times of sadness. It is a perpetual gladness of the heart that comes from knowing, experiencing, and trusting Jesus. Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world. There is a significant difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is driven by circumstances and is temporary, while joy is a temperament that's lasting and caused by our relationship with Christ, and the faith in His promises. This is why writers, like Paul, Peter and James, command that we remain joyful, even during difficult times. So, if Jesus here is speaking of His death and resurrection, we must answer the following question: Why the resurrection? (16-20) * First, and worth noting, is that the disciples reaction to this would cause them to lament and be full of sorrow. * That sorrow is the feeling that we have inside of us, while the lament is that outward display of that sorrow. * Think about how hard this was for them. o They followed Him for 3 years * Literally changed their lives, dropped everything to follow this Man * Later, as we saw earlier in the chapter, most of them would even die for Him o They learned from Him, as their personal rabbi. o They ate with Him o He called them friends o He called them brothers o His death was a death meant for the worst criminals * I can recall my first Good Friday service. o Candlelit o A serious message o Somber music o Quiet as we walked out of the auditorium o After all of these years, we still have a tendency of tearing up when we read the story of the crucifixion. o Their response was expected. * Contrary to the very reasonable response from the disciples, we see the opposite response from the world. o We spoke about the world a couple of weeks ago. o The world is naturally opposed to God and His ways. o For the Jews, Jesus was turning their faith upside down. Making a mockery of their ways and understanding of the Law. o For the Romans, Jesus took the attention from Caesar and their rule o He was a threat, they wanted Him gone. So, they would rejoice. * But, let's return to the question: why the resurrection? o Paul said it nicely in 1 Corinthians 15:17 when he said, AND IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS FUTILE AND YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS. o Without the death, there is no resurrection * Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. There is no forgiveness of sins. There is no hope. There is no joy. * We're walking out of that Good Friday service with our heads still low. * We're like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, before they had their encounter with Jesus. * We would be like the disciples hiding in the locked room. Scared and alone. * Instead, we get to be like Mary, who ran to tell the others that she saw the risen Lord. This is why I said earlier: A follower of Jesus can experience joy because of the resurrection. Notice that clearly in verses 20 and 22. Jesus tells them that their sorrow will turn to joy, because He will return. Today - we can be joyful, because we know He will return, yet again. When He does, it will be for us. We will be joined together in eternal fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the most epic worship service all time, singing with the other saints and the angels! So, while that is what we get to look forward to, what about now? Let's address that now by answering: How to respond to the resurrection (21-24) * The illustration that Jesus uses is a woman in labor. * This is an interesting illustration, as it's used elsewhere to describe Israel's suffering, and later as the world's suffering. * But here, Jesus is speaking about life. He uses the illustration to describe the childbirth process. * I can remember when Elizabeth was born. Her labor began some 20 hours before she was finally born. Natalie went through a lot of pain, and later a lot of hunger. By all accounts, it was not an easy pregnancy. But I can clearly remember the moment that she held Elizabeth in her arms for the first time - there was peace. There was joy. * That's what Jesus is saying here. There is pain in the process, but once Jesus returns, that suffering will go away. * So, Jesus here gives us three words of encouragement as He closes this portion of the discourse. First: o Rejoice (22) * It is possible for a Christian to lose their joy. This happens when they begin to blend in with the world, like we saw a couple of weeks ago - again reiterating the importance of abiding in Christ. This is why it is important to: * Gather with other believers * Worship with other believers * Think about the predator out in the wild, who do they go after? The weak one. The one who is separated from the rest. The one who is injured. We need to be together. * I believe there is no coincidence that Jesus is not only speaking to John or Peter individually, but He is speaking to the twelve. * Just like in verse 20, Jesus repeats that their sorrow will turn into joy. * In fact, here, Jesus says, that no one will be able to take their joy. That phrase at the end of verse 22 illustrates someone robbing or snatching something out of your hands. * Jesus is saying that in Him, by the work of the resurrection, no one can take that joy from us. * This is very important. * Sorrow is not only replaced by joy, it turns into joy. * It's transformed into joy. * When we rejoice, we acknowledge the hand of God at work. * We acknowledge that He is working in us * We acknowledge that even through difficulties, we are trusting Him with the outcome. * Paul talked about this in 2 Corinthians 12:10 when he said, FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST, THEN, I AM CONTENT WITH WEAKNESSES, INSULTS, HARDSHIPS, PERSECUTIONS, AND CALAMITIES. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG. * When we rejoice, Paul says, we become strong * So, rejoice, friends, rejoice. * Then we, o Ask (23) * Most people connect this section directly to prayer. I think it does apply to that, but not exclusively. * Connecting the first part of this verse to the rest of the passage, it seems to be directly related to the questions the disciples asked in verses 17-18, and others that they have asked along the way. * Because Jesus's physical return answers those questions, and they no longer need to ask them. * Then, in that second half, He encourages them to ask. * Ask for what? * First, notice the phrase "IN THAT DAY" - this would refer to the moments following the resurrection. So, the disciples would likely ask for: * Joy. * Guidance. * And to glorify Christ. * For the words they will need to proclaim Christ. * For the courage they will need to carry out the mission. * We can ask for these same things. * I can't help but think of Christ's Words in the Sermon of the Mount in Matthew 7:7-8, where He says, 7 ASK, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU; SEEK, AND YOU WILL FIND; KNOCK, AND IT WILL BE OPENED TO YOU. 8 FOR EVERYONE WHO ASKS RECEIVES, AND THE ONE WHO SEEKS FINDS, AND TO THE ONE WHO KNOCKS IT WILL BE OPENED * We say it here frequently, faith is active, and that includes our prayer life. * I'd be remiss to touch on a very important part of this command, the phrase "IN MY NAME" * In the Jewish culture, names represented the character or person of that individual. Christ, for example, wasn't his last name, it means "Anointed One" which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew term that meant "Messiah." The name "Jesus" actually means "the Lord is Salvation." * So, when Jesus says to pray in His name, it means to pray in a way consistent with His character and will. * Simply put, when we pray in Jesus's Name, we are asking for and desiring for what Jesus delights in. * Finally, o Receive (24) * A gift is worthless if we do not take it and use it. * It just sits on the shelf, collecting dust. * Jesus states here that when we ask and receive, it results in joy. * Greek scholar, Kenneth Wuest, paraphrased verse 24 this way: "be constantly making request, and you shall receive, in order that your joy, having been filled completely full, might persist in that state of fullness in present time" * See that? Your joy is complete. It's full. It's free - at least to us. Or better stated - it's God's grace. * From a Christian perspective, we ought to: * Be generous, because God is generous * Be loving, because God is loving * Be forgiving, because God is forgiving * Be merciful, because is merciful * These are all gifts from God, that He allows us to also give to others. * Are you doing that? * Are you giving as much as you receive? * Receiving God's gifts, give us joy. * There is no greater gift than the resurrection. * This is why we said earlier: A follower of Jesus can experience joy because of the resurrection. Let's face it, we all want joy. We all want to have this state of mind. We all want this peace that no one else can offer. Well, we must look to the resurrection. I almost titled this sermon, "Easter in July" since that's what we've been talking about this morning. That resurrection leads to abiding in Christ, and the reality of the Holy Spirit. Which means we must be intentional about abiding in Christ, so that we can experience this joy. Think about that "Sunday morning" when Christ returned. The joy that each of those who experienced the risen Lord would have experienced would've been incredible. So, rejoice like they did. Ask for that joy. Receive that joy. Do that in the Name of Jesus, the risen Lord. Will you do that today? Let's pray. 2