We See Loss, God Will Bring Joy

Last Words of Jesus in John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  29:10
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We See Loss, God Will Bring Joy

We focus on what we had
We want to go back to the way it was
We forget God has better for us
Even through greatest trial
God will give us Joy

The Timing Makes No Sense

John 16:16–17 ESV
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 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’?”

The Timing Makes No Sense

The Messiah would reveal himself, right?
But not as they expected.
On the journey to the Cross, Jesus repeated the promise:
But it sounded a like a riddle to them
It was really just Jesus repeating his theme
He would die and rise again.
John 14:19 ESV
Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
A few ticks of the clock, I’m gone. A few more, I’m back.
And this other thing he just said:
John 16:5 ESV
But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
John 16:10b ESV
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
What could it mean?
They had no mental context for the resurrection/
So they talked among themselves.
Not to the expert in their midst.

Jesus Brings the Question Back

John 16:18–19 ESV
So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 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’?

Jesus Brings the Question Back

Too much talk, not enough knowledge
They didn’t sort out the riddle
They didn’t get the schedule
They were clueless, lost, befuddled.
And too embarrassed to ask Jesus about it.
Jesus engages them again:
I see you are still stuck sharing your ignorance
You need to know what I meant.

What’s Coming Will Be Hard

John 16:20 ESV
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.

What’s Coming Will Be Hard

Jesus switches from timing to reactions
You won’t be able to escape the pain.
Here’s what it will feel like when I die:
Your hearts will be broken,
Your loss unbearable
While your enemies cheer the moment
You will get stuck in your sorrow, like most of us.
The disciples, like the world, will not be able to see the Cross as the turning point in all of history. They will focus on the death.
Jesus must endure death for our sins before forgiveness is made sure
It is only through the pain and loss that the real joy comes.
Still a riddle? Makes no sense. How does sorrow become joy?

The Example of Childbirth

John 16:21 ESV
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.

The Example of Childbirth

Like a woman in labor:
The pain seems unbearable near the birth.
No one gets pregnant for the pain to come
But the pain is unavoidable.
Because through the pain, God works a miracle:
A new life brought forth. Way to go, MOMS!
No drugs or spinal blocks or happy gas in Jesus’ day
Because of the result, the pain she went through doesn’t matter.

Here’s How Your Joy Will Come

John 16:22 ESV
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.

Here’s How Your Joy Will Come

Don’t get stuck on the riddle of time
Don’t get stuck in the pain of the moment
Don’t forget the example I just gave you:
Your sorrow will come when I’m gone
I’ve told you this must happen-The Son of Man must die...
Then you will find the tomb empty
Then I’ll show up and you will KNOW
Death has no claim on me! And because I live, you will live.
Your joy in the presence of the risen Lord can’t be quenched.
You will see the victory over sin and death God will work through his Son.
The “new baby” is eternal salvation.
1 Peter 1:6 ESV
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
We can meet our hardest struggles with the certainty of joy

A New Name and a New Opportunity

John 16:23–24 ESV
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. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

A New Name and a New Opportunity

At first, you won’t need anything else from me.
The events to come will clarify what Jesus has said
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, with bring them understanding.
There will come a time to ask the Father for what you need.
Ask in my name—don’t just ask me.
You will get what you need.
This opportunity wasn’t yours until then
After the resurrection,
the gift of God’s answers to prayer will be for fulness of joy.

CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT

Don’t take John 16:23-24 out of its context!
We are not given the power of prayer so that we can pad our pockets, escape our consequences or serve our selfishness.
What did Jesus pray for? How will we pray “in His name”—in union with Jesus?
We are given the power of prayer to carry the joy of the Gospel wherever we go.

The Repeated Promises of Answered Prayer

John 14:13–14 ESV
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
John 15:7–8 ESV
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15:11 ESV
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Abide, ask, bear fruit, glorify the Father, have the Joy of Jesus in you.
John 15:16 ESV
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Bear fruit that lasts, because the Father is glorified and can answer prayers in Jesus’ name to glorify himself in Christ
John 16:23–24 ESV
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. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Sorrow turns to joy because Christ dies for our sins
and is raised from the dead;
His name is a name of power in prayer for this purpose: To abide in Christ, to bear much fruit, to glorify the Father, to have the joy of Jesus in you.
The Promise of Prayer is to have the Joy of Jesus in You.
Jesus’ Joy was in fulfilling his Father’s wishes.
When we pray in the name of Jesus,
We must pray for what Jesus prayed.
We must pray for the Father to be glorified.
We must pray to bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
Asking in the name of Jesus is not a magic formula.
Asking in Jesus’ name is praying in union with Christ.
The answers to prayer promised in context are to Bear Fruit, Glorify God, Continue the work of Christ, and live in the Joy of Christ.
God loves us, so he will answer prayer anyway, according to his purposes. But what are your purposes when you pray?
Stay tuned to see what Jesus prayed for before he went to the Cross!

Jesus Tells us More About Prayer

John 16:25–27 ESV
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but 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 will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Jesus Tells Us More About Prayer

For now, some couched truth and parables and riddles.
You know he just gave two statements on prayer, right?
Our problem is thinking we get it when we don’t.
There is so much more when we go deeper.
The plain truth about the Father will no longer stump us.
When we ask in Jesus’ name, he is not between us and the Father.
We are in Christ, Christ is in us, we ask as if we are Jesus.
This is the gift of the new kingdom in which we live.
The Father himself loves us, because of our relationship with Jesus.
No wonder our joy becomes complete:
Our present is secure and our future is guaranteed.
That is where the joy comes.

Still not getting it

John 16:28–30 ESV
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”

Still not getting it

Jesus is leaving.
He came from the Father, he’s returning to the Father.
So here come the “Sunday School” responses
“We know just what you are talking about now!”
You know all things. It’s not up for debate.
We believe you came from God.
We got it, right? Right?

Here’s the Change We Must Navigate

John 16:31–32 ESV
Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

Here’s the Change We Must Navigate

What will you believe when things get tough?
Belief is easy in the good times.
It’s simple when we know Jesus is with us.
But in the hard times, belief is a struggle.
The time has come for us in this generation
We are scattered, not together. Each to his own home.
Safer at home; Self-isolated; fearful of what is next
We are tempted to abandon Jesus: to leave him alone
Jesus encourages us with the truth he knows:
I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
Lovers of Jesus, be sure of this:
God is fully present in the Spirit: We are never alone.

Peace Is Ours Because Jesus has Overcome

John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Peace is Ours Because Jesus has Overcome

When our world is upside down
Our peace is in Jesus
Our peace is not in the things around us
Our peace is in Jesus
Our peace is not in our troubles
Our peace is in Jesus
Our peace is not in government
Our peace is not in science
Our peace is not in self-preservation.
Our peace is in Jesus, the Overcoming One.
Jesus said this before he was nailed to the cross.
He had already overcome.
You have trouble? Take heart. Jesus has already overcome.
He has overcome our trouble
Overcome our loss
Overcome our separation
Overcome our unemployment
Overcome our broken economy
Overcome our burdened bank accounts
Overcome our loneliness
Overcome our illness
Overcome our worry
Be bold, be strong, be brave, be sure:
Jesus has overcome the world.
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