Victorious Peace, Enduring Joy • John 16:16-33

Teaching begins

Notes

Jesus’ disciples think they’re finally ready for anything to happen. But Jesus knows better. He’s been trying to warn them. But what’s going to happen will take them by surprise and shock them so that they will hardly be able to function.

What they really need is peace that will keep them while suffering emotionally and physically.

So how do you get that?

Only through Jesus, because peace comes from God only, and Jesus is God.

Let’s read John 16 from verse 16.

1. Jesus explains His suffering and their sorrow is going to be temporary.

A. He’s speaking of His crucifixion which is going to take place the next day.

1. It’s going to happen quickly. At the end of the day He will be dead.

2. But it’s not going to last. That too, will happen quickly. He will be dead for three days.

3. It’s good to know that all our suffering, all our sorrows are temporary. The disciples are going to be so shocked they will lose all sense of time. It will feel like it’s always been this way. And Jesus being dead is forever. When you die, you’re gone.

B. The disciples want to question Jesus. They don’t understand what He ‘s talking about.

C. Jesus knows they want to question Him.

2. So He tries explaining what’s going to happen with the analogy of childbirth.

A. He says you will weep and lament but the world will rejoice. You will grieve but your grief will be turned to joy.

B. The pain and the grief have a purpose and a result. A child comes into the world.

C. The sorrow is temporary. The pain is temporary. The child brings ongoing joy that remains. Here’s a new little life with tremendous potential.

D. Jesus says you have grief now, you will suffer greatly, but then I will see you. Your heart will rejoice and no one takes your joy from you. It will be enduring, ongoing joy that will displace the very real pain and sorrow.

3. That ongoing, enduring joy results from restored relationship with the Father.

A. It’s marked by this phrase, “In that day,”. You’ll read that in the prophets as they describe the blessings as God fulfils His promises to Israel. It will mean blessings for the whole earth.

B. Jesus says when you see Me again you will go straight to the Father.

1. Notice you will not need any intermediary to pray on your behalf to the Father. You won’t have to ask a saint to pray for you, you won’t ask the Virgin Mary to pray for you. Jesus says I won’t have to be an intermediary for you. You can go right to the Father Himself and pray directly to Him and He will listen to you.

2. Because He Himself loves you. That means He knows you. He hears you. You have access into His presence. You stand in His favour as much as Jesus.

3. You have your own relationship with the Father now.

C. He’s going to answer you when you ask in My name.

1. That is, asking as Jesus would ask. The prayers Jesus prayed are perfect. The Father is going to answer perfect prayers. So you can look at the prayers Jesus prayed and pray them with confidence.

2. Take the Lord’s Prayer as an outline of what you can pray for. That the Father would be hallowed and glorified on earth as He is in heaven. In my life, even! May His kingdom come in this area, in this person’s life, in every area of my life. Why not? I can also pray for my needs and my wants. I can ask to be satisfied and He knows what will satisfy my heart better than I do. He has obligated Himself to provide my daily bread and for tomorrow as well.

D. Jesus says ask, and you will receive, that you joy may be made full. This is an ongoing asking and an ongoing receiving, and an ongoing joy that comes out of relationship. We are loved by the Father and we love Him in return.

4. Jesus gives the quick, simple explanation of what’s going to happen. Do the disciples get it?

A. Jesus leaves out a lot of details: the crucifixion, the resurrection.

B. But when the disciples hear this, they go, yeah! Finally, we get what you are saying. Now we believe You. We’re good to go. Got this.

C. Jesus doesn’t sound convinced to me. Are they really on solid ground, they understand what’s coming, grief and sorrow are not going to shake them?

D. He tells them plainly, really, you’re not going to handle this very well. There will be real suffering and grief. You’ll scatter to your own homes and I’ll be left alone. Well, the Father is always with Me, so not really alone.

5. Here is the reason why Jesus has been speaking to His disciples: that in Him they might have peace.

A. See, the disciples need peace. You need peace. Everyone needs peace.

1. Peace is a necessary component of life. Wholeness, satisfaction, fullness, so that there is no lack, no stress, no tension.

2. When you don’t have peace you only exist in misery. But that’s not really life. You have to keep existing without that thing you need to live. That is the very definition of misery. That’s hell on earth.

B. Peace comes as a result of relationship with the Father. It’s not a thing in and of itself. Peace is a word that describes the degree of relationship between two persons. If everything is right, there is peace. If there is something wrong, there is conflict.

C. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. There is a huge conflict there.

1. God the creator says this is the way I want you to live. Here are My laws. Be in relationship with Me, receive My love. Love Me in return. Love those around you because you have received My love.

2. But here is the unreasonableness of sin. They hated Me without a cause. The conflict does not come from God. It comes from man. Man hates God and hates Jesus, and therefore there is no peace with God.

3. The proof of this is there is no peace with men. Since the most fundamental relationship is not in order, neither is any other relationship between men. That’s why countries are at war, political parties are at each other’s throats, families are blown up. If you are wrong with God, who is love, you cannot possibly be right with anyone else. You are broke as far as love, patience, forgiveness, mercy. You simply don’t have what it takes.

4. That’s not true, says the world. You can have peace and love with any other god. Okay. We’re watching. We’re listening. Somebody show us truth and love and faithfulness and humility and honesty without Jesus.

D. Here is where Jesus is crucial to peace. He alone is the Prince of peace. He made peace by giving His life on the cross for the sins of the world. The wages of sin against God is death. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Jesus said, “This cup is My blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:19-20 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

E. Jesus made peace with God. We know this is true because after Jesus died for our sins the Father showed that He accepted Jesus sacrifice of Himself. We know that sacrifice fully pleased the Father in every respect eternally because He raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is the seal of acceptance and approval from God that He is satisfied.

F. We have to say this as well: there is peace in no other person. This is really the test of who is God.

1. The antichrist is coming. He will say that he is God and force everyone on the planet to worship him as God. He will say that unless you worship him as God, you won’t be able to buy or sell. You can’t work, you will starve to death. No one will be able to help you because all finance will be digitally controlled, oppressing and controlling everyone. It will be a digital noose around your neck. There won’t be any cash to give. The antichrist will prove he is God because he can call down fire from heaven, just like Elijah did in the Bible! Airtight case. Miracles!

2. But that’s not who God is! Fire and destruction is not the test of who God is! Peace is the test of who God is. And only Jesus made peace. Only He is the Prince of peace. Only He gives peace.

3. The clincher is this: an uncountable people will choose Jesus and death over living under the antichrist. Jesus will give them peace in the face of death. The antichrist can only take life. He can’t give peace.

4. If you think you can live without peace, here’s the testimony of millions and millions of people to consider. “I choose peace with God over living a lie.”

6. Did Jesus accomplish His purpose? He said, “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.”

A. In all fairness to Jesus, no. It didn’t work. The disciples were blindsided. They were run over by what happened. They were shocked and torn up.

B. Until the resurrection of Jesus. Then it has worked ever since.

1. That’s because you need the Holy Spirit to understand the words of Jesus. You need to be born again. The disciples didn’t have that before Jesus died. That’s a huge advantage we have now, to be born again, to receive the Holy Spirit to help us.

2. You also have to remember Jesus’ words in order to receive the peace. If you forget those words, they won’t do you any good.

7. So what?

A. Peace is absolutely necessary to life. You must have peace or else you are existing in misery. You are suffering. You can’t live without peace.

B. The only way to peace is through submitting to Jesus. If you don’t have Jesus it’s not a surprise that you don’t have peace. You can’t! Nothing you do will bring you peace. You have to make peace with God through Jesus. Do that today.

C. Those of you who believe in Jesus, do not let your peace and joy be taken away.

1. Isn’t that wicked, that someone would want to take your joy away? But Satan does want to take your joy away. He wants to take your peace away so you only exist in misery, just like everyone else in this world. He wants you to look to some other god in this world to save you. You don’t need God, you need money. You are worried about what’s coming. Worried about how am I going to pay the bills? Worried about food, clothing, how’s this all going to work out? He wants to distract you and choke you with worry and tension here and now, so that you forget what Jesus promised. No peace.

2. Don’t let anyone take your joy away. You remember what Jesus said and did. That’s why we’re having communion today. We have peace with God right now today because of what Jesus did two thousand years ago.

D. When we submit to Jesus and remember Him, we also take courage, for Jesus has overcome the world.

1. The world is all about here and now. The world says that this life is all that counts. You must compromise yourself at all costs in order to stay alive because there is no life after death. You lie, cheat, steal, betray, whatever it takes because this is all there is.

2. Jesus says that’s not true. This life is not all there is. In a little while I’m going to die and it will be hard. But then in a little while I will rise again to new life. I will make you more than conquerors over this poor, pitiful world.

3. And so it is written in Revelation 12:10-12 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

G. However long we have to suffer, it is temporary. But we have peace right now. And our joy is right now, and will endure forever.

However long the devil wars against us, he only has a short time.

Jesus’ victory over the devil and this world is forever.

Let’s pray.