2017.09.24                                           John 16: 16-22

             Your Joy will no one take away

Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of the Lord Jesus… Jesus continues to Transform hearts and minds… by the Power of His Holy Spirit working in and through the Word of God… We are studying a very important section of the Word of God… The last two sermons in John 16… Have been about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit… The disciples are freaking out… Jesus has said that He is going to die… He is comforting them and preparing them…  

God is the God of all comfort… 2 Cor 1: 3-5…

Just like the Father… It is Jesus desire and purpose to comfort His own…  And when He told the disciples that  He was going… He promised to send the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter…  God is the God of all comfort… Now in the church age…. the Holy Spirit is The Comforter…. and The Lord Jesus Christ is our sympathetic, compassionate High Priest… Sometimes we see this clearly in the Gospel record… Like when we study the life of Christ here in John…  That is the case in our text this morning…  starting in John 16:16… We see our sympathetic… compassionate High Priest… Jesus… He is the One who carries our burdens and our understands our weaknesses… He is the One who comforts us…  He gives us His peace… And He Himself… Becomes our joy and rejoicing…

It is His passionate desire to replace our fear and sorrow with His comfort and joy… The Lord Jesus seeks the comfort and joy of His people…  That is what flows out of this wonderful section… The disciples are suffering… And so He is offering them the ultimate Hope…

The Hope of the Resurrection…  We all need hope… Feelings of Hopelessness add greatly to any time of suffering… And we all suffer sometimes... We all experience disappointment and sorrow…

Often life is just not turning out like we hoped… Well the disciples could hardly imagine a more desperate time...

After 3 plus years of following Jesus…. He says that He is going and they cannot follow… They are as close to hopelessness as one could be… Everything they hoped for and believed is hanging in the balance…

They are struggling to comprehend it all… As they see only loss and sorrow…. Jesus continues to comfort them and offer them Hope… Let´s read our text for this morning…

John 16: 16-22                         NKJV    slt 2000

16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “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 go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”

19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

v16,17… A little while, and you will not see Me… It was finally sinking in that Jesus was going to die soon…. But the disciples still didn’t quite understand that the arrest of Jesus was only an hour or two away… and then the very next day… He will be crucified… Yet because He  goes to the Father… they will see Him again…  He will rise from the dead… This was a puzzle for them… Death is to permanent for them to really understand…

They were filled with sorrow to hear Jesus talk about his death… They could not stand the thought of being left alone…. That is exactly why Jesus is spending so much of this last night comforting and encouraging them… And That is why He promised the Holy Spirit…

He knew that  between His death on the cross… And His miraculous resurrection… The disciples world would fall apart… Their faith would be shaken to the core…. I am sure that they said to themselves… Maybe it was all an illusion… When they could no longer see him with their eyes… Their spiritual vision was temporarily blinded… They were so used to walking and talking with Jesus… They spent three years watching Jesus… Now He says that he is going away…

Naturally their hearts are filled with sorrow…  

Today… There is special and profound blessing for those of us who see Jesus with our ears… We see Jesus with the eyes of faith… Jesus comes alive as we study this Book… One of the disciples… Thomas said after the resurrection… That he would not believe unless he saw Jesus like the other disciples…. Look with me at what Jesus said to him… John 20… v… 29…

John 20: 29                           NKJV   slt 2000

29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Even though we have never seen Jesus with our eyes… We have seen Jesus with our ears as we have heard the Good News of the Gospel proclaimed… And as we study the Word of God… The Holy Spirit uses it to persuade us of our sin and pride… To bring us to repentance and to transform our hearts and minds… 2 Tim 3:15-17…

Back to John 16… v18…

v18… They said therefore… We do not know what He is saying…  [they said] (elegon)… Can be translated… `They kept asking` They were asking each other… Whatttt? What does he mean… I don´t get it…  scroll down to v19…

 v19… Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him… They were embarrassed to ask again… What do you mean? Now we see you and now we don´t… Is this hide and seek? We don´t get it… Jesus words did not fit with their belief that He would now take the Kingdom from the Romans… Instead they faced a crisis of unbelief…

Jesus understood that they needed their hearts and minds prepared to endure the coming crisis… He has been preparing them for the shattering reality of His death on the cross…

v20… You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy…  Jesus knew they would be plunged into deep and dark sorrow in the next few hours...

Filled with Sorrow

1 Sorrow at the loss of relationship

2 Sorrow at the humiliation of their Master and Messiah

3 Sorrow at the seeming victory of His enemies

4 Sorrow because all they hoped for was taken away

They will see the cross as failure and tragedy… But The cross was not a tragedy… It was not an obstacle to overcome… It was God´s plan of redemption from the beginning… That Jesus would suffer in our place… That He would pay for our sins… And He then give us His Righteousness… His right standing with God… He knew that their deep sorrow would be transformed… 

He knew that God would… Because of His grace and unfailing love… turn their deep sorrow into wonderful joy... He knew that He would rise from the dead in victory…

God’s plan was not to give joy instead of sorrow… God does not prevent pain and sorrow in the lives of Believers… That is not what the Bible teaches…  But to heal and transform their real sorrow… into a deep and lasting JOY… Joy that no one can take away…. Because it is deep… And rooted in God´s wonderful Redeemer…    

He often does this in our lives… Childbirth is a great example…  The sorrow of watching Jesus suffer and die…. Will be directly connected to their coming joy in the Resurrection… Just like the sorrow of a woman in childbirth… Is directly connected to her joy that her child has been born… That is the example that Jesus uses here… Moms I know that you can relate… scroll down to v21and 22…

v21… A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world…

What a perfect picture of pain and sorrow turning to joy in an instant… What heavenly joy floods the heart of a mother at the birth of her child… now comes Jesus´ promise… v22…

v22a… I will see you again and your heart will rejoice… When we really see Jesus for who He is…. Our hearts do rejoice…. Our hearts leap for Joy at knowing that our sins are forgiven… Jesus is promising His resurrection in this verse… He is telling them that their sorrow is only temporary… That is always true for genuine believers… When it is all said and done…

Victory is certain… And our redemption is guaranteed and sealed by Jesus Himself… The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is like a certificate of authenticity… Proof that we are genuine believers… His work in our hearts means that Jesus has begun the process of transforming us…. And He promised to finish what he has begun in us…. Phil 1: 6…

The terrible temporary pain of their loss is nothing when compared to their joy-filled testimony after the resurrection... It was testimony so sure that they shook the world… And most of them endured death for Jesus sake…  

v22b…  Your joy no one will take from you…

 Here is a wonderful verse to begin and end our study this morning… God is Sovereign…

Since God is sovereign… He guarantees the final triumph of our joy… In the text from the Gospel of John that was read at the beginning… Jesus said to the disciples who were about to lose Him in death… And then get him back at His Resurrection… v22…

22…  you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you…

No one will ever take your joy away… The Joy that Jesus gave us at the Resurrection is invincible… His joy is Eternal… When we have God as our exceeding Great joy… He will see us through every disaster in our lives… As I said… Jesus has promised to continue the work that he has begun in us… He cannot fail… to redeem us and take us to Himself forever…  Amen

This morning we are going to celebrate Communion together… God´s people have been doing this for almost 2000 years… Since the night that Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples for the last time… Why do we celebrate His death and resurrection like this? It reminds us of Jesus´ promises to us… He will come again…. Then we will be with Him forever…

The Promise of Communion with Him Forever is sealed by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

Promise of Communion

1 Our sorrow is turned into Joy…

2 He is finishing the work that He has begun in us…

3 The Lord will come again and take to Himself Forever…

Communion

Danger caution!!!! We want to once again welcome all of our guests and visitors this morning…. We are very glad that you are here…. We are going to celebrate communion this morning as a church family…. If you have given your heart to Jesus… And if you are willing to let the Lord Jesus search your heart…. And willing to  Confess any sin that is in your life…. You are welcome to participate with us…. In 1 Corinthians… Paul exhorts us….

Examine your hearts… That is what we need to do this morning as we prepare to take communion together… The worship team will come forward and as they lead us to the throne of grace…. Let´s examine our  hearts…. The elements will be passed out…. Please hold them and we will take communion together when I come back up here… Song….

Communion is a picture of the fact that we are all in Christ….  Every time we take communion… we take into our hands  a reminder that we have been redeemed…. And that we belong to each other…. We are members of another… Jesus has saved us and made us one family in Him…  

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26                                 NLT

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26            Neues Leben

23 Das Folgende hat der Herr selbst gesagt, und ich gebe es euch so weiter, wie ich es empfangen habe: In der Nacht, als er verraten wurde, nahm Jesus, der Herr, einen Laib Brot,

24 und nachdem er Dank gesagt hatte, brach er ihn und sprach: »Das ist mein Leib, der für euch hingegeben wird. Tut das zur Erinnerung an mich.«

25 Ebenso nahm er nach dem Abendmahl den Weinkelch und sprach: »Dieser Kelch ist der neue Bund zwischen Gott und euch, besiegelt durch mein Blut. Wann immer ihr daraus trinkt, tut es zur Erinnerung an mich.«

26 Denn jedes Mal, wenn ihr dieses Brot esst und aus diesem Kelch trinkt, verkündet ihr den Tod des Herrn, bis er wiederkommt.

Let´s pray…