Transcription
[Music] We're going to begin this morning here at verse 5 and, God willing, take it all the way through to the very end of the chapter. John chapter 16. And what this brings is this brings an ending section of this last discourse that Jesus had with his disciples on the night that Jesus was going to be betrayed. Before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane, before he was arrested, before he was beaten, before he was condemned, before he was nailed to a cruel cross between two thieves, before any of that happened, he had a final talk with his disciples. It was around a meal, a Passover meal. And as they ate the meal and afterwards, Jesus had one of those real family kind of heart-to-hearts with his disciples. And so much of it was centered around this thought: Men, I'm leaving you. You need to be ready when I'm gone. Because in a way that the disciples, even though Jesus had told them this before, that they weren't mentally or spiritually or emotionally prepared for this earthquake that was going to happen in their life. The departure of their master, their Messiah, Jesus Christ, was going to leave them, and they would be left without him in the world. This is the last section of that talk that Jesus has with his disciples, beginning now at verse 5.
"But now I go away to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you."
Friends, in those words, Jesus said something really remarkable, even astounding. In verse 7, did you see what he said? He said that it was to the disciples' advantage that he went away. Now, if you had lived and studied under and been with and seen the example and up-close the teaching and the miracles and the grace and the power of Jesus, if you had seen that for three years, could you be easily convinced that it was good that Jesus leave you? Yet Jesus was bold enough to say to those disciples then, "It's not good for me that I go. It's good for you. It's to your advantage that I leave you." It sounds like one of those breakups between a guy and a girl where the girl's trying to persuade, "It's really better for you." The guy's not believing it, is he? And she says, "No, it's to your advantage." Because what Jesus was trying to get through to them, what was that it was to their advantage, even though he was about to be arrested, even though his ministry of teaching and doing good works in a miraculous way that was going to be over, even though he was about to be beaten, mocked, and crucified between two thieves, even though that was going to happen, it was still better for them that he leave. Why? Look at the rest of verse 7: "Because if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you."
This is what was going to make it to their advantage that Jesus departed from them. He meant that the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in their midst would be so effective, so worth it, that it was better that Jesus leave. Now, do we agree that to take Jesus away in his bodily presence was taking away a lot? Wouldn't it be great to have Jesus in his bodily presence here this morning? That would be the best Sunday ever if Jesus were here in his bodily presence, and we got him for this Sunday. Can you imagine how far in advance he'd have to book Jesus to get here to preach at your church? But what a great Sunday that would be, wouldn't it? Could you imagine the line out the door? You'd have to come at 6:00. You'd have to camp overnight. And you've had the excitement in the room when Jesus came up to preach. We'd be saying to Joseph, "Joseph, okay, two songs from worship. That's it. That's it. We want to hear Jesus teach." And he's weak enough to teach. And it would be the best Sunday ever. We would be amazed. I mean, nothing could be better than this.
But then what would happen? The next Sunday. The next Sunday, when Jesus was speaking in Philadelphia or whatever he would go, next Sunday, everybody here would be saying, "Jesus is not here. He was here last week. Now he's in Philadelphia. He's not here today." Friends, Jesus did not want his church burdened by that in the slightest. He wanted us to know that he was present by his Spirit with his church at all the time. So now, having ascended to heaven and now having sent the Holy Spirit, we know Jesus is with us today, and he's with all his people as they gathered by the millions all over the world. This is that a wonderful thought that is the followers of Jesus, as his disciples gather millions upon millions over the world to worship Him on a Sunday, He is present with them all. Which would be absolutely impossible if he were still here present in his bodily, in his bodily presence. It would be impossible. By the way, just from a preacher's perspective, you can imagine how happy I am when Jesus was here. It would be the best sermon ever. The next week, when it was just old Pastor David here, I might preach the best sermon I ever preached in my whole life. And what would you say? You'd say, "Well, that's pretty good, David, but it wasn't like Jesus last week." Which would be true. But no, it was a blessing.
And friends, if you're gonna take away something so blessed, so powerful, so good as the physical presence of Jesus, whatever you give in recompense of that, better be better than that. And it is better: the presence and the power and the working of the Holy Spirit of God among his people. Because God does his work as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And He has sent now His Holy Spirit to indwell not only the individual believer but His church as well, as a community. And that's for us. And this is my simple challenge to you: Is the presence and the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life so real, so good, and so precious that you say, "Yes, Jesus, it's worth it that you bodily ascended into heaven"? But for many believers, they would be like those believers in Ephesians, in the book of Acts, who said, "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Well, friends, I would just say to you, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you are His disciple, if you've been born again by God's Spirit, you have the Holy Spirit. But how much of you does He have? Do you regularly, consciously invite Him to fill your life, to dominate your life, to work in and through you? Do you consciously invite and work with the presence and be conscious of the filling and the walking and the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit? This is what He wants for His people. And if it's been a long time since you simply got away with God in a quiet place and said, "I need the flow in the presence and the power of Your Holy Spirit in my life. Would You fill me afresh today?" Isn't that what we need to be doing every day? This is what Jesus said, and this is what made it to their advantage that He would go away.
"Now, and when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
You see, when Jesus ascended to heaven and sent down the Holy Spirit, He was not only present among believers. We see this in Acts chapter 2. That the Holy Spirit was definitely present among believers in a special and powerful way on the day of Pentecost. That's undeniable. But do you understand, He was also present among those who had yet to give their lives to Jesus Christ, among the crowd that listened to the Apostles when they preached on the day of Pentecost? How do we know that the Spirit was present there? Because they were convicted of their sin and they gave their lives to Jesus Christ. That only happens when the Holy Spirit's working. So, do you see, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, it wasn't just a work in the life of the believer, but also to work in the world. And what would He do in the world? Notice what it says there in verse 8: "He will convict the world of sin." Now, the idea behind that word "convict" in the original language, I don't need to go into a great big word study other than just to say this: it's a little bit broader than just what we think of as convict. You think of the word "convict" and you think of the judge pounding down the gavel, "You're guilty, you're convicted." Matter of fact, we call people who are in car, in incarceration, convicts because they're convicted. Well, there they are. It's not just that. The idea is not only to convict somebody, but also to expose, to refute, to convince. The Holy Spirit does that work in the life of someone who does not yet know Jesus and convicts them of their need for Jesus Christ.
Many of you probably have a very real and sometimes exciting story of the day that became real for you. Yeah, before that, yeah, God's out there, whatever. And we should do a good turn towards God, and yay, God, and all of that. But there was a day when instantly you realized your desperate need for God, your desperate need for forgiveness because of what Jesus did at the cross. And it wasn't just like a good idea. You said, "I need this. I'm driven to it." Where before it was like, "Well, yeah, that's a good story. And yeah, we all need a little more religion in our life. That's a good thing." No, no. Now you need it. It's like this: when you're flying on an airplane and the flight attendant is going through the safety lecture, does anybody listen to that? Do you really not know how to buckle a seatbelt? You need to be instructed to by the flight attendant. Nobody listens. Nobody cares. But if there's heavy turbulence on the plane and the plane starting to go down, and they give another safety lecture, you're listening now, aren't you? It's the same lecture, but now you're serious about it. Now you're locked in. There's a way that the Holy Spirit alerts the heart to its danger and says, "You need Jesus. You've always needed Him. You were just blind to it before. But you need Him in a way you never thought you did." And then the person cries out in desperation, "Jesus, I need You."
Friends, there's something interesting about the work of spiritual awakening or revival, these unique periods of remarkable advance in the kingdom of God. When God is doing a work like that, the Holy Spirit comes down upon a community of people who don't know Jesus yet and convicts them of their sin. He persuades them of their great need. And it's an amazing thing. I remember years ago studying this and reading in a book by a great man named Dr. J. Edwin Orr, in his book, "The Second Great Awakening in Great Britain." He has a little section, and I'll just read it to you. He's speaking about this great work in 1862, 1861 in Great Britain, where he says that a high-ranking Army officer described the conviction of sin in his own Scottish town. And this is what he wrote: "Those of you who are at ease have little conception of how terrifying a sight it is when the Holy Spirit is pleased to open a man's eyes to the real state of his heart. Men who were thought to be, and who thought themselves to be, good religious people, have been led to search into the foundation upon which they were resting, and have found it all rotten, that they were self-satisfied, resting on their own goodness, and not upon Christ. Many turned from lives of open sin to lives of holiness, some weeping for joy at sins forgiven."
There's something that happens, friends. Isn't this a beautiful thing for us to pray for people that we love and care about who don't know Jesus yet? "Holy Spirit, would You take back the veil? Holy Spirit, would You show them the true condition of their heart? I can't persuade them, but You can." Holy Spirit, because look at what He says here: "You've come into the world to convict the world of sin." And when the Holy Spirit does that work of convicting, it's an effective work. Earlier in this talk that Jesus had with his disciples, he spoke about the Holy Spirit being a helper. And he used the word "advocate" or "Paraclete." The idea behind there of advocate is like a lawyer, a defense lawyer. It's very interesting. Before he spoke of the Holy Spirit for the believer being like a defense lawyer, here he speaks of the Holy Spirit as to the unbeliever being like a prosecuting attorney. Think about it. Would you rather have the Holy Spirit be your defense attorney or be your prosecuting attorney? Before you decide, can I just say, He never loses a case either way. Never. Never. If He's your defense attorney, you can't lose. If He's your prosecuting attorney, you cannot win. And the difference between the two: you put your trust in the Savior, you put your trust in Jesus Christ.
Now, He says, "of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." He's coming to the world to persuade the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
"Now, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I said that he will take of mine and declare it to you."
Friends, two things I want to point out there that Jesus said in that little section. First of all, in verse 12, he talked about the work of the Holy Spirit declaring things that Jesus had yet said. In verse 12, he says, "I still have many things to say to you." In other words, Jesus said, "My job of revelation to you is not finished. The Holy Spirit will finish it later." Would you just pause and think about that for a moment? Jesus knew that His work of teaching to the disciples was not finished, and He would send the Holy Spirit to finish it up. Now, if only we had a finished work of the Holy Spirit teaching His church, if only it was written down in a book somewhere that we could read. You get the point I'm trying to make. Jesus here is anticipating the completion of the New Testament. And this is why, even those people say this with good intentions, it's a wrong thing to say. Sometimes people say, "You know, man, we don't need the words of Paul or John or James or Peter. Just give me the words of Jesus. That's all I need." Well, let me tell you something about the words of Jesus. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would bring you more words through His designated Apostles by the Holy Spirit. And this is what we have in the New Testament. So, no, don't be deceived by that idea. We have the New Testament as a whole. And Jesus anticipated it here in His teaching. That's one thing to consider.
The next thing I want you to consider is what He says in verse 13 about the work of the Holy Spirit. "He will not speak on his own authority." Verse 14: "He will glorify me." Verse 15: "He will take of what is mine and declare it to you." In other words, there is a continuity between the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of the Holy Spirit. It's not apples and oranges. It's the same thing. There's a continuity between the two. But most of all, what the Spirit would come and say would focus on Jesus. Why do I mention that? Listen, there are people again, I'm sure with good intention. I'm happy to assign the best intentions to people. But they love to go on about their vision, their dream, their revelation. And oftentimes, when you hear them explain it, much in there is there about Jesus? No. There could be all these which symbols and all these dim things and this life experience and that thing and this mystical truth and that mystical truth. And they can go on and on and spin a half-hour, hour thing, all this amazing experience. Look, it's a valid thing for you to say, "Yeah, but what does it say about Jesus? Where's Jesus?" Because Jesus said, "When the Holy Spirit speaks, He'll speak of Me." And if the Holy Spirit is revealing things to His people today, it's gonna center upon Jesus Christ Himself.
"Continuing on, verse 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.'"
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." They said, "Therefore, what is this?" And he says, "A little while, we do not know what he is saying." The disciples were confused. They were confused because they didn't have the big picture in mind. Therefore, in verse 16, when Jesus said, "A little while, and you will not see me," they didn't understand. Jesus is saying, "A little while, I'm gonna be dead and in the tomb. You will not see me." And then they didn't understand because of that, how Jesus said, "Again, a little while, and you will see me, because I go to the Father." They didn't understand. We're not gonna see Him when He's dead and in the tomb. We will see Him when He rises from the dead. And then finally, when He ascends to the Father. They weren't getting the picture. And therefore, they were confused.
Now, in verse 19, Jesus hopes to help clear up some of the confusion. "Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask him, and he said to them, 'Are you inquiring amongst yourselves what I said: A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me? 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. 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. 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.'"
Look, you guys don't understand. Let me paint it to another way. Because I'm gonna die, you will have sorrow. Did you see that in verse 20? "You will be sorrowful." But your sorrow will be turned into joy. Jesus knew that they were about to be plunged into deep, dark sorrow. That right now, they were enjoying a very pleasant meal with Jesus and having a fantastic conversation with Him. After the meal, but in just a few minutes, when they go to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would be arrested, they would be scattered, and their whole lives would be turned upside down. Jesus understood that. And they were going to be sorrowful. They were going to be sorry because their master and their Messiah was gone and humiliated. They were going to be sorrowful because the enemies of Jesus would seem to be victorious. They were going to be sorrowful because seemingly everything they hoped for was taken away. And what did Jesus say that He was going to do? Friends, please note what He says there in verse 20: "He says, 'You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.'" Jesus did not say that He would take away their sorrow and replace it with joy. Do you understand that? He's not saying, "I'm gonna take away your sorrow and replace it with joy." He says, "I'm gonna take your sorrow and transform it into joy." What was going to make them so sorrowful in a few hours? The crucifixion of Jesus. He would turn that around and make that the biggest joy of the disciples when they understood it and how it worked in God's redemptive plan. In the New Testament, after the Gospels, in the book of Acts, or in the writings of Paul or the other apostles, do you ever see them sorrowing over the cross? Oh, it was terrible that Jesus died. No, they're rejoicing in it. He literally took their sorrow over the cross and he turned it into joy. And am I bold enough to believe that God can do that in my life? That He can say, "This struggle or this problem, this crisis in my business, this agony in my family, that this difficulty with my physical health, these problems that I face?" Am I bold enough to believe that God can take that very thing and not just take it away and bring something joyful in its place, but take that very thing and turn it into a cause of joy? "Lord, I, I was so sorry when the financial crisis hit and it seemed like everything was gone, but You turned that into joy because now I trust You and love You and relate to You in a way that I never did before." Do you see how He does that? This is God's pattern: to take our sorrow and to turn it into joy. That's why Jesus says in verse 22, "I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice." They didn't fully understand the separation, so they couldn't fully understand the joy of the coming when Jesus returned.
"Continuing on, verse 23: 'And in that day you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I 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 shall pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God.'"
Jesus says, "When my work is finished on the cross, when I have risen from the dead, when I ascend to my Father and send the Holy Spirit, He says, 'Then on that day,' verse 23, 'whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.' I will have a mediator's place between you and the Father, and I will be the access that you have unto your God and Father." Why? Verse 27: "Because the Father himself loves you." Can I just make a side comment on that phrase, verse 27? "The Father himself loves you." Some people have the wrong conception. Please understand what I'm about to say to you is a wrong conception. They have the wrong conception that there's this mean old God in the Old Testament who hates everybody and is annoyed by everything and is just waiting to pound everybody. But nice old Jesus came along, and because Jesus was so sweet and so good, that He persuaded the Father to start being nice to people when the Father wasn't nice to people at all. Do you realize what a misunderstanding that is? And now, what does the Holy Spirit say to us through Jesus Christ, the Son? "The Father himself loves you." That's what Jesus demonstrated. In His great love for His people, He only demonstrated what He received from the Father. He received the love and the demonstration of that love from the Father, and now He displays it to His people. Friends, I don't want anybody to think, even for a moment, that somehow the Father is against you, but Jesus is for you. No, God is for you. He's for you in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Triune God is for you and on your side. And Jesus felt it very important to tell his disciples that.
"Continuing on, verse 28: 'I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.'"
His disciples said to him, "See now you're speaking plainly and are using no figure of speech. Now we are sure that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you. By this we believe that you come forth from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?" Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, now has come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."
The talk is winding down. And as Jesus winds down this beautiful after-dinner talk with his disciples, he says something to them very profound in verse 28. In fact, this is one of the things I love about the Bible. Is that I've studied the Bible a lot over the years, I still find things, go, "Wow, I never really saw that before. I never really saw that." John chapter 16, verse 28 is a wonderful summation of Jesus's entire work. What do I mean? Well, look at it again. Look, put your focus on John 16:28. Verse 28: Jesus says, number one, "I've come forth from the Father." What? He came from heaven to earth. In other words, He's God. He came forth from the Father. He is eternal God, and He dwelt in heaven's glory and goodness before He ever came to the earth. Then the second point: "I have come into the world." Secondly, Jesus was born as a man, having added humanity to His deity. Number three: "Again, I leave the world." Jesus is gonna leave the world in His death. So He goes, "I'm gonna die, and I'm gonna die voluntarily." And then number four, still in verse 28: "And I go to my Father." Jesus would rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. In one verse, you have a beautiful summation of His work. He came from heaven, was born into earth, died a death, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. It's a beautiful summation.
And because of that, the disciples say, verse 29, "Now we are sure that you know all things. Yes, Jesus, we get it. Now we've got it." The problem is, as in with many times and places, when the disciples felt like they got it, they didn't really get it. That's why Jesus very charitably says, verse 32, "Do you now believe?" Oh, really, guys? Now you got it? But then he gives them the tough news in verse 32: "You will be scattered." You say you believe in me right now, and you mean it. Here's the problem: your faith is going to be tested in an hour or two in a way that it's never been tested before. And I'm here to tell you, you're gonna fail under that test. But don't worry, we'll put things back together again. That's what Jesus is telling them.
Now, verse 32, in a way, finishes this long talk that Jesus had with his disciples. But in verse 33, he's gonna add one more thing. I think about it. It's right before you're gonna die. These are your final words of teaching to your disciples before you go to the cross. It's a critical moment. You feel like you've said everything you have to say, but you're gonna add that one last thing. Preachers love to add that one last thing. When preachers add that one last thing, you can count on it's another 15 minutes to the message. But Jesus doesn't know one more thing. One more thing I want to add to you. So let's put some special focus on this last verse, verse 33. What does he say?
"These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Men, my talk with you is finished. He looked at eleven sets of eyes, all staring at him. Remember, Judas has already left to go betray the Son of God. He looks at eleven sets of eyes around the room. He goes, "Guys, I spoke all of this to you for a reason. Here's the reason: that in me you might have peace." May I point out two things about that? Number one, Jesus offered his disciples peace. If you're his disciple, peace is offered unto you. He didn't make it conditional. Matter of fact, these guys were going to undergo terrible agony in a few minutes. Terrible agony. It was going to come. It was going to come upon them. But what does Jesus say? Said, "No, in me is peace. I'm offering you peace." He's not forcing it upon you. But "in me you may have peace." Do you understand that? Do you understand that that Jesus, in the midst of whatever calamity you're in, Jesus offers you peace? But notice the kind of peace: "that in me you may have peace." Now, I look at my bank account, no peace there. I look at the family situation, where's the peace? I look at my future, what's the peace there? I look at my health report, where's the peace? But I'll tell you where I can find peace always. You find it in Jesus Christ. Doesn't matter anything else. "In me you might have peace." Here it is. The peace is there for you. Peace in the midst of the storm. No wonder he says, notice, "I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer."
I find it fascinating. He offered peace. He promised tribulation. That's our roles in this world, isn't it? He offers us His peace. He promises us tribulation. Then what does He say? "Be of good cheer." How can you say that, Jesus? You're about to go to the cross. There's not a clock up on the wall in the upper room, but if there would be one, he'd be watching the hand because his time is short. You're gonna go to the cross, and you're telling other people to be of good cheer. Jesus, are you crazy? "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." Friends, that's just flat-out beautiful. You can have peace. You're going to have tribulation. But be of good cheer. Why? "For I have overcome the world." He's not saying that for his own sake. He's saying that for the sake of his disciples. "Disciples, I want you to know I have overcome the world." That's why you can be of good cheer. Do you realize what an earthquake that is for the disciples? He didn't say, "You can be of good cheer because you're gonna overcome the world." No. "Be of good cheer because I have overcome the world." Because you know what? David Guzik is not that great of a world overcomer. If the source of my peace and good cheer was my ability to overcome the world, I wouldn't have much peace and I'd have very little good cheer. But you know who's a pretty great world overcomer? Jesus. And because He has overcome the world, because He won that victory, and He says, "David, you, and every disciple of mine, everyone who puts their trust in me, they can come and overcome the world in me, with me." It changes everything. Everything.
Friends, this is the great invitation that God gives to each and every one of us: "Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." He overcame it in His life. He overcame it in His death. He overcame it in His resurrection. And Jesus overcame the world when no one else ever had. You tell me, did Adam overcome the world in the Garden of Eden? No way. Did Moses overcome the world when he struck the rock? No way. Did Abraham overcome the world? No. David failed to overcome the world. All these men were set aside. And once there, another. Jesus Himself. Jesus could say, "I have overcome the world." He was the first one.
Now, here's the thing I'll share with you. Sort of him. It's not quite embarrassing, it's just a little bit revealing. A few years ago, my son and I were really into watching that television program, "American Ninja Warrior," right? You know that one? These people go and they kind of run this crazy obstacle course, and it's a really difficult obstacle. As a good man, who could ever do that? You do this obstacle course, and you know, most people fail, and they fall in the water, and the buzzer blows. Oh, and you miss it. And you watch it, and person after person goes, and they fall. They fall in the water. Some fall early, some fall in the middle, some fall late, but they fall. And they fall. And you think, "This is impossible. Nobody could ever run this obstacle course." And then some tell somebody does. Go, "Wow, he did it. He was the first one to make it through all the way from the beginning." Then he made it. And you know what the crazy thing is? After the first guy makes it, and I don't know, maybe this is just in the television editing, maybe it's the way it really is at these events, but after the first guy makes it, it's like other people make it after him. Going, "Why? I guess it's not impossible." One guy did it, and now the other people. Nobody could run a four-minute mile until Roger Bannister did. Then a lot of people ran a four-minute mile. I mean, nobody's ever done it until one guy did, and then other people follow him. And it's like this: nobody ever overcame the world until Jesus overcame it. And then He says, "You can overcome it in me."
Now, can I, can I play off of that illustration a little bit? Jesus did not say, "I ran the obstacle course. Now you can do it too." Because, you know what? You'll fail. You'll fall in the water. But what Jesus says is this: "I ran the obstacle course. Now let's do it again. And you climb on my back, and I am so awesome, I can do it with you on my back." Jesus didn't come just to be your example in overcoming the world. He came to overcome the world for you, and so you would overcome it in Him. That's the whole key to it. Now, that was His last word to the disciples. Next, He's going to pray for them. And John chapter 17 is an absolutely unique chapter in all of the scriptures. There is nothing like it in the whole Bible. We're going to spend the next three Sundays going through John 17. But you see the last words of teaching that He gives His disciples: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."
Father in heaven, we thank You that You sent Your Son, and that He overcame the world. And Lord, we perceive in the world, the culture around us, we perceive that it's becoming more hostile to You. We might be wrong in that estimation, but Lord, sometimes it feels like that. But Jesus, we don't fear. We don't despair. We don't lash out in anger or hatred. We settle our confidence in You, Jesus Christ, the world overcomer. We just simply ask, God, that You help us to hold on to Jesus as He overcomes the world in us, and for us, and through us. But I, I pray in particular for some soul here this morning who feels overcome by the world. Would I pray that You would send forth Your Holy Spirit to cause them to see Jesus and to trust in Him in the way that they need to right now, at this moment? Thank You, Jesus, for being our Savior, for being our world overcomer. We love You and thank You. Together here this morning, in the precious, beautiful name of Jesus. And all God's people said, "Amen."
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