WWUTT 977 In This World You Will Have Trouble?

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Jesus said to his disciples, in this world you will have tribulation, but take heart,

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I have overcome the world. We are to rely upon Christ for our every need, and what we ask the

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Father He will give us when we understand the text. You are listening to When We Understand The Text, an online

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Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God. For questions and comments send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the Gospel of John chapter 16, and today

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I'm going to start reading in verse 25 and go through to the end of the chapter. Jesus continued with his disciples,

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I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when

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I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the

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Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the

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Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

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I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the

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Father. His disciples said, Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech.

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Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you.

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This is why we believe that you came from God. Jesus answered them,

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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.

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Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

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In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

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So again, as Jesus is kind of wrapping this up, we're actually getting to the close, this is the close of what he has been teaching to his disciples.

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What comes next is the high priestly prayer. So now he's gonna finish up with prayer in chapter 17.

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As far as formal teaching is concerned, here in the upper room, this is the conclusion of this discourse.

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And Jesus says that all that he has taught them over the course of his ministry, over the last three years, and even here as they've been visiting in the upper room before his crucifixion.

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He says, I've said all these things to you in figures of speech. There hasn't been things that have been directly said to them, because as he said earlier, there are things that you have yet to learn that you're not yet ready for.

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So he said things to them in figures of speech, that there would be some mystery, that their eyes would later be open to see, their ears would be unstopped, and they would clearly hear.

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Their minds would be open to understand. At the conclusion of the gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 24, is

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Jesus is going up on the Mount of Olives to ascend into heaven. It says that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

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So in the meantime, things are being spoken to them in figures of speech, but eventually the hour is coming when

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I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

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And this isn't necessarily spoken in the sense that Jesus will be with them face -to -face speaking about the

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Father. But this all ties back into the helper who is going to be sent to them, who will guide you into all truth.

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And what the Holy Spirit says to you is what I have said to the Holy Spirit, and what I have said to you is what comes from the

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Father. So again, this is all Trinitarian. As they come to understand the words that Christ has spoken, and as they will have more truth revealed to them through the

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Holy Spirit, it is the Father working through the Son, working through the Holy Spirit, who is speaking plainly to them about the things of God, speaking plainly about the

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Father. What the apostles will say to the world in the, you know,

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I guess 40 -year span, I don't think it was exactly 40 years, but in that span of time between Jesus' ascension into heaven and the destruction of the temple in 70

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AD, in that period of 40 -ish years, what the apostles spoke and did over the course of their ministry, and I believe that John did more of that even after the destruction of the temple.

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I talked about that as we started our study of this gospel, that this was actually written after the destruction of the temple.

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Anyway, if I haven't confused you enough yet, in these first years, the first generation or two of the beginning of the church, what the apostles taught that the world would come to believe in hearing the gospel and seeing the miracles that they did, confirming that what they said came from God, what the apostles taught was clear.

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It was plain. It wasn't even as mysterious as the things that we have written down in the

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Old Testament. Some of those things, some of the prophecies that we read about there, they can be complicated, and we can use the

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New Testament to understand what was being said in the Old Testament. There were things in the

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Old Testament that were not said terribly plainly for the same reason that Jesus taught in parables during the time of his earthly ministry.

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He said, to you it has been revealed the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to them it has not been revealed.

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So I'm going to speak in parables so that hearing they won't hear, and seeing they won't see.

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They will not be able to understand unless they turn from their sin and be saved.

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And so Jesus spoke in parables so that those who were not privy to the knowledge of the kingdom of God would not be able to understand what it was that Jesus was talking about.

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It was only for the disciples to understand it. So there were certain things that were said a certain way that people would not understand, except those to whom

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Christ had revealed the truth, the understanding. When it came to the ministry of the apostles, what they taught would be plain.

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And so this is what Jesus is saying to them. There's a day that's coming in which I'm not going to speak to you in figures of speech.

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I will speak to you plainly about the Father. So that way what the apostles would go out into the world teaching when they spread the gospel would be plain.

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It wouldn't be done in figures of speech, but they would understand plainly about the

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Father. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the

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Father. Verse 26, In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say that you will ask the

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Father, that I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.

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So in that day you will ask in my name. Remember what we read yesterday, the conclusion of our lesson yesterday, which was verses 16 through 24.

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Jesus said in verse 24, Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.

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Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give to you. Now, how is it that they had been with Jesus for the last three years and had never asked for anything in his name?

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Well, it's because they were with him. They had never asked anything in his name because he was right there.

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So they would not ask of the Father. They just went directly to the Son. But as the Son was going back to the

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Father, Jesus was saying, Now you will ask the Father in my name and he will give it to you. Up until now you have not asked the

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Father anything. But once I leave you, then you will pray to the Father in my name.

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So he says in verse 26, In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the

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Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you. So right now, the way that that relationship worked between Jesus and his disciples is that Jesus would speak to the

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Father on their behalf. And that's what was about to happen. We'll get into the start of this tomorrow, although we'll have to pick the rest of it up next week.

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But the high priestly prayer that Jesus prays in John 17, He is our great high priest who enters into the

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Holy of Holies on our behalf. Jesus is our fellowship with God.

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But in this priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus asks the

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Father on the disciples behalf. So since the Son is right there with them, he's with them and not in heaven with the

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Father. He asked the Father on their behalf. But the day was coming in which

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Jesus would ascend back to heaven and be seated at the right hand of the Father. And then

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Jesus would not have to ask the Father for them. They could go directly to the Father.

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And he says to them here in John 16, 27, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me.

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I remember one of the earliest truths that my dad taught me when I was a little kid is that as a follower of Jesus, God the

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Father loves you with the same love and intensity and passion that he has for his own son.

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I remember that being marvelous to me even as a little kid when my dad taught me that.

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I was like, really? God loves me with the same love that he loves

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Jesus? Now at that age, I didn't understand imputation. I didn't understand that I, as a follower of Jesus, would wear the righteousness of Christ.

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And so when God the Father looked at me, he would not see my sin, but he would see the righteousness of Jesus.

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And so the love that he had for his son, therefore he would have for me as one who had put on Christ.

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I didn't understand that concept when I was a kid, but I do remember it being a marvelous truth to me to hear my dad say to me that as a follower of Jesus, God the

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Father loves you with the same love that he has for his own son.

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What the Father, God the Father loves God the Son with. He loves everyone who is in the

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Son. He has shown that same affection to us. And we are in the

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Father's love and in the Father's care because of what Christ has done for us.

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You don't have to question yourself and say, have I done enough for God to love me?

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Well, the answer to that question is always going to be no. You will never do enough to earn the favor of God.

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You have it by his grace and mercy, which he has shown you through Jesus Christ.

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Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that he rose again from the grave?

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Do you believe that he has ascended to heaven back to the Father who sent him and is seated at his right hand where he intercedes for us, where he advocates for us before the

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Father? Do you believe that? Are you a follower of Jesus? Do you believe the words that he spoke and you aspire to live by them and obey them?

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If this is the desire of your heart, then you are loved by the

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Father. And it's all because of what Christ has done for you, not because of what you have done.

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Even the belief you have is the blessing of God. It's because the Holy Spirit has been poured into your heart that you would loathe sin and love

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God enough to become godly, to become Christ -like, to be an imitator of the

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Savior who lived perfectly for you and died for you. And though you are imperfect, you desire to be like your

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Lord. As Paul said to the Philippians, though I am not yet perfect, I desire to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

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So because we belong to Christ, we would desire to be like Christ. And when we stumble and fail and sin along the way, we have this precious promise, 1

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John 1, 9. If we are faithful to ask forgiveness for our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Jesus says in that day, you will ask in my name. And I do not say that I will ask the

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Father on your behalf for the Father loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

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Same love that the Father has for you as well, you who love Jesus and believe that Jesus' death on the cross has cleansed you from all unrighteousness.

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Jesus says in verse 28, I came from the Father and have come into the world and now

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I am leaving the world and I am going to the Father. And this he is speaking about is even beyond the cross.

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This is after the cross, after the tomb, after the 40 days that he will be with his disciples, even between his resurrection and his ascension, he will go back to the

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Father and the disciples will look for them with their earthly eyes and they will not be able to find him.

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But he nevertheless is not far from us. For as Jesus said at the conclusion of his commission in Matthew 28, what we refer to as the

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Great Commission, he said, lo, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.

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He has sent his helper to his disciples, the Holy Spirit, who has been poured into their hearts.

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And likewise, we who are followers of Christ have the Holy Spirit of God within us.

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And there is nothing, by the way, that confirms that the Holy Spirit of God is in you except the faith that you have in Jesus Christ.

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That's how you know that you have the Holy Spirit of God. It's not speaking in tongues. It's not flopping on the floor.

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It's not performing some sort of miracle because somebody declared it upon you. That's not the guarantee that you have the

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Holy Spirit. It's not even by water baptism and then the Holy Spirit entered your heart. It's because you believe in Jesus Christ and he poured the

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Holy Spirit into your heart. Romans 5, 5, God's love has been poured into our hearts through the

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Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And in Titus 3, 5, we read that he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

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Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our

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Savior. And notice those things, by the washing and regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, that comes before faith and repentance.

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You are able to believe in the gospel that you heard and turn from sin and follow Christ because of the regeneration that has happened in your heart by the

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Holy Spirit of God. So the Holy Spirit came upon you in power even before you were aware of it.

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He's been poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

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And it's in Ephesians chapter 1 where we are told that the Holy Spirit is the seal of God who is upon us.

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Ephesians 1 .13, In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised

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Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

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The Holy Spirit of God in our hearts is the seal of God upon us that we will not be turned from God or snatched away by the enemy, but our inheritance is in heaven forever with him, all who believe in Christ.

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Verse 29 again, or 28 again, just make sure I got it. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now

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I am leaving the world and going to the Father. Verse 29, His disciples said,

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Ah, now you are speaking plainly and are not using figurative speech. Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you, and this is why we believe that you came from God.

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See, the disciples are saying, we believe in you because you're speaking plainly. But Jesus replies to them, like the plainness has not happened yet.

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That hasn't come yet. The Holy Spirit of God hasn't been poured in their hearts yet. He hasn't opened their minds to understand what the

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Scriptures have said about him. They don't even yet understand that he's about to be betrayed by Judas and put to death and will rise again from the grave.

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Though he said that to them, they don't even yet understand that. So Jesus answered them.

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Verse 31, Do you now believe? I think that's the way that you would put the emphasis on it.

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Do you now believe? Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming.

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Indeed, it has come when you will be scattered. So see if they believed and they understood and they had the confidence in God that he was telling them to have after everything was going to happen that was going to happen to him, then they wouldn't be scattered.

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They would have remained. They would have followed him even to death. But because they don't, it's because that moment has not yet come for them to understand what it is that Christ has said.

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Now you don't understand, but later you will. Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming.

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Indeed, it has come when you will be scattered. When the shepherd is struck, the sheep will be scattered just as was prophesied.

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When Christ is arrested, they will flee. They will not stick with him. Even Peter who has insisted that he would not deny

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Christ. And Jesus said before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. You'll scatter each to his own home and will leave me alone.

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Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace.

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In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

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And again, these are the assuring promises that Jesus is saying to them now, which they don't understand, but will be a comfort to them later.

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And my brothers and sisters, it should be a comfort to us now. We have tribulation in this world.

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We have trouble. We suffer. We struggle. There are people who disappoint us, who betray us, who slander us, who try to harm us with words and maybe even physically.

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There are disappointments that we experience. There is unforeseen circumstances and difficulties we did not think that we were going to go through.

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And they're not interruptions to life. They're part of life. There's heartbreak and depression, different emotional struggles that we will go through, some of which we can probably get control over, and other things that will feel like we never really can reign in those feelings and those emotions that seem to govern our days and hang like a cloud over us.

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There's also going to be the sickness and the breakdown in our bodies, and that comes with its own set of circumstances and woes and pain that you experience physically.

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We will go through tribulation. But Jesus says, take heart,

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I have overcome the world. These struggles that we go through now are temporary, might feel like it's never going to end, and this is your lot in life, this is your life now, this is the way your life is going to be, but they will come to an end.

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Maybe it won't be resolved in this lifetime, but it most certainly will be in the next.

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When God delivers you out of this earthly plane into a heavenly kingdom where there's no more evil, there's no more sin, there's no more temptation, there's no more unholy desire.

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We dwell in the holiness of God forever. There will not be any decay, there will not be any remorse or regret, there will not be any sickness, no more dying, no more tears.

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He will wipe every tear from our eyes for the former things will have passed away and all there is is

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Christ and we will dwell with him in his glory forever.

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We get a glimpse of that glory that Christ has with the

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Father in the prayer that Jesus prays beginning in John chapter 17 and that's where we'll pick up our study tomorrow.

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Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website www .tt .com Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.