Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the Gospel according to John chapter 16. As you're
turning there, I was thinking about a passage that Brother
Mitch read. It is an amazing thing. Almighty
God is going to do that which He's pleased to do, and you know
that. His counsel is going to stand. He who knows the end from the
beginning, who has ordered all things, and Scripture says, worketh
all things. He's doing everything right now
just exactly the way He's pleased to do it. He puts no trust in
man. man who drinks iniquity like
water. And all of these precious things
that he said he's going to do, the blessing of his people found
in Ezekiel 36. This passage, verse 37, says,
Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by
the house of Israel to do it for them. And I will increase
them with men like a flock. I think about the importance
of prayer. Prayer. I heard Brother Henry
say one time, he said prayer doesn't change anything. He said
the God to whom we pray orders all things. But these things
that he's going to do, and he said I'm going to be Inquired
of you're gonna ask me for these things and I'll do them for you. Oh Lord give us a heart To be
prayerful and ask him you have not because you asked not Well
Okay, it wasn't what I was gonna preach on so I'm gonna turn over
to John 16 John 16 I'd like to deal with verses
16 to 20 and Remember, we've been going over
this discourse from about chapters 13 through 16. All this, that chapter, those
chapters 13 through 16, it all happened in just a little while,
just very possibly just a few hours. And it was our Lord giving
instruction, giving some comfort to his people. He was getting
ready to go to the cross. And He was going to teach them
some things. They needed to know things that heretofore He had
not told them. He wisely withheld, but now He
needs to tell them some things. So He declares unto them, beginning
in verse 16, something that greatly puzzled them. Verse 16, John
16, 16. He says, a little while, and
ye shall not see me. And again, a little while, and
ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Well, so puzzled
were they over that statement that they began to kind of talk
to each other. and ask among themselves, does
anybody here have any light, any understanding on what he
just said? Look at 17, 18. Then said some
of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto
us a little while, and ye shall not see me? And again, a little
while, and ye shall see me. And because I go to the Father,
They said, therefore, what is this that he saith? A little
while, we cannot tell what he saith. Now, let's just observe
something that would be obvious in his statement and their questions.
Our Lord, surely, was speaking of His soon departure, he had
to go to the cross. There was no other way. It had
been prophesied, but he must die. It's expedient, he said,
that I go away. He must go to the cross. He must
die. He must be buried. Scripture
had to be fulfilled. But the Scripture that set forth
what He was going to do was all according to God's purpose, God's
will. This is the substitute. This
is God's Lamb. He must be raised from the dead
for or because of our justification. He must ascend into heaven as
our great High Priest presenting there just like the High Priest
in the Old Testament. One day out of the year. would
go into the Holy of Holies, the Day of Atonement. One day a year. Not without blood. He'd take
the blood of that animal that was sacrificed and he would go
in and he would sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat. This
is where God would meet with His people. But He was going
to meet with His people only in a priest that God Almighty
sent. that God appointed, that God
accepted. And so here's the Lord Jesus,
here's the fulfillment of that great high priest that one day
a year when he go into that holy of holies and sprinkle the blood,
our Lord must enter into heaven with His own blood. accepted
as our forerunner, and His acceptance into heaven assures, for we being
in Him, that we'll be accepted, accepted in the Beloved. Well,
the Lord was surely speaking of His departure, soon departure,
the cross, the grave, the resurrection, and His return. into heaven. But he would soon be raised from
the dead, and they would see him again. And he told them in
verse 20 here, he said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that
ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. Ye shall
be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. After the Lord had gone to the
cross, died, buried, raised from the dead. He revealed himself
unto Mary Magdalene, Mark 16.10 says that he had told her, he
said, you go tell my disciples. I'm alive. And the scripture
says she went and told them. After she saw the risen Lord,
She told him that she had been with him, and she spoke to him,
the scripture says, as they mourned and wept. He'd gone to the cross. They missed him, grieving. And as far as they knew, the
Lord was gone. You remember the two on the road
to Emmaus. They were walking and they were
talking about the things that had recently happened. And the
Lord met them in Luke 24. And the Scripture says that they
were sad. The Lord asked them about what
they were talking about and they said, you must not be from around
here. Concerning Jesus of Nazareth. This is what they said, we trusted
that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel." The Lord had told them. He told
them He was going to go. He told them that He would be
out of their sight. And He promised concerning their
sorrow. Verse 20, we just read it. He
said, it's going to be turned to joy. He told them that. He promised them that. When Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph were told by
the angel in Matthew 28.2, this angel, the scripture says, descended
from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb
and told them, the Lord's risen. He said, you go quickly. And
you tell his disciples, that was in Matthew 28 verse 7, and
they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great
joy. The Lord's risen. The scripture
says in John 20, 20, that when the disciples, they were glad
when they saw the Lord. They'd been sorrowful, now they
were glad. And again in verse 20, it said,
our Lord revealed that the world would rejoice. I say unto you,
he told me, he said, I'm going away a little while, I'm going
to be gone a little while, I'll be back. Your joy is going to
be turned, I mean your sorrow is going to be turned into joy. He told him, he said, the world
is going to rejoice. While you're being sorrowful,
the world is going to rejoice. He said,
but your sorrow, is going to be turned into joy. Everything
that our Lord had told His disciples right here, He had told them
before, but they forgot. Look at John 13, verse 33. Here
it is now. Now, like I said, remember, we're
in John 13 right now. We're studying out of John 16.
But remember, these things took place in just a little while,
just a few hours. So here it is back two, three
chapters prior. But in reality, just a little
while. Look at John 13, 33. He said,
little children, yet a little while, excuse me, I'm with you. You shall seek me, and as I said
unto the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say
unto you. Look at verse 36. Just here,
a few hours before this conversation took place, Simon Peter said
to him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterward. Look at John 14 verse 2. He says, in my father's house
were many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Look at verse 4. And whether
I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas, verse 5, said of him,
Lord, we know not whether thou goest, and how can we know the
way? And the Lord told him that passage
of scripture that we love so dearly, and quote, Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Look at John 14 verse 19. Here
again, how long? Just a few hours now, still we're
in chapter 14, just a little while before chapter 16 happened,
verse 19, yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.
But ye see me because I live, ye shall live also. He told them
and told them and told them. But brethren, just as the disciples
who walked with Him, John said, we touched Him. Our hands handled
the Word of Life. Heard His voice, looked at Him,
and He told them, and told them, and told them, and they forgot. You say, how do you forget? How
do you forget what He had just said? I'm telling you, and I'll admit
this, I'm very forgetful. I can blame it on, you know,
a lot of things. Well, I've just got a lot of
stuff on my mind, you know. Well, I've just got to say, you
know, I'm just forgetful, Carl. I just forget. These disciples, they're like
we are. creatures. I need to be reminded
of this daily. I need to be told again. You
see, I'll never forget the crucifixion concerning the one who was made
sin. I'll not forget that he died
as my substitute, that he was buried having died under the
wrath and judgment that was due me on the cross, that three days
later, God Almighty who accepted Him, His sacrifice, raised Him
from the dead, accepted, and raised me, accepted in the Beloved. I died with Him. I need to hear
that again. I've heard that before. I need
to hear it again. I need to be told again that
He ever liveth, that He right now is at the right hand of the Father,
pleading His own merit on my behalf. I need to be told again
that He who has everlastingly loved His own is pleading His
merit on their behalf. I want to be told there's something
very, very sweet and precious to me. And I know to you that
believe Him, know Him, that He knows my name. That He knows
my name. You know, I told you about me
being so forgetful. I'm bad about remembering people's
names. And I know your face. I know your face. And so I've
just gotten to a point where I'll just remind them. I'll just
tell them. I'm so sorry. Just tell me your name again.
Might as well go ahead and be up front about it because I'm
not going to come up with it. Might as well go ahead and tell
me. You know, and what's really embarrassing, if they say to
me, hey Marvin, how you doing? You know, and I say, hey, how
you doing? I'm thinking, oh, oh, I'm sorry,
tell me your name. But he never forgets. He never. He said, I know my sheep. I call
them by name. They hear my voice and follow
me. I need to be reminded of that.
I need to be told of that. He told His disciples, He said
in verse 20, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall
weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. This world that
hated Him. This world that He didn't pray
for. He said, I pray not for the world,
but I pray for those that you've given me out of the world. Thine
they were, thou gavest them me, and I've kept them. When he was hanging on the cross, the scripture reveals that those
Jews, they walked by him wagging their heads, you know. He saved others. Himself, he
couldn't save. You think of the mockery of our
Lord. He went to the cross and His
disciples were sorrowful. But their sorrow was turned into
joy when they saw Him again. But there's something truly wonderful
that's revealed in these scriptures that's relative for us today. Something that must be, that
is needful that it be, an encouragement to every child of promise. These words are alive for us
right now. Unto us, while we sit here this
morning, to those that know him, to those
that have been called out of darkness, to those that the Spirit
of God has brought back to our memory, these things that our
Lord said. He says unto us this morning
while we wait, assembling ourselves together in His holy name, blessing
and praising Him who is worthy. Listen to His words. as he speaks
to us this morning, verse 16, a little while. Now you that know him, you that
trust him, listen to his words to us. I want to hear these words
from me a little while. Marvin, and you shall not see
me. And again, a little while. And
ye shall see me, Marvin, because I go to the Father. Now I know,
I know, He is no respecter of persons. He loves His own. And that which He would say to
His disciples, those that He had called out of darkness and
taught He said that to them, but these words are given also
for our admonition, our comfort, our understanding. To hear Him
say to me, as I look to Him and see Him, by faith, I know I see
through a glass. Darkly the Scripture tells us
that we do. I know that I prophesy in part
because I don't know everything. He's allowed me to know some
things, and there are some things that I do know, but there's many
things that I don't know. I know Him. If I've got any life,
I know Him. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. But do you see the sweetness? This is real. This is not just
words. These words are life. That he
would say to his people, a little while. Just a little while. This life is just, it's a vapor. Here today, gone tomorrow, a
little while. You shall see me. There's coming a time when the
trumpet of God is going to sound. Is it actually a trumpet sound? We're going to hear Him. A little while, you'll see me
because I go to the Father. Hebrews 10.37 says, for yet a
little while. Just a little while. You know,
as I get older, I think back, it just amazes me how quickly,
I have to start relating things that I did here years ago. It seems like it was just a little
while, I mean it wasn't that long, just a few years ago, but
then I got to think, well wait a minute, Glenn and I have been
married over 12 years now. Let's see, I've been here, you
know, this July, I'll be here as pastor for 12 years, so I
know that whatever I, you know, it was before that. And I mean,
I think all of a sudden I'm thinking, well, wait a minute, that, you
know, that was probably 20, 25 years ago. It's just a little
while. How quickly. I just graduated from high school. My 50th is coming up. You say, well, it was just a
little while. For yet a little while, and He
that, listen to this, shall come, will come. According to His Word, in just
a little while, His people are going to see Him. We're going
to see him. You think, well that's just years
in advance. No, no. That's not what scripture
says. Scripture says just a little
while. This life is fleeting. Just a little while. We're going
to see him. He's gone to the Father. He finished
the work that the Father gave Him to do according to that everlasting
covenant. And He's coming back to receive
His own unto Himself. The Father gave Him a people
in eternity. And compared to eternity, when
time began, I don't even know how to say
that. In the beginning. Well, I know there was no beginning
to eternity. So when it says in the beginning,
it had to have been concerning time, but because eternally,
He always is. But you think about when the
Lord Jesus Christ came. They say, well, that was 2,000
years ago compared to eternity. That's just a little while. He
was here just a little while ago. And compared to my life,
your life, it's just a blip in eternity, in a little while.
He redeemed His sheep in a little while, just a little while ago.
He called his people out of darkness in a little while. They're going
to see him. Look at Matthew. Hold your finger
right here. I'll try to wrap this up. Matthew chapter 25. Here's what
the Scripture says. Matthew 25, 31. Here's what's
going to happen in just a little while. Matthew 25 verse 31, when
the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before
him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate them one from
another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the
left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Just a little while. Oh, may I be found watching. One of these days is going to
be the last day. One of these days. If I'm here, if you're here,
we're not going to precede them who sleep in the Lord. The dead
in Christ are going to rise first. And we're going to meet them
in the air. And all of a sudden, It's over. How quickly is it
going to be? Just a twinkling of an eye. It's
just over. You never even thought about
it. Two winters ago, I walked out
of the house and I was going to put the garbage can out on
the other side of the bridge. You know the signs that says
bridges freeze before the road and stuff? Well you don't have
to be driving a car. I never knew I was falling. I was on the ground before I
even thought about it. Just a twinkling of an eye. It's going to be faster than
that. He's coming back. But concerning what our Lord
had told his disciples, just a little while, you see me not,
you not see me, a little while, you shall see me before I go
to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves,
now here, this is us. What is it that he saith unto
us? We know. But I'm telling you, We're so
frail and we're so forgetful. Paul says to repeat, to say,
to rehearse the same things unto you. It's not grievous to me.
For you it's safe. It's safe. It's safe to be told. He's coming back. It's safe to
tell you. Be watchful. It's safe to remind
all of us, don't doubt. That old man, Warrison, strives
against the new mind that the Lord has given us, causing us
to doubt, to forget. Brethren, we're strangers and
pilgrims in this world, and we're not of it. And truly, sorrow
is our portion just as He was the man of sorrows. And we're
burdened. I'm burdened with this flesh.
I'm burdened with what I see in myself. I grieve over this. You that know Him, do you not
do that too? Don't you hate what you see concerning that old man? And think about this. It's you. It's me. Paul said, oh wretched
man, that I am. We grieve over our failures. I've told you before, I struggle.
I struggle to pray. I struggle to pray. I know. I'm probably saying this in a
better light than I ought to. I know so little about prayer. I know we pray and that scripture
comes back to my memory. He said, you don't even know
what to ask for. I don't know what to ask for.
I'm just thankful that the Lord gave me a heart to call your
names before the throne. to rehearse your names before
our Father's throne. I'm thankful that I can even
remember and I don't even know what to ask for. Lord have mercy,
I need to be reminded. So we truly, we do, we weep, we're sad, we're sorrowful, but
he said your sorrow is going to be turned into joy. What a promise. Right now, we're
struggling, but I can tell you this, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 61, this
is according to his word of promise, Isaiah 61, verses 1 to 3, listen
to this, the spirit of the Lord, God is upon me. Because the Lord
hath anointed me, this is our Lord speaking, prophetically. He actually quoted these words. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord, Jehovah, hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might
be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
he might be glorified. Those words are so precious.
and I read them and I think sometimes, I think sometimes,
I can almost enter into them, I think. Lord help me. Lord teach me. Lord I want to know. I want to
know something about that. I want to know something about
being found in you. I'm a weak and frail creature. The psalmist said, Psalm 30 verse
5, weeping may endure for a night. Oh, but there's coming a morning,
when the day star, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He arises, but joy
cometh in the morning. Our very sorrow, is going to
be turned into joy. Our very groanings, I see something of my frailty. I see something of the weakness. I don't see it as I ought. You
don't either. We don't realize the depth of our weakness, frailty. But our very groanings are creating
within us the capacity for joy hereafter. Now listen, I'm going
to read a scripture to prove what I'm saying. Our very groanings,
when it says that our sorrow shall be turned into joy, our groanings are creating within
us the capacity for joy hereafter. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4.17.
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The Lord in power, mercy and
grace, is going to take the groanings that we feel, the sorrow, the
realization of our weakness, and He's going to work in us. He's going to take that which
we feel now and he's going to turn it into joy. I can't do
it. I don't have the capability. You ever been just sorrowful
and grieving over something? Do you have the capability to
just turn it into joy? You see what I'm saying? All
things work together for good. Even my sorrow, all things, we
know all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. Tell me, tell
me again, tell me again that He who has gone to the Father
that's promised, I'm coming back, I'm coming back. and your sorrow
is going to be turned into joy. This grieving and weightiness
and heaviness and the wretchedness that I see in myself, this mortality
is going to be changed into immortality. This weakness and frailty, grieving
is going to be turned into joy. And when we see him, will be
like him and will know him as he is. You know what the believer says?
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Lord, bless these
words to our hearts for Christ's sake.