Let's go back to John chapter
14 and we'll read verse 28 again. You've heard how I said unto you, I
go away and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said,
I go unto the Father. for my Father is greater than
I. I love how this chapter begins
and this chapter ends with This note of the fact that the Lord
Jesus Christ is going away, but he's going away with a purpose,
a particular and glorious purpose. He says at the beginning, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. Permanent dwelling places is
a better description. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. One of the first things we need to
say about rejoicing is that it's much, much different to happiness.
This world talks an awful lot about happiness. Happiness has
to do with the circumstances of life. Rejoicing is much, much
deeper and rejoicing, of course, is rejoicing in who God is. and how God has moved in the
lives of his people to reveal himself and to reveal that in
all the circumstances of life, whether you're like my friend
Solomon or whether you're like the writer to Habakkuk, you can
look at the circumstances and still rejoice in God or joy in
God, my savior. If God is your savior, you will
be caused to rejoice in who he is. It's much deeper and much
more significant than than happiness, and the word rejoice means to
be cheerful, to be well off, to be glad. And rejoicing is
a big theme in the scriptures, it's mentioned 300 times almost,
and we are commanded to rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. Don't you love that when God
commands something, he provides the fulfillment of the command
in his people? He says, believe on me, and then
he gives the faith to believe on him. He says, love me, if
you love me, and he creates love. He creates the object of love,
and he creates that love. rejoice it's extraordinary isn't
it we as believers in this world will have many reasons to look
at the circumstances of our lives and the circumstances of what
we think might happen in the future and lose our sense of
rejoicing in the Lord. And in this particular night
there are three particular trials that were coming upon these disciples
and they are the trials that so often bring so much distress. in us and around us and in this
world. The first one is, of course,
in John Chapter 13, that being at one of you is going to betray
me. There is a betrayal. of someone you have been close
to and walked with. Judas walked with these men for
three and a half years, and all of that time, at no point during
that time did they ever think that he was going to be the betrayer. Being betrayed by a friend, being
let down by people you thought you could trust, Let not your heart be troubled,
says our God in that circumstance. And all of the other ten apostles
with him are all going to be guilty of personal sin. They're all going to fail to
keep the promises that they made to the Lord at that table. They're
all going to have their cowardice and their humanity exposed. Peter worst of all, but the others
are all the same, aren't they? They all fled. And so we have
the betrayal of a friend. We have the reality exposed of
our personal sin and our failing to live up to what we know we
ought to be and what we have promised to be. And then we have
the third trial that he speaks of here in these verses, I'm
going away. You won't have, for this little
time, you won't have the personal comfort of a dependable friend. What an amazing three years,
or three and a half years, they had with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Day and night, day and night. They saw him in the most extraordinary
circumstances, and he walked with them through the most extraordinary
circumstances. And in every particular circumstance,
he was sovereign and supreme, and he reigned. And at every
time they faced an accusation against them, the Lord Jesus
Christ does as he always does. He stands between them and the
accusers. And our great Advocate does in
heaven now what he did on earth. Believers rejoice. They rejoice in God our Saviour. If you love Love and rejoicing and peace
and his word and believing and knowing are all tied up in this
whole business of rejoicing. God's children rejoice. We rejoice in who God is. And God was going to be revealed
in the most extraordinary ways as God. The most God-like thing
God ever did, the most God-exposing act of God in all this world
is what was going to happen that next morning when the Lord Jesus
Christ was hung on Calvary's cross. God's children rejoice. They rejoice in His salvation. They rejoice in who He is. When He comes, and we'll look
at this later on, but when the Lord Jesus Christ comes in power,
when the gospel comes in power, His people go away rejoicing,
don't they? I love the story of the Ethiopian
eunuch in Acts chapter eight. He had every reason to be proud,
and yet he was a man humbled by the provenient and providential
grace of God. And Philip goes to him, and you
know the story, no doubt, where Philip comes to him and asks
him what he's reading, and this extraordinarily wealthy and powerful
and prominent man says, how can I understand this? Someone shows
me. But he believes the preaching of the gospel, And when they were, verse 39,
and when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the
Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. Where are you going? All the
way down to Ethiopia. Who's going to be down there
to help you and care for you in Ethiopia? What lies ahead
of you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and a proclaiming
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ in a place where so few people
are going to receive you? What happens to your career,
your reunion? You can't have a family. That's
why those verses in Habakkuk are so sweet, aren't they? That's
why the Lord said that Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was exceeding glad. He rejoiced. He rejoiced to see
the day. What did he see? He saw the promises
of God fulfilled. No doubt he is talking much about
what happened in Genesis 22 when he and Isaac go up to that mountain and he is asked to sacrifice
his son Isaac on an altar. What a glorious picture of the
gospel, those two, the father and the son, going up together,
and the son willingly going to the sacrifice, and the father
drawing out his knife. And in Abraham's mind, Isaac
was already dead. But also in Abraham's mind, Isaac
was already resurrected, according to Hebrews chapter 11. He believed
God that was God who was faithful. He believed that God had the
power to do all that he had promised. Don't you love that? He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, Romans 4.20, being fully persuaded that what
he had promised he was able to perform. And you know the story
from Genesis chapter 22, as Abraham held that knife above Isaac's
heart. The Lord said, stop. And there's
a glorious picture, isn't it? There was behind him a ram caught
in a thicket. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Behind us, behind
all of these events, is a God who is absolutely sovereign. And he goes to prepare a place
for us, and he goes to prepare us for a place. For the place
is heaven. I love what he says again and again
and again. The Lord Jesus hardly ever says
he's going to heaven. He says, I go to my Father. What's heaven? Heaven is a person,
much more than a place. It's a person, it's being in
the company of him. If you loved me, you would rejoice. If you loved me, you would rejoice,
because I go. Don't you love the fact that
Abraham rejoiced? Isaac rejoiced as well, going
down that mountain. What rejoicing there would have
been that day? What rejoicing there was in the tents of Abraham
when he heard that promise from God. You walk outside and have
a look at the stars and the sky and that's how many children
you're going to have. This year, this time next year when you
come back, it's a time of life you're going to have that air. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
cause of all of our rejoicing. He says, I go. He goes, and he
goes alone. He goes alone. Isaiah chapter 63, verse three,
speaks of him going, and he says, just find it, I want to read it to
you. He says, I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me. Chapter 59 verse 16, he says,
And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor. Therefore his arm brought salvation
unto him, and his righteousness sustained him. The glory of the
Gospel is that the Lord Jesus Christ does it all. I go away, I go alone. He is now taking upon himself
the emblems of the great high priest. And the great high priest,
you can read about it in Leviticus chapter 16 and many other places
in the Old Testament. The great high priest grows into
the holy of holies and he carries on his breast plates the name
of all the elect children of God. And on his shoulders, where
the government is, he carries the names of the elect children
of God. and he goes into the holy of holies and he meets with
God on the mercy seat where God meets with man The great high
priest goes alone. The great high priest goes with
blood. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ is talking about here, isn't he? I go away, I
go away alone to do this work. And when I finish that work,
I come back. And what's the glorious declaration
of the high priest when he came out? Having been into the very
presence of God with blood. you'll speak to the children
of Israel. This is what you'll say to them.
On this wise shall you bless the children of Israel, saying
unto them, the Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make
his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The
Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon
the children of Israel, and I will bless them. I will bless them. I go away. I go away as the great
high priest. I don't go into that tabernacle
built with hands of men. I go into the holy of holies
in heaven. And I take my blood into the
holy of holies of heaven. And the glory of that resurrection
is God declares, it's done, it's accepted, it's finished. I go,
you rejoice. You should rejoice because I
said, I go away to my father. When the gospel is preached,
Rejoicing is the normal and natural response of all of the children
of God. Can you remember, do you look
back on your time and look at the times, the times that the
Lord has come to you and he's brought himself in power and
glory and you have seen him and you've been caused to rejoice?
We set up our Ebenezers of rejoicing, don't we? Thus far the Lord has
been faithful. We rejoice in him coming. When Paul preached his first
sermon in Acts chapter 13, he says, He finished his sermon saying,
I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. We're pretty much
close to the ends of the earth down here. The gospel comes,
the gospel comes to Bega, the gospel comes to Nara, the gospel
comes. And when the Gentiles heard this,
They were glad, they rejoiced, and glorified the word of the
Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Does the gospel come as good
news? Did the Lord Jesus Christ reveal himself? Was it glorious? Was it so glorious that you could
join in what Habakkuk said, doesn't matter what I see in my life
and in the world around me, I'm going to rejoice in God, my Savior. I'll rejoice in God, my Savior. We rejoice. The Lord on his way
to Jerusalem went past that little town and there was Zacchaeus.
And he says, you come down out of that tree, Zacchaeus. and
Zacchaeus received him joyfully. We rejoice, the children of God
rejoice, as we just read in Acts chapter 13, the children of God
rejoice in what the Lord Jesus Christ rejoices in. Luke chapter 10 he might turn
there with me he sent these laborers out into the sent them forth
and they sent them forth to proclaim the glory of God to claim his
absolute sovereignty in his deity and he says in verse 16 he says
He that heareth you, heareth me. When he sends his people
out, he speaks, and his people hear, not the words of a man,
they hear as it really is the word of God. And he that despises
you, despises me, and he that despises me, despises him that
sent me. And the 70 returned again with
joy, saying, Lord, Even the devils are subject unto
us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding
all of those remarkable promises he's made, In this, rejoice not. Don't rejoice in those things
that you can see. Don't rejoice that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven. What's the rejoicing of God's
children? The same as the rejoicing in Acts chapter 13 verse 48,
isn't it? We rejoice in what God did. We rejoice in God's
salvation from the foundation of the world. Read on with me,
verse 21, Luke chapter 10. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit. And what's the Lord Jesus Christ
rejoicing in? I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth. that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. How do you come to the Lord Jesus
Christ? As a babe rejoicing. As a babe rejoicing. As you know, I had to go up to
Wollongong on Friday morning to bring Lisa home, and she was
at the doctor's while I, Jennifer picked me up from the station.
And Joanie's in the back of the car. We took Milton to preschool,
and I got to do some babysitting a few weeks ago up there. It's
the first time I've really sort of been responsible for Joanie
on my own. And so we had a great time playing
puzzles and reading books and doing Pilates exercises together. Anyway, so we've been best mates
ever since. Got to the car, we got to the
preschool place, and I got Joanie out of her seat while Jennifer
was organizing Miltie's things, and this little tiny thing, she
grabs the hold of me and she buries her head in my neck and
just clung there tightly. We walked all the way to the
preschool, we walked around the preschool, we booked Miltie in
his lunch, and then walked all the way back to the car. It was
only when we got back to the car That's a vibe that loves and clings. There's rejoicing. There's rejoicing in who he is.
There's rejoicing in his presence. There's rejoicing in him physically
being absent. There's rejoicing in knowing
why he's gone, why he's come. There's rejoicing in the depths
of love. and love for his glory and love
for his purpose and love for what he did on the cross of Calvary. Love for the glory of God's name
revealed in what he did on the cross of Calvary. What he did
in the tomb, evidence that he was dead, that death, the wages
of sin is death and he truly died. Rejoice in Him rising victoriously
on that Sunday morning. Rejoicing in Him coming to His
people and the very first words He brings to these heart troubled
disciples is peace. Peace be with you. The peace
that He gives, the peace that He leaves is the peace that He
proclaims when He comes. Was that part of your rejoicing?
It was mine. And we don't want to talk about
particular events of salvation such that people will think,
well, I haven't had that particular experience. But there are some
experiences common to all of God's people. And we don't look
to the experience, we look to the one who is revealed in it. And that's why this section of
scripture is so full of the fact that this is what God says. This
is what he says again and again. I've told you before it comes
to pass. You've heard how I've said unto you, our rejoicing
is in a God who has spoken. We rejoice in his salvation. We rejoice, Romans 12, 12, we
rejoice in hope. The children of God, Acts chapter
15, verse 31, they rejoice in the glory And when they were dismissed
they came to Antioch and when they'd gathered the multitude
together they delivered the epistle. This is the epistle that says
in Acts chapter 15 that God purifies the hearts of his people by faith. And they're not placing a burden
on the Gentiles, not the religious burden on the Gentiles. God purifies
their hearts by faith. And when they'd read, they rejoiced
for the consolation. They rejoiced in the fact that
it's finished. They rejoiced in the liberty
that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The children of God rejoice
in being counted worthy to suffer for his name. You might recall
in Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in that prison in Philippi, and
in the middle of the night they're singing hymns. Isn't that remarkable? Why? God is worthy to be praised
and worthy to be rejoiced. circumstances. He rules the circumstances. I'm sure the pain and degradation
of what they suffered at the hands of that jailer were appalling,
but what was the result of it? In Acts chapter 16 that jailer
came in and he was about to kill himself. And he rejoiced. He rejoiced. "'What must I do to be saved?'
says the Philippian jailer. "'You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, "'and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' And they spake
unto him the word, and they preached the gospel to him, and all that
were in his house. And he took them that same hour
of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, and
he in all his straight way. And when he had brought them
into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced. Believing
God. Believing God. Believing in God. The rejoicing of believing. It's throughout the Book of Acts,
isn't it? I love how Paul in 2nd Corinthians
described his life and his ministry in this world. Do you think Paul
rejoiced that night? Do you reckon the stripes on his back, the
terrible wounds he received, do you reckon like the pain of
childbirth it just disappears with the joy that comes? In chapter
6 verse 10 of 2nd Corinthians Paul says, We might go back. He says, now
let's go to verse 10. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. As poor, yet making many rich. As having nothing, yet possessing
all things. Rejoice. Do you rejoice? The circumstances of our lives
are going to bring all sorts of things along as they did to
these apostles that night. Unexpected things. Things unexpected
in them that they had never seen. And yet the Lord promises peace and
rejoicing and love and believing and knowing. Listen to what he
says, isn't it? He says, You, if you love me,
you would rejoice because I said I go unto the Father, for my
Father is greater than I. The Father sent the Son, and
the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and sent by the Son. The
Lord Jesus Christ, in His humility, lost absolutely nothing of His
deity and nothing of His glory and honour by being the sent
one of the Father. And the Holy Spirit leaves us
nothing of His deity and honour by being the sent one of the
Father and the Son. The Father is greater than I
in His humiliation. The Father was greater than the
Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that the Lord
Jesus Christ isn't God Almighty. He says, I've told you now, I've
told you, now I've told you before it come to pass, verse 20, that
when it is come to pass you might believe. What is the result of
all this? What is the joy and peace that
the children of God have believing? No wonder the letters in the
New Testament often contain joy and peace. Peace and mercy, grace
and peace be multiplied unto you, again and again and again.
I need it to be multiplied unto me, again. I need to be reminded
that in all of the activities of our great God, He reigns absolutely
supreme. Hereafter I will not talk much
with you, for the Prince of this world cometh, and he has nothing
in me. Don't you love the fact that
he declares his absolute sovereignty? All these things are coming to
pass exactly as I said. I'm doing all these things that
you might believe, that you might love, that you might have my
peace. and he declares his holiness
and his purity, the prince of this world, Satan's coming, and
he has nothing in me. There is nothing in the Lord
Jesus Christ that he can lay claim on. He has nothing in common
with me. There is nothing in the Lord
Jesus Christ that belongs to him. He has no power over the
Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is the accuser of the brethren,
and he can accuse you and be 100% right all of the time. He doesn't have to lie one little
tiny bit to bring an accusation against me or against you. What
happens when we sin? What happens when the accusations
come? Our friend and brother John says
in 1 John, My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not. and if or and when any man
sin, we have, we don't lose an advocate with Father, we have
an advocate, the comforter with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. And he is the propitiation. What's
the comfort? He is propitiation. God has been
propitiated. All of the wrath that all of
our sins, children of God deserve, it's all been poured out on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He is the only sin offering
for all the world, and not only for ours, but also for the sins
of the world. The whole world. He has nothing
in me, but the world may know that I love the Father. I love
the Father. And as the Father gave me commandment,
even so I do. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Let's have a break and may the
Lord bless his words to the hearts of his people.