Let us turn again to God's Word. In the portion we were reading,
John 16, and I want to take up this morning the words that we
find here in the last verse of the chapter, John 16, 33. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace, in the world ye shall
have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world." And it's with these words, of course,
that the Lord is concluding that part of the chapter that we often
refer to as His valedictory discourses. From chapter 14 through 15 and
16 we have these words of the Lord Jesus as He comes to the
end of His earthly ministry and speaks of the glorious coming
of the Holy Ghost. And though it was, as the Lord
Himself declares here, expedient 7. I tell you the truth, it is expedient
for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you." And really the theme that runs through these
three chapters concerns Christ going away, he's dying, he's
rising again, he's ascending, and then the blessed sending
of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and that ministry that will follow
that of the Lord Jesus. And so with these words we really
come to the end of the valedictory discourses and then of course
in chapter 17 having spoken these words Christ lifts up his eyes
to heaven and now addresses the Father the hour has come glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee and so after the
prayer of that chapter we read on, of all that Christ must suffer,
the mockery of the trial that He has to endure, and then His
death upon the cross, He's rising again from the dead on the third
day. Well, as we consider these words
that I've announced for the text, you will observe that the text
is made up of two sentences as we have the punctuation before
us here in the authorised version. Two short sentences. And what does the Lord speak
of here? He speaks of trouble in the world and peace in himself. Trouble in the world and peace
in himself. It's Christ's promise of peace
in a world that is full of tribulation and of trouble. And it's not
the first time in the discourses that it's spoken of that peace. Go back to chapter 14 and verse
27. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Well, that's the Lord's legacy.
not just that glorious donation of the Holy Ghost, but a legacy
of peace. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. And how necessary is this peace
when these disciples are going to find themselves very much
in enemy territory. or one of this world we know
that we are of God says John in his epistle and the whole
world lieth in wickedness we are of God and this world in
which the believer has to live his life lies in the hands of
the wicked one how necessary then to know and to experience
something of this blessed legacy of the Lord, this peace that
he grants to his faithful followers. And now the Lord himself, of
course, was one who lived to prove the faithfulness of his
God. When we look at the context here,
in the previous verse, he says to the disciples, Behold, the
hour cometh, yea, he is now come, that ye shall be scattered every
man to his own and shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone
because the father is with me or the father doesn't desert
him the father is with me says Christ I know that when we come
to his sufferings upon the cross we do have that awful cry of
dereliction, when he feels so deserted, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? When he makes the great sin offering,
and yet, even there, of course, he is using the language of faith,
he still addresses God as my God. I am not alone, because
the Father is with me. He was, of course, very much
the servant of the Father as he came into this world in the
Great Covenant. We sang of it in our opening
praise, that lovely hymn of John Kent that God settled from all
eternity. with regards to the redemption
of those that were given to Christ, the Son, as he willingly became
the mediator of the covenant, as he becomes a servant of God. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. And what does the Father say
to him there in Isaiah 50 verse 7? The Lord God will help me, therefore
shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is
near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him
come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? This is really the word of the Lord Jesus Christ that one
who does indeed set his face like a flint when the time was
come that he should be received up he steadfastly sets his face
to go to Jerusalem. But he has that assurance in
the midst of all his tribulations that the Father will be with
him and will stand by him and will very much be his strength
and his support. And we have it twice there, don't
we, in those verses we just read. There in Isaiah 50, the beginning
of verse 7, The Lord God will help me. And then again, the
beginning of verse 9, Behold, the Lord God will help me. And it is very much the God of
the covenants who is his faithful God, who will indeed stand by
him. I am not alone, because the Father
is with me. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace in the world, ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. nor this one who himself rests
in the promises that God had given to him in the covenant.
He's of course the covenant head of his people, the covenant head
of the church. I give thee for a covenant of
the people, says the Lord God back in Isaiah 49.8. And as Christ
is the Covenant Head of the Church, so His safekeeping is also the
guarantee of the safety of His Church. And so the words that
I really want us to consider this morning, the first part
of this text, these things, have I spoken unto you that in me
ye might have peace. and as we look at this part of
the verse I want to divide the subject into two parts first
of all to say something with regards to the great purpose
of Christ the great purpose of God and then secondly to say
something with regards to the preaching of the Lord Jesus because
in many ways of course these discourses recorded in these
chapters It's very much part and parcel of the Lord's prophetic
ministry. We see him here in 14, 15 and
16 as the great prophet of God. As in chapter 17, we see him
as a priest making intercession. And then subsequently, chapter
18 following, we see him as the priest who makes the great sin
offering. And so in the second place to
say something with regards to the preaching of the Lord Jesus,
but first of all this great purpose. Look at the words that we have
here. Christ says, these things have I spoken unto you, that
in me ye might have ye might have peace that in me ye might
have peace and there's a purpose in what's being said here such
is the grammatical construction in the words that are being used
that it has that force of there being no doubts not ifs or buts
or maybes but something sure something certain in order that she might have
peace. That's what the Lord is saying.
There is here something to be discerned then with regards to
God's great purpose. What is this peace of which Christ
is speaking? Well, it's the peace of God.
It's that that Paul speaks of in Philippians 4, the peace of
God that passeth understanding. And of course when we read of
it in those terms, the peace of God, it's the genitive of
possession. It's God's possession. It's what
belongs to God. It's the peace of which God himself
is the author, the originator. And we sometimes, or commonly
I suppose at the Lord's table, conclude with that lovely benediction
that we find in Hebrews 13 at verse 20 and 21. Now the God
of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that
great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant make you perfect in every good work doing that which
is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom
be glory forever and ever. The God of peace and that peace
of God there in that benediction associated with the blood of
the everlasting covenant through the blood of the everlasting
covenant all this peace you see belongs to that covenant that
is ordered in all things and sure it's a peace that's rooted
very much then in the eternal purpose of God, that great purpose
of salvation that centers in the person and the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Back in Zechariah chapter 6 and
verse 13 we read of the Council of Peace. The Council of Peace
shall be between them both. It was a council in the Godhead
between the Divine Persons, the Council of Peace. God's great
purpose of salvation and though it is that that is something
so certain there is that that is so definite about what God
has planned He can say to Israel in the Old Testament I know the
thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expected end and so with his people even
in the midst of all the troubles and trials and tribulations of
the world there is this blessed peace these things have I spoken
unto you that in me ye might have peace and observe the one
who has procured, who has obtained this peace where is it to be
found? it's very much in the Lord Jesus
in me it is In me ye might have peace." Oh, there's peace in
Christ with regards to His person and also with regards to His
work. This is the wonder of salvation, the fullness of salvation. This man shall be the peace. says the prophet Micah. And of
course our second hymn, another one of John Kent's hymns, is
very much based upon those words in Micah 5 and verse 5. Now Kent is remarkable on bringing
out the glorious truths that lie in that covenant, the great
covenant of grace, that covenant that's ordered, that's sure,
that's certain. And there, in the hymn that we
sang, 925, he very much has in mind, as Kent, the words of Micah,
there in that fifth chapter. This man shall be the peace. Who is the man? It's the man
Christ Jesus. It's that one that he's spoken
of in Isaiah chapter 9. Unto us, a child born unto us,
a son given. Or the son is the eternal son
of the eternal father, given. But the child that's born, that's
the man Christ Jesus, conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb
of the Virgin Mary. And then, of course, we are told
what his name is. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. All in His very person, in His
very person, as God's man, He is the Prince of Peace. And there
we see the angels rejoicing in that at His birth, there in the
second chapter of Luke's Gospel. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace. Goodwill towards me. always coming
you see, the wonder of the birth, the miracle of God manifest in
the flesh, its place on earth. You think of the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he is God and he is man. He is one who
can truly come between God and man. Now when God creates the
man there in Genesis chapter 1, and we have the detail in
the second chapter. God consults with himself, let
us make man in our image after our likeness, and there's the
creation of the man, God's image bearer. But then in the third
chapter of course we have the dreadful account of the fall
of our first parents, the entrance of sin, and the image of God
destroyed. How dreadful it is. man now in
a state of alienation, separation. Whereas once God would come into
the garden and there'd be a wonderful communion between the Creator
and His creature. But now man in that state, alienated,
enemy in his minds. But he is one who can come and
stand between God and man, because he is the mediator, he is the
God-man. is in the form of God, he thinks
it not probably to be equal with God, but he makes himself of
no reputation, takes upon him the form of a servant, and is
made in the likeness of man. Oh, how suited he is! Isn't he
the one that Job is longing for? There in Job 9.33, neither is
there any day's man betwixt us that may lay his hand upon us
both. This is what Job longs for, one
who can lay his hand upon God, and at the same time lay his
hand upon Job, to stand, as it were, between heaven and earth,
to be the umpire, the daisman, to be the mediator. Oh, this
is the Lord Jesus in his person, in me. In me ye might have peace,
because of who he is. Do we contemplate that, the wonder
of this man? all this lovely man, this sinless
one who has come and lived a life subject to the Holy Lord of God
and done that of course as the surety of his people he stood in their law class,
he obeyed every commandment that there might be a righteousness
to cover them that robe of righteousness, that justifying righteousness
and then that this holy and righteous man should die the cruel death
of the cross, the judicial death and there of course he dies as
a substitute in the room in the stead of his people and so it's his work as well
as his person He is the propitiation for our sins, says John. Here
in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It's a technical
word, propitiation. It's a theological word. It's
all of those things, but it's a biblical word. It's in the
Bible. And so we do well, if we're serious
about our Bible reading, to understand the significance of the word.
What does propitiation mean? Well, it reminds us of the holiness
of God, and the righteousness of God, and the justice of God.
And that God can by no means clear the guilt. And what has
God done? He has poured out His wrath upon
that man. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. He is the propitiation. He is
born. That's just punishment of all
the sins of those that were given to Him by the Father in that
eternal covenant. What a manifestation is that
of love. Herein is love, says John. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and He loved us to that degree that He makes His
only begotten Son the propitiation for the sins of His people that's
the wonder the wonder of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
this is the peace that He is speaking of in me in me ye might
have peace oh it is that blessed peace that comes through the
blood of the cross. You know that passage that we
have in Colossians 1. Verse 19, He pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through
the blood of His cross. by him to reconcile all things
unto himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked work yet now hath he reconciled in the body of
his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in his sight or you and me we were alienated
enemies That's what we were. We were conceived in sin. We
were shapen in iniquity. We were far off from God. How
can we be brought nigh to God? It's only by that blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is where peace is. It's
in Christ and it's only in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in
any duties that we perform. It's not in any grace that God,
by His blessed Spirit, might work within our hearts. It's
not anything in us, or anything at all that we do. It is altogether
objective, this peace. It is only in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and nowhere else. That's where we find peace. How
desperate it is that we know Him. Do you know Him? Can you
say in all honesty you really do know, not just know about
him because you've heard sermons preached about him, or you've
read books about him, but can you say in all honesty this morning,
I know him. I know him by my soul's experience. I know something of what John
is talking about. in the word that we have there
at the beginning of that first epistle of John, that which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have
handled of the word of life. Is the Lord that real to us?
It's only in Him, you see, in His person and in His work that
we can have peace with God. That in me ye might have peace
with God. But let us, in the second place,
say something with regards to the preaching of the Lord Jesus.
Because look at what he says in the opening words of the verse.
These things have I spoken unto you. How is the Lord communicating
this message? Well, he's preaching. He's preaching. There's that verse in Ephesians
2.17 where Paul says, and we came and preached, preached to
you which were afar off and to them which were nigh. Now he's
writing of course to the Ephesians, it's a Gentile church principally,
and so Gentiles are those who were afar off, and Israel are those who were
nigh. That's how it was in the Old
Testament, wasn't it? You only have I known of all
the families of the earth, says God to Israel. Look at the context
there in Ephesians chapter 2 Christ came and preached peace to Gentiles
who were far off and to the Jews who were nigh and how did he
how did he communicate that message to the Gentiles you might say
why he never went outside of Israel his ministry was very
much confined to the house of Israel How did the Lord preach
to those Gentiles that were far off? Well, what does he say later
in chapter 4? In verse 20, You have not so
learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him and have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. How did they hear Christ? How
were they taught by Christ? Well, it was through the ministry
of the apostles. It was through Paul's preaching. This is how
God communicates his message of peace. It's a word of the
Lord Jesus Christ that is being spoken in the faithful preaching
of the gospel of his grace. His shaper those who know his
voice. who are we those who long to
hear his voice in the preaching? here we have the Lord's preaching
and what is the content of this preaching? and what is the intention
of this preaching? well the content is so obvious
he is speaking here of peace and he is speaking of peace in
a world that is full of tribulation, and trouble, and persecution. Hasn't the Lord already spoken
of that in the earlier part of the chapter? We read the chapter
through, the opening verses there, He says to the disciples, These
things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended.
They shall put you out of the synagogues, Yea, the time cometh
that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service.
And these things will they do unto you, because they have not
known the Father, nor me. Oh, the Lord is speaking quite
plainly to them of persecutions in the world. All that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Why? Because the whole world lies
in wickedness. and we're of God. There's a difference
you see, there's a contrast between the believer and those who lie
dead in trespasses and in sins. Persecution in the world, but there is union and communion
with the Lord Jesus. What contrasting sentences we
have in this text this morning. He says, in me ye might have
peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation. There's the
contrast. There's the contrast. In the world, tribulation, troubles,
persecutions, trials, difficulties, conflict. But in me, says the
Lord, there's peace. All the blessings, you see, of
that union and that communion with the Lord Jesus. He speaks
of it, doesn't he, throughout these chapters. Chapter 15, he
says, I am the true vine and my Father is the husband. He says at verse 4 there, abide
in me and I in you. There's union. abide in me and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. All this life, you see, is one
of complete dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. but there's union here, you see,
in spite of all the oppositions of the world in spite of all the persecutions
of the world there's a union with the Lord Jesus and the blessings
of that union, there's communion there'll be fruitfulness that's
what the Lord is speaking of and of course, ultimately, doesn't
the Lord speak of a place that's being prepared for these people
ultimately is going to take them to himself in heaven he begins
the discourses there in chapter 14 let not your heart be troubled
ye believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are
many mansions 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 ye may be also." Or there will be an eternal communion
with Him. All the Lamb you see is all the
glory in Emmanuel's Lamb. And so those words later in chapter
14 we refer to them earlier, verse 27 peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you not as the world give I unto you
this legacy of peace and then let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid as if that's really the text of all
the discourses let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid now
to know you see that in the world it's going to be A very difficult,
a very trying path. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. All the contents of the sermon
then. These wonderful words that the
Lord is speaking. Yes, there will be persecution,
but there's going to be peace in the world. And that peace,
centering very much in the person of Christ, will be increasingly
cast upon me, he's saying, and then ultimately, while I'm leaving
this world, I'm going to another world, I'm preparing a place,
and ultimately, I'll come and take you to that place. Heaven
itself. It's a wonderful sermon. There's
so much in the sermon. But what, with regards to the
intention, Preaching is not an end in itself. Preaching is not
an end in itself, is it? There's a purpose here. What does the Lord say? These
things I have spoken unto you. All that he has said has a purpose
in view. That in me, in order that, that's
the force of that word, that introduces us to the second clause
he speaks of his preaching all that he has been saying these
things have I spoken unto you to this end in order that in
me ye might have peace this is the great purpose of the word
of God isn't it? it's not some sort of random
thing remember those words that we have in Isaiah 55 verse 10
as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth
not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth
and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the
eater so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it
shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that
which I please and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent
it. All God has a purpose to accomplish in the proclamation
of His Word. And what is that blessed purpose?
Faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. What is the foolishness
of preaching? Well, principally it's referring
to the content of the message, the content of the Gospel. What
is the Gospel? It's the proclamation of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach Christ and Him crucified. And to the world it's foolishness.
But that's the very message that God uses. to bring the sinner to faith
his eyes have to be open to the blessed truth that there is salvation
nowhere else but in this one person and in all his work is
obedience unto death even the death of the cross faith comes by hearing and so
the Lord says these things I have spoken unto you that in me you
might have peace always by faith but then we have to remember
how vital how necessary that ministry of the Holy Spirit and
this is the great theme really that is really running through
the four chapters 14, 15 and 16 he speaks so much of the coming of the Holy Ghost,
the Comforter and how expedient it is that the Lord Himself completes
His work and then having died rises and ascends to heaven and
sends forth the Spirit being by the right hand of God exalted
Peter in his sermon says He has shed forth this which ye now
see and hear. Oh friends, how we need that
blessed ministry of God the Holy Ghost. Again, look at the words
of the Lord later in the Gospel, in chapter 20, verse 21. This is a resurrected
Christ speaking to His disciples. Then said Jesus to them again,
Please be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even
so I send you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they
are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain,
they are retained. Now what is the Lord saying here?
It's a proclamation of peace, that peace that we are considering
in our text. But here is Christ also commissioning
His disciples, sending them. and as he sends them, he breathes
on them and he says, receive ye the Holy Ghost, this is the
Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son and then as
they go forth in the power of the Spirit whose sins they remit,
they are remitted, whose sins they retain, they are retained
and they are to preach the Gospel and that Gospel comes as the
Apostle Paul says, a saver of death unto death, the Son but
the saviour of life unto life to others, who is sufficient
for these things?" asked the Apostle. We need that blessed
ministry of God, God the Holy Ghost upon the preaching of the
word that it might be effectual in our souls. What is the multiplying
of the words of the preacher without that gracious anointing
of the Spirit on the Word as He comes to own it and to apply
it in the soul of the sinner and make it a reality and then
there's peace, then there's peace all the preaching of the Lord
Jesus then what He has to say in the course of His ministry
here and then what is there? There's There's peace for the child of
God, there's safety even in the midst of a world that's full
of troubles. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Oh, it's that peace of God which
passes all understanding. What does Paul say? It shall
keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. It passes understanding,
but how it keeps, how it preserves the people of God in the midst
of all their troubles. I close with those words of Isaiah
26 through me. Thou shalt keep him in perfect
peace. whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. Oh God, grant that we might know
that fact, that trusting, that resting in the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God, be pleased to bless his
word to us. Amen.