Let's turn to God's word in that
portion of scripture that we read and turning to the very
last verse John 16 and verse 33. These things have I have
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace in the world
you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome
the world. You will observe that according
to the punctuation markings in our authorized version we here
have two sentences and in particular it is that last sentence that
I want to center your attention upon the words in the world you
shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome
the world. To begin with, we observe that
there is a contrast in the two sentences. The Lord says at the
beginning of the verse, in me ye might have peace. And then
he says in the world ye shall have tribulation. The contrast
between what we come to possess in the Lord Jesus Christ and
what we find in this world, this fallen world, this world that
lies in the wicked one. But observe here how in the opening
sentence of the verse we see the connection between God's
purpose and the ministry, the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He tells his disciples the reason why he has spoken those things
that have formed the very subject matter of his ministry. These things I have spoken unto
you, he says, that, literally, in order that ye might have peace. That is the intention of God
in and through the ministry of his word. Preaching is not an
end in itself, but there is a purpose. God has an end in view under
the ministry of his works. Now we're reminded of that of
course in those lovely verses that we find in Isaiah chapter
55 concerning the the Word of God there at verses 10 and 11. 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 whereto I sent it." Oh, there is a purpose
to be fulfilled. Now, it's true the Word of God
is a dividing word. To some it comes as savor of
death unto death, says the Apostle. and to others He comes as Saviour
of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things?" It is a dividing word. The ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ was a dividing ministry, as we see several times in this
very Gospel of John. There was a division amongst
the people because of Him, or there was a division because
of His sayings. But when we think of that gracious
purpose that God has in view, especially in terms of the ministry
of the gospel of His grace, He pleased God, says Paul, by the
foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. The foolishness of preaching,
it can be said to refer certainly to the content, the message being
proclaimed, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, as the world might
dismiss that as foolishness. But it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. But then also that expression,
he pleased God through the foolishness of preaching, can be understood
also in terms of the actual act of the preaching. God owns the
ministry of the Word. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And here, at the beginning of
this verse, Christ says that peace is the consequence of that
ministry, those words that come forth from His lips, these things
I have spoken unto you that in me, He says, ye might have peace. He came says the Apostle Paul
to the Ephesians referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, he came
and preached peace to you that were afar off and to them that
were nigh. He's writing to the church at
Ephesus, principally a Gentile church, Gentiles being those
who are afar off, Jews being those who are near, and he speaks
of Christ as that one who comes to preach peace both to Jew and
to Gentile. Well, we know that the Lord Jesus,
by and through his work here upon the earth, has established
peace. He has reconciled sinners unto
God, the language that we have there in the opening chapter
of the epistle to the Colossians. Verse 20, 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 reconciliation. Those in that
condition, they were enemies, they were at a distance, they
were aliens, and yet reconciled, brought nigh by the blood of
Christ, enjoying now peace with God through that great sacrifice. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one then, who is the preacher of peace, and those who are his
servants will proclaim that very same message. They will preach
peace through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how necessary
also Do we see the ministry of the Holy Spirit if that peace
is going to be brought home and made a reality in the souls of
those who are sinners, those in that state of alienation? Look at what the Lord says later
here in chapter 20. And there at verse 21, Jesus
says to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent
me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. or if that peace is going to
be brought home and made a blessed reality, how necessary that ministry
of the Holy Spirit. The things that we can possess
then in the Lord Jesus Christ, these things I have spoken unto
you that in me ye might have peace. But then the contrast,
and these are the words in particular that I want us to consider. This
very last sentence in the chapter, In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Considering
then something of the tribulation that believers have to endure
in the world. And I want to divide what I'm
going to say into two principal parts. First of all, to say something
with regards to the certainty of tribulation, it cannot be
avoided. And then in the second place,
how believers in the midst of all that tribulation, they can
have confidence in their God. First of all, the certainty.
Now, the word that we have here, tribulation, it's a word derived
from a verb that means to press, or to oppress, to bring into
a condition of distress. This is the idea that we have
in this particular world. Tribulation. And this is the
lot of the people of God. They will find themselves oft
times in this world a distressed people. The world will seek to
oppress them. On every side there will be these
various pressures, dangers surrounding them. Now, what we have here,
of course, in this sentence, is really a prophetic declaration. The Lord Jesus is speaking a
very sure word. There's no avoiding what the
Lord declares. There's a certain certainty.
This is the voice of Him who is the greatest of all the prophets,
the Prince of all preachers. In the world, He says, you shall
ye shall have tribulation." All this cannot be avoided at all. We read of God as that one who
declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times of things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. And who is the one who is speaking
here? What did the disciples say previously? Verse 30, Now are we sure that
thou knowest all things? How is it that the Lord Jesus
Christ is that one who knows all things? He is that one who
is the Omniscient Jehovah, this is God. As he says previously, verse
4, these things have I told you that when the time shall come
ye may remember that I told you of them. He is able to declare
the things that shall be. He is able to do all his goodwill
and pleasure. Oh, we see him quite clearly
then as that one who knows. Or remember the testimony of
the woman at the well in Samaria, that Samaritan woman, when she
goes and speaks to her fellow citizens, she says there in chapter
4, Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did.
Is not this the Christ? That's the Christ, this is the
Promised One, the Messiah, the Son of God, He knows all things. Again, remember the language
that we have at the end of the first chapter in this Gospel
of John. There at verse 47, Jesus saw
Nathanael coming to him and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed,
in whom is no guile. Nathanael saith unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith
unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King
of Israel. He recognizes that this man,
Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed the promised Messiah. This is
truly the Son of God manifest in the flesh. Oh, He is God. Look at what He says to the disciples
in this chapter at verse 28. I came forth from the Father,
He says, and am coming to the world. Again, I leave the world
and go to the Father. I came forth. Literally, I came
out of the Father. In a sense, he is declaring the
fact that he is that one who is eternally generated, eternally
begotten. The only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth, he came out of God. He is God's eternal
Son, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Remember the way in which the
Lord speaks to To Philip earlier, here in chapter 14, verse 8, Philip says to him, Lord show
us the Father and it suffices us. Jesus said unto him, Have
I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how
sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Why, he is one with the
Father. He is that one who has come as
the image of the invisible God. He is God. And so when he makes
statements, he speaks with all the authority of God and he can
make predictions because he knows the end from the beginning. And
so, what we have here is a prophetic word, a sure word, in the world. Ye shall have tribulation, says
the Lord Jesus. It's a prophetic word, but it's
also to be understood surely in an experimental sense. Because
what he says here was true in his own experience in this world. Though he says again previously
in chapter 15, they hated me without a cause. There in chapter
15, 25, they hated me without a cause. And that really is a word that
is to be found several times in the book of Psalms, in those
Messianic Psalms that speak of the Lord Jesus. We find it, for
example, in Psalm 35 and verse 19, and again in Psalm 69 at
verse 4, and then further we have it in the 109th Psalm and
verses 2 and 3. And just Turning to that particular portion,
Psalm 109 and verses 2 and 3. The mouth of the wicked and the mouth
of the deceitful are opened against me. They have spoken against
me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also
with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause. Isn't
there some referencing to those words of the Psalmist there,
or rather here in John 15, 25, they hated me without a cause. And we see it constantly as we
read through the Gospel. The words that they speak, there's
hatred in their mouths as they address this man, Jesus of Nazareth. but not just hatred in their
words, but also in their deeds, the way in which they treat him,
or what cruel words they will speak against him. Now they accuse
him, those Jews, thou art a Samaritan, they say, and hast the devil. Again they say, he has the devil
and he's mad. And yet this is none other than
God's eternal Son. God's only begotten Son, God's
well-beloved Son and yet they revile Him or do they do that
most cruelly as He suffers there upon the cross as He dies that
substitutionary death in the place of His people bearing not
only the ridicule and the rejection of
men but bearing all the wrath of God in His own soul how they
hate him with their words, how they hate him also with their
deeds, how they were so determined that he should die. We read several
times how they would have stoned him to death. Here in John's
Gospel, in chapter 8 at verse 59, and again at chapter 10 at
verse 31, they would have stoned him, but his hour was not yet
come. or they could not take his life from him. Remember what
he says in chapter 10. He has power or authority to
lay that life down. And he has power, authority to
take that life again. No man taketh it from him. No
man taketh it from him. This was the command that he
had received of the Father. And so his dying is a voluntary
act. He gives Himself into their hands.
But oh, they were from the very beginning determined to see Him dead. Go back to chapter 5 and
verse 18. Now they sought the more to kill
Him, it says, because He not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. He knew what tribulation was,
in this world and what he is saying here is that what was
true in his experience would also be true in the experience
of those who were truly his people in the world ye shall have tribulation oh that's true of the believer
if they have persecuted me he says they shall also persecute
you This is why believers are those
who have to take up the cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. These words of the Lord are echoed
in Acts 14 and verse 22. The apostle says there, We must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. If we're those who are entering
into God's kingdom, it will be through tribulation. And the
Apostle is simply repeating and emphasizing this teaching of
the Lord. In the world ye shall have tribulation. Now when we think of it in terms
of what the Apostle is saying there in Acts 14, we must, through
much tribulation, enter into the kingdom. Isn't that a truth
when it comes to the beginning of the life of the child of God,
that spiritual life? When that sinner is born again
by the Spirit of God, when that great and gracious work of conversion
begins in the soul of the sinner, the Lord says, straight is the
gate, narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, you there
be that find it. Well, we have to enter into this
narrow way, and we must enter through a straight gate. Remember,
this word, tribulation, is derived from that verb that means to
press. And when we think of a straight
gate, there, of course, the word straight is not the word that
we associate with straight lines. It means that that is so enclosed. It's such a small entrance. you're
pressed in on every side even when he comes to entering into
the narrow way it is through a straight guide and so it is
in the experiences of the people of God when the Lord begins with
us does he not make us aware of our condition? does he not
work conviction in the soul of the sinner? or isn't that the
peculiar work of the Holy Spirit? Look at what the Lord says previously
in this chapter concerning that ministry of the Holy Spirit and
that prerogative of the Spirit. Verse 80 says, When He has come,
He will reprove. The margin says, Convince the
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on Me. Of righteousness, because I go
to My Father and ye see Me no more. judgment because the prince
of this world is judged, or when the spirit comes and he will
convince us, he will reprove us, he will make us to understand
what we are, there'll be that conviction of sins. This is a
way in which we enter into the kingdom. We must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom, but it's not only true at the
beginning, it's true all the time we're living in this world
because this world lies in the wicked one or there will be conflict
there must be that good fight of faith what does Paul say at
the end of Philippians chapter 1 unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer
for his sake all of the faith is given It's given on the behalf
of Christ to believe in Him. But what comes with the faith,
the trying of the faith, that's only given on His behalf to believe
in Him, but also to suffer for Him. That's what Paul says there
at the end of Philippians chapter 1. And it's not just to the Philippians. He has the same message as he
writes to these various churches in these epistles. When he writes
to the Thessalonians, there in 1 Thessalonians 3, 4, he says,
Verily, when we were with you, we told you before that ye should
suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know. Oh, they knew it. In the world
ye shall have tribulation. All that would live godly in
Christ Jesus, suffer persecution. That is the lot of the people
of God. And this is what the Lord himself
is saying. It's a sure prophetic word, but
it's also an experimental word in that he is spelling out to
us what it means to live the life of the Christian. For their
sake we are killed all the day long, says Paul. We are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter. And yet this is God's purpose.
And God has an end in view, just as we said with regards to the
preaching. The preaching is not an end in
itself, there's a purpose. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace, says the Lord. Well, there's
also a purpose in the tribulation. They're useful to believers.
Oh, we see that, do we not? When we think of how the Lord
makes use of chastenings and corrections and reproofs. in chapter 15 where the Lord
speaks of the vine and the branches. He is the vine, his people are
the branches. What does he say? Every branch
in me that beareth fruit, he the Father purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit. This is how the Lord deals with
his people. And this is how his people prove that they are truly
the sons of God. When the Lord deals with them
and chastens them in the world, They know what it is to suffer
tribulation. They know what it is to be chastened.
Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. He scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. What son is it whom the Father
chasteneth not? It's a mark that God delights
in His people. when he deals with them, when
he teaches them and instructs them by way of these chastenings. No chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, says Paul, but grievous nevertheless afterward. It yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby. In all these things, the end
that God has in view is that his people might learn more and
more their complete and utter dependence upon Christ. Look
at what it says here in this text. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. All they must learn that Christ
is that one by and in and through whom they will overcome. all
the trials and all the troubles that come upon each of them in
this present life. And so in the second place, to
say something with regards to confidence in tribulation, the
Lord says here, and that word good cheer, it's interesting
because the same word is translated with a different
English word in other parts of the New Testament the same word
is also used in 2nd Corinthians 5 verses 6 and 8 but there it
is translated confident be of good cheer we could render
it you see but be confident They can have confidence in the
midst of all their tribulations. And where is that confidence
placed? Well, it is confidence in Christ
and in that sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ has made for
his people. It's confidence in that ministry
of the Spirit whom the Lord Jesus is speaking of so much in this
chapter and the previous two chapters. You know our chapters
14, 15, and 16 these discourses really so much center in the
promise of the Holy Spirit whom the Lord will send. It is expedient
that he go away. If he go not away, the Spirit
will not come. And believers can have confidence in that ministry
of the Spirit. Confidence in in tribulations. First of all, that confidence,
I say, centers in Christ and that great sacrifice that He
will make. He's coming now to the end of
His ministry, of course. Oh, He has told them previously,
back in chapter 12 and verse 31. Now is the judgment of this
world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die." Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ has come
to make that great sacrifice, and it is by that sacrifice that
He procures peace. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. Look at the words that we have
previously. Chapter 14, 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. And then again, there in Chapter
20. and the verses 19 and 20. The Lord comes again with this
message of peace This is after his resurrection,
verse 19, chapter 20. Then the same day at evening,
being the first of the week, when the doors were shut, where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his side, Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord." See the connection here between what
he says and what he does. He says unto them, please be
unto you. And saying this, he shows them
his hands and his side. He shows them the wounds that
he had suffered when he poured out his soul unto death, when
he made that great sin atoning sacrifice. There is where the
peace is obtained in the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
He is the propitiation for our sins, says John in his first
epistle. 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, to bear the wrath of God. That believers might know what
it is to be at peace with God. because all their sin has been
punished in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave himself,
says Paul, for our sins that he might deliver us from this
present evil world. This is how believers are delivered
then from a world in which they have tribulation. It's all in
the Lord Jesus Christ and in Christ alone. Oh God forbid that
I should glory, says Paul, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. It's all by the sacrifice of
Christ, by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers can have
confidence here in the midst of all their tribulations, all
their trials, all their troubles, all their chastenings, everything
that comes, all the reversals. In all these things they are
more than conquerors through him that loved them and gave
himself for them. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done then. But there's not just confidence
in that sacrifice that He has made, in which He has delivered
them from all the damning power of sin. There's also confidence
in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity,
of whom the Lord is speaking so much in these chapters. Nevertheless, He says, in verse
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 there we need to know the Blessed Spirit. If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, Paul said, he is none
of His. Well, we need the Spirit if we're
going to be those who would mortify, put to death the deeds of the
flesh, the deeds of the body. Think of the language of Paul
again in Romans 8 and verse 13, if ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body ye shall live. How we're dependent upon
the Spirit if we're going to know anything of what it is to
die to sin, to live to God. How We need that gracious ministry
of the Holy Spirit if we're going to know anything of saving faith. It is faith of the operation
of God. And it is the Spirit's prerogative to come and to work
that faith in the soul of believers. Or we need that gracious ministry
constantly. Be of good cheer, says the Lord,
I have overcome the world. He has overcome the world by
his death upon the cross, but having made that great sacrifice,
having risen from the dead, having ascended on high, he is the one
who was shed abroad the Holy Spirit. Now we need then to know
that ministry, that gracious ministry constantly, continually. And now we need to know that
ministry of the Spirit even when we come together to pray. We need to know Him as the Spirit
of grace and of supplications, the one who helps us to pray,
helps all our infirmities, the one who indicts believing prayer
in our hearts. All the Lord says then here as
He comes to the end of these discourses In chapters 14, 15,
and 16, we see the Lord speaking with his own disciples, instructing
them. And then, of course, as we come
into chapter 17, he turns from them and he lifts up his eyes
to heaven. And he prays to his Father in
heaven. But here, we have those final
words that he speaks to them. at the end of these discourses
in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome
the world. Oh the Lord then bless these
truths to us tonight. Now before we turn to the Lord
again in prayer let us sing the hymn 305 the tune St. Bernard 219. The souls that would to Jesus press
must fix this firm and sure that tribulation more or less they
must and shall endure from this There can be none exempt, tis
God's own wise decree. Satan, the weakest saint, will
tempt, nor is the strongest free. We'll sing from verse 3, 305.