John chapter 16. John 16. Title of this message, In a Little
While. Our Lord mentions that several
times in just a few verses. In a little while. How many times
have you heard that? Are we there yet? In a little
while. In a little while. Everything,
and it would do us good to remember this, everything is but for a
little while, everything. Youth is but for a little while. I can't believe I'm as old as
I am now. Just seems like I just turned
around and there it is. Middle age. is but for a little
while. Old age is just for a little
while. In a little while, this will
all be over. In a little while, this message
will be over. This message that the Lord has
given you right now will be over in a little while. We'll leave
this building in a little while. We'll go home in a little while.
We'll live there a little while. You reckon we could ever get
that etched into our minds? It's just a little while. Are
you hurting? It's just a little while. Going through some heartache?
It's just a little while. That's all it is. To God's children,
to God's children, that's all it is, just a little while. You
know, Paul, Paul spoke of our trials and afflictions over in
2 Corinthians chapter 4 as light afflictions, which are but for
what? A while, just for a while. Everything's for a little while.
And our Lord had a work to do. He was given a work to do. And he came into this world to
do it. And he says, in just a little
while, and talking to them in just a few hours, I mean, just
not very long, he was gonna leave them. He said, I'm gonna leave
you. Here's something interesting before I get into this. I want
you to notice in verse 16, a little while and you shall not see me. And again, a little while and
you shall see me, because I go to the Father. But boy, what
a contrast, John 14, 19. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. You're gonna see me. I'm gonna
be absent for just a little while, three days. He's gonna be buried,
gonna die and be buried, and he's gonna rise again. And for
a little while, for three years, they hadn't been away from him.
But now for a little while, they're going to. But the world is not
going to see me again. The next time this world sees
Jesus Christ is judgment. That's when they'll see it be
judgment. Now back in verse 15, our Lord
said that the father had given all things to him. He said, all
things are mine. All things of the father are
mine. God has turned everything over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We saw that in Joshua this morning in the Bible. class. Everything
in heaven, everything in earth, everything for time and eternity
has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ as the mediator between
God and man. All things. And when the Holy
Spirit comes, all things that are of God, all things that God
would have us to know and understand, The Holy Spirit's gonna reveal
them to us, but He's gonna reveal them to us in light of Christ. It's not gonna be Christ as a
part of it. He's all of it. You know that the whole reason
that God created the heavens and the earth, the Lord Jesus
Christ, whom God created all things by, He said all things
were created by Him and for Him. It's all for Him. God the Father,
so loved, so pleased with his son that he's going to populate
heaven with a whole population, a number that he said that can't
be numbered. with the people just like his son. That's how
pleased he is with his son, so much he loves his son. He wants
a whole, he's purposed a whole population just like him, just
like him in spirit, in attitude, character. They're gonna be just
like him. You know, when the believer leaves
this world and enters into glory, it says we have that believer
in us who believe when we die and we go there, it says we will
have the mind of Christ We will love exactly what he
loves. We will love it as he loves it.
We will think on things that are, you know, Paul said, think
on these things, things which are pure, holy, and honest, and
good report. When we had the mind of Christ,
we will finally be able to do that. We'll finally be able to
do that perfectly. Now in verse 16 there, he says,
a little while you shall not see me. They were so confused. They were so perplexed. They
left everything. They said, we've left all and
followed you. And now he's saying, I'm going
to be gone from you for a little while. You know, sometimes we
don't hear the good news because we get zeroed in on, you know,
if I say something, if I say something, if I misquote something,
if I misquote a verb or if I misquote a name, sometimes that's the
only thing a person will get and they never get the message.
You'll hear the wrong, you'll hear the one little thing, and
then you won't hear the rest of what's said, the message.
They heard he's leaving back in chapter 14, and they haven't
gotten over it yet. They just can't get, they can't,
he's still talking, shut up, shut your mind down and listen.
He's still teaching. He's still teaching. Keep learning. Keep listening and keep learning.
And here, in a little while, you're not gonna see me. He's
got to die, he's got to go to the cross. If he does not go
to the cross, we are not saved. We have no salvation. If he doesn't
die for our sins, I'm going to, you're going to. But he's got to go to the cross.
He's got to offer up himself as a sacrifice, as a sin offering. He's going to be buried. He's
going to rise the third day and his disciples are going to see
him. You think we'd listen to the
Lord who knows all things, who purposed all things, whatever
he says, it's going to happen. If he says, you know, it's just
a little while, then you'll see me again. We should say, well,
good. You just going to be gone for
a little while. I'll be back. Madison, when she was just a
little girl, just a little, three or four years old. Vicki would
go to the store and she'd leave me with Madison and Cole. And it was like, when's Maw Maw
coming back? I said, a little while. When's Maw Maw coming back? I
said, call her. Call her, because they wouldn't listen to what
I said. I'm saying she'll be back in a little while. Pay attention.
She'll be back in just a little bit. That's what I said. I'll be back in a little while.
But they're just like, he's leaving. He's leaving. Oh, listen, a little while you'll
not see me, because I've got to do this. You can't go where
I'm going. You can't go. You can't die the
death I'm dying. It would serve no purpose. It
wouldn't serve for you to be hanging on a cross beside of
me. It would serve for you to be hanging in me on that cross. So I have to do this. I've got
to do this. In a little while, you'll see
me. I'm going to rise again. You know, he appeared to them.
After he arose, he appeared to them in his glorified body several
times. They saw him. Peter ate with
him there on the shore. He met with Peter alone. The
two men walked to the road to Emmaus. He walked with them.
The Lord walked with them, talked with them. They said, we thought
it was him. Said, I guess we were fooled.
No, there he is talking with you. I just had to go away for
a little while, that's all. It was necessary, it's necessary
that I do this. It's necessary that my blood
be shed. Because if not, your blood's
gonna be shed, but that's not gonna do you any good. Not gonna
do you any good. But my blood, it'll put away
your sins. Because the sins I ask forgiveness
for, his blood answers for. His blood answers for their sins. In a little while you'll see
me again. But here's something, this is even greater. You'll
see me again and they did. But here he didn't say, if you'll
notice here, let me get back to this verse. A little while
and you shall not see me and again a little while and you
shall see me. He doesn't say you shall see
me again. He doesn't say that. Because
in a little while, you're gonna see me in a way you have never,
ever seen me. You're gonna see me in my full,
you're gonna see me in my glory. You're gonna finally understand
what I'm talking about. Because the next two verses,
they say, what's he talking about? A little while, we can't understand
this. A little while, I mean, it's confusing. It's not gonna
confuse him. Listen, on that side of the cross,
it was confusing to them. On this side, it wasn't. The
Holy Spirit was given, and they understood. They understood the
necessity of his death. They understood something of
the glory of his death, the glory of his redemption. They understood,
now listen, they understood more of the glory of his person. He
said, in a little while, you will see me. Not again, because
that would be, he'd be talking about his body, his physical.
No, you're gonna really see me. How many times would they confuse
him? He spoke to him in parables. He tells us here, he said, I
spoke to you in parables. He did because they just couldn't
grasp it. Until he died, rose again, back
to the Father, and the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost,
and from that point on, They begin to say, I see, I see, I
really see him now. I would rather see him that way
than the way they saw him before the cross, physically. I would
rather see him spiritually than physically. Someday I'll see
him physically, but I wanna see him spiritually because that's
who he is, God is spirit. God is spirit, we have to see
him spiritually for it to do us any good. And then listen, he says here
in 17 and 18, then says some, or they say, the disciples, some
of his disciples among them said among themselves, what is he
talking about? A little while, we can't understand
this a little while. A little while and you'll see
me. Because I go to the Father, And that's interesting, he said,
in a little while you'll see me, and this sounds like a paradox,
because I go to the Father, I'm going away. You're gonna see
me because I'm leaving. If I don't leave, you're not gonna see me.
You're not gonna see the work of redemption. You're not gonna
see my glory. You're not gonna see me. But he said, you're gonna
see me, and here's why you're gonna see me, because I go away
to the Father. Because I am going away, you're
gonna now see me. And here they are saying, they're scratching
their head. They're like, what is he talking about? You see
how salvation is by revelation? This book is a closed book. It's
closed to them. The Lord's talking to them. And
they didn't get it. But they will. As he said, I
have many things to say to you, but not now. Not now. You can't understand me now,
but you will. You will. And they said, therefore, what
is this that he saith a little while? We cannot tell what he's
saying. We just don't, we don't understand
what he's saying. Now, Jesus knew, it says the Lord
knew this is his deity. They didn't have to inform him.
They didn't have to say, you know, they're over there talking
among themselves. He wasn't eavesdropping. He knew exactly what was going
through their heart. He knows every thought. He knows every
thought right now in this room. Every thought. The Lord knows
it. He knew that they were desirous.
They wanted to ask him and he said to them, do you inquire
among yourselves of that I said a little while and you shall
not see me in again a little while and you shall see me? You
know, if there's ever example of a great teacher, the greatest
teacher, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He led his pupils in
such a way that they would ask him They would ask him questions
that he knew they needed to learn. Isn't that brilliant? That's the wisdom of God, is
to lead the student in such a way that the student asks the proper
questions so you can instruct them. And that's exactly what
he does. And I thank God he did that.
I thank God he allowed them to ask many of the questions they
asked. I don't have to. I don't have
to, I just read the answer. We could just read it. He allowed
them to do that for our sakes, that we might learn. Now Jesus, he knew there were
desires to ask him about this little wild thing, and he said,
verily, verily, I say to you, and this is how he answered him.
He didn't just sit down and just say, well, now here, I've got
to go to the cross and I've got to do this. They still wouldn't
have got it, not until the Holy Spirit came. He said, he'll guide
you into all truth. He'll reveal the truth. He'll
take the things of mine and show them to you. But he's got to
do all this. There's nothing to show. So he
says, verily, verily, I say to you, in a little while, you're
going to weep. And you're going to lament. Your
heart's going to be broken. I mean, you're going to be devastated.
You're going to be devastated. You're going to be confused. You who believe, have you ever
been confused? What's going on? What's the Lord
doing? Why is the Lord, what's going
on here? They were confused. It's like,
And he says here, you're gonna weep and lament, but the world's
gonna rejoice. In a little while, you're gonna
cry, your heart's gonna be shattered, it's gonna be broken, but the
world is gonna rejoice at my death. You're gonna, this is
important, let me lay a little groundwork here. This is important
here, you see me hanging on the cross, you see me beaten, I mean,
his appearance was so marred more than any man. He was unrecognizable,
and you're gonna see me like that. Mary saw him like that. She saw him like that. You're
gonna see me hanging on a cross. You're gonna be eyewitnesses
of this. We have eyewitnesses. The apostles
who wrote these scriptures were eyewitnesses. They were eyewitnesses,
they were right there. And I tell it, that's what John,
1 John chapter one, he said, we were, we handled the word
of life, we touched it, we were eyewitnesses, we heard him, we're
earwitnesses, we were there. Let me tell you about it, we
were there. And he said, you're gonna weep
and you're gonna cry, you're gonna be so confused and your
heart's gonna be shattered, but the world's gonna rejoice that
I'm gone. They think they got rid of me.
My teachings, my influence, they're gonna think that they have done
away with me. We got him. And that's something
the world, now listen, the world, even in this day, rejoices that Jesus Christ of
this Bible, not the one that's, not this fake one that's being
preached, but this one, who is the sovereign Christ of God,
that he was crucified, dead, dead, gone. They rejoiced, the
high priest, Caiaphas, and all those Pharisees who were out
trying to kill him all those three years, and they're up there,
they're just like, yeah, we got him. And the disciples are crying,
they're just weeping, weeping. And you shall, listen here, but
the world shall rejoice and you shall be sorrowful, but your
sorrow shall be turned into joy. It does not say your sorrow is
gonna be exchanged for joy. That's not what he's saying.
Your sorrow over my death is going to be turned into joy over
my death. What you were sorrowful about
is now going to become your greatest joy, my death for you. And the world, what was their
greatest joy is going to become their greatest sorrow. It's going
to be turned into sorrow. You see that? It says your sorrow,
your weeping is going to be turned into joy. The very thing that
caused you to weep is going to cause you to rejoice. Christ
crucified is what we want. As Paul said in Galatians, glory
in. We glory in the cross. We glory
in the death of Christ. We glory in that. That's our
salvation. But they were weeping. They were
brokenhearted. They thought he failed. They
thought we'd been fooled. We thought, we thought, that's
what they said on the road to a maze. We thought he was the
one. I guess we were fooled. Peter said, you know what Peter
said? He said, I'm going fishing. And you know what he really was
saying? I'm going back to my occupation, my old occupation.
I'm going to just forget this. He said, just forget this. I'm
going back. This is after denying the Lord.
And the Lord looked at him. He went out and wept bitterly.
Then what does he do? He turns around and says, I'm going to
go fishing. I'm going back to my occupation. This is over with.
This is done. And then the Lord called him,
you know, once he said, he said to call his disciples and tell
Peter too. And he met with Peter alone.
And he said, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me more than
you love your boat, your nets, your fishes, your occupation?
Do you love me more? Because what's about to happen
to you, Peter, is gonna put that to the test. That's gonna be
put to the test, if you love me more. Just as a scenario, if the gospel
were to leave here, would you sell out and go where the gospel's
at? That's not an easy, you know,
it's easy to answer that question, which I, oh yeah. But I tell
you what, if you ever have to do it, it's different. It's different. Do you love me more than these?
Can you look at your family? You know, all your families in
the community, you look at your family, and you say, well, I'm
going where the gospel is. I'll see you later. You love
me more than these. That's what he said to Peter.
You know, Peter was married. Peter was married. Remember,
his mother-in-law was sick. You love me more than these. But he says here, you're going
to weep, but your joy, your mourning, your sorrow is going to be turned
into joy. And he gives an example here. And all you ladies can
identify with this more than us men can. A woman, when she is in travail, she has sorrow, pain, pain. You know, especially back before
they had pain medicine where you didn't feel it, basically.
But when you had just what you call natural childbirth, he said,
when a woman gives birth to a child, she's in pain. I mean, probably
more like any other pain, worse than any other pain you can think
of. She's in pain because her hour, her hour has come. But as soon as she is delivered
of the child, As soon as that child, she hears
it cry. She hears that baby cry. She remembers the pain no more,
the anguish, the sorrow, the pain. I'll never do this again.
I ain't having no more kids. My mother had seven. I bet she
said that every time. But you know, she forgot it because
the child was born. And they rejoiced. You know,
especially in this, now listen, in this day, it was, I mean,
when he says a man-child was born, they would, because, you
know, they was looking for the Christ. The man, Christ Jesus. And whenever Eve had her first
one, what'd she say? I've gotten the man from the
Lord. I think, I believe she thought
she had the Christ, the one that was promised. I've gotten the
man. And here it says, when she delivered
the child, she doesn't remember that pain no more. You ladies
remember that pain? You don't remember that pain?
No, no. You rejoiced, your children,
they're born. If one time you're not gonna
go through it again, the next thing you know, you're going
through it again. because you forgot the pain and the joy was
so great it overcame the pain. And you now therefore have sorrow. Your heart is broken just like
you have sorrow, you have pain, like that of a mother giving
birth. I mean, they were in pain. They were in pain and we can't
experience watching him hang on that cross like they actually
witnessed it. But I'll see you, now he says,
again, I'll see you again. He says, you're gonna see me,
you'll see me. But here he says, I'll see you,
I'll see you again. And when this, when I do, when
I see you again, your heart shall rejoice and your joy, In me,
that's what he's talking about, your joy in me, your joy in Christ
crucified, no one can take that from you. It's everlasting joy. It doesn't matter how painful
things get. There's a joy we have in Christ
that the world knows nothing of and cannot take away from
us. It can't take it away. You know, we go through some
painful things. We do. The Lord lets us go through some
painful things. But those painful things never
take away the joy we have in Christ crucified. You know, of
course, as I've gotten older, I always think, I think like
this now, I think like this. Whatever it is, it's just for
a little while. I think like that, it's just for a little
while. And when I stand in glory, I won't remember any of this. There may be something breaking
my heart now, but in a little while, I won't remember it. It'll
not be painful. Because the Lord said in Isaiah,
the former things will not come in to remembrance. You won't
remember it. Those painful things, those heartaches,
you won't remember them. They're gone. They're gone. They're
gone. So whatever it is, in a little
while, it'll be gone. You won't remember it anymore.
I was telling someone that here not too long ago, a younger person,
I said, just remember this. In a little while, it'll all
be gone, and you won't remember this. When you're in glory, I
said, you won't remember any of this. None of it. Isn't that good? That's good. I'll see you again, your heart
will rejoice and your joy no man takes from you. And in that
day, you shall ask me nothing. You see, they were desirous back
over 19. The Lord knew they were desirous
to ask him. He said, in that day, you're not going to ask
me anything because for three years they've been saying, Lord,
what are you talking about? He'd give parables, parables
of the soul. What do you mean? What does this mean? What? He
said, you're not going to ask me those questions no more. No,
you're gonna have an understanding of me and my person and my work
that you don't have right now, and then you're gonna ask the
Father in my name, and he's gonna give it to you. You need understanding? Ask the Father in Christ's name.
Ask the Father to open this book up. When you come to a portion
of the scriptures, ask the Lord to open it up. He's the only
one who can open it up and apply it to the heart, and it means
something. It'll really mean something. In that day, you shall ask me
nothing. Verily, verily, I say to you,
truly, truly, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name.
See, now you're gonna talk to the Father. He prayed for them. He said, Peter, I prayed for
you that your faith fell not. I intercede for you. He said,
now you have direct access to the Father. Like you don't realize
right now, but you will realize. And you have direct access to
the throne of grace. You have direct access to the
Holy of Holies through me, our forerunner, who's entered in
to the Holy of Holies for us. He's entered in. Hitherto you've
asked nothing in my name and ask and you shall receive that
your joy may be full. I'm gonna stop here because I
feel like I've said enough. I said enough. I think Scott
Richardson said, I saw every place you could stop. I hope nobody said say that this
morning.