Go back to John 16. We just sang that hymn, Help
me in every tribulation so to trust thy promises, O Lord, that
I lose not faith's sweet consolation. And that's what we're going to
look at, what our Lord said is faith's sweet consolation. Look at John 16, verse 33. The Lord says, 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. I had that verse of scripture written on
a piece of paper sitting on my desk for nearly a month now,
after hearing a preacher quote it. I don't know who the preacher
was, but a neighbor, somebody I heard preaching, and I wrote
it down because it blessed me. I was struck with it. And wrote
it down for future use, hoping, wishing, wanting to preach from
it. And I looked at it again and
I finally thought, I'm just going to deal with that. I like that.
Tonight we're going to look at that. Hope the Spirit of God
will bless it. Lord Jesus Christ was speaking
to his disciples just before going to Calvary's cross. He was about to leave them. He
was about to leave this world. He kept telling them that. We
read it there. It's expedient that I go. The
disciples were greatly troubled. Greatly troubled at the thought
of him leaving. They had been totally dependent
upon him for three and a half years. Totally dependent. Everything at all times. And now he's leaving there. They
realize that he is leaving. He told them that he was going
to die and they didn't want to believe it. And they didn't want
to ask him about it. But he kept telling them that
long before this time. And he'd been telling them, and
you read some of it with me, how that they would be hated
by the world, that they would be persecuted by the world. He
said time would come, but those that kill them think they do
God a service. So he told them that they were
going to be hated and persecuted and eventually killed for his
namesake. So they're greatly, greatly troubled. And now what our Lord spoke to
his disciples in person, God Almighty wrote it down in this
book for you and I. For those who are his disciples
to read it, it's for our sake. Our Lord said these things have
I spoken to you to the disciple, these things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace, you might find peace in
me, all your people. You're troubled, upset, worried
in me. I said all these things that
in me you might have peace. And he said, now in the world
you shall have tribulation, you shall. No doubt about it. That's one of those promises
from the Lord. It's just going to come. Because
you're not of the world, he said. If you were, the world would
love you, love its own. But since you're not, they're
going to hate you, and you're going to find trouble and tribulation. But he said, be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. This should be a great, great
comfort to God's people and glorifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
our Lord said in the world, he said to his disciples, he says
this to everyone who is a disciple of him, a believer, one who looks
to him like the disciple for everything as their all. He said
in the world, you shall have tribulation. Normally, I don't
look up words in the concordance because the ones we have by God's
providence are good ones. Sometimes I look them up. The
word tribulation is not something we use very often, is it? Do
you know what the word means, actually? You probably don't. I thought I did. You know something of what it
means, but The actual word is pressure. Pressure. You'll feel this, and it goes
on a little deeper to say a weighty burden. It says trouble and anguish
and pressure in the sense of just getting hemmed up. Pressure. In the world, he says, you're
going to be under tremendous I thought, that's so true. And in anguish, the word means
anguish. Anguish is just, you're distraught
over things. You're going to be that way in
this world. Anguish over sin, your own and the sin in the world. In the world, you're going to
feel a heavy burden. A heavy burden of your own sin
and a heavy burden of life's problems. They're going to weigh
you down. You're going to feel under tremendous
pressure. That's what the word tribulation
meant. He said, in the world you shall
have these troubles, the tribulation within. You're going to have,
and this is the worst form of tribulation that the believer
goes through within. sin, sin troubles within and
without. Troubles from people all over,
on your job, in your home, family, throughout the world. Trouble.
In the world, you're going to be under constant pressure, bearing
down on you. This is a good word, isn't it?
Pressure. Satan pressures. He ends you up. Get you in a
corner. Tries you. Tempt you. Pounds you. Pounds
you. Brother Kelly there, the force
trainer, he knows something about pressure. To bring a force under
submission, you've got to put it under a great deal of pressure.
You can't love them into submission. It does not work that way. Pressure. Satan. Pressure. Hems God's people
up to where they're at a loss of where to turn. And only one way to look. That's
it. The world pressures the people of God under constant pressure. We call it peer pressure. Trying to get you to renounce
your religion, join up with them, and so forth. And the pressure
of sin is The worst thing of all. And we feel, believers feel
at times, like they're going to break under this strain, this
terrible pressure, tribulation. I feel like we're going to be
overcome by it. I feel like sin, Satan, and the
world is going to finally get us and overcome us. Anybody feel that way? You
feel like, you know, David said in Psalm 73, as my feet were
ready to slip, ready to halt, I've cleansed my hands and veins
and so on and so forth. But then Christ utters these
words, which are the gospel. Gospel means good news. And Christ uttered these words,
which are the gospel in a line. He said, be of good cheer. I
have overcome the world. And I want us, we're going to
look at what that means. We'll try to look at what that
means. Somebody might say, what does Christ overcoming the world
have to do with me? Boy, if you, if Christ is your
hope, it means everything. It means everything. And this
should give you great cheer. He said that. Be of good cheer.
I hope and I want this to be of good cheer. Make you cheerful
and comfort. Give you comfort. This is the
gospel. All right. Three things we're
going to consider. Number one. Why did Christ come into this
world? Why did Christ come into the
world? Number two. We want to look at how Christ
overcame the world. And number three, what that means
to us, to believers. All right, though you know these
things, you know these things. I'm not going to preach anything
new, and you should be glad of it. But this is why you come
here over and over again, to be reminded of these things.
As you go out into the world, And you get in all this trouble
and all this, and you come back in here to be reminded all over
again of the good news. To have your peace once again
established. To comfort you once again. To
cheer you up. You come in here to be cheered
up. I don't want to bawl you out, but I want to cheer you
up. All right, why did Christ come into this world? Go back
to John 8 with me, John chapter 8. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ
come into this world? The fact that he came into this
world, there is no doubt. And the gospel, though, the good
news is why Christ came. Why Christ came is what the gospel
is all about. John 8, look at verse 42. We
just look at a few places where he said, He's come into the world,
John 8, 42. He's talking to some Pharisees,
and he said, If God were your father, you would love me, for
I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself,
but he sent me. God sent me. I came from God. He sent me. God sent me. The Son, the Son of God, who
was with the Father from the beginning. He who had no beginning
of days, no father, no mother really, no beginning of days. He was with the father always.
And the father sent him into this world in time for a reason. Look over at John chapter nine,
John chapter nine, verse 39. Have it. Jesus said, for judgment,
I am coming to this world. Why did Christ come into this
world? He says, for judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might
see, and that they which see might be made blind. Now, some of you at one time,
you did not see. You were blind. You were blind
to who God is, to who Christ is. to the truth you are blind. Christ came in this world to
heal the blind, not physical only, but spiritually blind.
God sent him that those that see not might see. See what? The glory of God in a person. And that those that see or think
they see and fancy that they see and know and all of that,
he said, you want to blind them. Go to John chapter 10 with John
10 verses 10 and 11. John 10 and 11, 10 and 11. He said, the thief cometh not
but for to steal, to kill and destroy. I am come that they
might have life. He's talking about the sheep.
And he says, I am the good shepherd and I am come, come into this
world that my sheep might have life. and that they might have
it more abundantly. I'm the good shepherd, he said.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Christ came. Why did he come?
He came sent by God to live a life for a reason, to die a death
for a reason, for the sheep. Do all this for the sheep and
to give them life from the dead. Over in John 12, look at John
chapter 12. A very simple message, same truths you've heard for
years. Verse 46, John 12, verse 46,
Christ said, I am come a light into the world. And whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Scripture says light
came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light.
But since God loved the people, And I want to get ahead of myself
here. But since God loved the people he sent Christ to those
blind ones those in who sat in darkness and they've seen a great. And they don't have to dwell
in darkness ever again there's some people are going to be cast
in the scripture said outer darkness forever. But not those in Christ. not abide in darkness, but rather
in light. I'm come a light into the world. John 13 and we're leading up
to. What he said, all right, John
13, verse three, look at this. Jesus, knowing that the father
had given all things into his hand and that he was come from
God and went to God, he rose up from suffering. That's when
he washed their feet knowing that everything was in his hands
he came into this world. Why did Christ come into this
world because God Almighty put everything in his hands. God Almighty gave all things
into Jesus Christ's hands. Made him absolute Lord and authority
over all things. All right, now go to John 17
and it says in Christ that he knew he knew. That all things
were given him, and that's why I came into this work. John 17. And right after he said to them.
What he said. He began praying to the father
and John 17. Here's what the Lord said to
the father in verse two, he says, as thou has given him. Well,
let's read verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given
him power or authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. We just read where
He knew that the father had given all things into his hand and
he says it out loud to the father here that the father has given
him all authority and power over all flesh. To give eternal life
to give salvation to as many as God had given him. That God
had elect people chosen in Christ for Christ to say before the
foundation of the world. And the Father gave them to Christ,
and Christ had every name written on his heart and engraved on
his hands. Why did Christ come into this
world? He came for them. That's why he came. He came to
live for them. He came to die for them. He came
to save them. He came to be their law keeper. They've broken it to be their
righteousness. They didn't have it. He came
to be their substitute, right? Here's the gospel in a word.
Substitution. Christ came to be a substitute. A sin offering. The whole Old
Testament talks about the need for a sin offering. And the Lord
Jesus Christ came to be a sin offering. He came into this world
to save the people that God chose in the world. Christ came to
save them from the world, lest the world would overcome them.
He came to take them out of the world someday. And before that,
he came to take the world out of them. Did you get all that? Christ came into the world to
save and elect people that were in the world. He came to save
them from the world. which would. They would perish
with had he not come. And he came to take them out
of the world. Some day. And he came to take
the world out of them. So why did Christ come? That's
why it came for his people. Number two, how does how Christ
overcame the world? Let's look at that. How did Christ
overcome the world? As I said, he came as a substitute. He came as a representative of
his people. You know that all human beings
are found under two persons. God Almighty deals with all human
beings under two persons. And both of them are named Adam.
Do you know that? Yes, you do. You've heard it
many times. In Adam, Scripture said, that's the first man that
was made on this earth. We all came from Adam's loins. We're the seed of Adam. In Adam,
all die. We're born sinners. We're born
dead in trespasses and sin. We got our nature from Adam. But the scriptures talks about
a second Adam. That is a second man. And he's not of the earth. He's the Lord of glory. He's
heavenly. And he came down. Sinless man. The God man. His name is the
Lord Jesus Christ. The second man. In Christ, all
are alive. Made alive. So a person's either
in Adam, dead or in Christ alive. And God deals, is going to deal
with all human beings one way or another. And all his people,
all his chosen people, God put them in Christ, gave them to
Christ to save. And he came as a substitute,
as representative. You see, when Adam When Adam
fell in the garden, I fell. You fell. We all fell. Mankind
fell. Had Adam not sinned, we might
be without sin at this time. But subject and liable to it. Right? OK. But Adam fell. And so we fell. We came from
his loin. We inherited that sinful nature. When Christ came, he
represented a people, too. He represented all of God's elect. And if he falls, we fall. If
he stands, we stand. Do you understand what substitution
is? It's somebody taking your place.
Somebody taking your place. Somebody else doing something
for you. You remember the story of David. We just looked at David.
David, who stood before Goliath on behalf of all Israel, didn't
he? David, whom Christ is called the son of. David went out before
all of Israel. Israel was being challenged and
threatened by Goliath, who's a picture of Satan himself. And
the Philistines, the ungodly, heathen Philistines are a picture
of the world. And nobody could take on Goliath. Nobody was a match for him. But
along came this shepherd named David, God's chosen king. What a picture
that is. And David went out before all
the people. Everybody else is cowed down
and afraid and can't face this giant. And David went out before
all the people and stood between the people of Israel and that
giant and the foolish thing and gave that clarion cry city is
there not a cause what was the cause. Life or death it's life
or death isn't it it's a life or death cause you see if David
wins. Israel wins. I'm talking about
substitution right now if David wins Israel wins. Right? Isn't that the purpose? If David falls, Israel falls. If David overcomes this giant
and cuts off his head, Israel will not be overcome. So Christ came as a substitute,
a representative, and he faced Satan. This is no fairy tale. This is no made up story, cunningly
devised fable, Peter said. This is real. The forces of evil
are real. Satan is very real. And our Lord Jesus Christ faced
Satan as a man. He was tempted, Scripture says,
in all points, like as we are. And if he hadn't overcome all
those temptations, And we're going to. He's doing this for
me and you, Nancy. Christ was being tempted for
our sake. We failed miserably. But if Christ
fails, we're without hope. So he was tempted by Satan for
40 days. Forty nine. After 40 days and
49. What was the outcome, Nancy? He faced him down, didn't he?
He was not overcome by it. But he overcame Satan on my behalf. I'm no match for him, but a greater
than he. My substitute, my representative. And faced him down. Overcame
all those temptations. He faced all the accusers. You
see, I have many accusers. People who lay many things to
my charge. Some true, some not. But many
things are laid to my charge. Christ stood for all those accusers
on my behalf. And said who lays anything to
my charge? Who finds any fault in me? And they couldn't. They tried
to drum up things and couldn't. None of them could agree because
in him is no sin, no fault. They could find no fault in him. Faultless. Unblameable. Unreprovable. And the Lord Jesus Christ faced
sin itself. On Calvary's tree, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Scripture says, was made sin. The Lord Jesus Christ had all
the iniquity of God's people laid on Him. All the sins of all of God's
people, past, present, and future, were laid on His shoulders. He
was made sin for his people. And God Almighty poured out his
wrath on his son. And he endured hell. He faced
hell. Hell is separation from God.
That's the best definition of hell. It's separation from God. It's a place where God is not.
God who is mercy, goodness, love, grace, truth, light. Take all that away and you have
no mercy, nothing but hate, darkness, falsehood, lies, hell where God
is not. And the Lord Jesus Christ faced
hell, endured separation from God. But Scripture says he did
not perish. He was not overcome by that either.
But he overcame that. He faced death and overcame it. Came out of the grave three days
later. Because you and I have to face it. Faced death. Came out of that grave three
days later. He said, see, I've overcome that too. You have nothing
to fear. So what does all this mean to
us? When Christ said, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. As I said in the beginning, he
was sent by God to do this for God's people. He didn't come
to show us how. Although he did, he did. He is
an example. But that's not principally why
he came. The Lord came to do it for us. And we would be overcome had
he not done it for us. He said, be of good cheer. What
does this mean to us? Everything. It means it's our
salvation, brother-in-law. It's our eternal life. You see,
Scripture says all the promises of God are in him, in Christ. All the promises God made were
to Christ before the world began if you do this if you do that
if you do this if you represent if you if you if you if you if
you. I will. If you will do this for
them. I will accept him. If you will
represent them. I will receive them. If you will
make them holy I will have them, if you will. And Christ said,
I will. And he came to do that, all the promises of God are in
him, and scripture says they're yea and amen. And this is what's different
from what the world preaches. What the world is saying is these
so-called promises in Christ are maybe, if, but, perhaps,
yea, nay, maybe, who knows? But no, Christ said, be of good
cheer. I have overcome. Everyone whom Christ died for
and everyone whom the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates will be
eternally saved. You have God's Word on it. See, that's what the gospel is.
The gospel is that Christ overcame the world. And you won't be overcome
by the world. Look, in closing, it's 2 John,
2 John 4. This is closing. You had to know
I was going to go there, didn't you? Those of you who know this
past, not 2 John, 1 John. 1 John 4. You had to know that
I would end with this, surely. You had to know that. 1 John
4, you have it? It says in verse 4, now he's
talking about these, do you remember where he said, he that believeth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh? See that? Every spirit or preacher that
confesses Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. That's
what I was just preaching to you, come in the flesh. What
it means. Why did Christ come? That's what that means. He came.
Why did he come? how he overcame the world. That's
what that means. Now, he says in verse four, You
are of God, little children, and have overcome them. That
is, these false prophets that deny all that. Brother Mack,
all these so-called preachers today deny everything I just
prayed. Everything that Christ said,
they deny. They deny that God chose people. They deny that
Christ, that there was an actual covenant with those people, a
Lamb's Book. They deny that Christ is their
all, that Christ is the substitute and that Adam in Adam all. They
deny all that. They do. They deny all that. But you've
overcome Him, Mac. You've overcome Him. Why? Because greater is He that is
in you, verse 4. than he that is in the world.
You see, it's not just a head thing. Most people in here probably
assented or agreed to everything. It was just said. It's logical.
It's from the Scripture. But what the Holy Spirit, what
we read there in John 16, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells the people of God,
regenerates, gives new life. Born of God. A new creature that
was never there before. A new creature. Alive. From death
to life. Come forth from death to life.
From darkness to light. From hating God to loving God.
A new creature. A brand new person. And the Spirit of God is the
fruit of the Spirit in them. And do you believe Christ? Do
you trust Christ? Is Christ your only hope? Do
you love what you just heard? Truth? Does it give you good
cheer? Do you believe that Christ did
all this for you? Do you believe that? Do you love
that? You need to hear it. Feed on it. Do you love the brethren? Do you love the truth? Do you love God's word? Do you
like to do his commandments? These are all things that Christ
said, and more things he said. It's not grievous, are they?
Words of life. Do you long to be like Christ
or be conformed to his image? Well, then there must be a new
creature in you that cannot die. Cannot die. He said, Be of good
cheer. 1 John 5, and here it is, verse
4 and 5. Whatsoever is born of God, whatever
God created, This is that seed in chapter 3 that cannot sin. Christ in you. The hope will
blow up. Whatsoever is born of God, this
new creature, overcomeeth the world. Overcometh the world. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world? He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. See, this faith is proof of life. That's what it is. Proof of life. Faith doesn't give life, it's
proof of life. Whoever is born of God, God gives his faith. Born of the Spirit, washed in
his blood, born of the Word, incorruptible seed. And they
look to Christ and Christ alone who has overcome the world for
them. Be a good cheer. Why did Christ come? He had a
reason. What did He do? Did He overcome
the world? Did He really? What's that mean
to us? It's everything. It's all our
hope. If you're in Christ. That's good
news. OK, stand with me. Our Lord God, thank you for sending
your Son here for this Godless world and this wicked
place that you spared for the elect's sake. Thank you, Lord,
for sending Christ down here, the sent one. We believe and
are sure that he is the Christ, our hope, our salvation. Lord, thank you for sending him.
Thank you for putting us in Him. Thank You, Lord, for receiving
Him up to glory. And now, thank You for hearing
us through Him and on His behalf, for His namesake. Lord, thank
You. We thank You for revealing Him to us, in us. And, Lord,
we ask that You would continue to conform us to His image, Lord. We pray, we ask, we wish, we
hope that You would remove this old man far from us, mortify
our members, and make us like the Lord Jesus Christ. For Thy
glory, and all that we've done and said here tonight, we hope
is for Thy glory. In Christ's name, amen. Thank you.