It just blows me away. John chapter 16. The Lord says to His disciples
in verse 20, truly, truly, I say unto you that you shall weep
and lament but the world shall rejoice. And you shall be sorrowful,
but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Now that means more
than you're sorrowful right now, but later on you're going to
be joyful. What our Lord is saying is the
very thing that is causing you sorrow now will bring great joy
to you. The very ground upon which you're
presently sorrowing, that same ground will be the reason for
fullness of joy. Now, I hope the Lord enables
us to enter into this thing. of fullness of joy in the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they were sorrowing over
his death. They were upset. The world rejoiced.
The religious world, the irreligious world. They joined together in
their hatred of Christ and they were glad that he was being put
to death. It was a ground of rejoicing
for them. He said, you'll lament, you'll
be sad, you'll be sorrowful, but that which you're sorrowing
in right now, that's going to be the actual joy of your heart. In verse 16 of John chapter 16,
he says, a little while and you shall not see me. He's talking
about going to the cross. And again, a little while and
you shall see me because I go to the father. And he said previously
in this verse, verse nine, of sin because they believe not
on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see
me no more. Now, when he was talking about
going to the father, he's talking about after he was raised from
the dead, he would go to the father. And in going to the father,
you know who else went to the father? Everybody he represented. I went to the father. I went
to the tree. I went to the Father. As a matter of fact, I'm there
in the very presence of God right now in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm there. Scripture says that. Seated together in the heavenlies
with Him. I'm already in heaven. I believe that. I believe that. I do. It's what
the Scripture teaches. I'm in heaven in the person of
my Redeemer. Now he went to the tree, I went
to the tree in him. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. When he went to heaven, I went
to heaven. I'm seated there even now as
I speak. The real me, that's where I'm
at. That's a mystery, isn't it? My
personal righteousness went to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is my personal righteousness and I'm there with him. Verse
17, then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this
that he saith unto us, a little while and you shall not see me,
and again a little while you shall see me, because I go to
the Father? They said, therefore, what is this that he saith, a
little while? We can't tell what he's saying. We don't know what
he's talking about. Now Jesus knew, verse 19, that
they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, do you inquire
among yourselves of that which I said, a little while and you
shall not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me? He
knew their thoughts. And you know, he knows my thoughts
right now. He knows your thoughts. Everything's passing through
your mind and heart, he sees. Now, the only way that can be
comforting is if you understand the gospel. Because as soon as
I said that, I bet you started thinking some kind of evil thought
that he sees. I know you probably did. Or at least if you're like
me, you did. As soon as I think something
like that, that's what takes place. But in Christ, all he
sees is Christ. And that's the real me in him.
This is the mystery of the gospel. Now Jesus knew that they were
desirous to ask him and he said unto them, Do you inquire among
yourselves of that which I said? A little while and you shall
not see me. And again, a little while and
you shall see me. Barely, barely I say unto you that you shall
weep and lament. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
was their world. They had followed him for three
years. and they were so dependent upon
Him and He was their world. He really was. They loved Him.
And when He tells them He's going to be crucified, He's going to
be gone, they still didn't have a clear understanding of why
He came in the first place. And they thought that this material
physical kingdom that he was going to have was going to be
no more, and their place in it was going to be no more, and
they were upset. They loved the Lord, and they
couldn't see a reason to rejoice in him being nailed to a cross.
He said, you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.
You know, the world hates Jesus Christ. I don't care if you're
talking about the religious world. I don't care if you're talking
about the irreligious world. You know, the Religious world and
irreligious world, they can get together in this one thing. They
may be enemies and all other things, but they get together
in this one thing. They hate Jesus Christ as he's revealed
in the scripture. And they're going to be glad
at his death. Good riddance. We're glad to
get rid of him. We're glad he's gone. They shall
rejoice. You shall be sorrowful, but your
sorrow shall be turned to joy. Now in this life, a believer
does have sorrow. There's sorrow over circumstances,
things that happen that if it was up to us, we'd make it to
where it didn't happen. Sorrow in circumstances, painful,
difficult things. But do you know one of these
days, You're going to see that it was all good. And the thing
you sorrow in, you're going to rejoice in. You're going to see
that it was best. It's exactly what you needed
given from the hand of a good and glorious God. The very thing
you sorrow in in your circumstances, you're going to one day rejoice
in it. There's sorrow over sin. And that very sorrow over sin. will work repentance unto salvation,
not to be repented of. Now what he's chiefly talking
about is the sorrow they would experience in his death, but
his death would soon be the very ground of their joy. And in his death, they will find
fullness of joy. And I was asking myself the question,
what do I find in his death? You think of the pain he experienced,
the suffering he experienced, and yet in his death, I personally
find fullness of joy. I see what he did by his death.
I see how he glorified his father by his death. Oh, there's such
joy in the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is not
meat and drink, but it's righteousness. It's peace. It's joy in the Holy
Ghost. Righteousness. I love the word
righteousness. I love to think about the righteousness
of God. There's only one righteousness. That's the righteousness of God. That's why David said, I've made
mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. That's the righteousness
I'm saved by. The righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the righteousness of God. And what peace that gives me.
If it's not all Him, I have no peace. But if it's all Him, I
have peace. Peace with God. I really believe
that when God looks at me, He's pleased. I'm in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's nothing for Him to not
be pleased about. I'm perfect in Christ. What peace there is
in knowing that His righteousness is my righteousness before God.
And what joy there is in that. Oh, the joy and the peace. of believing, the joy of knowing
that Jesus Christ is my salvation. Now, the death of Christ, that's
what they were sorrowing over. That's going to be the very thing
you rejoice in. The death of Christ is a display
of the righteousness of God. There's a lot of things we could
say about the death of Christ, but we couldn't say anything more accurate
than that. The death of Christ is a display of the very righteousness
of God, the righteousness of His character. He's so righteous that he will
never let any sin go unpunished. Now in your heart, if you're
a believer, you're glad that's the way it is. His moral government,
his righteousness, he'll never let any sin go unpunished. Oh,
I see the righteousness of God. I see a righteousness provided
too. I see that righteousness of God
where He won't let sin go unpunished. Even when sin is found on His
Son, He punishes His Son. But that perfect righteousness
of His Son is given to me and I stand before God righteous. I see a righteousness imputed. that perfect righteousness that
he worked out is imputed, is charged to every believer. You're never going to hear me,
by the grace of God, I'm not going to talk about imputed righteousness.
I only talk about righteousness imputed. I see a righteousness
imparted, that same righteousness, the righteousness of God is given
to every believer in the new birth. That's that new nature,
that holy nature, that righteous nature. We see a righteousness
accepted. righteousness because I go to
my father and you see me no more." And what peace there is in that
perfect peace. God's at peace with me and I'm
at peace with him and then he speaks of joy, righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now because of the death of Christ every believer stands holy. Unblameable. Nothing to blame
me for. Unreprovable in the very sight
of God. That's what the scripture says,
Colossians 1.22. He presents us holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in the very sight of God. And you know what? That gives
me joy. That's what His death did. His
death made me, made every believer holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. And this thing, He says that
you're soaring over now, my death. It's going to be the very ground
of your rejoicing. We rejoice in His death. And that's not just talking about
the physical sufferings of His death. We're talking about what
His death accomplished. You can't rejoice in His death
if you don't also rejoice in His resurrection. And if you
rejoice in His resurrection, you rejoice in His intercession
as your great high priest. We rejoice in Him, His death,
His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, His present reign,
His return. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We rejoice in Him, don't we?
Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. We
rejoice in Him. That very thing that's making
you so sad is going to be the very ground upon which you rejoice. Now, he gives this illustration,
verse 21. He says, A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow,
because her hour is come, But as soon as she's delivered of
the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for the joy
that a man is born into the world." Now, the sorrow of childbirth,
it's one of the many reasons I'm glad I'm a man. I don't think
I could deal with that. I thought about that and I just
don't think I could deal with it. I can't even imagine the
pain. And remember back then when our
Lord was using this example, there were no epidurals, there
were no C-sections, there was no anesthesia. I don't suppose
anything could be much more painful, but when that baby is born, the
pain, the anguish is forgotten because of the joy that comes. Now the sorrow of Christ on the
cross, who knows what sorrow he endured.
There's no way you and I can understand it. Life came from that. He birthed
all the church at that time. Oh, the joy that comes from what
he accomplished on the cross. Listen to this scripture. Ephesians
2, 4, and 5 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he has loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. When Christ was quickened,
I was quickened, and hath raised us up together with Christ, and
seated us together with Him in the heavenlies. I'm there right
now." Now, this is what our Lord did on the cross. He gave birth
to the church, to every one of His people. Now, when did you
live before God? Well, I can answer that in several
ways. I lived before God always in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I lived before God when
Christ was raised from the dead. When he was quickened, I was
quickened. Every believer was quickened. I lived before God
when I heard the gospel, when he gave me a new heart and a
new spirit to believe and to understand. Now, the sorrow we
experience will all be turned into joy. Verse 22, and you now
therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart
shall rejoice. and your joy no man taketh from
you." Now you have sorrow right now at the thought of me leaving
you. I'm sure that scared them to death. They were so dependent
upon him. But notice what our Lord says
in verse 22. This is not the way I would have
said it. He said, and you now therefore have sorrow, but you'll
see me again. That's the way I would have said
that. You'll see me again. But that's not what the Lord
says. He says, but I'll see you again. And that word see means
gaze upon with approval. I'll see you again." Now, it
certainly gives me joy to see Him. But you know what gives
me greater joy? Him seeing me. Him approving of me. Me being in Him. I really believe
I know Him, but here's what I'm counting on. He knows me. Now your heart shall rejoice.
Verse 22, And now therefore you have sorrow, but I'll see you
again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from
you. Now, never forget this. Oh, may
God deliver us from anything less than a faith that's full
of joy. The joy of believing, the joy
of being in Christ. And look what he says in verse
23, And in that day you shall ask me nothing, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name,
he'll give it to you. Hitherto you've asked nothing
in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be
full." Now, in that day, what day is he talking about? In that
day. Well, look back in chapter 14,
verse 19. He's saying pretty much the same
thing. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but
you see me, and because I live, you shall live also at that day."
He's speaking of the same day that he's speaking of in our
text. At that day, you shall know that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you. Now, here's where a believer's
boldness comes from. Here's where a believer could
come into the Lord's presence in prayer and ask for things
and expect to be heard. When I understand something about
you, was with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's talking
about. He says, in that day, you shall know that I am in my
father and you in me and I in you. Now that's the whole gospel
right there. I'm in my father. Y'all love what the Lord said
in John 14, six. He said, he that has seen me
had what? hath seen the Father." He didn't
say you've seen someone who's just like the Father or exactly
like the Father. He says, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. Now, I can't explain that, but
I believe it. Jesus Christ is God. Isaiah 9,
6 says, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government
shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor. Mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. That's who Jesus Christ is. If
you've seen Him, you've seen the Father. All that the Father
is, Jesus Christ is. All that Jesus Christ is, the
Father is. What a glorious Savior. You'll
see that I'm in the Father and you're in me. Now, how can you
illustrate something so glorious. I think it's pretty much impossible,
but the closest illustration we can come up with in this life
is Jamie sitting there. Jamie's shocked. Jamie's got
a child in her. What you eat, that baby eats. Where you go, that baby goes. Where you stay, that baby stays. And all I see of that baby is
you. Nothing else. Now that illustrates
union with Christ. I'm in Him. What He eats, I eat. Where He is, I am. Where He goes, I go. Because I am in Him. And the way I come to the Father,
I come to the Father because He comes to the Father. He said,
no man comes to the father, but by me. You know what that means?
That means when he comes to the father, you know who else comes?
I do. I come by him. Wherever he is,
I am. And that's what he's talking
about when he's talking about us being in him, in the beloved. Isn't that a good place to be?
In the Lord Jesus Christ. That's, I don't want to be anywhere
else. I love what Paul said. Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found where? in Him. That's the only place I ever
want to be found. I don't want God to find me in my preaching
or my praying or my witnessing or my studying or any of that
stuff because it's no good. I simply want to be found in
the Lord Jesus Christ and I know if I'm in Him everything's all
right. I'm in Him and He's in me and
I know sure enough as I'm alive that if I believe the gospel
it's because Him and me causing me to do it. Paul said, I live,
yet not I, but Christ living in me. And the life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. I live in him. He lives in me. There's only
one reason I haven't fallen away. He lives in me. In that song we sing, Christ
liveth in me. Isn't that an incredible thought? Jesus Christ, the eternal Son
of God, the one whom the heavens can't contain, the one who in
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body, He lives
in me. Isn't it a mysterious, glorious
thing to be a believer, a child of God? Now this is what you,
at that time, now when you have some understanding of this, Christ
in me, me in Christ, back in John 16, verse 23, in that day, when you
have this understanding, we understand it, we don't understand all of
it, but what we do understand, we understand, we believe. I
know the only way I come into God's presence is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that day you shall ask me nothing. And
he's not saying you won't pray anymore to me. Here's what he's
saying. Verily, verily, I say unto you
that whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will
give it to you. Now that day, in that day, you
coming into the Father's presence with some understanding of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's another example that
the scripture gives us of union with Christ coming into the Father's
presence in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember Jacob
and Esau? That story of deception. Jacob
deceived his father. His mom got him to do it, but
he deceived his father. He masqueraded as Esau. He put Esau's clothing on. He had the smell of Esau. He
felt like Esau. As a matter of fact, when his
daddy said, who are you? You sound like Jacob. He said,
I'm Esau, thy firstborn. He answered, I am Esau. Now that was deception. There's
no way you can justify it. What he did was wrong. But in
that, we have one of the most beautiful pictures of the gospel.
How do I come into God's presence? I have to smell just like Jesus
Christ. I have to feel just like Jesus
Christ. And when the father says, what's
your name? I say, Christ. I give no other name. I make
no other plea, but the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's the only way we come in. Now we come into his presence
like that. What's your name? Christ. I got no other answer. Nothing else. That's the only
thing I can flee. Nothing else. Now, but coming
like that, does the Father hear what Christ has to say? When
Christ asked the Father for something, does the Father give it to him?
All the time, every time, yes, sir. Now, I come into God's presence
in Christ. No other way. And what do I do? He says in verse 23, in that
day, you shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name, he will give
it to you. Ask what thou wilt, and I'll give it to you. Now,
somebody says, I've asked for things. He hasn't given it to
me. What you've done is you've bargained. You've tried to strike a deal. You ask. The Lord promised. You ask and you'll receive. You
have not. Why? Because you ask not. Ask and you shall receive. Now,
you know as well as I do that that's not talking about a million
dollars or a new house or a new car. That's not what that's talking
about. Although I do believe if you
could ask for something like that solely for the glory of
God, you'd have it. Remember when he said you ask and you
ask and receive not because you ask and miss that you may consume
it on your lust. You ask something or buy something for the glory
of God. I don't care what it is. We'll have it. But he says,
ask, and you shall receive. Now, someone says, I asked and
I didn't receive. Well, you didn't ask then. You
tried to bargain. You tried to strike a deal with
God somehow. You tried to say, if I do this, you do that. No,
the Lord's not going to respond to any of that. But if I ask,
I'm given this promise. I shall receive. Verse 24, hitherto
have you asked nothing in my name, ask and you shall receive
that your joy might be full. Now, Paul said in Philippians
4, 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything. Aren't you
thankful for these scriptures? There's things we're afraid to
pray about. We think, should I pray about
this? Well, sure you should, in everything. in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request
be made known unto God. You see, you're in the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's pleased with you. You come
into His presence and you ask and He says, Oh, I'm glad to
give it to you. He's pleased with His Son. He's pleased with
everybody in His Son. Ask and you shall receive that
your joy might be full. Lord, I'm asking right now for
mercy. I'm asking for grace, divine
favor. I'm asking for righteousness. I'm asking for your Holy Spirit.
How much more shall the Lord give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask Him? I know exactly what David meant when he said,
take not the Holy Spirit from me, cast me not away from your
presence. No, I'm asking for these things. Look in John chapter four for
a moment. Verse four, and he must need
to go through Samaria. You see, one of his elect is
there, and that's why he must need to go through Samaria. There's
no other reason given for him must need to do anything. He
must do his father's will. That's why he must need to go
through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which
is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave
to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus
therefore being wearied. with his journey, sat thus on
the whale." Isn't that amazing? The son of God, wearied in the
flesh with his journey. And it was about the sixth hour,
there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, about noon. There's
been a lot of speculation why she was there. Perhaps she came
there at noon because she knew nobody else would be there. And
she didn't want to have to deal with the things people would
say to her because he saw in reading in this passage of scripture,
this woman had been married five times. I guarantee you, people
said, she's got issues. And I'm sure she did. I'm sure
she did. Well, let's go on reading. There
cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. And Jesus saith unto
her, give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God, And who it is that saith to thee,
give me to drink? If you knew, you know what you'd
do? You'd ask. If you knew, you'd ask. Do you know the gift of God and
who this is, the eternal uncreated Son of God? If you knew, you'd
ask. And what would happen? And he would have given thee
living water. If you knew, you'd ask. And if you ask, he would give. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence
then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob? And she didn't have any idea what she was asking, did
she? Are thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the
well and drank thereof himself and his children, his cattle?
Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again, but whoso drinketh of the water that
I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting
life. You know what? I've drunk of this fountain and
I'm not thirsty. That means I'm not looking for
anything else. I'm satisfied. I am satisfied
to be saved by Jesus Christ. I'm plum satisfied and I'm not
looking for anything else. I'm not satisfied with myself.
You're not either. We're satisfied with Him, aren't
we? Satisfied to be saved by Christ alone. Now, ask and you
shall receive. The act of receiving is not meritorious. It's what one does when the Father
gives. If He gives you something, you
receive it. And if you didn't receive it, He never gave it.
But whatever He gives, you receive. Back to John 16. Hitherto you've asked nothing
in my name. Ask. Now what that said a little bit,
may God enable each person here to come into God's presence just
like Jacob did when he came into the presence of his father, Isaac. What's your name? What'd he say? Esau, the firstborn son. What do I say when I come into
God's presence? What's your name? There's only one name I'm going
to mention. the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask in His name. That's not some kind of abracadabra,
some kind of formula, you know, in Jesus' name, the way religious
people do that. I hate it when I hear them do that. No, this
is not talking about a formula. This is saying I'm coming only
in His name. Not my own name, but His. Ask and you shall receive that
your joy might be full. Now, we're getting ready to take
the Lord's table, and every one of us are preaching a message
in taking the Lord's table. He said, you do show forth the
Lord's death till he come. And when we take the Lord's table, that which, if we had no understanding,
would cause us sorrow. His death, that's what causes
us fullness of joy. This truly is a celebration.
And when I take the Lord's table, I'm remembering just exactly
what His death has actually done for me. It's brought me into
heaven. I'm already there. I'm already
there in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm already there. That's why people say, well,
I'm a sure for heaven as if I'm already there. I go better than
that. I am already there in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm already there. And that's
what we're celebrating in his bloody death on the cross. That's
the very ground of our joy. Let's pray.