Let's turn in our Bibles again
to John chapter 16. Tonight, the Lord willing, we
will look at verses 16 through verse 24. John chapter 16. John 16, 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. 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, and you shall see me. because I go to the Father. They
said, therefore, what is this that he saith? A little while.
We cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were
desirous to ask him and said unto them, do you inquire among
yourselves of that I said, a little while, and you shall not see
me? And again, a little while, and you shall see me? Verily,
verily, I say unto you that he shall that you shall weep and
lament, but the world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but
your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in
travail, has sorrow, because her hour is come, but as soon
as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish
for joy that a man, a child, is born into the world. 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.
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 will give it you. Hitherto have you asked nothing
in my name. and you shall receive that your
joy may be full. Charles Spurgeon one time said
that Bible commentators are like sheep. He said when one goes
astray, they all follow. Well, I mention this to us tonight
because concerning these verses, the Bible commentators, the good
ones that I have and study at least, They are not all on the
same page. They are not all gone in the
same direction. We see that even the eleven disciples,
they did not understand the Lord's meaning, the meaning of our Lord's
words. So it shouldn't surprise us that
men do not always have the same understanding of the word, that
among good men, among men who love Christ, there may be differences
in our understanding of some scripture. When people point
that out to me, sometimes unbelievers, they like to say, well, the Bible's
full of contradictions. Well, first of all, it's not.
It's not. But there's nothing hard to understand
about that which is absolutely essential for a man to know. And that is the way to God. There
may be some things, and especially as we see here, their misunderstanding
had to do over a period of time. A little while. That's a period
of time. A little while. And they couldn't
understand that. And so that's one thing that
Bible commentators and pastors and preachers over the years
have had problems with is with times, certain times. What does it mean? What does
it mean? And so among good men, as I said,
there are differences many times of opinion concerning especially
the Lord's second coming. As we look at this tonight, and
let me go back and finish what I started, that which is absolutely
essential, that we know the way to God, you cannot mistake what
the Word of God says. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto
the Father but by me. It's impossible to misunderstand
those words. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man,
the one mediator between God and men, or yes, God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, he's the only way to the Father. There
is no other way. Well, I'm going to divide my
message tonight under these four headings as we look at these
verses. First, here are two different
ways that men understand verse 16. I want to point this out.
Two different ways that men understand verse 16. Notice in verse 16,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, 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. One group of men
understand our Lord teaching this, a little while, you shall
not see me. In other words, the next day,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the next day from the day he spoke these
words, a little while, he would be crucified, his body would
be laid in the tomb, and you shall not see me. And then, a
little while, and you shall see me." That is, in three days,
the disciples would see him. They would see him risen from
the grave on the third day. And then they would see him over
that period of 40 days a number of times he would appear to the
disciples. So that's the way some people
understand these words of our Lord. A little while, and you
shall not see me. In fact, within 24 hours, you
shall not see me. But then a little while, and
you shall see me. Within three days time, you shall
see me again. And as I said, they saw him on
that day of his resurrection, and then they saw him a number
of times during that 40 days before he ascended back to the
Father. I want you to turn in your Bibles
to 1 Corinthians 15. Keep your places here in John,
but in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul, he gives five appearances of
the Lord. He mentions five different appearances
of the Lord during the 40 days. You remember how Luke begins
Acts, he says that by many infallible proofs he showed himself alive. But Paul mentions these five
appearances of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 4. He
wrote, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas,
that's Peter. That's one. Then of the 12, that
is the group of disciples, the 11 disciples together. After
that, he was seen of above 500 brethren, that's the third appearance
that he mentions here, of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. If you have any questions,
Paul says, about what I have written, there are men still
alive today, of this 500 that you could go and question and
they will testify to the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That same body that was laid
in the tomb, yes, now glorified, but Christ arose from the dead. And then, read on here, after
that he was seen of James. This is another appearance. And
then of the 12, then of the 12. After that, well James, then
of all the apostles, and last of all, he was seen of me also. Now that's important because
to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, To be one of his
apostles, a man had to be able to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ
raised from the dead. And of course, Paul did see Christ. He appeared to him on the road
to Damascus the day when he called him. So, back to our text tonight. That's one way that men understand
these verses here, these words. A little while and you shall
not see me. Just a little while, I'll be
crucified and buried. And then a little while, you
shall see me. In three days, I will rise from
the grave. But then here's a second way
of understanding these words that some adopt. A little while
and you shall not see me. Now, our Lord was only here for
those 40 days. just a little while, and he would
ascend to the Father, and you shall not see me." And with the
exception of Paul, none of us, no man, has ever seen the risen
Christ. But then, a little while, and
you shall see me. And they believe that this refers
to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again, as recorded
in Revelation 1 and verse 7, He cometh with clouds, and every
eye shall see Him. The little wall here is between
Him going to the Father and His second coming. Now, to understand
these years, these millenniums now, to be a little wall, we've
got to understand time. Comparatively speaking, like
when Peter said, But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day. So if we understand time like
that, if we think of time in this sense, the second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, this coming that could be tonight,
will be soon, will be in just a little while. He's been gone
just a little while. So there's two different ways
that men explain and believe these words to mean. But second, I want us to look
here at two different responses. The response of the world and
the response of Christ's people. The world The world responds
to the Lord not being seen. That is His death with rejoicing. Verse 20. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. The world rejoices that Christ
is gone. That Christ is out of sight. You know, in John chapter 11,
in verse 48, the chief priest and the Pharisees, they made
this statement. If we let him alone, this is
what they said concerning Christ. If we let him alone, all men
will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away
our place and nation. Now they rejoiced. They didn't
see it. Now they rejoiced. He's gone. And their place, as far as they
were concerned, is secure. Their place is safe because He's
dead, because we don't see Him anymore. And I would just remind
us tonight that the world hasn't changed. God hasn't changed and
the world hasn't changed. The very last thing that this
world, I'm talking about today, 2018, the last thing that the
world desires is a living, reigning Christ. The world rejoices that
they see Him no more. Now, the world can rejoice in
seeing a babe in a manger. The world can rejoice about that. That's a big time to celebrate. They can rejoice in a babe in
a manger. They can rejoice in a Christ
on the cross, a crucifix. The world can rejoice in this. But Christ on the throng with
the scepter in his hand reigning and ruling over all things, the
world doesn't rejoice in that. And that is his place tonight. Remember he said, all power is
given unto me both in heaven and in earth. Peter on the day
of Pentecost, that's what he charged those Jews with on that
day. You put him on a cross, God put
him on a throne. That's where he is. He's not
poor little Jesus in a manger. And he's not poor Jesus on a
cross. He's the Lord Jesus Christ, God
of very gods, reigning and ruling from the throne in heaven. The
world rejoices that they see him no more. Listen, there's
nothing that could make most wicked, evil people more happy
than if they could be convinced that there is no God. Most people,
the world, they could not be any happier if somehow they could
be convinced in their conscience, because all men know there is
a God. All men know that. They do their
best to suppress that knowledge, the scripture says. To suppress
that knowledge. But nothing could make a lost
man more happy than to be convinced there is no God There is no absolute. There's not evil and good. It's all relevant. Nothing could
make a lost man happier than to be convinced that there is
no God, there are no absolutes, and there is no judgment. If you could convince him, nothing
would make him happier. Why? of the evil in his heart,
the evil nature, he would feel the freedom then to live in sin
to its full. I believe this is one of the
ways that God restrains evil. God restrains evil. And He does. He restrains evil. You say, boy,
this place is bad. This place is awful. Look at
the news. Every morning, two or three people
have been killed. People pull out a gun on the
highway and shoot someone just because they didn't like something
about their driving. Things are bad, my friends. But
let's remember, God is restraining evil. If God took his hand off
of society, we can't even begin to imagine the evil. One of the ways, as I said, I
believe God restrains this evil, and the psalmist said, surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain. One of the ways that God restrains
evil is by the knowledge that there is a God, and there is
a judgment. And so men and women feel constrained
not to act out what is in their heart many times. So that's the world. Our Lord
said the world's going to rejoice because they see me no more.
But you, Christ's people, respond to the Lord not being seen with
sorrow, with sorrow. The disciples of the Lord did
weep and they did lament when the Lord Jesus died upon the
cross. In fact, when the Lord spoke
to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he began that
conversation with these words, what manner of communications
are these that you have one to another as you walk and are sad? They were sad. If we believe the second way
of understanding these words is true, that it refers to that
little while was when Christ ascended back to the Father,
and then in a little while, we will see Him again when He comes
a second time. These words in that application
would apply in this way, when the Lord hides His face. When
he hides his face, then his people are sad. Now I know the scripture
says rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. But
notice it is rejoice in the Lord. But the characteristics of God's
people, of God's children, are given to us in the Beatitudes.
Look over in Matthew chapter five. What the world considers to be
joy is not Christian joy. What the world calls rejoicing
is not Christian rejoicing. You see, a believer, he can be
weeping and be full of joy. That's just so. You say, that's
a paradox. It may be, but it's the truth.
A believer may be weeping. lambing, and at the same time
rejoicing in the Lord. The Beatitudes, our Lord gave
the characteristics here of believers, blessed are the poor in spirit. Notice it's not poor in the material
things, it's poor in spirit. A person has a poor spirit. It's
not that haughty, self-sufficient, self-reliant spirit that the
world would teach people to have. No, no. It's recognizing our
need, being cognizant always of our need of Christ, poor in
spirit. Blessed are they that mourn.
Most people surely wouldn't associate mourning with rejoicing. Blessed
are they, blessed are the meek. Oh, the meek, no, no. You've got to assert yourself. You can't be meek. Our Lord was. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Hunger and thirst, not after
water or after food, but after righteousness, to be like Christ,
to know Him. We saw that this morning in Philippians. Blessed are the merciful. for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. So if we understand this little
while, the time between our Lord's ascension to the Father and His
return, then the world still rejoices that they don't see
Him, and believers are still sad that He is away, that we're
not in His physical presence. That's where we would be That's
where we would be tonight. We would be in heaven with Him. All right, here's the third point
I want to make. Back to our text. And I've already kind of hinted
at this, but Christ's people experience sorrow in this world. Notice in verse 22, our Lord
said, and you now therefore have sorrow. Now, now that was before
the Little While, wasn't it? That was before the Little While
when he said they would be sad and lament. He says even now,
tonight. And the point I'm making is simply
this, that God's people experience sorrow in this world. The Lord
has never, He never, you can search the scriptures, He has
never promised His people a life exempt from sorrows, from trials,
from troubles. He's never promised His children
that. But do look at His promise there
in verse 22. And you now therefore have sorrow,
but I will see you again. I will see you again. For the
child of God, there is more than just a few days in this world. Yes, some of those days are filled
with sorrow. But there's more for the child
of God than just a few days in this world. There is an eternity
in the presence of Christ, seeing Him forever. There is a time
coming. when he shall wipe all tears
out of our eyes. I will see you again. One of
our brothers and sisters in Christ, when they leave us and the Lord
calls them home, what a comfort it is to think of these words.
I'll see you again. I'll see you again. This isn't
the end. This is not the end of the story. Just like our Lord told his disciples,
yes, I'm going to die on the cross, I'm going to ascend unto
the Father, but I'll see you again. I'll see you again. And then fourth, there are two
kinds of asking in verses 23 and 24. And you wouldn't pick up on this
if you didn't read someone that was familiar with the Greek. And so the commentators are helpful
on this. But there are two different words
in these verses that are both translated by the English word
ask. Notice it says, and in that day
you shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give
it you. Two different Greek words are
translated by the same English word, but their meanings are
different. The first word translated ask
is to make inquiry. to make inquiry. It's a word
that was used by the Lord in Matthew 16 in verse 13, when
he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the son
of man, am? He inquired of them, who are
men saying that I am? And the same word he also used
in Matthew 21 in verse 24, when he was speaking to some
Pharisees, he said, I will ask you one thing. He made an inquiry. It's a word like I might say,
explain, explain to me a math problem. I'm asking you to explain
that to me. Now the second word, which is
translated ask, is to beg, to call for. to crave, desire, and
require. I might ask you, would you come
over and help me paint my house? That's a different ask. But here's the reason I point
this out to us. Notice the Lord Jesus Christ
said, in that day, you shall ask me nothing. Now that's the
word that means you shall inquire nothing of me. You shall make
no inquiry in that day. But remember that the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they did make an inquiry of the Lord
there in Acts chapter 1, when they asked Him this question,
Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They inquired. But our Lord said,
in that day, you shall ask me. You shall not make an inquiry. And I'm not saying that we're
understanding this of his second coming, but I do believe it may
be applied. that when he comes again, we're
not going to ask, we're not going to make any inquiries. Everything
will be made known unto us. Everything that is needful for
our happiness, we're going to know. Just like when he said
to Peter, what I do now, thou knowest not, but afterwards thou
shalt know. In that day, you shall not make
an inquiry of me. And we have here, in closing,
a great encouragement to prayer. Whatsoever you shall ask the
Father in my name, he will give it you. I was speaking with a
man just recently. Let me close with this story.
I knew this man's grandfather. He'd passed away years ago. But
he prayed for his son, prayed for his son. The Lord would save
him. And the boy grew up to be a man,
had no interest, no interest in the gospel. And the grandfather
passed away. But now, a number of years later,
God saved him. God saved him. God answered his
prayer. even though he had prayed that
prayer years before. Don't give up praying. If you
have loved ones that you pray for, they have no interest in
the gospel, you don't know. You know he's able, and you know
you have this promise. Ask, and it shall be given unto
thee. Ask in Christ's name. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
these thoughts to all of us here this evening.