In a Little While
Notes
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Intro:
Ask for a volunteer to come up and stand, then have them sit down. Then have them wait.
You even have to wait for something? You think you might know what’s going to happen or at least have a vague idea based upon past experiences. And so you go with what you know. You know it wasn’t much different for the disciples here in John 16, where Jesus is trying to explain these last things to them before He goes to suffer. And so like my friend up here Jesus says in John 16:16
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
And they think they know what He means, but they really don’t and are operating off from the things of the past. But if they would but wait and listen, to be still as Jesus instructs they truly would know. And by the way, you can go have a seat now. It sure is pretty uncomfortable when you have to just sit and wait isn’t it?
Pray
Jesus Reveals
Jesus Reveals
Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?
A. They Didn’t Understand
1. Jesus Knew
a. Its like talking to children
i. They are immature
ii. They know everything is great
b. Something big is coming
i. Never experienced before
ii. Hard to explain
Look at John trying to explain what He sees in the future in the book of revelation. We are marvel at what he is trying to explain. Let me get another volunteer. Explain this to me as if I have never seen one, never used one and never made a phone call before.
2. He understood their struggle
a. Infants trying to walk
b. Trying to do the best they can with what they have
c. God has called us to do the same
i. He knows our weakness and limitations
ii. Uses us in spite of that
‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
3. Who understands now?
a. Holy Spirit
b. Jesus still
B. Like Childbirth
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
1. Pain is temporary
a. Jesus is forever
2. Suffer for a little while
a. Repeated throughout Scripture
b. Things are going to happen
i. We must endure
Reminds me of training, it wasn’t about failing it was about enduring to the end. Sometimes you had to stop and take a breath and continue on, but you never quit.
C. Joy is Eternal
So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
1. Can never be taken away
2. For them they will
a. Die for it
b. Also will live for it
i. in the harshest of conditions
ii. That joy is amazing
c. Focus on the unseen things
i. That is where Joy is found
ii. Remembering
iii. Why Jesus was telling them/why we do what we do
No More Doubt
No More Doubt
In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
A. Ask in My Name
1. As if Jesus were asking
a. Standing in His place
b. Using His name
c. Jesus never asked for frivolity
2. Not about Invoking a name
a. About invoking a purpose
b. They would know what to ask
i. They had walked with Him
ii. They had seen His prayers
c. Joy made full
i. In knowing we can be loved like Christ
No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
B. Now We Know
“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
1. Speaking Figuratively
a. Was trying to prepare them
b. Wanted them to think
When I taught I didn’t teach them everything, I made them think to understand. I made them contemplate what was next. Why do we do the sermon the way we do here, so the Word can get you to think.
2. Yet a time is coming and has come for Jesus to be plain
Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
a. They see the Truth now
b. God is not there to trick them or us
c. He has revealed and made plain to us His intention
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
i. We know the Truth
ii. We can believe the Truth because it is trustworthy
iii. Same as the Disciples
Overcomes the World
Overcomes the World
Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
A. Jesus Questions Them
1. He knows they are sincere
a. Still don’t understand fully
b. There is more hardship to come
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Reminder of Peter when is told to get behind Jesus
c. Peter has a great heart but doesn’t fully understand
2. Doesn’t ask in Jesus name like we just talked about
a. Only has his selfish intentions
b. Seem good but they are in conflict with God
c. Just like David and counting Israel, it isn’t a bad thing, it just isn’t God’s thing
B. He knows they are trying their best
“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
1. Warned
a. Fear will grip them
b. They will not be able to stand as they think they will
c. While they say they get it, they won’t until its all over and Jesus has won
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
i. Sometimes it is our best course
ii. When God says He is doing something He is and doesn’t need our help
2. But encouraged
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
a. Have peace
i. Even in the worst of things
ii. Know the Joy is coming
b. There is going to be trouble
i. Jesus has overcome the world
ii. That’s why it isn’t our home
whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.
(Read Cowboy Version)
c. Don’t worry about the world
i. Its got nothing for us
ii. Follow the path of Christ and you will have peace and joy
Conclusion: