Keep your head up

| Breaking Through - Be of Good Cheer! I Have Overcome the World Be of Good Cheer! I Have Overcome the World ______________  Listen to this letter a young soldier in Iraq wrote to his pastor and home church.Dear Pastor Rob,This is the desert, but it still gets very cold at night. It drops about 20 to 30 degrees from day to night. Food here isn’t bad, at least when we get some. Because of the improvised explosive devices (I.E.D.s), our vehicles don’t always make it back with food and water supplies. Don’t worry. We always get a minimum one meal a day here and we have a very large stockpile of water in one of our bunkers. Speaking of IED’s we got hit by one today. This may not sound funny but what happened afterward was. My fellow brothers-in-arms (referring to a couple of members of the Iraqi National Guard), Iekar (pronounced eye-car) and Kohail were walking out to inspect a civilian car when it exploded. They were about 15 meters away, and both got hit with shrapnel, Iekar in the face and Kohail in the knees. Both injuries were superficial and nowhere near serious. But they both were blown back about 100 feet or so. The hilarious part is when they got up, they both looked each other up and down for other injuries. They stopped and started yelling and laughing. Iekar came back screaming, “Yee-Haw! I’m still alive! Praise God Almighty, I’m alive!” He had the biggest smile in the world on his face. This reminds me of Winston Churchill’s famous quote: “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.” Loren continued his letter to say this:When he got back, he asked me to help him do something. I said sure, and he asked if I would pray to God for thanksgiving with him. God works in profound ways. I was not hit by the way. I’m more of the sniper target type. I have all the antennas and radios on me. Snipers seem to like us most. The sniper threat here is higher than anywhere else in Iraq, as well as the IED threat.Then he went on to tell his Pastor:I am so glad your church came into my life. Jesus has been the BEST companion over here. He listens to my every prayer and answers me every morning with renewed strength and a clear mind. I don’t know if I can ever think you for helping me with my decision to accept Christ. Thank you so very much.Well, the Bible teaches that all of us are in the combat zone of life, and we’re faced with Satanic IEDs and demonic snipers every day. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” Even in a war zone, we can have a peace that passes all understanding. We can find One who listens to our prayers every day and answers every morning with renewed strength and a clear mind. And that’s the subject of our message today.We’re in a series of messages entitled “Breaking Through: Columns in the Clouds,” on the five “Be of Good Cheer” statements of Christ. We’re already looked at three of these:Ø Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven.Ø Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you whole.Ø Be of good cheer. It is I; do not be afraid.Now this morning we’re going to look at the fourth time Jesus spoke those words by joining Him and His disciples in the Upper Room on the eve of His crucifixion and death. John 13-17 contain what we call the Upper Room Discourse, the words Christ spoke to His disciples shortly before He was arrested and dragged away to be condemned. I’m only going to deal with one verse today—John 16:33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.In this one verse, the Lord Jesus gives us His several principles for inner peace.*

I. In Me You May Have Peace “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.” The word “may” is used in the sense of “can” or “will.” Jesus said: In Me you will have peace on the inside. That’s because our peace comes from being in Him.This has got be one of the most powerful phrases in the Bible—in Me. In Him (I’m at peace, because I’m in peace). In Christ. It was the very heartbeat of Paul’s message. He used that phrase about 160 times. What does it mean to be in Christ? In simply means that we are in Him, like the air in us & us in the air.  ILL).What if took a bottle filled it with beach water, put a top on it and threw the bottle in the ocean… The water would be in the bottle, and the bottle would be in the water.When we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord, He comes & takes up residence in us by the Holy Ghost, The bible says, its like living water…and:·       From the minute we’re saved, He gives us a set of promises that meets every need in our lives both for time and for eternity.·       The minute we’re saved, all our sins are forgiven.·       We have eternal life. ·       We have an abundant life. We know we’re on our way to heaven. From the, minute we’re saved, we know that all things work together for good to those who love him. From that moment, we know He has a purpose for us.Jesus did not say, “These things I have spoken to you, that in your circumstances you might have peace.” He did not say, “These things I have spoken to you that in your familiar surroundings, with your loved ones and close friends you might have peace.” He said: “In Me!”Yea, I’m at peace because I’m in peace…Our Lord says, in Me you have peace. II. These Things I Have Spoken…But here’s the second thing. Our sense of inner peace grows from being in His Word... (If you don’t have the kind of peace you’re looking for, it doesn’t have to mean that you’re not in Him. It may mean you’re not in His Word).  Look at the text: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.”What did Jesus mean by “These things I have spoken to you”? There are three dimensions to that. In the very broadest sense, we can claim the entirety of the Word of God. Every verse of every chapter of every book. The entire Bible was given for our peace and well-being. In another sense, Jesus was perhaps thinking of all the teachings He had given to His disciples since He called them from their nets by the shore of Galilee. When He spoke here in John 16, His hour had come. He was wrapping up His earthly ministry. Within a few hours, He would be captured, convicted, condemned, and crucified. No doubt His thoughts were stretching back over the three years of His ministry and recalling all the things He had said, the truths He had spoken, and the sermons he preached.But from the context the most immediate and accurate interpretation is to say that “These Things” referred specifically to the Upper Room Discourse of which our text is apart in chapters 13-17. First, Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of palpable tension trauma and fear. The sense of fear filled that room like a malevolent fog and flickered like ominous shadows against the wall. The devil himself entered the room and took possession of Judas. The drama of all the ages was about to be unleashed like a nuclear bomb in that very room. It was the final moments of the Messiah’s ministry, when He washed the disciples’ feet, instituted His Last Supper, dipped his bread in the last bowl with Judas, and loved His disciples to the very end.

Second, even though Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of palpable tension, His message was peace and tranquility. There was a contrast between the situation He saw and the syllables He said. Sometimes we miss it because of the chapter divisions, but let me show you. Look at the end of chapter 13, starting with verse 36:

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”Jesus answered him, “really? I’ll tell you what:  the rooster won’t crow till you have denied me three times.”Imagine the pause, the tense silence, and then Jesus said, “Well, don’t worry about it.”Let not your heart be troubled. Wait a minute! Here we are, tucked away in an Upper Room, hidden like spies behind enemy lines, meeting behind locked doors. The whole city on the verge of explosion. You’re speaking in ominous, enigmatic tones and saying things we don’t want to hear. We’ve a traitor sitting among us, and You’ve just told us that we’re going to fall apart at the seams and Peter is going to deny You before daybreak. The shadow of your impending arrest and merciless torture hangs over us, and everything we believe in is about to be drained from our lives like the blood will be drained from Your body while you hang like a carcass on yonder's cross. And you say: Don’t let your hearts be troubled!But in the rest of His Upper Room message, Jesus is going to tell them one reason after another why, even at that black moment of despair, they should still be hopeful.*

II. He said,* “you can trust me”. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me (14:1). we still have a tomorrow in spite of everything we lose: In My Father’s house… many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (v2).Not only do we have a tomorrow, we’ve got a today. We’ve got work to do Verse 12 says: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. We can get on with life and everything it sends our way because we’ve got His Word that He hears us when we talk to him. Verse 13: And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.He gives us—the Holy Ghost. Verse 16.  

III In the World You Will Have TribulationBut we aren’t finished with our key text—John 16:33, because the verse goes on to warn us—that the peace He gives is going to be under constant assault by this world.. It going to be challenged by this world. In the very next sentence, Jesus warned: In the world you will have tribulation. You will have problems in the world. You will have opposition. You will have difficult circumstances. You will have persecution. You will have Satanic attacks. You will have misunderstandings and hurts and heartaches and things that will challenge your faith.

Ill) The other day I was reading about a young man in Hong Kong who wrote to a pastor in America: Just want to say hello to you. I have been a Christian for many years, and have completely read the whole Bible around five times. But the trials in my life always bother me, and there are times I even doubt God. I know God is sovereign, but I can’t understand why He allows some painful things to happen to me. Sometimes the trials make me bitter, and I don’t see how these help me in my spiritual growth. In fact, these trials weaken my faith and take up a lot of time so that I do not have much time for my church activities. I have a problem understanding why God allows some things to happen. Thank you for your time. Regards, Johnno.I know just how he feels, and you do too.  we’ve all been there. But Jesus predicted it. In this world we will have troubles, tribulation, Pressure, Stress. But that’s not the last thing He said in this Upper Room Discourse before beginning His great prayer to His Father in chapter 17, His last official sentence of teaching to His disciples, the concluding sentence of His three years of ministry, the last syllables of the last sermon that He preached prior to Calvary, His last word to us is:BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.But Be of Good Cheer. I Have Overcome…Now when Jesus said that, The law was looking for Him, moments from capture, hours from scourging, and just one evening away from dying on the cross. Yet He said, “I have overcome the world.” What did He mean? I think He meant this:I have come into the world and lived here for thirty-three years without sinning, so that I could serve as an innocent, sacrificial victim whose blood can atone for the sins of all the world.I am not going to be killed; I am going to lay my life down willingly.And if I lay my life down willingly, I will take it up again. And the grave cannot hold Me. And death cannot keep Me. And I’m going to burst from that tomb like a fist through a paper bag. And I am going to penetrate the skies, resume My throne in glory, build My church on earth, come again in My own good timing, banish the devil, set up My kingdom, judge this planet, usher in eternity, and give My people the eternal life they have always wanted and needed. I have overcome the world.And if Jesus Christ can overcome the world, He can come over your life and overcome your anxieties and make all things work together for good in your experiences.And so He says in His last ex cathedra utterance: Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. As the old hymn says:Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.(Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr., 1875) |   |