Your Sorrow will turn into Joy (John 16:16-24)

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Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Psalm 41:1-13)

Our Call to Worship this morning is Psalm 41, which is a psalm that speaks of the necessity of helping those who need help—to show compassion when someone is in need. It contrasts the willingness to help with the ability to hurt and David ends the psalm with a benediction to the LORD. Please stand and read with me responsively Psalm 41:1-13. I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 41:title–13 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; 2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. 3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. 4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” 5 My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” 6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. 7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. 8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” 9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! 11 By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. 12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. 13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

Congregational Singing

Mercies Anew

He Lives

Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near

Scripture Reading (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Our Scripture Reading this morning is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and I’ve asked Natalie to read it for us. As she prepares to come forward, let me just give a brief statement concerning the passage. It was written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica and it concerns what he calls the coming Day of the Lord. This speaks of the return of Jesus and he speaks of it as sudden and quick and he gives us some encourage and exhortation in light of Jesus’ return. Natalie, please read for us 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 ESV

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Sermon

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you, please turn it to John 16:16-24.

As you turn there, let me just remind us of what all we’ve been working on in the Gospel according to John. As you know, we’ve been working through John verse-by-verse and line-by-lined for almost a year-and-a-half. We started the book back in October 2020 before we even established the church as a church. Of course, we did take multiple breaks from the series—we’ve done two Christmas series, an Easter series, and then we had multiple summer series just to give us a break from John, but for the most part, we’ve been in John working through it expositionally.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working through a conversation that Jesus has with his disciples from John 13 continuing all the way into next week’s passage and in this conversation, we’ve seen Jesus repeatedly remind the disciples that he’s about to leave them, which is sort of the foundation for all that he’s saying—he says that he’s leaving them, but they don’t need to fear because he’s going to prepare a place for them; he’s leaving and people are going to persecute them and hurt them, but that’s alright, because he’s sending the Holy Spirit to care for them. He’s leaving them and people will hate them, but the Holy Spirit will indwell them and help them to proclaim the Gospel to all people.

Last week’s message focused a little more on what the Holy Spirit does in that the Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. That the Spirit will teach them and glorify Jesus. This passage may seem a little shorter and honestly, if we had the time, we should connect it to vss. 25-33 because the two passages connect, but I’ve chosen to divide the two sections for the sake of time. In this morning’s passage, Jesus returns to the fact that he’s about to leave them, but he encourages them with an illustration and then he informs them that their relationship with him is about to change.

Let’s read John 16:16-24 together:

John 16:16–24 ESV

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts, (1) vss. 16-19 is the Disciples’ Confusion Concerning Jesus’ Statement, we’ll read Jesus’ statement in vs. 16 and we’ll see the confusion throughout vss. 17-19. (2) vss. 20-24 is then Jesus’ Response to their Confusion, in which he utilizes an illustration of a woman in labor to show how at the moment, they’re going to experience sorrow, but after a point, they will rejoice. What Jesus says in vss. 16-24 is primarily about his coming death, burial, and resurrection, but we can apply the truths that we learn from this passage to our present situation as we wait for the return of Jesus. Hopefully, by the time we conclude this morning’s message, you will see better the joy that we can have in Jesus’ eventual return—that despite what life may be like today, his return will cause rejoicing and joy that no one can take from us.

Prayer for Illumination

The Disciples’ Confusion Concerning Jesus’ Statement (16-19)

This text continues the conversation that we’ve been working through between Jesus and the disciples just prior to Jesus’ arrest. This conversation actually ends at the end of this chapter, which means we only have this week and next week in this conversation before we take an in-depth look at Jesus’ prayer before his arrest. Jesus is again, going back to the idea that he is about to leave them. And he starts this section by saying “a little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

Now, there is something of note this time around that he hasn’t really emphasized yet and he’s going to emphasize it this time around.

He’s definitely made the statement that they will see him again, but in every instance prior to this point, it was almost like a passing statement. He says it to them and then he moves on in the conversation:

All the way back in John 13:33, he says, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me . . . where I am going you cannot come.” When Peter asks him where he is going all he says is “where I am going you cannot follow me now.”

In John 14, he uses the fact that he’s about to leave them provide them comfort, “let not your hearts be troubled . . . I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

In the same chapter, he uses the fact that he’s leaving them to introduce them to the idea of the Holy Spirit—that he is leaving them, but the Holy Spirit is coming to them,

The fact that he’s leaving drives all that he says in John 15 all the way into John 16, which was last week’s passage—again, that he’s leaving them, but the Holy Spirit will come and work within them.

The overarching idea driving all that he’s been saying is the fact that he’s leaving them, but again, he sort of mentions that he’s leaving and then he focuses on other aspects or details. This is the first time in this conversation where the whole passage is dedicated to the idea of him leaving them.

Jesus says, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” There’s three notable ideas presented in this one verse:

First off, the phrase “a little while,” which is used twice, tells us that this is happening soon. It is imminent in nature. They won’t have to wait long for Jesus to leave, which is clear because Jesus’ betrayal and arrest is in chapter 18 and his crucifixion is in chapter 19. Now of course, as we work through the text verse-by-verse, it takes us some time to get to through each chapter, so it’ll be a few months before we get to those parts of Scripture, but remember, the chronology of the events in John 13-20 are within two weeks of time. It’s going to be rapid for the disciples.

Secondly, the phrase “you will see me no longer,” implies that Jesus is again, going where they cannot go yet. They all do eventually die, the author of Hebrews says that it is appointed to man once to die or in other words, all men die, but it isn’t time for them to die yet. Jesus is going where they cannot go.

Third, the sentence, “again a little while, and you will see me” tells us of something that Jesus hasn’t really spoken of until now. Jesus has told them multiple times that he would see them again, but up until that point, each time that he made that statement, he was speaking in an eternal sense. That he was preparing a place for them in his Father’s house, but this time around, the indication is that they would see him much sooner than just in eternity—it is a hint or foreshadowing of the resurrection.

In a little while, they won’t see him because he’ll be crucified, but a little while after that, they’ll see him again because of his resurrection.

And of course, the disciples are confused by this statement. And really, what they’re confused about is that phrase, “a little while.” Vss. 17-18 show us this, “Some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What is this that he says to us, ‘a little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?’ So they were saying, ‘What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.’”

It’s worth noting that in vs. 16, Jesus doesn’t mention that he’s going to the Father, but because this is a continuation of the conversation, the disciples are still reflecting on that statement from 13:1; 14:12, 28. Because Jesus had repeatedly mentioned the concept that he’s going to the Father, they’re still deliberating on what that means.

It’s clear that when Jesus mentioned that he was going to the Father, the disciples didn’t understand what he meant, otherwise, they wouldn’t mention that he said he was going to the Father again.

There’s clear confusion or puzzling because the Bible says that they’re asking themselves about these statements, but it’s interesting to note that they never bother to ask Jesus about it.

The disciples are speaking to one another puzzling over the meaning of Jesus’ words, but they don’t bother to ask Jesus.

Which quite honestly, might be a little telling about people in general because we do the very same thing today.

If we’re puzzled or confused about something, we typically don’t ask the person who spoke, we typically ask the people that we’re sitting next to.

They were confused, but they were reticent to ask Jesus; we really don’t know why they were so hesitant, but we could postulate that it could be because they simply didn’t want to show Jesus how much they didn’t comprehend.

The disciples say to one another “what does he mean? . . . [and] we [don’t] know what [he’s] talking about,” but for whatever reason, they don’t bother posing these questions and concerns to Jesus.

And yet, Jesus knows their thoughts and the Bible tells us in vs. 19, “Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, ‘Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?”

Jesus already knows that they don’t understand what he’s saying and despite the fact that they haven’t asked him, he still has a response for them, but I do want to add a brief side-note or rabbit trail to this.

We sometimes think that God owes us answers to all our questions, but that isn’t the case—God really doesn’t owe us anything.

But when we have the mindset that God owes us answers, we tend to get frustrated and angry when we don’t get the answers that we want from God.

The reality is, that God doesn’t have to answer our questions and the prime example for this is Job.

Job experiences all this great loss and suffering; from our perspective, reading the book several thousand years after-the-fact, we see what causes all of this suffering and loss. That Satan caused Job to suffer.

But if you read the text carefully, you’ll notice that God never tells Job that the reason for his suffering was Satan. In fact, God never bothers to tell Job why he experienced what he experienced.

God didn’t owe Job answers even when Job thought that he deserved answers—as seen in his frustration and crying out to God.

Jesus knows that they’re confused a puzzled, but quite frankly, he doesn’t necessarily need to give them answers; and in fact, if you read this carefully, you’ll notice that he doesn’t quite explain himself—his answer is really an illustration of what their response is going to be to his leaving them and returning.

Which leads us into the second section of the text—so, the first section is Jesus making the statement that soon he will leave them, but soon after that, they’ll see him again. Of course, much like many of the other times that Jesus made statements concerning what is to come, the disciples don’t understand him. And quite frankly, it’s again, because they’re looking at everything from a purely temporal or earthly standpoint, whereas Jesus is looking from a spiritual perspective—Jesus is talking about how he’s leaving them to return to the Father; Jesus is talking about his death, burial, and resurrection, but the disciples are thinking purely from a man-centered perspective so they can’t comprehend what Jesus means. As we move to the last four verses, we see Jesus respond to their confusion, but he never quite gives them an answer to their confusion. He uses an illustration to show them what it’s going to be like for them to not see him and then see him again. Let’s re-read vss. 20-24.

Jesus’ Response to their Confusion (20-24)

John 16:20–24 ESV

20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Vs. 20 starts Jesus’ response to the disciples’ confusion, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

The “truly, truly” or “verily, verily” is a phrase that we’ve seen repeatedly through Jesus’ teaching that emphasizes what he’s about to say.

It’s the same Greek word that we transliterate into our word amen or let it be so. Really, all Jesus uses it for is to grab their attention—they know to pay attention, because of these words; thus, we ought to pay attention to these words as well.

Jesus says that his disciples are going to weep and lament—we all know what weeping is, but the word lament might be a little unfamiliar for you. Think of weeping and sort of take it to the next level. When he leaves them, they will cry, and will mourn, they will grieve—and it makes sense, because they’re about to witness such tremendously devastating events unfold.

They’re going to see Judas betray Jesus, they’re going to watch the Sanhedrin and Rome try Jesus.

They’re going to see Jesus crucified on a Roman cross.

If they didn’t grieve and they didn’t weep and they didn’t lament, we would be shocked.

Because as Jesus says in vs. 20, it is the world that will rejoice in his departure. And that’s precisely what happens as we continue the account, we’ll see the world celebrate at the death of Jesus while his disciples weep and lament.

Jesus says that they “will be sorrowful.”

DA Carson, “This verse can only be referring to the grief of the disciples while Jesus was dead, and while the ‘world’ was rejoicing at having disposed of him so decisively.”

This statement, taken with the “truly, truly” phrase emphasizes the assertiveness of what he says. He is assuring them that there will be sorrow, there will be weeping, and there will be lamenting over his death. And he is assuring the disciples that everyone else will be celebrating what they think is his demise.

They will be sorrowful and the world will rejoice at the crucifixion of Jesus, but the weeping, the lamentation, the sorrow is only temporary. Jesus says that “[their] sorrow will turn to joy.” And he uses an illustration to show what this will be like for them. Vss. 21-22, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

The illustration that Jesus gives is one that every adult is familiar with even if you have yet to have children of your own.

We all know of how most women respond when giving birth—you can see it on television, read about it in books, and hear about it on the radio. Most women respond in similar ways—where the birthing process or labor itself is intensive and disruptive.

We know from Genesis 3 about the pains of childbirth and we know from our modern-day era that many mother’s choose to utilize pain medication through epidurals to alleviate that pain.

When labor starts, there is sorrow and anguish because of the pain, but after labor, the sorrow and anguish pale in comparison to the child that is born—and there is genuine joy that the child is born.

And of course, this is an illustration, so not all women respond in the same way, but Jesus uses this illustration because this is generally how a woman responds when giving birth to a child—there is sorrow and anguish because of the pains of childbirth, but when the child is born, there is genuine joy.

It is notable, that the illustration of a woman giving birth of a child is a regular illustration throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah utilizes this illustration quite frequently to speak of Israel’s then-present situation in contrast to the joy that they will one day experience.

Jesus uses this illustration to show them what their next few days are going to be like. There is going to be pain, there will be anguish and sorrow over what is about to happen.

They are to expect that pain, anguish, and sorrow. And they’re to expect this while the rest of the world is celebrating what they think is the demise of Jesus.

But just like a mother who expected that pain and anguish of child birth, it’s only temporary and afterwards, there will be joy.

Vs. 22, just like that woman who has sorrow temporarily, so will they. Jesus says, “so also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

In the next few days, the disciples will witness horrific events that ends with Jesus’ body being buried in a tomb. If they reacted in any way other than sorrow, we would have some serious concerns about their sanity, but it’s clear that all the remaining disciples will experience that sorrow temporarily.

Because Jesus will see them again, which is, of course, speaking of his resurrection

it’s important to note what will cause the rejoicing and the joy. And let me be abundantly clear, it has nothing to do with the disciples. What causes that rejoicing and joy is because they’ll see Jesus again.

There’s a shift between the disciples and the sorrow that they’re about to face and the joy that they’ll receive when they see Jesus again. Gerald Berchart, “The shift in the focus from the disciples to Jesus is significant. It should remind readers that they do not pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. The gaining of hope is not ultimately a result of our own efforts. Transforming hope comes because of divine action.”

The beauty of this is, that when the disciples do see Jesus again, they definitely express genuine joy and rejoicing:

John 20:19-20 “19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

After Thomas realized that this was indeed the resurrected Jesus explains John 20:28 “My Lord and my God!””

In John 21, Simon Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael all go fishing and when they see Jesus and John realizes that it was Jesus standing on the sure, “Simon Peter heard that it was [Jesus], he put on his outer garment . . . and threw himself into the sea” in order to get back to sure to see him.

There’s genuine joy and rejoicing in the disciples seeing Jesus after his resurrection and that’s precisely what Jesus is talking about in John 16:16-24. They will be sorrowful for a little while, but then they will experience great joy.

In the last two verses of this passage, it seems as if the topic of discussion completely changes, but let me encourage you to not see it as a change in topics. Jesus says in vss. 23-24, “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Again, it sounds as if he’s changing topics, but he isn’t.

He started this section of the passage by reminding them again, that he is about to leave them—this time, he goes a step further and tells them that there will be great sorrow, weeping, and lamenting at his leaving, but that sorrow will only be temporary—because they’ll see him again and there will be joy and rejoicing.

What he says in vs. 23 is that “in that day,” the day that they will see him again, “[they] will ask nothing of [him].” It isn’t a change of topic because he’s simply continuing the conversation.

And in the continuation of the conversation, what he’s essentially saying is that when they see him again, their relationship is going to be different.

Instead of asking him for things and asking him for his teachings, they won’t ask him for anything; instead, they will ask the Father instead of him in Jesus’ name.

Whereas the prior relationship between the disciples and Jesus were that of them asking Jesus for more information and they’re asking him for miracles and things, their future relationship (particularly in terms of prayer) will be build around them speaking to the Father through him.

In this change of relationship, he tells them that “whatever [they] ask of the Father in [his] name, [the Father] will give it to [them].”

Now, I want to be abundantly clear, because much like the previous times that Jesus has made statements like this, this verse is misused and abused by people who claim that you can ask God for whatever you want and he’ll give it to you.

But that’s not what Jesus is saying and that’s not what he intends for them to get out of it and we know it from the phrase ask “in [his] name.”

What does it mean to ask in Jesus’ name? It’s more than just ending your prayers by saying that you pray all these things in Jesus’ name.

To pray in Jesus’ name means to pray in line with his purposes; to consider the glory of God and the will of God and to pray in line with the will of God and glory of God.

This doesn’t mean that anything you pray will occur, this means that anything you pray in line of God’s will and for God’s glory will occur. And Jesus says that whatever they ask of the Father in his name, the Father will give to them.

With Vs. 24 closing out this passage, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

The until now signals that there’s a change in the relationship that’s occuring, whereas they once spoke directly to Jesus and asked Jesus for teaching and blessing, they’re now going to start asking of the Father through Jesus.

The last phrase, “that your joy may be full” essentially states that answered pray will bring them complete joy as they pray for God to work in them and around them.

Or in other words, Jesus tells his disciples again that he’s about to leave them—there will be definite sorrow, mourning, and pain, but that’s temporary because when they see him again, they will be joy-filled and they will rejoice.

And when they see him again, there will be a relationship change in which they will start praying and communing directly with the Father through Jesus.

It’s important to note, because no passage stands in isolation, that the fact that Jesus speaks of the working of the Holy Spirit just before speaking of this sorrow and joy and change in relationship, that the implication is that the Holy Spirit will help them through this transition and change.

Colin Kruse, “To pray in Jesus’ name means to pray for things ‘for his sake’, or in line with his purposes. So in this verse Jesus is saying that after his resurrection, the disciples will begin approaching the Father directly in their prayers, and whatever they ask the Father, which is in line with Jesus’ purposes for humankind and the glory of God, will be given to them.”

Now, you may be listening to this morning’s message and you may be thinking, “if all this is written primarily so that the disciples would understand that Jesus is leaving, that they would experience weeping and lamenting, but then joy when Jesus is resurrected, then how do I apply something like this today?” It seems as if the passage is really all about the disciples and what the disciples are going to face and what the disciples will experience—and all that is true. John 16:16-24 is all about Jesus and the disciples, but there is definite application that we can apply today, but in order to understand it, we have to take the text as a whole.

Application

Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was killed on a cross, buried in a tomb, but then resurrected. After his resurrection, he ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God.

But here’s the thing, the Bible is very clear that Jesus is returning. Dozens of times through Scripture, the Bible explicitly teaches that Jesus is coming back.

Hebrews 9:28 “28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

2 Peter 3:10 “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

Matthew 24:44 “44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

John 14, even in Acts 1:10-11 right after Jesus ascends, the disciples are looking into heaven where Jesus ascended and two angels tell them that “Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go.”

The book of Revelation, the Pauline epistles, Jesus himself taught about his return before he even died—time after time, the Bible explicitly teaches that Jesus will return.

Regardless of your eschatological positions:

Whether you’re postmil, amil, premil; whether you’re pretrib, atrib, posttrib (or if you have no clue what any of that means), you know that Jesus is coming back—his return is a core teaching of Christianity.

Regardless of the fine details of the book of Revelation, the eschaton, and Jesus’ return; churches since before the New Testament was even completed believed in the return of Jesus—so much so that Paul has to tell the Thessalonians that even though they’re correct about Jesus’ return, it doesn’t give them the right to stop working and just wait. They have to go back to work.

In fact, throughout church history as believers wrote creeds to help Christians learn doctrine, it is a reoccurring statement in all creeds:

The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed (both early creeds in church history) both speak of the return of Jesus.

The early church fathers and theologians throughout the early church and the Reformation all agreed that Jesus would return one day.

After the Reformation—the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, the London Confession of Faith are all united on the fact that Jesus is returning.

Even modern-day creeds and confessions of faith are united on Jesus’ return—though there are many disagreements concerning how Jesus is to return.

We live in the time period between Jesus’ first advent and his second advent—between his first coming and his return.

Dispensationalists call this the church age or the Dispensation of Grace

Reformed churches typically refer to this as the time of the New Covenant

Regardless of what you call it, the truth is that we live in-between the life of Jesus on earth and the return to Jesus on earth.

What that means, is this—much like the disciples in John 16:16-24, we find ourselves in a time of waiting. We know that Jesus will return, we know some details as to what that will look like, and we know that this return is to take up his people and judge all of mankind.

In the meantime, we’re just waiting and even though Scripture is clear that his return will be like a thief in the night, it’s been over 2,000 years and we’re still waiting.

And just like the world celebrated and rejoiced in John 16:20, the world does the same today—the world today revels in iniquity and celebrates the perceived lack of evidence for God. They live in licentiousness and do whatever they please because in their mind, life is all about the present—so they poke fun at those that believe in God and they reject truth and just like Romans 1 teaches, “professing to be wise, they show themselves to be fools.”

To the extent that they would make the argument that if God was real, wouldn’t he have come back by now.

But if you believe in Jesus and you believe what Scripture teaches—the Bible is clear that Jesus will return—to think otherwise is hopeless and it rejects clear teaching throughout Scripture.

And what the Bible teaches concerning this church age or Dispensation of Grace or whatever you want to call it is this—that it is only temporary. Life will not always be like this. It isn’t meant to remain like this.

Which means that everything that has been influenced by sin in this world, is only temporary—illness, pain, thorns and thistles, death, starvation, destruction, sorrow, anguish, lamentation—all that is but for a moment.

The world that has rejected God, that pokes fun at belief and rejects the truth will only do so for a moment.

Jesus will one day return and this sin-cursed world will be done away with; and there will be joy and rejoicing for those that believe.

What does that mean for us today? How can we apply this today?

What this means for us today is quite simple—if all the pain, suffering, illness, sorrow, anguish, and lamentation is temporary, we can have joy and we can have hope regardless of the sin-cursed world that we live in.

What this means for us today is quite simple—if the world’s rejection of Jesus, which results in their rejection of us is only temporary, we can have joy and we can have hope regardless of what people in their sin do to us or against us.

What this means for us today is quite simple—we have something far greater to hope for, we have something much greater to rejoice in.

So while this world at this time might be filled with sorrow and anguish and weeping and lamentation, we can have joy.

This also means that even though Jesus is not physically present with us today and people will ridicule us for our belief in him, we can stand firm on what he has said and what he has promised.

The world can keep ridiculing us and the world can keep attacking us because it’s only temporary—Jesus has promised far greater things for us.

The world can reject us and hate us (Jesus said they would), but it doesn’t have to irk us or bother us—Jesus has told us what he plans to do.

Despite tribulation on this earth, we can remain firm on our beliefs.

And lastly, what this means for us today involves the statement in the last few verses, “Whatever you ask of the Father in [Jesus’] name, he will give it to you. . . Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Jesus says this to the disciples because their relationship with him changes to where they can now commune directly with the Father through him.

As modern-day believers, we have the same privilege to go into the throne-room and speak to the Father through Jesus.

The author of Hebrews says since we can do this, we ought to do this with boldness, with a pure heart, and with our hearts sprinkled clean.

Since Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection gives us the opportunity to commune directly with the Father, we ought to do so confidently, just like the disciples in John 16 did.

What John 16:16-24 teaches us is this, that just like the disciples lived in a time where they were going to see Jesus die and they were going to experience weeping and mourning, but that weeping and mourning would turn to joy when they see Jesus again, we live in a time where we know Jesus was resurrected and ascended and we live in a world in which there is weeping and mourning, but our weeping and mourning will turn to joy when we see Jesus face to face.

This world is filled with tribulation according to Jesus and yet, we can have joy and rejoice, we can remain firm on our beliefs, and we can go into the presence of God confidently.

Put simply, what John 16:16-24 teaches us is that our present world is filled with the consequences of sin, but (1) we will have joy when Jesus returns, (2) we can remain firm on our beliefs, and (3) we can enter into God’s presence confidently through Jesus.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

To God be the Glory