From Sorrow To Joy
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“From Sorrow to Joy”
John 16:16-33
I am sure you all know that Easter is upon us. In just a week and a half we will be celebrating the greatest single event that ever happened to and for this world.
Even though Easter is a week away, there are still events that happened in the days leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. As such, I try to spend time every year rereading the events and the stories that led to those final moments.
As I was reading I came John 16:16-33 and decided I wanted to spend a little bit of time on that tonight.
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 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’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 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’? 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. 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. 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.
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
PRAY
The disciples, specifically the 11 He was currently speaking to, had been with Him nearly night and day for 3 ½ years. They were VERY Familiar with each other’s habits, routines, pet peeves, etc.
They had in some ways become dependent on each other.
We would read in Acts 1 that the disciples still had an idea that Jesus was going to be some kind of military leader that would restore the Israel’s freedom from foreign powers.
But from John 12 on, Jesus is telling the disciples that His days with them are numbered. In John 12:31-33 Jesus began showing the people that He would be crucified.
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
But in typical Jesus format He seems to be speaking in riddles. He doesn’t come right out and say, “THEY ARE GOING TO COME AND GET ME, TAKE ME AWAY, BEAT ME, AND NAIL ME TO A CROSS.”
When we finally get to John 16, Jesus at least clarifies part of it…
In the beginning of the Scripture we read Jesus seems to still be talking in riddles. John records this and states that there is some confusion.
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’?
Then He lays it out. The joy that you feel from being in my presence. The joy that you have from walking with me, eating with me, drinking with me, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE GOING TO BE TAKEN AWAY!
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 beauty of that verse is both weeping and lamenting, but even more so that your sorrow will be turned into JOY!
I talk about the emotional conflict, the mental roller coaster that the disciples were on, BUT JESUS WAS LIVING IT!!!
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
BUT Hebrews 12:2
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Somewhere in the torturous, agonizing, unspeakable pain of the Praetorium, even in the shame of the hill called Golgotha, JESUS FOUND JOY.
The miracle of the cross transformed sorrow into joy for Jesus and for his disciples, and it can work the same miracle in us.
It’s a joy that comes from victory that our enemies don’t yet understand.
R. A. Torrey told a memorable testimony concerning the mysterious working of this transformation in his life. One of the great Bible teachers of the past generation, he pastored Moody Church and founded the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. When their twelve-year-old daughter died of diphtheria, Torrey and his wife went through a great time of heartache. The funeral was held on a miserable, rainy day. As they stood around her little grave and watched her body being buried, Mrs. Torrey said, “I’m so glad Elizabeth is with the Lord, and not in that box.” But even knowing that, their hearts were broken. The next day as Torrey was walking down the street, the misery came to him anew. He felt the loneliness and heartbreak that lay ahead. In his misery he cried aloud, “Oh, Elizabeth! Elizabeth!”
And just then this fountain, the Holy Spirit, that I had in my heart, broke forth with such power as I think I had never experienced before, and it was the most joyful moment I had ever known in my life. Oh, how wonderful is the joy of the Holy Ghost! It is an unspeakably glorious thing to have your joy not in things about you, not even in your most dearly loved friends, but to have within you a fountain ever springing up, springing up, springing up, always springing up, springing up under all circumstances into everlasting life.
At that memorable moment Torrey experienced a supernatural touch that transformed his sorrow into joy. I am sure he would say he was not promoted to a state where he no longer missed his daughter, where he no longer mourned. In fact, I am sure he would affirm that the thought of her brought pain as long as he lived. What he would also affirm, however, is that he experienced the transforming power that the cross and resurrection of Christ bring to the believer through the Holy Spirit. If he could speak to us from Heaven today, he would tell us that every tear has been wiped away in fulfillment of the promises of Scripture. Torrey’s testimony is proof that the disciples’ resurrection experience can be enjoyed today.
Jesus uses an illustration of this transformation in the next verse.
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.
He certainly isn’t saying that the pain is eradicated, but the pain is overshadowed by the reward.
Bro. Torrey most likely experienced pain and sorrow for the rest of his life when he thought about the loos of a child, BUT THAT PAIN WAS OVERSHADOWED, IT WAS LESSENED BY THE JOY OF SALVATION AND THE CONFIDENCE THAT HIS DAUGHTER WAS IN HEAVEN AND EVERY TEAR WAS WIPED AWAY, DEATH WAS IS NO MORE, AND JOY REIGNS FOREVER
But, here on earth we will still experience sorrow and mourning.
Jesus said Blessed are the ones that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Anytime I think about my life before Jesus, I MOURN. Sometimes when I am reminded of my sin, my stomach turns. BUT PRAISE GOD, IN THOSE TIMES I AM REMINDED THAT AS FAS AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, IS HOW FAR HE HAS REMOVED MY TRANSGRESSIONS!!!
PRAISE GOD THAT HE DEMONSTRATED HIS LIVE IN THIS THAT WHILE I WAS STILL A SINNER CHRIST DIED FOR ME.
PRAISE GOD THAT I CAN LIVE IN VICTORIOUS JOY BECAUSE I AM SAVED!!!!
In that next verse Jesus said, John 16:22
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.
NO ONE WILL TAKE AWAY YOUR JOY.
Paul said in Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
No matter how much of my past I remember, no matter how many times I think about the painful times, no matter how often I consider all that I have lost due to my own ignorance, I CAN REST IN THE JOY OF MY SALVATION. I CAN TAKE COMFORT IN MY POSITION AS A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH!!!
Now part of that falls on me. I have a responsibility to take those thoughts captive.
Following the next few verses of Philippians 4 I have to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise.
I have to take negative destructive thoughts captive…NO, TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE
Actually, lets read that passage…
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
In the same manner we have an obligation or a responsibility to ASK FOR JOY.
Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE, THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL
“In Jesus’ Name”
By His Authority
According to His Example
According to His will
According to His Plan
According to His Character
When we come to God in Jesus’ name we come with a poverty of spirit knowing that the reason we can EVEN COME TO THE FATHER Is because of Jesus.
This comes to the next point of KNOWING WHO WE ARE ASKING FROM!
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
“Our Father”
“Wants to give us GOOD gifts” Matthew 7:7-11
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Finally, WE HAVE TO BELIEVE GOD WILL GIVE US JOY
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;