ANXIETY OVER WORLD EVENTS

Introduction

-I want to talk tonight about handling anxiety over world events—what it is we feel about current events and what they mean for the future.

-Anxiety is a very real thing for people, and we cannot just dismiss it. It is an experience that is not easily shaken, although quite often we are anxious over things over which we have no control or unable to change

-One study broke down what it is that people focused on that caused their anxiety:

40% --focused on things that will never happen

30% -- focused on things about the past that can't be changed

12% -- focused on criticism by others that were mostly untrue

10% -- focused on health, which actually gets worse with stress

8% -- focused on real problems that will certainly be faced

-And in our time, there are more than enough things to focus on that might cause anxiety. There are viruses that can cause real sickness. There are riots going on in major cities. The politics in the nation is as toxic as it has ever been with uncertainty what will happen before and after the election.

-Yet, any anxiety over worldly events can give way to eternal, supernatural truths where our trust is not in our power to endure such things; but a trust in the one who has overcome such things.

-In the passage that we are looking at, Jesus has been giving a final discourse to His followers before His death and resurrection. In this discourse Jesus has told them that He is leaving them and (right before this passage) that they can expect persecution.

~But now He instructs them on how He would provide help for their anxiety over the events that were to come.

-And what we find for our time is that even when current world events could cause us anxiety, it need not be that way if we trust in Christ and partake of the provisions that He has given us.

-Jesus speaks of 3 blessings He provides to dispel anxiety over current world events:

1) The Holy Spirit that convicts and comforts (vv4b-15)

John 16:4–15 (ESV)

4 “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;

11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

-Again, Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Helper / Comforter / Paraclete, the One who comes alongside God’s people to uplift and guide during troubling times.

-Jesus confirms that He is leaving and going back to God the Father who sent Him. But Jesus says that it is actually better for Him to go away, because if He doesn’t go away our Help in times of anxiety and trouble will not come.

-It’s hard to imagine any time that Jesus going away is a good thing. We run to Jesus. We trust Jesus. We need Jesus. Yet, for this particular time and purpose, Jesus had to go so that a new time would come.

-You see, the physical, human Jesus was only in one place at one time only able to help those who were immediately around Him. But Jesus says that if He leaves, He is going to send the Holy Spirit in His place.

-You see, the Holy Spirit is with all of God’s people all of the time in every place that they are found. And the Holy Spirit is able to be that Helper / Comforter / Paraclete to the millions of people around the world who have believed in Jesus Christ. And He is able to calm their anxieties all at once.

-If you have trusted in Jesus, He is here, alongside of you, comforting you in your sufferings and anxieties in Harvest, Alabama. And right now, He is also in Communist China, alongside a brother or sister in Christ who has been jailed because of their faith. And right now, He is with a family in a Muslim nation who just lost their husband and father to Islamic terrorists.

-And there is two works of the Spirit Jesus specifically mentions. First, the Spirit will bring unbelievers to court. It says the Spirit will convict people of their sin (especially their sin of unbelief), He will convict of righteousness (that they have broken God’s standards), and He will convict of judgment (that they have been judged guilty, they are part of a world system judged guilty, and there is only one way to escape the eternal consequences==through Jesus Christ)

-Unbeliever’s anxieties can be taken away only when they’ve trusted in Christ. But our anxiety over sharing the gospel with others is taken away because we aren’t the one that have to do the convicting. Our names are not HOLY SPIRIT, so we cannot convince people of their need. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.

-But Jesus also says that the Holy Spirit will speak the words of God to us. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture to write what they wrote, and the Holy Spirit will bring those words to our remembrance as we fill our mind with the Word of God. He will bring the needed verses to our minds right when we need them.

-The gift of the Holy Spirit is so important when world events could cause us anxiety. Pastor Chuck Swindoll commented:

This [gift of the Holy Spirit] is no shallow sympathy card with rhyming words for grief-stricken people. It is eternally more than a ‘slap on the back’ or a quick ‘cheer up’ bit of advice. Our mighty God is called alongside us as we suffer! Here is genuine comfort, personal assistance, deep involvement, and infinite understanding.

-But, then, Jesus also provides:

2) A joy that overcomes temporary sorrow (vv. 16-28)

John 16:16–28 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. 25 “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. 26 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; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

-Jesus recognized that His disciples would go through sorrow—they would see Him arrested, beaten, and die. As He will also point out in the next section, they are going to scatter when these things happen and abandon Him at that time.

~He was forewarning them that their entire worlds would be shaken more than they have ever been shaken before.

-And you will notice not once in this entire discourse does Jesus say that He will get His disciples out of this. He does not say that He will somehow make them immune to the effects of the world events that were coming. He does not say that He will pluck them out, so they don’t have to go through hard times. He does not say that His disciples will never feel sorrow. And He does not say that His disciples will avoid all situations that might cause them anxiety.

-Jesus never says that we will escape. But He does say that all these anxiety-inducing things that go on in this earth will not have the final say.

~He warns us not to get so wrapped-up in the things of this world and the here and now that it is this world that determines our outlook.

-Specifically, to the 11 apostles, He says in v. 20 YOU WILL WEEP! YOU WILL LAMENT! YOU WILL BE SORROWFUL!

~This would befall them because of the arrest, death, and burial of Jesus. And, in its own perverse way, He says that the world will rejoice.

~The world would rejoice that it got rid of the one who made them uncomfortable in their sin. The world would rejoice that it got rid of this Messiah and His followers. The world would rejoice that any and all godly influence would disappear so they can live in their perversions.

-That is the reality of it. In this world, Jesus’ people will weep and lament and have sorrow, and the world will laugh and mock and rejoice in our sorrow!

-But then, at the end of v. 20, Jesus says BUT YOUR SORROW WILL TURN INTO JOY!!!

-He’s telling His apostles that He will die and the world will rejoice and they will be in complete and utter grief and fear. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Jesus will die, but He won’t stay dead. They will see Him alive, and their sorrow will turn to joy

~They will have sorrow, but the sorrow is temporary. It is for a season. But there is something at the end of that season that will wipe that sorrow away.

~Jesus points them to the future—here and now=sorrow, later=joy

-He uses the illustration of childbirth. When it’s getting to be about that time to give birth, the woman has sorrow because she’s uncomfortable and in pain. And think about this, in Jesus’ day they didn’t have epidurals or anything else. So, having a baby was a very traumatic experience.

~But, once the child is born, and the woman is able to hold that precious little one in her arms, she completely forgets about all the stuff that came before. She is bursting with joy at the birth of her baby, that it completely wipes the sorrow out of her memory.

-Yes, this world will cause us sorrow and grief. But it is temporary. We will either die and be in the presence of Jesus, or Jesus will return. Either way, we are going to be glorified with Him—no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears, no more injustice, no more sickness, no more rioting, no more hate

~Knowing that this sorrow is only temporary takes away the anxiety we have now because we know that there is nothing this world can do to us that won’t be undone in the world to come.

3) A victory that lasts for eternity (vv. 29-33)

John 16:29–33 ESV

29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 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.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 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. 33 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.”

-I want to especially focus in on v. 33—again, the same theme is repeated: IN THIS WORD YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION! That is the fact of life, no way getting around it. Even after the resurrection, the apostles would still face persecution, and most would face martyrdom.

-BUT He tells them to take heart. The word means to display courage in the midst of danger. Jesus says get you some courage.

~Unlike the cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, we don’t get courage through some wizard behind a curtain. We get our courage through Jesus Christ. It says in the verse that we can have peace in Jesus, but we can also have courage.

-Why can we have courage? Jesus says because I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD. The word to overcome means to conquer, to prevail, to vanquish. Jesus is saying that He’s already won!

~The outcome of the war is not in question. We aren’t sitting here wondering I WONDER IF JESUS IS GOING TO WIN OVER THE WORLD AND THE DEVIL? Jesus says He’s already won.

-So, because He’s already won the victory, we can go into this world and act like it. We can go around confident because the outcome of what goes on isn’t up to me and it isn’t up to you.

-Who here likes to be on a losing team? If you’ve ever been part of a baseball team or softball team or whatever that constantly loses, it is disheartening. And it shows in the way that you act and carry yourself and play, because you go out there with the mindset that you’ve already lost, so what’s the use in trying.

-But Jesus says we already have the victory. Why be anxious when you’re part of the winning team? Yes, there will be setbacks. Yes, there will be temporary tribulations. But that doesn’t suck the courage out of us, because the outcome in the end hasn’t changed.

-So, let’s face the world and its problems head on as overcomers! No need to be filled with anxiety, because we know the end of all things.

Conclusion

-As I speak of the anxiety over current world events, I don’t make light of it. But it is something that can be overcome.

~Christian, you have the Holy Spirit alongside of you as you travel this road. The sorrow you experience is temporary and will change to joy. And you can walk with confidence and courage knowing the victory is already at hand.

-A wise man once said:

Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.

~But we can change the direction of that stream if we focus instead on Jesus’ provision for us during these trying times.

-But, if you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, you ought to be anxious for your soul…