And please turn with me back a few chapters to John chapter 16, and let us pray as we approach God's Word. Lord God, we pray now for that light to dawn in our minds and hearts, that the work of Your Holy Spirit would make clear unto us Your Word. We pray that either that light might dawn again or even perhaps for the first time. And these things we ask in Christ's name, amen. John chapter 16 and beginning in verse 16. This is a part of Jesus' discourse to His disciples as He was preparing them for His departure by the cross. Verse 16, a little while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me because I go to the Father. Then some of his disciples said among themselves, 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 go to the Father. They said, therefore, what is this that he says a little while? We do not know what he is saying. Now, Jesus knew that they desired to speak to him. And he said to them, are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said a little while, and you will not see me? And again, a little while, and you will see me? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labour, has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore, you now have sorrow. but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you. And in that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. In God's providence, last Sunday morning, I preached on the subject of joy. But this next passage in the Gospel of John, in our series here, is also on joy. So tonight, again, my subject is, you guessed it, joy. However, this is not a mindless repetition, repetition for repetition's sake. You know, sometimes repetition is what we need, right? I had a Latin teacher when I was in secondary school, and he used to quote to us all the time, Repetitio mater studiorum. Repetition is the mother of learning or study. And so it is in the Christian life. Oftentimes we need to repeat the things that we know. Also, joy is an immensely useful, valuable, and wonderful thing. And therefore, it bears repetition. It deserves to be spoken of more than once because of its usefulness, because of its value, because it is wonderful. Jesus' message to his disciples here, in a nutshell, is your sorrow will be turned into joy in me. Your sorrow will be turned into joy in me. Now, he's speaking of a particular transformation surrounding his death and resurrection, a transformation that has already happened in history. And it's not just for individuals, but it has already happened for God's people as a whole. This transformation is the transformation of the disciples' sorrow into joy at the resurrection. That resurrection, though, has inaugurated a day of joy in which we now live. So tonight, what I want to do with this passage is I want to first look at what Jesus is saying, and the body of my sermon will be a little shorter than normal. I want us to see how He is supporting this main idea, your sorrow will be turned into joy in me. I want to take the fact that that transformation has happened, that we now live in the day of joy and look at four implications of that for us. So my title is Day of Joy and the two points in the main body are A confusing statement and the explanation. A confusing statement and the explanation. We have this statement here in verse 16, a little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me because I go to the Father. This statement is followed in the text by confusion on the disciples' part. We see that here. Then some of the disciples said amongst themselves, 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. Because I go to the Father, they said therefore, what is this that he says a little while? We do not know what he is saying. Do you see the confusion that is in their minds? They are hearing what Christ is saying, they're hearing the words, but it's like a fog to them. And to be fair to them, this statement is a little vague, right? These little wiles, what is he talking about? It's just a vague sort of phrase that could be applied in all sorts of different ways. And there's two of them. It seems a little mysterious. It seems like figurative language as they'll actually say in verse 25 below. It seems a little bit more like what a magician would say or a trickster rather than our Lord. Now you see me, now you don't. In some ways that's what it seems like he's saying. Is Christ playing hide and seek with the disciples? And what is this about Him going to the Father, and how does that fit in? Of course, He's mentioned this several times already. It's one of the major themes of the Upper Room Discourse. It's the occasion for it in some ways, but the disciples still seem largely in the dark about it. And on top of that, The words, because I go to the Father, follow immediately after, again a little while, and you will see me. How does that work? How will they see him because he goes to the Father? It seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? These are the very things that the disciples are talking about. Now, we shouldn't imagine that there's something wrong with Jesus as a teacher. He's actually speaking in vague, somewhat confusing terms intentionally to raise their interest. He wants to grab them and pull them in, so he's speaking in this way. Nonetheless, here we have an intentionally confusing statement. Thankfully, we not only have the statement, but we have the explanation from Christ Himself. And that's my second point. Jesus first picks up on the fact that His disciples are confused in verse 19. Now, Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said a little while? And he goes on and quotes himself. So he recognizes and tells his disciples, I know you're confused and I'm about to help you with this. He then tells them his main point in plain language. Your sorrow will be turned into joy, verse 20. Here, He is speaking about His coming departure by death followed by His return by resurrection and then by the Holy Spirit. There was going to be a little bit of time following which they would not see Him. After that, there would be a second little bit of time. And after that, they would see Him. This first little while is the very hours between that moment and His arrest. And the second little while is the time between His arrest and His resurrection and the coming of the Spirit. So, the first section, that moment He was speaking until His arrest, the second from the arrest until His resurrection. And this exactly fits with verse 20. See, after the first little while, the period following that first little while, the world would rejoice, but they would be sad. And that's exactly what happened, right? That little while expired, he was arrested, and then the world was rejoicing. They thought they had got him. They thought that they had him under their power. But the disciples were all sad because their Lord had been taken. He was being put to death. And then he was only in the grave for a short time. He didn't stay there. He was resurrected and they saw him. He spoke to Mary Magdalene, as we read earlier. He came amongst their midst and showed them His resurrected body, and they rejoiced in that. And then, on the day of Pentecost, He gave them His Spirit so that He would be with them for all of the church age. So, what we see here in John, as well as in the book of Acts, is that He did come again and they rejoiced. John 20, 20. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and sighed. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord And in the book of Acts, there is a theme of joy running from the day of Pentecost all the way through the book, joy in the risen Christ. They're constantly talking about the resurrection. And even when they're persecuted, even when Peter and his fellow apostles are beaten they're rejoicing in the Lord. Even when Paul and Silas have their feet bound in the stalks and they've just been abused in Philippi, they're rejoicing. So, this actually happened. Christ did come again and they rejoiced. Jesus was now on his way to the Father. This would involve a period, first in which they wouldn't see him, his arrest, death, and burial, and then a period in which they would see him, first physically and then spiritually. And in the process of that, their sorrow would be turned into joy. Into joy because they would have him back, and also, I think implied, into joy because of all that his death and resurrection would accomplish. The atoning of their sins, the defeat of the devil, the enthronement of Christ on the throne of the universe. And all of this is to assure them that their sorrow was temporary and indeed would be turned to joy. He gives them an illustration of this basic idea in the birth of a child. He says that when a woman is in labor, she is in much sorrow, she's struggling. It's one of the most intense things, if you've seen it. Labor isn't called labor for nothing. It's one of the most intense physical things you can imagine, and it does bring great sorrow. But then the baby is born and there's an utter transformation. I think in our own experience, this happened most with Anna when Elizabeth was born. The labour was so intense, the sorrow so piercing, and then the baby was there and she was just overcome with joy. And some of you have experienced that. Some of you husbands have seen that in your wife. And... Christ is saying, this will happen to you, my disciples. How will that happen? How will their sorrow be turned to joy? Well, He will see them again. Not only will their sorrow be turned into joy, but this joy will come from the fact that they will have communion again with Christ. This joy is rooted in communion with Him, and it goes down into the very core of their beings so that it cannot be taken away. No one will be able to take this joy away from them. Then in the last two verses, verse 23 and 24, he illustrates how this joy is rooted in Christ and is built up in Christ. And he does that through the example of prayer. Jesus shows them how they will ask not questions like they're asking Him now, but they will ask things of the Father through Him. And He will answer those requests. And they will therefore have a fellowship with Him. They will have communication with Him. They will ask things, not just for their own benefit or their own satisfaction, but things in His name, things according to His will, things that are for His glory. and He will give them those things, and they will see it, and they will rejoice. You may have had this experience yourself. You've asked for victory over a particular sin, you've asked for maybe someone to come to Christ, and you've asked it in Christ's name, you've asked it according to His will, and it's come about. And there's joy because you ask this of Christ and you've seen Him act. You've had fellowship and communion with Him in the process of this transaction of prayer and answer. And so he's illustrating here how even when he goes to the Father and he is with them by the Spirit, they will have this ongoing joy through prayer and through communion with him. So just to review, The first little while is that point until His arrest. The second little while is the days from the arrest to the resurrection. He's not playing hide-and-seek, but rather He is deliberately making His way towards the cross and then towards His Father and the throne of the universe. Sorrow is coming the disciples' way, deep sorrow. But joy will come in the morning. Joy will come because they will have renewed fellowship with Christ, first physically and then spiritually. Their sorrow will be turned into joy. So that's the main idea here. But what does that mean for us today? You might say, well, these things have already happened. Christ was resurrected thousands of years ago. What does that have to do with me now? That might have been very comforting to the disciples, but what about me? When we read of Jesus's arrest, trial, suffering, and death, we just don't go through the same level of sorrow as the disciples did, because we know the end. We know what happens. We don't have the same breaking of friendship and loss. So, what is there in this passage for us? Well, very simply, it tells us that we now live in the day of joy. The sorrow of God's people has been turned into joy. Today is a day of joy. There are four implications that I want to draw out from this. The first is the importance of really knowing Christ. The joy that Christ speaks about here, the joy that will be given to his disciples and to all those who believe upon him, the joy that cannot be taken away, this joy doesn't come from favorable circumstances. It doesn't come from personality. It comes from knowing and being known by Christ. It comes from seeing Him and being seen by Him. Those are the terms used in the passage. To have it, therefore, we must know Him. To know this day of joy, we must know Christ. Do you know Him? On the day of judgment, when you see the judge clothed in majesty divine, will you say, will you be able to say, this God is mine? Will He own you in that day as His? Is He your trust, come what may? Do you rejoice now that He is reigning, that He has paid for all your sins, that He is interceding for you? Do you ask things of the Father in His name, and are you receiving Do you see Him by faith for who He has revealed Himself to be in the Scriptures? And do you see Him practically working in your life? Do you know Him? Without this, you cannot have true joy. You cannot enter into this day of joy. So it's a great importance for you to know Him. And the way to know Him is repentance and faith, turning away from living for yourself, turning away from living according to your own ideas, and turning unto Him, submitting to His Lordship, asking Him to cover all your rebellion against Him by His blood. The first implication is that it is really important to know Him. The second implication of the fact that this is the day of joy is the importance of nourishing our communion with Christ. If this joy comes from communion with Him, it's good that you know Him. But in order to experience that joy, you must nourish your communion with him. And I know it will be different for different people. We will all experience it different because of our temperaments and situations. But there is a call for all of us to nourish this communion with him that we have. Without it, your sense of joy will be small. I mentioned Paul and Silas earlier, and do you remember when they were in Philippi and they were preaching and things were going well? And then they were dragged before the magistrates. and things happened so quickly, they were accused and without even being able to defend themselves, their clothes were torn off and they were beaten with rods. Imagine the pain of that. Imagine the shame of it. And then they were thrown into prison as those who were troublemakers. Imagine yourself in that situation. What would you be doing? How would you be acting? What would you be thinking? Do you know what they were doing? They were praising God and singing to Him. Why? That joy didn't come out of nowhere. It came out of a practice of communion with Him. It came out of knowing that they were in this day of joy because Christ was on the throne, because Christ was risen, because Christ was their God and their Savior. And a lifetime in Christ of developing that communion. So we must do the same. in our daily Bible reading, in our memorization, in our church attendance, in our application of biblical truth to our life. And I know you know these things. You're often exhorted towards these things from this pulpit. But don't just do these things as a tick box exercise. Don't just get up in the morning and open your Bible because that's what you're supposed to do. but do it as a means of communing with Christ and therefore as a means of knowing the joy that is in Him. Consciously do that. Don't go weary in well-doing. Don't fall for the devil's trap to just make these things routine rather than a means of communion with Christ. Seek God's help to nourish your communion with him. Don't just seek to do it on your own strength. Make sure you're setting aside time for it. Read soul-nourishing books. Make sure that you're under the proper care of those who will help you to nourish your communion with Christ. So, the second implication is that we must nourish our communion with Christ to know this joy. The third is a particular exhortation to prayer. Christ uses prayer as the example of how communion with Him will cause His disciples to be joyful. And in that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. So just very simply, He is exhorting us, if we would know this joy, to be men, women, children of prayer. Those who are living all of our life, bringing our needs, our concerns to Him. speaking to Him about our lives, but particularly bringing to Him those things which are for His glory and for the expansion of His kingdom, that we might see Him answer those prayers, and then in those answers, we may take great joy. So do this privately in your own prayers. Do it as families. Come to the prayer meeting. Make that a priority in your life as we do this as a church. One of the reasons that you should come to the prayer meeting is so that you might know the joy of this day of joy by seeing God answer the prayers that we're praying for the kingdom. And then finally, there is a promise here of joy. That's how the passage leaves us. You will have joy. Your joy will be full, it says. And then in verse 20, you will be sorrowful. but your sorrow will be turned into joy, will be turned into joy. Brothers and sisters, this is the promise of Christ. Because he is risen, because he is reigning, if we walk with him, if we live in communion with him, if we are constant in prayer, we will know joy. Take that promise and be encouraged by it. Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are on the throne. We thank you that you are reigning, that the sorrow in a sense of your church has been turned into joy. and that we now live in this day of joy. It doesn't mean everything will be easy. It doesn't mean that we will never have difficulties, but there is much for us to take joy in in you. Oh Lord, help us to commune with you. Help us to be constant in prayer and help us to be encouraged by this. to not look out and see this as a day of sorrow, but rather to see it as a day of joy in you. We ask these things in your name, amen.