This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Good afternoon. I'm glad you could stay. So, if you have your scriptures, go ahead and open up to John chapter 16, please. John chapter 16. Providence would have it we are going to continue with just the next text in John because Last week's was very Appropriate for coming up to Good Friday. This week's is very appropriate for considering the resurrection. So it was It was providentially blessed like that John chapter 16. I'm going to pick up in let's say 19, but we'll be going through 33 This is the reading of God's Word Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him. So he said to them, is this what you were 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. It's the reading of God's word. Would you pray with me? Our Lord, we are so grateful for the resurrection. And may we be grateful for the resurrection every day that we live. We thank you for those who have been able to hear the word that normally do not. And we pray that here and across the state and across the world, your word is bearing fruit in the lives of new believers. Please be with us now. Please be with us to bless the hearing of your word and the teaching of it. May your Holy Spirit be doing the work that only he can. We pray these things in Christ's precious name. Amen. You know, one encouragement to use just as a congregation was I got to meet someone who professed faith after last service. And you just see these things and you say, praise God, praise God. And there are many things that we will not see. And those things too, we praise God for. Our God is working, his word will not return void. I love when people are willing to come and sort of play with fire, so to speak. Yes, come hear the word of God. Come hear it. And you were help, whether you want to or not, you might just end up believing. So I want to encourage you with that. So after the gospels, the New Testament is basically just unpacking what it means that Christ rose from the dead. That's basically what's going on. So I named this sermon, The Privileges of the Resurrection, because it was an inapt title. Last week, we considered the sorrow the disciples were going to go through. We considered the trials that they were going to go through to see their master taken from them, killed. But this week we get to talk about, well, what was going to be accomplished by that? We get to talk about the privileges of the resurrection, which in all honesty, I could probably name almost any sermon I preach a title like that, because the New Testament is just saying, do you know what happened? Do you know what it meant for who you are? Do you know what it meant for what you've done in the past? Do you know what it meant for how you now live? The New Testament is basically just unpacking what it means that Christ rose from the dead, the very event we celebrate today. Jesus warned those disciples of the sorrow they were about to experience, but he also promised the joy. And he promised the joy that could not be taken, not by anyone. The sorrow that they were going to experience would be fleeting. The joy that they would experience would be eternal. And so now Jesus points them to what is coming after the resurrection. So let's launch into the privileges of the resurrection. I'm picking up really at about verse 23. At 23. Where he says, in that day you will ask nothing of me. In that day. In that day he is acknowledging that everything has changed. That we have entered into a new era after the Son of God has come, died, and rose from the grave. It is a brand new era. In that day, he says, you will ask nothing of me. You know, one of the most dramatic blessings that we are to experience is actually so easily missed in those first comments. You will ask nothing of me. If you read that quickly, if you read that without context, it almost sounds like he's saying in that day, I'm done with you. I've put in my time. In that day, you don't get to ask me anything, right? It's nothing like that. It's nothing like that at all. Jesus is pointing to a huge privilege of the followers of God. He says we won't ask Him because we're going to go directly to the Father. We get to go straight to the Father because of what Jesus did. And you can even picture that in terms of location, right? In our faith, we talk about that we are united with Christ. We are in Christ. Well, Christ now is going back to his father. If we are still in Christ, we are directly in the presence of his father. We are right there with the Father, with direct access. Christ, in his death and in his resurrection, has built a new relationship for believers with the Father, one that did not exist before. So we will ask nothing of Christ because we get to go directly to the Father. That's a gospel privilege. And he says one more thing, one more privilege that actually I think he's targeting very specifically at the disciples. Very specifically the disciples, and it's something you would have to really look at it to catch. In that day you will ask nothing of me, he says. Well, the Greek word there, ask, has a little bit of flexibility. It could be ask like request. Will you get me a glass of water, right? A request, right? But it could also mean ask in the sense of, now give me information in return. He's picturing a day when the disciples don't have any more questions. The disciples are full of questions. They are constantly asking for more information out of Jesus. They are constantly needing clarification from Jesus, right? Picture what that looks like if these disciples, these knuckleheaded disciples, no longer have any questions. It's a good day. What do you see Jesus hinting at, I think, is that coming of the Holy Spirit, that clarifying, that rabbit ears moment, when they start understanding things that they had not understood before. You see this too in verse 25. Let's just skip forward for just one second. 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. Jesus is pointing them to a time when clarity is coming. He says, yes, I've been showing you God. Yes, I've been manifesting God like you've never ever seen in all of history, but there are still things that you have not understood. That day of clarity is coming. That day when you'll have no more questions is coming. So right now there's this encouragement for those people who have walked with him, heard from him, but have understood so little sometimes. There's this encouragement saying, hang in there. You will enjoy the blessings soon enough. You will enjoy the clarity soon enough. You will ask me nothing in that day, but it gets better. The privileges just keep heaping on there. We don't just go to the Father directly. We go to the Father in Christ's name. We go to the Father in Christ's name. Being able to ask in Jesus's name, being able to ask the Father, this is for your son that I'm asking. Oh, that's a huge, huge, huge privilege. We have to remind ourselves that when we pray, we often close with something like, in Jesus' name we pray, right? We have to be on guard that we're not making that some magical incantation. That that's not the Christian version of abracadabra. Because it's meant to be nothing like that. There's nothing in the words themselves. The essence, the substance is it's reflecting our status before God. Our status with God. We get to pray in Jesus's name. I mean, sure, anyone can say the words. Anyone can treat them like they're magic abracadabra words. But there's only substance if there's truth behind it. If there's reality behind it. I can go someplace and tell them I'm related to someone famous. There are no benefits if it's not true. There are no benefits if it turns out that those are just words. Those who trust in Jesus Christ get to pray in Jesus's name. This is a family privilege. Praying in Jesus's name is a family privilege. All those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ get to pray in Jesus's name. The negative side of that, I suppose, is that it means that those who do not believe don't get to pray this way. Like I said, they can say the words, whether there's any substance there is another question. But then on the other side of it, it says all who believe get to pray this way. Not just those who are particularly religious, who are having a really good week, a really good year. Anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ gets to pray this way. They get to pray in Jesus's name. It is such a profound thing that we get to pray in Jesus's name. There's so much worth talking about, but just a couple more for you. Praying in Jesus's name will also mean praying by his merits alone. Praying in Jesus's name, when we say that, when we intend to pray that way, it means depending on Jesus's merits alone. See, I don't go to God saying, hey, hey, listen up. I deserve to be heard. I am just that important. Well, we don't go because that would do no good. We don't go trying that because, well, we would have no hope. I mean, first off, God owes us nothing. Right? So I can't say, hey, you owe me this one. And second off, we're just not that important. Before God, we are not that important. We don't get to go to him and say, hey, look at me, I'm special. We go to him in Jesus's name. We go to him in the name of one who does deserve to be heard. We go to him in the name of one who is just that important. We go to him in Jesus's name. One commentator described it like going to a bank, right? If you go to a bank with a check that you've signed, do we know what checks are, kids? These pieces of paper the bank gives you and you fill out money and it's like real money. It really is. You go to the bank with a check that you have signed and you want to cash it, right? They will cash it depending on what you are worth. They will cash it depending on what's in your account. Now, if I go to the bank with a check from my wealthy friend, signed by him, because my friend has a lot more money in his account than I do, I can cash checks that are much bigger. They will honor that check because it's in his name and not mine, right? That's how it is with prayer, actually. When we go before God, when we go to that bank of heaven, my account on its own has nothing in it. No one's going to cash my checks. Christ's account though, it never runs out. Christ's account will never run out. Prayers in his name will always be good. We pray based on Christ's merits alone. That is a privilege. It's a responsibility. But we pray because of his merits alone. And praying in Christ's name, though, it also means praying in line with Christ's character and with his promises. Take this in a total earthly sense. You're getting together for a prayer meeting with Jesus, and he says, why don't you pray for us? At the end of that prayer, Jesus should be able to amen what you just said. Does that make sense? At the end of that prayer, you should not be praying something that's so contradictory to his character that you say amen and you look up and he's just scowling at you, you know? He should be able to amen those prayers. And that's a totally earthly illustration. So don't push that one too far, right? But how do we do that? How do we make sure our prayers are anything like what our savior wants us to pray? You go to the word, right? God's word is God revealing himself to us. God's word is God saying, hey, this is what's important to me. This is what I'm passionate about. These are my promises. These are my goals for you. God's word is full of that. We need to take the time to read it. We need to take the time to wrestle with it. We need to take the time to ponder it. We need to take the time with God's word, because the more we know that, the more we know our Savior's heart, the more we can pray according to his heart. I mean, take for example too, just specific parts in the scriptures. Have you ever compared how you pray with how Jesus prays? With how the apostles pray? It will just open your mind to just a much bigger world Yes, Lord, I'm, you know, I'm grateful for dinner and I'm grateful for my family. Please protect us and bless us, you know, I mean, prayers that we offer and pray and you see what Jesus prays for. You see what Paul prays for and you think, oh, we can pray about that too. I don't think there's anything wrong with praying the small prayers, but there's some big prayers out there to pray. If you want to know what praying like God would want you to pray looks like, look at how they pray in the scriptures. It will be such a blessing for you. Now that said, does it mean you need a PhD in the scriptures in order to start praying? No, no, not at all. It should never be taken like that. The blessing here is that it's not just about what you know, but the spirit says he will help you. He will help you where you don't know how to pray, right? That's Romans 8, 26 and 27. In our weakness, we don't even know how to pray. So the spirit intercedes for us. It's this beautiful mercy of God. We don't even know how to pray like we should, but God helps us. God helps us with the very thing he commands us to do. That's actually a very God pattern. And the stunning thing is that as we pray in Jesus's name, Christ says that the Father will grant our requests. God will answer us. God, us, God, us, right? These are the kinds of things that you should make fresh on your heart because you think, you'll do what? You'll listen to us? We spend so much time thinking of God as a genie that it doesn't surprise us that he would listen to us, but it should blow you away that the king over all creation, one cares, and then two will do anything for you. Jesus says, you go in my name and he will hear you. He will give you what you ask for. It is stunning, just stunning how much we have in the gospel, the privileges of the gospel. And why do we pray, Jesus says? Why do you pray? For joy. I mean, if I said, why do you pray? I can guarantee that 90% of you would have said nothing like joy. We say things like, oh, I know I need to. I really ought to. Jesus says, why pray? Pray that your joy may be made full. Yes, you need to. Yes, you ought to. But do you recognize that it is for your joy? Jesus paints a picture of prayer that we need to see. We need to see it His way because what He says is that prayer is a means of finding joy. Prayer itself. And I will confess that's a convicting thing because I do not feel like I am a very accomplished prayer. And I look at this and I say, wait, this is for my joy? Huh. I mean, sure, you can pray for joy. Lord, give me joy. Joy as I'm supposed to have it in the gospel. I think that's a good prayer, right? but prayer itself turns out to be part of the path to joy. Aren't so many of us convinced that if we do things God's way, that we will somehow be missing out, that we will somehow have a substandard existence, one that's not worthwhile, one that's less fulfilling. God is always trying to ruin our joy. He just wants to make sure we do it his way. Isn't that lurking in our hearts so constantly? But Christ reminds us that the things God calls us to do are for our good. They're for our eternal happiness. They're for our joy. Our creator knows what his creation needs. We shouldn't look at him as if we know better and we shouldn't look at him distrusting him. Our savior knows what it is we need and he calls us to it. We should trust our creator that everything he calls us to, every single thing is something that we actually need. Every single thing he calls us to is actually for our good. It sounds so simple, but man, when you search those dark areas of your heart, you'll find we believe nothing like that. God never calls us to something that is not for our ultimate and eternal benefit. Do you believe that? I'll say it again for you. God never calls us to something that is not for our ultimate and eternal benefit. And as we pray, our joy is filled up. We don't just have joy because God answers prayers, but we also have joy as he is present with us in prayer. There's joy in that. So how's your prayer life? How's your prayer life? It's been said that the sure way to humble Christians is to ask them about their prayer lives. And that's why I make you just wait with this question. How's your prayer life? Are you embracing the feast that God has provided for his children? Or are you getting by on fast food and pop tarts? A little snippet for God here, a little shout out for God there. We could spend a lot of time on prayer. We really could. This sermon would not do justice to all we could and probably should know about prayer. But I'll leave you with this because I'm almost certain that you are like me. Don't deprive yourself of the joy that you were supposed to have as a privileged child of God in prayer. Don't deprive yourself. Let us be a people devoted to prayer. Let us be devoted to prayer for our good and for God's glory. Let us be devoted to prayer. Now, as you move forward in the passage, getting about verse 26 here, Jesus adds one more thing about praying in his name. He says something that, let's just, let's just come back to this passage again, because this is maybe my favorite part of it. Verse 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, right? He's not the middle man standing in between saying, I'll get the message to the, to the big guy, right? The alternative? No, for the father himself loves you. I'm not going to stand in the middle because he loves you too. Asking in my name doesn't mean I've somehow put a barrier between you. The father loves you. Go to him like a child goes to a loving parent. Go to him with confidence. And Jesus says, the father loves those who love his son. Isn't it true? We love or like at least anyone who's very good to our kids. The heavenly father is no different. He loves those who love his son, who have trusted in his son. And it's not that he loves those who have somehow earned his affection. We get into those problems, right? God could never love me. Has he seen me? Has he seen what my life looks like? Does he know the thoughts I have? All those are conditional thoughts, right? That God will only love you based on how you've performed. No, those who love his son, the father loves. Those who have trusted in Christ, the father loves. It's beautiful. Jesus says that he's returning to his father and his father loves those who trust in Jesus. And so now Jesus is winding down on this thought. You look at the disciples and they've gone another direction. It's kind of, I was looking at a section and just felt like, hey, one more misunderstanding for the road. They have this aha moment that just quickly fizzles out, right? 29 onto the end. So Jesus had told them, right, that a day was coming in the future, right? A day was coming when he would speak plainly to them. Well, they hear that, and they're like, oh, he means right now. So then they're like, ooh, ooh, we get it, Jesus, we get it. And it's probably a bad sign whenever this group of disciples on this side of the cross ever thinks, ooh, ooh, we get it. Look at verse 29 and 30, and you just hear this. His disciples said, oh, now you're speaking plainly and not using figurative speech. You know, you could just picture them stroking their figurative goatees. 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. Man, and I just see that last part, you know, just getting their chest all puffed up and that's why we believe, you know. Jesus looks at them. And again, I think the time is drawing near here and it's just, you can hear the irony in his voice. Now you believe. Do you now believe? Well, okay. I think again, he could have gone after that one. He could have gone deep into that one, but he moves forward on this. He says, okay, you believe, well, your young, immature faith, it's going to be tested. It is about to be tested. When those trials come, when they arrest your savior, the one you've been following all this time, here's what's going to happen. You know what's going to happen? sobering words, you will be scattered. You will be scattered and you will go home and you will leave me alone, he says. You believe? You're about to be scattered like sheep without a shepherd. You will leave me alone. But Jesus then says something, but I will not be alone. Though the followers of God vanish, his father will remain faithful. And this will always be the case. Though the world is not reliable, though you yourself are not reliable, our Father will always be faithful. And as the end approaches, what does Jesus leave them with? What does he want them to remember to go out with? Because, I mean, you look at this. And I talked about this in the last weeks. I mean, what would the human reaction be to I'm about to die and you all are flaky and about to desert me? What would we do if we were faced with their faithlessness? Would we chastise them? I can't believe you. You should be better than that. Right? Would we be disappointed? You know, what can I say about you guys? Forget it. Let's just finish this, you know? I mean, would it be an anger? You are not worth the time I have spent on you. I can't believe I've wasted three years of my precious life with a bunch like you, right? What does he leave them with? Anything like that? He leaves them with peace. You know, being abandoned by your disciples was actually a really great shame. Not just the personal loss of your friends leaving you, but even just societally, it was a shame that your disciples would abandon you. But Jesus leaves them with encouragement. I have told you these things, I've said these things so that you might have peace. I've said these things so that you might have peace. Affliction is coming and it's coming hard for you. But in me, he says, you have peace. No matter what the world brings, abide in me and I in you, right? And you will have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. You will have distress. You will have oppression. You will have trouble. But that very last line, but take heart. I have overcome the world. What a cool line. I have overcome the world. So take heart. The world is full of tribulation. And if this was all there was, yeah, you'd be in a bad position. Yeah, you probably shouldn't have peace. But Christ has overcome the world. What an encouragement. For all believers across all time, we are supposed to live in light of this truth, that he overcame the world. The resurrection marked the climactic victory It marks the beginning of the end for evil, for suffering, for tribulation. Christians, we're just following in the wake of His victory. We just follow after in the coattails of our victorious Savior. Evil, suffering, tribulation, whatever it is, they will not prevail over Christ's followers. So what does it mean that Christ rose? It means that today we rejoice, but it means every day we rejoice. Because today we remember when our savior overcame the world. Let's pray. What a gospel, what a savior. Father, what a gospel you've given us. Would you give us confidence to stand firm in our victorious Savior? Would you give us faith to trust you and not what we think is best? Will you help us to walk in the ways of joy you've given us? Forgive us that you have to convince us to walk in the ways of joy. May this week ahead be one full of joy, one deep in prayer, one where we are constantly seeing your hand move, one where we can constantly feel your presence with us. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.