Today as we continue in John's gospel and we're in John chapter 16 Chapter 16 verse 16 through 33 John chapter 16 verse 16 through 33 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 ask 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 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 labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the anguish for the 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 will 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 should you will receive that your joy may be full These things I've spoken to you in figurative language, but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day, you'll ask in my name. And I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples said to him, see now you are speaking plainly and using no figure of speech. Now we are sure that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you. By this we believe that you came forth from God. Jesus answered them, do you now believe? Indeed, the hour is coming. Yes, has now come that you will be scattered, each one to his own, and leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. This passage has a hard to understand aspect to it. It is the reason that Jesus's disciples were talking among themselves and why Jesus re-explains to them what he had already told them. And if you're listening closely, you might understand what is said here too. My first point today is what is meant by Jesus's teaching about a little while. In verse 16 he says, 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, a little while and you will see me, and again a little while and you will see me. And because I go to the Father, and 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 ask him and said to them, are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said a little while and you will see me and again a little while, you will not see me and again a little while and you will see me. It's confusing even when I read it. A little while, a little while, a little while. Notice this phrase, a little while. It's used in just four verses, seven times. Twice by Jesus in verse 16, three times by the disciples in their questioning among themselves, and then two more times by Jesus when he starts explaining what he meant in verse 19. Note the phrase, a little while, as I said, is used seven times between John 6, 16 and 6, 19. And I told you before, seven times is the number of perfection, it's the number of God, it's the number of completion. I don't think it's always pointing that way, but I think here, the multiplication of this it almost seems unnatural the way they're talking a little while a little while a little while is so often uh mentioned i think god is trying to get our attention to this little while because it's an important little while. And what God is telling us through our Lord Jesus Christ needs our attention because it's not, I don't think it's blatantly obvious what he's talking about. Even though the disciples, I believe they were really looking to him and listening to him closely at this time. He's about to go to the cross. They are intent in their listening. And if you look at what he said and then what they said, they were able to repeat exactly what he said. And so they are listening, but they still didn't understand it. In the Greek, a little while is just one word, micron, which we get our word microscope from that. And that's something exceedingly small, isn't it? When we think of something that's microscopic, it's a little thing. Why is this little phrase so often repeated? I believe it's because what Jesus is teaching is beyond what seems obvious if we're not reading or listening very carefully. Consider how these words, this communication can be misinterpreted. Jesus is going to die and he's going to be buried In the tomb, they will not see him. When he resurrects, they will see him again and they will rejoice. And certainly there is truth in this interpretation because they obviously rejoice when they see him risen from the dead. But there's more to this. This is not the fullness of what Jesus is saying here. The correct interpretation has to take into account why in verse 16, Jesus says, they will see him. You will see me, he says, because I go to the father. When you think of that, note what he does not say. He does not say you will see me because I will resurrect from the dead. Of course they saw him when he rose from the dead. Of course they were rejoicing at that time, but that's not what he says in the passage. What he says is you will see me because I go to the father. So if they see him because he goes to the father, when he goes to the father, when does he go to the father? Well, he dies. He resurrects and then he's with them for a while. And then he ascends into heaven. When he ascends into heaven, that's when he goes to the father. And then he sits at the right hand of God. And he says that when I go to the father, because I go to the father, he says, that's when you will see me. He says, you will see me because I go to the father, not despite the fact that I go to the father and I'm not visible physically to you anymore. He's saying, because I go to the father, you will see me. I think that's very important because when we think about who and what Jesus is, and at the very beginning of this gospel of John, John writes, and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." I've said it before. It's not stated. We beheld his glory. He was six foot seven inches tall. He had piercing brown eyes. His physical presence was so wonderful. They don't say that. They say we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. His being the only begotten of the Father, who is the invisible God, his being full of grace and truth, are not things that you see with your physical eyes. There are things that we see by faith. They are things that we see spiritually. And so Jesus is saying, because I go to the Father, because you're not looking at me physically anymore, you will see me better. You will understand who I am better than you even do now. When he was suffering on the cross, and he says this, you will all run away. You will be scattered. And they were not seeing him as God then. They were seeing him as beaten. They were seeing him as defeated, even though I believe some of them may have had some belief. They were scattered. Peter denied he knew him three times. When he resurrects, I believe they are rejoicing, that's what the passage says, they will rejoice. but they don't really start to see him until he goes to the father. And he says, because I go to the father, that's when they start knowing him, not just as a man who was with them, but as God, as the word. You know, John starts this gospel, and the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And he does this because he knows Jesus is God. And he's looking to Jesus now in heaven as we do now. And we should see him that way. Seeing like this means being able to see like God through the power of God's spirit to see things beyond the physical appearance in 1 Samuel. 16.7, when God is directing Samuel to pick a king, and he's looking at David's sons, and he hasn't seen David yet, but it says in 16.7, but the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, this is one of David's brothers, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. The Lord sees, when he looks at us, he sees our character, he sees who we are. And we are to see Jesus that way. We're not to look and say, well, his skin was darker, his skin was lighter, his hair was braunder, his eyes were blue, or any of those things, or even the pictures that sometimes people have of him. We don't know what he looked like. Nobody knows. We are to not look at him that way. We're to see him differently. This is why the apostle Paul says, we know him no longer after the flesh. Second Corinthians 5 16 says, therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. He's talking there about Jews and Gentiles. And that distinction was no longer to be brought out. You were in Christ. But then he says, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Some of those people who Paul preached to were people who had seen Jesus minister in this world. They had seen him, some of them resurrected from the dead. Paul had preached just a few years after Christ's resurrection And many had seen Jesus at that time, either before or after his resurrection. And they knew him as a Jewish man. They knew what his physical appearance was, but we don't read it anywhere. There's no description that he had brown hair, that he was so tall or he was shorter. Whatever he is, we don't know. Flesh was important too for a while because salvation was of the Jews. Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman says, you worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. And so at that time, that's what it was. Jesus was going to the Jews. He happened on that Samaritan woman. By God's grace, she was saved. And now there are, I believe, many Samaritans and many of us Gentiles who are saved. But that was not the case at that time. But Paul communicates, as I said, flesh no longer has this importance, therefore we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. This is at least partially why we, or at least I, oppose pictures of Jesus Christ, why they distort our spiritual vision of God and Christ. We look up to Jesus and we should see God and Christ. as a spiritual, he's the second person of the Godhead. We shouldn't be looking for a particular look of a man. That's not what's important. What's important is that he's the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus says in the Beatitudes, one of them, Matthew 5, 8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We see the invisible God, not with physical eyes, but with spiritual hearts. Because Jesus goes to the Father, because he is in heaven. because we do not see him physically, we can now see him better because what is important about Jesus Christ is not his physical body or his facial appearance, which we do not know, but his spiritual and moral qualities, which we read about in God's word. We see that, that's what Jesus is saying. You will see me because I go to the Father. in a little while. They had seen him. They had walked with him. They were physically with him. They all knew what he looked like. And he says, you will not see me. And I think part of that is when he died and he was buried, they weren't seeing him, but they also weren't seeing him, right? Cause they weren't seeing him right spiritually because they said, he tells them, you will see me because I go to the father. You'll start seeing me in a spiritual way. This being said, his resurrection and disciples observing him alive and watching him ascend into heaven was certainly part of their joy. I'm not going to deny that. It says, most assuredly I say to you, 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 labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she is 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 will take from you. Their sorrow was from seeing Jesus on the cross. They were seeing him dying. They could not handle that. Most of them ran away. Peter denied him, as I said. In this sad occasion, an ungodly world, those who are persecuting Christ who thought they had victory over him were rejoicing, and the trouble was necessary because of sin, just like a woman's pain and childbearing, part of the curse because of sin, this trouble was necessary, Jesus' suffering was necessary to take care of sin, yet we see Christ alive. like the birth of a baby and that causes rejoicing. Here I'm saying the rejoicing was because they saw Jesus in his physical body, risen from the dead, they rejoice. But that joy doesn't go away when he ascends into heaven, when he's seated at the right hand of God, because they know, they believe everything that he told them is true. True Christian joy is unstoppable. because we know that Jesus has beaten sin and death. When we trust that, when we believe that, when we apply that to ourselves, what shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? If he is with us, and that's what the Lord's Supper tells us, if God is with us to the point that he sends his own son to die for us, what more could he do for us? And so they rejoice. And Jesus says to them in verse 22, and your joy, no one will be able to take from you. It's that exceeding joy that's like nothing else. Ultimately, the micron, the little while statements, Jesus makes, you could say they apply to all of our struggles and our difficulties in this world. When we compare them to eternity, to heaven, they are nothing. They are microscopic. They are less than microscopic. Paul again in 2 Corinthians 4, 16 through 18 says, therefore we do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing. yet the inward man is being renewed day by day, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. the things that we see in this earth, the pains that we might have, whatever they are, if we are Christians, this is our only taste of God's punishment, his judgment, his discipline, and it's our only taste of pain because we will go to a place where there is no more pain, where there is no more sorrow, and we will be there forever and ever and ever and ever. And whatever time we're on this earth, whether it's 70 years, whether it's 80 or 90 or 100 or 120, however long we're here, that's going to be like a moment, like nothing compared to eternity in heaven. And that's why eternity is so important. That's why Jesus says, and I believe partly why it's repeated a little while, a little while, a little while, a little while, is because this is God's word and he knew that not only would this apply to those disciples right there who saw Jesus die and who saw him rise, but it applies to us because it's just a little while that we're on this earth. It's just a short time. He says, behold, I come quickly in the book of Revelation before he comes back or we die and we all face God. It's a little while. Paul calls it momentary light affliction. and he was stoned and shipwrecked and all these things. He suffered greatly, he was persecuted, but he also says, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And so whatever we go through as Christians in this life is a little while thing, a short time, a micron of time. Second, second point in this passage, this is the beginning of in Jesus' name praying. Jesus says in verses 23 and 24, 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 and your joy will be full. Before Jesus had died, before he resurrected, before he ascended to the right hand of God the Father, praying to the Father in Jesus' name would not make sense like it makes now. They were right with Jesus. They could ask him for favors. They could ask him for care. But now Jesus has died, he's resurrected, he's ascended into heaven, and we ask him for care. in Jesus's name for the things that he provides for us. That's what prayer is for. And we pray in Jesus's name. Why? Because our names don't work. If I prayed in Arnie's name, or even if I prayed in Eugene's name, it's still not gonna work in heaven. I need to pray in Jesus's name. It's like signing the check. He signs the check for us. And when he does, God respects that. The lack of access to God, was symbolized by the veil guarding the holy of holies in the temple. But when Jesus died, that veil was torn. It says in Matthew 27, 50 and 51, and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split. And that symbolized, that veil symbolized that God was not available to everyone. The high priest could only go to the Holy Holies once a year. And he'd be scared for his life because he was entering the place of the living God. And yet now we rejoice. in that we have access to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10, 19 through 22 puts it like this. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God are drawn near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. We can come to God into his very presence. Why? Because of what Christ has done. We don't even need to be Jewish. We don't need to be a high priest, even though we are called kings and priests. We have access to God because of what Jesus did. And when we pray in Jesus's name, it's saying we're taking advantage of that access that we have because of what he did. Now, to explain this again, asking in Jesus's name does not mean that we get whatever we want, that we can consume things on our lust. Oh, I want a Rolls Royce, Jesus. No, I want three Rolls Royces. It doesn't mean that that's gonna happen. He says, where James does in James four, where do wars and fights come from? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and you do not have, you murder and you covet, but cannot obtain, you fight and you war. that you do not have because you do not ask, you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship to the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit dwells in us, yearns jealousy, but he gives more grace. Therefore he says God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Notice what he said earlier in this passage. He says, yet you do not have because you do not ask. And then he says, you do not receive because you ask amiss. And there's two problems with not praying right. One is that you don't pray at all. You're not really asking God for anything. And the other is you ask amiss. You ask for things that are not really things that would fit under the category of asking in Jesus' name. Asking in Jesus' name means we're praying for God's kingdom to come. We're praying for God in Christ's glory. We're praying that God will enable us to do his will. We're praying that God would give us strength in the midst of trials. Sometimes we can pray for healing from diseases and sicknesses in Jesus' name, and we can pray for that God will favor us in one way or another, but we need to keep it in Jesus' name. We need to ask for things that are consistent with his character and not with just seeking the world. Number three, knowing, understanding, and needing to grow. The last part of this passage, these things I've spoken to you in figurative language, but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I 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 pray the father for you for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came forth from the father and you have come into this world and have come into this world. And again, I leave the world and go to the father. His disciples said to him, see now you are speaking poignantly and using no figure of speech Now we are sure that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you. By this we believe that you came forth from God. Jesus answered, do you now believe? Indeed, the hour is coming. Yes, now has come that you will be scattered, each one to his own, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. and the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I think there was some real truth in the disciples' words saying, now we do understand you. Jesus had been teaching them. He was teaching them for three years. Now he's plainly telling them, I am going to the Father. And at that point, they hadn't seen him suffering on the cross. They hadn't seen him in any of the ways that they might regard negative. And they were really believing his word. I think they really understood, at least with their head knowledge, even if it wasn't down deep in their heart, what Jesus was saying. But Jesus was about to die. And the next chapter, I believe what we have in John 17, it's the Lord's prayer that is really the Lord's prayer. And we see him praying there and he prays for his apostles and he prays for us. And we see there the rest of that prayer that I believe was connected to the prayer in Gethsemane. And we see that other part of that, and they would have, some of them, at least three of them would have heard that prayer. But at this point, they still haven't seen him suffering. And when he suffers, Peter denies him. When he suffers, the rest of the disciples, or most of them, run away. And so they're still not really knowing him or understanding him as they would. He told them this. He told them, you know, you will go, you will leave me. And yet, after he dies, after he resurrects, after God sends his spirit at Pentecost, then they understand. Then they are bold. Then they walk strong with him. And this is how God calls us all to be. we're all oftentimes at different levels and different stages of our faith and you know in first john the same john who wrote the gospel of john talks about little children strong men and fathers and there's this different levels that people are at uh they're at one level of their faith at another but all are called to overcome, they all are called to overcome. The trials in this world to overcome in Revelation 12, 11, they're overcoming Satan, they're overcoming the Antichrist. And it says, and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. which means they understood what we celebrate today, the Lord's Supper. They understand that Jesus' body was broken for them, that his blood was shed for them, that they have forgiveness with God because Jesus paid the price for their sin. They overcome with the blood of lamb, and by the word of their testimony, they were willing to stand for Christ. They continued in their faith, You know, it's interesting, sometimes people talk about a testimony or a credible profession of faith, and they're talking about somebody standing up in front of a church and saying, I believe. but the credible testimony in the New Testament also meant standing in front of the world when you were about to die because somebody was going to kill you for your faith. A witness, the word witness as I told you before meant martyr. A martyr was a witness and it became so much the case that they were killed when they were witnessing for Christ for their testimony, that that word has changed for us. A martyr means somebody who dies for their faith. And here it says, They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and did not love their lives to the death. When we grow in Christ, we grow ultimately to that point where we're ready to die for him because he died for us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for his teaching in this passage about a little while. A little while, he says, and you will not see me. And they definitely did not see him as he truly is when he is on the cross. But then he says a little later, Lord, he says, a little while you will see me because I go to the Father. And Father, we know now he's with you right now. And we can see him, Jesus, that way, as the Son of God, as sitting at your right hand, as he who, as he who is the only begotten Son of God, your word and communication to us. And Father, we thank you that we can see him spiritually and not just physically. And so, Father, we pray you'd be with each one of us now as we partake of the Lord's Supper. We pray that it would be for your glory and praise, and that we would know that Jesus is now with you. And this is for us to remember what he did for us on the cross. And Father, we thank you for that. We thank you too, that spiritually he is with us. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Our hymn of response to the sermon is O Sacred Head. Now wounded. I think that's it. Number 247. And please stand as we sing number 247 of Sacred Head. Now we'll do. O sacred head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded, with thorns thine only crown. O sacred head, what glory, what bliss still now was thine, Yet though despised and gory, thy joy to call thee mine. What thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners' gain. Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Lord, here I fall.