It's 295 in the red, and please stand together for our call to worship. Our call to worship this morning, it comes from the great 24th Psalm. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Let us sing together. Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee. and hail him as thy matchless king through all eternity. Crown him the Lord of love, behold his hands inside, rich fruit yet visible, above him beauty glorified. in the sky, can fully bear that sight. But down were bent his burning eye, that mystery so bright. Crown him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways. From pole to pole, that was Macy's, absorbed in prayer and praise. His reign shall know no end, and crowned His pierced feet, the flowers of paradise excent their fragrance ever sweet. Crown Him the Lord of years, the potentant of time, the Creator of the rolling skies, and have the bliss of life. All hail, Redeemer, hail, for Thou hast died for me. ♪ Thy praise shall never, never fail throughout eternity ♪ Amen. Let us pray together. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we exult in you this morning through our Lord and King, Jesus Christ, and we thank you for sending him into the world as the great shepherd of your people, the king of glory, so that there is nothing that we want that you provide for all of your people's needs. We thank you for the great mercy that you've shown to us in sending your son to be born as one of us, born as a man, and to go to the cross where he took your fierce wrath in our place to reconcile us to you. We thank you that he is saved his people to the uttermost so that the power of his resurrection is known by all who have called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. We thank you for your great mercy in giving us faith in Christ and giving us repentance from our sins. We thank you for forgiving us new hearts, for the gift of the Holy Spirit who empowers us to believe and to love and to proclaim the gospel, and through whom we cry out, Abba, Father. And we thank you for the joy that you give us and for the access to your throne of grace through Jesus that you have provided. And so as we come now before you in the name of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit to join with the holy angels, the archangels, and all of your holy ones in worshiping you this morning, We ask that you would meet with us in this place, that you would strengthen us, that you would increase our love and devotion for you, our love for one another. Challenge and convict us, encourage us as we sing these marvelous hymns. As we gather at your table and as we pray together, we ask that as we hear your word read and proclaimed, that it would be your voice that pierces our soul and shapes our lives. May you lead us in worship of you today in such a way that you ensure that you get for yourself all the glory and all of the praise. In the holy name of Jesus and for his sake we pray, amen. You may be seated. Good morning, everyone. Please turn to 674. I need thee every hour, and I surely do. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord, no tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee, Every hour I need thee, O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh. I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain. Come quickly and abide, for life is vain. I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will, and Thy rich promises can be fulfilled. I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. ♪ I need Thee every hour ♪ Most Holy One ♪ O make me indeed ♪ Thou blessed Son ♪ I need Thee, O I need Thee ♪ Every hour I need Thee ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ I come to Thee All right, please turn to hymn number 315. 315, He Walks Among the Golden Lamps. walks among the golden lambs on feet like garnished bronze. His hair as snows of winter white, his eyes with fire of flame and bright, his glorious gloom of seamless light, surpassing solemn ones. and in His hand the seven stars, and from His mouth the sword, His voice the thunder of the seas. All creatures bow to His decrees, who holds the everlasting keys, and reigns as sovereign Lord. All right, now we have the reading of God's word. Good morning. Our passage comes out of Acts 2, beginning in verse 22, reading through verse 36. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried and in his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. victorious resurrection from the dead, the ascension and enthronement to the Father's right hand, being made both Lord and Christ, all of these glorious things, the pouring out of the Spirit were set into motion by the definite plan of God to have him crucified by lawless men. This is something that we remember every Lord's Day together as God's people, as we celebrate the Lord's Supper together. And as always, we ask three things of you. We ask first that you are one who trusts in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. You're one who's been saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to his glory alone. And then secondly, we ask that you be a baptized believer. But we do leave the details of your baptism up to your own individual conscience. And lastly, we ask that you not be under church discipline from your local congregation so that we might respect the work of our Lord as he builds his church in the world. As we prepare ourselves now for the Lord's Supper, please turn in the red hymnal to hymn number 246. 246 in the red. Man of Sorrows, what a name. Man of Sorrows, what a name For the Son of God who came Who in sinners to reclaim? Alleluia! What a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing heard, in my place condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with His blood. Alleluia! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless, weep. Spotless Lamb of God was He, full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lifted up was he to die, With his finished was his cry, Now in heaven exalted high. Alleluia! What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing, Alleluia! The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and he taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. And they came, I'm sorry, but when Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken. And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him." One of the things that they teach you early on in an officer training program is that soldiers will respect the rank, but trust must be earned. Sometimes it takes a while to earn trust of some people. That was not the case between Jesus and Peter. Look at how this exchange happened between them. Peter had been up all night fishing and caught nothing. Now, Peter was a fisherman by trade, so not catching any fish is a serious problem. That meant they weren't going to have any income. So by morning, they've given up and they're doing their regular post-fishing maintenance when the Lord walks up. He teaches from one of their boats while they continue to finish their work. He then tells Peter to try putting the net on the other side of the boat. Now, have you ever been tired at the end of your workday just wanted to be done, get something to eat, and go to sleep. And the last thing you want someone to say is, hey, try this instead. This wasn't a simple task of casting a line out from shore. They had to reload the boats, go back out, cast their net, haul it back in, come back to shore, and then redo all the work that they just finished. This was going to be several more hours. Peter was likely listening to Jesus teach while he was washing his nets. He respected the Lord enough to not argue with him and he just does what the Lord asked him to do. Then the results confront Peter with the understanding of who he is with all his sin and his imperfections. and who he believes Jesus to be. There's no more simple respect. Now there's trust. And over the course of time, Peter's trust only deepens. It's the same for us, isn't it? We might know something about Jesus in the Bible and show some basic respect. But when we truly see Jesus, it only magnifies our sin and our imperfections. We fall at His knees in response and He changes us and gives us a new purpose in life. Remember that Jesus was in Simon Peter's boat. He didn't get out of the boat so they could go out and fish. He was in the boat with them. So He is with us. He doesn't get out of our boat. We trust and follow Him. So, which do you have for Jesus? Respect or trust? If you've come to faith in Him, you have both. If you don't have faith in Him, it is possible that you have neither. And that, my friend, is a fatal flaw. Repent of your sin. Trust in Him alone. and He will lead you with us to eternal life. And so I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. Brothers and sisters, let's take a moment to examine ourselves. Lord, we thank you for the many examples that you give us for how you have done the work to save us. In this example, Lord, Peter couldn't do it himself. He had tried repeatedly and failed. But when you were with him, You accomplished the task. And Lord, we cannot save ourselves, but you have done it for us. We thank you that you have worked in us to enable us to not just respect you, but to trust you. That you have done that work in us, that we may rely on you totally and rest knowing that you have paid for all of our sins, past, present, and future. And Lord, we hate all of it. While we are in this life, we must struggle with it. But we know that you have us secure if we just trust and follow you. And if there are any here who do not know this glorious salvation, may today be the day that your word, that you spoke from that boat, pierces their hard heart. and they come to faith for your glory alone, in Jesus' name, amen. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when you had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. This is the body of the Lord, which is given for you. This cup is the new covenant in Christ's blood, shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sin. you All right, please turn to hymn number 106. 106 in the red. Father, Father of all things. ♪ Father, Father of all things, we bless you ♪ ♪ Father of wealth, we adore you ♪ ♪ O Father, your children, we praise you ♪ ♪ Father, Father of light and power, we praise you ♪ Father, your greatness surrounds the earth, and all of her children declare, you are Lord. Jesus, only Son of the living God, Jesus, you willingly suffer, let through your Jesus, cleanse us, your people, and fill us. Put out your Spirit upon us, that we, as your body, may show forth your love. Spirit, set by the Son to dwell in us, living and working within us, to make us like Jesus. Spirit, fall down upon us as fire, fill and equip us with power, and offer us love and grace to the Lord. We'll turn with me now in the back of your red hymnal to page 808, 808 in the red. We're going to read responsibly Psalm 67. Please stand together. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us. May the peoples praise you, O God. May all the peoples praise you. For you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God. May all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Let us pray together. Dear God and Father, how grateful we are to know that you reign in majesty to all the ends of the earth over every nation, that you are our trustworthy and our sovereign God over all heaven and earth. Lord, we want to thank you for your people, your church, whom you have graciously chosen out of this world. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us. We lift up this congregation to you now and ask that you would work here among us to build us up in our love for you and our love for one another. We've gathered together this morning in need of you, needing your operation in our lives upon our hearts, needing to hear from you, from your word, and so we ask that you would draw near to us and speak to us and comfort your people and do your sovereign work in every heart. We pray for all who are in need today, Lord, we pray for our sister Marie, in the midst of her pain and suffering, that you would draw near and comfort her. And Sandra's corneal tear and her painful eye situation, that you would draw near and comfort her, heal her. We pray, Lord, that you would minister to all who may join us online from home today. We pray for our neighbors, Lord, for this city and the surrounding area of Austin. We pray for all of those to whom Dayspringers shared the glorious gospel this week with their lips, that those who heard would see their need for you and would repent of their sins against you, would turn to you in faith in Jesus alone. We pray for this pagan country in which we sojourned during this time of political division and unrest. We lift up to your sovereign care, President Biden and all of the leaders of the government, that you would bless them with conviction of sin and guidance and wisdom that we may enjoy peace and freedom. We pray for all of our brothers and sisters over at Millwood Baptist Church down the road this morning. We ask, Lord, that you would fill their pastor Nathan Loudon with your Holy Spirit as he preaches your gospel. We pray for the Carstens and pray that you give them safe travel back home this week to South Africa and for opportunities to share the gospel along their journey home. We pray for all of our missionaries and all of our brothers and sisters who labor to tell the lost about Jesus that you're word would go forth in power and that you would add to your church daily as many as are being saved. We pray that all Israel would be saved. And so finally, Lord, we pray that the whole earth might be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. as the waters cover the sea. In Jesus' name and for His sake we pray, amen. Well, you may be seated, and our children may go out to Children's Church at this time. And as they go, please turn with me in your copy of God's life-giving word back to the Gospel of John and back to chapter 16. John 16. Jesus Christ, he continues here to prepare his disciples for what's coming in the hours and days ahead, his death and his resurrection, his departure as he ascends to the Father in heaven, to the Father's right hand. And so we're picking up Jesus's discourse today in verse So look with me there at John chapter 16, and I'll start reading at verse 16. 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's talking about. Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, is this what you're 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." Now, believe it or not, this passage right here that I've just read for us is the first time that anybody has spoken, but Jesus in almost two whole chapters of the Bible. It's just been a monologue. It's the longest monologue in the book of John, probably the longest monologue in the entire Bible. Someone can look that up. It's 51 verses of just Jesus talking. The last time anybody else said anything, was back in chapter 14, verse 22, where Judas said that he couldn't understand what Jesus meant when he said that he was going to manifest himself. Judas, he interrupts Jesus at that point. He says, wait, you're talking about manifesting yourself. to us, but not to the world. And I don't understand how you're going to be able to manifest who you are to just believers in you and not the whole world around you. How exactly does that work, Jesus? And then nobody has spoken since that time. So it's really interesting here that the disciples, they kind of in the same way as Judas, they can't understand what Jesus means by saying, in a little while, you're not going to see me. So think about those two bookends right there, because the answer to both of those interruptions, to both of those questions that bookend this whole long 51 verses of Jesus speaking that we've been talking about, the two questions, what do you mean by you're gonna manifest yourself? And what do you mean, Jesus, when you say that in a little while you're going away? The answer to both of those questions is the cross. The cross is what he means when he says, I'm going away from you. And the cross is also what he means when he says, I am about to manifest myself in my full-orbed glory to the world. It's just the world is not going to get it. The world's going to think that they're killing me off. They're going to think that they're triumphing over me. Those who believe in me, they're going to see the truth, Judas. That's the answer to both of these questions. The answer to both is the cross. So the disciples' utter blindness to the cross and its meaning forms the beginning and the end of this whole long speech that we have been studying for about the last month and a half. That's what the whole thing is about. And the reason I think it's bookended by these two questions, by these questions about the cross, is because all of this stuff that we've been studying in the middle is completely dependent upon Jesus going to that cross. everything that we've been talking about for all of these weeks, they would not happen unless Jesus goes to the cross, right? The disciples, they would not be, or we as later disciples, would not be united to Christ as branches are to a vine, and we wouldn't be united to one another. There would be no Holy Spirit poured out and sent to us. There would be no hatred from the world and persecution of us as Christians if Jesus does not go to the cross. Without that, none of what he has been talking about happens. The whole thing depends upon him being crucified. And the disciples are just utterly, completely clueless about it. But they're only gonna be clueless about it for about another three days until Jesus their Lord has risen triumphantly from the dead. And once that happens, all of this stuff that Jesus has been telling them is gonna fall into place. It's gonna click into place for them. So what's going on here in these chapters is that Jesus is just sort of laying out the raw materials that they'll need, right? He's teaching about the Holy Spirit that you don't yet understand. He's teaching about union with me and being united amongst yourselves that you don't yet understand. He's talking about persecution that's fierce, that comes from hatred from the world that you don't yet understand. He just lays it all out, and then once the cross and resurrection are accomplished, the disciples are going to remember and they're going to pick all of that back up and they're going to understand all of a sudden. The extraordinary thing about the passage that we're studying today is that Jesus has now turned, not from sort of, you know, warning the disciples about something and then telling them how they can endure it. It's not that so much anymore. He's turned now to telling his disciples about some of the greatest gifts that they are about to possess as citizens of his redemptive kingdom that's dawning. So he's already told them about the Holy Spirit. That's a huge one, obviously. But here he tells them about two other blessings and benefits of this dawning kingdom that he's about to be enthroned as king over. So first he tells them, that one great benefit of being a citizen of his kingdom is that their sorrow is going to be turned into joy. And he means that in the immediate term, you know, crucifixion and then resurrection. He certainly means that, but he also means it writ large, and I'll explain why that is a bit later. But secondly, he tells them about another great benefit that's about to be theirs, and that is the right to pray to God the Father by Jesus's own name and authority. We're gonna talk about that too at the end of the sermon. So the main idea of this whole thing, if you're taking notes, you can write this sentence down. The main idea is this. The resurrection, ascension, and reign of Jesus Christ is, for you as a Christian, a source of deep and abiding and active joy. So don't miss that. Tap into it. I'll say that again. Here's the main idea of our passage. The resurrection, ascension, and reign rule of Jesus Christ is, for you as a Christian, is a source of deep and abiding and active joy. So don't miss that. Tap into it as a Christian. Take advantage of it. Just two points to our sermon this morning corresponding to those Two parts. First of all, and this is the majority of our passage, and so the majority of our sermon will be the first point, the joy of sorrow transformed. The joy of sorrow transformed, that's the first point. And then second, the joy of praying in the King's own name. So the joy of sorrow transformed, and then secondly, the joy of praying in the king's own name. So first point, the joy of sorrow transformed. Verse 16 really is kind of a wrap-up of what Jesus has just been talking about, that He's going away to His Father, and when He does, when He gets to the throne, He's gonna send His Holy Spirit to be with His disciples. So finally now, after 51 verses of just Jesus speaking, the disciples, they pipe up again for the first time in a really long time. And it's clear from what they say here that even after all of these words, all of this teaching from Jesus that we've been going through over this last month and a half, they still have not gotten very much with the program. What Jesus means, by a little while, and you will see me no longer, and again, a little while, and you will see me, they just don't get that. Now, we're gonna talk about what that means, but before we do that, I want you to just notice, here in verses 16 to 19, just what a huge amount of time and ink the Apostle John spends drawing our attention to those words. I mean, at four different times, in four different verses, he quotes verbatim those words. So you've got Jesus saying it, and then you've got the disciples asking what it means, and then John saying that they asked what it means, and then Jesus saying, is that really what you were asking? He quotes those words four different times. Now, why does he do that? Well, we as readers, we're supposed to say, hold up, did the apostle John just say those words four different times in four different verses? Well, yes, he did. OK, that means they're enormously important. So they're worth figuring out. It's worth figuring out what they mean. They're important. They've been repeated four times. So what do they mean? All right, well, think about it. Verse 16, a little while, and you will see me no longer, and again, a little while and you will see me." So there's going to be a little bit of time that passes and then they're not going to see Jesus anymore, right? Then there will be another little bit of time and there will be some other event that happens where they will see Jesus again. Two events separated each of them by a little while from the disciples themselves in the course of time. So what are those two events? You could give a lot of different guesses to it, but Christians throughout the centuries, they've basically made two main guesses. So first of all, it could mean that in a little while, namely in just a few hours from now, Jesus is going to leave them. They're not going to see him. because he's going to die on the cross. And then, a little while later, on the third day, they will see him again when he rises from the dead. That's simple enough. A little while, crucifixion. A little while longer, resurrection. It could mean that. And that's simple enough. Or other Christians have looked at this and they've said it means that a little while, they're not gonna see Jesus anymore because he's going to ascend back into heaven and be enthroned at the right hand of his father, and then another little while is going to pass, and then they will see him again at the second coming when he bodily returns. That's also possible. It could be that. I think it's the first one. I think he's talking about the crucifixion and the resurrection in a little while. I'm going to die, and then a little while longer, I'm going to be resurrected from the dead. I think that for for two quick reasons. First of all, if Jesus is talking here about the ascension and the second coming, if you look at verse 20 with me, that's the key verse here, when he describes what this period is gonna be like, he says, 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. Those emotional responses from Jesus' disciples and from the world, they just seem to match so much better with the crucifixion and the resurrection than they do with the ascension and the second coming. A second reason, in John chapter 20, so later in the book of John, chapter 20 and verse 20, you don't have to turn there, but when the resurrected Jesus finally does appear to his disciples, after they've been lamenting and weeping over his death, when he finally appears and he shows them his pierced hands and feet, John says that they were overjoyed, using a word that has exactly the same root as joy. So I think what's going on is that in a little while, in just a few hours, you won't see me because I will be put in the grave. And then a few days later, you will see me because I will rise from the dead. And then notice the imagery of verse 21 here. 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." So you see here the heart of his explanation of this whole thing, the reason that he's telling this to them in the first place about these two events, that the heart of his answer here is that the sorrow that they're going to feel about his death is eventually going to turn into joy because his death isn't going to be the end. He's going to rise from the dead gloriously, victoriously to everlasting life and glory. And because of that, their sorrow is going to be turned into joy. That image in verse 21 there of the woman giving birth, that's a super, super common Old Testament image for this kind of idea of pain and suffering and struggle and sorrow giving way to joy and to happiness once the baby is born. And there's even a sense in which in the Old Testament, that image, it's used especially of the last days. So I think part of what Jesus is doing by invoking that image is he's saying, my death and resurrection, this event, it is inaugurating the eschaton, the end times. And the crazy surprising thing that Jesus teaches his disciples and that's taught throughout the New Testament is that the last things, the last days, are not just way out there somewhere in the future. No, they're right now. We are in the last days. We are in the eschaton, the last things, and that's part of what Jesus is saying. He grabs that image of the pregnant woman, which is the, you know, in the Old Testament, it's used to talk about the eschaton, the things of the last days, and he says that's now. This whole thing is beginning. I don't want you to miss, though, the real significance of what Jesus is saying here, because it's absolutely mind-blowing, really just wonderful. I keep sending you back to verse 20, because I think that's really the heart of this whole thing, but look again at verse 20. It doesn't say that your sorrow will be replaced by joy. And it does not say that your sorrow will give way to joy. It says that your sorrow will turn into joy, like water into wine. Now that is a very, very different thing than just sorrow being replaced by joy, or even overwhelmed by joy, or swamped by joy. It means that when the time comes, God is not just gonna bury difficult and painful experiences of sorrow. He's not just gonna overwhelm experiences of sorrow. What it means is that on that day, even those terrible experiences, the events of your life which gave you sorrow, are gonna become things that now give you joy. When you look back, on that sorrowful thing, whatever it is in your life that you're thinking about, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that one day, maybe in this life, definitely in the next, that that thing will no longer cause you sorrow. When you think about it, it will cause you joy. How can that possibly be? How can I take something that is so painful and so hard and think that God is gonna turn that thing into something that when I think about it, it no longer causes me sorrow, but will actually cause my heart to burst into joy. How does that happen? These painful griefs, they don't just disappear. They don't just heal. They don't just get overwhelmed by more goodness. but they're actually transformed so that they cause joy. That's exactly the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus, that's exactly what the disciples are about to experience. I mean, think about it, over the next few hours, these 11 men, they're about to experience the collapse of literally everything that they have ever cared about for these last three years. They're going to see their hopes about Jesus being the king of Israel shattered as he is flogged within an inch of his life and put to death on a Roman cross. They're going to see their own self-confidence broken. All of them, every single one of them, is going to scatter for their lives. And Peter, He's even gonna be in that courtyard of the high priest and he's gonna deny Jesus even with curses from his lips three times. And for these men, even their livelihoods are basically lost now because all of a sudden they're considered fugitives from Rome, enemies of the state, right? Accomplices with this crucified criminal and insurrectionist. When you think about When you think about the bitterness of that Sabbath day, that Saturday, when Jesus is dead and in the tomb all day long, it's hard to imagine a deeper or more bitter sorrow. And in their minds, these 11 guys had given up their lives to this man who had called them to follow him. And now here he was, having hung on a cross, laid now in a tomb, looking for all the world like just one more pathetic, broken victim of Rome. But then that's exactly when John writes, on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, Sunday, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. He showed them the scars. And then the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Do you see what's going on there? It's not just that the horror of the cross is now being swamped by the resurrection and forgotten. They still remember the cross. They had not forgotten. that the scars are still there on Jesus' hands and feet and inside. They're all still there. It's not just that they're now able to sort of focus on something different from their sorrow. It's that their whole experience of the cross, the whole sorrow and awfulness of it was changed so that now it's now a source of joy, not a source of sorrow for them when they think about the cross. It's a source of deep joy because it becomes the means by which God is redeeming the world. I mean, later on, right, the Apostle Paul was even gonna say that the cross was not his sorrow, the cross is his glory. And he would know nothing among the Corinthians except what? Christ and him crucified. Joy in the cross. Brothers and sisters, that transformation of sorrow into joy that's promised here in verse 20, that your sorrow is going to turn into joy, that is one of the greatest gifts that you have as a citizen of the kingdom, as a Christian. When Revelation tells us as Christians that God is going to wipe away every tear from our eyes, it's not just that he's going to wrap you up in his arms and tell you that it's all over now and you can focus now on the joys of heaven, that the past is behind and finished. It's not that he's gonna swamp your memories of sorrow and bury them in the joys of eternity. That's not it. It's that he is going to take those sorrows right down from the root of your heart, those griefs and those painful memories, and he's gonna transform them into something new, something that actually brings praise instead of tears, joy instead of grief. Some of you know exactly already in your life a foretaste of what he's talking about. Here, you've already seen how God has taken some of your deepest sorrows and he has transferred them into joys, into praise. God does that kind of thing all the time. And there would be, I think, hundreds of stories of God doing that even among our church here at Dayspring. If he's done that for you, rejoice and be glad in that. But what if he hasn't? What if the sorrow for you is still sorrow? What if the hardship is still hardship for you? What if God hasn't yet rewritten it? What is there to say to you suffering today? Well, here's what there is to say. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you are a Christian, he will. He will, maybe he's gonna do it in this life, maybe in the next few days, the next few weeks, months, years, definitely in the next life. Every single one of your sorrows, God will transform them into joy. It's a profound thing to think about, really. I mean, think about it, every single one of our earthly joys comes to us already bearing the seeds of its own sorrow. Every single one of our earthly joys, everything that we take joy in, in this life, it comes to us already bearing the seeds of its own sorrow. Why is that? Well, it's because one way or another, every single earthly joy will either eventually disappoint us or we will lose it. Money. can slip right through your fingers. And even if it doesn't, you'll find out at the end of the day, it doesn't satisfy your heart. Every human relationship, every human relationship eventually disappoints us. Every earthly joy eventually falls short, falls right through our fingers. Everything in this life that you are finding joy in right now already bears the seeds of its own sorrow. But by the same token, In the same way, if you're a Christian, every sorrow in your life that you're experiencing right now already bears the seeds of its own joy. It already bears the seeds of its own joy because when you enter into that new creation, every single one of them is gonna be transformed into a trophy to God and to his grace to you, his love for you. Brothers and sisters, whatever your sorrow is, one day, believe it or not, and I know it's hard to believe it when you're right in the thick of it, but believe it or not, one day your sorrow will be turned into, changed to, transformed into, and rewritten by God as joy, and you will praise God for it. You know, last Sunday afternoon, Arwit and I were up at the hospital talking about what heaven might be like. What will we be talking about walking around on the golden streets by the Crystal Sea and all the rest of it? You know, I think a lot of it will be, this is just me talking, but I think a lot of the new creation is actually gonna be just scar sharing, like Jesus shared his scars with the disciples. It's gonna be God's people talking about how the Lord persevered them through all kinds of hardship and pain and sorrow, and how now, now that we're on the far shore of eternity, we can see with crystal clear eyes how He actually used all of those griefs, all of those sorrows for our good, and how the memory of them is now joyous to us. I want you to see one more thing on this point. Look at verse 22 again. Jesus says there, First of all, it's just wonderful. that he says they're not what we expect him to say, which would be, then you will see me again. He doesn't say that, right? He says, I will see you, which is better by far. I love that. I mean, Paul understood that in Galatians 4. He says, but now that you have come to know God, then he catches himself, he stops himself, and he says, rather, to be known by God, which is better by far. It's a wonderful thing that Jesus says that, you know, it's not that you will see me again, but I will see you. Because he cares about you. He loves you. But look at that last phrase, no one will take your joy from you. No one will take your joy from you. The point there is that the joy that a Christian has is a deep and abiding and permanent joy. It's an everlasting joy. It doesn't mean that we deny that bad things happen. It doesn't mean that we don't hurt and cry when things that are grievous do happen. It doesn't mean that we just have to plaster a smile on our lips through griefs and sorrow. We don't have to do that. What it does mean, though, is that underneath all the griefs and the hardships and the sorrows, under the crashing and tossing waves as the sea billows roll, there is a bedrock of joy as solid as granite, and that never moves. Where does that come from, that solid bedrock of granite? Where does it come from in the life of a Christian? All kinds of things. It comes from the fact that you are eternally forgiven of all of your sins. No matter what happens to you, you're forgiven of all of your sins. It comes from the fact that no matter what happens to you in this life, eternity is secure. It comes from the fact that no matter what happens, You've been adopted into the very family of God. It comes because no matter what happens to you, there's the promise that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you and His Holy Spirit is always present with you. But I think most of all, most of all, that solid bedrock of joy, it comes from knowing that no matter what, the King, still on his throne. Jesus still reigns. The king rules sovereignly, reigns over all. Charles Spurgeon, after experiencing one of the greatest griefs that he himself ever experienced in the ministry, he was in a large room that seated 10,000 people packed to the gills to hear Spurgeon preached and some idiot yelled fire and people were trampled to death and it was a deep grief to Charles Spurgeon. He fell into a great melancholy, but in the midst of that, that very week, he said this, No man can take this joy from me, that Jesus Christ, the King, lives and reigns and triumphs, and that he shall surely come to judge the quick and the dead. Amen. But there's more. Point number two, briefly. The joy of praying in the King's own name. the joy of praying in the King's own name. In verses 23 to 24, Jesus, he turns to another great blessing and benefit, that citizens of his kingdom, they have this as their own. It's not just that their sorrow is gonna be transformed into joy and to never be taken from them. It's that they now have the right to petition God the Father in Jesus' own name. So look with me at verse 23. He says, 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. Well, first of all, the day there, the day that he's talking about, is the last day. But like we said earlier, when Jesus died and rose from the dead, that day, that last day, that eschaton was sort of pulled forward, right? It was stretched all the way through the church age. So that the day, the eschaton, is really everything from Jesus's resurrection and ascension to his second coming, which means that we are living in it right now. We're living in the end times right now. They began with Jesus's resurrection and ascension. It's been stretched forward all the way to Jesus's resurrection and ascension, so we're in it now. So what he says is that in these final verses, what he says here is true of us as well. So what is it? What is true of us? Well, in verse 23, he says that in that day, so in these last days that we're living in, you will ask nothing of me." In other words, once I ascend into heaven, I'm not gonna be here personally with you. Instead, you're gonna ask the Father in my name. Now that language, that language of praying in the name of Jesus, so familiar to us that we probably, we probably fail to see what a big deal it really is. But it's huge. It's huge. I mean, it's definitely not taking the phrase, in Jesus' name, and then tacking that on to the end of prayers. That's not at all what Jesus is talking about. We do that, and I think it's a good thing that we do that. But in fact, I think this is fascinating. Not a single prayer recorded for us in the entire Bible actually ends with the words, in Jesus' name, or anything like it. So it's not just words, right? It's not a formula that he's giving here. It's a whole theological machinery that's operating inside our prayers. So what is that machinery? What does it mean to pray in Jesus's name? Well, it's a whole multi-layered thing. And it won't take long here at the end, but I'm gonna give you all of the layers. First of all, to pray in Jesus's name means to pray as a believer in Jesus. You're coming into the presence of God, trusting in, relying upon Jesus as your Savior and as your Lord. Secondly, to pray in Jesus' name is to come before God on Jesus' kingly authority and by his merit. So on his authority and by his righteous merit. You come into the throne of God and you say, I am here not because of me or else I would die. I'm here because of Him and His bloodshed for me. Third, to pray in Jesus' name is to pray according to His character. In other words, to pray like He would pray, to pray for the things that He would pray for. the ancient world to act in the name of another person, it was to act as they would act. So we represent Jesus when we pray in His name. We pray the kinds of prayers that Jesus prays and would pray. So that means, how do we pray? Pray big, bold prayers, not just little, puny prayers all about me, me, me, me, me. But pray big, bold, let thy kingdom come type of prayers. We serve a big God. We serve a big Jesus who is enthroned in heaven at the Father's right hand as King of kings and Lord of lords, Lord of the universe, and who desires us, commands us even, to come to him and to ask him as our king, to ask him to do things. Let's do that as individuals, as a church. Let us pray. Our King, our Lord Jesus, we praise you as the enthroned divine Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, Savior of the world, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our Lord God, we want to pray big bold prayers. Lord, we want to pray that you would act in this world to bring all the glory to yourself. So, Father, we ask that you would cause us here at Dayspring to be a local church that, yes, looks forward to the day when all of our griefs and all of our sorrows will be turned to joy. but in the meantime seeks to see others brought to that joy, to the joy of knowing you as Lord and Savior and King. Make us lights, make us witnesses. We pray all of that in King Jesus' marvelous and royal name, amen. Please stand together. Be sure to greet one another and remember that here tomorrow we will be hosting a funeral for Arwick Graw and to be able to minister encouragement and comfort to his grieving family during this time of loss. We'll have viewing beginning at 10.30, funeral service beginning at 11 here in this room. a luncheon following the service in the fellowship hall, and then for any who are going out to the graveside, the Austin Police Department will be escorting us beginning at 1.15 p.m. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.