What confidence do you have that the world will not overcome the church? Stay tuned, Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition is next. Welcome to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind with author and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul is also the Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching at St. Andrews, a Reformed congregation in Sanford, Florida. The world has no place for Christ and His righteousness. A quick historical survey of world history will show that the Church of Jesus Christ is becoming nearly non-existent throughout Europe in what used to be the Roman Empire. In view of those facts, what assurances do you have that the Church will one day be triumphant? What confidence do you have that Jesus can keep us from being overtaken by the world? Today on Renewing Your Mind, as we continue our study of the Gospel of John, Dr. Sproul will remind us of the forewarning and promise Jesus gave His disciples before He went away. Here's Dr. Sproul. I'm reading John chapter 16. Verses 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. So they said, therefore, what is this that he says, a little while? We don't know what he is saying. 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 to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. As a woman when she is in labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore, you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice. and your joy no one 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 will receive that your joy may be full. Now 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. and I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you 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.' The disciple said, I'm seeing now you are speaking plainly. and using no figure of speech, and now we're sure that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you, and by this we believe that you came forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do you now believe? Indeed, the hour is coming. Yea, he has now come, and you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone. And yet I'm not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I've 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." Again now, Jesus gives us a time frame about things that are about to take place, and this time frame befuddles the disciples at first, because he says something to them that on the surface sounds almost like a contradiction. He said, in just a little while, you're not going to see me anymore. But then in a little while, you will see me." Now, scholars have debated as to what Jesus was referring to. Was he talking about after he goes to heaven and people don't see him anymore, but then he's made manifest in power and glory on the day of Pentecost? Or is he saying, in just a little while, in a few weeks, I'm going to be leaving this planet and you won't see him again until I come at the end of the age? Those are options, but I don't think they're good ones. I think it's much more simple than that. I think that our Lord is saying, in a very short time, you're not going to be able to see me, because where I'm going, you're not going to be allowed to be. And He's referring to His death. You stop and think about it. This discourse is going on, and it's one of the most intimate, revealing, searching conversations that our Lord ever had with His disciples. And yet, in less than 24 hours from the time that Jesus is making this pronouncement to them, He will be completely unavailable to them. Because in the first place, He'll be dead. And in the second place, after His death, they won't even be able to view the body, because the body will be consigned into a cave, a sepulcher, that will keep from the disciples' presence even a glimpse of His corpse. Yet a little while, you won't see me. But a little while after that, you will see me. Can our Lord be talking about anything else than His impending death and His resurrection? I think that's clear, particularly when Jesus takes the time to elaborate here and talks not only about the little while in which you see and the little while in which you don't see, what you don't see then you will see and so on. He talks about the radical change in their emotions that will take place in this tiny time frame of hours and days. Well, first, the disciples, you know, they're confused. What's he talking about? A little while this, he won't see me. A little while again, he will see me. Because I go to the Father. What is this that he means, a little while? We don't know what he's saying. And so Jesus says, he knew that they were designed to ask him these questions. They said, are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, a little while, and you will see me? And again, a little while, you won't. And if you will, most assuredly, I say to you, now here's the point I want you to get, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice." Notice the contrast that he gives. In that first little while, after that little while, when you won't see me anymore, this is how you're going to respond. You're going to be sobbing. You're going to be torn apart with lamentation. You're going to be tearing your garments. You're going to be crying, woe is me, while all around you The world will rejoice. And Jesus is talking now about the supreme conflict, the conflict that has risen up against Him of the world, the flesh, and the devil, who can't wait for His blood to be spilled on the cross, who can't wait for that corpse to be thrown into the tomb. It'll be a time of jubilation for those in authority who have hated and plotted against Jesus these past three years. Jesus is saying, the world is going to be throwing their collective hats into the air tomorrow. But for you, grief, lament, tears, but catch it. for a little while. Beloved, that little phrase is used so often in Scripture to describe whatever pain, whatever sorrow, whatever grief we're called upon to endure in this life. Not only the unspeakable grief that the disciples had to experience when their Lord was taken from their midst, But every pain that we have endures for a little while. It may not seem like a little while. Ten minutes in an ice cream parlor is a little while. Ten minutes in the dentist chair is an eternity. So these little whiles can seem to be quite a long while when we are enduring them. but in terms of the plan and the calendar of God. The most enduring affliction, the most lengthy pain. I talked with a woman once, ministered to her just days before her death, who had been battling cancer for 10 years and she looked at me with tears going down her cheek and she said, R.C., she was a Christian, she said, I just can't take it anymore. Have you been there? It's one thing to hurt for a day, but for a month or six months or a year, and then that year turns into 10 years, all of your reserves, all of your strength seems to be taken away. And this woman had trusted God through that whole time, and she just finally said, I just can't take it anymore. And I reminded her that God would never make her take more than she could take. And within a couple of few days, the Lord took her home. took her away from the pain, away from the lament, to unspeakable joy. And so this is the promise that Jesus gives to his disciples, and he uses a simple analogy here, a common one in Scripture, one that's found throughout the pages of the Old Testament about the pain and the anguish that goes with childbirth. You will be sorrowful, Jesus says, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman when she's in labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she's given birth, she doesn't even remember the pain. For joy that a human being has been born into the world. Now you have sorrow, and I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy will be a kind of joy No one can take away from you. This is his farewell address. And he promises that in that day, they wouldn't have to be asking any more questions. In a very real sense, seminary ends the day you see the resurrected Christ. You don't need to ask any more questions. It's all there. where the final enemy has been conquered. When the final manifestation of the identity of Christ is demonstrated, who needs to ask any more questions? And he said, no longer will you have to come up to me and ask me to pray for this and pray for that and pray for this. But I'll tell you what, when you enter into the joy of your salvation, you'll be able to pray to the Father yourself. And the joy that you will experience will overflow. into those prayers. And he said, I've spoken to you so far in figurative language, but the time is coming when I won't speak that way anymore. I'll tell you plainly about the Father. And on that day, you will 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 love me, and you have believed that I came forth from God. This is irony, filled with irony. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world, and now I'm going to leave the world and go to the Father. This is the world that's going to rejoice in you. I'm leaving that world, I'm going to the Father, and the Father loves you because you believe. This is before they're all scattered, right? Disciples said, well, now you're speaking plainly. and using no figure of speech. Now we're sure that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you. And so by this we believe that you came forth from God." Now listen to Jesus' words. Sometimes our Lord's words drip with sarcasm. This is righteous indignation when He utters such words, but listen to what He says. Do you now believe? I mean, again, we don't get the inflection here. I have to believe the way he said, oh, oh, now, now you believe. Where have you been for the last three years? Where have you been when I've been telling you that the Son of Man has to go forth to die? But now you believe, do you? Well, let's see. Indeed, the hour is coming. The fact has already come that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone. Do you believe? Ours already struck on the clock that you're going to bail out. When you see the guards coming through the Garden of Gethsemane led by Judas, when you see those swords of the Roman soldiers being brandished in the moonlight, you're going to run for your lives, and you're going to leave me alone. The first year I was a Christian, we used to have prayer meetings every week and would sing these old hymns, you know, I can hear my Savior calling. Where He leads me, I will follow. And my soul would be filled with joy and thinking, yes, Lord, I'm yours. Wherever you want me to go, I'll go. The zeal that filled my chest in those days, I look back on to this day and think of all the places where He went that I didn't go, that I didn't want to go. all the times that he beckoned me to follow, and I went the other direction and left him alone. And this is what he says to his closest friends. My hour is here, and you're going to leave me alone. But I'm not alone, because the Father is with me. So our Lord himself had to say to his disciples, you're going to run, but the Father is going to stay with me. So I will not be alone. These things I've 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. You know, I had a breathtaking view this past week, something I've never experienced before. I was standing on top of the Acropolis in Athens right next to the Parthenon. And I looked out over the vista and I could see the ruins of the ancient Agora where Paul would enter preaching every day the gospel there in Athens. And then very close to where we were standing was this bald bear rock, this big long rock about as big as the nave here in the sanctuary that in ancient days had a temple on it to the god Ares, the god of war. equivalent to the Roman god Mars, and how Paul in Acts 17 stood on Mars Hill. And he said, I perceive that in all things you're religious. He's looking around, and so there's the temple to Athena. There are all these temples all over the place on the Acropolis, and Paul's pointing them out. He says, you even have your altar to the unknown God. But as you worship an ignorance, I declare to you in power." I had goosebumps standing there looking at that spot. I said, that's where the Apostle Paul confronted the philosophers of Athens and who were there, but the Stoics and the Epicureans. You've heard about the Stoics. They're the ones who said, everything is caused by material causes. We have no control over anything that takes place. The only control you have over anything in your life is how you respond to it. If you get hit by a truck, case hurrah, hurrah. The only way you can respond is whether you're going to let that defeat you or whether you're going to keep a stiff upper lip. And so the philosophy of the Stoics who were there on Mars Hill, they're telling the Apostle Paul and anyone who would listen, keep a stiff upper lip because there's nothing else you can do. The world is in control. And with the Stoics were the Epicureans, who were famous for their creative hedonism, where they said, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you will die, so you might as well have a good time tonight. Like Friedrich Nietzsche says, life is meaningless. Be courageous, because you might as well, because you're going to lose anywhere. That's called dialectical courage, courage that's irrational. Why should I have courage if my courage is meaningless? Why should I smile if my end is destruction? But Jesus isn't the good humor man, and Jesus isn't a Stoic, and Jesus isn't an Epicurean, and he certainly has nothing to do with Friedrich Nietzsche. He says to his disciples, be of good cheer. And let me give you the reason for that good cheer. I have overcome the world. I've beat it. The world, the flesh, the devil. I've taken everything they could throw at me. Just this past week, I think it was the Boston Red Sox beat another team, scored 25 runs. They didn't just eke out a victory in the last of the ninth. That was a slaughter. And it's not like Jesus barely edges out the world and the flesh and the devil. He crushes them under His feet by His blood. He is the triumphant King. And it's not going to look like that tomorrow afternoon, guys, when they take my cold, dead body down from the cross and throw it in the cave. But on Sunday morning, you're not going to have to ask me any more questions about who won. because I've overcome the world." That's the world that threatens to crush you in its grip every single minute of your life. That's the world that hurls insults, tribulations, pain, death, all of those things that take away the joy that should be ours in Christ. And Jesus says, cheer up. The world's gonna rejoice tomorrow. Wait till Sunday morning. And you won't have to ask me any more questions. Because you will know that I have overcome the world. That's why the apostle could say, we are more than conquerors. through Christ who loved us. Not because we have the power to beat the world, we don't. Not because inherently we have the strength to overcome Satan, we don't. But because He did it for us. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, Weekend Edition, with R. C. Sproul, reminding us why we can have full confidence that Jesus has overcome the world. What is Reformed Theology? Is it just another variation of Christianity? Many people simply dismiss Reformed theology because of its doctrine of predestination. But is there more to know? If you're looking for a resource that gives a fair and accurate explanation of Reformed theology and its biblical foundation, then let Dr. Sproul take you step-by-step through the 12-part CD teaching series entitled, What is Reformed Theology? Call now to get your copy for a donation of any amount. Our toll-free number 1-800-435-4343. Again, that's 1-800-435-4343. Or visit rymoffer.com. That's R-Y-M as in renewing your mind and the word offer dot com. That web address is for this week's special offer only. In the What Is Reform Theology series, Dr. Sproul offers an introductory overview of the distinctive doctrines that define Reform Theology, the heart of historical Protestant evangelicalism. Too often, people reduce Reform Theology to the five points of Calvinism. As true and biblical as they are, they don't tell the whole story. Don't settle for simplistic caricatures. Get the whole picture. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said that Reformed theology is nothing other than biblical Christianity. Again, the 12-part CD series, What Is Reform Theology? is available for your donation of any amount today. Call now to get your copy. 1-800-435-4343. Again, that's 800-435-4343. or visit rymoffer.com. That's R-Y-M as in Renew In Your Mind and the word offer.com. That will wrap up this Weekend Edition of Renewing Your Mind. Thank you for listening. Join us again next weekend as Dr. Sproul continues to take us through the Gospel of John. Until then, you can keep up with us at our Facebook page at facebook.com slash Ligonier. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition, the listener-supported radio outreach of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando, Florida. Yeah.