Take your Bibles with me and turn to John chapter 16. John 16, while you're turning, I will admit that since I've last been here, I have been in other countries and time zones and continents and states, but there is no place like home. So good to see your faces. And we trust that the Lord Jesus will meet with us because we've gathered together in his name. Rick read John 16, 16 through 33. Let me just introduce by book ending, reading the first two verses in the last verse of the passage in John 16, beginning at 16, Jesus says, a little while and you will no longer behold me. and a little while and you will see me. And some of his disciples therefore said to one another, what is this thing he is telling us a little while and you will not see me. And then again, in a little while you will see me. And then verse 33, these things I have spoken to you that in me, you may have peace in the world. You have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that wherever we meet in your name, you are with us. We think of how you were with the 12 in the upper room in Jerusalem, and we pray that you would be with us in this upper room here in Holland. May we sense your presence. May you speak, and may we have ears to hear. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. In October of 2017, last year, Pastor John Heaney of the Grace Fellowship Church in Bremen, Indiana, got the news that his dear wife, Josie, had cancer. But they had hoped that chemo could gain remissions, and God willing, give him many more years with his beloved. And thankfully, the spring of this year, 2018, brought an encouraging nosedive in those cancer numbers and brought the hope that the dragon cancer had been caged. And there was a festive late April wedding of their daughter, Julie. But then in June, there was the coming of the escape of the cruel raging of that dragon cancer. And then just this Wednesday evening at 8, 12 p.m., John texted us at the end of our prayer meeting, quote in the text, She is with the Savior and Lord now, never more to suffer, period. At 737 tonight, period. All is well, period. Then the next morning, Thursday morning, John wrote in a broadcasted email, Last night, the Lord received my dearest on earth into glory all through his gracious work of salvation, sorrowing and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Let me ask you, how can this be? Losing his dearest on earth and then divulging all is well. How can this be? At the same time, he says, sorrowing and rejoicing. How? Well, our passage for this hour, as we're hiking through the gospel of John and we pick up here in chapter 16, 16 through 33, and you notice this passage climaxes with those words, in the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Well, this passage helps us to understand how one can simultaneously sorrow and rejoice, and how all can be well even in such circumstances, even at the deathbed of one's bride, and even in the troubles that we have brought to this hour. So, come on with me. Let's unpack this passage. Five main headings. You see them before you. Come on with me to the first of five. And that is the little while time frame in 16 through 20. The little while time frame. Let's get our bearings here. Remember, it's the upper room. It's crucifixion eve. Jesus is hosting his last supper with his students. Soon he's going to take them on a field trip to the Garden of Gethsemane. It's been a three-year seminary experience for these disciples. That's going to come to an abrupt end because, well, the class treasurer, Judas, is going to betray the master. And once Jesus is handed over, there's going to be the triggering of a drama that's going to lead Jesus to Caiaphas' courtyard. There'll be a trial. And then to Pilate's porch, there'll be a declaration of crucify him. He'll be taken to a pillar where he'll be scourged. He'll hang on a cross and he'll be buried in a tomb. And so here in verse 16, Jesus says, a little while, and you'll no longer see me. And again, in a little while, you will see me. And then in verse 17, the disciples say, what is this little while he speaks of? A little while you won't see me because I go to the Father. In verse 18, they say, a little while, he says. What is he talking about? In verse 19, Jesus says, are you deliberating together? When I say, a little while you'll not see me, and then in a little while you'll see me. That phrase, a little while, it's used seven times in that little section. It's the Greek word mikron, or micro, a little while. What is this little while that he is speaking about when you won't see me? What is he talking about? Well, there are two options regarding the little while he's referring to. The first would be, the little while from Good Friday entombment to Resurrection Sunday appearances. Little while, you won't see me. From the entombment than to the resurrection. It'll just be a little while. That's one view of what Jesus means when he says, a little while. You think about that, that little while, it's about, oh, 40 hours between the entombment and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Jesus says in verse 20, truly I say to you, you'll weep and you'll lament, but the world will rejoice You'll grieve, but your grief will be turned to joy. Do you think that's what it means in a little while? Well, you look at the gospel of what happens in the next few hours, and you say, that's a perfect match. Think of the experience of Mary Magdalene that's described in the 20th chapter. We even sang about it. See Mary weeping. Mary had tears. And for a little while, she grieved and she wept. She was with the women as Jesus carried the cross up Calvary. She wept, no doubt, as He was on the cross, wept at the tomb. Even Sunday morning, she wept in the garden. But her weeping and her grieving was what? Was short-lived. Because she saw the Master. The stone had been rolled away. Jesus said to her, And he, in saying that, she responded back, Rabboni. And she was filled with joy. So in a little while, you won't see me. In a little while, you'll see me again. That was really the experience of the men, the disciples in the upper room as well. They had seen Jesus taken. They had seen Him crucified. And they were grieving and cowering in the upper room. But then they saw Him again. And they were transformed. A little while you'll not see me, and a little while you'll see me again. That's what Luke tells us in Luke 24, 26. It says, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. And it speaks of the joy that filled their hearts and how even on the road to Emmaus, when the disciples saw Him, their hearts burned within. And this all, when they saw Him again, it kicked off a season of intensified teaching. Yeah, He taught them on the road to Emmaus. He opened the Scriptures to their mind. And then after that, after they saw Him again, there was the ascension. And after the ascension, Jesus went up. He came at Pentecost. He brought the Spirit by way of the outpouring. And there were tongues, and the Spirit brought them great joy. And throughout that age, they saw Jesus' presence in a new way. Paul saw him in Acts chapter 9 on the Damascus road. And when Cornelius had his house, Jesus visited with tongues of fire, there was great joy. So they saw him after a little while, after he died at the tomb. And then he rose again. And after that little while, they saw him again. That's one way of interpreting the passage. A little while, you won't see me. A little while, you'll see me again. There's another interpretation that would say, a little while being referred to? Well, that's from the first coming of Christ and His dying and being entombed to the second coming of Christ when they will see, when we will see Him. It says in Revelation 1-7, every eye shall see Him. From the ascension when they last see Him, going up into heaven, When will we see him again? When he returns. A little while you'll not see me, verse 17, because I go to the Father. Try to fit that one on. Think that's the little while that's being referred to? Because Jesus does say in the upper room there, in John chapter 14, one through three, Jesus does say there, let not your hearts be troubled. For I go to the Father, in the Father's house are many rooms. I go there to prepare a place for you And so we say, yes, that can be a match. But wait a minute, you say, Pastor Mark, a little while? We can see a little while. 40 hours, that's a little while. But how can 2,000 plus years be a little while? Well, doesn't Peter say, with the Lord a day is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years is as a day? In a sense, in regard to eternity, 2,000 years is what? but just a little while. So which option should we take? He says, in a little while, you won't see me, and then in a little while, you'll see me again. Well, I believe, as some commentators want to just say it is the 40-hour little while, I think we're wise to take in view both. that commentators like Matthew Henry and Alexander McLaren and J.C. Ryle, Ryle himself says this, it is too confining to narrow and restrict it to the first century alone as little while. The fact is that we too are those who receive benefit from Jesus' upper room discourse, right? And the idea of our longing to see him again That too has significance. So I believe we are wise to consider that the timeframe involved involves both returns. His return at his resurrection, and then his return at the parousia, his second coming. Return 30 AD, but return at a date yet to be in the future. In fact, William Hendrickson comments this way. Calvary has no meaning apart from Easter. an Easter nun from Pentecost, which in turn points forward to the coming at the last day. So what is this? This is what some commentators say is a scriptural phenomenon of prophetic foreshortening. That means that there was a shortening apparently between two great events that take place in the future. Think with me of the idea of seeing, as you're coming toward the Rocky Mountains, a great mountain range, and you see two big mountain peaks. They're just off the horizon. And we're going to come to them. We drive many, many miles. Many, many miles. And finally we come and realize that, oh, here is the first mountain. But then we need to drive through a long stretch of miles of prairie before we get to the second mountain. Though both appear to be simultaneous and together. And so it is in the Scriptures. Oftentimes when there is discussion about what will take place in the future, there are two events that are very distant in reality, but appear in the prophecy to be very, very near, but they are related events. Take, for example, Matthew chapter 24. It's the Olivet Discourse. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is speaking about two great events that will happen in the future. He speaks about how in the future there will be the fall of Jerusalem. That will be when the great temple stones will fall to the ground. That will be in 70 A.D. That happened very soon. But then as you read through the prophecy, it comes to not just the falling of Jerusalem, but it speaks of the falling of creation. When the heavens are rent and the stars of the sky fall, Well, Jesus is prophesying about these two events, mountain peak events, the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the world. But in reality, there are 2,000 years between the two. And likewise, I believe that is what Jesus is saying here. when he speaks of this little while. The little while, yes, returns, refers to those 40 hours and he will be seen again. But it also has to do with the little while of his departing and then we will see him again. And this is medicine not only for those who were in the upper room there in Jerusalem in 30 AD. It's also medicine for us here in our upper room in In a little while we grieve and we sorrow, but we will see Him again. Both of these visits are medicine for God's people in all ages. In fact, it's the kind of thing that Paul uses when in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 8, He was going through tribulation. He was in prison. He was about to be taken to court before Caesar. And he was going to be martyred, probably have his head severed and fall into a basket. And in those gloomy times, Paul refers to this same thing. He says to his protege, Timothy, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, according to my gospel. Just as it was gloomy for those 40 hours, and they saw Him again. So Paul is saying, it's gloomy now, and Jesus is gone from us. But we will see Him again. And so we consider that Jesus' return transforms our grief into joy. His first return when he was gone at the resurrection is a down payment for his final return at the parousia. So that is the little while time frame, short term, long term, both in view. Come on, secondly with me now to the childbirth illustration. The childbirth illustration, 21 and 22. Jesus says, a woman in labor has pain because her hour has come. Is that true, ladies? When you're going through that process of transition, I've heard women describe that labor pain as being constantly punched in the back or constantly stabbed in the abdomen. or suffering strangling exhaustion. I still remember the first child who was born to us, our Jared, and how I teared up watching the agony that my wife was going through. And I feared that I was going to lose my bride. In the process, she said, never again, never again. But, as the Lord Jesus speaks of it, when the child comes, the pain is forgotten, there is great joy. I still remember how Diane, a few hours later, having held the child, having nursed the child, she looked at me with a sparkle and Orion says, let's do it again. She was desiring to have another because the joy of seeing the child evaporated the pain. And even when we had our second child, Calvin, there was this photo that was placed in the delivery room focusing on Jared, the child, which was the hope of going through this childbirth process again. It's like Hebrews 12 too. For the joy set before Jesus, He endured the cross. And so look at verse 22 there. Jesus says, therefore, you will have grief, and you will weep, and you will lament, just like a woman goes through griefing and lamenting. Remember how Peter denied Jesus during those 40 hours, remember? Now he wept bitterly. And how John stood by on the cross watching Jesus grieving, and Mary Magdalene sorrowed. We could say the whole collective bride of Christ during those hours when He died and He was in the tomb, the whole collective bride of Christ, that little group of disciples, they were in childbirth-writhing agony during the time of cross and on the tomb. It's hard going through transition, isn't it, ladies? I remember before our first was born, we went to Lamas childbirthing classes. And they told us in those classes how bad it was going to be. So that once the birth processing came, we would have the sense of encouragement that, okay, these are things you will expect. You can make it through, you can endure. And that's what Jesus was doing in the upper room. He was giving to his little seminary class some Lamaze birthing classes saying, you can get through this because your grieving will be replaced by rejoicing. And we know that's exactly what happened. Look at verse 22. Jesus says, I'll see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. He's blowing on these guys in the upper room. They're soon going to be the smoking flax. And lest their faith would die out, He's blowing on the little sparks of their faith and saying, hang on. And we find that The very thing happened that when Jesus rose again, Peter, remember Peter when he was on the Sea of Galilee, he's fishing and a man shouts and the boat is filled to sinking and Peter says, it's the Lord. And he who had wept so bitterly, now he's filled with joy. The Lord has risen and all the sorrow was evaporated and no one would take their joy away. because the Holy Spirit came to them as the helper whom Jesus promised in the upper room would come. And even then at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came with power to the point where in Acts chapter 5, when Peter himself, remember, how he had been flogged with John for the sake of the gospel. But it says after they were flogged and their backs were scarred like railroad tracks, they came back to the church and it says they what? They rejoiced. Who gave them that joy? The Spirit had given it. They rejoiced because they had been counted worthy to suffer for His name. You see, they had these rivers. If anyone believes in Jesus, there will be rivers of water flowing within them, satisfying their thirst with joy. And so, we ask the question, how in the world Look in John Heaney now. It's been a long way. Jesus is gone and he's going through tribulation and sorrow and he writes to us that his dearest on earth has been taken away from him. And he still writes, all is well. It's like peace like a river. Where does he get that river? The Spirit flows in him, supporting him during this time of grief and sorrow. I was even talking with Pam, one of our ladies this week, and I was saying, I don't know, Pam, what I would do if Diane would die now. Oh, if I could really say in my heart, all is well, just in the past few weeks as John, our friend, has gone through this. I've watched my wife in the morning. Her arm goes up and down as she breathes on the bed. I wake up, I watch. And I just wonder, what would it be like if the arm stopped and she wasn't breathing anymore? And the sense of sorrow, I don't know if I could breathe. And Pam said to me, well, I think of Corrie Ten Boom, whose dad said, you know, Corrie, I don't give you the ticket to get on the train. I don't give it to you way beforehand so you have the ticket and you're all confident. But once you step on the train, I hand you your ticket. And then you have what you need for the trip. And likewise, she was saying, Pastor, you may feel like right now that you don't have what you need to make that trip to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but God is going to give you what you need like the Lord has given it to John Heaney. But you know John, John not only has the joy, that sense of joy now through the Holy Spirit, there is a sense in which John has divulged to us a longing to see something. To see his Josie with Jesus. Because John had written sorrowing and rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. He hopes for what? He hopes for the glory of God, which is what? He hopes for the second coming of Jesus. He hopes for the day when he will see Jesus coming, 1 Thessalonians 4, and his saints with him. And he's longing to see it. It's the joy that he yearns for. And until then, he is what? Still, profoundly, still in the pains of childbirth. till salvation be completed. And that's really the lot of us as we wait for Jesus to return. Remember in Acts chapter 1 and verse 9, it speaks of Jesus. All of His disciples, they saw Him. They go up and He ascended in a cloud, it says. And it says that they looked longingly. They gazed intently. They gazed, could we say sadly? He's gone. And two angels came and said, man, why are you looking to the sky? For he'll come back in the same way just as he left. Isn't that what's considered to be the Christian hope, the great hope of the Christian? It says in Titus 2.13, we look for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our God and our Savior. That's the second ultimate mountain peak that we look for in life. the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But profoundly, till then, we are like a woman in childbirth. Isn't that true? With the suffering that we go through, tribulation, we grieve, we weep, we lament. It even says in Romans 8.22, we yet groan and suffer pains in childbirth with creation. as we await the adoption of our sons. And we're in childbirth processes now. John Haney is going through it right now. And people who suffered throughout the church age, this long waiting period, a little while, we wait for Him to return. And John will be able to see what Josie sees now. Josie's with Jesus in paradise. And John can say, knowing the promise, a little while, you'll see me again. Ultimate Second Coming. John, you can hang on. You can carry your crosses and your losses till then because you will have perfect joy. And John, once you get there and you see Josie and you refer to all of the sorrows and troubles and tribulation, you will have a sparkle in your eye and say, hey, let's do it again. We do it again. We endure all that again for the joy that we experience now of being there with Jesus forever. That's what this childbirth illustration is about. thirdly, to the interim age provisions. The interim age provisions, that's in 23 through 29. See, Jesus ensures that his trouble-hearted disciples will be adequately equipped during this little while, while he is gone. wants to make sure that they're equipped till they see Him again. I think what's chiefly in view is the age between the first return of Christ when He returned at His resurrection on Resurrection Day and His ascension. He came in Pentecost. He returned this first time that He came. But also, I think there's that interim age between that first and that last return of Jesus at the parousia. Because it says in 23a and 26a, in that day, in an hour's coming, so during this interim period, there's equipment that He is going to give to His disciples. He encourages them with this. The first provision He gives to them is plain speaking revelation. I'm going to give you plain speaking revelation. Look at verse 25. I've spoken to you in figurative language, in riddles, in parables, but in hours coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I'll plainly tell you of the Father." And you realize that before Jesus' resurrection, He spoke to them in the Gospels, in figurative language, in parables, even in the upper room. He washed their feet in a symbolic way, and said, what I've done for you, you are to do to one another. And they, what? Kind of figurative. And then he spoke to them about the vine and the branches there in the upper room. He spoke, I go to my father's house. In my father's house are many rooms. And they scratched their head, what? Where are you going? But you realize then, once Jesus came back, once he was raised from the dead, and they began speaking to them on the road to Emmaus, and the Spirit came in Pentecost, it was an explosion of knowledge. Scales were falling from people's eyes, like it says in Luke 24, 25 and following, there on the road to Emmaus, where Jesus had risen from the dead. He's talking to these men. He's expounded them the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures. And Jesus says, as He opened the Scriptures to their mind, O foolish men and slow to believe in all that the prophets have written. What do you think Jesus talked about there on the road to Emmaus? I think He talked about the Passover lamb in the Old Testament, which is kind of a figurative riddle. What did that mean? He says, I am the Passover lamb. You smear my blood that I shed on the cross on the forehead of your soul, and the wrath of God passes over you. Very clearly things came into focus. I am the lamb who was slaughtered in Isaiah 53. So we think of this. This plain speaking that took place from the point of Jesus' resurrection, now through the church age, in comparison to the Gospels, we read the Gospels, many figures, sometimes hidden things, but you compare the veiled Gospels with the clear and crystal clear logical statements of, say, the Epistles. I mean, what's the Gospel? Romans road chapters 1 through 6 isn't that crystal clear on now you are speaking plainly Lord or What about the second coming Jesus had talked in the Olivet discourse about? What's this the fall of Jerusalem combined with but here in first Thessalonians 4 Jesus gives a clear picture now you're speaking plainly the heavens are gonna rend and the Trump or the archangel will sound and Jesus will descend and we'll all, oh now you're speaking very plainly. And so we see now, isn't it true, truth we understand, it's not shadows in the dark anymore. Now we see doctrine like at high noon, everything is clear and light now. So the interim age provision is plain speaking revelation I'm going to give you. But also, there's ask in my name mediation. Ask in my name mediation. Look at verse 23. Jesus says, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you. Yeah, well, I'm gone. Verse 24, till now, you've asked nothing in my name. But now when you ask in my name, you will receive it that your joy may be full. See, after Jesus left, remember he raised from the dead and he was ascended. Where did he go when he was ascended? By the way, it said that his hands were outstretched the last they saw him. He was blessing them. Where did he go? Well, Hebrews 1 says, he ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high. Oh, what's he doing up there? Well, it says in Hebrews chapter 4 that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, one who can sympathize with us, and now we can draw near to him with boldness to the throne of grace. We might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So where is Jesus gone during this interim age from his ascension to his second coming? Well, he's at the right hand of the majesty on high. And there he is applying his finished work. And because he is there as our high priest, we have a representative there for us. And now we, when we pray in Jesus' name, We have powerful leverage in heaven. During this interim time, when we may have weeping and sorrow and difficulty, we can take our sorrows to Him, and we can know that the Father hears us. See, praying in Jesus' name is something that the disciples never did. No one ever did that up to that point. But once He ascended, He was gone from us. Now we have equipment. Father, You know my needs, and I pray it in Jesus' name. And you talk about leverage that we have during our times of sorrows and childbirth. No, great leverage. In Jesus' name, direct access. The story is told of a, during the Civil War era, there was a Union soldier, tattered. He had come to the White House and he had a desperate request for the president. And as he got to the edges of the White House and he wanted to get into the President, the secretaries and the guards refused to let the President be interrupted by him. So he sat, weeping in an outer hallway. Imagine the sorrow of the man. But then this small boy came by and asked, what's the matter? And the soldier said, I can't get to him. So the small boy took the soldier by the hand and the small boy walked him past secretaries and armed guards and down the hall into this oval office where, when the door was open, Abraham Lincoln sat. And he says, what do you want, son? And he said, daddy, this man wants to talk to you. Direct access. Weeping sorrowful and that's us we have direct access now during this interim time we can pray and Jesus name Says in verse 23 and he'll give it to you Now, that doesn't mean that everything that we ask for, like a rabbit's foot, we get anything we want, because if we're asking in Jesus' name, then we're also praying in keeping with His nature. And His nature is to always give to us. Doesn't God cause all things to work for our good? We may ask something that's not for our good. We may ask that our wife would live 15 more years than the Lord knows. Doesn't He? What's our good? He always gives us what is best for us. In fact, one of the commentators I read, Richard Phillips, said that one of his wife's friends was dying of cancer. And she died, and the process went more quickly than others thought. And just before she died, she had written a letter to Richard Phillips' wife. And the question came, are you disappointed with God's allowing you to suffer like this and then soon die? And she wrote this just before her death, no. No, God has worked in my heart to reveal the depth of his love and care for me during this sorrow and has given a sense of the holy privilege to draw near to him through suffering for which I am truly grateful." So her joy was full even in that process. And I have word from John about Josie who said, John, I am ready. I know we could go through all kinds of chemo and all kinds of extraordinary, but I am ready to go home and to be with my Jesus." That's interim age provision. But come on with me, fourthly, to the father love revelation. The father love revelation, that's in verses 27, then 30 through 32. lest we misunderstand the Son's mediation and think that somehow Jesus at the right hand of the Majesty on high has a twist the arm of the Father to unwillingly almost love and have affection for sinner disciples. Jesus divulges, oh no, no, no, that's not the case. He divulges the Father's deep love for us there. at the throne. That is a love that's vast beyond all measure. We sing, look at verse 27, for the father himself loves you because you have loved me. Look at that. The father, the father in heaven, I go to repair a place for you. He himself loves you because you have loved me and you have believed that I have come from the father. Think of the Civil War example and Lincoln in the office. Do you think Lincoln detested his soldiers? No, once the guy came in and was ushered in by the boy, Lincoln loved his soldiers who fought for the cause. You read the Gettysburg Address. He says, they, they gave the last full measure of their devotion. So when we pray to the Father, you think, you think the Father detests us who are the disciples? He loves us. He knows that we as disciples filled with the Spirit aren't able to give devotion to His Son. But I know what you're thinking as you think of here. You think of, how could the Father possibly love me because I love Jesus? Really? You may sit in the burgundy chair and think, how much do I really love Jesus? God sees how fickle I am. God sees how trustworthy and how unreliable I am. God loving me because I love Jesus? No, God wouldn't love such a traitor as I. Ever think like that? Like I do. But you know what? God does love such traitors as us. Look what it says in verse 32. Jesus says, to these 11 in the upper room, they're all going to become traitors, aren't they, in the upcoming hours. They're all going to leave. Jesus knows this when he says, but the Father loves you because you have loved me. Jesus says, the hour is coming for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave me alone. That's what's going to happen after they leave the Upper Room and go out in the Garden of Gethsemane. They're not going to stand with Jesus. Mark 14, 22 says that they all fell away. They all left Him and fled. They were all traitors. J.C. Rowe says this about these guys, whom it says the Father loved because they have loved Jesus. Rowe says this, These very men forsook Him before the morning sun arose, Yet weak as their graces were, they were genuine. So Ryle says, let us take great comfort in this truth, that the father can see reality under infirmity and casts out none who come to him. We feel like, what is my love to Jesus? What is my faith in Jesus? It's such little faith. But the father doesn't despise little faith. It says about him in Psalm 103, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who love him, who fear him, for he knows how they are formed. He remembers that we are but dust. He looks at us in our performance, and he still can say, yeah, but you've loved my son. Spurgeon says this. He does not look on our black side. He looks at our bright side. It's interesting how the parable of the sheep and the goats. In that day, I will say, when I was hungry, you gave. When I was thirsty, you gave. When I was a prisoner, you visited me. When, Lord? When did you see anything good in me? He picks it out. He picks out things that are good in us. He says, great job. He is the most magnanimous of fruit inspectors. On the last day, did you love my son? Oh, you think I'm going to get a white glove treatment? But God the Father passes by the spoiled and the bruised of our fruit and He praises the plump and the prized of our fruit. Kind of like my grandson. He comes to our house maybe on a Tuesday. He's there at the house all day and things go on all day. And maybe with Richard, he's got this littler brother, Andy. Richard loves to build Legos, exotic structures. But Andy keeps coming by and he pushes and he shoves and he knocks things off. And Richard huffs and puffs and is frustrated with Andy all day. But then at the end of the day, At the end of the day, Austin, my son, says, hey, how'd Richard do today? How'd Richard do today? I'm going to give an evaluation, a little fruit inspection today. A couple weeks ago, I said, Richard had a great day today. He was a great man. Because there was a time when Andy had fallen on one of his structures. And I came to him and I said, Andy, you're just trying to aggravate Richard, aren't you? And I was going to go after Andy. But Richard said this, Papa, Papa, he didn't mean to do it. It was just an accident. And that's what I reported to Austin about. How do you do today? Ah, a grandfather has compassion. So the Lord has compassion. You, you're here. You're traitors just like me. You're traitors. But still it's true. The Father loves you. You have the Spirit. And all the fruit may not be what it could be, but it's fruit. It's love of the Lord Jesus. As it says in Hebrews 6, 10, he is not unjust to forget your work and love that you have shown in his name. Your father loves you, disciples. While you're going through this birthing process, this weeping at times, discouraging times, he loves you. But just lastly, come on me lastly. Lastly, to the peace amidst tribulation possession, the peace amidst tribulation possession. Jesus says, these things I've spoken to you that you may have peace and the world you have tribulation. we do now, tribulation. And this is the tribulation we encounter it. In fact, the word tribulation is the Greek word flipsis, which means to beat or to flail or to cause separation. I took our car to the car wash and I went to the vacuum and I pulled the car mat out and I beat that car mat. I beat it because separating the dirt from the mat. And really, that's what the enemy seeks to do in this world. The world seeks to beat the heart out of us, beat the love of Christ out of us, make us despair. In this world, Jesus says, you will have much tribulation. You'll get the snot spiritually beat out of you. Jesus says, but take courage. I will overcome the world. You will have peace amidst tribulation. Isn't that encouraging? Tribulation, but we will have peace. There is a painting that Leon Morris, one of the commentators, speaks about. A painting, it's a beautiful painting, of a coastline. And it is stormy, rocky shoreline, waves crashing, foam flying. And there's a ship wrecked up against the rocks. It's breaking up. And in the picture you see bodies are tumbling out of the ship into the cauldron. And you see that in the foreground of the picture, high up on a rock, in the cleft of a rock, is a dove nestled very calmly in the middle of that storm. And Morris says that dove is an emblem of the Christian who is immune to the storms of life because the rock of ages has secured a refuge and so we can have peace. In this world, you will have much tribulation. Be in good cheer. I've overcome the world. And that's why John Heaney is able to write to us that my dearest on earth has been taken. John's dearest on earth has just tumbled into death, taken from his side. But what does John write in his text? All is well. How can this be, John? Because he hides in the cleft of the rock of the Lord Jesus. I feel like I could be like Mrs. Job recommended. Curse God and die. You took this from me. But John has gotten the ticket during the time of need And even though the world would scheme to get us to curse God through our tribulation to separate us from the love of God, Jesus spoke in the upper room. Jesus, who was about to have all the demonic hordes. of the world, assault Him in Gethsemane, assault Him on the cross. And He wouldn't finish His work, but Jesus finished His work. He overcame them all for the joy set before Him. So Jesus can now say, look, while I'm gone, while I'm gone, before you see me again, in this world you will have much tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. It's like the commander coming back after the victory has been accomplished, the decisive battle has been won, and he comes back and he rides back. Come on, we've got the cleanup work to do. Come on, he says. Victory is assured. The decisive battle has already been waged and won. Jesus comes back to people like John. He even says, I've gone to prepare a place for you. and your dearest on earth, it's just over the next hill, I say to you here, things that you're going through, birth pains you're experiencing here, you feel you can't hang on now, take courage, enjoy peace. Because we suffer tribulation now. This world is seeking to beat the love out of us, the love to Christ out of us. Beat our courage and our peace out of us. And why does He do it? The devil is an accuser. He accuses you. What a traitor you are, right? You're experiencing that? Or, sometimes the devil comes and he also tells you, like in this world, You're a failure. Your life is worth nothing. What have you accomplished in this world? You're a failure. Well, think of Jesus as far as the world is concerned. Was He a winner? Jesus' life was the life of a loser in the eyes of the world. He died as a poor martyr hanging on a cross. We should say back to the world, I'm a loser. I'm nothing. I'm failing. Failure by whose definition? Success is following hard after the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, even the thing that we might want to be most concerned about is the concern of a smiling world that would seek us to seek its smiles. And we would let go of our love to Christ because of a love for the world. Sometimes tribulation is the very best thing for us to cling to our Savior instead of to cling to the world. So the reality is, beloved, in this world, we will have much tribulation. We can be of good cheer and be at peace because the Lord Jesus has triumphed over the world. We are like you've ever seen or read of in times of history. There would be a beleaguered fortress, a citadel of people who are behind a wall, and the enemy on the outside is trying to cut off all the sources of water to starve them out and dehydrate them out. I said, the world is trying to do to us, to get us to come out and to recant our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. But we have in the courtyard of our citadel here this deep well that runs so far deep that we'll never run out of our source of peace and encouragement and joy. We have something the world knows nothing of. So, beloved, though we are going through tribulations and discouragements, whether it be the loss of a dear one, or some kind of a temptation, or a persecution in a politically correct world, whatever it is that we're going through, we can be of good cheer, for Christ has overcome the world. And if you're here, apart from the Lord Jesus, and you say, I don't have that well in my soul, Jesus said, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, from His inmost being will flow rivers of living water. Come on! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.