 The title of our sermon this morning is joy in the morning joy in the morning, and we are in John chapter 16 Verses 16 through 24, please forgive me. I'm a little under the weather this morning John chapter 16 verses 16 through 24 And we come to this text in John as we've been working verse by verse through the gospel of John and the Lord wants to reassure his Disciples he wants to reassure them and he's reassuring them before his Fateful destiny so to speak with across John chapter 16 verses 16 through 24 I'm reminded that's titled this morning came to me just thinking through this text this week from Psalm chapter 30 And Psalm 30 verses 4 and 5 David writes sing praise to the Lord you saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name For his anger is but for a moment his favor is for life Weeping may endure for a night But joy comes in the morning true and transcendent joy is Always within the sight of the genuine Christian right weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning We describe that joy as transcendent Because Christian joy isn't darkened by our Circumstances often it's Christian joy through your circumstances that is a mark of the people of God It's a mark of genuine joy Christian joy notice the title of the sermon joy in the morning. That's a play on words It's spelled MOU are in ing right James says count all joy when you fall into various trials One of the marks of genuine Christian joy is its Transcendent nature through adversity through difficulty through trial Joy through sorrow joy through pain It may be a weary some night It may be dark and difficult But as certainly as the light of morning breaks through the darkness of the night So may genuine true Christian joy break through by faith in Christ One author said that true Christian joy glows in the dark. I like that Why is that why is that how is it that a Christian can have genuine joy in the face of? Cancer Genuine joy When you lose the job when you lose a friend when you lose a child How is it that? genuine Christian joy Transcends sometimes horrendously and severely sorely difficult circumstances think about the Lord Jesus Christ and his example to us right? Jesus Christ had perfect joy He in and of himself was completely Self-sufficient had no need of anything And yet the Lord of glory was no stranger to pain and to anguish Isaiah and Isaiah 53 called him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief Paul Think about the Apostle Paul Paul faced severe trials And then commands all Christians and Philippians for to rejoice in the Lord always Paul Covered in scars right Paul said that he he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ He didn't have it easy Paul had it tough He faced severe persecution And then Paul characterized all Christian adversity as momentary light affliction Momentary light affliction working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory There is to be joy even in the midst of our morning Mo you are in ING Joy through our sorrow joy through our pain weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning John Calvin said there is nothing in Affliction's which ought to disturb our joy That's by the grace of God isn't it by the grace of God the subject of Christian joy is worthy of many sermons Many volumes and many volumes have been written and many sermons have been preached So we were versed by verse of the gospel of John We're gonna hear just one of those from our text this morning in John chapter 16 verses 16 through 24 in that text We want to unpack this thought True joy in the Christian life is not the absence of sorrow True joy in the Christian life is the presence of Christ True joy in the Christian life is not the absence of sorrow. It's not the absence of pain not the absence of difficulty It's not the absence of trial not the absence of adversity True joy in the Christian life is based on a bedrock of granite. It's based on the Lord Jesus Christ It's based on the presence of Christ. Because of Christ, there can be joy in our morning. As we come to John chapter 16, the Lord's walking with his disciples. They're making their way toward the Garden of Gethsemane, and we know, and the Lord knows, what's about to take place there. As they walk together, Jesus is preparing them. He's giving them parting words in this section of John's Gospel, appropriately called the Farewell Discourse. And in the course of this, we have to remember that these men loved one another. The disciples loved the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ loved them. They've spent three years in ministry together, right? The Lord Jesus Christ has poured himself out toward them in discipling them for those three years of ministry. Earlier this evening, the Lord Jesus Christ had demonstrated how much he loves them by condescending to wash their feet. And he would soon demonstrate his love for them by dying on the cross for them, and bearing their sin in ours. The depth and breadth of that love given us through an object lesson in John chapter 13, verse one, where the Lord washes their feet and then characterizes that love by saying, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. But the disciples love the Lord Jesus Christ also. They are troubled, they're full of sorrow over the thought of Christ leaving them. In Matthew chapter 17, prior to this, the Lord had said to them in verse 22, the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up. And it says that the disciples were exceedingly sorrowful. In John chapter 13, Jesus explains to them that he's going to be betrayed. He explains that he's going to die. In John chapter 15, he explained that in his absence, they are going to be the target of the world's hatred and hostility. So as we come to John chapter 16, the Lord's thoughts, certainly considering what lays before him, but tenderly and graciously considering what lays before them, the Lord's thoughts turn to reassuring his troubled disciples. He's going to do that by preparing them, telling them what's about to happen so that when it comes, they know that he told them. Secondly, he promises them, John chapter 16, the Holy Spirit, who will work both in them and in the world to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment. And here in our text this morning, he reassures them of coming joy, a joy that will come out of sorrow. Joy in the Christian life, true joy, is not the absence of sorrow. True joy in the Christian life is the presence of Christ. By faith in Christ, there can be joy in the morning. First, I want you to look, point one on your notes. At verse 16, and we are to rejoice in his promise. Rejoice in his promise. Verse 16 says this, a little while the Lord says, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me because I go to the Father. Now the Lord had said to them in verse 12, look at verse 12, I have many things to say to you, but you can't bear them now. You see that? Now he obviously in verse 16 intended for them to bear this statement, but the disciples are perplexed by it. And so in verse 17, some of his disciples said, and that word meaning they kept on saying amongst themselves, they kept on saying among themselves, what is this that he says to us a little while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me and because I go to the Father. They said therefore, what is this that he says, a little while, we do not know what he's saying. We have to, as we look at a text like this, John chapter 16, have to be reminded that as we go through the gospels, the disciples didn't always understand statements that the Lord made before the cross. They're looking at these statements from their perspective before the cross. We're looking at them on the other side of the cross, right? It wouldn't be until later, after the cross, when the Holy Spirit came that in verse 13, the Spirit would guide them into all truth. And if you look back at John chapter 14, verse 26, the Lord promises that the Spirit will call to their remembrance all things that he said to them. So after the cross, when the Spirit comes, the Spirit guiding them into truth, calling to their remembrance all things that he said to them, they're going to remember these words of the Lord and everything's going to come into more crystal clarity on that side of the cross. On their side of the cross, there are many things that they simply didn't grasp and there would be much for them to unpack after the cross. To us, right, the statement's relatively clear, isn't it? We read this and we know where he's coming from. We see a little while in verse 16 and we know exactly what the Lord is referring to. It's very clear. And that's because we have the complete revealed word of God. We have God having spoken to us in his Son. Now we look back on these statements and we see them as the disciples would come to see them later. Incidentally, if you think about this now, nothing, nothing would be clear to us apart from the revealed word of God. Apart from God's word, we wouldn't understand these things either, amen? Apart from the Spirit of God guiding us into all truth, we wouldn't understand these things either. God reveals truth. He's revealing truth to the disciples. He will reveal truth to the disciples and he reveals truth to us by his Spirit through his revealed word. Revealed truth doesn't come in dreams and visions. I get what I'm saying there. Revealed truth, the revealed truth of God does not come to us in dreams and visions. We have the confirmed prophetic word which we do well to eat, right? Now you may have an impactful dream. You may have an impactful dream but you can't make decisions based on dreams. Truth comes from God's word. We'll run everything through the filter of God's word. People today wanna rely on leanings, right? I wanna rely on inferences, promptings. I wanna pray and I'm gonna wait for God to leave. I'm gonna wait till I feel led to do this, that, or the other thing. Promptings don't come that way. That's mysticism, right? It's mysticism. Some of it may even be demonic. It's the way a lot of false religions operate. A lot of false religions operate on that basis. It's mystical, mysticism. You wanna understand the truth of God, you must go to his revealed word. Now you may have a prompting. That prompting would biblically be your conscience informed by the word of God and being applied to your circumstances. We're not going to be led through dreams and visions. We're not gonna be brought into understanding through dark and mysterious circumstances. It's going to be through the clearly revealed word of God, the 66 books of your Bible. They're gonna be led into truth, the truth of God's word. Now back in our text, one thing that isn't overly clear in the English is the two different Greek words for the word see. See in verse 16. A little while and you will not see me, one word. And again, in a little while and you will see me. The first word means to be whole. It means to observe. It's to relate to, right? If you were going to say, you have a sick relative out of town, right? And you're gonna go spend some time with that sick relative, pray with them, talk with them, comfort them. You're going to go see them. We all know what that means. I'm going to go see that person, right? But you may have just run into somebody temporarily at the store and you say, yeah, I saw him at the store. Different meanings, right? Different understanding. That's the two meanings really behind these two words. The second word for see may point to the limited time, the limited time that they would physically see him after his resurrection. First word means to relate to, to be whole, to observe. And nevertheless, in verse 16, the disciples were confused. And so the Lord begins to explain more clearly to them that statement. He understands in verse 17 that some of them were saying amongst themselves, what is this that he says to us? We don't understand. And so he begins to explain in verse 19. Now, Jesus knew that they desired to ask him. They wanted to, but they didn't, right? There was this hesitancy. And that hesitancy may be because they had been tenderly rebuked for their ignorance before. Maybe they knew that these were important things. They just didn't want to bring it up. They desired to ask him. And the Lord perceived that desire 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, verse 20, amen, amen. Truly, this is an emphatic statement by the Lord, right? 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. And notice in verse 19, verse 20, that he doesn't directly answer their question. He addresses what they're gonna need in order to persevere. Understanding is gonna come, but now he needs to deal with their sorrow, right? If you remember in verse, in chapter 16, verse one, he says these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. That's his concern here, right? He doesn't directly answer their question. He gives them what they need at this point. He needs to deal with their sorrow. He needs to deal with what they're going to need in order to persevere after he's gone. Now he warns them in order to do that. He says most assuredly, verse 20, you're going to weep, you're going to lament, and you're going to be sorrowful, right? That word there for weep. The word is kla'o in the Greek. It means to cry out, to wail, right? To weep loudly. It's not merely shedding a tear, right? Welling up. No, this is weeping, crying out. That word often associated with a funeral. There were many. It was customary at that time. If you remember this when we were going to John chapter 11 and the Lord raising Lazarus from the dead, it was common for there to be professional mourners. Or at the very least, there were mourners who were members of the family who would come for the sake of giving honor to the deceased and honor to the family by mourning at the funeral. And they would cry out, they would cry out, they would wail, weep loudly, associated with the funeral. Secondly though, he says, he uses a different word. He says lament, lament, rena'o. Literally there, it means to sing a dirge. When would you sing a dirge? Sing a dirge at a funeral, at a funeral. Sadness, the word means sadness expressed with your voice. Sad emotions expressed vocally, often used of ritual expressions of grief. Ritual expressions of mourning. When would you do that? You would do that at a funeral, right? The next word that he uses, he says that you'll be sorrowful. Lupeo, sorrowful. That's grief involving pain, severe grief, mental grief, emotional grief, grief that would involve even physical pain. They would weep, they would lament, and they would be sorrowful. All of these words associated with the death of a loved one, someone that was close to you, associated with a funeral. So think about it in context now. What does a little while mean? A little while. He's repeated it often in this passage. It's central to the passage because of how many times it's mentioned. They're specifically confused over its use. What does he mean by a little while? Means that Jesus is about to die. It's pretty clear to us, isn't it? It means that Jesus is about to die. They're going to weep, they're going to wail. They're going to experience painful grief over the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is speaking of the Lord's crucifixion. Not just the crucifixion, right? But everything leading up to it. He's about to be arrested in the garden. He's going to be beat. He's gonna be mocked. He's gonna be scourged. He's gonna go through these ridiculous mock trials where false witnesses are gonna stand up and accuse them. And then he's going to be hung on a Roman cross. They're going to weep. They're going to wail. The world, however, verse 20 is going to rejoice. Part of what has to make their grief so much more heartfelt, right? Heartbreaking, so much more sorrowful to them is the gloating of this wicked world, right? The gloating of the Pharisees, right? Mocking him, the smug joy of those who hate him. You know, he finally got what's coming to him, right? As he hangs on the cross. The one that they love and the world is mocking. We finally got him, right? Good riddance. Remember, they're mocking at the cross. Turn back with me to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. As they're grieving, their beloved Lord hanging on the cross, Pharisees are gloating. Everyone, the world is gloating. Matthew chapter 27. Look down at verse 38. He's crucified, right? Verse 38, then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also mocking with the scribes and elders said, he saved others himself, he cannot save. If he's the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe. You know, it's interesting that, you know, he performed miracles in front of their eyes and they mock him now. He'll come down from the cross, then we'll believe him. What a blasphemous lie, right? An absurd lie. But then Lord Jesus Christ does the even far, immeasurably greater miracle of rising from the dead. And they still don't believe him. He trusted in God, verse 43, let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he has said, I am the son of God. Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing. Smug joy of these wicked enemies of Christ. How did the disciples respond? The disciples responded to all this with weeping, with lamenting, with sorrow. Spurgeon said this, he said, might not angels wish to weep in sympathy with him? Who can forbear to sorrow when Jesus stands by, insulted by menials, reviled by abjects, forsaken by his friends, blasphemed by his foes? It was enough to make a man's heart break to see the Lamb of God so roughly handled. It's heartbreaking to think about it. The world hates him, despises him, despised him then equally, if not more so, despises him now. And now, thinking through that, that hateful gaze of the world, that hostility of the world will be directed at the disciples. Jesus said to them, remember, if they hated me, they're gonna hate you too. Same as true today, the world hates him. And it's grieving to Christians, isn't it? Sometimes I have to just stop listening to the news. It is so grieving every new liberal, humanistic, wicked article that comes out on some op-head and some paper is just intolerable, right? The world uses his name as a curse word. Everywhere you turn, everywhere you turn. On TV now, in front of the kids, you'll hear his name used as a curse word. You see, godless people with a cross around their neck. It's intolerable. His name invoked for nothing more than political gain. It's deplorable. This world just vomits out contempt for Christ and they do it constantly. Contempt poured out on him, his work, contempt poured out on his word, contempt poured out on his promises, contempt poured out on his commands. You know, incidentally, why is it, do you think, that Christians don't deride, castigate the Jews and the Romans more for their crucifixion of Christ? The Jews crucified him. He was hung on a Roman cross. Why aren't the Jews and the Romans derided more for their crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because we know, don't we, that you and I are just as responsible. It's your sin. It's my sin that nailed him there. Your sin forged the nails. Your hand, your sin holds the hammer. The cup of God's wrath that was reserved for you was poured out on him. Have you ever wept? Have you ever lamented that? Have you ever sorrowed over that? That it's your sin that crucified the Lord of glory? That he hung on the tree because of you, because of me, because of your words, your unkind words, because of your thoughts, your impure, unholy selfish thoughts, because of your actions, what you've done, you've disobeyed parents, you've spitefully treated your wife, you've spitefully treated your husband. Have you ever grieved over your sin? There will certainly be sorrow when you come to Christ, right? You realize what you have done is by his spirit and it's a grace of God to see what you have done. There will be joy in the morning. If you'll turn to him, if you'll put your trust in Christ, all of that filth can be washed away. Be sure that if you don't, all of that filth will one day be washed away in a torrent of wrath. But in Christ, all of that filth can be washed away. You can be made white as snow. You can be clothed in his perfect righteousness. Stand before God clean. As he is clean, then God looks on you, not as the bucket of filth that you are, but in Christ, he looks on you clean. He looks on you forgiven. He looks on you justified. Innocent as though you had never sinned. That's worthy of joy, isn't it? Back in our text, the Lord makes a glorious promise at the end of verse 20. He says at the end of verse 20 that your sorrow will be turned into joy. The world's joy over the death of the Lord Jesus Christ will be short-lived, but their sorrow, the sorrow of the disciples here will be even more short-lived. Why is that? Why is that? There's much debate over this text, specifically referring to what these phrases, what these clauses all mean, right? Some believe that the phrase a little while and you will not see me, refers to his bodily ascension into heaven. Doesn't refer to his death. It refers to his bodily ascension into heaven. That means that in a little while and you will see me means the coming of the Spirit of God at Pentecost. That the Lord Jesus Christ continues to minister through the ministry of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost. So a little while and you'll not see me refers to his bodily ascension. A little while and you'll see me refers to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Others look at this text and they believe that Jesus is speaking of his departure during the church age. Right now the Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. He's not present with us. So he's gone and we don't see him during this time but we'll see him again at his second coming. We have that glorious promise to look forward to, right? So we could take joy from that interpretation of the text but the text is pretty clear. It's most appropriate here to simply understand the text in its context. He says a little while and you will not see me because for them at that time the Lord is going to the cross to die. A little while and you won't see me is because he's going to die and he's going to be buried. He says again in a little while and you will see me because he's going to be raised from the dead. Verse 16, he is departing to go to the Father. In going to the Father he will die on the cross and will be raised from the dead. He's speaking here of his death and his resurrection. Why will their sorrow be turned to joy? Specifically because the Lord Jesus Christ will be raised from the dead. Now would that not make you joyful? Amen, it should make us joyful, right? He's been raised from the dead. We don't serve a dead Lord. He has risen. There will be joy in your morning, M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G if you are trusting in Christ and believing that he has been raised from the dead. We don't have an empty joy, right? Are you kidding me, an empty joy? The Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. He has resurrected in power and that resurrection meaning many things, not the least of which is the fact that his work on behalf of sinners is acceptable to God. The work that he did to save a sinner, to justify a sinner, to satisfy the wrath of God, but all of that is acceptable in the sight of God. It also proves that you and I are going to be resurrected also. That we're not going to rot in the grave. We will be risen in him. You ever stopped to consider thinking about these things, right? The difference between the world's conception of joy and a Christian's true joy. Think about the difference for a moment. The world's joy is first almost entirely circumstantial. It's almost entirely based on circumstances, right? The world's joy almost entirely based on the absence of sorrow, the absence of pain, the absence of difficulty. I don't have any difficulty, I'm joyful. I got difficulty, I'm not joyful, right? Almost based entirely on circumstances. If there's pleasure, then I'm joyful. If there's no pleasure, then I'm not joyful, right? The world's joy is almost constantly and entirely baseless. You guys remember this song? Maybe you're not old enough, many of you, to remember that song, Don't Worry, Be Happy. Don't Worry, Don't Worry, Be Happy. I heard that, if I heard it once. I heard it a million times. They played it constantly, incessantly on the radio. Let me sing it the rest of the day now. That's joy based on nothing. Just the disposition, I'm going to now be joyful. Don't worry, be happy, right? Don't worry, be happy. For what reason? On what basis are they to not worry and be happy? For no other reason that to be happy is better than to be sad. So stop being sad. Just be happy, don't worry, be happy. Joy, true joy, is not merely a disposition, right? It's not merely an emotion. It's not a baseless, wispy, fleeting thing like that. Solomon says, in Ecclesiastes, chapter seven, verse two, listen to this. Better, better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house to feasting. For that, that house to feasting, is the end of all men. And the living will take it to heart. He says, sorrow is better than laughter. For by a sad countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. If that doesn't describe worldly joy, I don't know what, it's just mirth, right? Fleeting, wispy, empty, temporal mirth. Solomon says, it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. This world's quote unquote joy is nothing but a song of fools. It is a song of fools. Its end is death. Its end is despair. Its end is torment. If you're not in Christ, you will burn. Your joy is foolishness apart from Christ. Your hope, you have no hope. You have no hope. Turn from that empty, wispy, fleeting, baseless, mirth and turn to Christ for true joy. That song of fools Solomon says, it's like the crackling of thorns under a pot. So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity, he says. The Christian's joy, the Christian's joy is not anchored on thin air, right? It's not based on cotton candy. Christian's joy is grounded and rooted in Christ. The person of Christ and the work of Christ. Who Christ is and what Christ has done. The promises of God, all yes and amen in him. A Christian's joy transcends their circumstances. Why? Why? A Christian's joy can be present in the very midst of sorrow. Why? A Christian's joy can coexist with pain. Can coexist with difficulty. Can coexist with adversity. Why? Because a Christian's joy is rooted and grounded in the promised presence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the promise of his presence. Matthew 28 verse 20. The Lord says in low, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. And that certainly through the ministry of the spirit of God and dwelling us, right? We abide in him and he and us. We abide in him by keeping his word. We abide in him through prayer, right? We abide in his love, he says, by keeping his commandments. For us today, on top of all this, right? On top of these present promises, these present realities, we also have the promised hope of his return, don't we? Right, we look forward to Christ's return. We look forward to the hope that's been laid up for us. He says in John chapter 14 verse one that I go away and I'm gonna prepare a place for you. There are many dwelling places that he's going to prepare and where I am, I'm gonna come back and I'll take you to be there with me also, right? We have that promise from the Lord Jesus Christ. So our text in verse 16 takes on additional meaning for us today, verse 16, a little while and you'll not see me, right? During our time here, a little while we don't see him. We don't see him, but when we see him, right? It's not if, it's when, when. A little get, again, a little while the Lord says and you will see me as surely, as surely, as all of the promises of God have been fulfilled in Christ, all of those promises that have gone by already, all those promises that have been made and have now been fulfilled as surely, as they have been fulfilled in Christ, all of those promises that God has yet to fulfill, he will surely fulfill them in Christ. And we have that to look forward to. A little while and you don't see me, but again brother, again sister, in a little while, you and I are gonna see him. Think about the many commands in scripture. Mind you, commands. They're commands to rejoice. And how does someone in the world obey a command to rejoice? Think about it for a moment, right? Boss gave me a hard time today. Living girlfriend broke up with me. My dog died. I lost my, you know, right? It's just this sorrow of the world, right, sorrow of the world. Don't worry, be happy. Right, how? How does that happen, right? Go for one thing, it's in the world, that's foolishness, it's absurd, it's an absurd thought. But now scripture gives us specific commands, doesn't it, all the time, to rejoice and be happy. Philippians chapter four, verse four. Rejoice in the Lord always. Paul says, in case you didn't hear it the first time, again I will say rejoice. First Thessalonians chapter five, verse 16. Rejoice always. Now how do you do that? How do you do that? What you do, Christian, brother, sister, you take to heart and you consider that which provides the basis for your joy. That which provides the foundation for your joy. You meditate on, you take to heart, you think on. You trust Christ for, you look to him for, you hope in him for all of that which provides the basis for genuine joy, true joy. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his purchase for you. He has purchased through his blood your redemption if you put your faith in him and turn from your sin, right? He's purchased your redemption, he saved you. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his propitiation of God's wrath. His wrath, satisfying sacrifice. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. There's the more wrath hanging over your head. Take joy in that, right? By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his promises and lo, I will be with you always. You take joy in his promises. I'm going to come back for you and take you to be with me where I am. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his provision. We don't fight fights in our own strength. We don't understand these things in our own intellectual prowess. We don't live this life apart from him, apart from him we can do nothing. So we take joy in his promises. We take joy in his provision. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his presence. Abide in him and he and you. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his power. By faith in Christ, you cultivate joy in his purpose for you. You have been, if you're in Christ, you're predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. You have been justified, you will be and are being sanctified and you will be glorified. True joy in the Christian life is not the absence of sorrow. Not been promised any of that. In fact, you've been promised the opposite. It's going to be through much tribulation that we will enter the kingdom of God. It's going to be through great difficulty. Though your outward man feels like it is perishing every time you turn around, your inward man is being renewed. The true joy in the Christian life is the presence and the promises and the power and the provision, purposes of the Lord Jesus Christ. True joy, Christian joy is how you rejoice through the pain of this world. If our joy, right, is a true joy, if our joy is truly a Christ-like joy, then it must transcend human tragedy. That's one author said that that's the test of joy's integrity, right? The test of joy's integrity is that it transcends human tragedy, that you can be joyful. When James says, right, consider it, reckon it, right? Think about it, make it so that you're joyful when you fall into various trials. Consider it joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials. Joy, if it's true joy, is going to be compatible with, coexist with, human pain. I want you to see an example of this. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter six. Is it compatible with human pain? 2 Corinthians chapter six, our joy isn't anchored in air. It is founded on nail to screwed into a granite bedrock of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter six, look at verse one. Paul says here, we then as workers together with him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says in an acceptable time, I have heard you. In the day of salvation, I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. That should bring you joy. If you're here today and you're not in Christ, weep over your sins, mourn over your sins and take joy in Christ that he would offer as an abundant testimony of his grace toward you, offer you this reality. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now Paul goes on to say verse three. Listen, he says, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things, we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment. Here is where every health, wealth, prosperity teacher is forced to leave the room, right? Right, forced to turn to some other book because this was not making any sense. This is Paul in tummels, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings, by purity, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold, we live as chastened and yet not killed, here it is, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. What a glorious testimony, right? What a faithful example to follow as he follows Christ, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. That joy is real, right? That joy is not fleeting, it's not baseless. That joy is settled and it's true and it's enduring, it's transcendent. Now the reality of it is is that the pain associated with it is real. It doesn't feel good to go through pain, go through suffering, to go through sorrow. The difficulty that the disciples are about to face in John chapter 16 is a real, and the Lord is addressing it as a real difficulty, as a real trial. He's telling them and instructing them and reminding them of what they need to think and what they need to remember when all of this comes about because he's concerned for them, he doesn't want them to stumble. The pain is real, the confusion is often real. Doubts are real, trouble, difficulty is real, but we are to rejoice through the pain. Joy is also real because it's founded on real things, it's founded on Christ. We're to rejoice through the pain. Look at John chapter 16 and look at verse 21. To express this, right, to express this, he gives us an analogy, gives us a parable. Verse 21, the Lord says this. 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. I remember how difficult it was to have a child. No, I don't. But I've heard, it's pretty painful. And listen, we live in a day and age where there are no, back then, they lived in a day and age where there were no epidurals. Right, there were no epidurals. There were no hospitals per se to go to. That pain was real. But now notice something really important with me from verse 21. 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. That doesn't mean that she just, willy-nilly just forgets that pain. Now you remember, remember the pain. It's that the pain has been replaced. The pain has been turned into joy. She no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Look at verse 20. He doesn't say in verse 20 that your sorrow will be replaced by joy. Or he doesn't say in verse 20, listen, suffer through the sorrow and later I'm gonna give you joy, right? He says in verse 20, your sorrow will be turned into joy. And then he gives them this parable. The resurrection, I put it in this context, right? The resurrection doesn't do away with the pain and the sorrow of the crucifixion. Rather, the resurrection turns the sorrow and pain of the crucifixion into our joy, right? It's that one event that produces both of those realities. The crucifixion, it's the bitter, sweet nature of the Christian life, isn't it? If I think about the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? I can think about my sin causing that pain, right? Causing that suffering. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ being shed for me. And my sin causing that. And there's bitterness over that, conviction, mourning over your sin, having offended God and God having given his only begotten son. High cost of our redemption. But at the same time, right, I can look, I can think about, I can meditate on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoice because of what has been done for me there. That's why Paul can say with great joy in Galatians chapter six verse 14, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world, right? Even in his own crucifixion to the world. We've been crucified with Christ and we can rejoice in that. That's why we sing joyful and triumphant songs about the shed blood of Lord Jesus Christ, right? That's why we worship him and praise him for what he has done on the cross. Not diminishing the cross in that joy, right? Not diminishing it, magnifying the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, exalting him in it. Not avoiding the reality of Christ's sacrifice but extolling him for his sacrifice. In his sacrifice, God has highly exalted him, right? And in that we can rejoice. In other words, through the analogy here, the parable in verse 21, verse 22, the same incident, the same event that produced the sorrow is the very same event, the very same incident that produces the joy. And a woman knows that very well, right? What a baby is brought into the world. What joy, what a beautiful picture, right? What wisdom from God in that. This was true of the Old Testament saints. If you go back to, we don't have time to turn there now but in Isaiah chapter 26 is a beautiful example of this. When the Israelites under the judgment of God and considering the coming judgment as the pain of childbirth but then thinking on it, reflecting on it, looking forward to the hope of God's coming deliverer, right? The hope, looking with hope at God's coming Messiah as the joy that would be brought out of that painful childbirth. Uses the very same imagery here in the Old Testament. They were going through the pain of God's judgment, looking forward to the coming Messiah as the promised child of joy, right? John Flavill said this. He said that Job, I think about this, let this sink in. Job was a happier man on the dung hill than Adam was in paradise. I think about that for a moment. Pastor Rick and I were talking about this a little bit last week, you know. The praise and worship and love and gratitude of a redeemed people indwelt by the spirit of God, right? You and I weren't like Adam in the garden. We were born in sin, in sin my mother conceived me. As long as we can remember back the thoughts and intents of our heart were only evil continually. All of our righteousness is as a filthy rag before God and before Christ, that's all we know. That's all we know. Now because of Christ, we've been washed, purged of all of that. So Job sitting on the dung hill, a happier man than Adam was in paradise, redeemed humanity, praise be to God, right? Praise be to Christ for his glorious sacrifice. I have an example of my grandmother. I believe that my grandmother, my mom's side, was a genuinely converted person. Just growing up around her, she was fervently evangelistic, always evangelizing us. Every time we were over her house, right? Talking to us about Christ. She was an effervescently joyful woman. Joyful, just if you had to pick one word about her, joyful, I think my family would all attest to that. And I saw her go through cancer before she died. And through that pain, the pain was very real, very difficult, but watching her go through that pain, she was an effervescently joyful woman. She had the Lord. She knew Christ and her joy, not based in thin air, not based on wishful thinking, based entirely in the promises of Christ to her. That if she would turn from her sin and trust Christ, she would be saved. So she looked forward, she looked forward to death. I spent time with a woman last week who was dying. And it was a joy to me, an encouragement to me to be around her and hear her express her gratefulness to God, for all that he's done for her, her gratefulness to Christ for having saved her, having forgiven her of her sin, and the joy she had in her heart considering Christ. She wasn't afraid of death in that sense. Rather, she looks forward to seeing him who died for her, right? That kind of joy produces perseverance. That kind of joy produces an eternal weight of glory. That kind of joy grounded in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That kind of joy fueled by the power of his resurrection. Paul says this in Philippians chapter three, beginning in verse seven. He says, what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And I count them, excuse me, I count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith that I may know him and what the power of his resurrection, the power of his resurrection, that is joy producing, life changing power. He says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, which was all Paul's greatest joy. If by any means Paul says I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. That joy is sustained and maintained by God through our relationship to him. We're gonna look at that next week, verses 23 through 24. For the Christian, considering these things, joy is both a blessed privilege, right? A genuine true Christian joy. What a blessing of the Christian life, right? What a joy, but it's also a duty, a responsibility. You and I, we are to be joyful. We of all people should be most joyful. You've got no faith in Christ. If Christ hadn't risen from the dead and we were of most men to be pitied, most of all men to be pitied, but in Christ we have every reason to praise him, to worship him and to rejoice in him. Paul says rejoice always in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice, let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you Lord for the cause of our joy. We worship you and praise you and thank you for these things. You're so good, so gracious to us. And we have every good and glorious reason to be exuberantly joyful in Christ. Remind us of these things. Word by your spirit, through your word. A remind us Lord of the ground of our joy. The reason for our joy. Help us Lord through your word to cultivate a joy within our hearts. Understanding Lord that it's often through cultivating within our own hearts an understanding of our depravity that leads us to experience the joy of Christ and the hope of heaven. It's like the Puritan prayer that says that the way up is often the way down. We praise you and thank you Lord for these glorious blessings, these glorious truths. And we rejoice in you for them. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.