Passage: John 16:16-33 Speaker: Pastor Jon Kopp Series: Standalone Messages
Speaker: Jon Kopp - In today’s text, we find Jesus’ last counsel to his disciples before He goes to the cross. And, as He prepares them for the difficulty that they will face in the days ahead, He is concerned with something surprising—their joy. He wants them to know that even as they face deep sorrow and difficulty–even personal failure--they could find a joy that “no-one could take away from them.” A joy that “asks anything of the Father and it will be given to them” A joy that “is courageous in the face of trouble.” In Jesus, we can have courageous joy. This is what Jesus wanted His disciples to remember as he was taken from them and mocked and beaten and hung on a cross to die. "In me, you have everything that you need to face the coming days, because in me, you have courageous joy." I love how Athanasius, one of the early church Fathers speaks of the importance of living in that same joy. ”Let us be courageous and rejoice always, believing that we are safe. Let us consider that the Lord is with us, who broke evil’s power. Let us consider and lay to heart that while the Lord is with us, our foes can do us no hurt…If they see us rejoicing in the Lord, contemplating the bliss of the future, mindful of the Lord, deeming all things in His hand, and that no evil spirit has any strength against the Christian, nor any power at all over us—they are discomfited and turned backwards. Thus, if we are wishful to despise the enemy, let us ponder over the things of the Lord, and let the soul ever rejoice in hope.”