Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.8.20 John 16:25-33 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

11.8.20 John 16:25-33 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, if you have your Bibles, you can open to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John, chapter 16. Our text this morning will be verses 25 to 33. John 16, 25 to 33. I'm going to read our passage this morning, and if you're able to stand in honor of God's Word, I would ask you to do that now. John 16, beginning in verse 25. Jesus speaking, and he says, I've said these things to you in figures of speech.
• 0:26
  The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.
• 0:48
  His disciples said, Ah, now you're speaking plainly and not using figurative speech. Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you. This is why we believe that you came from God. Jesus answered them, Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart.
• 1:18
  I have overcome the world. Would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world and we ask that you shine in the darkness. You've promised to forgive our sin and we rejoice. You've given us your Holy Spirit so that we may live according to your truth. You've given us your word, Lord, so that we may become the only ones on earth who understand what is truly happening. And so we ask God with our Bibles open that you would enlighten our hearts.
• 1:46
  and minds as we look to your scriptures. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you, church. You can be seated. I spoke by phone this week to one of our elders, a man who also happens to be a beloved friend. He is a generation ahead of me in terms of age and experience. He is wise and I trust him. He is so gracious toward me because
• 2:10
  It is true, I am his pastor. When we speak, he even addresses me as pastor, and yet he's the guy that I call when I don't know what to do, which is pretty frequent, actually. I call him, and especially this year, more than I have in the past, and I just say, I don't know what to do, help me. And I called him a couple of times this week, just looking for advice. He told me gently this week, he just said, Pastor, I think what you need to do is set the gospel of Luke aside for a moment and preach to us.
• 2:39
  A message of victory. That's literally what he said. Preach to us a message of victory that Jesus conquers, that Jesus is going to win. In fact, he said this, and I wrote it down. Our people need to be reminded of the hope that they have in Christ, even when the light seems dim. I thought, that is fantastic advice and encouragement from one of our elders, my elder.
• 3:02
  Our people need to be reminded of the hope that we have in Christ even when the light seems dim. And does the light seem dim to anyone else? Forget the presidential election for a moment. That has been chaos to say the least. I don't even think necessarily that the presidential part of that presidential election is the most important thing we voted on. Much more jarring to me were some of our local and state propositions.
• 3:30
  Side by side on Colorado ballots were Prop 114, which would reintroduce gray wolves into the Rocky Mountains, and Prop 115, which would make illegal late-term abortions. Side by side. I talked about the government funding for reintroduction of gray wolves into the Rocky Mountains. Now listen, church, I don't care one way or the other if there are wolves in the mountains. It doesn't matter one way or the other to me. I think there's probably arguments on both sides, neither of which is for any account.
• 3:58
  It really, really honestly does not matter. But Prop 115, which would have banned late-term abortions all the way up to and including on the due date that you could abort a baby as the baby was being born, actually got voted down to ban those types of abortions. They're already performing those types of abortions in the state of Colorado.
• 4:26
  Colorado, in fact, is one of seven U.S. states which allows for abortions on demand up to and even on the due date. During this year's statewide lockdowns, women were driving from other states to Colorado to have abortions. In fact, our state was called, and I quote, the abortion oasis state. We were called that, an abortion oasis. And so the imagery there was in the desert of...
• 4:52
  states which had made late-term abortions illegal, that Colorado was seen as a beacon of light that would allow you to abort your unborn child even on its due date. An abortion oasis state, and it's a title which many in our state wear with pride, and yet we who know the Lord wear with shame. I get asked why I'm so passionate about what I do, why I never slow down, and the reason is simple, church, because we are not at peace with the world.
• 5:22
  We're not at peace. We are at war. And there has never been a year like this one, at least in my life, where I've been so reminded of that fact, that this is not a peaceful world, that this is not a peaceful place, that we are, as believers in Christ, actually at war by trying to win the souls of men and women. There is a war raging around us, and souls, eternal souls, are at stake, and eternity hangs in the balance.
• 5:49
  J.C. Ryle has even said many are at war and don't even seem to know it. Many are at war. There is a war raging, and he says they don't even seem to know the war is frightening. And I enjoy studying war. In fact, I was a history major, as many of you know, and my undergrad was in history. And to study history is to study wars. I mean, that's what you study. I enjoy studying wars. I enjoy reading about wars, but I have no desire to experience one.
• 6:14
  And probably the reason that war is so frightening is that it confronts us with the possibility of loss. A loss of life, a loss of family, a loss of friends. And I believe that there are some Christians, maybe even some pastors, who seek confrontation. They enjoy it. They want to be in headlines. They want to be in the newspapers. They do the lawsuits and they push back and they do all of that. There are some who seek it. But listen, church, I don't.
• 6:40
  I desire to be faithful, yes, but I have no desire to be used as a shield against the ever-darkening world. That's not what I want to do. I don't seek that kind of confrontation. Several months ago, as our elder board was determining whether we would continue to shut down, lock down, or if we would reopen our church,
• 7:02
  One of the things that one of our elders actually did was looked up the penalties for what would happen if we violated health code recommendations, which is really what those are, recommendations. If we violated those things, what would the penalty be? And so as we were discussing and really honestly praying and seeking the Lord's will for our church, Highland Baptist Church, one of our elders just said, oh, I found here the penalties. The penalty would be that if we were found in violation, that the senior pastor would be...
• 7:31
  arrested and imprisoned for up to 12 months. 12 months in prison. One of our other elders said, well, that sounds worth it to me. Sorry, Danny. All in favor. You know, it's kind of obviously joking. Then that first elder who was looking up the penalty said, or it's either 12 months in jail or a $1,000 fine. To which another elder replied with, ooh, $1,000 seems a little steep. Sorry, Danny. Thanks for taking one for the team. That's literally what he said.
• 8:02
  I can only imagine the number of books that are in process right now about being a pandemic pastor. We have been confronted with realities, church, that we never even considered until this year. The truth is, many of those realities are dark. Dark. This has been a dark year. Allow me, as we look to the Gospel of John in verse 25 of chapter 16, allow me to give some quick context.
• 8:34
  Jesus and his apostles were hunkered down the evening of the Passover, eating what would become the Last Supper. He had washed their feet. Judas had departed already to betray him. Nobody knows how many sermons that Jesus preached. In fact, the end of the Gospel of John actually says that if all of them were to be written down, all of the miracles that he did and all of the sermons preached, the books in all the world wouldn't contain everything that Jesus did. Nobody knows how many he preached, but there are a few famous ones. The Sermon on the Mount, certainly.
• 9:03
  Another one called the Olivet Discourse from Matthew 24 and 25. And then this one, the Upper Room Discourse, John 14, 15, and 16, which concludes with his high priestly prayer in chapter 17. And what we have in chapter 16, and especially in verse 33, which will be the focus of our study this morning, what we have are the final words of Jesus in the final sermon he ever preached, Jesus' last words.
• 9:31
  Our last words are often ironic. General John Sedgwick of the Union Army during the Civil War, as his men were ducking to avoid Confederate sniper fire, famously said, Relax, men. They couldn't hit an elephant at that distance. He was not long after that shot and killed. Our last words are meant to leave an impression. One man, a convicted murderer named James French,
• 10:00
  was sentenced to the electric chair he on his way to the chair as he was being strapped in actually suggested a headline for the next day's newspaper he said ha french fries french fries our last words are often profound everybody knows the story of todd beamer if you don't know him by name then you've heard of what he did on september 11 2001 as
• 10:28
  Planes were being hijacked and run into towers. Todd Beamer and several others re-hijacked another plane, Flight 93, made a phone call to his wife and at the end of it simply said to the men who had joined him to retake the plane and eventually crash-landed that plane into some farmland, just said famously, let's roll.
• 10:54
  Our passage this morning records some of Jesus' last words, and it is a fitting conclusion, I believe, to the parting sermon of the Lord's to his apostles. What a dark hour it was. Jesus told his 11 remaining apostles that he would depart. He has said that. I am going to leave.
• 11:11
  All that was left of the earthly ministry of Christ, in fact, was a prayer, John 17. Then the Garden of Gethsemane, then a fake trial and the crucifixion. In fact, by the time he utters these words, I have overcome the world. He's only hours from being on the cross. And Jesus' final words were delivered to the men to whom the reigns of the first generation church would be given. These men, these 11 guys, would be the first elders, the first pastors.
• 11:37
  the first vocational missionaries they would deliver the first sermons on the day of pentecost they would lead the first communion they would each of them become a target for the enemy and for the enemies of the gospel that prowling lion the devil would be seeking to devour them in a word church these men were exactly like us living at a dark time what a year this has been and what a week
• 12:07
  The loudest and most exhausting election of our lifetimes. A pandemic which has now rocked the global economy to its very foundation. Division and rioting unprecedented since the Civil War. And in our passage this morning, Christ could not have spoken more encouraging words than these. I have overcome the world.
• 12:28
  What an appropriate conclusion to the most solemn of sermons. Victory in Jesus. Victory. In other words, he says, no one who chooses Christ will ever lose for eternity. And Christ says that even in our darkest hour, we can have peace. We can have peace. And for two reasons. First, because Jesus has revealed our Heavenly Father. And second, we can be at peace because he has overcome the world. And so let's look at these two points.
• 12:55
  First, you'll notice that Jesus came to reveal the Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father. And look at verse 25. I've said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. And that's what he's saying. The hour has come, he says, when I will tell you plainly about the Father. He's going to tell them exactly who the Father is and what the Father is like. I will tell you.
• 13:22
  plainly in that day he says verse 26 you will ask in my name and i don't say that you should ask that i will ask the father on your behalf for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and i believe that i came from god jesus came to reveal the father and if there's one thing our lord jesus came to do it was reveal our heavenly father
• 13:41
  I'm going to tell you something you already know, but church bears repeating. Here is a ministry reminder. Are you ready? In a dark election week, don't forget that you have a heavenly father. You and I have a father in heaven. And consider for a moment what that means. If you've got a heavenly father, then you're not illegitimate. You are a legitimate son or daughter.
• 14:11
  The father wants to be a part of your life. No shared custody, no weekends and holidays, no absentee dad, but a father who is proud to have you carry his name. A father who is faithful to shape and direct and discipline his children because he loves you. Listen to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be wary when reproved by him.
• 14:40
  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you're left without discipline, then you are an illegitimate child and not sons. And so that's first. You are legitimate because you have a heavenly father. But notice second, the fact that you have a father also means that you can be at peace. You can rest. Children have no worries.
• 15:05
  They have no worries. They glide through life blissfully unaware because they know that their dads can handle it. You can imagine Jesus just saying, I know that I'm about to leave, but don't fret. You have a heavenly father. First Peter chapter five and verse seven, cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you. He cares for you church. And so you need not worry. Third,
• 15:36
  The fact that you have a father in heaven also means that you've got protection and covering. I always encourage people to be careful about picking on other people's kids. Before you pick on somebody's kids, find their dad first and figure out how big he is. When we began homeschooling now more than a dozen years ago when Pearson was in kindergarten,
• 16:00
  The director of our homeschool program actually recommended that Hallie and I take on very specified roles. The director said, Hallie will be their teacher, but Danny, you will be their principal. Hallie will be the teacher, but you need to be the principal. Okay, what does the principal do? And then she described it this way. The principal...
• 16:21
  is the looming shadow behind the teacher who makes sure that the teacher knows she always has support, okay? So the teacher is there doing the day-to-day work. They're doing all the heavy lifting, but the principal is there as that looming shadow standing behind her. And listen, church, that's what having a heavenly father is like.
• 16:44
  It's like having a looming shadow over you all the time. And not in like a bad way, not in an ominous way, a scary way, but instead in a protective, preserving, covering way. Psalm 28 and verse seven says, the Lord is my strength and my shield. In him, my heart trusts and I am helped. My heart exalts with my song. I give thanks to him. That's third, fourth. Having a heavenly father helps you to understand who you are and where you come from.
• 17:14
  The fact that you have a heavenly father, the fact that you know who your dad is, helps you to understand how you should act in a given situation. There have been times when I've just reminded my sons, you are a gardener. Your last name is Gardner. And that's not how gardeners act. There have been times when my boys have been bickering with each other.
• 17:36
  right the brothers can be at each other's throats as we know but i will just separate them and push pause and say that is not how gardeners act i know that's how other kids act you know backbiting and disliking their their siblings what if that's not how we act that is not going to be what flies in this house right complaining that's not how gardeners act being arrogant that's not how gardeners say you're a gardener that's not how we act
• 18:03
  Having a Heavenly Father, knowing who our Father is, gives us confidence to go out and to win the souls of men and women. It gives us security, stability. Knowing who our Heavenly Father is, knowing who we are because of it, gives us confidence to go out and win souls for Christ. It gives us confidence to treat our spouse the way that we should. It gives us confidence, men.
• 18:27
  to fall desperately in love with our wives right we know how we should act as husbands that wives it gives you confidence to rain praises down upon your husband in the presence of non-believers to actually brag about him rather than complaining about him it gives you confidence to live like the people of god are meant to live in a manner worthy of your calling
• 18:52
  Colossians chapter one in verse 10 says, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Notice last, having a heavenly father, knowing who your father is means you can get advice whenever you want. And this is a big one, church. Knowing who your heavenly father is means that you know who to go to when you need help. My dad passed away.
• 19:23
  About a dozen or so years ago from prostate cancer My dad was the one that I went to for advice all the time. I mean all the time I didn't if I didn't know what to do big things like things philosophical things. I called my dad Down to very menial and trivial things. I would call my dad. What am I supposed to do? How do I do this? I remember the week after he passed away. We had had his service about a week later. I was up on our roof
• 19:46
  in southern california i was fixing our evaporative cooler our swamp cooler which was up on the roof i didn't know what to do the pump had gone bad i wasn't sure how to fix it and so i remember reaching in my pocket pulling out my cell phone and dialing my dad's number it had just it had become so ingrained in me just such a habit that i didn't even think about the fact that my dad was gone and it was a very strange moment when i realized that he would not be picking up that my dad
• 20:15
  that I had always gone to for advice now had become me in my family. He was the one that we always got advice from. Now I would be the one that we always get advice from, that my sons will call. It won't be grandpa anymore. Now it's going to be me. You ever not been sure about what to do? And the scriptures would say, ask your heavenly father, ask him.
• 20:41
  James chapter 1 actually says he gives wisdom to those who would ask for it. Wisdom. Hebrews says that he is an ever-present help in time of need. You can boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing that you've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. You can come into the very presence of God, and he will be an ever-present help in time of need. You have a heavenly father, church, and that is great.
• 21:06
  news. But not only did Christ reveal that we have a heavenly father, he actually also in verses 27 and 28 reveals a couple of things about who the father is. Look first at verse 27. He says, for the father himself loves you. He loves you because you have loved me and I believe that I came from God. Our heavenly father, Jesus says, is a lover and not a fighter.
• 21:32
  He's a lover, not a fighter. And the church may not have fully represented our Lord accurately to the world the last couple of generations. I don't know. I don't want to give the church a black eye here. Churches in the past couple of generations. But the Turner burn, fire and brimstone, holier than thou, stingy, cranky, sour expression Christianity of our fathers has led many to believe that our God is an angry God.
• 22:00
  If you were to walk around Colorado, right, and especially northern Colorado, and you were to tell people that you're a Christian and that you believe in the God of the Bible, their impression of your God and therefore you is probably an angry, upset, punishing, wrathful, vengeful God. And the reason I think they believe that about our God is because that's the God that we've presented to them, right? As if God is angry all the time. And I just, I want to make this clear.
• 22:30
  Anger is not an attribute of God. Now, that is not to say that he never gets angry. He does. But he's not angry the way that he is loving. He is loving all the time. Even in his anger, he is still loving. Love is an attribute of God, but not anger. And I hate to disagree with Jonathan Edwards here and his famous...
• 22:58
  and often quoted sermons, sinners in the hands of an angry God. But the Father is not an angry God in the same way that he is a loving God. Can you imagine if we were to take one of the most famous little kids' songs ever written, Jesus loves me, this I know, and we were to change it to Jesus hates me? Jesus hates me, this I know, for the pastor told me so. Little ones better run and hide. You and I should quake inside.
• 23:30
  Oh, Jesus hates me? Jesus hates me? Jesus hates me. That sour old pastor, neighbor, teacher, coach, co-worker showed me so? No. The exact opposite is true, church. Look at what verse 27 says again. For the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you have loved Christ and believed that he came from God. It is true that Jesus loves you, but he's not actually the only one. The Father loves you too. Notice in verse 28, what else?
• 24:01
  Does he reveal the father to be? Finally, I came from the father. Verse 28 says, and I've come into the world and now I'm leaving the world and going back to the father. And so in other words, our heavenly father is not only a lover, not a hater, but he's also a giver, not a taker. He's a giver. I think it's important to remind ourselves, church, that God doesn't want anything from us.
• 24:24
  He doesn't need anything from us. He doesn't need our money. He doesn't have his hand out. Our God is not a begging or pandering God. Instead, our Heavenly Father loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son. He gave, if you want to think of it this way, what was most valuable to him. His only begotten son, his beloved son. That's what he gave. And Jesus said, I came from the Father and have come into the world, but now I'm leaving the world and going back.
• 24:53
  to the Father. That's the first thing we should notice. Jesus came to reveal the Father, and what a revelation that was. But notice second, in this last section of the text, we're really going to focus on verse 33. But notice second, we can have hope, we can have peace, even in a dark time, because Jesus has overcome the world. Look at verse 29. His disciples said, ah, now you're speaking plainly and not using figurative speech. And we know that you know all things, don't need anyone to question you. And this is why we believe that you came from God.
• 25:22
  Jesus answered them, do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming. Indeed, it has come when you will be scattered each to his own home and will leave me alone. So he's saying here, I'm about to be left alone. Even though I'm with all of you right now, only hours from this moment, the apostles will be scattered, right? There would be nobody there at the foot of the cross with the exception of John, the apostle, and Jesus's mother, Mary. So he says, I'm about to be left alone.
• 25:47
  Yet, he says, I'm not alone, for the Father is with me. Here's verse 33, and here's the key. I've said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Now, the world here is more than the physical planet upon which we dwell.
• 26:12
  The world is actually the system of evil that dominates creation and that dominates humanity. The world is everything that sets itself up against Christ and his kingdom. The world is where Satan's throne is. The world is his. When on that fateful day, so many years ago in the garden,
• 26:37
  Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree and plunged humanity into sinful darkness. They, in essence, handed the deed of the world, the title, over to Satan. You'll recall Adam and Eve were given dominion over the world. God gave it to them. They were supposed to rule over it. And when they sinned, they, in essence, handed the title deed over to Satan.
• 27:04
  Adam had been given dominion, but abdicated that authority over to the devil. And since that day, the world has been dominated by sin and is one of the three forces of influence that pull believers away from righteous living. We battle against three main enemies. Number one, first and foremost, is our own flesh. Our own flesh hates us and wants us to fail.
• 27:31
  Second, we also have an adversary, the devil, who hates us and wants us to fail. But also, the world itself is at war with us, as we've previously discussed. It is that world that Christ will ultimately, in the future, I believe, destroy just prior to setting up his millennial kingdom in Revelation 17 and 18. We find here in verse 33 an interesting declaration.
• 27:59
  Jesus says that he has overcome the world. And what's funny about that statement is that that statement happened before he was crucified. He wasn't only referring to crucifixion when he says, I have overcome the world. He was actually referring to everything else that he had already accomplished. The victory, he says, is already his. He'd been tempted in the desert. He had triumphed. He'd been confronted. Think about the things that he had been confronted with. Disease.
• 28:29
  demoniacs disaster discord desertion he had overcome he had lived to the glory of his father now the only thing that was left was to die to the glory of his father and it was a death which at that very moment when he said these words was already being arranged there was church and is the victory victory in jesus beloved family
• 28:57
  Are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? If so, then you have a Heavenly Father. A Heavenly Father who is a lover of your soul, a conqueror, a shield, the looming shadow behind you, the protector, the preserver of your soul. Are you in Christ? If you're in Christ, then you cannot lose.
• 29:20
  The victory has already been won. Christ has conquered death. He has defeated the enemy of our souls. He has overcome the world. Indeed, church, there is victory in Jesus. Allow me to pray. God, thank you for this text. Thank you for this message of victory. That even in the midst of darkness, Lord, we have victory in Jesus because you have overcome the world. The work has already been accomplished. Nothing else needs to be done.
• 29:51
  simply to put our faith in you and to trust. So Lord, I pray that as we go about another week of ministry, of life with our family, friends, and neighbors, as we continue to just be a beacon of light in a dark, dark, dark world, God, I pray that you would be glorified in the way that we conduct ourselves among those who are outside of the faith, that they would see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.