Going Deeper
John 12-16 (8.27.22)
Let’s dig back into chapter 16 that we read on Friday and see the beautiful truth that Jesus has overcome the world and what that means for us. I want to dig deep with you into one verse in chapter 16—verse 33. I pray it is as great a blessing to you as it is to me.
John 16:33 “I have 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.”
Here, Jesus brings resolve to His words in the farewell discourse with the words: “I have said these things to you …” And then He brings a solid and poignant, three-part clarity that the disciples will need in the coming season of ministry and in spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth. This verse is where I want to spend the bulk of our time today. I want us to know it and be emboldened by it.
First, He says, “… that in me you may have peace …” Jesus says, “… in me you may have peace …”
Regarding Jesus being the source of our peace, He said to them in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
The dictionary defines peace as untroubled; tranquil; content. But true, lasting peace is different than the world’s peace. True peace is not found in the absence of conflict or in good feelings. The world’s peace is a circumstantial peace, and therefore it is always momentary or temporary. This is not the kind of lasting peace that we find in Jesus! The only way we have lasting peace is in Jesus. No external or self-made modification can bring the peace that only Christ can give. Christ’s work on your behalf is the only way peace is attainable for your deepest problems. Read what God’s word has to say about this:
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) But he [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is what Jesus is emphasizing: Your true peace in the midst of hardship, suffering, loss, pain, and persecution is only found in Jesus! “… that in me you may have peace …” True peace is in no way dependent on your circumstances; it is found in Jesus. Again, this is why religion and knowledge about Jesus is simply insufficient. Your belief must be into Jesus. You are desperate for His identity, His power, His work, and His promise and not your own or anything else’s. “… in me you may have peace …” This is truly good news.
Next, Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation.” This is what Jesus said in John 15:19: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
Because those whom God has chosen to make new in Christ are no longer of the world but of Christ and now members of His household, the world has a true angst and hatred for the church. Jesus spoke of this several times:
Matthew 10:17 “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues”
Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.”
Luke 21:16-17 “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake.”
If they only knew what tribulation and persecution waited around the corner and the tidal wave that it must have been in those next couple of days. They would be hiding for their lives, and they would watch their master be tortured and condemned and killed. Each of them would experience tribulation until all but John were killed for their faith. Let us not be surprised when the world hates us, when the world is coming at us, and when nothing is making sense in the world. Why? Why is this not just feel-good religious rhetoric that really means nothing when your world is crumbling? It is because of our Victor. It is because of He who sits on the throne. It is because of the One who holds all things together—because of He who has overcome the world. As big as the evil system of darkness is; as massive as Satan’s army is; as rampant as sin and selfishness are; as lost as people are in sin and idol-worship and self-glorification; as dark as the sins of rape, child abuse, human trafficking, genocide, abortion, sexual perversion, corporate greed, and false worship are in our world … hear what Jesus says to His disciples. Hear Him declare to us today in His word:
“… But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The influence and power of "the world" is powerful, but hear me today: It is not all-powerful. One greater than it, mightier than its "prince," has been here and vanquished it. The world did its utmost in the battle, but the Son of God prevailed. The world is a conquered world; it has been conquered for us by Christ. Let us take courage! The storms of trial and persecution may sometimes beat fiercely upon us, but let them only drive us closer to Christ.
… at the name of Jesus every knee might bow … (Philippians 2:10).
It is "… God who changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings …" (Daniel 2:21).
It is God whose riches and wisdom and knowledge are the deepest! It is His judgments that are unsearchable and His ways that are inscrutable (Romans 11:33).
It is Jesus who has been given “All authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Jesus—our King, our bloodied champion, our God—has overcome the world. Is this under your feet? Is it the filter through which everything that is coming at you must pass? Be reminded of what God said to Job to remind him who reigned over all things:
Job 38:4-13 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?”
May we know who our God is. May we rightly understand what He controls. May we believe rightly that nothing and none are His equal. The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command (Psalm 33:6, 9).
1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.”
Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
1 Samuel 2:2 “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.”
Jesus says, “… take heart …” In other words, “Don’t lose faith. Keep your head up.” Trust in Jesus, for He has overcome the world. For in Christ alone is the power for salvation and every good thing that honors God. Let the fact that God rules over it all and that Christ has overcome it all be to us an unbreakable and unshakable bedrock for our faith! Stand on Romans 8:28, which says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
Romans 8:33-39 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes, the world will rage at us; suffering, death, and persecution will be real for us in the here and now. But, Jesus has overcome the world. We need to stop telling God how big our storm is and instead, tell our storm how big our God is.
Our peace is found in Jesus.
Our victory is found in Jesus.
Our security is found in Jesus.
Please join me in memorizing this verse:
John 16:33 “I have 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.”
By His grace and for His glory,
-Shepherd
Soldiers for Jesus MC
Chaplain Council
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