Prepared | We Need The Helper | Blake Belles | September 13, 2026

And now will everyone please stand as one of our elders reads today's scripture from the book of John.

Good morning.

This morning we will finish John 16, starting in verse 5.

But now I am going to him who sent me.

And none of you ask me, where are you going?

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.

It is to your advantage that I go away.

For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

Concerning sin because they do not believe in me.

Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer.

Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine.

Therefore I said that he will make that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

A little while and you will see me no longer.

And again a little while and you will see me.

So some of his disciples said to one another, What is this that he says to us?

A little while, and you will see me, you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.

And because I am going to the Father?

So they were saying, What does he mean by a little while?

We do not know what he is talking about.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me?

Truly, truly I say to you, You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.

But when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

In that day you will ask nothing of me.

Truly, truly I say to you, Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name.

Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

I have 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.

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.

His disciples said, Ah, now you are 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 is 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.

I have overcome the world.

This is the word of the Lord.

May he add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his holy word.

You can have a seat.

Thank you, Mike.

I appreciate you reading through our text this morning.

How are we doing this morning?

Are we doing good?

All right.

We're gonna go ahead and get started.

I remember being um, I think I was sixth grade, I'm not sure.

Maybe it could have been seventh grade, somewhere around there.

And I went to a conference with my dad, took me to with um a couple of my buddies and and their dads.

We went to Promise Keepers.

You all remember Promise Keepers?

Anybody go to that?

Any okay, all right.

Um do you remember?

Does anyone remember E.

V.

Hill, possibly in the 90s, a preacher in the 90s?

He um was a real big pastor in um in Los Angeles, did a lot of mission work, but I remember hearing him preach, and he had he spoke with a lot of charisma.

I mean, he when I say charisma, I mean he was just a powerful speaker, and I didn't know if he was singing or speaking at different times back and forth, but um I was captivated by him and what he was saying.

But he told this story, and he talked about when he had been on a mission trip in Africa and he was told to stay at the village.

Like, don't wander off.

And of course, he decided that he was gonna wander off a little bit, get off the beaten path.

I think he was trying to get to another close by village or just go for a stroll.

I don't remember, but I remember him talking about walking through, you know, getting into where he's now, he's like in the woodlands a little bit, just getting away from the village, not too far off.

But then he started looking around and he was just like, this is not that dangerous.

I don't know what the problem is.

And he said he saw, you know, some berries, and he's like, I mean, you could survive out here.

And then he said he came across a little uh brook or a little stream, and he said the water was so clear, and he said, I didn't see there wasn't like alligator, I guess it wouldn't be gator's crocodile, maybe in there or um Cayman.

I don't know.

I should have researched what animals he should have seen.

But anyway, he didn't see any danger, like no hippo or whatever in there.

He didn't see any of that.

And um, so he started to feel pretty confident and he started to walk around, but then as he was walking, he noticed a figure and he turned to see a man standing there.

And this man had a spear and he was uh basically a you know native, looks like he could have been tribal, you know, just basically a very intimidating, scary guy, and he did what he felt was the right thing to do.

He ran.

So as soon as he saw him, he said he just took off running because now he realized I'm I see why I shouldn't be out here.

I'm in danger.

So he took off running.

He said he looked over his shoulder and he could see that the man was now chasing him with the spear.

And he's terrified.

So he's trying to pick up his pace, and he looked over his shoulder and he said he had closed in.

The guy was getting closer to him.

And he said he was running as fast as he could, and he looked over his shoulder one more time to see the guy getting even closer, and then he tripped.

Not the guy, Eevee Hill.

Eevee Hill said he tripped and fell to the ground.

He could hear the guy's footsteps coming right up on him, and he just said, Don't kill me, don't eat me.

Not even knowing if the guy spoke English.

He said, Don't eat me.

He said the guy stopped with a spear, looked at him, and he said in perfect with a perfect English accent, he said, Sir, you need a guide.

So while he was there, he he got up and he showed him the guy, told him that he had seen him wander away from the village, knowing that he was putting his life in danger, and he said he just decided to watch him.

He said he passed by some berries and he was waiting to see if he was gonna eat some berries because those were actually, you know, poisonous for humans to eat, and he's glad he didn't eat those and he would have had to have stopped him.

He said then he went, he took him actually to the brook that where the water was, and he threw a rock in or a stick, I can't remember, and he said he saw snakes move at that point.

He didn't see them before, but apparently they were life-threatening, poisonous snakes that were in the water.

And he then he talked about other dangers that he had put himself in.

And he just let him know the importance of being a guide.

And today in our text, we are at a place where Jesus is talking to his disciples.

He has had the Last Supper, and this is really the final conversation in the past few chapters and today where Jesus is having conversation with his disciples, and he is, and he's they he's getting ready to go to the cross, he's getting ready to be arrested, and he's giving him basically his final discourses.

But in this, he's talking about things that are coming their way, dangers that they have ahead of them, tribulation.

He's he tells them in the in the past verse, he's told them, or the past chapter, he's told them about how the world will hate them.

He's talked to them about how they will be persecuted.

He's talked, he's talking about how the um earlier here in just a couple verses before we are today, where we are today, he's talking about um how they could be cast out of the synagogue, which that's basically like being cast out of the church, but it's not like being put out of forward church.

If we told you you couldn't come here anymore, then you would just go to another church down the road.

But there, that was the only church.

Like to be cast out of the synagogue would be basically cut off from the Jewish faith, and that was the entire culture, the nation, basically.

So you would you were basically cast out.

You were in try, you were in a lot of trouble at that point.

And he was saying, this is what will happen.

In John 16, 2, he says, the hour is coming when whoever kills you.

Okay, let's stop there for a second.

He doesn't say, if the hour comes, he says, The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that they're doing it for God.

They're doing service to God.

And he's letting them know of the dangers that are coming their way, but he's letting them know that he's gonna send a God.

He's gonna send a helper their way.

And that's where you see us pick up in John chapter 16.

John 16 · chapter mention

We're looking at verses 5 through 33 today, but he says in verse 6, he says, Because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

He's talked about how he's going away.

He's talked about how persecution is coming their way, and he says, sorrow has filled your heart.

Verse 7, he says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.

Now that that sounds confusing.

It's to their advantage that he goes away.

He says, For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.

The helper he's talking about is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is going to be their guide.

He says, But if I go, I will send him to you.

So there's something we need to understand.

When he's talking about the helper, the Holy Spirit, one, he says, I will send him to you.

Okay, we look at the Holy Spirit sometimes.

If we're not looking in in the context of Scripture, we think the Holy Spirit is just some mysterious entity, but it's not a mysterious entity, it is God, it is a He, a person of the Trinity, okay, and He and He is our helper.

And Jesus is letting them know He's going to send Him.

So sorrow has filled their hearts, but Jesus is saying, nevertheless, like even though all this is true, it's to your advantage that I go away.

It seems like it would be a hard sell.

But Jesus is explaining that it's better for him to leave so the Holy Spirit can come.

So if if he's if Jesus Christ is saying it's better for him to go so the Holy Spirit can come, then there must be some incredible advantages to having the Holy Spirit.

He says, But if I go, I will send him to you.

There is an incredible benefit to having the Holy Spirit.

There's an incredible benefit to receiving him.

Romans 8 11 tells us about the Holy Spirit.

It says, If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

Life to our mortal bodies.

His Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us gives us life and sustains us.

Ephesians 1, 13 through 14 says, In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, so the good news of our salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

It is a guarantee of our standing before God.

It is a guarantee of our inheritance as children of God.

The Holy Spirit is that for us.

We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The promised Holy Spirit.

So also the benefit to Jesus going was He on this earth, He He took up, He was fully man, fully God, but fully man.

And in Him taking on fully man, he He put off His ability to be everywhere all the time physically.

And because of that, we see things happen like we saw in John chapter 11, where he wasn't with Lazarus.

John 11 · chapter mention

And what was the first thing that Mary and Martha said when they saw him?

They said, if you would have been here, our brother would have lived.

Right?

Because he couldn't be everywhere.

Now, of course, he did still heal him and call him out from the dead and bring it back to life, which is an incredible, incredible gift.

But it just lets us know that he was limited by being a man here on this earth.

And it was to his benefit.

So now through his Holy Spirit, he can be with us all the time, empowering us, strengthening us.

The disciples, when he left, they were confused, they were thick-headed, they were scared, they were selfish.

But after Jesus left, after he rose from the throne of the dead and ascended into heaven, we see them all of a sudden, they appeared to be wise, surrendered, living boldly for him.

And it was because of the Holy Spirit living inside of them.

There is a great advantage that Jesus left and sent his Holy Spirit for every single one of us.

John 16, 8 through 11 goes on to say, and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

So the Holy Spirit will convict.

I've heard very, very clear teaching, false teaching, that God would never convict us, okay?

The Holy Spirit is God, and it is clear in the text that he will convict.

Okay, he he but part of being a guide is conviction.

Part of being a guide is trying to keep us from eating and swallowing poisonous things.

That's what he's a he's a good guide.

A bad guide would let you do whatever you want and let you die.

It says he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and of judgment.

He says he'll convict the world of sin because they do not believe in me.

You see, that word convict, I it sounds very simple, but I really normally think of conviction as something that's keeping me from doing something.

But if you look at the word convict in simple terms, it's basically you have committed a crime, and then you go before a court and you have been convicted.

That's why they call a convict someone who has been convicted of a crime.

It's past tense.

You have been convicted.

The Holy Spirit for the entire world lets them know they have already been convicted.

Everybody in this room has already been convicted.

We have all, we all have a the standard for being holy, the standard for going before God, the standard for heaven is holiness, righteous.

Every single person in this room has dramatically fallen short of that.

And because we have fallen short of that, when we stand before a judge, we have been found guilty.

We have all been convicted.

Okay?

So the Holy Spirit, the way he operates in the world is he lets people know that we have all been convicted guilty.

Okay?

But he doesn't just leave us there, he also pursues us, like we saw or like I talked about with Dr.

Hill.

The Holy Spirit pursues us wanting to be our God, okay?

And he convicts the world, lets them know of their conviction and their need for a savior.

So he doesn't just convict us and just leave us there to die, he convicts us, but then points us to the good news of Jesus Christ, points us to the feet of Jesus where we can go with that conviction and lay it at his feet and receive salvation and receive forgiveness.

That is the work of the convicting Holy Spirit.

He convicts us.

But the definition is not limited to that.

That's one thing that he does, but he also does part of his convicting is that he keeps us from sinning as well, which is why we can say that he is a God.

In verse 9, it says, He will convict of sin because they do not believe in me.

Well, what is the what is the greatest sin that we can commit?

The only unpardonable sin is when we refuse to believe in the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

When we decide to deny the truth that we are sinners and need a savior in Jesus Christ.

That is the only unpardonable sin because you have not recognized a need for Jesus Christ in your life.

Okay, so it says, He will convict the world of sin because they do not believe in me.

He doesn't point out all the sins that people commit, he points out the greatest sin that anyone can ever commit, and that is denying Jesus Christ.

He says, He will convict the world of that.

Next, he says, of righteousness because I go to my Father.

So Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of righteousness, and he is the only one to go that is good enough to go to the Father.

So the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus Christ, the only righteous one.

He puts it on our hearts to live more like Jesus Christ, to look more like Jesus Christ, to serve like Jesus Christ.

Because he is the only righteous one.

So the Holy Spirit points us to that righteousness.

But then also he says concerning judgment, in verse 11, concerning judgment, he will convict concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Referring to Satan.

So Satan has a final judgment come.

He's been partially judged, he has a final judgment coming, and and all those who reject Jesus will have a judgment as well.

And the Holy Spirit convicts the world of that, trying to draw people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Like I said about E.

V.

Hill, he ran from the guide.

And I just can't help but I can't help but think about how many people are running from that conviction of the Holy Spirit.

They feel that conviction and they they want to run from it because they're they don't want to they're worried about what could be taken.

But the reality is he's trying to save us from the dangers of this life.

He's trying to protect us.

And he wants, he's willing that none will perish.

So he pursues you because he's a good guide.

And I think sometimes it's important for us to recognize that he is pursuing us and he convicts us because he loves us.

Because he convicts, he I heard a teaching as I was studying for this sermon.

I heard that it he was, you can look at him as either a defense attorney or a prosecutor.

That's what he will be in your life.

He is he is your defense attorney when you've been found guilty, or he will be the one convicting you of your guilt.

And we get to choose which one he will be for us.

As Christians, he's offered us to be our defense attorney.

But if we refuse to receive that, then he will be the prosecuting attorney.

We get to choose, and it's important to understand, that he's never lost a case.

My prayer is that we all choose the defense attorney, the one who is pushing us to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

He pursues us, he desires to help us, he wants to be our God.

The next thing he does is he guides us, he illuminates his word.

In John 16, 12, it says, I still have many things, I still many things to say to you.

Jesus is talking to his disciples, and here he's talking about how Jesus is anticipating that the further instruction the church is going to get from the Holy Spirit.

Okay, he lets them know in verse 12, he will guide them into all truth.

That's what the that's what the Holy Spirit will do.

He's going to guide them to all the truth.

He's going to show them his word.

And for us, we have the truth in scripture that the Holy Spirit guides us to.

Every time we open up this scripture, we're not doing it alone.

We're doing it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

And he is guiding us to the truths of his word.

Any truths that you receive outside of his word are not truths, and that's not the Holy Spirit.

Verse 13, John 16, 13 says, He will not speak on his own authority, he will glorify me.

He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

So the Holy Spirit will constantly point to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will refer to Jesus.

He will declare Jesus to people.

In John 15, 26, the chapter before this, we see where it says, But when the helper comes, whom I send to you, this Jesus talking about the helper in the previous chapter.

He says, But when the helper comes, who I send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

We've been talking about the Holy Spirit in one of the um in a Bible study that I've been doing, and we've been talking more and more about it, and we've been talking, and as we've talked about it, maybe think about what it looks like to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And we live in a church culture, I feel like, or at least I grew up sometimes in a church culture where you would see, you know, a charismatic preacher that was that was just you know preaching to all kinds of people that you may see on TV or go to a big conference, and people would say, That guy, he's filled with the Holy Spirit.

Or you'd have someone that's on stage singing and just this beautiful notes and worship, and and and it's just a powerful move, and they would say, That person's filled with the Holy Spirit.

And and I'm not saying they're not, you know, hopefully, you know, I feel like they very well could be filled with the Holy Spirit.

But to me, I'm a little, I'm a little more interested in what that person looks like in their coming and goings before I make that determination.

What does that person look like when they're offstage talking to the people that are serving with them?

What does that person look like how they how they lead behind closed doors?

What does that person look like how they lead their family?

Okay, because if you are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, what does the Holy Spirit do?

The Holy Spirit points to Jesus Christ.

So if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, that means that your life will be a reflection of Jesus Christ.

You will love like Jesus loved, you will be patient like Jesus is patient, you will sacrifice like Jesus sacrificed, you will serve like Jesus served, and you will do those things with only one hope, and that is to point all glory to Jesus Christ.

Because that's what the Holy Spirit does.

He glorifies Jesus.

Pastor Neil, I don't think I've never seen him utter prophetic utterances up here on stage.

I haven't seen him in front of 20,000 people, but I will say I've seen him working for about 14 years I've worked alongside him, and I haven't seen, I don't think I've ever heard a gossip come out of his mouth.

I don't I've never heard a curse word or a coarse joke.

And I've seen grace and forgiveness, and I can confidently say that man is filled with the Holy Spirit.

And I don't say that because he's only been doing it for 14 years.

I mean, he's got another 20 or 30 years.

Let's not celebrate too soon.

Okay, but I don't say that because I believe he's just got all the willpower in the world.

I say that because I know that it is the Holy Spirit that has empowered him to live like that.

And that is what the Holy Spirit wants to do with every single one of us.

Then Jesus says in verse 15, a very powerful statement.

He says, All that the Father has is mine.

That is something that if you say outside of being the Son of God, outside of being equal with God, that would be blasphemy.

But it's not blasphemy because he is God, as he's saying, and he says, All that the Father has is mine.

Therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Then Jesus goes on to say in verses 16 through 18, he says, A little while and you will see me no longer, and again, a little while you will see me.

So some of his disciples said to one another, 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'm going to the Father?

So they were saying, What does he mean by a little while?

I like this right here.

We do not know what he is talking about.

That's good.

I like very obvious.

It's good scripture.

We do not know what he's talking about.

But then Jesus hears them talking about it, or he at least senses or recognizes that they're talking about it, and he says to them, um, I think I might be lost a little bit.

No, I'm good.

He says, He says, Jesus knew what they wanted to ask him.

Give me just a second, hold that thought.

All right, he's so he says to them, as he hears them talking about it, in verse 20, he says, Truly, truly I say to you, you will leap and lament, but the but the world will rejoice.

Now, he hears them questioning, and he he basically lets them know, yes, I'm leaving for a little while, and then you see me, then you won't, but then you'll see me.

And he's telling them, when they start questioning, in verse 20, he says, I say to you, truly, truly.

So this is Jesus didn't lie all the time.

What he's putting to do is he put emphasis on here.

He's not saying, hey, I know all the other stuff that I say isn't true.

He's letting them know truly, truly, this is something you really need to hone in on here.

He says, You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.

He's talking about his death on the cross when he's talking about going away.

Now, there is as different scholars, and I've read different things as of um different commentaries on this text as I've as I've studied for this.

And some people will say when he's talking about coming and going and coming back, that he's he's talking about um the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost, is what I have seen people talk about.

I've also seen people referring to um him, the church age now, how he is how he um is seated at the right seat of God, but he is coming again, and he and then the the second coming of Christ is what he's referring to here.

And all those are true things.

I believe that that those are real things, but I believe in the context that he's talking about here, when he says, But the world will rejoice, um he's talking about his death on the cross and how people will celebrate the fact that he has died on the cross.

Meanwhile, the disciples will be he's saying in the context of what's about to happen in front of them that Jesus is about to die on the cross, and the disciples then will lament over the loss of a friend.

They will weep and be sad over the humiliation that their Messiah that they've been following for the past three years is dead.

They will weep because of the few their future hopes of being in the kingdom that they thought he was going to establish have been basically destroyed.

So they were going to be sorrowful, and Jesus knew that they were going to be sorrowful, that they were going to be completely discouraged.

But then he tells them in verse 20, but you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

He's letting them know that, like, I get it, you are hurting right now.

There may be people in this room that are that are hurting, but your sorrow, he's telling them that your sorrow is going to turn into joy.

And he gives this wild illustration of a woman in labor.

In verses 16-21, it says, Jesus tells them, When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.

But when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

And that's I've I remember my wife having my daughter, and it was this incredible moment, you know, but so much pain leading up to it, you know, for her.

Want to make that clear, for her.

I was there with her the whole time, just encouraging, right?

But but it's just that beauty of holding a child, and all of a sudden you're not thinking about the pain anymore.

You're just thinking about this miracle of life.

And I and Jesus is letting them know that's what this is going to be like.

It is the worst pain you have ever felt, the wor the worst sorrow that if you've ever felt in your life, but it is going to result in joy.

And he doesn't just say that that it will that he will replace your sorrow, he says he will turn it into joy.

He will transform your sorrow into joy.

And these disciples were experiencing a lot of sorrow.

They were their dreams were crushed.

Their friend was dead on a cross, and another friend had betrayed them altogether.

I remember celebrating the birth of a baby, and someone standing there kind of made a snarky comment, and it was basically the the child had been born out of wedlock.

And when we found out that there was a pregnancy, that was like a lot of people were were you know upset and frustrated, and and there were people heard and people didn't understand what was going on, and people didn't know if if the dad is gonna step up, and and you had these different issues, and now families are you could be arguing back and forth, and and all this happens, but then when a baby's brought into the world, all of a sudden it's just joy of new life.

And I remember that happening and celebrating the new life, and and we're excited.

We're talking about the weight and the pounds, but then someone made a comment, and it was kind of a snarky comment, and it said, Isn't it funny how how all of a sudden all the all the frustrations and all the letdowns are just forgotten about because the baby's brought into the world?

But they weren't like celebrating it, they were just kind of like almost like making fun of the situation.

And I said, By funny, do you mean uh biblical?

Because Jesus used this exact thing to talk about the joy that comes when a child is born, how much we forget when new life comes.

And we could look at this and say, no, Jesus was just talking about the frustration of his death and the pain of his death that he would experience.

But you have to understand the disciples they didn't experience the pain of his death.

They saw him die, but they didn't go through the pain of his death.

What did they experience?

Guilt, shame.

They they denied him, they scattered, they doubted.

So they had the guilt of seeing Jesus die on the cross, but then so they were sorrowful, not just because they saw him die on the cross, but then now he is raised again in his resurrection.

They have joy.

And in the joy of resurrection, we see them talking about their shortcomings in later scriptures and in later chapters in the epistles.

They don't look at those things with regret, they say, look what God did.

He takes even our mistakes, and a lot of times our sorrow that we have is self-inflicted sorrow, and because of self-inflicted sorrow, we think God can't use that to bring joy to my life.

And instead, we try to run from God.

But the reality, for most of us, it was a self-inflicted sorrow that brought us to the feet of Jesus Christ.

It was self-inflicted sorrow that brought us to his knees, and it was the Holy Spirit that brought us there, letting us know that we had failed, but then he offered his grace and his salvation to us, and now we can stand up looking at that in victory in the name of Jesus Christ.

That is what he has provided for us, sorrow into joy.

If there is anyone in here who is experiencing sorrow, but they feel like you cannot take it to God because I caused this in my life.

I want you to know he is right there, willing to wrap his arms around you, ready for you to come to him so he can pour out his forgiveness on you.

He desires to be your guide.

Sorrow will be turned to joy.

Psalm 35 tells us, weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

John 16, 22, he went on to say, and no one will take your joy from you.

Let's read all of 22.

It says, So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

The disciples thought they had joy before Jesus died on the cross.

Right?

They had thought they had joy.

They had they had hopes for for being second in the kingdom, at the right seat of at the right seat of the king, the new Jerusalem.

That's what they thought they were going to experience, but then he died on the cross, and then they were able to experience true joy.

Sometimes some of our some of our hopes for self-glorification have to die and be crushed a little bit so we can experience true joy in Jesus Christ.

So then man, I'm just all over the place.

I guess I'm am I being too preachy?

Okay, let's calm it down a little bit.

Okay, all right.

So then he promises.

So then Jesus goes on and he says, Your joy will not be taken from you.

And in verse 23, he says, Jesus promised he says that in that day you will ask nothing of me.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name.

Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

I have said these things to you in figures of speech.

The hour is coming when I 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.

He's telling them that because of what he's doing on the cross, and because he is sending the helper, that they have access to the Father.

That's what he's letting them know, that they will go to God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Make that clear, it is only by the name of Jesus Christ that they are able to go to him.

It is only because we are covered by the blood that we are able to go before God.

But he is encouraging the disciples, I'm going, but you still have access to the Father.

You have the Holy Spirit.

My blood has covered your sins, is what he's going to is what he's telling them.

So he's letting them know that they will have access to the Father at this point.

They will ask the Father in the name of Jesus.

Galatians 3.26 says, 3.20, yeah, 3.26 says, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

What that means is that in Jesus Christ, he doesn't just tolerate us.

He doesn't just put up with us.

Jesus doesn't put him in uh in a jiu-jitsu hold and choke God out so that he so that he tolerates us.

No, it says that we are sons of God through faith.

So when we see in verses 26 and 27, John 16, 26 through 27, it says, 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.

Listen to this.

For the Father Himself loves you.

He loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

When we choose to believe in Jesus Christ, we become sons of God.

When we place our faith in him, we are sons of God.

And God loves his children.

Let's move on to verses 28 through 32.

It says, the Father, let's see.

Jesus lets them know that he came from the Father and He's going back to the Father.

And the disciples then say, after he says this, the disciples in verse 30 say, Now we know that you know all things, and you do not need any need to question you anymore.

This is why we believe that you have come from God.

And Jesus is like, You now believe?

But not only is Jesus like, Oh, it's good that you finally now believe, he he not only can't celebrate that because he knows how short-lived a win it's gonna be, because he says, You now believe, but then he goes on to say, You will be scattered.

They're like, We got it.

I'm glad we got it.

We've got it figured out at this point.

But he says, You will be scattered.

He so then in 1632, he says, he lets them know that they will scatter, that he he will be alone, they will leave him alone, but then he also says this powerful word, he says, But yet I am not alone, for the father is with me.

He lets them know that he's going to the cross, he knows that he's gonna go alone, that his that his disciples are going to abandon him, and he's going to a cross, but he's not going alone.

The father is with him.

When I hear that, I'm reminded of Genesis chapter 22, where where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

And he takes Abraham up to the mountain and he's going to sacrifice his son because he's being obedient to God.

But before he does that, in verse 6 in Genesis 22, 6, it says, And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.

Okay, so the wood of the burnt offering, he's laying it on his son.

That's symbolic of Jesus, the cross being put on him, and he took his hand, um, took in his hand the fire and the knife, and then it says, So they went both of them together.

So Abraham and Isaac, the father, is going to the sacrifice with the son.

Now, you know, if you if you know about Abraham and Isaac, you know that God sent a ram in the thickets and provided the sacrifice, which was pointing to what would happen later on the cross, where Jesus would die for the sins of the world.

But he didn't go alone.

He said the father was with him.

And now we are never alone.

That's why we're able to not be sorrowful.

I remember when I was working for a cable utility company, I was in management there, and we got a complaint that that the someone, one of the customers wasn't letting someone on their property because we worked in utilities, so pretty much everyone in the world is our customer.

But um, people don't really like it when you come on their property sometimes.

They don't understand easement rights and that sort of thing.

And and I remember walking up, I mean it was actually someone that wasn't even with our company, but I needed him to mark the lines for the utilities, and and he said, he said, I can't go in there because the guy threatened me with a rifle or a shotgun.

And uh and he said, and then I was like, okay, and I'm sitting there thinking, I've it's like five o'clock, I just want to get home, or I got I had to go to my kids' game, and and I was like, um, which house is it?

Or which driveway?

Because it was like a long driveway, you know.

So um, so then I said, All right, so I just started to walk towards the house, and he looked and he said, Are you are you going alone?

And I said, No sense of both of us dying, you know.

So then I um so I started walking up the driveway, and of course, as I start walking and get away a little bit by myself, I started thinking, I started regretting my decision and really thinking through some of my life decisions at that point.

Like, how did I get here?

But I will tell you, I was fearful, okay?

I had fear on my heart.

My adrenaline started pumping as I got closer to the house.

I was fearful, okay.

Let me say that again.

I was fearful, but there was not fear on my heart.

And the reason why is because I knew that God was with me.

And it worked out fine.

I lived to see another day.

But how many times in our life do we just need to be reminded that God is with us?

Jesus didn't go to the cross alone.

We don't have to go through this alone.

We have the Holy Spirit, we have the helper with us.

Then he goes on to say here in extremely powerful verse to close out chapter 16, 33.

He says, 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.

Earlier in this chapter, in verse 22, in John 16, 22, it says, And no one will take your joy from you.

And I think that's an interesting statement.

No one will take your joy from you.

That is a truth from the word of God if your joy is in the word of God.

If your joy is placed in Jesus Christ, that's right, it is an unshakable joy that no one will take from you.

But Jesus is giving us two things here.

He's giving us a promise and an offer.

The promise is that you will have tribulation.

That's a guarantee.

In this world you will have tribulation, but then he's giving us all an offer that we can have peace in this world.

We can have peace in Jesus Christ.

I'm sorry, we can have peace in him.

So it's not just peace from tribulation, it's peace through Jesus Christ in the tribulation.

If your joy is in Christ, then it's solid.

But if you place your joy in the things of this world, you will never have peace.

And our joys in this world, they are so short-lived.

And Jesus is letting us know tribulation is coming, so you cannot place all your hope on that.

In Jesus Christ, we have peace.

In the world, we have tribulation.

We should understand that.

I shouldn't be placing my hopes of my future and the things of this world.

I should be focusing them on Jesus Christ.

I shouldn't be placing my joys on the fun events or maybe the vacation that I have planned next year.

I shouldn't place my hope and joy from that because that can be taken from me in a minute.

I should place my hope and trust in Jesus Christ.

I shouldn't place my hope and joy in my retirement because those things can be taken from me.

I shouldn't place my hope and joy in anything in this world, my joy should be in Christ.

And we can say it over and over and over again, but the execution phase is so much harder.

It is the execution of actually acting that out and living that truth out.

That in this world we will have tribulation, but in Jesus Christ we will have joy, so we should place our joy in Jesus Christ.

That is so hard to live.

It is so easy for me to understand that if I eat a bunch of cheeseburgers and fries, then that's not gonna do anything good for my body.

I can get that, got it.

I shouldn't eat that.

Ice cream.

It is another thing that yesterday, after spending, I don't want to exaggerate, 36 hours on a soccer field in rain, heat, like all the weather or all the seasons in one day.

It is another thing to go to culverts with your family and not eat cheeseburgers, fries, and ice cream.

Do you understand that?

Okay?

I need a helper if I want to keep from doing that.

I need someone to guide me through that.

Do you understand that?

If you want to live this life, truly placing your joy in Jesus Christ, we cannot do this on our own, but thank God He has sent a helper.

He has sent a guide to help us live for Him and to not put our hopes in this world.

So, Christians, believe that.

Put your hope and joy in Jesus Christ.

The second part of that that I want to that I want us to grasp is if you don't know Jesus Christ, if you put your hope in this world and you have been found, you have found that it is empty, and you're struggling right now, your heart is full of sorrow.

He wants to give you his salvation.

He wants to pour out his love on you.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that he died for the sins of the world and that he rose again.

Earlier I did a little communion med before service, and I said that he died and he rose again to bring us into good standing with him.

And you see, Rachel got up here and she said it so much better because she said something similar, but she said he died, he rose again to put us in good standing with him forever.

She added that forever in there.

And that's what we have when we place our trust in Jesus Christ.

But John 16, 27, as we've already read today, I want you to remind you this is a big piece of that.

It says, For the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I have come from God.

Do you believe this morning?

If you want to choose to believe Him and you receive His love, His forgiveness, His salvation, His peace, and receive His Holy Spirit as your guide, then I want to encourage you to come to this altar and lay down whatever sorrows you have and let him turn them into joy.

Let's pray.

Father God, in the name of Jesus, I love you and I'm thankful for your guidance, Lord.

I'm thankful for your Holy Spirit that guides us to you.

I'm thankful for your Holy Spirit that has pursued every single one of us.

Lord, we need that pursuing of the Holy Spirit.

We need that guiding of the Holy Spirit.

We need the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives because we all want to be drawn closer to you.

Lord, I pray for those who are experiencing sorrow this morning, Lord.

I pray that you will bring it to joy, Father.

I pray that they will let the sorrow of this life bring them to the feet of Jesus Christ so they can experience your joy.

Lord, I pray for anyone in this room who's who's needing and struggling with belief, Father.

Lord, I pray that they will cry out to you, help my unbelief, Lord.

I pray for anyone here that is just needing encouragement and to be strengthened by you, Father, that they will experience your Holy Spirit that guides us, helps us, encourages us, and puts us on the right path, Lord.

We're thankful for your grace that you poured out on every single person in this room.

And I pray that as we continue to worship, Lord God, I pray that we are so thankful for what you did for us on the cross, and we declare that we believe in the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Please stand with us.