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[0:00] I guess to think about this final verse that we read John chapter 16 at verse 33 which I don't mind telling you as I'm sure I've mentioned in the past is in fact my favourite verse in the entire Bible Old Testament and you I think this is the most powerful verse of all these things I have spoken unto you said Jesus that in me ye might have peace in the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world I have overcome the world is the world really so much enmity with Christ that it has to be defeated overcome in this way what's the big battle is it not just the case the world is sort of languishing in neutral kind of misery and we need to be helped and we need to be saved perhaps and redeemed but not overcome in that sense I mean it's not a battle surely well in a sense of course it is a battle Jesus knows that his followers will have a battle in this world this is what he is equipping them for for a little while he was with them but he is departing from them so that they can be imparted such a gift such an arsenal of weaponry such a power as will enable them to overcome all the foes and the forces of the enemy and it is hard for them to grasp this this is the context of the chapter it is hard for them to grasp that they are somehow going to be stronger and better off if he physically departs from them and leaves with them in the forms of time the outpouring of his spirit this is something that troubles them

[1:48] Jesus says at the beginning of the chapter he doesn't want them to be offended he says they have put you out of the synagogues we know there was already experience of that in John's account of the gospel if you think of the man who had been born blind and who put his trust in Jesus and his parents because they feared the Jews he said ask him himself for the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was the Christ he should be put out of the synagogue and likewise again a couple of chapters on in chapter 12 at verse 48 we read that there were many amongst the rulers that believed believed on him and yet they were afraid verse 42 of chapter 12 nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the synagogue people were going to have to choose there was going to be in a sense warfare and the day will come and whosoever killeth you think that he will do that he does God's service Paul himself acknowledged that this is what he was like prior to his conversion chapter 1

[2:52] Galatians verse 13 ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it and if you think about it across the world the majority of persecution suffered by our brothers and sisters comes from those who believe that they are serving their version of what they think is God whether it be the multiple gods of the Hindus or the false gods or idols of other religions or whether it be the false prophet of Islam or the Allah that they worship it is the service the loyalty supposedly to these gods or their understanding even of God singular which drives their persecution of the Lord's people but these things I have told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them and these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you and he says further in verse 7 it is expedient it is good for you that I go away for if I go on away to comfort

[3:57] I will not come unto you but if I depart I will send them unto you what Jesus says we know of course is the Holy Spirit the power of the Spirit and remember what Jesus gives his disciples what Jesus gives those who put their trust in him is the most basic fundamental need of the human life the human soul if we turn back a couple of chapters in John we find for example in chapter 7 at verse 39 when he said you know that whosoever believes in me if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this he spake of the Spirit which they that believer him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified but when he talks about giving the Spirit he's talking about satisfying a deep need a deep seated thirst a thirst in our soul which the Spirit will supply when he talks about what he is going to give to people he talks about this water of life flowing freely a chapter or so earlier he talks about the bread of life and he says that he is the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world

[5:22] I am the bread of life said Jesus he gives us of his Spirit he gives the water of life flowing out from us these most basic needs bread and water which the body needs and the soul needs that water of life from that bread of life and what is it we yearn for in this world of so much trouble and turmoil if not what he mentions also at the end of Matthew 11 where he says come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly and hard and hard and ye first shall fight rest unto your souls the Lord promises rest he promises bread he promises water he promises fulfilment he promises the satisfying of our souls that is the greatest most fundamental needs of all it is what fallen man is constantly looking for satisfaction in this world and he looks for it in getting the buzz out of this world or noise or conflict or military glory or whether it be narcotics or alcohol or whatever it be whatsoever will blot out the pain or the sorrow or the disappointment of this world and take them off into some other fantasy world what will give them glory what will give them power what will give them strength the things they think will satisfy and they climb to the top of these mountains only to discover that they are left unsatisfied and isolated by it the Lord says that he has come to satisfy to give the comfort the strength which only the comforter his spirit is able to give if I depart

[7:08] I will send him unto you and when he has come he will approve the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me and if we think about it of course all sin ultimately springs from this most fundamental sin of all the sin of unbelief because a man or a woman who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ it's not that they can't sin they will still be sinners but they are conscious of that sin when they do it they are conscious of it they hate it they repent of it they want to be cleansed of it they will still sin again of course as long as they are in this fallen world but they recognise it has an enemy with them that needs to be fought against all sin ultimately springs from the sin of unbelief it is the most foundational sin of all it is what the serpent tempted

[8:09] Adam and Eve with to question to doubt to have a little bit of unbelief yea have God reasoned this is the question do we believe God do we truly believe that when we sin when we do or say the things that we need to become ashamed of we tell ourselves God doesn't see or he's not standing there watching us thou God seest me but we pretend that he doesn't unbelief is there to a greater or lesser extent in almost all the sins that we commit of sin because they believe not only of righteousness because I go to my father and he see me no more of judgment because the prince of this world is judged in the world he shall have tribulation because this world is a fallen world it is fallen because of that first sin when the representative head not only of mankind but of the world of whom he had been made male and female the apex of all creation and when man falls creation becomes cursed with it and so death enters in and so all that falls with it likewise is associated with death and there is no peace in this fallen world now first

[9:33] John tells us in chapter 5 verse 19 we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness and if it is not redeemed then it must lie in wickedness because it is fallen and in this fallen state just as we were saying a few minutes ago as man searches for satisfaction and fulfillment and all the blind alleys that the world offers there is no satisfaction there is for all lying in wickedness there is no peace there is no satisfaction Isaiah makes mention of this centuries before the time of Jesus the end of Isaiah 57 there is no peace save my God to the wicked the wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace save my God to the wicked even to the prince of this world there is no peace says he prowls through the air walking up and down like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour but the sense is not of a lion free on the plains or the prairie or whatever it may be looking for his prey it's almost a sense of a caged lion pacing up and down to and fro looking at the world but going as far as he can in his cage and then padding backwards and forwards it is a restlessness it is a lack of peace now of course the Hebrew word for peace which would be at the back of the minds of all the apostles being Jews even though the New

[11:13] Testament is written in Greek is the word shalom and the word shalom doesn't just mean peace in the sense of tranquility it gathers up within it all the sense of well being and of favour and of blessing and of goodness it's a wholeness so some people would say a holistic peace because it affects and it impacts upon every aspect of one's life and spirit and body and soul it is a whole peace this shalom it is that which the world cannot give because the world is fallen it is in a sense incomplete because it is no longer reconciled to God as once it was that Jesus has come to put that right and to restore that broken relationship be of good cheer I have overcome the world now this overcoming it is suggestive of a conquest a victory in battle because there has been a battle of course if there's the devil the prince of this world as Jesus describes him as the prince of this world verse 11 then it's going to be conflict and it's a conflict which of course the devil cannot win because he's already defeated but if we are trusting in Christ then we also overcome not just because he has gone ahead of us and has overcome first so we have to be like him but it's as though he has overcome it for us if we are in him we likewise overcome back to 1st

[12:49] John chapter 5 we read verses 4 and 5 whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith who is here that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God we're back again to the opposite of that most fundamental sin unbelief if we believe that Jesus is the son of God then we have the power in him to overcome the world but of course it's not an easy or light context it's not just a push at the open door and that means it's all overcome it's all done this is a conflict of life and death this is a heavy conflict you know Jesus wants his disciples to be able to understand all that they need it's in this context of course that he's talking about you know I've got many things to say to you but you can't bear them now verse 12 how be it when he the spirit of truth is done he will guide you into all truth you'll know everything you need to know you'll have the grasp of the scriptures they will all make sense like all the pieces of the jigsaw will have been fitted together and you will see the picture plainly and it will all be clear in a way that it wasn't before all the pieces of the jigsaw were there but they were all sort of jumbled up and they weren't in their right place and some pieces fit into place and some patches of the picture have been made up and maybe all the edging was around but it wasn't complete but now you will see it you will see the scriptures in the light of the spirit which inspired them and so the spirit will not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come now remember of course when

[14:39] Jesus inspires through his spirit the epistles to be written there by Paul and James and Peter and others and when he speaks to John of course in the revelation remember that he says the risen Christ says revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass things which are still to happen and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John he will show you things to come the revelation things which will shortly come to pass he will glorify me he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you this is what they are going to need he says in that day he shall ask me nothing verse 28 doesn't mean oh well we're hungry so we better ask for bread he's not talking about that he will supply their needs nobody who puts their trust in the Lord will ever go short of what the Lord is ready to give them ask and it shall be given seek and you shall find but what he's talking about I would suggest to you in verses 23 and 24 here is asking to have the secrets unlocked asking to have the mysteries open in that day you don't need to ask me anything he says

[15:52] I say unto whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it to you if you're really concerned with inquiry in that sense and finding out that's the sense of it but hitherto you've asked nothing in my name ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full it's in the same way as a teacher having given the class their lesson says now are there any questions and everybody's terrified to put their hand up but what she really wants is that people will ask and that they will ask you well I understand this bit and this bit but what about that bit because the surest thing is if you ask a whole lot of other people wanted to know the answer to ask that you may receive and it's almost implying you won't need to ask because you have everything shown to you everything will be clear these things have I spoken unto you in proverbs and parables but at the time coming when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs but I will show you plainly of the father at that day you shall ask in my name

[16:54] I say not unto you I will pray the father for you but the father himself loveth you because you loved me and I believed that I came out from God now there's a couple of verses on his disciples say lo now speakest plainly and speakest no proverb he's not actually speaking much more clearly now than he was just a couple of chapters ago you know in chapter 14 for example let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me my father's house and many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself then where I am there ye may be also what could be plainer but they couldn't quite see it at that point when they say lo how speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb it's not that Jesus is speaking more plainly like again at verse 9 have I been so long time with you and yet he that had seen me had seen the father how sayest thou then show us the father and likewise again in chapter 10 verse 10

[17:59] I and my father are one Jesus couldn't hardly be plainer in some of the things he's saying but they are now beginning to understand when they say now are we sure that thou knowest all things and needest not that any man should ask thee by this we believe that thou camest forth from God it's not that they disbelieved before they put their faith in Jesus but they didn't understand because their minds hadn't been opened and although the spirit hadn't yet been poured out of them Jesus in speaking to them was clearly unlocking by his spirit some of the mystery so that they could see more clearly and understand more plainly 1 Corinthians chapter 2 tells us verse 14 but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned you know the issue is not whether or not they are clever enough you know the world cannot know these things but it is the

[19:10] Lord who opens it unto them so this is what's happening with the disciples it's not suddenly Jesus is speaking oh now we get it Lord why didn't you say that before he did say it before but now their minds are being opened and enlarged they are able to grasp it do you now believe belief is beginning to be awakened by grace it is the gift of God and this is what he is giving the hour cometh he is when he will be scattered every man to his own you leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me and yet there will be a sense in which Jesus would be humanly speaking completely alone on the cross Psalm 69 verse 20 of course reproach had broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none but as

[20:11] Jesus said my Father is with me even though he felt on the cross because of his separation and the sin he was bearing my God my God why hast thou forsaken me he was not truly forsaken by his Father but here we have the world in its conflict in its lying wickedness in its fallenness fighting as it were against this grace that Jesus desires to bring the satisfaction that man seeks for his soul he will never find in this fallen world in the same way as no matter how thirsty you are no matter how much of the ocean you drink it will never slake your thirst because it is salt it is bitter it will only make the thirst worse and so likewise no matter how much we drink in of this world's pleasures or activities or supposed challenges or triumphs and achievements it will only cause us to be more and more ragingly thirsty but Jesus has come to bring peace that peace which the world cannot give these things

[21:18] I have spoken unto you that in me he might have peace this shalom this fullness of peace this application to every part of life and heart and spirit and body and soul just as he said in chapter 14 peace I leave with you my peace give I unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid now of course in military terms as we mentioned in the past on previous occasions when do you have peace you might have a truce when both sides try to negotiate but really you only have peace at the end of a war and what happens at the end of a war why does it end it ends because one side has been totally and completely defeated and the other side is totally and completely victorious almost certainly at a heavy cost but the victory is because one side has been completely totally defeated and destroyed and this is one reason I would suggest to you why Jesus says I am giving you this peace because although there may still be a conflict raging although there may still be pockets of resistance in this fallen world that lies in wickedness the victory is already done it is already secured yes you may be facing a conflict now in fact again at

[22:47] Revelation we see that there is conflict in chapter 12 we read you know the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which received with the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him they heard a loud voice saying now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ that's great for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused him before our God day and night that's even better they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto death therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them so far so good woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time we think in terms of all the world's as old as forever you know it's going on for thousands and thousands of years and no doubt it'll go on for thousands and thousands of years more and of course unbelieving pseudoscience will tell us oh it's millions of years old like they can prove that entire completely false speculation based on a false premise of complete total unbelief and denial of the facts but still they think oh it's ages and ages and old and so on but no it's just a short time the devil has in order to do his damage he knoweth that he hath but a short time and when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth he persecuted the woman which brought forth the child and in the last verse the dragon was walked with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ it's not a fun time to be on the earth when the devil is walking to and fro and seeking to make war on the Lord's people but he has been doing that since he is cast out of glory woe woe woe at the end of chapter 8 in revelation to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to serve this world is not a fun place to be in if you're a

[25:03] Christian because the devil is constantly going to make war with you by whatever means whether it's to communist governments in the far east that hate you because you're a believer or whether it's to false religion that hates you because you don't follow their false religion or so called secular humanism that pretends to be tolerant but can be tolerant of absolutely everything except the true gospel that likes to pretend that it is so open minded and so tolerant and it will allow anything but because its standard of good and evil has been literally inverted turned upside down they call good evil and evil good and of course what is your definitive what is the objective standard of wickedness of good and evil because there is none who is good but one that is God Jesus says it follows that whatsoever is against God and his son and his teachings and his commandments must be by definition evil of course there are shades of grey and darkness and greater and lesser evil and some people are implacably opposed to the Lord and others are just sort of a bit indifferent but at the end of the day there is good which is the Lord and there is evil which is against him these things Jesus said have I spoken unto you that in me he might have peace there is no peace in any other

[26:26] Jesus says peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you that victory over the world which has already been achieved in the world he shall have tribulation there is going to be a battle there is going to be a fight they are going to throw you out the city laws they are going to deny everything you say they are going to be an enmity with you they are going to hate you from now to the end of time but I have overcome the world the whole world life and wickedness I have overcome it the prince of this world has come down to destroy my followers I have overcome him the world is itself fallen because of the curse I have overcome the curse all of these things the Lord has triumphed over and if we would share in that triumph we need must be our trust likewise in him in the world he shall have tribulation that is the word of Jesus and we see the truth of it all around us we see it in our own society we see it across the world and the persecution of our brothers and sisters but be of good cheer courage I have overcome the world and because he has overcome the world we likewise are enabled to overcome it in him remember what we read in first John there at chapter five but whatsoever is born of

[27:51] God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith who is he can overcome the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God and when we have our trust in Christ we find that our soul is satisfied our soul has that peace it is enabled to be at rest come on to me all you labor and are heavy laden I will give you rest our bodies may still be weary they may still be working every hour the Lord sends they may still be trying constantly to do all that needs doing and it's never enough because there's always more that needs doing but our soul will be at rest in Christ knowing that when we have done all and we are simply unprofitable servants it is not the servant that rules but the master and it is him that we serve in the world he shall have tribulation but in me he might have peace this shalom this wholeness this satisfaction the water of life that will flow from that everlasting spring the bread of life which came down from heaven the rest and peace which he alone can give and this is why he speaks this word to his followers whilst he is present with them and he promises that the spirit the comfort and the descends will do even greater things and this is what he promises now of course most of us would hesitate to say well how could anyone do anything greater than Jesus he's God remember that God the Holy Ghost the comforter is also God what

[29:36] Jesus did in the flesh he did for let us say approximately three and a half years and he did wonderfully and he did within the small confines of Judea and Palestine and he helped a number of people where for all that there were many of them would be a finite number comparatively small number but how many people will have been helped by the outpouring of his spirit and by the physical and spiritual help that has been given by his disciples from generation to generation to generation not for three and a half years in Palestine but for two thousand years around all the globe in this sense even if it be the purely mathematical we must say in accordance with what Jesus teaches and with all reverence that what the spirit has enabled as far outstripped what the Lord in his physical days in his flesh was enabled to accomplish we say it with reverence but we say it with truth on us because he has gone from his disciples the comfort of us come and greater things are accomplished these things I have spoken unto you that in me you might have peace in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world not you and me but he the Lord Jesus

[31:08]  Christ our Savior our God our deliverer our redeemer the lover of our souls he has won the victory he has overcome the world and when we leave it it is with him that we shall be for all eternity that is great so yet in we in that we in