Do
Ye Now Believe
John 16:23 “And in that day ye shall ask
me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he
will give it you.
24 Hitherto
have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall
receive, that your joy may be full.
25
These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but
the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you
in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the
Father.
26 At that day ye shall
ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will
pray the Father for you:
27 For
the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved
me, and have believed that I came out from God.
28 I came forth from the Father,
and am come into the world: again, I leave the
world, and go to the Father.
29
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou
plainly, and speakest no proverb.
30
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.
31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now
believe?
32 Behold, the hour
cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me
alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with me.
33 These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In
the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.”
1. Ask In My Name
2. Plain Talk
3.
Peace And Tribulation
1. Ask In My Name
Verses twenty-three and twenty-four: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
Do you see those words “in that day”? I am asking an important question. It is very important to understand when “that day” will occur. Because whenever that day comes, it will be a day that “whatsoever” they “shall ask the Father in” Jesus’ “name, the Father" "will give it” to them. What a promise!
So when will it be “that day”? Was it during, or after the forty days that Jesus appeared to his disciples [after He arose from the grave] [having conquered death]? In “what day” would His disciples be able to ask “whatsoever” of the Father in Jesus’ name, that HE would give to them?
The answer is right before you. You need to fasten on to it, and BELIEVE it.
The disciple’s future sorrow turning into joy is
THREE FOLD.
• First, after
the resurrection, the disciples sorrow turned into
joy knowing that Jesus Christ was alive … having
risen from the grave. “And they worshipped
him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:"
[Luke 24:52].
• Second, the disciples of
Jesus Christ and all the believers of Jesus Christ
for the last two thousand years will have their
sorrow turned into joy when we meet the SON
of GOD in the clouds in the translation of
the Body of Christ … The Church. [1 Peter 4:13]
“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his
glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy.”
• Lastly, at the
beginning of the Millennium the Jewish people will
have their sorrow and mourning turned into joy.
[Zechariah 12:10] “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
[Isaiah 35:10] “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
The answer is this. “That day” is a reference to a future day.
“That day” is in reference to the days in an upcoming KINGDOM … the Kingdom of Heaven.
During the MILLENIUM the saints of GOD will ask “the Father in my name”, and the FATHER will give it them.
Therefore, John sixteen is pointing doctrinally to the time of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. This promise is primarily for those believers living on the earth in that time.
Now, hear me. John sixteen verse twenty-four applies to us, too [DEVOTIONALLY].
We need to ask of the FATHER, because the LORD wants us to have our JOY be made FULL. Amen! “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
In this dispensation … the Dispensation of Grace the most important thing to ask in Jesus Christ’s NAME is what the man asked Jesus for in the book of Mark, chapter nine, verse twenty-four.
Let us go there. “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” [Mark 9:24]
If a man, or a woman, or a child, can come to this point and ask God for this HELP, he or she is on the road to SALVATION. Amen!
If we ASK for HELP to BELIEVE on the NAME of Jesus Christ, GOD will give the GIFT of ETERNAL LIFE to you.
What greater thing can be asked for? This is the most important “whatsoever” we can ask for in this age. Whatsoever else we ask for, after that issue [salvation] is settled, is frosting on the cake. We need to claim the promises of God!
2. Plain Talk
Verse twenty-five: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.” And verse twenty-nine: “His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.”
Bottom-line, and there is no “ifs” and “buts” about it, only GOD can open up your heart [and mine] to what in is this Bible.
Look what the BOOK says in First Corinthians. “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” [1 Corinthians 2:11-12]
It is only by the Spirit of God that this BOOK becomes PLAIN. Amen!
Now, we have already seen who this SCRIPTURE is talking to … in the first person. Jesus Christ is talking to his disciples, and every one of them is a Jew. Remember, Israel was still in THE LAND.
Do you see that word: “time” again, here in our text? It is referring to a “time” that is coming, that has a millennial fulfillment for the nation of Israel. During the “time” of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ will “shew you [Israel] plainly of the Father.”
For us, who live now in “the times of the Gentiles”, [Luke 21:24] we have the Holy Ghost in us [if we are saved] that reveals to us the deep things of God. [1 Corinthians 2:10] “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
3. Peace And Tribulation
Verse thirty-three: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
In “the times of the Gentiles” is the CHURCH age, and it is that period of time when God would take out some of the [Gentiles] for own people. [God has been doing this for the last two thousand years.]
This is shown to us in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
Turn to Acts chapter fifteen. Now, look at verse fourteen. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” [Acts 15:14]
It was by the mouth of Paul that the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel, and believe on the Jesus Christ.
The believers in this age [the true Christians] have something that the world doesn’t know, nor understand, nor can it understand, and it is this: “the peace of God”.
Only Christians have it! Amen!
It is a promise of God to the believer, and it is in Philippians four, verse seven: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:7]
Jesus Christ, [in verse thirty-three of our text in John], knew that His disciples, and all the believers in this age, would have to face troubles, trials and tribulation in this life. Now, this being so ... is just part and parcel of being a Christian. It is the baggage! Philippians chapter one, verse twenty-nine bares this truth out. Look at for yourself. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;" [Philippians 1:29].
Go to Second Corinthians chapter one, verse five: “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” [2 Corinthians 1:5-6]
Knowing all this would fall on us as believers, Jesus sent the COMFORTER to INDWELL in us who believe. [Acts 1:8]
This began the ministries of the Holy Ghost in indwelling the believer, in sealing the believer, empowering the believer, comforting the believer, and filling the believer of Jesus Christ. [Thus, the Body of Christ … the Church … began with these ministries of the Holy Ghost in the believer … fifty days after the RESURECTION of Jesus Christ.]
We see the COMFORT of God that brings PEACE to the believer in Second Corinthians chapter one, verse four: “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” [2 Corinthians 1:4]
Finally we have this. When Jesus said: “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” He was showing us the way the Spirit filled Christian would hold sway in the spiritual warfare in this life. If Jesus Christ overcame the world, it follows that Jesus Christ would make provision for the true Christian to overcome the world, and HE HAS! Amen!
[1 John 4:4] “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Hebrews chapter two, verse ten: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
[This is the purpose for trials, tribulation and sufferings.]
“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one:”
[This a reference to the Body of Christ … the
Church] “for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church
will I sing praise unto thee.” [Hebrews
2:10-12]
We sing praises!
We have
good cheer!
We have the peace of God.
We will overcome the world!