John chapter 16.
Last week we did about the first half, so 1 through 15.
Today's sermon text begins with verse 16.
Okay, I think all of our kids are assigned in, so I'll pray for you,
and then we'll send you on.
Thank you for the reminder.
All right, let's pray.
Father, thank you for these dear children.
We pray that you please go with them today.
I thank you for James and Michelle and their preparation, Lord.
We pray that you will speak to our children through the power of your word
by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, we pray that you will give them hearts to love you.
We pray that you will give them minds to understand you,
and that with their eyes of faith they can see Jesus Christ in his glory.
Please go with these dear children today, Lord. Amen.
All right.
So we're in John chapter 16, and we'll begin reading today at verse 16
until the end of the chapter.
As I read this, remember, this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible,
clear, and sufficient word.
It's God's very own word for you, his people.
If you receive it that way, then after I'm done reading,
I'll say this is the word of the Lord, and we'll respond.
Thanks be to God.
John chapter 16, beginning at verse 16.
Jesus says to his disciples,
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 not see me.
And again a little while, and you will see me.
And because I am going to the Father.
And 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?
And by saying a little while, and you will not see me.
And again a little while, 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 into 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 will 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 the Father.
I came from the Father,
and I 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 to us,
not using figurative speech.
Now we know that you know all things,
and do not need anyone to question you.
This is why we believe that you came from God.
Jesus answered them,
Do you now believe?
Behold, the hour is coming.
Indeed, it has come,
when you will be scattered,
each to his own home,
and will leave me alone.
Yet I am not alone,
for the Father is with me.
I have said these things to you,
that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation,
but take heart,
I have overcome the world.
And this is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God indeed.
You may be seated.
The Bible tells us that
the grass withers and the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Let's pray.
Father, your word is waiting,
because your word carries your glory.
We need your Holy Spirit
to minister your word to us, Lord.
On our own, we don't understand.
We don't understand your glory.
We're like the disciples, Lord.
Left to ourselves, we would be scattered.
Apart from you, we could do nothing.
But we praise you, Lord,
that you have revealed yourself to us
through all of Scripture,
through Jesus Christ,
and you've opened our eyes of faith
by the power of the Holy Spirit
to behold God.
We pray that you will do just that this morning, Lord,
in a powerful way.
We pray, Lord, that your word
will minister to each soul
that you brought here this morning
by your providence,
that you will have your way in our lives,
we pray.
Amen.
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
my prayer for you this week
has simply been that
you would let your heart
truly rejoice
in the promises of Jesus Christ.
Let your heart rejoice
at the promises of Christ.
In this passage,
we have the final words of Jesus
before he marches to the cross.
John 17,
he's not addressing his disciples any longer,
he's praying.
He's praying that the Father will help him.
And so these are the final words.
And before he finishes his work on the cross,
before he takes on the glorified,
resurrected body,
this is his last goodbye.
A final goodbye
keeps a room in the heart forever,
doesn't it?
You have detailed memories
of a last goodbye you've had to say.
And in his last words to his disciples,
what's on the heart of Jesus is the Father.
He knows they will be scattered.
And yet,
he gives them these glorious promises
because he knows
the love of the Father.
This theme reminds me of
a missionary I read about
in the 1800s
named John Payton.
He was born in Scotland,
and he heard of Scottish explorers
discovering these islands
off the coast of New Zealand
and Australia.
Stories came back
of extreme violence and danger,
men who had been cannibalized
and offered as sacrifices.
And the Lord stirred in the heart
of this young man
to go as a missionary
for 40 years
to this pagan people group.
He wrote years later
as an old man
in his autobiography
of that last goodbye
he had to say
to his Christian father.
His father in Scotland
loved the Lord,
and he's sending off
his young son now to college.
They had to walk
for about 40 miles together
to the train stop.
Hear these words
from his autobiography.
For the last half mile
we walked on together
in almost unbroken silence.
His tears,
that's John referring
to his dad,
his tears fell fast
when our eyes met.
His lips kept moving
in silent prayers for me,
my father,
as was often his custom,
hat in hand.
See, he would take
his hat off to pray.
We halted on reaching
the appointed parting place,
and he grasped my hand
firmly for a moment
in silence.
And then he said solemnly,
God bless you,
my son.
Why are goodbyes so hard?
Especially if you know
it's your final goodbye.
The senses are heightened.
You want to capture
every detail of that moment.
A final goodbye
keeps a room
in the heart forever.
And so here we have
in our epistle
this letter from John
retelling these moments
as an old man now
writing this
to comfort the churches.
Think of the love of Christ
in these final words
to his disciples.
In verse 22,
Jesus says,
Disciples,
you have sorrow now,
but your hearts
will rejoice.
rejoice.
Jesus says,
Disciples,
I'm going away,
but I will see you again,
and no one
will take your joy
from you.
Just as you would
hold on to the memories
of a final goodbye
and find comfort
in visiting those memories,
my encouragement
to you today
is to hold on
to these promises,
these final words
of Jesus Christ.
Hear the love
from the Father
flowing through him
to you today.
Let your heart
rejoice
at Christ's promises.
The first one is this.
Christ promises
that his disciples
will see him.
Christ promises
that you,
his disciple,
will see Jesus.
Let your heart
rejoice at that.
Look at verse 16.
Jesus tells his disciples,
a little while,
and you will see me
no longer,
and again a little while,
and you will see me.
It's not the first time
Jesus gave this message.
Earlier in John chapter 7,
verse 20,
do you remember that scene
where it's the treasury,
where those horn shapes,
where people put money in,
and right across that hallway,
the Pharisees could hear him
preaching and teaching,
and what was it
that Jesus said?
He said,
I am going away.
Where I am going,
you cannot come.
You will seek me,
but will not find me.
And then Jesus proclaimed,
so all in the temple
would hear,
unless you believe
that I am he,
you will die
in your sins.
That's what he proclaimed
in the temple
for all the world
to hear.
Unless you believe,
you will die
in your sins.
But now to his disciples,
even though they will
be scattered,
and without the Holy Spirit,
they would never
follow Christ loyally.
Jesus says,
you will see me.
Pastor John Gill commented,
nothing touches believers
to the quick
and gives them
more uneasiness
than when Christ
is out of sight.
There is none like him
in their esteem
in heaven and on earth.
Oh, disciples
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we sing this,
turn your eyes
upon Jesus.
Turn your eyes
to the morning
and see Christ
the lion awake.
What a glorious dawn.
Fear of death
is gone.
Oh, Jesus,
we turn our eyes
to you
because there's not
a more terrible thought
than to never
see Jesus again.
And now we see him
with eyes of faith.
One day he promises,
my disciples,
you will see me.
Let that stir
your heart with joy.
See, this is the promise
of God to everyone
who has ever believed
through all of human history.
One of the most ancient books
of the whole Bible
is Job.
And this was the promise
God gave Job.
In Job 19.25,
he could pray,
I know that my Redeemer lives
and at the last
he will stand
upon the earth.
And after my skin
has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh
I will see God.
That was the hope
that moved Job
to rejoicing
when everything around him
was perishing away.
Let your heart rejoice
at Christ's promises today.
And Christ promises,
believer,
that his disciples
will see him.
Christ also promises
that he will turn
your sorrow
into joy.
Jesus Christ will turn
your sorrow
into joy.
That's what he promises
in verse 20.
Look at that.
In verse 20,
Jesus says,
Amen,
or truly,
truly,
I say to you,
you will weep
and lament
while the world rejoices.
You will be sorrowful,
but listen to this promise.
Your sorrow
will turn
into joy.
See,
the disciples,
they're confused
and they do feel
this deep sorrow.
They feel the weightiness
of this moment
and their deep sorrow
gets deeper.
We're reminded again
of that scene
in Narnia
when those wicked beasts
are mocking
and jeering
and cheering
as Aslan,
the great mighty lion,
marches to the stone table
of his death.
The disciples
are going to see
that happen
to their Lord.
They will see Jesus
be bound up,
falsely accused,
mocked,
scourged.
They will see
the innocent,
righteous man
bleeding for them,
then being spat upon
and publicly humiliated.
the Lord Jesus Christ,
as someone put it,
the one on whom
their souls hope,
the one who their hearts
love,
the one who is
the very life
of their souls.
His gracious presence
is the only source
of life to disciples.
What this means is
as they watch Jesus
be carried away
to his death,
it means death
for them.
all of their hopes,
all of their peace
is being crushed.
And now Jesus promises
and the Spirit
reminds them
the very thing
that caused you
the deepest sorrow,
the deepest anguish
you will feel,
that very thing
will become
the source
and the foundation
of your joy.
joy.
Jesus says,
your sorrow
will turn
into joy.
What is it
that becomes joy?
It's that very thing,
it's the sorrow.
And the word there,
the verb,
to turn into,
it means to generate,
to give birth,
to be made into.
And the tense
is passive.
Like a mother
giving birth,
the labor pains,
your anguish
is intense,
but Jesus says
that same sorrow,
that same source
of pain,
it will pass quickly.
Your very suffering
will give birth
to rejoicing.
You don't need
to go out
and work for this,
disciples,
this will happen
to you.
I will work this out
in your life.
Think of that mother.
Many here
have gone through this.
There's the pain
in the back,
the changes to the body,
the weight
in the stomach
carrying a child,
the fear,
the uncertainty.
The Lord Jesus
was carrying
a weight here.
He was carrying
a spiritual heaviness.
He was marching
to suffer.
But He did it
for the joy
set before Him.
Just like a mother
joyfully endures
all of that
in her own body.
That's what Jesus
was enduring spiritually.
He was looking forward
to that joy
this would produce
in His disciples.
There's no other way
for them to have joy
than for Christ
to carry that load
for them.
The disciples
could see this
happen before their eyes
and the Spirit
teaching them
what this means.
And for us,
looking back
on that work
of Christ
on our behalf,
we can sing
like the hymn
says so well.
When Satan
tempts me
to despair
and tells me
of the guilt
within,
upward I look
and see Him
there
who made an end
to all
my sin.
It's because
the sinless Savior
died.
My sinful soul
is counted free
for God
the just
has satisfied
to look on
Him
and pardon me.
Praise God
for His work.
I don't know
the details
of what each one
of you is carrying
this morning,
but if you picture
your sorrow
like heavy clay
packed inside
of a big backpack
you're carrying
the sorrow around.
The promise
that Jesus gives here
is that He will
turn that sorrow
on your back,
on your shoulders.
He will turn that
into joy.
It's like
that heaviness
on your load,
He's going to make
that very thing
become feathery wings.
You're going to
soar with Him.
He doesn't waste
your pain,
He transforms it.
That's what He's
telling them.
How does He do this?
How do I get that?
How do I get out
of this slump
and this anguish
and sorrow
and experience that?
It's on our knees
with our Bible open.
The Holy Spirit
ministers the Word
of God to us.
The thing is,
our flesh,
our remaining sin in us,
we don't want to get
on our knees
with our Bible open.
We usually don't
choose that,
do we?
That's why our very sorrow,
the very thing
that we hate,
that feels like
this heavy anguish,
that is what puts us
on our knees
before the Lord.
That's why J.C. Ryle
could say,
no commentary
opens up the Bible
so much as sickness
and sorrow.
Praise God
for the sorrow
if it drives you down
before the cross
of Jesus
to receive
from Him again.
Let your heart rejoice
at this promise.
He will turn
your sorrow
into joy.
Christ also promises
that He will return
to reveal
the Father.
He promises
that He will return
to reveal
the Father
to you.
He promises this
in verses 22
and 25.
Look at 22.
Jesus says
to the disciples,
so also,
you have sorrow now,
but I will see you again.
And your hearts
will rejoice
and no one
can take your joy
from you.
He says,
when you see me,
your hearts
will rejoice.
Why is it that
no one can take
your joy from you?
It's because
the source of your joy
is Jesus Christ.
And no one can take
you from Jesus Christ.
Look at what He says
in verse 25.
He says,
the hour is coming
when I will tell you
plainly
about the Father.
Disciple,
you're going to see
Jesus
and you will rejoice.
And Jesus says,
it doesn't stop
with me.
Look at my Father.
I reveal
the love of God
Himself
to you,
disciple.
We sing,
come behold
this wondrous mystery.
It was a mystery
to the disciples.
They don't understand
and Christ sees them
trying to figure it out
and even when
He tells them this,
they think they get it,
they act like they do,
and He says,
you're going to be scattered.
It's a wondrous mystery.
And if God has opened
your eyes to behold
the gospel,
let that be assurance
for you.
You would not be able
to believe the gospel
unless the Holy Spirit
had regenerated you.
That's the source
of your assurance.
I see this wondrous
mystery of Christ.
I can sing like the hymn,
come behold
the wondrous mystery.
See the price
of our redemption.
See the Father's plan
unfold,
bringing many sons
to glory,
grace unmeasured,
love untold.
Jesus says,
your hearts
will rejoice
in verse 22.
Your hearts
will rejoice.
The word rejoice
is used,
it's to hail
someone in greeting.
It's at the sight
of me,
Jesus says.
Your heart
will signal to you
to be glad
and to delight in me.
This promise
is not just
for the disciples
referring to
his resurrection
along with 500
other witnesses.
They see
the risen Christ.
They see him
in his glorified body.
But it doesn't
stop with them.
You will see
Jesus.
You will see
Jesus.
He is coming again.
And he will show you
the Father.
Thomas Aquinas,
a great synthesizer
of the early church
all the way up
right before the Reformation.
He said,
there is a desire
in the human soul
to know God.
And that desire
to know God
can only be satisfied
by the fullness
of the beatific vision.
The beatific vision,
it's a theological term
for what mere mortals
like us
will get to experience
one day
in glory.
Not by faith,
but by sight
to behold God
and to see
his glory.
That's what Jesus
is so excited
for his disciples
to behold
and to know.
He knows the glory
of his Father.
They're going to scatter,
but his Father
is with him.
The Father loves him.
The Father loves
those he has given
to him.
And he can't wait
for them
to behold
the glory
of his Father.
That's why
he took on flesh.
This is his mission.
One day,
don't you look forward
to seeing the face
of Christ?
To seeing God
in all of his glory?
He promises
this will happen.
In 1 Corinthians 13,
he says,
you will see God
face to face.
Not just now
like through a dim glass.
You will see God
face to face.
face.
Psalm 17,
verse 15,
looks forward
to that promise.
I shall be satisfied
when I awaken
thy likeness.
See, I go to bed,
but when I awake,
I die,
my body is buried,
but my soul
is alive.
And I will see
thy likeness.
I shall behold
thy face
in righteousness.
Let your heart
rejoice
at the promises
of Christ.
Psalm 147
was put to music,
to lyric,
and it goes like this.
Millions of years
my wondering eyes
shall o'er
thy beauties rove
in endless ages
I'll adore
the glories
of thy love.
Oh, we long
for that day.
Christ promises
he will return
to reveal
the Father
to you,
disciple.
Christ promises
that the Father
himself
loves you.
The Father
himself
loves you.
That's what
Christ promises
to you.
Maybe there are
some here today
that simple truth,
you need to not
just hear it
and understand
in your mind
for someone else.
You need to let
your heart rejoice
at those words
from Jesus.
Jesus.
In verse 26,
look at what
he says.
In that day
you will ask
in my name
and I do not
say that you
will ask
the Father,
that I will ask
a Father
on your behalf.
Look at what
he says
in verse 27.
The Father
himself
loves
you.
The Father
himself
loves
you
because
you have
loved me
and believe
that I
came from
God.
Jesus says,
I will return
for you.
I will see
you again,
disciples.
I am the
source of
your joy
and none
can take
me away
from you.
From that
day on,
I will be
with you,
my people,
by the power
of the Holy
Spirit.
You will
abide in me
and you
will be
able to
approach
the Father
directly
in my
name.
No one
had ever
prayed in
Jesus'
name,
amen,
before.
But he
teaches us
to pray
directly to
his Father.
Why?
Because the
Father himself
loves you.
Now you
don't do it
by your own
merits.
You pray
in the
name of
Jesus Christ.
But he
wants you
to have
full access
to the
Father
for yourself.
he wants
you to
see the
Father's
love for
you.
He wants
you to
experience
the
Father's
true love
for you.
The
Father
himself
loves
you.
If you
love me
and receive
me as
a gift
from the
Father
to save
you,
you can
know with
assurance
that you
belong to
my Father.
You can
pray our
Father with
me.
See how
patient the
Father is?
We sing
of his
patience.
What patience
would wait
as we
constantly
roam.
What
Father so
tender is
calling us
home.
He welcomes
the weakest,
the vilest,
the poor.
Our sins,
they are
many.
His mercy
is more.
more.
That's
what Christ
wants you
to know
and to
trust.
It's that
same love
in which the
Father has
sent his
Son to
save you.
That's the
love of the
Father through
Jesus Christ
for you who
believe today.
God
will
take you
back to
that scene
of the
Father walking
with his
son in
Scotland,
sending him
off to
go to
mission
school.
He wrote
in his
autobiography,
unable to
say more,
my father
kept praying
for me as
I walked.
For one
final time,
we embraced
and then I
parted.
I ran
off as fast
as I could
and went
about to
turn a
corner in
the road
where we
would lose
sight of
each other.
I looked
back one
last time
and saw
him standing
there with
his head
still uncovered
where I
had left
him,
gazing
after me.
But my
heart was
too full
and sore
to carry
me further
so I
darted
into the
side of
the road
and wept
for a
time.
I caught
a glimpse
of my
father
climbing the
dike
and looking
out for
me.
He did
not see
me and
after he
gazed
eagerly in
my direction
for a
while he
got down
and he
set his
face toward
home and
began to
return,
his head
still uncovered
and his
heart I
felt for
sure still
rising in
prayers for
me.
I'm so
moved by
that because
I believe
that's a
picture of
the loving
father and
his son
Jesus Christ
and where
is this
young man
on a
mission going?
he's going
to the
most dangerous
people he
had ever
heard of.
Why?
Because of
the love
of God
through his
father,
through him
for the
world.
The father
himself loves
you.
Let your
heart rejoice
at Christ's
promises.
Christ promises
that he
has overcome
the world.
Christ promises
that he
has overcome
the world.
Look at
verse 33,
the last
verse of
our sermon
text.
Jesus tells
the disciples,
I have said
these things
to you that
in me you
may have
peace.
In this
world you
will have
tribulation.
Take
heart.
I have
overcome
the world.
I have
overcome the
world.
Christ
overcame
the world
through his
submission.
Christ
conquered
through
sacrifice.
John
Calvin's
commentary
was helpful.
He said,
you will
soon see
me,
disciples,
for my
death is
not a
destruction
to separate
me from
you.
My death
and resurrection
are the
necessary
passage
into the
heavenly
glory
from which
my divine
power
will diffuse
itself
to you.
This
is why
you can
have peace
in this
world.
Jesus
says,
now you
have
tribulation.
Do you
have
tribulation
now?
It's
okay to
say amen
to that.
Soon
you will
have peace.
Jesus
promises.
Now
you have
a godly
grief.
Do you
feel that?
soon
you have
relief.
If the
Lord causes
you to
repent
today,
it's
because
soon
your
full
salvation
will be
made
real.
2 Corinthians
7.10
says,
godly grief
produces a
repentance
that leads
to salvation.
And blessed
are those
who mourn,
Jesus preached,
for they
shall be
comforted.
that's
how Christ
conquered
the world.
He has
overcome
the world.
The hymn
says it
so well.
He the
champion
in the
battle.
He can
say,
where,
oh death,
is now
thy sting?
In
our place
he bled
and conquered.
Crown
him Lord
of majesty.
His
shall be
the throne
forever
and we
shall
heir his
people be.
Isaiah
33.17
promises,
your eyes
will behold
the king
in his
beauty
and his
people will
see a
land that
stretches
afar.
Christ
promises that
he has
overcome
the world.
He is
that stone
cut
not by
human hands
that has
established
the kingdom
that the
mountain
rises up
and it
fills
the earth
and his
kingdom
has
dominion
already
from heaven.
One day
his
dominion,
the true
kingdom
of heaven
will
descend
and will
have
the new
heavens
and the
new
earth.
Keep
your eyes
set
on that
glorious
day.
Love
for Christ
is the
fuel
of global
missions.
That's my
purpose in
bringing in
John
Payton.
I want
to make
sure that
we understand
why we're
having a
focus next
week from
one of
our
missionaries
on every
tribe,
people,
and tongue.
It's because
it's this
love for
Christ that
is the
only fuel
for global
missions.
If you
see Christ
in his
glory,
you believe
his spiritual
kingdom is
real now,
then you
join him
in praying
for his
love and
his kingdom
to go
as far
as the
eye can
imagine.
In his
autobiography,
John
Payton
reflects on
times where
their dad
would gather
the family
around by
the fire
and they
would get
down and
pray.
He described
his father's
discipling him
as a young
boy that way.
He says,
how much my
father's prayers
impressed on
me as a
child,
I can never
explain,
nor could any
stranger
understand.
When on
his knees
and all of
us kneeling
around him
in family
worship,
he poured
out his
soul,
his whole
soul with
tears for
the conversion
of the lost
nations of
the world
to serve
Jesus.
And we
all felt
as if in
the presence
of the
living Savior
and learned
to know
and love
Jesus Christ
as our
divine
friend.
When we
pray for
God's kingdom
to come
and his
will to be
done,
the father
is so
pleased by
that,
that his
spirit draws
you into
the very
presence
of Jesus
from his
throne
and praying
that his
kingdom will
go forth
till every
nation
hears.
This is only
possible because
of this
promise.
Jesus says,
I have
overcome
the world.
Because Jesus
overcame the
world,
his disciples
do have
peace
inside of
that tribulation.
salvation.
Well,
once John
Payton
got to
those
islands,
it was
described as
a pagan
worship
enslaved to
really
worshiping
demons.
The locals
worshipped and
were knowingly
enslaved to
a, quote,
spirit of
evil on
these islands.
They were
trapped as a
society in a
cycle of
sacrifice to
an invisible
world channeled
through idols
made of
stone.
The culture
had valued
deception and
taboos and
practiced arson,
that's setting
things on fire
on purpose,
witchcraft,
tribal wars,
which perpetuate
the cycle of
revenge.
And when they
would capture
their enemies,
they would
practice ritual
human sacrifice
followed by
cannibalism.
When he got
to this
island, the
Lord's gospel
went forth
and many
believed a
church was
eventually planted
on a
neighboring
island and
that they
came back as
missionaries to
this most
violent island.
And as the
Lord brought
sons and
daughters into
the kingdom,
the persecution
against the
church got
even stronger.
John Payton
had to say
goodbye to
one of his
early converts.
words, a
final goodbye
keeps a room
in your heart
forever.
And he would
never forget
that final
goodbye to
this first
Christian
convert who
had to give
up their
life.
He wrote in
his autobiography
that the first
martyr was a
native who
with his dying
breath at the
hands of these
persecutors echoed
the words of
Jesus Christ
himself.
For the sake
of Jesus,
forgive them
for they know
not what they
are doing.
Take not away
Lord, thy
worship from
this dark
island.
Because Christ
overcame the
world, his
disciples have
peace in the
midst of
tribulation.
Christ promises
to you,
disciple, he
has overcome
the world.
Let your
heart rejoice
at Christ's
promises today.
Let's pray.
From Romans
8.
Oh Lord, we
know that the
whole creation
has been groaning
together in the
pains of childbirth
until now.
And not only
the creation,
but we
ourselves,
who have the
first fruits of
the spirit,
we groan
inwardly as
we wait eagerly
for adoption
as sons,
the redemption
of our bodies.
2 Corinthians 5.
So we are
always of good
courage.
We know that
while we are
at home in the
body, we are
away from the
Lord.
For we walk
by faith,
not by sight.
Yes, we are
of good courage
and we would
rather be away
from the body.
And at home
with you,
Lord.
Yet as long
as you have
us here,
Father,
to live as
Christ,
please come
quickly,
Lord Jesus,
and help us
to trust in
you,
stir our hearts
up with hope
and a deep
rejoicing in
the midst of
tribulation.
We pray for
your glory in
our lives,
in the life of
this church.
We pray this
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.