I Have Overcome The World

It is a wonder of divine mercy that the holy Lord God has stooped to speak to sinful men. Twice in these verses the Lord Jesus tells His disciples, ‘These things have I spoken unto you’. God’s creatures should listen when their Maker speaks. We ignore Him at our peril. A day is coming when the Lord will say ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire’ and no one will resist. Until then Paul says, ‘to you is the word of this salvation sent’. May God give us ears to hear the Saviour when He says ‘these things have I spoken unto you’. 

Proverbs and parables

It is true that the Lord Jesus sometimes spoke in proverbs and parables. He had spoken of His Father’s house and the many mansions it contains. He had spoken of the true vine and its branches and then how a woman’s travail in labour turns quickly to joy upon the birth of her child. Such imagery does not seem too difficult to grasp but as yet the disciples seemed not fully to understand what the Lord was saying to them, especially concerning Him not being seen, then being seen, and going to His Father.

A new reality

But now, says the Lord, the time for proverbs and parables is over. The death of the Saviour, His resurrection, ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit would transform the disciples’ understanding and dispel all their fleshy misconceptions. With the perfecting of their spiritual knowledge the apostles would graduate from students to teachers. Their faith in Christ, their love for Christ, and their confidence in His saving work would bring them into immediate contact, personal experience and intimate union with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Continuing intercession

This is not to say that the Lord Jesus would draw back from His role of praying and  interceding for His people. The Saviour ‘ever liveth to make intercession’. Once He did so on earth. Now He does so ‘having entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us’. Christ’s people are free to make their appeals known to the Father personally in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit carries our requests to the throne of the Father’s grace, mercy and love. 

He first loved us

The Lord Jesus emphasises the love of the Father for all those who trust in Christ. The Father’s love is not earned by our faith, it causes our faith. The original cause is detected by the effect. If a man or a woman, boy or girl, has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if they love Him, as all true believers do, it is because the Father loved them first and chose them in the covenant of peace. His love set them apart to be redeemed by Jesus Christ. 

‘Now are we sure’

Now the disciples profess finally to understand what the Lord is telling them. Perhaps the Lord did indeed open their hearts and minds a little to better receive and comprehend His words. However, the Lord’s reply contains a reproof for their boasting. ‘Do ye now believe?’ While not denying the presence of true faith Christ moderates the disciples’ self-confidence. Just as Peter would deny the Lord so they all would be scattered and He left alone. It is one thing to confess Christ when times are good, another to hold fast in times of trouble.

A thing to be expected

And trouble there will be. It is the Lord Jesus Himself who informs His people ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation’. There is no getting away from the trials and problems that will afflict the Lord’s followers in this earthly life. It has been the experience of the church of all ages and tribulation is something we should all expect. A believer’s tribulation is not for punishment of sin, but for proving of faith. Harsh as they feel, trials bring about temporal, spiritual and eternal good for the people of God.

Squeezed between peace and victory

The Saviour concludes His remarks with a blessed perspective. Our troubles are squeezed between the promise of peace and victory. The things Christ spoke about to His disciples and committed to us by them are for our peace and reassurance. Our Redeemer has overcome the world. Sin, Satan and our own flesh are subdued and subject to our Lord Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world. As long as we are in this world He has ordered all things for our good. 

Are you listening?

In our service tomorrow we shall remind ourselves that the Lord has the victory. He has defeated death and secured eternal life for His beloved people. Christ has won our peace. The peace we shall enjoy in heaven with God is by faith already our portion in time. In Christ we have peace. In Christ we have the victory. He says, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world’.

Amen.