John 16:33. 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.
The Lord Jesus was, at this time, coming to the end of His sojourning in this world. He knew what lay before Him and that it would not give Him one drop of joy, but all would be sorrow. He knew what effect it would have on those He was leaving behind, especially on His disciples. When it would come, it would tend to leave them disheartened, and so faint that they would be apt to lose all their peace; this is not only what He told them in this chapter but from chapter 14 onwards. He did not conceal what was before them but told them plainly so that, when their sorrows did come, they would not lose courage altogether. He here encourages them with the words of the text. We will speak of: (1) the peace they have in Christ, (2) their tribulations, (3) His great counsel as to their tribulations.[^2]
1. Peace in Christ.
There are two kinds of peace in the world. There is a deceitful peace that one may have, besides this true peace. It would be far better if we had never possessed that deceitful peace in this world, but it is so common. Many have it; we may indeed say that, by nature, we all have it and love it. Not only so but we will be left in it all our lifetime if God Himself, in His mercy, will not drive us out of it. But the true peace is thus spoken of: “In Me . . . have peace” – in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. And He makes known to His disciples that this is His desire: “that in Me ye might have peace”. And we may rest assured that whatever Christ desires us to have, it must be desirable; it must be worth having – as is true of all His desires toward us and, in particular, of this desire: peace “in Me”.
Now the peace we have here is not a peace procured in just any sort of way, or for nothing – no price paid for it. It is not true that it was peace at any price, or no price at all, but it was both an honourable and a great price, paid in an honourable and righteous way, when He gave Himself a ransom for men. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Thus the Holy Spirit, through the written Word, proclaims that in the Person of Jesus Christ, who speaks here, there is peace with God. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Anybody who has tasted of this peace knows what it is to be at peace with the God of eternity and God at peace with them. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” When there is peace in the soul of the believer, he knows he has peace with God. Peace proclaimed in his own soul makes such a difference. When Christ called for a calm in the day of their justification and adoption, the storm in the soul was calmed; it was like the calm after Christ rebuked the storm on the Sea of Galilee.
The day will never come when the peace believers have in their souls can be wholly broken – the day when things break in on them and they think that this is the end. Yet they are like a rock in the ocean; the raging waves that break over it seem likely to sweep it away, but after a time the waves have passed, leaving a calm behind them. This is a peace worth having, through Christ and in Christ – having God as a strong tower. Then the righteous are safe. However wild the waves may be, and they may roar, the believer’s all is in Him. When trusting steadfastly in Him, they have nothing to fear. “Though hills amidst the seas be cast; / though waters roaring make, / And troubled be; yea, though the hills, / by swelling seas do shake.”
The righteous have a sense of safety in Him though they are encompassed by dangers; yet they eventually overcome them all. Thus they meet with no dangers which cannot be overcome, although that seemed impossible at one time. It is like Peter walking on the sea after Christ gave him permission. But when Peter looked on the waves, he began to sink – fears coming in the place of courage, which made him cry out, “Lord, save me”. If Peter had kept his eyes on Christ and not on the waves, it would have been otherwise.
With a view to the tribulations that were about to break upon them, Jesus spoke to them the words before the text, so that they might have peace in being stayed on Him. Though waves rise and roar, His people have peace in Him and feel safe in the midst of it all. And when they feel safe, these things will not leave them helpless, like someone in a boat that seems likely to go under at any moment. It was not the storm becoming less severe that left such a person in peace. Yet he is better than a hundred others because he now has the assurance that he will not be lost.
[^2]: These are a hearer’s notes of a sermon preached, in Gaelic, on the Monday of a communion season in Coigach in June 1941. Coigach is a district north of Ullapool and was part of the Lochbroom congregation, where Mr Macleod (1872-1967) was then minister.
2. The disciples’ tribulations.
These are just what one would expect to break up their peace. When Christ speaks to the disciples about tribulations, it is because they are sure to have them – not that they may have them but that they will have them. There is not the least doubt about it. “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” He tells them so; He makes it sure to them, so that they may look out for it, as it is sure to come. Unbelief may rebel against it, as if it ought never to come. Some people get plenty such thoughts when the enemy puts into their minds that they ought never to have any tribulation. But when Christ tells them of tribulation, He promises them that it is only to be in this world. And I think it is because tribulation is what will particularly try people that He so often reminds them of the tribulation they must endure. It is something He knows they will not like, that is by no means pleasant; it is what will try them, but it is only in this world that they have to meet it.
It is different with others – yes, and different to what believers themselves once were. They themselves were once liable to all the miseries of this world and of the world to come. But this does not belong to you any more, believer. It is not your portion; it is the portion of the lost. You are saved from what brought all the misery into the world. When I speak of tribulations, I put this along with it: you will only have them in the world, but I tell you that you will have them as long as you are in the world; you will never be entirely free from them. It would take a long time even to speak of some of them, we know. Some of them may be light in the world, but others are so heavy. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
The righteous have two kinds of afflictions: their lot in the world, and their never-dying souls. They experience trouble in connection with their families, their condition in life and in other ways, but their greatest afflictions are in connection with their souls. Those whom God sends out as shepherds, to preach the gospel to others, will experience tribulations in their work. The gospel cannot be preached apart from tribulation. Read the lives of the Apostles and of others of whom we have an account in the Word of God. The Spirit said to Ananias about Saul: “I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake” – yet not as Saul but as Paul. This is as certain to them as it was to Paul. The gospel has never been preached, and never will be, without tribulation accompanying it, until the earth is covered with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the face of the deep.
3. Christ’s great counsel as to tribulations.
If anyone makes choice of Christ, and he ought to make that choice, he will never be free from tribulation. Yet, as He Himself said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. He spoke these words to the disciples so that, when tribulations would come, they would not fear. When tribulations come after the gospel, this is how Satan works: he says to people: This is something that never should happen if you choose Christ; is it not awful that He makes you walk in this rough way? Surely He could give you an easier way than this; surely you are deceived; you had better turn back. If this is the beginning, how is it going to end?
But Christ does not hide any of the tribulations from believers; this is what He does: He tells them: You surely will have to meet with tribulations. And though we will have to meet with tribulations, yet if Christ is as good as we have reason to believe He is, we will get far better things also.
But be of good cheer; not only take courage but take the best of courage. When tribulation is light or you experience none at all, it is easy to have courage. I knew a lad in the last War – he is still alive – he was so keen to get to fight in the War that he stole away to France. He was too young and was imprisoned for what he had done. He was sent home in due time, and when he reached the necessary age he was sent out there. But when he came home on leave, he did not speak a word about war; his father told me that all he said was: “When I saw older men who were in many battles faltering, it was enough for me”. Not only should we have good cheer when not in tribulation, but when we are. It is then we should have good cheer.
John Bunyan speaks of Christian going over Jordan but seeing Hopeful and also the angels waiting on the other side. Though he was going down in the swellings of Jordan, this was cheering, and the Christian needs good cheer in his tribulation and in his needs. Yes, “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” – all that is in the world. Christ bruised the serpent’s head, who got a deadly wound. Christ made an end of sin and was raised for our justification; He was the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. Satan offered Him all things, to tempt Him, but He said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan”. Satan thought he would destroy Jesus but was silenced. Christ got the victory over death and the grave; He has the victory in His hand as the glorious Head of the Church. As Christ has overcome the world, so His people will overcome also.