There are times in every Christian’s life when we’re feeling short on joy and confidence. God himself can feel like he’s far away. The circumstances of life bring us down. It’s natural to feel that way because of our weakness and spiritual frailty.
Here in John 16, the disciples are as near to Jesus as you can be, physically. But he’s told them he’s leaving, and they’ve lost all joy and confidence. They’re confused, and hurt, and wondering what happens next.
Jesus knows, and it’s his teaching for their joy and confidence that speaks into your life too.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in June 2026. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Find joy in Christ (16-22)
The passage begins with Jesus being a bit enigmatic, and the disciples totally confused: Read John 16:16-18.
Have you ever been confused by something but didn’t really want to say? Didn’t want to look stupid? Spiritual truth needs to be spiritually revealed, so it’s good sometimes to say, “I don’t know what he’s talking about!”
So Jesus says a little more: Read John 16:19-20.
They still wouldn’t have understood. Even at that late hour they didn’t really grasp that Jesus would soon be crucified, buried, and raised from death to life. That’s what Jesus was talking about. When you read of his crucifixion and death, it’s clear that while his disciples were mourning the rest of the people were celebrating, laughing, even mocking. So, “You will become sorrowful [at Jesus’ death], but your sorrow will turn to joy [at his resurrection].”
We can all know joy at something. But Jesus here is promising a profound, unloseable joy.
Read John 16:21-22. The pain of childbirth passes, but the birth of a child changes everything. As the child remains, so does the joy. But Jesus goes much further still: “no one will take away your joy from you.”
How does Jesus’ resurrection bring such lasting joy?
First, there’s the simple joy of someone who has died coming to life again! Years ago, soon after my mum died, we went to visit my dad. He was in the extension at the back of the house. As I stepped through the back door, my dad was in his usual seat and there was someone in my mum’s seat. For a 1,000th of a second, my heart leapt! She’s alive! Only for that moment, and it was gone. But I can tell you the joy was spectacularly strong (and a reminder of the cruel pain of death). At Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples knew that joy. And no-one would take that joy from them. Jesus lives.
But secondly, their joy would be that his death and resurrection mean that Jesus saves! His death was substitutionary punishment for their sins. His life was the eternal life that he gives to his people. You can be saved by faith in Jesus’ finished work. Joy!
Thirdly, there’s joy knowing that Jesus now reigns in glory. He rules the world in all his perfect wisdom, power, compassion. You can love him and serve him knowing that he will keep you safe, knowing that you’re serving the true king of the universe.
And Fourthly, there’s joy in Christ’s death and resurrection simply because it is such an astonishing statement of his love for you. You’re a guilty, rebellious wretch! And Jesus left heaven’s glory and worship to go to that cross for you. Because he loves you.
With such a saviour, you can find joy in Christ that you won’t find anywhere else. A joy that no-one can take from you.
Things you see and read will offer you all sorts of joy. You might be tempted to draw up a bucket list of things to do before you die – as if death will be the end of your joy. Nothing in this life lasts forever. All its joys will pass. But in truth, there’s no greater joy than knowing God in Christ.
Reflect on his resurrection: He lives, saves, reigns, loves.
Now, some Christians feel that obedience to God’s commands is a chore, a drudgery. But when you delight in Christ and find joy in him, serving him is a natural outcome of your heart for him. Read John 15:9-11. Get that? Read v11 again!
So your joyful, happy obedience to him is a natural outcome of you realising all he has done for you: And the command he gives here is that you love one another – love the Christians in this room in particular. And you can’t leave that to others. Christ is commanding you. Love, help, encourage, build up one another here. Love the marginalised and lonely, as well as the confident and strong. Be genuinely welcoming to everyone, not just friendly to people you like most. If that sounds like a chore, go back to the cross of Christ. Remember that he lives, saves, reigns, and loves.
As a whole church together, we must find joy in Christ. Not in the music, or the cake or coffee, because they won’t keep you going all week!
Find joy in Christ. A joy for all eternity.
But there’s even more:
Trust the Father’s love (23-28)
The disciples were confused that night, asking Jesus questions. But after his resurrection they’d really come to understand. And in fact, they’d come to understand what it means to know God. Read John 16:23-24.
Up to this point, all they’ve known closely is Jesus. But now he’s saying that once he has gone, they’ll be able to speak to God the Father directly.
As Christians, it’s easy to take that for granted. But picture the Old Testament tabernacle for a moment. There’s the outer courtyard where sacrifices were brought. Then there’s the holy place, where only priests could go. And beyond that, through the curtain, was the most holy place where God dwelt. Only the High Priest went in there, and only once a year. You couldn’t go in – else you’d die.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended to heaven itself. So much further than an earthly tabernacle (just a picture). He is our great High Priest who has entered the presence of the Father. He intercedes for us, mediating between sinful humanity and the eternally holy Father God. Read John 16:25-28.
The key phrase for you is there in v27: “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
Now, Jesus is your mediator and intercessor. But don’t think for a moment that the Father is in any way reluctant to receive you. He loves you. Your salvation begins in the heart and will of God the Father. It’s accomplished by Jesus the Son, and applied to you by God the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:3-4 “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he [the Father] chose us in him [in Christ]… in love…”
John 6:37 “Everyone the Father gives me will come to me.”
John 10:29 “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
And it’s those who trust in Jesus the Son who are the object of this love of God. How much does he love you? John 1:12 “to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God.”
If you’re a Christian, it’s not because of your love for God. He loved you in eternity past to keep you for eternity future. But if you’ve never turned from your sin, never turned to God himself for forgiveness, then you’re lost in your sin. You won’t know the permanent, unloseable joy of Christ. And you know nothing of the security of trusting the Father’s love.
Christian, do you ever wobble and doubt your faith? Trust in the Father’s love.
Do you feel like giving up under opposition from the world? Trust in the Father’s love.
When you come to faith, you become his child. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Adoption in Romans.
But wait: Adoptions can fail, can’t they? Things go wrong? Your birth parent is still that. It’s only a legal change?
Not when God adopts you. You become his actual child. John says something truly daring in 1 John 3:9 – “Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him”. When you’re born again, God is your Father. His adoption is richer and deeper than what we experience in human family law. It’s unbreakable. Your spiritual DNA is permanently altered!
So Jesus speaks here of how you will come to the Father in prayer, speaking in Jesus’ name. It’s as if the High Priest has walked you into the presence of God (most holy place), atoned for your sins, and credits you with righteousness so that you can enjoy God yourself.
The Puritan John Owen said that when you pray you should learn to make God himself the object of your delight.
I love Julia to bits. She’s a fabulous cook, has a caring heart, and has been a wonderful mum to our boys. But in our relationship it’s not what she does that is the object of my delight, it’s Julia herself. That is how we ought to feel about coming to God in prayer. We love it when God answers prayer. But the real delight is to be in his presence at all! To praise and thank him that he has adopted you, caused you to be born again from above. He allows sinful, imperfect, wobbling and doubting you to go to him and call him Father!
And if you make God the object of your delight, you’ll change your perspective on life around you. Your possessions aren’t eternal. Earthly joy is temporary. What about your hopes and plans for life? We all make them, and so we should – but they’re all temporary.
For lasting joy and confidence in life, you must find joy in Christ and trust in the Father’s love.
But there’s still more to come:
Take courage in the Holy Spirit (29-33)
The disciples think they understand: Read John 16:29-30.
But these are words spoken in haste. They don’t get it yet. Jesus knows that, so prepares them for what’s to come.
Read John 16:31-33. “Do you now believe?” In a very short while Jesus would be with his disciples at Gethsemane. Their brave words would abandon them, and they’d abandon Jesus. What you see in the disciples here is life without the Holy Spirit. All good intentions, but powerless against real opposition.
Not so with Jesus. He would face the full onslaught of what’s to come, knowing he was doing the Father’s will. That was the source of his joy and strength.
As you stand up for Jesus and make choices about prioritising Christ and his church, you will bump up against what other people want. Maybe at work, maybe at home. But it will happen. With “half-understanding” like those disciples had, you might think you’ll be ok. But Jesus knows better. This is why he has spent so much of this sermon speaking about the Counsellor, Advocate, Helper, Strengthener – the Holy Spirit.
From Pentecost onwards, every believer in Christ has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of prayer, of adoption.
If you have never come to God for forgiveness of your sin, you’re on your own. You might not fall out with people, but you remain outside of God – at least until you meet him, at which point it will be too late. Don’t waste a moment longer: Turn to God today.
For those who have, don’t love the world’s values. Stand against ungodliness, and stand in the Spirit’s strength. God is with you: Be courageous! Jesus has conquered the world, and he works in you and through you.
This is the strength of the church: That Christ himself works in us and through us to do his work and will. As you feel overwhelmed, lacking confidence, or too weak to live for Christ in the world, take courage in the Spirit he sends you. And as a whole church we must step forward in the Spirit’s will and power as we seek to see local people come to know God as their Father, praising and worshipping Christ in the Spirit.
So we must never cease praying for the Spirit, the breath of God, to go ahead of us and work in the works of the church. If you lack joy and confidence in the Christian life, here is hope.
- Find joy in Christ and you will find a joy that no-one can take away. He lives, saves, reigns, and loves. Obey him happily.
- Trust the Father’s love. It is unshakable and eternal, and the grounds of your salvation. Rest in that.
- And take courage in the Spirit in you as you serve the Lord