In this one verse, the Lord Jesus gives us His several principles for inner peace.
In Me You May Have Peace
Notice how deliberately he spoke in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.” The word “may” is used in the sense of “can” or “will.” Jesus said: In Me you will have inner peace. Our peace comes from being in union with Christ.
This is arguably the most powerful little phrase in the Bible—in Me. In Him. In Christ. It was the very theme of the message of the apostle Paul, who used that phrase about 160 times. What does it mean to be in Christ? In means that we are in union with Him, that we have united our lives with Him, that we are in Christ and He is in us, that we have received Him as our personal savior and He has come to live within us by His Holy Spirit.
Suppose we were walking alongside the ocean and I saw a bottle. I unscrewed the top, walked over the surf, and filled the bottle up with ocean water. Then suppose I screwed the top back on and tossed the bottle as far as I could out into the surf. The water would be in the bottle, and the bottle would be in the water.
When we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord, He comes to live within us by the Holy Spirit, which is likened in the Bible to living water. And we are positioned in Him. We are in Christ and Christ is in us—and from that moment on He gives us a set of promises that meets every need in our lives both for time and for eternity. From that moment, all our sins are forgiven. From that moment, we have eternal life. From that moment, we have an abundant life. From that moment, we know we’re going to heaven. From that moment, we know that all things work together for good to those who love Him. From that moment, we know He has a purpose for us.
And in Him we have peace. Amy Carmichael, in one of her prescient observations from Scripture, pointed out that Jesus did not say, “These things I have spoken to you, that in your circumstances you might have peace.” He did not say, “These things I have spoken to you that in the love of others you might have peace.” He said: “In Me!”
D. L. Moody once said that if he saw a man in a cellar, shivering some from the cold and dampness and trying to see in the dim light, he would say to him, “Come on up, out into the sunshine. It’s warm and bright up here.” But suppose the man said, “No, I’m trying to see if I can make my own light down here, and I am trying to work up a warm feeling.”
That’s where a lot of people are today. They’re in the cellar of life, trying to generate a little light and trying to work up a warm feeling when what they really need is the light and the warmth of the sunlight of Jesus Christ. He said, “In Me you will have peace.” So our peace comes from being in union with Christ.
These Things I Have Spoken…
But here’s the second thing. Our sense of inner peace grows from being in His Word. Look at this sentence again: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.”
What did Jesus mean by “These things I have spoken to you”? There are three dimensions to that. In the very broadest sense, we can claim the entirety of the Word of God. Every verse of every chapter of every book. The entire Bible was given for our peace and well-being. In another sense, Jesus was perhaps thinking of all the teachings He had given to His disciples since He called them from their nets by the shore of Galilee. When He spoke here in John 16, He was at the end of His earthly ministry. Within a few hours, He would be arrested, convicted, condemned, and crucified. No doubt His thoughts were stretching back over the three years of His ministry and recalling all the things He had spoken, the truths He had revealed, and the lessons He had uttered.
But the most immediate and accurate interpretation is to say that “These Things” referred specifically to the words He had just given in this Upper Room Discourse. These chapters, John 13-17, are remarkable for two reasons.
First, Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of incredible tension, trauma, and fear. A sense of foreboding filled that room like a malevolent fog. Fear flickered like ominous shadows against the wall. The devil himself entered the room and took possession of Judas. The drama of all the ages was about to be unleashed like a nuclear device in that very room. It was the final moments of the Messiah’s ministry, when He washed the disciples’ feet, instituted His Last Supper, dipped his bread in the bowl with Judas, and loved His disciples to the very end.
Second, even though Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of incredible tension, His message was one of supernatural peace and tranquility. The contrast between the situation Jesus faced and the syllables He spoke is startling. Sometimes we don’t see it because of the chapter divisions, but let me show you. Look at the end of chapter 13, starting with verse 36:
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”
Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.”
Imagine the gasp, the pause, the shock, the hurt, the mummer, the outburst caused by that accusation. A fresh vibration of emotion rolled through the room like the rumble of thunder or the growing of an animal, followed by a tense silence. And then Jesus said, “Well, don’t worry about it.”
Let not your heart be troubled.
Let not your heart be troubled! Here we are, tucked away in an Upper Room, hidden like spies behind enemy lines, meeting behind locked doors, the whole city on the verge of explosion. You’re speaking in ominous, enigmatic tones and saying things we don’t want to hear. We have a traitor among us, and You’ve just told us that we’re going to fall apart at the seams and deny You before the rooster crows. The shadow of sudden arrest and merciless torture hangs over us, and everything we believe in is about to be drained from our lives like the blood will be drained from Your body while you hang like a carcass of an animal on a splintered cross. And you say: Don’t let your hearts be troubled!
But in the rest of His Upper Room message, Jesus is going to tell them one reason after another why, even at that black moment of despair, they should be optimistic, hopeful, peaceful, strong, and serene.
First, He said, you can trust me. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Second, we have the brightest future that could possibly be imagined: In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Third, Jesus said, “I may be going away, but I am coming back.” And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Fourth, we have a great work to do. Verse 12 says: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the words that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Fifth, we have absolute assurance of answered prayer. Verse 13 says: And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Sixth, we have someone else who is going to help us—the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 says: I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you.
Seventh, we have the very peace of Jesus Himself at our disposal. Verse 27 says: Peace I leave with You, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Eighth, we have the very joy of Jesus Himself at our disposal. John 15:11 says: These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
We don’t have time to work our way through the entire Upper Room discourse, but I don’t know of any portion of Scripture that contains more comfort, more insight, and more peace than these several chapters of Scripture. And Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace.” Our peace is based in Christ and it grows as we get into His Words.
In the World You Will Have Tribulation
But we aren’t finished with our key text—John 16:33, because the verse goes on to give us a warning. Our sense of inner peace which is based on our union with Christ and which grows as we study the words of Christ—that sense of inner peace is going to be under constant assault from the world. It is challenged by the world. In the very next sentence, Jesus warned: In the world you will have tribulation. You will have problems in the world. You will have opposition. You will have difficult circumstances. You will have persecution. You will have Satanic attacks. You will have misunderstandings and hurts and heartaches and things that will challenge your faith.
We know that is true. The other day I received a letter from a young man in Hong Kong who read something that I had written and wanted to ask me about it. I have his permission to read to you his letter.
Just want to say hello to you. I have been a Christian for many years, and have completely read the whole Bible around five times. But the trials in my life always bug me, and there are times I even doubt God. I know God is sovereign, but I can’t understand why He allows some painful things to happen to me. Sometimes the trials make me bitter, and I don’t see how these help me in my spiritual growth. In fact, these trials weaken my faith, take up a lot of time so that I do not have much time for my church activities. I have a problem understanding why God allows some things to happen. Thank you for your time. Regards, Johnno.
I know just how he feels, and so do you. I’ve never expressed it quite as honestly as he did, but we’ve all been there. But Jesus predicted it. In this world we will have troubles. Tribulation. Pressure. Stress. But He did not end His teachings there. The very last thing He said in this Upper Room Discourse before beginning His great prayer to the heavenly Father in chapter 17, His last official sentence of teaching to His disciples, the concluding sentence of His three years of ministry, the last syllables of the last sermon that He preached prior to Calvary, His last word to us is:
BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.
But Be of Good Cheer. I Have Overcome…
Now when Jesus said that, He was on the lam, moments from capture, hours from scourging, and just one evening away from death by torture on the cross. Yet He said, “I have overcome the world.” What did He mean? I think He meant this:
I have come into the world and lived here for thirty-three years without sinning, so that I could serve as an innocent, sacrificial victim whose blood can atone for the sins of all the world.
I am not going to be killed; I am going to lay my life down willingly.
And if I lay my life down willingly, I will take it up again. And the grave cannot hold Me. And death cannot keep Me. And I’m going to burst from that tomb like a fist through a paper bag. And I am going to penetrate the skies, resume My throne in glory, build My church on earth, come again in My own good timing, banish the devil, set up My kingdom, judge this planet, usher in eternity, and give My people the eternal life they have always wanted and needed.
I have overcome the world.
And if Jesus Christ can overcome the world, He can come over your life and overcome your anxieties and make all things work together for good in your experiences.
And so He says in His last ex cathedra utterance: Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. As the old hymn says:
Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.
In Me You May Have Peace
Notice how deliberately he spoke in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.” The word “may” is used in the sense of “can” or “will.” Jesus said: In Me you will have inner peace. Our peace comes from being in union with Christ.
This is arguably the most powerful little phrase in the Bible—in Me. In Him. In Christ. It was the very theme of the message of the apostle Paul, who used that phrase about 160 times. What does it mean to be in Christ? In means that we are in union with Him, that we have united our lives with Him, that we are in Christ and He is in us, that we have received Him as our personal savior and He has come to live within us by His Holy Spirit.
Suppose we were walking alongside the ocean and I saw a bottle. I unscrewed the top, walked over the surf, and filled the bottle up with ocean water. Then suppose I screwed the top back on and tossed the bottle as far as I could out into the surf. The water would be in the bottle, and the bottle would be in the water.
When we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord, He comes to live within us by the Holy Spirit, which is likened in the Bible to living water. And we are positioned in Him. We are in Christ and Christ is in us—and from that moment on He gives us a set of promises that meets every need in our lives both for time and for eternity. From that moment, all our sins are forgiven. From that moment, we have eternal life. From that moment, we have an abundant life. From that moment, we know we’re going to heaven. From that moment, we know that all things work together for good to those who love Him. From that moment, we know He has a purpose for us.
And in Him we have peace. Amy Carmichael, in one of her prescient observations from Scripture, pointed out that Jesus did not say, “These things I have spoken to you, that in your circumstances you might have peace.” He did not say, “These things I have spoken to you that in the love of others you might have peace.” He said: “In Me!”
D. L. Moody once said that if he saw a man in a cellar, shivering some from the cold and dampness and trying to see in the dim light, he would say to him, “Come on up, out into the sunshine. It’s warm and bright up here.” But suppose the man said, “No, I’m trying to see if I can make my own light down here, and I am trying to work up a warm feeling.”
That’s where a lot of people are today. They’re in the cellar of life, trying to generate a little light and trying to work up a warm feeling when what they really need is the light and the warmth of the sunlight of Jesus Christ. He said, “In Me you will have peace.” So our peace comes from being in union with Christ.
These Things I Have Spoken…
But here’s the second thing. Our sense of inner peace grows from being in His Word. Look at this sentence again: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.”
What did Jesus mean by “These things I have spoken to you”? There are three dimensions to that. In the very broadest sense, we can claim the entirety of the Word of God. Every verse of every chapter of every book. The entire Bible was given for our peace and well-being. In another sense, Jesus was perhaps thinking of all the teachings He had given to His disciples since He called them from their nets by the shore of Galilee. When He spoke here in John 16, He was at the end of His earthly ministry. Within a few hours, He would be arrested, convicted, condemned, and crucified. No doubt His thoughts were stretching back over the three years of His ministry and recalling all the things He had spoken, the truths He had revealed, and the lessons He had uttered.
But the most immediate and accurate interpretation is to say that “These Things” referred specifically to the words He had just given in this Upper Room Discourse. These chapters, John 13-17, are remarkable for two reasons.
First, Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of incredible tension, trauma, and fear. A sense of foreboding filled that room like a malevolent fog. Fear flickered like ominous shadows against the wall. The devil himself entered the room and took possession of Judas. The drama of all the ages was about to be unleashed like a nuclear device in that very room. It was the final moments of the Messiah’s ministry, when He washed the disciples’ feet, instituted His Last Supper, dipped his bread in the bowl with Judas, and loved His disciples to the very end.
Second, even though Jesus spoke these words in an atmosphere of incredible tension, His message was one of supernatural peace and tranquility. The contrast between the situation Jesus faced and the syllables He spoke is startling. Sometimes we don’t see it because of the chapter divisions, but let me show you. Look at the end of chapter 13, starting with verse 36:
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”
Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.”
Imagine the gasp, the pause, the shock, the hurt, the mummer, the outburst caused by that accusation. A fresh vibration of emotion rolled through the room like the rumble of thunder or the growing of an animal, followed by a tense silence. And then Jesus said, “Well, don’t worry about it.”
Let not your heart be troubled.
Let not your heart be troubled! Here we are, tucked away in an Upper Room, hidden like spies behind enemy lines, meeting behind locked doors, the whole city on the verge of explosion. You’re speaking in ominous, enigmatic tones and saying things we don’t want to hear. We have a traitor among us, and You’ve just told us that we’re going to fall apart at the seams and deny You before the rooster crows. The shadow of sudden arrest and merciless torture hangs over us, and everything we believe in is about to be drained from our lives like the blood will be drained from Your body while you hang like a carcass of an animal on a splintered cross. And you say: Don’t let your hearts be troubled!
But in the rest of His Upper Room message, Jesus is going to tell them one reason after another why, even at that black moment of despair, they should be optimistic, hopeful, peaceful, strong, and serene.
First, He said, you can trust me. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Second, we have the brightest future that could possibly be imagined: In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Third, Jesus said, “I may be going away, but I am coming back.” And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Fourth, we have a great work to do. Verse 12 says: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the words that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Fifth, we have absolute assurance of answered prayer. Verse 13 says: And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Sixth, we have someone else who is going to help us—the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 says: I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you.
Seventh, we have the very peace of Jesus Himself at our disposal. Verse 27 says: Peace I leave with You, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Eighth, we have the very joy of Jesus Himself at our disposal. John 15:11 says: These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
We don’t have time to work our way through the entire Upper Room discourse, but I don’t know of any portion of Scripture that contains more comfort, more insight, and more peace than these several chapters of Scripture. And Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace.” Our peace is based in Christ and it grows as we get into His Words.
In the World You Will Have Tribulation
But we aren’t finished with our key text—John 16:33, because the verse goes on to give us a warning. Our sense of inner peace which is based on our union with Christ and which grows as we study the words of Christ—that sense of inner peace is going to be under constant assault from the world. It is challenged by the world. In the very next sentence, Jesus warned: In the world you will have tribulation. You will have problems in the world. You will have opposition. You will have difficult circumstances. You will have persecution. You will have Satanic attacks. You will have misunderstandings and hurts and heartaches and things that will challenge your faith.
We know that is true. The other day I received a letter from a young man in Hong Kong who read something that I had written and wanted to ask me about it. I have his permission to read to you his letter.
Just want to say hello to you. I have been a Christian for many years, and have completely read the whole Bible around five times. But the trials in my life always bug me, and there are times I even doubt God. I know God is sovereign, but I can’t understand why He allows some painful things to happen to me. Sometimes the trials make me bitter, and I don’t see how these help me in my spiritual growth. In fact, these trials weaken my faith, take up a lot of time so that I do not have much time for my church activities. I have a problem understanding why God allows some things to happen. Thank you for your time. Regards, Johnno.
I know just how he feels, and so do you. I’ve never expressed it quite as honestly as he did, but we’ve all been there. But Jesus predicted it. In this world we will have troubles. Tribulation. Pressure. Stress. But He did not end His teachings there. The very last thing He said in this Upper Room Discourse before beginning His great prayer to the heavenly Father in chapter 17, His last official sentence of teaching to His disciples, the concluding sentence of His three years of ministry, the last syllables of the last sermon that He preached prior to Calvary, His last word to us is:
BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.
But Be of Good Cheer. I Have Overcome…
Now when Jesus said that, He was on the lam, moments from capture, hours from scourging, and just one evening away from death by torture on the cross. Yet He said, “I have overcome the world.” What did He mean? I think He meant this:
I have come into the world and lived here for thirty-three years without sinning, so that I could serve as an innocent, sacrificial victim whose blood can atone for the sins of all the world.
I am not going to be killed; I am going to lay my life down willingly.
And if I lay my life down willingly, I will take it up again. And the grave cannot hold Me. And death cannot keep Me. And I’m going to burst from that tomb like a fist through a paper bag. And I am going to penetrate the skies, resume My throne in glory, build My church on earth, come again in My own good timing, banish the devil, set up My kingdom, judge this planet, usher in eternity, and give My people the eternal life they have always wanted and needed.
I have overcome the world.
And if Jesus Christ can overcome the world, He can come over your life and overcome your anxieties and make all things work together for good in your experiences.
And so He says in His last ex cathedra utterance: Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. As the old hymn says:
Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.
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