But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

John 16:5-7

Have you ever been down or depressed? I know I have. It is a miserable place to be. 

Did you know that God never intended for His children to stay in such a condition? I forget that often, and when I do, sorrow fills my heart.

Peter and the other disciples had asked Jesus on more than one occasion about where He was going when He would go away. They were asking with earthly understanding and not by faith. Their reasoning only took them as far as Jesus was going away, and that wasn’t good!

We are in danger of sinking into this same despair if we think, act, and ask without using our faith.

Many of God’s people allow a single bad experience in life or at church to embitter them toward the church and the Lord. The experience is real, and the pain from it is real. Jesus is not denying these facts, and neither am I. But God did not intend for us to dwell on these bad experiences and not recover. The end goal of Jesus’ sermon is the joy of the disciples. He wants them to move from full of sorrow to full of joy!

The minds of the disciples in this scene were engulfed in the sorrows of what Jesus had said about going away and their lives becoming difficult. Their minds, like ours, dwelt on the negative things to the point of ignoring the hopeful things that Jesus said along with it.

Jesus comforted His disciples with the simple message of the gospel. 

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

The fact is, Jesus came to die for them and for all of God’s elect. If He did not go away, then we would have no hope at all!

But…they liked having Jesus with them! That was the blessed life.

Jesus did not disagree with this, but He did show them that there was something better coming when He went away — the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

As much as they enjoyed Jesus being with them while He dwelt on earth, He was not everywhere at the same time. When Jesus was in Galilee, He was not in Bethany when Mary and Martha needed Him to help their brother Lazarus. The Holy Spirit is not like this.

The Comforter, Who is the Holy Spirit, dwells in each born again child of God and is there all the time, especially in times of need. 

We live in a sin cursed earth. Therefore, bad things are going to happen to us our entire life. However, that is not the end of the story. If we remember the message of the gospel, the Holy Spirit ministers to us through that message to overcome our sorrow with joy.

Good things are hard for us to remember, especially when we are in the middle of a trial. That is why regular church attendance under the gospel and the fellowship of believers is so vital!