Be of Good Cheer John 16:31-33 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This passage comes at the conclusion of the Disciples having been told plainly by Jesus about prayer and His coming departure. It is at this point that the Disciples finally became sure of their belief that Jesus Christ came from God. Jesus then challenges their belief by telling them that they will scatter every man for himself and abandon Him in the process (John 16:32). Yet, as before, they again doubted His words after professing their belief in Him (John 13:37-38, Mark 14:27-30, Zech. 13:7, Luke 23:34). In spite of all of this and the hardship which was about to swiftly befall them Jesus tells the Disciples to “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” – John16:33 (Heb. 12:2, 2Tim.4:16-17, Dan.3:25).
We should be of good cheer because of the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus Christ is with us at all times (Heb. 13:5). Being a Christian is about this personal relationship with Jesus and not about trying to be religious. One of the ways you work out this relationship is through your prayer life. In an unseen way Christ and the Holy Spirit can work through you inside of a faithful prayer life to conform you to Jesus Christ bringing you peace (Phil. 4:6-7, Rom. 14:23).
As we become conformed to Christ we find that we can have peace and be of good cheer even in times of tribulation (Rom.8:35, Phil.1:21, Rom. 5:3-5). The thing that wins the world over for Jesus Christ is that the true love of the Lord Jesus Christ manifests itself in our demeanor and in our lives and voices as Christians (James 1:2-4, 2Tim. 3:12). Christ has overcome the world and He passes that along to those who are faithful to Him (John 4:4, 1 John 5:4).
Most of the things of the world that are weighing us down as Christians arise from stress. This is the stress of functioning in a world that is designed to keep you scared and tangled up where you constantly have to mess with things just to live. In all of that the world is looking for Christians to walk around with a big frown and a sad face instead of being able to have cheer and a solid knowledge that we are not alone in this and are walking in the peace of God in spite of the tribulation. Then when they see that we can take it and they can’t they will be asking questions about how to get the peace that we’ve got. Then we can tell them it’s not from psychiatrists, psychologists, counseling, or drugs, but it comes from Jesus Christ and nothing else.