John 16
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John 16
16:1-4
16:1
What has Jesus been saying to His disciples?
John 15.
What\’s it mean to “fall away”?
In its original Greek, it means to “be led into sin”.
So what was one main point to take away from John 15 that would keep us from falling away?
15:12-15 Jesus died for His friends. We are His friends. Therefore Jesus died for us. Would Jesus betray His friends? No of course not. IE Jesus bought us and He will keep us even in persecution.
And how do His teachings keep us from falling away?/How do His teachings have an effect on us in persecution?
15:4 We remember them.
It\’s interesting to me that Jesus says “remember” not “refer” to them. Why do y’all think Jesus told us to remember His teaching on Definite atonement/the Gospel?
Probably because we won’t have access to a physical bible.
We will have no choice but to remember/refer to the word written on our hearts. As the Psalmist wrote “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).
Turn to Psalm 119 for a few minutes. The Psalmist writes, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11).
So we memorize/remember Jesus teaching for endurance in persecution. But is that the only reason to memorize/meditate on scripture?
Of course not. Psalm 119 the Psalmist memorized, hide the word, within his heart…but for what purpose/what effect does hiding the word have in our hearts?
To keep him from sin, yes. But moreover, to not even want to sin against God. “that I might not sin against you” it\’s not that he doesn’t sin, but that he doesn’t want to even desire sin within his heart. Hiding the word within us changes the very desires of our heart.
What sort of scriptures should we be memorizing/hiding in our hearts?
119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure?” The implication being that he struggled with purity, he needed wisdom/guidance on the matter of purity.
With that in mind, I ask this: What is your ensnaring sin? What are your struggles? You can white-knuckle your way through a fight all day long, fine. But ultimately the desires of your heart remain the same- that is, they are sinful and against the Lord God. But the Lord Himself is most gracious toward sinners, He did not separate His own Son for you then; now that you have been brought into the fold of the Church how much more will He fight for the desires of your heart. Jesus in Matthew says that out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, greed. James writes that “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” Our God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it has given birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).
At best, you have mere seconds (if even that much time) to fight off your sinful desires before they are conceived. Sin, in all its forms, is your enemy and it desires to master you. Far be it from us, the body of Christ, to even wink at sin, let alone be a friend it, for it is the very thing that made the death of Jesus (our friend John 15:13) necessary on our behalf. Let us not dishonor our friend, indeed our very best friend, by befriending our enemy but destroying sin and, moreover, even the desire thereof within our hearts that we might have a superior desire/delight that truly satisfies-God.
Thus, hide the word within your heart, meditate on it day and night to overcome temptation now and so that you might endure persecution.
Overcome the mere wavelets of temptation now so that you might stand against the tsunami of persecution later.
16:5-15
16:5-8
16:5 That is the disciples are not concerned with where Jesus is going/they still don’t get it. Jesus knows this because the disciples are overcome with sorrow (16:6).
16:6
So why were the disciples full of sorrow?
Because Jesus was going away.
16:7
Why did Jesus go away/why did He leave the disciples?
Jesus goes away to send the Helper and it is to their advantage that He does this.
So in what way is Jesus going away to send the Holy Spirit to their advantage? Or how does the Holy Spirit benefit the disciples?
The Holy Spirit applies the work of redemption of Jesus to our lives.
From creation to redemption the work of God is Trinitarian in every dimension. The Father planned the way of redemption, the Son executed/accomplished redemption, the Spirit applies the redemption to our lives IE enables us to live godly/God-pleasing lives.
16:8-11
So what does the Holy Spirit do in these verses?
Convicts the world of its sin because they don’t believe in Jesus, Righteousness because Jesus is going to the Father, Judgement because Satan is judged.
What\’s all that mean?
It would seem that Jesus is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers/IE the application of Jesus\’ redemptive work.
So Jesus convicts the world of its sin on the cross, of His righteousness because He released His Spirit to the Father and Judged Satan by defanging him of his accusatory power over the believer.
So in the application of redemption: The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and drives us to Jesus (15:26) and Jesus in His redemptive work points us to the Father by giving Him the honor/glory.
16:12-15
Here it would seem that Jesus is speaking more on the subject of the working of the Holy Spirit.
What are yall\’s thoughts on it?
16:13
“All truth” meaning that the Holy Spirit is to give us all truth necessary in order to bear witness and bring glory to Jesus.
16:16-24
16:16-19
What do y\’all think Jesus is talking about?
The Death and Resurrection, clearly.
It\’s worth noting, look at who the disciples asked about Jesus and his words. Each other. We should be swift to go to God in matters of His own teaching rather than rushing to man.
16:20-22
It\’s interesting that Jesus said that Him going away is “to the advantage” of the disciples and yet they are to lament/be sorrowful at the death of Jesus.
While our text talks about Suffering and its relation to God allow me to ask this question: Do y’all agree with the monstera “God will never give you more than you can bear”? Why our why not?
I said yes He does give more than we can, ear; but He never more than we have to take. If you can handle “it” on your own what need is there for God in your life? The weight of our sin crushed us into damnation apart from God; so yes God does give more than we can handle but never more than we have to take.
By that, I mean that it was to the disciple\’s advantage that Jesus should suffer and die so that they would have an ever-present, full joy. Likewise, whatever suffering we experience in this life is never more than is necessary for us to take in order for God to do His work in us. This is also likewise of a birth; yes pain is necessary for birthing but no more than what is necessary in order to receive the joy of a new little life.
16:22
John Piper, one of only a few of my living mentors, had this to say on this verse, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Therefore, since glorifying God is the main goal of the universe and your life, be relentless and unwavering in fighting for joy in God. This is your lifelong vocation.
And here is a wonderful note to close on: since God is sovereign, he guarantees the triumph of your joy in the end. In the text from the Gospel of John that was read at the beginning, Jesus said to the disciples who were about to lose him in death and get him back at his resurrection, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).
No one. It is invincible. Full. Solid. Eternal. No one will take this joy from you. God is our exceeding joy. And he cannot fail.” (https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/no-one-will-take-your-joy-from-you)
16:24
Where is our joy?
“No one will take your joy from you” (16:22)
“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (16:24)
It seems our joy is not in God, ourselves or even in what we receive from God but in our access or personal knowing of God/our friendship with Him. And as I’ve previously stated, Jesus is not one to betray His friends to betray His own promises He brought you, He’ll keep you, therefore, your joy in God is secure because that\’s what Jesus purchased for you with His bloodshed.
16:25-33
16:29-31
A table is by itself neither good nor bad. But it is the legs below the surface of the table that make the table good, able to hold weight and withstand pressure, or bad, falling when light pressure is applied. The theology undergirding our belief matters because what we believe and the reasons why we believe matter; without proper reason for our beliefs we are no better than the “spiritual but not religious” crowd.
The disciples here believed because they thought Jesus knew all things and, therefore, came from God. Jesus does not want us to believe in Him because He is full of knowledge but because of He in His totality/fullness is worthy of our belief in Him. The disciples built their beliefs in Jesus on bad theology and therefore fell. Let this serve as a warning to us for an urgent study of the bible and the masters who have been before us.
16:38
Why do we have peace in Jesus?
Because He bought us.
Why do we have tribulation in the world?
Because the world hates us because of Jesus.
And why are we to have courage/take heart?
Because Jesus overcame/conquered the world
What\’s it mean that Jesus overcame the world?
The Jesus defeated the world, flesh, Satan upon His death on the cross. The “evil triune” (if you will) now has no power/authority over the believer. If the Jesus was able to overcome even evil as great as these then we are to have courage in the face of evil/persecution likewise because we are called to follow Jesus and this is what Jesus did.