Read John 15:26-16:15
Questions for Littles: Who is coming (John 15:26)? Who will send Him? From Whom? What other Name does this verse give to the Helper? From whom will He proceed? What will He do? Who else will bear witness (John 15:27)? Why? What reason does Jesus give, in John 16:1, for telling them certain things in advance? What kinds of things will be done to them (John 16:2)? What will their persecutors think that they are doing? How does John 16:3 say it is that persecutors come to be like this? But why is Jesus telling them this now (John 16:4)? Where is Jesus going now (John 16:5)? What aren’t the disciples asking? What effect has His saying this had upon them (John 16:6)? What does Jesus say is to their advantage (John 16:7)? What advantage do they get from Jesus going away? Of what three things will the Spirit convict the world when He comes (John 16:8)? Why of sin (John 16:9)? Why of righteousness (John 16:10)? Why of judgment (John 16:11)? What does Jesus still have to say to whom (John 16:12)? Why doesn’t He do so now? Who will speak them to the things to come (John 16:13)? When? Whom will He glorify (John 16:14)? What will He take? To whom will He give it? What things belong to Jesus (John 16:15)?In this passage, the Lord Jesus warns them about the difficulties that will come upon them, so that when the difficulties come they will not be discouraged by the pain of it but rather encouraged by the fact of Christ’s word being fulfilled. Jesus also equips them to resist the idea that they have been put in such positions of difficulty because He is gone. No, actually, His leaving puts them in a position of greater strength.
His going away brings Him closer than He has ever been. For, He and the Spirit and the Father are One. It is He who will send the Spirit from the Father. It is what is His, and also what is the Fathers, that the Spirit will be giving to them. This has been a theme for two chapters now: the Triune God gives Himself to them in the Person of His Spirit.
And so He gives Himself to us! This is one reason why an obsession with displays of power is such a mistake when thinking about the Spirit. For the Spirit is given by Christ from the Father as the communication of a Person. And in what way does God communicate Himself to us? Words. In this case those “many things that [Jesus] has yet to say”—yes, those “things that remain.” Gloriously, you have the fulfillment of that in your very hands: a Bible with a completed New Testament.
How should you respond to having the Bible and the Spirit who gives Himself to you?Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH396 “Gracious Spirit, Dove Divine”
No comments:
Post a Comment