Recap
of 2/10/13 (John 15:26-16:11):
1. The
theme of the hatred and opposition of the world to the Christian begun in John
15:18 continues into John 16 verses 1-11.
The Lord is telling His disciples that these are the facts of the
Christian life. ‘I have suffered. You will suffer as well. You can’t expect any better treatment from
the world than I received.’ The moment
you take a stand for the Savior, you have opposition.” (Mitchell)
2.
Though it seems counter-intuitive, the proper response to the world’s
opposition is to witness as to who Jesus is and what He came to do in
conjunction with the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26,27). We too often seek escape from the world or
are silent about our commitment to Jesus.
“As the Apostles witnessed, the Holy Spirit persuaded, and people were
saved” (Blum).
3.
Jesus warns believers about the world’s hatred and opposition so that we
will not be thrown by it. That it will
not trip us up or cause a crisis of faith or a weakening of faith. He tells His disciples in advance what is
coming so that they can have even greater confidence in Him.
4.
Jesus enunciates a Biblical principle when He tells the disciples that
what was painful for them now, would turn out for their good later. This is a principle seen throughout the Word
of God. Some examples are: Jacob
(Genesis 42:36); Joseph (Genesis 50:20); and Moses (Exodus 2-4). The principle
is expressed in Rpmans 8:28.
5. The
Holy Spirit would work in conjunction with our witness to convince unbelievers
that they are guilty of sin because of their rejection of Jesus, that they lack
the necessary righteousness to enter Heaven and that unless they turn to Christ
they will share Satan’s judgment and fate.
