John 16:14-22
Sunday Morning Bible Study
December 1, 1996
Introduction
Jesus has been preparing the guys for what's up ahead of them, after He leaves to go back to heaven.
He's told them that they're going to face tremendous persecution, but they wouldn't be facing it alone, they would have the Holy Spirit to help them.
The Holy Spirit would be guiding them into truth, showing them things to come.
:14-15 The Spirit's Ministry (pt.3)
:14 He shall glorify me:
Lesson:
The Spirit's method is to point to Jesus.
We often want to know whether or not it's the Holy Spirit that's been working.
Just check for fingerprints.
One of the fingerprints that shows He's at work is that Jesus is put in the spotlight.
John the Baptist was definitely Spirit-led. He said:
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I [must] decrease. (AV)
Who's in the spotlight?
If people are seeing us in the spotlight, then the Holy Spirit's not working.
If people see the Holy Spirit in the spotlight, then the Holy Spirit's not working.
It must be Jesus in the spotlight.
That's my greatest desire, that after the service, people would be talking about Jesus, and the things He's done for them!
:14 for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
As we saw last week, the Holy Spirit would take the information from Jesus, and pass it on to the apostles.
shall show it unto you.
anaggello = (ana) into the midst + (aggello) a messenger, an angel; it means to announce, make known
Of the ways it's used in the New Testament (three times just in these three verses, 13,14,15) it seems to carry the idea of not just sending a message or shouting at someone, but coming into their presence and giving the message.
Example:
When Paul came back from one of his missionary journeys around the world, preaching the gospel, and arrived back home in Antioch ...
Ac 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. (AV)
I kind of get the idea that everyone was gathered together, maybe at a church potluck, with Paul and Barnabas in the middle, telling the stories of all the people they met and ministered to.
Lesson #1:
The Holy Spirit has a personal ministry for you.
Why go into all this detail about a Greek word?
Because the work of the Holy Spirit is a very personal work.
He doesn't:
... send you junk-mail, addressed to "occupant".
... send you a cold, lifeless e-mail, duplicated to thousands of people at a time.
... take out space in the newspaper and print an open letter addressed "to the whole world".
... use a computer to send you the same message he sent everyone else, except with your name typed onto the top of the message, and the front of the credit card.
He wants to come right into the middle of your life, and personally tell you things from Jesus and about Jesus.
Example:
That's why I find it fascinating to here what you got out of the Bible Studies we have.
I know what things speak to me, but it's amazing to hear what the Lord spoke to you.
Sometimes it's just a little side comment that I make, not even a main point, and the Lord uses it to speak right into the midst of your heart.
Lesson #2:
Be open to receive.
When the prophet Samuel was a little boy, he began to hear voices in the middle of the night.
He was being raised at the tabernacle by the high priest of that time, a man named Eli.
Little Samuel got up and at first thought it was the priest who was calling his name "Samuel ... Samuel".
But Eli soon realized it was the Lord, and he taught the little boy to answer to the voice,
1Sa 3:9-10 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. (AV)
Do you really want the Holy Spirit to be speaking to you?
How open are you to Him speaking?
Are you listening?
Lesson #3:
Turn down the noise so you can hear.
Illustration:
Have you ever called someone's house (like mine), where the TV was so loud, that the person couldn't hear you, and you couldn't hear them?
What needs to happen if you want to talk on the phone? You need to turn the volume down in the room!
When Elijah was running for his life, and hid out in a cave, he was trying desparately to get some answers from God about his situation. (1Ki.19)
As he was in this cave, first he was met with a strong wind, then an earthquake, and then a fire, but in all these things, God didn't speak to him.
But then came a gentle blowing, or, as the King James puts it a "still small voice" (1Ki.19:12).
It was with the still, small, voice, that God began to speak to him.
I wonder if sometimes we simply have too much going on, too much noise from TV or radio, too many things to worry about in our brains.
If we could just be quiet for a little while.
God says,
(Psa 46:10 KJV) Be still, and know that I am God
:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
We saw last week that the Holy Spirit would be in charge of teaching the disciples all the things that Jesus couldn't cover with them during His three years of ministry.
The Holy Spirit would be taking up where Jesus left off.
There are people who want to say that only the direct words of Jesus are authoritative.
They think that if Jesus Himself wasn't recorded as saying it, then we shouldn't be paying attention to it.
But here in Jesus' own words, we see that He just wasn't going to be able to teach the guys everything they needed to know, because they weren't ready for it.
(John 16:12 KJV) I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Lesson:
We can take the apostles' teachings as authoritative.
As Jesus Himself has shown, the Holy Spirit would pick up where He left off, and continue the teaching.
We better not stop with just what Jesus said, but pay attention to what the Holy Spirit has taught the disciples as well.
It's all from the same source!
:16-22 Sorrow to Joy
:18 we cannot tell what he saith.
This is kind of cool.
These guys are having as much of a hard time understanding what Jesus said as we are!
I don't feel so bad!
Lesson:
You're not going to always understand every passage you read.
At least, not right away.
:19 Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him,
I wonder if Jesus was just waiting to see how they received something so cryptic and difficult to understand...
:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,
My wife tells me that giving birth is not fun.
:21 she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
The very thing that cause her so much sorrow, the baby, becomes the thing that gives her joy.
Lesson #1:
Jesus uses the things that cause us hurt, to bring us joy.
The mother is caused great pain by her baby as she gives birth to it.
But after the birth, the very thing that brought so much pain, now brings so much joy.
Example:
I remember after the first two kids, Deb saying through the last days before delivery, "NEVER AGAIN!"
But somehow, that thought gets forgotten with the joy that a new baby brings.
And then we had another baby...
The answer is not to get rid of the thing that causes the pain, but to wait and receive the joy that will come later.
We don't throw out the baby, just because it brought so much pain.
The baby is the very one who brings the joy!
Example:
With the disciples, the death of Jesus brought so much pain and sorrow to them.
But after the resurrection, they saw that His death was necessary to pay for their sins, and His death became a source of joy.
When we're in hard times, we want to get rid of the thing that is causing so much trouble.
But that is the very thing that God wants to use, to turn our sorrow into joy.
Don't throw out the husband.
Don't throw out the kids.
Don't throw out the job.
Just learn to wait for the joy.
Lesson #2:
The "little while"= patience
It's after a "little while" that our sorrow turns to joy.
That's the hard part, waiting for the "little while" to be up.
As we well know, God's sense of a "little while" isn't quite the same as ours.
But in fact, even to us, a "little while" depends on what situation you're in.
Illustration:
If you're in the dentist chair, a "little while" might be only about 5 seconds, since ten minutes under the drill seems like an eternity.
If you're out at the beach, snoozing on your towel, or catching some waves, a "little while" might be about four hours (as long as you used your Coppertone!). There's no way you want to leave any sooner than that!
In reality, time is just relative. (Thanks Einstein!)
It's all relative compared to where you're going to spend eternity.
And if you're planning on spending eternity in heaven, then a few days, months, or years isn't all that long.
Paul writes:
(2 Cor 4:16-18 KJV) For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. {17} For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; {18} While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
I'm going to follow in Gayle Erwin's steps, and read to you a poem:
There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that sand had got under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they're so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the Government, call for an election?
No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,
"If I cannot remove it, I'll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny -- stew.
And this small grain of sand which had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral -- for isn't it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What couldn't we do if we'd only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin.
Give it some time, beloved.
The "little while" is only a problem if you don't have eternity in your eyes.
:22 now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice,
Just what has Jesus been talking about?
Two ideas
Maybe, if that's possible, both could be correct.
I wonder if the reason Jesus was so cryptic about it was so that the disciples would see these principles being applied to more areas of their lives than just one point in time.
View 1.
His death, resurrection, and subsequent appearances.
This is the most obvious understanding that comes to our minds.
It's also the one that the most commentators give.
They would not see Him in a little while, while He was in the grave.
This was when the disciples were the most bummed out.
This was when the enemies of Jesus were having a party.
But in another little while, after the resurrection, they would again see Him.
This was when the disciples began to party.
View 2.
His ascension and His second coming.
This one isn't so obvious, but has some pretty interesting ideas.
The time they wouldn't see Him was when He ascended to His Father.
Back in verse 10, Jesus had already said that when He would go to the Father, they would "see me no more".
The time they would see Him would either be when He comes back the second time, or when they would see Him by joining Him in heaven, after death.
You might think that this is kind of a long time to be considered "a little while".
Yet the Bible uses this same word to describe the Lord's coming:
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. (AV)
This has some interesting implications.
Instead of the time of "travail" being just the three days of His death, it would be the entire time from Jesus ascending to heaven, until He comes back.
That would include us, in our lives as well.
:22 your joy no man taketh from you.
Interesting idea, to think that people can't take your joy from you.
The joy Jesus is talking about is the joy that comes when "ye shall see me".
It's joy that comes from seeing Jesus.
Lesson:
Joy from Jesus can't be lost.
Our problem is that too often our joy comes from "things" or "circumstances".
And those can be lost quite easily.
Illustration:
An Englishman, a Frenchman and a Russian were discussing happiness. "Happiness," said the Englishman, "Is when you return home tired after work and find your slippers warming by the fire."
"You English have no romance," said the Frenchman. "Happiness is having dinner with a beautiful woman at a fine restaurant."
"You are both wrong," said the Russian. "True happiness is when you are at home in bed and at 4 a.m. hear a hammering at the door and there stand the secret police, who say to you, 'Ivan Ivanovitch, you are under arrest,' and you say, 'Sorry, Ivan Ivanovitch lives next door.'"
Of course, that kind of happiness only lasts as long as the secret police aren't coming to your door!
But if our joy comes because we've "seen Jesus", and gotten a little closer to Him, that's a joy that no person or circumstance can change.
Where do you find your happiness?
Do you get bummed out when your new car gets a scratch?
Are you destroyed when someone says an unkind thing to you?
Then it's possible that we're not quite getting our joy in the right place.
Where, then, is happiness found?
It's only found in seeing the face of Jesus.
David wrote:
(Psa 16:11 KJV) Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.