What Are These Things?
Gist: Jesus tells us, in the midst of a corrupt and trying world, we can have full joy, unshaken faith, and perfect peace by abiding in Him, loving like Him, and speaking to Him.
Scripture: John 14-16 (focusing on 15:11, 16:1, and 16:33, but really you should read the whole passage...)
John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 16:1 "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
Introduction: Ok, so this is clearly a much larger passage of scripture than I usually tackle. However, let me assure you this was not my original intent. God is gracious. I had every intention of just preaching on John 16:25-33. But, as I looked into what Jesus said in John 16:33, I was struck my by the phrase "these things". This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, and I have covered it many times. But, a lot of the time I gloss over that first point and go straight to what would be more the "meat" of the passage--the Peace in the midst of trial, the Overcomer! Yet, He said it was because of "these things" that we have that, so I wanted to go back to the beginning of this discourse and make sure to address what "these things" were. In doing this, I stumbled across two more "these things I have spoken to you, that" statements that I'd considered in their immediate context, but never realized were all part of the bigger point Jesus was making in this final discourse. Then everything started falling into place. From John 14-16 Jesus tells us we may have full joy, unshaken faith, and perfect peace. That's a pretty big deal! He doesn't promise a life without trial. In fact, He promises the opposite. Yet, in the midst of this struggle, we can have the abundant life that He spoke of in John 10:10 ("The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.") How? Well, Jesus said that He told us in "these things". So, it was important to look at them. My first list came to about 15 points (which was still combining a lot). BUT, I figured that would be harder to take away from. Thus, I broke it into two points with a few subpoints that will hopefully make some semblance of sense in a timely-isn manner.
Background: Very quickly, I think it's always important to consider the context of the passage we're looking at. "These things" were spoken directly following the Last Supper. Jesus had just told His disciples of His nearing death and predicted His betrayal and denial. The mood was pretty somber to say the least. Then, He immediately follows with an admonition that they be known by their love for one another. His disciples had to have been on an emotional roller coaster here. So, He did what He always does (and what we should do too), He feeds their emotions truth and sets the stage for everything that is to follow...the context...the reason why any of this matters-- John 14:1-6 "“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord,we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He is God and the only path to Heaven. We need this foundation too. Without Christ, this abundant life isn't possible. Without believing in Him and giving Him control of your life, there is and will always only be emptiness.
Then, He gets into the "things". His case is built very clearly, but for the sake of time, I'm not going to go chronologically here, but rather look at the big picture. He gives us warnings and blessed commands (I'll explain that in a second).
1. Warnings
First, let's look at the stage against which the offer of abundant life (this life of full joy, unshaken faith, and perfect peace) is set. (Note also, that these warnings are accompanied by the great encouragement of the Holy Spirit coming.)
1. This life will be hard
-"Let not your heart be troubled." Jesus says this at least twice in the passages (John 14:1, 27) which assumes that our hearts will be tempted to go that direction. You don't tell someone to watch their head if there is no danger of them hitting it (like... if they're crawling or something). The same idea is true here. Couple that with the fact that He also warns us of hatred and persecution (John 15:18-24), and the point becomes very clear. This life will not be peaches and cream. We have to get this. There is so much false teaching out there that leads many astray claiming Christianity is about "living the good life". It's not. It was never meant to be, and if that's the reason you wanted to be "saved", you weren't. We have to get this.
2. Sinners, by nature, hate God and His reflection
-John 15:18-19 "18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." The "world" here refers to sinners, not the planet. Sinners hate God. I know there are people who will bristle at the thought of nonbelievers hating God. I have been told as much...that unbelief is not as strong as hatred. The Bible clearly tells us that not to love God is to hate Him (James 4:4, Matthew 6:24...etc). If you throw out Scripture's authority on this, which I don't recommend, look at what defines the word hate. It is a strong dislike for and aversion to. How does the idea of God and the Bible make you feel? What do you think about His standards, His law? Do you strongly dislike them? Detest even? Do you avoid conversations about Him, or frequently try and debunk, disprove, or discredit Him and His followers? I am not saying that Christians are better in this by nature. We are all haters of God (Romans 1:28-31) because we are all sinners. The difference is Grace.
And in this passage, Jesus tells us that that hatred will extend to those who live like Christ. If they hate Him, they will hate those who imitate Him. For example, and in a lesser degree, if you can't stand me, you probably won't like my kids. Not only will they remind you of me because you know they are my children, but I have influenced them and impacted their behavior. They might do things that aren't like me--that you won't mind--but the things that are like me (my obnoxious humor and energy) will overshadow those. The same is true, on a far greater scale, of Christ and His Church. In fact, He goes so far as to say that because of their disbelief in God: John 16:2 "2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." I think we see that today.
3. Without repentance all sinners, which we all are, will go to Hell
-John 15:6 "6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." Again, this is the foundation. Apart from Christ you will live in this world of sin and toil hating God, and then die to spend eternity in Hell. This is a somber warning. We are being offered abundant life here, but those who reject it will experience abundant torment. We must share this message. There is hope in the midst of this suffering. His name is Jesus.
2. Blessed Commands
Now, let's look at the commands He gives in the context. And I call them blessed commands because we have to get out of our heads that commands are bad or repressive things. The commands that come from God are good, and for our good. "You should not kill"-- I think we all benefit when that one is obeyed. The same is true here. We are called to do something, but in doing that we receive so much more. How can we experience full joy, unshaken faith, and perfect peace in this messed up, fallen world?
1. Abide in Jesus
-John 15:4-5 "4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." In this section, about 17 verses, Jesus tells His disciples to abide 11 times. I think He's making His point very clear. We are to stay in Him. The word abide is the same root as the word abode--which, of course, is a home. If you truly abide in your abode, it implies that you spend a significant amount of time there. If I go to look for you in your abode every day, but never find your abiding, then I'm going to start to think you gave me the wrong address. To abide in Christ is to live in Him. Our life should be all wrapped up in Him. We should desire His Word and live for His purpose (and that doesn't just mean being at church 24/7--We should live for Him wherever He sends us.)
Here Jesus uses a fruit illustration instead. He is the vine. We are the branches. God is the vinedresser. We are to stay plugged into Him to live. Without Him, we cannot live. But it goes beyond just staying alive. He promises true life a life that has such communion with God that "7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."
(Note also, that the first "these things I have spoken, that" statement, the one that promises full joy, comes right after this admonition to abide in Christ!)
2. Love like Jesus
-John 15:12 "12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”” We could just camp out here forever, but I will be brief for the sake of time. God is love. It is not a mere characteristic. Apart from Him, there is no love. We are to live like Him. If we do this individually, we will be fulfilling our original purpose. If the entire world lived like Jesus… well that’s Heaven. We cannot underestimate the importance of love, and we cannot neglect to realize that true love is a reflection of God’s character. Anything less is a painfully lacking imitation.
3. Speak to Jesus
-John 16:26-27 “26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." There are several verses in this passage that talk about prayer, but this one spoke to me the most. How great is this truth, and how contrary to the cold theology that assumes we must have an intercessor beyond Jesus Christ who is God. We do not pray through anyone, but in Jesus' name directly to God...who loves us! We really need to let that sink in. I've heard Tim Keller use an example like this many times, and it is right on. Who can disturb the President of the United States in the middle of the night to ask for a glass of water, or to talk about something trivial? Not us. We couldn't even get in to talk to the President during the day, not without permission--which would take time and require going through a ton of channels. Even more, then, if I tried to enter the private bedroom of the President in the middle of the night, I wouldn't stand a chance. I'd never make it through the front doors...at least not alive. I don't have that privilege. Who does? Who can? Well, right now, I'd say there are two people--his daughters…maybe his wife, but definitely those two. I might be grumpy in the middle of the night, but if one of my children calls for me... I come. God, who never sleeps and is beyond "grumpiness", hears our prayers. Amen! What a privilege! Why do we neglect this?
Application:
John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 16:1 "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
“These things”—understanding the warnings of sin and tribulation and following the blessed commands to abide in Jesus, love like Jesus, and speak to Jesus—are given to us that we might have abundant life. He’s told us how. Yet, we ignore the blessings. We know that joy, and faith, and peace come from actually being with Jesus—reading His Word, praying continuously. Yet, we chose rather one of two routes. 1- We just stay dead. We have never come to know Jesus as our savior and, thus, have not begun to experience life. I urge you to repent and believe. He loves you and has died for your sins. 2- We live like we’re dying. We know the truth and have believed, but do not do these things…we just complain about how life is just too overwhelming…And we don’t have joy, and we don’t have faith, and we don’t have peace. If you were dying of thirst and I offered you a tall glass of water to drink, but you refused to drink it…and continued to complain of thirst… Well, we’d probably call you crazy. Again, I think you can make the connection yourselves. This world will be hard—abide in Jesus, love like Jesus, speak to Jesus…and live.
No comments:
Post a Comment