John 16:5-33
“The Masters plan”
- Intro.
- Vs. 5-11 Transformation
- Vs. 12-15 Communication
- Vs. 16-24 Clarification
- Vs. 25-27 Connection
- Vs. 28-33 Restoration
Intro.
There some 60 churches listed in the “Yellow Pages” in Ravalli county but when we consider the fact that there were only a handful Christians and not even one church yet in 70 years the gospel had spread throughout the known world one wonders what they had that we don’t? If we sixty something Churches were like the Christian’s in the book of Acts would there be any difference in our county? Consider the fact that without our communication and transportation advantages within 25 years of Pentecost Paul had already reached the outskirts of the Roman Empire coming to Thessalonica. And based upon Acts 17:6 their impact was well known enough that those in Thessalonica said those who have “turned the world upside down have come here also”. Why are churches in general today so weak and ineffectual, having little impact upon society? Why is society degenerating while churches are increasing in number and in size? I believe the reason for the change is: We have changed the strategy of the church. We no longer are operating as the Lord of the church instructed at the beginning.
Vs. 5-11 Jesus was outlining His plan to reach the world and it included His departure which as difficult as it was to grasp was essential for the success of His plan. Friends there will many things that our Lord allows to come across our lives that bring us sorrow but we can be confident that they will be to our advantage. “Nevertheless” is one of the many great words in the bible as it means despite everything you may think or feel the truth is it’s to your advantage.
The church has filed away the original strategy and come up with one of its own which seems to be much more suitable for our day, trying to adapt its methods to reach an ever changing world. That is why the church is steadily decreasing in power and influence. Along the road to the garden Jesus, the Founder of the church, described to the original disciples His strategy to reach the world. Jesus came to give them five reasons why His departure was better for them and part of His plan. There are five remarkable things that are part of this strategy:
Vs. 5-11 Transformation: Not mere information
1. First Jesus says in verses 4b-11, “Everything is going to start with inwardly transformed people”. That is the first point of Jesus’ strategy. It is easy to miss this when you read this paragraph as most read the sentence in verse 8, “When he comes he will convict the world of sin, and righteousness and of judgment” as though this will be a ministry that the Holy Spirit will directly perform upon the unbelieving society. But that is not what Jesus is saying. Though the context of this paragraph is how the Holy Spirit convicts the world in verse 7 Jesus is very clear that the Holy Spirit does not come to the world but to the believer. You may recall His words in 14:17 where Jesus said, “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” Jesus points out that when the Holy Spirit comes, He comes not to the world but to the church. He says twice in Verse 7 “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” Therefore what the Holy Spirit does to the church is what is going to impress the world. That is the first point in the strategy of God. But just what is the Holy Spirit going to do to the church that will affect the world? Well Jesus says that the Holy Spirits presence in the Church will convince the world of three things through what He has done in our lives: “Sin is the truth about man, righteousness is the truth about God, and judgment is the inevitable combination of these two truths.”
- Of sin: “because they believe not on me”. The unbelieving world, the secular system of our day does not believe in Jesus nor does it have any deep sense of its sin. The business of the church is not to convince the world of its sins but of its basic, fundamental sin. Sin is the destructive force that wrecks and ruins the possibility and potential beauty of humanity as God intended it to be. So what does the world learn from watching transformed people in the church? Well for starters they learn the reason for their dysfunction, their broken hearts and ruined lives, something isn’t right. When they see people who they have known that were just as dysfunctional and messed up as they were but now have been transformed they become curious to what as brought peace and joy from ruin and frustration. So for the first time they come to grips with the destruction of sin and the antidote found in the transforming power of the love of God. Notice that the word sin is singular not plural what “sin” is Jesus speaking of? Well He answers the “Sin, of not believing on Him.” What destroys human life is not taking of the only antidote to that which destroys them and it is the only sin that will not be forgiven.
- Of righteousness: “because I go to My Father and you see Me no more”. The second thing the world will learn, Jesus says, is the source of the gift of righteousness. In the Old Testament this word means “holiness” and the idea is wholeness. That is the end product of the Lord’s transforming work “wholeness” or balance in our lives before the transformation we were out of balanced not whole. We use the phrase “Man that person really has it together” to describe this. That is what Jesus does to us through His transformation He puts us back together as Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:17 where he says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Everyone is born into the world disassembled (some more than others) there are some pieces of the puzzle missing and we are in a constant search to find them. We think they are found in pleasure, drugs, careers, possessions or people but all these things do is temporarily fell the void or numb it. Solomon wrote of his quest for the missing piece in his book of Ecclesiastes where he had the means and the time to look for the missing piece in popularity, pleasure, accomplishments but in the end he concluded that the missing pieces could only be found in a relationship with God. Some folks are on a constant quest to “get ourselves together” but there is a lot of truth in that old nursery rhyme that Humpty Dumpty found. Remember that “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the King’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put old poor Humpty back together again!” So the world will learn from our transformation that it’s not the kings men or horses that will put us back again, in fact God has no intension of putting us back again instead the King is going to make us NEW. The only way to “wholeness” is the KING of KINGS Jesus! How is this accomplished? Well Jesus alludes to this by saying that He is going to the Father and they will see Him no more and that He is sending the Holy Spirit and it is His job to make us whole. We don’t put ourselves together again, we don’t earn wholeness; no our wholeness is the end product of our trusting in Jesus to put us together. People in the world recognize they are broken and try to hide their dysfunction but listen to what Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The world will see common ordinary clay pots but they will see not us decorated with things to hide or dysfunction instead they will the glory of God in the face of Jesus shining thru.
- And of judgment: “because the ruler of this world is judged”. Finally Jesus says that the believer’s transformation will convince the world of judgment. Now the judgment of which Jesus speaks of here is defined for us by His words “because the ruler of this world is judged” which tells us that Jesus is not speaking of the judgment day where the world will have to give an account. No, this is the judgment that will happen at the cross and resurrection where satan the one behind the dysfunctional philosophy of this world that keeps people enslaved to their brokenness is judged. Jesus is saying that the transformed Christian life will be a constant reminder that we can be free from the things that enslave us because the one that is behind them has been defeated. We have not only been set free from the penalty of sin we have been set free from the power of sin.
Vs. 12-15 Now here Jesus reveals the second part of His strategy to reach the world. What is even more remarkable to me is the timing of these words which are just hours before the cross where He will face physical agony, emotional upheaval and spiritual separation and He is concerned that His followers can’t endure to much more.
Vs. 12-15 Communication: Without limitation
2. Second Jesus says in verses 12-15 “I still have many things to say to you, but you can’t bear them now”. The second part of Jesus strategy to reach the world involves how He will continue to communicate to His followers and through them to the world. Notice that Jesus speaks of a future time when “He, the Spirit of truth has come” that suggests that the Holy Spirit had not come in a manor that would guide them into “all truth” which is defined as “what He hears He will speak”. When will that time be? Well I believe that Jesus is making a reference to about 50 days from this time at the time of Pentecost. What Jesus is saying is that the Holy Spirit will continue His work through His people in the world. Jesus strategy is to continue to speak and work in the lives of those who have trust in Him. That is why Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that we “shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall BE witnesses to ME”. Jesus’ strategy involves “being” because of the work of the Holy Spirit and not doing in our own strength. When you compare John 14:26 with 16:13, you see the wonderful way that God arranged for the writing of the New Testament Scriptures:
- 14:26 The Spirit would “remind them of what Jesus had taught them”; this gives us the four Gospels.
- Vs. 13a The Spirit would also “guide” them into all truth; and this would result in the epistles.
- Vs. 13b “He will show you things to come” refers to the prophetic Scriptures, especially the Book of Revelation.
Jesus indicates three things that The Holy Spirit’s communication will be to those He indwells.
- Vs. 13bAuthoritive: “He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” We will be able to test what the Holy Spirit is saying to us as it will always be consistent and never contradict what the Father and the Son has said. Paul spoke of this in 1 Cor. 2:10 where He said “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” We will have no concern on what the Holy Spirit is telling us as He is always going to speak what He hears. So many today will tell you that the Holy Spirit told them something but when they tell you what it is it is inconsistent to the rest of what God has already said therefore we know that it is of God.
- Vs. 13c Predictive: “He will tell you things to come.” The Holy Spirit will reveal us things to come giving us insights into the times and seasons will live and how they relate to the word of God. In Hebrews 10:23-25 the author exhorts his readers by saying “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
- Vs. 14 Christ centered: “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”. The Holy Spirit will continue to make known to us the person words and works of Christ that is the theme of all the scripture. In Colossians 2:3 Paul wrote “In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.
- Vs. 15 Applicable: “He will take of Mine and declare it to you” Twice in tow verses Jesus says the same thing and it speaks of the truth that the Holy Spirit will cause the word of God to be practical and relevant to our lives today. Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 3:16 that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
Vs. 16-24 Now we come to the third strategy to reach the world as Jesus summed it up verse 16 saying “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” To which the disciples were quite obviously confused in verses 17-19a. The just of their puzzlement seems to be how He was going to disappear to be never seen again only to reaper so they would be able to see Him. Then in verse 20-24 Jesus gives them the answer by way of an illustration to which they apparently understand in verse 29-30.
Vs. 16-24 Clarification: Instead of confusion
3. The third part of Jesus strategy to reach the world involves our understanding as clearly Jesus demonstrates clarification instead of confusion. It is very apparent that Jesus knew His disciples well as His words illustrated how prone they were to confusion. Many folks have the same response when it comes to Jesus words “We don’t know what He is saying” based upon Jesus illustration that is brought on by our being in this world where we can only comprehend things based upon our limited understanding of what we are going through now. The error is not in what we are reading but in our understanding and Jesus encourages us to ask. A clear example of this is verse 16 where Jesus says that “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” From the disciples perspective it made no sense but from our perspective we understand that Jesus was speaking of the cross. The Holy Spirit offers us a perspective that transcends our experiences and because of this gives a view of reality that we would not be able to see. God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation. We cannot mature emotionally or spiritually if somebody is always replacing our broken toys. In Deut 23:5 we read that “the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.” His illustration of the woman giving birth makes this clear. Now this works out in the world when people in the world see us living beyond our situations and circumstances as Paul said in Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” A woman in labor has sorrow but once the baby is born she has joy, so what the Holy Spirit works through the word of God is clarity in and during confusing times. What caused the mother anguish and the mother joy was the same thing the baby and the difference was perspective. Notice the promise in verse 20 “your sorrow will be turned into joy” and that will come by way of the Holy Spirit changing our comprehension. God’s work was not to replace their sorrow with joy, but to turn sorrow into joy. Peter wrote of this as a witness in 1 Peter 3:15 where he said, “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”. “Why are you full of joy, why do you have so much hope in your situation”, the world wants to know and the answer is because the Holy Spirit has granted us clarity beyond our present situation. What activates this perspective is our communication with the Lord as Paul spoke of this in Philip. 4:6-7 saying, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” It’s not the circumstances that will change but rather our understanding of them. God does not create joy by new surrounding He creates new surrounding by joy and the world will take notice of that.
Vs. 25-27 Again Jesus refers to a yet future time when the Holy Spirit will be in and upon them when the need of figurative language won’t be necessary a time when (and listen carefully) “I will tell you plainly about the Father” defined further by Jesus when He says, “I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you…”
Vs. 24-27 Connection: Through relationship not religion
4. Vs. 25-27 The fourth part of Jesus strategy to reach the world is brought in these verses and it is the constant reminder of God’s love for us. Jesus is very careful to speak of this security by means of our relationship with God and not just through some religious exercise. The world will see security and confidence in the life of the believer that will be attractive to them as the world knows nothing of such security. Paul spoke of this in Romans 8:37-39 saying, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is an ever growing sense of the grace and love of God that is evident on our lives that attracts others to Him.
Vs. 28-33 The final thing we see is found in verses 28-33 where Jesus clearly states His identity and the disciples respond by saying, “Now we are sure…By this we believe that you came forth from God” But Jesus questions them in verse 32 saying “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
Vs. 28-33 Restoration: Not expulsion
5. Vs, 28-33 The fifth part of Jesus strategy to reach the world is seen in this exchange between Jesus and His disciples where they felt secure in their knowledge and Jesus was just as certain of their soon failure. Yet Jesus tells them in verse “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The fifth thing that the world will see in Jesus strategy is His goodness and greatness and not ours. There will be evident to the world that we are just like them but with a great God who works faithful in us and through us. It is clear that Jesus loved these fellows with full knowledge of their failures and complete confidence of their transformation. God does not chose the qualified He qualifies the chosen my friends and that means that the world will see what God can and does through common ordinary clay pots not though special people. Out of weakness, we become strong, out of mistakes and failures we become aware of the fact Friends remember peace is offered to us, but tribulation is promised! He has a way of correcting our mistakes, and making us look good. The reality my friend God does not need us He wants us and that is what ministers to the world. So God’s strategy to reach the world is:
- Transformation: Not mere information
- Communication: Without limitation
- Clarification: Instead of confusion
- Connection: Through relationship not religion
- Restoration: Not expulsion