Overcome

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 15:21 – They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

1 John 5:3-4 – In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

Revelation 2:7 – Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Application:

• ·         In its greetings of peace the world can only express a longing or wish.
• ·         Because Christians do not belong to the world, persecution from the world is inevitable.
• ·         To overcome the world is to gain victory over its sinful pattern of life, which is another way of describing obedience to God.
• ·         “Paradise” was originally a Persian word for a pleasure garden.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

You Will Be Scattered

John 16:2,31-32 – They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God…“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

Zechariah 13:7 – “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Application:

• ·         The disciples had faith, but not enough to stand firm in the face of disaster.
• ·         Religious people have often persecuted others in the strong conviction that they were doing God’s will.
• ·         “My shepherd” was the royal Good Shepherd.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Believe That You Came From God

John 16:8-11,27-30 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned…No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

1 Kings 17:24 – Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 17:8 – For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

Application:

• ·         “About righteousness” was the righteousness brought about by Christ’s sacrificial death.
• ·         The widow had addressed Elijah as a man of God previously, but now she knew in a much more experiential way that he truly was a prophet of the Lord.
• ·         Christ is explaining why the disciples can come directly to the Father in prayer: They have loved and trusted in Jesus, and in love God will hear their requests in Jesus’ name.
• ·         John the Baptist’s singular ministry was to testify about Jesus.
• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.
• ·         Three things about the disciples are mentioned: (1) They accepted the teaching. (2) They knew with certainty Jesus’ divine origin. Acceptance of that revelation led them further into truth. (3) They believed.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

In My Name

John 16:26-27 – In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

John 14:13,21,23 – And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son…Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”… Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Romans 8:34 – Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Application:

• ·         It is prayer aimed at carrying forward the work Jesus did—prayer that He Himself will answer.
• ·         Paul gives three reasons why no one can condemn God’s elect: (1) Christ died for us; (2) Christ is alive and seated at the right hand of God, the position of power; (3) Christ is interceding for us.
• ·         Christ is explaining why the disciples can come directly to the Father in prayer: They have loved and trusted in Jesus, and in love God will hear their requests in Jesus’ name.
• ·         Love for Christ and keeping His commands cannot be separated.
• ·         Love and obedience are linked.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Your Joy

John 16:2,24-25 – They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God…Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.

Matthew 7:7 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

John 15:11 – I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Application:

• ·         Persistent prayer is being emphasized.
• ·         The Christian way is never dreary, for Jesus desires His disciples’ joy to be complete.
• ·         Religious people have often persecuted others in the strong conviction that they were doing God’s will.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

You Will No Longer Ask Me Anything

John 16:23,27 – In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Matthew 7:7 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

John 14:13 – And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Application:

• ·         Persistent prayer is being emphasized.
• ·         Christ is explaining why the disciples can come directly to the Father in prayer: They have loved and trusted in Jesus, and in love God will hear their requests in Jesus’ name.
• ·         It is prayer aimed at carrying forward the work Jesus did—prayer that He Himself will answer.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Going To The Father

John 16:8-11,17-22 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned…At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Isaiah 26:19 – But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

John 15:11 – I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Application:

• ·         “About righteousness” was the righteousness brought about by Christ’s sacrificial death.
• ·         “Dew” was a symbol of fruitfulness.
• ·         The Christian way is never dreary, for Jesus desires His disciples’ joy to be complete.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV