John 16
August 28th
2011 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Numbers
21:4)
A.
Discouragement is normal
(Numbers 21:4)
1.
People get discouraged – that
is not a sin
2.
The problem is when people
STAY discouraged – that is when it becomes a sin
B.
Jesus shows us how to prepare
for times of discouragement, and how to get encouraged
C.
Because WE need encouragement
– there is not one of us that doesn’t need some!
1.
Not flattery
2.
But comfort, inspiration, a
confidence of success
3.
We need encouragement from
time to time
4.
Just like the disciples did
D.
Jesus never got discouraged
(Isa 42:4) – and if anybody SHOULD have been discouraged, it should have been
Him
1.
The men He spent 3 ½ years
with, failed Him when He needed them most
2.
The nation he had so impacted
and loved, rejected Him in the end!
3.
His own heavenly Father
abandoned Him on the cross – on purpose mind you, but still
4.
Yet he never got discouraged –
He never lost confidence in the plan that God had
E.
Let’s listen in as Jesus
prepares His disciples for the coming big emotional dip that was just ahead
1.
Up to this point, there was
nothing but successes, and accomplishments surrounding Jesus
2.
But now, sorrow, and
discouragement would stalk these disciples like a lion does his prey
II.
Background (John 16:20)
A.
Jesus is surrounded by His
eleven disciples
1.
He has been walking with them
to the
2.
Judas has left and is at that
very moment betraying Jesus to the Pharisees. They, along with armed solders
would soon be on their way to come and arrest Him
B.
It is the eve of the Passover.
C.
He has already eaten the
Passover meal with His disciples, and has gone to the
D.
But before He prays,
1.
He explains in great detail,
what lay ahead of them all
2.
And He explains that He was
trying to keep them from getting offended, upset at what was about to happen
E.
Take a look at what Jesus said
usually discourages us:
1.
Rejection (16:1,2) – there is
not much worse than rejection
a.
And boy were they going to be
rejected
b.
Emperor Nero would one day
burn down
c.
1Cor 4:10-13 pretty well sums
it up!
d.
The kid who is not liked at
school; the Christian who is made fun of every day at work; the soul-winner who
never gets beyond “Hi, my name is…” before the door is closed in their face!
e.
Well, they know rejection, and
they know discouragement!
2.
Persecution (16:2,3)
a.
Not reasonable persecution
either – there are some people who NEED to be persecuted: criminals, liars,
thieves, politicians…
b.
But this was just plain
ignorance! The people didn’t realise what they were doing
c.
Yet they believed with all
their heart, they were doing God’s will
d.
As do the Muslims, and the
people all during the dark ages!
e.
Burning William Tyndale, and
John Huss
3.
Loneliness – without Jesus
physically here (16:4)
a.
Being on your own can quickly
demoralise anyone!
b.
Jesus was leaving!
4.
Reality – Jesus didn’t sugar
coat what was about to happen (16:5,6)
a.
Jesus wasn’t going to lie to
them
b.
He was leaving, and they would
face things now alone, without Him
c.
And the way he was leaving
(via the crucifixion) was going to be hard to watch
d.
These were things the
disciples did NOT want to hear
e.
And sorrow filled their hearts
– they began to be very discouraged
5.
Failure (16:20) – they were
about to watch the most awful disaster of their lives ever!
a.
Jesus was not going to fail,
but everyone around Him would!
b.
They would fail the one person
they thought they would stand by forever
c.
They would watch their Messiah
die a horrible, unjustified death
d.
They would run and hide from
the storm surrounding their Friend
e.
They would fail miserably as
disciples
f.
Peter was only ONE of the
eleven who’s failure is recorded, but they ALL ran!
g.
Today, most people feel like
failures deep inside for all sorts of reasons
F.
How Could God encourage a
bunch of defeated men like these were?
G.
God is definitely in the
business of working everything out for good in the life of a believer
III.
Message
A.
Jesus said first, Remember
My Words (John 16:1,4)
1.
That’s where we all have to
start! With constantly reminding ourselves what This Book says
a.
Far too many people are
eternally depressed because the only words that ring in their ears are the words
of…
b.
Economists
1)
“It looks as if we are headed into a
double-dip recession…”
2)
“The Euro is at risk of
falling apart…”
c.
Parents
1)
“You are no good”
2)
“You will never amount to
anything”
3)
“You’re just like your
father…”
d.
Your friends
e.
All the stupid world’s songs
that constantly blare in our ears for 20 hours a day
2.
There is something oh so
powerful in the words of Jesus (John 15:11)!!!
a.
He prepares us for troubles.
By giving us notice of the coming troubles, He was removing the terror of it,
that it might not be a surprise to us.
b.
He has told us that all these
things were coming
c.
He has been attempting to
prepare us – like warning you that an thief is headed up the street to your
house – now you can be ready!
d.
If only we took heed – paid
attention, and obeyed Christ’s words!!!
3.
Examples
a.
At the sepulchre (Luke 24:1-8)
What a joy to remember what Jesus said!
b.
At the resurrection (John
2:18-22)
4.
We need, to read, to remember!
a.
It is no good just glancing at
the words of this Book. They were written to be remembered!
b.
Write down what you understand
– mark up your Bible!
c.
Recall to mind what you learn
(Lam 3:19-25)
d.
Remind yourself over and over
what God has SAID in this Book (
e.
Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I
hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
5.
This book was written for our
admonition – our instruction – our encouragement (Rom 15:4)
a.
It is filled with the records
of the lives of normal people
b.
Who lived extraordinary lives
because they believed God, and trusted His word
6.
Remember His INSTRUCTIONS –
they are so important! He knows what we should be doing
a.
This Book is filled with
commandments – instruction on how to live – they are the opposite of how our
world lives!
1)
Honour your parents
2)
Ye MUST be born again – not
trust in your own goodness, or your religion
3)
Love your enemies
4)
Preach the Gospel as the most
important news
5)
Pray about everything
6)
Praise God for everything!
Quit complaining
b.
In the midst of the deepest
discouragement, REMEMBER His commands!
B.
Rest in God’s Presence
(John 16:4-7) – that He is NEAR! Not far away! Or too busy!
1.
These eleven men had
experienced the miracle of miracles…
a.
They had seen and even held
the Person of the Son of God
b.
They had walked with Him, and
heard His voice, and eaten with Him
c.
And during the entire time,
they never lacked anything!
d.
It was awesome having God, in
the flesh, right there with them – Emmanuel!
2.
But now He was leaving – not
just “dying” but “going His way” – going back to heaven where He had come from
3.
And all this talk about
leaving them was scaring them – causing them to worry about things. It
discouraged them
4.
But He was not really leaving
them…
a.
Physically yes
b.
But there was more to Jesus
than just his flesh and bones
c.
He would come back and stay
with us – as the Holy Spirit
d.
The third person of the
Trinity
5.
The presence of the Holy
Spirit in the life of the believer…
a.
Just as real as the physical
Jesus – just spiritual (13:19-21)
b.
He will continue teaching us
(16:13)
c.
Honours and glorifies Jesus –
not ourselves (16:14)
d.
Is permanent (13:16) – he will
never leave you
e.
Comforts us (13:17,18)
f.
Will constantly try and remind
us of Christ’s words (13:25,26)
6.
Jesus gave us the presence of
His Holy Spirit to encourage us!
a.
But only when we stop and
listen to Him speak to us through the word of God
b.
Only when we stop and pray and
cast all our care upon Him
c.
It is too easy to turn to
drink, and a drug, to a cigarette, and to the friends, when God is trying to get
you alone with Him, so that HE can encourage you!
7.
That’s why you should never
miss a church meeting – where two or three are gathered in my name… there I
AM!!!
C.
Allow God to Work in Your
Life (John 16:8-14)
1.
Not always pleasant
a.
Yes, God is going to work
everything out for good… Thank God for that!
b.
But He usually has to humble
us and break us before He can bless us!
2.
Christianity is FIRST negative
– before it encourages, it has to correct us!
3.
Notice how the Holy Spirit
must first…
a.
Reprove us – show us where we
are wrong (Heb 12:5,6) – perfecting the rough edges
b.
Show us what true
righteousness is
1)
Everyone seems to have their
own idea of what is right and wrong
2)
The Holy Spirit of God,
working from the Scriptures, shows us true righteousness, and it is not
pleasant!
c.
The Holy Spirit must first
scare us, into fearing God and His judgment
1)
John the Baptist warned of the
coming wrath of God
2)
Jesus warned the crowds
3)
Paul warned every man he met
d.
Only AFTER that, will He guide
us into all truth!
1)
Guide you while in the
troubles and trials
2)
Too many Christians never
learn the Scriptures, because they won’t let God teach them those Scriptures
that are only learned under pressure and under stress!
4.
Allow God to work in your
life, to show you that He is and always will be RIGHT!
5.
Through everything you end up
going through, the Holy Spirit’s main work will be to bring glory and honour and
praise and worship of Jesus Christ (16:14)!
6.
Hey, look back on your past,
and take note of all the times
a.
God was trying to bring you to
your knees
b.
God was trying to get you to
trust only in Him
c.
God was at work trying to
mould and shape you into a Christian
d.
Always have a GOOD LOOK, when
looking back! Ps 77:10 “And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember
the years of the right hand of the most High.”
D.
Trust God’s Promises
– no matter how impossible they may be (John 16:16-22)
1.
Jesus was telling His
disciples all these things beforehand – He is good at this!
a.
So that when the sorrow came,
when the discouragement was overwhelming them, they would remember what He said,
and trust what he promised!
b.
You see, we all can read these
words, and then choose not to believe them
c.
But what a waste, when these
were written to give us encouragement
2.
Trust God’s promises!
a.
It’s what Jesus tried to get
Mary and Martha to do when Lazarus died
b.
It’s what Jesus tried to get
the disciples to do when the ship they were in was sinking
c.
It’s what Jesus tried to get
the dad of the dying girl to do when they heard that she had died before Jesus
was able to get to her and heal her – “only believe!”
3.
Can you imagine the pain of
childbirth for a moment? Most of us can’t!
a.
But imagine if going into that
pain, there was no hope that it would soon be over and a baby would be in your
arms? That would make the pain unbearable!
b.
But, every woman instinctively
forgets all about the pain after a birth, because the pain of childbirth has a
promise connected with it – that a baby was coming! That JOY was on its way!
4.
The promises of God are all
good (2Cor 1:18-20)
a.
God is not up and down, on and
off, yes today and no tomorrow
b.
They are all right, and good,
and trustworthy
c.
They may be hard to believe,
but they will all work out right
d.
Trust His promises!
5.
Make sure you remember His
promises
a.
Oh the promises of God – so
much more encouraging THAN ANYTHING
b.
Name a promise of God!
1)
How about Isa 43:1-3
2)
Isa 41:10
3)
Gal 5:16
4)
Heb 13:5
5)
Romans 8:28
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Every Christian experiences
terrible times of sorrow and discouragement – that is to be expected
B.
But the Christian who…
1.
Remembers God’s Words (16:1,4)
2.
Rests in God’s Presence (John
16:4-7)
3.
Allow God to Work in their
Life (16:8-14)
4.
And, Trusts God’s Promises –
no matter how impossible they may be (16:16-22)
C.
Can look forward to great joy
and rejoicing!
D.
As a matter of fact, can
confidently face into any storm, and rejoice!
E.
Are YOU a Christian? A true
blue, born again, child of God?
F.
Here is how to be born again…
Craig Ledbetter | Pastor |