These verses refer to Jesus’ coming departure from the world by way of
the cross. The cross had two effects on two kinds of people in Jesus’
day. For the disciples, and other believers at that time as well, it
was a time of great sorrow. For those who hated God, Jesus death was
an occasion for great happiness. Yet, Jesus tells his disciples that
their pain would only be temporary. He would be raised from the dead,
and their sorrow would turn to joy. During this age, we should have
joy and comfort in knowing that Christ loved us so much that he died
for us. Jesus encourages us to pray in this new age of joy. He will
answer our prayers when we pray for the things that we need in order
to accomplish the tasks he has called us to do.
John 16:12-14
Baptized and Filled with the Holy Spirit
There is a great deal of confusion in the Christian Church regarding
what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and filled with the
Holy Spirit.
The New Testament mentions being baptized with the Holy Spirit seven
times. The most important reference may be found in 1 Corinthians
12:13. In this verse we see that all Christians have unity with one
another because of they are all united with Jesus Christ, and we see
that union with Christ involves being baptized with the Holy Spirit.
So, we may safely conclude that everyone who is a genuine believer has
been baptized with the Holy Spirit at the moment they first believed.
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit working in them.
The New Testament mentions being filled with the Holy Spirit fourteen
times. In these verses we see that the result of being filled with
the Spirit is that a person tells others about Jesus Christ and
demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit
does not mean that a person speaks in tongues.
John 16:4-11
Sometimes we may wish that we were able to travel back in time to see Jesus and hear him teach. We think that we might be able to know more about him if we could just hear him speak to us in person. Yet, this passage assures us that we can understand him perfectly well right where we are. In fact, we are better off, since we live in the age ofthe Holy Spirit, which is better than the one before. During this age, the Holy Spirit is helping all Christians to understand Jesus properly, and is using them to do great works.
Though Jesus is going away, the disciples will continue his work inthe power of the Holy Spirit during this age. The light of the world will shine through them, exposing the deeds of darkness that people do (Ephesians 5:11). The result is that some people will be convicted of theirsin and be driven to repentance, though others will merely hate the light.
John 15:18-27
Some people believe that they can love Jesus and avoid persecution,
but Jesus tells us that this is not the case. If you live like Jesus
wants you to live, the world will surely hate you. There is no way
around it.
We can find the origin of this hatred in Genesis. In the book of
Genesis, we find that there are fundamentally two kinds of people:
those that love God and those that hate him. People who hate God have
always hated the people that love God. This was true in Genesis, and
will remain true throughout the ages.
When people hate God, they express that hatred by persecuting those
who love God. This hatred burned against the prophets, and it is the
same hatred that resulted in Jesus’ crucifixion. It is the same
hatred that is poured out on Jesus’ messengers today, and you can
expect to face this hatred if you live a righteous life in Christ
Jesus.
Nonetheless, as we are being persecuted, we know that the Holy Spirit
is with us. He comforts us and uses us to be witnesses of Christ to a
dark world.
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