John - Central Baptist Church, Okinawa

Sun, 4th Oct 09 by admin

John 16:25-33

“Take heart; I have overcome the world.” Though Jesus had not yet
gone to the cross, his victory over sin, death, and the devil was sure
to be won. By dying on the cross, he would win the decisive battle,
such that all opposition to his kingdom would be pointless.

Because Jesus has overcome the world, there would be many blessing for
the disciples and for believers during the new age. They would have a
full knowledge of God, they would experience God’s love as they pray,
and they would be fulfilled through Christ’s accomplishment.

The disciples thought they understood what Jesus was saying. Indeed,
they did understand a great deal, since they were able to say that
Jesus spoke the words of God and was sent by the Father. Yet, Jesus
warned them that they should not be overly optimistic. As he, the
shepherd, was struck down, his sheep would surely be scattered. Yet,
their faith would remain, and would grow much stronger as they
realized that Jesus brings true peace between God and men.

Sun, 27th Sep 09 by admin

John 16:16-24

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.

Sun, 13th Sep 09 by admin

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.

Sun, 6th Sep 09 by admin

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 16:25-33

John 16:16-24

John 16:12-14

John 16:4-11

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