THESE THINGS I SAY UNTO YOU

John Chapter Sixteen

Sermon of the Week #200645 – November 12, 2006

The sixteenth chapter of the book of John begins with this statement, “These things have I spoken unto you that you be not caused to stumble.” The things Jesus had spoken would be the two previous chapters John fourteen and fifteen. A quick glance at some of the things Jesus had said will give us some idea as to why they would be persuaded not to stumble.

In John fourteen Jesus began by saying, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.”

That statement would give them good cause not to stumble. The mansion prepared is in the Father’s house. The mansion is a room reserved for the Christian. We don’t have to pray for a cabin in the corner of glory land; we can expect first-class accommodations in the Father’s house. In the sunset of life as the shadows lengthen as our earthly day draws to a close, we can look up and see the lights of glory, and there will not be a “No Vacancy” sign hanging out on the Father’s house. What an encouragement to the Christian to persevere and not stumble.

Another thing the Lord said that would strengthen our resolve not to stumble would be when He said, “If I go, I come again that where I am there ye may be also.” The best news the Christian can hear in this crazy world at this time is the fact that the Lord will return, and like the Apostle John, we ought also to pray, “Even so come Lord Jesus.” This should keep the Christian from stumbling.

Then again in that same chapter Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the works that I do ye shall do also; and greater works than these shall ye do because I go unto the Father.” The work of Christ was saving the world; our work can be summed up in carrying out the Great Commission. In connection with this He said, “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name that will I do.” This radio ministry is the result of that promise. We know that God is working through us and that should encourage us not to stumble.

Again, we cannot ignore what Jesus had said when He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, to bring to their remembrance everything that He said unto them. Jesus did not trust the memory of the Apostles to write down what He did. He sent the Holy Spirit to remind them of everything He had said. We can be sure when we read the New Testament that we are reading the exact Word of God as dictated by the Holy Spirit. What a blessing to know when you read the New Testament you are actually reading the inspired will of God for you. “These things I write unto you that you be not caused to stumble.”

Then in the fifteenth chapter Jesus reminds them that, “I am the vine, and My Father is the husbandman.” He further said, “I am the vine and ye are the branches.” Every Christian is a branch, and the Lord expects us to bear fruit. He did not say the denominations are the branches. He said, “You are the branches.” He further said, “If a man abide not in Me he is cast forth as a branch and they are withered, and they gather them up and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” With that kind of teaching reminding them to be faithful, they would be challenged to be faithful and not stumble.

These things I write unto you that ye be not caused to stumble. It is a dangerous thing for the Christian to stumble in two areas. The Apostle Peter repeats the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold I lay in Zion a corner stone elect and precious, and he that believeth on Him shall not be put to shame.” To many today, the Rock of Ages has become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence for they stumble at the Word being disobedient. Many stumble regarding the saving blood of Christ and by disobedience to the Word of God. These things I write unto you that ye be not caused to stumble.

Now that the Apostles have been strengthened not to stumble He lays on them some dire consequences that awaits them, “They shall put you out of the synagogue, and it shall be that whosoever kills you will think that he doeth service unto God.”

That day came for the apostles and it has come for millions of Christians today. Letters that come to us daily reveal that churches have been closed in some countries by people who think they are doing the will of God. Jesus said, “This will they do because they have not known the Father nor Me.”

One such country has shut down the church for eight years and now permitted to open again. The Christians are weakened and preachers are begging us for Bibles and material to study, while here in America we are more concerned about the scores of ballgames and sexy sitcoms on television, and all the while the enemy is hammering at the gates even as it was at the Feast of Belshazzar when Daniel read the handwriting on the wall.

In this case with the Apostles, Jesus said, “I am leaving because it is best for you. I am going, but I will send the Comforter, and He when He is come will convict the world in respect of sin, righteousness, and the judgment of sin because they believed not on Me, of righteousness, because I go unto the Father, and of the judgment because the prince of this world has been judged.”

CONVICTION OF SIN

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin because of Romans chapter ten, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Faith does not come by hearing and hearing by our opinion. Nor does faith come by hearing and hearing by what we prefer, nor does faith come by hearing, and hearing by the teaching of my denomination, or by my interpretation; faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. By hearing the Word of God, we are convicted of sin.

On the Day of Pentecost, the day when the church was born, the Apostles spake as the Spirit gave them utterance. They preached about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When the people realized they had slain the Son of God, they were pricked in their hearts and were convicted of sin. They inquired, “What must we do?” Evidently there is something you have to do to be saved. The Apostle Peter, speaking for the rest of the Apostles, told them, “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit will also convict the world of the sin of doing nothing at all. James tells us in his fourth chapter, “He that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin.” For a person to do nothing regarding obedience to Christ in the terms of pardon is the worst sin of all, because to do nothing is to reject the only plan God has devised for our salvation.

Again we can note that the Holy Spirit will convict us of the sins that are easy for us to commit. The writer of Hebrews tells us in the twelfth chapter, “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us.” What is your besetting sin? The one that is so easy to do?

Then again we need to learn that sin is deceitful, and we can become hardened in sin. In Hebrews three it is written, “Exhort one another day by day; lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: for we are become partakers with Christ, if we hold fast unto the end.”

Another thing about sin is that we cannot depend on the faith of our parents. John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham as our father. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.” We cannot ride to heaven on the coattails of the preacher, or our parents, or our husband or our wife. Salvation is a personal matter. The words of Jesus are abundantly clear that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin because they believe not on Him.

CONVICT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Holy Spirit when He is come will convict the world in respect of righteousness because I go unto the Father. There is no greater emphasis on righteousness than the description of the Bride of Christ in Revelation nineteen. “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her to array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

The wedding gown of the Bride of Christ is the righteous acts of the saints, and not the righteous acts of sinners. Apart from obedience to the salvation of Christ through His blood, the righteous acts of the sinners will avail nothing in gaining entrance into heaven.

The case of the Roman army officer Cornelius in Acts chapter ten will suffice. Luke tells us that officer was righteous and devout. He gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always, and yet an angel of the Lord appeared to him, and told him to send to Joppa and fetch Simon Peter and he would tell him what to do to be saved.

This man was religious, he was a man of prayer, he fed the hungry, and he was devout, but that was not enough. There was something left out of his life, and that something was salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no salvation in the social gospel. It is not our good deeds as sinners that save, but our good deeds as Christians.

Isaiah tells us the value of our good deeds without Christ when he describes them in graphic terms in the sixty-fourth chapter, “But  we are all as an unclean thing, for all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.”

In Matthew twenty-two there is a story Jesus told about the man who tried to get into heaven not having a wedding garment and was cast out. He was wearing the dirty rags Isaiah told us about. How do we put on the wedding garment of Jesus? Paul tells us in Galatians, “As many of us as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” Some today may put off Christ, some may put down Christ; Paul says put on Christ.

There is a principle regarding the baptism of Jesus that gives a sacred importance to the ordinance of baptism. When Jesus walked a great distance to be baptized John told him, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest Thou to me?”  Jesus told him: “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” If that be so in the sinless Son of God, how much more is that attitude needed for us? “It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”

 The Holy Spirit convicts in regards to righteousness. Paul said in the closing hours of his life in Second Timothy four, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge will give unto me and not only to me but to all who have loved His appearing.” Truly the Holy Spirit will convict the world in respect of sin and righteousness, and also there is conviction of the Holy Spirit in the Day of Judgment.

CONVICTION OF JUDGMENT

 He convicts in respects of the judgment, because the Prince of this world has been judged. Men are afraid to die outside of Christ because the Holy Spirit convicts them. The reason is their king has already been judged.

The Devil persuaded the world that Jesus was an imposter and judged Him by crucifixion. But Jesus by His death and resurrection judged the Devil, the prince of this world. Jesus by His resurrection judged the Devil, and told the world the Devil was wrong. Sinner, your master has already been judged. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

Some folk today make fun of the judgment. Peter prophesied this in his second epistle in the third chapter, “In the last days mockers will come saying, where is the promise of His coming for since the fathers passed away, all things continue as they were from the creation.” On the Judgment Day it will not seem nearly as amusing. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

Then there are some who insist that God is too good to condemn anybody. Actually the opposite is true. In Romans 3:5 Paul asks the question, “What shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?” God would be unrighteous, if He did not condemn the rejecter of the gospel.

Concerning the judgment Jesus said in Matthew twelve, “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

Jude adds to this when he tells us, “The Lord will come to execute judgment on all for all the hard sayings which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jesus will remember all the times His name has been taken in vain, as well as the lies about His virgin birth, and rejection of His blood. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

Again Jesus said in Matthew sixteen, “For the Son of man will come in the glory of His Father and His angels and then shall He render unto every man according to his deeds.” It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

The standard of right and wrong today in America is: Whatever we say is right and whatever we do is right. This may sound good, but Jesus has another standard, and He is the one who will judge the human race.

Jesus prayed in the next chapter and reminded the Father, “Thou hast given Him authority over all flesh.” And Jesus in John five reminds us that the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father, and he that honors not the Son honors not the Father that sent Him. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. Jesus also gives us His rule of judgment in John twelve when He said, “He that rejecteth Me and heareth not my sayings hath one that judges him: the word that I spake the same shall judge him in the last day.” It is appointed unto men once to die and then cometh the judgment.

In the first epistle of Peter chapter four, he reminds the Christian that the world thinks they are strange that they run not with them in the same excess of riot and carousing, speaking evil of them; they shall give account unto Him who is ready to raise the dead. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.

And who can forget the description of the Judgment Day in Revelation twenty. I read it to you without comment, “And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whom the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no room for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened which is the book of life: and the dead were judged according to the things that were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up their dead that were in it; and they were judged every man according to his works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. These things I have spoken unto you that you be not caused to stumble