John 16:1-22

John 16:1. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

«That you should not be scandalized when you see me put to death, and when you miss my bodily presence from your midst. I want to prepare you for the shame and death that lie before me, and also to prepare you for all that lies before you, for many of you will have to drink of my cup, and to be baptized with my baptism. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended,» or ashamed, or scandalized, or caused to stumble, when they come to pass.»

John 16:2. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

That terrible «time» did come very soon, and the Jewish and other persecutors hunted down the Christians in almost every place where they could be found. Nothing would satisfy their cruel foes but the blood of multitudes of martyrs, and many of the persecutors actually thought that they were doing God service while they were putting his children to torture and death.

John 16:3. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed, especially when the Lord Jesus Christ gives the forewarning; and his disciples were thus to be forearmed and braced up for the coming conflict.

John 16:4. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

«I needed not, at the beginning of my ministry, to trouble you about these things. Even then, you and I were hated by evil men, but I was with you, so I was able to protect you from them.» The persecutors could not slay Christ's sheep, as they desired to do, as long as their Shepherd was still with them, so his warning words were not needed while he was in their midst. Christ does not teach us everything at once; if he did, we might be so confused that we should not learn anything. Perhaps we have sometimes wished that our ears could hear more than they now do; but it is most probable that, if we could hear more, we should really understand less than we now do. Have you, at any time, had your hearing more than usually acute? If so, you must then have heard a thousand sounds which it would have been better for you not to have heard; for they so confused and confounded one another that you did not hear anything distinctly. It is just so with the mind; it is capable of receiving a certain quantity of truth; but if too much truth be placed before it at once, it produces confusion in the mind's ear and in the mind's eye, and we really hear less, see less, and understand less than we should do if less truth were set before us. The Master knew that his disciples were like narrow-necked bottles, which must be gradually filled, so he only revealed the truth to them as they were able to receive it.

John 16:5. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

Sorrow sometimes prevents us from learning the lessons that Christ wishes to teach us. You remember that, in the garden of Gethsemane, Christ's disciples were «sleeping for sorrow,» and so they lost some of the lessons that they might otherwise have learnt. Those who are in great trouble are often in that dazed condition in which half-awakened persons are; and there is a measure of sleepiness about us all in times of sorrow. It was so with the disciples on this occasion, and therefore they did not ask their Lord what they might have asked him if sorrow had not filled their hearts: «None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?»

John 16:7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Which is the head of all sin, the root of all sin, the sin which lieth in front of the door of mercy, and blocks the sinner's way. Oh, that the Spirit of God would convince all here, who are not believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are living in the greatest of all sins «because they believe not on Christ»!

John 16:10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Of course, Christ would not have been received back by his Father if he had not completed the work of righteousness which his Father gave him the commission to perform. The risen and glorified Saviour is the great testimony to the righteousness both of Christ and of his gospel.

John 16:11. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Christ has already judged the prince of the powers of evil, so you may depend upon it that he will also judge all those who are under the dominion of the traitor prince who has usurped his Master's position and authority. Christ has summoned the dread lord of evil to his bar, and judged him. Think not, O ye who are his servants, that any of you will be able to elude the vigilance of the great Judge of all! Judgment will assuredly come to the common soldiers of the prince of darkness since their captain himself has been judged and condemned.

John 16:12. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Here again observe the reticence of the Saviour for his disciples' good, still graciously keeping from them what they could not bear to hear; and are not you, beloved, thankful that you do not, at this moment, know what is to happen to you in the future? It is wise for each one of us to say,

«My God, I would not wish to read

My fate with curious eyes;

What gloomy lines are writ for me,

Or what bright scenes arise.»

It is best for you, at present, to know but little. Prize what you do know, and be content to leave all that is not yet revealed, for «the secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever.»

John 16:13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

All that you need to know, and may know, he will teach you. If you cannot find your way into the heart of any truth, the Spirit of God has the clue to it, so ask him to guide you into it. There is such a thing as seeing the outside of a truth; that is good as far as it goes, but the blessedness lies in getting to the inside of the truth, the very kernel and core of it.

John 16:13. For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me:

That is the distinctive mark of the Spirit of God. If any man says that he speaks by the Spirit, you can test him in this way, does what he says glorify Christ? If not, away with him, for he is not speaking as the Holy Spirit speaks.

John 16:14. For he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.

These disciples of Christ were almost as ignorant as the rank outsiders were. Though they had been with Jesus for three years, they had not learnt what is clear enough to every Sunday-school child today, and what is certainly perfectly understood by all who are taught of God. They said, «What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.»

John 16:19. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.