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I. "THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN TO YOU BEING YET PRESENT WITH YOU."
A. He has told them that He is going away, and that where He is going they cannot follow now, but will follow later.
1. He has told them that He is going to His Father's house to prepare a place for them that where He is they may be also.
2. While He is still present with them He has told them these things.
B. He will soon be gone, and in His place He will pray the Father to send them another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth that would abide with them forever.
C. Now He declares, "But the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
1. Here Jesus now identifies just who this Comforter is, it is the Holy Spirit.
2. He is the One who will be coming alongside of them to help them.
D. He will not be speaking to them as in the past, but now the Holy Spirit will be the One that will be commanding them.
1. In
Acts 1:1,
2. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that, He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles.
2. The works and teaching of Jesus will continue to His disciples only now through the person of the Holy Spirit.
3. The Holy Spirit is now to teach them all things.
a. In
I John 2:28, he wrote, "But the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you, and you need not that any man should teach you, but the same anointing teaches you of all things." He teaches us that we should continue in the Son and in the Father, and that we should abide in Him.
b. The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit neither can He know them for they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual understandeth all things.
c. This is why we so often get frustrated trying to explain the things of the Spirit to a natural man. We cannot understand why they cannot see it.
d. The only reason that you can see it is that the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to the truth.
E. The Spirit will also bring to their remembrance all of the things that He said unto them.
1. They say that our brain stores in its memory banks all of our past accumulated knowledge, the problem is with the recall.
2. I am amazed at how much information the brain is able to store, and how a certain stimulus is able to bring to the consciousness a flood of memories.
3. I am certain that all of you have experienced that work of the Holy Spirit in your life, as He has brought to your remembrance some passage of scripture that you did not even know that you had memorized.
4. I am impressed that often you may not remember the scripture verbatim, but the thought or idea is there.
a. In
Acts 2, as Peter is making reference to a psalm, he does not quote it verbatim, but brings out the essential truth.
b. Peter in
Acts 2:28, he is referring to
Psalm 16:11 and quotes, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance." The actual psalm reads, "Thou wilt show me the path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand, their are pleasures forevermore."
c. It is not necessary to have the quotation exact. One of the advantages of having so many new translations, we no longer feel bound to the exact language of the King James text. We have come to realize that He is the Spirit of truth, not of chapter and verse.
II. "PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU."
A. This is sort of the last bequest of Jesus to His disciples. This glorious characteristic we call peace.
1. In a world that is filled with strife, how men today are longing for peace, but it seems to be such an illusive commodity.
2. No sooner does the threat of Russia seem to disappear that the Muslim states begin to rattle their sabres, and our relationship with China begins again to deteriorate.
3. People find strife in their home, in their jobs, almost everywhere you turn.
B. "My peace I give unto you."
1. How Jesus exemplified peace.
a. I think of the excitement and frenzy of the disciples when their little ship seemed to be sinking on the Sea of Galilee. Where was Jesus? Asleep in the back of the boat.
b. The Bible speaks of the peace of Christ which passes all understanding.
c. That is the peace that Jesus said He would give to His disciples. "My peace, I give unto you."
2. The Bible speaks of peace with God. This takes place when you surrender to God and are no longer at war with Him.
3. Then the Bible speaks of the peace of God. This is when that peace which is a part of the character of God is imparted to you.
4. Many people who have come to a place of peace with God, have not yet come to experience the peace of God.
5. One of the names of the Messiah was to be, "Prince of Peace."
6. The angels announced to the shepherds at His birth, "Peace on earth, good will towards man."
7. Throughout the New Testament especially in the epistles, there was the salutation of grace and peace.
C. "Not as the world giveth, give I to you."
1. When the world gives something, you can always know that there are strings attached.
2. Whenever there is something being offered free, you learn to read the fine print.
3. We know that you don't get something for nothing.
4. The world never gives unless it is looking for something in return.
III. "LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID."
A. This is sort of the theme of this whole chapter, it began with the words, "Let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God believe also in Me."
1. Their hearts were troubled because of the things that he had been saying to them about His going away.
2. They were troubled because they did not know what they would do without Him.
3. They were troubled because they did not understand just what He was saying to them.
4. They were afraid because they did not know what the future held.
B. The troubled hearts and fearful minds were to be replaced by His peace.
1. It is significant that in context with His promise of His peace being given to them He tells them not to have a troubled heart or fear.
2. Fear and peace are mutually exclusive.
3. I will give you My peace, don't be afraid.
4. I will send the Comforter, don't be afraid.
5. I will come to you, don't be afraid.
6. I will come again to bring you home with Me, don't be afraid.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
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