EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
John 16:25. Proverbs, or parables.—Such as the vine, the woman in travail, etc. The time cometh, etc.—The Spirit after Pentecost would guide them clearly into all truth.
John 16:26-27. At that day.—How different were the preaching and the prayers of the disciples after they were inspired of the Spirit! Then they did not ask so much as commit themselves joyfully to God (Acts 4:23-31).
John 16:28. I came forth, etc.—Here the whole prologue is condensed into one sentence, and the passion into another. He was sent; He became incarnate (John 1:14); He died (John 19:30); He ascended to glory (Luke 24:50-51) (see Westcott, in loc.).
John 16:30. Now we are sure, etc.—The faith of the disciples was weak and grew slowly (John 2:11). They believed Jesus to be the Son of God; but they had not yet fully apprehended all that this implied. Yet His reading of their thoughts (John 16:19) was a further cause of strength to their faith. But they had much to learn, which the events at hand and the Spirit alone could teach, ere they understood clearly.
John 16:31. Do ye now? etc.—As if He had said to them, “Search your hearts.” You have faith; but is it strong enough and clear enough to endure what is to come? “Watch and pray.”
John 16:32. Behold, the hour cometh, etc.—An hour of testing to the faith of all—especially of one. Scattered to his own occupations (John 21:3).—Christ must tread the winepress alone. All fell away at this supreme hour. The multitudes who shouted Hosanna—those who believed at the tomb of Lazarus. Judas bad gone forth a traitor; Nicodemus, Nathanael, and others are unseen. The eleven remain, and the devout women. But in Gethsemane all forsake and flee; only John and Peter follow. Peter fell, and at the cross John and Mary, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene alone heard His last words as the lowly “Man of Sorrows,” “It is finished.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— John 16:23-33
John 16:23-24 (see also John 15:11, Christian Joy). “Ask, and ye shall receive.”—A passage like this should rivet the attention of believers. The miner who has laboured for months in vain at his claim and who suddenly lights on a rich vein of the precious metal, the labouring man who suddenly falls heir to a fortune, think they have occasion to rejoice. Yet it may turn out that their fortune brings anything but a blessing to them, and even at the best they may never afterward enjoy the rude health and freedom they had before. But in these words of our Lord there is a promise of greater wealth than Burma’s mines, etc. “Whatsoever ye shall ask,” etc. Here is the promise of all true peace, joy, “every good and perfect gift.” And there is but one condition: “If ye shall ask anything in My name,” etc. In order to understand the meaning of this promise, see what it meant to the disciples.
I. The disciples had not yet learned the true spirit of believing prayer.—
1. The disciples were troubled. In spite of the grand promise of the Comforter, “sorrow had filled their heart.” They could not understand why Jesus must depart, even though He promised that they should see Him again. They had to learn that the time was coming when their fellowship with Jesus, though no longer material, would be yet more close.
2. The disciples had known Christ only “after the flesh” hitherto. The idea of His spiritual kingdom had not been fully grasped by them. Their thoughts and aspirations were still for the temporal and material manifestation of His kingdom. It was only when the day of enlightenment came, and the Spirit descended, that all became plain, and they went forth to preach Jesus and the Resurrection with power, and to labour to extend His spiritual kingdom.
3. Just because of all this they could not yet pray in the spirit of the Redeemer, i.e. the spirit of complete submission to the divine will. But when they went forth to do His work in His name after their spiritual enlightenment, then it was evident that they had learned to pray in His spirit as well as in His name.
4. Their whole after-history reflects this change in the spirit of their prayers. They had asked the Saviour to teach them to pray, but had not learned fully the meaning of the petition, “Thy kingdom come.” Hence their strife about priority, their anxiety to dissuade the Saviour from the way to the cross, etc. But read their recorded prayer after Pentecost (Acts 4:23, etc.), and see how they had now learned to submit to the divine will, and thus to pray in the name of Jesus.
II. How may we realise this promise?—
1. The mere use of the form “for Jesus’ sake” is not sufficient. This may become a mere superstitious formula. We must realise that it is possible for us to approach God acceptably only through Jesus. God is the hearer of prayer; but before Jesus came men could come only in fear and trembling to Him. But Jesus has made the way open to the throne of grace, and men can come through Him with holy boldness and confidence as children to a father. Christ’s people are one with Him, partakers of the divine nature,—God loves them, and there is no need that Jesus should entreat for them (John 16:26). That love, in all its wealth and fulness, is theirs in Him.
2. Prayer in the name of Jesus is prayer in His spirit of trustful confidence in the love of the Father and His almighty power and providential care. Material and temporal blessings are to be asked for. It is said, “God does not stop the working of His laws to answer the man who prays.” God does not violate His laws in carrying out His purposes; but surely He can control those laws, which He has framed, to carry out His great and good designs. We must not limit the meaning of our Lord’s word whatsoever. The material as well as the spiritual, the temporal as well as the eternal, are included.
3. Prayer in the name of Jesus implies the spirit of submission to the divine will. We are not to seek selfishly for things and gifts merely for our own self-interest. We have a mediator with the Father; but will He intercede for what would merely increase our vanity, or minister to earthly ambition? Better that such prayers remain unanswered. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” We must banish from our desires and prayers all that will not fit in with our endeavours to advance the heavenly kingdom. The Spirit will help us to such unselfish prayer. In approaching God let us remember the weakness of our humanity (James 4:3), and ask the guidance of the Spirit in our intercessions.
III. This divine promise has been and is being daily fulfilled.—
1. Would the kingdom of God have advanced so far had believing prayer in Christ’s name not been answered? In our Christian lands to-day we are rejoicing in the answers to believing prayer. And it is because we do not ask earnestly enough that our joy is so far from full. We lament the poverty of our prayers. Let them be unselfish and sincere and they will be answered. God reads our thoughts, He translates our poor stammering words into heavenly speech, and gives, not as the world, but freely, bountifully in His love.
2. Those who thus come in faith to God, in the spirit of submissive confidence, will be filled with joy. They shall realise that all must be well, that even out of trial and sorrow good will come, and heavenly light rise on darkness.
3. Rejoice, because true prayer in the name of Jesus will in every way be answered. The vast all, the great universe, with all its mysteries of law and being, is under the guidance of the eternal Father, working out His purposes of love and mercy. So that all who are in Christ are in the line of His purposes, and will, must, receive everything needful to fit them for their place and action, in reference to the divine plan. In Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and they are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10).
John 16:23-30. What prayer in the name of Jesus leads believers to hope for.—The principal points for consideration in the passage are: prayer in Jesus’ name and the hearing of such prayer; the free access to the Father, and the love of the Father to those who believe in the Son; the increase of the knowledge and joy of believers through the clear revelation of Jesus and their experience of prayer heard.
Introduction.—Prayer is the vital breath of the soul; a soul which does not pray is dead. In prayer communion between man and God is carried into effect, and this communion is further deepened through prayer. It is therefore because men do not pray that they have no true inner spiritual life. The generation of to-day, to a great extent, professes to be ashamed of prayer, as foolishness. But is there ever a true child who in his father’s house speaks no word to his father, or is ashamed to speak with him before strangers? Others, again, do pray, but they pray like the Pharisee in the temple—rehearse before God their (supposed) goodness and benevolence; in their hearts also death reigns. They who would pray aright must pray in the name of Jesus, must not appeal to their own righteousness, but must lay hold by faith of the righteousness of Christ. They must also pray only for what is for their weal, submit to the divine will, and live in confidence that God will grant to His reconciled children according to their needs. Such prayer opens up a most joyful prospect. It leads them to hope for—
I. Free access to the divine Father’s heart.—
1. Without Jesus we stand as unreconciled sinners before God, whose holiness turns away His face from us.
2. Through faith in Jesus we are brought into the unity of His mystical body and are clothed with His righteousness, so that the Father, in beholding His Son, visits us also with His good pleasure and vouchsafes us a way of access to Himself—nay, calls and allures us to His heart of love.
II. Assured help in every time of need.—
1. Of themselves men are so weak and helpless, inwardly and outwardly, however highly they may be tempted to think of themselves, that without the divine protection they are not secure, and without the divine help they cannot be delivered from material or spiritual trouble.
2. But to those who pray in the name of Jesus the Father will give what is needful. Through prayer in Jesus’ name men fly under cover of God’s wings, where they are protected from all danger; they hasten to the heart of divine love, whence there flow to meet them streams of heavenly consolation; they speed to the refuge of divine strength, which will enable them to overcome all tribulation, and extricate them from all temporal and spiritual trouble.
III. Unspeakable joy at every new experience of prayer heard.—
1. God protects and saves those who call on Him in the name of His Son—not only giving them enough to satisfy their wants, so that they should not ever live in want and sorrow: He makes the life of His people pleasant; He desires also to bring joy into their hearts.
2. Every renewed experience of prayer heard assures Christians of their divine sonship, and shows them the glory of their heavenly King and the final victory of His kingdom.
3. Every new gift received strengthens them in the assurance that He will make all their enemies His footstool. This fills their hearts with heavenly joy, and makes them feel secure and contented on their pilgrimage through life.—J. L. Sommer, “Evang. Per.”
John 16:31-32. The loneliness of Christ.—There is no thought connected with the life of Christ more touching, none that seems so peculiarly to characterise His Spirit, than the solitariness in which He lived. Those who understood Him best only half understood Him. Those who knew Him best scarcely could be said to know Him. On this occasion the disciples thought, Now we do understand, now we believe. The lonely Spirit answered, “Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone.”
I. The loneliness of Christ was caused by the divine elevation of His character.—His infinite superiority severed Him from sympathy; His exquisite affectionateness made that want of sympathy a keen trial. There is a second-rate greatness which the world can comprehend. If we take two who are brought into direct contrast by Christ Himself, the one the type of human, the other that of divine excellence, the Son of man and John the Baptist, this becomes clearly manifest. John’s life had a certain rude, rugged goodness, on which was written, in characters which required no magnifying glass to read, spiritual excellence. The world on the whole accepted him: Pharisees and Sadducees went to his baptism; the people idolised him as a prophet; and if he had not chanced to cross the path of a weak prince and a revengeful woman, we can see no reason why John might not have finished his course with joy, recognised as irreproachable. If we inquire why it was that the world accepted John and rejected Christ, one reply appears to be that the life of the one was finitely simple and one-sided, that of the Other divinely complex. To the superficial observer Christ’s life was a mass of inconsistencies and contradictions. Hence it was that He lived to see all that acceptance which had marked the earlier stage of His career, as, for instance, at Capernaum, melt away. First the Pharisees took the alarm; then the Sadducees; then the political party of the Herodians; then the people. The apostles quailed; one denied, another betrayed, all deserted. They “were scattered, each to his own,” and the Truth Himself was left alone in Pilate’s judgment hall. Now learn from this a very important distinction. To feel solitary is no uncommon thing; to complain of being alone, without sympathy and misunderstood, is general enough. In every place, in many a family, these victims of diseased sensibility are to be found, and they might find a weakening satisfaction in observing a parallel between their own feelings and those of Jesus. But before that parallel is assumed be very sure that it is, as in His case, the elevation of your character which severs you from your species. Let us look at one or two of the occasions on which this loneliness was felt. The first time was when He was but twelve years old, when His parents found Him in the temple hearing the doctors and asking them questions. High thoughts were in the Child’s soul, expanding views of life: larger views of duty and His own destiny. That is a lonely, lonely moment, when the young soul first feels God—when this earth is recognised as an “awful place, yea, the very gate of heaven”—when the dream-ladder is seen planted against the skies, and we wake, and the dream haunts us as a sublime reality.
II. That solitude was felt by Christ in trial.—In the desert, in Pilate’s judgment hall, in the garden, He was alone; and alone must every son of man meet his trial-hour. The individuality of the soul necessitates that. Once more the Redeemer’s soul was alone in dying. The hour had come; they were all gone, and He was, as He predicted, left alone.
III. The spirit or temper of that solitude.—The solitude of Christ was the solitude of a crowd. In that single human bosom dwelt the thought which was to be the germ of the world’s life—a thought unshared, misunderstood, or rejected. Can you not feel the grandeur of these words, when the Man, reposing on His solitary strength, felt the last shadow of perfect isolation pass across His soul?—“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Learn from these words self-reliance. “Ye shall leave Me alone.” This is self-reliance: to repose calmly on the thought which is deepest in our bosoms, and be unmoved if the world will not accept it yet. Remark the humility of this loneliness. Had the Son of man simply said, I can be alone, He would have said no more than any proud, self-relying man can say. But when He added, “because the Father is with Me,” that independence assumed another character, and self-reliance became only another form of reliance upon God. Be sure that often when you say, It is only my own poor thought, and I am alone, the real correcting thought is this, Alone, but the Father is with me; therefore I can live that lonely conviction. The practical result and inference of all this is a very simple, but a very deep one, the deepest of existence. Let life be a life of faith. Do not go timorously about, inquiring what others think, what others believe, and what others say. It seems the easiest, it is the most difficult thing in life to do this: believe in God. God is near you. Throw yourself fearlessly upon Him.—F. W. Robertson.
John 16:33. In the world tribulation.—All men must bear this yoke, some in greater degree than others. How then should it be borne so that it may become a discipline for the higher life in the case of God’s people?
I. As a means of strengthening faith.
1. This may seem a strange statement, almost a paradox. Does not affliction on the contrary often lead to despair? And do not many, when a load of tribulation weighs them down, lay violent hands on their own lives even? Not if they are genuine Christians, in whom the light of reason has not been extinguished. Despair, in its full meaning, is a word excluded from the Christian’s vocabulary. The healthy spiritual nature, which lives in conscious union with the Invisible, is all unharmed by tribulation. As the tests applied to bridges, and like structures in mechanical engineering, prove the strength of the structure; so tribulation tests the believer’s faith. But it does more than this. Like the keen mountain air amid the ice and snow of alpine regions, or the sharp medicine, it gives tone to the spiritual being, strengthening the believer for future trials and for more earnest work. There cannot be a doubt that this is so. An appeal to universal Christian experience will establish the truth of these affirmations. The seeming curse is turned into a blessing; the bane is transformed into a healthful and healing balm. But the faith that so transforms affliction must be a real unwavering faith, a trustful resting on the divine Father’s love and care. It was of His true children that Isaiah spoke when he said, “In all their afflictions,” etc.; and it was to those who had become members of the heavenly family in Himself that Christ said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
2. Now, as of old, it is through faith, through resting on the divine strength, that we can endure; and our faith should be deeper in view of the greater manifestation of divine love granted to us. The angel of His presence saved God’s people in the morning of the Church’s history. But now the Son, become incarnate, suffered and died, gave the ultimate and unspeakable proof of divine love. Shall tribulation harm those who are in Him? Shall it separate them from the love of Christ? No, nor death with all its sorrows, nor life with all its troubles, can loosen the roots and fibres of faith that have sunk down to and twined about the eternal Rock. For “the world, the evil one, and death are vanquished and lie prone; heaven, righteousness, and life have the victory.” … Therefore we are not to “despise the chastening of the Lord,” but to remember that “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:5); and that from it all He will bring blessing and the strengthening of our faith. As in storms the oak and other trees, with deep, spreading roots, only strike their roots more deeply down, to enable them to withstand the fiercest blasts; so through affliction, tribulation, trial, will He who sympathises with His own in all their sorrows strengthen their spiritual life, transform them into His image, and prepare them for His glory.
II. It should be an incentive to prayer.
1. For if our true strength and hope in tribulation are in God, then every trial should lead us into closer and more earnest fellowship with Him. So “in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” (Hebrews 5:7), as in the garden He cried, “Father, save Me from this hour” (John 12:27), our Redeemer pointed us the way in which to obtain “grace to help in time of need.” And here again universal spiritual experience comes to us with corroborative evidence. There come to many seasons of tribulation, when no philosophic calmness of temper can sustain the soul, when even the convictions and reasonings of faith would be of no avail, unless the soul had this way of access to the holiest. And it has frequently been in an hour of overwhelming tribulation and sorrow that some, “to whom the cross of Christ had been a stumbling-block and foolishness, have been led to bring their sorrows there.” Oh what comfort is there here for the children of sorrow! When the pressure of affliction comes, when courage fails, when succour lingers, and the weight of care becomes intolerable, what solace to lean
“on Him who not in vain
Experienced every human pain:
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears!”
2. For we know that the approach of faith to Him will not be in vain. Is it want that afflicts? Then the faithful have only to remember that the divine treasuries are full and overflowing, and that God is the benign giver of all good. Therefore the apostolic promise may be joyfully appropriated, “My God shall fully supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Is it tribulation from the unrighteousness and enmity of men? Then let it be remembered that the Lord shall deliver His people from every evil work (2 Timothy 4:18). Is it physical pain and trouble? “Your light affliction,” etc. (2 Corinthians 4:17). Is it spiritual perplexity and darkness? Even the psalmist could triumph in this: “The Lord my God shall enlighten my darkness” (Psalms 18:28). Is it bereavement and loneliness? He who is able to save us in our afflictions was touched with “the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). He cried on the cross “Eloi, Eloi,” etc. Thus tribulation leads God’s children to prayer. “Oh, well for the souls who permit themselves to be driven, by these storms of affliction, to the haven of eternal peace in their God and Redeemer!”
III. It should lead to deeper love to God and more earnest service.—Why so?
1. Because it is a proof and evidence to us of our Father’s love and care. “Whom the Lord loveth,” etc. (Hebrews 12:6). Were He to leave us unreproved when we needed correction, to go on without hindrance in some way of danger, then we might be led to ask, Has God forgotten us? When the vine-branches are left unpruned to waste their strength in useless leafage, this should be a warning rather than a cause of joy. For the heavenly Husbandman prunes—purges—the true and living branches of His vine, so that they may bring forth fruit. The tribulation, therefore, permitted to enter the lives of God’s children is a token of His love, for “God doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33).
2. But at the best all suffering, all affliction, all tribulation, are the result of sin. Were there no sin there would be no tribulation, no suffering; and as much of the affliction of individuals arises from, or is consequent on, personal sin and folly; so the best way in which to get rid of this element of personal responsibility for tribulation is to seek to rise ever higher in the divine service, ever nearer to the primal object of man’s creation, i.e. that he might glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.
3. But even though this element were eliminated, there would remain the tribulation that arises to Christ’s people from this present evil world. It was this that Christ endured; and His people in enduring also may be upborne and comforted with the thought that He has overcome the world to redeem His people—that now exalted on high, in all their afflictions He is afflicted, and sends help in time of need. Great cause then for warmer love and zeal, for more heart-felt service.
John 16:33. The purposes of tribulation.—Christ in His incarnation has become only more blessedly to His people, what He has been from the beginning—“the Saviour and the friend of man.” Of old, as the “angel of Jehovah’s presence,” He saved God’s people in their affliction and tribulation; but now in Him tribulation becomes no more a punishment, as it was frequently of those of old, but a discipline of the soul. So that as He Himself was “made perfect through suffering,” He gives His people power to triumph even through tribulation.
I. Affliction—tribulation—to the worldly man is not only unwelcome, but dreaded and execrated.—It conflicts with his ideas of happiness, which are bound up with the pleasures of this passing scene. Therefore the watchword of materialistic ethics is “The greatest happiness of the greatest number.” But this is a fatal, fundamental error. It is to put the effect in the place of the cause. “The greatest good of men” is the chief end to be aimed at; and this greatest good is to be found in concord with God, and a consequent divine service. When this is attained to, then the greatest happiness will be the result.
II. Toward this happy end of our greatest good, in our present imperfect state, affliction is often an important means (Psalms 119:67).—The enduring of tribulation—of the “great fight of afflictions”—when borne in the divine strength, tends to brace and strengthen our spiritual nature. It is like the purifying flame refining the true and pure metal of our being from the dross and slag of earthly and impure elements. It is part of the Father’s discipline of His children, in training them for a better and higher life. Nor will He permit them to be overwhelmed by affliction. Now as ever it is true, “In all their afflictions He is afflicted,” and their Saviour is not afar.
III. But we must guard against misconception by pointing out that not to all men, and not in view of all afflictions, is this comfort sure.—There is express mention made of circumstances in which there can be no true peace in view of tribulation. “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.” “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently?” (1 Peter 4:15; 1 Peter 2:20). Let us remember also that, although men might be horrified at the idea of some of those sins mentioned by the apostle, yet dispositions and thoughts may be cherished which in the sight of Heaven may be equally guilty. And let men be thankful when the restraining hand of God, even through affliction, prevents the growth in their nature of such hateful, poisonous plants, “roots of bitterness,” that if permitted “to spring up” would assuredly “trouble them.”
IV. But the tribulation and affliction which the children of God have to meet for the most part are those which arise, either from the nature of things, as at present constituted, such as bereavement, sickness, and so forth, or from the present evil world, the world of sinful men inimical to Him and His gospel, and therefore to His followers. This world it is which “by wicked hands has crucified and slain” the Lord Himself. And as He said to His disciples, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But He did not leave them to imagine that tribulation was without its compensations; for among His closing words to His disciples were those so full of comfort, “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’
HOMILETIC NOTES
John 16:23. Asking and receiving.—King William III. of Prussia was once unable to sleep in consequence of the pain caused by a broken bone. Whilst lying awake he thought, “Who has been most inimical to me during my life? I desire to forgive him, to do him a kindness.” It then occurred to him that perhaps it was one Colonel Massenbach, who, on account of his caricatures of the king, had been imprisoned long years. Immediately he gave the order for Massenbach’s release. The latter had now been for ten years confined in the fortress of Glatz, and during that time had left no stone unturned to procure his release, but all in vain. But as he was reading the story of a wonderful answer to prayer, he suddenly remembered that he had never prayed to the Lord of lords for freedom. He did so without delay; and next day an order came to the governor of the fortress for his release.
The power of Jesus’ name.—The name of Jesus is nothing less than the fulness of all the work of Jesus; and especially of that work wrought for us in Gethsemane and on Golgotha, and through which we are reconciled to God, not figuratively, but really and truly.
The spirit of prayer.—When the ancient Persians prayed, they had neither gold in their pockets nor gold rings on their fingers. And if thou wilt pray so that thou wilt be heard, thy heart must be withdrawn from the world and worldly things.
Praying in Jesus’ name guides our prayers.—Jesus means “Saviour”: how can you then ask in the name of your Saviour what would be inimical to your salvation and blessedness?
Prayer and labour.—Prayer is thy heavenly vehicle, labour thy earthly carriage—both bring many good gifts when they prosper on their journey.
Learn to understand fully what you pray for.—You will thus be able more easily to prevent wandering thoughts.
If you cannot find words for your prayer, let your thoughts speak, the anguish of your heart cry out. God will hear you. You must acknowledge that He knows your heart, and will give you not only what you ask with your mouth, but what your heart desires.
Those who pray best.—The best payers are those who pay their debts in few pieces or notes of great value; and those who pray best are those who present their prayers in few words, but in great earnestness and devotion.—J. J. Weigel.
John 16:24. Not to pray aright is as futile as not to pray at all.—If you desire not to bring down upon you God’s displeasure in your prayers, then ask from Him what such a King as He is is willing to bestow. Your worthiness will not help you, your unworthiness will not hinder you; and whilst mistrust will condemn you, confidence will bring you favour and success.
John 16:27. No prayer without true, faith in Christ.—Faith in Jesus—
I. Awakens the true impulse to prayer;
II. Points out the true way in prayer;
III. Reveals the true spirit of prayer;
IV. Inspires with the true hope and expectation in prayer.
Prayer in the name of Jesus—
I. All powerful with God;
II. Possible to faith alone (John 16:25-30);
III. On earth strong and invincible.—M. Herold.
John 16:28. There are two actions of Christ we should never forget.—The coming of Christ from heaven into the world; for by this He prepared a way for us: and the going of Christ from the earth into heaven; for by this He brings us on that way.
John 16:30. Why we need to ask of Christ.—Christ does not need that you should ask Him; but you yourself need to do so. For you do not ask Him in order that He should learn from you, but that you should learn from Him.
The faith of the holiest weak in its beginning.—Even among the saints faith does not become at once a great tree, but is like a grain of mustard seed. Yet a sick man is a man, a weak faith is still faith. But we must not be contented with this weakness; rather we should give diligence that the weak faith should be strengthened. And it will grow on the word of God as a child grows on the breast of his mother.—From various German sources.
ILLUSTRATIONS
John 16:24. No prayer “in the name of Jesus” unanswered.—To prayer in the name of Jesus an answer will be accorded—an answer consistent with the divine wisdom and omniscience, and with our need. There is no such thing in the long history of God’s kingdom as an unanswered prayer. Every true desire from a child’s heart finds some true answer in the heart of God. Most certain it is that the prayer of the Church of God since creation has not been the cry of orphans in an empty home, without a father to hear or answer. Jesus Christ did not pray in vain, or to an unknown God; nor has He spoken in ignorance of God or of His brethren when He says, “Ask and receive, that your joy may be full.”—Dr. Norman Macleod.
John 16:26. Coming to the throne of grace “in the name of Jesus” a prerequisite of Christian prayer.—“A prayer without faith is like the firing of a gun with blank cartridge, or like a painting—without life.” “All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). Whilst tears fall to the ground, faith must mount heavenwards. It is written of Samuel that he offered a sucking lamb to the Lord as a burnt offering, and cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him (1 Samuel 7:9). The sucking lamb was a type of Christ. If we desire to come to God in prayer, we must not leave behind the Lamb who bears away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Luther says somewhere, “If our prayer is founded on our own worthiness it is worthless, although we should sweat our hearts’ blood.” As Joseph’s brethren were to bring with them their brother Benjamin, as otherwise they would not see Joseph’s face, so when we in prayer would behold God’s gracious countenance we must not leave our brother Jesus behind. This He impresses upon our souls when He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”—Translated from G. Nitsch.
John 16:27. The heavenly Father loves His children.—I do not say I will pray for you, says Jesus. There is no need for Me to act as Moses did on Mount Sinai. He had to pray lest the wrath of God should sweep away these people Why? Because God was dealing with them on the ground of their own disobedience. But now, through the perfect work of Jesus Christ, the saints are in such a position of blest security that there is no need. Jesus says: There is no need for Me to pray the Father to love you—He does; there is no need for Me to stand between you and an avenging Deity—that avenging Deity is now become your Father. Dear brethren, it is possible, I believe, for God’s children to fall into an error of Roman Catholicism in this respect: Rome put the Son in the place of the Father. What is the next thing? Rome has put the Virgin Mary in the place of the Son, and appeals to the awful mother to speak to the awful Son. Yes, and now they appeal to holy Joseph to intercede with holy Mary that she may speak to her holy Son. We have nothing whatever to do with that. We are free from that. But there is such a thing as a child of God failing to realise his position in Jesus, that he may appeal unto Jesus in almost as meaningless a way as the Roman Catholics do. There is no need for me to cry, Jesus, oh, speak for me to God! No, Jesus has accomplished the work. He has gone in as high priest there. He is Himself the intercessor. His presence there is the intercession. And so Jesus says: You may come with boldness; there is no need for Me to pray the Father to love you—He Himself does. Now take the word, “The Father Himself loves you.” Do not water it down. Do not dilute it. I know how difficult it is to realise it. There are times when I can only know it because God has said it; but it does seem so wonderful of God to love me. I could think of Him putting up with me, I could imagine His forgiving me, I could imagine His forbearing with me, but I cannot think of His loving me. Dare to take it because Jesus said it! If you believe Jesus because of His testimony, if you are one of the saints, the Father Himself loves you; yes, with an abiding love. He does not love you to-day and dislike you to-morrow, and then be reconciled to you on the Wednesday, and then drop His love on the Friday; He loves you day in, day out. It is unalterable love. There is such a thing as love being killed. Perhaps you may have loved, and you may have loved intensely, and the one you loved killed the love, and you felt a cold dagger go into your heart and your life, and then the love died in you. What a mercy it is that God’s love cannot be killed! God’s love does not die, although sometimes I seem to have done my best to murder it. It is like Himself, “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” I believe that the Father’s love to His children is as perfect as His love to Christ Himself. It is Christ who says, “As the Father hath loved Me,” so dear soul, very dear to God, the love wherewith He loved His Son, such is His love to you. The Father Himself loveth you.—Rev. Arch. G. Brown, in “British Weekly,” August 31st, 1893.
John 16:31-32. Believing and abiding.—To feel the burden of our captivity is not the same thing as to be free from it; to love God in our better mind, or, as St. Paul calls it, according to the inward man, is not the same thing as to walk according to that love, and to show it forth in our lives and actions. So that though we may now believe, yet if the hour cometh when we shall be scattered every man to his own, assuredly we cannot reckon ourselves as belonging to that flock of the good Shepherd, who hear His voice, and also follow Him whithersoever He goeth, so that they never go astray from the fold. Then how shall we be made free? how shall we be able to love Christ always, to walk as well as to feel according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh? The answer is, that we must attain to the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus; that the Spirit of God must abide in us, and change us into His own image, that we may be delivered from sin and the flesh, and serve them no more at all. And yet this great truth, on which our whole salvation depends, and without which Christ has died in vain for each of us, as far as we ourselves are concerned—this great truth is for ever forgotten; and of all the points which the gospel teaches us, this is, perhaps, the least regarded. So true are our Lord’s words of that blessed Spirit whom we thus continually despise, “that the world cannot receive Him, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.” We pray to God; few, very few, none of us there are, I trust, who do not pray to Him; but I greatly doubt whether the prayer for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the prayer for the real enjoyment of that blessing which Christ has promised to His true disciples, that the Comforter should abide with them for ever—whether this be so often the part of our addresses to God as it ought to be. But this is the very main thing of all. We are living, if I may so speak, under the dispensation of the Spirit: in that character God now reveals Himself to His people, as He did of old, by conversing visibly with the prophets and patriarchs; or in the latter times, when He became manifest in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ. He who does not know God the Holy Ghost cannot know God at all. Though we have known Christ after the flesh, says St. Paul, yet henceforth know we Him so no more: the divine presence is henceforth to be of a different kind, not less real, but only revealing itself to our minds instead of our bodily senses. We must pray, then, for the Spirit—the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of liberty, the Spirit of peace and love and joy. As the apostles were changed by His influence, so even shall we be. When He had once entered into their hearts, we hear no more of their being scattered every man to his own, and leaving their Saviour alone. The words of Peter, which, spoken in his own unaided strength, were but an idle boast soon reproved by the event, “Lord, I will lay down my life for Thy sake,” were, after the Spirit had once made him free from the bondage of corruption, the words of truth, and soberness; and, according to his words, so did it happen to him. And may we not hope the very same thing in our own case; that we, who now make vain professions of faith and love to our Lord in the Church—vain, because they are so soon broken, however sincerely they were uttered at the time; that we who are scattered every man to his own, each after his several idols, which he worships with the service of his daily living; that we may no more go astray from our Shepherd; but even as we believe in Him when our hearts are most warmed within us, so we may also keep the assurance of our faith steadfast to the end?—Dr. T. Arnold.
John 16:33. Classes in the school of affliction.—It has been well said that there are four classes in the Christian school of affliction. In the first class men learn to say, I must endure tribulation. Suffering affliction is there regarded as a bitter necessity, an oppressive yoke, which men must be contented to bear, although murmuring and complaining, because it cannot be otherwise. In the second class the scholars learn by degrees to say, I will endure. There, bearing affliction becomes a duty which is willingly undertaken, a burden which truly is felt to be heavy, but which is taken up and borne in God’s name, with devout patience, and in childlike obedience. In the third class the purport of the lesson is better still: I am able to bear affliction. The enduring of tribulation has here become a discipline in which advance can be made from day to day. Whilst enduring the weight of the cross, the Christian experiences more and more the power of God, which is made perfect in our weakness; the comfort of the Holy Ghost, who is the true Comforter in every time of need; the refreshment of the divine word, which is a light on all our ways, even on the darkest; and the peace of Christ Jesus, which the world cannot give nor take away, and which becomes ever more blessed. The Lord lays a burden on us, but He helps us to bear it. And thus the believer is advanced into the fourth and highest class, in which the solution of all problems is reached, when he learns to say, I need to bear affliction. Here tribulation is seen to be an honour and even a cause of joy. The burden is no more a burden, but an honour, a mark by which God’s children are known and Christ’s disciples recognised; and they learn with St. Paul to say, “We glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3), and understand the exhortation of another apostle (James 1:2), “Count it all joy,” etc.—After Gerok.
John 16:33. Marah.—In the history of the Exodus we read that the children of Israel on their desert march came to a water-supply which they could not drink, for it was very bitter. Because of this the place was called Marah, “bitterness.” The people murmured and complained, and said to Moses, “What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (Exodus 15:23-25). In this ancient history may be found a beautiful parable for us all. We, too, on our pilgrimage through the deserts of this life come to many a place “Marah,” and many bitter springs of tribulation, where we murmur and complain and cry, How can we drink this? And not only before individuals among us (to you or me) may a bitter cup of tribulation be set, from which our inner nature shrinks back—a whole people also may come to such a field of Marah, where to them the sweet springs of well-being and enjoyment are made salt and bitter; when what seems a sea of troubles lies before them, and thousands, young and old, cry out, How can we come through it? For such bitter floods of tribulation and springs of tears, my brethren, the Lord our God has given us also a tree, by means of whose wood the bitter waters may become sweet. This tree is the cross of Christ. Through the cross of the Redeemer the cross of His people is made light, and even pleasant. From His Gospel flow such sweet and powerful rills of comfort, that whole seas of affliction are thereby made sweet, the unbearable is made bearable, what is insipid agreeable, and His people experience in reality what the hymn expresses:
“With sighs, and oft with weeping,
Is marked My journey here;
Yet Christ, in peace me keeping,
Thus sweetens every tear.”
Idem.