We have been looking at Christ's words to His disciples the last couple of weeks. Today we want to finish this section in John 16. We have seen Christ deal with the Disciples lack of love, with Judas' betrayal, with Peter's coming denial. That was the negatives of Chapter 13. In Fourteen through Sixteen He has given them encouragement to cling to. “Believe in God and also in Me” was His starting directive. All of our encouragement from start to end in based 'in Christ'. He was going to prepare a place for them. He was going to return again. He was going to send them a helper and advocate to help in giving them understanding and to help them in their prayers and life. He promised a ready response to prayer, time and time again. He promised life through their union with Him, pictured as a vine and the branches. This union would have pruning, but would result in fruit and Joy. He spends much of the end of Chapter 15 and 16 telling them not to be surprised by the persecutions that are coming. The world hated Him, it will hate you. It persecuted Him, it will persecute them. This wasn't to cause them fear, but to help them realize the truth of living a Godly life in a sin sick world. He finishes this teaching time with reminding them of three things that were to help them. 1.) He was going to return; they would see Him again. Death was not an end of everything, but an enemy that He was going to defeat and show up as powerless. The second promise was in today's reading. It is that with the coming of the Holy Spirit, He would teach them plainly. 3.) Lastly, they weren't to forget their new relationship with God.
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