Love Works 4
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FCF: Blessed are the unoffended.
Text: John 16:1-8
Illustration: Remember the words of Jesus…
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
This was Jesus’ response to John the Baptist questioning the person of Jesus Christ. After his great declaration “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world”. John from prison sends his disciples to ask Jesus… “Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another.”
And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Jesus sees this for what it is… Failure for John to trust the written promises of God and the prophecies of all that Jesus would do. So Jesus heals the blind, lame, lepers , deaf, and dead… Jesus is exactly who he said he is.
Truth be told we are tempted to be offended at Jesus. And this was Jesus’ concern at the last supper. When he tells his disciples,
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
They were going to face all that they needed to face to be offended by Jesus.
They will cut you out...
Quite the threat. Because it was enough to keep many in a state of
Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
They will kill you...
And that still won’t be the worst.
I will go away.
This got em. This broke their heart.
We get offended…
When he demands more than expected...
When he doesn’t meet our wants...
When he doesn’t fit in with the world around us...
When he won’t defend himself...
Here is the problem, Jesus promised offenses,
Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
And Jesus himself was kind of offensive...
The Pharisees - Jesus didn’t meet their expectations.
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
They cared more about tradition than obeying Jesus.
The 5,000 - Jesus didn’t meet their needs.
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
Judas - He had his own agenda.
Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
Don’t get offended by knowing on whom you depend.
The Comforter is a promise given to the disciples.
Jesus promises that it is better for the disciples that Jesus goes away.
He will reprove the world of Sin
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Jesus is pushing the work of the Gospel around the world and this is not something he can do without going away.
He will reprove the world of Righteousness
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
The Holy Spirit will bring about the work that Jesus started in bringing the declaration of Christ’s righteousness to the world.
He will reprove the world of Judgement
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The Holy Spirit will warn of Satan’s judgement and will warn the sinner who shares the same fate.
He will reveal the things that Jesus dare not say to the disciples.
There is something that Jesus wants to teach his disciples but he cannot tell them now he will have to tell them through the Holy Spirit.
Can I tell you that there is a direct application for this promise - It is in your hand this evening. The Holy Spirit is the one that brought all of this about and used the Apostles to do that very work. You and I have the tool of the Holy Spirit’s warning. Right here it is in the Bible.
What causes men and women to get offended is when we imagine a Jesus that is not in these pages. What strengthens the walk of the Believer? The full knowledge of what Scripture teaches about our Jesus.
You see it is impossible to get offended by Jesus when I know what the Bible says about him. Because he never misrepresented Jesus.
Sorrow vs Joy as an indicator of Love…
What does this have to do with love?
Notice how Jesus describes the way that his disciples will miss Jesus.
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.
There will be real and palpable mourning and sorrow.
But that there would be a joy that drove them past the pain that they would feel. That joy is the realization of the promise made by Jesus.
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.
Jesus illustrates the sorrow that they feel to a birthing mother. But most telling he illustrates their joy to the rejoicing of the new mother giving birth.
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.
That sounds like love to me. Watch a mother hold her new little baby and tell me you don’t see love. That isn’t to say that all moms feel the same thing all the time. But…
It is love that drives the mom to endure.
It is love that drives a mom to sacrifice.
It is love that drives a mother to go the full distance and bring her child into the world.
It is love that then sees this infant as a beautiful gift.
It is love that allows a mother to see it all as worth it.
This is the love that Jesus calls Joy…
He is giving us the understanding that it is possible that through this joy we can endure the hardship of being a Christian in and unChristian world and be a light in a dark place. We can biblical and unwoke and do so with a love for Jesus that makes us long for being with him. It is this love that allows us to remain unwavering. It is this love that keeps us from temptation. It is this love that makes us leave our dependence on this world.
It is this same joy that drove Jesus to despise the shame and endure for you and I.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
