The Last Battleground
October 1, 2011 5:30 AM -0500
Manuscript
Outline
Notes
Bibliography
The spiritual war between Satan and God rages within us, but we must never forget the others who have been occupied and oppressed.
Thesis: The world is poised against authentic believers, but authentic believers must be driven by the Spirit to minister to the world because God would condemn only Satan if possible.
Objective: Call believers to minister regardless of what the world throws at them.
Objective: Call believers to minister regardless of what the world throws at them.
- The world is out to get us (1-4).
- The religious are after authentic Christians (“They will ban you from the synagogues...” (2); There will always be religious people who will oppose people with legitimate, authentic faith.).
- The secular are after authentic Christians (“They will ban you from the synagogues...” (2); If the religious are out to oppose people with legitimate, authentic faith, it stands to reason that everyone else will be, too.).
- They don’t know (“They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or Me” (3); These people do these terrible things to us because they don’t know God the Father or Son. They don’t have any idea what the relationship can be.).
- The Spirit is about conviction (8-11).
- The word “convict” is, in the original Greek, elegxo: “of uncertain affinity; to confue, admonish - convict, convince, tell a fault, rebuke, reprove” (Strong’s). The idea is that the Spirit is trying to convince them that their current path is wrong.
- He convicts the world (“When He comes, He will convict the world” (8); The Spirit isn’t primarily concerned with us. Yes, He will explain things to us, and yes, He will benefit us, but His primary objective is to convict the world, thus opening the door for us to minister to the people that don’t know the Father or the Son and thus lash out.).
- He convicts about sin (“About sin, because they do not believe in Me” (9); The Spirit convicts people of sin, the root and ultimate expression of which is disbelief in the Son.).
- He convicts about righteousness (“about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me” (10); The Spirit plants within people an idea of what is right and the realization that we can’t realize it fully on our own.).
- The Message: “When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin, that rightouesness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control, and that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.”
- Satan has been judged (11).
- The word “judge” is, in the original Greek, krino: “to distinguish, i.e., decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish: avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think” (Strong’s). The idea is that the decision is made, and punishment is being passed.
- This world is oppressed by its ruler (“the ruler of this world” (11); Satan has this world by the neck, whether they realize it or not. They are, in the end, slaves to sin: John 8:34: Jesus told a bunch of Jews, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”).
- Satan has been judged (“has been judged” (11); Satan’s guilt has already been established, and his sentence has been passed. He is to be bound and thrown into the lake of burning sulphur for all eternity.).
- Satan is being judged (“has been judged” (11); Satan’s guilt has been established, and he continues in that state.).
Ryrie
Reflecting God
ESV Study Bible
HCSB Study Bible
Henry
- The KJV renders “to keep you from stumbling” as “that ye should not be offended.” The HCSB translation is closer; “fall away” is probably closest.
- (2) “The history of religious persecution clearly portrays the fulfillment of this prophecy (e.g., Acts 7:57-60).”
- (8-11) “The Spirit, through apostles, evangelists, and preachers, will reprove the world. To reprove means to set forth the truth of the gospel in such a clear light that men are able to accept or reject it intelligently; i.e., to convince men of the truthfulness of the gospel. The Spirit will help break down the indifference of the typical pagan who has no conviction of sin, who holds a low regard for righteousness, and who pays no heed to warnings of the coming judgment.”
- (9-10) “The greatest, and basic, sin is unbelief. Jesus’ return to the Father will vindicate His righteous life and the truthfulness of all He said (v 10).”
- (11) “”At the cross, Christ triumphed over Satan, serving notice on unbelievers of their judgment to come.”
- (12) The things that Jesus doesn’t tell them now will become clear after the Resurrection, when the Spirit comes.
- (12) The idea is that the Spirit will not speak “on His own authority.”
- (13) The things the Spirit will show us “include the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection (which the disciples did not fully understand) as well as things yet in the future concerning His resurrection, the Christian life, and His return.”
- (14) The stuff of His that Jesus is referring to is his teachings and anything else that relates to Him.
- (15) “The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit has guided the church since the Spirit’s coming. Doctrine, therefore, does not have to be traced back to the earthly ministry of Jesus to be authoritative, because the Spirit shall take of mine (Christ’s), and shall shew it unto you (the apostles). These truths were then recorded in the NT.”
Reflecting God
- (2) “Religious people have often persecuted others in the strong conviction that this was right.”
- (3) “Again the Father and the Son are linked. Not to know Christ is to be ignorant of the Father.”
- (5) “Peter had asked such a question (13:36), but quickly turned his attention to another subject. His concern had been with what would happen to himself and the others and not for where Jesus was going.”
- (6) The grief was the result of “his announced departure.”
- (7) “Jesus did not say why the Spirit would not come until he went away, but clearly taught that his saving work of the cross was necessary before the sending of the Spirit.”
- (8) “The work the Spirit does in the world” is to convict it. “The NT normally speaks of his work in believers.”
- (9) “Apart from the Spirit’s convicting work, people can never see themselves as sinners.”
- (9) “becuase men do not believe” “may mean that their sin is the failure to believe, or that their unbelief is a classic example of sin. Typically, John may have had both of these in mind.”
- (10) “in regard to righteousness” = “The righteousness brought about by Christ’s sacrificial death”
- (10) “No one but the HOly Spirit can reveal to a person that a righteous status before God does not depend on good works but on Christ’s death on the cross.”
- (10) “I am going to the Father” is a reference to “the ascension, which as part of Christ’s exaltation placed God’s seal of approval on Christ’s redemptive act.”
- (11) “in regard to judgment” “Jesus was speaking of the defeat of Satan, which was a form of judgment, not simply a victory. More than power is in question. God acts with justice.”
- (12) “more than you can now bear” may = “more than you can understand now” or “‘more than you can perform without the Spirit’s help’ (to live out Christ’s teaching requires the enabling presence of the Spirit).”
- (13) “We are not told whether he hears from the Father or the Son, but it obviously does not matter, for the verse stresses the close relationship among the three.”
- (13) “what is yet to come” “probably means the whole Christain way or revelation (presented and preserved in teh apostolic writings), still future at the time Jesus spoke.”
- (14) “The Spirit draws no attention to himself but promotes the glory of Christ.”
- (15) The point is that “the three Persons are closely related.”
ESV Study Bible
- (2) “Whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God implies a deep deception, ultimately inspired by Satan, who is a murderer and the father of lies (see 8:44). Not all “religions” are good, for some religions will teach their followers that they are doing good when in fact they are doing the horribly evil act of murdering true followers of the Son of God. The apostle Paul himself, prior to his conversion, thought he was serving God by persecuting Christians.”
- (4) “Believers may think opposition means that God opposes them, but Jesus emphasizes that persecution is to be expected (see also v. 1).”
- (5) “But Peter did ask this exact question in 13:36 (cf. 14:5), so the present tense of “asks” probably has the sense, “none of you at the present time is asking me” (this was some time after 13:36; see the indication of change of location in 14:31).”
- (7) “This is because while Jesus was on earth he could be in only one place at a time, but the Holy Spirit would carry on Jesus’ ministry over the entire world at all times. In addition, in God’s sovereign plan for the unfolding of history, the Holy Spirit would not come in new covenant power and fullness until Jesus returned to heaven.”
- (7) “The Helper” “refers back to the anticipation of the pouring out of the Spirit and the inauguration of the kingdom spoken of in OT prophetic literature (e.g., Isa. 11:1–10; 32:14–18; 42:1–4; 44:1–5; Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 11:17–20; 36:24–27; 37:1–14; Joel 2:28–32).”
- (8) “He will convict the world gives hope that many who are in “the world” (and currently opposed to Jesus) will not be part of “the world” forever but will repent of their sins and believe in Christ.”
- (10) “Because I go to the Father means that Jesus will no longer be in the world to teach about true righteousness, and so the Holy Spirit will come to carry on that function, through illumination (v. 13) and through the words of believers who bear witness to the gospel.”
- (11) “Because the ruler of this world (i.e., Satan; see notes on 12:31; 14:30) is judged could also be translated “has been judged”; the perfect-tense verb kekritai (Gk.) has the sense of “has been judged and continues in the state resulting from that judgment.””
- (13) “The Spirit’s ministry of guiding Jesus’ followers into all the truth is a promise especially directed toward these 11 disciples, and it finds particular fulfillment in the subsequent work of these disciples in personally writing or overseeing the writing of the books of the NT (see note on 14:26). The promise, like the other things that Jesus says in these chapters, also has a broader application to all believers as the Holy Spirit leads and guides them (see Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18).”
- (13) “The activity of the Holy Spirit in declaring the things that are to come suggests that he knows the future, something that is true of God alone; this gives evidence of the full deity of the Holy Spirit.”
- (13) “The word declare (Gk. anangellō) occurs over 40 times in the Septuagint translation of Isaiah, where declaring things to come is said to be the exclusive domain of God (Isa. 48:14) and where God challenges anyone to declare the things that are to come (Isa. 42:9; 44:7; 46:10; cf. 41:21–29, esp. vv. 22–23; 45:19).”
HCSB Study Bible
- (2) “The phrase ‘a time is coming’ is reminiscent of prophetic or apocalyptic expressions suh as ‘the days are coming’ (Jr 7:32; 9:25; 16:14; 31:31; Am 9:13; Zch 14:1).”
- (2) “When anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God most likely refers to Jewish rather than Roman persecution. Some rabbis believed that killing heretics was an act of divine worship.”
- (7) “Reference to the Counselor harks back to the anticipated coming of the Spirit and the inauguration of the age of the kingdom in OT prophetic literature.”
- (8-11) “The HOly Spirit will judge the world’s sin of unbelief on the basis of His righteousness.”
- (13) “The Spirit’s ministry of guiding Jesus’ followers into all the truth will fulfill the psalmists’ longing for divine guidance. Isaiah recounted how God led His people in the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and predicted God’s renewed guidance in the future.”
- (13) “The word declare occurs over 40 times in the book of Isaiah, where declaring things to come is said to be the exclusive domain of God and where God challenges pretenders to declare the things to come.”
Henry
- “The disciples of Christ are apt to be offended at the cross; and the offence of the cross is a dangerous temptation, even to good men, to turn back from the ways of God, or turn aside out of them, or drive on heavily in them; to quit either their integrity or their comfort.”
- “Many that pretend to know God are wretchedly ignorant of him. Those that pretend to do him service thought they knew him, but it was a wrong notion they had of him.”
- “Those that are ignorant of Christ cannot have any right knowledge of God. In vain do men pretend to know God and religion, while they slight Christ and Christianity.”