Jesus, in the Gospel of John chapters 14-16, has been teaching (preaching) nonstop! Then in John chapter 17 our Lord prays! Maybe we all would be more effective, more powerful, if we followed that pattern!

I can only find two earlier times in John when Jesus even approximates prayer! (Luke the is Gospel that accents Jesus’ Prayer Life!)

John 11:41-42, at dead Lazarus’ grave … “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Not really a prayer of petition, but one of thanksgiving!

Then again in John 12:27-28 … “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Instantly prayed, instantly answered!

It seems to me that Jesus gives “reasons” for His petitions here in John 17. The Old Testament Patriarch Job did the same thing as well …

Job 23:3-4 … “Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.” (Here is a holy man reasoning with his God!)

And the Prophet Jeremiah did the same thing …

“Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” (A conversation with the Almighty! “Let me talk with Thee,” I love that!

The Bible reference for the “Simeon” illustration that I used in class is found at Luke 2:25-32 …

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” (He had finished his work! He was ready to “depart!”)

The great “I am That I am” reference is Exodus 3:14 …

“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

Wow!

Verse 8 of our Text is similar (purposely so I think) to Deuteronomy 18:18, that well-known prophecy about the coming Prophet!

Verse 8 … “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.”

Deuteronomy 18:18 … “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”

And, obviously, that Prophet is JESUS!

Now, watch the whole Lesson …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

A “creed” within a Prayer, Jesus’s Prayer for His Church! I am speaking of verse 3 … “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Do you know Jesus? And thereby know God the Father?

This may be the first time in the nearly three-year history of our “Evening Meditations” Bible studies that I have not finished my intended Text! My initial goal, verses 1-5! But while recording I looked up (mid-sentence) at the little timer on the camera and time was gone! (This type of camera will only record 30 minutes of video!) I guess I was that captivated by the Material!

But do not worry. We will take up next lesson and begin at verse 4, the dear Lord willing. (Every other night, a new Bible Study is posted.)

I am sure you can tell as I teach week after week that I am committed to the fact that Jesus died for all men. I am not a proponent of “Limited Atonement.”

“And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2

I am told that in some areas of the country Internet service is not “fast” enough to allow viewing of long videos. But otherwise, cultivate the habit of watching the classes …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Someone called Jesus “God’s Autobiography” sent to this old world! I like that thought.

.

Something “dawned” on me (or maybe I read it in a commentary somewhere) … Not a single MAN came to the empty tomb early Resurrection Morning! Only women! Yet of the named women who were early at the sepulcher … Mary of Bethany … was not one of them! That’s strange, Bethany being so close to Jerusalem, less than two miles. Then it occurred to me WHY Mary of Bethany did not come, or a possible reason anyway. SHE HAD ALREADY (BEFORE ANYONE ELSE) ANOINTED JESUS’ BODY FOR BURIAL! Read John 12:7 here for proof … “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.”

Wow!

I could have easily judged this Mary for having little faith, when in reality she had much faith! The point of all this … Jesus’ disciples (who were so “sure” in verse 30), were not sure at all Easter Sunday morning!

Also in our Text (verses 29-30) the Disciples talked about “God.” While Jesus talked about the “Father!” The latter Name is far more intimate than the former! How do YOU know Him? Growing faith eventually recognizes Him as “Our Father Which art in Heaven!”

Now let me say something good about the disciples, something positive. They did not absorb ALL of what Jesus said in that Upper Room, but they did get SOME of it!

And so it is with us!

These men were impacted by the very “fragrance” of Jesus’ Presence, Jesus’ Teaching, and Jesus’ Love for them and for the world! It reminds me of Job 14:8-9, the POWER of a sweet odor, of a “scent!” This is a Paragraph were an old, dead tree trunk is being discussed! “Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the SCENT OF WATER it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”

Paul once said our very lives (and our testimonies) are “savors” (smells, aromas) of sweetness wherever we go! “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.”  2 Corinthians 2:15

Someone likened PRAYER to …

Noah’s dove returning with an olive branch in its mouth!

Moses’ rod bringing forth water!

Samson’s jawbone defeating the enemy!

David’s harp expelling evil spirits!

A Key that unlocks Heven’s treasures!

Word pictures, a powerful way to convey truth, God’s Truth!

I invite you to watch the whole class now …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

In class I referred to the numerous times Jesus mentions prayer in this long Sermon. More specifically …

In the “Father” chapter, John 14 …

John 14:13 … “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

John 14:14 … “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

In the “Son” chapter, John 15 …

John 15:7 … “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

John 15:16 … “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

In the “Holy Spirit” chapter, John 16 …

John 16:23 … “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”

John 16:24 … “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Notice … in John 14 it is the Son Who answers prayer. By John 16 it is the Father Who does so! (Preparation for Jesus’ Absence involves prayer, much prayer in fact!)

Praying for “whatsoever” … such a vast invitation …

Like Psalm 81:10 commands … “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

Or Jeremiah 33:3 … “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

Luke 6:25 should have been added to the lesson. Wicked world, take note … “Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.”(In light of verse 20!)

This too … In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-17 Paul commands … “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.” Herein is a Principle of God’s Ways … NO PRAYER, NO JOY! (The second act is the means of procuring the first act! Prayer provides joy!)

The disciples speaking here in John 16:17 interrupt a long section of the Sermon, a large Span with Jesus only teaching, preaching! The disciples have not voiced anything since John 14:22!

There is a spiritual dimension to Jesus’ “woman in travail” illustration in verse 21. Paul uses such a metaphor in Galatians 4:19. “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”

The Cross of Calvary might be an example of such “labor, travail” as well. There Jesus, in agony, produces “children!” The Sinless Blood shed there at Golgotha “births” many into the kingdom of God! That’s why Isaiah 53:10 can say … “God, thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, HE SHALL SEE HIS SEED, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”Meaning “seed” as children, converts!

The disciples well may have so negatively reacted to Jesus “going away” … because they still had visions of His immediately setting up His Kingdom and ruling over all the earth! With them enjoying the windfall ($$$) of course! Probably selfish motives, looks like!

A full lesson this time. Watch it if you can …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

Our Passage …

12 I (Jesus) have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Verse `13 of our Text distinctly says of the Holy Spirit … “He shall not speak of Himself.”

But Satan, the Devil … John 8:44 … “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, HE SPEAKETH OF HIS OWN: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

What a difference, complete opposites!

Our current Paragraph supplies us with Jesus’ last mention of the Holy Spirit in this great Upper Room Sermon. (The Spirit has been discussed by our Lord in each of the three chapters of this Discourse. John 14 and 15 and 16!)

Verse 12, where Jesus withholds any further information from the less than mature Disciples, reminds me of Proverbs 25:2. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” King James Version!

On the Spirit’s “guiding” us into all truth, us Christians … I would not be surprised if the Holy Ghost has “led” (“enlightened”) some of the great Christian inventors and scientists over the years as they presented us with their great life-changing innovations! “All truth!”

I suspect an ounce of Jesus’ Teaching would yield a ton of Christian Truth when exposited by the Holy Spirit!

I trust you are enjoying our Trip through the Gospel of John! And the best way to glean even more information is by watching the whole class …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.