John 16

Notes

Ver. 1-3. I have beforehand told you of the trials and comforts which lie before you, that ye may not be discouraged in, or turned from, your duty by my leaving you, or by the troubles which you may meet with from my enemies and yours, whose rage will lead them to all manner of violence and cruelty against you. The ecclesiastical rulers will excommunicate you from all church-fellowship, as the most abandoned wretches. Nay, so furious will be their mad zeal against you, that multitudes will barbarously take pleasure in murdering you, imagining it an honour done to God, and a mean of promoting his interest in the world.—Thus they will persecute you for my sake, because, through the wilful blindness and hardness of their hearts, they neither know, nor believe in, nor love me nor my Father. 4-6. These things I have thus plainly foretold you, that, when such trials come, ye may hereby be the more confirmed in your faith in me and my words.—And I did not tell you of this sooner, because I was with you to shelter you from trials, by exposing myself, and to support and comfort you under them.—But now I am just going to leave you, and return to my Father's immediate presence in heaven; and yet ye little understand my meaning, or rejoice in my happy departure and the fruits of it, nor do ye even make inquiries about it, as ye did when ye thought I was going somewhere on earth to erect a temporal kingdom. And so much quicker are your apprehensions of things grievous than of gladdening promises, that what I have said of my leaving you, and the troubles that will ensue, hath quite overwhelmed you with sorrow. 7-11. But notwithstanding all your dejection and fears, it is really necessary, and for your unspeakable advantage, that I leave this world and ascend to my heavenly Father: for according to our loving purpose and the just order of things, unless I return thither, the Holy Ghost, that blessed Guide, Advocate, and Comforter, will not visit you with his richest gifts, graces, counsels, and assistances, supports and joys; but when once I am enthroned in my heavenly kingdom, I will send him to answer all the great and glorious purposes for which ye and my church shall need him.—And he, coming from on high, by virtue of my death, and in consequence of my resurrection and exaltation, shall carry on my cause in this lower world, demonstratively convincing both Jews and Gentiles of their sinfulness and misery, of the insufficiency of all their works to recommend them to the favour of God, of the sufficiency of my obedience and suffering to justify them in his sight; and of my judicial power to reform the world, overthrow the kingdom of Satan, and at last condemn to punishment the unbelieving and unrighteous. By his miraculous gifts and operations for confirming the gospel, and by his internal illumination and influences, he shall convince the world of the sinfulness of heart and life, and especially of its great sin of unbelief in wilfully rejecting me. He shall convince men of the righteousness of my person and cause, and of the necessity and perfection of that everlasting righteousness which I am come to work out by my obedience and death, because I am now to be exalted at my Father's right hand, in testimony of his full acceptance of it in the room of a lost world ;—and ye shall no more see me in this state of debasement, in which I must continue till it be finished. He shall also convince men of my power and will to renew and sanctify sinners, to destroy the kingdom of darkness, and to execute judgment upon all the finally impenitent and unbelieving; because Satan, who rules in the hearts of carnal men, is tried, and judicially defeated in all his power and claims, by my death, resurrection, and ascension; and my kingdom of light, grace, and holiness established on the mins of his dominion on earth; and he and his agents shall be condemned to everlasting ruin at the last day. 12- 15. I have still many other things to inform you of relative to the future alterations of the state and worship of the church under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost; but through the weakness of your faith, and the strength of your carnal prejudices, ye cannot as yet apprehend, or be reconciled to them But when the Holy Ghost, who is faithfulness and truth itself, shall come to do his work upon and by you, he shall give you a complete understanding of the whole of divine truth relative to my gospel kingdom. And he will reveal these things unto you, not as separate from, but as one with me and my Father, and entirely acquainted with our whole mind and will. He will also acquaint you with all that is necessary for you to know, or make known to the church, relative to time or eternity. And his manifesting to you the things relative to my person, offices, cause, and kingdom, will tend to my honour, and make you to have clear, exalted, and endearing thoughts of me, of my love, fulness, office, and work. For in this he will manifest to you what concerns my Father, as I am one with him in nature, perfections, counsels, and property; and the administration of all that he does is committed to me. 16, 20, 22. In a few hours I shall be taken from you by death and burial, and after that ye shall have but for a few days an opportunity of seeing me, and then I will ascend to my Father.—My sufferings and death shall quickly overwhelm you with sorrow and mourning, while my carnal enemies will triumph and rejoice, imagining that they have ruined me: but very soon after, by my personal visits, and the pouring out of my Spirit upon you, I will turn your sorrow into the greatest joy, the foundation of which neither men nor devils shall ever be able to shake, and of which no one can rob you. 23-27. And under this comforting light, and these influences of my Spirit, ye shall neither need my bodily presence, nor to ask information as ye now do. But I solemnly assure you, that whatever ye, by the assistance of the Spirit, shall ask my Father and yours, with faith in my name, as your only Mediator, High-priest, and Advocate, he will readily grant it on my account. Hitherto ye have had recourse to me in all your difficulties, and have not well understood how to plead with him upon the ground of my righteousness, and interest with him for you.—But henceforth, in all your wants, present your petitions and pleas with faith in my atonement and intercession, that, by the gracious answers which you receive, your joy may daily increase, till it be completed. These things I have delivered to you in short substantial sentences, which, by reason of your ignorance, sorrows, and prejudices, ye do not well understand; but in a little time after my resurrection, and afterwards by my Spirit, I will make to you a free, open, and full discovery of my Father, and of all his gracious mind; of my own person, office, and work; and of your proper method of fellowship with us: and then shall ye, by the assistance of the Spirit, offer up all your requests, with express mention of my name, and entire dependence on me.—Nor need I again inform you that I, as your great Advocate, will recommend your persons and prayers to the Father's acceptance: nay, he himself will delight to hear your prayers thus presented to him, and to manifest his affection towards, and bestow his favours upon, you as my disciples, who believe in and love me as his Son and the appointed Saviour of mankind. 28. I, who was with the Father from everlasting, voluntarily came forth from him, in a way of peculiar manifestation, into this world; and in a little time I am to leave this world and return to the Father in my ascension, that I may be glorified together with him, and may manage the concerns of my people in heaven, and by my Spirit apply my complete salvation to all who believe. 31-33. Do ye now at last clearly apprehend, and firmly believe what I have said? or do ye imagine that ye are so established in the faith, that ye shall no more stagger through unbelief? Nay, to manifest my omniscience, and to warn you to be humble and watchful, I assure you that within a very little time, even this same night, ye shall all, suddenly affrighted, leave me to my murderous enemies, and disperse yourselves, for your safety, among your friends. But though you will thus shamefully desert me, my Father will assist, own, and carry me through all the sufferings which I have consented to undergo in his service and for his honour. Now, all these things I have delivered to you in this farewell discourse, that, by virtue of your union with me, and by faith in me, ye may enjoy the most refreshing peace with God and your own consciences. While ye continue in this world, great troubles and persecutions for my sake will attend you; but courageously trust in me, and expect a happy issue; for, having vanquished all opposition from men and devils, I am going, through my death and resurrection, to the heavenly mansions, that, by my intercession and the outpouring of my Spirit, I may prepare all believers to dwell with me for ever.

Ver. 8-11. Reprove. Rather 'convict' (comp. ch. 8. 9, 46; 1 Co. 14. 24; Tit. 1. 9; Ja. 2. 9). Ver. 9. Sin—their own sin, unbelief. Ver. 10. Righteousness—consequently their own imaginary righteousness. Ver. 11. Judgment—their own unrighteous judgment in condemning the Holy One.—Note, Are not these three acts of the Spirit, though commonly considered as descriptive of the process of conversion, rather a description of that threefold evidence whereby he shall convict the world, the unbelieving, self-righteous, Christ-condemning world, of that 'blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come?' Mat. 12. 31, 32. C.

Ver. 26. And I say not unto you, &c. That is, 'I do not merely say that I will pray the Father for you:'—I need not farther assure you of it, 'for the Father himself loveth you;' and therefore I never can either forget, neglect, or cease to love and intercede for you. C.

Ver. 33. I have overcome the world—its flatteries, its ambition, its honours, its pleasures, its hopes, its injustice, its malice, its calumnies, its sorrows, its fears, and its god. C.

Reflections.—Blind bigotry often raises the most furious persecution in the church; and her best friends are frequently reproached and murdered as her worst enemies. True believers are sometimes grieved at that which, properly understood, is a real ground of their joy. For how much more advantageous is it to have Jesus, our exalted Forerunner and Advocate, on his throne, than to have him always continued on earth! How great is he!—possessed of all perfections and property equally with his Father and the Holy Spirit. And thrice happy is it that this divine Spirit, who perfectly knows all the designs and mysteries of the Godhead, comes to acquaint us with all needful truth, and to glorify Jesus Christ, in revealing and communicating his fulness to us. Powerfully he convinces men of sin, righteousness, and judgment—all to the honour of Christ.—Kindly Jesus suits his instructions to our capacities and circumstances.—But great is our dulness and ignorance that we rightly apprehend but few of them. Powerfully he dispels our griefs, and turns them into joy by his gracious visits. But never, when we are self-conceited, are we far from danger and shame. Let me therefore always be clothed with self-diffidence, and given to pour forth prayers in his name. The Father, who loves him, and us for his sake, will not refuse us a gracious answer. And faith in and love to him will graciously secure his Father's delight to do us good.—What a scene of sorrow is this world! Quickly the triumphing of the wicked issues in everlasting disappointment and misery; and children are certain crosses, but uncertain comforts. They but come into a world of sin, snares, troubles, and griefs.—But if we meet with great tribulation, it is but the predicted lot of Christians. If friends forsake us, so they did Christ our Saviour. If his peace compose and victory comfort us, nothing need discourage us; and if he and his Father abide with us, our light and transitory afflictions shall work for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.