KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF LOVE || Lesson 18 

KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF LOVE

[With Reference to the Events Concerning Jesus’ “Passion,” note how Jesus’ love is amazingly displayed throughout and therefore ‘stand in awe of God, the Most High.’]

Lesson Eighteen

JOURNEY TO GETHSEMANE – [Approximately 1 mile, uphill] (Cont’d.)

Jesus’ Discourse & High Priestly Prayer – (John 15 – 17)

(e) The Work of the Holy Spirit – John 16:5-15:  ⁵“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ ⁶Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

V.5 – “Now I am going to him who sent me – Jesus as “the Sent One” – John 6:28-29, 37-40, 44, 57 – ²⁸Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

⁴⁴“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Others who were “sent” – John the Baptist: John 1:6-9 – ⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

The disciples: John 20:19-23 – On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Paul:  Acts 9:15 – But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.

Acts 26:16-18 – ¹⁶`Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.  ¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Application:  Let us thank the GOD OF LOVE that as believers we are also “sent” – Acts 2:38-39 – ³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Also, let us ask the GOD OF LOVE to help us to be effective witnesses, as Jesus, John the Baptist, the disciples and Paul were.

Note Acts 1:8a – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”