Power to Overcome

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  -John 16:33 (ESV).

The occasion of Jesus’ word to His disciples from John 16:33 was in the Upper Room just before His betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane by Judas, one of the twelve.  Jesus had instituted  the Lord’s Supper as a memorial of His sacrifice on the cross, which act of love and redemption would shortly take place.  It seemed almost as if Jesus could not get all the things told to the disciples He wanted them to hear before His earthly death occurred.  He wanted to encourage them and let them know that death would not be the end for Him, but the beginning of something glorious and rewarding for all peoples.  But in the interim between the time in the Upper Room and the victory of Resurrection morning, there would be fear, disappointment and great sorrow for the disciples.  Likewise, Jesus knew that in the days following His own ascension back to the Father, His disciples would face many hardships as they became His messengers with the Good News of salvation.  But He had a peace to give them that the world could not give.  This peace can be a part of any disciple’s life, even when going through great tribulation.  He wanted them to learn and believe that circumstances cannot defeat the one who is firmly planted in the Word and in the Lord Jesus Christ.  “I have overcome the world!”  He declared, and the same victory Jesus experienced in His flesh, though scourged, buffeted, mocked and killed, was the same victory He was encouraging His disciples to anticipate in their tribulations.

How can we apply this message from Jesus to our current situation in America and our forty days of earnest prayer for our own humbling of ourselves, seeking God’s face, and turning from our wicked ways?  Jesus would say to His believers today:  “I have overcome the world!” And furthermore, He would say to us that the love God the Father has for Him the Father also has for us (John 17:26).  Is it not glorious to think that the Lord of Creation loves even me?  That regardless of circumstances He has peace to offer us?  That because He overcame the world and was victorious in the mission God sent Him to earth to do, that we, too, can overcome the world and know victory?  Think on these things; they are steadfast promises that are as fresh as today’s sunrise, as close as breathing, as sure as raindrops poured out on arid earth.

Prayer concerns:  Those who are now campaigning so hard for public office must be extremely tired, often frustrated, and certainly anxious to know the outcome of the electoral process.  They are spending too much money, having too little time to think and pray, and hardly having time to consider what they will do when elected or re-elected.  Pray for their humility, for them to seek God, and to pause in their hectic schedules to give time to God and His purposes and message.  Just moments caught in renewal and prayer will give them perspective about what is important.  Pray that they will be given wisdom and ability from the Lord to overcome any obstacles in this campaign, to have unusual strength, and to have faith to sustain them.  May they overcome in whatever way they must.

Christ’s High Priestly Prayer: He Prays for Himself

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son that Your Son may also glorify You, as You have given him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” –John 17:1-5 (NKJV).

John 17 has been noted by scholars as “The High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. It took place, most believe on the night of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Most think He prayed the prayer while the eleven disciples were still with him in the Upper Room. Some think it may have occurred as they walked from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus again prayed. The place where the prayer was voiced by Jesus is not the concern, but the prayer itself is vitally important. In the “High Priestly Prayer,” the priest would offer both a prayer for the people and a sacrifice for them. Jesus Himself was ready to be the sacrifice. He had just said to His disciples: “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). To Him, although He had not yet been through the crucifixion, He knew it would be an accomplished fact soon, and His reason for coming to earth would be fulfilled. This High Priestly Prayer has three major areas of focus. In verses 1-5 Jesus prays for Himself. In verses 6-19 he prays for His current disciples. In verses 20-26 He prays for future disciples, or the Universal Church. Since we have John’s marvelous account of this prayer, we are privileged to have what Jesus the Son prayed to God the Father shortly before He was to be sacrificed as a ransom for sins. The prayer shows that Jesus is victorious; Dr. Warren Wiersbe calls him “The Overcomer.” He is ready for what is to come, completely surrendered to fulfilling His mission.

As He lifted up His eyes to heaven, a common attitude of prayer, Jesus spoke directly and instantaneously to the Father. He thereby demonstrated to His disciples how approachable God the Father is. He addressed the Father, reverently and humbly, but with a deep-felt request: “Glorify Your Son that Your Son may glorify You.” He knows already that the cross is necessary and that it is the means whereby man’s restoration with the Father will be possible. He wants His action even with a shameful death on the cross to glory the Father. The sacrifice He will make will result in eternal life for those who will know the Father through the Son. To “know” carries the idea of understanding and revelation. And the sacrifice of Jesus will make the bridge back to the Father. Remarkably, as Jesus finishes His work on earth, He then will be received back into the glory He knew from the very beginning, before the world was even created!

This High Priestly Prayer of Jesus for Himself reviews for us the majesty of the One who is about to finish the work He came to earth to do when He prayed this prayer. Notable is the emphasis on eternal life which is available to all believers. Eternal life is God’s free gift to all who believe on Jesus the Son. To believe and accept is a person’s choice. But amazingly, Christ is glorified in the divine viewpoint in that God elected to receive us unto Himself, even from the foundation of the world! This truth is so amazing, so divine! Prayerfully quote John 3:16, the verse most memorized and most quoted of all the verses in the Bible, and the one that most nearly helps to explain the deep theology of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer for Himself. Won’t you say John 3:16 now, and thank God for His gift unspeakable and full of glory?

The Helper Promised and Present

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” -John 14:16 (NKJV) These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” –John 14: 25-16 (NKJV). “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth…He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” -John 16:7-8; 13-14 (NKJV).

Jesus knew his earthly time with his disciples was drawing to a close, that his death was imminent. Within the fifth discourse of Jesus given in the Gospel of John, Jesus draws his disciples aside and teaches them many things, reinforcing some He had previously taught, and giving them new promises. In this intimate discourse, Jesus assured the disciples that He was praying to the Father that He would send a Helper to them, One that would be with them forever. This presence was paraclete, the Greek word for “one Who walks beside,” the Comforter, the Helper. This third person of the Trinity has the power to indwell each believer and to make possible spiritual work of the highest magnitude in and through believers. The Spirit will be Teacher, helping the believer to study and understand the Word of God. The Spirit will stir up the gift of remembrance in the believer, so that when words for witnessing or teaching are needed, they will be brought to the mind of the believer. The Spirit will be Convictor, showing the world the condemnation of sin, and stirring those who will respond to turn to righteousness. He will guide believers into truth. But always He will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Helper is the third person of the Trinity, the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that without the Spirit present in believers, they would not be able to function as His followers in a world gone awry with sin. We are to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), worship in the Sprit (Philippians 3:3), and witness in the Sprit (Acts 1:8). These references teach us a very important doctrine about the Holy Spirit. He works through believers in whom He lives. A very important true illustration of the Spirit at work is on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was empowered to preach and over 3,000 people were convicted of sin and accepted the new and glorious Truth of salvation through faith in Christ. One of the main ministries of the Holy Spirit is to enlighten us with God’s Truth. He is Teacher, but He is also Comforter, Helper, and Friend. He empowers us to do the work Jesus left for his followers to do.

“I will not leave you comfortless,” Jesus promised us in John 14:18. That Comforter comes in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is hard to explain and much mystery surrounds it still. Although we can grasp in part the concept of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, one in Three, yet One God, monotheistic, because the persons of the Trinity are in complete harmony working to bring the highest of God’s created order to a restored relationship with God in whose image we are made. May we take time to consider the wonder, majesty and power of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and open anew our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit to convict, to judge, to empower, to comfort and to motivate.