JESUS IS THE OVERCOMER (25 OF 32)
Scripture: John 16:7, John 16:16-26, John 16:28-33
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Jesus is The Overcomer (25 of 32)
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 16:16-33
Introduction: Writing directly to the earliest Christians just years after Jesus' ascension, James writes, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,'' (James 1:2). This wasn't a hypothetical or abstract word of encouragement and challenge. It was real because the early Christians faced all sorts of various trials. As we saw back in John 9, to identify with Jesus and to follow Him meant to not only be kicked out of the religious assemblies of the Jewish people, but to be socially ostracized as well. In other words, to follow Jesus meant to lose your friends and your family. It likely meant the end of one's means of employment and earning a living. It meant explicit hatred and verbal attacks, and for many it meant arrest and persecution to the point of death.
And this suffering was not confined to just Jerusalem or Jewish communities, as the book of Acts shows us Christianity was met with intense hostility in every locale it arrived in. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and its messengers were highly resisted, mocked, opposed, and attacked. As we talked about last week, to be identified with Jesus meant and continues to mean to incur the world's hatred. And so, when James, and the rest of the Bible, talk about enduring suffering, these aren't abstract, theoretical instructions, but ones grounded in a certain reality.
Note, though, James doesn't just say that we are to endure and persevere through trials, however. He says to, ''Count it all joy,''. That's crazy, right? How can we possibly not just find joy in hardship but count hardship as joy? I don't care how positive a person you are, at a certain point you run out of silver lining to find!
Of course, counting suffering and hardship as joy is not something we do in our power. It's not something rooted in positive thinking or optimism. It's rooted and found only by faith in that great truth and pr ...
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 16:16-33
Introduction: Writing directly to the earliest Christians just years after Jesus' ascension, James writes, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,'' (James 1:2). This wasn't a hypothetical or abstract word of encouragement and challenge. It was real because the early Christians faced all sorts of various trials. As we saw back in John 9, to identify with Jesus and to follow Him meant to not only be kicked out of the religious assemblies of the Jewish people, but to be socially ostracized as well. In other words, to follow Jesus meant to lose your friends and your family. It likely meant the end of one's means of employment and earning a living. It meant explicit hatred and verbal attacks, and for many it meant arrest and persecution to the point of death.
And this suffering was not confined to just Jerusalem or Jewish communities, as the book of Acts shows us Christianity was met with intense hostility in every locale it arrived in. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and its messengers were highly resisted, mocked, opposed, and attacked. As we talked about last week, to be identified with Jesus meant and continues to mean to incur the world's hatred. And so, when James, and the rest of the Bible, talk about enduring suffering, these aren't abstract, theoretical instructions, but ones grounded in a certain reality.
Note, though, James doesn't just say that we are to endure and persevere through trials, however. He says to, ''Count it all joy,''. That's crazy, right? How can we possibly not just find joy in hardship but count hardship as joy? I don't care how positive a person you are, at a certain point you run out of silver lining to find!
Of course, counting suffering and hardship as joy is not something we do in our power. It's not something rooted in positive thinking or optimism. It's rooted and found only by faith in that great truth and pr ...
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