The Apostle Paul wrote his Letter to the Philippians while he was in prison, awaiting trial and possible execution, weighed down with concerns for his fellow believers,. Yet the letter is filled with joy and exhortations to rejoice (16 times in four chapters). How could he rejoice in those circumstances? The answer lies in this truth: True joy is found in Christ! Paul points us to Jesus Christ 75 times in this short letter, urging us to "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, 'Rejoice!'" (Philippians 4:4). In desperate times, difficult situations, and even the darkest periods of our lives, joy can be found when we hold our eyes on Jesus Christ!

The Gospel of John Week 19
Scripture: John 14:6 - 31.

As we continue with more of the evening of Jesus' last day with His disciples, we see Him sharing important teachings with them.
⁃ that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life
⁃ that He is the only way to the Father
⁃ the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate
⁃ that He's going way for a wile but will come back
⁃ that they are not to be troubled
⁃ that they are not to be afraid
⁃ that He is sharing all of this so that when it happens they will believe.

In John 14:26 Jesus tells them, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." Pastor shares that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an "it." The Holy Spirit is a living being - not a force - and that the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of believers.

Jesus then tells them, in verse 27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Pastor shares a personal testimony about the Holy Spirit teaching him the meaning of, "Do not be afraid." Do not be afraid, means don't even imagine the things that cause you fear!

The One saying this is the One who loved us enough to die for us, He's the One who endured hell on the cross for our sins and He's the One saying, "don't sweat this!" Can you imagine how much that meant to the disciples that night, but also in the days, months and years afterwards as they came to understand Jesus was risen, ascended, coming back and had given them a mission to carry out.

Jesus is still telling us these same words today, we do not have to live in fear - we are to walk in His peace.

In verses 30 - 31 Jesus says, "I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." The prince of the world is the devil, but Jesus is telling them that the devil has no hold over Him!

Soon they will see Jesus arrested, beaten, crucified and put in a grave. They will be devastated, but Jesus is telling them in advance that HE is in control - not the devil - Jesus says the enemy has NO hold on Him.

He tells them He only does what the Father tells Him (and so He will go to the cross) and Jesus tells them, "My peace I give you, fear not!" for the devil has NO control over me!

1 Corinthians 2:8 says, "None of the rulers of this age understood it (God's wisdom/God's plan for salvation), for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

Even when it looks like the devil has won - God triumphs!

God flips what looks like disaster and turn it into salvation!

Today the battle goes on, BUT THE WAR IS WON!!!

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

⁃ The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels.
⁃ The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible. Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most "Gentile/Greek" of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

The battle of Jericho, the battles waged by Jesus, and our own daily battles are surprisingly (or, perhaps unsurprisingly?) all interconnected.