The Activity of the Spirit in the Lives of Church Age Believers, Part 11

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Sunday,
April 21, 2013

The Activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Church Age believers, part 11.

We are going to proceed book by book in the New Testament and spend time on books that feature our subject: the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.

The Gospel of John.

Overview and Introduction.

Outline

     I.  The Prologue: JOH 1:1-18

II.  The Evangelical Book of Signs: JOH 1:19 - 12:50

III.  Teaching & Prayer to prepare disciples for the Church Age : Joh 13 - 17

IV.  Death and Resurrection: JOH 18-20

V. Epilogue: Joh 21

Homework Assignment was to Read the Gospel of John

I. The Prologue: JOH 1:1-18

II. The Evangelical Book of Signs: JOH 1:19-12:50
The Book of Signs records seven miracles which reveal the glory of the Son of God.

The number seven takes on a prominence in the Gospel of John.

There are seven “I am” passages, where the Lord identifies Himself as the great “I am”, using the personal name for the Lord God .

A powerful line of testimony concerns the group of miracles or “signs” performed by Jesus Christ that John presents in His Gospel to prove the Deity of Christ.

The miracles of Jesus point to the central theme of the Gospel: signs lead to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God
(JOH 20:30-31).

John recorded far fewer miracles than the other three gospels: 7 versus 20,18,20.

Seven in Bible numerology is the number representing spiritual perfection.

1. Changing water into wine at Cana (JOH 2:1-11)

2. Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (JOH 4:46-54)

3. Healing the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (JOH 5:1-18)

4. Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (JOH 6:5-14)

5. Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (JOH 6:16-21)

6. Healing the man born blind, in Jerusalem (JOH 9:1-7)

7. Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (JOH 11:1-45)

7. Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (JOH 11:1-45)

John records one other miracle, in chapter 20. Eight is the number of new beginnings, and the eighth miracle is the greatest sign of all: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“signs” = “seemeion” 
meaning miracle, sign, token, wonder, mark.
 
an unusual occurrence portending remarkable events soon to happen.

“signs” = “seemeion” 
 
miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by Him.

Seemeion is a technical term for the miracles associated with the Messiah.

The people said that when Messiah came He would not perform any more signs than Jesus (7:31).
 

John’s Gospel records that many believed in Him when they saw Jesus’ mighty deeds (2:23; 12:1).

Their very rejection of Jesus led to the greatest of all signs to which all the others orient - the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
 

III. Teaching & Prayer equipping the disciples for the coming Church Age : Joh 13 - 17

This section of John’s Gospel gives us the best teaching anywhere on the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also devotes a portion of this discourse to the coming Church, and the relationships that Church Age believers are to have with Him,
with the world, and
with each other.

Chapter 17 has the prayer of Jesus Christ our High Priest. He prays for Himself, He prays for the disciples there present, and then He prays for all who would believe in Him.

IV. Death and Resurrection:
Joh 18-20

The arrest of Jesus (18:1-11)

The trials of Jesus (18:12-19:15)

The crucifixion of Jesus
(19:16-37)

The burial of Jesus (19:38-42)

The resurrection of Jesus - empty tomb! (20:1-10)

The appearances of the resurrected Christ (20: 11-31)

V. Epilogue: Joh 21

First, Jesus appears to seven disciples by the lake after they spent the night fishing
(JOH 21:1-14)

Next, Jesus encounters Peter and reinstates him, calling him to sacrificial service in shepherding the Lord’s sheep.
(JOH 21:15-23)

Finally, the last two verses reveal the beloved disciple John as the author of this gospel.
(JOH 21:24-25)

Everything that is distinctive about this book combines to achieve this purpose - to provide proof that Jesus Christ is God.

The theme of John’s Gospel is the Deity of the Savior. Here, as nowhere else in Scripture so fully, we are presented with the Godhood of Christ.

TIT 2:13

looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

We are taken out of time and into the eternity of the glory of the Father and the Son.

This Gospel of John is a symphony with several movements, and the movements all harmonize into one, and the last carries echoes of the first.

As A.T. Robertson put it, “the language of the Fourth Gospel has the clarity of a spring, but we are not able to sound the bottom of the depths.”