The Activity of the Spirit in the Lives of Church Age Believers, Part 10

The Activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Church Age believers, part 10.

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.

Gospel of John
Acts (with care)
Romans
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
1&2 Thessalonians

The Gospel of John.

Overview and Introduction.

The purpose of the Gospel of John is to provide overwhelming proof that Jesus Christ is God, such that the soul who realizes this will choose to believe in Jesus Christ and receive eternal life.

Ninety percent of the material in the Fourth Gospel is unique, not found in the other three.

Among the four gospels, John gives the most detailed treatment of God the Holy Spirit when it comes to His Person and His role in the coming Church Age.

He alone introduces doctrines that are unique to the Church Age, such as the indwelling of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

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 : John 13 - 17

IV.  Death and Resurrection: Joh 18-20

V. Epilogue: John 21

Reminder on the Homework Assignment: Read the Gospel of John this week

I. The Prologue: John 1:1-18
The Prologue declares the Deity of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Incarnation and Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ.

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.

You have the miracle or sign presented.
Then you have a teaching or discourse given.
Then you have the responses to the sign and the teaching.

The faith of those who believe gets more bold and joyous.
 
The unbelief and hostility and hardening of hearts gets more desperate and dug in.

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 .

JOH 4:26
JOH 6:20
JOH 8:24
JOH 8:28
JOH 8:58
JOH 13:19
JOH 18:5

Then there are another seven times the Lord uses “I am” with a noun identifying another part of His position or work on behalf of sinners.

“I am the Bread of Life” (JOH 6:35)
“I am the Light of the world” (JOH 8:12; JOH 9:5)
“I am the Gate for the sheep” (JOH 10:7; JOH 10:9)
“I am the Good Shepherd” (JOH 10:11; JOH 10:14)
“I am the Resurrection and the Life” (JOH 11:25)
“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (JOH 14:6)
“I am the true Vine” (JOH 15:1; JOH 15:5)

Jesus takes seven journeys to Judea.

Jesus gives seven sermons in this section of the Gospel.

Seven times in John there is reference to “the hour” for which Jesus came, and all seven point directly to the Cross.

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)

“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.

Nicodemus and the Pharisees described Jesus’ mighty works as “signs” (3:2, 9:16).