(John) the Reasons of the Redeemer's Remarks — Willie Mullan

With the first eleven verses this evening of John chapter sixteen. And I want to underline four things for you in these eleven verses. The first one, the reasons for the remarks of the Redeemer. You see, He's making some remarks and He's given His reasons for these remarks.

These things have I spoken unto you thus. And He begins to give the reasons for the remarks that He's already made. That will be the first thing we'll look at this evening. And then the second thing I want to underline for you is the sufferings of the servants of the Saviour.

My, the Lord outlines these and underlines and emphasizes the sufferings of the servants of the Saviour. And then the third thing I want to underline for you is the mourning in the messengers of the Master.

In verse sixty said, Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled you hot. And there they were standing round Him with their hearts filled with sorrow. And the last word I want to underline is the comforter for the companions of Christ.

My, although He was leaving them, and although dark days lay ahead, and storms and tests and persecution and martyrdom lay for them, yet the comforter would come and He would be the help in the dark hour.

So there's the chapter that we're looking at tonight, the reasons for the remarks of the Redeemer, the sufferings of the servants of the Saviour, the mourning in the messengers of the Master, and the comforter for the companions of Christ.

Christ Forewarns His Disciples to Stand Firm

Now we're starting at the first verse. And when our Lord Jesus Christ said these things, that's just taking us back to something that He said in the last chapter. Look at verse eighteen of chapter fifteen.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. These things, these were the things He'd been saying to them.

Now He's giving a reason now for saying these things. He's saying, these things have I spoken unto you. Now here's a wonderful truth here, that ye should not be offended. And you know that word offended is a tremendous word.

In the Greek New Testament, it's the word scandalizo, and it's the word that we get our English word, scandal, from. And the idea is here that these men would have thrown too much scandal thrown upon them, that they might well stumble because of it.

And He's saying, I foretold you of these things, that when they come to pass, ye should not be offended or stumble because of the scandal. You know, that was the first reason. And you know, friends, it has come to pass, hasn't it?

You see, He was actually forewarning them to fortify them. That was the reason. He was telling them dreadful things that would come to pass. They'll hit you, they'll persecute you, they'll cast you out of the synagogue, they'll even kill you.

And I want you to get the hold of this. When these things come to pass, and the scandal comes upon the church, don't stumble, stand steadfast and unmovable. He was forewarning them to fortify them. But the Lord goes on to give another reason.

Perhaps I should do this for the younger ones. Just turn to Matthew 26 and verse 31. I always like to carry the young folk with me. Now, here's a problem that you might face in the not-too-far-distant future.

Someone might turn this up to you. Matthew 26, and for the sake of time, verse 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night. Well, that's a very same Greek word that you have in John 16.

And the Lord was telling them that they would be, and should be, and shall be offended. They would stumble that very night because of him. Now, when the Master had already told them that they would stumble, what's the use of saying, These things have I said unto you that ye stumble not?

What's the use? That would be the problem that some would bring up to them. Well, now, you want to get this very square in all things, that although our Lord, in his sovereignty, knew exactly what would take place, and how they would run, and how they would shudder, and how they would stumble, yet his sovereignty knew the whole answer.

But listen, friends, his sovereignty never does away with your responsibility. And he's just giving this reason here, that you stand up, you're responsible for standing. Yes, he may well know that you let them down, but you're still responsible.

And he's trying to deepen their responsibility here. I think you can see that. That's exactly what he's given these words for. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. First of all, he's forewarning them to fortify them.

And then, secondly, to place the responsibility of standing upon the shoulders of the redeemed. Yet his sovereignty knew that that very night they would run, but the responsibility to stand was still there.

Remembering Christ’s Warnings Deepens Faith

And then there's another word here in John 16. Watch this, I think this is a lovely one. He says, therefore, but these things have I told you that, you see, he's given reason, these things have I told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them.

You see, the very fact that our Lord was standing here on his way to Gethsemane with eleven apostles around him, and he's telling them the things that will come to pass, that they will be persecuted, that they'll be cast out of the synagogue, that some of them will undoubtedly be killed, when these things come to pass, he said, you'll remember that I told you.

And you see, that was to deepen their faith in him. Well, if he could forecast all the horrors of the future, then all the glorious things of the future would come to pass too. My, he's given reason. First one is to fortify them.

And the second one was that they might bear their responsibility. And the third one is that their faith might be deepened. And then there's still another reason here. These things, I think if you trace those words you'll get a lot.

Therefore, but these things have I told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you, but now I go my way to him that tends me.

You see, here's another reason. And I think this is a very important one. You see, while our Lord Jesus Christ was with them, and in the early days he didn't let them know about the persecutions and the killings and the casting out of the synagogue, and he didn't do it for a good reason.

It was for this reason. While he was with them, the whole blunt of the battle would fall on him. And it did, you know. It wasn't their faith they followed, it was his. It wasn't their but they followed, it was his.

And while he was leading a flock, while he was there as a leader, the blunt of the battle would fall on him. What he was doing now, once he would depart, just the blunt would fall on them because they were the leaders then.

You know, you should always pray for those who are in the forefront of the battle. Because, you know, if there are any criticisms to be cast, well, the leader will get it. I've got my sheriff. Sometimes when I come out into the open and I blaze out here against pagan, Babylonish, idolatrous, pagan Rome, and I do, you know, and I always will, you know, and I will never be afraid, you know.

I get my criticism. Or some of the wee fellows that would love to sit in the corner and never do anything for God. They just wanted to speak through things. Oh, go away and fall asleep, man. We're in a battle.

What a battle it will be one of these days. And if pagan, Babylonish, populous Rome could get this corner of our land, you would know more about the battle. You hear our old brother saying, hold on to it.

We'll give them. We're determined about that, you know. But remember, if you've got leaders who will stand up and face the foe and speak out, remember, the blunt of the burden will fall on them. If you were a leader, you would know more about it.

Dear friends, he's teaching them things. He's giving them solid reasons why he's been saying these things. He's been telling them just to fortify them, just to place the responsibility where it should be placed, just to deepen their dependence upon themselves, and just to show them the path that they're to play in the plan of God.

These were the reasons for the remarks that the Redeemer had made. I think they're solid ones. Now, let's get on to the second bit, and that's the sufferings of the servants of the Savior. Verse two, they shall put you out of the synagogue.

The Sufferings of Christ’s Servants

You know, that wouldn't mean very much to us this evening. In fact, that just wouldn't mean anything to us this evening. But, you know, to these Orthodox Jews, brought up from childhood and steeped in Judaism, men who loved the very place where God's honour dwelt, for these men to be put out of the synagogue.

My, it was the greatest blow that could fall upon them. And he's just looking into their eyes and he's saying, you know, they shall put you out of the synagogue. And I think they must have nearly shriveled up a touch.

Oh, to think that they were going to be put out! Because, remember, while life doesn't seem so very much, to them it was everything. Not only was it ecclesiastical expulsion, but that brought in national hatred.

For the moment that you were put out of the synagogue, the whole nation turned its back upon you. And you not only had ecclesiastical expulsion, you not only had national hatred, but you became a social outcast.

What a blow that was. Mind you, our Lord was perfectly honest with his followers. Didn't gather them round him, you know, and pat them on the head and say, oh, it's just turban over a little bit where you'll change palms and there'll be no trouble, boys, you're all agnostic.

My, he just looked into their eyes and said, and there are dark days ahead for you fellows, and they'll put you out of the synagogue. But buried in that simple phrase that may be a simple phrase to us, there is a mighty bit of light comes, and it's this, that the persecutors of the followers of Christ have always been religious leaders.

The world that was dealing with them, it was the leaders in the synagogue. Rejectful, head, you know, pulpit. Love to deal with some of us fellows, and they're trying their best to get at it too. Friends, the real out-and-out followers of Jesus Christ who love him, and love this book, and love this story of the cross, their greatest persecutors have been these dead upstarts in religion who never knew the Lord at all.

They're our greatest opponents this evening. Men who have a form, and they would love to persecute us. But he went further with this. Just watch this statement, and this is one of the greatest statements in the book.

Verse two, they shall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. Did you ever see anything so warped, and crooked, and twisted, and satanic in your life?

Just think of religious leaders for a moment, and staring them in the face is God's commandment, those shall not kill. But by some queer move of ecclesiastical jugglery, they can take the commandment and make it disappear.

And their heart is so crooked that they actually believe to blot out the real followers of Christ is doing God's service. Pagan, Popish, Babylonish Rome lived all day. You remember, well it burned like a stake.

Did you forget it? I have no notion of going easy with them, you know. Leaving the nation back to pagan popery. Remember, these men were burned at the stake who loved the Saviour, who went home to heaven in chariots of fire.

And I'll tell you this, the time is slowly coming again when we're going to face it. You know there's an ecumenical movement on, of course you know that, don't you? You read about it in the papers. There are wonderful castes.

They're going to have a world council of statues, and they're going to have a wonderful unity with pagan, Popish Rome and the poop at the top of this unity. And the man, and woman, and boy and girl that doesn't bow to it, well they'll deal with it.

And they're fooled tonight that they're thinking they're doing the service of God. You know, there's a Presbyterian minister in Belfast. I wonder why I keep their names back. And I could get them for you.

And he said to a friend of mine the other day, a month ago, when we get the Presbyterians and the messages to accept bishops, then we shall go to Parliament and ask for an act to be passed that no man can preach except he gets a license from the bishop.

Then we'll tighten the Brethren and the Baptists and the Pentecostals up, he said. Will they? Let them try us, we'll see. We're not as easily tightened up as he thinks we are. But that's what they're after.

They want to tear the real men of God out of the country. And what will happen is this. They will so piously lead the multitudes that the real men of God will be brought again to be the rebels. And they will burn.

And they're so crooked that they're thinking they're even doing the service of God. Remember it was Jesus Christ who said that. The time cometh when they shall kill you and think they're doing God's service and they're doing their own.

It was Jesus who said that and he knew. My, right down through the ages, these mental and social and ecclesiastical and national and even physical sufferings have been the portions of the children of God.

And Jesus forecast it. But let's get away from this. I think I should underline this verse before I run. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father, nor me. You know the man that puts a believer at the stake or lays his head on the block, he can have as many wonderful titles before his name as he will.

But our Lord Jesus Christ said he doesn't know the Father, nor me. And the poops that put these men to this pit and burned them and would do it again, they never knew the Christ. The heaven with so many wings.

They're on their way to the pits. And in the pits they'll be. And the books behind me when I say it, you know. It was Jesus said, these things will they do because they neither know the Father, nor me.

They're Christless killers. And they're not all dead. So let's run on from the sufferings of the servants to the mourning of the messengers. When Jesus had said these things, verse 5,. But now I go my way to him that sent me.

Christ Comforts His Sorrowing Disciples

And none of you asked of me whether it was done. But because I have said these things unto you, thorough hearts filled your hearts. Here they were standing round him, and their hearts were filled with sorrow.

I think I've traced this for you through the chapters. And I want you to notice with me now as we go back through them, just what the Lord did to really undo this. Look at John 13 and verse 33. John 13, 33, here he's talking to them.

Little children, yet a little while I am with you, ye shall seek me. And as I said unto the Jews, whither I go ye cannot come, so now I say to you. You know, this was really the first time that he'd looked into their eyes, and he'd been so plain about it.

He said, As I said unto the Jews, the boys that don't follow me, so now I say to you, whither I go ye cannot come. And you know, I think the bottom dropped out of their boat that night. They thought he was to be the king of Israel and set up the kingdom.

And here he is saying, I'm going away, and ye cannot come. And of course, sorrow filled their hearts. And John 14 opened with a tremendous statement, didn't it? Yes, here it is. It was an exhortation to them.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God. Believe also in me. You remember me expounding that for you? You see, the moment he said that he was going away and they couldn't come, well, sorrow filled their hearts.

And he's coming out with an exhortation. He says, Let not your hearts be troubled. We believe in God, whom ye cannot see. Well, can't you believe in me when you can't see me? And by that exhortation, he tried to remove the sorrow.

And when you come to John 15, he took an illustration. It was the vine and the branches, wasn't it? And he tried to illustrate for them just how the branch in spring, summer, autumn, and winter depended on a source that they couldn't see.

And from the exhortation and the illustration, he's trying to get them to fasten their capes on him, the blessed one they couldn't see. And now he comes to this wonderful proclamation. He's trying to undo the sorrow still.

Watch it. This is very lovely. Verse 7 of John 16. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

You see, this is a proclamation. Do you notice how the Lord worked through the chapters? By the moment that he touched this truth that he was going away, sorrow filled their hearts. And from the exhortation, he tries to get the faith unto him whom they cannot see.

And from the illustration of the vine and the branches, and now from this blessed proclamation, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come, but if I go, I will send him unto you. The Comforter was to come to remove the sorrow.

The Holy Spirit Glorifies Christ

Now watch this work of the Comforter. This work is in three parts in this wonderful chapter. We're only dealing with one part this evening. His work worldwide. Next Tuesday we'll be dealing with his work, his words, and then with his work, Christ's words.

What a wonderful work that is. Yes, to glorify Christ is the real work of the Holy Spirit. He shall glorify me, and whatever begins with he will end with me, Christ said, and when the Holy Ghost at work, the Christ of God is exalted.

But we're only dealing with the worldwide part. Now, this is the bit I think we need to take time with. Let's have a look at it. Verse 8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, then it is over it again, of sin because they believe not in me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and he'll see me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is dead.

Now, I want you to get the hold of this. The Holy Ghost has come, and he's come to do a work worldwide. And the first part of the work is this. It's to convince the world of sin. I don't want you to mix that up because I think that some of the young ones mix it up.

He hasn't come. He hasn't come to convince a man of sin. No. He has come to convince the world. He hasn't come to convince a man of sin. No. I think that's what you thought he had come to do, didn't you?

Well, he hasn't. The actual statement in the book is this, that he has come to convince the world of sin, of a particular sin, and he would enter the particular sin of sin because they believe not in me.

You know, I know that all kinds of sin is obnoxious to God. Of course I do. Everybody else knows that, too. You see, I used to drink very heavily when I was just a young fellow, sixteen, and I used to come home every night with God's hand, stupid drunk, and I would fall in the kitchen floor, and I would lie there till the morning, and about five o 'clock in the morning I would wake up, and I would be cold.

I'd be almost frozen with cold. I'd be stiff, and I'd be sore, and I'd be fed up. Whatever pennies I had, they were gone, and my health was going, and you didn't need the Holy Ghost from heaven to tell me I was a fool.

I knew that. Of course you didn't. Who'd take the Holy Ghost to come from heaven to tell a fellow like that he was a fool? They've got a wee bit of reasoning left. You know, they know that. Many times, you know, I pulled my coat round me, and when I am in the dark, I would say, well, I'll not be like this tonight.

And I meant it. But I was late that night again. You see, this thing was too many for me. It was bigger than I was. It was defeating me, but I knew I was a fool. You know, I went into the hospital the other day to see a wee lass of seventeen who has a baby, and she's got no father for him.

And she's lying broken hearted with her head down. She doesn't want to look up. It wouldn't take me to start to tell the wee lass that she's a fool. I never went to do that. She knows that some... She knows that only too well.

Who can help the fool? That's what I went for, to tell her one about one who can help her. She was a fool. Who's a fool, she knows that. Yes. My dear, I could grant all the sins on the count, and you can break them all.

And when you do, well, you know you're a fool, that's all. Think of a man that puts his hand in the drawer and takes the money from the firm. Smart fellow for a month or two. He'll wake up one of these days when the books are being checked, he's a fool, and he knows it.

The way I tell you this, you know there's a sin that this world committed, and it was this sin they put the Lord Jesus out of it. The whole world cries out that Christ is not here tonight. It's because the world doesn't want him.

And they don't, you know. They don't. Friend, I was in England last week preaching at Manchester, and I'd never seen Blackpool in my life, and I never want to see it again either. But I got my friend to take me down to see it.

And there are miles of wonderful display of gorgeous lights that will be seen I suppose nowhere else in this world. What a place. But behind the bright lights lit only in Christ the young fellow and the young rathorn.

Away in the background there's the evil from this sin that would surely prove their undoing. But take Christ to Blackpool, and they'll very soon tell you whether they want him or not. They don't want him.

It's worth this world's system that's ruled by the prince of this world. It doesn't want Christ tonight. They just go into a worldly factory and stand up for God every day, boy. Till you see it in your face of the world.

They don't want him. The world doesn't want him. But you know, this world, this world's system has a cloud in it. And they belong to the religious world. Oh, wait a wee minute now. Just don't run away with me.

Mine is a cloud of old, so-called pious hypocrites, I'll call them, with their hymns under their arms, and they're standing in the church squire, and they're guilty of deceit and foul. But they don't want Christ.

They don't want him. Oh, they can sing the hymns all right. And they can make lovely prayers, too. And they can read them out of a book for a week, too. But him, they don't want. Nor his teaching, nor his guidance, nor his lordship.

Friends, it's very hard to convince these people of their sin. And I believe that no mere shouting of my movement, it takes the mighty, dynamic power of the Holy Ghost they came for. That's what they came for.

To let this world know their sin. But he's going to let them know something else, isn't he? Not only their sin, but he came to convince the world of righteousness. Of righteousness, because I go to the Father.

You see, he has come to convince the world of sin, and to convince the world of righteousness. You see, he has gone out of the world, and he's not in the world tonight. He's with the Father on the throne, because he was the righteous one.

The one that this world didn't want is the one that the Father said, sit thou here until I lift thine enemies thy footstool. And it won't be long before God bows this world at his feet, you know. We're coming desperately close to it.

By one of these nights, Yeshua's, we're here, you know, Christoph is going to dig off. And he's determined to blast the American continent from end to end. And he's shouting today about doing in Britain first.

There's no notion of doing that. Not in your life, he hasn't. The first move he would make against Britain, the Americans would have him off the map. He'll have to deal with them first. And he knows that.

He's not sure it's all right. He's only bluffing his way. But one of these nights, he's going to pull off the bluff. And he'll hit America hard. And in that moment, they'll hit him back. And this old world will toss from stem to stern.

I know, my friends, that you unbelievers will be on your knees in some dark corner then, but it may be too late for you. Wait a wee minute. You know, the Holy Ghost has come, not only to convince the world of sin and of righteousness, but to convince them of judgment.

Because the Prince of this world is judged. Now, let me hold on to the word. Some of the young fellows here pray in the prayer meeting, and you've got it all wrong. You'll not mind me teaching you. That's what I'm here for.

Some nights I hear them praying in the prayer meeting. Oh, may the Lord send the Holy Ghost tonight to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come. There's no talk in this book just now at this place about judgment to come, sir.

He has come to convince the world of sin, of unbelief. They didn't want Christ. Of righteousness, because he'd gone to the Father. Of judgment, listen to it. Because the Prince of this world is judged.

Now, with you, I'll tell you something. You see, Christ's not in this world tonight. He's not on the cross now, hallelujah. And he's not in the tomb now, hallelujah. And he's out of this world and on the throne.

And the very fact that this world put him down into death and into the tomb, and the very fact that he got out, and the very fact that he went back, proves that the Prince of this world, who has the power of death, is judged.

It's printed at Calvary. He's judged. It's not judgment to come this year. It's judgment that Christ, the Prince of this world, is judged. The Holy Ghost has come to convince the world of their horrible sin, to convince the world of the righteousness of our Saviour, to convince the world that its very Prince, the one who controls the world system, the Prince of this world, is already judged.

The Spirit’s Work Through Believers

Dear friends, you know the Holy Ghost has come to do this through you and me. And next week we'll get into how he works with the believer to carry out the job. Let us dance again. Now, we'll not sing any more tonight.

I don't want to keep you too long. Take your time and bow at the feet of the Saviour. Dear Lord Jesus, we thank thee for all thy warnings and forewarnings to us. We thank thee that the host told us plainly that they would put us out of certain places.

Yea, and the time would come when evil men would kill us and even be so crooked and twisted as to think that in that moment they were doing God's pleasure. God pity them. Do God our Father, we thank thee that we realize tonight that our Saviour is on the throne and that he's been exalted far above all.

And in that exaltation he has tread upon the serpent's head and the battle is won. And we bless thee that he's the victor of this evening. And we thank thee, Lord, we thank thee humbly that we are numbered among that crowd that really loves him.

And we pray that thou wilt speak to any in this meeting who are without him, who would stand with the world tonight and dare to say, we don't want to. O God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, convince them of their sin tonight.

And for every believer, help us in these last, dark, closing days to be steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. And we pray thy blessing upon our brothers and ancestors in Spain this evening.

The Lord strengthen their hands. The Lord bless their efforts. The Lord own their witness. And grant that thy holy name will be glorified through them and us. Cast us in thy fear and with thy touch. For thy name's sake.

Amen.