Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 45
J ohn 1 5 : 1 1
11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled
with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my
commandment: Love each other in the same way I
have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to
lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my
friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call
you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his
slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you
everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose
me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce
lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever
you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command:
Love each other.
The World’s Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me
first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own
if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of
the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so
it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A
slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And
if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they
have rejected the one who sent me. 22 They would not
be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But
now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who
hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such
miraculous signs among them that no one else could
do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen
everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.
25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures*:
‘They hated me without cause.’
26 “But I will send you the Advocate*—the Spirit of
truth. He will come to you from the Father and will
testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about
me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.
16
“I have told you these things so that you
won’t abandon your faith. 2 For you will be
expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are
1306
doing a holy service for God. 3 This is because they
have never known the Father or me. 4 Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell
you earlier because I was going to be with you for
a while longer.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 “But
now I am going away to the one who sent me,
and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But
in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I
don’t, the Advocate* won’t come. If I do go away, then
I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will
convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin
is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is
available because I go to the Father, and you will see
me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler
of this world has already been judged.
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but
you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth
comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not
speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.
He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me
glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why
I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives
from me.’
Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy
16 “In
a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a
little while after that, you will see me again.”
17 Some of the disciples asked each other, “What
does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t
see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to
the Father’? 18 And what does he mean by ‘a little
while’? We don’t understand.”
19 Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it,
so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant?
I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little
while after that you will see me again. 20 I tell you the
truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going
LIVING INSIGHTS
15:25 Greek in their law. Pss 35:19; 69:4. 15:26 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete. 16:7 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek
reads Paraclete.
LOVE EACH OTHER John 15:12 Let me show you a
REMEMBER John 16:4 Christians are notorious for
couple things about this command. First, it’s in the present
tense: “Love each other.” Keep on loving one another. Not
just at C
hristmas—anybody can love around a Christmas
tree. Even the world does that! But keep on loving each
other two days after Christmas when the blahs set in, and
then all through the rest of the year.
Second, notice the comparison: “. . . in the same way I
have loved you.” That’s our pattern. You say, “How do I know
how much I’m supposed to love others?” Well, look to Jesus
Christ. How much did He love you? He loved you with the
maximum amount of love. There’s the answer.
remembering what we ought to forget and forgetting what
we ought to remember. You can remember every dirty
thing you’ve done that the Lord has already forgiven, but
you can’t remember the very promises that will help you
to remain faithful in these faithless times. We’re fixed
with that kind of a mind-set. But don’t be that way. Don’t
forget. Remember!
