Title: Gaining Through Loss/John 16:4-24
Gaining through loss of content/John 16:4-24
1. Fear of loss: verses 4-6
Life is a feeling of loss for the years gone by. When I quit a job I've been doing for a long time, I feel a sense of loss. I also feel the fear of losing all the economic stability and social position that I had been given through that job. I have a fear of breaking up with people I used to date. Looking at today's words, Jesus' disciples were also gripped by the fear of loss. When Jesus said that he would leave his disciples and go to the Father, the disciples were astonished. Jesus' disciples were full of dreams of taking Jesus to Jerusalem and establishing a new kingdom. But Jesus made the absurd statement that he would leave his disciples and go to the Father. They deliberately ignored the word that Jesus would leave them. No disciple asked Jesus what he meant. Neither of them talked about it at all.
Even though I have repeatedly said that I am leaving you and returning to my Father, Jesus said, “You do not ask questions and ignore them. You pretend not to hear, but your heart is full of anxieties and fears over losing Me.” said To the disciples, Jesus was the most precious person. The disciples sacrificed everything for themselves to be with Jesus. The disciples gave up their jobs and followed Jesus in order to follow Jesus' call. The disciples also left their families to follow Jesus. To the disciples, Jesus was their dream. For the disciples, Jesus was the center of their lives. To the disciples, Jesus was everything in their lives. But how absurd was it when Jesus said that he was going to leave his disciples? The disciples were gripped by the fear of loss. They were full of fear that Jesus would leave them. The disciples were suffering from the anguish of those who had lost what they valued most. We all have a fear of loss.
2. The spiritual fact of loss: verses 7-14
The disciples were gripped by the fear that if Jesus left them, they would lose the center of their lives and their lives would be ruined. They thought that if Jesus left them, their lives would be messed up because they would lose someone to depend on. They were gripped by the fear that if Jesus left them, their lives would be barren. To such disciples, Jesus gave these meaningful words.
First, Jesus tells us that when we lose something precious, we have a golden opportunity to receive the most precious gift from God. He spoke to the disciples who were gripped by the fear of loss about the reality of loss and the truth of the loss of those who are in Jesus. The fact is that when Jesus leaves, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will come to the disciples. Jesus' departure is not the loss of being deprived of the disciples, but rather the benefit of the disciples. The reason is that only when Jesus leaves his disciples must he send the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to become disciples who have fellowship with the Counselor and the Holy Spirit. Only when Jesus departs can the disciples become an opportunity to lead a leading life in God's work together with the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus. The disciples have the heart of God toward the world with the help of the Holy Spirit. And you will grow to be actively used in the work of God.
For those who are in Jesus, a loss is an opportunity to gain something greater. For those who are in Jesus, loss is a golden opportunity to receive the most important gift of God in our lives. So is our life. When we lose something we valued, it is the perfect opportunity to receive God's greatest gift. God gives us God Himself as a gift. When I lose something precious in my life, it is a golden opportunity to receive God Himself as a gift. Please receive the Holy Spirit as a gift right away. Losing becomes an opportunity to gain something more precious.
Second, before Jesus left, the disciples simply passively followed Jesus' teachings. The disciples did not have the heart of God. But when Jesus left them and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, deep fellowship and fellowship with the Holy Spirit that came upon the disciples began. It is through loss that you gain an understanding of the world and your own life. Also, through losing, you gain awareness of your attitude to life. You can't get the realization of your own life and the world for free. Through the loss, we gain the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, we gain a deeper understanding of our spiritual life.
Third, there are important things to be gained through the pain of loss. That's prayer. Through the experience of loss, we pray to God. You will earnestly pray to God. Pray in the midst of the pain of loss. We pray because there is nothing we can do but pray. So, when I lose what I had, the precious thing I get is that my life will be connected with the power of God the Creator. That is why you are transformed into a person who grabs and uses the power of God the Creator. It is a precious treasure that people who have lost and suffered the pain of loss get.
Jesus was always with his disciples. So there was no need for them to ask and pray. So are we. We cannot become a person of prayer who earnestly seeks what we need and what is precious to us by our side. But only when we lose what we enjoyed, what we thought we were enjoying, we begin to pray. When you lose the health you took for granted, you will receive prayer. When you lose the job you took for granted, you will find prayer. When you lose a precious person you took for granted, you will receive prayer. To be connected with the power of God the Creator and to experience God's power is to become a person of prayer. The surest thing to gain when we lose is to gain a life that is connected with the power of our Creator Heavenly Father.
Dear saints, there are many things that are lost in our lives today. There are many things in our lives that are considered too difficult. I hope that you will become the saints who pray to be connected with the Creator God at this time when you feel that there is a lot of lost, difficult and difficult things. I bless you as believers who can meet the living God through prayer and experience the great and mysterious things that God gives them.