Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of John Chapter 16
Metaphysically Interpreting John 16:1-4a
16:1These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. 16:2They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. 16:3And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 16:4But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you.
Metaphysically Interpreting John 16:4b-15
And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. 16:5But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?16:6But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 16:7Nevertheless 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 go, I will send him unto you.16:8And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 16:9of sin, because they believe not on me; 16:10of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; 16:11of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.
16:12I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 16:13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. 16:14He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you. 16:15All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.
December 30, 1917: John 16:4-15
What in reality is man? Man is in reality an Idea in Divine Mind.
What is this Divine Idea Man called? The Divine Idea Man is called the Christ, or Son of God.
What is the Son of Man? The Son of Man is the manifestation of the Son of God.
How are these terms applied to Jesus? The man, Jesus, is the manifestation of the Christ, or the perfect expression of the Father-Mind's Idea of man. Therefore he is called Jesus Christ.
How can the Father and Son be one? The Father and Son are one, just as mind and its idea are one. Each have separate identity, yet are indissoluble.
What is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the activity in Substance of Divine Mind, manifesting under the Perfect Law. What men call the Law of Nature is on its spiritual side the Holy Spirit.
What names did Jesus give the Holy Spirit? Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth.
What transforming work in the earth is now being done by the Holy Spirit? The earth is now being judged and convicted “in respect of sin, and of righteousness” by the Holy Spirit, as Jesus foretold.
What consciousness must man attain in order that Love may fulfill all law? Man must attain the consciousness of the unity of all men in the One Mind. He must realize that his every thought must harmonize with the Great Universal Consciousness in which we all live, move and have our being.
Sunday, January 27, 1929: John 16:7-11
Why did Jesus tell His disciples that it was expedient that He go away that the Comforter might come? Jesus realized that, so long as He remained manifest in material form to His followers, they would continue to focus all their attention on Him in a personal way, that thus they would fail to recognize the Spirit of truth within themselves. In order to overcome as Jesus overcame, it was necessary that they should consciously know the power and presence of Spirit; hence arose the necessity that Jesus disappear from their mortal vision.
Jesus said that the Comforter (the Spirit of truth) would “convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” Explain. The Spirit of truth quickens the conscience of man, which, as Paul says, has been seared over as with a hot iron. When the sinner realizes or uncovers his sin, he is in position to be forgiven. Spirit then reveals the right way to think and to live. Such righteous thought and life yield the fruits of righteousness.
Must man overcome all sin? Yes. Sinlessness is taught in the Bible and man must demonstrate it. When ill-temper, vanity, greed, selfishness, or error of any other kind appears, it should be denied, and the love, unselfishness, purity, uprightness, and integrity of the higher self should be affirmed, until the Christ righteousness is fully realized and demonstrated.
June 9, 1935: John 16:7-11
State the metaphysical conception of the Trinity. Divine Mind (the Father), the perfect Idea of that mind (the Son) the activity of this idea in the universe and in man (the Holy Spirit) form the Trinity.
Why must we put aside the thought of personality in connection with Jesus? To overcome as Jesus overcame, we must rid ourselves of all thought of personality, and center our thought in the Christ principle. Thus the presence and power of the Spirit become known to us.
In what way did the going away of Jesus bring comfort to his Disciples? When the Disciples no longer had Jesus with them in person, they learned to recognize the Spirit of Truth in themselves and to be comforted and guided by it.
What is the work of the Holy Spirit? “And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
How does the Holy Spirit, the comforter, convict the world in respect of sin? In every man is the ideal or Christ self and the false or natural self. The world recognizes as real the natural self, and is in ignorance of the Christ self. The Holy Spirit reveals this mistaken belief and restores faith to its rightful foundation.
What follows when we are convicted of righteousness? We know ourselves as one with the Father, and inseparable from Him, pure, sinless, and perfect.
Is sinlessness possible to man? Through the activity of the Holy Spirit in him, man can demonstrate sinlessness. This is a demonstration of complete unification with the Christ mind.
How is the world convicted of judgment? Sin is a falling short of the mark, and every one who falls short brings upon himself the accompanying penalty. The one who sees the connection between sin and its results is convicted of judgment and is eager to do right.
Sunday, March 14, 1937: John 16:5-7
In what does the work of the metaphysician consist? The chief work of the metaphysician is to understand his own feelings, know his own thought, and choose the consciousness in which he wishes to live, by controlling and determining the thoughts and feelings that he entertains.
How do we realize the Holy Spirit consciousness? We must first learn to stand alone. To depend on another for mental or moral support puts personality between us and the realization of the Holy Spirit. “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter, will not come unto you.”
Explain how the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) came to the disciples after Jesus was no longer with them in physical form. The Comforter came to them through their own minds, revealing to them what Jesus had tried to show them before, but which they could not see while He was with them.
Metaphysically Interpreting John 16:16-24
16:16A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again a little while, and ye shall see me. 16:17Some of his disciples therefore said one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; and again a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 16:18They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith. 16:19Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? 16:20Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.16:21A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. 16:22And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. 16:23And in that day ye shall ask me no question. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. 16:24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.
Metaphysically Interpreting John 16:25-33
16:25These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. 16:26In that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; 16:27for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 16:28I came out from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father.
16:29His disciples say, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no dark saying. 16:30Now know we that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. 16:31Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 16:32Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 16:33These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-03-2014
