[We apologize for the truncated recording. Our A/V team encountered technical difficulties during service which resulted in the loss of about half of the sermon.]

The main idea of John 16 is best captured in the identity of Jesus as our Guardian. This idea is seen in vv 1-15 in that Jesus guards us from stumbling (vv 1-4a), from helplessness (vv 4b-11), and from ignorance (vv 12-15). In this first installment of our studies from John 16, we see how Jesus guards His disciples with His prescience (or foreknowledge) of their future persecution. Moreover, we see how Jesus also foretold us of the more general trials of life for His people (“tribulation” or “affliction” of 16:33). Amid all the trials of life, Jesus guards us from the greatest danger, the danger of falling away. He preserves His own to the very and He does so through means.