Hard Times Ahead

Jn 15:18-16:16

Bill Price

 

There are many proofs to which we might point to confirm the truth and reliability of scripture.  There is the proof of fulfilled prophecy; there is the proof of eyewitness testimony; there is the proof of dramatically changed lives.  But perhaps one of the strongest arguments for the truth of the Bible is its honesty.  If Jesus were just another charlatan seeking to gain popularity and make a name for himself on the world’s stage, he would have painted rosy pictures of all the benefits of following him.  He would have described the Christian life as one of ease, where all problems are solved and there’s never any pain or conflict.  If Jesus were a fake, he either would have made very different promises to his followers than the ones we find recorded in John 15, or he simply would have kept them in the dark about the terrors that would befall them for their allegiance to him. 

 

Rather, Jesus was painfully honest about the cost of discipleship.  At the very outset of his ministry, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount promised:

 

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Mt 5:11-12)

 

On another occasion, Jesus predicted:

 

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  (Mt 10:21-22)

 

John 15 is about essential relationships.  Jesus spoke these words knowing that he had but a few brief hours remaining with his disciples.  The words recorded here were probably spoken between the Last Supper and Christ’s arrest in Gethsemane.  In these final moments, Jesus put the finishing touches on the three-year discipleship process that he has invested in these men, and as with all effective discipleship, relationships are the key.  In the last lesson based on the first half of John 15, Jesus described the three-part relationship that exists between himself, his Father and the disciples.  Jesus stressed the essential nature of the relationship by telling his disciples:

 

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  (Jn 15:5)

 

In today’s lesson, Jesus continues his teaching about essential relationships, but here describes the relationships between his followers, the world and the Holy Spirit. 

 

There’s an outline in your bulletin if you’d like to follow along.  Let’s begin by introducing the key players in this passage who comprise

 

I  The Cast

 

This section bears the unmistakable marks of John’s literary style, one that finds its highest expression in the epistle of I John.  Rather than introducing one concept and then moving on to the next like separate chapters in a book, John is fond of weaving subjects together to explore the dynamic relationships between the characters.  In I John the themes of godly living, love for other believers and a correct doctrine of Jesus tumble over one other time and time again as John helps the early church discern between true believers and false teachers.  Here in John 15, he describes the world, the church and the Holy Spirit in much the same fashion; our understanding grows as the characters are introduced and reintroduced.  The first character Jesus describes is:

 

A.  the world.  The Greek word used here is cosmos, and the world is a central theme in John’s New Testament writings.  In this gospel and later his epistle, John uses the term 58 times; far more than any other New Testament writer.  We are told that the world hates Jesus and his church, so who is “the world”?

 

When cosmos appears in John’s writings, he is referring to any system of human organization that is willfully ignorant of or opposed to God.  Picture in your mind the scene of Jesus hanging on the cross at Mt. Calvary.  If we were to take a snapshot of Christ’s crucifixion, the cosmos would be represented by three groups who were present there; and unrestrained hatred toward Christ would be the central theme.  Who do we find in our picture?

 

First, we find common people.  Fallen mankind rejected the rule of God and chose to crucify God’s Son rather than repenting of their sin.  After all, the same people who shouted “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” later cried out, “Crucify him!  His blood be on us and on our children!”

 

Secondly, we find human government, here represented by Pilate and the Roman soldiers.  Cosmos includes political systems that deny the ultimate authority of God and use their power to oppress and enslave people.

 

Thirdly, we find organized religion represented by the Jewish religious rulers who concluded that “It [would be] better…that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."  Organized religion that has a form of godliness but alienates people from the love of God is a part of the cosmos.  In this context, Jesus told his disciples that

 

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. (Jn 15:18)

 

All three elements of a godless world were arrayed against Christ at his death.  The second character described by Jesus is

 

B.  the church.  To find Jesus’ description of the church, we need to look at the verses that precede this week’s text.  Jesus says some wonderfully reassuring things to his disciples and, by extension, to us.  First, Jesus says that he loves his followers as deeply as the Father loves him.  Verse 9 says:

 

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. (Jn 15:9)

 

Second, Jesus says that we are his friends.  Verse 15 says:

 

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends… (Jn 15:15)

 

Third, Jesus says that we are specially chosen out of the cosmos.  Verse 16 says:

 

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit… (Jn 15:16)

 

C.  The third character in the cast is the Holy Spirit.  This is the third time Jesus has spoken of the Spirit’s future work.  Jesus’ understanding and description of the Holy Spirit was astounding to the disciples.  Remember, this was spoken before Pentecost, the day when the Spirit descended on all the believers and the early church was born.  The disciples had a very limited knowledge of the Holy Spirit, based on a handful of Old Testament prophecies.  In old days, the Spirit would appear very occasionally and then only to specific individuals for a brief time.  Jesus was describing an ongoing relationship between the Spirit and the disciples that was beyond their comprehension. 

 

Now that we’ve been introduced to the cast, let’s take a moment to explore Jesus’ teaching about these relationships.  We begin with

 

II.  The World’s hatred for the Church

 

Jesus described the violent hatred the world has for the church.  He predicted:

 

They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.  (Jn 16:2)

 

Being “put out of the synagogue” doesn’t seem like a big deal to us in a day when our job may relocate us to a new city and we might spend months visiting various churches to find one we like.  This was not the case for the Jews; to be excommunicated from the synagogue was to be separated from God.  The synagogue was where God’s Word was read and explained; the synagogue was where sacrifice was made and God was worshiped.  To be “put out of the synagogue” was a spiritual death sentence. 

 

The disciples were already shaken at the pronouncement of Jesus’ imminent departure.  Just moments before he had said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God – trust also in me.”  But now their terror must have intensified as Jesus adds, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” 

 

This prophecy soon found its fulfillment in the person of Saul of Tarsus, later known as the Apostle Paul.  Believing he was doing God’s will, he zealously persecuted members of this new anti-Jewish cult.  Jesus had predicted that the early church would be hated because Jesus was hated.  Do you remember what Jesus said to Paul after knocking him off his horse with a blinding light?  Even though Saul was rounding up Christians and Jesus had been physically gone from the earth for several years by this time, he said:

 

Saul! Saul!  Why do you persecute me?  (Acts 9:4)

 

…clearly identifying himself with the Christians who were being harassed. 

 

Jesus give us two reasons why the church is hated by the world.  First,

 

A.  because we love Jesus. 

 

Verses 20-21 draw a clear connection between the Father, the Son and the church.

 

Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.  They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.  He who hates me hates my Father as well. (Jn 15:20-21, 23)

 

Jesus’ teaching here is that the world hated him because they also hated his Father, and that his followers would be hated because of their affiliation with Christ.   Secondly, the world hates the church

 

B.  because we are chosen by God.  Verse 19 says,

 

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.  (Jn 15:19)

 

The origins of our word “church” reflects this concept of being chosen by God.  The root word in Greek is kaleo.  The word means “called” and appears in two important ways.  The word for “church” is ek-kaleo, meaning “called out.”  This is where we get the word “ecclesiastical.”  Later on in this text, a different prefix is used where the Holy Spirit is called the para-kaleo, the one “called beside.” 

 

God has chosen and called unto himself men and women from every language, tribe and nation, and this choosing by a sovereign God is a source of hatred by the world. 

 

We’re all familiar with the persecution faced by the early church.  We know about Diocletian and Nero, Roman emperors who sought to destroy Christianity.  We know about Christians thrown to lions as sport in the Roman coliseum, of believers who cowered in fear in the Roman catacombs; but that kind of hatred is distantly removed from us.  In 2000 years, Christianity has largely been accommodated into today’s culture.  The worst persecution we may face are delays in getting a building permit for a new church, and that hardly equates with being fed to the lions.  So it’s fair for us to ask, are Jesus’ words still true today?  Does the world still hate Jesus and his church? 

 

The answer is “yes,” although we are certainly less aware of that hatred here in America.  Whether you hold to the view that America was ever a “Christian nation” or not, it is clear that the biblical principles of our nation’s founding, a belief in the existence of God, an acknowledgement that mankind was created by God and the belief in a divine right to a freedom of worship, have provided for us an environment where we can live in relative peace and safety. 

 

In other countries however, this is not the case.  On this very day, many of our brothers and sisters around the world will suffer imprisonment and death because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  In many countries, missionaries share the gospel at peril of their lives.  In Muslim nations, a convert to Christianity will at the very least be ostracized from their society if they are not actually murdered for their faith.  Religious systems that worship false gods and godless human governments still hate Jesus.  We should pray for God’s sustaining Spirit to bless and protect those who do not enjoy the freedoms that we have.  The second relationship described by Jesus in this passage is

 

II.  The Spirit’s work within the church.

 

Jesus is preparing his followers for the time when he would be absent.  They must have found it difficult to understand Jesus’ statement that it would be good for him to leave, because he was going to send another paraclete, someone like himself called to walk beside the disciples.  We should remember that the disciples had no frame of reference for the kind of personal, permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus described.  There had been a couple of references to a future baptism of the Holy Spirit by the prophets, but nothing like this had ever been known before.  In previous chapters, Jesus has described the Holy Spirit as a comforter, a counselor, a teacher and a guide.  Now he enhances their understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit.  First,

 

A.  He testifies about Jesus and empowers the disciples’ testimony.  Verses 26-27 say,

 

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.  (Jn 15:26-27)

 

Since God in the human form of Jesus was not present before Jesus’ birth, Old Testament believers (including the disciples) did not have an understanding of God as Three-In-One.  The doctrine of the trinity was developed later by the early church fathers, largely as a result of Jesus’ teaching in this passage.  And don’t let anyone ever tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God; the Pharisees completely understood his assertions and considered his words blasphemy – the very reason why they sought to kill him.  You’ll remember that Jesus said to Philip:

 

Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  (Jn 14:9)

 

 

Verse 26 appears to contain a contradiction; Jesus says, “I will send the Spirit,” and then “he goes out from the Father.”  There is no contradiction if indeed Jesus and the Father are one.  And if this Spirit is proceeding from the very essence of Father and Son, then He also must be God. 

 

The Holy Spirit’s role within the church is to communicate to us the truth about Jesus.  The fullest expression of the Father is found in Jesus, and the fullest expression of Jesus is found in his Word, the Bible.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to help us clearly see the portrait of Christ contained in the Bible.  Each reading of the scripture should begin with a prayer of illumination; a prayer asking that the Spirit will direct our thoughts, allowing us to see Jesus as he really is and conforming us to Christ’s likeness.  Secondly, Jesus says that

 

B.  He (the Holy Spirit) is called beside us as a counselor and advocate.  Verse 13 says,

 

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  (Jn 16:13)

 

I mentioned earlier that the word used for the Holy Spirit is para-kaleo or “paraclete”; the “one called beside.”  This legal term is also used once to refer to the work of Jesus.  I John 2:1 says,

 

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate (paraclete) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  (I Jn 2:1)

 

If you’ve ever been involved in a law suit, you know that the wisest thing you can do is hire a competent attorney and keep your mouth shut.  Your paraclete is there to prepare you for the trial and to tell you what to say when you are examined.  This precisely describes the Holy Spirit’s work on our behalf.  He testifies to us about Jesus and assists us in our testimony to the world.  The disciples must have been concerned about how they were going to carry on successfully after Christ’s departure.  But earlier on this same evening Jesus reassured his disciples, telling them,

 

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (Jn 14:25-26)

 

We come now to the final relationship described by Christ in this passage:

 

III.  The Spirit’s witness against the world (15:22-25; 16:8-11)

 

The same Spirit that is called the Counselor and has a supporting, encouraging role to the church has a very different, adversarial role with the world.  Just like Jesus, he is described as coming from the Father, so the first thing we see here is that

 

A.  He speaks in concert with Christ. 

 

Being co-eternal with the Father and the Son, we should not be surprised that he and Jesus act and speak in concert with one another just as Jesus acted and spoke in concert with the Father.  Here’s the way Jesus described the world’s response to his words and his works: 

 

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well.   

 

If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.  (Jn 15:22-24)

 

Jesus is telling us here that the world now has a full awareness of their guilt because of his teachings, words that were validated by his miraculous works.  Jesus came to bring light, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  Jesus came to bring the knowledge of the heavenly Father, but men chose bondage to Satan rather than freedom with God.  For all this, the world hated Jesus and God.  Secondly, we see that

 

B.  He (the Spirit) convicts the world of its guilt

 

Jesus predicted that the Holy Spirit’s relationship with the world would be equally confrontational. 

 

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment… (Jn 16:8)

 

The word translated “convict” here is another legal term; this time it describes the attack of the prosecuting attorney.  John used this same word earlier to describe the conviction of heart felt by those Pharisees who were so guilt-stricken that they could not hurl a stone at the adulterous woman.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of its guilt in three areas.

 

1.  First, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its guilt regarding sin.  Jesus said,

 

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me… (Jn 16:8-9)

 

The people who crucified Jesus did not know they were sinning.  Jesus himself said,

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  On the day of Pentecost however, Peter preached under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, declaring,

…let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart… (Act 2:36-37)

The role of the Holy Spirit is to cut people to the heart regarding their sin against God. 

 

People sometime ask, “Can God forgive murder?”  “Will God forgive my adultery?”  “Does God forgive suicide?”  “What is the ‘unpardonable sin’?”  Jesus answers that question here; the unforgivable sin is the sin of unbelief.  Anything else a person might do may be forgiven; but ultimately the sin that consigns a person to hell is the failure to believe in Jesus.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin because it does not believe in Jesus.

 

2.  Secondly, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its guilt regarding righteousness. 

 

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to…righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer… (Jn 16:8-9)

 

Spurgeon pictured this passage as a legal proceeding where a man is found guilty and convicted of sin.  In a typical courtroom, the next step is to determine the man’s punishment and execute the sentence.  In the courtroom of divine justice, however, God offers one last chance for mercy.  After the guilty verdict is declared and all hope is lost, the prosecuting attorney, the Holy Spirit, looks upward and points to Christ.  In perfect righteousness, Christ has gone to the Father.  If the convicted sinner will but look to Christ and ask for forgiveness, he will be freely pardoned and immediately transported spiritually into Christ’s presence.  This is amazing grace!  Forgiveness and pardon are so near, even to the world that hates Jesus.

 

3.  Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its guilt regarding judgment.  Jesus said,

 

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt…in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.  (Jn 16:8-11)

 

If we may say that a Christian is saved because they have put their hope in Christ, we may also say that an unbeliever is lost because they have put their hope in Satan.  There are only two choices; you must obey either Christ or Satan.  The world is convinced of their guilt in regard to judgment because the one in whom they have put their trust has been utterly defeated.  Satan must have danced with glee when Jesus died on the cross, but at the moment God summoned his Son back from death, final judgment was passed, Satan’s condemnation was secured, and with him all the world opposed to Jesus stands condemned. 

 

The world hates the followers of Christ; the Spirit comforts and strengthens believers for service; and the Spirit convicts the world of its guilt. 

 

So we, the modern church, are left with a dilemma.  What is the proper relationship between the church and current world culture?  Do we accommodate culture?  If so, to what extent?  Do we change the way we speak and act to be culturally relevant?  Do we “become all things to all people”?  Should we soften the edges of our exclusive doctrine a bit, allowing that other world religions may have something to add to man’s quest to know God? 

 

Or, do we fight back and resist culture?  Do we take a firm political stand and fight to retain our moral heritage?  Do we affirm that the world is polluted and condemned?  Do we retreat from the world become separatists?  After all, John said that we should “not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  How can we be missionaries and monastics at the same time?

 

Jesus told us that we are “in the world, but not of the world,” and the church, both individually and corporately, has wrestled with the practical implications of that statement for nearly 2000 years.  As in all things, the life of Jesus Christ described in the gospels should be our guide, but Jesus was at the same time confrontational and compassionate.  Jesus’ life among us was a light that overcame darkness.  His personal holiness and love of God stood out in stark contrast to the lifeless religion of the Pharisees.  He confronted hatred, selfishness and prejudice.  His very presence was a reproof to the world, convicting it of its sin, and for that they hated him.

 

Yet at the same time, Jesus was the perfect embodiment of divine love and grace.  He met people’s needs and told them of his Father’s kingdom.  He laughed and dined with people and loved little children.  He wept with those who faced the pain of death.  He led with gentle grace and sincerely loved the person standing in front of him. 

 

Even though living as strangers and pilgrims amidst a world that hates us, may we love God and serve people in such a way that our lives will be a light that will guide all men to the savior, Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hard Times Ahead

 

One of the most difficult teachings of Christ to understand is his statement that Christians are “in the world, but not of the world.”  The same apostle John who wrote, “For God so loved the world…” also wrote, “Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world.”  Christians of every age have wrestled to understand a proper relationship between Christ and culture. 

 

I.                    The Cast

A.     The world

1.      common people

2.      human government

3.      organized religion

B.     The church

C.     The Spirit

II.                 The world’s hatred for the church (15:18-21; 16:1-4)

A.     Because we love Jesus (18)

B.     Because we are chosen by God (19-21)

III.               The Spirit’s work within the church (15:26-27)

A.     He comes from the Father and the Son

B.     He is called beside us as a counselor and advocate (16:13-15)

IV.              The Spirit’s witness against the world (16:8-11)

A.     He speaks in concert with Christ (15:22-25)

B.     He convicts the world of its guilt regarding

1.      sin

2.      righteousness

3.      judgment