Opposition

Opposition - John 15:18 - 16:4 June 25, 2023 Back in High School, I took two semesters of Speech. While we mostly dealt with the act of public speaking, we also had several debates. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of arguing and debating because I've seen some nasty debates before. People insulting one another, name-calling, revealing secrets, you name it. But, in debate, the reality of the world reveals itself - there will always be opposing views. Will that ever change? Probably not. Is this normal? Yes. Jesus will plainly teach us this morning, that being a follower of Jesus will bring on opposition. By the end of our passage and time together this morning, we will learn what to do when the world opposes us. Let's see what the Lord has to say to His disciples about this topic beginning at verse 18 of chapter 15: 15:18 "IF THE WORLD HATES YOU, KNOW THAT IT HAS HATED ME BEFORE IT HATED YOU. 19 IF YOU WERE OF THE WORLD, THE WORLD WOULD LOVE YOU AS ITS OWN; BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT OF THE WORLD, BUT I CHOSE YOU OUT OF THE WORLD, THEREFORE THE WORLD HATES YOU. 20 REMEMBER THE WORD THAT I SAID TO YOU: 'A SERVANT IS NOT GREATER THAN HIS MASTER.' IF THEY PERSECUTED ME, THEY WILL ALSO PERSECUTE YOU. IF THEY KEPT MY WORD, THEY WILL ALSO KEEP YOURS. 21 BUT ALL THESE THINGS THEY WILL DO TO YOU ON ACCOUNT OF MY NAME, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT KNOW HIM WHO SENT ME. 22 IF I HAD NOT COME AND SPOKEN TO THEM, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF SIN, BUT NOW THEY HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR THEIR SIN. 23 WHOEVER HATES ME HATES MY FATHER ALSO. 24 IF I HAD NOT DONE AMONG THEM THE WORKS THAT NO ONE ELSE DID, THEY WOULD NOT BE GUILTY OF SIN, BUT NOW THEY HAVE SEEN AND HATED BOTH ME AND MY FATHER. 25 BUT THE WORD THAT IS WRITTEN IN THEIR LAW MUST BE FULFILLED: 'THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.' 26 "BUT WHEN THE HELPER COMES, WHOM I WILL SEND TO YOU FROM THE FATHER, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, WHO PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER, HE WILL BEAR WITNESS ABOUT ME. 27 AND YOU ALSO WILL BEAR WITNESS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ME FROM THE BEGINNING. 16:1 "I HAVE SAID ALL THESE THINGS TO YOU TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING AWAY. 2 THEY WILL PUT YOU OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUES. INDEED, THE HOUR IS COMING WHEN WHOEVER KILLS YOU WILL THINK HE IS OFFERING SERVICE TO GOD. 3 AND THEY WILL DO THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE FATHER, NOR ME. 4 BUT I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU, THAT WHEN THEIR HOUR COMES YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT I TOLD THEM TO YOU. First things first. As a reminder, when we read this passage it is important to remember that Jesus is speaking directly to His disciples, presumably the twelve, as He prepares them for His departure. In fact, in chapter 18, Jesus gets betrayed, leading to His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. Really, this entire sermon series is leading up to that point in Jesus's ministry. Recall that Jesus began this discourse with these words from John 14:1: LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. BELIEVE IN GOD; BELIEVE ALSO IN ME. Jesus knew that the disciple's lives were about to be turned upside down. This is why, later in verse 16, Jesus promises them another Helper. If you remember from Pat's sermon, the idea of "another" means something along the lines of "another of the same kind." Verses 25-26 of chapter 14 reveal that Jesus was telling them about these things for a purpose. First, so they would know what was to happen while He was still with them, and second, the Holy Spirit (the Helper from verse 16) will teach them and cause them to remember His words. So, Jesus, in preparation for Himself personally, is also preparing His disciples for their future as well. What's difficult to see in the English is how we are to interpret and understand the word "if" here. The ESV uses the word 6 times, and it doesn't mean what we initially would think it to mean. This word in the Greek implies that it will happen. As we look closer at this passage, we come across the term "world." Jesus is separating the occupants of the earth as we know it. Those who abide in Christ, and those who abide in the world. What He is saying here is that these two worlds, and occupants, are naturally opposed to one another. I read Psalm 53 last week, in the opening verse it speaks to the fact that there is no one good, and in the closing verse, the psalmist calls for a savior. This shows us that there is indeed, only two sides, and they must oppose one another. It's inevitable. So, Jesus lays out the disciple's future for them. Church history reveals that each of the twelve, except John, were martyred for their faith, and for their role in carrying out Christ's mission. So, when Jesus opened with the words, ""IF THE WORLD HATES YOU, KNOW THAT IT HAS HATED ME BEFORE IT HATED YOU." It was a warning and an encouragement to them. That leads us to our main idea: The world opposes us because the world opposes Jesus. It's possible that you do not feel opposed. It's very likely that that you won't face the type of persecution that the disciples did. But, don't stop listening yet. Rather, let's spend some time discussing ... THE CHARACTERISTICS OF OPPOSITION: * First characteristic is Hate (15:18-19) o It's worth a reminder that Christ was hated for Who He claimed to be, what He said, and at times, how He said it. Remember, He battled the religious leaders of the day, and was eventually killed for it. o The word "hate" here is used in the present tense, meaning it is a continued hatred from the world. o Notice the progression that Jesus uses in this section. He begins first with the disciples, then to Himself, and later states that hating Him means that they also hate the Father. * Effectively, what has happened here is that the hatred that led Jesus to death on a cross, was transferred to those who live for Him. o What does this "hate" look like in the Christian community today? * I read something that in Finland, one lawmaker took the Bible to court - so to speak - as she claimed it was hate speech. o Today, when a Christian speaks up for his or her Biblically based values, they are labeled as a bigot or accused of using hateful language. o This isn't the first time Jesus warned the saints of this, in fact, in Luke 6:22-23 Jesus said: 22 "BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE HATE YOU AND WHEN THEY EXCLUDE YOU AND REVILE YOU AND SPURN YOUR NAME AS EVIL, ON ACCOUNT OF THE SON OF MAN! 23 REJOICE IN THAT DAY, AND LEAP FOR JOY, FOR BEHOLD, YOUR REWARD IS GREAT IN HEAVEN; FOR SO THEIR FATHERS DID TO THE PROPHETS. o I've been thinking about this a lot this week, and I realized that because we are social beings, we want to be accepted and liked by others. Particularly the ones who we are around the most. o In fact, one book I finished up last week had an entire chapter on worldliness - and he reminded me that because we want to be liked so much, we tend to become like those around us. Those lines quickly begin to blur, and he contended that that may very well be a reason that the US does not face the hatred that much of the world faces. o The next characteristic is a product of hate is ... * Persecution (15:20) o Someone said that the fruit of hatred is persecution. o Once again, it isn't too bad here in the US, but think about the rest of the world. o opendoors.org records that one in seven Christians are persecuted worldwide, one in five Christians are persecuted in Africa, and two in five Christians ae persecuted in Asia. o Once again, this should not be a surprise to Jesus's disciples, as it was introduced even as early as the Sermon on the Mount. o Jesus also revealed the Jewish leader's opposition of Him. o In 16:1-4 Jesus reveals some of the specific areas in which they will be persecuted: * They will be put out from the synagogues * What does this mean? * In effect, they are being removed from the place in which they communicate their message. * In more modern language - they are being censored. o Didn't they start doing this back in the 1960's, when they removed Bibles from schools? o Some court houses have removed the Ten Commandments from their grounds and buildings. o Then, as we've seen ... * They will be killed * We won't need to spend any more time here, as we discussed this previously. * Note, however, that this is very specific to those who think they are killing for God. o One cannot help but think of Saul, who was later named Paul and became the most influential Christian in history. * This is a hard warning from Christ to His faithful saints. o But why are Jesus's followers persecuted? * Verse 21 reveals that it's because they do not know God. o This leads to the third characteristic of opposition: * They are loved by the world (15:19) o So again, we see these two naturally opposing sides. o Whether we like it or not, there will always be right and wrong, good and bad. o This reminds me that we must be okay with being different. o We must be okay with losing friends and relationships with others because of our faith. * We need to be careful here, though. * We don't want to be hated because we treat others poorly. * I specifically have in mind a group of street preachers I saw one day. Holding up signs that speak of God as a hater of a certain group of people. * I thought to myself, do they really believe that they can lead people to Christ in that way? Through name calling? Insults? * 2 Corinthians 5 reminds us that we are to only judge those inside of the church, and Galatians 6 reminds us that we are to do so with a spirit of gentleness. o We touched earlier on this idea of the "world." Everyone has a worldview. A worldview, as author Ethan Pope puts it: "is viewing the world, the beginning of the world, people in the world, the problems in the world, governments in the worlds, issues in the world, solutions for the problems in the world, and the future of the world - through God's Word." o This means that everything that we do, should be decided on and acted on through the lens of the Word of God. o You want to know why the world hates us? Because when we live lives with a Biblical worldview, we will not see the world they way the world sees it. The world is and will be opposed to the Word of God. I know, this has been a heavy sermon. Why would I want to follow Jesus if I will be hated, or persecuted, or both?! That's a good question. Bible teacher Grant Osborne said that this section could be titled, "the cost of discipleship," as it clearly states that following Christ comes with a great cost. Well, it does. Jesus Himself said that His ministry will divide. Friends might think you're weird and they no longer want to be associated with you. Co-workers might avoid you because they saw you praying over your lunch one day. You may lose some of your family relationships because you chose to follow Jesus. It will happen. We should embrace it. It is a badge of honor, it might hurt, but we must ask, do I want to please man, or do I want to please God? Don't worry, if you're following along on the bulletin outline, you'll see our next question deals with ... WHAT TO DO WHEN THE WORLD OPPOSES US: * Remember the Words of Jesus (15:20, 16:4) o We finished our three-year journey through the book of Hebrews back in May. o All throughout that book, the writer was urging these Christians lean on the promises and supremacy of Christ. o That church, just as many of the early churches, faced a lot of persecution, and the writer was trying to encourage them to look ahead to the promises of Christ. o Where do we find those promises? In the Bible. o Allow me to give you a few from this section of Scripture: * He promised revelation in John 14:21. * He promised friendship with God in John 15:14-15. * He promised joy in John 15:9-11. * He promised the Holy Spirit in John 14:16, which leads to the next response: * Embrace the Holy Spirit (15:26) o We've spoke about the Holy Spirit in this sermon series already, and if you recall from a couple of weeks ago, the role of the Holy Spirit includes: * Revealing truth * Teaching us * Helping us remember the things of Jesus * And to delight in God's commands o I don't know about you, but I love the "helping us remember things" part. * When I went back to school and began reading and studying more, I marveled on how much my brain began to remember things of old. * Back in 2011-2012 I can recall watching a video that my old General Manager had me watch. A quick 2-minute clip from a cartoon writer for the New Yorker. Fast forward to 2017-2018 when I was having a similar discussion with one of my employees, I somehow remembered that video and was able to share it with her - and even this past week writing this sermon, I remembered the details. * The bible is a big book, there's a lot to remember, but when we rely on the Holy Spirit, He guides us and allows us to remember the things that Jesus has spoken. * For these disciples, more than once, Jesus said to them, I'm telling you this now, because when it comes, you will remember My Words. * How can you do this? * Some people love to journal. They write down things that they want to remember. * Some people highlight or put tabs on pages they want to remember. * Others memorize verses (which is HIGHLY recommended), so they remember them when they are in need. o As Christians, we've already received the Holy Spirit, now we must fully embrace Him, so that we can allow Him to work through us. o Next, we are to ... * Be a witness for Christ (15:27) o What's neat about this verse is that just preceding this, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will be a witness for Christ, and now we are called to be the same. o When Natalie comes home from work, she tells me about her day. o When we become Christians, we too, should be telling others about it. o Many times, we are afraid of being rejected. Maybe we're afraid that we may not say everything that we're "supposed" to. o Think about it. When you are sharing Christ, you are opening a door to present the Gospel. o So, how do you begin? o Make it personal. What has Christ done for you? Who were you before Christ? After Christ? Why did Christ redeem you? Was it something you did? This opens the door to share the Gospel to those who need to hear it. o We need to be excited to share Him with others. o We also need to act with urgency, as we are awaiting His return. o Finally, Jesus urges His disciples ... * Don't fall away (16:1) o Jesus didn't want them to be caught off guard. o When we get into hardships or trouble, many times we just want out, and Christ is saying here, hold on. Don't fall away. Don't give up. o The promise and the encouragement lean on the presence of the Holy Spirit and on the promises of the Word. o Back in chapter 14, Jesus said that this group would do greater works than even Himself. o They were able to get the Gospel message out into the world, and to allow it to continue to spread, paving the way for missionaries, even today to do the same. o He is saying not to fall away because He is still at work. o It's easy to give up. o It's easy to go back to the old ways. But, we saw this morning that: The world opposes us because the world opposes Jesus. You see, it isn't about you. Frankly, if the world hates you, that means you're probably doing something right. So, continue to hold fast to the Truth. Maybe you've lost some people in your life because of your faith. Maybe you've been left out of some social events because of your faith. Maybe you've even lost some family because of your faith. We have so much more to look forward to. While difficult, it is also temporary, and we're called to be different. Embrace your different. Honor God. Hold fast to the Truth. Accept opposition in the name of Jesus. Let's pray. 2