Praising Jesus, who has Overcome the World

John 15:18-16:33

Compliment Text: Eph 1:20-21

Kost- 15:18-16:4a - Jesus Predicts Opposition

1. “Like Master, like slave” (15:18–27) a. Jesus was hated and persecuted by the world, just as his followers will be (vv. 18–20a, 21) b. Some responded to Jesus’ teaching (v. 20b) c. The world is guilty of the sin (vv. 22b, 24a) of unbelief and hatred (vv. 23, 24b–25), in spite of hearing Jesus’ words (v. 22a) and seeing his miracles (v. 24b) d. But the Helper and Jesus’ followers will communicate the truth about Jesus (vv. 26–27) 2. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed” (16:1–4a) The opposition will involve: ○ -expulsion from the synagogue (v. 2a) ○ -potential or actual martyrdom (v. 2b)

Kost - 16:4b - 15 - Jesus Promises the Spirit of Truth

1. The Spirit will come after Jesus’ departure and for the disciples’ advantage (vv. 4b–7) 2. The Spirit’s role in the world (vv. 8–11) is to bring conviction with regard to: a. the world’s sin (v. 9), b. Christ’s righteousness (v. 10), and c. God’s judgment (v. 11) 3. The Spirit’s role in the church (vv. 12–15) is: a. to guide believers into complete truth (v. 13a), b. to inform believers about the future (v. 13b), and c. to glorify Jesus by declaring his sovereignty over all things (vv. 14–15)

Kost - 16:16-33 - Jesus Addresses His Disciples’ Uncertainties

1. Present anxiety yet future joy (vv. 16–24) - Jesus’ imminent departure will prompt temporary sorrow (vv. 16–22a) - Jesus’ certain reappearance will lead to permanent joy and answered prayer (vv. 22b–24) 2. Present obscurity yet future clarity (vv. 25–28) - Jesus has been speaking in figurative language throughout his ministry (v. 25a) - through the coming of the Spirit, Jesus will speak unambiguously about the Father to whom the disciples will have direct access (vv. 25b–28) 3. Present belief yet future disloyalty (vv. 29–33) - the disciples profess belief in Jesus’ divine origin (vv. 29–30) - Jesus predicts the disciples’ infidelity (vv. 31–33)

From our perspective:

Opposition

Spirit of Truth

Uncertainty

From God’s perspective:

Knowledge of the opposition to come

Sending of the Helper

A certain future

Big idea: As Jesus prepares to depart this world he assures his followers that while the future contains opposition and hardship, God will be with them, guiding believers to the end, resulting in joy and victory

Marketable Big Idea: Jesus gives insight, help and a promise of joy to all who believe that he is God.

Structure:

God gives insight (15:18 - 16:4)

God sends help (16:5 - 15)

God shares his joy of victory (16 - 33)

(-423 words)

Sermon:

On one of the wild adventures of Joe stories that I once wrote down in a journal, reminded me of how much excitement and energy can be given to an adventure when one person delivers a passionate speech.

One Friday afternoon in math class sitting next to my best mate, I drew a picture of four friends driving a car along a beach, with a big exclamation mark, I passed it to my mate and he sent a message to the other two lads we knew would be keen to come.

So after school, I remember delivering a compelling speech, as to why four guys from central Auckland should cancel all their weekend plans, jump in our mates car and spend the weekend trying to find a beach up north to drive on.

The speech included some future insight, with knowledge that we had no plans for where to sleep. What to eat, or how much the trip will cost.

I also said comforting things like, but don’t worry lads, we are in this together, we will figure it all out as we go!

And the climax of the speech was really the point of expressing that with one goal in mind, to find a beach to drive on, that we would achieve that goal! We would overcome the obstacles and find joy in turning my hand drawn picture into a real thing!

Such is the power of an impassioned speech!

needless to say, we achieved our goal, and we each experienced a real moment of joy.

You see, the reason I’ve shared that old story with you this morning is that God has an exciting and dangerous adventure in store for each of us here today. And with any great adventure that doesn’t make a lot of sense, God powerfully conveys three things:

First his gives us some future insight in verse 18 of chapter 15 through to verse 4 of chapter 16.

Second his tells us comforting things, he tells us that he is sending his helper in verses 5 - 15 of chapter 16

and lastly, Jesus will deliver the climax of his speech, a speech that has really been going on for the last 3 chapters, Jesus will express the goal of the adventure which is for us to share in the joy of his victory.

So we start with the insight to the future and what do we get struck with first?

Hatred? verse 18, “if If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

But hold on Joe, you said this was an adventure? That the goal is joy in Jesus’ victory.

And so we ought to ask, why would God share with us, that the world might hate us?

And the answer is found in verse 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”

Jesus here is speaking of the persecution that he is facing in light of what the religious leaders are doing to him, and will ultimately do within the next 24 hours, on account of all the miracles he has shown everyone.

See this section of the speech is a throw back to all the