John 15, Part 3
Notes
Transcript
The relationship of true believers to the world is a bleak picture. The world hates true believers. The world and its people shun, isolate, talk about, ridicule, mock, bypass, overlook, consider strange, and joke about genuine believers. The persecution often goes even farther, involving abuse and murder within the workplace and community, depending on the society and the laws under which the believer lives. Jesus wanted the believer to be informed and to know what his relationship with the world is.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
We must come to the realization that the “world” does not like believers. The meaning of the word if in this verse should be translated since. “Since the world hates you”: there is no question about the world hating the believer. It will hate him.
The world refers to the unbeliever: the unredeemed, the lost, those who have never trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The “world” stands for every person whose thoughts and lives are centered upon …
• the lust of the flesh, the cravings of the sinful man (food, clothes, money, immorality. See Ga. 5:16–21.)
• the lust of the eyes (evil and immoral thoughts, coveting, seeing and desiring people and things).
• the pride of life (position, boasting, honor, fame, highmindedness, self-centeredness. See 2 Ti. 3:1–5.)
The believer is to know something. The world hated Christ first.
1) The believer is not to think some strange thing is happening to him; he is not to become discouraged.
2) The believer is to take heart, for Christ was victorious over the hatred. He was triumphant even over the bitterness of death. He arose and ascended to the Father.
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.
There are four reasons given for the unjustified reasons for the world’s hatred to Christ and believers.
a. The world hates believers because they are not of the world: they are new creatures. They are called out from the world. Believers are in the world, but they are not of the world. Because of their separation, the world does not love believers; it rejects and hates them.
b. The world hates believers because they are identified with Christ. The servant is not above persecution: no servant is above his Lord. The Lord suffered persecution; therefore, the believer will suffer persecution. It is to be expected.
Thought 1. It is an impossibility for a true disciple to be above his Master or for a servant to be above his Lord. If our Master and Lord suffered persecution, so will we. Why? He is our Master and Lord; that is, we are His. What He stands for is what we stand for. Whatever there was about Him that caused men to persecute Him, the same is in us. They will persecute us for the same thing and for the same reason. The genuine believer sacrifices himself, all he is and has to the Lord. He strives to conform his life to the Lord’s; therefore, persecution is inevitable for the true believer.
c. The world hates believers because it does not really know God. The world is deceived in its concept and belief of God. The world conceives God to be the One who fulfills their earthly desires and lusts (Jn. 6:2, 26). Man’s idea of God is that of a Supreme Grandfather who protects and provides and gives no matter what a person’s behavior is, just so the behavior is not too far out. The world believes that God (the Supreme Grandfather) will accept and work all things out in the p 322 final analysis. However, the true believer teaches against this, proclaiming that God is both loving and just. God does love us, but He demands righteousness of us. The world, of course, rebels against this concept of God.
d. The world hates believers because it is convicted of sin. Jesus said that two things convict the world.
1) His message convicts the world: it strips away the world’s cloke of sin. He preaches and teaches righteousness; therefore, His message exposes the sins of people.
2) His life and works convict the world of sin. Note the words, “they had not had sin.” This does not mean that men would not be guilty of sin if Jesus had not come. What it means is that since He has come, men have seen exactly who God is. God has been revealed to men; therefore, they stand guilty of the most terrible sin of all: rejecting God and His Son. If He had not come, they would not be guilty of this sin. Note the claim of Jesus to be the revelation of God—to be equal with Him. To hate Him is to hate the Father also.
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
The world is without excuse. There is no sense for its hatred of Jesus. The world’s hatred is a paradox; it is not understandable. Think about it. The world hates and opposes the One person …
• who lived and spoke for righteousness more than anyone else ever has
• who cared and ministered more than anyone else ever has
• who worked for true love and justice and the salvation of the world more than anyone else ever has
(How deceived the world and its humanity! To rush onward in madness for nothing but to return to dust and ashes. To seek life for only some seventy years [if that long].)
The world’s hatred for Jesus Christ reveals that the true nature of the world is evil. The world is without excuse.
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.
Victory comes from two sources.
a. There is victory through the Holy Spirit.
1) He is the believer’s Comforter through persecution (see DEEPER STUDY # 1—Jn. 14:16).
2) He is the believer’s Spirit of Truth through persecution. The truth will prevail through all persecution. (See note—Jn. 14:17.)
3) He will testify to the world, convicting them even while they are hating Christ. Note: the Holy Spirit is sent “from the Father” and “proceedeth from the Father” (para tou patros ekporeuetai), that is, “from the side of the Father.” He is said to be a distinct Person from the Father and Son; He is said to be a Divine Person, coming “from the very side of the Father.”
b. There is victory through the believer’s own witness and fellowship with Christ. The believer walks and fellowships with Christ from the very beginning of his conversion. He sees and hears with the eyes and ears of his heart, and he learns of Christ. Therefore, he declares the glorious message of Christ so that this world, even its persecutors, may have fellowship with believers and with the Father and His Son (1 Jn. 1:3).
Note another fact: the believer bears witness because he really knows Christ. It is practically impossible to know the true Messiah, the Savior of the world—to know that no man has to die—and not proclaim the message. A genuine believer is a person of conviction, a person who cannot keep quiet if he knows and experiences the truth himself.
LEADERSHIP MINISTRIES WORLDWIDE: The Gospel according to John, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN : Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004
