The Spirit-Directed Heart
Chasing Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsJesus warns his disciples of the reality of the battle that is raging against the kingdom of God. Jesus has come to usher into our reality the kingdom of God. Like any country under siege, this world is standing in opposition. This opposition would increase after Christ’s death and would continue until He comes again in final victory. In the face of this opposition, Jesus calls His people to respond with Spirit-directed witness of Christ. Jesus is not merely after the victory, He is intentionally pursuing each citizen of this fallen kingdom to restore as children of God’s kingdom.
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We Are No Longer of the World
We Are No Longer of the World
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 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. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
This long discourse is given by Jesus to open the eyes of his disciples to the new reality that they find themselves in. Through them, Jesus is giving birth to a new people, the church, the children of God. His people are not citizens of this world but rather citizens of heaven. They are invaders who have been placed to infiltrate the heart of the enemy, the world, and tear down its walls from the inside out.
The world and Christ are at opposition with one another because their very natures stand in conflict. The world seeks self while Christ seeks the Lord. As a result, the people of Christ are at opposition with the world for our pursuits do not line up.
Jesus warns of this opposition to encourage our hearts. If we are in opposition, it confirms that we are no longer of this world and that we truly are citizens of heaven. We have been given a new nature so we should have difficulty living in this world. If we do not, we must question the pursuit that we are chasing after.
Jesus points back to what He had told His disciples as He washed their feet that the servant is not greater than the master. At that time, Jesus called them to respond and do as He had done for them for others. In the same manner, Jesus encourages the hearts of the disciples by assuring them that the world will persecute them not because of what they have done but because of who Jesus is. Just as the world persecuted Jesus, his disciples could expect persecution. But Jesus also tells them that there were those who responded to His teachings, and int he same way, there will be those who will respond to their teaching of Christ.
When we think that we are unqualified or that we have nothing to offer, we must remember that what we do we do not do on our own. The same authority that Christ had, we have as well because of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Confronts the World
Jesus Confronts the World
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
Since the beginning, God has chosen to work through his creation to reveal himself to the world. As states, God made himself evident in all of creation so that we would see clearly the work of his hand. Through Adam and Eve, God revealed himself in relationship. God sets up the nation of Israel to be a testimony to the world of who He is. Now in the person of Jesus, God reveals in fullness who He is and his desire to restore his creation to himself.
Jesus came to remove all excuse. God removed the obstacle that stood between Him and his creation. Jesus comes and confronts the world. He makes plain the course that the world is leading and He carves a new course, the course that leads back to God.
The world hated Christ because He showed the world the futility of its aim. The world would rather destroy the messenger than embrace its fault and accept the help of the Savior.
We Testify of Christ
We Testify of Christ
“When the Advocate 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.
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,
Jesus is compassionate with His disciples and he conveys to them the cost of following Him. The cost of following Christ is great. We must count up the cost.
As we answer the call, Christ does not leave us alone, but we are indwelt with the Spirit of truth who will continually preach to our hearts the truth of who we now are in Christ.
