John 15:18-27
John Bible Study • Sermon • Submitted
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“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
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Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
What does THE WORLD refer to in these passages?
The WORLD is not referring to the planet earth. Throughout John, it refers to the moral order that is actively rebelling against God.
John 7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.
Jesus testifies that the world is evil and its deeds are evil. Therefore, the world will associate the followers of Jesus with Him and they will also be hated. The followers of Jesus are not of this world because Jesus chose them out of this world.
Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Before Christ came into the follower’s lives, they too were considered objects of wrath.
Ephesians
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Jesus is pointing out here that opposition is inevitable.
Remember ?
I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,
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.
We could easily pay allegeince to that of this world if we belonged to it. However, we are chosen to be separate of the world. Jesus makes no bones about it - the world will not like the followers of Christ. This theme is carried out through the New Testament.
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Jesus emphasized in spite of the hate the world gives you, love one another. We have left the kingdom of darkness and have been chose for the Kingdom of God.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Therefore, we are to live lives of joy, purpose, hope and love. What do you live your life for?
It is the opposite of the selfish ways of the world. The world can’t understand so it hates those of that live the way of Christ.
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.
The statement, “No servant is greater than his master”, is from .
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Not only are we to imitate the ways of Christ, we are to share in His sufferings. We will be persecuted.
Matthew
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“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. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
“A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!
Mark 13:
“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
“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.
A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
There will be some positive response just as some responded to Christ. This will be evident, however, if they did not accept the teachings of Jesus, the greatest teacher ever, they won’t accept what His follower’s teach.
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.
Notice the thoughts in these verses:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
Acts
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Here is an example of the apostles rejoicing because of suffering. They understood the words of Jesus.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
The church in Ephesus was congratulated because of its ability to endure hardships.
Suffering should not lead us to desert Christ or to quite witnessing to the world. The root cause for this persecution and hatred from the world is because the world does not know Jesus and identifies the disciples with Jesus.
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.
Before Jesus came, people might have been able to claim ignorance as an excuse for sin.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
However, Jesus did come. He spoke to the people of the world, and the world chose to not accept Him.
The people have willfully chosen not to accept God’s gracious revelation and made the decision to remain in the darkness rather than be in the light. Jesus came and spoke the words of God and the majority of the Jewish leaders rejected Him.
He who hates me hates my Father as well.
You cannot hate Jesus and love God.
You cannot hate God and love Jesus.
God the Father, Jesus the Son are ONE.
I and the Father are one.”
John 14:
If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “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’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
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.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
The miraculous works Jesus did could not convince everyone. Even though the miracles were clear revelation of God’s power, many who were spiritually blind hated instead of loved.
His miracles, His mercy, His works of grace all show He was sent by the Father. His works were “what no one else did.”
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
It is just like Jesus to reveal the truth about being persecuted and hated, then use that as a testimony from His word. The WORD strengthens us and encourages us - even if it is prophecy being foretold.
Let not those gloat over me
who are my enemies without cause;
let not those who hate me without reason
maliciously wink the eye.
Psalm 65:4
Psalm 69:4
Those who hate me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal.
Psalm 109:
With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
Jesus gives another foretelling - He gives the bad news then gives the good news:
John 15:26
“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.
A reminder here that the Trinity - The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are so closely related and intertwined with each other that we make distinctions between them but cannot separate them.
The Spirit’s work is to testify about Jesus and point others to Him. The Spirit does this through the Word and through the good actions the Christian does.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
The Spirit testifies to the Christian who in turn testifies to others.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
Notice how this is carried out in the proclamation found in :
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
A church history point is relevant here. There is a controversy that came about as a result of called the “Filioque Controversy. Filioque means “and son.” In AD 381, the Nicene Creed was developed and a statement was derived from the idea of who sent the Holy Spirit. This verse says that Jesus said, “When the Counselor comes, WHOM I WILL SEND from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who comes out from the Father...”
Who sent the Spirit? The Eastern Church taught that only the Father sent the Spirit. The Western Church taught the Holy Spirit are from the Father AND the Son. The Eastern Church and Western Church eventually split over it.
Here are some interesting verses to help with this:
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
Acts
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.