Testifying in Persecution

John 15:18-John 16:16

Good morning, it is a real joy to be able to share from God’s word with you today. I say that for 3 reasons: 1) I can do it in English, which even after all these years is so much easier for me than Nepali; 2) y’all are so much like family to us now – and I want to thank you again for the warm welcome that you have given us into this fellowship; and 3) God’s word is living and relevant and powerful, and I am always blessed and humbled whenever I dig into it.

The subject of today’s passage from John is “Testifying in Persecution,” as we finish up chapter 15 and look at the first half of chapter 16. As Carl mentioned last week, this is all part of the long discourse that Jesus gave His disciples between the time of the Last Supper and His arrest, much of which, though faithfully recorded by John, probably didn’t make much sense to the disciples until after Jesus had left them and returned to heaven – and they faced the task of living out the Christian life without His physical presence, but with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was preparing them for that new way of relating to Him and the Father. Last week we considered Jesus as the True Vine and the need for the believer to abide in Him in order to bear fruit. I appreciated Carl’s reminder that that fruit can take many different forms, including the love that God can give us for other people.

So we ended up last week talking about love. Jesus gave this command: Love each other. This is agape love – unselfish love – even to the point of laying down our lives for others. So what a contrast to the opening words of today’s passage in 15:18: “If the world hates you…”

“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.”

The response to love can be hate. What is going on here?

Let’s remind ourselves what Jesus means by “the world.” For that, we have to go way back to the Garden of Eden. What was the serpent’s temptation that Eve so eagerly accepted, along with Adam? “You will be like God.” This was the original sin: the attitude that says, “I know better than God. I don’t need to obey him. I want to be in control here.” It moves man to the center, as Francis Schaeffer puts it, usurping the rightful place of God. And the system that grew out of that basic sin – the philosophy, the culture, the norms of behavior – is what Jesus means by “the world.” It is everything that man has set up in opposition to God, in his desire to be autonomous and in control. It is the world that John mentions again in 1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

So here we have the world defined in terms of the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does. None of this is from God, and John tells us to stay away from it, to not become part of that system, that way of thinking. So if we go back to John 15, this is the world that Jesus has chosen us out of, there in verse 19, so that we no longer belong to it. We are IN the world but not OF the world – and this presents a huge challenge to us as Christians. Jesus has chosen us “out of” the world, but He still expects us to be a part of it, to engage it with His love and truth, to be His witnesses within it. Indeed, God “so loved” the world that He sent Jesus, and He offers us that same kind of incarnational ministry. So the tension is there: “God so loved the world” and “Do not love the world.” In the world, but not of the world.

I mention this as background to this passage, because it is so easy for us as Christians to be drawn toward one of two extremes. Either we become so drawn to the world, trying to fit in, that we become invisible, indistinguishable from the world. The end result will be that we belong to the world, and it is going to love us as its own rather than hate us, as verse 19 says. Or we stand so far away from the world that all we can do is shake our finger at it in judgment. And the world will hate us, but for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, I think Christians deserve to be hated, if we are not loving in the way that Jesus commanded – and not living according to the unselfish example of His life.

So I am really glad that these passages follow each other here in John 15, because Jesus was making it clear that we can be doing everything right, loving each other, laying down our lives – and the world may still hate us. For school recently, we were reading the story of John Hus, a Czech priest who was one of the earliest reformers of the church, burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415.

During his trial, when he was being pressured to recant, his response was, “As the Most High God is my witness, I am ready with my heart and mind to change my stand if the council can teach me by the holy Scripture and convict me of error.” He was willing to be corrected, but only on the basis of the Bible.

The bishops who were challenging him shook their heads and murmured among themselves, “See how stubborn he is? He is so full of pride; he prefers his own thinking over the opinions of the whole council.” What they believed had to be right; they were the leaders!

Even as the sticks were being piled around him, he was given one last chance to renounce his beliefs. He replied, “What error should I renounce? I am guilty of no wrong. I taught all men repentance and remission of sins, according to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that gospel I am here, with a cheerful mind and courage, ready to suffer death. What I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood.”

John Hus was doing what was right, and the world hated him for it, just the way it had hated Jesus himself. If we truly follow Jesus, we are likely to be hated, too. Why is that? Jesus gives us the answer right here in verse 19. He has chosen us out of the world. We are a threat to the world simply because we don’t belong to it anymore. We are free. Why does that arouse such hatred? I can think of three possibilities: First of all, jealousy. Joyful people are intensely irritating to people who have no joy – even though that joy could be theirs, too, for free. Second, we are sure of the truth, while the world preaches “tolerance” for diverse opposing views and no absolutes. Third, and most importantly, we represent a threat to the power structure, at a spiritual and at a religious level.

This is why the Pharisees hated Jesus. They were in control. They were able to tell people what to do in the religious realm. Politically, they had worked out a delicate arrangement with the Romans that allowed them to retain a measure of power. But Jesus was out of their control. He refused to fit into their system, theologically or politically. He was a real threat – and He was trying to lead everyone else away, too!

This factor is the source of most of the persecution of Christians in Nepal, too. When I was growing up it was illegal in Nepal for anyone to change their religion, and anyone becoming a Christian would be liable for a year in jail. Official persecution ended with the coming of democracy (if you can call it that) in 1990, but there is still a lot of social pressure against people becoming Christians: children being disowned by their parents, villagers being denied access to water supplies, discrimination in hiring, and so on. Christianity is seen as a “threat to the culture.” Why is that? It’s not because of what Christians do, but because of what Christians don’t do. Christians no longer feel the need to submit to the religious hierarchy. Hindus are subject to their priests in so many ways. A priest needs to be involved in all major life events: birth, marriage, serious illness, death – all require special ceremonies, and many people have to go into serious debt to fulfill all their religious obligations. Christians are able to reject all that, and you can imagine why that is seen as a threat. It was exactly what was happening with John Hus and the other reformers in the Middle Ages. Were the bishops that concerned about the purity of their doctrine? No, they were mainly worried about the impact on their power and their pocketbook.

So Christians are hated because we are free, truly free. Jesus has chosen us out of the world, and we don’t just mindlessly go along with the crowd. Emma really likes this quote from a book called “Live Like a Jesus Freak” that we have been reading together: “You’re just jealous because I am a real freak, and you have to wear a mask.” Part of our freedom in Jesus is that we don’t need to wear a mask. We are free to be real about who we really are. All right, it is probably time to move beyond just the first two verses of this passage! 

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. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. John 15:20-21

“No servant is greater than his master.” Where was it that Jesus had said this? Does anyone remember? It was when he was washing the disciples’ feet. So even if we are humble servants like Jesus, we will be persecuted like He was. But because we bear the name of Jesus, some people will listen to us because their hearts are open to the truth. Now talking about the name of Jesus could be a whole other sermon. In the Bible, the name of a person was not just what people called them, but it referred to the whole essence of who they were – their reputation, their authority. We know that there is power in the name of Jesus. We pray in His name not just because it is the means of our access to the Father, but because it puts the forces of Satan on notice: we stand in the power and authority of the victorious Son of God.

People may happily go along with our speaking about God in vague terms, but when we mention the name of Jesus, that is a confrontation, and they have to decide whether to go along with the Way, the Truth, and the Life or to reject Him.

“They do not know the one who sent me.” Here I think Jesus starts talking specifically about the Jews who were opposing Him. They thought they knew God, but they actually didn’t. They had the wrong understanding of what God was like and what they needed to do to relate to Him.

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. He who hates me hates my Father as well. 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. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ John 15:22-25

Jesus had revealed God in a new light – by claiming to be God Himself. And He backed up His claim with miraculous signs that showed His power and authority over nature, demons, sickness, death, and all the works of the Evil One. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Jews had to admit that this was a stunning miracle. And yet it says that they made plans to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. How rational is that? Here is a person with power over death and yet they think they have the power to kill Him? They hated Jesus without reason and without rationality. When they did finally bring Him to trial, we know that they had no charges that would stick. Their opposition was the screaming of Satan who knew he was about to be ultimately defeated by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Most people are not going to be convinced about Jesus’ truth by a rational argument. That isn’t to say that we shouldn’t present the gospel in a logical way. It does make sense. However, if someone is hating Jesus without reason there needs to be a breakthrough at a spiritual rather than an intellectual or even an emotional level. And that is where we need the work of the Holy Spirit.

 “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. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. John15:26-27

In the previous chapter, Jesus had encouraged the disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them and remind them of what Jesus had said and give them peace. Here He points out that another role of the Spirit of truth will be to testify about Him to other people, to convince them of the truth. So here we glimpse the unity of the Trinity again, encapsulated in one verse. The Son sends the Spirit from the Father. They all testify to the same truth, and the disciples can speak from their own experience about who Jesus is.

 “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is 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 the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you. John 16:1-4

Jesus is again warning His disciples about the future, so that they will not be disheartened. They should expect to be persecuted. A time of suffering should not be a crisis that turns them away from their faith in Him.  Jesus’ physical presence had in a sense been protecting the disciples. Now they would be on the front lines, facing rejection and even death for His sake.

“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.” John 16:5-6

Back in chapter 13, Peter had actually asked Jesus where He was going and why He couldn’t follow Him, but it seems that that question sprang more from Peter’s concern to stay with Jesus than from a desire to really understand what it meant for Jesus to return to the Father. The disciples were clearly overwhelmed at this stage. And this is certainly understandable. Their world was falling apart. Jesus, who had become their source of security and meaning, was talking about leaving them, telling them about all the hardship that they would have to endure on their own. They probably felt skeptical about Jesus’ next words.

But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. John 16:7-11

So it was actually good that Jesus went away. It changed the nature of their faith. No longer would they believe because of what they saw and heard directly; they would believe because of the inner conviction of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus was to tell Thomas later on, “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.” The blessing of holding on in the absence of physical evidence is that it tests and purifies and strengthens our faith. I like the verse that comes toward the end of Hebrews 11, at the end of the long list of heroes of faith – Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, plus other unnamed people who suffered and died in horrific ways – verse 39 that says

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

They were all looking forward to something that would be fulfilled long after their lifetimes, namely the coming of Jesus to bring salvation to the world. They held on to faith even as they died with God’s promises unfulfilled. What do you do when you pray and pray, and God’s promises seem to come no closer to fulfillment? It can be a real test of our faith.

But we need to remember that we are a part of God’s broad sweep of redeeming work going on through history. It is not just about us as individuals. Sometimes things may not seem to “work out” for us, but we can be assured that God is working out His purposes as part of His “big picture” for all people that we may not always be able to perceive or understand.

This concept may be difficult for us to grasp as Americans, because we are a part of a very individualistic culture. We think in terms of MY rights, MY plans, MY relationship with God. Of course God is concerned about me as an individual, but if the focus of my relationship is only on what He is doing for me, then we miss out on the excitement and grandeur of His kingdom story as a whole, the big picture that He wants us to be a part of.

When we praise God, it shouldn’t just be about how wonderful He is to ME or what He has done for ME. That’s fine, but it is even more glorious to praise Him for ALL that He is doing or has done, down through history, all over the world – even if it doesn’t involve me. We are part of something so much more awesome than just me and my goals and my problems and my victories.

Anyway, that is a little bit of a tangent, but it is a topic that I have thought about a lot having experienced a more community-focused culture in Nepal. Back now to the disciples and their need to hold on in faith as Jesus goes away, as He disappears from their view, if not from their hearts. Once again Jesus promises the help of the Holy Spirit and describes another way in which He will work in the world: convicting of guilt, the basis for people to realize their need for God.

The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus redefined sin for the Pharisees and other people who thought they were doing okay because they weren’t doing bad stuff. Jesus made it clear that sin is a matter of the heart – so everyone is guilty before God. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means to accept that He is who He said He is: the way, the truth, and the life; the Son of God; the savior of the world. It also means to believe the things that He taught and to live according to them. Even as Christians, we fail in this area. We say that we believe in Jesus, but we sometimes try to hedge a little when it comes to full obedience: Does that really apply to me? Do I really need to do that? It is the work of the Holy Spirit to show us what those things are, where we are sinning by not following Jesus wholeheartedly. Don’t think that this verse just applies to non-Christians.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit doesn’t just show us what we are doing wrong. He helps us do what is right. He convicts the world in regard to righteousness. Jesus was disappearing from the scene. The disciples would no longer have His day-by-day example of how to live a righteous life. From now on it would be the Holy Spirit nudging them in the right direction, opening their eyes to the opportunities around them. As a family, we read a book called The Ten Second Rule, where the premise is that when the Holy Spirit gives us a little nudge toward doing something, reaching out to someone in some way, we usually have about 10 seconds to respond to doing “that next right thing” before the opportunity disappears, or we talk ourselves out of it.

So the Holy Spirit would be convicting the world of guilt, i.e. showing people where they had it wrong in their thinking about sin and about righteousness and also about judgment. The prince of this world now stands condemned. Not only was the power of Satan about to be smashed by Jesus’ victory on the cross, but His subtle, little lies would now be completely discredited by the Holy Spirit.  Do you remember that verse from back in chapter 7, where Jesus said, “Stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment”? Here again, the world gets it wrong because it focuses on external things rather than what is in a person’s heart. In the world of politics, they say, “Appearances are reality.” But Jesus says it goes much deeper than that.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:12-15

Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, again reinforces the unity of the trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all on the same page. The Holy Spirit will pick up where Jesus leaves off and guide the disciples into all truth. Isn’t that amazing? All truth. In terms of what the disciples would need to do in the future, the Holy Spirit would reveal it one step at a time. Isn’t it good that God reveals His will for us just a little at a time? If we could see now everything that would happen to us in the future, we would be completely overwhelmed.

“In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” John 16:16

This verse actually goes better with the next section. I’m not sure why the NIV put this section break where it did. So I will leave it as an introduction to next week and Jesus’ comforting the disciples yet again about his departure.

Let’s recap for a moment what we have looked at this morning. If the world hates us, let’s be sure that it is for the right reasons. Let’s remember to praise God for all that He is and all that He is doing. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, so that we can reject Satan’s lies however they may come as well as make the most of the righteous opportunities that He reveals to us. “You also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”