Please turn back in your Bibles to John chapter 15 and pick things up at verse 18.
While you're turning there, can I just say that John D. Rhodes won't be preaching this evening.
He got his dates mixed up and so he phoned me and let me know the good news.
So when you next see him, do remind him that you felt very let down by that.
John D is an old friend of mine, don't worry.
So John 15, let's pray before we dive in.
Our Father and our God, we ask that you would speak in these moments and that we would listen
and that we would hear the voice of the living God and so be changed.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Whether you're preparing to go to war or you are getting set up for a sports challenge of some kind
or even a political debate, knowing your opposition is a significant part of the battle.
It might be your commanding officer giving instructions about the tactics that the enemy employ.
It might be the coaches giving the team talk to say,
this is how they attack in this part of the field and we need to set up like this.
And it may be Rishi Sunak's advisors telling him what to expect across the chamber in PMQs.
Probably won't be another Rishi Sunak at PMQs, but there we are.
In each case, they are being given a brief on the opposition so that they can be as well prepared as possible.
Know your enemy and know how they attack.
Having explained to the disciples what their relationship should be to him,
they should abide in him, they should remain in him,
by keeping his commandments in order to be fruitful.
Jesus now turns to prepare his disciples for what lies ahead.
Having explained to him how they are to relate to him,
he now turns to explain how they are to relate to the world around them.
And as they think about the world around them, they need to know what it's going to be like.
As Jesus departs to return to the Father,
he explains what they need to expect.
They should expect opposition.
Opposition from the world around them.
Indeed, verse 19, have a look.
Verse 19, it is very stark.
Jesus says, they'll be hated.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own,
but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you.
He doesn't mess around.
And can I say this morning, if you are coming to Christ,
if you are weighing up what that decision, putting your faith in Christ, will mean for you,
this is what to expect.
The world around you will hate you.
Jesus doesn't want there to be any surprises, any unmet expectations, any,
wait, hang on a minute, no one told me this was coming.
Such the disciples then just decide to give up.
He tells us that in 16, verse 1.
Do you see, I've said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
I'm telling you what it's going to be like, so you're as well prepared as possible,
so that you don't give up when the temperature rises.
If you're expecting sunshine and all you get is rain, you might think that you've got something
wrong.
There's a defect in you in some way.
Or you might think that you've been misled in some way, and Jesus wants to prevent this from happening.
I don't know if you've ever been knocked out, if you've ever been knocked unconscious, maybe in sport or something like that.
They might have given you smelling salts to clear your head.
This little thing that they waft under your nose, it's incredibly pungent, and it clears your head.
Well, after all the talk that we've had last week about abiding in the Father's love,
verse 19 is a bit like smelling salts.
It's pungent, and we want to recoil.
But Jesus isn't like the shonky timeshare salesman showing the fake photos of the development that doesn't exist
in order that you'll sign up and pay the money.
He isn't trying to sugarcoat things to get you in and will deal with the problems down the line.
He's very clear right up front.
Here it all is, the world, the realm of those outside Christ's kingdom,
those who are enemies of God, they will hate you, he says.
And this morning, Jesus unpacks the nature of this hatred.
But I want us to see He also provides significant encouragement as well.
We've got two points this morning.
The first is the world's hatred, and the second is God's help.
The world's hatred and God's help.
So let's start with the world's hatred.
And Jesus doesn't just tell the disciples that they're going to be hated.
He explains why it is the case, and He sets it in context.
And so there are three things that I want us to note here.
First thing is, the world's hatred, first thing, it's really hatred of God.
That's what Jesus says.
On the one hand, any hatred the disciples will experience has already been experienced by Jesus.
Verse 18,
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
And of course, they've seen up close how Jesus was rejected by the scribes and the Pharisees,
and throughout His ministry, the opposition He faced.
But of course, within 24 hours of this conversation,
they will witness the hatred of the world towards Jesus in the most stark way possible.
He will be mocked and beaten and nailed to a Roman cross
and executed at the hands of this corrupt regime.
The world hated Jesus more than anyone has ever been hated.
But Jesus makes it clear that their hatred runs deeper than that.
Look down at verse 23.
He says,
Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
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.
Jesus has told us just a few, well, a few verses earlier.
It would have been a few minutes earlier in the context of the conversation.
Chapter 14, verses 10 and 11.
His words are the Father's words.
His works are the Father's works.
Because He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him.
When the world rejects Jesus,
they are rejecting the Father who indwells Jesus and who sent Jesus.
Of course, we could also say,
if we look ahead,
when the Spirit whom Jesus promised to send after His departure,
down verse 26,
when He comes,
we read on in the early chapters of the book of Acts,
that alongside the blessing and the growth of the church,
we see people lying to the Spirit.
Ananias and Sapphira, Acts chapter 5.
And persecution following all these Spirit-filled people.
The world's hatred of the church is simply an expression of its hatred of God.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And because Christ has chosen His church out of the world,
because He has taken us out of this realm,
the world reacts.
Now, just as Jesus makes clear the hatred He faces is fulfilling Scripture,
verse 25.
You see that?
But the word that was written in their law must be fulfilled.
They hated me without a cause.
It's clear that He's in total control of everything that's going on.
He's fulfilling Old Testament Scripture as He goes.
Just as that's the case,
so everything that He tells the disciples came to pass in the early church.
Jesus' followers were persecuted and martyred for their faith.
Almost all of the men at this table would die for following Christ.
So, because the church has been named for God in baptism,
because we are united to Christ as His bride,
because we are then, verse 19,
not of the world, but we belong to the kingdom of God,
the world hates us.
So, when you're opposed for your faith,
don't be surprised.
And in a sense, don't take it personally.
The world only hates you because it hates God.
The second aspect of the hatred I want to highlight is this.
It distorts reality.
The world's hatred distorts reality.
Look at 16, verse 2.
Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you
will think he's offering service to God.
Now, the opposition that these disciples faced
came from a religious establishment
that believed that they were the true people of God.
They were convinced that their hatred of this sect,
this group that became known as Christians
because they followed this one who
said of himself that he was the Christ.
They were convinced that their hatred of this sect
was actually a godly thing,
that they would kill the disciples
thinking that God was pleased with them.
Their world was upside down.
They had completely distorted what it meant to serve God
and what constituted good and what constituted evil.
Now, the context is different,
but there's a similar distortion in the opposition
that we face today
in that the hatred that is directed towards us
is presented in virtuous terms.
We saw this with the late great atheist Christopher Hitchens,
whose opposition was largely based on moral grounds.
He was assuming the moral high ground
in his opposition of Christianity.
He described it as, quote,
a wicked cult.
For that reason, he said
that Christianity should be extinguished.
Now, a world without God
isn't by necessity a world without moral absolutes.
So, why he can call it wicked,
I don't know.
It's inconsistent, but he did.
He deemed the faith to be wicked, a moral term.
And today it's the case
that almost all of the most vitriolic opposition
that Christians face
is presented in moral terms.
Red-faced shouting,
block capitals online,
it is evil to raise your children as Christians.
It is wrong to prevent women
from aborting their baby.
It is right and merciful
to allow someone to end their own life.
It is discrimination
to prevent two people
who love each other from being married.
Now, the world may not believe
in the God of the Bible,
but they seek to take the moral high ground
in their hatred of the church.
This distorts reality.
It's God's world.
God made it the way he made it,
and he ordered it the way he ordered it,
and the right way up is to follow his way.
But when right is seen as wrong,
and wrong as right,
when up is portrayed as down,
and down up,
don't be surprised when you see it.
Christians often get wound up
about the way the world operates.
When Christians are misrepresented
or their arguments are dismissed
without any meaningful engagement,
but we shouldn't be surprised.
The enemy doesn't fight fair.
And this always involves
some kind of distortion of reality.
You are wrong.
When you say you are wrong
about somebody
who is following the order of the world
the way that it was made,
they've distorted reality.
Firstly, it's really a hatred of God.
Secondly, it distorts reality.
Third aspect of the world's hatred
that Jesus highlights
is that it is a mark of genuineness.
Fifteen, verse twenty.
It's a mark of genuineness.
Remember the word that I said to you.
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me,
they'll also persecute you.
If they kept my word,
the sentence is,
if they obeyed my word,
they will also obey yours.
Now, this will be the pattern
of the disciples' mission.
Persecution and obedience
going hand in hand.
But because no servant
is greater than his master,
it follows that those who suffer
for the sake of the gospel,
and that's opposed to suffering
for being a fool in some way or other,
that is possible.
It is possible to be a Christian
and to be suffering,
but not to be suffering for the gospel.
It's just because we're being silly
in some way.
But it's the case that if we suffer
for the sake of the gospel,
we are following in Christ's footsteps.
We are walking the same path
that our master walked,
and therefore,
we're showing ourselves
to be the real deal.
Jesus is clear, verse 19,
that no one hates people
who do the same things they do.
No one hates people
whose lifestyle choices
are the same as theirs.
If you were of the world,
the world would love you as its own.
Of course they would.
Lives that look like the world
don't invite criticism.
Because, of course,
there's nothing about your life
that makes them feel uncomfortable
in any way.
If we're all in this together,
well then,
there's an implicit endorsement
of my lifestyle choices.
But if you've chosen
a different course,
that means you don't approve
of my course.
Well, how dare you?
When your life displays
the fruit of the different decisions
that you have taken
because you follow the Lord Jesus,
that Christ-likeness
provokes people.
You might have experienced this.
It happens in the strangest ways.
It can happen
in the strangest ways.
I remember a long time ago,
not long after I came to faith,
being out with a friend of mine
who had brought a couple of
friends along
that I didn't know so well.
We'd been there for about an hour,
and the chat was all
fairly superficial,
and I got up
and went to the toilet.
And when I came back,
the other two friends
of my friend had left,
and I said,
oh, where have they gone?
And he said,
they left because
they were fed up
with you banging on
about your Christian faith.
I hadn't mentioned
my Christian faith once.
I wasn't being
especially virtuous at all,
but I was just different.
And this is how
it sometimes goes.
You wonder why
this person or these people
are aloof
or distant
or even a bit rude,
even though you've been
very nice to them.
Why do these people
seem to not like you
despite the fact
that you're
a stand-up person
in terms of the way
that you treat them?
It's because
you're not of the world.
You're following
the same path
as the Lord Jesus.
And their rejection of you,
and it can be
a very polite rejection,
but that rejection
is a mark
of genuine discipleship.
Now, the hatred
won't be nice.
Jesus is telling us here
about something
that isn't nice.
It's not easy,
and it can be
very painful,
but there's a sense
in which
you should take
encouragement from it.
When the world
hates you,
it hates you
because you're
following the example
of the one
they hated first,
your master,
the Lord Jesus.
When you experience
that hatred,
there's a sense
in which it shows
that your faith
is alive
and that God
is at work in you.
When hatred
comes our way,
we often think,
oh, poor me.
That's the instinct,
isn't it?
Self-pity.
We think, oh,
it's so terrible
the way these people
treat me.
And it might be terrible,
but the fact of the matter
is we shouldn't be surprised.
And the fact
that it's going on
shows that we're
following in the footsteps
of our master.
Well, in preparing
his disciples,
Jesus promises them
that the world
will hate them.
He gives them
the smelling salts
that cause them
to think,
goodness.
But he also promises
them something else
in the midst
of this opposition,
and that's our second point.
It's God's help.
God's help.
The presence
of hatred
is a strange
encouragement
because it's a mark
of genuineness.
Jesus offers
three further
encouragements
as they look ahead.
the disciples
will know,
first of all,
the Father's care.
Chapter 15,
verse 21,
But all these things
they will do to you
on account of my name
because they do not
know him who sent me.
By implication,
Jesus is drawing
a contrast here
to remind the disciples
that their opponents
don't know the Father,
but that they do.
Again,
in 16,
verse 3,
have a look,
And they will do
these things
because they have
not known
the Father
nor me.
However painful
the hatred gets,
the disciples
should know
that they belong
under the tender care
of their Heavenly Father.
Elsewhere,
Luke chapter 12,
Jesus,
you remember,
talks about how
the sparrow
that sells
for next to nothing
in the market
is not forgotten
by God
and how much
more valuable
to Him
are His loved ones.
No opposition
can take you
from the fatherly care
of your Heavenly Father.
No hatred
can accomplish anything
outside of His ordaining.
You are secure
in the Father's care.
Where I grew up,
there were lots of children
around the same age
who played together
in our road
and there was one boy
in particular
who I didn't like
and he didn't like me
and he was an amazing footballer
and I was so jealous
and typically
couldn't get anywhere close to him
when we were playing football
so I'd like hack him
and be nasty
and that kind of thing
so I didn't like him
because he was better than me,
he didn't like me
because I was nasty.
That's the back story
just so you're clear.
There was one occasion
we had many fights
over the years
but there was one occasion
we had a scrap
and he ran home
because he was soft
and I...
Where are you now, John?
Yeah, anyway.
He ran home.
I chased him up to the point
where he ran into his driveway
and his urgent running
all of a sudden
turned into a bit of a slow swagger.
Because his dad was in the porch
all of a sudden
cool as you like
of course he was
he knew that he was now safe
under his father's care.
He knew that his father could see
and his father would make sure
he was okay.
And that's the way it is
for the Christian believer
in the context of the world's hatred.
They can chase us
they can knock us around
but our father in heaven sees
and he cares
and he protects us.
And even when
that protection
doesn't always keep us from pain
it will only be pain
that he allows.
And he will ultimately turn
any harm that they do
around for our good
and we will be vindicated
in the end.
Your opponents do not have
a heavenly father
but you do.
And you're safe
under his fatherly care.
Then the second expression
of God's help
is the promise of the Spirit.
Verse 26.
Here we have the Spirit's help.
The world will hate you.
Verse 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
and you also will bear witness
because you have been with me
from the beginning.
Jesus will help the disciples
but not at arm's length
but by sending the Helper
the Holy Spirit
from the Father
who will himself
bear witness about Christ
and strengthen the disciples
to do the same.
Now the way the language works here
in this verse
is important
and if we understand it properly
the encouragement
that these verses provide
is deep as deep can be.
So the sending of the Spirit
you see it lies in the future.
Jesus says
he will send him.
And this happened in history
at the day of Pentecost
when the Spirit was given
to the disciples.
And as they bore witness to Christ
in the preaching of the Gospel
the Spirit opened
the eyes of 3,000 people.
The church was born.
The missionary endeavor
across the world began.
And people were one to Christ.
But notice also
that Jesus says
the Spirit proceeds
from the Father.
He proceeds from the Father
in the present.
That is happening
in the present.
This is referring to
the eternal and ongoing
procession of the Spirit
from the Father.
What Jesus is doing here
is amazing.
He is taking us
behind the curtain
as it were
to glimpse the mystery
of God the Holy Trinity.
and telling these disciples
that through the Lord Jesus
they have been brought
to know the Father
in whom the Son dwells
and the Father
and the Son, remember,
and from whom
the Spirit
eternally proceeds.
That's the care
that they've been brought into.
The doctrine of the Trinity
is seen by some
as a sort of
speculative doctrine.
It's not very practical.
It's only for the theologians.
We want something
more relevant,
we're told.
But that simply
cannot be the case
when we read these verses,
can it?
The Lord Jesus
clearly believes
that in order to prepare
these disciples
for their darkest hour,
the world is going to hate you.
What do you need to know?
They need to grasp
the fundamental reality
of who God is.
When the Helper
who was with Jesus
in the beginning,
who eternally proceeds
from the Father,
when He comes,
He will resource
the disciples
with the power
of heaven,
and He will anchor them
to God the Holy Trinity.
No enemy force
is better resourced
than the church.
Before the God
of all eternity,
every,
every enemy
fades away.
This is encouraging
for us
as we face
the hostility
of the world.
We have the same
divine helper,
the indwelling Spirit
at work in us,
and He enables us
to go on
bearing witness
to the Lord Jesus
in our lives.
Wherever you are,
wherever the Lord
has placed you
in your day to day,
you have all of the power
of the indwelling Spirit
at work in you
to enable you
to bear witness to Christ,
to be faithful
to Christ
where you are.
Of course,
it's also worth saying
that we are
the beneficiaries
of the fulfillment
of this promise
in the life
of these men.
the promise
to these men.
They were emboldened
by these words
that Jesus spoke,
and the early church
testifies to their witness
in the world
as the gospel
is preached
to all nations,
and the church
begins to grow.
And,
in addition to that,
this group
were also enabled
by the Spirit
to provide the church
in every age
through their witness
to Christ
in the writing
of the New Testament.
We have a New Testament
because the helper
came and helped
this group
bear witness.
In the New Testament,
we have the joint witness
of these apostles
and the Holy Spirit.
And because they were
both with Christ
from the beginning,
verse 27,
the beginning of His earthly
ministry in the case
of the apostles,
and the beginning
of His life
in the case
of the Holy Spirit,
we can trust
their words.
The Father's care,
the Spirit's help,
and then finally,
more briefly,
we're also helped
by Christ's message.
The message
that He's given us here,
16, verse 4,
have a look,
but I have said
these things to you
that when there are comes,
you may remember
that I told them to you.
The very fact
of this instruction
from Jesus
is help in itself
because it means
that we aren't surprised
by anything
that lies ahead.
I said this at the start,
when we know
what's coming,
we can prepare.
When we know
the way the enemy operates,
we can set ourselves up
in order
to give us
the best possible chance.
I don't know
what form the hatred
will take.
I don't know exactly
where the opposition
will come from,
but it will come,
and I'm expecting it.
forewarned is forearmed.
When the storms gather,
when relationships break down,
when hostility
from the HR department
and work gets
kind of steamed up,
you get cancelled,
whether young people
being bullied in school
because you're a Christian,
or there's division
in the church,
or whatever the opposition
might look like.
when this happens,
we're not surprised.
We're not thinking
that something
has gone wrong.
We're not thinking
necessarily that
we've done something wrong.
It won't be nice,
but we don't panic.
We just think,
ah, okay,
this is how it's
going to go then.
And we remind ourselves
that this is ultimately
about the Lord
and that He can take
the hatred.
He can handle that.
We remind ourselves
that we are safe
in the grip
of our Father's care.
We remind ourselves
that we have the Spirit
who helps us
in the time of need.
What a wonderful help.
Let's pray together.