For the last probably 20 years
that I have been, I believe, called a god to bear witness
to his gospel of free and sovereign grace in India and in other parts
of the world, one of the things that has accompanied me almost every week is that the
passage is made alive and poignant in a particular and personal
way by the events that go on in that particular week. And
at times I just feel the weightiness of what is said here by our Lord
Jesus Christ and the weightiness of what it means in the lives
of God's people. We are here to bear witness to
a book that is a bloodstained book from cover to cover. It's been, the God's Church has
had a history in this last 2,000 years which is stained with the
blood of the martyrs, the blood of those who have witnessed and
witnessed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we live in more civilized
times, we think, these days. But nevertheless, God's Word
is true and The promise of God stated here is a promise to the
apostles, but a promise to all of the church throughout time.
And so I wanted to spend our time, I wanted to firstly just
look through these. passages, these words from our
Saviour to these apostles, and don't forget they are words that
are designed for him to comfort his people. He's comforting them
with the reality that there'll come a time when they'll be put
to death by the religious world around them. And he's wanting
in those circumstances to remember his promises, to remember his
presence and to remember that this is exactly what they did
to him and as he is, so are we in this world. So turn with me
back to John chapter 15 and we'll read these words. I just wanted
to, in a sense, do a Bible study now and then look at it in more
detail and personally after we've had our break. And I trust the
Lord will be with us in these things. Verse 18 of John chapter
15, he says, If the world hate you, you know that it hated me
before it hated you. They're going to see that hatred
fully expressed the next morning. If, and the world will, the world
will hate you, be comforted, because it's the world's hatred
of Christ which flows over into the hatred of his own. So six
times in these two verses he speaks of this word, the world.
If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. So five times in
that verse 19 is the word world used. And obviously it's not
the physical world and obviously it's not the world of all mankind.
It's a they who hate you and me. It's not this immoral, irreligious
world. The world that he is speaking
of here is the religious world, and particularly those who have
heard the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and seen the things
that he has done. Born, he bears witness, this
creation bears witness to him and his servants bear witness
by proclaiming the gospel in this world. So when we read the
world in circumstances like this in John's Gospel we need to see
that he's talking about this religious world. He's talking
about the religious world that existed in Jerusalem at the time. And I love to contemplate the
fact that in Jerusalem at the time were all the denominations
that are about today with their Bible colleges and their mission
organisations and all of their zeal and all of their religious
morality and all of their history and all of their traditions.
And if you want to read what the Lord's assessment of all
of that is, is in Matthew, the later part of Matthew's gospel.
And I love to think that in the midst of all that, with that
magnificent city, with those magnificent buildings and that
magnificent heritage and history, there is, in all of the gospel
accounts, no evidence that the Lord spent a night and slept
a night in Jerusalem. Mostly he spent his time in Bethany,
which was just a few kilometres away over the hill. And if you
compared what was going on in Bethany to the magnificence of
what was going on in Jerusalem, you would contemplate Him with
His people, as this religious world probably contemplates us
gathered as we are today. They had no notion that God Almighty
had gathered His people together with Him and borne witness to
His love to them over the hill from Jerusalem. So the world
is this religious world, and we'll come to look at it more
closely a little bit later on. Verse 22. Sorry, I'll read verse 21. But
these things... No, verse 20, sorry. Remember
the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than
his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying,
if they've held onto, if they've abided in my words, They will
keep yours also. The words of the apostles will
be the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the response of this
religious world to the apostles will be the response and the
same response as it was to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 21,
but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake. They'll do all these things for
His name's sake. His name is all of His character,
the glory of His absolute sovereignty, the glory of His holiness, the
glory of His sovereign reign and rule over all things, the
glory of His substitution, the glory of His sacrifice, the glory
of Him fulfilling all of the Old Testament pictures. All of
that has to do with the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
glory of the name of God revealed in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They'll do these things for my
name's sake. And the reason? Because they
know not Him that sent me. Verse 22 describes the guilt
of this world. He says, This world is this religious
world which claims to worship the God of the scriptures, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, this religious
world whose hearts are only ever exposed by the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The religious world looks fine. The religious world looks impressive
to men. The religious world looks as
if it's worshipping God. The religious world looks as
if it's obeying the word of God and honouring the word of God.
And they are only ever exposed The hatred of this world comes
and is exposed when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed close
up and personal. They have a cloak. What an extraordinary
description of the religion of men. They wear a cloak. See, what's a cloak? It's an
outward covering that the world sees and admires and encourages,
but it's only exposed when Christ is declared and seen. When Christ
comes and he declares that their so-called righteousness is nothing
other than expressed hatred of God, when their religious devotion
is nothing but self-exalting that they may boast in the flesh
of themselves and others. They had not sinned. One of the
things that's difficult for me as I go through this is so much
of this has been so intensely personal for us in this last
15 or 20 years. And it's extraordinary that when
the gospel came to the church that many of us were in, that
religious institution that looked so fine on the outside and looked
so fine and wonderful to so many people, was exposed by the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those trained and highly
respected and well regarded and esteemed people, the theologians
who led it, were exposed for what they were in their hearts.
And nothing other than the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ does
it. And then, when they were exposed, when they were was revealed
to God's chosen people in those institutions, what they were.
The very first act of that institution, together with all the other religious
institutions in this district, was to join in a thing called
Jesus All About they did, but all religion does, which is compromise
the truth of God. And the Roman Catholics and the
Seventh-day Adventists and the Pentecostals and the Arminians
and the Calvinists all walked down the broad road of the streets
of our town and our state and joined hands together. Why? Because their God is the same from men is exactly the same. They want the esteem of men in
religion rather than bearing shame for the sake of the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So why this hatred? The Lord
doesn't leave us to guess about this hatred. Go with me back
to John chapter 19, John chapter 15 verse 19. If you were of the
world, If your origin was from this world, you remember in John
8, verse 44, he says, you are of your father the devil, John
8, verse 44, and the last of your father you will do. He was
a murderer from the beginning and abode not in truth because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and a father of it. And listen
to what the Lord says, and because I tell you the truth, This is
the cloak being removed. Because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. You'll believe a liar and you'll
believe a murderer, and because I tell you the truth, you believe
me not. Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth,
why do you not believe me? Listen to what he says about
this religious world. He that is of God, heareth God's
word. Exactly what he said to the apostles
here. Ye therefore, hear them not,
because you are not of God. Your origin is not from God. Your origin is of the devil. You're not of God. If you are of the world, the world would
love its own. Exactly what the religious world
does, it loves its own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. When God chooses his people out
of this professing religious so-called Christian world, that's
the reason for the world hating the apostles and hating all of
the children of God. I never knew what hatred was,
really, from men until the Lord was revealed. And I couldn't believe that what
I thought would be for their joy and their delight turned
out to be hatred. And the hatred that the Lord's
people have suffered, and the Lord's people suffered in those
days and suffered through our time, is an extraordinary hatred
because there's no cause for it. They hate They hate you because
of God's choosing you out of their world. While ever you're
joined with their world in any way, shape or form, and while
ever you're prepared to compromise with them in any way, shape or
form, they'll be very happy to have you come along. And in a
lot of those institutions, they don't mind what sort of theology
you hold. You can hold any theology you
like, as long as you join with them, as long as you keep them
with the Lord. So God's election is an election
out of this world, out of their religion, out of their self-righteousness,
out of their legalistic righteousness, out of free will man-centered
works religion, out of reformed self-righteous religion. If your
salvation has your Something that you do to continue,
something you do that you will be rewarded for at the end. When our Lord Jesus Christ came,
He was Emmanuel. He came as God. He came as the
light of how God can be just and the justifier of them that
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to reveal God to man
and He came to reveal how He alone by His work from eternity
to eternity saves His people from their sins, their sins of
self-righteousness. I can't speak for any of you,
but I remember with horror and shame my hatred of God. And many people these days find
that their hatred of God is only ever exposed. electing love. The Son's redeeming
love and the Holy Spirit's quickening love is revealed. That's what
the Lord Jesus Christ said, doesn't he, in John chapter 3? Light
has come into the world. But men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. It didn't appear evil
to anyone there. he comes along. And the evil
that we have witnessed from religious people in this last 20 years
is horrifying. It's horrifying when it rises
up in response to people who love their souls. That's exactly what happened.
I know we look at it often, but the story in Luke chapter four
is just such a poignant story. The Lord Jesus Christ proclaims
that he is the Christ of God, and he proclaims the mission
for which Christ was sent into this world. And he came to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord, and they were amazed at the gracious
words that he spoke. See, a Christ at a distance and
an electing God at a distance doesn't offend anyone, really. But when God gets personal, and
God gets particular and God gets to declare that God alone has
the right to do as he will in the armies of heaven among the
inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand. That's
exactly what happened in Nazareth that day. There they were all
dressed up for church. There they were, people who not
only were dressed up for church, but they were Bible-believing
people. They thought that they were the very elect of God themselves. They thought that they were the
family of God. They would have declared that
God was their Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ comes
to those people, and basically He declares the God that met
Moses on the Mount of Sinai, He says, I'll be merciful to
him, I'll be merciful. And when it comes to healing
lepers in all of Israel, I'll choose a Syrian enemy of Israel
and bypass all the lepers in Israel. And I will choose a Gentile dog
woman from the coasts of Syria and bypass all of the people. God declares the reality of his
electing love. These people were offended, they
were enraged, and what did they do? One moment they were praising
gracious words, and the next moment they were taking him outside
the hill, and it's a huge hill, and their purpose was to put
him to death. They hated him without a cause. What had Naaman done to deserve
the mercy of God? What had the widow done to deserve
the mercy of God? See, what is the glory of God
in Exodus 33, when Moses says, you show me your glory. I'll
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. The glory of God is in His electing
love. But His electing love is a purposeful
love, isn't it? I've chosen you out of this religious
world. I will have my people come to
me and gather with me where I am. And they'll be outside of this
religious world. And therefore, listen to the
therefore in it, therefore the world hates you. God's children love the electing
grace of God, because they know that because God, unless God elected them,
they would never come to Him. The first reason for this hatred
of the world, this hatred which will ensue in the death of all
these men that are being spoken to here, and the death of countless
multitudes throughout time. The reason too is in verse 21,
if you turn there, verse 21, It talks about their persecution
in verse 20, but all these things will they do unto you. It's not an optional extra, brothers
and sisters in Christ. This is a promise from God Almighty. for my namesake, and the second
reason. The first reason is that God
chooses his people out of this religious world and gathers them
to himself and causes them to be separated as he commands them. He commands their separation
from this religious world and he separates them, because we
wouldn't separate ourselves, we'd have to be chosen out of
it, because we'd love it. unless the grace of God worked
it out. The second reason is because they know not Him that
sent me. They don't know God. They know about God, and they
can quote the scriptures about God, but they do not, according
to the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, they do not know
God. This is eternal life, he'll say
in John 17.3, that they know the Father and they know the
Son. Eternal life is knowing. It's
much, much more than knowing a man. It's being in an intimate
relationship with him. It's knowing him and rejoicing
in who he is. It's rejoicing in his name. It's
rejoicing. God's people who love him love
everything about him. They'll do it. For my name's
sake, he says, I am God. John chapter seven, verse 28
and 29, he said to them beforehand, you just don't know who you are. But you don't know who God is.
To see the Lord Jesus Christ is to see the Father. To hear
Christ is to hear the Father. To see the works of Christ is
to see the works of the Father. To believe Christ is to believe
the Father. To love Christ is to love the
Father. To be loved by Christ is to be
loved by the Father. To be united to Christ is to
be united to the Father. To abide in communion with Christ
is to abide in communion with the Father. It's talking about
an intimate love relationship. I have loved you with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you out of this
religious world to myself. The Jews hated him. In John 10,
the Jews took up stones to stone him. He says, my father and I
are one. He says, you believe not. John
10, 26. He says, you believe not. All who don't believe this
declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ, you believe not because
you are not of my sheep, you do not belong to my sheep. As
I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and
they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me,
that's their origin, their origin's in heaven. not from this world,
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. My Father and I are one. What was the response of the
Jews? They picked up stones. It's a very serious thing. I've
hardly ever seen anyone pick up a stone to kill someone. What level of hatred to the Lord
Jesus Christ? They don't know him that sent
me." It's the Lord Jesus' common description of himself. And he was sent here on a mission
to take his people out of this religious world, to take his
people out of what Peter describes on the day of Pentecost as this
present evil world, this crooked and perverse generation. And
he's talking about the reformed, religion that was in Jerusalem
at the time. If those people had come and
were brought back to this world today, the people in Jerusalem,
the leaders of the Jewish religion, and you scattered them amongst
the churches of this nation, they would rise to positions
of prominence and the average person would be in awe of their
devotion and their knowledge and their morality, their history,
their knowledge of the scriptures. Only, only ever does the gospel
expose the cloak that man wears. And it's exactly what happened
to Adam in the garden. Adam didn't go to God, he was
hiding from God. God came to him. And he brings
him before him and exposes Adam for what he was, someone who
hated God and ran away from him. And he brings him before him
and he strips off his robe, his fig leaf robe, which all mankind
is busily stitching all the time. And he robes him in the very
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just in closing, there
are a couple of words of comfort in this passage of scripture.
He says, remember, He says this is happening, verse 20, he says,
remember. When these things happen, I'm
going before you into hatred and persecution. I'll be with
you in the hatred and persecution you'll endure for my name's sake. You remember these words. The
second word of comfort is in verse 25, and we'll look at it
more a little bit later on. But this cometh to pass, all
of these things that are going to happen to you, this comes
to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law, they hated me without a cause. How precious and comforting
are the Saviour's words. How precious are these words?
We love looking at the glory of his promises, of the wonderful
security that God's children have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But his promises encompass all of his words. All of his words
are faithful and true. How precious are they? He says, his words cannot be
broken. Don't you love that? They can't
be broken, they can't be amended. in any way. And thirdly, he says
in verse 26, but when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me. He'll bear witness to
me. He'll be, as it were, a martyr, and you shall also bear witness.
You'll be martyrs. because you have been with me
from the beginning. The blood of the Holy Spirit
will come as sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Spirit
of Truth. All of these words are the Spirit
of Truth. He's calling on us to remember
them. Remember how faithful these words are. Remember that in the
midst of all of those trials, the Comforter will be with you.
And He will testify of me. All the testimony of God's children
is a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a testimony
about what I've done and what I want to do and what I've achieved. My only testimony is Him. My
only testimony is Him. Our only declaration is the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We testify to an electing God
who comes into this world, this world of man-made religion, and
takes His people out. But He takes His people out to
Himself, and they're singing the song in heaven right now. You have redeemed us. out of
and you brought us to yourself and you made us. They're singing
the electing love of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God work in our hearts to
love this Saviour and this God. I've been heavy at heart thinking
about the fact that people who claim As many have done, and
many do, claim to be the children of God in this world, find themselves to be those on
that day when they come, when He comes very, very close. They
come close to Him to find that they've actually hated this declared
Saviour and Lord. I've said it so many times but
I plead, I plead for you and I plead with you to do as our
Saviour says in this verse and to ask. Plead with God Almighty
as I've pleaded with God Almighty. Don't let us do our own thing. Do not go, do not take us up
from here unless you go with us. You go with us, you reveal
yourself to us. You care for us and you comfort
us in the midst of all the trials that you have promised us are
going to come upon us. Ask, ask, he says, ask. of this glorious Saviour. Come
to the throne of grace in your time of need. Lord is it I was
the question that the disciples were asked when they were told
about the hatred that was going to be expressed that night. And
it was being expressed as he said these words and will be Is it I? Lord, save me. Save me by your electing, preserving,
keeping love. Lord, please don't let me wear
a cloak. If it's painful to strip the
cloak of my self-righteous, legalistic righteousness from me, let me
bear the pain and rejoice. Rejoice in the great physician
who strips away these robes. And Lord, it is your will that
we bear testimony to you. So work in us that it might be
that we pray and love and bear the pain that the Lord might
cause us to be found faithful. For my love they are,