How To Abide In Jesus

You’ve got to back up one verse into chapter 14 to understand the setting for chapter 15. It says, “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.” And then these words, “Arise, let us go hence.” There is a lot of debate that goes on about that closing statement, “Arise, let us go hence,” which in reality isn’t that big of a deal, but I thought I would point that out to you. Bible scholars like to get into all these silly kind of things that don’t always really matter; they’re not that important. The big question is: Were the words spoken in chapters 15, 16 and 17 in the upper room or on the way to the garden of Gethsemane? The fact that Jesus says, “Arise, let us go hence,” many believe these words in chapters 15, 16 and 17 were perhaps uttered on the way. Many times Jewish rabbis would do that. They would talk as they walked or they would discourse or teach as they walked along. It was kind of a cool thought. They were just walking along. I think it would be cool to have church on the beach some night. We’ll all just walk down the beach with our Bibles and study the Word, sit in the sand, and just have church outside on the beach. That’s kind of what they were doing. They were just walking along, moving throughout the streets on their way through the Kidron Valley to the garden of Gethsemane. Another theory, by the way, is that Jesus said, “Arise, let us go hence,” and they didn’t really leave until after the upper room discourse at the end of chapter 17. We don’t really know.

Have you ever been to someone’s house for dinner and you say, “We need to go. We’ve got to go,” and you stand up and talk for another half hour. Then you say, “Well, we gotta go. We’ll see you.” You move over to the door and stand by the door or maybe out onto the front porch and talk for another half hour. Then, they follow you out to your car. You get out to the car and talk for another hour. Two hours ago you said you had to go, and you're standing out on the street talking. It may be that’s really what was happening. They were still in the room in process. Needless to say, the words that Jesus uttered are amazing.

John 15:1-11 is the famous parable of the vine, and it’s the seventh “I am” statement that Jesus uttered. He said, “I am the true vine…,” or more literally, “I am the vine, the true one,” there were false vines, “I am the true one.” “…and my Father is the husbandman,” or the gardener, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,” which means to prune or to cut back. Why? “…that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” If you have the liberty to underline in your Bible, that’s a great little statement, “without me ye can do nothing.” You ought to take note of that. “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoked unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

As I mentioned, this is the seventh of the “I am” statements in John. What do I mean by that? Well, if you’ve never known that, in the gospel of John Jesus said “I am” seven times. He uttered those words and then would say, “I am.” Forgive me, I don’t have them written down (I’m not preaching from any notes tonight), and I don’t have them all memorized, but He would say, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He would say, “I am the bread of God which comes down from heaven. If a man eats of Me, he shall never hunger,” and so forth. He said, “I am the door. If any man enters in through Me, he shall be saved.” He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that lives and believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” He said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Seven times Jesus uttered that statement. In Biblical numerology, seven is the number of completion, seven days in a week. It’s a number that conveys the idea of complete, so He gave a complete picture of who He is.

I’ve actually never preached a series on the “I am” statements of Christ. I want to do that sometime—take one a week for seven weeks and preach those great “I am” statements of Jesus. By the way, every time Jesus said, “I am,” guess who He is claiming to be? He is claiming to be God. You say, “Well, where do you get that?” In the Old Testament book of Exodus, Moses encountered a burning bush and approached it. God spoke from the bush and said, “Moses, take your shoes off. The place where you’re standing is holy ground.” God called Moses to go to Pharaoh and command him to release God’s people. Moses said, “Who am I going to tell them sent me?” What did the talking bush say? What did God, speaking from the bush, say? “You tell them, I am has sent you.” What is that? I am has sent me? “Who sent you anyway?” “I am did.” I’ve always thought it interesting that it’s not, “I will be,” or “I has been,” or “I might be,” or “I hope I will be.” It’s “I am.”

In the New Testament it’s ego eimi, I am. It’s the equivalent of the Old Testament, Jehovah or Yahweh. It’s the equivalent of the Old Testament concept of Jehovah God. The root meaning of that word, in simple explanation, is I am whatever you need. I’m your peace. I’m your hope. I’m your shepherd. I’m your righteousness. You have what is called the compound names of God in the Old Testament: Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness; Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner; Jehovah-shalom, the Lord our peace. In Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, Jehovah-Raah, I have everything I need. The simple idea is that it’s a blank check. You need salvation, He’s your salvation. You need peace, He’s your peace. You need hope, He’s your hope. Whatever it is you need, God becomes. Perhaps you’ve heard the term Jehovah Jireh, when God made the promise to Abraham. That is, the Lord sees or the Lord will provide. Wherever there is God vision there is provision. We’ve come to see it as Jehovah provides. Jesus is no less claiming to be God when He uses those words, “I am.”

Remember when they came to arrest Him in the garden? (Which is just a few chapters after this.) He goes from the upper room to the garden and is arrested. Jesus steps out when the Roman soldiers came to arrest Him. He asks, “Whom are you seeking?” They answer, “Jesus of Nazareth.” What did He say? Duh. He said, “I am.” He just said, “I am.” Guess what happened—they all fell backwards to the ground. I can see these guys getting up and dusting themselves off. Jesus again asks, “Who are you seeking?” They answer, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He says, “I am.” They fall backwards to the ground a second time. Now, at that time, I’d say, “Enjoy your time in the garden. See you later!” SWOOSH I’d be hauling out of there! I wouldn’t be looking for Jesus anymore. Anyway, He’s claiming to be God whenever He uses this statement of “I am.”

Now, speaking in a parable, Jesus says, “I am the vine, the true one.” Some believe that as Jesus was passing through the temple property, there was a gate that had the carving of a grapevine symbolizing the nation of Israel. Jesus saw that, and perhaps it sparked His thoughts and He began to teach. I don’t think Jesus needs to see a grapevine to think of the idea that He’s the vine and we are the branches. Anyway, a lot of people like to paint the picture that color that He saw that, or maybe in the outer areas they were burning some of the grapevine wood reminding Him of this parable that He spoke.

Whenever you have a parable of this nature, you need to understand that basically a parable is to convey one primary meaning. There is a danger that in interpreting a parable you can read too much into it. You don’t want to make a parable walk on all fours. You don’t want to read into the parable what Jesus didn’t intend the parable to say. You need to let the parable convey its own message, not trying to read into every facet and detail of the parable. What is clear is that Jesus is the vine. The second clear thing about this is that the Father, God the Father, is the husbandman or the vinedresser. The vinedresser is the one who pruned the branches in order that they may produce fruit. The theme of this section is fruit bearing. Jesus is talking to His disciples about how their lives can bear fruit. I say that to point out, the theme and the topic is not salvation. He’s not trying to teach that you need to stay abiding in Me and keep abiding in Me in order to be saved, and if you don’t abide in Me you’ll be lost. He’s talking about how we can bear fruit. He’s talking about staying in fellowship with Him so that our lives can bear much fruit. Always interpret a passage in its context.

In verse 2, Jesus says, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” I’m just going to mention it, I’ve already done that, but I’ll mention it now and get into it more in verse 6. There are some who believe that Jesus is teaching that a Christian, represented here as a branch in the vine, cannot bear fruit or abide and they can lose their salvation. I just pointed out that salvation is not the topic here. That’s not what Jesus is talking about. I personally believe you’re reading too much in the passage to say that. Jesus is giving us degrees of fruit and says first of all that you bear no fruit. I believe that’s possible, and I’ll talk more about it in verse 6. That could be a person that is a professor but not a possessor. It’s a person who claims to be a Christian but is not. Needless to say, in the imagery of the vine, the branches, and the fruit, there are some branches that just don’t have any fruit on them so they are taken away. The word taken away means to be lifted up, and it’s the same concept of pruning. The word purges or taken up is the same concept of pruning or cutting back. One thing I am not, is a person that you want taking care of your shrubs, bushes, or fruit trees. You don't want me to trim or do that kind of stuff because I just destroy them. When God does pruning, He knows when to prune, where to prune, and just how to prune. When you prune roses, you have to prune them at the right place and the right time, right? If you don’t, they’ll just get destroyed. So, God the Father is the husbandman. He’s the vinedresser. He knows when to prune.

Notice that there is the branch that bears fruit and the branch that is purged that it may bring forth more fruit. I want you to notice the progression—no fruit, fruit, more fruit. When we get down to verse 5, it’s much fruit. There is no fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit. Guess what God wants of you? Much fruit. I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “God wants spiritual fruit not religious nuts.” There are a lot of religious nuts out there that are producing no spiritual fruit. God wants our lives to bear much fruit, verse 5.

In verse 3, Jesus says, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” I want to point out that this is one of the classic passages on the idea that through the Word of God we are sanctified. The chief means of God sanctifying the believer is through the Word of God. In other words, you cannot grow and you cannot develop in holiness apart from the Bible. You can’t throw your Bible to the side and just say, “It’s me and the Holy Spirit. That’s all we need,” and expect to grow in holiness. If you’re here tonight, and you’re not feeding on God’s Word, you’re not studying God’s Word, you’re not reading God’s Word, you’re not growing in your understanding of God’s Word—it’s not enough just to read the Bible. You must meditate on the Bible, you must study the Bible, and then you must practice the Bible. You need to go deep into the Word of God. As you do that, it’s going to prune you, purge you, and sanctify you. One of the ways that God prunes us, cuts off the dead branches and the things that are un-Christlike in our lives so that we can bear fruit, is using the Word of God. If you have a fruit tree, you have to trim it back so that it will grow thicker and produce more fruit. That’s what God does in our lives, and the agency He uses is the Word of God.

We’re going to see when we get down to verse 7 that the way we abide in Christ is through His Word. I promised you that tonight I’d be telling you how to abide in Christ, and that’s the first ingredient. You can’t abide in Christ without abiding in His Word. You cannot be Spirit-filled without abiding in His Word. You cannot grow apart from His Word, and you’re not abiding in Christ if you’re not reading His Word. You’re not abiding in Christ if you just come to church, sing songs, get all excited, clap, and worship the Lord. You’re abiding in Christ when you meditate in God’s Word day and night. Psalm 1 says you’ll be like a tree planted by the rivers whose leaves shall not wither and everything you do will prosper. You meditate on God’s Word day and night. You’re planted in the Word of God and your life brings forth abundant fruit. It’s so important, and I really encourage you younger folks out there to pick up your Bibles, study, read, learn and grow. God’s Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light to your path. It’s far more important than a college education. It’s far more important than hours in front of a tv. It’s far more important than playing Pokemon or whatever little game you have, walking off a cliff. Turn off your games, your computer, and your cell phones and let God speak to you through His Word.

When I first got saved there were no cell phones. The other day I was bemoaning to my wife about, “You know, I just don’t seem to get enough time in the Word anymore. I’m just so pressed for sermon prep and study in the Word and meditating.” She looked at me and says, “Yeah, years ago you didn’t have a cell phone and you didn’t have a computer.” It was like, “Oh, you’re right, you’re right,” but I’m not going to give them up. I am going to turn them off and leave them in the next room. So, for the next several days I actually left my cell phone and computer in another room as I studied the Word of God and was uninterrupted because of that. Turn it off and spend time in God’s Word. You’re clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you. In the Psalms, the psalmist cried, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to God’s Word.” The psalmist cried and said, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” You want to be strong against temptation? Do you want to be purged from sin? Do you want to be more Christlike in your character? Spend time being purged and cleaned through the Word of God.

In verse 4, He says that you should abide in Him. “Abide in me, and I in you.” Notice the dual relationship. We abide in Him and He abides in us. So, abide in Him and He says, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” How important that is. We cannot bear fruit apart from Jesus Christ. We abide by spending time in His Word. We are going to see we abide by prayer and obedience. As we do that, then we can bear fruit. We cannot do that apart from Jesus Christ, and He makes it clear at the end of verse 5. He says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Isn’t it interesting, He didn’t say, “…not much.” “For without Me, you can’t do a lot.” He said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” We need to remember that. Jesus said, “Without Me, you’re a big zero.” I just thought I would encourage you tonight.

We always somehow think that we have something that we can offer God. “God, I’m pretty smart.” “God, I’m pretty talented.” “Lord, I’m pretty charismatic.” “Lord, I’m really a gifted guy. Lord, You’re so lucky to have me on Your team.” Jesus said, “Look, without Me you can do nothing.” It’s always God from beginning to end. We need to remember that we need Him to be the husband God wants me to be, to be the wife God wants me to be, to be the parents God wants me to be, to be the grandparents (my wife and I are now) that You want us to be, to be the Pastor God wants me to be. I can’t do what God has called me to do without Him. I can’t rely upon my gifts or my talents or my abilities. Without Jesus, I’m a big zero. Without Him, I’m nothing. You need to remember that as well. You’re looking at me like, “That’s right, Pastor, you’re nothing. Yeah, you're nothing.” The same is true of you. This is universal in its application. Without Jesus Christ, we cannot be what He has called us to be. We need the Lord. That’s what the abiding concept is. Lord, I need Thee—I love that old hymn. I need Thee every hour, every hour I need Thee. How we need to just cry out to God and say, “God, I need You! Every hour, every moment of every day, I need Your help. I need Your strength. I need Your wisdom. I need Your guidance. I need Your Peace. Lord, I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. You do, Lord. I’m going to trust You. I just want to abide in You. I want to go deeper in You through Your Word and through prayer and through walking obediently to Your Word.”

This is the controversial verse, verse 6. He says, “If a man abide not in me,” now, I would take note. I don’t know that it really means anything, but He doesn’t say, “ye” He says a man. I just thought I’d point that out. He didn’t say, “If you abide not in me,” but He says “…a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,” so He’s using this analogy or metaphor or parable as He speaks here. You’re like a branch, “… and is withered;” notice the process. First, there’s no abiding. It is then cast forth and withered. Then, men gather them into the fire and they are burned. Now, I don’t want to get bogged down, and I don’t want to get sidetracked (and this is easy for me to do), but I don’t personally believe that Jesus is teaching that this is a Christian who fails to abide, then loses their salvation, and burns in hell. I don’t believe that is what Jesus is teaching here. First, I already pointed out the context is fruit. He’s talking about fellowship and bearing fruit. He is not talking about salvation here. Let me give you another principle of interpreting the Bible. You can believe it or not, but I think you’re wise to take this to heart. Whenever there is a passage that is unclear or a little foggy or not real black and white that seems to contradict another passage in the Bible that is crystal clear, which one should you hold to? You should hold to the one that is crystal clear as opposed to the one that is a little cloudy or foggy or not quite so clear or easy to understand. I believe that would apply in this case.

If you were here on Wednesday night the last two weeks, we saw very clearly that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For whom God foreknew, them He also called: whom He called, them He justified: and whom He justified, He also glorified, that what begins with grace will end in glory. God will finish the work that He does in your life. I believe Romans 8 teaches very clearly that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and there is no separation. Just because Jesus tells a parable about a branch and a vine, don’t carry that over and say that it’s the same concept that Paul used in His epistles about being in Christ. I think that’s a far stretch. I believe that once in Christ, always in Christ. I believe once you’re in Christ you’re eternally secure. There’s no condemnation; there’s no separation. How did you get in Christ? By the work of the Holy Spirit. How do you get out of Christ? You can’t get yourself out. If God put you in, only God can take you out. For you to lose your salvation, you would have to take yourself out of Christ and go back into Adam. I don’t see any teaching in the Bible that says you can do that. You would have to unregenerate yourself, take yourself out of Christ, and put yourself back into Adam.

Here’s another thought, and I promise you I’ll stop and move on, okay? Listen to me. If you have to abide to be saved, then in essence you’re teaching that we’re saved by grace through faith, it’s not of ourselves, it’s a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast, but you have to do something to maintain it—you have to stay close to God, you have to stay deep in prayer, you have to read your Bible, you have to obey the Word, you have to abide in Christ. What you are saying is that God saves us but we keep us. God saves me, but I have to keep me. That’s a scary thought because I’m weak, frail, and I can stumble and fall. If my security is based on me, God have mercy! But, if my security is based on God, I can rest in that. In John 10 Jesus said, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” I believe we are secure in the hands of Jesus.

Let me throw out another thought. I said I’d quit, but I’ve got one more thought, okay? Here’s another thought. If I must abide to maintain my salvation, I have a question for you. How deeply do I need to abide? Can you tell me? Can you tell me how many sins would constitute a loss of my salvation? Can you tell me how deeply or define for me properly how I should abide so that I can know I’m safe? Can you tell me without any doubt that I am abiding safely in Jesus? Is there a line that you know? Can you make it clear to me? Can you tell me how deeply, how fervently, how consistently I need to abide to maintain my salvation? I propose to you that you cannot unless you arbitrarily, whimsically just invent it on your own. “Well, (this is just hypothetical, okay) if you say a bad word.” “How bad of a word?” “Well, super bad.” “Can you be a little bit more definitive with me?” “Well, you know, I don’t want to say it. You know, just a bad word.” “Well, if you have a bad thought.” “I mean, at what point?” “Well, if you get drunk.” “How drunk?” “Super drunk.” Really. Who decides how drunk a person has to be before they lose their salvation? Pray tell me where is the line drawn? You open a pandora’s box that no one can tell. No one can tell you.

I’ve heard people say if you’re not really abiding in Christ and walking close to Christ, and the rapture happens you’re going to miss it. “You’re going to miss it?” “Yeah. If you’re not really close to the Lord, you’re going to miss the rapture.” It’s called the partial rapture theory—only the super saints go up. Freak out time! “Man, I don’t know if I’m a super saint, so could you give me a definition of a super saint? How spiritual do I have to be so that I’m ready for the rapture?” “Well, you just have to be really, really ready.” “Uh, I need a little more specific here.” Do you understand what you’re saying here? You say, “John, you’re yelling at me like I’m the one that believes this.” No. This is just important stuff. If you can lose your salvation because you’re not abiding, then how deeply must one abide? How fervently must one abide? I don’t even think that’s in the passage, so I probably shouldn’t have even gotten into this stuff, but I think it’s important. A lot of people stumble over this and think, “Oh, if you don’t abide in Jesus you’re cast like a branch and your burned. Certainly, that’s a picture of destruction there. It’s a picture of hell, and Christians are going to go to hell if they don’t abide in Christ.” That’s not what Jesus is talking about.

Jesus does say in verse 7 finally, and then we’re going to move on, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Here are the first two ways to abide, His Words and by prayer. Clearly in that verse we abide in Him through His Word and His Word abides in us, and prayer. “…ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you,” but if we’re abiding in His Word, we aren’t going to be asking contrary to His will, and He will answer our prayers. He says, “Herein…,” or through this, “…is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit,” our lives bearing fruit brings glory to God. “…so shall ye be my disciples.” You can get a Concordance and look up the word fruit. You can trace all the different aspects of fruit. What is fruit? Fruit is the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5—love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, temperate, self control. The greatest evidence of the Spirit-filled life is fruit not gifts. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit, but they are no evidence of being spiritual. You can exercise gifts and be carnal. Fruit is synonymous with spirituality. Fruit is also giving of your substance to the Lord. Fruit is winning souls for Jesus. Fruit is walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. There are all different methods of bearing fruit that glorify God—character fruit and ministry fruit. I believe that as we spend time in His Word and in prayer then we’re going to see in verse 10, walking in obedience, our lives bear much fruit for His Glory. He also puts us through trials by pruning us so that our lives can bear much fruit.

I have grown in my life, and you can testify to the same thing, the greatest spiritual growth has taken place in my life through adversity. That’s where the spiritual growth comes in. You don’t grow spiritually by everything going smooth, but that’s what we pray for. “Lord, just smooth my path today. Take out all the bumps. Line the path with roses, take the thorns out so I won’t get hurt. Let there be a gentle breeze at my back, and let the hill be slightly downward. Let everybody standing on the side cheer for me, in Jesus’ name.” Isn’t that the way we pray? God says, “No. I love you too much. I want you to grow.” So the path is narrow. It’s rocky. It’s dark and difficult because God wants to grow us in that adversity by pruning us.

In verse 8 He says, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” The fruit of abiding is that we have answers to prayer, we experience (verse 9) His love, and then we also abide by keeping His commandments (verse 10). He says, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” So, we continue in His love and we keep His commandments. There are three main ways to abide: by meditating, studying and reading God’s Word, and He cleanses us; prayer,(verse 7 and we’re going to see it again in verse 16); obedience (verse 10). In verse 11 He says, “These things have I spoked unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” That’s the conclusion there of that section on the parable of the vine, the branches, and the husbandman.

Jesus now turns to His disciples, He turns to us, and gives us that renewed commandment, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.” Jesus speaks to His disciples about the need for agape, that they love one another, and He says, “…as I have loved you.” Then He says that the master doesn’t reveal to His servants, but He has revealed this to us, so we are now called friends. We are actually the friends of God. What an amazing concept! Then He says we’re chosen. He says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”

In closing the chapter, Jesus now speaks to them about their relationship to the world, its hostility that will come against them, and the reasons why they will hate and persecute them. It’s so true and apropos for us today. He says, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 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, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law…,” He’s quoting from Psalm 69:4, “They hated me without a cause. 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…,” that is, the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, “…shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

I want to point out some of the reasons why Christians are persecuted and hated by the world. First, (verse 18) we’re identified with Christ. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” Are you a Christian? Are you a Christ follower? You can tell people you’re a Buddhist. They say, “Cool, cool. That’s cool.” You can tell them you’re into some other kind of religion, “That’s cool.” “I’m a Christian.” “Oh man. Why would you want to be a Christian?” Because of their hatred of Jesus, they carry that over—they hate you. Jesus has gone back to heaven and they can’t get to Jesus, so they get to you. They persecute you. If they hated Jesus, they’re going to hate you also. Don’t be so surprised. “Why don’t they like me? I’m a nice person.” Because you are a Christian and because of your identification with Christ, the world is going to be hostile toward you.

Some Christians are afraid to let people know they are Christians. They are Christ of the secret order. “How’s it going on the job?” “Oh. It’s going good. Nobody’s found out I’m a Christian. It’s really going good. They don’t know I’m a Christian.” Shame on you! That’s not what you’re supposed to do. “Yeah, well, I’m of Christ of the secret order.” No, no. It doesn’t work that way. Let your light so shine before men that they can see your good works. You don’t have to just walk and say, “Hey everybody! I just want to make it clear, I’m a Christian! Spirit-filled! Hallelujah! Let’s be straight on this.” You’re also weird, Dude! If something comes up where you’re asked about something, you give them a Biblical answer. You talk about Jesus and bring Him into the conversation. Why would you be ashamed of Jesus, right? If you have a friend, and they are embarrassed to introduce you to someone else, you think, “Wow! What kind of a friend is that?” Are you embarrassed to tell people about Jesus, your Savior and your Friend, your Redeemer and Lord? He’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Why would you be embarrassed of Jesus? “Well, they’ll think I’m crazy!” What else is new? Who cares? They don’t really like you that much anyway, you know?

I remember when I was in high school, I didn’t become a Christian because I wanted my friends to like me. It was that simple. I new everything about Christianity. I was raised in church. I could quote the Bible. I grew up in church, but I’m not going to become a Christian because I don’t want to be a dork. I don’t want people to not like me. I want to be cool. I want to hang out with the cool guys in that cool spot on the campus, you know, and go to the cool parties with the cool people. Finally, I realized how stupid of me! I’m going to go to hell being cool, and I won’t be very cool anymore—it’d be rather hot! I thought, “Why should I let my friends get in the way of me coming to Jesus and damn my soul to hell for all eternity? What kind of nonsense is that?” We let our ego and our pride stand in the way. A lot of people don’t come to Christ because they think it’s uncool. They don’t want to admit they have a need and they can’t make it on their own. They don’t want to admit what we read in verse 5, “…for without me ye can do nothing.” I don’t think that we should be so proud to think that we could do it on our own.

The second reason the world is hostile to us is because we don’t belong to the world, verse 19. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own…,” I don’t watch the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards, and all these other awards. It’s kind of a mutual self-admiration club. They all get together and pat themselves on the back. It’s Hollywood getting together to see who can out-cool each other kind of a thing, and show off their clothes and their style and what new wife they have this year. They are of the world, and the world loves them. You are in the world—you speak like the world, you act like the world, you talk like the world, you think like the world. If you’re worldly, the world will say, “You’re cool, man! Hey, you wanna come to our party?” They’ll accept you, but if you say, “Well, I’m a Christian. I read the Bible. I believe in Jesus.” You’re weird. “Get out of here.” They’ll reject you.

I remember when I did come to Jesus Christ. I was 18 and just graduated from high school. All my friends started thinking I was crazy and stopped inviting me to the parties and they didn’t want to hang around me anymore. I read a quote in a commentary by Kenneth Wuest. I read a statement that said, “I’d rather walk a lonely road with Jesus than be without Him in a crowd.” I never forgot that. “I’d rather walk a lonely road with Jesus than be without Him in a crowd.” So, I let my friends go this way and I went that way. I’m sure glad I did! I let them go into the world, and I followed the Lord. I’m so glad I did! I never regretted that commitment that I made to Jesus Christ and continue to make, to serve Him, and follow Him.

We identify with Christ, they persecute us; we’re not of the world, they persecute us. Then we see in verse 21, that they don’t know God. “But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.” They don’t know God. They don’t know God. They don’t know Him personally. They don’t understand the things of God. He says about them, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin:” or they wouldn’t be responsible for their sin. Knowledge brings responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required. Because of the miracles He performed and the teaching He gave, they were responsible for their sin. They had no cloak for their sin. “He that hateth me hateth my Father also.” Jesus did these mighty works (verse 24), and they rejected them. They rejected the Father also. It comes to pass, fulfilling Psalm 69:4, ““They hated me without a cause.” Think about that. God came down to earth in the form of a man, perfect humanity, and they crucified Him. They rejected Him. That was the most wicked, dastardly deed humanity has ever done, crucifying the Son of God, but God used that to bring salvation to the world. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.”

We’re going to spend more time at the end of chapter 15 next Sunday night. We are going to have a lot of teaching next Sunday night about the Holy Spirit, and that’s what Jesus introduces at the end of chapter 15. He is called the Comforter. The Greek word is parakletos. It literally means one who comes alongside of another to strengthen and to help us. He is promising the coming of the Comforter. He says, “I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.” I want you to notice something worthy of highlighting or underlining. “He shall testify of me.” Do you know what one of the primary jobs of the Holy Spirit is? To point people to Jesus Christ, to testify of Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is working, people see Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is moving, people see Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is moving and working in a person’s life, they see Jesus. When He’s moving and working in a church, they see Jesus.

I’m always weary of these Holy Ghost movements where all the focus and talk is on the Holy Spirit rather than on Jesus. One of the tests of a genuine work of the Holy Spirit is Jesus glorified, is Jesus-centered focus, is Jesus being lifted up. The Holy Spirit doesn’t talk about Himself. Did you know, no one in the book of Acts that was Spirit-filled said, “I’m Spirit-filled.” Nobody said, “Hey! I want everybody to know, I’m Spirit-filled!” Today, people like to brag, “I’m a Spirit-filled Christian.” Nobody in the book of Acts ever said that because when you’re Spirit-filled you don’t talk about the Holy Spirit, you talk about Jesus. People who were Spirit-filled in the book of Acts talked about Jesus. They preached about Jesus. They pointed to Jesus because that’s what He’s come to do. When people come into a meeting and say, “The Holy Spirit’s taken over me,” and distract from Jesus to themselves, that’s the flesh. That’s not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus Christ.

I grew up in a church where all the focus was on the Holy Spirit, and so much of it was emotion and flesh and showing off and so little Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is at work in a heart, in a life, in a church, in a home, in a community, in the world, Jesus Christ is honored and glorified and magnified. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus closes, and we’ll tee off it next Sunday night, with “…he shall testify of me.” When the Holy Spirit fills our lives, guess what we want to talk about? Jesus. We want to point people to Jesus. We want to glorify Jesus. We want to introduce people to Jesus. Amen?