Moody Church Hour

Guest (Male): Before his crucifixion, Jesus focused on preparing his disciples for the battle ahead. He promised them the Holy Spirit to give strength for that unavoidable battle. With the Spirit inside, Christians have a distinct allegiance, a distinct witness, and a distinct bearing. Today, what this is all about. Stay with us.

From Chicago, this is the Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller. Today, another in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John, a series we’re calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus: The Helper. Here now is Pastor Philip along with worship leader Tim Stafford.

Pastor Philip Miller: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Moody Church. We’re so grateful that you’ve joined us today for worship. Today we’re going to learn about the Helper, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus promised to send to his followers as a promise that would be life-giving in our lives. And now we live here in the days of the Spirit as the church, and we need to know what it means to have him as our helper.

Would you join me in prayer as we begin today? Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus came to save us, and that even though Jesus has gone back and is now seated at the right hand of your majesty, that we have not been left alone. You’ve sent the Holy Spirit to us, and we are not alone. We have an advocate, a helper, and you are now closer than the air we breathe.

Help us to learn the riches of what we’ve been given through the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who is with us and in us and is changing us even today, guiding us into all truth. Come meet with us, we pray, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The hour grows dark. The oil lamps are guttering late into the night, and Jesus is lingering with his disciples. Betrayal awaits. His arrest is crouching in the shadows. The whipping, the mocking, the crucifixion, it's all coming for Jesus, and he knows it. But he mustn't fixate on this tidal wave of agony that is about to break over him. No, right now, he must attend to them.

They've got to be ready. They've got to be prepared. This road that awaits them will test them beyond anything they have ever known. His disciples must be ready. In John 15, verses 18 through 16:15, in this passage we come to today, Jesus is preparing his disciples for battle.

At the very heart of this passage are a number of verses, but John 16:1-4 says this: "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you."

So at the very heart of this passage, Jesus is arming his disciples for what is coming. He's preparing them for battle. The persecution that comes for Jesus will also come after his disciples as well. And as American Christians with sizable amounts of religious freedom, we often just read past sections of the scripture like this. We just go by them rather quickly. But you know who doesn't read past these sections quickly? The vast majority of our brothers and sisters around the world and throughout history.

According to some research done by Gordon-Conwell Seminary, the number of Christians that were martyred for their faith throughout the course of human history amounts to over 70 million people. Over half of those martyrdoms took place in the 20th century under communist and fascist regimes.

But in case we're tempted to think that all of that's behind us, in the first 10 years, the first decade of the 21st century, some 1,093,000 Christians were martyred around the world, according to the World Christian Database. As we speak, there are over 100 million Christians who are experiencing real persecution around this globe.

Which makes Christianity the most persecuted religious group in the world. The US State Department estimates that there are at least 60 countries where followers of Jesus are facing active persecution from their government authorities or from their neighbors because of their religious commitments. If current trends continue, 322 of our brothers and sisters will lay down their lives for Jesus this month.

And if you're one of those 322, you don't read past passages like these. You cling to these words. They are your life. They're your strength, your endurance. They give you courage. And who knows, friends? Those of us here in America, in the West, may need these words sooner than we realize. Perhaps Jesus is preparing us for battle as well.

Jesus is preparing his disciples for suffering, for persecution, for hostility that they will face in this world. Because followers of Jesus are not like the world. And the world views us then with suspicion because we're different, because we're distinct. And there's three distinctions that Jesus is going to highlight for us in this passage: that Christians have a distinct allegiance, we have a distinct witness, and we have a distinct bearing. A distinct allegiance, witness, and bearing. We need all three of these for what's coming.

Would you bow your heads? Let's pray together as we open God's holy word. Heavenly Father, as we now turn to your Son's final words, some of his final words in which he's utterly realistic about the cost of discipleship, may we draw strength and reality from these words that we may face all that comes our way no matter what. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

First, a distinct allegiance. John 15:18: "If the world hates you," Jesus says, "know that it has hated me before it hated you." Just pause for a second. As we've been studying the Gospel of John, wherever Jesus has gone, we have seen this: that he has a polarizing effect, doesn't he? There are people who are attracted to him and people who are repulsed from him. There's attraction and repulsion just like a magnet.

Neutrality is impossible when it comes to Jesus. Either we will find him the most magnetic person in history and open wide our hearts and receive him, or we will find him unnerving and disturbing and threatening and we will push him away. And similarly, Jesus is saying Christians who are now filled with the Holy Spirit of God and who bear the presence of Christ in the world, we will have a similar magnetic, polarizing effect on the world around us. There will be attraction, yes, but there will also be repulsion.

Jesus' followers should not be shocked when they experience the very same hatred that Jesus himself experienced in this world. John will put it this way in one of his epistles, 1 John 3:13: "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you." Now, before we move on to the very next verse here, I want you to notice that Jesus is saying that the world will hate us, but he does not say that we are to hate the world.

In other words, it's not a reciprocal hate. The world will make us its enemy, but we are never to return that in kind. Because how does Jesus call us to respond to our enemies? What does he say? Matthew 5:44-45: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."

After all, that's the way that Jesus treated us when we were his enemies. He loved us and laid down his life for us, and now he calls us to do the same with our enemies. So we will be hated by the world, but being hated never gives us the right to hate back. Some of us need to go delete some social media posts right now, I suppose. I'm only half joking.

Now, why would the world hate Jesus' followers? Verse 19: "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." In other words, Jesus has chosen us out of the world. This world is not our true home. Our home is with Jesus in his kingdom forever.

We are citizens of heaven. We're aliens and strangers here, exiles who are awaiting a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. Our allegiance is with Jesus and his kingdom. He is our king. He is our Lord. He is our master.

Verse 20: "Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." We have a master and his name is Jesus. We have a word that we live by and that word belongs to the living word, Jesus himself. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords, and we answer to him alone. Which means that this world ultimately has no hold over the followers of Jesus. Which is why so much of this world considers Christianity such a threat.

If you go to China, for example, Christianity is viewed as a threat to the authority of the state. The Communist Party insists that the state alone deserves the highest authority. But Christians answer to authority even higher than that, don't we? And so they apply pressure.

Now, likewise here in America, Christianity is still viewed as a threat, not so much to the authority of the state, but to the authority of the self. In China, the ultimate authority is vested in the state, in the Communist Party. But in America, the ultimate authority is vested in the self.

I have the right to do anything I want. This is called autonomous expressive individualism. American culture insists that the self alone deserves the highest authority. But Christians answer to an authority even higher than that. We answer to Jesus. And so the culture applies pressure. It's the same thing, just where the authority is vested.

Verse 21, Jesus says, "But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me." To follow Jesus, friends, means that we will encounter hostility on account of my name, Jesus says. The world's estrangement from God the Father, its hatred of Jesus the Son, will inevitably bring pressure upon those who claim the name of Jesus because we follow the way of Jesus and his kingdom.

Notice that Jesus is telling us that we will encounter hostility from the world because we bear the name of Jesus in the world. Not because we're obnoxious. There's a huge difference. If we're encountering hostility because we're winsomely sharing and displaying the light of Jesus Christ in the world, that's to be expected. Jesus prepared us for that eventuality.

But if we're experiencing hostility because we're tactless or because we're obnoxious, that's nothing to be proud of. We are to love our enemies. We are to pray for those who persecute us. We are not to be anyone's pain in the neck. This is our distinct allegiance.

Secondly, we see a distinct witness. Look at verse 22: "If I had not come and spoken to them," to the world, "they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 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. But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled: they hated me without a cause."

Jesus' presence in the world brings accountability, doesn't it? He came, he spoke, he revealed who he was, and now they're accountable for what they know. In the same way, what he did, his miracles, his signs, as John has called them, are revealing who Jesus is. And now they're accountable for what they have seen and heard.

The Son of God has come in the flesh and revealed the Father to us to reconcile us to the Father through all that he is doing. And now in rejecting Jesus, they've rejected the Father. In hating Jesus, they've hated the Father, just as Psalm 35:19 and Psalm 69:4 foretold: "They hated him without a cause."

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 will also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning."

Now, I don't know about you, but verses 26 and 27 almost feel like a massive shift in topic. He goes from rejection and hatred of Jesus now to the witness of the Holy Spirit and his disciples. But it's not an abrupt shift. Just as Jesus bore witness to himself in the world in his words and his works, very soon Jesus will send the Holy Spirit from the Father who will bear witness about Jesus in the world.

Jesus is leaving the world, and he will no longer be able to bear witness about himself. No more words, no more works. But the Spirit will come. The Helper will come and he will bear witness to Jesus in the world. And the disciples will bear witness as well, because they have been with him from the beginning and because the Helper will enable them to bear witness as the Spirit himself bears witness through them and in their lives.

If you will, jump down with me to chapter 16, verse seven, where Jesus unpacks what this witness will actually look like. Verse seven: "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin, concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."

This always perplexed me when Jesus says it's to your advantage that I go away. What could be better than Jesus with you, right with you? He's right there. You could see him, you could talk to him, you could ask him questions, you could reach out and touch him. What could be better than that?

Jesus says, you want to know what's better than God alongside? God inside, that's what's better. God on the inside. I can only help you so much from the outside. But if I come inside you by the power of my Holy Spirit, my life can enter into your own life and become your life and you can be in me and I can be in you. We will abide with one another and there will be mutual indwelling as I enfold you in my love and as the Spirit comes and dwells in you. My life will flow in and through you and bear much fruit as you abide in me.

This Spirit, this Helper, will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment as this is all happening. Look at verse nine: "Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me." Let's just unpack these phrase by phrase. On the day of Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit—this is Acts chapter two—it brought conviction of sin. Listen to what Peter says in his sermon right after the filling of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:22-23: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, you yourselves know. This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of sinful men." Convicting of sin.

Verse 10 here: "Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer." Again, Peter's sermon, Acts 2:32-33: "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing." Conviction concerning righteousness.

Verse 11: "And concerning judgment," Jesus continues, "because the ruler of this world is judged." Again back to Peter, Acts 2:34-36, quoting from Psalm 110: "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

Here he is, the crucified and risen King of kings and Lord of lords, victorious, risen, enthroned above sin, death, and Satan himself forever. See, the Spirit is bearing witness in his coming concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, but not just in Peter's day. In every life of followers of Jesus Christ, the Spirit continues this convicting work in my life and yours.

Through our lives, the abiding of Christ, filled by the Spirit, bearing much fruit in union with Christ, this Helper continues to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment because we embody the convicting presence of God. We embody the convicting presence of God in this world.

Wherever we go into the world, we never go alone. Do you realize this? You never travel alone. As a follower of Jesus, indwelt by the Spirit, God goes with you wherever you go into the world. And wherever God goes, he brings conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

It's not our job to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Our job is to come in right behind that and to share the good news that Jesus died for our sin, and that he offers us his righteousness, and that he has already won the judgment, and that his victory can be ours by faith in Jesus Christ. That is our distinct witness. Amen?

We have a distinct allegiance. We have a distinct witness. And now finally, a distinct bearing. Wind back up with me to 16, verse one: "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you."

Jesus is saying, look, I don't want any of this to catch you off guard. I don't want you to expect an easy life. I don't want you to expect comfort. Listen, America: I don't want you to expect luxury or a pleasant life. If you follow me, you will suffer. You will be excluded. You will be sneered at. You will be ostracized. You will be persecuted. You will be canceled.

Verse four: "I've said these things to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you." What does that sound like? "Their hour comes." What does that sound like? Remember all along through the book of John, Jesus has been saying, "My hour has not yet come, my hour has not yet come," and then at his last night, he says, "My hour is at hand, it's here."

The hour of what? The hour of his suffering, the hour of his glory and exaltation, right? "I will be lifted up, and as I'm lifted up on the cross in shame, I will draw all people to myself and there will be glory." He's saying, "My hour of greatest shame and suffering is my hour of greatest honor and glory."

And so it will be with you. When this hour comes for you, when your hour comes, the hour of suffering, the hour of persecution, when you are hated and shamed and persecuted, it will also be for you an hour of glory.

Verse four, the second half: "I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I'm going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me where are you going? But because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."

I'm telling you now what's coming. I'm preparing you for battle. I'm about to leave. I can't stay and protect you. It's all going to come at you now. And you're going to have to stand on your own feet. You won't be able to hide behind me any longer. I know this brings sorrow into your soul.

And then he goes through seven through 11. We've already looked at it, but the Spirit is coming. The Helper will be with you. You're not alone. He'll convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment through your lives.

Verse 12: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." This path of discipleship, as you follow me, is a costly path. And if you knew all the cost that it would cost you over the course of your life, if you knew it upfront, it would be too much to bear.

But verse 13: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and declare to you the things that are to come." The Holy Spirit will guide us, walk with us each step of the way.

And when the hour of persecution and pain comes and you need to know what's coming and you need to know what to do, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will tell you exactly what you need to know. Verse 14: "He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. Therefore I said, he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

It's a little convoluted. Everything the Father has is given to the Son, and the Son will give it through the Spirit to us. Whatever trial we face, whatever fire we endure, whatever hostility we receive, he says, "I will be with you always, to the very end of the age" as we suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit.

We suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit. All that the Father has is Jesus. And all that is Jesus is ours through the Spirit. And here's what's amazing: Jesus' hour of suffering was the same hour when there was the highest level of conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment in the world, yes? When he hung on that cross, it was the most convicting moment in all of human history for the world. And Jesus is saying when we suffer, that same conviction happens in the world through us.

The world is convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment as the Spirit enables us to suffer well in the glorious strength that he provides. As we suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit, friends, we embody the convicting presence of God in this world and proclaim our ultimate allegiance to the way of Jesus and his kingdom.

Our persecuted brothers and sisters all around the world tell us that a suffering church is an unstoppable church. That the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. That persecution breeds perseverance. That hostility unleashes holiness. And that crucifixion is the only way to resurrection glory.

Our persecuted brothers and sisters, when they ask us to pray for them, they don't ask us to pray that the persecution stops. You know what they ask us to pray? That they would persevere to the end. Could it be, friends, that the vast majority of Christians down throughout human history and around the globe this moment know something we don't know? That is the power of suffering like Jesus in the strength of the Spirit for the glory of God.

What if our knee-jerk reaction to always be quick to assert our own rights actually throttles the power and presence of God in our lives? What if suffering like Jesus grants us access to the depths of all that God is for us in Jesus Christ by the mediation of the Spirit? What if suffering like Jesus is actually our moment of greatest witness to the world of the presence of God?

If that's true, it would make a whole lot of sense of a bunch of passages. Let me just read you a few. James 1:2-4: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

1 Peter 2:20-21: "If when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example that you might follow in his steps."

1 Peter 4:12-14: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

Hebrews 12:1-3: "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that you might not grow weary and fainthearted."

2 Timothy 3:12: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Let me just read that again: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Romans 8:16-17: "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

Philippians 3:8, 10, and 11: "Indeed, I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead."

Matthew 5:10-12: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil falsely against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets that were before you."

Acts 5:40-41: "After this they called in the apostles and they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore. And then they let them go. And the apostles left rejoicing, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of his name."

So friends, here's the takeaway: stand strong in the Lord. Take up your cross and follow him. 1 Peter 5:6-11, and with this we close: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore and confirm and strengthen and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Amen."

Let’s pray. Father, help us learn the way of Jesus. Help us learn the power of the cross. Help us learn to endure for the sake of your name. Sometimes I think we’re so quick to try to get rid of the suffering that we forget who we are becoming in the suffering, which is really what you care about. May these tests, these trials, become moments of glory through the power of your Spirit as we follow your Son to the glory of your name. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Guest (Male): On today’s Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with another message in a series he’s calling Loved by Jesus: The Book of John. We heard about the Helper, how the Holy Spirit is the presence of Christ in us, giving us the power to bear witness to him since he’s ascended to his Father. "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Next time, we meet the overcomer: how the triumphant Christ overcomes sorrow with joy and estrangement with reunion. Plan to join us.

Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? That’s a book by Pastor Lutzer. It’s a biblical guide to God’s hidden purposes. It will be sent as our thank you when you give a gift of any amount to support the Moody Church Hour. For details, call 1-800-215-5001. That’s 1-800-215-5001.

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