No Man Is An Island

That was the name of his book. It was a series of what he called meditations and in meditation number 17 These are the words he wrote back in 1624 he said all mankind is of one author and Is one volume when one man dies one chapter is not torn out of the book But translated into a better language and every chapter must be so translated as therefore The bell that rings to a sermon in those days They use church bells to call people to church She says as the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only but upon the congregation to come and So this bell calls us all but how much more me who embrought so near the door By this sickness he felt that he was going to be dying. He says no man is an island entire of itself Any man's death dominations me because I am involved in mankind and therefore never sin to know for whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee a couple of familiar expressions he penned that day that have come down to us and our Vocabulary today that phrase no man is an island has been used in many ways It emphasizes our connection to everyone else in humanity and that the story of humanity goes on even when we die and pass Life goes on it also describes our relationship with others our fact that that we always Impact others and others impact us. We are not islands. We are people who are involved in relationships with other people And that title because of that has been used so many different ways It's been used in book titles film titles album titles particular songs a well-known Christian group has just done a song Called no man is an island 10th Avenue North and they have picked up on that theme of we need each other We are in relationship with each other in the body of Christ where brothers and sisters and we need each other That is so appropriate for the message that Jesus is communicating to his disciples in the upper room in John 14 through 16 We have already seen the the big picture of this passage is one of comfort and encouragement to his disciples He told them in chapter 13 that one of them would betray him another would deny him and he was going to go to a place where they could not Follow and so they're very confused they're dazed by that information and they're troubled deeply troubled he will say a little bit later on in chapter 16 I know you're grieving because of what I've told you and so These words in the upper room are designed to comfort and encourage them in chapter 14 He encouraged them with some great promises that he made to them and also with the the blessings that God has given us the great gifts He's given us and we should focus upon those so he comforted with that in chapter 15 as we saw last week He comforts them with the knowledge of their relationship with him. He's divine They are the branches and his life flows through us as the branches so that we might produce the fruit of Godly character in our lives So we're to be encouraged by that and then he talks about our relationship with others and we'll get to that in Just a moment but the results of our relationship with him which we didn't get to last week and several of you asked We're going to finish that sermon I'll give you part of it right now the results are answered prayer in verse 7 the father is glorified in verse 8 and there's great joy in verse 11 Those are the results of our abiding union with Christ and our relationship with him But today we move to two other Relationships that Jesus talks about and the first one also finishing up from last week is our relationship with other believers Our relationship with other believers I'd intended to give you this last week and we ran out of time So let's pick it up and and draw together what Christ says in verses 12 through 17 about our relationship with other believers Jesus says in verse 12 My command is this love each other as I have loved you now look at verse 17 This is my command love each other That command he had told them in chapter 13 verse 34 a new command, but I give you he said that you love one another He reminds them of it twice here. They are to love each other It's kind of bookends or parentheses around this passage Verse 12 begins love one another verse 17 ends this passage love each other and in between he tells us how we should love each other If our relationship with Christ is marked By abiding and fruit bearing then our relationship with others is to be marked by love and Jesus is the example of that love He is the measure of how we are to love and that's why he says love each other as I have loved you He is our example of how we're to love each other and there are three ways He tells us that we should love each other in these verses verses 13 through 16 We love each other first of all by sacrificing Verse 13 greater love has no one than this that he laid down his life For his friends Jesus himself would do that He was going to do it the very next day and so he is the example of laying down his life sacrificing himself true love and Jesus is using that Example to describe how we're to love each other true love for each other means that we sacrifice for each other That we would be willing to lay down our lives for each other Now we may not actually get to that point We may not actually be called upon to sacrifice our lives for each other But we know that we would not be ready to do that if we're not sacrificing in smaller ways each day So I'm going to ask us this morning are we giving of our life? This is sacrificing means that we give that with the relationship with each other is marked by giving not taking And so the real question is are we giving of ourselves for others? Are you giving your life day by day for anyone else for other people in the body of Christ and he's talking here about one another? Believers obviously it extends to the unbelieving world as well, but in here He's talking about loving each other this way And so are we sacrificing any time? For each other are we sacrificing our ear and our heart to give focus to others and their needs Are we sacrificing financially for anybody else? Are we sacrificing our own interests when the phone call comes and you're involved in something you want to do? Or a family member has a need but you're involved in something that pleases you Are you willing to give that up? Are you willing to sacrifice that time and energy and effort to give to the other person? That's what love requires. That's what love is all about and so love means if we sacrifice for one another It's how we show our love for each other secondly We love by sharing We love by sharing with each other look at verse 14 He says you are my friends if you do what I command I no longer call you servants Because a servant does not know his master's business Instead I've called you friends for everything that I learned from my father. I have made known to you Now Jesus says I'm calling you friends now not servants. It doesn't mean we stop being his servants He's described for us in chapter 13 with the washing of their feet that we're to do that for others We are to serve others and so it's not like okay We move to this new level. We're no longer servants at all What he's saying is I'm not talking to you now as servants. I'm talking to you as friends because a servant is just under orders A slave is under orders may not be told why he's to do something doesn't really need to know why He just needs to know what the masters commands are and he is to obey those but a friend is different a Friend is taken into your confidence a Friend is someone that you share your heart with and Christ is doing that in the upper room He says it there in verse 15 He says I've called you friends for everything that I learned from my father. I've made known to you I'm sharing with you my father's heart. I'm sharing with you my father's plans I'm sharing with you the fact that I'm gonna die I'm sharing with you what you should do so he's he's opening up his heart and He's sharing with them. That's what friendship really is That's the reason he's calling them friends now because he's taken them into his confidence and he shares his heart and soul with them Close friends like that are few and far between quite often But we all need people we can share our heart with Paul said of Timothy in second Timothy chapter 2 I have no man like minded Who will take care of your interest of of his own? He looked out among all the people that worked with him There's only one guy I can think of that shares my heart in ministry We need friendships like David and Jonathan who bared their souls to each other and Jonathan would even give David Recognizing God was going to use him as the next king rather than Jonathan himself. He gave David the signs of kingship those things that belong to him that showed he would be king We need friends like that. We need relationships with fellow believers like that where we can share our hearts our feelings our needs our failures Healing comes when that happens recovery comes when that happens growth comes when that happens I Hope you have some folks some fellow believers that you can open up your heart to and share your heart with I have a couple of groups of people like that that serve that way for me and I'm grateful to God for them And they're folks that I can open up and talk to about the deepest things on my heart and I know that healing and growth and recovery and And joy and peace come from those kinds of relationships We express our love for each other not only by sacrificing for each other but by sharing with each other our lives and our hearts But we also show our love by supporting By supporting each other for 16 You did not choose me But I chose you and the pointed you to go and bear fruit Fruit that will last Then the father will give you whatever you ask in my name You see in that day most disciples would choose the rabbi the teacher they wanted to follow and So they would they would say I like this rabbi like the way teachers like the things you I'm gonna follow him Jesus says you didn't choose me that way I went out and chose you I initiated it I went out and asked you to follow me and be my disciples and so I chose you and I chose you for a purpose and have groomed you and taught you and prepared you for this purpose to go bear fruit And we saw last week that fruit is the fruit of godly character It's of a Christ-like lifestyle that Jesus has called us to bear for him and He's called us to that in he shaped us and trained us for that in he is supporting what god ultimately wants us to be and to do to bear fruit and Jesus is saying you love one another like I love you in that way and So by application to us what he's saying is that we should desire to support each other's growth in Christ We should be committed to helping each other be all that god wants us to be To promote the other person's growth and spiritual success to help each other reach our potential in Christ So that means sometimes we affirm one another Sometimes it means we challenge one another Sometimes it means we rebuke one another Sometimes it means we put our arm around each other and Sam here for you and I love you and I will support you in whatever But it means we love each other by supporting each other When I was preparing this part of the message a couple weeks ago now I Came across a story In one of the books I was looking at it comes from a book written by John Claypool called the preaching event and it tells the story About identical twin boys want to read this story to you because it's such a powerful illustration of what it means to really love each other These identical twin boys the boys lives became inseparably intertwined from the first they dressed alike Went to the same schools did all the same things in fact they were so close that neither ever married But they came back and took over the running of the family business when their father died Their relationship to each other was pointed to as a model of creative collaboration One morning a customer came into the store and Made a small purchase the brother who waited on him put the dollar bill on top of the cash register and Walked to the front door with the man Sometime later he remembered what he had done, but when he went to the cash register he found the dollar gone He asked his brother if he had seen the bill and put it into the register and the brother replied he knew nothing of the bill in question That's funny said the other I Distinctly remember placing the bill here on the register and no one else has been in the store since then Had the matter been dropped at that point a Mystery involving a tiny amount of money nothing would have come of it However an hour later this time with a noticeable hint of suspicion in his voice the brother asked again Are you sure you didn't see that dollar bill and put it into the register? The other brother was quick to catch the note of accusation and flared back In defensive anger This was the beginning of the first serious breach of trust that had ever come between them It grew wider and wider every time they tried to discuss the issue New charges and counter charges got mixed into the brew until finally things got so bad that they were forced to dissolve their partnership They ran a partition down the middle of their father's store and turned what had once been a harmonious partnership into an angry competition In fact that business became a source of division in the whole community each twin trying to enlist Allies for himself against the other this warfare went on for more than 20 years Then one day a car with an out-of-state license parked in front of the store a well-dressed man got out Went into one of the sides and inquired how long the merchant had been in business at that location When the man learned it was more than 20 years the stranger said then you were the one with whom I must settle an old score Some 20 years ago he said I was out of work Drifting from place to place and I happened to get off a box car riding a train in your town I had absolutely no money and did not eat for three days As I was walking down the alley behind your store I looked in and saw a dollar bill on top of the cash register Everyone else was in the front of the store. I'd been raised in a Christian home And I'd never before in all my life stolen anything but that morning I was so hungry I gave into the temptation slipped through the door took that dollar bill That act has weighed on my conscience ever since and I finally decided that I would never be at peace until I came back and Face up to that old sin and made a man's Would you let me now replace that money and Pay you whatever is appropriate for damages The stranger was surprised to see the old man Shaking his head in dismay and beginning to weep When the brother had gotten control of himself he took the stranger by the arm and said I Want you to go next door and repeat the same story you've just told me The stranger did Only this time there were two old men who looked remarkably alike both weeping uncontrollably Friend we need each other We need each other we need to love each other Sacrificially I supporting one another By standing up for one another We need to love each other by sharing our hearts and lives with each other When we don't love each other it can be a very terrible thing in the body of Christ So Jesus says love each other like I've loved you love each other But then he turns to another relationship a relationship with the world and he describes what our relationship with the world should be Now that we've completed last week's message we'll start today. I promise you won't be quite as long Jesus Talks about our relationship with the world in chapter 15 verse 18 all the way through 16 verse 4 But we've got to understand first of all what he means by the world in this passage You see there are three ways the Bible uses the word world Sometimes it uses the world world of the planet that we live on planet earth as in chapter 1 verse 10 when it says That Jesus made the world he was in the world he made the world Sometimes it used that way sometimes the Bible uses the word world of mankind as a whole the human race As in chapter 3 verse 16 God so loved the world the world of people the world of mankind that he gave his son to be our savior So sometimes it's using those two ways, but there's a third way in which the word world is used It's used of a system of beliefs of thoughts of values that are opposed to God's word That's the way John uses it here That's the way he'll use it in first John chapter 2 when he says all that is in the world is this way of thinking this System of values this way of believing Lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life the three corner stones three three legs on the stool of what the world stands for It is a system of beliefs and values and and things that are opposed to God and his word Sometimes we even use the word that way you you'll hear maybe on a newscast the newscaster say and now we turn For news from the world of sports Now the world of sports is not a separate planet Where everybody on that planet is involved in playing athletic contests? You know that don't you you know what he means when he says the world of sports He's talking about an organized system composed of certain people of Organizations of plans of certain terminology a way of looking at things that revolves around Athletic competition. That's the world of sports So when John talks about the world. He's not talking about planet earth. He's not talking about all mankind He's talking about that kind of concept a group of values and beliefs a way of thinking that is opposed to everything the Bible stands for And Jesus warns us as to what this world will do to us and how this world this system of beliefs will think about us He's going to use words like hatred and persecution That must have come as a shock The disciples must have been jolted to hear that Because up until now Jesus has been speaking comforting words Encouraging words and now he's talking about being hated and persecuted maybe even killed That must have jolted them But it is also gracious of Christ to do this he will end this section in chapter 16 verse four by saying I told you this So that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you So it's of his grace and mercy that he does warn them that he does tell them what to expect what's coming and how to prepare for it Our relationship with the world can be summarized in three reminders that Jesus gives his disciples first of all expect Opposition expect opposition You'll find that in verses 18 through 25 Pardon me Some of the medication I'm on is drying up my mouth. I'm sorry Jesus says we are to expect opposition he will talk about hatred and persecution and he says in verse 18 if the world hates you and it's not uncertain when he uses the word if it's certain It could be translated since since the world hates you It's like if I were to tell Jeannie I've got to run out to the store and buy a couple things I need for this Project here at the house and she would say well if you're gonna go to the store Would you stop by the grocery store and get a loaf of bread and some milk? She's not doubting that I'm going. I've just told her that I'm going but she uses the word if in the sense of since you're going Lie your out pick up a couple of things if you would that's the way Jesus uses the word if here. It's not doubtful. This is certain since the world hates you Keep in mind he says in verse 18 that it hated me first if you belong to this world It would love you as its own as it is you do not belong to the world But I've chosen you out of the world That is why the world hates you Remember the words I spoke to you no servant is greater than his master if they persecuted me They will persecute you also if they obeyed my teaching they will obey yours also So here's the first reason why we can expect opposition Jesus says we belong to Christ Not the world So we can expect opposition from this philosophy way of looking at things a way of believing about how things are to work in life We can expect opposition from the world because we belong to Christ They hated him The world will also hate us this system that is opposed to God will vent its hatred against us as well and Jesus reminds them you don't belong to the world you don't fit there In fact, I've taken you out of that I've chosen you and called you out of this world system So you have a different value system you have a different way of thinking You have different beliefs than what this world does you see the world functions on conformity Everybody falling into line with its system of thought It's beliefs That are opposed to the word of God. We don't fit that and so we're not a part of this world system Jesus has called us out. We don't belong to that. We don't fit there and For all of its professed tolerance and acceptance of diversity that the world talks about so much it has no place and No love for those who do not conform to its system of beliefs and values and thinking if that was true of our Lord It will be true of us. That's what he says in verses 18 to 20 We belong to Christ. We do not belong to the world so we can expect opposition Second reason we can expect opposition is because the world does not know the Father The world does not know the Father now read it in verse 21 They will treat you this way because of my name For they do not know the one who sent me Now if you were to ask the religious leaders of Jesus day do you know God they would say of course we know God Sure, we know God we're the religious leaders We are the Old Testament scholars Sure, we know God and Jesus Over and over and over again in his ministry said you do not know him You do not know him I want for a moment for you to reflect with me just on the amount of this in the gospel of John if you hold your place here and look back at chapter 5 In John chapter 5 verse 23 Jesus says In verse 22 the father judges no one but is entrusted all judgment to the son now verse 23 That all may honor the son just as they honor the father now listen to this next statement He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him in Chapter 8 Jesus pounds this truth home to the Pharisees You do not know God. I don't care how religious you are you do not know God in Chapter 8 look at it with me in verse 16 He says but if I do judge my decisions are right because I am not alone I Stand with the father who sent me in other words Jesus and the father come as a package deal You don't have one without the other And he goes on to impress this home in verse 19 He says then they asked him where is your father? You do not know me or my father Jesus replied if you knew me you would know my father also now skip down to verse 42 Jesus said to them if God were your father you would love me For I have come from God and now I'm here. I've not come on my own, but he sent me now verse 47 He who belongs to God here's what God says the reason you do not hear What what I'm saying? The reason you do not hear what Jesus is saying is that you do not belong to God now down verse 54 Jesus replied if I glorify myself my glory means nothing my father whom you claim as your God is the one who glorifies me though you do not know him I know him If I said I did not I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word in chapter 10 verse 30 He would say I and the father are one over and over again Jesus is impressing on those who are religious people that they don't know God because they don't know him John would summarize this beautifully in his first epistle Same one who wrote this gospel said in first John 4 if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God God lives in them And they and God and again in chapter 5 verse 1 He says everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is Born of God and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well speaking of Jesus So you see the two come together you cannot profess to know God Unless you know Jesus unless you know Christ if you do not know Christ if you've not come to Jesus Christ as your Savior Then you do not know God either Now try that one out in this world system today You know how that's gonna go don't you ask religious leaders today ask political leaders today Do you know God almost inevitably they will reply yes of course we know God But they want nothing to do with Christ Try praying in Jesus name in one of their settings That's outlawed you can't do that They don't want anything to do with Christ. They don't want the name of Christ mentioned God can be imagined any way you want him to be imagined today He can be imagined by a variety of different names that are not found in the Bible like a la He can be imagined in a lot of other ways that you want to imagine him in your own consciousness In your own thinking the world is okay with that But the world is not okay with Jesus Christ being the only way to God the world will not tolerate that and Because they do not know God They may profess to know God but because they do not know him and They do not know Christ they will hate us for insisting that Jesus is the only way the world is Intolerant of that view you insist on the name of Christ and you will be shouted down in the public square today So expect opposition Because we do not belong to the world we belong to Christ Expect opposition because the world does not know God If they've not come through Jesus Christ, they do not know God There's a third reason why we'd expect opposition and that is Christ's words and works Expose the world's sin Notice how Jesus says in verse 22 If I had not come and spoken to them there are his words If I had not come and spoken to them they would not be guilty of sin He's not saying they wouldn't be guilty of all sin They would be guilty of sin anyway, but they would not be guilty of the sin that this passage is talking about the sin of rejecting Christ and putting them on cross He says if I'd not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin now. However, they had no excuse No excuse for their sin verse 23 he who hates me hates my father as well He reminds them of that then verse 24 if I had not done among them what no one else did there is works Verse 22 is words verse 24 is works if I had not done among them what no one else did they would not be guilty of sin But now they have seen these miracles and yet they have hated both me and my father But this is to fulfill what is written in their law they hated me without reason You see Jesus words his teachings to them and his works his miracles and other works that he did among them Rindered them guilty of their sin of rejecting him and killing him They should have known both from his words and his works that he was genuinely their Messiah that he was the Son of God sent from heaven To be the Savior they should have known that but they went ahead and rejected him anyway and so his words and his works condemn the world in their sin and the same thing is true today Jesus word and His works Rinder the world guilty no excuse and No one likes to be thought guilty when they don't think they're guilty and So the world strikes back at those of us who are insistent that Jesus in his words and his works Convinces us of sin and that we need a Savior when the world faces their guilt They will strike back so Jesus says expect opposition now my friend. I want to pause here for just a moment You can expect opposition from this world Jesus talks about hatred Jesus talks about persecution But I don't want us to get a martyr complex here. I'm not saying that all opposition to us is a sign of following Christ sometimes people may Oppose us and not like us because the problems with us either we're rude or annoying or self-righteous and Peter warned about that in a very intense Passage on suffering Peter said this if you suffer it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a medler So I'm not a murder, but have I ever met with anyone else's business have ever been self-righteous? I've ever Okay, don't suffer for that reason. He says however if you suffer as a Christian Do not be ashamed praise God that you bear that name If you suffer for Christ genuinely great if you're suffering because of how rude and annoying Self-righteous you are or meddling in other people's affairs Then you're suffering for another reason. I'm also not saying this morning That we are constantly persecuted or that every unbeliever hates every Christian not saying that there's a balance to this Proverbs 16 7 Says when the Lord takes pleasure in anyone's way he causes their enemies to be at peace with them So there's that side of it too you can have a godly kind gracious testimony in a community that will win you friends even among unsaved people So I'm not I'm not trying to generate a martyr complex, but we all need to recognize today Jesus warns us if you cross this world system It's value system. It's belief system. It's way of thinking about what is right and wrong in life Or whether or not there are any rights or wrongs in life if you cross that system you can expect opposition You can expect hatred maybe even persecution He will say in a few verses they may even kill you and think they're doing God a favor I Think we all recognize if we as our have our eyes open the tide has turned in our culture against Christians and a biblical worldview Go to any major university Go to any corporate headquarters and attend their sensitivity training for how you ought to think and believe Go to any group of politicians and Try to speak in the halls of power And start proclaiming Christ is the only way Start proclaiming biblical values of marriage a biblical view of marriage and a biblical view of the sanctity of life and Watch the tolerance quickly disappear and Hatred begin to fill its place. Just watch it. It will happen It's happening all over our world today. I've been clipping articles out of magazines and newspapers and news Things I get on the internet about this wave of animosity and hatred and opposition toward believers There are scores of recent examples and I could give them to you But I don't have time scores of recent examples of public officials Chaplains in the military schoolteachers One recently a school teacher in a Catholic school in New Jersey fired because on her Facebook page She said something about a biblical view of marriage had nothing to do with what she was doing in the classroom But she was fired because someone saw her view about marriage on a Facebook page There are examples like this all over the place university professors fired Because in their private writings or documents they have taken a biblical view You see the world hates that today And it is more daring than ever Even to privately state biblical views in this world system I agree wholeheartedly with what Chuck Swindall has said about this in his excellent little commentary on the gospel of John He says More than ever We live in an anti-Christian nation Please understand what he's saying here He says residents of the United States of America no longer live in a Christian nation that was true a couple generations ago He says I dare say we do not even live in a post-Christian nation See I think it's where we would come to in the latter half of the 20th century Post-Christian or Christian values were no longer really accepted across the board our culture But he goes on to say I am now convinced more than ever that we live in an anti-Christian nation When did the tide shift? No one can say for certain But when political correctness Forbids humor at the expense of anyone accept Christians And popular culture finds blasphemy entertaining a flood of persecution will soon follow History has taught us that much The words of Jesus should be particularly relevant for us. We like the disciples receive his words During a time of relative peace and security, but our future is no less certain than was Than theirs on the eve of Jesus arrest He says I've seen my own nation grow tolerant of every conceivable philosophy and religion accept Christianity and now I need only turn on my television to hear crowds laugh up rolloously at a comedian who taunts the power of the Almighty Brace yourselves Christians, he says Christians in the Western world have enjoyed a long period of relative peace and remarkable authority Particularly in the United States a nation founded on Christian principles But we must accept this as an anomaly in the greater scheme of world history our summer in the sun Will soon give way to the dark of winter in fact he says autumn breezes have grown unmistakably chilly of late And that's what we're reading in the newspapers and hearing on the newscasts When a navy chaplain couple weeks ago who had honorably served in that that Position for over 20 years and had the highest recommendation of all of his commanding officers When a lesbian co-worker goes into his office and goes through his private counseling files unauthorized illegally And finds that he has counseled couples about a biblical view of marriage He gets fired on the spot That's the kind of intolerance and hatred and persecution we are increasingly facing from our world today and Jesus warned us He said you can expect it it's coming and the winds are very chilly of late Winter is coming for those of us who dare to proclaim the name of Christ in our culture But how are we to respond to that? Are we to respond by hunkering down in our bunker? Are we to respond by pulling away from the world? No, I think Jesus follows this up beautifully after this warning about the world. He says this testify boldly testified boldly About Jesus don't back off a bit Versus 25 and 26 They're 26 and 27 when the counselor comes whom I will send to you from the father the spirit of truth Who goes out from the father he will testify about me. That's the spirits testimony And the Holy Spirit's going to testify about Jesus He's going to testify about Jesus first of all to us reminding us that we are united with him as vine and branches That we are inseparable from Jesus and we carry his name into this world The spirit of God is going to motivate us to boldly proclaim Jesus wherever we are On our jobs our neighborhoods our places of business Whereever we may have the opportunity in ministries that God allows us to be a part of He's going to enable us to testify boldly the Holy Spirit's testimony is first to us and through us To the world, but then there's our testimony as well verse 27 And you also must testify for you have been with me from the beginning So we have a responsibility to We have a responsibility to testify boldly of Jesus Christ Yes, the Holy Spirit will work, but we also have our personal responsibility to speak up for Christ You see the command of Jesus in this dying and decaying culture that we live in this world that we live in the command of Jesus is not just to pursue social justice The command of Jesus is not just to promote a biblical value system Although those things are important the command of Jesus is you boldly testify about my name Don't back off one bit If we give up the name of Jesus we've given up everything my friend So in this world in which we live we boldly proclaim Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation his death burial Resurrection for our sins is the only way to heaven It's not through religion not through your own good works. It is through Christ and Christ alone So Jesus says don't get afraid of this world and just back away from it Take the challenge run to the challenge and boldly testify about Jesus in the midst of this darkening world of ours And then he reminds him in the first four verses Which by the way go with chapter 15 The first four verses suffer faithfully Suffer faithfully in light of what he's told us That we're going to face opposition and that the Holy Spirit's there to to embolden us with power to testify about Christ in light of that Suffer faithfully and just briefly let me give you what he says four things. He says first of all Don't stumble verse one All this I've told you so that you will not go astray The word go astray literally means to stumble it came from a word in the first century that was used Actually setting a trap and then you would hit a spring or a trigger that would cause the trap to spring and you'd be done It was used for animal traps the word for spring or trigger of that trap is this word that we have translated here as go astray or stumble It came to be used if someone purposely putting something in your path that you might stumble over and so Jesus is saying to us Don't fall into the trap of the world don't conform To this system of beliefs and value system and way of thinking that is opposed to me and my word don't Stumble don't be intimidated into silence You stand for me. Don't stumble Suffer faithfully and then he says expect the worst verse two They will put you out of the synagogue In fact the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God And that would happen to these very men who were in that upper room with him It would happen quicker than they thought it would happen in the book of acts They would be thrown out of the religious system of the day By the way, we don't fit with religious systems of the day Not if you take a strong stand on the Bible You don't fit with a lot of other religions With a lot of other churches even that claim Christianity So you're cast out from them, but there are some who would think they would kill you and do God a favor like Saul a parsus He was killing Christians In Acts chapter 7 and 8 Thinking he was serving God and there are people in this world today who will kill you over your beliefs as a Christian We don't see that in our culture as much, but it's coming People in this world today will kill Christians. It's happening across the world There have been more people die in the name of Christ In the last 30 years than any time before that in all of history We don't hear a lot about it because our government doesn't like to talk about it But there is intense murder of Christians in Sudan in China in India and in many other places in the world We prayed this morning for our own missionaries in India who have faced intense persecution and have been driven out of the area where they were ministering Intense persecution And then he says understand why again he reminds them in verse 3 understand why this is happening They will do such things because they have not known the father or me And then in verse 4 he says be prepared be prepared He says i've told you this so that when the time comes you will remember that i warned you I did not tell you this at first Because i was with you You see he's been with him in his ministry three and a half years, but now he's ready to leave them The Holy Spirit is coming is the other comforter. Yes But he's gonna leave them and so he's i've not i've not warned you about this before But i'm warning you now expect opposition But in the midst of that opposition testify boldly about Jesus And then just suffer faithfully My friend i believe that maybe what god is calling the church to in our day and time We need to be ready The chaff will be separated from the wheat The pears will be separated from the wheat Those who just claim the name of Jesus who are not willing to suffer him will be separated I believe from those who truly know him Expect it expect the opposition to come Don't be afraid don't be intimidated by it Continue to boldly proclaim his name Testify boldly about Jesus and then just suffer faithfully knowing that Jesus warned us It's coming. Are you ready? Are you ready? It's ready Father, thank you for warning us Thank you for reminding us of our relationship with you as divine Thank you for reminding us of our relationship with each other That because we're facing in these days such a great opposition. We need each other more than ever before So lord help us to love each other help us not to turn on each other help us to love each other support each other help each other Sacrifice for each other Because we're gonna need each other as the storm clouds gather lord As the opposition becomes more fierce And tolerance Of christianity becomes less and less We need each other So help us to love each other And then help us To expect the opposition Testify boldly of you And suffer faithfully We ask in Jesus name Amen