Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 15:12-27 (Ep. 40)

Episode Date: May 27, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word.  In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John. In this episode, Jonny covers John 15:12-27 where Jesus tells his followers that "the world will hate them it has hated me." Jesus does not promise his followers a life of ease, but a life of persecution. Jesus promises that His spirit will give his disciples peace in the midst of persecution. Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. We continue in our study of John's gospel as we move on in chapter 15. Jesus has told the disciples of the love and peace and joy that they will inherit from the Father, but now he will tell them what they will inherit from the world, that being persecution. In this episode, we're in John chapter 15 verses 12 through 27. Let's dial in. John chapter 15 verses 12 through 27. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant

does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father 1 Peter 3, verses 1 through 12. But I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, 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 the law must be fulfilled. They hated me without a cause. But when the helper

comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. By way of reminder, this is Thursday evening, the last evening that Jesus spends with his disciples. On Friday evening, Jesus is going to be crucified. And Jesus starts off this Thursday evening by washing his disciples feet, by reminding them of his love for them. He then tells them that he is going to leave them with peace and he desires for them that their joy might be full. But then there's a dramatic shift in the passage and we'll start in verse 15.

Jesus says, no longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for what I have heard from the Father, I have made known to you. This is precious and profound. Listen, Jesus is saying, hey guys, you've been my disciples. I've been your teacher, but today you are my friends.

From now on, I want you to look at me as your friend. And because you are my friend, you are going to join me in my sufferings. And we will see that as we reach a dark point in verse 18. Jesus continues and says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. We receive as Jesus's disciples, his peace, his love, and his joy. But once we have been joined to Christ, we must participate in the inheritance that he receives, not only from the father, but from the world. And what we receive from the world is scorn, rejection, and hatred. Jesus continues in verse 19, The world will hate you, Jesus says.

Listen here. In Western culture, many people believe that if the Christian loves everybody, then the world will love us in return. But Jesus says explicitly here, no, the world is going to hate you because they hate whom you follow. Doesn't that make sense? If they hated Christ, who was perfect and holy and righteous and sinless and kind, they will also hate and kill Christians. They will hate Christians. This is what Jesus is saying in verse 20. Guys, listen, disciples, come here. If they persecute me, they will also persecute you. Jesus is revealing that if you follow

and proclaim the biblical Christ, you will be despised by the world. Beware of Christians that the world loves. This doesn't mean we go looking for hostility or persecution, but it does mean that if we never experience hostility or persecution, it might be a wake-up call for us that we are not as devoted to Christ as we would think. This is what Jesus tells us. This is a prophecy. The world will hate you.

And this is not an unfulfilled prophecy. Listen here. The church is born in Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 3, Peter preaches a sermon. And in Acts chapter 4, the apostles are arrested and put in jail by the Jews. In Acts chapter 5, they are put in jail again. And in Acts chapter 6, we meet a guy named Stephen who is stoned to death in Acts chapter 7. In Acts chapter 8, general persecution is launched by a guy named Saul who is saved and converted in Acts chapter 9. And that guy Saul is then persecuted the rest of his life until he dies. In Galatians, Paul says, I bear on my body the marks of Christ. This is normal.

By Acts chapter 12, James, the brother of Jesus, is slaughtered by Herod with a sword. And on and on we could go over and over again. Followers of Jesus Christ have been persecuted. This is not an unfulfilled prophecy. In the early church, Christians were blamed for everything, plagues, famines, disasters, including the burning of Rome. And in 64 AD under Nero, Christians were arrested, tortured, and crucified. They were dressed as beasts and thrown to be eaten by wild animals.

They were burned as torches for Nero's garden parties. Think about this. People would have dinner parties, and the light that would illuminate their dinner plates would be Christians covered in wax who were then lit on fire. Christians were massacred. But you might be thinking, that's back then. The world has changed.

Yes, the world has changed. Persecution is more common today towards Christians than at any other point in history. According to one source, over 260 million Christians today live in places where they experience high levels of persecution. Dozens every single day are beheaded, burned, shot for being Christians. We are likely so separated from that, but Jesus tells us to be ready. This is the cost of discipleship. He says to take up your cross and follow him. For some, that means death. For all,

that means a measure of persecution. It is summed up most succinctly in 2 Timothy 3.12. Paul says, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Not all to the same degree, but all will be persecuted. But why does the world hate Christians? Why do they hate Jesus? Jesus said in verse 25 that they hated him without a cause because he never did anything that was antagonistic towards them. He was loving and kind, but he often did something that is culturally contradicting to love. He spoke the truth. In John chapter seven, verse seven, Jesus says, the world doesn't hate you, but it hates me.

Why? Because I testify that its deeds are what? Are evil. When does hostility towards Christians from the world get elevated? When Christians like Jesus start to proclaim the truth, they can do it in a loving way. But when the truth about sexuality is told, when the truth about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ is preached, when the truth about sin and hell is proclaimed,

the world will respond with hatred. This is daunting. And you might be asking, how do we overcome this? How can we live with this ongoing hatred from the world? Well, Jesus is kind. And he tells us in verse 26, but when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. Jesus tells us that he is going to send his spirit who will be our strength. He will give us peace in the storm, joy in the midst of trial, and keep our hope fixed

on heaven. Stay dialed in. Bye.