John 15:18-27
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, 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.’“When the Advocate 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. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
Psalm 69:4, “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head.” This lament of David applies perfectly to Jesus who had given no just cause for offense to anyone. He had healed the sick and raised the dead, preached good news to the poor and been perfectly humble and gentle in every way. He was and is and will be the light of the world.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:19-20, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” The light of life that shows the way also exposes crooked and false ways. Those caught in those false ways are embarrassed. No one likes to be embarrassed. What won’t we do to get out of an embarrassing situation? One of the most common tactics is to blame the person who exposed our embarrassment rather than ourselves who are the cause.
As we seek to live godly lives we shine the light of truth into the dark world and expose the uselessness of all the world’s ways. Unless they sacrifice their pride and repent they cannot love being embarrassed, so they hate those doing the exposing rather than hating that which gets exposed. 2 Timothy 3:12 puts it this way, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
How do we stand up under opposition? By remaining in Christ’s love. Romans 8:35-39, “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is possible to be sincerely wrong but once the truth is heard it is no longer possible to be sincerely wrong. A man who mistakes his way in the dark is not culpable but once the sun comes up he must turn around (repent) or remain in the wrong way.
When Jesus says, “They have no excuse…” the word is literally “they have no cloak.” They have no covering to hide their sin once the darkness is banished. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
The Spirit that Jesus sends us from the Father is the Spirit of Truth. He speaks truth into the world through us. Read Isaiah 6:1-5. He is our advocate before the Father. As we are laid bare in the presence of unendurable Holiness the Spirit speaks to our being accepted by the blood of Jesus and His presence within us.
Galatians 4:6, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
The disciples had seen Jesus’ life and ministry firsthand and could testify to what they had seen. We also participate in the life and ministry of Jesus and can testify to what we have seen.
brotherpayne 