John 15:18-27 | Out of This World
Intro
During the last months we have been studying about warnings, false teachers, false teachings, our hope, and expectations in our life, how to be grounded in our faith… (1&2 Peter) and also about the time to come and the exhortations to the believers (Revelation) prayer, service, repentance, faith (Psalms and Colossians). We have been talking a lot about what to expect and what to avoid in this life.
And we know! There’s a lot of things going around the world, but it is our human nature the reason why we are always coming back to the things we should be away from and being away from the things we should be at.
We need to be reminded all the time. However, don’t even think that a year ago, pastor Dale, Bill and I sat together and said: “on October 2021 we will be reminding BVCC about the world and the deceitful currents because the world will be crazy”. No, we didn’t, but God ordained everything in the world and the last months teachings (verse by verse teaching) to be talking about this today. So, we cannot do nothing but to use this opportunity wisely to learn more about God and to be transformed by Him in this area.
During these days, we can see Christians and churches around the world getting mad and talking just about the current situations and they are even cursing their current circumstances.
Today we will be reminded about basic but indispensable knowledge told to us by Jesus himself. We will be looking our Christian life and the world from our own side. We discuss a lot about the things in the outside, but today we will be talking about the world from our own life’s perspective.
We need to examine our lives to see how much of the world is in us. We spend a lot of time talking about the world but sometimes we are the same.
The World Hates God (John 15:18-20)
Verse 18
The world hates God and there is nothing we can do about it. There’s no surprise about this. We can see it everywhere.
The context of this passage applies to hatred unto death. We know what happened with Christ and later with the disciples and saints through history. And even today in a lot of countries you will be killed just for saying you are Christian.
We need to understand we live in an extremely corrupt and sensual society, that could not be changed. It’s a fact. Trying to change the way the world behaves, through education, legislation, entitlements, changes to reach a Christian standard of life is not possible.
The problem comes when the world is the one that is invading our lives, our churches. If you bring a cow into the house, it won’t change the cow, but it won’t take long before you won’t recognize the house. It will smell like a cow and look like a cow bathroom. In other words, it’s more likely that the Christian and therefore the church, be more like the world and not the other way around. That’s why modern church is falling in equipping the saints. It is sad when the Christians and the church want to be accepted in the world. We start to be like the world to the point you cannot find any difference.
The world won’t change! This is the first truth that believers need to be constantly reminded of (2 Peter): There will be no reformation of this world, no amount of education or corrective reforms will spare this world (It is written). It is time that the Christian start believing and living out the truth of the Word of God instead to this world’s truth. This world is not our HOME! That is true all the time and not just when we face adversity or circumstances that are contrary to our interests (political, financial, personal…). We must STOP trying to make the earth our heaven! The world we live in will be destroyed at the end. Our goal should be instead:
• Watching for the soon return of the Lord
• Working on our own heart and lives
• Witnessing to everyone we meet of the hope we have, taking as many people as possible with us OUT this world.
However, we keep living as this is our home and as we are OK here. We think that we can change the world and we think this world will love us.
And the idea here is: we should stop worrying about the world. Be kind and loving (Yes!) witnessing others, stopping your war against the world but witnessing to everyone we meet of the hope we have in Christ; use the energy you spend fighting against the world to strength your relationship with God and your knowledge of Him. Strength your relationship with other Christians as well.
Many times (always), it is our pride and our knowledge (or what we believe to be knowledge) make us unable to be sensitive to this kind of exhortations and warnings, and we believe that we are OK as we are. Again, use that energy to strength your relationship with God and your knowledge of Him. There’s always a lot to work in our lives and we will never finish doing this until heaven, so stop trying to change the world and start changing your heart and watching your walk in this earth. When we think we are OK as we are and that we are better than others, we are lost. The more we think we are ok as we are, the more lost we are.
Jesus prayed for His disciples:
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 17:14-18
Verse 19
Friendship with God results in enduring the world’s hatred. What means: being friends with the world is to be God’s enemy (James 4:4). (Walvoord)
A believer, having left the kingdom of darkness and having been transferred into the God’s kingdom, has a different joy, purpose, hope, and love. He now has certainty, truth, and a standard for life. Christians have been chosen out of the world system by Christ and they now belong to Him. Since they do not belong to the world the world hates them. (Walvoord)
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Mathew 6:21
We are looking know for the eternal matters.
The more comfortable we are in the world, the more like the world we become.
Verse 20
A servant is not greater than his master.
Previously Jesus used this phrase referring to their need to imitate His humble service. But the principle has other application here. Christians are to identify so closely with Jesus that they share in His sufferings (persecution). The positive side: some people followed and obeyed Jesus’ teaching, so they also responded to the apostle’s message. The root cause of the world’s hatred against the disciples is their identification with Jesus. They hate Jesus because they are ignorant of God, the One who sent Him. (Walvoord)
Imperfect Excuse (John 15:21-25)
Verse 21
First: don’t take it personal. We are not that important. It is not about us. They hate us because Christ. They hate God. Why?
“They do not know Him who sent Me.”
Ignorance about God is the root cause of all human problems. We are by nature sinners and without God and an appropriate knowledge of Him we will be the same as the world.
Before even pretending to do something, our heart must be the Lord’s. The world doesn’t know God, but we as Christians, we should know Him. He wants our hearts, and the Lord wants us to know Him. He already knows us, but we can’t even think we know Him if we don’t read our bible and are not in prayer.
A knowledge of God leads us to submission to Him in praise and worship. We can understand better (with all our limitations. Never fully understand) about His majesty, power, love, mercy, and grace. Our life will be His (as it is anyway). We are going to understand the fear of the Lord as that sense of authority, supremacy, and holiness that He has, where we recognize that He is Holy, Perfect, Sovereign, King, Lord, Savior ..That’s why we can see things differently. Our hope is in God. This perfect God.
The more I know Him, the more I love Him. The more I love Him the more I obey Him. The more I obey Him, the more I know him. Repeat.
Our devotion to God is this rational cult to Him. We have a relationship with Him in the light of the scriptures. We talk to Him also in our prayers.They must go together: The more I know Him, the more I want to talk to Him, the more I talk to Him, the more I want to know him. The more I talk to Him, the more I want to hear.
Why the world hates God? Because the world love sin, it doesn’t know other way as they don’t know God. Is full of evil and the wicked person wants to do what pleases him.
The immorality, the violence, the lies, the perversity, and sexual depravation are examples of the wicked life of the world.
Verse 22-25
They would have no sin
Jesus was talking about the world doesn’t know Him, so now He is saying that they don’t have any excuse. He came so they can’t even try to plead ignorance.
But now that the Light has come, those who willfully reject it have no excuse. (Walvoord)
15:24-25. These two verses amplify the thought in verses 22-23. Jesus’ miracles were so distinctive that the fact of His identity was unmistakable. The nation thought it was serving God in rejecting Jesus but in reality it was serving Satan. Sin is basically irrational. Their hatred of Jesus was without any rational cause which also fits the pattern of hatred for righteous people, as seen in those who hated David (Psalms. 35:19; 69:4; 109:3). (Walvoord)
It was written. Jesus wasn’t surprised. It is written why are we surprised?
God reveals Himself to all, there is not excuse now. Recommend readingRomans 1:18-28
Testifying of Christ (John 15:26-27)
Verse 26-27
Jesus had told them that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would continue the teaching work of Jesus (John 14:26). Here He explained that the Helper would speak of and about Jesus. (Guzik)
We have everything we need
In the face of the opposition and hatred of the world a believer might be tempted to try to escape from the world or to be silent in it. Monasticism, extreme separation, and lack of witnessing have been too common in the church’s history. Jesus encouraged His disciples by the promise of the Spirit’s work in the world. (Walvoord)
The Spirit of truth witness and you also will bear witness
The Holy Spirit He presents God’s truth to the world. The Spirit is sent from the Father, just as the Son was sent from the Father. Yet this mysterious work of the Spirit is not done in isolation from the church. The apostles were to bear witness to the facts that they came to know: You also must testify (Walvoord)
We need to deliver the gospel to the world and be light and salt. Our lives should be different! Bur, we want to look-like but not to become.
That’s why missions and evangelism are important. But we need also to witness Christ with our example.
It’s the way behave how we show the world and witness Jesus. As mature Christians, we cannot be part of sinful activities nor consent these. Is wisdom to avoid places and persons who are constantly dragging us to sin.
A transformed life produces that you hate your inherent sin that much that you repent and walk near to God. Produces accountability, produces a new way to live. We don’t miss our sin or anything from our past sinful life (now is sinful -yes-, but we have Christ now). We are born again in Christ and we need to look to the prize that is Jesus.
Our duty is to be separated of this world and seek Him only and please Him only. The separation from the world is a personal choice and we need to be intentional on it. However, we are dependent on God and need to pray to Him for strength, wisdom, examination and leading.
Following God’s commandments inevitably will make me a better witness in front of men. My heart will love my neighbor and I will be example of grace and mercy to others. I can be the best employee and my boss and co-workers will notice something different in me. The same with my family and my friends. Sometimes they won’t understand and will criticize for being obedient to God, but they will see something different. We can find examples in the Bible as Joseph, Moses, David. They were men after God’s heart, and whatsoever they did please the people; they served the people.
Or He is Lord of all my life, or He is not my Lord at all. There is no intermediate point. The problem in my life is that in some areas I think better of myself forgetting that I’m nothing. Modern Christianity and society have been told me that I’m enough and I deserve to feel good; they told me that everything is about me when everything is about Him only.
If I say I am a Christian, so let’s be Christian all the time. Not only when I am at the church. That is not what is like. I should exercise this gift from God in my private time. At home, with my family, friends, coworkers, at the supermarket, in the highway…
We are living in this world. We are not in a bubble so we should live but live differently. Be Light and Salt. It is a mistake of the church and Christians to try to be accepted by the world. If Jesus Himself was hated by the world, why we are expecting something different?