John 16:1-6

Sunday Morning Bible Study

November 10, 1996

Introduction

Jesus has been talking about how the world would hate the disciples because they were following Jesus.

Not exactly the kind of thing we like to hear.

Last week, we saw how even though the disciples would be under tremendous persecution, yet the Holy Spirit will still be working, working to give a witness about Jesus, and working through the disciples to give a witness about Jesus.

:16:1-7 Persecution Coming

:1 These things have I spoken unto you,

These warnings about how the world would hate us.

:1 that ye should not be offended.

skandalizo - to put a stumbling block or something in a person's way to make them trip up and fall.

Jesus is trying to prepare the guys ahead for reality.

He's giving them a good dose of reality, so when the hard times come, they aren't suprised.

Sometimes I think we try to paint a little too rosy a picture of Christianity.

We tell people that if they come to Jesus that their sins will be forgiven.

True.

We tell them that they will gain eternal life.

True.

We tell them that all their problems will go away.

Not True.

Jesus never promises to remove all your problems, but He does promise to be with you through them, and help you with them.

In fact, in some ways, our problems can kind of increase instead of decrease.

Illustration:

One of the reasons why I believe it's important to have premarital counseling is because I think we need to dispell all the false impressions that a couple has about marriage.

I feel that it's part of my responsibility as a pastor to almost paint as bleak a picture of marriage as possible, so the couple goes into marriage with their eyes opened, rather than being disappointed when things don't quite end up like they expected.

Just as it's important for a couple to realize what they're getting into in a marriage, it's important for a person to have a realistic understanding of what it's like to follow the Lord.

Example:

Ezekiel and Jeremiah had the problems during their ministries.

They lived during the time that God brought His judgment against the nation of Judah, when the nation was just about wiped out, and those who weren't killed were taken captive to Babylon.

The ones living as captives in Babylon were confused, because the false prophets were telling them to keep their bags packed, that God was going to resolve the whole thing peacefully, and they'd soon be going home.

Ezekiel wrote:

(Ezek 13:9-12 KJV) And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. {10} Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: {11} Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. {12} Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?

The false prophets were giving people a false reassurance that everything was going to be okay, when it wasn't.

They kept saying, "Things will work out peacefully" when they wouldn't.

They were like men who build a brick wall, but instead of using cement to hold the bricks together, they just use a flimsy, watery paint.

They're going to be in trouble when the wall falls down!

Lesson:

Preach a real gospel.

Don't candy-coat it.

Don't be afraid of telling it just like it is, because you're afraid they won't respond if you tell them something harsh.

It's better that they know the truth up front, then become disillusioned later, fall away, and say, "I tried that, and it didn't work ..."

The hard truths: The Christian life is filled with difficult times.

1) The Christian is not immune from illness, poverty, or trouble.

This is one of the reasons why I get kind of upset when I hear people teaching this "name it and claim it" stuff, saying that everybody can be healed, everybody can be wealthy, and if you aren't, there's something wrong with your faith.

I hate it is because I've seen some of the broken, disillusioned people who've come through this teaching, people who were neither healed, nor wealthy.

It's obvious that people who fall for this have never correctly read the book of Job.

They claim that Job had a lack of faith.

Yet God in describing Job, God said,

"there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" (Job 1:8)

How many of you have experienced disillusionment by being in a church like that?

2) If you love Jesus, you will be persecuted.

Some people talk as if a Christian is to have such awesome cosmic power, that they are to simply "take dominion" over their situation, and take control.

They talk about marching on Washington and even taking over the White House.

But Paul wrote:

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (AV)

The apostles did not take over the Roman empire.

Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.

Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.

Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.

John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward branded at Patmos.

Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.

Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

Preach a real gospel.

Illustration:

I remember once at a concert, that Keith Green sent a long time talking about the persecution that comes against Christians.

He didn't pull any punches, but pretty much painted a very difficult picture of what it means to follow Jesus.

And then he gave an altar call.

Amazing!

:2 They will put you out of the synagogues;

Remember that Jesus is talking to His group of Jewish apostles.

At this point, Christianity is really a group within Judaism.

And Jesus is saying that the time will come when the Christians will be put out of the Jewish synagogues.

It's funny that today we are kind of surprised to think that Christianity started as one group inside Judaism.

We see this already happening in the book of Acts:

Ac 9:1-2 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. (AV)
Lesson:

Being a Christian may make you "uncool" to some people.

The word "synagogue" means "gathering together".

It's what the Jews called their groups that got together to worship God.

But I wonder if it doesn't kind of apply to just groups in general as well.

When you decide to follow Jesus, the "group" you hang around with may decide that you're no longer cool.

Are you ready for that?

Who do you want to please more, your friends who are ready to drop you in a moment's notice, or God, who will never leave you?

Who do you really want to please, your friends who really don't know what they want in life, or Jesus, who knew so much about your problems, that He died to pay for your sins?

:2 the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

will think that he doeth God service

or, literally, "will be of the opinion that he is bringing worship to God"

the word "service" is the word used to describe how the Levitical priests would offer sacrifices, incense, and things like that in their worship to God.

Before Paul became a Christian, he considered the persecution he produced to be an example of his zeal for God:

(Phil 3:4-6 KJV) Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: {5} Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; {6} Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

It's almost a kind of religious thing, persecuting Christians.

I remember some of my high school teachers and college professors who seemed to feel like that.

They were serving their god, "the intellect".

You need to be prepared for them.

So you aren't blown out of the water like some I've known.

They're not out to "enlighten" you, they're out to destroy your faith.

Through grade school, you never think of questioning your teacher ... of course they know everything!

I remember coming to the point in high school where I finally woke up to the fact that not everything my teachers were telling me was the truth.

Note:

When your teachers come up with really hard questions that you can't answer ... don't panic!

There ARE answers.

You just need to find them!

Could it be possible that we might one day face death for the gospel?

For those of us who have grown up in the Lord believing in the pre-trib rapture (explain please ...), that the church will be snatched away into heaven before the Great Tribulation, it's easy to fall into thinking that we're going to miss out on any of this kind of thing.

After all, we're going to be in heaven when the persecution comes, right?

Says who?

Who says that there will not be persecution before the Tribulation?

There are Christians in Islamic countries today who aren't concerned about issues like when the Rapture is going to occur.

They're just concerned about surviving today.

And I'm not so sure that we in America have any guarantee that things couldn't turn that way for us.

Already in the media, Christians are always pictured as "extremists", as some kind of crazy eyed fanatics.

:3 because they have not known the Father nor Me.

We talked about this before, back in John 15:21 -

(John 15:21 KJV) But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

The point is that when people do these things to you, it's only proof of the fact that they don't know God.

Yet.

Don't be too rough on them.

They may be under construction.

Lesson:

Danger! Construction site!
Quote:

Old Eskimo Proverb - If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps the loudest is the one that got hit.

People who protest the loudest, just may be the ones that God is working the hardest on.

And they can go one of two ways - either accepting Jesus, or rejecting Him.

Examples
Paul the apostle

While he was still known as "Saul of Tarsus", was a great persecutor of Christians.

He would go from house to house, have Christians arrested, and even have them put to death.

He stood and watched the first martyr, Stephen, be stoned to death.

Yet when God was able to get a hold of him, and Paul received the Lord, he was dramatically changed.

Realize that the people giving you the most problems, just could be the closest to coming to the Lord.

:4 that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

When the hard times hit the apostles, they'll remember that it wasn't unexpected, but that Jesus warned them of it.

:4 these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

In the beginning of His ministry, Jesus did mention some of the hardships that were involved in being His follower -

Mt 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; (AV)

It's just that He didn't place the same kind of emphasis as He just has, now that He's getting ready to leave.

While He was with the disciples, He protected and comforted them.

In fact, all the anger of the Jews was all aimed at Him.

But after He leaves, it will now focus on the disciples.

:5-6 none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

I think that there's a little better way to group the ideas that we see in verses 4-6 than in the King James translation.

I'd phrase it like this:

Jesus hadn't said too much about these tough things at the beginning of His ministry, but now He was about to leave, and so He focuses on it more.

Now the guys have stopped asking where He was going, because they've gotten so caught up in this bad news, that they're really bummed.

:5 none of you asks Me ...

Actually, earlier in the evening, two of the disciples had asked Jesus where He was going: Peter (John 13:36) and Thomas (John 14:5)

But now Jesus has been talking so much about going away, and about all the problems and persecutions that they were going to go through, about the world hating them, that they aren't thinking so much about Jesus any more.

It seems all they can think of right now is themselves.

Lesson:

Get your eyes off of your own problems every once in a while.

It seems to me that every once in a while, we get so absorbed in our own problems, that we aren't worth much any more.

Paul wrote:

(1 Cor 10:24 NKJV) Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being.

Illustration:

Years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger the world famous psychiatrist of the Menninger Clinic was asked, "If someone felt a nervous breakdown coming on, what would you suggest that he do?"

He didn't say, "Go see a psychiatrist".

"If you feel a nervous breakdown coming on, I would urge you to find somebody else with a problem -- a serious one -- and get involved with that individual, helping him solve his problem." In helping him to solve his problem, then in reality your own problem is going to disappear. You're no longer thinking internally. You're no longer letting things gnaw at your stomach. You're no longer getting disturbed about yourself because you're not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about others. I don't know what your objective in life might be, but there is something each one of us can do.

How do I prepare myself for persecution?

Get the right attitude from some pro's

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 3)

They had been commanded to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol, or else face a fiery furnace.

Their attitude:

(Dan 3:17-18 KJV) If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. {18} But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

They knew God would take care of them, one way or another - either by taking them home in death, or by rescuing them through the fire.

And when they were thrown into the furnace, it was observed:

(Dan 3:25 KJV) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

God is able to deliver you.

And no matter what happens, He'll be with you in the fire!