Well, thank you to our worship team. If you're
with us on most weeks, you'll notice that we
kind of went a little acoustic this morning.
And something we've started to do more frequently
and based on your feedback, it's something I
think we collectively love, be able to hear one
another's voices. Maybe that's good. Maybe that's
not. I don't know. But grateful to the team for
leading us. That song just feels timely. You
know, we're all aware of the affairs of the world
today. turbulence of the world, and I just feel
like if there's a message from God that just
wants to sing over the world today, that Emmanuel,
God is with us, but that we would turn to Him,
right? And that we would render our hearts and
return to the Lord, but He's with us, and He
gives peace to us as we pursue Him, even in tough
and turbulent times that we are living in, for
sure. Before we jump to the series, I just want
to take a moment to plug something that you've
heard us talk about before, but it's worth just
an extra few minutes in this portion of the service.
It's our Foundations class. It is kicking off
a week from, two weeks from, two weeks from,
I believe. I don't know. March is flying. It's
kicking off soon on Thursday nights. I think
the date's there on the screen. And Preston is
going to be teaching that class. For many, for,
I don't know, for the last three or four years,
we've done something called Alpha, and we're
still going to do that. It's coming in the fall,
but we decided that we also wanted to kind of
give people an opportunity to go the next step.
So this foundations class is for anybody. Alpha
is not a prerequisite, although if you take an
Alpha, I think this might be a great next step
for you, but it's not a prerequisite. It's for
anybody who just wants to kind of go a little
deeper in their faith. Here's the way I would
differentiate it between Alpha. Alpha is like,
hey, is this? stuff true and can I believe it
and why should I believe it? Like, is the Bible
true? How do we know that Jesus is really not
some crazy lunatic? Like some of those maybe
why questions. Foundations is like, okay, I believe,
but I'm not really sure how to kind of take that
next step or what is that next step for me as
I think about my personal faith. And so I think
there's already about 15 of you that have registered
for that. We'd love to see it be 20 or thereabouts,
but probably not too many more than that because
we want to maintain a nice class size. that there's
good dialogue. It's free. There's going to be
free child care. It is going to be a tremendous
gift to our church, and I'm excited for that
to kick off. But I really wanted to put that
in front of you because there's a greater emphasis
this year on our discipleship piece. You know,
we kind of rolled out this new vision in January,
and in that vein, in that same artery, is just
to give you and equip you with more. And so this
is one of those things that is part of that new
vision. So foundations, it's online. You can
RSVP there. scan the, you can go to the church
center app. You can do all the things. It's probably
anywhere you access it, you can do it. And we're
ready for you. And Preston's working really hard.
I've seen most of the content for that. It's
just really, really good. And so I want to commend
you to do that. I'm grateful to be back with
you. How many of you were here last week? What
a blessing Joe was. Amen. Thank you, Joe. I'm
not sure if he made it this morning. He's like,
I'm not preaching. I'm not going. But he was
great. I was able to catch it online later in
the week and just continuing us forward in our
Before I Go series that we've been in, in Jesus's
farewell discourse. More on that in a moment.
The reason we weren't here last week, though,
Preston shared with you, is that myself and Tim,
who's a member of our management team, we were
in Stone Mountain. Georgia. Anybody ever been
to the actual Stone Mountain Park? It's the only
reason people go there. Stone Mountain, Georgia,
to present a gift from LBC Gives to our, we have
a new church partner in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
You're seeing some pictures there, I believe.
Yep, from last week. Kingdom City Church in Stone
Mountain, Georgia. We took them on last fall
as a new partner, as a domestic partner. We're
really committed to having local, domestic, and
then international partners. And so Pastor G
and his church in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Man,
God is on the move there. They have an afternoon
service. It's at 4 .30. They're renting space
from a church that's been in the community, an
old Baptist church, for well over 100 years.
And this community has just been fractured by
racism. In fact, when you stand at the church,
if you look down the hill and just to the right,
there's a coffee shop there now. Out in front
of that coffee shop is a big oak tree, and there's
still chains hanging there from where they used
to hang slaves. And so the community very intentionally
decided to keep that there because they wanted
it. to mark the history of that community, but
the healing that's going on there as well is
phenomenal. So we were able to be there with
Pastor G. They had 18 people. It was beautiful.
And we were like, hey, man, you're doing the
hard work of starting. And us all the way in
Arizona, in Vail, Arizona, are in this with you.
And so we were able to support them not only
on a monthly basis, but then through a one -time
gift that you all made possible through LBC Gives.
So hope to be able to provide you more updates
with that. with Pastor G and what they're doing
out there in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was
really, really special. I'm really grateful for
the chance to support him. All right, we're in
week five of our series, which is a series capturing
what we know as Jesus' Farewell Discourse. That's
the name kind of attached to it. But a simpler
way to understand it is the final night of Jesus.
with his disciples in this upper room, and they're
sharing these very intimate moments. He's washed
their feet. They've had this meal together. He's
telling them of this new season that's in front
of them. This is all captured for us in the book
of John, chapters 13 to 17, and it's been kind
of the focus of this series for us. By the way,
I'm a little jealous. Joe, if you were here last
week, his passage was John 15, 1 through 15,
which is the course of Scripture where we get
our name from, which is Living Branch Church.
I have an obvious bias towards that passage.
And I was like, good luck, Joe. You've got to
preach the name of the church. But man, did he
do a good job. But we're going to pick up where
you left off last week. Which was, if you were
here, it's that portion of scripture where Jesus
is describing himself as the vine. We are the
branches. And you're like, oh, I see the name
now. And he's inviting us to abide in him, to
remain in him, to make our home in him. He is
the true vine that gives us life. And as we abide
in him, we are connected to that and find life
as well. But if you were to go back and you were
just to start over and just start reading this
farewell discourse again from chapter 13 up to
the point. point, up to the point we're at now,
you would pick up a theme, I think, in Jesus's
words to his disciples. It's been around this,
his imminent departure. Like, I'm going to leave
soon. It's coming soon. And there's a reassurance
of the Holy Spirit. They would come someday.
They would have this eternal future together.
And so Jesus has been basically saying, up to
this point, I will come again and take you where
I am. And Jesus has been making them these promises.
And right from the beginning, Jesus had declared
that all of this was because of his deep love
for these disciples, his guys. This was his crew.
These were his guys. So at this point, I want
you to see the shift that's about to happen here.
At this point, if you're one of the disciples,
you could be like, okay, this isn't ideal, but
we think we understand here. We think we understand
what's going on. We think we're good. Jesus is
like, you're going to go away. the helper, the
Holy Spirit is going to come. You still love
us. You're going to come back for us someday.
Seems okay. We can shake on it. We got a deal.
Well, this section is what I'll call the fine
print of the deal. I don't know if you've ever
found yourself in a situation where you're like,
this just seems to be a little bit too good to
be true, right? And perhaps it's too good to
be true. And then you're like, what's the fine
print? I'll tell you of one story that came to
my mind. Kendra and I were on our honeymoon in
Intervale, New Hampshire. Anybody ever been there?
We went to a ski town and skied half a day over
a course of a week. But it was beautiful. We're
in Intervale. We're out walking this little quaint
ski town. And this person's like, hey, for 50
bucks, we'll give you $50 cash. You just got
to sit through this presentation. We're like,
we're poor as poor can be. $50 will get us like
a lot more back then. Three meals, like we're
in. This sounds too good to be true. Yeah, yeah,
just come in here, sit in here, 50 bucks. So
anybody own a timeshare? My prayers are with
you, and I can give you my best legal lawyer
counsel to advise you how to get out of it. But
anyhow, this was when timeshares were still a
thing. Well, I don't need to tell you the story.
It was this pitch for a timeshare. And we're
sitting in there like, what? We don't even know
what this means. Much less in Intervale, New
Hampshire. Like, we're never coming back here
again in our lives. Thankfully, we did not sign
anything. And at the end of it, he gives us this
$50 bill. And I'm like, giddy as can be, like,
we did it. You know, we beat the system. We get
to dinner. It's time to pay. I pull out this
$50 bill, and it's been taped back together.
And I'm like, oh, no. They did get us. Like,
this isn't even a real $50 bill. So it was like,
hey, we don't need change. It's all yours, you
know. Like, take it, take it. Never heard the
word about it. Point is, it seemed too good to
be true. There was some fine print to it. It
was like, hey, we're going to give you $50, and
then you're going to sign your life away to this
timeshare. Thankfully, somehow, by the grace
of God, did not. But it seemed too good to be
true. Like, you just need $50 to watch, like,
a 20 -minute video? Like, okay. This is the point.
Here comes the fine print from Jesus. I am leaving
you, and I am leaving and sending you out in
the middle of a hostile world. This seems to
kind of be new info from Jesus. Like all the
other things that he was clear on. Like I'm leaving
you, but the good news is the Holy Spirit is
going to come. And by the way, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. So I'm going to come back. So
this isn't going to be for forever. It's temporary.
We're going to be reunited for eternity. These
are all things that they are understanding. And
quite honestly, they're like, okay, we can do
this. We can get through it. But then here comes
the fine print. By the way. While you're waiting
for me, Jesus is telling me, you're going to
go out into a hostile world, and there's going
to be a response of opposition and rejection
to you. This seems to kind of be new info, where
they kind of sit up and like, wait, we were tracking
with you up to this point, and now all of a sudden
you're like, it's going to get bad. It's going
to get hard for you. He has a new tone to him,
in my opinion, as you read this discourse. How
many of us remember as kids when our parents
would tell us hard things and then they would
follow it up with, I only tell you this because
I love you. Anybody have those types of parents?
And you would just think, you would roll your
eyes and be like, no, this is the meanest thing
anybody could ever say to me. And then now as
a parent, you completely understand it, don't
you? Like part of why you say hard things to
your kids is because you love them so deeply.
And it's our love for our kids. We tell them
these hard truths. We warn them of hard realities.
That's exactly what Jesus is about to do here.
He's first going to give them the reality of
opposition. He just wants them to see it. He's
all but promised it. These are the next words
from Jesus. Verse 18, if the world hates you,
it's a strong word, understand that it hated
me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love you as its own. However,
because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of it, the world hates you. Remember
the word that I spoke to you. So Jesus' words
are not exactly the words of a motivational speaker
trying to win fans at this point, right? Instead,
he's preparing his disciples for this really
hard reality. that awaits them, that's ahead
of them. He knew that the message he was entrusting
to them would be carried forward into a world
that would ultimately resist it, reject it, ridicule
it, even persecute it. And the word world that
Jesus uses there, by the way, hopefully a lot
of you are still engaged in the carry on or the
carry over, I should say. This week, especially
on Monday, which is tomorrow, Preston does a
really good job of kind of breaking this word
down even further for us. You can go read that
for yourself. But the word world that Jesus is
using here several different times, he means
as a way to describe those who blatantly reject
God and who ultimately are trying to live independently
of their creator. That's a generalized way of
thinking of that word world. And here's what
we should acknowledge. Jesus was and is the only
perfectly loving, perfectly truthful, perfectly
compassionate person who ever lived, and yet
he was rejected by the world. And so what does
that mean? What it means is if that the world
rejected him, who's perfectly loving, perfectly
gracious, perfectly truthful, perfectly all things,
if that was their response to them, we don't
have a chance is what that means. I don't know
if you've ever watched a sporting event where
the favorite, if you will, loses. Like, oh, well,
they lost. We don't have a chance. They're the
favorite. They're not supposed to lose. Jesus
was not supposed to be rejected, if you will.
I mean, he was, according to the sovereign plan
of God, predetermined before the world began.
But from our vantage point, he's not supposed
to lose. He's perfectly loving. He laid down
his life. Like, what's your beef with Jesus?
He's given his life for you. And so Jesus is
like, hey, servant is not greater than his master.
If this is their response to me, then this is
going to be their response to you. That's what
verse 19 means. I've called you to follow me.
Therefore, you're different. Therefore, it will
be a source of persecution for you. Maybe you've
heard of this spiritual tension. Back when I
was growing up in the church, in the 90s, there
was a lot of really bad Christian youth group
music. We survived that. And then there was a
lot of just, I don't know, people made money
off this stuff. But there were shirts, and some
of you still have them. Good, wear them. It says,
in, not of, this idea of being in the world,
the spiritual tension that we live in the world,
but not of the world. What does it mean? It means
our values, our priorities, our loyalties are
different, but yet I pay my mortgage like someone
else does. I drive my car like someone else does.
I go to the same schools and places that other
people do. So you're in the world. We haven't
created a Christian bubble that we all just hide
in. We're in it, but we're not of it. And the
best example I can give you is a boat. If you
think about a boat, a boat belongs in the water.
They don't make boats to just sit on a shelf
to be looked at. Like, its intention is to be
in the water. That's where it functions best.
That's what it's designed to do. However, if
water gets inside the boat, it sinks and it's
catastrophic. And so that's the best picture
that we can kind of paint for you in this, in
what Jesus is trying to describe here. It's like,
you're in this thing. You're in the game, but
you're different. And because you're different,
There's going to be some persecution that comes
your way. There's going to be some rejection.
There's going to be some opposition that comes
your way because you are different. That's what
Jesus was trying to get them to understand in
this moment. We live in the world, but the world
cannot live inside of us. And the outcome of
that is that as we follow Christ and the presence
of Christ at work in our lives, what does it
do? It begins to expose the things that are broken.
None of us like the friend that's in better shape
than we are, right? Why? Because it exposes that
I'm not in good shape. I'm not friends with any
46 -year -old men because that's what I should
be like, right? I'm kidding about that. Some
of you are probably 46. Most of you are not.
You're like 12. Welcome. Anyhow, you get it.
Things that are right expose things that are
broken. That's what it is. That's how it works.
So as we live in Christ and the Spirit of God
lives in us through the Holy Spirit, it begins
to expose, if we're living in that light, so
to speak, it begins to expose the darkness in
the world around us. Have you ever noticed turning
on a light instantly changes the dynamic of a
room, right? In the dark, you don't see the dust
on the baseboards. You don't see whatever, the
imperfections of the room. As soon as you turn
the light on, the clutter becomes obvious. The
things that are hidden suddenly become visible
in the presence of Christ. That's what Jesus
is driving at, does that to the human heart.
And Jesus was saying, there are going to be people
that are just not going to like that. They're
not going to like that. Not everyone is going
to welcome that. So when the gospel calls people
to something greater than their temporary pleasure,
some respond with joy. I mean, Baptism Sunday
is a response to that. You've seen it for yourself.
So some respond with joy, and some respond in
surrender posture like, hey, yeah, you're right.
Things in my life need to change. There's some
brokenness. There's some impurities. Things that
I need to let go of and surrender and turn towards
Christ. And the response of joy is evident because
they're up here in front of all of you saying,
I'm ready. I'm ready to be made new in Christ.
And then others respond with resistance. And
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that this
is to be expected. So this is the reality of
opposition. all that we could say about Jesus,
one of the things that certainly should be said
is that he was just a realist. Like he wasn't
trying to pull punches with him. He's just trying
to say, this is what it is. There's a reality
to this opposition that you're going to experience,
but rejection does not mean failure. It does
not mean failure. Quite often it's evidence that
you truly belong to Christ. There's an inescapable
reality to it. And here's something that I want
to see from this first part is that as Jesus
went first in love, Jesus also went first in
rejection. If the response to Jesus extending
the most perfect form of love that has ever been
displayed was rejection and hatred, why should
I expect anything different? And I mean, just
this morning, I was, as we were singing, I was
thinking all the things that are in my heart.
I was thinking of a friend who no longer talks
to me because of my faith in Jesus. Someone that
I was close with for many years. And American
politics, thank you very much, divided that.
But I think, you know, yeah, soapbox, but I'll
say it. It's not ultimately about politics. It's
about transformation in Christ. And faith in
Jesus sometimes becomes a source of division,
as much as I wish it wasn't. Because that's a
friend I miss. It's a friend that I would love
to be reconnected to. But I don't know that that's
possible. So when I get in that headspace of
like, woe is me, I'm like, wait, Jesus went first
in love. He also went first in rejection. He
modeled this for us. He showed us how to do this.
Do we like it? No. But it is a reality. He wanted
him to grasp this reality before he was gone.
1 John 3 .13, don't be surprised, brothers and
sisters, if the world hates you. Strong words.
So that's the reality of the opposition. Then
Jesus gives them the reason for the opposition.
By the way, they don't all start with ours. If
you're getting excited that they do, they don't.
The reason for opposition, reality, reason. We
sort of already considered this, but let's look
at a few more verses in John 15, verse 21. But
they will do all these things to you on account
of my name, because they don't know the one who
sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them,
they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have
no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me
also hates my father. If I had not done the works
among them that no one else has done, they would
not be guilty of sin. In other words, it exposed
them. Now they have seen and hated both me and
my father, but this happened so that the statement
written in their law might be fulfilled. They
hated me for no reason. So Jesus sort of doubles
down here, right? He's taking this a little deeper.
A lot deeper, you should say. He wants them to
understand that the hostility that they're going
to experience is not merely cultural or social,
but rather spiritual. As I was just describing
to you with my friendship with this friend that
I had. He will tell you it's political. It's
not. It's spiritual. And Jesus is trying to help
them understand, like, it's not cultural. It's
not social. It's spiritual. That's what he meant
in verse 21. The fuel of their opposition. It's
not ultimately you, Peter and John and Andrew,
as he's looking around and talking to these disciples.
You're not ultimately their problem. That's not
ultimately what they're mad about or angry about
or rejecting. It has nothing to do with you.
The fuel of their opposition would be simply
their ignorance of God. And I say that in a compassionate
way, like they just don't know God. There's a
relational disconnect behind the opposition and
behind the hatred that just don't know the Father.
And no doubt, you've experienced this before.
If somebody misunderstands me deeply, they're
more likely to criticize me. They're more likely
to make unfair statements about me. They're more
likely to show opposition towards me. If they
misunderstand me, they assume motives that you
never had. I mean, you understand it. They might
even just flat out reject you entirely because
they've heard about you. so to speak. Why? Because
they don't truly know you. Jesus says the same
dynamic happens with God. Humanity, who was created
to know him, but sin has distorted that relationship,
and so there's two roads ahead. One is to fix
that, if you will. Thank you, Jesus. The other
is just to continue forward in this state of
brokenness and ignorance, if you will, towards
God. And so Jesus is saying that this is, In
a perfect world, God has created you to know
the Father. That's what you're created to do
and to know and to experience. But sin has distorted
that. And so we don't fully know God as he's
designed us to. And yet, here's the paradox that
Jesus gives us. The very presence of Christ removes
that excuse of ignorance, if you will. That's
what verse 22 is. If I had not come and spoken
to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But
now, now they have no excuse for their sin. What's
the old saying? Ignorance is what? Bliss. Why
don't people, for example, go to the doctor?
Because they don't want to hear what they don't
want to hear. Right? Ignorance is bliss. And
by the way, I'm guilty of that. I can't tell
you the last time I went to the doctor. And it's
because the dude moved and didn't tell me he
was moving. But I'll get over it. I just haven't
got around to finding a new one. Why don't we
go? Because we don't want to hear. The hard truth.
Like, eh, I'm good. Until the doctor's like,
no, this is A, B, and C. You need to fix this.
They don't want to hear the hard truth. So if
they just don't know, then they don't have to
act. They don't have to do differently. I don't
have to act if I don't know. I don't have to
do differently if I don't know. And Jesus was
saying, me, him, the light has come into the
world, and people must choose how to respond.
The doctor has given you the news. You got to
decide what you're going to do with it. Are you
going to ignore it and this disease will kill
you? Or will you follow my instructions and advice,
if you will, and be made whole and healthy? Some
people will, right? I mean, baptism Sunday, some
people will open the door. And the light will
come in and expose it. Others will just pull
the curtains tighter. But either way, Jesus is
forcing a decision. This is why Christianity
has been both attractive and controversial, right?
Because it draws some people in with life -changing
power that transforms them. We hear their stories.
We celebrate that. And others, it provokes resistance
and persecution. The message of Jesus confronts
our pride, our self -sufficiency. our illusions
of control. It tells us that we cannot save ourselves,
and for many people, that is just the hardest
truth of all. I mean, I've been a pastor long
enough to know, like, nobody has a problem with
Easter. If Jesus wants to rise from the dead,
good. No skin off my back. They don't care. That's
not controversial. What's controversial about
Easter? It's like, hey, by the way, because of
his resurrection, he invites you into a new life,
which means you have to make some changes to
your life. You have to get rid of some demons,
if you will, that are in the closet. You've got
to get rid of some pet sins. You've got to pursue
holiness. You've got to strive for obedience.
That's the rub for people with Jesus. Easter
is fun. It's fine. Christmas Eve is beautiful.
We have all the adjectives to go with it. What's
the rub with Jesus is that Jesus is like, by
the way, because you celebrate Easter and because
of Christmas Eve, the fact that I was born as
a human and came and lived a human life and died
a human death and rose again, you got to make
a decision. You got to make a decision. And that
bothers some people. And so when I... Where I
was going with that is when I encounter people
who are resistant to Jesus, I don't know that
at their core they have a problem with Jesus.
Like, first century Jewish man is fine, nice,
did good things. They have a problem with what
Jesus demands of their life and what he's asking
them to do with their life, which is to what?
Pick up your cross and come follow me. down the
narrow path that few will find and that is difficult
to walk versus the broad path that many will
find that leads to destruction. But Jesus reminds
his disciples that none of this takes God by
surprise. The rejection of Christ was foretold
in scripture and fulfilled in history. The cross
was not an accident. It's not an accident. It
wasn't just like the Romans were like, we don't
know what else to do, kill the guy. It was...
predetermined. It was part of God's perfect loving
plan, if you can try and get your head around
that, which is difficult to do. It wasn't an
accident. It was the culmination of the world's
rebellion and the beginning of God's redemption
story. Like, imagine if Jesus is on the earth
and he's doing all these things and he's healing
people and he's making all these promises and
then just gone. And there is no crucifixion and
there is no resurrection. Like, what a cruel
divine, sick joke that God would be playing on
us. Like, we tease this with Jesus, but he didn't
go to the cross. He didn't fulfill the mission.
And so there is no redemption for us. It was
like, well, that's what it would have looked
like, but you don't get a chance at it. But that's
not how it unfolded, right? This was a culmination
of the world's rebellion and the beginning of
God's redemption story before Jesus left and
before the Holy Spirit came. And then you come
to the end of chapter 15, the beginning of chapter
16, and Jesus picks back up the promise of the
Holy Spirit. So he gives us next our responsibility
despite opposition. It's found primarily in verses
26 and 27. It says this, when the counselor comes,
that's the Holy Spirit, the one I will send to
you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who
proceeds from the Father, he will testify about
me. Here it is. Here's our responsibility. You
also will testify because you have been with
me from the beginning. So Jesus is now describing
the mission of the church and the mission of
his followers. Notice the sequence. Opposition
does not cancel the mission. It clarifies it.
Opposition does not cancel the mission. It clarifies
it. So as a follower of Jesus. I'm called to
be a witness. I'm called to testify about what
I've seen and experienced in Christ. And a witness
does not create the truth. A witness simply testifies
to what they know. Think of a courtroom and a
legal proceeding when they call witness to the
stand, right? The witness doesn't argue the entire
case. That's the job of the attorneys. The witness
is simply up there to say, this is what I saw
and this is what I experienced. This is my word.
This is the heart of Christian witness. It does
not... merely presenting arguments or debating
ideas. It is sharing the reality of what Christ
has done. And the testimony carries a powerful,
carries power that no argument can replace. I
think of, I'm going to show you this. This is
a scene in John chapter 9 where Jesus heals the
blind man. And what's so interesting is that
they're questioning the blind man who, by the
way, is no longer blind because Jesus has healed
him, about who is Jesus. And they're trying to
put him in the corner like, come on. Wrap this
guy out for who he really is. So here it is in
John 9. So a second time they summoned the man
who had been blind and told him, second time,
by the way, first time didn't go, they didn't
get the answer they wanted. Second time they
summoned the man who had been blind and told
him, give glory to God. We know, meaning Jesus,
that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether
or not he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing
I do know, my testimony, I was blind and now
I can see. In other words, You can debate theology
all day. You can debate theology all day, but
my transformation, my testimony is undeniable.
And never more so in his case, he was literally
blind and now he could see. I would imagine there
wouldn't be an empty seat in the room if I had
a former blind person come in here and say, Jesus
healed me and I fully see. It would be like,
oh my, it's undeniable. And I've had so many
people tell me that they love Baptism Sundays
at LBC. And the way that we do it, primarily
because they get to hear the testimony of every
person that goes into the waters of baptism.
And look, that's our way of doing it. I'm not
saying it's right, although it is. But I'm saying
it's powerful. It's a story. It's a testimony
that you're like, ah. Theology seems a bit over
my head, but man, that's a story of transformation
that you cannot deny. That person used to do
this and be this way and live this way, and now
they're surrendered their life to Christ. And
you're like, I don't know about what some of
these scriptures mean. I don't know what sanctification
means. I don't know what transformation means,
but I know that I'm seeing somebody who is different
and has been transformed by Jesus. And the disciples
had walked with Jesus. They had listened to his
words. They had watched his miracles. They had
witnessed the resurrection. They were living
testimonies. And that's why most of them lost
their life for the gospel, because they couldn't
silence their testimony. Like, your story is
your story. You don't have to like my theology,
but you can't deny my story of transformation.
And that's exactly what happened with the disciples.
When Jesus was gone, they're like, We're never
going to be the same because of him. And, I mean,
they all had their story, and most of them, if
not all of them, were eventually martyred because
of that. The same is true today, not in America
primarily, but what is true in America is that
we each have a story of grace, and each one of
us is called to be a witness, to be a witness.
And to the people that are so afraid on baptism,
I mean, bless their heart. There's so many people
over the years that are like, I'm just scared
to talk in front of people and I tell them this.
You need to tell your story because somebody
needs to hear your story. Like, there's going
to be a me too moment when you're up there shaking.
Someone else needs to hear your story. It's a
story of grace. It's a story of transformation.
It's a story of redemption. Like, this is a moment
of celebration. that you cannot deny. And that's
the calling, even in spite of the opposition,
that we have a responsibility to still carry
out the mission. And that is done primarily through
just living into your story and to be a witness
for it and not back down from it. The world may
debate theology, but it cannot ignore or erase
a transformed life. Our responsibility remains
in spite of opposition. What is it? First Peter
chapter three, but in your hearts. regard Christ
the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a
defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for
the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness
and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so
that when you are accused, those who disparage
your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.
It's a simple way of saying like, be ready when
people ask you like, what's the deal with your
life? You tell them your story of redemption
and grace. Notice that it's from a place of,
testimony, not condemnation. So when people ask
me about Jesus, I tell them about Jesus, how
Jesus has worked in my life. I don't say, hey,
by the way, dude, what is the deal with whatever's
going on in their life? And it's a place, it's
leading from a platform of grace. confidence
in the power of the gospel, like as I share and
as I live into that and I'm consistent in that,
that that does the transformational work to get
people curious towards what this thing about
Jesus is all about. Last part of the text, chapter
16, Jesus' promise to the Holy Spirit, a passage
you might be familiar with from our Things Unseen
series, but here we get from Jesus, this is the
last one, the help for opposition. So Jesus knew
that the mission would be impossible without
divine help, so he makes them this promise. I
have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.
What does he mean? He means when it squeezes
you and you want to give up, I'm telling you
these things so that you won't. Because when
it gets hard, you're going to be inclined to
stumble and to quit. I have told you these things
to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you
from the synagogues. In fact, the time is coming
when anyone who kills you will think he is offering
service to God. They will do these things because
they have not known the Father or me. But I have
told you these things so that when their time
comes, you will remember that I told them to
you. I did not tell you these things from the
beginning because I was with you. You didn't
need to know them. But now I am going away to
him who sent me. And none of you asked me, where
are you going? Now that's kind of confusing because
Peter was like, show us the way. Don't have time
to explain that. It's in this week's carryover.
Yet, because I have spoken these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I'm
telling you the truth. It is for your benefit
that I go away. Because if I don't go away, the
counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will
send him to you. When he comes, he'll have some
work to do. He will convict the world of sin,
righteousness, judgment, about sin because they
do not believe in me, about righteousness because
I'm going to the Father, and you will no longer
see me, and about judgment because the ruler
of this world has been judged. I still have many
things to tell you, but you can't bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all truth. For he will not speak on
his own, but he will speak whatever he hears.
He will also declare to you what is to come.
He will glorify me because he will take from
mine what is mine and declare it to you. Everything
the Father has is mine. This is why I told you
that he takes from what is mine and will declare
it to you. I pointed it out in our Things Unseen
series, but it's worth stating again. Jesus says
something so remarkable in verse 7. It is for
your benefit that I go away. Imagine hearing
that as you're one of the disciples in that room
that night, especially after this new little
bit of news from Jesus, the fine print, if you
will, like, oh, by the way, they're going to
ban you from the synagogue, and they're going
to try and kill you, and they're going to hate
you. And, oh, it's to your advantage that I'm
not here with you. Like, what? You're our muscles,
man. You're our protector. And Jesus is like,
it's better that I go away. How could it possibly
be better? I mean, we wrestled with this in that
series, right? How could it possibly be better?
Because through the Holy Spirit, Christ's presence
would dwell within every one of them. So what
does that mean? Instead of Christ beside them,
they would have Christ within them. And that
would change everything. That would change everything.
And this promised spirit that would be within
them would perform several vital works according
to Jesus. What would it do? Convict the world
concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
And it should be stated. That conviction is not
condemnation. Conviction is illumination. It
just turns the light on. It is the moment when
truth becomes undeniable. It's like the light
being turned on in the room that we talked about
earlier. And the Spirit awakens people to the
seriousness of sin. When do your kids learn hard
things? When they learn it for themselves. You
can stand there and tell them all day, don't
touch the burner when it's hot. when are they
most inclined to not touch the burner? After
they what? Touch the burner. And I believe for
all of my friends that are far from Jesus, don't
believe in Jesus, don't like the church, don't
like Christianity, not many of those friends.
Where it will click for them when it's illuminated
for them in their lives rather than me with my
Bible over their head all the time. As you know,
you're a sinner. There has to be conviction.
It's not condemnation. Conviction is illumination.
It's like the light being turned on. And the
Spirit awakens people to the seriousness of sin,
to the beauty of righteousness, and to the certainty
of judgment. And no human persuasion can produce
this kind of transformation. Only the Spirit
of God can open spiritual eyes. And Jesus also
says the Spirit will guide believers into truth.
He's doing that for us. Christian growth is not
merely intellectual learning. It's spiritual
illumination that comes through the Spirit of
God. Have you ever read a passage in the Bible
that you've read so many times before, but then
suddenly it just kind of comes alive? Maybe it's
a season that you're in. Maybe it's something
that somebody shared with you. Whatever. Maybe.
Words that seem distant suddenly feel personal.
And this is the quiet work of the Spirit of God
to illuminate truth in your life and in my life.
He helps us discern truth in a confusing world.
Is the world confusing? Yes. Yes. The Holy Spirit
is like a skilled guide that's walking us through
unfamiliar territory. And without him, we are
prone to wander. You know that. But with him,
we move forward. And then finally, Jesus says
the Spirit's ultimate purpose is to glorify him.
And the Spirit does not draw attention to himself,
but rather he points people towards Christ. This
is some pneumatology, some theology of the Holy
Spirit. Don't get lost in it. It's not the intent.
I'm just trying to clarify for you what Jesus
is saying. This Holy Spirit is not just Casper
the friendly ghost who has a job to do. And these
are its jobs, if you will. Spotlight illuminates
an actor on a stage. The Spirit of God illuminates
Christ at the center of history. And he helps
us see Christ more clearly, love him more deeply,
follow him more faithfully. I would say if those
are struggles for you, that you're probably not
listening to the Holy Spirit. Because the role
of the Holy Spirit is to help those things happen
in our lives. In our lives. So, to wrap up. If
your faith in Jesus brings criticism or misunderstanding,
I would say remember that Jesus predicted it.
And the goal of Christianity is not just to have
the loudest voice in the room and to be the most
persuasive theologically. The goal of Christianity
is faithfulness to Christ. Popularity is temporary.
Faithfulness is eternal. But here's the danger
of this text, and I promise I'll close with this.
I know when Joe was here, you got out like 25
minutes early, and he's your hero. He's not here
today for a reason. I'm just kidding. I'm just
kidding. I'm just kind of, but anyhow. Here's
the danger of this text. I promise I just, I
need you to hear this. And then we'll close.
The danger of this text is that some of us will
hear Jesus' words and think, it's me versus the
world. Come and get me. Like, they're going to
hate me. I'll show them. And we puff up our chest
and we flex our muscles and we're ready for war.
That's the danger of this text. Because you hear
like, oh, the world will hate you. You're like,
oh, no, they won't. I'm going to hate them. being
not of the world does not mean withdrawing from
people who might, in the words of Jesus, hate
you. That is not what being not of the world
does not mean that. Because if you look at the
life of Jesus, he ate with sinners, he spoke
with outsiders, he showed compassion to the broken.
That was the source of rub against all the religious
leaders of the day. Who are the people that hated
Jesus most? The religious leaders. because he
didn't march to their orders and he sat around
tables with people that they were like, no, you
don't. So the drive of this text is not to get
you to go home and build your spiritual bubble
and be like, I'm never talking to anybody who
doesn't live exactly like me, go to my church,
listen to my music, think my thoughts. Not the
goal of this. We are called to stand out and
be a light on a hill, to draw near relationally.
Where were Jesus' strongest moments of impact
when he was right next to people? Right next
to people. Truth without love becomes harsh.
Love without truth becomes hollow. Truth without
love becomes harsh. Love without truth becomes
hollow. And the gospel holds together these things
in perfect union in a weird tension that I can't
totally understand myself. But you cannot do
this in your own human strength. Because one
of two things will happen. You will become so
self -righteous that you will lose your ability
to have an impact for the gospel. Or you will
stumble and fall away from the influence of the
world. It's so hard to get it right. That's why
you can't get it right in your own strength.
The courage to stand firm, the wisdom to speak
truth, the love to reach others all come from
the Spirit. We need the Spirit's guidance every
single day. And Jesus spoke these words to prepare
his disciples for the road ahead. They would
face rejection. They would face persecution.
They would face hardship. But he also knew something
greater, which is that the Spirit would come.
And when it did, the gospel would spread and
the kingdom of God would advance. From ordinary
people empowered by an extraordinary God. And
within a few short decades, the message that
began in this upper room would spread to cities
across the Roman Empire. And the world that would
eventually crucify Jesus would hear his name
proclaimed everywhere. Everywhere. And it happened.
It happened. Because of ordinary believers, followers
of Jesus, trusting the promise of Christ and
the power of the Spirit. You are not alone. and
you are not powerless, and you are not abandoned,
and the Spirit of God is within you, and the
light of Christ still shines in the darkness
today. Do you believe it? Do you believe it?
It's through you, and it's through me. Let's
pray together. Father, thank you. Thank you for
this promise. It's heavy. Jesus said so clearly,
if they rejected you, if they hated you, know
that that was true for me first. A servant is
not greater than his master. And you are our
master. We surrender to you. We live our lives
in obedience to you, albeit imperfectly. All
of us have at one point or another avoided going
to the doctor, quote unquote. It's just easier
to kind of live in a place of ignorance. than
it is to be really confronted with the truth
and to make a decision. And so give us grace
in our own journey and give us confidence in
our story. We have a story to share. It's one
of grace. It's one of transformation. It's one
of redemption. Let us step into those moments
rather than to back down from those moments,
believing that Just like the blind man in John
chapter 9, whether or not Jesus is this or that,
I don't know. There are some things that maybe
are confusing to me, but one thing I'm certain
of is that I was blind and now I see. Indisputable
transformation. Make us confident ambassadors
of that today. We pray these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.