WWUTT 968 He Will Bear Witness About Me?

The World Hates Christ and His Disciples

Jesus has promised his disciples that he will send the Helper to them, the Holy Spirit, who will guide them into more truth. And we continue to be guided by the Spirit into that truth from the Bible when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing and if this has ministered to you please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you Becky. Well, we will finish up John chapter 15 today, the last couple of weeks we've been in this section that goes from verses 18 through 27. I'll read this again. As Jesus said to his disciples, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, 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 their 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. There's a point I wanted to come back and make here, and I've made it before as we've been going through this particular section, but not as clearly as I'm going to do so here.

Divine Decree, Human Hatred, and Secondary Causes

Yesterday, we had read in verse 25, Jesus said, but the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. They hated me without a cause. So Jesus is saying, they're going to hate you because they hate me because they hate my father that is in heaven.

And the reason why they hate God is because the scripture must be fulfilled. The scripture where it says, and we read a couple of places in the Psalms, they hated me without a cause. Now I've drawn from a couple of other passages over the course of our study in this section, first Peter two, eight, where it says they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

So they hated me without cause that the law would be fulfilled. And we have it even said through the apostle Peter, they disobey the word as they were destined to do. I've also drawn from Romans chapter nine, where it says, beginning in verse 22, what if God desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.

Even us whom he has called not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles in second Thessalonians chapter two, starting in verse nine. The apostle Paul says the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

This goes back to a point that I made earlier from Romans chapter one, where it says that they suppress the truth with their unrighteousness. So everything that we can know about God is clearly perceived in all that has been made.

But they suppress the truth, being in love with their sin. And so Satan, with false signs and wonders and wicked deception, fools those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

The reason why they were deceived by Satan is because they loved their sin. It's kind of cyclical in that sense. Satan fools them. They follow Satan. They perish. Why did they follow Satan? Because they love their sin, which Satan fooled them into loving.

And by the work of Satan that he did all the way back in the garden anyway. So it just kind of comes around in a circle. Satan influencing them, them following Satan because they're in love with their flesh, because they're in love with their sin.

Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion. Verse 11, so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Notice that again in Second Thessalonians 2, 11, God sends them a strong delusion.

What we have going on here in John 15 verses 18 through 27, Jesus is talking to his disciples about a decree that has been made from before the foundation of the world. We know it has been decreed that people will hate God and they will hate the disciples of Christ because it's in fulfillment of the scriptures.

It's been decreed from long before the prophets wrote it down. It's in the law. They hated me without a cause. So we know that people are going to hate God because the scriptures say that there are people who are going to hate God.

This is the decree of God that this should take place. But then there is also God working in time through secondary causes to bring about the rebellion that is going to happen in these individuals who hate God.

Second Thessalonians 2, 11. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false. Romans 9, 22. Again, what if God desiring to show his wrath and make known his power has endured with much patience, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

And first Peter 2, 8. Once again, they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. You have the decree and then you have God working through secondary causes to bring those things about.

And all of this happened, at least as far as the immediate context is concerned. And what we're reading here in John 15, all of this happened to bring about the greatest good that God would bestow upon mankind.

And that was the giving of his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. All this evil is happening, which God decreed, which God brought about through secondary causes. So he decreed people would be evil and they would kill his son, the greatest evil that is ever done so that God would provide the greatest good.

God decreed that this would take place, and he used secondary causes to bring it about, giving them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false and put Jesus to death. And then even following that, even after all of this is said and done, the crucifixion of the son, his resurrection from the grave, his ascension and being seated at the right hand of God, people continue to hate God and show that hatred toward his disciples.

And once again, that's in fulfillment of the scriptures. God providing secondary causes to bring about the sanctification of his elect because it's through this persecution that we endure at the hands of those who hate God, that our faith produces steadfastness and we cling to Christ and we are made more like him and we share in his sufferings.

And in so doing, we are being shaped more and more into the image of the son. All of this coming about this great good that God is doing through his people because he had to create it to happen from before the foundation of the world, that there would be a righteous that he would call out from the world to himself and he would make righteous by the giving of his son.

And then the rest would remain evil and persecute the righteous so that the righteous would be sanctified and be made more like the son. This is Romans 8, 28, that God is working all things together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

And what is that purpose? Verse 29, for those whom he foreknew, whom he set his affection on from before the foundation of the world. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he, Christ, might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So here, even in this passage in John 15, we have the decree set forth that God had foreordained that this evil was going to take place and then uses other means to bring about the greatest evil that would ever be perpetuated.

And that was the killing of the son of God, Jesus Christ. But it was also the greatest good that was ever done for mankind. And God is the one who did it. So that he might purify for himself a people, as is talked about in Titus 2, 14, and that people being purified by faith in the son who died for them and conquered death for them and rose again from the grave.

All of these things have happened by the gracious work of God from beginning to end. Salvation is the work of God and no one else's. He decreed it, he brought it about to happen. And here is Jesus is sharing this with his disciples.

He is pointing out this has been decreed from the law and the prophets that this was going to take place. He doesn't want them to be alarmed. He wants them to trust God. I'm about to go and die. But trust in me, all of these things that he has said to them, that he is going back to the father, that he's going to prepare a place for them, that he's going to come back to them and receive them to himself.

He is saying all of this for their comfort and even for them to not be alarmed whenever they face the fiery trial that is coming upon them. They hated me, so they're going to hate you. And it's because they hate God.

They don't even know the father. That's why they hate me. That's why they hate you. All of this is happening. So don't be alarmed by it. It is ultimately working out to some great good that God has decreed from before the foundation of the world, and that is that he would call out from wicked men, a people whom he would purify for himself and he would sanctify and ultimately glorify.

And we have that even in these words that Jesus shares with his disciples before he goes to the cross. The word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. They hated me without a cause. They don't have a cause.

All they intend is evil, but God intends it by his sovereign decree for some great good. The atoning sacrifice for our sins that we receive by faith, verse 26 now, but when the helper comes, Jesus talking about the giving of the Holy Spirit, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father.

Now, first of all, the spirit of truth, everything that comes from the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God is truth. And Jesus has already said to his disciples that the spirit is going to come and reveal more truth to them.

So everything that Jesus means to teach to them, he hasn't had the chance to do that. It's been a short earthly ministry, all things considered, just three years from about the time he was 30 to about the time he was 33.

Jesus did this earthly ministry, went to the cross, rose again from the grave. But John says, and we get to this toward the end of this particular gospel, that if everything had been written down that Jesus did in that three year period of time, there wouldn't even be enough parchment paper on earth to chronicle all the works that Jesus did.

So he did in some incredible things in just that three years. And of course, the greatest thing of all being that he died for our sins. He was the perfect spotless lamb. He was sinless and we were not.

And Jesus laid down his life for us that we might be forgiven our sins and be in fellowship with God once again. Mankind having been separated from God since the Garden of Eden, since Adam and Eve had sinned.

But we have been reunited with God through Jesus Christ, our great high priest. So in that short period of time, Jesus didn't have the chance to teach his disciples everything. But the Holy Spirit was coming to them who would reveal to them more truth.

The spirit of truth, all of scripture that we have here has been guided by the Holy Spirit, who is truth. None of this is false. It is all given to us by the spirit of God. What do we have in second Peter chapter one, but Peter saying we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you would do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The spirit was going to come and reveal more truth to the disciples than they had already heard from Christ.

And then Jesus says that the spirit proceeds from the father. There's nothing terribly mysterious about this language. It simply means that the Holy Spirit of God is in submission to the decree of the father, just as Jesus Christ has willfully submitted to the will of the father.

All that Jesus has done, he has done according to the father's will. And so though he is going to go back to his father, the Holy Spirit is going to come and the spirit likewise will be in submission to the father.

Now, this is terribly significant because the spirit submission to the father is so that we understand that all things that are revealed to us by the spirit come from the father himself, the one who has decreed from before the foundation of the world.

So whatever happens and whatever is being spoken is the ultimate truth because it is coming from the father. Jesus is not less than the father. The Holy Spirit is not less than the father, but they are in submission to the father.

And whatever comes from Christ, whatever comes from the Holy Spirit is indeed from God. That is why it is necessary for us to understand that the spirit proceeds from the father. He doesn't act willy nilly on his own.

And there's a lot of Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs that the Holy Spirit of God is spontaneous. Well, no, the Holy Spirit is not spontaneous. The Holy Spirit is doing whatever the father has directed the spirit to do.

And the spirit is even in submission to Christ, who is in submission to the will of the father. So whatever the spirit is doing, he is doing according to the father's will. He is not spontaneous. He is not random.

He might surprise us most definitely, because we don't know what it is that God is decreed. We don't know what it is that he is doing or what he means to work out through this particular situation. So as the Holy Spirit moves, that, of course, will be surprising to us.

But it doesn't mean he's spontaneous. The spirit is not going to act contrary to what the father has decreed or what Jesus has given the spirit to do. As the apostle Paul talks about spiritual gifts in first Corinthians 12, he says that these gifts have been been given according to the will of the spirit to do as the spirit wills, not as we will, but the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God does have authority, but the spirit is going to be in submission to the father and willfully submission to the father, because the father is not greater than the son.

The son is not greater than the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are equal, but the son and the spirit have willfully submitted to the father's will. The Holy Spirit is doing that which the father has decreed should take place and he will bear witness about me.

Jesus goes on to say, John 15, 26, the Holy Spirit will bear witness about me. And this is, once again, Jesus saying to his disciples that the spirit is going to reveal more truth to you, but the spirit is not acting contrary to what it is I've already taught you.

He's going to reveal more to you that I have to say to you, but I'm not going to be with you to say it in person. Instead, you're going to receive it by divine revelation from the Holy Spirit of God. Now, the Holy Spirit is not revealing any more new truth.

The Holy Spirit is still speaking to us. He's speaking to us right now. My friends, my brother and sister, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us now as we've been reading this word and studying it and understanding it according to what has been said by the father.

The spirit is the one who gives us the understanding we know because the spirit of God has worked in our minds and our hearts to understand the father's will as revealed in his scriptures, written down by his prophets and apostles.

So, yes, indeed, the spirit is still ministering to us. Make no mistake, but the spirit is not revealing new truth. There is nothing new that is going to be revealed that is apart from scripture. There's no information that you can find anywhere that will not be in the Bible.

No information about God, no information about his will. There's nothing outside the Bible. This is it. It's done. But the way that the Bible continues to communicate to us, the pages of scripture are written.

There's nothing that we can add to them or take away lest we be cursed, as the scripture warns. But here's the thing. You don't know everything yet. You don't know all of the scriptures. There's still things that God is teaching you according to his word.

So the spirit is teaching you truth that has already been revealed. But it's new to you because you didn't know it today or you don't know it tomorrow. What you will learn tomorrow, you don't know today what you've learned today.

You didn't know yesterday. So the truth is going to be new to you because you're learning it for the first time. But the scripture is not or I'm sorry, the spirit is not revealing new truth because it's already been written down in the pages of scripture.

If someone comes to you and says that the Holy Spirit has given them a word to say to you, I tell you, the spirit did not unless they're quoting you a Bible verse, whatever you can glean from that person.

If it disagrees with the scripture, then whatever they're saying is false. And if it agrees with the scripture, then you don't need what it is they're sharing with you because you have it in the Bible and this it is through this, the Bible, the pages of scripture, the word of God, that God is sanctifying us.

And once again, Jesus is going to say this in his high priestly prayer coming up in John 17, where he says to the father, sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. We grow in holiness and righteousness when we read the word, apply it to our lives and live according to this day by day.

Jesus Christ has poured the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Everyone who is a follower of Jesus has the Holy Spirit, and it is through the spirit that we hear the word of God spoken and taught and we understand it and we obey it because the spirit of God has changed our hearts for it.

Bearing Witness by the Spirit

Verse 27. And you also will bear witness, Jesus says to his disciples, because you have been with me from the beginning and to this very day, we continue to live out what God has decreed. We have been commissioned to go out into the world preaching the gospel so that those whom he has elected from the foundation of the world might hear the gospel, turn from their sin and believe God is including you and me in this sovereign work of salvation, in the purification of his elect whom he is calling out from the world through the teaching of the gospel.

So may we be bold to declare it and may we know there are going to be people who are going to hate us for it, but we do not shrink back because great is our reward in heaven, which no man can take away from us.

Let us pray. Our sovereign God, we thank you for your decree, which we continue to read about in your pages, in the word of scripture, in the Bible. May we not neglect to study this or skip past hard truths, but we desire to know you more.

And so however deeply we need to jump into the scripture in order to know God, may we do it with joy, with zeal. So we are being shaped in the image of Christ according to your word. Teach us kindness today as we respond to our opponents with gentleness, holding fast to the word of truth.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.