Summary John 13-15
It was the time of the Feast of the Passover. Jesus knew
that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father. He washed his
disciples feet. Judas departed to go betray Jesus. Jesus announced that he was
soon to depart this world. Then Peter boldly declared undying devotion to Jesus
and Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times.
Then Jesus let them know that he was going to prepare a
place for them and that he would come back one day and he would take them to be
with him. Jesus told his disciples that after he left that they would do the
works that he did, that all who believed in him would do the works that he did
and even greater works than Jesus did, because he was going to the Father.
Then Jesus began to teach them some lessons. He said that if
they loved him that they would keep (obey) his commandments. And then he
promised them the Holy Spirit who would teach them all things and bring to
remembrance all that Jesus had said to them. And then he spoke with them about
the importance of abiding in him and of bearing much fruit.
He talked with them also about the importance of loving one
another. And he also told them to expect that the world would hate them because
it hated him. He said that if they persecuted him that they would also
persecute Jesus’ followers. And then he comforted them with more words with
regard to him sending them the Holy Spirit.
John 16:1-2 ESV
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”
So, “these things” are the things he said to his disciples
as recorded for us in the previous chapters. He was going to leave them, but he
was not going to leave them alone. He was going to send them the Holy Spirit
who would then be their teacher as he had been. He was preparing a future home
for them and one day he would come back for them.
They were to love him by obeying his commandments, they were
to love one another, they were not to be afraid, and they would be persecuted
for righteousness’ sake just as he had been persecuted. Thus, he prepared them
for what was coming so that when these things did take place that they would remain
strong in their faith and so they would not fall away.
And since that time we have been given many more
instructions with regard to how we are to live and concerning the things that
would take place, some of which are now taking place. And so we have been given
even more information on what we should expect in these days prior to our Lord’s
return when he comes to take his followers to be with him (Matt-Rev).
So, if we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, if we
are daily dying to sin and to self, and if we are following our Lord in
obedience to his commands, and if we are loving others in the way in which
Jesus loves us, we should be experiencing some serious persecution. In America
we aren’t experiencing it to the degree people do in other nations, but it is
here definitely!
If we are really serious about our walks of faith, and if we
are obeying the teachings of Scripture, and if we are proclaiming the truth of
the gospel, and if we are dispelling and exposing the fruitless deeds of
darkness, and if we are preaching repentance, obedience, and submission to
Christ as Lord, we are going to be put out of these modern day market-driven “churches.”
Even if they may not put us out, we should be leaving them
anyway, for the Scriptures teach that we are to come of Babylon so that we don’t
share in her sins and in her punishment, for her sins are piled high to heaven.
We should not be participating in these gatherings called “church” which are
not teaching the truth and which are following after the ways of the world.
John 16:3-4 ESV
“And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”
If you make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ it does
not mean that you know God the Father and God the Son. You may know of him or
about him, and you may have a lot of head knowledge about the Scriptures, and
you may even be a teacher of the Scriptures, but that doesn’t automatically
mean that you know God, that you know Jesus intimately.
There are many people in America calling themselves
Christians who are professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are not in intimate
relationship and fellowship with the God that they profess. They know a lot
about him, though, but sometimes that knowledge is skewed by what they have
been taught in these institutional churches or by their human traditions.
They are religious people. They gather together weekly with
others who also profess faith in Jesus Christ, and they go through the motions
of religious practice and performance according to their human traditions, and
some of their practices may be according to Scripture, but many are not, for
few church gatherings in America are truly biblical gatherings in their purest
sense, at least from what I can gather and have experienced.
Many people, too, are professing faith in Jesus Christ who
are believing in a gospel that is not taught in the Scriptures but that is
created in the minds of humans in order to pacify the flesh and its sinful
desires. So they make a decision to “believe” in Jesus largely based on
Scriptures taught out of context, but then their lives are not transformed of
the Holy Spirit.
For, they continue living not much differently than they
lived before they believed in Jesus. They continue living in deliberate and
often premeditated and habitual (addictive) sin against the Lord, and some of
them without conscience. And some of them will regularly confess their sins but
will not turn away from their sins to follow Jesus in surrender and in
obedience.
And so they will persecute those who believe in Jesus who
are following Jesus Christ with their lives, who are following the Scriptures. And
they will kick them or invite them out of their gatherings. And they will want
nothing to do with them, and they may even falsely accuse them of things they
did not do, and it is because they don’t truly know Jesus that they do this.
John 16:33 ESV
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
So, the Lord Jesus has given us these words of encouragement
here. Yes, we are going to face tribulation, and yes, we are going to be
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, even by others who profess faith in Jesus
Christ but who do not know Jesus intimately. But in Christ we have peace. And
in Christ we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. Amen!
By Jonathan
Foreman
I give you my
destiny
I'm giving you all
of me
I want your symphony
Singing in all that
I am
At the top of my
lungs
I'm giving it my all
So, I lay my head
back down
And I lift my hands
and pray
To be only yours I
pray
To be only yours I
pray
To be only yours
I know now you're my
only hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gnS7ZEbEqU
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