Bible Study - Connected (5) - A Life of Persecution - John 15:18-25; 16:1-4a - April 3, 2022

 

Bible Study – Connected (5) – A Life of Persecution - April 3, 2022

This is lesson five (5) in our series entitled, “Living Life Connected to CHRIST.”

Our focus scripture is John 15:18-25; 16:1-4a.

Living like JESUS means being treated like HE was.

It is vital that we, as Spirit-born people, live knowing that our Spirit-life blood flows through our connection to the Vine, JESUS. Even Spirit-born people can get impatient and take matters into their own hands and get ahead of the leadership of the indwelling Holy Spirit. GOD allows us to take matters into our own hands to teach us vital lessons.

Why? GOD does not make us robots but Spirit-born people who desire to do the will and work of GOD through our eternal relationship with GOD and JESUS.

Let’s explore!

Let’s read John 15:18-21:

Persecutions Predicted

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word I spoke 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. 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. 

Who controls the world? If you said, Satan, you are correct. This world, as wonderful as it is, is not a Spirit-born person’s final destination. When did JESUS choose you to become a Spirit-born person?  Ephesians 1:4 - “⁴ For he (JESUS) chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.^[c]”

JESUS chose every person to be Spirit-born but since GOD gave every person freedom to choose, does every person choose HIM?

When a person chooses JESUS, he or she becomes an enemy of the world.

Where is the Spirit-born person’s final destination? The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:9:

⁹ But as it is written,

What no eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no human heart has conceived—
God has prepared these things for those who love him.^[a]

The eternal destination for the Spirit-born person is beyond his or her wildest imagination.

When we behold the handiwork of a magnificent structure, we look at the finished product but behind every finished product are the chisel and saw marks that give it its beauty. We stand in awe of the finished product.

Every Spirit-born person is a work in progress and only GOD knows what the final product will look like. The Good News is that the finished product will be a Heavenly work of art, magnificent.

Let’s explore some of the infrastructure that GOD was putting in place to complete HIS redemptive plan.   

Let’s read John 15:22-25:

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.^[c]

Ignorance is no excuse. Ignorance is not bliss when a person goes into eternity and comes face to face with GOD. Every person is accountable to GOD. Physical death is the equalizer for all humans.

Romans 2:12-16:

¹² For all who sin without the law will also perish without the law, and all who sin under^[d] the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.^[e] 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do^[f] what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law^[g] is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them^[h] 16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

GOD will judge based upon the light a person has received and how that person responded to that light. The key word is “Judged.” Do you want a guarantee? Then accept JESUS as your Savior and you will not be judged but pass from death to eternal life and will NOT be judged.

Religions attempt to offer a solution. The Jewish religion offered the law which was rigid and exposed where a person missed the mark (sin) but offered only a temporary solution. JESUS came to fulfill the law and offer, to all who place their faith in HIM, eternal salvation through the miracle of Spiritual birth into GOD’S Family through faith in JESUS.

JESUS being the sinless lamb of GOD, HE willingly gave HIS life for all. But not all will accept HIM as their Savior and receive forgiveness for their sins. There will be Judgment Day and JESUS will be the judge. Those judged will be judged according to the light they have received and how they responded to that light. Thus, take another look at verses 22-24. The fact that they heard and witnessed means they will be more accountable to GOD for refusing to accept JESUS as GOD’S promised Messiah.

Those who respond to JESUS’ call to salvation are Spiritually born into GOD’S Family and receive eternal life. They also receive GOD’S Grace to live without fear of GOD’S wrath when they sin. Spirit-born people are to confess their sins as recorded in 1 John 1:8-10:

⁸ If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

JESUS said in John 5:21-27:

²¹ And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants. ²² The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so also, he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man (Second Adam).

Satan’s lie is “wait you don’t need JESUS. JESUS is just a myth.” Every person is walking along the road of life and that road has a fork in it. One fork leads to eternal life through faith in JESUS and the other fork leads to eternal destruction or Hell. Choose wisely my friends.

When a person chooses JESUS, is GOD finished with him or her? NO!!! It is just the beginning of our walk-through life with JESUS by our side and the Holy Spirit as our guide as we read on -----

The Counselor’s Ministry (Holy Spirit)

²⁶ “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father —the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

At this point when JESUS was speaking to HIS disciples, JESUS had not been crucified. It was only after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of JESUS that GOD sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who placed their faith in JESUS. Yes, The Holy Spirit existed but the human body, the organic temple, had not been purified by the precious, sinless blood of JESUS to house the Holy Spirit.

At this point in the journey of JESUS, HE was on HIS way to the cross where HE would shed HIS sinless blood for sin, once and for all. The shed blood of JESUS removed the stone, so to speak, or barrier that blocked the entrance to the very throne of GOD. When removed, what did that do? It opened the only path to GOD through the passion of JESUS. Every person must accept what JESUS did for him or her by faith. By doing so, the miracle of Spiritual-birth happens quicker than the twinkle of the eye and that person instantly becomes GOD’S Son or Daughter.

Does it sound too good to be true?

JESUS told Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, in John 3:3:

³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

JESUS was preparing HIS disciples for HIS death upon the cross, HIS burial, HIS resurrection, HIS walk for 40 days upon earth following HIS resurrection, HIS ascension into Heaven and the return of The Holy Spirit to indwell every person who places his or her faith in JESUS.

Just think, this is GOD’S redemptive plan for mankind and every “I” had to be dotted and every “T” crossed. Every detail had to be perfect and it was and still is. To GOD be the Glory!!!

Why? Let’s read on ----

Let’s read John 16:1-4a:

16 “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. ² They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me. ⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their time^[a] comes you will remember I told them to you. 

The word “stumbling” carries the idea of “losing one’s faith.” When a person becomes Spirit-born, he or she becomes an enemy of Satan but GOD’S Child.

JESUS knew that HIS disciples would be tested by Satan at the time of HIS death and resurrection. Satan tempted them after they were indwelled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and so will we. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does NOT mean that we will not be tempted.

WHO is The Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a person and is the third part of the Trinity – GOD, The Father, GOD, The SON and GOD The Holy Spirit. The shed blood of JESUS purifies the human body of every person who places his or her faith in JESUS.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as a paraclete or one who comes along side a person in times of trouble as his or her advocate or counselor. In other words, GOD is on your side as your lawyer. How about that!!!

Why is it necessary for the human body to be made Holy? The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. So, glorify God with your body.^[a]

What was the price to redeem all who will place their faith in JESUS? It cost the life of GOD’S Only SON, JESUS. HE willingly gave HIS life for you and for me.

Notice the body of a Spirit-born person is “a temple.” The Holy Spirit indwells every Spirit-born person. Why?

John 14:26: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

Ephesians 1:13-14:

¹³ In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. ¹⁴ The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

If you have not asked JESUS to forgive you for your sins and asked JESUS to come into your life, believing that HE gave HIS sinless life, by shedding HIS blood, for you, do so right now. The instant you do, you will be Spiritually born into the Family of GOD and will have eternal life. Your new life in JESUS will be confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. You will be grafted into the living vine of JESUS, so you can produce Spiritual fruit. If you are not already in a Bible teaching and believing church or group, ask The Holy Spirit to lead you to just the right place for you to be fed Spiritually.

Live your new life in CHRIST because you belong to GOD and as HIS Spirit-born Child have access to HIM 24/7 and live under HIS grace. HIS Grace is greater than all of our sin.

Blessings!!!