119 John 15:26-27 WITNESSING IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION Introduction: In our previous text Jesus warned His disciples that they would face persecution. In our text today He reminds them that a Comforter would be sent to them who would strengthen them and help them in their trials. Furthermore in this text Jesus informed them that the coming Comforter would bear witness of Him as the Christ. Likewise, the disciples themselves were to bear witness of Him even in the face of the persecution which they would endure. I. A reminder of the coming of the Comforter V. 26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father..." Earlier in this same night Jesus had promised His disciples that He would ask the Father and that the Father would send them another Comforter. That promise is recorded back in John 14:16. In that verse Jesus said that the Father would send them "another Comforter." The Greek word which there is translated "another" in our English versions means "another of the same kind." Jesus, Himself, had been their Comforter for three and one-half years. Not only does the word which is translated "another" have a special meaning, but the Greek word which is translated "Comforter" also has a special meaning. The Greek word is composed of two Greek words. The combination of those two words means "One called along side another." The idea is "One who is called along side another to be a helper." It was frequently used to refer to a lawyer who is called along side his client to help him before a court. It speaks of the work that this other Comforter would do. He would be a Friend who would come along side them in their time of persecution and as it were, He would put His loving arm around them. He would speak words of consolation and encouragement to them. He would stand by them in their suffering and provide guidance for them. He would stand up; for them and help them in their time of need. He would encourage them and help them. Back in John 14:26 Jesus had identified that Comforter as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. He is one of the Holy Trinity. He is Deity God. He is equal to God the Father in wisdom, might and power. He is Almighty. Jesus Christ, who is also One of the Holy Trinity and who is also Almighty God and who had been their Comforter was about to leave them and go away. He would soon return back to heaven. But there would be another member of the Godhead to come to them and be with them in their times of persecution. The Holy Spirit would be their strength and their guide. So now in our text, right on the heels of the warning that they would be persecuted, Jesus reminds them that the Comforter would come and help them. Let me remind you that the Holy Spirit was already in the world and was at work in the world. It was the Holy Spirit who had inspired the writing of the Old Testament. It was the Holy Spirit who had made the prophecies which promised the coming of the Christ into the world. It was the Holy Spirit who had overshadowed Mary and conceived Jesus in the womb of virgin Mary. It was the Holy Spirit who had produced the new birth within the souls of the disciples when they believed the gospel message and were born again. It was the Holy Spirit who had, Himself, taken up His abode within the new-born spirit of each one who was born again. It was the Holy Spirit who, at the baptism of Jesus, had come down upon Jesus like a dove and lit upon Him testifying that Jesus had been sent from God the Father in heaven. But on the day of Pentecost, just fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Holy Spirit would come upon the church is a special way. I am not at this time going to turn to the second chapter of Acts and read the account of His coming upon them, but I will take time to point out a few things about that coming. Just as an individual, who is already in the room, can come to you and stand beside you and put his arm around you, even so the Holy Spirit, who was also already in the world and who was already in the born-again spirit of the disciples, would come upon the church as an organization and take up His abode with the church. He would be the Comforter for the church organization. He would guide the church. He would be the strength and power for the church. The Holy Spirit would not come into the world on Pentecost. He would come upon the church on Pentecost. He would continue to abide on that church congregation and upon each true New Testament which would spring up in other parts of the world as the Lord's work was spread. In our text today the very word, Comforter, was intended to remind the disciples of the work which the Holy Spirit would do for them to comfort them in their times of trouble and persecution. II. The witness of the Holy Spirit for Jesus But Jesus also spake of another work which the Holy Spirit would do. (V. 26), "...he shall testify of me." It is impossible to over emphasize the importance of this particular work of the Holy Spirit. It is vital to the work of all New Testament churches. The members of the Lord's church would be absolutely helpless to carry on the work of the Lord without the help of the Holy Spirit in witnessing. It would be impossible for the churches to survive without this vital work of the Holy Spirit of God. It is the witness which the Holy Spirit bears concerning Jesus which enables the Lord's disciples to win lost souls to Jesus Christ. The disciples of Jesus could tell lost souls about Jesus Christ. They could tell the lost what great things the Lord had done for them, but without the work of the Holy Spirit the unsaved would remain hostile toward the gospel and hostile toward the Lord's disciples. The unsaved by the sin nature which they inherit from Adam, are hostile toward the Lord Jesus Christ. They are, by their sin nature, also hostile toward Christians. It is the work of the Holy Spirit of God to witness to the hearts of the unsaved and to enable them to turn to Christ and be saved. Without this vital work, the witnessing which the disciples would do would be to no avail. Jesus will say about the work of the Holy Spirit as a witness in the next chapter and so I will not get deeper into that subject right now. What I want to turn your attention to right now is the work of witnessing which Jesus gave to His disciples. Jesus would soon depart from this world and return back to heaven. But before He would leave He would give The Great Commission to the church, sending them to preach the gospel to all the world, to baptize those who believe and to teach those who would get saved and baptized. III. The witness of the Lord's disciples It is concerning this work of witnessing which His disciples are to do that Jesus speaks in this verse. V. 27, "And ye also shall bear witness..." Not only would the Holy Spirit be witnessing for Jesus, but His disciples were also to witness. The disciples were not to just sit and wait for the Holy Spirit to do all the witnessing. They were to speak up and speak out for Jesus. In fact, it was in conjunction with their testimony on behalf of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would do most of His witnessing. He would work with them and through them in witnessing for Jesus. He would support them and enable their message about Jesus to be effective. The Holy Spirit would not force people to believe the disciples about Jesus. He would not force them to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved. But He would work with the disciples and He would work with the unsaved. If there was any way whereby the unsaved could be persuaded to trust in Jesus and be saved, the Holy Spirit would persuade them to do so. (27), "...because ye have been with me from the beginning." As for as Deity is concerned, the Holy Spirit was the appropriate one to witness for Jesus. As far as human beings are concerned the disciples of the Lord were the appropriate ones to witness for Jesus. They had walked with Him from the beginning of His ministry. They had heard all of His teachings. They had witnessed all of His mighty miracles. They had witnessed some which the public had not seen. Some of them had heard the voice of God in heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him." They would soon witness His crucifixion, His death and His burial. Soon thereafter they would witness His resurrection. They would not see Him arise from the grave, but they would see Him after He arose. They would even witness as He would ascend and return to heaven. They would be the ideal witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God, the Savior of the world. IV. Three special things to take notice of There are three special things that I wish to call to your attention. The first is that there is comfort from God for God's people. In our text Jesus reminds His disciples that He would send the Comforter. That is, He would send the Holy Spirit upon them to comfort them. The Holy Spirit would be with them to comfort them in all of their trials. He would comfort them in all the persecution which they would endure. No matter how bad the persecution would get the Holy Spirit would bring them comfort. Even in the face of death by the persecutors, the Holy Spirit would be able to comfort them. In Acts chapter eight when Stephen faced death at the hands of those who stoned him, he was comforted by the Holy Spirit. He was comforted to the point that instead of going into a frenzy he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he kneeled and while they stoned him he prayed, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And immediately he died. Stephen did not panic. He was not terrified. Rather, he was comforted. He was comforted by the Holy Spirit of God. But persecution is not the only trouble that Christians face. In Job 14:1 we are told that man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. That is true with the Christian as well as the non-Christian. Persecution is but one of many problems those disciples would face. It is but one of the many problems that every Christian faces. But the big difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is that the Christian has the Holy Spirit as a Comforter. The power of the Holy Spirit is not only with God's people to sustain them and give the strength to endure the trouble, but many time the Holy Spirit solves the problem and takes the problem away. How good it is to have the Holy Spirit of God as your Comforter, as your Guide, as your helper in all of your trials. Another thing I wish to especially call to your attention is that the Christian is to witness for Jesus in spite of the persecution that he faces. If the Christian would only announce to the unsaved world that Jesus is not the Christ, that He is not the Son of God, that salvation of the soul is not obtained solely through faith in Jesus Christ, then the persecution would let up. If the Christian would go back to the world's standard of living and partake in all manner of ungodly sins, then the persecution would let up. If the Christian would only denounce the great truths of God as taught in the Bible, then the persecution would let up. But as long as the Christian maintains that Jesus is the Christ, that salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ, that the Christian is to live godly and righteously, then he is going to be persecuted. But what God the Father would have us do and what Jesus Christ called upon His disciples to do is to be strong in our profession of faith in Jesus, to be strong in righteous living and to be strong in Bible truth. Jesus Christ receives much greater honor and glory when Christians will be true to Him in spite of the persecution. It brings great honor and glory to Jesus Christ that Christians are willing to suffer persecution for Christ and, if necessary, to lay down their lives for Jesus Christ. The third thing that I want to especially point out to you is that God loves the very people who oppose His cause and who persecute His people. God loves them and wants them to be saved. In our text Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would testify of Him. The Holy Spirit of God testifies to the heart and mind and soul of the unsaved that God loves them and that Jesus is able and willing to save them. The Holy Spirit of God seeks to get all men to trust in Jesus Christ and be saved. Furthermore, Jesus lets it be known in our text that He wants us Christians to love lost souls and to witness to them. He wants us to testify to them that Jesus has saved our souls and brought peace and joy to our souls. He wants the unsaved to hear it from the people who know Him best. He loves them and wants them to have the very best of testimony so as to give them the very best of opportunity to get saved. Therefore, I am going to call upon every Christian in this auditorium to give your live to Jesus and live for Him. I am going to call upon you to live a clean godly life that will be credit to the cause of Christ. I am going to call upon you to attend church regularly and to worship God regularly in the house of God. I am going to call upon you to dedicate you time and energies to the service of God. I am going to call upon you to witness to the unsaved about you and to tell them that Jesus saves. I am going to call upon you who are unsaved to come this morning in this service and take the Lord Jesus Christ by faith to be your Savior. I am going to call upon you to trust in Jesus Christ with all of your heart and with all of your soul to take care of your eternal destiny and take you to heaven when you die. I am going to call upon you to demonstrate your faith in Jesus by following Jesus in baptism. I am going to call upon you to make it publicly known that you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior. Conclusion: Will you come? What Christian will come to place your membership here for the purpose of serving Jesus Christ? What saved person will come forward and present yourself to this church for baptism? What unsaved person will come forward and take Jesus Christ as your Savior?