 And our sermon title this morning is Prepared and empowered to preach Prepared and empowered to preach. We're in John chapter 16 Studying together verses 1 through 15 As you know in John chapter 16 the Lord is spending his last night with his disciples and they're on their way Out the eastern gate of the city of Jerusalem across the Brook Kidron up the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane And he would be leaving them very soon departing by means of the cross Where he would go to die for them to die for us To bear their sin to bear our sin As the night began He encouraged them. He spent time encouraging them of his love for them encouraging them His ongoing presence with them Encouraging them with the fact that he would go and prepare a place for them Encouraging them with his peace and joy that would be theirs encouraging them with promises right promises from God promises in him For their future life together with him But now the end of John 15 and into now John 16 He has begun to tell them about what's going to happen to them after his departure and in verse 6 John records that sorrow fills their heart in his absence the world's patron Would now be directed at the Lord's disciples And it reminds us there is a high cost to being a genuine Christian There's a high cost to being a genuine Christian in these verses verses 1 through 15 The Lord doesn't shield us from the reality realities of Christian ministry This is the Christians ministry Christians are hated by the world and not just a nebulous other world that means hated by fathers and mothers Hated by brothers and sisters Hated by aunts and uncles and cousins and co-workers and those that were formerly your friends Christians are going to be hated by the world and hated by those who profess to be Christians It's interesting that It's often the most vitriolic hatred comes from those who profess to be most religious There's no confusion or mystery about that satan himself is religious right The bible says that yes and all who desire to live godly in christ jesus will suffer Persecution you're going to face adversity you're going to face difficulty you're going to face persecution you're going to face Trouble and tribulation because we are ministering in enemy territory And notice all in all of this In the persecution that comes notice that the lord jesus christ in his instruction Assumes the witness of his followers That's assumed. That's what draws the persecution That's what draws hatred from the world is your witness for the lord jesus christ That witness is assumed here. It's what the disciples were going to be doing And it's what would draw The persecution from the world the hatred and hostility is vented on the disciples of the lord when they preach the gospel Now from the time of the lord's death until now Christians have suffered persecution For their witness for jesus christ so much so That the word witness itself has become synonymous with the fact that many of them died So much so that tertulient has said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church Now this hatred and persecution that the lord is referring to is going to be so significant so significant That apart from his gracious warning here in john chapter 16 verses 1 through 15 And from his gracious instruction here the disciples would be in danger of falling away from the faith That danger is just as real today as it was then Although we don't face the same level of persecution that they faced is still a danger today There are many who would profess to follow christ that they will say to themselves, you know, this is just too hard The demands are too high In the flesh. We don't want to serve him in that way, right? And the propensity is or the danger is That those who professed christ will fall away from him persecution suffering shame Affliction fear Are all great temptations to sin and certainly temptations to fall away You give into fear right you give into fear and you commit the sin of remaining silent You give into the sins of indifference Of lovelessness because of the fear of persecution or because of suffering because of shame because of affliction because of sin You give into faithlessness You give into hopelessness In all of that you harden your heart You retreat into the comfort and convenience of your life before christ And fall away from the lord fall away from the faith And we know that genuine believers genuine believers can never finally fall away from christ But the lord uses the means of these warnings He uses them as a means to help us persevere to help us to cling closely to christ To depend upon him to take our comfort in him to hope in him But we can be deceived right we can be deceived into thinking that we're christians And not suffer for his name We can be deceived into thinking that the christian life may just not be worth it after all We can be deceived into giving heed to doubts We can be deceived thinking that in all of that right in our suffering and the persecution and the difficulty and the adversity that somehow god is uncaring Or that god is distant Maybe he doesn't hear our prayers right maybe he doesn't give the kind of help that we think we need In all of this in all of this We cannot be silent We cannot retreat we are not of those who draw back to perdition We are those who press forward persevere in the faith of the saving of our souls We cannot retreat in the face of adversity In many ways right you guys know this as well as i do in many ways this world This persecuting and hateful world has shamed professing christians into silence Maybe this hateful persecuting world has shamed you into silence persecution fear Have sequestered professing christians within the walls of the professing church within the walls of their own homes That the mere professing christian might become the actual apostate The lord says for whoever denies me before men him i will also deny Before my father who is in heaven And in all that right in all of that the lord knows our frame doesn't he The lord knows The lord who is rich in mercy remembers that we are but dust And the lord in all of that provides everything that we need to persevere in the faith Listen to david from psalm 25 when david was afflicted. Where did david turn? How did david think what was on david's heart and mind? Listen to this from psalm 25 beginning in verse 16 david prays to god turn yourself to me have mercy on me For i am desolate and afflicted The troubles of my heart have enlarged bring me god bring me out of my distresses Look on my affliction. Look on my pain and forgive all my sins Consider my enemies lord for they are many and they hate me with a cruel hatred Keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed for i put my trust in you Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for i wait for you david rested in the provision and supply of god david rested in the promises of god Keep my soul and deliver me david said let me not be ashamed because god i put my trust in you Let integrity and unrupt brightness preserve me because i wait for you And turning to the lord in affliction david would say in psalm 119 that it's good for me that i was afflicted Right. We see god's goodness in it. We see god's purpose in it We need to persevere through it in john chapter 16 verses 1 through 15 Essentially in this text We see two gracious provisions given by the lord to help us in a time of need to help us face the world's persecution Face the world's hatred God gives us two gracious provisions here given by the lord to help us persevere in the face of persecution The first is this he prepares us with advanced warning In order to bolster our faith He tells you what's gonna happen before it happens in order to bolster our faith. He says this in verse 4. Look at verse 4 These things i've told you jesus says That when the time comes You may remember that i told you of them So when the hostility comes when you face difficulty you face persecution you face suffering You know He told you ahead of time these things were gonna happen And you know by consequence that he's in control That god the lord jesus christ is sovereign over all of these things And listen there is something encouraging something equipping empowering about these truths Right first one is this you and i are appointed to suffer We are appointed to suffering Now let that equip you let that prepare your heart and mind Right let that encourage you let that empower you God has appointed you and i he is destined you and i for suffering The second truth is this that in that god's people throughout redemptive history From the time that written history began until now God's people in god's redemptive plan are marked by that suffering Not only were you destined for suffering god's people are marked by that suffering It is a mark that you're one of his And thirdly suffering prepares us for glory by conforming us to christ Paul said in Philippians chapter 1 verse 29 For to you It has been granted on behalf of christ not only to believe in him, but what? To also suffer for his sake First peter chapter 4 verse 16 yet if anyone suffers as a christian Let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify god in this manner Romans chapter 8 verse 18 paul said For i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us second chrithians chapter 4 verse 17 for our light affliction Which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding An eternal weight of glory while we do not look at the things which are seen But at the things which are not seen Two gracious provisions the first he prepares us with advanced warning. Let that Encourage you let that prepare your heart and mind prepare your heart and mind for ministry And prepare your heart and mind for faith in the lord jesus christ Secondly the second gracious provision is that he empowers us He enables us he equips us. He leads us. He encourages us by his spirit The spirits work in the world and the spirits work in the church He knows what we need and he graciously provides it through him and through his provision We see those provisions listed for us there in verses 1 through 15 Through him. We are prepared and empowered to preach the gospel God's people should be prepared and empowered to preach to be the witness that the lord jesus christ has called us to be Now we want to from this text prepare our hearts and minds this morning for that very task look at point one on your notes First prepare your heart and mind for ministry in verses one through four Settle it in your heart and mind Settle it in your heart and mind a faithful disciple will suffer persecution because that's what you've been appointed To that's what you've been destined for God's people marked by suffering that's suffering in christ verse one These things the lord says i've spoken to you That you should not be made to stumble They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers god's service And these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me But these things i have told you that when the time comes You may remember that i told you of them these things i did not say to you at the beginning Because i was with you now he prepares us for christian ministry from verses one through four in three ways The first is this He prepares us to persevere through persecution He prepares us to persevere through persecution now. He does this by warning us He does this by warning us in john chapter 15 The lord said that there will be persecution in verse 18 If the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you right verse 19 I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you Verse 20 if they persecuted me they will also persecute you after telling them in chapter 15 That there will be persecution there will be hatred We come to chapter 16 verse 2 and he tells us exactly what that's going to look like He tells us exactly what's going to happen as the world's expression of that hatred He says in verse 2 they will put you out of the synagogues Yes, the time is coming That whoever kills you will think that he offers god service the word there for service is letreia It means spiritual service or worship They're going to put you out of the synagogues. They're going to excommunicate you There's a lot that goes hand in hand with that And they're going to kill you Thinking that they're worshiping god. Now remember the man born blind when we were in john chapter nine, right? The man was born blind Jesus christ gave him his sight and the Pharisees. What are the Pharisees do they came investigating? They came investigating the parents investigating the man Vesting everybody who knew the man investigating those who grew up with the man And what did they say they said that if anyone didn't reject Jesus christ, right? They were going to kick them out of the synagogue Now for that to happen today You know someone gets kicked out of the church because of their sin They walk out of the church they go down the street and they just walk in the next church, right? And there's no Shame anymore in that because churches don't biblically practice church discipline. Now these synagogues. This was an un biblical Practice of Judaism. It was a false religious system that it developed. They're getting kicked out of this worthless synagogue But that to them was a major ordeal. It meant the loss of their job oftentimes Meant the loss of their family. Many of them were disowned They couldn't get work. They couldn't go to their families. Many of them lost their inheritance They were exiled so to speak their former friends saw them as traitors Saw them as pagans They were often disowned in other words to be kicked out of the synagogue was a terrible reality Praise god to be kicked out of that worthless synagogue for christ. Amen In fact verse two many would think that killing the disciples of christ would be an act of worship those who stoned steven in acts chapter seven Rushed at him stopped their ears Nashed their teeth at him and stoned steven the death Believing that that was an act of worship Saul who stood by himself says in acts nine breathed out threats and murder against the church In all of this believing that they offered god spiritual Service or worship now this isn't news for the disciples turn with me to matthew chapter 10 look at matthew chapter 10 together The disciples had heard this before And were to a degree Are prepared with the idea that these things might happen matthew chapter 10 And look down with me beginning at verse 16 In chapter 10 verse 1 he called his 12 disciples to him They instructed them And he gives them instruction in verse 16. He says behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves Therefore be wisest serpents and harmless as doves But beware of men for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake As a testimony to them and to the Gentiles But when they deliver you up Do not worry about what you should speak for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak For it is not you who speak with the spirit of your father who speaks in you Now brother will deliver up brother to death And a father his child and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death And you will be hated by all for my namesake But he who endures to the end will be saved When they persecute you in this city flee to another for assuredly I say to you You will not have gone through the cities of israel before the son of man comes Look at matthew chapter 23 matthew chapter 23 Again, this is not uncommon Lord preached on the coming persecution in the world's hatred many times in the gospels Matthew chapter 23 look at verse one Here jesus is speaking both to the multitudes And to his disciples and so in the hearing of the disciples in verse 31 He is just excoriating the scribes and the Pharisees And he says in verse 30 31 therefore your witnesses against yourselves That you are sons of those who murdered the prophets Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt you serpents brood of vipers How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore indeed I send you prophets wise men and scribes Some of them you will kill and crucify Some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth From the blood of righteous abel to the blood of zakariah the son of barakiah Whom you murdered between the temple and the altar assuredly I say to you All these things will come upon this generation. You understand this generation in scripture It's referring to a period of time. It would include us All these things All these things if you go back to john chapter 16 The lord says all these things Explain to them for a very important important purpose. Look at that purpose in verse one John chapter 16 verse 1 These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble So the lord the lord's concern is their perseverance in the faith And so he tells them these things Gives them these details So that They should not be made to stumble by them the word stumble translates the greek word scondalizzo Scondalizzo it means to be brought to a downfall or brought to ruin In the passive voice here It means not to let yourself fall away in unbelief Not to allow yourself not to let yourself fall away In unbelief the scandal on Noun form of that word Is the cause of ruin or the cause of disaster the cause of apostasy And it was thought of as the stumbling block the stumbling block or a trap that someone would fall into The scandal on here that he's speaking of is the persecution is the suffering is the difficulty the adversity The danger Is the scondalizzo that you would fall away in unbelief. So here think about it now with me in verses one and two Jesus christ is warning them For warning them of the world's hatred and persecution So that they can prepare their hearts and minds for what's coming And in preparing their hearts and minds they can avoid falling away over the stumbling block right falling away over the scandal on Of persecution In order to do that what the lord wants them to do what he wants you and i to do when we face Persecution when we face suffering He wants us to remember his words and to trust him Remember what he said and trust him and then respond with perseverance in the faith Right the lord has said this is going to happen My response to him is to persevere in faithfulness to the end to be saved Hang in there. Don't despair. Don't be discouraged. Don't give up Remember what christ has said and persevere through the persecution Nothing that's happening to them is outside of the lord's sovereign control None of this is outside the lord's sovereign knowledge of all things And jesus is saying don't be caught off guard Don't fall into despair keep pressing on keep the faith Murray harris said that to be forewarned is to be forearmed Right praise the lord to be forewarned is to be forearmed You've heard the term sucker punch right? If you catch a punch off guard you're going down But if you know it's coming you can prepare ahead of time for the punch Don't be caught off guard by this Press on you know today in our world Islam is the chief persecutor of christians We see in the news all the time all the time christians being beheaded The christian population in syria i read an article last week on this Has been dramatically cut off at one point in syria As many as 1.2 million christians estimates say that number today is less than 200 000 The persecution of christians in the middle east is Rampant is out of control And they think they do their god service There are many in our country right today believe that religion is the problem That if there was no religion they're atheists right they're atheists if there was no religion everything can be okay Well look at china China is persecuting christians an atheist country That is effectively labored to do away with any expression of religious worship Persecute christians As an atheist they think those atheists think that they do their god service And the brunt of all that are christians We're to persevere through persecution Secondly He prepares us To persevere through unbelief look at verse three with me He prepares us to persevere through unbelief the cause of the hatred that is spewed out by the world The cause of the persecution is their unbelief and ignorance Verse three says and these things they will do to you because They've not known the father nor me Now jesus said in john chapter eight verse 19 He said you know neither me nor my father if you had known me you would have known my father also He said to them in verse 42 same chapter if god were your father you would love me For I proceeded forth and came from god nor have I come of myself, but he sent me Why did they not know him? What was the cause of their ignorance? He says in chapter eight verse 44 You are of your father the devil And the desires of your father you want to do he was a murderer from the beginning And does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he speaks a lie He speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it But because I tell you the truth you do not believe me Which of you convicts me of sin and if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of god hears god's words Therefore you do not hear because you are not of god They don't know him and they don't know his father to know jesus christ is to know the father right philip says show me the father And jesus says i've been with you all this time and you asked me to show you the father They didn't know him. They were ignorant of him. They were unbelieving because they were not of god They're of their father the devil They're of their father the devil. That's where all the hostility comes from That's where all the persecution flows from all of this hostility all this hatred And persecution is an expression of their unbelief. It's an expression of their ignorance It's an expression of their childhood From satan their citizenship in hell They don't know god the father nor do they know the one whom he is sent the word no if you look in verse three the word no Is a word that refers to knowledge that's gained In other words, they come to understand what they would come to understand if they paid attention if they didn't reject lord jesus christ Is they would come to understand that he is the son of god They would come come to understand through his words through his works through the miracles that he did Through the scriptures. They would come to understand that he is the son of god the christ That knowledge is acquired through their experience and it's knowledge that they Should have based on all that jesus christ came and has done and is said But it's not us that they have rejected and all this they are guilty They're culpable. They're responsible for their rejection. We're to persevere through the expressions of their unbelief That's why they hate you. That's why they hate me Lastly third He prepares us to persevere in faith in verse four He prepares us to persevere in faith verse four says this But these things i have told you So that when the time comes You may remember that i told you of them and these things i did not say to you at the beginning because i was with you Now his warnings Here have a purpose Now that they have been forewarned by the lord When the persecution comes they're going to remember his words And his words will build their faith in him. They must persevere through persecution by faith in him When the persecution comes because of what he said they don't think it's strange any longer That the fiery trial has come upon them right like peter says they're not going to think that it's strange now because of what the lord has said What the lord has appointed them to and the lord's purposes and plans in it They can with james count it all joy when they fall into various trials and have difficulties They can Embrace the blessing that comes with it the lord says blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you And say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake Rejoice the lord says right rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great Is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you When a brother comes up he's like Just beat down over this evangelism conversation. I just had You as a good golly brother can say rejoice Right be exceedingly glad great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets isn't it Interesting to think That this torch of faith has been passed down to us Through the centuries we now hold it in our hands And it's the same torch of faith that elyja carried Right the same torch of faith that jeremiah wielded We are a part of that legacy Be exceedingly glad in the same way that you face persecution Jeremiah faced it too We enter into the same work. We enter into the same glory When we face persecution when we face adversity trial when we face this world's hatred We're to persevere through that difficulty by faith in christ By a knowledge of these things he gives us this in advance He tells us this so that we can remember when we face difficulty we can remember the lord told them to us The importance of faith for perseverance brings up another point implied in verses one through four Now think about this with me for a moment. What's implied from verses one through four Is that the worst thing that can happen to us is not death The worst thing that can happen to you is not death He doesn't bring up verse two And the fact that they will kick you out and kill you What he brings up is the warning for the purpose that they wouldn't fall away from christ The danger that the lord is concerned about here is apostasy And we are to persevere to keep from falling away from the faith Don't fear those that can kill the body And can do nothing more fear the one who can cast both body and soul into hell Listen to paul's example from philippines chapter one Being in verse 19. This is paul's example. Listen For I know this paul says That this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of jesus christ According to my earnest expectation and hope That in nothing I shall be ashamed But with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body Whether by life or by death For me to me to live as christ and to die is gain the paul's concern wasn't death paul's concern wasn't death paul's concern was that christ would be magnified in his body paul was concerned about his testimony and that his testimony in life would Press forward as a witness for christ or his testimony in death would press forward as a witness for the lord paul is concerned about his testimony for the lord not about whether he lived or died Back in john chapter 16 In verse four the end of verse four jesus then explains this he says these things i did not say to you at the beginning Because i was with you the these things again referring back to the persecution back to the suffering to this point jesus had talked about persecution But not nearly in the detail that he does now The world's hatred for them due to their election out of the world The world will hate them for his namesake because they don't know him He hasn't talked in as much detail about the coming persecution and how that would be seen by some as an act of worship And he hasn't talked about the fact that this would all be directed specifically at them now in his absence He didn't go into this detail Because he himself with them was taking the brunt of it for them Like right when the lord jesus christ went preaching who did they want to stone? The lord jesus christ right when the lord jesus christ with his disciples went preaching Who did they attempt to throw off the cliff the lord jesus christ right? He took the brunt of all the persecution for them but now Considering his death The jews would level their wrath and hostility the world would level their angst against his Followers and the lord desired to prepare them and he desires to prepare us For what we can expect from this world, you know paul paul was an example of this paul said that I bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus. What does that mean? Think about that He said always carrying about in the body the dying of the lord jesus christ Paul suffered for christ He said in second verse in his chapter 11 stripes above measure In prisons more frequently in deaths often from the jews five times. I received 40 stripes minus one Three times. I was beaten with rods Once I was stoned three times. I was shipwrecked a night and day. I've spent in the deep In journeys often in perils of waters and perils of robbers and perils of my own countrymen and perils of the gentiles In perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea and perils among false brethren In weariness and toil in sleeplessness often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness Besides the other things what comes upon me daily my deep concern for all the churches Who is weak paul says and I am not weak Who is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation Never heard the story this week of a Of a christian in nigeria It was killed for his faith by boko haram a terrorist group And so you know like you and I know this is one story of Scads of stories right innumerable stories There are thousands thousands tens of thousands of christians being persecuted in the middle east Boko haram Tortured him they caught him in his village and tortured him to get him to renounce his christian faith So that he would convert to islam But this man refused he said to deny his master Who had saved him So they tied him to a tree Right and they Cut off his hands And demanded that he convert This is what he replied he said That he did not fear those who could kill only his body But rather feared him Who can destroy both body and soul and health and he would not convert So the terrorist flipped him over and opened him up They cut him in the back of the head the back of his legs his back To let him bleed to death and he survived To tell his story And it said that As he was contemplating what was happening to him that he remembered the lord's words in john 16 He remembered The lord's words in john 16 There were a lot of stories this week thinking about this text One of those was uh about polycarp Said to be a friend of john's early church And polycarp was arrested And The proconsul in the area tried to persuade him to Recant his christian faith Pro consul said have respect for your old age polycarp was 86 86 when he was arrested He said have respect for your old age swear by the fortune Of caesar in that time Caesar worship was rampant people were to burn incense to or to Acknowledge caesar as god as a god They were to bow and worshiped if you read romans 10 it's in that context of those who would confess caesar as god They were required believers at the time To acquire for themselves what they called a labellus or labelli It was there were documents or papers that they received by pledging Allegiance to caesar and by proclaiming caesar as god when they bowed To worship caesar when they declared that caesar was god or when they burnt incense to caesar They acquired their labellus so that they could go from town to town and buy and sell by groceries those things that they needed They had to have this piece of paper to live essentially and polycarp refused So the proconsul said having have respect for your old age Swear by the fortune of caesar repent and say Down with the atheists Those that would not bow to caesar were called atheists So polycarp looked grimly at the wicked heathen multitude in the stadium And gesturing towards them polycarp said down with the atheists Swear urged the proconsul reproach christ and i will set you free And polycarp said 86 years i have served him And he has done me no wrong. How can i blaspheme my king and my savior? The point one on your notes versus one through four. He prepares your heart and mind for ministry He prepares your heart and mind to persevere through persecution to persevere through unbelief and to persevere in faith second point on your notes He prepares your heart and mind in faith He prepares our heart and mind in faith Now he does that in two ways in verses five through seven first He prepares us to trust and hope in god's plans or purposes We're to trust in god's purposes Hope in god's purposes look at verse five But the lord says but now I go away to him who sent me And none of you asks me where are you going? But because i've said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart Now verse five Clearly tells us clearly communicates that the lord has a plan The lord has a plan Sovereign lord has a purpose. I go away to him who sent me Now he's made that same statement before and when he's made that same statement chapter 13 verse 36 Chapter 14 verse 5 they ask him where he's going right? So there have been many who have thought that this is a terrible Contradiction in scripture in the entire bible you can just throw it out because these things don't line up. It's a bunch of hogwash in verse five He's going away to him who sent me He's alluding to his purposes and his plans and his departure by means of the cross His ascension back to the father right to be seated at the right hand of god in his session his intercession for believers verse five tells us he has a plan And then verse six tells us that they are so preoccupied With what the lord has just told them about persecution and suffering They're so preoccupied by the fact that the lord is going to leave them In this state or in this condition to face this on their own That sorrow has filled their heart verse six And rather than be joyfully or at least you know curiously interested In what's going to happen with the lord as he goes back to his father They don't ask him about any of that instead. They're preoccupied on their sorrow They're preoccupied on what faces them I you know if you think about it if you had faith in that moment and the lord said i'm going back to my father and this was You know, essentially new revelation to you. I don't want to know all about that What that's good. What is that going to be like? You know, what what's that? What is that going to entail? But they're so sorrowful Over what's about to happen to them and so preoccupied at their own loss So preoccupied with his departure So preoccupied with the trouble that they're going to face on their own after he leaves them They're so absorbed by those things that They're not concerned with what's about to happen to him They're preoccupied with what's about to happen to them And sorrow verse six has filled their heart all these things Happen verse five According to the sovereign plan and will of god Now think about the goodness and grace of god in this right? He doesn't think about us any longer as mere slaves in john chapter 15 verse 15 He fills us in on his plans. He fills us in on his purposes So that we might put our faith in him. He calls us friends A slave doesn't know what his master is doing, but as friends, we're filled in with all this information Now can you imagine what it would be like for the disciples? If they didn't know all these things If he just said to them as you might would a slave Obamie right persevered that'd be enough coming from the lord jesus christ But can you imagine if they weren't aware of all these things? What it would be like for them they had Messianic expect expectations right that hadn't really been met They didn't understand yet fully the whole idea of a suffering servant coming to die As a substitute for sinners. They didn't understand all of that in full detail yet on this side of the cross Their messianic expectations here in this very conversation To some degree are being dashed and they were about to be severely persecuted There'd be a tremendous temptation wouldn't there when all this goes on that night This very night they're going to be scattered from him. They're going to flee There'd be a tremendous temptation right to think that all this has been a waste of time The lord is now dead He's in the grave After the crucifixion right to go back to their old lives They were about to be sorely tested But like the disciples The lord has also told us What is going to happen and he has promised to provide And in spite of that promise right still in spite of the fact that the lord is telling them these things in john chapter 16 Verses 1 through 15 the disciples are still going to flee The disciples are still going to have doubts. They're going to Stumble they're going to scan to lead zoe at the persecution that's coming at the difficulty They're not to think it's strange when the fiery trial comes, but they're going to think it's strange They're going to be a little shocked a little surprised But we on this side of the cross with the revelation that we've been given with these gracious words from the lord We're not to think it's strange. We're not to be shocked. We're not to be astonished We have to learn Through persecution through suffering through difficulty you and I have to learn to trust him That's one of the purposes for trials. We learn how to trust christ We need our faith bolstered. We need to trust and hope in god's plans or purposes He's told us what this life is going to be now take up the mantle of ministry right and press on for him Knowing that's what it's going to be like and embrace that accept it And do that in joy knowing that there's a blessing associated with it Secondly he prepares your heart and mind and faith By preparing you to trust and hope in god's provision verse seven trust and hope in god's provision Nevertheless the lord says I tell you the truth. That's a He states this as strongly as possible So that we grasp we lay hold of this statement I tell you the truth the lord says It is to your advantage that I go away For if I do not go away the helper will not come to you But if I depart I will send him to you the lord saying it's for your good It's for your good that i'm going away Jesus must depart in order for the spirit of god to come that doesn't mean that Some of these weird mystical theologies where Jesus christ one person Of the trinity can't occupy same space same time with another person a bunch of foolish nonsense What this is essentially saying Is that the spirit will come when jesus accomplishes his work Through which the spirit comes and gives testimony So after the lord's triumphant death after his resurrection after his ascension While he's in his session seated in his glory at the right hand of the father Then the spirit of god the parakeet the helper can come God has made provision for his spirit to be at work his spirit We'll see next week is that work in the world? And his spirit is at work in the church so we can trust and hope in god's provision Now point two on your notes we prepare our heart and mind in faith We trust and hope in god's plans his purposes. We trust and hope in god's provision So how do we express that trust? How do we express or exercise our faith in those things? I want to give you a couple of examples from Scripture the first thing that we need to do is we need to pray look with me at ax chapter four We're going to go to several texts and I just want to want you to see an example of this The best examples we have are in the bible amen The best examples we have are from the text of scripture And so I want to illustrate this From the bible with biblical examples that we have to follow that the lord is graciously given to us look at ax chapter four Now in this the persecution of the church has already started and in chapter four Peter and john are arrested As they're arrested for preaching christ Look at verse 13 or i'm sorry Look at verse 23 What do upon peter and john's arrest? What do the disciples do verse 23? They pray It says in verse 23 being let go they went to their own companions and reported all the chief priests and the elders had said to them So when they heard that they raised their voice to god with one accord and said lord You are god who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them Who by the mouth of your servant david have said why did the nations rage? And the people plot vain things the kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the lord and against his christ For truly against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed both herod and ponchus pilot with the gentiles and the people of israel Were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose to see the faith in this The faith to pray but then praying in what they know To be god's plans and god's purposes Verse 28 to do whatever your hand your purpose determined before to be done Now lord we pray right look on their threats and grant to your servants life No grant to your servants that they won't be put in jail No grant to your servants that no one will be stoned No, what does he say grant to your servants that with all boldness? They may speak your word isn't it interesting look at the faith of these disciples right? Grant that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal And that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant jesus He hears their prayer and answers their prayer In verse 31 and when they had prayed The place where they were assembled together was shaken They were all filled with the holy spirit and they spoke the word of god with boldness That boldness Comes from prayer that faithfulness is a fruit of prayer God answered their prayer that they would speak the word with boldness and what do they do? They spoke the word with boldness They preach right how do we express our trust how do we express our faith in him when we pray We pray to him we pray with the expectation of faith that god's going to hear our prayers and answer our prayers For that which pleases him in this case not that their lives would be spared, but that they would preach the word with boldness Look at act chapter 4 and look at verse 13 When they saw in verse 13 the boldness of peter and john they perceived they were uneducated and untrained men And they marveled they realized they had been with jesus drop down to verse 18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all or teach in the name of jesus But peter and john answered and said to them and their boldness right they answered and said to them Whether it is right in the sight of god to listen to you more than to god you judge For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard So when they had further threatened them they let them go finding no way of punishing them Because of the people since they all glorified god for what had been done For the man was over 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed Being let go they went to their own companions reported that all the chief priests and elders had said to them here They not only pray They pray for boldness, but then they go out and they preach with boldness They preach with uncompromising boldness flip the page. Look at acts chapter 5 Acts chapter 5 and drop down to verse 26 Acts chapter 5 verse 26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them out without violence for they feared the people as they should be stoned when they had brought Brought them they set them before the council And the high priest asked them saying Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us Notice they preached the content of their preaching was the blood of jesus christ You crucified the lord You crucified the lord over and over again in the preaching of the apostles You put to death the lord of glory you crucified the lord jesus christ Look at verse 29 But peter and the other apostles answered and said We ought to obey god rather than men The god of our fathers raised up jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree That's bold right? There's no mincing of words there. There's no pulling of punches or hanging back or retreating That's bold Say what needs to be said why? That's an expression of your faith and the lord jesus. They're not this is not angry or mean spirited This is the truth. This is the truth. They spoke the truth in boldness You murdered him by hanging him on a tree Him verse 31 god has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior to give repentance to israel And forgiveness of sins and we are his witnesses to these things and so also is the holy spirit whom god has given to those who obey him note that in this boldness The persecution escalates look at acts chapter seven acts chapter seven You know it said That with the bold proclamation of the gospel persecution will escalate we know this to be true if you keep silent no persecution The more that you open your mouth for christ the more that you witness for him the more persecution comes when you speak boldly for christ the persecution the suffering is going to escalate We see it escalating here in the book of acts look at acts chapter seven Now what do they do in response to this escalating persecution? They became bolder They became more uncompromising more fervent in their preaching acts chapter seven steven in verse 51 And again, this is not unloving This is bold truth verse 51 you stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears You always resist the holy spirit as your fathers did So do you which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one And again the preaching of the death of the lord jesus christ here of whom you now have become the betrayers And murderers who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not Kept it When they heard these things they were cut to the heart with conviction Right cut to the heart. They gnashed at him with their teeth But he being full of the holy spirit Gazed into heaven and saw the glory of god and jesus standing at the right hand of god and said look I see the heavens open and the son of man standing at the right hand of god And they cried out with a loud voice they stopped their ears and they ran at him with one accord And they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul and they stoned steven as he was calling on god and saying lord jesus received my spirit He took up the mantle of ministry You know the persecution didn't stop them The persecution didn't stop them the persecution propelled them What happened after the stoning of steven looks at acts chapter eight And look at verse one now sol Was consenting to his death And that that time a great persecution arose against the church, which was at jerusalem And they were all scattered throughout all the regions of judia and samaria except the apostles And devout men carried steven to his burial and made great lamentation over him As for sol he made havoc of the church entering every house dragging off men and women committing them to prison Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word Listen, they weren't kicked out. They were sent out They were preaching they went everywhere. They weren't Grumbling you don't see any record of them grumbling or complaining You don't see them Weeping retreating into the corners of their home for this terrible thing that's happened No, they went out went everywhere preaching. Look at philip verse five philip Went down to the city of samaria and preached christ to them the samarian Awakening happened In the bold response of god's people to the persecution that happened in jerusalem philip went out preaching in samaria Multitudes with one accord he did the thing spoken by philip hearing and seeing the miracles which he did Unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed many who were paralyzed and lame or healed There was great joy in that city They went everywhere preaching that was the response to persecution Let's look quickly at the example of the thessalonians turn to ax chapter 17 This is a few pages to the right ax chapter 17 The thessalonians our brothers and sisters in thessalonica our examples Were persecuted they were suffering for their faith They were suffering for their witness for christ look at ax chapter 17 And look at verse one And when they had passed through amphipolis In apollonia they came to thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the jews Then paul as his custom was went into them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures Explaining and demonstrating that the christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying This jesus whom i preached to you is the christ Some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the devout greeks and not a few of the leading women joined paul and sylas But the jews who were not persuaded becoming envious Took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathering a mob Set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of jason And sought to bring them out to the people But when they did not find them they dragged jason and some of the brethren to the rulers of the city crying out These who have turned the world upside down have come here too Jason has harbored them and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of caesar saying there is another king jesus And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city and when they heard these things And so when they had taken security from jason and the rest they let them go They faced hostility faced jews who brought false accusations They faced persecution and thessalonica So what happened turned with me to first thessalonians chapter one first thessalonians chapter one What happened? In the face of persecution in the face of suffering Did did they cower? Did they retreat? No, they spoke boldly Look at first thessalonians chapter one look at verse two Paul's commendation here of the example of the thessalonians First thessalonians chapter one verse two we give thanks to god always for you all Making mention of you in our prayers Remembering without ceasing your work of faith labor of love and patience of hope In our lord jesus christ in the sight of god our father Knowing beloved brethren your election by god For our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the holy spirit And in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake And you became followers of us and of the lord Having received the word listen to this in much affliction They received the word in much affliction and With joy of the holy spirit In the affliction in which they received the word And that word they preached faithfully Also with that came joy of the holy spirit So that verse seven you became examples to all in macedonia and akea and orlando who believe For from you the word of the lord has sounded forth Not only in macedonia and akea but also in every in every place Your faith toward god has gone out so that we do not need to say anything And praise the lord if that would be said of us Right that our faith Goes out such that no one would have to say anything You know i've heard it i've heard it said to me or asked of me now we emphasize evangelism here Why don't we emphasize evangelism because we are commanded to emphasize evangelism But can you imagine if we were so fervently and faithfully evangelistic that We didn't have to talk about evangelism Their word went out such that They did not have to say anything to them about it What happened when they believed they believed and therefore they spoke right look flip the page 1st Thessalonians 2 They received the word in adversity in hostility under persecution And they preached the gospel in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 beginning in verse 13 This establishes the pattern for all believers look at verse 13 For this reason we also thank god without ceasing because when you receive the word of god Which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men But as it is in truth the word of god, which also effectively works in you who believe For you brethren became imitators of the churches of god, which are in judia in christ jesus Four and this is the way in which they imitated those churches You suffered you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen Just as they did from the judians who killed both the lord jesus and their own prophets And have persecuted us and they do not please god and are contrary to all men For being us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved So as always to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the utter most This is the pattern We brothers and sisters listen in this church. We enter into that pattern We are to receive the word with joy But understanding we receive the the word in affliction under persecution Under adversity and we are to in an uncompromising bold way just as they did Imitate them in taking up the gospel and preaching to the world Look at 1st. Thessalonians chapter 3 And look at verse 1 notice here in chapter 3 verse 1 the parallels between this passage And our passage in john chapter 16 What is paul doing here for the thessalonians? He's doing for them exactly what the lord jesus christ is doing for his disciples in john chapter 16 verses 1 through 15 Look at chapter 3 verse 1 therefore When we could no longer endure it We thought it good to be left in athens alone and sent timothy our brother and minister of god and our fellow laborer in the Gospel of christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith It's just like the lord forewarned them paul is doing that for the thessalonians here verse 3 That no one should be shaken by these afflictions For you yourselves know brothers and sisters that we are appointed to this For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation Just as it happened and you know For this reason when I could no longer endure it I sent to know your faith less by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain We are destined for this So how do they express how do the thessalonians express their faith in christ? They kept preaching the word they kept preaching the word while they hoped in him Look at first thessalonians chapter 4 and drop down to verse 17 They put their hope and trust in him while they preached verse 17 Then we who are alive and remain Shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air And thus we shall always be with the lord therefore Comfort one another with these words look at chapter 5 and look at verse 8 chapter 5 verse 8 But let us who are of the day be sober Putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation For god did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our lord jesus christ Who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him Therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing Why why verse 24 He who calls you is faithful And he also will do it In john chapter 16 verses 1 through 15 The lord's concern is they would have the right mind They would have the right heart that they would consider these things And that they would take up the ministry That they were left with right the commission that they had been given They would take up that ministry and serve him with boldness Despite the persecution In spite of The hatred that comes out of this world We're not to fear their faces. We're not to retreat to comfort or convenience We're to preach the gospel Our prayer is reflected in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 Verses 11 and 12 Where paul says therefore we also Pray always for you That our god would count you worthy of this calling And fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness And the work of faith with power that the name of our lord jesus christ may be glorified in you And you in him according to the grace of our god and the lord jesus christ Amen, let's pray father in heaven Lord help us lord Help us. We pray to you as the disciples did Help us grant that we With boldness might proclaim your gospel for the lord jesus christ that sinners would be converted to you That they would be stiff-necked and hard-hearted no more But that they would turn from their sin and entrust the only savior The only one who provides a ransom the only mediator The chief cornerstone The only name given among men under heaven by which we may be saved They would praise and worship him that they would turn from their sin and entrust themselves to him We pray lord and then in this that you would be glorified That you would be glorified that christ would be magnified Or have your way with us your people grant that we with boldness might preach your word Help us to be uncompromising in the ministry in this commission that you've given to us Help us to take up the mantle of ministry help us to Preach your word as you've called us to preach it lord to be faithful to you That you might be pleased that we might walk worthy of the calling with which we are called that we might persevere to the end to be Saved and in all things or that you might be glorified. We love you. Thank you for this time in your word in jesus name. Amen