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Lean on Me. There was once a teacher who was teaching first grade in a large elementary school. One morning all of the teachers were called to the staff room for an emergency meeting, and they hurried over, leaving their classes unsupervised. All of the teachers were worried,
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There was once a teacher who was teaching first grade in a large elementary school. One morning all of the teachers were called to the staff room for an emergency meeting, and they hurried over, leaving their classes unsupervised. All of the • teachers were worried, • but none more so than • this particular teacher, • because her class was • especially mischievous • and unruly.
When they got to the staff room, the teacher decided to listen in and find out what was going on in her classroom. She turned on the intercom, and sure enough her room was in chaos. Children were yelling, jumping and throwing things.
But one little voice stood out above the others. The teacher recognized the voice. She picked up the intercom and in her sternest voice said, “Elizabeth, sit down!!!!!!!!” • Immediately, the room fell silent. After a few seconds, a small • humble voice • answered meekly, • “Okay, God”
Christ has sent us a Counselor. Can you hear Him? Are you heeding his voice?
Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had • worked up a sweat. She • almost whimpered when the • little boy said, "Teacher, • they’re on the wrong feet." • She looked, and sure enough, • they were.
It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on – this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These • aren’t my boots." She bit • her tongue rather than get • right in his face and scream, • "Why didn’t you say so?" • like she wanted to.
Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to • wrestle the boots on his feet • again. She said, "Now, where • are your mittens?" • He said,” I stuffed them in • the toes of my boots..."
We all need some help! • John 15:26-27 • 26 I will send a great Helper to you from the Father, one known as the Spirit of truth. He comes from the Father and will point to the truth as it concerns Me. 27 But you will also point others to the truth about My identity, because you have journeyed with Me since this all began.
How long have you been a follower of Christ? Does your life point others to the truth of His identity?
Setting • It is still the last night before the crucifixion and death of Christ. He is spending that last night with His eleven disciples, Judas had been dismissed to carry out his betrayal. Jesus is giving • them the • instruction they • will need to face • the world without • Him.
16 1-4 “I’ve told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them. • I didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. (The Message)
The King James Version states, 1"These things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended." What are these things? He was speaking about the hatred of the world (John 15:18-25) Jesus is saying I told you about the • hatred of the • world because • I don't want you • to be surprised • (offended) when • it is turned on • you.
The word "offended" in Greek is skandalizo from which we get our word "scandalize." A long way from the evolution of the word “skandalon” which means a stick. A special stick that held up a trap. You'd set a trap and you'd put a stick there with bait on it and when an animal • hit the bait, the stick • went down, and then • the trap came down. • The skandalon then • was a trigger that • pulled the whole trap • down.
So, Jesus is saying to these disciples, "Men, there is a trap set for you and I don't want you to get trapped without knowing about it. The world is going to be after you. They're going to hate you and persecute you because they did it to Me • and the servant • is not greater • than his lord. • Don't get trapped • unaware, men, • you got the • information, you • know it's coming."
Jesus said to them, "You don't need to be offended. I'm going to give you everything...all the promises, all the warnings, all the information you need to go into the world and not be trapped unaware." And yet in Matthew 26, He says you will be offended, because Christ knows everything. But man has his own • personal will as to • whether or not he • applies the truth and • the promises of God. • God gives man the • information he • needs to live his life, • and man can either • take it or leave it.
The disciples had sufficient warning and sufficient information. Yet when it came to the hour, they rejected what they knew to be true and in fear they ran away. We aren't much different. The Bible tells us we have all knowledge. We have all the wisdom that we could possibly ask for. We have all the resources that He could possibly • give us, we • are complete in • Him, • (Colossians 2:10) • We have the Holy • Spirit who is the • power to conquer • everything.
And yet when we run into a problem we're afraid and begin to doubt our salvation. We fall into sin. We stumble. Instead of calling on our resources, we fall back on our human fears. Christ had done all that He could do. The disciples knew what they needed to know. They had everything. So do we. We have the Holy Spirit to overcome. It boils down to whether or not we want to • claim the power, • the love, the • strength, and the • wisdom that He's • put at our disposal • or whether we want • to cower in fear.
During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1900, insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Then the word was passed to the one hundred people inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life. Any refusing to do so would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students stepped on the cross and were permitted to go free. The eighth student, a young girl, refused • to do so. Kneeling beside the cross in • prayer for strength, she arose and • moved carefully around it, and went • out to face the firing squad. • Emboldened by her example • every one of the remaining • ninety-two students follower her • to the firing squad.
As persecution intensifies, and our witness for Christ takes us into uncharted and dangerous territory, should we succumb to the pressures applied by the world to silence us?
Jesus spoke of two ways in which his followers would be persecuted. • First, they would be excommunicated from the synagogue. This for a Jew would be a very hard fate. The synagogue, the House of God, had a very special place in Jewish life. Some of the Rabbis • even said that • prayer was not • effective unless it • was offered in the • synagogue.
But there was more to it than that. To be a part of the synagogue in a Jewish situation was to be a part of the entire culture. All the social life, all the economic life, and all the religious life surrounded the life of the synagogue. • That was • everything. If you • got unsynagogued, • you became a • moral outlaw.
The Jewish law said you were worse than a pagan Gentile. Do you remember the parents of the blind man that Jesus healed? John 9:22, “The man’s parents were a bit evasive because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. It had been rumored that anyone who spoke of Jesus as the Anointed One would be expelled from the synagogue.” • They didn't want to get put out of the synagogue. They didn't want to • get lost from all the • things that were part • of their life and their • culture. They didn't • want to be cut off • from their families. • They didn't want to • lose their jobs.
Jesus is telling His disciples, "Men, you're going to get cut off from the life of your nation. You're going to get cut off from your people. They're going to throw you out of their world." • The Jewish leaders would focus the hatred they had for Christ on those who were Christ's. And the followers of Jesus would little by little be excommunicated from the life of Israel...social and religious and economic life. They would become castoffs. They would be viewed in the most despicable terms as traitors to Israel, and would go so far as to kill them. Look again at verse 2, • “There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor.”
One of the tragedies of religion has been that men have so often thought that they were serving God by persecuting those whom they believed to be heretics. No man ever more truly thought that he was serving God than Paul did, when he was trying to eliminate the name of Jesus and to wipe out the Church (Acts 26:9-11). • Paul wrote that he was "a Hebrew born of Hebrews” • a Pharisee, and one who • advanced in Judaism beyond • many of his peers. His initial • reaction to the newly formed • Christian movement was to • zealously persecute its early • followers and to violently • attempt to destroy • the movement.
Spanish Inquisition--Initially the Spanish thought they were serving God by torturing heretics into accepting what they considered to be the true faith. Then in the late 1470s, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted to do away with many of their political adversaries--former Jews and Muslims who had been forced to convert to Christianity but had managed to rise through the Spanish political and business ranks. • Threatened by their growing power, the King and Queen concocted a plan to purge these competitors from their positions in government and business. But because they were upstanding citizens they had to enlist the aid of the Cathoilc Church to lend some religious credibility to their planned attack. • The royal couple created an Inquisition, the purpose of which would be to identify false converts (fake conversos) within the Spanish Empire. Initially, the Pope rejected the request. But after the King and Queen threatened to withdraw Spain's troops from defending the Vatican and leaving Christianity undefended against the growing threat of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, the Pope caved in.
The Crusades, lasted almost 200 years. It began in 1095 with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. Christian military and religious expeditions were launched both against rival religions (primarily Islam). Both Islam and Christianity were involved with mass murder over religion, holy sites, and religious beliefs. For example, the First Crusade resulted in the massacre of 8,000 Jews. It also resulted in the slaughter of a purported 70,000 citizens in the fall of Jerusalem. Jews were slaughtered all across Europe. And it was all done in the name of Jesus Christ.
Is it any wonder the Jew has not much concern about the name of Jesus Christ? People have done things like that all throughout history in the name of Christ as service to God.
Persecution still goes on in places in our world, and although you may not die for Christ literally in our country, it's still true what Paul said, "All that live godly shall suffer persecution." The • world does not like Jesus • now any better than they did • then. And a man who stands • up and really defends the • name of Jesus Christ is going • to get it.
American Christians don’t experience anything even close to what our Brothers and Sisters in other countries endure, but they are experiencing persecution. • Children are being prohibited from writing Merry Christmas to the soldiers • A federal judge threatened “incarceration” to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech. • City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center. • A public school official physically lifted an elementary school student from his seat and reprimanded him in front of his classmates for praying over his lunch.
A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church. • A public university’s law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with. • The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire. • The State of Texas sought to approve and regulate what religious seminaries can teach. • The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the mention of God from veterans’ funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased’s families. • A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.
Now why is it that men persecute and think they're doing God favors? What kind of a God do they worship? • They worship the God they make up, their own fictitious deity. Notice in verse 3 what Jesus says, 3They will do these things because they never really understood the Father.
Jesus tells the disciples there's going to be hostility and persecution. And it's going to be confusing, people won’t understand because they're going to do it in the name of God. One of the ways Satan discredits God is to do things in • the name of God • that are obvious • atrocities.
Adolf Hitler: “My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as • a Christian and as a man I • read through the passage • which tells us how • the Lord at last rose in His • might and seized the scourge • to drive out of the Temple the • brood of vipers and adders. • How terrific was his fight • against the Jewish poison.
Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had • to shed his blood upon the • Cross.”
4aI’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them.
When the Spaniards were conquering • South America, the famous Spaniard • Pizarro presented his men with a choice. They were about to move south into Peru and he drew a • line with his sword on the sand and he • said, "Gentlemen, on that side are toil, • hunger, nakedness, storm, desertion, • death and the adventure of Peru. On the • other side, the safety and poverty of • Panama. And yours is the choice. For my part, I go south." There was a silence and hesitation and then an old soldier led 12 other soldiers to step across the line to Pizarro's side. It was these 14 men that opened the way to Peru. • Jesus offers, not the way of ease, but the way of glory. He wants men who are prepared with open eyes.
4bI didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. • As long as Jesus was there, Jesus always absorbed the brunt of the attack. But He says, "Now, gentlemen, there is about to be a fundamental change in your life style. The world is not going to be able to get at Me and they're • going to get at the closest thing to • Me which is you." • Now we know that Satan's set • against Christ. And if Satan can't • get at Christ, he's going to get at • those who are His.
Revelation 12:4 talks about Satan like a dragon, “He (Satan) stood in front of the woman (Israel) as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby (Jesus) as soon as it was born.” 17 “And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.” Satan tried to devour Christ for 33 years. Tried to devour Him in • Herod's decree when He was a • baby. Tried to devour Him at the • temptation when he tried to get • Him to follow...to fall down and • worship Satan. Tried to devour • Him on the cross. He couldn't do it.
You think he gave up? No. Verse 13: And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. Satan couldn't get Christ so he goes after the nation that brought forth Christ. And if that's not bad enough verse 17 says: As a result, the dragon was enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children—those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the • testimony of Jesus. He didn't just • stop at Israel, he went after • everybody that had the testimony of • Jesus and kept the commandments of • God. Satan couldn't get at Christ so • he took off after everybody that had • anything to do with Jesus Christ.
If Satan can't get at Christ, he'll get at those who are Christ's to destroy His kingdom and His power. • When James says that Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, he's not talking about unbelievers, he's already devoured them, he's talking about Christians. • He wants to wipe out your • testimony--you've got a battle • on your hands. • Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full • armor of God to protect • yourselves from the devil and his • evil schemes.
5 But now, I am going to the One who has sent Me, and none of you ask Me, “Where are You going?” • 6 I know that hearing news like this is overwhelming and sad. 7 But the truth is that My departure will be a gift that will serve you well, because if I don’t leave, the great Helper will not come to your aid. When I leave, I will send Him to you.
He knows there is a painful parting ahead, and it is going to be difficult. Yet, in the big picture of things…It is going to be better when He leaves. • When Jesus was in the body, he could not be everywhere with them. Jesus could only be in one place, constrained by time and • space. But whom He was sending, • the Spirit, could be everywhere, • and always available.
The role of the Holy Spirit: • Scripture John 16:8:11 • 8-9 When He arrives, He will uncover the sins of the world, expose unbelief as sin, and allow all to see their sins in the light of righteousness for the first time. 10 This new awareness of righteousness is important because I am going to the Father and will no longer be present with you. 11 The Spirit will also carry My judgment because the one who rules in this world has already been defeated.
The first responsibility is CONVICT men of sin.The Holy Spirit acts as our prosecutor, one that cross-examines and refutes an opponent.Interestingly, He does this as • our friend! He shows us who we • really are rather than what we • pretend to be. “For everyone has • sinned; we all fall short of God’s • glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 • Good friends are the ones that • can tell us bad news.
When the Jews crucified Jesus, they did not believe that they were sinning; they believed that they were serving God. But when the story of that crucifixion was later preached, they were pricked in their heart (Acts 2:37). They suddenly • had the terrible • conviction that • the crucifixion • was the greatest • crime in history • and that their • sin had caused it.
The second responsibility of the Holy Spirit is CONVINCE men of righteousness. • We have no righteous standing before God without Jesus. The Spirit opens our eyes to our need for a Savior. We need the righteousness of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice. Because we simply are not good enough. We • can’t just try a • little harder and • it will be okay. • Perfection is the • standard. God’s • perfection. The Holy • Spirit shows us our • need, and then gives • it to us.
