In this sermon, Scott Brown explores the themes of love, fruitfulness, and hatred as taught by Jesus in John 15. Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as He has loved them, and warns them that the world will hate them because they are not of the world. He encourages them to bear fruit through prayer, and assures them that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will come to testify of Him and empower them. Despite the world's hatred, believers are called to rejoice and find their help in the Spirit of truth.

Please open your Bibles to John 15, beginning in verse 12. We'll read to the end of the chapter. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, For a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you these things I command you that you love one another if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin.

But now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled, which is written in their law.

They hated me without a cause. But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. He will testify of me and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. Let's pray. Oh Lord we thank you for this beautiful and thrilling and in many ways, Lord, terrifying passage of Scripture.

We thank you for giving it to us to guide us. We thank you that you are the true way, the truth, and the life. And so we follow you in these words, Lord, this morning. Pray that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to understand and a desire to do the things that you have for us here. Amen.

Please be seated. We began our journey in the Gospel of John on December 3, 2017. So that's two years ago. We're now embarking on our third year in the Gospel of John. And the Lord has been very clear as to why he's written these things.

He's written these things that our joy might be made full. He said that these things are written that you might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that in believing you might have life in his name. So everything that he says is summed up in those desires of his. Now in these verses we continue to see the many ramifications of the incarnation of Jesus Christ and what it means that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. You know, what are those tidings of comfort and joy?

Well, they're right here and we've been covering them for many, many months and we see the value of the Son of God and His perfect life, His instruction and His, the power of the resurrection and the impartation of the Holy Spirit to His people and what that really means. He sums it up in one three-letter word, joy. Well, there's another word that he uses over and over again, and that is love. We encounter that here. Now, as you know, we're in the upper room discourse.

These are Jesus' final instructions to his disciples. He's just hours away from his crucifixion in perhaps minutes a troop will come and arrest him and take him to be interrogated and So these are remarkable moments if you ever read letter Bible you'll notice that John 14 through 17 is almost all red letters. This is the longest sermon of Jesus Christ. And He speaks these things to his disciples. And Jesus continues to bring up themes recurring.

In the first 11 verses, the themes were obedient and abiding and fruitfulness and love. And those themes continue to go on. Remember, we take these passages in short chunks, but Jesus said them all at one time. So, chapter 15 speaks about our relationships, the relationship that we have with the Father, the relationship that we have with the Son, the relationship that we have with one another in love, the relationship that we have with our Father in prayer and even our relationship with the world and the world hating us. So this passage speaks to all of these various relationships that God has given to us.

And The Lord Jesus is teaching his disciples How to navigate all those relationships? But but most importantly he tells you how it all happens by the power of the Holy Spirit And so Jesus is returning to this idea of keeping his commandments as we've already encountered in the previous verses. You have an outline in front of you, you'll see how it's structured here. Jesus is instructing his disciples on how their behavior might be in the church and with the watching world. So the first thing that he says is to love one another.

It's very simple, isn't it? In verse 12, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Now, You'll notice if you're a reader of the Bible how often it is that God commands his people to love. For some reason we need a commandment to love because our hearts drift off out of love And so we need to be brought in by correction. You can take this as a word of correction from Jesus Christ for all of us, toward all of us, who need correction particularly.

And it really assumes that love is going to be challenged among the disciples of Jesus Christ. Don't be surprised if you don't feel love towards someone, and don't be surprised if somebody ain't loving you. Because love is challenged, and Jesus understands that, and so He makes this command. But this is a very important matter and John the the the Apostle cannot quit talking about love in his gospel and in his epistles. In 1 John 4-7, he said, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." In 1 John 3, 4, the Apostle John makes it very clear that love is a proof of salvation. He says, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. In 1 John 3 10, we learn that this is a message that was from the beginning, that Jesus spoke from the beginning.

Jesus never quit talking about love for one another either. And that's why in 1 John 3 verse 10, we read this, "'In this the children of God "'and the children of the devil are manifest. "'Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, "'nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. John is saying, Jesus told us this from the very beginning of his three-year ministry among us.

In 1 John 2, 9 and 10, we learn that love shows whether you're in the light or whether you're in darkness. He says, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." And so the Lord Jesus Christ is making this analogy of love. This is my commandment that you love one other as I have loved you.

Now, John addresses this over and over again. We say, well, I don't hate my brother. I don't know if I like him, but I don't hate him. You know, I don't hate my wife, but I just, I'm not gonna talk to her. I'm, I'm, I don't hate my brother, but I'm just gonna walk around him.

I'm gonna avoid him. Well, these things are always interesting to encounter in our lives. But Jesus makes two analogies. Now, the first analogy of His love is actually in verse nine of chapter 15. We covered it last week.

As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love." In other words, Jesus is saying that he loves his disciples the way that the Father has loved him, and then he says, abide in my love. In other words, remain in that kind of love. Exist in it, soak in it, soak in the love. We should always do that. We need it.

But the second analogy here is in these verses, and it's Jesus' own personal love for sinners. He says, this is my commandment that you love one other as I have loved you. And Jesus illustrates this command in verse 13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. In other words, rather than exalting your life, you lay down your life rather than exalting yourself before your friend, you diminish yourself and you put yourself, in a way you put yourself under his authority in a sense.

That's why I think the Apostle Paul spoke of this matter, that we should submit to one another. There's this attitude toward one another that we put ourselves under The other in the same way that Jesus did as he took on human flesh And he came to serve the son of man came to serve not to be served and to give his life as a ransom for many That's the whole idea that he's speaking. That's the analogy that is here. He laid down his life for his friends. Now it's all it's all the buzz you know to have a Christ-centered church today.

What is a Christ-centered church? Well a Christ-centered church certainly is a place where Jesus Christ is exalted, he's preached, he is seen as the only true solution to all of our problems. But If you're wanting to make your church a more Christ-centered church, it's important that you say this is a Christ-centered church, but it's also important to see that it's a Christ-centered church. And what is a Christ-centered church seen? You know exactly what I'm going to say.

It's a church where people love one another. That's how you see Christ centered us. We do need the doctrine preached clearly, but the doctrine has feet or it isn't sound doctrine. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is demonstrating how we truly have a church that is centered on the love of Jesus Christ. And we know that Christ died for his enemies, And He made them His friends.

In Romans 5-7, the apostle Paul said, For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's how he treats sinners. And he draws them. He doesn't push them away.

And that's what the love of Jesus Christ looks like in a church. You know, on Wednesday night, it was thrilling to me in our time in prayer. We were praying about the ways that Jesus loved us and it was just rapid fire. I think, I don't think, if I hadn't moved us onto another subject, I think we would have done it all night long. But it was such a blessing to hear people declare how Jesus Christ has loved them in many, many ways.

One person prayed that we were loved before the foundation of the world. Another person prayed that we were loved while we were in rebellion toward Him. Another person prayed that we were loved while we were in rebellion toward him and another person prayed that we were loved by forgetting our sins and putting them as far as the east is from the west And what a blessing it is to just meditate upon his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Now churches fall apart on the matter of love. Relationships are broken on this word love. And It's very important that we understand how to define love. What Jesus has just given us probably the quintessential definition of love that he demonstrated in his own love, that he laid down his life for his friends. The Apostle Paul clarifies this and I think builds it out where he says in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4, how do you know if you love somebody?

You suffer long. In other words, you're patient with them. You don't demand that they change this minute. Love is kind. Love does not envy.

Love does not parade itself. In other words, love doesn't say, I am so much better than you. Love is not puffed up. Love does not behave rudely. Love does not seek its own.

Love is not provoked. Love thinks no evil. In other words, love thinks the best of the other person rather than the worst. It's so easy for us to put one another in the worst light. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Well that's what love is. And Jesus here is just bringing us back to that fundamental critical matter in the church, that the church is a place of love. In fact, he said, how will the world know that you're my disciples? There's one main visible way.

Now he knows who his disciples are, but how will the world know if you love one another? Well, you know the song, They'll know we are Christians by our love. Well that comes right out of the scriptures So love is so critical here in the church and Now you would never say that you hate someone. That's a little bit over the top. Like you might be disturbed with someone, but you never say, I hate, I hate that person.

But You wouldn't mind judging them. You wouldn't mind thinking of them in their worst light. You wouldn't mind losing your patience with them. You wouldn't mind slandering them or being cold-hearted toward them. You wouldn't mind avoiding them because, well, that's actually hatred.

We don't want to say that we hate because that's just a little bit too over-the-top But Jesus here defines love through the Apostle Paul and through his own example That while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Paul said in Romans 13 love does no harm to a neighbor. And so these are matters of love in the church. And so The Lord Jesus is establishing love as a central matter for his disciples. The Lord Jesus is training his disciples to create a culture of love in the church, so that the churches that are replicated would have that pattern of love. You know, I was reading an article by a pastor and he told this, He said it was a mythical story, and it was the process that people go through when they finally say, I've had it with these people, I'm going to leave the church.

Here's how he framed it. He said, Jack, the piece was called, Just Not When It Mattered. Jack was in many ways an ideal parishioner. He was married, gainfully employed with two young children. He was happily married, conscientious in church attendance.

In addition to this, he was the kind of church member who would diligently seek pastoral counsel. If he had a situation with one of his kids or a challenge at an upcoming family reunion or difficulty at work, he would schedule a visit with the pastor and seek his counsel on how to address it. He was the kind of sheep who sought out the shepherd. The shepherd did not need to go looking for him, and invariably the counsel would fit with what he had already intended to do or was seeking to do. In other words, he diligently sought counsel and help when he didn't really need it.

And as might be expected, he discontinued seeking counsel as soon as a situation arose where he really did need it. Eventually, a serious conflict arose between his family and another family in the church. And from the beginning to the end of that conflict, he was not open to any serious pastoral input about the situation. And when the disruption of fellowship there spread to difficulty and finding connections elsewhere in the congregation because too many people were friends with too many other people. He and his wife made the difficult decision to move to another church.

Ostensible but plausible reasons that were not connected with the real reason Were not difficult to find So he naturally found them but because he had sought so much counsel for so long on so many issues It never occurred to him That what he was actually getting was not biblical counsel, but rather a suitable narrative a plausible story The idea that he was not open to counsel was preposterous. He had sought advice countless of times Just not when it mattered now this pastor says this is a fictional story, but it'll be recognized instantly by every pastor. And I'm sure it is recognized by any pastor. But here's the problem with love when it dies. You have plausible reasons, but I want to say that the plausible reasons are the most dangerous reasons to your soul.

When you actually have something on somebody. And that plausible reason causes you to separate from that person. The plausible are the most dangerous in the Church of Jesus Christ. Because to love like Jesus loves mean that you lay down your life for your friends. So that's the idea.

Then Jesus expands this whole idea of friendship, but he relates it directly to himself. He says in verse 14, and this is a friendship like no other friendship that exists. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. How about that? You know, what if you just met someone new?

Even this morning, and you shook their head and you said, so good to meet you. You can be my friend as long as you do everything I tell you to do. That might be a little rough. Well, the friendship that we have with Jesus is like no other friendship. You know, the friendship that he has with us is that we do what he tells us to do.

That's the basis of the friendship. And there really is no friendship unless there's a heart to do it, he tells you to do. Even when he tells you to do things that are a little contrary to what you want to do. But in this statement right here, in verse 14, you have this perfect balance of the lordship and the tenderness of Jesus Christ. You are my friends, and I am your Lord.

Those are the two things that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not our own. We are slaves. You know, by the way, the word servant in the Bible is translated, or word due loss is translated servant all over the Bible. It means slave.

It means the one who has no personal rights. It means the one who has one Lord. It means that there's one authority in that person's life. Well that's why Jesus said in Luke 9.23, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? The relationship of the believer to the Lord is a relationship of a very, very different kind of friendship.

Different than any other friendship you have, where The friendship is based on doing what he says. Now we know that we don't always do what he says. And this is why there must be so much grace in the Lord Jesus Christ that he demonstrated on the cross. When we don't do what he commands, he even still calls us his friends, remarkably. His love is so great.

And so this applies to all blood-bought children of God. We are His friends. Like Abraham was called a friend of God. You know, we could go on and on about the very tender language that Jesus uses and that God uses to describe His children. He does, He calls us children, He calls us brethren.

We are His elder, He is our elder brother. And there are many very, very tender words. We are his sheep. You know, and here we are his friends. And then the Lord Jesus demonstrates his friendship in verse 15.

He says, no longer do I call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing but I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you." So the demonstration of his friendship is that he tells us, he's revealed to us his plans. You know, from Genesis to Revelation, he is revealed to us his will and his plan. And it's very detailed. He gives us the beginning, the middle, and the end of his plan. And really, that's all we need to know, particularly.

And he gives us a way to live through every single thing that we encounter in the world in the Word of God. And he has he has told us what he is doing. He has told us what he's doing and why he's doing it. Even this very passage he says, these things I write that your joy may be made full. That's why he's writing this thing.

So he's revealing not just the what But the why and also the how he'll send the Holy Spirit So he provides all things for life and godliness. This is the friendship that we have with him What a blessing it is to have a friend like that So all so these verses here 12 through 15 they speak to the call of Jesus to the church to love. And it's a very particular kind of love. It's the way that He loved us. And it's really worthwhile to ask, well, how has He loved me?

And then to ask, well, what does that have to do with my brother or my wife or my boss or my husband? What does it have to do with that? But Jesus is speaking particularly to his brethren. He's talking about the relationships inside the church. And then, after speaking of these relationships, he instructs his disciples to bear fruit in prayer.

That's the second point in your outline, by the way. Verses 16 and 17, bear fruit through prayer. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." Now let's begin with what's at the beginning of this verse, verse 16. Chosen. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you.

So not only do we see the doctrine of election that God has chosen us, but he also tells us why he has elected us. Now the doctrine of election should not be confusing to anyone. It is God who elects, man does not choose, God elects, and it is God who is the one who chooses. But there is an earthly purpose of divine election, and he reveals it right here, that that we might bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. So this really speaks to our calling together as a church as we pray.

And we pray so that our fruit would remain. He's chosen us so that we would pray and there would be fruit that would go beyond us. It would stay, particularly in the hearts of people. And now there are just astonishing promises about prayer, and one of them is right here in this passage. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you.

That's astounding. In 1 John 5 14 he says, now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and we know that if we know that if he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. In Luke 11, nine, Jesus says, "'I say to you, ask and it will be given to you, "'seek and you will find, Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." astounding. And it does sound a bit like whatever you ask you get.

And of course the prosperity gospel preachers pick up on this, but they actually end up ignoring lots of other scripture to help define what this actually means. But what do these promises mean? And it's very important that we understand that in the context that we live in. Just last week, there was a popular female worship leader whose two-year-old daughter died. And this worship leader is a worship leader at the apostate church, Bethel Church in Redding, California.

And gigantic effort were mounted to raise this child from the dead. They have a raising from the dead team that they send to raise the dead. And of course, the baby was not resurrected. They base their doctrine on the atonement, by his stripes you are healed. In other words, that the atonement guarantees that you'll always be healed.

It's not God's will for you to be sick. So that's their doctrine. And so they were naming it and claiming it, and it did not come to pass. These are just the failed promises of the prosperity gospel movement. And the truth is, we don't tell God what to do.

We pray to God humbly. We cry out to Him. We ask Him, but we do not tell Him. And we have to understand what the Bible says about prayer. Now, these passages that I just read should be so comforting to us.

They should fortify us, they should encourage us. I believe These things about prayer have been given to us to embolden us, just to see the kindness of God toward his children, to see how tender he is toward us, that he would actually hear our prayers and he would do them. But when we read a passage like this, we need to be good students of the Bible, and we need to see what the Bible says about prayer elsewhere, because scripture interprets scripture. That's a hermeneutical principle that we need to understand. We need to harmonize scripture with scripture because scripture doesn't contradict itself and scripture is complex in many ways and simple in others.

But God doesn't contradict God. And so we have to ask why is it that certain prayers are not answered? And the Bible actually tells us, and I think we should, we get there by using what theologians call the analogy of faith, that all scripture is united and it's connected and it's not contradictory, and that the clear passages interpret the unclear, and that all of them together bring a faithful and balanced testimony. So we're talking about hermeneutics here when we talk about this matter of prayer. Now our confession, the Baptist confession addresses this very clearly in paragraphs seven, paragraph seven and nine in chapter one of our confession on the Holy Scriptures.

Paragraph seven, all things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all. Yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other that not only the learned but the unlearned in due use of ordinary means may attain a sufficient understanding of them. In other words, they're difficult things to understand, but they can be explained. That's the idea. But then in paragraph nine, he says, the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself.

And therefore, when there is a question about the true and full use sense of any scripture, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. Now, we've just received in this verse a tremendous encouragement to pray and an affirmation of God's desire to hear us and move. But yet, but this is not without qualification. And because it's true, God doesn't answer all of our prayers the way we want him to. We've all experienced that.

And some of us even named and claimed things that actually just never happened. I'm going to give you 13 reasons the Bible gives for unanswered prayer. Because there are some. And we should pay attention to them. And I think we should take these to heart, but be very careful.

Don't let them discourage you from prayer. First of all, he does not answer because we are not praying his desires. That's James 4.3. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. The second, He does not answer because our desires are corrupted.

John 15, seven. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. So It's contingent upon desires that are consistent with God's desires Third he does not answer because of sin in our lives Psalm 66 18 if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear but then David says but the Lord has heard me and by the way David was a sinner fourth he does not answer because you do not believe he will do it mark 11 24 therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. Fifth, he does not answer because you have not persevered. Luke 18, 1.

He speaks about a parable about this judge who did not fear God or man and there was a widow in that city and kept saying give me justice, give me justice, give me justice and she kept troubling him and he answered. She persevered. Sixth, he does not answer because he's doing something far beyond your situation and your comprehension. Daniel 10, verse two, and verse 12. This is the story of Daniel, he's languishing in prayer and he's humbled himself before God and there is a conflict going on in heaven that has actually delayed the help that he needed at that time.

There was something happening outside of him that was causing the trouble inside of him and all around him. Seventh, he does not answer prayer because of doubting, James 1, 6 and 7. But let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Eight, he does not answer because what we seek is not in our best interests for our sanctification. 2 Corinthians 12, 8-10 gives the account of Paul's thorn in the flesh. Whatever it was, we don't know. He couldn't get rid of it and he prayed three times. And God says, my grace is sufficient for you.

My strength is made perfect in weakness." And Paul says, Therefore I will most gladly boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. The apostle says that God sent the thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself. He needed the pain for the sanctification. He needed the pain to humble him.

So much of our troubles really are designed by God to humble us so that we would trust Him more, that we would not lean on the world as much. He wants to wean us from the world, and so He sends His trouble so that we cry out to Him and we turn our gaze upon Him so that Jesus Christ becomes our all-sufficient help. My grace is sufficient for you. That's how Paul speaks of it. Ninth, he does not answer because we're consumed with our own pleasures.

You ask that you may spend it on your pleasures. How many of our prayers are really just all about our own success? 10th, he does not answer prayer because we are not praying, quote, as we ought. That's from Paul's phrase in Romans 8.26. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought.

Now this should be a great encouragement. Even when we don't pray as we ought because we don't know how to pray what we ought or how we ought, the Spirit of God comes and helps us in our weakness. And the Spirit prays prayers that are intelligible and according to the will of God. That's the mercy of God in prayer toward us. Eleventh, God does not answer prayer because you do not love the law of God.

Proverbs 28, nine, one who turns his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. How about that? It's very dangerous to turn your ear away from hearing the law or to hate the law because God won't hear your prayers if you hate his law. 12th, Our prayers are not answered because his face is against us. 1 Peter 3, 12, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

13th, God does not answer prayer because of self-righteous pride Luke 18 9 this is the the story of the two men who went up to the parrot up to the temple and pray and One man said I'm glad I'm not like that man 14th He does not answer prayer because of unforgiveness. Matthew 6, 12 and 15, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." And this is, of course, in the Lord's Prayer. It's the final statement in the Lord's prayer. So, the Lord Jesus here in John really encourages us to pray.

He tells us to pray, And the rest of the Bible calls us to holiness. Now I don't believe the Bible says, you know, you have one sin in your life, God's not hearing you. That's not true. We know that's not true. But there is a way that a person is bent towards sin, that closes the ear of God in prayer.

That's just a reality of Scripture. And this is not prayers answered by works alone. That's not what this is. But it matters, the condition of our heart matters in prayer. And that's why Jesus said that if you abide in my word and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be given to you.

In other words, your desires are conformed to the will of God. And that's much of the doctrine of prayer. Now, we have such encouragement to pray here that whatever you ask, He'll do. And yet, at the same time, there's, and the rest of the Bible is a warning about fake prayers, prayers where there's anger and bitterness and strife. You know Isaiah talks about the people who come together and they fast but they're fasting for strife.

They're fasting in the context of strife. You know Paul said to Timothy that men should lift up holy hands in prayer without wrath, without wrath toward one another. So it's very important that we understand the matter of prayer. Now, prayer is for fruit-bearing. Remember, go back to the verse, that you might bear fruit.

The prayer is for the fruit bearing. We pray so that we would bear fruit. It's a tragic thing when families and churches don't pray. You know, it's very important that we have times when we pray, both individually and corporately. All of us should be prayerful people.

It's the way that we bear fruit and what a blessing it is. We're shown here how we bear fruit in the world and it's through prayer. Believing prayer consistent with what all with what all God has said. Well prayer is one of the most beneficial things God calls us to do. It keeps us from exalting ourselves.

It keeps us recognizing how dependent we are. It shows us how much grace He has for us to even open his ears to sinners like us. Prayer is such a marvelous thing. And it engages us with care for other people too. So that's prayer.

Be fruitful through prayer. And then Jesus instructs them regarding their relationship to the world. And he's really helping them to understand the hatred of the world. Now this is very striking. It's interesting, all of us talk about love among the brethren, but there's hatred on the outside.

And he says, if the world hates you, let's define the world. Everything that is contrary to Jesus Christ. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before you, it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. So Jesus is saying to his disciples, you could be loved if you were of the world, but you're not, and you're not going to be loved.

There's a way to be loved in this world, But following Jesus is not one of those ways. He says, therefore the world hates you. And then he gives this illustration, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." One of the Greek lexicons translates this word, persecuted, as meaning to chase like a wild beast. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake." It's His name that invites the scorn. When you live a holy life, and you live consistently with the name of Jesus, all you get is the scorn of the world. Now you can name any other religious leader, and you don't get scorned like you do when you mention Jesus. You can talk about Mohammed, you can talk about Confucius, and hardly anybody will blink an eye. If you start naming the name of Jesus, you've got trouble.

And that's what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the coming resistance to his name, to holiness, and to the life that he's called them to. And, you know, those who are set apart for God, who abide in his name, who follow Jesus, who are holy, should not expect the praises of the world. And he's warning them about that because the world is hostile to Jesus Christ and the world has always been hostile to Jesus Christ. We're being told today that the 20th century was the greatest century for Christian persecution in all of history.

They tell us that 80% of the persecution, religious persecution in the world is against Christians. And the greatest Persecuting countries right now are North Korea and China and Iran and Nigeria and Eritrea and Sudan and Vietnam and Pakistan. These governments view Christianity as a threat to their authority, And it is. It's that way in Turkey. If you want to get in trouble in that country, just make it like your Christianity is against the government.

And life will get really hard. So there's this desire in the world to erase Christianity, and of course many of these countries are dominated by a single religion, and that causes tremendous problems for Christians that go into that country, as we're very well aware. Now, I know we often imagine that since we're such nice people, that people will love us, our families are so well ordered, and our children are so nice, it'll soften their hearts. Don't think that. Not to say that those things can be very interesting and even helpful to the gospel.

But the main thing you should expect is not people to praise you, but to scorn you because you believe in Jesus. I mean Jesus was despised and rejected of men. Now here's the reason for the hatred. Verse 22 tells us why, exactly why. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin.

In other words, they would not know their guilt of sin. It doesn't mean that they would literally have no sin, but rather they're convicted of their sin. It can't mean that they didn't have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. That's the problem.

They have no excuse for their sin. Matthew Henry talks about, you know, you will reprove them for their sins by your very life and it will provoke them. And you'll call them to repentance, and you'll give them strict rules of holy living, which they cannot bear, and they'll hate you for it. And Jesus says in verse 23, He who hates me hates my father also. And so this is the hatred of the world.

Verse 25, but this happened that the word might be fulfilled, which is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. Now Jesus wasn't their cause, it was their wicked hearts that was the cause. They hated Jesus without a just cause. And they'll hate you without a just cause as well, because you follow Jesus Christ and you live differently than they do. That's usually the problem.

It's not so much the message of the gospel, it's the lifestyle that the gospel demands that will cause the scorn of the world. Now Jesus is quoting Psalm 69 verse 4, those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Now all over scripture we're promised that it won't go well with Christians in the world. 1 Peter 412, beloved, do not think it's strange that a fiery trial is to try you as though some strange thing has happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings We read yet all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution First John 3 13 do not marvel my brother and if the world hates you second Timothy 3 13 yes all who desire to live godly will suffer. Matthew 10 22, you will be hated by all.

1 Peter 4 14, If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." Acts 5-41, they went away rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Shame. So, Jesus is promising his disciples that they'll be hated by the world to get them ready for the world so that they don't walk in with rose-colored glasses in that whole matter. And what Jesus says to those who are hated basically is, relax, rejoice, rejoice, don't worry about it. It's going to happen.

Don't hate those people. Just realize that that's the way I wired it so rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great Now the world's hatred actually comes to us in a lot of different ways. It comes to us every day. Now most of you probably are not being assaulted by unbelievers, you know, you're not getting things thrown at you, people aren't poisoning your well because you're a Christian. That probably hasn't...anybody here have that happen?

Well, I don't think so. But the world does hate you, and the world does come into your home in various ways through the internet and through the movies and the songs the world hates you and the world will speak to you the world will speak to you through a lot of ways it will hate you and bring the messages of hatred of the devil toward you. We have to be very careful to understand that. Now, the world's hatred for Christians is in almost every movie that's produced, in millions and millions of internet sites and in most of the songs that are sung. The devil's hatred toward Christians is proclaimed through the media like nowhere else.

And The world comes into your home through your movie theater, through Netflix, through your ears. And most of these outlets of hatred give you a world where there's no God. Relationships and love, but no God. Happiness, but no God. God is absent, God is unnecessary.

There's no transforming conversion the Christians and the movies are idiots and they're there the bane of the story there's no fruit of the spirit all you get All you get from the outlets of the world, the hatred of the world toward you is follow your heart. You can be whatever you want. You know, biblical morals are unimportant. Purity doesn't matter. Your feelings are all that matter.

This is the hatred of the world piped in through the eye gate and the ear gate. Be very careful. Don't misunderstand the hatred of the world. The hatred of the world is everywhere. And then the Lord Jesus Christ concludes, at least this section for our purposes, in these last two verses with a tremendous word of encouragement, But the Helper will come.

But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. So in all these things, in our struggle to love one another, we have a helper. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to teach us how to really love, to teach us how not to get disconnected from one another for any reason. The helper is the one.

The mark, chief mark of the Holy Spirit is love. And the Spirit will also help us in prayer. He helps us in our weaknesses. And he prays when we don't even know what to pray. And he actually does pray in our behalf in the midst of our sinfulness that Jesus Christ has already taken care of.

He doesn't demand perfection in our lives before we can pray, but he does issue warnings that we should be holy and pray for holy things and turn away from every form of sin, every bitterness, everything self-serving, and pray according to his will, and he will hear us. We're left with such a remarkable encouragement that he will hear us if we pray that way. And then he warns us of the hatred of the world and not to be worried about it. So here the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing his disciples for the world and the challenges that are ahead as they build the church. The apostles will go out and they'll establish churches and they'll replicate.

And here we are in this place right now as part of that fruit bearing that was launched and that was really governed by these words of the Apostles. And I pray that we are a church, that we love one another, as Christ has loved us, and that we pray, and that we rejoice in the hatred of the world and be on guard for the different ways the world hates us, and that we would know we have a helper, the Spirit of truth, which has come to lead us and to comfort us and to guide us and convict us of our sin. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is leaving his disciples with these things before his crucifixion, and I leave them before you today, before we celebrate the Lord's Supper and give thanks even further for His kindness in sending us such good help. Would you pray with me? Lord, we again are amazed at the remarkable things that you've called us to love, you've called us to pray, and you've called us, Lord, to bless those who persecute us in this world.

And so Lord, I pray that you would give us such a heart within us to love you and to find all of our help in the Holy Spirit of truth. Amen.