Before his crucifixion, Jesus focused on preparing his disciples for the battle ahead. He promised them the Holy Spirit to give strength for that unavoidable battle. With the Spirit inside, Christians have a distinct allegiance, a distinct witness, and a distinct bearing. Today, what this is all about, stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller.
Today, another in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John, a series we're calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus, the Helper. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford.
Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to The Moody Church. We're so grateful that you've joined us today for worship. Today, we're going to learn about the Helper, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus promised to send. to his followers. And as a promise that would be life-giving in our lives.
And now we live. here in the days of the spirit. as the church. And we need to know what it means to have him as our helper.
So would you join me in prayer as we begin today? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you. that Jesus came to save us. And that even though Jesus has gone back and is now seated at the right hand of your majesty, that we have not been left alone.
You've sent the Holy Spirit to us. And we are not alone. We have an advocate. a helper. and you are now closer than the air we breathe.
Help us to learn. that riches of what we've been given. Through the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who is with us and in us and is changing us even today, guiding us into all truth. Come meet with us, we pray. For Jesus' sake, amen.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself.
so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. perplexed but not driven to despair. persecuted, but not forsaken.
Struck down. but not destroyed. This is the power of God in us. Amen? Let's run with endurance.
Let's fix our eyes on Jesus. We can go through suffering, amen? It takes faith. Let's run. Let's walk by faith.
By faith, we see the hand of God. In the light. We love creation's friendly. In the lives of those who prove his faith on this, we walk by faith and not by sight by faith our fathers on the earth with the power of his promise in their hearts. A holy city built by God's own hand, a place where peace and justice reign.
We will send as children of the promise. We will best eyes on him, our souls reward until the race is finished and the world is done. We'll walk by faith and not. By side by faith, the prophet saw the day with the long-for Messiah worthy with the power to break the chain of sin and death and rise triumphant from the grave by faith. The church was all to go in the power of the Spirit to the loss to deliver captives and to reach good loose in every corner of the earth.
We were sent as children of the promise. We will fix our eyes on Him, our soul's reward. Till the race is finished, and the word is done. We'll walk by faith and not by sight. Oh, we will send as children of the promise.
We will fix our eyes on Him, our soul's reward. Till the race is finished, and the word is done. We'll walk by faith and not by sight. We'll walk by faith and not by sight. Yes, I will lift you high in the lowest valley.
Yes, I will bless your name. Yes, I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy. Oh my days, yes, I will. I come among thee. The same God who never fails will not fail me now.
He won't fail me now you wait. The same God who's never late is working long. You're working all things high. Oh, yes, I will let you heart in the Lord's valley. Yes, I will.
That's your name. Oh, yes, I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy. Oh, my days. Oh, yes, I will for all my days. Oh, yes, I will.
Oh, I choose to praise to glorify, glorify the name of all names. Nothing can stand against my choice to praise to glorify, glorify the name of all names. And nothing can stand against what I choose to praise To glorify, glorify the name of all names Nothing can stand against what you praise To glorify, glorify the name of all names Nothing can stand against Yes I will lift you high in the lowest valley Yes, I will bless your name Oh yes I will sing more joy when my heart is heavy Oh my name Oh yes I live For yes, I will for all my days, yes, I will Jesus strong ever as I lay through the door You have called me to this message And I'll follow my boy may be assured. Bring a blessing, may I rise on things of thee and at the end of my testing with your likeness and me reign Jesus, guide me through the temples, keep my spirit safe and joy when the midnight meets the glory that We love you in the world me, bring a blessing in our eyes on wings of faith and let the head of my justice in your highness and beware that the treasures of the trial form within me as I call. And let me head up this long past day.
Let me leave them at your throne. Oh, made it surely, may I rise all kings of faith and let the heaven my hostess with your light. Oh, made it sharp, ring a blessing, may I rise. And at the end of my heart's testing with your like this when we wait and at the end of my heart's testing with your likeness when we wait Lord, in spite of all the things that might be pulled. us back.
the sin that is entangling us right now. Help us to throw off all that. and run towards you To be conformed to the image of your Son, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, the hour grows dark. The oil lamps are guttering late into the night. And Jesus is lingering with his disciples. Betrayal awaits. His arrest is crouching in the shadows.
The whipping, the mocking, the crucifixion, it's all coming. for Jesus and he knows it. But he mustn't fixate. On this tidal wave of agony that is about to break over him.
Now right now... He must attend. to them. They've got to be ready. They've got to be prepared.
This road that awaits them. will test them beyond anything they have ever known. His disciples must be ready. In John fifteen, verses eighteen through sixteen, verse fifteen. In this passage we come to today, Jesus is preparing his disciples for battle.
At the very heart of this passage are a number of verses, but John 16 verses 1 through 4 say this. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me.
But I have said these things to you. that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.
So, at the very heart of this passage, Jesus is arming his disciples. for what is coming. He's preparing them For battle. The persecution that comes for Jesus will also come after his disciples. as well.
And as American Christians, with sizable amounts of religious freedom, we often just read past sections of the scripture like this. We just go by them rather quickly. But you know who doesn't read past these sections quickly? The vast majority of our brothers and sisters around the world and throughout history. According to some research done by Gordon Conwell Seminary, The number of Christians that were martyred for their faith throughout the course of human history amounts to over 70 million.
people. Over half of those martyrdoms took place in the 20th century under communist and fascist regimes. But in case we're tempted to think that all of that's behind us, in the first 10 years, the first decade of the 21st century, that would be 2000 up to 2010.
Some 1,093,000 Christians were martyred around the world, according to the World Christian Database. As we speak, there are over 100 million Christians who are experiencing real persecution around this globe. Which makes Christianity, it's hard to believe. But it makes Christianity the most persecuted religious group in the world. The U.S.
State Department estimates that there are at least 60 countries where followers of Jesus are facing active persecution from their government authorities or from their neighbors. because of their religious commitments. If current trends continue, 322 of our brothers and sisters will lay down their lives for Jesus this month. And if you're one of those 322, You don't read past passages like these. You cling to these words.
They are your life, they're your strength, your endurance. They give you courage. And who knows, friends? Those of us here in America in the West may need these words sooner than we realize. Perhaps Jesus is preparing us.
for battle. as well. Jesus is preparing his disciples for suffering. for persecution, for hostility that they will face in this world. Because followers of Jesus are not like the world.
And the world views us then with suspicion because we're different. Because we're distinct. And there's three distinctions that Jesus is going to highlight for us in this passage: that Christians have a distinct allegiance. We have a distinct witness and we have a distinct bearing. A distinct allegiance, witness, and bearing.
We need all three of these. for what's coming. Would you bow your heads? Let's pray together. as we open God's holy word.
Heavenly Father, as we now turn to your Sun's final words, some of his final words. In which he's utterly realistic about the cost of discipleship. May we draw strength in reality. from these words that we may face all that comes our way. No matter what.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. First, a distinct allegiance, a distinct allegiance. John 15.
Verse 18. If the world hates you, Jesus says, know that it has hated me before it hated you. Just pause for a second. As we've been studying the Gospel of John, wherever Jesus has gone, we have seen this: that he has a polarizing effect, doesn't he? There are people who are attracted to him, and people who are repulsed.
from him. There's attraction and repulsion, just like a magnet. Neutrality, we find, is impossible when it comes to Jesus. Either we will find him the most magnetic person in history and open wide our hearts and receive him, or we will find him unnerving and disturbing and fearful. threatening and we will push him away.
And similarly, Jesus is saying, Christians who are now filled with the Holy Spirit of God and who bear the presence of Christ in the world, we will have a similar presence. Magnetic polarizing Effect on the world around us. There will be attraction, yes, but there will also be repulsion. And Jesus' followers, he says, should not be shocked. When they experience the very same hatred that Jesus Himself experienced in this world.
John will put it this way in one of his epistles, 1 John 3, verse 13. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
Now, before we move on to the very next verse here, I want you to notice that Jesus is saying, yes, that the world will hate. us but he does not say that we are to hate the the world. In other words, it's not a reciprocal hate. The world will make us its enemy, but we are never to return that in kind. Because how does Jesus call us to respond to our enemies?
What does he say? Matthew 5, verses 44 and 45. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Heaven. And after all, that's the way that Jesus treated us when we were his enemies. Yes, he loved us and laid down his life for us, and now he calls us to do the same with our enemies.
So we will be hated by the world. But being Hated never, listen, never gives us the right to hate back.
Some of us need to go delete some social media posts right now, I suppose. I'm only half joking.
Now, why would the world hate Jesus' followers? Verse 19, if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, But I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. You.
So, in other words, Jesus has chosen us out of the world. This world is not our true home. Our home is with Jesus in his kingdom forever. In other words, we are citizens of heaven. We're aliens and strangers here, exiles who are awaiting a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God.
Our allegiance is with Jesus in his kingdom. He is our king, he is our Lord. He is our master. Verse 20, remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute me.
If they kept my word, they will also keep Yours. See friends, we have a master. And His name is Jesus. We have a word that we live by, and that word belongs to the living word, Jesus Himself. He is the King of kings, He is the Lord of Lords, and we answer to Him alone.
Which means That this world ultimately has no hold over the followers of Jesus. Yes? Which is why so much of this world considers Christianity such a threat. If you go to China, for example, Christianity is viewed as a threat to the authority of the state. The Communist Party insists that the state alone deserves the highest authority.
But Christians answer to authority even higher than that, don't we? And so they apply pressure.
Now, likewise, here in America, Christianity is still viewed as a threat. not so much to the authority of the state. but to the authority of the self. In China, the ultimate authority is vested in the state, in the Communist Party, but in America, the ultimate authority is vested in the self. I have the right to do anything I want, right?
This is called autonomous expressive individualism. American culture insists that the self alone deserves the highest authority. But Christians answer to an authority even higher than that. We answer to Jesus, and so the culture applies. Pressure, you see.
It's the same thing, just where the authority is vested. Verse 21, Jesus says, But all these things they will do to you on account of my name. Because they do not know him who sent Me. To follow Jesus, friends, means that we will encounter hostility. On account of my name, Jesus says.
The world's estrangement from God the Father, its hatred of Jesus the Son, will inevitably bring pressure upon those who claim the name. of Jesus because we follow the way of Jesus and his kingdom. We follow the way of Jesus and His church. Kingdom.
Now notice, friends, that Jesus is telling us that we will encounter hostility from the world because we bear the name of Jesus in the world. Not because we're obnoxious. Yeah. There's a huge difference. If we're encountering hostility because we're winsomely sharing and displaying the light of Jesus Christ in the world, That's to be expected.
Jesus prepared us for that eventuality. But if we're experiencing hostility because we're tactless, or because we're obnoxious. That's nothing to be proud of. We are to love our enemies. We are to pray for those who persecute us.
We are not to be anyone's pain in the neck. This is our distinct allegiance. Secondly, we see a distinct witness, a distinct witness. Look at verse 22. If I had not come and spoken to them, to the world, they would not have been guilty of sin.
But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen. and hated both me and my father.
But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. They hated me without. A cause. See friends, Jesus' presence in the world brings accountability, doesn't it? He came, he spoke, he revealed who he was, and now they're accountable for what they know.
In the same way, what he did, his miracles, his signs, as John has called them, are revealing who Jesus is, and now they're accountable for what they have seen and heard. The Son of God has come in the flesh. And revealed the Father to us to reconcile us to the Father through all that He is doing. And now, in rejecting Jesus, they've rejected the Father. In hating Jesus, they've hated the Father.
Just as Psalm 35, 19 and Psalm 69, verse 4 foretold they hated him without a cause. Verse 26, 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 bear witness about. Me. And you will also bear witness. Because you have been with me from the beginning.
Now, I don't know about you, but this verse here, 26 and 27, almost feels like a massive shift in topic, doesn't it? You know, he goes from rejection and hatred of Jesus now to the witness of the Holy Spirit and his disciples. But it's not an abrupt shift. Just as Jesus bore witness to himself in the world in his words and his works. Very soon, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit from the Father who will bear witness about Jesus in the world.
Jesus is leaving the world, and he will no longer be able to bear witness about himself. No more words, no more works. But the Spirit will come, you see. The helper will come and he will bear witness to Jesus in the world. And the disciples will bear witness as well.
Because they have been with him from the beginning, and because the helper will enable them to bear witness. Remember what Jesus said in John 14, verses 16 and 17. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper, he said. To be with you forever, even the spirit of truth. You know him, for he dwells with you, and he will be in you.
You.
So, the disciples will be Jesus' witnesses from now on. Jesus can't bear witness to himself, he's leaving, but the disciples will be his witness as the helper enables them to be his witness, as the Spirit Himself bears witness through them and in their lives.
Now, if you will, jump down with me to chapter 16, verse 7. where Jesus unpacks what this witness will actually look like. Verse 7, 16 verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, 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 go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin, concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
Now this always perplexed me. When Jesus says, it's to your advantage that I go away. You know, what can be better than Jesus with you, you know, right with you? He's right there. You could see him, you could talk to him, you could ask him questions, you could reach out and touch him.
What could be better than that? Jesus says, look, you want to know what's better than God alongside? God inside, that's what's better. God on the inside, I can only help you so much from the outside. But if I come inside you by the power of my Holy Spirit, my life can enter into your own life and become your life, and you can be in me, and I can be in you, and we will abide with one another, and there will be mutual indwelling and perichoresis as I enfold you in my love.
And as the Spirit comes and dwells in you, my life will flow in and through you and bear much fruit as you abide in me. And this spirit. This helper, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment as this is all happening. Look at verse 9. Concerning sin.
Because they do not believe in me. Let's just unpack these phrase by phrase. On the day of Pentecost. When God sent the Holy Spirit, this is Acts chapter 2. When God sent the Holy Spirit to come with wind and fire and dwell his people, It brought conviction of sin.
Listen to what Peter says in his sermon right after the filling of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2, verses 22 and 23. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, you yourselves know. This Jesus. Delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified.
and killed by the hands of sinful men. Convicting of sin. Verse 10 here. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer. Again, Peter's sermon.
Acts 2, 32 and 33. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Do you see it? Conviction concerning righteousness.
Verse 11, and concerning judgment, Jesus continues, because the ruler of this world is judged. Again, back to Peter. Acts chapter 2, verses 34 and 36, quoting from Psalm 110: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you love. Crucified.
Here he is. The crucified and risen King of kings and Lord of lords, victorious, risen, enthroned above sin, death, and Satan himself forever. See, that spirit is bearing witness. In his coming, Concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, but not just in Peter's day. But in every life, Of followers of Jesus Christ, the Spirit continues this convicting work.
in my life and yours. Through our lives, the abiding of Christ filled by the Spirit. Bearing much fruit in union with Christ, this helper, this spirit, continues to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment, friends, because we embody the convicting presence of God. We embody the convicting presence of God in this world. Wherever we go into the world, friends.
We never go alone. Do you realize this? You never travel alone. As a follower of Jesus, indwelt by the Spirit, God goes with you wherever you go into the world. And wherever God goes, he brings conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
It's not our job, friends. To convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Our job is to come in right behind that. and to share the good news.
That Jesus died for our sin. and that He offers us His righteousness. And that he has already won the judgment, and that his victory can be ours by faith in Jesus Christ. That is our distinct witness. Amen?
Amen. So we have a dis Yeah.
So we have a distinct allegiance, we have a distinct witness, and now finally a distinct bearing, a distinct bearing. Wind back up with me to 16 verse 1. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
And they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you. Jesus is saying, look, I don't want any of this to catch you off guard. I don't want you to expect an easy Life. I don't want you to Expect comfort.
I don't want you listen, America. I want you to expect luxury. or a pleasant life. If you follow me. You will suffer.
You will be excluded. You will be sneered at. You will be ostracized, you will be persecuted, you will be. Cancel. Verse four: I've said these things to you.
that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you. What does that sound like? Their hour comes. What does that sound like? Remember, all along through the book of John, Jesus has been saying, My hour has not yet come, my hour has not yet come.
And then at his last night, he says, My hour is at hand, it's here. The hour, the hour of what? The hour of his suffering, the hour of his glory and exaltation, right? I will be lifted up, and as I'm lifted up on the cross in shame, I will draw all people to myself, and there will be glory. He's saying, My hour of greatest shame and suffering is my hour of greatest honor and glory, and so it will be with you.
When this hour comes for you. When your hour comes, the hour of suffering, the hour of persecution, when you are hated and shamed and persecuted, it will also be for you an hour of glory. Verse 4, the second half: I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I'm going to him who sent me. And none of you ask me, where are you going?
But because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Heart, look, I'm telling you now what's coming. I'm preparing you for battle. I'm about to leave. I can't stay and protect you.
It's all gonna come at you now, and you're gonna have to stand on your own feet. You won't be able to hide behind me any longer. I know this brings sorrow into your soul. And then he goes through 7:11. We've already looked at it, that the Spirit is coming, the Helper will be with you.
You're not alone. He'll convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment through your lives. Verse 12: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. This path of discipleship as you follow me. is a costly path.
And if you knew all the costs that it would cost you over the course of your life, if you knew it up front, it would be too much to bear. But verse 13: When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and declare to you the things that are to come. The Holy Spirit, friends, will guide us. Walk with us each step of the way.
And when the hour. Persecution and pain comes, and you need to know what's coming, and you need to know what to do. Jesus says the Holy Spirit will tell you exactly what you need to know. Verse 14, he will glorify me. For he will take what is mine.
and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine, therefore, I said he will take what is mine and declare it. To you, it's a little convoluted. Everything the Father has. is given to the Son.
And the sun. will give it through the Spirit to us. You see this? That whatever trial we face, Whatever fire we endure, whatever hostility we receive. He says, I will be with you.
Always. To the very end of the age, as we suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit. We suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit. All that the Father has is Jesus. And all that is Jesus is ours through the Spirit.
And friends, here's what's amazing. Jesus' hour of suffering. Was the same hour when there was the highest level of conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment in the world? Yes. When he hung on that cross.
It was the most convicting moment in all of human history. for the world. And Jesus is saying, When we suffer. That same conviction. happens in the world through Us.
The world is convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment as the Spirit enables us to suffer well in the glorious strength that He provides. As we suffer in the glorious strength of the Spirit, friends. We embody the convicting presence of God in the world. And proclaim our ultimate allegiance. to the way of Jesus and His kingdom.
Our persecuted brothers and sisters all around the world. Tell us. that a suffering church is an unstoppable church. That the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. That persecution breeds perseverance.
That hostility unleashes holiness. and that crucifixion is the only way to resurrection glory. Our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, when they ask us to pray for them, they don't ask us to pray that the persecution stops. You know what they ask us to pray? that they would persevere to the end.
Could it be, friends? That the vast majority of Christians down throughout human history and around the globe, this moment, know something we don't know. That is. The power of suffering like Jesus. in the strength of the Spirit.
for the glory of God. What if our knee-jerk reaction. to always be quick to assert our own rights. Actually, it throttles the power and presence of God in our lives. What if suffering like Jesus grants us access to the depths Of all that God is for us in Jesus Christ by the mediation of the Spirit.
What if suffering like Jesus is actually our moment of greatest witness to the world of the presence of God? If that's true. It would make a whole lot of sense. of a bunch of passages. Let me just read you a few.
James 1, 2 to 4. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 1 Peter 2, verses 20 and 21.
If when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example. that you might follow in his Steps.
1 Peter 4, verses 12 to 14. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings. That you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are. Blessed. Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Hebrews 12, verses 1 to 3. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
despising the shame. and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you might not grow weary and faint-hearted. 2 Timothy 3 verse 12. Indeed, all.
Who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will B. Persecuted. That's clear enough. Let me just read that again. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will.
B. Persecuted. Romans 8:16 to 17: The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, provided. that we suffer with him.
in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Philippians 3. Verses 8, 10, and 11, Indeed, I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Matthew 5, 10 through 12. These are the words of Jesus.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you. And persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil falsely against you on my account.
Rejoice and be glad. For your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you. Or Acts 5, verses 40 and 41. After this, they called in the apostles.
and they beat them. and charge them not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore. And then they let them go. And the apostles left rejoicing. Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of his name.
So, friends, here's the takeaway. Stand strong in the Lord. Stand strong. in the Lord. Take up your cross.
and follow him. 1 Peter 5. 6 through 11, and with this we close. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.
so that at the proper time he may exalt you. Casting all your anxieties on him. Because he cares for you. Be sober-minded. Be watchful.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him. Firm in your faith. Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, The God of all grace.
who has called you. to His eternal glory in Christ. will himself restore. and confirm. and strengthen.
and establish you. to him. Be the dominion. forever. and ever.
Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father. Help us learn.
The way of Jesus. Help us learn the power. of the cross. Help us learn. to endure.
for the sake of your name.
Sometimes I think we're so. quick to try to get rid of the suffering. that we forget who we are becoming. in the suffering. which is really what you care about.
May these tests These trials become moments of glory. Through the power of your spirit. as we follow your son. to the glory. of your name.
We pray this. In the name of Jesus. Amen. On today's Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with another message in a series he's calling Loved by Jesus, the Book of John. We heard about the Helper, how the Holy Spirit is the presence of Christ in us, giving us the power to bear witness to Him since He's ascended to His Father.
In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
Next time, we meet the Overcomer, how the triumphant Christ overcomes sorrow with joy and estrangement with reunion. Plan to join us. Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers? That's a book by Pastor Lutzer. It's a biblical guide to God's hidden purposes.
It will be sent as our thank you when you give a gift of any amount to support The Moody Church Hour. For details, call 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to MoodyChurchHower.com. That's MoodyChurchHour.com.
or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North La Salle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.
