Abiding and Witnessing
John 15:26-27
In John 15 we have been studying what Jesus taught us about the Christ-abiding life. Beginning in John 15:1 Jesus instructed His disciples with the analogy of the vine and the branches, commanding them to “abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). This living union with our Lord Jesus Christ is the key to our life in Christ. As we abide in Christ He sustains us, nourishes us with His word, answers our prayers, and bears the fruit of Christ-like obedience and love in us to the glory of God.
As we saw last time, abiding in Christ will also mean hatred from the world. Starting in John 15:18 Jesus tells His disciples that the world will also hate them because it hated Him. Remember, the term “world” refers to the organized world system under Satan’s rule that is opposed to God and His rightful King, Jesus Christ. The world of unbelievers hated the Son of God when He was incarnate on earth. They treated Him with cynical indifference, with sneering contempt, with mockery. The Gospels record that they spat upon Him and took the reed and beat Him on the head. They stripped him and placed a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns on Him then mocked him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Though He was innocent of any crime they scourged Him; condemned Him to death; forced Him to carry His cross to Golgotha where they crucified Him while the authorities and the crowds ridiculed Him.
True disciples of Jesus Christ are those who abide in Him and bear the fruit of Christ-likeness in their lives. This Christ-abiding life will bring the same kind of hatred from the world that Jesus Himself experienced.
Though hated by the world, Jesus tells them in John 15:16 that He has chosen them out of the world. He has appointed them to go and to bear fruit that will remain. Part of that fruit certainly includes Christ-like converts, disciples who believe and follow Jesus Christ. Then at the end of John 15:20, Jesus encourages them saying, “If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Just as some have believed and obeyed Jesus’ word, some are going to respond in belief and obedience to the words of His disciples. Ultimately that was John’s purpose in writing His Gospel (John 20:31), “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Therefore as disciples of Christ we are on His mission not to show contempt for the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). We do this not by being of the world, conforming to the world, but by bearing witness to Jesus in this hostile world.
Jesus knows the disciples are wondering how on earth are they going to be able to endure all of this. At the beginning of the next chapter (John 16:1) Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” Then in John 16:6 Jesus says to them, “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” No doubt they are wondering, “Lord, it’s bad enough that You are going to leave and, frankly, we don’t even fully understand why. We thought that You were going to bring in the kingdom now. But You tell us that this godless, unbelieving world is going to hate us. How are we supposed to even survive in this world without You, much less bear fruit?” Well, the answer is found in our text this morning. John 15:26-27,
26 “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. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
A key word in those two verses is the word “testify” or “witness”. In John 15:26 it is the Spirit who will “testify” of Jesus and in John 15:27 Jesus tells His disciples that they too will “bear witness”. These terms translate the same Greek word (μαρτυρέω, martyréō) from which we get our English word martyr. It means to give a testimony or to be a witness. Because so many early Christian witnesses were persecuted and put to death this word later came mean to attest to the truth of Christ by suffering and death.
Now, understanding that we are living a Christ-abiding life and knowing the world’s hatred of Christ and those who belong to Him, we want to answer the question: how can we bear a fruitful witness for Christ in this world?
This is our calling, our commission. Therefore our response towards this hostile world must not be resentment, revenge, or compromise. Rather our response is to bear witness to the transforming power of the living Christ. It’s for this reason that Jesus will send from the Father, the Spirit of truth. Again, in our text, “… He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness…”
How can we bear witness in the face of such a hostile world? Jesus shows that we can do so only through the Spirit of truth. So we have just two main points today: 1) The Spirit testifies of Jesus; 2) Christ’s disciples testify of Jesus.
I. The Spirit testifies of Jesus (John 15:26).
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.
Jesus will send His disciples out to bear witness to the world. But He knows that none of us can do this effectively and boldly without help. None of us can give testimony to the glory and grace of Christ on our own. He has already said (John 15:5), “… without Me you can do nothing.”
So for this reason He sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus has already promised this Helper in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” In those verses we saw that the Holy Spirit is Another paracletos. Another of the same kind, One like Jesus who will come alongside believers and dwell in believers to comfort and encourage them. Then in John 14:26 Jesus clarifies that this Helper, the Spirit of Truth is the person of the Holy Spirit, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” So when we come John 15:26 when Jesus says, “ But when the Helper comes,” we know He is talking about the person of the Holy Spirit of God.
Here we see some truths about the Holy Spirit.
A. He is sent by Jesus from the Father.
“ But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father …” that verse sparked a controversy that split the Eastern and Western churches over whether the Spirit eternally proceeds only from the Father (Eastern) or from the Father and the Son (Western).
But in the context, Jesus was not referring to the ontological nature of the trinity, but rather to the mission of the Holy Spirit. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to continue the mission of the Son. So to put it very simply: Jesus is going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to join with the disciples for the primary purpose of bearing witness about Him to a hostile world.
B. He is the Spirit of Truth.
As we saw in John 14:6, Jesus Himself is the truth. As John wrote in His introduction to the Gospel (John 1:17), “… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Jesus was the truth and spoke the truth. He said to His enemies in John 8:40, “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God…”
Now in the same way the Holy Spirit will testify the truth because He is the Spirit of truth. Jesus will say again a few verses later (John 16:13), “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” The apostle John wrote (1 John 5:6), “… And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”
C. He testifies of Jesus.
John 15:26, “…He will testify of Me.”
The Holy Spirit’s primary ministry to the lost world is to testify to Jesus Christ. In John 16:14 Jesus says, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus Christ. He will always speak of the words of Christ and the works of Christ. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost Peter, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit who had come upon the apostles, boldly declared (Acts 2:32), “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” And in Acts 5 the apostles proclaimed to the Sanhedrin,
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:30-32).
This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit. He bears witness of Jesus Christ. And that must be the message of His church as well. “The message of the church is not to be political activism, social reform or psychological self-fulfillment but Jesus Christ.” (John MacArthur).
How does the Holy Spirit testify? He does it through the Word of God, which He inspired, but also through believers. We see that in John 15:27.
II. Christ’s disciples testify of Jesus (John 15:27).
27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
The Holy Spirit testifies to Jesus through the testimony of faithful believers. The two are inseparably linked. It is the Spirit who enables believers to testify to the world about Jesus Christ.
A. Our witness is Spirit-empowered.
In Luke 24 when Jesus appeared to the apostles after His resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:46-48), “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.” The disciples were witnesses who must go out and preach this good news to the world. They must bear witness.
But first, Jesus tells them to wait. They will need power for witnessing. So He tells them in the next verse (Luke 24:49), “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” So vital was the empowering of the Holy Spirit that they were to wait to fulfill the mission to the world until the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Before Jesus was taken up into heaven He told His disciples (Acts 1:8), “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The only way we can bear witness to Jesus Christ in a hostile world in through the empowering of the Holy Spirit of God.
B. Our witness comes from intimacy with Christ.
Jesus says to His disciples (John 15:27), “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
The apostles were qualified to testify about Christ because they had been with Him from the beginning. They could speak from first-hand, eye-witness experience. John writes in his first epistle (1 John 1:1-3),
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life– 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us– 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Peter also writes (2Pe 1:16), “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
Christians today are not eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ like the apostles were, but we are called to witness to the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in God’s word. Don’t miss this. Christian witness must proceed from abiding in Christ. The disciples were witnesses because they had been with Christ. In Acts 4 after Peter and John had been dragged before the Jerusalem elders and high priests, filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8) Peter boldly proclaimed about Jesus, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Now listen to the reaction of those who heard Peter’s witness (Acts 4:13): “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” We can witness for Christ only when we have been with Christ.
As Christ abides in us through the Holy Spirit whom He has given and we abide in Him by faith and by having His word dwelling richly in us, we too will be bold witnesses for Christ. Our witness is this (1 John 4:14-15): “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
Do you desire a relationship with God? The Father has sent His Son into the world to die for your sins that have separated you from His Holy presence. God raised His Son from the dead so that He could give eternal life to all who believe in His name confessing that Jesus is the Son of God. Today, if you turn from your sin in repentance and believe in your heart in Jesus Christ, confessing with your mouth that He is Lord—you will be saved. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13). Call on Him today. Do not wait. You may not have another opportunity.
And Christians pray for alertness to opportunities to testify and boldness when you speak. That is what the apostles prayed for after the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had threatened them (Acts 4:29), “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.” The result was (Acts 4:31), “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” Have you prayed like that?
