JOHN 15:18-25, 16:1-4
THE GLORY OF PERSECUTION
Application Guide
READ THE TEXT
JOHN 15:18-25
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. 20 Remember the word I spoke 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 also keep yours. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.
JOHN 16:1-4
16:15:1 “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. 2 They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me. 4 But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
In general, was there anything that stood out to you from the sermon or the reading of the text? Was there anything you were encouraged or confused by?
What are some forms of persecution that Christians could face today (both in our context and around the world)?
According to the passage, why was Jesus persecuted?
According to the passage, why are followers of Jesus persecuted?
According to the passage, why does Jesus tell us about persecution before it happens?
How are Christians called to respond to persecution? And how is this made possible?
How was the gospel and the work of Jesus magnified through the text or sermon?
Is there anything the Spirit is calling you to obey as an individual or as a group?