Neal Cordle: Mike, Praise team, thank you for leading us to worship through song this morning. And now as we turn our attention to God's word, we're going to worship through his word. It's been five years since we met Harvest for the first time. Josh moved to Raleigh. Joan and I were preparing to move to the Middle East, and that we had more than a little angst of leaving a 24-year-old single guy here in this area without a lot of friends, without a lot of support network. But he found Harvest almost immediately. And some of you have adopted him as a Son, others as a brother, and we are insanely proud. Of the young man that Josh has become, and incredibly grateful for the impact that Harvest has had on his life and bringing us the encouragement and assurance that we needed to leave him here as we pursued God's call into the Middle East. the Middle East, I would be known as Abu Josh, father of Josh. And that's so that's kind of where that came from as Mike was introducing me this morning. In fall of 2024, John and I sat with Maria and Matthew back in the back one Sunday morning. we asked them to consider joining us as prayer partners. We didn't need money. We just wanted to know that we had a place to come home to where people would recognize us, and this would be a place of refuge for us. And they agreed, and so many of you have prayed for us. You've perhaps seen this prayer card laying around in areas, maybe it's on your refrigerator. I met some of you last week for the very first time who said, We've been praying for you. And that just is an amazing blessing to us. In May 11th of this year, we were We in Istanbul, Turkey, and we received word that our world had changed. In broken English, our doctor there in Turkey looked at us and she said, It is not good. In that Turkish accent. And I learned that I had been diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer, and we were forced to return from the field to Jacksonville, Florida, where we have been undergoing treatment. So many of you have prayed for us. I learned this morning there's another prayer card for us back here. This one has a link at the bottom to our Caring Bridge note, and many a page, and many of you have been following us on Caring Bridge, and not that I'm superstitious, but we have been stuck at 666 visitors for a little over a week. And so we If you would like to help us move off of 666, these cards are right back here, just through this door. Pick one up, subscribe, and follow our progress as we continue treatment. God has done an amazing work in my life. Frankly, in July, I had doubts, sincere doubts, that we would ever visit Harvest again. But God has done an amazing miracle. We're living in the miracle as He brings healing. And you're a part of that journey. Thank you. I'm grateful to be here. a couple of weeks ago, Matthew and I talked and he invited me to take this time this morning, even before we knew what the circumstances would be. God is over all and in all. And we can rest in that this morning. So as you know, we're going to be looking at John chapter 15 this morning. So as we turn our attention there, let me ask you a question. What does it take to keep you silent about your testimony of God and his work in your life? For example, you're going through the checkout line at the grocery store or the home improvement sign store and you hear God's voice kind of whispering in your ear, speak a word of encouragement and testimony, and you're going, now? Because there are people behind me and I don't want to inconvenience them. God, now they're gonna think I'm weird. I don't know, maybe it's only me that's had that experience, but the question is what does it take to silence your testimony? And that's what we're going to be looking at this morning. Most of us are afraid of being rejected or feeling weird or made to feel weird. Or perhaps there's something a little deeper in our life that silences our word. It's a normal response, but if you don't speak up, the question is who will? And this is a world, we live in a world that needs a witness and testimony of Christ. In John chapter 15, you remember the context, and this is Jesus' Last Supper with His disciples. It's their last time together, together. He's giving them instructions and directions of how they're going to live when he departs. They don't understand that. They've already questioned what he meant when he said, I'm going away to prepare a place for you. But I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm sending you a comforter. An advocate. But the disciples were confused. So as we look at John chapter 15 this morning, I want you to realize that these are Jesus' instructions to his disciples specifically. But out of those instructions, we can draw some principles that we can apply to our lives as well today. So we return again to John chapter 15, verse 18, when Jesus says, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, because I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word that 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. Here's the first point I want you to see this morning. In a world that is alienated. From God, expect persecution. John starts off, Jesus starts off by saying if. That doesn't suggest that there's doubt. When he says if you experience if the world hates you, what he's saying is there's a certainty to this. If the world hates you, and trust me, they're going to hate you if you live for me. Jesus is saying you can expect persecution. The word translated world. Is actually the world word cosmos. It means, in the broadest sense, all of creation. And we live in a broken world today. In fact, death, destruction, sickness, and illness is all evidence that sin has corrupted God's original perfect creation and purpose. But in this case, and throughout John's Gospel, when John speaks of the world, what he's speaking about is a worldly system that has set itself against God. These are people whose Hearts are bent away from God. They do not allow God to reign and rule over their lives, but instead stand opposition. The world cannot hate you, Jesus told his brothers because they were still in the world. But he said, It does hate me because I testify it that its works are evil. To hate means to experience extreme enmity or hostility. Well, why does the world hate us so much? Because those who have been called out of the world by Christ are not in the world. You and I are recognized as something different from the worldly system. We're not living for ourselves, we're living for a king. We're living for one who sovereignly rules and reigns in our hearts. And when we give testimony to him, the world is offended by that testimony. Verse 19, Jesus said, if you belong to the world, the world would love you. As it is, you don't belong to the world. I've chosen you out of the world, and that's why the world hates you. Now there's a temptation here if we're not careful. We can go through life and go, Jesus has called me out of the world. I'm different than the rest of you. That's not what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is saying, I have called you out, and I'm putting within you a new heart, and I'm going to give you my spirit, so that you can walk in boldness and stand and live differently than the people around you in the world. And when Jesus says that some will believe what you have said, they will keep my word, others will turn against your word. We're reminded that we're not responsible for the testimony. Or the receipt of the testimony. We're responsible for how we bear testimony into a broken world. Let me give you a definition this morning as we work through persecution, because persecution is not really a concept that we deal with in the West like they do in other parts of the world. So here's a broad definition of persecution. Persecution is any threat of or act of harm directed towards a believer for the purpose of silencing his or her testimony. Persecution in its broadest form is any threat or harm directed towards a Christian for the purpose of silencing his or her testimony. Jesus told the disciples that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. He identifies five areas in our life. Our heart is our our emotion represents our emotions. Our soul, the spiritual aspect of our life. Our mind, the cognitive part of our life, with all your strength, physical. And love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. Speaks to the relational aspect. We have emotional, spiritual, cognitive, physical, and relational. Five basic areas in a believer's life. Persecution can be directed at any or all of those. People will challenge your emotions, they will challenge your intellectual belief, they will challenge your relationships, your relationships may be broken when you stand firm and give testimony to the h reason that the hope is within you, the presence of Christ, the dwelling of his spirit within you. In each of those areas, we can experience persecution. Now, persecution is not always violent, and not every Christian is going to experience persecution. Persecution or constantly, and not all unbelievers hate Christians, but the worldly system is set apart and set opposed to the things of God. So in the midst of this, we can experience persecution. And in some cases, it is violent. I want to put a picture up behind this, a picture that comes from open doors. It's hard for you to read, I recognize that, but open doors is a is an organization. That encourages, trains, and equips leaders in the persecuted church around the world. The map portions that are in color represent the 50 countries where persecution is at its greatest today. And just running down the top ten of these, these are countries that you hear about every day in the news. Iran, Christians are viewed as spies and pressured to renounce their faith. Libya, in Libya, Christians can be arrested, attacked, and Kidnapped and enslaved. In Pakistan, many Christians are poor, enslaved, marginalized without access to food or to care. In Nigeria, more Christians are killed for faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. And today millions of Christians are displaced from their homes. In Syria, suicide attacks and organized violence against Christians. Has driven many Syrian believers out of that country, out of their homeland. In Eritrea, worshiping outside the church is illegal, with penalties of up to ten years in prison if arrested. Sudan, caught in the crossfire of a civil war, millions of Christians have been displaced without access to food or aid. Yemen, extremist in government, leads to arrest and rejection, even death. In Somalia to believe is to be excluded from your family or your clan. And in North Korea, which is considered to be the most dangerous country of all in which to be a Christian even owning a Bible is illegal. Around the world, people are being persecuted for their beliefs with the threat of or acts of harm for the purpose of silencing their witness and their testimony. Can we pause just for a moment and ask God in your sovereignty? There are millions of people who call you Lord today, but they are actively being persecuted for their faith. God, I pray not that you would remove them or necessarily protect them, but I pray, God, that they would be faithful. To continue to share the testimony and give reason for the hope that is within them. Father, encourage them today and remind us often that though we are not physically persecuted in the extreme ways that we see around the world, other believers are. And we pray that your gospel in your church would continue to expand in Christ's name. Amen. Let me make just a couple of quick observations about persecution. First of all, the absence of persecution in your life does not necessarily mean that God is pleased with you. In fact, if you're silent already, why persecute you? If no one knows what you believe, if no one hears an active word of testimony, you're not setting yourself apart from God. So why would you expect to experience persecution? The absence of persecution doesn't necessarily mean that God is pleased with your life. On the other hand, persecution is not necessarily the sign of God's blessing. We can be persecuted for entirely the wrong reasons, not because we're faithful in giving our testimony, but because sometimes people that we know and love can be more than just a little bit obnoxious in their faith. One man said, I'm being persecuted at my place of business for my Christian belief, but I've resolved it. Well, how did you resolve it? I grabbed that man by the collar and shook him and told him if he didn't stop talking bad about me, I was gonna take care of him. That's not being persecuted for your faith. That's being persecuted because you're just mean, maybe, or carnal, or you've got those areas in your life that God has not overcome. Nick Ripkin, who wrote a book, a couple of books, but one is called specifically The Insanity of God, he warns us that if we experience persecution, we would we should weigh the reason. And the reason for our persecution should be best based on the testimony of Christ in our life and not because of our own personal beliefs or action to change society outside. Was Jesus hated? Well, within 24 hours of him speaking those words into the lives of the disciples, he was arrested, put on trial for crimes that he didn't commit. He was abused, he was beaten, he was attacked, he was placed on a cross, impaled by a spear. Jesus was hated by the world. And his admonition to the disciples is if the world hated me, they're gonna hate you too. So then how do we respond? We continue in our reading in John chapter 15, verse 21. They will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don't know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen and heard both me and my father, but this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled. They hated me for no reason. When the counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. You will also testify because you have been with me from the beginning. Why is the world so vehemently opposed to Christ? Jesus says, because they're ignorant of God. And so our response in the face of persecution first is when we're faced with persecution, we should exalt the savior. We should lift God up. You're going, but that doesn't make sense. I'm being persecuted because I'm already lifting God up exactly. Because the world stands against God, and until the world's heart is turned towards God, we can expect persecution. So our first response then is to exalt the Savior. We're currently living in Florida and I've I need to tell you, my wife is an incredible housekeeper. She keeps a clean and tidy house. Every apartment, every property that we've ever lived in, w she has left it cleaner than it was when we moved in. But I can tell you in our apartment in Florida, in the middle of night at midnight, when you wake up with the munchies and you decide you need a bowl of ice cream to go back to to sleep, and you turn on the lights. There are some evil little creatures that start scurrying for cover, cover. I call them palmetto bugs because I just can't bring myself to call them cockroaches. She calls them what they are, cockroaches. Now it's a kind of a crude illustration, but do you see when Jesus said, I am the light of the world? That He stepped into a broken world, a sinful world that is alienated from God. And Jesus made sin that was hidden visible. He shone the light and shined the light on an evil and sinful generation. And the generation responded, number one, running for cover, but saying, I'm coming back. For you, which is what those little evil creatures do the next night. We've been gone for a week, and we did get word that the exterminator pest control showed up this week. So we're optimistic when we get home tomorrow night. We can turn on the light, and it'll be okay. The truth of the gospel convicts people, convicts them of our sin. And in our society, one of the things that we do most often is we don't want to acknowledge our sin. We want to turn our attention to something else. This morning I was reviewing my notes and the story popped in my head. It's A memory now that's 50 years old, but I can remember my mom coming home from work one afternoon, and I could hear her voice as she got out of the car outside. No one ever stops at that stop sign. And no one ever drives the speed limit beside the ball field. And she wasn't wrong. Most people didn't stop at the stop sign. And most people didn't drive the speed limit. But when you grow up in a small town in Middle Georgia, the police department knows that. And that's where they put themselves in the place where people will run a stop sign. And people will speed. And they will write a ticket. But rather than accepting the responsibility for that, what's our natural response? I can't believe that policeman did that to me. But mom, you ran the stop sign. But nobody stops at the stop sign. I know. But there's a law. And in our world of relativity, of relative truth, relative ethics, relative morality, people will try to get away with anything. And in a society where none of us are responsible for our own behavior, we need to find someone to blame for our discomfort. That's the world's response to God. Jesus has shined the light on the sinful man. And the world responds in anger. And so Jesus said, If you live as I did, you can expect to be persecuted. The reason is they don't know God, they don't know me. So how are they going to know God? How are they going to know Christ? You and I have to be faithful to continue to speak our testimony and our witness into a lost and broken world. We exalt the Savior. The word Paraclete in John chapter 14 is often translated as the counselor or the comforter, but in this sense we can also interpret it as an advocate, as someone who stands with us in a court of law, facing those who would accuse us. And Jesus said, I'm going to send the Spirit to you, and the Spirit will empower you to speak of the things that you have seen and heard. There's a beautiful picture of the Trinity here. Do you see this? That God is going to send the Spirit at the request of Christ, and the Spirit represents Christ and God dwelling within us to empower us to be faithful to give testimony to what God has done and what we have seen and heard. A life that is pleasing to God is a life that by example, word, and deed demonstrate the righteousness of Christ. Jesus did not shy away from his calling, but Jesus embraced his calling and the Father's teacher teaching and empowers us with the Spirit to speak on his behalf. Early on in this cancer journey, I asked God, God, what what head space do I need to be in? When I played football, I was a I was a linebacker, believe that. It was a small town in Georgia. But I was a linebacker because I I just got charged by preventing the other team from scoring. Now, some people loved offense. They love moving in. That's not me. I'm more of a defensive rather than offensive player. And I said, God, I know that I need to have a mental A mental framework to face cancer. And it can't be my framework, it needs to be your framework. And God said this. He said, When people ask how you're doing, I want you to think about how you respond to that. Why don't you respond in this way? God is healing me of cancer. First time I tried that was in the infusion lab, in the infusion center at the hospital in Jacksonville. And a man walked by and he said, Hello, Mr. Quartle, how are you today? And I looked at him and said, God is healing me of cancer. And he stopped. And he looked at me, he said, Do you mind if I sit down and talk with you for a moment? I'd like to understand what you're saying to me. I didn't realize, but he was the chaplain. And I had an opportunity to share with him my belief that God is healing me of cancer. It may be in Hebrews 11, it said that many of those in the hall of faith did not experience God's promise until they entered his presence. That may be how God heals me. But he can also use the doctors and the nurses and staff and the knowledge that he's given to smart people to bring healing into my life now. And as we continue to make progress, we're just trusting that God continues to give strength. And continues to give ability in this time and this season. I was having coffee one morning with a young man who serves as a missionary in Asia in a very difficult place. And he got up to go inside to get a coffee and a bagel that he had ordered that they were still preparing. And as he did, he walked out, and there was a young lady there who had her hand on my shoulder, her eyes closed, her hand up. And she was praising God that He was bringing healing into my life. It was a I think she was Pentecostal perhaps. We were having church right there on the sidewalk of a coffee shop. And he sat down and he looked at me. He said, Okay, what did I miss? I was on and gone. What just happened here? I said, Well, this young lady got out of her car, I made we made eye contact and said, Good morning. And as she reached for the doorknob to open the door, she said, How are you today? And I said, God is healing me of cancer. And she let go of the doorknob and walked around and said, Tell me what you're talking about. And I began to share with her what God was doing in my life, and she broke out into a prayer for God's continued work in my life. Now you can choose in circumstance to be silent about what God is working. But God, in that preparatory moments up until that point, has said, Oftentimes be discerning. When you share, when people say, How are you doing? simply share with them, God is healing me of cancer. Give me the glory for it. And I'll continue to do the work. Now I'll be honest, there have been some that have kind of given me the side eye and continue walking, especially in the infusion center. A nurse will come get me and how are you doing today? God is healing me of cancer and he's using you to do it. And that makes some people uncomfortable. But it's okay. Because I can't be silent because of what God is doing. In the midst of persecution, he calls us to exalt the Savior. As he says, some of the things they'll, if they believe my teaching, they'll believe yours. If they don't believe my teaching, they won't believe you. We're not responsible for the world's response. We're responsible for our testimony. But what else does God say? He says, when faced with persecution, and this is our third and Last point of application this morning. When faced with persecution, endure without stumbling. Endure without stumbling. Jesus said in chapter 16, verse 1, I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They'll 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'll do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. But I've said these things to you that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you. When Jesus said, I've told you these things to keep you from falling away, that word is scandalize. Transliterated from Greek. I don't want you to be a scandal. I don't want you to be surprised when this happens. But more importantly, I don't want you to stumble. And the picture there is again, before I get out of the bedroom at midnight, going out for my midnight bowl of ice cream, if I stub my toe on the bedframe, that's stumbling in the darkness. And so Jesus is saying to the disciples, look, there are going to be some consequences that come to you. But I'm telling you now because I don't want you to stumble, to be unaware in the darkness, and to fall away. Here's probably one of the most powerful points that God brought to my attention in studying this this week. Jesus was telling the disciples. You can worry about being persecuted and lose your life, or you can worry about stumbling and falling away from the faith. Which is the greater danger to you? And I think he was saying to the disciples, I'm telling you these things because I don't want you to lose your faith in the one that walks with you through the valley, as we prayed, and Mike reminded us this morning. I don't want you to lose your confidence that the Spirit of God dwells within you. I want you to walk with confidence and endurance to the end and not fall away and being silent. I think the disciple, the greatest risk to the disciples was, in fact, that they would fall away rather than endure faithfully, regardless of the cost. When Jesus said they're going to put you out of the synagogue, that meant. Excommunication, to be excommunicated out of a community, was a serious thing in the first century. All family networks, all social networks, all religious networks were broken away. And you know the story of Saul, who later became Paul. He was the one who with zeal went persecuting the young church, killing and imprisoning them for following what he considered to be a false religion. But God changed him. From Stephen to the thousands of modern martyrs, witnesses for Christ have always faced persecution. But the danger and challenge is not the loss of life. Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, but it's to live a life that is estranged from God, having met him. But saying, I'm going to allow the threat or the act of harm silence my voice. Around the world, over 388 million Christians are facing high levels of persecution. We talked about them, but in the face of that, the church continues to grow. The gospel continues to be proclaimed. In some places it's incremental. In others it's exponential. The reality of persecution should not surprise us. Instead, when faced with persecution, we need to recommit ourselves to exalting the Savior, who through his spirit dwells within us and empowers us to give witness and testimony to his grace and his mercy. And we endure to the end. And what Jesus promised to the disciples, they experienced it. Except for John, the other ten disciples. Died martyrs' death. They experienced what Jesus promised that they would experience. The reality of persecution should not surprise us. What perhaps should surprise us is the absence of persecution in our country. The absence of persecution we have in our country is abnormal in the history of church. Perhaps the danger is not our response to persecution, but our response to society, and we have accommodated or have been assimilated into a worldly system in which to go along to get along, we quiet our voice and do not speak of the one who saved us and dwells within us and empowers us. To endure. There's a price to be paid for following Christ. There's a price to be paid. The question Dick Ripkin sought to answer in the insanity of God was: Is the price worth it? Is the price of persecution worth the blessing of walking, empowered by the Spirit of God, to boldly allow him to take you to places you couldn't imagine? Can I encourage you then to live in such a way that you exalt Christ and you endure despite the circumstances that you may have? A final thought on persecution. Being involved in a community of faith, the covenant community of faith, is one of the best defenses that you have against falling away. The more isolated you are as an individual believer, the greater dang danger that you're going to fall away or stumble. Our experience over the last five years, if you're a guest this morning and you're not a part of Harvest, is this is a community of faith that believes in encouraging one another to cultivate joy in Jesus. Regardless of the circumstance. If you're not a part, you're looking for a covenant community of faith, you're looking for a church home, the I could say a connect tent, right? Come meet us after the service. Let us talk with you about what God may be doing in your life. Maybe you're in a place this morning where you're standing against God. You've never come to experience salvation in Christ. Perhaps He's drawing you into that relationship this morning. Perhaps you have stumbled but you want to be reestablished. We'd like to talk to you also. You can talk to Mike, you can talk to me, you can talk to any of the elders, and if you don't know who they are, you can go to the Connect Tent and you'll be introduced to someone who can encourage you through this experience. As we close, I want to take us back to First Peter for just a moment. Approximately 30 years after this Last Supper, approximately 30 years of faithful witness of the Apostle Peter and his life and the experiences of persecution and hardship he experienced, he wrote a letter. He wrote a couple of letters. First Peter is the one that I'll refer to this morning. Thirty years after Jesus returned to the Father, listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, and ask yourself the question Did Peter get it in that upper room with Jesus? Beloved, he says, 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 in so far 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. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. You hear what he's saying there? Be sure that your persecution is based on your relationship with Christ, not because of your sinful behavior. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. Did Peter get it? It's the same message that Jesus gave him in the upper room. And he lived it and tested it for three decades. And now in the closing days of his life can reflect on that and say it's true. But it's worth it to have the Spirit of God dwelling upon you and working within you to change your heart and your affections to be focused on Him. Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy this morning that you brought us to this place if we've looked into your word. And God, we're reminded that your ways are not our ways, and certainly your ways are not the ways of the world. And Father, when we face persecution and face hardship or face the threats or the acts that would try to silence us, God, I pray that we would respond with boldness and assurance and faithfulness and exalt our Savior, trusting that he will hold us as we endure to the end. In his holy name I pray. Amen.