No Illusions; Ready to Overcome

David W Palmer

(John 16:1 NLT) “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.”

Jesus could never be disillusioned, because he did not live under any illusions—either about the future, or about the potential for his followers to fall away. Despite all that they had seen and experienced with him, Jesus knew that it was still possible for his own apprentices to “abandon” their faith. To help prevent that, he warned them very strongly about some of what could happen to them for following him. Obviously, if they were expecting life with Jesus to be continually going from one level of euphoria to another, they would be leaving themselves open to great disillusionment and discouragement:

(John 16:2–4 NLT) “For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. {3} This is because they have never known the Father or me. {4} Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.”

This certainly is a very sobering and dire warning. Jesus leaves his friends with no doubt that they would “be expelled” from meeting places (like churches) for their faith in him. He went as far as to say that “whoever kills you will think that he is offering a service to God” (NHEB). 

In recent decades, the media has reported many cold-blooded murders of Christians by those who believe they are serving God. This level of persecution doesn’t come about because we have done anything wrong; Jesus said it happens because “they have never known the Father or me.”

Next, our Lord alluded to the fact that he would be going away from them, temporarily: “I didn’t tell you earlier, because I was going to be with you for a while longer”:

(John 16:5–6 NLT) “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. {6} Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.”

To be honest, I’m not surprised that directly after telling his apprentices that they would be expelled and killed, they would be focused on themselves and their future. In contrast to their “natural” reaction, Jesus wanted them to keep their focus on him. This is the best possible advice for us all. The Holy Spirit echoed this idea:

(Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT) “... let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. {2} We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

Jesus is not insecure—wanting everyone’s attention on him to make him feel better. He wanted them to keep their eyes on what he was about to achieve for them:

(John 16:7 NLT) “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”

Jesus’s death and resurrection would open the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit to be in them and with them—guiding, empowering, enlightening, strengthening, comforting, and interceding for them. But Jesus’s death and resurrection achieved many more great advantages for them: new birth, righteousness, grace, holy power, ministry gifts, etc. Jesus wanted his friends focused on his resurrection victory, his achievements, their new identity in him, and on the greater one living inside them. This would not only lead to praise of God, but also to faith and mind-renewal for them. In other words, the very best approach for overcoming whatever tests, trials, and persecutions that would come their way is to remain focused on Jesus’s victory and achievement, along with maintaining a close relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Today, I believe Jesus wants you with no illusions about what awaits you as you follow him. But he also wants to remind us afresh to

Depicting God’s Truth In Partnership with His Holy Spirit

David W Palmer

(John 15:22–23 NKJV) “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. {23} He who hates Me hates My Father also.”

Our wonderful Lord Jesus was speaking of the people who rejected both his Father and him. He says, in effect, that they would have been better off if they had never heard him or seen the signs and wonders God sent through him. Jesus had already said something similar to them in John 9:

(John 9:39–41 NLT) Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” {40} Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” {41} “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

Pride prevented these Pharisees from admitting they were blind spiritually. Obviously, they were; earlier in John 9, they were unable to “see” what caused the “man” to be born blind. They couldn’t see the problem, and they certainly couldn’t see the solution. Jesus, on the other hand, could plainly see both; and he demonstrated this to them conclusively by healing the man’s blindness (See: John 9:1–7). 

The fact of these Pharisee’s spiritual blindness was obvious to everyone else, including the ex-blind man. But they still refused to admit they were [spiritually] blind, and therefore in need of a spiritual shepherd—which Jesus obviously was—to guide them. As a result of this proud choice, Jesus assessed them thus: “You remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

(John 15:24–25 NLT) “If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. {25} This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’”

The “miraculous signs” that God performed through Jesus were sent to confirm that his message was truly from God:

(Hebrews 2:1, 3–4 NLT) So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. ... {3} So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? {4} And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

We note that in this passage, not only does the Holy Spirit tell us plainly that “God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders, etc.,” but it warns us to “listen very carefully to the truth we have heard.” In other words, if God sends us an important message, and then confirms it with supernatural signs—such as healings—then we should not focus our attention on the messenger, but listen very humbly to the message.

Why is the message so important? Because it is God speaking to us. And we certainly don’t want to receive the assessment that the Pharisees of John 9 received; so, let’s heed whatever message God sends our way—especially when he confirms it clearly with supernatural signs and wonders that are from him.

The Pharisees, etc. refused to listen to the message God sent and confirmed to them through Jesus. As a result, Jesus said that their refusal to heed was tantamount to hating God:

(John 15:24–25 NLT) “If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. {25} This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’”

The apostle Peter was present at the Last Supper, and was on the walk to Gethsemane when Jesus said this. Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he later said:

(2 Peter 2:21 NLT) “It would be better if they had never known the way to rig

Jesus’s Wisdom for Dealing with Rejection, Hatred, and Persecution - David W Palmer

The World and Its Superstars Are Not Our Kingdom

David W Palmer

Our wonderful Lord Jesus was in his final “deep-and-meaningful” huddle with his 11 remaining “friends.” This took place at the Last Supper and walk to Gethsemane, just prior to his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. While speaking of his Father’s and his love for them, and about their need to love each other, he suddenly began to speak about “hate.” The wisdom and warning contained in these words is something we should heed with all of our hearts:

(John 15:18–19 NKJV) “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. {19} If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Perhaps the Amplified Bible puts it in a way that brings out more clearly what Jesus was saying:

(John 15:18 AMP) “If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”

Jesus is certainly not paranoid or insecure—believing mistakenly that the world hates him; “it does.” We should be under no illusion either; the entire world system—run by God’s archenemy, Satan—hates all those who are connected to Jesus:

(1 John 5:19 NLT) We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

King Jesus made it very clear that neither he nor his kingdom was part of Satan’s evil world system:

(John 18:36 NLT) Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

Thankfully, those of us who are in Jesus are not of this world any more than Jesus was:

(John 17:14–16 NKJV) “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. {15} I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. {16} They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

In our opening passage, Jesus said that he “chose” us “out of the world,” and that’s a reason why the world hates us. Here he expands on this and says to his Father, “I have given them your word; and the world has hated them.” 

Jesus chose us, and then gave us the privilege of receiving God’s word. This is what brings the world’s animosity; Satan controls the world and its people. Yes, we need to take this truth seriously, renew our minds with it, and not simply reject it as being too far fetched: the whole world system and those in it are controlled by Satan; “the world hates you” because of your connection to King Jesus and God’s word.

The enemy certainly panicked when Jesus gave his chosen ones God’s word. Why? because Jesus rules his kingdom with words. When we receive the words Jesus gave us from his Father, believe them, grow them to harvest in the soil of our hearts, and act on them; Jesus’s kingdom expands. Simple logic tells us that if Jesus’s kingdom is expanding, then Satan’s kingdom and world system is shrinking; he loses ground—people and territory—when Jesus’s kingdom expands through increased submission to God’s word.

We notice also in the above passage that Jesus didn’t pray that his Father should take us “out of the world.” Instead, he prayed that Father would “keep” us from the “evil one.” This must imply safety from the unwarranted attacks and wicked onslaughts of the evil one. And it also implies that we be kept safe from his enticements, temptations, and pressure to unbelieving disobedience.

One of the pressures with which the enemy harasses God’s people is to make them envious of those who prosper in his system. This is especially true when we are launching out by faith to believe God’s word for provision, promotion, and the growth of our dream. 

All of God’s kingdom projects begin as seeds, and grow progressively—sometimes over a whole lifetime. Meanwhile, celebrities and people

Jesus Confides in His Friends; They Want what He Wants

David W Palmer

(John 15:14–15 NLT) “You are my friends if you do what I command. {15} I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”

This statement from Jesus is like an oxymoron; it almost contradicts itself: “You are my friends … I no longer call you slaves.” Yet, in the same breath he said, “If you do what I command.” So it seems that we are his “friends,” but only if we obey like slaves.

Despite Jesus’s clear statement that he no longer called them his slaves, the apostle Paul had no difficulty describing himself as Jesus’s slave:

(Romans 1:1 NLT) “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.”

Peter, John, and Jude also referred to themselves as “slaves” of Jesus Christ (See: 2 Pet. 1:1, Jude 1:1, Rev. 1:1, etc.). We could forgive Paul for getting this wrong (if we were to assume he did), because he was not present at the last supper when Jesus said, “I no longer call you slaves.” But Peter and John were both present; they heard Jesus say this with their own ears. Yet, Peter later wrote:

(2 Peter 1:1 NLT) “This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ ...”

And John wrote:

(Revelation 1:1 NLT) … He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John.

So, how do we resolve this apparent contradiction? What are we to make of it when Jesus says he no longer calls them slaves—but only if they obey his commands like slaves; and yet, they call themselves slaves of Jesus?

To unravel this, we first look closely at exactly what Jesus said when he introduced this idea:

(John 15:15 NLT) “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”

Jesus called his trainees “friends.” In so doing, he explained the difference between a slave and a friend by saying that a master doesn’t confide in a slave. That is, to a slave the master simply commands obedience without sharing his heart’s motivation, his dreams, aspirations, overall objectives, or vision. A slave doesn’t need to know this; he simply obeys orders—the outcomes of which may or may not contribute to a dream or vision, he simply doesn’t know.

By definition, therefore, the slave is not motivated by love, vision, or compassion. He is not shown the overview, nor does he see the big picture. A slave doesn’t get the job-satisfaction of seeing how his contribution helps the vision come to pass. He may not even see the reason he has to do what he is commanded; he simply does it because [in their culture] the boss owns him, his time, and his work output; he simply has to do it or be punished.

On the other hand, Jesus explained that a friend is one in whom the master confides. In other words, the friend knows the vision, dream, goals, and aspirations of the master. In changing their status to friends, Jesus was bringing his apostles into the same level of relational closeness, transparency, and disclosure that he experienced and valued with his Father:

(John 5:20 NLT) “For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing …”

Jesus’s Father showed him “everything” he was doing. This was complete transparency—the ultimate candid openness—the fruit of true intimacy. What was Jesus’s response to this level of friendship with his Father?

(John 5:19 GWT) Jesus said to the Jews, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does.”

It seems from this that the Father showed Jesus everything that was in his heart. Jesus caught the vision, and laid his life down to serve that vision, to imitate his Father, and to fulfill his Father’s dream. In truth, he literally put aside his own rights and pri

David W Palmer

(John 15:12–13 NKJV) “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

After reading this passage in class one day, I challenged the students: “Turn to the person next to you and ask them, ‘Would you lay down your life for me?’” After asking her friend, a young woman in the front row yelled back to me in a shocked tone, “She said she wouldn’t do it!” At least her friend was honest. Loving others “as” Jesus loved us is an extremely challenging expectation. After all, he laid his life down completely—giving up his right to his freedom to have his own life and pursue his own happiness here on earth.

Does Jesus really expect us to do as he did—lay down our lives completely for others? Yet, this is his one new commandment; yes, it’s actually a commandment. Jesus went on to say … 

(John 15:14 NKJV) “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

This is very confronting. Is Jesus saying that we can only be his friends “if” we do whatever he commands us? In context, he just told us that his command is to love one another by laying down our lives for them.

For a start, think of how that would work for you … say in the schoolyard, or in the workplace. Imagine walking up to someone and saying, “You can be my friend if you do whatever I command you.” How would that be received? It sounds more like a gang-leader than a Christian greeting. What’s more, how would it go down if you added: “My command is that you lay down your life for my other friends.” 

This wouldn’t work for us, so how come Jesus can say it to us? First, he can expect it because he was willing to lay down his life for us. What’s more, he didn’t just say that he would lay it down; he actually did it. Second, Jesus is Lord; he saves us by giving us instructions (See: Heb. 5:9). Third, this level of love is what Father dreams of having in his eternal kingdom.

Through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit makes it very clear that God’s expectation is that we not only lay our lives down occasionally, but that we put our independent self-life to death completely. Paul had so completely laid his life down that he was able to say:

(Galatians 2:20 NKJV) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

He encourages us further with the same thought in different words. (What he says here is a powerful truth with which we can renew our minds:)

(Colossians 3:3 ESV) “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Our Lord Jesus set the example in this for us, and now he expects the same from those who are really serious about following him:

(Luke 9:23 NKJV) Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Here, Jesus says that denying the old self-life and taking up the cross—experiencing the laying down your life part of his commandment—is a “daily” occurrence, The Apostle Paul certainly lived this:

(1 Corinthians 15:31 NKJV) “ ... I die daily.”

Today, in Jesus’s name, I feel to challenge you: How would you answer a friend if they asked you, “Would you lay down your life for me?” Perhaps you would for a good friend. Paul didn’t seem to think that this was unreasonable:

(Romans 5:7 NKJV) “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.”

But Jesus’s example in this has him dying for those who aren’t even his friends, let alone “good” people:

(Romans 5:8 NKJV) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Amazingly, through his own death that he died for you and me, and in his resurrection for us, with us, and as us, Jesus made available to us his supernatural ability to love like h

God’s Holy Power to Obey Leads to Love and Overflowing Joy

David W Palmer

(John 15:10–11 GNT) “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. {11} I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

When we hear Jesus saying, “Obey my commandments,” we can begin to wonder if we have slipped back under Old Testament law, legalism, or have somehow lost the freedom that Jesus previously promised us:

(John 8:36 NKJV) “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Some may suggest that “Paul’s revelation” supersedes what Jesus says here about obeying his commandments:

(2 Corinthians 3:17 NLT) “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Yet, even Paul’s writings are filled with commands, directives, injunctions, and imperatives. For example, note his directives and “do not” statements in the following verses:

(Romans 12:14, 21 NKJV) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ... {21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

(Romans 14:16 NKJV) Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil.

(1 Corinthians 7:27 NKJV) Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

(1 Corinthians 10:28 NKJV) But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness.”

(1 Corinthians 14:39 NKJV) Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.

Wow! That sure is a big list of, “do not!” statements from Paul in just two of his letters. He certainly didn’t hesitate to give out commands to be kept. So how does the freedom we are promised fit with all these commands?

Jesus explains it best when he says …

(John 15:10–11 NLT) “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. {11} I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Jesus says that the outcomes from obeying his commandments are: we remain in his love, and “so that you will be filled with my joy.” He went even further in regard to joy when he added, “Yes, your joy will overflow!” So from what he said here, we can see that obedience to what Jesus says leads to a life surrounded by love and filled to overflowing with joy. 

On the other hand, natural belief, human nature, and unregenerate thinking would have us conclude that freedom from any need to obey will lead to a happier, freer life. However, the Holy Spirit—speaking through the apostle Paul—says quite the opposite:

(Titus 3:3 NKJV) For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures …

(Galatians 5:1 ESV) “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

What kind of slavery does the Holy Spirit want us to avoid? Jesus put it like this:

(John 8:34 NKJV) Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

The freedom Jesus gives us is not intended to free us to sin. Sin leads people right back into slavery. So, how do we stay living in the freedom Jesus gave us? Let’s look at what he said here in its context:

(John 8:31–34, 36 NKJV) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. {32} And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” {33} They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” {34} Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ... {36} Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

How to Abide in Jesus’s and Father’s Love

David W Palmer

John’s account of the Last Supper evening and Jesus’s interaction with his apprentices / disciples / friends, shows the remarkable closeness and candidness of his deep love for them. This was no ordinary business conference, team meeting, or even family gathering. This was a time of transparent relational intimacy, communion, and warm tenderness.

In the middle of this special time with his friends—while being acutely aware of his imminent arrest, betrayal, denial, and death—Jesus began to speak of the love his Father had for him. What’s more, he told them how he had the same love for them, “if …”

(John 15:9–10 NKJV) “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. {10} If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

No one could deny the love God the Father had for his son, Jesus. Even while on the cross, and even while uttering, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34 NKJV), no one has ever questioned the Father’s love for his son. After all, Jesus was the spotless lamb who humbly and obediently did his Father’s will—to the point of death. He lived a sinless life, and fully pleased his Father in everything he did. Why wouldn’t the Father love him? He was perfect in every way.

When Jesus says, “As the Father loved me, I also have loved you,” this is astounding: we are not perfect; we haven’t fully pleased the Father in everything we have done, so why and how can Jesus say this about us? The answer is simple; we are not accepted and loved according to our past track record. We are accepted in, and only in, Jesus:

(Ephesians 1:4–6 NKJV) He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, {5} having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, {6} to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God chose us “in him (Jesus),” and he made us “accepted in the Beloved.” God “made” us; this is the same as saying that in the new birth, he made us a new creation in Jesus; the “old” you has been annihilated (See: 2 Cor. 5:17). God has performed his most amazing miracle in our new birth; we are newly created “in him”—accredited with his perfect track record and with his absolute perfection in pleasing the father. In other words, in Jesus, we have fulfilled whatever conditions were necessary for God to love us with all of his love. What’s more, Jesus said he would love us too:

(John 15:9 NLT) “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”

After telling us that he loves us as his Father loved him, Jesus then went on to say, “Remain (or abide) in my love.” This part is our responsibility. Jesus set up the way, and took responsibility to ensure, that we are accepted and loved in him—according to his perfect obedience. This part is our responsibility. Jesus set up the way to, and took responsibility to, ensure that we are accepted and loved in him—according to his perfect obedience. But now he is showing us something that we need to do; for us to fulfill our part—abiding in his love—we need to obey his commandments:

(John 15:10 NLT) “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

Lack of obedience was our problem before receiving his undeserved new birth, so how do we now do what was impossible for us before? Primarily, we can now obey Jesus’s commandments because our new nature is just like him; with the Holy Spirit’s help, it is ready, willing, and able to obey:

(Colossians 1:22–23 NLT) “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. {

spoken by David W Palmer

Overcoming the Accuser