Friendship w/ God Week 11 - Friendship with God is hatred with the World

Intro/s

Broken Car

If you knew that car was broken and would not run correctly and would be a source of pain and frustration, would you buy that car?

Of course, you would not buy that car.

you would want a new car, with no problems, that would run perfectly and fulfill it’s intented purpose

We are living in the broken car, and isn’t it wisdom to know that’s the case

We all long for the new car = new heavens

But reality is a broken car

PRINCPLE:

If you had known what it would cost you you would not have signed up

The Hatred of the World

John 15:18 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Why would the world be hating us?

That’s my immediate question.

Wait…what?

You just said you loved us and are giving us Your Joy and Your Peace

Why would the world hate us?

Answer: B/C it hates Jesus

Listen to that…The World Hates Jesus!

A. What is the World?

What does John mean by the world?

basically — unbelievers.

Earlier in the gospel he tells us why:

John 3:16–21 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Jesus is the supreme revleation of God, to reject him is to reject God.

Verse: on enimity with God

1 John 2:15–16 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

James 4:3–4 (ESV)

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

B. The Connection

To be in Jesus is to recieve his love, his joy, his peace and his persecution.

John 15:20–21 (ESV)

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 you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

C. Rejecting Jesus is Rejecting God

John 15:22–24 (ESV)

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 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.

D. But Still in God’s Plan (Sovereignty)

John 15:25 (ESV)

25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Psalm 69:4 (ESV)

4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?

II. The Solution/Power to/for Persecution

John 15:26–27 (ESV)

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. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Bearing Witness to Jesus in the midst of persecution

D.A. Carson: The greatest danger the disciples will confront from the opposition of the world is not death but apostasy.

A. Persecution b/c of the Word of Jesus

Standing against culture

Respect for Marriage Act

Respect people yes —

but to stand for Truth is to invite persecution

It’s coming

B. The Holy Spirit Empowers Witness

1. Testifying to Jesus

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

2. In Persecution:

Mark 13:11 (ESV)

11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

3. You will testify (the Apostles)

From the beginning you have been with me.

III. That you might not stumble

why are you telling us this now?

John 16:1–3 (ESV)

1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 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. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Persecution is coming

Acts bears this out (VERSES??)

The Key issue: Not knowing God

thinkng you are serving God (Paul in Acts)

Additions

The Gathering Storm

Respect for Marriage Act

LGBTQ+

Sam Storms

Not of the World

Thus to not be “of” the world means we don’t think of ourselves primarily as Americans or French or Russians or Indonesians or Gentiles or Jews or Australians. We think of ourselves as Christians. We belong first and fundamentally to Christ. Our true home is heaven, and one day the new heavens and new earth. We do not draw our moral values from popular opinion polls. We do not find energy from the approval of men but from the approval of God. We do not interpret history or the state of our society based on what any political party may say or what any sociological analysis may suggest but on what God in his Word has declared to be true.

Our power for living and choosing and loving is not the “spirit” of American society but the Spirit of God. Our value system is not dependent on Congress or the Supreme Court but on the revealed, moral will of God in Scripture. Our aim is not the fulfillment of the so-called “American dream” but the coming of God’s kingdom here on earth and the doing of his will even as it is done in heaven

The followers of Jesus will have the same effect on the world of rebellious unbelievers as Jesus did. We will seem to be out of step with the trajectory of society. We will appear to be “on the wrong side of history.” We will refuse to embrace the changing ethics of our day. If believers are in union with Christ and devote all their allegiance to the one to whom all loyalty and worship are due, the world of rebels will not respond with kindness.

Hate

Let’s begin by defining the sense in which people are said to “hate” God.

They don’t necessarily declare openly “I hate God.” But they resent his existence. They despise the fact that the God who exists is holy and will hold all mankind accountable for their moral rebellion and disobedience.

They are infuriated that they are told this God has authority over their lives to tell them what is right and what is wrong. They don’t want to be told that sexual intercourse before and outside of marriage is sinful. They don’t want to be told drunkenness is forbidden. They don’t want to be told that they must have no other ‘gods’ before the God of the Bible. They don’t want to be told that to honor or worship or to serve another ‘god’ is idolatry and is worthy of eternal death. They don’t want to hear about hell. They cringe at the suggestion that they are not the final authority as to what they can or can’t do. They don’t want to be told they must repent. They get angry when they are informed that there is only one way to be reconciled to God and forgiven of their sins, and that it is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

On the outside, they don’t act like they hate God. They may say nice things about him, such as: “Well, of course I believe in the existence of a Supreme Being. But the Supreme Being that I believe exists would never consign anyone to hell. The Supreme Being that I believe exists would never tell a man he can’t marry and have sex with another man, or tell a woman that she can’t marry or have sex with another woman. The Supreme Being that I believe exists will accept anyone so long as they are sincere in their beliefs.”

These people who “hate” God may live outwardly civil, law-abiding, even “religious” lives. But inwardly, in the depths of their hearts, they want nothing to do with the God of the Bible and his Son Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

a. God’s Sovereign Plan

But this was part of God’s Soveriegn Plan

He quotes Psa 69:4 here and applies to himself.

Acts 2:23 (ESV)

23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Scriptures

Persecution

Matthew 5:10–12 (ESV)

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 24:9–10 (ESV)

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Luke 10:17–25 (ESV)

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” 25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Matthew 10:20 ESV

20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Acts 5:32 ESV

32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 6:10 ESV

10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

The World

John 8:21–24 (ESV)

21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Blindness

John 9:41 (ESV)

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Spirit and Persecution

Matthew 10:19–20 (ESV)

19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Mark 13:11 (ESV)

11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Power and Witness

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Hatred/World

James 4:4 (ESV)

4 ....Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 3:13–15 (ESV)

13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Ready to be Hated

1. UnGodly — Anti-God Ideologies

Ideas have consequences

When they are not rooted in the Truth — in reality

they have tragic consequences.

How do we know the Truth?

God’s Word is Truth — John 17:17

John 17:17 ESV

17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Examples:

How God created marriage?

How God created human beings — male and female

We don’t have time to go into it, but our culture in fact many in the world is in active rebelliion against the way God created things.

We are doing the same thing that happened in Genesis — trying to be our own Gods, establish our own reality.

There is only one God and to go against his will and his word can only end in tragedy.

I’m not saying we don’t have grace, compassion and love all people, but I am saying we can never divorce these things from Truth.

We need grace and trugh — Jesus came with grace and truth.

In fact, just before this judgment peice in John 3:18 is a demonstration of God’s love in one of the most well known bivle verses

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

See Jesus was sent into the World, against the World on a mission to save those out of the World.

And to bring His Kingdom to Earth

renewal, restoration, redemption.