Not of the World

Introduction: Ahn Ei Sook was a music teacher for a Christian school in Korea. One particular day, Japanese authorities came in and forced the Korean school to participate in their Shinto worship. All who were there were Christians, but the principal of the school said they were going to participate because if they don’t their school would be shut down and they would be tortured by Japanese authorities. Sook knew this and while the principal nearly convinced Sook to participate in the worship, the children’s look of disappointment caused Sook to stop and pray. When they all were brought to the mountain to bow down, all but one bowed down. That one who stayed up was Sook. Knowing what she did, she ran, but after a few months, she went to the Japanese authority to try and argue for the support of Christians. It didn’t work. Instead, she spent six years under intense torture. But even under intense pain, she still preached the Gospel to those in the prison.

Put yourself in Sook’s shoes, would you make the same decision as her, or would you conform to the world? It is easy to say yes I would stand for Jesus, but what happens when you actually are in that position?

Context: In this chapter, Jesus just got done telling His disciples to remain in Him, even after He departs. Jesus was telling His disciples that without Him, they will bear no fruit, but if they do remain, they will be pruned, which means they will grow in Christ through sacrifice. Jesus was preparing them for what they would face in the future. This included hatred and persecution from the world.

Please turn to John 15:18-26

We see here that

We will face suffering if we follow Christ

The World Hates us because we are different from them (v. 18-20)

In this section, Jesus gives the truth to his disciples: Either they will be hated by the world, but follow faithfully after God, or they follow after the world, but not follow God faithfully. This seems harsh, but it is true. The world in this passage basically means estranged from God, or unbelievers, as one commentator says. It is true for all believers today. We cannot be friends of the world and of God at the same time.

The world has hated God since the beginning of creation (v.18-19)

Since the beginning of creation people have rebelled against God. Instead of following after God, people have worshipped the things of this earth more than God Himself (Romans 1:25).

As believers, we need to understand that when we face persecution or hatred from unbelievers, that Jesus faced the same thing. We are not the only ones who face hard times because of our faith. But often, we run away when we see the first signs of resistance to the Gospel. We hate being confronted and mocked for being a believer. Friends, Jesus made it clear the world would not accept us. Why are we then living as though we live for man’s opinion? Why do we run to be accepted by man instead of God? Paul said in Galatians 1:13, that if he wanted to be approved by man he would not be a servant of God. We are to follow after God, even if it means the world disapproves of us.

Let us now look at why the world hates us.

The World hates us because we are not like the world (v.19).

As humans, we are built to socialize and desire to fit in. No one likes to feel like they are an outcast and people tend to walk away from those who are different from them. For Christians, though, we are outcasts. This world has no personal connection to God. Yes, God created the world, but God is not personally connected with the world because they do not love or follow him. For the Disciples, Jesus chose them to serve Him. Chosen, as one commentator says, “specially chosen”. The disciples were specially chosen by God to be a witness for Him.

As believers, we are chosen by God as well. While Jesus chose the disciples for a specific purpose, we are chosen to serve Him, to be holy like Him (1 Peter 1:16), to preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 24:18-20), and more. When we are saved, our old self and it’s desires are to be traded for God’s desires. As Galatians 5:17 points out, man cannot serve the flesh and God at the same time. We need to be following after God, even if it means we are pronounced weird by the world. This doesn’t mean we can’t feel sadness from rejection of others, but we shouldn’t let what people do to us determine how we live for Christ.

Are you willing to suffer for Christ, or would you rather remain in comfort?

Next we see in this point that. . .

Jesus warns believers that they will be persecuted for their faith. (v.20)

Jesus here tells his disciples to prepare to suffer for their faith by the world. Jesus spoke from experience when he said this. He lets them know that if Him, who has been their master has suffered, they also will suffer.

Again, while Jesus was speaking to His disciples about this, we can see that this statement by Jesus is true for all believers. In 2 Timothy 3:12. Paul tells Timothy all who live a godly live in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. We then should not be caught off guard when we faithfully serve Christ. In fact, we should be ready for it.

Are you willing to be persecuted for your faith?

Example: When I worked at Wal-Mart, there were times where I faced ridicule for my faith. While I was not persecuted, I still was not easy working at a place that hated God. Friends, most of us probably have faced some sort of ridicule or mockery when we share our faith, and while it stings at first, there is a lasting peace that occurs when you witnessed boldly for Him. Understand, it will be hard, but so rewarding to live out your faith in the world.

The world hates us because they refuse to acknowledge God. (v.21-26)

In these next few verses, Jesus gives another reason for why the world persecutes believers. It is because they do not know Him.

First thing we see here is. . .

They do not know God (v.21)

Jesus explains further to His disciples that unbelievers not only hate Him and the Father, but do not know Him as well. The Jews who did not believe that Jesus was the Christ hated Him because they did not know Him. Isaiah predicted this in 42:18. Israel was blind to the works Jesus did and deaf to the message Jesus preached.

For us today, we need to realize that more than ever that the world has little to no idea who Jesus is. Satan has blinded people. So we should not be surprised when we go out of Maranatha that people have no idea who He is and because they don’t know, ridicule and judgement can and will occur. The call of being believer involves change that some may not want, resulting possibly hate towards God directed at us. In Acts 8:26-40, Philip gave the Gospel to an Ethiopian court official. This man did not know what Isaiah was saying at all when he was reading it, but Philip did not let that stop him giving the Gospel. We must have that same mindset. Even if in the end they mock us, we should not stop witnessing and living for Christ. Let us not build our ministry up in excuses, but in Christ.

They are convicted by God (v.22-24).

These next two verses are important in explaining verse 21. Jesus makes it clear in these verses that those who don’t know God are convicted of sin. Jesus mentions in these verses that because of the works He has done, they cannot excuse their sin. Cloak in verse 22 means to excuse. Without the work Christ had done, one may be tempted to excuse their lack of knowledge for not believing. But as one commentator says, this not knowing is in terms of ignorance of the whole being. They chose not to believe, which correlates with Romans 1:19-20, where God has shown himself through creation, but man was ignorant of His power and refused to believe. Even if Jesus did not die on the cross 2,00 years ago, people would still be under sin. These verses show though, no man have an excuse for saying He didn’t know. As one commentator mentioned, not knowing comes from ignorance and that ignorance comes ultimately from disobedience.

Believers, the world hates God because they refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord. All men deep down know there is a God, but some refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord. Because of their disobedience to submit to Him, they will lash out of us. Ask yourself, though, is there any situation that is not worth being with Jesus for eternity? We probably would say no, but do we live like nothing is better than following Jesus? So often, we only see what is right in front of us. . . The pain and the suffering. Paul says in Romans 8:18, that the suffering here cannot compare to eternal glory.

Example: Growing up, some of my two favorite words were "I Forgot". These two words were also my mom's least favorite words to hear. My mom would get on me when I said this. I thought she was being rude, trying to tear me down. I thought me forgetting was OK. I mean, it wasn't like I purposely tried to forget. But the problem was that my mom continually reminding me was that I did not try to remember. See, I might not have said in my heart that I'm going to forget, but when I purpose not to remember, it is the same to her as purposely forgetting. It involved me not caring and involved my will, my heart, my mind. My whole being was involved in the act of forgetting. The same if with those who do not know God. They don't purpose to know Him, even though they could. God can be found, but people chose not to know Him. It is not good enough to say I did not purpose to not know God, but to purposely not know is the same. The whole being is involved and is ignorant in knowing God. This is how God views those who don't know Him. They are not free from sin because of this.

We have seen the reasons Christians will suffer for their faith, now we will see the comfort God gives to us to help us live out our faith boldly.

The world hates us but we have a helper (v.26)

We have the Holy Spirit which comforts us.

The first couple verses I have mentioned have been somewhat gloomy. Some of you probably are thinking where’s the hope in this, and thankfully there is. Jesus at the end of this section talks about the Comforter that will help in their witness of Christ. For the disciples the Holy Spirit helped guide them in writing the Scriptures, which brought the greatest testimony of Christ, but it also helped them in witnessing to others around them. Jesus didn’t just leave them without any help, but instead gave them the Holy Spirit that would help speak truth about Jesus.

For us today, while we aren’t writing new books of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is in us helping us boldly proclaim Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, our witnessing would be futile. This verse gives great encouragement because, as 1 Peter 3:15 states when people ask for the reason why we have hope, we tell them about it, the Holy Spirit will help guide our speaking to be able to proclaim the Gospel and serve God faithfully.

Application:

We need to focus ourselves on Christ. When we are more concerned about what the world thinks, or conform to their standards rather than God’s, we need to repent. Is that you today?

To help us, we need to have regular devotions and prayer. I know these are obvious, but they are essential to keep our eyes on Him.

Take note throughout your day, or at night, think about if you were more committed to serving Christ, or others. If you were more concerned about pleasing others or you failed to do what was right in God’s eyes because other around you would disprove, please repent and ask God to help you through His Holy Spirit to obey and focus on serving Him.