Hated by the World
Notes
Transcript
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18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
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.
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.
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
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.
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.
4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
Illustration: Christian Martyrs
Throughout history, many Christians, perhaps millions, have suffered and died because of their faith in Christ and their commitment to the gospel.
In our own country, we have enjoyed religious freedom all our lives. As Americans we have become allergic to almost any kind of suffering, and we avoid it at any cost. My guess is that none of us has been imprisoned for our faith, and obviously no one here has died for your faith or preaching the gospel. But that day may soon be coming.
Because of the freedom that we’ve enjoyed until now, we may easily forget that this is not normal throughout history. The general pattern in this Age is that God’s Kingdom grows through the suffering of his people.
8.5 years ago, 21 Christians were taken captive by ISIS in Libya. In their final moments, which were recorded on video, some of them were heard saying, “Jesus, help me.” They could have saved their lives by denying Christ and accepting Islam, but despite the threat of death, they chose to be faithful to Christ. And all 21 of these Christian men were martyred for their faith there on a beach in Libya.
Closer to home, just 4 years ago in Finland, a Christian parliament member, Paivi Rasanen, posted a Bible verse objecting to a Pride event, and was charged with hate speech. The charges were initially dismissed in the first trial, but the prosecutor has appealed the ruling and she will stand trial again.
Do not think that this kind of persecution is not coming here. This kind of persecution is the regular pattern throughout the history of the Church.
This was certainly true for New Testament believers, and we see it very clearly in the life of the Apostle Paul.
He speaks of some of his suffering in 2 Corinthians 11.
He was imprisoned many times
Countless times he was beaten almost to the point of death
Five times he was beaten by the Jews with 39 lashes
Three times he was beaten with rods
Once he was stoned and left for dead
Three times he was shipwrecked
Once he spent a whole night and day adrift at sea
He spent a lot of time traveling to many different places to preach
He lived in constant danger everywhere he went
He was betrayed by false Christians
He endured many sleepless nights, often went without food and water and without necessary clothing to keep him warm
Following his conversion, his whole life was a life of suffering for the sake of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel
God says this about him right after his conversion:
16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Though the Scripture doesn’t record Paul’s death, it is reported that he died as a martyr sometime between A.D. 64-68 by being beheaded with a sword.
2 Timothy was one of Paul’s final letters before his death, and he tells Timothy,
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Paul often emphasized in his letters and in his preaching that the Christian life is a life of suffering and possible death for the sake of Christ, because of the hatred of the world against God and the gospel.
He told Timothy just a few verses earlier, that this kind of suffering is to be expected for Christians:
12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
And this was his message to the church in Thessalonica:
2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,
3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.
The affliction he’s speaking of is the persecution of believers for their faith and faithfulness to Christ.
One of the amazing things about Paul is that he had been on the other side of the persecution before he knew Jesus Christ.
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
And the kind of persecution that Paul was involved in before he came to Christ is exactly what Jesus was warning his disciples about in John 15-16. Jesus was telling his disciples of the hardship and persecution that they would endure for his sake, and it is this same hardship that true believers throughout the ages have to endure: if we are true and faithful followers of Christ, we will suffer for our faith and faithfulness to him.
The World Will Hate True Christians
The World Will Hate True Christians
Jesus begins this passage telling his disciples this basic truth: the World will hate you because you’re my followers.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
“If” here doesn’t mean it might not happen, rather it has the force of “when”; we know it’s going to happen because in v. 19 he says
John 15:19 (ESV)
19 ... because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
John 15:20 (ESV)
20 ... If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
Now, no one really wants to be disliked. We all want people to like us, to think well of us. And that’s not always a bad thing; but it can’t be our highest motivation.
Why does the World hate Christians?
Why does the World hate Christians?
1. The world hates Christians … Because they hate Jesus Christ and the Father
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
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.
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
2. The world hates Christians … Because we do not belong to this world but are chosen out of the world to be distinct
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
3. The world hates Christians … Because we are Jesus’s servants
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.
Jesus is quoting from John 13:16 and Matthew 10:24, words which he had previously spoken to his disciples.
4. The world hates Christians … Because they don’t know Jesus or the Father
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Jesus had said the same thing to the religious leaders earlier in John.
John 8:42 (ESV)
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God …
John 8:54–55 (ESV)
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him…
John 7:28 (ESV)
28 … He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
5. The world hates Christians … Because the Scripture foretold it
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.
Psalm 69:4 (ESV)
4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause …
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
6. The world hates Christians … Because we talk about Jesus
John 15:21 (ESV)
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name …
27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
7. The world hates Christians … Because Jesus and his followers expose sin
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.
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.
7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
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.
8. The world hates Christians … Because of their zealous commitment to wrong ideas about God
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.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
9. The world hates Christians … Because we are like Christ
The kind of hatred and persecution mentioned here happens because of people’s hatred for Jesus. In summary, if we are Christ’s followers, the world will hate us, because the things we do and say will remind them of Jesus, and they hate him. And because they hate him, they will hate us.
People might hate us for other reasons too. We can be obnoxious or difficult people and they might hate us for that, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about here. We don’t need to give the world any other reasons to hate us than simply that we are followers of Christ and seeking to live like him in what we say and do. If we do that, we will get more than enough hatred from the world without going out of our way to make people dislike us.
How Will the World Demonstrate Its Hatred?
How Will the World Demonstrate Its Hatred?
Attitude of hatred (15:18-19)
People will dislike us, despise us, or hate us because of our commitment to Christ and our testimony about him. They may speak evil of us and slander us privately or publicly (like on Social Media)
Persecution (15:20)
People will actively seek to hurt us or harm us physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. This may involve physical attacks, beatings, imprisonment, and the like. This may involve taking away property from a Christian.
Rejection (15:19-20)
Since we no longer belong to the world, we will be rejected by the world, just as Jesus was. While some will accept our message or come to Christ because of our testimony, many others will reject us because we no longer belong to the world.
Exclusion (16:2)
Though we won’t be cast out of synagogues, we may be excluded in other ways; we may be discriminated against because of our faith or our testimony for Christ; this may mean you’re passed over for a promotion, or someone else gets the job, or in some way you’re excluded from having something or participating in something because of your commitment to Christ.
Murder (16:2)
Though it has been very infrequent in our country, throughout church history millions of Christians have been killed because of their faith. Paul himself participated in the murder of Christians, and he himself was killed for the sake of Christ.
God Has Given You a Helper
God Has Given You a Helper
Though Jesus is no longer physically present with us, he has not left us to endure this hardship alone.
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.
God himself is with you and will strengthen you for the task. He will enable you to be strong and bold and speak for Christ, bear witness about him, and live a life that honors him even in the midst of hatred, persecution, and even possibly death.
We are not alone!
Remember Who Said It
Remember Who Said It
Jesus wants us to remember who he is; he is the Sovereign God who knows the future because he’s already there.
4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
Once again Jesus demonstrates his supernatural knowledge of the future. He is the Sovereign God who knows all things and controls all things and is working for our good. So when we face hatred from the world, it should not surprise us; rather it should remind us that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ told us already what was going to happen, and this should increase our confidence in him no matter what happens to us.
Remember Why He Said It
Remember Why He Said It
1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
This is Jesus’s main point in this passage. He has told his disciples and us all of these things in order to keep us from falling away in times of persecution from the world. He is preparing us for this so that when (not if!) it comes we will not be surprised, and we will not abandon him in order to avoid suffering.
This is the test:
If you are a true Christian, you will not fall away; no matter what comes, you will not fully and finally abandon Jesus Christ.
If you are a fake Christian, you will fall away because of persecution, and by falling away you will prove that you never truly belonged to Jesus.
I believe that time of testing is coming very soon in our own country.
There has always been some opposition from the world toward those who speak of Christ and live for him. In our country, that opposition has been very minimal for a long time, but it is growing. And I believe that unless God intervenes, the opposition to Christians will become very intense in the next few years. The question for us is how will we respond?
Will you fall away from Christ and deny him in order to avoid suffering? Do you desire to be liked and approved of by people in this world so badly that you would stop following him?
Will you be quiet and avoid speaking of him at all so that people won’t hate you or mistreat you? Will you hide your light under a bushel?
Or will you stand strong in your commitment to Christ and continue to live a holy life following him? Will you continue to stand up for what’s right even when others mock you or mistreat you? Will you continue to speak of Christ even if it means suffering torture, being beaten, going to prison, or even dying for him? Will you be faithful to Christ?
Time will tell which side we’ll fall on. May God help us all to be faithful to Christ when that time of testing comes.
Our responsibility is in v. 27
27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Evaluate your life - do you belong to Jesus or to the world?
If you belong to the world, the world will love you. If you belong to Jesus, the world will hate you.
If no one in the world even dislikes you because of your faith and commitment to Christ, either your faith and commitment is not genuine, or you are not living as boldly and godly as God wants you to live. Either way you need to repent and turn to Christ. Come to him for salvation or for his grace to live the life he’s called you to.
Be a faithful witness for Christ in your words and actions.
Speak of him as you have opportunity. Live your life seeking to imitate him and stand for what’s right even in the face of opposition.