They Will Hate You
Notes
Transcript
Outline
Outline
Introduction
Introduction
Today we’re listening to Jesus in John 16:1, where He says, ‘I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.’ That’s a strong statement. It tells us that what we’re about to hear isn’t just theological—it’s deeply practical. Jesus is preparing His disciples for hardship, and He’s doing it out of love. He knows what’s coming, and He wants them to stand firm. So as we listen today, we’re not just learning—we’re being equipped.
We’ll fall away by being discouraged and giving up
We’ll fall away by compromising and shaping Jesus into someone more palatable to the world.
They’ll Hate You
They’ll Hate You
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.
Hatred Defined
Hatred Defined
An emotional response or attitude that rejects and wants no contact or relationship
Hatred is something that creates distance between people
You hate certain foods - take a sniff and recoil
Hate certain music and it will drive you from the coffee shop
Hate certain people and you’ll do everything to avoid them
How they will Hate You
How they will Hate You
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.
With exclusion
We want the people we hate out of our social circle
Bradley example - no vindictiveness involved!
Hatred is all about removing that which offends
With violence
As much as you can hate a person
Create a permanent distance that never comes any closer
You are in the world, and the world wants to kick you out!
Why They Hate You
Why They Hate You
Not because you’re a particularly despicable person
Because You Remind Them of Jesus
Because You Remind Them of Jesus
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.
So why did they hate Jesus?
He’s supposed to be without sin
Sinners should love him - He’s all about love and grace and forgiveness
Religious types should love him - He’s all about being closer to God - so what gives?
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.’
They didn’t like his words
Jesus was a really offensive person
Eat my flesh, drink my blood - many left
I AM - this is what God looks like, nothing like you think
They didn’t like his works
Healing the paralytic and blind man on the Sabbath
Which is really no excuse
These were words of life
These were great healing works that they should have rejoiced in!
13 But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;
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 35 citation
Like being mad at a person who tells you your fly is down
Sometimes people seem to hate the people who are perfect because they are perfect. Their perfection makes our own flaws stand out that much more.
Those words and works didn’t just show them who God was, but who they were
His words condemned them
7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
His works put them in their place
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Jesus threatens the ego
8th grade band - I thought I was cool playing the drums until Sean Pflum showed up
If that’s what God looks like then we quickly realize we’re nothing like him
That can inspire aspirations or bitterness
Because They Hate God
Because They Hate God
23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
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.
This sounds like a contradiction
They hate God - so why are they worshipping him?
To say that a Pharisee or High Priest didn’t love God would be absurd!
They do love God - at least their idea of who God is
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
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.
Jesus is the clearest revelation of God
He is the Word - the expression of God’s will and desire in human form
He is why they are so guilty - they heard it and saw it straight from God
So if you don’t like Jesus then you don’t like God
The sad thing about hating without a cause John 15:25
It comes directly from their law - what they love so much
What they love so much tells them that they’re the bad guys - look at Jesus!
Side point - Jesus and the Old Testament are on great terms with each other
They don’t contradict each other in content or in character
If we don’t see the love of God in the Old Testament - we’re reading it wrong
If we don’t see the judgment and justice of Jesus in the New Testament - we’re reading it wrong
If we don’t like the certain emphases then we have a problem with God!
Examples: Progressive lovey-dovey churches and the Westboro Baptist Church
Don’t Hate Them Back
Don’t Hate Them Back
How do we face this hatred?
Yes, Jesus judges the world
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.
That’s why he died for it
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.
Hatred is about distance
We hate the world when we keep our distance from them
God loved the world - and he bridged that distance
The world would love it if we just kept to ourselves
That would, ironically, make us of the world - tolerance!
But we need to be hated for the same reasons - our words and works testify to the character of God and the sins of the world
Not that we’re trying to stir up trouble
We need to tell them about their life that leads to death and show them the life that leads to eternal life
Our Help
Our Help
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.
We have the Spirit helping us
Spirit that brings life
Spirit that brings power
Spirit of creation
Here it’s the Spirit of truth helping us convict the world of the truth and the true God
Our job isn’t just convincing - it’s convicting
Isaiah 6 - Go and preach until they’re all lost - don’t give them any claim to an excuse that they didn’t know better
We can’t sit on the sidelines and expect a still small voice to convict the world
Our job is be a hated presence in the world
The Purpose
The Purpose
1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
It’s hard being hated by people
We hide in a bunker
We compromise
Either option is falling away
