Relationship Requirements

Quite often, when it seems that Christians are being singled out for persecution, we are told that it is only our imaginations or that it is not as terrible as we think it is.  However, I would beg to differ based upon historical evidence of persecution of those who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ.  In addition, I would suggest that this is actually not a new thing.  Plus, it is not going to get less, but probably will become worse.

Let me go back and walk us through some facts, using several scholarly historical works.  Obviously, we can start with the beginning of the Church.  Peter and John were arrested and put in jail simply because:

. . . the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening (Acts 4:1–3). 

A couple of chapters later, Stephen was stoned to death because he proclaimed Jesus.  Then we meet Saul who was going around intentionally arresting Christians.  After he was saved, he found himself on the other end of the persecution by the so-called religious leaders.

But, let’s move to the political realm and see how persecution has come to true followers of Jesus Christ.  For many years, Christians were tolerated as a sect of the Jewish religious system.  However, that changed when more and more Gentiles were saved.  The Romans saw the Christians as a threat to their empire, since they spoke of another kingdom.  Because the majority of the followers of Christ met at night for safety reasons and did not serve in the Roman army for obvious reasons, they were considered anti-government.  The Romans were very superstitious, plus had many false gods.  Since the Christians would not worship those false gods, they were being blamed for many of the terrible things that were happening, such as droughts and crop failures and economic issues.  

Most of you may know that the first official persecution of the Christians began under the rule of Nero.  When the famous fire broke out, Nero chose the Christians to be the scapegoat.  One text states:  Christians were arrested, cruelly tortured, thrown to wild animals, crucified, and burned as torches to light Nero’s gardens at night.  This persecution continued under various leaders for over two centuries.  One historian summarizes Rome’s role this way:  The final and most violent empire-wide persecution of the church began in a.d. 303, during the reign of Diocletian. This persecution was nothing less than an all-out attempt to exterminate the Christian faith. Diocletian issued a series of edicts ordering that churches be destroyed, all copies of the Bible be burned, and all Christians offer sacrifices to the Roman gods on pain of death.  

When Constantine became emperor, the Roman persecution stopped.  However, they began again during the Middle Ages by the Roman Catholic Church.  Another scholar states:  Ironically, this time the persecution against true believers came from those who called themselves “Christian.” The horrors of the Inquisition, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and the martyrdoms of many believers epitomized the Roman Church’s effort to suppress the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Most of us would agree that the more recent persecution of Christ’s Church has come at the hands of communism and Islam.  Over 46 million Christians have been martyred since 1901.  Since 1990, there has been 100,000 Christians martyred per year.  According to Open Doors’  2015 World Watch List—a report that highlights and ranks the 50 worst nations persecuting Christians.  It finds that “Islamic extremism” is the main source of persecution in 40 of the top 50 countries—that is, 80 percent of the nations where Christians are persecuted are Muslim.  As for the top ten worst countries persecuting Christians, nine of them are Muslim-majority—that is, 90 percent of nations where Christians experience “extreme persecution” are Muslim. . . Muslim persecution of Christians exists in 40 nations today as part of a continuum—or “tradition”—that started nearly 14 centuries ago. 

All of that to bring us to the transitional verse in John 15.17.  Jesus is now taking time to remind His disciples and us of the need to love each other: This I command you, that you love one another.  Brothers and sisters, we cannot be hurtful and hateful to each other in view of what is coming to us in the form of persecution and hatred.  Are there any principles in the Bible that would encourage us to obey verse 17, in these difficult times?

Because of the love of Jesus Who enables us to love one another, we can endure persecution with joy.

Hatred of Christians Requires Hatred of Christ. - 15:18-20

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

If you have recently read this passage or are just now reading these verses, the word world is seen here multiple times.  And just with a quick reading, we can get the idea that this world is not supportive or encouraging of anything to do with those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ.  So, we probably should understand what is meant when Jesus uses the term world.

The word is literally cosmos. MacArthur states that it:  refers in this context to the evil, fallen world system comprised of unregenerate people and controlled by Satan.  It’s not just if the world hates you; the last part of verse 19 states that:

I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 

In the middle of verse 20, Jesus states: 

If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. 

The word if is used here to show that we can assume that this is and will be true.  

It doesn’t take brilliant deductive reasoning to understand that since the world and its system, which follows Satan, is opposed to anything which has to do with God; that we are going to be hated, as well.  Even though we are in this world physically, we are not part of the world spiritually.  I love Wiersbe’s illustration about this:  there is nothing wrong with the ship being in the water; but when the water gets into the ship, watch out!  Proverbs 29:27 explains this even better: 

. . . he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked. 

Even John’s use of the word love in relation to the world, is the word phileo, which shows that it is a human-based, friendship sort of love.  

Sadly, we know that the world’s system is based on conformity in so many areas.  Consider that as you think of the many areas in our lives that are affected by this world.  As long as a person goes along with and agrees with the world’s ways and philosophies, there won’t be any animosity towards that person. The Christian should not be in agreement with the world in order to get along.  

Interestingly, we continue to see Jesus refer to His choosing the disciples and us.  In fact, it is a very strong expression which implies that Jesus chose his followers for Himself.  The disciples’ salvation itself was completely dependent upon Jesus.  Thus, the last part of verse 18 and verse 20 makes a bit more sense to us.  The hatred and animosity the world has towards Jesus, will also be extended to those who choose to follow Him.  

What a reminder to us that we cannot expect to be treated any better or more kindly than Jesus was treated!  If we are true followers of Christ and living for Him, we will be light which exposes the darkness.  If the world was willing to kill Jesus, we can expect that the world will want to snuff out our light.  They will want to remove anything which reveals their sin and their hatred for God.  

However, Jesus finishes verse 20 by reminding the disciples that if people would keep His Word, they would keep theirs as well.  The only way a person keeps God’s Word is if they belong to Him.  Thus, a true follower of Christ will be obedient to the servant of Christ who is proclaiming God's Word in obedience.  

This should be something which is an encouragement to us.  If even one person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, it is worth any attacks the world may throw at us.  Wiersbe comments that: 

Times of persecution have always been for the church times of proclamation and witness.

Love for the Father Requires Love for the Son - 15:21-25

But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

This helps us to gain a bit of perspective in life.  Often, when we are attacked and persecuted, we take it personally.  We feel as if they are attacking us.  The reality is that they are actually attacking Christ.  These negative things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  So many will say they love God, but they cannot accept the fact that they need Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.  Jesus is saying, in essence, that their rebellion against Him is because they don’t truly know God.  

We get the strong impression that those who heard the message which Jesus spoke are actually held to a higher level of accountability.  We know that everyone will have to give an account and will be held responsible for whether they believe or not.  Yet, in verse 22, it appears that there is no excuse for their sin.  What is the sin?  It would seem to be the ultimate sin of rejecting Jesus Christ when He personally revealed Himself to them.  MacArthur states: 

Total rejection in the face of total revelation is unforgivable, since there is nothing left for God to show such people.  

It makes sense to understand that if a person rejects Jesus they cannot know God Who sent Him.  It doesn’t matter how religious a person may or may not be.  You recall all the religious leaders who thought they were speaking for God and Jesus stated very clearly that because they had accused Him of doing the works of Satan that they were condemned.  Here, in verse 23, Jesus makes it just as clear:  He who hates me hates My Father also.  Yet, maybe there are those who would suggest that they don’t hate Jesus; they just don’t buy everything He said; they feel they can love the Father and do good deeds but don’t need to repent and ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior.  Folks, if Jesus said this is what is necessary and a person refuses to do this, then you’ve called Jesus a liar and that is hateful.  In 1 John 2:23, we read: 

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father.  

Let me speak briefly to the issue of someone not having sin if they had not seen Jesus. Jesus is not suggesting that a person can get to heaven just because they haven't seen him. He's not suggesting that they are not responsible for their actions just because they have not seen.  He is not even suggesting the possibility that a person can be without sin.  We know this to be true from the writings of Paul and from Jesus's words earlier when he stated that unless a person believes in him they will not see the kingdom of God. What Jesus was emphasizing was the total responsibility of the individuals who have seen him and rejected him; thus, having no excuse whatsoever.

Jesus quotes the Psalms in the last part of verse 25.  This is attributed to King David, originally.  Yet, it is fulfilled even more in Christ.  When one thinks about the fact that Jesus had no sin and did only that which was beneficial to those in need; to think that He humbled Himself to take on the form of a man and limited Himself on this earth; to imagine that He Who had no sin was willing to be responsible for the sin of all humanity of all time; to know that He died in my place so that I could live forever if I would just accept that gift from Him—yet people hated Him and did all they could to destroy Him.  It is unimaginable!  One writer states:  The world hated Jesus because He exposed their sin and confronted them with the reality of who He is.  The world will hate us because, by our righteous living, we will expose their sin while confronting them with the reality of who Jesus is.

Reminders

One of the things which I am reminded of as I look at this passage is the need to make sure that I don’t get attached to this world.  It can be a very subtle descent.  This regression looks like this: we become friends of the world, then we fawn over the world, then we follow after the world.  We are attracted; we love it; we become like it.

How is this seen? At the beginning, we can become friends with the world, as seen in James 4:4:

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

After the friendship deepens, then it turns into a love for the world, as we read in 1 John 2:15-17: 

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.  

Sadly, it will degenerate into conformity to the world, or becoming like it, as Paul describes in Romans 12:2: 

do not be conformed to this world.

As we review this whole chapter, we see that Jesus is dealing with relationships. First, is the relationship we are to have with Jesus.  Then, as we abide in Jesus, we learn about our relationship with other Christians.  Then we see how that impacts our relationship with the world.  In other words, if we are abiding in Christ or born again, then we will love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  This will then enable us to have victory over the hatred which the world has for us, as it had and continues to have for Christ.

Many of you have probably been thinking about Jesus’ earlier instructions to His followers at the Sermon on the Mount.  Let me just close with these three verses to challenge and encourage us from Matthew 5: 

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Because of the love of Jesus Who enables us to love one another, we can endure persecution with joy.