The Hatred of the World
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why preach on this topic?
first, because it is in the bible
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
second, this is part of a wider passage where Jesus’ was comforting his disciples
in the eyes of Jesus there was comfort for his disciples in knowing what they would be up against
third, as persecution against Christians and Christianity grows stronger here in our own land we would do well to remember our Lord’s comforting warning
fourth, it is good for us to remember that Christians have always been persecuted
It is estimated that at this very moment there are 245 million Christians suffering high levels of persecution.
from Nov 1, 2017 - Oct 31, 2018 (Open Doors Website)
4,305 killed for their faith
1,847 churches and Christian building were attacked
3,150 believers were arrested, sentenced, imprisoned or detained without trial
it’s never been different at any time in history
yes there have been pockets of peaceful coexistence in certain places at certain times
in light of this reality in NA it’s easy to forget that Christians have been among the most persecuted throughout history
this is especially important in light of the Satan inspired lie that many of the world’s problems have been caused by Christianity
as we focus on the hatred of the world remember the flow of the passage from John 13 to 15
summary of Jesus’ words:
“I love you”
“Love me by obeying me” and “remain in me”
“Love one another”
“the world hates you”
All Jesus’ disciples have in this world is the love of our Lord Jesus and love for each other!
we need to love one another because we are not going to get it from the world!
1 The World Hates Us Because We are Not Part of Them
1 The World Hates Us Because We are Not Part of Them
John 15:18a “If the world hates you, …
“if the world hates you”
a conditional clause which expects a positive answer: “since the world hates 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.
“world”
refers to the evil, fallen and corrupt system composed of sinners under the control of Satan (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1Jn 5:19)
In John 8:39-47 Jesus identifies 2 kinds of people in the world: those under the control of Satan and those under the control of God.
another way of thinking about it: there are 2 kingdoms in the world with 2 kings or fathers
these two kingdoms are in constant conflict with each other
The kingdom of the world which is under the control of Satan hates the kingdom of God because it is true.
it tells us the truth about God, man, sin, time, creation, judgment, hell, eternity, heaven, life, death, the afterlife
Satan is the father of lies and he rules the world system
it is a system at war with God, with Christ, with the HS, with the bible, with the church
this shouldn’t surprise us, it was what Jesus predicted
we are the most loved by God and most hated by Satan
we are the most blessed in the world and the most assaulted in the world
this is why Christ tells unbelievers to count the cost before becoming a Christian (Lk 14:28-33)
In verse 19 Jesus tells us that one of the reasons the world hates true Christians is because they are separate from the world system.
example of the Jews in Europe who were violently persecuted because they refused to integrate into society
their choice to live separate from the world around them generated great hostility, hatred and fear
this is how the world views true disciples
the world is going a certain way and we aren’t, the world believes particular things and we don’t, the world talks a certain way and we don’t, the world loves things and we don’t, the world says certain things are right and wrong and we disagree
listen to how Peter describes this,
3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;
a good summary from Proverbs:
27 An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.
followers of Christ hate the evil of the world and the followers of the devil hate the righteousness of the believer
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.
love = phileo = natural affection - familial love
the people of the world have a natural affection for those who are like them
as long as we look like the world it will love us!
If the world loves us or at least tolerates us we would be wise to ask ourselves whether they know who we are!
Jesus says one of the the reason the world hates us is because he has chosen us out of the world
having loved us from before creation, God raises us out of our sinful life into a new life of righteousness
as such we become lovers of truth and righteousness
we become the world’s conscience
this is what it means when we are called to be salt and light (Mt 5:13-16)
the world hates us for that
they love darkness and hate the light (Christians) because we expose them as evil (Jn 3:19-20)
when a believer confronts an unbeliever’s sin the unbeliever responds with hatred because they hate God and they hate those who tell them God’s law
it’s also why they love to see Christians crash and burn!
Christians who live and talk as salt and light are a living rebuke of the world.
they reject the world system: what it thinks is good, what it tolerates, its goals and objectives
we are aliens and strangers in this world, our home is heaven
therefore Satan hates us, the demons hate us and those under their control hate us
2 The World Hates Us Because It Hates Jesus
2 The World Hates Us Because It Hates Jesus
John 15:18b … know that it has hated me before it hated you.
think about whom they hate!
Jesus is the exact representation of God
if you want to know what God is like read the life of Christ in the Gospels!
Jesus was without sin so there was nothing in him worthy of hate.
John 15:25 “They hated me without a cause.”
If this was true of Jesus who was perfect in love, obedience, holiness, joy, peace how much more so of his followers who are imperfect in many ways!!!
John 15:20a 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.
Jesus to his followers: ‘they will treat you like they treated me”
don’t expect to be treated any different!
because they hated and persecuted Christ they hate and persecute those who serve him
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
they hated Jesus who was perfect in every way, never lied, always told the truth, never lusted, wasn’t arrogant, never said a word he wished he hadn’t spoken, never became sinfully angry, never thought evil of another, never gossiped
how much more will the world hate us who are striving to be like Christ!
3 The World Hates Us Because It Doesn’t Know God
3 The World Hates Us Because It Doesn’t Know God
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
how do we reconcile this with the fact that many people claim to know God, pray to God, are spiritual, etc
some have even been heard to say “God bless you” or something like that!
Remember that much of the persecution Jesus experienced came from extremely religious people!
not only ordinary people but religious leaders don’t know God
theologians, priests, pastors, clergymen, gurus
not only do many of them not know God, they hate God!
23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
since Jesus is the exact representation of God, to hate him is to hate God!
John 15:24b … they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
this is the natural condition of both the religious and non-religious unbeliever
they hate God
How do I know if I love God? It’s very simple: I obey him!
God spoke to the crowd at Jesus’ baptism: “this is my beloved Son, listen to him”
Jesus to the disciples in Jn 14:15
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
To live in disobedience to Christ is to hate God!
the problem: many people hate God and don’t know it
they say they are spiritual, they pray to God, they might even say, “God bless you”
what they love is a God of their own making: one who tolerates their sin (that god is actually Satan!)
when confronted with his moral law, his scriptures, his righteousness their hatred of God is revealed in their refusal to love him and obey him
how can we know this is in fact true?
present to them a God who hates their sin, hates their ungodly thinking, their sinful attitudes, what they think is right and wrong
when you do this they will turn their hatred on you unless God is drawing them
perhaps God is drawing some of you
you can only know God by knowing Christ
Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father except through me”
you can’t come to God except through Christ and you can’t come to Christ and confess him as Lord unless the HS opens your heart to do it (1 Cor 12:3)
what can you do about it? cry out to God for mercy and grace and give you life
admit you were born hostile, an enemy, alienated from God
confess your hatred God
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.
they hate God but they also hate Jesus
“guilty of sin”
the sin of rejecting Christ
that is the hell deserving sin
Jesus is the complete revelation of God, he is God in the flesh, the exact representation of God. (Heb 1:3; 2 Cor 4:4)
because Jesus had come to them they had the double sin of rejecting God and rejecting his Son the Lord Jesus Christ
because Christ is the full revelation of God, rejecting him is the ultimate sin!
to hate Jesus is to be doomed to hell
to hate God in the full revelation of Jesus Christ is to bring far greater judgment!
Jesus revealed God in a way that he had never been revealed before
Sin reaches its full expression when it rejects Christ.
The most serious sin a human being can commit is to know about Christ and reject him!
it is a hell deserving sin to hate God and to hate Christ
4 They Hate Christ to Fulfill Scripture
4 They Hate Christ to Fulfill Scripture
25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
quoted from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4
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?
God foretold that they would hate and destroy his Son. (Ps 69:4)
hating Christ was prophesied in Ps 69:4
killing Christ was prophesied in Isa 53 and Ps 22
Acts 2:22, 4:23-31 - God purposed and they fulfilled - they did what God purposed
hating Christ was the plan of God
Hating Christ was a part of God’s plan so that Jesus would bear our sins on the cross!
Application
Application
you can imagine the disciples thinking to themselves: “how can we ever fulfill what Christ commands if the world hates us?”
Jesus’ answer in 26-27
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.
How will Christ’s disciples overcome the persecution and the hatred of the world? By the power of the Holy Spirit!
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
and so the Apostles turned the world upside down!
the gospel has spread across the world
hatred and persecution will always be there but so will the power of the HS to gather in all whom God has chosen for salvation
Why did Jesus take the time to prepare his disciples for the hostility and opposition which awaited them?
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.
“To keep you from falling away” (John 16:1)
remember Jesus parable of the soils: the seed planted in the shallow soil was scorched and died - represents persecution
the kinds of persecution Jesus said his disciples would face:
put of of synagogue
whoever kills you will think he is doing God a favour
Paul did this before he was converted!
Jesus reminds them the world does these things because they don’t know him
when you are the minority and the majority is telling you you are wrong, you are bigoted, you are opposing society and government it is tempting to believe them!
“When their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you” (John 16:4)
believers are to keep in mind that persecution is part and parcel of the Christian life
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
remember Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount
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.