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I want to comment on a verse
from our scripture reading. It says in Psalm 85 verse 10,
it says, mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed. That's a very interesting description
of the work of Christ. Truly, the mercy of God did not override the truth of God. The
mercy of God and the truth of God did their work together in
the person of Christ. God had mercy upon us and upheld
His truth, His holiness, His righteousness, His great standard.
He held it up. Righteousness and peace have
kissed. Isn't that beautiful? The perfection
that is contained in the definition of righteousness, that perfection,
that is upheld by a holy God. It was at odds with us, wasn't
it? We did not have peace. because of that righteous standard.
But in Christ, righteousness and peace have kissed. Brother
Terry, if you would have to preach just at a drop of a hat like
you thought you were going to have to, I think you could go
to Psalm 85 and verse 10 and preach the gospel out of Psalm
85 and verse 10. Praise God, I was just so blessed
again. Well, if you would, let's go
back to John, John chapter 15 as we continue in our exposition
of the gospel according to John. The gospel according to John. John 15, verse 18-27. I want to read this text and
then I'll have another reading here. But today I've titled this,
The Believer's Relationship to the World. I want to just set
the stage a little bit again that this is, remember the just
a few hours from the Passion of Christ, from the Crucifixion
of Christ, from His suffering. And this is the Last Supper discourse,
the Olivet Discourse if you would. It is that last, those last moments,
the last words of Christ with His disciples before His crucifixion
and it is, so to speak, Thursday evening before His death. Now, we see in John 15 verse
18, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. 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 keep yours also. But all these things they will
do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him
who sent me. If I had not come and spoken
to them, they would have no 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 have no sin. But now
they have seen and also hated both me and my father. But this
happened, that the word might be fulfilled which is written
in their law. They hated me without a cause. But when the helper
comes, whom I shall send to you from the father, the spirit of
truth who proceeds from the father, he will testify of me. And you
also will bear witness because you have been with me from the
beginning. So last time that we were in
this book, my title was Christ in you, the hope of glory. And that was from verses nine
through 17. Now I want to read that text
again this morning to highlight the sharp contrast between these
two passages. I want you to listen to the text
prior to the one that we just read. And that is in verses 9
through verse 17. As the Father loved me, I also
have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep
my commandments, you will abide in my love. just as I have kept
my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things
I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that
your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you
love one another as I have loved you. Greater love is no one than
this than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends
if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you
servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing.
But I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from
my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but
I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father
in my name He may give you. These things I command you that
you love one another. Do you see the contrast here? That you are to love one another,
church. You're to love one another, brothers
and sisters, because that's the only place you're going to get
it. You're not going to get it in
the world. The world hates you. Isn't that a strong term? Yes, it is. It's a strong term.
And here we have the contrast between these two passages is
love versus hate. It is fellowship and abiding
in Christ versus rejection. It is obedience. In the first text, in verse,
for instance, If you keep my father's commandments and abide
in his love, or if you keep my commandments, you will abide
in my love. That is obedience versus the sin of the other side
where it speaks about you have no excuse for your sin. You have
acceptance here versus condemnation. You have knowledge on the one
hand versus blindness on the other. and it is a stark contrast
in relationships that the child of God experiences in these two
scriptures. As we looked at the last time,
it was Christ in us. It was us abiding in Christ.
It was Christ in us, us in Christ, and how do we do that? How do
we abide in His love? By obeying. That is how we abide
in His love. And in abiding in His love, these
things I have spoken to you that we would have joy, that we would
be excited and filled with joy in Christ. Now we come on the
opposite side, we are to experience this, and it's like was mentioned
here this morning, the blessing of coming together, the peace
and the unity that we enjoy as a body of Christ, as members
of one another, and the love that is expressed here. But when
you take it out from here, when you take your gospel mandate
from this place, then we see that it is an entirely different
experience that you will have. You will find hate for your message. You will not only find hate for
your message, but you will find hate for the one who sent you. And then on top of that, you
will find hate for you, for yourself. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. And so the first thing we
want to consider from our text is what is the world? What is the world? So this word
world is very familiar in John and it's the Greek word cosmos. And interestingly, it's translated,
it's translated world and it's translated adornment. And it's,
I think it's used in the Peter account where it says, let not
your adornment be merely outward speaking to the sisters. And
it means to arrange. It's an arrangement. It's an
orderly arrangement. Um, so, It's the idea, I think, of a
harmonious universe as the study of cosmology is studying the
universe in all of its physical attributes, in all of
its even non-physical attributes, possibly, but it is It is the
study of our universe. And so what is the world? This
word cosmos, Matthew uses the word nine times. Sometimes when
the word world is translated in the Bible, it is from a different
Greek word, but Matthew uses this word cosmos nine times. Mark uses it three times. Luke uses it three times, and
John uses it 77 times. Isn't that amazing? John uses it 77 times in his
gospel, this word world, this word translated world. What is he referring to? What
is the world? We could spend time just simply
going through the Gospel of John and look at its usages to learn
what he's referring to. But in John 1, in verse 10, he
says this way, he was in the world speaking about Christ And
the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. So right there are three things
that you could very clearly speak about what is world. It is where
Christ came to. It's where his mission was. He was in the world, and the
world was actually created through Christ, but this entity called
world did not know him. It was not in tune with him.
It was not in fellowship with him. It was actually ostracized
from him. And so in John 1 29, it says
this way. The next day, John saw Jesus
coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world. Now we begin to see that sin,
that the world is where sin is. Think about that. There's no
sin in heaven. There's no sin anywhere except
in the entity or environment that is called world. And so
this is that sin is the possession of the world or in a sense that
the world is in sin. And so it is a fallen world. Now the world, as the Bible speaks
of it, it says very clearly that it was loved by God. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whoever would believe in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And in verse
17 of that passage in John 3, it says, for God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world. No, rather, but that
the world through Him might be saved. So praise God that though
the world is fallen, we have a God that is out of this world
that sent his son on a mission into the world to not condemn
the world, but to save the world because the world had fallen
away from this God who had made it, you see, and was estranged
from God because of its disloyalty to God. So this is, this world
is a, in a sense it speaks about the spiritual and the physical
and the terrestrial and the celestial. It is encompassing all of these,
it's encompassing all of this, it is the world. So it's not to condemn the world,
and in our text it says that we are not of the world. Now that's an amazing statement,
but where did we come from then? Well, we were born into the world,
right? But see, who we belong to is
no longer the world. We are in the world, but we're
not of the world. We're chosen out of the world.
And so Colossians 1.13 says it this way, when it refers to,
and it contrasts, Colossians 1.13 contrasts these two entities,
the kingdom of light and the kingdom of his dear son with
the power of darkness. Where he says, he has delivered
us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom
of the son of his love. So here the world is described
as being the place or it's described as the power of darkness, that
we are called out of this place of darkness that is not only
dark but it has power over us. It is this place of sin, it is
this place of fallenness and we're in this place of darkness
And we are by the grace, by the mercy of Christ, we are called
out of this place of darkness. But in order to rob the strong
man, someone must come in that's stronger than him. and bind a
strong man and then we're delivered out of this place of the power
of darkness. And so the world is in darkness
and it has this power of darkness over it. And as we think about
what this world is and that it refers to in our text. If the world hates you, what
are we referring to and what is, how should we relate to that? Well, biblically, the term cosmos
is where the opposition to God is found. It is every high thing
that exalts itself against God. It's every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God. And in James 4.4, as
we think about this idea of world, we have a very exclusive passage
in James 4.4 where it says this way, Do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants
to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. And
see, what is an adulterer? What is an adulteress? Is it
not someone that's playing two sides? It's somebody who has
multiple relationships that they're trying to cultivate at the same
time? James tells us it is an impossibility for you to cultivate
the friendship of the world and maintain a blessed state of fellowship
with God. It's an impossibility. These
two are mutually exclusive. The relationship with God excludes
the world, the friendship of the world. The friendship of
the world excludes the relationship of God. It is like flipping a coin and you're
getting both heads and tails. It's impossible. You can't have
both heads and tails on the same flip. It lands on one side or
the other. And so it is, they're mutually
exclusive. This idea of us having this cozy
relationship with the world and staying in fellowship with God. Actually, he says, if you do
that, if you cultivate a relation with the world, you are at odds
with God. at enmity with God, you are enemies
of God. And so also we have this same
concept in 1 John 2, 15. 1 John 2, 15, do not love the world
or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, and
here we have it, the same principle, the love of the Father is not
in him. You can't love the world and
love the Father both. For all that is in the world,
and now we begin to see what is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, those
things are not from the Father, but they are from the world.
It is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the world
is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will
of God abides forever. If you take this in 1 John, in
the Epistle of John, same author, it's interesting how you see
kind of the same language, the same emphasis. If the world hates
you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were
of the world, the world would love its own. The world would
love its own. And see, that is what we see
in this idea of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life. It is that the world is preoccupied
with itself. It is enamored with its own power,
with its own prestige, with its own agenda. It loves itself and
its own. It supports its own. And so that's
why Christ is saying, if you were of the world, the world
would embrace you. It would support you. It would include you. It's the idea of a kingdom divided
against itself, cannot stand. You see, if the world would somehow
fight against itself, it would fail. It's that concept. And so we see that in the world,
or the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in
it. Now, this world has a ruler. And if you go back to our text,
you will see that in John 14 and in verse 30, he says, I will
no longer talk much with you. For the ruler of this world is
coming and he has nothing in me. That's an interesting description
that Christ is referring to someone else. He says I will no longer
talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he
has nothing in me. I believe what Christ is saying
is that Well, let me continue. But that the world may know that
I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandments,
so I do. Arise, let us go from here. Let's
understand verse 13 from verse 31, verse 30 from verse 31. The ruler of this world is coming,
and he is endeavoring to destroy Christ. But he has no legitimate
claim on the person of Jesus Christ, because there is no imperfection
that he can point to. There's no sin that the ruler
of this world can lay on the charge of Christ. But that the world may know where
Jesus' loyalty is, where my loyalty is, that the world may know that
I love the Father. You see, what he is saying here
is that the ruler of this world is coming, but there is nothing
that he can lay on me that will stick because my loyalty is obedience
to my Father. You see that? My loyalty is obedience
to my Father. Again, in 1 John 5, verses 18
and 19, as we think about the ruler of this world, we know
that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been
born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch
him. Okay, now that's an amazing passage. That there are those
where it's a little bit like what Jesus is saying in John
12, John 14. He has nothing in me. You see,
the one who is born of God has the Spirit of God within him
and the enemy of his soul, he cannot lay anything to his charge
that will condemn him. But he who's been born of God
keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him. We know
that we are of God. And the whole world lies under
the sway of the wicked one. And so the world is the place
where Satan exercises his dominion. It's where Satan exercises his
dominion. He energizes the opposition to
Christ. He is the one who is endeavoring
to undermine the influence of Christ in his church on this
earth. That is the work of the enemy.
But interestingly, he is ultimately defeated. And I don't know that
he even knows that. He may though because he speaks
in another place knowing that he is a little time, but John
12 31 for instance says this way as we think about the ruler
of this world and Jesus says, in John 31, now is the judgment
of this world. And just a little before that,
in verse 27 of John 12, he said this, now my soul is troubled,
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your
name. Then this voice comes from heaven
and says, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
And the people said, well, it thundered. Some others said an
angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, This
voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is
the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will
be cast out. Now, now, in John 31, John 12,
31, two times this word now. Now is the judgment of this world.
Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I believe he's
referring to the hour of his suffering, that it is in this
very hour that Christ is troubled and that what he is about to
experience and going to the cross for your sin and for my sin, A reference to that hour, I believe,
that he says the judgment of this world and the ruler of this
world be cast out. Satan is about to be defeated
on the cross of Calvary just a few hours from this time. Satan is about to be defeated. Praise the Lord, the cross marked
the defeat of Satan as it paid for the penalty of our disloyalty
to God. Satan was defeated at the cross
because it reconciled us back to God. And it was that thing,
that guilt, that separated us from God, you see. And that Satan
could always play on that thing. He said, well, they sinned against
you. And he could accuse individuals with this and have
a legitimate claim. But after the cross, after what
Christ accomplished in the hour of His travail, now is the judgment
of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
And you see, as children of God, this ruler of this world has
been disarmed. Do you believe that? Disarming
principalities and powers, Colossians 1 says. I'm sorry, Colossians
2, 14 and 15. You can look it up. I won't turn
to that. But Colossians 2, it says clearly that He has disarmed
these principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of
them. This disarming of this ruler
of this world has major implications for us in that we can now go,
we can now go forth and not fear because he's been disarmed. Now does he still, can he still
affect us? In a very physical sense he can.
But these spiritual implications are taken care of. You see, that
is what's so important for us anyway, right? We know this earthly
life, this body, it's doomed. But my undying soul is cared
for by the work of Christ on the cross, and now we can go
into the spiritual fight, the spiritual warfare, and we do
not have to be afraid of this enemy, this hate that is coming
our way. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me first. It hated me before it hated you.
So with that bit of background for the teaching of what is world,
what is the world, and the conflict between, you see, really ultimately
what it is is that The ruler of this world and the sovereign
Lord of the universe are at odds with each other. They are in
battle together. It's a spiritual warfare. And
it's played out on the lives of God's people. It's played
out also in the lives of unbelievers. But we are at the forefront of
this spiritual battle that is going on between Sovereign God,
and the ruler of this world called Satan. Now I want to ask you, we want
to get back to our text. Why does the world hate the followers
of Christ? Why does the world hate them?
Well, number one, as I already mentioned, because it hated Christ
first. John says in John First John
3.13, he says, marvel not brethren, if the world hates you. There
are a lot of scriptures that indicate this truth, that the
world will hate you, that it will speak evil of you, and that
it will be at odds with us as the followers of Christ. It says, as we think about why
does the world hate the followers of Christ? Verse 20 says, remember
the word that I said to you in John 15, a servant 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. So it is, As what verse 20 is teaching,
whatever your attitude is toward Christ, that's the attitude you
will have toward his children or vice versa. Whatever the attitude
is toward God's children, it is also that toward Christ. It
is, it is, impractical, illogical for us
to think that if we're following Christ that we will not receive
some of the things that happen to Christ, or that the animosity
that is toward Christ will not come toward us as well. We are
not above being persecuted. And if someone persecutes you,
it is because of their hatred toward the one you represent.
If they hear you, if they keep your word, likewise. What does
he say? What does John say? I think in
the epistle of John. He who is of God hears us. You see that? It's the same concept
that if you love God, then you will hear us, you will be with
us. It's this, if they kept my word,
they will keep yours also. Remember the word I said to you,
Jesus said, in John 16 here, just down the passage, these
things I've spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. We're not naive, we're not unprepared
because Christ gave us full disclosure that if you are willing to follow
me, if you are trusting in me, I'm going to lead you in this
certain direction and it will create this animosity in your
life and in those around you if you're really following me. They will actually They will
put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that
whoever kills you will think he offers God service. And these things they will do
to you because they have not known the Father nor me. But
these things I have told you that when the time comes, you
may remember that I told you of them. I prepared you for this
time of suffering. I called you to these things.
I gave you full disclosure. You are called to count the costs
and see whether you want to follow Christ or not. And these things
I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. So Christ, why does the world
hate the followers? Because it hated Christ first. Number two, why does the world
hate the followers of Christ? Because you are not of the world. because you are not a part of
it. You are chosen out of the world. You're chosen out of the
world. You are in a different place. You're in a different class. You are out of the world. You're out from it. You are no
longer a part of that. You know, it was interesting.
The world wants affirmation and agreement. They do, don't they? The world
wants affirmation and agreement. Why do you think that is? Because what they have does not
satisfy or assure them. It does not satisfy or assure
them in any means. And so they want you to be their
affirmation. They want you to be their agreement.
They want you to come alongside and say, well, you're great.
But when you refuse to do that, that creates this separation
and distinction that arouses this animosity. Because you're
not a part of them. You're not taking part with them.
And they think it's strange that you do not run with them in the
same degree of dissipation. And I had to think of 2 Corinthians
2 where it speaks this way, where he says, Now thanks be to God
who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses
the fragrance of His knowledge in every place, that when you
are out and about, and as you speak forth the glories of Christ,
you're giving a fragrance giving a fragrance of His knowledge
in every place. For we are to God," now get this,
we are to God, the fragrance of Christ. Isn't that an interesting
thing? The beloved son of God, when
you are laboring, when you are giving testimony, when you're
bearing witness of Christ, you're sharing the knowledge of him,
you are a fragrance to God. But down here, among those who
are being saved and among those who are perishing. There are two camps here. Those
are being saved and those who are perishing to the one. And
here's the point I want to leave with you. To the one, we are
the aroma of death leading to death. To the other, the aroma
of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these
things? Indeed, because to one camp, what you're sharing is
got the smell of death to it. But to the other camp, it is
the fragrance of life. And this is that animosity or
that hatred. It's that separation that is
between us and the world. And it's that exclusive nature,
you see, of Christ that really provokes the world. because they
are always interested in earning their own way to Christ, earning
their own way to God. And when Christ says there's
no way to come to God except by him, see there is the hatred. And so this choosing out of the
believer from the world indicates the condemnation of the world. In order to be saved, you must
be chosen out of the world. Well, that in and of itself condemns
the world, you see. And so that is what they feel. That is what they understand,
is that the world is at that place of condemnation. Notice what he says then as we
move on. Number three, why does the world
hate the followers of Christ? In verse 21, it says, but all
these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because
they do not know him who sent me. They hate the followers of
Christ because the followers of Christ are living for his name's sake. They hate Christ and his agenda,
and they must take it out on the followers of Christ. You
know, when Christ was walking on this earth, they could take
it out of him personally. And in just a few short hours,
they will literally hate him so much that they are willing
to have Christ crucified and a murderer set free. This is the irrational extent
of their hatred. He who raised people from the
dead and healed the people and blessed the people and showed
them the way of life. They traded that one. They traded
him for Barabbas who had literally taken a life and had murdered. It's an amazing it's an amazing
contrast. And so they hate the world hates
the followers of Christ for His name's sake, because they cannot
get to Him now. Remember we sang this morning,
on the throne, on the throne. And so the only way the world
can get at Christ is to persecute His followers. And we are here
For that, we're here to be as sheep among wolves, yet we are
victorious in Christ. Christ is not present. The world
vents its hatred on those who bear his name. Number four, why
does the world hate the followers of Christ? Because Christ revealed
their sin. because Christ revealed their
sin. Verses 22 and 24. Notice, if
I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin,
but now they have no excuse for this sin. And then in verse 24,
if I had not done among them the works which no one else did,
they would have no sin, but now they have seen and also hated
both me and my father. You see, the words and the works
of Christ are here used as, notice in verse 22, if I had not spoken
to them, and then in verse 24, if I had not shown them the works
that I did among them, they would not have this guilt upon them.
They seen these, they heard the preaching of Christ, they seen
the works of Christ, And they were on full display and still
they rejected his person. I want to look back at John 9
just briefly here. And this is following this amazing
account of the man who was healed, the man born blind. Remember
how it just stirred up these Pharisees about, you know, they
persecuted this man. The man, I mean, the Lord had
just sovereignly been gracious to this man, and now the people
were angry at the man. And so in verse 38, the Lord,
in verse 37, the Lord invites him to believe in him. Then he said, Lord, he said,
actually it's in verse 35. He says, Jesus heard that they
cast him out. And when he had found him, he
said to him, do you believe in the son of God? He answered and
said, who is he Lord, that I may believe in him. Jesus said to
him, you've both seen him and it is he who is talking with
you. Then he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. And now
notice what he says. And Jesus said, for judgment,
I have come into this world that those who do not see may see. OK. That was this born blind
man, this man born blind. He did not see. that those who
do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind. And what that simply means, and
let's continue. Then some of the Pharisees who
were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we blind
also? And Jesus said to them, If you
were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see,
therefore your sin remains. What we see here, and it's the
principle of I think Matthew 6, 22 and 23 where it says, if
your eye is full of light then your body is doing well, right? But if you're blind and you can't
see, then he makes this comment in verse 23 of Matthew 6 and
it says, The light that is in you is actually darkness. Or if it be darkness, how great
then is that darkness? You see, there are people engaged
in endeavoring to follow and come to Christ and come to God,
but they're not doing it from the scripture. They're not doing
it from God's way. They have a plan like the Jews
did. They have a light, but it's not
the true light. And if it's not the true light,
how great then is their darkness? Because what they are living
by is actually guiding them over the cliff into an eternal hell.
Isn't that amazing? The thing that they think is
going to help them, the thing that is going to, and they're
ultimately self-deceived. And if the light that is in you
be darkness, how great, how vast, how hard it is for you to see,
because you have first got to come to the place where you recognize
that I can't see. And this is the point Jesus said,
if you then if you would have said, I am blind, then your sin
would have been removed. But because you say, I can see,
I have a path, I have a way to God, your sin remains. And what are you saying, I think,
in John 15, where they said you would have had no sin in comparison
to what their sinful In comparison to their sin burden before, to
sin against the light of God's Word, Jesus' Word and His works,
there's just no comparison. They had now sinned against the
light, you see. That is how I think I would understand
verses 22 and 24. If I had not done among them
the works which no one else did, there's no one had ever done
these amazing things that Christ did, yet they seen these and
still rejected him. That's the amazing thing here
is that the hardness of their heart. They were determined not
to see. They were determined not to give
Christ the honor and the glory that He deserved. They hated
Him. And it didn't matter if He spoke to them or if He did
miracles in front of them, they still hated Him. They rejected
him. And to go against the light. This is the principle where he
says, woe unto you, what is it? Cities of Capernaum or Judea. If the miracles would have been
done in you or in Sodom and Gomorrah as was done in Capernaum, they
would still be standing. And in the day of judgment, it's
going to be more severe for those who have had the light and went
away and went against it than for those who did not have the
light. And that's the principle here,
I believe. And then notice another point here I want to bring in
here, and that is one cannot love the father and hate the
son. You know, there are those who
think that they're drawing near to God, but it's not according
to knowledge, and I referred to this earlier. One cannot love
the Father and hate the Son. These are mutually exclusive
also. To love the Father is to love
the Son. To hate the Son is to hate the
Father as well. Twice in our text, Jesus makes
this statement, to hate Him is to hate the Father who sent Him.
Yet there are people who in the name of the Father are persecuting
the followers of the Son. Isn't that amazing? That literally
happened to me. It's not out there somewhere. It literally
happens to the followers of Christ. When they follow Christ, the
people, their primary obstacle is religion. Dead religion will
fight you every time. Just as Ishmael and Isaac bickered,
as Ishmael tormented Isaac, it says in Galatians, so is the
man who is spiritual is being pestered by the man of flesh. It's because the spiritual condemns
the physical, you see, or the fleshly. Because it says you
can't come here. You've got to come through Christ. There's no way you can work yourself
here, you see. And so when you say that you
love the Father and are persecuting the followers of Jesus, then
you are hating the Father. The Jews thought that they were
serving God, but were actually hating God. That's amazing. It's an amazing truth that religion
that does not accept the Son hates the Father. And to deny
in a practical way the sacrifice and work of Christ in word or
practice is to stand in opposition to the Father. Indeed, that is why Paul is so
forceful in Galatians 1, where he says, if anyone corrupts the
gospel of Christ or brings another gospel, which is not another
gospel, let him be accursed. Because if we do not come to
God through the Son, we reject the Son. It doesn't matter how
much you think you're serving God, you're actually hating God. because you can't love God and
hate the son. They're mutually exclusive. And then lastly, they hated him for no reason. Notice what he says here. But
this happened that the word might be fulfilled, which is written
in their law. They hated me without a cause. This hatred of the world
is an irrational hatred. It doesn't make sense why they're
so angry, why they hate the Son of Man so much. Well, they hated
Him for no cause in Him. Okay. There was nothing that He had
done wrong to them. He had not hurt them in any way. Actually, He had He gave, and
He gave, and He healed, and He revealed. He spoke truth and
broke tradition. But He didn't hurt them in any
way, you see. Yet they hated Him. And it simply
says in Psalm 69, verse 4, that they were enemies wrongfully. They were enemies wrongfully. I should just read that for you. It says in verse 4 of Psalm 69,
Those who hated me without a cause are more than the hairs of my
head. They are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies
wrongfully. Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it. See, it's the idea that Christ
did not give them a reason. In all of His life and all of
His preaching, The cause of their hatred was not something he did
wrong. He was perfect. They hated him
because the enemy was inside of them. They hated him because
the ruler of this world was energizing their opposition. And he was
using it, he was using this concept of, well, if you believe him,
then your traditions are gonna go to put. You see, I'm not gonna
be in control anymore if I follow Christ, you see. And the enemy was using that
to energize his opposition because the enemy was inside of them.
And their moral depravity was agreeing with the enemy, you
see. He had this connection to them. But at the cross of Christ,
that was broken for us, you see. Praise God, we have a defeated
enemy. And then lastly, in closing,
notice the last two verses. But when the Helper comes, whom
I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth,
who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me. And you
also will bear witness because you have been with me from the
beginning. Listen, it doesn't matter that the world hates the
followers of Christ. God has said, I will make sure
that there will be a testimony. There will be a testimony and
someone bearing witness to the glories of Christ until the end
of time. And He gave us the Holy Spirit
to help us with that. He has given us the Comforter,
this Helper who is indwelling us, sent from the Father, the
Spirit of Truth. He will testify of Christ and
you also will. Notice that, that's what he says.
You also will bear witness because you have been with me from the
beginning. We have this, this helper who comes alongside this
Pericles, who comes alongside to give aid and comfort in, in
light of the hostility that we face. We have this indwelling
God with us to comfort us, to give us aid. so that we can bear witness to
the Son. This is a glorious truth here
that we're not out here on our own, brothers and sisters. We
have God within us to help us in light of the opposition that
we're going to experience, that we are experiencing. The world
hates you. It simply hates you, but you
have a God inside of you that will help you to bear witness
of the truth to them. And so truly here's we think
about us as a church. Truly the church is not at rest. It is at war. There's opposition
all around us. Is this happening in your life?
Evaluate your life. Is there opposition? I would I would ask you if there's
not opposition. What does that mean? Do you follow my thought? If
there's not opposition, what does that mean? That means you're
on the wrong side. That means you've, you're not, you're not, you're not following. So Jesus simply says persecution
is par for the course. Let's not muzzle ourselves by
fear but testify to the truth knowing that Christ went before
us. As a good leader Christ leads
from the front. He doesn't send us where he wouldn't
go himself. Praise God for that. I was blessed
with this passage and let's come before the Lord in prayer. Father,
as we close this time of looking at your word, Father, I pray
that you would go up and down the roads here today and apply
these truths to our hearts that we might ask ourselves these
questions. Am I engaged in meaningful spiritual battle. Father, we
pray that you would bless your word to us. You would convict
us and you would guide us and you would be glorified in our
lives. Go with us through this coming week. Give us grace. Give us strength in Christ to
do your bidding that we might obey you in all things. And through
the name of Christ we pray, amen.
The Believers Relation To The World
Series John's Gospel of Jesus Christ
| Sermon ID | 111724187391110 |
| Duration | 58:54 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 15:18-27 |
| Language | English |
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