Zooming in the Gospel according to John, chapter 15. We're going to be in verses 17 of chapter 15 in John, all the way through to 16. Chapter 16, verse 4. It'll make sense very soon as we read it. John 15, verses 17 through chapter 16, verse 4. The title of the sermon today is, The World Will Hate You. The World Will Hate You. So starting in verse 17, the gospel according to John, chapter 15, here now, the inerrant and infallible words of the living and true God. This I command you that you love one another 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. But all these things they will do to you for My namesake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sinned. 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 sinned. 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. When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about me, and you will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or me. But these things I have spoken to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you." Thus ends the reading of God's holy and magnificent word. Let's pray once more as a church. God, I pray that you would encourage your people today. I pray, Lord, that you would show us, although that this is something we can expect as your followers, you are here with us. You have warned us ahead of time. And even beyond that, we have something that awaits us, an inheritance that is undefiled, reserved for us in heaven, that makes all of this worth it. And so God, I pray today that if there is anyone who doesn't see that this cost is a worthy price, that you would enlighten them with your word today. And I pray, Lord, that if there's anyone here today who has faced persecution in their lives, Lord, that they would be encouraged today. And Lord, I pray for the many of us who have maybe not faced a certain high level of persecution. We would see these things today. And if we were ever to come upon them, if they came to us in a heightened sense, Lord, persecution and hatred, we would be ready to stand firm. And so, Lord, please be with us today. Be our every focus. Let the enemy not steal anything from us. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, we're going over a pretty heavy topic tonight. It's a good way to start the year. It's a good way to prepare us. This is something that hits all of our hearts for those who we see endure it. Whether it be us, or someone we know, or the persecuted church, if you follow some sort of missionary report, or something like that. As you have seen in the text, we are talking about the hatred and persecution of the followers of Christ. We can't even completely calculate it, but millions, if not into the billion, Christians have faced extreme persecution since Christ started the church. In 2023 alone, just this year alone, 360 million Christians have faced extreme persecution and discrimination for their faith. Just this year, 360 million. It happens at the hands of Marxists, communists, secular humanists, atheists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, pagans, other types of groups that call themselves Christians, and many more. In 2023 alone, it has been estimated that 5,621 Christians have been murdered for their beliefs this year. 5,621. This year alone, 2,110 churches were attacked or destroyed. 2,110 attacked or destroyed that we know of. 4,542 Christians are being imprisoned and detained this year alone because of their faith in Christ. And not only that, again in this year alone, 140,000 Christians were displaced from their homes or their countries for their faith. This is happening today. This is happening today. Can you imagine Losing everything for your faith? Could you imagine one day we come to this building and we arrive and it's actually been decimated? Can you imagine that the persecution would be so bad you're forced to flee to another part of the world to worship Christ? That's what they're facing today. Currently the most persecution and murder of Christians is happening in Asia. Places like China, North Korea, India, most of the Middle East, and even in Africa. It's picking up in South America as well. But despite all this, God is in control. He is in adequate and wonderful control. And more and more people are turning to Christ in this world. Even where persecution is rife in these countries, people are finding Jesus. And they're taking astonishing measures and risk to worship Him, to be faithful Christians. And all of this, according to what we see today, is nothing new. According to Jesus, this isn't a mere possibility. But the assumption is in the text that this will happen. And so our Lord is seeking to eliminate the surprise factor when persecution does occur. Following Christ can cost you. It can cost you dearly, but it doesn't cost you nearly as much as what it costs to stay in the world. The world will hate Christians, they will. And the reason the world hates those of Christ is not sociological. It's not cultural. It's not based off of intelligence or ignorance. It is intensely theological. Let's look at that now. So, two weeks ago, we saw that Jesus told his disciples he is the true vine. They are the branches. We also are the branches. We are connected to him. He must nourish us. He must hold on to us. He must feed us. He must strengthen us. He is the vine. We are the branches. We are utterly dependent on Him, the true vine. That's what we saw. He said, apart from Me, you can do what? Nothing. Nothing. And that encapsulates our salvation, our creative life, our breathing, and especially our ability to go to Him after this life. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Remember, at this point, he said, get up, let's go from here. They left the room where they were, where he was instructing and encouraging his disciples. And they're possibly walking. And when he gave the vine and grape analogy, it's possible they came upon a vineyard and they're walking. They're walking in the city. And Jesus has yet to come to the garden where he will be arrested. by the temple police and kissed by Judas. That has not yet happened. They're on their way there. We're in the last moments of Jesus's life in earthly ministry. And so, he continues in verse 17, more righteous repetition, this I command you that you love one another. It's not a feeling. It's not a position. It's not those things only. It is accompanied with genuine and heartfelt, authentic, spirit-led motivations that result in action. Love acts. Love does things. It feels, that's a wonderful gift, but that feeling moves and love acts. And so, he reminds us of that again. And that love that we are to have for each other is then juxtaposed to the world's hate. So he says, you're gonna have this love, and then he says in verse 18, now look at the world's hate, and those are contrasted. Verse 18, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Know here is actually in the imperative command form. So Jesus is saying, this is something you must accept. This must be knowledge that you ought to possess as a follower of Christ. The text literally says in the Greek, if the world hates you, know, command, know that it hated me first. Hated me first. Church, if you haven't resolved this truth in your heart, you must. You must. We are in a society that goes along to get along. Meaning, love to the world is not talking about sin. You don't talk about sin. It's not talking about the truth. And it's certainly not talking about Jesus Christ. They would say that that's not loving. Everyone wants to be loved the way that they are, not the way they ought to be. Or in the way that God tells us to love. And this is pervasive. It's everywhere. We want to be loved by all people. We do. We don't want anyone to hate us. Someone wanting desperately to be loved by all is often a chameleon, okay? They adapt to their setting. They will look like a churchman to be loved by churchmen. They will look like a worldly lover of money when they are trying to be loved by the rat race, aspiring corporate co-workers. Yeah, look at me. I'm just like you. These sort of people will be crude jokesters, blasphemous even, to maintain rapport with old friends. The old friends joke disgustingly and they laugh and join in. They will keep their Jesus religion to themselves when necessary so as not to upset anyone. They are always changing. They're double-minded, double-tongued. James says that. They will be whoever they need to be, so as long as they maintain love. They want to be loved. The person who desperately wants to be loved by others will also often over-explain. Okay? They'll over-explain. They fear being misunderstood. And I'm not talking about light things where you might just want to make sure that someone who you love hasn't been offended necessarily by what you've done. I'm not talking about that. This is the sort of person who can't stop reaching back out just to make sure that they've explained their position. And that you know what they really meant. And they don't want to look bad. They don't want to look that they're not intelligent. Or they don't want to look compassionate. Whatever the discussion was, they have to continue going. This is what I really meant. This is what I really meant by that. They don't want you offended by them. If there's a chance they offended you, even when they did nothing, they want you to know they're sorry. But really, they are the ones who are easily offended. And they're quick to be defensive. It's the only way to keep themselves on the throne of their heart. A person who desperately wants to be loved by all will also gossip and they'll tear others down so that two things might occur. Okay? First, gossip shows that they have secret knowledge. They have secret knowledge. You want to hear more juicy details? You're going to have to come to me, Top Dog. You want to know more? I've got the secret knowledge. I'm better than you, right? That's what they're trying to do. They prop themselves up above others. They want people to know who's personally privileged. Second, they tear others down in the process of gossiping so as to elevate themselves. That's the goal. Other people who are rising up are threats to the star of the show. And they must be seen where they should be. You are beneath me. You are below me. I will gossip to tear you down and maintain love for others. But I'll come to you to your face and I'll tell you I don't gossip about you and you'll love me too. Everyone will love me. Everyone. I've got secret knowledge. I'm top dog. I'm the best. Okay? So, most of all though, a person who so desperately wants to be loved will compromise their values. They'll compromise their values. And what you really see is there are the values and principles you wish you would hold to, the values that you herald outside of your mouth, and you say, this is what I believe. There are those values and principles, and then there are the actual principles and values that you hold to when in hard situations. The pressure cooker, so to speak. or when faced with temptation or with opposition or whatever, there's what you say you believe, and then when the pressure comes, when you act, when you speak, there's the real belief. When push comes to shove, to maintain love, a person will eject what they wish they could be according to God's word. They'll push Jesus to the back of the line. They'll put the person in front of them as priority to them. Because the lover of self fears man. The lover of self fears man. And it's also what you fear most is what you worship most. The one who desperately wants love worships man and therefore worships himself above God. Jesus says, know that the world hated me first. We need to stop acting surprised. In fact, this discussion acts in some way as a deterrent to bogus conversions and warnings to true ones. In fact, think about it. This country has faced so much prosperity over the last two centuries that in some ways these words have lost their meaning to people. No one fears this stuff anymore in this country in some capacity. But this used to be a way to thwart bogus conversions. Persecution, hatred's coming. Get ready. The prosperity gospel guys, they hate these verses. You will be hated. You will be persecuted. Some of you will die. They don't like that. They don't want to say that. That's not on their preaching program for the year. It's you've got many blessings coming, you know, continue to be a good neighbor, invite people to church and you'll be blessed and you'll get money and health and wealth. But Jesus is like, you will be hated. Look, as much as you and I know doctrines of the Trinity or the hypostatic union or predestination or whatever, you must know deeply that the world will hate you. You must know that. Church, if you truly love Christ and follow after Him, you will be hated. You will be hated. And when it comes down to it, The people who seem nice to your face, even people who have said they love you before, even family, can shockingly... I've seen it. People who you thought, they'll never turn on me, when Christ saved that person, they lost those family members. Boom. They hate them. They thought, no way in the world, even my own faith, wouldn't keep us apart. No, it did. I've seen it time and time again. You will have family and relatives who hate you for your faith. It's happened to me. It's happened to me. You'll have friends from your childhood, and if you are faithful to Christ, they will turn in a split second and hate you. I've seen it. I've seen it. I know it's happened to many of you. Church, you will sometimes get fired from your job for your faith. You will often be kept back from the promotion for your faith. Brothers and sisters, you can be assaulted or have guns pointed at you for Christ. I one time was at Tempe Planned Parenthood. I had a man pull over. He said, come here. And he opened his car door and he had a gun pointed at me. That's happened to tons of different brothers and sisters at the abortion clinics. Many have seen this. Many of us know that story of that street preacher who was in West Phoenix, and he was standing out there giving the gospel to people, and someone came up in a car and shot him in the head. And it was just amazing. I just heard that he miraculously survived. He's improving. But it happens. It happens. Threats in many ways can be common. Beatings can happen. And in our day and age, the online smear campaign can be just as effective. Church, you can lose your reputation with the world. Not for evil done, but for righteousness. And we've got to stop holding this back. We've got to stop keeping this from happening. We've got to know this. You will be hated. If they hated the eternal, impeccable, blameless, only ever did what was right, eternal Son of God, then they'll hate you. If they hated Him, the most amazing and admirable and loving and generous, I mean, every good thing, put it on a list that stretches across the galaxy about Christ. If they hated Him, they'll hate you. We should not be under any delusions that the holier we get, the more we do for Christ, the more the people in the world will like you. In fact, it's the opposite. The more you're faithful, the more you seek holiness, the more you seek to obey Christ, the more the world will hate you. Okay? Now you talk about, look, what about Mother Teresa and all these people? You know what? There is a line that the world has made, and they will venerate you as a saint. And if you stay in those boundaries, they'll herald your name out. You give to the poor, you do some charities. Make sure you also say LGBTQIA is great too. Add that in, stay in the lines. Do these things, you'll be venerated as a saint. Whoa, this is a model of Christianity. Because they want you to stay in their lines. You know, Christians appear foreign to the world. We appear foreign to the world. They don't think we belong here. But what it is, is the world hates God. Therefore, those who love God, they also hate. And so here's why they hate us, okay? Right here, here's why they hate us. Think about a man who's in leadership over a small town, alright? Let's call him a mayor. There's a mayor of a town, and you are the son or daughter of the mayor of the town, alright? And in this town, this mayor is benevolent. He wants to give generously to his people. He wants to make good statutes. He wants to make righteous law. He wants a great society in his small town. And he's going to institute those things into the city. And this mayor wants everyone in the town to observe it. He wants them to observe the statutes that he's going to make. He wants them to model after his benevolent acts. And so imagine that you're the son or daughter of that mayor trying to institute these righteous things. And so because you're simply in the mayor's family, And the townspeople, a good portion of them, don't want these laws, they don't want this mayor, they don't want this guy, simply because you're part of the mayor's family, they hate you. They hate you. Simply because you're part of the family. Because you and I have been adopted in, that we're a child of God now, we've been adopted in because of Christ, even if you have yet to do anything. Imagine if someone got saved here at this moment, they turn to Christ, they have yet to do anything, The world hates them simply because they're a child of God now. That's it. It's because of the heavenly family you're in. Then, imagine as the son or daughter of this mayor who's benevolent and issuing these righteous decrees and the townspeople hate him and they hate you too because of you being part of his family. Now imagine this. You Agree with your father. You agree with the mayor. You like what he's instituting. You want to see what he's doing go forth. You want to see a good word come out to the people. You want to see the good news come out. And now, you don't simply belong to the heavenly family. You don't just belong to the mayor. You're now doing what he does. You agree with what he agrees with. You do what He does. You think what He thinks. You want what He wants. So church, you are in the family of the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and you actually want more people to be in that family, right? Amen? You want more people to be in that heavenly family, and so you share with people the message of the King. And for that reason, because of who and what you represent, you are hated. So then you gotta ask yourself, if you are mostly loved by the world right now, if you are mostly loved by the people of the world, what's wrong? What's going on? If you're not being hated right now by the world, what's happening? It brings into a measure of those things that I said before, the list of wanting to be loved. It brings into question faithfulness. Are you acting like you don't belong to that family? Are you acting like you don't agree with that great God, the one true God, to maintain status, to save face? Why does the world love you right now? If that's happening, ask yourself. That's a personal thing between you and God. And so, I'm not saying we as Christians should be hateable, okay? Let's not get this wrong. We should not be hateable. So far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Paul says that. He says, pray for quiet lives that we can share the gospel and avoid opposition. We should not be hated for our sin. We should be hated for our righteousness. for the righteousness given to us. And what I mean by righteousness is that foreign justification, that righteousness that God gave us, the new position that you and I are in under God, declared righteous because of Jesus' blood. They should hate us because of that, and because of the deeds that he prepared for us to walk in. The things that he wants us to do, the things that we are to be obedient with, they hate us because of that. What you are now and what you do. But we shouldn't be hate-worthy based on anything else. Some Christians like being hated for all the wrong reasons. I've seen it before. You might know someone I'm talking about. And often the reasons for that can still be like the person who wants to be loved. It's self-idolatry. The Christian who loves to be hated, and loves to be controversial for the sake of controversy, and always go against the grain, and always nitpick at Christians, and always get the world bad with them, and always continue to say hateful things to people, this person, they live off of that. They want it. It's not because of righteousness. It's because of something inside of them that wants this self-idolatry, this superiority. But we need not think ourselves superior. I said at the beginning of the service, we were taken out of the world by grace. We were taken out of it by grace. The only thing that's special about you and me is we were bought with a price. Bought by the blood of the Lamb. Otherwise, we are in many ways no different. Nevertheless, you will be hated. If you weren't, look what Jesus says, verse 19, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world. Because of this, the world hates you. This is in the genitive form. He says, if you were the world's possession, if you belong to the world, if you were of the same genus of the world, it would love its own. Like you love your own child, Because that child belongs to you, that child is of you, that child is a representation of your marriage, of your covenant, of your family. Just like that, the world loves its own. The world loves those who belong to it. And that tells us that those who belong to Christ have now changed genus, in a sense. You are different. You are a new creature in Christ. You and I have died to things of the world. We were raised to the things above. And how does this happen? Same way it happened to the apostles right here. Jesus said, you aren't of this world because I chose you out of the world. I chose you out of the world. One little word makes all the difference. You see that? Of the world. Out of the world. Out. Removed. Taken out. That's what Jesus did for us. He removed us out of the world. We are in such a sense where it's not positionally, we're in the world right now. We're not in the world, but we're not of the world. We're different. We're new creatures in this old creation, in a sense, this creation that groans, that cries out for the redemption of the sons and daughters of God. And so this is out of the world. The world hates you and me because Jesus chose us. That's what it says. And not only did He choose us, He removed us from it. The world would prefer people who are chosen and remain of the world, but that is an impossibility. Oh, you can be chosen by God as long as you remain of the world. That is not possible. Those who are chosen by God, chosen by Christ, don't remain of the world. Why? 1 John 5, 19. We know that we are of God and that the world lies in the power of the evil one. When you leave the world, you are a captive set free, no longer a slave to sin, no longer a child of the devil, nor under his power, but a slave to Christ, a child of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything changes. Everything changes. We talked about this topic, especially when we went over the epistle of James over a year ago. James 1 verses 26 through 27 says, If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. In other words, If you talk like the world, live like the world, desire the desires of the world, but play religious dress-up on Sunday, that religion is worthless. Stop wasting your time. Right? If you live like the world, desire like the world, talk like the world, act like the world, but you come on Sunday and play dress-up, just stop. Right? It'll do nothing for you. It's worthless. Obviously, I'm not telling people to stop coming to church or anything like that. If someone's unsaved, they ought to be in this sort of place. But do you get what I'm saying? You get the point. He says it's worthless. It won't save you. Pure and undefiled religion acts. It does what Jesus did and it keeps yourself unstained from the world. That means the tainting, the pollution, the contamination and the filth of the world does not enter you. It's like as if you're an antibiotic and a bacteria is coming into contact with you and it simply cannot remain alive. Okay? Does the world's desires die when they come into contact with you? Do the world's desires die when they come into contact with you or do they find a host that's ready where they can spread and the desires of the world are cultivated and spread like a virus? Or do the world's desires come to you and they die? And likewise, are you seeking to inject life into this world of death? You see, not only is it that when this world comes into contact with you, the desires of the world die, but also when you come into contact with the world, it comes alive. Life is given to it. Inoculation of life and righteousness. Sowing seeds of gospel. And God gives the increase and makes it grow. And if you're doing that, just know, and I'll say it again, the world will hate you. The world will hate you. Go to verse 20. Jesus reminds us, They will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also." So if you remember, in chapter 13, Jesus went and He washed the disciples' feet. He was willing to do one of the lowest tasks that any slave would ever do, and He is their Lord. And if He is their Lord, and since He is their Lord, they should be willing to do what He, who is greater than them, does as well. That's what he said. And now likewise, they can expect to not only do what he has done, because he's their master, but also they can expect to be treated the same way he was treated. Slave is not above his master. So just like love was accompanied with more than a feeling, it was accompanied with action, the hate of the world isn't simply a feeling. The hate of the world is not just a position or a feeling. The hate of the world will come with action as well. It comes with action. The hate of the world towards Christians is called here by Jesus persecution. In the Greek, dioko. Dioko. At a basic level, the word means to run after something. Okay? Persecution. Run after something. But in this context, it is the intentional pursuit of someone in order to harass them. To run rapidly after someone, to drive them away, to cast them out, put pressure on someone by active chase. This is not tolerance. This is not letting something go. This isn't even defending yourself against someone coming against you. This is the act of an aggressor coming towards someone because of their beliefs or stance or position that they are antagonistic to. You see, the world isn't simply there and we come to them with the gospel and they go, sorry, I just, I reject it. Sorry. And then they let us believe what we believe and do what we do. No, the world doesn't simply wait for us because the world knows there are people who are following Christ and because Christ has come into the world and he's coming to judge the living and the dead again, or he's coming again to do that. The people of the world actively come after. They don't just sit there and wait and they reject what we say, that happens too, but it says that they come after. They go on the offense. Contrary to what some may say, the semantic range of the word isn't limited to beatings and martyrdom, by the way. This act of offense, this persecution also took place when the scribes and Pharisees plotted together to catch Jesus up in His words to ruin His public ministry. It was persecution that sought a betrayer for 30 pieces of silver. It was persecution when they openly mocked Jesus and discredited Him, saying that He was a glutton and a wine-bibber, and He removed demons by the power of the devil. That was also persecution. It was All those things. It was lying about His resurrection when His body was gone because He had actually rose again and the Pharisees and high priests came together and they said, we'll tell people that His disciples stole His body. It's lying about Him too. It's trying to ruin Him. maligning, defaming, gossiping, mocking, conspiring against people. These things are included in persecution, the same as when the high priest sent temple officers after him to apprehend him unlawfully. This is the same thing. This is the same as when they struck him in the face. This is the same when they ripped out his beard hairs. And the highest form of persecution obviously took place at the cross. What better way to cast out someone, to chase after someone? What better way to end the chase, but to kill them? And that's what they did. That's what they did. And so if all these things happen to Jesus, what he is saying is they are very capable of happening to the apostles, and by extension, you and me. If these things happen to Him, they can happen to you and me. And maybe now, after I gave these categories of persecution, you've even realized you're taking an inventory in your mind of maybe things that have happened to you in your faith in Christ. Maybe some of what I said has happened to you before. Maybe you've experienced this. Because you know, I think there are two gutters in this regard in Christianity when it comes to persecution. I would say that there are some Christians who scoff at the American evangelical Christian. They scoff and they laugh and they go, no one in America has ever experienced true persecution. Nope, no one. Yeah, what you faced, what you had was nothing like real persecution. And they laugh at you. And that's one gutter to this. And the other gutter to this in America would be to develop a persecution complex. And we would make some of these light offenses that happen to us as heavy-handed as what happened to the apostles in the first centuries. You see these two gutters? We are facing persecution in America. It may not be sometimes like this, although we saw what that young man it was. Maybe, like I said in the other ways, reputation destroying, firing you from your job when they learn that you're a Christian. I've heard it from many of you who have lived here for decades. Many of you have been evangelical Christians for a long time, and there is a sort of nepotism in this state. where they give favor to those who are of certain families or favor to those who are of a certain ward or whatever. You have said that yourself. That's part of that. I would say that that's part of that. So there's a balanced understanding that we ought to have. The point is, church, Jesus says, since he is our master, we'll experience this too. We need to stop making sure that we're treated better than Jesus Christ. We need to stop making sure we are treated better than Jesus Christ the King. How can we have any expectation of being treated better? Why do we try to preserve our right treatment so intensely? Are we better than Jesus? Does He deserve to suffer while you and I deserve prosperity? Dangerously, it may be that some want better treatment than Jesus because they consider their lives of more important than Jesus's. And what a place to be. That is a place to repent from, to turn from, and move towards Christ. That may not be what some say of themselves, but that might be true of themselves in the way they act. Becoming more like Jesus also means attracting more of the hate he received to ourselves. Now on the flip side, in this verse, he says, if they kept my word, they will keep yours too. If they kept my word, they'll keep yours too. This means observe or obey. In chapter 8, Jesus said those who keep his word will never see death. These are the saved ones. Those who obey Jesus's words are saved. And so there is hope. Despite all that the apostles just heard, there is hope. More will turn to Christ even after He has left. There will be more believers. And so believers who seek to obey Christ, right here, contextually, will observe the words of the apostles as well. That is to say, if you remember two weeks ago, I talked to you about the formation of the New Testament canon. And how Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit is given to these apostles, He will what? The Holy Spirit will cause these men to remember all that Jesus said. And number two, the Holy Spirit will teach them all things. And I told you that those two things encapsulate what is what we know to be the New Testament text. The Holy Spirit will cause you to remember all that Jesus did and said, and then he will cause you to know all things. This is what Jesus said to the apostles, okay? And so, with that, Jesus is saying here that that New Testament, that the words of the apostles are authoritative. They're authoritative. Believers won't simply be red letter only followers. If one says that they observe Jesus' words and not the apostles, then they don't actually obey His words. Why? Because He just says in this verse right here that they will keep your words as they keep mine. If people say, I'm a Jesus guy, I'm a Jesus only guy, then you're not actually a Jesus guy. Because Jesus said, you're going to obey all that I said, and you're going to observe what the apostles tell you. You're going to observe the apostolic teaching. Why? Because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's inspired by the Holy Spirit. All those for Jesus are for all that He said, including what He wanted to continue to tell the church through these men, okay? So, it's a double-edged sword. What he's telling them right now is the world's gonna hate you, you're gonna experience this, but then there's a moment of hope here. Don't worry, if they keep your words, if they keep my words, they'll keep your words. I'm giving you the authority to make the New Testament text. And they're going to observe these things. And that means when we look at Paul's words, they're the same as Jesus's words, they're given by God. And at that point, Jesus is saying, that these things also will keep them humble. That's my opinion. These things will keep them humble because the apostles are in a unique position, alright? Their words will carry the level of authority of Jesus in the New Testament, the same level as Jesus their master, but also because they are slaves to the master, they will be persecuted. And so persecution will keep these men from self-exaltation. They're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They're going to write Romans. They're going to write the epistles of Peter, James, the Revelation, John's epistles. They're going to write Hebrews. They're going to write all these wonderful letters. They're going to write the Gospels. These things are going to be written. And so because the Holy Spirit has given us His Word, given God's Word to us through these men who are carried along by that Spirit, They ought to remain humble and even persecution can do that for them. They have something that is outside of them given to them and given to us in this book, this Bible. It helps to move a focus off of themselves and towards the only one who can vindicate and rescue them. Now, ultimately, the world won't be persecuting and hating because of Christians themselves, but because of the one they represent. Verse 21, but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me. The reality is the world hates God, so they will hate those who love him. You get it? They will do these things to us because they don't know Him. They don't know the One who sent Jesus. And this verse means two things. Number one, the pain and persecution you go through at the hands of those in the world is in Christ's namesake. It's for Him. When you go through something, this persecution, this hatred towards you, it's in Christ's name. And He loves you for that. He appreciates your devotion. He appreciates your loyalty to Him. He's pleased with that. When you are persecuted for His namesake, it brings Him glory. And it's sharing in the sufferings of Christ, which the Bible says is good. So many of the letters in the Bible say that sharing in these things conforms us to His image. And in that way, as we share in these sufferings with Christ, we share also in the riches of Christ. The riches of Christ, what is to come. And number two, and let this be a relief to those who are often tempted to desire the love of others, as I talked about before, they aren't doing this because of you. It's not because of you personally that you are being hated or persecuted. It's not because of Wade. It's not because of Andrew. It's not because of Dusty or Eric or anyone in this room. It's not because of you personally that you're receiving hatred or persecution. You and I are ultimately not the ones they hate. This is because of their posture towards Christ, their rebellion to God. And that is honestly frightening a bit to me. Because when they reject what you and I have to say when we give the gospel or we show them the Word of God, when they reject it, they reject Him. And so our battle is not against flesh and blood. That means that you don't have to hate the ones who hate you. You don't have to persecute the ones who persecute you. We ought to love. They're doing this because of Christ and not because of you. They need the gospel. They need to be unblinded to see properly that this antagonism isn't fulfilling them. This antagonism towards the church and towards Christ is only reminding them of their sin. It continues to heap condemnation on them, and that's what it is. They don't want to be reminded of their sin. They want to be ignorant of their sin. The light reminds them that there is darkness. John 7, 7, Jesus said, I testify of the world that its deeds are evil. Jesus testified to the world that its deeds were evil. And so, hate towards those in rebellion to God would allow for zero gospel proclamation. Zero. If we hated those who hated us, if we persecuted those who persecuted us, if we withheld the gospel, because giving the gospel is love, if we gave no love, and if we hated like they hated, this would all crumble. There would be zero love. Love brings the gospel to a world that desperately needs it. Persecution isn't overcome by retaliation. It is overcome first in Christ's victory, but also in love. Hate is conquered by real biblical love. You know, read a Retortured for Christ, Richard Wurmbrand. All the persecution they went through in the communist regime. I mean, they got to witness, some of them got to witness their children being killed right in front of them. Just say you don't follow Christ anymore, and they would beat the child in front of them. And the child would go, don't do it, dad. Don't say a word. And they would kill that man's child in front of him. And there would be these amazing demonstrations of love. They would murder their family and friends. You've got to read some of these books on martyrs or persecution or, you know, just missionary tales of persecution. When the gospel succeeds, it goes out with love. It's incredible. I'm not saying that these people don't deserve justice. They do. But some of these guards, some of these men who did these things, turned to Christ because they continue to see a forgiveness and love that is, honestly, something we can't comprehend. When you're facing that, when you're experiencing that, and you can give forgiveness and love to someone doing that, it is unbelievable, but that's how the gospel continues to go out. Now Jesus will mention an interesting aspect about what it means for those in the darkness to be exposed to the light. When the people get to see aspects of heaven but choose the world, what does that indicate? Verses 22-25. 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." What does he mean, if I didn't come they wouldn't have sin? What does he mean? When He says sin here, that is synonymous with guilt. And so it's not that they were sinless, in sinless perfection before Jesus came, and now that He came and showed them the light, it's like, oh shoot, you were fine before I came. You would have been okay. You were sinless. You were perfect. But now that I came and gave you the light, you're damned. And so that's not why He came. He came because they were in sin, right? We know that, of course. That would reject the entirety of the rest of Scripture speaking to the idolatry and sin of Israel and the rest of the world. This, what he's saying is, they would not have sin. They would not have sin. What he's saying by this is a guilt that is specifically tied to the Jews who were awaiting the Messiah, but instead they rejected and killed Him. This, in this context, is rejecting God's gracious actions and choosing the darkness over the light. This brings extra judgment to these people. You see, it is one thing to have the Redeemer of mankind condescend among His creatures, and they don't get told about His redemption. I'm sorry, I said that incorrectly. It is one thing to not have the Redeemer condescend among His creatures, to not get told about redemption. It is one thing to have all that happen. But it is literally another thing to have God dwell among you. To tell you how to be forgiven. And then not only to reject Him and His words, but kill Him for it. This is darkly treasonous. Jesus is the brightest light. He is the fullest revelation. He is the biggest miracle, the largest sign, and the most personal visitation of God the world has ever seen. And so to spurn Him is to face the greatest judgment. These people had God come in their midst. God walked in front of them, healed people left and right, lepers, blind, lame, removed demons, fed them miraculously. He did all these things among them, and they hated Him and rejected Him. And so, for that reason, they have extra guilt, they have even more guilt, because they turned from Him. This is like when Jesus says that certain places in Judea will face more condemnation than even Sodom and Gomorrah, because they had seen a gracious and divine visitation and they refused it. Sodom and Gomorrah was in their sin, they were in their sin, and God came and destroyed those cities. But this is different. These are people who were like Sodom and Gomorrah, And yet, they got a visitation from God Himself and told them how to be free from their sin, and they said, we choose what we're doing anyways. That's what He's saying. He says in one of the other Gospels that even ancient Nineveh is in a better state than most of them. Even Nineveh, a Gentile city, happened with Jonah. You see, the guilt is multi-layered. There is the law written on the hearts of all men and women, the conscience bearing witness to right and wrong, but suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Then there is the law of God given through Moses, that when held up against a sinful man or woman, shows then how truly sinful we actually are. It shows you who you really are. God's standard is like a mirror. You get to see what really you've become. The commandment according to Paul in Romans 7 did not result in life, but death, because no one could uphold something so holy. And so then a Messiah is needed to assist with this problem. Sin was a real problem. However, to actually turn against the Messiah, who was sent to remedy their greatest plight, to see Him, to hear Him, to witness His works and miracles, but forsake and kill Him? There's no better word than damning. That is damning. And Jesus says here, they are without excuse. He says it right here, they have no excuse. And then he declares that oneness he has with his Father, oneness in nature, oneness in mission, oneness in salvation, oneness in love towards the saints, but now the Father and the Son share a oneness in the hate they receive. You can't love the Son but hate the Father, or love the Father but hate the Son, or the Spirit for that matter. You see, religions that say they love the Father but reject Jesus, they reject the Father as well. And it will be shocking to them on that final day when they see God. But they will be without excuse, he says. Jesus' coming, His works, all the things these people have seen, and now even to our generation. To our generation, there has never been so much light and gospel that has come forth, even through publication and the media, and through so many churches and Christians in the world. The light is everywhere in this world, and yet the darkness continues to love its own darkness. Think about all the times that people are exposed to the truth. I mean, think about the Christmas songs that we heard in public last week. Things that said His blessings will flow as far as the curse is found. Things that said He rules the world with truth and grace. He is the incarnate deity. He is the one who reconciles gods and sinners. Born that we no more may die. These things were playing and playing and playing all across the world in this country all last week. Exposure, exposure, exposure, exposure. Light, but choosing darkness. choosing darkness. They even know Jesus' name so well, they use it for a curse word. Unbelievable. But now that He has come and the world has seen Him, they've heard the gospel, saw His teachings, they hate Him and His Father equally. And Jesus says this fulfills the law. He means the Old Testament in a whole when He says that, specifically Psalm 69. This is the same psalm that prophetically said that they gave me gall for my food, vinegar for my drink when I thirsted. This happened on the cross. This psalm is specifically about the persecution and hatred that the psalmist receives, but it's made most manifest in Jesus. Psalm 69 verse 4 says, those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs on my head. The world has every reason to love Jesus and not a single reason to hate Him, even more than the flawed psalmist or David. There is no justification to hate a perfect being, the only perfect being. But this is all part of the cost to make payment for the sins of many. What Jesus is saying here, and this should be a comfort to you and I, is that the hatred and persecution of the world will never jeopardize God's plan of redemption. Never. Hatred and persecution of believers will never jeopardize God's plan of redemption. He has done what he's needed to do. He has spread the truth. Excuse me. He has spread the gospel like wildfire. It's gone forth, and it's gone forth, and it's multiplied, and it's happening even to this day. Even with those statistics I read to you at the beginning, those things have only resulted in more explosion of the truth of God's grace. And so, not seeking to worry the disciples, he reminds them once again of the paraclete, the helper, verses 26 and 27. In other words, Don't start to fret at hearing about this hatred and persecution of the world. I've helped you this whole time, haven't I? Well, when I leave, Jesus says, from the Father, we will send you the spirit of truth. He will testify of me and you will have the ability to face the world with the truth. You will be my witnesses to this world, he finishes. And so He's going to help them and us be a witness of Christ even in the midst of persecution and hatred. In fact, having the Spirit indwell you is the only way you and I could ever face anything like this. Ever. You know, it can be a frightful thing to be a witness. When an entire courtroom is filled with people who don't want you to speak, people who have tried to stop someone from taking the witness stand, people who whisper threats under their breath as you walk down the aisle, it can be hard to muster up the courage to say what's right. That's happened to witnesses in this world. They've been threatened to the point of death. If you go up there and you say the truth, you're dead. And they walk up there and they take the witness stand and to say the truth can cost you. But will you and I be silenced? Don't be silenced. Do we need help to do that? Absolutely. The Spirit of Truth will aid us in our testimony of Christ. I believe the Spirit of God will even help us if we ever had to face martyrdom. He will help you. He'll give you the grace to get through it. We are not alone. This is one of the biggest ways the Spirit assists us. No matter the cost to testify of Christ, we know the Spirit is with us and we know our reward. It's all worth it. It is completely worth it. Now, in some ways it makes sense to end the sermon here because chapter 15 is now over. But as I read to you, there's four more verses. I know this is a longer sermon. Hang tight, we're almost done. We're almost done. Verses one through four of chapter 16 are our final verses for the evening. It says, these things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or me, but these things I have spoken to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you." So, knowing what to expect can help. It can. He doesn't want them to stumble when they encounter the opposition. And even more than that, He wants them to be worn of apostasy. When the pressure comes, don't let it make you run from Christ, but to Him. Don't run away from Him, but continually go back to Him. These are things that are going to happen. And knowing these things ahead of time can fortify our faith. You will be outcast from synagogue. That's actually all one word. That's one adjective. It means that they will be expelled from the religious system there in Judea, driven out from the places of worship. And what's interesting to me is, when true worshippers of God are expelled out of the synagogue, that means at the same time true worship is expelled, because they're gone. It becomes dead, it becomes lifeless. This was even a threat that was given to those in John chapter 9. You remember when the man born blind, his parents were like, we don't want to testify about this. He's old enough. He's of age. Talk with him. Because it said in the text that they were threatened that they might be kicked out of the synagogue, the local one. This, I believe, is more widespread. This is something where you'll face full Jewish excommunication. And the people of this world, will be so deluded that they will believe killing those sent by God is offering service to Him." That's what he says. Before Saul became Paul, he believed this as well. He believed he was giving an offering to God. The men who killed Stephen patted themselves on the back, and they thanked God for helping them with their throwing arm, that they could stone this man and crack his head open. They said it was to the glory of God, for their obedience. Jesus cried out on the cross. They know not what they do. They're deluded. This offering of a Christian's blood is not to God. That is an offering to Satan. You can't take the blood and life of a man or woman and give it to God. That only happened with one, Jesus Christ. God will receive no other blood. He'll receive no other person. No other offering. He won't take it. Martyrdom offends God in that sense. But ironically, although it is not an offering to God from the one who killed a Christian, it is a form of offering of the Christian to God. for being killed in Jesus' name. And this was taken too far in history when there was persecution in the Roman Empire. Some young Christian zealots were excited. They're like, I hope I'm dead by the year end. Now that's going too far. We don't need to desire martyrdom. You'll be hated and persecuted already. You don't need to seek it out. But this is something that the Lord honors, such devotion. And He will comfort us. We have a heavenly reward. He also sympathizes with those who face the highest price while following Him. The reason the world will persecute, hate, and kill Christians according to Jesus is because they've never known God. They have never known the Father or the Son. And this isn't a know-of situation, but an intimate knowing. They don't have it. This is the kind of thing that results in Jesus saying, depart from me, I never knew you. And he told them about all of this because an hour is coming when the negative attention of the world that is on Jesus will be focused on them. The scope will move to Christians once Jesus ascends. They will be the object, we will be the object of their hatred. And we've got to remember when these things happen that He told us ahead of time. We need to be warned. The temptation to leave Christ and to leave the faith, I'm telling you now, if it hasn't already happened to you, it will one day happen to you. The temptation to leave Jesus will be dangled in front of you like a carrot before a rabbit. It will. But we are to be steadfast. Unmovable. We must remember what He said here, Church. You will be hated, you will be persecuted, and some can even be killed because we follow Jesus. And some of the world will even do this thinking that it pleases God. Or I should say their God. Right? So let me wrap it up. What should being hated and persecuted result in for believers? being hated by the world should cause us to want to see more of the world changed by the power of the gospel. Okay? If there is much persecution coming out of a specific nation, we should want to see the whole nation changed. I want to see North Korea come to Christ. I want to see the Chinese underground church explode. I want to see nations in the Middle East come to faith in Christ. We should want these things. You see, persecution and hatred shouldn't cause us to hunker down and become inactive with the gospel. Then the enemy wins. If persecution and hatred comes for believers, it should make us active. It should make us on fire. Because they can't kill what God started. They can't. That is the opposite of Christ's expectations. We're not just waiting for things to get worse. Being hated will result in good. That's a promise. And it will. Ask yourself. Does hate towards you drive you to more love towards them? Hatred and persecution should also cause us to long for eternal life. To be excited for our eternal rest with our Lord. If you're not excited about heaven, you might just be loved by the world too much. We ought to be excited for what's ahead. And the last thing to consider about persecution and hatred is what Jesus says in Mark 13 13. He says, you will be hated by all because of my name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. You see, if one goes back to the world and stays there, they cannot possibly expect to be saved from that world in the end. Yes, the cost is high to follow Christ. And he says to count it. No one builds a tower unless they first count the cost and make the plans. And so may you and I see, though, that the costs are infinitely worth it. They are. What we might endure this side of eternity in this short, vaporous life is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. The Bible says it's not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to you. What we suffer. He says, Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. This was a man who was beaten, lashed, set to sea, adrift in the ocean, man who had murder attempts put on him so many times, and this man could say that these are momentary light afflictions, and they're producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. And that's what's waiting for you and I, this eternal weight of glory. And it is beyond comparison. You can't take anything in the world. You can't take anything great and wonderful. You can't take anything bad and horrible and compare it to the glory that is coming for you, that is available to you in Christ. You simply can't take what you face in this life as a Christian and put it up against the glories of heaven. It pales in comparison. Don't look to what is seen. Remember the promises given to us by God that we haven't seen yet. It'll all be worth it. Every tear will be a lake of grace. Every slander will be a wonderful new name. Every beating will become resting in the bosom of Christ. Every reputation ruined is a new family as a child of God. And every saint that dies for Christ is a seed in the ground that blossoms into more believers. The word says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones. Brothers and sisters, no matter what comes your way, no matter what you and I face tomorrow, or the day after that, or the year after that, until we come into eternity, it doesn't matter. Whatever comes your way, be steadfast, faithful unto death, and know that all of the hatred and all of the persecution will only produce good for you and for the kingdom and the glory of our great God. That's the reality. That's the promise. Keep going. If this ever happens to you, you know what to expect now. Jesus told us we can move forward. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this word. that has been given to us. Thank you, Jesus, that you have warned us what we might face in this life. God, I pray that those of us who have been trying to keep these things from happening by trying to maintain a love of the world towards us, that we would be faithful, that we wouldn't worry so much about the love of the world because we have your love, Lord. So God, help us to shake that off. Help us to repent. Help us to turn from these things. God, help us to continue to love and forgive even in the midst of persecution and hatred. Help us to give the gospel out. Help us to be bold witnesses of yours, Lord God. We're able to come into this room, Lord, come into this building and worship you without fear of death or calamity or attack. And yet, Lord, at this very moment today, there were believers who had to meet together in secret. And if we're being honest, we largely don't know what that looks like. And so God, of whom much is given, much is required. Help us to move away from this pampered age, and Lord, to seek to be uncomfortable in the name of Christ. Help us to stand for what's right always. Help us, Holy Spirit, to be faithful witnesses to the end. We love you, God. We know we could do none of this without you. We love you. We pray this in your name, amen.