We're going to give you just a couple things here as we get started. John's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 18. Chapter 15, verse 18. Now, some of you may or may not know this. I'll give you just a real quick one. We know the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Mark and Luke kind of follow the same pattern called the Synopsis Gospels. They kind of tell the story of Jesus along the same lines but they have three different targets, three different groups that they're writing to. Matthew to the Jews, Mark to the Gentiles or Romans primarily and Luke to Theopolis which we don't know for sure who he was. He was possibly someone in Caesar's palace but we don't know that for sure. someone of authority, that's for sure. And John, the people as a whole, he writes his gospel entirely... if you notice that, if you read it, it's not there, he jumps right into it. And also, from about John's gospel chapter 12 to the resurrection, that is a week's time. all those chapters covers a week's time period and here they are in the upper room and he had just instituted the Lord's Supper and he is addressing them he's still giving them some final instructions and telling them some things that they're going to need you got to realize these old boys was fixing to face some things that was not an everyday battle they were getting ready to face extreme persecution. Now they had miracles, my goodness, these guys saw miracles galore, but look what they had, look what they suffered at the same time. The world hated their guts. And I'm going to explain that in a little bit. But John's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 18, I assume everybody's there. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. Of course this is Jesus speaking. If you are of the world, the world will love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Now this is speaking of people who we are fellow Christians. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. In other words, they have no covering. They can't hide it. They can't deny it. There's no way around it. It is there. It's exposed. It's obvious. And there's nothing they can do with it now. Verse 23. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now they have both seen and hated me and my father. But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. But when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And he also shall bear witness because he hath been with me from the beginning. Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful and thankful again for your word, for everything it tells us about you and about us. Not only did you love us enough to save us, but you took the time Lord, to give us a book, a perfect book, completely infallible piece together that gives us instructions on what to expect and how to live for you and how to better go through this life and honoring you and praising you. And I thank you for that. Lord, I pray that you be with me. Holy Spirit, I pray that you touch this message. I need your power. I need your anointing. I'm not anything, God. I need you. I need these people to see you, not me. And I pray to anoint their ears, anoint their minds, touch the altar call when it comes, touch hearts that's needed this morning. I don't know the condition of everyone that's here, but God, you do. I don't know where they're at with you, what's going on in their life, but God, you do. And I pray that you'll help them and give encouragement where it's needed. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now as I've already kind of gave you a little bit of introduction somewhat to the book of John and what the setting here, keep in mind that as Jesus is talking, he knows he's getting ready to go to the cross. This is bothering me to no end, I'm sorry. He knows he's getting ready to go and be crucified. He is telling them he's going to be crucified. He's giving them the last words. And there's a lot of shock going on in this conversation, a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of unknown. Jesus knew, but they were still trying to wrap their minds around it. And I'll be honest with you, I probably would have too. I don't follow them. Sometimes we come down on these old boys and some of these Bible people pretty hard. I'm not sure how we'd have done with it either. Amen. But I've seen YouTube videos. You can find them. They're hard to find. where people go out on the street and preach, and this one guy in particular will show, I think six or seven of the world's most hated people, considered the most hated people. And he's got them on a flip board, like a pretty good sized poster like that, and he'll flip them, and sometimes he has some he holds in his hands. He'll say, he'll show you these hated people, usually Hitler's one of them, Joseph Stalin, some of our more well-known leaders from the past that definitely caused a lot of panic and pain, amen? And most of them will agree, and he said, without fail, I get to the last one, he said, somebody in this crowd is going to walk away. He said, your hatred of him is so bad, as soon as I show you who he is, you will leave. He said, I'll guarantee you will. He said, you will not stay here. He said, you will not stay here to even prove me wrong. You will walk away. Sure enough, he flips that page over. There's the name Jesus Christ. And without fail, somebody yells something out or does something derogatory and walks away. I've seen videos of people on college campuses. If you haven't watched them, it would do you some good to watch some of those. of some of our Christian people. And Ben Shapiro's not a Christian, he's a Jew, an extremely intelligent man that goes and debates these colleges. And it's sometimes kind of comical to watch. But when they start talking about Jesus, you would not believe the reactions of some of these people in our day and time in our society. And it ain't just young people either. Predominantly it is. But it's older people as well and the fit that they absolutely throw just for someone telling them about Jesus. And so often they'll say, well he's not real. Well I'm going to go ahead and declare something to you. If something or somebody is not real, I'll be quite honest with you, it really doesn't bother me. Why should it? It's not real. Who cares? But people get tore up from the ground up and they get mad. And let me go ahead and explain something to you. If you are a Christian, they're going to hate you too. That's part of it. Now I want this to help you and try to explain some things to you. I just want the Lord's help. And hopefully I can. So go with me through this. Now we can title this different things, but I'd say Jesus, His church, and the hatred of both. Because it is. Once you are saved, you must realize that I was going to bring a light, some kind of white gown to put on somebody, bring some of you up here, but there was young Christians I had in mind that I wish was here today, but they're not. It's okay, I don't know why. It's not really okay, but anyway. But imagine me having a group of you teenagers come up here and I take one of you, pull you put like a white shiny robe on you and shine a light on top of you that shines down on you and they see that illumination. That is kind of what happens when you're saved. They cannot see that white gown. They cannot see that light but they know something is different about you. They see a change. If they don't see a change and there's nothing different about you then you didn't get saved. You need to come and get another dose or talk to the Lord a little bit more. He said in verse 18, it's a world to hate you. He know that it hated me before it hated you. Jesus saying it shouldn't be a shock. They hated me. He never done anything wrong. They killed him. I'd say that's pretty strong hatred, wouldn't you? I mean, I'll be honest with you folks. I don't wish Terrible bad on a lot of people. Some people does things to kids and innocent people and things. I don't have much mercy on them what happens here. I don't want them to die and go to hell. But still, I mean, it takes hatred to want to kill somebody who never done anything wrong other than tell you what you've done wrong so you can get it right. So number one, the world, when I say the world, the world system, it hated Christ. It still hates Christ. This system that we have, they do not like Him. You've got to tell people about Jesus and they will show you real quick what they think of Him. And reason being, it's Jesus said, He said, I came into the world, I showed them their sins, I illuminated it to them, and now they hate me because they do not want to confess their sins. So they've either got to run or come. If you want to get an idea of this, go home, I'll give you a challenge. You dust off your most favorite piece of furniture, you get your pledge out, you pledge up baby, and you go back about a week later, I will say a week, two weeks if you really want it, but a week will work, and take a bright light and shine it on that and see what it looks like. You're going to see death. You see, Jesus took a bright light and shined it in our lives and in the world's life, and therefore they sinned their sin and they got two choices, turn the light out or go to the light. And that's the only choice they've got. And that's why they hate Him, because they cannot live comfortably in their sins. And the world, because they have a different value system than you and I, that is why they do not like Christians. Listen, teenagers, that is why when you are saved, if you live for Jesus, and you should be, I know it's hard, but you should be, that is why some of your friends are going to treat you like they do. Because your values, you are shining a bright light into their life, into their sins, and it makes them uncomfortable. Us adults, it's no wonder why we should be amazed when people get mad at us for just being a Christian. Jesus told you they were going to. They hated him. They absolutely hated him. Now, sometime this week, I think, was it South Carolina that guy got killed by firing squad? Praise God. I have no problem with that. The Bible teaches it, by the way. Could you imagine? I don't know what the guy did. I think he murdered woman or done something. You got somebody say this Easter we're going to set somebody free and we're going to execute somebody and we got this innocent person who's done nothing but trying to help people. They've fed the hungry, they've clothed the poor, They've done all these wonderful things. They've never hardly had to apologize. They've never done anything wrong. And we've got this guy over here. It's a mass murder. He's raped women. He's molested kids. He's killed people. He's stolen from people. He's done everything imaginable. And we're going to claim him and set him loose and crucify this guy over here. That's exactly what they did to Jesus. And I'm trying to get a picture painted of the hatred of the Lord Jesus. And folks, that has not changed in 2,000 years. So why? Because He illuminates your sin and my sin. He shows me our sins and it makes us uncomfortable. Our old nature is a sinful nature and when it is called out, it gets a little bit testy. And so therefore, then I preach this. I hope I don't bore you. We oftentimes got to realize that our old nature desires the things of the world. That's what it wants. That's what it is. It's of the world. And once you're saved and called out of that, we then desire the things of God. But our old nature desires the things of the world. So we can understand where those people are to a degree. What I can't understand is how in the world can they not see how wonderful Christ is? Because we did not either. until Christ shined the light into our life and the Holy Spirit spoke to us and said you're lost you're dying and you're going to hell I got a point at somebody and you're going to hell and you got two choices when that happens you either believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and you need him to get to heaven or you save your sins and you die and you go to hell it's that simple when he calls you This is not how it was intended to go. When he calls you, you have to answer then. You say, I've been convicted before and God's going to convict me again. You better be thankful you're lucky stars. A lot of people don't get that privilege. So they hated Jesus. I hope I'm setting this standard here for you. They hated Jesus. Verse 19, and if he were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Do y'all know what number point number two is? It's a little bit confusing, but I'm going to explain it to you. Jesus said, I chose you out of the world. So number two, you belong to Christ. So it hated Christ. You no longer belong to the world. You belong to Christ. He bought you with a price. He saved your ever dying spirit and soul. He gave you life. For the first time spiritually, you became alive instantaneously. You got life. And you realize that while I was dead, now I'm free. No longer a bondage to sin. No longer a slave to sin. But I am His. I feel relief. I feel free. I feel clean. the first time in my life. And the world is standing there and it's like I said, it's as though you took a group of people and someone just picked you up and set you over here, dressed you in perfectly clean clothes and shined a light over top of you so that you're illuminated. That's what being a Christian is supposed to be. So the world hates you because you belong to Jesus. go very carnal illustration. Don't get nervous. There a long time ago my brother-in-law had a book about a DEA agent who infiltrated the Mongols motorcycle gang. Most of you have probably not heard of them. Thank God if you haven't. They are a bitter rival with the Hell's Angels. I'd say about everybody's heard of them. And it kind of fascinated me and I got interested in that for a while, not to join it, just learn a little bit about that life. And it would be as though you're taking two entities that hate each other and saying I'll get along and work together. Somebody's got to compromise, right? You see, Jesus took you out of that. He pulled you away from that, away from this world and its value systems. Look, folks, all this glamour about all Hollywood and the sex symbols and all this stuff, you all don't realize how much drugs and all the things in their life is tore upside down. The problems they have, the suicide rates, all these things that goes on in their life because their life is not as happy as you think it is. They're trying to find relief from all this stuff. Most of them's life is a mess. It's torn inside out. Why? Because their sins are living in their sins and they're trying to find that contentment, that peace, that joy. All the while Jesus is offering it and Jesus is saying, I pulled you out of that and I exposed that. They hate me, but you belong to me now. He said, I bought you, you're one of mine. So you're protected from all this. Holy Spirit came and moved inside of you and He's there to guide you, direct you, walk along the side of you. The world does not have that. I had a Christian man that claims to be a Christian tell me he believes in separation of church and state. Now let me put this in perspective. I didn't tell him this because they didn't think of it quick enough, but I am. I'm going to say, so you're telling me that our leaders should not talk to God and get wisdom from Him on how to make decisions? That's what you're saying. So hear the contradiction in that? A Christian man said that. He is a hardcore Democrat, by the way. I'm not going to get into that. It's not the platform for me to do it. I'm just telling you He will gladly say that. But Jesus has bought you out of the world system and gave you a different value system, a different outlook on life. You are not going to see the world the way that a lost person does and they're not going to see the world the way you do. It's a different set of values. They can't. They can't do it. One day soon, if the world stands, you will know what it's like to get old, physically. I laughed at Cody. He said, I'm just not as young as I used to be. He said, I don't know. I said, how old are you? 27, is that what you said? 28. You can see how good my memory is. He just told me right before church started. I said, son, I got some bad news for you. The best days are gone. It's all downhill from here. When I was young, people would talk about how they hurt and ached and didn't heal up good and stuff, and I thought, you wimp. They ain't wimps. They were probably most of them meaner than me now that I'm getting there closer to them. You see, at your young age, and this is a poor illustration, but you cannot relate to what it's like to be an older person. You're 80. See, I know she don't care to say, this is one woman I don't care a bit to ask her how old she is. I don't know what it's like to be 82. And if you had any doubt, she just relieved them. I know I'm preaching a different style, it's from a different way, but this is just the way the Lord's leading me. But what a point I'm trying to make, church, is the world cannot understand and know what you and I know. When you say, I belong to Jesus, they look at you like you've got four eyeballs. They know you're saying something. They know there's something there, but they cannot understand it. They can't relate. So, the world hates Jesus. Jesus bought you. You belong to Him. And number three, you no longer belong to the world. I was hoping y'all had that figured out. He says in verse 19, I'm going to read a few verses here, then we're going to discuss these verses. He said, if you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. I think we've kind of covered that. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things are they doing to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. And it's just a real simple outline. I didn't alliterate it. Nothing deep. It hated Christ. You belong to Christ. You no longer belong to the world. See how simple this is? You don't belong to this world system. You have a different reservation. You have a different home. You have a different place waiting for you. Listen, the world, this is all they've got. This is everything they have. If you're here this morning and you're not saved, this is your heaven. You better get all of it. You can. This is the best. You got it. Our best is waiting on us. He's brought us out of this world and set us on a firm rock, a firm foundation that won't move, that the world cannot shake, that nobody can take, nobody can change or eliminate, because God's Word will stand forever. God's the one that made it. God's the one that said it. And He set us on that rock, which is Jesus Christ. And nobody can move that rock. You and I are not of the world. So let's put this together. They hated Jesus. because he showed them their sins and told them the truth. Now you hear the term Pharisees. The Pharisees were the religious group of that crowd. They had all the power of the Jewish nation, and the scribes did, and the Sadducees, even though they didn't get along, they were three different sects, just like our politicians today, amen? You put them in a bag and shake them up and dump them out, they're all crooks and liars. If you don't believe that, you're duped. Anyway, I didn't know I was going to preach on politics, much as I have, and I don't hardly ever mention it. But they argued amongst each other. They killed him because he showed them the truth. And he said, I can give you something that you don't have, that this world cannot give you. I'm offering you water, a well springing up inside of you that will run forever, that'll be crystal clear, that'll be cool water, that'll be everything you're looking for, be everything you need. It will be inside of you. I will live in you. I will give you life. I'll give you hope. I'll give you strength. I'll give you everything you need. I'm there with you. I'm here with you. I'm going to walk through everything with you. And one day I will take you home with me and I'll build you a home in heaven for eternity. I'm giving you all of this and relief from sin if you'll just come to me and believe on me. What'd they do? They said, we don't want what you got. Kill him. Kill him. So they rejected him. He bought you out of the world. You don't belong to the world. So what do you think the world's going to do to you? Church, don't let it puzzle you when lost people do not treat you kindly sometimes. They killed him. Do you know in the 20th century, there have been more Christians killed in the history of the world? Are you all aware of that? In the last, I'll say 100 years, there have been more Christians murdered simply for saying I'm a Christian than the history of the world. We hear about the Roman Coliseum and how they martyred the disciples and everything. Hey folks, let me tell you something, the last 100 years have been a free for all. And I'm going to tell you something, God ain't going to stand by and let this happen much longer. You say, why does he let it now? Because every ounce of blood that's shed from a Christian, I believe there's hundreds of people saved sometimes. The gospel spreads faster, the more blood it's shed, the faster it spreads. If you don't believe me, do some church research real quick in history and you'll find I'm telling you the truth. So, Jesus brought you out of the world, a world that hated him and rejected him. A world that He made and created for His glory and honor. So let me get done here. You no longer belong to that. You belong to Him. So it's no wonder they're going to reject you. Now I'm not saying everywhere you go people treat you mean and dirty. That's not what I'm saying. I hope I'm making sense. That I understand. If you shine the light for Christ, friends, you're going to meet persecution. You're going to meet some resistance. It's to be expected. He warned us. It's not like he tricked us. He said if he had not come, if I had not come and spoken to them, they had not, they had, I can't get it out, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also. So he's telling them, look guys, they hated me, they're going to hate you, and they hated God. I get a kick sometimes out of people thanking God. I'm glad they acknowledge Him. But I'm going to tell you something. Every star-studded person that stands up and says, I want to thank God is not on God's team. I'm glad they acknowledged Him. They're not for God. Jesus said, either you're for me or you're against me. You're either scattering or gathering. You're doing one of the two. Now point number four, you know what it is? I probably wouldn't be able to guess it either. I've already told you. Both expose the world's sins. Let me explain to you what I mean and I'm winding down here pretty quick. Christ exposed the world's sins to them and through us he still continues to do so. So we expose the world's sins and so does he but he exposes it through us. You want to know how I knew I was lost and I needed to be saved? Because I knew I was sinned. I had sinned. A preacher was man enough and truthful enough to get up and preach to me the truth that I had sinned against a holy and just God and my sins was going to send me to hell one day and there was an escape but without Jesus there is no escape. It doesn't exist. I've had people say, well, there's other ways to heaven. What about people who believe this? What about people who believe that? Well, I'm going to answer that question for you. Number one, go home and read Romans chapter one and come back and talk to me about it after you read it. Don't come and talk to me until you read it. It ain't going to do you no good. Romans chapter one. Number two, he showed them their sins. If I can get to heaven without Jesus, then why in God's name did he die? Y'all can serve a God that dumb if you want to, but I'm not. Why would a God die for people when he didn't have to? Voluntarily. And he shows them their sins. Through us, he continues to sow the sins. He tells us to spread his word, to tell people about him, to not be embarrassed, to not be afraid, to not be ashamed, to be bold, to be brave, to be willing to die for him on the battlefield, if you will. And so much of the time, I've thought about the message by the Lyle Priest and have not been ashamed. We should not ever be ashamed of Jesus. We should be willing to praise him if he tells us to, if we're in the middle of Walmart, in the middle of a ball game or whatever else, because everybody else is having their time. And we should realize that unless we tell the world about Jesus, they will not see their sins. Now when you do, you will be met with resistance sometimes. I've been laughed at, told off, basically cussed, threatened, all kinds of things for telling people that Jesus loves them and died for them. I've been ridiculed, made fun of. By the way, this wasn't when I was in school. This is a grown adult. The only way the world's going to know that they're lost is if we tell them. Jesus gave his life for our sin, the world's sin, and he told all that religious crowd You could be saved. I can give you something way better than a simple position that you have here on earth if you'll just believe on me." And they said, no. Now I close with this. I want to look at Caiaphas. For those of you who don't know who he is, he was the high priest who sentenced Paul to go to Rome and was going to kill him. It was over the Sanhedrin when Paul was on trial. and he went to Rome to stand trial. I find nowhere in history or the Bible that he ever got saved. I think it was Felix that said he trembled and said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. He actually was shaking under conviction. Why did he say no? Because he loved the world and hated Christ. He loved his place and things of the world more than he did Jesus. Now, do you all realize one day we will see him face to face? You know where? God's going to be standing on the great white throne of judgment. We're going to be behind him. And every one of these people that rejected Christ is going to come and stand before God at the great white throne of judgment. And we're going to see him. For 2,000 years these men have been burning in hell where the fire is not quenched. I mean, it rages on. It's pitch black dark. People's falling. They're biting on you, gnashing at you with teeth. Every evil thing that you're afraid of on earth is there with you and you can't see a thing because you cannot see your hand in front of your face. It is total darkness and you're burning from the inside out. And all these torments going on all at the same time. They've been there for 2,000 years. They get pulled out long enough to stand before God. You say, that's relief. No, it's not. It's worse. Because the Bible says they will flee from Him. They will stand before a holy and just God. The Bible also says, My God is a consuming fire. He will consume them with His glory and honor, and He will sentence them. People say, God will send you to hell. Yes, God does. You might do it over the top of Jesus' blood, but He will send you to hell and a lake of fire forever. and ever and ever. All the while Jesus is trying to say, I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to help you. Church, he told us, he said, if the world hates you, don't get tore up. They hated me. They nailed him to a cross. As I've said many times, not one time, Did Jesus ever have to go to somebody and say, I'm sorry? Father, we thank you again for this time together. Lord, I pray that you take these few remarks, Lord, put them together. God, you got to do what I can't. Lord, I hope this made sense. I preached it the best I knew how to what you laid on my heart. And God, this morning, if there is anyone here that doesn't know you, I don't know the hearts of people that are here. God, you do. Lord, I'm begging you, Holy Spirit, to please speak to them. Give them the courage they need to realize that without you, they are going to die and go to hell. God, maybe there's a teenager, maybe there's an adult here this morning that somebody has been just tormenting because they're saved. Somebody's been making fun of them or just every move they make, they're pointing it out to them. God, the reason they're doing that is because they're under conviction. give them courage. God, put steel in their back. God, I pray that you put an iron rod in their back, God, and that they have all the fortitude, everything they need to keep going for you, Jesus. All the encouragement and all the will and the drive they need to trust you. We thank you and we praise you, Lord, for this time together. Now, be with the altar call. Holy Spirit, draw people as you see fit. I don't know who needs to come and pray, but God, you do. And I pray they just come to this altar right now, whatever their need is. Give them what they need, Lord. Draw them near. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. As we stand, we get a song.