[0:00] John chapter 15, verses 18 through 25 are the texts for this morning's sermon.
[0:23] ! If you would please stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word together. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
[0:37] If you are of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.
[0:53] If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
[1:07] If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
[1:19] If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would have no guilt of sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
[1:32] But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. They hated me without a cause. May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word. Would you please be seated? On January 8th of this year, Canada's Parliament unanimously passed Bill C-4.
[1:53] The preamble of that bill says that the belief that heterosexuality, cisgender, gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions is, they conclude, a myth.
[2:15] A myth. So according to Canadian law, God's design for marriage and for sexuality, as defined by His Word, will be viewed by them as a myth.
[2:27] So basically, anyone who says that men can't be women and women can't be men and that homosexuality is a sinful desire will be punished by the government and could face, as a result of that, up to five years of imprisonment.
[2:48] Canadian pastors who stand for truth and who preach against the sins that their culture has normalized will soon be placed behind bars, removed from their pulpits, separated from their families and from their churches, treated as criminals and punished into silence, persecuted for their faith and obedience to proclaim God's Word, to stand for the truth which they know has the power to save people from their sins and brings life-changing transformation, as it did for the Corinthians.
[3:26] 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11 says this, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.
[3:37] Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
[3:50] And listen to this part. And such were some of you. All those things. Such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified.
[4:02] You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. We see what's happening in Canada of all places.
[4:13] And it leaves us wondering if the same thing could happen here in our nation. Well, similar laws have been passed, and they were passed ten years ago in places like California, New York, New Jersey, and Nevada.
[4:31] And time will tell. But one thing we can be sure of is that this world continues to reject Christ. And it exchanges the truth, His truth, the only truth, for a lie.
[4:49] And those of us who stand for the truth will be hated for that, just as Jesus was hated. And why did they hate Jesus? Why did they scourge Him?
[5:02] Why did they beat Him? Why did they pull out His beard? Why did they spit in His face and then slap it? Why did they crucify Him? Why did they take a spear and shove it into His side?
[5:17] Why did they cut in the face and then slap it into the face and then slap it into the face? Well, it wasn't because He fed them when they were hungry. They didn't hate Him when He was healing their sick and bringing the dead back to life.
[5:28] No one mocked Him or abused Him when it came to His meeting their physical needs. It was what He said. It was when He spoke that He drew their scorn.
[5:41] You know, if Jesus had kept His mouth closed, they were willing to crown Him as their king. But ultimately, He was rejected and He was hated because of what He said.
[5:59] Hated for the words that He spoke. And Jesus understood why. When Jesus was hated, He wasn't surprised by their reaction.
[6:10] There was a time when His half-brothers once challenged Him to reveal Himself and perform more miracles. And look at how Jesus answered them in John 7, 7.
[6:21] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
[6:33] We live in a culture that is writing fiction and tries to pass it off as truth. The fiction they write is that there is no God. There is no judgment.
[6:44] That you should just trust your feelings. That if it feels right, you should just do it. Fiction that boys can be girls and girls can be boys. That what the Bible says about gender and sexuality are myths.
[6:58] You can determine your own truth, they say. And they accept this fiction as fact. Living and acting as if there are no eternal consequences for the decisions that they are making.
[7:10] And with that, they seek to shut the mouths of those to remind them that that time of judgment is in fact coming. That they will be judged for the rejection of God, His Son, and truth.
[7:27] And Jesus said that in John 3, 19 through 20. And this is the judgment. The light, referring to Himself, has come into the world. The Bible says that each of us, whether you're saved or you're unsaved, each of us is headed towards a divine appointment with Jesus Christ.
[8:06] And when that day comes, you will wish that you'd been biblically correct instead of politically correct. 2 Corinthians 5, 10 says as much, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in his body, whether good or evil.
[8:30] You see, Jesus stands at the end of life's road for every single person without exception. A day of judgment is coming when everything will be exposed.
[8:41] And as Christians, we should be prepared for that day, and we should work to warn others of that day, those who have especially exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
[8:54] Not being scared into silence, no matter what man may try to do to us, but hoping that as we speak, the gospel will be heard, and those who live in fiction will hear the truth and be saved and be spared of judgment.
[9:12] That's Peter's instruction in chapter 4, verses 3 through 6 of his first letter. 1 Peter 4, 3 through 6. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
[9:29] With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. But they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
[9:43] For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead. This is the hope, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the Spirit the way that God does.
[9:54] We cannot be silent. And so Jesus here in John chapter 15 is with his disciples, preparing them for his imminent crucifixion, his subsequent resurrection, and the mission that he will have for them to carry out as he ascends back into heaven, that they would continue to advance his mission, that they would continue to advance his gospel.
[10:19] In verses 12 through 17, if you recall, Jesus tells his disciples that he is their true friend, their truest friend, a friend who will sacrifice his own life to atone for theirs.
[10:33] He reminds them in those verses of his command to love one another, how much he loves them, and that they should imitate that same kind of love to each other.
[10:43] And now in these verses, he tells them that their association with him will draw the world's hatred because they, like Jesus, will testify that sin is sin, that it incurs God's wrath, and that the only hope anyone has to be spared from their sins is to place their faith completely in Jesus Christ.
[11:08] Don Carson, a biblical scholar, said this about this passage, these verses.
[11:19] I think it's profound. From an evangelistic perspective, these verses demand decision because the issues are of ultimate importance.
[11:32] Listen, he says, following Jesus costs something and may cost life itself. Yet not following Jesus means one is siding with a lost and hateful world.
[11:46] Do not side with a lost and hateful world. Main idea for this morning's sermon is this. Those who truly know Christ and stand for truth will experience hatred from the world just as Jesus did.
[12:05] Those who truly know Christ and stand for truth will experience hatred from the world just as Jesus did. The Bible says that persecution is an expected part of the Christian life.
[12:20] I remember my New Testament teacher in seminary used to drill that point into us. In his Bible, he had highlighted every passage that mentioned persecution with a pink highlighter.
[12:35] And he said he chose pink because it was the closest he could get, the closest shade he could get to red, which is the color of blood. And what he would do is he would take his Bible and he would flip randomly into the New Testament.
[12:47] Without looking, he would hold it out to us and he'd say, do you see pink? And without exception, almost every single time we saw pink. And then he would say to us, men, there had better be pink in your life because you cannot be a friend of this world and Jesus and you must proclaim the truth no matter the cost.
[13:14] Christ. And so the mark of a true Christian is that they are becoming more like Christ. And as they are becoming more like Christ, they are hated even more by the world as a result.
[13:29] And so in these verses, Jesus explains why the world hates those who follow him and why they should not be surprised by that response. And the first thing he points out here for us is that the world hates Christians because of their relationship to Christ.
[13:47] The world hates Christians because of their relationship to Christ. In verse 18, again, Jesus says, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.
[13:57] And there, the word for world, cosmos in the Greek, refers to the fallen world system. So not literally the planet Earth, but the fallen world system, which is controlled by Satan, who Jesus identifies as the ruler of this world in John 12, 31, 14, 30, and 16, 11.
[14:18] And who Peter describes as an adversary of God's people and he compares him to a roaring lion who seeks someone to devour.
[14:30] The Bible says that Satan influences unbelievers and he maneuvers them like pawns to oppose God by targeting his people for persecution.
[14:42] And Satan influences this world without the world's resistance to his influence because they are eager to obey, to silence those who remind them of the truth that they are desperate to reject, the truth that God exists, the truth that God is holy, and that they will be judged righteously for the sins that they have committed.
[15:04] And when they see Christians living godly lives, it reminds them of those truths which they are desperate to deny because they'd rather have their sin than God.
[15:16] They love their sin more than they love God. And when Christians live like Christ, it reminds those who don't have a saving relationship with him of what the ultimate cost of loving their sin and rejecting him will be.
[15:30] John illustrated that principle with the story of the first murder in human history in 1 John 3.12. There he says, we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.
[15:44] And why did he murder him? Why did he hate him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous and he couldn't stand it. When God saves a person, they are indwelt by his spirit.
[15:58] And with that, they receive a new nature. They have the mind of Christ. And repenting of their sins, they agree with what God says about sin and they agree with what God says about its consequences.
[16:12] And though that sin nature still remains as long as their spirit is housed in this form, there is a new desire within them to be rid of sin in their life, to put it to death.
[16:26] They know that it was for their sin that Christ died and they want to be rid of its influence in their lives and in the lives of those whom they are called to love and whom they are called to share the gospel with.
[16:43] And so as a believer, you live in this world, but you are not to be like this world. And it's in your not being like the world that you best serve and minister to this world.
[17:02] Philippians 2.15 says that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world.
[17:16] And Ephesians 5.11 says take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. This is what Jesus did.
[17:28] He is the light of the world that exposes sin and with that offers hope. But tragically, many rejected Him and they despised Him because again, they loved their sin more than Him.
[17:47] They refused to believe Him and they even grew to hate Him for exposing the sin they loved even though it was clear that that sin was killing them and that sin would kill them.
[18:03] When I was in college, a friend that I had growing up died of a drug overdose, he was taken to the hospital and he had taken so many drugs that he had blacked out and by the time he got to the hospital, he woke up.
[18:24] He realized where he was and he knew that he was going to get help. He knew that he would probably be forced to go to a rehab and he knew that he probably was also going to face the law for breaking it and in fear of getting better, he ran into a bathroom in the hospital and locked himself in it and took every last drug that he had and he died.
[18:56] He feared receiving the help that would save his life. It's tragic. You know, as I've thought about that and I've thought about this passage and other people who I've met with since I've been a pastor who I knew and who confessed to me that they'd been involved with something or someone, some person that was bad for them, a toxic habit or a toxic relationship that they were aware was ruining their lives, was ruining their relationships with the people who loved them, who was telling them stop doing that, stop being with that person, stop putting that thing in your body and as we try to speak the truth and love to them and show them from God's word and with compassion say this is killing you, it's bad for you, it's ruining your life, it's hurting the people who truly love you, sometimes they would grow resentful of me for saying that and of those who truly love them for doing the same, speaking the truth to them in love and as verse 19 points out, what they did is what people in the world so often do, they turn away from the truth to the world and seek and receive acceptance from those who are eager to give it to them.
[20:24] Verse 19 says, if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, the beginning of verse 19. And Jesus points out there what we see other places in Scripture is that people of this world, no matter how different they are, they are united together in one thing, they are united together in hatred of Christ and as a result of that shared hatred, they encourage one another to reject Christ and when they reject Christ or they see someone rejecting Christ, what they do is they celebrate that rejection.
[21:05] As Romans 1.32 says, though they knew God's righteous decrees that those who practice such things, and you can go back and read through Romans, I want to encourage you to do that, see what those things are, deserve to die, all kinds of sinful behaviors and attitudes, they not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them.
[21:29] If you are a young man or woman, and I'm speaking directly to you, but I mean, this is for all of us, if you have a friend, if you are in a relationship, and that friend is pulling you away from Christ and is pulling you away from truth, then I tell you this with love, that person is not truly your friend.
[21:54] They do not truly care about you. And I encourage you to reevaluate those relationships immediately. Immediately.
[22:08] Christians do not belong to the world, not because they've never belonged to the world, but because Jesus, as He said in the rest of verse 19, has called them out of the world.
[22:21] And so, He says to His disciples, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. And so, we know as Christians that we are reformed rebels who have been graciously pardoned by the King of kings.
[22:40] We know that the salvation we've received is all of God's doing, and it's all based upon His grace. And we desire then with that that unbelievers will experience that same grace too.
[22:55] So, we read these things and our heart is broken by these things, what we see the world doing, and it's rejection of Christ. But one thing we can never do is return hatred with hatred.
[23:07] That's not our response. Vengeance does not belong to the church, but to Christ. Nor, though, too, also should we be surprised that the world hates us.
[23:21] We should not be surprised when they treat us differently. We should not be surprised that they would treat us any different than the way they treated our Savior. But again, because we want them to know how great it is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and we want them to know the joys that result from truly knowing Him, we speak, we raise our voices in the hopes that though some will hate us as a result, others will be called as we've been called and set free from their sins as we've been set free through a saving relationship to Jesus Christ.
[24:03] Next, Jesus points out that the world hates Christians because it has rejected Christ. It hates Christians because it has rejected Christ. You know, as we've gone verse by verse through John's gospel, we've seen that Jesus was a man who people hated and who people hunted.
[24:24] John 5, 16 says, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. Verse 18 of that same chapter says, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
[24:44] In John 7, 1, it says, He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. In verse 32, it says, the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him.
[24:57] In John 8, 59, and 10, 31, we read that they picked up stones to throw at Him. And in 11, 47, through 53, their plots to kill Jesus intensified as they organized themselves against Him, turning others to their side, which ultimately led to His arrest and His crucifixion.
[25:17] And so, no wonder that the writer of Hebrews called on his readers to understand this or to consider this. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
[25:36] In verse 20, Jesus calls His disciples to remember His recent instruction. He says, remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.
[25:49] That quotation comes from the words Jesus just spoke in John 13, 16. There, the principle was given to them after Jesus had washed His disciples' feet, even Judas, the one who would betray Him.
[26:02] Jesus was communicating to them in that moment the importance of their humble conduct towards one another, that they must serve one another.
[26:13] If the master is content to wash the feet of His servants, then what He's saying is it's totally pathetic for those same servants to squabble over places of honor instead of positioning themselves to serve their friends, to serve their peers.
[26:32] as their master had done for them. Here Jesus applies the same principle to persecution. He says, if they persecuted me, they will do the same to you.
[26:43] And He doesn't mince words here. He doesn't hide the truth. In fact, Jesus only speaks what is true. Those who preach His message, those who live their lives in progressive conformity to His will and to obedience to His word, they will face the same opposition that He Himself faced.
[27:08] If the world takes no offense to the gospel we preach, then we are not preaching the same gospel as Jesus. And there are many pastors today who seek to grow their ministries by trying to make Jesus seem more appealing and popular to the world.
[27:32] And one of those is Joel Osteen. Go back and listen to an interview with Joel Osteen. Larry King, for example, some of those interviews.
[27:46] And when he is pressed to answer questions like, is Jesus the only way to salvation? when he is pressed to answer questions that are hot button issues in our culture, you know what he does?
[28:04] He says, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know about that. And you know, the thing is, I believe that he does know.
[28:19] I believe that he does know the answer to those questions. He knows. And he, like many others who try to make Jesus popular to a culture that rejects him, he knows that if he shares what the Bible says, his ministry will diminish, so will his book sales, and so will his bank account.
[28:47] Our mission is not to change Jesus. Our mission is not to change his message so that we can gain the world's approval for him.
[28:58] He doesn't need us to do that. He doesn't want us to waste our time doing that. We're called and commanded to speak the truth. And the truth is that Jesus is the only way to God.
[29:13] He is the only way to be saved from your sins. He is the only hope for sinful humanity to be made right with their righteous creator.
[29:25] It's him and it's no other way. Look at what Jesus says next in verse 21. But all these things they will do to you on account of me because they do not know him who sent me.
[29:40] In other words, Jesus is making it clear when he says here that if you reject me, you reject God. And they reject God because that's what sinful mankind is prone to do.
[29:54] Like Adam and Eve, after they sinned, remember when God came into the garden, they did not run to God. They did not seek God out and they did not say, God, forgive us, we have sinned against you.
[30:07] What did they do instead? They hid from him. And then they made clothes for themselves out of fig leaves and they thought that doing so could cover their shame and their guilt, but it couldn't.
[30:26] And sinful mankind does the same thing. We want to run and hide from the truth and then we want to do good things and think that we are basically good people and try to cover ourselves up with those things, but they won't do.
[30:44] We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Good deeds, no matter how good you think they are, no matter how good you think you are compared to somebody else, they will not save you.
[30:59] Only Jesus can, and Jesus is the full revelation of God. And apart from faith in Him, and apart from knowing that His cross is the only thing that can shield you from God's anger towards your sin, apart from His resurrection, we are totally without hope.
[31:24] All roads do not lead to heaven. Only Christ can save. And there's good news in the midst of these verses. There's a promise that as we preach the gospel, as we proclaim the same message that Jesus proclaimed, many will hate us, but some will be saved.
[31:50] Jesus says in the rest of verse 20, if they kept my word, they will keep yours. Thus we'll know that they've truly entered from death to life.
[32:03] We must understand this too, that Christianity is not a popularity contest. We are not on the campaign trail for Jesus. we're not trying to gain votes for Jesus.
[32:18] We have a mission and it's not that. Our mission is to make disciples and hope that as we preach and proclaim the truth that sin is exposed and that some will be turned to Christ and saved.
[32:40] And if you've seen someone go through that miraculous transformation and as a Christian you yourself have gone through it, you know that seeing and experiencing that joy outweighs the sorrows that are caused by hatred and hostility of those who reject the gospel.
[33:03] Verses 22 through 25 Jesus points out that the world hates Christians for no good reason. The world hates Christians for no good reason.
[33:18] Let's look at verses 22 through 24 again. If I had not come and spoken to them they would not have been guilty of sin but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my father also.
[33:31] If I had not done among them the works that no one else did they would not be guilty of sin but now they have both seen and hated both me and my father but now they have seen and hated both me and my father and so you could read that and think Jesus is implying something there that he's not Jesus is not implying here that had he not come people would have continued to live in sinless perfection as if his coming for the first time introduced sin and guilt before God as if it hadn't been there before what Jesus is saying is that those who have heard his message those who have seen his works firsthand which testified to the reality of who he claimed to be that they bore!
[34:27] greater responsibility for having rejected all of that evidence that he had so clearly shown to them and it's tragic again that those who hated Jesus the most during his ministry on earth were the Pharisees who were supposed to be the ones who knew God's word best they had witnessed!
[34:50] Jesus' teachings they were there they heard they had witnessed! Jesus' miracles they were there they saw both of which testified to his deity but in their rejection of him because they hated him so much despite the evidence Jesus said they had committed the unforgivable sin Matthew 12 24 and then verses 31 through 32 Jesus says but when the Pharisees heard it that Jesus had cast out a demon they said it is only by Beelzebul the prince of demons another name for Satan that this man cast out demons and then Jesus answers in reply therefore I tell you in verse 31 every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven and whoever speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven but whoever speaks against the holy spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come now while that sin can no longer be committed today since
[36:01] Jesus is not presently on earth the principle remains the same today if you sit in a church if you have gone through Sunday school classes if you have read and heard the Bible taught and proclaimed to you if you have heard the gospel and you have seen it transform people's lives and yet you deny it all then what left is there for you what more evidence is there that you need what else is there for God to reveal to you how much truth do you need to see before you deny it and you see the truth and you deny it what else is there for you Hebrews 6 4 through 6 says this for it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened those who have heard the gospel clearly presented to them those who have tested the heavenly gift those who have seen
[37:07] God's spirit at work in his people in his church and who have shared in that experience seeing it the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away to have denied it all to have rejected it all to restore them again to repentance since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him to contempt in verse 25 Jesus says but the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled they hated me without a cause when Jesus calls God's word the law there he does so to reveal just how tragic their rejection of him was those who hated him the most for those who were supposed to know God the best and
[38:08] Jesus is quoting there Psalm 35 19 and Psalm 69 4 both written by David and his point is this if David who was merely a man could be hated by his enemies for no reason no good reason how much more than the sinless Son of God David did wrong in his life he did immense wrong in his life which God forgave him of but look Jesus never did anything wrong Jesus never sinned you think about it what what bad or evil thing has Jesus ever done to you or to anyone what wrong has he ever brought to you and why would you still reject him he came to die to save your life he's come to take away the sin that is killing you that is separating you from
[39:23] God that will forever torture you and your eternal soul in hell those who reject Jesus have no good reason to reject him in him is life in him is hope in him is peace and look he's not saying hey I'll save you but you've got to do a whole lot of things first I'll send you on this impossible journey and if you make it to the finish line then I'll welcome you into my kingdom no he says I've done it all for you in Matthew 11 28 through 30 he said and he made this proclamation this invitation come to me come to me all who labor and are heavy laden by your sin by your guilt by your inability to measure up and I will give you rest join me take my yoke upon you and learn from me for
[40:32] I'm gentle I forgive I'm merciful I truly love you and I'm lowly in heart and the promises you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light because he takes the burden himself that the world continues to hate one so good without cause reveals the depths of their depravity but those who have been delivered from sin by the power of the cross and who encounter opposition because of their relationship to Christ and their commitment to obey him the bible says there is supreme joy in this promise from Jesus in Matthew 5 10 through 12 listen to this blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven if you're persecuted you know you belong to
[41:47] Christ and your inheritance is in his kingdom and he has a place for you blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account he says rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you so the main point of application for this sermon is that it is better to be a friend of Jesus than a friend of the world it is better to be a friend of Jesus than a friend of the world the world will not die for you the world does not care about the eternal state of your soul the world does not truly love you Jesus does love and he is the true friend who has laid down his life he is the true friend who was crushed by the wrath of
[42:56] God for the sins that you have committed he is the true friend who shed his blood for you and he is the true friend who says come to me and I will give you rest turn to me and I will give your life salvation purpose joy and it will be eternal you will always have reason to hope because in Christ the best is always yet to come I opened by sharing a story about my New Testament teacher who told us that there better be pink in our lives and he would tell us that a lot of times and he would also a lot of times share with us the story of how he was saved he was a big man and one of those guys that you know not necessarily muscular but would probably be a left tackle in the
[44:01] NFL just not somebody you could easily push around he said in college he was he was a hippie he was an atheist and he hated Christians and he shared a story about one day in college a student knocked on his door with a Bible in hand and wanted to share the gospel with him and my teacher said I was so angry with him I said to him you know what you probably want to baptize me right you'd like to see me baptized right the student said well you know I hope that you would be saved and and my teacher said you know what I'm going to baptize you and he picked up this student over his shoulder and he took him into the bathroom and he drew a large crowd of other people in the dorm and he held him upside down by his ankles and he stuck his head in the toilet saying I baptize you I baptize you dropped him that student ran out humiliated not much long after that
[45:05] God in his grace saved him and he said I went to go find that classmate of mine I felt horrible for what I had done to him he said when I found out where he lived I expected that when I went to knock on his door that he would either slam it in my face that maybe he would even punch me and I did not expect that he would do anything but return my hatred with hatred so my teacher said he knocked on his door and he told him that he had been saved and he said that I'm sorry for what I did to you he said what that student did was he he started crying and he embraced my teacher so
[46:09] I'm so glad that you know Jesus Christ that you are my brother in the Lord and I share that story with you because Jesus makes it clear we'll be hated in this world for sharing the gospel but often times and we see it in scripture you look at the apostle Paul it is those who hate him the most where you see how merciful God is to save them from their sins and give them life and so we expect that because of our relationship with Christ we will be hated but we don't return hate for hate we rejoice when those who hate God are saved by him and love him and we like Jesus on the cross pray for those who persecute us in the hopes that they'll be saved and when they do we rejoice so be strong be courageous fear
[47:14] God not man three questions of application for you to consider question number one do your values and way of life reflect the values of the world around you or Jesus someone was to follow you around all day they saw what you watched they saw how you spoke at the end of that day would they say this person is a Christian or not question number two will you stand for Christ when it's unpopular we know it's become increasingly unpopular in our nation to stand for Christ but you've heard his word he's told you what to be prepared for will you stand for Christ when it's unpopular and then thirdly how have you responded to those who hate you because of
[48:17] Jesus and will you choose to reflect the love and compassion of Christ to them so with this question no doubt as a believer if you've been a believer for some time you've encountered someone who hates you or who mocks you because of that have you responded to them in the way that Jesus commands you to praying for them and loving them in the hopes that they will be saved let's pray heavenly father we know that your word is so clear lord it couldn't be any more clear as we've read you said that just as the world has hated you so it will hate us whom you've saved and who follow you but God we know that we are not to be afraid of men we are not to be afraid of what they may do to us whether that's to ridicule us and just make us feel uncomfortable or whether that is like in
[49:30] Canada and other places in the world that means being thrown in jail and separated from your family and also maybe even will cost us our lives Lord I pray that we would again not fear men but fear you that we would be those who walk in the light that we would be those like you who aren't afraid to speak the truth that we would be obedient to your commands to expose darkness and God we pray that as we do that the light of Christ would be clearly seen in us and through our church and we know the promise that though we will be hated many will be saved God I pray for those who are listening to or have listened to your word they have listened to this message and they're struggling with an attraction to the world God I pray that your spirit would continue to remind them of what your word has clearly revealed to them today
[50:30] I pray that they would be reminded that for all of us Lord is a day that is quickly approaching where each one of us will stand before you in judgment God I pray that we would all be prepared for that day and you would break that attraction to the world that they would know that the sin it is desperate for them to love is killing them now and will kill them forever and that you Lord in your grace would turn them to you and they would know the great hope that is found only in Jesus Christ your soul in whose name we pray amen