Series: Upper Room Discourse Text: John 15:18-16:4 Message #7 (February 12, 2006) Introduction To speak of the wonderful intimacy between the believer and the Lord Jesus – abiding in Him, a branch in the true vine, bearing fruit to the glory of the Father – all of this must surely bring encouragement and joy and blessing. But there is another side as well. Spiritual intimacy with Christ results in the vile, ugly hatred of the world directed toward us. How can this be? Why should the world hate us? Must the world hate us? And if the world must hate us and does hate us, how can that in any way be a good thing? Jesus makes clear to His disciples that there is such a thing as “beloved hatred.” Let’s listen in as He continues to instruct His disciples.
I. THE WORLD’S HATRED CONVINCES US THAT WE BELONG TO GOD A. Why the world should hate us Because we are not of the world
a. Notice in verses 17 and 18 the obvious contrast between hatred by the world and love for one another. One could say that it is as natural for the world to hate, as it is natural for the Christian to love. We sometimes forget that when we were given new life in Christ the old things passed away. Everything changed. We should not be surprised by the reaction of the world. b. It is impossible to love both the world and Christ at the same time because they are exactly opposite. Note the similar expressions in James 4:4 and 1 John 4:4-6. (And both God and the world call for an exclusive allegiance)! Because we were chosen by God out of the world The world hates Jesus for obvious reasons and since it hates Him but cannot now get to Him, that hatred is turned toward those who follow Him. Thus the world hates Jesus’ disciples. This teaching was not something new to the disciples. Jesus had referred already to part of this in this same context (13:16). He also spoke of it in vivid detail in Matthew 10:24-25. The cost of discipleship, which included this intense hatred by the world, was a consistent theme of Jesus’ teaching. We used to be part of the world, but God chose us out of the world and the world is not at all happy about that.
Because we are identified with Jesus Christ in the world. Perhaps I need to clarify something here. Jesus and the Father are inseparably connected. To know Jesus is to know the Father, to know the Father is to know Jesus. The fact that the world rejected Jesus is proof that they also rejected the Father. If people (Jews or Gentiles) really knew the Father before Jesus’ incarnation, they would have recognized Jesus as God upon His arrival. The fact that they did not recognize Him or accept Him makes clear that they never really accepted the Father either. Jesus’ coming exposed these supposed believers of their unbelief. They hated that about Jesus and that hatred was passed on to all who would identify with Jesus! Since we are identified with Christ, the world has no use for us.
B. Why the world should hate Jesus (Did you ever wonder why the world would hate Jesus so much? After all, He never robbed any bank or committed any murder or abused anyone or slandered anyone. In fact, He is known for healing and helping and teaching and loving. Why then would people hate Him so?) They do not know God. Jesus, as the Son of God, came to reveal God to the world. They refused to believe even when presented with spectacular evidence of deity. The world rejected the revelation of God and then turned to persecution and intense hatred against those who identified with God! The fact they did not know God could not be an excuse based on ignorance. Sometimes ignorance is an appropriate and excusable defense. If I would not normally have access to certain information, I might be able to make a case for my ignorance. But if the information is made known and I refuse to acknowledge it, I cannot then claim ignorance without further incriminating myself of unbelief and carelessness. Jesus had come to make the Father known. They refused to see Him. They stood guilty. (That was Paul’s argument in Romans 1). We should know God. We were made in His image. Something of His nature and character have been stamped on our consciences. So to reject Him and hate Him renders us without excuse. We ought to know God but the fact that we may not know Him is already a sign of our rebellion against Him. That ignorance makes us culpable. They do not like what God has said to them. When Jesus says in verse 22 that if He had not come and spoken to them as He had, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin, He was not declaring their innocence prior to His coming. They were guilty and in fact were already condemned, before Jesus came in the flesh. The point is that any excuse they might have offered for their sin was now completely removed. The world hates God because He has exposed their sin and rendered them without excuse! They do not like what God has shown to them. Sin against God was not something new, just beginning in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Man has been sinning since Adam’s fall. What was somewhat unique or at least more significant is that this was the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune God Himself. Never had the world sinned so blatantly against such brilliant light. Note the verdict of which John writes in his Gospel account (3:19-20). The disciples were not able to expose the evil in the hearts of men, but God can and does, and that is the reason for the anger! In the moment of self-revelation, either the grace of God takes hold and the sinner cries for mercy, for cleansing and for life, or the sinner hates the light that has exposed the dirt and turns from the light into further darkness! In the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, we who are in Christ are to some the aroma of life but to others we are the stench of a rotting corpse. The world cannot stand the smell of us! As Christians, we were not some alien race, but rather we were called out of the world, in other words, we belonged to the world, but once in Christ we left the world behind. That is not well received by the world. Through us, God shines the spotlight on their sins and that is not something the world accepts with grace! Expect to be hated! But take heart. Their hatred is a mark of belonging to God!
4. We need to look at one more thing before we leave this section. Jesus does take a shot at the Jews. Quoting probably Psalm 69 (here in verse 25), Jesus reminds His disciples that “their Law”, that is the Word of God that they were given to guard, their Law which condemned the kind of hatred they were demonstrating, their Law which prophesied of the terrible hatred that would be turned on the Messiah, that Law of God stood to condemn them of their awful sin of hatred toward Jesus! Yet at the same time, we are reminded of the supremacy of God in all things in that this very hatred that was expected and predicted is now fulfilled. Rather than be troubled, the disciples could take heart! Even the hatred of the world convinces us that we belong to God. II. THE WORLD’S HATRED CONVINCES US THAT WE ARE KEPT BY GOD We are kept from falling away
Perhaps we might have wondered why Jesus would have invested so much time right before He is taken away from His disciples, to talk so extensively about the world’s hatred. Would this not frighten them perhaps even to the point of walking away from Christ? Actually He told them these things to produce quite the opposite effect. Taken in context, those who are connected to the true vine are producing fruit. They have an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. The fact that they are treated as He was treated was confirmation that they were genuine and thus that they belonged to God. Whatever the costs attached to a relationship with Jesus, it really is “momentary affliction” in comparison to “the eternal weight of glory” that awaits all who belong to Him! Jesus made it clear so there would be no surprises. These things spoken by Him convince us that we belong to Him and are thus kept by Him. To make sure this was clear to the disciples, Jesus gave specific examples, essentially making the point …
B. We are kept through difficult trials Jesus speaks of being put out of the synagogue and of actually being killed by those who believe that such murder is service to God! Certainly the Apostle Paul must come to mind as he stood and gave approval to the stoning of Stephen, believing that he was serving God in what he did! The trials we face may be brute force or they may be in other forms. Today representatives of “raw secularism, greedy materialism (and) immoral special interest groups … all with one accord resent the Christian who stands up and lovingly insists ‘Thus says the Lord.’” Whether the trial is physical or mental or emotional, we are encouraged that we are kept through these when we belong to Jesus! “It is difficult for some to believe that a cause is truly God’s unless it is constantly on the ascendancy. When a movement is relatively weak, few in numbers, and without any of the clout a pagan or secular world appreciates, it is hard for some to accept that it is of God. But we must remember that this is the path the Lord Jesus himself traveled” (Carson, p. 130). Jesus reminded His disciples, “They will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me.” But He knows us and we are kept through these trials, in whatever form they may come!
C. We are kept by powerful promises When the trials come, the disciples will not be surprised, but their faith will be strengthened knowing that, since He said all of these things, nothing that happens to them will be outside His knowledge or control. “Their hour” is the time when such predicted persecution comes and it is “their hour” because it looks like these oppressors have the upper hand, but their hour will be short lived because Jesus’ hour has come and as the disciples will soon discover, what happens to Him will result in astounding, absolute victory over the enemy! With a promise like that I can remain faithful and obedient. I am kept by and through and for Jesus Christ!
Conclusion Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Does the world hate you? If you are and the world doesn’t appear to hate you, give it a little time; it will! How does one handle that? Such hatred from the world reminds us that we belong to God and encourages us that we are kept by God. Sometimes when I close a message I will end on an illustration. This morning I close with a Biblical commentary. It is found in John’s first letter, chapter 2, verses 15 through 28. Turn there if you wish but please listen carefully.
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