Hated But Not Forsaken - John 15:18-27

Whenever the topic of persecution comes up within the church I think there are two ditches that one could fall into. The first is the temptation for Christians to view every challenge in life as persecution. Unfair comments and failure of any form are always understood as an attack on your faith. You believe that everyone is out to get you because you’re a Christian.

And then there’s the other extreme, where Christians refuse to acknowledge the reality or possibility of persecution. On this end of the spectrum everything is dismissed with skepticism or the reminder, “that could never happen here.”

But of course Jesus tells us to anticipate the hatred of the world and persecution. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

God, in his sovereign mercy, has equipped believers to overcome the hatred of the world. And there are two points this morning: first, if you’re a Christian you will be hated (vv. 18-25), but the grace of the Holy Spirit will sustain you (vv. 26-27).

Jesus still hasn’t left the upper room. He’s still speaking with his disciples and he has instructed them to love one another and to go out into the world and “bear fruit.” Remember that line? That was Jesus instructing them to go preach and share the good news of the gospel. But of course, that’s going to come with a cost isn’t it?

And so in these verses, Jesus is laying out expectations for them. That going out into the world is going to cost them something. So instead of being surprised by the hatred, hostility, and persecution of the world, they should go ahead and anticipate it. They need to expect it.

You will be hated (vv. 18-25)

One time when I was probably in middle school, I was talking to my cousin and I said that I hated something. I don’t even remember what I claimed to hate, I just remember that I mentioned that I hated something. And my cousin is probably one of the nicest people I know and he quickly shot back, “Jake, ‘hate’ is a very strong word.” His point was simply, that you shouldn’t just throw around the word “hate.” And of course, he was probably right, I’m sure whatever I said was rude.

But if I would have been a little quicker on the draw I could have reminded him, Jesus used the word ‘hate’! Ha! Gotcha! But of course the truth is, Jesus is not instructing his disciples to hate, rather, he’s telling his disciples and by extension, all Christians to anticipate the hatred of the world. Christians are called to love, not to hate.

Unless of course, it’s sin or evil, right? In that case, the Apostle Paul instructs us to “abhor what is evil.” But my point is that Jesus does not instruct Christians to reciprocate the hatred of the world. We don’t return hate for hate. Jesus is, of course, laying out expectations for following him.

Look at verse 18 again. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

The “world” or ‘kosmos’ is to be understood as a reference to the powers, influences, and systems in place that oppose God. And it may be tempting to read that little word “if” and think maybe the world will hate Christians maybe it won’t.

And maybe if I just keep my head down, and don't intentionally rock the boat, I can maintain my devotion to Christ without bringing upon myself the scorn of the world.

But that’s not really what Jesus is saying. A better translation might read, “Until the world hates you” or “When the world hates you.”

Because Jesus isn’t suggesting there’s a way to thread that needle. He’s not implying there’s a way for Christians to avoid the scorn of the world. Instead, he’s telling believers to expect it. To anticipate it.

And notice again, Jesus doesn’t say the world will have a mild distaste for Christians. No, the world will hate you! To my cousin’s point, ‘hate’ is a strong word and Jesus chose it deliberately.

The reality is your faith in Christ at some point will put you at odds with the world! Many of you have experienced this first hand and if you haven’t, you eventually will.

At some point, I’m sure many of you have been mocked by friends for refusing to participate in something that perhaps we had at some point in our lives. And of course, that’s real, but I think that the stakes have only gotten higher here in America.

I don’t think any of us would be surprised if a member of our church lost their job because they refused to affirm transgenderism or use an individual’s preferred pronouns, or just simply chose not to participate in something on the grounds of their Christian convictions. The consequences for simply being a Christian are getting more severe.

And to be fair, we must always keep in mind that the scorn and hatred Christians may experience in America are still mild in comparison to what our Christian brothers and sisters experience around the world. Your faith may put your job at risk, their faith puts their lives at risk.

And I think many of us assume that it’s Christians stances on social or political issues that put Christians in the crosshairs of the world. The Bible’s stance on things like marriage, the family and sexuality are the reason for the world’s hatred. And so many believe that if you simply concede or flex on these issues then you can maintain friendship with the world.

Perhaps the world will stop hating followers of Christ if we just surrender a few, small, “secondary issues.” If Christians will just acquiesce a few things then we can regain the world’s favor. But ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you that there are no secondary issues that will ever be good enough.

The only concession that will ever be good enough in the eyes of the world is if you abandon your faith altogether.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5, “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

I think the default assumption for Christians is that the world hates believers due to their traditional moral, social, and political views, when in reality that’s not the case at all! It’s not morally, ideologically, or politically driven. It’s theologically driven. It’s what we believe about Jesus Christ! It’s because of Him that the world hates you.

The world hates Christians for their theological convictions. The world hates Christians because of Jesus. But to be even more precise, the world hates you because of what Jesus has done for you.

It’s what Jesus says in verse 19.

“If you were 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.”

Because Jesus saved you, the world hates you. And again, he’s talking to his disciples, but it’s every bit as relevant to all of us here today.

If you would just accept the values of the world, then the world would love you, but because Jesus saved you, the world hates you.

Again, your traditional values aren’t the problem. Your political convictions aren’t the problem. The failures of Christian leaders and institutions aren’t the problem. It’s that Jesus chose you, it’s that Jesus saved you, it’s what Jesus has done for you - that’s the problem in the eyes of the world.

And Jesus reminds his disciples that the world’s persecution reflects their unbelief.

Look at what Jesus said in 20-25 with me.

“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 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. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 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 seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.”

So Jesus again tells his disciples by way of analogy, a servant is not greater than his master, therefore, they’re going to face and endure many of the same things that he endured. Jesus faced persecution, therefore, they’re going to face persecution.

Now just as some people received the gospel from Christ there will be people who receive the gospel from the disciples as well. But there will be people that hate and persecute them.

As many of you know I went to VMI, and VMI has a rigid honor system. Perhaps some of you would say, “had” a rigid honor system but that’s a conversation for another day. But VMI still has a single sanction honor system - that is, one strike and you’re out. And so if you lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do, you will be dismissed from VMI.

At VMI you can’t hang pictures or anything on the walls of your room, there was only one thing that was on the wall of your room. However, you were required to hang a huge printout of the VMI Honor System, which is called the charter on your wall. And at the bottom of the charter it said, “ignorance is no excuse.”

The Honor System was ingrained into life at VMI there was no way you could pretend like you didn’t know lying or stealing was going to be a problem.

In a similar way, Jesus’ ministry was so widespread, the haters can’t pretend like they don’t know what they’re doing. They can’t plead ignorance because they’re acting out of their unbelief. The fact that they persecute demonstrates their rejection of Jesus.

And the irony is of course, the man that they hated was a totally innocent man! He didn’t do anything wrong, except tell the truth, which is why he quoted from Psalm 69: “They hated me without cause.”

And of course to Jesus’ point, the world hated him, a man that was completely innocent of any wrongdoing they’re going to hate his followers too.

Why do you do the things that you do? Why do you live your life in the manner that you do? Hopefully, your life isn’t just a random assortment of decisions.

In other words, Christians shouldn’t just hold to “traditional values for the sake of traditional values.” Or Christians shouldn’t have “moral convictions for the sake of having moral convictions.” it should go much deeper than that.

The way you live your life is a reflection of what you believe. And for Christians, that foundational truth is Jesus Christ is Lord and he rules and reigns in you.

Your life is a very imperfect attempt to obey and glorify Him. And so when you inevitably find yourself in the crosshairs of the world, they’re not opposing you per se, it’s deeper than that, they’re opposing Jesus Christ.

It might mean at some point in your life, you have to look someone in the eyes and say, you know, because of what Jesus has done for me, I can’t do that anymore. I can’t in good conscience participate in those things anymore.

And here’s really where the rubber meets the road: if you profess faith, but have never had it openly challenged, questioned or mocked, could it be that you look more like the world than like Christ?

I know many of you have had your faith challenged, and not to sound too negative or doomsdayish, but I do believe it’s only going to get worse.

Right now our country doesn’t have laws against “hate speech” but I have wondered if laws like that were passed and if preaching God’s Word violated those laws would I be willing to go to jail for it? What if your bank account was frozen because you were an active member of a gospel preaching church, would you renounce your faith and disfellowship yourself from the body of Christ in order to regain access to your money? What if your job required you to affirm something that directly contradicted the Word of God? Would you be willing to lose your job over it?

Some of you may think that’s crazy talk. That sort of thing would never happen here. This sort of thing is happening all over the world.

In some parts of China, citizens are encouraged to expose Christians so they can be punished. It’s gotten to the point where they have to register with the government simply to go to church. It’s being reported that, “...in the Henan province [citizens must] register before attending worship services. They’re supposed to use a “Smart Religion” app, which records each person’s name, address, date of birth, occupation, and government ID number.”

That sounds dystopian, doesn’t it?

And as much as we’d like to think that something like that could never happen here, it would be naive to dismiss it as out of the realm of possibility.

Is going to church something that you do on Sunday? Like how important is Jesus Christ to you?

The grace of the Holy Spirit will sustain you (vv. 26-27)

But who wants to be hated? Maybe some crazy provocateur on the internet wants everyone to hate him because it feeds his twisted ego. The rest of us normal people want to, “live quietly and peaceably with all men.”

But the truth is, Christians not only share in the beauty and glory of the cross, but we share in the suffering of it as well. No one is promised a peaceful life. We should seek it, but it’s not promised to us.

And in the apex of his suffering, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He felt in his humanity that God had abandoned him.

But he promises something very different to his disciples in this passage: The Lord will never abandon you. In fact, Jesus promises to sustain believers through trials and persecution.

How exactly will he sustain you? Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Look at verses 26-27:

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Jesus along with the Father will send the “parakletos” or “Helper,” to his disciples and by extension us as well. But pay attention to the names Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit. First, he calls him “the Helper” then he calls him “the Spirit of truth.”

He calls him the “Spirit of truth.” And what truth will the “Spirit of truth” communicate? The truth of Jesus Christ. He’s going to “bear witness to them about [Jesus].”

Because what truth do you need to be reminded of when the hatred of the world is bearing down on you? Obviously, you need to be reminded that you’re right and they’re wrong! That’s not what you need. You concrete truth. Not platitudes or warm fuzzy feelings.

How is your faith going to survive when it’s inevitably challenged, tested, and opposed by the world?

That’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit. By the grace of God, you’ll persevere because he’s going to sustain you. Because when your faith is tested, general life principles, values, and ideology aren’t going to cut it! Reflecting upon the beauty of the Fair Tax Plan isn’t going to sustain you through the hostility of the world!

The Helper reminding you of the truth of Jesus Christ and more specifically, what he has done for you is what you and I need. How good is the Lord to remind you of the depth of his love and infinite grace towards you when the world in all of its fury is bearing down on you? You need to gospel. You need it to wash over you afresh every day but especially when your faith is being tested. His mercies are new every morning, amen?

Even in the valley of the shadow of death are you still willing to say God is good? Because the world wants to strip that from you. They want to take that away from you. The world wants you to take advice from Job’s wife. “Just curse God and die.”

No the Christian says in unison with the heavenly beings, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

The world hates Jesus Christ, but how much do you really love him? Let’s pray together.