Understanding Hatred: Faith, Persecution, and God's Grace

Devotional

Day 1: Hatred Aimed at God

The world's hatred is fundamentally directed at God and Jesus. As followers of Christ, we experience this hatred because of our association with Him. This is not about personal animosity but a deeper spiritual opposition to God's presence and truth in the world. Jesus made it clear that the world's hostility is not a reflection of our personal failings but a reaction to the divine truth we represent. This understanding helps us to not take such hatred personally but to see it as part of the spiritual battle between light and darkness.

When we face hostility, it is crucial to remember that it is not us who are being rejected, but the One who sent us. This perspective can provide comfort and strength, knowing that we are part of a larger narrative of God's redemptive work in the world. Our role is to remain faithful and continue to reflect God's love and truth, even in the face of opposition. [06:58]

John 15:18-19 (ESV): "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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."

Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you felt disliked or opposed. How can you reframe this experience in light of the understanding that it is ultimately God's truth that is being opposed, not you personally?

Day 2: Reaction to God's Grace

The world's hostility is a reaction to God's gracious actions. Despite God's numerous acts of love, such as shining His light, offering salvation, and speaking truth, the world responds with hatred. This paradox highlights the depth of human sin and the radical nature of God's grace. The more God extends His grace, the more the world, entrenched in sin, reacts negatively. This reaction is not a reflection of the failure of God's grace but rather a testament to its transformative power.

Understanding this can help us to not be discouraged when we see negative reactions to the gospel. Instead, we can be encouraged that God's grace is at work, challenging the status quo and calling people to a higher standard of living. Our task is to continue to be vessels of this grace, knowing that it will not always be received with open arms but will always be powerful and effective. [12:04]

John 3:19-20 (ESV): "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you extended grace to someone and it was met with hostility. How can you find encouragement in knowing that this reaction is a testament to the power of God's grace at work?

Day 3: Religious and Irreligious Hatred

Both religious and irreligious people can exhibit hostility towards God. In Jesus' time, religious leaders were often the most vehement in their opposition. This underscores the danger of self-righteousness and the need for humility in recognizing our own sinfulness. Religious people, who should have been the first to recognize and accept Jesus, were often the ones who rejected Him the most. This teaches us that mere religious affiliation is not enough; what matters is a humble and repentant heart.

We must guard against the pride that can come with religious knowledge and practice. True faith is marked by humility and a constant awareness of our need for God's grace. This awareness helps us to avoid the trap of self-righteousness and to remain open to God's transformative work in our lives. [15:21]

Matthew 23:27-28 (ESV): "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Reflection: Consider an area in your life where you might be relying on religious practices rather than a genuine relationship with God. How can you cultivate a more humble and repentant heart?

Day 4: Gospel Testimonies Incite Hostility

The proclamation of the gospel, which reveals human sin and God's grace, often incites hostility. This is not about winning arguments or proving others wrong but about faithfully testifying to the truth of Jesus Christ and His redemptive work. The gospel challenges people to confront their sin and accept God's grace, which can be uncomfortable and provoke negative reactions. Our role is to share this message with love and humility, trusting that God will work in people's hearts.

We must remember that our goal is not to be liked or accepted by everyone but to be faithful witnesses of the gospel. This means speaking the truth in love, even when it is difficult, and trusting God with the results. Our faithfulness in sharing the gospel is what matters, not the immediate response we receive. [26:02]

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV): "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?"

Reflection: Think of a recent opportunity you had to share the gospel. How can you focus on being a faithful witness rather than being concerned about the immediate response?

Day 5: True Persecution vs. Self-Righteousness

It's crucial to discern whether we are truly being persecuted for our faith or if our actions are causing others to dislike us. True persecution is a result of our association with Jesus, not our self-righteous behavior. We are called to proclaim Christ's righteousness, not our own. This means examining our actions and attitudes to ensure that they reflect Jesus' love and humility rather than our own pride or self-righteousness.

When we face opposition, we should ask ourselves whether it is because of our faithful witness to Jesus or because of our own behavior. True persecution is a badge of honor, a sign that we are aligned with Jesus. However, if our actions are causing unnecessary offense, we need to repent and seek to better reflect Christ's love and grace. [29:53]

1 Peter 4:14-16 (ESV): "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name."

Reflection: Reflect on a recent conflict or opposition you faced. Was it due to your association with Jesus or your own behavior? How can you better reflect Christ's love and humility in similar situations in the future?

Sermon Summary

### Summary

In John 15:18-27, Jesus speaks about the world's hatred towards Him and His followers. This passage contrasts the love of God with the hatred of the world, highlighting the stark difference between divine love and human hostility. The story of a co-worker who believed she was persecuted for her faith serves as a backdrop to explore whether our experiences of being disliked are due to our faith or our behavior. Jesus clarifies that true persecution is a reaction to our association with Him, not merely the result of our actions.

The passage makes four critical observations: First, the hatred is primarily against God Himself. Jesus emphasizes that the world's hatred is directed at Him and, by extension, at His followers. Second, this hatred is a reaction to God's gracious actions. Despite God's numerous acts of love and grace, the world responds with hostility. Third, the hatred comes from both religious and irreligious people. The religious leaders of Jesus' time, who were supposed to be closest to God, were often the most vehement in their opposition. Lastly, the hatred is in response to gospel testimonies. The proclamation of the gospel, which reveals human sin and God's grace, often incites hostility.

The sermon encourages us to discern whether we are truly being persecuted for our faith or if our actions are causing others to dislike us. It calls us to focus on proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, emphasizing His righteousness and grace rather than our own self-righteousness. The ultimate tragedy is not that people dislike us, but that they reject their Creator. The message concludes with a powerful testimony of a woman who, despite her initial hostility towards God, found grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

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Key Takeaways

1. righteousness and the need for humility in recognizing our own sinfulness. [15:21]
4. Gospel Testimonies Incite Hostility: The proclamation of the gospel, which reveals human sin and God's grace, often incites hostility. This is not about winning arguments or proving others wrong but about faithfully testifying to the truth of Jesus Christ and His redemptive work.

5. True Persecution vs. Self-Righteousness: It's crucial to discern whether we are truly being persecuted for our faith or if our actions are causing others to dislike us. True persecution is a result of our association with Jesus, not our self-righteous behavior. We are called to proclaim Christ's righteousness, not our own.

### [15:21]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:57] - Introduction and Personal Story
[03:12] - Misunderstanding Persecution
[04:10] - Four Critical Observations
[06:13] - Context of God's Love and World's Hate
[06:58] - Hatred Aimed at God
[12:04] - Reaction to God's Grace
[15:21] - Religious and Irreligious Hatred
[26:02] - Gospel Testimonies Incite Hostility
[29:53] - True Persecution vs. Self-Righteousness
[36:28] - Closing Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Observation Questions

According to John 15:18-27, why does the world hate Jesus and His followers? ([06:58])
What are the four critical observations about the world's hatred mentioned in the sermon? ([04:10])
How does Jesus describe the relationship between the world's hatred and God's gracious actions? ([12:04])
What role do religious leaders play in the hostility towards Jesus, according to the sermon? ([15:21])

Interpretation Questions

Why is it important to discern whether we are being persecuted for our faith or for our behavior? How does this distinction affect our witness? ([04:10])
How does the world's reaction to God's grace reveal the depth of human sin, as discussed in the sermon? ([12:04])
In what ways can self-righteousness among religious people contribute to hostility towards the gospel? ([18:09])
How does the proclamation of the gospel incite hostility, and what should our response be according to the sermon? ([26:02])

Application Questions

Reflect on a time when you felt disliked or persecuted. Was it due to your faith or your behavior? How can you ensure your actions reflect Christ's love and grace? ([04:10])
How can you better proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in your daily life, focusing on His righteousness and grace rather than your own self-righteousness? ([31:02])
Think about the religious and irreligious people in your life. How can you approach them with humility and grace, avoiding self-righteousness? ([18:09])
How can you prepare yourself to face hostility when sharing your faith? What practical steps can you take to remain faithful in your testimony? ([26:02])
Identify a specific area in your life where you might be acting self-righteously. How can you change your approach to better reflect the humility and grace of Jesus? ([29:53])
How can you support fellow believers who are experiencing true persecution for their faith? What actions can you take to encourage and stand with them? ([04:10])
Reflect on the testimony shared at the end of the sermon. How can you use your own story of finding grace and salvation in Jesus to impact others? ([33:22])

Sermon Clips

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "We can easily, as followers of Jesus, fall into the same trap of thinking that people are persecuting us. We can be very sensitive sometimes and insecure. And we can think people are persecuting us and dislike us because of our faith and our strong commitments. And it may just be that there are consequences to how we treat people. It may just be that. But there is such thing as persecution. There is such thing as a hatred of God's people, of Jesus' followers." [04:10] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2. "My hope and my prayer, as I've studied all week, I've been thinking about this. My hope and my prayer for myself and for the rest of you is that we will come to understand a little bit more about the difference between the two. A little bit more clearly just how great our God is, how gracious He is, how loving He is. We just read from that psalm over and over and over again about the loving kindness of God, that we would see clearly our God this morning, and that we would see clearly what it looks like to follow Him." [05:05] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3. "The tragedy in all of this is not that people would dislike us. Not even that people would despise us or hate us. The tragedy is that they would, that they would hate their God. That they would hate their Creator. Especially, especially in response to how He has treated us. Now I want to show you this. How the hatred is a reaction to God's grace or to God's gracious action. It's like God is graciously acting in this world and the hatred of the world against God is a reaction to His gracious action." [11:09] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4. "The gospel is a message that offers hope, offers mercy, forgiveness, freedom, relief, not burdens and religious hierarchy and all that stuff but freedom and life and it's good news. And I'm going to close with this years ago one of the most memorable baptisms I ever performed someone who is still a good friend of mine she and her husband I baptized this friend and she was in her 60's when she came to Christ and it was one of the most memorable because she shared her testimony there at the baptism service." [32:49] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5. "We live in a world that is hostile as a result of the vertical hostility there is a great deal of horizontal hostility people fighting with one another verbally we have images and videos and messages on social media all day every day reminding us of that our own struggles our own frustrations and irritation and anger toward other people people on the other side politically or whatever we all experience these things common to us and thus we all need you we need your truth we need your light we need your love we need your mercy we have it we're so thankful that he came to live and to love to die and to rise that we might be brought into relationship with you that we might have eternity with you you are our hope you are our life we thank you we praise you we celebrate you for all that you have done for us thank you so much in Jesus name." [37:05] (71 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

### Quotes for Members

1. "There is such thing as persecution. There is such thing as a hatred of God's people, of Jesus' followers. And there's some ways we can tell the difference between something that's just humans treating humans poorly and being disliked. But as a result of that, there's a difference between that and actually being persecuted, being hated for the sake of Jesus. And that's what this passage helps us to discern and understand is the difference between the two." [04:10] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2. "It's all about the love of God, and it's interesting that it takes this turn in verse 18 toward this topic of hatred. So we have the love of God, and then we have this idea of the hatred of the world. It's a fascinating contrast. It's a pretty stark contrast, and it again highlights just how great and how magnificent our God is. So let's talk first of all now, as we're in our passage, about the hatred being against God Himself." [06:13] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3. "The Spirit of the truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about me. And you will testify about me. He will testify, that is, about me. And in that testimony about Christ, there will be a reaction of opposition, is what He's saying. So do you see how this is primarily aimed at God? You see that? It's primarily against God Himself and against Christ Himself." [10:15] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4. "The hatred comes from the religious and the irreligious alike. And in some ways the most venomous the most tenacious opposition came from the religious world in Jesus' day. And that's probably primarily what he's talking about here in John 15. Is how the religious people hated him. And I want to show you evidence of that. Here as well. Verse 22. Look again what he says there. If I had not come and spoken to them they would not have sinned. But now they have no excuse for their sin." [15:21] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5. "The gospel is a message that offers hope offers mercy, forgiveness, freedom relief, not burdens and religious hierarchy and all that stuff but freedom and life and it's good news and I'm going to close with this years ago one of the most memorable baptisms I ever performed someone who is still a good friend of mine she and her husband I baptized this friend and she was in her 60's when she came to Christ and it was one of the most memorable because she shared her testimony there at the baptism service and this is what she said I'm paraphrasing but this is basically what she said she talked about how she had grown up with some belief in God and she had gone to church some as a child but as she became a young adult into her adult years she kind of left behind her religious part of her life but still had a belief in God and then life became increasingly difficult for her she went through a bitter divorce she went through a variety of other trials professionally in her personal life and other family types of situations that were very challenging and then came the real bombshell her brother with whom she was extremely close very close with her brother she probably would have considered him her best friend in the world he tragically died young he died young and in her testimony right before I baptized her she admitted to all of us how angry she was with God she admitted her hostility against God and she said it all came to a head one day when she was just so worked up and so upset that she stormed out of her house and she stood on her front step and she shook her fist in the air at God and said God I hate you so much and God I need you so much I don't know how to accept this you gotta help me you gotta forgive me you gotta save me you're my only hope and not long after that at a park a birthday party for her granddaughter throwing a football with her husband she didn't know him from Adam throwing the football we start talking he tells me and he's her second husband he had been in ministry before he had a story long story short they start attending our church she comes to faith in Jesus still a follower of Christ today and it all started with her admitting seeing clearly what was in her heart toward her creator seeing clearly what Romans 5 says is true of all of us if while we were yet enemies hostile toward God to him through the death of his son we were able to admit that hostility and found in Jesus amazing mercy and compassion and forgiveness and is still in love with him to this day sometimes we're aware of it sometimes we're not even aware of it can't even imagine feeling that way but in the right circumstances it would come out it would it's part of that fallen nature out of radical love purity says you're my child you belong to me forever no matter what you're in you're righteous in Christ that's great news that we get to share people around us and if they're going to hate us may they hate us for the right reasons may God help us let's pray." [32:49] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

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