As we live our Christian lives there are a lot of questions that are related to the Christian Life that don't really fall into life and death categories. Questions like: what's your favorite version of the bible? How can I be a better group member? Or the BIG ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION: if a church has a meal at the end of the service, is it called a dinner, a potluck, or a fellowship?
Questions like these are not that important. But, other questions about our walk with Christ carry a lot of weight. Questions like: am I prepared to suffer well? Am I ready to be hated for the sake of Jesus?
Suffering may not be a common topic of conversation in our lives but suffering for the sake of Jesus, being persecuted because we follow Him, is something Jesus told us to expect. Today we will be using John chapters 15 and 16. Right after Jesus commanded us to love one another, He warned us to prepare to suffer along with other believers. Jesus wanted to help us understand that living connected to Him means we will be mistreated the same as He was. But we can endure the hard times because Jesus is with us, and He is definitely worth it. Prayer.
I faintly hear of individuals from time to time saying they feel they are being persecuted. When I hear that I almost smile an inner smile. The reason for that is I wonder if we really know what persecution is. I serve as pastor of Revival Sunday school ministry in a country on the other side of the world. This is a country that does not respect Christianity in any way. They are not followers of Christ as a whole and those that do follow Christ are treated as second-class citizens. Their churches are burned. They are made fun of on a daily basis. They are never offered help from their non-Christian world. The only employment they can get is that of street sweeper, sewer worker, and other strictly labor intensive jobs. That is persecution. We should be thankful that we don't suffer persecution like they do.
The passage of scripture that we will look at today is a difficult passage to read. It's difficult, but it's also beautiful and logical. It's difficult because reading that the world hates the followers of Jesus is upsetting, even scary, for those of us who follow Him. And yet it is beautiful because it reminds us that we have been loved by our Savior and called by that Savior out of a world of death into a world of life. Jesus declared He has chosen us out of this sin-filled, hostile, fallen world.
John 15:18-21 – “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 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, because of this the world hates you.
*****20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”
Jesus’ words are logical. People who have been brought into the kingdom of God still have to live in this world. So, Christians are going to seem weird, wrong, and out of place to the people of this world. Our hearts, minds, values, and priorities are foreign to those who are not followers of Jesus. They just don't understand why we do what we do. They don't understand why we see the importance of coming to church regularly and worshiping our God. But we are still here, sticking out and standing out because we choose not to live like the world.
What we believe and what the world believes don't always line up. Our belief and trust in the resurrected Jesus supports everything in our lives. We live with this longing for the return of Christ. At times, we seem to be so moved by what Jesus did to give us that hope that we fight against our sinful human nature in order to be as much like Him as we can. And when we are like Him, we are not like so many others in the world. That kind of makes us aliens. We are strangers. We are the hostiles. We are not of the world as Jesus said in verse 19.
Verse 20 says that we are servants of our master, Jesus. So far in the past few weeks, we have seen that Jesus wants us to live, love, and obey as we live connected to Him, but His ways are not the ways of the unbelieving world. Thus, the problem. His ways appear strange to the rest of the world. Christianity is supposed to be strange to the world around us. Following Jesus is supposed to look different. And so, conflict and sometimes even hatred is inevitable as a result.
There comes a point when our world around us says, “We won't take this Jesus stuff anymore.” That's because Kingdom of heaven thinking is too foreign and offensive to the culture of this world. So, the followers of Jesus are persecuted just as Jesus was persecuted. Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” When we stand up for the name of Jesus and live like Him, persecution is sure to come.
You will be called names. You will have doors slammed in your face. And we think that is so terrible. Do a little research in cultures around the world that are against Christianity and see what real persecution is. Yes, people still give their lives today for the sake of Jesus. Would we do the same?
I read verse 18 and I think of something my dad used to say. Many times I heard him say, “You ain't the lone ranger.” In other words, you're not the only one that's gone through this. And then Jesus says, “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.”
John 15:22 – “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
Now understand that Jesus wasn't saying He brought sin upon those who heard Him. What He brought was a full picture and realization of the truth and an opportunity for people to accept Him. If only people could see that Jesus is still doing that today. Before Jesus came, people could say, “I didn't even know that it was a sin.” After Jesus came, He could say, “You may not have known it was a sin before, but you know it now and God knows that you know it.”
Now let's bring all of this up to our day and time. Jesus is the Son of God yet some people reject that truth. Some people might say they didn't have an opportunity to hear the Gospel. But even those without a Gospel witness have the general revelation of nature to point them to God. Who else could create all this?
In John 15, Jesus is talking about those who clearly have no excuse, because they saw and heard Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Jewish people witnessed the best thing that could ever happen to them and that was Jesus Himself. The people saw Jesus serve. Jesus taught brilliantly and passionately. Jesus healed freely and lovingly. He ushered in a new kingdom of repentance that leads to life, showing people that He was the answer to their deepest need. He still is today by the way. The people saw all this, and they still opposed Him violently. For many, the truth was revealed, but hatefully rejected. Isn't it the same today? Yes, it is.
John 15: 23-25 – “The one who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25 But this has happened so that the word that is written in their Law will be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me for no reason.’”
And that is how it is today. They hate Jesus for no reason. How many times have we heard someone say I am an atheist? They hate Jesus and say they don't believe in Him because they have never met Him and don't really want to. Listen to this true story.
There was a woman who was new to a church that she had been attending. One evening while several of the church members and she were having dinner at a restaurant, at one point during that meal, she shared how her eyes had been opened to who Jesus is. She was from a Muslim family in a Middle Eastern country.
But by the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel, she became so clearly convinced of her need for Christ that she was willing to make the huge break from her culture, accept Christ, and become a Christian. She said she had been so excited about what she was experiencing in Jesus that she thought her parents would be open to the gospel as well.
But when she shared with them what God had done in her heart, her father told her to leave the house. He never wanted to see her again. She said, I haven't seen them in a few years. I talk to my mom every now and then, but she tells me to stay away because my dad wants me dead.
You see, the truth was there. She found and embraced the truth in Jesus. She shared that same truth with her family, but they so thoroughly rejected the truth that they kicked her out and even threatened to kill her. We hate to hear that, but it is the reality of two worlds, two kingdoms, coming into conflict. The world continues to reject Jesus despite the truth He has revealed.
John 16:1-2 – “These things I have spoken to you so that you will not be led into sin. 2 They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God.”
That is such a reality today. Those who hate Jesus also hate His followers, and they don't just express this hate in their emotions, they also display it in their actions. All of the disciples who first heard Jesus speak these words were killed for following Jesus, except for John, who wrote this Gospel. And they weren't the only ones. The early Church experienced much persecution and martyrdom.
Far over 2,000 years, men and women all over the world have suffered and died because they were following Jesus. Even today, people pay the ultimate price for their faith in Christ. The most recent report from Open Doors USA, an organization that stands against persecution, indicates that 260 million Christians suffered high to severe levels of persecution in 2020 for their faith. This suffering included –
- 8 Christians who were killed every day.
- 182 churches or Christian buildings are attacked every week.
- 309 Christians are jailed for their faith every month.
Those numbers reflect only the top 50 Nations where Christians suffer the most. Estimates are that an additional 50 million could be added if we include other nations where persecution occurs. We really shouldn't be shocked by these numbers because Jesus has already prepared us for it.
Persecution may be as mild as ostracism or not being allowed to take part in their Church. I say who would want to anyway.
Jesus says in verse 2 that they may be banned from the synagogues and even face of time when someone wants to kill you for offering service to God.
In verse 1 it's kind of like an encouragement when Jesus says, “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.” Jesus knows that none of this will ever catch Him by surprise. He is still God, and God is still in control.
John 16:3-4 – “These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. However, I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
What Jesus is telling us is that we can face persecution knowing that the battle has already been won. Let your hearts be comforted. Yes, persecution is scary, but it can't impact the outcome. As a Christian, Jesus gave you this warning, to keep you from stumbling, not to keep you from losing.
With these words, Jesus was, in a sense, reporting the news that He had already won the war. Jesus knows what's going to happen. He knows what's going to happen as His people are persecuted just like He knows His people are victorious forever in Him. So, we don't anticipate persecution with our fingers crossed hoping things will work out. We anticipate persecution with our hands folded, knowing that the battle has already been won.
You see, it's like this; The Cross isn't coming. It's already happened. Death has been destroyed. The moment the martyr’s sword touches one of God's children, life begins with Him forever. We have no battle left to win. Jesus spoke matter-of-factly about hatred that will certainly come to us. But we can rest confidently in Him because He has already won the battle.
I close with this: Matthew Henry wrote, “There were a world of people that opposed Christ and Christianity. I fear, if we should put it to the vote between Christ and Satan, Satan would out poll us.” Satan would win the vote.
That quote makes me laugh because there is no vote. No arm wrestling, cage match, or sprint to the finish line will ever decide the outcome of the conflict between Jesus and Satan. There is only the inevitability of Jesus. There will just be a sovereign Creator who triumphs in the end.
When your persecution comes, are you ready? The only way you can really be ready is to have Christ as your protector. Do you know him? If not, I ask that during this closing prayer that you ask Jesus to come into your heart and into your life. Then come and tell me and I will pray with you as your new life in Christ begins.
I close with what God tells us about persecution, words to take to heart.
Romans 8:35-37 – “35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
2 Corinthians 12:10 – “10 Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
