By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.45am Svc, 2010-05-23

Text: John 15:12-16:4

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the anniversary of the day when the Christian Church was born. That was a memorable day in history when the Spirit of God came upon the disciples of Christ as they were praying in the Upper Room, and empowered them to be His witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth. As a result of this, they were able to preach the Gospel with great power and thousands of sinners came under conviction and were saved! From that day onward, the newborn church grew into a mighty unstoppable movement that spread at a most amazing pace.

As believers carried the gospel wherever they went and shared their new-found faith freely with the people they met, many more were saved. After only 30 years, churches were established in every important city of the Roman Empire. No movement had ever grown as rapidly as this one. As Tertulian said in the 2nd century, 'We are only of yesterday, but already fill the world.'

But this exciting story of the Church's growth has also been fraught with much pain, terrible suffering and loss of life. Not long after Pentecost the apostles of Christ were arrested and imprisoned by the Jewish authorities for preaching in the name of Christ (Acts 4:1-3). Soon after that, Stephen, a newly-elected deacon, became the first Christian to be killed for believing in Christ (Acts 7:59,60). It became very dangerous to be a follower of Christ. During the first 2 centuries every imaginable kind of torture and every known method of execution were used against Christians.

Matthew was slain with a sword at a distant city in Ethiopia. Mark died at Alexandria, after being dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the land of Greece. John was put into a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to the island of Patmos. Peter was crucified upside down at Rome and Paul was beheaded there. James was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club. Bartholomew was skinned alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, from which he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was pierced with a spear in India. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. And Barnabas was stoned to death in Greece.

Within the first 3 centuries thousands of Christians were persecuted by ten Roman emperors. They were deprived of their possessions, thrown into prison, exiled in desolate places, sentenced to hard labour in dangerous mines, fed to the lions, and burnt at the stake. It seemed that the world's hatred for them knew no bounds. 

In more recent times Christians in communist countries have been treated with much hatred and contempt. One of them, a Romanian pastor named Richard Wurmbrand, described what he went through in his book entitled 'Tortured for Christ.' He was forced to remain standing for hours in his cell, and not allowed to sit. Then he was forced to walk and run round and round without stopping. Whenever he got tired and fell, he was beaten. But he kept his spirits up by reciting Bible verses to himself and praying. He was not allowed to sleep for one whole month. 

He was hung upside down and beaten with rods and whips. When he fainted, cold water was thrown to revive him so that the beating could go on. Later, water was poured down his throat until his stomach was bursting, then the guards kicked him and stepped on him. And he was branded with a red-hot iron. He was thrown into a refrigerator cell with little clothing on. Prison doctors watched through an opening until they saw symptoms of freezing to death, then they would give a warning and guards would rush in to take him out and make him warm. When he was finally warmed, he would immediately be put back in the refrigerator cell again to freeze -over and over again. The persecution of Christians continues till this day. The Open Doors ministry estimates that 100 million Christians today are facing persecution.

All of this may sound quite shocking to us. But actually it is quite normal for Christians to be treated like this. It is part of our calling. Our Lord Jesus knew that His disciples - not only the 12 whom He had trained but also those in every age - would be hated and persecuted by the world. And because He wanted them to be prepared to face even the worst forms of hatred from the world He gave them the teaching that is found in our passage of Scripture of John 15:12 - 16:4.

I. Expectation of the World's Hatred for Christians

These words were spoken by our Lord Jesus not long before He was arrested, imprisoned, falsely accused, unjustly sentenced, shamefully humiliated and subjected to the most cruel form of death ever devised by man. Although He had done nothing but good, Jesus would soon be enduring the worst of the world's hatred against Him. (cf. Acts 4:27,28; Hebrews 12:3) And Jesus knew that His disciples would also be hated and persecuted by the world - all because they are His disciples. Therefore He told them that they must expect nothing but the same hostile attitude from the world. He said this in vv.18 and 19 'If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.'

This is true of every Christian. We cannot expect to receive better treatment from the unbelieving world than what Christ had received. It is our lot in life to be hated by the world simply because we belong to Him who was hated by the world. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us, 'Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.' This is something that we just have to accept if we want to be true followers of Jesus Christ. So whenever you find that the world hates you, please remember that it hated your Saviour too.

Some will try to avoid the world's hatred by not revealing to anyone that they are Christians. There was once a young Christian man whose church was praying for him, because he took a job during his summer vacation working in the forests as a lumberjack, cutting down trees. They were concerned that this young man would not be able to take all the ridicule and verbal abuse that the rough and tough unbelieving lumberjacks were known to dispense against Christians. When the young man completed his stint and came back to church they asked him how his job went, and his reply was 'I had a good time with the lumberjacks' and he added with a smile: 'They did not even suspect that I am a Christian!'

Can a true believer in Christ remain a 'secret believer'? If you say that you truly believe in Jesus Christ, can you keep that fact hidden from the world for long? To put it another way: If you were to be put on trial for being a born-gain Christian would there be sufficient evidence to convict you? I hope there would be. Do not choose the 'easy way out' just because you want to be loved by the world and enjoy all its benefits of popularity and influence, or because you are afraid of facing any kind of persecution from the world.

So please do not keep your faith in Christ a secret. We are supposed to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. We are not to be ashamed to be called Christians because by this, the world will associate us with Christ, and we will fulfill our God-given role of being His witnesses. In Matthew 5:14,15 Jesus said, 'Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.' A secret believer is like a lighted candle that is placed under a container. What use does it have? No one can see its light and benefit from it. It might as well be extinguished!

So please don't be afraid of being hated by the world for being a Christian. Settle it in your heart today that hatred is to be expected from a world that does not know God. 

II. Explanations for the World's Hatred of Christians

This was how Jesus Himself explained the world's hatred in v.21 'But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.' He said it again in 16:3 'And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.' What a pitiful and pathetic state of events this is - The world does not even know the Father who created it or the Son by whom it was made. 

In fact the world is at odds with its Creator and is alienated from Him because of sin. Sin is the ultimate reason why the world does not know God or love God. It has caused the world to have perverse affections: to love what it ought to hate, and hate what it ought to love. Sin causes men to love the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). 

It also causes men to have totally irrational responses to Christ. As Jesus said in v.25 'They hated me without a cause.' Instead of receiving Christ and believing His words on the basis of His mighty miracles, sin causes men to reject Him and crucify Him (15:22-24). And sin even causes men to go to horrible extremes, so that they are not content with hating Christ alone, and must also hate His followers and persecute anyone who bears His name. But the worst of all is that sin deludes men into thinking that they are serving God by killing innocent people (16:2 'yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.'). 

We think of suicide bombers who zealously blow themselves up to kill people today in the name of God. No one who really knows God will do a thing like this. Instead the one who truly knows God and loves Him will do the opposite: He will lay down his own life to save others, as Jesus said in v.13 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'

And so whenever the world hates you, you should remember that sin is the ultimate cause of all this hatred. And when you reflect on that you will be thankful that you are no longer of that world - a world that does not know God, a world of perverse affections that hates Christ and His followers, a world that is blind to the truth of Jesus Christ and utterly deluded by sin. Aren't you glad that instead of being of the world, you are of those who are not of the world: Those who do know God through His Son Jesus Christ? Aren't you glad to be of those who can see Jesus for He really is, and who love His followers?

Isn't it so much better then, to be hated by the world than to be loved by the world? It really is, for there is no real good in being loved by the world. To be loved by the world only means that you are still of the world, as Jesus said in v.19, 'If ye were of the world, the world would love its own.' Therefore if the world loves you and heaps recognition, praise, honour, success and untold favours upon you, you should be very concerned! This would make you a friend of the world, and that is not a good thing at all. James 4:3 tells us that 'whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.' It is better to be an enemy of the world, and a friend of God. And we can be friends of God, as Jesus Himself said in verses 14 and 15 of our text 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends'

III. Encouragements for Christians under the World's Hatred

This is only one of the encouragements that the Lord gives to those who face the world's hatred. Another encouragement is found in what He said in v.18 'If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.' From this we know that Christ can empathise with us when the world hates us. Since He has endured the very worst of the world's hatred before, He can fully understand whatever we go through when it happens to us. 

Perhaps you had been bold to talk about Christ with your colleagues, and since then they have been making jokes about you and your faith. Christ understands that. Perhaps you had refused to join in a scheme in your workplace to do something morally questionable, and after that you were never recommended for any promotion and became the subject of malicious gossip. Christ understands that. 

Or perhaps you tried your best to give your colleagues a gentle and loving warning concerning some wrong thing they were doing, and from that time onward they always found fault with you and criticized you over every small thing and they left you out of all their social activities. Christ understands that. Perhaps you took an unpopular but necessary stand for the sake of truth, and all your business partners made life very difficult for you so that you would be forced to leave. Christ understands that.

Christ has even informed us of worse things to come than all these things especially just before His return 'And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.' (Luke 21:16-17)

Whenever you have to suffer any discrimination, unfair treatment, insult, injury or verbal abuse for the sake of Christ's name, please remember this: The Lord Jesus fully understands how you feel. He has endured more hatred and persecution from the world than any of us ever will. Hebrews 12:3 tells us to 'consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.'

And when Jesus was on the cross He endured these things alone, all by Himself. There was no one to give Him the moral support or encouragement He needed. Even God the Father forsook Him. It is quite different with us: whenever we suffer the world's hated, we do not suffer alone. In v.26 Jesus made this wonderful promise: 'But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.' How assuring it is to know that we have the divine Comforter, the Holy Spirit who is always with us to bring the comfort and courage we need when the world hates us! 

And besides all that we can also be encouraged when we have fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are willing to help us bear our burdens and pray with us whenever we endure the world's hatred. The 4th chapter of Acts records that after Peter and John were threatened and released from prison they went to the rest of the disciples and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them (Acts 4:23). 

What followed after that was quite astounding - The whole gathering of Christians united in concerted prayer, and the place was shaken! They were all filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness (v.31). Through their Christian solidarity and united prayer the disciples became even stronger witnesses of Christ in the face of increasing hostility from the world. This could well have been the reason why our Lord placed so much emphasis on loving one another when He spoke to them in our text.

IV. Enactments for Christians under the World's Hatred

In v.12 He said, 'This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.' And then in v.17 just before telling them that the world would hate them, He repeated the same command 'These things I command you, that ye love one another.' Earlier that same night Jesus had already mentioned this to them and called it the 'new commandment' 'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' (13:34,35)

It is quite obvious that our Lord wanted to impress this commandment on the minds of His disciples. And one reason why they must love one another is that this would enable them to remain strong and steadfast in the midst of all the hatred they would face from the world. 

The same thing goes for us: We should make every effort to keep this commandment to ove one another. If we are firmly bonded together with love we will all be able to bear the world's hatred against us. As Christians we are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). If you are facing difficulties for being a Christian at home or at your place of work, don't bear those burdens alone. Share them with fellow church members or make it known during our church prayer meeting. 

If you are a new Christian who is ostracized by your family and friends as a result of believing in Christ, you will have a new family - God's family - to love and support you. You will have new friends - Christian friends - who are ready to help you. The mutual encouragement, tender care and concerted prayer for one another among God's people are an effective remedy for those who are suffering from the world's hatred. 

This was how the early church survived persecution. The more these Christians were hated by the world, the more they loved one another. When the apostle Peter was imprisoned by King Herod and sentenced to be executed the next day, Acts 12:5 tells us that 'prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.' When things got really bad they put their money into a common pool to support their needy members - including those who had suffered loss for Christ's sake. One reason why there were many widows and orphans in the early church was that their men were martyred during intense persecution. Special care was provided for the families left behind by these martyrs. And if one local church did not have sufficient means to do this, other local churches would rally around to help. 

The early Christians not only kept Christ's commandment to love one another. They also took seriously His commandment to witness for Him. As Jesus said in v.27 'And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.' That was how the church grew by leaps and bounds despite facing the most intense hatred from the world in the first 3 centuries. They did not allow persecution to stop them from preaching the gospel of Christ.

We too need to do the same thing when the world hates us. We cannot allow our fear of persecution and antagonism to keep us from sharing our faith in Christ with others. The Lord's commandment to witness for Him has to be carried out faithfully under all circumstances, and even when our lives are being threatened. And if that should ever happen to us, there are two precious motivations that can help us to keep the Lord's commandment:

Firstly, the witness we bear for Christ is actually the most effective way to deal with the world's hatred against us. This is because of what Jesus said in 16:3 'And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.' This implies that once they come to know the Father through Jesus, they will stop doing these things. The best biblical example of this is Paul the apostle. 

Before he knew Christ as His Saviour, Paul was the most aggressive Pharisee whom all Christians feared because he bent on destroying the church (cf. 1 Timothy 1:12,13). But after he came to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, Paul instantly stopped persecuting the church and then it was his turn to be hated and persecuted by the Jews! (cf. Acts 9:16, 22-25). Therefore if we are faithful to witness for Christ even to those who hate Him the most, who knows that they may one day know Him and love Him the most?

The other motivation that we can have in order to bear witness to those who hate Christ comes from what Jesus said in v.13 of our text 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' If Jesus has loved us so much that He willingly laid down His precious life for us, is there any sacrifice too great for us to make for Him? No, we are constrained by the love of Christ to keep speaking of Him to others no matter how dangerous it becomes to do so, and even if it may cost us our lives. 

Therefore, if the world hates you for being a Christian, don't respond to it with fear anymore, but with love and with the gospel message of Christ which is able to bring sinners to salvation and eternal life. May the Lord help us to be faithful in doing all this.

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