Hate (John 15:18-27 Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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September 4, 2023

Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org Hate

03:13: And I want to say good morning, it is awesome to be together. Scripture gives us certain insights into the heart of God and how the our relationship with God is really driven by our heart.
03:30: One of them is in Deuteronomy 10 12. Now it's an exhortation to the nation of Israel, but I think it directly applies to us, his children today.
03:41: And so I want to read this passage to you and there's an emphasis on the extent and the depth of what he's calling for.
03:48: Deuteronomy 10 12 And now Israel, now cornerstone believers, brothers and sisters, what does the
03:56: Lord your God require from you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve him, the
04:05: Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.
04:11: This proclamation, this exhortation for us to be following him, it applies to us and it can't be taken,
04:19: I don't think, casually, cavalierly. It is looking for a dedication to God.
04:25: There are four imperatives in there. The first one is to fear the Lord. We are given an exhortation to put him above all else.
04:34: The world has so many options out there. We are to fear the Lord. Pastor Jeff's going to talk to us on how that applies to life, regardless of some of the circumstances that get thrown to us.
04:48: Walk in his ways, it says. We are to choose his way above all other ways.
04:54: The ways that we can go, the things that we can do, the enjoyment, the pleasure, we are to walk in his ways and we are to love him.
05:03: Those things that call for our attention, that call for our affection, we are told to love him.
05:08: We should give him our heart above everything else, above all else.
05:14: And then we are told to serve him. Give him your allegiance above everything else.
05:20: The extent of the obedience that God desires from us, he requires from us, is the totality of our heart and the totality of our soul.
05:30: That's why we're here this morning. I want to give you a couple of announcements. Some things are coming up.
05:35: But before I get into the rest of the announcements, if somebody saw or noticed a set of keys, the
05:44: Thompsons are looking for their keys somewhere between the sanctuary and their car. They could not find their keys.
05:50: If anybody found them, you have permission to get up and walk out and give them to the Thompsons. We have baptism coming up in a couple of weeks.
05:59: After second service, it's on the 19th, 17th. It's in two weeks down the shore.
06:06: It is, as I understand, the class has got a significant number of people wanting to publicly proclaim their relationship with God in the waters of baptism.
06:17: If you're one of those, praise God. We are excited that you are. But the rest of the church family, make it your desire that day to go down the shore and to experience this testimony of baptism.
06:31: It's going to be out in the public for other people to see. What an amazing time. In a couple of weeks after that, we're going to have another starting point class.
06:40: We do this usually a couple of times a year. If you are new to our church, if you are new to the Evangelical Free Church, if you perhaps desire membership, we give you a three week class, an introduction to our church.
06:53: And so we encourage you to be part of that. It'll be taught during second service. You don't have to sign up, you can just show up.
07:01: You can let me know, Jeff, somebody up here, one of the elders that you'd like to do it. We would love to get you involved.
07:08: The Marriage Matters class, which is starting in about a week and a half, I understand it's actually filled up.
07:15: This is an amazing answer to prayer because just a few weeks ago, there was like only one family and they have the class and now the class is filled.
07:24: So there, praise God for that. Pray for the class and I'm sure that it will be offered again. So that's out there.
07:32: The study that we hold Wednesdays at noon, we're studying the book of Daniel.
07:38: We'll be resuming. We took the summer off, Jeff and I, we both were away for a while. You were really away for a while.
07:46: Anyway, we're going to be resuming, but it's not this Wednesday with Labor Day weekend. It will be next
07:52: Wednesday, the 13th, we will resume our Wednesday noon study. So we look forward to that.
07:58: The men's breakfast is not going to occur tomorrow, tomorrow's Labor Day. It will be the following Monday.
08:05: So the men's breakfast would be on the 11th. That's not true.
08:11: Yeah, it is. It's going to be 9 -11. Guys, we're going to have to have some special prayer on that morning. If you're following the book, it's retractions chapter four and five.
08:20: So join with us in that. Let's turn to prayer. Lord, we come to you this morning in worship, not because we're worthy of it, but because we are called to be your children.
08:35: We've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And so Father, we come to you in worship of who you are, all you do.
08:43: Lord, we surrender ourselves. Lord, we choose you above all else that we may have an opportunity to follow after.
08:52: So we follow you above all. You give us the way of truth. And we serve you,
08:58: Lord, above all. There is no other master in our lives. Father, we pray that your church will flourish around the world, that your church will have an impact as the light and the salt, the ministry of the
09:11: Holy Spirit, and that we here at Cornerstone, your church here in Mount Laurel, that we will remain true to your word and that we will be able to impact lives through your word.
09:22: For Pastor Jeff, we pray that you watch over him and his family and that today,
09:27: Lord, as you've prepared Jeff with your words, we anticipate them, that you would open our hearts and that we would have a time of worship given to you in genuine and pleasing in your sight.
09:39: We thank you, Lord. We come before you in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to make sure everyone has a lyric sheet this morning.
09:48: If you need one, just raise your hand real quick. If you can stand with me.
10:19: Saints and servants, hosts of heaven, all creation, praise the name of the
10:29: Lord, night and morning. Sing His glory, now and forevermore.
10:40: Earthly kingdoms, all dominions, now before Him, praise the name of the
10:50: Lord. None as holy, none as worthy, now and forevermore.
11:00: Crowned with adoration, He is high above the nations.
11:10: Who is like the Lord, our God? Who is like the
11:17: Lord, our God? Crowned with adoration,
11:56: He is high above the nations. Who is like the Lord, our God? Who is like the Lord, our God? Crowned with adoration, He is high above the nations. Who is like the
12:03: Lord, our God? Raised us from the ashes,
12:11: He has turned our grief to gladness. Who is like the
12:19: Lord, our God? Who is like the
12:24: Lord, our God? High and lowly, high and holy, meek and lowly.
12:44: There is no one like You, our
12:50: Messiah, here beside us. There is no one like You, high and holy, meek and lowly.
13:05: There is no one like You, our
13:11: Messiah, here beside us. There is no one like You, crowned with adoration,
13:24: He is high above the nations. Who is like the
13:32: Lord, our God? Raised us from the ashes,
13:40: He has turned our grief to gladness. Who is like the
13:47: Lord, our God? Who is like the
13:52: Lord, our God? There is no one like our
13:58: God. There is no one like our
14:03: God. For He forgave all of our sins.
14:27: He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
14:35: Lord, we stand here before You, before Your throne, humbly, singing songs to You in Your name because of Your power.
14:46: The power and love that You told us from the very beginning that You would send us a
14:58: Redeemer. Thank You, Lord, for sending us Your Son to forgive us.
15:12: Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest day,
15:20: Christ on the road to Calvary.
15:28: Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten there, nailed to a cross of wood.
15:43: This, the power of the cross,
15:51: Christ became. Sin for us took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross.
16:14: Oh, to see the pain written on Your face, bearing the awesome weight of sin.
16:34: Every bitter thought, every evil deed, crowned in Your blood -stained brow.
16:48: This, the power of the cross,
16:56: Christ became. Sin for us took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross.
17:22: Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath quakes at His maker, bows
17:35: His head. Cursed and torn in two, dead are raised to life, finish the victory cry.
17:52: This, the power of the cross,
17:59: Christ became. Sin for us took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross.
18:22: Oh, to see my name written in the wounds, for through Your suffering
18:36: I am free. Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live, won through Your selfless love.
18:53: This, the power of the cross,
19:00: Son of God, sin for us.
19:08: What a love, what a cost, we stand forgiven at the cross.
19:36: The year was 1491
20:01: BC. Israel had been in captivity for a long time in Egypt.
20:09: Things were about to change. Taking it back 400 or so years ago, it's recorded that Joseph, in speaking to his brothers, said these words,
20:21: You intended it for evil, but God meant it for good. And so the family was protected and they flourished.
20:29: Then they became captives and they became slaves in Egypt for a long time. Fast forwarding, the people of Egypt had become so numerous that the fear of them overrunning the
20:43: Egyptians, there was a decree to kill the newborn child from the
20:48: Hebrews. And a woman, led by God's sovereignty, took her baby, placed him in a basket, put him in the water in their reeds.
21:00: And Pharaoh's daughter found him, raised him. So Moses was given this privilege, but he fell.
21:08: He murdered. And so he ran, he fled. Out into the wilderness. And it was there some years later that he encountered a bush that was burning, but not consumed.
21:21: And as he approaches the bush, he's told, Take the sandals off your feet, you're on hollow ground.
21:28: And it's there that he heard the voice, I am. Then he was told to go to Pharaoh, so that his people,
21:37: God's people, could be set free. And so Joseph went and he pled with Pharaoh, but Pharaoh said no, and there were plagues.
21:45: And Joseph pled again, and there were plagues. Seven times, until finally,
21:54: God had his people murdered. An innocent lamb, and that blood was shed.
22:02: And that blood was placed on the lintel of the door and on the door posts. So that in the middle of the night, when the angel of death came by, that blood would be the protection, that blood would be the deliverance for the people who stayed inside the house.
22:19: And they shared a meal that night, and it became known as the Passover. And it was a remembrance that when that blood was shed, and placed on the door and on the lintel, the angel of death passed by, and they were released from captivity.
22:37: Forwarding in time, the Messiah told his followers,
22:43: Prepare a room, we are going to celebrate the Passover. And so they go into the upper room, and there,
22:51: Jesus washes their feet, and he teaches them many things. And he tells them, I must go to the cross,
22:57: I must die, my blood must be shed. And they said, no, no, can't be so, and he said, it must be so. But if I leave,
23:03: I will send you another, a comforter. And there they shared the meal. Jesus was taken, willingly.
23:14: They did not overrun him, he went willingly, obediently to the Father. And so he was beaten, he was scourged.
23:24: And he takes the cross up the Via Dolorosa. And the blood shedding down from his brow falls down on that cross, as he's walking, and he stumbles, and he falls.
23:35: And the guards grab a man, help carry it up there, because he is in such bad way. They lay him down, they nail his hands and his feet to the cross.
23:44: They raise that cross, and they drop it into that hole with a thud, and there he hangs. Not taken, but willingly and obediently, and his blood is now shed on that cross for you, for me, because my brothers and sisters, we're sinners, and we deserve punishment.
24:05: But as he hung on that cross, my sins, your sins, the sins of all time were on that cross.
24:11: This was foreknown since before time that this would happen. My God, my
24:19: God, why have you forsaken me? As Jesus knew at that instant in time that he carried sin, and the
24:26: Father cannot look upon sin. But he obediently did it, and then he yelled to Telestai, it's finished.
24:34: The payment for our sins, complete. This was all foretold in that upper room as Jesus sat with his disciples and told them, and they shared the elements, the bread, the wine represented of his blood, and it's there for a remembrance for us.
24:55: It's one of the ordinances that we partake in, to remember. The blood that was shed on the lintel and the doorposts had to be done over and over and over again as they celebrated the
25:07: Passover. But as Jesus went to the cross, it was once for all. But we get to do it over and over as a remembrance of what he did for us.
25:20: And we're about to take these elements, but before we do that, I think we are given exhortation by Paul, who records the events that took place.
25:29: And it says in chapter 11, starting in verse 27, Whoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the
25:37: Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
25:48: For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the
25:56: Lord's body. As we come to this table, let's turn to prayer. Let's confess our sins.
26:02: Let's have our hearts turned to him. Let's pray. Lord, I don't even have to go past this morning to realize that I've sinned against you.
26:25: I can't hide my sins. They're against you. You, as the all -knowing
26:30: God, as the all -holy God, you knew of my sins from before the foundation of the world, and you knew my inability to pay the penalty in love you sent your
26:43: Son, who obediently went to the cross. We come to you, Lord, confessing our sins, repenting of our sins, celebrating you, remembering you, saying thank you.
26:55: As we take these elements, Lord, we do so in obedience to you. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
27:03: I'm asking the servers to come forward, please. I can only imagine the thoughts of the men that sat there with him at that meal.
27:25: This Passover was a tradition, but this was different. This was different because Jesus made a proclamation to them that made it different.
27:34: For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, that same night in which he betrayed, took the bread, and when he had given thanks to the
27:47: Lord, he said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.
27:56: Do this in remembrance of me. Take this element in remembrance of Jesus' broken body.
30:37: Take, eat, in remembrance of the body of Christ broken for you. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
30:53: Jesus goes to the cross and he died for my sins. His blood was shed.
31:00: Jesus, after the same manner, he took the cup when he had supped, saying,
31:05: This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
31:15: And we take this element in remembrance of his blood. Take, drink, in remembrance of the blood of Christ shed for you.
34:57: The Mysteries of the
35:03: Cross The mysteries of the cross they cannot comprehend The agonies of calvary
35:15: You, the perfect holy one, crushed your son
35:22: Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me
35:29: Your blood has washed away my sin,
35:35: Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath, completely satisfied,
35:43: Jesus, thank you Once your enemy, now seated at your table,
35:52: Jesus, thank you
36:09: By your perfect sacrifice, I have been brought near Your enemy, your name, your friend
36:24: Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace
36:31: Your mercies and your kindness, there's no end
36:38: Your blood has washed away my sin,
36:43: Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath, completely satisfied,
36:50: Jesus, thank you Once your enemy, now seated at your table,
36:59: Jesus, thank you
37:17: Lover of my soul, I want to live for you
37:30: Lover of my soul,
37:36: I want to live for you
37:44: Lover of my soul,
37:51: I want to live for you
37:58: Your blood has washed away my sin,
38:04: Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath, completely satisfied,
38:11: Jesus, thank you Once your enemy, now seated at your table,
38:20: Jesus, thank you
38:30: Jesus, thank you That you would nourish us by your word
39:21: Give us strength to endure Change the way we think Make us more
39:26: God -centered in our thinking And Lord, teach us to love We pray that you would remove any anger and bitterness in us,
39:37: Lord Because these things do not achieve the righteousness of God Make us slow to anger, quick to listen, slow to speak
39:49: Help us to be loving, for you are love In Jesus' name we pray, amen
39:57: Persecution of Christians has gone on since the first century
40:03: And when we think of martyrs and the persecution that Christians undergo
40:08: It's very often associated with the Muslim countries There are 41 Muslim countries in the world
40:14: Voice of the Martyrs tells many stories of Christian persecution around the world But very often we think that persecution won't touch us here
40:24: In the United States of America It won't come to the West Because in many ways,
40:31: Christianity has restrained the evil of mankind And given us protection from many of those things
40:39: But there are many in the culture who hate the rule of God There are many who hate the
40:46: Father's rule And there is a rising movement against God's holy word
40:53: The nation of Finland was a reformation nation Very much touched by Lutheranism And there is a state
41:02: Lutheran church in Finland One would not expect that Finland would see the persecution of Christians But just on Thursday and Friday of this week
41:13: A parliament member named Pavi Rosonen 62 years old, a grandmother of 10
41:21: And a medical doctor, very well spoken woman Was brought on charges due to a tweet from 2019
41:31: In which she questioned the state Lutheran church celebrating pride month
41:40: Her tweet did nothing more than post an Instagram picture of a
41:46: Bible verse Romans chapter 1 and verses 24 to 27
41:52: Which speak against these LGBTQ movements
41:59: All she did was post a Bible verse And she was called up on charges on the grounds of a hate crime
42:08: She was actually charged for agitation against a minority group Under the provision that falls under war crimes and crimes against humanity
42:17: Her first trial was in 2022 And she was seemingly acquitted but now she was brought back up again here in 2023
42:26: The prosecutor said that she has bad speech Alleging that the use of the
42:32: Bible in speaking of sin is hurtful to people
42:38: It can be harmful to people In fact, this prosecutor even compared the
42:44: Bible to Mein Kampf Written by Hitler And the state prosecutor said the point isn't whether or not it's true
42:54: The point is that it's insulting She granted that you can cite the
42:59: Bible But you cannot speak words that would be viewed or felt to be insulting
43:07: Her quote was you can cite the Bible But it is Rosanen's interpretation and opinion about the
43:12: Bible verses that are criminal This particular
43:20: Rosanen did well to speak the truth of God's word
43:26: And she was also very careful not to be insulting or demeaning of individuals She simply said what
43:32: I am preaching is Or teaching is the common Christian sexual ethic
43:38: Which has been understood for two millennia Nothing has changed and nothing more
43:44: But she said listen now is the time to speak Because the more we are silent in the narrower
43:50: The more we are silent the narrower the space for freedom of speech And of religion grows
43:58: Now is the time to speak because if we are silent The window for speaking the truth will be closed
44:07: It will become narrower and narrower I would like for us to pray for the verdict which will come out in November Because it will affect her life
44:16: But it will also affect precedent for western countries Will the Bible be regarded as hate speech?
44:22: Now the great irony in this charge brought against this woman
44:27: Is that they are accusing her of the very thing that is in their heart
44:34: This woman is actually filled with joy And speaks with triumphant victory and happiness
44:42: As she communicates the truth of God's word She doesn't come across as a victim She is not embittered
44:47: She trusts God's sovereignty And she speaks joyfully And yet they accuse her of hate speech
44:56: Well of course very often People who are perpetrating crimes against others
45:01: Accuse the very people of the thing that they are doing We see this more and more in our culture
45:07: People will accuse others of what is actually in their heart And as we turn now to John 15 18 -27
45:16: This is precisely what we are to expect Christians will be hated
45:23: On account of our obedience to the word of God And the rule of the father On account of the word
45:31: And account of the name of Jesus Christ We are going to read John 15 18 -25 this morning
45:40: Before we read it remember what has happened so far in John 15 Jesus so lovingly compares
45:46: Christians to branches That are connected to him Who is the vine
45:54: The analogy of vine and branches And then he goes on to explain what deep love he has
45:59: For his disciples He had just washed their feet And now he tells them
46:05: That greater love has no one than this That a man lay down his life for his friends
46:11: He is telling them that he will die for them And he says I no longer call you servants
46:16: Because a servant does not know his master's business From now on I have called you friends
46:23: He treats them as friends And he reminds them that they did not choose him
46:29: But he chose them God the father had chosen them before the foundation of the world
46:37: Jesus will lay down his life for them And then the spirit will make known to them
46:43: Because servants don't know their master's business But friends know the heart of the one that loves them
46:57: This passage is about love And so now as we begin to read Notice the sharp contrast with verse 18
47:04: Suddenly he's talking about the opposite of love And that is hate
47:11: You are loved infinitely by God Expect then to be hated in the world
47:21: By those who reject the love of God Let's read it If the world hates you
47:29: Know that it has hated me before it hated you If you were of the world
47:34: The world would love you as its own But because you are not of the world But I chose you out of the world
47:41: Therefore the world hates you Remember the word that I said to you
47:48: A servant is not greater than his master If they persecuted me They will also persecute you
47:56: If they kept my word They will also keep yours But all these things they will do to you on account of my name
48:05: Because they do not know him who sent me If I had not come and spoken to them
48:11: They would not have been guilty of sin But now they have no excuse for their sin
48:17: Whoever hates me Hates my father also If I had not done among them the works that no one else did
48:25: They would not be guilty of sin But now they have seen and hated both me and my father
48:32: But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled They hated me without a cause
48:40: Clearly this passage is about hate The hate that the world will have for us as Christians But that hate is not because of us
48:52: It is actually because of him The one with whom we identify
49:01: When we are hated as we should expect to be We draw nearer to Christ Look at verses 18 and 19
49:10: Having knowledge of where this hate comes from Actually helps us draw nearer to Christ In the middle of this persecution
49:21: If the world hates you Know that it has hated me before it hated you
49:29: If you were of the world The world would love you as its own But because you are not of the world
49:36: But I chose you out of the world Therefore the world hates you There is a hatred directed against Christians That is on account of the name of Jesus Hate directed against Christians Not because of what we have done
49:57: Or who we are The world would love you If you followed in the path of the world
50:04: But as soon as you go down under the waters of baptism Identifying with Christ Being baptized in the name of the
50:12: Father, Son and Holy Spirit Identified with him Now you are reckoned as he is
50:19: And how was he treated? The world did not receive him
50:24: Did not love him But rejected him And sent him to the cross
50:32: The word of God is precious to us at this point in time Because without knowledge of why we are hated
50:42: We would be unable to endure it But this word, notice in verse 18
50:47: If the world hates you Know that it has hated me before it has hated you
50:53: Know, God has told us ahead of time What we are to know What knowledge from his word
50:59: Will change our perception Our world view When it is through the lens of scripture
51:08: Will change how we see everything And how we interpret things that happen to us The hatred we experience
51:16: Is on account of the name of Jesus And when we understand this point
51:22: That hatred actually draws us nearer to him Remember what Paul said in Philippians 3
51:28: I want to know Christ And the power of his resurrection And the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings
51:37: You can know Christ through suffering Jesus had said in Matthew 5 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you
51:46: And utter all kinds of evil against you Falsely on my account Rejoice and be glad For your reward is great in heaven
51:53: For so they persecuted the prophets Who were before you How can we rejoice when being hated?
52:03: That joy comes from knowing That we are identifying with Christ And valuing him, upholding him
52:12: And that is the reason for the hate that we receive It draws us into closer fellowship with him
52:18: We know him more in the suffering I recall a time in my life when I was a missionary
52:23: In inner city Philadelphia And there was a tradition in the city It still goes on to this day
52:30: Of holding block parties A block party would clear the street Everybody would get their cars off the street
52:37: And then the kids could ride bicycles If the block party was happening during the day
52:42: It was usually a really fun kind of thing But at night it was usually kind of the opposite Well, at this particular block party on Orleans Street I was a bit late removing my car
52:54: Because I didn't know that this was happening And I was driving slowly off the block
53:00: And I rolled down the window and began to speak To a friend of ours Who happened to be the block captain who lived there
53:09: And just then, one of her friends Who had seen me and was very angry at me
53:15: I think knowing that we were Christians And why we were there
53:21: She came up to me and pushed her friend aside With a beer in her hand, angry yelling at me
53:27: And threw her beer in my face And it drenched my shirt
53:32: I was soaked in her beer And so I didn't know really what to do
53:39: Her friend scolded her for doing that So she came to my defense But I just sort of rolled up my window
53:46: And pulled slowly down the street On Orleans Street And as I took the parking spot
53:52: And began to look in the rearview mirror I began to pray And say,
53:57: Lord, help me understand what just happened What am I to take from this? See, my flesh would not have responded like that And I'm sure each of you can kind of imagine
54:08: If someone just threw a beer in your face For no reason, without cause What would you want to say to them?
54:15: Everything in me was angry Just indignant
54:20: Who would do that and why? And so there I sat When the word of God came back to me
54:28: I began to pray And I looked in the rearview mirror And as clear as day I heard God say, not audibly
54:34: But just in a thought, calling to remembrance Words of scripture They are like sheep without a shepherd
54:42: And as I was looking in that rearview mirror I remember seeing children riding their bicycles And seeing that group of friends
54:48: The one who had thrown her beer And all of them carrying on And I thought, they are like sheep without a shepherd
54:54: And I began to pray And the Lord gave me an idea in that second He said, you should throw a block party
55:02: For the name that is above every name You should throw an evangelistic festival
55:09: And so within that year We took out a permit and had a block party On Orleans Street And we had friends come from different churches
55:18: And we brought in inflatables with water slides And all kinds of fun games for the kids
55:24: And then we sat down and one -on -one Shared the gospel with whoever came to the block party
55:31: And many dozens and dozens of people Said that they believed in Christ And so we continued to do this
55:36: And we started taking out larger and larger streets Allegheny Avenue And before long we would have thousands of people
55:44: Coming to these block parties We would get the Christian rappers out there on the stage Which included me at one point
55:50: I was a Christian rapper You don't want to hear how that went No, I didn't do it at the block party But I would rap for the teens a little bit
55:58: So we would entertain and we would have fun But then we would sit with each person
56:03: Who was willing to sit down And share the gospel of Jesus Christ And sometimes we'd have a stack of 300 decision cards
56:11: Of people that say they prayed to accept the Lord Now I'm sure many of those were false conversions
56:16: But many of them were genuine Point being When we know what
56:23: Jesus is saying here That the hatred of the world against Christians Is actually against Christ And it is a privilege to share in his sufferings
56:32: A little wet shirt can be resolved By taking a shower and changing your clothes
56:38: But when we see the world through the lens Of God's sovereignty and His love His plan
56:44: It changes our entire world view I want you to see something profound here In verses 20 and 21
56:52: And that is that this hatred That's in the heart of the world against Christians Will come out in persecution
56:59: In certain countries Parts of India and China And certainly the 41
57:04: Muslim countries There will be violent physical persecution of Christians Here in America it might be a family member
57:11: That despises you Without cause It might be your own brother or sister
57:19: Or mother or father Or even a child That begins to despise you
57:26: And have hatred towards you And you wonder where is God in all of this This passage teaches us
57:34: That we are to expect persecution Let's read it 20 and 21
57:40: Remember the word that I said to you Listen you need to remember this church So that you're not taken by surprise
57:46: Do not be surprised by the fiery trial That has come upon you Peter will tell us
57:54: A servant is not greater than his master You are a friend of the king
58:02: You are a servant of the king And the king, the master Was discarded like trash
58:11: He was hung up on a cross He was beaten Beyond recognition
58:19: And it should be within our purview Our world view That we will be treated like this
58:25: At some point in our lives You are not above your master If they treated, if they persecuted me
58:31: They will also persecute you They will
58:38: If they kept my word They will also keep yours Had they been receptive to the word of God Then they would listen to what you have to say
58:49: When you come preaching But expect when you go preaching the gospel To see diametrically opposed responses
58:58: Some will receive it as the aroma of life Others as the aroma of death When Phil and I go to Princeton We notice that the professors that we've spoken to Are indignant and angry
59:11: And they persecute They will say harsh things I know why you're here I know what you're doing
59:17: Get away from me Be quiet, get out of here They're very harsh and angry
59:24: Because they're more hardened in their sin They've been rejecting the light And now they've come to hate
59:30: The message of the gospel We are to expect this If they kept my word
59:36: They will keep yours But all these things they will do to you On account of my name
59:43: The more aggressive you are as an evangelist The more you will experience the persecution of the world
59:50: Everyone who desires to do the will of God Will be persecuted We are told
59:56: Turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 22 I want to share with you just an amazing story
01:00:01: I love this story One of the best in the Bible As far as interesting events taking place 1
01:00:11: Kings 22 Here the king of Israel, whose name is Ahab Has it in mind to go conquer
01:00:18: Rameth Gilead Which used to be a part of Israel But is now overrun by the
01:00:24: Syrians So he calls on the king of Judah That's Jehoshaphat To join with him
01:00:30: And Jehoshaphat says Yeah, I'll go with you into war Hey, my horses are like your horses
01:00:36: My people are like your people We're going to go take this If that's God's will But call on a prophet
01:00:42: Call the prophets to tell us If this is God's will Because Jehoshaphat knew the
01:00:48: Lord Ahab, the northern king was wicked So he goes along with his friend
01:00:54: Jehoshaphat They call the prophets And all of them say the same thing Yeah, God's going to give it to you
01:01:00: You're going to win But Jehoshaphat smelled something funny With how these guys were prophesying Maybe it was the
01:01:07: Zedekiah guy Who put on some horns of iron And started to say With these horns of iron
01:01:13: You're going to ram them out of your town And he acted like a holy prophet
01:01:19: And yet he was lying Now listen Jehoshaphat said
01:01:25: Isn't there another prophet around here? Somebody else that seems more credible
01:01:31: He wasn't really buying The prophecies of these men And look at verse 8
01:01:37: The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat Yeah, there's yet one man By whom we may inquire of the
01:01:43: Lord Micaiah the son of Imla But I hate him
01:01:53: I hate him I hate that guy For he never prophesies good concerning me
01:01:59: But evil And Jehoshaphat said Let not the king say so Don't talk like that He's a prophet of God You need to listen
01:02:09: Church You will be hated As Micaiah was hated To the degree that you speak the truth
01:02:16: Now When they called for him This is verse 13
01:02:23: The person seeking Micaiah said Listen, all the prophets are saying the same thing
01:02:28: You're going to conquer Why don't you just go in and speak favorably? But Micaiah said
01:02:36: I will speak only what the Lord tells me to say That's very instructive to you church
01:02:43: And to me The world will say to you Why don't you just go along with what everybody else is saying?
01:02:50: Everybody is affirming of this new thing Why do you have to be the stick in the mud? What is it to you?
01:02:56: Why can't you just go along with things And stop speaking against all the time?
01:03:04: But Micaiah says Look here with me at verse 14 As the Lord lives What the
01:03:09: Lord says to me That I will speak We will speak the word
01:03:15: We will tell people what God says from his word And here he has direct revelation
01:03:20: Because he's a prophet We then have the written word And can affirm everything that God has already said
01:03:27: In verse 15 When he came to the king The king said to him Micaiah Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle?
01:03:33: Or shall we refrain? And he answered him Go up and triumph The Lord will give it into the hand of the king
01:03:43: Now hold on The true prophet just said What those crazy false prophets said
01:03:52: How could this be? Look at the next verse Verse 16
01:04:03: But the king said to him How many times shall I make you swear That you speak to me nothing but the truth
01:04:10: In the name of the Lord? King Ahab knew right away
01:04:19: Based on his response That Micaiah was speaking sarcastically Sarcasm is a rhetorical device
01:04:27: We don't know the tone of his voice from here But from the context We can understand what he's saying Yeah, just go with what they're saying
01:04:34: Yeah, you'll be fine Go ahead, run along Go ahead, it'll work out fine
01:04:39: Don't worry You'll win the battle And the king is saying I can tell how you're speaking
01:04:47: That you're not telling me the truth What is it that you think God is saying? And so then the answer comes
01:04:54: Verse 17 Now he's speaking genuinely I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains
01:05:01: As sheep that have no shepherd Which is really a dig at Ahab He's no shepherd to them
01:05:08: And the Lord said These have no master Let each return to his home in peace And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat Did I not tell you
01:05:18: That he would not prophesy anything good concerning me But evil? That's why
01:05:23: I hate that guy He always prophesies like this against me And Micaiah said
01:05:29: Therefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne
01:05:35: This is fascinating, listen And all the host of heaven standing beside him
01:05:40: On his right hand And on his left And the Lord said
01:05:46: Who will entice Ahab That he may go up and fall At Ramoth -Gilead
01:05:52: And one said one thing And another said another Then a spirit came forward
01:05:58: And stood before the Lord saying I will entice him And the
01:06:03: Lord said to him By what means? And he said I will go out and will be a lying spirit
01:06:09: In the mouth of all his prophets And he said You are to entice him
01:06:15: And you shall succeed Go out and do so Now therefore behold The Lord has put a lying spirit
01:06:21: In the mouth of all these your prophets The Lord has declared
01:06:27: Disaster for you Anybody troubled by that passage?
01:06:33: God sent a lying spirit To go into the prophets That they would prophesy falsely
01:06:40: To entice Ahab To go to war So that Ahab could die in battle
01:06:47: The problem seems to be That there's lying involved And God seems somehow involved in that Couple of things to notice
01:06:56: One, these angels Are on his right And on his left
01:07:01: In the book of Job We learn that even demons These sons of God Who have fallen
01:07:07: Fallen angels Have to present themselves before God One of these demons
01:07:16: Proposes lying How do you intend to do this?
01:07:21: To lie And this is very instructive Because it shows
01:07:27: Just like Genesis 50 -20 What man meant for evil God intended for good
01:07:34: Listen An evil lying spirit A demonic spirit That's going to go
01:07:39: And lie through the prophets to Ahab Is still under the sovereign plan of God I don't know how anybody can read this
01:07:49: And reject that God's sovereign plan His will Is even over The wicked decisions of people
01:07:57: And of angels Did you follow what happened? God in his wisdom
01:08:04: In his perfect loving plan Allowed and permitted
01:08:10: A lying spirit A demon To go and inspire these false prophets To give false prophecies
01:08:18: Because he was sending Ahab To his death All of this wickedness
01:08:26: Was still part of God's plan God is not responsible For the wickedness
01:08:31: Of the fallen angels Or of the sin of man But his plan includes that So as we follow along in the story
01:08:41: What ends up happening? Well Ahab is now scared Wouldn't you be? Micaiah said you're going to die
01:08:47: And if you come back from this battle Then I'm no prophet at all I know you're going to die
01:08:53: So you know what he does? He dresses up one of his other soldiers As if that's the king
01:08:59: And he just fortifies himself in armor And lays back in his chariot
01:09:04: And watches the battle Now all of the Syrians Wanted to kill
01:09:10: Ahab Because he led them into war But he's hiding in his chariot
01:09:17: Fully armed And they don't know where he is The Bible tells us in 1
01:09:24: Kings 22 That some soldier On the Syrian side Randomly The Bible says at random
01:09:31: Shot an arrow And that particular arrow Just so happened
01:09:36: To find its way Between the breastplate of Ahab's armor
01:09:42: And the side scale of the armor And pierced him in the heart And there sat
01:09:48: Ahab Bleeding out in the chariot As he made it back to Samaria He died
01:09:57: And they washed out the chariot And the dogs licked the blood Of Ahab Just like Elijah had prophesied
01:10:06: In chapter 19 So the prophecy of Micaiah Comes true
01:10:13: But why do we need to spend so much time On this subject? What's so important for us to understand?
01:10:20: That even the wrath of man Even the hatred That you endure Is part of God's plan
01:10:29: Micaiah himself When he gave the prophecy Made everybody very angry
01:10:35: By speaking the word of God He caused hatred Against him So that guy with the horns
01:10:42: Remember him? He put on the metal horns And he said you're gonna ram everybody out Zedekiah was his name
01:10:47: He came up to Micaiah And punched him in the face Struck him in the cheek
01:10:53: And then Micaiah was taken into prison And given meager rations Of bread and water
01:11:00: So he's persecuted He's suffering He's got a swollen jaw And all of this
01:11:08: Was part of God's plan The hatred of the world against Christians Is part of God's good plan
01:11:17: For us Jerry Bridges summarizes
01:11:23: Listen Even the most nefarious schemes Of our adversaries
01:11:30: Can only accomplish What God Has sovereignly ordained
01:11:36: For us And in his infinite wisdom Skillfully brings to pass
01:11:43: The point of the text In 1 Kings 22 Is that that arrow
01:11:50: That was fired at random Was only random From human perspective It was directed by God And it would find its mark
01:12:00: The suffering of Micaiah Was planned for him In order to draw him
01:12:06: Closer to Yahweh As Micaiah spoke the word of God And suffered for it He entrenched himself
01:12:12: He dug in his heels He became more committed To Yahweh As he took a strike
01:12:18: Across his face And the same is for you The more you suffer for Christ The more you'll love him
01:12:25: The more you're hated in the world The more you will love your Savior Enmity For Christ Is friendship with the world
01:12:35: Or to have that backwards But the converse is true The degree to which you love the world
01:12:41: And walk in it Is the degree to which The world will love you
01:12:49: But when you make your stand like Micaiah And begin to speak the word of God You will be hated
01:12:57: By the world These are diametrically opposed And yet listen
01:13:02: That hatred God turns around And uses for your good It's what makes you drawn near to him
01:13:09: As you begin to suffer for him As you step out in ministry And endure the hardships of ministry
01:13:17: You begin to love him more As you suffer through the things That you will endure
01:13:24: John Witherspoon Wrote a sermon His most famous sermon On this subject
01:13:30: It is an exposition Of Psalm 76 verse 10
01:13:36: Surely the wrath of man Shall praise you This was in the context
01:13:42: Of Britain and the colonies Being at enmity with each other The hatred in the hearts
01:13:48: Of these men That were trying to kill one another His point in his sermon called The dominion of providence
01:13:55: Over the passions of men John Witherspoon points out That God had sovereignly ordained
01:14:01: This hatred For his own purpose And now looking back on it In 2023
01:14:09: We see 1776 Through the freedoms And the country that we have enjoyed
01:14:18: It was God's providence At work in that war In the passions of men
01:14:25: In everything that comes against you Listen God has planned it
01:14:32: For you He has ordained the sufferings The persecutions that you endure
01:14:38: And that changes how you endure it It gives you joy in the midst of it And it causes you to draw near The opposite view of this
01:14:45: It's a deistic view Is that God just mechanically creates a world And lets things unfold
01:14:51: And God cannot Overrule The free will of men
01:14:57: And so when you're being persecuted It's because you're a victim Somebody's treating you wrong
01:15:03: You're such a victim It's them doing it to you It's the devil who did it But God has nothing to do it
01:15:09: In fact, Rabbi Kushner Remember Harold Kushner who wrote Why bad things happen to good people
01:15:16: That terrible book Has one thesis And that is that God is limited
01:15:21: In his sovereign power He cannot Change the things that are happening to you
01:15:29: It's a mechanical world And God is not present In these things
01:15:35: The truth is Every adversity that you suffer Whether it's a hurricane
01:15:40: That wipes out your house Or it's the wrath of a person Hatred that comes against your life
01:15:48: All of these things are ordained by God Remember September 11th coming up One of those planes
01:15:58: Which was probably aiming for the White House Or maybe for Congress Was brought down Over an open field
01:16:06: In Pennsylvania Because Todd Beamer A Christian man
01:16:14: Looked across the aisle And gained some friends And said, let's roll
01:16:21: And as a result of that decision They fought these terrorists And the plane came crashing down And did not kill people like a missile
01:16:30: Those lives were lost And there were Christian pastors And other
01:16:35: Harold Kushners And these who teach Against the sovereignty of God That said, listen, that was just those
01:16:42: Muslim Terrorists who did this God had nothing to do with it God couldn't change their free will choices
01:16:51: To become terrorists Jesus said
01:16:56: That not even a sparrow Whose value is Two sparrows for one penny
01:17:02: A sparrow is worth half a cent Not even one of those Can fall to the ground
01:17:09: Apart from The will of the Father And the care of the Father How much more these
01:17:15: Christians Like Todd Beamer Falling from the sky How much more is that under the care
01:17:23: And the plan And the sovereignty of an all wise And all loving
01:17:28: God Do we understand why he did what he did No We don't know
01:17:34: God's purposes On this side of heaven But the point of our passage today
01:17:40: Is that we would expect these things And know that God has promised them He's prophesied these
01:17:46: This is really a prophecy from Jesus You will be persecuted The wrath of man will praise
01:17:51: God Hatred against you Is ordained for you For your good
01:17:58: All affliction has two purposes One is the glory of God And never exclusive to that Always perfectly
01:18:09: Adhering to that Is the second purpose And that is the good of Christians Romans 8 28
01:18:17: He works all things together For good For those who are called according to his purpose God's glory and our good
01:18:25: Your suffering Your persecution is for that purpose And we'll finish here at John 15
01:18:30: Notice in verse 21 through 25 It's ultimately
01:18:36: Hatred for the father And the father's rule They do not know him who sent me
01:18:45: The him at issue here is the father The world is raging against the rule Of the father
01:18:50: His commandments His rule And therefore they do not
01:18:57: Receive the son And the guilt for this Is doubled down When it says here
01:19:04: They would not have sin It doesn't mean they wouldn't be guilty of their sins It means they wouldn't have guilt
01:19:10: For rejecting the son But because the son has come And in his word he has preached the truth
01:19:17: No No one could ascribe any blame to him He was blameless in his speech And then he confirmed everything that he said
01:19:24: With signs and wonders Miracles Because of these great works that he did
01:19:29: Those who reject the son of God Are now guilty of that sin They're doubly guilty
01:19:36: And so there is a terrifying Judgment hanging over those Who hate God They have rejected both the father
01:19:44: And the son And so in application In closing This is the expectation
01:19:51: It's kind of heavy isn't it That we should expect Persecution Those who are not submitted to the word
01:19:59: They might be the closest person in your life They might be an enemy Who's robbing a store
01:20:06: They might be some lady Throwing a beer in your face without a cause Everything That happens to you in this world
01:20:14: Especially now we're talking about Persecution Everything has a purpose from God It's part of his providence
01:20:21: It falls under the category of God's Providence And so endure it with joy
01:20:30: Know that God is Drawing you closer to the son of God That you would love him more There is a good purpose for you
01:20:37: Believer in Christ He's making you more like Christ The one who suffered There is a fellowship in this suffering
01:20:45: I got a text message From my little brother He's an elder at his church in Tampa And he has a community group
01:20:54: And so he said Jeff What is the best book ever written
01:21:00: Not written by God Himself So you can't just say the bible What's the best book ever written
01:21:06: I like that question I want to think about that for a minute So I developed a couple of Categories to think through First What makes the biggest difference in someone's life
01:21:18: If they would adopt the teaching of this book How would it change their world view And change their life
01:21:25: What effect would it have on them That was number one Number two, is it interesting Are there good stories, is it relevant
01:21:31: So that you can follow along Three, is it touching Four, does it have skill and depth and competence
01:21:38: Five, does it have right associations Does John MacArthur recommend it Which he does
01:21:46: Six, did the author live what he was writing Seven, is it accessible Or is it like really theological
01:21:53: Hard to follow Or is it simple and easy The title, number eight My ninth criteria
01:22:01: Was Is it important, the subject matter Does it have great import And then lastly is it gospel
01:22:08: Centered and scriptural So I came up with One book that is the greatest book ever
01:22:15: Written Objectively speaking, no opinion here whatsoever So I'll tell you what that is next week
01:22:23: Next week when you come back Just kidding So in closing I want everybody here to get and read a certain book
01:22:31: By Jerry Bridges Called Trusting God In my opinion, by this criteria
01:22:39: It's the greatest book ever written Not written by God Himself It will change how you think about the world
01:22:47: How you endure Suffering and affliction And the hatred of men Jerry Bridges, Trusting God That's my application for today
01:22:57: Let's pray Heavenly Father We thank you for your word
01:23:02: We thank you Jesus That you told us these things Before they came to pass That we will be treated like Micaiah That we will be persecuted
01:23:17: Lord we do pray For this woman This woman
01:23:22: We pray for her sake That she would be acquitted We thank you that she exhibits joy
01:23:28: In the midst of her suffering And all the trials she's been brought through But we pray for her acquittal in November When the ruling comes out
01:23:35: And Lord we pray for the precedent that that will set In the Western world That the Bible will not be regarded as hate speech
01:23:43: But Lord that you would continue To uphold freedom of speech And of religion In the
01:23:49: West And especially here in America where we live We do pray
01:23:55: Lord that you would Restrain the hatred of men We know that the hatred Of the world runs so much deeper
01:24:01: Than they are able to express But you are restraining That evil all the time
01:24:08: Lord we know by your word that they Hate us And so Lord our prayer
01:24:15: Is that we would love Our enemies That we would Bless those who curse us
01:24:23: That we would Turn the other cheek metaphorically speaking Lord as Micaiah Was struck in the cheek
01:24:31: Lord that we Would not return evil but we would Turn around and bring the gospel Of the love of God Father that you are a loving
01:24:39: God that Sent your one and only son Jesus Help us to be bold to tell the world Of your love and I pray that you
01:24:46: Would soften their hearts With your love I pray Lord for those who have
01:24:52: Divided families Prodigals I know that there are families
01:24:59: Where some won't even speak
01:25:05: To their own family Members I pray Lord That your love would conquer this hate
01:25:13: And that you would bring reconciliation Lord I pray that we would be a church
01:25:19: That is filled with love and the world Would know that we are Christians By our love
01:25:26: And Lord help us To love well In our personal relationships That we would have such a
01:25:33: High view of your sovereignty that we would Accept persecution When it comes that we
01:25:41: Would be slow to anger Quick to listen slow to speak
01:25:49: Teach us Lord To love as you do in Jesus name Amen let's stand and sing We won't fear the battle
01:26:09: We won't fear the night We will walk the valley With you by our side
01:26:16: You will go before us You will lead the way We have found a refuge
01:26:23: Only you can save Sing with joy now
01:26:31: Our God is for us We will walk the valley The Father's love Is a strong and mighty fortress
01:26:38: Raise your voice now No love is greater Who can stand against us
01:26:45: If our God is for us Even when
01:26:57: I stumble Even when I fall Even when I turn back
01:27:03: Still your love is sure You are not abandoned You will not forsake
01:27:10: You will cheer me on With never ending Grace Sing with joy now
01:27:20: Our God is for us The Father's love Is a strong and mighty fortress
01:27:27: Raise your voice now No love is greater Who can stand against us
01:27:33: If our God is for us Neither height nor depth
01:27:47: Can separate us Hell and death Will not defeat us
01:27:55: He who gave His Son to free us Holds me in His love
01:28:04: Neither height nor depth Can separate us
01:28:10: Hell and death Will not defeat us He who gave
01:28:16: His Son to free us Holds me in His love
01:28:25: Sing with joy now Our God is for us The Father's love
01:28:32: Is a strong and mighty fortress Raise your voice now No love is greater
01:28:39: Who can stand against us If our God is for us Sing with joy now
01:28:46: Our God is for us The Father's love Is a strong and mighty fortress
01:28:53: Raise your voice now No love is greater Who can stand against us
01:28:59: If our God is for us Amen Rejoice in hope
01:29:15: Be patient In tribulation Be constant in prayer Contribute to the needs of the saints
01:29:22: And seek to show hospitality Bless those who persecute you Bless and do not curse them