How to live in a world that hates you
Love your enemies, live in a Spirit of forgiveness, rely on the Word of God, make disciples
I. Expect to be rejected
Matthew 10:16-22 16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
I just finished reading “America’s Expiration Date” by Cal Thomas. The subtitle is “The Fall of Empires and Superpowers, and the future of the United States.”
This book looks at the history of world empires, and chronicles the stages they go through that eventually lead to their fall.
And the long and short of it is this; America is at the end of its days.
The premise of the book is that every empire/ world power goes through the same stages; the age of pioneers, the age of conquests, the age of commerce, the age of affluence, the age of intellect, and finally the age of decadence. After the empire reaches the age of decadence, they fall, either from an outside force, or through internal division and strife.
Now how long does this take? Well the average lifespan of empires is 250 years. And I know that some of you are doing the math in your head. If you count the beginning of the American empire as 1776, then 250 years will fall on the year 2026. Now, 250 years is an average, some were shorter, and some were longer. He lists the empires as the Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Spanish, Ottoman, British, and Russian. All of them, when they got to the age of decadence, the end was inevitable. Now hardly anyone would argue about what age America is in now. We are in the age of decadence. We have followed the same pattern as every kingdom that has ever existed.
Now, does that mean that we will cease to exist? Not necessarily. The Spanish and British empires began as the single nations of Spain and Great Britain. And though the empire days are over, those two nations continue to exist.
But what it means for us as Christians, since our country was founded on Christian principles, is that as we stray further from those principles, and possibly approach the day when this nation will cease to be what it was founded as, we have to be even more aware of our call to be salt and light. As darkness comes, we have to allow the light of our Lord to shine more brightly.
Well that’s what we are considering today. And we will use the same outline that we’ve used for each of these messages; the principle, the narrative, the reason
A. The Principle; If you are a Christian, you cannot make the world like you. Only God can change the heart by conversion. Only a few are saved. So, we should expect to be in the minority. If we can’t make the world like us, and most will not be saved, then expect to be hated.
This principle predates Jesus.
Amos 5:10 10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly. This is not about a foreign nation. This is Israel. If any nation should have held on to its love of God and God’s people, Israel should. They were founded in emancipation from the slavery of Egypt by the powerful and miraculous hand of God.
Amos 5:1-3 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
2 “The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She shall rise no more.
She is cast down on her land;
there is no one to raise her up.”
3 For the Lord Yahweh says:
“The city that went out a thousand shall have a
hundred left,
and that which went out one hundred shall have
ten left to the house of Israel.”
Oh, but now we have Jesus and Holy Spirit. But Jesus said,
Matthew 10: 16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you. 18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
And the animosity will be so bad that it will even overcome natural affection.
21 “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
We should expect it. And it will only worsen as we get closer to the end.
Matthew 24:9 9 “Then they will deliver you up to oppression and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake. John 3:19 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil
B. The Narrative- in the book of Acts
We hardly have to even make this point. Throughout the book of Acts the disciples were persecuted.
Sanhedrin-brought before the Sanhedrin-religious court, beaten and imprisoned
Heathen religious leaders as well—secular court-Herod beheaded James—imprisoned Peter for politics
Synagogues—39 stripes
2 Corinthians 11:24 24 Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews.
Idolators- rioting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians” would have torn them to pieces if officials hadn’t stepped in and arrested them. Paul was finally traditionally beheaded by Nero. So, religion opposed them, Jews opposed them, secular government—court system
But what was Paul’s attitude.
Acts 21: 10 As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming to us and taking Paul’s belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘So the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard these things, both we and the people of that place begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Your values will never be the world’s values.
C. The Reason you should expect to be rejected
1. Jesus said you would be.
2 things: your nature and their nature
In Christ your new nature, Christ in you—their nature—sinful Satanic—you are of your father the devil.
2. They rejected Jesus.
John 15:18 18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.John 15:21 21 But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.
He was perfect. He did more good for His nation than anyone has ever done for any people. Healing, feeding, teaching. He had more to offer. Better than Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, or whoever you regard as a great humanitarian. Yet they hated Him.
3. By nature, all people, they oppose God.
Even after the creation…
Romans 1: 25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, 30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
It’s their nature. Can a leopard change its spots. What do we call someone who climbs into a leopard’s cage to pet that animal? Stupid.
So, expect it. I remember years ago—a prayer request from someone at this church—this goes back to my youth days—someone had applied for a job—at a church—please pray I get it—surrounded by Christians –insulated from non-believers—an expectation that we can escape this world without experiencing hostility.
Some have said that the key to happiness is to lower your expectations. We sometimes make ourselves miserable by having very high expectations in life. Expect hatred from the world, and then every bit of love, and joy that you get, it will be that much sweeter. You’ll view all positive relationships as a blessing from God.