“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
John 15:18-29

These verses (above) are part of the passage we looked at last time we were together in John, two weeks ago. Hopefully you’ll remember we were looking at the hostility this rebellious world feels toward Christ and how that hostility very naturally rubs off against us who represent Christ. “If they persecuted me,” Jesus says in verse 20, “they will also persecute you.” This, in other words, is something we simply must be prepared to face. We will be hated. But rather than being scared by that realization, let it make you prepared! A world that is hostile toward Jesus with all His perfections, will we hostile toward us when we are faithful to represent Him despite our many flaws. You just need to know that.

So the question I want us to think about today is, Why does Jesus tell us these things? Why does He warn us about this world’s hatred? According to John 16:1, He tells us these things so that when their animosity reaches out for us, we won’t be thrown off guard! And rather than falling way from Him in fear, we’ll be prepared to stand firm by faith. Because “falling away” is exactly what you’ll be tempted to do when the pressure is on.

Do you understand that about yourself? When painful pressure comes, your natural reaction is to want to make it stop. You get a headache, you take a Tylenol. Someone presses up against you, you step away. It’s natural. In the same way, as the world’s opposition heats up because of your loyalty to Christ, so will your temptation to back away from him, to run and hide, to give up and give in, to compromise His message! So if we’re going to stand firm in this world of opposition, we’re going to need some help! And help is exactly what Jesus promises in this morning’s passage – the help of the Holy Spirit

May the Lord prepare us to stand firm by faith!

Pastor Scott