TEXT: John 15:18-19
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 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.
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Today, I am continuing the daily Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign sermon series, which is aimed at sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with unbelievers and reminding Christians, in this important election year, to keep the main thing the main thing — and that is reaching unbelievers with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and praying for their salvation, for the problem in America is not only disobedient presidents, politicians, and people, but disobedient pastors, preachers, and parishioners who have refused to obey the Lord’s Great Commission which is to, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” and who have refused to obey God’s repeated commands to “pray without ceasing” for unbelievers, believers, and political leaders. Yes, you should pray for the right candidate to win; yes, you should vote for the candidate that the Lord gives you peace about voting for. But, don’t get caught up in it like the world does. Nothing much is going to change until people get saved and get their hearts right with the Lord.
This campaign is inspired by the following three verses: 1 Corinthians 2:2 which says, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Acts 5:42 which says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” And 2 Timothy 2:4 which says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
This series is not for Christians necessarily. However, I do hope you are one of those saints who still loves to hear the “Old, old story of Jesus and His love” — As another hymn says, “For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.” This series is primarily for unbelievers, so they can hear and understand the Gospel and be saved from sin and the punishment of sin which is hell. This is message number 248.
R.W. Dale said, “The real truth is that while Jesus came to preach the gospel, His chief object in coming was that there might be a gospel to preach.”
Although Jesus has been trying to comfort the disciples, He tells them the truth that, as they try to carry on with His work after He is gone, the world will hate them. Even in this, though, they can find comfort in the fact that Jesus bore the brunt of the world’s hatred first. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”
Not everyone in the world hated Jesus when He was here, but the world system, the world order was opposed to Him and His message. Even the Jewish religious system showed itself to be a part of the world by its hatred and rejection of Jesus Christ. The same world system would hate Jesus’ disciples. Jesus had called them out of the world and set them apart. They were now citizens of God’s kingdom and the world would see them as the enemy.
Warren Wiersbe said: “If they hated Jesus, they will also hate those of us who are identified with Him. In the next verse, Jesus quoted a statement He had made earlier, and the logic of it is clear. He is the Master; we are the servants. He is greater than we are, so He must receive the praise and glory. But the world will not give Him praise and glory! The world hates Him, and therefore the world must hate us. If with all of His greatness and perfection, Jesus does not escape persecution, what hope is there for us with our imperfections?”
Jesus’ disciples were hated by the world because they carried on Jesus’ work. They were a threat to the hold that Satan had over many people’s lives. The world saw them as invaders, threatening the established order of things — an order that most people had grown accustomed to. If more people started turning to Christ, then the world system (which was set up and run by Satan) would grow weaker. That is why the Jewish religious establishment fought so hard against the early church — they did not want to lose the influence they had over people’s lives.
There is a very powerful example of the conflict between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World found in the book of Acts. One day, the Apostle Paul went to preach in the city of Ephesus. The Bible says that he preached there for three months and many people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke reports that, “mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” There was witchcraft and dark magic being practiced by people in the city and many who became Christians confessed to this. But not only did they confess, “many which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men.” The value of the books was said to be 50 thousand pieces of silver. As Paul continued in the city and as more and more people came to Christ, there was a group of businessmen who took notice. These businessmen were silversmiths and they made a lot of money off of the sale of miniature statues of the goddess Diana. Well, with more people turning to Christ, their market began to shrink, and they began losing money because nobody was buying the statues. Demetrius, one of the leaders of the silversmiths realized what was happening, got his fellow silversmiths together, and they started a riot in the city, capturing two of Paul’s fellow ministers and dragging them into the theater. Paul only escaped capture because some of the other disciples and “certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends” convinced him not to try to go into the theater.
We see here that when the Gospel is preached, the world system is threatened. And when Satan sees his grip on the world loosening, he and his followers will respond with violence and hatred.
The world’s hatred is, of course, in contrast to Jesus’ command for His disciples to love each other and to love the world. Jesus’ people are defined by love — a love that compels them to tell the world the truth even if telling the truth means being hated by the world.
Isaac Watts wrote:
When I can read my title clear
to mansions in the skies,
I’ll bid farewell to every fear,
and wipe my weeping eyes.
Should earth against my soul engage,
and fiery darts be hurled,
then I can smile at Satan’s rage,
and face a frowning world.
Let cares, like a wild deluge come,
and storms of sorrow fall!
May I but safely reach my home,
my God, my heaven, my all.
The world system is still at work today. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are a part of that system. Today, Christ is offering you the truth of the Gospel so that you can be set free.
1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please e-mail me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.
He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.
He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.
When you purchase a book below it supports the Number #1 Black Christian Newspaper BLACK CHRISTIAN NEWS NETWORK ONE (BCNN1.com) and it also allows us to spread the Gospel around the world.
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