John 15:18 “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.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours
also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake,
because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but
now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did,
they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me
and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is
written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26 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:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from
the beginning.”
1. We Are In It Together
2. The Lord And His Servant
3. The Cloke Is Taken Away
4. Things That Must Be
1. We Are In It Together
Let me read verses eighteen and nineteen to you again: “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.”
Somewhere along the way in your life you are going to experience
this hatred, if you’re a true believer in Jesus Christ. This hatred
will be directed towards you.
Now, it is one thing for others to hate you because of your actions.
It is quite another thing to be hated only because you are
associated with someone else that they hate. This someone else being
Jesus Christ WHO is hated by them. You are, therefore, hated by
ASSOCIATION.
This truth is underscored in Second Thessalonians chapter three
verse two and three: “And that we [the Christian] may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But
the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from
evil.” [2 Thessalonians 3:2-3]
Of course the Devil knows this full well. In his vehement hatred of
Jesus Christ, he stirs up these “unreasonable and wicked men” to try
to hurt those who belong to the LORD.
Again, it is because of our relationship with Jesus Christ that we
experience this hate. That is why we [the Christians] need this
deliverance from wicked men, and kept from evil. This shows what a
marvelous provision the LORD makes for us, while we are in this old
world. Amen!
2. The Lord And His Servant
Verse twenty: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant
is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep
yours also.”
The servant serves the master. This is one of the most basic rules
in life.
Let me ratchet this up a notch, and be more particular about a
special kind of servant. Let’s talk about the SERVANT of the
LORD.
The servant of the LORD is shown to be totally dependent on God
[like sheep] for his very sustenance:
1. The servant of the LORD is shown to be totally dependent on God …
in order to LIVE, and even KEEP God’s
WORD.
“Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy
word.” [Psalm 119:17]
2. The servant of the LORD is shown to be totally dependent on God …
in order to even be ESTABLISHED in God’s WORD.
“Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear."
[Psalm 119:38]
3. The servant of the LORD is shown to be totally dependent on God …
in order to even KNOW God’s TESTIMONIES.
“I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy
testimonies.” [Psalm 119:125]
This dependency on God by God’s servants shows WHO is the
GREATER.
In the New Testament the Christian is identified as a servant. Let’s
turn to Colossians chapter four, verse twelve and see this positive
identification, that the Christian is a servant of Jesus Christ.
“Epaphras,
who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always
labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect
and complete in all the will of God.” [Colossians 4:12] The
believers in this Church Age are servants of Jesus Christ. The Son
of God is our MASTER.
Let me hit you with something else here, for a moment concerning SERVITUDE.
Consider this, if there are servants of Jesus Christ, it follows
that those who are not the servants of Christ are the servants of
someone else. Well, you may say, “I am not a servant to anyone.” Do
not kid yourself, my friend. Every person, who has ever lived on the
face of this planet,
has been a servant to someone or something. That is a fact!
The Bible teaches us ... PLAINLY, that when we came into this world, we were the
servants of sin by DEFAULT. You were, therefore, servants to the
Devil. Do not believe me. The Bible says it.
Go to the book of
Romans. Let us read from chapter six, verses sixteen through
eighteen: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” No one is
FREE! You are
a servant to someone or something. Now, has it sunk into your noggin yet?
The next verse, [verse eighteen] tells us this: when we got saved by
the blood of the LAMB, we became “the servants of righteousness.”“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.” [Romans 6:16-18]
3. The Cloke Is Taken Away
Verse twenty-two: “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.”
Now it is true that anytime Jesus Christ [or any of HIS prophets]
shows up, HE speaks that which is the WORD of GOD. The word of
GOD
exposes SIN. The cloke, or cover for sin is blown away by the word
of GOD. Amen! Second Peter chapter one, verse twenty-one, bares this
truth out. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.” [2 Peter 1:21]
Man had a CLOKE for his sin until the LAW shows up. It is the
teaching of THE LAW that rips the cloke away from us. Amen!
“Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is
the truth.” [Psalm 119:142]
Romans chapter seven, in verse seven: “I had not known sin, but by
the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” [Romans 7:7]
According to verse twenty-two, if Jesus Christ had not shown up two
thousand years ago [the first advent] then man would have “had not
had sin.” Jesus Christ wrote the LAW. Jesus came to fulfill the
LAW.
[Matthew 5:17-18] “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or
the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
4. Things That Must Be
Verse twenty-five: “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be
fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a
cause.”
There is only one BOOK in the world that can make predictions that
come true one hundred percent of the time. The BOOK I am speaking
about is the King James Bible. It is a BOOK that is alive [or
QUICK]. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12]
It is a BOOK that foretells of future events … hundreds, or even
thousands of years before they would occur. The Bible is BOOK of
history! The Bible is a BOOK that foretells of these historical
events with absolute precision, every time. It explains the things
that must be fulfilled.
In chapter twenty-six of the book of Matthew when Jesus told Peter
to “put up again thy sword into his place”, HE told Peter this in
verse fifty-three, and fifty-four: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled,
that thus it must be?” [Matthew 26:53-54]
Things that must be! We see this same pattern throughout the BIBLE.
For example, we see it in the book of Matthew sixteen times alone:
Matthew 1:22, Matthew 2:15, Matthew 2:17, Matthew 2:23, Matthew
4:14, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 8:17, Matthew 12:17, Matthew 13:14,
Matthew 13:35, Matthew 21:4, Matthew 24:34, Matthew 26:54, Matthew
26:56, Matthew 27:9, Matthew 27:35.
Look at these references, my
friend. The Bible is a self fulfilling BOOK where
THINGS MUST BE!
Wow, what a BOOK! What a GOD WHO wrote the
BOOK! Amen!
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is
the husbandman.
John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may
bring forth more fruit.
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto
you.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye
abide in me.
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye
can do nothing.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so
shall
ye be my disciples.
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue
ye in my love.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might
remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I
have loved you.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends.
John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
JJohn 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant
knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for
all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto
you.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in
my name, he may give it you.
John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you.
John 15:19 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.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is
not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep
yours also.
John 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's
sake, because they know not him that sent me.
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
John 15:23 He that ateth me hateth my Father also.
JJohn 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other
man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated
both me and my
Father. br />
JJohn 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled
that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which roceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me:
John 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with
me from the beginning.