Why Should They Hate Us?

I am not an idolater, that worships images made of wood, stone or gold.

I don’t worship my dead ancestors (as those who Buddhists, Confucionists, Taoists, and Shintoists do).

I am not a nature worshipper (like the Hindus).

I am not a fire worshipper (like the Zorastrians).

WHEN YOU SAID you believed that Jesus was the Son of THE living God, you declared

I am no polytheist, who says there are many gods.

WHEN YOU SAID you believed Jesus to be the SON of God, you were saying you were

Not a pantheist, that says, "all is God"

Not a deist, that thinks God created the world and never involved Himself in its problems.

Not a uniformist, who believes that all things continue as they were in the beginning.

Not a modernist, who denies the virgin birth.

WHEN YOU SAID you believed Jesus was the CHRIST, you declared

I am not an unbelieving Jew, who denies Jesus as the Messiah.

I am not a futurist, who yet looks for a Messiah.

I am not a Theosophist or a follower of the Baha’i or Mohammedan cults that think Jesus is only one of God’s many witnesses.

WHEN YOU SAID you believed in JESUS, you were saying your faith was in Him,

Not Buddha

Nor Confucius

Nor Mohammed

Nor Reverend Moon

WHEN YOU SAID "I BELIEVE" you said "I accept the Scriptures," because faith in Jesus is the direct result of the testimony of Scripture.

WHEN YOU SAID "I" believe, you were declaring yours was a personal faith, it wasn’t inherited, it wasn¡¦t forced upon you, but fully confessed.

When you spoke the "Good Confession" you drew a line in the sand. You declared that every one outside of Jesus was wrong. And you declared to the world that unless they turn to from their sins, accept Jesus as their Savior, make Him the Master of their lives, and are buried in the waters of Christian baptism, THEY WILL BE CONDEMNED.

That usually doesn’t go down real well.

IV. And so, by your very existence as Christian, you have become an enemy of the world.

And the World will hate you.

And if you take your faith in Jesus seriously, sooner or later, the world is going to ask you to back off. The world is going to ask you to compromise your faith. The world is going to ask you to "shut up" and go sit down.

The temptation, when faced with rejection like this is to shut up - not speak up. To deny (by our silence) our "Good Confession" because we don’t want to offend anyone. We face the similar dilemma that those in Jesus day faced. We’re told in John 12:42 & 43 that there were "many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God."

I would hate to have that be God’s statement about me.

I’m convinced, that this is the type of behavior (being silent to avoid offending the world) was what James had in mind when he said: "...don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

ILLUS: One evangelist met a man he knew on the sidewalk and began to talk to him about Jesus. The man became irritated and told the preacher to "mind his own business."