SERMON - KNOW THIS, JUST AS JESUS WAS HATED, WE ARE HATED

Know This Just as Jesus Was Hated We Are Hated     Jesus Christ chose to come to earth as a child, a humble carpenter and a leader of a small group of men, the disciples, yet was subjected to derision, hatred and physical pain simply because He was Who He was.   The people of ‘faith’ that had prayed for so long for a Messiah refused to believe His Divinity because He did not come as the strong in body and powerful person they wished Him to be.   I am here to tell you that Jesus was all they could have hoped Him to be but their human thoughts would not allow them to see.   John 15: 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.’   Jesus was not sent o seek out the hard headed mean spirited that existed nor the ‘holier than thou’ pretenders. Jesus came to save the lost, the people that prayed in their hearts and with their hearts for a deliverer.   There was not a single hour that Jesus could not have sent His angels to fight against the men that wanted to do away with Him. What He did was to set an example and come to earth as a simple servant with great humility and love.   Although Jesus responded to the multitudes that plead with Him to meet their needs with miracles of healing and feeding them in impossible situations they refused to believe. He healed the sick, opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, loosed tied tongues, made the lame to walk and even raised the dead, yet they would not believe!   Today there are televangelists that are believed more than Jesus was and that is sad!   Throughout history there is not a single person should be more revered, respected and loved than Jesus Christ.  He should be honored and esteemed by all in the world but is not.   No non-believer can name one person that died for man. They can follow false prophets that only lived to gain their money, sexual satisfaction and political power but can not see a way to follow the One who gave His life for their failure to believe.   There are literally thousands of reasons to love Jesus but it took only one to hate Him. The four Gospels portray Him as kind, patient, long suffering, full of forgiveness and willing for none to perish.  He is called a Shepherd, Rabbi, a Teacher, a Brother, Light in times of darkness, Divine Physician, Healer, Advocate, Redeemer a Reconciler and many other name of a positive nature and should not have been hated by anyone.   Why was Jesus hated?  Jesus came as a light to deliver man from darkness.   Jesus declared Himself to be the Light of the world...   John 8: 12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."         Even before He spoke these words He told His disciples He would be hated for His being as He was as would any that followed Him also hated.   John 3: 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.   We Christians see the holy gift of deliverance and liberty as gifts from God but those that continue to disbelieve Him or God’s Word (the Bible) have no desire to live life in accordance with His Word. They would rather live a life of sexual debauchery, chasing material things, wielding control over other men, free to worship anything they wish and sin as they wish.   Simply put, the world loves the things of the world and the fleshy pleasures that control their minds.   John 3: 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.    Just as Jesus was hated, and continues to be hated by many, we shall also be hated.   John 15: 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.   Just as Jesus was hated for His being the Light of this world, we are similarly hated for that self same reason!   Matthew 5: 14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.   Think back to the moment in time when you were born again in Christ. That moment is when you first saw the Light and you fell in love with Jesus and divorced yourself from the world,   That was the moment when you became a person to be reviled and hated by non-believers.   As Christians we look on in horror and disbelief as we see our own nation set about stamping out everything pertaining to Christ. Our courts seek to outlaw every mention of His name and seek to stop Christians from having any rights to even protest their actions.   We are reviled and said to be horrible people that seek to impose our faith in God, in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit with the most evil of actions imaginable. Although not a true representation of Christianity the Inquisition, conducted by the Roman Catholic Church, is cited as acts of Christianity! Brothers and sister, which is a false assumption! Utterly false!   True Christians are most often the first responders in times of disaster. Our every teaching is of love, peace, giving of self, providing care and things of need and a humble people and people willing to pray for others. Yet, we are hated, truly hated!   Why? Why are we hated? Simply put, we ask that others put aside their worldliness; we ask that they lead lives free from sin; we ask that they forsake their lust for power, sexual gratification and cease their fears of death.   Yet their hate continues and so do their unfounded reasons for hating us!   We call out to men to repent from earthly pleasures and turn to God. We ask the political leaders to put the interests of their constituents ahead of their personal gains and ask business leaders to put their desire of wealth aside and think of others.   Because of our acceptance of Christ and wanting others to share in our joy, we are hated!   John 12: 35Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.   What Jesus was telling His disciples and I now tell you, do not waver in your faith in God. Do not allow yourself to begin to accept the ways of the world to gain the approvals on man. To do so is to allow darkness to overtake you. Do not be the Christian that bends with the times.   It is a simple act to stop denying same sex marriages, to stop speaking out against abortion, to begin to allow injustices as you simply look the other way. It is easy to just sit silent and allow sin to rear its ugly head and do nothing about it.   Matthew 6: 22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!   Stop looking at the world as sinful and accept sin as normal and timely and you are allowing your lamp to live in a darken spirit. You will be the ‘liked person’ who is joining the group who are on the road to damnation.   (Closing prayer)   Abba, Father, Creator of Heaven and earth, Almighty God, our hope and the love of our lives we come to You humbly seeking Your Divine protection. As You have written we are hated and lied about for our belief in You, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We realize that this will be so for our lives here on earth but are asking for Your protections to allow us the opportunity to tell others of Your greatness and teach them the Good News.   Lord we realize that many of us may be called upon to withstand many hardships, pain and mental anguish for being Your servants. These things we will face and do so in a Christian manner. Our plea is to strengthen us and instill in us the desire to do Your will. By that we are asking to be seen as examples of Your love and caring yet willing to face the wrath of those who hate us...   It is not for our aggrandizement that we seek Your strength but to be men and women that truly worship You and are willing to be subjected to trials as we remain firm in our faith in You.   We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who is one with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever,   Amen, amen and amen.