June 23, 2020
Brothers and Sisters,
I am seeing lots and lots of hatred in the world today, especially here in the United States of America. Rioting, looting and vandalizing is running rampant through the streets in many of our major cities. Shouting, protesting, murders, shootings and lawlessness is nearly out of control.
How are we as Christians supposed to react when we see all this violence happening around us? In John 15, Jesus taught his disciples about bearing much fruit (John 15:1-8). He then talked about the love He had for his followers (John 15:9-10). Then He then gave his disciples a new commandment. (John 15:12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Jesus then switched gears and told the disciples something that I’m sure they weren’t expecting. (John 15:18-21) 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. 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. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Our world is dealing with lots of hatred, but in my opinion it all falls back on man’s hatred toward God. Jesus said the world hated him before it hated you. You see, God is the ultimate authority and man has always had trouble with submitting to authority. When a newborn is brought into this world, one of the first things we see in the child is a rebellious spirit. If you have ever been a parent then you know exactly what I’m referring to. This is something that was bred into all of the human race from Adam right down to the present day and it all boils down to the sin nature. The Bible is certainly true when it says in Romans 3:23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Look at what else Jesus had to say about the world’s hatred toward Him. (John 15:23) He that hateth me hateth my Father also. I actually saw on the news a week or two ago one of the protesters carrying a sign that said something to the effect that when Jesus comes back they will kill him again. Jesus said in this same passage of scripture that they hated Him without a cause. (John 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.
As Christians, we look at each other in the midst of all this madness and say, “the world has gone crazy”, “all this makes absolutely no sense” and it’s true none of this does make sense until you see what the Bible has to say about the world’s hatred toward God. So back to our original question, “How are we as Christians supposed to react when we see all this violence happening around us?”
- Remember the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted Jesus, they will persecute us. They hated Jesus without a cause, so they don’t need to have a cause to hate us. They will devise their own causes to hate. They do all these acts of violence because they don’t know the Lord.
- Jesus said for us to produce much fruit which is to win as many as we can to Jesus. This is the only remedy for all this chaos and violence.
- Jesus commanded that we love one another as He has loved us. We have enough hatred in the world, so we certainly don’t need any more amongst the people of God. It is good in knowing this morning that Jesus loves us and as a result we can love one another.
Bro. Rick
