When I read John 15:17-21, I must confess that the subject of persecution is something I see that is happening today.
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| These are the men who paid the penalty of becoming Christians |
I know that I see it on the news in different parts of the world. I am told there are more martyrs for the Christian faith today than ever before. And for all those who are killed, there are many others who are allowed to live, so that their persecution
can be prolonged.
From what I have read and seen on the news, I know that at this very hour, Christians in Egypt are facing intense persecution. This is often the case in those countries where Muslim fundamentalists are in power. In India, many Christians are experiencing persecution at the hands of zealous Hindus, something that was virtually unknown just a few years ago.
A Love-Hate Relationship
(15:17-21)
17 “This I command you—to love one another. 18 If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
Today, even here in the United States, Christian are facing persecution for our beliefs. Prayer was taken out of schools. You have groups that want to remove from our money "In God We Trust" and from the Pledge of Allegiance, "One Nation Under God." Watching TV, Christians are made fun of on late night talk shows and various TV shows. Christians are told that we think we are better than everyone else. That we want to roll back the clock to the Stone Age, and things are better now than they were before. If one succeeds in separating Godly principles in families, the knowledge of good being keep from embracing the laws of God, evil will destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.
I must readily admit that Christians in America are no exception to suffering solely for being a Christian. Though the words of our Lord may sound distant and foreign to us, one never knows how soon the day will come when believers here may experience the very things that are happening in other places of the world. The same things of which our Lord speaks of in the Bible. We should listen well, not only to sympathize with our fellow-saints, but to prepare ourselves for the days to come.
In the first half of chapter 15, Jesus has instructed His disciples to “abide in Him.” He does not turn to a different subject, but rather to a different aspect of abiding. Abiding in Christ is the source of our life, our fruit-bearing, and of our fellowship, both with God and with our fellow Christians. Abiding in Him is also the reason the world will hate us. The same hatred for Jesus which prompts unbelievers to call for His crucifixion will soon be vented upon those who have identified with Jesus, and through whom our Lord will continue to work in this world. And so Jesus turns to the subject of persecution, and the ministry of His Spirit, who will not only give His disciples joy in the midst of their afflictions, but who will enable them to witness and to reap a harvest of souls from among those who hate both Jesus and those who abide in Him.
Let us listen well to these last words of our Lord, to find comfort and courage in the face of rejection and persecution from an unbelieving world.
In the first half of chapter 15, Jesus has instructed His disciples to “abide in Him.” He does not turn to a different subject, but rather to a different aspect of abiding. Abiding in Christ is the source of our life, our fruit-bearing, and of our fellowship, both with God and with our fellow Christians. Abiding in Him is also the reason the world will hate us. The same hatred for Jesus which prompts unbelievers to call for His crucifixion will soon be vented upon those who have identified with Jesus, and through whom our Lord will continue to work in this world. And so Jesus turns to the subject of persecution, and the ministry of His Spirit, who will not only give His disciples joy in the midst of their afflictions, but who will enable them to witness and to reap a harvest of souls from among those who hate both Jesus and those who abide in Him.
Let us listen well to these last words of our Lord, to find comfort and courage in the face of rejection and persecution from an unbelieving world.
A Love-Hate Relationship
(15:17-21)
17 “This I command you—to love one another. 18 If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
Let us pray for our Nation and for Freedom our Christian faith. Also for all Christians that are facing persecution around the world. May we find comfort and courage in the face of rejection and persecution from an unbelieving world. In Jesus Name we pray.
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