Are You Hated?

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” John 15:18

How would you answer the question, “are you hated”? I think most of us would respond, “I don’t think so.” For the most part, people want to get along with everyone. The vast majority of people try to avoid conflict in their lives. I, for one, find it very unpleasant when I conflict with another person.

In the letter to the Romans, Paul urges all believers to avoid conflicts, “if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men (12:18).” However, there will be times when you will not be able to be at peace with all men. Two weeks ago, we, along with four thousand other churches, answered the call from Dr. John MacArthur to preach on Biblical sexuality. The following is an expert from that sermon:

“There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that’s it. God made man male   and female. That is determined genetically, that   is physiology, that is science, that is reality,”  MacArthur taught on Jan. 16. “On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but    on the other hand, that confrontation can’t exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships. This notion that you are something other than your biology is a cultural construct intended as an assault on God. The only way you can address it, honestly,    is to say, ‘God made you and God made you exactly the way He wanted you to be. You are  not only fighting God in His physical creation, you are fighting God in His sovereignty. You are fighting God in His spiritual relationship to you. This is a war on God.”

YouTube promptly removed MacArthur’s sermon.

“Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately,  we think it violates our hate speech policy,”

When I preached two weeks ago from Romans 1, I stated that we live out Romans 1 in America today. As a nation, we have turned our back on God. We celebrate what God calls sin and murder babies in the womb. He has turned this country over to depraved minds, and now in less than one generation, we have gone from a God-fearing nation to one abandoned by God. But, fear not believer, God has not and never will abandon His elect.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish⁠—ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

So, when the world hates you for following Christ, remember the words of our Savior,  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”  We must be the salt and light to a lost and dying world. Stand firm and do not lose heart, Christian. Speak the truth in love and never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark