the Gospel of John, chapter number 15.
John 15, I'll go ahead and read the whole chapter
and then I'll get into my sermon.
So John 15, the Bible reads,
"I am the true vine and my father is the husband then.
"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit,
"he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit,
"he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit.
"Now ye are clean through the word
"which I have spoken unto you, abide in me and I in you.
"As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
"except it abide in the vine,
"no more can ye except ye abide in me.
"I am the vine, ye are the branches.
"He that abideth in me and I in him,
"the same bringeth forth much fruit,
"for without me ye can do nothing.
"If a man abide not in me,
"he is cast forth as a branch and is withered,
"and men gather them and cast them into the fire
"and they are burned.
"If ye abide in me and my words abide in you,
"ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.
"Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit,
"so shall ye be my disciple.
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you,
"continue ye in my love.
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love,
"even as I have kept my Father's commandment,
"abide in his love.
"These things have I spoken unto you
"that my joy might remain in you
"and that your joy might be full.
"This is my commandment, that ye love one another
"as I have loved you.
"Greater love hath no man than this,
"that a man lay down his life for his friends.
"Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.
"Henceforth I call you not servants,
"for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
"But I have called you friends,
"for all things have I heard of my Father,
"I have made known unto you.
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you
"and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit,
"and that your fruit should remain,
"that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name
"he may give it you.
"These things I command you, that ye love one another.
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
"before it hated you.
"If you were of the world, the world would love his own,
"but because you 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.
"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.
"If I had not come and spoken unto them,
"and they had not had sin,
"but now they have no cloak for their sin.
"He that hateth me, hateth my father also.
"If I had not done among them,
"the works which none other man did,
"they had not had sin,
"but now have they both seen
"and hated both me and my father.
"But this cometh to pass,
"that the word might be fulfilled,
"that is written in their law,
"they hated me without a cause.
"For when the comforters come,
"whom I will send unto you from the father,
"even the spirit of truth,
"which proceedeth from the father,
"he shall testify of me,
"and ye also shall bear witness,
"because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Let's go ahead and pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you again
for allowing us to be here in church.
I just pray that you'd bless the preaching of your word,
that you fill me with your Holy Spirit
to preach boldly your word, Lord,
and that we'd learn and be edified by it
and become better Christians.
Praise in Jesus' name, amen.
Man, so you're there in John chapter 15,
and I wanna start reading there in verse 18,
where it says, "If the world hate you,
"you know that it hated me before it hated you.
"If you were of the world,
"the world would love his own.
"But because you are not of the world,
"but I have chosen you out of the world,
"therefore the world hateth you."
So here Jesus is talking about the reality
that a Christian, not just that is saved,
but a Christian's actually following God's commandments,
that is actually wanting to serve God,
that a Christian will be hated by this world.
They will be hated by the people outside of these walls.
And the title of my sermon tonight
simply is You Will Be Hated.
You Will Be Hated.
There's this idea in a lot of modern Christianity,
especially in non-denom that says like,
"Oh, you can be a great Christian
"and you can be loved by everybody."
Right, you can be loved by the Muslim,
you can be loved by the Jew,
you can be loved by the Hindu,
you can be loved by every person, no matter what.
But that's just false,
and that's not really what the Bible teaches.
Bible is clear that we will be hated for being Christians.
We will be hated because of Jesus.
And so I wanna look at that tonight.
In verses 18 and 19, that really was emphasized.
And I wanna go ahead and read a few more verses here.
Look at verse 20.
It says, "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."
So Jesus is saying, look, just like the Lord,
the master, Jesus Christ was persecuted,
was attacked, was hated.
We can't expect the disciple, the servants,
would not also experience that.
Right, if Jesus is being the perfect son of God,
was hated by the Pharisees, hated by the world,
for doing nothing wrong,
how could we expect as flawed human beings
not to also be hated by this world?
It's obvious that we are hated by the world
because really the world hates Jesus.
It's not that they hate us
because necessarily we're bad people
'cause of our personalities
or because of our character necessarily,
it's that the world will hate us
because we are representing Jesus,
because we're trying to follow Jesus
and the world hates Jesus.
Look at verse 21,
"But all these things will they do unto you
"for my name's sake,
"because they know not him that sent me.
"If I had not come and spoken unto them,
"they had not had sin,
"but now they have no cloak for their sin."
So what Jesus is saying is,
look, if I hadn't showed the Pharisees and the Jews,
he hadn't come down,
then they would be able to have some sort of excuse
or claim ignorance that they didn't really know
that he was the son of God.
But he's saying, look, I came and I did miracles
and I showed without any doubts that he is the son of God.
And so now they have no excuse to say that he isn't.
They have no excuse to deny him.
Verse 23, "He that hateth me, hateth my father also."
That's a really important verse,
especially for the Zionists today.
So I'm gonna read again.
It says, "He that hateth me, hateth my father also."
There's this idea sometimes amongst Zionist Christians
that says, well, the Jews, they have the father,
but they don't have the son.
But notice that the Bible says that if you hate Jesus,
you also hate the father.
If you have not the son, you also don't have the father.
You can't love the father and not love the son also.
There's also this idea that I was even taught in school
that says, well, you have all these Abrahamic religions,
right, you have the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians.
And they're all really pretty similar to each other,
but they just kind of branched out in different ways.
And that is also a false idea.
These religions are not remotely close to each other.
They're not similar to each other in any way.
The Muslims hate Jesus.
The Muslims don't believe that he's the son of God.
The Muslims don't believe that he is God.
They deny him.
And the Jews hate Jesus.
They spit whenever they say his name.
They spit on Christians.
Their Talmud says that Jesus burning in excrement.
The Jews hate Jesus.
And so neither the Muslim or the Jew loves God at all.
Don't be fooled by their rhetoric.
Don't be fooled when the Muslim tells you,
Oh no, we believe in Jesus.
We, you know, he's one of the prophets.
No, no, they hate God because they don't believe in Jesus.
The Jew hates God because he doesn't believe in Jesus.
Look at verse 24.
If I had not done among them the worst,
which none other man did, they had not had sin.
But now have they both seen and hated both me and my father.
So again, Jesus and the father are package deal.
But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled
that is written in their law.
They hated me without a cause.
And again, so there's no real legitimate reason
why they hate Jesus other than just because he's the truth.
'Cause he's the light, 'cause he's exposing their sin
and they just hate the truth.
But there's no legitimate cause
that Jesus gave them to be hated.
Go to Matthew 10, Matthew 10.
The Bible really emphasizes this concept
that we will be hated by men.
We will be hated by the world.
And so I just wanna explore several verses
explaining that concept before I get into some application.
So Matthew 10, look at verse number 21.
Matthew 10, look at verse number 21.
Says, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
And the father, the child, and the children
shall rise up against their parents
and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
So here Matthew 10 is explaining, right?
Persecution's gonna come.
And notice in verse 21,
that even says amongst household it's gonna come, right?
There's gonna be division, there's gonna be hatred.
The brother's gonna deliver, the brother to death,
the father, the child,
the children shall rise against the parents.
So there isn't this idea that well,
if you're just a good Christian,
you'll be loved by everyone.
Bible actually planes the opposite picture
that if you're actually a good Christian,
you'll actually be hated even by your own family.
Even by those closest to you,
you will be betrayed and hated and lied about.
Look at verse number 24.
The disciple is not above his master,
nor the servant above his Lord.
It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master
and the servant as his Lord.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub,
how much more shall they call them of his household?
So there it says again, that we as Christians
cannot expect to be better than Jesus.
If Jesus got, you know, railed against,
if Jesus got called Beelzebub
and was accused of doing things
through the power of the devil,
then we can expect that we're gonna get accused
of all types of things too.
They're gonna falsely accuse us of doing all types of evil,
but you know, that's to be expected as a Christian.
As a Christian, believing the Bible, following the Bible,
that's just par for the course.
Look at verse 34.
"Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth.
"I came not to send peace, but a sword.
"For I came to set a man at variance
"against his father and the daughter against her mother
"and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
"and a man's foes shall be day of his own household."
So again, this is Jesus speaking.
And Jesus himself says,
"Look, don't think I came to send peace.
"I came to divide.
"I came to send a sword."
And again, you see that even within a household,
there will be division.
And Jesus even says that in verse 36,
"And a man's foes shall be day of his own household."
So what I'm trying to say is that if you're being a Christian,
if you're following the Bible,
that you will be hated even by your own family,
even by those closest to you.
There's not this idea in the Bible
that a lot of Christians believe
that Jesus is just this kind of hippie
that just came to only bring peace and only came to unify.
The Bible actually sets a lot of the opposite picture
that if you believe in Jesus, if you follow Jesus,
you will have persecution.
You will have hatred by the world.
Go to Luke chapter six.
But again, notice that the world is hating us,
is hating Christians because of Jesus.
And that is the key here, is that we're gonna be hated
because we believe in Jesus and we follow Jesus.
We shouldn't be hated for legitimate reasons.
We shouldn't be hated because we're bad people.
We're, you know, have a huge flaw or sin.
You know, that's not necessarily praiseworthy.
What the Bible's really emphasizing
that it's praiseworthy is when we're just hated
for doing nothing wrong.
We're just hated because we believe in Jesus.
Look at Luke six, look at verse 22.
Luke six, 22, said, "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you
"and when they shall separate you from their company
"and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil
"for the son of man's sake.
"Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy,
"for behold your reward is great in heaven,
"for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."
So notice here that Jesus is actually saying
that you're blessed when people are just gonna hate you,
when they separate from you, when they reproach you,
when they say all types of evil against you
for being a Christian.
It's not saying that you did something wrong.
It's not saying, well, if you're just a better Christian
and everyone would just love you and get saved.
No, no, no, Jesus is saying, look,
you're blessed when this happens.
And notice that it says that they did in like manner
their fathers unto the prophets.
Every true man of God, every true prophet of God
has been hated.
There's not a great pastor out there
that's just being loved by everyone.
Let's keep reading, the Bible will just tell us that.
Look at verse 24, "But woe unto you that are rich,
for ye have received your consolation.
Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger.
Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.
Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you,
for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
Bible is actually saying that it's the false prophets
that are actually loved by this world.
It's the false prophets that everyone will cry about
and mourn when they die.
It's the false prophets, you know, like Billy Graham,
that when he died, you know, I remember seeing on TV,
you know, America's preacher died,
and he was just, even the news,
the mainstream media was just praising Billy Graham.
Hey, that's actually a sign that he's a false prophet.
That's not actually a good thing.
It's like John MacArthur, when he dies,
that everyone's just sad and, you know,
that he died and all these things.
No, no, that's a sign that he's a false prophet
because the true prophet of God is hated by the world
because of his message.
He's hated by the world
because he's actually just preaching the Bible.
Look at Philippians one, Philippians,
and even sometimes so-called Christians,
they act like if you're being persecuted,
you must be a bad person, right?
They act like, oh, that church's being protested,
that church's being persecuted.
What'd he do wrong?
What'd he say wrong?
But the Bible's actually painting the opposite picture
that hey, it's actually a good thing.
It's a sign that that church
might actually be a good church
if they're being protested.
It actually might be a good church
if everyone hates them.
Look at Philippians one, look at verse 27.
Philippians one, 27.
Only let your conversation be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ,
that whether I come and see you or else be absent,
I may hear of your affairs.
They stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries,
which is to them an evident token of perdition,
but to you of salvation and that of God.
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on him,
but also to suffer for his sake.
So again, here are the Philippians,
they're not doing anything wrong,
they're just preaching the gospel, they're serving God,
and it says they have adversaries
and they're suffering for the sake of Christ.
That's just what happens when a church is serving God.
And I'm not even just talking about like,
our group of churches or like the new IFB.
I mean, I went for several years
to a church that people would consider like old IFB,
and even just in that church,
we had so many weirdos and freaks come through
trying to destroy that church
because it just was doing so much soul winning.
And so any church, any Christian
that's just gonna believe the Bible and follow it
will have persecution, will have sufferings,
will have afflictions,
not because they're doing something wrong,
not because they're being rude necessarily,
not because they are at fault,
but because people just hate Jesus.
People hate the truth, people hate the gospel,
people hate people getting saved.
Go to Acts 14, Acts 14.
And again, I'm just trying to set the stage here
with a good foundation showing a lot of verses
that says here that if we're a Christian,
you're gonna have enemies, that you're gonna be hated,
that you're gonna have persecutions,
that you're gonna suffer.
And then I wanna make several applications about that.
So Acts chapter 14, look at verse 21,
Acts 14, look at verse 21.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city
and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra
and to Iconium and Antioch,
confirming the souls of disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith
and that we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God.
So Paul just got done getting stoned at a city,
then he comes back and he's exhorting the disciples
hey, look, through much tribulation,
we need to get into heaven.
We're not just gonna have an easy life.
You're on earth, right?
Getting no persecution, just being great and awesome,
and people are just gonna bow down to us and say,
hey, what must I do to be saved?
No, no, no, hey, we need through much tribulation
get into heaven.
We can expect persecution.
We can expect affliction of living the Christian life.
Look at 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter, chapter number four,
1 Peter 4, look at verse number 12,
1 Peter 4, look at verse number 12.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial,
"which is to try you,
"as though some strange thing happened unto you.
"But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers
"of Christ's sufferings,
"that when his glory shall be revealed,
"ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ,
"happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory
"and of God resteth upon you,
"on their part he is evil spoken of,
"but on your part he is glorified.
"But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
"or as a thief, or as an evildoer,
"or as a busybody in other man's matters.
"Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
"let him not be ashamed,
"but let him glorify God in his bath."
So a few things here from this passage
is that first it says, don't think it's strange.
Don't think it's weird when the fiery trial comes,
when persecutions come, when affliction comes.
Look, that's normal.
That's not weird.
What's weird is a Christian that claims to be serving God
and isn't getting persecution,
and isn't getting affliction.
That's weird because that's not what
the Bible teaches at all.
But notice also that it says we should rejoice,
we should be exceeding glad.
But in verse 15 and 16, it really emphasized the part of,
look, don't suffer as a murderer,
or as a thief, or as an evildoer,
or as a busybody in other men's matters.
There is no glory if you're just suffering
for your consequences of your sin.
Right, if you're suffering because you're a murderer,
'cause you stole money, or because you did something evil,
that's not persecution for Christ's sake.
That's your own fault.
But if you suffer for being a Christian,
for just preaching the gospel, for just serving God,
then that's where God is pleased with you.
So of course, I'm not saying that we should just
have no discretion what we say.
I'm not saying that we should just be rude to be rude.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use principles
in the Bible being wise.
But what I am saying is that it is normal
for a Christian to be hated,
especially if it's being hated for just being a Christian.
Go to 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3.
Yeah, obviously if someone is at work
and they're just a bad employee,
they're getting there late, they're a jerk to everyone,
and everyone hates them, that's not thankful for them.
That's not what the Bible is saying.
That's not what the Bible is communicating.
But if an employee is actually just hardworking,
they're doing their job, they're living their life right,
they're doing things right,
but they're hated just because they believe the Bible.
They're hated 'cause they go to a church
that believes the Bible.
They're hated because they won't drink,
or because they won't go and do certain things,
they won't steal from the company.
That's different, that is thank worthy,
we're just hated for being a Christian.
Second Timothy three, look at verse 10.
Says, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine,
"manner of life, purpose, faith,
"long-suffering, charity, patience,
"persecutions, afflictions which came unto me
"at Antioch, Iconium, at Lystra,
"what persecutions I endured,
"but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
"shall suffer persecution."
I mean, the Bible's just saying that you can just
take it to the bank.
It's a promise that if you're gonna live godly
in Christ Jesus, you will suffer persecution.
And if you're not suffering persecution,
it's, you should ask yourself,
am I living godly in Christ Jesus?
Because if you're living godly,
you will suffer persecution.
I mean, that's just a statement of fact in the Bible
that is just as true as John 3:16,
just as true as any other verse in the Bible.
That if you're living godly, you have persecution.
Now I have two points this evening of why we are hated.
And my first point is simply,
we will be hated for our beliefs.
We'll be hated because of what we believe.
Good at John 17, I kind of thought of two main reasons
of why people hate us.
And first one that I thought of was that we're hated
because of what we believe.
Look at John 17, look at verse 14.
This is Jesus' prayer to the Father about his disciples.
It says, "I have given them thy word,
and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world."
So Jesus is saying of his disciples
that he gave them the word of God,
and the world hated the disciples,
because disciples were not of the world
because they're Christians,
because they're set apart.
And so we'll be hated
simply for standing on the word of God.
We'll be hated simply because of what we believe.
And I have a few things that, for example,
will cause people to hate us
just for believing these things.
Go to John 14, I asked Chad GPT simply,
hey, what are some of the most controversial things
the Bible teaches?
And the first thing it said
is that was the most controversial thing the Bible teaches
is that the salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
Just by believing that Jesus is the only way to go to heaven,
already people will hate us.
And if you go soul winning, you'll see this
because I'm not gonna adore people
be real friendly with me.
They'll really seem like, you know, they'll be cordial.
But as soon as I tell them, hey, you know,
you keep trusting your Catholic church,
you're not gonna go to heaven.
Or as soon as I tell them, hey, you know,
you're believing you repent of your sins
to get you to heaven, you're not saved.
You know, they flip on a dime, don't they?
Then all of a sudden they don't wanna talk to you.
Then all of a sudden they get offended.
Then all of a sudden they're mad at you.
They're acting like you're the bully or you're the problem
when you're just lovingly trying to show them
what the Bible says that they're on their way to hell.
But we don't want them to go there.
That's why we're there to try to get them saved.
So this is a big reason why just people hate you.
You just simply believe the gospel,
believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
People will hate you.
But this is what the Bible clearly teaches.
John 14, familiar verse, verse number six,
says Jesus sayeth unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The only way to go to heaven is through Jesus Christ.
It's not through our good works.
It's not through being a good person.
It's not through turning over a new leaf
or repenting of all my sins
and changing my life completely.
It's simply by believing in Jesus.
It's not by the Muslims.
It's not by Mohammed or keeping the commandments.
It's not by the Catholics praying their little rosary.
It's not by the Catholics praying and worshiping Mary.
It's not by the Catholics doing their sacraments.
There's no other way to heaven but through Jesus.
There's a lot of people that have these ideas
that, well, you have these different religions,
these different roads, but they all lead to heaven.
They all lead the same place.
But that's just not true.
The Bible is clear that that's not true.
There's one way to heaven, it's only through Jesus.
And if you don't put 100% of your trust in Jesus
to go to heaven, you're not going to go there.
Go with me to Proverbs 20, Proverbs 20.
So what are some beliefs that would cause people
to hate us as Christians?
Well hey, first of all, just simply believing
that Jesus, the only way to go to heaven,
is enough for a lot of people to just hate you.
Especially people that are caught up in false religion,
they really hate that.
Because they want to keep trust in their works,
they don't want to change their mind at all.
And the Christian that doesn't tell that person
that they're going to heaven,
or that they're on their way to hell,
the Christian that just keeps their mouth shut
and just tries to live a nice, peaceful life,
and hopes that the Catholic coworker
will just someday magically ask them how to get saved,
that Christian doesn't actually love his coworker,
because he's letting him go to hell
without telling him anything.
The loving person is actually the person that says,
"Hey, bro, you're on your way to hell.
"Why don't you stop believing in your Catholic church
"and believe in Jesus?"
But a second reason why,
or another belief that will cause people to hate us,
is simply how about believing that alcohol,
drinking alcohol, is a sin.
Look at Proverbs 20, verse one, says,
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging,
"and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Bible simply says, look, if you're deceived by alcohol,
you're not wise, you're stupid, you're an idiot,
is what the Bible is saying, if you fall for alcohol.
Man, that will make a lot of people angry,
that will get a lot of people to turn on you and hate you,
even just by being at a company party
and not drinking alcohol.
People will feel kind of offended
without you even saying things sometimes,
but even more so if you say something like,
hey, why don't you drink?
Well, I'm a Christian.
Bible says you shouldn't.
The Bible says that it's actually dumb to drink alcohol.
People get really offended real quick.
Look at Proverbs 23.
This will even offend a lot of so-called Christians
that defend drinking alcohol and pervert the word of God
to make it seem normal, to make it seem like it's okay.
Right, you got a lot of people that say,
well, Jesus turned water into wine.
It's like, yeah, but it wasn't alcoholic wine.
It was like grape juice.
But people will mock that.
People will hate you for believing that.
Proverbs 23, look at verse 29.
Proverbs 23, verse 29, says,
"Who hath woe, who hath sorrow,
"who hath contentions, who hath babbling,
"who hath wounds without a cause,
"who hath redness of eyes,
"they that tarry long at the wine,
"they that go to seek mixed wine.
"Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
"when it giveth his color in the cup,
"when it moveth itself aright."
So verse 31 is a very explicit command
that just says, "Look not upon the wine,"
when it's fermenting, is what it's talking about there,
is that fermentation process.
Look, once it's fermented, once it's alcohol,
and the Bible clearly says, "Look not upon the wine."
Much less grab it, much less drink it,
and this isn't just talking about getting drunk,
it's talking about any drinking of alcohol at all, right?
You have a lot of Christians that wanna say,
"Well, drinking's not the sin,
"it's getting drunk that's a sin."
The Bible didn't say that.
The Bible says, "Look not upon the wine."
Didn't say it's okay to have a little bit.
It's okay to have your social drink every now and then.
It's okay to go in the happy hour
and get a little, you know, just talk with friends,
get one or two little cups.
The Bible didn't say that.
The Bible says that it's wrong.
It's always wrong.
You should never drink wine.
You should never drink alcohol.
It's a sin.
That's what the Bible is clearly saying, that people will hate you for saying that.
People will hate you for believing that.
Look at verse 32.
"At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stinketh like an adder.
Thine eye shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth in the midst of the sea, or he that lieth upon the
top of a mass.
They have shaken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick.
They have beaten me, and I have felt it not.
When shall I awake?
I will seek it yet again.
So even by this description of alcohol, that you're just going to have woe, you're going
to have sorrow, you're just going to be constantly fighting, you're going to see perverse women,
you're going to just say perverse things, just that alone should tell you to stay away
from it.
To not ruin your marriage through alcohol.
To not make stupid decisions through alcohol.
To not drink and then go and get behind a car and then kill someone because of alcohol.
Hey, before you ruin your life, you should just realize the Bible says that it's always
wrong to drink alcohol.
You should never take a sip ever.
But people will hate you for believing that.
Go to 1st Timothy chapter 2, 1st Timothy chapter 2.
People will hate you for believing that salvation is just by Jesus.
People will hate you for believing that alcohol is a sin.
People will hate you for believing what the Bible says about gender roles.
1st Timothy 2, 1st Timothy 2, look at verse 11, "Let the woman learn in silence with
all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
but to be in silence, for Adam was first formed, then Eve."
The Bible is very clearly saying that a woman is forbidden from teaching, preaching, anything
at a church.
The Bible is just completely forbidding that, that's the man's place, and a woman is not
to take, usurp that authority from the man.
You have a lot of churches, you know, especially in the non-denominational realm, the Pentecostal
realm, they just flat out have women pastors, and if you tell someone, "Hey, that woman
pastor that looks like a dyke shouldn't be preaching at your church," people hate you.
People say, "Oh, that's not nice.
Oh, well, this is antiquated.
That was for back then."
Well, I didn't see that in the Bible, I just saw it as explicit command.
There's no, you know, people try to go to the historical context.
This is what people will do.
They'll say, "Look, the Bible's not saying that."
And they won't point to another Bible verse, they'll point to their historical context.
And they'll say, "Well, you have to understand back in history, you know, these women were
just chatting too much in church, so Paul's just saying they should be silent and not
chat in church."
But the Bible didn't say that.
The Bible says that they can't teach.
The Bible wasn't saying that they were just gossiping during the sermon, the Bible says
they can't teach.
That they can't assert authority over the man.
And people hate just what the Bible says, so they don't want to take the plain reading
of the text.
Go to Ephesians 5, and even a lot of fundamental Baptist kind of skirt this line by having
women Sunday school teachers.
I'm not a fan of that.
I'm not for that.
I don't like that because the Bible says that women should keep silence and also is
conditioning the children to be used to a woman teaching them.
Maybe that's why they grow up and go to the non-denominant and listen to Joyce Meyer.
Maybe that's why they grow up and go to these lame church where they have a woman pastor
because they were conditioned from a young age to listen to a woman teach them the Bible.
In Ephesians 5, look at verse 22, Ephesians 5, 22, it says, "Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, and unto the Lord; for the husband is the head of the wife, even
as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore is the church subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
in everything."
The Bible here is saying that the role of the wife in marriage is to submit to her husband.
Not to nag him or boss him around, but to submit to her husband.
And notice at the end of verse 24 it says, "So let the wives be to their own husbands
in everything."
There is no limiter on this.
There is no caveat to this.
It just says in everything they should be in subjection to their husbands.
And all these feminists out there today just don't like this.
They will hate anyone that even says anything remotely close to this.
But that's just what the Bible is saying.
Go with me if you would to Deuteronomy 22, Deuteronomy 22.
So simply believing what the Bible says about gender roles is very controversial in our
world and is enough for people to hate you.
Deuteronomy 22, look at verse number five, says, "The woman shall not wear that which
pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do
so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God."
The Bible is very clear that the way that a man dresses and the way that a woman dresses
should be distinct, should be different.
And it is not hard to tell that what pertains to a man is pants.
Everything else is kind of universal, right?
Think about shirt, think about shoes, socks, everything else kind of like universal or
not necessarily inherently distinct.
But when you look at pants, that is where the distinction is.
Even the Bible talks about Daniel when they're thrown into the fire, talks about them having
bosun, Bible talks about the priest having britches, you know the Bible talks about men
wearing pants.
The Bible never says women wearing pants and the Bible even talks about woman being basically
like her husband's skirt.
So what I'm saying is that what the Bible is saying here is that men and women should
not be you know cross-dressing and in our modern society and what the Bible is pointing
out is that look women shouldn't wear pants.
Women should wear skirts and dresses and men should wear pants.
And this is another one that gets people to hate you.
But this is normal you know if you just go back 40-50 years this was normal.
Women would wear skirts, dresses, men would wear pants.
This wasn't a controversial issue but you know in this feminized society just a lot
of people have an issue with this and will hate you for this.
But if you just look at the bathroom sign you know the woman has a little triangle for
the dress, the man has doesn't have that because he's wearing pants okay it's not hard.
But even fundamental baptists today are retreating on this doctrine, retreating on this idea.
Fundamental Baptist pastors are allowing their wives to wear pants in church, to wear pants
to try to make people feel welcome or feel comfortable.
Hey no no that's not what the bible says, you're just compromising.
And notice what it said at the end there, it says for all that do so are abomination.
It didn't even say that the wearing of the pants is abomination, it says that they themselves
are an abomination when they do these things.
So this is a belief that will get you, get a lot of people to hate you, simply believing
that women should not wear pants.
Go with me if you would to Matthew 21, Matthew 21.
I'm trying to highlight, I'm trying to give some examples, I'm trying to give some application
of what are some beliefs that would just get people to hate you.
Well just believing that salvation is through Jesus alone will get a lot of people to hate
you.
Believing that alcohol is a sin that you should never drink it will get people to hate you.
Believing what the bible says about gender roles, that they shouldn't be in authority,
that they shouldn't be running a government, right?
Like in Mexico you have a woman president, like hey Claudia Schoenbaum shouldn't be president
at all.
She has a lot of issues going for her.
Number one that she's a woman being president.
Number two that she's a Jew and along with that territory she's a communist too.
But saying that, saying hey I don't support Hillary Clinton, I don't support Kamala Harris,
I don't support you know Marjorie Taylor Greene, I don't support any woman politician.
I don't care if she's on our side or their side, right or left, it's wrong.
I'm not for Kristi Noem being in any level of authority, I'm not for any of these women
politicians.
But another point that will get people to hate you is believing that the church has
replaced Israel.
Look at Matthew 21, we're going to read a parable here starting verse 33 and this won't
just get the world to hate you, this would even get some of our brethren to hate us.
Unfortunately, Matthew 21, look at verse 33, says, "Hear another parable.
There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and
digged a winepress in it and built a tower and led it out to husbandmen, and went it
to a far country.
And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that
they might receive the fruits of it.
And the husbandmen took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another."
So in this parable, you have a man that has a vineyard, a householder that has a vineyard,
and he let it out, he lent it, he leased it to certain husbandmen, and he's expecting
something from it.
He's expecting fruit, he's expecting them to produce results, he's expecting them to
get people saved, to bring them closer to God, but they're not doing that.
And so he sends someone to go check it out, to go look at the fruits of it.
And it says in verse 35 that they took that servant, they beat one, killed one, and stoned
another.
So if you just think about this in a carnal sense, imagine you have some garden somewhere
that you really care about, and you let someone just take care of it.
And you say, "Hey, you know, I want to collect some of that fruit of the garden," you send
someone and they just kill.
You send an employee and they just kill him.
You send another one, they just beat him and bruise him badly.
And that's what's happening here, and obviously this is talking about the children of Israel
being the husband men, God the Father being the householder expecting to bring forth fruits,
sending the prophets as the servants and they're just getting killed, they're getting beaten,
they're getting, you know, just all types of persecution against them.
Look at verse 36, "Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them
likewise.
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, 'They will reverence my son.'"
So it's talking about Jesus, "But when the husbands saw the son, they said among themselves,
'This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and let us cease on his inheritance.'
And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him."
So this is talking about Jesus, how they grabbed him, took him out of the city, and just crucified
him.
Look at verse 40, "When the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
They say unto him, 'He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard
unto another husbandman, which shall render him the fruits in their season.'"
Now I want you to notice that this is Jesus talking to the Pharisees, and Jesus gives
this parable.
He says, "Look, what would be reasonable for this Lord to do?"
And the Pharisees, the Jews, are the ones that say, "Hey, he would destroy those wicked
people, and he'd replace them with some other people."
The Jews themselves are saying that they should be replaced in this parable.
Verse 42, "Jesus sayeth unto them, 'Did you never read in the Scriptures, the stone which
the builders rejected, the same as become the head of the corner?
This is the Lord's doing, and is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to
a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof."
Jesus himself plainly states that the kingdom of God was taken away from the Jews, from
the physical nation of Israel, and given to another nation, called believers, represented
in the church.
And our purpose to bring forth fruit, our purpose as believers, is to get people saved.
That's what Jesus is expecting here.
But notice that Jesus is plainly saying that they were replaced.
Some people don't like this term of replacement theology, but the Bible is just saying, "If
I fire someone and I put someone else to take their job, wouldn't we all say, "Yeah, they
were replaced."
It'd be silly to fight against that because that's just logic.
But people will hate you for believing this.
The Zionists out there will hate you for believing this.
Go to Romans 2, Romans 2.
The Zionists will hate you for believing this and will even try to pass laws, they have
tried to pass laws, of anti-Semitism laws.
People will say, "Well, this is anti-Semitic to say that the Jews were replaced.
It's anti-Semitic to say that the Jews killed Jesus."
That's just what the Bible says.
I mean, if just preaching the Bible is anti-Semitic, then I guess I'm the anti-Semitic.
I'm not going to shy away from what the Bible says just because of label.
Romans 2, look at verse 28.
Romans 2 verse 28, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men,
but of God."
The Bible is saying that the Jew is not the one that's physically a Jew, that's physically
circumcised.
The real Jew is the one that's circumcised inwardly, is the one that just puts their
faith in Jesus.
He's the person that's actually the Jew.
He's the person that's actual, spiritual Israel, the Israel of God, as the Bible describes
it.
Go with me, if you would, to Philippians, Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter
number three, Philippians three, look at verse one.
It says, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concession."
And here he's talking about Jews, you know, that's, he's kind of mocking them by saying
beware of the concession.
"For we, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."
So Paul talking to the Philippians, not to Jews, not to the Israelites, but to Philippians.
He says, "For we are the circumcision, we believers are the Israel of God, we believers
are the Jews, the true spiritual Jews, not some place in the Middle East, not some people
that hate Jesus."
Go with me if you go to Proverbs 13, Proverbs 13.
So I'm saying if you actually believe the Bible, if you actually believe the truths
of the Bible, people will just hate you for simply believing the Bible.
People say it's hate speech, for just preaching what the Bible says, believing what the Bible
says.
In Proverbs 13, look at verse 24, Proverbs 13 verse 24, "He that sparreth his rod hateth
his son, but he that loveth him chasteth him betimes."
Bible says that the person, the parent that won't spank, physically discipline, corporately
punish their children, does not love them, but rather hates them.
But if the parent that actually does discipline them and disciplines them early, that's what
betimes means, they're the ones that love their children.
Look at Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23, a lot of people are just against physical discipline
at this point.
A lot of people would just automatically say that it's abuse for just disciplining your
child in any way, which is insane.
In Mexico, it's actually illegal to physically, corporately punish your child.
You can go to jail in Mexico for simply punishing your child as the Bible says, disciplining
your child physically with a rod as the Bible says.
Verse 23, look at verse 13, "withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest
him with the rod, he shall not die."
Bible's just saying, look, don't withhold correction.
If you discipline them, no, there's no permanent damage that's happening.
They're not going to die.
They'll be fine.
Look at verse 14, "Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
Physically disciplining children helps them get saved at an earlier age.
They understand the concept that, hey, they do wrong, they get a punishment.
They understand those concepts.
But children that don't really have their parents' involvement in their life or aren't
even getting disciplined at all, I've literally run into children out soul winning.
I've asked, "Have you ever sinned before?"
"No."
I'm like, "Have you ever lied?"
"No."
"Have you ever gotten trouble in school?"
"No."
They just literally don't think they have any sin.
I bet you that those children do not get disciplined at all.
I bet you the children just roam around doing whatever they want and it's probably evident
by the fact they're like five or six and they're just walking by themselves in this ghetto
neighborhood by themselves.
That's probably evidence that they're not really getting a lot of attention or discipline
at home.
So corporal punishment of children is one that gets people to hate you, gets people
not like you.
It's not a popular opinion in this world today.
Look at Leviticus 20, Leviticus 20, believing in capital punishment will get people to hate
you.
A lot of liberals just don't even believe anyone should be put to death ever.
And even just suggesting the idea that hey, some people should be put to death is insane
for them.
But the Bible describes a lot of different capital punishments.
Now I'm not going to look at all of them, but I'm going to look at some of them.
Leviticus 20, look at verse 9.
Leviticus 20 verse 9 says, "For everyone that cursed his father or his mother shall be surely
be put to death.
He hath cursed his father or his mother, his blood shall be upon him."
Bible says that if a child were to curse his father or his mother, that he would be put
to death.
That's not a popular opinion, people don't like that, but that's what the Bible says.
Look at verse number 10 with me, Leviticus 20 verse 10 says, "And the man that committed
adultery with another man's wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor's wife,
the adulterer and adulteress shall be put to death."
The Bible says that adulterers would be put to death.
It doesn't call it an affair, it doesn't say you know it's just an accident or a fling,
it says that they should be put to death.
God takes this sin seriously.
Look at verse number 13, "If any man, if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with
the woman, both of them have committed abomination, they shall surely be put to death, their blood
shall be upon them."
The Bible says that sodomites, no fags, queers, whatever you want to call them, should be
put to death by the government.
I mean that's just what the Bible says, that's just the plain reading of the text, is that
hey these are capital punishment crimes.
And there's no real way to soften the blow on this.
There's no real way that I can package this to make it more palatable to people.
Right?
So people will say well you should just be nice about it.
So what way could I even word this to where people would like what I'm saying?
Or to where people wouldn't be offended by what I'm saying?
I mean I'm sure if I just told a liberal, "Hey, I just think that the members of the
LGBTQ should be put to death."
They would still hate me for that.
They would still freak out about that.
I don't think there's any way that I could word it that would make it any better to
where they wouldn't get offended.
The only way that they wouldn't get offended is if I just didn't say it.
The only way that they would get offended is if I just didn't believe the Bible.
And then they wouldn't get offended because I'm not saying anything controversial.
I'm not saying just what the Bible says.
It's not even that it's even controversial necessarily.
They just wouldn't get offended because I'm not preaching the Bible.
That's really what a lot of liberal Christians want us to do.
They just want us to ignore parts of the Bible.
They just want us to not believe parts of the Bible.
And then people will like us.
Then people, you know, will be on our side.
But what good is it to have people that are on our side if they're not even getting the
truth?
I mean, there's people that have this mentality in church, "Hey, you shouldn't preach hard
against Satan in church because you don't want people to drive away visitors.
How can you help people if you drive them away?"
Well, how can I help people if I'm not preaching the Bible?
How can I help people if I'm not telling them the truth?
I mean, if I go to the doctor and they just tell me, "Hey, you're all fine when I'm really,
you know, I have serious medical issues or I have some disease," they're not loving,
they're not helping me.
Then tell me, "Hey, you have this disease, you have to change radically, you have to
stop eating what you're eating, you have to change your diet."
That is the loving thing to do.
Even if it does offend me, even if I don't like it, that would be what the loving person
does.
Look at verse 16, Leviticus 20 verse 16, "And if a woman approach unto any beast and
lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast.
They shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them."
So this is one that's not really talked about a lot, the bestiality should be put to death.
And the only reason I even thought to bring this up is because in Mexico a few weeks
ago I saw this trend where there are people called Therians, where basically just people
that identify as animals, and again I couldn't really tell if they're like trolling or not,
but I think some of them are serious.
And I think this is just a step to get closer to just where people are just accepting bestiality.
That's my opinion on this, and so I think it's important to say, "Hey, you know what?
The Bible says these people should be put to death."
I think a lot of people that just are identifying as these freaks are just reprobate anyways.
Look at verse 27, "A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit or that is a wizard
shall surely be put to death, they shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon
them."
So the Bible says for being a wizard or being involved in witchcraft, you should be put
to death.
And it's just a sampling of capital punishments, the Bible says that kidnappers should be put
to death.
The Bible says that people that force, like a man that would force a woman would be put
to death.
The Bible has other capital punishments, someone that blasphemes God, someone that's just actively
teaching a false gospel would be put to death.
The Bible has other capital punishments, I'm just trying to give you a sampling of if you
believe any of these people are going to hate you, people are going to get offended, people
are not going to like you, and it's not that people are going to hate you because you're
not friendly.
It's not that people are going to hate you because you're not a good worker.
It's that people are hating you because you're believing the Bible.
You could be the friendliest, best person ever, but if you believe the verse I just
read, people will hate you because they just hate the Bible, they just hate the truth.
Go with me if you would to John 3, Gospel of John chapter number 3.
So my first point is that people will hate us for what we believe.
My second point is that you will be hated for being righteous.
You'll simply be hated for simply being righteous.
Go to John 3, John 3 look at verse 19, John 3 verse 19 says, "And this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to light, lest his deeds should
be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God."
Bible's saying there's certain people that don't want to get and come to the light, they
don't want to come to the truth, they don't want to come to Jesus because he is the light,
they don't want to come to him because they're just simply evil, because they're simply wicked.
They're just simply doing bad things and light exposes the bad that they're doing, so they
don't want to get close to the light because they are evil, because they are wicked.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 4, what I'm saying is that there are certain people that are just
going to hate you because they're wicked and you're righteous.
You're actually living a Christian life, you're actually following what the bible says, there
will be people that hate you, not because you're mean to them, not because you're rude,
not because you're a jerk, but because you're good and they're evil, but because you're
righteous and they are wicked.
Look at 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4, look at verse 3, 1 Peter 4, 3, "For the time past of our
life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness,
lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banqueting, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think
it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you."
So notice, why do these people speak evil of you?
Why do these people don't like you?
It's because you're not participating in the same sins that they are.
It's because you're actually following the Bible.
You're saying, "Hey, all the sins, let that just be in my past.
Let me actually try to live for God now."
And they hate that.
They hate that you won't do evil with them, so they just hate you for being righteous.
It's not that you did anything wrong.
They're evil.
They hate you because you're good, because you're righteous.
Look at 1 John 3, 1 John 3, and this is shown perfectly in Jesus.
He is sinless.
He did nothing wrong.
He had the perfect balance of being nice and being stern.
He has the perfect balance of what he preached, right?
Sometimes people say, "Well, I didn't like the way you said it."
Well, you couldn't say that about Jesus.
He always had the perfect balance of how he said everything.
He had the perfect balance on things and they still hated him.
They still killed him.
Why?
Because he's righteous and they're evil.
First John 3, look at verse 11, 1 John 3, look at verse 11, "For this is the message
that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
God is Cain, who is out that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him?
Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous."
The Bible is just telling us, why did Cain slay Abel?
It's because Cain was evil and Abel was righteous.
Look at verse 13, "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."
Say, don't be surprised if the world hates you, because sometimes people are just going
hate you because they're evil, they're wicked, and you're good and you're righteous and you're
actually following God. This last Saturday I was out soul winning up there in DFW in Arlington and
me and my soul winning partner got the cops called on us by some sodomite, by some faggot and it's
not because we did anything wrong. Like we didn't even talk to him, we had no interaction with him,
we weren't rude with him, we didn't provoke him, we didn't do anything to him. We were simply just
knocking door, soul winning and he saw us and he got mad and he called the cops on us. Why? Because
we were righteous and he's evil and he's wicked. People just hate you because they're evil and
you're righteous. Go to the book of Daniel, book of Daniel, I mean when you see someone that's just
you know soul winning, serving God, doing great things and just a bunch of people hate him,
you might want to consider hey maybe he just hated so much because the people that hate him are evil
and he's righteous. Maybe he's hated because all these people are wicked and in sin and he's
actually doing something for God and a lot of the haters of our churches you know that have left
their churches and are haters, they're evil, they're wicked, they're doing nothing for God
and they just hate us because we're doing great things for God. I'm sure there's people that
hate Pastor Reyes not because he did anything wrong to them but because he just simply believes the
Bible and he's trying to serve God the best he can, he's righteous. I mean I can think of someone
that used to come to this church, you know, Jack As, Pastor Reyes has nicknamed him, that hates him,
hates me, not because we ever did anything wrong to him, we were always good to him, but he hates
us because he's evil, he's wicked, he doesn't believe the Bible and we believe the training.
I mean it's just that simple. Why did he hate us? Why does he hate us? Why does he come against us?
Why is he railed against us? Because he's evil and we're righteous. Daniel 6, we see this illustrated
well in this story of Daniel where Daniel's not doing anything wrong, but he's getting persecuted.
He has haters just simply because he's righteous. Daniel 6, look at verse 1, says, "It pleased Darius
to set over the kingdom and 120 princes, which should be over the whole kingdom, and over these
three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give a counsel to them, and the
king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes,
because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
When the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom,
but they could find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any
error or fault found in him. So here the Bible is just saying that Daniel was preferred above the
presidents and princes. Why? Because just God was blessing him, because he was doing his job,
because he's faithful. They're trying to find something that Daniel's doing wrong. They can't
find it. They're trying to see if Daniel steals. They're trying to see if Daniel did something
is being a little dishonest or being a little deceptive in his work, and they can't see it. They
can't find it. So look at verse five, "Then said these men, 'We shall not find an occasion
against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.'" Daniel had
integrity. Daniel was doing right. Daniel had good character. Daniel was doing everything, as far as
we know, he's doing everything right. But why do these people hate him? Just because he's righteous.
Why do they hate him? Because he's doing well, because he's excelling, because God is blessing
him, and they just hate him for that. But notice it says that they can't find any occasion against
Daniel unless it's against him concerning the law of his God. It says, "Hey, the only thing bad that
we can find is that he actually takes religion seriously, that he actually loves God, that actually
serves God." So then they go and get the King Darius to write a decree that basically says that
you can't ask or pray to anyone except him, right? And then they look to see what Daniel would do.
I believe it's verse number 16. Well, maybe before that. Verse number 10. "So after this was signed,
now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened
in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave
thanks before his God as he did a four time." Daniel just kept serving God, kept being righteous,
kept praying to God. They obviously grabbed him. He's thrown into the lion's den, but God delivers
him. What I want to just show through the story of Daniel is that Daniel isn't being bad. Daniel
isn't being rude. Daniel isn't just being a jerk. Daniel's great. Everyone likes Daniel because of
his work and his character, but people hate him. Why? Because he's righteous and they're wicked.
Because he's doing right and they don't like that. They get envious of that. There's a lot
of people like that. In the workplace, there's a lot of people like that. That if you're just
actually honest and doing a good job and you're not slacking off, they'll hate you for that because
you make them look bad. They hate you for that because then they might actually have to put in
some effort in the workplace. But it's not that you're doing anything wrong. It's that they're
wicked. It's that they're wrong, but they don't want to change. I mean, even Kane was giving
the opportunity by God, "Hey, if you do well, shall you not be accepted?" Kane just decided
to not do that. And people just decide to not correct their way, and they decide to
stay wicked and be mad that you're not wicked like them. So what's the point of the sermon?
The point of the sermon is just to simply say, "Look, you will be hated by this world."
Don't believe this lie coming from the non-denom or watered-down Baptists that say, "Well,
if you're really right with God, you can actually have everyone love you and like you, and you'll
have this lifestyle evangelism that just wins everyone to Christ by never being controversial,
by never taking a stand on anything." But that's a lie. The Bible is making a promise that if
you're a Christian, and you serve God, and you believe the Bible, and you live righteously,
that you will be hated by this world. You will be hated by people. And that's all right, because the
reason they hate you is because they hate Jesus. And they'll hate us because of what we believe,
and they'll hate us because we're righteous and they're wicked. That lets us end with the word
of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in church. I pray you'd help us to
live right, to believe right, and to not be discouraged by people that hate us, but rather
being encouraged, knowing that we will be rewarded for that, knowing that you are with us.
And I just pray that you'd bless us as we go home. Pray that you'd help us apply this sermon
to not compromise. And I just pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. So with that, y'all are dismissed.