Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right, everybody.
Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church.
Glad to have you here this morning.
Let's go ahead and take out our hymnal.
We'll turn to our first song for this morning.
Go ahead and turn to song number 169,
Come Thou Fount.
Again, that's song number 169,
Come Thou Fount.
We're singing acapella this morning,
so we need everybody to lift up your voice, all right?
Song number 169, all together.
Come thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace,
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise,
Teach me some melodies on it,
Sung by flaming tongues above,
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love,
Here I raise mine Ebenezer,
Hither by thy help I'm come,
And I know by thy good pleasure,
Safely I'll arrive at home,
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God,
He to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood,
O to grace how great a debtor,
Daily I'm constrained to be,
Let thy goodness be,
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
By my wandering heart to thee,
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love,
Here's my heart, O take it,
Seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Amen. Great singing. Let's bow our hearts to a word of prayer.
Father, we just thank you that we could be assembled together in your house with our brothers and sisters here.
And we just pray you'll bless our time, bless the singing, and bless Pastor Shelley
with your Holy Spirit, help him to edify the people here today. We love you, Father,
and pray the sings in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
Next is gonna be 314,
More Love to Thee,
Song number 314,
314, More Love to Thee, let's sing it all together at the top.
More love to thee,
O Christ, more love to thee,
Hear thou the prayer
I make on bended knee,
This is
my earnest plea,
More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee,
Once earthly joy I craved,
Sought peace and rest,
Now thee alone I seek,
Give what is best,
This all my prayer shall be,
More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee,
Let sorrow do
its work, send grief and pain,
Sweet are thy
Messengers, sweet
their refrain,
When they can sing with me,
More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee,
Then shall my latest breath
Whisper thy praise,
This be the parting
cry my heart shall raise,
This still its prayer
shall be, More love, O Christ,
to thee, More love to
thee, More love to
thee, Amen.
Thank you so much for coming to Stentfast Baptist Church. If you didn't already get a bullet in, you can lift up your hand
and we can get you a bullet in. On the front we have our Bible memory passage, Exodus 20
verse 25, and then on the inside we have our service and soul winning
times as well as our church stats. We have several ladies that are expecting. If you'd please
keep all of them in your prayers. We also have a separate prayer list
for other things that anybody needs prayer for. If you'd like
to send any additional requests you can always email those to us. As well as we have some upcoming
events. August 8th we're having brother Deacon Oliver Gonzalez
come and he's going to be preaching for us and we're going to be having a luncheon and
so that'll be a really great event to be here.
I got to see him this week and so it was really exciting. I was up
at the Red Hot Preaching Conference at Verde Baptist Church and man it was
a blast. It was really great and they're still going on. Pastor Menes
is preaching this morning and I asked him if he'd give me a sermon and he said
afterwards. But there was a 504
people that came on Friday evening service and so
that was a huge number. And then Saturday for soul winning
I wish I remembered the exact number. It was something like
it was over 300 soul winners. I don't want to say the exact number but it was
over 300 soul winners that showed up on Sunday morning and
it was just a great time of spiritual renewal. A lot of
great sermons were preached and also
steadfast did pretty decent in the ping pong tournament.
Jacob and Jared made it all the way to the finals and played each other and then Jacob won
and so that was a good treat and we had a lot of fun there
and I know some people are counting on Brandon but you know he did make it to the semi-finals
so he put up a fair fight and everything like that but
it was a lot of fun and if you ever get to make it up there
it's a great conference. He said when we were there they were announcing
they're doing a youth rally in the spring
so it's going to be geared towards the youth and everything like that and so
I want to throw that out there. Obviously we're going to have
our conference October and so we'll get to experience the same
thing. Pastor Menes is going to be coming and preaching for us and a lot of the same
people. We're going to have Pastor Aaron Thompson, Pastor Bruce
Mejia, Pastor David Berzins and Pastor
Jimenez are all going to be coming out here and preaching for us and so we're going to have
a big lineup of great preachers and we have lots of other
events and so I'd really encourage you if you can take the time off even for some
of the day events but even if you just show up for the evening preaching and we
also have a soul winning marathon September 11th in Shreveport
Louisiana and as we get a little bit closer we'll give you some more
details. We'll have a sign up sheet for that. That's pretty much all I have
for announcements at this time. Let's go to our third song
for this morning. 114
in our hymnal. Song number 114, The Great Physician.
Again that's song number 114
The Great Physician.
Song number 114 all together.
Sweetest carol ever sung
Jesus, blessed Jesus
Your many sins are all forgiven
Oh hear the voice of Jesus
Go on your way in peace to heaven
And wear a crown with Jesus
Sweetest note and seraph song
I love the name on mortal tongue
Sweetest carol ever sung
Jesus, blessed Jesus
All glory to the dying lamb
I now believe in Jesus
I love the blessed Savior's name
I love the name of Jesus
Sweetest carol and seraph song
Sweetest name on mortal tongue
Sweetest carol ever sung
Jesus, blessed Jesus
And when to that bright world above
We rise to be with Jesus
We'll sing around the throne of love
Sweetest note and seraph song
Sweetest name on mortal tongue
Sweetest carol ever sung
Jesus, blessed Jesus
Amen. Great singing.
As offering plates are being passed around, please turn your Bibles to John 15.
John chapter 15.
John 15.
John 15, the Bible reads,
I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away,
and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, 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 the 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 disciples.
As the father had 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 commandments, and 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 that I have 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 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. If I had not come and spoken unto them, 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. But when the
comforter is 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 he hath been with me
from the beginning. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father,
we thank you so much for John chapter 15 and for our
church. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit and give him clarity of mind
and help him to preach his sermon for us this morning. I also pray that you
help us to pay close attention to the message so that we can apply
the points that our pastor is about to make to our lives so we can be better Christians
moving forward. We thank you so much for the opportunities that we have to serve you
here at this church, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen. Look back at verse number 17 where the Bible reads,
These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Verse 18, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you. Verse 19, 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. And the title of my sermon this morning
is this, Why They Hate Us. Why They Hate Us.
And the reality is the Bible teaches that
it's impossible to escape hatred. It's impossible to
escape hatred. And when you're a Christian, you're going
to be hated. If you're not a Christian, you're going to be hated. It's impossible
to escape hatred. That's just a fact, okay, in reality, in the world
that we live in today. But being a Christian, you're still going to
have people that hate you. You're going to still have people that despise you and whore you.
And it shouldn't be a shock that people dislike you.
But what we have to understand is why would someone hate a Christian? Why would
someone hate someone for loving Jesus Christ or being a Bible
believing Christian? And there's a few different reasons. There's three different
reasons I want to give you this morning, but go if you would back to John chapter
number seven, John chapter number seven. He's making it clear here
that they hated Christ way before they ever hated you.
Okay? And the Bible even says in Luke 21, I'll just read for you,
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
So Christ is the one that's taking the
fault, as it were, of why someone would hate
a Christian. He's pointing the finger back at himself and saying it's really just
a reflection of the fact that they hate me. It's really that they don't like
you because of me. And it even says in John chapter
seven, this is what Jesus said in verse seven, the world cannot hate you,
but me it hateth, because I testify of it,
that the works thereof are evil. Now this is an interesting statement
in and of itself because you're saying, oh, well, they don't hate you, Pastor
Shelley. Well, here's the thing. What Christ is really trying to get at
here is he's trying to make you understand the underlying reason for
their hatred. It's not really that they hate you as a person.
It's not really that they hate your personality or they don't like the way
that you dress or they don't like your haircut. And obviously that can happen. But I'm just saying
the reason why people despise Christians is it's deeply rooted in the
fact that they really don't like Christ. Okay? And what is
it specifically they don't like about Christ? Well, what you have to understand is the Bible
teaches in John chapter number one, in the beginning was the word, and
the word was God. Now, who is that? That's Jesus Christ.
Okay? So whenever I get up and I read the Bible
and someone does not like what I'm saying, it's not my words.
It's Christ's words. So if they don't like what I'm saying, what they're really
not liking is Jesus Christ, is what they're really not liking. And notice
why they didn't like Christ, because he testified of it that
the works thereof are evil. So Christ told us that the world is evil.
Christ told us that the world is sinful. Christ told us that people are wicked and evil.
And his words are his words. Okay? So obviously, you know, when they
despise him, they're despising his words. But when we get up and we preach
the word of God, when we get up and we say the things that the Bible says,
it's not really you that they hate, it's the words that you're
saying that they hate, and those words are Jesus Christ. Okay?
Now, go over to Romans, chapter number 12, Romans, chapter number 12,
and you would say, yeah, but Jesus only preached love.
That's just not true. Okay? Number one, he said very specifically
that he was testifying about the world being evil. Now, that
in a sense is loving, because obviously warning people about their sin
or rebuking them is actually truly loving. What you have to understand is that Jesus
does hate things. God does hate things, and he teaches us that we should
also hate certain things. Now, the word hate is found in your Bible
several dozen times, over a hundred times, but there's even
other words that are synonyms, meaning the exact same thing that are used in the Bible, like the word
abhor. Look what it says in Romans, chapter 12, verse 9. Let love
be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil.
Cleave to that which is good. So in the New Testament, the Bible
commands us to love and to abhor that which is evil at the same time.
Now, to abhor something is to hate, despise, and notice
we're supposed to despise things that are evil. Yet, it's silly today
how many Christians, so called, will try to say that they love
anything and everything, and it's like, well, don't you abhor evil?
And it seems like they lack this idea of
whoring that which is evil, and really what they have is called a fake love.
That's why it's saying let your love be without dissimulation.
Now, what's dissimulation mean? Dissimulation is basically
deceit. You're not making your intentions truly known.
You're basically, it's an illusion. It's not real.
So when someone gets up and they say, I love everyone, they're lying.
They're fake. That's a fake love because you cannot
love everything. If you love good, you hate evil.
If you love evil, you hate good.
You can't love everything. You can't love everyone. I can't love the
murderer and the victim. I can't love the victim's family
and the murderer at the same time. I can't love Charles Manson
and love all the people that he brainwashed into the cult that he was in.
I can't love Ted Bundy and love all the victims
of his serial killing. I can't love Hitler and the Jews.
You can't just love everybody carte blanche. You can't just love
everything carte blanche. And the people that say this are the biggest liars.
They're hypocrites. They're just deceiving themselves
if they're the only ones that really believe that.
Now, go to the Old Testament. Go to Psalms, chapter 97 for a moment.
Go to Psalms, chapter number 7. Let me show you a few other places here.
What the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes is a time to love and a time to hate.
But sometimes you're going to love things and sometimes you're going to hate things.
And look, they're both fine. There's nothing wrong. He says a time of war
and a time of peace. Now, as New Testament Christians, we're
commanded to strive for peace. We're supposed to live peaceably among all men.
As much as possible. And look, there's going to be
rare circumstances where even in the New Testament, yeah, we need to defend ourselves.
We need to protect ourselves. And even war could be justified
and a means of protecting things that are necessary.
I'm not this pacifist type person that says,
you know what, if they are trying to hurt my family, let them do it. No.
No, if someone's trying to hurt my family, it's a time of war.
And we also war spiritually.
Really, in the New Testament, it's only a time of war
spiritually. We're at constant war spiritually.
And even from a physical perspective, there would be times when we have to war.
Now, it says in Psalms 97, look at verse 10,
Ye that love the Lord hate evil.
You know what this tells me? You cannot love God and love evil at the same time.
Because if you love evil, you hate God. And if you love God, you hate evil.
They're the exact same emotion.
They're the opposite side of the same coin. He says this,
So notice who gets delivered out of the hand of the wicked.
The person that hates evil. Not the person that's loving the evil.
Not the person that's sympathizing with the evil.
Not the person that's appreciating the evil or saying it's precious and special.
But rather the one that hates the evil, that's the one who God's going to deliver out of the hand of the wicked.
Now go to Leviticus chapter 19. Now what some people would say is this.
They would say, well you know what, Pastor Shelley, because you're so hateful,
you're reaping what you sow. You're reaping hatred.
But here's the thing. That is not what the Bible teaches.
Because if you have real love, you're going to have some hatred towards some object.
But the reality is that by not hating, you're actually not loving.
By hating, you're not loving. Now look what it says in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 17.
So you know what, if I hate sin, if I hate my brother doing that which is evil,
then I'll rebuke him. And if I hate him, I won't.
So notice, by hating sin, by hating evil, by rebuking my neighbor, it's actually loving him.
So people would say, oh man, you're really reaping all this hatred towards you for hating sin.
No, no, no, you got it wrong. I'm loving you.
I love people by warning them about sin. I love people by testifying.
When Christ went around rebuking people, when Christ went around testifying that the world was wicked,
he was actually loving them. He was actually, if you truly understand how this equation works.
Now go to Amos chapter number 5, Amos chapter number 5.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you'll warn about evil.
You'll talk about things that are wicked and you'll rebuke people that are wicked
to either warn from the wicked person or to help the wicked person repent and get right with God
and actually turn from that wickedness and stop doing that which is evil, stop being wicked.
Even in the New Testament, Christians can be called wicked.
The Bible says very clearly in 1 Corinthians chapter number 5,
people that are involved in certain sins like being a drunker, being a railer, being an extortioner, being a fornicator,
he says that wicked person, we're supposed to put that person outside the church
and he calls them that wicked person even if they're saved.
He says if the person's called a brother, so that means it's implying the person is saved.
So even a saved person can be wicked at some level.
Of course, obviously if you're saved, you're always going to heaven.
If you're saved, no matter what sin you do, you'll get into heaven
and from the Lord's sight on judgment day, you'll be deemed righteous.
But we kind of have two dichotomies when we get saved.
The moment I'm saved, I'm justified in the sight of God.
The moment I'm saved, I'm right with God in a sense and I'm saved.
But that does not mean that if I don't sin in the future, that God won't be displeased with that sin,
that God won't account that sin to my...
He won't basically hold me responsible for that sin or punish me or look at me and say that I'm doing wrong.
So there's kind of just two different dichotomies there.
So we have to understand that even if I'm saved, I can still be a wicked person.
I can still be an evil person. I can still do things that are wrong.
Therefore, it's important to hear the whole word of God being preached
so as to realize we need to stop sinning and basically sanctify ourselves and be more like Christ.
Now, here's point one.
Why do they hate us?
Because we rebuke them.
That's why.
And Christ already told us that's the reason why they hated him.
It's because he testified of the works that they do and they're evil.
And why do people hate Christians?
Because they tell them that they're sinful.
Because they tell them they're doing wrong.
Because they're testifying against their evil deeds.
Because they reprove them and they rebuke them.
And look what it says in Amos chapter 5 verse 10.
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
Notice what the Bible says.
When you actually preach the word of God, when you tell people that they're doing something wrong,
what is their emotional response going to be from the world?
They hate you.
They hate him.
Now, the gate's an interesting concept in the Bible.
There's a lot of different symbolism and other things that we could look at.
What does the gate really picture?
You know, in the Old Testament, the gate would picture a few different things.
First of all, it would picture a position of authority or power.
The Bible talks about those rulers or elders.
They would be meeting at the gate.
Decisions and judgments were made at the gate.
And so the person that's rebuking in the gate is oftentimes picturing someone, what?
In a position of authority or a position of judgment, someone that's making certain decrees.
What are other things that we could look at at the gate?
The gate symbolizes a place that's a public place.
Because if you notice, people often go to the gate where people are congregated.
There's a lot of business there.
There's a lot of traffic there.
There's a lot of people there.
And so notice the person rebuking in the gate,
he's not, you know, saying things that are wrong over in a closet somewhere
or over in a corner somewhere in a hiding.
No, he's making it known to everybody how he feels.
He's making it very public.
He's putting it out there in the open.
And some people get mad.
Some people get mad.
They'd say, well, Pastor Shelley, why don't you just hide everything that you say?
Well, why would I hide it when Jesus Christ is telling me to shout it from the housetops?
Number one, I thought our light was supposed to shine,
that they may see our good works and glorify our Father, which is in heaven,
is what the Bible actually teaches.
You know, there's no point in hiding the truth.
The truth can stand scrutiny.
The problem is people just don't like the truth.
But notice the person that's rebuking in the gate,
he's going out in the public place in a position of authority.
And another symbolism of the gate,
doesn't the gate kind of symbolize people coming in and going out
or people not being let in or people not going out?
And here's the reality.
You know, a pastor fulfills a lot of these same roles, doesn't he?
Isn't a pastor in a position of authority?
Isn't a pastor supposed to make his preaching public?
And isn't the pastor controlling who's coming in and out of the church?
Isn't the pastor, when we look at Peter,
who is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven,
isn't he making decisions that impact people's eternal destiny?
In the sense that, obviously, this extends beyond the pastor,
but we're the ones that have the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
We're the ones that help people realize how to get saved,
how to go to heaven.
And so we have this person that's rebuking in the gate,
and look, when we go out soul winning, it's the same thing.
What? Because you're doing it in a public place,
you're in a position of power,
and you know what?
You are that gatekeeper trying to help people come into the city of refuge,
help come into the city of the Lord,
and you know what? People hate that.
People don't like it when you knock on their door and you say,
you're a sinner.
People don't like it when you knock on your door and you say,
you're going to hell if you don't believe what I just showed you.
You know, people don't like it when you tell them
the church that you're going to is lying to you
and teaching you a false gospel,
and your pastor's a false prophet,
and you need to actually believe the Bible.
People don't like that.
And a lot of times, they'll hate him that rebuketh in the gate.
They'll despise him, they'll abhor him that speaketh, notice this, uprightly.
But why is it that they hate you?
They don't really hate you, they hate the words that you're saying,
and those words are Jesus Christ because they hate Jesus Christ.
But notice why they're going to hate you?
Because you're rebuking them.
Verse 11,
For as much therefore as your treadings upon the poor,
and you take from him burdens of wheat,
ye have built houses of hewn stone,
but ye shall not dwell in them.
Ye have planted pleasant vineyards,
ye shall not drink wine of them.
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.
They afflict the just, they take a bribe,
and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time,
for it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil that ye may live,
and so the Lord the God of hosts shall be with you as ye have spoken.
Look at this verse.
You know what the Bible's teaching us?
At the time of Amos, he's saying,
your city, your area is very wicked, it's very evil,
they've turned away from God,
and if you want to be spared,
if you want God's grace,
you know what you need to do?
You need to hate the evil and love the good.
You know what you need to do?
You need to do what you need to do.
You know what you need to do?
You need to rebuke in the gate.
You know what you need to do?
You need to establish judgment today.
You need to preach the word of God.
You need to go out there into the highways and the hedges
and to compel them to come in,
and you know what?
The people that decide not to continue preaching the gospel,
they decide to compromise and not preach all of the Bible.
They decide to not stand firm on what the Bible says.
The Bible's making it clear God's not going to show them grace.
God's not going to show them mercy.
God's not going to show himself strong on the behalf of them
that don't have their heart perfect toward him.
You know, he's going to show himself strong
on the part of those that do have their heart perfect toward him.
Go to Revelation chapter number 2, Revelation chapter 2.
Well, Pastor Shelley, are you saying that we should just
hate the sin, love the sinner?
Well, that's what Gandhi said.
That's not what the Bible says, number 1.
But obviously, we're supposed to hate sin.
I mean, that's not even a question.
Now, when it comes to, you know, hating the sin and loving the sinner,
you know, the way that you'd actually do that
if you actually believe that was true is you would rebuke him, though.
You would tell them that they're wicked.
That's actually loving the sinner.
Loving the sinner is telling them how horrible their sin is.
But why do they say hate the sin, love the sinner?
Because what they're trying to tell you is don't correct him.
That's what they're really trying to say.
Don't tell them that he's wrong. Don't tell them he's doing anything.
Go up there and say, I love you, brother.
You're so great. You're so wonderful.
I just hate the abstract idea of lying.
But you have to realize sin does not exist without the sinner.
It's kind of weird to abstract these two ideas
because if no sinners existed, no sin would exist.
So how do I hate this abstract idea that didn't happen on its own?
You know, I hate the idea of murderer, but I don't hate the murderer.
You know, it's like this is a weird decoupling of what the Bible does not decouple.
And God tells us very clearly that he hates the bloody and deceitful man.
He abhors his soul.
God's soul hates the bloody and deceitful man.
He doesn't say like, oh, I love you, but I just really don't like your sin, guys.
No, God's angry with the wicked every single day, is what the Bible says.
Why? Because he's the source of the sin.
He's the reason why sin even exists in the first place.
Now, look, obviously I don't just hate people because they're sinful.
I want everyone to be saved.
I want everyone to go to heaven.
God wants everyone to go to heaven.
But at the end of the day, we can't just decouple sin from the sinner
and act like people who commit horrible atrocities.
Oh, that's okay, because we're all sinful.
No, people need to be held accountable for their actions.
And look, I can't be called a liar if you abstract lying from me.
I mean, think about all the sins that are attached to the person.
It's fornicator.
That's not just the sin, that's the person.
Liar, that's the person.
Murderer, that's the person.
You know, this weird decoupling of sin from the person is not biblical.
Now, we should hate all kinds of different things,
not just even sin, but false doctrine especially,
and Jesus Christ hates that.
We should preach against false doctrine.
Look what it says in Revelation chapter 2 or 6.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate.
So notice, Jesus is saying, I hate certain doctrine.
And what's interesting about the Bible is it never tells you explicitly
what the deeds of the Nicolaitans are, okay?
Or look at verse 15.
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which thing I hate.
I'm assuming, you know, basically when we read this in coordination,
that their doctrine is causing them to do something,
and God hates both of it.
He hates the doctrine, and he hates what they're doing.
And so it's important that we realize we need to preach against false doctrine.
We need to preach against the deeds of the Catholics.
The Catholics offer a blasphemous sacrifice called transubstantiation,
where they pretend like they're literally eating Jesus' body,
where they're literally drinking Jesus' blood, which is blasphemous,
because he's a once for all sacrifice is what the Bible teaches.
And they don't understand the spiritual truths of the Bible.
They understand them only carnally because they're only carnal,
because they're not saved.
You know, we need to preach against the deeds of the Catholic priests
who are molesting children at alarming rates.
And we need to hate all their doctrines.
You know, a lot of Catholics will believe that they shouldn't get married.
And then when they're not married and they have all these young children around them,
guess what happens?
All kinds of averted, sick freaks, you know, are preying on children
because they're burning in lust, and they have nowhere to have an outlet for that,
which should have been in marriage,
and they are just preying on children in exponential numbers today.
And you know, God hates that.
And he's not like, I just love that priest, but I just hate all of his actions.
No. God hates the child molester.
God hates the serial rapist.
God hates the murderer, okay?
Go to 1 Kings chapter number 22.
You know, God, when someone dies, doesn't send their sins to hell.
He sends the sinner to hell.
Did you realize that?
He doesn't send lying to hell.
He doesn't send murder to hell.
He sends the murderer.
He sends the liar.
He sends the rapist.
He sends the child molester.
So it's kind of hard to decouple the sinner from the sin
when God is sending the sinner to hell
because of his sins, because of his actions, okay?
And look, God loved them at some point.
He died for them, and he wanted them to be saved.
But because of the rejection of the gospel, because they don't believe in him,
they're going to be judged according to their works,
found guilty, and that's why they are burning in hell.
Now, look what it says in 1 Kings chapter 22.
Look at verse 8.
And the king of Israel said in Josephat,
There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah,
by whom we may inquire of the Lord.
But I hate him,
for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
Now, here's the funny, in this story,
the king of Israel, he has all these false prophets come
and just tell him anything and everything that he wants to hear.
But Josephat's wise enough to realize
these are a bunch of skinny, jean-wearing, effeminate, queer-type pastors
that aren't real, and he's like,
Is there like a real man of God around here?
And he's like, There is one.
And isn't it interesting, in a huge city,
in an entire nation, he says there's one.
Think about that.
I mean, it's like, Isn't there any other Baptists around here?
You know, it's like, There's one.
There's just one.
You know, and some people would say like, Why do you go to that church?
Because there's only like one of them in my area.
There's only one.
You know, and it's not to like pat ourselves on the back.
I'm sure Micaiah wishes that there was thousands of them.
It's just the reality is, typically, the real Christian,
the real man of God, is a small number like one.
Like Moses.
Like Joshua.
Like, you know, Elijah.
It doesn't matter. You just go down the list.
Jeremiah.
And obviously, it's not to say he's the only saved person,
but he's the only person taking a bold stand.
He's the only leader amongst the people.
And there's plenty of times when the children of Israel didn't even have one.
Read the book of Judges.
It's like there's just no one standing in the gap.
There's no one making up the hedge.
You know, that's a sad reality.
But notice why they hated him.
Because he didn't prophesy good.
He was the first hate preacher.
He wasn't the first, but he's in the whole list of hate preachers.
Oh, this guy's so hateful.
He never preaches any good unto me.
But notice, you know, the king of Israel, at least he admits it.
He's not sitting here and saying like, I love him, though.
He's like, No, I hate him.
Why does he hate him? Because he preaches the truth.
And the king of Israel hates the truth because the truth is Jesus Christ.
Go to Proverbs 26. Go to Proverbs 26.
You know, in 2 Chronicles 18, it says the same thing.
It says that the king of Israel said unto Joseph,
That there is yet one man, by whom he may inquire of the Lord.
But I hate him, for he never prophesied good unto me.
You say, Well, Pastor Schell, you seem too negative.
Well, you know what, Micaiah?
He never prophesied any good unto the king of Israel.
There was nothing good to say.
It's like, Hey, do you have a good word for me?
You know, what if Biden called me up?
He's like, Hey, Pastor Schell, do you have a good word for me?
It's like, No.
What if the pope called me up?
He's like, Hey, do you have a good word for me?
No.
There's some people that there's nothing good to prophesy for, though.
And you say, Well, that seems mean.
How do you expect that person to go to heaven, Pastor Schell?
I don't.
You know, I preach a sermon about how Sodomite salvation is debunked, according to the Bible.
And they're like, Well, how is that going to get them saved?
And I'm like, It's not.
That was the point of the sermon.
The whole point is that some people are not going to be saved.
It's just too late, okay?
And for the king of Israel, he had nothing good to say.
There wasn't a message.
You know, when Herod is asking Jesus Christ to talk to him, he says nothing.
And you say, Why?
Because there's nothing good to say.
And look, when you meet people that is too late, you know what you should say?
Nothing.
Because there's nothing good to prophesy.
There's no point.
It's only going to make things worse.
Just keep your mouth shut, like Christ did.
Proverbs 26, look at what it says in verse 24.
This is what true hatred actually looks like.
He that hateth, dissembleth with his lips.
Now, we see that word again, dissembleth.
Remember when it talks about, Let your love be without dissimulation?
So he that hateth is the one that what?
Dissembleth with his lips.
And notice it's going to help define it for us.
And layeth up deceit within him.
When he speaketh fair, believe him not.
For there are seven abominations in his heart.
Now, what does fair mean?
Fair means good, nice, kind, pleasant.
So he's saying when someone comes up to you, and they're like, Oh, I love you.
Oh, we're your friend.
I'm your buddy.
But he's flattering you?
It's actually because he hates you.
You know, when I walk outside and they're like, We love you, Pastor Shelley.
That's what you call flattery.
That person is dissembling in their heart.
Because then when they call me on the voicemail, it's not that loving.
It's not saying the same message.
You know how many people have privately called me and left me a voicemail and says, I love you?
Zero.
But that's what you get outside in public.
Why?
Because they're liars.
Because they just want to pretend.
They're a pretender.
They're fake.
They say one thing, but they don't really mean it.
There's seven abominations in that person's heart.
Notice with this.
Whose hatred is covered by deceit.
Love is love.
That's the hatred being covered by deceit.
You know what they mean by love is love?
They want to molest every single child in this country, and they want to call it loving.
That's what the real message is.
And it says, His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation.
Yeah, through preaching.
I'm going to get up and show what that person's really like.
Verse 27, Whoso digeth a pit shall fall there, and he that rolleth a stone will return upon him.
A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
You know who's really hateful is the person that's lying to you, not the person that's telling you the truth.
Let's get the real picture today.
You know, the person that's rebuking you and correcting you and telling you what the Bible says loves you,
the person that's lying to you and saying,
You're great, brother. You're so wonderful. You're so kind. You're such a precious person.
But in their heart, they despise you.
That's the person that hates you.
That's the person that really has no respect for you.
Go to Psalms 36 for a moment.
Go to Psalms 36.
Why do they hate us?
Because we rebuke them.
You know what?
It's for our love.
Isn't that interesting how you love somebody and rebuke them, but yet they hate you?
But that's what the Bible teaches.
He says, Reprieve not a scorner lest he hate thee.
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
So, you know, a scorner, he can't even take mild correction.
And, you know, it's funny because I was listening to one of the most liberal Christians I've ever heard in my entire life.
Okay?
And I mean that.
There's this church called Watermark Community Church.
It's a huge church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
And they have a ministry on Tuesday nights called The Porch.
And it's for only young people.
And their pastors are the most lascivious pastors I've ever heard.
I mean they're talking about explicit graphic detail things that you would never even imagine hearing in a bar.
I mean it's like from the pulpit.
They're preaching all kinds of weird junk.
Well, I heard this guy get up and he's talking about these basically LGBTQ, you know, community or whatever.
Sodomites, okay?
Fags.
He's talking about them and he said, well, everybody acts like if we were more tolerant, you know, they wouldn't kill themselves as much.
And he said, but that's not true.
Because they've done studies and in some of the Scandinavian countries where it's illegal to say anything negative about them.
They have higher suicide rates than in countries where we have free speech and can say whatever we want about them.
So if we become more tolerant, they're going to kill themselves more.
That's what the science is.
This is what a liberal Christian was saying.
And the whole sermon was about how much he loved them and was like falling over.
But here's the thing.
I guarantee if our church didn't exist, they'd go protest his church and get mad at him.
Because you know what?
A scorner, he can't even take reproof.
He can't even take just the truth even when someone was trying to tell them, hey, look, you guys have a problem.
You have a serious issue and it's not us.
It's not what the Bible says.
It's you that's the problem.
Look what it says in Psalm 36 verse 2.
For he flattered himself with his own eyes until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
You know why they do that?
It's because they realize how disgusting and vile they are, the world does.
And so they have to pretend like they're a loving, kind person so as to feel good about themselves, feel better about themselves.
So really a lot of times their flattery is just to themselves.
They're just trying to deceive themselves and trick themselves into thinking that they're the right person or they're good or we're on the right side of this.
But you know what?
His iniquity is going to be found to be hateful.
His sin is what is hateful.
Go to Genesis chapter 37.
You know the law teaches us how to love.
When you break the law, you're hating people.
It's interesting how we show people, hey, you're breaking the law showing your hatred and they're saying, no, you're hateful for telling me that.
It's like the murderer is somehow not hateful.
The person saying the murder is wrong is the hateful one, right?
The person lying is not the hateful one.
The person calling out the liar is the hateful one, right?
The child molester is not the hateful one.
It's the person calling out the child molester, right?
This is backwards logic.
Yet this is what the world will try to tell you.
This is what the media will try to tell you.
This is what television and Hollywood and Gandhi and false religion is trying to constantly tell you is that it's wrong to correct people.
It's wrong to judge.
And I wonder why they hate judgment.
Oh, yeah, because they don't want to be judged.
Why do you think it's become so popular in our culture?
Judge not.
Why do they keep saying that over and over again?
Because they hate being judged.
Because they hate being reproved.
Because they hate being corrected.
Yet the Bible teaches that we're supposed to rebuke in the gate.
Point number one, why they hate us, we rebuke them.
Let's read another point, Genesis chapter 37, look at verse 3.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him.
My second point is this, why they hate us is because God respects us more.
Because God respects us more, and he loves us more.
And you say, well, why would God love and respect us more?
Is it because you're a better person? Is it because you sin less? No.
It's because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
It's because when you're a saved, born-again child of God, God loves you more than the unsaved.
He has more respect unto you, being a child of God, than when you're not.
God is going to favor you more than the other people.
And look, people that are saved have God's blessing.
People that are saved have God's favor.
People that are saved have God's delight.
The unsaved don't have that. They have the wrath of God abiding on them.
And so it drives them crazy to look at you and realize that God loves you more, God has more respect for you.
If they are in right standing with God, they cannot stand it.
Now, this pictures a lot of different things.
Go to Genesis chapter 4, go to Genesis chapter 4.
This also pictures how much and why the Jews hated Christians.
Because God loved the Christians more.
Because God had the blessing and the favor on the Christians and not on the Jews,
and they despised the Christians for being right with God.
And look, some people say, well, is it just because they're not Christian?
No, it's typically the fake Christians, fake religion, that gets the most upset about this.
The most angered about this.
Because they're striving for God to be pleased with them.
They want God to be pleased with them.
They want to have his favor.
They want his blessing.
But they're not getting it.
And because they're not getting it and you are, they are envious.
They're envious of the favor that God has towards you.
They're envious of the blessing.
Just like his brethren were envious against Joseph's coat of many colors.
And you know that many colors could represent the Gentiles because there's many nations, right?
You got all these different colors picturing the nations of the Gentiles and how they hate all of them.
But look at what it says in Genesis chapter 4 verse 3.
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell.
So notice God has respect unto Abel and his offering.
Notice how it's worded.
It doesn't say just the offering.
He had respect unto Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
So God has no respect for Cain.
God respects Abel.
So why does Cain hate Abel?
Because of the respect that God has towards Cain.
Or Abel, I'm sorry.
And why does Abel have that respect?
Is Abel just, you know, the most godly person ever?
We don't know.
He's probably a pretty righteous guy but it's the imputed righteousness from Jesus Christ.
Why did he offer a sacrifice of the firstlings of his flock?
Because that picture is Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.
What did Cain offer?
The fruit of the ground.
Which pictures what?
Work.
Because you know what?
It takes a lot of work to grow plants.
It takes a lot of work to grow fruit and produce all this and you're tilling and you have all
this work.
But you just sacrifice the lamb as a picture of the free gift that Jesus Christ offers us.
And you have the two religions that exist in this world.
Salvation by faith and salvation by works.
Those are the only religions that exist.
I don't care what you call it.
You can call it Catholic.
You can call it Protestant.
You can call it Hinduism.
You can call it Taoism.
You can call it atheism.
They all say works.
You can call it Islam.
It's works.
You can call it Mormonism.
It's works.
You know what?
But the Bible makes it clear there's only one way to heaven and it's faith in Jesus Christ.
And because of that, everybody that believes in works hates the guy that received it by faith.
That got it as a gift.
Because they're working for it and not getting it.
They're striving and doing all this effort and they're not getting saved.
They're not getting the favor.
They're not getting the blessing.
So they despise the guy that got it for free.
Instead of just humbling themselves and receiving it for free, they hate the guy that has it.
They're envious of the guy that has it.
They want to kill the guy that has it.
Look at verse 8.
And Cain talked with Abel's brother and it came to pass, when they were in the field,
that Cain rose up against Abel's brother and slew him.
See, the first murder was between brethren.
And Cain is not an atheist, mind you.
Cain is trying to worship the same God that Abel is, but he did it wrong.
He is not offering the right offering.
He sought it not by faith, but by the works of the law.
And because he sought it by his works, he had no respect from God.
Go to 1 John 3.
It's going to give us more information as to why Cain killed Abel.
But it's because God respected Abel and he did not respect Cain.
1 John 3, look at verse 11.
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Verse 12.
Not as Cain, who is of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew him.
So it's saying why.
Wherefore means why.
Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Hey, because he was righteous.
And look, we could look at this in two different ways.
We could say, well, Abel was a more righteous person.
But if we look at what Abel did to be righteous in the Bible, it wasn't his works.
It was his sacrifice that made him righteous.
And because of his sacrifice, God had respect unto him.
So why is it that Cain is so mad at Abel?
It's because he's saved.
The unsaved hate the saved.
Go to Proverbs 29.
Let me show you this.
Go to Proverbs chapter 29.
Let me show you what the Bible says on this.
But you have to understand that the unsaved will despise you for having the favor of God.
They will despise you for being right with God.
They don't like the godly person.
They don't like the saved Christian.
And arguably, some people that are saved are more sinful than the unsaved.
You know, some people, especially some of you that are older or got saved when you were older,
they go out and talk to a teenager, and you've committed ten times the sins that this teenager has.
But at the end of the day, if you're saved and he's not, you have more favor with God.
God has more respect than you, and you have the blessing of God on you.
And that person has to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, meaning they have to change their mind,
stop trusting in their works, and trust alone in Christ to be saved.
But look at what the Bible says in Proverbs 29, verse 10.
The bloodthirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul.
Notice what it says, the bloodthirsty, they hate the upright.
Don't get this idea that there's these people out there that love everyone.
No, the just, they hate the evil.
The evil, they hate the just.
You're somewhere on that scale.
I don't care who you are.
You can pretend and lie to everybody and say that you love everyone, but you're a liar and you're a deceiver.
And look, none of these people get up and say, I love Hitler.
Here's my challenge, okay?
Since they love everybody, I want these people to say that they love Donald Trump.
Say they love Hitler, love Charles Manson.
They don't love those.
It's just insanity, okay?
Those people hate all kinds of different people, and we know they hate me.
And they hate you, and they haven't even met you.
You're some of the greatest people I've ever met in my entire life, and they hate you for one reason.
Because you like to hear the Bible being preached.
Because you like hearing what Christ said.
And because you like hearing what Christ said about the world and testifying of its evil, they hate you.
Because you're saved and God has respect for you, they hate you.
Because they don't have a church to go to this morning and be right with God, they hate you.
Did I have you go to Micah? Go to Micah chapter 3 for a moment. Go to Micah chapter number 3.
And you say, well, I don't want people to hate me. Sorry.
It's not like if you quit church and stop serving God, people won't hate you.
It's not like if you become an atheist, people won't hate you.
There's not an option of no hate, okay?
So the reality is, you have to just pick your battles and just realize,
you know, I'd rather know all the people that hate me rather than wondering around who does, you know?
I'd rather just be obvious and manifest and know who the enemy is and know the people that despise me.
And look, of the people that hate me, they're not all the same.
You know, some people are ignorant, some people are just foolish and, you know, we're supposed to pray for their blessing.
We're supposed to say, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
Some people hate you because they're just haters of God, you know, and that's a completely different category.
That's someone that I'm not going to show any kindness or pray for their good.
You know, the Bible has imprecatory prayers.
How am I supposed to ever pray that if I'm supposed to just love everybody carte blanche?
You know, it just doesn't really make any sense.
You know, and how am I supposed to love my children when people are trying to hurt and attack them on a regular basis?
You know, it's like people have distracted themselves from the reality that we have egregious numbers of sex trafficking and abortion and just pedophilia and all this stuff happening in our nation.
And it's like somehow no one's responsible for that, like no one's doing these atrocities or something, you know, even though we realize lots of people are doing it.
And we know who they are. The Bible tells us about them.
And I feel like most people, if they realized who child molesters really were, they wouldn't have a problem with my preaching.
It's just they try to abstract the definition of child molester from who the Bible describes them as being the sodomites, okay?
But look what it says in Micah chapter number 3 and look what it says in verse 1.
And I said, here I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and you princes of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know judgment?
Look what he's saying. You guys that are in charge, you're supposed to know judgment. You're supposed to be the judges.
You're supposed to be the guys getting up declaring judgment.
Verse 2, who hate the good and love the evil. He's getting mad at the preachers and at the pastors for loving evil today.
You know, it's sick. You drive up and down the street and you see all these churches and they say, everybody welcome.
Come as you are. Come in, rapist. Come in, homie.
I met a guy at the Red Hot Preaching Conference and you know what he said to me?
He's saying he's having such a hard time finding a church in his area.
And he went into a Baptist church and the pastor got up and he's preaching on a sermon.
And he said someone of these disgusting freaks walked in and he said, come here and give me a hug.
He said he just walked out of that church. Praise the Lord.
I mean, what kind of sick, gross hurt? I mean, you're a fag if you want that.
I don't care who you are. That's disgusting.
They love the evil and they hate the good.
You know, I get that. I bet. I bet that pastor doesn't like me.
I bet he wouldn't want to give me a hug. In his mutual buddy, okay?
I don't want that hug. Look what they do.
They who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones,
who also eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin from off them,
and they break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot and as the flesh with the cauldron.
This is what he's saying. Isn't this extreme?
Now, this is not overly literal or like a physical thing that he's saying.
They're not literally walking up with a knife and just chopping off, you know, sections of their body
and cooking it and eating it. It's not Hannibal Lecter, okay?
I'm not going to explain that, but what he's saying here is he's doing them damage, though.
And here's the thing. When you don't preach against the evils of this world, do you know what you're doing?
You're letting evil predators come in the church and harm your congregation.
Harm the flock, gnaw on the flock, wolves coming in, destroying the flock,
and they just sit there and they love that wolf, and they just let that wolf just destroy and hurt and damage
rather than trying to get them out of there.
He says in verse 4,
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but we will not hear them.
So he's basically saying like after the wolves have come in and started devouring the flock and destroying them,
and they're like, uh, that was a mistake.
God, will you help us? He's like, no.
He will even hide his face from them at that time as they have behaved themselves ill in their doing.
So notice the person that's going to get grace from God is the one that was rebuking them.
The person that embraces and loves them gets devoured, and God turns his eyes away and says,
You asked for it, buddy. Have fun.
Verse 5,
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make My people err, that bite with their teeth and cry,
Peace, oh peace and love, oh just love, love, love.
And he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision, and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine,
and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
I want to know why a lot of these people begin to just get to a place where their preaching just is terrible,
it doesn't make any sense, there's no power, because they just loved the evil for so long,
and then God just cast dark shadow over them, and now he's not speaking to them.
They've quenched the Holy Spirit, and he's not illuminating things to them anymore.
They're not reading the Word of God, they're not being Spirit-filled anymore,
and so their preaching is not Spirit-filled anymore, it's Republican-filled!
It's Fox News-filled!
And look, Fox News puts Bruce Jenner on the television and tells you how wonderful it is,
as a woman, loving the evil.
And then what do Baptists do with the same thing?
Why? Because they have dark cloud hanging over them.
Go to Matthew chapter 10, I'll give you my third point.
And I've been alluding at this and hitting on this the whole time,
but I want to make a couple more verses illuminate your mind about this,
but why do they hate us?
Well, they hate us because we rebuke them, they hate us because God respects us,
and number three, they hate us just because they hate Jesus.
It's that simple.
They just hate Jesus.
You know, a lot of these people out here are claiming to be peaceful,
but some of them have never claimed to be peaceful,
and they've had some of the worst signs I've ever seen.
Blaspheming the name of Christ, saying the most perverted things about our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that should just go to show you, the problem is not with me,
I could be replaced by any person, and they'd still be doing the same thing.
It's not about who I am.
It's about the words that we speak, which are Jesus Christ, and they really just hate the Bible.
They really hate the Word of God.
And a lot of these people are former pastors and former, you know, whatever.
It's ridiculous, because they just hate the Bible.
Matthew 10, look at verse 22.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
But he that endureth at the end shall be saved.
Notice in the end times who you're going to be hated by.
All men. That's intense.
So, you want to think like, well, if we just get all the truth out there,
and we make it known, people will get on our side.
Unfortunately, the darkness is going to win in that regard.
It's going to get to a point where everybody hates you.
All men.
You're going to be hated of all men.
But remember why.
For my name's sake.
In the name of Jesus.
Go to John chapter 15.
Go back to John chapter number 15.
I'm going to read for you in Matthew 25.
The Bible says,
And the king shall answer and shall say unto them,
Verily I stand you, and as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
So Christ says, when you do something unto one of his children,
when you do something unto one of his flock,
he takes it personal.
He says, hey, you do good unto my children, you did good unto me.
But the reciprocal is the same.
You do bad unto the children of God, you're doing bad unto Christ.
He takes that personally.
Just like if you were going to attack my family, I take that personally.
You want to attack my church, I take that personally.
You want to attack the word of God, I take that personally.
And you know what? Christ takes it personally when his children are being persecuted,
when his children are being lied about and slandered and attacked
and evil's coming against them.
And he says, you know what? He's going to hold them guilty.
And when you hate Jesus, you also hate another person.
You got double trouble.
Look what it says in John 15, verse 23.
He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.
Not only do you have Jesus mad at you, you also have God the Father mad at you, too.
You don't want that combo.
Look at verse 24.
If I had not done among them the works, which none other man did,
they had not had sinned, but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Now, in this context, you have to understand this.
He's not saying that they weren't sinners before Christ showed up.
What he's saying is this.
They weren't going to be held liable for not knowing who Jesus is
if they had just seen him walking and they'd never seen him in miracles,
they'd never heard him talk.
But he's saying after he did the miracles, after he preached to them
and they realized they had the opportunity to know who he is
and then they don't believe in him,
now they have a horrible sin on their account for not believing in Jesus Christ.
And notice, because they didn't believe in him, they don't hate just Jesus,
they also hate God the Father.
Meaning what?
Jews can't love God the Father and hate Jesus.
No religion loves God the Father and hates Jesus.
You either love Jesus and God the Father or you hate both.
And here's another thing.
You can't hate Christians and love God either.
Because if you hate Christians, you're hating Jesus and you're hating God the Father.
And you're a liar is what the Bible says.
So we have to realize we need to love our brethren.
We need to love Christians.
And look, loving someone does not mean that you only speak peaceably unto them.
It's also reproof.
It's also rebuke at times.
And you know there's been people that I know are 100% saved
and I've had to call them out and I've even named names at times.
But you know what?
That's not because I hate them.
Look, the Bible making it clear.
You reproof people that you love.
You hate them when you don't reproof them.
You hate them when you let sin be suffering on them.
Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 19.
Go to 2 Chronicles chapter number 19.
Not only this, God gets really mad when you help assist or support people that hate God.
You know, you can't be neutral.
A lot of people want to just be neutral.
They want to just say, well, you know what?
I think it's the best policy for me is just to love everybody regardless of what's going on.
It's impossible to be neutral.
And in fact, there's plenty of stories in the Bible where you see neutrality ends up getting the worst punishment.
You look at Judges chapter 19 and 20.
You see the children of Israel gather themselves against the inhabitants of Gibeah
and they're basically going to destroy the city.
Nothing happens to Gibeah. I'm mixing up the name there.
They're gathering against the city that basically is supporting the sons of Belo there.
And there's a certain tribe that doesn't come with them.
There's a certain group of men that doesn't come with them to support them.
And they put them to death for being neutral, for not getting involved.
You know, I would not want to be a Christian that knows what's right on this issue,
that knows what the Bible says, and just is neutral.
Because God's like, why are you not in the fight? Why are you not on my side here?
You know, the people that are ignorant are going to probably get more of a pass
from the people that know to do good and do it not to him and his sin.
Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 19 verse 2.
And Jehu the son of Anani the seer went out to meet him and said to king Josephat,
Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?
Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.
So the same guy that hated Micaiah, okay?
Now think about this, because I want to draw all these connections together.
Remember when I said hating Christians, hating Jesus?
Well, remember the king of Israel hated Micaiah.
And then what is it telling us later? That he hates the Lord.
So where was his real hatred at?
Lord Jesus Christ, he hates God.
And who is God mad at?
He's mad at Jehoshaphat for helping the king of Israel.
For helping someone that hates God.
For helping someone that hates the Lord's prophets.
For someone that refuses to hear his instruction.
Why would I want to go out and support that person?
Give them water. Do good unto them.
You know, that's treason.
That's a traitor against the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go to Psalms 139.
The Bible teaches that you should not love those that hate the Lord,
but rather you should hate those that hate the Lord.
And that's not a popular thing anymore.
That's gone by the wayside.
And I've seen people, you know, that still understand this concept,
and even realize that churches teach this,
but they wholeheartedly reject it.
I've seen a guy, he was saying something online,
he's saying, oh man, I went to church when I was growing up,
and they taught me how to hate.
But then when I got out of church,
and I started going to these parachurch ministries,
they helped me realize how to love.
And so I realize now I just love.
I just love everybody and whatever.
And it's like, well, that church that you're going to sounded pretty good.
And I thought the church was the pillar and ground of the truth.
Not your little cute replacement for church.
It's all about love.
No one's all about love. That's a false religion.
Look, I'm supposed to believe the Bible today,
and the Bible tells us to sing psalms, and look what the Bible says in Psalms 139.
Verse 21.
Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee,
and I might not grieve with those that rise up against thee.
I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them mine enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
So notice the psalmist is saying, I hate those who hate God.
I'm grieved with them.
Look, how can you not be grieved with someone that hates the Lord?
That shows you have a disdain for God.
You have a disdain for the Lord,
because if someone walks up and says, you know,
I hate your wife, and I hate your children,
and they start saying evil, horrible things about your wife,
and you look to your wife, and you say, I really like this guy.
He's a pretty cool guy.
Yeah, keep going.
You want some water, bro?
How's your spouse going to feel about that?
How are your children going to feel about that?
That's ridiculous.
You know, this doesn't work in any practical application.
I mean, if I go to the Cowboys game wearing an Eagles jersey,
and I'm saying, like, kill them, defeat them, you know,
all the Cowboys fans are going to get really mad at me.
They're not going to be like, this guy's great.
You know, woo.
No, they're going to be like, this guy's,
they're going to start throwing beer at you or whatever.
They're going to start threatening you and beating you up in the stands.
You know, they're not going to have a kind reaction to that.
And the reality is, if you're on the Lord's team,
you can't be on the enemy's team at the same time.
It's ridiculous.
And who made you more loving than God?
God is love.
How can you love somebody that God hates?
You're just so much more loving than God.
Way to go, buddy.
Woo.
No, really, you're fake, is what you are.
You cannot be more loving than God.
And if God is the – the Bible says God is love.
Think about this.
If God is love, yet he hates, that means that hatred is actually real love.
Sending people to hell for rejecting his son is real love.
Punishing evildoers is real love.
Preaching the truth is real love.
And you know what?
The reason why they hate us is because we rebuke them.
We preach the word of God.
But you know what?
That's Jesus.
The reason why they hate us is because God has respect unto us.
But you know why he has respect unto us?
Because of Jesus.
And what's the third point?
They hate us?
Because they hate Jesus.
It's all about Jesus.
It has nothing to do with you.
It has nothing to do with me.
It has nothing to do with being a Christian.
It's just they hate Christ.
That's their real hatred.
That's where their real anger and their resentment is coming from.
And you know what?
If you love Christ, you're not going to reciprocate love to the enemies of Christ.
To those that hate Christ.
Close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for your word.
Thank you for the sacrifice that you gave us through your son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that we would not have a fake love today.
That we would take a biblical perspective on the world that we live in.
And we would wash our brains from all the brainwashing.
Then we would renew ourselves.
And we would cleanse ourselves with the washing of the water of the word.
And we wouldn't let the world tell us what love is like or what hate is like.
They don't even know.
They have no idea.
Real love is understood through loving Christ and loving the word of God.
And loving that which is good.
And I pray that we'd have more love for things that are good and holy.
And more hatred for things that are evil.
And I pray that you would just encourage every single one of us.
That as we go through this difficult fight.
We realize that they hate us because they hate you.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
With that, let's sing one more song before you head out.
Go ahead and take out your red hymnal there right under your seat.
And turn to song number 44.
We'll work till Jesus comes.
Song number 44.
If you want to get some real work for Christ done, come for soul winning this afternoon at 2 o'clock.
We'll meet back here at the church.
Song number 44.
We'll work till Jesus comes.
Let's sing all together at the top.
We'll work till Jesus comes.
Amen. Thank you all for coming this morning.
God bless. You are dismissed.