Happy When Hated

All right, brethren, let's turn in our Bibles to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Brother Laxman is in Atlantic Health Hospital in Morristown. And he's scheduled for open-heart surgery Monday morning. So remember him at our Lord's throne of grace. Remember Sister Davika and the whole family. And I'll try to keep you updated. If y'all keep me posted, I'll keep everybody else posted. Let's go to the Lord before we begin.

Our great God and our Father, we come to you in the name of our Savior, our only righteousness, the Lord Jesus. Lord, help us today to worship you and hear your voice in the word that's spoken. We thank you for what you've done for us, for all the blessings you've given us in Christ, for gathering us here today. Lord, we pray that you will be honored and glorified in the singing, in the preaching, the praying, the scripture reading.

Make our hearts to be set upon Christ alone. And Lord, we pray for Brother Laxman, that you'd be with the doctors and the nurses, that you would give us grace to bow and know that you're sovereign and whatever you've purposed, you shall bring to pass. It'll be good for your people. And Lord, as We go through the days after his surgery, we pray that you would comfort him, comfort us, comfort Sister Devika, and all the children. Lord, you know what is needful, and we pray that you would meet that need as you've promised, as you've always done. We pray for Brother Cyril and Eleanor, pray you be with him.

Our brethren that have needs that we don't know about, Lord, you know. You touch with the feeling of our infirmities and we come to your throne of grace for grace and mercy to help. We're always in need. We're totally dependent upon you, Father. Be with your preachers today as they labor to preach your gospel. Be with your people. Cause your name to be glorified and honored.

Lord, we thank you for all these blessings in Christ's name, amen. All right, Luke 6, our message this morning This hour may be a little longer, but the next one will be shorter. We'll see how this goes. We have another paradox here. As the Lord's given us these beatitudes, this is what he makes his people to be by the new birth, by giving us a new heart. And this is another paradox.

He says in verse 22, blessed, happy are ye when men shall hate you, 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. Our subject is happy when hated, happy when hated. The carnal man hates Christ and therefore they hate the Lord's people. But Christ says, happy are you when you're hated. He says, rejoice in that day and leap for joy because you have Christ as your eternal reward. You have the kingdom of heaven. Now that's reason to rejoice, that's reason to be happy.

Now first of all, it's Christ and his gospel that sinners hate. They hate God, they hate his gospel, and this is why they hate Christ's people. But happy are you when men shall hate you. The gospel, the glad tidings, the good news, is that Christ alone is the salvation of his people. It's that salvation, beginning to end, is of God. The Father chose who He would save. The Son redeemed His people. The Spirit must and shall regenerate His people and preserve us. Beginning to end, salvation's of the Lord. So, any sinner that has confidence in their flesh, they're going to hate that message. They're going to hate Christ.

They're going to hate that He's the only righteousness. The only holiness. Self-made man hears the gospel when it's preached in truth and declares Christ is the only righteousness. When they hear that, they hear that every sinner in Adam is only a sinner. Every man in Adam's only a sinner and cannot save himself. That's what they hear. And when the gospel declares that it's by the obedience of one, that were made righteous, it declares that all man's very best righteousnesses are iniquity.

They're just sin. Go with me to John 15, and let's hear what our Savior told us. John 15 and verse 18. They hated Christ because by him doing the works that only he could do, it showed that sinners cannot do these works. So it uncovered the fact that man's just a sinner, incapable of saving himself, and this is what made men hate the Savior.

John 15, verse 18, he said, 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.

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's written in their law, they hated me without a cause.

The very fact that the Son of God came down, the very fact that he had to work the works, declares no man could work the works, declares no man could obey the law, no man could put away his sin, no man could make himself righteous and holy. Christ had to come do this work. So every man that has confidence in himself that he can do it because Christ did the works and preached this message, men hated him because it uncovered their sin. It uncovered that their very best deeds, just sin. Now when the gospel declares Christ alone is the righteousness of his people, when that goes forth, it declares man at his best state is vanity.

It declares all our righteousnesses are just sin. Listen, here's what men hear. Here's what they hear, they don't hear it savingly, they don't hear it in power to save them, but when the gospel goes forth, the general call, they hear the Lord saying, I will declare thy righteousness and thy works, for they shall not profit thee. That's what they hear.

Verily, every man at his best state, at his best state, is altogether vanity. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, and that's just by preaching the gospel, he's corrected for his iniquity, for his righteousness that doesn't equal the righteousness of God. When you rebuke him for that, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. Surely every man is vanity.

That's how men hear the word. He said, we're all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there's none that calleth upon thy name. There's none that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from us and consumed us because of our iniquities.

And for this message, for this cause, Men hate Christ, they hate his gospel, and therefore they hate his people. But usually, while religious folks are saying these things and hating you, they will say they love you. That's very common. They'll say they're showing you tough love, that's what they're doing. No, no they're not. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there's no occasion of stumbling in him.

The first physical murder that ever took place was a Pharisee killing a child of grace. Abel came in the blood of a lamb. Cain came trusting his fruit. That's what the Pharisee does, he trusts his fruit. That's what Cain came with. And God declared Abel righteous in the righteousness of Christ, and he declared Cain's works were evil, and Cain killed him for it.

The scripture says, don't love like Cain loved. Go with me to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. When you're born of God, God is love, and so when you're born of God, he gives you his spirit. Therefore, love's going to abide in that new spirit, and you're going to abide in love, and that is a commitment to one another. It is not making your brethren earn your love and have to do something for you to love them. And the reason is because you see, that's not how God loved us.

Look here, 1 John 3.13, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we've passed from death into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Now here's where it comes from. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, have dwelleth the love of God in him. God is love. So anybody in whom Christ abides, they will love those born of God. Same spirit, same love, same charity, same commitment to one another by the grace and power of our Lord. Look here, 1 John 4, 7. Loved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.

Now in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Would you give your child for any of these brethren sitting here? We don't have any business glorying in our love, do we? That's what God did. He gave His Son for His people. He sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. It's knowing that, knowing the manner in which He loved us, that teaches us the manner in which we're to love one another.

We won't love in the same degree that God loves or anywhere close to it. But it's that same manner, not requiring your brother to do something to earn your love. Look here. Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son, the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God, after this manner, loved us, we ought also to love one another after this manner.

Now, I'm not saying we do that perfectly or in any way like He did it, but by His Spirit, to some degree we will. And I know men will say, we don't love unconditionally and all that. I'm not talking about what men say, I'm talking about what God says. He said, that's how we ought to love one another. Loving, no man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, there's one reason, God dwelleth in us, and his love has brought us to that end. That's what that word means, his love's perfected and it brought us to this end, that we love one another.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we've seen and we testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God. And we've known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Look at verse 19. We love him because he first loved us. Now if any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? It's only by the Spirit. And this is the commandment we have from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. Pharisees love, don't steal, don't covet, don't take the Lord's name in vain, don't commit adultery.

They love the letter of the law. But this right here, they completely ignore. They'll justify themselves for hating somebody and call it love. But God said, He's a liar. This commandment have we have from him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. This next statement is an absolute fact. Listen now. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that's begotten of him. That's by the spirit of our Lord.

God loved his people when we hated him. God loved us by sending his son. His son laid down his life for us. And the Lord's teaching us that's the manner which we ought to love one another. Not because they loved you, but because you loved them. He didn't love us because we left him. He just, he loved us. His commitment, his bearing one another's burdens, that is our iniquities, our infirmities, our sin, in meekness, restoring one another, and never giving up on one another, loving one another, just like Christ did and does for us.

And then back in our text now, the Lord says, men will separate you and reproach you. Happy are you when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you. The Hebrew word pharisee means to separate. It means separate ones. Luke declares the heart of the Pharisee when he's introduced in the Lord's parable of the Pharisee and the publican. When he's given that parable, our Lord priest, he declared the heart that's in a Pharisee.

This was the heart in all of us. It's what our sin nature is. It's why we can't put confidence in our love because we're gonna have seasons of this same self-righteousness and having to be saved from it continually, but here's the heart in a Pharisee, they trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. There's no faith, there's no love, it's self-trust and it's hatred of others.

Now, through Isaiah, the Lord declared why they separate you from their company. Here's why, Isaiah 65, verse five. And I want to show you that I'm telling you what God says in his word. I'm not making this up. I'm not giving you my opinion. I'm telling you what God said.

Here's why God says men will separate you from their company. Isaiah 65, 5, they say, stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. That's the only place where one Person is said to be holier than another person, the only place in scripture. And it's one sinner saying he's holier than another sinner. And God says, this is what he thinks about that.

These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. We cannot separate ourselves from somebody, separate them from our company without saying I'm holier than you are. You don't deserve to be in my company. You're not good enough to breathe the same air I breathe.

That's what the heart is in doing that. The Pharisee is a self-sanctifier. This is what most all religion is, self-sanctification. When the Lord, in 2 Corinthians 6, when the Lord said, come out from them and be ye separate, It's the self-sanctifying, self-righteous who glory in appearance and not in heart that the Lord separates his people from. But it's the Lord who does the separating. This is a man doing it himself. He thinks that he makes himself holy by his works. He thinks he makes himself holier by his works, by his law keeping. He trusts in himself and therefore he despises others.

Christ said, they will separate you. You're not holy enough to be in their presence. And that's what a Pharisee's saying when they separate you from their company. Brethren, listen, the only people in scripture that had to be separated from the Lord's people were folks that would not sit and hear the gospel of Christ preached. They tried to disrupt the preaching of the gospel, exalting themselves, sowing discord, They have to be put out because the gospel is the most important thing.

But if a person is willing to hear the gospel and they're not causing disruption, this is a hospital for the sick, and it's the best place they can be. They're not kicking Brother Laxman out of the hospital because he has a heart condition. That's the best place he can be, and this is the best place a sinner can be. And what men are going to do is they're going to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, didn't we cast out devils? And we put them out because they weren't holy enough to be in our presence. It's where they ought to be. They ought to be here in the gospel preached.

Because it's the only hope of salvation for any sinner is the great physician. But only the Lord makes his people holy. And he's the sanctifier and he is the sanctification. Listen to Job 14.4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. We can't bring a clean thing out of this unclean, filthy flesh. What is man that he should be clean, holy, and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous? Holiness and righteousness. Can we do that? Nope. God puts no trust in his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water.

Jeremiah 13, 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spot? Then may you also do good that are accustomed to do evil. That's it, that's the end of the story for me and you as far as us trying to make ourselves holy or righteous. God says it cannot be done.

Only the Holy Spirit can create a Holy Spirit in a sinner and Christ enters in in his presence and sanctifies you. He makes that new man holy. And the Spirit purges our conscience from these vain dead works of thinking we can make ourselves righteous and holy. He gives you a pure mind and a pure heart. You know what that means? No mixture. When he does that in the new man, you stop mixing law and grace. You stop mixing man's works and God's works. You know then it's all of the Lord. Pure mind. Only the Lord can give you a pure mind.

Now, the only reason we do not hate Christ and his people, the only reason, the reason we love one another and show mercy to one another, the only reason is because the Holy Spirit revealed Christ in you and made you to see how holy God is, and that it was necessary for Christ to do all the saving, and that made you and me see ourselves as nothing but a sinner. Listen now. What happened to Job? He gets to the end of that trial, and the Lord comes and speaks to Job. Here's where he brought him. Job said, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. And what was the next word? Wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

There's where he brings his people, and that's where we stay as far as our estimation of ourself by his great. It's impossible to despise others, and it's impossible to be pointing at others and separating them from you when you see yourself as nothing but a vile, wretched sinner. That's when we stop comparing ourselves with others. That's when we stop exalting ourselves. When we see God's holiness, we see that we are the sinner and so is everybody else. There's no point in comparing ourselves to somebody else and exalting ourselves because I'm the sinner, they're the sinner. No, nothing to exalt over.

That's what Isaiah saw. He saw the Lord holy, holy, holy. and it brought him to say, woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. We compare ourselves to others because we think, well, I'm better than that one.

But when you see the holiness of God, you realize I'm undone, I'm unclean, and I can't compare myself to them, they're unclean too. Two vile, wretched sinners, why are you going to compare yourself to another sinner? And that stops that, because now you see, I've got to be as holy as God, and I am nothing but sin.

God makes you see how long he was forbearing with you because when he makes you see your sin, he makes you see how he was long-suffering with you for Christ's sake and how merciful he is to you to remit your sins by the blood of Christ and to forgive you for the sake of Christ. And when you know that, that's when you'll be forbearing and long-suffering and merciful and forgiving. Because you see, God's doing it for you every hour of every day.

We'll have our seasons where we get on our soapbox and, oh, I can't believe they did that, and how dare they speak to me like that, like I'm something. Somebody shouldn't be talking about me like that. make you hear Christ again, and he'll make you see his holiness again. He'll bring you to the feet of Christ, and you'll say, Lord, the half hadn't even been told about me. I don't care what they said about me. Lord, it's worse than what they've said. I need you to be my all. I need you to say, and he'll make you, in turn, take the fault with your brother.

Stop striving and desiring vain glory, and submit to one another, and prefer the honor of the other over yourself. That's what God does. He makes his people not want to be warring with each other. He makes you want to be at peace with each other because you see the peacemaker and you know the peacemaker. When he cleanses you, you see he's just to forgive you and it says, and he cleanses you of all unrighteousness.

That is him creating these beatitudes in your spirit. making you be poor in spirit, making you be hungry for Christ. You know why you hunger? Because you see you're not righteous in yourself. You see you're not holy in yourself. You hunger for Christ to be your righteousness and your holiness.

You hunger to see him and know him and be like him. He creates a weeping over your sin. a meekness, a humility, a broken spirit. This is what he makes you to be. That's why they're called the be attitude. He makes you be this in attitude. It's impossible to point at others when you see yourself the sinner.

Saved only by the grace and mercy of God. Why would, in the parable, Why was the Pharisee boasting like he was before God? Because he was standing proud and loud, looking at others, looking at the publican, and saying, I'm thankful I'm not like him. Where was the publican? He had his face in the dust, smiting on his chest, saying, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.

It's impossible. to be critical of others and pointing out their faults and pointing out their sins and separating them from you when you are the worst. That's just so. When you're the worst, you'll esteem the other better. Is that not right? That's what the Lord works. But I'm gonna tell you this too, Christ is our shield. When men separate you, they're doing what is in their heart to do, because Christ let them do it. But that's Christ protecting His church. That's exactly what that is. He stood between the Pharisee and that woman caught in adultery. That's what He does for His people.

That blind man He gave sight, his parents would not even speak for him. because they were afraid of the Pharisees. This spirit of Phariseeism creates fear, bondage, because men are afraid and they have to please other men or they'll be kicked out. And his own parents would not even speak for him. They said, he's of age, let him speak for himself.

And they said, They said, you were all together born in sins. Dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. And you know what happened next? Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and he went and found him. The Lord's gonna come to his child and protect you and be with you and be your shield, just like he did Abraham. All right, then Christ says, they'll not only reproach you, they'll tell others you're evil.

They'll cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. They called Christ a blasphemer, a glutton, a drunk, a seditious man against the king. They said he had a devil. They're gonna cast your name out as evil. And here are some of the things they accused the early church of. They accused them of cannibalism, because Christ said, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. They said, they're a bunch of cannibals. They called them immoral fornicators, because the idolaters were committing fornication in their love feasts, but not the Lord's people.

They cast their name out as fanatics, seditious, treasonous, rejecting the king because we declare Christ is the king and we're members of his kingdom. And one day he's going to put down all kingdoms. So that's what they accused the early believers of.

They accused them of dividing families. because Christ said when he saves one in a family, the unbelievers in the family are going to separate him from their company, and they blame that on Christ. He said, suppose ye out come to give peace on earth, I tell you no, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house, divided three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Christ said that.

Darkness and light are not gonna get along. Works and grace are not gonna get along. And when he saves one and not the others, that's what's gonna happen. So they accuse the Lord's people of that. And this, when he says, they do this for the Son of Man's sake, it goes two ways.

Those that hate Christ, who hate free and sovereign grace, because we preach the true God and we preach the true Lord Jesus, salvation by divine election, free and sovereign God, not based on anything, and a redemption by Christ laying down His life for the sheep, not for everybody. regenerated by the Spirit, must be born from above. Faith, repentance, every fruit, everything of God, Him preserving you. When we preach it's all of God, men that hate that message and hate that God will persecute you. But here's another thing it means too. Others who are religious will separate They'll reproach, they'll cast out your name as evil, claiming they are doing it for the glory of God and for the glory of Christ.

The Pharisees crucified Christ, claiming they did it for the glory of God. They said, we have a law, and by our law, he needs to be condemned. They said, we're separating you from our company because you're not holy enough to be in our presence. Now, that's the height of legalism, killing the lawgiver in the name of keeping the law.

Men will hate you, they'll separate you, they'll reproach you, they'll cast your name out as evil, claiming they do it for the sake of the Son of Man, but it's for another Jesus. Pharisees believed in, they would have told you they believe in Christ. They just didn't believe the Lord Jesus was the Christ. And men will cast you out for the, say they're doing it for Christ's sake, but it's another Jesus that's not another.

Listen, Christ said, they shall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time come up that whosoever killeth you will think he doeth God service. Now when you're the chief of sinners, you see how merciful God's been to you, mercy's easy to give. Because he's just done a blow to your pride and humbled you. and that's easy to be merciful and forgiving. But a proud sinner who thinks he's righteous and holy and thinks you're too sinful to be in his presence, he can rebuke you all day long, but you say one word against him and you're going to shatter his glass house every time.

They can't handle it. I'm telling you. They can't forgive because they don't know what forgiveness is. They can't be merciful because they don't think they need mercy. They hadn't received mercy. They can't be a peacemaker because they don't know the peacemaker. And they can't handle rebuke because they've never had the proud heart put down by God. Now that's the natural heart. Every sinner attempting to come to God, partly by Christ and partly by his works, are always, no exceptions, always critical fruit inspectors. But they don't inspect their own fruit. They inspect yours, always.

Now why does God say you're happy? Why does He say happy are you? Listen to what He says in verse 23. 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. He's saying you rejoice and you leap for joy because Christ is your exceeding great reward. He is your exceeding great reward. He said in Matthew, yours is the kingdom of heaven. You rejoice and you leap with joy because their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.

They were coming to Christ constantly saying, Moses said, Moses said, while they were rejecting Christ who saved Moses, who Moses believed. And they do the same thing today. They'll quote, they'll come up to you and disagreeing with what you preached, and they'll say, Spurgeon said. Well, their fathers back there in Spurgeon's day were rejecting Spurgeon and running up to him and going, well, you know, brother so-and-so said from 200 years ago, he said such and such. They put flowers on dead preachers' graves and reject the one the Lord put right in front of them. That's the generation of the wicked, of the self-righteous. doing just what their fathers did.

Go with me to 1 Peter 4.12. We'll end right here.

1 Peter 4.12. Here's what Peter is just, he's just preaching what our Savior preached. Here's what he's saying.

1 Peter 4.12.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. but rejoice inasmuch as you're partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.

If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. That's the only reason you can bear it. On their part, he is evil spoken of. How's He evil spoken of when they're condemning you? Because you're one for whom Christ died. You're one robed in His righteousness. Christ said when they do that to you, they're doing it to Him. So they're speaking evil of Christ when they speak evil of you. But on your part, He's glorified. You're committed to Him.

Let none of us suffer, now listen to this now, as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. You trust them to Christ, you don't have to get in another man's business. Yet, if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this path.

That's exactly what our Savior's saying. All right, brethren. Father, we thank you for this word. Lord, we pray you bless it. Hold us up, keep us sustained by your spirit and your grace. Lord, thank you for this suffering. Thank you for permitting us to be reproached. It brings us to your feet and makes us more dependent on you. Lord, thank you for that. Make us be happy and rejoice. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen.

Happy When Hated

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Happy When Hated

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