Turn to John chapter 7. Verse 1, After these things Jesus
walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the
Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles
was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto
him, Depart hence, and go into that thy disciples also may see
the works that thou doest, for there is no man that doeth anything
in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do
these things, show thyself to the world, for neither did his
brethren believe in him.' Then Jesus said unto them, My time
is not yet come, but your time is always ready." Now here's
our text. The world cannot hate you, but
me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof
are evil." I've entitled this message, Why Men Hate Jesus Christ. Why Men Hate Jesus Christ. Now, you cannot love without
hating, and you cannot hate without loving. Whenever you love, there's
also something that you hate. And whenever you hate, there's
also something that you love. Now, this was not a message that
was easy to prepare, and it's not going to be a message that's
easy to preach. But hear what the Lord says in
verse seven. The world cannot hate you. It lacks the ability to hate
you, but me, it, the world, hateth, because I testify of it, that
the works thereof are evil." Now, there's no mistaking of
this language. There's no ambiguity. The world cannot hate you, he
says. It lacks the ability to hate you. But me, it hateth,
because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Now, the Lord is speaking to
his unbelieving brethren. Look what verse 5 says, for neither
did his brethren believe in him. He's talking about his physical
brothers and sisters who did not believe in him. You know,
they were raised up in the same house as him, and yet they didn't
believe. They didn't get it. They didn't see any beauty in
him. So he says in verse 6, Jesus said unto them, his unbelieving
brethren, My time has not yet come, but your time is always
ready. And then he says to them, the world cannot hate you, but
me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof
are evil. Now, the first question is what
or who is meant by the world? The world cannot hate you, but
me it hates. What does the Lord mean by this
word, the world? Now, I got these definitions
of the world from Vimes' Greek Expository Dictionary. It's a
good dictionary, and it gives these meanings of the word world,
which it's the Greek word kosmos, and it's used a whole lot in
the New Testament. And here's the dictionary definition
of the word world. It has many meanings in scriptures. It means the planet, the earth
in contrast to heaven, the human race, mankind, the Gentiles,
as distinguished from the Jews, the sum of temporal possessions,
the present condition of human affairs in alienation from and
opposition to God. And that's what the world means
right here. It's that world that is in opposition to and hates
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me. for a moment to
1 John chapter 2. Now the Lord says to these people,
the world cannot hate you. It cannot hate you. But me, it
hateth, because I testify that the works thereof are evil. 1
John chapter 2. Look what John says about the
world. Beginning in verse 15. John says,
Love not the world. Now, you know, when he says this,
he's talking about that world that hates the Lord Jesus Christ,
that world that's in opposition to God, that world that's in
opposition to his word. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is what? Not in him. Now, there's no mistaking
of that language. If I love the world, The love
of the Father, the love of God, is not in me. There is no love
for God. Verse 16, for all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, the desires and cravings of fallen
human nature, the lust of the eyes, being concerned about what
other people think, the pride of life, self-righteousness,
is not of the Father, but is of the world, and the world passes
away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever. Now, worldliness, you've heard
that term, worldliness. Worldliness takes many forms.
It may be dealing drugs. It may be speaking from the pulpit. It may be in the streets. It
may be in the halls of academia. It may be high class. It may
be low class. It may masquerade as moral. It may be immoral. It may speak
in the name of Christ and be very religious, or it may speak
as an atheist. It takes many forms, but it has
one agenda. It has no love for God. No love for the God as He is
revealed in the Word. It has a God, but no love for
the God of the Bible. And remember, the absence is
love of love is hate. The absence of love is hate. You cannot love without hating
and you cannot hate without loving. Now, why does the Lord say to
these unbelieving brethren of his, the world cannot hate you? It lacks the ability to hate
you. Why does he say that to them?
Well, turn to John chapter 15. This will answer that question.
John chapter 15. Beginning in verse 18, now the Lord is speaking
to his disciples and he says in verse 18 of John chapter 15,
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're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. Now, the world lacks the ability
to hate that which is of the world. If I'm of the world, this
world's not going to hate me. But if I'm not of this world
and the Lord has chosen me out of this world, the world will
hate me. Now, the Lord says concerning
the world, me it hateth. Now, that's strong language.
Me it hateth. Was the Lord being paranoid?
You know, Some people are. They think everybody's out to
get them. And you know, people accuse the Lord of this. Look
in John chapter 7, verse 19. We're there in John, look in
verse 19. He says to this same crowd, did not Moses give you
the law? And yet none of you keeps the
law. Why go you about to kill me? This is what they thought
of the Lord. They wanted to kill him. Now look at their reply
in verse 20. The people answered and said,
you're demon possessed. You have a devil. You're crazy.
Who goes about to kill me? We're not doing that. But the
Lord said they were, they were, weren't they? And he knows exactly
what was in their heart. Jesus answered and said unto
them, I've done one work and you all marvel. But the Lord
was certainly not being paranoid. Men actually hate Jesus Christ. Now I want you to zero in on
what I'm getting ready to say. Listen to me real carefully.
This is what you and I have been guilty of. Hating Jesus Christ. That is my sin. That is your
sin. hating Jesus Christ. This is why God sends men to
hell. The punishment must fit the crime. God doesn't send men
to hell because they were overcome by some temptation and gave in
and caved in. I'm not excusing that in any
way. But that's not why God sends men to hell. God sends men to
hell because they hate His Son. And that is what you and I have
been guilty of. And that's what the Bible says.
Now, the Lord says this. It's so, it's so concerning you
and I. That's the way we were born into
this world. Hating His Son. Now, I have one daughter. And
if you have children, you'll be able to lie to them. Boy,
you can understand this if you don't have children. I have one daughter.
I love her. And if somebody hates my daughter
so bad that they want to kill her, how am I going to feel about
that person? That's the issue. That's the issue. That's the
issue between you and God. Men have been guilty of hating
His Son, and my dear friends, the cross is the proof of that. The one time men were left alone,
when God took away the restraints and let men do what they wanted
to do, they took nails and drove them through the Son of God,
and they hung Him up on a cross to kill Him. Now, would you have
done that? If God left you to yourself and
let you be what you are, would you have done that? The answer
to that question is yes, you would have. The cross is proof
that all men hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are many scriptures
that refer to men hating God. I read the second commandment
against idolatry. Why do men make idols? Well, he says those who do that
are those who hate me. That's why men make false gods.
That's why men make false imaginations of God, because they hate God
as He's revealed in the Word. Jesus Christ is God, and men
hate God as He's revealed in His Word. That's why men make
idols. There are so many references
to this in the Scriptures. You know, several times Moses
said, Rise, O Lord, let Thine enemies be scattered, and let
them that hate Thee flee before Thee. But I want you to turn
to this Scripture, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 6,
for to be carnally minded. Now, what does that mean before
we go on? Carnally minded. Does that mean somebody's super
fleshly, likes to get drunk and likes to have illicit sex and
stuff like that? Well, that's part of it. That's
part of it. But that's not what carnally
minded means. Carnally minded means fleshly minded. It's the
way I was born into this world. It's me just following my nature.
It's just the way I am, the way I am by nature. To be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because,
verse 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Now that word enmity,
you know what it means? Hatred. The fleshly, carnal mind. Notice it doesn't say it's at
enmity against God. It doesn't say that at all. It
says it is. That's what it is, the carnal
mind, the way I'm born into this world. I'm born into this world
and you're born into this world hating God. Now, that's a hard
pill to swallow, isn't it? But Romans 1.30 calls us haters
of God. Now, I realize men do not hate
the idols and false gods they make. You know, men don't love
God as He's revealed in His Word, so they make a God they feel
comfortable with, a God they can control. A God they can stick
in their back pocket and they can pull Him out whenever they
want and they can rub on Him like a genie and get their wish and
put Him back and not have to do anything about it. Nobody
hates that God. Who's afraid of that God? I'm
not afraid of that God. But the God of the Bible, the
God as He's revealed in the Word, that is the God that men actually
hate. And I can remember I remember
when I was confronted in my own heart, in my own mind, I wouldn't
have said, I hate God. I wouldn't have said that. I'd
have been afraid to say it. As a matter of fact, I've never heard anybody say,
I hate Jesus Christ. Have you ever heard anybody say
that? Maybe they have, but I haven't heard anybody. I'm not saying
there isn't people that have said that, but most folks would
be afraid to say, I hate Jesus Christ or I hate God. Most folks
won't say that, but I can remember. When I was confronted with the
God of the Bible, I can remember when I was confronted with the
fact that God is God, that He's in absolute control. And I can
remember what really set me going when I found out that God had
elected a people before time began, and they were the only
ones who would be saved, and there wasn't one thing I could
do to make myself one of them. And you know what my reaction
was? And this is what scared me to death. It scared me to
death when I found out I hated God for that. Because there's
nothing I could do to save myself. I was totally in His hands. And
that's when I found out that I was a sinner. That's when I
found out how evil I was. That I would not bow to God for
who He is. And it was only when I found
out I was nothing but a sinner. Nothing but an evil person who
has hated God. It was only then that I cried
out, God be merciful to me. I'll be damned if you're not
merciful to me. Do something for me. Have mercy
on me. I sure can't be saved by my works.
I've been guilty of hating you. Have mercy on me. Now, have you ever dealt with
that about yourself? That you have been guilty not just of
doing bad things or falling before temptation, and I'm not excusing
that in any way, but what you've been guilty of before God is
hating His Son. That's man's sin. to hate the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how did we get in a mess
like that? Well, when Adam fell, you know the story. When Adam
fell, the scripture says he died. In the day you eat thereof, you'll
surely die. You'll become spiritually dead.
And this death manifests itself in him and key toward God. It's
not dead like a block of wood. It's dead in the sense of dead
in sins. And because of that, we've been
guilty of hating the living God. And you think about what happened
to Adam. Right after he fell, what's the first thing he did?
He went and hid from God. Wherever God was, he didn't want
to be. There was a time when he relished God's presence, when
he loved God's presence, but when he received this evil nature
in the fall, he wanted to hide from God. He didn't want to be
around God. Wherever God was, he didn't want to be. And what
did he do? He blamed God for the fall. The
woman that you gave me, she gave me the fruit. And I believe if
you wouldn't have given me this woman, this wouldn't have happened.
It's your fault. That's what Adam said to God.
He no longer loved God. He had no desire for God. And
we're born into this world hating the living God. Now, do you believe
that's true about you? Beloved, believe it just because
the Bible teaches it. That's enough of a reason to
believe something, isn't it? If God's word says it, it's so. Now, my question is, in John
chapter 7, turn back to our text. Why do men hate Jesus Christ? Why? Now, we already know it's
their nature to hate him. It's the nature of a tiger to
eat meat. He's not going to eat grass.
It's the nature of a cow to eat grass. They're not going to eat
meat. You're going to obey your nature. Why do men hate Jesus
Christ? We know it's their nature to
us because of their fallen nature. But generally, when men hate
somebody else, there's a reason. There's a reason. We've hated
people because of their rank over us. We've hated people because
of their rule. We've hated people because of
their pride, their selfishness, their hypocrisy. But you know,
there's no reason like that to hate Christ. His character is
without flaw. He is altogether lovely. There's no reason for a man to
hate the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what He said in
John chapter 15, verse 25? And here once again is our sin.
They hated Me. without a cause. That's what I've been guilty
of. Hating Jesus Christ without a cause. That's my sin. Now, in our text in John chapter
7, the Lord gives the specific reason why men hate Him. Look
in verse 7. The world cannot hate you, but
men hate it. And here's the reason why. Because
I testify of it. that the works thereof are evil. Now, that's why men hate Jesus
Christ. That's the one reason he gives. He doesn't give one
of the many reasons. I'm sure we could give all kinds
of reasons, but he gives this one reason. The world hates me
because I testify that the works thereof are evil. Now, you would
agree that many of the works of the world are evil. Murder
is evil, isn't it? Rape is evil. Child molesting. Oh, how evil. These are obvious
enough. You know, stealing is evil, isn't
it? Lying is evil. Covetousness and greed is evil. Being power-mad is evil. We all recognize those things
to be evil, don't we? But the Lord said, the Lord did
not say most of the works thereof are evil. He didn't say that,
did He? He said the works thereof are evil. Everything. Everything that a man does is
evil. Everything that a man does is
sin. A man cannot not sin. Have you ever seen your good
works as evil? Have you ever seen your spirituality
as evil? Have you ever seen your good
motives and good deeds as evil? Have you ever seen that everything
about you, without exception, is equal. I'm not talking about
somebody else. You know, it's easy to see the
problems with somebody else. I'm talking about you. I'm talking
about you. I've said this before. You know,
it's one thing to believe in the doctrine of total depravity,
and it's quite another thing to believe that you are totally
depraved. Big difference. Big difference.
Have you seen this regarding yourself? Have I seen this regarding
myself, that all the works thereof are evil. Let me show you a couple
of scriptures. John chapter 3, verse 19. Our Lord says in verse 19, this
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world. And who
is light? Jesus Christ is the light of
the world. You know, when I talk about Before
I go on reading with this, when I talk about, oh, we're all evil
and so on, everybody, you know, it's just negative and morose.
And can't you talk about something more positive? And that's just
such a morose way of looking at things and depressing and
heavy. If you see who Jesus Christ is, the light of the world, you'll
know exactly what I'm saying. You see, it's only seeing who
he is that you see who you are. If I just talk about sin, it
just seems negative and just, oh, this is just depressing.
But if you see who he is, you'll see who you are. No question
about it. But look what he says in verse
19, John chapter three. This is the condemnation that
light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil and everyone that doeth
evil. How does he feel about the light?
He hates the light. Neither comes to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved or exposed. But he that doeth
the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest
that they are wrought in God, that God did them. Turn to Genesis
chapter 6. This is a scripture that we all
ought to commit to memory. Genesis chapter 6, verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that, what's the next word?
Every, every. Imagination. He's not even talking
about the deeds right now. He's talking about what goes
on in the mind and in the heart. God saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of His heart was what? Only. What? Evil. How often? continually. That's what God says when he
looks at my heart and yours. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil, nonstop. Romans chapter three. Don't get
depressed. I'm getting to the better part
in a minute. This is all I talked about. Let's just go ahead and
kill ourselves. I've got I've got something better to say.
So don't stay with me. Romans three, verse two, as it
is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is, how many
that understands? None. There is none that seeketh
after God. They are all, A-double-L, all
gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Now, how do you respond to this?
If you're hoping to be saved by your works in some way, you
will hate this because it takes away what you're hoping. It says
that what you're hoping in is evil will not do you any good.
If I say all your works are evil, what's your response? Anger?
Or do you say that's the truth? That is the truth. It's only
when you really believe that that is the truth regarding you
that you'll sue for mercy. You've never asked for mercy
until you've seen this is true regarding you. And when you do
see this is true regarding you, you will sue for mercy. It's
only when I have absolutely no merit that I'll take my place
as the publican and cry out, God, be merciful to me, thee
sinner. It's only when I have absolutely
no righteousness, I mean none, it's only then that I can actually
trust Christ as my righteousness before God. And listen to me,
beloved, it is a blessing to be nothing but a sinner, because
it is easy to trust Christ as my only righteousness before
God, when I really believe I don't have any righteousness. It's
easy, isn't it? It's simple. Now, the testimony
of the Lord is true. All the works of the world are
evil. Men hate Jesus Christ, and there are several rock-solid
conclusions we can draw from this. Now, it's true. The world
hates Christ. Men by nature hate Jesus Christ
as it was revealed in His Word. Now, what can we conclude from
this? Well, here's the first conclusion that we can make.
Salvation by merit or works is altogether out of the question.
Man, if left to himself, he's just going to hate Christ. He
doesn't even want to be saved by Him. Doesn't even want to
be saved by Him. Now, if any aspect of salvation is dependent
upon man in any way, nobody will be saved. You know, people talk
about free will. God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, God
wants to save everybody, but it's up to your free will as
to whether or not you'll let Him save you. That is foolishness. There's not a bit of truth to
that. Your will is controlled by your nature. And this is our
problem. This is our problem. We have
a nature that hates the Lord. Now, if salvation is in any way
dependent upon me doing anything, I won't be saved. Our Lord said
in John 6, 44, No man can come to me. He lacks the ability to
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. Now,
secondly, salvation must be by grace. The only way a man can
be saved is by grace. If man is such that he hates
God and cannot change his heart, can the Ethiopian change the
color of his skin or the leopard his spots? How then can you do
good who are accustomed to doing evil? That's what the prophet
said. If that is the case, salvation must be by grace, by sovereign
grace. Well, if this is true, and it
is, the only hope I have and the only hope that you have is
for God to unconditionally elect the people. If God doesn't choose
you, you won't choose Him. You know that, don't you? The
only hope you and I have is for Christ to actually pay the sin
debt of those He died for. Christ died, listen to me, Christ
died for the elect. He didn't die for somebody that
goes to hell. He didn't die for somebody who continues in unbelief. No, he didn't pay for their sins,
because if he paid for their sins, they wouldn't do that,
would they? No way. Now my hope, understand this,
the only hope I have is that Christ died for me. If you tell
me he died for people that end up in hell, you've taken away
my hope. Because my only hope is that what he did, without
any help or contribution from me, What He did is enough to
save me completely. And I rejoice in that. Do you
rejoice in the death of Christ? The only hope I have is that
God's grace is invincible and irresistible and gives me life. That's the only hope I have.
There are no other hopes. The only hope I have is that
He will preserve me all the way to the end. Now, grace You can
call it sovereign grace. You can call it free grace, which,
you know, really, in a sense, those terms, grace is grace.
If it's grace, obviously it's sovereign. Or it's not grace.
If it's grace, obviously it's free. Or it's not grace. So really,
the best word is just grace. Grace saves. The only hope any
sinner has. But it's a complete perfect hope. It's not like I'm just going
to barely get in by the skin of my teeth with grace. No, God's
grace saves. By grace, you are saved. And
this is good news. This is wonderful news. This
is not just over hard doctrine. This is wonderful. Now, the last
thing that I'd like to say, which determined to John three and
talking about this world that had been so guilty, guilty of
hating the Lord Jesus Christ, this world. Look what verse 16
of John chapter three says. For God so loved who the world,
the world that hated him so. He so loved the world, or loved
the world in this manner, that He gave His only begotten Son,
the Son of His love, that whosoever, thank God for that word, I'm
one of them, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world. The world already was condemned.
But that the world through Him might be saved, he that believeth
on Him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Now, I don't care how sinful
or evil any man is I don't care if you are one of the actual
murderers of Jesus Christ. If you believe on Him, you'll
be saved. If you trust Him as all you need
to make you altogether lovely in God's sight, you will be saved. That's a promise from the Word
of God. May God give each person here the grace. to rely on his
son. Isn't it amazing that God loves
sinners so much he gave his son, whoever believes in him, to have
everlasting life. Let's pray together.