I'm going to be reading this
morning from the book of John, chapter 15, verse 23 through
25. I'd like for you, if you will,
to take your Bibles and read along with me. I'll be speaking
to you on the subject, They Hated Me Without a Cause. In John 15, verse 23, the Master
is speaking, and he says, He that hateth me hateth my Father
also. If I had not done among them
the works which none of the men 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. They hated me without a cause. When the prophets of old wrote
of the Redeemer who was to come, when they wrote of the Messiah,
and the scripture says in Acts 10.43, to him give all the prophets
witness, they wrote that the Messiah would be despised, that
he would be rejected and that he would be hated by men. Now let me just give you a few
verses from the Old Testament which teach this. Psalm 69 is
what we call a messianic psalm. It's David writing, but David
is writing about the Messiah. He's writing about the Redeemer.
And he says in Psalm 69, they hated me without a cause. This is a scripture to which
our Lord was referring in the text. He said, as it is written
in their law, they hated me without a cause. Psalm 22, another one
of those messianic psalms, And you'll find in Psalm 22 the very
words of Christ from the cross, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? They parted my garments and cash
lots. I thirst, all of these verses.
But here in Psalm 22, verse 6, he says, I am a worm and no man. I am a reproach of men and despised
of the people. And then in Isaiah 53, verse
2 and 3, Isaiah wrote about the Messiah,
the Redeemer. He said he was wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement
of our peace was upon him. Here, in verse 3, he said he
is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Then the prophet Zechariah wrote
in chapter 13, verse 6, What are these wounds in thy
hand? And then he shall answer, These
are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friend. And the prophet Isaiah said,
No beauty that we should desire him. We hid, as it were, our
faces from him. So all the way through the Old
Testament, when the prophets of old talked about becoming
They prophesied that he would not be well received, but rather
he would be despised and rejected and hated of men, and hated without
a cause. And then when our Lord Jesus
came into the world, the hatred began. It began from the very
time of his birth. For the scripture tells us that
Herod tried unsuccessfully to destroy him when he was but an
infant. And this hatred, which began
at his birth, continued all the way to the cross on Golgotha's
hill. They ridiculed his beginning.
They said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And then
they ridiculed his trade. They said, is not this the carpenter?
And then they ridiculed and mocked his holiness. He's the friend
of sinners. He eateth with publicans and
sinners. He's gone to be the guest of
a man that is a sinner. They put a question mark on his
righteousness and on his integrity. They called him a wine-bibber.
They called him a glutton. They said he has a devil. Oh,
if he's casting out devils, he's casting out devils by the power
of bells above the devil. They tried to stone him on several
occasions, and they tried one time to throw him off a cliff.
They asked him to leave their cities. There was one group of
people in particular that invited him to leave their city and never
come back again. These people hated him so much
that they paid one of his disciples to betray him, and because they
could find no fault in him, they went out and hired liars and
false witnesses to testify against him. And then they took him down
to the soldier's house and put a crown of thorns on his head,
and they spat upon him, and they scourged him with a cat of nine
tails, and then they drove nails in his hands and feet and crucified
him on a cross. They hated him all right. They
despised and rejected him, and the question I'm asking in my
message this morning is, And we know it so, all the way
through the scripture, even the Old Testament prophets tell us
no beauty about him that we should desire him. We hid, as it were,
our faces from him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, hated without a cause.
And then from the time of his birth until the time they nailed
him to a cross, men hated him and despised him. and rejected
him. Why this awful hatred for one
so holy? Why this awful hatred for one
so good? Why this awful hatred for one
so pure? Was it because he healed the
sick? No, this is not the reason, for
it says in John 2, verse 23, Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the feast of the Passover, many believed in his name when
they saw the miracles which he did. But he did not commit himself
to them because he knew what was in man, and he needed not
that any man should testify unto him what was in man. He knew
what was in man. But what I'm saying is, when
he healed all these people and performed these miracles of healing,
giving sight and hearing and strength to lame legs, they gathered
around him. They had no objection to his
healing people. And I'm saying that people today
have no objection to Christ's healing. You can get a big crowd
if you put on a healing service. If you pretend to heal broken
limbs and give sight to blind eyes and hearing to deaf ears,
you can get any man to follow the Jesus that you preach. He
had no problem when he was here on the earth getting people to
follow him if he would heal them. A fellow would follow anything
to get healing. He would pay anything to get healing. His
health is important to him. And so that wasn't the problem.
That wasn't why they hated Christ. That wasn't why they stoned him.
That wasn't why they nailed him unto a cross, because he healed
people. That wasn't it at all. That's not the issue. It wasn't
then, it is not now. Well, was it because he fed the
multitude? He did that on several occasions.
Well, let's see, John 6, verse 26. You seek me. Here was a whole
crowd. Our Lord had to get out in a
boat to escape the people. Crowds of them, multitudes of
them, great throngs of people. Followed him and he went all
the way around the lake to get away from him. Finally they found
him and they said, when you come over here, he said, I know why
you seek me, John 6, 26. I know why you seek me. You seek
me not because of the miracle, not because I healed the sick,
but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. You were
in that crowd of 5,000 that I fed with the five loaves and two
fish. And I know why you're running after me. You're running after
me because you want another meal. You want something to eat. And
I'm telling you the issue is not today's prosperity or wealth. Men will follow Christ if you
promise them prosperity. They'll follow anybody if he
promises them prosperity. Promise a man if he gives 10%,
you'll give him 90 back, he'll follow you. Promise a man a profit
on all of his goods and he'll follow you. Promise a man good
times and good health and great wealth and prosperity and all
of these things, and he'll believe anything you tell him. There's
no problem there, and Christ didn't have any problem with
that either. The great crowds followed him because he fed them.
They got something for nothing. They got something for nothing.
And this is what we're hearing today, health and wealth gospel. Believe on Jesus and he'll heal
you. Believe on Jesus and he'll prosper you. Well, they did the
same thing back in that day. Those very same people that cried,
crucify him, crucify him, were these that were following him
when he healed them and fed them. There it is, right there in the
word of God. Well, was it because he raised the dead? No, sir.
They didn't hate him for raising the dead. Turn to John 12, verse
10 through 18. Read that scripture. That's when
he raised Lazarus from the dead. And it got out. The word of his
raising Lazarus from the dead swept that country aside. He
had raised the man from the dead. Here was a man who was dead,
dead for three or four days. And Christ raised him from the
dead, and he went home to his two sisters. And the word spread
everywhere, and people came from everywhere. And the Lord came
into the city, and they threw palm branches in front of the
donkey on which he was riding, and they cried, Hosanna, Hosanna,
he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, Hosanna. Boy, just think about it. Here's
a fellow that if we follow him, we won't die. Or if we do die,
he'll bring us forth from the grave. And they just cried, Hosanna,
Hosanna. And it wasn't very many days
till they were crying, Crucify him, crucify him. We'll not have
this man reign over us. And people today, if you'll promise
them pie in the sky and the sweet by and by, they'll believe anything
you say. They'll follow anything you say. Just tell a man that
after he dies, Christ will raise him and he'll believe anything.
But that wasn't the issue. You see, I'm showing you this
from God's Word. That's not why he was hated. He wasn't hated
because he healed people. He wasn't hated because he prospered
people and fed them. He wasn't hated because he raised
Lazarus from the dead. But if they didn't hate him for
the miracles and for feeding the 5,000 and for raising Lazarus,
why did they hate him? Well, I'm like the old evangelist
who traveled through here years ago. Buy your Bible and find
out. Look here at John chapter 10,
verse 19. There was a division There was
a division among the people for these sayings. You can find that
all the way through the writings of the evangelist. When they
heard these words, they were filled with wrath. When he spake
these things, they took up stones to stone him. There was a division
among the people for these sayings. When they heard these things,
many of his followers turned away and walked no more with
him. It wasn't the healing, it wasn't the feeding the 5,000,
it wasn't raising the dead, it was his doctrine that offended
them. It was what he said. It was what
he taught. That's what offended them. That's
what made them angry. That's what brought forth the
hatred from the hearts of these people, what he said. Now let
me show you that. I'm going to give you four occasions
on which the people tried to actually kill the Lord Jesus
Christ because of how much they hated him, because of the way
they despised him, because of what he said. Now, here's the
first one. Perhaps you'd like to jot them
down or follow in your Bible. But why did they hate the Lord?
He said, they hated me without a cause. Marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated you.
Why? Here's the first one, John 10,
verse 30. I and my Father are one." And
you know that word, my, is in italics, it's not in the original?
He's saying, I and Father are one. And then the Jews took up
stones to stone him. And he said, many good works
have I done among you, for which of these do you stone me? And
they said, for a good work we stone thee not, but we stone
thee for blasphemy. Because, now listen, because
thou being a man makest thyself God." They knew what he was saying. I know what he was saying. Do
you know what he was saying? He's saying, I and Father are
one. I am God. That's what he's saying.
He's saying that I am God. I don't know, the world did not
then believe that he was God, and the world does not now believe
that Jesus of Nazareth is very God of very God, but the Bible
declares that Jesus Christ is God Almighty in human flesh.
That's what the Bible teaches. It says over here in Isaiah 7.14,
the whole, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall
be with child, and bring forth a son. And thou shalt call the
name of that Son, Emmanuel, God with us." God with us, God in
human flesh, God incarnate, God and man, one. Isaiah 9, 6, unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given. His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. That's who he is. Who is Jesus
of Nazareth? He's God Almighty in human flesh.
That's what he's saying in John 10.30, I and Father are one. And they started grabbing for
big stones. He said, now hold it. I've done
many good works, but which of them are you stoning me? They
said, we're stoning you because you're a man. You're a man. You
can't be God. God can't be a man. Well, the
Bible says so. Chapter 1, verse 1, it says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh,
the Word who was with God and was God, and by whom all things
were made, that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. Acts 20, verse 28, Paul is addressing
the the elders of Ephesus, and he's leaving them, and before
he leaves, he's saying to them, I charge you to feed the church
of God, which he purchased. Which who purchased? Which God
purchased. The church of God, which God
purchased with his own blood. Whose blood? God's blood. You
say, how did God shed his blood? God became a man. And then in Hebrews 1, verse
8, the father said to the son, he never said this to the angel,
to which of the angels said thee this at any time? Sit thou on
my right hand. And to the son he said, thy throne,
O God, is forever. To the son, the father said,
thy throne, O God, is forever. 1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy 3, 16,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God in the flesh. God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Isaiah 45, 22,
look unto me and be ye saved, because I'm God, and there's
none else. My friends, Jesus Christ said
to this crowd what I'm saying to you, and it brought forth
anger and hatred, and it brought forth retaliation. He said, I
and Father are one. You're looking at the Father.
Philip said, Show us the Father. He said, You're looking at him.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And then all the
attributes of Deity are in Christ. What are the attributes of Deity?
Well, the attributes of Deity, first of all, are omnipotence.
That is, God's Almighty, Almighty God. Christ is Almighty. He said,
All authority and power is given unto me in heaven and Well, what
about omniscience? That is, God knows everything.
Christ knew everything. He knew their thoughts. Well,
what about omnipresence? That means God is everywhere.
Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Christ said, Lo, I
am with thee always, even to the end of the earth. What about
holiness? He knew no sin. Eternal existence? He said, I
am. I am. The same word that was spoken
on that mountain to Moses is the word he spake to his disciples
and to the religious people of his day. I am, I am. Power to
give life. Only God can create life. Christ
said, The Son quickeneth whom he will. Power to forgive sin. Only God can forgive sin. Christ
said, Thy sins be forgiven thee. Thomas had it right when he fell
on his face and cried, My Lord and my God. So my friend, that's
the first That's the first occasion for this terrible hatred and
anger when he declared who he is, God Almighty. And then in
Luke 4, if you will turn to Luke 4, verse 28. Now listen to this. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, when they heard these things,
not when they saw healing and miracles and feeding and prosperity,
when they heard his message, when they heard the truth of
his words. When they heard these things,
they were filled with wrath and would have killed him. They led
him out to the brow of the hill and would have thrown him off
the cliff. Why? What had he said that generated
such horrible hatred to turn a Sabbath morning worship service
into a lynch mob? And that's what it was. These
people had met in the temple, in the synagogue. on the Sabbath
morning to hear the scriptures read and hear the preacher. And
the reader was Jesus of Nazareth, and the preacher was Jesus of
Nazareth. And he would face this huge crowd. This was his hometown,
Nazareth. And he faced this crowd. This
was supposed to be the Lord's people on the Sabbath day in
the worship service. And he faced them, and this is
what he said. He's saying, as you read Isaiah
61, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor and give sight to the blind and
deliverance to the captive, to declare the acceptable year of
the Lord. And he closed the book and he said, this day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ear. But you say unto me, physician,
heal yourself. What you did in other cities,
do in our cities. But I'll say this to you. There
were many lepers in the land of Israel Now, Israel thought
they were God's people, and God was obligated to them, and God
owed them something. And to none of them there were
many lepers in the land of Israel in the days of the prophet, and
none of them were healed, not a one, but a Gentile named Naaman. And he said there were many widows,
many widows in the land of Israel in the days of the prophet, but
none of them were fed but a Gentile. In other words, this is what
he's saying. You people think you have a corner on God. You
think that God's obligated to you. You think that God owes
you something. Well, I'm saying this to you.
This is what Christ is saying. Mercy is sovereign. Grace is
sovereign. God said, I'll be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. And God is not obligated to any
person. Regardless of his ancestry, regardless
of his tradition, regardless of his ceremonialism, regardless
of his so-called outward righteousness, God will show mercy to whom he
will show mercy. And he shows mercy to the needy,
not because he owes anybody anything. And they got so angry when he
told them that they were sinners like anybody else and dependent
on the mercy of God like anybody else. and shut up to the sovereign
grace of God like anybody else, they became so angry that they
turned their Sabbath morning worship service into a lynch
mob. I'll tell you the way to approach
the Son of God in order to obtain mercy. You approach him like
the leper. When he came down from the mountain,
the scripture said a man who had leprosy met him and fell
on his face. And he didn't say, Lord, Abraham
was my father and you owe me something. He didn't say, Lord,
my mother and daddy were believers and you owe me something. He
didn't say, Lord, I've served you all my life and given my
time and talents and tithe to you. He came and fell on his
face and he said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,
if you will. And that's what Christ is saying
to these people. God owes you nothing. Oh, I take that back.
God owes us the wages of sin. We've earned that. That's coming
to us and we deserve it. And we're going to get it. The
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. And that gift is given sovereignly
as he pleases. Our Lord said, I thank you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth. You hid these things from the
wise and the prudent, and you revealed it to babes, for even
so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. Our Lord told these
people that God was not obligated, that God was not our servant.
that God is not our valet, that God Almighty is not waiting at
the beck and call of a crooked finger. Almighty God is sovereign
in giving his grace and mercy. And that's so. And that made
them angry. And then, if you will, turn to
John 8, 59. Now listen to this. John 8, 59. Then took they up
stones to cast at him. They were going to stone him
again. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. My
friends, he's in the temple again. These people who are going to
stone the perfect, holy, immaculate Son of God are religious people.
Now, that's surprising. Isn't that surprising to you?
But do you know that every one of the apostles were martyred
or slain except one, John, and they were all killed by religious
people? Religious hatred. And do you know why these people
took up stones to stone him? Well, let me show you. Go back,
John 8, verse 24. First of all, he called them
sinners. He called them sinners. He said, if you believe not that
I am he, you're going to die in your sins. You're going to
die in your sins. If you don't have a Savior, if
you don't have a Redeemer, if you don't plead to me for mercy,
you're going to die in your sins. And if you die in your sins,
you can't come where I am. And then he said they were of
their father, the devil. Look at verse 44. He said, you
are of your father, the devil. God's not your father. You might
boast and swear on a stack of Bibles that God's your father,
but God's not your father, he said, your father's the devil.
Christ denied the universal fatherhood of God. God is the father of
his children. He's not the father of the children
of wrath. He's not the father of the devil's children. Christ
said, look at it, verse 44, you have your father, the devil,
and his works you'll do. He was a liar from the beginning,
and then he calls them liars, verse 55. And then in verse 47,
he tells them, you hear not God's word because you're not of God.
He that is of God heareth God's word. These are strong words,
but these are not my words. These are the words of Christ.
And they hated him for them. Not for his works, for his words.
not for his miracles, for his message. That's why they hated
him, and that's why they nailed him to that cross. He said, I'm
God, and I'm a sovereign God. And he called them sinners and
told them they needed mercy, they needed help, they needed
forgiveness, they needed grace. And they said, we don't need
you, and we don't need your mercy. We're Abraham's sons, and we'll
rest in our heritage and rest in our tradition. And then last
of all, in John 6, verse 66, it says, From that time many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. What
did he say this time to make all these people turn and leave
him? Well, he said in verse 53, John 6, Verily I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you. Life is not in ceremony, it's
in the blood of Christ. Life is not in rituals of religion. It's in the sacrifice of Christ.
He is our Passover. He is our Passover. Eat the flesh and drink the blood
of the Son of Man. You have no life. There's no
life in your law, no life in your religion, no life in your
ceremony. Life's in Christ. They hated me without a cause.