Why Does the World Hate Christians and Not Just Their God?

And once again, good to see everybody and for those of you joining us on television how we again want to welcome you to our class and we always like to hear that you feel like you're sitting somewheres in the back row and we trust you'll take your Bibles and your pen in hand and study right along with us and compare Scripture with Scripture. I've been failing to mention the last couple programs that we do have all the past programs available on videotape and on audio tapes as well as the little printed page. We've put twelve programs together and make a six-hour video. So each little book has twelve programs transcribed word for word. They're not edited or dressed up there. They're just exactly what you see is what you get. And if you're interested in any of those things, you just give us a call or drop us a note and we'll get the information to you. Again, we just like to thank our television audience for their support, for your letters, your encouragement, and we just praise the Lord for what He's seen fit to do with us. You know, Iris and I always are amazed. We're just nobodies, we know that, and yet that's the kind of thing that God sees fit to use. All right, let's go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and pick up again with this mind of the Apostle Paul toward these new believers, fresh out of paganism, and these things are written, of course, as an encouragement to us as believers, even almost 2,000 years later. Now verse 2, "...for you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus." In other words, as we showed in the last part of the last program, Paul didn't dream these things up, and as he says in Corinthians, I didn't bring you a polluted product. And you remember when we studied in 1 Corinthians, I showed you the Greek word was, that he didn't bring you a product that was like wine that had been watered down and sold as a legitimate product. He said, I didn't do that. I didn't bring you something that was anything less than the truth, and how else could it be since he received it directly from the Lord Jesus Himself from His ascended place in glory. He did not receive it secondhand from the Twelve. He did not receive it from any other source, but straight from the Ascended Lord. All right, now then verse 3, "...for this is the will of God, even your sanctification," now that's not a big word to scare people. Sanctification merely means a place of being set apart, as holiness also means, and that we are sanctified. We are a set apart people. We're not like the rest of the world around us. We are to be different, and as I've said so often in our program, that the believer is not to be an oddball. He's not to be some kind of a kook that the world laughs at, but we are to be different in a way that our lifestyle is pleasing unto God, rather than pleasing unto the satanic world around us. Now then, verse 3, "...for this is the will, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, or sexual immorality. That every one of you, not just the deacons, not just the preachers, not just the Sunday school teachers, but every believer is to live a separated and a sanctified life." And what he's talking about here is that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. And what is our vessel? This body of flesh. In fact when we get to the closing verses of this little letter to the Thessalonians, he's going to make reference to that. In fact you can turn to it, and we'll hit it again when we come to it. I don't think it will be today anyway. But in verse 23 of chapter 5, where he writes, "...and the very God of peace sanctify you." And I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body. God is just as concerned what we do with this body of flesh, as what we do with the soul and the spirit. Don't ever think for a minute that God is just concerned with the spiritual element. Oh no, we have been left in this body of flesh, and it's in the body that we promote the love of Christ to the world around us. Now we are to control the appetites of the flesh of this body that would be in honor and glory of the Lord Himself. Now in verse 5 he looks at the other side of the coin. We are not as believers to live in the lust or desire of contraptions, even as the Gentiles who know not God. Now you have to remember again that in the pagan world in which Paul lived and moved, there was no real sense of morality, there was no real sense of honesty and godliness. They knew nothing of that. They survived only enough to hold their community together, but so far as having any integrity and honesty and so forth, the ancient world knew nothing of that. In fact we were talking just a little while ago, most of our western culture didn't really become what it was until the King of England put out the Magna Carta, and we had the Bill of Rights and so forth. Up until that time there wasn't anything like that. And so all of these things were prompted of course by Paul's teaching concerning the Christian life, and that is what has made western civilization what it is. Now remember if it hadn't been for Christianity, western civilization wouldn't have proceeded any further than the rest of the world. But these are the things that have made the western world progressive as it's been, productive as it's been, because of at least up until recent history even the secular world operated on a basis of a certain amount of honesty and integrity. Those of us who are a little older, we know that. You didn't have to draw up a ten page contract when you made a deal. Things were settled with a handshake, exactly. But that's of course been watered down, and it's no longer true because we're going back to so much of the morality and so forth of the pagan world. Now let's come back to verse 6. Ephesians 1.6-7 "...not as the Gentiles live, but that no man go beyond, and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you, and testify." In other words the believer has a certain amount of God's protection from the secular world around us. Now I do not say that just because we're a believer all of a sudden nobody can touch us, nobody can harm us. We know better than that. But on the other hand we have a certain element of security that God is watching out for us. Even though He may permit Satan to touch us, even as Satan touched Paul, gave him the thorn in the flesh, but it was not without God's permission. And it's the same way with us. Nothing can touch us without God's permissive will, and so we can rest in that. We can take comfort in the fact that we are not alone. Now let's see. Ephesians 2.7 "...for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." Now that word holiness I think a lot of times scares people. They don't want to be holy. But the word holiness does not mean that we all of a sudden sprout wings, and that we're sinless beings, and that we are above the norm of Christianity or of the world. But holiness is just simply set apart. In fact the vessels in the temple, the shovels for cleaning out the ashes, and the tongs for lifting the sacrificial meat, and so forth. What were they called? Holy. They were holy. Why? Because they were to be used for nothing else. And of course that's why Belshazzar got in trouble back in the book of Daniel. He used those instruments that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and used them at his drunken banquet. And that was pushing it too far. And so the handwriting came on the wall. You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. But what triggered it? They were using instruments that were holy unto the Lord. And I think the same thing applies that if the unbelieving world touches a believer, he better be careful. Because God will on occasion, not always, but on occasion, God will intervene in such a way that the world will know that the believer is protected by God's sovereign grace. Now then verse 8. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God. Now I think we got an Old Testament example that I'm going to use. Maybe someone would say, well it's not appropriate, but I think it is. And I'm going to take you back to Samuel, if I can find it. I hope I can. I wasn't planning to do this. But I think it would be in 2 Samuel. I may have to renege on this one. But it's got to be in Samuel where they are demanding a king. It's got to be in 1 Samuel, doesn't it? They're demanding a king. Verse 8, chapter 8. And Israel of course has been under a theocracy. God has been ruling them through the judges, of which Samuel of course is the last one. And Samuel is now old, and his sons of course have been anything what they should have been. And so that was the straw that broke the camel's back in Israel, that now they had had enough of these so-called judges. And in 1 Samuel, chapter 8, verse 1. 1 Samuel, chapter 8, verse 1. See, and the analogy is the same. The world hasn't changed. Human nature hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abiah, and they were judges in Beersheba, down there in the Negev. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucre, and took bribes. Boy, what did that sound like? Politics, doesn't it? And they perverted judgment. And then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, came to Samuel unto Ramah, and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king, to judge or rule us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. Now look what the Lord says to Samuel in verse 7. 2. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected you, Samuel, they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. Now isn't that typical? You see, they weren't rejecting Samuel the man, they were rejecting the God under whom Samuel labored. And it's the same way today. You see, they do not show their hatred for Christianity because of the individual Christian. It's the God of Christianity that the world hates. And of course they're prompted by the demonic forces of the great adversary, Satan himself. All right, now if you'll come back with me again then to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So again Paul says, Our adversaries do not despise us personally as men, but they despise God, who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit. Another verse comes to mind. Sorry about that, but we're going to use every verse of Scripture that the Lord puts in our mind. Come back to Romans chapter 8, where Paul again makes it so plain, and this helps the believer to understand our position in this world around us. Why does the world around us do the things they do? Why do they have the appetites they have? Why do they seemingly have no concern about what God says? They seemingly never think of eternity. That's what I have to think of so often. Don't they ever think about eternity? Don't they ever stop to think of the horrors of the lake of fire that's coming for them? No they don't, because you see they are anti God, and they're the enemies of God, and so consequently it never enters their mind. Now where do you get it? Romans chapter 8 verse 6-7. Romans 8 starting at verse 5. Romans 8. Romans 8. Now verse 6, for to be carnally or fleshly minded is death, spiritual death. We're not talking about the physical death at 70 or 80 or 90. We're talking about the spiritual death. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity. Now that's just another form of enemy. So the carnal mind is an enemy of God. Now we don't ordinarily look at it that way, but it is. The carnal mind, the unsaved person, is an enemy of God. Oh he may be a perfectly good person, a good neighbor, a good parent, a good church member, but in his heart, his true thinking, his true motive, is still anti God. That's what the Book says. It's not my idea, it's what it says. That the carnal or the unsaved person is an enemy of God, and he is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can he be. It's impossible. It's amazing that the world holds together as good as it does. It really is. When you realize the abject paganism of the ancient world, and when you realize the period of human history ever since then up until now, and with the vast percentage of people having no concern about the things of God. It's always been a small percentage. Again I always have to go back to the Scripture to prove my statement. Poor old Elijah thought he was the only one. Now that was the extreme wasn't it? God, I'm the only one. Now if Israel was at a population of about 7 million, which was about average, God says, No Elijah, you're not the only one. I've got one tenth of one percent. Now He didn't put it in those figures, but what did He say? I've got 7 thousand. But you see 7 thousand out of 7 million, if I know my math right, that's only one tenth of one percent. That's about where we are today. Someone asked me the other day, What percentage of the audience do you think you reach? One tenth of one percent. That's what I really think we reach, even in a place like Tulsa. Now I hope I'm wrong, but one tenth of one percent. That's about par. Now you go back to the flood, and there was only eight. That's an infinitesimal amount. So all the way up through human history, God has never had more than just that real small percentage. That's why I maintain, and I suppose people think I'm crazy, and that's their privilege, but I think if the rapture would take place today, the world would go on tomorrow and never miss us. Most people would never know that we're gone. Oh maybe our immediate family, and maybe our next door neighbor, but the world is not going to miss us. It's just going to be such an infinitesimal amount that we'll go, because that's the way it's always been. In fact another illustration I would like to use, after the Lord had labored in the Land of Israel for three years in His earthly ministry, and you get into Acts chapter 1, how many believers assembled there on the day of Pentecost? 120. And I maintain that's all there were in the area of Jerusalem, and that was the Lord Himself laboring for three years. So don't get discouraged. I don't get discouraged, because I know the Lord isn't hung up on great numbers. Narrow is the way. How many find it? Few. Broad is the way. How many find that? The most. So we always have to take these things into consideration. Now back to our text in I Thessalonians chapter 4, and we'll find that he goes on now in verse 9. I Thessalonians 4 But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you. For you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Now where does that come back from? Well the Ten Commandments certainly express that we are to love one another, and not to gossip and not to covet. So that is a basic concept even of Christianity, that we are to love one another. Then verse 10. I Thessalonians 4 And he says, Indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia, northern Greece. It wasn't just limited to Thessalonica, and so the Thessalonican brothers no doubt already were beginning to have fellowship with those up in Philippi, and in Berea, and other areas of northern Greece. And it was just natural that believers loved to fellowship with other believers, and that's as it should be. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more. What is that driving at? We're to be growing in grace and knowledge. And how do you grow in grace and knowledge? By feeding on the Word. This is where it comes from. And the more skilled you become in the useful use of the Word, the more mature you become in your Christian walk, your attitude, your approach to everything around you. Verse 11. Somebody asked me in a letter the other day, what did I mean by constantly referring to study? And I think the other word he says is compared to meditating. Well now you know the Oriental religions emphasize meditation, but there's a vast difference between meditation and study. When you meditate you just sort of empty your brain and your mind, and anything can come in at once. And we have to be careful. I'll never forget a missionary back from one of the Oriental nations when we were still living up in Iowa. He had flown into the Chicago Airport from overseas, and he was walking down one of the corridors of the airport, and he saw somebody there in an Oriental position of worship and supposedly meditating. So he said, I just stopped. I nudged him and I said, What are you doing? He said, I'm meditating. He said, Should I tell you what you're doing? You are opening your mind to all the satanic forces that are ready to come in. And he said, That's what it is. That's what meditation really is to the unbelieving world. Now I know as believers we can meditate, but you still have to be careful, because when you meditate and you just open your brain and your mind to anything and everything that comes in, it's the wrong stuff that's going to find a home, not the good stuff. So anyway, what's the difference between meditation and study? Study, you get out the book, and you may have to get a concordance, and you may have to get some study helps, and you study. You study. You compare Scripture with Scripture, and you just can spend two or three hours, and it just goes like a snap of the finger. But how many believers take the time to do it? Like one fellow told me just yesterday, he said, I know that most Sunday school teachers to prepare for their Sunday school lesson on Sunday morning, and I'm not pointing at any one group at all, I think it's pretty common across all denominational lines, that Sunday school teacher gets out his quarterly about 9 o 'clock on Saturday night, looks over it so at least he can read it without making a lot of boo-boos, and then Sunday morning he stands up in front of his class and he reads from that quarterly. Oh maybe they'll get a little discussion now and then, and then when people that I've taught try to get in the discussion, then they get mad and say, where do you get that kind of stuff? So I hear it all, but listen Sunday school teachers I don't care who you are, don't just look at that quarterly, use it if you have to for a little of a crutch, but get into the Book, study the Word, and be ready as Paul says so many ways, be ready to give a reason for the hope of your calling. And how can you do that if you don't know what the Book says? Because this is where it's at. So we are to study by comparing Scripture with Scripture, to be quiet. Boy now that flies in the face of most of what we're seeing and hearing today doesn't it? Today you haven't got a real come on church service unless you blare the music and make it sound like a night club. In fact I was reading a book a while back, and that's exactly what this promoter of huge churches was saying. He said, before we started to get a church growth program, I went out around the community to the various clubs and bars and so forth, and he said, you know the first thing I noticed? I never heard any organ music. So he said, the first thing you've got to do is throw the organ out of your church. He said, the present day world doesn't like organ music, and so you bring in all the other stuff. You bring in the electric guitars, the electric cysts, and the electric that, and you blare the music, then they'll come. But that's not what my Bible teaches. My Bible teaches that true Christianity is that which is quiet, it's contemplating, it's worshipful. And again I always have to go back, I think it was Elijah as he stood in the cave door, and oh my a pillar of fire went by, the mountain shook in an earthquake, and a cyclone blew by. And every time one of those things happened, what did the book say? God wasn't in it. And then Elijah, I'm pretty sure it was Elijah, then Elijah heard what? A still small voice. Who was in the still small voice? God was. And this is what we have to realize. We're living in a day that is contorting the Scriptures, and God still is admonishing us to study and to be quiet before the Lord.