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Chapter 103 “They Hated Me without a Cause”
“If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” (John 15:22-25)
The hottest place of hell’s everlasting torment is reserved for sinners who hear but refuse to believe the gospel! Oh, what a dangerous thing it is for you to be raised under the faithful preaching of the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ! If you stop your ears, shut your eyes, harden your heart, and run madly to hell shoving God out of your way, the hottest place in hell shall be yours forever! If the gospel you hear does not lift you to the highest heaven, it will sink you into the lowest hell! It will be to you either that by which the Lord God gives you life everlasting in Christ, or that by which the God of Glory damns you forever. If you go to hell with the gospel of Christ ringing in your ears, it would be better for you never to have been born! Oh, may God the Holy Spirit give you ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to believe the gospel, for Christ sake! It is my heart’s desire and prayer to God for you that you might be saved by his wonderful grace!
The Son of God declares, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.” The sin our Lord speaks of here is the sin of Israel and the religious Jews in rejecting him, God’s Messiah, the One sent to them (Acts 3:25-26; John 1:11). If he had not come in his incarnation, in fulfilment of all their law and prophets, and with undeniable proof of his person, they would not be under such strong judgment for their particular sin; but he has come, and they have no excuse. Therefore, God has cast them off (Romans 11:7-10). In a word, it is every person’s responsibility to walk in the light God gives him. Our Savior is here telling us that those who have greater light, and refuse to walk in the light God gives them shall have greater condemnation. If God cast off the whole nation of Israel because they refused to bow to his Son, you can be certain he will cast you off (Proverbs 1:22-33; 29:1).
Next, the Lord Jesus tells us, “He that hateth me hateth my Father also.” Many pretend to know, love, and worship God, while rejecting and despising the Lord Jesus Christ. But our Savior tells us that all who hate him, the Christ of God, hate God who sent him. God the Father and God the Son are One (John 5:23; 10:30). The hatred of the world is toward the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and all who love the triune Jehovah.
In verse 24 we read, “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.” By his works, as well as by his words, his gospel, the Lord Jesus was evidently set forth before that generation as the Christ of God. Yet, they despised him. They are, therefore, without excuse. — Has the Lord Jesus Christ been evidently set before you? Has he made it clear to you that he is the Christ of God, the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world? Are those facts indisputably, irrefutably clear to you? If they are, your unbelief is inexcusable!
We see man’s sin everywhere. It is in our newspapers and on television every day. Murder, rape, incest, sodomy, adultery, pedophilia, terrorism: all these evils we look at with utter disgust, crying out for law and justice. But, if you want to see the evil of depraved humanity most fully, you will find it plainly set before you in John 15:25. — “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”
When we think about the sin of our fallen race, we ought always to think of it in terms of deicide. Here is the essence of sin. It is the murder of God! Man, because of his hatred for his Creator, nailed the Son of God to a cross and threw a hellish party as they watched him die! That is the master crime of hell-bent humanity, the pinnacle of man’s guilt. Sin out did itself when it slew the Lord of glory, who came on earth to die in the place of fallen men. Never does sin appear so exceedingly sinful as when we see it nailing the Lamb of God to the cursed tree, whom it hated without a cause!
Most Hated
First, let me remind you that there has never been a man so hated as the God-man, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus here refers us to two verses in the Psalms (Psalms 35:19; 69:4), affirming plainly that the Psalms, though written by men from their own experiences, were written by divine inspiration as prophecies of our Savior.
From the time that he entered into this world, until the hour that he was hanged upon the cursed tree, the Son of God was the constant, unceasing object of man’s cruel hatred. The word “they” refers to all who refused to believe our Savior. Though they had no reason to do so, they hated him.
No human being was ever so lovely as our Savior. It would seem almost impossible not to love him. Yet, lovely, loving, and loveable as he was, — “Yea, he is altogether lovely!” — no creature ever endured such a relentless hatred. As soon as he was born, Herod sought to kill him; and that was just the beginning. All the days of his life he was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
Man’s hatred for the Savior displayed itself in different ways. Sometimes it was in overt deeds, as when they took him to the brow of the hill, and would have cast him down headlong, or when they took up stones again to stone him, because he declared that he is God. At other times, the hatred showed itself in words of slander. — “He is a drunken man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.” Sometimes it was manifest in looks of contempt, as when they looked suspiciously at him, because he ate with publicans and sinners, and sat down to eat with unwashed hands. At other times, the hatred was silent, entirely in their thoughts, as when they thought within themselves, “This man blasphemeth,” because he said to the woman taken in adultery, “thy sins be forgiven thee.”
But the hatred was always there. Even when they tried to make him their king, it was not because they loved him, or even admired him. It was because they thought they could use him for their own advantage, nothing more. Remember, it was the same men who tried to make him their king who, just a little while later cried, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
“They” who hated him were all men, in every rank and quarter of society. — The Rich and the Poor — The Men and the Women — The Old and the Young — The Pharisees and the Sadducees — The Governor and the Slave — The Learned and the Ignorant — The Powerful and the Powerless — The Prince and the Pauper!
Here was a man who walked among men, who loved men, who spoke to rich and poor as though they were (as indeed they are) on one level in his sight. Yet, all conspired against him in unified hatred. They admired his eloquence, and frequently would have fallen prostrate in worship before him, on account of the wondrous deeds he did. Yet, they all conspired together to put him to death, nailing him to the tree, wagging their heads, taunting him, jeering at him, mocking him, spitting in his face, jerking out his beard, beating him, and laughing at him, as if they were being entertained by a comedian!
No Reason
Anyone who bothers to read history, let alone the Word of God, knows that the Lord Jesus was the object of man’s cruel hatred. But why did they hate him? They had no reason. Yet, three times we read, “They hated me without a cause.”
There is nothing that can be, or ever has been pointed to in the life of our Redeemer that was even objectionable, let alone a cause for hatred. Our Lord Jesus was perfect in his character. In his conduct, he was without flaw. His doctrine was pure and good. — The law of God he upheld, obeyed, and exemplified is, in the opinion of all sane men, good. — The doctrine he taught was pure doctrine. All his works were works of mercy. His kindness, sympathy, and tenderness were obvious to all. Yet, though there was no cause for it, the Lord of Glory was hated of all men in this world, and still is.
Enmity Against God
Third, the cause of man’s hatred for Christ was and is altogether in himself. Here is the cause of man’s hatred for Christ, “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). Men hated him without a cause, because they hate God who sent him, and everything about the Lord Jesus stirred man’s hatred for God against him. They hated him, because of the gospel he preached. Their hatred of him was and is drawn forth and made manifest by the fact that… · He declared himself to be God, one with the Father and equal to the Father (John 10:25-33). · He exposed the evil of their hearts and the hypocrisy of their religion (Mark 7:20-23; Luke 16:15; John 8:40). · He openly proclaimed God’s sovereignty in the exercise of his mercy and grace (Luke 4:25-32). · He preached redemption, righteousness, and salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in him alone (John 6:37-40, 44-45, 47-51, 53, 61-65). · They hated him, because he forgave sinners of their sins freely and fully, while refusing to accept and honor their works of righteousness.
For all these things they hated him. Yet, had they believed him, the gospel he preached would have saved them (Matthew 11:25-30).
By Divine Purpose
Fourth, all this was done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, according to our God’s sovereign, eternal purpose of grace toward us. — “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” The hatred of men for Christ resulted in him being crucified upon the cursed tree as our Substitute (Acts 2:23, 36; Acts 4:27-28). By this means, by his sin-atoning death as our Substitute, the Lord Jesus declares, “Then I restored that which I took not away” (Psalm 69:4). Yet, the guilt rests on men, for they did what they wanted to do. Nothing in him gave them cause for this hatred. The evil was altogether in them. Be sure you understand this. — Wicked men are responsible for all the havoc they attempt to wreak upon the kingdom of God, and shall be judged accordingly; but let us never imagine that they have the power to accomplish their evil designs. — It is written, “Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil…Jerusalem shall dwell safely” (Proverbs 1:33; Jeremiah 23:6).
Freely Saved
Fifth, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Savior is hated by men without a cause, and that is exactly how he saves sinful men and women who hate him — “without a cause” — “freely” (Hosea 14:4; Romans 3:19-24; 8:32).
A Question
Now, I have a question for you. — Do you hate him, or do you love him? I speak frankly to you, and tell you what the Word of God plainly declares. — If you refuse to trust him, if you refuse to bow to him and believe him, your unbelief reveals your hatred for the Son of God (1 John 5:10). If you trust him, your faith in him causes you to love him. — “Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious.” — “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.”
“Do not I love Thee, O my Lord? Behold my heart and see; And turn each odious idol out, That dares to rival Thee.
Do not I love Thee, O my Lord? Then let me nothing love; Dead be my heart to every joy, When Jesus cannot move.
Is not Thy Name melodious still To mine attentive ear? Doth not each pulse with pleasure bound My Savior’s voice to hear?
Hast Thou a lamb in all Thy flock I would disdain to feed? Hast Thou a foe, before whose face I fear Thy cause to plead?
Would not mine ardent spirit vie With angels round the throne, To execute Thy sacred will, And make Thy glory known?
Would not my heart pour forth its blood In honor of Thy Name? And challenge the cold hand of death To damp th’ immortal flame?
Thou knowest I love Thee, dearest Lord, But O, I long to soar Far from the sphere of mortal joys, And learn to love Thee more!” Philip Doddridge
“We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). — Believing him, trusting him, loving him, I am confident that he loves me, even as he is loved by his Father, with an everlasting love. And his love for me casts out all fear.
Be Reconciled
May God the Holy Ghost now cause you, by his omnipotent mercy, to be reconciled to God, giving you life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1)
“Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” (Isaiah 55:3)
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)
“Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)
“Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
“We then, [as] workers together [with him], beseech [you] also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
Quit fighting God. Be reconciled to God by faith in his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Don Fortner
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Pastor Fortner’s
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