The world hates Christians because they don’t belong to the world, said Jesus in John 15:18-19 eBhayibhileni. Many Christians won’t accept this truth and do everything they can to make the world love them. Sometimes it’s too embarrassing to watch how far Christians go and eventually say or do things that damage the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Only because these Christians want to be liked and accepted by the world and be friends with the world.
Compromising with the world
Many Christians compromise with the world and think they are some big shot. While in reality these Christians succumbed by the pressure of the world.
They maybe liked and accepted by the world, but in God’s eyes, they are shameful. Because they were not able to stand on the Word (Ibhayibhile).
They didn’t stay faithful to God and obedient to His will. Kunoko, bona wamkhanyela uYesu Kristu by watering down the gospel and compromising with the world.
All because they were not prepared to die to ‘self’ and bancame obabo ubomi kwaye ulandele uYesu.
Everyone that believes has laid down his life
But if you decide to follow Jesus, you crucify your flesh (UMateyu 16:24, Phawula 8:34, ULuka 9:23). Ngokuzalwa ngokutsha kuKristu (Ukufa kwenyama kunye novuko loMoya ekufeni kwabafileyo), you have become a new creation in the spiritual realm.
Awusengunyana kaMtyholi (oku kusebenza kuzo zombini iinkunzi nemazi) that has the spirit of the world (umoya womchasi-Kristu). Ngoko ke, you don’t belong to the devil and the world anymore.
Kodwa ngoku the rebirth, Ube ngunyana kaThixo (omabini kunye nebhinqa).
The Holy Spirit dwells in you and you belong to God and His Kingdom.
What happened in the spiritual realm becomes visible in the natural realm. Ngoko ke, kuya kubakho utshintsho ebomini bakho.
If you won’t experience a change in your life, you might ask yourself if you are truly uzelwe ngokutsha and have become a new creation and if the Holy Spirit dwells in you.
Xa uthe waba ngunyana kaThixo, Awusaphelelanga kwihlabathi. Ngoko ke, the world no longer welcomes and receives you. Except if you compromise and stay carnal and keep living the life you’ve always lived.
If you live like the world and say and do the same things as the world, then it shows that you are not born again and don’t walk after the Spirit. Since the flesh is still alive and has the highest authority in your life.
The Word of God is quick and powerful
Kuba ilizwi likaThixo likhawuleza, kwaye inamandla, kwaye ibukhali kunalo naliphi na ikrele elinemifuziselo, Ukubhoboza nasekuzalweni komphefumlo nommoya, kunye namalungu kunye nomongo, kwaye licebo leengcinga kunye neenjongo zentliziyo. Kwaye akukho sidalwa esingabonakaliyo emehlweni akhe: Kodwa zonke izinto zihamba ze, zavula amehlo ngaye, esimele siyenze kuye (Hebhere 4:12-13)
Xa uzelwe ngokutsha, it’s crucial to hlaziya ingqondo yakho ngeLizwi likaThixo. Because when you don’t renew your mind with the Word of God, you shall keep your carnal mind and keep walking after the flesh and say and do what the world says and do.
If you don’t read and study the Bible daily, you shall not get to know the Father and His will. As long as you stay ignorant concerning God’s will, you shall live according to your will and what you think is right and wrong.
You shall live as you lived before and not likhuphe ixhego kwaye hayi yambathani umntu omtsha.
Therefore it’s necessary to read and study your Bible daily and renew your mind. UMoya oyiNgcwele, Who dwells in you shall help, guide and teach you.
The Holy Spirit teaches you in the Word
Xa wawunguye Indalo yakudala you maybe didn’t understand the Bible. The reason why you didn’t understand the Bible is that your spirit was dead and therefore your mind was darkened and couldn’t understand the spiritual things of God.
Kodwa xa uthe waba sisidalwa esitsha, your spirit was raised from the dead and by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you received the Holy Spirit and therefore you shall be able to understand the spiritual things of God and His Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit knows the depths of God, which are hidden in His Word.
By studying the Word of God, you shall not only get to know Jesus, but you shall also get to know God and His will. You shall get to know Iingcinga zakhe kwaye Iindlela zakhe.
Ngalo lonke ixesha, when you find out a truth in the Word of God that contradicts your former carnal mind and what the world says, you shall have to make a choice, to believe and obey the Word of God and walk in faith after the Spirit or to believe and obey the words of the world and your carnal mind and what your senses tell you and walk after the flesh.
You can only walk in faith if you believe that the words of God are the truth and obey them and do the words of God in your life.
When you are born again and start walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore walk in faith, then one of the consequences will be that you won’t be so loved anymore, but rather be hated by those, Ngoobani Ilizwe, live in sin and are not willing to repent.
The Word divides soulish people and spiritual people
Because just like the Word divides spirit and soul, so shall the Word also divide soulish people, who walk after the flesh and spiritual people, abahamba ngokoMoya.
You shall not be received and welcomed everywhere you go. Not even among your fellow brothers and sisters, who are worldly-minded. Kulungile, if you say what they want to hear and don’t say anything that might offend them and as long as you do what they lindela of you, then there won’t be any problems.
But as soon as you speak the truth and confront them with the truth of the Word, instead of giving them your own opinion, that derives from your flesh; your carnal mind and your carnal wisdom, ulwazi, iimvakalelo, kunye neemvakalelo, then you shall experience resistance.
The world hated Jesus
Jesus is our Lord and if He was hated and persecuted by the world and was banned by His people from the temple, Abafundi bakhe, who are His followers, shall experience the same thing. Jesus spoke about it and said, ukuba ezo, who love Him and obey Imithetho yakhe, shall be hated and even persecuted.
And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Mat 10:22, Mar 13:13, ULuka 21:17)
Ngelo xesha baya kuninikela ekubandezelweni, uya kukubulala: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. Ngelo xesha abaninzi baya kukhubeka, kwaye baya kungcatshana, bathiyane (UMateyu 24:9-10)
Ninoyolo nina, xa bathe banithiya, naxa bathe banahlula ebandleni, baya kukungcikiva, ulilahle njengobubi igama lakho, ngenxa yoNyana woMntu. Vuyani ngaloo mini, kwaye imitsi ngovuyo: kuba, khangela, umvuzo wenu mkhulu emazulwini: kuba ooyise babo babesenjenjalo kubaprofeti (ULuka 6:22)
Ukuba ihlabathi linithiyile, niyazi ukuba lindithiye kuqala kunani. Ukuba beningabehlabathi, ihlabathi beliya kubathanda abakhe: kodwa ngokuba ningengabehlabathi, mna ndaninyula mna kulo ihlabathi, ngenxa yoko linithiyile ihlabathi. Likhumbuleni ilizwi endalithethayo kuni, Akukho mkhonzi umkhulu kunenkosi yakhe. Ukuba banditshutshisile Mna, baya kunitshutshisa nani; ukuba baligcinile ilizwi lam, nezakho ziya kukugcina. Kodwa zonke ezi zinto baya kuzenza kuni ngenxa yegama lam, ngokuba bengamazi owandithumayo (UYohane 15:18-21)
Ukuba bendingezanga ndathetha kubo, babengenasono: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, babengenasono: 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 (UYohane 15:22-25)
Ndibanike ilizwi lakho; kwaye umhlaba ubathiyile, kuba abakho emhlabeni, Nokuba andinguye wehlabathi (UYohane 17:14)
Why the world hates Jesus?
Umhlaba awukwazi ukukuthiya; kodwa yona iyakuthiyile, kuba ndiyangqina ngayo, ukuze imisebenzi yalo imbi (UYohane 7:7)
Jesus gave us the reason, why the world hated Him. Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil, which means that He confronted the people, Ngubani owehlabathi, with their sin. When Jesus said these words to His disciples, His disciples were still the old creation. They were still carnal and belonged to the unfaithful generation that belongs to the world. But when they were born again and received the Holy Spirit, they were also hated and persecuted by the world. Because they testified that the works of the world were evil.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in you and you walk in obedience to God after the Word in righteousness, the Holy Spirit will reprove the world a.o. wesono.
Ngoko ke, you shouldn’t marvel and be surprised when people, whom you’ve never met and with whom you have never spoken with, hate you for no reason.
That’s because the one, ohleli kuzo, hates the One, Abahlala kuwe.
UMtyholi, who lives in them hates Jesus Christ, Who lives in you. Wathi uYesu, that you shall be hated because of Igama lakhe.
Ngenxa yenyani, that you have died in Christ, you have laid down your own life and therefore it’s no longer you that lives, but through the resurrection of your spirit from the dead and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in you. When Christ lives in you, you shall speak and do His words and walk in the will of God.
Jesus spoke the words of His Father and the world wouldn’t receive His words. Kanye njengakuMnqophiso oMdala, when the prophets spoke the truth of God and were hated, bayatshutshiswa, imprisoned and sometimes even killed.
Ngoko ke, ezo, who belong to Jesus and speak His words, which are the same words as the Father, shall be hated by the world.
Do you love God or do you love yourself?
As long as you don’t love God with all your heart, ingqondo, soul and strength and haven’t laid down your flesh, niqhubeke nilandela inyama, you care what other people think of you because it affects you. Ngoko ke, you shall eventually succumb and compromise with the world.
But when you thanda uThixo ngentliziyo yakho yonke, ingqondo, soul and strength and have laid down your flesh and walk after the Spirit, then it won’t affect you, because your flesh is dead. You are not surprised that the world hates you because Jesus warned you (Funda kwakhona: Bala iindleko).
Nangona kunjalo, you will not let that stop you to speak the truth of God and keep preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. You shall not stop to preach and establish God’s Kingdom on this earth.
Okuphikisanayo! You shall continue and keep walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore you shall keep walking in the truth and the love of God.
You shall not compromise with the world. You shall not try so hard to be liked and to be accepted by the world. But you shall stay loyal to Jesus and stand on the Word and not deviate from the words of God.
As long as you keep walking the Spirit and the Word and therefore do the commandments of God, nto leyo Imiyalelo kaYesu, you prove that you love God with all your heart, ingqondo, umphefumlo namandla.
You show that your love for God comes first in your life, kwaye ngenxa yoko, you keep walking in obedience to Him.
You know the reason, why the people, Ngoobani Ilizwe, caphukel wena, but you shall not be moved by that. You shall neither become mad or angry because you don’t walk after the flesh and therefore you are not led by your feelings and emotions. Kunoko, you shall be moved with ububele on them.
The world hates Christians, who follow and do the Word
Marvel not, bazalwana bam, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (1 UYohane 3:13-14)
The hearers of the Word shall not be hated, since they are no threat to the kingdom of darkness. Only the followers and doers of the Word, which means that you believe every word of God and do the words of God, shall be hated by the world, njengoYesu.
Ngoba? Because you testify by doing the truth and righteous works, that the works of the world are evil.
Look at Cain and Abel. Abel wasn’t killed by Cain because they had a disagreement or a fight. But Abel was killed because his works were righteous. The righteous works of Abel testified that the works of Cain were evil (Gen 21:41, 1 Jo 3:12)
This also happened with Jesus. Jesus walked in the truth and did righteous works. That’s why He was hated by the world. Because by doing righteous works Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil.
The Light of the world
Jesus was the Light of the world and through Him, the evil works, which were hidden in darkness were brought into the light.
Oonyana bakaMtyholi, who were the workers of iniquity and belonged to the world, hated the Light and therefore they did everything they could to get rid of Jesus and eliminate the Light.
Lowo ukholwayo kuye, akagwetywa: ke lowo ungakholwayo, uselegwetyiwe, ngokuba engakholwanga kwigana loNyana okuphela kwamzeleyo uThixo. Ke oku kugwetywa;, Ukhanyiso olo lufikile ehlabathini, kwaye abantu bathanda ubumnyama ngaphezu kokukhanya, ngokuba izenzo zabo bezingendawo. Kuba bonke abenza okubi, bayaluthiya ukhanyiso, ongezi ekukhanyeni, hleze imisebenzi yakhe ingohlwaywa. Ke lowo uyenzayo inyaniso uyeza ekukhanyeni, ukuze imisebenzi yakhe ibonakalaliswe, ukuba zenziwe kuThixo (UYohane 3:18-21)
And just like Abel, abaprofeti, Jesus and the apostles, Oku kunjalo. When Jesus Christ dwells in you and you walk after the will of Jesus and do what He has commanded you to do and walk in righteousness in the truth and the light, then the world shall hate you. Because your righteous works testify that the works fo the world (isono) zilungile.
Jesus knew this and foretold His disciples. His disciples knew this and foretold their disciples. And we, as His disciples should know this and inform our disciples, so that the truth is revealed and the disciples will know what to expect and become spiritually resilient and are able to stand on the Word and don’t khanyela uYesu Kristu. Because whosoever shall deny Jesus, him/her will Jesus also deny before the Father (UMateyu 10:33, 2 uTimoti 2:12)
‘Yibani yityuwa yehlabathi’
