The World May Hate You But They Hated Him First

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for joining us today. We’ve got a great message for you.

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So today we have — like I said — a very special message. Now, the point of it is, if our sermons are impacting you and if they’re truly impacting your life, and if you are listening to them and you’re watching them — that’s great.

But what we want — and you’re going to say, “We want your money.” No, we don’t. “Oh, we want you to share our stuff.” No. What we want is for you to be doing what we say. Now, that sounds a little bit harsh, but what we say comes from the Bible.

And so when we are preaching sermons or giving you the Ministry Minutes, and we’re telling you, “Hey, this is the verse, this is what it means, this is what you need to do.” It’s not: this is what I think you should do, this is what Spencer Coffman says you should do. No. It’s: this is what the Bible says, and this is what it means, and that means that you need to do this.

And so when we’re giving you these sermons and these Ministry Minutes and all of this information, we are giving you literal application. Things that you can do that come directly from the Bible.

When we do this and when we give this to you, it’s not enough for you to watch and to listen and then to go about your day. If these sermons are truly impacting your life, then you are going to see something in your life.

It means that if you are doing what it says, if you’re doing what the Bible says. If you are allowing us to speak to you and you’re listening to what we’re saying, and you are opening your heart and your mind to what the Bible is saying through these words, through these messages, through these sermons, then you are most likely impacting the lives of those around you.

And you say, “Yeah, that’s kind of a given. If I listen to you and put these words into practice and live out the Bible and try to be a better person and try to be more like Jesus, then obviously I’m impacting those around me.”

Yes, but you also may be enduring a lot of tough times. Now, why would I say that? Maybe it’s even worse times than before you began listening to us. You say, “Why?”

I’m telling you that if you are truly reading the Bible, studying it, understanding what we’re saying, and you are living out what we are preaching to you, then your life is probably getting harder. There’s probably more going on.

You’re probably feeling more overwhelmed. You’re probably feeling more anxiety, more pressure, more demands. Why? Because you are starting to live for God more. And when that happens, what happens here on Earth?

Satan says, “This person is becoming dangerous. This person is starting to listen and is starting to live how God wants them to live, and I don’t like that.” Satan is saying, “I gotta stop that.” And so he’s sending all of his — his fallen angels, his demons — to ruin your life, to pile up earthly things on you, more earthly demands, more earthly requirements, more earthly distractions.

Ding — there goes a phone. Oh, I got an email. TV’s too loud. I got Amazon devices playing music in the background, and it’s the wrong song, and now I gotta tell this. I got a timer going off for the oven. My kid’s crying. The dog wants to go outside. There’s too much.

Who’s piling all that on you? And what does that serve? What purpose? It’s a distraction. It’s taking you away from what you’re really supposed to be doing. We have several sermons on your purpose and your calling in life. Please check them out.

We have a whole series playlist, a sermon series playlist. A bunch of different sermons put in there called “You Have A Purpose In A Calling.” You can check it out in a card up here. Go to our website, type in “Purpose” in the search bar.

But you’re probably enduring tough times, worse times, hard times, overwhelmingness. Why? Because God is shaping you as iron sharpens iron. One person sharpens another. God can sharpen you. Iron and iron — that’s friction, sparks fly, tension, it’s hard. God is shaping you.

We have a sermon, “God Puts You Through Trouble.” Check that out. That one might really help if you’re going through some tough times. He is turning you into a godly machine, a warrior of prayer, a person of faith. You’re out in the world sharing things that you learn. You’re sharing the lessons that you learn from where?

From church, from Social Media Ministries, from your devotional, from reading your Bible, from praying with God. You’re sharing it with those around you. We have a playlist, “Get Out There And Bring Others To Christ.”

Get out there and do it. Check out that sermon and those playlist sermons for more information and more revitalization on the importance of getting out there and bringing others to Christ. Some people around you even, may begin to resent you for what you’re doing.

They say, “I don’t understand it. You used to be fun. You used to come over, and we used to drink beer and hang out on the couch and eat pizza, and now you just want to go to church, which is boring,” or “now you want to go out and help the homeless. I mean, if they didn’t want to be homeless, why don’t they get a job?” And these people are hating you because of who you are becoming.

But remember, if you are becoming who God wants you to be and you are following what God wants you to say, then who cares what that person thinks? That’s an old friend, and they may need to be out of your life.

You may need to cut ties and say, “You know what? I don’t want to sit around and get drunk anymore, or I don’t want to do this stuff anymore. I have a new life, and if you don’t want to be a part of that new life, then I’m sorry, we have to cut ties.”

And they may hate you for that. But remember, they hated Him first. Who’s Him? Jesus. They hated Him first. Let’s go to some verses. Some people may begin to resent you for the new life you’re living.

Let’s go to 1 Peter 4:14. 1 Peter 4:14, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” If you’re suffering for what is right — if you’re suffering for doing what is right, you will be blessed.

When we started Social Media Ministries, within a month, Facebook shut down my account. My personal account that I had — had for years and years and years — friends, connections around the world that I had met, photos from a lifetime, events. Facebook instantly shut it down. Why? I don’t know. They hate Jesus.

They’re not a Christian company, and so with what I was doing on social media, boldly proclaiming that we want to take over social media for Christ, they shut that down immediately.
But you know what? Losing Facebook, yeah — could’ve been a blow there. But I was blessed by that. Think of all the distractions that causes.

Now, if I could have it back, great. And we do have a Facebook page — Social Media Ministries — so far, that’s up due to — I don’t know, some type of godly intervention, is really what it is that we still have a Facebook page.

But I don’t have a personal profile anymore — and that’s fine. So if things happen in this world, consider yourself blessed. Even if something bad is happening — if they threaten you, whatever — don’t worry. Don’t be frightened. Don’t fear them.

But consider yourself blessed, because you suffer for the right reasons. You suffer for God. Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

That’s Jesus talking. So when people do that because of Jesus, if they insult you because of Jesus, blessed are you. Why? Because you’re standing up for what’s right.

Yes, you may have lost a few friendships or stopped talking to some people, but that’s okay. Let’s go to Romans 12:2. We need a little more encouragement. Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Don’t conform to this world. Be transformed. Renew your mind and do what the Bible says.

Listen to the words that we preach — and that all the good, godly pastors and teachers are teaching you — and do it. Don’t let the world get you down, because you are not of this world.

Remember: we are of a different Kingdom — a heavenly Kingdom, and that’s God’s Kingdom. So we follow God’s rules. We have several sermons on that. “Earthly Life Or A Higher Purpose” — check that one out; it’ll be in a card up there.

You can watch that and learn that sometimes things in this world are not aligned with what God’s word says. And so you might need to go against what society says in order to follow God. But guess what? Who cares?

We’re not following the ways of this world. We don’t care about the ways of this world. We care about the ways of God. And hopefully in some circumstances, the ways of this world align with the ways of God, like “don’t steal.”

That’s a law of God and also a law in this world — at this time anyway. We hope it continues. But things are peeling away. The state, the government, society — their rules are falling away from God.

We have gay marriage, we have transgenders, we have abortion like crazy. We have afterbirth abortions. We have the ability to sell children. We have trafficking. We have all kinds of things that are okay and legal.

We have recreational sex, we have all kinds of stuff — lying is okay, deviousness, conning people — sometimes even okay. All of this stuff is against what God says. It used to be illegal, but society is peeling away from the laws of God.

You need to follow the laws of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.” The old is gone, the new is here. Some translations say, “If someone is in Christ, they are a new creation.”

As in, when you become a Christian, you’re literally a new creation. The old is gone, and the new is come. You’re no longer part of this world. You are now of a heavenly Kingdom. Your old self is gone. Your new self is here.

That might mean you need to find new friends in Christ, new brothers and sisters in Christ, part of the body of Christ. And those old friends that are of this world and rooted in the world, they need to go. The old is gone, and the new is come.

So if you lose friends because of your Christianity, don’t worry. You’ll make new friends. I know it can be hard. If you lose family members because of your faith, don’t worry about it. You have brothers and sisters in Christ.

You say, “Spencer, that’s easier said than done.” Maybe you haven’t had that happen. Believe me, we’ve had it happen. People are no longer part of our family because of the faith, people have shunned, people have excommunicated, because of what we do, on my side and my wife’s side.

So guess what? We’ve had it happen. We’ve spent a period of years without friends. Why? Because we just couldn’t find any that believe what we believe. You’d say, “What? In America, with all the churches?”

Yes, because there are not enough people who truly have that desire. Yeah, they may go to church; there are tons of people going to church. But not allowed to truly act it out. I’m talking — we can meet hundreds of people, and maybe 2 of them become a friend.

Or become someone who you can identify with, who actually believe what you believe. And believe that this is important to get out there in the world and to preach the gospel to all creation and to do what the Bible says every single day.

To not live in superficiality or phoniness or inauthenticity, but to truly be authentic and to truly claim your identity and to live it out day after day. A lot of people just say it, but how many actually do it?

And how many can you actually have a conversation with about it? Not many. But don’t worry about it because God’s got you. And when the time is right, you’ll find the right people. So don’t let all that get you down.

Don’t let it get you down. You may need this. You may have to sever ties. You may have to get rid of those people in your life because, guess what? They will pull you down. We even have a sermon on that called “Pull You Down.” Check it out.

Let’s go to another verse: 1 Corinthians 15:33. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” They will pull you down. All of this, maybe severing ties, maybe having new friends or going without friends for a while, while you are trying to find the right people, it’s all part of your spiritual development.

Remember what Jesus said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind they hated me first.” John 15:18. They hated Him first. So if they hate you, that’s fine. They are gonna hate you because you’re not of this world.

Exactly like when a new kid comes to school and people don’t really like the new kid for a while till they get to know him or maybe till the new kid impresses them or something. There’s a period of time, they don’t — they don’t really get along.

Or when immigrants come to a new country. They don’t really like them because they are new. When you become a Christian, you’re new. You’re not of that place. You’re a new creation.

We’re not of this world. You have a heavenly Kingdom. And so when that happens, people might hate you, but they hated Him first. And that’s okay if they hate you as long as they hate you for the right reason, as in they hate you because you’re following God.

You need to work very hard to become more like Jesus. That’s what you’re doing in life. That’s your life’s ambition. WWJD? We have a sermon on that — check it out. The world hated Him first. The world hated Jesus.

After all, they did kill Him. They crucified Him — the worst death you can go through. So, do you really think they’re going to love you? Of course not. Jesus was hated, and you want to be like Jesus. Therefore, you might be hated. We have another sermon called “Friend Of The World.”

We probably have too many, but check them out on our website if they are not popping up above, “Friend Of The World.” Go to our website, type in “Friend,” and you’ll find that sermon. Great sermon.

You want to be like Jesus, not like the world. The world hated Him first. They might hate you, but that’s okay. As a result of being more like Jesus, people are going to dislike you. You are not going to be friends with everyone.

There are evil people in this world, and when you interact with them, they are filled with darkness, you are filled with light — they will instantly not like you, they will be angry towards you, mean toward you.

They may not even know why, but it’s because they are polluted with darkness, and that darkness does not like your light. It is as if in the movies, when they open the curtains and the demon or the vampire or whatever is like shrieking and screaming like, “Ha, the light!”

Yeah, that’s what’s happening. You are light. Coming into their world of darkness, and they are not liking it, but they don’t even know why. But it’s because the evil within them doesn’t like the good within you.

But your light can overcome their darkness. So do not be discouraged. Share the light with them. Share Jesus with them, and that darkness will flee. That’s biblical. Remember, make sure people are only hating you because you are a child of God.

Are you a child of God or a child of the devil? Go to our website, type in “Child of God.” We have a sermon on that. You can be a child of God rather than the child of the devil. You cannot be a child of wrongdoing. Let’s go to Matthew 10:22.

Matthew 10:22 says, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” They hated Him first, and they will hate you. But don’t worry. Stand firm to the end.

Reach out to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If you’re going through someone, ask for prayer. Ask for help. Comment below on our sermons. Reach out to us. Engage. Talk to us, to your friends, your family — the people who can be around and help you in your faith.

Do not be discouraged. Stand firm to the end because your light will overcome their darkness, and you will be saved. They hated Him first. If they hate you, it’s okay. As long as they hate you for the right reasons, so get out there, be the light, do not be discouraged, and stand up for what you believe in, Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you so much for this powerful message. This sermon, I ask that you would inspire those people out there to live and do what the Bible says. That they would be interacting with you more.

That they would spend more time with you. That they would share your words with others, and that you would show them how the light within them overcomes the darkness and God.

And God, when they have negative interactions, when people hate them or when people are mean to them, that they would recognize it for what it is — that they wouldn’t take it personally.

That they would know, “Hey, this is a battle between good and evil, this is a battle between light and dark, and when I share my light, the darkness is going to react. The darkness is going to attack, but with this light we overcome the darkness.”

And that they would be bold in you, and that you would show them how the darkness flees, that they would see that and that they would be encouraged and inspired to go out there and do more.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Be encouraged. Get out there and bring other people to Christ. The darkness will flee before you in Jesus’ name.

When you go out there and act in faith, the darkness will flee. So get out there. Act in faith, and remember that God loves you, and He always will.

Have a great week, and God bless