WE SHALL BE HATED
Christmas blessing of God’s love to you!
There’s no getting around it: If we love Jesus, abide in Him, and confess Him, we will be hated by all who live in the flesh. This includes other Christians, especially other Christians who live by their uncrucified flesh. The flesh hates Jesus because He is the Omega, the end of the flesh which wants its own way. And there are many Christians—our friends, acquaintances, and even family who live predominantly by flesh’s dictates and desires. Jesus is seen as the main competitor Who stands in the way between the world’s offerings and those who want the world more than Him. Thus, it hates Him and those in whom He dwells.
Why the hate? Because Jesus is the epitome of threat to flesh’s imagined and self-conceived well-being. He represents death to flesh, even though He is spiritual Life eternal. And this death is something flesh cannot allow. So, hatred of Jesus is its norm, its initial way of trying to do away with Jesus. So, you and I in whom Jesus dwells are targets of a hatred that seeks to destroy us (yes, this is in the hearts of many Christians!). But God tells us to count this as joy, for we are suffering with Jesus and we know that our real family consists of Jesus, Father God, and our brothers and sisters who are in Christ.
We’ll get into all this later in this Letter, but first let’s pray:
“Beautiful, wonderful, most loving Father God, we come to You this day needing the foundation of Your love firmly implanted in our hearts. We come needing Your strength to stand in the midst of the hatred that will come against us; a hatred so strong that we would die unless it is Jesus, Himself, Who is standing in us. Come, Lord Jesus, stand strong now in us! Amen.”
Before we begin to discuss the main topic of this Letter—being hated for Jesus’ sake—I first want to quote from Nancy-TONI’s fine newsletter of The Staff and Sword Ministry. The quote is from its Issue #209 of Nov./Dec. 2022, and it is titled “PREPARE
. . .PREPARE. . .PREPARE”. The quotes are from pages 1 and 2 of this issue:
(Quote) In reviewing the write-up Chuck-JOHNEL (Nancy’s late husband and prophet of Jesus Christ) wrote dated June 10, 1998 about God’s Commission to this ministry, this single directive is basically repeated in three different Words Jesus gave to Chuck-JOHNEL: PREPARE MY PEOPLE.
One of the first Words came on APRIL 14, 1976. Chuck-JOHNEL prefaced this Word by explaining, “In the early part of 1976, JESUS told me that He sent me into this world with “FINAL WARNINGS” of coming Judgments. After an extended period of visions and revelations of coming destructions, I asked Jesus why He was shewing me these things, to which He replied, “THAT MY CHILDREN SHOULD PREPARE THEIR HEARTS FOR THESE THINGS AND BELIEVE ON ME, FOR I AM ABLE TO SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS IN EVERY ADVERSITY. THAT YOU WALK IN FAITH AND NOT FEAR. THAT YOU STAND UPON MY PROMISES AND SEE THEM. THAT YOU ABIDE IN MY LOVE AND KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THY GOD. . .”
Then. . .on AUGUST 20, 1997, came Jesus’ Word (to Chuck-JOHNEL): “I HAVE SENT YOU TO PREPARE AND WARN MY CHILDREN. I HAVE SENT YOU OUT AGAINST THE NATION AND NOT FOR IT.”
From these Words alone, it seems pretty clear that Jesus was warning His people all along that Judgment would come and that He wanted His people to be prepared. The question could then be raised, just how do we then prepare ourselves? Well, the carnal, natural mind would almost surely think first in terms of physical preparations such as gathering food, water, clothing and so on. But in Jesus’ first Word here, He spoke not of worldly preparations, but rather preparation of the heart and a walk in faith and not of fear. (Unquote)
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In His great love for us, God wants us prepared in our hearts for every eventuality as the Judgments intensify. And that’s the key: to be prepared of heart in our innermost being. One of our preparations is to be ready to stand in Jesus, confess Him in our daily lives, and be hated for it—especially by those around us. So, in this vein, we are going to
look more closely at the hatred and persecutions that will be aimed at us in the days ahead because of Jesus in us. Then, we’ll discuss how we can prepare for this.
We’ll begin with a lengthy citation from Matthew’s Gospel, which lays the foundation of Jesus’ teaching to us in the matter of being hated because of Him:
Matt. 10:21-39
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
I’ve included this long teaching by Jesus because it gives context to our focus in this Letter, summarized by verses 22 and 36. While the other verses have great validity, there are a few of these that are most relevant for our purposes. Let’s briefly look at them.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Things are going to get so crazy that family ties won’t matter. We must keep in mind that we in Christ are bound by His blood, not by “natural” blood ties. And this goes for former friends and acquaintances we thought we could trust. Our true, eternal, family consists of only those in Christ.
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
So, we are not to fear (worship) others, including natural family, and bend to their desires for us. Honor them, but not fear them. Before they come to hate us, they will try to manipulate us through guilt tactics.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Mark this well: we must now make firm resolve to refuse to seek the approval and acceptance of others at the expense of denying Jesus. While some may say they love Jesus, when troubles and pressings come, everyone’s true colors will show, including ours.
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Oh, my Lord Jesus! This is a hard, hard word! And, did You take this attitude toward your own earthly father, Joseph, and mother, Mary? (Yes, He did, for Jesus was no hypocrite.) Note, Jesus did not say to not love our kin, for the Law commanded Him and us to honor them. But He is saying that our highest duty and love is to be reserved for God, not for man. Agape love has precedence over natural (phileo) love, and God has precedence over all earthly creatures, be they human or animal. This is a cross we must bear in this world for our Abba, Father God. This being said, always keep in mind to show forth God’s agape to everyone, even the ones who hate us and demand our phileo love. Phileo, natural, love is good, but agape is higher and is the stuff of God Himself.
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Let’s now look at our two main verses of Matthew 10:
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
We’ve already discussed the issue about our foes being those of our own household (“household” can mean friends and neighbors, even those we go to church with and fellowship with). So, let’s move forward and look at verse 22. To delve into these Words of Jesus to us, we must answer these questions: What is hate, and what does it mean to be hated?
Biblical hatred has two distinct meanings:
- Detesting someone, to the point of persecuting them; also malicious, unfounded, and unjustifiable feelings toward others (i.e., without cause).
- Loving someone less than God.
#1 is easy enough for us to understand. But #2 is a bit more obscure to our western way of thinking. This is because to eastern cultures, especially to God’s Jewish people, both #1 and #2 were valid descriptions of what hatred was. But #2 may be difficult for most of us in the west to wrap our minds around, because loving God more than someone in this world was considered “hatred” of that person, although a legitimate hatred and even a loving and Godly hatred of them (I said it was a difficult concept!).
So, in this context, hatred #2 is not a negative, but a positive Godly virtue and can help us better understand Jesus when He said in Mark 12:30-31,
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Jews understood Jesus perfectly when He said, “Love God with all your heart.” This necessitated, to the Jewish way of thinking, “hating” his neighbor by loving and reserving all his heart for God alone. But, this kind of “hate” was not a vile thing nor did it excuse anyone from loving others, which was God’s command to them. So, in this context, “hate” means to reserve all our heart for God and letting His infused love flow from our heart to others. Compared to our heart of love for God, all other earthly love is hatred by comparison. This is what Jesus means here, and the Jews understood Him.
It’s the first definition that Jesus is referring to when He says, “You shall be hated by all men for My name’s sake.” Going by my explanation of hate, above, note two things here:
- Being hated by “all men” means by everybody, even by other Christians!
- Deep in our haters’ hearts, they will justify their feelings of hatred and persecution towards us by believing they are right to do so—some even believing they are serving God by doing so (see John 16:2-3)
Hatred is a hard thing to bear, especially by a heart that is open in love for others. This kind of heart must be open to giving and receiving love, while being steeled to reacting to other’s hatred of them. It’s not an easy balancing act! The one thing to remember about this hatred that comes against us is because of Jesus in us. Jesus is the primary target of their hatred, not us:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18)
And this is pretty interesting because there will be those who currently say they love us, but when we manifest Jesus, some will come to hate us. Thus, we can then see that this hatred for Jesus was always there in them; it just took something (like Jesus!) to bring it out into the light of day. Jesus is the true Light and He always brings out the truth in any of us.
Let’s look at a few more Scriptures that further clarify this hatred of us.
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. (Luke 21:16-18)
Jesus said it would come to pass, but oh, how hard this will be to endure. Not only will we, because of Jesus in us, be hated, but this hatred will lead to us being betrayed to others who are in positions of authority and power to persecute us. OK—this is bad enough, but we will actually be betrayed by our parents, brothers and sisters, our near and far kin, and by our erstwhile friends. In other words, those closest to us will do the most damage.
Royal Cronquist prophesied many years ago that a spirit of betrayal would manifest in the last times, to such an extent that if we were in a booth in a restaurant talking about Jesus to true Christians, and we were overheard by a betrayer in the booth next to us, we would be reported and hauled off to jail, even death. Royal’s advice was to be careful and aware of our surroundings, making sure who we told what to, and who might overhear us nearby. It has been this way in other countries for years, and it will come to us in this country.
In Matthew 24:9-10, Jesus further clarifies:
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Not only will we hated by those close to us, we will be hated by those farther away, even by those in other nations. Again, because of Jesus in us. He is the target of their hatred.
They hate Jesus so much that they will seek to kill us or have the authorities us put to death. Jesus is an offence to the deliverers/betrayers who cannot abide the light.
It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? How could anyone hate Jesus—Love personified? (I once saw a young man wearing a tee-shirt which said on its back, “I hate love. I love hate.”) Well, when one’s father is the Devil, he/she takes on his nature and lusts. They simply live out what they see and hear in their depths.
A further observation here: Jesus said many would be offended and shall betray and hate one another. This encompasses more than just hatred towards Christians. Jesus is saying that the world’s hatred will come to the point where many non-Christians will hate and betray other non-Christians on a massive scale worldwide. I remember reading of the purges in Communist Russia (generally, from about 1910 to 1955) where up to 70 million Russians were killed by the State. It started off by betrayals and killings of certain targeted groups, like “intellectuals”, Christians, Jews, etc. It proceeded to the Communists eventually going after themselves and killing their “comrades”. Blood lust is like that: it just wants, in the end, to kill and destroy—no matter who it is.
Finally, on this topic of hatred, we’ll look at three more Scriptures. First is 1 John 3:12-13—
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Evil hates righteousness, and Jesus (Who is in us) is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). Therefore, John tells us not to be amazed that we are hated. No matter what physical sacrifices Cain and Able brought to God, they first of all brought their hearts to Him and their sacrifices reflected their hearts. Able’s sacrifice was accepted because his heart was righteous before God. Cain’s sacrifice reflected an evil heart and God rejected it and him (“The fruit of the ground”, Cain’s sacrifice, in and of itself is not evil, though “the ground” indicates the world [Gen. 4:3]). If we are hated because of Jesus, it is evil hearts that hate us because these hearts are not righteous.
There is another reason we are hated. It is because our haters are children of the world, no matter how much some of them might protest that they are God’s sons and daughters. Listen now to Jesus, in John 15:19-25—
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 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. (see Ps. 35:19 and Ps. 69:4)
The world loves its own, and Jesus is not its own. He doesn’t belong to it and doesn’t accept its sacrifices, no matter how seemingly noble. Therefore, He is hated, as are those in whom He dwells.
Note that Jesus says that if those in whom He dwells are hated, it is He that is hated. And if He is hated, then the haters hate God. So, a case could be made here that if we are hated because of Jesus, then the hatred directed at us is directed at God. And this hatred has no basis of righteousness about it; it is without a good reason before God (see Jn 8:46).
Finally, Jesus succinctly sums the matter up for us in John 17:14-16—
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
We are, and shall be, hated by the world—even by those “pious” souls that claim Jesus and our Heavenly Father as their Lord and their God. This is because they are really of the world and seek its comforts and securities over God.
So, let us marvel not if the world hates us. Indeed, let us rejoice if we are hated and persecuted for Jesus’ sake.
Speaking of persecution, it is this extension of others’ hatred towards us that we will now examine.
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We Shall be Persecuted
Jesus said we will be persecuted. Persecuted means being pursued with unrelenting pressure. Persecutors try to make someone run by putting them to flight and driving them away. Finally, persecutors seek to harass, trouble, molest, and cause one to be maltreated.
Let’s look at a few Scriptures to get a better understanding.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Tim. 3:12)
Well, there’s that pesky word “all” again—kind of a two sides of one coin type of issue: on one side of the coin, Jesus said that all men will hate us because of our faithfulness to Him. Now, He is saying that those who faithfully abide in Him shall be persecuted—harassed, troubled, molested, and maltreated. It is something that can be counted upon and prepared for (we’ll get into our preparation for the hatred and persecution in a bit).
You see, our true haters won’t just leave it be by hating us for Jesus’ sake; they will take matters a step further and actively persecute us physically. Hate is the mainly internal response of our haters that begins to proceed outward through persecution.
Some who live outwardly the life of Jesus in them will be hated and persecuted with little to no persecution; some will be more moderately persecuted; and some will experience heavy persecution. God will regulate yours and my persecution according to His mercy and our condition and situation. Just be aware that if you are persecuted for Jesus’ sake it is because you are living a Godly life in Jesus.
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (Luke 6:22-23)
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matt. 5:10-12)
“Blessed are we”?, and, “Rejoice”? Now, as far as the world and the flesh are concerned, Jesus here is either crazy or speaks righteous truth. If it’s craziness, we can dismiss Him as not quite getting it right on that particular day. But, if He speaks the truth, we should pay attention, for our lives depend upon it.
When we are persecuted for Jesus’ sake, we are to count ourselves blessed and rejoice (ready to leap for joy?). The world and our haters will think this is idiotic, considering us daft and a tad short on sound thinking (although some might want what we have, namely Jesus).
I tell you these things so that when you need to remember them, they will be tucked safely in your spirit for your retrieval. Our natural inclination is to strike back verbally and/or physically when we are persecuted. That would only be returning hate for hate and giving a poor witness for Jesus. No, show your haters what Jesus is really like. He loves His persecutors.
How to Prepare for Persecution
As said earlier, some of our greatest enemies (haters and persecutors) will be those of our own household, our friends, and even Christians. Are we ready for this? We must ready ourselves now. The following are a few ways we can be ready for the betrayals and persecutions to come.
- One of the best ways to be ready beforehand is to acknowledge now that hate and persecutions will, indeed, come to you. Many peoples in many nations have known for many years the truth of this in their lives. But Americans and Canadians are some of the last to experience these things. By accepting that the hate is coming is to be in touch with the reality of things. So, when it does come to you, your heart will have a degree of readiness. You won’t automatically turn to fear or retaliation; you will know to turn to Jesus for His help in your particular situation.
- Right now, even this day that you are reading this Letter, purpose in your heart that you will bear it all with Jesus, by God’s grace: And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matt. 10:22) Years ago, Richard Wurmbrand said the first way to prepare for persecution beforehand was to imagine yourself victorious with Jesus. In this way, you and Jesus have already built a foundation of victory for when the real thing comes.
- This preparation point is most important: Purpose in your heart that when you are hated and persecuted for Jesus’ sake, you will not deny Him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. (2 Tim 2:12) Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 10:32-33) This is another preparation to do beforehand; before the fiery arrows of hatred are aimed your way. Many will deny Jesus to save their lives in this world. . .at the expense of eternal life? Is it worth it?
- Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13) Begin now to count it all joy to be privileged share in Jesus’ sufferings with Him. This is an honor, for many Christians will deny Jesus under the pressures of hate and persecutions. This is sad. But allow me to say something candid about this: This world is nothing to hold onto anyway. We might as well give up our lives now for the eternal joy set before us. Why trade life for death?
- But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matt. 5:44) This may be the most important preparation we can make—making firm resolve in our hearts that we will love those who hate us and seek our harm.
I do not suppose that this list of preparations is complete by any means. I’m sure many of you can come up with other good and necessary preparations to get ready for the hate. These are only twigs to start a fire of preparation. My counsel is to believe Jesus and take this seriously. As we have stored up food and water and things against future shortages, we must now begin to store up love for our enemies.
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The following does not really fit into the topic of this Letter, but I thought you’d like to see it anyway. On November 27, 2022, I sent an email to a Dr. Michael Brown in response to an article he wrote for the Christianpost.com website. He has not responded as yet. I think my Email is self-explanatory.
(Quote) Blessed greetings of God’s agape, Dr. Brown! I have just read your article, “I see Thousands of Holy Fires across America”, in which you make many fine points and observations. At the bottom of your article, it mentions your book, “Revival or We Die: A Great Awakening is Our Only Hope”. However, I lovingly disagree with the subject title of your book. Revival and awakening, which are sorely needed, and which will surely come, will not be enough. And they are not our hope. Now, only Jesus Himself is our Hope. This distinction between revival/awakening and Jesus must be made, for it has come to this. Those who can make and live out this distinction will find their lives in Him. Those who glory in revival and awakening will be swept up in hoopla, like the previous generations that eventually flamed out, for they will not
be swept up in Jesus. Thus, it might be truly said, “Jesus Himself (Oh, take note of this, Body of Christ!) is the Revival Godly men of good will have been seeking. If/when the fires of Revival begin to burn, there must be Godly, Jesus-centered, not Revival-seeking, men and women who no longer live, but in whom only Jesus lives. In this way only will some of the fires ignited remain through the most terrible times soon to come. My personal hope is that when Revival might manifest, there will at least be some who will permanently allow Jesus to be formed in them, be changed into His image, and come into full union with Him—to the point where it will be said of these: “When you see them, you see only Jesus” (Gal. 2:20). Again, thanks for a fine article! May the warmth of Jesus’ and Father God’s love wrap around you and enfold you. In Jesus’ sweet love, Jim-REPHAEL. (Unquote my email to Michael Brown)
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Trusting Jesus with you, Jim-REPHAEL Grandon
Jim-REPHAEL Grandon
Jim-REPHAEL Grandon
850 Philpott Rd.
Colville, WA 99114
(509) 684-8932
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
and
BLESSINGS IN THE NEW YEAR!