In John 17, verse 14 it says, “I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them” talking about us, His disciples, “the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  Philosophically, genuine Christianity is unique and absolutely distinct from every religion that exists because its 100 percent based upon relationship.  It is 100 percent free from the reliance of any works or anything that we can produce on our own behalf.  Religion is man seeking God.  Christianity is God having sought us and bought us, amen?  So, because you’re not of the world, the world’s going to hate you and then He throws in this last phrase, “even as I am not of the world.”  Well, what was it that made Him unique from the world?  He said what shows that I’m not of the world is I came not to do My will but the will of He that sent me; amen?  I’m not of the world because I’m not here to promote Myself; I’m here to promote the Father.  There’s no self-reliance in Me, in fact Jesus went as far as to tell the people if you find Me boasting on Myself and promoting Myself, I’m not of God.  All man can do is promote himself, look for his own personal gain and when we strip back most good people’s behavior, their reward is their self-righteousness.  How tragic it is that we, as we come into these last hours, are going to first have to deal with the religious people, the professed church, as those that are our first persecutors.

Jesus said in Luke 21, verse 17, “We’ll be hated of all men for His name’s sake.”  What a statement; we’ll be hated of all men for His name’s sake.  Well, when this hatred begins to come our way, when we find those around us that name the name of Jesus and yet are living like the world and we begin to do what the scriptures admonish us that we love them by bringing reproof and rebuke.  This speaks very much to your security in Christ by how teachable you are and how humble you can be in the midst of admonition and correction.  The crucifixion of that old man on a daily basis.  Ephesians tells us that with all of this onslaught of the enemy, we need to prepare ourselves by putting on this armor of God.

We need to put on the helmet of salvation.  Much of this persecution is going to attack and try to cause you to doubt your position in Jesus Christ.  Much of what they’re going to do is try to take away from you that security of sonship that Father has already provided.  That helmet of salvation is not a helmet that we’re putting on to prepare us to go out and preach the message of salvation, the helmet salvation is the fulfillment of preaching the gospel to yourself daily; amen?  Don’t forget who you are.  That helmet of salvation is what’s going to cause you to remember that we are the representatives of the kingdom of God and we have been given all power and all authority on this planet; amen?  When the enemy begins to rise up and all these accusations are being made about us— “they are an extreme faction of Christianity” no, we are Christians; amen?  And the religious people accusing us are hypocrites.  You see, that really makes them hate you; amen?  Jesus said they hated me, He was constantly telling these religious people, “You’re a bunch of hypocrites.  Dear God, you’re up in arms, you want to kill Me because I healed a man on the Sabbath day, and yet if your ox falls into a ditch, you’ll pull him out on the Sabbath.  You bunch of hypocrites, you’re the blind leading the blind and you’re all going to fall in a ditch.”