Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Fifteen

                                                                                                                                              Verses 18-21

Jesus turned from preaching about the mission of His Church, and He began to preach about the relationship of His Church to the world. Jesus informed His disciples, and His Church, that the unbelievers of the world would hate His Church to the same extent that they hated Him. Jesus informed His disciples, and His Church, that they were no longer a part of the world. He had called them out of the world to spiritually inhabit the Kingdom of God. The Church happens to be the Kingdom of God in the world, and the world knows it. The unbelievers of the world can readily see that believers saved by grace are a peculiar people, and they do not like that. I Peter 2:7-10.

Jesus prophesied that the unbelievers of the world would persecute His Church just as they persecuted Him. Jesus' prophecy has certainly come true. The unbelievers of the world have caused His Church to suffer, but not even close to the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross. But Jesus has given His Church a cross to endure so that His Father could give His believers even greater rewards in Heaven. Matthew 16:24; Matthew 5:10-12. Many unbelievers have been brought under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and have been saved by grace when they observed the faithful and patient endurance of persecution by the believers in Christ's Church. Acts 7:58-60; I Corinthians 15:9-10.