18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ (John 15:18-25)
1. We’re not part of the world’s system, but have been called out of the world. (v. 19)
2. The world hates Christ and a servant is not above his master. Christ was persecuted and his followers will be persecuted. (v. 18, 20)
3. The world not only does not know God, the world Hats God and his Son. (vv. 21, 23)
4. To fulfill scripture. (v. 25 [Ps 69:4])
HT: John MacArthur
If you would like to watch or listen to the sermons from which the above points were taken, use the following links.
http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/43-85/Why-the-World-Hates-Christians-Part-1
http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/43-86/Why-the-World-Hates-Christians-Part-2
The Battle Cry 
You can’t argue with the Scriptures. Context is everything though isn’t it? Jesus was talking to the Apostles about why the world would hate them. These guys were the real deal, and were clearly following Christ.
The book of Acts informs us that many non-Christians observed the lives of the early followers of Christ and were amazed.
I am Not discounting what the Lord taught the apostles in anyway, because the world does hate us for the same reasons. Simply adding to it, it is clear that the world ALSO hates Christians because many of us are hypocrites. We say one thing, we do another. There is little about our lives that they find compelling and they can see a LOT of inconsistencies with our truth claims and our actual life-styles.
I hate to admit it, but sometimes the animus of the world towards believers is our own fault.
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We surely don’t need to help exacerbate the world’s ‘natural’ hatred.
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