“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” (John 15:18-21 NASB1995)
What does it look like if we are “of the world”? It means
that we belong to the world, that we are in a relationship situation with the
world, and that we are like the world in thought, in word, and in deed. We
participate with the world in the things that they do and watch and listen to
and read, etc., and we lack discernment in choosing what is of God over and
above what is worldly and fleshly. And this is not a condemnation of all things
in the world, but of those things which are fleshly and not of God and of his
will for us.
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful
pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is
passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives
forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 NASB1995). We are not to give preference to the
world, i.e. to the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, and the pride of life, which
are not from God.
So, this does not mean that we go hide in a cave somewhere
so that we are not part of this world at all. For, although Jesus called us out
of the world, he called us to go out into the world to make disciples of people
of all nations. And this is not to say that everything in the world is evil,
for God gave us many things in this world to enjoy, too, like nature, and
music, etc. But we need to be people of discernment who are not taking into our
minds, eyes, ears, and hearts what is ungodly and immoral and of the lusts of the
flesh.
And then it is about how we spend our time, and on what we
spend our time, and whether or not God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy
Spirit – has first place in our lives, or if we make him take a back seat in
our lives so that we can indulge in the pleasures of what this world has to offer
us. For our relationships with Jesus Christ are not for Sunday mornings only,
or only when we have our times of “devotions.” But Jesus is to have our all,
and he is the one who is to be leading us in the way that we should go each
day.
So, if we are all caught up in the world, and in all the
things that the ungodly of this world participate in on a daily basis, and
Jesus Christ is more of an afterthought, and someone we only mention “in church”
or during “family devotions,” then we have it all backwards. For he is to be
our life, not just a small section of it, and he is to be the one guiding and
directing our lives, via the Holy Spirit living within us, so that our lives
are now in line with his will and purpose, and we are now doing what pleases
him, and not the flesh.
Then the world will hate us because we are different
(unlike) the world, because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of
character of Jesus Christ. But please understand here that “the world” is not
just the “unchurched,” but they are those who participate in “church gatherings”
religiously, too, but whose lifestyles match more with the world than they do
with Jesus Christ and how he lived when he lived on this earth. And so we may
be hated and rejected by much of what is called, “the church,” too.
And Jesus Christ sets the example for this, too. For who
were his strongest opponents and persecutors? They were not the “unchurched” of
the world, but they were the rulers and teachers of the law and people of
influence in the temple of God. They were the “church people” who hated and
rejected Jesus and who falsely accused him of what he did not do, and who
hounded him continually, trying to trip him up with his words, and who
eventually had him put to death on a cross, hoping to put an end to him and to
his words.
So, if you are following Jesus’ example with regard to how
he lived and the things that he did and that he said to the people, don’t be
surprised if you are hated by much of what is presently called “the church,”
because so many “churched” people are being fed the lies of Satan and not the
truth of the Scriptures. And so many of them are buying into a cheapened alteration
of the gospel which Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. And so they are
not going to warm up to those who are teaching the truth of God’s Word.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13;
Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1
John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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If The World Hates You
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