Believers Are Not Of The World.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world; therefore, the world hates you.
Remember, therefore, 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 the Father that sent Me. John 15: 18-21
It is of utmost importance that every believer gain a personal revelation of their true disposition in life. In reality, as believers, we are to gain the knowledge of our standing in Jesus Christ and in our living in this world.
I am reminded of a word of exhortation in which the Lord declared: “ For just as I have spoken in times past unto My people Israel, so I speak unto you My redeemed.
With my outstretched arm, I have redeemed you out of this world, I have drawn you unto Myself. I have called you by name, and I declare over your lives that you are mine. You are know that you are not of this world, nor are you for this world.
In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed for all who would come unto Him. He declared: And now come I to You and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil. John 17:13-15.
Previously, in His prayer, Jesus declared that while He was with His disciples, He kept them, meaning that He watched over them and guarded them, preventing any harm from afflicting them.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:16-19.
To sanctify is to set something apart for a specific purpose; in this aspect, Jesus is asking the Father that those who are in Him are to be dedicated to a cause, that of being separated for the purposes of the Father exclusively.
We are to examine our lives in this light, which is the revelation of Jesus’s concern for our lives in Him. As His body, we have been called out of this world and called into the service of His Kingdom for the desired purpose that His life in and through us should be for the proclamation of the will of the Father, just as Jesus lived His life while in this world, so too should we as His people.
Chosen You Out Of The World;
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but I have chosen you out of the world; therefore, the world hates you. John 15: 19
I was looking at the declaration of Jesus Christ in which He stated: I have chosen you out of the world. There are a few different meanings of Chosen; one meaning is that of being selected out of something, and there is also another aspect of being called out from one place into another position.
While writing this article, my attention was drawn to a word of Exhortation that I received during a prayer meeting way back on 14/6/2016, and as I did this, it brought confirmation to my heart.
“ I have called unto you, drawn you, I have brought you out from this world and have brought you into the Kingdom of My life. With My outstretched arm of power, I have placed you in the Son of My love, you are mine, you are not for this world “.
Herein, there is a clear revelation that, as believers, we have been called out from this world to be called and received into another place, that of being drawn into the Kingdom of God in this world.
When the Lord declared that we are not of this world, He was revealing that we were to be a separated people, not being bound by this world’s system but finding our rightful place as kingdom-minded people in the midst of a fallen world.
We must understand that as believers, we have been brought into a very honoured and privileged place, that of being made the righteousness of the Father through our receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Some years ago, the Lord declared: “ As My people, you are to know that as you stand before My presence, you stand justified in My sight, I have placed My mark upon your lives, you are to know that you are loved with My everlasting love, a love that sought and brought you unto Myself “.
Believers Are To Be In The World.
You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:16-17.
Herein is the grace of the Father; we did not select or choose Jesus Christ, but He called us into the Father, and on our receiving this call, the Father ordained us. The purpose of the ordination is to go forth and produce fruit.
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. John 17:9-12.
When Jesus said that He was not praying for the world, it must be important to understand the following day He would be shedding forth His lifeblood on Calvary’s Hill, paying the price for the redemption of the entire race, and on His cross, through His dying breath He was able to cry out those immortal words from His cross: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:20-23.
Herein is the third and final section of Jesus’s petition to His Father, I was struck by the confidence and sheer expectation of the triumph of His death and resurrection. Jesus was confident of a continual harvest of precious souls being brought into His Kingdom, whenever and wherever His Glorious Gospel would be preached.
He certainly believed in the effectual ministry of the Holy Spirit, who would move with the Word preached through the disciples then, and throughout His abiding in this world through the faithful proclamation of the everlasting gospel released through the lives of believers today.
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:15-20.
This is of vital importance; without a body of believers, the ministry of Jesus Christ could not be continued in this world. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the power of the Father, who came from heaven to anoint and minister the will and purposes of the Father through earthen vessels.