Not Of The World
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 13th April service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verses are:
Jhn 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Jhn 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Jhn 15:20 Remember 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.
Jhn 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Jhn 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
Jhn 15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
Jhn 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Jhn 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Jhn 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Jhn 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Not Of The World
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who tells His followers that if we are men and women of faith then we are not of this world. In Jesus Christ you and I are already heavenly people according to His gift of grace in the new creation. This is another wonderful statement to thrill our hearts from the lips of the Master. Once we were of this world. We were born into it, tutored under its direction and followed its paths. Like Adam, the first man, we were of the earth, earthy.
Then and now
But something changed. Conversion is real. The transformation effected in our soul by God the Holy Ghost means we are no longer of this world. We are a spiritual people. We are called by Christ and born again to become partakers of His life. We are united to Christ. He is the true vine and we are the branches. We are one with Him and as He is not of this world, neither are His people. Though we remain yet for a little while in the world, we are not of the world.
You are different
Our divergence from this world and connection with heaven is the Saviour’s explanation for the disciples’ impending troubles. They would know like-persecution from the Jewish religious leaders as their Master had endured. While suffering is grievous it ought to comfort us that the world’s reaction to us reveals and expresses its true feelings towards our Saviour and our heavenly Father. Persecution is evidence of the difference the Lord has made in our lives.
Different by design
We are reminded it is the Lord who chose and called His disciples out of this world. The Lord maintains His right freely to call whomsoever He will according to grace. No merit of man governs His choice, no flesh shall glory in His sight. If we are His it is because He first chose us to that privileged state and appointed us to our various roles and service. The ways and means of our lives are all according to the Saviour’s wisdom and goodness.
Fore-armed
Warning of the trouble to come prepared the Lord’s disciples for what lay ahead. We know James was put to death early in the apostolic age. The other Apostles were scourged, beaten, mocked and imprisoned. The Lord’s followers should expect opposition and even persecution despite giving no cause for it. Christ’s church is not to be guilty of wrongdoing or bad behaviour. We endeavour to live peaceably with all men. Nevertheless, hostility comes for the sake of Christ’s name.
Without excuse
It seems clear that particularly the Jews were in view here. The Apostles’ great offence was asserting that the Lord Jesus was the long-promised Messiah, come from the Father, whom the Jews claimed to worship. The coming into the world of the Son of God in flesh left these deceived men without any excuse for their unbelief. Christ, the Messiah, had appeared to them, sent from God. His message, miracles and works testified of Him, as did the prophets of old. The Jews’ rejection of God the Son betrayed their hatred and ignorance of God the Father.
The revelation of Jesus Christ
The gospel of God’s grace and mercy as preached by Jesus Christ left these men with no cloke for their sin of unbelief. Today, the same gospel of grace, of forgiveness by the blood of Christ and imputation of divine righteousness likewise leaves men without excuse. Religious professors who still promote the will and works of the sinner in the process of salvation are similarly guilty as the Jews. Christ Himself has come and declared the truth to them.
One gospel for the ages
When the Holy Ghost came at Pentecost the Apostles preached the same gospel of God’s grace by the person and work of Jesus Christ. They preached repentance, faith and the sovereign, fore-ordination of God in the work of salvation. The Apostles received this message from Christ, being with Him from the beginning of His ministry and had it confirmed to them by the Spirit of truth. The true church has the same apostolic message today and bears witness to the same Saviour and the same grace as did the Apostles then.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby Selection 948
He looked for a city whose maker is God. Heb. 11. 10
Matlock’s Selection S.M.
1
What is this world to me?
This world is not my home;
A scene of pain, of grief, and woe;
When will my Saviour come?
2
Come, O thou Saviour dear,
And cheer my fainting soul!
Appear, O gracious Lord, appear,
And make the sinner whole.
3
Give me, O Lord, to prove
Thy pardoning love so sweet,
That I may ever lay my soul
At the dear Saviour’s feet.
4
Give me thy lowly mind,
Thy love to me impart,
And grant that I may ever find
The Saviour in my heart.
Hymn 2
Gadsby Selection 469
Hope beyond the Grave. John 14. 2; 1 Peter 1. 3-5
J. Newton C.M.
1
My soul, this curious house of clay,
Thy present frail abode,
Must quickly fall to worms a prey,
And thou return to God.
2
Canst thou, by faith, survey with joy,
The change before it come,
And say, “Let Death this house destroy,
I have a heavenly home?
3
“The Saviour, whom I then shall see,
With new admiring eyes,
Already has prepared for me
A mansion in the skies.
4
“I feel this mud-walled cottage shake,
And long to see it fall;
That I my willing flight may take
To him who is my All.
5
“Burdened and groaning then no more,
My rescued soul shall sing,
As up the shining path I soar,
‘Death, thou hast lost thy sting.’”
6
Dear Saviour, help us now to seek,
And grant thy Spirit’s power;
That we may all this language speak,
Before the dying hour.
Our union with the Lord Jesus Christ has gained us many blessings and benefits. By grace and the work of God we are a spiritual people, redeemed by blood and prepared for glory. We are not of this world but look for a city whose builder and maker is God.