John 15, 16 through 20. 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. If the world hate 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 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. All right, Galatians 1, 1 through
5. Paul, an apostle, not a man,
neither by men, but by Jesus Christ, God the Father, who raised
Him from the dead, and all the brethren which are with me under
the churches of Galatia. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's our verse
here, verse 4. Who gave Himself for our sin,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. Then I had in my mind another
verse from John in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 19. We know that
we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. I believe that's chapter 5 and
verse 19. Now, note something about that
passage in 1 John. Note the words, we know. We know. And he says that we know both
things. There are two things that we
know to be true. Number one, that we are of God. And number two, that the whole
world lies in wickedness. We know we are of God and the
whole world lies in wickedness. Now, this passage in John's gospel
that we read is but a small portion of the upper room discourses
that our Lord gave unto his apostle and disciples on the eve of his
death upon the cross. His hour was all but come. He would soon be taken and by
wicked hands would be delivered up to the cross and would be
crucified and slain. The time was at hand when the
Son of Man would be lifted up according to John chapter 12
and verse 31. And the judgment of this world
had come in the death of our Lord, and the prince of this
world is cast out by the dying of our Lord. And the grace of
God now, or then, would be extended unto the nations and would not
be restricted unto the Jews only as before. Before our time, let
us this morning focus again on these upper room discourses that
were delivered by our Lord to those who, with the exception
of Judas Iscariot, would carry on the work of the Father when
the Lord went back to heaven and the right hand of God. Men that the Lord had personally
selected, had chosen, had called, and had trained for the ministry. Now concerning the gospel of
John and his record of Christ, John for all intents and purposes
at this particular place, except for the agony in the garden,
the arrest and condemnation of the Lord, and the actual crucifixion
and the burial of our Savior, John has finished his history
of the public ministry of the Lord, and that begins at verse
13. And in chapter 13 through chapter
17, he records a long discourse of the Lord's private words unto
his disciples in the upper room. including that great prayer in
the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John. What our Lord is doing,
He is preparing them, as much as they're able to receive it
and understand it at that time, for His departure out of the
world, and He promises them the Holy Spirit as a paraclete, and
that He would not leave them orphans. but that he would empower
them for the work that they were to do. Now, of the many things
that he tells them, we have set our sight upon those words in
John 15 and verse 16 through verse 20, especially that part
about them not being of this world. And we want to consider
this morning what this means, what a blessing it is, and it
consists of how and why are they, and also we, not of this world. But we have put our vessel in
here at verse 16. We have entered into this great
ocean without bank or bottom at the 16th verse. You have not
chosen me I have chosen you, I have ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that that fruit should remain,
and that whatsoever you ask of the Father, He will grant that
unto you. Now, George Hutchison, his commentary
I have on the Gospel of John, noted that there are three truths
here in this verse for us to consider. Number one, he speaketh
of the blessing of election. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. And I agree with Hutcheson and
others that His choosing them is inclusive as much as to their
salvation, as to their call and apostleship and ministry. We'll say more about that later.
But the second thing that we notice here, that he had chosen
them and appointed them that they might be fruitful ministers
and apostles unto their blessed Lord. And the third thing, that
the Father in heaven would provide whatever they had need of that
they might be fruitful apostles in their work and under the glory
of Christ. Back to that statement in verse
16, wherein is opened unto them again the blessed doctrine of
election. See it? Not chosen me, I have
chosen you. He's telling them, you did not
do the choosing. I did. I chose you. I ordained you. I set you apart
for this work and this ministry. What we have here is that glorious
and sweet doctrine of divine election. declared by Paul in
such text as Ephesians 1 verses 3 through 5. And again in Romans 9 and verse
10 through verse 13. in the example of Jacob and Esau. Even as he said to the prophet
Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 5, the prophet being before
his birth, chosen by God and ordained to be a prophet unto
the nation. By the way, Paul says much the
same thing of himself in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15 and 16. God separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace. Now, let's make it clear. None
of the apostles volunteered The Lord chose them and called them
personally. And the Lord makes this clear
during His ministry and His teaching unto them. For example, John
6 and verse 70. Have not I chosen you twelve? It is I that have chosen you. John 13 and verse 18. I know whom I have chosen. Here in our text, John 15 and
verse 19, I have chosen you out of the world. In Acts chapter
1, And verse 2 speaks of, quote, the apostles whom he has chosen,
unquote. And it would not be reasonable
to consider their apostleship apart from a saving experience
of grace on their part. Would Jeremiah make a fit prophet
unless God saved him? and renewed his heart, would
Paul make a fit apostle, except the Lord had saved him and converted
him. In Acts 9.15, Paul is called
a chosen vessel unto me. Now, look at verse 19 of chapter
15 of the book of Acts. I'm sorry, of John. If you were
of the world, the world would love his own. But because you
are not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world,
therefore does the world hate you. So we are here this morning
at this passage of scripture. Our subject is they and we are
not of this world. Something else. If one counts
the time, that the word world is used here in this passage
or place of the scripture, they would find that six times this
word appears here in the verses that we have read. It is six
times in the two verses. It is one in verse 18 and five
times in verse 19 is the word world used, and again, in verse
18, it is referred to by it, it meaning the world. In verse
18, the Lord warns his chosen ones that being his servant,
being his disciple, will put them under the enmity of the
world. That being a servant of the Lord
as they were, the world would hate them because the world hates
Christ. Now let me make a distinction
here. The world, I say, hates Christ. But the Christ of the
Scripture is the one in mind, the real Christ, the Christ of
the Bible. It's true that the world may
tolerate what Paul calls that other Jesus in the Corinthian
epistle and another gospel, which apostate preachers hawk in order
to try to make Christianity more appealing and more attractive
and delightful unto the world. So they preach another Jesus
that the world might espouse. Now, I'll throw this in for free,
and then we'll move on. For what it is worth, I thank
any preacher, any servant of God, any religious leader who
is given an award by the world honored as man of the year, honored
by the world, ought to be embarrassed and ashamed of it. Can you imagine Paul, the great
Apostle Paul, being named the most admired, or given some kind
of humanitarian award, or his picture on the cover of the Jerusalem
Time? Can you imagine that in your
mind? Not only does the world hate
Christ and Christian and Christianity, but James 4.4 says friendship
with the world is enmity with God. Whosoever will be a friend
of the world is the enemy of God. In 2 John chapter 3 verse
13, 1 John, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. And it follows upon the fact
that Cain hated Abel and he slew him because his works were evil
and Abel's were righteous. Here in verse 19 of John 15,
if you were of the world, the world would love its own. but because ye are not of the
world, therefore the world hates you. Now the question, how is
it, why does our Lord say that you are not of the world? How does our Lord say that? How
does he mean it? They and we were born in the
world We are the offspring of parents that are citizens of
the world. We grew up in it. We lived under
its influence until we were quickened by the sovereign spirit of our
God. We walked according to the course
of this world. Paul says that in Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 2. And Paul says something else
in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10. He said for us to sever
all contact with the immoral whirlings that are about us,
one would have to go out of the world, saith the apostle. And
the Lord said to those in John chapter 8 and verse 23, you are
of this world, I, he said, am not of this world. Now the saints
were born here, they lived here, they are in the world, but they
are not of the world. They are citizens of another
and a heavenly and a better country, having been translated out of
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son,
as says Colossians 1 and verse 13. Now, I think here, that it
would probably help us to better understand what the text is teaching
and what it is about if we take the time to make a word study
of the meaning of the word world. W-O-R-L-D. Now, you say, well, that's simple.
I know there are many today who wrongly assume that immediately
they know and understand the meaning of the word world. Ask them, they say, well, it
means all without exception. It means everyone that passes
through this world or this life. And we hear them curtly reply,
world means world. world means everybody, world
means every member of the human family. And yet the seemingly
more extensive phrases even like all the world and the whole world
do not always refer to every one without exception. Here's some examples. In Luke
chapter 2 and verse 1, there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all of the world should be taxed or enrolled or
registered, that everyone should be registered. And yet, this
only pertained to the citizens of the Roman Empire. Again, In
1 John chapter 2 verse 2 and chapter 5 and verse 19, there's
the phrase, the whole world. And it is not all without exception. It's not everyone that ever has
lived, but is contrasted with another group are another class. In both verses, if you will notice,
there is a contract. Our sin and the sin of the whole
world. We are of God and the whole world
lieth in wickedness. We are not of the world, so we
are not a part of that whole world that John talks about in
1 John chapter 5 and verse 19. Now, let's give some verses containing
the word world where it is obvious that the meaning cannot be everyone
without exception. In Matthew chapter 16 and verse
26, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world? Now hear that. What shall it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world? Does this mean
material worth or does this mean everyone without exception? In
John 12 verse 19, the Pharisees and the Sadducees said unto themselves,
the world is gone after him, and yet they themselves had not
gone after the Lord. In Acts 17 and 24, God that made
the world and all things therein, is that everyone without exception? I think not. In Romans 1, And
verse 8, Paul says, your faith is spoken of throughout the whole
world. Is that all person without exception? Even those dead before there
was a church at Rome. James 3. And verse 6, listen,
it calls the tongue a world of iniquity. Can that mean everybody? And what all of these texts which
use the expression before the foundation of the world, and
there are several of them that are found in the New Testament. This is true now, all of these
places that I've referred to and many more. The word world
in each and every one of them is from a translation of the
one and the same Greek word. That is the word cosmos or cosmos
meaning order or arrangement or a constitution. For example,
that same word is translated adorning when we look at 1 Peter
chapter 3 and verse 3. Whose adorning let it not be
the outward plaiting of the hair and such like. then it is clear,
as A.W. Pink wrote and others have, that
the word world, when we meet with it in the scripture, must
be understood and must be interpreted, determined by the context in
which we find it in the scripture. For example, Paul, Romans 11,
11 through verse 15, Paul twice in the King James uses the word
world in speaking of the Gentile. He uses that term world and he's
referring to the Gentile calling them the world. John Gill wrote,
it's very common for the Jew to refer to Gentiles in that
time as the world. We do that, we make a distinction
between the world and the church, and these two terms, the church
and the world, even in our particular day. Now, let us settle in on
John 15 and verse 19 and the words of the Lord concerning
the world and its relation to His early servants. It follows the admonition in
verse 17, if you would, to love each other. I think this is about
the third time that the Lord has made that statement in these
upper room discourses that you love one another. But even as
they are to love one another, they could expect to be hated
themselves by the world. And this should come as no surprise
to them, for the world hated the Lord before it ever hated
them. But because they were not of
the world, the world hated them, hated them for who and for what
they were. They were followers and ministers
of Christ. And perhaps at no time was the
animosity any hotter than in their time. For the Lord came
and he lay the axe to the root of Judaism, and he brought in
a new way. And that new way, as proclaimed
by Christ and the apostle, was hated by the Jew. Now, also remember
something else, and that is that the state or the government is
not a friend to Christianity. The secular state is not a friend
to Christianity, nor is worldly culture a friend of Christianity,
of the new and living way. And we do not pay court to what
Paul called science or knowledge falsely so-called in 1st Timothy
chapter 6 and verse 20. The world worships at the altar
of knowledge and of wisdom. And this, as you know, is accounted
as foolishness by God, for it is not only useless, but it is
a hindrance to the salvation of men and of women who trust
in it. So the Lord tells them, you are
not of this world. He does not say you are not in
this world, but he says you are not of this world. In John 17
11 we learn in his prayer that they were to remain in the world. And in John 17 and verse 15,
the Lord there prays not that they be taken out of the world,
but that they be kept from the evil. Thomas Manton, the Puritan,
expressed it. He would not carry his disciples
to heaven with him, at least not at that time. He would not
take them to heaven, nor would they be glorified, at least not
at that time. For they were to be left here
in this hostile world, but they would be kept from the wicked
one by the power of God. By the way, I think perhaps this
is a good time and a good place to consider how many times the
Lord uses the word world in that prayer in John chapter 17. And he does so both in regard
to himself and also to his circle of apostles. I made a count. At least 19 times in John 17,
in the prayer of our Lord, the Lord used this word. Now there
are 26 verses in chapter 17, and in 14 of them, the word world
is used by the Lord. Even multiple times, in verses
11, 14, 16, and 18. And all of them, again,
from the word kosmos, yet with different meanings as we look
at Scan the Scripture. Pink wrote this. In at least
seven different ways, the word world is used and translated
in the New Testament. And you note here in John 15
and 19, the Lord tells his disciples A blessed and a comforting thing. You are not of this world. And I'm going to compare that
with what he said in the prayer in John 17. So here in John 15,
19, you are not of this world. And in John 17 and 16, he prays,
they are not of the world. even as I am not of the world."
Again, John 15 and 19, I have chosen you out of the world. John 17 and 6, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which you gave me out of the world, for
they were yours and you gave them unto me. John 15, 19, I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 17 and 14, I have given
them thy word and the world hath hated them. But now back to the subject and
text. You are not of the world. This is a spiritual truth and
can only be understood by a spiritual mind in a spiritual way. And this truth, you are not of
the world, stands upon their and our relationship unto the
Lord Jesus Christ. As He is not of the world, neither
are His regenerate and converted elect. The difference being,
He, the Lord Jesus, has never been a part of the world. never
was under its dominion and never had it in his heart, but we did. We once walked again according
to the course of the world, Ephesians 2 and 2. How is it that we then
are not of the world. How did it cease to be so with
us that now the world comes and has nothing in us? To paraphrase the words of our
Lord. How are we not of this world? How is it that we are not of
this present world? Well, it stands upon two things,
and here they are. Number one, Divine, eternal,
sovereign election, chosen in Christ before the world, Ephesians
1, 3 and 4. As Christ said, I've chosen you
out of the world. Remember Ephesians 1, 4. Chosen
in Christ. before the foundation of the
world. Given to Christ by the Father,
John 17 and verse 6. Then here, John 17 and verse
2. Christ hath authority over all
flesh, that he may give eternal life to as many as the Father
has given him. Authority, a power over all flesh,
to give eternal life to those given by the Father. But the
second thing is Christ's redemption. First our election and then Christ's
redemption. Now at this point Let's turn
our eyes upon that verse found in Galatians chapter 1 and verse
4 that we read. John Eady has a good commentary
on this book. He saw in the opening verses
of the Galatian epistle a dual theme that was set forth by Paul
and continues basically throughout the epistle. A, you find him
making a defense of his apostleship as extensive as in any other
of the epistle. And B, you find him setting forth
the saving work of God in Jesus Christ. And the latter we have
in verse 4. Notice Galatians 1, 4. And I
call your attention to the opening word, who. Who in verse 4. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ
as his antecedent back in the end of verse 3. And in verse
4 are two truths that are so precious to the saints of God. A, what he did, and B, what he
gained or accomplished by what he did. And first of all, what
he did. What he did, he gave himself
for our sin. Gave himself on behalf of our
sin. gave himself a propitiation unto
God for our sin. The Lord God lay on him the iniquity
of us all, Isaiah 53 and verse 6. He bare our sin in his own
body on the tree, Peter writes. He bore the curse of the law
for us, Paul writes in Galatians chapter 3. The reason for this,
that he might deliver us, that, that in order, so as to deliver
us, to rescue us, to set us free, to emancipate us from a cruel
taskmaster. J.B. Lightfoot, quite an authority
on the languages, wrote that the word deliver strikes the
keynote of the Galatian Epistle. For Christ died to secure and
the Gospel proclaims our deliverance from a former condition and bondage
of slavery. The very opposite of liberty
were we in by nature, from what has Christ delivered us. At other
times, in other places, by other authors, and even Paul himself,
he might have expressed this as deliverance from the dominion
of sin, or from the curse of the law, or from the devil, or
from the evil one. All of these, true, are a part
of our Christian liberty and emancipation. But here in Galatians
1 and verse 4, Paul plays or Paul strikes another sweet note
of gospel truth and music. Deliverance from this present
evil world. And notice, not just the world,
but he uses two descriptive. Number one, present. Number two,
evil. deliver us from this present
evil world. Literally, the present evil world,
our age. Let's consider these two descriptives
of the world that Paul gives. Paul calls it this present. And this word, pardon if I mispronounce
it, in his taming, the present, some seven times is this word
used in our New Testament to contrast the past and the present
or the present and the past. As when Paul writes in Romans
chapter 8, 38, things present are things to come. Or he speaks
in 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 26 of the present distress. Same word we have here, present
world. Hebrews 9 and verse 9, for the
times then present. Same word we have in Galatians
1 and verse 4. what Lightfoot called this present
transistory world, unquote. But then, not only present, but
notice Paul calls it something else. Paul calls it present evil
world. But the world system, that world
system in which we live, the one that is passing away, the
one that was judged in the death of Christ. Once God looked upon
what he had made in Genesis and he declared that it was very
good. And then sin entered into the
world, and it brought spiritual death, and it brought violence,
and it brought corruption, so that one must be delivered from
that corruption and the stain of this present evil world, and
that only by renewing grace. transforming power, the power
of our Almighty God. Again, I quote Paul, we have
been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of God's dear Son. We are therefore not of this
world. We are by regeneration and effectual
calling made citizens of a better and a heavenly country. So we
live in it, but we are not of it by the work of the grace of
God. Paul emphasizes something else
in Galatians 1, 4, and that is that this deliverance that Christ
died to secure from this present evil world fulfilled the purpose
of God. Notice the word, according to
the will of our God and father, that our Lord died according
to an eternal purpose, purposed by the Father before the world
began. That this so great salvation
bestowed was purposed by God before the world was created
or before Christ became incarnate. and before we were ever born. That the first source of this
great salvation is the grace given us in Christ before the
world. How I love 2 Timothy chapter
1 and verse 9. Who was made manifest in the
appearing and death of our Savior Jesus Christ. Who hath abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
so that it is proclaimed in the gospel, so that the order of
it is like this. Number one, purposed in Christ
before the world. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 20, Revelation
13 and verse 8 declares it. Number two, accomplished in the
incarnation and the death of Christ. And by that death, he
redeemed those who had been chosen in Christ and ordained. And the
third thing about it is that it is published, it is declared
in the gospel of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is proclaimed in the gospel. He died. He bore the curse. He bore our sin. He endured and
gave unto God a satisfactory propitiation for our sin. Now, concerning this present
evil world, the prince of this world, when you read in the New
Testament Paul's writing about the prince of this world, this
is not Jesus. When we closely examine the scripture,
John 12, 31, 14, 30, 16, 11, Ephesians 2 and verse 2 refers
to the wicked one. the spirit that now works in
the children of disobedient. Gil called him a usurper and
promotes a kingdom of darkness, ruling over lost sinners, but
is overthrown by the death of Christ. Now shall the prince
of this world be cast out, Christ said on the eve of his death. And this thought, we did not
think the world so evil at one time, we did not think the world
as evil as it is until grace came into our heart. Only then
could we see the world for what it really is, an evil anti-God
system that has fallen under the influence of the archenemy
of Almighty God. We were part of it. We lived
as part of it until the grace of God came into our life and
into our heart. And it is probable, I think this
is likely, that the longer we are in the grace of God living
in this world, the older we grow, and see the downward spiral,
the more wicked that it becomes before our very eyes, we praise
God the more for choosing us out of the world, that we might
not be condemned with the world. That we might not be condemned
with the world. I close with that sound advice
of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12 and verse 2. Be not conformed
to this world, he says to those who are children of God. Again,
in Colossians 3, 1 and 2. If you then be risen with Christ,
Seek those things which are above. Set your affection on things
above, not on this earth, for you are dead and your life is
hid with Christ in God. And then may I remind you this,
if you love the world and the world system and live in it and
live for it, then I might remind you that it is, according to
Scripture, passing away. This present evil world is passing
away. Thank God for this. You are not
of this world. And that because of Christ, and
because of saving grace, and because of regenerating power,
you are not of this world. but not of it. Don't put our
roots down as if it were the final end and the end of all
things, for it is not. It is to pass away.