Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
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.
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.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
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.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
There has always been a call to separation for God's people. Such is the concept of election and predestination in the scriptures. God has elected His people out of the sea of humanity for a specific purpose.
It reminds me of growing up with my brother. Parental admonishments that I remember were often, "If you two can't behave, we're going to separate you from each other."
Fortunately, it would only be at a distance of one room to another, but the effect was the same. I couldn't cause him to stray from obedience, and he couldn't get me into trouble either.
The intermingling of two sin natures will ALWAYS result in SIN. Likewise, interaction with other Believers, will have the lasting effects of obedience, sanctification, and edification of one another. But what happens to one good apple when thrown into a bushel of bad ones? There is no hope for that apple, unless he is washed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, and preserved by the Holy Spirit.
We live in a world where the practices of the Canaanites are evident all around us. Idol worship abounds, and our culture has lost its moral underpinnings. Liberal ideologies pervade our schools, campuses, and work places, ...BUT...JESUS HAS PRAYED FOR US!
"Neither pray I for these alone (the apostles) but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." John 17:20
