2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
If the World Hate You
Before Jesus' death on the cross He prayed to His (and our) Father in Gethsemane:
"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." (John 17:9)
You see Jesus does not pray for the world which denies and hates Him, but instead prays for His own, those whom the Father has given Him (John 6:39), from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, Revelation 13:8, 17:8). Many have yet to come to Him, but because we don't know at present who are His (and they don't yet know they are His either) we prayerfully share with those God places in our path. Perhaps God will give them the gift of repentance (Acts 11:18)!
"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:14)
Why does the world hate them? Because they are not of this world . . they don't belong. We don't fit, even though sometimes to be honest we want and even try to fit. But it never works out. God won't allow us to fit. We have been separated out from the world, called and chosen by God for His own.
"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." (John 17:16)
Yes, I know we were all born of human parents and we eat and breathe and die. So then, what does Jesus mean when He says we are not of this world?
"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.
There you go. Jesus' own words, "but because I have chosen you out of the world, that is why the world hates you".
(John 15:19). There are many who become angry at the Bible teaching of Election even though the Gospels and letters of Paul are full of these doctrines. And I realize I may make enemies with this single post. Nevertheless, this is what I (and many others) believe the Bible teaches. But no matter what one's view of Election is, the scripture plainly warns that we will (just like Jesus) come under persecution by our own culture . . here in America. And both sides have to agree, with Jesus, that it is because we have been chosen out of the world. We have rejected a world without Christ as its King . . and that world has rejected us in return. "If you were of the world, the world would love his own". So where does this leave us?
As truth is slowly legislated out of existence in the undefinable soup of "tolerance" we will lose our political and economic power, and ultimately for some, our freedom or lives as well.
