17th chapter of John. We briefly looked at the words
in this prayer that our Lord is giving, this prayer to the
Father, as we read in verse 1 of chapter 17. These words speak
Jesus, and He lifted up His eyes to heaven. He said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
also may glorify Thee. This prayer, This prayer of the
Lord. Something He does every moment.
He's our intercessor. He's our go-between. Without Christ, there is no way
for you and I to stand in the presence of God. We looked at
how we are glorified in our Lord. Not in anything of our flesh,
but in our Lord. And as it so often is, when I'm
going through reading Scripture for one message, something sticks. Something kind of grabs a hold
of me, and throughout the week I consider what that message
was last week, and I think, you know what? Here's another message
right here. It inspires another message,
look it with me if you would, at verses 13 through 21 of the
17th chapter of John. Before I go there though, I have
to say this, it was such a wonderful thing to hear Pastor Gene read
this at the funeral services yesterday. I encourage anyone who didn't
get a chance to see it, I believe it was recorded, and you can
still go back to YouTube and see it. Pastor Gene looks good. Looks really good. Verse 13 of
John chapter 17, And now come I to thee, and these things I
speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. As thou hast 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. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. that they all may be one, as
Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent
me." My subject this morning and the
title for today's message is, Not Of This World. What does
it mean? What do you mean I'm not of this
world? How can that be? Am I some kind
of alien or something? Pitch yourself. Are we not in
this world? Are we not here in the flesh
right now? Absolutely. So what is God telling
us? What is the Lord Jesus Christ
saying to the hearts and the souls of His people? Because
that's who He's praying for here. It says over in verse 9, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine." What
is our Lord trying to tell you and I, children of God, those
who believe in who He is, those who believe in what He has done,
and those who believe in what He is doing right now, those
who believe His Word? To this, one must first understand
what it is to be of this world. If we're not of it, it would
help us to understand what that is if we know what it means to
be of the world. Mark your place here in John
17. We'll come back and turn over to John chapter 1. You could not get more clear.
in God's Word, in my opinion, than what John wrote of our Lord
and Savior. Even though the world loves to
take John 3.16 and try to make it sound like God loves the whole
world and that He died for all the world, and they speak about
a God who has no power, because we know some go to hell, do we
not? And to say that God died for the whole world, but yet
some go to hell means that They're speaking about a God with no
power. Am I incorrect in that? Right here in John chapter 1,
verse 10, it makes it very clear, He, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, was in the world and the world was made by Him. And
what does it say next? The world knew Him not. To be of this world, One does not know God. One does
not know the true and living God. Our Lord spoke to His disciples
and He says, who do the men say that I am? And many said that
He was Elijah or Elias or a prophet of some sort or another. And the Lord said to Peter, who do
you say that I am? Peter's answer was perfect. because
it was an answer given to him by God Almighty. It was not an
answer that came through the flesh of any kind, but by the
Father. Thou art the Son of the living
God, is what he said. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but
my Father who is in heaven. To be of this world, one does not know the God of
scriptures. They do not know that Jesus the Christ, of whom
all the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily. This is what it means to be spiritually
dead. To not know God. In Romans 8,
7 we read this, because the carnal mind is enmity. It's at war. We can't even understand what
the true and living God is, let alone who. The adornal mind is
enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law, neither
indeed can be. Only by God's sovereign, loving,
life-giving grace can one see the truths of His Word. Otherwise, people read them and
they're just foolishness to them. Some think, well, this can't
be foolishness, so let me see if I can make it fit my way.
That's what they've done with John 3.16. Others have taken
John 1, where it says, In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There are those
who can't understand that either, so they've changed the Word,
and they said, and the Word is a God. I don't even need to tell you
what religion that is. That's a religion that believes
in more than one God. They've changed the real word
of God to fit their own needs. That's what the world does. To the world, salvation must
include something that man can do, something that man can understand
in his own ways. Folks, I'm here to tell you this
morning that God's ways are not our ways. Listen to a word that truly describes
the ways of the world. Romans 3.10, as it is written,
there is none righteous. This is God's Word about the
ways of the world. There is none righteous, no not
one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together, they are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. And if that's not enough for
you, it continues on. It says, their throat is an open
sepulcher. With their tongues, they have
used deceit. The poison of asthma is under
their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Back in our text, John chapter
17, our great Savior is praying for His chosen people, the ones
His Father has given Him, and the covenant made between the
three persons of the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. A covenant made back in the eternity
past before the world was created. God the Father chose a people
unto Himself, predestinated them. Why is that such good news to
a sinner? Because being made known what
it is to be a sinner, I know that I would have never chosen
God. And how thankful I am that He chose me, even when I was
rebellious to Him. God the Son, this covenant that was made between
the three in one, He said, I'll go. I'll go. I'll set my glory aside
for a moment and become flesh. So that I might establish a perfection. So that I might complete what
it is needed for those people, those that you chose, Father.
Those very ones that we read that He's praying for, He says,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me. These very ones. He says,
I will be their substitute. I will be their sacrificial lamb. I will be the spotless lamb slain
from before the foundation of the world. I'm painting a picture
of grace. Can you see it? Grace and love? Can you see the grace that our
God has for His people in our Bible study? We were looking
in the book of Luke. Our Lord desired, desired to
have the Passover meal with His disciples. He desires us like
He does a bride. Perfect. But there's only one
way to be perfect, folks, and that's to be in Him. He had to fulfill our perfection. And by His grace He did. God
the Spirit regenerates this people, giving them life unto Himself. Going about revealing the things
of Christ to His people. Oh, what grace we see in God's
Word. The world is on a path to destruction,
for cursed is the world since the fall of Adam. Cursed is everything that we
see before us. All that is must be burned up. But there are those for whom
Christ died that still need to be called. Not all the world,
but a remnant. All whose names were written
in the Book of Life must come to God. He calls them My elect. He prays for them again as we
read in 9, I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them
which Thou hast given Me. All Mine are Thine, He says in
verse 10, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, And
I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those
whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one as We are." We who are the called have been
quickened as it is stated in Ephesians 2 verse 1. We're quickened, that means to
be given life, to be made alive. We who were dead in trespasses
and sin were made alive just as Lazarus was given life to
hear the call, the power of God himself saying, Lazarus, come
forth. So are all of God's children. Mike Giolotti was sharing with
me a story of a woman that he's doing some work on a house for,
and she was all about the story of Lazarus that day
because they had done a Bible study on it. She literally said
that if they had not prayed for the Lord to come and save Lazarus,
that He would not have. That it was all because they
had done the praying. It was all about what they had
done. Robbing God of His glory, right
there. That's what we do when we talk
about us. When we talk about what we have
done. When we want to brag on what we have done. We're robbing
our Lord and Savior of His glory. What do we have that we have
not received? And if we've received it, why does John glory about it? I know folks, I fall into that
trap. We've all walked according to
this world just as though we were of it. Not knowing our Lord
had paid the price for us. Not knowing what our Lord had
done. In Ephesians 2 verse 1, you don't need to turn there,
it says, And you who were dead in trespasses and sin, where in times past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation,
our walk, our way, in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." Do you see the picture
of grace? This is a sovereign grace Baptist
church. Our message is sovereign grace.
By His sovereign will, He bestows the grace on His people. He's
the potter. We are the clay. Oh, the world
hates that. If you'd have told me that at
one time in my life, I know what I would have said. I run my own
way. Have you not also said those
same things about yourself? Oh, what wonderful words we read
in verse 4 though. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us, made us alive. Do you realize? That means we
were dead. Quickened doesn't mean just give
life, it means made alive. We had to be dead to be made
alive, didn't we? Hath quickened us together with
Christ. By grace ye are saved. Oh, I love the story of grace. More grace, more grace, and more
grace. By grace ye are saved. Oh, for
the grace of God. What dread there will be in eternity
with the wicked, But for the grace of God, there go I." This
grace is why our Savior is praying for His sheep. It's why He's
praying to His Father. In Psalm 77, 15, we read this,
Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people, the sons of Jacob. He prays for our protection,
our perseverance, While we walk through this valley of the shadow
of death, He sets a picture of our intercessor and our go-between,
our mediator, our high priest. He says, I paid the price. My
blood has covered this one. I died for this one's sins. I died in their stead. I took
the sins of this one as my own. And now this one is white as
snow, no sin to be found, perfectly righteous, as though they were
Me, Myself." That's what He says about each and every one of us. That's how we ravish His heart. In our Bible study, did we not
go to the Song of Solomon and see where our Lord, in description
of His bride, She ravishes My heart. How deep is that? We ravish the heart of our Lord.
So much so that He gave Himself for us. That's deep. He gave His life for us because
we are His loved. And He has loved us from before
the foundation of the world. Look again at verses 21-23 of
our text. that they all may be one, verse
21, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them as
Thou hast loved me." This is what it means to be one
with God. He says we're not of this world,
even as He is not of this world. To be one with God means to be
as righteous as He is. For God is so holy He cannot
be in the presence of sin. Cannot even look upon it. How
is it that we, how is it that you and I can be not of this
world? It's because we're righteous
in God's sight. Notice I didn't say in our sight. In my sight, there's no righteousness
at all. But in God's sight, thank God
for His Son, there is all kinds of righteousness, perfect in
every way. What does it mean to be in Christ?
It means to be perfect. Perfect, without spot. Not someday
when we die and go to heaven, but right now. Not just right
now, but before the world ever began. The Father set His love
on us way back before a star ever twinkled, right? Isn't that
what His Word says? So if you look at it in that
matter, God the Father has always looked on you and I, and seen
the blood of His Son, and sees us as perfect right now. What does it mean to be one with
God? It means to be holy. Perfectly holy. Righteous in
every way. Perfect in every way. To be of
this world is to be cursed. To be of this world is to be
lost in sin. To be of this world is to be
damned. And we who are in Christ have had our curse laid upon
Him. Galatians 3.13, it says so. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." We're no longer of this world.
Our walk now is in truth. We don't talk about things like
luck. There's no such thing as luck.
God rules over everything. Every minor little detail. He
told the two disciples to go into the city of Jerusalem, and
there they would meet a man carrying a bottle of water. And they were
to follow that man to his home, and there at the upper room,
they would have the feast prepared. And it went exactly as God said
it would be. Now, is that a surprise to any
of us here? When He says, I shall never leave you nor forsake you,
can we not believe that just as well as we believe everything
else that He says? When He says, you're as white
as snow, you're as righteous as I am, can we not believe that just
as much as we believe anything else He says? We're no longer of this world.
Our walk is in truth. Our walk now is in the belief
of the truth. We walk not by sight. We walk
in belief of who Christ Jesus is. He's God Almighty in the flesh.
And I will not argue that with anyone. He's not a God. He is God. We walk not according to the
wisdom of men, but of God and what He has done. He hasn't made salvation possible. He has saved His people. We are saved. That means now. Our Lord went to the cross and
said, it is finished. What wonderful words for you
and I to hear. It is finished. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 11. Where we once walked according
to the rudiments of this world, We, the sheep of God, have been
called out of that darkness and brought into the light of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We walk by faith in Him. Whosoever
believeth in Me shall have everlasting life. We believe God. Abraham believed God, therefore
it was accounted unto him righteousness. In Romans 4, verse 3, we read
this, For what saith the Scripture, Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted unto him for righteousness? And then it says it again in
Galatians 3, 6, Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness. And then it says it again in
James 2, 23, And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and
he was called the friend of God. The very same faith that you
and I have, the very same belief in His Word, in who He is, in
what He's done, and where He is right now, is the very same
faith that Abraham had. It's the very same faith all
of God's people have ever had. It's a gift. If it wasn't a gift,
we'd all come up with all kinds of different faiths. Now wait
a minute, that sounds like the world, doesn't it, John? Look
at all the different religions they have, all the different
kinds of faiths they have. We who once were dead and trespassed
into sin, we now walk in the life of the Lord. We walk in
belief of the truth. We look for another city. We
are in the world, but we are no longer of it. The world is
not our home. We're just passing through. Where
are your treasures this morning, folks? Are they up beyond the
blue? Or are you looking for a feather
in your cap about what it is you've done? Oh, I pray, I pray, Daryl, that
we all look that very same way. Look to our Lord. Praise Him
for what He has done. We are sojourners, as Scripture
says. Tent dwellers is what that means.
In other words, we don't have any roots in the spiritual things
of this world. Our roots are in our Savior. We're just passing through a
strange land. In John 14, 2, we read this,
in my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. I tell you folks this morning,
our Lord will not lose one for whom he died. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh into me I will
in no wise cast out. Our dear brother Don Fortner,
he traversed this world for 69 years, and now he's home. Now He's in the presence of His
Master. Now He can see in person the
promised city of God, heavenly Jerusalem. The same city of God
promised to all who believe. All who believe the total depravity
of man. There is nothing in us to deserve
this. There is nothing in us to warrant
this. There is nothing in our flesh that will bring us to that. All who will believe unconditional
election. There is nothing in us that God
would have chose us for. There's no good in us that the
Lord looked down and said, oh, you know, that one's alright.
Okay, come on. No. Our Lord set our names in
His book of life before the world was. And He said, that one's
coming. And this one's coming. And this
one will come. All who believe limited atonement. The power of God's blood is effectual. It's not a possibility. It's
not a maybe. It happened. Salvation is done. Our Lord said it is finished.
All who believe irresistible calling, come forth. And by the power
of God, his people will come forth. All who believe, perseverance
of the saints. And perseverance of the saints
does not mean something you and I will do, but what God will
do to keep us. If he laid down his life and
shed his blood for us, is there any possibility that he's going
to let us go? No. Not at all. Look at verse 8 through 10 of
Hebrews chapter 10. By faith. Now remember what we
read in Ephesians. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into the place which he should have to receive
for an inheritance to obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. By faith, he sojourned. He traveled. He didn't set roots
down anywhere. He continued to travel all the
time. One place to the next. This is
not my home. I think I'll go over there next.
Well, the Lord might have me go over here next. Or he might
have me go over here next. He even told him, he says, take
the wood, take your fire, and go to the mountain that I tell
you to. And he didn't even tell him then, did he? He sojourned in the land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." We know, if we are true believers
in Christ, then we know that we are no longer of this world.
Because our Lord has said so. And as true believers of God,
we believe what He says. Even the things that we don't
understand. And I tell you, there's a lot, a lot that we don't understand. Brother Don Fortner went on to
be with the Lord, and he'd be the first to tell you that he
didn't understand, but maybe just a little. And I can tell
you, he understood a lot more than me. But oh, praise the Lord,
he understands it all right now. If you believe God, then you
are Abraham's seed. And as Abraham's seed, you look
for the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. I just want to share something
with you before I close. something kind of comforting.
Bill and I used to have frequent conversations, and I've shared
this with some of you. Most of our conversations would
start off with things of this world, what's in the news today. And it wouldn't be long before this
subject would get heated up about what the world is doing around
us. And he can attest to this on
how often this song would come up and change the subject. This world is not my home. I'm
just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's
open door, and I can't feel at home. in this world anymore. How about you this morning? Where are your treasures today? God help us just take our treasures
from this world and lay it at the feet of the true treasure.
The feet of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The only treasure
worth having. People ask me, what do you think
heaven is like? Oh, what a wonderful thing that
Don Fortner knows right now. It doesn't matter. As long as
Christ is there, it will be the most wonderful thing that we'll
ever, ever, ever know. Amen.