If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in John chapter 17. I would say again, but the thing
I like about John 17 is you can't never get away from it. It's
the prayer of Christ to the Father. It's all about Christ. I'm just gonna read for a start
one verse, John 17 verse six. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Folks, what I wanna talk about today
is the believer's position. The believer's position. Now,
as far as I'm concerned, John 17 is the greatest chapter in
scripture. That's my opinion. It could be
wrong, but I don't think so. But every time I read John 17,
I'm convinced I'm right. It's okay. John Newton said this,
the best advice I can give you, look unto Jesus, beholding his
beauty in his written word. This is what we have, folks.
This is what we have. And the reason we have it is
he gave it. And he kept it. And he's passed
it down to us. Oh my. But here we have in John 17,
verse six. The believer's position is my
point today. Believers are given to Christ
out of the world. Out of the world. What's that
mean? It means you were in the world. Every single one of us. You were
in the world. Now I believe, this kind of sounds
a little off target here, I believe in keeping this world in as good
a shape as we can. You don't need, as Earl used
to say, you don't need to foul your own nest, all right? But we also have to remember
this one thing. I can't remember who said it,
but I do remember reading it and it stuck in my mind. You
understand that man fell when he was living in paradise, okay? Everybody's striving now to get
the world back to what pristine condition or do the best they
can. Trust me, that's not gonna help you. Man fell when he was
in the garden. There wasn't trash laying around.
There wasn't any pollution. There wasn't any global warming.
There wasn't anything except perfection and man still fell. That's what we are. And here he says it, thou gavest
me out of the world. That's where we were, happy. All that were chosen by the Father
were chosen in the Son and were given to the Son. They were chosen
before the foundation of the world, but now the giving of
them is in time, in God's good time. Not your time, not my time,
his time. And believers were given to the
Son out of the world by gift. By gift, folks, by gift. Oh my. Now let me leave this other part.
I'm gonna try not to keep it too long. I got five or six things
here, but we're gonna go through them right quick. Let's not leave this out where
it says, and, They have kept thy word. Don't you feel proud? No, don't
feel proud. Let me say that the right way.
Don't you feel proud? There's a reason you keep the
word. There's a reason. Why? The Father gave you to the
Son. Oh, that's not all. What else
did he say? Even before this, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me. It's not because of
you. It's not because of me. It's
not because of any preacher. It's because of Christ. It's
because of Christ. I have manifested thy name. We
hold fast the word of God. We keep an eye on it. We're on
guard of what? His word, his word, thy word. Oh my. But only after he has
manifested God's name to those that the Father gave to him.
After that. Because here's the thing, when
Christ makes the name of the Father known to the believer
who is in the world and given out of the world, that believer
will hold fast. That believer will keep the word
of God. Oh my. This is the believer's position. Given out of the world. The second
one is in verse 11. 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. Understand, you are given from
out of the world, but you're still in the world. That's the
believer's position. He's given out of the world and
he's still in it. Now, he says, What'd he say? And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. This, this is where we're supposed
to be. We're right where we're supposed
to be. You know who said so? Christ said so. Nobody else's
opinion matters, folks. I hate to say that, no I don't.
I don't, I like saying that. His opinion matters, yours don't. His opinion matters, well, mine
don't. Or proper English, mine does
not. It still doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. My opinion
does not matter. But you understand, this is not
a paradox. You were in the world, he was
gone. You were given to him out of the world, and you're still
in it. And we're gonna get a little more into this. But this is the
believer's position. You're given out of the world,
and you're still in the world. I'm gonna get into that other
word in just a minute. The next one's verse 14. Verse
14. I have given them thy word, and
the world hateth them. because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. Okay, so you're in the world,
you're given to Christ out of the world, you're still in the
world, but you're not of the world. You understand, this is
not a paradox, this is fact. This is the way we are. This is the believer's position
is what I'm talking about. You understand, and the world
hates those that believe Jesus Christ. Now there are varying
degrees of hatred. There are varying kinds of hatred. But understand this, Jesus Christ
told us himself In John 15, just three chapters before, if the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. This is natural. It's natural
for the world to hate you because naturally the world hated Christ. Oh my. Believers are hated in
Christ, in Christ. Now I'm gonna tell you something,
the world will either hate and manifest it or ridicule his gospel,
his word. And in that is a manifestation
of their hatred of Christ. Because you understand, to the
Jews, to the religious, it's a stumbling block. in a rock
of offense. They're offended. You understand? Just the fact that you tell people
they need the blood of Christ to cleanse them from their sin,
that's offensive to a religious person. I'm not that bad. No, no, no, no, no, no. Me and
Jesus, we got it all worked out. I'm gonna tell you something,
Jesus doesn't need you to work anything. But to the Greeks, to those that
are not religious, it's foolishness. It's superstitious mumbo jumbo. It's blind faith. I always love
that one. Because there's one thing faith
isn't, is blind. You understand, you talk about
blind faith, you don't know anything about faith. You don't know. And it's leaking
out on you folks. You talk about blind faith, my
gosh. Oh, because here's the truth.
The gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel of his
dear son, okay, is a stumbling block and a rock of offense and
foolishness to the world. To the world. 1 John 3 and 13
says this. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you. Hates you, oh my. Believers are
hated by the world. Here's the other thing in this
one. Believers are not of the world. I said it. You're in the world, you're given
out of the world, you're still in the world, but you're not
of the world. And try to explain that to somebody
that doesn't know Christ, it don't work. Thank God I'm not
in explaining business. I remember when Henry said that.
I'm not in explaining business, I'm in the preaching business.
I'll proclaim it. You're in the world, but you're
not of the world. You know why? Because being in Christ, you're
not of the world. It's got nothing to do with you,
that you're so holy, or that I'm so holy. No, it has to do
with him. This is his work. You understand,
we believe it, we teach it, that believers are in the world, but
not of the world. Now, believers still understand
the world, because they're in it. And they came out of it. How do you become not of the
world? Father's gotta give you to the Son. That's how you're
not of the world. That's how you're not of, it's
not up to you. It's not because of something you did, it's because
of something that's been done to you. And believers are still
in the world, just not of the world, and they're hated because
of Christ. Oh my. But believers still understand
the world. The thing where we differ from
the world is we also can understand the things of the Spirit of God. They're spiritually discerned.
The natural man cannot know them. Why? Because they are spiritually
discerned. But folks, that's one of the
greatest scriptures there is, where it says, but we have, we
have the mind of Christ. And that word is the understanding
of Christ. He's given us understanding.
I have manifested thy word unto them. which thou gavest me out
of the world. But they're still in the world.
But they're not of the world. People hear that and they think
you're making up stuff. Because it doesn't make any sense
to them. But this is the way, this is the position of the believer
in Christ Jesus. This is the believer's position.
Now look at verse 15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from thee, evil. I always wonder sometimes if
folks in other churches that don't preach the truth ever pay
any attention to what Christ didn't pray for. You understand what didn't Christ
pray for? Well, hmm. Verse nine. I pray for them, talking about
those the Father gave him. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. They are thine. And here he says,
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. Like
I said, We're right where we're supposed to be. We're here. Assembled together in Christ's
name. This is where we're supposed
to be, folks. This is where we're supposed to be. But, yet, even
so, keep them. Keep them. Now I read it earlier,
but I didn't cover it. Verse 11, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me. And here it says, keep
them from the evil. Understand, this is the believer's
position also. They're in the world, they're
not of the world, they come out of the world, and they're kept. They're kept. And they're kept,
wait a minute, by God. Not by themselves. Not even by
your faith. Oh, oh, we are kept by the power
of God through faith. Not by your faith, through faith. The gift of God, who's the author
and the finisher of faith, who gives it to us, faith is the
gift of God. Oh my, but we are kept by the
power of God. You understand? How is the believer
kept, and here it says it specifically, from the evil of the world. You
ever think about that? Keep them from the evil. Jesus
Christ prayed this, folks. It happened. It happened. And
it is happening. And it shall continue to happen. Because you understand, Jesus
Christ doesn't pray something one time and change his mind
the next. And he told God, he prayed to the Father and said,
keep them from the evil. Oh, and I got to thinking about
this. How is the believer kept from
the evil of the world? The believer is in the hand of
Jesus Christ. The believer is in the hand of
the Father. And what's it say? No one can
pluck them out of my Father's hand. Not one person, not one
thing, not one circumstance. Let me tell you, not one sin
can pluck you out of the Father's hand. Oh, I'm gonna tell you
something. Here it is. The evil cannot lay
anything to the charge of God's elect. Why not? We still sin. We still fail. We stumble, we fall, we trip. We'll walk in a room and forget
to turn the lights on. Then we'll stub our toe. But there's only one reason.
while there's no charge being laid to God's elect, it is Christ
that is risen. Christ died. Yea, rather, is
risen. Oh my. It is Christ that is risen
again. It is God that justifies in Christ,
in Christ. Even more, let me tell you something. Believers are kept from the evil
that men do. Believers are kept from the evil
that Satan does. Well, here's something most people
don't think about. Believers are kept from the evil they themselves
do. In my flesh dwells no good thing,
y'all. In my flesh dwells no good thing. All right. How is
this done? Romans 8, 28 tells us, and we
know, that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them that are called according to his purpose. The evil that
men do works together for good to believers. The evil that the
believers do works together for good. The evil that Satan does
What? It works together for good. What? To them who are thee called according
to his purpose. His purpose, oh my. Believers
are kept from the evil by God himself. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something
folks, that's the believer's position. It's a good position
to be in. Verse 18, as thou hast sent me
into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. Believers are sent into the world. Wait a minute, now we're in it,
we're given out of it, we're still in it, we're not of it,
and we're kept from the evil of it. Well here it says, Believers
are sent into the world. Guess what, what I've been saying?
We're right where we're supposed to be. We're right where we're
supposed to be. Believers, listen, believers
are sent to believe Christ. Believers are sent to preach
Christ. What's it say in Romans 10 verse
15? And how shall they preach except They be sent, they be
sent. And then in Paul he says it another
way. For Christ sent me not to baptize, what? But to preach
the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Believers
are also sent to assemble together. Don't forsake it. Don't forsake
the assembling of yourself together. Some do. You don't. Don't do it. Believers are sent
to love one another. To love one another. And believers
are sent into the world. This is where we are. Even though
that world may hate you because it hated him first. This is where
you're sent. If you 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. And I've sent you into it. I've
sent you into it. Oh my. He has sent us into the
very same world that hates him. Don't get too puffed up, because
you used to hate him too. You used to hate him too. You
know when that hatred for Christ stops? Well, at least slows down. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Until he lays
his hand on you, shows you a little bit of who he is, we're just
like everybody else. We were in the world, and you
understand, we were happy in the world, but he called us out
of that world, even though we're still in that world, but we're
not of that world, but we've been sent into this world. Oh
my, I like this. Oh, that's the believer's position,
folks. Believers are in the world, they're
hated by the world, because they're not of the world, they are kept
from the evil of the world, and they're sent into the world. Why? Why? It pleased God. That's why. If you know God, if you know
Christ, you don't need any more reason than that. I don't need
any more reason than that. Oh my. I love this great statement. It is the Lord. Let him do as
he will. He's going to anyway, folks. He's going to. There's no doubt
in my mind, and there's no doubt in this book, which is more important
than my mind, that God does what he wants, when he wants, where
he wants, with whom he wants. Every time. Oh, I like that. And here's the beautiful thing
about this, folks. We are sent to love one another.
We are sent to love Christ and to believe Christ. But listen,
folks. Your salvation does not depend
upon your love of Christ. And thank God for that. Our salvation
depends upon His What's the overall message of
this? The believer's position is in Christ Jesus. And the believer's position is
due solely to the work of God. The believer's position is because
of the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Well, here, let's put it even
meaner, I mean even tighter. The believer's position is the
work of God, the work of Jesus Christ, and the work of the Spirit. Now understand, we're given to
the Son by the Father. And in the Son, we are given
what? Life and faith and love and joy
and peace and his word. Oh, and his word. And much more
than that. We're given his gospel to hear.
We're given his gospel to believe. We're given his gospel to rejoice
in him. We're given his gospel to preach
to other sinners. Because the believer's position
is to believe and to walk, walk. To hear and to witness. And it all comes from our Lord
Jesus Christ. You understand? Wherefore, my
beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence. Here it is. Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. And I've heard people read that
scripture and stop right there. Oh, you gotta work it out, you
gotta do it. Scrabble, hold on, hang on, whatever, you know.
They don't read the next verse. For it is God which worketh in
you. Oh my, both to will and to do
of his good pleasure. Oh my, well they say it pleased
God. It pleased God. Oh my. How are believers saved? It is
God that works in you. Both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. Those men which thou hast given
me out of the world. Oh my. I like the believer's
position. Because the believer's position
is totally and completely in Christ. in Christ Jesus. What'd he say? By grace are you
saved. You understand? We're told to
come boldly to the throne. Oh, wait a minute. The throne
of grace. I don't wanna come boldly to
the throne of judgment. Throne of grace. Ah. Grace I want. Grace I've been given. And grace
he continues to give. You can boldly go to that throne. Oh my. Let him who thirsts for heavenly
joys come unto me, the Savior cries, and drink at my spring
head. Leave all your boasting self
behind. For from the Savior you shall
find A glorious life indeed. The believer's position is glorious. In Christ. In Christ. Oh my. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. Lord, you've given this
to us. You've given unto us to be here. and to rejoice and boast in you,
our Lord. Your son has given everything
to us, life and peace and joy and love. Lord, help us as we
go forth from here to remember you strongly in our hearts and
your will and your way be done. Be with Walter, be with Paul
as they come to preach, and be with others wherever they stand
to proclaim your gospel to your people, to proclaim your gospel
to sinners, and to tell those sinners to come to Christ. Come
to him who is able to save to the uttermost. In Christ's name
we pray.