Let's turn to John 17. They are not of the world. This caught my attention as I
was reading this this week. They are not of the world. They were chosen out of the world.
At one time we walked according to the course of this world.
But now you're not of this world. You're not of this world. Let's
look at these verses from 13 down to 19. You know, over the years, there
have been a few men that I like to hear them pray. feel like they've gotten a hold
of something. One of them is our pastor, Henry.
Hearing him pray was like hearing him preach to me. Cecil Roach
comes to mind. I used to, when I would hear
him pray, I would just, it just, it had an effect. It had an effect. Now the disciples, are here with our Lord. And they heard this prayer prayed
audibly. They heard the Lord of Glory
pray. And I'm sure that it gave them
some comfort and some joy as they heard Him as he lifted up his eyes toward
heaven and prayed to his and their and our Heavenly Father. But after reading this and thinking
about this and thinking about them hearing him pray, this thought
occurred to me. Reading this prayer ought to
cause just as much comfort to us as it did to them when
they heard him pray. For this is the Word of God. This is the Word of God. To read
it, as Frank did this morning and speak from it, but to read
it, it's in your laps, it's in your homes. To read the Word
of God is to hear God speak. And His children hear Him. It's
to hear Him speak. So we are just as blessed this
morning to be able to read this prayer as they were to hear it. Just as blessed if the Lord will
apply it to our hearts as He did to theirs. Now he says in
verse 13, and now I come to thee as the high priest over the house of God, as the
forerunner, our forerunner, as the kinsman redeemer, now I come to thee. Here's what true prayer is, right
here. It's coming to God. It's not
all the words I say or how eloquent. It's coming to God. And now I
come to thee. And these things I speak in the
world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. He's concerned. Now, he's about
to go to the cross. He knows what he is about to
face. And one of his chief concerns
is their joy. The joy of God's children. The joy of his brethren. The
joy of the redeemed. He is concerned about their joy. He knows that they are going
to be scattered. They are going to be perplexed. And one of his chief concerns
in this prayer, in this intercessory prayer, is for their joy and
that they would be kept. I speak these words, here's what
he's saying, I speak these words in their hearing. I'm speaking
these words in their hearing that they might know my love
and care for them and that they might know thy love and care
for them." Our love and our care for them are one. One and the same. And not only
did He speak these words with their comfort, and that they
might know His care and love for them, and the Father's care
and love for them, but the Holy Spirit had these things written
that you and I might know it. that we might know His love and
care and concern for our joy as we pass through this life.
We're not a bunch of mourners going through life. He said,
I pray for their joy, that my joy, not just giddy or happy
or being, you know, that kind of slap-happy stuff, but that
my joy, the joy that He possessed as the Son of God, my joy might
be fulfilled might be realized in them, that they have the same
joy. As they go through trials and
heartaches, just as he's about to go through this great trial,
he said, I pray that my joy shall be fulfilled in them. One of
the purposes for this prayer is that their sorrow might be
turned into joy, the same joy that he was experiencing, that
he experienced for thirty-three years. My meat, my joy, is to do the
will of Him that sent me. He despised the shame, but for
the joy set before Him, He endured it. Even in the face of what
He was about to endure, He had an abiding joy that no one could
take from Him. That's the reason I read over
here in Psalm 16. He says here, the Lord is the
portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my
lot. The lines are fallen unto me
in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. This was a joy that was set before
him. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night's scenes. I have set the Lord always before
me, because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved."
And through all this trial and heartache, he's about to go through
it. This is his joy. The Lord is his joy. He knows
he's going to be successful. God said, My servant shall not
fail. He knew he would not fail. And we will not fail either.
We may stumble and fall, but we will not fail. The Lord is
our success. He's our success. How comforting. Get a hold of this. How comforting
to know that the Lord prays for your joy. And if the Lord prays
for your joy, you're going to have it. Even though you go through
heartaches and hardships and trials and troubles, There's
going to be an abiding joy that nothing can take away. And he
says, I pray for it. I pray for it. Now listen, he
says, I have given them thy word. This is more than just speaking
the Word of God in their hearing. This is more than just like laying
the Bible in your lap. I'm saying this is the Word of
God. I've given you the Word of God. Here's what he's saying. I have put, I have put thy words
in their hearts. Thy word is in them. In one place he said if my words
dwell in you, abide in you. Over in John 15. That's what
he's saying. I have given them thy word. I
have put it in them. They haven't. If you hear the gospel in word
only, it will not do you any good. It will not cause you any
joy. But if it comes in power, if
He gives the gospel to you in power, it will cause you to rejoice
in the Lord. It will cause you real joy. And
it will enable you to walk humbly. before God. Now, he said, I've
given them thy word. I have put thy word into them.
They've received it. They have it in them, and because
of this, the world hates them. The world, he says, hath hated
them. Whoever said opposites attract
was of the world. Opposites do not attract. And
if two opposites do come together, sooner or later they're going
to split. Sooner or later it's going to happen. How can two
walk together except they agree? Light and darkness do not attract
one another. You're not of this world. You
don't attract the world and the world doesn't attract you. I
know there's still sin in us and it pulls. I know there's
a pull there. But I'm telling you, opposites do not attract. And for that reason, he says,
the world hates them. The world hates them. Because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Now,
at one time, we were. At one time, we walked according
to the course of this world. According to the Prince of the
Valley of the Air over in Ephesians 2. I believe it's verse 1 and
2 in there. 1, 2, and 3. But now, they're not of the world.
You are not of the world. You who believe the gospel, you
know this. You know this. The older you
get in Christ, the older you grow in Christ, do you not feel
like a fish out of water? Do you not feel like More and more you're out of place.
I know you do. Because the Scripture says you
are strangers and pilgrims in this world. If you dropped me
off right now in Africa or any other nation, I would
feel out of place. And I know I sure sound like
I'm out of place if they listen to me talk. They know I don't
belong. You're not from here. You're
not from here. I can tell by your accent, you're
not from here. You're not of this world anymore.
You're not of it. God has made a difference. God
has made a difference. I want you to turn over to Exodus
chapter 11. We'll be starting in Exodus. Lord willing, coming Wednesday,
we just finished up Genesis. We've got to get the children
of Israel out of Egypt. We can't leave them there. So
we've got to go through Exodus. Now, where was I going? Exodus
11. Exodus 11. Look in verse. This is Exodus 11. Yeah, 11.
Well, I think I wrote down the wrong
chapter. Anyway, I've got it written down. That's why I do
write these things down. Here's what it says over in the
book of Exodus. This is what it says. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog make move his
tongue against man or beast, that ye may know how that the
Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." What, 11-7? Okay, I had 17 written
down. Okay, it's actually 11-7 when
I wrote it down. Every believer, listen, every
believer is a new creation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You are a new creation in Christ. Old things are passed away. He
says over in 2 Corinthians 5.17, Behold, all things, all things
are become new. Now when the Lord is saying they
are not of the world, He's speaking about a completely different
person, isn't He? Than the one that was born into
this world. Because when I was born into
this world, I was born with the same nature everyone else was
born with. But when God saves a person, He saves a sinner,
that sinner is a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
believers are not of the world anymore. That's why there's a
difference between you and the world. There's like a gap, a
wall. You're just not the same anymore.
Not the same. We live in this world, but we
are not of it anymore. Not of it anymore. We are of
another world. Our citizenship, our citizenship
is in heaven now. Abraham looked for a city whose
builder-maker is God. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are strangers and pilgrims
here now. We are born from above. Born
from above. And notice how the Lord compares
it to Himself. Even as Christ, even as I, He
said, am not of the world, even as I'm not of this world."
Nothing of this world entered into Him. Nothing of this world
enters into that new creation. Nothing of sin enters into that
new creation. Just as sin did not enter into
Christ when He came into this world, He was begotten of the
Father. Even so, that new creation is
begotten of God and sin does not enter into it. And that's
how he can say, they are not of this world. Just as he said,
they have kept thy word. That new man, that new heart
truly has kept God's word. You do obey Christ. You do obey. They love not the world. We love
not the world. We love not the ways of it. We love not the principles of
it. Don't you see, as you grow older
in the Lord, how wicked this world is? How
just life, it's just The whole world, this one scripture here
means more, I see more of it, more and more. The whole world
lieth in wickedness. It just lies in wickedness, wallows
in wickedness. We are not of this world even
as Christ is not of this world. He said, Satan hath come and
found nothing in me. There was nothing in me that
he could sink his teeth into. No sin. Nothing there. Christ said, You are from beneath.
Speaking to those Pharisees, I'm from above. And as He is,
so are we in this world. In this world. Now He says, I
pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. You know, He said in one place,
Come ye out from among them and touch not the unclean thing and
I'll receive you, said the Lord. And then he turns around and
says here in his intercessory prayer, I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world. And here's the reason why. We
are to be his witnesses, that's why we are here. Those whom the
Lord saves, ye are the light of the world. We're to be his
witnesses in this world. Christ is going away. And he's
praying this for his disciples and all the disciples afterwards. His work is finished. His work
of redemption, his work of satisfying God's law, his work of substitution,
his work of making atonement is finished. That is finished. But there's still more to do.
There's still more work to be done, preaching, witnessing.
Still more sinners to be saved. Our Lord said this, Other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring
in. And you and I who believe the
gospel are those other sheep. We are those other sheep. And
the world continues on. There are other sheep that he
must, must bring in because they belong to him. Thine they were
and thou gavest them to me. And they've got to come in. He's
got to bring them in. There is still work to be done
in the Lord's vineyard. But here's what he says. I pray
not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. I'm not
praying that you would take them out with me when I leave. You know,
when I leave, they leave with me. But that thou shouldest keep
them, protect them, preserve them from the evil. There are
three evils here. He's speaking here of preservation.
Pray for your joy, and I pray for your preservation. Their
preservation, our preservation. There's the evil one, Satan. There's nothing more that Satan
would love than to get a hold of you and destroy your testimony. Destroy it. There's nothing that
he would love more than that. The Lord said to Satan, have
you considered my servant Job? He knew he was after Job. He
knew he wanted Job. And Satan's like, you let me
have him. You let me have him. I'll show
you how much he believes. You let me have him. And the
Lord let him. But he said, you don't touch
his life. You can't have his life. Because his life is hid
with God in Christ. You can't touch his life. I'm
going to let you touch his body. I'm going to let you touch his
possessions. But you cannot touch his life, because his life and
our life is hid with Christ in God. You can't do it. But here's what I pray, that
you keep them from the, you preserve them from that evil one. Satan
said to Peter, I quoted this last week, Peter, Satan had desired
thee to sift thee as wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith
fell out. I'm telling you, he'd love, he'd love to get a hold
of one of God's children and just tear into it, destroy his
witness, and destroy his faith. But the Lord says, I prayed for
him. And right here it is, right here at the prayer. And then
there's the evil world. The evil world would like to
get a hold of you and bring you down to the same level they are.
They think it's strange that you do not run to the same excess
of riot that they do. Oh, how they would love to pull
you in. Let's be partners. Let's just
be friends. We'll all get along. And they're listening. And here's
one of the strongest. The evil in me. The evil in me. I am no match for Satan. I am
no match for this evil world. And I am no match for the evil
that's in me. You cannot whip yourself, not
if God turns yourself loose on you. You can't do it. And our
Lord prays that you keep him from the evil one, the evil of
the world, and the evil that dwells within, the sin that still
remains in us. We're no match for these things. Now, how does he keep us? How
does he keep us? Well, first of all, he keeps
us by his spirit. Greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. And then he, look over in Jeremiah,
or yeah, Jeremiah 32. Look over in Jeremiah. He keeps
us by his spirit. Over here in Jeremiah 32. In verse 40. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. that I will not turn away from
them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that
they shall not depart from me. I'll keep them by my spirit.
Now turn over to Ezekiel 36. In Ezekiel 36, he says in verse 26, a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put My Spirit, My Spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and
do them." He keeps us by His Spirit, and then He keeps us
by His providence. Look over in Psalm Psalm 125, verse 3, For the rod
of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous,
lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity." Providentially,
He keeps things from us or removes things from us. Look over in
1 Corinthians 10. There hath no temptation trial
taken you such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but
will providentially, he will with the temptation also make
a way to escape that you may be able to bear it." He keeps
us by His Spirit, His indwelling Holy Spirit, and He keeps us
by His providence. The providence of God today is
working for our good. It's keeping us. And they are
not of the world, he says here again in verse 16, they are not
of the world even as I am not of the world. Let me give you
some things that I read this week. They are not of the world. We are not of the world in our
standing in Christ. The world stands in Adam. We
stand in the Lord Jesus Christ, saved. We are not of the world
in nature. The world has one nature, evil. But the believer is a partaker
of the divine nature. God has given us a new nature.
And we are not of the world as our master. Satan is the master. He is called the God of this
world, little g. of this world. Christ is our
master. Our master is in heaven. Our
master rules over all. And we are not of the world in
aim. The world's aim is to glorify itself, to have all that it can
get for itself. Our aim, the believer's aim,
is to glorify God. That's the believer's aim. And
then we are not of the world in citizenship. The world's citizenship
is here. This is it. Our citizenship is
in heaven. We are born of God, born into
the kingdom of God. And our true citizenship, even
though we live in the United States, is in heaven. Our names are written there,
citizens, born in the kingdom of God. And then we are not of
the world in our lives. The life of a believer is one
of godliness. The tenor of our life is one
after godliness. The world is wickedness. It's
after wickedness. Then we are not of the world
in our destiny. We're looking for a world to
come. We looked in Hebrews last Sunday night. We're looking for
that world to come. This world is all they got. This
world is all the world has. And then they perish. Truly,
he said, they are not of the world. Now sanctify them through
that truth. Now, listen, our sanctification,
sanctification has to do with two things. Set apart. And it's a consecrate. God takes
that which is common and sets it apart, consecrates, makes
holy for his use. That's what it is. Now he says
here, sanctify them through thy truth. Our sanctification in
Christ is perfect. It's perfect. Nothing lacking. It is absolutely perfect. He
is made unto us. He is made for us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. So in Christ we have these things
and are these things perfectly. But I think he's talking about
this. There is what we call a growth in grace. Growth in grace. Sanctify them
through thy truth. This growth can only happen,
listen, now this growth in grace can only happen through the truth. You're not going to grow in grace
through a lie. It can only happen through the truth being preached.
And when you hear the truth, it has a sanctifying effect on
you. It has this effect of growth. You grow in love, joy, peace,
faith. You grow in these things. Truth
to the believer is like water to the earth. Nothing can grow
without it. You can't grow without the truth.
Not at all. When a believer hears the truth,
it makes him or her grow up in Christ. We start out as babes. You sat under the truth. You
sat under the truth of the gospel. You grow up. You become young
men and women. You become old men and women
in Christ, which is a joy. It's a joy. That's where you
want to be. That's where you want to be.
The truth has a sanctifying effect on a believer. It has a growing
effect on a believer. It will make you come apart from
the world. I heard Henry give this illustration
one time. He said, you take a piece of
coal in a fire, take a piece of coal and set it out by itself
and watch it go out. Just watch it fizzle out and
then it'll start smoking. But setting under the truth,
setting under the truth, it'll make you come apart from the
world. It'll make you love this world less and less and less
and less. It'll make you desire that world
to come. It'll help you set your mind
on things above where Christ sits at God's right hand. You'll
think more and more and more of Him and less and less of this. That's what it'll do. It will
make you walk humbly before God. It will put a check on your tongue. It will. It'll put a check on
your tongue. And it will cause you, it will cause you to call
upon God often. It will have its effect. It works. It works on the inner man. It works on that new man. And
he says here, sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word. Now how important is this this
morning? The reading of the Word, the
preaching of the Word, Thy word is truth. Sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. This shows
how important it is to hear the gospel preached again and again
and again and again. To read the word of God often.
Not just when we come here. Read it at home. Read it often. The word is truth. Thy word is
truth. It's not just true sayings. It's
truth. It's truth. Apart from the Word
of God, no one would know the truth. He wouldn't know it. He wouldn't know it. There is a real connection between
the Word of God being preached and the sanctifying work of the
Holy Spirit. Look over in 2 Thessalonians. I get to listen to that in my
office when it's raining and I just kick back and listen. It's such a comforting sound. 2 Thessalonians, let me find
it, chapter 2, verse 13. Now I want
you to notice the sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. There is no sanctifying work
of the Spirit of God apart from the truth of God. Thy word is
truth. Oh, how important it is to be
here and listen to the truth. Then he says in verse 18, as
thou hast sent me into the world, he came into the world by the
will of the Father, he was sent by the Father, even so have I
also sent them into the world. He tells us to come apart from
it, and then he says, I'm going to send you back into it as a
witness, as a light. That's what I'm going to do. And for their sakes, for their
sakes, I sanctify myself. He's not saying that he's making
himself holy. You know, if you're holy, you're
holy. There is no degrees of holiness. There are no degrees
of it. Holy is holy. Holy, Scott Richardson
said, is this, whole. That's one of the best definitions.
It's just whole, W-H-O-L-E. Complete. God is holy. He's whole. And Christ says here,
and for their sakes, I sanctify myself. Not making myself holy
because he's holy, but he's saying this, I have set myself apart
as a sacrifice for their sins. He set himself apart for this
work of redemption, as a sacrifice to make atonement for our sins.
He was set apart for that. That's why he said, I sanctify
myself. Listen, the Father sanctified us in election. The Son sanctified
us in redemption, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us in regeneration. We are sanctified, set apart,
and made holy for the Master's use. Our Lord freely and voluntarily
gave himself to be a sacrifice for our sins. that He might bring us to God
without spot or brim. Without this, we could not be
sanctified. We could not be set apart. We
would not be holy in God's sight. But in Him, we are. We are. I thought about this as I read
this prayer, and I've been reading this prayer over and over the
past two or three weeks. And I thought, we need to absorb
this prayer. This is God, the God-man interceding
with God. This is the Son interceding with
the Father. This is the High Priest interceding
for us. And I thought to myself, if I
could just get a hold of this, my, my, my, what comfort. What
joy. If we could just get a hold of
this prayer. that our Lord has prayed for us. And I pray that
we do.