Now, as I've stated before, the
seventeenth chapter of John is the Lord's Prayer. In John chapter seventeen, our
Lord is not teaching someone to pray. He's praying. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
giving an example of prayer. He is praying. And the Master is praying to
the Father, and he's praying for someone. Now, in reading
this seventeenth chapter of John, several things come to my mind,
the first of which is this. I feel that this is most holy
ground. I approach it with much caution.
I speak upon it with great reluctance, because we're listening to the
Lord of glory intercede with his Father. The second thing
that I think about when I read this passage of Scripture, not
only do I believe that it is sacred and holy ground, but I
believe if we are at all teachable, and I want to be teachable, If
we're able to learn anything, and we learn with difficulty,
because the way is blocked by prejudice, by tradition, and
by pride. But if we're teachable at all,
we ought to be able to learn something about His grace, about
His glory, and about His purpose as we listen to Him pray and
talk to the Father. The third thing that I think
about as I read this passage and as I think about it, not
only am I continually reminded that it is holy ground and that
if we are able to learn anything at all, we ought to learn from
this prayer, but one question must be settled right away. This
has got to be determined. Who are the people for whom he
prays? Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
not teaching someone to pray here. He's praying. He's praying
to the Father. And he's praying to the Father
about somebody. He's praying for someone. Now,
I want to know for whom does the Lord pray. And he identifies them, not once,
but several times. Throughout these 26 verses, he
not only identifies them once or twice, he identifies them
several times. Beginning, first of all, with
verse 2. The people for whom the Lord prays. Now, I want to
be one of them. I don't want to say that I'm
one of them. I don't want to take for granted that I'm one
of them. I want to be one of them. And he says here in verse 2 of
John 17, the ones for whom he prayed are those who were given
to him by the Father. In John 17, 2, he said, As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that thou should give,
that he should give eternal to as many as thou hast given him."
In verse 9 he identifies them the same way. He says, I pray
for them. I pray for them. I ask all good
for them. I ask eternal glory for them.
I ask mercy and forgiveness for them. I ask salvation for them. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. I'm not praying for everybody
in the world. I'm not praying for all of Adam's
race. That's what Christ is saying
here. These are the words of the Master. He says, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Those are the ones for whom I
pray. I pray for the covenant people. I pray for those whom
thou hast given me before the world began. I pray for them
that thou hast given to me before the foundations of this world.
Those that thou hast given me by thy grace and thy mercy out
of a race of fallen people, I pray for them." I pray not for the
world, I pray for them. So first of all, the people for
whom our Lord prays in John 17 in this priestly prayer, in this
prayer of intercession, These people are those whom the Father
gave him. They didn't earn their way to
Christ, they were given to Christ. They were given to Christ not
by their consent, but by the Father's will. And they were
given to Christ before the world began. Not on the basis of what
they would do, but given to Christ. Now secondly, these people for
whom he prays have received a divine revelation of God's name and
God's glory. Look at verse six. The people
for whom our Lord prays, I have manifested thy name, I have revealed
thy name, I have made known thy name. What is the name of the
Lord? The name of the Lord is the glory
of God, the attributes of God, the character of God. what God
does and why God does it. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. All men do
not know thy name. All men have not entered into
the attributes and secrets and mysteries of thy name. These
men, for whom I pray, have had a special revelation. These women,
for whom I pray, have had a special revelation, one like Paul received
when he said, God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace, it pleased him to reveal. Paul knew religion,
but he didn't know the name of God. Paul spoke the name of God,
but he didn't know the name of God. It pleased thee to reveal
thy Son in me." Turn to Matthew chapter 16, just a moment, verse
15. Matthew 16, verse 15. And he
said unto them, our Lord speaking to the disciples, But whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ. We know who you are, you're the
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, blessed art thou. What a blessing! For flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is
in heaven. These people for whom our Lord
prays are those given him by the Father, and these people
for whom our Lord prays These people have had a special revelation. They know the name of God. They
know the glory of God. They have entered into the mysteries
of God. They have had revealed to them
by the Lord Himself and by the Holy Spirit who God is and what
God does and why God does it. Now thirdly, who are the people
for whom he prays? I have given unto them the words
which thou gavest me." That's what I'm reading to you this
morning, his word. Can I say of you this morning,
I have given unto him or her the words that thou gavest me?
Now what's the next line? And they have received them without
rebellion, without argument without division, without wanting to
take some and leave the others. I have given them thy word, and
they have received them." Now, what's the rest of it? I have
given them thy word, and they have received them, and they
know surely that I came from thee. And they have believed
that thou didst send me. They know who I am. They know
I'm the Redeemer. I gave them the word, I gave
them the gospel, and they receive the word, and they believe that
Thou hast sent me. Who are these for whom our Lord
prays quickly? Look at verse 12. First of all,
they're those that the Father gave the Son. They're those who've
had a special revelation. Their minds have been illuminated,
and their hearts have been enlightened, and their ears have been opened,
and their eyes see not just the man, they see the living God. They see the attributes of the
living God, His sovereignty, His holiness, His greatness,
His omniscience, His omnipotence. They've entered into the glory
of God. And I have given them the Word,
Christ said, and they've received it. They have received it like
a hungry child receives food. They have received it like a
naked man receives a covering. They have received it like a
sick man takes a painkiller, so glad to get it. And then,
verse 12, they have been providentially kept by the power of Christ.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have
kept. My friends, I can see the providence
of God in my life in bringing me to faith in Him. And in spite
of all manner of stumbling blocks and trials, I can see His hand
directing day by day from the beginning. Can you? When I was about nine years of
age, I went to a little Baptist church down in Wilton, And I
heard a man preach. I don't remember what he was
preaching. I don't remember what he said. I just know that I was
impressed at that time to make some sort of religious decision
or religious committal. And I made that committal. I
made that decision. I was baptized and became a church
member. And from that time until I was
17 years of age, I faithfully attended the church. I memorized
the books of the Bible. I memorized the words of most
of the hymns. I listened to the preachers.
They didn't say a whole lot, but I listened to them, and I
memorized a few verses of Scripture. And when I was 17 years of age,
before I graduated from high school, I joined the Navy. World
War II was in progress, and my brother was already in the service,
and all of my friends, older friends, were in the service,
so I wanted to be with them. And in spite of the objections
of my father and my brother both, my brother was home on leave,
I insisted on joining the Navy. So I joined the Navy and I went
to sea. I was only 18 years of age when
I got aboard a ship and went to sea. And I see God's hand
in that because while I was at sea for almost two years, 18,
19 months, I was aboard a ship that didn't have a preacher.
And the executive officer and I became friends because I was
a signalman and stayed on the bridge most all of the time during
the day and most of the night. And we talked a lot about what
we believed, and he said, Can you preach? I said, No, I can't
preach. He said, well, I'd just love
to have worship services, wouldn't you? I said, yeah, I miss worship
services. We didn't have any kind of worship
services on board the ship. So he said, well, I'll tell you
what I'll do. I'll lead the singing if you'll
try to preach. So I said, well, I'll try to preach if you'll
lead the singing. Well, it was a mess, I know that,
but at least we did meet together. And every Sunday morning for
those 15, 16 months that were left, we met together every Sunday
morning and had 12, 15, or 20 boys and he'd sing and I'd preach. And I came back from the Navy
and dismissed this preaching business from my mind and started
to college and then I met my present wife and we got married
and I quit school and went to work in a steel mill. And one
day out of the clear blue sky, A call came from Ashland, Kentucky,
from the Pollard Baptist Church, Reverend Don Wells, whom I had
never met in my life. A call came from him down to
Fairfield, Alabama, where we were living, for a song leader
and a youth director. And he wanted the assistant pastor
of the church, which I was attending at that time, to come up here
and be his assistant youth director and song leader. And the assistant
pastor wasn't interested in coming to Ashland. He liked it down
there in Alabama where we were. And he said to Don Wells on the
phone, he said, I'm not interested. And Don said, well, do you know
anybody in the United States that is? And he said, well, no,
I don't. He said, there's a young fellow
in our church here that is busy with the young people, active
in youth work. He's not the youth leader or
anything like that, but he He's active, and he's married to a
girl you went to school with at Bob Jones." And Don Wells
said, well, who is he? He said, well, he's Henry Mahan.
He said, well, ask him if he wants to come up here to Ashland
and lead the singing and be a youth director. This man, Vern Taylor,
asked me, and I said, Vern, I've never led a song in my life.
I don't know anything about leading the music. Well, he said, you
play a horn and you know music. Looks like you could lead the
singing. And I said, I never have. He said, well, I'll teach
you how. And so I came to Ashland, untrained and inexperienced,
but I felt like I should come up here, and I came up here.
And as a result of my coming up here to lead the singing for
This present group of people, many people are sitting right
here in this congregation who saw me lead my first song, and
it was a doozer. Woody Thompson was there, and
Ed Gilmore, and Charlie Miller, and a lot of the Don Fitzer,
and a lot of these men. Well, about half of you were
there. And we struggled along through the summer, and I went
away and went to school a while, and they invited me to come back
up here as assistant pastor. And I was pastor of a church
in Chattanooga. And why I resigned as pastor
of that church to become assistant pastor to another church, I don't
know, but I felt impressed to do it. And I came here on a Monday
night, and Ralph Barnard started a meeting at the Pollard Baptist
Church on Monday night, and I heard him preach the gospel. And from
that day, God has been teaching me something of his grace and
of his mercy in Christ Jesus. And I could go on telling you
things like that providentially, how God has made every step known. He's opened the door for each
step. And that's what he says here, I've kept them. I've kept
them. I've charted the way, I've plotted
the course, I've planned the way, I've drawn the blueprints,
and I've kept them day by day, and I can see his providence.
And those are the ones for whom he prays, his people who are
providentially kept and providentially motivated by his grace. And then
verse 14, listen to this. The people for whom he prays,
who are they? Well, they're not popular with
this world. Now verse 14, I have given them
thy word, not the creeds and dogmas and doctrines of a denomination,
I've given them thy word. And brethren, that's what we're
interested in here, the word of God. I'm not interested in
what people think, I'm interested in what God says. I'm not trying
to preach what we call Baptist doctrine. It's fine if it's Baptist
doctrine and God's word, but the most important thing is it
God's word. I'm not trying to preach Calvinism
or any other kind of ism. I'm trying to preach God's word.
Call it by whatever name you want to, but he said, I have
given them thy word and the world hath hated them. Why does the
world hate them? But he just said, I've given
them thy word, and the world hath hated them. That's the reason
the world hates them. They're not drunks. They're not
thieves. They're not murderers. They're
not people who disturb the peace. They're people who believe thy
word, and the world hates them. Don't ask me to explain the wrath
of this world toward the people who believe and preach the grace
of God. I can't explain it. All other
so-called religions go encouraged and unmolested. But the man who dares to stand
in the pulpit and preach God's word, he is the one who is censored,
cast out, discarded, laughed at, mocked, ridiculed. I have
given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. And I
pray for them. And then verse 24, he identifies
them again. He says, Father, I will, that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory. It's not our praise that we seek.
It is not our glory that we seek. It is His glory, and it's His
praise that we seek. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
praying here for those people who can appreciate and enter
into and desire His glory. I pray that they may behold my
glory. I don't pray that the family
circle might not be broken. That's not the end and purpose
of this thing. I'm not praying that they might
shake hands with mother again, it'd be wonderful, but that they
might behold my glory. That's what I'm praying, that
they might behold my glory. But there is a word, now here's
the seventh thing, and this is the main part of this message.
There is a word in verse 14 and verse 16 that describes these
people for whom he prays, as well as any other verse in this
whole chapter. He says in verse 14, I have given
them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of the world. They are not of the world. But
now don't you miss out on that next line. Look at it carefully. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Now you underscore that mentally,
if not literally. Look at verse 16. He repeats
it. They are not of the world. This is the part that's important.
Even as I am not of the world. And this is, Don, this is where
the water has been muddied more than anywhere else. This is where
that outfit out there at the mill, who claims to be preachers,
are muddying the water more than any other place, right here.
This is the place. A false image has been given
to the gospel and to Christianity right here more than any other
place. They are not of the world. He's
a worldly Christian. He's a worldly person. Are you
a worldly person? I'm not a worldly person. What
does it mean to be worldly? What in the name of God are we
talking about worldly? And this is where the thing is
so muddied and so muddled and so confused that the people have
gotten from this type of preaching, they have gotten a total misconception
of what Christianity is. Now here's an important distinction,
stay with me, and we'll learn something. The really important
point is missed. We don't even dwell on the important
part of this verse. It does not only say they're
not of the world. It does say that, but that's
not the only thing that it says. They are not of the world. That's not all it says. In most areas, we are of the
world. When you leave here this morning,
you're going down, some of you, to the steakhouse, and you're
going to eat with the world. then it's no use you pretending
you're not in the world. And tomorrow morning you're going
to get up tired and sleepy at six o'clock. You're going to
have to go out and fight the elements and the smog and the
pollution and the traffic. You're going to have to go down
to a mill or a store or someplace and check in, and you're going
to find out you are still in the world. We're born into the world, we're
part of the human race, and we're going to remain so until we die. We live in the world, we have
a certain kinship with all men. We have responsibility to our
family, to our neighbors, to our nation, and to our world.
I am in this world. And I have responsibility to
my neighbors. I have responsibility to my friends. I have responsibility to this
nation of which I'm a part. We bring up our families in the
world, our children go to schools in the world, we buy and sell
with the world, we pay taxes, we serve our country in the world.
We work alongside, we associate with, we live next door to all
sorts of people. We're not in a special kingdom
right now as far as this body's concerned, we're in the world.
And Christ said, ye are the light of the world. You're not only
in the world, you're a vital, personal part of this world.
You're the light of this world. You are the salt of this world. We are in the world, too, and
we are of the world in a certain sense. And we're not supposed
to shirk that responsibility and that duty. Now, there are
many who interpret this statement in a literal sense. And sometimes
this is the easy way out. This is the coward's way out.
We're not of the world. And so how do they behave? Well,
there's the religious monk and priest. He's so good that it
pains him to associate with sinners. He never gets married. He never
has a family. He doesn't live in a neighborhood.
He lives in a church. He builds him high walls around
his place where he lives. He cannot be exposed to contact
with the rest of mankind. He lives in a walled fortress.
He's shut off with his religious relics. He's not of the world. And that's escape. That's a coward's
way. That's the easy way. Oh, you
say, what a demanding life they live, foolish. There's no demands
on them at all. Somebody pays their grocery bill
and their food bill and their clothing bill and their taxes
and everything else. They're just like a man in a
penitentiary. They have no responsibility whatsoever. They're shut off with their religious
relics, claiming to be not of this world. And that's not what
this is talking about at all. Our Lord and his disciples didn't
live that way. There's another group. We call
them the uniform religionists. male and female. They can't dress
in ordinary clothes like ordinary people. They must wear a certain
habit, and that certain habit sets them apart from other people
and calls attention to their piety and to their holiness.
Peculiar clothes make peculiar people, but not necessarily Christians. They're not of the world. That's
the reason they dress that way, so everybody knows they're not
of the world. And then there's the separationist, there's the
condemner. I have some friends who fall
into this category here. They are the judges of everybody
else's principles, religion, and behavior. They are always
condemning, condemning, condemning. They're always condemning somebody
about something. They were born in the negative
mood and they stayed that way all their lives. And the longer
they live, the fewer friends they have and the less influence
they have. They are like the Pharisees of
old who stood about and watched our Lord so that they could condemn
Him. Why, they said He healed on the
Sabbath day. Isn't that awful? And He picked
corn on the Sabbath day. Isn't that terrible? And He ate,
think of it, He ate without washing His hands. And the old condemners
and the separationists and the religionists and the Pharisees
stood back and condemned him. He went to the house of people
who are sinners. He ate in a restaurant where
they sold beer. Isn't that awful? Think of it. Why, he even drank a glass of
wine. Think of it. Would you believe
it? They called him a winebibber
and a glutton. They were the condemners. They
were the separationists. They were not of this world. Literally, actually, not of this
world. I can find you a lot of people
who are not of this world. Everybody in the insane asylum
in Lexington is not of this world. Everybody in the penitentiary
is not of this world. Everybody who lives in these
religious wall fortresses are not of this world. But they don't
know what this means right here. Christ said they're not of this
world, and that's not the end of the sentence. He says they're
not of this world, comma, even as I am not of this world. It's time we found out what it
means to be not of this world. It's time we found out how to
be different from this world as Christ was different from
this world. Our Lord loved the world, for
God so loved the world. And when he said love not the
world, he's not talking about not loving the people of this
world. Our Lord loved this world. Our
Lord lived in this world. Our Lord walked and talked and
ate with this world. Our Lord went to their wedding
feast. Our Lord went to their homes. Our Lord went to their
religious meetings. Our Lord went down where the
men were mending their nets by the seashore. Our Lord fished
with them and walked with them and talked with them. But our
Lord was not of this world. And there is a sense, as he is
pointing out right here, in which you and I can live in this world
and associate with this world and be friendly with the people
and love the people. And we can earn our livings and
raise our children and educate our children and be good neighbors
and good citizens and good countrymen. And we can do all those things
and not be of this world, even as Christ is not of this world.
And I'm going to give you four things, and I want you to listen
to it. How was Christ not of the world?
Well, first of all, the world said that religion is serving
God in rituals, ceremonies, and creeds. That was the religion
when He came to this world. The Pharisees were men who walked
by an outward rule and an outward law. And they went to the temples,
and they went through all their ceremonies, and they believed
their certain doctrines, and they went through all their rituals.
And Christ came and said that true religion is not serving
God in rituals and ceremonies and creed, but true religion
is God Almighty creating a new life in you. That's what he said
to Nicodemus. He said, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Religion does not start
on the outside, it starts on the inside. Turn to Matthew chapter
23. Now listen to this. Here Christ
is talking to those religious leaders. And he says in Matthew
chapter 23, verse 25, Warned to you, scribes, Pharisees, You're
hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and the
platter, and that's the world religion right there. Cleaning
up the outside, joining a denomination, uniting with a church, obeying
an ordinance, obeying certain rules and laws, going to the
house of God. Going through the motions of
kneeling and crossing and praying, you may clean the outside of
the cup, but within you are full of extortion and excess. Thou
blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup
and the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." They
came to him and they said, What shall we do that we might work
the works of God? He said, This is the work of
God. that you believe on him whom God has sent. Salvation
is faith. Salvation is Christ. Salvation
is a vital living union with the living Lord. Salvation takes
place in the heart. Salvation takes place in the
soul. Salvation takes place in the
inner man. Salvation is a seed planted where
a human eye cannot see it. And it grows, and it brings forth
life, and it brings forth from within a well of water, life
within. That's what religion is, that's
what salvation is. It's grace, not works. It's God
giving, not our earning. And that's how Christ was not
of this world in the first place. In the second place, the world
says, this is the world's philosophy. Love those that love you. Do
good to those who do good to you. Help those who are able
to help themselves or put forth some effort. Turn to Luke chapter
six. How was Christ not of this world?
In Luke the sixth chapter. Listen to what he says. Now this
is the world's philosophy. Love those that love you. Do
good to those who do good to you. But listen to Christ in
Luke chapter 6, verse 27. But I say unto you, love your
enemies. Do good to them that hate you.
Oh, that's what it means not to be of this world. Read on. Bless them that curse you. Pray
for them which despitefully use you. The Lord Jesus Christ was
sitting side by side with a man here, having a meal with him
in a Pharisee's home. They were eating the same food
and drinking the same drink, and they were talking to the
same people. They were wearing the same kind of clothes. The
Lord had on a robe. This man had on a robe. The Lord
wore sandals. This man wore sandals. Here they
were sitting side by side. How was the Lord different from
this man? How was he not of this world system, this world philosophy? This man had this attitude, love
them that love you. The Lord Jesus said, love your
enemy. This man said, bless them that
bless you. Christ said, bless them that
curse you. The world says a penny saved
is a penny earned. The Bible says cast your bread
on the water and it will return fourfold. Give and it shall be
given you. The world says God helps them
that help themselves. The Bible says when we were without
strength Christ died for us. Read on. And unto him that smiteth
thee on the cheek, the world says, Get revenge. Christ said,
Let him hit the other side. Verse 30, Give to every man that
asketh of thee, and him that would take away your goods, don't
ask them back again. Verse 32, If you love them which
love you, what thank have you? For the world loves them that
love them. If you do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have you? The world also does the
same. If you lend to people from whom
you hope to receive, what thank have you? The world lends to
sinners hoping to receive as much again. Nothing to that. That's the world's philosophy.
Now remember our text. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. And my Lord didn't live in a
monastery. He walked the streets and visited
with his friends and ate at their tables. Our Lord didn't separate
himself from the people and wear different kind of clothes
than everybody else so that everybody would know he was pious. How
was he not of the world? His attitude was not like the
attitude of the world. He knew the living God. All right,
let me show you something else. 1 Peter chapter 2. Now what does
the world say? The world says, get even, get
revenge, make the guilty party suffer. I've seen this happen
so many times out of professing Christians. I've seen it happen
from people who were very strict in their outward behavior, but
I have I have observed when someone, they felt like that someone had
mistreated them, they were ready to get even, more than get even. They wanted to make them suffer,
make the guilty party suffer. For Christ on the cross, as they
nailed him to the cross, he said, Father, forgive them. They know
not what to do. He was not of the world. You
are. He's not like the world. He's not like all the other people.
He's not of the world. And it's not because he doesn't
dress like them, not because he doesn't go to the same restaurant
they go to. That's not what makes him not
of the world. They curse their enemies, and he forgives him.
They get revenge, and Christ gives mercy. That's how he's
not of the world. And that's the whole thing. Look
at 1 Peter 2, verse 21. That's what it says here, for
even here unto where you call, because Christ suffered for us,
leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. And what were these steps? He
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. When he was
reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he didn't threaten
the other people, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. And then the world, how are we
not of the world? Our whole system of religion
is different from the world. The world says, works. The people
of God say, grace. The world says, commend yourself
to God. The people of God say, Christ
commends us to God. Christ is our righteousness,
our sanctification and redemption. The world says your religion
consists of what men can see, and the true believer says it
consists in what men can't see. It's not on the outside, it's
on the inside, and the inside is not affected by the outside,
the outside is affected by the inside. We're born again, born
of God, cleansed by the blood, represented by Christ, redeemed,
made new creatures in Christ Jesus. The world says, hey, get
even. Get revenge. Love those that
love you. Christ said, forgive. Love those
that don't love you. Do good to those who do evil
to you. Help those who can't help themselves.
And the world says, let's see your religion. Put it on display. What does Christ say? Matthew
chapter Take heed that you do not put your religion on display
before men to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven." That's what Christ said. Take
heed that you do not your alms, and alms here is righteousness,
religion. Verse 5, look at it. When you
pray, the world says, Stand out on the street corner and let
people see your religion. When you go in a restaurant,
let people see your religion. Prove you're not of the world.
Christ said, when you pray, don't be like a hypocrite. They love
to pray in the synagogues in the corner of the streets to
the scene of men. They have their reward. When
you pray, enter your closet and shut the door and get hold of
God. You're not of this world, even
as I'm not of this world. Verse 16, Matthew 6, what does
the world say? The world says, if you're under
a great burden, whine and moan and groan and let everybody know
about it. If you're under a great burden,
be sure and look as pitiful as you can, because you want all
the sympathy and pity and compassion that you can get. But as the
Lord say, when you fast, when you're burdened, don't be like
a hypocrite of a sad countenance. They disfigure their face, and
you don't have to put ashes on your face to disfigure it. You
disfigure it when you look like you just ate a sour persimmon.
Oh, how religious I love. These religious-looking people
make me sick. They disfigure their faces, and
they want men to see. You ever watch these television
programs, and they'll just sing a happy song, and then they sing,
that's hymn time. And they look so religious. They
look like their faces break, you know. It's religious. Time
to get religious now. Time to look religious. They
appear to men to fast. I'll say unto you they have their
reward, but when you fast, listen, Anoint your head, wash your face,
and don't you appear to fast, but unto your Father which is
in secret, and your Father which seeth in secret, reward you openly. Anoint your head, wash your face,
and don't you appear to fast, but unto your Father which is
in secret, and your Father which seeth in secret, reward you openly. The whole system is wrong. The
water's been so muddied and confused that people can't even see the
top, let alone the bottom. And it's been muddied right along
this very thing right here. Christ said, they're not of the
world. And we're so busy trying to convince
everybody that we're not of the world that we've convinced nobody. Christ said they're not of the
world even as I'm not a lord." They called our Lord, the religious
people called him worldly. That's right, they called him
worldly. They said, well, look at him,
he's eating with publicans and sinners. Look at him, he's a
winebibber. Look at him, he's a gluttonous
man. Look at him. Why? He's got no training, no
education. He's got nothing that distinguishes
him. He's a nobody from nowhere. But
he was not of the world. He could pray for his enemies.
He could love those that hated him. He could talk with the living
Father. He could walk with the living
God. And they couldn't. They were
religious. Our Lord knew the Father. They
had all the external things that reveal religion. He had it in
here. And that's where it is. Are you
worldly? I don't want to be worldly. And when I say that, what do
you think about? I know what everybody thinks. If we say we're
worldly or not worldly, I know exactly what everybody thinks.
It's the way you dress, it's what you eat, it's where you
go. But that's not what the Lord says. He says they're not worldly
as I'm not worldly. They're not of this world as
I'm not of this world. And if we were as busy trying
to straighten out our problems on the inside as we are trying
to make ourselves appear religious on the outside, the outside would
be in good shape. Our Father, take this word and
rebuke us. Take this word and correct us.
Take this word that thou hast spoken, this holy, precious,
wonderful prayer, and put our feet in the right direction.
We don't want to be worldly. We don't want to think like this
world. We don't want our philosophy to be that of the world. We want
to be like Christ. We want to be able to love. If
I have not love, I'm nothing. We want to be able to show mercy
even as we have received mercy. We want to be gracious and generous
and kind. We want faith and meekness and
long-suffering and patience. These are the fruits and graces
of a Christ-like life. These are the fruits of the Holy
Spirit. We want to communicate with Thee.
We want to walk with Thee. We want to be in this world,
but we don't want to be like this world. We want to be used
of thee as the light of the world. We want to help others, be an
influence, and be a good neighbor, be a good citizen, and be a good
friend. But we don't want to be like
the world. We don't want to think like them. Give us the graces of thy Spirit
and the fruits of thy Spirit. For Christ's sake we pray.