How we, as followers of Christ, view the world truly does matter. As a follower of Jesus, as one who has been saved from sin and eternal destruction, the Scriptures tell us that we have become a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. We must remember where we came from.
Ephesians 2:1–2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Every one of us was once part of this world’s evil system, but Jesus clearly tells us that we were chosen out from the world:
John 15:19b … but I chose you out of the world …
Today we are going to look that perspective of our worldview, in that while we are in the world, we are not of the world.
In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer to the Father (all of John 17), the prayer he prayed the night before He went to the cross, Jesus prays for His disciples and for all those who will follow Him in the years to come. In a very real sense, Jesus prayed for us. In this prayer, as recorded by John, we will look at what Jesus’ prayed for us, that though we are in the world, we are not of the world.
John 17:13–21
Where is our home? What is our mindset? As Christians, how do we differ from the world in the things that matter? Think about it.
What things disturb us more?
A soul lost in Hell … or a scratch on your new car?
You missing the worship service … or missing a day at work
A sermon 10 minutes too long … or lunch half hour late?
A church not growing … or your investments not growing?
Your Bible unread … or your unread text messages?
The church work being neglected … or housework neglected?
Missing a good Bible study … or missing your favorite game on TV?
The millions who do not know Christ … or your inability to keep up with the neighbors?
The cry of the multitude for bread … or your desire for another piece of German chocolate cake?
Your tithes decreasing … or your income decreasing?
Your family being late for Sunday School and Church … or late for school and work? [1]
What defines your attitudes and outlook of the world? Which world do you belong to? The fact is, we are not like the rest of the world. We have been called out from this world with its cares and concerns. Our focus should be on Jesus and on fulfilling His will.
John 17:13 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
Jesus said in the world you will have trouble. But in His word, we can find joy.
John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
We are to have the joy that Jesus has. And remember Jesus faced the cross with Joy.
Hebrews 12:2b … who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus had joy, because He knew what lied beyond.
John 17:14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Here is what makes true Christians different. We have God’s word in us. God word and His Holy Spirit transforms us. We are different from the world and because of that the world hates us. The things of this world are not of God. The world hates what is not theirs.
1 John 2:15–16 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Jesus calls us to be light in a dark world. As light we show the evil in the world and the evil does not want to be uncovered:
John 3:20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But we are told we are not of this world:“they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Can you see why Peter says we are just sojourners, and pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11)? We are not of this world. This world is not our home. We are in Jesus and Jesus is not of this world. Yet here we are, in the world. And the world hates us.
John 15:18–19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
But listen to what Jesus says here:
John 17:15–16 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
We are God’s instruments in the world, so here we are. If God removed us all, who would carry out his will and plans? “but to keep them from the evil one.” God’s plan was never to remove the disciple from danger and opposition. But He will see us through it. He will preserve us. As Christians we still live here. We are not of the world as Jesus is not of the world. At one time, folks would move into a monastery or go live alone in a cave to escape the world. Monasteries are man-made, not God made. But Jesus never intended that for us. Jesus did not pray that we be taken out. But that we would be protected from the evil one. Jesus told to pray for such: “Lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)
Again, Jesus reminds us: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” Paul says our citizenship is in heaven.
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
Perhaps a big problem for many Christians is that they are too much at home in this world. We are too comfortable when we ought to acting and looking like citizens of heaven.
John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
So Jesus prays that we be sanctified. What do we mean by that word, "Sanctify them?" Sanctify in the Greek comes from the same root word as Holy. To sanctify means to make holy. Holy means to set apart for a special purpose. If someone who set apart for God and God’s purposes alone, does that things God wants, loves the things that God loves, hates the things that God hates, we would say that person is holy. God commands us to be holy. Starting with Moses in the OT:
Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Peter repeats this command from God:
1 Peter 1:15–16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
So how do we become holy? “in the truth” The truth of God and the Truth that is from God. Jesus is Truth. Jesus is the Word and the Word is Truth. Jesus did say He was “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And where do we find this Truth that is Jesus? “Your word is truth” We have God’s Word right here in our hands. This Word does not merely contain truth, it is truth. God word is truth, and the word we get from the world is not truth unless it comes from God. It does not matter who says it. Unless the word we hear comes from God it is not truth, it may be factual, but not truth.
For Example, take one hot-button issue of our day: The Supreme Court of the United States may define marriage as being between any two people including same sex, but that does not make it so. God’s word says marriage is between one man and one woman. No court, no congressional mandate, no proclamation from the president will change the truth of God and the truth that is from God.
We are to sanctify by the truth that is the Word of God. How many of us are filling up on the word that is from the world rather that the word of God? How can we expect to carry out the will of God if we are full of the world? Jesus prayed that we be protected from the Evil one. How? Through the Word of truth. The word of truth, as read, heard and obeyed, makes us Holy. And why is that so important?
John 17:18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
We are to be sanctified, made holy, set aside and prepared for a special purpose. Jesus is sending us. The Greek word here for "send" is "apotello." The noun version of the word is where we get the word Apostle. Jesus is not just sending, He is sending us with a purpose, on a mission, to be His envoy to the world. Here we see that Jesus is doing for His disciples that very thing that Father did for Him. This is the great commission in the book of John. Jesus send us. After the resurrection, Jesus repeats this as a command to the disciples:
John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Jesus was our missionary example. Therefore, all Christians are missionaries. That is why we are still in the world. We are not of the world, but we are not yet to be taken out of the world.
John 17:19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
How can Jesus be sanctified? Jesus is already holy. In this case the word usage means He has prepared Himself for the special purpose God has laid out for Him: His Sacrificial death on the Cross taking the weight of the sins of the world upon Himself. Why? Here is a little piece we overlook: “for their sakes.” It was for our sakes Jesus went to the cross. For our sakes He sanctified Himself, “that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” We are sanctified by the truth that is Jesus.
Jesus is not only praying His disciples, He is praying for us, those of us who will follow the footstep of the apostles.
John 17:20–21 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
In light of our mission, Jesus prays that we might be one. Unity among believers. This is critical to our task, “so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” The world will see Jesus because of the unity we have in Christ. When there is fussing and fighting, gossip and rumors, among the believers, no one will see God, they will not see that God sent His Son who in turn sent us.
So how should this unity look? “even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” Our unity must have a divine look to it. It is the same unity Jesus has with the Father. How was that unity? Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Him.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Here lies the key. To be in Christ. We must be in Him. We can have all the harmony in the world but unless we are in Christ, each one of us, we can do nothing, "that they also may be in Us." we are not just in union with each other we must be in union with Jesus and the Father.
As Christians, we are in the world, but we are not of the world. We should not look like everyone else, have the same values, have the same priorities, or have the same talk.
Being different, we know the world will hate us. That is why we, as the church must stand together in unity. The question this morning is: Are you in the world, or is the world in you?
[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1639. Modified by DF.
