We have probably all heard that “Christians are people living IN the world, but they are not OF the world.” As parts of speech, in this statement, the word’s “in” and “of” are prepositions. In the English language there are about 70 different prepositions. They are most often used to identify a relationship – they are used within some sort of context. In “Christians are living in the world, but they are not of the world,” the context is “the world.” This afternoon, I’d like to use our scripture to bring to point out, not just 2, but 4 different prepositions. Each of them highlight important aspects in the Christian’s relationship to the world.
Here in John 17 we are given divine permission to eavesdrop on one of the prayers of the Lord Jesus. Among other topics of discussion, Jesus prays for His disciples – He prays for US. “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.” “I pray for THEM: I pray not for the world, but for THEM which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Even though they were the elect of the Father, it was still important that Christ Jesus pray for them. 6 verses later, having introduced the subject of “the world,” Christ prays for us within that worldly context. While still praying, He says that Christians are IN the world, but not OF the world; they are ABOVE or BEYOND the world, and yet they are sent INTO the world. This pretty well summarizes the relationship we should have to our human environment.
Verse 15:
“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Why are you here? Why are we here? The question is not, why are you in this building, but why are you, a living member of the human race? People have been asking that question since time immemorial, but I think it began coming up more often as atheistic evolution became more and more pervasive. The person without Christ may have a hard time answering that question. But the Christian shouldn’t, because he has more than Darwin and Neitzsche to help him find the answer.
You are here because your Lord and Saviour wants you to be here. We will get to a more specific reason in a few minutes, but the basic answer is: “It is God’s will you be here.” That is the answer whether we are talking about a baby in the nursery or the centenarian in hospice. That is the answer whether you are a Christian or still a child of wrath. Especially as a Christian, you are here because it is God’s will. Your Saviour has asked His sovereign Heavenly Father, “Don’t remove these people – before the ordinary course of their lives runs out.”
The word “world” is the Greek “kosmos.” Many Greek experts tell us that at its root, “kosmos” refers to an “orderly arrangement.” And all we have to do is look around us to see that the universe is as orderly as a Swiss watch. If the machinery of the universe didn’t run as perfectly as God designed it, life wouldn’t exist. Today’s world may not be as beautiful as the original creation or the Garden of Eden, but it is still awe inspiring. And yet in a practical sense, the order of the original cosmos was disrupted by the introduction of sin. In answer to Adam’s sin, Jehovah cursed His creation. So the machinery, or the laws, which God has instituted – may produce hurricanes and deadly blizzards or beautiful sunsets and blissful natural gardens. However, it is in the context of today’s chaos, that Jesus said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take (my disciples) out of the world.”
Notice the word “TAKE” – “I pray not that thou shouldest TAKE them out of the world.” The word is translated “take” 25 times, but nearly 60 times it is translated “take UP,” “take away” and “lift up.” This could easily be applied to taking people up – in the way that God took Enoch or Elijah – translation. Someone might suggest that Christ is asking the Father to delay the rapture, as if it wasn’t already on God’s calendar. But that isn’t what He is saying. I think the statement is much more simple than that. Death is the usual means by which God takes His people from this world up to Himself. Simply put, Jesus is praying that these, His disciples, live long and useful lives for God’s honor and glory.
But in this regard remember: Christ Jesus knew what was going to befall those disciples. He knew how evil the world was, and is, and to what length Satan was going to go to crush the disciples and “the way” – Christianity. Jesus knew that nearly all of His apostles were going to die horrible, early deaths. And He knew what John was going to have to endure before dying of old age. He knew about the persecution of the Jews against the Christians, and the wrath of the Romans. Furthermore Christ knows all about us, what is going to befall us during the next 12 months or 12 years. He knows our weaknesses and pains – your arthritis, your bad back, your heart and lung problems. He knows how some of your family have turned against you, hating your Saviour. And still He says, “I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world.”
We are in the world, because it is Christ’s will that we be here. We are here because we have work to do. There are some saints who move “off the grid” to escape the world. I don’t believe that is God’s plan. It is not CHRIST’S will that we be taken out of the world, and therefore it shouldn’t be OUR will either. “But I am in such pain; I am so apparently useless; I am so worthless. I can no longer serve the Lord the way I once did.” You are not useless or worthless until the Lord tells you that you are. And He will make that apparent when He “takes you out of the world.” Find you your usefulness and use it.
It is Christ’s prayer “that (the father) shouldest KEEP them from the evil,” while we are still in this world. Most commentators say that “the evil,” is referring to “the evil ONE” – Satan. I probably have said that in the past, and that may be in my book on this chapter. Praise the Lord, that our Mediator does intercede for us against the “evil one.” Of that I have no doubt. But it seems to me, after more consideration, since the context is “the world,” this evil is speaking about “the evil of the world.” We have three deadly enemies: the devil, the world and our own flesh. In this prayer, Jesus is praying for our protection from the evil of the world. And oh, how we need His constant protection and blessing to be able to keep ourselves from the evil around us.
So here, in this verse, we clearly see that we are IN the world; it is God’s will that we be IN the world. But even before getting to the next verse, we see that we are not OF the world. The evils of the world are not supposed to be found in the citizen of heaven. We have the prayers of Christ to support us in this separation and segregation.
But is there a point when the joys and the beauties of the world can become evil? Yes there is. The world has thousands of diversions for the Christian, all of which could become potentially sinful. For example, how many people, while thinking that they will spend eternity in heaven, are ignoring their opportunity to worship the Lord because they are skiing, fishing or hiking on the Lord’s Day? How many use the Lord’s money to fund their otherwise sinless hobbies? At what point does our love of sports become sinful? When the Super Bowl takes us from the house of God on a Sunday night? Or is it months earlier when the upcoming game takes our mind away from worshiping the Saviour? “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee…” Praise God that our Mediator is praying for us!
In verse 16 the Lord Jesus continues His prayer:
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Brethren, our citizenship is in heaven. “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We “have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for” us. We are “risen with Christ; (we) are dead, and (our lives) are hid with Christ in God. Therefore when Christ, who is (our) life, shall appear, when shall (we) also appear with him in glory.”
So why do we so often set our affections on things below – on things of the world? The answer, of course, is that living beside with our new nature in Christ is our old sinful, Adamic nature. Paul described this conflict – his conflict – in Romans 7 – “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
As Jesus says, we are not of this world. Then He further qualifies that by adding “even as I am not of the world.” On the evening of that prayer, Christ was physically “in the world” even as we are “in the world” today. But how was He not “of the world?” His Citizenship? His joys? The residency of His heart? His thoughts?
Whatever the details, notice that Jesus’ describes his disciples as already “even as” He was. “They ARE not of the world, even as I AM not of the world.” This might refer to something like their possession of the same kind of heavenly nature as their Saviour. While not suggesting they had some sort of divine nature, they were still, in a limited way, children of God as He is absolutely the Son of God. Beloved, “we are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world.” But is there any outward evidence of that in us, as there was in Him?
Certainly, the world had absolutely no control over our Lord. The sinful temptations of the world, could never overcome Him. He wasn’t bound to the laws of human governments, secular or religious, which were being laid upon others. While He was not lawless, His allegiance was to His Father in Heaven, over Herod or Caesar. And He didn’t seek for worldly applause or rewards. If I may use this word, Christ’s “goals” were spiritual, such as the saving and gathering of disciples. So He didn’t have time for the common entertainment of His society, like government-bashing, cock-fighting or the sports of the day.
Verse 17 teaches us that in some ways Christians are ABOVE or BEYOND this world.
Jesus prayed for us asking the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” At its most basic meaning, “to sanctify” means simply “set apart,” but its further meaning is “to make holy.” Those disciples – all the true children of God – are already “set apart” by the grace of God unto the Lord. Despite the erroneous teaching of some, every Christian is a “saint” – “sanctified unto the Lord.” We are already “not of the world,” so this kind of “setting apart” is not for what Christ is praying.
Not everyone agrees with me, but I believe there is a difference between the positional “setting apart” or “sanctification” which comes with salvation – and real, practical holiness – practical sanctification. I believe that every Christian is a “saint” – he is “holy” because he is enrobed in the righteousness of Christ. But it only takes a few minutes to recognize that Pastor Oldfield is less than perfectly righteous in the flesh. I can look back over the decades since my salvation to see progress in godliness, but there are still so many areas which are less than perfect: my love, my zeal, my humility, my faith. Oh, how I need the prayers of the Lord Jesus on my behalf – “Father, sanctify that man.” And how I praise the Lord that my Saviour is interceding on my behalf.
Of course, I know that I have a lot of responsibility in this matter. If I don’t choose to be more like Christ, I will never BE more like Christ. And the same it true with you. If I don’t deal with my sins, and strive to implement more godly behavior, I will not grow in the Lord. But I also know that without the Lord’s direct intervention and aid, there will never be any more holiness in me than there is today. Without the ministry of the Holy Spirit there will never be any spiritual progress – any further sanctification. The Apostle refers to that in I Peter 1:2 where he talks about “sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience.” This is what we all need – growing, practical holiness. The Lord Jesus Himself is praying about this on our behalf.
And what is the primary tool in this sanctification process? The Word of God. When I started preparing this message, I was thinking that it might be one of those joyful, uplifting messages that the Lord gives me from time to time. I found it harder and heavier than I expected. But it is in sermons like this that the Lord convicts us and moves His people toward deeper holiness. Paul tells us that “Christ loves His church” – He loves our church, and the people who make it up. So “He gave himself for it; that he might SANCTIFY and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the WORD, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having sport or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” It is through the ministry of the Word, the application of the Word to our lives that we make progress in becoming more like our Master and Saviour.
Father, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but … that (thou shouldest) sanctify them through thy truth.” It is in this setting apart and this sanctification process that we find ourselves in the world, but at the same time we are above and beyond it. And it is with a purpose.
Verse 18:
“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Christians are IN the world, but not OF the world. We are ABOVE or BEYOND the world, and yet we are sent INTO the world, “as the Father sent His Son into the World.” Why did the Father do that? “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to REDEEM them that were under the law, that WE might RECEIVE the adoption of sons.” The Son of God became incarnate to accomplish two basic things: to reveal the Father to a world which had forgotten Him, and to accomplish the salvation of those whom the Father had given to the Son. Of course, the Lord Jesus fulfilled these purposes perfectly.
“AS thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Notice the tiny word “as.” That, too, is a preposition, but it can be used in other ways. Notice in this case, how it ties the Lord Jesus’ authority to the authority of His Father. “AS thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I ALSO SENT them into the world.” Once again we have evidence that Jesus considered Himself to be one with the Father. But this is not my point.
Why is it Christ’s prayer that we remain in this world, sanctified and victorious over the evil of the world? Essentially, for the same two reasons that Christ was sent into the world: to share what the Bible says about God, and more specifically to share the gospel with the dying people of this world. “Even so have I also sent them into the world.”
Do I need to remind us all of the great commission with which Christ has left us and sent us? “Go” He says. “Preach, disciple and baptize.” Then teach those people to continue on in that “sent service.” These things are at the root of our purpose in the world. In these things we have reason to exist. These are “why we are here.” Christians – God’s saints, left here IN the world, but we are not OF the world. We are ABOVE the world, and yet we have been sent INTO the world, as the Father sent His Son into the World.
We have a work to do, and we have the Lord Jesus’ prayers behind us in that work. How can we even consider not being faithful? We must use our time in this world for that purpose; it was a part of Jesus’ prayer for us. We have money which should be spent on world evangelism. We have lips and tongues; we have hands and other talents, to use in the spreading of the gospel. We have what is left of our lives, to spend on the Lord’s glory in this place. How can we possibly fail? We have the Lord’s prayers on our behalf. In the light of those prayers, our faith should be strong, and our resolve should be strong. We should look for victory. We should expect it. Christ Jesus is still praying for us, praise His holy name.