WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400 As we turn to God's Word this morning, I want to begin with a question, and the question is this. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:16.019 What is the Christian's place in the world? How do we fit as a church in the broader society that 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:19.379 we live in? There have been lots of models throughout the year. There were seasons where 00:00:19.379 --> 00:00:27.280 monasteries were very popular and communities were drawn away from society. There are places 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:34.560 where there have been state churches overseen in parishes that covered everybody and many, many 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:45.820 other models. Moravian communities, countercultural communes, and pillars of the community, etc., 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:51.200 etc. There have been lots of models, and they have risen because the church has asked itself the 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:57.200 question, what is our place? Do we become a part of the world? Do we distinguish ourselves from the 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:04.719 world? How do we navigate this? And it's an important question to ask because history has 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:12.219 shown that when taken to extremes, the church has lost its way. At times, we've become indistinguishable 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:19.980 in belief and practice from the culture around us, so like the world that it's hard to know the 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:25.939 difference between a church and a social club. At other times, we've retreated into an alternate 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:32.920 society so removed that we have no opportunity to live out the commands to love our neighbor 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:40.519 in any meaningful way. Friends, it is this question that Jesus was looking forward to 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:47.140 as he prayed for his disciples in John 17. This is what we're looking at as we continue in our series 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:52.319 in the Gospel of John. We're looking in John 17. It's page 903 in the Pew Bibles. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:02:01.379 John 17, starting in verse 6, is our passage. And Jesus is now the night before he will be crucified. 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:09.479 He is praying for his disciples in particular in this passage. He knows that he is going to leave 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:17.060 them and go to the Father. He sees the cross ahead of him, and he knows that the challenges that will lie 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:24.159 ahead for his church. And so he prays for them, and he prays for us in our passage today. 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:30.280 So if you will read along with me, we're going to read this passage and then pray for God's help, 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:36.920 and then we're going to look at it for a few minutes. John 17, starting in verse 6. 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:45.279 I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of this world. 00:02:46.219 --> 00:02:52.899 Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything 00:02:52.899 --> 00:02:59.560 that you have given me is from you, for I have given them the words that you gave me. And they 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:04.779 have received them, and they have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:12.280 that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:18.719 given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:26.180 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:34.280 keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:41.400 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, 00:03:41.420 --> 00:03:47.340 and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:55.180 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy 00:03:55.180 --> 00:04:02.120 fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:08.900 are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:15.659 but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:24.860 Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:33.920 into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 00:04:35.080 --> 00:04:42.000 Let's pray together. Lord, we ask for your help this morning as we look at this word. Lord, 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:47.080 we pray that you would open our minds to give us understanding, and you would open our hearts to 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:54.240 receive the truth of your word, and that by your spirit you would transform us. Lord, that we might 00:04:54.240 --> 00:05:01.539 know the place that you have given us in this world, and how we are to live in light of that. 00:05:02.539 --> 00:05:08.180 Lord, I pray for your help this morning. Lord, that you would give me words to speak that would bless 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:15.019 us as a church. Lord, that you would apply your word to all of our hearts. We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:16.699 Amen. Amen. 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:27.439 We're going to look briefly at the context of this prayer, and then we're going to talk about the 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:34.859 content of the prayer that Jesus gives this morning. So first, one of the things that is clear in this 00:05:34.859 --> 00:05:43.180 passage is that the context of the church's place in the world is to live in a world that opposes us. 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:52.340 There is a constant distinction that Jesus makes. They are not of this world, just as I am not of 00:05:52.340 --> 00:05:59.620 the world. He continues to say, he says this in verse 6, you gave them out of this world. In verse 11, 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:05.600 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. And then in verse 16 and also 14, 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:12.960 they are not of this world. There is a distinction that Jesus is making. There are two categories of 00:06:12.960 --> 00:06:17.560 people. There are those who are Christ's, and there are those who are in the world. This is consistent 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:25.060 with what John has said about what the world means generally. When he uses the word world in his gospel, 00:06:25.060 --> 00:06:34.560 he means particularly the systems, the structures, the societal communities that stand in opposition 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:42.060 to or in rebellion against God. That is how John uses the word world. So in John 3.16, when he said, 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:48.079 God so loved the world, it's not just that he loved his creation, but that he loved his rebellious 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:55.319 creation is what John is saying there. And so Jesus is saying there is a distinction. There is a world 00:06:55.319 --> 00:07:02.079 that is in rebellion against God, but you have given me people out of them. The church and the disciples 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:11.039 as the beginning, the down payment of what we are now as the church, we are meant to be different 00:07:11.039 --> 00:07:17.879 people distinct from the world that we live in. And then in verse 14, we see clearly, 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:25.620 that not only is this a relationship of distinction, but that there is a opposition that comes from the 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:34.279 world. Verse 14 says that the world will hate the church and the followers of Jesus because they 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:43.439 have believed his word. Jesus has said this in other places. In John 15.18, he told his disciples, 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:49.819 if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:55.959 the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of this world, but I chose you out of 00:07:55.959 --> 00:08:05.839 the world, therefore the world hates you. Why is this true? It is true because when God calls us into 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:15.639 his church, when God calls us to be his people, he lays a new foundation for our very being. Our ultimate 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:23.679 authority is different. No longer do I trust my own rationality. No longer do I trust my own sense of 00:08:23.679 --> 00:08:30.439 right or wrong. No longer do I look to the wisdom of humans to be the ultimate arbiter, but I look to 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:36.820 God and to his word. So I have an ultimate authority that is different than the world. 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:45.120 I also have ultimate goals that are different. No longer do I live for my own self-preservation or for 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:53.720 my own joy or for my own pleasure, but I live to glorify God. I live to know him and to make him known. 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:00.379 Our ultimate identity is now transformed. All of the human identities that we have, 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:07.519 our race and our gender and our family and all of these things, which in the world become primary 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:15.259 and often result in tribalism and comparison and competition and conflict, those are all 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:22.580 fundamentally subjugated to a greater identity. We are either in God's family or we are not. 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:29.860 And when we are in God's family by God's grace, we humbly know that that is where we are. 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.759 And who we are for eternity. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:41.700 We'll talk more about this, but recognize that this is a distinction then that Jesus is saying, 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:50.259 this difference then causes hatred from the world. What does this look like? When I was in college, 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:59.080 I did a lot of research into the missionary Hudson Taylor, who was a pioneering missionary in China in the 18th century. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:09.819 Nope, not in the 1800s. Sorry, sometimes I confuse us. 1800s. And one of the most remarkable things is that Hudson Taylor did 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:18.460 everything that he knew how to do everything that he knew how to accommodate the Chinese culture and to meet the Chinese culture where it could 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:25.260 while proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in a culture that had a very different worldview. 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:40.080 And do you know, the hatred that came back, it was almost nonsensical. Missionaries were accused of eating babies and stealing children and all sorts of 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:48.759 witchcraft and crazy things because they saw that these men and women were different and they didn't know how to navigate it. 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:56.000 And so they had this response of hatred that resulted in violence and persecution and martyrdom. 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:05.019 But it was very real. Now, we might say, well, that doesn't happen in our 21st century with our tolerant society. 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:10.939 But I tell you, that's not true. Because I know some, and there may be some here in this room, 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:18.659 who having decided to actually follow Jesus, having chosen to place their trust in him, 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:27.580 have been disowned by their families. They've not been talked to for years because of the way 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:35.779 that they have chosen to follow Jesus. Simply because they have broken ranks with the family loyalties, 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:42.460 the ethnic identities, the religious social identities that they've been on. They have received 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:47.519 great hatred, ostracization, and anger in response. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:59.200 Friends, it continues today. We live in a world that does not love God or his ways or his word. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:09.280 And we as a church need to recognize this is the context in which he calls us to take our place in the world. 00:12:09.420 --> 00:12:15.759 And this is what Jesus prays for. In the context of a world that hates us, how are we to be? 00:12:16.020 --> 00:12:21.680 How… And I think that Jesus, there's a lot in this prayer. I'm not going to cover everything exhaustively, 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:27.639 but there were three things that I saw that were really clear in this prayer that I just want to highlight quickly. 00:12:28.599 --> 00:12:37.779 Ways that Jesus prayed for his disciples and for us by extension, how they will live in the world after he leaves them. 00:12:38.359 --> 00:12:43.679 And the first thing, you can look at me in verse 14 or in verse 17, in verse 17, 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:53.699 is that Jesus says, these people are set apart because they have received the word that I have given them. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:02.319 Right? So verse 14 says, I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of this world. 00:13:02.319 --> 00:13:11.139 Verse 17 says, sanctify them in your truth. Sanctifying, this word, means to set apart, to be distinctive in certain ways. 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:28.480 Sanctify them by your truth. And Jesus is given… is reminding us through his prayer that the distinctive foundation that we have as a Christian church is the word of God. 00:13:29.139 --> 00:13:37.340 Right? And the word of God in the Gospel of John is a really rich concept because remember John 1 where Jesus said… 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:42.040 Where John was writing the prologue and he says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.580 So the first thing we need to see is that the word of God is Jesus himself. 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:50.759 And it is also the words that he has given us. 00:13:50.800 --> 00:13:54.340 And we see that in verse… 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:57.660 Oh, where is it? 00:13:59.060 --> 00:14:00.600 I forgot to put that in my notes. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.759 All right, study on your own. It's in there somewhere. 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:07.360 That it's not only the word, but also the words that he has given them. 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:15.539 So it's not just his person, but it's also his teaching that then has become codified and handed down to us in the Bible. 00:14:17.439 --> 00:14:24.419 And Jesus is praying, saying, I have given them the foundation for this new identity in the world. 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:26.299 And it is the word of God. 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:35.799 It is the person of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus about God himself, humanity, and salvation that we now have in the Bible. 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:39.099 And he says, these people are set apart. 00:14:39.319 --> 00:14:44.779 These who have followed me are set apart because they have not only heard my word, but they have received it. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:52.919 They have not simply become aware that it is there, but they have taken it in and said, yes, I will submit myself to this. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.719 I will obey it. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:56.820 I will agree with it. 00:14:56.920 --> 00:14:58.160 I will follow it. 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:00.220 I will seek to understand it. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:05.200 And ultimately, I will trust in it even when I don't understand it. 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:16.759 So when Jesus prays for his disciples to be distinct in the world, he prays that the word would be central. 00:15:18.540 --> 00:15:23.019 And so we ask our question to ourselves, are we distinctive in this way? 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:35.000 Do we receive and understand and believe and trust that Jesus is the Son of God come to be the Savior of the world for all who believe in him? 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:46.139 And that the Bible is the word of God, our authority which tells us about who God is and who Jesus is and how we are to respond to him and how we are to live in light of that? 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:53.580 Do we not only know these things, but do we treasure them in our hearts? 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:56.559 Do we love them and value them? 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:03.500 Or are they things that we grudgingly accept because we think we have to out of duty? 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:09.919 So that's the first thing Jesus prays about is the giving of the word as a foundation. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.259 The second thing that Jesus prays for is that God would keep us. 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:22.059 If you look through this passage over and over again, this word keep, and I was trying to think through, like, where does this come up? 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:23.840 And I was thinking, oh, the first Noel. 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:28.879 Remember in fields where they lay keeping their sheep. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:29.200 Right? 00:16:29.379 --> 00:16:30.799 So this is the picture. 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:34.720 It is like a shepherd keeping a flock of sheep. 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:37.279 What does a shepherd have to do? 00:16:37.439 --> 00:16:39.059 He protects them from enemies. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.860 He provides for their needs. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.700 He leads them to green pastures and still waters. 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:50.259 He is responsible for their well-being and their security. 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:56.779 And if you look through these passages, there are a number of places where you see Jesus prays, 00:16:56.779 --> 00:17:07.740 keep them in your name, keep them reminded and knowing that their primary identity is no longer whatever their human identities were before, 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:10.920 their achievements, their accomplishments, their backgrounds, whatever it is, 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.639 but that their identity would be in Christ. 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:20.460 That they would say that the word Christian is such a sweet identity marker for them 00:17:20.460 --> 00:17:23.619 because it means I am in the name of Jesus. 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:27.779 And that this is what it means for those who put their faith in Christ. 00:17:27.939 --> 00:17:29.799 We are now a part of his family. 00:17:30.199 --> 00:17:31.559 We take his name. 00:17:33.479 --> 00:17:35.199 And we are part of it together. 00:17:37.239 --> 00:17:40.559 And interestingly, in verse 11, it says, 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:46.139 keep them in your name which you have given me that they may be one even as we are one. 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:52.320 And that means that we're able to look at one another in the church who profess the name of Christ 00:17:52.320 --> 00:17:55.780 and say we are one together in the same family. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:59.160 And just like our family, we don't always agree on every detail. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.020 We don't always get along in easily ways. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.180 But we are a part of a family. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:07.140 And Jesus prays that we would be one. 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:10.460 And Nick is going to go after this really strongly next week, 00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:12.680 so I'm not going to unpack it completely. 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:14.960 But this unity is one of the things. 00:18:15.080 --> 00:18:19.100 And then secondly, in verse 13, that there's a joy that comes from this. 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:21.360 I know whose I am. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.340 I know where I fit in this world. 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:29.700 I no longer have to spend my life building, choosing, or deciding my identity. 00:18:30.860 --> 00:18:33.620 Because God has given me one in Christ. 00:18:34.060 --> 00:18:35.900 What great joy that is. 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:43.680 So Jesus prays, keep them in my name. 00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:46.920 The second thing he says is keep them in faith. 00:18:47.040 --> 00:18:48.100 Keep them in believing. 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:50.519 This is the contrast in verse 12. 00:18:51.100 --> 00:18:52.660 Jesus says, I have kept them. 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:58.460 I have kept all of them that they've continued to believe except the one who has failed. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.000 The one who has turned away. 00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:04.340 And Jesus knew that following him would be hard. 00:19:04.339 --> 00:19:07.299 He never shied away from that reality. 00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:10.480 He calls us to follow him anyway. 00:19:11.159 --> 00:19:15.459 To be fully believing and fully following in him. 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:19.319 Knowing that there will be obstacles and opposition from the world. 00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:24.099 Knowing that there will be temptations to turn away to an easier path. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.139 To a more, to greater control over our identity. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.099 To greater acceptance from our peers. 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:36.480 That there are lots of easy ways to compromise with the world. 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:39.519 Or to become following the ways of the world. 00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:43.659 Jesus knows that there will be great temptations for all these things. 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:50.039 But he prays that God would keep them from falling into those. 00:19:50.439 --> 00:19:53.139 That he would keep them unlike Judas. 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:58.960 Judas who at the end of the day chose to disbelieve what Jesus had said about himself. 00:19:59.840 --> 00:20:01.040 And turned him over. 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:08.920 Judas who in Psalm 41.9 was predicted to be one of those who were close to the Savior. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.440 And yet who turned away. 00:20:12.100 --> 00:20:12.700 Jesus. 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:12.900 Jesus. 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:20.740 Jesus says, there is one who did turn away. 00:20:21.940 --> 00:20:27.080 But I pray that God would keep you so that you would not turn away like that. 00:20:28.580 --> 00:20:30.800 Finally, Jesus says in verse 15. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.040 That he would keep us from the evil one. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.120 We don't often talk about these sorts of things in our rationalistic 21st century day. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:43.899 But the Bible is consistent in its witness. 00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:49.299 That there is a real spiritual power that is active in this world. 00:20:49.879 --> 00:20:51.479 And it is in opposition. 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:51.899 Right? 00:20:51.979 --> 00:20:55.659 And we talk about the things that array themselves against Christians. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:56.979 Faithfully following Jesus. 00:20:57.419 --> 00:20:59.139 The world, the flesh, and the devil. 00:20:59.439 --> 00:20:59.639 Right? 00:20:59.719 --> 00:21:01.599 The world is what John is talking about. 00:21:01.639 --> 00:21:03.479 A system and structure that ignores God. 00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:06.139 The flesh is our own internal instinct. 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:11.300 To disobey and to be independent from and to be self-dependent. 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:14.660 To reject God's authority in our lives. 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:16.280 And there is a third one. 00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:17.420 And it is the devil. 00:21:17.600 --> 00:21:21.759 There are spiritual forces that come after our soul. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:28.519 And he is like, as Peter says, a prowling lion. 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:31.619 Seeking to destroy us. 00:21:31.940 --> 00:21:33.819 Seeking to draw us away. 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:37.319 Seeking to overwhelm us with temptation. 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:44.019 Seeking to drive us to fear as the power of darkness is on display in this world. 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:56.740 Seeking to divide us by whispers and lies and different ways in which he might attack the unity of our church. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:05.240 Friends, we need to recognize that there is this reality out there. 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:10.099 But then Jesus has said, pray that you would keep them from the evil one. 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:13.960 We have a greater power than this power in the world. 00:22:14.259 --> 00:22:16.160 The power of the creator of the universe. 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:18.740 And that God is able to keep us. 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:23.359 And Jesus is affirming that and saying, will you do that, Lord? 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:28.700 Will you, Heavenly Father, Holy Father, the one who is set apart from this world, 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:37.000 will you keep your people from his power so that he might not have ultimate victory over our hearts? 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:50.180 So, if the foundation is the word of God and the second part of Jesus' prayer is this prayer that God would keep us distinct and yet in this world, 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:55.000 in the midst of all of these challenges, keeping us in things, keeping us from things, 00:22:55.460 --> 00:22:58.240 then what is our commission that Jesus prays for? 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.039 This is verse 18. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:07.160 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:15.120 And remember that Jesus has already prayed in verses 1 through 5 that Tom explicated last week for us so well, 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:23.300 that Jesus has prayed that God would glorify Jesus Christ in his suffering and in his resurrection. 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:26.059 This is Jesus' great goal. 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:32.480 This is why Jesus came, is that God would glorify him by following this path. 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:41.019 And so, when Jesus says, just as I have been sent in the world to glorify myself through this work of salvation, 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:48.980 so also I am sending them to glorify me by making known this good news, 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:53.620 by bearing witness to who Jesus is and what he has done. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:57.039 This is the distinctive call of the church. 00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:00.839 This is the place that we have, right? 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:04.640 We are sent into a fallen world not to escape it. 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:06.319 Jesus says that explicitly. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.980 I am not asking that you would remove them from the world, but that you would keep them in it, right? 00:24:13.099 --> 00:24:17.299 And this leads us to this grand formulation that many of us have heard. 00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:21.059 What does it mean for us to be in the world but not of it? 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:26.700 And this is the question that I started with at the beginning, how the church has wrestled with, 00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:31.200 how do we engage with the world without becoming like it? 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:39.599 Romans 12.2 has a similar prayer or command to us that we would not be conformed to this world, 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.059 that is shaped by it, put into the mold of the world, 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:47.399 so that our thoughts and our actions and our patterns and our behavior and our character 00:24:47.399 --> 00:24:51.039 value and display the things that the world displays. 00:24:51.679 --> 00:24:57.299 We would not be conformed in that way, but that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds, 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:02.799 so that as we are transformed from the inside out by the knowledge of Christ, 00:25:03.159 --> 00:25:06.519 we increasingly take on our new family identity, 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:09.879 and we increasingly become Christians, 00:25:09.879 --> 00:25:16.759 people who display the character and the values and the worldview of Christ. 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:22.180 This is what God has called us to, and it's not easy. 00:25:25.379 --> 00:25:29.359 But going back to the beginning of what I said earlier about the world, 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.939 it means that we will have a different identity. 00:25:33.179 --> 00:25:35.759 It means we will have a different goal. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:44.099 It means that our ends and our means are shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:25:44.699 --> 00:25:49.719 by a trust in a sovereign and good God who oversees all of the world, 00:25:50.399 --> 00:25:55.879 by the belief that mercy and grace will triumph, 00:25:55.880 --> 00:26:01.080 and that justice will prevail as we live in this world. 00:26:04.520 --> 00:26:09.560 There is much, much, much to say about this, 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:19.200 but God has called us to live sent into this world, but not being of it. 00:26:20.540 --> 00:26:24.680 So we need to ask ourselves the question, how are we doing with that today? 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:30.080 When I think about the patterns of my life and what I do in my daily schedule, 00:26:30.580 --> 00:26:34.360 does it reflect the values of God and His kingdom? 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:36.720 Do I love people well? 00:26:37.080 --> 00:26:38.540 Do I study His Word? 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:42.240 Do we worship together as a family or as a community of friends, 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.160 not only here on Sunday but during the week? 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.760 Do I engage with my work wherever it may be, 00:26:49.840 --> 00:26:52.600 whether it be at school or at home or in a workplace? 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:58.639 Do I engage in my work not simply to be successful but to please God? 00:26:59.959 --> 00:27:05.059 Do I engage in my relationships not merely for self-enjoyment, 00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:10.219 but to serve, to love, to draw others to Christ, 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:13.440 to help them know the mercy and grace, 00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:19.039 to encourage fellow believers in steadfastness and faith, 00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:23.559 to carry one another's burdens, and so on and so forth. 00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:27.940 Friends, how are we doing this morning? 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:34.600 The good news, however, is that in this verse, verse 18, 00:27:34.600 --> 00:27:39.480 we see that we have not only a command but a model 00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:42.580 because Jesus has come into the world. 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:46.880 He came to a world that, if you remember in John 1, 9 through 11, 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:49.039 He came to the world that He created, 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:51.640 but it did not know Him and it rejected Him. 00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:56.300 But He came in love to be a Savior. 00:27:56.860 --> 00:27:59.900 Think of some of the stories we've seen in the Gospel of John. 00:28:00.780 --> 00:28:04.100 Think about His encounter with Nicodemus at night, 00:28:04.360 --> 00:28:07.940 helping this Pharisee to understand the ways of God, 00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:10.140 the way He came along with compassion 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:13.000 alongside the Samaritan woman at the well 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:18.860 and showed her that there was a greater solution to her thirst 00:28:18.860 --> 00:28:20.060 than the well of Jacob. 00:28:20.059 --> 00:28:25.720 The way He came alongside the one who was longing for healing and hope 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:26.819 in the pool of Bethsaida. 00:28:27.579 --> 00:28:29.940 And Jesus came and He said, I will make you well. 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.240 And He healed him and He gave him new life. 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:39.139 Friends, we know that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. 00:28:41.299 --> 00:28:44.859 Beginning with us, He came to seek and save us. 00:28:44.859 --> 00:28:52.079 And now that He has shown us that and called us into Himself, 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:54.519 He has then shown us as well His, 00:28:55.719 --> 00:29:00.919 not only by His mission, but also by His character and by His worldview. 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:07.700 How He treated every person with dignity as created in God's image. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.460 How He spoke with authority about God 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:15.779 and showed that His words were from God. 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:18.279 How He lived such a good life 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:21.060 that even when the people who hated Him 00:29:21.060 --> 00:29:23.460 sought to find something to hate Him for, 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:25.860 the only thing that they could find 00:29:25.860 --> 00:29:29.960 was that His loyalty would not be given to a human ruler. 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:33.819 That was His greatest offense. 00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:38.399 Jesus lived such a life 00:29:38.399 --> 00:29:41.299 as an example for us. 00:29:41.379 --> 00:29:44.220 And so if you say, I want to be like this 00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:45.619 and I don't know how, 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:46.960 here's the solution. 00:29:47.399 --> 00:29:49.159 Go and study the life of Jesus. 00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:51.279 Go and read the Gospels. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:53.779 See how He loved people. 00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:57.079 And ask the Lord to help you 00:29:57.079 --> 00:29:59.339 to be an imitator of Him. 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:03.679 Verse 19 says, 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:06.799 For their sake I consecrate myself 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:09.879 that they also may be sanctified in truth. 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:12.279 If you look at the ESV footnotes, 00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:14.599 it's a really odd translation 00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:17.519 because the word consecrate and the word sanctify 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:19.319 are actually the same word. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:21.799 Jesus is saying, 00:30:21.939 --> 00:30:24.039 As I have set myself apart 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:27.539 in order for their sake. 00:30:27.740 --> 00:30:29.139 And by that He's talking about 00:30:29.139 --> 00:30:32.000 His salvific work for them. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.759 He then says, 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:36.880 On that basis, 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:39.279 may they be sanctified, 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:41.559 set apart by the truth of knowing 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:43.359 what I have done by that 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:44.559 and believing in it. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:47.059 So friends, 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.279 this brings us to the Gospel 00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:49.680 because this is the power. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.660 If our Christianity 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:56.360 is not based in the finished work of Christ, 00:30:56.700 --> 00:30:59.279 if it is based on loving our community 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.640 or finding a common cause 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:03.440 that we think is worthwhile, 00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:06.620 or if we've just come to the place 00:31:06.620 --> 00:31:07.180 where we think, 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:08.880 Yeah, this seems better than other things. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.100 I'll try it out for a while. 00:31:10.600 --> 00:31:10.960 Friends, 00:31:11.060 --> 00:31:12.539 we won't be able to live out 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:14.160 the place that God has intended 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:16.000 for His people in this world. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.819 But the Gospel says 00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:20.839 that when we believe in Christ, 00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:23.180 when we recognize our sin 00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:24.099 and our fallenness, 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:25.980 that we are a part of this world, 00:31:26.259 --> 00:31:28.400 then we need to be rescued from it. 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:30.599 And when we put our faith in Christ 00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:32.119 and Jesus rescues us 00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:33.619 and gives us this new identity 00:31:33.619 --> 00:31:34.660 and this new purpose, 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:38.039 there is power there for us 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:39.299 to live out the calling. 00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:41.380 Jesus prays this, 00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:43.860 not thinking that His disciples will fail, 00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:46.160 but knowing that God will succeed 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:47.600 in keeping them 00:31:47.600 --> 00:31:48.980 and sending His church 00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:50.980 to make Him known 00:31:50.980 --> 00:31:52.560 until He returns. 00:31:53.820 --> 00:31:56.000 May it be so here at Trinity. 00:31:56.460 --> 00:31:56.700 Amen. 00:31:56.860 --> 00:31:57.300 Let's pray. 00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.940 Lord, we thank You for this Word. 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:11.720 Lord, we thank You for Jesus' prayer for us. 00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:14.039 And Lord, we pray. 00:32:14.840 --> 00:32:16.960 We pray that You would help us 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.380 to be women and men 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:21.820 who live not of this world, 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:24.559 but who know that we are sent 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:25.660 into this world 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:29.480 to make known the glorious grace 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.660 that You have shown us in Jesus Christ. 00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:33.620 Lord, that this is our mission. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:35.620 This is our place. 00:32:35.619 --> 00:32:39.359 Lord, keep us from becoming like the world. 00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:41.559 Help us to be wise 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:43.139 and shrewd and discerning. 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:49.899 Lord, we pray that as we pursue this mission, 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:51.079 Lord, that You would give us 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:52.059 Your great love 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:53.839 for this fallen world, 00:32:54.399 --> 00:32:55.599 for all the ways that, 00:32:56.179 --> 00:32:58.319 Lord, in spite of all the ways 00:32:58.319 --> 00:32:59.539 that it rejects You, 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:02.500 Lord, give us a love for our world 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:04.859 so that we might be able to, 00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:05.799 in grace, 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:08.000 proclaim Your good news. 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:10.359 Lord, we thank You 00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:12.180 and we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:33:12.900 --> 00:33:13.180 Amen.