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Staying Afloat in this World

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15  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. John 17:15-17 

Imagine yourself washed adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  You are treading water but just barely. You need something to keep you afloat. And Now.  When you see a piece of driftwood floating over the crest of the next wave, what do you do?  The answer is obvious: swim to it and cling to it for your very life.

What Jesus has to say from about John chapter 13 through his final prayer for the disciples and for us is some of the most incredible teaching ever to be taught. It is more than a life raft in the midst of this world.  We could (and maybe should) spend the rest of our lives studying, memorizing and believing what he has to say to his disciples both then and now.  The instruction and encouragement in these verses contain so much of what it is to be a Christian precisely because they contain so much about who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what was going to happen to Him and to His disciples after Him.

Jesus knew he would be sending out his disciples and us after them into a world that hated them because they hated their Master and Savior.  (John 15:18-25) He knew that they would face the temptation of trying to escape the hatred of the world.  So as Jesus was praying for them here toward the end of his prayer in Chapter 17 he asks His Father for this " I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one."  It is not that Jesus wants them to avoid the world completely (that would be impossible 1 Cor 5:10) but be kept from the evil one, namely, Satan. Why is it that we are to be left in the world even though Satan and our own hearts seek to draw us away by its temptations? 

First: vs 16 "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." God has purposes for us in this world. If God removed us or we remove ourselves from the world, how will they hear the gospel message?  How will society hold together if Christians don't at very least slow down the moral decay of our world?  How will the world see the grace of God that leads to repentance if we do not show them?  We are not of this world.  God has changed our hearts and minds and lives.  This happens because we trust Jesus Christ and he fashions us into new creations (2 Cor 5:17).  We should be no more of or like this world than what Jesus Christ was while he walked this earth.

Second: vs 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" As a new creation our loyalties have changed.  The ruling document of this world system are the lies of the selfish desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-21)  The new ruling document for the believer in Jesus Christ is the truth.  Not just the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) but the truth.  The truth that we are to be sanctified in is wrapped up in one convenient leather (or Smartphone)-bound book.  Your.  Word. is. Truth. God leaves us in the World for His purposes to be on his mission for his glory.  The joy is, he does not leave us stranded.  

He has given us his Son - who lived perfectly in his world and redeemed us from this world. Our only confidence in this world is clinging only and tightly to Him. He has given us the Word - the full truth as we attempt to stay afloat in this sea of lies that is our world.  It exposes the lies for what they really are. And finally,  He has given us His Spirit.  The Holy Spirit lives in those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit exists inside of us to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14). If we let Him, He will continue to bring us back to what Christ has done on our behalf to reconcile us to God to free us from sin.  The Holy Spirit also "leads us into all truth" and in this lie laden world, we need truth.  Specifically the Holy Spirit will guide us to the Word of God, where truth and Jesus are to be found.  

Staying afloat in this world and not giving into the temptations of this world is God's will for us.  And he has provided all that we need to do it.  Cling to it, it is your very life, in the ocean of this world.


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