Well, this is the first Sunday morning that we get to recognize officially Tegan and Natalie here today. So congratulate them. It's a blessing to watch their wedding and get to see them back here at church now together with us is a blessing. Good to see you guys. Just like what others said, the conference this weekend was fantastic. I was telling my wife and a couple others that I think this was the best one that I've been to. Over the over the years it was just so rich normally you kind of get one of those sessions or something That's just kind of dry and you kind of push through it But for me at least there wasn't a single one of those I felt like I was at the same time Gleaning stuff for my own heart and gleaning stuff for those who I am working with and ministering to and and so it was a great conference if you did not get to go and you have interest in going. It's the same weekend next year, third weekend of July. It's already set up and we'll start working on the details of that in January. Well, many of you are familiar with the man John Bunyan for the sake of his work on The Pilgrim's Progress. Until just recently, it was the second best-selling book in the world. But what many people are not aware of in regard to John Bunyan is his, one, passion for preaching God's Word, and secondly, his deep love and affection for his family. Bunyan preached at a time in the 1600s when preachers of God's Word were arrested regularly and thrown into prison for preaching. And Bunyan knew the danger of preaching, but he continued to preach God's Word anyway, knowing that God had called him to that. And then when Bunyan was arrested, when he was thrown into prison, it was not unexpected. And there in prison, Bunyan would often be pulled out and offered his freedom with the kind of carrot on the stick, so to speak, of his family. And they would say, Bunyan, if you will just stop preaching, if you will commit to not preaching the gospel, we will let you go. These were times of great angst for John Bunyan. His wife and children suffered greatly in poverty in his absence. And Bunyan deeply missed his young daughter who was blind, whom he had a special affection for. As Bunyan wrestled with this calling to preach and his love for his wife and children, he wrote this. Now this is obviously old language. You have to think, put on your thinking caps with me as I read this. But you can hear here the wrestling in his heart. He writes this, I found myself a man, encompassed with infirmities. There's weaknesses. The parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me in this place as the pulling of the flesh from my bones. And not only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I have often brought to my mind the many hardships, the miseries, and wants that my poor family was like to be with, should I be taken from them, especially my poor blind child, who lay near my heart than all besides. Oh, the thoughts of the hardship I thought my poor blind one might go under would break my heart to pieces. Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou like to have for thy portion in this world? Thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer, hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now endure that the wind should blow upon thee. So he's saying, I can't even endure that the wind blow upon you. So deep is my love for you, and yet all of these things are going to happen and are happening to you because I sit in prison. Bunyan spent six years in prison, then he was released for several years, then re-arrested because he would not stop preaching, and spent another six years in prison. And though in prison, Bunyan was wrestling with this, and he would cast his family upon the God who had saved him, and the God whom he preached, and he chose to trust God with caring for his family. Listen to what he wrote. He said, if I should not venture all for God, I engaged God to take care of my concernments. He's saying if I give my all to God, I am trusting God to take care of all that concerns me. When he uses that word concernments, he's talking about all that concerns him. And then he goes on, but if I forsook him, God, and his ways because of the fear of any trouble that should come to me or mine, then I should not only falsify my profession, but should count also that my concernments were not so sure. If left at God's feet, whilst I stood to and for his name, as they would be if they were under my own care, Now, if you're following and got lost in there like, what is he saying? What he's saying is this. If I pulled back from that which God has called me to because of my fear of what might happen to those who love me, then I would be as an unbeliever and saying, I can take better care of my children and my wife than God can. That's what he was saying. He was essentially saying there, if I were to do that because of fear of the bad things that might happen, I would be saying God is not trustworthy. Bunyan's imprisonment caused his wife to miscarry a child. It brought great poverty upon them. His family suffered while he was in prison. And yet, as he would write in prison of his family, his pen would just drip of love for them. And likewise, as we now turn in John 17, and we hear and we see Jesus praying for his disciples, we see a like love, in fact a greater love, just dripping from the words of Christ. These words are fascinating. So turn with me to John chapter 17, if you're not there already, and we're going to begin in verse 6. Last Sunday, I read through the prayer in its entirety. I'm not going to do that this morning. We already have a big chunk to cover. Jesus continues praying. This is before he goes into the if you weren't here last week, this is before he goes into the garden, the prayer that Luke records. This is before that is perhaps down in the Kidron Valley at the Kidron Brook, maybe. Jesus prays, I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you, for I have given to them the words which you have given me. And they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. And all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth. So last week we looked at Jesus' prayer for himself. And again, we remarked that of the 26 verses that pertain to Jesus' prayer, only five are for himself. And of those five, there's only one request contained in them, and that is for the Father to glorify Christ. The theme of glory dominates his prayer. And now Jesus turns his attention in his prayer to his disciples whom he deeply loves, and he's leaving them in a world that he says in this prayer hates them. So, first thing we need to see here is the evidences of grace. What's interesting in this prayer, if you were realizing, Jesus does not make a request for his disciples until verse 11. The verses leading up to verse 11 speak of Jesus's love for them and his work in their lives. This begins with the statement, I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. Here, they're defined as men whom were gods, but God gave them to Christ. And we have to remember, these were men who were once of the world. They were in the world and of the world. And they were gods, though, from the beginning of time, and he saved them and gave them to Christ. And Christ manifested the name of God to these men. To manifest the name of God is to reveal who God is. It is to reveal the character of God. This is essential nature being shown. In a sense, we could argue that, I have manifested your name kind of sums up all of Jesus's earthly ministry leading up to the cross. Remember John stated this in 118, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. This is what Jesus has done throughout the book of John, throughout His earthly life, He has manifested the name of God and the primary recipients of that manifestation were the disciples. This incredible revelation can be summed up as your word, which we see continually throughout this prayer. So we could understand this as the word of God is the revelation of God. It is this word that is of primary importance to Jesus. Twice in this prayer, in verse 8 and in verse 14, he has said, I have given them your word. Jesus rests in this fact that he has given them the word of God. He has manifested who God is to them. He has shown the character of God. And what is striking here is how much more the disciples have to learn, and yet Jesus, in this prayer, is resting contentedly in where the disciples are at, and where things are at, and what he has accomplished in his ministry. Here we should see the incredible grace of Jesus and how he speaks to the disciples. There's five areas of evidences of grace that Jesus draws out here. First, he praises them that they kept the word of God. Second, he praises them because they know all things are of God. Third, they received the words that Jesus gave them. Fourth, they have come to know Jesus came from God. And fifth, and finally, they believe that God sent Jesus as a savior. Jesus is just heaping on praises for the disciples. And when we think about where the disciples are in their faith at this point, this is astounding. This would be my prayer. God, be with these knuckleheads that you have stuck me with. They don't seem to understand anything I have said. In fact, as we've been having this last evening together, they are so confused, they've even stopped asking me questions, God. They are clueless. They're like an eight-year-old in calculus. And I know Peter's gonna deny me, and I know that they're gonna be scattered like mice when light hits them. God, just please somehow let them stumble into heaven. That'd be my prayer. Now this isn't how Jesus speaks of them. When there's far more to criticize than praise, Jesus sees the evidences of grace in their lives and praises God for them. He speaks of their faith, their knowledge, their rightly placed belief. He speaks of them with kindness and affection and he does so because they are his brothers. A gift from God to himself. As I studied this text this week, this was the section that was just so convicting to me. Because I often fail to identify evidences of grace in those around me. I fail to see where God is working in someone's life, or I might see it, but I instead dwell on their weaknesses, their shortcomings, their sin, their failures, their personal irritations to me. I struggle to not dwell on one's weaknesses. So let me ask you, are you more like me or are you more like Jesus? Are you one who's quick to point out the failures and faults of others and dwell on them? Or are you quick to see the evidences of God's grace in people and thank the Lord for that and identify that in their lives? As elders, we're reading through a book right now in our meetings on creating a gospel culture in our church. And on Monday, we read this and reflected on this statement here that's in this book. He said, so why not give ourselves permission to see the other Christians right around us, and he's talking about in the church, with gospel eyes? Let's marvel at them, what they are and what they will be. We don't have to pretend. All we have to do is believe the gospel and let its hope-inspiring promise set the tone of our relationships. He goes on, let's defy whatever petty and unworthy barriers hold us back. Let's allow the doctrine of glorification to create a culture of honor wherever we live for as long as we live. See, the disciples here are being viewed by Jesus through this doctrine of glorification. C.S. Lewis wrote, I've shared this before, but C.S. Lewis wrote that if we could see one another in the glory that will be ours in heaven, we would be tempted right now to bow down and worship them. The Bible speaks of us as already being glorified. And yet that glory will only be further enhanced because we are the precious possession of God. And note Jesus says here in this prayer, He is glorified in them. And yet we know it's not just the disciples, but all of God's people. We read in 1 Peter 2, 9-10, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. Do you see all those heapings of titles there? that you may proclaim the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. You see, those who are Christ's are the recipients of his redeeming and saving love. Well, it's true that God loves the world and sent his son into the world out of his love for the world. It's his people that receive his special, redeeming, saving love. It is not correct to say that God loves all people the same. He does not. Jesus demonstrates this when he says, I do not pray for who? The world. Doesn't mean he doesn't love the world, but he is praying and interceding here for those who are his. D.A. Carson I think helps us understand this a little bit when he says, however wide is the love of God, John 3, 16, however salvific the stance of Jesus toward the world, from 1247, there is a peculiar relationship of love, intimacy, disclosure, obedience, faith, dependence, joy, peace, eschatological blessing, and fruitfulness that bind the disciples together and with the Godhead. And this is likewise true of all of God's people. Who is it in the Bible that can cry out to God, Abba, Father? It's only those who have been saved by the blood of Christ. And so here we need to examine our hearts to see if we look at people the same way, and here I'm especially talking about one another here in the church, do we look at one another the same way Jesus does? The understanding that those who trust in Christ are God's, His precious possession, just as we are God, should change the way we think about people, we talk about people, and we interact with people. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are those who belong to God. And thus we should treat one another and speak to one another as the treasured possession of God because of what Christ has done. And this is why our membership covenant is so vitally important. We are choosing to lay aside our differences and to unify on the gospel. We are choosing to love and care for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ who are in close community with one another. This idea is, though very crudely, captured, I think, in the hit Pixar movie Toy Story. If you've seen that, or maybe it was a long time ago, and you think about that, there's a story of all the toys that come to life when the people aren't around. And the main setting of the movie is in this boy Andy's room. And all the toys interact. And then there's a new toy that is brought in, because it was a birthday present, Buzz Lightyear. And so the whole movie is kind of based on this pretense of Buzz Lightyear and Woody, the cowboy who was Andy's favorite toy, vying for the attention. Who does Andy love most? And yet what's so fascinating is their conflict and their fighting leads to their being separated from the boy Andy. And then through the trial, the two learn to work together and learn to appreciate one another, and in so doing, are reunited with their beloved owner Andy. And in a humorous note, the movie ends at Christmastime as Buzz and Woody are friends now, and it ends at Christmastime as they're eagerly looking for what's going to be opened under the tree, who will be the new toy that they're going to now have to learn to love and include into the toy family. Friends, it goes without saying that we are of far more value than a toy to a child. We are the treasured people of Christ. And so, let us strive to live loving one another, identifying evidences of grace, God's grace in one another, and as the authors wrote, that I just quoted from, creating a culture of honor. Well, let's get to Jesus' request here. What is it He's gonna ask? Look at verse 11. Now comes the request of God. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me. That's the request. That they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves." So this brings us then to the second point, hold them fast. This is the request of Jesus. The deep love of Jesus leads to his request of God for them. He says, I am no longer in the world. Now, we have to realize that in this prayer, there's times where Jesus speaks about that which will be as if it is now. And is he still in the world? Well, yes, for a little bit. But his point is he is not going to be in the world with them anymore to protect them. And so his request of God for them is, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me. This is the primary request of Jesus for the disciples. There is a second that we'll look at here in a little bit, but it is closely related as Jesus will then ask for God to sanctify them by God's truth. So what does Jesus mean here? Well, what he's asking for here is that God would keep the disciples loyal to God and keep the disciples in all that has been revealed to them of the character of God. In other words, he's asking God to keep them in God and walking in the manner of God, walking in accordance with God. In verse 12, we see Jesus say, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. And now that he's leaving, he asks God to keep them in God's name. D.A. Carson puts it this way, he says, in short, Jesus prays that God will keep his followers in firm fidelity to the revelation Jesus himself has mediated to them. This is Jesus' request that they continue to grow and continue to function and stay in the revelation Jesus has mediated to them of God. Now there's a two-fold purpose of this. Jesus gives a reason why, and the first is that they would be one. Jesus' heart for the disciples is not to be bickering over who is better, who is stronger, who has the better faith, who's more loved. but rather to be unified and to find a unity that's not based upon themselves or ourselves, but rather upon looking at Christ. And thus, we are to find unity not based on ourselves, but rather upon looking at Christ. It is Christ we are to be unified on. not our knowledge, not our view of the end times, not our preferred Bible translation, not our hobbies, the many things that Christians get sucked into unifying themselves in the church on. The unity, it's fascinating if you look at this, which we will briefly, the unity of God's people is saturating this prayer. It's dominating it under the theme of glory. He asks, Jesus asks God to keep the disciples so that they will be unified. And when Jesus prays for future believers, Jesus will only pray for two things, unity, and that we would be with him forever. Look ahead in your Bibles, you gotta see this. Notice how many times as Jesus is praying for us, for future believers, for you and I, how many times he uses the word one. Look at verse 21, just jump ahead. Cover this in greater detail next week. That they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in what? One. that the world might know that you have sent me." Four times, Jesus states that we, right here, would be one. He created this unity through the cross, uniting us to him and to one another. We could put it this way, unity is dear to the heart of Christ. It's of vital importance to him. This is why some of the strongest rebukes and the harshest language is for those who are divisive in the church. In Proverbs 6, when God is talking about things he hates, the last thing, the culminating thing, he says, I hate one who sows discord among the brethren. Those who sow seeds of division in the church are to be strongly rebuked, and then ignored, and then treated as an unbeliever. Some of the strongest rebukes in the New Testament are not for the things we would expect, but for those who are divisive. When one sows seeds of division, they are revealing how little they understand of the gospel. So consider these, just two passages, Titus 3.10. Rejected divisive man after the first and second admonition. So he gets two tries. Strike three, you're out. Knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. Likewise, Jude 19, they are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the spirit. These rebukes. need to be taken seriously. But the second purpose of Jesus' request is that the disciples, if you jump down, may have joy. Verse 13, they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Jesus has this incredible deep joy that not even the horror of the cross can steal away. We looked at this last week, but it bears repeating. Hebrews 12.2, who for the joy, speaking of Christ, that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to the cross, God's going to have to do a big work in my life for me to say, I'm going there with joy. But Jesus saw what the cross would accomplish and what the cross could result in and so he had immeasurable joy. And likewise the disciples and then us are the beneficiaries of what Jesus accomplished and thus we too should be filled with joy. Not a happy, shallow, try to see everything with a positive spin joy, but rather a deep joy that is rooted in the reality that our sins are forgiven. That we are made children of God. that we have hope for eternity, that we will one day dwell where there's no sin and no suffering and no death and no pain and all that's been wrong will be made right. That's where our joy is to come from. Jerry Bridges just, he has a fascinating way of putting things. He says this, he says, to be joyless is to dishonor God and to deny His love and His control over our lives. He goes on, it is practical atheism. To be joyful is to experience the power of the Holy Spirit within us. And to say to a watching world, our God reigns. Now just quickly, we don't have time to really get into this, but I do want to cover this very briefly. Jesus says he has only lost Judas, but has kept the rest. Now if we read this in isolation and we don't read this very carefully, we can come to two conclusions. One, Judas lost his salvation, and secondly, Jesus was not strong enough to keep Judas. But, if we just briefly look at this, we can see this is clearly not what Jesus is saying. Jesus makes this clear Himself in the language He uses. Jesus, we could say, lost Judas because that was what the Scriptures prophesied. Judas was lost because he was never in Christ. So he was lost as a part of the community of social connection, but he was not lost because he was in Christ. This is clear from Jesus' description of him as the son of perdition. That term means one who is damned. Speaks to his character. Judas, though he was lost to fulfill scripture, was not just simply a robot or a pawn, though. He truly did not believe in Christ and he willingly rejected Christ. He was owned by the evil one. He was a man of the world. And so we have to be careful how we read that and look carefully at Jesus's words there. But then we come to verse 14, the last part of the prayer, look at verse 14 with me. Jesus says, I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I'm not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. There's the second request. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth. So this brings us to our third point here. Sanctify them. This is Jesus' second request. Once again, he states he has given them God's Word. But the world hated them because they are not of the world. Now remember when we were covering John 15 and we looked at the world's hatred and we looked at it in John 16 as well. This does not mean that every single human being hates the people of God. But what it does mean is the world, as John uses this term, is a collective system that is going against God. And thus that world as a collective system hates God, which is why Jesus says, I don't pray for the world. It is damned. We saw that in John 15, the consequence or the result of being chosen by God, as Jesus lays it out there in John 15, is that the world would hate his people. Woe is us, as some Christians do, if they take pride in being hated and seem to be obnoxious to be hated. Don't do that. It's a growing movement that is very disturbing. There's no gospel witness there. Come on, come be grumpy and as mad as I am and offend everybody, it's a lot of fun. Love God. There's no witness there. But if we are truly living in Christ and living fruitful lives, we will be going against everything the world as a whole stands for and the world will hate us. This is what Jesus says in John 15, 19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore, Jesus says, the world hates you. Again, consequence of being chosen out of the world, the world's hatred. But we should notice some stunning words here. It's a theme throughout this prayer, again, as Jesus prays for the disciples and then he prays for us. Jesus says this, the world hates them, but God don't take them out of that world. Isn't that shocking? They're not of the world, but Jesus desires for them to remain in the world. And the purpose, as we will see, is that they would be a witness of the gospel and the saving work of Christ to the world. And so Jesus then asks them, asks God at the end of verse 15, keep them from the evil one. This is a subset of the request, keep them. Keep them from the evil one. But keep them, God, in the world. Here the evil one is a reference to Satan. We see it in 1 John 5, 19. We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. They are sent into the world. If we look at verse 18, as you have sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. They are sent to testify of Christ. Now, as we saw from John 15, the section that Jim preached on as we were going through John 15, the disciples have a unique function that they are going to carry out as they are sent into the world. They would receive further revelation from God regarding the meaning and the implications of Jesus' work on the cross, thus writing the New Testament. However, we, you and I, are sent into the world as well, though not in the exact same way as the apostles. But we are, like the apostles, sent into the world to testify of Christ and to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. so that those who are in the world who are God's, whom he has given to Christ, would be saved. So we read in Matthew 28, Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We are, as Paul writes, the ambassadors of Christ, sent to proclaim the message of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5.19, we read, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. In other words, you are given a mission. be an ambassador for Christ. One session that was very helpful to me to kind of get my wheels spinning and thinking in this regard was a breakout workshop that was just for men. And so some of you men were there and you know what I'm talking about. It was taught by a man who's a F-16 pilot in our Air Force and still currently is flying F-16s. And his title of his talk, if I remember correctly, was Living Missionally. living out the mission that God has given you. And he kind of interwove his testimony through that, and I'll just share part of it. He shared how he's had to learn how to love God zealously, how to be passionate for people, and how to create margin in his life so that he can live missionally. All three of those things have to take place in order for us to live sent out. And he shared how he's had to wrestle with that, and how he's had to do that, and how when he came to his squadron, there was 50 men in the squadron. And he was the only, there was one other he called closet Christian, but he was the only Christian who was outspoken about his faith. And so he wrestled with that tension of being with them and being around them and spending time with them, but then if they would go to like a strip club, he couldn't go with them there because of his love for God. That superseded that. And so finally he had built a relationship with these 50 men, and he started a Bible study. And he was hopeful of guys coming, and the night of the Bible study, Sunday night, one person showed up. And he said it was the most angry, bitter man in the entire squadron. He was like, awesome. I guess we're just going to have a devotion together. And so they just started reading in the book of John. And as they were reading in the book of John, this man's life began to change and he gave his life to Christ and he got saved. And other men in the squadron saw that angry, bitter man no longer angry and bitter. And they started asking how, what happened? And and then he reached a point where there was suddenly seven guys after six months in this Bible study. He was like, God, this is amazing. Seven out of 50 men studying the gospel of John and they're getting saved. But that wasn't all God had for him. Soon there was 27 men on Sunday nights at the Bible study studying the Gospel of John. Soon there was over 50 men as others from other squadrons and they had to split off into two Bible studies. Now it doesn't always work like that, but his point was this. You can't expect God to do something like that and not live missionally. You have to live loving God, being passionate for people, and creating margin in your life for people, or those things aren't gonna happen. Jesus is sending us out. The question is, are you responding? Am I responding to that? Or is your life so full of you that there's just simply no time for ministering to others? We need to realize the calling of God upon his life on our life. I mean. Leon Morris said it this way, very simply, he said, the place of God's people is in the world, though, of course, not of it. I mean, sometimes we beg of God, I beg of God, God. Come, Jesus, I'm tired of this world. Tired of pain, I'm tired of tears, tired of death, God. Come, please. But if we're here, there's a reason. And this is our place if it's not at the sight of Jesus. And thus we are to understand the state of the world and as well understand our purpose in it. But at the same time, we also need to understand the state of the world. Jesus is praying like this not because the world is comfortable. Because he's designed for us to have these great vacations and to enjoy all these glorious things and to create our little kingdoms. No, he's praying like this because who's the ruler of the world? Satan is it. And our temptation is to settle into it. We need to remember the state of the world that's opposed to God. We must be very cautious that we're not becoming like the world we are in. Jesus understands far more than we do, I think, that the world is truly dangerous. It is corrupting. It is influential. Parents, you need to understand the state of the world, and it's a luring draw on your children and on my children. Here's what I consistently see in ministry. Parents overestimate the strength of their children and greatly underestimate the strength of the world. And I see that over and over and over and over and over again. How dangerous is the world? There's a story in the Bible that every time I read it, it almost makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's just like, ugh, I hate that story. And there's hardly anything there. Everything you just read between the lines. Story of one of the missionaries sent out with Paul. We see him throughout the book of Acts. His name was Demas. He traveled through Asia Minor with Paul. He preached the gospel with Paul. He heard the gospel. He taught the gospel. He instructed churches in the gospel. He traveled with Luke, the author of one of the gospels. He traveled with Luke, the author of Acts. He would write with Luke, greeting. We'd see in letters, and Demas greets you. So he was involved in all of these churches. And then at the end of Paul's life, we read this one little verse that just speaks volumes. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica. Friends, do not underestimate the power of the world. It sounds like I'm in Star Wars, right? Do not underestimate the power of the dark side. That is not what I'm saying. but we need to realize this is the world that we live in. Demas left. He came to love the world. Friends, the world's dangerous, but we also have to be very cautious of the, oh my gosh, the world's so dangerous, I'm gonna have a Christian mechanic, I'm gonna have a Christian doctor, I'm gonna send my kids to Christian school, and I'm gonna only have a Christian accountant, and we just hide, right? We are sent into this dangerous world, not to be of it, to share the hope of Christ in it. Richard Phillips writes this very convicting statement. He says, having been sent into the world, we are not to stake our claim for comfort and ease, but for, listen to this, costly usefulness to Jesus and his gospel. And here's our temptation. God, use me however you want, Don't let it cost me very much. That word is convicting to me. Costly usefulness to Jesus. And his gospel. This is why Jesus is second and final request for the disciples is that God would sanctify them by God's word. By his truth. We see this request in verse 17, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Put most simply to sanctify means to be set apart. But it does not mean to be set apart and hidden. Kind of like, okay, I have this $5,000, and I'm going to set it, I'm going to cut open my mattress, and I'm going to stuff it inside, and I'm going to sew it up really tight, and nobody will ever find it. It's set apart. No. The idea is set apart for mission, to be sent out. Jesus says at the end here, verse 19, and for their sakes I sanctify myself. Do you think it was easy? Do you think Jesus was just kind of off hiding in the Kidron Valley? No, he sanctified himself by going to the cross, by suffering, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth. His sanctifying is not the same as ours, is that He went to the cross to atone for our sins, but it's only because of the work of Jesus that we can be set apart and sent into the world to testify of Him. But we also need to recognize that to sanctify means to be continually be molded into the character of God and to pursue holiness. D.A. Carson puts it this way. He says, if someone is set apart for God and God's purpose is alone, that person will do only what God wants and hate all that God hates. That is what it means to be holy as God is holy. Thus, when Jesus says, sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth, it is a subset, that's separate, but subset of keep them in your name. It's only possible to be sanctified by the word of God that Jesus manifests. In fact, we could put it in a negative sense, it's impossible to be sanctified apart from the Word of God. It's only in God's Word that we know Him. It's only in God's Word that we know what He requires of us. And thus, we must be challenged and exhorted here to be people of God's Word. This was one of the huge themes of the conference this weekend. You cannot give good counsel if you are not immersed in God's Word yourself. Otherwise, you will resort to your ideas and experiences. We must be challenged here. We must be exhorted. We must be convicted that we are people of God's word. His word is living. It's life. It's our food. It is truth. Two weeks ago, I was blessed to have a conversation with a tough cowboy who was a rancher up in northern Montana. He'd spent his life doing rodeo and ranching and working cows and riding horses. These were his words. He said, I'm not a learned man. I'm kind of a simple man. But in our conversation, he pointed to his worn Bible. And he said, I tell people This book will not lie to you. He said it's truth. He said if you want to know how to live, you need to be reading and keeping this book. He said it is life. Run to it. So we consider how Jesus prayed for his disciples. Let's see the importance here that Jesus puts on God's Word. We read in this prayer, this section, he gave them God's Word, he taught them God's Word, he explained God's Word, he kept them in God's Word, and he asked God to keep them in his Word and sanctify them by his Word. God's Word is truth. So friends, let's see the heart of Jesus here for his disciples and let's see his desire that they remain in his word, kept by God in his word. And likewise, let's strive by his power, not our own efforts, by his power. Let us strive. That we, too, would stay in his word, that we, too, might proclaim the beauty of the gospel into this world that we have been sent into. Let's pray. God, it is so humbling and astounding to read these words of Jesus and know this is how Jesus prayed. This is how he thought about himself. This is how he thought about his disciples. This is how he thought about us. Thank you for the blessing it is to have this prayer of Jesus. May it penetrate our hearts. And Lord, I pray that we would continue to reflect and think on these words, that we'd marinate on them, that we would glean for ourselves that which your Holy Spirit would have for us to glean as we read it and go over it. And Father, we ask that as Jesus prayed for the disciples to be kept in your name, we ask that you would keep us in your name. And as Jesus prayed that the disciples would be sanctified by your truth, your word is truth. We we ask, Lord God, that you would sanctify us by your truth. That we would be set apart. And live set apart, being sent into the world. To accomplish the work that you have given us to do. And Father, we thank you that it's not by our own strength or our own power that we do this, but it's by the power of Christ at work in us through the Holy Spirit because of what He accomplished on the cross. We thank you, Lord God, for this incredible prayer. Help us to grow in these things, that we'd love you more and love each other better. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.