They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
They belong to a different kingdom from the world, just as Christ does, chosen out of the world with citizenship above and life hidden with Christ in God. That separation is in principles, spirit, interests and practices, not in being taken out of the world, for they remain among people to live and work there as Christ did. Christ prays that they be kept from evil and made holy through the truth of God's word, and being so sanctified are sent into the world as the Father sent Him to represent Christ and make truth known. They are to be one with one another and with Christ as He is one with the Father, and that union lived out bears witness so the world may believe that the Father sent Christ and loves them. Christ Himself was in the world sharing its hunger, weariness and temptation yet without sin, and following His pattern they live pure, unselfish, meek lives as light and salt that expose wrong and draw souls to God.
Prayer Setting and Study
They are not of the world even as Christ is not of the world, spoken in the upper chamber alone with the eleven after Judas left as His farewell counsel before betrayal, Gethsemane agony, trial and crucifixion to prepare and comfort the disciples for coming separation, trial and suffering and to direct them to His mission of glorifying the Father. It was His precious last prayer before leaving them to pass through the great agony in the garden prior to crucifixion, His last prayer recorded in John 17, spoken in their last week together after strong hopeful instruction in John 13-16. He spoke it to prepare their minds for the coming trial and separation when they would see Him betrayed by Judas into the hands of wicked men and suffer rejection and wicked things at their hands, comforting and encouraging them for the trial of watching their Lord suffer. They fully understood and appreciated this final prayer for His disciples after His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, and it is to be studied from the first verse to the last for understanding of its meaning. The prayer in John 17 comprehends more than any other chapter in the New Testament, and God's family on earth have many lessons to learn in order to answer that prayer, applying its instruction to themselves by asking the Lord to keep them from being self-centered because nothing self-centered can exist in heaven, and to help them in this life to sanctify themselves wholly to His service.
It is Christ's consecrated high-priestly prayer to the Father, heard by the disciples, broad as the earth and reaching heaven, joining His followers to the Father and to the whole human family. The Good Shepherd therein identifies His interests with fallen humanity and intercedes for His disciples, declaring that those who received God's words and believed God sent Him are separated from the world just as He is separated, which is why the world hates them after they are given God's word. He does not pray for them to be taken out of the world but to be kept through God's name and care from evil, to have His joy fulfilled in themselves, to be sanctified through truth because God's word is truth, to be sent into the world as the Father sent Him, and to be one as He and the Father are one. This prayer is not for those first disciples alone but for all who shall believe through their word, which takes in believers also, granting to everyone who complies with the conditions the privilege of being blended in Christ Jesus as His life is one with the Father and made perfect in one so the world may believe and know that the Father sent Christ and loves them as He loved Christ. After Christ's ascension they receive His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit to be kept from evil, are made one with Father and Son, are brought to be with Christ to behold His glory, are His recompense for His conquests and the chief source of His glory, and through them the manifold wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places, illustrated by His continuing intercession in heaven and by His bruised hands pleading for His church.
It belongs to the precious instruction in John 13-17 and John 14-17, God's will plainly outlined and to be believed and lived out, given when He was about to be separated from them and they would no longer have Him as their visible counselor to take responsibility in all matters. He gave it because they must have special instruction that unless divine power were combined with human effort their future work would prove a failure, that leaving the divine agency out would keep them from accomplishing the work appointed to bless humanity, and that in all ministry they must build upon a divine Christ. The same instruction means today that a great work is to be done by the Holy Spirit working through human agencies in maintained partnership between God and workers, where man works because God works in him and all efficiency and power is of God while all responsibility rests with the human instrument, where men move among men doing a divine work with power from on high, and where failure to seek this power and improve the facilities God has provided to reach the highest standard means failure to uplift fallen humanity. Its meaning is better known when minds are reshaped by the Spirit of God, with new enlightenment, connected with Christ's promises of answered prayer in His name and of the Comforter's presence and blessing, as the Word is eaten daily and power is claimed in Christ's name. The prayer is wonderful and of the greatest importance to all striving for salvation and every word must be carefully considered and studied lest its impression be lost, revealing the positive privilege of being in covenant relation with God, the greatest gift placed within reach, which must be availed of and improved under pain of answering in the great day for non-improvement, carrying the promise of the salvation of His striving people, given energy by divine agency through the Holy Spirit to transform the dead in trespasses and sins to put away sin and worldliness, for worldliness in believers looks truly hideous in the light of Christ's divine glory and beauty when the truth as it is in Jesus is revealed. It means just what God says and must be believed in every verse and lived out, with understanding watching unto prayer, calling for reconversion to understand the philosophy of genuine missionary work, for each one to do his God-given work as workers together with God in perfect unity and love, as distinct branches of the true Vine drawing all sustenance from Christ Jesus and bearing the best quality of fruit to the glory of God, by daily emptying the heart of self and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, depending wholly on Christ, wearing His yoke and receiving His Spirit to learn meekness and lowliness and find rest and peace.
It is to be repeatedly studied, taken to heart, and carried into practical life as the rule of life and guide for action, its words repeatedly taught, its lessons studied and practiced, its teaching calling Christ's followers to be distinct from the world and to seek unity and love like that between Christ and the Father. Believers are to bring their habits, thoughts, words and acts into harmony with that prayer so they answer the prayer, live it, and help the erring, serving as the church's creed, since neglecting these teachings risks the removal of their candlestick and difference and disunion dishonor God. So lived out, their conduct shows God's grace rather than discord and strife, for Christ's character is imparted to His true disciples through the Holy Spirit, and this visible Christian unity and obedience to truth testify to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners.
It belongs to the prayer in John 17 that reveals the breadth of His mercy and love waiting to be given to all who walk before Him in obedience and humility. It has a significance that sustains courage, strengthens faith, and keeps souls in the love of God. It teaches the obligation to acknowledge God in all ways and to seek more and more to obtain a knowledge of God.
Separate From the World
They belong to a different kingdom from the world, just as He does, to Christ's kingdom and heaven's kingdom and not to Satan's kingdom or the world, chosen out of the world with citizenship above and life hidden with Christ in God. There are only two kingdoms in this world, and every person must belong to one, so His followers belong to His and are separate from the world as He is separate. They are called out of the world and sanctified and refined to do God's service, with God Himself placing a wall of separation between the world and what He has established on earth, a consecration commanded in both Old and New Testaments under Christ who has been given all power in heaven and in earth. Safety is only in being joined to Jesus Christ, so that the friendship of worldly men can be lost rather than joining with them to carry out unsanctified purposes and forfeit God's favor and blessing.
That separation is in principles and interests, in spirit, practices, maxims and dispositions, not a call to be removed from the world or to seclude from people. They stay in the world and live among people as He did, without withdrawing from duties and relationships, to uplift and ennoble them and let divine love preserve the world from corruption. They are not taken out of it but are kept from evil and sanctified through the truth, ceasing to follow worldly practices and standing in the world as His followers. Their distinctness is joined to unity with Him and with one another in faith and understanding of God's word, lived in harmony with the principles of His prayer so the world may believe that the Father sent Him.
The distinction appears in actions, words, spirit and character not in harmony with the world, in pure, holy, unselfish, meek, blameless lives shaped by truth, consecration and righteousness. God's word is the means given to keep them distinct, to be received, believed, obeyed and practiced until it reveals what daily practice of truth produces and exposes the world's wrongdoing. Those who obey do not conform to the world's views and practices or share its spirit, but remain firm in faith and in confidence and love for the truth even under pressure and severe trial. Their sanctified influence is to spread His spirit through the Holy Spirit rather than malice, jealousy or evil suspicion, acting rightly and being its light to show the difference between Christianity and worldly life. Children and youth are to be educated to live in this way, separate while remaining in the world and kept from evil through God's care and word.
Because they have received God's word the world hates them, misunderstands them, regards them as foolish and fanatical, and brings scorn, persecution and a cross; they are not to expect its approval, friendship or applause, and its hatred reflects the difference. The world does not see or know God and therefore does not know His children, who remain in the world with His word, hated yet not taken out of it. Stepping away from the world's customs, including in keeping the Sabbath, may bring opposition and a cross to bear. After His ascension they receive His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit to be kept from evil, sanctified through truth and sent into the world as He was sent.
The dividing line between God's children and the world is distinct and can never be erased, for those who serve different masters cannot join in fellowship and unity, since there is no concord between the holy and the profane. The church is not the world and the world is not the church, and His followers do not meet the world's standard even while church members make earnest efforts to meet it and ministers have long patronized the world. To live in the world without belonging to it means refusing to follow Baal and refusing to serve mammon as God, following the meek and lowly Saviour and sharing His work of going about doing good, and only those who so follow Him will inherit the mansions He has gone to prepare for all who love Him. Those loyal to God and following His example are regarded by the world as foolish and fanatical, but God regards them as precious.
Bringing worldly principles, fashions and order into the church and its institutions after the fashion of the world violates this truth, takes strength and vital godliness from the church, and is walking in sparks of one's own kindling rather than keeping the way of the Lord. It is a deep, broad, eternal truth to govern every church that accepts truth of heavenly origin and a principle to be acted upon in the church and in all institutions, however much those who do otherwise claim to be followers of Christ. Love of display and fashion can weaken it, while truth practiced in love sanctifies the soul, so the church must come out from worldly conformity and be separate. Worldly ambition, worldly plans and worldly principles are not to be brought into the life of the Christian, and answering His prayer requires dealing faithfully with the soul, seeking the Lord earnestly for grace and strength, and giving oneself to the Lord with willingness of heart and earnestness of purpose to carry out the principles of holiness.
Believers can be in contact with the world and serve in worldly settings without belonging to it, for God gives grace to stand firm amid corruption. As Joseph stood amid the corruption of a heathen court, serving there does not require relying on human strength. They remain in the world as a corrective and saving influence, as salt retaining its savor, pure and holy among an unholy, impure, idolatrous generation, continually resisting its principles, not patterning after it, not following its ways, not imitating its customs, and showing that grace has power to restore the divine likeness in man.
Kept Sanctified and Sent
Christ does not ask that they be taken out of the world but that they remain in it with appointed work to do, kept through God's name and care from evil, sin and the world's corruption. They stay in the world with God's word, hated by the world for the difference, yet not removed from it, receiving after Christ's ascension His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit. Their distinctness from the world belongs with living in harmony with the principles of His prayer for keeping and sanctifying, in holiness and unity with God and one another.
They are to be sanctified and made holy through the truth, which is God's word, by the Holy Spirit. That sanctifying truth must be known from the Bible, understood with the Spirit's help, studied diligently, received, believed, obeyed and practiced until it shapes the whole person in body, soul and spirit. So received it cleanses from filthiness, puts away sin and worldliness, and produces Christlike character.
Sanctified through truth, they are sent into the world as the Father sent Christ into the world. They are to represent God's truth and Christ's character, get truth before people broadcast, expel darkness, give health and strength, and do a work similar to Christ's rather than living only for self. When these words are believed and practiced a powerful influence goes forth from God's commandment-keeping people, and heaven repeats them with deepest power.
Remaining in the world, they are to live as its light and as salt retaining its savor, a corrective, preserving and saving influence. They live among people as Christ did, without withdrawing from them or sharing their principles and interests, to uplift and ennoble them and let divine love preserve the world from corruption while remaining distinct from its customs and corrupt principles. Like Christ, they seek to save people rather than condemn or repel them, seeking the lost, defending God's law by holy lives and good works that let light shine, drawing people to Christ and urging reconciliation, with faith working through love to purify the soul from sin.
Unity Witness and Glory
Christ's prayer joins separation from the world to oneness with one another and oneness with Him as He is one with the Father, a unity to be studied and practiced, lived in harmony with the principles of the prayer, pursued in holiness and in faith and understanding of God's word. That oneness does not erase personal identity, for Christ and the Father remain distinct persons, yet believers lose identity in Christ, emptied of selfishness, meek and lowly, close in sympathy and love and fellowship. This enduring union sets them apart from the world's evil ways, changes them from sin to holiness, and is to be kept even when they are scattered over the world while remaining in it, kept from evil and sanctified through the truth. They stay in the world with God's word, hated by the world, not taken out of it, receiving after Christ's ascension His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit.
That oneness bears witness so the world may believe and know that the Father sent Christ and loves believers as He loved Christ, with all who later believe through their word included in the same unity as the Father and Son are one. When believed and practiced, heaven repeats these words with deepest power, and a powerful influence goes forth from God's commandment-keeping people, their conduct showing God's grace and Christ's character imparted through the Holy Spirit rather than discord and strife. Lived out, this visible Christian unity and obedience to truth testifies that God sent His Son to save sinners, extends restoring agencies to earth's ends, removes selfish and social barriers, and leads many to conversion. Such unity requires giving up their own way for God's way.
Difference and disunion among believers dishonor God, and the chapter is to serve as the church's creed, its words to be repeatedly taught, taken to heart, and lived in distinctness from the world and in unity and love, lest the candlestick be removed. The prayer is not yet answered while ministers and lay members proclaiming the gospel are envious, full of strife, destitute of love, revealing the characteristics of worldlings and dishonoring the name of Jesus before unbelievers. It remains unanswered while strife, evil-thinking, evil-speaking, evil surmisings, jealousy, variance, faultfinding and criticism continue between fellow laborers, even over different branches of work, and answering it in every word uttered and every thought cherished requires bringing even the thoughts into captivity to Christ to think no evil of brethren. To answer the prayer they must repent and be converted, seek the blessing and fullness of the Holy Spirit, put away all variance, love as brethren, labor in Christ's lines, esteem others better than self, and press together in love, and then His Spirit will bear witness that they are His and the world will take knowledge that they have been with Jesus and learned of Him.
Those not of the world are Christ's ransomed church, His recompense for His conquests and the chief source of His glory, embraced as belonging to the Father and the Son, glorified in Him, through whom the manifold wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places. The Father loves them as He loves His Son, a living reality bringing joy, reverence and gratitude, raising fallen man so the sinner is saved and God is eternally glorified. They are made partakers of the spirit and love of the Saviour and of the divine nature escaping corruption through lust, revealing the same spirit Christ revealed, converted to God and set apart to do the same work He did. The glory the Father gave Christ He has given them, Christ in them and the Father in Christ, that they may be one even as Father and Son are one, made perfect in one, and brought to be with Christ to behold His glory.
Christ's Sinless World Life
Christ Himself was in the world but not of the world, taking humanity upon Him to be one with humanity and made like His brethren, sharing the lot of men in hunger and thirst and weariness, sustained by food and refreshed by sleep, tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried. Though He lived among humanity and shared its human needs and trials, He remained the blameless Son of God living a life free from sin, without belonging to its sin and corruption or conforming to its practices to accomplish His mission. Contact with evil caused Him pain, yet He stayed to bring humanity back to its original condition and restore harmony between earth and heaven, facing temptation at every step with no thought or feeling answering temptation and committing no sin. He was a stranger and sojourner on earth who in tender, compassionate, sympathetic, considerate service for God and man represented the character of God, and His separation from the world's evil did not keep Him from serving people, making no sacrifice too great for that work and not seeking to please Himself. Being in the world does not mean belonging to its sinful ways, and Christians are likewise not to withdraw from the duties and relationships of life but to follow His example by working for the good of people in the world while remaining distinct from its character through sanctified lives and good works. His example shows that those who receive Him are given power to become children of God.
His separateness meant keeping God's law alone amid a corrupted religion that mingled human tradition and ceremony with divine precepts, maintaining strict moral rectitude as the standard for His life, since any departure from it would have marred His work. Being separate meant holding a clear, sharp distinction between true and false religion and between the righteous principles that must mark God's children and the principles of the world, reproving by His life and works pretended godliness mingled with selfishness, hypocrisy, covetousness, and unfair dealing. He lived distinct from the age in which He lived, copying no human model but bringing from heaven the principles that guided Him. He was the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person.
He came in human nature and lived a sanctified life to teach humanity, sanctifying Himself for their sakes, and to make life and immortality possible and brought to light through His life and death, opening the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in Him. By His death for atonement and His prevailing intercession at His Father's right hand to take away sin, which He will continue to make for those who believe in Him to the end of the world, He gives to all who receive Him power to become the sons of God, keeps the obedient from falling, and gives life because He lives. Their separation from the world is bound to sanctification through God's truth, which must shape the whole person and be practiced, as unreserved surrender increasing continuously until grace is lost in glory, and because they have received God's word the world hates them. The chapter sets out the advantages He purchased for humanity through His sacrifice, so that when people are tempted and tried they can claim power in His name. His prayer offered just before His trial is to be read and studied carefully and its teachings followed as the guide for action containing truth that will stand the test of ages, and following them brings unity, for the only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ and then in and through Christ to be one with one another. No one is called to walk alone, and He assigns to no one a path different from that which all must travel, but calls for unity by walking in the footsteps of Jesus, doing His works even as He did the works of His Father, studying His ways and not man's ways, and obeying His will and not our own.
Daily Life and Mission
To be not of the world is to remain in the world without belonging to it or giving it allegiance, for God is able to keep His children in the world while they serve Him alone. The dividing line between God's children and the world is distinct and can never be erased, requiring refusal to follow Baal and refusal to serve mammon as God. It requires learning from Jesus each day, practicing His meekness and humility, sharing His work of going about doing good, and making religion part of everyday life, work, and business under the fear, love, and favor of God. Only those who so follow Him will inherit the mansions He has gone to prepare for all who love Him, and character and choices here determine fitness for eternal life. In business life as much as in ministry this means being wholly dedicated to God, standing at the post of duty, guarding entrusted interests without becoming unprincipled, working from a different standpoint than the worldling, and refusing sharp dealing, dishonesty and sharpness in deal because that is the world's custom. It means making a business of serving God, showing heavenly extraction as God's sons and daughters, and, amid crowds, cares, financial pressure and a spiritual atmosphere poisonous to spirituality, keeping the soul unpolluted, unstained and without one blot of worldly pollution by prayer, faith and communion with God, standing firm in moral independence with perfect kindness, love and goodness in order to transmit heaven's choicest blessings to others through social relations. God's believing, loyal people today are to live in human society without belonging to it, as a peculiar, separate, holy people, for God has the same purpose for them as He had for Israel and has given them special light for it, and their separation fits them for the individual work of enlightening the world in cooperation with Him so as to be approved by Him.
God's people are to remain distinct from the world in spirit and influence while living in it, giving Him undivided allegiance and not conforming to worldly principles or seeking worldly partnership to advance His work. They do not belong to the world just as Christ does not belong to it, being called out to be separate from the world and belonging to Christ as citizens of heaven called to advance His kingdom, and therefore they should not identify with political parties or worldly interests. This requires that the relation between physicians and their brethren be what God designed, with medical missionary work bound up with the gospel ministry and not made the body, and it forbids binding up with worldlings by inviting them into councils and bringing worldly lawyers into connection with the work of God's people. Yet separation does not require standing independent of worldly people or refusing their help, for they are not to put away privileges and advantages that could advance God's cause but are to take advantage of every opportunity without sacrificing one principle of truth. Remaining separate includes becoming acquainted with men in high places, approaching them wisely, bringing the truth before them, giving them a fair chance to receive and weigh evidence, having travail of soul for them, giving them the gracious invitation to come to Christ, and wisely engaging them and accepting gifts for God's work while holding firmly to every principle of truth.
Separation is to appear in stepping away from the world's customs, including in keeping the Sabbath, even though it may bring opposition and a cross to bear, for those who serve different masters cannot join in fellowship and unity. The church must come out from worldly conformity and be separate, not shaped by the world's practices, with love of display and fashion put away because it can weaken it, while truth practiced in love sanctifies the soul. Those chosen out of the world are to live as He appoints, reflecting heaven's purity and righteousness with Christ's life as standard and pattern, living in the world without belonging to it or following its sinful customs and fashions. Loving God and keeping His commandments cannot be joined with love for the world's pleasures and friendship, for the spirit of God's commandments draws His followers to Christ. Habits of eating and drinking reveal whether they belong to the world or have been separated from it by the Lord's truth. They live in the world but must not belong to it in loves and priorities, not lavishing affections on perishable earthly things and thereby losing eternal reward, but giving heavenly things precedence over earthly things.
The instruction begins in the home, where conduct reveals whether they belong to God's family, for God measures church members by what they are in the home. Parents in love must watch children closely and restrain them, even when it feels too strict, to keep them separate from the world so they may be the Lord's and their lives may be right and pleasing in His sight, and children must not be discouraged but must resist Satan's leading of their young minds by going to God for strength, praying much, and giving Him their hearts' best affections. In family life, following Christ's Word and receiving the Holy Spirit can overcome dissension and bring parents and children into right relation with God. They must not drive the Spirit of God from the home by an unchristlike course but work the works of Christ there, so their lamp burns brightly to give light in darkness and men seeing their good works glorify the heavenly Father, with obedience there extending to the church. God gathers them into the church as one Christian family, where they are prepared for membership in heaven and their shared influence blesses one another and the world, each converted member showing a changed character and strengthened by the courage and faith of the others, united together as brethren in Christian love by a golden chain let down from heaven, kept unspotted from the world even as Christ was not of the world, with sins forgiven and drawn to God, in preparation to enter the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Their separation is marked by unity, with Christ's life as pattern and His love binding them heart to heart as the badge of discipleship, standing on earth as a symbol of the family in heaven as righteous principles gain power over the life to soften and subdue the natural disposition, united in one great work with consecrated, tender, respectful love while sent into the world to win sinners to loyalty.
Rising from the water of baptism into newness of life marks a break with the world and a new life in Christ as one no longer belonging to the world, as Jesus does not belong to it. They are to come out from the world, remain separate as God's peculiar people, and live as pilgrims and strangers seeking a heavenly country, even a better country. This is done by giving oneself to God to be molded and fashioned until Christ's superscription is upon him, and even one person who does this can do much. God has chosen His people out of the world, so the world is not to be their instructor and its standards are no rule for them, and the motto of every true Christian is to be in the world and not of the world, not conformed to the world. Because the world knew Him not, it knows them not, and the world will be impressed with the gospel only as they speak and act as representatives of Christ, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, revealing their heavenly extraction in manner and words and character, doing not the least injustice to God's subjects purchased by His blood, keeping the Lord's way exalted in righteousness, showing forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light as pilgrims and strangers seeking a better country, even a heavenly, never apologizing for being Christians and daring to be right. They should live in a way that does not hinder God's work or misrepresent the truth.
Followers of Christ are left in the world because every person has appointed work to do there, and being not of the world means being sanctified through the truth of the Word, which requires studying the Word, putting worldly magazines and novels out of the house, and using means to advance truth. That work is to get the truth before people and spread it broadcast through the world, not to live only looking out for self, for at the judgment reward will correspond to work done. Their actions, words, and spirit are not to be in harmony with the world's practices, maxims, standards and dispositions, and God's word is the means Christ gives to keep them distinct and protect them from evil while they remain in it. Children and youth should be educated to live in this way, led to Christ and fitted for eternal life by being made separate from the world, for this is true higher education. It calls for active labor together with God to prepare the way of the Lord and prepare a people for the soon coming of the Lord, binding to His sacred work with no time lost in inaction, providing facilities for the missionary work that must be done, and teaching old and young, men and women, to lay up treasure beside the throne of God. In medical missionary work this separation brings efficiency and power, which come only by working as Christ worked and by being Christlike in word and deed when His will is perfected within.
The proof of not being of the world is the manifestation of Christ's glory, His character, in the life-practice, possible only by abiding in Him, being one with Him, and wearing His yoke. When Christ's life becomes the believer's life, light, and exceeding great reward, when Christ is formed within the hope of glory and dwells in the heart, words bear living testimony to the truth, the soul is filled with Christlike joy, the heart is humble, the spirit contrite, there is fervent love for one another, and tenderness, love, and fervency of spirit reveal His character formed within. True believers thus sit together with Christ in heavenly places, preparation for heaven begins on earth, and the world believes that God sent His Son to save sinners. Because He chose them out of the world, they should not expect its approval but should expect hatred, scorn, and persecution, for they do not belong to the world's spirit and values just as Christ does not. Their trials are not a reason to abandon faith, for following Christ through adversity develops faith, patience, trust in God, and steadfast character. They are to be distinct from the world by being kept from sin and remaining loyal to God, representing Christ in character here and becoming fitted for the world to come.
They belong to a different kingdom from the world, just as Christ does, chosen out of the world with citizenship above and life hidden with Christ in God. That separation is in principles, spirit, interests and practices, not in being taken out of the world, for they remain among people to live and work there as Christ did. Christ prays that they be kept from evil and made holy through the truth of God's word, and being so sanctified are sent into the world as the Father sent Him to represent Christ and make truth known. They are to be one with one another and with Christ as He is one with the Father, and that union lived out bears witness so the world may believe that the Father sent Christ and loves them. Christ Himself was in the world sharing its hunger, weariness and temptation yet without sin, and following His pattern they live pure, unselfish, meek lives as light and salt that expose wrong and draw souls to God.
Prayer Setting and Study
They are not of the world even as Christ is not of the world, spoken in the upper chamber alone with the eleven after Judas left as His farewell counsel before betrayal, Gethsemane agony, trial and crucifixion to prepare and comfort the disciples for coming separation, trial and suffering and to direct them to His mission of glorifying the Father. It was His precious last prayer before leaving them to pass through the great agony in the garden prior to crucifixion, His last prayer recorded in John 17, spoken in their last week together after strong hopeful instruction in John 13-16. He spoke it to prepare their minds for the coming trial and separation when they would see Him betrayed by Judas into the hands of wicked men and suffer rejection and wicked things at their hands, comforting and encouraging them for the trial of watching their Lord suffer. They fully understood and appreciated this final prayer for His disciples after His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, and it is to be studied from the first verse to the last for understanding of its meaning. The prayer in John 17 comprehends more than any other chapter in the New Testament, and God's family on earth have many lessons to learn in order to answer that prayer, applying its instruction to themselves by asking the Lord to keep them from being self-centered because nothing self-centered can exist in heaven, and to help them in this life to sanctify themselves wholly to His service.
It is Christ's consecrated high-priestly prayer to the Father, heard by the disciples, broad as the earth and reaching heaven, joining His followers to the Father and to the whole human family. The Good Shepherd therein identifies His interests with fallen humanity and intercedes for His disciples, declaring that those who received God's words and believed God sent Him are separated from the world just as He is separated, which is why the world hates them after they are given God's word. He does not pray for them to be taken out of the world but to be kept through God's name and care from evil, to have His joy fulfilled in themselves, to be sanctified through truth because God's word is truth, to be sent into the world as the Father sent Him, and to be one as He and the Father are one. This prayer is not for those first disciples alone but for all who shall believe through their word, which takes in believers also, granting to everyone who complies with the conditions the privilege of being blended in Christ Jesus as His life is one with the Father and made perfect in one so the world may believe and know that the Father sent Christ and loves them as He loved Christ. After Christ's ascension they receive His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit to be kept from evil, are made one with Father and Son, are brought to be with Christ to behold His glory, are His recompense for His conquests and the chief source of His glory, and through them the manifold wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places, illustrated by His continuing intercession in heaven and by His bruised hands pleading for His church.
It belongs to the precious instruction in John 13-17 and John 14-17, God's will plainly outlined and to be believed and lived out, given when He was about to be separated from them and they would no longer have Him as their visible counselor to take responsibility in all matters. He gave it because they must have special instruction that unless divine power were combined with human effort their future work would prove a failure, that leaving the divine agency out would keep them from accomplishing the work appointed to bless humanity, and that in all ministry they must build upon a divine Christ. The same instruction means today that a great work is to be done by the Holy Spirit working through human agencies in maintained partnership between God and workers, where man works because God works in him and all efficiency and power is of God while all responsibility rests with the human instrument, where men move among men doing a divine work with power from on high, and where failure to seek this power and improve the facilities God has provided to reach the highest standard means failure to uplift fallen humanity. Its meaning is better known when minds are reshaped by the Spirit of God, with new enlightenment, connected with Christ's promises of answered prayer in His name and of the Comforter's presence and blessing, as the Word is eaten daily and power is claimed in Christ's name. The prayer is wonderful and of the greatest importance to all striving for salvation and every word must be carefully considered and studied lest its impression be lost, revealing the positive privilege of being in covenant relation with God, the greatest gift placed within reach, which must be availed of and improved under pain of answering in the great day for non-improvement, carrying the promise of the salvation of His striving people, given energy by divine agency through the Holy Spirit to transform the dead in trespasses and sins to put away sin and worldliness, for worldliness in believers looks truly hideous in the light of Christ's divine glory and beauty when the truth as it is in Jesus is revealed. It means just what God says and must be believed in every verse and lived out, with understanding watching unto prayer, calling for reconversion to understand the philosophy of genuine missionary work, for each one to do his God-given work as workers together with God in perfect unity and love, as distinct branches of the true Vine drawing all sustenance from Christ Jesus and bearing the best quality of fruit to the glory of God, by daily emptying the heart of self and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, depending wholly on Christ, wearing His yoke and receiving His Spirit to learn meekness and lowliness and find rest and peace.
It is to be repeatedly studied, taken to heart, and carried into practical life as the rule of life and guide for action, its words repeatedly taught, its lessons studied and practiced, its teaching calling Christ's followers to be distinct from the world and to seek unity and love like that between Christ and the Father. Believers are to bring their habits, thoughts, words and acts into harmony with that prayer so they answer the prayer, live it, and help the erring, serving as the church's creed, since neglecting these teachings risks the removal of their candlestick and difference and disunion dishonor God. So lived out, their conduct shows God's grace rather than discord and strife, for Christ's character is imparted to His true disciples through the Holy Spirit, and this visible Christian unity and obedience to truth testify to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners.
It belongs to the prayer in John 17 that reveals the breadth of His mercy and love waiting to be given to all who walk before Him in obedience and humility. It has a significance that sustains courage, strengthens faith, and keeps souls in the love of God. It teaches the obligation to acknowledge God in all ways and to seek more and more to obtain a knowledge of God.
Separate From the World
They belong to a different kingdom from the world, just as He does, to Christ's kingdom and heaven's kingdom and not to Satan's kingdom or the world, chosen out of the world with citizenship above and life hidden with Christ in God. There are only two kingdoms in this world, and every person must belong to one, so His followers belong to His and are separate from the world as He is separate. They are called out of the world and sanctified and refined to do God's service, with God Himself placing a wall of separation between the world and what He has established on earth, a consecration commanded in both Old and New Testaments under Christ who has been given all power in heaven and in earth. Safety is only in being joined to Jesus Christ, so that the friendship of worldly men can be lost rather than joining with them to carry out unsanctified purposes and forfeit God's favor and blessing.
That separation is in principles and interests, in spirit, practices, maxims and dispositions, not a call to be removed from the world or to seclude from people. They stay in the world and live among people as He did, without withdrawing from duties and relationships, to uplift and ennoble them and let divine love preserve the world from corruption. They are not taken out of it but are kept from evil and sanctified through the truth, ceasing to follow worldly practices and standing in the world as His followers. Their distinctness is joined to unity with Him and with one another in faith and understanding of God's word, lived in harmony with the principles of His prayer so the world may believe that the Father sent Him.
The distinction appears in actions, words, spirit and character not in harmony with the world, in pure, holy, unselfish, meek, blameless lives shaped by truth, consecration and righteousness. God's word is the means given to keep them distinct, to be received, believed, obeyed and practiced until it reveals what daily practice of truth produces and exposes the world's wrongdoing. Those who obey do not conform to the world's views and practices or share its spirit, but remain firm in faith and in confidence and love for the truth even under pressure and severe trial. Their sanctified influence is to spread His spirit through the Holy Spirit rather than malice, jealousy or evil suspicion, acting rightly and being its light to show the difference between Christianity and worldly life. Children and youth are to be educated to live in this way, separate while remaining in the world and kept from evil through God's care and word.
Because they have received God's word the world hates them, misunderstands them, regards them as foolish and fanatical, and brings scorn, persecution and a cross; they are not to expect its approval, friendship or applause, and its hatred reflects the difference. The world does not see or know God and therefore does not know His children, who remain in the world with His word, hated yet not taken out of it. Stepping away from the world's customs, including in keeping the Sabbath, may bring opposition and a cross to bear. After His ascension they receive His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit to be kept from evil, sanctified through truth and sent into the world as He was sent.
The dividing line between God's children and the world is distinct and can never be erased, for those who serve different masters cannot join in fellowship and unity, since there is no concord between the holy and the profane. The church is not the world and the world is not the church, and His followers do not meet the world's standard even while church members make earnest efforts to meet it and ministers have long patronized the world. To live in the world without belonging to it means refusing to follow Baal and refusing to serve mammon as God, following the meek and lowly Saviour and sharing His work of going about doing good, and only those who so follow Him will inherit the mansions He has gone to prepare for all who love Him. Those loyal to God and following His example are regarded by the world as foolish and fanatical, but God regards them as precious.
Bringing worldly principles, fashions and order into the church and its institutions after the fashion of the world violates this truth, takes strength and vital godliness from the church, and is walking in sparks of one's own kindling rather than keeping the way of the Lord. It is a deep, broad, eternal truth to govern every church that accepts truth of heavenly origin and a principle to be acted upon in the church and in all institutions, however much those who do otherwise claim to be followers of Christ. Love of display and fashion can weaken it, while truth practiced in love sanctifies the soul, so the church must come out from worldly conformity and be separate. Worldly ambition, worldly plans and worldly principles are not to be brought into the life of the Christian, and answering His prayer requires dealing faithfully with the soul, seeking the Lord earnestly for grace and strength, and giving oneself to the Lord with willingness of heart and earnestness of purpose to carry out the principles of holiness.
Believers can be in contact with the world and serve in worldly settings without belonging to it, for God gives grace to stand firm amid corruption. As Joseph stood amid the corruption of a heathen court, serving there does not require relying on human strength. They remain in the world as a corrective and saving influence, as salt retaining its savor, pure and holy among an unholy, impure, idolatrous generation, continually resisting its principles, not patterning after it, not following its ways, not imitating its customs, and showing that grace has power to restore the divine likeness in man.
Kept Sanctified and Sent
Christ does not ask that they be taken out of the world but that they remain in it with appointed work to do, kept through God's name and care from evil, sin and the world's corruption. They stay in the world with God's word, hated by the world for the difference, yet not removed from it, receiving after Christ's ascension His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit. Their distinctness from the world belongs with living in harmony with the principles of His prayer for keeping and sanctifying, in holiness and unity with God and one another.
They are to be sanctified and made holy through the truth, which is God's word, by the Holy Spirit. That sanctifying truth must be known from the Bible, understood with the Spirit's help, studied diligently, received, believed, obeyed and practiced until it shapes the whole person in body, soul and spirit. So received it cleanses from filthiness, puts away sin and worldliness, and produces Christlike character.
Sanctified through truth, they are sent into the world as the Father sent Christ into the world. They are to represent God's truth and Christ's character, get truth before people broadcast, expel darkness, give health and strength, and do a work similar to Christ's rather than living only for self. When these words are believed and practiced a powerful influence goes forth from God's commandment-keeping people, and heaven repeats them with deepest power.
Remaining in the world, they are to live as its light and as salt retaining its savor, a corrective, preserving and saving influence. They live among people as Christ did, without withdrawing from them or sharing their principles and interests, to uplift and ennoble them and let divine love preserve the world from corruption while remaining distinct from its customs and corrupt principles. Like Christ, they seek to save people rather than condemn or repel them, seeking the lost, defending God's law by holy lives and good works that let light shine, drawing people to Christ and urging reconciliation, with faith working through love to purify the soul from sin.
Unity Witness and Glory
Christ's prayer joins separation from the world to oneness with one another and oneness with Him as He is one with the Father, a unity to be studied and practiced, lived in harmony with the principles of the prayer, pursued in holiness and in faith and understanding of God's word. That oneness does not erase personal identity, for Christ and the Father remain distinct persons, yet believers lose identity in Christ, emptied of selfishness, meek and lowly, close in sympathy and love and fellowship. This enduring union sets them apart from the world's evil ways, changes them from sin to holiness, and is to be kept even when they are scattered over the world while remaining in it, kept from evil and sanctified through the truth. They stay in the world with God's word, hated by the world, not taken out of it, receiving after Christ's ascension His guidance and protection through the Holy Spirit.
That oneness bears witness so the world may believe and know that the Father sent Christ and loves believers as He loved Christ, with all who later believe through their word included in the same unity as the Father and Son are one. When believed and practiced, heaven repeats these words with deepest power, and a powerful influence goes forth from God's commandment-keeping people, their conduct showing God's grace and Christ's character imparted through the Holy Spirit rather than discord and strife. Lived out, this visible Christian unity and obedience to truth testifies that God sent His Son to save sinners, extends restoring agencies to earth's ends, removes selfish and social barriers, and leads many to conversion. Such unity requires giving up their own way for God's way.
Difference and disunion among believers dishonor God, and the chapter is to serve as the church's creed, its words to be repeatedly taught, taken to heart, and lived in distinctness from the world and in unity and love, lest the candlestick be removed. The prayer is not yet answered while ministers and lay members proclaiming the gospel are envious, full of strife, destitute of love, revealing the characteristics of worldlings and dishonoring the name of Jesus before unbelievers. It remains unanswered while strife, evil-thinking, evil-speaking, evil surmisings, jealousy, variance, faultfinding and criticism continue between fellow laborers, even over different branches of work, and answering it in every word uttered and every thought cherished requires bringing even the thoughts into captivity to Christ to think no evil of brethren. To answer the prayer they must repent and be converted, seek the blessing and fullness of the Holy Spirit, put away all variance, love as brethren, labor in Christ's lines, esteem others better than self, and press together in love, and then His Spirit will bear witness that they are His and the world will take knowledge that they have been with Jesus and learned of Him.
Those not of the world are Christ's ransomed church, His recompense for His conquests and the chief source of His glory, embraced as belonging to the Father and the Son, glorified in Him, through whom the manifold wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places. The Father loves them as He loves His Son, a living reality bringing joy, reverence and gratitude, raising fallen man so the sinner is saved and God is eternally glorified. They are made partakers of the spirit and love of the Saviour and of the divine nature escaping corruption through lust, revealing the same spirit Christ revealed, converted to God and set apart to do the same work He did. The glory the Father gave Christ He has given them, Christ in them and the Father in Christ, that they may be one even as Father and Son are one, made perfect in one, and brought to be with Christ to behold His glory.
Christ's Sinless World Life
Christ Himself was in the world but not of the world, taking humanity upon Him to be one with humanity and made like His brethren, sharing the lot of men in hunger and thirst and weariness, sustained by food and refreshed by sleep, tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried. Though He lived among humanity and shared its human needs and trials, He remained the blameless Son of God living a life free from sin, without belonging to its sin and corruption or conforming to its practices to accomplish His mission. Contact with evil caused Him pain, yet He stayed to bring humanity back to its original condition and restore harmony between earth and heaven, facing temptation at every step with no thought or feeling answering temptation and committing no sin. He was a stranger and sojourner on earth who in tender, compassionate, sympathetic, considerate service for God and man represented the character of God, and His separation from the world's evil did not keep Him from serving people, making no sacrifice too great for that work and not seeking to please Himself. Being in the world does not mean belonging to its sinful ways, and Christians are likewise not to withdraw from the duties and relationships of life but to follow His example by working for the good of people in the world while remaining distinct from its character through sanctified lives and good works. His example shows that those who receive Him are given power to become children of God.
His separateness meant keeping God's law alone amid a corrupted religion that mingled human tradition and ceremony with divine precepts, maintaining strict moral rectitude as the standard for His life, since any departure from it would have marred His work. Being separate meant holding a clear, sharp distinction between true and false religion and between the righteous principles that must mark God's children and the principles of the world, reproving by His life and works pretended godliness mingled with selfishness, hypocrisy, covetousness, and unfair dealing. He lived distinct from the age in which He lived, copying no human model but bringing from heaven the principles that guided Him. He was the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person.
He came in human nature and lived a sanctified life to teach humanity, sanctifying Himself for their sakes, and to make life and immortality possible and brought to light through His life and death, opening the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in Him. By His death for atonement and His prevailing intercession at His Father's right hand to take away sin, which He will continue to make for those who believe in Him to the end of the world, He gives to all who receive Him power to become the sons of God, keeps the obedient from falling, and gives life because He lives. Their separation from the world is bound to sanctification through God's truth, which must shape the whole person and be practiced, as unreserved surrender increasing continuously until grace is lost in glory, and because they have received God's word the world hates them. The chapter sets out the advantages He purchased for humanity through His sacrifice, so that when people are tempted and tried they can claim power in His name. His prayer offered just before His trial is to be read and studied carefully and its teachings followed as the guide for action containing truth that will stand the test of ages, and following them brings unity, for the only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ and then in and through Christ to be one with one another. No one is called to walk alone, and He assigns to no one a path different from that which all must travel, but calls for unity by walking in the footsteps of Jesus, doing His works even as He did the works of His Father, studying His ways and not man's ways, and obeying His will and not our own.
Daily Life and Mission
To be not of the world is to remain in the world without belonging to it or giving it allegiance, for God is able to keep His children in the world while they serve Him alone. The dividing line between God's children and the world is distinct and can never be erased, requiring refusal to follow Baal and refusal to serve mammon as God. It requires learning from Jesus each day, practicing His meekness and humility, sharing His work of going about doing good, and making religion part of everyday life, work, and business under the fear, love, and favor of God. Only those who so follow Him will inherit the mansions He has gone to prepare for all who love Him, and character and choices here determine fitness for eternal life. In business life as much as in ministry this means being wholly dedicated to God, standing at the post of duty, guarding entrusted interests without becoming unprincipled, working from a different standpoint than the worldling, and refusing sharp dealing, dishonesty and sharpness in deal because that is the world's custom. It means making a business of serving God, showing heavenly extraction as God's sons and daughters, and, amid crowds, cares, financial pressure and a spiritual atmosphere poisonous to spirituality, keeping the soul unpolluted, unstained and without one blot of worldly pollution by prayer, faith and communion with God, standing firm in moral independence with perfect kindness, love and goodness in order to transmit heaven's choicest blessings to others through social relations. God's believing, loyal people today are to live in human society without belonging to it, as a peculiar, separate, holy people, for God has the same purpose for them as He had for Israel and has given them special light for it, and their separation fits them for the individual work of enlightening the world in cooperation with Him so as to be approved by Him.
God's people are to remain distinct from the world in spirit and influence while living in it, giving Him undivided allegiance and not conforming to worldly principles or seeking worldly partnership to advance His work. They do not belong to the world just as Christ does not belong to it, being called out to be separate from the world and belonging to Christ as citizens of heaven called to advance His kingdom, and therefore they should not identify with political parties or worldly interests. This requires that the relation between physicians and their brethren be what God designed, with medical missionary work bound up with the gospel ministry and not made the body, and it forbids binding up with worldlings by inviting them into councils and bringing worldly lawyers into connection with the work of God's people. Yet separation does not require standing independent of worldly people or refusing their help, for they are not to put away privileges and advantages that could advance God's cause but are to take advantage of every opportunity without sacrificing one principle of truth. Remaining separate includes becoming acquainted with men in high places, approaching them wisely, bringing the truth before them, giving them a fair chance to receive and weigh evidence, having travail of soul for them, giving them the gracious invitation to come to Christ, and wisely engaging them and accepting gifts for God's work while holding firmly to every principle of truth.
Separation is to appear in stepping away from the world's customs, including in keeping the Sabbath, even though it may bring opposition and a cross to bear, for those who serve different masters cannot join in fellowship and unity. The church must come out from worldly conformity and be separate, not shaped by the world's practices, with love of display and fashion put away because it can weaken it, while truth practiced in love sanctifies the soul. Those chosen out of the world are to live as He appoints, reflecting heaven's purity and righteousness with Christ's life as standard and pattern, living in the world without belonging to it or following its sinful customs and fashions. Loving God and keeping His commandments cannot be joined with love for the world's pleasures and friendship, for the spirit of God's commandments draws His followers to Christ. Habits of eating and drinking reveal whether they belong to the world or have been separated from it by the Lord's truth. They live in the world but must not belong to it in loves and priorities, not lavishing affections on perishable earthly things and thereby losing eternal reward, but giving heavenly things precedence over earthly things.
The instruction begins in the home, where conduct reveals whether they belong to God's family, for God measures church members by what they are in the home. Parents in love must watch children closely and restrain them, even when it feels too strict, to keep them separate from the world so they may be the Lord's and their lives may be right and pleasing in His sight, and children must not be discouraged but must resist Satan's leading of their young minds by going to God for strength, praying much, and giving Him their hearts' best affections. In family life, following Christ's Word and receiving the Holy Spirit can overcome dissension and bring parents and children into right relation with God. They must not drive the Spirit of God from the home by an unchristlike course but work the works of Christ there, so their lamp burns brightly to give light in darkness and men seeing their good works glorify the heavenly Father, with obedience there extending to the church. God gathers them into the church as one Christian family, where they are prepared for membership in heaven and their shared influence blesses one another and the world, each converted member showing a changed character and strengthened by the courage and faith of the others, united together as brethren in Christian love by a golden chain let down from heaven, kept unspotted from the world even as Christ was not of the world, with sins forgiven and drawn to God, in preparation to enter the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Their separation is marked by unity, with Christ's life as pattern and His love binding them heart to heart as the badge of discipleship, standing on earth as a symbol of the family in heaven as righteous principles gain power over the life to soften and subdue the natural disposition, united in one great work with consecrated, tender, respectful love while sent into the world to win sinners to loyalty.
Rising from the water of baptism into newness of life marks a break with the world and a new life in Christ as one no longer belonging to the world, as Jesus does not belong to it. They are to come out from the world, remain separate as God's peculiar people, and live as pilgrims and strangers seeking a heavenly country, even a better country. This is done by giving oneself to God to be molded and fashioned until Christ's superscription is upon him, and even one person who does this can do much. God has chosen His people out of the world, so the world is not to be their instructor and its standards are no rule for them, and the motto of every true Christian is to be in the world and not of the world, not conformed to the world. Because the world knew Him not, it knows them not, and the world will be impressed with the gospel only as they speak and act as representatives of Christ, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, revealing their heavenly extraction in manner and words and character, doing not the least injustice to God's subjects purchased by His blood, keeping the Lord's way exalted in righteousness, showing forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light as pilgrims and strangers seeking a better country, even a heavenly, never apologizing for being Christians and daring to be right. They should live in a way that does not hinder God's work or misrepresent the truth.
Followers of Christ are left in the world because every person has appointed work to do there, and being not of the world means being sanctified through the truth of the Word, which requires studying the Word, putting worldly magazines and novels out of the house, and using means to advance truth. That work is to get the truth before people and spread it broadcast through the world, not to live only looking out for self, for at the judgment reward will correspond to work done. Their actions, words, and spirit are not to be in harmony with the world's practices, maxims, standards and dispositions, and God's word is the means Christ gives to keep them distinct and protect them from evil while they remain in it. Children and youth should be educated to live in this way, led to Christ and fitted for eternal life by being made separate from the world, for this is true higher education. It calls for active labor together with God to prepare the way of the Lord and prepare a people for the soon coming of the Lord, binding to His sacred work with no time lost in inaction, providing facilities for the missionary work that must be done, and teaching old and young, men and women, to lay up treasure beside the throne of God. In medical missionary work this separation brings efficiency and power, which come only by working as Christ worked and by being Christlike in word and deed when His will is perfected within.
The proof of not being of the world is the manifestation of Christ's glory, His character, in the life-practice, possible only by abiding in Him, being one with Him, and wearing His yoke. When Christ's life becomes the believer's life, light, and exceeding great reward, when Christ is formed within the hope of glory and dwells in the heart, words bear living testimony to the truth, the soul is filled with Christlike joy, the heart is humble, the spirit contrite, there is fervent love for one another, and tenderness, love, and fervency of spirit reveal His character formed within. True believers thus sit together with Christ in heavenly places, preparation for heaven begins on earth, and the world believes that God sent His Son to save sinners. Because He chose them out of the world, they should not expect its approval but should expect hatred, scorn, and persecution, for they do not belong to the world's spirit and values just as Christ does not. Their trials are not a reason to abandon faith, for following Christ through adversity develops faith, patience, trust in God, and steadfast character. They are to be distinct from the world by being kept from sin and remaining loyal to God, representing Christ in character here and becoming fitted for the world to come.