These are my notes from the Sermon "In, Not Of" which I preached @ Faith Country Chapel on June 4 2012. An audio version can be found at www.faithcountrychapel.org
Outline
A.
Introduction
B.
Jesus’ Prayer
·
“In, Not Of”-What does it mean?
·
The Reason We Remain
C.
Keys to being “in the world but not of it.”
a.
Relationship with God through Christ.
b.
Relationship with each other.
c.
God’s protection.
d.
Joy.
e.
Sanctification.
D.
Take Home Challenge
a.
Matthew West song
Introduction
·
This morning I want to talk with you about a
concept that I find to be one of the most challenging expectations that we deal
with as Christians.
·
It is something that we struggle with from the
moment we give our life to Christ until we leave this earth. And though it is a life-long struggle and
something that we can’t escape, it is imperative that we face it head-on.
·
If we do, our relationship with God will be
deeper, more exciting and our impact for The Kingdom will be all the more
significant.
·
If that is your desire this morning, then you
need to listen intently to what God is saying in His Word this morning. If its not, then you still need to listen because
you need a fire lit in you before you flame out!
·
As we read through the passage and go through
the message this morning, I want you to keep 1 question in the back of your
mind—“Is this all there is?”
·
This message is primarily directed at the
graduates because they are entering a new stage in their life and like any
passages in our life—it’s a time of excitement, hope, dreams and plans. It is a time of questioning and
imagining. It’s a time of anxiety. I want to speak God’s truth into your lives
today at such a pivotal moment in your life.
·
Everyone else doesn’t need to check out
though—this is something that all of us as Christians and soon-to-be Christians
need to pray over and pursue.
John 17:6-19
·
This passage comes in the last days of Jesus on earth. Back in chapter 13, Jesus has already washed
the disciples feet and celebrated the Passover Feast—The Last Supper with them
and then he begins a series of teachings with His disciples. His last words that He wants to share with
them.
·
At the end of chapter 16, Jesus has just said to
them: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
·
Now, in chapter 17, Jesus prays. This is a text that we could spend a lot of
time in—after all, this is Jesus praying!
We know that Jesus was a man of prayer and He instructed us to be people
of prayer, yet we don’t have many recordings of His prayers. What better way to know someone’s heart than
to know what they pray for? In fact, you
want to know the condition of your heart, want to know the depth of your faith
and your relationship with God? Then
examine your prayer life and what you pray for and pray about—you will get some
real insight to what’s really important to you!
·
So here we not only have Jesus praying but doing
so right before His crucifixion and resurrection! The timing of this prayer gives it a lot of
weight. What was on Jesus’ heart just
before He was going to take the sin of the world upon His shoulders and provide
a way for man to once again be in relationship with God the Father?
·
I encourage you sometime to spend a lot of time
studying this chapter because you will learn a lot about the heart of Jesus and
your heart as well.
·
Jesus 1st prays for Himself then for
His disciples, and then future believers.
Let’s focus this morning on the middle section of His prayers as He
prays for His disciples.
·
Read John
17:6-19
I.
Jesus’
Prayer
A.
Be in the world but not of it.
“In, Not Of”-What does it mean?
·
Jesus clearly prays that we will be “in the
world” but we are not to be “of the world.”
I
will remain in the world no longer, but
they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of
your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11
….for
they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My
prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one. They are not of the
world, even as I am not of it. John 17:
14b-16.
·
It is obvious to us this morning that we are
literally, by location, “in the world.” (If that is not obvious to you, therapy
& medication may help you with that!)
·
So here we are, followers of Christ, living in
the midst of an evil world that does not follow Christ. Instead of being taken home to glory, to a
place where there is no sin, sorrow or shame, we remain earth-bound, surrounded
by sin and evil, by people who do not follow Christ, are hostile towards Him
and hostile to those who follow Him and the question becomes—WHY?!!
·
We’ll answer that in a moment.
·
But first, why is it that we are to be “in the
world, but not of it”? What does that
mean to be “in, not of”?
·
As I said, this is extremely challenging and
perplexing and something that we will always need to wrestle with—“How can I be
in the world but not of the world?”
·
The Church has wrestled with this from the very
beginning.
·
You have those who say “look we are not to be
‘of the world’ so we must separate ourselves from the world.” Examples: monks,
communities like The Harmonists who founded Old Economy Village in Ambridge and
later the town of Harmony just to the south of us, The Amish.
·
Others have not wanted to go that far, but still
want to maintain a visible distinction so legalism creeps in and the focus
becomes on the superficial what we wear, what we do and what we don’t do and
when we do it or don’t do it. We narrow
it down to a list of rules and say look “we are not of the world!”
·
Others go to the other extreme and become too
“in the world” to the point that there is no clear distinction between “the
Christian” and “the world”.
·
It’s not one or the other, its both and there is
an inherent tension to being “in the world but not of it”.
We
are to be a part of the world
and to engage the
world yet, be different from
the world.
Sanctify
them by the truth; your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For
them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:17-19
·
While we live on earth, we are to very much be
part of the world and to engage the world yet we are to stand out as different
from the world.
·
The key to doing that is found in v.17—to be
sanctified, to be set apart. Not removed
or distant from but set apart. And we
are set apart for a purpose.
·
Which brings us back to the question of why?
·
Why is it as believers that once we enter into a
relationship with Christ; the moment we give our life to Him and place our
trust in Him, are we not then whisked away to heavenly glory? Why do we remain—be it for a day, a year, 10
years, 80 years—why does God keep us here?
·
There are many reasons why—not the least of
which is our purpose in His Kingdom work.
The reason we are in the world but not of it, is so that we can engage
the world and reach those who are lost and lead them to Christ.
·
We are the light of the world, shining brightly
that all may see what God has done and will do, showing the path to Him and
tending to the needs of all of His creation, His people.
·
We cannot do that by hiding ourselves from the
world nor can we do that by following a list of rules that we have made up that
have no bearing in Scripture. Neither
can we do that if the sum of our religion is what we do for a few hours on a
Sunday.
·
We have been sanctified for a purpose—The Great
Commission.
·
All of us are here because of someone else. Sure all the ultimate glory goes to what
Jesus Christ has done and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But, all of us can probably point to someone
as the reason for our salvation or for our spiritual growth. (My story).
·
In order for us to be “in, not of” we must be
sanctified—that’s the only way we can do it; the only way possible and we do
that not by our own will but by surrendering our will to the work of the Holy
Spirit that He might bring about a heart change.
·
It’s as Jesus said, “But the things that come out of the mouth
come from the heart,….” Our words and our
actions have their roots in our heart and so our heart must be changed for our
actions and words to be any different.
·
If we are to stand separate and distinct from
the world, in order to be that shining light, then we first must have a divine
change of the heart.
·
If we don’t, it’s as Paul said to the
Corinthians, “…. I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal.” I can have all this great religious stuff but
if I don’t have the love of God and the love for God in my heart, “….I am
nothing.”
·
It’s about the Great Commandment: Matthew
22:37-40.
We
need a revival of The Great
Commandment!
Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This
is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40
·
We need a revival of The Great Commandment. It’s about loving God as He loves us. It’s about loving others as He loves
them. That can only happen with a heart
change—a heart that is first justified by Jesus’ saving work and then
sanctified by the power of The Holy Spirit.
·
We talk about revival, we pray for it, we ask
for it, we say we need it. But truth be told, many of us want revival because
we want the world cleaned up, we want it to be comfortable for us. “After all God, if you are going to leave us
here, let’s clean the place up a bit so I don’t have to see the sinful mess and
deal with its temptations.” We are more
concerned on sin’s impact on us than we are on its impact on those who are
still stuck in sin!
·
If we are honest, we are content with our
neighbor going to hell as long as they don’t bother us on their way there.
·
Zach example—I need God to preach this sermon to
me over and over again!
·
As I said, this idea of being “in the world, but
not of it” is not easy. It requires a
heart change!
II.
Keys
to being “in the world but not of it”
a. Relationship
with God through Christ. First, this whole discussion has no bearing
or weight with us, if we first don’t have a relationship with God which only
comes through Christ.
Now
this is eternal life: that they may know
you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
We must begin a relationship with
God and continually grow in that relationship, if we are going to truly “be in
but not of the world.”
b.
Relationship with each other.
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father,
protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11
We live out our faith, not in
isolation, but with others. That’s one
of the primary purposes for The Church.
To worship and serve God together.
From our fellow believers, we receive encouragement, care,
accountability, we are sharpened, we share the load, we bring our individual
gifts to the work and our impact is far greater. In fact, it is our unity that truly impacts
the world.
c.
God’s protection.
I will remain in the world no
longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy
Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that
they may be one as we are one. John
17:11
It’s a dangerous place out
there. The world hates us, people don’t
easily change. The world doesn’t want to
easily give up its ways and to follow the narrow path that Christ calls us to
follow. There is much suffering. Temptation to sin is great. If we are to remain and thrive in a place
where we ultimately don’t belong, we need the power of God to survive and
thrive! We need His protection.
d.
Joy.
I am coming to you now, but I say
these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. John 17:13
Even though we live in a dark and
evil world, there is still joy and enjoyment to be had. Even in the midst of suffering and trials, we
can experience joy. Joy includes happiness. Happiness is not the same as joy—it is based
on circumstances and joy transcends our circumstances. Joy comes from a intimate relationship with
Christ. Jesus wants us to have a ‘full
measure” of His joy. It is what will
allow us to thrive in this world and to have a greater impact for His Kingdom. Joy is infectious. People are drawn to joy because they are desperate
for it!
e.
Be sanctified.
Sanctify them by the truth; your word
is truth. As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too
may be truly sanctified. John
17:17-19
We are called to be “set apart” not to
distance ourselves from the world but to engage the world for Christ. We can only effectively do that if our heart
has been changed by God Himself through the power of the Holy Spirit.
III.
Take
Home Challenge
At the start, I asked you to keep this
question in the back of your minds—“Is this all there is?”
Ponder for a moment what Christ has
done for you—new life in Him, eternal life, the full measure of joy and the
great suffering and miracle it took to provide it to you.
Then take a look at The Church
today. Examine your own walk with
Him. Ask yourself, is this what Jesus
died for? Is this the church He intended
to launch in the world? Did He go to
such great lengths for our salvation only so you and I can have a place to go
to; something to do for a few hours on a Sunday morning? Is this just a safe resting place until He
calls you home to glory or a support to help you through Monday-Saturday? It can be all of these—but is this all there
is?
Or did He really intend for what we
experience here to be set free into the world 7 days a week to draw others to
Him?
Did He desire that the relationship we
have with Him so transform us that our desire is to be nothing less than “light
in the darkness” in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our
community and in our world?
Was it His intent that The Church—the
one who He said the “gates of hell would not prevail against it”—would be so
radical in its love for God and for their neighbors that it would be an
irresistible force for good in this world?
Was it His intent for you and I
together to be that Church?
Question:
Are you going through the motions?
Listen to the words of this Matthew West song (“Through The Motions”) as
you pray.
Closing
To the class
of 2012 and to us all:
·
Passionately pursue a relationship with Jesus
Christ.
·
Don’t insulate yourself from the world by don’t
be immersed in it—remember your purpose for being in the world.
·
Continue to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit
and live in God’s Grace.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)