Sanctified by the Truth of God
In John 17, we hear how Jesus prayed to the Father on the night of his betrayal and arrest. As we listen, we learn that he didn’t pray very much for himself. Instead, he prayed for the glory and purposes of God to be accomplished through his suffering. In addition to this, he prayed intently for his disciples. This included the original twelve men who followed him, but it also included anyone today who is also following Jesus (John 17:20). He prayed for his followers (his disciples) because he would be leaving them behind to carry on his mission in a hostile world.
He prayed for his followers because he would be leaving them behind to carry on his mission in a hostile world.
In his absence, these men would face some serious dangers. He alluded to some of these dangers in his prayer (John 17:11-15). They would have to adjust to following an invisible person, a God whom they could not see. They would experience hatred and animosity from the people around them. They would be abandoned and betrayed by imposters, people who would partner with them for a while, even as very close friends, but would leave them along the way. They would also need to think clearly and pay attention, because Satan himself would hunt them as a lion hunts his pray, seeking to destroy them (1 Pet 5:8).To overcome these challenges, he prayed for them to experience a closer and more joyful relationship with God the Father. He prayed that they would learn to rest in God’s protection. He also prayed that they would learn the importance of building close relationships with one another, just as the members of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – enjoy a close and joyful relationship among themselves forever.In addition to these things, Jesus gave attention to something else. As he prayed, he said, “I have given them your word” (John 17:14). He had done this by teaching them faithfully what the Father had given him to say. Now that he would be leaving them, he would be leaving them with the words which he had given to them. This truth from God would take a central and vital role in securing the safety of these men and assuring the success of their mission. The same is true for everyone who follows Christ today. The Word of God – revealed to the prophets and apostles by Christ and the Spirit and recorded for us as the Bible – takes a central and vital role in securing your safety and assuring the success of your mission in a world that is hostile towards God. Indeed, God’s truth enables you to be in the world but not of the world.
God’s truth enables you to be in the world but not of the world.
Nearly 93 miles from downtown São Paulo Brazil is the island called Queimada Grande, also known as “Snake Island.” Scientists estimate that anywhere from one to five snakes inhabit every square meter of the island. This means that no matter where you step, there will always be at least one snake (and probably more) within three feet of you. What makes this even more dangerous is that the snakes are not a harmless garden variety. They are a special kind of venomous pit viper called the Golden Lancehead. Its venom melts the victim’s skin and can kill a person in less than one hour. For this reason, the Brazilian Navy forbids anyone from visiting this island. If they do give permission for scientific research or for any other reason, they require an official military escort and the presence of a qualified medical doctor.Unlike the Brazilian government, as Jesus prayed, he made it clear that he did not want the Father to protect his followers by removing them from the world, no matter how dangerous and hostile the world would become (John 17:15). (Yet he did not insist on keeping them in the world because they somehow belonged in the world or to the world in any close or natural way.) Instead, he clarified that they did not belong in the world and that they were not affiliated with the world, just as he was neither from the world or affiliated with it (John 17:16).With that in mind, he prayed for a very special arrangement. He prayed that they would be guarded and guided by the truth of God’s Word as they faced the dangers of living and serving in a hostile and dangerous world. He did not ask for the Father to provide a heavenly military escort or to provide a special doctor to accompany them. He asked the Father to guide and guard them with his Word.
The Father sets you apart by the truth of his Word.
Jesus asked the Father to “sanctify” his followers by “his truth.” Then he said that the Father’s “word is truth” (John 17:17). What did he mean by this? First, you can see that he was asking the Father to do something – to sanctify his followers. The word sanctify means “to separate someone away from or out of something else.” In this case, he was asking the Father to separate or remove these followers from the world. But since he has already clarified that he did not want them to be physically removed from the world, then in what way did he want them to be “separated” from it?He wanted them to be separated not by a new physical location, but by a new personal orientation, which raises another important aspect of what it means to “sanctify” someone. It means to remove them from something for a deliberate and specific purpose. Jesus asked the Father to transform the way that his followers would view and conduct their lives. He prayed that the Father would change their mindset and affections to be in harmony with the truth of God. As he had set the example, by saying and doing the will of the Father, he prayed for them to do the same (John 17:7-8).
He wanted them to be separated not by a new physical location, but by a new personal orientation.
Jesus helps us better understand what he is saying here by telling us that we can find the truth of God in the Word of God. He did not leave us to figure out what God said on our own. The Word of God, here, refers most specifically to everything that Jesus himself had taught (Heb 1:2). It also refers to the Old Testament as the Word of God and to the rest of the New Testament as the Word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17). But knowing this, how does the Father “sanctify” the followers of Jesus with his Word?For the Father to “sanctify” you with his Word, you first need to be exposed to the Word of God. You need to know what the Word of God teaches. The original disciples who were with Jesus in the garden had been exposed to the Word of God because they had been raised as Jewish children and were therefore exposed to the Old Testament scriptures (2 Tim 3:15). Then they had also enjoyed the teaching ministry of Jesus in person.Today, we do not have the personal teaching ministry of Jesus and many of us have not been raised with a thorough understanding of the Old Testament. That is why it is important to learn as much as you can through personal Bible study, personal mentorship from someone in your church, and group participation in the teaching ministry of your church. Through all these means, you will be exposed to the truth of the Word of God.That is why Peter would later write, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet 2:2). The word desire portrays a “very strong craving.” Do you have a very strong craving for the Word of God? If so, then what are you doing to feed that appetite for the truth? Knowing the Word is the first step towards the safety and sanctification which the Father provides in a hostile world.
Do you have a very strong craving for the Word of God?
Second, for the Father to “sanctify” you with his Word, he will do his part by transforming the way that you view life and the way that you conduct your life. About this, Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “Do not be conformed [pressed into the mold of] to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2). The more you know and understand the Word of God, the more that God will transform and renew your mind. You will view and conduct your life more and more like Jesus, and more and more in harmony with the truth and will of God, and not like the hostile, fallen world around you. As this happens, you will find yourself increasingly “distant” and “separated” from the world. Though you will still be in the world, you will become less and less of the world or like the world.
Jesus sends you into the world to spread the truth of his Word.
As Jesus emphasized the need for his followers to be set apart or separated from the world, he also emphasized the reason for this separation. This reason is the same one for which the Father sent Jesus into the world – to reveal the truth of God to the world.How did Jesus reveal this truth? He did so verbally and practically. By “verbally” I mean that he said and taught the truth of God with words. By “practically” I mean that he acted and behaved according to the truth of God. He lived out the truth and goodness of God and – in the end – he followed this truth so perfectly that he died on the cross as the substitute for the sins of the world.At this point, I would like to give some helpful perspective. In a letter written by John, he explained the problem of not allowing the truth of God to transform your mindset and affections. He described this as “loving the world” (1 John 2:15-17). As you can see, this was a topic which the New Testament writers gave serious attention, whether Peter (1 Pet 2:2), Paul (Rom 12:2), or John (here) – among others and in other places as well.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-16)
The problem with “loving the world” is that it prevents you from living out the “love of the Father.” Now, what is the love of the Father? John wrote about this earlier in his gospel when he said that God “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). This leads to what Jesus prayed next in John 17:19. Following and spreading the truth of God in a hostile and dangerous world will lead to suffering.
As Jesus suffered for the truth of God’s Word, so will you.
When the truth of God’s Word transforms your mindset and affections, you will find that God calls you to suffer in one way or another. You cannot avoid this. That is why Paul said this to Timothy. As you read this, you will notice the connection to following the truth of the Word of God, even though you will suffer as a result:
All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim 3:12-15)
You cannot follow the truth of God wholeheartedly and avoid the sacrifice and suffering that will inevitably occur. Not everyone suffers in the same way or to the same degree, and no one will ever suffer as tremendously as Jesus. But here is how this works:
- The Father separates you from the world by the truth of his Word.
- At the same time, he does not remove you from the world, but he keeps you in the world instead.
- From this new position and perspective, you take the truth of his Word to the world.
- Since the world is hostile to God and his truth, you will suffer as a result.
[av_button_big label='Download a Visualization of John 17:15-19 PDF' description_pos='below' link='manually,https://shepherdthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/John-c17-v15-19-visualized.pdf' link_target='' icon_select='no' icon='ue800' font='entypo-fontello' custom_font='#ffffff' color='theme-color' custom_bg='#444444' color_hover='theme-color-subtle' custom_bg_hover='#444444'][/av_button_big]But this is love. Love for God and love for the world. And this is what Jesus prayed for his followers, that they would love God and that they would love the world the way that God loves the world.
Some Questions for Reflection
In what ways does your loyalty to God’s Word set you apart from the world?’
Be sure that you know what the Bible teaches and that you understand it accurately. Many false teachers are promoting many wrong ideas, which they claim to be the truth of God, and many people are following them (2 Tim 3:13). A careful and responsible study of the Word of God will guard you from these pitfalls.Also, be sure that you are following the Word of God and not the traditions of man. Jesus spoke strongly against the practice of teaching as doctrine the commandments of men (Matt 15:9). If you are going to be different and set apart from the world, then you will suffer as it is. You don’t want people to believe that your human traditions are also God’s truth, and you don’t want to suffer for such things!Are you learning all you can of God’s truth? Are you a rigorous, careful student of Scripture?
In what ways are you spreading God’s Word to the world?
After all, this is why Jesus has left you in the world. He didn’t leave you here to get all that you can enjoy from this world. He left you here to spread his truth to those who will die in their sins. Who do you talk to about the truth of God? How do you show them the truth of God through your words and actions (Matt 18:18-20; Acts 1:8)?
In what ways are you suffering for the truth of God’s Word?
There are many reasons to suffer. You can suffer from committing crimes, breaking laws, and making wrong choices. You can suffer for being odd or different, but for personal reasons which are not related to the Word of God. Or you can suffer “for righteousness sake” (1 Pet 3:14). Of this kind of suffering you should not be afraid. In fact, you should be happy instead, knowing that other men and women, boys and girls are suffering in the same way for the same reasons throughout the world (1 Pet 5:9). And that is why Jesus prayed for you – that you would be sanctified by his Word, as you live for him and serve him in a hostile world.
