John 17:18As thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world.Thought:Some believers respond to the world with fear by pulling away from people and hiding from culture. Like Jonah fleeing from Nineveh, they want distance from those they see as wicked. While the desire to remain pure is good, isolation forgets God’s purpose. The Gospel was never meant to be protected be...

John 17:15-16I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.Thought:Jesus did not ask the Father to remove His disciples from the world. Instead, He prayed that they would be protected from evil while remaining in it. This reveals that our calling is not to escape the world but to li...

John 17:20–23Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may b...

John 17:18–19As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.Thought:Jesus said, “for their sakes I sanctify myself.” This does not mean that Jesus needed to be cleansed from sin, because He was holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. But, it means He willingly set Him...

John 17:16–18They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.Thought:Jesus prayed that His people would be sanctified through the truth of God’s Word. Sanctification is not simply self improvement, better habits, or moral discipline. It is the holy work of...