Anchored in Truth; Sent in Love

Greetings

Reading

John 17:14–19 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Intro

He observes that pastors are frequently asked: “What is your vision for your church?”

Often times, the end of a year is given over to “vision casting” for the new year.

What is our “vision” as a local church?

A “vision” can be a helpful way to see clearly who we are (our identity) and what we do (our mission). We may have a vision for what we want to look like. We may have a vision for what we want to accomplish as well.

Vision is not a bad thing. It helps us dream, and see what we want to be. But one problem often pervades visions, especially the vision of a church. And this is what we should be guarded against:A vision for a church is often secular, not sanctified.

The text before us reveals it to us, in this prayer of Jesus. In two simple statements, this is God’s vision for Christ’s followers and Christ’s Church

Transition: In this prayer, we get a window into the very heart of Jesus

Word

So what do we see today that Jesus prays for? Well, quite frankly, Jesus prays for a lot in these passages or in these verses in particular. And it's conceptually, it's a very dense passage. There's a lot of words. I mean, you could essentially do a sermon series just by doing one verse at a time and never really cover the same topic twice in John 17, and especially in this section here. There in the upper room, Jesus and the disciples had just observed the Passover, and Christ had just instituted the Lord’s Supper. Both of those observances symbolized what He was about to do.

Contexts: Jesus is about to be arrested and put to death, and he has several things on his mind-he prays for himself (vv. 1-5), he prays for his disciples (vv. 6-19), and he prays for the church (vv. 20-26). The section we’re concerned with this morning is dealing specifically with the disciples, and he’s praying for God to bless them because they are not of the world.

John 17:16-18

Explain Sanctification:

The first question we really need to ask is what does the word “sanctify” mean.  In Greek, the term sanctify is the word, aJgia/zw (hagiazw), which is related to the term a¢gioß (hagios), meaning “holy” or “set apart for sacred use.”  The Hebrew equivalent to this term is vwødDq (qadosh); God regularly sets apart his people (Leviticus 19:2, 20:26), his priests (Leviticus 21:8), and implements or items of worship (Leviticus 27:30,32) as hÎwhyÅl v®døq (qodesh layahweh)—“Holy to the Lord.”  Thus, getting back to aJgia/zw (hagiazw), sanctification is the process by which God makes us holy as He is holy.

Being in the world will pull you towards being like it, but notice what Jesus says about his people; his people are in the world but are not “of the world” just like he is not of the world. Your identity as a follower of Jesus is “other-worldly” which means the things you hold dear and the values and character traits that shape your life are rooted in heaven.

The Source of Sanctification (Truth)

Listen again to John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” In John 17:14 Jesus prays, “I have given them Your word.” And again in John 17:19 He prays, “…that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” Sanctification comes by God’s truth, “in the context of the truth, in the realm of the truth, in the paradigm of the truth, in the presence of the truth, and that is to say by means of the truth” (MacArthur).

God’s Word is Truth

“Thy Word is Truth”. The written Word is (not “contains”) unadulterated truth, because its Author cannot lie. In it there is no error. Because the Word of God is truth, it is of final and only authority. By it our thoughts are to be formed, and our conduct is to be regulated. Just because the Word of God is truth, it sanctifies those who obey it.

If then the Word of God is truth, should we not place a high value on it?

Should we not prize it more than anything else, and should we not guard it so that it will not be defiled by well meaning translators?

If we want to know truth, we will look in God’s written Word. When we look at the Bible, we see truth. The Bible does not merely contain the truth; it is the truth. Every word is truth, in every part of the Bible.

2. Tool For Sanctification

Therefore we see that verses 15 and 17 are intimately related. In verse 15 the Lord Jesus prays that the Father should keep us from evil. In verse 17 the Lord Jesus prays that the Father will set us apart in the hearing of the Word. We are kept from evil by the power of God while we are hearing and meditating on His Word.

If truth separates us from evil, then error draws us into evil. So beware of error. As poison is to the body, so error is poison to the soul. We must know the truth, so that we can discern error. But how do we get to know the truth?

Sanctification largely depends upon the acquisition of the Word or truth of God in our lives.

How are believers sanctified (John 17:17,19)? We will be sanctified in the truth. We will be set apart for God’s use in the world as we listen to the truth. And where do we find God’s truth? Is it lost? God’s word is truth.

Implication for Leaders

Leaders in this church, if you lead a Bible study table, a small group, a youth ministry group—whatever it may be—if you lead anything, declare the truth and do so with patience. Sanctify them in your truth; your word is truth.

This is what it means to be sanctified. It’s only the word of God that can rightly sanctify us. Not a political party, not some ancient philosopher, not your neighbor with all this great wisdom that contradicts the Bible. None of those change us to be useful to God like the word of God does. The word of God changes us, cleanses us, makes us useful.

(Can you see how personal devotions, sermons, Sunday school, small groups all have a common purpose?

So that’s the idea. The word of God must change us. The word of God is the only thing that can truthfully change us. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is a place to go in your time of reviewing this message. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Scripture is what changes us so that we can be equipped for every good work. It’s the word of God.

Implication for Believers

And by the way, this doesn’t happen quickly. There are no quick fixes. So if you’re a new believer out there, don’t think that I’m gonna know all I need to know about the Bible, it’s gonna change me in a week, and I’m ready to go. It’s a long process. We’re always learning things about our Lord, always getting insights, always understanding what he says more and more. And as we learn more and more, we grow more and more. That’s why sanctification is actually a process.

John 17:18

God’s word makes it clear that we are sanctified for a purpose. That purpose is so that we might be sent.

In John 17:18 Jesus prays, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

Christians throughout history have tried to avoid the world by withdrawing from it with varying degrees of success. Others have adapted right into the world’s system until they are nearly indistinguishable for it. The temptations that many of us face are to either isolate from the world or conform to the world. Neither of these is the approach Jesus is commanding us to take in this passage. We are called to serve as Christ’s ambassadors in this fallen world.

Expound: It’s interesting what Jesus prayed here that - instead of taking out from the world - he prayed that we may be protected by the truth of God in this world. God responded to sin and brokenness in this world by sending his Son.

Jesus’ mission is behind His prayer in John 17:19, “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” Verse 19: “And for their sake,” Jesus says, “And for their sake [the disciples’ sake] I consecrate myself”—that’s the same word as sanctify, by the way. Same Greek word. So, sanctify them by your truth; your word is truth. You’ve sent me into the world. For their sake I sanctify myself.

So Jesus is saying that the way he was set apart and made useful is for us. What does he mean by that? Well, he was set apart and useful to us by going and dying for our sin and taking what we deserve and receiving what he did not deserve—the wrath of God. He made himself, in that sense, useful for us. He sanctified himself for us. And so he’s saying, and for their sake I consecrate myself, so that they may be changed by truth, by the truth of the gospel.

So Jesus sets himself apart to be useful to us, namely in giving us salvation, and that salvation changes us. That’s the truth from heaven, and that changes us to go and be useful for him. In His prayer Jesus is setting Himself apart for the cross. He has dedicated Himself, consecrated Himself to obey the Father’s will in dying on the cross for the sins of the world. The result of His mission was that His disciples would be set apart in the truth of that mission.

Jesus came into this world with a clear purpose: to testify to the truth (John 18:37) and to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). The Father had sent His Son into the world with the message of salvation through faith in Him (John 3:16-18). He sends His disciples with the same mission. He sent us out. He sent his disciples out, they then sent their disciples, they sent their disciples, they sent their disciples, and wham—we’re here. Disciples sent out to bring the message of salvation to the world

Listen to Titus 2:14: Speaking of Jesus, “who gave himself for us [there’s that setting apart; he gave himself for a particular reason] to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Jesus came, set himself apart to go to the cross for us, so that we’d be changed by that reality, and we would then go and set ourselves apart for his good works. That’s the completion of this. It doesn’t end. Titus 2:14 doesn’t end by saying, Jesus set himself apart, redeemed us from all lawlessness, to purify us, for us to sit at home and enjoy it. He didn’t say that. He purified us so that we would be useful for good works. We do something now because of our salvation that he won for us.

Jesus didn’t just die to save you and I from sin and to purify us. He died so that we’d be zealous for good works—ultimately, the work of representing him to the world. This is the point of our sanctification that the world might see us — How do we as Christians stand out from this world? How do we live in the world without being consummed by it?

Implication:

If you are truly a believer, sanctified by the truth of God. Can’t help but share the message of salvation to others.

What should be our attitude as we go out and reach the world? It should reflect the attitude of God ----

Jesus’ mission was marked by love. John 3:16 encapsulates this beautifully: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God’s response to sin and brokenness wasn’t one of judgment and isolation but of engagement through love and truth.

Ephesians 5:2:

"And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

This verse reminds us to emulate Jesus' sacrificial love in all we do as we engage with the world.

APPLICATION

And let me say this to our church: Sanctification is a process. You can write that down if you want. Now, you don’t think it’s important, but I’m gonna explain why it is. You’re like, yeah, of course. Because sometimes we don’t treat others as though sanctification is a process. We expect them to be completely sanctified today, just like I am, the preacher says with sarcasm. Sanctification is a process.

Now, we want to be a local church that preaches truth and preaches sound doctrine, and so we don’t compromise on the truth, on sound doctrine. But while we don’t compromise on the truth and on sound doctrine, we are very patient—we want to be very patient—with people who might not hold to all those truths today.

Sanctification’s a process. Understanding who God is and what he teaches is a process. That’s why Paul tells Timothy, listen, you preach the word. You’re gonna have to reprove people, you’re gonna have to exhort them, you’re gonna have to rebuke them. Do so with all patience (2 Timothy 4:2). You can’t leave the last part of that sentence off. Sanctification’s a process, and it comes by understanding the word of God.

Conclusion

Love motivates the mission, truth defines it, and together, they form the foundation of a faithful, effective witness to the world. Without truth, love would be aimless and misguided; without love, truth would become cold and impersonal. Only when both love and truth are in harmony can the Church fulfill its mission of making disciples and proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth.

God is both truth and love. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the truth—He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the truth that sets us free and, at the same time, the very embodiment of God’s love. If we abide in God, we will possess both truth and love. That’s why John tells us that Jesus is the Son of the Father in truth and love, and that we are to relate to one another in truth and love.

Application

Prayer