Do Not Belong to the World

(Jn17:11-21)

God is holy.

He is holy in His nature, and

He dwells eternally in the holy place only with those who are holy.

Faith is believing that one has been made holy by Him, and

The life of this faith is escaping the corruption of the world in order to enter the Holy City (2Pe2:20).

"Holy is an attribute of God that refers to cleanliness,

While things unclean to God are sin, the devil, demons, death, Hades (Is14:12-15),

The world and everything in it (1Jn2:15-17; Rev20:13-14).

In the end, they will all be thrown into hell and be burned up in the fire (2Pe3:7-10).

Yet the world is irresistibly appealing that

Though people resent it they still love it, and

Though they lament it they still regret leaving it.

Furthermore, with the improvement of information and technology

The world is increasingly becoming a better place to live.

However, this is due to the fact that

The ancestor of mankind ate the forbidden fruit that was

"Good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom (Ge3:6), and

All men became slaves to the prince of the world, the devil (2Pe2:19).

Even after God wiped out the world with a flood and

Even confused their language (Ge6:5-7, 11:6-8),

Men continued to develop culture.

God sent Moses and led the people of Israel out of Egypt and

Into the desert for 40 years for them

To wash away the culture they lived under the pharaoh for 430 years because

Only after then they would be brought into Canaan where a holy city would be (Dt8:11-16).

God commanded them to build the sanctuary and

They gave sacrifices there and remembered that

Without the blood they could not enter the holy place (He10:19-22).

Jesus said, "Destroy this temple end I will raise it again in three days (Jn2:19), because

Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,

He would reveal His holiness for He was sent by the Father as the kingdom of heaven (Mt4:17)

To save the world and judge the prince of the world (Jn12:31, 47).

He was finally put to death by

Those in power who feared that He would become a king (Jn18:33-36) and

Those who wanted to make Him their king became disappointed.

But as He died Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Revealed the holiness of the Father;
2) Condemned the unclean prince of the world (Jn16:11; 1Jn3:8); and
3) By the word of the truth, His blood, made souls holy (Jn1:14, 17:17; Jas1:18).

He rose and entered the Holy City where

He dwells with the holy Father forever.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, who came to

Those cleansed by His blood and

Lets them discern the spirit of the world (1Co2:12) and

Warns them not to love the world.

The man of the Spirit, then, is he who

Washes with water through the word of truth (Eph5:26)

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1Jn2:15-16) so that

He can enter the Holy City when the Lord comes back (Rev21:10-27).

O Lord,

Let none of us after escaping the corruption of the world

Turn our backs on the sacred command,

Like the dog that returns to its vomit or

The sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in the mud!

Let us all leave the world without turning back! Amen.