the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
John 17:14-26
Not only are believers not taken out of the world (v. 15) but they are even intentionally sent into the world by the Lord (v. 18) to carry out the work which He has given them to do (cf. v. 4). However they are not of the world even as the Lord Jesus was not of it. Their position is like strangers called to serve their sovereign in an enemy country. But this incomparable chapter teaches us that, far from being forgotten down here, believers are carried before the throne of grace by a "great high priest" (cf. Hebrews 4:14-16). Listen to what He asks the Father to do for them: "that thou shouldest keep them from the evil", exposed to it as they are in such a world (v. 15).
"Sanctify them through thy truth": this means that those who obey the Word are set apart.
"That they all may be one": this is the desire of His heart, which should humble us when we think of the divisions which exist between Christians.
Finally: "that they also . . . be with me where I am" (v. 24). Those who are not of the world will not remain in the world. Their eternal destiny is with the Lord Jesus to see His glory. "I will . . .", says the Lord Jesus, for the presence of His own with Him in heaven is to His glory and that of His Father because they are a demonstration of the full results of His work.
