Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 4,430
“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:13-19 NASB1995)
The whole of John 17 is Jesus praying to God the Father. Jesus knew that the time had come near for his departure. So he was praying to the Father for his followers who he knew he was going to have to leave behind. And the quoted section posted above is just one small section of the entire prayer.
Jesus had 12 disciples who followed him in ministry during his approximately three and a half years of ministry. They were all male. But he also had women who were his followers, some of whom worked alongside the 12 disciples in ministry via working to make money to help support the disciples in their work of the ministry, as best as I understand it. So he had other followers besides just the 12, but not all of them traveled with him and ministered alongside him. But Judas ended up betraying Jesus to the death.
So, when Jesus spoke these words to the Father, I don’t believe he was referring only to the faithful 11, but to all who followed him in truth and in righteousness, for he was leaving all his followers behind, and they would no longer have him with them teaching and guiding and protecting them from the evil one, face to face. For he gave the Word of God to all of his followers, both male and female, and all who followed him were no longer of this sinful world because their lives were now dedicated to the Lord and to his service.
Now Jesus’ followers have increased greatly over time. But let me stop here and say that not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is a follower of Christ. For to believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives requires that we follow our Lord in surrender to his will and in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, and that sin is no longer our practice. This is not saying we will be absolutely perfect or that we will never sin again, but sin should no longer be our master, and we should obey our Lord’s commands.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
But when our lives are fully surrendered to the Lord, to obeying him and his commands, and in living holy lives, pleasing to him, we will be hated, cast aside as unnecessary and as unwanted, forsaken, forgotten, treated like trash to be discarded, ridiculed, mocked, ignored, spoken evil of, rejected, and thought badly of because we take God and his word seriously to follow what he says to do and to say and to be, for his purposes, and for his glory. Especially true if we are out in the public and we are verbal about our faith.
And who were Jesus’ greatest persecutors? They were his own people, of his own country, of his own town, and even members of his own family. And they were the rulers and Bible scholars and people of influence within the temple of God. They were those who professed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but many of them did not realize that he was God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. So, when they hated and persecuted Jesus Christ, they were hating and persecuting God, their creator.
And so we should not be surprised if some of our greatest persecution comes from within the gatherings of “the church” and not from the people of the world who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. For so much of what is called “church” today are institutions of human origin which are businesses created in the minds of humans who are marketing the “church” to the people of the world. And so many of them have, thus, altered the gospel message to make it more attractive and acceptable to human flesh.
So if we who are followers of Christ are speaking the biblical truth of the gospel, in opposition to the lies which are so popularized today in the gatherings of what so many are called “church,” we are going to be opposed and hated and rejected and cast aside as unnecessary and as unwanted, just as what was done to Jesus, because we are following in our Lord’s footsteps. For he was hated for speaking the truth of God’s Word, and so we will also be rejected for speaking the truth of the gospel, as he did and was hated.
Now we are not to be of the world and participators in the things of this world which are sinful and against God. But Jesus has placed us in this world, and we are to go out into the world with the message of the gospel. So we need the strength and the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God to see us through every situation and to help us to continue in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, despite all persecutions and difficulties we will face in this life as followers of Christ.
[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 12:3-12; 1 John 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]
Not of The World
An Original Work / November 18, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The whole of John 17 is Jesus praying to God the Father. Jesus knew that the time had come near for his departure. So he was praying to the Father for his followers who he knew he was going to have to leave behind. And the quoted section posted above is just one small section of the entire prayer.
Jesus had 12 disciples who followed him in ministry during his approximately three and a half years of ministry. They were all male. But he also had women who were his followers, some of whom worked alongside the 12 disciples in ministry via working to make money to help support the disciples in their work of the ministry, as best as I understand it. So he had other followers besides just the 12, but not all of them traveled with him and ministered alongside him. But Judas ended up betraying Jesus to the death.
So, when Jesus spoke these words to the Father, I don’t believe he was referring only to the faithful 11, but to all who followed him in truth and in righteousness, for he was leaving all his followers behind, and they would no longer have him with them teaching and guiding and protecting them from the evil one, face to face. For he gave the Word of God to all of his followers, both male and female, and all who followed him were no longer of this sinful world because their lives were now dedicated to the Lord and to his service.
Now Jesus’ followers have increased greatly over time. But let me stop here and say that not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is a follower of Christ. For to believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives requires that we follow our Lord in surrender to his will and in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, and that sin is no longer our practice. This is not saying we will be absolutely perfect or that we will never sin again, but sin should no longer be our master, and we should obey our Lord’s commands.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
But when our lives are fully surrendered to the Lord, to obeying him and his commands, and in living holy lives, pleasing to him, we will be hated, cast aside as unnecessary and as unwanted, forsaken, forgotten, treated like trash to be discarded, ridiculed, mocked, ignored, spoken evil of, rejected, and thought badly of because we take God and his word seriously to follow what he says to do and to say and to be, for his purposes, and for his glory. Especially true if we are out in the public and we are verbal about our faith.
And who were Jesus’ greatest persecutors? They were his own people, of his own country, of his own town, and even members of his own family. And they were the rulers and Bible scholars and people of influence within the temple of God. They were those who professed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but many of them did not realize that he was God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. So, when they hated and persecuted Jesus Christ, they were hating and persecuting God, their creator.
And so we should not be surprised if some of our greatest persecution comes from within the gatherings of “the church” and not from the people of the world who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. For so much of what is called “church” today are institutions of human origin which are businesses created in the minds of humans who are marketing the “church” to the people of the world. And so many of them have, thus, altered the gospel message to make it more attractive and acceptable to human flesh.
So if we who are followers of Christ are speaking the biblical truth of the gospel, in opposition to the lies which are so popularized today in the gatherings of what so many are called “church,” we are going to be opposed and hated and rejected and cast aside as unnecessary and as unwanted, just as what was done to Jesus, because we are following in our Lord’s footsteps. For he was hated for speaking the truth of God’s Word, and so we will also be rejected for speaking the truth of the gospel, as he did and was hated.
Now we are not to be of the world and participators in the things of this world which are sinful and against God. But Jesus has placed us in this world, and we are to go out into the world with the message of the gospel. So we need the strength and the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God to see us through every situation and to help us to continue in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, despite all persecutions and difficulties we will face in this life as followers of Christ.
[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 12:3-12; 1 John 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]
Not of The World
An Original Work / November 18, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
