Now we see here that Jesus Christ is praying to the Father, and He's saying, "The reason
that I've come to this world, of course we know Jesus Christ came to this world to save
sinners."
The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1.15.
Jesus said, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
He said, "I have come into the world, I've been sent by the Father to preach God's word
so that you would believe on me, and so that the world would believe on me," He's saying.
But now He's saying, "Now I'm leaving you in the world."
He knew that He was going to be leaving soon.
He's going to die on the cross, He's going to be buried, He's going to rise again, He's
going to send up to be with the Father.
He's saying, "As the Father had sent me, so send I you," and He's saying, "I'm not just
praying for those that are here," but He's saying, "I'm praying for people in the future,"
in verse 19, "that will believe on me as of your word," okay?
So Jesus Christ is praying not for the whole world, but for those that would believe because
of the words of His disciples that He was speaking to.
Now what was it that caused Jesus Christ to come to this world and to die on the cross
and to be buried and rise again and to seek and save that which was lost?
The Bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
But look at verse number 19, "And for their sakes," for whose sakes?
People that He preached the Word of God to, the people that He's praying for that aren't
even saved yet, that He wants to be saved as a result of our words, as a result of His
disciples' words, as a result of those that are Christians' words, He's saying, "I'm praying
for these, not these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."
Verse 19, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through
the truth."
You see, why is it that we as Christians should sanctify ourselves?
Why is it that we should live a holy life?
That's what sanctification means, right?
Becoming holy.
And he said in verse 17, "You'll sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth."
Why is it that we read the Bible?
Why is it that we take in God's Word?
Why is it that we come to church and hear God's Word preached?
Why is it that we meditate on God's Word day and night?
Why is it that we sanctify ourselves and sanctify our lives?
Why do we throw away the TV, throw away the DVD, throw away the rock and roll, throw away
the porno mag?
Why is it that we throw away the world's trash?
Hey, I'm going to tell you why, because we love people who are unsaved and we want them
to be sanctified through the truth, we want them to be saved and go to heaven.
That's why Jesus lived the life that he lived, that's why he lived a perfect life.
None of us can live that perfect life, but he said, "I want you to be sanctified like
I sanctify myself, I want you to be holy as I am holy."
And none of us is perfect, none of us is Jesus, but it's our commandment to be like unto him
and to sanctify ourselves for the sake of those that are not yet saved.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying, "I sanctify myself for their sake.
I'm not just praying for those that are already saved, I'm praying for those that will believe
on me because of these disciples' words that will come out of their mouth when they repeat
and preach the word that I've preached to them."
Look if you would at 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
Just turn a few books to the right in your Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
You notice that Jesus said in John 17, he said, "I'm not going to take them out of
the world."
He's referring to those that are believers, he's referring to those that are his disciples.
He said, "I don't want to remove them from the world."
He said, "I do want to keep them from the evil."
Now, Jesus lived in the world, and did Jesus ever sin?
No.
He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, and yet Jesus did eat with
publicans and sinners.
Jesus was in the world.
Jesus was amongst the world, but he kept himself from the evil, and he says, "That's what I'm
asking you to do."
You see, it's not right for us to go live in some enclave somewhere, to try to build
some compound somewhere out in the desert in Arizona.
Let's all just get away from all the sin.
Man, we've got to get away from this wicked city, and we're going to build a compound.
We're going to build a barbed wire fence around it.
Brother Dave's going to have a machine gun at the front, and we're going to have no sin
allowed and only Christians, and we're going to live in this little Christian utopia.
That's not right.
That's not what God wants.
Hey, I'm against Christian school.
I don't care what you say.
Christian school is the opposite of John 17.
It's the exact opposite.
Let me tell you why.
Hey, I've been to Christian school.
I grew up in Christian school.
I'll tell you what.
John 17 takes you out of the world and it puts you with the evil.
Jesus said He wants you to be in the world but to keep you from the evil.
Christian school puts you out of the world, gets you all separated from the world, and
you're right there with the evil.
Let me tell you some of the most evil kids in the world are the ones that are in Christian
school.
The only people who don't understand that are people who have never been to Christian
school.
I've been to several different Christian schools growing up.
I was in independent fundamental Baptist schools.
I was in Christian schools that were non-denominational.
I've been in all different Christian schools, independent fundamental Baptist church schools.
There was homosexuality, pornography, drugs, smut, it was wicked, and everybody thinks
that, "Oh, drop your little kid off, and they're going to be fine, and nothing bad's going
to happen, and it'll be in a little safe environment."
Wrong.
There's no safe environment this side of heaven, my friend, and that's why you shouldn't even
trust anybody.
You shouldn't even trust the people that are sitting in this church.
I don't trust people in this church with my kids.
I don't trust people in any church with my kids.
I don't let my kids out of my sight, my little kids I'm talking about.
Now, obviously, when they get older, they get freedom, but I'm going to tell you something.
My small kids, I don't trust you because you come to this church.
I don't trust anybody.
I trust in the Lord, and I don't put confidence in man, and I'm going to tell you something.
All across America, this isn't popular preaching.
People are dropping their little five-year-old, and six-year-old, and seven-year-old off at
these Christian schools, and they think they're taking them out of the world, but they're
putting them in a cesspool of filth.
It's wicked.
The kids in those Christian schools are a bunch of reprobates, and it only takes one
of them to spoil the whole bunch.
You put 20 kids together, the one wicked kid, those seven-year-olds aren't going to stand
up to them.
That wicked kid will run the whole class and teach them all the same filth.
I watched it happen.
I watched all my friends smoke pot in Christian school.
I watched all my friends watch porno because of peer pressure, that's why, because they're
too young to stand up for themselves.
And so God said, "Look, it's not that we're trying to take ourselves out of the world,
but we ought to be keeping our children and ourselves from the evil of this world.
We ought to sanctify ourselves and separate ourselves from the sin of this world."
For example, allow my children to watch TV and watch all the ... You think I'm going
to sit my kids in front of some TV show, a bunch of queers and a bunch of weirdos that
are the actors today, and you know, Keanu Reeves is a sodomite. Leonardo DiCaprio is
a sodomite. I hate to break it to you, but all these guys on Hollywood are a bunch of
queers and perverts and whoremongers at the very best. That's the best case scenario.
They're a whoremonger. I'm not going to put my kids in front of that and let them watch
that, but you say, "Well, wait a minute. Your kids are sheltered." My kids aren't sheltered
because you know what? I expose my kids to the sin of this world when I take them out
soul winning. We go out among the publicans and sinners, my friend. We're not trying to
take ourselves out of this world. Hey, I live right smack dab in the middle of this city.
I live right in the center of Phoenix, Arizona, right in the city. Hey, I'm not trying to
seclude myself from this world, but I am going to keep myself and my children from the evil.
We go out soul winning. We knock doors. We see drugs. We see, come on, South Phoenix,
you see the drugs? You see alcohol? You see cigarettes? But let me tell you something.
You see it in its real, true environment and it makes a whole lot of a different impression
than the lying television will put you what sin is. You know, you watch alcohol on television.
It's some beautiful, handsome young people, right? Athletic, drinking, having a good time.
You go see the alcohol with me out on soul wedding today, you'll smell the stench of
a dirty house. You'll watch people that hate each other. You'll look at kids that don't
know who their dad is and who their, the bastard children of fornication. Hey, you'll see what
sin really does when you live in the world, when you live in Phoenix, Arizona. When you
live in the city, you'll see what sin really is. But instead, we want to take our families
and separate them from the world, right? Get out in some place somewhere where we're away
from everything and then they watch it on a DVD and watch it on a television. You know,
it's the opposite of what needs to happen here.