1496. The Difference Between His Own and the World

The Difference Between His Own and the World

"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" (Joh_17:9).

There are two sets of sevens, which show how Christ differentiates between His own and the world. We will place them in order:

1. The First Set

1. "They are not of the world" (Joh_17:16).

2. "They are Thine" (Joh_17:9).

3. "They have kept Thy Word" (Joh_17:6).

4. "They have known" (Joh_17:7).

5. "They have received them" (Thy words) (Joh_17:8).

6. They "have known surely that I came out from Thee" (Joh_17:8).

7. "They have believed that Thou didst send Me" (Joh_17:8).

Carefully weigh these words. Nothing said above could be said of the world. The words on the one hand give a wonderful description of the saved, and on the other hand they manifest how great is the chasm that separates the saved from the unsaved.

2. The Second Set

1. "Thou gavest them unto Me" (Joh_17:6).

2. "I pray for them" (Joh_17:9).

3. "I am glorified in them" (Joh_17:10).

4. "I kept them in Thy name" (Joh_17:12).

5. "Keep them from the evil one" (Joh_17:15).

6. "Sanctify them by Thy Truth" (Joh_17:17).

7. "Thou hast loved them" (Joh_17:23).

Let the student run his eye down this list and he will see that not one thing said, could be said of the wicked. There is a distinction that is vital and widely divergent between those who are His own, His Blood-washed ones, and those who are of the world.

There is a difference now, there is a difference in the ages to come.

How vain is the world's boast of a common brotherhood of man, and the common fatherhood of God! The world may seek to enter into His favor and to recline in the arms of His love, but Christ will not have it so.

He who hath not the Son hath not the Father; and no one cometh unto the Father but by the Son.

In this age of apostate teaching we need to stress once more the difference between the clean and the unclean; the regenerate and the unregenerate; the saved and the lost.

When Christ comes to the air the difference will be established plainly enough, for "one will be taken and the other will be left."

When Christ comes to the earth, the difference will be manifested with sufficient precision, for "before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Mat_25:32).

When the Great White Throne finally comes to view there will be difference made plain, for the ones whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life will not be judged. The separation will be forever, and it will be a separation of vast distinctions.

What we must do is to press home the distinctions between the saved and the unsaved as Christ saw them and proclaimed them in His prayer.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR