T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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formed and we become vessels pre pared unto glory. Jesus closes His prayer w ith th e sol emn contrast,— “The world h ath not known thee * * * bu t these have known.” “ I know thee, and these know Thee by knowing Me. I have made known Thy name to them in the p ast; I will make it known to them in the fu tu re .” E tern al love will be more and more revealed,—wave afte r wave —w ith increasing fulness. W hat a wondrous destiny is ours,— to be w ith Him, forever; like Him, forever; filled w ith the love of God, forever! Topics fo r Study (1) The mission of th e church. (2) The eternal sta te of believers. (3) The righteousness of God. (4) The im partation of Divine love. (5) The intercession of J e s u s (P ray e r). Ü Ü SUGGESTIVE COMMENT Dr. W. P . W hite Bible Teacher Los Angeles, Calif. Our High P riest is still praying for us and th is is th e burden of His prayer. He desires the same things fo r us th a t He desired for th e believers who were w ith Him then. (v. 20.) (v. 13) “T h at they m igh t have My joy.” “The joy of th e Lord is your stren g th .” The key-word of th a t splendid little epistle on Christian ex perience is “Rejoice.” David said: “ Restore unto me the JOY of Thy sal vation.”. He had not lost his salvation bu t he had lo st th e joy and therefore had lost his testimony, for “ then shall I teach transgressors thy ways, etc.” When Christians lose th e ir joy they lose th e ir testimony. They lose th eir joy because of sin unconfessed. They lose th e ir joy because they lose th e ir fellowship. It is th e will of God th a t we rejoice always in th e Lord. (vs. 14, 15) “Keep th em from th e evil.” We do not belong to th is world. We belong to the Church— the called j
out ones. The world hates us because we have been given th e Word (v. 14). When we give up the Word we may be popular w ith th e world. These are not the days of th e exaltation of th e Church. These are th e days of th e Church’s hum iliation. We are not here to be popular, we are h ere to testify against the world. The world is not ap t to love th e one who testifies against it. B u t He loves us and it is His will th a t we may be kept from evil as we boldly represent Him during His absence. We are united (v. 16). (vs. 17-19) “Sanctify th em th rough thy tru th .” How can th is prayer be answered as long as Christians tre a t the Bible only as “ an article of fu rn i tu re ” ? It is th e will of God th a t we be cleansed and set ap a rt as His rep resentatives “ in th e m idst of a crooked and perverse generation, holding fo rth th e Word of life.” Not th e bound volume, b u t “ as living epistles known and read of all men.” In some Chris tians the p rin t is too small to be read and th e reason is they have not “ hid the Word in th e ir h earts." We should so feed on th e Word th a t we become a living message to th e world. (vs. 21-23) “T h at they all may be one.” This is not a prayer for de nom inational union b u t for Christian unity. There is much damnable con fusion w ithin th e denom ination some times. God would have H is children live in the world as brothers and sis ters should live. Anything th a t creates confusion and division among th e chil dren of God is of th e devil. (vs. 24-26) “I will th a t they be w ith me where I am .” Read John 14:1-3. If it is His will He will see th a t it is accomplished. Phil. 1:6. The best is yet to be! “All th a t He has shall be mine,
All th a t He is I shall be, Robed in His glory divine, I shall be even as He.”
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