Light in the World (John 17:10-26)

We're going to jump into John 17 now.

Now, this was a really hard chapter to break into sections as most of John has been.

But last night, or not last night, last week, we ended with verse 9, but we're going to be starting with verse 9 as well here today, just to kind of help give us a running start into the verses that are to come.

Because this is really a part two of last week's message.

So if you're able, would you please stand for the reading of God's Word?

Starting in verse 9.

I pray for them, Jesus is talking about his disciples.

I pray for them.

I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours.

Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me.

I guarded them, and not one of them is lost, except the Son of Destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world, so that they may have my joy completed in them.

I have given them your word.

The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I'm not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them by your truth.

Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you.

May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

I am in them, and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me, because you loved me before the world's foundation.

Righteous, Father, the world has not known you.

However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me.

I made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this beautiful prayer.

We thank you, God, for the heart that you have for us, the heart that Jesus is displaying in this passage for his disciples, past and present and future.

Lord, I pray that you would open our ears and our hearts and our minds and our eyes.

Every part of us, Lord, would be open to what you have for us here today, individually and collectively as a church.

Would you have your perfect will and way?

Lord, help us to not leave here without being changed by your word, without being washed by your word here this morning.

Speak to us through your Holy Spirit, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So, admittedly, as you probably noticed, this is a lot of verses that were coming here this morning, a lot more than we normally do.

But as you probably also noticed, there's a lot of repetition in this section of Scripture since chapter 13.

And Jesus is now here in chapter 17 not talking to his disciples like he had been, he's talking to the Father.

He's praying specifically for his disciples.

And what he's praying for really is a summary of a lot of the things he already told his disciples in the last three chapters.

So we're gonna be taking on this larger chunk here this morning.

And if you're wondering why we're not digging in quite as far as we normally do, it's because we've already spoken at length on a lot of the things that we're gonna be kind of recapping.

And what Jesus is really doing here is kind of reinforcing to his disciples everything he just said in prayer to the Father.

So, particularly today, we'll see Jesus reinforcing the oneness he has with the Father, the oneness that he desires with us, and then the oneness that he desires his body of believers to have with each other.

And he's also going to be talking about and reinforcing how he desires us to be living as his disciples.

So while we're on this earth, how he wants us to be living as his disciples.

So let's jump in.

Again, we'll start with verse 9 to get a running start.

It says, I pray for them.

I'm not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours.

Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them.

If Jesus was not God, he couldn't say what he just said right here.

Because God can say to anybody he wants, everything you have is mine.

But only if Jesus is God can he then say to God the Father, everything you have is mine.

That's not something that we can claim, is it?

But Jesus does it right here.

Now look at the end of verse 10.

Jesus says something that's mind-blowing here.

He says, I am glorified in them.

He's glorified in his disciples.

You know, last week Ben defined glorified in this context as to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged.

And here in verse 10, Jesus says, I am glorified in my disciples.

And we're going to stop here because this is really crazy to think about.

We don't want to just, oh yeah, Jesus glorified us and move on.

We play a role in Jesus being glorified.

We play a role in manifesting and acknowledging the glory of Jesus.

You know, in Matthew 5, 14 through 16, Jesus tells his disciples this.

He says, You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand.

And it gives light to all who are in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Jesus said already in chapter 8 of John, I am the light of the world.

And you know, if we're going to be like Jesus, it makes sense that we are to be a light in the world as well, especially in his physical absence.

As his disciples, we're the light that he chooses to be an example to the world, like he just said, a city on a hill.

You know, my grandmother lived in Cayucas with her grandmother during World War II.

So long time ago.

And she used to tell us stories of how they used blackout shades during World War II.

A shade that hid all the light from inside the house.

So if an enemy submarine happened to surface in the Pacific, that they couldn't see that there was a city there.

I don't know if you can call Cayukas a city.

A town, maybe?

I mean, it's pretty small, I don't know.

Jesus is calling us to be the opposite of blackout shades.

He calls us to take the shades off of the wall and place the lamps in the window.

You know, to be a city on a hill, to let our light shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.

You know, and this blows my mind.

We play a part in glorifying Jesus in the world while we're still here in the world.

Which he's getting to here in verse 11.

Look at verse 11 with me.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

And I am coming to you.

Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Your translation right here might say, by the power of your name that you have given me.

You know, Proverbs 18, 10 says, the name of the Lord, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The righteous run to it and are protected.

You see, the name of God is everything about him.

We just sang that in that last song.

All of his authority and glory and everything about his character is in his name.

The name above all names.

Which Jesus says that God gave him.

You know, we're just talking about everything God has belongs to Jesus.

So Jesus is asking for his disciples to be protected by the powerful name of God.

You know, this word that we see here for protect, it goes hand in hand with what shepherds do.

It means here, protect means to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard.

Sheep don't have any sort of defense mechanism.

They don't have any sort of defense against a predator.

They're completely dependent upon a shepherd to be kept and to be protected.

And this is what Jesus prays the Father will do in his physical absence.

Why would Jesus pray this?

Well, we know that the enemy of our souls comes to kill, steal, and destroy, right?

1 Peter 5 says that our adversary, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for anyone he can devour.

So, a question for everybody.

Do you know who the safest sheep are in a flock?

That the shepherd can most readily defend.

It's the ones that stay closest to the shepherd, isn't it?

Do you know which ones are the most susceptible?

It's the ones that tend to wander off into the world or stay on the fringes of the flock.

It's the ones that have the attitude of, you know, I'm here and I'm a part of this flock, but I don't really want to get too close to the shepherd.

Otherwise, the neighbors' sheep might think I'm weird if I get too close, you know, or weak, or maybe like I'm using this shepherd as a crutch in my life.

You know, I like the shepherd, but I don't really like him telling me what to do.

You know, so I'm just gonna stay on the outskirts of this flock where the predators are roaming.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The righteous run to it.

There's nearness, there's closeness going on, and are protected.

You can't take shelter in God from a distance.

It doesn't work that way.

If it's raining out in the parking lot, you know, you can take shelter in here, but you can't take shelter out in the parking lot, can you?

There's a nearness that needs to take place.

And we need that protection.

And we need it in order to be one as a body of believers as well.

To have unity in the body.

It says it right here.

Look at the end of verse 11.

So that they may be one as we are one.

Do you guys remember in chapter 13 when Jesus said, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

We need God's protection for this to happen, which means we need to stay near to Him in order for there to be.

There needs to be unity with Him first, and then unity with us will be a result of that, under His protection.

You know, part of us being a light to the world and bringing glory to Jesus is loving each other.

That will be one more lamp, I think, in the window of the house, so to speak, to use our analogy.

One more way for us to bring glory to Jesus.

Jesus goes on in verse 12.

Look at that with me.

While I was with them, I was protect I was protecting them by your name that you have given me.

I guarded them, and no, not one of them is lost, except the Son of Destruction, so that the scripture may be fulfilled.

Now, to this point, the disciples had not really known persecution without Jesus actually being there with them or at least helping them process it after they'd suffered it.

You know, plus Jesus took the brunt of the persecution as we look through the gospels, that the outside that the world was giving them, that was more focused on Jesus than his disciples.

But now they'll need to face those things that he had protected them from without his physical presence, without him being there with them.

They would now need to do it through the power of the Holy Spirit in them, helping them, but all of this is going to be new to them.

It's going to be a new experience, and they need the protection of God through it.

It's important, I think, to point out at the end of verse 12 that Jesus didn't lose Judas.

Like, you know, oh, where'd he go?

I tried to protect him, but I couldn't.

I lost him.

Anyone know where Judas is?

It's not like that.

It's not like Jesus physically lost him.

Judas being lost to this world was not because Jesus couldn't save him.

It was because Judas chose for himself not to follow Jesus.

Judas chose to walk away after being with Jesus for three years.

And he didn't like where things were heading.

And he decided he'd rather make a profit off of Jesus than follow him.

And Judas walked away, fulfilling a few prophecies that we see in the Psalms.

Jesus continues to pray for, or to pray to the Father.

Verse 13.

Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world, so that they may have my joy completed in them.

You know, he's spoken everything since chapter 13 to help them not lose their joy, to help them not lose their peace, to help them not lose their faith in the coming days and the coming years for the rest of their life.

And now he's praying for them in that regard.

You know, as I've been going through these chapters and teaching through these chapters, I just see how much Jesus cares about our joy.

He cares so deeply about each and every one of us having his joy.

It's because he cares about us.

He desires healthy, well-fed, well-kept, joyful sheep in his flock.

And Jesus was a joyful person.

That's why he can say that they may have my joy 10% in them.

50% mostly, no.

He says, my joy completed in them.

He wants us to have all of his joy.

You know, if you want to be a light for Jesus that stands out and glorifies Jesus, have joy in every circumstance.

And believe me, I know it's easier said than done.

That is a very tall order for each and every one of us.

But he desires for us to have joy in every circumstance.

You know, when the world is losing their mind around us, over whatever it might be, and they see us having peace and having the joy of Jesus, they're going to see Jesus, the light of the world in us, through his joy that we take on from him.

One more way, I think, that we are a light in this world.

We glorify Jesus through having his joy.

And it's not by mistake that Jesus says this right before verse 14.

So look at verse 14.

I have given them your word.

The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

And we're still to have joy in that, aren't we?

Verse 15.

I am not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

We are to be in the world, but not of the world, right?

And to be joyful in the midst of being in the world, while the world hates us for being like Jesus.

We just read about 70 martyrs.

Our Brian just told us about 70 martyrs, right?

The world is going to hate us.

I don't think we really know much about persecution here where we are in a Tascadero compared to what other Christians are going through in the world.

But don't overlook the end of verse 16, which I think we often do.

We are not of the world as Jesus is not of the world.

Jesus was not created by the world.

He was not a product of the world.

His kingdom was not in this world.

And that's how I think that we're to not be of the world as well.

We are created by God.

We are born again into his family as sons and daughters.

And the kingdom that we live in is not the kingdom of this world or a kingdom that we can build and make for ourselves.

We are not of this world as Jesus was not of this world.

And I want to give a little illustration here, especially with having the kids in here with us this morning.

So, you thought this was in case my throat got dry.

But this is an example of the world.

Hopefully everybody can see it.

Filled with water.

Here's the world.

This is who we were before Jesus.

This vessel that's filled with the world.

Hopefully this works.

Okay, only a little splash.

That wasn't bad.

This is a picture of us being in the world and of the world.

This is who we were before Jesus.

This is who we are after Jesus.

A beacon of light shining into the world.

No longer filled with the world.

We're filled with something else now, aren't we?

We're filled with Jesus.

He's in us, filled with the Holy Spirit.

He's in us.

And this is a picture of us being in the world, but not of the world.

It still splashes on us, doesn't it?

But we're not of it.

We're filled with something completely different than the world.

That's in the world, of the world.

This is in the world, but not of the world.

And this is how we are to dwell and to be a beacon of light for Jesus Christ while we're still in this world, before he comes and gets us, or before we die and go to him first.

Jesus didn't pray for us to be plucked from the world, to be plucked from our circumstances.

He prays that we will be protected, that we will be kept by God in our current circumstance, and have his joy actually be completed in us along the way as we're in the world.

To exist in this world, but to be nothing like it.

It looks nothing like each other, does it?

That's how Jesus wants us to be.

And this may lead to the question I've had this question for myself before.

Why doesn't Jesus just pluck us from this world that hates us when we come to faith in him?

Wouldn't that just be easier for everybody?

You know, I can think of a lot of reasons.

A few we've actually already covered here this morning, like being the light of the world.

But I think it helps to recognize this time where we are still in this world and followers of Jesus.

I think it helps us to recognize that we're in our betrothal period with Jesus.

You know, in biblical times there was a period of betrothal for the bride and the groom where they were separated before the wedding for a time.

And during that time, it was the bride's responsibility in this time to be faithful to her groom and to be ready for her groom to arrive at any time.

She just had to be ready.

We are the bride of Christ.

We're betrothed to him.

And then this right now, this is our time in this world to be faithful to him and to be found abiding in him when he arrives for his bride, the church, which could be at any moment.

You know, Titus chapter 2, starting in verse 11, it says, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lust, and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

While we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We're in a time of preparation right now, in this present age, as we wait for our groom to come and to get us.

And that waiting time is when we are in the world, but not of it.

Which leads to Jesus praying about how we remain a pure bride.

Look at verse 17.

Sanctify them by truth.

Your word is truth.

So maybe you remember in John 15, the abiding chapter, Jesus told his disciples that they were already clean by the words he had spoken to them.

You remember that?

And we talked about how God's word is his favorite pair of pruning shears that he uses to clean up the branches, to take out the death and the disease and the non-fruit-producing branches, and how he loves to shape us through his word and keep us clean from the world, rubbing up against us.

That ball has water on it, doesn't it?

Verse 17 is reiterating that.

You know, and this word sanctify here, it's a tricky word.

It means to be made holy, to be set apart particularly for God's use.

And I say it's tricky because in Scripture it speaks of two types of sanctification in the New Testament.

There is positional sanctification, and there's progressive sanctification.

Positional is what happens when we come to faith in Christ.

1 Corinthians talks about Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us, our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

So this is salvation, sanctification.

Our position that we hold now in Christ after coming to faith in Him.

But the New Testament speaks of a progressive sanctification as well that takes place after coming to Christ.

It speaks of us becoming more like Jesus as we are obedient to God's word in this world.

It has nothing to do with earning salvation.

Please hear me in what Alam said.

It doesn't have anything to do with us earning salvation.

It has everything to do with us becoming more like Jesus while we are still in this world.

That's what we're called to in this betrothal time.

That progressive sanctification.

So Jesus prays for us that we would be sanctified by God's truth, his word here on earth.

This right here is why we place such a high value on teaching God's word here on Sunday mornings.

And this is why we encourage each and every one of you to stay in God's word daily on your own.

Because we actually cover very little scripture here on Sunday mornings.

I did the math.

We cover, if we average about 15 verses a Sunday, we cover 0.04% of the Bible when we come here on Sunday mornings.

That's not that much.

But our number one church value that we have is that God's word is the compass that directs everything that we do.

But that has to be the top value in your life as well.

It can't just be here on Sunday mornings.

It needs to be the top value in your life as well.

We are sanctified by God's truth, by his word.

Not just by knowing it, but by applying it to our lives.

You know, we talked about already, I told you, a lot of this is a summary of what we've already talked about, but one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth.

Remember covering that together?

And he does that through God's word.

But he can't remind us of scripture that we're not familiar with.

That's the key to reminding.

You have to know it first before you can be reminded of it, right?

It's when scripture is hidden in our hearts that the Holy Spirit can say, Remember that verse that you read this morning?

Remember that verse last week, last month?

Remember that verse that you memorized when you were eight years old?

That's when he's going to be able to bring those things up so you know how to apply scripture to your life daily, hour by hour, whenever you need it.

So Jesus prays, Sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is truth.

That doesn't even mention how Jesus is the word of God, too.

You know, that's all tied together.

That all sanctification starts with Jesus.

Verse 18.

As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Now I think we might be able to say that Jesus was the first missionary, the first sent one for the sake of the church.

And here he calls all of his disciples, not just the eleven he's talking to, all of his disciples, us included, to be sent ones into the world.

Yet another reason Jesus doesn't pluck us out of the world when we come to him.

We are here to tell the world about Jesus as well.

You know, even if, you know, we think sent ones, we think missionaries usually, right?

But even if he's sending you to work tomorrow, if he's sending you to school tomorrow, if he's sending you to talk to your neighbor tomorrow, whatever it might be, he's sending us into the world to tell the world about him.

Look at verse 19.

I sanctify myself for them, so that they may also, I mean, so I'm sorry, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

So this can be a little confusing at first glance, but don't look at this as Jesus not being sanctified and then becoming sanctified, then becoming pure, but more so as being set apart for God's service.

To be sacrificed for the sins of the world, set apart for that task, so that his disciples can then be sanctified for salvation, can then be sanctified for cleansing, and then be sanctified so that we can become more like him, as we've been talking about.

Look at verse 20.

I pray not only for those, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

That's us.

Here, we're a result of that.

May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you.

You know, this section that we're in right now can be a little hard to keep track of of whose oneness is Jesus talking about, because he's kind of talking, you know.

So look at it like this.

You know, again, a recap of the last four chapters.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are perfectly one.

Jesus desires for his disciples to love and serve one another in oneness, in unity.

He wants his body to be one and to function as one.

And Jesus desires oneness with us, like he shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

So just one big oneness.

We don't even necessarily have to keep track.

He just wants it all to be one.

So look at verse 21 again.

May they, us his disciples, all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you.

May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

Being a light to this world means being one with Jesus and united with each other.

Unity, not sameness, calls us to unity.

We can be different.

We don't have to all be the same, but we need to be united in our differences.

You know, you can't have a body that's all fingers, can you?

Our body needs to have some variety, but the different parts of the body need to function together in unity in order to be effective.

And that's what Jesus is calling us to.

He goes on in verse 22.

I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

God's glory is in us.

And it is in us in the form of Jesus himself and the Holy Spirit in us as well.

Which really is what 23 is about.

Look at that.

I am in them, and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

You know, I think a bunch of random people getting along and selflessly loving and serving each other and functioning as a body in unity is so not normal, is so out of place in this world that we're gonna stick out like a sore thumb when we are actually doing that.

And that can really only happen supernaturally.

It is not something that we can do on our own.

That's when we will be a light that cannot be ignored, is when we are one with God and working in unity with each other.

Verse 24.

Father, I want, and this is a determined, strong desire.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me, because you loved me before the world's foundation.

He's expressing this strong desire for us to be with them in eternity.

Where is he going?

I mean, with him, I'm sorry, where he's going.

Witnessing his full glory that was veiled while he was on earth most of the time.

But he had to veil it.

You know, Jesus can't wait to show us his full glory.

And I can't even begin to comprehend what that's gonna be like.

You try to imagine it, and it's like, no, I'm pretty sure that's wrong.

As we try to imagine heaven and the glory.

You know, Moses asked God in Exodus 33, please let me see your glory.

And God said to him, He said, Humans cannot see me and live.

Think about that.

We can't imagine it.

We'd die if we imagined it correctly, I think.

We can't handle his glory on earth.

So Jesus came veiling his glory.

But when we shed these earthly bodies finally, and we're with him, he can't wait to show us his glory in heaven and throughout all of eternity.

He wants us.

He wants us to be with him where he is forever.

You know, it's kind of like the song we just sang.

You didn't want heaven without us, so Jesus, you brought heaven down to make a way for us to be with him forever.

That's how much he desires us.

Now, let's look at how Jesus ends this prayer.

Verse 25.

Righteous Father, the world has not known you.

However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me.

I made your name known to them, that's past tense, and will continue to make it known, future tense, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.

This prayer is incredible.

Jesus made the Father's name known himself while he was here on this earth, but now will do it through his disciples.

So that the love you have loved me with may be in them, he says, and I may be in them.

Not only with us, he is with us, we're kept, we're protected, but he is in us.

We have the indwelling of the Spirit of God in us if we have faith in Jesus Christ.

And we are simply the vessels in which he wants to use to show the love of God to the world, to be that city on a hill, that beacon of light.

We're called to be the light of Jesus to this world.

You know, Jesus said in John 8.12, I am the light of the world.

Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.

We'll have it in them.

And if it's in us, we need to tear down the shades and place that light where people can see it.

To be that city on a hill that people can see from a distance and know that they're looking at Jesus when they see us.

You know, we want people to look at us and be like, oh, that's one of those Jesus people that love God and they love each other, and for some reason they keep loving me.

That's what we want the world to see.

So that's really our encouragement today.

Let's be a people that are living in the grace of God and the salvation that we have in Jesus.

Let's be found as faithful and ready for his return.

Ready for his bride.

Let's be vessels in which his glory can flow through and be seen.

And if you notice, none of this is workspace.

We're not talking about a works-based salvation here.

We're talking about an abiding-based relationship with Jesus.

You know, it's being one with him, it's being sanctified by God's word.

So this is the encouragement.

Stay near, stay under the shelter of his wings and simply let him live through us.

We're just vessels in which he can fill and live through.

You know, I said this a few weeks ago.

I think if we're to sum up, because we're coming to a close here of this section of John, verses or uh chapters 13 through 17.

And I think if if we were to sum it all up, I think it's live surrendered to God's will, abide in Jesus Christ, and walk by the Spirit.

I think if we do that, I think Jesus' prayer is answered here that he just prayed.

You know, I think chapters 13 through 17 is covered if we're able to do those things, to live surrendered to God's will, to abide in Jesus Christ, and to walk by the Spirit.

None of it is works-based.

None of it means we're earning salvation.

It's relationship-based, it's oneness-based with Him.

And then He takes care of the rest.

Will you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for this section of Scripture.

We thank you for the instruction that you gave to your disciples, not only those 11, but us here today as well.

We thank you for this prayer that you have for your disciples, just seeing what your desires are for us is incredible.

So, Lord, I pray that you would help us to not go out and do do do, Lord, but to take this to heart, to run to the under the shelter of your wings, to surrender to your will, to abide in Jesus Christ, and to walk by the Spirit, and to just allow you to live through us, to be that beacon of light that's in the world but not of it.

Where people see us, Lord, and even though they're gonna think we're weird and some people are gonna hate us, they would realize that it's because of you and that we would be that light, that recognizable light, that city on a hill, because of the way we live our lives, because of the way that we radically love you and love each other.

Help us to do that well.

Lord, we fail in these areas every single day and we admit it.

But it's gonna be by your power in and through us that we're able to do that.

So would you strengthen us?

Would you prepare us?

Would you, as the world splashes up on us and as as we're forced into it in different ways, and as we come up against persecution, Lord, would you show us how to walk in that way?

Would you sanctify us in that whole process?

Would you continue uh to cleanse us of the things of this world?

But we thank you that our salvation is secure in you, that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Help us to love you well, to stay close in oneness with you, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.