CH Spurgeon on John 17 verse 16

What does it mean for Christians to be “not of the world”? Reflecting on John 17:16, C. H. Spurgeon considers the distinct character of those who belong to Christ, their new life and their heavenly destiny. He calls believers to examine their hearts and live in keeping with the Saviour’s example, finding their true belonging in Him.

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Spurgeon on John chapter 17, verse 16

Verse 16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Christ’s prayer was for a special people. He declared, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Who are these favoured individuals who share a Saviour’s prayers, are recognised by a Saviour’s love, and have their characters and their circumstances mentioned by the lips of the High Priest before the throne on high?

The answer is supplied by these words: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” The people for whom Christ prays are an unearthly people. They are a people somewhat above the world, distinguished altogether from it.

It is not so much that they are not of the world, as that they are “not of the world, even as Christ was not of the world.” This is an important distinction. This is the distinguishing mark—being different from the world in those respects in which Christ was different; not making ourselves singular in unimportant points, but being different from the world in those respects in which the Son of God and the Son of man, Jesus Christ, our glorious Exemplar, was distinguished from the rest of mankind.

Verse 16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Christ was not of the world in nature. What was there about Christ that was worldly? In one point of view His nature was divine, and as divine, it was perfect, pure, unsullied, spotless. In another sense He was human, and His human nature, which was born of the Virgin Mary, was begotten of the Holy Ghost, and therefore was so pure that in it rested nothing that was worldly.

His nature was not a worldly one. It was essentially different from that of everyone else, although He sat down and talked with them. He stood side by side with a Pharisee, but everyone could see He was not of the Pharisee’s world. He sat by a Samaritan woman, and though He conversed with her very freely, who is it that fails to see that He was not of that Samaritan woman’s world—not a sinner like her?

He mingled with the Publicans; nay, He sat down at the Publican’s feast, and ate with Publicans and sinners. But you could see by the holy actions and the peculiar gestures He there carried with Him, that He was not of the Publicans’ world, though He mixed with them.

Well, beloved, in some sense, the Christian is not of the world even in his nature. I do not mean in his corrupt and fallen nature, but in his new nature. There is something in a Christian that is utterly and entirely distinct from that of anybody else.

Many persons think that the difference between a Christian and a worldling consists in this: one goes to chapel twice on a Sabbath-day, another does not go but once, or perhaps not at all. One of them takes the sacrament, the other does not. One pays attention to holy things, the other pays very little attention to them.

But ah, beloved, that does not make a Christian. The distinction between a Christian and a worldling is not merely external, but internal. The difference is one of nature and not of act.

He is a twice-born man. In his veins run the blood of the royal family of the universe. He is a nobleman. He is a heaven-born child. He is begotten again unto a lively hope. He is not of the world by his nature. He is essentially and entirely different from the world.

Verse 18. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Christ was not of the world in His office. He had no aim which was in the least worldly. He did not seek His own applause, His own fame, His own honour. His very office was not of the world.

And O believer! What is your office? Have you none at all? Why, yes, man! you are a priest unto the Lord your God. Your office is to offer a sacrifice of prayer and praise each day. The office unto which you are called is to be the salt of the earth. You are a city set on a hill, a light that cannot be hid. That is your office. Your office is not a worldly one.

Verse 16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Again, you are not of the world in your character, for that is the chief point in which Christ was not of the world. Look at Jesus’ character, how different from every other man’s—pure, perfect, spotless; even such should be the life of the believer. I plead not for the possibility of sinless conduct in Christians, but I must hold that grace makes men to differ and that God’s people will be very different from other kinds of people.

A servant of God will be a God’s-man everywhere. To him it is nothing what is called “business”; it is what is called God’s law. He feels that he is not of the world; consequently, he goes against its fashions and its maxims.

A singular story is told of a certain Quaker. One day he was bathing in the Thames and a waterman called out to him, “Ha! There goes the Quaker.” “How do you know I’m a Quaker?” “Because you swim against the stream. It is the way the Quakers always do.”

That is the way Christians always ought to do—to swim against the stream. The Lord’s people should not go along with the rest in their worldliness. Their characters should be visibly different.

Verse 14. Because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

There are always certain testing moments when you can tell of what kind of stuff a man is made. One is when he gets into very deep trouble. When some creature comfort has been swept away, when some precious blessing has withered in our sight, like the fair lily snapped at the stalk, then it is that the Christian feels, “I am not of the world.”

You have had at times deep sorrows. Thank God for them! They are testing moments. When the furnace is hot, it is then that the gold is tried best.

But another testing moment is prosperity. There have been some of God’s people who have been more tried by prosperity than by adversity. Of the two trials, the trial of adversity is less severe to the spiritual man than that of prosperity. It is a terrible thing to be prosperous. You have need to pray to God, not only to help you in your troubles, but to help you in your blessings.

Did you ever feel, “These can never satisfy; give me Christ, or else I die”? Did you feel that these comforts were nothing but the leaves of the tree and not the fruit, and that you could not live upon mere leaves? If your spirit went up above your prosperity so that you still lived near to God, then you proved that you were a child of God, for you were not of the world.

Brother, have we not often been too much like the world? Do we not sometimes in our conversation talk too much like the world? Come, brother, let us confess our sins together. Have we not been too worldly? Ah! we have. O God! if we are not right, make us so. Where we are a little right, make us still more right, and where we are wrong, amend us!

And Christian, let me comfort you with this. You are not of the world, for your home is in heaven. Be content to be here a little, for you are not of the world and you shall go up to your own bright inheritance by and by.

This world is like an inn. You are only lodging here a little while. Put up with a little inconvenience, because you are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world. And by and by, up yonder, you shall be gathered into your Father’s house.