John 17:14

I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Thy word ... The frequent use of the singular noun where the divine word is concerned is significant. Though consisting of many words (John 17:8), the word of God is nevertheless one. It is one in that it is a single composite corpus of teaching. It is one in authority, trustworthiness, and saving efficacy, it is the one word delivered by God to Christ, by Christ to the apostles, and by the apostles to all mankind by means of their book, the New Testament. It is one word in the sense that no human teaching may be mixed with it or added to it. It is one word in the sense that "every word" of it is a necessary part of the whole, making it imperative that nothing be added to or taken from the teaching of God (Revelation 22:18,19).

The world hated them ... Jesus' heart is moved by the bitter trials he foresees falling upon the beloved apostles. Their task will not be easy. "The world hated them" is prophetic. Jesus had already warned them; but it was still a matter of acute concern to Jesus who poured out his heart for them in this prayer.

Because they are not of the world ... Jesus added the words "even as" he was not of the world; but, of course, there was a difference. Jesus was not of the world in the sense of his having been before the world was. The disciples were not of the world in the sense of their having accepted Christ's teachings which required the rejection of the world's value-judgments, the repudiation of its standards, and the denial of lordship to the world's prince, Satan. This was more than enough to justify Jesus' statement that the apostles were not of this world.