In recent days we have been inspired as we have heard of Ukrainian believers. Our brothers and sisters in Christ singing hymns of faith as they express their persevering faith, hope, and confidence in God.
He will indeed hold us fast, they sing. You know, God has supplied every believer wonderful means of grace to sustain us in the darkest, in the most threatening times and circumstances. Every believer in Jesus Christ has been granted direct access to the throne of grace. That we may go there boldly and obtain mercy and to find grace.
And when? In times of need. But besides the personal prayers that believers pray, we have the prayers of others. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. We're admonished to pray for one another, to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ, so we intercede for one another. Over in chapter 6 of Ephesians, Paul is giving instructions concerning spiritual armor. And when he gets done with describing the armor in verse 18, he speaks about the critical importance of praying for all the saints.
And as you read Paul's letters, frequently you find him appealing to the churches that he's writing to. Pray for us. Pray for us.
Pray for me. And various specific needs attached to those appeals. Well, the intercession of believers for each other is an essential element of the church's spiritual life. But other Christians are not the only ones who are interceding on behalf of believers. Romans chapter 8 verse 26 tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We feel our weakness, don't we? Yes, we feel our human frailty, the not knowing how to pray, what to pray, what the will of God is. He helps us in our weakness, interceding for us with what?
With groanings too deep for words. Yet, beyond all of that, there is yet another praying for us. None other than the one seated at the right hand of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, who the writer of Hebrews tells us ever lives to make intercession for his people. Hebrews 7 verse 25. So I'm drawn this morning to this high priestly prayer, a prayer that is recorded in John chapter 17. And what we want to concentrate on this morning is verse 15. We'll look at a few verses surrounding that, but we're mainly concerned with verse 15. And Jesus prayed this to his father, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.
You probably are familiar somewhat with this prayer that there are three major divisions in it. Verses one through five, Jesus is praying for himself and particularly his own glory. But then beginning at verse 16, running through verse 19, he's praying for his apostles first and foremost.
And then when you get to verse 20, that prayer is expanded and there's an inclusion and it includes Christ's prayer for all believers. But back to verse 15, as we look at this verse together, I have five questions that I want to raise and try and answer. Question number one, for whom did Christ pray? Question number two, for what did Christ pray? Question number three, what is meant to be kept from the evil one? Question number four, what is meant by two qualifying statements that we find in verse 11 and in verse 12?
And let me read those for you so that you understand what I'm making reference to. You see the same emphasis on Christ praying that the Father would keep his own. But verse 11, now I am not no longer in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name, keep through your name those whom you have given me. Verse 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept. So there's two qualifying phrases there in verse 11, your name to be kept in your name, and in verse 12 to be kept in or kept through your name, verse 11 and then to be kept in your name, verse 12. And then one final question, what bearing? What bearing does this truth, what bearing should this truth have upon us?
In other words, what's the application? So five questions of the text, question number one, for whom did Christ pray? Verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. He first tells us who he is not praying for. Notice with me verse nine, he says, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world.
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world. Christ's prayer is not for the whole world. Christ's prayer is for a particular group of people. And as we read the context here, it is for those who were given to him by the Father. Now there's an awful lot of thrilling theology here that we could go off on.
Who are these ones? When were they given to him by the Father? And we don't have time for that this morning, perhaps another time. But for whom did Christ pray? He prayed for those that the Father gave to him. The immediate context here is for those 11 apostles. Now, we must familiarize ourselves with the language of scripture.
Because too many Christians have a very simplistic thought or mind. And in some respects, erroneous thought when it comes to the work of Christ and on behalf of whom did he do this work. I remember talking to a young man for quite a while.
He was wrestling with the doctrines of grace. And he called me one day and he said, this is really big, isn't it? I said, oh, I don't know.
How big is it? He said, well, I always thought Christ died for everybody. I said, okay. Well, he couldn't have.
I said, why not? Well, if he did, we sang Jesus paid it all. And if Jesus paid it all, then why are people in hell? I thought, he's got it.
He's got it. God doesn't play double jeopardy. If his justice is satisfied in the death of Jesus Christ, God would be unjust to require payment for sin from the sinner. Because he received payment for the sinner from his son. So when people say, well, Jesus died for everyone.
We need to understand what the Bible says in place of that general generic language. So the question is, for whom did Jesus die? He died for those whom the father gave to him. That's what the language of John chapter 17 tells us.
But what else? Well, he died for his sheep. John chapter 10 verse 11. He died for his people. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 28. He died for the church. He died for the children of God. He died for his sons. He died for his brethren. He died for the many. And you see how rich the language is and how broad it is as opposed to what Jesus died for the world. Well, there's a sense in which Jesus did die for the world as long as that is understood in its context what is meant by the world. But most people, when they hear the world, they mean Jesus died for everybody.
Every person that's ever lived. No. No, he couldn't have. He didn't. So that's just an aside.
It's not, but I thought this is a good place to speak to that. Christ prayed for and he prays for those who will believe, not those who have believed. Notice with me.
Well, let me back up because I want to. Jesus is praying for those that the Father gave to him. Well, it's obvious to us that that is not just these 11 apostles. What about Mary? What about Martha?
What about Zacchaeus? What about Lazarus? What about Mary Magdalene? What about the mother of Jesus?
What about the 70 that he sent out two by two? What about those who were gathered in the upper room? So just in the immediate context, we know that those the Father gave to him includes far more than just 11, right? And if we have any question about that, verse 20 settles it. Jesus says in verse 20, I do not pray for these alone.
Who are these alone? Well, it is those 11 apostles. Well, 11, Judas is excluded. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. And I've thought about that phraseology for those also for those who will believe. Christ prayed for and prays for those who will believe, not those who have believed.
Now, that seems like splitting hairs, but I want to think about this with you for a moment. Christ has in mind each and every member of his church, each and every one given to him by the Father, whether they were in the faith or out of the faith, whether they existed or had yet to exist. If you are one of the elect of God chosen before the foundations of the world, given to the Father or given to the Son by the Father, Jesus prayed for you before you ever walked this earth.
That's amazing, isn't it? I mean, that's the language of verse 20. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Sometimes we entertain thoughts that God was only dealing with us salvifically in the time around our conversion. No, if you were an hour of the elect of God, God was dealing with you from the beginning of your conception. He had thoughts of you and eternity passed. That's why even your attempts to kill yourself you couldn't. Even those times where you thought your life was going to be taken because of this, that, or the other, it couldn't.
Why? Because God had intentions for you to come to Christ. So you were invincible even though you didn't know that.
It's a pretty astounding thing to think about. Well, that's for whom Christ prayed, but for what did he pray? For what did he pray? Well, again, like verse 9 where Christ told us who he doesn't pray for before he tells us who he is going to pray for. Here, he tells us what he did not pray for concerning them. First, before he tells us what he did pray for them.
And what is that? For what did he pray? Verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. Jesus himself was going to be taken out of the world. He was leaving, but his apostles were staying. And we must not miss the importance of this contrast. And I brought with me the words of a commentator that I thought was thrilling.
It thrilled me when I read about it. And he's speaking about this contrast between Christ being taken out of the world and his followers staying and remaining in the world. And listen to what he says about Christ. He's putting words in the mouth of Christ as he is praying to the Father. I come to thy presence where there is fullness of joy, and to the right hand where there are pleasures forevermore. I come to where the river of the water of life flows from the throne of God. But these, these are in the wilderness. I come where no enemy can follow me, where no temptation shall assail me, where no weariness can distress me.
But these, these are in the world. I come to reap the trophies of my great victory. I come to grasp the scepter to wear the crown and to ascend the throne. I have been weary here, but I shall soon be weary no longer. The way has been rough and thorny, but it is all over. My haven is almost reached, yet these, these are to remain in the world.
So hearing that reminds us of this contrast. What about these disciples? What was their experience? Well, their experience was that they'd been with Christ. They were saddened. Their lives were unsettled with the prospect that Jesus was leaving them. Their purpose, their perseverance, their protection was dependent upon Christ's presence with them. And as long as Christ was with them, there was a measure of security, but he was leaving and they were staying. Now, in God's timing, they would be leaving this world as well. And one day we will be leaving this world, but until that day, we are to remain. Now while they were in the world, they'd had this incredible benefit of Christ's presence and protection. But he was going away and they would be without him. And they would face the danger, the hostility, the opposition, and the onslaught of the evil one. And so shall we.
We have enemies, we have enemies within, we have enemies without. You remember Peter? Peter in his boast, though all fail you, not me, I won't. Luke chapter 22 verse 31 records these words of Jesus to Peter.
He called him Simon. He said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he might sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned, strengthen your brethren.
Not if you return, but when you return. Satan had a desire to sift Peter, to get at Peter. But you notice what Jesus said.
Satan has asked for you. And the fact that the narrative tells us that Satan did get after Peter tells us what? Tells us that Jesus gave Satan access to Peter and he wouldn't have had access to Peter unless Jesus allowed it. And then the question is, well, wait a minute here. I thought the promise here was verse 15, that you should not take them out of the world, but you should keep them from the evil one.
It doesn't sound like Peter was kept from the evil one. Here's where I think we really need help. We value our temporal life more than we value our spiritual life.
And let me explain what I mean. When we hear the promise that we'll be kept and protected, we first most often think in the physical realm. That means God's not going to let anything happen to me. I'm not going to be killed. I'm not going to be martyred. I'm not going to be fed the lions. I'm not... Now, wait a minute.
Where did you get that idea? To be kept means to be kept in the most important area of your life, to be kept spiritually. Jesus didn't keep Peter from Satan's onslaught, from Peter sifting, but he kept his faith. He says, I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned, he was guaranteeing that he would return, that his faith would not fail, because he would be kept by Jesus. Now, by God's design, when he saves us, he does not take us out of this world. He leaves us in this world.
Why? Because he has work for us to do that we must do. And he will help us. He will equip us. He will direct us. He will lead us in accomplishing that which he has assigned for us.
He will leave us in the world because he has work that he wants to do in us. And it can only be done while we're in this world. Because we are not suited, we are not fitted, we are not prepared for heavenly habitation. God has work to do in us, sanctifying work in us to prepare us for glory.
And that's why it's necessary for us to remain in this world. I think it helps us, you know, sometimes when we read this we think, well, there seems to be some failure in this prayer because we look around and there's an awful lot of people who don't seem to be kept but from the evil one. It does not mean that God won't grant access to the evil one to deal in our lives, to work in our lives. We ask, well, why would God allow Satan to have access to Peter's life? Well, because he needed his self-sufficiency stripped from him. He needed to grow in dependence upon God and not upon himself. He needed to grow in understanding the schemes of the evil one. He was going to be a chief messenger for the church. It was Peter who said, beware of the evil one, the devil who roams about like a roaring lion. Where did he get that idea? He learned it. He experienced it and therefore he could admonish the church.
So there were a lot of things that Peter needed to learn. No, we've all failed. None of us are blameless. Although we're told that we will be presented blameless and we say, well, wait a minute. How are we going to be presented blameless? I'm not blameless. You're not blameless. We've all failed, sinned, stumbled, fell. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down. Well, we're going to be presented blameless because we're going to be presented in the perfections of Christ. That's how we're going to be blameless.
So it's similar idea, I believe. No, kept. This is what is meant to be kept from the evil one. Not that no evil or hardship or trial or threat or assault should come near us, but that when they do, by God's design, we will be kept in the way. Our faith will not suffer shipwreck. We will persevere regardless of what comes.
Not because we're so strong, but because he is so strong. So we've considered for whom Christ prayed. We've considered for what he prayed.
We've considered what it means to be kept from the evil one. Let's think about these qualifying statements in verse 11. Where Christ says, he's praying to the Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me. What does it mean to be kept through your name? What does it mean in verse 12 to be kept in your name? Two phrases, kept through your name, kept in your name. Well, what is the name of God when we see that phrase, the name of God?
It speaks of God's attributes. So to be protected through the name is to be protected by the one who is represented by that name, the one who's sovereign, the one who's all-knowing, the one who's wise, the one who is compassionate and anything else that can be said of God. To be kept through the name. But what about being kept in the name? Well, we're not to have this idea that God is somehow distant and when we get in trouble that God's going to come on a rescue mission and intervene. No, this idea of being kept in the name is that we are in Christ. Christ is our fortress. Christ is a very present help in time of trouble.
He is with us. So it's not like the Calvary coming from a distance to come on a rescue mission. No, we're protected because in the name.
That's encouraging to me. Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10 says, The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. Christ is our strong tower. He is our fortress.
He's the one that we run to. And then the question. What do we do with this? How does this help us?
What do we learn from this? Well, I trust that it's a source of encouragement to you. It's a time to be reminded that God is going to equip us to fight against fear and anxiety in an ever growing climate of fear and anxiety. There's many things to be afraid of it seems in our day as opposition to those who stand for Christ grows greater and greater. We're not on our own. Christ is going to keep us is to strengthen our confidence. And the question is here. This is Christ praying to his father.
Question for you. Shall God the Father fail to hear the Savior's prayer? Is it possible for the prayer and the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be ineffectual?
You say, well, absolutely not. What about your prayers? How effectual are your prayers? You say, well, sometimes not very effectual.
Why is that? Well, because we pray selfish prayers. We pray outside the will of God. We pray with such limited knowledge and understanding and such a small amount of wisdom. All those things contribute to our praying sometimes often ineffectually, but none of that could be true of Christ. If Christ is praying to the Father, Jesus said in John chapter 4, the Father always hears me. That doesn't mean the Father only always hears Him. But no, the Father is always responding to the prayers of His Son because His prayers are effectual. You ought to be encouraged that you have brothers and sisters praying for you, that God directs and leads us in our praying for one another. We grow as a body that way, but boy, how encouraged we ought to be that the second person of the Godhead is praying for us.
He's interceding for us. Now, sometimes we wonder, am I in that company? Am I one that the Father has given to the Son? How do I know for certain? How can I be confident? What do I look to? What is the biblical evidence that I can draw comfort from to take ownership of this and say, I'm in this company?
Well, look with me. Jesus is going to speak about these ones that the Father gave to Him and what characterizes their lives. Notice what He says in verse 6. I have manifested Your name to the men You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours. You gave them to Me and they have kept Your word. They have kept Your word. They haven't disregarded Your word. They've held to Your word. They haven't always walked in obedience to Your word, but they have a desire to keep Your word.
That's one of the evidences. Notice verse 8. He says, For I have given to them the words which You have given Me. What did they do with those words? Notice what Jesus is saying. He's saying to the Father, You gave Me words, and those words You gave Me, I gave to them. Now, what did they do with those words? Notice again, verse 8, For I have given to them the words which You gave Me and they have received them. They have received them. So how can we test ourselves?
Well, very simple. Have you received the words that God the Father gave the Son, the word of God? Do you affirm it? Do you agree with it?
Have you received it? And more to the point this morning, have you received the word that has been preached to you this morning? Does your heart resonate with this?
Does your heart go, Yes! Amen! I love this! I need this! Are you sitting there going, This is just religious talk. I don't need this.
I don't want this. Your heart's response to the word of God tells you whether you have legitimate claim to this. Promise that you will be kept from the evil one. John tells us in chapter 1 that Jesus came unto His own and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the children of God, even to those who believe on His name.
Who were what? Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Those who have received Christ are those who have been born of God. Too many people have been born of the flesh, born of the will of man, born of something other than born of God. But if you've been born of God, the life of God is in you. And you have received the word of God. Paul tells us that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit because they're foolishness to Him. So, so much hinges on you examining your life in relation to these two points. Have you received the word of Christ? Has the Spirit of God given you a heart to receive the word of God, the words of Christ?
And is there a desire in your heart to keep the word, to walk in obedience to it? And again, not perfectly. But that's the desire of your heart most days. That would explain why you're here today and not some other place on a golf course somewhere.
Not that it's ever wrong to be on a golf course, even on a Sunday. You're on vacation, I guess. No, God has undertaken to keep us.
Now, there's one more thing I want to point out to you. There's a transfer going on here. Jesus is praying to the Father and He's telling the Father that He has kept those whom the Father has given to Him, but He's leaving the world. And what is Jesus now doing? Jesus is praying to the Father for the Father to keep them. Now, which is it?
Why? Why would Jesus be asking the Father to keep them? Well, what's Jesus getting ready to do? He's getting ready to go to the cross and bear the weight of the sin of the world on His shoulders, to face the onslaught of the evil devil and all that He could throw at Him. So for a period of time, this is how important and critical this was to Jesus. He's saying, Father, I kept these ones You gave to me, but now, Holy Father, keep them.
Keep them for how long? Well, for a little while, while I go to the cross and finish the work You gave me to do. There's a lot of mystery in this prayer. When Jesus is praying to the Father about His own glory, and He says in verse 4, I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do.
I have finished the work You have given me to do. He hadn't been to Calvary yet. So in what sense could Jesus say, I have finished the work You gave me to do?
That's a legitimate question, right? The only answer I've got is that it was settled in the eternal decrees. There was no way it couldn't happen. It was as if it was already done. Same reason why you read in Romans chapter 8 about this great chain of salvation, and it goes from chosen and justified and skipped sanctification just goes to glorification. You say, well, wait a minute, the biggest part of our Christian experience is living between conversion and glorification. There's nothing even mentioned there. Well, it is mentioned, conformity to Christ's likeness, but you don't see the word sanctification. Why? Well, if you've been justified, it's an absolute guarantee you're going to be glorified.
There's no way you can't happen. And in the same way, Jesus set His face like flint to go to Calvary, to Jerusalem, to die. And Jesus said, He settled it.
He settled it in the garden, didn't He? Not My will, but Thine be done. So church, saints of God, those of you who are timid, those of you who are fearful, and you know, what I hear often, I don't hear a lot of fear being expressed by believers for themselves, but what I hear a lot of is fear and anxiety being expressed by believers for their offspring. You know, we say, well, I'm 60 years old and things are going bad and going from bad to worse and going very rapidly. I'm concerned about my children. I'm concerned about my grandchildren. Well, if God can keep you, can He keep your children? Can He keep your grandchildren?
Is there any weakness in His ability to keep? Huh? We need to live this. We need to believe this. If it's true for us, it's true for our children. It's true for our grandchildren. No, I don't know what life's going to be like for my children 20 years from now, or my grandchildren 30 or 40 years from now, if the Lord tarries His coming. But does that invalidate the promise of the Bible? Does it? No. No.
I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. You're here today. You're here. Because God has kept you. God has kept you in the way. You say, well, if you only knew how close I've been.
Yep, you can join the Psalmist in Psalm 73. He says, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, my foot almost slipped. Right? It's just not the prosperity of the wicked that will cause us to almost slip. There's lots of dangers, toils, and snares.
Right? But isn't it good to be safe in Jesus? Isn't it good to be secure in Christ? Isn't it good to have an assurance that's rooted in the Word of God? It's not rooted in my sentiment, my hope, so I think I'm saved. I hope I'm saved. I hope I'll make it someday.
I remember talking to a man who was rooted, grounded in the Reformed faith. And I talked to him one day and he said, well, I don't have a settled assurance. I wish I did.
I said, why not? Well, I don't know what I might do. I said, what do you mean you don't know what you might do? Well, I know the evil of my own heart.
I know the temptations that assault me. I don't know where I might end up. I don't know where I might not go.
I said, brother, you're looking in the wrong place. You're looking within. Yeah, you're going to find lots of insecurity. You're going to find lots of fear. You're going to find lots of doubt. Look to Christ. Look to the promises of the Scriptures.
That's our hope. So regardless of what comes, and you see what we've seen on Facebook and what we've seen by video of Ukrainian Christians praying and singing, I don't know what the future holds, but that could be us five years, 10 years, 20 years from now. And how are you going to be singing in the face of fear for your own life, fear for the life of your children and your grandchildren?
You're going to be able to sing, He will hold me fast? Yes, He will, because He'll give you grace to do it, just like He's given them grace to do it. Let us pray. Father, how we thank You that You're the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. The salvation is of the Lord from the very beginning to the end.
You're the first and the last. You have begun a good work in us, we'll continue it until the day of Jesus Christ. Strengthen your church, strengthen the timid believer that's in our midst today who's full of fear and anxiety and worry, whose nights are interrupted.
Their sleep is not good because they worry, they wake, their thoughts are running, racing. Oh, may they run and race to Christ and the promises He made for His people. How we thank You that we have a covenant-keeping God, that the promises of Christ are Yea and Amen, and that there's no way that the Son could fail to keep those whom the Father has given to Him. Not one single failure possible ever. Thank You that we're kept for time and for eternity. Cause us to rejoice in this glorious truth today, I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-15 08:28:04 / 2023-04-15 08:41:29 / 13