What me worry?
“I am praying for them...”
Part 2: “Keep them from the evil one.”
(John 17:12-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 21, 2010)
John 17:12-15 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Q: What is the first petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Glorify your Son." (John 17:1)
Q: What is the second petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Keep them in your name." (John 17:11)
Q: What is the third petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15)
While I was with them... (12)
Even though our Lord lived on this earth for about thirty-three years, we know very little about the first thirty years of his life. His public ministry was limited to those final three years that are described for us in the four gospels. Here Jesus tells us something of what He has been doing over these three years. One way of looking at that time is from the viewpoint of Jesus' relationship with the Father. He was obeying His Father. He was receiving direction from His Father and perfectly accomplishing everything that was necessary for God's glory and our salvation. But there is a second way of looking at those three years that is more directly connected to the viewpoint that we have, the viewpoint not from heaven, but from the church on earth. While He was with His disciples, Jesus was keeping them in the Name...
When sin entered the world, it became a very dangerous place to be. Some of that we can see and measure, but some of it we cannot understand through our senses. We cannot see into spiritual realms of danger, and we are not told to make that the focus of our lives. We are told that the danger in those realms is real, and that it touches into the realm where we can sense things. We are also told that God rules over all of it. We are also aware of the miracles of Jesus that show that He is wrestling somehow with powers in those realms, and it is evident that He can make them flee with a simple Word. What is beyond our ability to even see, Jesus can see perfectly, and He has absolute authority over all of this.
This is why it is so significant when Jesus recounts in the hearing of His disciples that while He was in the world, He guarded them, and that is the only reason that not one of them was lost except Judas, who he calls the son of destruction. His fall was a matter of fulfilling the Scriptures. So this is part of what Jesus was doing during those years. He had called a small group of disciples together. He was teaching them about the kingdom, and he was guarding them from forces of evil that they could not really see, not only demons, over which He gave those disciples some measure of heavenly authority, but also that evil that wells up within the hearts of people, not only those who are not disciples, but the evil that is within us. Jesus was able to keep them during that three years, despite the power of the devil, the world, and their own flesh. These three worked together to try to sink men like Peter and John, but Jesus kept them.
But now I am coming to you... (13-14)
But now there would appear to be a very significant problem. Suddenly something will be very different. Jesus is going back to heaven. How will the disciples face the dangers that are so very significant, dangers from which they were kept while our Lord was with them? Not only do they have the devil and all his allies; they must also deal with their own weakness and the tremendous outside opposition that makes the story of the rest of the New Testament so engaging. These men will bring the message of God's dying love to Jews and Gentiles everywhere, and everywhere they go, people will want to kill them for it.
Jesus says very plainly in this prayer that these disciples are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. He has been very frank about the fact that the world has hated them. So they have a problem with evil within them. They also have a problem with evil that they can see and hear around them from Jews and Gentiles who do not believe in the power of the death of Christ to save and who do not believe in the resurrection. They have a further problem from that being that told Eve that it was a good idea to eat the forbidden fruit. He told King David that it was good idea to number the armies of Israel against the instruction of the Lord. He was able to take away all that Job had including his family and his health. What, me worry?
And yet Jesus says that He is praying this all aloud in front of them, speaking it in the world, so that the disciples might be full of joy. How is this going to work? They have the word of God, but Jesus is leaving, and they are left with the Scriptures, surrounded by trouble, some of which they cannot see, and some of which is within them. This is a great time to pray. Only God...
I do not ask that you take them out of the world (15)
Only God can win in this kind of situation. Things look so desperate that we might be tempted to think that retreat is the only answer. Jesus is going to the Father, He is going to heaven. “Take me out of this war zone. Take me to heaven.” If that is your battle cry, I fully understand the sentiment, and we should all long for the fulfillment of the Lord's plans in the world of resurrection. Yet we are told here very explicitly that abandonment of the world is not the solution. Jesus says, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world.” We have work here...
But that you keep them from the evil one (15)
What does He ask the Father to do? “Keep them from the evil one.” The evil one, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies, the one who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, he is our adversary and the adversary of God. He would magnify your weakness and sin through his continual prosecution of the case against you. He is looking for people to devour. He cannot separate us from the love of God, but he can ruin our lives. He desires to sift us until there is nothing left of us. He would tell you that you are nothing but a worm, and that God could not possibly be concerned with someone like you.
Yet the father is able and willing to keep you from being eternally destroyed by this enemy. He has given you weapons for the warfare, and chief among them is this truth: Jesus has already fully died for your sins. The cross shines a bright light on the lies of the devil. Does he claim that God could not possibly care about a human being? Look to the cross, and you will find a sinless human being there who is the eternal Son of God. God became a human being to save human beings. Does he claim that no man could ever be right before God? See the cross again, and remember that Jesus, the righteous One, gave you His righteousness when He took your sin. Because of the fact of the cross, you are now counted as righteous before God, simply through looking to the cross, and calling on the Name of the Lord.
Yes, God will keep you from the evil one, and if the devil seems to work his miseries, there is a whole world reserved for us on high beyond the reach of evil. (See 2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
1. What does Jesus speak about here concerning His ministry on earth?
2. How will things be different now that Jesus is going back to the Father?
3. Why does Jesus intend for the church to be in the world?
4. What does it mean for us to be kept from the evil one?
Part 2: “Keep them from the evil one.”
(John 17:12-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 21, 2010)
John 17:12-15 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Q: What is the first petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Glorify your Son." (John 17:1)
Q: What is the second petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Keep them in your name." (John 17:11)
Q: What is the third petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15)
While I was with them... (12)
Even though our Lord lived on this earth for about thirty-three years, we know very little about the first thirty years of his life. His public ministry was limited to those final three years that are described for us in the four gospels. Here Jesus tells us something of what He has been doing over these three years. One way of looking at that time is from the viewpoint of Jesus' relationship with the Father. He was obeying His Father. He was receiving direction from His Father and perfectly accomplishing everything that was necessary for God's glory and our salvation. But there is a second way of looking at those three years that is more directly connected to the viewpoint that we have, the viewpoint not from heaven, but from the church on earth. While He was with His disciples, Jesus was keeping them in the Name...
When sin entered the world, it became a very dangerous place to be. Some of that we can see and measure, but some of it we cannot understand through our senses. We cannot see into spiritual realms of danger, and we are not told to make that the focus of our lives. We are told that the danger in those realms is real, and that it touches into the realm where we can sense things. We are also told that God rules over all of it. We are also aware of the miracles of Jesus that show that He is wrestling somehow with powers in those realms, and it is evident that He can make them flee with a simple Word. What is beyond our ability to even see, Jesus can see perfectly, and He has absolute authority over all of this.
This is why it is so significant when Jesus recounts in the hearing of His disciples that while He was in the world, He guarded them, and that is the only reason that not one of them was lost except Judas, who he calls the son of destruction. His fall was a matter of fulfilling the Scriptures. So this is part of what Jesus was doing during those years. He had called a small group of disciples together. He was teaching them about the kingdom, and he was guarding them from forces of evil that they could not really see, not only demons, over which He gave those disciples some measure of heavenly authority, but also that evil that wells up within the hearts of people, not only those who are not disciples, but the evil that is within us. Jesus was able to keep them during that three years, despite the power of the devil, the world, and their own flesh. These three worked together to try to sink men like Peter and John, but Jesus kept them.
But now I am coming to you... (13-14)
But now there would appear to be a very significant problem. Suddenly something will be very different. Jesus is going back to heaven. How will the disciples face the dangers that are so very significant, dangers from which they were kept while our Lord was with them? Not only do they have the devil and all his allies; they must also deal with their own weakness and the tremendous outside opposition that makes the story of the rest of the New Testament so engaging. These men will bring the message of God's dying love to Jews and Gentiles everywhere, and everywhere they go, people will want to kill them for it.
Jesus says very plainly in this prayer that these disciples are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. He has been very frank about the fact that the world has hated them. So they have a problem with evil within them. They also have a problem with evil that they can see and hear around them from Jews and Gentiles who do not believe in the power of the death of Christ to save and who do not believe in the resurrection. They have a further problem from that being that told Eve that it was a good idea to eat the forbidden fruit. He told King David that it was good idea to number the armies of Israel against the instruction of the Lord. He was able to take away all that Job had including his family and his health. What, me worry?
And yet Jesus says that He is praying this all aloud in front of them, speaking it in the world, so that the disciples might be full of joy. How is this going to work? They have the word of God, but Jesus is leaving, and they are left with the Scriptures, surrounded by trouble, some of which they cannot see, and some of which is within them. This is a great time to pray. Only God...
I do not ask that you take them out of the world (15)
Only God can win in this kind of situation. Things look so desperate that we might be tempted to think that retreat is the only answer. Jesus is going to the Father, He is going to heaven. “Take me out of this war zone. Take me to heaven.” If that is your battle cry, I fully understand the sentiment, and we should all long for the fulfillment of the Lord's plans in the world of resurrection. Yet we are told here very explicitly that abandonment of the world is not the solution. Jesus says, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world.” We have work here...
But that you keep them from the evil one (15)
What does He ask the Father to do? “Keep them from the evil one.” The evil one, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies, the one who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, he is our adversary and the adversary of God. He would magnify your weakness and sin through his continual prosecution of the case against you. He is looking for people to devour. He cannot separate us from the love of God, but he can ruin our lives. He desires to sift us until there is nothing left of us. He would tell you that you are nothing but a worm, and that God could not possibly be concerned with someone like you.
Yet the father is able and willing to keep you from being eternally destroyed by this enemy. He has given you weapons for the warfare, and chief among them is this truth: Jesus has already fully died for your sins. The cross shines a bright light on the lies of the devil. Does he claim that God could not possibly care about a human being? Look to the cross, and you will find a sinless human being there who is the eternal Son of God. God became a human being to save human beings. Does he claim that no man could ever be right before God? See the cross again, and remember that Jesus, the righteous One, gave you His righteousness when He took your sin. Because of the fact of the cross, you are now counted as righteous before God, simply through looking to the cross, and calling on the Name of the Lord.
Yes, God will keep you from the evil one, and if the devil seems to work his miseries, there is a whole world reserved for us on high beyond the reach of evil. (See 2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
1. What does Jesus speak about here concerning His ministry on earth?
2. How will things be different now that Jesus is going back to the Father?
3. Why does Jesus intend for the church to be in the world?
4. What does it mean for us to be kept from the evil one?
posted by Pastor Magee at 2:56 PM
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