João 17
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 17
Spurgeon - “Keep them in the world to battle with the evil; make them the salt that prevents putrefaction, and let them not lose their savor, let them not be contaminated by the evil in the midst of which they dwell.”....There is a reason for God’s elect being allowed to remain in the world. They are never left, like wheat in the field, to perish through the damp and cold, or to be devoured by the birds of the air. Oh, no! We are left for God’s glory, that men may see what the grace of God can do in poor frail bodies; for the service of Christ’s Church, that we may be here for a while to carry on the cause of God, to be the means of comforting the little ones, and to seek the conversion of sinners. We are to be like salt to prevent putrefaction. We are God’s preventive men, to prevent as much of the evil as we can; and we are to fight with the evil that cannot be prevented, and to seek to overthrow it in Christ’s name. Believers Study Bible - The disciples are in the world, but they do not belong to the world. For this reason they are prey to persecution. The "evil one" is a reference to Satan (cf. 1 John 2:13; 4:4; 5:18). NET NOTE - The phrase “the evil one” is a reference to Satan. The genitive noun τοῦ πονηροῦ (tou ponērou) is ambiguous with regard to gender: It may represent the neuter τὸ πονηρόν (to ponēron), “that which is evil,” or the masculine ὁ πονηρός (ho ponēros), “the evil one,” i.e., Satan. In view of the frequent use of the masculine in 1 John 2:13–14, 3:12, and 5:18–19 it seems much more probable that the masculine is to be understood here, and that Jesus is praying for his disciples to be protected from Satan. We live in the world, but the world must not live in us. Spiros Zodhiates adds this comment on "out of the world" in 1Co 5:10+ - The conclusion is that we as believers need not go out of the world in order to avoid close relationships with the unsaved around us in order that we may have victory. We can be in the world, and yet not of it. We are to influence it for good, but not intimately mix with it and allow it to seduce us. We must realize that hardened and professional sinners such as prostitutes, extortioners, idolaters, or the avaricious are dedicated to their evil, and close company with them will soon contaminate us. Monasticism is not the solution to our interaction with the world. Whereas we cannot avoid the presence of sinners (ED: THAT'S ISOLATION), we must exercise caution and soberness (ED: THAT'S INSULATION). The word that should guide the Christian in the world is sophrosune, "soundness of mind," or common sense or wisdom. It will guide as to how far we should stay away from the forces which can consume us, and at the same time help us to realize that we are the recipients of God's gifts for more than overcoming the world (Ro 8:37, cp Jn 16:33). (Immorality in the Church: First Corinthians Chapter Five) D L Moody - The true conception of “separation”—“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Brian Bell - What’s amazing is what He didn’t ask for! 1. He didn’t ask for the Father to take them out of the world. 2. He never intended them to retreat back into the saltshaker. 3. He never intended their lights to be placed under a bushel (Mt 5:14-16). True, we are not to be of the world, but we are to be in it! Phil 2:15+ strikes a good balance that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Protected from the evil one, or Satan, who is more than active in the world, & bitterly opposed to the things of God. L. Which part of this verse do you need to hear this morning? (a or b) 1. [Group A] Some are too far away from this world (i.e. Can’t relate to people, culture) & Some are too far into it [Group B] (can’t tell any difference form them & the world). {Please here both my a & b before you judge what I’m saying} 2. Those in Group A have removed yourself so far from our world you don’t have any influence upon it. Your goal is isolating/protecting/safeguarding yourself or your family, & you’ve forgot your mandate was not to be monastic but evangelistic. a) Jesus says, “remember why I left you in this world”. Follow my example: I ran from religious sounding people & ran to the filthy who needed me. b) Jesus said to be innocent, He didn’t say to be naive! [May we warn our kids of what awaits them at University or out in the world, & not just hope they never see anything!] [shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves] Those in Group B have gotten too far into the world & you need to be kept from the evil one. Your goal is looking & sounding & smelling just like the world, & you’ve forgot your mandate was not to be of but in the world. a) Liberty is the flag you wave, but you forgot the rest of the verse... b) Gal.5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty(you have!); only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (1) Liberty is limited by love! Evil (wicked, bad) (4190) poneros from poneo = work or toil,
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Spurgeon - THE text, as we observed on a former occasion,* contains two prayers,—a negative prayer, and a positive prayer. First, there is the negative prayer: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.” “There are wise ends to be observed by their remaining here. It will ultimately increase their happiness in heaven; it will give glory to God; it shall be the means of the conversion of others; therefore, ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,’ but I do pray”—and here comes the positive prayer,—“that, while they are in it, ‘thou shouldest keep them from the evil.’ ” (Full sermon The Preservation of Christians in the World) Spurgeon - Christ’s prayer for his people John 17:15 (See full sermon Christ's Prayer for His People) We never have any encouragement to ask God to let us die. Christians are always wanting to die when they have any trouble or trial. You ask them why? “Because we would be with the Lord.” O yes, they want to be with the Lord, when troubles and temptations come upon them. But it is not because they are yearning to be with the Lord, it is because they desire to get rid of their troubles. They want to get home, not so much for the Saviour’s company, as to get out of the little hard work. They did not wish to go away when they were in quiet and prosperity. Like lazy fellows, as most of us are, when we get into a little labour we beg to go home. It is quite right sometimes that you should desire to depart, because you would not prove yourself to be a true Israelite if you did not want to go to Jerusalem. You may pray to be taken home out of the world, but Christ will not take up the petition. When your prayers come to the Lord, this little one may try to get amongst them, but Christ will say, “I do not know anything about you, ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.’ ” You may wish it sincerely, and really desire it, but you will not at present get your Master to pray with you. Instead, then, of crying, or wishing to be away from the battle, brace yourself up in the name of the Lord. Every wish to escape the fight is but a desertion of your Master. Jerry Bridges - HOLINESS IN AN UNHOLY WORLD (BORROW Pursuit of Holiness - recommended book) My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. JOHN 17:15 All believers must live their Christian lives in the context of an unholy world. Some face extraordinary temptation as they live in the midst of a flagrantly sinful atmosphere. The student in the university dormitory or the man or woman on a military base or aboard ship must often live in an environment polluted with sensuality, wantonness, and lust. The businessman or woman is often under tremendous pressure to compromise ethical and legal standards to satisfy the greed and dishonesty of associates. Unless the Christian is prepared for such evil assaults on his mind and heart, he will have great difficulty maintaining personal holiness. James said that part of true religion consists in keeping ourselves “from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27), and Paul urged us to “come out from them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). How should the believer respond when he finds himself surrounded on every hand by the unrelenting pressures of a sinful world? It is clear from our Lord’s prayer that He does not intend for us to withdraw from contact with the world of nonChristians (John 17:15). Instead, He said we are to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–14). The writers of the New Testament take it for granted that Christians will live in the midst of an unholy world. (See such passages as 1 Corinthians 5:9–10; Philippians 2:14–15; 1 Peter 2:12, and 3:15–16). And we are never told that it will be easy to live in a godless environment. Instead, we are warned to expect ridicule and abuse (John 15:19; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:3–4). Instead of withdrawing from contact with the world, we must strive to resist its influence. To do this we must first of all resolve to live by the convictions God has given us from His Word. We cannot be like Mr. Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress who prided himself on being adaptable to any kind of company and any kind of talk. He was like a chameleon who changes his color every time he changes his environment. Some of us have known people who had two vocabularies—one among Christians and another among their associates of the world. The convictions we develop about God’s will for a holy life must be rock-ribbed enough to withstand the ridicule of the ungodly and the pressures they put on us to conform to their unholy ways. I still remember the taunts of my fellow officers aboard ship who teased me unmercifully about a large obscene picture they had prominently displayed in the officers’ dining room. One helpful reinforcement to living according to our convictions is to identify ourselves with Christ openly, wherever we find ourselves in the world. This must be done in a gracious yet clear-cut manner. Going aboard a new ship, I sought to identify myself as a Christian by the simple, wordless act of carrying my Bible openly when going ashore on “liberty.” A student in a university dormitory can do the same thing by leaving his Bible out to be seen by all who come into his room. This open identification with Christ helps to spare us from the temptation of adapting to our sinful environment as Mr. Talkative did. But even though we resolve to live in the world by the convictions God has given us from His Word, and we openly identify ourselves with Christ, we still are often subjected to the pollution of unholy surroundings. The lewd pictures everywhere, the obscene jokes told in our presence, and the endless recounting and boasting of immoral activities by those who do them all serve to drag our minds down into the filth of this world. To this list we could add the dishonest shortcuts taken by business associates, the constant gossiping of our neighbors and coworkers, and the lies and half-truths we hear all around us. The Bible is our best defense against this pollution. David said, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9). The Bible will cleanse our minds of the defilement of the world if we meditate on its teachings. It will also serve as a continual warning to us not to succumb to frequent temptations to indulge our eyes and thoughts in the immorality around us. I know a man who attended a godless, humanistic university. To guard his mind from the corrupting influences of that environment, he determined to spend as much time in the Word of God as he did in his studies. Today that man is a missionary leader who has had a profound impact on hundreds of lives. Such passages of Scripture as “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20, KJV), and “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4) are verses we can memorize and meditate on as we find ourselves in corrupt surroundings. Our reaction to the sinful world around us, however, must be more than just defensive. We must be concerned not only for our own purity of mind and heart, but also for the eternal destiny of those who would pollute us. God has left us in the world to be both salt and light (Matthew 5:13–14). The use of salt as a metaphor to describe our relationship to the world teaches us that Christians are to be a preserving power, an antiseptic, an agent to prevent and retard decay. Dr. William
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Spurgeon - Many, nowadays, say that we ought to blend the church with the community, and that it is a great pity to have any division between them. A great many good people are outside the church; therefore try to make the church as much like the world as ever you can! That is a silly trick of the devil which the wise servants of God will answer by saying, “To whom we give place by subjection, no, not for an hour.” There must ever be a broad line of demarcation between the Church of Christ and the world, and it will be an evil day when that line is abolished. The sons of God took to themselves wives of the daughters of men, but that kind of union brought mischief with it, and it will ever do so. Sing out your theme song beloved disciple of Christ - THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME sung by Jim Reeves This world is not my home I'm just a-passing through My treasures are laid up Somewhere beyond the blue The angels beckon me From heaven's open door And I can't feel at home In this world anymore REFRAIN Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you If heaven's not my home Then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me From heaven's open door And I can't feel at home In this world anymore I have a loving mother Just up in Gloryland And I don't expect to stop Until I shake her hand She's waiting now for me In heaven's open door And I can't feel at home In this world anymore REFRAIN Just over in Gloryland We'll live eternally The saints on every hand Are shouting victory Their songs of sweetest praise Drift back from heaven's shore And I can't feel at home In this world anymore REFRAIN QUESTION - What is biblical separation? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - Biblical separation is the recognition that God has called believers out of the world and into a personal and corporate purity in the midst of sinful cultures. Biblical separation is usually considered in two areas: personal and ecclesiastical. Personal separation involves an individual’s commitment to a godly standard of behavior. Daniel practiced personal separatism when he “resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” (Daniel 1:8). His was a biblical separatism because his standard was based on God’s revelation in the Mosaic law. A modern example of personal separation could be the decision to decline invitations to parties where alcohol is served. Such a decision might be made in order to circumvent temptation (Romans 13:14), to avoid “every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22), or simply to be consistent with a personal conviction (Romans 14:5). The Bible clearly teaches that the child of God is to be separate from the world. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17; see also 1 Peter 1:14-16). Ecclesiastical separation involves the decisions of a church concerning its ties to other organizations, based on their theology or practices. Separatism is implied in the very word “church,” which comes from the Greek word ekklesia meaning “a called-out assembly.” In Jesus’ letter to the church of Pergamum, He warned against tolerating those who taught false doctrine (Revelation 2:14-15). The church was to be separate, breaking ties with heresy. A modern example of ecclesiastical separation could be a denomination’s stance against ecumenical alliances which would unite the church with apostates. Biblical separation does not require Christians to have no contact with unbelievers. Like Jesus, we should befriend the sinner without partaking of the sin (Luke 7:34). Paul expresses a balanced view of separatism: “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10). In other words, we are in the world, but not of it. We are to be light to the world without allowing the world to diminish our light. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Look More like Jesus They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. John 17:16 Today's Scripture & Insight : John 17:6-17 God designed the great gray owl as a master of camouflage. Its silver-gray feathers have a collective pattern of coloring which allows it to blend into the bark when perched in trees. When the owls want to remain unseen, they hide in plain sight, blending into their environment with the help of their feathery camouflage. God’s people are often too much like the great gray owl. We can easily blend into the world and remain unrecognized as believers in Christ, intentionally or unintentionally. Jesus prayed for His disciples—those the Father gave Him “out of the world” who “obeyed” His Word (John 17:6). God the Son asked God the Father to protect and empower them to live in holiness and persevering joy after He left them (vv. 7-13). He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (v. 15). Jesus knew His disciples needed to be made holy and set apart so they could live out the purpose He’d sent them to fulfill (vv. 16-19). In what area of your life can you ask God to make you more like Jesus? How has God used others to draw you closer because of the way they lived and loved like Jesus? Holy Spirit, please make me look so much like Jesus that others will be drawn to seek the one true God. A Balanced Attitude They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. — John 17:16 Today's Scripture : John 17:1-26 Our world bears unmistakable evidences of God’s wisdom, power, and goodness (Psalm 104:14-18). So do the star-studded heavens above us (19:1). And then there are all the blessings of human love and creativity, which are gifts “from above” (James 1:17). Theologian John
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Spurgeon - Not his hands, as we do who are poor suppliants; but his eyes, indicating whither his thoughts went. He “lifted up his eyes to heaven,”- No mere man would have dared to pray such a prayer as this. Jesus asks that he may be gloried by his Father that he also may glorify his Father, he put the two things together: “Father, glorify thy Son that thy Son may also glorify thee.” This is not a plea that is fit for merely human lips. It is Jesus the Son of God who, in receiving glory from his Father, is also able to return it to his Father. Brian Bell - As the needle of a compass is constantly feeling the pull North, so should our hearts & eyes be constantly feeling the pull Heavenward! Father - He starts out hallowing His Fathers name! (6x’s Jn 17:1,5,11,21,24,25) John uses father 127 x’s in his gospel. David
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Spurgeon - That tremendous hour which was the very hinge of history. This is in a very special sense our Lord’s prayer. What a word that is from the lips of Jesus, “Father”! This was the night of his deepest sorrow and his heaviest woe, but he begins his prayer with this tender expression, “Father, the hour is come;” the hour of darkness, the hour of his passion and death, had now arrived....Did Jesus look upon his suffering as his glory? He does not merely pray, “Sustain thy Son,” but, “Glorify thy Son.” In truth, our Lord’s lowest stoop was his highest glory. He was never more resplendent than when he hung upon the cross, that was his true spiritual throne, so he prayed, “Glorify thy Son,” — Enable him to bear the agony, and to pass through it to the glory.” “That thy Son also may glorify thee.” The death of Christ was a great glorifying of God. We see his love and his justice rendered more glorious in the death of Christ than they would have been by any other method.....The great design of Christ, all through his life on earth, was to glorify the Father. He came to save his people, but that was not his first or his chief aim. It was his object, through the salvation of myriads of the sons of men, to glorify the Father.....What a sight it must have been to see the Divine Intercessor in this his last great prayer before he poured out his soul unto death! We can never read this chapter so as fully to enter into its meaning, for there must always be in it a depth far greater than our experience can fathom. A man must die, and enter heaven, before he can fully realize all that Christ meant when he said, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”....In the endurance of the cross, there was a mutual glorification. It was the time of the Saviour’s humiliation, and yet, in a certain sense, he was never so glorious as when he died upon the tree. Then, too, he glorified his Father, vindicating divine justice, and manifesting divine love. (Exposition of John) Glorify (doxazo in aorist imperative) Your Son, that (hina) the Son may glorify (doxazo) You - This call on the Father to glorify Him was a reference to His death on the Cross (cf. Jn 17:4; 7:39; 12:23; 13:31–32) to be sure, but it would also clearly encompass His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. It is notable that this is Jesus' only personal petition in the prayer. ESV Study Bible adds "The opening petition glorify your Son implies a claim to deity, since the OT affirms that God will not give his glory to another (e.g., Isa. 42:8; 48:11). (See ESV Global Study Bible - Page 2162) That (hina - term of purpose) speaks of the purpose of Jesus' prayer for Himself to be glorified and it was that the glory of the Son would bring glory to His Father. Hina is found 17 times in John 17 so clearly is a key "hinge word" that can enable you to open big doors of understanding in those passages in which it is used. How does the cross glorify the Father? Supremely it demonstrates a proper opinion of the truth that God is love, for the Father's motivation for sending His Son to die for us was His incredible love for us. John 3:16+ says "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Ro 5:8+ says "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." So the cross is the ultimate demonstration of God's love for sinners and Jesus' crucifixion supremely glorified His Father by becoming obedient to the point of death! (Php 2:8+) Merrill Tenney adds that “The Son glorified the Father by revealing in the act the sovereignty of God over evil, the compassion of God for men, and the finality of redemption for believers.” (BORROW The Expositor's Bible Commentary PAGE 356) Some have said Jesus' prayer here was selfish but how ridiculous for even the context clearly shows it was ultimately for the glory of His Father! We see Jesus' dependence on His Father in this prayer and in so doing shows us our need to pray to the Father. David
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Spurgeon - The Son glorified by the Father and the Father by the Son (full sermon) ‘These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.’ John 17:1 The rending of the veil at the moment of his death was the glorifying of Christ, for now there is for us a way to the throne of God, which before had been closed. Then the opening of his pierced side was another glorifying of him, for the fount is to believers the effectual cleansing of both the guilt and power of sin; and thus the Saviour’s pierced heart glorified him in its power to bless. Then that poor body lay in the grave, wrapped in the linen and spices. But the Father glorified even that dead body which men thought to be corruptible, for it saw no corruption. During the three days and nights no worm could come near it, nor trace of decay. That crystal vase in which the rich ointment of the Saviour’s soul had dwelt must not be injured. ‘A bone of him shall not be broken.’ Beautified by those scars, that body must be safely guarded by watching angels till the morning came. It barely dawned. As yet the sun was rising, and lo the Sun of righteousness himself arose! As a man rising from his couch puts on his garments, so did our Lord put on the vesture of the body which he had laid aside, and came again into the world, alive as to his body and soul, a perfect man. It was a grand glorifying of Christ when the Father raised him from the dead, and he was seen by his disciples once again. Death had no bands wherewith to hold him. The sepulchre’s ward could not confine the unequalled prisoner. Declared to be glorious by the resurrection from the dead, his prayer was heard. And after only a few weeks there came another glory; from the brow of Olivet he gently ascended, floating in the air from the company of his disciples, rising up in the midst of angels till a cloud received him out of human sight. His Father glorified him. Jon Courson - …The hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. John 17:1 Prayer is not the way to get God to do our will in heaven. Prayer is the way to get us to do His will on earth. Once this is understood, you will find yourself praying in an entirely different manner. And that’s what Jesus is doing here. ‘Glorify Me,’ He prays, ‘so that You might be glorified—even if that means being pinned to the Cross of Calvary.’ ‘That sounds sadistic,’ you say. Not at all, because on the other side of the Cross is a crown—joy unspeakable, full of great glory. We only see five months or ten years down the road. But God sees the next ten zillion years. You see, Jesus allowing the Father to be glorified through Him ultimately bought a Bride for Him for all eternity. It’s so radical when a believer finally gets the big picture and stops saying, ‘God do it my way.’ God is not Burger King. We can’t give orders about how things should be done and then complain when we don’t get the lettuce and onions we asked for. God is not Burger King—He’s the King of Kings, and He sees what is going to be absolutely best in the long run. (BORROW A Day's Journey: 365 Daily Meditations from the Word PAGE 91) David Jeremiah - Sermon - Living for the Glory of God John 17:1-5 Introduction: When Jesus offered His Priestly Prayer in John 17, perhaps the most important word is the little term AS (John 17:2, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23). God treats us as He treats Christ. A. We Have the Same Life as Christ Has (John 17:2). B. We Have the Same Security as Christ Has (John 17:11). C. We Have the Same Hostility from the World as Christ Has (John 17:14, 16). D. We Have the Same Mission as Christ Has (John 17:18). E. We Have the Same Unity as Christ Has with the Father (John 17:21–22). F. We Have the Same Glory as Christ Has with the Father (John 17:22). G. We Have the Same Love as Christ Has from the Father (John 17:23). Jesus’ relationship to the Father is the pattern for our relationship to Him. If we will be to Jesus what Jesus is to the Father, then Jesus will be to us what the Father is to Jesus. 1. Jesus Lived by Divine Purpose (John 17:2). His purpose was to give eternal life for all given Him by the Father. John 17 speaks seven times of our having been given to Him by the Father. The love-gift of God to the world is Christ, and the love-gift of Christ to the Father are Christians. The pressure never got in His way because His mind was fixed on the goal. Don’t get caught up in side issues. Keep your mind fixed on what God has ordained for you. 2. Jesus Lived by Divine Power (John 17:2). The power to accomplish His purpose was delegated to Him from the Father. All authority was given to Him, even as He sends us out as His disciple-makers (see John 17:28). 3. Jesus Lived by Divine Plan (John 17:1). When Jesus said, “Father, the hour is come,” He was tapping into a current of thought about His “hour” seen repeatedly in John’s Gospel. A. Nothing Should Distract You (John 2:4). In John 2:4, Jesus told His mother, “My hour has not yet come.” It wasn’t a rebuke or a refusal to deal with the problem at hand. But Jesus was saying, “The time for Me to be submissive to the authority of man is not here yet, though I will do what you asked right now.” Not even a marriage could distract Him. Most of us start out to accomplish something, then things come along; before we know it, the goal gets lost. When you have God’s purpose in your mind, nothing can distract you. B. Nothing Should Destroy You (John 7:30). Those seeking to harm Christ couldn’t, for His time had not yet come. When you live according to God’s plan, nothing can destroy you. Our lives are immortal until our work is done. C. Nothing Should Discourage You (John 12:27). This is sort of a pre-Gethsemane experience. Though troubled, Jesus didn’t let His overwhelming anguish dissuade Him from the task. D. Nothing Should Disappoint You (John 16:32). Jesus said, “The hour is coming … that you will be scattered.… Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Sometimes you feel you’re the only one who understands what God wants you to do. But you cannot be disappointed. E. Nothing Should Defeat You (John 17:1). As the hour approached, the goal was in sight, the purpose was before Him, and this was His hour of glory. He could not be defeated because He had a purpose from God, and the plan was on schedule. Verse 4 is an epitaph on His life: “I have finished the work You gave Me to do.” Our goal is not to find out how much work we can do. It’s to find out the work God has given us to do. Conclusion: Are you bold and courageous enough to find out what God wants you to do? Have you a purpose clearly in mind? Are you willing to submit that purpose to the empowering of the Holy Spirit and then stay on schedule to see that done? Some of you young people are in college. You may get discouraged and want to quit. God says, “Here is My plan and purpose for you. You’d better stay on schedule, My friends.” God has that purpose fixed for you out there. He wants you to accomplish it. Stay on schedule. QUESTION - What can we learn from the prayers that Jesus prayed? ANSWER - The prayers Jesus prayed give us insight into His nature, His heart, and His mission on earth. The prayers of Jesus also inform and encourage us in our own prayer lives. Far more important than where He prayed, when He prayed, and in what position He prayed is the fact that He prayed. The theme of His prayers is instructive for all of us. Prayer was an integral part of Jesus’ time on earth, and He prayed regularly: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). If the Son incarnate found it necessary to commune with the Father frequently, how much more do we need to do so? Jesus faced persecution, trials, heartache, and physical suffering. Without regular and continual access to the throne of God, He would surely have found those events unbearable. In the same way, Christians must never neglect to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). What is often called “The Lord’s Prayer” is actually a teaching tool of Christ as part of His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9–13). In this model prayer, Jesus teaches us to approach God as “our Father”; to hallow God’s name; to pray for God’s will; and to ask for daily provision, forgiveness, and spiritual protection. In addition to His regular times of prayer, Jesus prayed at some important events in His life: He prayed at His baptism (Luke 3:21–22); before feeding the 5,000 (Luke 9:16) and the 4,000 (Matthew 15:36); and at the moment of His transfiguration (Luke 9:29). Before Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He “spent the night praying to God” on a mountainside (Luke 6:12). Jesus prayed at the return of the 72 disciples: “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do’” (Luke 10:21). Jesus prayed at Lazarus’ tomb. As they rolled away the stone from His friend’s tomb, “Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me’” (John 11:41–42). This is a good example of prayer prayed in the hearing of others for the sake of the hearers. In Jerusalem the week of His arrest, Jesus predicted His soon-to-come death. As He spoke of His coming sacrifice, Jesus prayed a very short prayer: “Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:28). In response to Jesus’ prayer, a voice from heaven said, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Spending a last few minutes with His disciples on the night of His arrest, Jesus prayed an extended prayer known today as His “high priestly prayer” (John 17) on behalf of His own, those given to Him by the Father (verse 6). In this prayer, Jesus is the Intercessor for His children (cf. Hebrews 7:25). He prays “not . . . for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours” (verse 9). He prays that they would have His joy (verse 13) and that God would keep them from the evil one (verse 15). He prays for His own to be sanctified by the truth, which is the Word of God (verse 17), and to be unified in that truth (verses 21–23). In the John 17 prayer, Jesus looks to the future and includes all those who would ever believe in Him (verse 20). Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest (Matthew 26:36–46). He had asked His disciples to pray with Him, but they fell asleep instead. Jesus’ agonized prayer in the garden is a model of submission and sacrifice: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (verse 39). Three times Jesus prayed this. Jesus even prayed from the cross, in the midst of His agony. His first prayer echoes Psalm 22:1 and expresses His deep distress: “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Matthew 27:46). Jesus also prayed for the forgiveness of those who were torturing Him to death: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). In His final breath, Jesus continued to express His faith in God: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Several themes are apparent in Jesus’ prayers. One is the giving of thanks to the Father. Praise was a regular part of Jesus’ prayers. Another theme is His communion with the Father; His relationship with His heavenly Father naturally resulted in His desire to spend time communicating with Him. The third theme in Jesus’ prayers is His submission to the Father. Our Lord’s prayers were always in accordance with God’s will. Just as Jesus gave thanks, we should in all things pray with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6–7). As God’s adopted children, we should naturally desire to talk to God (Ephesians 3:12). And in everything we should seek the Lord’s will above our own. Jesus prayed in a variety of settings, public and private. He prayed in times of joy and times of sorrow. He prayed for Himself, and He prayed for others. He prayed to express thanks, to petition for needs, and to commune with His Father. Jesus set the example of how we should trust God, submit to God, and seek fellowship with God. To this day, Jesus continues to pray for His own from His exalted position in heaven at the right hand of God. Scripture says He makes intercession for those who belong to Him (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1). It is significant that, at Jesus’ ascension, He was taken away from His disciples into heaven “while he was blessing them” (Luke 24:51). That blessing has never stopped. Jesus will continue to bless those who come to God through faith in Christ until He comes again. James Smith - CHRIST’S GIFTS TO HIS OWN JOHN 17 In approaching this chapter we feel as if we were passing through the veil into the holiest of all. This prayer of our Great High Priest, just before He offered Himself upon the altar of the Cross as the sacrifice for the sin of the world, is in itself a great unveiling of holy things. Here every petition is a revelation, every declaration a discovery. From these—Christ’s own words—we shall note first of all some of the blessings He has conferred upon His own. Observe the— I. Life of God. “Thou hast given Him authority over all flesh, that … to them He should give eternal life” (John 17:2, R.V.). This eternal life consists in knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent (v. 3). To know Him is to be made a partaker of His nature, to be adopted into His family as “sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.” When Christ condescended to take upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh, God gave Him authority over all flesh, that He might give this life to all who believe. II. Name of God. “I have manifested Thy Name unto the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world” (John 17:6). The life and work of Jesus Christ was “the Lord proclaiming the Name of the LORD, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” In manifesting the Name of God, He was manifesting His nature. He could truly say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” But only those given Him “out of the world” could receive this gracious revelation. “The world by wisdom knew not God.” III. Words of God. “I have given them the words which Thou gavest Me” (John 17:8). This thought is frequently expressed in this Gospel (John 12:49; 14:10). Those who have been made alive unto God must feed upon the words of the Living God. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Christ Himself is the truth, because the words He spake were the very words and doctrines taught Him by the Eternal Father. “I and My Father are One.” One in nature and in purpose, One in will, in deed, and in truth. “The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life.” As He lived by faith in those words given Him, so shall we. “Believe, and thou shalt see.” IV. Service of God. “I am glorified in them” (John 17:10). As the Father was glorified in the Son (John 17:4), so the Son is to be glorified in His own. The words of God have been given us as they were given to Jesus Christ His Son, for a very definite and gracious purpose, that God might be glorified in faithful and successful service (v. 4). The privilege of working for Him is a precious gift. Alas, that so many should neglect to stir up this gift. How is Christ to be glorified in us unless there is whole-hearted surrender to His will and work, as He was to the will and work which the Father gave Him to do? Was not this what the apostle meant when he said, “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death?” (Phil. 1:20). V. Glory of God. “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them” (John 17:22, R.V.). What glory was this that Christ received from God the Father, and passed on to His disciples? Did not this glory consist in God’s nature and Name, His words and work, which were given to the Son, and which in grace He has imparted to His followers? As He is, so are we. There is, besides, the glory that is yet to be revealed when we shall be with Him where He is (John 17:24). As God gave Him the glory of Sonship and heirship, so hath He given this glory to us who believe (John 1:12). The purpose of this manifold gift is, “that they all may be one,” even as Christ and the Father are One (v. 22). What would be the results if this glory was really witnessed by the world? VI. Love of God. “I made known unto them Thy Name, and will make it known that the love wherewith Thou lovedst Me may be in them” (John 17:26). Christ hath made known, and will go on making known the Name (character) of God, that His nature which is love may be continually nurtured in us. This He does by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who sheds this love abroad in our hearts (Ro 5:5). It is surely a heart-searching thought that our Lord should close His great unveiling priestly prayer with this testimony, that the purpose for which He had faithfully declared the Name of God was that the love which God had for His Son might be in us. Has this grace of the Lord Jesus Christ been in vain to us? Are we rejoicing in the depth, the fullness, and the eternity of this love? Is this love being revealed to others through us, as it has been revealed through Christ to us? James Smith - CHRIST’S PETITIONS FOR HIS OWN JOHN 17 This is one of the chapters of which Baxter in his “Saint’s Rest” says, “It is of more value than all the other books in the world.” But the veil that is over the heart needs to be taken away, before the hidden glory can be seen. This is not a prayer for the world. “I pray not for the world.” His cry for the perishing world came out of His agonised heart while hanging on the Cross (Luke 23:34). Here He pleads for those that had been given Him out of the world. He prayed that they might be— I. Kept by the Father. “Holy Father, keep them in Thine own Name which Thou hast given Me” (John 17:11). To be kept in His own Name is to be kept in His own character and likeness; is to be continually acknowledged and claimed as His own sons and daughters. They are to be kept in that Name which Christ had manifested to them (John 17:6). “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and are safe” (Prov. 18:10). II. Happy in Themselves. “Now I come to Thee … that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). He who was the “Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief,” was no stranger to that joy which is in the Holy Ghost (Ro 14:17). If His joy had been in Himself alone, how could He impart it to others? But being in the Holy Spirit, this He could and did give. The Lord’s people are not asked to put on a smiling face without possessing a smiling heart. This holy personal joy is the joy of true fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, in the communion of the Holy Ghost (1 John 1:3, 4). III. Protected from the Devil. “I pray … that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15, R.V.). Christ knew, from personal experience, the subtle dangers that lay in being tempted of the Devil, so He prays here that we might be kept from yielding to his illusive devices. “When ye pray, say, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13, R.V.). “He that is begotten of God keepeth Him, and the evil one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18, R.V.). While we by faith keep hold of Him who has destroyed the works of the Devil, God will keep us by His mighty power from the evil one. IV. Holy unto God. “Sanctify them in Thy truth … for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be truly sanctified” (vv. 17, 19, margin). As He consecrated, or set Himself apart for us, He prays that we may be consecrated (set apart) for Him. He says, “As the Father sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world” (v. 18). He delivered the same message to His disciples after His resurrection (John 20:21). Ye are not your own, ye are, in the purpose of His grace, separated unto Himself, “therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His.” V. Useful unto Others. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in Me through their word” (v. 20). Then Christ expected that others would believe on His Name through them; that the “other sheep” which were not of this little fold, were to hear His voice “through their word,” and be brought into the one flock under the one Shepherd (John 10:16). Let your light so shine—that light which He hath shined into your hearts—that others, seeing the good works of God in you, may glorify your Father which is in Heaven. He hath blessed us, that we might be made a blessing. Let us see that the Holy One is not limited in His saving grace by our unbelief (Ps. 78:41). VI. United One to Another. He prayed also, “That they all may be one” (v. 21). There is here a double union. His request to the Father is that as brethren, they might be one in themselves, and as sons, they might be “one in us … as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee.” How blessed Christian fellowship would be, if it resembled the fellowship that exists between the Father and the Son. That they may be one as we are, is the longing of Christ’s heart (Gal. 3:28). The anticipated outcome of this is, “That the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” The world still needs to know that love of God which sent His Son to save it (John 3:16). VII. Glorified with Christ. “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory” (v. 24). When He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Here we are more familiar with the sufferings of Christ than with the glory which is now His with the Father; but our afflictions, which are light compared with His, are working out for us as His afflictions wrought out for Him, “an exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together with Him. Our eyes have often been dimmed with tears while beholding His sufferings, but all tears shall be wiped away and every heart questioning hushed when we behold His glory. We cannot say of the prayers of Christ, as with the prayers of David, that “they are ended,” for they are still being fulfilled. May we, through our sanctified lives, help to give Him these desires of His heart. James Smith - THE CHRISTIAN’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD JOHN 17 I. They are Taken Out of the World. “The men which Thou gavest Me out of the world” (John 17:6). The world, as such, is a ruined mass, lying in the lap of the evil one; being coddled by the illusions and guided by the false principles of the god of this world; but the followers of Jesus Christ have in spirit been lifted up out of the whole thing, as out of an horrible pit and miry clay, and have been established in the Kingdom of our God, and of His Christ, which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. “Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” II. They are Distinguished from the World. “I pray for them: I pray not for the world” (John 17:9). As soon as we become separated in spirit from the world, we come under a new set of laws in the Kingdom of grace. We are dealt with as children of God, not as the mere offspring of His creative power. Christ loves His own with a love which is peculiar to His own. While He has the love of pity for the world, He has the love of pleasure for His own. Because they are in heart for Him, He in heart and power is for them; so all things work together for good to them that love Him. III. They are In the World. “But these are in the world” (John 17:11). As to their spirit and purpose, they are out of the world, but as to their bodily presence and influence, they are still in the world. In the world, but not of it, even as Christ was (John 17:16). In the world, not as a branch in the vine, but as a light in the darkness; not as a member in the body, but as a physician in the hospital. In the world, not as a “man of the world,” but as a “man of God”; not as its slave, but as its victor. IV. They are Hated by the World. “The world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14). There was no hatred until He had given them the Word of God. “I have given them Thy Word, and the world hath hated them.” This God-given Word, when received, so revolutionised their minds and hearts that the world did not know them, and so contrary did they become to the world’s ways and maxims that they hated them. The worldly wise and the worldly prudent cannot receive those precious things which God is prepared to reveal unto babes (Matt. 11:25). The hatred of the world is a trifling matter to those whose hearts are filled with the love of God. V. They are Kept from the god of this World. “I pray … that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15, R.V.). He does not pray that we should be taken out of this world, but kept from the evil one who rules in it. We need not weary to get out of this world so long as we can be made a perpetual miracle and monument of His keeping power in it. We are surely at perfect liberty to claim, for the honour of Christ’s own Name, the daily fulfilment of this prayer in our own lives. Our beloved gourds may wither, but His promise cannot. VI. They are Sent Into the World. “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18). Every Spirit-anointed one is sent to preach good tidings (Luke 4:18). As Christ was sent into the world to seek and save that which was lost, so also are we. As He was an ambassador for God, so also are we for Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). As He was not sent on His own charges, so neither are we. As He was in the world, not on His own account but as a Sent One, so are we. Those sent by Him will be equipped by Him for the work, as He was equipped by the Father which sent Him. “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). VII. They are Indwelt for the Salvation of the World. “I in them, and Thou in Me … that the world may know” (John 17:23). As the Father was in the Son, so the Son desires to be in us, that the world may know the love of God. Christ fulfilled, in a perfect manner, all required of Him, but what miserable counterfeits many of us are. The Son has given Himself as freely to us as the Father gave Himself to the Son, that His great love might triumph in us and through us. As God so loved the world that He gave His Son, so doth the Son so love the world that He gives His Spirit-filled followers, and for the self-same purpose. “Christ liveth in me,” says Paul (Gal. 2:20), and all the world knows to what a God-honouring result. The one thing needful that this world needs to know is THE LOVE OF GOD; not only God’s love to the world, but His love to His Son, and to them that love Him. “That Thou hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me.” May this love be shed abroad in our hearts, and out through our hearts into this cold Christ-neglecting world around us. F B
João 17
Spurgeon - Can there be found, in all the records of mankind, in all the documents that have ever been preserved, anything that can match this record of our Saviour’s great intercessory prayer? He seems to pray here as if he stood already within the veil; not pleading in agony as he did in the garden of Gethsemane, but speaking with that authority with which he is clothed now that his work on earth is done. There is as much of the divine as of the human in this prayer, and it is remarkable that in it our Lord does not make any confession of sin on account of his people. He does not come before God here, as it were in form a pauper is, with many pleas, but the burden of his prayer is that he may be glorified, and that his Father may be glorified in him. The words of the prayer are amongst the most simple that could have been selected, but oh, the depths that lie hidden beneath them! I do not think that, this side of heaven, any of us can know to the full the meaning of this wondrous chapter. May the Holy Spirit graciously grant us a glimpse of the glorious truths that are here revealed! QUESTION - What is Jesus' High Priestly Prayer? ANSWER - John 17 contains the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in any of the Gospels. Jesus prays this after He finishes His final instructions to the disciples and before He is betrayed, arrested, and crucified. First, Jesus prays for Himself, then He prays for His disciples, and He closes the prayer by praying for all believers. This intercessory prayer is commonly called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. The office of high priest was instituted at Mount Sinai when God gave the Law to the Israelites through Moses. Aaron and, subsequently, his descendants were chosen to be priests who were responsible for interceding for Israel before God (Exodus 28 – 29). One priest was selected as the high priest who would enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement to offer the sacrifice that would temporarily cover the sins of the people (Hebrews 9:7). When Jesus came, He offered His life as the ultimate sacrifice that would not only cover the sins of the people but completely cleanse His people and save them. Jesus is the ultimate High Priest, and His intercession for us in John 17 is a wonderful, multilayered example of His love. As Jesus begins His High Priestly Prayer, He reveals that His purpose in coming to earth was to glorify the Father by giving eternal life to those who believe in Him. Although Jesus is God and was with the Father before the world began (John 17:5), He humbled Himself and came to earth as a man so people would know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ” whom He sent (John 17:3). Now, the hour had come when Jesus’ work on earth would be finished (John 17:1), and Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him as He prepared to finish the work that would “give eternal life” to those who believe in Him (John 17:2). Jesus continues His High Priestly Prayer by praying for His disciples. The eleven who remained with Him had accepted Jesus’ words, knew that He is God, and believed that the Father sent Him (John 17:8). Jesus talks about the Father giving the disciples to Him and the disciples belonging to the Father; Jesus and the Father have everything in common (John 17:6, 9–10). Jesus mentions that glory has come to Him through the disciples (John 17:10). Jesus prays that the Father would protect the disciples since He will no longer be present in the world. He prays not that they will be removed from the world but specifically that they would be protected from the evil one (John 17:15) by the power of Jesus’ name (John 17:11). Jesus says that the world hates the disciples because they are not of the world, just as Jesus is not of the world (John 17:14, 16). But Jesus has given His followers the Word and sent them into the world, just as the Father sent Jesus (John 17:18). Jesus prays that His disciples would be sanctified by the truth, which is God’s Word (John 17:17) and that they would be unified (John 17:11). After praying for His disciples, Jesus also prays for everyone who will believe in Him through their message (John 17:21). Jesus’ desire, expressed in His High Priestly Prayer, is that all of His followers would be in complete unity, just as He and the Father are in perfect unity (John 17:21). Jesus prays for believers to be in God so that the world will believe in Jesus (John 17:21). When believers are united and abide in God, the world will know that God loves them and that He sent Jesus for them (John 17:23). Jesus loves the world, and His sacrifice that brings eternal life is for anyone who believes (John 3:16–17). Jesus says He has given believers His glory that they may be one as He is one with the Father (John 17:22). Jesus also prays that all who believe in Him will be with Him and see His glory (John 17:24). Jesus affirms that, whereas the world does not know the Father, He does, and He has made the Father known to His disciples. Jesus will continue to reveal God to His followers so that God’s love will be in His disciples and that Jesus Himself will be in them (John 17:25–26). Jesus says that He prayed the High Priestly Prayer because He was going to the Father soon and He wanted His disciples to “have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). As our Great High Priest, Jesus continues to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25), and His High Priestly Prayer is an example of what His intercession looks like. Jesus “is able to save completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25). His High Priestly Prayer, with its themes of unity, indwelling, glory, and giving, shows the profound extent of that salvation. QUESTION - Does Jesus pray for us? ANSWER- Prayer is the act of communicating with God. We know that prayer was a big part of Jesus’ life while He was on earth (Luke 6:12; Mark 14:32; Matthew 26:36). He spent considerable time alone with His Father. Most of the time, what He prayed about we can only speculate on; however, a few places in the New Testament tell us exactly what He prayed for. In Matthew 19:13, He prayed for little children. In Luke 22:32, He tells us that He prayed for Peter’s faith to remain strong. And in John 17, Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, He prayed for His followers and “for those who will believe in me through their message” (verse 20). That’s us! Now that Jesus has ascended back into heaven, He still prays for us. His ministry on our behalf continues (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is our “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). An advocate is one who pleads a case for another. Advocates stand in the place of those who cannot speak for themselves. Jesus, as our Advocate, stands in our place before the Father and pleads on our behalf. Jesus’ advocacy is sure to be effectual, because He is the one of whom the Father said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Jesus’ prayers for us are constant, and they are perfect. We have an Advocate in Christ, but we also have an accuser: Satan, who accuses us night and day (Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 3:1). Our mortal enemy broadcasts our sins before God, mocking and insulting the ones Jesus bought for His own. But Romans 8:33–34 says we need not worry about Satan’s malice because Jesus, our Advocate, is more powerful: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” In John 17, Jesus prays for His followers, and from that prayer we can learn the kinds of things Jesus might be praying for us now. Jesus prays for us that we would do and be these things: • Know God and His Son, Jesus Christ (John 17:3) • Be protected from apostasy (John 17:11) • Be one in spirit as the Father and Son are one (John 17:11) • Be filled with His joy (John 17:13) • Be kept from the evil one (John 17:15) • Be sanctified through God’s Word (John 17:17) • Remain unified in Christ throughout the generations (John 17:20–21) • Let our love convey Christ’s message to the world (John 17:23) • Join Him in heaven for all eternity (John 17:24) • Experience the same kind of love for each other that the Father and Son share (John 17:26) Hebrews 4:14–16 describes Jesus as our great High Priest. Because of His intercession for us, we have access to the Father ourselves: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Despite what we may face in this life, we can live with the confident assurance that, if we belong to Jesus, He is always praying for us. Related Resource: If Jesus was God, how could He pray to God? John 17:2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. KJV John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. BGT John 17:2 καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. NET John 17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. CSB John 17:2 for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him. ESV John 17:2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. NIV John 17:2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. NLT John 17:2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. As: John 3:35 Jn 5:21-29 Ps 2:6-12 110:1 Da 7:14 Mt 11:27 28:18 1Co 15:25 Eph 1:20 Php 2:10 Heb 1:2 2:8,9 1Pe 3:22 You gave Him authority: John 17:24 Jn 4:14 6:27,54-57 10:28 11:25,26 Ro 6:23 Col 3:3,4 1Ti 1:16 1Jn 1:2 2:25 5:20 Jude 1:21 to all whom You have given Him: John 6:37,39 Jn 10:29 Related Passages: John 5:27 and He (THE FATHER) gave Him authority (exousia) to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority (exousia) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. John 10:18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority (exousia) to lay it down, and I have authority (exousia) to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” John 19:10-11 So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority (exousia) to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority (exousia) over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me (COMPARE Jn 6:44), and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (NOTE - FIRST CLAUSE IS GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN ELECTION. SECOND CLAUSE IS MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY TO COME TO JESUS. John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. John 10:29 “My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of (SPIRITUAL) death into life. Even as (just as - NET) You gave Him authority (exousia) over all flesh (sarx - humanity) - God the Father has given to His Son the right and the might or power over every human being ever born. What would Jesus' authority include? In this context the Father gives to His Son the right and the mighty to determine the destiny of all flesh, all humanity! Note - Gave or given (same verb didomi) is a key verb in John 17 occurring 13x in 11 verses. Jn. 17:2; Jn. 17:4; Jn. 17:6; Jn. 17:7; Jn. 17:8; Jn. 17:9; Jn. 17:11; Jn. 17:12; Jn. 17:14; Jn. 17:22; Jn. 17:24 Bob Utley on all flesh - The phrase “all flesh” is SINGULAR (a Hebrew idiom referring to mankind, cf. "ALL FLESH" in Ge. 6:12; Ps. 65:2; Ps 145:21; Isa. 40:5; Isa 66:23; Joel 2:28). That (hina - term of purpose) to all whom You have given (perfect tense = denotes the permanence of the gift) Him, He may give eternal (aionios) life (zoe) - That (hina - term of purpose) expresses the purpose or result of the Father having given His Son authority over all mankind. The Son can now give eternal life to the disciples. Notice in these words there is an allusion to election, for this group of mankind (taken from all mankind) are those who are to receive eternal life. Human beings created in the image of God have been given by the Father to the Son with the express purpose that He would give them eternal life, in context signifying that they would come to know the Father, for the only way to know the Father is to know the Son (cf Jn 17:3) Note that eternal life is a gift from the Father through the Son and therefore is not something that can be earned or merited (cf Jn 5:21, 26; Jn 6:40, 47; Jn 10:28; 1Jn 2:25; 1Jn 5:11). It is solely a gift of God's grace to believing hearts and thus stands in marked contrast to the teachings of every other so-called religion in the world regardless of what they call their "deity" (Allah, etc), for every religion teaches some component of human merit or works as the means by which their members are "saved" (aka "Salvation by Works") See Why is salvation by works the predominantly held viewpoint? Try to explain divine election, and you may lose your mind. Try to explain it away, and you may lose your soul. Eternal life is a phrase that we can quickly read over and miss the great truth it conveys, the truth that our salvation is secure, because if it were not, the phrase could not honestly be written as eternal or everlasting! It is not temporary life but eternal life! And of course in context the word life (zoe) does not describe what every human being ever born has experienced, but it speaks of a quality of life which is NOW (not just in eternity future), which is supernatural, which is spiritual (not natural - "resurrection life"), which can be experienced in abundance (Jn 10:11+) and which is reserved only for the chosen (elect) sons of God, those who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus. In fact, all non-believers are actually dead in their trespasses and sins and thus constitute the "walking dead" (Eph 2:1+)! See also Assurance of Salvation. See note on eternal life Eternal life is not endless time; it is God’s own life shared with us now. It is not a quantity of time but a quality of experience. -- Warren Wiersbe David Guzik expands on the picture of the "walking dead" as contrasted with believers - Life is active involvement in an environment; death is the absence of that active involvement. Eternal life means that we are alive and active to God’s environment. If our lives are not dominated by God and the spiritual environment, we live life in the same dimension that animals do, and we live as if we are dead to God and His environment. Brian Bell - Did you know that believers are the Father’s gift to the Son? (see Jn 17:2,6,9,11,12 given) Just as Jesus is the Fathers gift to us (3:16). Bob Utley on all whom You have given Him - The term “all whom” is NEUTER and SINGULAR (cf. Jn 17:7, 24) which focuses on disciples, the body of Christ, not individuals! The verb is PERFECT ACTIVE INDICATIVE which speaks of an enduring gift! This speaks of foreknowledge and election (cf. Jn 17:6, 9, 12; 6:37, 39; Ro 8:29–30; Eph. 1:3–14). In the OT election was for service, while in the NT it is for spiritual, secure, eternal salvation. Believers are also called to service. Election is not only a divine act, but a human responsibility. It is not focused on death, but on life! Believers are chosen for “holiness” (cf. Eph. 1:4), not a for a privileged standing. This phrase should not be understood as the Father giving some humans to Jesus and not others. Spurgeon - In this verse you get the doctrines of general and particular redemption blended. By his death, Christ obtained power over all flesh; his death had some relation to every man, but the special object of it was the salvation of the elect. The purpose of the shower is to water one particular field; but the rain falls everywhere, so plenteous is the bounty of God. The object of Christ’s atonement is to purchase eternal life for those who were given to him by his Father; but he has also obtained power over all flesh......Here we have both the universality and the speciality of the work of divine mercy. Christ has power over all flesh, men are in the power of the one Mediator, but there is this special object ever before him: “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”.....Notice the doctrine of this verse. Here is the mention both of a general and a particular relation to Christ. “Thou hast given him power over all flesh.” Never think of setting a limit to the value of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, never dream that you can understand all its influences and all its bearings; by his death, Christ has power over all flesh. But notice also the special purpose and object of redemption, observe how it applies particularly to the elect of God. The motive for the Father’s giving to Christ power over all flesh is this, “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”(Exposition of John) Authority (1849) exousia from éxesti = it is permitted, it is lawful) means the power to do something and was a technical term used in the law courts, of a legal right. "Authority or right is the dominant meaning (of exousia) in the New Testament." (Vincent) Exousía refers to delegated authority and combines the idea of the "right and the might", these attributes having been granted to someone. Exousia has several nuances (1) freedom of choice, right to act, decide, etc (Jn 10:18), (2). ability, capability, might, power (Mt 9:8); (3). authority, absolute power (Mt 21:23) (4) power or authority exercised by rulers, etc., by virtue of their office . EXOUSIA IN JOHN'S GOSPEL - Jn. 1:12; Jn. 5:27; Jn. 10:18; Jn. 17:2; Jn. 19:10; Jn. 19:11; Eternal (166) aionios from aion) means existing at all times, perpetual, pertaining to an unlimited duration of time (Ro 1:20 - God's power, Mt 18:8 - God's place of judgment, Ro 16:26+ - God's attribute). Aionios (eternal) is the exact antithesis of proskairos (temporal). See additional discussion of aionios in study of eternal punishment, specifically the importance of an accurate understanding of aionios as a refutation of the false teaching of universalism (everyone will be saved). Thayer modified and summarized: (1) without beginning or end, that which always has been and always will be: Ro 16:26, He 9:14. In the Septuagint (LXX) aionios is used for everlasting (Hebrew = olam) referring to God (Study His wonderful Name El Olam: Everlasting God) - Ge 21:33, Is 26:4, Is 40:28, to His Covenant - Ge 9:16, Ge 17:7, 13, 19, Lv 24:8, Nu 18:19 2Sa 23:5, 1Ch 16:17, Ps 105:10, Is 24:5, Is 55:3, Is 61:8, Jer 32:40, Jer 50:5, Ezek 16:60, Ezek 37:26 (See related study - New Covenant in the Old Testament) (2) Without beginning: Ro 16:25, 2Ti 1:9, Titus 1:2, Rev 14:6 = a gospel whose subject-matter is eternal, i. e., the saving purpose of God adopted from eternity) (3) Without end, never to cease, everlasting: Eternal describes a number of entities in the NT -- kingdom = 2Pe 1:11, glory = 2Co 4:17 2Ti 2:10, 1Pe 5:10; inheritance = He 9:15; redemption = He 9:12; comfort = 2Th 2:16; dwelling places = Lk 16:9, 2Co 5:1; salvation = He 5:9; punishment = Mt 25:46; destruction = 2Th 1:9; judgment = He 6:2; sin = Mk 3:29; . For eternal life see 41 uses below). Life (2222) zoe in Scripture is used (1) to refer to physical life (Ro 8:38+, 1Co 3:22, Php 1:20+, Jas 4:14, etc) but more often to (2) to supernatural life in contrast to a life subject to eternal death (Jn 3:36, see all 43 uses of "eternal life" below). This quality of life speaks of fullness of life which alone belongs to God the Giver of life and is available to His children now (Ro 6:4+, Ep 4:18+) as well as in eternity future (Mk 10:30, Titus 1:2+ on Eternal Life). Click for an in depth 8 PAGE discussion of zoe and see preceding discussion of "BIOS" in the New International Dictionary of the New Testament Click for an in depth 10 PAGE discussion of PSUCHE/PSYCHE [which is often translated LIFE] in the New International Dictionary of the New Testament ZOE IN JOHN - Jn. 1:4; Jn. 3:15; Jn. 3:16; Jn. 3:36; Jn. 4:14; Jn. 4:36; Jn. 5:24; Jn. 5:26; Jn. 5:29; Jn. 5:39; Jn. 5:40; Jn. 6:27; Jn. 6:33; Jn. 6:35; Jn. 6:40; Jn. 6:47; Jn. 6:48; Jn. 6:51; Jn. 6:53; Jn. 6:54; Jn. 6:63; Jn. 6:68; Jn. 8:12; Jn. 10:10; Jn. 10:28; Jn. 11:25; Jn. 12:25; Jn. 12:50; Jn. 14:6; Jn. 17:2; Jn. 17:3; Jn. 20:31 ETERNAL LIFE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - Matt. 19:16; Matt. 19:29; Matt. 25:46; Mk. 10:17; Mk. 10:30; Lk. 10:25; Lk. 18:18; Lk. 18:30; Jn. 3:15; Jn. 3:16; Jn. 3:36; Jn. 4:14; Jn. 5:24; Jn. 5:39; Jn. 6:27; Jn. 6:40; Jn. 6:47; Jn. 6:54; Jn. 6:68; Jn. 10:28; Jn. 12:50; Jn. 17:2; Jn. 17:3; Acts 13:46; Acts 13:48; Rom. 2:7; Rom. 5:21; Rom. 6:22; Rom. 6:23; Gal. 6:8; 1 Tim. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:12; Tit. 1:2; Tit. 3:7; 1 Jn. 1:2; 1 Jn. 2:25; 1 Jn. 3:15; 1 Jn. 5:11; 1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Jn. 5:20; Jude 1:21 James Smith - ETERNAL LIFE in 1 John I. Its Definition. Eternal Life is a living relationship to a living Personality (1Jn 5:11, 12). II. Its Location. "This life is in His Son" (1Jn 5:11). III. Its Personification. At the Incarnation the life was manifested. It is personified in Christ (1Jn 1:1,2). Note. We only live; He is the Life. IV. Its Pre-eminence. "He that hath the Son hath the life" (1Jn 5:12, R.V.). There are lives and lives. But this is the life of all lives. V. Its Possession. 1. Negative. a. Those who have not the Son have not life (1Jn 5:12). b. We are by nature dead. "We pass from death unto life" (1Jn 3:14). Wondrous journey! c. One who hates his brethren hath not Eternal Life (1Jn 3:16). 2. Positive. a. Eternal Life is a promise to be prized (1Jn 2:25). b. Eternal Life is a gift to be received (1Jn 5:11). c. In receiving the Lord Jesus we receive Eternal Life (1Jn 5:11, 12). d. We may know for a fact when we have Eternal Life (1Jn 5:13). e. Faith leads to possession of Eternal Life (1Jn 5:10, 11). QUESTION - What is the doctrine of election? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - An election is a time when people choose who they want to fill certain positions from President on down. An election is a choice. The biblical doctrine of election teaches that God chooses to save some, and, by necessity, if He does not choose everyone, then there are some who are passed over. Those whom He has chosen to save are referred to as “the elect” (see, e.g., Mark 13:20). The Bible teaches that God chooses people based on His own purposes and His desire to show grace to undeserving sinners. Ephesians 1:4–6 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” He chose in love, in accordance with His pleasure and will, so that He would be glorified. God’s election has nothing to do with what the elect would or would not do. God did not choose everyone. If He had, then everyone would come to faith in Christ. He chose some, and He left others to their own desires. Left to ourselves, all of us would continue in our rebellion and reject Christ. God chose to pursue some, convict them of their need, and lead them to faith. It is because of God’s choice that anyone comes to faith in Christ. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:44). This is a tough truth to get our minds around. We are tempted to think that we are more just and gracious than God and that He should have chosen everyone. We need to reject that temptation. We are in no place to judge God! It is not as though some are desperately crying out to Him for salvation and He rejects them because He has not chosen them. Those whom God does not choose continue doing exactly what they want—they rebel against God and try to stay as far away from Him as possible. He simply allows them to continue on the path they have freely and willfully chosen. He has, however, chosen to intervene in the lives of some and win them over. He does this so that He might show His love and kindness to people who are undeserving. Without God’s election, no one would ever turn to Him. Some people think that God “chooses” based on the choices that He knows that the elect will make: He knows who will and who will not receive Christ, and He makes His choice based on that. But that would make people the ultimate choosers, with God simply following our choice. Biblically, it is the other way around. God chooses some based on His own purposes, and then, in response to His work in their lives, they choose Him. His choice is first and foundational. Without God’s election, no one would ever turn to Him. Many Christians recoil at the doctrine of election the first time they hear it. But, upon further reflection, most believers will admit that God was at work in their lives, drawing them to Himself long before they were even aware of it. They will recognize that, if He had not intervened, they would have continued in unbelief. The hand of God, working in big ways and little ways, becomes more evident in hindsight. Some object to the doctrine of election on the grounds that it stifles missionary and evangelistic activity. After all, if God has chosen to save some, then they will be saved whether or not anyone takes them the gospel—so why bother? This objection overlooks the truth that hearing and believing the gospel is the means that God uses to save those He has chosen to save. Paul believed and taught election (it is a New Testament doctrine), yet he was zealous like no other in his missionary endeavors. Because he knew that God had chosen to save people through the gospel, Paul proclaimed it boldly and was persecuted for it. He explains, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:10+). Paul endured persecution so that the elect will be saved, because the elect cannot be saved without hearing and believing the gospel. Through evangelism, God allows people to participate in His great plan of drawing a people unto Himself from every nation and language on earth. The doctrine of election frees us to share the gospel without pressure or fear of failure. When we share the gospel clearly, we have been obedient, and that is a success. The results are left to God. Related Resource: How can I know if I am one of the elect? C H Spurgeon - General and yet particular (See sermon General and yet Particular) ‘Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.’ John 17:2 You know that passage: ‘Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.’ How did he love the church? He loved the church with a special love, far above that which he gives to others, or else according to that metaphor a husband ought to love his wife and love every other woman just as much. That is the natural inference of that text; but you clearly see there must have been a special love intended in the husband towards the wife, and so there must be a special love in Christ. He loved the church and gave himself for it. Now do you not think, brethren, as there are two sets of texts in the Bible, the one of which very clearly speaks about the infinite value of the atonement (e.g. 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 John 2:2), and another which very evidently speaks about the intention of that atonement being for the chosen and for the chosen only (e.g. John 10:11; Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 14:4), that the best way is to believe them both, and to say, ‘Yes, I see it—as the result of Christ’s death all men are put under the system of mediatorial grace so that Christ has power over them; but the object of his doing this is not that he may save all of them, but that he may save out of these all which he now has in his own hand—those whom the Father has given him.’ The farmer trusts me with all his sheep in order that I may sever from them twenty which he has marked. A father tells me to go into the midst of his family, his whole family, in order that I may take out of it one of his sons to be educated. So God gives to Christ all flesh, says the text, but still always with this definite and distinct purpose that he may give eternal life to those whom he has given to him. Warren
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Spurgeon - To know God, is eternal life. If you know God, if you know Jesus Christ whom he has sent, you are spiritually quickened. That knowledge has brought to you, nay, it is, in itself, the new life: “This is life eternal,” — not life for a few years but life eternal. Mark the final perseverance of the saints, how they shall hold on and hold out for ever.....No man has life eternal, then, who is in ignorance of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ; but once to know God, and to know Christ, is sure evidence that we possess a life that can never die: “This is life eternal.”....This does not mean mere head-knowledge; but to know in the heart and soul the one only true God, and Jesus Christ who was sent of him to the sons of men, “this is life eternal.” God without Christ brings not eternal life, and Christ, if he were not sent of God, would not bring eternal life to us, but knowing God in Christ Jesus is eternal life......The knowledge of God, and the knowledge of the Messiah, the Sent One, — this is not only life, but it is life that can never die: “This is life eternal.” Have you, dear friend, received this eternal life? Do you know the only true God? Do you know Jesus Christ whom he has sent? Then, at this very moment, you possess eternal life, and you shall never perish, for eternal life is a life that cannot possibly die.(Exposition of John) Bob
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Spurgeon - Jesus regards his work as already done, although he had yet to die, to pay the ransom price for his people, yet by a leap of holy faith he says, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”....Here our Saviour speaks by anticipation. He foresaw that he would pass through his passion, that all the work of his people’s redemption would be fully accomplished, and in this his final prayer on earth to the Father he could truly say, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” May you and I be able to say the same when we depart out of this world! Not boastingly, — there was no boasting in our Lord, — but truthfully conscientiously, from the bottom of our heart may each one of us be able to say, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”! ....What a blessed thing that our Saviour was able to say this just before his death! Oh, that you and I may be able to utter some humble echo of this speech when we come to the end of our lives! This is indeed a life worth living. (Exposition of John) Brian Bell - He had finished the work? But, He was only 33. He only reached 11 men in depth. Wasn’t His life a tragic waste by being cut so short? 1. Only when seen from a limited perspective! 2. Man focuses on immediate results; God, on ultimate results. a) We see only the seed that is sown or, at best, the sprout; He sees the harvest! - There was a famous painting from the 1st world war. It showed an engineer fixing a field telephone line which was essential. He had just completed the line so that the essential messages might come through...when he was shot! The picture shows him in the moment of death, & beneath it there is the one word, “Through!” He had died, he had given his life, that the message might get through. That is exactly what Jesus did. He had completed His task. He got the Fathers message through loud & clear. He had brought Gods love to ma NET NOTE - By completing the work. The idea of Jesus being sent into the world on a mission has been mentioned before, significantly in Jn 3:17. It was even alluded to in the immediately preceding verse here (Jn 17:3). The completion of the “work” the Father had sent him to accomplish was mentioned by Jesus in Jn 4:34 and Jn 5:36. What is the nature of the “work” the Father has given the Son to accomplish? It involves the Son’s mission to be the Savior of the world, as Jn 3:17 indicates. But this is accomplished specifically through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross (a thought implied by the reference to the Father “giving” the Son in Jn 3:16). It is not without significance that Jesus’ last word from the cross is “It is completed” (Jn 19:30). Warren
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Spurgeon - In deep humility, Jesus had laid that glory aside for a while. He had tabernacled in human flesh; and when he spoke these words, the time was approaching when, All his world and warfare done, he should go back to his pristine glory with something more added to it..... Jesus had laid aside his glory for our sakes, now he asks that, his work being regarded as done, his glory may be given to him again....After the finished work, Christ was to have the glory. O worker for God, seek not glory before thy work is done! Expect not honour among men because thou hast begun the work so earnestly; plod on until it is finished, then shall the glory come. “Verily I say unto you, they have their reward,” said our Lord concerning the scribes and Pharisees who sought the praise of men; but you have not your reward at present, it is yet to come. Wait for it, for it is sure to come.....This is such a prayer as never could have been prayed by a mere man and you cannot understand this prayer at all apart from the manhood and the Deity of Christ combined. No human being could have written such a prayer as this even if it had been proposed to him to write a prayer that should be equally suitable to God and man. It is only suitable to Christ, the God-man, and it is in itself one of the best evidences of the inspiration of Scripture. I dare take my stand upon this chapter alone, and say that here we have the finger of God, the writing of the Holy Ghost, and here we have the very words of him who was God and man in one person.(Exposition of John) Jesus eternally had intrinsic celestial glory as God, but recall that He "emptied Himself" (see kenosis) and in His incarnation did not exhibit the same glory He had in Heaven. His celestial glory was temporarily veiled during His earthly life. And yet even as a Man John says that "the Word (Jn 1:1) became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (Jn 1:14+) So what Jesus is asking for is that glory which He had possessed from all eternity. When would Jesus' prayer be answered? After His Crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and at His coronation as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16+). What does the phrase before the world (kosmos) was say about Christ? First, note that world (kosmos) in this context speaks of the physical world, planet earth, home of mankind, not the fallen, godless kosmos. Secondly, note that this passage affirms Christ's preexistence and by extension His eternality (cf. Jn 1:1, 15; 6:62; 8:58; 16:28; 17:11, 13, 24; 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6–11; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; 10:5–8). THOUGHT - What a beautiful request by Jesus for here we see Christ desiring to be seated at the right hand of His Father, where He would be able to fulfill His role as our great High Priest. Indeed, the Father answered and now Jesus Christ sits in this favored position continually interceding for us as described in Hebrews 7:25+ ("He always lives to make intercession for them") and Romans 8:34+ ("Who is at the right hand of God, Who also [present tense - continually] intercedes for us"), also serving as our Advocate as described in 1Jn 2:1+ ("we have an Advocate [parakletos - used of Spirit in Jn 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."). Hallelujah, what a Savior! He was not praying for a “de-incarnation.” His humanity which he took on at the incarnation (John 1:14) remains, though now glorified. NET NOTE - with Yourself - Or “in your presence”; Grk “with yourself.” The use of παρά (para) twice in this verse looks back to the assertion in John 1:1 that the Word (the Λόγος [Logos], Who became Jesus of Nazareth in Jn 1:14) was with God (πρὸς τὸν θεόν, pros ton theon). Whatever else may be said, the statement in Jn 17:5 strongly asserts the preexistence of Jesus Christ. It is important to note that although Jesus prayed for a return to the glory he had at the Father’s side before the world was created, he was not praying for a “de-incarnation.” His humanity which he took on at the incarnation (John 1:14) remains, though now glorified. Warren Wiersbe on “Before the world was” writes that " the Trinity existed in timeless, dateless communion. The fact defies explanation and comprehension, yet it is true. If it is not true, then Jesus Christ lied, the Bible is fantasy, and our universe is an accidental conglomerate of electrical particles that came out of nowhere. (SEE The Intercessory Prayer of Jesus) Timeless, spaceless, single, lonely, Yet sublimely Three, Thou are grandly, always, only God in Unity! Lone in grandeur, lone in glory, Who shall tell Thy wondrous story Awful Trinity? -- Frederick Faber A T
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Spurgeon - They had not all of them clearly seen that manifestation. Jesus had to ask the question, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?” Still, that was not the fault of the manifestation; Christ had manifested the name — that is, the character — of God unto those who had been given to him out of the world. The Name refers to all the Father is including His attributes, His character, etc. In Jn 17:26 He says " I have made Your Name known (gnorizo) to them (referring to all believers)." In the present context the men is most likely the 11 disciples (not all believers), who were the Father's gift to the Son. Spurgeon - God’s people belong to him, he gives them to his Son, Christ gives them his word, and they keep it: “They have kept thy word.” Do we keep God’s word? Do we hold to it? Do we make it the guide of our whole life? Do we seek to obey it? This is the token of God’s chosen people.....Is not that sweetly put on the part of our divine Lord? These chosen men had been poor creatures at the very best; very forgetful and very erring; yet their Lord brings no charges against them but be says to his Father, “They have kept thy word.” ....How tenderly he speaks about them! He says the best he can of them; they were faulty, feeble folk, but he says, “They have kept thy word.” So they did. Oh, that you and I may do the came, and not be swept away by the drift of the current of unbelief! If we are not perfect, if we fail in some respects, yet may the Master be able to say of us to God, “They have kept thy word”!....How gracious it was on our Lord’s part to say the best he could of his disciples! These twelve men had learned but little of the Divine Word, but they had believed what they had been taught; so Jesus could say of them to his Father, “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.”.....What high praise this was of Christ’s disciples! “They have kept thy word.” Poor creatures that they were, they often turned aside from the right path, they were oftentimes very ignorant, and very willful, yet the Lord knew that their hearts were right towards him, and that they willed to learn, and desired to believe. So he saw in them what was often hidden even from themselves, and he testified to his Father, “They have kept thy word.”(Exposition of John) Warren
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Spurgeon - We might have expected that the verse would end, “and I have kept them.” But their keeping God’s Word is the evidence that Christ has kept them. Whenever a soul loves the Word of God, delights in the teaching of Christ, glories in those things which the world called dogmas,— as if they were so much dog’s meat,— when you and I can feed upon these things,— when every utterance of Christ is dear and precious to us,— that is good evidence of our being called out of the world, and separated unto Christ; it is one of the marks of divine grace which Jesus works in those whom the Father has given him: “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy Word.” NET NOTE on the men - In context it specifically refers to the eleven men Jesus had chosen as apostles (Judas had already departed, John 13:30). If one understands the referent here to be the broader group of Jesus' followers that included both men and women, a translation like "to the people" should be used here instead. (ED: OF COURSE MUCH OF WHAT JESUS SAYS ABOUT THESE MEN WOULD ALSO APPLY TO ALL DISCIPLES) Brian Bell REVEALING TO THEM (the disciples)! (Jn 17:6-8,14) -- Jesus had revealed the Father to them, i.e. His character & resources (Jn 17:6,7). Jesus also revealed His Father’s Words (Jn 17:8,14). Manifested (disclosed, revealed) (5319) phaneroo from phanerós = manifest, visible, conspicuous in turn from phaino = give light; become visible in turn from phos = light) is literally "to bring to light" and primarily means "to make visible" or to cause to become visible. The basic meaning of phaneroo is to make known, to clearly reveal, to manifest, to cause to be seen or to make something clear. BDAG (borrow) summarized - 1, to cause to become visible, reveal, expose publicly (w. relatively more focus on the sensory aspect than on the cognitive 2. to cause to become known, disclose, show, make known Liddell-Scott - to make manifest, N.T. II. to make known or famous:-Pass. to become so, Hdt. In the ancient world the name signified not only the person's identity but the inherent character Name (3686) onoma means that by which something or someone is called or known. Thus a name constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or thing. However in antiquity the name meant more than it does today. We use a name as little more than a distinguishing mark or label to differentiate one person from another. But in the ancient world the name signified not only the person's identity but the inherent character of the person designated by the name. Stated another way, in ancient times, one's whole character (title, reputation, person) was implied in the name. For example, in John 1:12 to "believe in His Name" (cf Jn 3:18, 20:31, 1Jn 3:23) is to believe (with a belief that results in a new, "circumcised" heart) in all Jesus is and all He has accomplished to effect our eternal redemption (Heb 9:12). God's Names are in a very real sense God in His self revelation. This is especially true in the Old Testament where we repeatedly and progressively see God revealing His character through a new Biblical Name - See table summarizing some God's names - Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower and discussion of the Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower: Why Should You Study It? Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible - “Name” in biblical usage correctly describes the person, place, or object and indicates the essential character of that to which the name is given. Adam names the animals according to their nature (Gen 2:19, 20); “Noah” means “one who brings relief and comfort” (Gen 5:29); “Jesus” means “savior” (Mt 1:21). NIDNTT (see online page 648 for 9 page article on NAME) - Of primary significance is the name of Yahweh, which He Himself made known in his revelation (Ge 17:1; Ex 3:14; 6:2). One of the most fundamental and essential features of the biblical revelation is the fact that God is not without a name: he has a personal name, by which he can, and is to be, invoked. When appeal is made to Yahweh, He comes near and makes his promise true: “in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (Exod. 20:24; cf. Num. 6:24ff.; → Remember). Priests and Levites, and even the king, → bless in the name of Yahweh (Num. 6:27; Deut. 10:8; 2 Sam. 6:18). The name of Yahweh, indeed, is such a powerful expression of his personal rule and activity that it can be used as an alternative way of speaking of Yahweh himself (Lev. 18:21; Ps. 7:17; Amos 2:7; Micah 5:4). It is the side of Yahweh which is turned towards men, in which Yahweh reveals himself. His historical dealings with men in the past (Exod. 3:6, 13, 15), present (Exod. 20:7) and future (Ezek. 25:17; 34:30 et al.) are inextricably bound up with his name. Misuse of this name in → magic or in false oaths (for oaths were accompanied by mention of Yahweh’s name; → Swear) is forbidden (Exod. 20:7), for the name of Yahweh is a gift of the revelation which is not at man’s disposal (Gen. 17:1; Exod. 3:14; 6:2). The name of Yahweh is committed in trust to Israel: the heathen do not know it (Ps. 79:6). Israel has the task of hallowing it. This takes place in the cult, at sacrifice, in prayer, in blessing and cursing, and also in the holy → war (Ps. 29:8), in other words, in serving Yahweh, and him alone, and in obeying his commands. To take part in the cult-worship of another god therefore involves profanation of the name of Yahweh (Lev. 18:21). The invocation of his name over → Jerusalem (Jer. 25:29), over the → temple (Jer. 7:10) and over the ark (2 Sam. 6:2), consecrating them and associating them with him, is the sole basis of that sanctity Kept (5083) tereo from teros - a guard or warden) means to keep an eye on, to keep something in view, to hold firmly, to attend carefully, or to watch over it (watchful care - Jesus' prayer to His Father for His disciples - Jn 17:11). Tereo speaks of watching over, of taking care of, of guarding something which is in one’s possession keeping it from loss or injury. Tereo is used with the nuance of obey in John 17:6 describing the 11 disciples. Other passages that mean obey - Mt 19:17, Mt 23:3 (tereo = observe), Mt 28:20, Jn 8:51, 52 (one who keeps Jesus' Word = a believer = one who will never see the second death in hell), Jn 9:16 (keep = observe the Sabbath), Jn 14:15 (description of a genuine disciple - love is not just with one's lips but is validated by one's life lived in loving obedience to God), Jn 14:21, 23, 24 (no love = no obedience = not a believer - Note Jesus is not talking about legalistic obedience but Spirit enabled obedience which is the only obedience that pleases the Father!), Jn 15:10 (used twice), Jn 15:20 (used twice), Jn 17:6 (the 11 disciples), Acts 15:5, 1Ti 6:14, James 2:10, 1Jn 2:3, 4, 5, 3:22, 1Jn 3:24, 1Jn 5:2, 3, Rev 1:3 (heed), Rev 2:26, 3:3, 3:8, 3:10, 12:17, 14:12, Rev 22:7 (heeds), Rev 22:9. Tereo with idea of keep watch or guard - John 17:11, 12, 15 with nuance of protection from Satan. Other passages with this sense - Acts 12:5, Acts 12:6 (watching), Acts 16:23, Acts 24:23, 25:4, 25:21 (held in custody), 1Jn 5:18, Jude 1:1, 6, Study the uses of tereo in John - Jn. 2:10; Jn. 8:51; Jn. 8:52; Jn. 8:55; Jn. 9:16; Jn. 12:7; Jn. 14:15; Jn. 14:21; Jn. 14:23; Jn. 14:24; Jn. 15:10; Jn. 15:20; Jn. 17:6; Jn. 17:11; Jn. 17:12; Jn. 17:15 ILLUSTRATION - The Diving Bell Spider/Water Spider/Argyroneta (L. “silvery net”) The water spider is an amazing little creature. It lives in rivers and streams. How does this species survive in its watery environment? It spins a tough basket-like web of silk, a kind of diving bell, and anchors it under water to plants or other objects. Then it captures a surface air bubble, which it pulls down and ejects into it’s underwater house, filling it with air. This combination of web building and bubble trapping allows the water spider to live in an environment that normally would destroy it.1 1. As Christians, we too live in an environment that could destroy us. The world’s values, attitudes, and practices threaten to drown us unless we are able to protect ourselves from them. How are we to survive spiritually in this hostile worldly environment? We must build a “bubble” of protection around ourselves by trusting God, studying the Scriptures, praying, fellowshipping with believers, communing with the Holy Spirit, and obeying His Word. These activities will insulate our mind & heart and help to keep us safe and secure in Christ. As the water spider lives in the water but is not of the water, so we must live in but not be of the world. (Brian Bell) The Praying Patient READING: John 17:6–19 The obituary for Alan Nanninga, a man in my city, identified him as “foremost, a dedicated witness for Christ”. After a description of his family life and career, the article mentioned nearly a decade of declining health. It concluded by saying, “His hospital stays . . . earned him the honorary title of ‘The Praying Patient’ ” because of his ministry to other patients. Here was a man who, in his times of distress, reached out to pray for and with the people in need around him. Hours before Judas betrayed Him, Jesus prayed for His disciples. “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (JOHN 17:11). Knowing what was about to happen, Jesus looked beyond Himself to focus on His followers and friends. During our times of illness and distress, we long for and need the prayers of others. How those prayers help and encourage us! But may we also, like our Lord, lift our eyes to pray for those around us who are in great need. James Smith - THE WORLD. I. The State of the World. The world was made by Him (John 1:10)—Creation. Sin entered into the world (Rom. 5:12)—Corruption. The whole world lieth in wickedness (1 John 5:19)—Desolation. The devil is the god of the world (2 Cor. 4:4), and in Matthew 4:8 we see him offering to sell it. II. The Hope of the World. God loved the world (John 3:16)—Compassion. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)— Substitution. That the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17)—Salvation. He is the propitiation for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). III. The Need of the World. He will convince the world of sin (John 16:8)—Conviction. That all the world may become guilty (Rom. 3:19)—Contrition. That the world may know Thou hast sent Me (John 17:23)— Confession. The gift of tongues at Pentecost is a proof that God desires all to hear and live. The message was for "every creature under Heaven" (Col. 1:23). IV. The Believer and the World. He is given to Christ out of the world (John 17:6)—Divinely separated. He is sent by Christ into the world (John 17:18)—Divinely commissioned. He is indwelt by Christ for the blessing of the world (John 17:23)—Divinely equipped. Vance Havner - THE CHRISTIAN AND THIS WORLD Sermons on worldliness are rare these days. The new word is "secularism." Billy Sunday used to say that the term "worldly Christian" was a misnomer. Of course, Billy didn't put it that way. He said, "You might as well talk about a heavenly devil!" That is in line with the New Testament definition that the friend of the world is the enemy of God. I am convinced that many people we call worldly Christians are not Christians at all. Our Saviour said, "My sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me" (John 10:27). A sheep may fall into a mudhole but is not satisfied to stay there. A hog is at home in a mudhole, and Peter tells us that false teachers who revert to their evil ways belong in that category. It is true that we are not to judge people. "The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Tim. 2:19), and I am glad that He does, otherwise some of them would be pretty hard to identify! That same verse goes on to declare that all who claim to be the Lord's should depart from iniquity. When I see a bird that looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, paddles in the water like a duck, and prefers the company of ducks, I conclude that it must be a duck. "Birds of a feather flock together," and where we feel most at home is where we belong. 1. [The Lord] says we have been saved out of the world (John 17:6). We are the called-out ones. We have been saved out of this world system and given a new position with Christ in the heavenlies. Our citizenship is in heaven, and our standing up there and our state down here, our position up there and our condition down here ought to match.... we cannot make ourselves at home here for we were made for another world. 2. Our Lord said furthermore that we are in the world (John 17:11). Although we have been saved out of it, we still have to live in its houses, trade in its stores, and mix with its people. The old mystics tried to make themselves holier by hiding from society, but living in a hole does not make you holier! Indeed, Paul wrote that to avoid companying with evil men, we would have to leave this world (I Cor. 5:10). Our Lord prayed in this same high priestly prayer: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). 3. [The Lord] says further, they are not of the world (John 17:14, 16). This is so important that He repeats it.... We are not to be conformed to this world (Rom. 12:2); we are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27); we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11). We are not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world (I John 2:15). We are to deny ungodliness and the lusts of this age (Titus 2:12).... We cannot serve two masters. Alexander McLaren said: The measure of our discord with the world is the measure of our accord with Christ.... The measure in which the world agrees with us and says we are really a fine type of Christian, we are so entirely broad, is the measure in which we are unlike Christ. 4. [The Lord also saidj "As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17:18) Here, then, is the summing up of the Christian's relation to this world as set forth in our Lord's prayer. We have been saved out of the world; we still must live in the world; we are not of the world; we have been saved to go back i into the world to win others out of it, and that is the only business we have in the world! We are not to sit in judgment on the age. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and, as our Lord said in this same prayer (John 17:19) for their sakes we should sanctify ourselves-be set apartto minister to the need of this age. We are saved out of this world (v. 6). We are still in this world (v. 11). We are not of this world (vv. 14, 16). We are sent into the world (v. 18) to win others out of the world—and that is our only business in the world! Oswald Chambers - His! “They were Yours, You gave them to Me …” (John 17:6). Be entirely His! A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8). “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His. Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “… you shall be witnesses to Me …” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.” Be entirely His! Bob
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Spurgeon - “They have learnt to link the Father and the Son; they know that though I am the channel of all blessing, yet thou, O my Father, art the fountain from which it flows.”.....How the blessed Christ loves to lay aside all honour to himself even in his own gospel! He said that the things which he had taught to his disciples were not his own, they were the Father’s. The Father always honours the Son, and the Son takes care always to honour the Father. (Exposition of John) “Jesus, we bless thy Father’s name Thy God and ours are both the same; What heavenly blessings from his throne Flow down to sinners through his Son!” John 17:8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I have: John 17:14 Jn 6:68 Jn 14:10 Pr 1:23 Mt 13:11 Eph 3:2-8 4:11,12 received: John 3:33 Pr 1:3 2:1 4:10 8:10 1Co 11:23 15:1 1Th 2:13 4:1 and have: John 17:6,7,25 Jn 16:27,30 1Jn 4:14 Related Passages: John 6:69+ “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Matthew 16:16+ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 16:30+ “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” 1 John 4:14+ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. THE DISCIPLES' RESPONSE TO THE FATHER'S WORDS THROUGH JESUS For (hoti) is a term of explanation in this context and explains how they had come to know that everything Jesus spoke to the disciples came from His Father. the words (rhema) which You gave Me I have given to them - The words Jesus spoke to the disciples were from His Father. In John 14:10+ Jesus asked “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." Spurgeon - You know how men talk against “verbal inspiration.” Yet Christ says, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Many are trifling with the teaching of God’s Word, as if it were of no importance at all Not so did Christ: “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Spurgeon - I want you to notice how the Lord Jesus Christ makes no boast of being “an original thinker.” On the contrary, he says to his Father concerning his disciples, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” I would rather repeat the Word of God, syllable by syllable, than I would dare to think for myself apart from the revealed will of God. What are men’s thoughts, after all, but vanity educed from vanity? But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever; it shall abide when even heaven and earth shall pass away. Hence our Saviour lays great stress upon this fact, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Brother minister, may you and I, when we come to die, be able to say to the Lord concerning our people, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.”....Every preacher of the gospel should ask is it that this is true concerning himself. When we pass on to the people the words which God has given to us, we supply them with real spiritual food, and so we glorify God; but if we only give them our own words, we do but mock their hunger, and we dishonour God. Our blessed Master, though quite able to speak his own original thoughts, kept to the words of his Father; let us be careful to imitate his example. (Exposition of John) And they received (lambano) them - Received (lambano) means they accepted Jesus' words about God. The verb lambano to receive something personally and individually so you can incorporate it into your life. It conveys the idea of to catch something and take into one's possession, so it is as if Jesus "threw" them the "ball" and they "caught" it! In stark contrast to Jews John described in John 1:11 "He came to His own, and those who were His own (absolutely) did not receive (lambano) Him." These 11 Jewish men received and believed. Spurgeon - He is looking at them in contrast with the world which utterly rejected him; in contrast with that world, the disciples had received and known Christ. Oh, what a blessed distinction does the grace of God make between men! We were all blind by nature; and now that we see, it is because the sacred finger of Christ hath touched our eyes, and opened them. Let him have all the glory of it; yet let us note how well he speaks of his people For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” (Exposition of John) And truly (alethos) understood (ginosko) that I came forth from You - This refers to His divine origin. Jesus had used truly (alethos) to describe true disciples (Jn 8:31). These 11 men were truly disciples because they received His words. And they believed (pisteuo) that You sent (apostello) Me - They understood Jesus was sent on mission from the Father. The full significance of this would not come until after the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Spurgeon - Firmly do we believe this, and in our heart of hearts we do accept every part of the teaching of Christ, no matter what it is. I hear people say, sometimes, “Oh, but that is not essential!” There is a great deal of mischief hatched out of that egg. O friends, it is essential that Christ’s disciples should treasure whatever he has said! Never trifle with that part of the Word of God which seems to be less essential to salvation than another portion; for if it is not essential to salvation, it may be essential to your comfort, or your holiness, or your strength, or your usefulness; and if it be essential to God’s glory, let us never trample it in the mire, or in any way dishonour it. Who am I that I should say, “This which God has spoken is important, but that other is not”? It does not do for us to presume to judge the Word of God; we should rather let the Word of God judge us. A T Robertson on You sent Me - This statement, like a solemn refrain, occurs five times in this prayer (John 17:8, 18, 21, 23, 25). Words (4487) rhema from verb rheo = to speak - to say, speak or utter definite words) refers to the spoken word, especially a word as uttered by a living voice. Laleo is another word translated speak but it refers only to uttering a sound whereas rheo refers to uttering a definite intelligible word. Rhema refers to any sound produced by the voice which has a definite meaning. It focuses upon the content of the communication. For example in Luke we read "And they understood none of these things, and this saying (rhema) was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. (Luke 18:34) In the plural rhema ("words"), means saying, speech or discourse. Rhema is used to refer to "the thing spoken of", an object, a matter, an affair or an event. Believed (4100) pisteuo from pistis; pistos; related studies the faith, the obedience of faith) means to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust. To accept as true, genuine, or real. To have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something or someone. To consider to be true. To accept the word or evidence of. Pisteuo means to entrust oneself to an entity in complete confidence. To believe in with the implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted. Christ is the object of this type of faith that relies on His power and nearness to help, in addition to being convinced that His revelations or disclosures are true. Pisteuo can refer to an "heart belief" (saving faith, genuine belief that leads to salvation, this believing involves not only the consent of the mind, but an act of the heart and will of the subject) or an intellectual belief (mental assent, "head" knowledge, not associated with bringing salvation if it is by itself), both uses demonstrated by Jesus statement in John 11:26+, "Everyone who lives and believes (pisteuo - refers to genuine saving faith) in Me shall never die. Do you believe (pisteuo- intellectually) this?" See online resource NIDNTT discussion of the word group "Faith" - 18 page discussion of this vital topic W E Vine defines belief as consisting of (1) a firm conviction which produces full acknowledgment of God's revelation of Truth - (2Th 2:11+ -"in order that they all may be judged who did not believe [pisteuo] the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.") (2) a personal surrender to the Truth (Jn 1:12+ "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe [pisteuo] in His name") and (3) a conduct inspired by and consistent with that surrender.
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Spurgeon - In this, our Lord’s last great intercessory prayer, he was especially engaged in petitions for his own people. There is a sense in which he intercedes for all mankind; but in the higher and more special sense referred to in this verse, Christ’s own chosen ones occupied all his thoughts: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (Exposition of John) but (on behalf) of those whom You have given Me - In context the ones the Father had given Him were the 11 disciples. for they are Yours - He explains why He is praying for them.They belong to the Father Spurgeon - Oh, the blessed union of interests between Christ and the Father! How surely do we belong to the Father if we in very deed belong to Christ, and what a holy unity is thus established!....In the 6th verse, Jesus had said to his Father, “Thine they were; “ and here, in this 9th verse, he says, “They are thine.” They still belonged to the Father, the transference of them mediatorially to the Son having made no change in the Father’s relation to them. (Exposition of John) Herbert Locker on Holy Father - In His high-priestly prayer, as recorded in John 17, Jesus used the tender title Father in three different ways corresponding to the three distinct divisions of such a holy, heart-moving utterance. First of all, He repeated the single, filial term Father four times (17:1, 5, 21, 24), and there was no need of any addition. This favorite form of expression revealed the unbroken intimacy that existed between the everlasting Father and His everlasting Son. In the first part of His intercessory prayer, Jesus is found speaking to God about His past glory, present life and sacrifice, and fu-tare glory, and Father was the most appropriate form of address. But with verse 9, there is a change, for if the first part of the prayer is personal (vv. 1-8), this second section (vv. 9-15) is particular, "I pray [not for Himself now] for them." Then the exclusion, "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" (v. 9). Who are these upon whom Jesus focused prayer? Why, those redeemed by His blood which was the work the Father had given Him to do (v. 4). What was His burden in this part of His prayer? It was that His redeemed ones might be kept from evil in the world. He interceded for their sanctification, and so the term Holy Father was most fitting. It seems to say, "My Father because Thou art all-holy, I desire these My very own to be transformed into Thy likeness. Make them holy as Thou art holy." And this is the mission of Him who came as the Holy Spirit. Daily He seeks to sanctify us through the truth which He Himself inspired. (BORROW All the Divine Names page 70) Adrian Rogers - John 17:9 The passage that is commonly referred to as Jesus' "high priestly" prayer (John 17) is His prayer for the apostles, His original disciples, who were grappling with the announcement of His suffering and death. And what did He pray? "I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one" (John 17:15). He didn't ask the Father to take them immediately to heaven, but to keep them safe from the enemy as they waited for the full expression of eternal life. This is what He is praying for you, even now, even today. Chris Tiegreen - Fulfilling His Prayers “I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” John 17:9 “If I could hear Christ praying for me . . . I would not fear a million enemies.” —Robert Murray M’Cheyne IN WORD - Just as Jesus’ work was not scattershot, hoping to hit God’s target, neither are His prayers. There is a plan in action here. It isn’t that Jesus doesn’t care for the world— His familiar statement in John 3:16 would rule that out, as would verse 21 of this same prayer. Rather, He knows that the fate of the world is dependent on the faith of those who have followed Him. His sovereignty will accomplish His purposes, but in His sovereignty He designated simple human beings as His means for reaching the world. If they fail, the message He has entrusted to them is lost. If they falter, the spread of the gospel is limited or corrupted. The gospel mission of the Son of God is now dependent on the disciples He has called. The situation has not changed. The gospel mission of the Son of God is still dependent on the disciples He has called. His kingdom is being built by His ministry through those who can envision it and who rely on Him. We are active participants in the mission of God. For that reason, we can apply Jesus’ high priestly prayer to us. Just as He prayed specifically for the eleven who were with Him that final night, His strategic prayers are still targeted on us. The exalted Savior still makes intercession on our behalf at the throne of the Father (Hebrews 7:25). Our High Priest has not left us in this world alone with a message to tell and no support for telling it. He is not just a heavenly observer. He is an active participant in the work He initiated. IN DEED - If ever we feel weak or alone in the work to which God has called us, we can turn to John 17 and read Jesus’ prayer. It is a prayer for us, and the Son of God does not have unanswered prayers. His will is one with the Father’s, and His prayers are accomplished. Dwell on this encouraging thought: If you belong to the Father through faith in the Son, the Son is praying for you even now. CELEBRATE BEING PRAYED FOR (See 77 Irrefutable Truths of Prayer - Page 86) I [Jesus] pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. —John 17:9 The Lord’s prayer traditionally ascribed to the prayer in Matthew 6 was actually “The Disciples’ Prayer” that they, and we, are to pray to the Father. So, the real “Lord’s Prayer” that Jesus prayed for us is in John 17. We are to pray as He prayed—for one another. We pray that saints will not fall into temptation. We pray that saints will live pure and holy lives. We pray that saints prosper and be in good health. Praying for one another keeps us in touch with needs, concerns and miracles. When God answers the prayer for another, we can really get excited. We are witnesses to a miracle. Rejoice and celebrate that Jesus continues to pray for you eternally before the throne of God. Celebrate and dance for joy that His intercession is always effective. Follow His example. Pray for the saints. List the saints whom you will pray for today: Take the Trouble of Praying "I pray for them"—John 17:9 A God-fearing lad was reasoning with a wretched companion about his continuance in a wicked course. The rejoinder was: "It is the right thing for you, Harry, to be glad, for you have lots of people who care for you; but as for me, nobody prays for me; I'm so bad that nobody thinks it worthwhile to pray for me—if they ever did pray for me, they have given it up now." "Don't say that, Jack; God is my witness that I never lie down but I pray—'O God, bring dear Jack into the fold of Christ.'" Jack wept and repented. Let no perishing school-fellow be able to say: "You would not take the trouble to pray for me or you might have saved my soul." His First Prayer - Bob Gass (Borrow Fresh Word for Today: 365 Insights for Daily Living page 256) I pray for them. (John 17:9) Can you imagine Jesus praying a prayer for us that the Father wouldn’t answer? In John 17 He asked the Father to do five things for us. I believe we’ll live to see them all fulfilled. First, He prayed that we would see His glory! Listen, “The glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them” (John 17:22). Have you ever encountered the glory of God? When Moses had been in it, his face shone. (See Exodus 34:29.) When Isaiah saw it, he cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone … for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). Once you’ve experienced His glory, it becomes the standard by which all other experiences are measured. It’s worshipers who bring the glory of God into the midst of His people! In the Psalms we learn that God inhabits the praises of His people. (See Psalms 22:3.) The Japanese have a unique interpretation of this verse. Because they carried their Emperor on a great throne, they translate the verse like this, “When we praise God, we create a seat, and God comes down and sits in it.” How wonderful! Any time you make a seat of praise for Him, He always comes and sits in it. He will ride to work with you in the car. He’ll fill any room in your house, for He sits in the seat of your praise, and it’s there that He reveals to you His glory! TOO MANY OF US ARRIVE IN CHURCH PREOCCUPIED WITH WHAT WE CAN GET, INSTEAD OF WHAT WE CAN GIVE. THAT’S GOT TO CHANGE IF WE’RE TO EXPERIENCE THE GLORY OF GOD. Bob Gass - His Second Prayer (Borrow Fresh Word for Today: 365 Insights for Daily Living page 258) I pray for them. (John 17:9) Next, Jesus prayed that we would know the Word. Listen: “I have given them your Word” (John 17:14). Have you heard about the lady and the promise box? One morning she pulled out a verse which read, “And Judas went out and hanged himself.” Quickly, she pulled out another; it read, “Go and do likewise.” In despair, she pulled out another, and it read, “What thou doest, do quickly.” You may smile, but how much time do you spend in the Word? Samuel’s mother brought him a new coat to the temple each year. Was that because the old one was out of style? No! It was because he was growing. (See 1 Samuel 2:26.) Are you still wearing that same old threadbare coat? If you are, you’re not growing! John said, “I write unto you young men, because the Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14, NIV). Peter wrote, “Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Paul said, “Brothers, your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1–3). What a testimony! D. L. Moody said, “A little learning will take a man away from God, but ‘full knowledge’ will bring him back.” IF YOU WANT TO FIND GOD, YOU’LL FIND HIM IN THE PAGES OF HIS WORD TODAY. PICK IT UP AND START READING! Bob Gass - His Third Prayer (Borrow Fresh Word for Today: 365 Insights for Daily Living page 258) I pray for them. (John 17:9) Next, Jesus prayed that we would be united in love. Listen: “That they may be one, as we are one” (John 17:11). When the Red River overflowed its banks in North Dakota, you couldn’t tell one farm from another. All the fences disappeared! What a picture! When God pours out His Spirit in the last days, all the fences will disappear! Many in leadership today will be used of God, but no man will be able to control it or contain it. David said, “Behold how good, and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down … to the skirts of his garments” (Psalms 133:1–2). Unity must start at the head, then on down to the rest of the body! That will mean an end to “turf-guarding” and “personal agendas.” Years ago in the wheat fields of western Canada, a couple was walking with their little boy. Mom thought Dad had him, and Dad thought Mom had him. Neither of them did. When they couldn’t find him they gathered a search party, because it was getting bitterly cold! But after hours of looking, there was no trace of him. Then someone said, “Let’s join hands; we’ll begin at one end, and together we’ll cover the fields.” Soon a cry went up, “I found him!” But sadly he’d frozen to death. As they gathered around his lifeless form, they were heard to utter the saddest of words, “If only we’d joined hands before it was too late.” JESUS PRAYED FOR UNITY BECAUSE THE JOB WILL NOT GET DONE UNTIL WE GET TOGETHER! TODAY ASK GOD TO LET IT BEGIN IN YOUR HEART. Bob Gass - His Fourth Prayer (Borrow Fresh Word for Today: 365 Insights for Daily Living page 260) I pray for them. (John 17:9) Next, Jesus prayed that we would reach the whole world with the Gospel. Listen: “As You have sent me into the world, I have sent them” (John 17:18). An old Methodist missionary couple in China were ordered to leave when the communists took power. When they refused, they were marched, with members of their tiny congregation, to a nearby hillside. The wife was commanded to dig a grave while her husband watched. They were told, “Renounce your faith in Jesus, and we will let you go home.” They replied, “Fifty years we have served Him, and never once has He failed us. We will never renounce Him!” Suddenly, the butt of a rifle came crashing down on her skull, and she collapsed into the grave. Her husband was told to bury her. When he protested, the commandant ordered that his tongue be cut out. First, the old man asked to say something. As they watched in amazement, standing there in a shallow grave in China, the old Methodist missionary began to sing, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather be His than have riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.” Sadly, he buried his wife and returned to spend his last years in Canada. When he shared this testimony at a northeastern Bible collee, 300 young people volunteered for missionary service! GOD MAY BURY HIS WORKMEN—BUT HIS WORK GOES ON! WE HAVE A JOB TO DO, AND YOU HAVE A PART IN IT. ASK GOD TO HELP YOU FIND IT, AND DO IT TODAY! Bob Gass - His Fifth Prayer (Borrow Fresh Word for Today: 365 Insights for Daily Living page 260) I pray for them. (John 17:9) Finally, Jesus prayed that we would experience His joy. Listen: “That they may have a full measure of My joy within them” (John 17:13, NIV). Listen again: “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Your joy comes from within. Paul was often in jail, but jail was never in Paul, so he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). You say, “How’s that possible?” Because threats are not facts to those who are informed! He said, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39). The other day I tried to recall the Christians I knew when I was growing up. Some of them were wonderful, but others were anti-social, censorious, brooding, pickled, withdrawn, intense, and “mule-like” of countenance. I’m sure their experience with God was real, but it did nothing for me. David said, “They looked unto Him and were radiant” (Psalms 34:5). Adoniram Judson, the 19th Century missionary to Burma, was known for his great joy. When he arrived there in 1812, he didn’t know the language, but that didn’t stop him. He approached a Burmese man and gave him a big hug! The man went home and reported to his family that he had seen an angel. The joy of Christ was so radiant on Judson’s countenance that the people of Burma called him “Mr. Glory-Face.” NOW THAT’S THE KIND OF JOY JESUS WANTS YOU TO HAVE—AND TO EXHIBIT TO OTHERS! Robert Neighbour- The Difference Between His Own and the World "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" (John 17:9). There are two sets of sevens, which show how Christ differentiates between His own and the world. We will place them in order: 1. The First Set 1. "They are not of the world" (Jn 17:16). 2. "They are Thine" (Jn 17:9). 3. "They have kept Thy Word" (Jn 17:6). 4. "They have known" (Jn 17:7). 5. "They have received them" (Thy words) (Jn 17:8). 6. They "have known surely that I came out from Thee" (Jn 17:8). 7. "They have believed that Thou didst send Me" (Jn 17:8). Carefully weigh these words. Nothing said above could be said of the world. The words on the one hand give a wonderful description of the saved, and on the other hand they manifest how great is the chasm that separates the saved from the unsaved. 2. The Second Set 1. "Thou gavest them unto Me" (Jn 17: 6). 2. "I pray for them" (Jn 17:9). 3. "I am glorified in them" (Jn 17:10). 4. "I kept them in Thy name" (Jn 17:12). 5. "Keep them from the evil one" (Jn 17:15). 6. "Sanctify them by Thy Truth" (Jn 17:17). 7. "Thou hast loved them" (Jn 17:23). Let the student run his eye down this list and he will see that not one thing said, could be said of the wicked. There is a distinction that is vital and widely divergent between those who are His own, His Blood-washed ones, and those who are of the world. There is a difference now, there is a difference in the ages to come. How vain is the world's boast of a common brotherhood of man, and the common fatherhood of God! The world may seek to enter into His favor and to recline in the arms of His love, but Christ will not have it so. He who hath not the Son hath not the Father; and no one cometh unto the Father but by the Son. In this age of apostate teaching we need to stress once more the difference between the clean and the unclean; the regenerate and the unregenerate; the saved and the lost. When Christ comes to the air the difference will be established plainly enough, for "one will be taken and the other will be left." When Christ comes to the earth, the difference will be manifested with sufficient precision, for "before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25:32). When the Great White Throne finally comes to view there will be difference made plain, for the ones whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life will not be judged. The separation will be forever, and it will be a separation of vast distinctions. What we must do is to press home the distinctions between the saved and the unsaved as Christ saw them and proclaimed them in His prayer. Norman Geisler - JOHN 17:9—Did Jesus ever pray for unbelievers? (See When Critics Ask page 358) PROBLEM: Jesus said here, “I pray for them [the disciples]. I do not pray for the world.” But elsewhere Jesus prayed for unbelievers, even those who crucified Him, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). SOLUTION: In His high priestly prayer, Jesus was focusing on His disciples, not on the world. This does not mean that we should never pray for the world. Indeed, Jesus died for the sins of the world (John 3:16; 1 John 2:1–2; Rom. 5:6–8). He prayed that the Father would forgive those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). He also asked His disciples to “pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). Jesus’ followers urged “prayers … for all men” (1 Tim. 2:1). And, the Apostle Paul prayed passionately for his unsaved kinsmen (Rom. 10:1). John Broadus on John 17:9 (from sermon “The Saviour Praying for Us,”) Jesus was speaking immediately of the little company of men who were right around him, the disciples.45 On the evening before the crucifixion he said, “I pray for them,” but a little later he said, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one” (John 17:20–21). Through them and their word the circle would continue to widen until it would embrace all that would ever become believers in him. I invite you to take this prayer in John 17 as an idea of what sort of things the Lord Jesus Christ is asking for [right] now in your behalf. Oh, the Savior who always lives prays for you and me, knowing us better than we know ourselves. Notice this first petition: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (Jn 17:15). What a common mistake it is to think that the only object Jesus Christ has with reference to the human race is to gather a few of us out of this world and carry us to the better world. But he was going out of the world, and his heart longed after those who had been with him. They wondered why they could not go with him, and one even said, in self-confident fervor, “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). Many good people think hard of themselves because they do not want to die. I have heard such persons say, “Ah, me! I am so unwilling to die! I think anyone who loves God ought to be willing to die.” Well, that is against nature. It is impossible; it is wrong. The Lord Jesus Christ proposes not merely to rescue some souls from this world, but to rescue them in this world and make them live in this world as they were meant to live, by the help of his grace. This world belongs to him, and he proposes to help those—all that will come to him—that are thus oppressed by sin to live a life such as they should live. Elijah lay under a juniper tree in the desert and requested that he might die. In answer to his prayer, an angel came with food that he might eat and lie down and sleep again, and getting up might go work in God’s service. Often when people are whining that they do not want to live, what they really need is food and sleep and exercise so that they may be ready to serve God. John 17:10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. KJV John 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. BGT John 17:10 καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστιν καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς. NET John 17:10 Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been glorified by them. CSB John 17:10 Everything I have is Yours, and everything You have is Mine, and I have been glorified in them. ESV John 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. NIV John 17:10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. NLT John 17:10 All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. NRS John 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. NJB John 17:10 All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. NAB John 17:10 and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. YLT John 17:10 and all mine are Thine, and Thine are mine, and I have been glorified in them; MIT John 17:10 All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine; moreover, I have been glorified among them. GWN John 17:10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. I have been given glory by the people you have given me. all things that are Mine are Yours: John 10:30 Jn 16:14-15 1Co 3:21-23 Col 1:15-19 2:9 and I have been glorified in them John 5:23 11:4 12:23 Ac 19:17 Ga 1:24 Php 1:20 2:9-11 2Th 1:10,12 1Pe 2:9 Rev 5:8-14 Related Passages: John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.” John 16:14-15 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. UNITY OF FATHER AND SON REAFFIRMED And (kai) - "So in verse 9 Jesus said, “I am making request concerning them (i.e., concerning those given to me) … for they are thine.” He now adds that this double ownership pertains to whatever the Son possesses." (Hendriksen) All things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine - NET = "Everything I have belongs to you." In context All things includes Jesus' disciples. It could be paraphrased "All those people who belong to me, belong to you, and all who belong to you belong to me.” This reciprocal phraseology demonstrates the unity or oneness of the Father and Son (and by extension of the Trinity) (Jn 10:30). And I have been glorified (doxazo) in them -‘My glory is shown through them’ [NCV, TEV], ‘through them My glory is revealed’ [REB]. Note the past tense (have been glorified) which speaks primarily of their future glory which is so certain that it is spoken of in the past tense. Glorified (doxazo) is in the perfect tense indicating this glory endures,"in spite of all their (DISCIPLE'S) shortcomings and failings. There is comfort for us in this." (A T Robertson) It is important that this glory continues in His disciples in light of the fact that He will soon be gone. Spurgeon - Every true child of God glorifies Christ; and if you cannot say that you are glorifying Christ, you should question whether you really belong to him. If you are his, it is true of you, “I am glorified in them,” —not only by them, but in them, — “their suffering with patience, in their labouring with diligence, in their faith, in their trustfulness in me, ‘I am glorified in them.’”.....Christ is God, and therefore, looking into the future, he can speak of his approaching departure as though it had already happened. .....I can understand a man saying to God, “All mine are thine;” but no man, unless he is something more than man, dares to say to God, “Thine are mine.” But Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, gives all that he has to God, and all that God has belongs to him, so that he can truly say, “All mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” (Exposition of John) Colin Kruse - On no other occasion did Jesus speak of his disciples bringing glory to him. He did speak of the disciples bringing glory to God by bearing ‘much fruit’ (Jn 15:8), and in Peter’s case by the kind of death he would die (Jn 21:19). It was primarily by believing in him, accepting and obeying his words, and carrying out his commission that the disciples brought glory to Jesus. (BORROW The Gospel according to John PAGE 336) How will Jesus be glorified in the disciples? In simple terms, by their lives lived in the power of the Spirit. Their supernatural lives will serve as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation to give the godless world a proper opinion of Christ (cf Php 2:15). They will do this by their words and their works (cf Mt 5:14-16). They will do it by demonstrating their Spirit wrought unity with one another (see Jn 17:22). They will do it by their love for one another (Jn 13:35) Bob
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Spurgeon - It is a wonderful thing that Christ should be glorified in his people. Can it be that he shall be glorified in me? Dear child of God, you sometimes sit in the corner, and think to yourself, “How insignificant I am! The church on earth would not miss me if I were taken away; and the choirs of heaven cannot need me.” Oh, but your Lord is glorified in you! If you are one of his chosen and redeemed people, in your very weakness and need he finds opportunity to glorify his strength and his fullness. He knows the truth about this matter, and he says, “I am glorified in them.” Robert Hawker on John 17:10 - PRECIOUS testimony of a precious truth. See to it, my soul, that thou suffer not these blessed words of Jesus to drop from thy remembrance; but make them the everlasting meditation, not only of this morning, but every morning, and every day, and all the day; and mark thine interest in them. All Jesus’ treasures, in his people and his grace, are still the Father’s; for as Jesus and the Father are one in essence and in will, so also in property. And the Father’s giving the church to Jesus, with all blessings in him, doth not alienate the Father’s right. So in like manner, all that Jesus hath are the Father’s, and Christ is glorified in them. It is a blessed order in the work and purpose of redemption, to trace the Father as the original Giver, Fountain, and Source of all. And then to trace them as Jesus’, by virtue of his being the glorious Mediator. And hence the Holy Ghost is said to take them as Jesus’, and show unto the people. The Holy Ghost doth not take them immediately from the Father, but mediately from Christ; because, without the person and work of Jesus, they never could have been communicated to us. So that Christ is glorified by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of his people, when that blessed Spirit takes them, and gives them, and shows them, not immediately as the Father’s, but as the fruit and consequence of Christ’s merits and death: and thus showing the common interest both of Father and Son, in all the blessed things of salvation. My soul! dost thou understand these precious things? Oh then live in the enjoyment of them, and see that Jesus is glorified and the Father glorified, in his dear and ever blessed Son. John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. I am: John 17:13 13:1,3 16:28 Ac 1:9-11 3:21 Heb 1:3 9:24 but: John 17:14-18 15:18-21 16:33 Mt 10:16 Jas 4:4 1Jn 3:12 5:19 Holy: John 17:25 Mt 5:48 1Pe 1:15-17 Rev 4:8 15:4 keep: John 17:12,15 10:29,30 Ps 17:8,9 Isa 27:3 1Pe 1:5 Jude 1:1,24 thine: Ps 79:9 Pr 18:10 Isa 64:2 Jer 14:7,21 Eze 20:9,22,44 Mt 6:9 Ro 9:17 that: John 17:21,22 10:30 14:20 Ro 15:5,6 1Co 1:10 12:12,13 Eph 4:4 Related Passages: John 17:21; 22+ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; John 16:28+ “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” JESUS' PRAYS FOR PROTECTION FOR DISCIPLES I am no longer in the world (kosmos - the physical earth, not the anti-God world - Jn 16:28+); and yet (contrast) they themselves are in the world (kosmos - physical and spiritual), and I come (present tense) to You. It's like the disciples are on a dark road and around the next corner (when Jesus leaves) is a large sign saying "Danger Ahead." (the world, the flesh and the devil) In saying I come (present tense) to You, Jesus is speaking of the completion of the drama of redemption which culminates in His ascension (and coronation) (Acts 1:9–10). Come in the present tense could be paraphrased "I am coming" picturing His coming as in process terminating in His ascension. Holy (hagios) Father, keep (tereo - aorist imperative) them in Your Name (onoma), the Name which You have given Me, that (hina - term of result) they may be one (heis) even as (term of comparison/simile) We are - The specific designation Holy Father is only here in the NT. Holy speaks of His separateness and Father speaks of the intimacy Jesus had with Him. In Jn 17:25 Jesus calls Him "righteous Father." Indeed, He is holy (set apart) and righteous (everything He is, does, thinks, says, etc is right in every way). The phrase the Name which You have given Me again emphasizes the oneness of the Father and the Son. Spurgeon - It has been well said that this expression, “My Father,” is a binding up of the Old and New Testaments in one. The Old Testament reveals the holiness of God, but it is the New Testament that is peculiarly the revelation of God as the Father. We put the two together, as Jesus does, and thus he speaks, “Holy Father, make my people one, and keep them one.” Let us close up our ranks, brethren. Let us love each other more; and as Christ has prayed that we may be one, let us constantly seek to manifest our oneness among the sons of men,.....Oh, what blessed keeping is that; to be kept in spiritual oneness! I do not expect to see the people of God in visible oneness; but as there was a secret, invisible union, most real and most true, between the Father and the Son, so there is, at this time, a secret union in the hearts of all believers, most deep, most real, most true. I may never have seen that good friend before; but as soon as ever we begin to talk of Jesus and his love, if we are the living children of the living God, the bond of unity is felt at once by both of us. “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” The request to keep (tereo) them is in the aorist imperative calls for a sense of urgency, for Jesus would soon be gone, so He is calling especially on the Father's care of His eleven. The idea of tereo is keep watch over, guard or preserve. Jesus is praying for their security or protection against opposition which was guaranteed to come (the world, the flesh and the devil), and is also likely praying that they be kept from disunity. Inherent in His request to keep them is that they would be kept to the end or that they would persevere and never deny their Lord. In the phrase in Your Name the preposition "in" (locative of sphere) the atmosphere (so to speak) of God's Name that disciples are protected. Your Name is all that the Father is, His attributes, His character, etc, all summed up in the word Name. This reminds us of Pr 18:10+ "The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is SAFE." Jesus added to this thought on keeping them in John 17:17 when He asked God to sanctify the disciples in truth, that is, His Word. The only successful way to be protected from the world is through God’s Word. Proverbs 30:5 links the Word of God and protection of the saint declaring that "Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Arno Gaebelein adds that to keep means "Keeping from falling away, from evil doctrines, from being overcome by sorrow, or in tribulation and suffering, keeping them in life and in death. From this first petition of our Lord’s prayer we learn the absolute security of a true believer. If a true believer, one who belongs to Christ, who has been given by the Father to the Son, for whom the Son of God intercedes, can be lost, it would mean the loss of Christ’s glory, the loss of a part of the travail of His soul. (BORROW The Gospel of John : a complete analytical exposition PAGE 320) Spurgeon - Here is a prayer, then, for the preservation and the unity of the people of God; two very necessary petitions. Would God that they might be fulfilled in us, that we might be kept, and kept even to the end, and then kept in living union with all the people of God, and with the Father and with the Son!....When God keeps us, he keeps us in unity, our divisions are not the result of his work. When we get away from his keeping, and get away from his Word, then we are sundered in heart from him and from one another; but by his keeping he keeps his children one......See the plaintive power of this prayer of a tender heart. First, our Lord shows his love by praying for us, and then by dying for us. Notice what importance he attaches to the unity of his people: “that they may be one, as we are.” Let us all try to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of piece.” I suppose that, while we are in this world, we shall never all think alike; but let us all think alike about our Lord, and gather to his name, and feel a holy unity through his Spirit. When shall it be again said that all Christ’s disciples have “one lord, one faith, one baptism”? Alas! they rent his seamless robe, and it still remains torn through the schisms and errors which divide his people one from another.(Exposition of John) David Guzik rightly reminds us "Our continuing on in Jesus is not left to our own efforts alone. The world, the flesh, and the devil are so mighty, so pervasive, and so seductive, we could never keep ourselves in our own efforts. If we stay with Jesus, it is because Jesus has prayed for us “Father, keep them.” Bob
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Spurgeon - Christ always has kept his people, he still keeps his people, and he will keep his people for ever. The sheep shall be delivered into the hand of the Father in full number, there shall not be one of them missing in that day when they shall pass under the rod of the great Shepherd....The Scripture was fulfilled in the preservation of his own, and also fulfilled in the destruction of the traitor. God’s Word will be fulfilled anyhow. Oh, that it may be to us a savor of life unto life, that we may be kept by it, and not a savor of death unto death, as it was to Judas, who was blinded by the very light that shone upon him! That fierce light that beat about the King of kings fell on him, and it blinded him eternally. God save us from such an awful doom as that!.....What a blessed Shepherd is this who never lost a sheep! Judas crept in among the flock, but he never was truly one of the flock. He was never a son of God, he was “the son of perdition” all along. Christ has kept all his sheep, and all his lambs; and he will do the same, dear friends, even to the end. (Exposition of John) Vincent suggests a slight distinction writing "The former word means, I preserved them; the latter, I guarded them as a means to their preservation." Tenney adds "tereo has the sense of protection by conservation; phulasso, by defense against external attack."
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Spurgeon - I can only read you this wonderful chapter, but what must it have been to have heard it! I think I see the look on the Saviour’s face as he says to his Father, “And now come I to thee.” May something like that look be on your faces, my beloved, when your last moments come! Looking away from your dear ones whom you must leave as Jesus left his disciples, may you each one be able to say, “And now come I to thee”!.....These are sweet words with which to die. Oh, that you and I might have them in our hearts if not on our lips in our expiring moments! “And now come I to thee.” Our Lord thinks nothing of the bloody way by which he was to go to the Father. What though the cross, and nails, and spear, are in the road? He thinks comparatively little of all those terrible things, for he looks beyond them, and he says, “Now come I to thee.” (Exposition of John) And these things I speak (laleo in present tense) in the world (kosmos) - What are these things? In context, while this could refer to the entire farewell discourse, it certainly includes the prayer Jesus is speaking audibly. Speak (laleo) means to make an audible sound and thus seems reasonable to conclude that the disciples were able to hear His prayer. In the world means while He was still alive and before His crucifixion. Martin Luther wrote "In order that through the Word, caught with the ears and held in the heart, they be comforted, joyfully rely upon it, and be able to say: See, this is what my Lord Christ said, so faithfully and fervently he prayed for me, this have I heard from his mouth, etc. What is needed here is that one hold to the Word with his whole heart and take comfort in that." So that (hina - term of purpose) - The purpose for Jesus' words (these things I speak) is now clearly stated. Remember that the disciples are listening to His prayer and the next words would be very encouraging. They may have My joy (chara) made full (perfect tense) in themselves - Made full is the same verb pleroo used above for the Scriptural prophecy being fulfilled in John 17:12. The perfect tense speaks of filling at a point in time, with the state of filling to continue or last. Note Jesus' incredible description of the joy He desires for His disciples. First, it is specifically MY JOY which means it is not natural, human joy, but supernatural joy Secondly, He is asking this joy would be in them like a cup (of joy) filled to the brim and completely full. This is the third time Jesus mentions joy in the Upper Room Discourse. In John 15:11+ Jesus declared to His disciples that "These things I have spoken to you so that MY JOY may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." In addition Jn 16:20-22+ Jesus promised the eleven that their grief would be turned to joy and that "no one will take your joy away from you." Spurgeon - In this wondrous prayer, note the special design of the words of Christ; not only that we might have joy, but that we might have Christ’s joy, and not merely have a little of it, but might have it fulfilled in ourselves.....While he drained the cup of sorrow to the dregs, and went forward to all the agonies of the cruel cross, he wanted his disciples to have his joy fulfilled in them, that they might be filled full with his joy.....Have you ever obtained this blessing, brethren, — Christ’s joy in you, —what is more, Christ’s joy fulfilled in you? God grant to all of us to know by happy experience the meaning of this wondrous expression!.....Are you dull and sad today? Does anything depress your spirits? It is not according to your Saviour’s mind that you should be unhappy; it is his will and purpose that the joy should be fulfilled in you. Ask for a sip from his cup of joy at this moment, one drop of his joy will make the dullest to be bright, and the saddest to be glad. (Exposition of John) Spurgeon - What an unselfish Saviour! His heart is ready to break with his impending sufferings, and yet he prays for us, that we may be filled with his joy. I suppose that it is true that the Man of sorrows was the happiest man who ever lived. “For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame;” and, notwithstanding his boundless and bottomless grief, yet there was within him such communion with God, and love to men, and the certainty of his ultimate triumph, that kept him still joyous above the seas of tribulation. He prays that that same joy may be fulfilled in us; may God graciously grant it to all of us who believe in Jesus!(Exposition of John) Recall that in John 14:27+ Jesus had promised "My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." In John 16:33+ He stated the peace was "in Me." So hear we see both supernatural peace and supernatural joy are given to the disciples in this dark moment. Recall that the writer of Hebrews spoke of Jesus' joy related to the cross in Heb 12:2+ fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." So clearly the joy that constitutes MY JOY is joy independent of circumstances. James Smith on the power of supernatural joy - Joy is strength, in the same sense in which despair is weakness. Joy in the Lord is one of the most aggressive of all spiritual forces. It was D. L. Moody who said that "God never uses a discouraged man." This joy is a power, because it is the evidence of a life happily adjusted to the perfect will of God. This strength is needed to overcome the manifold temptations that are ever at hand (James 1:1-3), and to uphold when we are made partakers of the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13). If joy in the Lord is to make us strong, then let us rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice. The Lord Himself fulfil His joy in us for His own Name's sake (John 17:15). Chris Tiegreen - Fulfilling His Joy “I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them.” John 17:13-14 “The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief.” —Leslie Weatherhead IN WORD At least two things are clear from these verses: Jesus intends for His disciples to have “the full measure” of His joy; and He intends for them to have it even while the world hates them. Both of these themes are common in Scripture. The Christian life is to be an exceedingly joyful life. There are abundant blessings in the household of God—His mercy, His protection, His provision, His purposes, and more. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). For this we can be thankful and rejoice in everything, for this is always God’s will for us (Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). There is no doubt in God’s revealed Word that tremendous joy is on His agenda for us. And yet how many of us fail to experience that joy! Is it the trials that come to us? Awareness that the world does, in fact, hate us, just as Jesus predicted? Do our own failures convince us that we are outside of the gospel of joy? Jesus’ last words to the disciples before this prayer give us both sides of this coin, as well as the answer to how we can experience joy in our trials: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). IN DEED Does joy elude you today? If so, though you are not alone by any means, you are not setting your gaze on the Christ who has overcome the world. The Savior who lives within you is the same Savior who went through ultimate hardship and gave us a firm hope above and beyond it. His promises are abundant, and they are real. He does not offer us joy without a concrete basis for it. Count on it, rest in Him, and experience His joy in “full measure.” (SEE At His Feet: Daily Readings to Deepen Your Walk with Jesus - Page 243) The Joy of Christ—John 17:13 (BORROW Experiencing God day-by-day PAGE 124) If there is anything that ought to characterize the life of a Christian, it is joy! Jesus spoke many times to His disciples about His joy being complete and full in them. His disciples were filled with joy as they realized who they were: children of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16–17). They had been dead in their sins but were now made alive in Christ (Rom. 6:4). They had once been helpless victims of death, but now death had no hold over them (1 Cor. 15:55–58). With such a marvelous salvation experience with Christ, how could the disciples be anything less than joyful? Don't deny yourself that which is your birthright as a child of God. Don't be satisfied with a joyless life. There ought to be in every Christian a deep, settled fullness of the joy of Christ that no circumstance of life can dispel. This comes as you allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself in your life. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22). This joy is unlike any happiness that is produced by the world. It fills you and permeates everything you do. Jesus did not pray that you would merely be happy or even that you would escape grief. He prayed that you would have the same joy that the Father had given Him: a divine joy, a joy that comes from a deep and unwavering relationship with the Father. It is a joy that is grounded so firmly in a relationship with God that no change in circumstances could ever shake it. This is the kind of joy that Christ is praying will be in you. John 17:14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. given: John 17:8 the world: John 7:7 15:18-21 Ge 3:15 Pr 29:27 Zec 11:8 Mt 10:24,25 1Pe 4:4,5 1Jn 3:12 they: John 17:16 8:23 1Jn 4:5,6 1Jn 5:19-20 Related Passages: Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ Col 1:13 For He (THE FATHER) rescued us from the domain of darkness (OF THE WORLD), and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (NOT OF THE WORLD) John 17:8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. John 15:18-20+ (JESUS' PROPHETIC PROMISE TO HIS DISCIPLES OF ALL AGES) “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. WHY THE WORLD HATES DISCIPLES OF CHRIST I have given them Your word (logos) and the world (kosmos - anti-God) has hated (miseo) them - Jesus words He spoke to the disciples were His gift to them from His Father. The word (logos) refers to the divine revelation through Jesus’ person, teachings, and example. The godless world rejected Jesus' word, while the disciples received and believed His word (Jn 17:8). The godless world hated Jesus, His words and by default His disciples who received (and later spoke forth) His words. Has hated is a past tense description of a future certainty (proleptic aorist). THOUGHT - Have you ever experienced the world's hatred (because of God's good Word, not your bad behavior)? If not then either your light may have become so dimmed (by sin, apathy, etc) that the world does not see a difference in your life (Col 1:27+, Php 2:15+) or perhaps even worse you do not possess a light (Jn 8:12+) even though you may profess to have one! Be circumspect (2Co 13:5+), while today is still called today (cf Mt 7:21-23+). The measure of our discord with the world is the measure of our accord with our Saviour. -- Alexander Maclaren Bob Utley echoes Maclaren's quote writing that "Rejection by the world is a sign of acceptance by Christ (cf. John 15:18–20+)." (Bolding added) Warren Wiersbe on I have given them Your word - The Father gave the words to His Son (John 17:8), and the Son gave them to His disciples who, in turn, have passed them along to us as they were inspired by the Spirit (2Ti 3:16; 2Pe 1:20–21). The Word is divine in origin, a precious gift from heaven. We must never take God’s Word for granted (ED: AND WE SHOULD GIVE THIS PRECIOUS GIFT TO OTHERS, FOR AS JESUS SAID "IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE" Acts 20:35+). (Bible Exposition Commentary) Because (term of explanation) - Jesus explains why the world hated the disciples. God's holy word is the disciples' sword which draws a line in the sand (so to speak) between the disciples who heed it and the lost sinners who hate it (cf Heb 4:12-13+). The word is like a mirror which shows them their sin which they do not want to see (cf Jas 1:23-24+, Jn 3:19-20+). "People who prefer darkness will not tolerate anyone who threatens their existence by bringing light." (Swindoll) They (disciples) are not of the (kosmos - anti-God) world, even as (term of comparison/simile) I am not of the (kosmos - anti-God) world - NET = "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world." When Jesus left them the disciples would still remain in the physical world but would not be in the spiritual world, the world system ruled by Satan (1Jn 5:19) and opposed to God, the godless system Jesus would send them into in John 17:18. Even as is another term of comparison (simile) describing Jesus as other worldly and the disciples also as "other worldly" because they were in Him. Not of this world describes all believers who as Peter says are now "aliens and strangers" (1Pe 2:11+). Paul explains why disciples are not of this world writing that "our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." (Php 3:20-21+) Spurgeon - Jesus puts twice over this most special and important fact, which we must never forget: “They are not of the world.” Let us never live as if we were of the world; but where such a vivid distinction has been made, God grant that there may be an equal distinction in our lives! Now comes the prayer for sanctification.....This does not look like trying to please the world, to adapt our method to the spirit of the age, to come as near to the world as ever we can, to dabble in its politics, and join in its schemes. This has to me a very different tone in it from all that.....“Do not let the world so besmear and defile them as to do them mischief. Let them keep on as lamps burning in dark places. Take them not out of the world, but keep them from the evil.”....We are not so much to be unworldly as to be other-worldly. We belong to another world, to another kingdom, even the kingdom of heaven.(Exposition of John) A T
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Spurgeon - Thank God for that: “Thy word is truth.” Not, “Thy word contains the truth with an admixture of error;” or, “Thy word has some truth in it;” no, but, “Thy word is truth.” Not only is it true, but it is truth, the very essential truth. (Exposition of John) Bob Utley on in the truth; Your word is truth” - Truth refers to Jesus’ message about God (cf. 8:31–32). Jesus is called both the message (Logos, cf. 1:1, 14) and truth (cf. 14:6) of God. The Spirit is often referred to as the Spirit of Truth (cf. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). Notice that believers are also sanctified by truth (cf. v. 19, PERFECT PASSIVE PARTICIPLE) and by the Spirit (cf. 1 Pet. 1:2). John
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Spurgeon - Morning and Evening - John 17 The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. Sanctification begins in regeneration. The Spirit of God infuses into man that new living principle by which he becomes “a new creature” in Christ Jesus. This work, which begins in the new birth, is carried on in two ways—mortification, whereby the lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and vivification, by which the life which God has put within us is made to be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. This is carried on every day in what is called “perseverance,” by which the Christian is preserved and continued in a gracious state, and is made to abound in good works unto the praise and glory of God; and it culminates or comes to perfection, in “glory,” when the soul, being thoroughly purged, is caught up to dwell with holy beings at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But while the Spirit of God is thus the author of sanctification, yet there is a visible agency employed which must not be forgotten. “Sanctify them,” said Jesus, “through thy truth: thy word is truth.” The passages of Scripture which prove that the instrument of our sanctification is the Word of God are very many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds the precepts and doctrines of truth, and applies them with power. These are heard in the ear, and being received in the heart, they work in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure. The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We only progress in sound living as we progress in sound understanding. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Do not say of any error, “It is a mere matter of opinion.” No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God. Sanctify (hallow) (37) hagiazo from hagios = holy, set apart) means to set apart for God, to sanctify, to make a person or thing (in the OT altars, days, priests, etc were set apart) and it carries the thought of the resultant holiness of character in the consecrated. It is the opposite of koinos, which means profane or common. The Greek temple at Corinth housed a large number of harlots who were connected with the worship of the Greek god. Thus, the set-apartness of the Greek worshipper was in character licentious, totally depraved, and sinful. The believer in the Lord Jesus is set apart for God by the Holy Spirit, out of the First Adam with the latter’s sin and condemnation, into the Last Adam with the latter’s righteousness and life (cf 1Cor 15:22,45). Thus, the worshipper of the God of the Bible partakes of the character of the God for Whom he is set apart. This is positional sanctification, an act of God performed at the moment a sinner puts his faith in the Lord Jesus (1Cor 1:2). The work of the Holy Spirit in the yielded saint, in which He sets the believer apart for God in his experience, by eliminating sin from his life and producing His fruit (cf notes Galatians 5:22; 23), a process which goes on constantly throughout the believer’s life, is called progressive sanctification (1Th 5:23). Hagiazo - 28x in 25v - hallowed(2), keep himself holy(1), sanctified(16), sanctifies(2), sanctify(7). Matt. 6:9; Matt. 23:17; Matt. 23:19; Lk. 11:2; Jn. 10:36; Jn. 17:17; Jn. 17:19; Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Rom. 15:16; 1 Co. 1:2; 1 Co. 6:11; 1 Co. 7:14; Eph. 5:26; 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Tim. 4:5; 2 Tim. 2:21; Heb. 2:11; Heb. 9:13; Heb. 10:10; Heb. 10:14; Heb. 10:29; Heb. 13:12; 1 Pet. 3:15; Rev. 22:11 Truth (225) aletheia from a = indicates following word has the opposite meaning ~ without + lanthano = to be hidden or concealed, to escape notice, cp our English "latent" from Latin = to lie hidden) has the literal sense of that which contains nothing hidden. Aletheia is that which is not concealed. Aletheia is that which that is seen or expressed as it really is (this idea is discussed more below). Truth then is the correspondence between a reality and a declaration which professes to set forth or describe the reality. To say it another way, words spoken or written are true when they correspond with objective reality. Persons and things are true when they correspond with their profession (which we describe with words like integrity, sincerity, non-hypocritical, etc). In other words, "what you see is what you get". Hence a truth is a declaration which has corresponding reality, or a reality which is correctly set forth. Since God is Himself the great reality, that which correctly sets forth His nature is pre-eminently the Truth of Creation (Natural Revelation) and the Truth of Scripture (Special Revelation). Thus it is not surprising that rebellious, sinful men actively hold down or suppress the Truth of Creation (and the glorious Creator) (Ro 1:18+) and even exchange the truth, the clearly manifested (and objective) reality (Creation) for the lie (Ro 1:25+). Andrew
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Spurgeon - As the Father took Jesus out of the bosom of his love, and bade him go as his missionary to men, so does Jesus keep us for a while away from the bosom of his glory that we may stop here to be missionaries amongst our fellow-men. Are we fulfilling our calling? Are we justifying the commission which Christ has laid upon us? Oh, that we were doing so to the fullest extent that is possible to us!....Christ was the sent One, and every Christian is also sent. All believers should be missionaries, sent forth upon a mission to bless the sons of men. Kenneth Gangel has an interesting thought on Jesus sending the disciples into the world writing that "From the very first days of Christianity, true believers have practiced separation by infiltration....In the midst of modern conveniences and sophisticated technology, the church finds it more and more difficult to live in the world without being of the world. We find it increasingly tricky to escape the snares of the evil one and the enchanting attractions of our own flesh and the world around us. Calvin once put it this way: “As the wantonness of our flesh ever itches to dare more than God commands, let us learn that our zeal will turn out badly whenever we dare to undertake anything beyond God’s Word.”....Worldliness is more an attitude than an act; it has to do not so much with what we do as why we do it. Perhaps the contrast to separation by isolation is separation by infiltration. The disciples were able to go into the world because they were not of the world. (ED: HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF SAINTS NOW ENTERING THE WORLD BY "INFILTRATION?" IT IS LIKE WE ARE "BEHIND ENEMY LINES" SO TO SPEAK. INTERESTING THOUGHT!) (SEE Holman New Testament Commentary - John - Page 317) NET NOTE - Jesus now compared the mission on which he was sending the disciples to his own mission into the world, on which he was sent by the Father. As the Father sent Jesus into the world (cf. John 3:17), so Jesus now sends the disciples into the world to continue his mission after his departure. The nature of this prayer for the disciples as a consecratory prayer is now emerging: Jesus was setting them apart for the work he had called them to do. They were, in a sense, being commissioned. F B
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Spurgeon - Believers sent by Christ, as Christ is sent by the Father (Full sermon Believers Sent by Christ, as Christ is sent by the Father) ‘As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.’ John 17:18 Our Lord’s mission involved complete subjection to the Father’s will. He said, ‘my Father is greater than I’: this did not relate to his essential nature and dignity as God, but to the position which he took up in reference to the Father when he was sent to be our Saviour. He that sends is greater than he that is sent: the Saviour took up that subordinate position that he might do the Father’s will. From that time forth, so long as he remained under his commission, he did not speak his own words, nor do his own deeds, but he listened to the Father’s will and what the Father said to him he both spoke and did. That is exactly where you and I have to place ourselves now, deliberately and unreservedly. Our Lord sends us and we are to be, in very deed, subordinate to his command in all things. We are no longer masters; we have become servants. Our will is lost in the will of our glorious superior. If we are ambitious and our ambition is guided by wisdom, it will take us down to that basin and the towel and we shall be willing to wash the disciples’ feet, to show that we are sent by our condescending Lord. We shall henceforth have no respect unto our own dignity or interest, but shall lay ourselves out to serve him to whom we belong. Whatsoever he says unto us we shall aim to do. Although we are sons of God, yet now we are also servants and we would not do our own will, but the will of him that sent us. Oh to be sound on this point, so as to yield our members in perfect obedience and even bring every thought into subjection to Christ! Oh to die to self and live in Christ! Passing Through As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. — John 17:18 Today's Scripture : John 17:6-26 There’s an old gospel song that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.” Because God has promised us a new earth (2 Pet. 3:13), it’s correct for Christians to say that we are passing through this present world on our way to our final home. In his book When God Whispers Your Name, Max Lucado writes, “The only ultimate disaster that can befall us . . . is to feel ourselves to be home on earth.” He then tells of a fish lying on a beach, its gills gasping. He explains that because the fish is not made for the beach it won’t be happy until it is put back into its element—the water. Likewise, because we’re not made for this imperfect world we’ll never be happy until we’re in our true element—heaven. Lucado adds, “This is not heaven, so don’t expect it to be.” A place prepared now waits for us, Our Savior told us so; So here on earth we walk by faith, As on to heaven we go. —JDB The more you look forward to heaven, the less of this world you'll desire. In The World But Not Of It As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. — John 17:18 Today's Scripture : John 17:6-21 A young man who had entered a monastery wrote to his father and told him how wonderful it was to be there. Every morning at 2 o’clock the men would arise to chant ancient sacred songs. His father, a wise and thoughtful man, wrote back, “Dear Son: Your mother and I are so happy to know that you have found your vocation. But always remember one thing: We too, and many parents like us living in the world, have arisen on numerous occasions at 2 o’clock in the morning to feed our babies, and in the process have found our own vocation equally sacred.” Living a God-honoring life in an evil world is not primarily a matter of the right outer location but of the right inner separation. What’s most important is not where we live but how we live. The essence of the Lord Jesus’ prayer for His followers in John 17 was this: “Keep them in the world, but keep the world out of them.” But how can we maintain this “in the world but not of it” balance? Only by regularly taking into our hearts the Word of truth and obeying that Word (v.17). In this world but never of it; Help me, Lord, to live this day Free from all that would entangle Of the dazzle and array. —Graves Take in the word to keep out the world. Jon Courson - John 17:18 (BORROW A Day's Journey: 365 Daily Meditations from the Word) Jesus not only kept those entrusted to Him, He sent them out; He made opportunities for them. Earlier, He had said, ‘They are not of the world,’ but yet He sent them into the world. Christian, listen carefully. We are not to be of the world, but we must be in the world. The mistake of the monastery movement lies in isolation from the world. You can get away, yes, but don’t stay away. Jesus ripped into that wrong understanding when He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. You can’t walk on the other side of the street to avoid the stench and infection of the world. The answer lies not in isolation, but in incarnation, for just as God became Man yet retained His deity, so we are a people who, although we live among humanity, are linked to eternity. We’re here in the flesh, but we are really living in heaven. That’s where our hope, our destiny, and our source of strength lie. In the aftermath of the December 7th bombing of Pearl Harbor, divers were sent to rescue the survivors. In one compartment of the USS Utah, however, it was impossible to get to the men trapped inside. The divers could hear men tapping ‘Is there any hope?’ in Morse Code, but rescue was impossible with the technology then available. The tapping finally stopped December 27th. We’re deep-sea divers, gang—down here on earth, but connected to heaven. We don’t fit in here; we don’t belong here; and we’re not going to stay here. But the Lord has allowed us to be here, pumping the oxygen of the Spirit and the Scriptures to us saying, ‘There are people to rescue. Do what you can as I guide and lead you.’ Brian Bell - They are not of the world(14,16); they are not taken out of the world right away(15); but are sent into the world. Be insulated, not isolated! Illustration: There are 2 ways of handling pressure: One is illustrated by a bathysphere, the miniature submarine used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine like an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several inches thick, which keeps the water out but also makes them heavy and hard to maneuver. Inside they're cramped. When these craft descend to the ocean floor, however, they find they're not alone. When their lights are turned on and you look through the tiny, thick plate glass windows, what do you see? Fish! These fish cope with extreme pressure in an entirely different way. They don't build thick skins: they remain supple and free. They compensate for the outside pressure through equal and opposite pressure inside themselves. Christians, likewise, don't have to be hard and thick skinned - as long as they appropriate God's power within to equal the pressure without. John 17:19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. for: Isa 62:1 2Co 4:15 8:9 1Th 4:7 2Ti 2:10 I sanctify: John 10:36 Jer 1:5 1Co 1:2 Heb 2:11 Heb 9:13,18,26 10:5-10,29 that: John 17:17 Titus 2:14 JESUS SANCTIFIES HIMSELF BY DYING ON THE CROSS For their sakes (huper - in our place) - This speaks of Jesus becoming our Substitute. The idea is He sanctified Himself in our place, taking our place (we deserved to die because of our sin) on the Cross. We see this same use of huper to indicate the laying down of Jesus’ own life (Jn 11:51; 10:11, 17–18; Jn 15:13; Ro 8:32, et al). Jesus is referring to offering Himself as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. (Jn 1:29) I sanctify (hagiazo) Myself, that (hina - term of purpose) they themselves also may be sanctified (hagiazo) in truth - In the Old Testament, the sacrificial animals had to be sanctified or set apart before they could be killed and offered to God. In prayer Jesus here is setting Himself apart for God as the Sacrifice for sin (cf He 10:7+) and thus this speaks of His atoning death on the Cross. The purpose of Jesus sanctifying Himself was that the disciples could then be sanctified in truth (both positionally - justification and experientially - sanctification). Spurgeon - That shows that Christ’s prayer embraces us also who have been brought to believe on him through the word which the apostles declared. Christ, with prescient eye, looked on every one of us who believe on him, and prayed for each one of us as much as he did for John, and Peter, and James.....“I separate myself to this work, I dedicate, devote, consecrate myself wholly for their sakes,”(Exposition of John) The disciples are sanctified in the sense that they are set apart spiritually and thus prepared to accomplish their mission to be Jesus' witnesses "both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8+). Colin Kruse on how are the disciples are sanctified - By laying down His life he also sanctified them, i.e. He cleansed them from sin, separated them from the world, and set them apart as His witnesses in the world. (BORROW The Gospel According to John : An Introduction and Commentary PAGE 340) F F Bruce - If the disciples are to be effectively set apart for the work which they must do, the Son must first set himself apart for the work which he must do. He therefore consecrates himself to God on their behalf. Chrysostom paraphrases “I sanctify myself” as “I offer myself in sacrifice.” (BORROW The Gospel and epistles of John PAGE 334) William
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Spurgeon - Thank God that he will bless our word as well as his own Word! When our word is based upon his Word, when we do but expound what Christ has given us to say, then men shall believe on him through our word.(Exposition of John) Henry
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Spurgeon - Let us more and more lay aside everything that divides, especially that evil heart of unbelief, and pride, and self-seeking, which is the great sect making faculty. May we get rid of that evil, and come more and more to realize that all men who are really in Christ are of God and must be one. If we are members of one body, one blood courses through our veins, and gives us life. One Spirit is in the one body of Christ. There cannot be two lives, there cannot be two beings within the one body of Christ. All true believers must be one, and truly, if we speak truth to one another concerning our Lord, and especially if we speak much to God together in prayer, we straightway perceive that we are one. (Exposition of John) Merrill Tenney - He was not calling for uniformity, since he and the Father are distinct from each other and have different functions; nor was he calling for agreement in external opinion. He predicated that the unity would be one of nature; for he and the Father, while distinguishable in person, are one being. As previously stated, the new birth brings believers into the family of God (ED: A PICTURE OF UNITY) by spiritual generation (Jn 1:12–13+). The concept parallels the Pauline teaching on the body of Christ, that all believers belong by a vital (ED: SUPERNATURAL) rather than merely a formal relationship (1 Cor 12:12–13+ = "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body"). (BORROW The Expositor's Bible Commentary PAGE 358) Charles Swindoll adds "Unity is not uniformity. Training for the military strips each recruit of his or her individuality in order to create a uniform kind of unity. All new recruits are given the same haircut and required to wear the same uniform. At graduation from boot camp, all emerge looking the same, sounding the same, behaving the same, and prepared for the same kind of duty. But the body of Christ is not uniform (1 Cor. 12)....Unity is not unanimity. Unanimity requires absolute agreement on every matter, including matters of conscience and matters of opinion. While we must agree on certain crucial matters of absolute truth, we have the freedom to disagree on many matters without having to forfeit love or acceptance....Unity is not unification. I don’t think Jesus Christ is half as disturbed as people are by the existence of various denominations. The manner in which some believers broke away from others might not have been admirable, and the doctrines of some are not as pure as others; but the concept of churches differing on nonessential matters and maintaining distinct identities does not endanger unity. Some extremists, it is true, seek reasons to separate. Some believers cannot distinguish between essential and nonessential matters of doctrine and therefore behave arrogantly toward those who disagree, perceiving more divisions than really exist. (See Insights on John) John
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Spurgeon - Unity in Christ (Full sermon Unity in Christ) ‘Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.’ John 17:20–21 If you would promote the unity of Christ’s church, look after his lost sheep, seek out wandering souls. If you ask what is to be your word, the answer is in the text—it is to be concerning Christ. They are to believe in him. Every soul that believes in Christ is built into the great gospel unity in its measure, and you will never see the church as a whole while there is one soul left unsaved for whom the Saviour shed his precious blood. Go out and teach his Word! Tell out the doctrines of grace as he has given you ability. Hold up Christ before the eyes of men, and you will be the means in God’s hand of bringing them to believe in him, and so the church shall be built up and made one. Here is work for the beginning of the year; here is work till the end of the year. Do not sit down and scheme and plot and plan how this denomination may melt into the other; you leave that alone. Your business is to go and ‘tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour you have found’, for that is God’s way of using you to complete the unity of his Church. Unless these be saved, the Church is not perfect. That is a wonderful text, ‘That they without us should not be made perfect.’ That is to say, saints in heaven cannot be perfect unless we get there. What! the blessed saints in heaven not perfect except the rest of believers come there? So the Scripture tells us, for they would be a part of the body and not a whole body An Error Often Committed by Christians "That they all may be one."—John 17:21 In a sermon which the Rev. W. Williams once delivered at Rhos, this anecdote occurred, applying to his favourite topic of Christian union: "I recollect," he said "on one occasion conversing with a marine, who gave me a good deal of his history. He told me that the most terrible engagement he had ever been in, was one between the ship to which he belonged and another English vessel, when, on meeting in the night, they mistook each other for enemies. Several persons were wounded, and both vessels were much damaged by the firing. When the day broke, great and painful was the surprise to find the English flag hoisted from both ships. They saluted each other, and wept bitterly together over their mistake. Christians, sometimes, commit the same error. One denomination mistakes another for an enemy; it is night, and they do not recognise one another. What will be their surprise when they see each other in heaven's light! How will they salute each other when better known and understood! Bad News, Good News [I pray] that they all may be one, . . . that the world may believe that You sent Me. — John 17:21 Today's Scripture : John 17:20-26 Five days before Christmas, the newspaper headline proclaimed: “Good will? Peace? Not in this church.” A 133-year-old congregation was being torn apart. The pastor was being heckled during his sermons. Competing factions were passing around their own collection plates. The police even had to be called in when the arguing got out of hand during a service. That’s bad news. We wince at the public spectacle of Christians divided by jealousy and anger. On the other hand, the good news is that this is a rare occurrence. Newspapers typically report the unusual and bizarre, not the ordinary events of everyday life. We read about one plane crash, not the countless safe landings; about one church that is torn by hatred, not the many that are filled with love. Just before Jesus’ crucifixion, He prayed that His followers would all “be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (Jn. 17:21). Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. —Fawcett There is no place in the body of Christ for a bone of contention. QUESTION - What is unity in Christ? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - Unity is a state of oneness and harmony. All believers in Christ are united in Christ. We are in a relationship that unites us with Him and with every other believer. Unity in Christ has two aspects— one is objective fact, and one is subjective experience Jesus prayed for His disciples—all who would believe in Him for all the ages—“that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21). Some look at the great divisions among Christian denominations and refer to this as Christ’s great “unanswered prayer.” However, Scripture is clear that all believers are united with Christ because of our relationship with Him and with all other believers. We are all in the same family, even it at times we do not act like it. Therefore, unity in Christ has two aspects—one is objective fact, and one is subjective experience. Objective and subjective unity can be true for any number of groups, teams, or even families. All the members of a football team are unified by their membership in the group. They do not win or lose games individually. The individuals contribute to the group, but it is the group that wins or loses—that is the objective fact. However, there may be times that the team does not act in a unified way. Selfishness and rivalry may creep up, and, when it does, it is impossible for the team to act as a unit—this is the subjective aspect. The behavior of individuals on the team is not matching the fact of their unity with every other member of the team. All who believe in Christ are part of His body, the church. The New Testament is clear on this. Ephesians 5:30 says it plainly: “For we are members of his body.” Whether a Christian feels like it or not, he or she is part of Christ’s body and therefore unified with every other believer. Paul uses the analogy of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12–21: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. “Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” The human body is a unified whole. If one part does not work right, the whole body suffers. If a person smashes his thumb with a hammer, it is not just the thumb in isolation that hurts. Other parts of the body may hurt, too, and the functioning of the whole body is impaired. This is true even when a person does not know about the malfunctioning part. If an internal organ is not functioning properly, damage may be done to the body before any pain or obvious illness is present. In the same way, the church has unity in Christ. As part of His body, each member has a particular job to do and a place to belong. When any individual member is not fulfilling his or her purpose in the body, the whole body suffers. All the members are united, and because of that unity, when one acts in an individualistic or selfish manner (i.e., acts as if he is not part of the body), the whole body suffers because, regardless of his actions, the individual member is still in unity with all the others in the body. Many of the commands in the New Testament direct Christians to live up to their position and demonstrate their unity in Christ. Christians are not commanded to become one in Christ—that is already an objective reality. Christians are told to make their subjective experience match the objective fact. Paul pleads with the Philippians for this kind of unity: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:1–4). If Christians, who are members of the same team, see themselves in competition with each other, then they are not playing as teammates. They are not living in light of the unity that exists. Unity in Christ means that all believers are in a relationship with Christ and, by extension, to every other believer. All believers are united with each other whether they know it or not, like it or not, or feel like it or not. The challenge of Christian unity is to live up to the truth of that reality. Since we are all members of one body, we need to live like it. This means subordinating our individual needs to the needs of the body at large and using our individual gifts for the good of the whole body. Unity in Christ does not mean that all differences between churches or denominations need to be abolished. Individual churches and denominations can keep their individual distinctives and emphases while still working together in areas where they agree. For instance, an evangelical Baptist church and an evangelical Presbyterian church will be in agreement on the gospel and the essentials of the faith, but because of different beliefs about baptism, it would be impossible for these two churches to simply unite as one church. It might be possible for a church to take a neutral position on infant baptism; however, it is hard to see how a church could teach that parents should baptize their babies (as do Presbyterian churches) and simultaneously teach that parents should not baptize their babies (as in Baptist churches). While these two groups could never unite as a single local church or denomination, they can still cooperate in other ministry endeavors, and individuals within each local body can fellowship with and love each other. QUESTION - What is the importance of Christian unity? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - Shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for unity among His followers: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11). Later in the same prayer, Jesus asked “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us. . . . I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21–23). Obviously, Christian unity is important to our Lord. Jesus not only prayed for unity, but He gave the reasons that Christian unity is important: He asked that all believers may be in the Father and the Son, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). And then Jesus prayed for “complete unity” so that “the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (verse 23). When Christians are united in Christ, the world sees two things clearly: Jesus was sent by the Father, and Jesus loves His church. In Romans 15:5–6, we see another, more general reason that Christian unity is important: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV). The bottom line is God’s glory. God’s people should be speaking with one voice in glorifying God. Christian unity comes with Christian maturity, and it is always something that we strive to attain. Paul instructs us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Helping us toward that unity are the gifts of the Spirit. God has given each Christian different gifts, and their exercise in the edification of the church leads to more and more unity. One purpose of the gifts is that “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). To promote Christian unity, God presents the church in 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 as a living body. The body has many members, each with specialized work to do, but all the parts are united in the Head of the Body, which is Christ (see Ephesians 4:15). Christians naturally form local communities in which no one needs to rejoice or suffer alone (Romans 12:15; 1 Corinthians 12:26). Christians from many different backgrounds working in unity display the power of the gospel and the universality of its saving message (Galatians 3:26–28). Christians bring honor to God’s name by pursuing unity in the power of the Holy Spirit who brings us together as one through faith in Christ. Christian unity is a virtue, but there are some things that can and should limit unity. We don’t pursue unity simply for the sake of unity; it is Christ and His truth that unite us. Scripturally, we are to separate from professed brothers and sisters in Christ who live in persistent, unrepentant sin (Matthew 18:15–17; 1 Corinthians 5:1–2) and from those who teach false doctrine (Revelation 2:14–15). “Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them” (Romans 16:17). As Ephesians 4:13 intimates, we won’t reach full Christian unity until we attain “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” So we probably won’t fully realize Christian unity in this world. But we strive for it. The unity that faith in Christ brings extends God’s love on earth and demonstrates the truth of who Jesus is. Unity in the church also foreshadows the worship in heaven, where a great multitude “from every nation, tribe, people and language” stands before God and cries out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9–10). Related Resources: What does it mean to be in one accord? J C
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Spurgeon - Morning and Evening—John 17:22 Behold the superlative liberality of the Lord Jesus, for he hath given us his all. Although a tithe of his possessions would have made a universe of angels rich beyond all thought, yet was he not content until he had given us all that he had. It would have been surprising grace if he had allowed us to eat the crumbs of his bounty beneath the table of his mercy; but he will do nothing by halves, he makes us sit with him and share the feast. Had he given us some small pension from his royal coffers, we should have had cause to love him eternally; but no, he will have his bride as rich as himself, and he will not have a glory or a grace in which she shall not share. He has not been content with less than making us joint-heirs with himself, so that we might have equal possessions. He has emptied all his estate into the coffers of the Church, and hath all things common with his redeemed. There is not one room in his house the key of which he will withhold from his people. He gives them full liberty to take all that he hath to be their own; he loves them to make free with his treasure, and appropriate as much as they can possibly carry. The boundless fulness of his all-sufficiency is as free to the believer as the air he breathes. Christ hath put the flagon of his love and grace to the believer’s lip, and bidden him drink on for ever; for could he drain it, he is welcome to do so, and as he cannot exhaust it, he is bidden to drink abundantly, for it is all his own. What truer proof of fellowship can heaven or earth afford? “When I stand before the throne Dressed in beauty not my own; When I see thee as thou art, Love thee with unsinning heart; Then, Lord, shall I fully know— Not till then—how much I owe.” Oswald Chambers - Personality “… that they may be one just as We are one …” (John 17:22). Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator. Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person—“I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person—“… that they may be one just as We are one …” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love—personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another. C H Spurgeon The glory, unity, and triumph of the church John 17:22-23 (See full sermon The Glory, Unity, and Triumphs of the Church) ‘And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.’ John 17:22–23 The word ‘world’ has many shades of meaning, ranging from that jet black meaning in which the ‘world lieth in wickedness’ and that other, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’, upward to the milder senses in John 1:10, ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not’, and yet higher to the brighter meaning, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ’. It is not in the worst sense that our text speaks of the world, but in the same manner as we find it used in such passages as these: ‘The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’; ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them’; and again in 1 John 2:2 ‘And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’ It is certain that ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’, and we cannot suppose that the great Redeemer would refuse to pray for those for whom he was given. I understand in this particular place by the word ‘world’ the whole mass of mankind upon the face of the earth who are not as yet converted; among them there is an elect part, for our Lord speaks of some men who shall yet believe on him through the word of his servants, but these at this present moment are undistinguished from the rest. I understand here by the word ‘world’ all as yet unrenewed out of the whole living family of man; on account of these our Lord would have his believing people brought into this admirable condition. For the sake of the world he would have the church in a high state of holy beauty and strength. John 17:23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. I: John 6:56 14:10,23 Ro 8:10,11 1Co 1:30 2Co 5:21 Ga 3:28 1Jn 1:3 1Jn 4:12-16 made: Eph 4:12-16 Php 3:15 Col 1:28 2:2,9,10 3:14 1Pe 5:10 the: John 13:35 and hast: John 17:24 Eph 1:6-14 1Jn 3:1 4:19 THE CAUSE OF AND PURPOSE OF UNITY I in them and You in Me - This describes the divine nature of Christ in believers, as Peter alluded to in 2Pe 1:4 and Paul in Gal 2:20. The believer's life is forever unity with Christ because of the New Covenant in His blood. (See The Oneness of Covenant; Oneness Notes). Our eternal address is IN ME, in Christ! Is this not the Source of our supernatural power by which we can bear much fruit (Jn 15:5)? That's rhetorical of course! He has just stated "that they may be one as We are one," and now expands on that same thought of oneness or unity. I in them is a description of the oneness of believers with Christ. The thought is just as Jesus is united with believers, one with them, living in them (cf "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Col 1:27b). Godet phrases it 'I live in them and You live in Me.' You in Me is a description of the oneness of the Father and the Son. The life of the Father is in the Son and the life of the Son is in His disciples, creating the foundation for the following result to be realized (unity of the Body of Christ). Spurgeon - Do you understand this wonderful union? Jesus Christ in you: “I in them,” and then the Father in Christ: “and thou in me,” — Christian unity is not organization or external, but rather is based on shared life in Jesus Christ -- Steven Cole That (hina - term of purpose) they may be perfected (teleioo - attain to the goal of) in unity (heis) - NET - "that they may be completely one," NIV - "May they be brought to complete unity." The result of the unity described in I in them and You in Me should result in the Body of Christ attaining to that same unity amongst themselves. Perfected is in the perfect tense which indicates an action (i.e., the attaining of unity or oneness) that is brought to a state of completion and continues in that state. Indeed, the Body of Christ will one day attain this perfect unity in Heaven and it will endure forever. For now, it is the ideal for which Jesus prays. To say it another way, since the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the disciples, they are completely filled with God’s presence and in this way they are united, joined together as one. D A Carson points out that "Like sanctification, this oneness is simultaneously something already achieved and something that needs perfecting.” (BORROW The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus PAGE 198) The thought is breathtakingly extravagant. Carson in his other commentary on the Gospel of John adds that "The thought is breathtakingly extravagant. The unity of the disciples, as it approaches the perfection that is its goal (teteleiōmenoi; cf. the use of this verb [teleioo] in Jn 4:34; 5:36; 17:4), serves not only to convince many in the world that Christ is indeed the supreme locus of divine revelation as Christians claim (that you sent me), but that Christians themselves have been caught up into the love of the Father for the Son, secure and content and fulfilled because loved by the Almighty himself (cf. Eph. 3:17b–19+), with the very same love He reserves for his Son. It is hard to imagine a more compelling evangelistic appeal. (BORROW The Gospel according to John PAGE 568) Steven
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Spurgeon - Wonderful words! How shall we dive into their depths? To think that the Father should have loved us even as he loved his only-begotten Son; oh, the heights and depths of this wondrous love!....This is a wonderful expression. Does the Father love his people as he loves Christ? Then his love to them must be without beginning, without change, without measure, without end. Oh, it would ravish your heart, it would carry you away to the very heaven of heavens, if you could get the full meaning of this expression, “and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”! (Exposition of John) Warren
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Spurgeon - “Let us cultivate everything that would tend to unity. Are any sick? Let us care for them. Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we perceive faults in a brother? Let us admonish him in love and affection. “Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God.“Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views to the teaching of God’s Word. Let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in churches never begin with those full of love for the Savior. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions—these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body. But he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example, will be, wherever he goes, a holy link to bind the church more closely than ever together.” Bill Bright - Love Without Limit John 17:22, 23 One day, as I was reading this prayer of Jesus to God the Father, I leaped from my chair in excitement when I realized that God loves me as much as He loves His only begotten Son! What is more, He loves us unconditionally. That means He loves us not because we are good, or worthy of His love, but simply because of Who He is. Of course, the miracle of it all is that when Jesus, Who is the incarnation of God’s love, comes to live within us, that same supernatural love becomes operative within us, enabling us to love others supernaturally as well. Agape (sacrificial, supernatural and unconditional love) is best described in the well-known and oft-quoted 1 Corinthians 13 - “Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.” (BORROW Promises: A Daily Guide to Supernatural Living PAGE 10) God’s Catalog By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. — John 13:35 Today's Scripture : John 17:20-26 Tis the season to receive catalogs in the mail. Every trip to the mailbox ends with an armload of slick holiday catalogs. Each one claims to offer me something I need—immediately. “Don’t wait!” “Limited offer!” “Order now!” The lure works. I open the pages to discover what I didn’t know I needed. Sure enough, I see things that suddenly seem essential, even though a few minutes earlier I didn’t know they existed. Manufacturers use catalog illustrations to create desire for their products. In a way, Christians are God’s catalogs. We are His illustration to the world of what He has to offer. His work in our lives makes us a picture of qualities that people may not know they need or want until they see them at work in us. Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified so the world would know that God sent Him and loved them as God loved Him (John 17:23). When Christ is alive in us, we become examples of God’s love. We can’t manufacture love. God is the manufacturer, and we are His workmanship. What does the world see in us That they can’t live without? Do they see winsome qualities And love that reaches out? —Sper As a Christian, you are “God’s advertisement.” Do people want what they see in you? Ken Boa on John 17 - In this chapter, we are privileged to enter the most holy place of loving communion between the Father and the Son. In this high priestly prayer, offered just prior to the anguish of the garden, betrayal and arrest, trials, insults, beatings, and crucifixion, Jesus interceded on behalf of His disciples as well as those who believe in Him through their word. Now that He is about to leave the world, Jesus lifts up those who have been given to Him and asks His Father to “keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.” Just as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, so the Lord prays that those who have believed in Him would be perfected in unity and experience the mystery of “I in them, and You in Me.” (Jn 17:23) Prayer - Lord, it is impossible for me to grasp the full implications of this holy prayer, since it expresses Your Son’s desire that all who know Him will enter into the fullness of communion with the divine Trinity, the all in all. (SEE A Guided Tour of The Bible: A One-Year Journey Through 365 Key Chapters of the Bible) Chris Tiegreen - Supernatural Unity “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23 “Unity in Christ is not something to be achieved; it is something to be recognized.” —A. W. Tozer IN WORD What does Jesus look for in His bride? A thorough reading of His priestly prayer in John 17 reveals His desire for believers’ protection, sanctity, and joy. But above all, the overriding theme of His prayer is their unity. Complete unity. The kind of unity that He has with His Father. Isn’t He a little unrealistic here? A united front is attainable, perhaps, but the same kind of unity He has with His Father? Perfect oneness from within the Trinity? Look at our churches; there is division between them and within them. How could the Son of God, One with the Father, have such unanswered prayer? Jesus is no fool. He knows well what He is doing when He lays before His Father and before us this humanly impossible ideal. The unity of sinful human beings is utterly unattainable but for one thing: His presence. His aim— aside from His Father’s supernatural intervention in our fellowship—is for believers to hear or read these words and know beyond any doubt that we must depend on Him. There is no other way. IN DEED Examine the characteristics of the disciples: antagonistic political opinions, different levels of education, diverse professions, varying temperaments. They had plenty of reason to argue with one another, and sometimes did (Matthew 20:24; Mark 9:34). After three years with Jesus and an outpouring of His Spirit they were “one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). What pulled them together? A common background? Not even close. A common goal? Not entirely. Just Him. His very, very real presence. This impossible standard of unity has only one solution: absolute dependence on Him. (SEE The One Year At His Feet Devotional) Chris Tiegreen - Real Evangelism “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23 “Love for the brethren is far more than an agreeable society whose views are the same.” —A. W. Pink IN WORD What is the greatest evangelistic tool of all time? Crusades? Short-term or long-term missions? Tracts? Door-to-door or neighbor-to-neighbor witnessing? Lifestyle evangelism? TV and radio? Films? Technology? All have been used by God, sometimes quite dramatically, to spread His gospel into the world. But none of them are highlighted in Scripture as the key to pointing to the Christ as God’s Son. That honor goes to unity. Most evangelistic training manuals and classes do not include a session on the unity of the church. But Jesus prays for His believers to be one—completely united—in order “to let the world know that you sent me.” Such unity stands out because true, loving fellowship is alien to this world. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). The implication is clear: If we don’t love one another, the world won’t know. IN DEED Have you ever been in a fellowship in which “all the believers were one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32)? If you have, you know that such a fellowship acts as a magnet to everyone around it. It grows deeper and often larger. People are drawn to something they know to be supernatural; they marvel at unity because it does not come from human impulse. And the reverse is true. No one is drawn to a church that bickers. Chronic strife is a clear sign that Jesus is not acknowledged as Lord in that place. The genuine unity of the saints is the greatest tool of evangelism God has given us. Do not seek others for the kingdom without seeking this as well.(SEE At His Feet: Daily Readings to Deepen Your Walk with Jesus - Page 25) D L Moody - John 17:23 - Does the Father find in Jesus no stain of sin? He finds none, believer, in thee, for Jesus is thy righteousness. Does the Father visit Christ no more with judgment because He has fully judged Him as our sin bearer on the cross? Then, believer, He judges thee no more, for “there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Does the Father look upon the Son with complacency and delight? Then, believer, He rejoices over thee, for thou art “accepted in the Beloved.” Dead with Christ, risen with Christ, exalted with Christ to the heavenly places, His righteousness, His life, His glory, all are yours. Vance Havner - The Interchangeable Triad I in them, and thou in me... John 17:23. We are in him... I John 5:20. God is in Christ, Christ is in us who believe, we are in Christ—glorious identification that overflows all our figures to describe it! The Head and the Body, the Vine and the Branches—we are partakers of the Divine Nature (2Pe 1:4). Our poor little word images cannot say it. Sometimes we try with illustrations from daily life. The iron is in the fire, we say; then the iron grows red and we say the fire is in the iron. But all such efforts fall short. "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:4)—that is one way of looking at it. Those two precious words, "In Christ," lie scattered like jewels all over the New Testament. "Christ liveth in me," "Christ in you the hope of glory"—that is another facet of this gem. And what a red-letter day it has been for many a soul when "Christ liveth in me" gets translated from theology into reality! Anyway you look at it, this Interchangeable Triad is something to shout about. "Thou in me, I in them, we... in him. See related discussion of in Christ Steven
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Spurgeon - This is Christ’s last will and testament: “Father, I will.” It is not merely his prayer, but he makes this as one clause in his will, that all whom the Father gave him should be with him to behold his glory. And it will be so, beloved. He will not lose one of his own. He will never drop from that dear pierced hand any portion of the eternal gift of his Father. (Exposition of John) Steven Cole on I desire or I will - He uses the Greek verb (thelo) meaning, “I will.” In the garden, Jesus prayed (Luke 22:42), “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” But here, Jesus expresses His will, namely, that all whom the Father has given Him be with him in heaven to see His glory. Of course, Jesus’ will and the Father’s will are in complete agreement. So that (hina - term of purpose) they may (present tense - continually) see (theoreo - continually behold with sustained attention) My glory (doxa) which You have given Me - To BE and to SEE! To BE with Him and to SEE Him (FOREVER!) What is our purpose for going to Heaven, to BE WITH Jesus? To forever SEE His majestic glory. As Rev 22:4+ says we "will see His face." THOUGHT - Do you long to be with Jesus and see His glory? If you don’t enjoy spending time with Christ in His Word now, you probably aren’t very excited about being with Him in eternity. I can’t answer how billions of saints will be able all to be with Jesus in a personal way, but somehow the Lord is able to deal with that conundrum. But however it happens, it will be the ultimate experience of experiences! Face to face with Christ my Savior, Face to face—what will it be— When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me? -- Carrie Breck We see at least a partial answer to Jesus' desire in Acts 7:55-56+ when Stephen was being stoned to death by the angry Jews... But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Steven Cole on BE and SEE Jesus and His glory - The best part about heaven will not be golden streets or being with your loved ones or meeting all of the great saints from the past or even having a new resurrection body, as wonderful as all those things will be. The best part of being in heaven will be to be with Jesus forever and to see His glory....D. L. Moody said that when he got to heaven, he wanted to sit with Jesus for 1,000 years and then he would ask, “Where is Paul?” He meant, the greatest thing about heaven will be to be with Jesus. For (because) You loved (agapao) Me before the foundation (katabole) of the (physical) world (kosmos) - Jesus explains the two gifts the Father gave Jesus in this passage. Because the Father loved His Son He gave Him glory and believers who will behold His glory. The foundation for these gifts is that the Father has eternally loved the Son. He has given the redeemed as an eternal gift to the Redeemer to gaze on His glory forever. Before the foundation of the world obviously speaks of eternity before time began, before creation (Ge 1:1+), before Jesus spoke the world into existence (Heb 11:3+, Heb 1:2+, Jn 1:3+, Col 1:16+). This passage repeats the idea of Jn 17:5 ("before the world was") and also affirms Jesus pre-existence (see Pre-existence) The katabolē of the world (cf. Matthew 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; 9:26; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8; 17:8) is the “laying down” of its foundation. When was before the foundation of the world? Steven
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Spurgeon - The Redeemer’s prayer - John 17:24 (Full sermon The Redeemer's Prayer) “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24 When we get a glimpse of Christ, many step in to interfere. We have our hours of contemplation, when we draw near to Jesus, but alas! how the world steps in and interrupts even our most quiet moments—the shop, the field, the child, the wife, the head, perhaps the very heart, all these are interlopers between ourselves and Jesus. Christ loves quiet; he will not talk to our souls in the busy market place, but he says, “Come, my love, into the vineyard, get thee away into the villages, there will I show thee my love.” But when we go to the villages, behold the Philistine is there, the Canaanite has invaded the land. When we would be free from all thought except thought of Jesus, the wandering band of Bedouin thoughts come upon us, and they take away our treasures, and spoil our tents. We are like Abraham with his sacrifice; we lay out the pieces ready for the burning, but foul birds come to feast on the sacrifice which we desire to keep for our God and for him alone. We have to do as Abraham did; “When the birds came down upon the sacrifice, Abraham drove them away.” But in heaven there shall be no interruption, no weeping eyes shall make us for a moment pause in our vision; no earthly joys, no sensual delights, shall create a discord in our melody; there shall we have no fields to till, no garment to spin, no wearied limb, no dark distress, no burning thirst, no pangs of hunger, no weepings of bereavement; we shall have nothing to do or think upon, but for ever to gaze upon that Sun of righteousness, with eyes that cannot be blinded, and with a heart that can never be weary. The Upside Of Dying Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory. — John 17:24 Today's Scripture : John 17:20-26 A Sunday school teacher asked some 5-year-olds a series of questions to help them realize that trusting in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. He asked, “If I sell everything I have and give the money to the church, would that get me into heaven?” “No,” they answered. “How about if I keep everything clean in and around the church?” Another “No.” “If I love my family, am kind to animals, and give candy to every child I meet, will that get me to heaven?” Another unanimous “No!” Then he asked, “What will get me into heaven?” A little boy shouted, “You have to be dead!” This was hardly the answer the teacher expected, but the youngster was right. The Bible tells us that we all must leave our flesh-and-blood bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). Unless we are alive when Jesus returns, we all must die before entering His presence. The death of people whom we love Brings sorrow and deep pain; But if our loved ones know the Lord, Our loss becomes their gain. —Sper When Christians die, they have just begun to live. Mysterious Truth Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. — Psalm 116:15 Today's Scripture : John 17:20-26 Sometimes when the infinite God conveys His thoughts to finite man, mystery is the result. For example, there’s a profound verse in the book of Psalms that seems to present more questions than answers: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants” (116:15 niv). I shake my head and wonder how that can be. I see things with earthbound eyes, and I have a tough time seeing what is “precious” about the fact that our daughter was taken in a car accident at the age of 17—or that any of us have lost cherished loved ones. We begin to unwrap the mystery, though, when we consider that what is precious to the Lord is not confined to earthly blessings. This verse examines a heaven-based perspective. For instance, I know from Psalm 139:16 that Melissa’s arrival in God’s heaven was expected. God was looking for her arrival, and it was precious in His eyes. And think about this: Imagine the Father’s joy when He welcomes His children home and sees their absolute ecstasy in being face to face with His Son (see John 17:24). Lord, when sorrow grips our hearts as we think about the death of one close to us, remind us of the joy You are experiencing as our loved one enjoys the pleasures of heaven. Please allow that to give us hope and comfort. A sunset in one land is a sunrise in another. C H Spurgeon - Why they leave us John 17:24 (See full sermon Why They Leave Us) ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.’ John 17:24 Where did our Lord’s glory come from? ‘Thou gavest me’, says Jesus. Hence it is the Father’s glory passed over to the Son. Yet Jesus calls it ‘my glory,’ for it is truly his own. The saints are to behold this and it will be their glory to see it. Here we have the Father, the Elder Brother, the many brethren and a wonderful communism of interests and possessions. It is ever so in a loving family. There we draw no hard and fast lines: ‘all mine are thine, and thine are mine’. We ask not whose is this or that when we are at home. If you were to go into a stranger’s house, you would not think of taking this or that, but as your father’s own son you make yourself at home and no one enquires, ‘What are you doing?’ Bridegroom and bride do not quarrel about property whether it be his or hers. Laws have been made lately to settle different estates for those who are one: this is well enough when love is gone, but true conjugal love laughs at all that can make separate that which ‘God hath joined together’. The wife says, ‘That is mine.’ ‘No’ says the caviller, ‘it is your husband’s.’ Her answer is, ‘and therefore it is mine.’ In that blessed union, into which divine love has admitted us, Christ is ours, and we are Christ’s; his Father is our Father; we are one with him; he is one with the Father: hence all things are ours and the Father himself loves us. So when the Lord brings his people home, we shall be one with him, and he one with the Father, and we also in him one with the Father, so that we shall then find boundless glory in beholding the glory of our Lord and God. C H Spurgeon - Morning and Evening - John 17:24 - O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightest be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is through Jesus’ prevailing prayer—“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” It is that which bears them on eagle’s wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ’s prayer. A good old divine remarks, “Many times Jesus and his people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say ‘Father, I will that thy saints be with me where I am’; Christ says, ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.’ ” Thus the disciple is at cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from his throne, and say, “Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?” Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, “Jesus, not my will, but thine be done.” You would give up your prayer for your loved one’s life, if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the opposite direction—“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” Lord, thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go. John
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Spurgeon - You notice the division that there is here. There are two parties; there is the world, and there is the Church; what is it that divides them? Read these two clauses: “The world hath not known thee:” “These have known that thou hast sent me.” What stands between? “But I have known thee.” It is Christ himself, coming in between the two parties, like the cloudy-fiery pillar, black with darkness to the Egyptians, but bright with light to the Israelites. Oh, to have Christ between you and the world! It is the best form of separation: “I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.” (Exposition of John) As Reginald White expressed it, "The situation, then, is perilous; the world antagonistic and unbelieving; the future dark for Master and men: all this is accepted without resentment, without fear. Jesus goes forward; his men, soon to be scattered and shaken, will also in time go forward, imbued with the Spirit, united in loyalty, sure of God's love in Christ, with a gleam of glory in their hearts, and aware of the unfailing presence of the living Christ among them. In them, and upon us, the Lord's own prayer is being constantly fulfilled" (White, p. 132). (BORROW The night he was betrayed : Bible studies in our Lord's preparation for his passion PAGE 132) Did the Father answer the Son's prayer? To that we shout a resounding "YES!" Jesus was glorified on the Cross and at His ascension (Jn 17:1, 5) He prayed for the eleven's knowledge which was realized in each of these men's lives (Jn 17:6-9). He prayed for their keeping and perseverance and God kept them alive until their mission was accomplished (Jn 17:10-12). He prayed for their progressive sanctification which was realized in their lives (Jn 17:14-17, e.g., read the wonderful epistles Peter wrote as an example). He prayed for the mission of the eleven (Jn 17:18-19) and if you are reading the Bible and are a believer, you are evidence of "mission accomplished!" He prayed for believers to be one (Jn 17:20-23) and the book of Acts is evidence of the Father's answer (see Homothumadon above). He prayed for believers' future presence with Him (Jn 17:24-25) and that has been realized in the life of every person who has fallen asleep in Jesus. He prayed for their mutual love (Jn 17:26) which has been answered in the love believers manifest for each other. Here is what Tertullian wrote of their mutual love... “It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See how they love one another, they say, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, they say, for they themselves will sooner put to death." (See Tertullian The Apology) Righteous (1342) dikaios from dike = right, just) defines that which is in accordance with high standards of rectitude. It is that which is in right relation to another and so in reference to persons defines the one who is morally and ethically righteous, upright or just. The meaning of the root word dike is based on the assumption that men expect a certain standard of behavior and if this is not attained judgment may result. It follows that the basic meaning of the adjective dikaios describes that which is proper, right, fitting, fair, righteous, just (acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good). From a forensic or legal viewpoint dikaios refers to one who is law-abiding (doing all that law or justice requires), honest and good in behavior and from a religious viewpoint one who is rightly related to God. Those who are truly righteous have God’s verdict in their favor; they are acquitted and pronounced just. In simple terms this trait describes being in accordance with what God requires. The righteous man does what he ought. He is the person who conforms to the standard, will or character of God. For example, Luke describes Zacharias and Elizabeth (John the Baptist's parents) as "both righteous (dikaios) in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. (Lk 1:6+, see Luke 2:25+ "Simeon… was righteous") They were rightly related to God and because of that right relationship, they walked accordingly. Again we see righteous character is associated with righteous conduct. That's what Paul is calling for in those men who would lead God's church. Righteous by C H Spurgeon The Righteousness of God by Bob Deffinbaugh, Th.M. C H Spurgeon - The righteous Father known and loved (See full sermon The Righteous Father Known and Loved) ‘O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ John 17:25–26 In verse 25 there is a testing name given to God, by which we may decide whether we know the name of the Lord or not. It is this: ‘righteous Father’. I do not know that in any other portion of Scripture God is called by that name. In this prayer Jesus had not addressed the Father by that title before. He had spoken of him as ‘Father’ and also as ‘Holy Father’, but here alone it is—‘righteous Father’. I say that the knowledge of this name may serve as a test as to whether you do truly and spiritually know God, or have only a notional and outward idea of him. If you know him aright you know and understand what is comprehended under those two simple words, which are so remarkable when found in combination—‘righteous Father’. He is ‘righteous’, having the attributes of a judge and ruler, just and impartial, by no means sparing the guilty. He is ‘Father’, near of kin, loving, tender and forgiving. In his character and in his dealings with his people he blends the two as they were never combined before. How can a judge and a father be found in one? Where guilty men are concerned, how can both characters be carried out to the full? How is it possible? There is only one answer and that is found in the sacrifice of Jesus which has joined the two in one. In the atonement of our Lord Jesus ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ In the sacred substitution we see declared how God is ‘righteous’ and yet ‘Father’: in the sublime transactions of Calvary he manifests all the love of a tender father’s heart and all the justice of an impartial ruler’s sword. Our Motivation of Love —John 17:25–26 (BORROW Experiencing God day-by-day PAGE 22) You do not “organize” the kingdom of God, you “agonize” the kingdom of God. You cannot be close to God without being affected by His love. The heavenly Father loved His Son with an eternal love. Everything in the heart and life of the Father was released to His Son. As the Father expressed His love for a broken and sinful world, this passion was manifested through the life of His Son. The Father initiated His plan to save mankind, and out of a heart of devotion, the Son accepted the assignment that took Him to the cross. As Jesus walked among people, the Father's love filled His Son. Jesus recognized that no ordinary love could motivate Him to go to the cross. No human love could keep Him perfectly obedient to His Father throughout His life. Only His Father's love was powerful enough to compel Him to commit His life to the saving purpose of His Father. Jesus prayed that God would place this same love in His disciples. He knew that no other motivation would be sufficient for the assignments God had for them. God's answer was to place His Son in them. It is impossible for a Christian to be filled with this measure of love and not to be on mission with God. You will be incapable of ministering to everyone God sends you unless you have His love. You cannot forgive others or go the extra mile with others or sacrifice for others unless you have first been filled with the boundless love of God. Seek to know the Father and His immeasurable love, then allow His Son to love others through you! John 17:26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” KJV John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. BGT John 17:26 καὶ ἐγνώρισα αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ γνωρίσω, ἵνα ἡ ἀγάπη ἣν ἠγάπησάς με ἐν αὐτοῖς ᾖ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς. NET John 17:26 I made known your name to them, and I 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." CSB John 17:26 I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them. ESV John 17:26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." NIV John 17:26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." NLT John 17:26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them." NRS John 17:26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." NJB John 17:26 I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them. NAB John 17:26 I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them." YLT John 17:26 and I made known to them Thy name, and will make known, that the love with which Thou lovedst me in them may be, and I in them.' MIT John 17:26 I have made known to them your name, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me might be in them, and I in them." I have: John 17:6 Jn 8:50 Jn 15:15 Ps 22:22 Heb 2:12 that: John 14:23 Jn 15:9 Eph 1:6,22,23 2:4,5 5:30,32 2Th 2:16 and I: John 17:23 6:56 14:20 15:4 Ro 8:10 1Co 1:30 12:12 Ga 2:20 Eph 3:17 Col 1:27 2:10 3:11 1Jn 3:24 4:13,14 Related Passages: Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” John 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 17:6 “I have manifested Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. INCOMPREHENSIBLE LOVE OF GOD FOR JESUS' DISCIPLES and I have made Your Name (onoma) known (gnorizo) to them, and will make it known (gnorizo) - Note the two tenses of gnorizo. The past tense made known speaks of their being brought into the Kingdom of God, of their being saved. Will make it known speaks of Jesus continuing to make known the infinite God (which will take eternity and still never be exhausted!) Repeatedly Jesus has said the unregenerate do not know God (the Father = Jn 15:21, Jn 16:3; the Spirit = Jn 14:17), so to know God is to have eternal life (Jn 17:3). God’s Name refers to the sum total of His attributes and character. To them would seem to be a reference to the eleven. Spurgeon - I read it to you as it stands. Our good translators were always afraid of using a word too often, for fear of falling into tautology; so for what they considered the beauty of the language they used the word “declared instead of I made known”; but why should they have done so? Who were they that they should have wanted to improve on Christ’s words? It should be the same word right on: “The world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have made known unto them thy name, and will make it known”. (Exposition of John) Kenneth Gangel on righteous Father - The exegesis of the Father that occupied Christ's ministry is both complete and continuous. Complete in the sense that the incarnation demonstrated what God was like to those who would listen. Continuous in that it will go on as long as the world lasts. (See Holman New Testament Commentary - John - Page 320) Steven
João 17
Spurgeon - Here the doctrine becomes a matter of experience. May we never rest till we get the full experience of it, that the very love which God gives to Christ may be found in our hearts shed abroad by the Holy Ghost! Amen. (Exposition of John) Kenneth Gangel on the love...in them - The impact of the latter part of the verse suggests that the very person of Christ lives in us. Through that inseparable union, we are recipients of divine love. The church of Jesus Christ dare not let the pagan society preempt its keynote theme of love. The love of God in the Son and consequently in the church marks Christians and enables them to reflect and communicate God's love. (See Holman New Testament Commentary - John - Page 320) HCSB - The phrase I may be in them is filled with covenantal overtones (v. 23; 14:20). After the giving of the law at Sinai, God came to dwell in the midst of Israel in the tabernacle (Ex 40:34). As they moved toward the promised land, God frequently assured His people that He was in their midst (Ex 29:45-46; Dt 7:21; 23:14). (See HCSB Study Bible: God's Word for Life) ‘God only knows the love of God: Oh that it now were shed abroad In this poor stony heart: For love I sigh, for love I pine: This only portion, Lord, be mine, Be mine this better part.’ -- Charles Wesley Constable gives a good summary of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer - We could summarize its main points as follows. Jesus asked for Himself glorification (Jn 17:1, 5) that the Father might be glorified (Jn 17:1). He asked for the Eleven (and their successors) faithfulness (Jn 17:11). The results of their faithfulness would be their unity (Jn 17:11) and their joy (Jn 17:13). The means to their faithfulness would be their safety (Jn 17:15) and their sanctification (Jn 17:17). He asked for future believers unity (Jn 17:21, 22, 23) in the present that the world might believe (Jn 17:21, 23) and heaven (Jn 17:24) in the future that believers might see His glory (Jn 17:24) and fully experience God's love (Jn 17:26). C H Spurgeon - ‘Love and I’—a mystery (See full sermon Love and I- A Mystery) ‘I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ John 17:26 This indwelling of the Father’s love in us has the most blessed results. It has an expulsive result. As soon as it gets into the heart it says to all love of sin, ‘Get away from here; there remains no room for you here.’ When the light enters in, the darkness receives immediate notice of ejectment; the night is gone as soon as the dawn appears. It has also a repulsive power by which it repels the assaults of sin. As though a man snatched the sun out of the heaven, made a round shield with it, held it in the very face of the prince of darkness, and blinded him with the light, so does the love of God the Father repel the enemy. It girds the soul with the armour of light. It repels the devil, the love of the world, the love of sin, and all outward temptations. And then what an impulsive power it has. Get the love of Christ into you, and it is as when an engine receives fire and steam, and so obtains the force which drives it. Then have you strengthening, then have you motive power, then are you urged on to this and that heroic deed which, apart from this sublime love, you never would have thought of. For Christ you can live, for Christ you can suffer, for Christ you can die, when once the Father’s love to him has taken full possession of your spirit. And, oh, how elevating it is. How it lifts a man up above self and sin; how it makes him seek the things that are above! How purifying it is; and how happy it makes the subject of its influence. If you are unhappy you want more of the love of God. SANCTIFICATION J C Ryle SOURCE: Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots - Chapter 2 - page 32 “Sanctify them through Thy truth.”—JOHN 17:17 “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”—1 THESS. 4:3 THE subject of sanctification is one which many, I fear, dislike exceedingly. Some even turn from it with scorn and disdain. The very last thing they would like is to be a “saint,” or a “sanctified” man. Yet the subject does not deserve to be treated in this way. It is not an enemy, but a friend. It is a subject of the utmost importance to our souls. If the Bible be true, it is certain that unless we are “sanctified,” we shall not be saved. There are three things which, according to the Bible, are absolutely necessary to the salvation of every man and woman in Christendom. These three are, justification, regeneration, and sanctification. All three meet in every child of God: he is both born again, and justified, and sanctified. He that lacks any one of these three things is not a true Christian in the sight of God, and dying in that condition will not be found in heaven and glorified in the last day. It is a subject which is peculiarly seasonable in the present day. Strange doctrines have risen up of late upon the whole subject of sanctification. Some appear to confound it with justification. Others fritter it away to nothing, under the pretence of zeal for free grace, and practically neglect it altogether. Others are so much afraid of “works” being made a part of justification, that they can hardly find any place at all for “works” in their religion. Others set up a wrong standard of sanctification before their eyes, and failing to attain it, waste their lives in repeated secessions from church to church, chapel to chapel, and sect to sect, in the vain hope that they will find what they want. In a day like this, a calm examination of the subject, as a great leading doctrine of the Gospel, may be of great use to our souls. I. Let us consider, firstly, the true nature of sanctification. II. Let us consider, secondly, the visible marks of sanctification. III. Let us consider, lastly, wherein justification and sanctification agree and are like one another, and wherein they differ and are unlike. If, unhappily, the reader of these pages is one of those who care for nothing but this world, and make no profession of religion, I cannot expect him to take much interest in what I am writing. You will probably think it an affair of “words, and names,” and nice questions, about which it matters nothing what you hold and believe. But if you are a thoughtful, reasonable, sensible Christian, I venture to say that you will find it worth while to have some clear ideas about sanctification. I. In the first place, we have to consider the nature of sanctification. What does the Bible mean when it speaks of a “sanctified” man? Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart, and makes him practically godly in life. The instrument by which the Spirit effects this work is generally the Word of God, though He sometimes uses afflictions and providential visitations “without the Word” (1 Peter 3:1.) The subject of this work of Christ by His Spirit is called in Scripture a “sanctified” man.* He who supposes that Jesus Christ only lived and died and rose again in order to provide justification and forgiveness of sins for His people, has yet much to learn. Whether he knows it or not, he is dishonouring our blessed Lord, and making Him only a half Saviour. The Lord Jesus has undertaken everything that His people’s souls require; not only to deliver them from the guilt of their sins by His atoning death, but from the dominion of their sins, by placing in their hearts the Holy Spirit; not only to justify them, but also to sanctify them. He is, thus, not only their “righteousness,” but their “sanctification.” (1 Cor. 1:30.) Let us hear what the Bible says: “For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified.”—“Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it.”—“Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”—“Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.”—“Christ hath reconciled (you) in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.” (John 17:19; Ephes. 5:25; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24; Coloss. 1:22.) Let the meaning of these five texts be carefully considered. If words mean anything, they teach that Christ undertakes the sanctification, no less than the justification of His believing people. Both are alike provided for in that “everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure,” of which the Mediator is Christ. In fact, Christ in one place is called “He that sanctifieth,” and His people, “they who are sanctified.” (Heb. 2:11.) The subject before us is of such deep and vast importance, that it requires fencing, guarding, clearing up, and marking out on every side. A doctrine which is needful to salvation can never be too sharply developed, or brought too fully into light. To clear away the confusion between doctrines and doctrines, which is so unhappily common among Christians, and to map out the precise relation between truths and truths in religion, is one way to attain accuracy in our theology. I shall therefore not hesitate to lay before my readers a series of connected propositions or statements, drawn from Scripture, which I think will be found useful in defining the exact nature of sanctification. (1) Sanctification, then, is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian.—“He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 15:5.) The branch which bears no fruit is no living branch of the vine. The union with Christ which produces no effect on heart and life is a mere formal union, which is worthless before God. The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils. It is a “dead faith, because it is alone.” It is not the gift of God. It is not the faith of God’s elect. In short, where there is no sanctification of life, there is no real faith in Christ. True faith worketh by love. It constrains a man to live unto the Lord from a deep sense of gratitude for redemption. It makes him feel that he can never do too much for Him that died for him. Being much forgiven, he loves much. He whom the blood cleanses, walks in the light. He who has real lively hope in Christ, purifieth himself even as He is pure. (James 2:17–20; Titus 1:1; Gal. 5:6; 1 John 1:7; 3:3.) (2) Sanctification, again, is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration. He that is born again and made a new creature, receives a new nature and a new principle, and always lives a new life. A regeneration which a man can have, and yet live carelessly in sin or worldliness, is a regeneration invented by uninspired theologians, but never mentioned in Scripture. On the contrary, St. John expressly says, that “He that is born of God doth not commit sin,—doeth righteousness,—loveth the brethren,—keepeth himself,—and overcometh the world.” (1 John 2:29; 3:9–14; 5:4–18.) In a word, where there is no sanctification there is no regeneration, and where there is no holy life there is no new birth. This is, no doubt, a hard saying to many minds; but, hard or not, it is simple Bible truth. It is written plainly, that he who is born of God is one whose “seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9.) (3) Sanctification, again, is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Rom. 8:9.) The Spirit never lies dormant and idle within the soul: He always makes His presence known by the fruit He causes to be borne in heart, character, and life. “The fruit of the Spirit,” says St. Paul, “is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” and such like. (Gal. 5:22.) Where these things are to be found, there is the Spirit: where these things are wanting, men are dead before God. The Spirit is compared to the wind, and, like the wind, He cannot be seen by our bodily eyes. But just as we know there is a wind by the effect it produces on waves, and trees, and smoke, so we may know the Spirit is in a man by the effects He produces in the man’s conduct. It is nonsense to suppose that we have the Spirit, if we do not also “walk in the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:25.) We may depend on it as a positive certainty, that where there is no holy living, there is no Holy Ghost. The seal that the Spirit stamps on Christ’s people is sanctification. As many as are actually “led by the Spirit of God, they,” and they only, “are the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14.) (4) Sanctification, again, is the only sure mark of God’s election. The names and number of the elect are a secret thing, no doubt, which God has wisely kept in His own power, and not revealed to man. It is not given to us in this world to study the pages of the book of life, and see if our names are there. But if there is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election, it is this,—that elect men and women may be known and distinguished by holy lives. It is expressly written that they are “elect through sanctification,—chosen unto salvation through sanctification,—predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son,—and chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that they should be holy.”—Hence, when St. Paul saw the working “faith” and labouring “love” and patient “hope” of the Thessalonian believers, he says, “I know your election of God.” (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:3, 4.) He that boasts of being one of God’s elect, while he is wilfully and habitually living in sin, is only deceiving himself, and talking wicked blasphemy. Of course it is hard to know what people really are, and many who make a fair show outwardly in religion, may turn out at last to be rotten-hearted hypocrites. But where there is not, at least, some appearance of sanctification, we may be quite certain there is no election. The Church Catechism correctly and wisely teaches, that the Holy Ghost “sanctifieth all the elect people of God.” (5) Sanctification, again, is a thing that will always be seen. Like the Great Head of the Church, from whom it springs, it “cannot be hid.” “Every tree is known by his own fruit.” (Luke 6:44.) A truly sanctified person may be so clothed with humility, that he can see in himself nothing but infirmity and defects. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he may not be conscious that his face shines. Like the righteous, in the mighty parable of the sheep and the goats, he may not see that he has done anything worthy of his Master’s notice and commendation: “When saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee?” (Matt. 25:37.) But whether he sees it himself or not, others will always see in him a tone, and taste, and character, and habit of life unlike that of other men. The very idea of a man being “sanctified,” while no holiness can be seen in his life, is flat nonsense and a misuse of words. Light may be very dim; but if there is only a spark in a dark room, it will be seen. Life may be very feeble; but if the pulse only beats a little, it will be felt. It is just the same with a sanctified man: his sanctification will be something felt and seen, though he himself may not understand it. A “saint” in whom nothing can be seen but worldliness or sin, is a kind of monster not recognised in the Bible! (6) Sanctification, again, is a thing for which every believer is responsible. In saying this I would not be mistaken. I hold as strongly as any one that every man on earth is accountable to God, and that all the lost will be speechless and without excuse at the last day. Every man has power to “lose his own soul.” (Matt. 16:26) But while I hold this, I maintain that believers are eminently and peculiarly responsible, and under a special obligation to live holy lives. They are not as others, dead and blind and unrenewed: they are alive unto God, and have light and knowledge, and a new principle within them. Whose fault is it if they are not holy, but their own? On whom can they throw the blame if they are not sanctified, but themselves? God, who has given them grace and a new heart, and a new nature, has deprived them of all excuse if they do not live for His praise. This is a point which is far too much forgotten. A man who professes to be a true Christian, while he sits still, content with a very low degree of sanctification (if indeed he has any at all), and coolly tells you he “can do nothing,” is a very pitiable sight, and a very ignorant man. Against this delusion let us watch and be on our guard. The Word of God always addresses its precepts to believers as accountable and responsible beings. If the Saviour of sinners gives us renewing grace, and calls us by His Spirit, we may be sure that He expects us to use our grace, and not to go to sleep. It is forgetfulness of this which causes many believers to “grieve the Holy Spirit,” and makes them very useless and uncomfortable Christians. (7) Sanctification, again, is a thing which admits of growth and degrees. A man may climb from one step to another in holiness, and be far more sanctified at one period of his life than another. More pardoned and more justified than he is when he first believes, he cannot be, though he may feel it more. More sanctified he certainly may be, because every grace in his new character may be strengthened, enlarged, and deepened. This is the evident meaning of our Lord’s last prayer for His disciples, when He used the words, “Sanctify them;” and of St. Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, “The very God of peace sanctify you.” (John 17:17; 1 Thess. 4:3.) In both cases the expression plainly implies the possibility of increased sanctification; while such an expression as “justify them” is never once in Scripture applied to a believer, because he cannot be more justified than he is. I can find no warrant in Scripture for the doctrine of “imputed sanctification.” It is a doctrine which seems to me to confuse things that differ, and to lead to very evil consequences. Not least, it is a doctrine which is flatly contradicted by the experience of all the most eminent Christians. If there is any point on which God’s holiest saints agree it is this: that they see more, and know more, and feel more, and do more, and repent more, and believe more, as they get on in spiritual life, and in proportion to the closeness of their walk with God. In short, they “grow in grace,” as St. Peter exhorts believers to do; and “abound more and more,” according to the words of St. Paul. (2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Thess. 4:1.) (8) Sanctification, again, is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of Scriptural means. When I speak of “means,” I have in view Bible-reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact, that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them. They are appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul, and strengthens the work which He has begun in the inward man. Let men call this legal doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from declaring my belief, that there are no “spiritual gains without pains.” I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays. Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them. (9) Sanctification, again, is a thing which does not prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict. By conflict I mean a struggle within the heart between the old nature and the new, the flesh and the spirit, which are to be found together in every believer. (Gal. 5:17.) A deep sense of that struggle, and a vast amount of mental discomfort from it, are no proof that a man is not sanctified. Nay, rather, I believe, they are healthy symptoms of our condition, and prove that we are not dead, but alive. A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but war within. He may be known by his warfare as well as by his peace. In saying this, I do not forget that I am contradicting the views of some well-meaning Christians, who hold the doctrine called “sinless perfection.” I cannot help that. I believe that what I say is confirmed by the language of St. Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. That chapter I commend to the careful study of all my readers. I am quite satisfied that it does not describe the experience of an unconverted man, or of a young and unestablished Christian: but of an old experienced saint in close communion with God. None but such a man could say, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” (Rom. 7:22.) I believe, furthermore, that what I say is proved by the experience of all the most eminent servants of Christ that have ever lived. The full proof is to be seen in their journals, their autobiographies, and their lives.—Believing all this, I shall never hesitate to tell people that inward conflict is no proof that a man is not holy, and that they must not think they are not sanctified because they do not feel entirely free from inward struggle. Such freedom we shall doubtless have in heaven; but we shall never enjoy it in this world. The heart of the best Christian, even at his best, is a field occupied by two rival camps, and the “company of two armies.” (Cant. 6:13.) Let the words of the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Articles be well considered by all Churchmen: “The infection of nature doth remain in them that are regenerated.” “Although baptized and born again in Christ, we offend in many things; and if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”* (10) Sanctification, again, is a thing which cannot justify a man, and yet it pleases God. This may seem wonderful, and yet it is true. The holiest actions of the holiest saint that ever lived are all more or less full of defects and imperfections. They are either wrong in their motive or defective in their performance, and in themselves are nothing better than “splendid sins,” deserving God’s wrath and condemnation. To suppose that such actions can stand the severity of God’s judgment, atone for sin, and merit heaven, is simply absurd. “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified.”—“We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Rom. 3:20–28.) The only righteousness in which we can appear before God is the righteousness of another,—even the perfect righteousness of our Substitute and Representative, Jesus Christ the Lord. His work, and not our work, is our only title to heaven. This is a truth which we should be ready to die to maintain.—For all this, however, the Bible distinctly teaches that the holy actions of a sanctified man, although imperfect, are pleasing in the sight of God. “With such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Heb. 13:16.) “Obey your parents, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” (Col. 3:20.) “We do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22.) Let this never be forgotten, for it is a very comfortable doctrine. Just as a parent is pleased with the efforts of his little child to please him, though it be only by picking a daisy or walking across a room, so is our Father in heaven pleased with the poor performances of His believing children. He looks at the motive, principle, and intention of their actions, and not merely at their quantity and quality. He regards them as members of His own dear Son, and for His sake, wherever there is a single eye, He is well-pleased. Those Churchmen who dispute this would do well to study the Twelfth Article of the Church of England. (11) Sanctification, again, is a thing which will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the great day of judgment. It will be utterly useless to plead that we believed in Christ, unless our faith has had some sanctifying effect, and been seen in our lives. Evidence, evidence, evidence, will be the one thing wanted when the great white throne is set, when the books are opened, when the graves give up their tenants, when the dead are arraigned before the bar of God. Without some evidence that our faith in Christ was real and genuine, we shall only rise again to be condemned. I can find no evidence that will be admitted in that day, except sanctification. The question will not be how we talked and what we professed, but how we lived and what we did. Let no man deceive himself on this point. If anything is certain about the future, it is certain that there will be a judgment; and if anything is certain about judgment, it is certain that men’s “works” and “doings” will be considered and examined in it. (John 5:29; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:13.) He that supposes works are of no importance, because they cannot justify us, is a very ignorant Christian. Unless he opens his eyes, he will find to his cost that if he comes to the bar of God without some evidence of grace, he had better never have been born. (12) Sanctification, in the last place, is absolutely necessary, in order to train and prepare us for heaven. Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there. Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are all holy; its occupations are all holy. To be really happy in heaven, it is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for heaven while we are on earth. The notion of a purgatory after death, which shall turn sinners into saints, is a lying invention of man, and is nowhere taught in the Bible. We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards in glory. The favourite idea of many, that dying men need nothing except absolution and forgiveness of sins to fit them for their great change, is a profound delusion. We need the work of the Holy Spirit as well as the work of Christ; we need renewal of the heart as well as the atoning blood; we need to be sanctified as well as to be justified. It is common to hear people saying on their death-beds, “I only want the Lord to forgive me my sins, and take me to rest.” But those who say such things forget that the rest of heaven would be utterly useless if we had no heart to enjoy it! What could an unsanctified man do in heaven, if by any chance he got there? Let that question be fairly looked in the face, and fairly answered. No man can possibly be happy in a place where he is not in his element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits, and character. When an eagle is happy in an iron cage, when a sheep is happy in the water, when an owl is happy in the blaze of noonday sun, when a fish is happy on the dry land,—then, and not till then, will I admit that the unsanctified man could be happy in heaven.* I lay down these twelve propositions about sanctification with a firm persuasion that they are true, and I ask all who read these pages to ponder them well. Each of them would admit of being expanded and handled more fully, and all of them deserve private thought and consideration. Some of them may be disputed and contradicted; but I doubt whether any of them can be overthrown or proved untrue. I only ask for them a fair and impartial hearing. I believe in my conscience that they are likely to assist men in attaining clear views of sanctification. II. I now proceed to take up the second point which I proposed to consider. That point is the visible evidence of sanctification. In a word, what are the visible marks of a sanctified man? What may we expect to see in him? This is a very wide and difficult department of our subject. It is wide, because it necessitates the mention of many details which cannot be handled fully in the limits of a paper like this. It is difficult, because it cannot possibly be treated without giving offence. But at any risk truth ought to be spoken; and there is some kind of truth which especially requires to be spoken in the present day. (1) True sanctification then does not consist in talk about religion. This is a point which ought never to be forgotten. The vast increase of education and preaching in these latter days makes it absolutely necessary to raise a warning voice. People hear so much of Gospel truth that they contract an unholy familiarity with its words and phrases, and sometimes talk so fluently about its doctrines that you might think them true Christians. In fact it is sickening and disgusting to hear the cool and flippant language which many pour out about “conversion,—the Saviour,—the Gospel,—finding peace,—free grace,” and the like, while they are notoriously serving sin or living for the world. Can we doubt that such talk is abominable in God’s sight, and is little better than cursing, swearing, and taking God’s name in vain? The tongue is not the only member that Christ bids us give to His service. God does not want His people to be mere empty tubs, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. We must be sanctified, not only “in word and in tongue, but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:18.) (2) True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious feelings. This again is a point about which a warning is greatly needed. Mission services and revival meetings are attracting great attention in every part of the land, and producing a great sensation. The Church of England seems to have taken a new lease of life, and exhibits a new activity; and we ought to thank God for it. But these things have their attendant dangers as well as their advantages. Wherever wheat is sown the devil is sure to sow tares. Many, it may be feared, appear moved and touched and roused under the preaching of the Gospel, while in reality their hearts are not changed at all. A kind of animal excitement from the contagion of seeing others weeping, rejoicing, or affected, is the true account of their case. Their wounds are only skin deep, and the peace they profess to feel is skin deep also. Like the stony-ground hearers, they “receive the Word with joy” (Matt. 13:20); but after a little they fall away, go back to the world, and are harder and worse than before. Like Jonah’s gourd, they come up suddenly in a night and perish in a night. Let these things not be forgotten. Let us beware in this day of healing wounds slightly, and crying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Let us urge on every one who exhibits new interest in religion to be content with nothing short of the deep, solid, sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost. Reaction, after false religious excitement, is a most deadly disease of soul. When the devil is only temporarily cast out of a man in the heat of a revival, and by and by returns to his house, the last state becomes worse than the first. Better a thousand times begin more slowly, and then “continue in the word” steadfastly, than begin in a hurry, without counting the cost, and by and by look back, with Lot’s wife, and return to the world. I declare I know no state of soul more dangerous than to imagine we are born again and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, because we have picked up a few religious feelings. (3) True sanctification does not consist in outward formalism and external devoutness. This is an enormous delusion, but unhappily a very common one. Thousands appear to imagine that true holiness is to be seen in an excessive quantity of bodily religion,—in constant attendance on Church services, reception of the Lord’s Supper, and observance of fasts and saints’ days,—in multiplied bowings and turnings and gestures and postures during public worship,—in self-imposed austerities and petty self-denials,—in wearing peculiar dresses, and the use of pictures and crosses. I freely admit that some people take up these things from conscientious motives, and actually believe that they help their souls. But I am afraid that in many cases this external religiousness is made a substitute for inward holiness; and I am quite certain that it falls utterly short of sanctification of heart. Above all, when I see that many followers of this outward. sensuous, and formal style of Christianity are absorbed in worldliness, and plunge headlong into its pumps and vanities, without shame, I feel that there is need of very plain speaking on the subject. There may be an immense amount of “bodily service,” while there is not a jot of real sanctification. (4) Sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life, and the renunciation of our social duties. In every age it has been a snare with many to take up this line in the pursuit of holiness. Hundreds of hermits have buried themselves in some wilderness, and thousands of men and women have shut themselves up within the walls of monasteries and convents, under the vain idea that by so doing they would escape sin and become eminently holy. They have forgotten that no bolts and bars can keep out the devil, and that, wherever we go, we carry that root of all evil, our own hearts. To become a monk, or a nun, or to join a House of Mercy, is not the high road to sanctification. True holiness does not make a Christian evade difficulties, but face and overcome them. Christ would have His people show that His grace is not a mere hot-house plant, which can only thrive under shelter, but a strong hardy thing which can flourish in every relation of life. It is doing our duty in that state to which God has called us,—like salt in the midst of corruption, and light in the midst of darkness,—which is a primary element in sanctification. It is not the man who hides himself in a cave, but the man who glorifies God as master or servant, parent or child, in the family and in the street, in business and in trade, who is the Scriptural type of a sanctified man. Our Master Himself said in His last prayer, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (John 17:15.) (5) Sanctification does not consist in the occasional performance of right actions. It is the habitual working of a new heavenly principle within, which runs through all a man’s daily conduct, both in great things and in small. Its seat is in the heart, and like the heart in the body, it has a regular influence on every part of the character. It is not like a pump, which only sends forth water when worked upon from without, but like a perpetual fountain, from which a stream is ever flowing spontaneously and naturally. Even Herod, when he heard John the Baptist, “did many things,” while his heart was utterly wrong in the sight of God. (Mark 6:20.) Just so there are scores of people in the present day who seem to have spasmodical fits of “goodness,” as it is called, and do many right things under the influence of sickness, affliction, death in the family, public calamities, or a sudden qualm of conscience. Yet all the time any intelligent observer can see plainly that they are not converted, and that they know nothing of “sanctification.” A true saint, like Hezekiah, will be wholehearted. He will “count God’s commandments concerning all things to be right, and hate every false way.” (2 Chron. 31:21; Psalm 119:104.) (6) Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual respect to God’s law, and habitual effort to live in obedience to it as the rule of life. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a Christian has nothing to do with the law and the Ten Commandments, because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Ghost who convinces the believer of sin by the law, and leads him to Christ for justification, will always lead him to a spiritual use of the law, as a friendly guide, in the pursuit of sanctification. Our Lord Jesus Christ never made light of the Ten Commandments: on the contrary, in His first public discourse, the Sermon on the Mount, He expounded them, and showed the searching nature of their requirements. St. Paul never made light of the law: on the contrary, he says, “The law is good, if a man use it lawfully.”—“I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” (1 Tim. 1:8; Rom. 7:22.) He that pretends to be a saint, while he sneers at the Ten Commandments, and thinks nothing of lying, hypocrisy, swindling, ill-temper, slander, drunkenness, and breach of the seventh commandment, is under a fearful delusion. He will find it hard to prove that he is a “saint” in the last day! (7) Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual endeavour to do Christ’s will, and to live by His practical precepts. These precepts are to be found scattered everywhere throughout the four Gospels, and especially in the Sermon on the Mount. He that supposes they were spoken without the intention of promoting holiness, and that a Christian need not attend to them in his daily life, is really little better than a lunatic, and at any rate is a grossly ignorant person. To hear some men talk, and read some men’s writings, one might imagine that our blessed Lord, when He was on earth, never taught anything but doctrine, and left practical duties to be taught by others! The slightest knowledge of the four Gospels ought to tell us that this is a complete mistake. What His disciples ought to be and to do is continually brought forward in our Lord’s teaching. A truly sanctified man will never forget this. He serves a Master who said, “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14.) (8) Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual desire to live up to the standard which St. Paul sets before the Churches in his writings. That standard is to be found in the closing chapters of nearly all his Epistles. The common idea of many persons that St. Paul’s writings are full of nothing but doctrinal statements and controversial subjects,—justification, election, predestination, prophecy, and the like,—is an entire delusion, and a melancholy proof of the ignorance of Scripture which prevails in these latter days. I defy any one to read St. Paul’s writings carefully, without finding in them a large quantity of plain practical directions about the Christian’s duty in every relation of life, and about our daily habits, temper, and behaviour to one another. These directions were written down by inspiration of God for the perpetual guidance of professing Christians. He who does not attend to them may possibly pass muster as a member of a church or a chapel, but he certainly is not what the Bible calls a “sanctified” man. (9) Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual attention to the active graces which our Lord so beautifully exemplified, and especially to the grace of charity. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34, 35.) A sanctified man will try to do good in the world, and to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness of all around him. He will aim to be like his Master, full of kindness and love to everyone; and this not in word only, by calling people “dear,” but by deeds and actions and self-denying work, according as he has opportunity. The selfish Christian professor, who wraps himself up in his own conceit of superior knowledge, and seems to care nothing whether others sink or swim, go to heaven or hell, so long as he walks to church, or chapel in his Sunday best, and is called a “sound member,”—such a man knows nothing of sanctification. He may think himself a saint on earth, but he will not be a saint in heaven. Christ will never be found the Saviour of those who know nothing of following His example. Saving faith and real converting grace will always produce some conformity to the image of Jesus.* (Coloss. 3:10.) (10) Genuine sanctification, in the last place, will show itself in habitual attention to the passive graces of Christianity. When I speak of passive graces, I mean those graces which are especially shown in submission to the will of God, and in bearing and forbearing towards one another. Few people, perhaps, unless they have examined the point, have an idea how much is said about these graces in the New Testament, and how important a place they seem to fill. This is the special point which St. Peter dwells upon in commending our Lord Jesus Christ’s example to our notice: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” (1 Peter 2:21–23.)—This is the one piece of profession which the Lord’s prayer requires us to make: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us;” and the one point that is commented upon at the end of the prayer.—This is the point which occupies one third of the list of the fruits of the Spirit, supplied by St. Paul. Nine are named, and three of these, “longsuffering, gentleness, and meekness,” are unquestionably passive graces. (Gal. 5:22, 23.) I must plainly say that I do not think this subject is sufficiently considered by Christians. The passive graces are no doubt harder to attain than the active ones, but they are precisely the graces which have the greatest influence on the world. Of one thing I feel very sure,—it is nonsense to pretend to sanctification unless we follow after the meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, and forgivingness of which the Bible makes so much. People who are habitually giving way to peevish and cross tempers in daily life, and are constantly sharp with their tongues, and disagreeable to all around them,—spiteful people, vindictive people, revengeful people, malicious people,—of whom, alas, the world is only too full!—all such know little, as they should know, about sanctification. Such are the visible marks of a sanctified man. I do not say that they are all to be seen equally in all God’s people. I freely admit that in the best they are not fully and perfectly exhibited. But I do say confidently, that the things of which I have been speaking are the Scriptural marks of sanctification, and that they who know nothing of them may well doubt whether they have any grace at all. Whatever others may please to say, I will never shrink from saying that genuine sanctification is a thing that can be seen, and that the marks I have endeavoured to sketch out are more or less the marks of a sanctified man. III. I now propose to consider, in the last place, the distinction between justification and sanctification. Wherein do they agree, and wherein do they differ? This branch of our subject is one of great importance, though I fear it will not seem so to all my readers. I shall handle it briefly, but I dare not pass it over altogether. Too many are apt to look at nothing but the surface of things in religion, and regard nice distinctions in theology as questions of “words and names,” which are of little real value. But I warn all who are in earnest about their souls, that the discomfort which arises from not “distinguishing things that differ” in Christian doctrine is very great indeed; and I especially advise them, if they love peace, to seek clear views about the matter before us. Justification and sanctification are two distinct things we must always remember. Yet there are points in which they agree and points in which they differ. Let us try to find out what they are. In what, then, are justification and sanctification alike? (a) Both proceed originally from the free grace of God. It is of His gift alone that believers are justified or sanctified at all. (b) Both are part of that great work of salvation which Christ, in the eternal covenant, has undertaken on behalf of His people. Christ is the fountain of life, from which pardon and holiness both flow. The root of each is Christ. (c) Both are to be found in the same persons. Those who are justified are always sanctified, and those who are sanctified are always justified. God has joined them together, and they cannot be put asunder. (d) Both begin at the same time. The moment a person begins to be a justified person, he also begins to be a sanctified person. He may not feel it, but it is a fact. (e) Both are alike necessary to salvation. No one ever reached heaven without a renewed heart as well as forgiveness, without the Spirit’s grace as well as the blood of Christ, without a meetness for eternal glory as well as a title. The one is just as necessary as the other. Such are the points on which justification and sanctification agree. Let us now reverse the picture, and see wherein they differ. (a) Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous for the sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Sanctification is the actual making a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a very feeble degree. (b) The righteousness we have by our justification is not our own, but the everlasting perfect righteousness of our great Mediator Christ, imputed to us, and made our own by faith. The righteousness we have by sanctification is our own righteousness, imparted, inherent, and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, but mingled with much infirmity and imperfection. (c) In justification our own works have no place at all, and simple faith in Christ is the one thing needful. In sanctification our own works are of vast importance, and God bids us fight, and watch, and pray, and strive, and take pains, and labour. (d) Justification is a finished and complete work, and a man is perfectly justified the moment he believes. Sanctification is an imperfect work, comparatively, and will never be perfected until we reach heaven. (e) Justification admits of no growth or increase: a man is as much justified the hour he first comes to Christ by faith as he will be to all eternity. Sanctification is eminently a progressive work, and admits of continual growth and enlargement so long as a man lives. (f) Justification has special reference to our persons, our standing in God’s sight, and our deliverance from guilt. Sanctification has special reference to our natures, and the moral renewal of our hearts. (g) Justification gives us our title to heaven, and boldness to enter in. Sanctification gives us our meetness for heaven, and prepares us to enjoy it when we dwell there. (h) Justification is the act of God about us, and is not easily discerned by others. Sanctification is the work of God within us, and cannot be hid in its outward manifestation from the eyes of men. I commend these distinctions to the attention of all my readers, and I ask them to ponder them well. I am persuaded that one great cause of the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many well-meaning people in the matter of religion, is their habit of confounding, and not distinguishing, justification and sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they are two separate things. No doubt they cannot be divided, and every one that is a partaker of either is a partaker of both. But never, never ought they to be confounded, and never ought the distinction between them to be forgotten. It only remains for me now to bring this subject to a conclusion by a few plain words of application. The nature and visible marks of sanctification have been brought before us. What practical reflections ought the whole matter to raise in our minds? (1) For one thing, let us all awake to a sense of the perilous state of many professing Christians. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord;” without sanctification there is no salvation. (Heb. 12:14.) Then what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is which is perfectly useless! What an immense proportion of church-goers and chapel-goers are in the broad road that leadeth to destruction! The thought is awful, crushing, and overwhelming. Oh, that preachers and teachers would open their eyes and realize the condition of souls around them! Oh, that men could be persuaded to “flee from the wrath to come!” If unsanctified souls can be saved and go to heaven, the Bible is not true. Yet the Bible is true and cannot lie! What must the end be! (2) For another thing, let us make sure work of our own condition, and never rest till we feel and know that we are “sanctified” ourselves. What are our tastes, and choices, and likings, and inclinations? This is the great testing question. It matters little what we wish, and what we hope, and what we desire to be before we die. What are we now? What are we doing? Are we sanctified or not? If not, the fault is all our own. (3) For another thing, if we would be sanctified, our course is clear and plain,—we must begin with Christ. We must go to Him as sinners, with no plea but that of utter need, and cast our souls on Him by faith, for peace and reconciliation with God. We must place ourselves in His hands, as in the hands of a good physician, and cry to Him for mercy and grace. We must wait for nothing to bring with us as a recommendation. The very first step towards sanctification, no less than justification, is to come with faith to Christ. We must first live and then work. (4) For another thing, if we would grow in holiness and become more sanctified, we must continually go on as we began, and be ever making fresh applications to Christ. He is the Head from which every member must be supplied. (Ephes. 4:16.) To live the life of daily faith in the Son of God, and to be daily drawing out of His fulness the promised grace and strength which He has laid up for His people,—this is the grand secret of progressive sanctification. Believers who seem at a standstill are generally neglecting close communion with Jesus, and so grieving the Spirit. He that prayed, “Sanctify them,” the last night before His crucifixion, is infinitely willing to help every one who by faith applies to Him for help, and desires to be made more holy. (5) For another thing, let us not expect too much from our own hearts here below. At our best we shall find in ourselves daily cause for humiliation, and discover that we are needy debtors to mercy and grace every hour. The more light we have, the more we shall see our own imperfection. Sinners we were when we began, sinners we shall find ourselves as we go on; renewed, pardoned, justified,—yet sinners to the very last. Our absolute perfection is yet to come, and the expectation of it is one reason why we should long for heaven. (6) Finally, let us never be ashamed of making much of sanctification, and contending for a high standard of holiness. While some are satisfied with a miserably low degree of attainment, and others are not ashamed to live on without any holiness at all,—content with a mere round of Church-going and chapel-going, but never getting on, like a horse in a mill,—let us stand fast in the old paths, follow after eminent holiness ourselves, and recommend it boldly to others. This is the only way to be really happy. Let us feel convinced, whatever others may say, that holiness is happiness, and that the man who gets through life most comfortably is the sanctified man. No doubt there are some true Christians who from ill-health, or family trials, or other secret causes, enjoy little sensible comfort, and go mourning all their days on the way to heaven. But these are exceptional cases. As a general rule, in the long run of life, it will be found true, that “sanctified” people are the happiest people on earth. They have solid comforts which the world can neither give nor take away. “The ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness.”—“Great peace have they that love Thy law.”—It was said by One who cannot lie, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—But it is also written, “There is no peace unto the wicked.” (Prov. 3:17; Ps. 119:165; Matt. 11:30; Is. 48:22.) P. S. THE subject of sanctification is of such deep importance, and the mistakes made about it so many and great, that I make no apology for strongly recommending “Owen on the Holy Spirit” to all who want to study more thoroughly the whole doctrine of sanctification. No single paper like this can embrace it all. I am quite aware that Owen’s writings are not fashionable in the present day, and that many think fit to neglect and sneer at him as a Puritan! Yet the great divine who in Commonwealth times was Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, does not deserve to be treated in this way. He had more learning and sound knowledge of Scripture in His little finger than many who depreciate him have in their whole bodies. I assert unhesitatingly that the man who wants to study experimental theology, will find no books equal to those of Owen and some of his contemporaries, for complete, Scriptural, and exhaustive treatment of the subjects they handle.