João 17
F.B. Meyer · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 17
Meyer - John 17:1 Father, the hour is come; glorify the Son, that the Son may glorify Thee. (R.V.) In one form or another we are constantly asking the Father to glorify us. Glorify me, O Father, we cry, by giving me the largest congregation in the town; by commencing a great revival in my mission, by increasing my spiritual power, so that I shall be greatly sought after. Of course, we do not state our reasons quite so concisely; but this is really what we mean. And then we wonder why the answer tarries. Is it not because our Father dare not trust us with glory? He knows that we would become proud and self-conscious; that we would ascribe our success to the strength of our arm and the swiftness of our foot. Nothing would be more harmful to our Christian growth. But when we desire glory only that we may be able better to glorify Jesus, then there will be no stint in what He will confer on us. Glory, like a golden river, will pour into our hearts and lives. Oh for this absorbing passion for the glory of Jesus! To be able to pray “Thy kingdom come,” without reference to our share in securing its advent. To be as glad when another scores a great success, as though it had been ourselves who had won the laurels. To pray as eagerly for the success of others as of ourselves. Here is an ideal which seems inaccessible, as it ridicules all our natural attempts to win it. To be pleased to suffer, to fail, to be counted nothing and nobody, if only our dear Lord is extolled, exalted, and made very high — is this possible? Do you choose it? Then be of good cheer. This is the hunger which God has promised to satisfy. He never shows you your lack of a grace without pledging Himself thereby to realize it for you. Yes, this blessed experience shall come even to you. You shall be taught the blessed lesson of perfect love. (Our Daily Homily) THE LORD’S BODY - John H Jowett “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” —John 17:4 THIS quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord’s divinity. The serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims themselves. “Finished,” perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last, remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten! Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been accomplished. “It is finished!” “And now ... I come to Thee.” The visible Presence is withdrawn. There is no longer in our midst a Jesus whose body we can bruise and crucify. “But these are in the world.” Yes, and His disciples are now His body. He becomes reincarnated in them. If they refuse Him a body, He has none! He looks through their eyes, listens through their ears, speaks through their lips, ministers through their hands, goes on sacred pilgrimages with their feet! “Know ye not that ye are the body?” Does my discipleship offer my Lord a limb? Can He communicate with the world through me? Does my discipleship multiply His powers of expression? Has He more eyes, more ears, more hands because I am a member of His Church? Or——? J J Knapp - Father, the Hour is Come John 17:1 At the banks of the Brook Kidron Jesus stopped with the apostles. The dark garden, wherein He would be wrung by a sorrow unto death, lay before Him. However, before the struggle in the shadow of the garden of olives would begin, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and poured out His soul in the High Priestly Prayer, from which we read the first part just a moment ago. Holy stillness. Holy night! He prayed for Himself. Next He prayed for His disciples. Finally, He prayed for all those who would later believe in Him by their words of the gospel. First He prayed for Himself: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee!” It was as if He reminded the Father of a holy agreement, that was made between them in the stillness of eternity: “Father, the hour is come!” The great hour, that was prepared throughout the centuries, for which the patriarchs had been longing, that had been predicted by the prophets; the terrible hour, in which the ransom for the salvation of the world would be paid for by the blood of His heart and in which the cry of anxiety would sound like a raw scream across Golgotha: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” but then also the happy hour of heavenly exultation that would follow immediately upon the suffering,—“Father, the hour is come!” And not: “Destroy thy Son,” but viewing beyond the night to the eternal light: “Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee!” He desired to be glorified, not for His own benefit, but to be allowed to glorify the Father from the heavenly glory. Truly, that has been His work throughout all centuries till the present day. He is not idle in heaven, but all He does by the ministry of His gospel and the power of His Spirit, purposes the glorification of God in a world that does not know the praise of the Almighty. He is glorified so that He will glorify the Father, so that He shall gain souls for Him, make sinners bow before Him, and fill the world with the knowledge of the only true God and of Jesus Christ, His Son. Has also not for us the hour come to kneel before that high and great God and His Christ? Our life has accumulated many hours already and all these hours have a history that puts us often to shame. As long as the hour of grace has not begun, the best hour of life is still lacking. Let therefore every one pray, “Father, glorify thy Son,” glorify Him to our hearts as Mediator and King;—yes, that be the prayer we send up on high with eyes lifted up to heaven, so that also the hour of our death may be an hour of exultation and glorification by God’s grace. F B Meyer - Jesus Prays for His Own John 17:1–10. In Christ’s own oratory we hear him pray. But how wonderful! There is a tone of expectant faith in this marvelous prayer of assured trust, as if he knew that he was asking what was in his Father’s heart and thought. The Lord speaks as if he had already passed through death, and were pleading before the throne. He is glad to have authority only that he may use it to give life. The Father’s gift to Jesus consisted in the men who followed him, the word he spoke, the works he did, the name he bore. How careful the Good Shepherd was of those who had been given to him! He prayed for them, he kept them, he entrusted them as his dying legacy to his Father’s care. Though he did not pray directly for the world, he was doing his best for it, in concentrating all his solicitude on those who were to be the messengers of his gospel. In v. 10 we are reminded of Luke 15:31. The very words which the father said to the elder brother are here appropriated by our Lord; and we are taught that we have the privilege of entering on the same inheritance of grace and power as our Lord had. He won for us, unworthy though we are, the privilege of saying, All thine are mine. If only we believed this, and lived as children in our Father’s house, how different life would become.
João 17
Meyer - OUR LORD'S PRAYER "Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are."-- Jn 17:11. THIS MARVELLOUS seventeenth chapter of St. John's Gospel has been called the Incense Altar of the New Testament. It is full of the sweet fragrance of our Lord s intercession for His own. Let us linger over it for a little, that its wondrous depths may unfold before our eyes. It is a window into His inner consciousness, from which we may read some of the thoughts that habitually filled His soul. Christ's self-obliteration. The motives that animated our Lord's earthly ministry were all for the Father's glory. He anticipated, in fact, those great words of the Apostle: "Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever" (Rom 11:36). In this we have an example, that we should follow His steps. We also must find our fresh springs in Him, as He found them in God; we also must be willing to forsake and surrender all things to Him, holding them as His stewards; we also must appropriate, moment by moment, His unsearchable wealth; If any glory should ever fall to our lot, we must lay it at His feet, and share it with those entrusted to our charge. Christ's self-assertion. Though our Lord obliterated His own interests, there were many things which were inalienable and of which He could not dispossess Himself. He knew that He had ever been One with God, and ever would be, that the love which had existed between the Fatherland Himself was to be shared by a multitude that no one could number. It is ours to know that we are loved with an unchanging love, that in Christ we are enriched into the measure of God's unchangeable fullness. Oh, why do we not more deeply share the self-obliteration of Christ for others, that we may stand with Him on these glorious heights, beyond the reach of doubt and fear? Christ's self-realization. Listen to His joyous words: "I am glorified in them." "I in them, Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one." It is only as He sees His joy glowing in myriads of redeemed souls, and finds His love reproduced in their lives, that He is fulfilled and satisfied. PRAYER We thank Thee, our heavenly Father, for the gift of Jesus our Lord to be our Saviour and Friend. Draw us into closer union with Him, that we may know Thee better through Him, and be conformed to Thine image. AMEN. Thompson Chain Reference on Unity In Christ SEE Saints Exhortations to SEE Brotherly Love Examples of Prophesied, as a Mark of the Progress of True Religion Contrition Unifies Believers Jeremiah 3:18 Jeremiah 50:4 Hosea 1:11 All Finally Gathered into one Fold John 10:16 The Saviour Prays for a United Church John 17:21 All Causes of Separation Removed in Christ Ephesians 2:14 Unity does not mean uniformity. It means cooperation in the midst of diversity. Puritan Thomas Brooks rightly stated... Discord and division become no Christian. For wolves to worry the lambs is no wonder, but for one lamb to worry another, this is unnatural and monstrous. To dwell above with saints we love, O that will be glory But to dwell below with saints we know, Well, that's another story. John Calvin once said that... The unity of His servants is so much esteemed by God, that He will not have His glory sounded forth amidst discords and contentions. The deadly effect of disunity illustrated... Two battleships met in the night and began to attack each other. In the conflict, a number of crewmen were severely wounded, and both vessels were damaged. As daylight broke, the sailors on the ships discovered to their amazement that both vessels flew the English flag. Many years earlier, just before the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British naval hero Lord Nelson learned that an admiral and a captain in his fleet were not on good terms. Sending for the two men, he placed the hands of the admiral and the captain together. Then, looking them both in the face, he said, “Look—yonder is the enemy!” During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp. When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ’s commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, “What did you do then?” “We were just one,” he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred. A little humor regarding "unity": In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus. "These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold." "Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?" (Charles Schultz - writer of the comic strip Peanuts) Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Native American warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, "What are we going to do?" Tonto replied, "What you mean 'we,' Whiteman?" (Edward Dobson, In Search of Unity, p. 20-27) There can be union without unity - You may tie the tails of a cat and a dog together by a rope and have union, but you surely don’t have unity! The power of unity: A March 1984 malfunction in a 500,000 volt Pacific Gas and Electric Company line in Northern California triggered a chain reaction that eventually darkened lights for millions in six Western states. The blackout came at rush hour, with motorists backed up at traffic lights in cities of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. The trouble originated at the Round Mountain, California, substation, about one hundred miles south of the Oregon border. A circuit breaker tripped, and the concatenation shut down circuits all over the West as machinery protected itself from damage. How dramatically that breakdown expressed the interdependence of our country’s power, transportation, and food production! One little circuit breaker tripped in a remote rural substation, and hundreds of miles away people’s lives instantly changed. We are one people in more ways than we think. What affects one affects many, perhaps all. Interdependence characterizes us. The unity of the church is no different. An interlinking of interests, goals, and influences exists in which we all share. The good one person does makes righteousness easier for all. The bad example one sets negatively affects us all. God’s people, wherever they live on earth, are linked into a grid of community interdependence from which they can never escape. Inextricably bound to one another as separate parts of the whole, what affects one becomes part of all. (Hurley, V. Speaker's Sourcebook of New Illustrations. Dallas: Word Publishers) Out of Tune -- A high school orchestra was preparing for a concert that featured a pianist in a rendition of Grieg’s A-minor concerto. Before the performance, it was customary for the orchestra to tune up with an “A” sounded by the oboe player. But the oboist was a practical joker, and he had tuned his instrument a half step higher than the piano. You can imagine the effect. After the pianist played a beautiful introduction, the members of the orchestra joined in. What confusion! Every instrument was out of tune with the piano. What would it have been like if half the orchestra insisted on playing in one key and the other half in a different key? Church Competition: Three churches, located on different corners of the same intersection, didn't get along together. One Sunday each of them opened their meeting with a rousing song service. It was a warm day and all the doors and windows were wide open. One congregation began singing the old hymn, "Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?" The strains had barely faded away when the congregation across the street started singing, "No, Not One, No, Not One!" They had scarcely finished when the third church began singing, "Oh, That Will Be Glory for Me." Of course, this is just a humorous story, but it reminds us that a spirit of divisive competition does exist among some churches. Naturally, we will want to support our own church, pray for it, and rejoice in its growth. But we must never feel self-satisfied or be critical of churches that have problems or are not growing. Christ is made the sure foundation, Christ the head and cornerstone; Chosen of the Lord and precious, Binding all the church in one. --Neale The fruit of Christian unity grows out of our union with Christ. When We Disagree: While visiting friends who are rock collectors, I asked, "Do you believe that rock formations reveal a very old earth?" The wife answered first, saying she thinks the earth is relatively young. The husband, on the other hand, said he believes there is evidence that the earth is much older than many claim. Before leaving, I said, "You've taught me something about the way Christians should deal with disagreements. You've been married for 30 years. You're still in love with each other, and above all, you both love the Lord. Yet you differ on when God created the earth. Your differences have not destroyed your devotion to Christ and your love for each other. That's how it should be with Christians on debatable matters." Paul's plea for walking in unity does not suggest that believers will see eye to eye on every issue. What he does encourage, however, is an honest effort to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Although we often feel the urge To prove a point to others, We must respect divergent views Expressed by Christian brothers. -- Murray Our union with Christ is the basis for unity with one another. The Good Sense of the Grasshopper: One grasshopper seems insignificant as it leaps across the lawn. But when it joins forces with other grasshoppers, the resulting swarm can soon devour all the vegetation in its path. Grasshoppers demonstrate the power of community. What they cannot do by themselves, they can accomplish together. In the book of Proverbs, the wise man Agur observed, "The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks" (Pr 30:27). We can learn a lesson from these little creatures. Believers can make far greater advances for Christ's cause when they act and pray together than they could ever make alone. When Christians are united in serving the Lord, they can become a mighty force for God. Although the New Testament urges us to possess a PERSONAL faith in Jesus Christ, it says nothing at all about a PRIVATE faith. We need other believers, and other believers need us. We all depend upon the strength We draw from one another, For we are one in faith and love With every Christian brother. -- Sper Two Christians are better than one--- when they're one. Robert Neighbour - The Requests for His Own "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). There are, in this prayer of Christ's, six distinct desires in behalf of His own, with one desire repeated four times. Let us observe these. 1. "That they might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus Christ" (vs. 3). This request goes far beyond knowing about the True God, and about Jesus Christ. It carries with it the knowledge that begets life. "I know Whom I have believed," said Paul. This is an example of the fulfillment of Christ's prayer. 2. "That they may be one" (John 17:11). This is the request repeated four times. • "That they may be one as We are" (John 17:11). • "That they also may be one in Us" (John 17:21). • "That they may be one, even as We are one" (John 17:22). • "That they may be made perfect in one" (John 17:23). How the schism of denominationalism must grieve the Lord! "I am of Paul;" "I am of Apollos;" "I am of Cephas;" "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? By one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body. Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace. We do not mean, that any believer should fellowship error; this we cannot do, but all believers may walk in Him, Who is the Head, and then the whole Body will walk and work together in love. 3. "That they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13). What a blessed joy was Christ's! A joy that was not lost as He faced the Cross. He, Who was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows, desires us to have His joy. And when we walk in Him and know how to obtain this "fruit of the Spirit," our joy will be full. 4. "That they also might be sanctified through the Truth" (vs. 19). Christ sanctified Himself — through the eternal Spirit He offered Himself, once for all. In this act Christ was made unto us sanctification. Our place is there on the Cross with Him. Thus, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ. What Christ meant as He prayed, was evidently that we might first of all recognize our sanctification in Him, that we might, secondly, become, in our daily walk, separated from sinners and dedicated unto His service. "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, * * that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour" (I Thess. 4:3, 4). 5. "That they * * be with Me where I am" (vs. 24). Precious words! Blessed request! Where is the believer whose heart does not say a loud "Amen!" to these words? Paul wrote: "Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ." Christ said to the thief, "To day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." What union and communion lie hidden in those words, "with Me"! 6. "That they may behold My glory" (vs. 24). We imagine that when we see the heavens on some starlit night, that we have beheld about the one chief view of His glory; however, when we are over yonder, and are with Him, the "glory" we shall see, will eclipse any earth view of glory. That glory will outreach our most farseeing, earth-bound dreams. Best of all, we are not alone to see His glory, but we are to share it, for the Lord continued, "The glory Thou hast given Me I have given them." The keynote in Heaven will be "One with Christ." We are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." Andrew
João 17
Meyer - In the World But Not of the World John 17:11–17. What is the world? The inspired definition is given in 1 John 2:16. Enumerating her three offsprings, the Apostle goes on to say, “All that is in the world … is not of the Father,” that is, does not originate or proceed from him. We might reverse the proposition and say, “All that does not emanate from the Father, and which is inconsistent with perfect love and purity and truth, is of the world.” The spirit of the world permeates society. All its plans, aims, and activities belong to the present passing show. “Under the sun” is the suggestion of Ecclesiastes. The world has always been in collision with Christ, because his teaching reverses everything that the world prizes. In its beatitudes, its methods of pleasure and acquisition, its view and use of power, and its attitude toward God, the difference is wide as the poles. But its hatred is welcome to the followers of Christ, as proving that they are on the Master’s track, and in his fellowship they are abundantly compensated. Teamwork Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. — John 17:11 Today's Scripture : John 17:1-19 Mike Barker told me that the obstacle course in Air Force basic training changed his life. On his first attempt he completed the course far ahead of everyone else, but he was immediately confronted by his drill sergeant, who demanded, “Where are all your buddies?” “Back there, sir,” Mike replied. “I won!” The sergeant barked, “The obstacle course isn’t about coming in first! It’s about finishing! Everybody finishes or nobody wins. Go back and run it again, and this time help the guys who are struggling along the way!” That began Mike’s transformation from a lone competitor obsessed with winning into an encourager whose goal was to build teamwork. Jesus didn’t move through life as a solitary figure, living a perfect life alone. As He neared the cross, He poured out His heart in prayer for His disciples: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept” (Jn. 17:11-12). Now that’s teamwork! Christians, we are in a race Until the day we see Christ's face; So let's encourage those who run To finish and to win as one. —Sper When Christians work together, they divide the effort and multiply the effect. The Praying Patient 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 Today's Scripture : 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. By: David C. McCasland Lord, even in our difficult times, may we honor You and encourage others by praying for those who are suffering today. Our troubles can fill our prayers with love and empathy for others. John 17:12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. I was keeping them: John 6:37,39,40 Jn 10:27,28 Heb 2:13 and I guarded them: John 13:18 18:9 Lu 4:26,27 1Jn 2:19 son of perdition: John 6:70-71 Jn 13:18 2Th 2:3 so that : Ps 109:6-19 Ac 1:16-20,25 Related Passages: 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 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. Psalm 41:9 (QUOTED IN Jn 13:18) Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. Mark 14:21 “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, NO DISCIPLE PERISHED EXCEPT ONE TO FULFILL PROPHECY While I was with them, I was keeping (tereo) them in Your Name (onoma) which You have given Me; and I guarded (phulasso) them - While I was with them is speaking of the protection He had provided them over the previous 3+ years. The two verbs (keeping; guarded) are somewhat similar but there are subtle differences.
João 17
Meyer - The Master’s Commission John 17:18–26. In John 10:36 we are told that the Father consecrated our Redeemer to the great work by which he had brought nigh them that were far off, Eph. 2:13. What a scene that must have been when Jesus was set apart to destroy the works of the devil, bring in everlasting salvation, and gather into one family the scattered children of God! In that act we were included. We are bound, therefore, to a life of consecration and devotion to the world’s redemption. True unity is spiritual. When we abide in Christ, we abide in each other. Men do not recognize it, but the spiritual unity exists already. If we are one with our Lord, we must be one with all who are members of his mystical body. In different ages the Church has varied outward organization, but there has always been the unity of the one body, the one flock, the one temple. We cannot make that unity, but we must endeavor to keep it, always remembering it, especially when dealing with our fellow-believers. If we are one on earth, we must be with him forever. Vance Havner - I was in a motel the other day that had a little notice up just for fun, but it had a point. It said, "We will now accept dogs. We have not admitted dogs, but we can have dogs stay here now." It said, "After all, no dog ever set the place on fire with a cigarette. No dog ever went out without paying his bill. No dog ever stole our blankets." Then it had a little notice down underneath that was for us folks: "If you can get your dog to vouch for you, we'll let you stay here too." We are in a bad way when we have to get the endorsement of a dog to stay somewhere. There's a right way to identify with society and a wrong way. Our Lord told us what this is in John 17:18 and once and for all located us in this world. We've been saved out of it to go right back into it to win other people out of it, and that's the only business we have in it. C H