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Sunday Sermon Outline STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN- PART
93
Chapter
17, verses 12-16- having expressed His faithfulness in giving the
disciples God’s word (vs.8), Jesus now shows His faithfulness in having “kept them”-
use of tereo (see vs.11)
= to preserve or to conserve; imperfect tense =continued action in the
past. “in your name”- the reason Jesus preserved the
disciples was with respect to bringing honor to the Father’s name. “those whom you have you gave Me I have kept”- use
of phulasso
for ‘kept’ = to guard, protect from external attack- aorist tense. The preservation of these believers was
foremost in Jesus’ mind. The only exception is Judas—called “the son of
perdition”- indicating Judas will be lost or destroyed (perdition =
apoleias). Some connect this with
II Thess.
2:3 and view the antichrist as the resuscitated Judas
Iscariot. “that the scripture might be fulfilled”-
The only one that is lost was
prophesied to be lost; so, in fact, Jesus did not lose anyone. Scripture could speak of this beforehand
as it was known by God (Acts Jesus then turns to the matter of His
disciples’ joy- vs.13- earlier in the evening, He had spoken of this joy- see
15:11. His request is that they
might have such joy fulfilled in
themselves. Such inner
happiness reflects a walk in harmony with the Lord (abiding in
Him-15:4) due to His presence- 16:22. In vs.14, Jesus again states “I have given them your
word”—these words were given to Him by the Father – see vs.8. He then adds- “and the world has hated
them because they are not of the world..”
By receiving God’s word, the disciples have been changed and no longer
have the source of their life in the values of the
morally-bankrupt world. This
creates animosity with the world = “hated”. This He had discussed earlier-
15:18-24. Jesus then restates-- “just as I am not of
this world”; as we follow Christ (who is not of this world) it is
inevitable that we are “not of this world”. A strong statement on this conflict
would be incorporated into the epistle of John-
2:15-17. Granting that His
disciples will not be taken “out of the
world” (vs.15), Jesus prays that they be preserved (“keep them”)
from “evil” or “evil one”. See Matt.6:13 for similar point. It is necessary that Jesus’ disciples
remain “in the world” as a witness to truth and righteousness; yet, not
subjected to the influence of evil. The presence of His disciples in a
hostile environment places them at a disadvantage. On occasion, that disadvantage is
allowed to have grave results- see Rom.8:36. Vs.16- for emphasis, Jesus states again
that neither His disciples nor Himself is “of the
world”. In the epistle of “applied
Christianity”, James cautions us that friendship with the world is enmity with God (4:4). Such ‘friendship’ is
moral and spiritual cohabitation –
called adultery by
James! The value system of the
world is focused on greed, lust, materialism, violence, deceit and predatory activity one toward another! See James 4:1-3. These appetites drive a
variety of political systems—communism,
socialism, and often even capitalism. Chapter
17, verse 17- in view of the pressures of the world-system, the
believer is desperately in need of a greater power in his/her life—thus,
in Vs.17, Jesus asks that the Father
“sanctify them by your
truth”. This is a
progressive work of ongoing development with
goal of reproducing a Christ-like integrity in the believer- Col.
1:27-29. The tool used by God in
such sanctification is God’s word (“thy word is
truth”).
The scriptures bring a host of positive
and beneficial results to our lives— See II Tim.3:16-17. Only by a continual intake or digestion
of God’s truth will such sanctification be
possible. In a post-modern world of the
21st century, Jesus’ words expressing
truth as absolute sounds empty to those
“of the world”. Scripture is
subject to constant and repeated attack on all fronts
in a Satanic attempt to eliminate its effectiveness (Lk.8:12, Matt.
15:6, I Thess.2:18). Yet, the word
of God will not fail- Psa.119:86, 89-90,
130, 138, 160. |