Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 17:15
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
15. I pray not ] See on Joh 14:16. The nature of the protection is made clear to the listening disciples; not exemption from attack and temptation, but freedom from the permanent influence of the enemy.
from the evil ] Rather, from the evil one; comp. 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 3:12, and especially Joh 5:18. ‘From’ = ‘out of:’ just as Christ is that in which His disciples live and move, so the evil one, ‘the ruler of this world’ (Joh 12:31, Joh 16:11), is that out of which He prays that they may be kept. Thus “the relation of man to good and evil is a personal relation:” comp. 1Jn 4:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That thou shouldest take them out of the world – Though they were going into trials and persecutions, yet Jesus did not pray that they might be removed soon from them. It was better that they should endure them, and thus spread abroad the knowledge of his name. It would be easy for God to remove his people at once to heaven, but it is better for them to remain, and show the power of religion in supporting the soul in the midst of trial, and to spread his gospel among men.
Shouldest keep them from the evil – This may mean either from the evil one that is, the devil, or from evil in general that is, from apostasy, from sinking in temptation. Preserve them from that evil, or give them such grace that they may endure all trials and be sustained amid them. See the notes at Mat 6:13. It matters little how long we are in this world if we are kept in this manner.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 17:15
I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil
The parting prayer
I.
THE MOTIVES WHICH PROMPTED THIS PRAYER.
1. To evince the tenderness of His heart toward His people. Usually, when any master-grief takes possession of the mind, we seldom have much disposition or power, to sympathise with the sorrows of others. Had our Lord been the subject of this infirmity, this was not the time for Him to have been concerned about the future trials of His people. Yet at this moment, when we might suppose His every thought and feeling to have been absorbed in the sword that was about to pierce His soul, we find Jesus turning to consider the comparatively little griefs of His dear disciples, His prayer seems to be–Holy Father, think not of My coming sufferings, but think of these whom I am about to leave full of sorrows, and keep them.
2. That He might instruct His disciples to the end of time in that mighty interest with which He is always engaged for their spiritual preservation. As you go through the successive clauses of this chapter, you will find in almost every verse something to show that God has a direct interest in the consummation of that scheme which Jesus came both to reveal and to accomplish; that His own great name was to be furthered thereby, and that it formed part of the covenant which He made with Jesus, that these His people should be saved through His blood.
II. THE TRUTHS THAT ARE TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS PRAYER. 1 That the world is full of dangers. The world is, and must ever be the Christians adversary. It is a sinful place. The prince of evil is its god; the fascinations of evil are its snares; the works of evil are its employments; and the triumphs of evil are its boast and its pride.
2. That there are ends to be accomplished by our remaining in the world which make it expedient that we should for a time be kept in it. And this expediency consisted in this: these His disciples had a work to do. They had His honour to promote and His gospel to spread. This is true of us. We have all our stated duties to fulfil; we have all a nook in His providence to fill up; we have all our own little wheel to turn in that vast machine, which governs and controls the universe. It is not therefore the language of true obedience to say My soul is weary of life; would that God would take me to Himself! It is nothing more than the suicides thought, clothed in Gospel language. It is impatience of the yoke Christ has laid on the shoulder. It is not the saints desire to rest from his labour; it is the worldlings desire to rest without labour. It is the wish to use that part of our Lords prayer, Father, glorify Thy Son, without remembering that other part of it, I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do.
3. That the power of this evil of the world is so great, that we can only be delivered from it by the almighty power of God.
(1) Who can contemplate the legion of spiritual foes which encompass the believers path, and remember at the same time the powerful ally and abettor of Satan that we carry in our own hearts; and not feel, that unless the power of the grace of God interfered on our behalf, none of us would be saved?
(2) And then, how mercifully mysterious and varied are the methods of the Divine protection? Before the temptation comes; while the encounter lasts: yea, and even afterwards, when mourning in humiliating bitterness of soul over some recent defeat, how often have we found the restoring power of Gods grace overruling for the benefit of His peoples souls every incident of their lives!
(3) Observe the means by which we are thus kept (verse11). The name of the Lord is a strong tower, &c. Here is the argument with which we are permitted to come to the mercy-seat–that Gods name is engaged and pledged to keep us from evil.
3. That the only lawful measure of solicitude we are to entertain about the things of this world is, that we may be kept from the evil which belongs to it. Life is full of disappointed projects and griefs. Then how important is it, that we should be able to ascertain what solicitude we are permitted to entertain. The passage tells us that our only solicitude is to be guided by this; not by the evils themselves, but their spiritual results. I am not to pray against poverty; but I am to pray against its evils. I am not to pray against riches; but I am to pray against their temptations. I am not to pray against the disappointments, and vexations, and crosses, and cares of life; but I am to pray, that however multiplied and grievous are the forms of trial that await me, I may never have a murmuring, unsubmissive, discontented spirit. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Every-day holiness
The saintly painter Fra Angelico flung out his thoughts upon the cells of San Marco, and those who visit Florence are arrested and subdued by the purity of his dreams. My friends, that other powerful artist who adorned the ceiling of the Sistine, has traced our figures copied more directly from the study of the human form, but warmed into life by the fire of Divine genius; and of such men we cannot but say that they penetrated the hidden chambers of another world before they could leave before the eyes of five astonished centuries such visions, more lovely or more appalling than the mysteries and marvels of our dreams. But I tell you that in the streets of London, in the streets of Manchester, it is possible for us in our ordinary life to see pictures more pure than the dreams of Angelico, more powerful than the masterpieces of Angelo. Here we are face to face with living men, seine in youth, in the early days of passion and struggle, some in age, when the fire is failing and the eye growing dim, who, in the midst of a world that forgets God, or defies Him, are enabled to do mighty things though hidden to sustain an inner life of loyalty to supernatural principle amidst the fretting care of daily toil. (Knox Little.)
Christs prayer for His disciples
I. WHAT OUR LORD ASKS FOR US. His petition has two sides–a negative and a positive. To be kept from evil in the world means
1. To be engaged in the worlds business, and have it rightly directed. Some have thought that we would be more Christian if we were to withdraw into solitude. But this is impossible for the mass of men, and it is in direct opposition to the example of Christ, and to the spirit of His gospel. Paul did not think his office suffered when he wrought as a tentmaker, and was not labour consecrated by the Son of God Himself? Whatever is open to men, that is just and right in business, is open to Christians, and whatever their hands find to do, they are to do it with their might. The gospel asks of its friends that all their business should be
(1) Directed to a true end. Other men may turn their work to the ends that are merely personal. The Christians toil should not have self for its end, but God and Christ, and in them, the good of humanity. Men may call this ideal and impracticable, but it is the only thing that can redeem human business from being dreary, degrading toil, and man himself from feeling that he is a mere beast of burden,
(2) Done in a right manner. The law of truth and justice should regulate every part of it. Some think they can separate their religion from their business; but it is the vain old endeavour to serve God and Mammon. Christianity must touch everything in life if it touches it at all. If the gospel is not to make Christians truthful and upright, I do not see any great purpose it can serve on this side time or beyond it. If the world and its business are ever to be put right, and cleared of the robberies that threaten society, where is the stand to be made if not by those who have lifted up their hands to God and said, We are His witnesses?
2. To suffer under its trials, and to be preserved from impatience. If a man would escape trial, he must needs go out of the world, and when Christ prayed that His disciples should be kept in it, He knew that they were to suffer affliction. Moral distinctions are not observed in the providential allotment of calamity. This stumbles many. But if God were to exempt His friends from trial, He would take away from Christians one of the most effective means of their training, and one of the most striking ways in which they can prove their likeness to Christ. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour, but it is not seen in his being saved from suffering; it is in the way in which he meets it. Few things do more to raise the tone of our own Christian life, and to prove to men that there is a hidden property in religion which can turn the bitterest thing in this world into sweetness.
3. To be exposed to its temptations, and preserved from falling into sin. God has not seen fit to deprive sinful things of their attractiveness, nor to disarm the great enemy of his fiery darts, nor to quench at once and altogether the inflammable material in our heart. This would be fighting the battle and gaining the victory without us, and there could then be no perfected purity, no established character, no conquerors crown. This should mark a Christian in the world, that he should have a deeper view of what is to be aimed at in character–of what is meant by being kept from evil. It is not to be preserved from misfortune, or sickness, or reproach, or bereavement, but from sin.
II. WHY HE ASKS IT.
1. For the benefit of the world. If Christ were to remove men so soon as they become His followers, He would be taking away from the world its greatest blessings. True Christians are the salt of the earth and its light.
2. For the honour of His own name. There is glory that accrues to the name of Christ when a sinner drops the weapons of rebellion, and when His redeemed are brought home. But it is for His honour also that there should be an interval between–a pathway of struggle, where the power of His grace may be seen preserving His friends in every extremity. It was a glorious thing for the Head Himself to enter the lists of battle, and to depart a victor, triumphing through endurance to the death. But it multiplies His triumph, or brings out all that was hidden in it, when we see it repeated in the victory of the weakest of His followers. It is like the sun reflecting His image from every dewdrop, folding out His treasures in the green leaves and colours of all the flowers, and flashing His light along the beaded moisture of gossamer threads–for we believe that not a blessing or a comfort, not a grace or virtue rises out of the night of our sin and suffering–not the slightest filament of feeling sparkles into hope–but it will be found that it owes its source to the fountain of light and life which God has opened for His world in Jesus Christ.
3. For the good of Christians themselves. Master, it is good for us to be here, Peter said on the Holy Mount, Let us build here three tabernacles. Why go down again into the dark world of opposition and trial, when we can enjoy at once the heavenly vision? But he wist not what he said, and he was compelled to descend and travel many a weary footstep, before he reached that higher mount where he now stands with his Lord in glory. We, too, may sometimes feel that it would be better for us to be carried past these temptations and struggles, and to enter at once into rest. But He who undertakes for us knows what is best, and as it was expedient for us that He should depart, so must it also be that we should for a season remain behind, Not that this is indisipensable for our sanctification, for the Saviour who could carry the dying thief at once to paradise, could do the same for all of us. The reason seems rather to be that there are lessons which we have to learn on this earth which can be taught us in no other part of our history.
(1) The evil of sin. And, therefore, we are detained in a world where its effects are so terrible, where we have to struggle with it.
(2) That we should enjoy more fully the blessedness of heaven. Our bitter bereavements will intensify the joy of its meetings; its rest will be sweeter for the hard toil; and its perfect light and purity fill the soul with a far more exceeding glory for the doubts and temptations which oppress us here.
Conclusion: Let this petition point out
1. Our duty. What He asked for us we must aim at. Let us fear nothing so much as sin; and feel that our life can aim at a true and noble end, only when it breathes the air of this prayer of Christ.
2. Our security. The life of a Christian man is in no common keeping. It is suspended on the intercession of Christ (Joh 17:24). (J. Ker, D. D.)
Christs prayer for the disciples
I. THAT FOR WHICH CHRIST DID NOT PRAY. The reasons for this negative prayer are twofold.
1. Those which were personal to the disciples.
(1) Christs knowledge of the moral uses and value of temptation. It is not the physical frame of the sluggard that attains the highest muscular development. So there is a necessity of spiritual assault from without, and spiritual resistance from within, in order to the perfection of our spiritual nature.
(2) Christs knowledge of the moral uses of suffering. These also are directly instrumental in soul development by the invigoration of its energies.
2. That which related to the world. It was for the worlds sake that our Lord would not have His disciples removed. They were to be its light.
II. THAT FOR WHICH CHRIST DID PRAY. The man who has turned to Christ is not freed from the possibility of falling. There is not given him such a measure of grace as to render his relapse impossible, nor does Satan give up hope of recovery. What an encouragement to endurance and effort that Christ prayed then and prays still! Learn
1. The necessity of constant watchfulness and endeavour. Christ prays for us, but we by our own acts must render the prayer effectual.
2. A lesson of confidence. By ourselves we must fall, but we are not by ourselves. (W. Rudder, D. D.)
The Christian in the world
Christ is come into the world, and therefore thou needest not go out of the world to meet Him. He doth not call thee from thy calling, but in thy calling. The dove went up and down from the ark and to the ark, and yet was not disappointed of her olive-leaf. Thou mayest come to the house of God at due times, and thou mayest do the business of the world in other places too; and still keep thy olive, thy peace of conscience (Gen 24:27; 1Co 5:10). (J. Donne, D. D.)
The disciples in the world
I. THE WORLD. The world is a globe some eight thousand miles through and three times eight thousand miles round. It is one of the lesser members of a family of worlds. The whole universe, within the telescopic horizon, is composed of gigantic continents of suns, the dim lines of which shimmer in the ethereal depths. Yet our planet, relatively so small, is a vast world. What moral interests centre in it I It was not the first theatre of intelligence and responsibility. When the progenitors of our race received their being, there were mighty tides of good and evil, bliss and misery, sweeping from an unknown past into the unfathomable gulfs of the endless future. When but one pair of human beings was alone amidst the otherwise unpeopled solitude, they were caught and borne along by the evil current. Murder broke out in the first family; and sin has been in every household since. What a world is ours at the present moment! Call before you its heathenisms and its inadequate reception of the gospel in what are called Christian lands. Portray to your imagination its wars, vices, diseases, sufferings. Barbarism conceals none of its iniquities; civilization is often as guilty behind its decorous exterior. Poverty brings temptation, and riches are full of snares. Ignorance surrounds our path with danger; and learning is commonly only a variation of peril. Deformity makes life sordid; and beauty as frequently ministers to luxury. Idleness breeds mischief, and occupation tends to nurture ambition and greed. Disappointment chills and sours not a few; and success destroys many more. The seeming goodness of one droops in hours of ease; another falls in the time of conflict. And oh l of what delusions and perils the best men are conscious! The godly feel their evil and see their dangers as no others can.
II. OUR SAVIOURS DESIRE THAT HIS DISCIPLES MIGHT REMAIN IN THE WORLD.
1. How differently our Lord regarded human life from many whose history inspired men have handed down to us! Jesus never desired for Himself or His followers an unhonoured escape from the tests of this mortal career. When the patient Job was overwhelmed with affliction, he longed for the hour of death. So did the Psalmist (Psa 55:5); Elijah (1Ki 19:4); Jeremiah (Jer 9:2); and Jonah (Jon 4:3). Oh! how transcendently unlike all this is the bearing of Jesus! Thy will be done is His lifelong prayer.
2. Jesus surpassed all others in His lofty estimate of the possibilities of a human life in this world of mystery, sin, and death.
(1) He would not have become incarnate in this world of temptation and suffering, if it had been utterly unfit for the trial and development of a Godlike life. His assumption of our humanity not only illustrates the greatness of our nature and destination; but it also guarantees the wisdom and endorses the goodness of the Providence which rules the earth.
(2) He knew all the worst of Satanic and human evil. He saw it as we never can. No man ever beheld the actual sinfulness of his own spirit. If you could have before you the evil of every soul in a large city, your reason would reel. Jesus looked on the unveiled reality, but yet said, I pray not, &c.
(3) Christ loves His disciples, yet His affection did not prompt, but forbade, the supplication, Father, take them out of the world.
(4) Jesus knew human life by experience. He trod the depths of its temptations, and drank the cup of its sorrows to the dregs. His hands were hard with labour, His frame was wearied by fatigue. Yet, while He passed through all, and more than all, our trials and griefs, though without sin, He said, I pray not, &c.
(5) Our Saviour was now penetrating the deepest shadows of His incarnate life. To-morrow all the harrowing scenes are enacted that end in the cross. Yet, when the Lords experience of a human probation was awful beyond conception, and while He was aware that His disciples were to share His Cross in many lands, He did not pray, Father, take them away from a world so terrible, where their faith will be tried by flame and their foes will shed their blood.
(6) Christ could have taken His disciples out of the world in an instant if it had been the best for them. He could have commanded ministering spirits to bear His followers along the starry pathway to the mansions of the blest Mat 26:53). But He did not even pray that they might be taken out of the world.
(7) Jesus must have set a high value on a soul tempered in the fires of trial and suffering in this fallen planet. A soul that bears the test of life, and comes out of the process confirmed in loyalty and love to God and righteousness, must be destined for some sublime vocation in coming worlds. Kings and priests unto God are not empty titles. Contemplating the unfading crown to which His faithful disciples were advancing, Jesus said, I pray not, &c.
(8) Jesus wished His disciples to be like Himself. He desired them to yearn over this sinning and suffering world with a compassion like His own. To share His joy, they must be equally willing to live, and toil, and suffer. To ask that believers might be taken out of the world, without nobly living and working in it, would be to beseech that His kingdom might fail.
III. OUR SAVIOURS PRAYER THAT HIS DISCIPLES MIGHT BE KEPT FROM THE EVIL OF THE WORLD.
1. Our Lord knew that the end of a life like ours cannot be attained except through a probation like ours. He did not cry, therefore, Father, stay the direful ordeal, and rearrange the lot of man. But He prayed, Father, keep these from evil.
2. He knew that the life of God in the soul was endowed with all the properties necessary to its triumph. The one thing that represses, hinders, and overthrows, is sin. Keep this deadly influence away, and there will be progress and victory. Hence Jesus stretched the bright shield of His intercession over the heads of His disciples, saying, I pray, &c.
Conclusion:
1. A Christian has every reason to cultivate a temper contented, jubilant, as he surveys this mysterious scene. The adamant of a Saviours intercession is stretched over every soul that confides in His redeeming grace.
2. The great end of life is not ease and comfort. The great concern is, to be preserved from evil. The terrible tests of life are not to be lowered. We are to bear them (Jam 1:12).
3. How sad is the contrast of multitudes, to whom the gospel is preached, and who seek no deliverance and preservation from evil! (H. Batchelor.)
Better to stay than go
We have here
I. A NEGATIVE PRAYER.
II. THE MEANINGS OF THIS PRAYER.
1. That they should not, by retirement and solitude, be kept entirely separate from the world. Hermits and others have fancied that if we were to shut ourselves from the world we should then be more devoted to God and serve Him better. But monasticism has demonstrated its fallacy. It was found that some sinned more grossly than men who were in the world. There are not many who can depart from the customs of social life and maintain their spirit unsullied. Common sense tells us that living alone is not the way to serve God. It may be the way to serve self. If it be possible by this means to fulfil one part of the great law of God, we cannot possibly carry out the other portion–to love our neighbour as ourselves. I have heard of a man who thought he could live without sin if he were to dwell alone, so he took a pitcher of water and store of bread, and provided some wood, and locked himself up in a solitary cell, saving. Now I shall live in peace But in a moment or two he chanced to kick the pitcher over, and he thereupon used an angry expression. Then he said, I see it is possible to lose ones temper even when alone, and at once returned to live among men.
2. That they should not be taken out of the world by death. That is a blessed mode of taking us out of the world, which will happen to us all by and by. How frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, Oh that I had wings like a dove! &c. But Christ does not pray like that; He leaves it to His Father, until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall be gathered into our Masters garner.
III. THE REASONS.
1. It would not be for our own good. We conceive that the greatest blessing we shall ever receive of God is to die; but it is better for us to tarry, because
(1) A little stay on earth will make heaven all the sweeter. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil; nothing can render security so pleasant as a long exposure to alarms. The more trials the more bliss, the more sufferings the more ecstasies, the more depression the higher the exaltation. Why! we should not know how to converse in heaven if we had not trials to tell of. An old sailor likes to have passed through shipwrecks and storms, for if he anchors in Greenwich Hospital he will there tell, with great pleasure, to his companions of his hair-breadth escapes.
(2) We should not have fellowship with Christ if we did not stop here. Fellowship with Christ is so honourable a thing that it is worth while to suffer, that we may thereby enjoy it. Moreover, we might be taken for cowards if we had no scars to prove the sufferings we had passed through and the wounds we had received for His name. I should never have known the Saviours love half so much if I had not been in the storms of affliction.
2. It is for the good of other people. Why may not saints die as soon as they are converted? Because God meant that they should be the means of the salvation of their brethren. You would not, surely, wish to go out of the world if there were a soul to be saved by you. Mayhap, poor widow, thou art spared in this world because there is a wayward son of thine not yet saved, and God hath designed to make thee the favoured instrument of bringing him to glory.
3. It is for Gods glory. A tried saint brings more glory to God than an untried one. Nothing reflects so much honour on a workman as a trial of his work and its endurance of it. So with God.
IV. THE DOCTRINAL INFERENCES.
1. Death is God taking His people out of the world; and when we die we are removed by God.
2. Dying is not of one-half so much importance as living to Christ. It may be an important question, How does a man die? but the most important one is, How does a man live? Do not put any confidence in death-beds as evidences of Christianity. The great evidence is not how a man dies, but how he lives.
V. THE PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. That we never have any encouragement to ask God to let us die.
2. Do not be afraid to go out into the world to do good. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The worlds need of Christians
A young lawyer, going to the West to settle for life, made it his boast that he would locate in some place where there were no churches, Sunday schools, or Bibles. He found a place which substantially met his conditions. But before the year was out he wrote to a former classmate, a young minister, begging him to come out and bring plenty of Bibles, and begin preaching, and start a Sunday school; for, he said, he had become convinced that a place without Christians, and Sabbaths, and churches, and Bibles was too much like hell for any living man to stay in.
Unworldliness in the world
Though Sir Thomas More lived so much in the world and at Court, yet his heart was kept unworldly by the singular virtue of his private life. If he entertained his equals freely, he also frequently invited the poor to dine and sup with him; the more he was in the kings palace, the more he resorted to the cottages of the poor; when he added to his house a library, he provided also a house near his own for the comfort of his aged neighbours; and when most involved in worldly business he built himself a chapel. He never entered on any fresh public employment without an act of devotion and a participation in the Lords Supper–trusting, as he said, more to the grace of God thus derived than to his own wit; and so long as his father lived he never sat on the judgment-seat–that seat was the Lord Chancellors–without asking his blessing on his knees. (F. Myers, M. A.)
Mutual necessity; or, why saints are left to sojourn in a sinful world
I. BECAUSE THE WORLD NEEDS THEM. It needs
1. Their example. They are the lights of the world. In their character, duties, and sufferings they show the blessed influence of religion. A good example has a wonderful attraction. Godly men are living epistles.
2. Their testimony. They are Gods witnesses. They go into the world and bring the truth in contact with mens minds. The world needs them as it needed the glorious mission of their Lord and Master. Think of the results of their labours. Be faithful, and testify fearlessly for God and truth.
3. Their prayers. The prayers of the Church are like Moses rod. Israel needed Elijahs prayers. Jerusalem sinners needed the prayers which preceded the pentecostal visitation. May the Lord increase the number of praying ministers, teachers, and parents!
4. Their sympathies. See the glorious institutions of our Lord, the ministrations to the sick and dying, &c., &c. What is the source of such benevolence? The life of religion in the souls of men.
II. BECAUSE THEY NEED THE WORLD.
1. For the trial of their faith (Heb 11:1-40.). The Christians trials are necessary as a heavenly discipline. They come forth as gold. Reliance on Jesus is faiths first exercise; confidence in God as a Father is established as we pass through this world of care and temptation.
2. To prove the sincerity of their love. We are in a state of probation. Our profession of love must be tested. Thus it was with Peter: Lovest thou Me?–then go and give tangible proof thereof. Saints are sent into the gospel vineyard, and in the next world the Great Proprietor will say to the faithful, Well done, &c.
3. For their progressive sanctification. High situations are attained by degrees; health promoted by exercise. Strength and skill are obtained by conflict. Storms clear the atmosphere. Thus with the book of truth as our guide and help, we struggle onward and upward, gathering strength as we go, and rejoicing in anticipation of that world where sin has never found an abode. Let the saint and the sinner, respectively, inquire, Am I improving the period of my earthly existence? (Congregational Pulpit.)
Kept from the evil
I. FROM WHAT BELIEVERS SHALL BE KEPT.
1. Negatively; not
(1) An absolute freedom from all afflictions, which are either the consequences of sin or corrections of God (Psa 89:28; Heb 12:6-10; 1Co 11:32).
(2) All suffering for righteousness sake (Joh 15:19; Joh 16:33).
(3) A full discharge from Satans temptation (Eph 6:12; 2Co 12:7).
2. Positively. They shall be kept
(1) From all damning error and delusion (Psa 16:11; Psa 17:4; 1Jn 2:20; Joh 16:13).
(2) From the tyranny of Satan (Joh 8:36).
(3) From all temptations superior to their strength, or have more strength given them, answerable to their trials (1Co 10:13).
(4) From sinking under the burden of affliction (Isa 43:1-2).
(5) From the power and reign of sin (Dan 7:12).
(6) From the curse and condemnation of the law (Rom 8:1).
(7) From the slavish fear of death (1Co 15:55, &c.).
II. WHAT ASSURANCE THERE IS THAT BELIEVERS SHALL THUS BE KEPT FROM THE EVIL, THOUGH NOT TAKEN OUT OF THE WORLD. Note the following considerations
1. That of the Person praying; the beloved, in whom the Father is always well pleased, and who He always hears.
2. That of what He asks for, and on what ground. His request is for the preservation of His people, in order to their eternal happiness, which is most agreeable to the will of God, and the end for which He was sent by Him into the world (Joh 6:39).
3. That of Him to whom His request is directed, viz., the God who spared not His own Son, &c.
4. That of the persons for whom He intercedes–His children and chosen, such as He has a special interest in and bears a peculiar love unto.
Application:
1. Hence learn the greatness and constancy of Christs love to His people, and of His desire of their eternal blessedness with Him.
2. What a powerful argument should it be with all to come to Him unfeignedly. Who would live a day in the world without an interest in this prayer of His, of being kept from the evil?
3. It may greatly strengthen the faith of true Christians in their daily prayers for deliverance from evil.
4. How much is the world mistaken as to Christs servants, as if they were the most miserable persons in it, when their Lord hath provided so fully for their safety and happiness.
5. How inexcusable must it be to forsake Christ and His service for fear of suffering. He that would save his life by running from the Lord of life takes the direct way to lose it.
6. Let this encourage us cheerfully to follow the Captain of our salvation whilst we live, and to commit our souls unto Him when we die. (D. Wilcox.)
The Christian in society
(Text in connection with Rom 12:2)
I. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD, WHICH REQUIRES ITS DISCIPLES TO ABJURE SOCIETY.
1. This might be inferred from the consideration of human nature. Man is a social being. He was never intended to spend his life in solitude. The heaviest punishment is that of prolonged solitary confinement. Our villages and cities all proclaim that man was intended for society.
2. Almost the first appearance of the Saviour in His public ministry was at a social entertainment, and oftener than once He accepted an invitation to a feast, and availed Himself of the opportunity which it afforded to illustrate and enforce the great things of His kingdom. The grand distinction between Him and the Baptist was that the latter sought the wilderness, but Jesus mingled with the people. Thereby He taught that His design was not to turn men into anchorites.
3. In perfect harmony with this view of the case is the petition in the prayer. It would not be good for the Christian to withdraw from social intercourse, for though solitude is occasionally beneficial, yet it would be extremely injurious to a man to have for a series of months no other companion than himself. The supreme happiness of life is in going out of self for the benefit of others. It is, therefore, quite a false idea, that there is more of holiness and happiness in seclusion than in society. I do not say that no true spiritually-minded ones have preserved their holiness in such a place: the story of Port Royal proves the opposite. But I do affirm that those are most truly walking in the footsteps of our Divine Master who are seeking in daily life to serve their God. There is a manliness and an energy about the piety of such men which we look for in vain even among the most saintly of secluded ones. The hothouse may be indispensable for tropical shrubs, but it would render delicate the Alpine tree. Even so the Christian religion was designed by its Founder to stand the winter of the world; and to nurse it within the artificial protection of the monastery will weaken its vitality.
4. But neither would it be good for the world if the Christian should abjure his intercourse with society, for how then would the prophecy of its conversion be fulfilled? Jesus said to His disciples, Ye are the light of the world, but how shall they dissipate its darkness unless they penetrate its atmosphere? He said, Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt come not into contact with that which is to be preserved, how shall its antiseptic qualities begin to work upon it?
II. THOUGH MOVING AMONG OTHER MEN, THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THEM. Here we come to the second text.
1. The root of the Christians nonconformity is his regeneration. The peculiarity about him is that he works from an inward principle that is different from that of other men. By the renewing of his mind he has come to see things in a new light, and so when he acts differently from other men, it is not because he is under the iron law of a superior, but because he chooses so to act, and finds his happiness in taking such a course.
2. What, then, is this inward principle? It is a regard to the will of God. Thus Peter and John said, Whether it be right in the sight of God, &c.; and Paul, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? So every genuine child of God takes the will of his Father to be the rule of his life. Other men ask, Will it pay? Others consult their ease or custom; but the Christian regulates himself by the Word of God.
3. In what way will this inward principle develop itself in the outward conduct?
(1) It will keep him from everything that is positively sinful. No man can be a Christian and deliberately do what God has declared to be wrong. He that is begotten of God sinneth not. So far all is plain; but I may see the form of evil where others may see none, and others where I see none; hence, differing in our application of the principle to individual cases, we shall differ from each other in our conduct regarding them. Thus one asks, should a Christian play cards? another, should he go to the theatre? another, should he go to public balls? Now, if these were personal questions, and I were asked what I ought to do regarding them, I should say at once that considering the evil repute in which these things are held, the evil surroundings from which they have been inseparable, and the pain that would be given to tender consciences, the course for me is clear. But then I am not the director of another mans conscience. The great difference between the New Testament and the Old lies just there. The Old gave minute directions for all possible contingencies; the New gives principles, and lets each man follow these for himself.
(2) Furthermore, in settling such questions we should have regard, not to the fashion of our circle or the gratification of our own curiosity, but to the glory of God: Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, &c. Raise the question above all temporary considerations. Look at it in the light of God.
III. ON ALL PURELY INDIFFERENT MATTERS, AND WHERE HIS CONFORMITY WILL NOT BE MISUNDERSTOOD, BUT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE SPIRITUAL BENEFIT OF OTHER MEN, THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE AS THEY ARE: I am made all things to all men, &c. Paul did not become like other men in their sinful pursuits, but he cultivated that spirit by which he was enabled to suit himself to the people among whom he moved. He did not needlessly offend prejudice.
1. In order to benefit men, the believer should be courteous, gentlemanly, polite, in his intercourse with men. Some think that their Christianity gives them a right to set all social distinctions at defiance, and by way of asserting their equality to all they treat all with contempt. Under pretence of being faithful, and of asserting their brotherhood, they are only impertinent; while, again, there are those in the wealthier circles who cannot endure the poorer, and treat them with disdain. Now, all that conduct is utterly inconsistent with Christian principle.
2. But in taking thought of the courtesy, do not forget the great end which as Christians you ought to have in view. You are in society to benefit it. But even in seeking that, you must be upon your guard against repelling where you desire to attract. Do not drag religion into your talk so as to make it distasteful. Cultivate the art of incidental allusion, and if you make a transition in the conversation, make it naturally, so that your companions may not be jolted into silence. Find out what your friends are interested in, and, descending to their level, you will be able to lift them. A friend went one evening into the room where his son was taking lessons in singing, and found his tutor urging him to sound a certain note. Each time the lad made the attempt, however, he fell short, and the teacher kept on saying, Higher! Higher! But it was all to no purpose, until, descending to the tone which the boy was sounding, the musician accompanied him with his own voice, and led him gradually up to that which he wanted him to sing, and then he sounded it with ease. So let us do in conversation with those whom we meet in society, and we may become very skilful in winning souls to Christ. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Christians one with the world and yet distinct from it
Nature never builds fences. The mountain slopes down to meet the valley, the day fades and darkens into night, the shore shelves off into the sea, but the exact point at which the one merges in the other is undetermined. Is there, then, no distinction between them? Is the daytime as the night because no eye can fix the instant when the gates unclose to let the morning through? Is the separation between land and sea unreal because between them lies a narrow strip over which they alternately hold sway? The Christian life must slope downward to meet the world and mingle with it. In business partnerships, in political interests, in social matters, in hundreds of affairs, the Christian and unchristian man must meet on neutral ground. Is the distinction between them therefore lost; even for an instant? Because they have great interests in common, because in many things they act alike, is the one in all essentials like the other? No more than the day is as the night. Narrow is the border-land on which the two men meet. As regards all the great realities the one is in the shadowy valley and the other on the sunlit heights; both touch the twilights border-land, but one never passes over it into the day, nor the other beyond it into the night.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. That thou shouldest take them out of the world] They must not yet leave the land of Judea: they had not as yet borne their testimony there, concerning Christ crucified and risen again from the dead. To take them away before this work was finished would not answer the gracious design of God. –
1. Christ does not desire that his faithful apostles should soon die, and be taken to God. No: but that they may live long, labour long, and bring forth much fruit.
2. He does not intimate that they should seclude themselves from the world by going to the desert, or to the cloisters; but that they should continue in and among the world, that they may have the opportunity of recommending the salvation of God.
3. Christ only prays that while they are in the world, employed in the work of the ministry, they may be preserved from the influence, , of the evil one, the devil, who had lately entered into Judas, Joh 13:27, and who would endeavour to enter into them, ruin their souls, and destroy their work. A devil without can do no harm; but a devil within ruins all.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Christ doth not pray that his Father would take up his saints out of this sinful and troublesome world into heaven, because he knew that they were to be of use to him for a time in the world; but he prays that the Lord would keep them from the evil one, (so some would have it translated), or from the evil thing; by which we must not understand what is penally and afflictively evil, but only what is sinfully evil: and by his example he hath directed us how we ought to pray; not for death, nor absolutely for a deliverance from the evils and miseries of this life; but that we may be delivered from those temptations to sin, to which a multitude of sharp trials and afflictions will expose even the best of men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15-19. I pray not that thoushouldest take them out of the worldfor that, though it wouldsecure their own safety, would leave the world unblessed by theirtestimony.
but . . . keep them from theevilall evil in and of the world.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I pray not that thou shouldest take theft of the world,…. Either in an unusual manner, by a translation, as Enoch and Elijah were; or by death in its common form, before their time, and purely to be rid of afflictions: this he prayed not for; for he had much work for them to do, by preaching the Gospel, for the conversion of sinners and comfort of saints; and it was for his interest they should live longer; and it would make most for his glory, and be best for his chosen people and churches:
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil; either of sin, which is an evil and bitter thing, being committed against a good God, and a righteous law, and brings ruin and destruction upon men; from this the apostles were kept, and all the saints are; not from indwelling sin, nor from the commission of sin, but from the dominion of it, and from falling into it and by it, so as to perish eternally: or from the evil of the world; not from afflictions in it; nor from the reproach and persecution of it; but from its wickedness and lusts, and from the evil men of it: or from Satan the evil one, who is eminently, originally, and immutably so; not from being tempted by him, but from sinking under his temptations, and from being devoured by him. Christ’s praying for this, after this manner, shows that evil is very abhorrent, pernicious and powerful; the danger saints are in by it; their incapacity to keep themselves from it; and that the Lord alone is the keeper of his people; but does not suggest that Christ has dropped the charge of them, or is unequal to it; but by so doing he expresses his great love to them, how dear they are to him, and what care he takes of them, and what concern he has for them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shouldest take (). First aorist active subjunctive of (liquid verb).
From the evil one ( ). Ablative case with , but can mean the evil man, Satan, or the evil deed. See same ambiguity in Mt 6:13. But in 1Jo 5:18 is masculine (the evil one). Cf. Re 3:10.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
From the evil [ ] . Or, the evil one. This rendering is according to John’s usage. See 1Jo 2:13, 14; 1Jo 3:12; 1Jo 5:18, 19; and compare Joh 12:31; Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11. From [] , literally, out of, means out of the hands of.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “I pray not,” (ouk eroto) “I do not request,” appeal
to you, Holy Father, in your care for them. Joh 17:11.
2) “That thou shouldest take them out of the world,” (hina ares autous ek tou kosmou) ”in order that You should take them up and out of the world,’ as you are soon to take me up and out of the world, in your bringing me forth from the grave, and returning me away from them, Rom 8:11; Act 2:24; Act 2:32; Act 3:15; Act 3:22; Act 3:26.
3) “But that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (alla hina tereses autous ek tou ponerou) “But (I do request) in order that you may guard or keep them (as a good shepherd or sentinel-soldier) out of the (power of) the evil one,” the Devil, 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 4:4; 1Jn 5:17; Mat 6:13; Joh 8:44. He was praying especially and definitively for His church disciples who had been chosen by Him, from the beginning, to be witnesses and a witnessing agency to carry on His church work, after they were empowered, after He was gone. This is and was the heart of His sermon, Joh 14:1 to Joh 16:33 and the heart of His prayer here, Joh 14:1-3; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:26-27; Joh 20:21, Act 1:8-11; Act 2:4; Act 10:38-42.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. I ask not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. He shows in what the safety of believers (121) consists; not that they are free from every annoyance, and live in luxury and at their ease, but that, in the midst of dangers, they continue to be safe through the assistance of God. For he does not admonish the Father of what is proper to be done, but rather makes provision for their weakness, that, by the method which he prescribes, they may restrain their desires, which are apt to go beyond all bounds. In short, he promises to his disciples the grace of the Father; not to relieve them from all anxiety and toil, but to furnish them with invincible strength against their enemies, and not to suffer them to be overwhelmed by the heavy burden of contests which they will have to endure. If, therefore, we wish to be kept according to the rule which Christ has laid down, we must not desire exemption from evils, or pray to God to convey us immediately into a state of blessed rest, but must rest satisfied with the certain assurance of victory, and, in the meantime, resist courageously all the evils, from which Christ prayed to his Father that we might have a happy issue. In short, God does not take his people out of the world, because he does not wish them to be effeminate and slothful; but he delivers them from evil, that they may not be overwhelmed; for he wishes them to fight, but does not suffer them to be mortally wounded.
(121) “ Des fideles.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.The thought may naturally have come to their minds that they would be most effectually kept from the hatred and danger of which He had spoken if they were to be with Him taken out of the world. But there is for them a work in the world (Joh. 17:18; Joh. 17:24). He has finished the work His Father gave Him to do; He has glorified the Father on the earth (Joh. 17:4). There is a work for them to glorify Him (Joh. 17:10), and He prays not that they should be taken out of the world before their work is done. The Christian ideal is not freedom from work, but strength to do it; not freedom from temptation, but power to overcome it; not freedom from suffering, but joy in an abiding sense of the Fathers love; not absence from the world, but grace to make the world better for our presence; not holy lives driven from the world, and living apart from it, but holy lives spent in the world and leavening it.
But that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.Comp. Note on Mat. 6:13. The usage of St. John is, beyond question, in favour of the masculine. The only other passages where he uses the word in the singular are 1Jn. 2:13-14; 1Jn. 3:12; 1Jn. 5:18-19. We have to bear in mind also that the present passage occurs in the second Lords Prayer, and that His prayer for them may with probability be interpreted in the same sense as the words in which He taught them to pray. On the whole, therefore, it seems likely, but yet is by no means certain, that we ought to read here, that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Not take out of the world Peter was ready (Joh 13:37) to follow his Lord out of the world. Wearied Christians often would sigh to depart and be with Christ. But that aspiration must be checked within the most reverent limits. What could the world’s great carcass do if the salt should all depart? What but suffer the fate of Sodom for want of ten righteous men? The good men hated by the world are the world’s preservers.
Keep them from the evil For how easy is it for them to assimilate by gentle shadings with the world. The world, then, will no longer hate, however much they will despise them for the compromise. God keeps them, not merely for themselves, but for the honour of his own name, and from mercy to the world that hates them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 17:15. I pray not, &c. “My meaning is not that, on account of these difficulties, Joh 17:14 thou shouldest remove them out of the world by death; I know that the purposes of thy glory, and their own improvement and usefulness, will require their longer continuance. I only pray, that thou wouldst grant them the direction of thy Spirit, and protection of thy providence, whereby they will be preserved both from the evil of sin and temptation, and from the subtlety and malice of the evil one, .” See 1Jn 5:18-19.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1711
PRESERVATION FROM SIN MORE DESIRABLE THAN DELIVERANCE FROM AFFLICTION
Joh 17:15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
WE admire the solicitude which a dying parent expresses for the future and eternal welfare of his children; nor can we easily shake off the concern which such a spectacle creates in our minds. Such a scene, but incomparably more affecting, is here presented to our view. The Saviour of the world was unmindful of his own impending sorrows, and was altogether occupied with the concerns of his Church and people. Having given his last instructions to his Disciples, he poured out his soul in prayer for them. One of the principal subjects of his prayer is specified in the text.
We shall consider,
I.
What our Lord prayed for on behalf of his Disciples
He prayed not that they should be taken out of the world
[He had just declared that the world hated his Disciples. Hence we might suppose that he should wish them to be taken out of the world; and many reasons might have been urged by him to enforce such a request. God had often taken away his beloved people in a signal manner [Note: Heb 11:5. 2Ki 2:11.]: he speaks of a sudden removal in evil times as a favour to them [Note: Isa 57:1.]. He would hereby manifest his indignation against the world for crucifying his Son; and our Lord might then have carried his Disciples with him as trophies. Nor can we doubt but that such a measure would have been extremely pleasing to his Disciples.
But on the whole such a petition would have been inexpedient; first, on account of the world. The Disciples were to be the instructors of mankind [Note: Mat 28:19.], and to be living examples of true piety [Note: Mat 5:14.]. They were also to intercede on behalf of their fellow-creatures; but, if they were taken away together with our Lord, their commission could not be executed, and the world would lose the benefit of their instructions and prayers. What an inconceivable loss would this have been both to Jews and Gentiles! Yea, in what a state of ignorance should we ourselves have been at this moment!
Next, it would have been inexpedient on Gods account, if I may so speak. The Disciples were to be, like the dispossessed Gadarene, monuments of Gods mercy [Note: Luk 8:39.]. They were to exemplify in their own persons the all-sufficiency of Divine grace under every situation. They were to be instruments also whereby the eternal counsels of the Deity were to be accomplished: their removal therefore would have robbed God himself of his glory.
Lastly, it would have been inexpedient on account of the Disciples themselves. They would have been glad to have accompanied their Lord; but it would not have been for their advantage at that time. Their reward was to be proportioned to their labours and sufferings [Note: 1Co 3:8.]. If they had been taken away at that time they had done but little for God; consequently they would not have possessed so bright a crown as they now do. How glad are they now that their abode on earth was prolonged!]
The request which our Lord offered for them was far better
[He prayed that they might be kept from the evil of it. Satan is by way of eminence called the evil one. He is incessantly plotting the destruction of Gods chosen people [Note: 1Pe 5:8.], and our Lord might have respect to their preservation from him [Note: Satan is often called . Eph 6:16 and 1Jn 5:18.]; but he rather refers to the moral evil that is in the world. And there was good reason why he should pray for their deliverance from that.
The temptations they would have to encounter were innumerable. Their poverty might beget impatience and discontent; their persecutions might provoke them to retaliation and revenge; their incessant danger of a violent death might tempt them to apostasy. They were to have innumerable trials from without and from within: how needful then was it that they should have an almighty Keeper!
They were utterly unable of themselves to withstand the smallest temptation. The Disciples were altogether men of like passions with ourselves; nor had they any more sufficiency in themselves than the weakest of us [Note: 2Co 3:5.]. The most confident of them fell, as soon as he boasted of his strength [Note: Mat 26:33; Mat 26:35; Mat 26:74.]. Almighty power was then, as well as now, necessary to keep any man from falling [Note: Jude, ver. 24, 25.]. How kind then was our Lords solicitude to interest his Father in their behalf!
Their fall would be attended with the most pernicious consequences. It would open the mouths of their adversaries, and cause them to blaspheme [Note: 2Sa 12:14.]. It would utterly destroy all hopes of success in their own ministry; and, even if they should be recovered, and saved at last, they would be deprived of a great part of their reward [Note: 1Co 3:15.]. Hence our Lords request was the best that could be offered for them.]
Hence we may see,
II.
What we should mainly desire for ourselves
An exemption from the troubles and calamities of life, however desirable in some points of view, is not greatly to be coveted. St. Paul, it is true, desired to depart and to be with Christ: but it was not in order to get rid of his trials, but that he might have full possession of the glory which awaited him; not that he, his earthly tabernacle, might be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life [Note: 2Co 5:4.]. But
To be preserved from the corruptions that are in the world through lust [Note: 2Pe 1:4.] is most desirable
[The snares with which we are surrounded in this vain world are very many, and replete with danger. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are soliciting us continually, and presenting temptations to us exceeding difficult to be withstood Even though we may have withstood them manfully for a season, we are yet in danger of being overcome by them at last, and of perishing thereby with an aggravated weight of guilt and condemnation [Note: 2Pe 2:20.]. So eminent a character was Demas, that St. Paul himself, a good judge of characters, twice united him with St. Luke in his salutations to the Churches: yet of him it is said, Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this present world [Note: 2Ti 4:10.]. Who then can hope to stand, if he be not upheld by the Almighty power of God? Truly it is God alone who is able to keep us from falling [Note: Jude, ver. 24.]: and therefore we should make our supplications to him continually for that end.]
For the obtaining of this mercy it is not possible for us to be too importunate
[It was in order to this end that Christ himself came into the world, and died upon the cross: He gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father [Note: Gal 1:4.]. And to produce this blessed effect is the great scope and tendency of his Gospel: By the cross alone it is that the world is crucified unto us, and we unto the world [Note: Gal 6:14.]. In fact, there is not a person upon earth that ever gets a victory over the world, except by faith in Christ [Note: 1Jn 5:5.]. On the other hand, every one that is really born of God does gain this victory [Note: 1Jn 5:4.]. And this is the distinguishing character of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; they all resemble him in this particular, not being of the world, even as he was not of the world [Note: ver. 14, 16.]. If then we would reign with Christ hereafter, we must resemble him now; and never cease to implore help from God, that the world and all its lusts may, in answer to our prayers, be put for ever under our feet.]
In conclusion i would say,
1.
Learn to form a right estimate of the world
[It is, in fact, a wilderness, through which we are to pass to the promised land; and we are but pilgrims passing through it, or sojourners taking up our residence in it for a few days at most. Whether we have a more or less gratifying accommodation in it, is a matter of small moment. We are going to our Fathers house, where we shall possess all that our souls can wish; and present things are only of importance as they advance or retard our meetness for our heavenly inheritance. The instant that we have arrived at our journeys end, we shall see what judgment we ought to have formed of the world, and every thing in it. Let us anticipate that judgment now; and we shall rise superior to the attractions of all created things, and to the solicitations of every unhallowed appetite]
2.
Seek to have, in reference to it, the same mind as was in Christ Jesus
[In asking for you a preservation from the snares of the world, he judged right. He wished not to abridge your happiness, but to promote it. And, if we call upon you to renounce the world, and all its lusts, we are not Cynics, as you are apt to imagine, but your best and truest friends. Even when all his own sufferings were coming upon him, the Saviour, forgetful of himself, implored this blessing for you. And if I were never to address you more, I would, with all earnestness, urge this duty on you, and implore this blessing on your behalf. You can only be happy in proportion as you rise above this world to the pursuit and enjoyment of heavenly things. Look at the Saviour, and see how superior he was to all the things of time and sense. That is the state I wish you to attain; and the more you resemble him now, the richer shall be your enjoyment of his presence in a better world]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Ver. 15. That thou take them out of the world ] Many godly men, weary of the world’s ill usages, are found often sitting under Elijah’s juniper, and wishing to die; for what are they better than their fathers? “Oh that I might have my request!” saith Job, “and that God would grant me the thing that I long for.” And what was that, think you:! “Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off,” Job 6:8-9 . But was that well prayed, Job? Or was that wisely done, Jonah? to fret one while at God’s goodness to the Ninevites? to faint another while at the loss of the gourd? and both times to wish to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live?”Joh 4:3Joh 4:3 ; Joh 4:8 . Were it not better to serve out your time, with David,Act 13:36Act 13:36 ; to finish your course, with Paul, 2Ti 4:7 ; to wait till your change shall come, Job 14:14 ; well assured that that “wicked one shall not touch you,” as St John hath it, 1Jn 5:18 ; that is, tactu qualitativo (as Cajetan senseth it), with a deadly touch?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] Said mostly for their sakes, for whom it was necessary that they should abide yet in the flesh, to do God’s work, and ( Joh 17:17 ) to be sanctified by God’s truth.
. ] Not ‘ from the evil ,’ as E. V.; but from the evil One, see the usage of our Apostle in 1Jn 2:13-14 , , ib. 1Jn 5:18 , and compare ib. 1Jn 3:12 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 17:15 . The simplest escape from the anger of the world was removal from it, but for this He would not ask: . They had a work to do which involved that they should be in the world. It also involved the fulfilment of the petition, . Luther, Calvin, etc., take as neuter; recent interpreters in general consider it to be masculine, “from the evil one,” as in 1Jn 2:13 ; 1Jn 4:4 ; 1Jn 5:18 ; cf. Mat 6:13 . “The evil one” as the prince of this world and “a murderer from the beginning” (Joh 8:44 ) was the instigator of persecution.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
from = out of. Greek. ek, as in the former clause. the evil = the evil one. See on Mat 6:13. Compare 1Jn 5:19. Three things the Lord requested for His disciples: to be kept from the evil one, to be sanctified through the truth (Joh 17:17), and to behold His glory (Joh 17:24).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15. ] Said mostly for their sakes, for whom it was necessary that they should abide yet in the flesh, to do Gods work, and (Joh 17:17) to be sanctified by Gods truth.
.] Not from the evil, as E. V.; but from the evil One, see the usage of our Apostle in 1Jn 2:13-14, ,-ib. 1Jn 5:18, and compare ib. 1Jn 3:12.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
We will read this evening a portion of two prayers offered by our Divine Lord and Master on that night in which he was betrayed. The first is that memorable intercessory prayer of his recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John.
Joh 17:15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil.
Christ did not pray that his disciples should be taken out of the world. It is very seldom that we ought to present such a petition. If that had been a proper prayer for us to offer, it would have been authorized by the Master. There are times when, in great pain of body, or in deep depression of spirit, the believer, like Elijah under the juniper tree, requests for himself that he may die. If you ever do pray such a prayer, utter it very softly, for the Master does not authorize it, and that is a matter that must be left to the Lord of life and death. Jesus says here, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Sin is the real evil of the world; the danger of our being entangled in worldly customs, or dropping into the evil ways of an ungodly generation. Christ does pray that we may be kept from the evil that is in the world; and we also may and must pray that the Lord will keep us from the evil by which we are surrounded, and especially from the evil one who seeks our destruction.
Joh 17:16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
They are of another race: they are swayed by other motives, they have another life; they have another destiny; They are not of the world. Is that true of you, dear hearer? We are reading out of Gods Book, remember. This is the description of Christs people; does it describe you? They are not of the world: they are not worldly, they are other-worldly; their thoughts and hearts are set upon the world to come.
Joh 17:17. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
What! Do they need to be sanctified? They are not of the world, and are kept from the evil in the world; do they need to be sanctified? Yes we shall always need sanctifying until we reach our heavenly home, where sin cannot enter. Every day we need the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit to lead us unto holiness. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. It is only the truth of God that can beget holiness; false doctrine is never the medium of sanctification. You can tell which are false doctrines, and which are the true, by our Lords own test: By their fruits ye shall know them. The same men who reject the old-fashioned doctrines also rebel against the old-fashioned style of living; loose living generally goes with loose doctrine. There never was an age in which the doctrines of grace were despised but, sooner or later, licentiousness prevailed. On the other hand, when we had Puritan teaching, we had also pure and holy living. This prayer is still needed for all Christs disciples, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
This is the original Missionary Society, and the model for all others; Christ sent, missioned, of the Father, and every saint missioned of Christ. Are you carrying out your mission, O ye people of God? How dare you call yourselves by that name if you have no mission to anybody? If you are living here for yourself alone, how can you belong to Christ, who never lived a moment for himself, but always lived wholly for others?
Joh 17:19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
I set myself apart, as one who is consecrated, dedicated, devoted to a grand design.
Joh 17:19. That they also might be sanctified through the truth.
This is our Lords prayer for his disciples. In the ninth verse we read, I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Now our Lord Jesus prays for those who are to be his people. I wonder whether there are any of them here tonight.
Joh 17:20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me through their word;
There is a great company of people who are not at present believers, but who shall yet believe on Christ through the testimony of those who are already believers on him. O God, call out many such through our word I pray.
Joh 17:21. That they all may be one;
This is Christs prayer for all those who shall believe on him, that they may be converted, and brought into the one Church together with those who are already there: that they all may be one.
Joh 17:21. 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.
Christ would have all his people joined in communion with himself, and with his Father; and when that is the case, then will men know that Christ came into the world for a definite purpose: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22-23. 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;
Christ is the incarnation of God, and the Church should be the incarnation of Christ. Oh, when shall this great prayer be answered?
Joh 17:23-26. And that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 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 those lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 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.
A very short time after our Divine Lord offered this intercessory supplication, he prayed a very different prayer, in a strangely-altered style. You will find it in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-six. Remember that there was a very short interval between the utterance of the majestic prayer I have been reading, and the presentation of the cries and tears of which we are now to read.
This exposition consisted of readings from Joh 17:15-26; And Mat 26:36-46.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Joh 17:15. , that Thou shouldest take them out) now; for hereafter, I will or wish it, Joh 17:24.- , from the evil) This means the Wicked one, , under (in) whom the world lieth; who is in the world, 1Jn 4:4. The world is estranged from the truth: Joh 17:17.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 17:15
Joh 17:15
I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world,-[For the reason that then one of the great objects of his would be defeated. They have a mission to be fulfilled; they are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The world is to be blessed through them, but not by their departure.]
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.-To keep them from being led into the sins of the world and so from its sorrows.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
take: Psa 30:9, Ecc 9:10, Isa 38:18, Isa 38:19, Isa 57:1, Luk 8:38, Luk 8:39, Phi 1:20-26
keep: Gen 48:16, 1Ch 4:10, Psa 121:7, Mat 6:13, Luk 11:4, Gal 1:4, 2Th 3:3, 2Ti 4:8, 1Jo 5:18
Reciprocal: Luk 22:32 – I have Joh 14:16 – I will Joh 17:11 – keep 1Co 5:10 – of this 2Co 13:7 – I pray 2Ti 1:12 – keep 2Ti 4:18 – deliver Tit 2:12 – this Jam 1:27 – to keep 1Pe 1:5 – kept 1Pe 3:11 – eschew
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HOLY KEEPING
I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:15
But why does Christ leave His people in the world at all? Why not at once remove them, and take them home? That is not Gods way.
I. Christ leaves His own in the world that they may be trained for Him.Only on earth could they be prepared for heaven; for heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Only on earth could they learn their own weakness and the evil of their own hearts. Only on earth could they walk by faith; therefore earth must come before heaven, the bitter before the sweet, and that will make the sweet the sweeter.
II. Another reason why the Lord leaves His people in the world is, that they may be His witnesses.What does the world care for the honour of Christ, or the word of Christ, or the love of Christ? Ye shall be witnesses unto Me, the Lord Jesus still says to all who believe in Him.
III. Christ prays His Father to keep His people from the Evil One.And I do not doubt that every true believer will be so kept by the power of God. The Good Shepherd says of His people, My sheep shall never perish. The strongest oak in the forest may be uprooted by the wind; but the ivy that clings to the rock, never. The weakest child that in its weakness clasps and cleaves to Christ is safe and strong; the giant who proudly walks alone will surely fall away. You may be a feeble folk like the conies; but if you make your home in the Rock of Ages no harm shall happen to you, for you shall be kept safe by the prayers of your Redeemer.
Rev. F. Harper.
Illustration
Read me that chapter whereon my soul first cast anchor, said John Knox on his dying bed. It was the seventeenth chapter of John. I do not wonder; for those chapters or texts which have helped us in difficulty, or comforted in sorrow, or cheered us in darkness, become very dear to us; they are staves on which we lean in weakness; we look on them like old friends.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5
The work of God and Christ for the salvation of the world, required the personal presence and services of the apostles. That is why Jesus did not ask his Father to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the evils of the world, while they were fulfilling their task for the kingdom that was so great.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 17:15. I ask not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them out of the evil one. The disciples are in the world, and Jesus cannot yet pray that they may be taken out of it, for it is the very purpose of the Father that they shall be left in it to carry on His work. What He does pray for is, that, as their work and His will be identical, so also their preservation may be identical, with His own. The element distinguishing His preservation had been that mentioned in chap. Joh 14:30,a total separation between the prince of this world and Him. The same complete separation He would now have for them,not merely that they may be delivered from attacks of the evil one, but also that they may be kept out of him, may have no fellowship with him, no weakening of their testimony by yielding to him, but may be single, pure, and faithful to the last as He had been. The expression to be kept out of the evil one may surprise the reader until he re members that in 1Jn 5:19-20 the Apostle really speaks of the world as lying in the evil one. The teaching of this Gospel and of the whole New Testament is that there are two spheres in which man may live, that of the world and its prince, and that of Jesus Christ. (Compare the many passages which speak of the Christian as in Christ.) Our prayer ought to be, not that we may be kept from the one, but that we may be kept out of the one and in the other.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here observe, 1. That the wisdom of Christ sees fit to continue his children and people in the world, notwithstanding all the perils and dangers of the world. He has work for them, and they are of use to him, for a time, in the world; till their work be done, Christ’s love will not, and the world’s malice cannot, remove them from hence. Yet Christ prays that his Father would keep them from the evil; that is, from the sins, temptations, and snares of this wicked world.
Thence note, that a spiritual victory over evil is to be preferred before a total exemption from evil; it is a far greater mercy to be kept from sin in our afflictions, than from the afflictions themselves.
Learn farther, how necessary divine aid is to our preservation and success, even in the holiest and best of enterprizes, and how necessary it is to seek it by fervent prayer.
Note, also, that such as sincerely devote themselves to Christ’s service, are sure of his aid and protection whilst so employed.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 15
Take them out of the world; rescue them from it; that is, from the dangers and sufferings which were threatening them.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
17:15 {4} I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
(4) He shows what type of deliverance he means: not that they should be in no danger, but that in being preserved from all they might prove by experience that the doctrine of salvation is true, which doctrine they received from his mouth to deliver to others.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus’ was not asking the Father to remove the Eleven from the hostile world as He was about to leave it. He was petitioning Him to keep them loyal to Himself while they continued to live in it. Jesus repeated the thought of Joh 17:14 b in Joh 17:16 to stress the disciples’ essential distinction from the world. It was, therefore, protection from "the evil" (Gr. ek tou ponerou) in the world that they needed. This phrase could mean evil generally, or it could be a reference to the evil one, Satan. Other occurrences of the phrase elsewhere encourage us to interpret it as referring to the devil here (cf. Mat 6:13; 1Jn 2:13-14; 1Jn 3:12; 1Jn 5:18-19). Even though Satan now stands condemned, He still controls the world (1Jn 5:19).
Throughout church history Christians have sought relief from the world’s hatred by withdrawing from it socially, and in other ways, or by compromising with it. Some individuals tend to withdraw from a disagreeable and dangerous environment while others prefer to blend into it. Jesus’ will, however, was that His disciples should do neither of these things. He wanted them to remain loyal to God while continuing to participate in the amoral aspects of its life. Our sense of mission and our sense of identity should control our desire for comfort.
"Christians must not take themselves out of the world but remain in meaningful contact with it, trusting in God’s protection while they witness for Jesus." [Note: Blum, pp. 332-3.]