Gospel of John [17:15-16]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 22. Act 1:8; Luk 9:57-62; 2Ti 4:9-11.

Title: Gospel of John [17:15-16]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 22. ACT 1:8; LUK 9:57-62; 2TI 4:9-11.

 

 

JOH 17:15 "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world [not the solution], but to keep them from the evil one.

 

JOH 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

How would the Church have begun if the disciples fell prey to evil? (selfishness, arrogance, various lusts, seeking one's own good and comfort over others, etc.)

 

Evil can be found in selfishness, arrogance, various lusts, seeking one's own good over all others; there are many categories. What if the disciples chose personal comfort over God's work?

 

We studied the choice of John Mark to go home well before the first missionary journey of Paul was over. If they had all put their personal comfort and their fleshly desires for acceptance from their peers ahead of their calling then the Church would not have had the amazing beginning that it did. Every believer must, from time to time, evaluate his priorities. We do what we love to do. If you have been led by the HS long enough to get an idea of what your calling is, are you pursuing that as your #1 purpose? Do you neglect your calling when an opportunity to do something else conflicts with it? Are you attempting to fulfill your calling and pursue cosmic plans at the same time? 

 

ACT 1:8 you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

 

LUK 10:1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

 

LUK 10:2 And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

 

LUK 9:57 And as they were going along the road, someone [a scribe; MAT 8:19] said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go."

 

The scribe had a wealthy, comfortable, and prestigious life and likely came from a family of scribes, and so, always experienced ease.

 

A scribe was trained to read and write and were trained scholars of the torah. The ruling class depended upon them for a great variety of practical matters and so they became influential people in governments and upper society, and in this case, they were influential members of the religious bureaucracy of Israel. It was common for this profession to be passed down from father to son and so the family would have become accustomed to sufficiency of needs, even plenty, and an ease of lifestyle.

 

In 180 BC Ben Sira wrote that "the wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure." By the time of Christ they became a new upper class, especially the scribes of the Pharisees. Christ called them hypocrites and blind guides.  

 

LUK 9:58 And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head [doesn't own a place]." 

 

We don't know if the man followed Him, but the point the Lord makes is that it is not a life of leisure and popularity in the way that the scribe was used to.

 

LUK 9:59 And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Permit me first to go and bury my father."

 

LUK 9:60 But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."

 

At this time the dead were buried on the day of their death. If his father had died this day, he wouldn't have been there. It is far more likely that his father is aged and frail.

 

The dead were buried on the day of their death. This man's father was aged and frail and so he wanted to return home to care for him, which could have taken months/years.

 

What can be overlooked is that the Lord asked him to follow Him. Few know the kingdom of God and fewer still are called to preach it to the world. What a privilege this man has just received. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.

 

The Lord soon after appointed 70 others to spread the gospel and they went and were very successful.

 

This man in 9:59 was called to bring the good news of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of the earth, of which all mankind belongs, is under the penalty of death and so there are many spiritually dead people around to bury their own dead. He is not at all declaring that we should neglect our parents, but when the call comes to proclaim the kingdom, there should not be a mindset of, "as soon as I get my earthly affairs in order I will go." If Christ wanted him to go later He would have asked him later. He is asking him now. This man's father may live another few years. But what will his family think if he doesn't care for his aged and frail father? Was there an inheritance at stake that the father would have withheld from him if he didn't participate in his care? When he dies there will be plenty of other family to bury him, in other words plenty of family members who were not called to spread the gospel. Since the Lord called him there is work to be done, but this man desires to finish certain work that is of the kingdom of the cosmos before he takes up the call of the kingdom of heaven.

 

LUK 9:61 And another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home."

 

LUK 9:62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

This man seems similar to the second. Though it seems that he volunteered, the situation is similar; there is something of the cosmos kingdom to take care of first. However, our Lord's response shows the difference. This man looks back.

 

The second man desires to go back home for a while. This man is looking back. His separation from the world is not yet thorough.

 

The second man wants to go home and remain, taking care of his father's needs. This man wants to quickly say goodbye and so this man is described as looking back. This man's separation from the world is not yet thorough. It is not a case of going back but of looking back. If you're going to go you must go all in. No one can serve two masters. This man's understanding of the significance of the mission of Christ is not yet complete and so he still has a strong attraction for the things of the cosmic kingdom.

 

GEN 19:26

But his wife, from behind him, looked back; and she became a pillar of salt.

 

All three have the same theme.

 

If we're going to go and be witnesses for Him we can't cease in the work every time we have an opportunity for lives that will become more comfortable or more accepted.

 

If we consistently do that, we will not really be witnesses at all, but hypocrites or antinomian.

 

If it was protection and ease of life that Christ wanted the most for us then He might have prayed that we be taken out of the world and brought to heaven.

 

We will be there soon enough. He has something better in mind by asking that we remain first to experience His life and witness and to be the vehicles for the gospel of salvation and then to go home where sin, evil, and tribulation do not exist.

 

2TI 4:9 Make every effort to come to me soon;

 

2TI 4:10 for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

 

2TI 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.

 

ROM 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

ROM 5:2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

 

ROM 5:3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

 

ROM 5:4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

 

ROM 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

Perseverance is not dropping the call of God every time something that seems more preferable comes around. Tribulation will come as the pressure of the cosmos bears down on us. This certainly comes in the form of suffering, but it also comes in the form of temptation. We live in a world that the great majority do not know of, honor, or heed a call from God and so the temptation to not honor His call will always bear down on the positive believer.

 

JOH 17:14 "I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

JOH 17:15 "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

 

JOH 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

They no more belong to the world than He does, nor does any believer in the Church. We are in the world but not of the world.

 

Php 3:20

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

 

The world has not only rejected what He said but has manifested hostility towards Him and His disciples.  

 

The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

 

1JO 5:19

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.