Gospel of John [17:14-16]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 20. Gal 1:3-5; 2Pe 1:4; 2:9.

Title: Gospel of John [17:14-16]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 20. GAL 1:3-5; 2PE 1:4; 2:9.

 

 

Our Lord was hated by the world for His gospel. Do we think that the world would give the same message more credence because it came from the lips of the disciples? The world hated them as they did the Lord.

 

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.

 

The disciples are not out from the world but born again and out from God. They and we are new creatures in Christ, citizens of heaven, and possessing a divine nature. The spiritual death of Christ causes the death of the old creature when anyone believes in Him as their Savior. To put our hands to the plow and to look back is to retain a fondness of something that the believer is dead to.

 

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

 

He uses the word tereo again, "keep," as He did in vv. 11-12.

 

JOH 17:11 "And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.

 

JOH 17:12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

 

The same protection from the Father that keeps us in His name is the same that keeps us from the evil (one) in this 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.

 

There is an obvious but wonderful truth that comes from these two sentences.

 

The solution isn't to remove the witnesses out of a world that hates them but to bless them with a power and protection from the evil in the world from the evil one.

 

Some manuscripts have the noun poneros in the masculine which would render it "evil one" while others have the noun in the neuter, which would be rendered "evil."

 

The root of evil in the cosmos is that in it there is an all comprehensive order or system which is methodized on a basis of complete independence of God.

 

There are many humanitarian ideals, morals, and aspects of culture that are in accord with spiritual realities, yet in the cosmos, they are all independent of God. God has given man establishment principles as a grace gift, yet anything done independent of Him falls under the category of evil. The original lie is that Satan can be like the Most High and the evil of the cosmos is a manifestation of all that Satan can produce as a complete exhibition of that which enters into the original lie.

 

On display is all that the creature, both angelic and human, can produce having embarked on an autonomous career.

 

The Father keeps us from the evil one and his evil, which includes all categories of sin and all the so-called good that the creature can produce independent of God. We must remember:

 

God is not contending with Satan for supremacy. God has permitted the evil cosmos that the lie may have its fullest unveiling.

 

The evil will show itself for what it is; weak and doomed. The cosmos is the supreme effort of the supreme creature that began with the repudiation of God. As the Pharisee segregated themselves from all they considered sinners, so the cosmos has segregated itself from the will and purpose of God.

 

The "independent good" of the cosmos is a source of deception.

 

The simple and fundamental truth of the scripture is that whatever is not of faith is sin, ROM 14:23.

 

Perhaps the greatest deception of western culture is secular humanism.

 

Christians need to recognize the solemn fact that humanism is not an ally in making the world a better place in which to live. It is a deadly enemy for it is a religion without God and without hope in this world or the next. [SECULAR HUMANISM: the most dangerous religion in America by Homer Duncan; 1979]

 

Humanism is the religion which deifies man and dethrones God. It is based solely in regard to the temporal well-being of mankind to the exclusion of all belief in God, judgment, redemption, and eternity.

 

Its avowed aim is to replace theism with humanism. John W. Whitehead and John Conlan, writing in the Texas Tech Law Review, define Secular Humanism in this way:

 

The word “secular” by definition refers to “the temporal rather than spiritual.” “Secularism” is a doctrinal belief that morality is based solely in regard to the temporal well-being of mankind to the exclusion of all belief in God, a supreme being, or a future eternity. “Humanism” is a philosophy or attitude that is concerned with human beings, their achievement and interests, and the condition or quality of being human, rather than with the abstract beings and problems of theology.

 

“Secularism is nontheistic and “humanism is secular because it excludes the basic tenets of theism. Therefore, Secular Humanism is nontheistic. However, while Secular Humanism is nontheistic, it is religious because it directs itself toward religious beliefs and practices, that are in active opposition to traditional theism. Humanism is a doctrine centered solely on human interests and values. Therefore, humanism deifies Man collectively and individually, whereas theism worships God.

 

Humanists do not believe in God and, of course, they do not believe in salvation or damnation. They believe in the theory of evolution, a theory that is often presented as fact in many schools and textbooks. Humanists believe that everyone has a right to full sexual freedom, the right to express their individual sexual preferences as they desire. They believe that everyone, regardless of age or condition, has a right to determine the values and goals that affect their lives. They adhere to situation ethics morality, meaning they do not live by or believe in absolute standards of morality. They recognize no immutable rights or wrongs as revealed in the Ten Commandments. They believe everyone has a right to maximum individual autonomy, meaning the right of each to do his own thing, whatever it may be. Humanists do not believe in national sovereignty, but in a world government.

 

Secular humanism believes in the inevitability of progress. This belief is perpetuated through the evolutionary theory and its cultural application known as social Darwinism. This fits their worship of human reason. They establish the state as a saving institution through education and so the state has fully dominated the education system. This usually ends in total state dominance for what they deem, "the good of society."

 

Humanism is concerned about man’s physical, environmental, and material welfare, but not about his soul.Christianity recognizes that only as man is reconciled to God can he be properly adjusted to the conditions of everyday life, and that by the presence and grace of God situations that otherwise would be unbearable are often means to draw him closer to God.

 

Humanism is willing to make use of any secular power or means to accomplish its ends. Christianity depends on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit for its effectiveness.

 

To the humanist, the ends justify all means.

 

Sadly some areas of Christianity have partnered up with secular humanism in a bit to make the world a better place. Only Jesus Christ, His word and His Spirit can make any life a life of joy and prosperity of soul. Many ministers are involved in the humanitarian movement that seeks to destroy the very God they claim to serve. Hence humanism will become a world religion or a common faith as described by the progressive John Dewey. Its god is the state, which will eventually be ruled by the antichrist.

 

For the humanists to achieve their goals the economic system of America must change from free-enterprise and capitalism to socialism and communism. Most people recoil from the word atheist, which they are, and so they take on other labels to deceive others. The ends justify the means.

 

The cosmos must run its course that its antigod character may be judged. It will continue until that time and it will not get better. Its rulers (angelic and men) "crucified the Lord of glory" in the ultimate revelation of their Christ rejecting character. If it weren't for the restraining ministry of God the Holy Spirit they would have done the same to His Church ages ago.

 

Social ideals are borrowed from His teachings while they reject His person and His salvation is spurned.

 

The independent, self-centered, self-satisfied, autonomous [all classifications of evil] cosmos asks for no redemption since it recognizes no need.

 

Cain is their father. No attempt will be made to salvage anything out of it when its day of demolition arrives.

 

The Lord's prayer to the Father set in motion the gifts that would be given to the Church that would protect her from the evil corruption of Satan and his cosmos.

 

It is Satan's desire for us to continue in these ways after salvation, or if we have been delivered from these ways through spiritual growth, to return to these ways of evil. Yet the Father has provided a protection so that we will be delivered from these ways by means of the word of God and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

 

2PE 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

2PE 2:9 the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

 

GAL 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,

 

GAL 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

 

GAL 1:5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

 

We see in the Lord's prayer that the solution to the tribulation that any believer experiences for the sake of Christ is not to get out of the tribulation. The Rapture will solve a lot of our problems, but that has not been a solution up to this minute. Hupomone is perseverance and patience. When the hour comes we must rely on God to deliver us from all evil.