João 17
Andrew Murray · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 17
Murray - NOT OF THIS WORLD “And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not … They are not part of this world any more than I am.” John 17:14, 16 In His last night, Jesus took pains to make clear to His disciples the impassable gulf between Him and the world and also between them and the world (John 16:16–21). He had said of the Spirit: “The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him” (John 14:17). “The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you” (John 15:19). One great mark of the disciples was to be as little a part of the world as Christ was. Christ and the disciples had become united in the cross and the Resurrection; they both belonged to another world, the kingdom of heaven. Why is it that faith in the Holy Spirit is practiced so little by Christians? The world rules too much in the lives of Christians. The “world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions” (1 John 2:16)—all this robs the heart of its desire for that true self-denial necessary for receiving the Holy Spirit. Vance Havner - SEPARATION AND INVOLVEMENT In the world.... not of the world. John 17:11, 14. We are to separate from sin and not from sinners The Christian has been saved out of the world. He is in the world but not of it and he is sent into the world to win others out of the world, which is his business in this world. He must keep separated from its defilements (Jas 1:27), yet he must be in the midst of it for the salt must be mixed with whatever it is to purify (Mt 5:13). Light is needed in a dark place, not in a light place (Mt 5:14-16). We are to be separated from all that might hinder our witness, but we are to separate from sin and not from sinners. The Pharisees would not even eat an egg that had been laid on the Sabbath, but they wrapped the robes of their supersanctity around them and would not touch poor sinners with a forty-foot pole. How to be a separated mixer, both apart and involved, is a lesson learned in the school of our Lord Who was both. Vance Havner - The Word or the World I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:14. If you stand on the Word you do not stand in with the world. McLaren says, "The measure of our discord with the world is the measure of our accord with our Saviour." Our Lord said the world hated Him and would hate us. "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18-19). "The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1). What has happened to all this today? The average church member courts the world's favor and rejoices in being hail-fellow-well-met and shows off the world's prizes and rewards. If to love the world is to be the enemy of God (Jas 4:4), we have some strange contradictions among us! What some think is the world becoming more Christian is just Christians becoming more worldly. We can have the word or the world but not both. There is no concord between Christ and Belial. Read John 17; 2Co 6:14-7:1; James 4:4; 1Jn 2:15-17. We are strangers here. Don't make yourself at home. John 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. take: Ps 30:9 Ec 9:10 Isa 38:18,19 57:1 Lu 8:38,39 Php 1:20-26 keep: Ge 48:16 1Ch 4:10 Ps 121:7 Mt 6:13 Lu 11:4 Ga 1:4 2Th 3:3 2Ti 4:8 1Jn 5:18 Related Passages: James 4:4; You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the (kosmos - godless) world s hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the (kosmos - godless) world. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the (kosmos - godless) world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the (kosmos - godless) world, the love of the Father is not in him. 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” 1 Corinthians 5:10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. PRAYER FOR PROTECTION FROM THE DEVIL I do not ask (erotao) You to take (airo) them out (ek here denotes motion away from) of the world (kosmos), but to keep (tereo) them from the (definite article = the specific) evil (poneros) one - YLT includes the uses of hina which are not found in most modern translations - "YLT John 17:15 I do not ask that (hina - term of purpose) Thou mayest take them out of the world, but that (hina - term of purpose) Thou mayest keep them out of the evil." Jesus does not ask the Father to extract the disciples from the world. On the positive side (and repeating Jn 17:11) Jesus requests the Father to keep them safe and protect them from the evil (poneros) which is most likely a reference to Satan. The adjective poneros is distinguished from another word for evil kakos by the fact that it is a more active evil. Jesus left His disciples no room for compromise with evil world system headed by Satan. In sum, Jesus is not praying for isolation but for insulation. We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally -- Oswald Chambers D A Carson says the evil (poneros) "could be taken in an abstract sense (‘from evil’) or as a reference to the devil. The latter is almost certainly what is meant (cf. Mt. 6:13; 1 Jn. 2:13–14; 3:12; 5:18–19). The death/exaltation of the Master spells the principal defeat of the ruler of this world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), but that does not rob him of all power to inflict terrible damage on the Lord’s followers, if they are left without succour. Until the consummation, when the last enemy is destroyed, ‘the whole world is under the control of the evil one’ (1 Jn. 5:19). The Christians’ task, then, is not to be withdrawn from the world, nor to be confused with the world (hence the reminder of Jn 17:16, repeating the thought of Jn 17:14b), but to remain in the world, maintaining witness to the truth by the help of the Paraclete (Jn 15:26–27), and absorbing all the malice that the world can muster, finally protected by the Father himself, in response to the prayer of Jesus." (BORROW The Gospel according to John PAGE 564) Jesus had just declared to the disciples "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33+)
João 17
Murray - THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE “Holy Father, keep them and care for them—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are.” John 17:11 Jesus continues: “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are—I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:20–23). Notice how the Lord refers to “being one” five times in this text. It is as if He felt the need to strongly emphasize these words so we would really realize the main thought of His High Priestly prayer. He longs that the words have the same place in our hearts that they have in His. As He was on the way to go to the Father through the cross, He wanted us to understand that He took this desire with Him to heaven. He wanted us to know that He will make it the object of His unceasing intercession there. He entrusted the words to us that we should take them into the world and make them the object of our unceasing intercession, too. That alone would enable us to fulfill the last new command which He gave: that we should love each other as He loved us so that we would be full of joy. The need for diversity as the basis of unity in the body of Christ is well illustrated by a jigsaw puzzle. All the parts of the puzzle are of equal importance to the completed puzzle, and without all of the parts the puzzle would be incomplete. However, when building the puzzle, one looks first for the four corner pieces that are foundational to the completion of the rest of the puzzle. So, too, the four gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 are foundational to the completion of the mature body of Christ. When the jigsaw is finished, the four corner pieces are of no more value than the rest of the pieces. Help us, Lord, to work together With the gifts that You bestow; Give us unity of purpose As we serve You here below. —Sper We can go a lot further together than we can alone. John Flavel - John 17:11 This Scripture contains the first preparation of Christ for death, where he sets his house in order, prays for his people, and blesses them before he dies.76 The love of Christ was ever tender and strong to his people, but the greatest demonstration of it was at parting, in two ways especially: in leaving support and comfort with them in his last heavenly sermon, in John 14 through 16, and in pouring out his soul to the Father for them in this heavenly prayer, chapter 17. In this prayer he gives them a sample of his intercession, which he was just then going to perform in heaven for them. Here his heart overflowed, for he was leaving them and going to the Father. The last words of a dying person are remarkable—how much more a dying Savior? We have here Christ’s petition in behalf of his people, not only those at that place, but all others that then did or afterwards would believe on him. And the sum of what he here requests for them is that his Father would protect them through his name, where you have both the mercy and the means of attaining it. The mercy is to be protected. Protecting implies danger, and there is a double danger anticipated in this request: danger in respect of sin and danger in respect of ruin and destruction. To both these the people of God lie open in this world. The means of their preservation from both is the name, that is, the power of God. This name of the Lord is the strong tower that the righteous run to and are safe (Prov. 18:10). Alas! It is not your own strength or wisdom that keeps you, but you are kept by the mighty power of God. This protecting power of God does not, however, exclude our care and diligence but implies it. God keeps his people, and yet they are to keep themselves in God’s love (Jude 21), to, above all else, guard their hearts (Prov. 4:23). The arguments with which he urges and presses on this request are drawn partly from his own condition—within a very few hours he will be separated from them in regard to his corporeal presence; partly from their condition—“they are still in the world,” that is, I must leave them in the midst of danger; and partly from the joint interest his Father and he himself had in them: Keep those you have given me. (NOTE: THIS IS ONLY AN EXCERPT - FOR FULL MESSAGE CLICK Sermon 20. Of Christ’s Humiliation unto Death, in his first preparative Act for it.) Chris Tiegreen - Fulfilling His Fellowship “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me— so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:11 “The soul that is united with God is feared by the devil as though it were God Himself.” —St. John of the Cross IN WORD - “The Name” of God is the holiest and most sacred of all words, especially in the Jewish context of Jesus’ ministry. There is an inexpressible reverence for His name that we often fail to appreciate in a culture that incorporates the Deity into common slang. This inherent reverence exists because of the awesome power of the Person it invokes. There is nothing more mysterious, more feared, more awe-inspiring than “The Name” of the living, eternal God. Jesus’ request for the unity of His disciples is backed by the power of “The Name.” This is no casual request. Just as our prayers that end with “in Jesus’ name” carry a force we can scarcely comprehend, Jesus’ desire for our union with one another invokes a power that is unmatched. The name of God solemnly seals this unity. It is done. This is no common unity, either. We are united as one just as the Father and Son are one! The level of our spiritual bond compares to that of the Trinity! No wonder, then, that the enemy of God has spent centuries trying to spoil the unity of the church. He cannot succeed, of course. But he can create the illusion that there is no real fellowship in the body of Christ, and he can provoke arguments among the body’s members. That we allow him to do so indicates our lack of understanding of the Lord’s intercession in John 17. We permit the appearance of divisions where we cannot in fact be divided. The body of Christ is an organic whole. It cannot be truly separated. IN DEED - The unity of true believers has never really been at stake in all of church history. What has been at stake is whether we behave as if we are united. We are one in Christ—that is reality. Do we act as one in Christ? Pray that our churches would reflect the spiritual reality of the body of believers. And then live with that oneness in mind. (SEE The One Year At His Feet Devotional) F B
João 17
Murray - THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS “Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth.” John 17:17 God is the Holy One. His people are a holy people. He speaks: “I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy” (Leviticus 21:8). Christ prayed: “Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth.” Paul prayed: “Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God” (1 Thessalonians 3:13), and “May the God of peace make you holy in every way” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Pray for all the believers—God’s holy ones—throughout the church. Pray that the Spirit of holiness may rule them. Especially pray for new converts. Pray for the believers in your own neighborhood or congregation, especially for any you are interested in. Think of their special need, weakness, or sin and pray that God may make them holy. Pray, trusting in God’s omnipotence. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. Often when we ask for great things, we think there is little likelihood of their happening. Prayer is not only wishing or asking, but believing and accepting. Be still before God and ask Him to allow you to know Him as the Almighty One and leave your requests with Him who does wonders. Two Sceptics Converted "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth."—John 17:17 Perhaps few things tend more powerfully to impress the mind with the evidence attending true Christianity, than the fact, that many who have sat down to read the Bible to oppose it, have been compelled by the force of conviction cordially to embrace its truths. The effect which was wrought on the mind of the celebrated Gilbert West, by that particular evidence of our LORD's Resurrection which was afforded to His Apostles, was very remarkable. He, and his friend, LORD Lyttelton, both men of acknowledged talents, had imbibed the principles of infidelity from a superficial view of the Scriptures. Fully persuaded that the Bible was an imposture, they were determined to expose the cheat. Mr. West chose the Resurrection of Christ, and LORD Lyttelton the conversion of St. Paul, for the subject of hostile criticism. Both sat down to their respective tasks, full of prejudice and a contempt for Christianity. The result of their separate attempts was truly extraordinary. They were both converted by their endeavours to overthrow the truth of Christianity. They came together, not as they expected, to exult over an imposture exposed to ridicule, but to lament their own folly, and to felicitate each other on their joint conviction, that the Bible was the Word of God. Their able inquiries have furnished two most valuable treatises in favour of Revelation: one entitled, "Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul;" and the other, "Observations on the Resurrection of Christ." JOHN 17:17 - Warren
João 17
Murray - THE MYSTERY OF LOVE “My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father…. Then the world will know that you sent me.”John 17:21, 23 When Christ spoke the last evening before His death, He especially pressed the thought of the disciples being in Him and remaining in Him. But in His prayer as High Priest, He gives more emphasis to the thought of His being in them, just as the Father is in Him. “That they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father…. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me.” God seeks to convince the world that He loved His disciples as He loved His Son. It is through believers today that He accomplishes this. The world will know that we are in Christ when they see the living unity of our love for each other. The Father’s love to Christ, brought by Christ to us, must flow out from us to each other and to all men. Prayerfully claim the promise: “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and live with them” (John 14:23). As this becomes a reality in our lives, the world will be compelled by the love that God’s children have for each other. In this way, God’s Word will be fulfilled: “I [Jesus] will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them” (John 17:26). J C Philpot - John 17:21- The Apostle declares, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Cor. 6:17) If, then, we are joined to the Lord, in other words, have a union with Him, this is the closest of all unions. A man and his wife are one flesh, but Jesus and the saint are one spirit. If possessed of this we are one spirit with Him; we understand what He says; we have the mind of Christ; we love what He loves, and hate what He hates. But out of this spiritual union flows communion with Him, intercourse with Him, communications from Him, and the whole of that divine work upon the heart whereby the two spirits become one. The Spirit of Christ in His glorious Person and the Spirit of Christ in a believing heart meet together, and meeting together as two drops of rain running down a pane of glass, or two drops of oil, kiss into each other, and are no longer two but one. Now if you have been ever blest with a manifestation of Christ, your spirit has melted into His, and you have felt that sweet union and communication with Him that you saw as with His eyes, heard as with His ears, felt as with His heart, and spoke as with His tongue. J R Miller - The nearer we get to God, and the more of the spirit of Christ there is in us, the less will we, too, think of the things that divide, and the more of the things that bind us together. When we get home to heaven—we shall see how trivial were the things that divided us here, ofttimes keeping us far apart, and what possibilities of fellowship we missed as we journeyed heavenward. Oswald Chambers - The Explanation for Our Difficulties “… that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us …” (John 17:21). If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17. It will explain exactly why you are where you are—because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be. God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus—“… that they may be one just as We are one …” (Jn 17:22). Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that? God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical. Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him—because Jesus prayed, “… that they all may be one …” --- If you are going through a solitary way, read John 17, it will explain exactly why you are where you are - Jesus has prayed that you may be one with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or have you some other end for your life? Since you became a disciple you cannot be as independent as you used to be. The purpose of God is not to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God, and this is revealed in John 17. There is one prayer God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus - "that they may be one, even as We are One." Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that? God is not concerned about our plans; He does not say - Do you want to go through this bereavement; this upset? He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women; or they are making us more captious and fault-finding, more insistent upon our own way. The things that happen either make us fiends, or they make us saints; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God. If we say - "Thy will be done," we get the consolation of John 17, the consolation of knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom. When we understand what God is after we will not get mean and cynical. Jesus has prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far off it, and yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus has prayed that we may be. Words And Numbers I and My Father are one. — John 10:30 Today's Scripture : John 17:20-26 My husband is a “numbers” person; I am a “word” person. When my incompetence with numbers gets the best of me, I try to boost my ego by reminding Jay that word people are superior because Jesus called Himself the Word, not the Number. Instead of trying to defend himself, Jay just smiles and goes on about his business, which consists of much more important things than my silly arguments. Since Jay will not defend himself, I feel compelled to do so. Although I am right about Jesus being the Word, I am wrong in saying that He didn’t refer to Himself as a number. One of the most moving passages of Scripture is Christ’s prayer just before His arrest and crucifixion. Facing death, Jesus prayed not only for Himself, but also for His disciples and for us. His most urgent request on our behalf involved a number: “[I pray] that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). The Key to God's Redemptive Mission - Henry Blackaby - BORROW Experiencing God Day by Day Page 12 May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us,so the world may believe You sent Me.—John 17:21 God often speaks of human relationships as a part of His mission to redeem a lost world (John 13:20; Matt. 25:40). One reason He gives for a husband and wife to live in unity is so they can produce a “godly seed,” that is, children who love and obey God, who can be used in God's mission to bring redemption to a lost world (Mal. 2:14–15). Similarly, the church is the body of Christ. A church cannot be on mission with the Father in our world if its members are waging war with one another (1 Cor. 12:12). There is a crucial connection between our relationships with others and the salvation of those around us. We might assume that during Jesus' prayer before His crucifixion, He would have prayed that His disciples would have courage, or would remain faithful, or would remember what they had been taught. Yet He asked that His followers would remain united in their love for one another. Jesus understood that it is spiritually impossible to love God but not love others. A test of your love for God is to examine your love for others. Our tendency is to say, “Heavenly Father, the problem is not between You and me. I love You with all my heart. I just don't love my brother.” And God says, “That is an impossibility. You cannot love Me without loving the ones for whom My Son died” (John 13:34–35). Your life will not convince those around you of the reality of Jesus if you cannot live in unity with your fellow Christians.
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Murray - “That they may be one, as we are—I in them and you in me … Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me … that your love for me may be in them and I in them” (John 17:22–23, 26). Believers are one in Christ, as He is one with the Father. The love of God rests on them and can dwell in them. Pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will put this love in believers so that the world may see and know God’s love in them. Pray consistently for this. Pray as one of God’s reminders: “I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray” (Isaiah 62:6). Study these words until your whole soul is filled with the realization: I am appointed as an intercessor. Enter God’s presence with that faith. Approach the world’s need with this thought: It is my job to intercede. Meditate on the fact that the Holy Spirit will teach you how to pray and what to pray for. Let it be a constant awareness: My great life work, like Christ’s, is intercession. My purpose is to pray for believers and those who still do not know God. Brian Bell - Merrill C. Tenney in his commentary on John said, “Paul of Tarsus, Luther of Germany, Wesley of England, & Moody of America would find deep unity w/each other, though they were widely separated by time, by space, by nationality, by educational background, & by ecclesiastical connections.” Jesus didn’t pray for uniformity of practice or unanimity of thinking or union between all religious organizations. He prays for unity...a oneness which only the Holy Spirit can bring about. And that can’t be achieved through committee or consensus. Only through faith in & love for Jesus!!!2 C H