Kept in the Father's Name
Memory Verses
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Background Scripture: John 17
Lesson Scripture: John 17:915, 20-26
Introduction
God, in His infinite love, called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and we became His children by the new birth. Once we are born into His family, God's desire is that we would safely reach home. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which bath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).
The battle of Christian life is real and may seem overwhelming at times. We want to be faithful, but often feel weak of ourselves. Surely every faithful Christian has experienced the grace of being kept secure and strengthened by a power not of himself. In this lesson we want to study the Source of this power.
Key Verse
Because thou bast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10).
Lesson Scripture
JOHN 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou bast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gayest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 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.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; 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.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 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 thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 0 righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 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 Tin them,
Studying the Lesson
What an intimate setting that upper room was as Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover. Jesus knew He was facing death within hours, and He had much to tell those closest to Him. Oh, how earnest He must have been. His message was filled with tender love and rich instruction. Jesus closed His farewell address with the beautiful prayer recorded in John 17.
The disciples' hearts must have burned within them as they felt Jesus' love for them as they listened to Him pray to His Father. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (i John 4:10).
Unity is a recurring theme of Jesus' prayer. The oneness of the faith springs from the oneness of the Godhead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are perfectly united; accordingly, it is incomprehensible that God would bring forth anything other than unity. The unity of the Spirit among believers is a gift of God and is impossible to achieve without God's grace, making this unity a powerful witness to the world.
No doubt, the disciples always remembered the inspiration and power of Jesus' prayer. It is not just a prayer that He prayed many years ago, but its message is a present reality. He prayed for us even as He prayed for those disciples in the upper room (v. 20). "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom. 8:34). Jesus is alive and interceding for us.
Practical Truths for Today
Satan's goal is to isolate us in the dark. God's plan is to keep us together in the light. Satan scatters, God gathers. The Holy Spirit will always lead us into unity with our spiritual brothers and sisters. This unity of the Spirit is different from the spirit of unity. Many times people will unite around certain ideas or causes, but the unity Jesus prayed for is more than this. It is a result of the living presence of Christ in our lives and is found only as we surrender them to Jesus. The unity of the brotherhood provides security for the Christians. Satan knows this unity is a tremendous safety for us; consequently, he tries to scatter the sheep. He is well aware that he has no chance with us until he puts some distance between us and our brothers and sisters. The Corinthian church had several grave issues; however, Paul first pointed out their lack of unity (1 Cor. 3:3).
God is intensely interested in our continued salvation and is grieved when one of His children loses the way. Although we reject the doctrine of once saved, always saved as false, we need to realize that God does not abandon us; rather, He does all He an that we will remain faithful. After we are born again, we live under the canopy of God's grace, and only a deliberate choice will separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). Some Christians tend to live with a sense of dread. They mistakenly imagine that they are saved or lost depending on whether or not they have sufficiently confessed the weakness of the flesh. This fear can become a driving force and cause them much inner turmoil. While we sincerely loathe the depravity of the flesh, we need to realize that we do not easily slip out of God's grace unless we willfully sin. If our heart is to follow Jesus, His grace will keep us.
We should not confuse the conditions we must meet to be saved with the grounds of our justification. To repent, believe, and obey are the conditions we meet to become a child of God. We are justified because Jesus died—His sacrifice alone satisfied the Father's wrath against sin. God supplies the keeping power that enables us to live victoriously. We supply the willingness to follow God and trust Him. Are we too prone to dwell on our own weaknesses and the evils around us? Like Peter, we take our eyes off Jesus and begin to look at the wind and the waves. A basic choice we face each day is whether we will trust God. Let us focus on God's power and remember how much He loves us.
Imagine a child walking beside his father. He reaches up with his little hand, and his father reaches down with his big hand. There is security in that union. How true a picture of our relationship with our heavenly Father! Surely His grasp on us is stronger than our grasp on Him. As long as we reach up, we are in the grip of grace and are kept by the power of God. In his epistle, Jude says so eloquently, "Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude v. 21). Reach up in faith to God and seek a vital connection with Him each day through prayer and reading His Word. Maintain fellowship with the brotherhood. These things we can do. And God will always do all He can that we are kept from the evil of the world. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 24).
He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here, While I live by faith and do His blessed will; A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear; With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill. 1
Questions
- What are ways to help young Christians come to a proper understanding of the grace of God?
- Does God sometimes withdraw a measure of His grace to show us how weak we are without Him?
- What part do our intercessory prayers have in keeping a loved one from going lost?
- Youth is a time of learning and growth, even though sometimes through mistakes. How does this lesson apply to the insecurities of young Christians?
- 1 Charles W. Fry (1837-1882), "The Lily of the Valley"
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).