John 17:15 I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. 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) Christ's 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) Christ's 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 world's 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.) Parallel Verses KJV: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.WEB: I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. |
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