John 17:15
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
I am not asking
The phrase "I am not asking" reflects Jesus' intercessory prayer to the Father. The Greek word used here is "erōtaō," which implies a request or entreaty. This highlights the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, emphasizing His role as our mediator. Jesus, in His earthly ministry, often prayed for His disciples, showing His deep concern and love for them. This phrase sets the tone for the rest of the verse, indicating that Jesus' request is specific and purposeful.

that You take them out of the world
The phrase "that You take them out of the world" suggests a deliberate choice by Jesus not to ask for the removal of His disciples from worldly existence. The Greek word for "world" is "kosmos," which often refers to the fallen, human system opposed to God. Jesus acknowledges the reality of living in a world that is often hostile to His teachings. Historically, Christians have lived in diverse cultures and societies, facing persecution and challenges. This phrase reassures believers that their presence in the world has divine purpose and mission.

but that You keep them
The word "keep" comes from the Greek "tēreō," meaning to guard or protect. This implies a divine safeguarding by God over His people. Jesus' prayer is not for isolation but for protection. Throughout Scripture, God is depicted as a protector and shield for His people, as seen in Psalms and other biblical texts. This assurance of divine protection is a source of comfort and strength for believers facing trials and temptations.

from the evil one
The phrase "from the evil one" refers to protection from Satan, the adversary. The Greek term "ponēros" can mean evil in a general sense or specifically refer to the evil one, Satan. In the biblical narrative, Satan is portrayed as the deceiver and accuser, seeking to lead believers astray. Jesus' prayer for protection underscores the reality of spiritual warfare and the need for divine intervention. This phrase reminds believers of the ongoing battle against spiritual forces and the assurance of victory through Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this prayer, Jesus is interceding for His disciples before His crucifixion. This prayer is part of what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.

2. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' prayer, representing all believers who follow Christ. Jesus is concerned for their protection and sanctification.

3. The World
Refers to the fallen world system that is often in opposition to God's kingdom. Jesus acknowledges that His followers must live within this world.

4. The Evil One
A reference to Satan, who is seen as the adversary of believers and the source of temptation and evil in the world.

5. The Father
God the Father, to whom Jesus is praying. This highlights the intimate relationship and unity within the Trinity.
Teaching Points
The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
Believers are engaged in a spiritual battle and need God's protection to stand firm against the evil one.

Living in the World, Not of the World
Christians are called to be in the world but not conformed to it, maintaining their distinctiveness as followers of Christ.

The Power of Intercessory Prayer
Jesus' prayer for His disciples models the importance and power of praying for others, especially for their spiritual protection.

Dependence on God for Protection
Believers must rely on God's strength and protection rather than their own abilities to overcome the evil one.

The Assurance of God's Keeping
Jesus' prayer assures believers that God is actively involved in keeping them safe from spiritual harm.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the context of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer enhance our appreciation of His intercession for us today?

2. In what ways can we actively resist the influence of the world while living in it, according to biblical principles?

3. How can we incorporate the model of Jesus' intercessory prayer into our own prayer lives, especially concerning spiritual protection?

4. What practical steps can we take to put on the "full armor of God" as described in Ephesians 6, and how does this relate to Jesus' prayer in John 17:15?

5. How does the assurance of God's protection from the evil one impact our daily walk with Christ and our confidence in facing spiritual challenges?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 6:13
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for deliverance from evil, echoing the request for protection from the evil one.

1 John 5:19
This verse speaks of the whole world being under the control of the evil one, emphasizing the need for divine protection.

Ephesians 6:11-12
Paul instructs believers to put on the full armor of God to stand against the devil's schemes, reinforcing the idea of spiritual warfare.

James 4:7
Encourages believers to resist the devil, promising that he will flee, which aligns with the prayer for protection from the evil one.
Better to Stay than GoC. H. Spurgeon.John 17:15
Christians One with the World and Yet Distinct from ItJohn 17:15
Christ's Prayer for His DisciplesJ. Ker, D. D.John 17:15
Christ's Prayer for His PeopleCharles Haddon Spurgeon John 17:15
Christ's Prayer for the DisciplesW. Rudder, D. D.John 17:15
Every-Day HolinessKnox Little.John 17:15
Fighting, not FallingB. Thomas John 17:15
Kept from the EvilD. Wilcox.John 17:15
Mutual NecessityCongregational PulpitJohn 17:15
Not Removal, But SafetyD. Young John 17:15
The Christian in SocietyW. M. Taylor, D. D.John 17:15
The Christian in the WorldJ. Donne, D. D.John 17:15
The Disciples in the WorldH. Batchelor.John 17:15
The Parting PrayerD. Moore, M. A.John 17:15
The World's Need of ChristiansJohn 17:15
Unworldliness in the WorldF. Myers, M. A.John 17:15
The Divine SuppliantD. Thomas, D. D.John 17:9-16
The Keeping of the SaintsT. Whitelaw, D. D.John 17:9-16
The Mediatorial PleaJ. Spence, D. D.John 17:9-16
Why Christ Did not Pray for the WorldF. Godet, D. D.John 17:9-16
Why Christ Prayed for the DisciplesF. Godet, D. D.John 17:9-16
People
Jesus, Disciples
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Demand, Evil, Mayest, Prayer, Protect, Remove, Shouldest, Shouldst, Wilt
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 17:15

     4123   Satan, deceiver
     4126   Satan, resistance to
     5292   defence, divine
     5480   protection
     5566   suffering, encouragements in
     5934   restraint
     5942   security
     8735   evil, origins of

John 17:1-26

     2360   Christ, prayers of
     8603   prayer, relationship with God

John 17:6-19

     4030   world, behaviour in

John 17:6-26

     8611   prayer, for others

John 17:10-22

     5308   equality

John 17:11-23

     7622   disciples, characteristics

John 17:14-15

     8484   spiritual warfare, enemies

John 17:14-16

     7028   church, life of
     8211   commitment, to world

John 17:14-18

     4027   world, fallen

John 17:15-18

     5542   society, positive

Library
October 10 Evening
After this manner . . . pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven.--MATT. 6:9. Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father.--My Father, and your Father. Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.--Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 10 Morning
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil.--JOHN 17:15. Blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.--Ye are the salt of the earth, . . . the light of the world.--Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is heaven. I also withheld thee from sinning against me. The Lord is faithful,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 20 Morning
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.--JOHN 17:16. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.--In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.--That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Jesus of Nazareth . . . went about doing good, and
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 21 Morning
I am the Lord which sanctify you.--LEV. 20:8. I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Sanctified by God the Father.--Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.--The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus . . . that he might
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 16 Morning
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.--JOHN 17:17. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.--Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul: discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 27 Morning
The glory which thou gavest me I have given them.--JOHN 17:22. I saw . . . the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.--These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.--Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness . . . of a man above upon it. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 13 Evening
Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.--EPH. 2:18. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 1 Morning
This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,. . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.--PHI. 3:13,14. Father, I will that they . . . whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.--I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.--He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 4 Evening
I have glorified thee on the earth.--JOHN 17:4. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.--I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.--This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 25 Evening
The spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.--ROM. 8:15. Jesus . . . lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, . . . Holy Father, . . . O righteous Father.--He said, Abba, Father.--Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.--For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints and of the household of God. Doubtless thou
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 12 Morning
They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.--MAL. 3:17. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 31. "I Pray not that Thou Shouldst Take them Out of the World, but that Thou Shouldst Keep them from the Evil" (John xvii. 15).
"I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil" (John xvii. 15). He wants us here for some higher purpose than mere existence. That purpose is nothing else than to represent Him to the world, to be the messengers of His Gospel and His will to men, and by our lives to exhibit to them the true life, and teach them how to live it themselves. He is representing us yonder, and our one business is to represent Him here. We are just as truly sent
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 5. "I in Them, and Thou in Me" (John xvii. 23).
"I in them, and Thou in Me" (John xvii. 23). If we would be enlarged to the full measure of God's purpose, let us endeavor to realize something of our own capacities for His filling. We little know the size of a human soul and spirit. Never, until He renews, cleanses and enters the heart can we have any adequate conception of the possibilities of the being whom God made in His very image, and whom He now renews after the pattern of the Lord Jesus Himself. We know, however, that God has made the human
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

December 11. "I Pray not for the World, but for Them" (John xvii. 9).
"I pray not for the world, but for them" (John xvii. 9). How often we say we would like to get some strong spirit to pray for us, and feel so helped when we think they are carrying us in their faith. But there is One whose prayers never fail to be fulfilled and who is more willing to give them to us than any human friend. His one business at God's right hand is to make intercession for His people, and we are simply coming in the line of His own appointment and His own definite promise and provision,
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Folded Flock
I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory.'--JOHN xvii. 24. This wonderful prayer is (a) for Jesus Himself, (b) for the Apostles, (c) for the whole Church on earth and in heaven. I. The prayer. 'I will' has a strange ring of authority. It is the expression of His love to men, and of His longing for their presence with Him in His glory. Not till they are with Him there, shall He 'see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.' We
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Christ's Summary of his Work
'I have declared onto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.'--JOHN xvii. 26. This is the solemn and calm close of Christ's great High-priestly prayer; the very last words that He spoke before Gethsemane and His passion. In it He sums up both the purpose of His life and the petitions of His prayer, and presents the perfect fulfilment of the former as the ground on which He asks the fulfilment of the latter. There is a singular
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Intercessor
'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

'The Lord Thee Keeps'
...They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.'--JOHN xvii. 14-16. We have here a petition imbedded in a reiterated statement of the disciples' isolated position when left in a hostile world without Christ's sheltering presence. We cannot fathom the depth of the mystery of the praying Christ, but we may be sure of this,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The High Priest's Prayer
'Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; 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. And the glory which Thou givest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 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
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Sixteenth Day. Holiness and Truth.
Make them holy in the Truth: Thy word is Truth.'--John xvii. 17. 'God chose you unto salvation in sanctification and belief of the Truth.'--2 Thess. ii. 12. The chief means of sanctification that God uses is His word. And yet how much there is of reading and studying, of teaching and preaching the word, that has almost no effect in making men holy. It is not the word that sanctifies; it is God Himself who alone can sanctify. Nor is it simply through the word that God does it, but through
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Seventeenth Day. Holiness and Crucifixion.
For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.'--John xvii. 19. 'He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will. In which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.'--Heb. x. 9, 10, 14. It was in His High-priestly prayer, on His way to Gethsemane and Calvary, that Jesus thus spake to the Father: 'I sanctify myself.' He had not long before spoken
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Plenary Inspiration of Every Part of the Bible, vindicated and Explained. --Nature of Inspiration. --The Text of Scripture.
Thy Word is Truth. I THANKFULLY avail myself of the opportunity which, unexpected and unsolicited, so soon presents itself, to proceed with the subject which was engaging our attention when I last occupied this place. Let me remind you of the nature of the present inquiry, and of the progress which we have already made. Taking Holy Scripture for our subject, and urging, as best we knew how, its paramount claims on the daily attention of the younger men,--who at present are our hope and ornament;
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

August the Twenty-Fourth the Lord's Body
"I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." --JOHN xvii. 1-11. This quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord's divinity. The serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims themselves. "Finished," perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last, remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten! Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been accomplished. "It is finished!" "And now ... I come to Thee." The visible
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Cure of Evil-Speaking
"If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he will not hear them, tell it to the Church. But if he does not hear the church, let him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican." Matt. 18:15-17 1. "Speak evil of no man," says the great Apostle: -- As plain a
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

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