John 17:11 ¶ 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 hast 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 gavest 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. 16 They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
Christ will no more be walking in the world of men and
women, no more walking on the earth. He is going back to Heaven, the abode of
God. Christ calls God the Father, Holy Father, which is not a title to give to
men. Like the word reverend it has a
particular application to God alone.
Psalm 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath
commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
Christ prays for unity among the Apostles. Unity is one of
the most important attributes that God wishes for the body of Christ.
Romans 15:6
That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:2
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one
accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Ephesians 4:1 I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one
faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.
This unity of purpose is essential for a church to
grow inwardly as the congregation draws closer to God through the Scriptures
and outwardly as people are drawn to the church by the Holy Spirit using the
atmosphere created by the congregation becoming closer and closer to God.
Jesus kept every one of the Apostles except for Judas
Iscariot, who is called here the son of
perdition. This epithet is used again, by Paul, in 2Thessalonians 2.
2:3 Let no man
deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself
that he is God.
This poses the question as to a further meaning of
the following verses with regard to Judas Iscariot whom we have already been
told is a devil in John 6:70, 71.
Acts 1:25 That
he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by
transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
(See also 1Samuel 5:11)
Revelation 9:11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose
name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name
Apollyon.
Some believe the spirit of Judas will return in the
form of someone at the end in the beast of Revelation as John the Baptist was
imbued with the spirit of Elijah, the Prophet.
Read Psalm 109 for prophecies that will assigned to
Judas in Acts, chapter one. Also see other passages that will be illuminated in
Judas’ behavior;
Zechariah
11:12 And I said unto them, If ye think
good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price
thirty pieces of silver.13 And the LORD
said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of
them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in
the house of the LORD.
Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Psalm 55:12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me;
then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify
himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: 13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide,
and mine acquaintance. 14 We took sweet
counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
There are other verses that refer to Judas in the Old
Testament.
Christ spoke these words the Apostles so they might
not despair, but have joy as John wrote in his first letter in 1John 1:4 that
he was writing that those Christians’ joy might be full. Believing the Bible
does not lead you to despair but to joy. We may not understand everything now
but we will. Trust God.
We do not belong to this world any more. It doesn’t
own us even though we often try to let it. As Christ is not of this world,
neither are we.
Why can we not be removed from this world as soon as
we believe and are saved by God?
Jesus asks the Father not to remove His disciples
from the world, but as they have a part in saving those of the world that can
be saved, He asks that God protect them from the evil. What would the evil refer to specifically in this
particular context?
Perhaps the
evil is Satan, whom we will find out in Luke 22:31, has desires to do much
damage to the Apostles.
Luke 22:31 And
the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you [the
plural you for all off the disciples],
that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee [the singular
you, for Simon Peter specifically], that
thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
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