The Safety of Divine Protection John 17:11-19 8/27/06 Introduction: The protection that God gives us is something that all of us as believers have come to count on. Sometimes God takes very large measures to protect us. Sometimes He uses very small things to protect us: Consider what happened during the days of the Reformation, when the Church was fighting to regain biblical Christianity: Emperor Charles V was trying to assassinate John Brenz, friend of Martin Luther. -When John Brenz heard that he was being hunted, he barely had time to grab a loaf of bread and get into his neighbor s hayloft. -He hid there for 14 days. -The bread was quickly gone, but everyday, a hen showed up and laid an egg each day. -On the fifteenth day the chicken didn t come, and the reformer wondered what he would do. -But it was on that very day that the ones who were hunting him left. In a similar way, a dog provided for the needs of another reformer, John Craig, who was arrested during the Inquisition. -on the eve of his scheduled execution, Craig escaped, -while he was running through the backcountry, he ran out of food and money. -suddenly a dog approached him, a money pouch in its mouth. -Craig tried to drive the animal away, but it dog persisted in bringing the purse to Craig. -In it was enough money to take him to freedom. Robert Bruce of Scotland was running for his life, fleeing persecutors. -He ducked into a small cave, and a spider immediately appeared and spun a web over the opening. -Bruce s pursuers fanned across the landscape, knowing he was near. 1
-Two of them approached the cave, and one of the men started to go in. The other one stopped him, saying, He could never have gotten in there without breaking that spider s web. Bruce breathed this prayer, O God, I thank Thee that in the tiny bowels of a spider you can place for me a shelter. 1 Big Idea: The protection of His child is a charge that God lays upon Himself. -if you re a child of God this morning, maybe this is exactly what God wants you to hear. -maybe you feel unprotected, maybe you feel exposed, and vulnerable in this sinful, selfish, money grabbing world. -if you re a child of God... you re protected in many ways. -this morning our text talks about three of those ways. Read John 17:11-19 Pray: -thank God for His protection -thank Him that though one or more of your children here this a.m. might feel vulnerable, exposed, weak, at the mercy of a sin filled world.... You re protecting them. -so challenge, and encourage every heart this morning, give courage, give vision, give direction to carry on. -but I ask, Lord, for the one Who is not Your child... that you would increase his or her perception of how naked, bare, exposed, lost, weak, needy, sinful he or she is... so they would be prompted to come under the sheltering protection of Your love. Three protecting shields that God provides for every one of His children: I. Shield Number One- Protection Against Eternal Destruction (vs. 11-13) We find ourselves this morning in the middle of a prayer that Christ prayed in John 17... often called Christ s High Priestly Prayer : I like the title that some have called it, The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed. -it s not really a long prayer... but that doesn t take away any of its strength. 1 Morgan, Robert J. Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. electronic ed., Page 383. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000. 2
-"Some....pray by the yard; but true prayer is measured by weight, and not by length." (Spurgeon) -Christ s words in this prayer are not really that long... but they are weighty. -in this prayer He prays for Himself (vs. 1-5); for His disciples (vs. 6-19); for all Christians (vs. 20-26) We find ourselves in the second part of that prayer this morning... as Jesus prays for His disciples. We come down to verses 11 and 12, and we find Jesus praying that the Father would keep them. A. While on earth, Jesus gave special protection to His disciples to keep them from eternal destruction. (vs. 12) Kept -to watch, to guard something or someone so that they are safe. -Jesus was like a watchman to those disciples -to keep them from perishing Now with one exception, none of the twelve perished: -who was the exception? Judas. -what does verse 12 call him? -the son of perdition - in this context, it simply means the destruction that consists of eternal misery in hell. (Strong s Enhanced Lexicon) -what happened to Judas according to verse 12? -Christ says that Judas perished. Here s the point: Judas perished in eternal destruction... is at this moment suffering the wrath of God... he has been lost from all eternity. -But Jesus guarded all of the other disciples from that kind of destruction. -none of those 11 disciples did, or will perish eternally in hell. B. Now God the Father protects Christians from eternal destruction. (vs. 11) 3
In the same way that Jesus protected every disciple who knew Him as Savior, God the Father now protects every person who knows Christ as Savior. If you ve come to Jesus to be saved, you will never in all eternity suffer even a second of hell first, God s wrath against unbelievers, and you will not perish. -you see, the gospel of John is full of this teaching -John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. There is a teaching that says it is possible to come to Christ and be saved, and then, through certain circumstances you can no longer be saved... you lose your salvation. -John 6:39, 40 And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lost nothing but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. -John 10:28, 29 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father s hand. Oh, we understand that there are many who look like they are in the Father s hand but aren t. There are many who profess to be Christians but aren t. (c.f. John 6:64, 66; 1 John 2:18-19 -Judas is a perfect example... he walked with Christ, followed Christ, ministered with Christ, listened to Christ s sermons. -but he wasn t really a child of God. But for the person who is genuinely in Christ, genuinely born again, there is no loss of salvation. Now look again here in John 17:11 -Jesus asks the Father to keep believers from eternal destruction... how? -through the Father s Name... or in the Father s Name (depending on your translation) -this means that the keeping of believers is based on the very character, and power of God 4
-it means that God, through His power, and all that He is will keep them. -so in a very real sense, if someone could trust Christ as Savior, and then lose that salvation, it s the very Name, power, and character of God that gets shamed. -it would mean that God was somehow able to save that person, but not to keep them. Warren Wiersbe: The security of the believer is related intimately to the very character of God.... If a true believer ever "lost his salvation," God would lose far more than would that believer. The believer does not deserve salvation, so he would have "lost" something that was not inherently his to begin with. But God would lose glory, and God deserves to be glorified because He is God. It would bring disgrace to the name and character of God if one of His children did not go to heaven. 2 That pretty much says it right there. The very Name, and reputation of God is involved with the keeping of believers. So if you re saved this morning... take heart, you ll always be saved. C. Christ s prayer, and this Divine protection is for our joy. (vs. 13) -God wants believers to enjoy to the fullest the protection that his theirs. -God wants you to be filled with peace, and delight, and rejoicing when you learn that you cannot lose your salvation. I ve told you about the barber who was cutting my hair: -we were talking and got onto a discussion about spiritual things. -turns out he was a believer who felt that you could lose your salvation -as we were discussing it came out that I believe you cannot lose your salvation. -and then he asked me a question, He said, Okay, so you believe that you can t lose your salvation. But doesn t that kind of mean, and make you feel like you can go out and live anyway you want to and believe that you re still going to heaven? -I said, It s actually the opposite... I have a peace and an assurance that lets me move on to a deeper walk with Christ. I don t always have to be worrying about whether I m saved or not... or could lose my salvation, and I then can go on to further maturity... not always going back to the elementary things of salvation. 2 Wiersbe, Warren W. Prayer : Basic Training. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988. 5
You see, we must, as Scripture says, Examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith, but we can also rejoice knowing that if we re saved, we can rest in that. Knowing you can never lose your salvation is not a license to sin, it s a motivation to holiness. There s nothing like the joy of knowing you re saved...there s nothing like the misery of wondering if you re not. You are kept folks, don t let the joy of that slip by you. You are kept for all eternity by God, the Maker of heaven and earth... you are secure... and nothing is going to change your eternal destiny. II. Shield Number Two- Divine Protection From Evil -There s been some debate that centers around the structure of the Greek here. -The Greek is open ended either way. -It could be saying we are kept from evil.... in general -It could be saying we are kept from the evil one... meaning Satan. -either one is legitimate.... and the four most common translations opt in different ways on this. I would say that God protects us from being pulled away from Him permanently by anything that is evil, including Satan. A. God the Father protects Christians from the evil one. (vs. 15) Look back at John 13:27, 30 What do we have here? -Satan himself, the evil one, the ruler and god of this world (Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), enters Judas. -One of the disciple s very own... the enemy that Jesus has been talking about all throughout John, now this enemy takes down one of them. -Satan himself wins the battle for Judas... and then goes on to use that man for evil. Now Jesus prays that the Father will keep them from the evil one. 6
Satan would like to threaten the souls of believers, would like to drag us from God. But the Father protects us for all eternity. Not only does He protect us for all eternity, God the Father protects us in this life from Satan: -How? -God gives us armor -Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We do have protection from the evil one... the question is, will we use it? B. God the Father protects us from evil in general. (vs. 15) Romans 8:35, 38-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.... but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. And here s the bottom line for the Christian... nothing can separate you from the love of God... nothing can keep us from enjoying eternal life. That s the protection we enjoy. Conclusion: Big Idea: The protection of His child is a charge that God lays upon Himself. I. Shield Number One- Protection Against Eternal Destruction (vs. 11-13) II. Shield Number Two- Divine Protection From Evil When Jesus takes your hand, He keeps you tight. When Jesus keeps you tight, He leads you through your whole life. When Jesus leads you through your life, He brings you safely home. Corrie ten Boom Have you taken the hand of Jesus as your Savior? Are you rejoicing in His eternal protection? 7