And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Jesus speaks these things while still in the world as He is coming to the Father, so that His own joy may be fulfilled and made complete in His disciples and followers. He spoke the prayer aloud in the hearing of the disciples, in love and care for His own, as His farewell and last prayer with them before separation, suffering and crucifixion, after His instruction in John 13-16 and before His agony in Gethsemane. That joy to be fulfilled in them is His own joy in glorifying the Father's name through humiliation and suffering, and in seeing souls converted and saved, and it is not lightness and trifling but a happiness in redemption that outlives all earthly enjoyment. It belongs to being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while remaining in the world on mission, for He does not ask that they be taken out of the world but that they be kept from evil. He commits them to the Father that unity and love be manifest in the oneness shared by Christ and the Father, so that believers are one with Christ and through Christ one with God, which is to be the great unmistakable proof to the world that God sent His Son.
Setting and Wording
Jesus speaks these things while still in the world as he is coming to the Father, so that his joy may be fulfilled and made complete in his disciples and followers. This request belongs to his prayer committing them to the Father and asking that unity and love be manifest among them, prayed as he was about to leave them for their keeping, unity, and love. His joy is joined to their being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while they remain in the world but are not of it, and his words were meant to sustain their joy while they remained in the world, hated by it and protected from evil. In the surrounding words he asks that they be kept by God and receive his word, though the world hates them, expressing his loving care for them as he comes to the Father.
He spoke the prayer aloud in the hearing of the disciples, in love and mercy and care for his own, so that hearing it they might have his joy fulfilled in themselves. What he spoke on earth in the world in their hearing is full of instruction of the highest type and shows his desire that all should be saved through faith in him, a sample and assurance of his intercession carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive him even to the ends of the earth. The prayer asks the Holy Father to keep through his own name those given to Christ so they may be one as Father and Son are one, and while with them in the world Jesus kept them in the Father's name and lost none except the son of perdition so Scripture might be fulfilled. He had given them God's word, and the world hated them because they are not of the world even as he is not of the world, and he does not pray for them to be taken out of the world but to be kept from evil, and this keeping, oneness, continuance in the world on mission, and sanctification through truth belong to the joy he wills to be fulfilled in them, producing unity among ministers and people and among all who believe that witnesses to the world.
The verse belongs to his farewell, final, and last prayer with the disciples before separation, humiliation, betrayal, trial, suffering, and crucifixion. It came at the close of his ministry with them as special instruction preparing them for their future work, whose ministry had to rest on Christ and depend on divine power working with human effort, and its teachings call believers to unity with Christ and with one another. It was spoken after his instruction in John 13-16 and before his agony in Gethsemane where he was betrayed and taken bearing the world's sins, just before his trial and crucifixion, in which he embraced believers as his children and prayed that they would be one with God as he is one with the Father and be sanctified through the truth. Its blessings are spiritual, that followers be kept from sin and remain loyal to God rather than gain wealth or human honor, and faithfully doing their duties gives assurance the prayer is answered, while its instruction is to overcome self-centeredness and devote oneself wholly to God's service.
It was spoken in the upper chamber alone with the eleven faithful disciples after Judas withdrew, because the multitude could not understand its sacred truths. Even the disciples did not fully understand it until after his resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, when it was fully understood and appreciated following his instruction in John 16. Looking upon them with divine love and tenderest sympathy before telling them of his approaching separation, he first directs their thoughts to the great object of his mission kept ever before him. The night intercession for the disciples was also offered from the Mount of Olives while they slept, pleading with the Father that they might be kept from the evil influences they would daily meet in the world, and this praying strengthened and braced his own soul for the duties and trials of the day, as he prayed for his disciples and for himself thus identifying himself with human needs, weaknesses and failings, though unsullied with corruption and a stranger to sin.
The prayer is for his disciples and for all who would believe through their word, holding great and important possibilities that strengthen faith and give a higher view of what a Christian may become by striving to answer it. It is to be read often and put into practice in daily life, and in its setting Jesus speaks so that his joy may be fulfilled in his followers. Spoken while he had only a short time left to comfort and instruct his followers, it is a petition for his church embracing the children of Adam and joining earth to heaven and finite humanity to God. In speaking to the Father in prayer, Jesus refers to the Father as distinct from himself, for God and Christ are two distinct personages, and unity with Christ does not erase distinct personhood or destroy the personality of either.
The words are comfort, counsel, instruction, and prayer meant to steady sinking hearts in coming disappointment, sorrow, and trial, to strengthen them for trials and temptations ahead. He gave them clear knowledge of his purposes and plans and wanted them to remember his love. They were meant to remain imprinted on mind and heart and to spread through the disciples' testimony over all lands through all ages to comfort the desponding and give peace and hope to thousands who believe. Using the few hours of seclusion before his crucifixion to pray with them and teach more definitely concerning the nature of his kingdom, he reproved human weakness and earthly ambition for a temporal reign and taught that shame and the pitiless cross awaited him and reproach must be endured by them for his sake to win salvation, and going away by himself to intercede because he knew he was soon to die and leave them to face the cold cruel world with bitter hate and unbelief, he wished in tender love reaching forward to shield his companions from danger even in view of his own approaching agony to encourage and strengthen them so that in the fearful test their faith would prove steadfast and his sufferings and death would not overwhelm them with despair.
Nature of Christ's Joy
The joy to be fulfilled in them is His own joy, joy in the love of Christ. That union with Him is the true work of grace joining believers to Christ and to one another, making them partakers of the divine nature, escaping corruption through lust, changed from sin to holiness and one with Christ in God, loved by the Father as He loves His Son. It becomes a source of rich and eternal happiness that outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment, and receiving it brings the soul into a pure heavenly atmosphere that blesses others within its influence. That joy was that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, which was the great object of His mission kept ever before Him and to which He first directs their thoughts.
The joy is not lightness and trifling, nor perplexity, sorrow, mourning, or groaning. God wants every believer to be happy in harmony with Christ's example, rejoicing in redemption and in the sacrifice made to save the lost, lifting Him up in word and act rather than dwelling sorrowfully on trials or being wounded by what others say. It is the joy of being one with Christ, grasping the promises in the Word, claiming them and refusing distrust and evil thoughts, with faces bright with God's glory, and asking what is willed and having it done. Christ took their sins upon Himself so they could have this joy, and therefore they are to have faith and speak with courage and faith to those around them rather than going mourning and groaning.
His joy was to see souls converted, including the joy of seeing people brought to Him through love and unity and through life and service to save souls. That same joy fills His witnesses as they devote themselves to the work for which He gave His life, loving and serving those for whom He died. Self-exaltation and insisting on one's own way dishonor God and oppose His prayer, and so are incompatible with having His joy fulfilled. His words are bread of life, and through His presence as Comforter abiding in believers' hearts they make joy full, sustain believers, help those who err, and strengthen them in obedience to truth to develop God-honoring characters that show His grace in fellowship and unity.
That joy is received by following on to know the Lord with simple faith that takes God at His word, by wholeheartedness and Christlikeness, by keeping eternal life in view and looking to the gospel hope, and by passing through trials knowing the burden is laid on One who can save to the uttermost, so Christ is glorified in the experience. Christ's joy is fulfilled in followers as they cling to Him, gain power to overcome sin, and live lives sanctified by truth, glad with God's promises and bright prospects and filled with thanksgiving. It can be fulfilled even when one does not wake feeling joyful, by looking to Jesus for presence, light, and love, giving thanks that He keeps and lives to intercede, trusting He means to bless because He died, and training mind, tongue, and thoughts fixed on Him.
Thorough identification with the Word makes believers demonstrate oneness with Christ, sharing His love, peace, joy, and glory, loved by the Father even as He loves His Son, which determines true loyalty and involves the highest measurement of Christlike character. The Lord is the strength, light, comfort, and joy of His people as they stand in God's strength rather than their own and remain distinct from the world that serves another master. The joy found in obeying Christ is the only real joy, while amusement and joking without the Spirit's guidance are only foolish gratification.
Kept From Evil in World
The joy spoken of belongs to being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while remaining in the world on mission, for the prayer is not that they be taken out of the world but that they be kept from evil. It was spoken aloud while still in the world so that the disciples hearing it might have that joy fulfilled in themselves, with keeping through the Father's own name, oneness as Father and Son are one, continuance in the world, and sanctification through truth all belonging to the joy willed for them. That keeping, oneness, and mission produce unity among ministers and people and among all who believe, witnessing to the world.
He had given them God's word, and the world hates them because they are not of the world even as he is not of the world. His words as he was about to leave them were meant to sustain their joy while they remained in the world, hated by it, prayed for in keeping, unity, and love, and protected from evil. The prayer expresses loving care as he comes to the Father, asking that they be kept by God and holding his word even under the world's hatred. This joy belongs to disciples who are kept by the Father, united with one another, and faithful to God's word.
They are not to follow the world's selfishness and pride, but to separate from what dishonors God. Believers must not assimilate to the spirit and influence of the world because the word has made them not of the world. The worldly standard is very low, but Christ's standard is elevating, ennobling, sanctifying, refining, comforting, and lifting up to all who obey it.
The prayer expresses his purpose in giving himself as an offering for sin to place eternal life within reach, which is the true higher education that makes students acquainted with God and his word and fits them for eternal life. It shows the method and force he used to keep his disciples from worldly practices, maxims, and dispositions. Every instructor of youth is to work in harmony with this prayer by leading students to Christ and educating children and youth to be separate from the world while still in the world.
The prayer connects that joy with keeping followers from evil, giving them God's word, sanctifying them through the truth, and sending them into the world to continue his work. Followers are to learn from Christ how to care for the souls entrusted to them. Knowing they would be exposed to trials from the opposition of the world, he spoke these words just before he left them so they might have his joy fulfilled in themselves.
The prayer gives his instruction that his followers direct their aggressive warfare against error and sin and not against one another. Christ never prompts any man to work against Christ by counteracting that instruction or acting contrary to the spirit of this prayer through public conflicting views. His prayer expresses his desire that they remain united in the joy he gives as they face opposition from the world.
Unity With Christ and Others
The prayer commits believers to the Father with the request that unity and love be made manifest among them, that hearts be joined in the same oneness shared by Christ and the Father, and that they seek that unity by being one with Christ and through Christ one with God. Answering that appeal means becoming one, living out its lesson in practical life in shared faith and understanding of His word, bound together by love from heaven. Living the prayer in this way brings unity with Christ and with one another, while dissension and self-seeking leave believers weak.
That union is the true work of grace in the heart, joining believers to Christ and to one another, making them partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption in the world through lust, changed from sin to holiness, and one with Christ in God. In it they are loved by the Father as He loves His Son and are cherished as God's children and heirs, and the joy spoken in the world to be fulfilled in followers is the rich and eternal happiness flowing from this union, which outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment. It carries on the great process by which believers are made one with Him in this present life, to be one with Him throughout all eternity, as the divine antidote for the sin of the whole world.
The oneness of followers with Him is to be the great unmistakable proof to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners and that Christianity is genuine. As believers answer the prayer by putting the powers of the whole being into living it, they become light to the world, show the result of grace upon human hearts, and give evidence that they have been with Him. That Christlike life, kind, tender, loving and Christlike, shows the world that God sent His Son to save sinners, while breaking into separate groups would frustrate God's plan.
That close relation and living union with God is entered when anything standing between the soul and God or between brethren is taken out of the way by confessing and forsaking sins, so that the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious in behalf of the sinner. God cannot make believers one in Christ unless they give up their own way for His way, for a loose, lax religion leaves the world confused and bewildered instead of making the proof plain. Those who enter it hate the sin that separates the soul from God and reveal the light of the glory of God when conviction of sin comes.
Differences, disunion, pulling apart, and being at variance dishonor God and are displeasing to Him, and the prayer stands as the church's creed and guide against them and as the pattern for the church. Believers at variance with one another cannot live as branches of the True Vine nor as one in Him, but are called to live in the same mind and judgment, without divisions, joined together in Christ. The only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ, and then in and through Christ to be one with one another, with no one called to walk alone.
Unity must be had by walking in His footsteps, doing His works, studying His ways, obeying His will, and moving only in consultation with Him as Leader, in whom life and immortality are brought to light and who has opened the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe, assigning to no one a path different from that which all must travel. Its meaning is known by experience when believers in the truth are meek and lowly in heart, come close to Christ and close to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, give confidence to the weak by a tender spirit, and live in loyal fellowship in Christ in whom all are united. So living sends forth a decided influence for good that demonstrates the sanctifying power of the truth upon heart and character.
Truly believed, this prayer gives no glory to man, ends all dissension and strife and human kingly power, and makes believers one in Christ, the standard to be reached by taking every thread of selfishness out of the web through believing and practicing its instruction. The prayer lays the foundation of unity for the church, and spiritual gifts are heaven's appointed means to secure that oneness till all come in the unity of the faith, rather than human creeds or force. It makes no division giving gifts to the apostles while withholding them from those who believe on their word, for believing was not required of the first Christians only but of Christians in every age, so the gifts promised to believers continue beyond the apostles. This chapter gives essential instruction for the church, including the call to sacred unity.
Living the prayer forms Christ in character, correcting thoughts, words, and acts, and becoming one with brethren brings the love and power of God into the soul. That unity lived out in practical life gives strength against Satan's attacks and enables believers to stand the test, and unity in the church's work depends on the Holy Spirit working in hearts. The final prayer calls followers to love one another as He loved them, leaving no place for finding fault with others, requiring instead that each examine and humble the heart before God and seek the removal of every fault.
Studying and Answering Prayer
John 17 is to be repeatedly studied, deeply received, read often and lived out, approached with humility and a mind under God's control, its lessons to guide every action and conduct and bring habits into harmony with it. Its words are sufficient to sustain courage, strengthen faith and keep the soul in God's love, containing truth that will stand the test of ages. Believing and practicing God's Word answers the prayer and belongs to the plan of redemption. Answering it here by entire consecration to God is the only hope for eternity, giving fitness for heaven, making work for eternity certain, purifying, refining and sanctifying, raising fallen man and bringing souls onto a higher platform where they feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died.
Living it holds the promise that if believers preserve the unity prayed for by cultivating love, pressing together, being at peace, uprooting suspicion, envy, jealousy and evil speaking, and putting away spiritual pride and love of supremacy and becoming as little children, God will love them as He loved His Son, the sinner will be saved and God eternally glorified, preparing them to enter with Christ through the gates into the city. Answering requires working to harmonize, helping one another, avoiding what stirs prejudice or strife, seeking peace and unity, and using abilities to foster the unity Christ sought. It means being sanctified through the truth, closely united with Christ with self crucified and selfishness purged, so truth is taught faithfully and speculative theories rejected, for without hearing and obeying through His Word testing cannot be endured.
The instruction must be practiced beginning in the home, where Christ's words are obeyed and Christ's works done, for God measures church members by what they are in the home. When obeyed there its influence extends to the church, making God's people united in love in one great work as a symbol on earth of the family in heaven, making the lamp burn brightly to give light to those in darkness. This obedience is the test now proving who is worthy of admittance into God's family. The prayer is to be a primary study for gospel ministers and medical missionaries, plainly outlining God's will in John 13-17 for those who minister in word and doctrine.
Ministers need reconversion because they do not understand its philosophy of genuine missionary work, and are charged to understandingly watch unto prayer, believe God means just what He says, believe every verse and live them out before brother ministers in perfect unity and love as workers together with God, emptied of self and depending wholly on Christ. As the last prayer it calls ministers to unity in public work by not preaching the daily or any other subject that arouses controversy and reveals difference of opinion, because that brings confusion, diverts minds and delays the essential work to be centered upon now in the cities. Public efforts are to be confined to important united truths on which there is clear light, sacred testing truths beautiful in simplicity to be dwelt on with intense earnestness including the binding claims of the law of God, presenting sacred important truths suitable for earnest teaching rather than divisive controversy.
What was spoken on earth is a sample and assurance of the intercession carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive Him even to the ends of the earth, illustrating the intercession Christ is making in the heavenly sanctuary for those who come humbly trusting His power to save and will continue to the end for believers. He still pleads for ministers and congregations clothed with filthy garments who humble hearts, fast and pray for pardon through the atoning sacrifice, presenting bruised hands bearing wounds of cruel spikes and declaring He has graven His church upon His palms. Its blessings are spiritual, that followers be kept from sin and remain loyal to God, not wealth or human honor, and faithfully doing duties gives assurance the prayer is answered. His words sustain like bread of life, enabling believers to develop God-honoring characters and live in fellowship and unity.
The prayer shows how broad and abundant His mercy and love are toward those walking obediently and humbly, calling them to live out His words and receive His Spirit, and recalls the high value He placed on human beings purchased at His life's sacrifice just before leaving them for Gethsemane. As Elder Brother sharing human weakness and temptation without sin, the Good Shepherd identifies His interests with fallen humanity, embraces the race claiming for them advantages secured by His sacrifice, and sought fresh grace to give assurance and hope and power to claim in His name when tempted and tried. It records earnest longing desire and weeping over perishing souls ready to die, revealing inexpressible tenderness, compassion and solicitude and His character, aims and purposes, which all who wear His yoke reproduce by self-denial, sacrifice, continual service to win souls and praying the same prayer.
Satan understands the prayer better than members and heads of families, keeping them in discord over little misunderstandings and differences growing into variance and hatred so they present the opposite of what God desires and miss the advantages bestowed and knowledge of their visitation. It is unheeded when those with light yield to unholy ambition and the spirit controlling the nations, bringing confusion, disorder and strife into the church. Christ is formed within by eating God's Word as His flesh and blood through daily obedience, the written Word bringing seekers to the Son and making them partakers of the divine nature. As bodily blood is formed and renewed daily by food, spiritual life must be maintained by daily eating, feasting as meat and drink to renew the mind and grow up into the living Head, staying united fiber by fiber like branch to vine or becoming withered and fruitless, for receiving the bread from heaven is receiving Christ and knowledge of it is eternal life calling for true devotedness that makes complete and free indeed.
The words forbid gossip, accusation, unkind talk and judgment that hurts souls and spoils God's work, and unless the Spirit cleanses talk and places the living coal on lips counsels prove a detriment, a savor of death rather than life. They call for overcoming self-centeredness, emptying selfishness, receiving transforming grace, esteeming others better, showing appreciation, helping and strengthening one another, speaking hope and cheer that make hearts glad, each doing appointed work best and loving as Christ loved so accusing, backbiting and criticizing cease, with zeal sanctified toward God's glory not human elevation and devotion wholly to His service. The chapter contains the divine antidote for the sin of the whole world and carries on the process making believers one with Him in this life to be one through eternity, its discourse needed by all and to be presented in every home as God's message on receiving grace whose conditions must be obeyed, understood with new enlightenment through God's Spirit.
It expresses His mind toward the Father and disciples as a lesson for all who seek to follow, intended to benefit readers throughout all time, valued by the truly converted more than any worldly favor. It gives help in every emergency to the truly penitent dead to self with life hid with Christ who petition in faith for fresh grace, new strength and the Spirit's efficiency and power. It asks that they receive grace to follow His example and continue His work, identifying and uniting Himself with believing people and binding them to Him in saving the lost, presenting the obligation to acknowledge God and seek knowledge of God. It teaches followers to pray as He prayed most earnestly as Example, asking God for help in felt need trusting His abundant fullness to supply so sincere prayer of faith is never in vain, and living out prayer by engaging in duty from love for right doing.
Jesus speaks these things while still in the world as He is coming to the Father, so that His own joy may be fulfilled and made complete in His disciples and followers. He spoke the prayer aloud in the hearing of the disciples, in love and care for His own, as His farewell and last prayer with them before separation, suffering and crucifixion, after His instruction in John 13-16 and before His agony in Gethsemane. That joy to be fulfilled in them is His own joy in glorifying the Father's name through humiliation and suffering, and in seeing souls converted and saved, and it is not lightness and trifling but a happiness in redemption that outlives all earthly enjoyment. It belongs to being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while remaining in the world on mission, for He does not ask that they be taken out of the world but that they be kept from evil. He commits them to the Father that unity and love be manifest in the oneness shared by Christ and the Father, so that believers are one with Christ and through Christ one with God, which is to be the great unmistakable proof to the world that God sent His Son.
Setting and Wording
Jesus speaks these things while still in the world as he is coming to the Father, so that his joy may be fulfilled and made complete in his disciples and followers. This request belongs to his prayer committing them to the Father and asking that unity and love be manifest among them, prayed as he was about to leave them for their keeping, unity, and love. His joy is joined to their being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while they remain in the world but are not of it, and his words were meant to sustain their joy while they remained in the world, hated by it and protected from evil. In the surrounding words he asks that they be kept by God and receive his word, though the world hates them, expressing his loving care for them as he comes to the Father.
He spoke the prayer aloud in the hearing of the disciples, in love and mercy and care for his own, so that hearing it they might have his joy fulfilled in themselves. What he spoke on earth in the world in their hearing is full of instruction of the highest type and shows his desire that all should be saved through faith in him, a sample and assurance of his intercession carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive him even to the ends of the earth. The prayer asks the Holy Father to keep through his own name those given to Christ so they may be one as Father and Son are one, and while with them in the world Jesus kept them in the Father's name and lost none except the son of perdition so Scripture might be fulfilled. He had given them God's word, and the world hated them because they are not of the world even as he is not of the world, and he does not pray for them to be taken out of the world but to be kept from evil, and this keeping, oneness, continuance in the world on mission, and sanctification through truth belong to the joy he wills to be fulfilled in them, producing unity among ministers and people and among all who believe that witnesses to the world.
The verse belongs to his farewell, final, and last prayer with the disciples before separation, humiliation, betrayal, trial, suffering, and crucifixion. It came at the close of his ministry with them as special instruction preparing them for their future work, whose ministry had to rest on Christ and depend on divine power working with human effort, and its teachings call believers to unity with Christ and with one another. It was spoken after his instruction in John 13-16 and before his agony in Gethsemane where he was betrayed and taken bearing the world's sins, just before his trial and crucifixion, in which he embraced believers as his children and prayed that they would be one with God as he is one with the Father and be sanctified through the truth. Its blessings are spiritual, that followers be kept from sin and remain loyal to God rather than gain wealth or human honor, and faithfully doing their duties gives assurance the prayer is answered, while its instruction is to overcome self-centeredness and devote oneself wholly to God's service.
It was spoken in the upper chamber alone with the eleven faithful disciples after Judas withdrew, because the multitude could not understand its sacred truths. Even the disciples did not fully understand it until after his resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, when it was fully understood and appreciated following his instruction in John 16. Looking upon them with divine love and tenderest sympathy before telling them of his approaching separation, he first directs their thoughts to the great object of his mission kept ever before him. The night intercession for the disciples was also offered from the Mount of Olives while they slept, pleading with the Father that they might be kept from the evil influences they would daily meet in the world, and this praying strengthened and braced his own soul for the duties and trials of the day, as he prayed for his disciples and for himself thus identifying himself with human needs, weaknesses and failings, though unsullied with corruption and a stranger to sin.
The prayer is for his disciples and for all who would believe through their word, holding great and important possibilities that strengthen faith and give a higher view of what a Christian may become by striving to answer it. It is to be read often and put into practice in daily life, and in its setting Jesus speaks so that his joy may be fulfilled in his followers. Spoken while he had only a short time left to comfort and instruct his followers, it is a petition for his church embracing the children of Adam and joining earth to heaven and finite humanity to God. In speaking to the Father in prayer, Jesus refers to the Father as distinct from himself, for God and Christ are two distinct personages, and unity with Christ does not erase distinct personhood or destroy the personality of either.
The words are comfort, counsel, instruction, and prayer meant to steady sinking hearts in coming disappointment, sorrow, and trial, to strengthen them for trials and temptations ahead. He gave them clear knowledge of his purposes and plans and wanted them to remember his love. They were meant to remain imprinted on mind and heart and to spread through the disciples' testimony over all lands through all ages to comfort the desponding and give peace and hope to thousands who believe. Using the few hours of seclusion before his crucifixion to pray with them and teach more definitely concerning the nature of his kingdom, he reproved human weakness and earthly ambition for a temporal reign and taught that shame and the pitiless cross awaited him and reproach must be endured by them for his sake to win salvation, and going away by himself to intercede because he knew he was soon to die and leave them to face the cold cruel world with bitter hate and unbelief, he wished in tender love reaching forward to shield his companions from danger even in view of his own approaching agony to encourage and strengthen them so that in the fearful test their faith would prove steadfast and his sufferings and death would not overwhelm them with despair.
Nature of Christ's Joy
The joy to be fulfilled in them is His own joy, joy in the love of Christ. That union with Him is the true work of grace joining believers to Christ and to one another, making them partakers of the divine nature, escaping corruption through lust, changed from sin to holiness and one with Christ in God, loved by the Father as He loves His Son. It becomes a source of rich and eternal happiness that outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment, and receiving it brings the soul into a pure heavenly atmosphere that blesses others within its influence. That joy was that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, which was the great object of His mission kept ever before Him and to which He first directs their thoughts.
The joy is not lightness and trifling, nor perplexity, sorrow, mourning, or groaning. God wants every believer to be happy in harmony with Christ's example, rejoicing in redemption and in the sacrifice made to save the lost, lifting Him up in word and act rather than dwelling sorrowfully on trials or being wounded by what others say. It is the joy of being one with Christ, grasping the promises in the Word, claiming them and refusing distrust and evil thoughts, with faces bright with God's glory, and asking what is willed and having it done. Christ took their sins upon Himself so they could have this joy, and therefore they are to have faith and speak with courage and faith to those around them rather than going mourning and groaning.
His joy was to see souls converted, including the joy of seeing people brought to Him through love and unity and through life and service to save souls. That same joy fills His witnesses as they devote themselves to the work for which He gave His life, loving and serving those for whom He died. Self-exaltation and insisting on one's own way dishonor God and oppose His prayer, and so are incompatible with having His joy fulfilled. His words are bread of life, and through His presence as Comforter abiding in believers' hearts they make joy full, sustain believers, help those who err, and strengthen them in obedience to truth to develop God-honoring characters that show His grace in fellowship and unity.
That joy is received by following on to know the Lord with simple faith that takes God at His word, by wholeheartedness and Christlikeness, by keeping eternal life in view and looking to the gospel hope, and by passing through trials knowing the burden is laid on One who can save to the uttermost, so Christ is glorified in the experience. Christ's joy is fulfilled in followers as they cling to Him, gain power to overcome sin, and live lives sanctified by truth, glad with God's promises and bright prospects and filled with thanksgiving. It can be fulfilled even when one does not wake feeling joyful, by looking to Jesus for presence, light, and love, giving thanks that He keeps and lives to intercede, trusting He means to bless because He died, and training mind, tongue, and thoughts fixed on Him.
Thorough identification with the Word makes believers demonstrate oneness with Christ, sharing His love, peace, joy, and glory, loved by the Father even as He loves His Son, which determines true loyalty and involves the highest measurement of Christlike character. The Lord is the strength, light, comfort, and joy of His people as they stand in God's strength rather than their own and remain distinct from the world that serves another master. The joy found in obeying Christ is the only real joy, while amusement and joking without the Spirit's guidance are only foolish gratification.
Kept From Evil in World
The joy spoken of belongs to being kept from evil and sanctified through God's truth while remaining in the world on mission, for the prayer is not that they be taken out of the world but that they be kept from evil. It was spoken aloud while still in the world so that the disciples hearing it might have that joy fulfilled in themselves, with keeping through the Father's own name, oneness as Father and Son are one, continuance in the world, and sanctification through truth all belonging to the joy willed for them. That keeping, oneness, and mission produce unity among ministers and people and among all who believe, witnessing to the world.
He had given them God's word, and the world hates them because they are not of the world even as he is not of the world. His words as he was about to leave them were meant to sustain their joy while they remained in the world, hated by it, prayed for in keeping, unity, and love, and protected from evil. The prayer expresses loving care as he comes to the Father, asking that they be kept by God and holding his word even under the world's hatred. This joy belongs to disciples who are kept by the Father, united with one another, and faithful to God's word.
They are not to follow the world's selfishness and pride, but to separate from what dishonors God. Believers must not assimilate to the spirit and influence of the world because the word has made them not of the world. The worldly standard is very low, but Christ's standard is elevating, ennobling, sanctifying, refining, comforting, and lifting up to all who obey it.
The prayer expresses his purpose in giving himself as an offering for sin to place eternal life within reach, which is the true higher education that makes students acquainted with God and his word and fits them for eternal life. It shows the method and force he used to keep his disciples from worldly practices, maxims, and dispositions. Every instructor of youth is to work in harmony with this prayer by leading students to Christ and educating children and youth to be separate from the world while still in the world.
The prayer connects that joy with keeping followers from evil, giving them God's word, sanctifying them through the truth, and sending them into the world to continue his work. Followers are to learn from Christ how to care for the souls entrusted to them. Knowing they would be exposed to trials from the opposition of the world, he spoke these words just before he left them so they might have his joy fulfilled in themselves.
The prayer gives his instruction that his followers direct their aggressive warfare against error and sin and not against one another. Christ never prompts any man to work against Christ by counteracting that instruction or acting contrary to the spirit of this prayer through public conflicting views. His prayer expresses his desire that they remain united in the joy he gives as they face opposition from the world.
Unity With Christ and Others
The prayer commits believers to the Father with the request that unity and love be made manifest among them, that hearts be joined in the same oneness shared by Christ and the Father, and that they seek that unity by being one with Christ and through Christ one with God. Answering that appeal means becoming one, living out its lesson in practical life in shared faith and understanding of His word, bound together by love from heaven. Living the prayer in this way brings unity with Christ and with one another, while dissension and self-seeking leave believers weak.
That union is the true work of grace in the heart, joining believers to Christ and to one another, making them partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption in the world through lust, changed from sin to holiness, and one with Christ in God. In it they are loved by the Father as He loves His Son and are cherished as God's children and heirs, and the joy spoken in the world to be fulfilled in followers is the rich and eternal happiness flowing from this union, which outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment. It carries on the great process by which believers are made one with Him in this present life, to be one with Him throughout all eternity, as the divine antidote for the sin of the whole world.
The oneness of followers with Him is to be the great unmistakable proof to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners and that Christianity is genuine. As believers answer the prayer by putting the powers of the whole being into living it, they become light to the world, show the result of grace upon human hearts, and give evidence that they have been with Him. That Christlike life, kind, tender, loving and Christlike, shows the world that God sent His Son to save sinners, while breaking into separate groups would frustrate God's plan.
That close relation and living union with God is entered when anything standing between the soul and God or between brethren is taken out of the way by confessing and forsaking sins, so that the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious in behalf of the sinner. God cannot make believers one in Christ unless they give up their own way for His way, for a loose, lax religion leaves the world confused and bewildered instead of making the proof plain. Those who enter it hate the sin that separates the soul from God and reveal the light of the glory of God when conviction of sin comes.
Differences, disunion, pulling apart, and being at variance dishonor God and are displeasing to Him, and the prayer stands as the church's creed and guide against them and as the pattern for the church. Believers at variance with one another cannot live as branches of the True Vine nor as one in Him, but are called to live in the same mind and judgment, without divisions, joined together in Christ. The only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ, and then in and through Christ to be one with one another, with no one called to walk alone.
Unity must be had by walking in His footsteps, doing His works, studying His ways, obeying His will, and moving only in consultation with Him as Leader, in whom life and immortality are brought to light and who has opened the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe, assigning to no one a path different from that which all must travel. Its meaning is known by experience when believers in the truth are meek and lowly in heart, come close to Christ and close to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, give confidence to the weak by a tender spirit, and live in loyal fellowship in Christ in whom all are united. So living sends forth a decided influence for good that demonstrates the sanctifying power of the truth upon heart and character.
Truly believed, this prayer gives no glory to man, ends all dissension and strife and human kingly power, and makes believers one in Christ, the standard to be reached by taking every thread of selfishness out of the web through believing and practicing its instruction. The prayer lays the foundation of unity for the church, and spiritual gifts are heaven's appointed means to secure that oneness till all come in the unity of the faith, rather than human creeds or force. It makes no division giving gifts to the apostles while withholding them from those who believe on their word, for believing was not required of the first Christians only but of Christians in every age, so the gifts promised to believers continue beyond the apostles. This chapter gives essential instruction for the church, including the call to sacred unity.
Living the prayer forms Christ in character, correcting thoughts, words, and acts, and becoming one with brethren brings the love and power of God into the soul. That unity lived out in practical life gives strength against Satan's attacks and enables believers to stand the test, and unity in the church's work depends on the Holy Spirit working in hearts. The final prayer calls followers to love one another as He loved them, leaving no place for finding fault with others, requiring instead that each examine and humble the heart before God and seek the removal of every fault.
Studying and Answering Prayer
John 17 is to be repeatedly studied, deeply received, read often and lived out, approached with humility and a mind under God's control, its lessons to guide every action and conduct and bring habits into harmony with it. Its words are sufficient to sustain courage, strengthen faith and keep the soul in God's love, containing truth that will stand the test of ages. Believing and practicing God's Word answers the prayer and belongs to the plan of redemption. Answering it here by entire consecration to God is the only hope for eternity, giving fitness for heaven, making work for eternity certain, purifying, refining and sanctifying, raising fallen man and bringing souls onto a higher platform where they feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died.
Living it holds the promise that if believers preserve the unity prayed for by cultivating love, pressing together, being at peace, uprooting suspicion, envy, jealousy and evil speaking, and putting away spiritual pride and love of supremacy and becoming as little children, God will love them as He loved His Son, the sinner will be saved and God eternally glorified, preparing them to enter with Christ through the gates into the city. Answering requires working to harmonize, helping one another, avoiding what stirs prejudice or strife, seeking peace and unity, and using abilities to foster the unity Christ sought. It means being sanctified through the truth, closely united with Christ with self crucified and selfishness purged, so truth is taught faithfully and speculative theories rejected, for without hearing and obeying through His Word testing cannot be endured.
The instruction must be practiced beginning in the home, where Christ's words are obeyed and Christ's works done, for God measures church members by what they are in the home. When obeyed there its influence extends to the church, making God's people united in love in one great work as a symbol on earth of the family in heaven, making the lamp burn brightly to give light to those in darkness. This obedience is the test now proving who is worthy of admittance into God's family. The prayer is to be a primary study for gospel ministers and medical missionaries, plainly outlining God's will in John 13-17 for those who minister in word and doctrine.
Ministers need reconversion because they do not understand its philosophy of genuine missionary work, and are charged to understandingly watch unto prayer, believe God means just what He says, believe every verse and live them out before brother ministers in perfect unity and love as workers together with God, emptied of self and depending wholly on Christ. As the last prayer it calls ministers to unity in public work by not preaching the daily or any other subject that arouses controversy and reveals difference of opinion, because that brings confusion, diverts minds and delays the essential work to be centered upon now in the cities. Public efforts are to be confined to important united truths on which there is clear light, sacred testing truths beautiful in simplicity to be dwelt on with intense earnestness including the binding claims of the law of God, presenting sacred important truths suitable for earnest teaching rather than divisive controversy.
What was spoken on earth is a sample and assurance of the intercession carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive Him even to the ends of the earth, illustrating the intercession Christ is making in the heavenly sanctuary for those who come humbly trusting His power to save and will continue to the end for believers. He still pleads for ministers and congregations clothed with filthy garments who humble hearts, fast and pray for pardon through the atoning sacrifice, presenting bruised hands bearing wounds of cruel spikes and declaring He has graven His church upon His palms. Its blessings are spiritual, that followers be kept from sin and remain loyal to God, not wealth or human honor, and faithfully doing duties gives assurance the prayer is answered. His words sustain like bread of life, enabling believers to develop God-honoring characters and live in fellowship and unity.
The prayer shows how broad and abundant His mercy and love are toward those walking obediently and humbly, calling them to live out His words and receive His Spirit, and recalls the high value He placed on human beings purchased at His life's sacrifice just before leaving them for Gethsemane. As Elder Brother sharing human weakness and temptation without sin, the Good Shepherd identifies His interests with fallen humanity, embraces the race claiming for them advantages secured by His sacrifice, and sought fresh grace to give assurance and hope and power to claim in His name when tempted and tried. It records earnest longing desire and weeping over perishing souls ready to die, revealing inexpressible tenderness, compassion and solicitude and His character, aims and purposes, which all who wear His yoke reproduce by self-denial, sacrifice, continual service to win souls and praying the same prayer.
Satan understands the prayer better than members and heads of families, keeping them in discord over little misunderstandings and differences growing into variance and hatred so they present the opposite of what God desires and miss the advantages bestowed and knowledge of their visitation. It is unheeded when those with light yield to unholy ambition and the spirit controlling the nations, bringing confusion, disorder and strife into the church. Christ is formed within by eating God's Word as His flesh and blood through daily obedience, the written Word bringing seekers to the Son and making them partakers of the divine nature. As bodily blood is formed and renewed daily by food, spiritual life must be maintained by daily eating, feasting as meat and drink to renew the mind and grow up into the living Head, staying united fiber by fiber like branch to vine or becoming withered and fruitless, for receiving the bread from heaven is receiving Christ and knowledge of it is eternal life calling for true devotedness that makes complete and free indeed.
The words forbid gossip, accusation, unkind talk and judgment that hurts souls and spoils God's work, and unless the Spirit cleanses talk and places the living coal on lips counsels prove a detriment, a savor of death rather than life. They call for overcoming self-centeredness, emptying selfishness, receiving transforming grace, esteeming others better, showing appreciation, helping and strengthening one another, speaking hope and cheer that make hearts glad, each doing appointed work best and loving as Christ loved so accusing, backbiting and criticizing cease, with zeal sanctified toward God's glory not human elevation and devotion wholly to His service. The chapter contains the divine antidote for the sin of the whole world and carries on the process making believers one with Him in this life to be one through eternity, its discourse needed by all and to be presented in every home as God's message on receiving grace whose conditions must be obeyed, understood with new enlightenment through God's Spirit.
It expresses His mind toward the Father and disciples as a lesson for all who seek to follow, intended to benefit readers throughout all time, valued by the truly converted more than any worldly favor. It gives help in every emergency to the truly penitent dead to self with life hid with Christ who petition in faith for fresh grace, new strength and the Spirit's efficiency and power. It asks that they receive grace to follow His example and continue His work, identifying and uniting Himself with believing people and binding them to Him in saving the lost, presenting the obligation to acknowledge God and seek knowledge of God. It teaches followers to pray as He prayed most earnestly as Example, asking God for help in felt need trusting His abundant fullness to supply so sincere prayer of faith is never in vain, and living out prayer by engaging in duty from love for right doing.