Open your Bibles to the book
of John chapter 17. John chapter 17, and we'll be
starting in verse 9. This is Jesus speaking here. He says, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world,
but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours, and all
mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep
through your name those whom you have given me that they may
be one as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have
kept. And none of them is lost except
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these
things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them your word,
and the world has hated them because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world. And I do not pray that you should
take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from
the evil one. And that's my main focus, is
that last verse. I do not pray that you should
take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from
the evil one. Now, when someone, they take
the easiest, most convenient path, I guess you could call
it, and they're faced with a choice
that might be harder, Or maybe we would call the best
path, right? All things considered, A, B,
and C are your paths. C is the best one. They choose
A, for example. And even though that choice,
it might hurt others. It might have future consequences. When people do that, we say that
they chose the easy way, the easy way out. And in other words, they're driven
by cowardice, laziness, fear. They lack empathy for others. But let's not put all the blame
on others and neglect an opportunity to talk about ourselves. Because
let's face it, we love the easy way out, too. I'm amazed, one of man's greatest
talents is when confronted with a problem, they figure out the
easiest way. It may not always be the best
way, but it is the easiest, the quickest. The quality of the end result
may not be so good, but it was quick and easy. And people just
love everything easy all the time, except I've found for just
one thing, and that is acquiring salvation. Now, I know you know
that I don't mean that you would win it, so to speak, you know,
strive for it, but to have it, to have salvation, that's the
one thing they'll just do the hard way every time. Every time. And it's not as if They've not
been provided ample study material to make a better choice concerning
salvation. And again, you know what I mean
by choice. They have the Bible, thousands of words, 60 some books. They've read what God has declared.
if they've opened it up, they've seen this phrase. It's a very
common one. He who believes and is baptized
will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. That's in Mark. So they know
that something like belief is essential for salvation. It's
essential, right? So we can call that choice A,
if we want to call it something like that. And they have seen
the writings of an old leader named Moses back there in Exodus
and Leviticus. He was the conduit through which
God declared the law, right? A set of ceremonies, morals,
observances that if someone wants to remain righteous, you have
to follow, right? To a T. And it's not to gain
righteousness, let me be clear about that, but to maintain it.
So they know that righteousness, and therefore salvation, it can't
be acquired by the law, right? You can only maintain it. And besides that, it's obvious
if you just read through Leviticus, it's very, you know, you could
think dry reading from humanistic terms. It's very dry read. It's obvious that the law is
complex, it's very lengthy, and easily broken. You can easily
do the wrong thing. And therefore, if you've done
one thing wrong in the law, it's all wrong. You've missed the
whole thing. So after seeing that, surely
mankind is rightly judged, or would rightly judge, that the
law is not the easy way. So you got A and B, right? Belief and the law. So people have seen that God
has provided just one way for a sinner to acquire salvation,
and belief that Christ Jesus came to save sinners and that
they themselves are sinners. But because of their sinful nature,
our sinful nature, they choose the impossible way. They choose
the law, which is weak in that it relies on man to complete,
man to satisfy the requirements. It's not the easy way, but they
know it has one thing, one thing, easy way doesn't have, which
is that people, sinners, might receive some glory because they
worked for it. They work for it in the law and
they think they get a little bit of the glory. And every time
when faced with the choice between receiving a little bit of glory,
even just a little bit, or declaring that all glory belongs to God,
People would rather try to earn a little bit for themselves. So while God declares that he
desires mercy, not sacrifice, mankind desires works and not
charity. And likewise, and this is a human
argument, it's not found in the Bible, it's just a human argument,
wouldn't it be easier, talking about the easy way, Wouldn't
it be easier for God to have just destroyed the heavens and
the earth as soon as Adam and Eve sinned? I mean, for us, it's
like, well, that's the end of it. It's
ruined. If you've got a stained shirt,
why keep it? Why not just start over? Why
contend with man even for a day, let alone thousands of years?
There's abundant evidence that we are not worth putting up with. And all the things that God does
for us, the granting life, the directing our paths, directing
our feet, showing his good works in the heavens and on the earth,
have they even borne fruit? This is somewhat similar to,
I think, Jeremiah was saying. If His works are so good, why
do so many people still scorn Him and not believe Him? Where are His followers? If He's not winning, He should
just pack it up. That's the human argument, right?
But that human argument, it doesn't consider that God, that our God,
is a loving God. Ephesians says, rich in mercy. And Jeremiah says that he loves
his children with an everlasting love. The human argument falls
in the face of that. While mankind prefers the easy
way, God has proven again and again that he will always choose
the loving way, the loving way. He so loves his children that
he will always provide, always provide what is best for them
in eternity. In eternity. Not always right
now, but in eternity. And what I mean by right now,
do you got an ache? And he hasn't taken it away,
that's what I mean. Right now. His focus is eternity. But look
back at that verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them
out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil
one. Every believer has this in common. They have a great
peace knowing that death here on earth is life everlasting
with our loving God, with our loving God. That doesn't mean
that we welcome death or that we tempt death. I don't know if it was Maurice
Montgomery or someone else who says, I trust God, but I don't
sleep under elephants. We don't tempt it. We don't step
in front of trains and all that. But wouldn't it be easier if
God simply removed his children from earth as soon as they believed?
No more pain. Again, human arguments, no more
pain, no more anxiety, no more sorrow, no more striving with
unbelievers, Bruce. It would be easier. But, behold what our heavenly
brother prays for instead. He says, you, God, keep them
from the evil one. Well, what evil one? Well, we got the adversaries
of God, the devils, which that's what the Hebrew word means, adversary.
And we've got our own sinful natures. We were born that way. Remember what God told Cain.
And I don't know how long before Cain decided to murder his brother,
but it was beforehand. He said in Genesis, why are you
angry? And why has your countenance
fallen? If you do well, will you not
be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin
lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but
you should rule over it. Now we all know how that turned
out. He didn't rule over it. And there is the devil going
about the earth, as Peter says, like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour. And just a little while before
our main text in John, a devil or the devil, it's not always
clear, had begun a work in Judas, right? Jesus had given him his
bread and he went and he betrayed him. And it set in motion the events
that would lead to the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. But those events
were necessary to fulfill Scripture, as it says in John 19. Now, His
death and resurrection opened the door to heaven. And I'm saying this with all
understanding. It made it easy. It made the easy way possible. The way that isn't the law. Like Joseph's brothers, who meant
to do evil toward Joseph, but God meant it for good. God used
these actions to save many people alive. Yet what is easy? What is easy to God? Isn't taking
us out of the world easier than keeping us from the evil one?
That's short-sighted. That's short-sighted. It's not the right question.
We can boldly declare that nothing has been beyond the Lord's abilities. In Genesis it says, is anything
too hard for the Lord? Do you think you're safer from
the devils in heaven compared to here? Does God not have control
over them anywhere they are? and anywhere you are, for that
matter. Instead, in God's actions, we
see with what love we are cared for while we sojourn here. Keep them from the evil ones.
Spurgeon said, beloved, our escape from evil at the first was by
the Father's grace. Our persevering in righteousness
until now has been wrought in us by the Father's hand through
the divine spirit. And this day, if we have not
apostatized, if we have not denied the faith and proved traitors
to Christ, we must ascribe it entirely to the grace of God. So we are kept. We are kept.
But not in the way mankind would expect. When you hear or when you think
of God keeping somebody, right, what are the first things that
come to your mind? I ask myself that question. And especially
when I'm up here, I think that if I'm kept of God, that my tongue
will not bring shame to God or bring God down. That is, to me, one of the worst things
that could happen while I'm standing in this spot. We might think also that our
actions will always prove our faith, will always prove our
faith, and make it obvious who we worship, who we follow, We might think that if God's
keeping us, that Satan himself is kept at a safe distance, never
to torment us, right? Never. But instead, the people that
God has kept are like Peter, who suffered
prison and persecution. And in the experience of denying
his Messiah three times, not just once, three times, We are kept like David, who bore
a son, who tried to usurp the throne. Another one killed his
brother. And he suffered the loss of at
least one newborn son, possibly two. We're kept like Job, who lost
his property and his children. There are dozens of biblical
examples of people who are kept. They're called righteous. They
had faith. They obtained salvation. Those elect never had easy lives.
Never had easy lives. Now those examples do not sound
like God is loving at all. but each of those men that I
mentioned that were kept from the evil one. They were kept.
They were protected. God is always near, guiding our
steps and keeping us from the evil one. We are safe and secure
in Jesus. And in this, we can have confidence
that All that the Father gives me, meaning Jesus, will come
to me, and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast
out. That's an open door, that's being
allowed inside, and that's staying inside. Or in other words, despite what
transpires here on earth, Whether it's hardship or ease, God keeps
us from the evil one. And there is another thing which
God keeps in a similar sense. His all-consuming fire. His all-consuming
fire. Don't think it's not there because
the world keeps on spinning. That fire continually burns because
God will not abide sin. There is some sin yet to be put
away with, to be destroyed. And did you know that in the
law, the fire on that altar also had to be kept burning? That
fire on the altar was not to be put out. God commanded the
high priest, he said, and the fire on the altar shall be kept
burning on it, and it shall not be put out. He actually said
that at least twice within two verses. It's pretty important.
Don't let the fire go out. The fire where the peace offering
is made, the fire where the sin offering is made. That fire is a picture of God's
wrath against sin. If you want to be kept from the
evil one, you also want to be kept out of that fire. Now, when we say that God keeps
us from the evil one, I'm sure someone will hear that and ask
if it means that God will prevent a person from committing a sin
ever again. Right? No. No, it doesn't mean that. I profess to be a believer, and
I also profess that I am yet a sinner. This flesh is here
to stay until God calls us home. Now, does God commit these sins
to me? No. From his point of view, every
believer looks like his son. I have not fallen, into that
consuming fire. And I have a confident faith
that he will not even let the heat of that fire touch me. As it says in Jude, he keeps
his people from stumbling and presents them faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. That's a loving God. God has provided the easy way. And with a love that is mysterious
and wonderful, he brings poor sinners to Jesus' feet instead
of leaving them in their sin. And when God does this work,
they cry, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I pray that the
Lord keeps you. Bruce, would you close us, please?