John 17 - Introduction
_CHRIST PRAYETH TO HIS FATHER TO GLORIFY HIM: TO PRESERVE HIS APOSTLES IN UNITY AND TRUTH: TO GLORIFY THEM AND ALL HIS OTHER FAITHFUL DISCIPLES WITH HIM IN HEAVEN._ _Anno Domini 33._... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRIST PRAYETH TO HIS FATHER TO GLORIFY HIM: TO PRESERVE HIS APOSTLES IN UNITY AND TRUTH: TO GLORIFY THEM AND ALL HIS OTHER FAITHFUL DISCIPLES WITH HIM IN HEAVEN._ _Anno Domini 33._... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WORDS SPAKE JESUS,— Our Lord, having thus finished his ministry, and given his disciples all the instructions that he judged necessary, closed the whole with a solemn prayer to God; wherein, _first,_ he prays for himself, John 17:1 _secondly,_ for the apostles, John 17:6 and again, John 17:24... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL;— _But,_ or _now, this is the eternal life,_ &c. "Now, the way to this eternal life, the beginnings and earnests of it, the evidences of right and title to it, lie, not only in their approving and fiducial knowledge of thee, under the character of the only true and faithful... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE GLORIFIED THEE ON THE EARTH, &C.— "I have all along invariably intended and displayed thy glory, in the whole of my doctrine, miracles, and life, and am ready to honour upon earth all thy perfections by my death, which I am so fully resolved upon, and which will be so certainly and so soon ac... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE MANIFESTED THY NAME— In the Hebrew language the _name_ of any thing signifies the _thing itself,_ Acts 3:16. Our Lord's meaning is, "I have explained thy nature and perfections; I have declared thy merciful designs towards the world; and I have fully taught thy will and worship _unto the men... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEY HAVE KNOWN, &C.— "These men are fully persuaded, that the commission whereby I act, the doctrine of salvation which I teach, the miracles which I perform, and the authority with which I am clothed, as Mediator, are all derived from thee. In this indeedthey have acted upon the surest evidenc... [ Continue Reading ]
I PRAY FOR THEM, &C.— The persons here prayed for, are not regenerate men in general, in opposition to the unregenerate, who are often called the _world,_ but those good men in particular who were given to Jesus by the Father to be his apostles, and who, by that office, were distinguished from the r... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW I AM NO MORE IN THE WORLD,— "Having finished the work thou gavest me to do, I am no longer to continue in the world:—_But these are in the world._ My apostles are to continue in the world, to carry on the gracious design of redemption, _and I am coming to thee."_ It is very plain that this c... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE I WAS WITH THEM— "During my personal abode with them, I kept them in the firm faith, and in thesteadfast practice of the precepts of my holy religion, so far as I revealed those unto them. I say the twelve men whom thou gavest me for apostles I have thus kept, insomuch that none of them have a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW COME I TO THEE;— "I am now about to return to thee, having finished my work; yet, before I leave the world, I offer this prayer in behalf of my apostles, with this intention, that, being heard for them, they may receive all the endowments necessary to qualify them for converting the world, a... [ Continue Reading ]
I PRAY NOT, &C.— "My meaning is not that, on account of these difficulties, John 17:14 thou shouldest _remove them out of the world_ by death; I know that the purposes of thy glory, and their own improvement and usefulness, will require their longer continuance. I only pray, that thou wouldst grant... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD,— "It is with great pleasure that I reflect on their being separated from the world, both in principles and practice, and that in this respect they so nearly resemble me. Hence I am the more solicitous that they be preserved untainted and blameless after my departure; where... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER PRAY I FOR THESE ALONE,— "I do not make my apostles the only subjects of this my last prayer; but I pray also for all those who shall be converted by my apostles; intreating for them the gracious influences of thy Spirit, that they may maintain the unity of the faith, and all agree in one do... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GLORY WHICH THOU GAVEST ME, &C.— "Moreover, the glory of inspiration, of a divine mission, and of the power of miracles to confirm that mission, which thou gavest unto me, I have bestowed on my apostles; and on those who should be converted by them, and employed to preach the gospel to the w... [ Continue Reading ]
FATHER, I WILL, &C.— See John 17:5. "Not only with respect to those apostles whom thou hast particularly given me, but also to those in every age and country, who shall sincerely and perseveringly believe in and obey me, my will is, that, after their work here is over, they may be with me in heaven,... [ Continue Reading ]
O RIGHTEOUS FATHER, &C.— "O Father, who art the Author of all righteous designs, and the lover of righteous men; nay, and from whose very righteousness flows the admission of believers to thee; though the world, wilfully ignorant of thy nature and perfections, and of thy gracious counsels for man's... [ Continue Reading ]