Today we look at John 17 and verse 11. John 17, verse 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. Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. God loved us and he gave his Son to be our Saviour. The Son of God loved us and came from heaven into this world and suffered for us on the cross. And here in this chapter, his suffering is drawing towards its climax. Soon he will be returning to the Father. Later this very day, his soul will be in paradise. So he prays. He prays for the Father to keep, to keep those whom he had been given. Holy Father, keep through thy known name those whom thou hast given me. Keep them, that they may be one as we are. So the first thing to notice in this verse today is that Christ is no longer in the world. And now I am no more in the world. Now, that's a strange thing to say because surely he was in the world. Physically he was there. The disciples hear him, they see him, they touch him. Yet he is looking ahead and the completion of the work is so certain that he says, I'm no longer in the world. He's visualising himself back in heaven. He knew what lay ahead, and there's no running away from that painful suffering as he offers himself as a sacrifice to God. Later that very day, he would know what it was to be scourged, to have the crown of thorns placed upon his head, to be mocked and to be beaten, to be nailed to a cross, to suffer the wrath and curse of God, and to die. He would be buried, but a soul would go to heaven. The world had been a difficult place for Christ. He is the great creator who made all things. Without him was not anything made that was made. And yet the creator becomes a creature. And he who made the law and gave the law is now made under the law and subject to it. He is born into this world, not born in a palace, but Born in a stable in poverty, he understands and feels physical needs and necessities. Poverty, humiliation. He is tempted in all points like as we are. Satan was allowed access to him to tempt him. He sees sin all around him. sees sins in his own family, sees sins in neighbours about him, he sees harlots and hypocrites, publicans and sinners. It must have been grievous for him to hear God's name taken in vain. It must have been terrible for him to see all the false worship, to see God dishonoured Christ, the loving Saviour for us in this world. These are in the world, he says. Who is he referring to? He's referring to his disciples, his followers, and of course, Christians still today. God's people are in the world, although not of the world. We are called out of the world, come ye out from amongst them, be ye separate, and I will be a people, I will be a God unto you, and you shall be my people, saith the Lord. We are in the world, living in the world, and yet we don't belong to the world. The world for us is, of course, a place of great danger. It's a hostile world, a world that hates God and hates the people of God. We are living, as it were, in enemy territory. There's a war going on and we're behind enemy lines. In this world, we're tempted by the world itself, the world that's trying to seduce us to be like itself, the world that persecutes us for our holiness, our godliness, for following Christ. We have the flesh within us, that corruption, that defilement, these sinful desires, covetousness, and immoral desires, and bad temper, all these things that are within us, the flesh. And then, of course, there's Satan and all his demons that are doing everything in their power to get Christians to sin. Satan is determined to destroy us. Remember how Paul spoke, he said, how he kept his body in subjection, lest, having preached to others, he himself should be a castaway. That should be a concern for us all. How terrible it would be that with all our privileges and all the blessings that we enjoy, With all the teaching that we've received, if at the end of the day we should be a castaway, if having preached the gospel, we ourselves should be condemned by that gospel to hell. Think of Demas, a fellow worker with the Apostle Paul. What a grief it was for Paul. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present evil world. Are you aware then of the danger? These are in the world. Next, Jesus says, I come to thee. He had been sent by the Father. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Father gave the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and now the Son is returning to the Father, and he's longing to be back there. He had been living in this world for 33 years, But he was a stranger here. He didn't belong here. There was so much here that grieved him, that offended and troubled him. He was out of place, as it were, in this world. And he was longing to be home. He was holy, loving, and good. This world is sinful. horrible, hateful. And so the Lord Jesus says, I come to thee. He had to pass through this dark valley, yes, and eventually the valley of death itself. Indeed, he had to pass through the pains of hell on the cross of Calvary before he could reach heaven. But he says here, I come to thee. And then he says, Holy Father, keep through thine own name. Holy Father, God is holy, infinitely holy, holy in the sense that he is exalted and separate from mankind, separate even from the angels. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. infinitely holy, tremendously awesome, majestic above all. So the holiness of God means His majesty, but it also means, and particularly here, it means separation from sin and from all that is impure. Separated from the world, Holy Father, The Father is the very opposite of the world. He's the Holy One to be worshipped and the one to be prayed to. Holy Father, keep through thy name. Keep. We need to be kept. We have a duty, of course, to keep ourselves. Keep ourselves from evil, keep ourselves from sinning, keep ourselves on the right road, but sadly we can't. We need grace, we need help, because we're so easily tempted. If God were to leave us in the hands of Satan, where would we be? Augustine gives thanks that when his heart was ready to sin, the temptation wasn't there. And when the temptation came along, that his heart wasn't ready to sin. That is God's keeping and how conscious we should be of it. As we look back in our lives, how easily we could have fallen away. There but for the grace of God go I. God has kept us out of certain temptations that would have caused us to fall. And when temptations have come along, he has provided us with a strength and grace to resist and to flee, flee from sin and temptation. The world around us entices us and is so seductive. but God's grace strengthens us against this vanity fear. One difference of course between the Christian and Christ is that Christ didn't have a sinful nature. You and I do. We are children of Adam and because we are children of Adam there's old Adam within us. There's the corruption, there's the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And that we find exceedingly difficult to overcome. We're like a city and the enemy has laid siege to the city. But the problem is that there's some on the enemy side within the city. How hard then it is to defeat the enemy when the enemy is not just outside but within. And so we need to pray, keep. How important it is that we be kept. Only the Lord can keep us. Don't put any trust in yourself. How foolish it is to be confident. I can go here, I can do this, I can do that. I will resist that temptation. I would never do that, you think. You think to yourself that you could stand against all temptation, but you can't. We stand only as we are kept. We need to be kept by God. And if God keeps us, we will be kept, and we will praise him forever for having kept us. Keep through thy name. The name of God is the character of God. The name of God is all by which he makes himself known. The name reveals what God is like. And God is merciful. We need a merciful God to keep us. A gracious God. A loving God. A long-suffering God. But we need also a mighty God to keep us. A God who's more powerful than Satan. A God who's more powerful than the world. A God who can suppress fleshly desires in our hearts. We need a rock. a solid rock on which to stand, and that is God's name. God is our rock. We need sovereign grace, almighty sovereign grace. Holy Father, keep through thy name. We need that keeping, and it's through thy name. And the will of God will not be frustrated. The plan of God was to send Christ to be our saviour, to finish the work for us, and to send his Holy Spirit into our hearts. And he will save us. He is the one who from all eternity has decided, planned, purposed, and brings it to fruition. And none perish that trust in him. We have been given to Christ and we will be kept as Christ's people. Keep through thine own name that they may be one. Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. Now, we're conscious, of course, that there's such a thing as the ecumenical movement. And this is a movement that seeks to gather together all the churches in the world into one church. But it ignores the Bible and theology and the law of God. And so it's a unique but not a union in the truth or a union in holiness. Now that, of course, is useless. To have a church united with a world, what good is that? That's not what Christ is praying for, but he's praying for that they may be one as we are, one in truth, one in righteousness. One in what is known, believed, and practiced. A big denomination is sadly often a denomination that tolerates all kinds of error and fault. Think of the Roman Catholic Church and all the corruptions within that church. They boast of their unity. but it's not a unity in God. It's not a unity according to the Word of God. It's a unity in traditions, man-made traditions, and it's a unity in subjection to a man, the Pope, who makes great claims for himself. But the unity that Christ is praying for is that we might be united in God, and in the truth, and be like the Trinity, that's the greatest unity there ever was and ever will be. Three persons in one God, one divine, one divine will, one divine substance or spirit, and yet three persons. That we might be united to one another, praying that we would be united in the truth, that we would know God's word, love God's word, treasure it in our hearts, practice it in our lives, united to one another in the truth, united in love, united in holy living, united in God. United here below. as a foretaste of the unity that we will have forever as the bride of Christ in heaven. So, by way of application, we are in danger in this world, constant danger from the world, the flesh, and the devil tempting us. We need God to keep us. And the ultimate goal is unity. Unity which will be perfect in heaven.