Keep Them

John 17:11 | November 19, 2023

Do you like leftovers?

Thanksgiving leftovers are some of the best leftovers in the universe – especially leftover turkey.

You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There’s turkey-kabobs, turkey creole, turkey gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple turkey, lemon turkey, coconut turkey, pepper turkey, turkey soup, turkey stew, turkey salad, turkey and potatoes, turkey burger, turkey sandwich – that’s about it.

Food blogger Alana Kysar says that in Hawaii Thanksgiving isn’t officially over until the next day.

Why?

Because that’s when everyone celebrates the joy of turkey jook – some people call it congee.

It’s a rice porridge made out of leftover turkey and turkey stock and whatever else you have leftover.

Alana Kysar

In my house we eat jook for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as an afternoon snack. The delicate, umami-layered flavor of the rice is punctuated by the brightness of ginger and the peppery notes of cilantro to deliver a well-balanced bowl of comfort.

Comfort – that’s what we all need after Thanksgiving leftovers, right?

• A comfortable pair of pants
• A comfortable sofa
• A comfortable handful of Tums

We also need a different kind of comfort – something that turkey jook and a handful of Tums can’t provide.

The holidays are a time when the hearts and minds and bodies of many people need comfort from grief or pain or stress or worry or fear.

So, is there something that can help?

Yes – and unlike Thanksgiving leftovers you can never run out of it – and it delivers a well-balanced dose of comfort no matter what you are facing in life.

What kind of comfort are we talking about?

Let’s find out – we will be looking in the Bible today at John 17 and what we find there is a prayer from Jesus.

Jesus was praying for his closest friends and his prayer from 2,000 years ago still has purpose and power and presence in my life and in your life right now.

Our message today is titled “Keep Them” and we will be looking at John 17, verse 11 – and this is what Jesus prays…

11 I am no longer going to be in the world;

 

I remember when we found out my wife was pregnant with our first child – I was excited and terrified and crazy nervous all at the same time.

• Would it be a boy or a girl?
• Would they be healthy or would there be issues?
• What color hair would they have?
• Would they be smart or nice or funny?
• What were they going to be when they grew up?

You know what I didn’t think – I didn’t think – I wonder how they are going to die?

We don’t think that when kids and grandkids and nieces and nephews and godchildren are born, do we.

We think about hope and dreams and plans for their future.

This is the message Joseph got before Jesus was born.

Matthew 1:21

“She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus was not born in a manger in Bethlehem and then he grew up and one day he died.

Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem for the very purpose of dying on a very specific day.

That specific day had arrived – and that’s why Jesus was praying.

Jesus is about to give up his life on purpose to be brutally executed on a cross outside of Jerusalem to satisfy the just and right penalty of sin so that every human being past, present, and future could have the opportunity to receive a kind of comfort that can never be taken away.

What kind of comfort is that?

Eternal life.

This is what Jesus said…

John 10:27

My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

 

John 10:28

and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish;

 

John 10:28

and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

No one!

That is not a religious fairy tale created by some random Baptist church hundreds of years ago – that is the great and grand and glorious promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And it is not a “maybe” promise but a definite promise that was purchased by the blood of Jesus through his crucifixion on the cross – and that promise has been perfectly guaranteed by the reality that Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God.

So, the question for your life right now is this: do you have that promise?

Have you repented of your sin and rebellion against the ultimate holy law of the universe – the law that was established and is owned and is upheld by the one, true, sovereign Lawgiver, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob – and are you right now believing in his Son, Jesus the Christ, and are you trusting in and relying on and clinging to Jesus as your only real, true, lasting hope for joy in this life and for life after death?

Is the promise of eternal life yours through Jesus Christ?

If not, we plead with you to turn to him today.

In my reading this week I came across a helpful way to engage with that promise that goes like this…

John Piper

It is the hour of your dying. You are in the hospital. It is the middle of the night. Your best-beloved has fallen asleep from exhaustion on the chair beside your bed. Long ago you had heard the voice of the Lord and you obeyed and followed him in faith.

John Piper

But now a storm begins to rage as Satan throws all his final force against your faith. You feel the reality of eternity like you have never felt it before. The wind of doubt and the waves of fear lash your soul. And then, by the grace of God, there comes a scene, and it is your scene. You are in a boat in a storm. And Jesus is approaching you on the water. And on his face there is no fear. With his hair and his cloak flying in the wind, he stops a short way off and stands with his strong hands relaxed at his side in sovereign peace. And from the boat, with one last, heart-rending glance at your beloved asleep in the chair, you say, "Christ, bid me come!" And he says, "Come." And you begin to walk on the water.

John Piper

But then in the final instant you are utterly overwhelmed with what is happening. "I am dying! I am dying! This water is so deep, it is dark, it is cold and filled with hideous creatures!" For fear you begin to sink. But the promise of Jesus never fails. And with a mighty hand he seizes your arm and pulls you to himself. The storm ceases, and there is a great, beautiful calm upon the sea, and it is over. And you know, like you never imagined you could know, that Jesus is precious because he has given you eternal life.

Do you have that eternal life?

Jesus was born to die and rise from the dead to give you that eternal life, so, turn to him and believe in him and follow him today and live.

The specific day for all of that hope and all of that truth to be activated had arrived and Jesus is praying.

And who is he praying for?

 

11 and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You.

He was about to no longer be physically in the world on earth hanging out with his disciples, so he is praying for them because they were still going to be in the world.

And that prayer is not just for them – it applies to us.

If you are still breathing, you are still here in the world.

We are still here where there is pain and grief and worry and stress and fear and war and social hostility and religious tension and political battles and economic downturns and devastating sickness and death.

And in the middle of all the chaos and confusion in this world it should be extremely comforting that the Son of God, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ is praying for you.

If you are not a Christian Jesus is praying that you would believe in the promise of salvation and eternal life that he purchased with his death and resurrection. 

And if you have already received that promise and you are living in that promise what is Jesus praying for you right now?

11 Holy Father, keep them in Your name…

Jesus is praying…

“Father, I’m leaving.”

“Please look out for these guys.”

“Father, you are good and do good and I know that you love them more than anyone else.”

“Father, you care about them more than anyone else.”

“So keep them, Father.”

“Hang on to them.”

“Shepherd them through the valley of the shadow of death.”

“And chase after them with goodness and mercy.”

That’s what Jesus prays for his friends. 

And notice what he doesn’t pray.

He doesn’t pray for God to take them out of the world.

He could have. 

He could have prayed that God would just let them ascend to heaven with him. 

To be swept up like Enoch. 

But he doesn’t.

They needed to stay.

Jesus came to display God to the world. 

And now he is leaving his disciples to do the exact same thing – to display God to the world.

Dear Christian, that is what we’ve been called to do.

The Apostle Paul was writing to some folks in a place called Philippi and he gave them this challenge…

Philippians 2:14

Do all things without complaining or arguments;

 

Philippians 2:15

so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent,

 

Philippians 2:15

children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,

 

Philippians 2:15

among whom you appear as lights in the world,

 

Looking back over the last 7 days, have you been a good light or a good grumbler?

Have you been a good Christian or a good complainer?

Someone

It’s more wonderful to maintain a candle in a bucket of water than in a lantern.

Life was not easy for the disciples, and they were far from perfect, but they were shining lights in a world that was a bucket full of dark sin.

And we have been called to do the same.

But we can’t do that in our own strength.  

We need Jesus praying for us, too!

The Enemy is always prowling like a roaring lion seeking to make us bigger complainers and bigger grumblers and less light-shiners – but what does Jesus pray for us?

• “Father, keep them.”
• “When their spouse ignores them, keep them.”
• “When their kids disappoint them, keep them.”
• “When their parents discourage them, keep them.”
• “When their candidate loses, keep them.”
• “When their team loses, keep them.”
• “When their health leaves them, keep them.”
• “When their hearts are broken, keep them.”
• “When temptation comes after them, keep them.”
• “When fear overwhelms them, keep them.”
• “When worry obsesses them, keep them.”

That sounds really good, but what does that mean and how does that work?

Don’t miss the last part of his prayer…

11 Holy Father, keep them in Your name…

Keep them believing in and relying on and trusting in and clinging to your name.

• Keep them in their profession of faith.
• Keep them in their possession of faith.
• Keep them in their Bibles and in prayer.
• Keep them in their doctrine and their worship.
• Keep them in their church and with Christians friends.

When their world feels like it is spinning out of control with hurt or pain or worry or fear or confusion or chaos or anger or bitterness or hatred keep them believing in and relying on and trusting in and clinging to your name.

When temptation to be rebellious toward their parents or unfaithful to their spouse or overbearing to their children comes their way keep them believing in and relying on and trusting in and clinging to your name.

When temptation to gossip or slander or grumble or complain or whine or fuel conspiracy theories comes their way keep them believing in and relying on and trusting in and clinging to your name.

That sounds good, but what does it look like in real life?

My mom told me that she’s been reading back through the Psalms again lately and she was talking to me last week about Psalm 136 which means that sometime in the last few weeks she has read Psalm 121 that begins like this…

Psalm 121:1

I will raise my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?

 

Psalm 121:2

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

And then down in verse 7 the psalmist says this…

Psalm 121:7

He will keep your soul.

It’s been six months this week since my dad died and went to be with Jesus.

My mom and dad were married for 66 years and 11 months – that’s a long time – and my mom and our whole family are still experiencing all the normal pain and grief and loss that comes in these moments of life.

Naturally, the impact on my mom is more unique than on my sisters or on me – but you know what’s been happening as she’s been reading through the Psalms?

She’s been hearing the name of God.

Over and over again she’s been hearing about the One who made heaven and earth and the One who will keep her soul – and that’s why Wednesday night she told me that after a couple of days of intense loneliness and sadness that around 5:00 that afternoon it hit her – she said the Lord is with her, and he will keep her.

Did my mom already know that?

Yes!

My mom spent the first ten years of my life directing me toward God and his truth at the breakfast table every morning.

She has always known that the Lord is with her and that he will keep her, but at around 5:00 Wednesday the prayer of Jesus grabbed her like it has never grabbed her before as if she could almost hear the voice of Jesus praying, “Holy Father, keep her in your name.”

Will we keep our memories of my dad close?

Absolutely we will keep them.

But keeping those memories cannot compare to being kept by the one, true, God who spoke the world into existence – and to be rescued and redeemed by that God and to be kept in his name means that, dear friend, you are truly being kept – and partially today and one day completely your help will come once and for all and forever and ever end ever.

Only one person in the universe can truly, genuinely make that promise – and that person is not your spouse or your parents or your kids or your grandkids or your boyfriend or your girlfriend or your fiancé or your doctor or your pastor or your politician – there’s only one that can speak these words recorded in the book of Joshua and carry them out…

Joshua 1:5

I will not desert you nor abandon you.

John Rippon became the pastor of a church in South London known as Carter Lane when he was only 19 years old – and he was the pastor of that church for 63 years.

During that time the church became known as New Park Street Chapel and later became known as the Metropolitan Tabernacle where Charles Haddon Spurgeon became the pastor also at the age of 19.

John Rippon’s funeral was held on Christmas Eve 1836 and the following is a portion of what Dr. Francis Augustus Cox of Hackney said at his funeral…

Francis Augustus Cox

Who can realize the moment after death! The scenes that open, the acclamations that are heard; the delightful but mysterious sensations that arise in one instant! A new creation is revealed. The dream of existence is converted into reality. The shadows flee, and leave the substance of truth in possession.

Francis Augustus Cox

All fleeting things vanish; earth, is become heaven; and time – eternity! O this is victory! But, it may be said, if the disembodied spirit wins the battle with the last enemy, still the grave holds possession of the body. We reply, – If the man – the real thinking being – has conquered; and only left behind him the frame; the mere dress and decoration; what victory has been obtained by the enemy!

What victory?

No victory!

Why?

Because the prayer of Jesus was answered for John Rippon – he was kept in the name.

Which is why long before his funeral, John Rippon penned these words in the hymn “How Firm a Foundation.”

John Rippon

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

John Rippon

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Thanksgiving leftovers will run out.

The comfort of God keeping you in his name will never run out.

Dear Christian, because of Jesus, God will never, no, never, no, never forsake you.