Thank you, Luda, Alicia, and Andy for leading us in those songs of praise. I love those texts of both of those songs. Those were powerful, given today's theme, too. So thank you. And thank you for your attendance tonight. And I pray that on this holiday weekend, we'll be able to be an encouragement to each other. I invite you to open your Bibles with me to John chapter 17 before we pray. John chapter 17. And in a moment, I'm going to read verses 6 through 15 of John 17. As you're turning there, let me just remind the men that our next 4D men's meeting is this coming Saturday. It's really up close to the previous one because of scheduling of the conference and the holidays. And we don't want to have a deep one into December. The registration for that is still open, and if you haven't signed up yet, that's at the Information Center tonight, and that'll stay open until Wednesday, and then we'll close it so we can order materials and get some donuts, get some breakfast for you. So if you haven't signed up, sign up. If you have signed up and something's come up, and this goes for every month, if something comes up, and you can't attend, do us a huge favor and remove your name so we don't order enough for you and then not need it. So just that little announcement. John chapter 17, I'll be reading this evening as I do from time to time on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights out of the LSB. It's called, it's the Legacy Standard Bible. You say, what is that? That's the New American Standard, 1995. It's one of the two updates available for that. There's a 2020 update, and then there's an LSB. Both of them stand on the shoulders of the New American Standard, which is under the chairs in front of you if you need a copy. And so this will track pretty closely with what's under our chairs and that I preach from every Sunday morning, but that's what I'll be working out of tonight. John chapter 17, follow along as I read verses 6 through 15 and then we'll pray. Jesus is speaking to his Father in prayer in front of his disciples hours before his betrayal, perhaps minutes. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words which you gave me I have given to them and they received them and truly understand that I came forth from you. and they believe that you sent me. So I ask on their behalf, I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me, for they are yours, and all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me. And I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to you. And these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I've given them your word. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Let's pray. Father, thank you that we can raise our voices with these songs, and for many of us, newer songs that are teaching us truth, sourced in your word, and new tunes that now we can carry with us into the week with our cherished melodies of worship songs. Thank you for expanding this for us today in our hearts. Lord, we're gonna ask you to expand our understanding of this text tonight. It's very important. As a matter of fact, we can narrow it down to one verse and just a few words from this verse, but we actually are pleading with you that you would open our eyes to see what you're going to teach us and what you found important enough to speak to your father on our behalf about. So Lord, thank you for what you'll do, in Jesus' name, amen. So if you come into our kitchen, as many of you have been in our kitchen, we have what's called, I don't know what to call it, I call it a coffee dresser. It's like a piece of furniture, like a dresser, but it's like part of our coffee headquarters. At least on that side of the house, we have another coffee headquarters on the other side. Different machines, and we just have fun with our coffee. But on our coffee, counter or dresser, we have next to the Keurig machine, we have a picture frame. You say, what's so unusual about a picture frame? Well, some of you have these too. It's an electronic picture frame that people through Bluetooth and all that can upload pictures. Our kids can upload pictures of them and our grandkids, whether they live in Utah or South Carolina or Georgia or Tennessee or Ypsilanti. They can actually send pictures to that screen and to that picture frame. And if they don't send pictures to the frame, but they send the pictures to us, we'll send them to the frame. Lori and I love looking at pictures of our family. They can't send us enough pictures. And if they go through seasons when they don't send us pictures, we just stare at it still as it cycles through all these pictures that have been sent, hundreds of pictures, hundreds of memories. It's hard to stop looking at it for us once we start, and we're always eager to have more to see because pictures of our family are easy for us to look at. You know, I feel that way when I come to John 17 as well. This is, by my count, our 11th of 12 sermons from this study in John 17. Our Lord is praying for us. What sent us to John 17 is what we read and studied in Romans 8, verse 34. which reads this way, who's the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, and right now also intercedes for us. We saw earlier in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit's interceding for us. And then we come to the end of Romans chapter 8, and the Son is interceding for us. And we started asking the question, well, like what's he saying? When our high priest is speaking to our heavenly Father, What's the conversation about? What are the talking points? If they're praying on our behalf, we just would like to know that. And so we set out on this study of John 17, which is a specific prayer between the Father and the Son in front of the disciples. And my goodness, it's been rich. What we have been seeing our Lord pray for has encouraged our hearts, one right after another. We studied the fatherhood of God and why that should be important. And Jesus says, Father, I want them to see this. He says, Father, I want them to see my glory. Not just the glorious work of redemption, he prayed for that, but my glory that I had before time began. I want them to see that. We saw that Jesus is also praying for the security of our salvation, which we didn't initiate. We can't protect, and we can't make sure it happens. It's in his hands, and Jesus is interceding for that. We saw Jesus praying that we would understand the lordship of Jesus over all things. We saw one study that continues to fascinate me is in John 17, Jesus prays for your devotion. that you will treasure his word. And we saw how much real estate in John 17 is given to Jesus, being concerned with the truth he has given to his disciples, right down to his disciples spreading that same word to others. I think you can even say we found ourselves in John 17 there, that believe because of the testimony and the word of the disciples. So it's been like one right after another. And every time we saw a new truth of what Jesus is praying for us, it was hard to stop seeing. And like that picture frame on the coffee dresser, we wanted to see more. And so we've come back, and we've come back, and it's just easy to see up to this point. But there's one I just read that's hard to see. It's kind of heavy. And at first glance, it might even appear that this is a stumbling point as far as the pleasantness of this prayer we're listening to. This one was hard to see. And you say, well, where was it? It was at the very end of the last verse that we read. Look at verse 15. I do not ask you to take them out of the world. father, but to keep them from the evil one. That's kind of troubling. Because we have this, some of your translations say the evil, but in the Greek it's going to point out it's the evil one, and this is not the only instance where we understand this correctly like this. It's talking about a being. A being that, on a human level, we and even these 11 disciples that remain in that room, in the upper room, would say, well, if there's a being so bad that we have to be prayed for about this being, why doesn't he just take us out of the world away from this being if he's that bad? But that's not what we read. Again, look at verse 15. Father, I do not ask you to take them, my disciples, out of the world. but to keep them from the evil one. The evil one. What I'd like to do for our minutes together here this evening is I want you to look at your text of scripture like you do a screen if you have an iPhone product or Apple product or a Droid machine. Because when we see something small in a picture, I've done this today, We see a picture in the news or we see a, there was a scale that showed up on one of my feeds just today comparing the Great Lakes and the depths and all that and you know I'm nerd out on that stuff. Well, I look at the screen and I start doing this motion, right? I put my two fingers together on what is small and then I expand it and then I do it again and I do it again until I'm looking at very small details filling my screen. I want us to do that with that last phrase tonight, the evil one. What makes him so dangerous that Jesus mentions him in reference to us as he prays for us? So I want to take my spiritual fingers, if you will, and as I've prayed before I even read scripture, I want to expand this. I want to expand this. And I want to point out four propositional statements about Satan. Because I want to know myself, I want you to know myself, by the end of this sermon, why he's praying for us like he is. Those last three words in your English text are heavy and full. The evil one. Four propositional statements about Satan. You ready? Number one. This is the starting point. His character is dark. And that's a gross understatement in English. It's the best I got for you. His character is dark. This word, this name, Satan, that we are aware of. This evil, this paniras, this particular Greek word means something that is malicious. Something left to itself that is harmful and just wicked. I mean, that's a popular word this week in the entertainment world with the release of a certain movie. And we might have fun and song and dance in a movie, but this isn't fun. This isn't funny when used in this context. There couldn't be a worse word he was using. Pony Ross. malicious. The intention of Satan himself is malicious and wholly hurtful. You say, well give me a summary statement. What do you mean wicked? What do you mean evil and malicious? Here's my summary statement. You want to know something about Satan? Know this. He's everything that Christ isn't. Just remember that. He's everything that Christ isn't. As you study your New Testament, you see this phrase, especially from John, in his epistles as well. It's a phrase called anti-Christ. And in his epistles, as we'll see in just a moment, I want to show you. I'm going to do some work in the text, so we're going to keep our fingers limber. He refers to, John does, the spirit of anti- Christ. Hold your finger here. You're going to want to keep something in John 17, but we're going to take off here. Go with me for just a little tour to 1 John 2. I want you to hear John in 1 John 2, his first epistle. And look at verses 18 and 19. Children, it is the last hour. In other words, it's the last days. We're living in that time between our Lord's first and second advent. It's the last days, the last hour. Children, it is the last hour. And just as you heard that Antichrist, little a, is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. Plural Antichrist. From this we know that it is the last hour. Here's a scary thing. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they were of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be made manifest that they all are not of us. And go down the page a minute to, or just a little bit to verse 22. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? the Christ, the Anointed One. The one who denies that Jesus is the infinite God-man, John concludes, this is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. In that same vein, go over to the right to chapter 4 of 1 John, 1 John chapter 4. Verse two, by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world. And I'll just show you one more while you're close. Just turn the page to 2 John chapter one, verse seven. John's still writing about this in his second epistle. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. John wrote much about this because, under the inspiration of scripture, it was a present darkness, a present risk, a present danger, as it is still today. We are still between the two advents of Jesus. We are still in the last hour. And we see here over and over the spirit of Antichrist. In other words, this is the value of the one working behind the scenes who is everything that Jesus Christ isn't. We can go to 2 Thessalonians. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians for just a second. And Paul's going to chime in as well. And though, as I understand prophecy, there is a coming Tribulation period. And we are given the characters, the active characters, who will be playing in that chapter of our world's history. And we have characters pointed out not only in Thessalonians, but in Revelation, as well as in Daniel and others. But I'm right here in 2 Thessalonians. to just show you that he, Paul, too, is talking and writing about this. 2 Thessalonians 2, look at verse 7. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then, look at verse 8, and then the lawless one will be revealed. This is gonna be a human who will be known as antichrist. But keep reading for this description, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming, whose coming is in accord with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of unrighteousness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. I just wanted to show you that Paul is on to this as well. The further we get into the darkness of the last hour, the more this one named Satan shows his hand. And it's dark. Satan is everything that Christ isn't. Christ is righteous. Satan is wicked. Christ is light. Satan is darkness. Christ is the truth, Satan is a liar. Christ is life, Satan is death. Christ produces the fruit of the spirit, Satan produces the deeds of the flesh. Jesus is wisdom from above, Satan is wisdom from below. Jesus, the image of God, is perfect wisdom. Satan is the absolute Exhibit A of a fool and a scoffer. Make no mistake about it, his character is dark. And hear Jesus, because Jesus says in John chapter 8 verse 44, you are of your father the devil. How's that for a salutation to the religious elite in his day? You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. And Paul chimes in again in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, which we're gonna go to several times tonight. Verse 14, Paul writes, even Satan, listen to this, disguises himself as an angel of what? Of light. He has to have that as a disguise, because light is everything that he's not. Yet he can masquerade as light and lead many astray. Revelation chapter 12, verses 9 through 10, looking into that time of trouble and tribulation, we read these words, the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. So if I make the first propositional statement as to why we should be concerned about the last three words in the English text of John 17, 15, it's this very important propositional statement I believe you need to have as a starting point. His character is dark. It's so dark, Jesus prays about it, as it pertains to you. His character is dark. There's a theologian that I might have a few differences with. Sam Storms is his name. but I agree with him on this statement. He says, whatever and whenever God blesses, Satan curses. What God creates, Satan counterfeits, end quote. You say, well, he's a bad guy. I mean, there's bad guys and we're around bad people, so what we just need to do is get in his face Tell him to go away. Leave me alone. Maybe make jokes about him and even ridicule him, thinking that a sanctified ridicule of him is cute and tough. But there's an angel. We don't know too many angels' names. We've got Gabriel's down. But there's an angel that even Gabriel really marveled at and respected. We see this in the book of Daniel. His name is Michael. And he's a He's a prince in the order of angels that other angelic beings and orders respect. If anyone could talk trash to the one whose character is so dark, you'd think it would be Michael. But I read these words about Michael and Satan in Jude, verses eight and nine. Yet in the same way these men, the false teachers, Jude's accusing and bringing to light in the same way these men also by dreaming defile the flesh and reject authority and listen and blaspheme glorious ones or angels. But Michael the archangel when he disputing with the devil was arguing about the body of Moses did not dare pronounce against him, against the devil, blasphemous judgment. But rather, Michael the archangel said, the Lord rebuke you. I'm not saying Michael feared the devil. And I believe that, as we'll see soon here, the devil may have had a rank similar to Michael's at one point before He rebelled, but I look at Michael, the archangel, and if he has a due recognition of the propensity of the evil one, and he was not careless in his attitude towards him, then we better take note of that. We better take note of that. And that brings us to the second propositional statement. is his character dark. But number two, his contact is constant. Perhaps you have heard the advertisement of the web service you can get. It's called Constant Contact, where you can keep in contact with your customers or potential customers within your market with well-timed and well-placed emails or text messages, et cetera. And yeah, I like that wording for this point. His contact is constant. So what do you mean by that? Well, let me just say a few things here. First of all, letter A, he is a spirit. Satan is a spirit. He's an angel. He was created an angel. Colossians 1.16 reminds us, for in Him, in Christ, all things were created, both, listen, in the heavens and on earth. You say, well, what do you mean by that? Well, I mean, we can marvel at Niagara Falls, but that's something on earth. And we can say, well, Christ created the whole thing that made that happen, or we can We can go to the ocean in the middle of the Atlantic and say, Christ created this. These are things on the earth. There's a whole realm, a whole dimension of the unseen that's just as real that we can't see, but it requires the same explanation as if we could see it. All of this, Christ created. 3.16 says, for in Him, in Christ, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. What's this rules and thrones and authorities and dominions? That's a designation of, we believe, spiritual hierarchy. The spirit world of not only the righteous angels, the holy angels, but the fallen angels are highly organized. And Satan is one of them. If Satan's an angel, if Satan's a spirit, according to Colossians 1.16, he's a created being. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that. Over in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 11 through 12, you have this description when we're talking about the full armor of God. Verse 10, finally be strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our struggle is against someone we can't see. He says it's against the rulers. against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies, in the heavenly places. He is a spirit. His minions are spirits, fallen angels. In Matthew chapter 12, verse 24, and I know I'm going through a lot of passages. You may just want to jot them down and listen to me do the work. Matthew 12, 24. When the Pharisees heard this, they said, this man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. But if we were to go over to Mark 9.25 to a parallel passage, it's called An Unclean Spirit. Satan and his minions are a well-organized, numerous, densely populated, evenly sparsed out, but still on one goal together, and it's anti-Christ. They are spirits. And if we had time to fully unpack Isaiah chapter 14, which talks about the fall of the king of Babylon, or Ezekiel chapter 28, which talks about the fall of the king of Tyre, you don't have to read far into those chapters to see that portions of those chapters have to be referring to some entity beyond what's being described on the physical level. Talk of Eden, talk of falling, talk of scenes in heaven. It's just important that you understand, and I know you all know that, letter A, I know that. But sometimes we need to be reminded that they are a spirit, there's more than you realize, Satan is one of them. All of them, including Satan, are created. That's really important to keep in mind as we move to the next point. He is a spirit, letter B. He, Satan, is a ruler. He's a ruler. If we're not careful, we can get into that frame of mind where we say, well, he's just a big talker. When he tempted Jesus of Nazareth, I mean, he was just talking himself up. He's just pounding his chest. and saying he can do or give away what he really can't do or it's not his to give away, that's wrong. He is a ruler. These are words like prince that are used of him. You say, where? Well, look at Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four, verses five and six. I'm already there, just listen. You know this passage as we went through it together in our study. This is when Satan is tempting Jesus. In verse 6, he says to Jesus, he knows he's talking to the second person of the Godhead. He's fully aware of that. Telling a lie at this point would not be to his benefit. He's going to say something that is true. The devil said to him, to Jesus, I will give you all this dominion. What dominion? Verse 5. All the kingdoms of the world that he saw in a moment of time. How? I don't know. But he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and Satan says, I will give you all this dominion and its glory, listen, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. You say, well, he's just thumping his chest. No, he's a ruler. And Jesus doesn't correct that. And Jesus is into correcting statements of Satan in this scene. That's not one that he corrects. in a sense he's a ruler. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2 Paul says, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the, listen, the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Paul hesitates in no way to say, oh yeah, Satan's a ruler. He has power. He has authority. He's not only A ruler, letter B, but that's our transition statement to letter C. He's a leader. He's a leader. In Matthew 12, as I've already read, we saw that he has authority over the other spirits. I want to go back. to Matthew chapter 12 and read one verse beyond where I stopped. Matthew chapter 12 verses 24 to 26. Matthew 12. The Pharisees say in verse 24, he cast out demons by the ruler of the demons. Verse 25, and knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. And this is still Jesus talking, and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself, how then will his kingdom stand? Twice Jesus acknowledges that Satan too is king over a kingdom. He's a leader. Second Corinthians chapter 11 is something to keep in mind along these lines again. Verse 15, just want you to keep these all laced together. Verse 14 says, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds. Satan in disguise of righteousness has his minions and his own reach into those who would be false teachers reaching into the church to deceive and disrupt. He is a leader. Make no mistake about it. But I want to say one more thing about him. Letter D, he's a strategist. He doesn't just say, well, I hope this works. If you were to trace, this is a homework assignment for your own devotions, if you were to trace in your English translation in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and even in the Gospel of John, the word world, and start comparing notes, cross-reference John, how he uses that concept of world so often, with few exception, you're gonna see that it's gonna be talking about a world order, an order within creation that left to itself stands against the creator. And bring your Bible study on the word world, as John uses it, to 1 John 2, verses 15 and 17. And it all comes together in your thinking. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not of the Father, but is of what? It's of the world. This is his realm that Satan works in tirelessly, aggressively, and strategically, and tactically. And I've mentioned 2 Corinthians. I want you to write down 2 Corinthians 2.11 for this point as well as a cross-reference, and let me read that to you. 2 Corinthians 2.11. Excuse me, 1 Corinthians 2.11 is really good, but go back and read that one later. so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." And we saw that also over in Ephesians 6, dealing with the full armor of God. He is strategizing. He is studying. He is laying out very detailed plans of rebellion against Creator God and against Jesus Christ in the way that he swings at them is that he comes for you, tactically, strategically. It's so bad. You say, well, is he really that bad? Well, he's in constant contact. He and his minions, because of their numbers, because of their limited power, but it's nonetheless superhuman, He's a ruler. He's a leader. He's a strategist at such a level that when Jesus' disciples say, hey, would you teach us how to pray? Jesus said, all right. In Luke chapter 11, he says, pray like this. And he says, we have to go to our father and our king and our forgiver and our provider and our protector every day. And the way Matthew records this, which has more detail, I believe at a different occasion, in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says, and lead us not into testing, but deliver us from the evil one. And Jesus is forever telling his disciples in that moment that if you could see what I see, if you knew what I knew, if you've watched what I've watched, You would want to pray as a disciple every day to be delivered from the evil one. Just trust me on that. I can see it. That's how bad it is. You say, is he effective? Well, that's my third propositional point. And it's this, his carnage is evident. His carnage is evident, very evident. There's footprints everywhere. that he and his forces have been near and remain near. You say, what do you mean? Well, letter A, rebellion against the creator, that happened in Genesis 3, and we're seeing the fruit of it in Romans 1. The fall did happen. He was that serpent. And man has fallen. Creation, so much is lost. in this rebellion. It's so bad that in Romans 1 we see everything cascading, fallenness cascading to where God is giving them over, giving them over, and then giving them over with no boundaries. They've suppressed the truth of God. They rejoice and encourage those who are in rebellion. They've exchanged the creature for the creator. That's a footprint. That's what he can do. You want evidence that there's carnage and that he's effective? Well, you have rebellion against the creator. But secondly, you have active persecution of believers in every culture and generation. Think about that. Every tribe, tongue, people, and nation where the gospel has come, there's going to be resistance. That's maybe why Jesus, back here in John 17, just prior to these verses, prayed verses 13 and 14. But now I come to you, Father, and these things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves. Why do they need your joy if they're in the world? Because of verse 14. I've given them your word, and the world has hated them. Because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. There's active persecution of believers in every culture, in every generation. Even, we see this again, John's gonna, under the inspiration of scripture, and as he records the revelation of Christ, we'll record these words in Revelation chapter two and verse 10. Revelation 2.10, talking about I'm having a hard time finding my verse because I got a misprint here. Here we go again. I know why, because I'm not in Revelation yet. Oh boy. I've had too much turkey this week. There it is. It's right in the right place. Revelation 2.10. To the church at Smyrna, do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold the devil. who is named Satan in verse 9. The devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for 10 days. Be faithful unto death and I'll give you the crown of life. That's being played out in every culture where the gospel goes, that persecution. Even in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 8 through 10 we hear that The devil's like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he will devour. His carnage is evident. And I would add a third one to that, and it's distraction from the word. Distraction from the word. If you go to Luke 8, the parable of the soils, you see that even in the first soil, Satan will come, the birds will come and take the the word after it's sown and immediately remove it. He's actively, listen, Satan wants to come between you and the preaching of his word and the reading of his word at every turn. He doesn't want you sitting in it. He doesn't want you opening it on your own. He wants you distracted with worries so that you'll be unfruitful. He is behind this. But it's also evident in what we'll call the sellouts from those who claimed loyalty to Christ at one point. Apostates, sellouts. In Matthew chapter 13, there's a parable in verses 38 and 39 being explained of the tares that are sown amongst the wheat. And it's the enemy who has sown them. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 10, we read of a man named Demas, who at the end of the apostles' earthly pilgrimage, some of his last words are, Demas made it far into the race. He made it far, but he quit. It's not that he lost his salvation. It appears that he may have never had it. Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. But we don't have to travel to the parables in Matthew 13 or to Demas in 2 Timothy 4, verse 10. We can stay right here in John 17, because there's another apostate here. His name is Judas. He just has a different name here. Verse 12, while I was with them, Father, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me. And I guarded them. And not one of them perished, but the son of perdition. That's Judas. so that the scripture would be fulfilled. And by the way, when Jesus utters those words in prayer in John 17, the son of perdition had just left earlier from that room in this discussion of John 13 through 17. He left during the meal, as you recall. So his carnage is very evident. We could keep listing out E, F, G, and H and beyond because we know apostates too. But I have one more propositional statement, He's saying, wow, I don't want to know anymore. I mean, here's what we've been doing for the last 50 minutes. We've gone to those last three words in John 17, 15, and we've put our fingers together, and we've been expanding this and expanding this and expanding this. And I think we got it to a size now where we see how dark his character is, how constant his contact is, how devastating is his carnage. We've seen enough. I don't know if I want to see anymore. I get it. This is bad. This is real. What more could you tell me that I want to know? Well, you do want to know this one. Because as bad as it is, as bad as this enemy is, number four, his conqueror is praying. His conqueror is praying for you. His conqueror isn't downplaying his power. But understand that his conqueror is Jesus. Guaranteed. And the one who conquers this dark one is praying for you. It's one of the things on the list. You want to hear Jesus talk about the one he conquers? In John chapter 12 verse 31, Jesus says, Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. John records in 1 John 3.8, the one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning and the Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Paul says, I have something to say, too, in Colossians 2.15. He writes, when he, Jesus, had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him, Christ. And then the author of Hebrews says, I have something to say, Hebrews chapter two, verse 14. Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might, listen, render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Conquers, pray. So what does that mean? Well, that adds just a couple closing points here. First of all, it gives fresh understanding to the father's leaving. And I have that in quotation marks. The father's leaving. What do you mean? The father has left us in the world with the evil one. On a human level, we're like, hmm, that's not tactically sound. If he's that bad, get us out of here. But the father knows you can survive. Not in your own strength, but because His Son is interceding for you. It's not impossible to survive. The Father's leaving you is something marvelous in what it states. Letter B, Jesus' praying. The praying that Jesus is doing now takes on even more weight. Because as the Son intercedes for you to be delivered from the evil one, who is more around you and more powerful than you even realize, the fact that He, Jesus, is praying for you means it's not only possible for you and for me to survive, but it is an actuality. As a matter of fact, when Peter writes about this in 1 Peter chapter 5, he's going to say, know this, that your brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are facing the same fight. and there's grace, and after you have suffered for a little while, he will perfect, strengthen, comfort, and settle you. But there's also one other point here that just takes on new color when we see the darkness of the evil one, and it's this, it's heaven's coming. Just remembering what we've studied already in the series in verse 24, that we have before us the sharing the victorious sharing in the glory of the Son of God. Verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may see my glory which you have given me for you love me before the foundation of the world. And Paul will write in Colossians chapter 3 verse 4, when Christ is revealed in glory, then you'll also be revealed with him in glory. So the father's left you here knowing the fight is here. And the son is praying for you and he's the conqueror. And you in Christ will see glory no matter what you have to battle in the world down here. So that's all in those few words at the end of verse 15. Keep them from the evil one. So that's kind of cool. Jesus is praying for us in this battle and he himself is the conqueror of the one he's praying for us to survive and even to thrive in the midst of these attacks. You know what, as we hear him praying for you like that it kind of affects how you and I pray. I would think we should be praying better after verse 15. Because you and I should be praying every day for open eyes. We have, as they call it in the self-defense world or in the tactical world, you have situation awareness. When you're walking down a dark street, you're just aware. You're aware of movements, you're aware of attention you might be garnishing, you're aware of where there's pockets of people and light and where there isn't. You know, at Kroger's, this is heads up, out of your iPhone while you walk to your car. We should be praying for open eyes so that we can at least be aware of what Jesus says. If you could see what I would see, I can see. I'd pray every day if I were you about this. We not only should pray for our open eyes, but for our constant vigilance. It's not just, I wonder if the proximity of the dark one or his forces are near me. They are. It's where is the attack going to come from? And then thirdly, we should be praying every day for our warrior footing. Walk carefully. Make no provision for the flesh with regards to its lusts, Romans 13, 14. If I were to use an illustration for this, I would say, don't play soccer in the major leagues wearing flip-flops. You got to have cleats, man. You have to have the traction that the truth of God and the gospel provide for you. Kind of gives you reason 1,000 to brew the coffee in the morning and start your day in the word. I put a quote in there in closing from Charles Spurgeon. I like this one. Satan always hates Christian fellowship. He hates it. It is his policy to keep Christians apart. And in light of this morning's sermon, I would say, and by all means, keeping them from praying with others. He continues, anything which can divide saints from one another, he delights in. He attaches far more importance to godly intercourse than we do. Since union is strength, He does his best to promote separation. Yeah. I do not ask you, Father, to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? And so, Father, we thank you for this text. Thank you for these words, Christ, that you not only prayed for your disciples then, but you intercede for us about still. This battle is real and we don't pay attention to it on most days. It's incessant, it's dark, it's predictable, it's dangerous, but you're interceding for us. And you're not asking for us to have the easy way out of just getting out of the world. You're praying to your father as our high priest, our father, to keep us from the evil one, to protect us from the evil one. Knowing that, we shouldn't charge towards him recklessly, but we should walk circumspectly. Realizing that we're not tourists on vacation here, We are warriors in a battle. But our conqueror has already won. I pray, Lord, that we will walk out of this day emphasizing our dependence on you and the importance of prayer. Help us to walk out of this day more aware, with eyes wide or open, to our need for you and also the darkness of your enemy. And Lord, this does just make us hungry for the glories of heaven. When our foe will be banished into eternal torment with all his minions. In the book of Revelation, you tell us that he knows his time is short. That's why he's so passionate and dark and insidious and vile. Help us to walk through this journey with a confidence and a joy, as you said in John 17, a joy being fulfilled, knowing that you're praying for us. Take us into this week now, and help us to walk through this week with the truth we received today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless you, you are dismissed.