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The Gospel of John, The Period of Conference, Conference With the Father, Part LXI, John 17:9-12 - Lesson 169
Read Verses John 17:6-8 for review: I have manifested thy name (his character) unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
John 17:9, I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
He says I pray for them whom the Father has given me.
I who have taught them, they who have received the truth are those who I pray for.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world but at this time he prays not for the world.
He prays not for mankind in general but He only prays for those who are about to carry the message of salvation to the world.
The salvation of the world depends upon their witness of Jesus Christ.
It depends upon their faithful recording of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
They are in need of the equipage of an under girding of prayer to the Father.
So he prays to the Father as the mediator, the great High Priest.
for they are thine, he says:
John 17:10, And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
What belonged to the Father belonged to the Son.
As the property of the Father they were also the property of the Son.
The interests of both cannot be separated.
Their interests are common.
This common interest is of great advantage to God's people in that Christ will insure that that which the Father owns will be cared for in the fullest.
That is you and I who are his.
Jesus Christ tells the Father that he is glorified in them.
He speaks with full knowledge of what lives the disciples will lead for him.
He speaks with full knowledge of what his grace will do in their lives to conform them to his image and he speaks that as if it has already occurred.
God knows you as if you are a finished product.
He knows what his grace in you will produce and he speaks of that.
He knows that Jesus Christ will be glorified in you because you are predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son.
So to were the disciples.
He was glorified in them.
The life of the vine is in the branches so that the fruit of the branches is the glory of the vine as the vine provides life to the branches.
What a place for his disciples to be!
The subjects of the mutual affection of the Father and of the Son!
Can you be in any safer place?
John 17:11, 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.
Jesus Christ reminds the Father that as far as the disciples are concerned a great change is taking place.
The disciples are not to have the personal presence of Jesus Christ.
By three o'clock of the next afternoon he would be dead and the world would see him no more.
They are not to be in his personal care as present with them and this will expose them to more of the world.
So he now commits the disciples to the care of the Father.
By no longer being present with the disciples and allowing the disciples to live by faith Jesus Christ expects that the Father will receive more glory.
Yes, the disciples will suffer for his name, yes his disciples will be tried, yes his disciples will die for him, yes the world will rage and ridicule them, but the Father will receive the glory by the fruit that is borne through them in the Spirit of Christ.
These things will all happen but Jesus Christ knows that they will be protected by the Father in the power of his name.
Jesus Christ prays for his own, committing the name of the Father to their care.
What better protection is there than to have the Holy Father to care for the disciples of Christ.
Note the name that Jesus Christ calls the Father on our behalf. Holy Father!
This name is given to the disciples as the name for God Almighty.
It is not a name to be applied to a mere man as the Pope of the Catholic Church is called.
The preservation of the disciples by the Father is a work of God's holiness because it is involved in separating the disciples from the unholy world even while they are in the world.
So Jesus Christ uses that name of God, Holy Father, because he is praying for their preservation while in an unholy world.
Only an Holy Father can do that.
John 17:12, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
God the Father did not give Judas to Christ.
He was lost that the scripture might be fulfilled.
The presence of Judas was one of the many proofs that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.
But all the other 11 were given to Christ and Christ kept them for the Father.
He lost none of those he was given.
Christ was faithful in keeping his disciples and he continues to be faithful in keeping every believer.
He preserves every believer from the world, the flesh and the devil.
The believer does not keep himself but Christ keeps the believer.
Eternal security then depends not on the believer but on Jesus Christ. |