John 17:6-10
 
John 17:6 (KJB)
I have manifested thy name 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.
 
Manifested - To make visible, clear, or known
Kept - Obeyed, observed, or paid attention to
 
Jesus states that He made His Father’s name known to the disciples because Jesus consistently made reference to His Father during His entire earthly ministry and the disciples were taught much about the Father from Jesus. The eleven displaces are who Jesus is speaking about right now because Judas was on his way to betray the Lord and he never became a believer. These men were given to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father because their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. (Rev 17:8 KJV) The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Since the eleven were predestined for salvation, part of their salvation evidence is that they keep or obey the word of God. They proclaimed it truthfully and it cost them all their lives, yet even under threats they proclaimed it. (Acts 5:29 KJV) Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
 
John 17:7 (KJB)
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
 
Jesus now prays that the disciples have progressed in their understanding, up to this point, as Jesus uses the word “now.” They understand that the messages they have been given are God’s message to them. Jesus always conveyed the teachings of the Father to the disciples. He wanted them to know the Father had as much concern for them as Jesus did. The disciples grew up under a religious system that made God out to be a mean God but Jesus had completely changed their understanding of Him.
 
John 17:8 (KJB)
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.
 
Received - Grasp, took hold of, or seized
Surely - Truly
 
Jesus prays that He has given them all the words that His Father had given to Him. Those words took root as they grasped the truths and they had believed totally that the Lord Jesus Christ did come from the Father. The Jews had rejected the claims of Jesus that He came from Heaven but when God implants the word into His Elect, the word will take root and will eventually bear fruit. (Mat 13:8 KJV) But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. The disciples are going to face the same old arguments and threats the Lord Jesus did when He was on earth.
 
John 17:9 (KJB)
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
 
Jesus now prays specifically for the disciples because it would be through them that the evangelism of the world would begin. Then this prayer can be widened as Jesus prays for all those who would become saved after them because those that are saved belong not only to the Lord Jesus but also to God the Father. Jesus is not praying for the unbelievers but only for those who will become saved. This is another verse the believers in universal salvation will have a hard time and also those who believe in free will will find it hard that Jesus is praying only for His own. (John 13:1 KJV) Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Jesus prays that His Elect will be sanctified and preserved in the world and afterward be glorified in Heaven.
 
John 17:10 (KJB)
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
 
The believer is in great hands because they belong to both the Father and the Son. This is why the believer can never lose their salvation because they are kept by both the Father and the Son. Tell me, who can take anything out of their hands? As the believers live out their lives and bring the gospel to the world, they become the light of the world and when others become saved, then Jesus is also glorified in them.

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