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John: 17:7 “Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 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.
9 I pray for them: I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine.
10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am
glorified in them.
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.
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.”
1. The WORDS Of God
2. The Testimony
3. I Kept Them
1. The WORDS Of God
Verse seven and the first part of verse eight: “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,” … Let’s stop here!
Read that carefully! Let it sink down into your heart. The Son is saying to the Father, I have not ONLY made “known” my words to them, but I have “given” them my words.
This means we have literally God’s words, even to this very day.
[These words are preserved with out error in the Authorized Version of 1611, or any edition of it. This is King James Bible.] God’s words were given to us! Amen!
“For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.”
This brings us to our next question. Are you ready for this? What are we to do with God’s words, now that He has given them to us
We need to RECEIVE them. That is what His disciples have done, [“they have received them"].
Now, let me get real personal with you.
Have you, my friend, received the word of God?
If you have received the word of God [and I want to know if you have] it is because I want to render up thanks to God for you, just like the Apostle Paul did concerning the believers in Thessalonica. “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” [1 Thessalonians 2:13]
2. The Testimony
The last part of verse eight through verse ten: “and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”
The LORD is saying that HE “came out” from the Father. The disciples of Jesus Christ knew this to be true.
[The continental divide issue ... is over this issue.]
If you believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, then the issue is ALREADY settled for you. You believe that the Son of God “came out” of God the Father and was sent in the FLESH into this world.
If you deny this truth, then you are CROSS-WISE with God, and you are standing with the wrong crowd.
In Second John chapter one, verse seven, is where the Bible identifies THE FACT that believing God came in the flesh is the all important issue with God.
This is THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” [2 John 1:7]
Do not align your self, my friend, with the wrong crowd in this matter. God was manifest in the flesh! [1 Timothy 3:16]
3. I Kept Them
Here is verse eleven and twelve: “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. 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.”
Jesus is getting ready to go back to Heaven. The Cross of Calvary was looming ahead. Soon ... it would be time to leave the little band of believers that the Father had given HIM.
Three times the word: “keep”, or its past tense form: “kept” is used here.
Let me note something here, before I move on.
I love the person doing the keeping here.
What about you?
Now, “Kept”
is a beautiful word.
Being “kept”
is a place of safety.
Being “kept”
is being wanted.
Being “kept”
gives a great feeling of security.
Being
“kept” is being the object of
someone who loves you.
If we are “kept” by someone, who loves us, we can live from day to day without worry of being rejected, or thrown away [LOST]. What was once LOST, and now is SAVED ... stays SAVED and can not be lost again, because we are KEPT by SOMEONE WHO is greater than us.
Yes, being “kept” is beautiful. I would not trade it away for anything. How about you?
Now, more on the how we are “kept”.
The believers in Jesus Christ are “kept” in Christ Jesus.
They are “kept” not by any fence erected by any man [by works], nor by any walls of our own making [by works].
We can not keep ourselves from being lost [SELF WILL].
We are “kept” by someone else. This someone else is SUPERNATURAL. No amount of human will power can keep us SAVED.
Now what follows is a KEY verse in the Bible to explain an operation of the HOLY GHOST in this present age of GRACE … the CHURCH AGE!
Here is how the CHRISTIAN is KEPT in Jesus Christ [saved], and why he can never lose his SALVATION.
Are you ready for this? It is in First Peter chapter one, verse five: “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” [1 Peter 1:5]
God’s grace is so great! The LORD is so gracious to you and me.
I would like now to tie this to another verse in Scripture, which is located in First Thessalonians chapter five.
Let us go there, now.
Come on down to verse twenty-three, and read: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul is praying for perservance of those believers.
Now, who is going to follow through and “preserve” [or KEEP] these believers ... till the coming of our Lord? Hang on now! This BOOK has the answer. It is right in front of you! “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” [1 Thessalonians 5:23-24]
God calls you, and God keeps you! Amen, Amen! Amen! Jesus said: “I kept them in thy name [the Father’s NAME]: those that thou [the Father] gavest me [the Son] I have kept, and none of them is lost.”
In this age of GRACE, the Christian is kept by the POWER of GOD.
We are PRESERVED to ETERNAL LIFE.
There is something else, and completely akin to this, is that, we are SEALED.
The Bible consistently shows that when a king seals something with his ring, that thing which is sealed cannot be REVERSED.
We see this to be true with king Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. “Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.” [Esther 8:8]
No man could “reverse” the writing.
In Revelation chapter five, we see a “book” that no man was able to open because it was “sealed”. “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.” [Revelation 5:3]
To be sealed by a KING means that thing or PERSON can not REVERSED or LOST. Jesus Christ is a KING [by ALL accounts]. Amen!
I want you to turn in Bible to John chapter six. Let me read to you verse twenty-seven. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” [John 6:27]
Do you see who is “sealed” here, and who does the sealing?
Now, let’s look at three verses that will show
you that it is impossible to loose our salvation [or
eternal life] once you are saved by grace through
faith.
• [2 Corinthians 1:22] “Who
hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts.”
• [Ephesians
1:13] “In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
• [Ephesians 4:30] “And grieve not the
holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption.”
To be
“sealed” by God means that a SAVED
PERSON can not be REVERSED
into being an unsaved person, or a LOST
PERSON ever again.
In this age of GRACE, the Christian is kept by the POWER of GOD.
We are PRESERVED to ETERNAL LIFE.
We are SEALED and given the
earnest of the Spirit! Amen! Amen! Amen!