John 17:6 MEV
“I have revealed Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”
The Lord Jesus was a Man of prayer. He prayed at length during the night hours and gave more time to minister to people during the day hours. However, John had the privilege of hearing the Master’s recorded longest prayer (Joh 17). While the Lord could have said that prayer in private like several others before, it is perhaps for our learning and encouragement that the Holy Spirit enabled John to pen that particular prayer in detail. Part of what Christ prayed is in our reference text: “[Father,] I have revealed Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” Hallelujah!
Taking from the Master’s words, the Father gave His Son the disciples “out of the world.” Before Christ received them from the Father, “They were Yours [God].” Hallelujah! ‘Does that imply that Matthew, the tax collector, for example, was God’s before He gave him to Christ?’, one may ask. Yes; that is what Jesus said. Whether Mathew knew it in advance or not, he had not only been marked unto salvation, but to be a disciple of Jesus—his wayward life notwithstanding. God’s plan for Matthew was greater than what the devil was doing through his life before following Christ, and God’s plan prevailed! Several years later, the Lord spoke to Paul a similar thing about some people in the city of Corinth.
“Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I HAVE many people in this city” (Act 18:9-10 NKJV). Hallelujah! Notice, the Lord did not say to Paul, ‘There are many people in this city.’ Rather, “I have many people in this city.” Regardless of what their lifestyle was at that time, like the disciples taken from out of the world, these were people the Lord already regarded as His, marked for salvation, and Paul was His vessel to bring them into the fold. Beloved, just as the Lord is patient with His people still outside the fold, we too ought to be patient and share God’s word with them. After all, we too were once lost, but now, in Christ, we are found!
Pst. Emmanuel