Bits & Pieces: Promise of Preservation

"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," (John 17:11,12).

* In His high priestly prayer, the Lord Jesus prays that His apostles would be protected, kept in His Name. The hostility against God, which fell on the Lord Jesus, would now fall on the tiny band of apostles, and later on many followers. As believers, we too inherit the promise of our Lord: protection and provision.

* The Lord Jesus knew only too well the hatred of the world against one who genuinely lives righteously. So He prayed for the protection and preservation of His men, who would face future hatred. When we, too, desire to live righteously and godly in this present age, we will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12).