Welcome To expound, our verse
by verse study of God's word. Our goal is to expand your
knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the word of God
in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and conversational. Would you please
turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of
John, Chapter 14. We were unable to
finish last week. We took the Lord's
supper together. I aimed to do a chapter or so. I didn't even make it
through a chapter last week, but that doesn't
matter because we just pick up where we left off
in the Gospel of John. Several years ago, there was
a columnist named Ann Landers. Some of you will remember
her, and she got a letter that she published from
a girl who was writing about her uncle and her aunt. And this girl's
letter said, my uncle was the tightest man
I ever have known. All of his life every
time he got paid, he took $20 out of his paycheck
and put it under his mattress. Then he got sick and
he was about to die. As he was dying, he
said to his wife, "I want you to
promise me one thing." "What?" she asked. "I want you to promise
me that when I'm dead, you'll take my money
from under the mattress, and put it in my casket so
I can take it all with me" Well, he died, and his
wife kept her promise. She went, got all that money the
day he died, went to the bank, and deposited it,
and wrote out a check and put it in his casket. If he can cash it, it's his. That's what she was thinking. She was clever. He was a skinflint. He should have thought
of her instead of him, but she kept her promise. God always keeps his promise and
he's not underhanded about it. God's promises are
wonderful, magnificent. Peter called them exceedingly
great and precious promises. Your Bible has in it 31,102
verses, Old and New Testament. Some of those verses are law. Some of them are poetic. Many of them are prophetic. But some of them
are pure promise. There was a guy who
decided to count all the promises in the Bible. He was Canadian. This is written up
in Time Magazine. And Everett Storms had
gone through the Bible 26 times on his twenty-seventh
read through the Bible. It took him a year and a
half, but he wrote down all of the promises that
God made to man. He counted 7,484, I
think it was, promises that God made to mankind. So God has promised
you and I an awful lot. And have you ever seen those
little pocket promise books? Or those little loaves
of bread with the little promises in them
that you could-- I remember having one of them as
a young Christian somebody gave me. You pull out a
promise every day. And I was always amazed how
many promises there were. But the big question is
what do you do with them. You could say, well,
they sit right there on my table, that's
what I do with them. They sit in that
little bread thing, and I got all the
promises right there. Others would say, I tell you
what I do with God's promises. I put them in a nice little
frame, and it's up on my wall. So I walk by and I
can see that promise. Others would say, oh, I
memorized the promises of God. All wonderful if they're on
your table, on your wall, in your mind. But the best thing you
can do is to believe them. To believe them in your
heart and to live by them. To step out and decide,
I'm going to live by them. There's a great
old hymn, Standing on the Promises of God
Standing on the promises of Christ my Savior. Standing on the promises of God. Some believers I know aren't
standing on the promises. They're sitting on the premises. Or they're crawling
on the promises, because they don't
know if they're going to hold up or not, but
standing on the promises. In this section of scripture,
this upper room discourse, Jesus meets with his disciples. They are bewildered. They are confused and he
gives them several promises. Now I'm going to take
you back to a few verses. I know I went down
to around verse 25, but I was given a
request this weekend to go back and
comment on a verse that we went through last week. But because I didn't
comment on it, I think they felt
a little cheated. Even though I've
talked about it before, we're going to go
back a few verses. And do you remember when
I talked about the promise that Jesus gave that
you'll do greater works? Well, let's go back
up to verse 12 where he says, "most assuredly I say
to you that he who believes in me, the works that
I do, he will do also; and greater works
than these will he do: because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask --there's
that verse-- whatever you ask in my name,
that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in
my name, I will do it." Now that little promise
there, that little verse, the promise is given twice. I'll do it. I'll do it. Gives to us how you're going
to be able to do those greater works that he
promised previously. The works that I do, he
will do, and greater works. How is that going to happen? You said you're leaving. Now, remember last
week, Jesus was the one they turned to because
of the things he did for them. He provided food for
them when there were so many people who came to listen
to him, and they grew hungry and he multiplied a
simple lunch and made it available to everyone. So he fed them food. He also provided
tax money for them, when he said go down to
the sea, get out of fish, you'll find a coin, you'll
have enough to pay your taxes. He also help them do what
they couldn't do themselves in their own profession. They were fishermen. And there was a time where Peter
said, look we fished all night and caught nothing. But nevertheless, Jesus, because
you want to go fishing, OK. We'll let our nets down. And they did at his command,
and their nets were so full, they were almost breaking. So they had become very
accustomed to leaning on Jesus for everything. And Jesus gave a promise
we already covered. And he'll touch on it a couple
of more times, that he was going to send His Holy Spirit. Another helper. And we mentioned to you the
word, another, is the word. Another of the same kind. Just like I've been
a helper to you, I'm going to give you another
helper of the same kind and that is the Holy Spirit. But here he talks about how
those greater works are going to be done when he says, if
you ask anything in my name, I will do it. What he wants them
to know is this. Absent doesn't mean unavailable. Just because you can't see me
physically, does not mean I'm not available to
use spiritually. And the thing that closes
the gap, the thing that removes the distance
between heaven and earth is simple, prayer. Prayer closes the gap. As soon as you pray, the
gap between heaven and earth is closed. It removes the distance,
and it opens the floodgates for the resources of God. That's how the greater works
are going to be accomplished. But this verse has been
greatly misunderstood. If you ask anything in
my name, I will do it. Some people read into this
like it's a magical formula. That you just tack the
words, in Jesus' name, at the end of a prayer
and it's like Abracadabra. Here go da da da in Jesus' name. It's like some magical formula. He didn't necessarily
mean that you just tag a phrase on at
the end of a prayer, and expect, like waving a wand,
things are going to happen. To pray in someone's name, it's
like the song we just sang. Here in your presence, Lord,
I surrender to your glory, for your glory. As I was listening to
that song, I thought, we've captured it right there
in that little worship song. That's what it means to
pray in the name of Jesus. To pray in the
name of Jesus means that you pray according to
all that his name embodies. It's to pray in the
character of Jesus. To seek the glory and
the will of Jesus. It just doesn't mean you
add his name at the end so that the father, OK,
you said the magic words. Now I'm going to do it. It's like it's a blank check. No. When you pray, Lord,
I want to find out what you are up
to in this world, and I want to be a part
of what you're up to. I want to find out what
you're about, what you want, and I want to tap into that. Now, you're praying
according to the name because that's the character
and the will of Jesus. And as we go through this you're
going to see how we do that. But this is a
qualifying statement. It's a qualifying statement. If you ask anything --didn't
say that-- in my name, according to my will, with
my purpose, with my character and reputation
and glory in mind. And I tell you what, our prayers
would dramatically change. If we say Lord I'm praying
this for your sake, for the glory of
God to be expanded. So there's certain things
that you would just maybe have a hard time praying. You say, Lord, I need
a brand new television for the glory and
sake of your kingdom, to be expanded in your
name, to be upheld. I don't know about that. So the qualifying statement,
if you ask anything in my name, for my sake. So what this will do when you
grasp the concept of this, is this will counteract
all those give me prayers that we pray. Give me this, give me that,
give me the other thing. Because now your
focus is on his will, his glory, his character
and that's the qualifier. So if you ask anything
in my name, I will do it. Now, let's go back down since
we covered around several of those verses. Verse 25 Jesus continuing. These things I
have spoken to you while being present with you. But the helper --he's already
mentioned the Holy Spirit but he again-- but the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, he will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. See, there's that phrase
again-- in my name. So Jesus is going to ask the
Father for the Holy Spirit to be sent. I hope you know that there
is an ongoing ministry right now that Jesus has. He has a ministry in
heaven, and he has you in mind in this ministry. Do you know that his
work is not done. His work on the cross has done. You can add to it. It's completed. That's done. But there is an ongoing
work as an intercessor. He's at the right hand and he
ever lives, the book of Hebrews tells us, to make
intercession for us. His first work of
intersession was to ask the father to
send the Holy Spirit as the other helper. One of the same kind because he
was leaving and the Holy Spirit was going to take over. So I'm going to
go to the Father. I'm going to pray whom the
Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance the things that I said to you. I'm glad Jesus said that. I'm glad because
this explains for me how 12 fishermen were able to
pull off the New Testament. How do you get 12, well, 11
because Judas has already flaked out --later on the Lord
will add Paul the Apostle, and he will write
books of the Bible-- but how do you get these guys
holy uneducated fisherman from Galilee, first of all, to
remember all of the events that happened in 3 and
1/2 years and to be able to record all
of the profound truth as they did in the New Testament
gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? You know, I have problems
remembering my own sermons. I'll have somebody
come up to me and say, hey do you remember that
sermon you preached last year? And they look at a blank stares. I look at them I
have a blank stare. I'm looking at them, like,
I preach sermons every week. Which one? Well, you remember that one
--they try to describe it-- I go, yeah, vaguely. Well do you remember
what you said about that? Well, where did you-- what page
of what book did you find-- would to God I had
that kind of a memory. I can't remember
all that goes on. Now, I had a guy here last
week that I introduced, and he prayed
before the service. John Ritchie from Scotland. Now, he can remember
what I preached. He listens to every
message I preach four or five at least
times, up to eight times, every single one. Goes deep, listens to it again,
goes deep four or five times. So he'll say six
months ago, and he'll give me the text, give
me the illustration, how many minutes he
was in the sermon. He's like a walking dictionary. I need him around just to
tell me when and where. Of course, you couldn't
understand him. You'd have to get
translation, nonetheless. But this helps me understand
how these guys were able to put down what Jesus
said and what Jesus did. And why? Because the Holy Spirit
would be able to do that. He's going to bring these
things back to your memory. He's going to give you
the power to recall that, and to put that down accurately. Now, that's very important. One of them is named Peter. Peter was there. As we know, the apostle
Peter was with Jesus during that ministry. But we know that Peter said
some pretty dumb things. Well, so how can we trust
what Peter is going to say? Well, Peter tells us. He said, no prophecy
of scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophets didn't
speak on their own, but they were moved by
the Holy Spirit, he said. Moved or carried along
by the Holy Spirit, so that what we have,
the end result we have, is that the Holy Spirit moved
the author to that destination in a literary sense,
an accurate sense, to the destination
pre-determined by God using the words, the
very words, the contacts, the syntax. So it's accurate And
that is the explanation The Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all things I said to you. And then he tells this
bewildered troubled confused bunch. We gave you all the
reasons for that last week. He says, peace I leave with
you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives
do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. If you go to Israel today,
and you meet anyone, they're going to
say peace to you. That's how they greet you. Shalom, peace. It can mean hello goodbye,
but it literally means peace. It's that common
greeting that embraces and wishes that a person will
experience the peace of God. It's a beautiful, beautiful
introduction salutation. So Jesus says to these
disciples, peace I give to you. But then he says, my peace. Literally, my own peace. It's my peace and
I'm giving it to you. The peace that I
experience myself. I'm the manufacturer of it
and the distributor of it. It is mine, I enjoy it and
I'm conveying that to you. That's the idea of it. It's my own personal peace
and I'm giving that to you. Can you picture Jesus
as frenzied and fretful, and worried and biting his
nails, and flipping out? No, you picture him,
you read about him as calm and in control, and
predicting all things, even his own death. He says, no man takes
my life from me. I lay it down and
I take it again. Total control, absolute power,
never worried, never worked up, never fretful, never frenzied. Peaceful. And he's saying now, that's
available to my followers. My own piece of
which I manufacture, I also distribute it and
I'm giving it to you. The peace that I experience. Let not your hearts be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now, again, he is addressing
the disciples who were troubled because of the announcement that
he has made at the Last Supper, that he is leaving
them he's going to die. That Peter is going to deny him. That Judas is going
to betray him. And they're worked
up and worried. And He says, I'm
giving you my peace. I've always loved the
illustration that seafarers, sailors give to
us about what they call the cushion of the sea. It seems that in
the ocean, no matter what is going on
top of the ocean --the wind the waves can be
a huge storm-- you can get to a depth in the ocean where
it's absolutely calm if you go deep enough. It's the cushion of the sea. It's calm. No matter what's going
around you on the surface, let me take you down to
the cushion, my peace. I'll give it to you. I'll convey it for you. You have heard me say to you,
I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved me, you
would rejoice because I said I'm going unto the Father. For my Father is
greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes
that when it does come to pass, you may believe. Now, be careful how
you interpret verse 28. That has been a favorite
verse of cultists who want to deny the
deity of Jesus Christ. They love to pull this out,
and what they aimed to do is to show you why Jesus
never claimed to be God, never claimed to be a deity. Because it goes look,
he said, my Father is greater than I.
Of course he is. In terms of position at this
point in the incarnation where Jesus has left heaven,
come to the earth, and voluntarily submitted
himself to the father. The position of the Father
as calling the shots and the Son submitting to the
Father as a servant, the father is greater. Does not say, however, my
Father is better than I am. My father is superior to me. But my Father, in
terms of his position, and in terms of my position with
the incarnation becoming man, Philippians tells us abdicating
the outward manifestation of my glory, I've
submitted myself to the will of the Father. In that case, my
father is greater than I and that
makes perfect sense, because he did submit himself to
the perfect will of the Father. And then he says
closing out the chapter, I will no longer talk much with
you for the ruler of this world is coming. And he has nothing in me
but that the world may know that I love the Father. As the father gave me
commandment so I do arise, let us go from here. Jesus said, I'm not going
to talk much longer with you and it's true. There's only two chapters
left of the red letters. Can you see if you have
a red letter Bible? So, boys, we got two chapters
left, he's telling them. I'm not going to talk much
with you and after 15 and 16 he's done in this final
discourse to his disciples. And here's why, I will no
longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is
coming and has nothing in me. Now, who is the
ruler of this world? It's Satan. That's a reference to the devil. Second Corinthians
Chapter 4, Paul calls him Satan, the god of this
age, or the god of this world. Now, why is the devil spoken
of by Jesus and by Paul with these terms? The ruler of this world. The prince of this world. The god of this age. The god of this world. Why is he called that? He is called that because way
back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve listened
to this suggestion of Satan, they abdicated the
control, their control, over to the devil
they surrendered. They listened to
what he had to say. And he forfeited,
Adam forfeited, that authority over to him. So when, here, when
he says the prince. Of this world is
coming, I believe it's a reference to his
betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Judas has already gone
out he has already pre-arrange the betrayal of
Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. So he knows that it's dark
and the powers of darkness are against him, and
the Roman government and the chief priests have
conspired along with Judas. But what's interesting
is Jesus doesn't say, and Judas is coming, or my
human betrayer is coming. What he does is,
he takes you behind the veil, behind the
curtain, backstage, and shows you the real spiritual
power behind the human plot. This is the power
behind the plot. There is a human
plot, that's Judas. The human plot, that's
the chief priest. The human plot, that'll be the
Romans and the temple police. But the power behind the plot
is the ruler of this world. Satan is backing it. Satan is thinking, I've
got to get rid of the seed. The promise seed. I've got to I've got
to destroy this seed, less these promises that
God made will come true. Of course, he didn't read
the fine print, did he? Did know that it was
the plan of the Father that He goes to the cross. But the ruler of this world is
behind this horrible betrayal and plot. What Jesus says, and
he has nothing in me. In other words,
no demonic power, no human plot can
manipulate me into this. I'm doing it voluntarily. Again, John Chapter 10, no
one takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay
it down and take it up. So he's saying I'm
not being manipulated. He has nothing in me. Has no power, no control,
no authority over me. But that the world may know
that I love the Father. They're going to know
by the crucifixion that I will submit myself to
the will of the Father even to that point. Philippian tells us that's
the very language he uses. Humbling himself and
become obedient to death, even the death of the cross. The world may know
that I love the Father. And as the Father gave
me commandments, so I do. And then notice this,
arise, let us go from here. That's the last
phrase of Chapter 14. Arise, let us go from here. Where's here? The upper room
somewhere in Jerusalem. If we go to
Jerusalem together, I can show you where
traditionally, has been the area of the upper room. Maybe that's the
spot, maybe not. But it's been that tradition
for hundreds of years. Even 1,000 years or so. So in that area of Jerusalem,
somewhere in an upper room, they were having Passover. When the meal was
done, Jesus said, OK. Let's get up and go. Now, where are they going? Garden of Gethsemane. That's where Jesus
will be arrested. So he says, arise,
let us go from here. So since Chapter 15 begins
by saying, I am the true vine and my Father is
the vine dresser. Every branch in me that
does not bear fruit, he takes away every
branch, that bears fruit he prunes that
it may bear more fruit I can only guess that these
words, beginning in Chapter 15 verse 1, were not given in the
upper room, but on the road to the Garden of Gethsemane. On the way. They probably got up
and started walking. Now, I love when
I go to Jerusalem. The first night I'm there, I
love to take a walk out of one at the gates of the city by the
Western Wall the Upper City. And walk down toward
the Kidron Valley, and cross it, and go over
to the Garden of Gethsemane. Sort of take the same
route that Jesus took. I love doing that. So as they were
walking, Jesus begins by telling them a metaphor
of vine and branches. Why? I believe that probably
he was using something that was familiar to
them spiritually, as well as physically, visibly. I think probably when
you, in fact I know, that if you go down today you
can see terrorist hillsides around Jerusalem with
olive trees and vineyards. You see grapes growing. You see trees growing. Those plantings
were very familiar. So as they were walking
from the upper room down toward the Kidron
Valley, maybe just brushing up against the vineyards,
some of the grape plants, the grape leaves the vines. That perhaps using that,
Jesus launched into something they were familiar
with spiritually. I'll describe that in a moment. So he used something
they could see to launch into a
spiritual metaphor of what it means to have a
relationship with God. A connection with God. Something else, perhaps
it wasn't the grape vines around the city
which were visible, but as they were to go around
that area of the Temple Mount, they can look up and see
the big huge massive bronze doors that had been
built in Greece and sent over to
Jerusalem to divide one of the courts of the temple. And on the bronze gate,
embossed embedded and embossed on the bronze, was
gold, and it was a vine. Beautiful and ornate
vine, Josephus tells us. Why a vine? Because in the Old
Testament, several passages refer to Israel
as God's vineyard. God's vine, that is to
bear forth fruit to God. That was the intention
of the nation. Perhaps the most famous
is Isaiah Chapter 5. In Isaiah Chapter 5,
The prophet says, now let me sing to my well-beloved
a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My well-beloved has a vineyard
on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up he cleared out
its stones he planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in it. He also made a wine
press in it, and he expected it to bring
forth good grapes, but it brought
forth wild grapes. The prophet continues, what
shall the Lord of the vineyard do? And he says he's
going to decimate it he's in take away its hedge. Take away its tower. He's going to let others come
in and take over that vineyard. It's going to be destroyed. And then he explains
the Parable. This is all in Isaiah Chapter 5. For the vineyard of the
Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah
are his pleasant plant. Israel had become unfruitful. Israel as a nation had
become unprofitable. They rejected their Messiah. Prophesied by the prophets. Predicted in the Old Testament. They were to bring
forth fruit to God. They were to be a
light to the Gentiles. They didn't do that. They become very close minded. Their embrace was
very narrow and tight. And they excluded
so many people. And it wasn't what God intended. , So yes, they're
the vineyard of God, but an unprofitable vine. And so in contrast
to Israel the vines, Jesus said, I'm the true vine. I'm the real deal. I'm the fruitful one. I'm the one that the father
has entrusted this mission to, and I am fulfilling it to
the end as your Messiah and as his son. I am the true vine. And my father is the vine
dresser, or the viticulturist if you were in modern
scientific terms. A viticulturist is
somebody who walks through a vineyard
and clips and cuts and grows, and takes
care of a vineyard. Takes care of grapes. Every branch in me, he says,
that does not bear fruit, he takes it away. Every branch that bears
fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean
because of the word that I have spoken until you. It's a staggering truth that
God cares so much for his people that it's like somebody
who's really into grapes man. And he's out there, and he
cuts and he spends his time, and he's into it. And he reads grape
grower magazine. And his bumper sticker
is I hard grapes, I mean, he's just into it. You have a Father in Heaven
who cares meticulously for you, his child. Like a grape farmer would
to bring forth good fruit. But notice every branch in
me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Now what these viticulturists
do, is they do two things. Now, this is the main job of
the grower during one season, is to go find the dead wood
that's on the grapevine that there is no SAP in. It's connected, but it's dead. They take that away. And they take that away because
deadwood breeds disease. It harbors disease,
so you cut it off. But they even go
into the live tissue and cut it, because
they want to make sure that the sap is not
spent extraneously for no good reason. It needs to be concentrated to
bear the right kind of fruit. So that's the kind of care
that your Father has for you. Now, what does he do? He prunes you. You go, I don't like
the sound of that. Now, when he says that he prunes
you, this is a loving father. Doesn't say he'll make
you into a pruney person, or a prune faced person,
or a prune like person. Look at that prune like person. Must be a Christian. No, he'll cleanse you. The Greek word is katharizo,
to clean, to cleanse you. He'll cleanse you. Hell cut away the dead wood. He'll manicure you. he'll I'll cut away some
tissue, but he does it for fruitfulness. How does he cleanse you? Two ways. By scripture. That's one way. You're already clean by the
word I've spoken to you. Remember what it
says in Hebrews 4. The word of God is alive
and powerful, and sharper than a two edged
sword piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit joints and marrow and is a discerner
of the thoughts, and of the intents of the
heart, so he uses his word. And have you ever had the
word of God confront you? Oh, daily, I hope you would say. I'll read certain
passages of scripture and I'm comforted by them. Others I'm not. Others I read them
and I go, uh oh. I'm not comforted,
I'm confronted. And I've discovered
the word of God is given to comfort
the afflicted, but also to afflict
the comfortable We need stuff cut
out of our lives. And the word of God
powerfully does that. And that's the value of
slowing down when you read and mulling over the
text and thinking about. It more than just
getting through a chapter in the morning, but just
contemplating on it. Because you're letting
it have its full effect. Let it confront you. Don't close the book
don't walk away. Don't run away. Let it cut. That's one way he cleanses. That's one way he prunes. Another way, we all know, is by
trials and you're going, yeah, I knew you were
going to say that. And if you're honest,
you're going, I hate trials. I hate them. I think we all do. Let's not try to
be over spiritual. If we could take a vote in
trials today, we'd all vote, affirmative. Get rid of them. They hurt. We don't like them. But Jesus prunes us by
scripture and by suffering. Scripture and by suffering, if
you want to keep the s's in it. David in Psalm 119 said, before
I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I keep your word. I love how C.S.
Lewis used to put it. He said, God through
pain, he said, pain plants the flag of truth
in the fortress of a rebel soul. God will get your
attention with suffering. More people that
I've met, because of some tragedy, some
painful circumstance, that's when they look up. OK, God what do you want? Now, it's better not
to live that way. It's better to give God your
full attention every day and let him cleanse
you through the word. But if the scripture
won't get your attention, maybe suffering will. But please, I don't want
you to think of, oh no. I don't ever want to be fruitful
because if I'm fruitful then he's going to prune me
so I get more fruitful. That didn't sound good. Maybe if I don't bear
any fruit at all. No, he loves you too much
to leave you that way. He's the hound of heaven. He's committed to your growth. He's the vine dresser. He's going to be walking past
your plant going, oh, deadwood. Ooh fruit. If I clip there, though,
it's going to hurt. But if I clip
they're, better grapes So here's what I
want to warn you be careful that you don't call
something bad that is really sent by God for good. So we have to be careful. Why would God look bad
things happen to good people? First of all, you
need to get a better definition of good people, when
you are pointing to yourself. Because Jesus said
no one's good, but / so that leaves
you and out of it. Also be careful
what you call bad. Joseph was sold into
slavery by jealous brothers. He was put in prison for years. He suffered as a slave. But then he became
prime minister of Egypt. All that bad stuff
was used by God to bring him to a
different kind of a place, so that when his brothers
finally met him again. And they were all
panic that Joseph was going to come after them. He goes, don't worry you guys. What you intended for
evil, God meant for good. So be careful that when you
start assigning something as --I don't why
that happen to me. It's bad.-- Feels that way. It hurts when the
pruning shears come. But wait. Just wait you see the grapes. Just wait till the fruit
starts popping out. Because you've got a
viticulturist, a vine dresser, a husbandman, who's
after your best interest. That's why all
things work together for good to those who love God. Verse 4, abide in
me, and I and you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can
you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine. OK, you ready for this? This is where you come in. You're about to be introduced,
and you're the branches. That's where you are. I am the vine, Jesus said. You are the branches. You know what you are? Ready? You're a twig. Wow. You're so impressive. You're a twig. How impressive is a twig? Not too impressive. So you go, do you know who I am? I'm a twig That's just
not going to happen. That's nothing to brag about. In fact, twigs in
a vineyard are only good for two things,
burning, or bearing fruit. You see, grape wood is so bad,
nobody builds anything with it. You won't find statues
made out of it in Israel, like they do olive wood
You won't find grape wood because it's like useless. It falls apart. It's soft. It's bad wood. It's good for nothing
except kindling. You burn it. So it's good for burning
or for bearing fruit. So your value doesn't
come in you being a twig. Your value comes in you
being connected to the vine. When you are connected to the
vine, then the life of Christ flows through you and
you will produce fruit. So your value is in your
connectedness to Jesus. And when you're
connected to Jesus, he'll change the
world through you. Become so valuable
connected to him. Sky's the limit. That's why Jesus said
greater works than these. Think about that. Stay connected to him. How? He says, abide in me. The word in Greek is, meno. Meno means have a close intimate
constant living communion with me. Now, I know you have heard
the term personal relationship with Jesus. That's become a modern,
evangelical, buzz phrase for, are you saved. People who go to
church yeah I know you're a church buddy do you
have a personal relationship or are you're not
going to find that term like that in the Bible. You're not. Because, truth be told,
everybody on earth has a personal
relationship with Jesus. It's just that it's
not a good one. They're in line
for God's judgment. Every person on earth has
a personal relationship with Jesus. A better way to look at
it is this a connection of vital intimate
connection with Jesus. You can tell somebody who
has a connection with Jesus. You know how you can tell? Fruit. You're producing stuff. It's not like you have to guess. Is that our real grape twig? I don't know. Let's look and see if
there's grapes on it. Oh, there's grapes. It is . So it's self-evident
by what it produces So you abide in me and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
abides of the vine. Neither can you,
unless you abide in me. I'm the vine you're
the branches. He who abides in me and I
and him, bears much fruit. For without me,
you can do nothing. Oh I wish we'd believe that,
because, frankly, a lot of us think, well, there's a few
things I can do without him. OK, there's a few things
I can do without him. That's all. I really have to
call on his name because I'm in a real pickle,
and I can't pay my bills. So I can't do that. So I got to call on him. You can do anything. You couldn't
breathe without him. You wouldn't be
here without him. But if you want a
fruitful life, connection, the connectivity of abiding. Now, here's the deal. Fruit is natural. It's produced naturally. Have you ever seen a grape. Vine of grapes,
or an apple tree. Just think of any
fruit bearing tree. Anybody have an apple
tree or pear tree? nobody does? You have an apple tree? OK. I've seen apple
trees around here. I know you have orange trees. But have you ever seen a
fruit tree strive, struggle, work hard to produce an apple? Have you ever seeing
an apple tree? Every walk by it
hear it grunting? Apple. Awesome. Awesome. I worked hard for that. No, you know what
that branch does? It just hangs in there. Just hangs in there. Just stays connected. Just stay connected. I don't want you to
take this wrongly, like I'm abusing grace but, just
relax and stay close to Jesus. Just relax enjoy him. Enjoy the Christian walk. Don't get worried about--
just hang in there. Hang in there. Stick close to him Abide in him. You'll bear forth much fruit. If anyone does not abide,
and he's cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them and
throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in me, and
my words abide in you , will ask what you desire
and it will be done for you. Now, that verse
you need to tack on to the verse we started with
tonight Chapter 14, verse 14. If you ask anything in
my name I will do it. Now, after that, plug
this verse into it. If you abide in me and
my words abide in you, you can ask whatever you want. It will be done you. You know why? Because when you
abide in his word, will ask for the right stuff. You'll know what to pray for
as you abide in his word. As you're close to
his word, and you're getting nourishment, the sap
of energy and from the truth of scripture, that's
going to form for you the right balance and template. So when you come
before him, you're going to be praying for
his, will for his character, in his name, you
can ask whatever you want to because you're
praying for the right thing. By the way, I do
want to say this. I know you know this,
but it has to be said. There are some who are going
to read these verses and say, I have a dispute with that
because I've prayed for things and I've believed
they're the will of God. And I never got an answer. Yeah you did. He said no. That's an answer. He answered your prayer. Well it wasn't
the way I want it. Exactly, because last time I
checked, he's God, you're not. But that's an answer. What's the solution to that kind
of praying abide in his word. Abide, stay close,
hang in there with him. Abide in his word. Ask what you will
and it will be done. By this, my Father is glorified
that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. Now, notice the progression. He's spoken about fruit,
more fruit, much fruit. That's the normal
progression of our walk. Now, sometimes we're
not always there, right? Sometimes we bear fruit, and
then more, fruit then no fruit. Then much fruit. Then a little fruit. But the progression is
that God is committed to you being fruitful,
bearing more fruit, and then bearing much fruit. That's why there's the pruning
because that's his commitment. As the Father has loved
me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you will abide in my love just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you
that my joy might remain in you and that your joy may be full. What a wild thing
to promise disciples who are frustrated, anxious,
worried, agitated, troubled. He's already said I'll
give you my peace. Now, he says, I'll give you joy. When you are cared
for by my Father, and you abide in me so
that you are consistent, you're going to
have a fruitful life but you're going to
have a joyful life. My joy. My peace. My joy. These are things
the world craves. People crave peace. People crave joy. You're going, well, I've
got a bad day today. Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is contingent
upon the happenings. When the happenings go
your way, you're happy. When the happenings don't go
your way, you're not happy. Joy is something constant
that the Lord does in you. That's the cushion of
the see part of it. Peace and joy. I'm sorry that for
years, Christianity has been portrayed as something
that is sad and dullfull. And so for years, it was
thought that the clergy should wear black, and
speak in somber tones. God bless you my child. Go away. Jesus said, I'm giving you my
joy that your joy may be full. This is my commandment,
that you love one another I've loved you. Did you notice he said
that's a commandment? It's not a feeling. Now, if it's a commandment
and not a feeling, that means you can do it. That means, listen carefully,
love is not an emotion. It's a volition. It's not something
you have to feel, it's just something
you have to do. Now, this is a
transforming truth. I've met couples who are
married for 10 years who haven't figured this out yet. It's not a feeling. Jesus doesn't say you
have to feel love. it's impossible to
always feel love. He just said, I
want you to do it. You have did you have to love. So love is not an emotion. It's a volition. Now, once you act on the
volition, the emotion follows. I've discovered
that to be true when you commit to showing love,
whether you feel like it or not, the emotion
will follow eventually. That's how you can
love your enemies. You can pray for them. Pray for them. Pretty soon you're not going to
feel an animosity toward them anymore. So I've heard people say, well,
I just don't feel like, love and I'm not lovable. They said, they're mean to me. Love them. That's the commandment. Not feel it, just do it. Is that hypocrisy
No, it's obedience. Greater love has no one
than this than to lay down his life for his friends. Who is doing that? Jesus. Did he feel like it? You think he felt warm
fuzzy feelings as he knew he was going to be crucified. And his back split open
and his head bleeding? You think that felt
really good to him? No. That's why it's a volition. Greater love has
no one than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. You are my friends if you
do whatever I command you. No longer do I
call you servants. For a servant does not know
what His master is doing. But I've called you friends. For all things that I
heard from my father I've made known to you. You did not choose me. I chose you. And appointed you that you
should go and bear fruit. And that your fruit
should remain. That whatever you ask the Father
and my name, he may give you. These things I command you
that you love one another. Now, this bothers some people. And what bothers them is the
thing that God chose people to be saved, predestined
people to be saved. That bothers some people. They just want to argue it. They want to get
worked up about it. For me, I'm stoked
because you chose me. I'm pretty elated. I'm pretty honored that
I've been chosen by God. Ephesians 1, you
were chosen in him before the foundations
of the earth. I'm sure this came as a
shock to the disciples, because they're thinking back. Now, I distinctly remember
the day in Galilee when I decided I'm going
to follow this rabbi. I chose you. But Jesus said, yeah,
I know you think that, but I actually chose you first. Now, if that's true, and this
was brought to my attention this last weekend as third
service gave an alter call. There is a pretty sizable one. It upset somebody, that I would
call people to make a decision to follow Christ. If Christ is the one who
makes the choice why would you ask people to choose
to follow Christ? Because both are true. Not only does Christ choose
people for salvation. He chooses the means
by how they will hear and how they will
agree, and allow themselves to be loved by God. There is human choice
involved in it. So I am not an ardent
hardcore Calvinist saying that nobody has
any choice whatsoever. All of a sudden, one day I
was just swept up and saved. You have a choice in it. It's like, it's the
analogy I've given is that if you're drowning in a river
or a lake and there's a rope thrown out to you, the
rope alone can't save you . You have to grab a
hold of the rope. But even you grabbing
a hold of the rope won't necessarily save you
unless somebody is at the shore bringing you in. So by God's grace, he
throws out the rope. By your cooperation,
you grab a hold of it. But it was always predestined
that that day would happen for him to pull you in. So that might bother you. I'm sorry if it does, it
never has bothered me, I've never had a problem
with predestination, I'm honored he chose me. Now, some people go,
well, that's not fair. Maybe he didn't choose
me because I'm not a Christian tonight. Oh really? Well, why aren't
you a Christian? Well, I've heard
this stuff before, but I don't know about it. OK, so what are you
barking about What do you mean what
am I barking about? I can prove that
you're chosen by God. I can prove it. You received Jesus
Christ tonight, and you will discover
he's been there all along. And it was tonight
predestined from eternity past and you'd be saved. I don't know if I
want to do that. Okay, well, maybe he
didn't choose you. But know this. Pre-destination will never
preclude you from being saved. It only proves when you
cooperate by your choice that you were chosen by him. Think of it this way. This scripture reveals the
human side and the divine side. The human side, the
day comes and you make a decision to follow Christ. The divine side,
your chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Both are true at the same time. And there are several
scriptures that do that. Don't have enough time to
get into it because time's almost up. Sorry talking fast but
the time is almost up. If the world hates you,
you know that it hated me before it hated you. Notice how that
passage will turn. It goes from love, peace,
love, joy, to hate. And here's what you
have to understand. When you love God, and when
you discover God loves you, and the world
finds out about it, they're going to
hate you for it. Both are also true. If the world hates you, it
hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love its own. Because you are
not of the world, but I chose you
out of the world, therefore the world hates you. I remember when I first
discovered this truth with my own friends. I love them. They loved me until they
found out I was a Jesus freak. You did what? You gave your life to Christ? It was to them like a
catastrophic tragedy. Oh no. Why did you do that? Because I didn't
want to go to hell. What are you better than us? No, but I'm saved. But they were so
angry, and I was excluded from their company. Remember, the word
that I said to you, a servant is not
greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they kept my word they
will keep yours also. But all these things they will
do to you for my name's sake, because they do not
know him who sent me. If I had come if I had not
come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now, they have no
excuse for their sin. Jesus showed up on
Earth, the only person who lived the perfect life
and paid the atoning death. So they have no excuse. He who hates me,
hates my Father also. If I had not done among them
the works which no one else did, they would have no sin. But now, they have sin, and also
hated both me and my father. But this happened
that the word might be fulfilled, which is
written in their law, they hated me without a cause. But when the helper comes,
that's the Holy Spirit, whom I will send to you
from the Father the spirit of truth, who
proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you will also bear
witness because you have been with me from the beginning. And next week we
will pick up more of what he says
finishing out all along the way toward
that Garden of Gethsemane and the Kidron valley and
Jesus will be arrested. Let's pray together. Father thank you for the
opportunity to gather together to take the middle of the week
and set it aside as holy . And to push things aside
on a Wednesday evening. To come and hang out with
friends or meet new people, and to hear your word. The words of Jesus,
the word of God, to abide in Jesus by
abiding in his word. To be comforted and
to be confronted. To be cleansed and to be cut. So that we might bear fruit,
more fruit, much fruit, because you are
glorified that way Lord. We do pray like
Jesus said we should for greater works than these. We pray, Lord, that you would
expand your kingdom through us. We pray in the name of Jesus
by his character for his glory that you would use us
to reach a lost world. Lord, we think of
these incredible perks that Jesus gave
to his followers. The promise of his own peace. The promise of joy as
well as fruitfulness. Lord, I just want to pray for
anyone who may have just come, because they've been
invited, or they just decided they'd show up,
but they're not connected. They're not connected. They're hanging around the
plants in the vineyard, but they're not themselves
connected to that sap. That life-giving
relationship is not there. Grasp them in, Lord. Plug their life into Jesus. Choose them Lord as they
make a decision for Christ. Show them that you
have chosen them in Christ from before the
foundations of the world. That you have planned that they
would be here for this night, so that the truth could
be planted in their heart, and would bear
fruit in a decision to follow Jesus Christ. As our heads are bowed,
our eyes are closed, we're closing the
service, I want to give you an opportunity. If you've never given
your life to Jesus Christ. You may have grown up in a
religious home, like I did. You may have gone to church
every week, like I did. But there wasn't that abiding
close connection with Christ. You don't have that right now. You want it. You want his piece. You want his joy. You want your life to be
fruitful, and meaningful, and count for something. It begins by saying
yes to Jesus. By inviting him into your heart. If you have never
done that personally, or maybe you walked
away from him, and you need to come
back home to him, I want you just
raise your hand up. And you're saying. Skip, here's my hand. Pray for me tonight. I'm going to give
my life to Jesus. Keep it up for just a
moment God bless you and you and you right
down the middle right toward the middle anyone else. Raise those hands up high. God bless you to my right. Who else? Right over there. Raise your hands up. In the balcony, a couple of you. Awesome. Father, thank you for these. We do pray that the plan of
God would be fulfilled in them so they will experience
that cushion of peace, that fountain of your joy. Wash them of their sins. Cleanse them as they become
a part of the church. The body of Christ. Your expression on this
earth of who you are. In Jesus' name we pray Amen. Stand to your feet please. Stand on our feet and as
we sing the final song, I'm going to ask those of you
who raised your hands to do something else. And that is to find
the nearest aisle and come and stand
right here in the front, I'm going to lead
you in a prayer to receive Christ
as your savior. Jesus called people publicly. We never to do this
to embarrass people. We do it to encourage
people, to welcome people, and so you'll know this is the
time I gave my life to Christ. [MUSIC PLAYING] I surrender all. and all to the, my blessed
savior I surrender. You may not have
held your hand up at, all but your heart is
crying out for peace. You want to be forgiven,
you want a new start, you want a new life. Won't come from a preacher. It won't come from a church. Nor will not come
from a religion. It will come from Jesus. And he is here to meet you. He's here to give it to
you get up and you come. Here on the balcony. I saw a couple hands please
come down those steps will wait for you might
be in the family room. Please come to those doors. Come join us. Know this. You're not here by accident. This is all God's
setup you realize that he chose you and he brought
you here to hear this message to bring you up here
to say a prayer, because new life for you
happens right now, tonight. Anybody else. We're going to give you
just another moment. Well, for those of
you who have come, I'm going to lead
you now in a prayer. And a prayer is
simply talking to God. And I'm going to ask you to
say this out loud, after me. I want you to say this
from your heart to God. This is you giving
your life away. You're asking God you
control your life now. So it's like, Lord I'm giving
you the pink slip and the keys to. Me you are now in control. I want you to be in
control of my life. So I'm going to pray. You pray these
words out loud, OK? Say Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe he died on a cross. I believe he shed
his blood for me. I believe he's risen again. I turn from my sin. I turn to Jesus as my Savior. I want to follow him as my Lord. Help me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. He answer the prayer. That is his will. Absolutely That is his will.
