Good evening, I want to honor God tonight for the privilege He has given me to open the Scriptures and to declare to you how every follower of Jesus Christ, especially those of you who are participating in this Commencement Exercise, honor, glorify, and please God with your lives and ministries – and especially what becomes of you – 5 -10 – 20 – 30 – 50 years from now. Nothing will give you more joy that honoring God; nothing comes near second to the thrill of pleasing our Father.
John 15:1-17 contains Jesus’ strategy for training and preparing and now just about to release his disciples to continue His mission on earth. The mission of Christ is to save sinners through His death and resurrection, and to transfer His heart and vision to the Twelve; and He had only 3 plus years to do that! Here he reiterates – repeats what they should do – This is the way you will continue the mission I am giving you. This is the way my Father will be greatly honored.
(One very important note here is these words of Jesus were given in anticipation of his death and resurrection of Christ, the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation in Christ, and the giving the Holy Spirit.)
(Let me digress a little to share this foundation truth about our calling). To be called is such an awesome privilege. I remember how as young boys, we use to play some game, where two boys are assigned group leaders, and then the leader picked up his mates. There is a sense of pride – you were chosen.)
This is the second most profound way of God’s expression of His love. The first is through the cross: God demonstrated his love for us by sending His Son to die on the cross. The second is His calling us. The apostle calls it “grace of God.” We are called by His grace – He prepares us by His grace – He releases us by His grace.
What does God want from you, the Chosen Ones, and the rest of us who have also been called by God? God wants to be glorified in us. Consider these verses:
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:8 (NIV)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV). Note: praises is “excellencies” (NASB) referring to the glorious honor of God.
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:1-2 (NIV)
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV)
“His Master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:23 (NIV)
How do we then accomplish our calling and so honor Him with our lives?
Jesus first tells us:
1. ABIDE IN ME: CONNECTED, COMMUNION, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP - DEEPLY COMMUNINGBy living in uninterrupted union with Him everyday - intimately, in a moment by moment abiding, and living with Him, and loving Him passionately.
This truth is quite fascinating because Jesus used this to describe His relationship with His Father and His relationship with His disciples.
A. Jesus lives “through” the Father. He attributes his life to his Father. His life is from and is sustained by the Father.
“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:57 (NIV)
Jesus and the Father share a common life and are united in love.
JN 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands
14:31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
The works and words of Jesus come out of His relationship with the Father.
14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves
10:37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 10:37-38
This is a dynamic relationship which energizes the ministry of Jesus. Out of this personal union come his words and his works which manifest the character of God.
The Son obeys the Father and imitates the Father (5:19–20; 14:31).
B. Just as Jesus lived in close communion with His Father, so Jesus made it clear that His disciples will need to be with Him also.
“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.” Mark 3:13-15 (NIV)
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he also designated disciples.” Luke 6:12-13 (NIV)
The purpose for which the Twelve were appointed was twofold: (1) "that they might be with him"; (2) "that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." The Twelve were to be brought into the closest association possible with the life of the Son of God. They were to live with Jesus, travel with him, converse with him, and learn from him. Mark’s Gospel indicates that much of Jesus’ time was occupied with their training. The training was not an end in itself. They were to be sent out (in Mark’s Gospel not until 6:7). And their ministry was to consist of preaching the Good News and driving out demons (v. 15).
Jesus describes such relationship is a graphic way. It offended those who first heard – many of those who followed Jesus earlier turned their back from Jesus, for Jesus said,
JN 6:53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (NIV)
Jesus compares communion with Him as eating his flesh and drinking His blood. He is talking about deep communion with Him. The disciples will be nourished by this communion. They will receive the Christ-imparted life through this communion – living in intimacy with the Father. Notice the contrast in v. 53 and 58. Without this communion with Him – we have no life at all! But with this deep, personal communion with Him, will live forever!”
C. Jesus was telling his disciples to continue this communion – this time with a much better prospect – deeper, more intimate, because He was going to live with them through the Holy Spirit. Jesus will not always be with them.
Keep doing what you saw me do with the Father. Now find time to be with Me. Make this your life, your most import priority – your relationship with Me.
Application: This is the key to life. This is God’s well that never runs dry, and is always available, and its resources.
Song:
“I come to the Garden alone
While the dew still on the roses).
You will never ran out of life You will never ran out of joy. You will never ran out of messages. Never ran out of energy. Never ran out of creativity. This is your life-line.
1 John 1 shows how much John learned. In a very dramatic way he writes, “That person whom we heard, and still hears today… Him whom we saw, and still see.. He who touched us and we touched… still touches today, and we still touch him today.
Secondly, Jesus tells to
2. ABIDE IN MY WORD: KNOW WHAT I WANT, WHAT PLEASES ME, LEARN OF AND FROM ME – BE TRANSFORMED WITH MY WORDS, AS YOU BEGIN TO LIVE MY WORDS OUT – WITHOUT THINKING. (“My words abide in You.”). Then join with me in what I am doing.
Let me be clear here that I am not suggesting that Jesus and His Words can be separated. On the contrary Jesus and His words are interchangeable. Jesus is who He said he is. His life and words are both absolute revelation of God and what He wants.
One of the most amazing statement made by Jesus concerning His words is found in John 6. Here he refers to His words as spirit and life. His Word is life.
John 17:3 – eternal life comes or is knowing the Father and the Lord Jesus!
Situation; Just like the disciples, we all begin our relationship with Jesus with a lot of half-truths, misguided thoughts, and lies. So did the 12. Jesus would unmask, confront those attitudes and values that are not in line with Jesus’ kingdom perspective. Jesus was hard on the disciples – challenging their assumptions and worldviews to the core. His teaching was not the spoon-feeding we are so familiar with. He did not tell them the answers always. He gave them problems, and sometimes, no answers. He allowed “conundrums” riddles.
Mark 7 on the nature of righteousness (7:14-19)
Mark 10:17-26 – on who will have eternal life
Mark 8 is perhaps the most crucial, climactic interactive dialogue between Jesus and the disciples… (8:27-
Cost of following Jesus – willingness to lay down our lives
There is no distinction between Jesus’ remaining in his disciples and his words’ remaining in them; both Jesus and his words are the absolute revelation from God.
15:7–8 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you.” The Greek expression for “words” (rhemata) indicates the individual utterances of Jesus; another Greek expression (logos) indicates Jesus’ entire message. True disciples do more than just believe what Jesus says; they let Jesus’ words abide in them. Jesus’ words had cleansed them (15:3), so Jesus equated abiding in him with abiding in his words.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you.” The Greek expression for “words” (rhemata) indicates the individual utterances of Jesus; another Greek expression (logos) indicates Jesus’ entire message. True disciples do more than just believe what Jesus says; they let Jesus’ words abide in them. Jesus’ words had cleansed them (15:3), so Jesus equated abiding in him with abiding in his words.
MORE THAN WORDS
How do we let Jesus’ words abide in us? The word abide implies intimate knowledge of what a person has said. But it also implies that the words become a vital part of the way a believer lives. So Jesus’ words abide in us when we know what he said and did, and when we allow those words and actions to affect the way we live. By reading and memorizing, we take in God’s Word; by obeying, we indicate that the words abide in us:
• We learn from Jesus’ actions and teaching what to do.
• We learn from his responses how we should respond.
• We learn from his compassion how we should love others.
• We learn from his obedience how we should submit to the Father.
• We learn from his self-control how to stay pure and strong.
John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
JN 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
12:50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
Jesus is the bread of life – John 6:35, 48.
47 They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."Deuteronomy 32:47
“At the time of their call they were exceedingly ignorant, narrow-minded, superstitious, full of Jewish prejudices, misconceptions, and animosities. They had much to unlearn of what was bad, as well as much to learn of what was good, and they were both slow to learn and unlearn.”
They were products of their own time. They had absorbed so many of the biases of their teachers, and traditions. John 4:27 the disciples were “astonished that he was speaking to a woman.” For the disciples, speaking to a woman, was more despised that speaking to a despised Samaritan.
Then there’s James and John who drew the ire of their ten companions when they were caught trying to outmaneuver the others for positions of power when Jesus came into his kingdom.
They Lesson of the Fish and Bread….
When Jesus called the Twelve, they were a RECLAMATION PROJECT OF THE FIRST ORDER. JUST LIKE US.
NOW Jesus I telling them, abide in my words. You have learned… You have heard…You have seen… You have believed. You are ready… Abide in My Words. Don’t let go of my words…
Yet their association with Jesus over a three-year period serve to transform this RAGTAG group into world-beaters After the descent of the HS at Pentecost, a group of frightened, cowardly disciples was transformed into fearless megaphones for the resurrected Christ.
14-15 Again Jesus defined friendship in terms of obedience. Christian friendship is more than a casual acquaintance; it is a partnership of mutual esteem and affection (14:21). Jesus elevated the disciples above mere tools and made them partners in his work. A slave is never given a reason for the work assigned to him; he must perform it because he has no other choice. The friend is a confidant who shares the knowledge of his superior’s purpose and voluntarily adopts it as his own. Jesus declared that he had revealed to the disciples all that the Father had given to him. The disclosure of the mind of God concerning his career and theirs would give them assurance that they were engaged in the right task and that God would ultimately bring it to a successful conclusion.
3. GO BEAR FRUIT – “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to my disciples.” you.”
Misunderstood Scripture. Jesus is not telling his disciples that they can have everything they want.
They were now ready to ask, to pray. Until they learned from Jesus, until they were transformed, until Jesus died and resurrected and until the Holy Spirit came, the disciples were not ready to pray:
Jhn 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.John 15:8
The result of abiding in Christ and being transformed by His Word, is productiveness. We are ready to bear fruit. There will always be some fruits in our lives when we abide in the Lord.
Fruit bearing is natural and normal to a healthy plant.
While the nature of fruitbearing is deliciously ambiguous – quantitatively – more disciples will be made; and qualitatively, that the disciple would reflect the character and life of Jesus.
8 The proof of discipleship is fruitbearing. This statement coincides with Jesus’ teaching in the synoptic Gospels: "By their fruit you will recognize them" (Matt 7:20; cf. Luke 6:43-44). Just as Jesus glorified God by his life, so the disciples would glorify God by theirs.
9-11 Love is the relationship that unites the disciples to Christ as branches are united to a vine. Two results stem from this relationship: obedience and joy. Obedience marks the cause of their fruitfulness; joy is its result. Jesus intended that the disciples’ lives should be both spontaneous and happy rather than burdensome and boring. Obedience in carrying out his purpose would be a guarantee of success, for Jesus never planned failure for his disciples. Joy logically follows when the disciples realize that the life of Christ in them is bringing fruit--something they could never produce in their own strength.
PRAYER IS LINKED TO FRUITBEARING, WHICH IN TURN IS LINKED TO OBEDIENCE (10,14)
APPLICATION:
1. MAKE YOUR TIME WITH GOD THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength – and that is translated “intimate, prolonged, time with God” (TAWG – TIME ALONE WITH GOD).
2. ACCOUNTABILITY WITH SOMEONE
3. SEEK GODLY MENTORS
4. JOURNAL YOUR WALK WITH GOD.
Do well. Go in the power of God.
