back to index2020-5-10 I AM THE TRUE VINE
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Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who are participating today. 00:00:11.320 |
I know especially with the quarantine and all the kids being homeschooled, you're working 00:00:15.400 |
overtime and so we're praying for you, we're thankful for you. 00:00:20.040 |
And you know, typically when we think about God's agape love, the closest thing that most 00:00:23.880 |
people can think of is the love that they receive from their mothers. 00:00:27.520 |
And so again, obviously even the mother's love cannot compare to the love that we receive 00:00:33.520 |
But as people, you know, the closest that we typically experience is usually from our 00:00:41.040 |
So again, we want to thank you for all the hard work that you're putting in, especially 00:00:43.800 |
now as you're homeschooling, you know, taking care of the home and just working overtime 00:00:51.160 |
We do have a special video to celebrate Mother's Day, but we're not going to be watching it 00:01:00.920 |
It's a little bit longer than I think normal. 00:01:02.920 |
So after the service or whenever you have time today or even tomorrow, you can just 00:01:10.400 |
But again, we do have a special video that our media team created for us. 00:01:15.440 |
Okay, if you can turn your Bibles to John chapter 15, and we're actually going to be 00:01:21.160 |
floating around John chapter, you know, latter part of 14, 15, and then the beginning part 00:01:28.200 |
But again, we're going to be, there's a lot to cover and I'm not going to be able to cover 00:01:33.200 |
This text is so rich with so many good things that Christ was trying to teach them before 00:01:39.500 |
And so, but the main text that we're going to be looking at is starting from verse 1 00:01:43.560 |
So let's read that before we pray and then jump into the sermon. 00:01:47.680 |
I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. 00:01:51.040 |
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. 00:01:53.640 |
And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 00:01:58.600 |
You're already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 00:02:02.560 |
Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the 00:02:14.400 |
He bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:02:18.480 |
If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up and they gather 00:02:23.640 |
them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 00:02:28.880 |
Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 00:02:31.320 |
My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 00:02:36.560 |
Just as a father has loved me, I have also loved you. 00:02:40.720 |
If you keep my commandments, you abide in my love. 00:02:43.080 |
Just as I have kept my father's commandment and abide in his love. 00:02:47.020 |
These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may 00:02:53.720 |
Gracious and loving father, we pray for your anointing over this time. 00:03:01.320 |
We pray father God that your living word that you invested and poured your very breath into 00:03:08.020 |
that we may be the beneficiary of this, of your word this morning. 00:03:11.800 |
We pray for your Holy Spirit to illumine us, open our eyes Lord God, that we may understand 00:03:17.200 |
and that our hearts may be moldable as you are the potter and we are the clay and we 00:03:23.960 |
desire to be molded by your word this morning. 00:03:32.920 |
If you had maybe, you know, six hours, you know, or seven hours and you knew that you 00:03:42.340 |
were going to depart from your loved ones, what are the final words that you would say? 00:03:48.060 |
What are some instructions that you would give? 00:03:49.660 |
And if you're parents, like what would you say to your children? 00:03:54.100 |
Whatever it may be, my guess is you're not going to be frivolous. 00:03:58.400 |
That every word that you say is going to have meaning. 00:04:01.720 |
You're going to think through all the things that you have learned, all the things that 00:04:05.160 |
you wish that your children would understand. 00:04:08.580 |
And most likely you're going to give them some instructions, whether they understand 00:04:11.600 |
it or not, you're going to give some instructions to them. 00:04:14.300 |
My guess is that you're not going to be telling a joke for your last thing that you want to 00:04:20.860 |
You know, this week we, our brother Lee, his father passed away last week and had a funeral 00:04:28.040 |
And we were, a few of us, the pastors and a few people were able to participate from 00:04:32.500 |
a distance, obviously because of all that was going on. 00:04:36.900 |
And one of the things that he said was that his father, before he passed away, was in 00:04:41.980 |
the state of mind where he was able to write a letter to each one of his children and his 00:04:45.860 |
loved one and just telling them that he loves them and then just giving them fatherly advice, 00:04:52.940 |
And when I heard that, I said, wow, that's really, you know, awesome. 00:04:57.100 |
And each one of those letters are probably something that each of their children and 00:05:01.420 |
loved ones are going to cherish for the rest of their lives. 00:05:03.940 |
And I was just kind of curious what he wrote because, you know, whatever he writes there, 00:05:08.780 |
It's going to take a lot, he probably took a lot of time thinking about this, you know, 00:05:12.740 |
80 plus, 87 years or so of his life that he's accumulated through all the sufferings and 00:05:18.820 |
through the Korean War, immigration and the hardship and, you know, living as a faithful 00:05:26.900 |
It's all of that accumulated in that one letter instructing their children that make sure 00:05:33.820 |
Well, the text that we're looking at this morning in a way is Jesus's last teaching 00:05:43.740 |
You know, what he says here is taking place right after he has the Lord's Supper. 00:05:49.180 |
And then he's instructed them that one of them are going to betray them. 00:05:52.180 |
And so Judas takes off to go get the temple guards so that they can come in the middle 00:06:00.460 |
And so it was in between that time before they go to the Garden of Gethsemane where 00:06:04.020 |
he wrestles in prayer and then he gets arrested after that and then he heads to the cross. 00:06:08.940 |
So really this is the last thing that he says to his disciples until after he resurrects 00:06:13.660 |
and then he commissions them to the Great Commission. 00:06:17.340 |
So you can imagine how important these words are because this was not given to the public. 00:06:22.160 |
This was given specifically to his disciples as instructions that after I leave you make 00:06:31.660 |
Now this is the seventh, the last of the I Am statements, the seven I Am statements that 00:06:38.180 |
And if you look at it superficially you may say, "Wow, you know, there's so many profound 00:06:42.060 |
and great things that Jesus says in the I Am statements." 00:06:45.380 |
And I would think that maybe a good way to leave and the last thing that he would say 00:06:51.220 |
to his disciples is, "I am the resurrection and the life." 00:06:55.620 |
You know, because he's about to go to the cross, he's about to die and to leave them 00:06:59.220 |
with that, "I am the resurrection and the life." 00:07:01.820 |
Or maybe even what he said last week, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:07:08.140 |
But those were the fifth and sixth and then the seventh, the last one, "I am divine." 00:07:12.860 |
And this was the last thing that he says to them. 00:07:15.460 |
This is the last thing that he wanted to make sure he clarifies to his disciples before 00:07:21.260 |
I mean, it almost sounds mundane superficially if you don't really understand what he is 00:07:29.660 |
You need to be connected to me if you want to bear fruit." 00:07:31.660 |
And again, as important as that is, the reason why he says that is because he's preparing 00:07:41.340 |
He's preparing to leave them and he wanted them to make sure that they understood. 00:07:47.500 |
My guess is that if you were to write a last letter that you're going to write to your 00:07:51.740 |
children, you're going to have a lot of maybe life wisdom to teach them how to be successful 00:08:06.180 |
Whatever it is, life instructions, you're probably going to leave behind things that 00:08:09.520 |
you think are going to help your children to be successful. 00:08:19.020 |
He just told them that he's about to leave, but he's also instructing them that after 00:08:23.460 |
I leave, if you want to continue to bear fruit, this is what you need to do. 00:08:28.420 |
And so the whole chapter 15 is about Christians bearing fruit. 00:08:32.300 |
After he leaves, he wanted them to continue to do the work that he started, to continue 00:08:40.860 |
But he's telling them that you cannot bear this fruit on your own. 00:08:46.940 |
As Christians, and not even just as Christians, in anything that we do, if you start a business 00:08:53.220 |
and it doesn't do well, you're not bearing fruit. 00:08:59.860 |
If you have a relationship that doesn't bear fruit, meaning that it's not reciprocated, 00:09:04.100 |
it's just completely one-sided, you're not going to endure it for too long. 00:09:07.860 |
If you go to school and you put in your time and you go to school and you're staying up 00:09:12.820 |
at night and trying to do your paper, and at the end of it, you're not making any progress, 00:09:16.820 |
you're not passing your classes, and it's like, "Maybe this is not for me." 00:09:20.220 |
Whatever it is that you do, whether it's sports, business, relationship, or school, whatever 00:09:25.300 |
you do, if you don't see tangible fruit, eventually you'll lose interest, and you'll probably 00:09:31.980 |
pack up your bags and try to do something else. 00:09:37.880 |
If at some point in our endeavor, memorizing scripture and trying to pray, coming to church, 00:09:43.100 |
if we don't begin to see some progress in the things that we are doing, eventually we 00:09:50.940 |
We may not physically walk out of the church, but internally, we have no expectations. 00:09:56.780 |
We just kind of do it, hopefully we can just make it, and we just become very nominal Christians 00:10:01.700 |
without any goals, without any purpose, and no expectations to ever bear fruit, and we 00:10:06.940 |
kind of use cliche things like, "God loves us exactly the way we are." 00:10:11.380 |
All of these things may be true, but we kind of revert back to that in order to excuse 00:10:18.980 |
And so internally, we don't have any excitement. 00:10:21.320 |
Maybe that died way back in college, or maybe when you were younger, maybe before you had 00:10:25.660 |
kids, maybe before you started, had a full-time job, whatever it might be, this vision, this 00:10:32.940 |
idea that we're going to bear fruit, we're going to expand or get the kingdom of God 00:10:37.980 |
all over the world, for whatever the reason, many Christians fall away from that, and then 00:10:46.660 |
they just kind of learn to go through the motion. 00:10:49.460 |
I just do my part, and I just make it to next year, and then outside of just going to church 00:10:54.220 |
on Sunday and then participating in events, there really isn't this striving after God. 00:11:00.420 |
What Jesus is saying here is not a distinguishing mark between a good Christian and a bad Christian. 00:11:07.460 |
That's the first thing that we need to understand. 00:11:09.800 |
He's making a distinguishing mark between a Christian and a non-Christian, because he 00:11:15.060 |
doesn't say, "If you want to bear fruit, you should do these things, and hopefully you 00:11:22.140 |
John 15, 2, it says, "Every branch of me that does not bear fruit, he takes away," meaning 00:11:28.780 |
"And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." 00:11:34.580 |
Again in chapter 15, verse 16, "If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as 00:11:39.420 |
a branch and dries up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are 00:11:45.060 |
Again, many people misunderstand this text as in God is giving wise instructions as to 00:11:52.500 |
Christians so that we can bear more fruit, which is also true. 00:11:57.460 |
But fundamentally what Jesus is telling his disciples, the distinguishing mark between 00:12:01.500 |
a Christian and a non-Christian is that a Christian bears fruit, and a non-Christian 00:12:06.740 |
There is no evidence of their faith in their life. 00:12:10.780 |
So what he is saying to his disciples are the identifying mark of a true believer. 00:12:20.620 |
So again, it's very, very important that we understand what he is saying. 00:12:26.620 |
But as important as bearing fruit is, as an identifying mark of a Christian, the imperative 00:12:36.620 |
Meaning God's ultimate command is not "Go bear fruit." 00:12:41.700 |
Because if you're not a fruit tree, and you're trying to bear fruit, how are you going to 00:12:56.340 |
You don't plant a grape vine, or a peach tree, or an apple tree, and then expect pineapples 00:13:05.380 |
You're going to be frustrated when only pineapples come out, or maybe no fruits come out. 00:13:10.980 |
The imperative in this passage is not "Go bear fruit." 00:13:14.900 |
The imperative in this passage is "How do we bear fruit?" 00:13:26.140 |
That after I leave, up to now, you've been just doing whatever I told you to do. 00:13:34.300 |
If I fed the people who were hungry, you carried it and you did my work. 00:13:40.820 |
And they're all freaking out, like, "Where are you going?" 00:13:45.060 |
So he's answering that question, "Why can't we go with you?" 00:13:50.500 |
"What's going to happen to us after you leave? 00:13:56.960 |
So he's telling them that in order to bear fruit, you must remain in me. 00:14:02.900 |
That's the "I am" statement that he's making to his disciples, that "I am the vine." 00:14:07.860 |
If you want to bear fruit, you must abide in me. 00:14:11.340 |
In fact, John himself uses the word "meno," which is translated for "abide" in this passage, 00:14:21.340 |
So John repeats it in his letters over and over and over again, that if we want to bear 00:14:29.500 |
That's in this text alone, in chapter 15, he uses the word "meno" to abide 11 separate 00:14:37.180 |
So if you were to read chapter 11 and you have a highlighter, go every time he uses 00:14:45.100 |
Because it'll tell you every time you flip that chapter, chapter 15, the highlighter 00:14:48.740 |
will tell you, "Oh, he's talking about abiding in Christ." 00:14:54.340 |
It's like, "No, you can't bear fruit unless you abide." 00:14:58.100 |
So this word "abide" is a very key word because Jesus is saying that distinguishing mark between 00:15:08.380 |
For you to be able to bear fruit and continue to do the work that I am sending you to do, 00:15:14.700 |
In order for you to have any success in your Christian walk with God, you must abide. 00:15:21.420 |
So this word "abide" is a key word in our walk with God. 00:15:29.420 |
We have "agape" and in the Bible it's very precise. 00:15:32.840 |
So you have family love, you have romantic love, right? 00:15:40.400 |
But the love that God gives us is the "agape," unconditional love. 00:15:45.020 |
So if you've been a Christian for a while, you probably already have heard many times 00:15:53.220 |
It's foundation to our understanding of our relationship with God. 00:15:59.100 |
This word "meno" is just as crucial because we are children of God because He "agape" 00:16:06.660 |
us and then the instruction that He leaves with the disciples, "If you do not meno" with 00:16:23.860 |
In fact, just like the word "agape," you know, in English we say "love," whether it's family, 00:16:27.980 |
chocolate, or you know, God's love, we use the same word. 00:16:33.740 |
Well this word, again, it's a rich word that really can't be translated with one word. 00:16:44.140 |
In some of the other translations, it's translated "to remain." 00:16:49.540 |
Then in other parts of the Bible, in other translations, it'll say "to dwell." 00:16:54.500 |
In some other translations, it'll say "to continue." 00:16:57.820 |
You'll see about five or six or even seven different translations of this word, and some 00:17:01.980 |
of them are very similar and some of them are very different. 00:17:05.460 |
But the reason why it's so different, and whenever you study the Bible and you look 00:17:09.440 |
at the different translations and the word that is translated sounds very different, 00:17:14.160 |
that already indicates to you that that Greek word doesn't have a precise translation in 00:17:19.620 |
the English, and that's why they did their best for whatever context that they used to 00:17:24.700 |
Well, this word "meno" is translated five or six different ways in different translations. 00:17:30.420 |
So it is a very rich word that connects us to God, connects us to Christ, that causes 00:17:39.180 |
So we're going to be talking about, again, three, you know, just to kind of give you 00:17:44.180 |
an outline, we're going to give you three insights. 00:17:46.340 |
The most important part of it is the first one, but under each of these, there's going 00:17:51.100 |
to be sub-points, so just kind of stay with me. 00:17:54.380 |
If you look at the children's outline, it'll show you what the outline is. 00:17:56.940 |
The first thing that I want to point out is that Jesus is divine, so we must abide in 00:18:02.820 |
him, and he says, "I am the true vine," right? 00:18:08.980 |
But the immediate question that the disciples probably would have asked is, "You just told 00:18:14.460 |
us that you're going to leave, and we cannot follow you." 00:18:21.140 |
And then when we said, "Well, why can't we follow you? 00:18:34.340 |
Well, how do we do that if you're going to leave? 00:18:43.340 |
See, it's that question that he's trying to answer. 00:18:47.780 |
What does it mean to abide in Christ in the context of him leaving? 00:18:52.420 |
So again, if you didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and you're kind of coming in and 00:18:56.500 |
out, and you missed this, I'm telling you right now, you're going to miss the whole 00:19:01.100 |
Not only are you going to miss the whole sermon, I told you this word "meno" is key to your 00:19:09.980 |
You could possibly, and again, I don't mean to over-exaggerate, but if you don't understand 00:19:14.460 |
this, you can possibly spend all your life trying to bear fruit by your own power and 00:19:23.020 |
be frustrated, which is where many of you might be today. 00:19:28.740 |
I'm trying so hard, but I don't feel like I'm going anywhere. 00:19:35.860 |
What does it mean to abide in Christ to bear fruit? 00:19:38.020 |
If he's the true vine, and I need to connect with him. 00:19:42.580 |
Well, if you've ever studied the Gospel of John, you may already know that chapter 14, 00:19:48.860 |
15, and 16 of the Gospel of John has one of the most extensive and the clearest teaching 00:19:57.580 |
Typically, when we think of the Holy Spirit, we think of him as an "it," like some power 00:20:07.420 |
But we already know, if you've been a Christian for a while, that he is the third person of 00:20:12.140 |
He is a being, like Christ is a being, like God the Father is a being. 00:20:17.620 |
But we take a glimpse of, usually the Holy Spirit is kind of mentioned in the background, 00:20:21.460 |
doing the work, and so we kind of see him as electricity. 00:20:24.620 |
But again, the clearest teaching about the personhood of the Holy Spirit that's condensed 00:20:34.060 |
The reason why I say this is because Jesus is connecting the dwelling that he is telling 00:20:39.980 |
them to dwell with him with the fulfillment in the Holy Spirit. 00:20:46.020 |
He is going to leave, but someone else is going to come who's going to dwell in you 00:20:53.420 |
So you're going to dwell in me by dwelling with him. 00:20:57.980 |
So if you missed that part, the rest of it is going to be confusing. 00:21:01.700 |
Not confusing, but it'll be harder than normal. 00:21:09.780 |
"I am the true vine," and then in verse 14 he explains, knowing that the disciples may 00:21:14.700 |
be asking, "How are we going to abide in you? 00:21:16.380 |
How are we going to stay with you if you're leaving?" 00:21:19.060 |
He says, verse 16, chapter 14 of John, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you 00:21:24.740 |
another helper that he may be with you forever." 00:21:35.820 |
Another one's going to come, but that other one who's going to come isn't going to ever 00:21:41.260 |
I have to leave you, but he comes and he's going to stay with you forever. 00:21:45.060 |
That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because this does not see him 00:21:51.260 |
or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you, and I will not 00:22:03.940 |
He says, first of all, he says, "I am leaving. 00:22:07.780 |
You need to abide in me if you want to bear fruit." 00:22:14.940 |
When he comes, he's going to stay with you forever, so even though I may leave, what 00:22:22.140 |
In other words, when he says to abide in him, he's introducing the Holy Spirit that they 00:22:29.980 |
may abide with him, and by abiding with him, you will be abiding with me. 00:22:38.120 |
So he's using the presence of the Holy Spirit and his presence interchangeably. 00:22:42.620 |
Okay, so this is a very important text about the Holy Spirit, so let me highlight three 00:22:48.300 |
things that he says about the Holy Spirit here. 00:22:50.820 |
First of all, the word that he uses when he says, "He will give you another helper." 00:22:57.420 |
In the Greek, there are two words that can be translated "another." 00:23:04.300 |
First word is the word "alos," which is the word that is used here, and it means "another" 00:23:11.700 |
Let's say, as an example, if a police officer is on the scene, and that police officer has 00:23:16.620 |
to go, and he says, "Well, I need to go, but another police officer is going to come, and 00:23:26.140 |
There's another word of another kind, in quality, and that's "heteros." 00:23:33.940 |
Both words can be translated "another," but the word that he uses here is "alos." 00:23:39.100 |
So if the other one that is coming is different than him, then he would have used the word 00:23:46.980 |
But by using the word "alos," he's saying, as he is equal to the Father, another equal 00:23:53.420 |
to me, who is just like me, is coming to continue the work that I started with you. 00:24:00.380 |
So in other words, Jesus was equating the Holy Spirit with him, and he equated himself 00:24:06.300 |
with the Father, so he is saying, in a sense, "I am not leaving you." 00:24:13.140 |
Just as the Father didn't abandon you and sent me, I am not abandoning you, and I will 00:24:20.020 |
His role, the Holy Spirit's role, is not different from Jesus. 00:24:28.980 |
In John 16, 7, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away." 00:24:35.620 |
Think about that if you're disciples and you're hearing him. 00:24:39.420 |
This is the guy who raises people from the dead. 00:24:43.180 |
This is the guy who walks on waters and then calms the storms, just by his word. 00:24:49.500 |
And he says, "I am going, you cannot follow me, but in fact, it's better for you if I 00:24:59.920 |
So in other words, what he's saying is, the coming of the Holy Spirit is actually more 00:25:10.180 |
How often have you thought, "Man, it would have been awesome, you know, it would have 00:25:16.580 |
been awesome to be on earth when Jesus was walking this earth, right? 00:25:21.180 |
It would have been great to be in Jerusalem when he was at the temple, if I was there 00:25:25.780 |
and I ate the miraculous bread and the fish, right?" 00:25:29.780 |
I mean, we probably all have thought that, and that's why so many people will pay lots 00:25:34.260 |
of money to go to Jerusalem and walk on the streets that he walked on and look at the 00:25:41.700 |
But Jesus says, "It's better for you," meaning better for all of us that he left. 00:25:47.260 |
Our current situation is better than the situation that the disciples were in when Jesus was 00:25:56.540 |
In other words, the Holy Spirit that's going to come is going to do mightier things in 00:26:10.500 |
Well what is, when he comes, what does he do? 00:26:16.460 |
In John chapter 114, he says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," right? 00:26:23.900 |
Well, the Word dwelt here, and again, like I said, if you are tired, you may have already 00:26:31.560 |
But I'm trying to give you the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the transition that Jesus 00:26:35.340 |
is making to the disciples and how important this is, right? 00:26:39.820 |
Because this is the center of what Jesus came to do. 00:26:42.060 |
He said, "Christ came and he dwelt among us." 00:26:48.060 |
Even the word meno has the idea of dwelling, right? 00:26:52.100 |
But the word dwelt here is the word literally to pitch a tent. 00:26:57.700 |
So when Christ came, he came into our campground, he took on our flesh, and he lived among us, 00:27:09.040 |
But of the Holy Spirit, he says in John chapter 14, 17, "This is the Spirit of truth whom 00:27:15.460 |
the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because 00:27:26.100 |
The distinction between Jesus' dwelling and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit is Jesus came 00:27:33.820 |
In other words, he came and was in the campground with us. 00:27:38.960 |
He walked with us, he lived with us, he ate with us. 00:27:42.700 |
But the Holy Spirit, he's going to come and he's going to indwell in us. 00:27:51.480 |
Our union with the Holy Spirit is that he indwells in us. 00:27:58.020 |
And that's why Jesus was saying, "It is better for you that I leave because I'm only here 00:28:02.940 |
to pitch a tent with you, but I'm going so that the Holy Spirit can come and actually 00:28:08.460 |
pitch a tent in you, that the Holy Spirit is in you." 00:28:14.260 |
So let me wrap this up, what Jesus is saying. 00:28:17.900 |
What Jesus is saying is he came and he dwelt among us, among us, so that he can prepare 00:28:33.100 |
In Mark chapter 2, 21, Jesus tells the disciples, right? 00:28:39.660 |
He tells the tax collectors and he's telling the story about, you know, about the Holy 00:28:46.080 |
Spirit and he says, "No one puts new wine into old wineskin." 00:28:53.060 |
If you put new wine into old wineskin, what happens to the old wineskin? 00:28:57.880 |
So in order for you to put the new wine into the bag, you need to make sure that you need 00:29:06.320 |
So you put the new wine into the new wineskin. 00:29:14.660 |
Right, he's like, "Next time we have a wedding, make sure that the wineskin is new." 00:29:25.220 |
I believe what Jesus was saying in that text is related to what he's saying here. 00:29:31.780 |
His whole purpose of why he went to the cross and he said, remember he said, "I'm going 00:29:36.580 |
to the Father's house and prepare a house for you." 00:29:53.440 |
By washing us with his blood, by forgiving us our sins, atoning for our sins, he made 00:30:03.220 |
He said, "Whoever is in Christ," what does he say? 00:30:07.060 |
"The old has passed, behold the new has come." 00:30:21.720 |
And that's exactly what happens after the resurrection in Acts chapter 2. 00:30:26.100 |
The Holy Spirit comes and he's not, he doesn't pitch a tent among us, he makes it indwelling 00:30:38.180 |
And that's why he says because he's indwelling in us, if you want to bear fruit, you're not 00:30:45.620 |
The Holy Spirit is going to be bearing fruit through you. 00:30:50.200 |
So because Jesus is divine, and the Holy Spirit is coming, you must, as he dwells in you, 00:31:02.540 |
So the key to our walk with God, key to bearing fruit, is walking in the Spirit, praying in 00:31:08.580 |
the Spirit, fellowshipping in the Spirit, studying in the Spirit. 00:31:14.380 |
That our whole life is connected with the Spirit because we cannot by our own strength. 00:31:23.920 |
If you didn't catch all of that, I strongly encourage you to go back and listen to that 00:31:29.900 |
Maybe I didn't do a good job connecting this, but this is key to our walk with God. 00:31:34.780 |
Because he says if you do not meno with him, you cannot bear fruit. 00:31:39.940 |
And if you do not bear fruit, if there's no evidence of any fruit, that means there is 00:31:46.220 |
And if you don't have any connection with him, what does he say? 00:31:51.260 |
In other words, you are probably not a Christian. 00:31:54.780 |
So the key to our walk with God, key to our identity in God, is the Holy Spirit in us. 00:32:02.660 |
Second thing that he says, he says the helper is going to come, but he says he will not 00:32:15.660 |
Do we call somebody who's 30 years old and his mother and father passed away early, do 00:32:26.620 |
If they're grown up adults, they say you were orphaned when you were young. 00:32:29.700 |
But we don't typically call somebody in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, you know, and I'm 52 years 00:32:34.580 |
old and say, you know, I'm orphaned because my parents died. 00:32:40.980 |
Usually when we say somebody's orphaned, it means that when they were young children, 00:32:46.180 |
They needed parents to guide them, shelter them, and take care of them, and the parents, 00:32:54.440 |
So when he says, I will not leave you as orphans, by him saying that, he's telling them that 00:33:00.420 |
you are helpless, and I'm not going to leave you that way. 00:33:05.520 |
So the Holy Spirit is coming, not to simply assist you, it's so that he may not leave 00:33:15.260 |
In fact, the word for the Holy Spirit here, paracletus, in our translation, it's translated 00:33:23.100 |
Again, this is another word that can't be translated with one single word. 00:33:25.340 |
So if you look at your different translations, it'll say helper, counselor, advocate, or 00:33:35.060 |
The word literally means the one who's called to one side. 00:33:40.060 |
In other words, if you're headed toward a path, somebody is given to you to stay with 00:33:48.020 |
And that's how the Holy Spirit is described for us in the Bible, that he is a helper, 00:33:51.900 |
a counselor, an advocate, a comforter, whatever it is that you need for you to continue this 00:33:59.420 |
The Holy Spirit is going to come, he's going to guide us and lead us. 00:34:06.380 |
John chapter 14, verse 26, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send 00:34:11.100 |
in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said 00:34:17.660 |
Now, I want you to really hone in on what he says here, because when we think of the 00:34:23.500 |
Holy Spirit, a lot of people think of the Holy Spirit as some supernatural power or 00:34:29.460 |
some feeling that we get when we are in the middle of worship or we're praying and there's 00:34:34.220 |
some outside force that keeps coming in, touching us, and then leaving us when we're done. 00:34:39.660 |
That's not how the Bible describes the Holy Spirit. 00:34:42.700 |
He said that the Holy Spirit, the helper, the counselor, the advocate, the comforter, 00:34:47.660 |
he's going to stay with you, right, the whole time. 00:34:53.140 |
There is no two baptism of the Holy Spirit, there are no three baptism. 00:34:56.780 |
There is no Christian who doesn't have the Holy Spirit in them constantly, right? 00:35:02.580 |
He said he's going to come, he's going to stay with you, and the primary thing that 00:35:06.100 |
he's come to do is to remind you of the things that I have already said to you. 00:35:11.780 |
In other words, he's going to take the Word of God and he's going to make it effective 00:35:20.860 |
And you know that there's a huge difference between just studying the Bible and being 00:35:25.180 |
illuminated by the Bible, where the Word of God is being used to judge the thoughts and 00:35:29.680 |
intentions of other people's hearts, versus the Word of God being judging the thoughts 00:35:37.100 |
While you can hear the same gospel for years and years and years, and for whatever the 00:35:41.420 |
reason, the Holy Spirit opens your eyes and the same Word makes complete sense. 00:35:47.380 |
And you repent and you give your life to follow Christ. 00:35:50.060 |
That's the difference between studying the Word of God and having the Word of God illuminate 00:35:55.760 |
And he says the Holy Spirit is going to come and do that. 00:35:59.020 |
He says he's going to cause you to remember, to think about all the Word, the gospel that 00:36:03.620 |
has been preached, and make it effective for you. 00:36:07.940 |
John chapter 16, verse 13, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you 00:36:12.380 |
into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, 00:36:17.260 |
he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come." 00:36:21.460 |
So the role of the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus, he says, "I do not speak on my own 00:36:26.820 |
initiative, I say whatever the Father told me." 00:36:29.380 |
And then the Holy Spirit says the same thing. 00:36:31.820 |
The Holy Spirit comes to remind us and to make the Word of Christ effective in us. 00:36:39.820 |
And so the primary way that the Holy Spirit comes alongside is through his Word. 00:36:48.020 |
So without a clear hearing of his voice, you cannot be abiding in Christ. 00:36:58.500 |
Without a clear hearing of the voice of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit automatically 00:37:07.120 |
Because that was the primary reason why the Holy Spirit was to come. 00:37:11.060 |
To come alongside, to help, to counsel, to advocate, and to comfort us through his Word. 00:37:17.660 |
Romans chapter 8, verse 26, he says, "In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses." 00:37:28.580 |
He reminds us of the truth that we already know. 00:37:32.200 |
I think many of you have gone through a lot of trials, even just the last couple of months. 00:37:36.280 |
Whether it's through a job or sickness or a loved one who you may have lost. 00:37:42.140 |
Some difficult things that are happening in your life. 00:37:45.500 |
And how did the Holy Spirit come and comfort you? 00:37:49.620 |
Reminded you of the truth that you already know. 00:37:59.440 |
And so the Holy Spirit comes and he comforts us in our weakness. 00:38:07.700 |
You know what's really interesting to me is, Paul, through the Holy Spirit, tells us, "You're 00:38:25.080 |
Because most Christians will say their weakest part of their walk with God is prayer. 00:38:28.380 |
Now, this is not an excuse that we shouldn't pray. 00:38:34.600 |
But Paul himself says, "God knows that you're going to be struggling in prayer. 00:38:41.500 |
That you're going to have a hard time knowing even what to pray for." 00:38:47.760 |
In other words, him knowing our weakness has given us the Holy Spirit. 00:38:52.720 |
Because what you are not effective in doing, God will do through the Holy Spirit. 00:38:57.440 |
Holy Spirit intercedes for us, not just with any prayer, but with groanings too deep for 00:39:05.720 |
I think if you've lived long enough as a Christian, you've probably groaned in your prayers before 00:39:11.760 |
You don't have words to express, but it expresses your emotions and your thoughts. 00:39:16.080 |
And you can't articulate with words, but it's like, "Oh my God. 00:39:22.040 |
He says that the prayers of the Holy Spirit are deep. 00:39:26.600 |
Because it is groaning on behalf of our weakness. 00:39:34.680 |
We're not going to bear fruit because we're trying harder. 00:39:44.520 |
He said, "No, you're going to bear fruit because the Holy Spirit has been deposited in you 00:39:52.160 |
so that you may bear fruit as He dwells in you, that you continue to dwell with Him." 00:39:58.720 |
And thirdly, he says, this Holy Spirit, not only does He come to help, not only does He 00:40:03.400 |
not leave us as orphans, and helps us in our weakness, He says, "This is forever." 00:40:09.040 |
Jesus came physically for a period of time, for 33 years, for three years in ministry. 00:40:14.200 |
And then He did many miracles, but then He had to physically go. 00:40:18.080 |
So physically, He's up in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. 00:40:24.040 |
But He said, "When the Holy Spirit comes, this helper," He says, "is going to be forever." 00:40:30.440 |
Ephesians 1, 13 to 14, "In Him you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the 00:40:34.640 |
gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed." 00:40:39.960 |
You are, in other words, you are marked to be genuine believers in Him with the Holy 00:40:45.160 |
In other words, the distinguishing mark between a Christian and non-Christian is the Holy 00:40:53.800 |
Is there evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in your life? 00:41:00.840 |
Some of your translations, the word pledge is deposit, right? 00:41:04.560 |
And I don't know if people still do that today. 00:41:06.640 |
If you go into a store and you see, I don't know, you see a iPhone, I don't know what 00:41:11.680 |
you would buy at a store, you know, or pants, you know what I mean? 00:41:16.880 |
A long time ago when I would go to a store and I couldn't afford the pants, I would put 00:41:20.240 |
$5 deposit because I don't want that pants being sold because as you can see, I don't 00:41:27.140 |
So it's very difficult to find pants that fit. 00:41:29.000 |
So if I find one, I need to make sure that I put a deposit, that nobody else, like me, 00:41:35.400 |
which probably doesn't exist, but that they're going to, if he does come, they're going to 00:41:39.320 |
So I would put the deposit down and then even if I come put $5 every week, at some point 00:41:49.200 |
I don't know if they'd still do that today, right? 00:41:53.400 |
It's only for the people that are older, okay? 00:41:57.680 |
Deposit is guaranteeing that the person who put the deposit, that from that moment on, 00:42:03.680 |
even though it is not complete, they didn't pick it up yet, that they have every intention 00:42:08.320 |
to pick it up and when the time comes, they're going to come and pick it up and no one else 00:42:14.720 |
Well, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a pledge, as a deposit. 00:42:32.080 |
You know, I've given you all the things that you need. 00:42:34.960 |
I gave you leaders, you know, and I gave you spiritual gifts and I'm going to leave you 00:42:41.600 |
and I'm going to wait on the other side, hope you make it. 00:42:48.200 |
That's not what he did because he knew we couldn't make it. 00:42:53.360 |
He knew that we were going to have a hard time even praying. 00:42:57.480 |
So the Holy Spirit is deposited in us as a pledge, guaranteeing that what he started, 00:43:08.440 |
That's why he said, Paul says, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. 00:43:12.720 |
He doesn't say, he who started a good work in you, hopefully you can finish the job. 00:43:20.120 |
What he started, he will continue to bring to completion. 00:43:29.120 |
So when he says, I am the vine, he says, as the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you must also 00:43:43.160 |
Because if it just goes, if the dwelling of the Holy Spirit is just to get to heaven, 00:43:51.280 |
No, but he says, no, Holy Spirit will be indwelling forever. 00:43:55.360 |
Our union with Christ and his death and resurrection isn't just so that we can cross the bridge. 00:44:02.880 |
And that's why he doesn't say that Christianity isn't simply about erasing the consequence 00:44:15.240 |
Whatever we were before, the Holy Spirit made an indwelling in us, is gone. 00:44:23.320 |
Because we still live in this flesh, we may have things that we remember of the past, 00:44:29.640 |
But at the core of who we are, the Holy Spirit completely changed us. 00:44:37.760 |
That's why people often ask, Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden. 00:44:42.960 |
And oftentimes the heaven is described as a new heaven, new Garden of Eden. 00:44:49.640 |
Well Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden, so what guarantees us that when we get to 00:44:54.520 |
heaven that this is going to happen again and this whole cycle is going to begin again? 00:45:06.440 |
So the state that we will be in eternity will be much better than Adam and Eve was from 00:45:13.480 |
So the recreation of what was lost at the fall is not only going to be recreated to 00:45:21.560 |
what it was, but it's going to be far above that. 00:45:30.480 |
The Holy Spirit has made an indwelling in us. 00:45:33.280 |
And so therefore we are called to continue with Him. 00:45:43.760 |
So if any of you fell asleep for five minutes even at home, I know your couch is really 00:45:51.040 |
All the messages, all the I Am statements are crucial. 00:45:54.560 |
But I encourage you if any part of this went over your head, go back and listen to it again. 00:45:59.800 |
And then if my English isn't good enough, then go to the commentaries and read it for 00:46:08.480 |
Jesus leaving, Holy Spirit coming, indwelling, that He is going to help us, He's going to 00:46:13.560 |
stay with us, He's not going to leave us as orphans. 00:46:23.160 |
And He says until you do that, until you understand that, you cannot bear fruit. 00:46:27.400 |
Until the fig tree who has dried up and cursed, God completely transforms us into a peach 00:46:47.280 |
There's a lot of people who are in the church who came in and never really met Christ. 00:46:55.320 |
So you've heard the talk of the Holy Spirit, you've done Bible study, maybe you might even 00:47:05.320 |
But the only experience that you have in your walk with God is frustration. 00:47:10.960 |
Because you have all these standards that have been set for you that Jesus is holy, 00:47:15.040 |
so we ought to be holy, God is holy, the temple is holy, we ought to strive for holiness, 00:47:22.800 |
And so the more we hear the imperatives of what it means to be a Christian, it doesn't 00:47:32.920 |
Because Christianity just sounds like a lot of rules. 00:47:36.760 |
What you do enjoy is friendship, purpose, community, that when we die I don't have to 00:47:49.320 |
But the actual walk with God is tremendously burdensome. 00:47:57.160 |
Because you may be a fig tree trying to bear peaches. 00:48:13.360 |
So you understand it mentally, you understand it logically, and you can regurgitate information 00:48:19.700 |
that you have heard, especially if you've been at a church for a long time, you know 00:48:23.360 |
all the systematic theology, but you never understood when Jesus said, "I have come to 00:48:34.780 |
My sheep will hear my voice and they will follow me. 00:48:38.960 |
See the danger of living in a post-Christian culture is that a lot of non-Christians who 00:48:45.880 |
have many Christian friends are peer pressured to act like Christians when they've never 00:48:57.000 |
Jesus says you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in him, remain with him, dwell with 00:49:12.480 |
I'm not talking about some charismatic experience where you have some overwhelming experience 00:49:17.320 |
or emotions that overwhelm, you can't help but uncontrollably cry. 00:49:24.520 |
But do you understand what it means to have life, to have this life abundantly? 00:49:32.200 |
You know, I'm not going to be able to finish this sermon this morning because I don't want 00:49:35.760 |
to go longer than I should, especially online. 00:49:41.160 |
But when we abide in Christ, he says, again for the last part, I'm going to revisit the 00:49:46.940 |
second part and we're going to skip to the last part. 00:49:48.840 |
When we abide in Christ and we bear fruit, he says four things happen in verse 8. 00:50:01.000 |
It's not coming to church and raising your hands and just doing the right things. 00:50:06.920 |
He says, no, when we abide in Christ and that causes us to bear much fruit, he said fruit 00:50:17.120 |
A Christian who is constantly living in this cycle of sin and never really understanding 00:50:23.560 |
what it means to bear fruit and never really reproducing and therefore God is not glorified. 00:50:32.520 |
No matter how much we try to glorify God, it's kind of like pushing a dead car that 00:50:41.360 |
You know, it's just dead weight that you have to push, but you're not going anywhere. 00:50:47.480 |
Until we abide in Christ, you cannot bear fruit. 00:50:50.280 |
And when we bear fruit, it brings glory to God. 00:50:53.560 |
Verse 8, it says, and it proves that we are his disciples. 00:50:58.800 |
Proofs of salvation isn't simply somebody telling you, don't doubt, don't doubt. 00:51:05.080 |
We live in a generation where, you know, doubting for any reason is unhealthy. 00:51:13.840 |
When the Bible is filled with examine yourself. 00:51:19.680 |
What you see in scripture of what a genuine believer looks like and what he bears fruit, 00:51:28.540 |
You're not talking about some external standard of like, am I doing this and am I doing that? 00:51:34.280 |
Just at the core of it, do you know this Christ? 00:51:38.880 |
Have you truly seen the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ? 00:51:42.640 |
In the end, he says, when God is glorified, and because we bear fruit and we abide in 00:51:48.240 |
Christ, it will give us assurance of who we are, that we're his disciples. 00:51:53.520 |
And then verse 9 and 10, it says, then we abide in his love. 00:51:56.720 |
In his love, that we have assurance of this love. 00:52:05.800 |
It's not just some empty words that are given to people because they're having a hard time 00:52:13.080 |
And the love of God is spread so generously to everybody without context. 00:52:18.400 |
And so you have Christians and non-Christians who are absolutely assured. 00:52:24.160 |
So God is not calling me to repent of sins because he loves me unconditionally. 00:52:29.880 |
He says, no, when we are bearing fruit, when we are abiding in Christ, when God is glorified 00:52:35.760 |
and that we are his disciples, that that is confirmed, then he says his love is assured. 00:52:43.160 |
Then we abide in his love and his love abides in us. 00:52:46.080 |
And then in verse 11, he says, finally, the reason why he says all of this is not to bring 00:52:55.600 |
He says so that my joy may be in you and that the joy may be full in you is ultimately bring 00:53:04.320 |
So for a true believer who has met Christ, righteousness is a joy. 00:53:15.240 |
Pursuit of Christ we pursue not simply because it's our duty, but that's where we find life. 00:53:21.240 |
Abiding in Christ is where we drink the living water. 00:53:26.240 |
Abiding in Christ is where we eat the bread that we do not thirst and we are no longer hungry. 00:53:33.240 |
And so the challenge for us as we look at this, and again, as I said, what Jesus says 00:53:57.240 |
And am I living this abundant life that he promised? 00:54:09.240 |
My prayer is, again, as you know, we don't know exactly when the church is going to open up. 00:54:13.240 |
You know, it may be a few weeks, maybe, hopefully it won't be more than that. 00:54:18.240 |
But this divine appointed time that God has given us to be home and take some time to reflect, 00:54:24.240 |
and that when we come back together physically as a church, that we do not just come back 00:54:33.240 |
That we don't just do what we normally did in the past and we're going to worship again 00:54:39.240 |
We're going to be joining small groups and studying inductive bibles because that's what 00:54:45.240 |
That we would examine ourselves so that when we come to church, that we would truly build a church 00:54:50.240 |
that will worship him in spirit and in truth. 00:54:54.240 |
That the fruit that we bear is not just harder work, you know, just simply because we just figured 00:55:01.240 |
out how to do this better, but because we are genuinely abiding in Christ. 00:55:10.240 |
And again, just to kind of remind you, there's going to be a sign up after maybe within an hour or so. 00:55:18.240 |
So please go there as soon as you can so that we can know which services are full and we can 00:55:23.240 |
kind of direct that hopefully by the end of this week.