← ArchiveSunday, March 22, 2015DateMarch 22, 2015Speaker—TextJohn 15Passages in this sermonJohn 150:24John 100:381 Peter 1:86:591 Peter 3:189:071 John 39:22John 15:139:36John 15:1511:53John 1413:17John 1214:50Mark 1414:58John 1115:171 John 119:571 Corinthians 926:44Romans 1227:58Romans 12:128:05Matthew 2629:09Psalms 4030:07John 4:2432:50TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you, Greg. Thank you, musicians. Thank you, choir. If you brought your Bible, I hope you did. Turn with me to John chapter 15. We'll be finishing, completing this particular time. Again, this is0:24one of those texts that we could spend several weeks in. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, John 10, 10 says. But Jesus says, I've come that you might have what? Life. Life more abundant. He wants us to have abundant life. John chapter 15, beginning with the first verse through the 17th verse. We're going to read them all, and then we're going to highlight on one verse, John 15, 15. Jesus0:51says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch of me does not bear fruit. He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I've spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. John 15, 5. I am the1:17vine, you are the branches. He, whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, and they're thrown into the fire and burned.1:43If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Stop right there just for a second, side note. That is not name it and claim it prosperity teaching. He will provide for us, but he requires us as his children to ask, come boldly to the throne of2:05grace. He will always give us what we need, not what we want. We want a lot of things. We bring a lot of things to him in our wants, but he will provide what we need. Verse 8, by this my father's glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. And the father has loved me, so have I2:31loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.3:01No longer do I call you servants or slaves, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your3:24fruit should remain or should abide, so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he will give to you. Ask the father in his name, and he will give to you. Verse 17, These things I command you, that you will love one another. Let's pray.3:48Father, let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight today, Lord Jesus. We love you, we praise you, we bless you, and we thank you for what you are about to do in our midst today. Father, do your work. Change our lives today. In Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, Amen.4:10The world drenched in relativism. The Bible is unique, both in its clarity and its authority. The Bible is God's inerrant, infallible word. It is without error. Anyone that says different has a right to be wrong because they are completely wrong. It is the inspired, inerrant, infallible word.4:38Where many people see gray area, God's word deals in black and white, not just in the ink on a white paper. But God's word is black and white. The Bible is absolute, it's definitive, it's proactive, it's completely unconcerned with political correctness. The Bible is completely unconcerned with being politically5:06correct. The Bible is God's word. I believe that most everybody in this room, if not everyone at the sound of my voice in this room, believes that this is God's word and it's God's inerrant word and it's completely for our consideration and for our taking into consideration for directing our lives.5:28Therefore, it's unafraid to confront people of its need. The Bible is inerrant. It is without any error. Scripture makes a stark contrast between those who are saved by grace and those who are eternally lost. Between those who are with Jesus and those who are against Jesus. The Bible is quite clear for those5:53who are in the world and those who are not of the world. Those who are friends of God and those who are not friends of God. This passage today that we're studying, this particular text that we've been in the last four weeks is another aspect of this contrast between those who are his friend, friends of God and those who are friends of this world. Friendship of Christ Jesus results in an intimate relationship with6:21him. It's not some church organizational membership. It's not being part of the club. It's part of saying, I am truly born of God. I am saved by his grace. You cannot have an intimate relationship apart from God's word and you can't have God's word apart from an intimate fellowship with him. You say, well, wait a minute. There's a lot of people that know that they have copies of God's word. Do they actually6:48have an intimate relationship? That's between them and God. A lot of times we don't see the fruit in that. I love what Peter writes in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 8. Friendship of Christ results in an intimate relationship with him and brings joy inexpressible and full of glory. Hours, just hours before his death on the cross, Jesus declares in John 15 verse 13, greater love has no one than this, than one lay7:15down his life for his friend. A supreme evidence of his love indicates that he did not die. Die for himself, but he died for us. He died for the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever, say that with me, whosoever believeth in him should not perish,7:38but have life and life everlasting. The Roman church, right? Paul writes to the Roman church. He says, For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one who hardly die for one will hardly die for a righteous man. Though perhaps for the good man, someone would dare8:02even die. But God demonstrated his own love towards us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. A marvelous, a marvelous statement. Paul writes again to the church at Corinth. He says these words, He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. Would you just think for a second on that? Would8:26you just let that just drench over you just for a second? He who knew no sin, he took the sins. He took my sins. He took your sins to Calvary's cross. He took it on behalf of us so that we might become the righteousness, shout hallelujah with me, the righteousness of God in him. I am the righteousness8:49of God in him because he took the sins upon himself to the cross. Not poor old God, but a marvelous savior. Amen. Peter reminded us in first Peter chapter three, verse 18, Christ also died for the sins once and for all. The just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God. And echoing the9:14Lord's words, John the apostle writes this in first John chapter three, we know love by this, that he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He's saying he laid down his life for us. That's exactly what John chapter 15, verse 13, greater love than this, than one lay down his life for his friends. Evidence, obedience we talked about last week is a choice. Amen.9:42It's a choice. We choose to obey God or not obey God. Our kids choose to obey us or not. Sometimes they don't. And there's a reckoning coming when they don't. Some you put in a timeout. Now, little Johnny, it's time for you. You didn't mind me. So let's sit down in a timeout. I don't know if that worked at y'all's house, but it didn't work in mine.10:12There needed to be a awakening coming somewhere along the way. Amen. But you see, obedience is a choice. Obedience does not earn salvation or a means of salvation, but it is an inevitable result of a person that has been truly saved by the grace of God. When a person is obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is evidence that he has the Spirit of God dwelled in his life. He has the grace of God.10:39The branch that abides in Christ, the true vine, will inevitably bear much fruit. Now, I want you to take just a second and evaluate your own life just for a second. Are you truly bearing fruit? Are you truly, have you duplicated your life of Christ into someone else?11:07Have you truly, are you truly bearing fruit? Folks, let me tell you something. It is a clear, concise, precise evidence that you have the Spirit of God dwelled in your life if you are bearing fruit. It says it clearly. I'm the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.11:36That gives us an understanding that the power of the Holy Spirit helps us to bear the fruit. But we've got to be connected to the vine. Now, verse 15 is our text. One verse, and we'll move along. John chapter 15, verse 15, look what it says. No longer, the New American Standard Version translates it this way. No longer do I call you slaves. We here in the Deep South, we understand that term slave.12:04There's no, praise God, there's no slavery in America. Praise God that that sin has been eradicated. There's no slavery in America. But there is slavery around the world. There are sex slaves around the world that need to be eradicated. And the New Testament church must rise up and do something about that. But Jesus says, no longer do I call you servants or slaves,12:34for the slave does not know what the master's doing. But I have called you, say it with me, friends. I've called you friends for all the things that I have heard from my Father. Father, I have made known to you. The secret of loving God is knowing God. You cannot love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and body unless you truly know God with all your heart, soul, mind, and body.13:00The message is truth. The better you know Jesus Christ, the more you will love him. Salvation is a living relationship. We cannot grow apart from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. John 14, verse 16. I love this passage. Listen to what it says. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Now, I was thinking about that this morning, my quiet time. Why does he just continue to pound on this keeping commandments, obeying, obeying?13:26He is driving home the point. Remember when the setting of this passage took place. He was in the upper room scenario. He just washed the feet. There Judas Iscariot was there, sitting there. It was going to end up betraying him. He had broken the bread, had the wine, had all that festivity thing. And then he takes him down the stairs by the Mount of Olives, through the Valley of Kidron. And he stops in this vineyard.13:54And this is where this discourse takes place. This is where this passage takes place. And he breaks off his bridge. And he is driving home, Greg, the point that we must obey him. If we're going to survive as a New Testament church, we have got to obey him and obey his words. So if you love me, you keep my commandments. I want to give you three schools of thought before we get into the message first. Love centers on the giver, not the gift.14:23Let that sink into you. Love centers on the giver, not the gift. Love is not measured by any form of sacrifice. I want you to flip over a couple of pages with me. And look at one of the most beautiful passages in the Word. John chapter 12, beginning with the first verse. Now, many of you Christ followers and Bible scholars sitting out there today, you know this passage.14:53This passage parallels Mark chapter 14. It's one of these scripture texts that is found in all four of the gospel writings. And so it says in verse 1, six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Now, let me stop there. My second sermon here, I preached on the boy Lazarus out of John chapter 11. Lazarus was dead. Lazarus was defeated.15:22And then Lazarus became very dangerous, right? And so he is, this is a, this is the part of that story. And Lazarus, whom he'd raised from the dead. So they gave him a party or made him a dinner for him there. Martha served. And Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table. Mary therefore took a pound of very expensive ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was about to betray him, said,15:51Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor people? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, Leave her alone. One translation says, Let her alone. Leave her alone.16:21So that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. Now understand this passage right there. Jesus was there and they got together and they said, We should take that money and let's give us a market. Let's put us an ad campaign out there and let's sell this oil and we give the money to the poor people. Now Mark says she poured it over his head.16:48John says she poured it over his feet. Now my translation of that is she poured it over his head and ran down off his feet. Don't get stuck in the, the, the, the, the, where the positioning of the oil was that particular day. She took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard. I have no idea what pure nard smells like, but it must be pretty good. Because 60 denarii is about $300 worth of pure oil. And she pours it over the feet of Jesus.17:19And then she takes her black beautiful hair and wipes his feet with her hair. Church, listen to me. What a beautiful sacrifice. She didn't take just a little bit. As the great singer, songwriter Steve Green says, she broke it and spilled it out all over him. Lavishly loved him. Love centers on the giver, not the gift. Love is not measured by any sacrifice.17:48Love is not only the fulfillment of the law, but it is a desired passion of the true Christ follower. Folks, let me tell you something. Some of us give, we like God a lot. I believe everybody in here says, I like God. But do you really love him? You see, if we truly love God a lot, God would have complete control of every aspect of our lives. That would include every aspect of our lives.18:17That would include our television watching, our movie going. That would include our witness every day, our financial status. Folks, let me tell you something. We can't compartmentalize our life with God. He says, I no longer call you a servant. No longer do I call you a slave. I call you my friend. Church, I want to be standing before him. He says, well done, thou good and faithful friend.18:44Well done, thou good and faithful servant. He calls a servant in that passage for a reason. Because we are out there serving the community. I say this often times. Even when I'm praying with you folks. I thank God that I get to serve Christ by serving alongside you. Love is not only the fulfillment of the law, but the desired passion of the true Christ.19:11Father, we cannot grow in him apart from a personal relationship with him. The more we know him, the more we will grow in him. The more we grow in him, the more we'll become like him. The more we become like him, the more we will know ourselves better and thus will lead us to become our best self.19:36When we know who God is in our lives, we will start living like we are created in his image. You say, wow, that is a tall order. I'm just a feeble old human being. Thank God for 1 John 1, 9. Amen. You see, if we confess through our mouths, he's faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. That means that when we stumble, when we slip up along the way, and believe me, it happens to this old wretched preacher as well.20:05I'm just in this old journey just like you are. And so when we stumble, when we slip, and we might have said something we shouldn't have said, or thought something we shouldn't have saw, or watched something that we shouldn't have saw, or held back when we should have given, we can confess our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't reach down and give us salvation again. He re-energizes the salvation that is indwelled in us.20:34So when we know Christ better, we will strive and have the desire to be our best self. The better we know him, the more we will love him. How many of y'all have been married over 30 years? Raise your hand. To the same person, please raise your hand. How many of y'all been married over 40 years?21:04Raise your hand. Praise the Lord. Now we're getting in some personal stuff here. How many of y'all been married over 50 years? Raise your hand. How many of y'all been married over 60 years? Raise your hand. Woo! Y'all older than dirt. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years. 70 years in here? We don't even have any 70-year-olds in the room, do we? One or two. Well, praise the Lord. Oh, amen. You know, Debbie and I will be married if I live long enough.21:35If we live through it, and the Lord tarries, and the both of us live, we will have been married. This coming May 10th, 35 years. I mean, that's shocking, you know, she was 9 and I was 12 when we got married. 35 years. I mean, some of y'all got socks older than that, don't you? I mean, you know, 35 years, that's a long time.22:04And I just, I just, I can't even imagine not living with her the rest of my life. I just can't, I told her just the other day, if you ever decide to leave me, tell me, because I'm packing my bags and going with you. I'm not doing this again. I'm not going through this again. My mom and dad were married 54 years when my mom died in 1998. I may have told you this story. I'll never forget him calling me up.22:33He said, Dan, I'll just tell you. I know her better today. I know where she is. I had lost her. One day I'll join her. I know her better today than I've ever known her in my life. She was my best friend. She was my best friend, is what he said. He said, not my lover, not the children, not the, not, she didn't bury my kids. Yes, she buried my kids. Not just my, the mama of my kids, not the mama of my boys, but no, she's my best friend.22:59You see, the reason that my dad knew her as his best friend is because he spent every day with her. He might have been on a trip somewhere along the way. He might have gone on to a hunt club somewhere along the way. He might have been on a, on a, whatever it might have been. But he still knew her because he spent every day getting to know her. The reason that we can say, I am a friend of God is because we know him.23:26The more we know him, the more we will fall in love with him. I hear people in testimony and say, I just want to stand up there, preacher, and tell you, I love the Lord. Why don't you tell your face, darling? You got this small look all over your face when he said it. I want you to know, I don't love the Lord. Why? Because I'm getting to know him. But I don't love him near what I'm going to love him should I, should he tarry and leave me here for a little while longer.23:55The more I'm in his word, the more I'm going to know him, the more I know him, the more I'm going to fall in love with him even deeper. The more you know him, the more you're going to become your best self. In common evangelical churches today, for people to verbally acknowledge the Bible as God's word is a final authority, both in what they believe and how they behave. Yet in reality, there's a dear, clear contrast between a public confession of faith and a personal conduct of that faith.24:23It's time for us to actually stand up and start living what we've been saying inside this room here. Because it's easy to say it in here. I am a friend of God. And then go right out the door. Walk right past a lost person and never share the story.24:51See, we need to change that. We need to say we're a friend of God in here. And we love him with all our hearts. And we can't wait to get out there so that we can share the story why we're such a friend of God. Because we know him. Claiming the scripture is true and complete should preclude evangelicals, evangelical church, to turning to any other source or any other establishment or thought.25:17It should hold us close to his word. A church growth phenomenon. I remember when that wave came through the New Testament church. We kind of have all these studies for church growth and demographic studies and marketing techniques and man-centered theology and watered-down gospel overrides clear biblical truth. Let me tell you something, folks. We've become a consumer-based ministry. And it's time for us.25:47We have these sermons out there. You hear them. You see them on television. Five ways to love your mother and three ways to be happy. There's nothing wrong with some how-tos every now and then. How to balance your checkbook and kick your dog. I mean, I don't care what you want to do. We can do some of that. But folks, let me tell you something. What we need is, in fact, we need a steady diet of expositional preaching and teaching of God's word with practical application for daily living. We need it desperately.26:17We're becoming a consumer, anemic group of folk. And it's time for us to stand firm on the word of God. Now that I've given you the introduction, here's the message. Four things. The way you know Christ better. Number one, feel the outline. We must give God our body. We must give God our body. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9, verse 25 through 27.26:441 Corinthians 9, verse 25. Paul writes to the church at Corinth, Every athlete exercised self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath or a perishable crown. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we, an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating in the air. But I discipline my, say it with me, body.27:13And keep it under control. Lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. Paul is telling the church at Corinth, These people at Corinthian church, they love the Olympic type games. And so he was challenging them. You must give your body to the Lord. Selfish indulgence of the body often leads to sinful indifference later in the day.27:38We must give our bodies to know him even better. Let him have complete control of your body. Secondly, we must give our minds to God. Romans chapter 12. You know this. Turn with me. Romans chapter 12. Most of you have even committed this to memory. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,28:08to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your, say it with me, mind. That is, by testing you may desire what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.28:36Meditation to the heart and mind is what the digestive system is to the body. So we need to put in the good thoughts. We must put in the good information. You know what it is. Garbage in, garbage out. So we need to put good food in, good nourishment into our minds. Give God our bodies. Give God our mind. Number three, we must give God our wills.29:04Matthew's gospel, chapter 5, excuse me, chapter 26, Matthew 26, notice with me, Matthew 26, if I can get to it, my pages have stuck. Brand new Bible, hard to get through them. Matthew 26, notice what the Bible says. Matthew 26, verse 39, and going a little farther, he fell on his faith and prayed, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.29:30Nevertheless, not as, say it with me, I will, but as you will. Even the Lord says, not my will, God, I know where I'm headed. I'm headed to the cross because I was designed to save the world. I've got to take the sins of the world. We must let the will of God drive every aspect of our lives.29:56Through prayer, you will yield your life to God. Psalms 40, verse 8, I said this last week, but it's worth repeating again. I delight to do your will, oh my God. Your law is within my heart. We talk about prayer in the New Testament church, don't we, a lot. We even have designated prayer meetings, don't we?30:22Do y'all know when that is? Wednesday. We kind of have a designated prayer meeting. Then we have some people come here throughout the day, pray, throughout the mornings, pray. We have prayer room, and people come and pray throughout the day in the prayer rooms. Praise God for that. But you know what? I've come to understanding in the New Testament church in North America, and I know everybody's busy, and we've got a lot of people traveling with their jobs and stuff, but you know what? It is the number one thing we talk about. We say, well, I'm praying for you, brother.30:52I'm praying for you. Pray for me. I got this. But yet, when we get together as a body of believers, we do less praying than we do talking about prayer. It is the least attended gathering of believers in the New Testament church in North America than anything else we do. You say, wow, you're smacking us around. No, I just want to know. Do you really want to know the will of God? You must spend adequate time. Yes, together is something uniquely special about that,31:20but we must do it on a daily, consistent basis, meeting today's problems with today's strength. God, not my will, but your will be done in my life. Somebody says, boy, you need to get up early in the day to find God's will. And some of you are not early risers. Back in the early days of our life, when I surrendered my life to the Lord, this early stuff, it just wasn't my mind, wasn't there. And, you know, after about nine cups of coffee,31:49I finally started waking up. I mean, you know, it's just sometimes, you know, so I used to beat myself up because my pastor, he got up real early and he went out and prayed and he used to talk about that and how God was teaching him. I said, oh, I'm just beating myself up. So I went to him. He said, what time do you pray? I said, well, pastor, sometimes I just, I just can't get up early like that and pray. He said, look, it's five o'clock somewhere in the morning, somewhere around the world. So don't beat yourself up.32:19Get up consistently and spend that time alone with God. You want to know God's will? You got to get to know God. You fall in love with his word. You will fall in love with him. Give God your body. Give God your mind. Give God your will. And number four, give God your heart. Give God your heart.32:46John chapter four, verse 24. I want you to listen to this. You might not get to it till I get to it, but John chapter four, verse 24. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. He said, no longer do I call you slaves for the slave does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends.33:16It's hard to say he's my friend if you don't know him. Be silent before the Lord. Worship him, loving with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might and with all your body. Abide in him all day long. He's able to do the work in you and through you to bear much fruit.33:42The key to this passage and the key to a connected heart is understanding that we're the vine, we're the branches. He's the vine. He said it, I'm the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me, he bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.34:10Want to know God better? Get in his word. You will fall in love with the Christ, the Messiah, who died on the cross for your sins. And he will give you those directions, those marching orders. And every day you spend time with him, the more you spend with him, the more you will know him. And the more you know him,34:40the more you'll become your best self in him. The more you know him, the more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him. The more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him, the more you know him. The more you know him.More sermons on John →
