Bob Josey - 6F The Vine and Branches Lesson #6 - Feb 13, 2022

SLIDES

Thriving in Jesus

6F– The Abundant Life - Lesson 6

The Vine and the Branches

Introduction

On one occasion, the evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who was one of the greatest 19 century evangelists, had been a recipient of numerous benefits from the Lord. In his abundance, he was suddenly seized with the realization that his heavenly Father was showering him almost more than he could take. Encouraged and overwhelmed, he paused to pray. With great volume he simply stated, “Stop God!” Now that was spontaneous. It is also a beautiful change from, “Eternal, almighty, gracious Father of all good things. Thy hand hath abundantly and gloriously supplied our deepest needs. How blessed we are to come to Thee and declare to Thee…” and on and on and on into snore city.

In his book, Strengthening Your Grip, Chuck Swindoll said he told that story as part of his sermon one day at his church. After the service, a man said to him, “I’ve got another one for God. God, start, I mean He can stop on Moody, but I want him to start with me, I need some of that!”

Wow! Have you ever heard of such a thing like what happened to D.L. Moody? Have you ever seen such a thing? Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been so encouraged and overwhelmed with God showering His blessing on you that you told Him to stop? This event occurred over 130 years ago. Do you need what he recieved? Do you believe something like this could occur today? Do you believe something like this could occur with you today? It is possible? Let’s see what Jesus has to say about this. Keep in mind that we are talking about just physical blessing but also spiritual blessings.

The results of abiding in Jesus (7-11)

For the last couple of lessons, we have discussed that one result of abiding in Jesus is producing much spiritual fruit. Today as we finish Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches, we are going to see four more very important results of abiding in Jesus. The first one relates to prayer.

A. Positive Answered Prayer (7)

The first result of abiding in Jesus is positive answered prayer. (John 15:7)

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish,

and it will be done for you.

Jesus is now turning from something negative about abiding, a loss of rewards and/or a premature death, to something positive, the answer to prayers. He is saying that every request you have will be answered. God always answers every prayer either yes, no, maybe, or wait. But Jesus is saying here that every prayer will be answered in a positive manner. There will be no negative answers. But you know there has to be a but involved. Yes, there is. A.T. Roberson in his Word Pictures of the Greek New Testament puts it into perspective. "This astounding command and promise … is not without conditions and limitations. It involves such intimate union and harmony with Christ that nothing will be asked out of accord with the mind of Christ and so of the Father. (Vol 5, p. 259)

Over the years this verse has also been a stumbling block to some dedicated and sincere believers in Jesus. It appears to be a blanket promise for the Lord to grant any request that any believer may have. In reality it is a blanket promise to grant any request that an abiding disciple may petition but the Key is that an abiding disciple will ask for only those things that are in harmony with, or subject to, God's will—as Jesus did. The wishes of abiding disciples today are the same as Jesus' wishes and Jesus wishes were the same as the Father’s wishes.

Jesus helps clarify how a believer abides in Him by having an intimate relationship or union with Him. This unity with Jesus is achieved by Jesus’ words abiding in the believer. Jesus was referring to not only what He had He taught the disciples for three years, but also His actions toward the Father and others. By His actions and words Jesus was teaching them how to be submit to and obedient to the Father. He was also teaching them how to show compassion and how to love others, as well as how to respond to others. Of course, one vital thing He demonstrated to them by His’ actions was how to pray.

Therefore, for a believer to have this intimate relationship with Jesus and to have one’s prayers answered in a positive manner, one must emulate what Jesus did and taught as found in the Gospels. A believer cannot be obedient to Jesus’s actions and words unless they know what they are. We circle back to this time and time again. To know what Jesus’ actions and words are, the believer must read, study, ruminate, and memorize Scripture. It is our play book and roadmap.

Therefore, the first and foremost important resource to know God’s will is to study and ruminate on Scripture. Obedience to His’ Words and actions is vital to having that intimate relationship with Him. By the study of Scripture and prayer to discern God’s will for our lives and being obedient to it, one will abide in Jesus and be able to ask in order that they may receive.

Before moving on to verse 8, I want to mention a few hindrances to prayer that are revealed in Scripture.

v Self-will - Jeremiah 17:9-10

v Unforgiveness – Matthew 6:14-15

v Selfishness - James 4.3

v Not honoring one’s wife – 1 Peter 3:6-7

v Pride – Job 35:12

v Not reconciling with a brother or sister in Christ – Matthew 5:23-24

v Iniquity in the heart – Psalm 66:18

B. God is Glorified by Disciples of Jesus (8)

The first result of abiding in Jesus is positive answered prayer.

The second result of abiding in Jesus is that the Father is glorified. (John 15:8a)

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit…

Even though word abiding is not used in this verse, we know from verse 5 that a believer must abide in Jesus if they are going to produce much fruit. Remember that in verse 5 the word abide is in the present tense. If a believer is going to produce much fruit, he or she must abide in Jesus much of the time. As we discussed in our last lesson, this does not mean that a believer must abide in Jesus 24/7 for his or her entire life because that is impossible to do. We know there are times in our Christian lives that we do not abide in Jesus because of sin.

The word glorify has everything to do with light. When God is gloried, it is like a spot light shining on Him with great brightness. Also, His glorification brings out His radiance and splendor for others to see. In the illustration of the vine and the branches, we see cause and effect. The believer’s heart begins to reflect the values of God (Jer. 31:31–33). His or her mind dwells on the kinds of thoughts that God thinks. When a believer is united or connected with Jesus by being obedient to His teaching and example, the person begins to assume a Christlike character. The believer is transformed from the inside out not the outside in. (When my son was eight years old, he stepped on a nail that went all the way though his foot. The doctors performed surgery to clean out all the infection. When that was completed, they put a wick on both sides of the wound. The wick was to be pulled out a little every day. This allowed the foot to heal from the inside out because it would not have healed from the outside in.) When a believer abides much in Jesus, he or she produces much fruit. When a believer produces much fruit, answered prayer in not too far behind and a bright spotlight is shinned on the Father. We would call this honoring Him by being positive witness for Him.

There is a story in the Talmud about the sun and the moon. After God created the heavens and the earth, the moon was unhappy. He complained to the Father that the sun was 416 times larger than he was and that 72 million moons his size could fit in the sun. God the Father told the moon that he was absolutely correct. He said that I cannot change things now, but when Isarel become one of the nations, I will put a memorial day on their calendar to honor you. And sure enough, when Israel became a nation 3,500 years ago, God put a memorial day on Israel’s calendar called Rosh Chodesh. Rosh Chodesh means the “head of the new [moon],” and indeed it is a day of celebration marking the start of a new lunar month. When God did this for the moon, He honored the moon. When disciples produce much fruit, they honor God.

Questions or Comments

The first result of abiding in Jesus is positive answered prayer.

The second result of abiding in Jesus is that the Father is glorified.

The third result of abiding in Jesus is that believers demonstrate that they are His’ disciples. (15:8b)

I first want to make a few comments about the word disciple. Originally the word in the Greek culture meant a pupil or learner usually of a philosopher. The term disciple is used exclusively in the Gospel and Acts. The word believer and disciple are synonymous with one another. One can be a believer of Jesus but not be a disciple of Jesus. Judas is one case in point. In the Gospels a person could have been a disciple of John the Baptist, of a rabbi, of the Pharisees, and of course, of Jesus. In those days a disciple left his family and job to follow a rabbi. The word Rabbi means teacher in Hebrew. It interesting that the word disciple is not used after the book of Acts. The probable reason is because disciple-teacher relationship with earthly teachers and followers, like it was in Israel, was no longer possible as the Gospel spread to other countries and cultures. Today a disciple is seen in the light of 2 Timothy 2:2.

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

The word entrust means to hand over something to someone for safe keeping.

A general statement about disciples today in the context of Christianity would be that all real disciples are believers but not all believers are disciples. We learned from verse 8 that to be a disciple one must abide in Jesus and bear fruit. If a believer in Jesus does not abide in Jesus by being obedient, producing much fruit, glorifying God with their words and deeds, they are not a disciple of Jesus.

So, from this verse we see then that the Father is glorified when we produce much fruit and producing fruit demonstrates that we are a disciple of Jesus. Are you producing much fruit as a believer and therefore proving yourself to be one of Jesus’ disciples? One of Johnson Ferry’s goals in the next five years is to develop 1000 disciple makes to connect, equip, and multiply the next generations of disciple makers. The qualification to be a disciple maker is to be a disciple. A believer cannot be a disciple maker until the are first a disciple. It’s not too late to become a disciple of Jesus if you are not one. If you are on the sidelines, get into the game. It’s not to late, however, for most of us we are in the fourth quarter and time is running out. Also, if you are a disciple of Jesus, pray about becoming one of the 1000 disciple makes Johnson Ferry is wanting to develop.

Let’s now read and discuss John 15:9-10.

9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

There are many places in the Gospels where we find that the Father said that He loved His’ Son. The word love is agapago which means that the Father was committed to the Son. The word love is associated with the Fathers actions when He put all things into the Jesus’ hand (John 3:35) and revealed to Jesus His’ will every step of the way while He was on earth (John 5:20). In John 17:24 John writes the Father loved Jesus before the foundation of the world and in 10:17 that He loved the Jesus when Jesus died on the cross. He was committed to Him every step of the way.

The amazing thing is believers today can experience personally that same love or commitment that the Father showed Jesus. The quality and extent of Jesus loving or being committed to the believer is the same as the Father was committed to Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus prayed in John 17:26, “that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them” (the disciples and believers today).

I want you to take a few minutes and write down ten ways in which you know that Jesus demonstrates His love to you and is committed to you a believer.

We think of abiding in Jesus as something mystical. It some kind of way it certainly is. However, in verse 10 Jesus throws light on what He said in verse 7 about us abiding in Him and His words abiding in us. Abiding in Jesus revolves around obedience. Jesus abided in the Father by being obedient to the Father and we are to abide in Jesus by being obedient to Jesus. Active dependence and loving obedience are the proper paths for all believers in Jesus.

The first result of abiding in Jesus is positive answered prayer.

The second result of abiding in Jesus is that the Father is glorified.

The third result of abiding in Jesus is that believers demonstrate that they are His disciples.

The fourth result of abiding in Jesus is believers experience compete joy. (John 15:11)

John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

These things that Jesus is referring in the first 10 verses of John 15. The first ten verses can be summarized like this. When one abides in Jesus by being obedient, this results in the believer producing much fruit that opens the door for prayers to be answered in a positive manner, the Father to be glorified, and the believer to demonstrate that he or she is a disciple or Jesus. When these things are accomplished, they will bring complete joy to the believer. This is not human joy, but spiritual joy that brings gladness, satisfaction, and peace to the soul. When a believer does not abide in Jesus, is not obedient to Jesus, does not produce much spiritual fruit, and does not live in the will of God for their lives, then complete spiritual joy is not possible. Are you experiencing complete spiritual joy in your life and soul? If not, you can begin abiding in Jesus today. Begin to develop that intimate relationship with Jesus that your soul as a believer is longing for and that Jesus wants to have with Him!

Pastor Stroud who has written a daily devotional said this on the entry for February 9. “Singing is the natural expression of a heart filled with God. How sad so few professing Christians have a song! We find an abundance of complaining, shining, and criticizing among God’s people., but not much “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph 5:19) It is little wonder that those outside the church are unimpressed with what we have to offer?

Where is the wonder in our worship, the joy in our singing, the power in our preaching, the passion in our praying, the enthusiasm in our witnesses, and the hilarity in our giving? Yet, we claim close relations with the infinite, eternal, and creative God who was so passionate about us that He gladly laid down His life that we might be saved. Where is the excitement and joy of the Lord that has been the strength of God’s people through the ages (Neh. 8:10)? God wants us to be glad and rejoice in Him i.e., to celebrate His love, grace mercy, faithfulness, goodness, truth, salvation, righteousness, dominion, glory, majesty, power, etc. I believe Vance Havner pegged many of us when he wrote, ‘Those somber folk in our churches who confuse long faces with spirituality need a heart lift as well as a face lift.’

Friend, you and I are advertisements for the kingdom; we are Jesus public relations agents. People are forming opinions of Him by listening to us. So, get busy singing His praise!”

If you are abiding in Jesus with that personal, intimate, relationship, you are living the abundant life He promised in John 10:10. Continue to develop it and make it more intimate. If you are not abiding in Jesus, you are missing on the following:

· Producing much spiritual fruit for Jesus

· Prayers being answered positively

· Glorifying the Father

· Proving to be a Jesus’ disciple

· Finding complete spiritual joy in your life and soul

SELAH

Questions or comments