Bearing Fruit for the Lord

Jesus Taught About Bearing Fruit

Book of John Chapter 15:1-17

What is the relationship of Jesus to those who love Him? We must be open to the fact that we depend upon Him for all things in this life and then the glory of our Heavenly life!

Jesus will teach us the reality of this in our lesson today. Christ Jesus is the source of our life here on earth and our spiritual life and our fruitfulness!

We will see that in our passage today that the Lord Jesus will represent the true "vine" that is strong and cannot fail it is so strong. The vine of nature is only a shadow of this true vine!

We will see that the husbandman, the farmer, represents our Father who is in Heaven.

Isa 27:2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

Isa 27:3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

We will see that there are 4 stages of the fruit from this true "Vine":

1) No fruit

2) Fruit

3) More fruit

4) Much fruit

A true Christian is one who abides in the Lord Jesus Christ!

We already know that our Messiah is the "perfect Light", "the perfect Bread", "the perfect Witness", "the perfect Shepherd" and now "the perfect Vine".

We should also consider that Jesus is still speaking to His disciples and this will include His disciples today.

1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Judas Iscariot has already left to do his treachery.

So let's begin:

*****Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

We do not have to guess at anything that Jesus reveals here because He tells us Himself.

This vine many times represents Israel, but the Lord will be rejected by Israel and the Lord said He would never drink of this vine again, so we can understand the now the Lord Jesus Christ has been planted by our Father in Heaven as the true "Vine" who will now become the foundation of the Church!

We must also realize that the true "Vine" cannot do His work in this world without His branches.

We can also understand that the pruning shears is the Word of God but if we allow temptation to draw us away from the Lord, we will see that this world will take away our fruitfulness.

We must also know that when God prunes His Vine it can be a little painful!

We already know we must mortify our flesh, so we do not depend on our own wisdom, our own rightness, nor our own strength.

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col_3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

How do we know we are worthy to be a branch on this perfect "Vine"?

We must be washed in the Word of God!

*****Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

When we use the Word of God as our "mirror" we will see that we come up short all the time, but we need to get a daily cleansing!

When we measure ourselves against Jesus Christ, we will realize the path we must follow.

Jas_1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

If we continue to see our "natural face" and not a "spiritual face" we still have much work to do and the Word of God points this out to us!

When we have prayed in sincerity for the Lord to come into our heart, the Lord will send the Holy Spirit to abide in us forever, but we will never bear fruit unless we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work within us!

To abide, as Christ Jesus explains it "I will live in you while you live in Me" and continue in His love.

If we cannot become one in Christ, we are failing in ourselves and are an unattached branch serving no purpose.

The more we are attached to the "Vine"(Christ) the more nourishment we will draw. The more nourishment we draw the more fruitful we will be.

The Christian cannot survive without Christ Jesus and this is what we see in our world today.

The Church that does not abide in the Lord Jesus Christ!

The unattached branch does not understand the nature of bearing fruit!

In fact the unattached branch is not even Christian, but thieves and robbers and they are doomed!

He will wither just to be gathered and cast into the fire!

The unattached branch is doomed!

We can only abide in Christ when we have the Holy Spirit living within us!

When we are in the flesh, we are governed by the powers of our sin nature.

When we are in the Holy Spirit and He within us, we are governed by "Grace"!

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

There is only one Vine!

*****Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Just like one coat of paint is never enough, the Lord Jesus repeats Himself in this most important lesson.

We are nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ!

We must realize there are those that are not branches of the true "Vine" but claiming to be true.

If we are a disciple of Jesus Christ, we are the branches, but we can never become the "Vine"!

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

As branches we are to produce fruit!

It is impossible to live as a Christian without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Many believe that producing fruit is just reproducing yourself by leading someone else to Christ and this is a very great part of it but without the fruit of the Holy Spirit we will not get very far.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If we bear this fruit, we can then be fruitful in all the things of Christ Jesus!

Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

How do we get our prayers answered?

*****Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

We should understand that our prayers are the fruit of faith and our prayers can produce more faith!

It is not only answered pray but many other things.

Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

We live or die by the Words of Jesus Christ!

Our greatest thing then, is we must be to be more like Christ than we ever have, and we must learn from Him by studying the Word of God, allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to work in our lives!

*****Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

We always talk about glorifying God with our lives. The answer lies in this passage of Scripture!

If we are a truly abiding in Christ and He in us, then and only then are we glorifying God!

Many people ask why has God created such things as the night sky showing the beauty of the stars and the planets.

Why would God create such mighty oceans?

Why God would create the seasons?

Why God would create such beautiful plants even those that feed us?

The answer lies in the fact that everything in nature tells the story of the Gospel and shows us all the glory of God.

Our greatest power for glorifying God is a life of being like the Lord Jesus Christ!

God will transform our soul into the image of the Lord Jesus if we will just allow Him full control.

The true Christian life has the power to overcome all the obstacles of this world we live in.

The sufferings and sacrifices of this life may seem to hinder us, but in reality, they increase our faith and our prayer life, if we would listen to what the Lord is saying!

We will never be a positive influence in this world until we accept the influence of Jesus Christ into our hearts and soul!

Psa 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Psa 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

Psa 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

Psa 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

It is while we live that we can glorify God!

It all boils down to, just how much do we love the Lord our God?

*****Joh 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Jesus will not settle for less than a close personal relationship with each believer.

Remember Jesus Christ loved us before He ever met us in His person.

Christ Jesus not only loves us, but He loves us like His Father loves Him.

The entire written Word of God is to show us the Love that God for those who believe what He says and trust in His love.

In fact we could say the Bible is God's love letter to all those who have faith in His promises!

Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

We must understand that obedience is the key to God's love!

We already know that we are not disciples of the Lord unless we are obedient to the written Word of God!

We know the Lord is perfect, so He can only have perfect love!

The Lord Jesus Christ paid the supreme price for His obedience to His Father.

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

As we seek for love from someone then we must draw closer to them and it is the same for the Lord. If we truly love the Lord, we will draw closer to Him.

We can draw closer to the Lord if we keep the commandments of God!

We will not know the commandments of the Lord unless we study the Word of God.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Joy is an inner gladness, a deep-seated pleasure! Joy can cause assurance and confidence that leads to a cheerful heart.

Joy is divine because it originated from the Lord! It is possessed and given by God to all those who obey the Lord.

Joy does not depend on circumstances!

Joy does not even depend on happiness!

it is Joy that causes happiness and not happiness that causes joy!

Joy comes by "faith"!

Joy comes by obedience!

How much did it cost the Lord to show His love to us?

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

We are a foolish people if we do not cherish the love of God!

*****Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

If we could just keep this one commandment this world would change overnight.

Whatever standard Jesus Christ had in His love, is the same standard we should have!

How many times does the Lord have to tell us until it sinks in, that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ we must keep His commandments?

How many times does the lord have to tell us we are to love everyone including our enemies?

Jesus died for His enemies to.

What were the last words of Christ before He died upon the cross.

"Father forgive my enemies, they have not realized what they have done".

It was Jesus who decided He wanted to be friends with His creation and through much effort He has given us the truth of His Word!

1Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

As the friends of Christ Jesus we must be built upon and centered upon the Word of God!

*****Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Joh 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

If we are the true friends of the Lord, we would never deny Him under any circumstance even if we were in peril for our own life.

We must never be ashamed of the Lord, we must always be His friend.

If we are part of the Heavenly Family, then we need to act like it!

As the ordained of Christ our job is to go forward and produce fruit!

I believe that everyone who has friends, desires to be remembered by those friends in times of troubles or distress.

A true friend will certainly come to the aid of another friend!

This is what Jesus does every day, and we must do the same for Him.

Christ cannot be in the schools because we let Him down.

Christ cannot be in the government because we will not back Him.

If Christ is our friend, we must rise to His level.

If the world is our friend, we will sink to that level.

Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Rom 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

Rom 12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

One more time Jesus says for us to love one another.

Amen

Let’s pray!

Jesus Sent the Holy Spirit

Jesus Promised Another Comforter

Book of John 14:15-31

We know that as Christians, the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Jesus or the Spirit of truth, they are all one and the same person will come to live within us.

He is the promised "Comforter"!

He is not an "it". He is a person!

In the words of Jesus, The Holy Spirit could not do His work until Jesus ascended back to Heaven.

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The truth is without the Lord Jesus Christ these disciples were nothing but ignorant fishermen.

The truth is without Jesus Christ we are even worse than these fishermen, they at least had spent time with Christ Jesus.

We may not understand it, but the truth of these things is, that at this time we are better off without the presence of Christ Jesus because now we can be filled with the Holy Spirit who will never leave us!

And the death of every Christian is a loss to this world we live in!

To be honest the Church could not grow if Jesus was still upon this earth because He could not be worshipped in Spirit and truth.

These disciples needed to know all these things as Jesus explained them.

We all need to understand that it is far better at this time that Jesus is our Mediator and our High Priest, ready to defend us at all times in Heaven and our profit is far greater in Spiritual things.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Let's Begin:

*****Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The truth of our relationship with God is that our "Faith" cannot grow unless we keep the commandments of God.

We have no work at all to be reconciled to the Lord, but our "Faith".

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We do have a work to do after we are reconciled to the Lord and it begins with keeping the commandments of the Lord!

Without this then we can go no further!

This is not picking and choosing what we obey, this is being obedient to all the Word of God, rightly divided!

Doing this is saying "I love you Lord"! Being obedient is not an option for each believer, it is a must!

Notice this is not saying you are perfect, this is saying "I love you Lord"!

*****Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Without loving God the Son and being obedient to His commandments, we can never know God the Holy Spirit!

The love of Jesus is being devoted and making a commitment and this is what the Holy Spirit will teach us once He lives within us!

God the Holy Spirit comes to live within us to help us in any way possible to get closer to the Lord, who will one day deliver us to God the Father.

Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

All the things true of the Holy Spirit are true of the Lord Jesus Christ! Why?

*****Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of Jesus Christ!

The Holy Spirit will testify of the truth of Jesus Christ!

The Holy Spirit will defend the truth of Jesus Christ!

I you do not love Jesus Christ it is impossible to have the Holy Spirit living within you!

If you cannot love the Son of God, Jesus Christ, then you cannot know God the Father, it’s just that simple.

1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

For those 11 disciples the Lord Jesus Christ was their first Comforter and the Lord promised He would not leave His disciples without a Comforter.

*****Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The Lord Jesus Christ completed His work for our salvation before He went back to His Father's House.

The Rapture of the Church cannot come to a reality until the Holy Spirit completes His work on this earth!

Gen_6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Again

Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Remember verse 3

Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

God will never break His promise!

*****Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

It would be only a few days that Jesus in that body of flesh would part ways, at His death.

We can believe that only His true disciples could see Jesus after His resurrection. There is no record in the Scriptures to tell us that any of the lost saw Jesus after He arose from that grave.

Those in the world will never see Jesus again until the White Throne judgment.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

It is only those that believe who see Jesus in His Spiritual self and one day after death or after the "Rapture" of the Church, who will see Him then face to face.

1Jn_3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

At salvation we are filled with the Holy Spirit if we have placed our "Faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that will never leave us!

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Again we see Jesus pray to the Father that we join Him in Heaven and our Father in Heaven always grants the Lord Jesus what He ask for!

As far as our Heavenly Father is concerned, we are already His, but we just haven't come face to face with Him yet.

Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

How do we know that these things are true?

*****Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

So how do we know we are in the family of God?

We keep the commandments of the Lord? These commandments include all the 10 commandments.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If we love the Lord enough, we can be saved from everlasting death and this is the beginning of our faith!

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10 "For with the heart" man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Then we must do the work that pleases God!

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

There is no other way to please God!

This Judas that asked this question was Judas Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus.

The world hates the Lord Jesus Christ because they cannot see, feel, or touch the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christian believer can!

Not many of us keep all the commandments as we should, and I dare say there is no one living who can truly say they keep them all because they would be lying if they said so.

We are still sinners save only by God's "Grace" but we are certainly to try to obey them all. This would be part of our sanctification.

How did Jesus answer?

*****Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

So many people just do not get this, or they reject it. Keeping the Word of God is essential for the Holy Trinity to live within us. Just ask Jesus!

This is the only way Christ Jesus will reveal Himself to those who love Him and not to the world!

We do not just have the Holy Spirit living within us but the entire Triune God!

If we expect the blessings of God, then we should be careful what we put into our bodies and where we take our bodies.

Those that have the Holy Trinity living within them will be in church at the appointed times to be fed the Word of God.

When we are unwilling to do what the Lord ask us to do why should we expect Him to Mediate for us when times are hard!

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Love and obedience are tied together, if we want to serve the Lord. Remember Adam was not obedient, and this is why sin entered into the world to begin with!

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

There are some churches who use nothing but the red letters but seems to me this is rejecting everything the Lord says here.

*****Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

If we want to know what the Holy Spirit is going to reveal to us, then we had better read all the Scriptures, because the Lord Jesus Christ can be found from Genesis to Revelations!

The Holy Spirit is the teacher that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to us and all the teachings came from our Father in Heaven.

The Holy Spirit will teach us about truth and about life! This includes principles and conduct and morality and behavior.

The Holy Spirit will help us to remember what God has said and when we are brought before the Magistrates, it is the Holy Spirit who will give us the words to say.

1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Luk 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:

Luk 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

This is the only way we can have that sure peace with our Heavenly Father and our God!

*****Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Again we see those words "let not your heart be troubled".

This means we should never have to worry about anything if, "IF" we do as the Lord has taught us to obey.

Pride got Lucifer and he is now known as Satan.

Disobedience got Adam and his son became the first murderer.

We should ask ourselves, what is going to get us in trouble with a God who would much rather offer us blessings.

There are no words to describe the love God has for His children!

What is true peace? It is when we are interwoven with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and all our brothers and sisters in Christ!

The Old Testament said God be with you and the New Testament says God be within you!

There is the peace with God:

Rom_5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

There is the peace of God:

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Our Savior is much greater than this world we live in:

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We can have perfect peace when our minds stay with the Lord.

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

The Lord tells His disciples that He had to go back to Heaven for all these things to make an impact upon mankind and they have but there is still coming a time when the Lord will return.

*****Joh 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Joh 14:29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

We should not miss the fact that Jesus saw the cross as just going home. When this world has done all it can to us our mind should be on, we are going home!

It’s hard to rejoice when a child of God, who is well loved goes home to be with the Lord, but when the sadness is gone it should be replaced with rejoicing and we can actually see them again.

It was by God the Father's will that all these things have been put in place:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Those who have rejected God even after seeing His power in Creation will never understand the truth of God. What we have already seen is nothing compared to what all those who love the Lord will see one endless day in the future!

That word "again" in this passage was added by man so let’s read this Scripture without it.

Jesus said: "I go away, and come unto you"

Jesus Christ was "glorified" at the Cross of His death and "glorified" again at His resurrection. It was that "glorified" Savior that went back to Heaven and within each believer!

It was not until all these things came to pass before these disciples knew the truth of these words of Christ.

This is the reason they could serve in the work of the Lord without fear and this is why the Church was born to never die!

*****Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Satan used all the power that he possessed in an attempt to stop the Lord Jesus from completing what He came to do, and Satan failed because no one can win against the power of God.

Satan used every human he had, the hard-line Jews, the High Priest, the Pharisees, the Sadduccees, and Pilate and even Judas who made a bad choice, but Jesus had no sin and there was nothing in Jesus to attract Jesus to sin.

Jesus had no guilt and no corruption, and these are the same things He has given to us in our battles with Satan.

By the "Grace" of God we have no sin, no guilt, and no corruption because our Lord gave us "Grace" the gift of God!

If we just do as the Lord has said and love with all our heart and be true to the "Grace" of God, we have no reason to be angry with this world because this world has nothing in us.

Pass all these words along as best we can to whosoever will listen and we to will soon be going home.

Glory be to God the Father and His plan for this world!

Amen

Let's pray!

Jesus Prepared For His Own Death

Jesus Prepared for His Death

Book of John 13:31-14:6

Maybe the most important theme of this lesson is that the Lord Jesus Christ will show us His relationship to God the Father.

We will see that after Judas had left to betray the Lord Jesus and He then gets deeper in His message with those 11 who remained, who still had not realized that Judas would betray the Lord Jesus.

We see the Lord as He begins to enter into His "passion" which means the sufferings of the Lord as He begins His last few days on this earth before His resurrection and next His return.

In reality as the Son of Man, Jesus is preparing Himself to be the only sacrifice that can save all humanity!

It is through His death that He is glorified, and God the Father is glorified in Him!

By His own death the Lord has replaced our own death with His life.

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

*****Joh 13:31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

Joh 13:32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

The other disciples may not have known who the Lord had been talking about, but Judas knew, and He left but we must understand that the Lord had sent Judas away, all he needed was to repent and these sitting with Jesus would have been the 12 Apostles and we would have never met the Apostle Paul.

As Judas set in motion the things he did, Christ set in motion His Passion, the sufferings and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This day would be Thursday late in the evening.

Doctor Luke wrote of this: Luk 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Again we will see that there is a true unity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

Jesus would now begin His final steps as the Son of Man!

Even in His dying, Jesus was perfect in His obedience to His Father.

In His death Jesus would transfer His own righteousness to every believer because we had no righteousness at all to use to gain peace with God the Father.

Isa_64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

With the righteousness of the Lord we are at peace with God:

Rom_5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Some would say that Jesus was having second thoughts, but He would not be God if He was happy to see the death of anyone.

The thing that was most important was that by His death, He would triumph over Satan and break Satan's power over death he held over the souls of mankind!

1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

This is why the Lord had come down from Heaven and had to die on the cross!

*****Joh 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

After this meal with His disciples and Judas already gone to do His evil deed, Jesus said He only had a short time to finish the work God had given Him to do.

It would require His death. At this time these men could not grasp the resurrection of the Lord after His death.

They would not understand these things until they were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost which now was only about 53 days away.

The thing that they had to understand was that Jesus demanded a new commandment and that was for them to love one another but not as they had been doing but they were to show the love Jesus had for them to each other.

All of us can say we love one another but do we have that unconditional love that our Savior had.

These disciples had just been arguing over who should receive the highest positions of authority when Jesus returned to set up His Kingdom.

To love like Jesus, is to not to be a judge but to be a witness of the love of Jesus.

Once we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit moves in to live within us but as human beings we also need each other which is the purpose of the Church for like-minded humans to gather together in the name of Christ and comfort and edify each other.

Mat_18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

These two or three would be the beginnings of a church!

Jesus had already given us one new commandment that extended from the Old Testament.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The new commandment that Jesus was talking about this day extends these two commandments.

We are not only to love one another, we are to love like Jesus loved and like God loves.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

If we cannot do this one thing, then we are not disciples of God.

This means we have stopped the learning process if we cannot love as Jesus loved and still loves each of us today.

A true disciple follows his Master!

We do not just go where He goes, we do as He does! "God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knows God".

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Simon Peter always ask the questions the others were afraid to ask and most every time he would stick his foot in his own mouth.

*****Joh 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

Joh 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

Joh 13:38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

We all want to be where Jesus is, but not many want to carry their own cross!

The Cross is a sign of death!

It is sure that Simon Peter was not ready for Jesus to leave them, because he had not yet accepted everything that Jesus had said.

This is where we all get in trouble. We all get over confident in our Christian strength.

It would have been great for the disciples if they went with Jesus back to Heaven just as it would be for us if Jesus took us back to Heaven when He first saves us.

If this had happened, then there would be no church today.

The Lord assures us we are going to Heaven and that we are a Temple of God, but we have work to do after we are saved.

Note after we are saved and not before we are saved!

The Lord Jesus would cause Peter to humble himself before he was ready for Pentecost!

Peter had not yet taken a good look at himself in the mirror of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is to be our mirror to see if we are getting more like Him!

Peter would not show the proper strength of a Christian, until that cock crew and he realized he was denying the Lord whom He dearly loved!

The one sin that we as believers must not commit is to deny Jesus Christ!

Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Gal 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

We should know that there are some questions we might have, we have no business asking.

For instance are there just a few who will be saved? This question does not help our ability to share the Gospel with those in need of knowing the Lord as their Savior.

Go back and check the covenants to Abraham and King David.

Jesus would pray that all who loved Him would one day be with Him in Heaven and God the Father always answers the prayers of His Son.

This would be a much better thought when we share the Gospel with anyone.

Then the Lord tells His disciples, all of us what we love to hear.

*****Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

This is one of the most overlooked Scriptures in the Gospel.

Jesus says why do we worry over such trivial matters!

Even when we are in the midst of a very bad day, Jesus says don't let it worry you.

Even when we are traveling in the valley of death, don't worry about trivial things.

Even when politicians have gone slap crazy, don't worry about trivial things.

Even when the world is falling apart, don't worry about trivial things.

Why? This place we call the planet earth is not our home!

One day soon we are going to God's House!

*****Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

The Lord Jesus Christ had to die upon this earth and then resurrect from that grave before He went back home, and He would do all these things by Himself so all we would have to do is believe on these things and our Carpenter would go back to Heaven and start building mansions in His Father's House for us to live in!

In reality this body that we call flesh, will also die and be resurrected to fulfill God's plans for us!

There is nothing on this earth that can stop these things from taking place!

Now to those who say God does not exist, I say, I will pray for you that maybe you will change your mind and accept the truth, before it is too late.

The Lord said, if these things were not true, He would tell us because it is impossible for the Lord to Lie!

You see Jesus is never far from us because when God leaves Heaven, God is still in Heaven and Jesus is God!

No matter how many are saved before the Lord returns, there will be enough mansions that we all can have one for ourselves.

That word "many" is a very large quantity!

**The Lord's first step was to be lifted up upon the cross and it is all downhill from that point.

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

**The Lords next step was to arise from the death of the cross. This showed the world that He had the power of God.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

**The Lords next step was to ascend into Heaven and be exalted by His Father.

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

"Jesus said if you believe in God then believe in Me"

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Jesus had to return to Heaven to put these things in place and now He is waiting until that last soul is saved and he will return to take us home.

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

In other words Jesus will return when His patience runs out and this could be any day now!

The one most important thing that the Lord did before He left, He told us how to make it to Heaven.

At the end when the Lord has brought all His children home there will not be a single empty mansion. The Lord knows exactly how many mansions to prepare.

What did the Lord tell these disciples?

1) You know where I am going.

2) You know how to get there.

These are the same things we all should know!

The Lord Jesus Christ went back to where His Father resides.

Joh 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?

The way to get to Heaven is well known there are just many who reject what the Lord has said.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Now we can believe all these things said by the Lord and get to Heaven or we can reject these things and go to Hell.

For those who choose this when they get to Hell, they will find that everyone in Hell are now believers, but it was too late for them to decide.

Another thing we should never do is call the Lord a liar!

*****Joh 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

All these disciples had been thinking that Jesus was about to lead them to the Kingdom of God on this earth.

They had been discussing who would have the greatest honor in that place.

It was now sinking in that Jesus was talking about His death.

Jesus was also talking about His resurrection but neither of these things were understood.

Jesus was also talking about going some-place that they could not go.

These things were hard for them to grasp at this time.

It is hard to forget physical things and react to Spiritual things until "faith" and the Holy Spirit can do their work.

And the Holy Spirit could not do His work until Jesus went back to Heaven.

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Those who think in worldly terms and live for the things of this earth will never understand where Jesus Christ has gone, and they will never be interested in the fact that He will return.

The world of religion refuses to accept that the only way to Heaven is by Jesus Christ but that does not make them right.

I would always want to believe the truth and my "faith" lies in the truth of God!

**The Lord Jesus Christ not only points out how to walk in this life and how to reach our Heavenly Father, but He will take us by the hand and lead us there.

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;

**Our Heavenly Father has shown us what He is like in the "Person" of Jesus Christ

Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

**Jesus Christ reveals the truth of our beginning. Jesus Christ also reveals the truth of our ending and because He loves us, He gives us the choice to choose the truth or to choose a lie.

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

**True freedom comes only by Jesus Christ.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of life:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

The only way to this life is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus did not only go to His Father's house, He went to the Father again giving us an example of what we are to do.

Yes, we have a mansion in Heaven but the greatest thing in Heaven is our Heavenly Father who we will finally see face to face!

Then our love ones who are already there.

And then last of all, our Mansion which will not seem more important than the family of God!

Amen

Let's Pray!