Steve Gentry
[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to John chapter 15. That’s [0:05] where we’ll spend the majority of this morning. If you’ve ever seen the film, the [0:16] usual suspects, which I know it’s only the TV version that’s allowed, but in [0:23] this movie we have this criminal mastermind, his name is Kaiser Soze, and [0:27] throughout the film we have a police detective interviewing a suspect in this [0:32] robbery, and he’s trying to figure out the identity of this mysterious villain
[0:37] by the name of Kaiser Soze, who’s just this mastermind, he’s elusive, and people [0:41] can’t figure out is he real or is he just this fake enigma that people are [0:46] throwing out there to throw everybody off the trail of the real criminal. And [0:50] at the end of the film, what you come to realize is that this unassuming [0:57] winsome, if you would say, man that he’s been interviewing is in fact Kaiser Soze [1:03] himself, and he through the entire film has been in the same room with the very
[1:08] guy that he’s been looking for, but he gets away because he’s so elusive, and he [1:13] convinced him that he didn’t even know who the man was. And when you find out [1:18] the identity of the criminal, and if you haven’t seen the film, I probably just [1:23] have to ruin the whole thing for you. Sorry. It’s been out for like 12 years. [1:28] Come on. You’ve had time. All right. Don’t feel that bad. What happens is, is there [1:38] all of a sudden all these flashbacks that go to certain points during the
[1:43] film, and when they have these flashbacks in light of the fact that you [1:47] know who Kaiser Soze is, what happens to you is you’re like, that makes more sense. [1:52] Okay, I get this now. Oh, that’s what was going on. All the way down to the fact [1:59] that he uses this name from the bottom of his coffee cup, and you’re like, oh, I get it now.
[2:08] And a lot of ways, and some of you may be like, that doesn’t sound right. [2:12] Scriptures are like that. Okay. What happens to the Christian life, and what you, if you’ve [2:18] noticed what’s been going on for the past few weeks through the series of life, [2:21] what we’ve been doing is, is we’ve almost been working backwards through Scripture. [2:27] Because really, to make sense of a lot of Scripture, and a lot of our problems in [2:31] reading the Scripture, what it comes from is that we’re not reading it in light of the fact that
[2:36] Jesus rose from the dead, which is the climax. It’s the ultimate point of Scripture. It’s where [2:43] Scripture was going, and then where Scripture goes from there. It is the story of Scripture, [2:49] the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And to understand even the book of Leviticus, [2:56] which we’re all like, we know we spend a lot of time there, right? To even understand that, [3:02] you have to do it in light of the resurrection. Because the resurrection is the whole point of [3:06] Scripture. Jesus is the point of Scripture. And without him, you can only see it through a blurry
[3:16] lens. And it doesn’t all add up. It doesn’t all fit. But then through him, it’s like lights start [3:23] going on. You’re like, oh, okay, that makes more sense now. Oh, I understand. God didn’t just hate [3:30] sheep. It makes sense now. Okay. And so what we’re going to do today, and I do that to get [3:37] to just one thing, okay, is last week we were in John 21, and today we’re going to be in John 15. [3:43] And you’re like, why would you go backwards? It’s because to really grasp what Jesus is talking [3:49] about in John chapter 15, I think it’s very helpful to see what he told his disciples to
[3:57] do in light of his resurrection in John chapter 21. Because in John 15, if we don’t know what [4:03] Jesus has really done or what the conclusion of the story is, we can only really grasp a part of [4:09] it. And it seems very unrealistic. It seems very mystical. It seems very allegorical. It seems like [4:14] this thing that we could never achieve it. But in light of the resurrection and in light of Jesus’s [4:19] command to the disciples, when he says, as the father sent me, so I am sending you, [4:27] we start to understand that the things that Jesus had going on in his life now through the
[4:34] resurrection, through redemption, through salvation, through the work of the Holy Spirit [4:39] in our lives, now we begin to see it’s not about what I’m capable of or not capable of. [4:47] It’s about what Jesus is capable of. And there’s not really anything he’s not capable of.
[4:55] It’s just that Jesus is capable. The father sent him on this mission to save us, and he does it. [5:03] And the resurrection just showcases it for us. That if God can raise physically from physical death, [5:13] then surely he can save me. Maybe he can even resurrect me. And there’s this reality that we’re [5:21] dead in our sins, but because of the resurrection, we can now have life. We can now be reconciled [5:27] with the father. And John 15 does this amazing job, and it’s because Jesus said it, and he usually [5:35] does a pretty amazing job at things. John 15 spells out the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ
[5:42] so well. But the thing is, I think it’s this passage of scripture, it’s one of those coffee [5:47] cup verses where we plaster it all over t-shirts, and then we use the language, we’re like, [5:53] how you doing? Just abiding in Christ. Just abiding. And it’s like, what does that even look like? [6:01] You’re like, it just looks like abiding. That doesn’t make any sense. It’s not supposed to. [6:08] I’m like, no, I’m pretty sure it might be needing to make sense for me to do it in my life.
[6:13] But so what we’re going to do today is we’re going to try to make sense of this language [6:17] that Jesus uses where he basically calls himself a plant. [6:21] Okay? And so we’re going to try to make sense of it. Remember last week, if you were here last week, [6:24] if you weren’t, go listen to the podcast, it’s on the website. If you were here last week, [6:28] we looked at the Great Commission and the three words that really kickstart the Great Commission, [6:33] go make disciples. We said last week we were going to talk about the word go, and this week
[6:37] we’re going to talk about the word make disciples. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. But [6:41] we’re going to talk about go a little more for a second, okay? I hope that sounds good to you. [6:44] Go to John chapter 15. We’re going to start reading in verse one.
[6:50] In John 15, starting in verse one, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says, [6:55] I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear [7:02] fruit he takes away. In every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. [7:11] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [7:14] Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, [7:22] neither can you unless you abide in me. Jesus begins to give this strange lesson in botany
[7:31] to his disciples. But if we really think about it, it makes perfect sense because it doesn’t take [7:36] long to go out in your backyard and just look at the way, you know, in Virginia, we don’t really [7:40] have many vines that we want. We usually spray a roundup on them or something. But if you look [7:46] at the life of a tree, it’s the same as the life of a vine. If you go in your backyard and you cut [7:51] a branch off of a tree and then throw it in the middle of your backyard and just let it sit there [7:55] for a couple of days, another tree is not going to grow. If you cut a branch off of a tree, it dies.
[8:03] So what Jesus is saying here is this general revelation that’s just kind of clear through [8:07] the way creation works. And it’s interesting how creation constantly points back to the creator. [8:14] And Jesus sometimes gives us these amazing little allegories that help us see that. [8:19] And so what Jesus is saying is very clear. If you are a branch and you cut yourself off from the [8:24] vine or someone else cuts you off from the vine, you’re going to die. You’re not going to experience [8:30] life. You will begin very quickly from the outset. You’re going to begin dying and you’re going to
[8:38] shrivel up. So it is with the life of a believer. So the place that we have to start this morning [8:44] is just with the key point that discipleship is life in Jesus. It cannot be defined by anything else. [8:53] And Jesus is telling us that right here, that if you hope to follow him, if you hope to go, [9:03] if you hope to be a sent one, if you hope to, as the father sent him, so I’m sending you, [9:09] if you hope to be the one that he’s sending, the only place that you will find the ability, [9:15] the strength, the capability, the mercy and grace that you will constantly need because
[9:21] you’re just a branch and you can’t do anything on your own. The only thing that you can do is go to [9:27] Jesus. You can’t do it. You cannot be a disciple and be apart from him. To be a disciple of Christ [9:37] is to be grafted into him to the point where you’re finding your very source of life in him [9:48] and to break you away
[9:51] means you are not a disciple. You’re just you. And over the past few weeks, we’ve pretty done a [10:00] pretty good job of spelling out what you by yourself is capable of. You’re only capable of death [10:09] because you’re in your sin. Apart from Jesus, you’re just sinful. You’re just a sinner, [10:15] not because of things you do, but because of who you are. You’re just born that way.
[10:22] And so apart from him, life can’t be found. But what’s very interesting as we go through this [10:28] is that if you were to look back and read through John chapter 14, you would find this very [10:33] interesting language, which Jesus kind of jumps off of in John chapter 15. Okay, the kind of the [10:45] with his disciples through gardens, and he’s making his way to the garden of Gethsemane. [10:50] So to hear Jesus talk about vines and branches is going to be really relevant to the setting [10:56] of the story because you’re kind of surrounded by plants. And so Jesus uses, but he only uses
[11:03] this this analogy of you inside of me, me inside of you after he explains what we talked about the [11:11] second week of this series worship. Remember, we talked about the fact that inside of the Trinity [11:17] is this constant outpouring where they’re completely equal. They’re where they’re [11:21] completely in each other. They’re completely pouring themselves out for each other, pointing [11:25] to one another. The father sends the son, the son sends the spirit. The spirit points back to the [11:30] son. The son points back to the father. It’s constant outpouring. It’s a worship of inside
[11:35] of the Trinity that’s taking place of uplifting one another. And what happens through the [11:39] resurrection of Jesus is that we’re taken from a place where we rebelled against what we were [11:43] created to be, which is worshippers. We rebelled against the worship of God and started to worship [11:48] other things, according to Romans chapter one. And so what Jesus does through the resurrection [11:53] is he takes the penalty of our rebellion, of our worship of things other than God onto himself, [12:00] and he dies a physical death for us, atoning for our sin because he’s God. He’s the judge.
[12:07] He was perfect. He didn’t have any sin on his own to die for. So only the sinless one can take [12:12] on the sins of another and be the substitute to pay that legal price for us to reconcile us back [12:21] to God. And so what takes place very quickly is what we’re seeing is that Jesus is bringing us [12:28] back into the outpouring that takes place inside of the Godhead. So we begin to be able to experience [12:36] the life of God in our own lives. But through John 14, Jesus is talking to the disciples and [12:42] he’s confusing them really bad because he says things like, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the
[12:48] Father. Now, if you’ve ever seen my Father, he’s 5’6“, he has blonde hair, and he’s much smaller [12:57] than me. So if you’ve seen me, you haven’t seen my Father. All right? If you’ve seen my Father, [13:03] you haven’t seen me. We’re distinct individuals. If I’ve seen you, I haven’t seen your Dad or your [13:10] kids. But Jesus looks at the disciples and he’s like, hey guys, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen [13:14] the Father. And the disciples are like, well, what are you talking about, Jesus? That doesn’t make [13:18] any sense because Philip, he actually looks at Jesus and he’s like, hey, can we see the Father
[13:23] at some point? And Jesus just looks at them and he’s like, have I been with you so long and you [13:33] I’m in the Father and the Father is in me. They’re like, whoa, Jesus, you are blowing me away here. [13:39] This is like a head trip. That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. So throughout that chapter, [13:46] Jesus begins to use this Trinitarian language of the life that goes on inside of the Godhead. [13:52] And then towards the end, he says, now you can take part in this. But he says, if you obey my [14:01] commands, by this, they’ll know that you’re my followers if you love one another. And so very
[14:10] quickly, we can get very confused by Jesus’s language and say, well, there’s a lot of stuff [14:14] that we have to do in order to take place in the life of God. But then Jesus very quickly dispells [14:19] that because we can’t. Why can’t we? Sin. The thing that God doesn’t do is what we do. So that’s why [14:29] we can’t do this. But when Jesus says that, he then follows up with John chapter 15 and tells us [14:36] the hope that we have for taking part in the life of God, which if we could be completely obedient [14:45] and if we could go back and erase the whole Garden of Eden episode that ruined everything,
[14:49] if we could do that, then everything would be honky-dory and everybody would know that we’re [14:54] from him and that we love him. But it takes like one week of marriage to realize that that hold, [14:58] they’ll know that you’re my followers by your love for one another. You’re incapable. I mean, [15:03] you are with this woman. If you’re a guy, and I can only speak from a guy’s perspective and be [15:07] very thankful for that. You have this woman that you love with every, I mean, you know, especially [15:14] right when you get married, it’s like every fiber of my being, my heart beats for you. I love you.
[15:21] And very quickly inside of your marriage, you’re like, even though I completely love you, [15:24] just going to love myself a little bit right now. And I’m going to do something that’s going to hurt [15:29] you very bad or say something that’s going to hurt you very bad. And I’m going to spend a [15:32] couple of days not caring about your hurts. Do you see how incapable we are of even loving the person [15:39] that’s the closest to us? We’re completely incapable. And so clearly the world is going [15:47] have a problem seeing that we’re from him because of all these problems.
[15:54] And when Jesus says, if you’re going to follow me, this is what it’s got to look like. [15:59] Very quickly, we’re like, but remember, what do we read in John 15, one in, in light of the [16:08] resurrection. Okay. So when Jesus says in John 15 verse one, when he says, I am the true vine and [16:14] my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And [16:19] I’ll talk about that a little bit later. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may [16:23] bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me and
[16:28] I in you. When he says this, and we read it, it’s kind of foggy. But then in light of the resurrection [16:36] and the totality of the revelation of scripture, oh, I’m incapable. So that’s why I have to abide.
[16:47] See, I can’t obey him. I can’t love like I should. I can’t. Christianity is a great [16:55] religion of cants, isn’t it? Because it’s all about what we can’t do. And it’s all about what [17:02] only he can do. See, we find ourselves very early on discouraged because the harder we try to abide [17:10] in Jesus, the more frustrated we will be as long as we’re trying to do it under our own strength.
[17:18] So where’s our hope? What do we do? Look very quickly to 1 John chapter 2 verses 3 through 6. [17:25] Same author, and I think he’s jumping off of the words of Jesus here in 1 John chapter 2 [17:29] when he says this. And by this we know we have come to know him. Notice the order of words he’s [17:38] using here. If we keep his commandments, notice that John jumping off of the words of Jesus says, [17:46] we come to know him. Then we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his [17:55] commandments as a liar. And the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word in him, truly the
[18:01] God is perfected. By this, we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought [18:08] to walk in the same way in which he walked. See, notice he uses that word abides.
[18:16] But in the language it’s like this continual thing that’s already happened, [18:21] yet we’re walking in the truth of it. See, there is no potential or possibility inside of you [18:29] to jump onto the vine that is Jesus, then graft yourself in and hook yourself up, [18:36] and then be able to abide, and then you can start all this. No, Jesus has to do the work himself. [18:41] The resurrection has to do the work in your life. You have to be transformed to even begin to become [18:47] a disciple of Jesus Christ. To follow him is a work that is initiated by him in your life.
[18:54] To where he redeems you, brings him to himself, transforms you like we talked about a couple [18:59] weeks ago where he pours the Holy Spirit on us, and then we can then pour ourselves back out to [19:04] him. You have to know him before you can even hope to start to keep any of his commandments.
[19:13] Because without knowing him, it’s an impossible task. You can’t be a disciple. It’s just not [19:18] going to happen. But here’s the key that you have to understand.
[19:27] The branch is dependent on the vine, but once you have been brought in, [19:32] once you take part in the worship of God, once you are redeemed,
[19:41] something’s going to happen in your life. Something’s going to change. You’re not going to be [19:50] following the same things you used to follow. You will now follow Jesus. Decide to follow Jesus. [19:54] Discipleship is the act of following Jesus. For too long, what we have done is we have basically [20:03] used the type of language in our lives to say that discipleship looks different in everyone’s [20:09] life because everyone is different. It makes sense. You are far different than me. Even in [20:15] the looks department, nobody looks like me. This is God’s joke. He didn’t do it to anybody else.
[20:22] He did it to me. Nobody knows why. It’s his sovereignty.
[20:28] You know, I have a different skill set than you do. Mine is far lacking compared to yours [20:33] most likely. You may be actually able to use your hands to fix things. I do that and they just end [20:39] up cut. And I end up crying. And my wife’s like, it’s okay, honey. And I’m like, I’m not a man. [20:48] And then she fixes it.
[20:52] It’s very discouraging. Let me tell you.
[20:58] But here’s the problem. For too long inside of the church, [21:01] here’s what we’ve based discipleship on. The branch.
[21:07] We become the author of our own discipleship.
[21:12] But remember when I told you what the branch does by itself? It withers and dies. [21:18] So why would you base discipleship on you? You’re incapable. See, discipleship is the act of [21:26] following Jesus. So what is discipleship itself based on? Jesus. See, there are no different [21:34] levels of discipleship. There are no different callings to discipleship. There are no really [21:40] different forms of discipleship based on your wants, your needs, your capabilities. No, [21:45] there’s just Jesus and his wants and his capabilities and his desires and what he wants
[21:55] because discipleship is following him. Otherwise, you’re abiding in yourself and you’re just [22:05] following your mirror. And eventually you’ll bump your head. You may cut it. At best, you’re [22:12] just going to walk in a circle for your entire life. And you’re never going to get anywhere. [22:17] It’s like I watch my little dog. I have this amazing little dog. She’s a lover. Her name’s [22:21] Minnie. She’s a puggle. And eventually she just loses her brain at certain points and begins to [22:28] base her tail as if it really did something bad. And one time she caught it and then cried
[22:38] because she bit herself. All right. Here’s the key. In discipleship, base everything on you. [22:48] And at best, you end up biting yourself because the only thing you can latch onto is you.
[22:56] Let’s unpack that. Go to verse five. I am the vine. You are the branches. [23:04] Notice how Jesus time and time again through these verses is going to come back to the same [23:08] reality. It’s because we are so self-sufficient. He has to remind us over and over again. Stop it. [23:15] I’m the vine. I’m the vine. Pay attention. One more time. I’m the vine.
[23:23] Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. Apart from me, you can do what?
[23:32] Nothing. To some, that may be discouraging, but it should be absolutely the most liberating thing [23:41] that you read in your life because you know what that says? The responsibility is off your shoulders.
[23:48] I don’t have to base it on me, not on my abilities. Jesus is everything. He’s got this. [23:55] It’s about him. Discipleship is about him.
[24:01] And the other thing, Jesus knows me. What did you love that? Jesus doesn’t say, well, you know, [24:08] I’m going to pick teams and some of you may be the last ones I pick. Sorry, I like the guys that can [24:13] preach better. Trust me, that’s not true. And that’s kind of how we scale discipleship. You [24:20] know, the preachers, they get the good stuff and then everybody else gets what’s left over. [24:24] No, you see what Jesus says here? It’s a universal. You can do nothing.
[24:30] So put your name in that. Steve, apart from me, you can do nothing.
[24:36] I’m incapable of even trying to muster up the strength to follow him. [24:40] Then he says, if anyone does not abide in me, he’s thrown away like a branch and withers [24:47] and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
[24:52] All right. Discipleship is the act of following Jesus. I want you to do real quick. And I want [24:57] you to look at verse two, every branch in me that does not bear fruit. He takes away. All right. [25:01] And then jump back down to verse six. If anyone does not abide in me, he has thrown away like a [25:05] branch and withers. The branches are gathered, thrown in the lake of fire. All right. A couple [25:08] years ago, this guy came out with this book. I don’t like calling people out, so I won’t do [25:14] that. But it was a prayer, J. Best, decent book. All right. Everybody’s going to go to Amazon later.
[25:21] Who wrote that? All right. He then came out with another book, OK, on the vine. I forget the name [25:27] of that one. But in it basically is this mentality, OK, that when Jesus uses this language of [25:33] condemnation in verse two, he’s not talking. People don’t really get, you know, he doesn’t [25:37] cut any branch off and then burn that branch. All right. The problem because he says, OK, [25:43] because, you know, the branches were so expensive, what they would do is they would find these [25:47] branches that were lower and then they would cut them off and then they would take the he says the
[25:50] Greek there is to take up and then he would take it up and put it up top grafted in the problem with [25:55] that is the Bible. OK, here’s the problem. Most of our understanding of the scripture, right? If [25:59] the scripture had meant that, that’s what the scripture would say. OK. [26:05] Mm. Let that sink in your mind. If the scripture had meant that, that’s what the scripture would [26:10] say. Here’s what the scripture means. It’s kind of like that mentality from First John, Chapter Two. [26:19] If you do not show any evidence in your life that you are following Jesus Christ,
[26:26] you are not following Jesus Christ. Seems simple, right? It’s profound, though, because most of us [26:34] don’t grasp it. Here’s the thing. All right. I can go to the store, buy a pair of Jordan shorts, [26:43] buy Michael Jordan jersey, go by Michael Jordan shoes, give me a basketball. Very quickly, [26:49] you’ll see I’m not Michael Jordan. All right. The two inch vertical just won’t cut it. [26:55] I can’t grab the net, folks. I’m over six feet tall and can’t grab the net. You know how [27:02] discouraging that was in middle school. Tallest guy in the class couldn’t grab the net.
[27:08] All right. But here’s the mentality. You can throw on all of the religiosity that you want to. [27:16] You can throw on, you can get the thickest Bible that they sell at LifeWay. You can wear a suit [27:23] and tie to church. You can be a deacon. You can be an usher. You can preach a sermon. You can play [27:28] in the band. You can do all of this religious stuff. But Jesus isn’t talking about what you [27:37] can do. He’s talking about who he is and what he says. If you do not bear fruit that can only [27:45] come from me. You’re in trouble. Because you are not abiding in me. What does that look like?
[28:00] That’s what it looks like. It looks like a person that’s completely dependent on Jesus. [28:08] And you’re like, oh great, a Christian answer. Here’s what I mean by that. Here’s how most of [28:13] us view discipleship. Most of us view discipleship as we start with the gospel. All right. What [28:19] Jesus did for us is resurrection from the dead, us repenting of our sins, accepting him as our [28:25] savior. And then as we grow, all right, in one sense this sounds good, but in another sense it’s [28:31] very dangerous. We become self-feeding. Because that’s what you want your baby to do. You don’t
[28:36] want your baby to be on a bottle forever. At some point you want that kid eating a burger.
[28:43] And so eventually you become self-feeding. And so the Christian life and growth in the Christian [28:48] life, here’s what it looks like. It looks like you becoming self-sufficient. [28:53] It looks like you not needing others. It looks like you not being so needy in your life. Once [29:02] again, the problem with that is the Bible. Because here’s what Jesus is saying. He’s saying real [29:11] growth in me looks like a person that throughout their life comes to realize that they’re more [29:19] independent, more needy, less self-sufficient, and more Jesus-sufficient than they ever thought
[29:27] they’d be capable of. So if in your Christian life you are becoming self-sufficient, you are not [29:37] growing in Jesus. That’s why Christianity is so counter-cultural. Everything else says, no, [29:45] you’re strong enough, you’re good enough, gosh dog, people like you.
[29:51] Here’s the message of the scripture. You have no idea how useless you are.
[29:59] All of us. It’s the inside of growing in Christ as one of Jesus’ disciples. He never once says, [30:07] cut yourself off from me. Aren’t you old enough to eat by yourself? No! Jesus says, the more you [30:21] grow, the more you’ll realize you need me. And I love it because he starts talking about fruit [30:29] three different times and he says, if you abide in me, you’ll bear fruit. If you abide in me, [30:33] bear more fruit. If you abide in me, you’ll bear even more fruit. This idea of fruitfulness. [30:39] And what I think happens is we get so confused about that, that we’re just trying to manufacture
[30:44] all this fruit on our own and we’re like, look at this, look at that. I spent 65 hours in the [30:48] Bible this week. I think that’s really good. But was it fruit? Did you walk away from it, [30:57] realizing how much more dependent you are on Jesus? Did you walk away from your time in [31:04] scripture thinking more of Jesus and less of yourself? Do you walk away from prayer saying, [31:12] I heard from God and I’m so thankful I have him because without him I’m nothing?
[31:21] See, that’s fruit. That’s fruit. Because you’ll never get on mission without that.
[31:30] You’ll have this fake sense of completion to where you don’t need anything else. See, [31:37] our problem with discipleship isn’t that we’re too needy. Our problem with discipleship is that [31:42] we’re not needy at all. Inside of discipleship, what we do is we hope to come to a place in life [31:49] where we don’t need to learn anything else. We’re either older, wiser, got more degrees, [31:59] been in church longer than anybody else, been on more committees than anybody else, [32:03] done more than anybody else. So I can’t learn anything from anybody because I know more.
[32:12] That doesn’t sound like somebody that’s sufficient in Jesus alone. [32:17] That doesn’t sound like anybody somebody that’s drawing a life from Jesus. See, [32:20] it’s this great saying that came from this ancient philosopher and I can’t remember his name. [32:24] You cannot hope to learn what you think you already know.
[32:30] And the problem with most of the way that you and I typically go about discipleship as we go to it [32:36] with a whole lot of knowledge and we’re like, okay, convince me I’m wrong.
[32:42] And so we try to play this game where everybody’s smarter than everybody else. [32:46] Everybody knows more Bible than everybody else. And in the end, we walk away completely unsatisfied [32:51] and self-sufficient and it feels a little bit like death.
[32:59] Let’s keep reading. Let’s go to verse seven. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, [33:07] ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. [33:12] By this, my Father is glorified that you bear there it is again much fruit and so be my disciples. [33:21] And as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
[33:30] So here’s the thing. What can we point to to say I am a disciple of Jesus Christ? I am living a life [33:38] of discipleship. Discipleship is seeing and bearing fruit. That’s what it’s seen. [33:48] So here’s what we do. We want to explain everything away and this Christianity that we’re experiencing [33:54] is this kind of foggy thing where we don’t really have anything specific to it. [33:58] We don’t have anything specific to point to. So we just come up with these realities and we use very Christian words. [34:03] But Jesus is basically saying here, if you’re abiding in me, it’s going to be obvious.
[34:09] It’s just going to be seen. So what are the fruits that Jesus is talking about? Look in Galatians 5, [34:16] verses 22 through 23. Because there is a specific definition throughout Scripture of what fruit [34:23] looks like. And Paul and John and Peter, they all typically say something else. And some of Paul’s [34:28] writing and Peter’s writing especially, he says fruit looks like endurance, looks like perseverance. [34:33] Then in other places it says fruit looks like sanctification or holiness in your life. But then [34:38] Paul here, and I’m just going to use this as an example because it all comes back to the same thing.
[34:44] Paul’s going to use this as an example. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, [34:48] kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
[34:57] Okay, got a pretty big list there. Let’s start working on that, huh? [35:01] It’s tough. But here’s what we do with this list. Is we take it and fruit is about inner peace.
[35:10] I’m feeling some inner peace. I’ll claim that. Nobody can really tell me whether I’ve got it or not, [35:14] right? So I’ve got inner peace. So we make it very personal. Fruit is about me becoming just a really [35:22] super swell and nice guy. All right, which we can do that six ways to Sunday, all right? [35:30] Fruit is about just what’s going on inside of me. Nobody can really tell me whether it’s happening [35:34] or whether it’s not. I beg to differ and actually not me, Jesus. Look at these things. Peace, [35:42] patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Okay, if you notice
[35:47] something that all of these have in common, all right? If you’re really honest with yourself, [35:51] none of them can be done by yourself. Okay? Peace by yourself doesn’t really work because [36:00] that’s not peace. That’s just you sitting there. All right? You got to have peace with someone. [36:08] Patience. I’ve got lots of patience with me, but unfortunately that’s not what it’s about. [36:15] It’s about other people. The whole book of Galatians here in chapter five and six is about [36:19] things going on inside of the church. Relationships, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
[36:27] self-control. None of these really work out by yourself. More than that. Okay, let’s load the [36:36] book up. Okay? Look in Philippians chapter three. Here’s how Paul talks about tangible [36:43] discipleship in 3.17. Brothers, join in imitating me. Keep your eyes on those who walk according [36:52] to the example you have in us. That’s a clear picture of discipleship right there. Paul’s saying, [36:59] the fruit of the Spirit’s working in my life. Follow me. I thought this was about following [37:04] Jesus. Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I want to start with 11.1 and then I’m going to work my way
[37:09] backwards. All right, at the very end of this, Paul says, be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
[37:23] I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even [37:27] I delivered them to you. What is Paul talking about when he says, follow me as I follow Jesus? [37:36] Paul’s saying, I’m abiding in Christ. Do the same. But how does that work its way out? What has he [37:44] just told them to really imitate him then? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, [37:51] do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. [37:56] Just as I try to please everyone and everything I do, look at this, not seeking my own advantage,
[38:03] but that of many that they may be saved. Here’s what happens when you are becoming a disciple [38:12] of Jesus Christ. What motivated Jesus motivates you. What Jesus came to earth to do, you live on [38:20] earth to do. What happened in Jesus’s life is beginning to happen in your life. And what was [38:25] happening in his life? What did he do? The book of Luke, he says, I came to seek and to save that [38:29] which was lost. In John 20, he says, as I was sent, so I am sending you. Paul here says, [38:35] follow me as I follow Jesus. Well, where was Jesus going? Jesus was going to see as many people
[38:40] as possible saved through him as he could. And Paul says, so that’s what I live for. [38:47] I live to see people redeemed. I’m becoming a disciple. The fruits of the Spirit are just [38:56] welling up inside of me and they’re beginning to pour out of me into other people.
[39:04] People are getting saved. Paul says it so specifically here. You cannot explain this [39:10] Paul says, I live my life. I conform my life so that as many people as possible [39:18] will be saved, will be redeemed by Jesus in my lifetime as can be done by him and him alone. [39:26] Follow me as I follow Jesus.
[39:32] So how does that work out? Let’s keep reading verse 10.
[39:40] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. See, there’s this idea that you’ve already [39:47] started to abide and so abiding works its way out into you following Jesus because of the work that [39:53] he’s done. Just as I have kept my father’s commandments and abiding his love. See, Jesus [40:01] is doing this for us. These things I have spoken to you that my joy, look at that, my joy, my joy [40:09] may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I [40:16] have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone laid down his life for his friends.
[40:20] You are my friends if you do what I command you.
[40:28] This is an amazing if-then statement.
[40:33] You’re my friends if you do what I command you. It could also be said this way. If you do what I [40:42] command you, then you’re my friends. How does that work out? What does it really look like? [40:50] Well, here’s how Jesus kind of exhibited it to them. He was sent by the Father, lived here on [40:56] earth, the Son of God, perfect in person, perfect in deity, perfect in everything in his life.
[41:07] What does he do so that we can abide in him?
[41:13] He lays down his life for people that aren’t his friends.
[41:20] And by laying down his life, what does he do? He makes us his friends anyway.
[41:27] And through him, he gives us the strength to obey him. Through him, he gives us the strength [41:33] to follow him. Through him, he gives us the strength to abide in him. Through him, he gives [41:40] strength. Paul put it this way in Ephesians chapter 1. God has blessed us with every spiritual [41:48] blessing in the heavenly places in the beloved Jesus. In him you are redeemed.
[42:02] You see, Jesus isn’t telling us how terrible we are here just to make us feel bad. [42:07] All right, because if you read that and then look at the last week, you’re like, [42:09] I don’t think I’m his friend. Let’s be honest here. Let’s be transparent.
[42:16] But if we look at that in light of the resurrection, what we see is this amazing love [42:25] that is exhibited in which Jesus transforms us and he makes us his friends through the [42:39] Lord. Then does he tell Peter to feed his sheep. Then and only then does he send us. [42:49] Then and only then does he say, go live an intentional life to make disciples. [42:59] Then and only then do we have a life worth recreating because isn’t that what discipleship is?
[43:10] Is you recreating what’s going on inside of you and someone else?
[43:16] Some of you should not make disciples.
[43:21] Straight up because you’re not following Jesus.
[43:27] The only reason Paul had the audacity, it’s an audacious statement, imitate me, follow me.
[43:35] The only reason he had the audacity to say a comment like that is because he knew he was [43:39] dependent on Jesus Christ. In order to make disciples, you must be a disciple. [43:50] But if you are a disciple, your passion will be making disciples. [43:57] And you will do what Paul did and you’ll look at all that you have in Jesus and all that he was [44:04] on this earth and you will begin to see changes take place because your joy [44:12] is so full in Jesus that you don’t need all the other stuff.
[44:18] Everything else is fair game because if it’ll win more to Jesus, you’ll do it. You’ll change it [44:26] because in him your joy is full. Discipleship results in joy in God for the sake of others.
[44:41] See, one other issue in discipleship is that we look at this joy that Jesus wants us to have [44:47] and we make it very subjective. This is a joy that can be defined.
[44:55] Because it’s going to be the same joy that Jesus had.
[45:00] In the book of Hebrews, I believe it’s chapter somewhere.
[45:06] I think it’s Hebrews chapter 12.
[45:11] Scripture says, for the joy that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame. [45:24] But notice the first part, the joy that was set before him, how does this work?
[45:30] I’ll tell you how it works.
[45:34] In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Think about that.
[45:46] Why does God love us?
[45:49] Through seminary and through everything I’ve been through, there’s only one possible answer.
[45:56] Because he’s God. And he wants to.
[46:05] David in the Psalms, and this isn’t up on the screen, put it this way. He said, who is man? [46:12] And in the Hebrew, it’s this word that means cognizant. Who is man that you would even be [46:17] cognizant of him? Because you’re God.
[46:23] But throughout scripture, this is what God does. He just redeems.
[46:31] And I’m so glad he does. I’m so thankful.
[46:37] I don’t deserve it. But he does it anyway. He just redeems. Because he loves you. [46:46] And he wants your joy to be full. But the things that you’re seeking after in your life will never [46:53] give you the joy that you’re seeking after. The sex, the money, the relationships, [47:00] the careers, the sin, everything. You’re trying to find joy. You know you are. And you won’t. [47:07] But you’ll only find it in Jesus. He says here that he came to give you joy.
[47:24] In John chapter 10, he says it this way. He says that the thief has come to kill, [47:31] steal, and destroy. But I have come to give you life that you may have more abundantly. [47:43] I’m the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep.
[47:49] See, Jesus didn’t die so you could be religious, [47:52] working really hard, and never having satisfaction.
[47:57] Jesus died because we have a faulty view of joy and satisfaction. And I think we know it.
[48:07] I think we know it. So what’s the answer?
[48:13] The answer for some of you today is to trust Jesus. [48:19] That’s the answer for all of us. But for some of you, you’ve never trusted Jesus. [48:24] You’ve been religious. You’ve done some good things. You’ve done a lot of bad things like me.
[48:31] You don’t think you can ever have joy because of the decisions that you’ve made that have been bad, [48:35] or you think you’re going to get it, but then you get it and it’s not good. It’s like my dog chasing [48:38] his tail. And here’s the thing. Trust Jesus because he’s God. He loves you so much. He took [48:49] all those wrong things and took them to the cross and follow them today. For some of you, [48:57] you just need to be aware that you need Jesus more than you ever thought you did.
[49:06] And you need to walk in that and live in that. Father,
[49:14] you sent your son to die for us.
[49:21] Lord, may we today realize the weight of your glory and Lord, may we find joy in it.
[49:33] May we repent of all of our false joys and embrace true joy because that’s you. [49:40] Lord, may we just live in it. May we abide in it.
[49:48] Today, if you don’t have that and you want it, today could be the day of salvation for you.
[49:55] I’ll be down front while we’re singing these songs.
[49:59] Come, I’ll pray with you. Come talk to me. I’ve got a struggle. There’s plenty of people in here [50:04] that’ll pray with you, that’ll talk with you. Don’t ever come in here pretending you don’t have needs.
[50:11] It’s foolish. We are a needy people.
[50:19] And Jesus loves us. Worship him.