23-0917p Transcript

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

(0:46) Good evening everybody. (0:48) Hope everybody had a nice day so far today. Well this evening is a continuation of our study of (0:55) Jesus' great I am statement. I am the true vine and we left off at John 15 8. (1:05) John 15 8 and it reads this is to my father’s glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves (1:14) to be my disciples.

In this lesson we will look at the two things that bring God glory. (1:24) Disciples who bear much fruit and disciples. As a branch on the true vine what kind of fruit are we (1:33) expected to bear? What fruit can the Christian produce for God? When we look back to the (1:42) beginning of creation when God was creating the various living things plants and animals etc.

(1:50) One of the laws he made pertaining to them all was the law of biogenesis and this is the law (1:58) that basically says like begets like where things reproduce after their own time. (2:06) So when we apply this law to the fruit that we’re supposed to bear for God we bear the same fruit (2:13) that the true vine bears. Like begets like.

We bear the same fruit that Jesus bore. What fruit (2:22) did Jesus bear for God? Jesus first and foremost was obedient to what God commanded him. In John (2:32) 8 28 and 29 Jesus says when you have lifted up the son of man then you will know that I am he (2:42) and I do nothing of myself but as my father taught me I say these things.

He who sent me is with me (2:52) the father hasn’t left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. (2:59) So Jesus revealed two points about his relationship with God that we should understand so that we too (3:06) can be pleasing to God giving him glory through how we lead our lives. One God taught Jesus what (3:15) to say.

God revealed to Jesus his thoughts, the essence of his being, his will, his spirit. (3:24) So God’s will became Jesus’s will and two Jesus was obedient to God’s will because it said that (3:35) he always did the things that were pleasing to God and doing is obedience. (3:44) Jesus heard and obeyed.

We too should hear Jesus and obey. We need to know Jesus' word (3:52) which is God’s word and obey Jesus which is also obeying the father and do what pleases them. (4:01) Jesus revealed the father to us in John 118.

It reads no one has ever seen God. It is God the only (4:11) son who is close to the father’s heart who has made him known. So nobody has seen God and from (4:19) this verse it sounds like nobody’s really known God the father because it’s always been Jesus in (4:28) the Old Testament interacting with man in his many various forms and you know you remember from (4:40) John 14 Jesus said when you see me you see the father and so (4:53) we recognize the father through Christ and it was Jesus who revealed him.

(4:59) So in John 15 15 it says no longer, excuse me, (5:09) no longer do I call you servants for the servant doesn’t know what his Lord does (5:14) but I have called you friends for everything that I heard from my father I have made known to you. (5:22) Think about this when we accept Jesus as our savior we have both the mind and spirit of God (5:30) in us. The mind of God being the word of God and his spirit that we receive at baptism (5:38) and that enables us to do this and it’s something that he shared with the Samaritan woman.

(5:47) Jesus said to her God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (5:55) So remember God’s word is truth by having the word of God in our hearts which are his revealed (6:02) thoughts to us and receiving in us the Holy Spirit at baptism enables us to worship him that (6:11) way in spirit and in truth and therefore we can conduct proper worship. As children of God when (6:25) we follow his word we are all led by the spirit and we’re not bound by any law.

Consider these (6:32) verses Romans 8 1 and 2 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (6:40) for the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (6:47) And in Romans 8 14 for as many as are led by the spirit of God these are children of God. (6:56) Galatians 5 18 but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law.

(7:04) So here is the fruit we will produce for God that gives him glory when we remain on the true vine (7:11) and that can be found in Galatians 5 22 and 23 and I think we all know this verse these verses (7:19) by heart but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness (7:27) gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law. So you can start to see that (7:36) when we produce fruit for God when we’re in his word we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing (7:44) we’re not going to be breaking any law and there won’t even be a law that we have to break we’re (7:53) not under the law we’re free I mean truly literally free from the law and so long as we’re in the Lord (8:03) and we’re walking in the light when we do sin we’re covered by his grace we have that continual (8:13) cleansing of the blood we got to get down confess our sins to God and he’s quick to forgive us. (8:23) It’s the unrepentant sin that’s going to condemn us (8:31) when we’re stubborn and follow our own way and don’t change.

So these are the fruits that Christ (8:40) exhibited in his life for all the things and being in his vine we bear the same fruit (8:46) in his likeness. So fruit for God are these wonderful Christian virtues the evidence (8:54) of a changed life for God. After calling them a brood of vipers isn’t that what John the Baptist (9:05) charged the scribes and pharisees to do when they came to question him at the Georgian river (9:12) didn’t he say to them produce fruit in keeping with repentance even now the axe is at the root (9:22) of the trees therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the (9:30) fire.

And you can see that John the Baptist’s message and Jesus' message are in harmony (9:37) with what the prophets of the old testament were telling God’s people if you don’t produce (9:45) good fruit and stay on the vine you will be cut down and cast into the fire. So producing fruit (9:53) is the evidence of a changed life. A life that has been changed by the word of God. And isn’t (10:00) John’s message on point with what Jesus taught in chapter 15 when we give up our futile sinful (10:08) life and yield to God’s will and follow his teachings he will bless our lives.

(10:15) When we are ready we will produce fruit. Sometimes it can be right away other times it might take a (10:23) while before we mature in the Lord and actually start producing fruit for him (10:32) and that’s okay because everybody learns at different rates everybody (10:38) produces fruit at different rates just like trees some trees produce fruit almost as soon as you (10:45) stick it in the ground other trees take literally years and years like carol’s peach tree (10:52) takes a long time to produce fruit and God knows that about us as well in psalm 1 verse 3 he says (11:04) of the man of God he will be like a tree planted by streams of water that produces fruit in its season (11:15) whose leaf does not wither and whatever he does shall prosper and so producing fruit in season (11:25) is when you are good and ready to produce fruit sometimes you know people are on fire for the (11:34) Lord and they’re just really producing fruit for the Lord others it takes a little while they’re (11:41) a little more sluggish out of the starting gate and that’s okay God is patient with each and every (11:48) one of us but just stay in the vine and produce fruit in psalm 92 12 through 15 it says the (11:59) righteous will flourish like a palm tree they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house (12:06) of the Lord they will flourish in the course of our God they will still bear fruit in old age (12:12) they will stay fresh and green proclaiming the Lord is upright he is my rock and there is no (12:19) wickedness in him. So even when we’re on the vine and we’re we’re turning into grapes we’re so long (12:30) into the vine, in other words, close to the end of our life we’ll still be producing good fruit for (12:40) the Lord. And that’s also a hint to all of us older people in the Lord stay busy produce fruit (12:49) you know don’t put your feet up and think we’re in retirement mode (12:56) God’s not in retirement he’s a lot older than we are I don’t even think he’s applied for medicare yet (13:06) so he expects us to be busy as well fruit can even be souls of humans whom we went over for (13:16) the Lord proverb 11:30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who wins (13:25) souls is wise.

That verse makes a nice segue into the second part of verse 8 of john 15 (13:35) and that discipleship winning souls for God so people can be fruit as well (13:47) around the year 450 bc the prophet malachi penned the last of the old testament writings (13:56) and it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that the old testament ended with the way that the new (14:02) testament would begin malachi prophesied that one would come in the spirit of elijah preparing the (14:11) way for the long-awaited savior the messiah god’s anointed malachi writes in chapter 3 verse 1 (14:20) behold i send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the lord whom you seek (14:28) will suddenly come into his temple and the angel of the covenant covenant whom you desire (14:35) behold he comes says Yahweh of armies think about that prophecy and who’s saying (14:46) says Yahweh of armies who appeared before joshua as the captain of the lord’s army (14:57) was it not the angel of the lord who do we know who is the angel of the lord it’s christ (15:05) the second person in the godhead. And so jesus as the angel of the covenant (15:13) is the one who’s going to be coming into his temple then in chapters 4 verses 5 and 6 malachi (15:24) writes behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh’s (15:31) coming he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to (15:38) their fathers lest i come and strike the earth with a curse so someone’s coming in the spirit (15:47) of elijah preparing the people for the way of the savior so for malachi’s writing we see that (15:59) we know him to be john the baptist of course which jesus revealed to us in matthew 11 14 (16:08) where he was talking good about john the baptist after john sent a delegation to him (16:15) asking are you the one or should we wait on somebody else jesus could have put him down (16:22) could have got angry offended at that question but john was in prison jesus felt his pain (16:29) and john was faithful to jesus preparing the people and so jesus went off and gave (16:36) john the baptist wonderful accolades calling him the most powerful of all prophets

(16:44) he’s the one who ushered in the messiah what an honor the messenger’s job was to prepare the (16:56) children of israel’s hearts to receive jesus the king and messiah that’s why john came preaching (17:05) repentance and forgiveness of sins and baptizing the people malachi revealed that the person (17:12) that elijah was preparing the way for was the angel of the covenant which was one of (17:19) yahweh’s faces when he told moses he would always be with them in his one of his various forms (17:28) the angel of the covenant was the giver of the law on mount sinai he is also the owner of the temple (17:36) malachi said when he comes into his temple this is calling jesus god an owner of the temple (17:46) so you can understand why when he saw the money changers in there selling animals why he got so (17:53) upset knocking tables over and driving them out with a whip isaiah foretold of this same event (18:01) and calls this person yahweh and god the messiah the one who is coming to his people (18:08) and to his temple is none other than jesus the great i am in isaiah 43 he says the voice of (18:17) one who calls out prepare the way of yahweh in the wilderness make a level highway and the desert (18:25) for his god so after all these lessons and piecing together all of these verses we can see clearly (18:34) that jesus is yahweh the great i am that’s what yahweh means i am and that’s jesus the christ (18:49) god was silent with his people for over 400 years after malachi’s final book (19:01) and the messiah’s coming was preceded with signs and wonders that prepared israel for the messiah (19:11) and the messiah came to seek and save the lost which he faithfully did for three years jesus (19:18) concentrated his efforts in the holy land seeking first the lost sheep of israel at the end of those (19:26) three years he dotted the i and crossed the t in the plan of salvation by dying on the cross (19:33) and rising from the dead three days later but in order for the whole world to receive the blessing (19:41) that the messiah gives the entire world um fulfilling the third promise of abraham (19:49) he needed people to carry on his teaching and his mission to the whole world so he needed (19:58) followers so while he was on earth teaching and proclaiming the good news he was also making (20:06) disciples to carry on his torch after he ascended back into heaven. So while he was proclaiming to (20:14) the people repent for the kingdom of heaven and he was also telling some men come follow me (20:23) so what is a disciple noah webster’s 1828 dictionary says a disciple is a follower (20:32) and adherent to the doctrines of another hence the constant attendance of christ were called his (20:39) disciples and hence all christians are called his disciples as they profess to learn and repeat his (20:47) doctrines and precepts.

I love that no one webster so how does one become a disciple (20:55) when we hear the gospel the good news that there is a holy and living god who loves us so much (21:03) that he sent his only begotten son jesus to this world who himself is god and creator and he also (21:11) became as human as we are when we believe in him and obey those very things that he commanded (21:19) that’s how we become a disciple jesus was tempted in every way that we are and yet lived a perfect (21:28) and sinless life so that he could become the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for sins and all of (21:35) mankind and by dying on the cross of calvary. This loving act removed the hostility between god and (21:43) mankind reconciling us back into a right relationship with him and when we’re touched by this (21:53) act of ultimate love and sacrifice when we accept christ being moved by that love that he has for the (22:02) world, for us as individuals and claim him as our savior. That’s when we become a disciple we give up (22:14) our own way we start following his way making him foremost in our life and those teachings in a (22:23) nutshell are this: we need to love god and worship god love our neighbor as ourselves and teach (22:31) others about christ and his kingdom and as we continue in his teachings we take on a new (22:38) perspective of life we see all aspects of our life and and the world around us through the lens (22:47) of jesus through our christian eyes when we accept god’s word we can judge everything (22:55) in life against god’s word to see if it passes muster so to speak and this is the christian (23:05) worldview and that is what disciples have in the bible there are several verses i want us (23:11) to look at that shows us some characteristics about what a disciple is.

And first i want us (23:19) to see the example that jesus gave his disciples that he is a teacher and a preacher and that’s (23:26) what jesus is that’s what we should become in matthew 11 1 jesus says or it says when jesus (23:37) had finished instructing his 12 disciples he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities (23:44) so jesus was instructing those who were his followers and not just the 12 but he had at least (23:52) 72 other faithful followers that he instructed and after spending time with them he would go out (23:59) and preach the good news to the lost and teach them as well he taught them on a personal level (24:06) usually in small groups meeting in people’s homes he gave them an example of going out to the cities (24:15) and preaching the gospel to the public he prepared them for this work for the coming kingdom which (24:23) was his going to be his church to seek and save the law so after jesus’s resurrection (24:31) he wasted no time gathering up his disciples and giving them their marching orders they were given (24:38) full authority by the godhead to make disciples a disciple’s job is to make and maintain (24:45) more disciples by teaching them what the savior taught them and to baptize them for the remission (24:53) of their sins.

In matthew 28 18 through 20 jesus tells them all authority in heaven and on earth (25:03) has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the (25:10) name of the father and of the son of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i have (25:16) commanded you and behold i am with you always the very end of the age this is a perpetual (25:24) command for all generations until christ himself comes back for us when he gathers up his church (25:32) and takes us all to heaven because the disciples of his the apostles were to go out and teach (25:40) people to become disciples and they in turn would keep doing this and so through the generations.

(25:49) we have a perfectly transmitted word of god the gospel passed from generation to generation (25:59) and and through this we get to see what uh get the picture of what a disciple is (26:06) so a disciple is a believer in christ someone whose heart has been touched by the word of god (26:11) moved by the story of christ their savior to the point where they take action on what they’ve heard (26:18) this is god’s election at work is drawing people to himself is choosing (26:27) those who are taught the word of god will make an effort to walk the walk so to speak to be a doer (26:34) of the word putting into practice what they’ve learned and they will welcome the opportunity (26:41) themselves to make disciples for christ because they’re excited to share the news with others (26:48) we aren’t expected to teach hundreds or thousands like the apostles could have done (26:57) we can exercise our christian influence on those around us our family our friends our neighbors (27:03) our workmates and acquaintances wherever we have dealings just by the way we behave and live our (27:10) lives people can observe our good behavior and get a pretty good read on us without even us having (27:18) to speak to them jesus in his sermon on the mount expressed this desire for his followers (27:26) matthew 5 14 through 16 says you are the light of the world a city on a hill cannot be hidden (27:33) neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl instead they put it on its stand and it (27:40) gives light to everyone in the house in the same way let your light shine before men that they may (27:47) see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven when we do our good deeds it is letting (27:56) our light shine and it is a form of teaching of discipling god expects this out of us because it (28:04) glorifies him and can bring others to the lord by us but of course we have to teach them (28:11) we can’t just teach by the way we live our lives and say nothing that would be absurd

(28:17) but doing is very important ephesians 2 10 says for we are god’s workmanship (28:25) created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do (28:32) we’re not saved by those good works but we do them out of gratitude and love for our savior (28:40) and and by following his example god wants us to do good deeds god it says prepared them in advance (28:50) for us to do so if there’s something that you know you should be doing good and you don’t (28:59) that’s sin and you’re going against god’s word and i believe james speaks about that (29:08) so the disciple when he does these good works for the lord and lets his light shine

(29:16) that’s another form of producing fruit for the true vine and it glorifies god (29:23) now we’re going to stop here and we’ll pick up the next time i give a lesson which i think is (29:29) in a couple weeks so this is the invitation if you have any need prayer requests come forward (29:39)