Good Morning Beloved Family,
I'm so glad to have all of you here today,
thank you for joining us.
Heavenly Father,
Lord, we pray for those who are in desperate situations
for those who have been abandoned by friends and family,
bring visitors and helpers to comfort them and supply their needs
whether it be one of us, or someone else
Open their ears, Lord, that they would hear you whisper
"you are my beloved, I am here with you"
touch the hearts of each one gathered today
that they would feel Your presence
You are Immanuel, Christ the Lord.
God with us
Now and forever
In Your name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: Jesus Christ The Indispensable God - Part Two
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
John 15:1-11
Today, we'll continue talking about this incredible section of Scripture.
And, I know that all of you have been thinking about the question I posed for all of you last time.
I know that I have..
When we left off last time, we were discussing the "fruitless branches."
Sadly, it is a common reality even today.
You know there are people with us this morning, who are, in fact, fruitless branches. Those who are here, who make some profession of interest in Christ to one degree or another, but their lives do not manifest His power and His life. Their lives, for the most part, are unchanged. You know that.
And we know, that you could go from there, on to other churches and denominations and fellowships to the church at large, and you know that Christianity is this massive kind of reality in the world that is filled with all kinds of people, many of which whom have no genuine, fruit-bearing power. Though they perceivably connected to Jesus. They are fruitless.
Beloved, this is a concern of our Lord.
In John 8:30-32, Jesus said, "As He spoke these things many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
There are still many today, who would seek the approval of men rather than God. Many make some kind of profession that allows for some kind of attachment to Jesus, yet they do not abide in Him.
I'd say that there's a good many well known pastors today, that are a good bit like that, seeking some personal acknowledge, that pat on the back from men. And some get very envious of others success,
I have personally heard more than a few times, "Why does that one get so much attention? I preach better than him!" There is, if we're not very careful, a certain competitiveness, even amongst those called to preach.
1 John chapter 2:19, there is very important statement, speaking of people who defect, who do not abide, who do not remain, those who do not stay. "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." John knows this now from what he learned about our Lord’s words in John 15 and the experience of Judas and others. "They went out from us," and it’s still happening in his experience as an apostle, "but they were not really of us; if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
Now let's look at verse 24, "As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father." He now the same thing that our Lord said to the disciples that night....
"Abide in Me, and I in you."
John 15:4
"You abide in Me, and I’ll abide in you." John is reiterating what he heard the Lord say on that Thursday night in the Upper Room and is recorded for us in John 15. The Greek word μένω or méno̱, which means "to stay, to remain." Don’t leave, don’t forsake Me, don’t walk away. This could easily speak to the issue of what theologians call the "perseverance of the saints." Don’t do what many other Judas-like persons do. Remain. Don’t do what Judas did. Stay.
In fact, in Hebrews 4:14, the writer of Hebrews says, "Let us hold fast our profession."
And all the way through Hebrews there are these warnings to this group of Jews, attached to the true believers, who have not come all of the way to Christ. You’re warned over and over and over.
Chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6 and chapter 10. Warning, after warning, after warning, after warning!! "Don’t leave", "Don’t go away", "Don’t defect.", "Don’t apostatize." Hold fast that profession." And that is all that our Lord is saying in John 15:4.
This bring to mind an Old Testament moment that I think elucidates on this.
In Deuteronomy 31:14-18,
"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent." This is the Tabernacle.
"The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made
with them."
For 40 years, they’ve been wandering. Now, they’re about to go into the land, and God says they’re going to play the harlot with the strange gods of the land. They’re going to turn, they're going to go into idolatry. And that they did! There was mass defection.
"Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods."
Superficially, they were attached to the covenant people, Israel. And that became manifest when they did not remain, when they did not stay faithful, when they did not continue, when they did not persevere. In fact, there are all kinds of warnings throughout the New Testament to be faithful, to remain, to stay. All kinds of warnings. In writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul, warns the Corinthians not to do that.
We all know people who were around a while, and then they left, and it wasn’t because they left town. They just left us..
And that is exactly what is going on here!
They left God.They left His people. They left the Scripture.
In verse 4, there’s an unfolding of the blessings of abiding, the promises of abiding. Profound blessings come to those who would stay the course.
First, we have salvation. Sweet, sweet salvation, eternal salvation.
If somebody were to say to you, "You’re a Christian, aren’t you?" and they ask, "Well, what does that mean?" How do you respond to that, I mean, what do you say? I know many say, "Well, I go to church" There's a lot of people that say that. And there are some who say, "Well, I go to church, you know, I worship. I go to a Bible study. I believe the Bible."
Is that how you would respond to that? I know many who do!
So allow me to give all of you the irreducible minimum, or bottom line, which at the same time is the eternal, infinite maximum. If you’re a Christian, here is what you say: "Abide in Me and I in you." What does it mean to be a Christian? It means, listen carefully, God lives in you..
That what you respond. "Yes, God lives in me!"
That is the absolute essence of what it means to have a relationship with God in salvation: God lives in me. And that may be the best way that we can explain our own lives and our own identities. "The infinite Holy triune God, the Creator of the entire universe, Yes, God, the eternal God, Holy God, triune God, the Creator God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in me!"
I will grant you that the glorious manifestation of the children of God, mentioned in Romans 8 has not yet been manifest, has not yet been made visible. And let's be honest, that won’t happen until we’re glorified. So what now? Well, in the meantime, we are veiled. We are veiled. The world doesn’t see us. But, let me make this very clear, in the meantime, is important, it's critical to know who we are.
So who am I? I am literally a body, in which God lives. He lives in me! God lives in me. The Lord has come to live in me. That is who I am!
Love and obedience go together. "He will keep His word; and My Father will love him," and how much will he love him? He will love him so that, "We will come to him and make Our home with him."
Our Lord was talking to the disciples on the same night, in essence He was saying, "This is who We are. This is absolutely who We are." It’s just a truth that gets repeated, over and over, it's repeated.
"Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
John 14:23-27
The Trinity lives in the believer. Absolutely, lives in the believer.
And if you look in John 14, you will the evidence of this truth.
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
John 14:16-17
This is truly a stunning affirmation. Our Lord affirms this in His High Priestly Prayer in John 17:23, "I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me." This is what manifests our transformation to the world, that is the presence of God in us. Really very astonishing. Beloved, that is an absolutely astonishing, astonishing reality. That if you stay, it’s evidence your faith is real, and if it is, then God takes up residence in you.
The apostle Paul absolutely loved this truth by the way. "Christ in you,"- Romans 8:10.
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" -
1 Corinthians 3:16. Then again 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
2 Corinthians 6:16, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:22 and so on, there are a number of references to this truth.
In Closing...
For today, we'll conclude and pick back up next time we meet..
Here are some things to think about until we do,
Christs' resurrection was beyond human ability!
No one had ever been resurrected by his or her own power, no one!
Your cross, Jesus’ cross is temporary!
But the results are eternal.
Beloved, your situation, whatever it is, has hope!
Because there will be a resurrection for those who choose to die out to their flesh in repentance, be buried with Him in baptism, and be resurrected through the power of the Holy Spirit.
So the next time someone asks if you're a Christian, you can proudly tell them,
"Yes! The infinite Holy triune God, the Creator of the entire universe, Yes, God, the eternal God, Holy God, triune God, the Creator God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in me!"
Because that's who you are...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries