John 15:6

Good morning friends,

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

 Jesus is not addressing his true disciples at this point for he would say “if you do not abide in me.” He is not saying a person can go into or out of abiding in Christ, one is either in the vine or they are not. Those who are not in the vine may have appeared to have been but were not in reality This may have some illusion to Judas who at this point was removed, it applies, however, to everyone who has made a profession, but now denies the gospel or walks unworthy of that profession. What comes to mind here is Hebrews 6:

 “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”

 We see that one can come close and even participate in the things of God and not truly be “in Christ.” For all appearances they seem to be in the vine, but in actuality are not. Of course Judas would be the clearest example of this. Those in my age strata might remember with great sadness Bob Dylan’s profession of faith back in the late 70’s under the influence of Keith Green. Actually putting out a couple “Christian” albums and latter recanting that he ever committed his life to Christ.  We must look at such verses with great sadness. Those we may have close relationships with may be in this situation. Several years ago a man that served as our associate pastor and one with whom I had admiration for walked out on God the church and his family. The man certainly “fooled” many people in the Church – even the leadership who prayerfully called him.

 Have a blessed Lord’s Day  

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

 Q. 30.Do such then believe in Jesus the only Saviour, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else?

A. They do not; for though they boast of him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Saviour; (a) for one of these two things must be true, that either Jesus is not a complete Saviour; or that they, who by a true faith receive this Saviour, must find all things in him necessary to their salvation. (b) (a) 1 Cor.1:13,30,31; Gal.5:4. (b) Heb.12:2; Isa.9:6; Col.1:19,20; Col.2:10; 1 John 1:7,16.

 

John 15:4-5

Good morning friends, 

 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 Our abiding in Christ is not a mechanical thing; it is a living organic thing. While it is true we are in Christ solely because of His finished work, we must think of abiding in Christ in the realm of faith as well. It is not in our working that we abide in Christ, but a continued response, in faith, to what Christ has done. The surety of our being in Christ is in our bearing fruit. We might consider 1 Peter 1:10 here: 

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 

We mustn’t live in doubt of our salvation, unless we see a lack of fruit. We cannot be sure of our election if we do not see evidence of such. Fruit is the natural extension of being in the vine. It is in Christ that we draw life and outside of being in the vine we have no power to produce fruit. When we live in the reality of our organic connection to Christ it will be evident – we can be sure. 

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism 

Q. 30.

Do such then believe in Jesus the only Saviour, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else?

A. They do not; for though they boast of him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Saviour; (a) for one of these two things must be true, that either Jesus is not a complete Saviour; or that they, who by a true faith receive this Saviour, must find all things in him necessary to their salvation. (b) (a) 1 Cor.1:13,30,31; Gal.5:4. (b) Heb.12:2; Isa.9:6; Col.1:19,20; Col.2:10; 1 John 1:7,16.

 

John 15:3

Good morning friends,

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Yesterday we briefly considered the pruning process of the vinedresser. The word translated “pruning” can also mean “cleaning” or to “purge.” In the context therefore it would mean to clean or purge of that which is unhelpful, or unhealthful for the bearing of fruit. We see here that “cleansing” implement that God uses is His Word. Eph 5:26 and following shows us this clearly; 

 “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. “ 

When God called me into his fold thirty two years ago, at age 26, need-less-to-say, there were things that needed to be purged from my life. Now do not hear me wrong, however, God had to “cleanse” me of the influence of some genres of music. Music was the god I bowed to at that point in my life and it needed to go. Along with selling my records, I also stopped playing guitar for several years. This was not a matter of legalism, I was not trying to win points before God, it was purely a matter of something that I was convinced would hinder “fruit.” Paul speaks of this concept concerning the eating of meat sacrificed to idols in 1st Cor. 8:

 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

 God has allowed me to once again enjoy the common grace of music, but in my early Christian life it was something that needed to be pruned. Now my conviction concerning the need for music to be “pruned” from my life at that point was because of the Word. Please keep in mind that this “pruning” is not an act of punishment on the part of the vinedresser, it is not some form depravation, nor is it a matter legalism, it is a loving act whereby He is in the process of conforming us to His Son.

 Have a blessed Lord’s Day

 Bill

Heidelberg Catechism 

Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

John 15:2

Good morning friends,

 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

 Now this is a bit of a sticky verse to unpack. We must strongly affirm that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. We have to stand firmly concerning the security of the believer. However, the lack of “fruit” appears to being into question ones actually being in Christ. Finally we must affirm that one who truly belongs to Christ cannot defer until later making Him Lord. We begin with the phrase “in me” so we are speaking here of those who positionally in Christ. We will see in several verses the phrase used “not abide in me” in juxtaposition to “abiding in Christ.”The next thing we will notice is that those who are “in Christ” are to bear fruit. We see here and in other places in the New Testament that the reality exists that those in Christ will exhibit true works in accordance with being in Christ. The phrase “he takes away” can mean “to make doubt.” In other words the lack of fruit can (should) make one doubt whether they are truly in Christ or not. We of course will think of James 2:24 at this point : “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” We are not saved by our works, but our salvation will automatically necessitate works on our part. We see as well that as we do bear fruit we will be pruned so as to bear more fruit. It is the process of the vinedresser to cleanse and prune the “vine” to maximize production.  It is not that the vinedresser is fruit greedy, it is that fruit production is the purpose of the vine – the reason it was created and in that there is true beauty. The bottom line is that those who are “in Christ” will produce fruit and the vinedresser will ensure that the production of fruit will increase as He intended.

 Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

 Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

John 15:1

Good morning friends,

 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

 What triggered Jesus to discuss this metaphor a vine at this moment is unclear. Thought there is difficulty with the idea, Jesus and the disciples may have left the upper room for the Kidron Valley as is possibly seen in the last phrase of chapter 14; “Arise, let’s go from here.”  Maybe they were passing a vineyard as they were in route. It could be that as they were drinking wine the discussion came to mind. None-the-less Jesus jumps into this discussion about the true vine. The imagery would be common to them. Numerous times God in the Old Testament refers to Israel to a vineyard or vine. Jesus here says that He is the true vine – He is the fulfillment of Israel. God does not have two plans of redemption – one for Israel and one for the Church. We might consider Psalms 80:14-18 at this moment: 

 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face! But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name.

 Look at this just for a moment. First we see the Psalmist calling God to return to His people (the vine). We next see that the vineyard is in poor condition. Now the Palmist pleads that God would restore His grace on Israel and that He would do so through the “son of man.” Clearly this Psalm is a prefigurement of Christ.  Christ came at the fullness of time announcing that He was the true vine and that His Father was the vinedresser. The Father owned the vineyard and was responsible for the care of it. Jesus is clearly the fulfillment of Israel. Furthermore when Jesus says He is the “true” vine He is indicating that He is the “genuine” or the “perfect ideal.” Though we are not there yet our being “in” the vine is of great significance from where we draw our spiritual “life.” 

Bill 

Heidelberg Catechism

 Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

 

John 14:30-31

 Good morning friends,

  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Jesus was certainly not referring to content, but time frame. The next three chapters are some of the most intense and instructive chapters of John.  Keep in mind that Jesus instruction would continue for 40 days after His resurrection. Not only that, but His teaching will continue through the ministry of the Holy Spirit after His ascension. Jesus still has a lot to teach the disciples, but His hours as Christ veiled in flesh are short. So there is no doubt in my mind Jesus is referring to a time frame. Jesus earthly life was perfect obedience to the Father and the devil could make no accusations about Him before the Father’s will -”he has no claim on me.” At Chris’s temptation, Satan tired to tempt Jesus into sin, which in turn Satan could then bring accusations of true guilt before the Father. Satan had to know moral guilt  in Christ would make His mission null and void. Even during His propitiatory sacrifice Christ would not curse God – it would be of no surprise to hear that Satan quoted Job’s wife in those moments “curse God and die.” Even today Satan stands as the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev 12:10) pointing out every guilty sin I and you commit. We however are clothed in Christ’s righteousness and the Father says “not guilty.” Praise be to God in that because of Christ’s work we too can say “He has no claim on me.” I am not saying we sin with impunity, but when we do sin, and we confess it, Satan cannot accuse us to the Father.

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

 Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

John 14:29

Good morning friends,

  And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe

 Jesus is making reference to an aspect of that glory that wants to burst out – His omniscience. Only the omniscient can tell things that will take place before it happens and only God is omniscient. Openness theology in the name of tolerance wants to rob God of His omniscience. Yes Jesus did “learn” as a human, but He voluntarily choose to not exercise His omniscience. How Jesus could do this, I would have to admit, is a mystery that I actually cannot explain. However, we see here indication that He was now resuming the use of His omniscience.  This was to strengthen the disciple’s belief that may have been shaky at this moment. Jesus had just admitted that He would not “leave them as orphans,” and to some degree this underscores the infancy of their belief. Yes they had walked with Jesus for almost 3 years, yes they had seen miracle upon miracle from Christ’s hand, and yes they heard Him speak with authority, but their thinking was bound by cultural bands which would not allow them to think out of the paradigm they were steeped in. It would only be the resurrection that would break those bands. Like the disciples, we possess bands that Jesus must break; we have cultural predispositions that at times hobble our ability for belief. Rest assured that the Lord is aware of the areas our belief is shaky and rest assured He will bolster our infant level belief when needed. “Lord help my unbelief.”

 Have a blessed Lord’s Day

 Bill

Heidelberg Catechism 

Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

 

John 14:28

 Good morning friends,

 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.  

Fear and sadness had effectively crept over the disciples. The past three years had become a blur and now their pictures of a coming triumphant kingdom were dissolving at the words of Christ. At this point they did not really understand how the kingdom of God would come, even after Christ’s resurrection, at his ascension, we see that they still were cloudy on the subject: “Is it now that you will restore the kingdom?”  It wasn’t that they did not love Jesus they just did not understand that upon His earthly death that He would return to His full display of glory and that was something that should cause great rejoicing.  This is what is meant when Jesus says “the Father is greater than I.” He was not speaking in reference to substance. He was speaking in relation to glory. Jesus had now spent 30 some years veiling His glory; He had “set aside” the independent use of some of His attributes. Christ took on all the limitations of human flesh and what people saw when they saw Jesus was a man. Not a man with a glow emanating from behind, nor a halo hovering above His head. This veiling of His glory was a part of his humility. I have crossed Hoover Dam a number of times, when I cross it I have to admit that my thoughts seem to slip into paranoia. (The road use to cross over top of the dam itself, there is a new bridge to protect the dam now.) All that water has been pushing against that concrete wall for quite a number of years – surely someday it is bound to burst through. Is that how Jesus glory was as it was veiled in flesh? Was it pushing against the “veil” threatening to burst forth? We must automatically remember that Jesus is called “meek”. We are told that meekness is defined as “power under control” and in Jesus we have the penultimate power of the universe veiled in mere human flesh. Jesus says if they loved Him they would understand this and would rejoice that He could lift the veil and let His glory come bursting forth into its proper place. O how I long to see my savior in all His glory. Yes the Scriptures provide us with picture – and though the Scriptures are faithful I still only see dimly as we read in 1^st Cor. 13. As the song goes “I can only imagine.” 

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When your face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus,
Or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence,
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Halelluja,
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when that day comes
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory,
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus,
Or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence,
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Halelluja,
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, yeah, yeah, yeah

I can only imagine, yeah, yeah
I can only imagine, Yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, Ohh yeah
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when all I will do
is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine

(Bart Millard)

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

 Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.

Philippians 3:13-14

Good morning friends,

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 I hope you will pardon my divergence from John this morning.

Every New Years day for the past six years my wife and I have made a 10 x 14 poster to hang on the fridge. These are not New Year’s resolutions, but something more along the lines of a theme, a reminder, to keep before us for the coming year. Because we had company over the holidays we did not get to the poster until this last Sunday. This time has become sacred to us both if you will. We prayerfully consider what God has impressed on us over the preceding months then we translate that into a picture. We don’t discuss what Scripture God has impressed on our conscience before we start. We retreated into her “cwafty” room where all her scrapbook accessories live and spend most of the afternoon working on our posters. As our posters began to materialize it became clear that basically we were impressed with the same theme. Janelle had chosen Hebrews 12:1-3 with the emphasis on running with endurance, with the vigor of an athlete, and I the verse above. The Christian is always humbled by the contrast between what he is and what he desires to be. It will be 32 years ago on the 23^rd of January that Christ called me into His fold and there are moments I realize the zeal that I once possessed in my “youth” turned middle aged and pressing on at times seems to be more of a drudgery than the joy if ought to be. I reason with myself “ah ya but that was zeal without knowledge.” I will admit, at times I miss those early days of my Christian naivety. I wonder if Paul ever experienced such emotions. I wonder if there were times when he had to tell himself “right foot, left foot, right foot etc.  Paul had a proper view of knowledge of the things of God – there was always more to “lay hold of.” He knew he had not, nor would not; reach perfection this side of glorification. It appears Paul always possessed a fire to press on within him. How does one keep hold of that vigor? One of the things Paul points out here is forgetting what was behind. I am sure that like us, Paul had things in his life that dogged him from time to time. There are regrets that go back years and years. Yes I have done business with God concerning them, I have made restitution where needed, but the memory at times comes by to dog me. The next thing Paul injects is “forward.” I tend to be more retrospective than I ought. I suffer from the “what if’s”. “What if” we had not moved to Florida, I might be still pastoring that small church in Oregon. We recently bought a house. It is the first house we have owned since the house we sold in 1986 to go to Bible College. And while it is a wonderful blessing I have to admit the “what if’s” have niggled at me since – “what if” God wanted me to return to the pulpit – now I have shut the door.”  I know good and well this is nonsense thinking. I am a Calvinist and I do really believe in providence. I believe God is in control of my life and that the purchase of the house was what He had for our lives, but that looking behind stuff sneaks up on me. Paul says “don’t” it will hinder our ability to press on or as the ESV puts it “straining forward.”  We must keep in view what lies ahead, we must focus on our upward calling. This is the goal – it is the goal for our earthly lives. It is not to look behind, it is not to live in regrets (thought some may be very grievous and we may need to seek forgiveness). We are to forget what lies behind, strain forward. What matters is that from this moment on we are to strain forward toward the “prize” of God’s calling. The last point is where the vigor comes from “in Christ Jesus.” We do not have the muster the vigor up within ourselves it is already ours in Christ Jesus. As the Hebrews passage that my wife chose shows us; “fixing your eyes on Jesus the author and prefecter of our faith” it is done. We are “in” Christ, the author, the founder, the prefecter of our faith. We do not create it, we do not write it – we live in it. We have been joined together with Christ Jesus so we strain forward in His strength.

Bill

John 14:25-26

Good morning friends.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still 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 have said to you.

 We see the opening verses of Acts saying almost the same thing: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach”…The idea of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is not so much a substitute but an ambassador of Christ. The implications are of course that the Holy Spirit came to carry on with Jesus teaching. Now I believe that these verses apply specifically to those who God would call to serve as the foundation of the church and more specifically to those whom the Holy Spirit would inspire to write the New Testament. I want to suggest that this “teach” and “remembrance” speaks of a level of inerrancy we attribute to the Scriptures. Now I am not saying that the Holy Spirit does not bring things to memory in our case, but that this is something of far greater significance. These verses primarily deal with the early propagation of Christ’s message and the establishing of the church. We might wish that the Holy Spirit worked in the same fashion in the protecting of the purity of the message, but we have God’s word recorded as the early church did not. We have been given the responsibility to handle God’s word with great care. Yes we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart to understand His word, but again we are primarily dependant the Scriptures to know what Christ taught. Many have gone astray, confused, in that they thought the “word” they “heard” was the Holy Spirit , but was actually contrary to the Word. If we want this teaching of the Holy Spirit – open God’s word and there He will “teach” and “bring to remembrance” all things that Jesus taught.

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

 

Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus”, that is a Saviour?

A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; (a) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other. (b) (a) Matt.1:21; Heb.7:24,25. (b) Acts 4:12; John 15:4,5; 1 Tim.2:5; Isa.43:11; 1 John 5:11.