I left off speaking about how we are to be bearers of – fruit of – spirit, its our Lords desire that we develop – fruit of – Spirit in our lives and that those fruits grow bountifully

each day it should be our desire because of our love for – Lord, that – joy, peace, meekness, temperance, and all – other fruits are becoming a part of our character & people around us are seeing that we are different because of our relationship with Jesus Christ

Jn. 15, – Lord is speaking to believers and in vs:12 he tells us to love one another, however, – only way we can ever love other believers is by us first loving – Lord

how many of you have ever attended a church and you never felt any Christian love at all?

Or you attended a church where there was tension, gossip, tearing each other or – pastor down?

Lets be clear, – Holy Spirit is not at work in those kind of churches

you can have bible teaching going on and there will still be those who are rejecting Gods commandment to love each other

people talk about loving other believers, but to love as God loves us, is to put love on a very high plane, that many are not achieving today,  only – Holy Spirit can produce that kind of love in our hearts & if we are not being cleansed by – Word of God, we will not love each other

vs;13

We can absolutely know if – Spirit of God is producing – love of God in our hearts, he has a test for us

Vs;14

The Christian life is not a hit or miss proposition, to truly be a child of God whose Spirit is working in our hearts, we have to be actively following his instructions, and his instructions are absolutely clear, if you follow his instructions, you will bear fruit, and – love of God will flow out of our hearts

he laid his life down for us & he asks us to do one simple thing, Obey Him which proves our love for him

Lets get right down to it, if you love someone, you will do whatever you can for them, be it your spouse, child or God, if you don’t love them, you won’t lift a finger for them

vs; 15-16

Jesus calls us his friends when we follow his instructions, he opens his heart up to us and we can know him as he reveals himself to us

a true friend is someone we can go to and tell them anything and they’ll understand and give us help and encouragement

and thats what Jesus does, he chose us, he went to – cross so that he could have a relationship with us

how many times have you & I gotten so discouraged that all we could do is go and pour our hearts out to – Lord?

Yrs & yrs ago there was a preacher who had been a converted chicken thief, he loved to steal chickens

one night after preaching he was walking home when he heard some chickens – temptation was overpowering to go & steal a chicken, but he stopped & poured out his heart to God and said “Lord your property is in danger, and I’m not talking about them chickens!!”

its a wonderful thing that Jesus calls us his friends and we can call upon him anytime with any need, remember its – Lords desire that we produce fruit & we can’t do that if we’re not walking each day with – Lord

Vs17

Jesus really wants to drive this home into our hearts, its one of – most important things about – Christian life, we are commanded to love each other

If – Lord saw – need to re-emphasize this commandment, then why do Christians pay such little attention to it?

Because as a free society, we have become accustomed to not obey anyone who gives us commandments

Sad fact is; there are many who say their a Christian, but they have no love in their heart for Jesus Christ

Why is this so important to – Lord, why does he want us to have such a deep personal love for himself & for other believers?

Vs: 18-19

Because he knows there is another relationship that we have to deal with and we’re going to need – love of other believers

what happens when you get saved? When you become a child of God?

• world (unsaved) are going to hate you

if – word of God is true, then how can someone who says they are saved, have someone who is unsaved as their best friend?

How can someone who says their saved, marry someone who is not?

Bible says that we are not to be unequally yoked, – saved & unsaved cannot be connected in any personal way except when we testify to them about – gospel

For someone who is saved to be having a relationship with someone who is unsaved

Theres at least 3 things that can be taking place:

1. - saved person is in rebellion & has hardened their heart so severely against – voice of God that they continue in their relationship with – unsaved

2. they have justified themselves by saying their doing – work of – Lord by befriending them in order to win them to Christ,

   which would still be disobedience to Gods Word, we are not to be unequally yoked

3. they were never really saved

We sometimes wonder how can someone who says they are saved marry an unsaved person and be completely happy and stay married, in all probability, they were never saved to begin with

Jesus said – unsaved will hate you, because they hated him first, you will never be accepted by – unsaved

What about these preachers on TV who are so popular with – world?

First of all, a Christians popularity is an indication of how they are representing Christ to – world

I don’t believe a Christian can be popular with – unsaved

2^nd no Christian has a right to be more popular than Jesus, if someone is, then they are probably guilty of compromising with – world

The world will love you, if your a part of – world, but they will hate you if you love Jesus, because – world hates him

this is difficult especially for young people who want to be popular & for Christian parents to push their kids to be popular may be guilty of sin

Kids need to be told if your a child of God, you will not be popular, you will be hated for being a child of God

This is a tough area especially for Moms who will run their kids everywhere to be involved with some worldly activity because they want their kids not to be different from others

fact is, if their saved, their already different, and as a Christian, we should embrace that, we are to be in – world but not of it

Just look at a few things that – unsaved have said about Christians

FARRAKHAN’S WILD NEW CLAIMS: JESUS WAS A BLACK MUSLIM & ELIJAH WOULD BE THE ‘N***ER AT THE DOOR’ (PLUS THE BIBLE WAS WRONG ABOUT CAIN!)

 Atheist put up a sign that says Jesus is a myth

ATHEISTS OFFER $1,500 REWARD AFTER ‘JESUS CHRIST IS A MYTH’ SIGN REPORTEDLY STOLEN FROM IL PARK

ATHEISTS POST ‘NOBODY DIED FOR Your sins in Il. sign

Gr. Rapids, Sign Gay christians? Yes its possible

Christians responsible for racial hatred in America,

Christians are homophobic, women hating mindless robots

And we could go on & on of all – despicable things that are being said about us today

If – world hates us, then why is there so much hatred and problems with-in – church?

Unfortunately, we have a lot of people attending churches who are not saved and so if – pastor and – other believers who are standing on – truth of Gods Word, you will see ungodly things take place with-in churches because of those who are unsaved

20-22

theres many today who think their greater than Jesus, they think they have all – answers to solve everyones problems, they would not ever bow before God and seek his wisdom

we’re not greater than our Lord, we are to keep giving out – Word of God and if your faithful to – Lord, you will experience persecution

those who persecute you have 2 problems

1. they don’t know – Father
2. they don’t want their sins revealed

   Jesus turned on – light of – gospel on – hearts of sinful man & when someone turns on a light something happens

what do rats, cockroaches, & snakes do when you turn on a light?

They take off, they don’t want to be seen

sinful man does – same thing, they don’t want their sin seen, thats why they hate Jesus and those who are his children

vs;23

this is an important verse, because if you listen to most people today, almost everyone loves God

we have to get this in our heads, – world don’t hate their IDEA of God, some vague or allusive kind of god out yonder

but they do indeed hate Jesus & since Jesus and God his Father are one, they hate – God of Abraham, Jacob and Issac, our God

If you want to know if someone is saved? Just ask them about their relationship & attitude toward Jesus

24-25

its been said, that God created – world in his image and today, man is creating God in their image, thats – kind of God – world wants, a false god who is running – universe in a way that agrees with their ideas

a god that blesses homosexuality, shacking up together in sin, perversion and immorality, is their kind of god

but – true God they hate without a cause, God has never done anything against man, except provide a way to heaven  but – way he provides is what they hate and reject

26-27

• HS bears witness of Christ, & if – Lord Jesus is real to you, its because of – HS work in your heart

I have nothing but love for – Lord Jesus which is proof of – work and witness of Gods Spirit

and we all have people around us that we’re concerned for and pray for that – HS will continue to move in their hearts with conviction

so that they too can fall in love with – one and only true God

 

 

Have you ever gone on a walk with someone and they begin to tell you things that you didn’t know? And as you walk along you begin to learn some new truths?

Disciples had many opportunities to walk with – Lord while he taught them new truths & one of those times was in – valley of Kidron just on – west side of Mt. Of Olives

as they walked through a vineyard – Lord used it as a way to teach new truths about him and his father & it was strange using a vine to speak about relationships

Jn 15:1

word true = genuine & – lord begins by saying he’s – genuine vine – real deal

today it seems like we question everything, we almost have to see it or touch it before we will believe it because there has been so much counterfeit

now why would he tell his disciples that he is – real vine?

Jewish nation had been taught from – OT & everything they thought of was governed by those beliefs & they had been taught that their religion was – vine that rooted them in God

Is 5: 1-7

Now Jesus turns what they have been taught & believe upside down on its head

now they are not to believe that their nation is – genuine vine, their identification with their nation and with their Jewish religion is not – essential thing

now they are to be related to Jesus Christ, they are to be identified with him

today, as soon as you are in Christ after being saved, we are baptized by – Holy Spirit, we are then identified with Jesus Christ

We then are immersed in water, which is baptism to be identified with Christ publicly

when we get saved, we become a branch that must be joined with – vine, its where we get our nourishment, and as we grow, we produce fruit its God – Father who takes care of – branches

vs;2

every branch “in me” = those who are saved, either your in Christ & on your way to heaven, or your not and on your way to hell, you can’t drive in – median

some people believe these verses are speaking about salvation & it is if your unsaved, but these verses are also speaking to – saved, and they will teach that you can lose your salvation

but what is – topic that Jesus is discussing here? Fruit, bearing fruit

And those who are bearing fruit – Lord trims that branch so that you can produce more fruit or in simpler terms

if your faithfully working for – Lord and you see God blessing you, he will use you even more & you’ll bear even get more blessings

But if your doing nothing for – Lord he’ll take away your ability to bear any fruit

in other words, he’ll not use you to touch other peoples lives, or to even receive blessings from him in your own life

vs;6

well this sounds like you’ll lose your salvation, no, remember its talking about fruit bearing

what is – fruit that its speaking about, – fruit of – Spirit, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness & temperance

Do you ever wonder why you meet so many mean spirited, impatient snooty believers?

Because they bear no fruit, why don’t they?

Vs:7

they don’t abide in Christ, = they don’t have an obedient lifestyle to – Lord & their prayers go unanswered

sometimes a believer is so far away from – Lord that he is cast into – fire and burned = God brings chastisement into their life, physical problems & perhaps even death if they refuse to repent

vs;8

what really fires up God to really want to pour out his blessings on us is when we bear fruit

we get stagnant in our relationship with God and we sometimes forget how much he wants to be in our lives and bless us

we get so caught up in our families, or things of this world, that we take our eyes off of – Lord and we lose fellowship with – Lord

we also lose fellowship with our fellow believers and when these 2 things take place it effects a third thing

vs;11

if you have much fruit, of – Spirit, your going to know what it is to have joy in your life

but I want you to understand something extremely important, if you are bearing much fruit, does that mean you will never hit a rough spot in your life?

No, we have to remember, we are sinful beings, who have been forgivened but we will always have to deal with sin

But God does something for us, go back to vs:2

every branch that beareth fruit, he purges, purges = to cleanse

if your developing – fruit of – Spirit in your everyday life, sin still creeps up & so at times, God will take us through a time of cleansing

he will bring us into situations that will hurt us, or bring us suffering in order to teach us new truths about him and about ourselves

& if we will go through those times of cleansing and lean on – Lord that much more, we will produce even more fruit in our lives

but what we tend to do when we are being cleansed, we start to think that we’re being chastised, chastisement comes because of willful sin

we have to keep chastisement & cleansing in right perspective, cleansing comes when your bearing fruit & God wants more of you to produce even greater fruit

vs;3

purging is accomplished through – Word of God & through that cleansing your made a vessel of honor to – Lord

you’ve all heard of our modern day miracle workers that all turn out to be false

if you really want a modern day miracle in your life, right here it is, get into – Word of God & let it cleanse you to be able to bear much fruit

do you know who are – most dangerous people in todays church are?

Those who refuse to be cleansed by – Word of God

their like little active termites in – church walls, they chew on Gods people until theres no life in them, & then they crush – church

if you want a joy filled church? Then everyone of us need to be in Gods Word daily being cleansed, otherwise, – walls are going to come in

vs;4  abide in me = constant communion with Jesus

theres a story told by one of Spurgeons deacons who said he saw Spurgeon walking down – road one day & he stopped, took off his hat & prayed right there on – street

& so he asked him about it later that week & Spurgeon said, that a cloud had come between him & – Lord & he wanted to remove it immediately & he had stopped to confess his sinful thought

that is abiding in Christ

how do we abide in Christ?

Vs;10

vs;14

we sing what a friend we have in Jesus & theres not a friend like – lowly Jesus

folks theres no such thing as a lowly Jesus, he’s our Savior who sits on – right hand of God in power & majesty

calling Jesus my friend is sentimental and really wrong, I cannot bring God down to my level

he has a right to call me his friend but only on one basis, if I keep his commandments, but this is what he says to me, he is not my friend, he is my God, my Lord, my redeemer

we are not on a one to one level like buddies

we don’t need all of this sentimental trash in todays church, what we need is some honest soul searching

are we doing what God commands us to do or not? Thats what we ought to be searching

there are pastors today, that will do every trick in – book at – end of every service to get people to – front of – church to cry and carry on to make it look like God is doing something great

I’ll never do that to any of you here ever, God working in our hearts takes honesty, & intelligent openness with God between your heart & him

vs; 9

abiding in Christ is a constant day to day relationship with him

many think they can go to church on Sunday and be all holy, fool everyone that their something their not and live like – devil – rest of – week

we cannot play at being a Christian, we have to live as a believer who wakes up each day and does their best to do what God would have them to do and live as God would have you live each day

vs;5

because we have free will, we can choose to break fellowship with God anytime we want by allowing sin into our lives and by stepping out of Gods will

but you’ll notice, God wants to bear much fruit in you, but you have to provide – soil for him to plow

if you want a heart of rock, then God will not be able to plow

if you want to have weedy soil. – fruit will not produce much

but one thing for sure, if we don’t provide God – good soil for him to farm in, you won’t be able to do anything for – Lord, its our choice each day

Lets go back to vs: 11,  did you know that God wants his children to have fun?

And if you put all of these verses together that we have covered, you begin to realize that if we will do what God has asked us to do, we will have joy in our lives

to be honest with you, these serious minded Christians who have no humor in their lives

and who walk around with a bible under their arms pointing out what everyone does wrong scare me to death

God says that a fruit bearing Christian will be joy filled, that means having fun, being able to laugh & clown around

Sal & I pick on each other & we laugh together and at each other

everytime we have gotten together as a church family, there has been a lot of laughter and good times

do you realize, that there are those who, if they were to come into this church and see how we act at times, would walk out in disgust?

All I can say is, they need some fruit Amen!!

vs; 15-16

God wants nothing more than to reveal himself to us, and he wants us to open up our hearts to him

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theres a sign that has made national news here in Grand Rapids Mi. that says “gay Christian? Yes”,  according to these folks, you can be gay and Christian. I guess if you say it over and over again, sooner or later you can believe what you say and legitimize it.

But no matter how many times you try to convince yourself that you can be,  just like Dorthy no matter how many times she kicked her heels together, she was still in Kansas and gays are still in sin and rebellion against Gods Word.

I can show you what scripture says, but it won’t convince them, I had a gay man give me a book by a certain Episcopal Bishop that rewrote Gods Word and legitimized homosexuality. It didn’t convince me either, sin is sin and the Word of God is still true.

Same as a man who is married and has an affair, he tries to legitimize it by blaming his wife who wouldn’t give him his needs or then says, God allowed men to have more than one wife in the bible. God said one man for one woman for one lifetime and those who sinned and had more than one wife, paid the consequences.

Of course another way to legitimize the sin of homosexuality is by saying everyone who disagrees are homophobic and then get some religion and some ungodly church to agree with you. Still doesn’t change what God said.

Religion will always take you AWAY from God, not to him, some church that rejects the Word of God and salvation through Christ and faith alone will always agree with sinful lifestyles.

True salvation that leads one to heaven is in Christ, who will change a person to be holy and be righteous (like Jesus) it will not allow you to continue in a lifestyle that is condemned. Same is true of drinking, cussing, adultery, living with someone outside of marriage, all of these lifestyles will stop, if that person is truly in Jesus Christ.

There is no other way to heaven except by  faith in Christ. Be a church person, be a religious person, and end up in hell.

The only way to avoid hell is to accept Jesus Christ, to leave a lifestyle of sin and live a life that honors our Lord

Cor. 15: 3-4

Whenever someone speaks about – gospel, this is what it should always include, – death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ

According to Gods word, – gospel is not a matter of being a good story, or a matter of how one wants to interpret it, it is a fact

the unsaved wants to dispute these facts & say that its all a myth

but – question that we have to answer when we hear – gospel is, what is our relationship to these facts?

Jesus died, he was buried and then he rose from – dead, what does that mean to us?

Do you believe that he died for us?

Do you believe that when he was buried, our sins were absolutely buried too, so – sin question is settled?

We have to remember, when – blood of Christ covered our sin, although we still have sin, its as though it doesn’t exist

we will never have to make an account for our sins, past, present or future

Do you believe he rose from – dead and that you rose with him?

To believe this, puts us in Christ, his righteousness becomes our righteousness his standing becomes our standing & thats all we can boast about

Lk. 23: 50-51

Joseph was a prominent man and he was also a member of – Sanhedrin and had a lot of influence

but when it came to – members of – Sanhedrin passing an edict to crucify Jesus, he stood alone as he was in disagreement with them

apparently, he was in disagreement with his fellow members and did not vote for – crucifixion of – Lord

you could say that Joseph was a very pious, religious man but when he had a face to face meeting with Jesus, he took a stand to be on his side

there were probably many believers who were not open about – Lord like – disciples were

but whats interesting is at – crucifixion, those who were open went underground, & those who were underground like Joseph& Nicodemus, came

out into – open & declared their trust in Jesus

the gospels tell us that Nichodemus & Joseph joined together in burying Jesus

vs;52

Heres a man who is suppose to be on – opposing team against Jesus and he publicly asks for – body of Jesus

I wonder, how many times have we stood up for Jesus by our lonesome, in – face of opposition?

How many times have we backed down when we should have stood up?

Vs;53

Pilate grants Josephs request & they go & bury him, but – question arises, where did they bury him?

There are 2 places that has been identified as Jesus’ tomb, one place they built a catholic church over it & – other is outside – city wall

but I don’t think its either place and theres a real possibility and probability that no one knows where it is today

& theres reasons for that, 1. in 70 A.D. Titus destroyed Jerusalem, its said that he plowed it under, they destroyed everything only a small part of – wall is even still there

its very odd that – grave where they take visitors today would have been – tomb of Jesus, would have been left unscathed

2^nd. There were forces that hated Jesus so much that they would not have left one shred of evidence that he was there, they wanted every reminder removed

(kind of like what many in – United States are attempting to do, remove anything that resembles Jesus Christ)

3^rd, God would have removed – tomb so that it didn’t become an object of worship instead of his Son, just as he had removed certain items in – past

to make my point

– tomb that they use for visitors, there are those who will go into it and weep and kiss – ground as though it is holy, thats exactly what God would not want to happen

24: 1-2

Women come & find – stone rolled away, some say that God burst through & rolled – stone away to let Jesus out & it was so violent that his grave clothes left an impression of – Lords face & body

nope, he rolled it away to let us in, & – shroud has been found to be a fraud,

• carbon dating puts it in a completely newer time frame not anywhere near – time of Christ death

Vs; 4-8

Heres – question – angel puts to – women, why do you seek – living among – dead?

When – women came to – tomb, when Peter and John came running to – tomb, they weren’t looking for a risen Savior, they were looking for a dead body

none of them believed that Jesus rose from – dead, eventhough Jesus had told them explicitly that he was going to Jerusalem to die and then be raised on – third day

they heard what he said, & yet still didn’t hear him

we can sometimes hear things and know that its almost true, but don’t believe it

I know, you ladies are thinking, typical man! TELL him and tell him & he don’t listen or gets it

well let me straighten you women out, well yeah, its a typical man, so what!!

what – Angel was really saying to them & to us, we need to seek – living God

Jesus is not in – grave, he’s not dead, but alive & we need to model our lives after a living, breathing, perfect Savior

who was able to shed his blood to pay – penalty of our sin, who could conquer death, to give us life

& return to heaven, to prepare a place for us in heaven to dwell with him for eternity

why do we keep looking in a grave? When we have a God on his holy throne?