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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com.

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Speaker 1: Over the past group of weeks, we've been looking at

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Speaker 1: a series related to glorifying God, and we're going to

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Speaker 1: continue doing that today and just a moment, we're going

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Speaker 1: to be in John chapter fifteen. We're going to be

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Speaker 1: looking at the first eleven verses of John chapter fifteen.

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Speaker 1: And you'll notice as a theme as we work through

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Speaker 1: these verses here that there's this idea of obeying God

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Speaker 1: with joy, and so I'm going to explain what that

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Speaker 1: means and what it looks like. But just to kind

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Speaker 1: of recap some of the things that we've been talking

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Speaker 1: about related to this idea of glorifying God. One of

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Speaker 1: the big things that we have been attempting to answer

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Speaker 1: is what is our purpose in this world? I know

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Speaker 1: many people go through life wondering that. I was talking

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Speaker 1: to some people recently, a young person recently, who was

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Speaker 1: wondering that very question, what is my purpose in this world? For?

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Speaker 1: What have I been created? And so, by way of

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Speaker 1: quiz as we've done all right, So I hope you're ready.

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Speaker 1: So we've done this. If you're new with us. You

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Speaker 1: haven't had time to prep or study. But we start

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Speaker 1: off with a little bit of a quiz here. So

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Speaker 1: the question is this, what is the chief end of man?

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Speaker 1: What is the purpose of humanity? What is the chief

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Speaker 1: end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.

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Speaker 1: I didn't really set you up for us to do

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Speaker 1: that in unity, but I heard it in pieces. I

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Speaker 1: should have set you up better. So that's on me.

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Speaker 1: But you got it right to glorify God and to

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Speaker 1: enjoy him forever. So when you think, all right, what

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Speaker 1: is the purpose of my life? Why did God create me?

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Speaker 1: It's to glorify Him and it's to enjoy Him forever.

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Speaker 1: And so we're going to emphasize both of those aspects

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Speaker 1: again today. This idea of glorifying God and then the

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Speaker 1: joy or enjoying him, what does that actually look like?

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Speaker 1: So if you would take your bibles and turn with

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Speaker 1: me to John chapter fifteen, John chapter fifteen, this, by

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Speaker 1: the way, I'll just say this even as you're turning there.

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Speaker 1: John chapter fifteen, beautiful portion of scripture with a lot

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Speaker 1: of theological depth. And in this portion of scripture we're

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Speaker 1: going to see Jesus prepping us to understand the nature

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Speaker 1: of what our spiritual life should look like, what your

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Speaker 1: day to day's spiritual life should look like, what mine

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Speaker 1: should look like. As followers of Christ, what should this

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Speaker 1: look like? Well? In John chapter fifteen we read this,

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Speaker 1: starting with verse one, Jesus says, I am the true vine,

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Speaker 1: and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in

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Speaker 1: me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Every

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Speaker 1: branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may

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Speaker 1: bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the

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Speaker 1: word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me

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Speaker 1: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit

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Speaker 1: by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can

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Speaker 1: you unless you abide in me. I am the vine.

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Speaker 1: You are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I

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Speaker 1: in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For

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Speaker 1: apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does

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Speaker 1: not abide in me, he is thrown away like a

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Speaker 1: branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into

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Speaker 1: the fire and burned. If you abide in me and

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Speaker 1: my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish, and

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Speaker 1: it will be done for you. And then look at

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Speaker 1: verse eight. Here Jesus says, by this, my Father is glorified.

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Speaker 1: So notice he's talking about our purpose, the purpose for

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Speaker 1: which we've been created. He says, by this, my Father

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Speaker 1: is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove

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Speaker 1: to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me,

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Speaker 1: so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If

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Speaker 1: you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,

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Speaker 1: just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide

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Speaker 1: in his love. These things I have spoken to you

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Speaker 1: that my joy may be in you, and that your

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Speaker 1: joy may be full. Let's pray, Father, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for this portion of your word. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: revealing these truths to us today and giving us the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to really wrestle with this idea of what it

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Speaker 1: means to abide in your son, Jesus Christ, and how

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Speaker 1: that turns into obedience that is deeply connected and entrenched

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Speaker 1: with joy. Lord, We're grateful for what's illustrated and explained

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Speaker 1: to us in these verses, and Father, we pray that,

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Speaker 1: by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you'd help

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Speaker 1: us to understand these things. We know Lord, that there

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Speaker 1: are a variety of things in this world that tend

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Speaker 1: to that tend to cloud our minds, are at times

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Speaker 1: make us a bit confused about our purpose and your

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Speaker 1: will for us. And so Lord, as we look at

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Speaker 1: this portion of your word, we pray that you would

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Speaker 1: help that to become abundantly clear to us. And we're

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Speaker 1: just so thankful Father for the privilege to be able

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Speaker 1: to look at these things. Now we commit this time

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Speaker 1: to you, and we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Now,

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Speaker 1: as we have already talked about, you know, just even

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Speaker 1: as we've kind of set this up here, we're obviously

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Speaker 1: illustrating and talking about this idea of obedience today and

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Speaker 1: what obedience looks like in relation to glorifying God. And

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Speaker 1: I would imagine that if you ask people their opinion,

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Speaker 1: even just on the word obedience, I don't think a

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Speaker 1: lot of people think of obedience in connection with joy.

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Speaker 1: They think of it more along the lines of obligation.

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Speaker 1: You know, Obedience and obligation tend to be where people

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Speaker 1: kind of line up when they think of those words.

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Speaker 1: And I would actually imagine that many people in this

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Speaker 1: world would probably think of obedience as the opposite of joy.

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Speaker 1: I can think of many seasons of my childhood where

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Speaker 1: obedience wasn't high on my list of priorities, and when

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Speaker 1: I thought about joy, I certainly didn't think of it

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Speaker 1: in terms of obedience related to my parents or my grandparents,

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Speaker 1: or my aunts, or my uncles or any other authority.

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Speaker 1: My teachers. You know, I still think I feel a

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Speaker 1: little bit bad about this, especially since I teach and

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Speaker 1: I know some of you are teachers. I've often thought,

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Speaker 1: you know, if I ever see some of those teachers

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Speaker 1: at this season of life, I feel like the first

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Speaker 1: thing I'm going to do is apologize. And the weird thing.

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Speaker 1: As a teacher, I've had people apologize to me for

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Speaker 1: various things, so I've experienced that, but I'm like I

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Speaker 1: kind of owe a few apologies because I can remember

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Speaker 1: a few seasons of my childhood that obedience wasn't high

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Speaker 1: on my list. And if you ask me if I

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Speaker 1: correlated the idea of obedience with joy, I would say

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Speaker 1: far from it. And I would imagine most people, really,

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Speaker 1: when they think of obedience that probably think, especially at

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Speaker 1: certain seasons of our life, we tend to think of

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Speaker 1: obedience as the opposite of joy. And then you look

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Speaker 1: at what Jesus says in a portion of scripture like this,

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Speaker 1: and he's reminding us that there's a very deep joy

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Speaker 1: that's connected with faithful obedience. I understand that obedience can

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Speaker 1: sound restrictive, or that it can sound demanding, or that

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Speaker 1: in some respects it can sound burdensome. And then when

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Speaker 1: you use the word joy, joy sounds freeing, Joy sounds satisfying.

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Speaker 1: And so we're like, how do those two words go together?

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Speaker 1: And again, our culture, what does our culture teach? Our

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Speaker 1: culture teaches us that happiness comes from following our own

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Speaker 1: desires or resisting limitations or choosing our own path. And

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Speaker 1: then you look at the very words that Jesus says

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Speaker 1: in this passage and he shows us, no, that's not

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Speaker 1: how this works. Like joy and obedience go hand in hand,

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Speaker 1: and in John fifteen, Jesus teaches us that obedience does

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Speaker 1: not rob us of joy. Obedience actually leads us into

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Speaker 1: joy because it keeps us close to Christ. Now, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to explain what I mean by that. And he

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Speaker 1: uses the word abide here quite a few times to

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Speaker 1: explain how this all works. So we'll elaborate on that

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Speaker 1: in just a moment. But the idea is this, you know,

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Speaker 1: if you want to kind of have like a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a foundation in your mind for us to

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Speaker 1: look at these verses understand that God's commands they are

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Speaker 1: not designed to keep you from flourishing. When God commands

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Speaker 1: something to me, to you in his word, he's not

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Speaker 1: trying to keep us from flourishing. He's actually trying to

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Speaker 1: guide us in a very honest way, toward the life

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Speaker 1: that we were created to live. He's saying, I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to prevent you from going down a path that's going

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Speaker 1: to destroy you or discourage you. And I want to

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Speaker 1: show you very honestly that this is what leads to flourishing.

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Speaker 1: So he's saying, don't go in this direction, go in

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Speaker 1: this direction, and he makes his expectations clear. Now, generally speaking,

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Speaker 1: we know that we were created to glorify God. And

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Speaker 1: one of the ways that we glorify God, one of

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Speaker 1: the primary ways we glorify him is literally just obeying

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Speaker 1: his word, believing him enough to take what he says

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Speaker 1: at face value. In saying, Lord, if you say it,

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Speaker 1: it must come from your heart of love toward me.

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Speaker 1: If you would take the time to tell me that

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Speaker 1: I'm going to listen to it and understand that Christian

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Speaker 1: obedience isn't cold rule following. That's not what we're talking about.

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Speaker 1: What we're actually doing is we're demonstrating our genuine fellowship,

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Speaker 1: our genuine union with Christ, a relationship that rests on grace,

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Speaker 1: a relationship that expresses love, a relationship that produces lasting fruit.

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Speaker 1: And so when you get to John fifteen, here you

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Speaker 1: have Jesus elaborating on all of these concepts. And to

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Speaker 1: give you a little context of when this was spoken,

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Speaker 1: Jesus spoke these words the night before his crucifixion. So

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Speaker 1: if you were in a season of time where you knew,

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Speaker 1: you know that things were going to change drastically in

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Speaker 1: very short order, and you knew that the group of

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Speaker 1: people that you were experiencing fellowship with and training and

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Speaker 1: all that, that you had just a short period of

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Speaker 1: time to be able to explain a few more things

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Speaker 1: to them, what do you think you would say? Well,

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Speaker 1: that's what we're actually reading. When we look at John

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Speaker 1: chapter fifteen, Here Jesus is speaking these words the night

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Speaker 1: before his crucifixion. He's gathered his disciples for that passover meal.

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Speaker 1: At this point, Judas has already gone out to betray him.

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Speaker 1: The cross is literally just hours away, and we know

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Speaker 1: that the disciples are in the midst of all that

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Speaker 1: they're going to be facing, fear and confusion and grief

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Speaker 1: and opposition and all these things that weigh them down.

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Speaker 1: But it's in that setting that Jesus teaches them how

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Speaker 1: to remain spiritually alive and fruitful. And the council that

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Speaker 1: he gives them about being spiritually alive and fruitful isn't

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Speaker 1: just counsel that was meant for that small group of people.

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Speaker 1: It's counsel that was meant to be repeated generation after

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Speaker 1: generation after generation, so that you and I would understand

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Speaker 1: what it means to be spiritually alive and rueful about it.

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Speaker 1: So it's that setting that Jesus is teaching, and he

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Speaker 1: starts off in verse one saying this. He says, I

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Speaker 1: am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.

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Speaker 1: So he starts off the statement by saying that I

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Speaker 1: am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser.

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Speaker 1: Now let's go back. Let's do like a recap on

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Speaker 1: certain things from the Old Testament, just to understand the

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Speaker 1: context in which Jesus is speaking this. Throughout the Old

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Speaker 1: Testament scriptures, Israel was sometimes pictured as a vine that

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Speaker 1: was planted and cared for by God. Do any of

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Speaker 1: you have a summer garden. My wife and I ate

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Speaker 1: at a restaurant last evening that was right by a

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Speaker 1: farmer's market, and they were getting some of their produce

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Speaker 1: from the farmer's market. And you know how like most

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Speaker 1: of the time, when you get a tomato on a sandwich,

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Speaker 1: it's like a throwaway tomato. You look at it, it's like,

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Speaker 1: that's barely even orange. It's like beige, and you're trying

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Speaker 1: to tell me that's a tomato. And I looked at

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Speaker 1: the tomato on my sandwich last night, and I looked

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Speaker 1: at that, and I was like, that's a tomato. That

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Speaker 1: is You take nothing away from this message today, Understand.

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Speaker 1: I had a delicious tomato on my sandwich last night.

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Speaker 1: I was like, that's a tomato. And I'm looking at

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Speaker 1: that and I'm enjoying this thing, and I'm like, every

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Speaker 1: bite was good, every single bite was good. Telling me

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Speaker 1: that that must have come from a garden, probably not

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Speaker 1: that far away, and it was probably cared for all

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Speaker 1: along the way. Right now, my wife is growing tomatoes

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Speaker 1: in our garden. I gotta tell you, I would rather

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Speaker 1: eat those tomatoes than anything you could buy just about anywhere.

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Speaker 1: And then you look at what Scripture tells, and there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of intentionality with that. Right, if you grow plants,

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Speaker 1: if you have a garden, there's thought that goes into it.

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Speaker 1: You become emotionally connected with the stuff that you're trying

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Speaker 1: to grow. And Scripture, throughout the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly

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Speaker 1: is pictured as a vine, but not just a vine

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Speaker 1: that's just allowed to do whatever it's gonna do. It's

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Speaker 1: a vine. It's described as a vine that's intentionally cared

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Speaker 1: for by God, that he's looking after them, that he

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Speaker 1: wants them to be fruitful. Now, when you look at

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Speaker 1: Israel's history throughout the Old Testament, you could see that

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Speaker 1: they quite frequently were not fruitful. Quite frequently they were

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Speaker 1: not faithful. They were not expressing the righteousness that God desired,

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Speaker 1: even after making all that investment in them. And so

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Speaker 1: now you have Jesus saying, all right, let me let

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Speaker 1: me clarify this. For everybody says I am the true vine.

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Speaker 1: I am the true vine, meaning he is the faithful

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Speaker 1: son he is the obedient servant. He's the one who

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Speaker 1: perfectly fulfills everything that Israel and humanity just in general

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Speaker 1: failed to fulfill. Israel kept failing to do it, human

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Speaker 1: beings just in general kept failing to do it. And

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Speaker 1: so Jesus says, yeah, I'm the true Vine. I'm the

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Speaker 1: one fulfilling what nobody else could fulfill. So even go

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Speaker 1: all back, you know, back to the earliest pages in

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Speaker 1: scripture where Adam disobeyed in the garden, you see Jesus

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Speaker 1: being obedient to the Father's will. So you see the opposite, right,

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Speaker 1: Jesus doing what Adam didn't do, where Israel rebelled in

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Speaker 1: the wilderness. What is Jesus? He remains faithful. And so

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Speaker 1: we're not just talking about other people. Let's make it

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Speaker 1: personal to us. Where we've chosen our own way, and

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Speaker 1: I've done that more times than I can count in

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Speaker 1: my own life. And you have two where we've chosen

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Speaker 1: our own way. What does Jesus do? He always does

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Speaker 1: the will of the Father. So he's like, I'm the

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Speaker 1: true Vine. That's what he's getting at. He's like, I'm

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Speaker 1: the true Vine. And here's a cool thing that's related

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Speaker 1: to all of that, and he's going to explain it

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Speaker 1: to us a piece of time. As we work our

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Speaker 1: way through his statements, he's about to reveal to you

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Speaker 1: and to me that our hope doesn't rest on our

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Speaker 1: ability to become good enough for God. Because what he's

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Speaker 1: saying is basically in calling himself the true Vine. He's like, look,

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Speaker 1: everybody else, goofs this up, Israel, goofed it up, all humanity,

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Speaker 1: goofed this up. Even though the Father has done so

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Speaker 1: much for you, what have we done. We've gone our

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Speaker 1: own way, We've chosen our own path. He's like, look,

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Speaker 1: I'm the true Vine, and he's basically going to illustrate

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Speaker 1: for us that our hope rests not in ourself, it

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Speaker 1: rests in him. He's like, I'm the one who did

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Speaker 1: what Adam couldn't do. I'm the one who did what

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Speaker 1: Israel couldn't do. I'm the one who did what you

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Speaker 1: can't do. So I did it for you. That's what

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Speaker 1: he's saying. I'm the true Vine. I did it all

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Speaker 1: for you. I did it for you because you couldn't

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Speaker 1: do it. So stop preaching something to your heart where

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Speaker 1: you're saying that you have to become good enough for

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Speaker 1: God to accept you. That's not how this works. That

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Speaker 1: is not the heart of Christianity, that is not the

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Speaker 1: heart of the Gospel. He's saying, you couldn't do it. Israel,

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Speaker 1: they were called the vine. But he said, I'm the

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Speaker 1: true vine because I'm the one who actually listens to

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Speaker 1: the one who is the vine dresser. And Jesus what

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Speaker 1: he does is he does what we couldn't do. And

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Speaker 1: then the righteousness that he demonstrates that he certainly possesses.

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Speaker 1: He says, now I'm going to add that to your account.

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Speaker 1: So it's as if you did it. It's like between us,

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Speaker 1: we know you couldn't do it, so I did it

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Speaker 1: for you, and now it's in your account. And then

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Speaker 1: Jesus continues and he says this in verse two, he says,

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Speaker 1: every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he

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Speaker 1: takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he

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Speaker 1: prunes that it may bear more fruit. Again, he's referencing God,

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Speaker 1: the Father is the vine dresser. He's saying, right, he's

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Speaker 1: the one who owns the vineyard. He's the one who

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Speaker 1: tends the branches. He's the one who knows what each

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Speaker 1: branch needs, and his purpose is fruitfulness. He wants his

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Speaker 1: children to be fruitful. Well, a fruitful branch reveals something,

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Speaker 1: or excuse me, a fruit less branch reveals something as well.

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Speaker 1: Fruitful branch certainly reveals something, reveals that it's connected to

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Speaker 1: the source of life, but a fruit less branch reveals

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Speaker 1: that it has no living connection to the vine. A

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Speaker 1: fruitfull branch, however, if you're a gardener, you know, even

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Speaker 1: if you have a summer garden at your home, what

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Speaker 1: do you do when you notice you have a fruitful branch.

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Speaker 1: You want to make sure that anything that's trying to

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Speaker 1: compete with that branch doing well. You try and eliminate

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Speaker 1: the competition. You try and prune it, and you prune

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Speaker 1: it so that it could become more fruitful. If there's

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Speaker 1: something that's sapping energy from it, if there's something that's

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Speaker 1: taking something away from it, you take that away so

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Speaker 1: that that fruitful branch becomes even more fruitful. Pruning involves

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Speaker 1: what cutting. There's some cutting. Now understand that Jesus is

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Speaker 1: using this as an analogy for what gets done spiritually

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Speaker 1: in your life and in my life. But let's stay

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Speaker 1: with the analogy for a second, pruning sometimes looks severe.

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Speaker 1: Have you ever seen a plant that's been pruned and

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Speaker 1: you're like, Oh, it was pretty before they pruned it,

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Speaker 1: and now they pruned it. It's like, ah, that looks

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Speaker 1: like a kid that gave himself a haircut. Right by

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Speaker 1: the way. I ask my sister Tammy sometime about the

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Speaker 1: haircut I gave her once I was five, she was four.

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Speaker 1: I thought it looked great. My mother felt otherwise. But

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Speaker 1: when you look at pruning, pruning sometimes looks severe. But

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Speaker 1: pruning is purposeful. So a gardner is trying to remove

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Speaker 1: anything that's going to drain strength or anything that's going

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Speaker 1: to hinder growth. And in the same way, So when

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Speaker 1: we take this analogy and make it personal, think about

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Speaker 1: the pruning that God. You've already seen him do this

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Speaker 1: in your life, haven't you. If you ever experienced God

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Speaker 1: prunes something in your life, like cut something away, what

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Speaker 1: does he do when he's pruning in your life and

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Speaker 1: in my life? Sometimes he'll take away a habit or

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Speaker 1: make it impossible for us to indulge in a habit.

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Speaker 1: He'll take it away, he'll prune it. Sometimes it's an attitude.

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Speaker 1: He'll prune an attitude in a certain way. He'll show

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Speaker 1: us it doesn't work, or he'll make it not work.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes he prunes distractions from your life. So there are

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Speaker 1: times that there are things that you wanted to invite

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Speaker 1: into your life, and you kept hitting these walls where

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Speaker 1: you're like, why can't I invite that into my life? Well,

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Speaker 1: the Lord was trying to prune a distraction from your

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Speaker 1: life and keep you from inviting something in that doesn't

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Speaker 1: belong there, that's going to sap your strength and your energy.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes there are just certain dependencies, things that are unhealthy

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Speaker 1: that we sometimes aim to become dependent upon, and the

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Speaker 1: Lord's like, no, I want you to depend on me.

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Speaker 1: I don't want you to depend on that lesser thing,

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Speaker 1: And so he prunes it. And here's another thing that

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Speaker 1: he sometimes does. And you've probably experienced this. If you've

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Speaker 1: lived any length of time, you probably experience this. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: he'll even remove certain people from your life. You ever

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Speaker 1: have that happen. We prune certain people from your life

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Speaker 1: for a purpose. I don't know how often you read

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Speaker 1: God's word. I hope you read it frequently. If you

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Speaker 1: don't read it frequently, I just want to politely encourage

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Speaker 1: you to become somebody who's in the word regularly, because

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Speaker 1: a lot of times the pruning that God wants to

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Speaker 1: do in your life and in my life is going

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Speaker 1: to come from the conviction he produces in our heart

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Speaker 1: as we just simply read his words. So if you'll

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Speaker 1: read through his word, he'll bring things to your attention

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Speaker 1: as you read it, and then you'll experience healthy conviction

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Speaker 1: that helps clarify things that are confusing in your life.

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Speaker 1: And so he'll use his word sometimes to show us

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Speaker 1: areas that need to be pruned related to our own pride,

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Speaker 1: or related to bitterness, or related to greed or dishonesty

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Speaker 1: or selfishness or anything like that that just needs to

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Speaker 1: be surrendered over to him, and he'll convict our hearts

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Speaker 1: through his word and use that as his tool in

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Speaker 1: this pruning process. Other times God will prune us in

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Speaker 1: a different way. And there are certain moments in my

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Speaker 1: life that I've I didn't always realize this in the

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Speaker 1: moment at this season of my life, I think I

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Speaker 1: see it quicker than I used to. But do you

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Speaker 1: ever have a door that you thought was opening that

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Speaker 1: then closes. It could be in any category or a

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Speaker 1: plan that you had been working on something that made

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Speaker 1: sense to you, and then it gets interrupted in some

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Speaker 1: way that was outside of your control, and you're like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I didn't see that coming, or I'm gonna put this

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Speaker 1: in the same category a season where something familiar gets

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Speaker 1: taken away, something you were used to that's been there

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Speaker 1: for a while, that then gets taken away. And then

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Speaker 1: you look at that and you think, Lord, are you

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Speaker 1: punishing me, Like you're allowing this hardship, this closed door,

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Speaker 1: or this familiar thing to be taken away or this

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Speaker 1: plan that's interrupted now like being changed in a way

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Speaker 1: that I didn't see coming. Are you punishing me in

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Speaker 1: some respect? Do you ever wonder if that's what's going on?

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Speaker 1: The truth is, I don't think that we should assume

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Speaker 1: that every hardship that we deal with is evidence of

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Speaker 1: punishment from God. I think sometimes what he's doing is

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Speaker 1: he's pruning us. He can use those hardships to expose

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Speaker 1: our hearts. He could use those hardships to refine our faith.

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Speaker 1: And one of the great blessings that we experience from

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Speaker 1: him is that he oftentimes uses those hardships to teach

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Speaker 1: us to depend more fully on Him. I tend to

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Speaker 1: be someone who tends to be very self reliant. And

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Speaker 1: then here's the weird part. I'm married someone who also

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Speaker 1: tends to be very self reliant. And I remember when

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Speaker 1: we were dating, We're like, wonder how this will work.

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Speaker 1: Do you think we'll get along decades from now or

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Speaker 1: maybe we'll just like have our own lives and then

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Speaker 1: just every now and then visit each other and be like, hey,

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Speaker 1: how's it going for you? Great? I take care of

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Speaker 1: everything myself. Me too. Bye right, very tricky when you

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Speaker 1: have two type A personalities that tend to be overly

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Speaker 1: self reliant. I have to tell you. One of the

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Speaker 1: things that the Lord's been teaching me over the course

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Speaker 1: of my life is that doesn't work. You could be driven,

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Speaker 1: you could be you know, reliable. But one of the

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Speaker 1: things he's had to teach me, oftentimes through trials, is

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Speaker 1: to truly rely on him to do the things that

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Speaker 1: only he can do. I've made way too many mistakes

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Speaker 1: in my life trying to rely on me to do

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Speaker 1: things that only God can do. And so some of

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Speaker 1: the pruning is where the Lord's teaching us to depend

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Speaker 1: more fully on him. That's something that he's been teaching

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Speaker 1: me over the course of the decades. I feel like,

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Speaker 1: you know, in the past decade in particular, it's like, Lord,

427
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 1: I'm listening. You got my attention. I'm listening. But it's

428
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: a pruning process. And again, the goal of pruning isn't

429
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,199
Speaker 1: to punish those who belong to Christ. That's not what

430
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 1: he's trying to do. It's not a punishment, especially when

431
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 1: you consider the fact that Jesus already took our punishment

432
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 1: upon himself at the Cross. He took your punishment. So

433
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: pruning isn't the punishment. The father is pruning his children.

434
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 1: According to the analogy that we see here in John

435
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 1: chapter fifteen, he's pruning his children because he loves us

436
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,280
Speaker 1: and he wants to produce christ like fruit in your life.

437
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: So he's taking things that are getting in the way

438
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,200
Speaker 1: of that. He's taking those things away, and he's saying,

439
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 1: I'm pruning that out. I'm pruning that away. I know

440
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: it's uncomfortable, but I'm going to prune that. But on

441
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: the other side, you're going to see why I did it,

442
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,920
Speaker 1: and you're gonna thank me for it. And Jesus goes

443
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: on to say this in verse three. He says he says, already,

444
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 1: you are clean because of the word that I've spoken

445
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 1: to you. Already, you are clean because of the word

446
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: that I've spoken to you. So he's saying to the disciples, look,

447
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,560
Speaker 1: you're not accepted because you've reached perfection. In fact, when

448
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: you read through the gospels, you see that the disciples

449
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 1: made every mistake that you can think of, all sorts

450
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 1: of things, verbally, relationally, they made every kind of mistake

451
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: you could think of. So he's not saying you're clean

452
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: because you've somehow reached sinless perfection, saying you're clean because

453
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,680
Speaker 1: you've received my word. You've received the word of Christ.

454
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,679
Speaker 1: You're clean. He's saying, I look at you, and I

455
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,600
Speaker 1: see who I'm making you to be, not who you

456
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,159
Speaker 1: were naturally. I see who I'm making you to be.

457
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: They're standing rested on the grace that Christ was blessing

458
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,240
Speaker 1: them with. And the same is true for every believer.

459
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:41,880
Speaker 1: Same is true for you and for me. We don't

460
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,600
Speaker 1: obey God to earn salvation. That's not what obedience is

461
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,919
Speaker 1: all about. We don't obey God to somehow earn his favor.

462
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: We obey because salvation has been given to us through

463
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,760
Speaker 1: the grace of Jesus Christ. We don't obey to persuade

464
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: God to love us either. We obey because He's already

465
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: loved us. And you can also say we don't obey

466
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,919
Speaker 1: to make ourselves clean. We obey because Jesus has cleansed

467
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 1: us through his sacrificial death, through the work that he

468
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,360
Speaker 1: did on our behalf. Meaning grace comes first and obedience

469
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,479
Speaker 1: comes second. Grace comes first and obedience comes second. How

470
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 1: many times do you interact with people in this world

471
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 1: who think that God won't accept them because they have

472
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 1: not lived a life of obedience to him, and so

473
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,080
Speaker 1: they think, what's the point He's not gonna accept me.

474
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 1: I have goofed everything up. It's like, no, no, no, that's

475
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,719
Speaker 1: not how this works. God knows that you are lost

476
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: and going your own way. He knows that you are

477
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: off in your own direction, self reliant, relying on your

478
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 1: own wisdom, trying to find delight in this world through

479
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 1: things that drag you away from the Lord. He knows

480
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 1: that that's the direction you were going in. And what

481
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: Scripture says is no, grace comes first. The Lord interrupts

482
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: our rebellion with his grace, and then we obey Grace

483
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,240
Speaker 1: comes first, obedience follows. I think that order is essential

484
00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: if we're going to understand the heart of the Gospel,

485
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 1: because I think when obedience becomes an attempt to try

486
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 1: and earn God's approval, I think it produces things like fear.

487
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: I think it produces pride. I think it produces discouragement

488
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,440
Speaker 1: because it doesn't work. You can't earn the approval of God.

489
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: That's not how God's approval is received. And also, here's

490
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,080
Speaker 1: another thing that ends up happening. When people put obedience

491
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 1: before grace. They think they're doing better than they're doing

492
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: on their best days. They'll look at themselves will be like,

493
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:30,399
Speaker 1: you know, I did all right, But then they'll have

494
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: a bad day and then they won't know how to

495
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,679
Speaker 1: process it, and then they end up discouraged and they

496
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 1: think all is lost. Well, you're gonna go through life

497
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 1: thinking all is lost if you always come back to

498
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 1: thinking that it depends on you because you are a

499
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 1: fallible human being and the Lord's trying to show you

500
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 1: what it means to depend on him. Grace comes first,

501
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 1: the unmerited favor of God, where he blesses you in

502
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 1: ways that you're conscious of the fact that you don't

503
00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 1: deserve the blessing, and then obedience is basically saying, Lord,

504
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,320
Speaker 1: thank you you give me. I was listening to a

505
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,160
Speaker 1: song last night as we were driving. There's a song

506
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 1: by you two, and in the song, Bono, the lead singer,

507
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,360
Speaker 1: he says, I get so many things I don't deserve.

508
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,679
Speaker 1: It's a song you calls the Miracle. He's like, I

509
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: get so many things I don't deserve. And every time

510
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 1: I sing that that line, particularly while we're in the

511
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 1: car and you have some time to just get alone

512
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: with your thoughts a little bit, I get so many

513
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: things I don't deserve. In the midst of it, I

514
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:26,640
Speaker 1: was just thinking about it. I get so many things

515
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: I don't deserve. That is the essence of grace, where

516
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:30,920
Speaker 1: the Lord looks at me and he says, John, I'm

517
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 1: gonna bless you in ways that you don't deserve. You

518
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,919
Speaker 1: know what you deserve, you deserve an eternity apart from me,

519
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 1: I'm gonna bless you in ways that you don't deserve.

520
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 1: And then I look at that and it's like, Lord,

521
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 1: I want to give you something too. It's like, all right, John,

522
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: what do you have? Well? I have imperfect words. I

523
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: get tongue tied half the time when I'm preaching. I

524
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 1: have imperfect thoughts, like I imperfect writing, imperfect actions, imperfect relationships.

525
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 1: I don't have a single thing in my life. It's

526
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 1: perfect that I can offer a holy God that's as

527
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 1: good as what he could offer me. And yet you

528
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: have this desire to give him something. And what is

529
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: the Lord saying? No, that's not how it works. I'm

530
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 1: giving you like from his giving nature. He looks at you,

531
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,359
Speaker 1: and he looks at me, and he says, I'm giving

532
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,680
Speaker 1: you what you don't deserve. I get so many things

533
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 1: I don't deserve. He's like, how about this. If you

534
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: love me, there's a way you can show me you

535
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,959
Speaker 1: love me. You can just just listen to what I'm

536
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 1: telling you. Believe that I love you enough that you

537
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: would actually listen to what I'm saying, because if you

538
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: love me, you'll obey me. If you love me, you'll

539
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,280
Speaker 1: listen to me. If you're convinced that I love you,

540
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,280
Speaker 1: you'll listen to what I'm saying because you'll understand the

541
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 1: heart that the words that I spoke to you came from.

542
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 1: That's the heart of obedience. That's what Jesus is trying

543
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: to get at here when he's explaining these things to

544
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: his disciples, but he uses a special word to try

545
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: and make it clear. Look at what he says. In

546
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: verse four, he says, abide in me and I in you.

547
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: He says abide in me. Now, to confess to you

548
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:02,760
Speaker 1: that there are many times that I've looked at that

549
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 1: statement and I've thought, Lord, do I understand what you

550
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: really meant by that, because it's not really a term

551
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:14,479
Speaker 1: that we use in a relational way, abide in me? Like,

552
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: what does that mean? Abide in me? Well, let me

553
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,239
Speaker 1: explain to you as best as I can what that

554
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 1: word means, particularly how Jesus is using it in this passage. Again,

555
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,719
Speaker 1: he's saying, abide in me and I in you. Okay, Well,

556
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: what does that mean? Lord? Well, it means to remain

557
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: in him, to continue in him, to dwell in him,

558
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 1: or another way that some people phrase it is this

559
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 1: idea of stay connected to him, stay relationally connected to Christ.

560
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 1: So as he's saying these words to his disciples, he's

561
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 1: not just calling them to have occasional contact with him.

562
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: There's probably people that you've experienced in your life. You

563
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: have occasional contact with that's not abiding, right. He's actually

564
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 1: calling these disciples to have a life of ongoing fellowship

565
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 1: and dependence on him. He's saying, that's what it means

566
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,040
Speaker 1: to abide in me, dwell in me, ongoing fellowship, ongoing dependence,

567
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 1: ongoing relationship, abide in me day in, day out, day

568
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 1: in day out. And again he's tying this all to

569
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: this idea of us being branches. Right, He's the vine,

570
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 1: we're the branches. Well, a branch, coming back to gardening,

571
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 1: can't produce fruit through determination. That's not how it works.

572
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,520
Speaker 1: It bears fruit because life flows through it. Well, how

573
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: does life flow through it from the vine? So you

574
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: have life in the vine that then flows into the branches.

575
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: But a branch can't do what it needs to do

576
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,680
Speaker 1: on its own. It needs to stay connected to the vine.

577
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: And again in verse four, what is Jesus saying, saying,

578
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: abide in me and I in you? And he says,

579
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,200
Speaker 1: as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it

580
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:56,040
Speaker 1: abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide

581
00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:01,080
Speaker 1: in me. He's saying, remain connect to him. And I

582
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 1: think that that confronts our temptation to be self reliant.

583
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: Certainly confronts it for me, saying abide in me. So

584
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 1: so many times in my life when I've done the

585
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: dumbest things I've done, I've tried to be a branch

586
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,280
Speaker 1: connected to nothing. It's like a branch connected to itself.

587
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: It's like, great, see how that works. Fast forward to

588
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,920
Speaker 1: the reality check that you end up experiencing. It doesn't work.

589
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 1: It just doesn't work. You have to remain connected to

590
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 1: the vine self reliance, in my own spiritual growth, in

591
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,920
Speaker 1: my own day to day life. It just doesn't work.

592
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 1: You have to remain connected to the vine because a

593
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 1: branch cannot bear fruit by itself. And I love what

594
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 1: Jesus said and says in verse five with what he says,

595
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 1: he says it in multiple parts. Here he says, I

596
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: am the vine, and you're the branches. Whoever abides in

597
00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:51,520
Speaker 1: me and I in him, he it is that bears

598
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 1: much fruit. And then he goes on to say, for

599
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 1: a part from me, you can do nothing. For a

600
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 1: part from me, you can do nothing. Now that's kind

601
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 1: of an interesting statement because you look at that and

602
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,480
Speaker 1: you're thinking, all right, well, I see people do some

603
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 1: very impressive things in this world, people who don't claim

604
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: to have any relationship with the Lord. You know. I've

605
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 1: seen people build companies. You know, just this past year,

606
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,880
Speaker 1: we've seen someone, for the first time in human history,

607
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 1: become a trillionaire. I was hoping it was going to

608
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,880
Speaker 1: be me. Someone beat me to it didn't happen, all right,

609
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 1: But I've seen people build companies and I don't see

610
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 1: any like discussion of the Lord related to how those

611
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 1: companies are built. And yet Jesus is saying, apart from me,

612
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 1: you could do nothing. Well, how those companies get built?

613
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 1: What does he mean? I've seen people write books who

614
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: some who know the Lord and some who don't know

615
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 1: the Lord. I read books constantly. Some of them are good,

616
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: So I'm like, this book could have been good. And

617
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: you look at that and you're like, oh, how they

618
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:58,040
Speaker 1: write that book. It's like, well they did something. But

619
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 1: again Jesus says, apart from me, you could do nothing. Well,

620
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 1: what's he getting at? How about art? I mean, there's

621
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: a lot of art that I appreciate. I have a

622
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 1: piece of art that we purchased earlier this summer that

623
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,320
Speaker 1: we hung up in our guest room, and I look

624
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 1: at it and I have no idea what the artist's

625
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,640
Speaker 1: relationship with the Lord was like, if he even had one.

626
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,040
Speaker 1: But it's a beautiful piece of art. I'm like, I

627
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: like looking at it. I'm like, it's beautiful. Seen people

628
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 1: lead organizations, seen people receive all kinds of public recognition.

629
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 1: But Jesus isn't just talking about like day to day

630
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 1: stuff that we do here on this earth. He actually

631
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 1: has a deeper meaning when he makes that statement, apart

632
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 1: from me, you can do nothing. He's talking about spiritual

633
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,120
Speaker 1: fruit that has eternal value. Because there are people that

634
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 1: can do temporary things that have temporary value. But if

635
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 1: you actually want to do something that has eternal value,

636
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:49,640
Speaker 1: do you ever look at what you're doing, how you're

637
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: spending your life, and never ask the question is there

638
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,880
Speaker 1: any eternal value to anything I'm doing? I asked that

639
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: question all the time, Lord, is there any eternal value

640
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: to me doing this thing? Because if not, I don't

641
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,120
Speaker 1: want to waste my time with it. That's what Jesus

642
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,399
Speaker 1: is getting at. He's saying, apart from me, you can

643
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 1: do nothing, meaning apart from me, you can't do anything

644
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: that has eternal value. You could do stuff that has

645
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 1: temporary value. Be saying, apart from me, you can't do

646
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 1: anything that has eternal value. Part for me, you can't

647
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:23,880
Speaker 1: produce true holiness. Part for me, you can't transform a heart,

648
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,640
Speaker 1: including your own. Part for me, you can't overcome sin.

649
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 1: By the way, do you ever wonder if part of

650
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 1: the reason that you've stayed stuck in a recurring sin,

651
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,919
Speaker 1: whether it's something in your mind harder life, is because

652
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,359
Speaker 1: you're trying to fix the problem by yourself. You're trying

653
00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,799
Speaker 1: to be a branch disconnected from the vine. Have you

654
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,399
Speaker 1: gotten frustrated enough with it yet to realize that it's

655
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,720
Speaker 1: only through connection with Jesus that you're going to experience

656
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 1: the victory that He desires for you, or you're just

657
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,280
Speaker 1: gonna keep on that cycle of trying to do it yourself.

658
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,359
Speaker 1: You want to do it yourself, that's fine. You could

659
00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 1: spend your entire life doing that. You'll just drive yourself

660
00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 1: crazy and it'll never work. He's saying, apart from me,

661
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:04,280
Speaker 1: you can't do anything for me, anything that has lasting value.

662
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: You can't overcome sin through your strength alone. You can't

663
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: love others with christ like love through your strength. You

664
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 1: need His strength to do that. We have to accomplish

665
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 1: God's work in God's way, with God's power. That's what

666
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 1: Christ is getting at, and that's a truth that can

667
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 1: lead us away from two dangerous things. And they're the

668
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:29,880
Speaker 1: two extremes pride and despair. Because if I think I

669
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 1: can do things in my own strength and then I

670
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:33,719
Speaker 1: have some measure of success at least the way the

671
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 1: world measures success, what's going to end up happening is

672
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: I'll be filled with pride. I'll pat myself on the

673
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: back and be like, you know what, that actually kind

674
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,719
Speaker 1: of worked out, and then when it doesn't work, then

675
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 1: I'll have despair. So it'll be like, oh, that's not working.

676
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,320
Speaker 1: I used to be good at this, Why am I

677
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,440
Speaker 1: not good at this anymore? Pride and despair both fruits

678
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,120
Speaker 1: of self reliance. But Christ desires that we rely on him.

679
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: He says, apart from me, you could do nothing, meaning

680
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 1: you can rely on Him to do what he desires

681
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 1: to do, and then when it works, you don't have

682
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,040
Speaker 1: to go to the direction of pride. You could say, Lord,

683
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,839
Speaker 1: thank you for what you just accomplished. You could acknowledge

684
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 1: why it worked and glorify God instead of glorifying yourself.

685
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 1: And when something doesn't work in your life, you don't

686
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,319
Speaker 1: have to go to the pits of despair. She'd be like,

687
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,880
Speaker 1: you know what, Lord, that didn't work the way I thought.

688
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: So I'm guessing you must be either pruning something, teaching

689
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,359
Speaker 1: me something, helping me to become more fully reliant on you.

690
00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 1: Or maybe I just needed to dose of humility today

691
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,120
Speaker 1: and that's going to help me understand more about what

692
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,120
Speaker 1: it says and Philippians two, about the humility that you demonstrated. Fine,

693
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 1: I accept a lesson. John Maxwell says it this way.

694
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:49,840
Speaker 1: He goes, sometimes you win, and most people think that.

695
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 1: The second statement is sometimes you lose. Right, He's like, no, no,

696
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 1: sometimes you win and sometimes you'll learn. Sometimes you win

697
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 1: and sometimes you'll learn. But even when you win, give

698
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,320
Speaker 1: glory to God, because he's the one we had the

699
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,520
Speaker 1: ultimate victory. And when it feels like from the world's

700
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 1: perspective that you're down here somewhere, understand that the Lord's

701
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 1: going to use that in a wonderful way. Let me

702
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 1: jump ahead to verse seven. Look at what it says.

703
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,400
Speaker 1: In verse seven. Jesus says, if you abide in me

704
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,880
Speaker 1: and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish

705
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,279
Speaker 1: and it will be done for you. You abide in

706
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,880
Speaker 1: Me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish,

707
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,840
Speaker 1: and it will be done for you. Well, that's fantastic

708
00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 1: because I have a lot of requests, a lot of things,

709
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:33,919
Speaker 1: a lot of things I would like him to do.

710
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:35,960
Speaker 1: So what do you think do you think Jesus is

711
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,560
Speaker 1: basically saying, yeah, whatever you want, Like, whatever you desire,

712
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,680
Speaker 1: just go for it. What do you think? What do

713
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,319
Speaker 1: you think the nature of what he's saying here is

714
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,719
Speaker 1: do you think every passing desire is of God? And

715
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 1: that that's what Jesus is ultimately saying, like, just like

716
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 1: go for that. Yeah, whatever you want, I want it

717
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: to never rain. Okay, that makes sense, great prayer request. Basically,

718
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: what he's getting at here is this idea keep in mind,

719
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:06,640
Speaker 1: is all in the context of abiding and staying connected

720
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:10,120
Speaker 1: to him. The person who abides in Christ is someone

721
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 1: who's being shaped by the words of Christ and the

722
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,560
Speaker 1: mind of Christ, and his scripture fills your heart. So

723
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,680
Speaker 1: you're so connected with him and spending so much time

724
00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 1: with him and relationally you're one with him. You're abiding

725
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,840
Speaker 1: in him, and his word is filling your heart. What

726
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 1: ends up happening, and you'll notice this happened in your

727
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,840
Speaker 1: life in very real ways. Your prayers will begin to

728
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 1: align with God's character and God's purposes and God's will.

729
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 1: You're gonna start seeing things the way God sees them.

730
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:43,160
Speaker 1: You're gonna start wanting the same things God wants, and

731
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,600
Speaker 1: you're going to start asking him to accomplish his will

732
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 1: because you're gonna understand his will better because you've been

733
00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:51,319
Speaker 1: spending time in his presence and time listening to what

734
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,960
Speaker 1: He actually says. And then as you abide in him,

735
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna make requests that are very much in line

736
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:58,720
Speaker 1: with His will, and then you're gonna watch him answer

737
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 1: those prayer requests in miraculous ways. Now, someday I will

738
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:08,400
Speaker 1: have the privilege to tell you some of the things

739
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,440
Speaker 1: that I have had the opportunity to witness over the

740
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,359
Speaker 1: course of this past year of my life, and some

741
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 1: of the biggest prayer requests that I've been praying in

742
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:20,440
Speaker 1: my adult life, I actually had the opportunity to see

743
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 1: answered over the past forty eight hours. And I'm sorry

744
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 1: for the cliffhanger, because it's a genuine cliffhanger. And I

745
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,960
Speaker 1: will tell you at some point. But there are some

746
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:32,319
Speaker 1: things that I've been praying about, some things that my

747
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 1: wife has been praying about that we've watched the Lord

748
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:39,399
Speaker 1: directly answer, things very much in line with the Lord's will.

749
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 1: Also things that we can look at and say we

750
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:46,239
Speaker 1: deserve zero credit for that. We can see that the

751
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 1: Lord was doing something that is miraculous and only he

752
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: could do it, only he could do it. Things that

753
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 1: we have to wait on his timing for, things that

754
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: we have to watch his hand and be in tune

755
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,959
Speaker 1: with what he's doing. I got to tell you, it's

756
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:05,319
Speaker 1: really fun and really delightful when the day comes and

757
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:08,319
Speaker 1: you've been trusting him all along and then you get

758
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,399
Speaker 1: to see it in the past forty eight hours. There's

759
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,920
Speaker 1: something specific that we've been praying about for years and

760
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: we got to see it now. I always knew we'd

761
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,239
Speaker 1: get to see it. I just didn't know when. Now

762
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:24,279
Speaker 1: I know when. And here you have Jesus saying, what

763
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: if you abide in me and my words abide in you? Right?

764
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 1: So my words, like you're spending time with me and

765
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:39,439
Speaker 1: my word is permeating your mind and your heart, You're

766
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,560
Speaker 1: going to start seeing things the way I see it.

767
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,120
Speaker 1: You're going to start asking things that I care about,

768
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,400
Speaker 1: and you're going to ask whatever you wish, why because

769
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,840
Speaker 1: your wishes are in line with my will now and

770
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,759
Speaker 1: you're going to ask it, and it's going to be done,

771
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,000
Speaker 1: and you're going to get to see it. And again,

772
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,080
Speaker 1: Jesus isn't promising that he's gonna answer every selfish desire

773
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,399
Speaker 1: or passing desire or worldly desire. He's saying, gonna, I'm

774
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:09,560
Speaker 1: gonna say yes to what aligns with my word. I'm

775
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,799
Speaker 1: gonna say yes to what aligns with my will and

776
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:17,200
Speaker 1: my holy nature. He's gonna make you want what he wants.

777
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: And it's a beautiful thing. Let me look at the

778
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: Take us through the last few verses here somewhat quickly.

779
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,399
Speaker 1: Look at verse eight. There he says this, by this,

780
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,239
Speaker 1: my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and

781
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 1: so prove to be my disciples. Again, we're saying, the

782
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,360
Speaker 1: chief reason the Lord created you in May is what

783
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:41,359
Speaker 1: to glorify him and enjoy him forever. And here Jesus says,

784
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 1: by this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit,

785
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,360
Speaker 1: just a fruitful branch connected to the vine, that you

786
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,839
Speaker 1: bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

787
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: We were created to glorify God. And again Jesus here

788
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 1: teaches that the Father is glorified when his people bear fruit.

789
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,839
Speaker 1: And I could say that in the abstract, and that's

790
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:02,719
Speaker 1: still useful to just say it in the abstract. But

791
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,680
Speaker 1: can I just offer a few very specific applications of

792
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:07,839
Speaker 1: that if you want to know, just in a day

793
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: to day way, how that can look for you and

794
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,200
Speaker 1: I as followers of Christ. What does it look like

795
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 1: when the Lord produces that fruit through us? What is

796
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:21,080
Speaker 1: the fruit that he's talking about here? Well, your transformed

797
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:27,120
Speaker 1: life produces evidence that Jesus is active and alive in you,

798
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 1: and the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to become

799
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:35,360
Speaker 1: visible through your changed priorities and through your renewed relationships.

800
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,560
Speaker 1: Think about the people that you feel so distant from.

801
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: What would it look like if those relationships became renewed?

802
00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 1: What about sacrificial love? What about faithful obedience? Do you

803
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,800
Speaker 1: think these are the types of fruit that Christ is

804
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:52,680
Speaker 1: speaking about here? I think it is. I think sometimes

805
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:58,880
Speaker 1: people think that God's only glorified through unusually large accomplishments.

806
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:00,840
Speaker 1: You know, people think that things have to be large

807
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,239
Speaker 1: and public and dramatic before it can have spiritual significance.

808
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:08,200
Speaker 1: And that is not what Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that

809
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:13,320
Speaker 1: God's glorified in what seems to be ordinary things. At times,

810
00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:17,480
Speaker 1: you realize that you glorify God when you speak graciously

811
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:22,760
Speaker 1: to your family. You glorify God. When you speak graciously

812
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 1: to your family, God's glorified with that. You glorify God

813
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:32,960
Speaker 1: when you refuse to participate in gossip. You glorify God.

814
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: When you can admit that you were wrong about something.

815
00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:41,239
Speaker 1: You glorify God when you can serve without needing recognition.

816
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: You glorify God when you remain honest in the work

817
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:51,440
Speaker 1: that you do and at your workplace. You glorify God

818
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:53,920
Speaker 1: when you're willing to pray for someone who has hurt you,

819
00:43:54,160 --> 00:44:00,719
Speaker 1: particularly those who have hurt you deeply. You glorify God

820
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: when you choose contentment instead of envy. And again, these

821
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:11,200
Speaker 1: are just some examples that never really receive a whole

822
00:44:11,239 --> 00:44:13,520
Speaker 1: lot of public attention when they're practiced in day to

823
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:18,080
Speaker 1: day life, but they demonstrate the miraculous work of Christ

824
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:19,920
Speaker 1: that he does in our life. And so Jesus then

825
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: continues what he says in verse nine, as a father

826
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,040
Speaker 1: has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in

827
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 1: my love. That's an e I just read that so quickly, right,

828
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 1: as a father has loved me, so I've loved you,

829
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,160
Speaker 1: Abide in my love. Okay, just move on, right. Do

830
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:35,480
Speaker 1: you know what he's actually saying there, He's saying, I

831
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:37,879
Speaker 1: love you with the love that's patterned after the love

832
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:41,640
Speaker 1: that the Father has for me. The love between the

833
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:44,319
Speaker 1: Father and the Son God, the Father God, the Son God,

834
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, all members of the Trinity. The love

835
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 1: between them is eternal, it is pure, it is faithful,

836
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:56,799
Speaker 1: and it's unchanging. And Jesus brings the He brings his

837
00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:01,239
Speaker 1: disciples enjoyment in that love, and our obedience team is

838
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,440
Speaker 1: meant to grow in the midst of that kind of assurance.

839
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 1: And what he's saying is the same kind of love,

840
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:09,200
Speaker 1: the same kind of relational love that I experienced in

841
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:12,160
Speaker 1: my relationship with the Father is the same kind of

842
00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: love that I'm showing to you. You get to experience that.

843
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: It's like, wait, that you're saying perfect love. Yeah, perfect love.

844
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:24,799
Speaker 1: You know. One of the interesting things that I had

845
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:31,360
Speaker 1: the opportunity not long ago to say to one of

846
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:36,560
Speaker 1: my children. I said, you realize, I said, I think

847
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,520
Speaker 1: you forgot this, but I'm going to tell you this.

848
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:44,719
Speaker 1: I said, you realize that you don't have to do

849
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:47,560
Speaker 1: everything I would like you to do, or agree with

850
00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:50,640
Speaker 1: everything I would like you to agree with. You could

851
00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:54,160
Speaker 1: make up your mind and land on the exact opposite

852
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:56,840
Speaker 1: of everything in this world that I care deeply about,

853
00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 1: even the things that I care most about. You could

854
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,800
Speaker 1: have the exact act opposite opinion about everything, exact opposite behavior,

855
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:07,319
Speaker 1: exact opposite everything. And I said, do you realize that

856
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 1: that would never change how much I love you? It

857
00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 1: would never change how much I love you. Even if

858
00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:17,360
Speaker 1: I disagreed with you about everything. You realize it would

859
00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:22,359
Speaker 1: never change how much I love you. Now, where does

860
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,680
Speaker 1: that come from? That even thought, that desire to show

861
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 1: love those of you that are parents. You know that emotion,

862
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,560
Speaker 1: You know that feeling. You've probably said similar words to

863
00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:36,200
Speaker 1: your own children. Why do you say that? Why do

864
00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:39,520
Speaker 1: you think that? Why do you even feel that? That's

865
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 1: in your mind and it's in your heart? Because God

866
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:46,320
Speaker 1: did that for you first. He did that for you first.

867
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 1: And here Jesus is saying what he's saying look, as

868
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:54,479
Speaker 1: the Father has loved me, so I've loved you. That's

869
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:56,920
Speaker 1: the kind of love that Jesus has for his disciples.

870
00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:58,759
Speaker 1: That's the kind of love that Jesus has for the

871
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:04,200
Speaker 1: children of God. And he also says this, when you

872
00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:07,080
Speaker 1: look at verses ten and eleven, and I know I'll

873
00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:09,160
Speaker 1: just go through these quickly, but I do hope that

874
00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:11,160
Speaker 1: they stick with our hearts and our minds. He says, Look,

875
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,319
Speaker 1: if you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love,

876
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:16,880
Speaker 1: just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in

877
00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:19,640
Speaker 1: his love. These things I've spoken to you that my

878
00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:21,680
Speaker 1: joy may be in you, and that your joy may

879
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:27,000
Speaker 1: be full. He's basically saying, you're showing that you get it.

880
00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:30,680
Speaker 1: If you listen to my words, if you are absolutely

881
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:33,759
Speaker 1: convinced everything I've ever said to you was because I

882
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: loved you, and that I love you with the same

883
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,960
Speaker 1: love that the Father has for me, You're gonna look

884
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,600
Speaker 1: at my words differently. You're not gonna be like you're

885
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:44,279
Speaker 1: trying to rob me of joy. You're gonna look at

886
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,359
Speaker 1: my words and you're gonna say you would only tell

887
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:50,439
Speaker 1: me that because you love me, and you can see

888
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:53,080
Speaker 1: something I can't see. You can see up ahead, you

889
00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:55,759
Speaker 1: can see the future. You can see all these things.

890
00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:57,680
Speaker 1: And so you're trying to prevent me from hurting myself

891
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:00,279
Speaker 1: right now, aren't you. Yeah, I guess I should listen

892
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:03,799
Speaker 1: to you, even though I don't feel like it. Yeah,

893
00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:05,520
Speaker 1: all right, I'll listen to you even before I can

894
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:09,239
Speaker 1: see how this pans out, because I am convinced that

895
00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:12,600
Speaker 1: you do indeed love me. And again he says, what

896
00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:15,239
Speaker 1: if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.

897
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:18,399
Speaker 1: You will abide in my love. You'll understand it, you'll

898
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:21,279
Speaker 1: walk in it. You're recognizing it would have bothered to

899
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:23,160
Speaker 1: say it to you, to kill your joy. In fact,

900
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 1: what does he say, I've spoken to you? Why have

901
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:27,359
Speaker 1: I even told you any of this? And he's saying

902
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,759
Speaker 1: this to his disciples right before he's crucified, saying, I've

903
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:31,560
Speaker 1: spoken to you that my joy may be in you,

904
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:34,279
Speaker 1: and that your joy may be full. Most people in

905
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:36,960
Speaker 1: this world will trade everything they have for just moments

906
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:41,200
Speaker 1: of temporary, circumstantial happiness, and Jesus says, I offer you

907
00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:45,840
Speaker 1: something way better than that. I'm offering you my joy

908
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 1: and you'll have it to full measure you will have joy,

909
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,120
Speaker 1: the joy that this world is seeking, that it's trying

910
00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:55,680
Speaker 1: to find someplace that it's not gonna find it. And

911
00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:57,480
Speaker 1: he's saying, if you want that joy, you're gonna find

912
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:00,520
Speaker 1: it in me. So kind of wrap it all up.

913
00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:06,440
Speaker 1: If you and I truly desire to experience that joy,

914
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:09,960
Speaker 1: if you and I truly desire to experience a kind

915
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:13,400
Speaker 1: of life in this world that has that kind of outcome.

916
00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:15,920
Speaker 1: What is Jesus saying, what's the word he gives us,

917
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,440
Speaker 1: Abide in me? And a big part of that is

918
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:20,960
Speaker 1: what we listen to him. You know, we look at

919
00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:22,919
Speaker 1: his word, we internalize his word, and we say, Okay,

920
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:24,479
Speaker 1: you know what I'm just gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna

921
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:28,239
Speaker 1: put it into practice. I am gonna obey you. And

922
00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 1: obedience doesn't lead to the lack of joy. He's saying, No,

923
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:34,360
Speaker 1: you'll abide in me. And what you're gonna discover, it

924
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,279
Speaker 1: probably won't even take that long to discover it, is

925
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:41,239
Speaker 1: that now you'll experience the fullness of joy. I have

926
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:43,399
Speaker 1: spent time in my life running away from the Lord,

927
00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:46,640
Speaker 1: thinking that's what's going to make me happy, And then

928
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:49,160
Speaker 1: you look at what scripture says no joy is deeper

929
00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:52,359
Speaker 1: than circumstantial happiness. And Jesus says, abide in me, you'll

930
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,960
Speaker 1: experience the fullness of joy. I don't know what this

931
00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:57,719
Speaker 1: week is going to entail for any one of us.

932
00:49:57,800 --> 00:49:59,959
Speaker 1: I don't know what's gonna entail for you. There's gonna

933
00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:03,080
Speaker 1: be things that are delightful, and then there's gonna be

934
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:06,360
Speaker 1: things that are challenging. Maybe you'll eat the best tomato

935
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:13,759
Speaker 1: you ever had. Maybe you'll see your relationship restored. Maybe

936
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:17,320
Speaker 1: something you've been praying about you'll watch it get answered

937
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 1: in a miraculous way. Maybe you'll have a very annoying coworker,

938
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 1: family member, someone you know get on your last nerve

939
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:29,680
Speaker 1: and you'll respond with grace and you'll be like, Oh,

940
00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:35,279
Speaker 1: where'd that come from? And come from me? And you

941
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:36,719
Speaker 1: look at that, and you'll be like, Lord, you're doing

942
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:39,920
Speaker 1: a work in my life. And as you abide in

943
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:43,000
Speaker 1: Him and you stay close to him, you're gonna watch

944
00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:46,520
Speaker 1: him keep doing his work in your life. And he says,

945
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:48,719
Speaker 1: you're going to experience the fullness of joy in the

946
00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:51,319
Speaker 1: midst of that. Your joy is going to be full,

947
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,000
Speaker 1: and your challenging days are gonna come, and you're gonna

948
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:58,120
Speaker 1: still have the joy, and your brightest days are going

949
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,680
Speaker 1: to come, and it's not going to result and pride,

950
00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:04,720
Speaker 1: it's gonna result in praise. You're gonna stop praising yourself

951
00:51:04,719 --> 00:51:06,640
Speaker 1: and you're gonna start praising the Lord who blessed you

952
00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:08,640
Speaker 1: with it. And your low days are gonna come, and

953
00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:10,440
Speaker 1: you're not gonna stay in the pit of despair. You're

954
00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:12,520
Speaker 1: gonna be like, you know what, Lord, You're greater than

955
00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,920
Speaker 1: my circumstances, and you're gonna watch them work things out

956
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:19,439
Speaker 1: that only he can work out. And in the midst

957
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:21,520
Speaker 1: of that, you're gonna have the opportunity to bring glory

958
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 1: to him. And as you bring glory to him, you're

959
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,880
Speaker 1: gonna experience a measure of joy that's unlike anything this

960
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:34,160
Speaker 1: world can offer. Let's pray, Father, we're just so grateful

961
00:51:34,239 --> 00:51:38,200
Speaker 1: for a portion of scripture like this. We can look

962
00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:41,399
Speaker 1: at the words that you've given to us through your son,

963
00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:45,680
Speaker 1: revealing to us a whole bunch of things that by nature,

964
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:48,120
Speaker 1: we would miss. We would miss all of this. We

965
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:51,000
Speaker 1: would we would try to be branches that are disconnected

966
00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:53,120
Speaker 1: from the vine. We'd probably just try and do our

967
00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:55,600
Speaker 1: own thing, and we'd go to the heights of pride

968
00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:57,920
Speaker 1: and the depths of despair, and we keep going back

969
00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,399
Speaker 1: and forth, and then we try and rely on things

970
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 1: that this world can supply, thinking well, maybe this will

971
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:06,680
Speaker 1: make me feel better, and then we'll end up destroying ourselves.

972
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:09,400
Speaker 1: And Lord, that's exactly what we see people doing in

973
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:12,319
Speaker 1: this world. Lord, every one of us have attempted that,

974
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:14,120
Speaker 1: and every one of us knows people that are still

975
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:16,239
Speaker 1: attempting that. But Lord, we pray that you get us

976
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:19,040
Speaker 1: off that track of trying to use things of this

977
00:52:19,120 --> 00:52:21,600
Speaker 1: world to satisfy the longing of our soul. We know

978
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:24,439
Speaker 1: that the longing of our soul is only satisfied through

979
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:27,399
Speaker 1: relationship with you, and that relationship is only fostered through

980
00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:31,680
Speaker 1: knowing you, through your son, Jesus Christ, your son, our Savior,

981
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:35,480
Speaker 1: the Messiah, the one who came to rescue us, the

982
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:39,560
Speaker 1: one who came to be the true Vine. Israel couldn't

983
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:41,879
Speaker 1: do it, Adam couldn't do it. We couldn't do it,

984
00:52:42,719 --> 00:52:44,880
Speaker 1: And so your son came to be the true Vine.

985
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:49,520
Speaker 1: He did it for us. And now his righteousness is

986
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:52,320
Speaker 1: credited to us as if we did it. We didn't

987
00:52:52,360 --> 00:52:55,720
Speaker 1: do it, but it's like we did. And so Father,

988
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:58,799
Speaker 1: we're grateful for that. Thank you for these reminders from

989
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:03,480
Speaker 1: your word. Thank you for just the joy and the

990
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:07,320
Speaker 1: delight that we experience as we have the privilege to

991
00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:09,160
Speaker 1: walk with you. Thank You for the heart of the

992
00:53:09,239 --> 00:53:13,160
Speaker 1: Gospel communicated in these words. And again, Father, we pray

993
00:53:13,239 --> 00:53:15,399
Speaker 1: that you would help us to abide in your son

994
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:20,960
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, through whom we have forgiveness of sin, through

995
00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:24,399
Speaker 1: whom we've been graced with the righteousness that we could

996
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:28,640
Speaker 1: never earn or deserve. Father, we're grateful for it all.

997
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,680
Speaker 1: Thank you for this obedience that's connected with joy as

998
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:34,680
Speaker 1: we abide in you. We commit ourselves to you now,

999
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:38,600
Speaker 1: and we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.