Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to a previous sermon:  Rich in the Realm of Faith (Part 1) - James 2:5 

James 2:5 reads, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

James 2:5 indicate that those from the poor class in relation to this world who place their trust in Christ as Savior are chosen by God to be rich in relation to His kingdom.  Regardless of their poor status in the realm of this world, they possess an abundantly rich status in the realm of faith.  Indeed, every one of us who are the children of God through faith in Christ is spiritually rich in the realm of faith.  These spiritual riches may be considered from two perspectives.  First, we may consider our spiritual riches in the realm of faith in relation to our eternal salvation.  Second, we may consider our spiritual riches in the realm of faith in relation to our daily walk.  Already in first part of the message, we considered the first of these truths.  Now, in this second part of the message, let us consider the second of these truths.

Thought for Meditation

The only way that we may obtain and experience
a rest  for our souls that will last through all the troubles of life 
and a peace for our hearts and minds that will surpass all human understanding
is by submitting to the Lord our God and Savior,
trusting in the Lord our God and Savior,
and following after the Lord our God and Savior.

Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to three previous sermons:
            By the Renewing of Your Mind (Part 1) - Romans 12:2     
            By the Renewing of Your Mind (Part 2) - Romans 12:2     
            By the Renewing of Your Mind (Part 3) - Romans 12:2      

Romans 12:1-2 reads, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

In Romans 12:1 God the Holy Spirit pleads with us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord our God.  Then in verse 2 God the Holy Spirit gives two commands that we must obey if we are truly to present ourselves as such a living sacrifice unto the Lord our God.  The opening portion of the verse presents the first command – “And be not conformed to this world.”  Then the second command follows – “But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Brethren, we are not to be “conformed to this world.”  We are not to be in the same form or in agreement with this present evil world.  Rather, we are to be “transformed.”  We are to be changed into a different form and a different character than this present evil world.  Yea, we are to be changed into the same form and character as our Lord Jesus Christ.  Even so, 2 Corinthians 3:18 declares, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image [as the glory of the Lord] from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In addition, Romans 12:2 reveals that the means of this transforming work is “by the renewing of your mind.”  We are commanded to be “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind.”  This means that we ourselves must involve ourselves in the renewing of our minds.  We ourselves must seek out, and commit ourselves to the things that will make for the renewing of our minds.  What then are the things that will make for the renewing of our minds?  Already in the first three parts of the message, we have considered six answers to this question – (1) We must commit ourselves to the truth of God’s holy Word; (2) we must commit ourselves to put away from us any and all sin; (3) we must commit ourselves to live wholly unto the will of God; (4) we must commit ourselves to the truth of our new life in Christ; (5) we must commit ourselves to walk in and after the Holy Spirit; and (6) we commit ourselves to walk always in prayer and thanksgiving.  Now in this second part of the message, let us consider one additional answer to this matter.

Weekly Sermon

In John 14:16-17, during His upper room discourse with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, our Lord Jesus Christ declared unto them, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

Now, in Galatians 5:16-23 we learn of the spiritual fruit that will be brought forth in our lives as believers when we walk in the Spirit.  There we read, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

In like manner, in John 15:4-5 our Lord Jesus Christ (also during the discourse with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion) spoke concerning the spiritual fruit that will be brought forth in our lives as believers when we abide in Him.  There He declared, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Yet the truth of these two passage raises a question – What is the Biblical relationship between the fruit bearing of walking in the Spirit and the fruit bearing of abiding in Christ?

Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to the previous sermons:  Without Him We Can Do Nothing - John 15:4-5
                                                                                      Abiding in Christ - John 15:4-5
                                                                                      Christ's Words Abiding in Us - John 15:7
                                                                                      That Ye should Go And Bring Forth Fruit - John 15:16

In John 15:16 our Lord Jesus Christ presented the truth, saying, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

In a previous message from this verse (see above), we have taken note that our Lord is here speaking to His own, to those who have received Him through faith as their personal Savior from sin.  Furthermore, we considered that our Lord here reveals two truths concerning our present Christian lives.  First, He reveals the truth concerning our place in this world – that we are chosen and ordained people, chosen and ordained by our Lord Himself.  Second, He reveals the truth concerning our purpose in this world – that we are chosen and ordained to go and bring forth spiritual fruit.  In this message we now focus our attention upon the two-fold purpose statement of the verse – “That ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”   Thereby we find the truth concerning the power whereby we might bring forth fruit and the truth concerning the process whereby our fruit might remain.

Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to the previous sermons:  Without Him We Can Do Nothing - John 15:4-5
                                                                                      Abiding in Christ - John 15:4-5
                                                                                      Christ's Words Abiding in Us - John 15:7

In John 15:16 our Lord Jesus Christ presented the truth, saying, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

In this verse our Lord is speaking to His own, to those who have received Him through faith as their personal and eternal Savior from sin.  Even so, in the opening portion of the verse, we who are Christ’s own through faith in Him find two truths concerning our present Christian lives in this world.  First, we find a truth concerning our place in this world.  Second, we find a truth concerning our purpose in this world. 

This sermon is a companion to the previous sermons:  Without Him We Can Do Nothing - John 15:4-5
                                                                                      Abiding in Christ - John 15:4-5

John 15:1-10 reads, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

In the opening portion of verse 7, our Lord Jesus Christ presented the conditional statement, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.”  Even so, let us consider four principles concerning the matter of Christ’s words abiding in us:

This sermon is a companion to the previous sermon:  Without Him We Can Do Nothing - John 15:4-5

In John 15:4-5 our Lord Jesus Christ gave the instruction, the warning, and the promise, “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches.  He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ desires that we be fruit bearing Christians.  In fact, this is the reason that He has chosen us and ordained us for His ministry.  Our Lord Himself declared this fact in the opening portion of John 15:16, saying, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”  Also in John 15:8 our Lord declared, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”  We glorify God our heavenly Father and demonstrate ourselves to be the disciple of Jesus Christ our Savior when we are bearing much spiritual fruit. 

Yet with this truth before our eyes and in our thoughts, we are brought up short by another truth that our Lord revealed in this passage.  We find this serious and sobering truth at the end of John 15:5, where our Lord proclaimed, “For without me ye can do nothing.”  Without the Lord we are nothing and can do nothing of value.  Yea, everything that we do without our Lord is spiritually useless and empty.  Yes, our Lord has chosen us and ordained us to bear much spiritual fruit unto the glory of God the Father.  Yet without our Lord we can do nothing; without Him we cannot bear one piece of good fruit.  How then can we be the fruit bearing Christians that our Lord has chosen us and called us to be? 

In John 15:4-5 our Lord Jesus Christ gave the instruction, the warning, and the promise, “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches.  He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Brethren, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ desires that we be fruit bearing Christians.  This is revealed through the five categories of fruit-bearing that we find in John 15:1-17: