Stop Dating Jesus (4/7/19 John #51)

In my evangelism class in seminary, I was taught to ask this question to the people: “Say, you died and met God and He asked you, “why should I let you into heaven?” what would you say? If they answered, “well, I’ve lived a pretty life. I tried to help people, give to charity, and I didn’t kill anyone… I think I’m above average.” That’s a work-basis answer, so you must teach them the faith. The right answer is: “B/c I trusted Jesus your Son as my Savior and Lord who died for me so that my sins are wiped clean. He is the only reason that I can get into heaven.” Now, I wouldn’t say that’s a wrong answer, but I realize that it’s not quite complete. Because what if God asked you at that point, “What evidence can you show me that you have trusted my son?” At that point you will have to say, “Here are the fruit of my faith…” and show God the evidence that you indeed have trusted Jesus. Now, don’t believe what I say, but what Jesus says. In verse 8, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” In other words, the way you would show that you are following Jesus by bearing fruit.

From this, I drew up this summary: We are saved by faith, but we will be judged by our fruit.

Let me give you a couple more verses that speak to this:

Romans 2:6-8, ”6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”

So, God will judge us according to our works that shows our belief. Isn’t that surprising?

2 Corinthians 5:10, “10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

We are saved by faith, but we will be judged by our good works (fruit).  If that is true, then the answer by the unbeliever “well, I think God should let me into heaven because I’ve been generally good” does not seem to be a wrong answer, does it? Ah.. Here’s the catch. That answer is not complete either because he’s missing the justification. In other words, he’s not being good based on the finished work of Jesus. He’s just trying to be good on his own. He has no relationship with Jesus. No belief in Jesus. However, just saying that I have the belief isn’t complete either. It must be evidenced by the fruit of our belief – the good works, if you will.

James summarizes it this way: James 2:14 14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

So, what truly saves is this: The faith that works. Just saying that you believe in Jesus is not enough. You must be able to provide evidence for your belief. And in today’s passage, Jesus is calling it fruit.

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

So the all-important-question is then: 1) what is the fruit? 2) How do we bear that fruit that would be the evidence of our belief?

 

1. what is the fruit?

It is what rises out of what has become true of us. In other words, if we have genuinely trusted Him and treasure HIm above all things, it’s the life change that inevitably happens. Think of an orphan who’s been abused and abandoned, accepted by no one, and therefore living his life stealing, fighting, and abusing others, but when a loving couple adopt him and accept him fully and completely, and show that he is precious, his life will change. Will he still have issues? Yes! But his heart will have changed and will want to do good for the sake of his new parents. So the fruit is the life change that happens as a result of believing in Jesus.

But let’s be more specific. What does this fruit look like? The most direct reference to the fruit is in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” A person who genuinely believes in Jesus will display these changed qualities in his/her life: love, joy, peace..

Because we are loved by God, we will become loving ourselves. More on this later. Because of Jesus, we will have joy even in the midst of difficulties. Joy, knowing that all things work together for our good. We got our church van stolen this week. But God knew it, and He allowed it. So, we will rejoice even in that. There was a purpose for that. And peace, knowing that God is in charge and the worst thing that can happen to us is that we die and go home to our true home. Patience – God’s been so patient with me all these years when I am so slow to change, how can I not be patient with those who are slow to change? Kindness, goodness, faithfulness – God’s been faithfulness to me and never did me wrong even though I’ve done plenty of wrong. So, I will be faithful to my family, and to my church. Gentleness, and self-control… These are internal character changes that are brought about because of the belief that I am loved and accepted by Jesus and all that is His will be mine.

So, the fruit that Jesus is talking about is the life change that happens as a result of internal belief that Jesus is our all.

 

1. How do we bear this fruit?

One word answer: Abide. Abide in Jesus. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

What does it mean to abide in Jesus and how do we do it? Here are other words used to describe it: to remain, to stay, to remain in the same place over a period of time. One commentary puts it: To “remain” in Jesus has a deeper significance than simply to continue to believe in him, although it includes that; it connotes continuing to live in association or in union with him. So, Jesus is saying more than, “trust me,” “believe in me.” He’s saying, “come, live with me, and let me live with you. Be one with me,”

ILL: Jesus used this vine and fruit metaphor because he was speaking in a agriculture society, but if I may use a modern metaphor, it’s not just a dating relationship Jesus wants with us, but a married relationship with Him. Don’t just date Jesus; marry Jesus! If you are dating, at the end of the day, you go to your own place and keep your  separate lives. You could even break up and get a new boyfriend or girlfriend. But if you are married, traditionally anyway, you stayed together until death do you apart. You don’t keep living separate lives in marriage. Your lives are so melded and integrated together, it’s really one life.

ILL; Janet and I celebrated our 14th anniversary last week – some of you have been married much longer.  When I said “I do” 14 year ago, I meant that I do to staying with her through thick and thin, that I will share everything – my body, money, future, children, old age – with her. So, in our marriage, we are abiding together. We do life together. That is what it means to abide in Jesus. We are doing life together with Jesus in every part of our lives. Pastor Eldie last week talked about abandoning this idea of independent life. There is no such thing in Christian. You are permanently attached to Christ and we are inviting Him into every part of our lives – in our bedroom, in our hobby-room, in our search history on google, in our snapchat, etc. That is what it means to abide in Jesus. It is being one with Christ. Union with Christ.

TRANS: But be more specific pastor. How do we abide in Jesus? How do we become one with Jesus? Three means Jesus gives us: a) The words. b) Prayer. c) Obedience

1. a) Words – 7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you…” Before, Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and I abide in you..” But He substitutes the word “I” with “my words.” If you have been coming to As 1 for any length of time, you know how we value the word of God. This is why we faithfully preach it week after week. Note that Jesus is called the very Word of God in John 1:1. It doesn’t say, “In the beginning was the video or in the beginning was the pictures, but in the beginning was the Word.” Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the opposite is also true – a word is worth a thousand pictures. Have you thought of it this way? The word does not exist to make our lives better. But our lives exist for the Word. We assume that the word of God was given to us to instruct us and make our lives better, which it does, however, it was really that we were created, we were given life, so that the Word of God would be proven true. Who came first? The word or humans? “In the beginning was the….. Word!”

That is why living our lives apart from the word of God is absolutely useless the way working on a Border’s Bookstore sign would be absolutely useless without the store to hang it on…

APP: So, read it. Listen to it. Memorize it. And meditate on it. As you do so, remember this. The word is not  just telling you how to live, but it’s telling you about Jesus and connecting you back to Jesus – Jesus said, “all of the laws and prophets speak about me.” It is living and active. It not only teaches you how to have a relationship with God, but it is the very representation of God.

1. b) Prayer – , 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Abiding in Jesus means that we are in constant communication through prayer. If the word is God speaking to us, prayer is our responding back to Him. It’s a two-way conversation. We ask because we have a need. Christians are not stoics or buddhists who have no desire. We do have desires. We want justice. We want His kingdom to come. We want His rule. “How long o lord?” We ask.. This doesn’t have to be on our knees for an hour everyday. Some are quick one sentence prayer or one phrase – “Lord, please help that young man who just cut in front of me…!”  
2. c) Obedience – 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. So, another way to abide in Him is to obey His commandments. But which ones? V. 12 this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” So, abiding in Christ is to love one another. This makes perfect sense. Loving Jesus is loving His body, and His body is the church. So, when we love one another, those who are in church, we are being obedient to Jesus’ command and therefore, abiding in Him.

APP: what great opportunity to practice this love at our church! Because we are small, and because we are diverse, we really have to take the word of Jesus seriously or we won’t last. We naturally gravitate toward those who are like us. But we want to be supernatural. We want to love one another with the supernatural love of Christ, not the natural love of the world, and at our church, we get to practice it. Do you understand how miraculous and rare it is to see what’s happening at Dorothy’s home group? An older caucasian lady, a middle-age caucasian man, middle-age African-American persons, and Korean young adults??? Where would you ever see such persons get together voluntarily?

The way we abide in Christ is through loving and being loved by His body – the church where the word of God is preached and prayer is offered.

Can I tell you what I told the young adults on Friday? Loving the church like ours is not hard. It’s impossible. Unless the love of God seeps in and changes our hearts supernaturally. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked the Lord, “Lord, change my calloused heart. Help me to love these people that you have called me to shepherd.”

Recap: Saving faith is belief in Jesus that results in the fruit. The fruit is changed life – becoming loving, having joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc. And the way we cultivate that change is through the word, prayer and obedience to the command of love.

Implications:

1. this cannot be done without a church family (personal but not private) Or personal time with God.
2. Your walk with Christ matters more than any of our services. This is what we are created for – to walk with Christ, to abide in, to stay with Him, to be married to Him.

Young moms and dads, more important than taking care of our little ones is our walk with Christ. Young men and women, more important than seeking a career or a spouse is this abiding in Christ. Students, more important than getting good grades and going to a good college is your walking with christ. Older men and women, more important than securing our future is our staying with Christ. And pastors, more important than shepherding our church and family is our own walk with Christ. It is the very foundation upon which everything else is built.