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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Another way we all know is by trials. And you're going, oh yeah, I knew you were going to say that. And if you're honest, you're going, I hate trials. I hate them.
I think we all do. Let's not try to be over-spiritual. If we could take a vote and end trials today, we'd all vote affirmative. Get rid of them. They hurt.
We don't like them. But Jesus prunes us by scripture and by suffering. Scripture and by suffering, if you want to keep the S's in it. David, in Psalm 119, said, before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I keep your word. I love how C.S.
Lewis used to put it. He said, God through pain, he said, pain plants the flag of truth in the fortress of a rebel soul. God will get your attention with suffering.
More people that I've met because of some tragedy, some painful circumstance, that's when they look up. Okay, God, what do you want? Now, it's better not to live that way. It's better to give God your full attention every day and let him cleanse you through the word. But if the scripture won't get your attention, maybe suffering will. But please, I don't want you to think of, oh no, I don't ever want to be fruitful because if I'm fruitful then he's going to prune me so I get more fruitful.
That doesn't sound good. Maybe if I don't bear any fruit at all, oh no, he loves you too much to leave you that way. He's the hound of heaven. He's committed to your growth. He's the vine dresser, man. He's going to be walking past your plant going, ooh, deadwood. Ooh, fruit.
If I clip there though, it's going to hurt, but if I clip there, better grapes. So here's what I want to warn you. Be careful that you don't call something bad that is really sent by God for good.
See, we have to be careful. We go, oh, why would God let bad things happen to good people? First of all, you need to get a better definition of good people when you are pointing to yourself because Jesus said no one's good but God.
So that leaves you and I out of it. Also, be careful what you call bad. Joseph was sold into slavery by jealous brothers. He was put in prison for years. He suffered as a slave. But then he became prime minister of Egypt. All that bad stuff was used by God to bring him to a different kind of a place so that when his brothers finally met him again and they were all panicked that Joseph was going to come after him, he goes, don't worry, you guys. What you intended for evil, God meant for good.
So be careful that when you start assigning something as, I don't know why that happened to me. It's bad. It feels that way. It hurts when the pruning shears come. But wait, just wait till you see the grapes. Just wait till the fruit starts popping out because you've got a viticulturalist, a vine dresser, a husbandman who's after your best interest.
That's why all things work together for good to those who love God. Verse 4, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine.
You ready for this? This is where you come in. You're about to be introduced. And you're the branches. That's what you are. I am the vine, Jesus said. You are the branches. You know who you are?
Ready? You're a twig. Wow. You're so impressive. You're a twig. How impressive is a twig? Not too impressive. So you go, do you know who I am? I'm a twig.
That's just not going to happen. There's nothing to brag about. In fact, twigs in a vineyard are only good for two things, burning or bearing fruit. You see, grape wood is so bad, nobody builds anything with it. You won't find statues made out of it in Israel like they do olive wood. You won't find grape wood because it's like useless. It falls apart.
It's soft. It's bad wood. It's good for nothing except kindling.
You burn it. So it's good for burning or for bearing. Bearing fruit. So your value doesn't come in you being a twig. Your value comes in you being connected to the vine. When you are connected to the vine, then the life of Christ flows through you and you will produce fruit. So your value is in your connectedness to Jesus. And when you're connected to Jesus, He'll change the world through you. You become so valuable connected to Him. Sky's the limit.
That's why Jesus said greater works than these. Think about that. Stay connected to Him.
How? He says abide. Abide in me.
The word in Greek is meno. Meno means have a close intimate constant living communion with me. Now I know you have heard the term a personal relationship with Jesus. That's become a modern evangelical buzz phrase for are you saved? People go, I go to church. Yeah, I know you go to church, but do you have a personal relationship? Now you're not going to find that term like that in the Bible. You're not. Because truth be told everybody on earth has a personal relationship with Jesus.
It's just that it's not a good one. They're in line for God's judgment. Every person on earth has a personal relationship with Jesus. A better way to look at it is this. A connection, a vital intimate connection with Jesus.
You can tell somebody who has a connection with Jesus. You know you can tell? Fruit.
They're producing stuff. It's not like you have to guess. Is that a real grape twig?
I don't know. Let's look and see if there's grapes on it. Oh, there's grapes on it.
It is. So it's self-evident by what it produces. So you abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You're the branches.
He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing. Oh, I wish we'd believe that. Because frankly a lot of us think, well, there's a few things I can do without him. Okay, there's a few things I can do without him. That's why I really have to call on his name because I'm in a real pickle and I can't pay my bills. So I can't do that. So I got to call on him.
You can't do anything. You couldn't breathe without him. You wouldn't be here without him. But if you want a fruitful life, the connection, the connectivity of abiding. Now here's the deal. Fruit is natural. It's produced naturally. Have you ever seen a grape, a vine of grapes, or an apple tree? Just think of any fruit-bearing tree. Anybody have an apple tree or pear tree? Or nobody does? You have an apple tree?
Okay. I've seen apple trees around here. I know you don't have orange trees. But have you ever seen a fruit tree strive, struggle, work hard to produce an apple? You ever seen an apple tree?
Ever walked by it and hear it grunting? Boom. Apple. Awesome. Awesome. I worked hard for that.
No, you know what that branch does? It just hangs in there. Just hangs in there.
Just stays connected. Just stay connected. I don't want you to take this wrongly like I'm abusing grace, but just relax and stay close to Jesus. Just relax. Enjoy him. Enjoy the Christian walk. Don't get worried about—just hang in there.
Hang in there. Stick close to him. Abide in him. Don't bear forth much fruit. If anyone does not abide in me, he's cast out as a branch and is withered.
And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it will be done for you. Now, that verse you need to tack onto the verse we started with tonight.
Chapter 14, verse 14. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Now, after that, plug this verse into it. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.
You know why? Because when you abide in his word, you'll ask for the right stuff. You'll know what to pray for as you abide in his word. As you're close to his word and you're getting nourishment, the sap of energy from the truth of Scripture, that's going to form for you the right balance and template so when you come before him, you're going to be praying for his will, for his character, in his name. You can ask whatever you want to because you're praying for the right thing. By the way, I do want to say this.
I know you know this, but it has to be said. There are some who are going to read these verses and say, oh, I have a dispute with that because I've prayed for things and I've believed they're the will of God and I never got an answer. Yeah, you did. He said no. That's an answer. He answered your prayer.
Well, it wasn't the way I wanted it. Exactly. Because last time I checked, he's God, you're not.
But that's an answer. What's the solution to that kind of praying? Abide in his word? Abide, stay close, hang in there with him, abide in his word, ask what you will, it'll be done.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, starting the year with a structured Bible study can shape your spiritual journey for the months ahead and help align your life with God's truth. We want to help you do that with Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet and Companion Workbook. Journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's word that helps you understand the big picture of scripture with greater clarity. These resources are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. Now notice the progression. He's spoken about fruit, more fruit, much fruit. That's the normal progression of our walk.
Now, sometimes we're not always there, right? Sometimes we bear fruit, then more fruit, then no fruit, then much fruit, then a little fruit. But the progression is that God has committed to you being fruitful, bearing more fruit, and then bearing much fruit.
That's why there's the pruning, because that's His commitment. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. 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. These things I have spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy may be full. What a wild thing to promise disciples who are frustrated, anxious, worried, agitated, troubled.
He's already said, I'll give you my peace. Now He says, I'll give you joy. When you are cared for by my Father and you abide in me so that you are consistent, you're going to have a fruitful life, but you're going to have a joyful life. My joy. My peace, my joy.
These are things the world craves. People crave peace. People crave joy.
You go, well, I've had a bad day today. Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is contingent upon the happenings. When the happenings go your way, you're happy. When the happenings don't go your way, you're not happy. Joy is something constant that the Lord does in you.
That's the cushion of the sea part of it. Peace and joy. I'm sorry that for years Christianity has been portrayed as something that is sad and doleful.
And so for years it was thought that the clergy should wear black and speak in somber tones. God bless you, my child. Go away. Jesus said, I'm giving you my joy that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I've loved you.
Did you notice He said that's a commandment? It's not a feeling. Now, if it's a commandment and not a feeling, that means you can do it. That means, listen carefully, love is not an emotion. It's a volition. It's not something you have to feel. It's just something you have to do. Now, this is a very, this is a transforming truth.
I mean, I've met couples who are married for 10 years who haven't figured this out yet. It's not a feeling. Jesus didn't say you have to feel love.
That's my commandment. Feel it. It's impossible to always feel love.
He just said, I want you to do it. You have to love. So love is not an emotion. It's a volition. Now, once you act on the volition, the emotion follows.
I've discovered that to be true. When you commit to showing love, whether you feel like it or not, the emotion will follow eventually. That's how you can love your enemies. You can pray for them, pray for them. Pretty soon you're not going to feel animosity toward them anymore. So I've heard people say, well, I just, I don't feel like loving them. He's not lovable. They said things, they're mean to me.
Love them. That's the commandment. Not feel it, just do it. Well, is that a hypocrisy? No, it's obedience.
Greater love has no one than this than to lay down his life for his friends. Who was doing that? Jesus. Did he feel like it? You think he felt warm, fuzzy feelings as he knew he was going to be crucified and his back split open and his head bleeding? You think that felt really good to him?
No. That's why it's a volition. Greater love has no one than this than a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I've called you friends. For all things that I heard from my Father I've made known to you.
You did not choose me. I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. That whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
These things I command you, that you love one another. Now this bothers some people. What bothers them is the thing that God chose people to be saved, predestined people to be saved. That bothers some people. They just want to argue it.
They want to get worked up about it. For me, I'm stoked because he chose me. I'm pretty elated. I'm pretty honored that I've been chosen by God. Ephesians 1, you were chosen in him before the foundations of the earth. I'm sure this came as a shock to the disciples because they're thinking back, no, I just remember the day in Galilee when I decided I'm going to follow this rabbi.
I chose you. But Jesus said, yeah, think that, but I actually chose you first. Now if that's true, and this was brought to my attention this last weekend as the third service gave an ultra call, it was a pretty sizable one, it upset somebody that I would call people to make a decision to follow Christ. If Christ is the one who makes the choice, why would you ask people to choose to follow Christ?
Because both are true. Not only does Christ choose people for salvation, he chooses the means by how they will hear and how they will agree and allow themselves to be loved by God. There is human choice involved in it. So I am not an ardent hardcore Calvinist saying that nobody has any choice whatsoever. One day I was just swept up and saved.
You have a choice in it. The analogy I've given is that if you're drowning in a river or a lake and there's a rope thrown out to you, the rope alone can't save you. You have to grab ahold of the rope. But even you grabbing ahold of the rope won't necessarily save you unless somebody is at the shore bringing you in. So by God's grace, he throws out the rope by your cooperation.
You grab ahold of it. But it was always predestined that that day would happen for him to pull you in. So that might bother you.
I'm sorry if it does. It never has bothered me. I've never had a problem with predestination. I'm honored he chose me.
Now some people go, well, that's not fair. Maybe he didn't choose me because I'm not a Christian tonight. Oh, really? Well, why aren't you a Christian? Well, I've heard this stuff before, but I don't know about it. Okay, so what are you barking about?
What do you mean what am I barking about? I can prove that you're chosen by God. I can prove it. You received Jesus Christ tonight, and you will discover he's been there all along and it was tonight predestined from eternity past that you'd be saved.
I don't know if I want to do that. Okay, well, maybe he didn't choose you. But know this, predestination will never preclude you from being saved. It only proves when you cooperate by your choice that you were chosen by him.
Think of it this way. The Scripture reveals the human side and the divine side. The human side, the day comes when you make a decision to follow Christ. The divine side, you're chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Both are true at the same time, and there are several Scriptures that do that. Don't have enough time to get into it because time's almost up. Sorry for talking fast, but the time's almost up. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Now notice how the passage will turn. He goes from love, peace, love, joy to hate. And here's what you have to understand. When you love God and when you discover God loves you and the world finds out about it, they're going to hate you for it.
Both are also true. If the world hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
I remember when I first discovered this truth with my own friends. I loved them. They loved me until they found out I was a Jesus freak. You did what? You gave your life to Christ?
I mean, it was to them like a catastrophic tragedy. Oh no, why did you do that? Because I didn't want to go to hell. What, are you better than us?
No, but I'm saved. But they were so angry and I was excluded from their company. Remember the word that I said to you?
A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had come, if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.
Jesus showed up on earth, the only person who lived the perfect life and paid the atoning death. So they have no excuse. He who hates me, hates my father also. If I had not done among them the works, which no one else did, they would have no sin. But now they have seen and have also hated both me and my father.
But this happened, that the word might be fulfilled, which is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. But when the Helper comes, that's the Holy Spirit whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you will also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning."
And next week, we will pick up more of what he says, finishing out along the way toward that Garden of Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley, and Jesus will be arrested. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the sweeping story of scripture. Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and The Companion Workbook are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
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Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His Word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
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