R281 The Right Connection Pt.1

The Right Connection. That's today's topic with Dr. Don Wilton as we open the book of John, Chapter 15, and study God's Word together. And while we do so know that we're available for you, we're connecting right now online at www.tewonline.org about a brand new book from Dr. Wilton.

Take a peek there at www.tewonline.org. Now, today's teaching. Would you take a copy of God's Word this morning and turn with me in John's Gospel, Chapter 15.

John's Gospel, Chapter 15. Consider our world today. It seems that we have become increasingly a group of people who major on the importance of making the right connections.

We make much of that and I should imagine that the world has made a great deal about that as long as the world has been in existence. But it's becoming more apparently clear that this is an issue in society. Consider the criminal justice system just for one moment. There is very rarely a trial, a criminal trial that takes place today that at least the defense, if not the prosecution, tries to trace back the behavior of the person allegedly involved in the crime that is being tried back to their connections.

They trace it back to their upbringing, their parenthood, their people they've been with, their places they have frequented, the society in which they live, the culture that they grew up in, whether or not they grew up in a single parent home, whether there was divorce in the home, whether there was violence and abuse and one could go on and on. That has tremendous merit. There's no question about that.

It has a very good side to it. It enables one to be able to track cause and effect and our lawyers are becoming very skilled at doing that and we're seeing that even on national television. There are many linkages, but it also has a downside to it. The downside in terms of the criminal justice system is that if you always trace something back to somebody else or something else, it means that nobody is ever to blame. It's increasingly becoming true that it is increasingly difficult to indict anybody of a crime because it is never the criminal's fault that he committed the crime.

It's always because of his connections and that has both a positive effect as well as a negative effect. The part that disturbs so many of us is when it comes down to the tremendous tragedies like drunken driving, people who lose their lives because of alcohol, because of the commercials that are smoothing over the cracks in the wall and trying to butter up society and coming out with cute little sayings like know when to say when. If you drink too much, ask us and we'll have someone to drive. That's a service we want to provide for you in our restaurant. They've even got dumb frogs on TV now and people are falling for it hook line and sinker.

Just be around children when those adverts come on and watch them. They want to watch those frogs. You see, we are a connecting people.

We are constantly trying to make connections. Educationists do the same thing. We go and try and find out why a child has a deficiency in a certain area. Did they start school too early? Did they start school too late? How many siblings do they have? Maybe they are one of three and they the middle one. And you know, the middle one always has something missing. I know that because I'm the middle one. There's the black sheep syndrome.

There's always something back there. Here in John chapter 15, as Jesus begins his walk down the road to the Garden of Gethsemane. I'm convinced in my heart that what the Lord Jesus Christ did in this unbelievable passage of scripture that is so filled with the riches of God's grace and of his glory. That the Lord Jesus Christ was establishing something in terms of making the right connection.

That would have far reaching implications on all of our lives. Let's read what Jesus had to say. John chapter 15 and beginning at verse one. Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself.

Did you see that there? Very interesting what Jesus said. Now Christian men and women listen carefully to what Jesus says here. This has far reaching implications for those of us who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me read that statement again in verse four. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. Let me just pause there in verse seven because it's very important to make the statement and I'm going to come back to it in just a little while. What Jesus was saying here is not that if you follow me, you can ask him for anything and he's going to give it to you.

That's not what Jesus is saying here. What Jesus is saying here is that if you follow me and you abide in me, your practice of abiding in me means that you are eligible to become connected into the expressed will of God. It means that by virtue of your connectedness, you are able to become the recipient of all that God has in store for those that love him. Therefore, on that basis, you are able to ask God anything that you wish in my name.

Why? Because you are connected to me. Your umbilical connection is the blood flow that was shed upon Calvary's tree and on that basis, you will find yourself becoming the recipient of all that God has in store for his own children. Verse 8, This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, thereby showing yourself to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

Let me pause here again. You notice the connection that Jesus is making? God the Father, God the Son, through his Holy Spirit, his disciples. There is a direct line, a connection, a flow between God the Father and his children. And what Jesus is saying is because I am in my Father and my Father is in me and because you are in me and through me, therefore you are able to do what I am instructing you to do because you have the right connection.

Verse 9, let's go back to verse 9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

I've told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this, love each other just the same way that I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he laid down his life for his friends. Watch the connection here again in verse 14.

The Son has laid down his life for his friends. Jesus is going to say in verse 17, my command is that you do the same for others because you are connected. Look at verse 14, you are my friends if you do what I command.

I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will remain and last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

This is my command, love each other. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

This is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you, no servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin.

Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me, hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfil what is written in the law.

They hated me without reason. When the counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts this morning. There are four points that I want to give to you in terms of a summary of John chapter 15. If you were to say to me today, Pastor, how would you summarise John chapter 15? What is Jesus trying to say?

There are four major themes in John chapter 15. Number one, we must note that Jesus Christ is the true vine. Jesus Christ is the true vine. He tells us in verse 15, tells us again in verse five.

He establishes this without apology. Jesus says, I am the right connection. Now, what was Jesus trying to say? Jesus was trying to say that the subsequent action and the subsequent behaviour of all people upon this earth will be found in direct proportion to their connectedness. And Jesus was saying to his disciples, I am the true vine. I'm the only one by which you are able to be connected to, thereby ensuring a full and meaningful life according to the standard that I have set before you. What Jesus was saying is, are you connected to me? You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word.

He'll be back with more of the right connection, today's message in just a moment. But you may not be aware that this message, as well as a number of messages, both in video and audio form, are available right there on our website. You can drop by at www.tewonline.org and discover these resources, share them with friends. That's www.tewonline.org. You'll also find a place to sign up for the daily encouraging word email with Dr. Wilton. It's a great blessing.

Of course, it's absolutely free. Sign up today online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to more great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. As a minister of the gospel, together with my fellow ministers on our staff, we spend a lot of time counseling and helping and supporting and encouraging people in varying different predicaments and circumstances. What Jesus was saying to his disciples was simply this, Pastor, when you counsel, you need to major your focus on the fact that Jesus Christ is the right connection. When you have anything to say in the pulpit, you need to focus on the fact that Jesus Christ is the right connection. What Jesus was saying to the apostle Paul is, Paul, when you preach, you need to major and focus on Jesus Christ and him crucified. What he was saying to Charles Haddon Spurgeon back there in the 17, 1800s, he was saying to him, Charles Spurgeon, every time you open the book, you need to make a beeline for the cross.

Why? Because I alone am the true and the only connection. I am the true vine. Number two, note that the unsaved will be revealed and exposed. That is the second major thesis of John chapter 15. Jesus was making a statement. Look with me at verse two. And then again at verse six, Jesus said, he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. In verse six, he said, if anyone does not remain me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. All the commentators that I have read on this particular issue have one thing in common. They all point to Judas Iscariot. This is the march down the road to Gethsemane. Here Jesus was surrounded by men who called themselves disciples. And what Jesus was about to tell them is this, that there is a counterfeit among you. And I'm going to demonstrate to you publicly and unapologetically that all counterfeits, the unsaved, will eventually be exposed and be revealed. In Galatians writing to the church at Galatia, the apostle Paul put it like this. He said, the sins of the flesh are made manifest. They are made plain for everyone to see.

He said, listen, it is impossible to even look like a Christian and behave like a Christian and yet not to be connected into the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is guaranteed that you will be revealed. Why? Because I'm the true vine. I'm the true vine. If you're not connected into the true vine, you have no sustenance.

Why? Because God is the husbandman. He is the gardener. He is the man into whom his heart and soul go the roots of the Christian disciple. And if we do not draw the sustenance directly from the heart and the soul of Almighty God, we do not have a relationship.

We will be cut off and we will never bear fruit. Number one, note that Jesus is the true vine. Note in the second place that the unsaved will be revealed. But note in the third place that the saved will be cleansed.

The saved will be cleansed. Now in the second part of verse two and verse three and then verse five, listen to what the Bible says. Jesus said, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be more fruitful. Then in verse three, he says, you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. In verse five, I am the vine, you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me, he can do nothing. The unsaved, at least the saved, will be cleansed. Now that word for cleansed right there in verse two is the word kathairo in the Greek New Testament. It literally means to be made clear. It literally means to be made free from all obstacles. That's what it means.

It literally means to present an unhindered passageway. And what Jesus was saying, he's saying that if you are not saved, you will be revealed. You will be exposed. If you are saved, you are going to be cleansed. I'm going to work in your life. I'm going to clear out the passages. I'm going to clear out the clogged arteries. I'm going to allow the blood to flow. I believe Jesus was speaking about spiritual discipline.

I believe that Jesus was saying that any born again believer must subject him or herself to the cleansing power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how does he do that? There are two ways.

One is radical surgery and the other one is not so radical surgery. One is when he takes those little clippers and he cuts us off just at the point we need to cut off in order to make us grow properly. Now, my favorite flower is the rose. I'm not an expert on growing roses, but I wish I was. You need to go and see Dr. Bob Haas' roses.

They are absolutely magnificent. But I know something about growing roses. At a certain time, at a certain moment, you need to go and you need to prune that rose bush. You need to cut it back.

You need to do just a little tad bit of surgery on the old thing. And what will happen is that by virtue of pruning it in the right place, the result is a flower that will boggle the mind and a perfume that will knock your socks off. It is something that is so special. And Jesus is saying that for all saved people, that what I do as God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit is I am continually in the business of trimming you back, not in order to cut you down or to assassinate you or to trip you up, but I'm trimming you back in order to clear away all kinds of obstacles so that the blood can flow freely. Number four, number four. We need to note that fruitfulness bears results. Fruitfulness bears results.

Four major themes here in chapter 15. Number one, Jesus is the true vine. Number two, the unsaved will be revealed and exposed. Number three, the saved will be cleansed. And number four, fruitfulness always bears results. Now, beloved friends, this morning there are eight results here in God's Word and I intend to give them to you.

I hope you have your pens with you. You might say to me, well, pastor, what does this mean? I have people from time to time come to me and say to me, pastor, how can I really know if I'm saved? How can I know that I know that I know that I know that I know that I'm saved?

Here it is. Jesus was giving his disciples eight results of spiritual fruitfulness. Jesus was saying there are eight ways in which you can know that you are connected in the right place.

Here they are. Number one, you will glorify God. You will glorify God. Look at verse eight. This is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit.

Why? Thereby showing yourselves to be my disciples. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Jesus makes a direct connection between who he is, the fruit that we bear in relation to the validation of who we say that we are. And Jesus said that as a consequence of our fruit bearing, we will bring glory to God.

So here's the question that I have to ask of myself today. If I say that I'm a born again believer, if I say that I have Jesus Christ living in my heart, if I say that I've been washed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, if I say that I've trusted him as my Lord and my Savior, if I say that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and he's written my name in the Lamb's book of life, I've got to ask myself this question. Do I glorify God with that which I am doing? Is my life a public and practical demonstration of the glory of God?

Is the resultant impact of my life the fact that God is being glorified or is man being glorified? Number two, you will grow in his love. You will grow in his love.

Look at verses nine through 12. Jesus said, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. Continue in my love, he was saying. If, and note the conditional sentence, if you obey my commands, you will continue remaining in my love. For just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love, so it is I have told you this, that my joy may be in you and your joy will be complete.

Why? Because my command is this. Love each other as I have loved you. There is no greater love than the demonstration with which I have loved you in laying down my life for you. And in verse 17, therefore this is my command that you love one another.

Here's what happens. Jesus was saying to his disciples, you have come to me because of my demonstration of love. I came to you because I demonstrated love. That's what John 3 16 is all about. God so loved the world.

God's love, the Lord Jesus Christ's love, man's love. As a consequence of our connectedness, Jesus is saying you can know that you are one of my disciples if you love people. Such powerful teaching and we've just begun on this great message called The Right Connection with Dr. Don Wilton.

We'll complete it tomorrow. But as Dr. Don was talking about this concept of understanding how we know we're one of God's disciples, do you know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you know that you belong to Jesus Christ and you're a child of God? In my own situation, I knew about Jesus long before I knew him personally. I pray that you would open your heart to the possibilities of changing your relationship not to knowing about Jesus, but knowing him personally.

Here's Dr. Don with that opportunity for you and me today. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just prayed with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or maybe rededicate your life, we're so excited for what God is about to do in your life and we'd love to be a part of encouraging you. That's who we are, the encouraging word. We have a wonderful packet of free information for you. If you just gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life, call us at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 or meet us online as well. We have a number of resources right there on our website at www.tewonline.org. If you're asking about the new book from Dr. Don, here's more about that special book. On our new website, you can reserve a copy of Dr. Wilton's brand new book, Saturdays with Billy. In Saturdays with Billy, Pastor Don shares heartwarming stories of his times with Mr. Graham. Just as Billy's words changed Don's life, they can change our lives today, a testament to a man who leaned on God's grace into eternity. Discover their powerful friendship at www.tewonline.org.

Again, that's an exciting book as well as The Loneliness Solution, another book you'll see on our website. Drop by today. It's www.tewonline.org. You can hear today's message. You can even take a peek at tomorrow's message that's online at www.tewonline.org. I hope you'll join us again tomorrow and bring a friend for more of God's Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton.