The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, pastor 4 Tony is teaching in the book of John. Please open your Bible to John chapter 15 verses 1 through 8.

Tony Clark: Oh, there's a God-man relationship in our walk with Jesus Christ. He tells us to abide in him in verse 4, but without him we can do nothing in verse 5. We see it in Philippians 4:13. I can do all things, but it's through Christ who strengthens me. There's a God-man relationship that is in our relationship with the Lord. But what happens if we refuse to abide in Christ? Because the choice is ours. Choice is yours. If you choose to abide or not. What happens if we refuse to abide in Christ? So is pruning time? Yes, it is.

But I'm so thankful that the pruning process that takes place with trees and plants is not the same in our spiritual lives. When Jesus prunes us, he lifts us up and cleanses us and the instrument that he uses is his word. And so don't forget every time we expose ourselves to the teaching of the Bible personally and here at church, the word of God is cleansing us from the dirt and mud of this world. He lifts us up out of the mud of depression and out of the dirt of sin. Why? So we can bear much fruit.

Do you see God's fruit in your life? If not, then maybe you stopped abiding in Christ. Maybe you're following the Lord at a distance. And this is the if this is the case, then you need to repent and come back to Jesus Christ. He is waiting to lift you up and cleanse you from the dirt of sin. Question is will you come? The choice is yours. But what if we don't want to abide in Christ? If we choose not to abide, verse 6 says, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned.

What a powerful branch. I mean, this verse alone has caused many Bible scholars and teachers to have heartaches and sleepless nights. Just what does Jesus mean by if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered? And then he goes on to say that they will be gathered and thrown into the fire and they are burned. Is Jesus talking about a believer losing his salvation? Is he saying that if we don't abide, we will we will be thrown into the fires of hell and burned? No, just relax. He is not saying this at all.

Keep in mind, in order for you to correctly interpret the scriptures, the one thing you have to always remember is the context. Context, context, context. The context is about bearing fruit. We bear fruit singular in verse 2. We bear more fruit at the end of verse 2. Then in verse 5 we bear much fruit. So Jesus is saying if we don't abide in him, which means to stay close to him, we will be cast out as a branch that is withered. Ah, it is this word withered that needs our careful consideration. The Greek word is and it's a word that means to shrivel or to dry up.

It speaks of the drying up of fluids. In other words, Jesus is saying if we don't abide in Christ, our walks with him will dry or shrivel up. And as a result, as a result is when our deeds go through the fire at the judgment seat of Christ that Romans talks about in 2 Corinthians, they will end up being wood, hay, and straw. Notice those are materials that burn with fire. So this is not talking about us being cast into the fires of hell and burned. No, but our works or our deeds. Oh, 1 Corinthians 3:11 through 15 sheds more light on this subject.

It teaches us. It says for no other foundation can anyone lay than which is laid, which is in Christ Jesus. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. Here it is in verses 14 and 15. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. But if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss.

But he himself will be saved yet so as through fire. Oh, see the apostle Paul expounds on what Jesus is teaching here in these verses. If we don't abide in Christ, our walks will wither or dry up. And maybe you hear and I just described you. Has your walk dried up? Does it seem like your spiritual reservoir is empty? And maybe it is because you stopped abiding in Christ. You have started following the Lord at a distance like Peter did. And maybe you you have stopped abiding in Christ because you're disappointed with him. Or maybe a prayer wasn't answered that you thought should have been answered or in the timely fashion by which you thought it should be answered.

Or you're you're you're disappointed at what he has allowed to happen in your life. There are many people who who sit in churches who are disappointed with God over for one reason or another because of what he has allowed to happen in your life. Or maybe you're hearing the reason why you stopped abiding is you feel like you have disappointed him. Like Peter felt, I believe in John 20 verse 4. You remember Mary comes and tells the disciples that the body of Jesus wasn't in the tomb any longer. And when Peter and John heard the news, they both ran together.

But this verse, John 20 verse 4, says that the other disciple John outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And I don't believe that John, the author, was trying to show off or brag about his athletic abilities by saying that he outran Peter. I believe that Peter ran just as fast as John did, but the closer he got to the tomb, he slowed down, probably saying how can I face my Lord whom I denied three times? Keep in mind that Peter he doesn't get restored until John chapter 21. So I believe that Peter slowed down the closer he got to the tomb.

And maybe this is you today. You have slowed down in your walk with the Lord because you feel like you have disappointed him. Let me just let you in on a little secret. Just a little secret. You can never disappoint the Lord. The Lord knew all the time that Peter was going to deny him three times. Matter of fact, he even told him so in Luke 22 in verses 31 to 34. Listen to what Jesus said. He says Simon, Simon, and Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that your faith fails not and when you have returned, strengthen your brethren.

And then next couple of verses, Peter boasts about his loyalty to the Lord and how he's willing to even die for him. And Jesus finally said, oh, Peter, he tell you Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you deny three times that you even know me. And just like Jesus knew that Peter would deny him, so too he knew that you will blow it and you blew it again this week. He knew all the time. To disappoint God means that you did something that shocked him or surprised him. For example, I can't believe that Tony did that again.

And here's God sitting on the side of a cloud with his hand in his head, hands and just I can't believe Tony did that again. I'm just so shocked. I'm very disappointed. No, he knew all the time I would do it. He knew all the time you would do it too. You can never disappoint the Lord. Never. He knew you were going to do it just like he knew Peter would. He even told him ahead of time and he still did it. And so this is why I spent so much time on this verse because it is so misunderstood.

Our works will be burned, not us as individuals. Our lives will not bear the fruit God desires for us to bear if we don't abide in him. It's not talking about we will be cast into the fires of hell and burned. No. It's not even the context. The context is about bearing fruit. The the things that we do will either would the things we do for the Lord, the things we do in this life are either they will be gold, silver, precious stones or wood, hay, and straw. Notice gold, silver, precious stones are things that can endure the fire.

Uh, wood, hay, and straw are things that burn with fire. Everything we do they're either done with the right motives, they're either done with the wrong motives. Everything we do will either be wood, hay, and straw or gold, silver, and precious stone. Period. And when we stand before the Lord in the judgment seat of Christ, those things that we've done for the Lord, those things that were wood, hay, and straw, they were burned. No reward. Those things that are gold, silver, and precious stone, those things endure fire and we will be rewarded for those things.

So it's not talking about us going to hell and burning forever. No. It's not even the context. Look what it says in verse 7. It says if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. Now in this verse, Jesus is telling us the benefits of abiding in him. It's not only to bear much fruit that we just finished talking about, but so that our prayers can be answered. Oh, if there's one question I'm asked a lot as a pastor is why is it that certain prayers are answered and certain prayers are not answered?

The condition of our prayers getting answered is in the first part of this verse. It says if you abide in me and my words abide in you, that's the condition on our part. Our words here in this verse is not logos that we saw uh in verse 3 that that that that refers to the teachings of Jesus in its entirety. But this Greek word for words is which means individual utterances. Oh, yes, Jesus wants us to be under his teaching in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation and we do that here. But Jesus also wants to speak to us about specific things and and addressing certain issues in our lives on a daily basis.

God wants to apply his word to specific problems and situations we find ourselves in. He wants to be to us what David said in the Psalm, a very present help in time of trouble. And so this is where the comes in. And when the apostle Paul tells us as husbands in Ephesians uh 5:25 and 26 when he says husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, watch verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word. Oh, the Greek word word here is Oh, for the longest time I thought it was logos.

It's not logos. It's The apostle Paul is telling us as husbands that we need to know and have the have a word for our wives. Meaning that we need to know the word of God in such a way as well as to know our wives in such an intimate way that God can speak to us to give us a word for our wives that we can see her and something is off and something is not right and we can speak to her a right now word for her life. Oh, the question is for us as husbands, do we know the word of God that well and are we as intimately acquainted with our wife in such a way that she doesn't have to say a word and we can speak a word into her life?

Oh, this is what Jesus is saying here. He is saying in verse 7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. Oh, let's let's go behind the scenes of what Jesus is saying a little bit further. This is the key to getting our prayers answered by the Lord. It is by abiding in him. When we abide, which means to stay close to Jesus Christ, we will know what his heart and his will is. So when we make a request, it will be in line with him because we are abiding in Christ.

Oh, in James chapter 4 in verses 2 and 3 is is tells us why we don't get many of our prayers answered. He says you have not because you ask not. But when you ask, you receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it on your pleasures. Oh, that Greek word amiss is an amazing word. It's and it means to have it badly. It means out of line. Or I love one definition it says with the wrong motives. So let's put it all together. See when we're not abiding in Christ and allowing his word to abide in us, it throws our prayers off.

See God's word reveals his will to us. So when we pray, we will pray prayers that are in line with his word and we know that our prayers will be answered. But when we're not abiding in Christ like verse 6 says, we will pray prayers out of line with his word. Or we will pray prayers with the wrong motives and they will not be answered. So because of these things, we need to examine. We need to examine our prayers by asking am I abiding in Christ? Am I asking for something out of line with his word?

Am I asking with the wrong motives? We need to examine ourselves. We we just can't willy-nilly just throw prayers up to God and just wondering why they're being answered, why they're not being answered. You got to ask yourself am I abiding in Christ? If you're abiding in Christ, which means to stay close to Jesus Christ, then that means you will ask things in line with his word. If you're not abiding in Christ, you can If you're not abiding in Christ, which means to stay close to Jesus Christ, you can't expect your prayers to be answered.

Why? Because you don't know what you're asking, whether it's with the wrong motives, whether it's out of line, with his word. You don't know. You don't have a clue. This is why it's so important to to abide, to stay close to Jesus Christ because then you'll begin to pray prayers that are close to his heart. And you can know those prayers will be answered. Oh, look what it says there in verse 8. It says by this my Father is glorified that you bear a much fruit so you will be my disciples. Now in this verse, Jesus says that the Father is glorified when our lives as his disciples are bearing notice much fruit.

The Lord wants our lives to bear not just a little fruit, but much fruit. We saw last time that fruit is ultimately defined for us in Galatians 5:22 and 23. In other words, the Father wants our lives to overflow with his love, his joy, his peace, his long suffering, his kindness, and goodness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. And when these attributes are in abundance and flowing from our lives, Jesus said that the Father is glorified. Okay, what does that mean? When we call ourselves his disciples like verse 8 says and we are bearing much fruit for him, which means being kind to unkind people, loving the unlovable, displaying peace to those who want to be at war with us.

When we're doing these things, God will be glorified. Oh, that word glorified is a word that needs our attention as well. The word glorified in the Greek is and it's a word that means to esteem, to honor, or to magnify. It is where we get our English word doxology from which means to speak well of. And so when we as believers are bearing much fruit for Jesus Christ, the people around us will see it and speak well of God and Christianity. And this is what we ultimately want. Isn't this what Matthew 5:16 says? It says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Oh, you can always know where your motives are by asking yourself who gets the glory by the things that I'm doing. Oh, this is a question we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves who gets the glory by the things I'm doing? Do I get the glory all the time or does the Lord? Now Jesus did things in such a way that they glorified the Father in heaven. Now there's nothing wrong with people thanking you, patting you on the back and giving you a attaboy. There's nothing wrong with that. But do you do things so that people can thank you or God?

This is what I'm referring to. We have to examine our motives in our own hearts. We should let the light of Jesus shine in such a way from our lives that people around us will or glorify the Father in heaven. Oh, that's the point that we're trying to bring up here. This is how we should live in such a way that people see God in us. Oh, it's like I said, don't get weird. And when people thank you and all of a sudden you just get weird. Oh, don't thank me. It's the Lord. Stop. Just stop with that.

That false humility is worse than you taking the credit. So just just thing oh, yeah, God bless you. Thank you. I appreciate that, you know. And just and just move keep it moving. So this so don't get weird on people and make people feel weird. You know, especially people on the job. Oh, yeah, you really did a great job. Oh, you know, it's not me. Don't thank me. You it's the Lord. And they don't even know the Lord. It's like what's wrong with this crazy nut here? What is he talking about? So don't get weird, you super spiritual ones.

You know who I'm talking about. Don't get weird with people. Just thank them. They pat you on the back for a good job. You just say hey, praise the Lord. I thank I'm thankful. Lord gives me the strength. Amen. God bless you. Okay, and just keep it moving. Keep it moving. Now we should let the light of Jesus shine in such a way from our lives that people will glorify the Father. Now let me conclude with this because I didn't want to get into verse 9 until we can do it all as a unit. In this study, we answered the question what happens to us if we don't abide in Christ.

We will wither or dry up spiritually and the things we try to do for the Lord will be considered wood, hay, or straw, things that burn with fire. And if you're here and you stopped them abiding in Christ because you're disappointed with him, you need to repent and get that right with God because when you say when you say I'm disappointed with God, you saying God, you did something that I didn't like and I didn't think was right. And last time I checked, you don't know more than God. And he allowed it to happen in your life because there's ultimately all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are to called according to his purpose.

There's some good he's going to work out in it. I mean, think about it. Think about it. Jesus being crucified on the cross is the just the coolest way to die. It's one of the worst ways man has ever invented was crucifixion. But the good that came out of it is many of us are saved. Billions been saved over these centuries because of what Jesus went through on the cross. And maybe you have to go through your crucifixion and something you have to go through in your life because there's some people on the job that's going to give their life to the Lord as a result of watching you properly go through it, not blaming God, but glorifying God.

Oh, that's a word for somebody. Somebody need to hear that today because that is exactly what is taking place and what happened. God knows just last time I checked just a little bit more than we do. So or maybe you here and you stopped abiding in Christ because not that you're disappointed in him, but you felt that you disappointed him. And please realize that you can never disappoint the Lord. He knew that you would do it just like he knew Peter would. But Jesus is here today to welcome you back, to forgive you, to restore you just like he did Peter.

The question is will you come? I pray you will. His arms are open for you to come. He's always he always gives us the the choice of whether we're going to come to not or not. And are you going to come? I pray that you will. Father, thank you so much for this time in your word. We pray God that you would draw your people to you today. I pray for those who are disappointed in you over something they don't understand. I pray that they repent. And Lord, draw ever so close to you and trust that you know just a little bit more than they do.

And Lord, I pray for those who here and they felt that they let you down. They disappointed you. Lord, I pray that you would come upon them and let them know you can they can never disappoint you. You knew all the time and you still want to forgive and restore them. I pray that they will come today. And Lord, I pray for those who have never surrendered their life to Jesus Christ. I pray that today will be the day of salvation for them that they will draw ever so close to you, repent of their sin and believe you died on the cross and was buried and rose again.

Your word said they shall be saved. Draw people unto you today in Jesus' name. Amen.

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