Dying Charge to the Future Apostles III

"No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:15.

"...the apostles would be partners: the disciples had been as government clerks; the apostles would be confidential ministers of the king: the disciples had been pupils in the school of Jesus; the apostles would be the treasurers of Christian truth, the reporters and expositors of their Master's doctrine, the sole reliable sources of information concerning the letter and spirit of His teaching. What office could possibly be more important than theirs? and how needful that they should realize their responsibilities in connection with it!" The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 422.

Consider the truth taught here... Once upon a time, these men, disciples in the training court of the School of Jesus were responsible for learning the truth about the Teacher. Now becoming apostles; they had a greater obligation. An obligation to share His teaching to those around them in the spirit of His teaching. As apostles, they have the duty to pass along the teachings they so diligently studied and listened to at one time as mere disciples. But Jesus gave further stimuli to diligence and fidelity (Bruce, pg. 422). "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:16.

This benefit was not of their own doing, but of what Jesus bestowed upon them. The benefit they received was all on their side. "He had raised them from obscurity to be the lights of the world, to be the present companions and future friends and representatives of the Christ." Bruce, pg. 422. 

Consider this: In the previous passage (John 15:15) Jesus tells them that the slave does not know what the master is doing.  The slave does not know the king's plans, nor is he important enough to be allowed in the room when they are made known. But now He calls them friends. They no longer hold a menial position in the kingdom as a slave does in the king's house. They now have the benefit of knowing the king's plans and details therein. Note Jesus words though: "all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:15. 

"All things?" Yes, all things! Have we also been entrusted with all things? Yes, all things! What an amazing passage!

You and I once were slaves to our sin (before our salvation). Our sin would never allow us access into the King's house. It separated us from Him. Now as "friends, children, heirs of God" how much light are we given by God through our Savior Jesus Christ. We have the luxury of the true Light of knowledge which is given to us from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! And now we are called to be lights of the world (so richly spoken through the words of Bruce). 

Do you see the calling today? Jesus left His entire gospel to people like 12 ordinary men; just like you and I. He taught them over the course of His lifetime and now left it in His friend's hands. Would they be successful? Yes, they were! Will we be successful in our time and age? It's up to us.

What each of us have within our heart is something very special and given to us at a great cost. It was God's prize to the world we live within. It's called the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't underestimate it. It cost God everything and you nothing...

I think Christians sometimes go overboard with too many Bible studies...

Wait before you respond first though. My point is this; there is nothing wrong with learning as much as we can about the Bible and God's plan. My complaint is not there. It is with those who take a lifetime to learn it and never pass it along to someone else. This is not a precious treasure to kept to oneself. What good is a precious diamond held by the owner if there is never anyone who knows it exists. 

When God gives to you His Word. Go and give His Word to another. That is design of the Master. A true friend of God is one who goes and shares the Good News! 

That's what reporters do. They report the news! Will you?

Dying Charge to the Future Apostles II

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:4.

"Abide in me, and I in you." These words point to a dependence of the disciples on their Lord under two forms, which by help of the analogy of a tree and its branches it is easy to distinguish. The branch abide in the vine structurally; and the vine abides in the branch through its sap, vitally. Both of these abidings are necessary to fruit-bearing. Unless the branch be organically connected to the stem, the sap which goes to make fruit cannot pass into it. On the other hand, although the branch be organically connected to the stem, yet of the sap of the stem do not ascend into it (a case which is possible and common in the natural world), it must remain as fruitless as if it were broken off and lying on the ground. The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 414. 

The first part of this illustration Bruce writes is the common call to all His disciples to go and share the gospel as His witnesses. It the call for us to be those who are active in sharing our faith with those who have not heard and to make the message known to all. This is the call and the structure of the gospel.

The second part of this challenge is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within each of us. This Spirit of God which is given to us is the continued "sap" which allows the new life to continue to flow in each of us. This is the vitality. Without it, we would fail to thrive and eventually wither and die; or the same branch would grow moss or be covered with infection, even when it is still connected to the vine. Sometimes it is as if the vine would even try to grow by itself without the life-giving force which allows it to even remain. This constitutes a great departure from the faith, yet many Christians try today to do this very thing.

Furthermore Bruce writes; "The conception of a dead branch, applied to individuals as distinct from churches or the religious world viewed collectively, is not without difficulty. A dead branch on a tree was not always dead: it was produced by the vital force of the tree, and had some of the tree's life in it. Does the analogy between natural and spiritual branches hold at this point? Not in any sense, as we believe, that would compromise the doctrine of perseverance in grace, nowhere taught more clearly than in the words of our Lord. At the same time, to cannot be denied that there is such a thing as abortive religious experience." Bruce, pg. 416.

This statement by Bruce is somewhat startling, but yet truth revealing about those around us who have thrown in the towel of their faith. The towel they used to serve others with has now become one which is folded and placed on the shelf. The power that the towel had to serve others (as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples) has now lost its ability to do what it was created to do. Much like the sap from the branch, the towel loses its ability to absorb and dry that which was needed to be dried.

So what happens when the sap is flowing continuously? I take you back to the story of my little poinsettia plant from last week. On last Sunday morning's service, I recalled how God prunes each one of us throughout our lives so that we might bring forth "much fruit," as I began to pull off some of the old leaves on the little plant. As I noted (while pulling the leaves off) the sap from the plant began to rise (like a creamy whitish fluid) into the area where the plant used to have a small leaf branch. Within the next few days, another chute came forward revealing another leaf. Without the power of the sap rising to the trimmed branch, it would have withered and died. This is the power of the Holy Spirit within each of us... He can and will rise up within our trimmed branches to fill them with a new sense of purpose and life. Something that was better than before; all for the glory of the Savior!

So the question for today is this; are you ready to be pruned? It might hurt. It might leave you bleeding. It might take away the thing you depended upon...

God is in the process of bringing forth "much fruit" if we will let Him. Will you?

The Dying Charge to the Apostles

John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:1–4.

Concerning the disciples... "They must be great actors in the world, and leave their mark permanently on its history: they must, in fact, take His place, and be in His stead, and carry on the work He had begun, in His name and through His aid." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 411. 

Jesus put the duty of the disciples clearly in front of them when He used the parable of the vine. He referred to Himself as "I am the true vine." He also referred to His Father as the "divine husbandman." Note something though: Jesus skips the vine and who they are identified as, but then goes on to mention how the Divine Husbandman deals with the branches which bear no fruit are lopped off, while the fruitful ones are pruned to become more fruitful. This tells us something from the beginning; that Jesus fully intended the disciples to become fruitful. The church's life depended upon it...

"While urgent in His demand for fruit, Jesus does not, we observe, in any part of this discourse on the vine, indicate wherein the expected fruit consists. When we consider to whom He is speaking, however, we can have no doubt as to what He principally intends. The fruit He looks for is the spread of the gospel and the ingathering of souls into the kingdom of God by the disciples, in the discharge of their apostolic vocation. Personal holiness is not overlooked; but it is required rather as a means towards fruitfulness than as itself the fruit. It is the purging of the branch which leads to increased fertility." Bruce, pp. 412-413.

So a key here lies in the spread of the gospel. It lies within the deep realm of the personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot and will not be fruitful in seeing the spread of the gospel without first embedding ourselves within the personal realm of holiness. This is not a half-hearted commitment.

Just as a vine draws its water from the main branches, the Christian must draw their power from the source it is connected. This was the plan from the beginning spoken by Jesus to the disciples. There was no back up plan here. Its original plan was always to be connected to the Savior, the source of life. You ever wonder why we are not seeing souls being impacted by the gospel? Maybe it is because we are not connected to the main branch to where we are drawing nourishment each day!

Over the last few weeks, I have been babying a small poinsettia plant which was given to me during the Christmas season. It came home looking a little puny and dry. It was a gift from someone, so I couldn't just throw it out. We left it in the original pot in the house for a few weeks and watered it regularly. No change. Finally, I went and got some Miracle Grow potting soil and a new pot. I moved it into the new pot, and replaced the old soil (which was really dry with no nutrients). I watered it again and left it inside in a reasonable place for light. No change. Boy, I was tempted to say "that's it, you're just not going to make it!" As I was looking at this little plant, I knew it could be stronger, but how?

Well, I took it outside and placed it within direct sunlight, in its new pot with Miracle Grow potting soil. Over the last week, the little poinsettia has popped back into life. It is now starting to reach its potential!

You see, in our lives, we are trying to make our relationship with the Lord grow with the help of man made steroids like being busy and serving (like the Miracle Grow). These might be wonderful things but they do not replace the personal relationship with Jesus. You see, nothing helped the little plant except to bask in the sunlight each day, where it belonged. It now thrives in the sunlight (its source of life) where it was intended to be from the start. Could we be this stubborn that we are trying to share the gospel without drawing our power from the source? 

I think so; even in my own life. Sometimes we think we have something to offer people. We don't. Our source of strength comes from our Savior! Have a wonderful week!

Remember, Wise men still seek Him...