06-28-2020

Park Meadows Church iconPark Meadows Church

2 views

Pastor David Mitchell

0 comments

09-27-2020

00:00
Well, we know we've been on this wonderful study of prayer right there in the middle of Romans chapter 8 for quite a few
00:08
Sundays, chapter 8, verse 24 through 28, and today we're probably going to finish that study off, and I'm very excited about this lesson.
00:20
I think it's the ultimate of the information the Lord's given us on this topic of prayer.
00:26
We have about 10 topics listed there that you can see. We're talking about the 10th one because that's the one that's found in the passage we're studying in Romans chapter 8.
00:36
However, number 3 and number 9 have both come into play in this study, and you can see down there underneath number 10, it says
00:45
Romans 8, 24 through 28. It also says John 15 through 17, and we'll get into that today and finish off this study with that wonderful passage.
00:56
So I'm excited about that, and man, you know, let's tell you what, let's just review a little bit here, and I heard what
01:06
Brother Bill said about me reviewing a lot, yeah, I do. I do like to review it because I don't like to preach anything that's out of context, so if this is your first time to be with us during this study on prayer, then we'll give you a little bit of a review.
01:22
If you've been with us, I think you'll see this as sort of summing up the great points.
01:28
In this passage in Romans chapter 8, verse 26, it talks about how the Holy Spirit has to help us with our infirmities with regard to prayer.
01:39
We're barely able to pray. We just, you know, think about it. The times you've prayed, does your mind wander?
01:47
Think about how difficult it is to get the things of the world out of your mind and to spend time alone with the
01:54
Lord for any length of time. So we have to have the Holy Spirit's help, and it's interesting because it says that we don't even know what we ought to pray for as we ought to.
02:03
That means we often ask amiss, and when we ask amiss, the answer to that prayer is no rather than yes.
02:10
And so this whole study is about how to get a yes answer, and it's kind of fascinating when you see how that really works.
02:17
If you've been with us the last few weeks, you're kind of starting to get the idea, but we're going to go even more deeply into the idea today.
02:25
So it says that the Holy Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, and really what we're seeing here is the
02:36
Holy Spirit goes out and He brings God's mind to our mind and shows us what the
02:42
Father is doing. Now, we saw an illustration last Sunday of how Jesus lived
02:48
His life that way, and we'll review that here in a minute. But secondly, now we can pray according to God's will and in Jesus' name because the
02:58
Holy Spirit just brought us enough of the mind of God for us to know what the secret will of God is so that we can pray along with it.
03:07
You see, we misunderstand when we think that prayer is about getting stuff that we want.
03:14
We grow up thinking that's what it is, and that's our first thought of what it is, but prayer is actually originated in heaven.
03:21
It's all about what God is doing in His family business. It's wonderful that He's chosen us to work with Him in His family business.
03:28
He chose His son Jesus first, and then Jesus chose us, and we all work together with the
03:35
Lord in His business. Everything we think we're doing in our lives, it's His stuff. We're doing it with Him, and if that's not the case, we shouldn't be doing it, but the point is we will be.
03:46
We will be working along together with God if we belong to the Lord. Funny thing is,
03:51
Brother Otis taught me years ago that even the lost serve the Lord because He's sovereign. They just don't know it.
03:56
They wouldn't like it if you told them that, but they're here doing exactly what He put them here to do. Brother Otis told me he put them here to put everything on the shelf that God's people need.
04:06
Isn't that something? Well, anyway, we're talking about us today, though, God's people. So we're able to pray according to God's will because the
04:14
Holy Spirit brings us enough of His will. He doesn't bring us the whole mind of God. We couldn't handle that, but He brings us enough of His will so that we can pray in line with it.
04:24
The Holy Spirit then, as we begin to pray, He takes our prayer back to the
04:29
Father. Remember, it originated with the Father, came to us by the Holy Spirit, who revealed God's mind and heart to us, what
04:36
God is doing today, and then we begin to pray that those things might come to pass.
04:42
God then takes that prayer back to the Father, the Holy Spirit does, and He magnifies our words and He translates our words into a language that we cannot speak due to our infirmities, which is the infinite
04:56
Father's infinite language. And that's what this one verse is talking about.
05:02
There's a lot there, isn't there? Then we looked at a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 -14, and we saw the same concept, the things which
05:12
God has prepared for them who love Him. We can't even imagine what God has out in the future.
05:17
That's His secret will, what's in the future for us. We can't even imagine what He has prepared, but God reveals those to us by His Spirit so that we can pray for those things to come to pass in our lives.
05:30
And the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God, and He brings the things to us that the
05:35
Lord wants us to know to be praying about, and this is how true prayer works. We see an illustration of it with David's life,
05:43
King David, in 2 Samuel 7 -25. Just a little glimpse of what we spent most of a
05:49
Sunday talking about David and practical application of this concept in David's life, and we learned how we can use it in our lives by watching how
05:58
David used it, but it says, And now, O Lord God, the word that you have spoken concerning thy servant, which is
06:05
David. So the Holy Spirit had already brought to David what God was going to do for David and told
06:12
David this, and then it had to do with the fact of his house, not only God's house, but David's house.
06:19
And so David got this information from the Lord, and then look what happened in verse 27.
06:25
For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, has revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build you a house.
06:31
Now, look at this. Therefore has thy servant, David, found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
06:37
So David begins to pray for this house, but the Holy Spirit had already told him
06:43
God's about to build a house, so now David prays. Now, see, that is opposite of what we think prayer is.
06:48
We think prayer originates on the earth with us. It's all about us, and we send it up, and God's got to answer it.
06:54
There are even some groups around the world that teach that once you speak it, God's obligated to do it. That's nonsense.
06:59
That sounds satanic to me, Luciferian in nature. And it's also very much deceived because it's not true, but the prayer originates with the
07:09
Lord, comes to our heart by the Holy Spirit. We then pray in God's will, and the
07:15
Holy Spirit brings that back to the heavenlies in an amplified, translated language of the
07:21
Father, and it has way more beautiful adjectives in it as we praise God than we could have thought up.
07:28
And this is sort of what's happening, and this is what David was doing. Now, look back up at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 12.
07:34
Why does all this happen, this process? So that we might know the things that are freely given to us of the
07:39
Lord and pray for them before they happen. It's amazing. So this is all talked about in our passage here in Romans.
07:47
Now, we started talking last week about this aspect of prayer, the ability to know the mind of God and how important that is in answered prayer and getting a yes answer.
08:01
Now, I'm not talking about we know God's whole mind. We're finite. He's infinite. We're going to spend all eternity learning more and more about God, and we'll never fully know everything about God because we always have to keep learning.
08:13
That's exciting for those of us who love God's Word and want to learn every day about the Lord, right? So, but what about this ability to know the mind of God?
08:21
How does that play into our prayer life? Well, this is a beautiful verse in Psalm 40.
08:26
Many, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are toward us,
08:35
God's thoughts which are toward us. Think about that when you get down, ladies and gentlemen, when things start to close in on you and things look dark, many are
08:44
God's thoughts and they're wonderful works and wonderful thoughts toward you. You personally as an individual, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.
08:54
You can't understand everything God has in his thoughts for you as an individual. And if I would declare and speak of these things, they are more than can be numbered.
09:03
So, the Holy Spirit brings those to us in the right time and time and space in our lifetime, at the right time he brings it to us, makes us aware we need to be praying about those things so that they come to pass in our lives and with our families.
09:18
So as we look at this, this is a review also, we talk about these two very important verses.
09:26
Now, here's one of them in John chapter 14, verse 12 and following. Jesus said, Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that I will do.
09:34
He didn't say I might do it. He said I will do it. So when you pray for something in Jesus' name, the answer is yes.
09:41
Did you hear me? It's not maybe, it's not no, it's yes. I've heard people say so often,
09:48
Lord always answers our prayers, but a lot of times the answer is no. Well, maybe that's because we were asking this and that was a selfish prayer, was us not allowing the
09:57
Holy Spirit to bring us God's mind and not wanting to pray according to God's will because we're afraid of his will, or we don't think we might not want his will.
10:05
We want our will. That prayer often gets answered no. But look at this. Jesus said,
10:10
Every time you pray in my name, I will do it. Why? So that the Father may be glorified in the
10:16
Son. Now we spent a whole lesson recently, last Sunday, talking about Jesus and how he lives this out, his experience.
10:27
We'll review that in a second, but that's kind of what this is hitting on, that when we ask for something in Jesus' name,
10:33
Jesus always does it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name,
10:40
I might do it. That's not what it says, is it? I will do it. And then this passage in 1
10:46
John chapter 5 says if we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know we have it.
10:56
That's a yes answer. So two things, praying in Jesus' name, praying according to God's will.
11:01
Problem is, have you ever asked yourself, how do I do that? And that's what this lesson is so much showing us in Romans chapter 8 verses 24 through 28.
11:11
It's showing us how that actually works, the practical aspect of how to do this.
11:16
What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name? And how do we pray according to God's will? If you have two forms of God's will, you have his revealed will, that's the word of God, that's easier to pray according to, and those prayers are answered yes.
11:30
But then the secret will of God, what he's doing in the future that you won't know unless the
11:35
Holy Spirit reveals it to you by bringing part of the mind of God to you so you can know ahead of time and pray for it, that's a huge aspect of praying in God's will, and that's kind of what we see.
11:46
We need these two things to happen. We need to be able to pray in Jesus' name, pray according to God's will. How do we do it?
11:52
That's what the lesson is all about. Well, last time we started talking a little bit about, well, how did Jesus do it? And we found out that everything that Jesus said, everything he spoke and everything he did, the works that he did, he said,
12:04
I only speak and only do what I have already seen the Father do. Now that is a mega example of how the
12:13
Holy Spirit would bring God's mind, the Father's mind to his son so that his son would act out
12:18
God's will on this earth, and all of Jesus' prayers were answered yes, answered yes.
12:25
One time I remember he had to tack on, nevertheless, thy will rather than mine, because he said, could this cup pass from me?
12:32
But he didn't put a period there. He said, nevertheless, thy will rather than mine, and God answered that by saying, no, there's no other way than the cross.
12:42
And so Jesus always prayed according to what he had seen the Father do, and he always spoke what he had heard the
12:50
Father say, and he always did the works that he saw the Father doing, and he didn't do any other stuff.
12:55
You ask, why didn't he heal everybody? He healed the ones the Father told him to heal. And people got mad about him.
13:01
One time when even his disciples almost left him once, he was talking about the sovereignty of God and how he does what
13:09
God tells him to do. It's not about man. It's about what God wants done. And he said, that's what my life's all about.
13:15
And many of the multitude walked away from him that day and never followed him again. And he looked at his own disciples and he said, will you leave also?
13:22
And Peter said, well, I guess not. You have the words of knowledge, so we'll stay. But it didn't sound very enthusiastic.
13:31
Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me, Jesus said.
13:36
Look at this. The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself. These words don't come from me.
13:43
But the Father that dwells in me, he does the work, speaks the words, and does the works that I do.
13:49
Believe me that I am in the Father, the Father in me, or else believe me for thy very works sake, the very works sake.
13:56
So here we see Jesus living this out to the ultimate. He had the Holy Spirit without measure.
14:02
So he was 100 % in the will of God in all of his words, all of his actions, all of his prayers. We have the
14:09
Holy Spirit by measure, so we're not quite that complete. But we need to strive to live like Jesus lived, the best that we can with the equipment
14:20
God's given us at this point today in our lives. And one of the first things that I see is
14:25
I need to approach what Jesus is saying here. The Father dwells in me.
14:31
He does the works. He brings me the words. Believe me that I am in the Father and the
14:36
Father in me. Now that's talking about abiding, and that's what we're going to come to today in this lesson today, abiding in God, living while being connected to Jesus Christ by the
14:48
Holy Spirit and that aspect of our prayer life, how it relates to prayer. Verily, verily,
14:53
I say unto you, he that believes on me, look at this, the works that I do shall he do also. Now that tells us if Jesus lives the way this passage shows us, that we are told by Jesus to live that way as well.
15:08
So now it brings it down to us. So now we have a family business. The Father brings his only begotten
15:13
Son into the world to do his business with him, and he does it 100%.
15:18
And then Jesus says, as he sent me, so send I you. So now we are part of the family business, but it's
15:26
God's business, and we have to consult with the owner to know what he wants to do, and he'll do much of it through us and with us, but he wants us to pray about it before we do it.
15:36
We can't possibly pray about the future unless the Holy Spirit brings us the mind of God and part of his secret will into our hearts and minds.
15:44
We won't always immediately have it when we begin to pray, so often we begin to pray what we desire, and that's fine, but we also need to tack this on for practical application.
15:53
Lord, this is what I'm asking you to do, but in the hours to come and the days to come, please adjust my prayer to match your will for my life and my loved one here that I'm praying for.
16:05
I want your perfect will done in their life. Adjust my prayers into your will, please,
16:12
Lord, and that's how we do this. So is this little passage where Jesus is talking about his words and his deeds and abiding in the
16:22
Father and only doing what the Father has shown him to do, is this even talking about prayer? Well, look at the next verses.
16:28
And whatsoever you ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
16:33
Son. If you ask anything in my name, I'll do it. So the whole thing's about prayer, because good works can't come without prayers first, not genuine ones.
16:43
If you love me, keep my commandments. Now, don't you find that fascinating? So look at this.
16:49
You know, the Lord said, here's how I live, and he says, now, God sent me to do his will.
16:55
He even had to tell his mom that once, didn't he? His parents. He said, don't you know I'm here to do my father's business?
17:02
And now he says, as he sent me, so send I you. So we have to live this same life.
17:08
The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwells in me, the works that I do.
17:15
He does those works. And then he says that we're going to do the same thing.
17:20
He says the works that I do, you shall do also. And then he brings us to prayer. So you need to ask for things in my name, and that's what
17:27
I'm going to do, so that God will be glorified in the Son, because that'll be me working through you and with you, and that will bring glory to our
17:34
Father. It's all a family business. Isn't that amazing? I want to bring this up.
17:39
I know Ben Russell already mentioned it. We've scheduled a national prayer night with our
17:45
Tradeway folks and any of our Park Meadows folks that want this. Ben's going to provide this
17:51
URL through the chat window. In fact, I see it down there already in your chat window, and you can grab that and paste it into your computer.
18:01
It'll pull you right into that meeting on Thursday night at 8 p .m. Central Time. That's Thursday, July the 2nd.
18:08
And we're going to have people from all over the country on this praying for our nation, for the racial tension that's out there.
18:16
We know Jesus said in the end times, ethnos, race, will rise up against race for the virus.
18:23
He says there'll be pestilences. We need to pray for our poor country, man. I'm telling you, I have never seen division like I see now.
18:31
I sent out a letter to 30 ,000 people the other day where I mentioned
18:36
President Obama, I mentioned President Trump, I mentioned the fact that I felt that both presidents, or I should put it this way, neither president has done a great job of causing race relations to continue to get better as they have in my lifetime.
18:55
I'm old enough to remember a lot of things about how bad things were for blacks in this country before the 60s.
19:04
And then Martin Luther King comes on the scene, and then President Kennedy, President Johnson bring
19:10
Congress to pass laws to make things equal, to desegregate.
19:17
And I was in the seventh grade when we did desegregate. We had a few -fist fight for like two weeks, then that was over.
19:24
We began to play football together, we'd been in the band together. We became friends.
19:30
Some dated each other, some married each other. And things got better and better here in Texas anyway,
19:36
I guess that's all I can speak about. And then we come into Obama years, and now the
19:42
Trump years, and it seems like, especially President Obama to me, and it's my opinion, so out of 30 ,000 people,
19:49
I had about five people that vehemently disagreed with what I said, and hundreds who agreed with it.
19:55
But I enjoyed reading both viewpoints. It was amazing to read the viewpoints.
20:01
And I spent a lot of time answering each person, especially the ones that were negative. I wanted to find out exactly what they were thinking and try to answer those.
20:08
It was a real amazing time for me this week. But one thing I know is we don't all see it the same way, and Satan is bringing division even among Christian people over the race issue.
20:25
And we can't allow that, and so that's what we're going to be praying about. We cannot allow Satan to bring division among brothers and sisters in Christ over anything.
20:34
And so we'll be praying about that. All right? Now, let's pull this whole lesson on prayer together today.
20:44
Prayers, just as good works, must be offered up together with Jesus Christ, never alone.
20:51
When we pray, we pray together with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. It's not just us praying.
20:58
It never can be or it won't be a true prayer. So we're talking about the kind of prayers that produce fruit on this earth in space and time in our generation.
21:08
These prayers have to be offered up together with Jesus Christ, never us alone. Perhaps prayer is the best of our good works, and we noticed how prayer is a good work and how a lot of those passages we studied last week appear to be good works passages and how we can only do those together with Christ, and at the very end, they have a verse or two on prayer.
21:29
Every time had a verse or two on prayer, and we know now then that prayer is perhaps the best of our good works and certainly can't do them on our own.
21:39
All right? In the parable of the soils, Luke chapter 8, verse 15 says, but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, notice the importance of God's word, keep the word and bring forth fruit with patience.
21:57
People can only bring forth fruit having heard and kept the word of God.
22:03
It's interesting that a lot of new agers want to think that prayer is just blanking out the mind and just trying to be one with the spirit that created all things, and no verbal prayer, no words, just a feeling, and biblical prayer is never like that.
22:21
Biblical prayer is always about vocabulary, which the Lord has taught us as we studied his word, and then we learn how to pray according to God's word.
22:31
Having heard the word and kept it, then they bring forth good fruit. This includes a fruitful prayer life along with the other good works, and all of it requires patience, especially our prayer life, right?
22:44
So I wanted to bring that out as we get into this lesson. So now we've established that our prayer life is part of our good works, and as such,
22:51
Jesus was our example. Last time we talked all about that. He did nothing and said nothing that he had not seen the
22:59
Father do. That is our example. It is God's family business, and he brought
23:04
Jesus into it, and then Jesus brought us into it, and we're all working together in God's business, and the
23:11
Holy Spirit then is able to bring the mind of God to us and shows us how we ought to pray towards the things that God is about to do.
23:20
All right, 1 John 15, 1 -3 is going to start the final lesson on all of these concepts of prayer that we've talked about, and it will really bring it home.
23:32
Let's have a quick word of prayer and go further into this. Lord, thank you so much for your word and how it is alive and how it is the water, and your
23:44
Spirit works together with the word of God in our hearts and lives to accomplish every good work that we will do in this lifetime and every good prayer that we pray, and thank you for showing this to us in the middle of Romans chapter 8, and help us,
24:01
Lord, to learn how to apply this and these truths into our lives, that we might be powerful in your hand on this earth.
24:09
There is much work to be done, especially today. As we look around us, it's just shuddering to read the news and to see that people are trying to change history of America because they think that somehow that makes things better to change what actually happened and just remove it by destroying statues and limiting songs that people have written and changing things, and actually what we're seeing,
24:35
Lord, is anarchy and revolution. And so, we ask that you would give our leaders both strength and wisdom, but also the idea that they need to stop this and use wise words to bring our people together, and that's going to be difficult.
24:55
Only by your wisdom, Lord, can they do it. So we ask for them to have this wisdom, be surrounded by your children who can give them this wisdom from your word, and we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.
25:08
All right, let's take a look at this passage now. We're going to move into John chapter 15 and have a final thrust at understanding what all of this means as the
25:19
Holy Spirit intercedes for us because of our inability to pray properly as we ought to, and he brings the mind of God to our heart and mine, and then he takes our prayers back to the
25:30
Father and amplifies and translates those into the infinite language of God, and then
25:36
God acts in the world with us and without us, sometimes together with us, sometimes just on his own, and his will is done, and Jesus Christ is glorified through all of this.
25:47
Let's see the final lesson. John 15, 1, I am the true vine, Jesus says.
25:53
My Father is the husbandman. Now most of us have studied this passage, and we looked at it from the point of view of good works, of bearing fruit, and we didn't really realize that prayer, perhaps, we didn't realize that prayer is perhaps the best and highest of our good works, and so this passage is definitely talking about prayer as well as good works, or prayer as the highest good work, and when we understand that, we can go back to this passage that we've studied so many times with regard to going out and doing things for God.
26:26
We can understand that it's also talking about praying before we go and do, and when we grab hold of the truths in here that have to do with prayer, it really takes us to the deepest level of the lesson we've been studying for two, three
26:39
Sundays. Jesus said, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Now I want you to think about that.
26:45
We see here that the Father is the farmer. Now what's interesting about it, the
26:52
Father does not plant his feet within the dirt and grow like the crop does, right?
26:59
If you want to use this as an illustration, the farmer is higher than the crops, it's higher than the earth, he's higher than the ground.
27:07
He is the one who is thinking about everything, planting everything, instigating everything, planting the seeds, praying for it to be watered, but in that picture, that farmer pictures
27:18
God the Father. God the Father is not attached to the earth like the crops are.
27:25
He is outside of that, and that picture is the fact that God the
27:30
Father is outside of time and space. He is the eternal I Am. If he came into time and space in that format, all the elements would flee from him, the
27:41
Scripture says, and everything would be gone. So he doesn't. He only comes into time and space through his
27:47
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and through his son, Jesus, during his lifetime on the earth and other times when he visited in the
27:54
Old Testament days. Those are called theophanies. So the Father projects himself into space and time through Jesus and through the
28:02
Holy Spirit, but he himself is outside of that. And this is pictured by the farmer, who is not part of the crops, but he instigates everything and controls everything.
28:15
Now, Christ is attached to the earth. Jesus is God seen. Jesus is all of the fullness of the
28:22
Godhead in a body, which means a physical body in time and space. He's still in time.
28:28
In heaven right now, at the right hand of the Father, there is actually time, and Jesus is in time.
28:34
He is in the third heaven right now. A lot of people don't discuss this, don't get that, but Brother Otis and I spent hours and years discussing this concept and looking at the
28:44
Scriptures about it, and it's fascinating. So Jesus is
28:49
God's way of attaching himself and being imminent in our lives. In other words, present right here with us and within us and all around us is through Jesus and through the
28:58
Holy Spirit. And we are attached to Christ on the earth, and the
29:04
Holy Spirit connects us to each other, to Christ and to the Father. And this is how
29:09
God works together in his family business, which is pictured as a farming business, an agricultural business here, with his son,
29:17
Jesus, and his adopted children, us. And this is how we all work together by this connection of the
29:23
Holy Spirit. And we're looking at this with regard to prayer, but we may have never thought of prayer that way until we started this lesson.
29:31
So it's the only way we can really pray is to be connected, all right? And Jesus is going to talk about this right here in this passage.
29:38
So he lays it out there. He said, I am the vine. I am connected to the earth. I'm like part of the crop, but I'm also connected to the husbandman, which is the farmer, who is my father, and I only do what the
29:51
Father has me do and say, right? Now verse 2 says, every branch in me, that's us.
29:57
Now we see our connection. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, the Father takes it away.
30:03
And every branch that bears fruit, the Father purges that so that it may bring forth more fruit.
30:10
Now, I live here in Texas near us. Less than 20 miles away is one of the greatest areas in the whole country for growing peaches.
30:20
And I had friends in high school. I worked with my grandfather's cattle. I never did go work with peaches, but I had friends that went and worked at the peach orchard as kids in high school just for a summer job.
30:30
And they would tell me that in the fall, and especially in the winter, they would go out and prune those trees back so much it looked like they were killing them so that they actually came out more full and had way more peaches.
30:43
This is a word study or an object lesson talking about how the
30:49
Lord causes us to go from a state of bearing fruit to a state of bearing more fruit.
30:55
And we come into bearing fruit by simply being saved when the Holy Spirit calls us and regenerates us, opens our eyes, our ears, and connects us to the
31:06
Lord by the Holy Spirit indwelling us, giving us the faith of Christ, giving us over 33 different things in a moment, and He connects us with the family of God, we at that point begin to bear some fruit.
31:20
Every born -again person bears some fruit without exception. Now if you want to get to where you bear more fruit, then you have to go through this pruning stage or purging.
31:30
Now what's interesting here is, first of all, we go from bearing fruit to bearing more fruit through the purging.
31:37
But look at the word in the Greek for this that's translated purge, all right? Gathairo, and it means literally to cleanse, not so much to cut things off of us.
31:51
If we don't know that, then we'll picture this as if the farmer's going out and cutting those limbs like they did the peach tree.
31:59
Now that's an object lesson that that's necessary to make them bear more fruit. I understand that. But what's actually happening to us physically and spiritually when we go through this pruning is different.
32:13
Because if we didn't understand this Greek word, we would think it was God cutting things away from us maybe through tribulation and trials and maybe even chastisement from the
32:24
Father's hand because we've sinned and allowing problems to come into our lives to mold us and pressure to make us different.
32:32
And I'm not saying those things don't happen. God does do all that too, but that's not what this passage is talking about.
32:38
In the context of this passage, using the proper rules of proper Bible interpretation, one of the first things we have to do is look at the words and the definitions.
32:47
This word for purge means to cleanse. I want you to keep that in mind because this is saying that by cleansing us, the
32:55
Father takes us from bearing fruit to bearing more fruit, all right?
33:01
So then verse 3 says, now you are clean through the word which
33:06
I have spoken to you. Now here we see verse 2 shows us that by cleansing us, he causes us to bear more fruit.
33:13
And verse 3 says, here's what I mean. Here's what cleanses you is the word of God. So now we begin to see that the word of God and us getting into it, reading it as a brand new
33:24
Christian, starting to read it from cover to cover and then reading it again and then getting beyond that to starting to meditate on it, maybe memorizing parts of it, and then learning the great doctrines, in other words, the great themes of the
33:38
Bible and everywhere we find them throughout Scripture and how the Bible as a whole will help interpret other portions of Scripture.
33:47
In other words, we let the Scripture interpret the Scripture. In all of these rules of Bible interpretation, my staff can make the
33:56
Ten Commandments of Bible interpretation available to you if you want to get a copy of that. But here we see the
34:03
Scripture informs us. It says, here's how God purges us. He does it through the word of God. So I've said this for years, and I think
34:11
I can back it up with verse 3 right here, is that a person's holiness, how different that person is from the world and how he is separated from the world unto
34:24
God. In other words, it goes on both sides, how less worldly the person is and how more godly and with God the person is, is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend in the word.
34:35
In the word of God, study in the Bible, it's directly proportional. Verse 3 proves it. You can't go from bearing fruit to bearing more fruit without being in the word of God more.
34:47
The verb, the, I'm sorry, the verbiage, the word itself means to cleanse.
34:54
Verse 3 says it's the word of God that does the cleansing, and the Bible says that's what takes you from fruit bearing to more fruit bearing.
35:01
Isn't that fascinating? So we have to note the connection of the word of God to the pruning.
35:09
I know we go through trials and tribulations, and that makes us grow too, but this is not talking about that. This is talking about how much we're in the
35:16
Bible. I've had people come to me all over the country through the last 15 years at stock market meetings, and because we always talk about the
35:25
Bible in there somehow, I don't know how that, the Lord just made that happen. And we talk about some things and put the scripture right up on the white, it used to be on a white board, now it's
35:35
PowerPoint on the screen, and we don't put denominational garbage, and there's good stuff in denominations too,
35:42
I don't mean that. But we don't put denominational beliefs up there. We just put scripture, and we study together. We may have 10 different denominations in the room at these
35:49
Tradeway meetings, which really to me is what church should be. In church, we're just guys that think just like we do, and gals that think just like we do.
35:59
But at Tradeway, it's not like that, but we put the scripture up there, and we just read through it, and everyone agrees with the scripture.
36:07
But I have had people come to me at breaks and say, I never saw that before, and I say, because your pastor and your denomination doesn't believe in that, but it's in the
36:13
Bible. And I've even had people come to me and say, I don't believe what you just said, and I'd have my Bible and point it to them and say, well, here it is, read it, and they'll read it, and they'll say,
36:21
I don't believe that. I'm going, then you'll never believe it. It's God's Word, so your eyes are closed to it,
36:27
I can't help that, all I can do is pray for you is what I'm thinking, I don't say that. But listen, you talk,
36:35
I've had people send me emails after stock market meetings saying, Brother David, thank you so much that you guys bring the
36:43
Word of God into it. I have had revival in my life because you got me thinking, and I had to go to the scripture to try to prove you were wrong,
36:52
I actually found out you were actually right about that thing that I'd never heard about in our church, and now
36:57
I'm studying the Bible every day like I haven't done in 15 or 20 years, and I'm having a revival in my life.
37:03
Isn't that wonderful? I mean, our job as teachers is nothing more than to get you to study more, because the amount of time you study the
37:12
Bible is directly proportional to how holy you will be. What does holy mean? It doesn't mean perfect with regard to us, it does with God, but with us, it doesn't mean perfect, it means different than the world.
37:23
It means you're separate from the world, and you're separated unto God for God's use in His family business, on this earth, in our generation, and the more separated from the world, believe it or not, the more effective you will be.
37:38
You can't dress like the world, talk like the world, foolish jesting, and all that stuff.
37:44
You can't do like the world and be powerful to the world at the same time. The modern church is so off on that, trying to be relevant.
37:52
The more relevant we become, the less powerful we are. We're supposed to be separate, not relevant, and the thing that causes it is being in personal
38:01
Bible study time, which is obviously what's wrong with the modern church, is people aren't doing it, they're getting spoon -fed at church, they're not going home and studying the
38:08
Word every day, and I'm not saying you have to study it every day. Your schedule is different than mine.
38:14
You might have a day where you study it for 12 hours, and that's your Bible study that week, that's fine. I'm not legalistic.
38:20
I'm not saying you've got to have an hour a day or three hours a day. It's between you and the Lord, but you've got to be in the Word or you're not moving in the right direction.
38:27
You will never move from bearing a little fruit to bearing more fruit unless we get in the
38:33
Word of God, and that's what this passage just told us. We have to note the connection of the
38:39
Bible to the pruning, which causes the increase in the fruitfulness of our life.
38:46
It does the pruning. So, we go from fruit -bearing to more fruit -bearing with purging.
38:55
Note the connection of the Word of God to this, and now we see another thing about to happen. The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, and we see now a third stage, the necessity of abiding.
39:08
Now, do you remember that Jesus said, I am one with the Father, the
39:14
Father in me and me in the Father, and the things that I say and the things that I do are things
39:19
I've already seen Him say and do, and then I do them, and it's God doing them through me.
39:24
It is God's work. I'm working with Him in His business. That's right. All right? So, that God in me and me in God, that is abiding or living in God and God in me and walking that sort of walk, and now we go to verse 4, and we see it.
39:42
It says, the Lord's already gone. He's laid it out. He said, the Father is the farmer.
39:49
I am the vine. You are the branches, so you're attached to me, and I'm attached to the
39:54
Father who is, I'm the root, and I'm doing what the Father says, and then we're bearing fruit because we're saved, but now we're bearing more fruit because we're in the
40:04
Word, but now look what happens. Take it a step further. Abide in me, Jesus.
40:11
Abide in Christ, and allow Christ to abide in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself.
40:20
Listen, you cut a branch off the vine, what happens? It lays over there and dies. It doesn't bear any fruit because the nutrients and the life and the fruit itself comes from the root, and that's
40:30
Jesus. It comes right up through there to us, and really, we're branches. That doesn't mean we produce any fruit.
40:36
It means the fruit hangs off of us. It's Jesus that produces it. It's his fruit. It hangs off of us, and the world can see it and use it, and that's just how this works.
40:46
Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, except it abides in the vine.
40:53
No more can you except you abide in me, Jesus says. I am the vine.
40:59
You are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth. Now we come to this much fruit.
41:06
That's the third stage, so we've gone from fruit bearing to more fruit bearing to much fruit bearing, but without me, you can do nothing,
41:16
Jesus said, so now we start to see the stages. If any man abides not in me, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into fire, and they are burned.
41:33
Think about that. Does that indicate that a true Christian does abide in Christ?
41:40
I think that's what it indicates. We have a lot of false professors in the church, people who maybe have been misled by pastors who said, pray this little prayer and you'll be saved.
41:48
They haven't been taught that you can only be saved by the calling of the Holy Spirit and the regeneration of the
41:55
Holy Spirit. While we were yet in our sins, hath he quickened us? That means brought me to life.
42:00
The Holy Spirit regenerates us. Everything else is an effect of that, not the cause of it. We've been taught backwards.
42:07
So we've got a lot of tares in the church because they were led to pray a little prayer and it was a time,
42:13
I mean, they might still be goats, they might be tares where they're never going to be saved, or they might be lost sheep who the
42:19
Holy Spirit just hasn't called yet. At any rate, you know, that's God's work.
42:24
Our job is to tell the gospel. Our job is to pray for them. It's the Holy Spirit's job to bring the knowledge and open their eyes and their mind and their heart and bring them to the place of regeneration and give them the faith of Christ so that they have faith and then all the rest is an effect and happens.
42:43
It's God's work. Right? Now we're working with him in this. We're supposed to give the gospel. We do it because that's our job and we're told to do it, not because we think we can save people.
42:54
And we pray for the same reason. Now, if people in the church are not abiding in Christ, eventually they will be exposed as not real, as hypocrites, and they won't be in church anymore.
43:09
They won't be working with God's people anymore. And eventually when the Lord comes back, they will be bound together in bundles and burnt.
43:18
They will be sent to hell. One of the hardest things in the Bible for me to understand and like is the concept of hell.
43:24
But I know it's true because Jesus talked about exactly a man who was there. He talked about a literal man who said, dip the tip of your finger in water and touch my tongue because I'm tormented in this flame.
43:37
So I know it's there. And these people are going to be cast forth.
43:43
They're not real. They're not attached to God. They're just faking religion. So now we see these steps.
43:49
We've gone from fruit bearing, which is being saved, being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, to bearing more fruit by being purged by the
44:01
Word of God, so being in the Word of God and beginning to grow, to the next step of bearing much fruit, which only comes through abiding.
44:09
Now I want you to think about that last one. It's the hardest one to do because of the things of the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the busyness of the world, the cares of the world come in and choke the
44:23
Word from us. Because of all those things, the most difficult thing for us to do is to realize when we get up in the morning, it's all about us talking to Jesus, find out what he's doing that day and going and doing it with him.
44:37
It's not about us asking him to go about our business with us. Listen, Jesus is not the disciple.
44:43
We are. We're to find out what the Father is doing through the Son and do it with him.
44:50
And that is called abiding. You can only do it if you reach up and grab Jesus' hand and hold it throughout the day.
44:57
As long as you do that, you won't sin, by the way, because when we're spirit -filled, we do not and cannot sin.
45:04
First John teaches that. And then when we let go and we go back into the flesh, we can disappoint everybody.
45:10
We can create havoc. Bad things can happen. But then if we're trying to walk on the water with Jesus, we begin to sink, right?
45:17
So then we grab his hand again, we can walk on water with him. We can accomplish great things in this world together with Christ.
45:24
We can accomplish nothing without him. So now we get into the much fruit stage by learning to abide in Christ.
45:31
That means we have to have a selfless walk, and it's about him and his will, not about us and our will and desires.
45:41
Didn't Jesus say that you cannot have life until you learn to die to the self -life?
45:47
You can't have life if you love self -life, the scripture says. So we've got to let our life be about our
45:55
Father's business, like Jesus did, as we studied last Sunday. Then we move into the much fruit stage, where we're abiding in Christ, he's abiding in me, and I'm walking where he walks, doing what he's doing in his business.
46:10
The question is, is this even talking about prayer, or is it just talking about good works?
46:15
Fruitfulness sounds like it's just good works. Well, look at the next verse. Got to go with context, right?
46:24
If you abide in me and my words abide in you, now you have the whole package. You're saved, you have the word of God causing you to bear more fruit, and now the abiding of being attached to Jesus and letting him work through us and us be with him.
46:40
Then you can ask what you will, and it will be done to you. That's called a yes on your prayer life.
46:48
That's answered yes. So, wow, this whole passage that we've always thought was about works, doing good things for the
46:59
Lord, is about prayer because no good work can be done without prayer.
47:05
I've heard preachers say, and I'm careful not to say what cool old preachers have said because often it's not biblical, but I'm going to throw this one out, let you think with me and see if you think it is, because I've heard them say that God, and I'm talking about great people like John Calvin, say things like,
47:21
God never does anything great on the earth that he doesn't have a saint somewhere praying for it to happen.
47:29
Well, I don't know about that, but it sounds good to me. It sounds likely, and I don't know if I'd say
47:36
God never does anything on his own. You say, well, he parted the
47:41
Red Sea, but I have to kind of think Moses was praying, Lord, the Egyptians are going to destroy all of us when the sun comes up.
47:47
Do something. So Moses was praying about that. So it very well could be a true statement, but I do know this.
47:54
It's true that God loves to work, and I could dare say the huge majority of things
48:00
God does in space and time, he loves to do it together with his children, not just on his own.
48:07
And so that brings us into a need to be in the word so we can bear more fruit and abiding by holding his hand and walking with him throughout the day, which is the hard part because that's relationship.
48:18
We have to give up self to do that. That's true of any human relationship too. When you're married, it's not just all about what you want to do anymore, right?
48:27
So when you're walking with the Lord, it's not about just what you want to go do. It's about what the Lord wants to do, and you do it together.
48:34
And this is where much fruit comes into play. And is this about prayer?
48:39
Verse 7 proves it. The whole thing ended up talking about being able to ask what you want.
48:45
Now, think about that. We started out today talking about praying in Jesus' name and praying
48:50
God's will, and it will be answered yes 100 % of the time. Now, this verse says, well, but if you get all this lined up, if you're saved, if the
48:59
Holy Spirit regenerates you so that you're bearing fruit, and then you understand that you need to get in the word, and that's a decision you make, how much you're in the word, you need to make a decision to be in the word more than you were last week and last year.
49:11
I promise you do. I don't know who you are, but I know you got to make that decision. So do I. And we get in the word and bear more fruit, and then because we're in the word, that sanctifies us and makes us different from the world unto
49:24
God, and that's the reaching up of the hand and taking his hand and walking with him. That's the abiding.
49:30
And when you get to that level, you begin to make a difference that the world even sees. You bear much fruit.
49:36
They can't miss it. They may hate you for it. Oh, they will if we get to that today. If we get to it, it's right here in this passage.
49:44
They'll hate you, but you know what? They'll see God's power doing things in the world. That's what they hate, but they'll see it's coming through you.
49:53
Much fruit. That's where we need to be. Jesus goes on and says this, because you had that answered prayer, and by the way, once you get those things lined up, you're saved.
50:06
You're in the word more than your neighbor. You're in the word more than the other people in church. You're in the word a lot, and you're now wanting to hold his hand and walk with him, because the word brought you to that, and the
50:18
Holy Spirit brought you to that, so now you're bearing much fruit, and you get to that step. Now you can ask what you want, and it'll be done.
50:25
You know why? Because you'll want what he wants. You're walking like Jesus walked at that point.
50:31
You're not doing anything or saying anything you hadn't seen the Father do, because the Holy Spirit brought the mind of God to you like Roman chapter 8 in the middle of the chapter says he will do.
50:40
Because we don't know what to pray for as we ought to, but the Holy Spirit goes to the mind of God and brings us what we ought to pray for, and it becomes what we want to pray for, and now we're asking what we want, and the answer is yes.
50:51
Wow. Then God is glorified when we bear much fruit, and also at that point,
50:58
Jesus considers us a disciple. Before that, we're not one. Isn't that something? So this kind of prayer life brings glory to God, and then it says, as the
51:08
Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now, I want you to stop and think about that a minute.
51:14
You can't read the Bible fast. How does the Father love the
51:19
Son? It's infinite. You can't measure it.
51:25
It's immeasurable. Jesus said that much is how much
51:31
I love you. Now, do you feel that loved? We don't because in the flesh, we feel guilty a lot of the times.
51:39
We don't imagine God could ever love us like that because we know us, and we've been taught so much that the whole system is about works and living a good life that God can't possibly love me that much, and yet the
51:52
Scripture says it's all grace, which means undeserved favor, and it's all because of what
51:58
Christ did when he finished his work on this earth. It is finished, paid in full, and our sins have been removed, and the
52:05
Father doesn't even see them. So, yes, he loves us like he loves his son, Jesus, because of what
52:11
Jesus has done for us and is doing in our lives right now. So, as the
52:16
Father loved Jesus, Jesus said, these are Jesus's words. I should have painted them all red, shouldn't I? Like that, that's what the word so means, like that have
52:25
I loved you. Continue in my love. That means walk knowing that I'm loving you that much.
52:32
Wow. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.
52:39
Now, you think about commandments, is that the Ten Commandments? Is that the law of Moses? No, this is the law of Christ.
52:45
It's a higher law. And basically, he said, love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.
52:52
That's the law of Christ. So, if you keep that commandment and love one another, that's how he said, the world knows that I'm real.
53:00
Jesus said, by your love for each other, the world knows I'm real. You will abide in my love even as I have kept my
53:06
Father's commandment and abide in his love. Now, think about this. This is not works, or I should say law.
53:13
This is not legalistic. And Jesus didn't say you're saved by keeping my commandments.
53:20
Keep it in context. What is he saying? He's saying, look, when my mother and father, my earthly mother and father, asked me, where have you been for three days?
53:31
We were horrified. We thought you were lost. He said, didn't you know I have to be about my father's business?
53:37
And where was he? He was 12 -something years old in the temple teaching the Bible scholars, right?
53:44
They were amazed at his words. He was teaching the Word of God, which by the age of 12, he knew.
53:51
And he was at the more fruit level before he was 12 because he'd been in the
53:57
Word so much. Now, he's teaching it to the elders by the age of 12. And he's walking with God, and he says,
54:04
I don't say anything or do anything I haven't seen the Father do. That's what he means here by commandment. This is not talking about keeping law.
54:10
This is looking at God, realizing it's all his business, realizing he's called upon his son,
54:17
Jesus, who called upon us, and we're adopted sons and daughters, and he wants all of us to work in his family business on this earth in space and time, and that's what it means by keeping the commandments in this context.
54:30
It means just listening to what God wants and then go do it, rather than doing what you want. And yes, he gives us time for ourselves.
54:37
I mean, Jesus took them up into the mountain to have time alone and rest. That's all part of it because he wants us to do that too.
54:46
So we don't get legalistic. We just want to abide in Christ. Like if he gets up and leaves, we won't get up and leave with him.
54:53
We don't want to just sit there on the couch, right? If he wants us to do something, then we go do it. And that is how we abide in his love, is by listening to his voice and watching his actions and getting in line with it and doing it.
55:08
You can't tell me that doesn't have to do with our prayer life as well as our works. And our works, our prayers are our highest good works.
55:16
And this is how we abide in his love. How do we live? Listen, he just got through telling us he loves us as much as the
55:22
Father loves him. Live in that love. That's what it is to do good works. That's what it is to keep his commandments, is we walk knowing how much he loves us.
55:32
I don't know how to say it anymore. I'm trying to... Maybe the Holy Spirit will magnify my words to you guys.
55:38
I hope he will. When we look here at verses 9 and 10, it shows the key to how to abide in Christ.
55:47
It's all about walking in that love. Verse 11, these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.
55:58
So the next thing, the result of this life, this abundant life of walking and abiding in Christ and him and us, not only gives us answered prayers, but it makes us happy.
56:09
It brings joy. I've heard preachers say joy and happiness aren't the same thing. To me, they're quite a bit connected.
56:15
God wants us to be happy. I know joy is a deeper thing than happiness, but happiness is kind of nice too.
56:23
There are plenty of scriptures where God says he wants us to be happy too. So that's nonsense to say that he doesn't teach that.
56:28
He does. He wants us to be happy, but he wants us to have this deep joy, and he wants it to remain in us.
56:36
And so he told us the things we just read this morning so that that would happen. So what has to happen?
56:43
We get regenerated, like when the Holy Spirit comes to us, taps on the shoulder and says, here's Jesus. He's the shepherd.
56:49
You're a sheep. He's got the food. What will you do with it? We say, I'm hungry. I want him. And we receive
56:55
Christ and we're saved. And we begin to bear a little bit of fruit. Then we get into the word of God, like just this one little passage.
57:02
Imagine studying the whole Bible like we've studied this passage today. We've got to spend a lot of time in it to do that.
57:07
It's not that big of a book, but you'd be surprised how huge the book is when it comes down to how the
57:14
Holy Spirit can enlarge it in our hearts. And by getting in the word, we bear more fruit.
57:20
And then the word itself and the Holy Spirit draw us to hold Jesus' hand more often and abide in him.
57:26
And now, all of a sudden, we bear much fruit and we find that we're happy. You know what causes depression, even suicide, more than anything else, in my opinion, is thinking of self.
57:36
Thinking of all my problems, all my pressures, everything that's going wrong in my life and in my country and all around me.
57:44
And if we just get in the word and hold Jesus' hand and walk with him as he goes out to help somebody and you help him with him, all of a sudden, your focus is not on self and you're joyful.
57:56
And I'm joyful. And our joy becomes full. That is the Christian walk.
58:01
It's all about people. So, love is the great commandment.
58:07
And verses 12 and 13 show us this. This is my commandment, that you love one another. See up here,
58:12
I told you verse 10 was not legalism. It's not talking about the laws of Moses. It's talking about just take his hand and walk with him.
58:21
Find out what he says and say it. Find out what he does and do it together with him. It'll bring great joy and great glory to the
58:29
Father and to the Son, and your joy will remain in you and be full.
58:35
And this is the commandment, in case we had any doubt, that you love one another as I have loved you.
58:41
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Now, there is the greatest demonstration of love in all of the creative universes when
58:49
Jesus stretched his hands out on that cross and died in our place. He gave his life so that we might live for all eternity together with him.
59:01
There's an example for us, isn't it? You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.
59:07
What does he say in the commandment is? To love each other and to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. You do that, you become friends with Jesus.
59:13
Now, that takes you to another level. You're bearing a lot of fruit, but now, you're a friend of Christ.
59:21
So now, look at what this brings. Henceforth, I call you not servants.
59:27
You see, the Old Testament saint, all he could understand was he was a servant of God. God was like the
59:33
Lord, the wealthy man, and I'm a slave, a bond slave that just works for him and he provides a home for me and shelter and food and clothing.
59:42
And I may not get paid anything, but I'm a bond servant and God is the landowner, the wealthy landowner, and I serve him.
59:51
And that was the relationship that man thought was all there was to it. And Jesus taught something differently.
59:57
He said, look, if you take everything we just discussed this morning and you live that way, he says, then, henceforth,
01:00:04
I don't call you a servant anymore and here's why. Now, think how this relates to prayer and what we've been talking about, how the
01:00:09
Holy Spirit brings the mind of God to us, puts it in our heart so we can pray for it before it happens, so the answer to prayer is yes, and we're working together with God in that thing happening.
01:00:22
Look how this relates. Henceforth, I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord's doing, but I have called you friends.
01:00:30
For all things that I have heard of my Father, I will make known to you. You see the difference between a friend and a servant?
01:00:38
The friend shares what's going on with his friend so that the friend knows what's going on and can be part of it.
01:00:46
He doesn't just say, hey, go do that because I told you to. Go do that now and tomorrow I'll tell you what to do next. It's a whole deep level of relationship with God where now we're friends with Christ, therefore
01:00:56
Christ brings us right before the throne of God the Father, and we're welcome there because we're with His Son, and now we're adopted, which takes, now we're
01:01:05
His children too, and we go boldly before the throne of grace, and the Father says, here's what
01:01:10
I want you kids to do today. I mean, this is what I'm going to do. Now, my servants out there, they don't know why
01:01:17
I'm doing it or what I'm doing. They just know they got to do their little task, and that's great, but you, here's why I'm doing, here's what
01:01:23
I'm doing, here's why I'm doing it, here's your part in it. I want you to understand the whole thing here so that you can pray for it, you can ask me to do it, and then when
01:01:31
I do it, I'll do it with you, and we'll all work together. Wow. But this comes after all these other steps we've looked at today.
01:01:39
Comes after being born again, regenerated, comes after starting to spend a large amount of time in the
01:01:46
Word of God so that we can bear more fruit, and then by the Word of God and the
01:01:52
Holy Spirit, the water and the Word, I'm sorry, the water and the Spirit. Everything happens by the water, that's the
01:01:57
Word of God, and the Spirit, even salvation, even your good works. So by the water, the Bible, and the
01:02:02
Spirit of God, we want to hold Jesus' hand and walk with Him, and then much fruit comes about, then we're happy, then we have power on the world, on the earth.
01:02:13
People see a difference. People come to us for help because we're not living just like everybody else, and they see it, so they come to us when they need help.
01:02:20
God uses all of that, brings Him great glory, brings us joy that remains, and then because we love
01:02:29
Jesus, and Jesus loves us, and we're abiding in Him, we have that love for other human beings.
01:02:35
These racial problems that are happening today, they don't happen between me and Myron Golden. We're not the same color, all right?
01:02:46
You know, I read an article, just a pathetic article yesterday, where they said things white people shouldn't say, like one of them said, don't say you're colorblind because you're not, you know, don't say
01:02:57
I have a friend who's black, that's a token. You know, it was the most hateful thing I've ever seen in my life, and I wrote, you know how, y 'all can write a little response,
01:03:05
I blistered them, I sent my response. You know, I said, you don't know me, you don't know my heart, you're not
01:03:12
God, you can't judge me and you can't tell me what I can and can't say, or what I mean by it when I say it. But even their division is happening, you see?
01:03:20
So now there's certain things, if you're white, you can't say. Well, I went and looked at all the other responses,
01:03:28
I mean, there were dozens of people who didn't like that article, and blacks and whites that didn't like the article.
01:03:34
So this is, listen, this is not flesh and blood we're battling against, this is principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, and that can be humans or demons, it's both, that are causing this division in our country.
01:03:48
And we're going to be the answer to it by learning to pray like this right here and praying it away, all right?
01:03:55
Do you think it's the Holy Spirit's will? Let me just ask you this. You may not know God's secret will, but let me ask you what His revealed will is.
01:04:02
Does the Spirit of God like disunity or unity? What does the
01:04:07
Word say? Does it grieve the Holy Spirit when we cause division? Yes, it does.
01:04:13
So what makes Him happy is when we reunite people. So we're going to pray in God's will coming up this
01:04:19
Thursday night, I hope you'll be there to pray with us, and you're going to watch God give an answer to that.
01:04:24
It's going to be yes, okay? So, henceforth, I call you not servants, for the servant knows not what his
01:04:32
Lord does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I am revealing it to you.
01:04:39
How? Through His Spirit, so that we might know how to pray, so that then we know how to do our works and we get in line with what the
01:04:46
Lord is doing. So the great key, knowing what the Lord is doing, is found in verse 15.
01:04:52
Knowing the mind of God is the great key to getting yes as an answer to our prayers. You have not chosen me,
01:05:00
Jesus says, but I chose you. See, I've taught that all over the country. People come up, you believe in predestination?
01:05:05
I said, no, you know, and I don't believe John 3, 16 either. To me, it's a ridiculous verse. And they look at me like, huh?
01:05:12
What did you just say? And I'm making a point, obviously. I said, of course, I believe anything that's in the
01:05:17
Word, I believe it. If it's properly interpreted in context, I believe it. In predestination fact, guess what we're about to get to in Romans chapter 8?
01:05:25
Okay? And when we get to Romans chapter 9, you know, we might lose some of you guys. I hope not, but it's still
01:05:31
God's Word, and we're not going to skip it like the Sunday school quarterlies do. We're going to go right into chapter 9 of Romans next, if I ever get done with chapter 8, right?
01:05:42
Okay, so you have not chosen me, but I chose you. That's predestination.
01:05:47
That is election. And I ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit will remain.
01:05:58
It won't just be burned up. It's real. It's real fruit from God, and that can only be accomplished by doing works together with God, which is never accomplished without being instructed on how to pray before it happens.
01:06:10
That whatsoever you will ask of my Father in my name, He will give it to you. And that word may doesn't mean may.
01:06:17
It means will. Check it out in the Greek. So there we have it.
01:06:23
This is what it means to pray in Jesus' name. It means you're abiding in Him, and He in you, and He loves you like the
01:06:30
Father loves Him, and we love each other. And because of that love, it causes us to abide and hold
01:06:38
His hand more because we love Him more, we want to be with Him more. And as we abide in Him, and He in us, we pray, and everything we pray is in His name because it's what
01:06:46
He would pray because we're hearing Him say it first. He heard the Father say it, so now we say it. That's how it works.
01:06:53
It's amazing. He chose us. He ordained us so that we would bring forth fruit that remains and have answered prayers.
01:07:06
Isn't that good stuff? The whole thing is about answered prayer when you look at it.
01:07:13
All right? John 15, 17 says these things that I command you, that you love one another. The world will hate you, but you know that it hated me before it hated you.
01:07:23
Now let me tell you something. When you get to have a powerful life like this, the world's not going to like that.
01:07:29
Satan's going to hate it. But He that's in us is greater than He that's in the world. So we can understand that the world will hate us because it hated
01:07:36
Christ, it crucified Christ. And if you were of the world, you see, that's how we are before we're separated, before we're made holy by the
01:07:45
Word of God. It's the Word of God that sanctifies us. Being in the word more causes us to be more separate from the world unto
01:07:51
God, and that's what the world hates. The world loves the modern church because it looks a lot like the world.
01:07:57
It doesn't so much like a church that just prays together, studies the word together in context, and fellowships together, and breaks bread together.
01:08:08
The modern world doesn't like a boring church like that that much. So you got to have programs, modern programs, and all this.
01:08:15
The world loves that, but the world hates people that are powerful and do this lifestyle. If you were of the world, the world would love you.
01:08:24
But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you,
01:08:29
Jesus said. So the importance of loving the brethren in time when the world will persecute all believers.
01:08:36
Now you think about that. We're moving more towards the end times. There's going to be huge persecution. Us loving each other is even more important than it's ever been.
01:08:44
In fact, the Bible says, forsake not the assembly of ourselves together, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
01:08:50
We sure don't need to be skipping church now. The knowledge that we are chosen encourages us in times of tribulation.
01:08:57
We're chosen by him to do his work. And then he goes on and says, remember the word that I said unto you.
01:09:05
The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
01:09:14
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
01:09:20
Look at the information we get there. The knowledge that some people will respond to the gospel as we tell it to them encourages us, especially in times of persecution.
01:09:31
See where he said, some will persecute you, but he said, if they would have kept my saying, then they'll keep what you tell them to do.
01:09:39
This ain't right, because they're called by the Holy Spirit. So some will respond. That's encouraging.
01:09:45
And those who persecute us don't know God. Jesus just told us that. Now, there we have it.
01:09:52
So all these things will they do to you. Now, don't you think it's interesting that as we go back to this passage we're studying, which is really found in the middle of Romans chapter 8 on prayer, that the verses right previous to it were about the end times and the second coming and the rapture of the church.
01:10:13
And we know that tribulation surrounds that. The tribulation, Jesus said, will happen first. And he said, and after the tribulation, then
01:10:19
I will send my angels to gather my elect. So the rapture happens after the tribulation, according to Jesus, according to Daniel, according to Paul.
01:10:28
I know there's a modern theory that I believed all my life, but when I started studying on my own, I noticed that's not in the
01:10:33
Bible. It's in books you read. Anyway, all that was, we studied that before we got to prayer.
01:10:40
So prayer here, Jesus puts it in the context of persecution as well, does he not? So as we move toward the end times, a powerful prayer life is something we can't live without.
01:10:49
We've got to learn this process, this procedure, this practical understanding of how to pray correctly and in God's will.
01:10:58
And it has to do with, number one, being saved, number two, being in the Word of God, and number three, abiding by holding his hand.
01:11:07
And we see all of this is just so amazing. Verse 26 says, but when the Comforter is come, that's the
01:11:13
Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded from the
01:11:19
Father, he will testify of me. Look, he will bring my mind, Jesus' mind, to the mind and heart of the believer, so that the believer knows how to pray and how to do his works.
01:11:30
And you shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
01:11:36
Now, he's talking specifically to the apostles there, but the principle is there, is true, is that as we abide in Christ, we will bear witness because we're with him.
01:11:47
So here we see the ministry of the Holy Spirit in bringing truth from the Father concerning the Son to the believer.
01:11:55
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, Jesus said, because if I don't go away, the
01:12:00
Holy Spirit won't come, but if I depart, I will send him to you, and when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they don't believe in me, that's the great sin, the unpardonable sin of living a whole life of not believing in Christ, of righteousness because I go to the
01:12:20
Father and they don't see me anymore, so now since Jesus isn't walking on the earth to show us righteousness, the
01:12:25
Holy Spirit does that, and of judgment because Satan has already been defeated.
01:12:31
You want to hear that again? Satan has already been defeated. He is usurping authority that's not his right now just like King Saul did after David was anointed.
01:12:41
He chased David around for a long time trying to kill him, and finally God took care of him, didn't he? And David sat on the throne.
01:12:47
That same thing's going to happen when Jesus comes back. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you can't bear them,
01:12:54
Jesus said. Howbeit when he, the Holy Spirit, comes, he will guide you into all truth, and that's where we got the canon, that's where we got the whole
01:13:04
Bible, the Old and the New Testament completed. The perfect has come, that which is perfect has come, that's the
01:13:10
Word of God. For he shall not speak of himself, the Spirit won't. He always speaks in the things that he hears from the
01:13:17
Father and from the Son, and he speaks that, and he will show those things to you guys and to me, and that's how we know what to pray for.
01:13:25
He will glorify Jesus. He will receive of Christ and show it to you and me.
01:13:33
All things that the Father has are mine, therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and will show it unto you.
01:13:42
Wow. So now we have been shown the secret will of God. All we have to do is pray in line with it.
01:13:49
So the power of prayer while in the presence of God is about this, when we pray in God's will by the power and instruction of the
01:13:56
Holy Spirit, we change things in this physical world together with God.
01:14:01
We have power, not fear. We expect victory, not defeat.
01:14:08
That's big today. We need to focus on that right now. We inspire the direction of history because it's
01:14:14
God's story is what history is, and we are the salt and the light of the world as we abide in Christ and pray his prayers and say his words and do his works.
01:14:26
So let's remember he's returning soon. Jesus said this, and when these things begin to come to pass, and he was referring to wars and rumors of wars, he was referring to pestilences that we've never seen before, he was referring to ethnos rising against ethnos, race problems, when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh.
01:14:56
That's a reference to the rapture, the redemption of the body. It draws nigh. Ladies and gentlemen, it's closer than it was last year.
01:15:05
It's much closer. It's exponentially closer, it seems like. We're getting so close to being in those end times, and we need to be so prepared.
01:15:15
There's no better way to do it than spend time in the Word, spend time holding God's hand, Jesus's hand, walking and abiding in him and he and me, learning what to pray by wanting to pray in God's will and asking him to show us what to pray and to adjust our prayers accordingly to his will and getting some yes answers so that we have some power on this earth because Satan looks like he's got all the power.
01:15:38
That's not true. The Lord's church can be powerful. That's us, and we need to do it.
01:15:44
All right, I've enjoyed spending this time with you today. I'm going to turn it back over to Dave Huber. Thank you so much for being with us.