The ONLY Way to Bear Fruit in Christ

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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John chapter 15 verses 9 through 17. Jesus said, as the

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Father loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I have kept my

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Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

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This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.

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You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing.

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But I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you.

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You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the

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Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another.

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This is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus.

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Have you ever embarked on a project or maybe a personal improvement goal only that to realize in order to complete the project or the goal you're gonna need to focus hard,

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I mean really hard on learning and applying yourself to attaining knowledge that you currently do not possess and then spend lots of hours perfecting your

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Technique this is what YouTube is for at least that's what I think in part It's for maybe you've decided to improve your garden and landscaping at your home

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Or maybe you've decided that it's finally time to improve your short game in golf Short games in golf are very important if you want to lower your score

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Just if you don't know that either way we all intuitively know that when it comes to getting results in this life

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That means we have to apply ourselves and focus our attention on achieving those desired results

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Now all of that being said Would you believe me if I told you that when it comes to producing the good works that Christ is discussing?

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Not only in this week's but also last week's gospel texts that focusing on Producing good works will not actually result in you bearing more fruit.

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I know that sounds counterintuitive It may be even crazy, but that's exactly what

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Jesus is saying And we'll kind of flesh that out now by roommate by way of reminder last week

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You'll remember our text focuses on the fact that both doctrine and life are important You can't pit one against the other and what

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I find fascinating is that a very famous Seeker driven pastor by the name of Andy Stanley who's the son of Charles Stanley this week?

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Literally made the point of saying that that we need to have unity and just kind of Chuck the idea of being theologically correct

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So I would say no He's run afoul of what scripture says two verses from last week's epistle will help us here

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Beloved do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God For many false prophets have gone out into the world and you'll remember the do not be believing every spirit

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That's an imperative and the testing is a vital part of what we do which is why we listen to the confession of a pastor or a teacher to see if it squares with what

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God's Word says and Then at the same time beloved, let us love one another We sang this last week as well for love is of from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows

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God and Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love so doctrine in life

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They work together But it's important to note this that knowing that doctrine in life are vital doesn't actually tell you how

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As a Christian we succeed in loving our neighbors. I don't know if you've noticed maybe it's just me but loving our neighbors as ourselves is difficult

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It's really hard and to be honest with you. I'm not really good at it

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And if you're like me, you might be awful at it as well so my prayer is that this sermon will help us because What it is that God has given us to help produce the works that he is his word

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Literally demands of us is not what you think if you think that by focusing

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Harder on the law will produce that those works in you You're not properly understanding what

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Jesus is saying. So remember last week in our gospel We heard these words from Jesus. Jesus said

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I am the vine You are the branches Whoever abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit hmm for apart from me you can do

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Nothing absolutely nothing so if anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away like a branch and Withers and the branches are gathered thrown into the fire and burned so you'll note then

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Using the analogy that Jesus gave he's the vine where the branches branches get grafted into the vine

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And what does the vine provide the branches with? sap That stuff that makes it so that branches are alive and produce

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Fruit and so when a branch doesn't produce fruit there's a problem and that problem is is the sap isn't getting into the branch and So in this case the fault's gonna lie with us now the first verse of our gospel text today

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John 15 verse 9 says this as the father has loved me So have

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I loved you and listen to these words then whole sentence abide in my love

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Abide in my love Think of it this way Jesus is the vine you're the branches abiding in his love

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Tells us that the love of Christ is the sap that flows from him to us

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Now so that we don't put this into the abstract. It's important for us to recognize that God has given us

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Clear definitions from Scripture what that sap is that comes to us from Christ in fact

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Scripture reveals for tangible things that comprise the sap of the love of Christ and many people despise them and Misunderstand them and do not recognize them for what they are in our theology

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We refer to them as the means of grace, but let me walk through this so that you can see what this means sap

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Portion number one. I don't think anyone would argue with me on this Scripture says in Deuteronomy 8 3 man does not live by bread alone

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But by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord You cannot thrive.

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You cannot survive. You cannot exist as a Christian without the Word of God and it's important to note here

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I love how scripture teaches us that Jesus himself is the word He is the

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Word made flesh and he's also the bread of life And so the idea then is is that God's Word comes to us in both law and gospel the law condemning us of our sins the gospel comforting us of the love and forgiveness of Christ and then the law also

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Showing us what a good work is so you cannot survive as a Christian without The Word of God to despise his word is a serious error to be inattentive to it

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Is to literally risk shipwrecking your faith. I Would like you though to turn with me to the gospel of John chapter 6 verses 47 through 57

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Because I want you to see that in this exact same gospel that Jesus explicitly says what the next way in which his love comes to us in and he

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Explicitly says that this is how one abides We will be talking about the

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Lord's Supper and so we will begin at the gospel of John chapter 6 verse 47 And here's what

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Jesus says Amen. Amen. Truly truly I say to you whoever believes has eternal life

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Now you're gonna know this is his thesis sentence at this point. Does anyone doubt that believing in Jesus is

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What is Necessary for eternal life and the great news is that Ephesians chapter 2 makes it clear

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Even that faith is given to us as a gift the one who believes has eternal life now later in the same section

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Jesus is going to use a phrase that is slightly different but synonymous with what he just said

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So you got to understand it this way. We are saved by grace through faith alone not by works period

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This is all a gift from God, so Jesus says I am the bread of life Your father's ate the manna in the wilderness and they died

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This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die I am the living bread that came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread

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He will live forever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh

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So now watch how unbelief responds to what Jesus just said because it's very clear what he's saying

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The Jews then disputed among themselves Saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

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Now on one on the one hand, it sounds like a reasonable question, but this is exactly how unbelief operates

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Jesus says eat my flesh drink my blood and you don't sit there and go.

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Oh, that's gross. That's disgusting I'll never do that No belief says yes Unbelief says how can this be?

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You see the difference we are saved by grace through faith by believing and that means we believe every word that proceeds from the mouth of Christ and Jesus goes on to kind of dig harder into this idea then

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So, how can this man give us his flesh to eat the unbelief says so Jesus said to them

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Amen. Amen. Truly I say to you Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you

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Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life

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You know, you're gonna know that what he just said there doesn't overturn what he said earlier

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The one who believes has eternal life Believes in him trust in him the one who eats my flesh and drinks.

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My blood has eternal life How can that be? well eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ is not a work that merits salvation and The only way to do that is to believe what he has said it takes faith

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So the one who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is true food

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My blood is true drink whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood

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What's the verb there? Abides and you can see it

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Whoever eat feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me in other words the

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Lord's Supper is Part of the sap that flows from the vine to us

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So that we bear fruit Jesus says abide in my love and I would argue you have no greater love than Jesus saying take and eat.

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This is my body given for you take and drink This is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins

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So abiding in the love of Christ looks like reading marking inwardly digesting studying and being attentive to his word in your devotional life as well as coming and hearing the preaching of the word it means coming to the

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Lord's table and Receiving his flesh and his blood broken and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins and Jesus Explicitly states that this is the way in which you abide in him

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So as the Living Father sent me and I live because of the Father whoever feeds on me He will also live because of me

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Another means by which the love of Christ comes to us in the SAP form

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We already did this morning when you confessed your sins and you heard the words of the absolution

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Remember Jesus himself is the one who instituted the absolution He said if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven if you withhold forgiveness for many it is withheld

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And we're going to talk about how this is so important in producing good works But the fourth then means of grace would be your baptism and as Lutherans we in our catechism note that it's a daily returning to our baptism that is

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Necessary for us to mortify our sinful flesh and to bear fruit and our baptism itself was also a gift from God Where we were united with Christ in his death and his resurrection

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His sins were what our sins were washed away and our hearts were circumcised by Christ all of that is a gift and Paul himself uses baptism

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Against the desires of his sinful flesh and against the temptations of the devil in Romans chapter 6 starting at verse 1

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Paul writes what shall we say then are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound and believe me sin is

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Selfishness at its core. It is the opposite of love And so should we continue in sin so the grace may abound may it never be

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How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

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We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death And so you're gonna note that the Apostle Paul here is reminding each and every one of us.

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We are Baptized and that baptism and considering the implications of it are

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Necessary and vital because that is another way in which the sap of the love of Christ flows from the vine

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Into us who are the branches and that then gives us the strength

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To not give in to the temptations of the devil in our sinful flesh But to walk in newness of life and walk as Jesus has

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I find it fascinating that in the Lutheran service book they have a right for individual confession and absolution and It actually there's something in the confession that somebody states in that right that actually helps us get what's going on Here and where the blockage is you see we?

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resist we fight against we deny and Well work against that sap flowing to us to our own detriment and it leads us to all

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Kinds of sin and error, but here's the confession that is stated in that right? I a poor miserable sinner plead guilty before God of all sins.

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I Have lived as if God did not matter and as if I mattered the most my Lord's name I have not honored as I should and my worship and my prayers have faltered and then listen to these words

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I have not let God's love have its way with me and So because of this my love for others has failed

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No truer Sentence has ever been written and see that's really the problem

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The problem the fault doesn't lie with God his love or his law the fault lies with us and not letting

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God's love have its way with us and resisting the work of the Holy Spirit and Stubbornly and obstinately digging in our heels and rather than letting the love of God have its way with us

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We don't want that we want our own way And so as a result of that our love for others fails

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In other words the thing that blocks the sap of the love of Christ is a stubborn refusal to receive these precious gifts because you refuse to believe that you are really that evil or that you're that Sinful and in need of them or worse

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You don't actually believe that Jesus's words that the love of Christ is delivered through these means

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That's unbelief now to help us kind of see how this then plays out turn with me to the gospel of Luke chapter 7 verse 36

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We're gonna consider a very interesting story and one that will really kind of drive this point home that our gospel text is making

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Jesus is having dinner with a Pharisee by the name of Simon and we learn from other gospel writers that Simon was a leper

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Probably a leper before he met Jesus a leper no longer But interesting the

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Pharisees have a self -righteous religion and there's something in this story. That's quite fascinating So Luke chapter 7 verse 36 states this one of the

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Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him And he went to the Pharisees house and he reclined at the table and behold a woman of the city who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at the table with the at the

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Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster flask of ointment and standing behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and Wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment

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Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet

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He would have known who and what sort of woman this is who's touching him for she is a sinner

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Wow, what a completely ignorant and blind thing to say because this

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Pharisee does not recognize that he is just as sinful as she is and He is just as much in need of Christ as she is and see that's what self -righteousness and unbelief does

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It causes you to look down at others and think that somehow you're the bee's knees and they're not But when you understand what

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God's Word says That we all fall short terribly. We would never say that person's a sinner as if I'm not

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Because we all are now Jesus Lovingly at this point corrects

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Simon and This next part of it is so vital for us to get and I think you'll see why in light of what we've been saying

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So Jesus answered him and said Simon. I have something to say to you. So he answered will say it teacher

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Said alright, so Jesus then tells us a little parable a certain money money lender had two debtors one owed 500 denarii the other 50 when neither of them could pay he canceled the debt of both consider what

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Jesus just said neither of them could pay and So in his mercy this money lender cancels the debt of both now, which of them will love him more

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Simon answered the one I suppose for whom he canceled the larger debt and Jesus said to him you have judged rightly

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So then turning toward the woman he said to Simon. Do you see this woman? I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet

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Which is what a good host should have done by the way You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair

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You gave me no kiss But from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet

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You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment

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Therefore I tell you and listen to what Jesus says her sins Which are many are forgiven and the reason you know, this is because she loved much but he who is forgiven little loves little and He said to her your sins are forgiven and now listen to unbelief.

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Remember when the when Jesus says My flesh is true flesh My blood is true drink whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and the

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Jews sit there and go How can this man give us his body and flesh and blood to drink and eat right now?

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Listen, watch what unbelief says Jesus just pronounced an absolution for this woman Your sins are forgiven those who are at the table with him began to say among themselves.

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Who is this that even forgives sins? There's that unbelief again stopping the

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SAP Keeping the love of Christ from flowing. He said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace hmm

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The one who is forgiven little loves little the one who is forgiven much loves much

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And see this is what our epistle text then says 1st John chapter 5 verse 1 everyone who believes that Jesus is the

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Christ has been born of God We're called believers for a reason Because we believe the promises of God for the forgiveness of our sins in all of the ways in which they are delivered to us

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Delivered to us in our baptism delivered to us in the Lord's Supper delivered to us in the absolution delivered to us in the

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Word of God Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God everyone who loves the father loves whoever has been born of him

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There's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't love that doesn't make any sense So by this we know that we love the children of God when we love

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God and obey or keep his commandments For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome

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Of course that wouldn't be for everyone who has been born of God Overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world.

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Are you ready? What is the victory that overcomes the world? our faith it's our faith

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Because good works flow from faith if you have good works, but have not faith you don't have

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Christ You're not saved if you have faith, but don't have good works

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That doesn't that critter doesn't exist You see it is our faith

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Because of that precious gift given to us that then produces these good works So who is it that overcomes the world except for the one who believes believes that Jesus is the

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Son of God? Believes that we are united with him in his death and his resurrection in our baptism

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Believe that we receive his body and blood broken and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins Believe that the words of the absolution come from Christ that our sins are forgiven

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The one who denies like the Pharisee that they are ungodly and sinful which is silly

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That one loves little You may as well say they don't even love at all So believe

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God's law written in his word and it's condemnation of you Believe God's law and its condemnation of your self -righteousness and your unbelief and instead say the same thing

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About yourself that God's law says about you that you are ungodly

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That you are a wretch of a sinner That daily you do not measure up and fall way short of the glory of God And when you truly see your many not few but many sins

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Then you are ready to be forgiven much And this then will begin to produce much love in you

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So truly seeing yourself as a sinner as the sinner that you are Causes you then to cling in faith to the love of Christ, which is given to you in the words of the absolution

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I forgive you all of your sins You see the one who is forgiven much

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Loves much think of it this way sunday after sunday I witness you bringing in your sins by the wheelbarrow full

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And they are absolved and you can kind of think of it somewhere behind the altar There's a big pile of them and as your pile of sins increase

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Your forgiven sins increase your love for God and your love for others will increase

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Truly you're seeing yourself as the sinner that you are Causes you to daily take up the precious gift of your baptism

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And listen to how beautiful the love of Christ is towards you in your baptism. Listen to these words

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From ephesians chapter 5 verses 25 through 27. I mean this is just rich love

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In the exhortation for husbands to love their wives that love is anchored in the love of Christ.

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And here's what it says Husbands love your wives as christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

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What a beautiful love that must be That he might sanctify her and here's the baptismal part having cleansed her by the washing of water

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With the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing

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That she might be holy and without blemish You see each of us before we came to christ were dead in trespasses and sin and our garments were soiled to the max absolutely filthy dirty

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Beyond recognition because of our sin, but jesus in his great love takes his bride and he washes her

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Cleanses her from all of her sins so that he could present her in splendor and his glory

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So returning to our baptism Daily is a way in which we abide in the love of christ that precious sap truly seeing yourself as the sinner that you are

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Causes you then to hunger and thirst for the lord's supper and makes you realize this important thing

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That the thing that makes the lord's supper special Is not that you only have it once a month

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But what makes it special are the promises in the lord's supper given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins

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This is what makes the lord's supper special and the one who is forgiven much loves much in other words bearing fruit and good works for your neighbor

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Only happens When you focus on the love of christ for you and you tenaciously

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And thankfully continue to receive and believe and abide in his tangible love given to you

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Through these humble means and his love for you is delivered through these means that he has instituted and in no other way

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And you despise them and reject them to the detriment of your own soul

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Because you are blocking the very sap that is necessary for that branch that you are to stay alive and to bear fruit

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It is the sap that flows from the vine into the branches and through that sap that produces the fruit of the spirit in your life now to help illustrate this

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I would like us to kind of close and wrap up by looking at first corinthians chapter 13

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This is a text that we're all familiar with because it's probably one of the best quoted passages of scripture at weddings love is patient and love is kind But i'm going to take a little bit of liberty with the text and i'm going to change one word

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And when you when I do this, I think it'll help Solidify what we've been saying

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So here's first corinthians chapter 13 starting at verse 3 with one word changed

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Jesus is patient And jesus is kind Jesus does not envy or boast and jesus is not arrogant or rude

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Jesus does not insist on his own way Jesus is not irritable or resentful

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And jesus does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth Jesus bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things

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Jesus never ends Isn't it interesting and changing that one word?

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You haven't changed the meaning of that text at all if anything Changing that one word brings the meaning of this text to life and now you get it

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This passage was always a reflection of the love of christ That we then are to bring to others because his love is flowing from him

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Into us and now from us to others, which is why love is patient and kind it doesn't envy or boast

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It's not arrogant or rude and it doesn't insist on its own way It's not irritable or resentful and it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth

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Love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things love never ends

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And the reason for this is simple Because greater love has no one than this that someone laid down his life for his friends and brothers and sisters we have failed in loving others

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Because we have not let the love of god have its way in our life Let us repent of not believing jesus

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That his love is delivered to us in these humble means and let us again Trust in these good words that jesus has laid down his life for us whom he calls friends because of his great love for us

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Jesus is the vine You are the branches whoever abides in jesus

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Jesus abides in him and it is he or she that bears much fruit for apart from jesus

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You can do nothing Abide in his love And he can do anything through you in the name of jesus.

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Amen If you would like to support the teaching ministry of kungsvinger lutheran church you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to kungsvinger lutheran church 15950 470th avenue northwest oslo minnesota 567 -44

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And again that address is kungsvinger lutheran church 15950 470th avenue northwest oslo minnesota 567 -44

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We thank you for your support All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message