23 July 2006: REAL SOVEREIGNTY - What Jesus means when He says "apart form Me"!

TOPIC: Sovereignty; circumspection, discipleship, fruit, humility, life in Christ, sanctification, surrender

TITLE: REAL SOVEREIGNTY – What Jesus Meant by “Apart from Me”!

TEXT: John 15:4-5

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does this passage apply to mankind? CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. APART FROM HIM WE ARE CUT OFF FROM OUR LIFE SOURCE!
II. APART FROM HIM WE WILL CONSUME OURSELVES!
III. APART FROM HIM WE WILL SURELY DIE!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: A branch pruned from its host will die; it will imitate life for a period but, slowly, very slowly it will consume itself, dry out, turn brown, and die. Even while it remains green it is dead.

It is also botanically possible for a branch to remain attached to the trunk and yet wither and die; this is a branch that is virtually “apart from” though not really apart from the host. There are a variety of reasons for this; two are germane, the branch becomes poisoned or the branch becomes diseased.

“Apart from” its host, it “can do nothing.” Now what do you suppose Jesus meant by “nothing”?

A branch which remains is not cut off, will not die, will be full of life, rich with sap, green, and “bear much fruit.”

[GRACE] An example of God’s grace from sister Mary Loretta via Dawn Patrol … she went to find a St. Joseph and found one; just yesterday. God sent him to do what they could not.

Several items in our church news make this an important message: the Israeli war against Hezbollah, the recent deaths on Hwy 15 here in Mexico, the tragic deaths of Paige Greer’s daughter-in-law, the Baker’s granddaughter’s death, and Joe Abernoth’s being rushed to the hospital in Tucson. Apart from God these people are helpless, and at the mercy of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

I’m sure many of you have stories you could tell … Lynn’s trip to get her furniture … Diane’s horse ranch … King’s Kids Orphanage … Rob’s daughter … on and on it goes.

Just as likely is the case of the seniors whose faith is strong but see themselves beyond the age where God would take time to bless! They want to sustained but not spiritually.

And you young people; your brains aren’t done cooking yet so you really don’t have enough experience with life to understand what’s going on … but know this – you have been warned, apart from Him you can do nothing.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does this passage apply to mankind?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. APART FROM HIM WE ARE CUT OFF FROM OUR LIFE SOURCE!

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”

John 6:53

A. The life we seek, the life we know of instinctively, the life we hope for … for that life, we are dependent upon the Host’s life to own it and sustain it.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life ….”

John 14:6

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

1 John 5:11-12

B. Because of this dependence we must acknowledge that to Him belongs all the glory! He alone is worthy.

C. We will only bear fruit to the extent we comprehend our dependence

II. APART FROM HIM WE WILL CONSUME OURSELVES

A. The reason so many fail in fruit bearing is not because there’s something wrong with their Host; it is because they’re unwilling to see the Host as their Sovereign King … why do you think the Navarros call the orphanage “The King’s Kids”?

B. Many seniors in the church today have this problem; they are self-made people and it’s hard to surrender their self esteem and pride and admit their total and absolute dependence upon someone else … even God … it’s unnatural
C. to seek his sustenance (grace)

1. Paul three times prayed to have the thorn removed from his side
2. Three times God said, “My grace is sufficient for you! Keep moving!”

D. and to submit to his strength (power) as their strength (power)

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

III. APART FROM HIM WE WILL SURELY DIE

“from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:17

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

John 1:4

A. People are empty today – blaming their churches and their pastors –

1. yet they insist on a substitute gospel (Carlton Pearson’s Inclusive Gospel; The Purpose Driven Gospel; the Experiencing God Gospel) –
2. they’ll read Christian and non-Christian books for hours but can’t spend 15 minutes in God’s word
3. and they have a hamartiology (doctrine of sin) called Sin-lite (Sinfulness is low self-esteem, chocolate dessert, or missing Jazzercise).

B. People say one moment they’re hungry for the truth,

1. but when they hear it, they leave and don’t return (my message on Hell)
2. Like Jack Nicholson said to Tom Crude, “You can’t take the truth.”
3. They want a feel good Christianity
4. their mantra is “why can’t we just get along?”
5. their theology is a Christian form of political correctness.

C. they want the Ten Commandments made public, but can’t tell you what the first five are

D. they want prayer back in the schools but fail to pray for their own kids and grandkids daily

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: Paul writes …

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans 8:1-2

And Jesus says in …

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:36

But we are called to do something, not everything, just something … so remember what John Gill said …

[You can] nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. Nothing is to be done "without Christ"; without his Spirit, grace, strength, and presence; or as "separate from" him.

Were it possible for the branches that are truly in him, to be removed from him, they could bring forth no fruits of good works, any more than a branch separated from the vine can bring forth grapes; so that all the fruitfulness of a believer is to be ascribed to Christ, and his grace, and not to the free will and power of man.

I believe with all my heart that we must follow Scripture’s admonition to ...

1. Love the Lord with all our being (vertical relationship/spiritual)
2. Love our neighbors as our selves (horizontal relationship/natural)
3. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (holiness/sanctification)
4. Take up our crosses, deny ourselves daily, and then follow Him (service)
5. Present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and well pleasing to the Lord as our reasonable act of worship (sacrifice/surrender)

Remember this day – you can do none of this "apart from" Him, so ask Him to show you how to do it ... ask Him to teach you!

GENERAL TAGS: Homiletics, Preaching, Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Christianity, Discipleship, Fruit,
John 15, Religion, Sanctification, Sovereignty, Surrender