The Chosen
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: “Choices”
Do you know that there four definitions for the word “Choice.”
The right or possibility to choose. Jesse and Kerri call this “Adulting.” Like Alice asked the Kingdom Kids last week - did they get the choice of what family, town, state, or country they were born into?
2. The process of making a decision between 2 or more possibilities. Let’s go out to dinner.
3. The variety of things available. Restaurants - more than 50 in the Valley.
4. The thing chosen. “The Grille at the Train Station.”
5. Start all over with the menu. More than 100 items to chose from.
Our passage this morning tells us about a choice that was made a long time ago. One that directly affects everything about you.
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17 “This I command you, that you love one another.
Transitional Sentence: Our lives are full of choices, but there is only one important choice that affects the rest of your life. Have you made that choice.
John 15:12 says:
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
Jesus is picking up where He left off. In verse 10 He said “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love”
Here is verse 12 He is saying that His commandment is to love each other. Well that’s no big deal. He’s telling His disciples to love each other. Tax collector, zealot, fishermen...etc. This may not have been the easiest thing to do. Plus what other kinds of people will be added into the family? Only through the power of the Spirit will this truly happen.
John 15:13 says:
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
Now that’s a big challenge. In the context of Jesus’ words He is laying His life down for His friends. Literally. He will hang on the cross and die in just a few hours.
Not many of us will have the opportunity to lay down our lives in this way for our friends. So how can we do that? Take some time to help… Put aside what you want to do and help...
John 15:14 says:
14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
Here’s the point of it all - friendship. If we do what He says we are His friends. How many of you want to be Jesus’ friend? Well do what He says - Love one another, and lay down your lives for one another. Matthew 25:35-36
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
The King is separating sheep from the goats. Explain… So Love one another.
15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
A slave is told one task at a time. He does it and then is given another task to complete.
A friend on the other hand knows the whole picture. If you are getting married you would tell workers only what they would need to know to take care their part of the service and party. But your friend. Your friend gets to see the big picture. You will tell your friend everything. No surprises no questions.
Most of Jesus’ disciples got to see a little piece of what He was doing. But the twelve got to see and hear everything.
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
This is an important verses, it points to choice, and why that choice was made.
This is one important choice. It’s so important that it will determine the rest of your life.
a. Do you know what the question is?? Which religion do I choose?
Have you ever seen this graphic. (COEXIST) It’s a very common bumper sticker. The idea is that all of the religions are supposed to get along and get you to the same place. This is very popular amongst the Unitarian Church - a church that refuses to make a choice - everything goes.
The graphic incorporates symbols from:
i. Islam - Muslim
ii. Pacifism - Agnostic/Atheist - doesn’t want anything but peace and won’t make a choice that disrupts peace.
iii. Male/Female - equality or ..........
iv. Judaism - Monotheistic Theocracy
v. Wicca - witchcraft
vi. Taoism - A far eastern religion that focuses on peace and living in harmony with the Tao, the natural order of the universe. (This can include - Hindu and Buddha)
vii. Christianity - The followers of Christ Jesus. The idea of coexist is that all of these religions can work together. But we know that this is not possible. Matthew 12:30 says:
30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Jesus won’t share with idols.
So we have to make a choice.
b. But how can a choice between religions be made? Well here are four possible ways.
i. Your parents tell you what religion to follow.
ii. We search for the religion we would like to follow.
During the twenty years I was in the Army I searched for God. I read the Quran - that wasn’t it. I discussed the Buddhist religion with Buddhists in Korea. I read the book of Tao. Nice thoughts but it leaves one wondering what is life all about. I wasn’t satisfied by any of it, but I wasn’t drawn back to the Bible at the time either. So I kept looking until Christ choose me.
iii. We are drawn to Christ by dreams and visions.
iv. The fourth way people make a choice is to not make a choice.
c. But that brings us to a very important question. Who really makes the choice? If people chose Christ because their parents teach them nothing else are they really making the choice? What happens when they walk away from the faith? It makes one wonder right. The point is we don’t really choose. We can make a choice to follow Him but ultimately following Him is His choice.
John 6:44 says:
44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
and John 12:32 says:
32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
It’s His choice. He will draw to Himself those whom He chooses. Is it like fishing? Explain....
Which brings up another question. Do those who are drawn to Him have a choice. Can they walk away and say no. Wow. So much stuff to think about. This brings us to the controversial idea of predestination - if I was predestined - do I really have a choice?
d. That brings us to the purpose of why you were chosen. He chose you to bear fruit. (Grape vine photo) John the Baptist baptized people and told them to bear fruit in accordance with repentance. But Jesus wants us to bear fruit in accordance with repentance and in accordance with our position in Him and the Kingdom of God. These fruits are the fruits of the Spirit and Fruit that leads to people becoming children of God.
There is one command about this fruit that we will bear - it must remain. Well that’s interesting. What is fruit that remains. This has come shortly after Jesus said that He was the vine and we are the branches. We must remain in Him so that we can bear fruit. For the fruit to remain we must remain attached to the vine and then the fruit can remain with us. Here’s a visual for you. (Peach tree up at Jim and Alice’s place. The fruit fell.) The fruit did not remain.
So what can make the fruit we bear not remain?
i. We can quench the Holy Spirit.
ii. We can become a diseased branch from unrepentant sin.
iii. We can simply fail to remain attached to the vine.
So the choice has been made. He choose me. But why? Why me and why you?
He choose us because He appointed us for a purpose. When someone is appointed to a purpose they are selected before hand. In this case a long time ago. Ephesians 1:3-4 says:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
Before the foundation of the world. That’s a long time ago. That’s an amazing appointment. His choice for you was made a really long time ago, so He must have a grand purpose for you.
And that purpose is for you to GO! In other words to go away — to move away from a place into another direction.
As you change your location, from one place to another like going from your town to another, or your state to another etc… This can even be as you move around in the same place. How many of you change your location regularly? This is the activity of moving from here to there. We all do it.
So Go - and bear fruit.
I talked a lot about bearing fruit last week. What do we have to do to produce this fruit? The only thing we can do is to abide in the vine, abide in Jesus. He will make the fruit grow. We just have to remain true to Him. He will do the work of bearing fruit.
And as this fruit ripens we must ensure that it remains. We must ensure that it is not lost. Remember the peach tree...
That fruit did not remain. For our fruit to remain we must remain. We must remain connected to the vine. We must remain connected to Jesus.
That is why we were chosen. We were chosen to bear fruit that remains.
In bearing fruit that remains we will remain connected to the vine which provides membership rewards. I know some of you have stache rewards from Dandy...
Membership rewards as a branch abiding in the true vine aren’t the same as the rewards you get from Dandy. They aren’t stuff. Branches of the vine receive spiritual rewards. “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
That is the rewards you get as a branch of the vine. This isn’t health, wealth and prosperity gospel...
This is asking for the will of the Father to be done. This is asking for more fruit in your life. This is asking for a better connection to the vine. This is asking for:
opportunities to share the gospel
opportunities to make disciples
opportunities to bear fruit that remains
opportunities to show the fruit that is growing in your life to others
This is asking for answered prayer in your life.
Those who bear fruit that remains will see answered prayer. And then:
John 15:17 says:
17 “This I command you, that you love one another.
Jesus comes back to the beginning of this passage. A reminder to love one another. Without Love we are nothing. Without love we can do nothing. Love, love God, Love your neighbor and love each other will show the world who we are.
John 13:34-35 says:
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If love, the first fruit of the Spirit is growing in you and you let others see it, then everyone will know that you are a Christian.
Exit: God choose you before the foundations of the world were laid and He appointed you to Go and bear much fruit. To do this you must abide in Christ Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through you for His glory. Ultimately the one very important fruit is love. Love for God, your neighbors and each other will be the proof of who you belong to.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” It’s the one thing that will make us different than those who have not been chosen.
The mission: Be known as a Christian.
They will know we are Christian by our love. (Song)
Pray:
