Abiding in God through His Word
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The benefit…When we abide in Jesus, we can see God’s power accomplished in our prayer.
“If” you abide in me…AND...
Abiding by Obeying
Abiding by Obeying
We must learn to listen to God’s word
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
john
If we abide in Jesus, and His words abide in us…only then can we ask God whatever we wish and see it done.
This is a conditional statement. “If” you pay me $50 dollars, then you can be a leader at Senior High Fall Retreat. The condition is dependent upon us doing something. Therefore, if we do not fulfill the conditions of the deal, we can not expect to receive the benefits of the promise. Any conditional statement has an implied “but if not” clause.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you…BUT IF NOT…don’t expect me to do what you ask me to do.
So here is what we need to see tonight.
Abiding in Christ happens when we obey His word! It’s that simple!
Jesus essentially reiterates this same point in verses 9-10
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
As the Father has 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 Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
But before we can experience the blessing of prayer. We have to Abide in Christ, and we Abide in Christ by Remaining in his word.
Jesus tells us that we must remain (or abide) in His love—and the way we do that is by keeping His commandments (aka his Word)
This makes sense when we understand what the Word of God is: namely that God’s Word is the Spirit of Jesus in written form.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
We can say that we are abiding in the love of God through Christ because we made a decision at a camp, or we prayed some prayer. But the proof is in the pudding. We prove to be abiding in Jesus by obeying His Word!
My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
The fruit of the life of a Christian comes when we abide in Christ by obeying His word…which brings glory to God.
No other life is pleasing to God.
Trying to obey…is not obeying...
Obedience is the proof of our salvation…not the means of our salvation.
Salvation is the work of the Spirit
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:
So the Holy Spirit saves…He quickens spiritually-dead souls to life in Christ…
Nor can we lose the love of God through our failures
This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.
john 6:
Your salvation is the work of God, from beginning to end. God wakens our hearts to cry out to Him to be saved () and God keeps us in His love until the day that we die ().
But we show that this is true for us with our abiding…our obedience to God’s Word!
We Must Read the Entire Bible
We Must Read the Entire Bible
Receive the Full Counsel of God
Receive the Full Counsel of God
The reason we are able to ask
and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:15-
Paul tells us that *all* scripture is sacred. That it gives us the wisdom to know how we can receive salvation through faith in Christ. Then he tells us that God “breathed” the Bible into existence. Meaning that God is the divine author of all scripture. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God worked through the mind of 40 men, over the course of nearly 1,500 years, to reveal to us who He is, and how we can know and follow him.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
Paul also tells us that God’s Word
God’s Word
teaches us
Rebukes us
Corrects us
Trains us for Righteousness
Makes us Complete
Equips us for every good work
In essense, it is impossible to live a life pleasing to God without knowing, believing, and obeying the full Word of God.
The word of God is the means through which God has decided to make himself known to us.
Therefore we must learn to listen to God’s voice…and we do this primarily by going to where He reveals Himself to us…in His Word.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
God used to speak through prophets, but now He has spoken to us by His Son…The Word who was manifest among us…and who commands us to abide in all of His words…Holy Scripture.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Here is the implication for us:
We must take God at His word
Read it—Reading Plan
Memorize it— ”Scripture Typer”
Meditate on it— Get away from distraction…create space for God to apply His truth to your life
Pray it— Scripture is God’s communication to us…and we pray it back to God in our prayers (We will talk at length about this next week)
But in short, we are called to REMIND God of His promises…To give him no rest…We pray the promises of God in scripture back to God in Isaiah 62:7.
Apply It— Journal what God speaks to you, and write out your prayers (2-3 sentences)
Putting Our Hands to The Plow
Putting Our Hands to The Plow
How we can do this...
Make a plan…
Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.
Jesus had a normal routine for spending time with God...
We need a normal routine…God has made us creatures of habit.
We have a supernatural ability to learn habits…both good and bad…and our habits define who we are…they form our character…which forms our behavior.
Stick to It:
But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
“Train yourself” is the word that Paul uses…
It takes effort…it isnt just going to happ
Paul uses this word as an illustration…it was a word that would have been used for athletes.
Athletes train their bodies for competition. They have diet plans, work out regimens, sleep schedules…all for the purpose of being great at their sport.
In the same way that an athlete trains their physical bodies, we are told to train our souls...
this involves simple things:
Go to bed
Get up early
Dont eat physically before you eat spiritually.
We have to be vigilant…we have one shot at life…one shot to abide in Christ…therefore we must take this stuff seriously.
And at the end of the day…we must remember that this is the source of all human satisfaction.
Jesus is the bread of life.
Jesus is living water.
Jesus is the Treasure Hidden in the field…more valuable than any earthly treasure…
He is our source of life....there is nowhere else we can go...