Reconnecting with the Father

Warning to Myself

I am beyond honored to have been asked to do this. Each and every one of you is here this weekend for one reason and one reason alone- because a God who is totally and wholly sovereign has predestined you to be in this very room tonight. There are two very weighty words that we often throw around to talk about God, and those words are Sovereignty and Providence. I use these words a lot. What do they mean?

Sovereignty means that God is all powerful. Nothing happens apart from Him, and nothing is too great for Him.

Providence means that God does all things according to His perfect will.

So, God not only can do all things, but He does things according to His will. That is why you are here. God has moved the cosmos so that they would align and end you up in this room. And that is a very scary thing for me.

God places upon His servants the responsibility to be true. To proclaim the truth to you. My hope over the course of this weekend is that I will do exactly that. I can promise you a few things.

I will tell jokes

Some of them will be funny

I will tell stories

Some will be entertaining

I will tell you things that you will like to hear

I will tell you things that will make you angry

I will tell you things that will make sense

And I will tell you things that you may likely misunderstand

However, in all of these things, I pray that I will speak the truth to you, especially tonight. Because here’s the thing about tonight. If we don’t understand this, nothing else that we talk about all weekend will matter. If we don’t understand this, nothing in our lives matters. This is an important topic, and I want to discuss it right.

Show of hands- Do any of you know the 10 Commandments? Let’s start with this- who has heard of them before? Who can recite some of them? Who can recite all of them? Who can do it in order?

For our purposes I’m only interested in the first two.

Have no other gods

Make no idols

Those sound pretty similar, don’t they? Here’s why I bring this up. The first tells us to worship no other gods besides God. The second tells us the importance of worshipping Him as He has revealed Himself to us, not as we would have Him. Y’all know the story of Aaron making the golden calf? Did you know that he did that so they would have something to look at while directing their worship to Yahweh? They were worshipping God, but they were worshipping Him as they saw fit, not how He had revealed Himself to them.

All of that to say, it is important that as we go into our message for tonight that we do not approach these scriptures as we would have them, but as God has given them to us. We need to remove our earthly, sinful self from the picture, and revel in the goodness of God and His word, as He has revealed Himself to us.

Now, let’s dive into this thing.

John 14: 1-11

Throughout the course of this weekend we are going to be looking at John 14:1-17, and for our purposes tonight, we are going to stop at 11. Tonight we are going to be unpacking a very heavy topic- salvation. For what we are going to see in this and other passages tonight is this:

Apart from a relationship with the Father, we are doomed.

Apart from a relationship with our father, we are doomed. Let’s look at what John has to say to us here.

John 15:1–11 (ESV): “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

If we are in Christ, we will bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, we are not in Christ.

Here’s the things students. I am not here to encourage you. I am not here to pat you on the back and tell you how proud I am of you. I love to do those things, but not before I am faithful to tell you about the severity of what it means to live life contrary to Christ. These are some serious claims that Christ is making here, and when we see this passage, we need to ask ourselves a question about it.

Is Christ being truthful?

Because if Christ is telling the truth, this is a matter of life and death. Eternity is at stake in this. Salvation is not a topic that we can gloss past on the way to something else. Apart from salvation, we are dead in the trespasses of our sins.

Get a load of this- man was created in Genesis 1. In Genesis 3, the whole world catches on fire (Metaphorically). Man, lead astray by a desire to be equal to God, committed an act against Him, thus damning all of mankind. From there, the entire rest of the Old Testament is full of some of the worst stories you can imagine, all demonstrating to readers the inability for man to save himself. Even after God floods the whole earth, and saves only Noah and his family, Noah and his family immediately sin, and the literal next chapter after Noah’s story subsides is the tower of Babel. Humans straight up don’t get the message.

This is what the whole book of Judges is about. It’s about man looking rebelling against God, looking to humans rather than to God, as He constantly reminds them that apart from Him they are doomed. In the whole Old Testament, you will find plenty of good men, but they all have one thing in common- they fail.

Man, when he tries to save himself, always fails. Until one day, something different happens. One day, an angel comes to a woman named Mary, and tells her that she will give birth to a son, and He will be the Messiah- the LONG awaited savior of the world who will set everything right that Adam broke. He will be the second Adam who will fulfill God’s perfect law, He will be the descendant of Abraham, through the lineage of David, and He and He alone will be able to finally save mankind. And the people are ready for it. But what they weren’t ready for was how He would do it.

I’m sure we all know the story of Easter, about how Christ died on the cross, and came back three days later, and then ascended into Heaven. But I feel like this is a story that we have almost gotten too accustomed to, that we forget what this whole thing actually means. Look at Galatians 3:10-14.

Galatians 3:10–14 (ESV): 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The only way we can be justified, is because Jesus was cursed.

Jesus literally gave up heaven to come to earth, live a perfect life, fulfill the whole law, only to die a brutal death, and have the Father turn His back on Him. And He did it willingly, for you, that you may have a relationship with Him. Now let me ask you this: How many of you have seen the Marvel show What If…? It’s this show on Disney plus that asks the question, what if…? What if Steve had been injured and Peggy Carter became the first Super Soldier instead? What if T’Challa had been abducted instead of Peter Quill? Then it goes through all the things that would’ve been different. It got me thinking about this though- what if there had been another way? Do you think Jesus would have died on that cross, as the Father turned His back to Him, and the Son took upon Himself the full wrath of the Father, if there had been another way? NO! In fact we know this to be a fact, because in the Garden Jesus was pleading to God that if there be any other way, please let the cup pass from Him. The cup was an image of God’s wrath. If there be any other way for salvation, apart from Jesus drinking in the full wrath of God, let the wrath not fall to Him. Yet there was no other way.

Apart from this, we are dead. That’s what verse 2 is saying. If we are not in Him, we will not produce fruit, and the Father will prune us away. One of the best things about living in the country is the constant smell all fall of people burning piles of leaves and limbs, etc. You rake your yard and gather up all of the dead leaves, and you gather up all of the dead branches that have fallen, and you take them, put them in a pile, and just burn it. And there’s something so satisfying about that. Here’s the scary part for us though. This is the imagery that the Bible gives us about being outside of God’s salvation. If we are dead limbs that are not producing fruit, God takes us away to make room for limbs who will produce fruit.

This was a lesson for the Jews of this time, but it’s a message that carries over to us today. In Jesus’ time, the Jews were God’s chosen people. In fact, they believed that He was coming to establish their reign as the most powerful people in the world. Yet, when they denied Him, He sent His followers to the Gentiles. Christ tells them this parable one to show them that because they are dead, the Father will cast them out for the Gentiles, but this also serves as a reminder to us today of the importance of producing fruit.

I want to bring this idea home for us with one of my absolute favorite stories in all of the Old Testament. It’s a story about a king named David. But it’s not about him facing down a giant, or sparing Saul, or dancing before God, or even his great fall with Bathsheba. No, this one involves a lesser known man named Mephibosheth.

After David wins his victory over Saul and is anointed king, we see David grieving. Yes, he is king, but he is grieving the deaths of Saul, and Saul’s son, David’s best friend, Jonathan. So David gets all of his people together who worked for Saul and starts looking for an heir. That’s where we find ourselves.

2 Samuel 9

2 Samuel 9:1–13 (ESV): And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

What we see in this passage is a beautiful story. One that I believe perfectly foretells what salvation looks like. The story of Mephibosheth is one that demonstrates 3 truths to us:

Just like Mephibosheth, who was helpless because of something he could not control, you and I are helpless to control our sin nature

Just like Mephibosheth, who, based on the failures of his family stood condemned in the presence of the King, you and I stand condemned before the Almighty King because of the failures of Adam

Just like Mephibosheth, upon whom the king showed mercy, we have been shown mercy by the King Almighty, who has adopted us as sons, even though we are sinners.

English Standard Version Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3  He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5  You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

We were helpless to save ourselves, so Jesus became our salvation. He literally took on the entire wrath of God, that we deserved, in order that we may a part of His family. He has done the work, because only He could. And if the only way for us to be saved is through belief in Him, then apart from that we simply are not saved.

The fruit that is produced in our lives is the evidence of our salvation. Some people get this a little twisted, and they think that if they can just work enough and be good enough then they will eventually be saved. Guys, that’s not how it works. You can work until your body is totally spent and you have worked your fingers to the bone, but the only atoning for sins is done in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We think that if we work more then we will eventually start to produce more fruit, but no matter how much we work if we are dead we will never produce fruit. If you are not producing fruit, I would seriously have to ask if you are saved...

I’m going to tell you a little bit about myself, along with a little bit about a man named Simon. Simon was a magician. He used to do all of these amazing feats that led people to believe that he was a man of God. But when people were coming to God, and being baptized, none of them were receiving the Holy Spirit. In fact, it wasn’t until the disciples Peter and John went to the people and proclaimed the Gospel and laid hands upon the people that they began to receive the Spirit. See, Simon wanted people to see how great he was, so he was actually leading people astray, so they weren’t receiving the Spirit. They were believing. They were even being baptized. But they were not receiving the Spirit.

Similarly, when I was younger I made a profession of faith. I actually made 3. The first was when I was very young. Like, 5-6 years old. I told my mom that I had asked Jesus to come into my heart at church, and I told her that I wanted to be baptized. Later on, when I was going into the 8th grade, during the month leading up to school, my dad asked me if I was a Christian. I told him that I had actually been questioning it, and he did not take it well, and took me to the pastor’s house to talk to him about it. I prayed the prayer, and I was baptized a second time. Then, when I was 16, I went on my first mission trip. As I was sitting there in our worship service on Thursday night, the Spirit hit me like a metal chair to the chest. Out of nowhere I began to cry, I couldn’t sing, I was just holding onto the back of the chair in front of me thinking to myself, “I need to go talk to Vern (my Sunday School teacher who was there with us).” And it was in that moment that the Gospel finally clicked. For years I had been trying to make the decision on my own. Or my dad had tried to make the decision for me. But it had never happened. I had never, before that moment received the Holy Spirit. So, on a Thursday, in Memphis, Tennessee, on a mission trip, the son of a deacon and a Sunday school teacher, grandson of a pastor, kid who had spent his entire life learning all of the answers, finally encountered the Holy Spirit and received salvation.

I have two concluding questions for you all:

Have you ever received the Holy Spirit?

If no, then may tonight be the time when you do have that encounter

If yes, then ask yourself question 2

Are you producing fruit?

If no, then pray that God would align your heart to His, bring you into submission, and produce fruit within your life

If yes, pray that God would place you in a position to share the Gospel with others, and use your fruit.