Pray with me, Father in heaven, as we open your word, as we come
as your children, confident in who we are in Christ, confident
in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We long to be fed, to be nourished, to be encouraged, to
be trained, to be taught, to be rebuked and corrected, all in
righteousness. This is what only you can do,
and you've proven faithful to do it.
We take you at Your word. Enable us now to hear it once
again and transform the lives of all who are present.
This we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
This morning we're going to be going back into John's Gospel
and to his farewell discourse in John 15.
I'm going to read from verse 8 through 16.
Three. I'm going to focus on two
different parts of the passage this morning as we're getting
ready to come to the Lord's Table.
This passage is so powerful, and the doctrine that I want to
focus on particularly this morning is the doctrine of the
effectual calling. It is the precious doctrine that
He is the one who called us to Himself.
He is the one who chose us. We did not choose Him, He chose
us. Jesus is going to say that
twice, and this is the precious doctrine for His people to know
what it means to be pursued by the living God.
This text is famous for the word abide.
This text is also famous for the call of Jesus on the disciples
to love one another. He teaches us that the world
will know us by our love, but then he's going to move to teach
us that that same world is going to hate those who have been
called by Christ. This is not something that might
happen. It's something that is going to
happen, and that hostility is going to continue to grow and
grow and grow. And how are we to live in that?
You'll see the help of the Holy Spirit as promised, even the one
who lives inside you. Now, if you're in Christ and the
only one who can illuminate these words to you and to me,
that we would believe. So hear the words that Christ
spoke to his disciples. John 15, verse 8.
By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so
prove to be My disciples. 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. These things I've spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
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.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
No longer do I call you servants, but the servant does
not know what his master is doing.
But I've called you friends, for all that I have heard from my
father I've made known to you. 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 Father in My name, He may give it to you.
These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated
you. If you were of the world, the
world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. Remember the word that I said to
you. A servant is not greater than
his master. If they persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will
also keep yours. But all these things they will
do to you on account of my name, because they do not know Him who
sent me. If I had not come and spoken to
them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have
no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father
also. If I had not done among them the
works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin.
But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father, but the
word that is written in their law must be fulfilled.
They hated me without cause. But when the helper comes, whom
I will send you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
And you also will bear witness because you have been with me
from the beginning. I've said all these things to
you to keep you from falling away.
They will put you out of the synagogue.
Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he
is offering service to God. And they will do these things
because they have not known the Father nor me.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Please be seated. This is an amazing passage.
We've spent some time in it already through our series in
John. We have three more sermons in
the Gospel of John that will finish this month and then we're
going to be moving into the book of Jonah.
So even now you might want to begin to read that very small
minor profit that will spend the entire fall semester in the book
of Jonah. How many of you are going back
to school this week? Raise your hand.
Hi, want to see a college elementary teachers?
Some of you are going for the first time.
My daughter teaches first grade at Providence.
It's always fun. She got her class list last week
and began to make those calls. What you probably don't know is
I'm also going back to school. Next weekend is my 40th high
school reunion. Some of you are thinking that's
why he's growing the beard. You must know I won the most
grey at every reunion we've had so far, and I only attended one
of them. People just know I'm going to be
in Oklahoma City next weekend and I tell you that not really
to be silly or cute, but to ask you to pray.
There's a list of people for over 40 years I've been praying
that they would come to saving faith.
Some of them I've not spoken to since 1985.
I hope to see them. They know what I do, most
likely. Why don't you also know that the
reality of this passage of John, what it means to live for Christ
and to be mocked and to be persecuted.
It's real. It's real because often where we
live, but how we live where we live.
I became a Christian just before my sophomore year of high
school. That meant exactly what Jesus
taught his disciples here, that the Spirit of God did a work
that only he could do and calling me to himself.
I was radically changed. That change meant that I was
separate and distinct from the world.
And that caused some to celebrate, some to be
indifferent, and many to actually despise.
So those students who raise their hands, particularly those
who are in middle school, those who are in high school, those
who are in college, we're praying for you.
We know how hard it is for you to say.
I don't believe that or I'm going to reject that.
In a world even like this bubble, this Bible Belt bubble
that's constantly tempted to conform to the pattern of the
world, when you stand strong for the name of Christ, you need to
know that that hatred and persecution is going to come at
some level, at some time and some way.
So what I want to do this morning is I want to begin by
looking deeply at verses 16 and 19 of John 15.
Go there with me. Jesus tells the disciples in
John 15 verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and
appointed that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit
should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name,
he may give it to you. This word abide is such an
important word for Christians and many of us don't really
comprehend what it means or even if we think we do, we don't live
in the reality of what it means. Here's what I'm trying to say.
Barnes and Nobles, one of my favorite places to study right
there on Northwest Highway across from North Park Mall.
I love the fact that there's so much around me that is of the
world. I love the fact that I can
remember the importance of why I'm doing what I'm doing.
The people need to know the hope of Christ.
In the back of that store to the left, there are two sections.
One section is titled Self Help, Self Improvement, and there are
some books in there that can truly help yourself.
They can improve yourself. Then there's a thin wall, and on
the other side of that wall is where all of the Christian books
are. There's a separation.
You feel a little bit different when you're in one versus
another. But here's my deep concern of
the books. And there are literally hundreds
of titles written by Christian authors in the Christian
section. For many people, there's not
much difference between the self help section and the Christian
section. The only difference is maybe a
little bit of Jesus, like a condiment sprinkled on more self
help. People pick those books up, they
read those books and they walk away thinking it's all about me
doing something to improve myself.
Some of the books are written that way, but even the books
that aren't written that way, and there are many good ones,
are often applied that way. And that is not Christianity.
Jesus Christ and what he's teaching in John 15.
The essence of Christianity is so radically different than a
message of self help and self transformation.
Jesus says it twice in these few short verses.
You did not choose me, I chose you.
Why did he say that twice? Because when these disciples are
going to the to experience the reality of what he said, when
others kill you, they will think they're doing service to God.
They're going to be tempted to say we didn't sign up for this,
but Jesus teaches them, I called you.
And what's true of these 11 is true of every follower of
Christ. Not one of us chose him first.
He chose us. Now, this is the doctrine of
election. It's a doctrine that has been
controversial, but you can never say it's unbiblical.
It's mysterious for sure. It's complicated, but it's
precious. Take Jesus at his word.
I chose you. You did not choose me, but I
chose you. It's not just the apostle Paul
that preaches and teaches election.
It comes from Christ. And remember what it was like.
These men were just doing ordinary tasks.
They were fishermen, physicians, They were all sorts of
occupations. When Jesus called them and told
them he would make the fishers of men, they left everything and
followed Him. It's called effectual calling.
That's an important word because what it means is that when God
in His own timing has determined this child from all eternity is
mine, I am going to effect the calling on his life.
This calling cannot be rejected by those who are truly mine
because the all powerful sovereign God is going to make
certain that it's irresistible. This is powerful, effectual
calling is the work of God from beginning to end and His
almighty power and grace. He invites us, He draws us, his
children to Jesus. He does it through His Word and
through His Spirit. I believe that's so fully that
today I'm not going to be surprised if there are those in
this sanctuary or listening online or even listening on
another date. At this moment.
The Spirit will open your eyes to see your sin and your misery
and your need for Christ. Christ is the one who initiates
it, and when He initiates it, Father, Son, Holy Spirit doing
the work. We who are truly His receive the
invitation and we come. This calling takes place as the
Holy Spirit does these things. Listen carefully.
He enlightens our hearts and minds.
He enables us to believe what the Word of God says about God
and about us. He then enables us to embrace
Jesus as our Savior. If you're a Christian, there was
a point in your life when that happened.
You might have been young. You might have been in college,
you might have been an adult, but that's what happened.
It's the testimony of every believer.
God initiates, God calls, and God's calling is always
effective. This week, some of you who are
going to have mothers wake you up, some of you will have
mothers that come into the room, rise and shine and give God the
glory, glory. Some of you will have that.
That's probably not going to be very effective.
My mother would come in three times and it was never effective
until she used my first, middle and last name.
That's not God. God's call is effective always.
It accomplishes what He intends. It's powerful.
The reason we have to focus on this is we could miss it.
We could say that doctrine is too complicated, too
controversial, and we can move on to other parts of the
passage. But this is essential.
When Jesus tells them that people are going to think
they're serving me or God and their own idea of who he is by
killing you, they're going to need something to anchor in.
And the anchor that they have is that Christ has told them I
called you, I've chosen you. He says it again in verse 19,
just a few verses laters. If you were of the world, the
world would love you as its own. But because you were not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. It's easy to focus on the world,
isn't it? John wants us to linger with the
idea of the world because he uses that word five times in one
verse, telling us that the world is going to hate us.
But don't miss what Jesus says. I chose you out of the world.
You are set apart. You are distinct.
Let me say it this way. You two were once a God hater,
but because of my will, my sovereign will, my own purposes,
I have made you my own. I chose you, and because I chose
you, you're a new creation. The old has gone, the new has
come. You are set apart.
You're different from the world. You're not to live according to
the world. You're going to be in the world
and the world's going to hate you, but I've chosen you.
We have to anchor there. But then Jesus tells them what's
going to happen. He says at verse 18, if the
world hates, you know that it hated me first.
Well, what is meant by the word hatred here?
This word means to be despised. It means to have strong
aversion. It means to hope for and plan
I'll will against. And in the tense of this
sentence of this language means that it is permanent, the sight
of heaven. It's not going away.
You can expect it when John says if the world hates you, it's not
like it might or might not happen.
The world is going to hate you. Why?
Well, Jesus tells us because it hated me and my Father first.
John at the very beginning talks about light and darkness of
Christ as the light, and he's coming to the darkness.
The darkness hates the light, and darkness is always going to
hate the light. So that when you come to saving
faith, when your children come to saving faith, there are so
many promises, so many blessings, eternal security,
peace with God, purpose for living.
That's the first part of John 15, the first verse we read
today. It is to My Father's glory that
you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Well, the more fruit that you bear and it can only be borne by
you abiding in Christ, the more different you're going to look
in the world and those in the world are going to hate you for
it. Certainly some parts of the
world that hatred is more pronounced, but I believe this
to be true. It's not just where you live
that dictates persecution against those in Christ.
It's how you live where you live.
Martin Luther imagined Jesus in teaching this text, saying
something like this. If you want to have peace in the
world, just be silent about me. So wherever you work, wherever
you go to school, even if you're in a Christian School, but
really pursuing Jesus with everything is not what's really
cool. If you're seeking to abide in
Christ, seeking Christ first in all things, you're going to bear
fruit. The Spirit is in you and the
world is going to notice. And that light which radiance
from you, which is the Spirit of God, Christ himself, they're
going to hate you for it. How you live, where you live,
what influence the type of persecution you will receive.
When Jesus teaches his disciples this, he then prays the next
chapter over. In chapter 17, these words to
the Father of the disciples, He says I've given them your word
and the world has hated them because they are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world.
Now listen to this. I do not ask that you take them
out of the world, but you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.
When you have had the privilege of teaching someone what it
means to come to saving faith, have you told them the whole
truth? Have you told them all the
promises that we have in Christ if we receive Him and rest in
Him as our Savior? Peace.
Purpose for life to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
The unbelievable joy that is Christ, his joy in us, all those
promises. But if you also told him what he
said that also by the way, his word tells us he the word tells
us because of me, you're going to be hated.
Sometimes after persons come to faith in Christ, genuine faith,
true transformation, true born again and the persecution rises.
They make sense. Something like this.
I didn't sign up for this. I didn't sign up for social
isolation. I didn't sign up for loneliness.
I didn't sign up for being rejected.
I didn't sign up for a world that was going to hate me.
And you know what, you're right, you didn't.
You never would. He, if you're his signed you up
long before eternity. That's why Jesus gives the
disciples these words. It's not long after this Peter
who said I will never deny you is going to feel that
persecution 3 times. He is going to say I don't know
the man, I'm not one of his. He curses himself if he's to be
found to be known as one of Christ's followers.
And the rooster crows and he sees Jesus.
But in a few weeks, when we get to the very last chapter of
John, where's Christ? He's on the shore.
He's fixing breast breakfast. He says to Peter three times,
Peter, do you love me? Do you love me?
And each time he finishes by
saying feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.
Where is sheep going to be? They're going to be in the
world. They're going to be in that
world. And as he goes out and proclaims
the truth that Christ has given him, that world is going to hate
him. But some are going to experience
the effectual call. Some are going to come to saving
faith. In fact, thousands of them and
as thousands of them are converted to Jesus as the way,
the truth and the life. Those worldly religious leaders,
the very ones that brought about the death of Christ, the
crucifixion, they're the ones that are going to be coming at
them. And Peter, a new man is going to
stand before them. And here's what he's going to
say. Judge for yourselves whether it
is right for us to obey God or man, for we cannot help speaking
about that which we have seen and heard.
Where did that power come from? Comes from the help of the
Spirit. The world will hate you if
you're in Christ, but God's promises that the Holy Spirit
will help you. He will help you endure whatever
persecution comes against you, your children, your
grandchildren, your pastors. He will.
It's His promise. We see this manifest in the
Gospel of Mark near the end of Mark's Gospel, as Jesus is
teaching his disciples, listen to what he says and how it
compares to John 15 and 16. This is but be on your guard.
This is to the disciples, but be on your guard, for they will
deliver you over to councils and you again.
This is to his disciples. You will be beaten in
synagogues. You will stand before governors
and kings for my sake to bear witness before them.
And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be
anxious beforehand about what Listen to what Jesus says.
Do not be anxious beforehand about what you were going to
say, but say whatever is given you in that hour.
For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
That same Spirit is the one that lives in us.
The same one that carried John to write this gospel, the same
one who carried all the prophets along, all those who authored
Scripture, is the same Spirit who lives in you.
If you're in Christ behind the scenes without you ever knowing
it, it was the same Spirit who brought effectual calling into
your life today. If you're in Christ, pray that
God would make that doctrine precious to you, that not a day
of your life would go by until He calls you home in full glory,
that you would forget. He chose you, He picked you, He
called you. You said yes, because the
almighty powerful hand of God moved in you.
It's not something you could have done.
It's not something I could have done.
Think of it this way. Anybody could have stood outside
Lazarus's tomb and said Lazarus come out and not one of them
would have been effective. But the moment Jesus said
Lazarus come out, he rose. That which happened to him
physically is what must happen to all who are in Christ
spiritually. You can't make your children
believe. You can't make your spouse
believe. You can't make your parents
believe, can't make anyone believe.
But God in his precious will is the only one.
And when he speaks, his true children come.
If that's you, praise him today, praise him, praise him.
Why did he choose you? I don't know other than to say
for his glory and his precious love for you today.
If you're here and you know that you've never rested and received
Jesus, please do me one favor. Just ask the question, why am I
here today? Is it possible that the Spirit
Mark is talking about brought me to this place, that I might hear
these words, that I might hear of my sin and misery, and that
apart from Christ I'm eternally doomed?
You've heard the word. Now what does the Lord saying to
you through his Word and Spirit? The table that we're about to
come to is a table for Christians.
It is a table for all those who have experienced that effectual
call, who aren't trying to do things themselves but have
trusted in Jesus. We're saved.
If that's not you today, we would ask that you not come
forward, lest you eat and drink judgement on yourself, but
instead that the elements and all that happens remain here.
But pay attention. Why might the Lord have you
here? For those who are in Christ, as
you come forward, just meditate on this truth even as we sing.
He chose me. I am His beloved Father in
heaven. As we get ready to come to the
table, we thank you for your word.
We thank you for your clarity. We thank you for your conviction
and for the truth. Now, as we come and feast, bless
this body with this food. Bless this body with your body
and your blood, that we might be transformed and able truly to
endure all that this world might bring against us.
We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
Please stand.