Source of Light!
Source of Light • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsIntroduction to the Holy Spirit, our source of light in the dark world.
Notes
Transcript
Reading:
John 14:25-27 ““These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Introduction:
The sun is 864,000 miles in diameter. It is 109 times larger than Earth. It sits at the center of our solar system (hence the name). It is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is a lot.
Earth is 93 million miles away from the sun.
We are perfectly positioned to the sun.
Any closer we would burn.
Any further we would freeze.
It would be fair to say that without the sun life on Earth wouldn't exist, let alone continue to be sustained.
Even though the sun is far away, and that big and hot; it is a main source for us.
Because of the Lord, it is the source which makes life possible.
Today we are venturing into the subject of the Holy Spirit.
For the believer the Holy Spirit is the source for spiritual life and the physical life.
- Jesus in John 15 gives us a parable that we can relate to depending on a source for all life. In Him we have a connection to the source of all life; which is the main branch.
Text:
John 15:1-11
The source is the Father and we are attached to Christ. Life flows to the branches from the source. There are seasons for growing, sprouting, and pruning.
Transition:
The seasons for our spiritual lives, Jesus parallels with a grapevine. He explains a lot about out lives through His analogy.
He expresses with verses 1-2 that every vine is has a direct connection to the central or main branch.
Our central vine for our spiritual lives must be Christ.
The Father is:
In Charge.
In Charge.
The Father would be considered the one who owns the grapevines.
He has the task to maintain the health, growth, and upkeep of the fruit.
John 15:1-2 ““I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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.”
Jesus mentions one of his “I Am” proclamations:
I am the true vine.
Jesus identifies Himself as the real, true, genuine article.
Illustration:
In the United States, much like other countries, we have dishonest people.
Some of the dishonest citizens like money. They like it so much they begin going to kinkos and print their own money.
Counterfeit currency.
?If you were in charge of the counterfeit currency division how would you train people to recognize a counterfeit?
Initially you might say they should know and be able to recognize a counterfeit bill.
That would be a good and fair place to start; but there would be no way to have knowledge of all the new types of counterfeits.
So it is best to know the real thing.
Example:
You can go to the secret service website and see all the things to pay attention to when looking for a counterfeit.
They all have to do with the authentic thing, not the fake.
They study the original bill so that if they handle a fake, they can feel the differences and notice visually the discrepancies.
Jesus claims to be the center and source of our life.
His life is a testimony to His authenticity.
He is everything that He claimed to be, and He fulfilled every prophecy of the Messiah.
Transition:
He is authentic and not a counterfeit.
He may be the center and source for our lives; but the one who occupies the office of caretaker or owner is the Father.
John 15:1-2 ““I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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.”
The Father is the owner of the vineyard.
Have you ever noticed the difference between the owner and the hired hand?
Illustration:
The owner is the one who made the costly purchase.
The one who took the risk on beginning a business.
The one who at the end of the day when things don’t get done: has to finish the job.
The hired hand will come on time to the job agreed upon to perform and for a pre-determined wage.
He doesn’t feel the weight of possible failure.
He doesn’t have any risk involved, because he could just find another position at another place.
His performance in the job reflects the efforts of an helper, not the owner.
Transition:
The Father is the one who takes care of our lives, it all falls on Him.
The statements about how the Father cares for our lives is His business and it all falls on Him.
He is the one who took the risks.
The one who sacrificed for you and I.
He says that every branch will bear fruit.
He will prune it to make sure that the best spiritual parts of your life get the proper supply to grow.
The areas of your life that are sucking life from you will get tossed out, and burned.
It may hurt; but the Father knows what He is doing.
At the end of verse :2 He provides a promise:
John 15:2 “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.”
When He prunes the parts from your life you will bear fruit.
Point:
Your life is a journey and parts of your life aren’t helping your spiritual walk, they are hindering it.
Holding you back.
When the Lord points out parts of your life that are causing frustration, anger, and possibly problems.
Maybe that is an area where He is working and wants you to seek His wisdom about.
Maybe He wants much more for you in that area of your life.
Transition:
Jesus cleansed us at salvation. This is how we are able to be attached to the vine, because we were prepped for the connection.
? How can a vine from one be connected another?
Through a “grafting” process.
Because of Jesus we are:
Grafted In.
Grafted In.
John 15:3-4 “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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.”
What is the word that He spoke to us?
It is the same word that He spoke to the Pharisees in John 8
The Pharisees were questioning Jesus about many things.
There was one moment of contention where they tried to focus more on the semantics then the point of the statement:
John 8:31-33 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?””
The truth shall set you free!
They answered: We aren’t and haven’t been enslaved to anyone: What are you talking about? We don’t need the freedom that your offering!
Jesus answered them:
John 8:34-36 “...“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
He spelled it out plainly to them:
You are sinners and because you practice sin you subject yourself to sin as your master.
If you let me free you from sin: You will be free indeed.
Point:
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
No one can come into the father’s presence except they enter through the salvation Jesus offers.
We aren’t prepared.
Transition:
The only reason that we could be attached to the Father is because of the source; Jesus, He makes it so.
The truth has set us free from being enslaved to our sin nature.
We cannot remove ourselves from the vine just as much as we could not attach ourselves to it.
We must dedicate our will to His desires for us.
John 15:4 “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.”
This word “Abide” is a very purposeful word in this passage.
The word Abide means:
To Remain, in a reference to a place.
To continue to be present
To be held and kept continually.
Illustration:
Is your heart vibrant and full of the zeal today as much as you felt and knew right when you accepted the gift of salvation?
? Why not?
We should know that joy, thankfulness, and obedience so well that we continue and stay put in that position before our Lord and Savior.
That is kinda what communion points out.
To remember that first love and go back to Him.
When we move heaven and earth to stay in that position we are fighting for that piece of property He gave us and not allowing Satan a foothold.
We know that property isn’t going to be profitable unless the deed is held by the Father.
And on a more personal level:
Neither can our lives glorify Him unless we abide in Him.
Abiding in Him we will bear the fruit as we were designed to and just as the vine illustrates.
Our striving to constantly be separate from the world and obey the Holy Spirit reveals that we are trusting and relying on:
The Source.
The Source.
John 15:5 “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.”
Each and every one of us are potential.
Branches that have the potential for producing fruit for all to find nourishment in.
It isn’t anything of our doing.
We cannot produce anything good on our own, it is only because of the source.
Illustration:
Flowers are beautiful, and fragrant.
Since we had valentines day, many people are going to understand this thought:
Buying flowers is a nice gesture; but seems useless.
Here is why:
Wouldn’t it be a better gift to buy flowers that grow and bloom each year? Rather than buying flowers that have been cut and are dying in your kitchen?
Those flowers in vases every valentines day cannot continue producing beauty or fragrance as they could when they were alive and being supplied by the source of their lives.
Point:
This is the exact thing that Jesus is talking about:
Without the connection to the source of life there is no way to live, we are dead and will wilt away without producing fruit.
We are useless in our own efforts to reflect Him.
Conclusion:
The Owner is the Father and takes all the risk onto Himself. It is His job to make sure that every vine is profitable and is a direct reflection of His work.
The Father in His wisdom knows how He designed you and me. With each and every cut to purify you, it may hurt but that pain is temporary and with purpose to:
Produce the fruit you were designed to.
Because of Jesus we can be grafted into the vine that is the source of life.
What once was dead is made alive through Jesus.
Jesus is the source for life; He was the sacrifice and clean us for being grafted into the vine.
Jesus is the source to life giving wisdom, spiritual direction, and hope, and we strive to have a life reflecting Him to the world.
The sun is a long ways from Earth; but every day we gain the benefits from the source of life to Earth.
The Holy Spirit is no different to our spiritual life:
He is the source of Jesus’ light to the world.
You have a light inside of you to reveal the darkness; but to also give life to others around you.
The light is not for you to hide under a bed or a bushel; it is to be a light like the sun: giving life to all.
It should point to the source: Jesus, and the owner.
Since we don’t have any light of ourselves; it is His light He puts in us for all to see.
Pray!