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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 26 - True Vine
John 15:9-11
9 As [kathos] the Father [pater] hath loved [agapao] me [me] , so [kago] have [agapao] I [kago] loved [agapao] you [humas] : continue ye [meno] in [en] my [emos] love [agape] .
10 If [ean] ye keep [tereo] my [mou] commandments [entole] , ye shall abide [meno] in [en] my [mou] love [agape] ; even as [kathos] I [ego] have kept [tereo] my [mou] Father's [pater] commandments [entole] , and [kai] abide [meno] in [en] his [autos] love [agape] .
11 These things [tauta] have I spoken [laleo] unto you [humin] , that [hina] my [emos] joy [chara] might remain [meno] in [en] you [humin] , and [kai] that your [humon] joy [chara] might be full [pleroo] . KJV-Interlinear
9 'Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 made full. NASB
Jesus teaches us how to live our life by His own example. He complied unquestioningly with the Fathers plan, obeying completely. He loved the Father, and the Father loved Him. This love was in principle, 'agape'. What was more important - the emotions of either party, or the fulfillment of the Plan which would lead to the salvation of billions of creatures - the human race? Of course the Plan of God is far more important than any individuals personal desires.
Love as Christ loved. Obey as Christ obeyed. Follow the principle not the emotion. This principle is fulfilled by learning Bible doctrine, understanding it, and growing up spiritually as a result of the intake of Gods word into your soul (Christ - the written word - in you). This is the transformation process of changing your attitude from one of ignorance (lack of truth) to one of wisdom.
Now we will add a couple of other verses to this study.
Be perfect and walk in righteousness. Do you remember who God told that too?
Also, we add the verses from Ephesians, 'Keep being filled with the spirit,' Eph. 5:18. That is to say, 'keep on being filled.' This is something that is potential. It requires your volition to keep on being filled with the Spirit. What is that? Fellowship. You have to confess your sins on a regular basis in order to be 'filled' or better put, to be under the control of the Holy Spirit.
You cannot feel this 'filling.' You cannot sense His control. The spiritual is beyond the physical world. So none of those spastic seizures or frothing at the mouth, kinds of things, apply.
We are all indwelled by the Spirit (along with the other two members of the Trinity), and that is something over which we have no control. Their indwelling is permanent, but the Spirits 'control' over your soul is not permanent. That depends entirely on your attitude and obedience to God.
Next verse, 2 Pet. 3:18, 'Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.' And that too is to say, 'keep on growing.' See also, Jn. 16:12-15. This is your day to day study, your continued living inside the sphere of fellowship, your obedience in applying Gods principles to your daily life.
Now we have our verse. 'Keep my commandments.' The Word of God, is Christ's commandments. Love Him as He loves us. Desire your spiritual life. Be motivated to pursue your spiritual life. Want nothing else in life as much as you want to grow up spiritually. Come to an understanding of the tremendous value of your spiritual life, and when all things are considered in life, the only true item of value that will truly be yours to own and keep for all time, is the doctrine which you learn and make use of. Everything else which you think you own, will be lost when you leave this world.
In short we are to be actively dependent on God and unquestioningly obedient to His will.
The result? Joy to the maximum. Joy which is not just some fleeting happiness, but a permanent and enduring inner happiness along with stability of soul, poise, confidence and courage that you have or will have, all and more out of life from God, than you could ever gain on your own initiative.
Now sit back and dream for a moment. You are suddenly whisked off by God to a beautiful mansion on a mountain side, with a beautiful view over the valley. You are in extremely expensive and comfortable evening clothes and shoes. Your favorite beverage in hand. Your favorite music playing in the background. The fireplace is burning bright. Your bills and debts are paid in full permanently. Your bank account has more digits than will fit in your computer. Not a care in the world. Now that probably would qualify as approaching 'joy.' Tonight you can enhance on this picture in your dreams.
Oh, by the way, God told Abraham to 'Be perfect and to walk in righteousness.' Bet you thought that I wasn't going to tell you where that came from!! See Gen. 17:1.
This is the last of the parables. We have studied the 35 parables and now you have the task of recalling them all. Or can you. We'll go over a summary (listing them all) tomorrow. From the very first parable we studied in this series, the Two Debtors, where we learn that we have an insurmountable debt which we can never repay, to this parable, then we each of us have a tremendous opportunity to go from truly the rags of our human existence to the riches of spiritual maturity. The riches, by the way, which infinitely exceed anything which you can even imagine.
All for simply doing that which is right in life and right in truth, which is Gods truth, not mans invention of truth. God does all of the work. We merely sit back and learn and grow and benefit from His efforts. We did not plant the plan of God. We did not cultivate it We did not do any of the work which is involved in making history come out right, but we receive the benefits from that which we had nothing to do with.
We have all seen the news over the past couple of years where two countries have been liberated from the tyranny of thugs. We have seen where countries have bowed to the demands of terrorists, and some countries (those with backbone) have not bowed to their demands. An evil leader died the other day, and it would seem that terror in the world is taking a beating. We can conclude that ours is not going to be the generation of downward transition, but one of prosperity and freedom.
When we get back to Revelation, we will see that things will change in the future, and that change will be for the worse. The liberal thinking people of the world will become the majority, and then times will truly turn bad worldwide. We can be thankful that now is not that time.
Whether we live in a prosperous time or in a brutal time, we all have the opportunity to advance to the winner circle of spiritual maturity just be being positive toward God. The circumstances of our life are irrelevant. God is able to promote to maturity anyone at anytime, anywhere in the world. If you are positive toward God and doctrine, then there is no one and nothing that can prevent you from having a great spiritual life and a great future.
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Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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