You Didn't Choose Me, I Chose You
First B Jackson
2021-01-11

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Alright.

Hey. Welcome, everybody. How are you? Good to have you. You got some new folks too.

Welcome. And keep eating. Please keep eating. Even though we're singing, this is it really is this is a a very, very casual worship gathering. I want you to to know that.

But glad you're here. And, also, thanks, for, helping with dinner for, tonight. Scotty and also, Forrest, thank you guys for for your help. Appreciate it. And, yeah.

Thank you, Cisco, for chicken noodle soup. And how would you how would you rate chicken noodle soup and cornbread tonight of, like, a one out of five? One was terrible. I'd never want you to serve that again. And five was, sure, we could do that another night.

So we could do it. Awesome. Good. So here's how this works. We've been going through the book of John on Monday nights and it's been more conversation style.

So I like to read the text. I'll share some thoughts of my own and then open it up for conversation. You don't have to share. Don't feel like you have to share. But if there's a word of encouragement or something that just jumped off the page at you from the text, know that it could really benefit those who are here.

So before we get into the conversation, though, I'd love to to worship and song together. So what do you say? Stand and we'll sing together? Only king forever. Oh, the the only, announcements that I wanted to show you real quick were, last week, we had, two other folks move away.

One was, Kevin, and I just got an update from him. He's in Washington. He's almost there. He's excited, but we prayed for him on Sunday, but great, great guy. And then the other was Lexi, and she just sent a text today.

She said, hey. I'm in Maui. And I was like, hey. It's 26 below here. Thanks.

I'm so glad you're having a

great time. Yeah.

But know this too. There are Bible studies. There are small groups, all over the place. Here's one of them. On Thursday nights from six to eight, and that's a sweet, sweet group of of ladies.

Know that they would love to have another person in this study, six to eight Thursdays, and the food always looks and smells delicious.

The desserts are made by a dessert chef.

That's even better. The desserts are made by a dessert chef. I think I might dress up for it. Join myself. Alright.

I've got a firm foundation. Victorious. You are the only king forever. Almighty God lift higher. You are the only king forever.

Ribbon Moore, you have tore beyond. Unmatched, unmatched in all your wisdom In love and justice, you will reign. Every will bow. We bring our expectations. Our hope is anchored in your name.

The name of Jesus. We trust the name of Jesus. And you are the only king forever. A mighty God lift you higher. You are the only king forever.

Forevermore, you are victorious. You are the only king forever. A mighty God lift higher. You are the only king forever. Rivermore, you are Victoria.

Let's sing. We lift our banner high. We lift our banner high. We lift the name of Jesus. From midst to edge you bring your kingdom mounts.

Oh, yeah. You are the only king forever. A mighty God will lift you higher. You are the only king forever. River Mo,

This week I've been considering God's kingdom and it has no end because God does not have an end. He's the beginning and the end. It's just good news. It's good news. It also...

It gives us hope too. To know that there is no end with God, that his kingdom reigns forever. You know, ours rise and fall, just like we sang, but his kingdom will reign. It will last forever.

The darkness tries to cool over my boat. Sorrow comes to steal the joy I hope. Broken mix of pain is all I know. I won't be shake. I won't be shaking.

My fear doesn't stand the chance when I stay in your love. My feet doesn't stand the chance when I stay on in your love. My feet doesn't stand the chance when I stay on in your love. Shame alone. The house is place to hide.

And I'm not a captive audience. Doesn't stand the chance when I stay I'm in your love. Let's sing to God's its power in your day, power doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your

Jesus firm foundation is what we're gonna sing next. And and here's a a... Just a great verse from Isaiah. It says, therefore, this is what the sovereign lord says. Look, I'm placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone.

It's a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. Who do you think the cornerstone is? They're talking about that in Isaiah. Any guesses?

Any guesses? Jesus? It's Jesus. Yes. It's Jesus.

Is with us, so be not dismayed. He is our God. Sustain a mystery. You'll be our offender and cause us remain. He will remain.

How firm our foundation, I'll show our salvation.

Jesus, you can be trusted. Your word can be trusted. And I pray that through the study of the word tonight that we would see that our confidence would increase. Holy Spirit, we invite you to teach, to illumine, to do everything that you do. In Jesus' name, amen.

You can have a seat and let's get into the word. Let's see. I had a clicker, but I don't think I have one anymore. We're up to John chapter 15 and I'd like to just finish up the rest of the chapter tonight. Thank you Blake, very much.

The first part of the chapter was the vine and the branches. Jesus says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. You remain in me and I in you. You will bear fruit. Now the heading in my Bible for this last part of the chapter, Jesus warns about the world's hatred.

So the context is this, Jesus is at the Passover celebration in Jerusalem and Jesus is headed toward the cross. And this little verse right here, let me see if I can get it. One more. Blake, can I have a little help on that one? So this little verse right here sums it up beautifully, think.

So Jesus is with his disciples and it says, Jesus knew that his hour had come, he's gonna go to the cross. He's gonna leave this world and return to his father, just like he's been saying to his disciples over and over again. He had loved his disciples during his earthly ministry on earth and catch this, and now he loved them to the very end. Isn't that so good? God is relational.

God is relational. He desires a relationship with us. He had a great relationship with his disciples. He's loving them to the very end. He's showing them the full extent of his love by laying his life down for them.

Everything that the father shared with Jesus, Jesus shared with his disciples. So like last week, the message was remain in Jesus. Remain in Jesus. He said over and over and over again, remain, remain, abide, same thing, stay. He's the vine, we're the branches.

When we remain in him and he in us, he in us will bear fruit, but apart from him, we can't. The message last week was remain and will bear... What is he talking about? Will bear fruit, fruit like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, gentleness, self control. That's the fruit of the spirit that he's talking about.

The kind of lasting fruit that God intended us to bear. So he's telling his followers, he's telling us, stay in me. Remain with me. Abide with me. Just stay connected.

And then we ended with this verse right here, verse 17. He says, now this is my command, love each other. That's where we ended at last week. He says, love each other. He's been saying it over and over again, but the warning here in today's text that we're gonna read is, the world may not love you back.

Love one another but the world may not love you back. It's a hard teaching, but at the same time, I think there's some comfort and some encouragement there too. Because he's telling them, hey, guys, followers, this is what you can expect. Don't be surprised by this and the Holy Spirit will be with you. The Holy Spirit will be with you so you can testify about me.

So let's go ahead and read it through. It's John 15 eighteen-twenty seven. It'll all be up here on the screen. I'll share a few comments and then we'll open it up for a gospel conversation. So here's what it says.

It says, if the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. This is Jesus speaking. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer a part of this world. I chose you to come out of the world so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you?

A slave is not greater than the master. Since they persecuted me, naturally, they'll persecute you. And if they have listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all of this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Anyone who hates me also hates my father. If I hadn't done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my father. This fulfills what was written in their scriptures. They hated me without cause.

But I will send you the advocate, the spirit of truth. He will come to you from the father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. So I'm gonna stop right there. That's the end of chapter 15.

Let's pray first. And I just would like to like to ask God to bless the reading of his word and the discussion of his word. So God, pray just that, that you would bless the reading of your word and the discussion of your word. You say, we don't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. God, would you use your word to teach us, to correct us, to train us, to illumine us, to comfort us, to warn us, to encourage us.

Whatever it is, God, that we need to hear from you, would you speak to us? In Jesus name, amen. So I know that I have said this before, but I'm really thankful to be just going through the word verse by verse and hanging on every word from Jesus. I really am. And not just the words that are easy here.

Because there's some words from Jesus that are just easy. My peace I leave to you. My peace I give to you. Yay. But then there's others like tonight, and this would definitely be one of them.

Verse 18, I don't think this is working tonight. I'll just point. It says, If the world hates you, remember it hating me first. That's a hard teaching. That really is a hard teaching because we know that God so loved the world.

God so loves the world. But that doesn't mean that the world loves him back or his followers. In John chapter one, John says, he came into the world that he created, but the world didn't recognize him. His own people even rejected him. That's really hard.

God, he creates the world, he creates humans, and humans go, no thanks. No thanks, we don't want you. See, this is the truth about Jesus. Some will believe and receive and others won't. He's not twisting anyone's arm.

But I think this, Jesus has certainly built a compelling case for us. I want to share, this is my testimony. This is coming from me here. This is how it's affected me. When Jesus says, I'm the good shepherd in John chapter 10.

I'm the good shepherd. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life that he lays down his life for the sheep. To me, that's enough. That's enough to stay, to remain, to abide. That's coming from me.

That's my testimony tonight. But Jesus is going on to warn his disciples here. Goes, hey, if the world hates you, they hated me first. If they persecuted me, they're gonna persecute you. Look at verse 19, it says, if you belong to it, and in my own words it says, it means this, if we're living like this kingdom on earth is all that there is and all that there will ever be, and there's no kingdom of God, no kingdom of heaven, the world will love you as one of its own.

But catch the end of this verse. It says, you are no longer a part of this world. I chose you to come out of the world. Called out of the world and into his kingdom to make an impact on the world. Are you with me there though?

It's not just like called out of the world. So now I condemn the world, I speak terribly of it. I don't have any friends. I'm just... I'm all gloom and doom.

I'm only about heaven and all the rest of the... Do you know what I'm saying? He's calling us out of the world into his kingdom so that we can have an impact on the world. Like, we're still here. This is our home, our temporary home for now.

But the idea is God's kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we're still here, we're still meant to have an impact on this world, to be fruitful like it said earlier in John. It's a lofty call, isn't it? It really is. It's a lofty call.

As broken as we are, Jesus is saying, followers, disciples, I chose you. I'm choosing you to come out of this world, to come into the kingdom and then make an impact, to bear fruit. You know, like the fruit that we talked about from the fruit of the spirit, love and joy and peace and patience. And God's kingdom is really different, isn't it? It's very, very different.

And it's a different way of thinking. It's a different way of living. Like, I mean, look at these beatitudes right here from Matthew. This is what Ray's been speaking on on Sunday mornings. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn, who are humble, who are merciful, who are peacemakers, who are pure in heart, who are persecuted. This right here is pretty much the entire opposite of the way the world works, of the way things are here. I mean, it's completely backwards, isn't it? Are we in a rush to be humble? Not always.

Are we in a rush to be merciful? Is that usually our go to? To be peacemakers? To be pure in heart? To be poor in spirit and recognise our need for God?

I mean, it's pretty different. It's very different. But, if we remain in Jesus, if we hold to his teaching, if we love one another, if we try this on for size, seriously, there is no doubt about it. Number one, we will stand out. We're gonna look different.

But

number two is not everyone will like you. You may be hated. That's tough teaching. Consider, Jesus did everything right. He did absolutely everything right.

He was the definition of right, the righteous. And he was still hated. He says in verse 20, if they persecuted me, they'll do the same to you. If they had listened to me, hey, they'll listen to you. So what is the deal?

What is the deal? Why the persecution? Why the pushback? Verse 21, catch this. This is why.

They do this because they have rejected the one who sent me. They do this because they rejected the one who sent me. That's heartbreaking part of this text to me. They saw Jesus, they heard him, but they still didn't believe him. They fulfilled the scriptures that said, those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head.

And listen, maybe you and I haven't experienced that kind of hatred or hostility or persecution in our lifetime. But those disciples did. And there are many in the world today, right now, this very moment, who are experiencing that kind of persecution today. They are hated. Really hated for believing in Jesus and bringing his kingdom to Earth.

So if I may, I would like to pray and pause for a moment for those who are being persecuted in that way around the world today. God, tonight's scripture really is a vivid reminder that your kingdom is very, very different than the world's. But if we remain in you, if we hold to your teaching, and if we loved one another sacrificially like you loved us, God, we may be hated as well. We may be persecuted. And we pray for those who are being persecuted around the world today.

Those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are humble, who are merciful, who are peacemakers, who are persecuted. How do you say they are blessed? And I pray that you would strengthen them, that you would encourage them, that you would give them their peace. Lord, would you help them? Would you help us to boldly testify about what we have seen and heard and experienced?

In Jesus name, amen. I wanna end with verse twenty six and twenty seven. It says, but I'll send you the advocate, the spirit of truth. Listen to the names for the Holy Spirit. Okay?

These are all names for the Holy Spirit. Intercessor, consoler, comforter, helper. He will come to you from the father and will testify about me. Catch this, and you must also testify about me. Testify means bear witness.

Give evidence. Give a good report because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. That's what Jesus is telling his disciples. And they did. That's the good news of this.

This is why we have the gospels right here in front of us today. Those disciples faithfully did what Jesus asked. They remained in him. They obeyed his commands. They loved one another.

They produced fruit. They testified about Jesus. And by the grace of God, and truly that's what this is gonna take, by the grace of God and in his strength, we will do the same. We'll remain in him. We'll obey his commands.

We'll love one another. We'll produce fruit by staying attached to the vine and we'll testify. We'll share our story. But for me, one of the big takeaways from this text is that Jesus truly calls his followers out of the world and into his kingdom as unworthy as we are, so that we can make an impact on this world. And I believe that with my whole heart.

It doesn't mean that the world is gonna love you though. These are the things we can expect, but there's some comfort in that too. When we think, I feel like I'm doing the right thing here. Why does it feel like I'm getting so much pushback? Because Jesus said there would be.

Jesus said there would be. Chapter 16 talks more about that. We'll get into it next week. But tonight what struck me is the out of the world into his kingdom to make an impact on the world. But really, this goes back to last week's message and there's just one more slide here.

It's remaining in him. It's abiding in him. Staying connected to the vine. So those are just a few of my thoughts. And I wanna take a back seat just for a moment here, that if there was something from the text that just jumped out at you, you were like, wait, I think I've got something.

There's a verse word of encouragement you wanna share. I wanna give you the opportunity. You don't have to, don't feel pressured to. But please, I'll open it up.

Jesus' love, but it's an imperfect love because I'm an imperfect human. And when you're living in a world, whatever your world is, where I feel like love is really defined as acceptance in today's world... You know, you love me if you accept me, if you accept my sin or what I'm doing or how... And so I really struggle with, am I loving them correctly? If I feel like I'm loving them with a biblical love, but but the

but the world is not... That doesn't feel like love to the world.

So

I actually don't really have any... Have nothing to add to this. I... It's more of a question, I guess. Like, when you talk about the encouragement, like, sometimes that's hard for me because I want these people so badly to feel that love.

But if they don't have the love of Christ, it is not going to look like love all the time. Does that make sense? Because

there are so many different definitions of love now. Think we've got to go back to the kind of love that Jesus showed. And then he showed his disciples too, that self giving, others focused love when he was washing his disciples. Here, I've given you an example to follow. Now do this for one another.

And some of them, they had wronged Jesus. They were going to betray him. They were gonna abandon him. And yet he still did that for them. I think really that's that full expression of love is gone.

No matter who you are, what you did, what you're going to do, I still love you with a kind of love that God's loved me with. That self giving others focused love. Because I can tell you, we're just not always gonna feel it. It's just... Do you find that more and more life is irritating.

People are irritating. It's just true. We are irritating one another, especially now there's a lot of things to kind of get us really, really riled up and turn on one another. And I think what Jesus is saying just love as I've loved, keep serving. But it's hard and I agree with you.

It's just hard. You definitely need to remain because I can't do it on my

own. Amen. Amen. Going back to the blessed are, the blessed are those who realize their need for him. That one caught me last Sunday because I was like, God, I need you.

I really, really need you. And it's not just like not just like I did last week and now I'm good for a month. It's like moment by moment, like literally second by second, where I can, it's just my own human nature suddenly just like, man, that was a skeptical thought, Carl. Boy, that was selfish. I'm with you.

I'm absolutely with you and thank you for sharing that. You know what? Sometimes God's word is not always just encouraging. Some of it is, it's very convicting. In a good way though, in a good way.

Like a surgeon with the precise cutting and things like that, it's not hacking. The surgeon is precisely getting out what needs to be removed. And we're under the knife when we're studying the word. We truly are. Would anybody else have anything to share?

Thank you for sharing that, Lee. I appreciate it.

I can add to that last little question too. Even Jesus, when he talks to the woman who's caught in adultery, he shows her mercy and then love and stuff first. And then he says, go and sin no more. It's like it's like the last thing on the list. Yeah.

Too, so it's it's hard to do that, isn't it? Man, it's so hard. Yep. Well, one of the things I love about this this series of verses here is when Jesus is told that he... He's called to this people and they didn't accept him.

Like, it's his people. And it's one of the hardest things for people around the world is if you're born in, like, the Muslim faith or a Mormon faith or something like that, to walk away from your people. Mhmm. And then to be able to preach back to them, it's it's one of the hardest things. And Jesus leads by that example of saying, like, even though you're born into this tradition, even though this is what you've been raised up in, you know, God's word is more important.

God's calling is more important than your tradition or what you brought up in or even the people around you. You know, those those strong familial bonds aren't necessarily the be all end all. And I think that's... It's kind of a good it's kind of a good message, especially for this area where there is, like, a lot of Mormonism. There's a lot of other kind of different faiths and stuff.

It's it's... God gives you that permission to to follow him, to follow after his word, know, because Jesus had to be that example for us as well and and and walk away from what the Jews were doing at the time.

Yep. Thanks, Nick.

A couple of things. One, to what you were saying, like, thank goodness for the Holy Spirit because because you can't really do it yourself. But I also think about, like, Jesus' love being so far away from the behavior of others people... Of the behavior of people. Like, he came here and he hung out with the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the sinners and, like...

So it's obviously not about approval of their of their behavior. And I think I also get a unique perspective of that as as many of us are parents, but the behavior of my own child sometimes and how disapproved I am of it. Or like, I don't... Like, that was poor behavior, but doesn't mean that I don't love them. They're almost completely different different things that love and then my approval of their behavior.

One thing that stood out to me specifically was being a citizen of heaven and being in this world. Like, Philippians three twenty talks about being our citizenship is of heaven. But even in the Lord's prayer, it says, your kingdom come. Your kingdom come here. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

On earth. On earth as it is in heaven. So that's a big thing for me is that it's not about an escapism. It's about bringing Jesus' love and his kingdom here. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so it's... Another thing is like... Don't know the connecting tissue that was ringing true to me as you were talking, but it's, yes, believe in Jesus, but also follow Jesus. And that's how we can bring his his kingdom from heaven down to earth. And there's a verse from Isaiah one seventeen that says, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's case.

It's just how I think about how I can be a follower, not just believe. Believe, punch my ticket, I'm going to heaven. It's like, no, follow him, help bring heaven here.

Yep. There's work to do. You know, that's what I think. There there there's work to do. This is this is our home for right now.

There's work to do. I think that's why I love James so much. If you want to read a very short book, James is belief but in work clothes. So great thoughts. Thank you for sharing that, Blake.

And anyone else? Any other thoughts from John? 15.

Sorry if the microphone is a little intimidating. We have a lot of people watching online, they can't hear if we don't talk in the mic.

Well, that's all, thank you for thank you for those thoughts. And I'd like to I'd like to pray here before we we sing too. God, I'm I'm just... I'm so thankful thankful just to be going verse by verse, hanging on your your every word. And, Lord, there's a one takeaway from John 15, for me.

It's it's remain. It's just to stay right there in your love and your goodness and in you, right there on the vine. And and, God, we do pray for that transforming power that that will, that we will have simply by remaining in you. But, Lord, help us when we wanna fall off the vine and and and really just act in our own flesh. Would you, God, give us the the the power of the spirit to, to produce that lasting fruit that you talk about?

And, not to be surprised, if, if we are persecuted or or ridiculed or or scoffed or mocked or, anything like that, God, because you said to expect that. But would you help us and and and grow us together too, God, that we would have one another, to support and to lean on as well. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's sing one more song.

Christ be all around me.

Eyes of God look upon my side. And as I wait, heart of God satisfied and sustained as I hear. The voice of God, lead me alone. My Where I speak all around me above and below before and behind me in every eye that sees where I speed all around me. And as I go in the God, and below me before and behind me in every eye that sees me.

Your eyes feel around me above and below me before and behind me in every eye that sees me, where I speak over around me. And your night, day, In every eye that sees me, Christ be all around me. Above and below me, before and behind me. In every eye that sees I speak all around me.

I wanna leave you with one one more verse here before before we part. But from John 15, this is Jesus speaking. It says, you didn't choose me. And I think of where, let me just keep reading. You didn't choose me.

I chose you. We love because God first loved us. That's that's the truth in the matter. He chose us first. He chose us.

But what did he he choose choose choose us to do? He chose us to produce lasting fruit, the fruit of the spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit because of our belief in Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit to produce love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control so that you'd produce lasting fruit so that the father will give you whatever you ask for. Our desires will be like a whole lot more like his desires when we remain in him. Whatever you ask for, use in my name. Amen.