joy in christ

John 15:9-11 Study Notes – Getting Joy from Obedience

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

Here are my study notes from yesterday morning’s lesson.  We spent some time talking about joy in life, and how big of a deal it is that in this section of Scripture Jesus reveals His desire for us to have joy.  That’s a far cry from the stoic detached God we hear about from critics of Christianity!  I hope you enjoy these short notes, and that this week you are challenged to think especially on verse 11.

Blessings,

PJW

 

15:9-10 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.

The Awesomeness Meter…Broken

I think there are basically 6 points to verses 9-14 that need examined.  But first, I can’t move on to look at these general themes without noting something in particular about verse nine – as I was looking at this verse and the whole section I just couldn’t get over Jesus saying that He loves us (note the past tense there as if he’s always loved us) “as the Father has loved me.”

What this ought to tell us is something about the relationship between the Father and the Son, and also something about how much Jesus loves us.  I’m not sure how much it would help to prattle on here about this, because every explanation or description I think of to describe it seems to make it seem trite in comparison with what I know Jesus is describing.

Think of it this way: when God does something, He does it in a BIG way.  Not size-wise, but in terms of awesomeness.  Think of the awesomeness meter being broken!  Okay, now that the picture is in your head, realize that the intensity and depth of His love for the Son is going to match that depth and intensity that the Son has for us.  If that doesn’t blow your mind I might as well quit teaching now!

Its this kind of truth we need to lay as a foundation stone for our understanding of Christian doctrine.  Let me give you an example of why….if someone asks you if you can loose your salvation, or if Jesus is really with you in a trial, or if God is really in control of all the details of your life, or if Jesus really died specifically for you, and so on…you can answer in the affirmative because you have a foundational understanding of how much Jesus loves you.

  • Jesus doesn’t loose any sheep – He’s too powerful and loves you too much
  • Jesus doesn’t abandon you – He loves you too much
  • God the Son is in control of all things and that includes all the details in your life – He loves you too much not to be involved
  • Jesus really did die for you – because He loves you as much as the Father loves Him

I think you probably get the picture!  Paul got the picture also, and that’s why he could write the following:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The Mark of a Christian

So the first part of verse 9 is foundational, and as we examine verses 9-14 I want to look at the mark of discipleship and what enables us to obey.  Christ is primarily here concerned to show what life in the vine looks like, and to exhort His disciples toward that life which will reflect their relationship with Him.  Just as it was the purpose of ancient Israel to be a light to nations and show forth the glories and joy of living in true relationship with God, so too is it our privilege to be a light to the world and show others what true communion with God looks like.

I want to explore these truths under six headings:

    • Disciples Obey
    • Disciples Obey Because Jesus Obeyed First
    • Disciples Obey and get Joy as a Result
    • Disciples Obey because they love Jesus
    • Disciples Love Jesus Because He First Loved Them
    • Disciples Are Called to Radical Obedience and Love

Notice that there is a sort of ascending or building house of truth here…

Disciples Obey

Jesus says that the result of being united with Him is that we will bear fruit. If you are in the vine then you will bear fruit – so what does that look like? It looks like obedience.

The mark of a true disciple of Christ – a born again believer – is that they will bear the fruit of obedience to the commands of Jesus.

That is why Jesus can confidently assert, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”  Keeping the commands results from abiding in Christ.

If you are consistently not obeying Christ’s commands, then there is good reason to wonder if you are truly saved and numbered among His sheep. It is a simple fact that those who have been converted become a new creation, and that new creation behaves in ways that are different than those who are not “in” Christ.

Of course the sanctification process is slow – painfully slow sometimes! – but we know that what God began He will be faithful to complete (Phil. 1:6).

Disciples Obey Because Jesus Obeyed First

Note now from verse 10 that Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything that He didn’t first accomplish. He is the “righteous branch” (Jer. 23:5) and is not only our example, but also paved the way for us to be capable of obedience. That’s what Jesus is saying when He says, “Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

These are the two truths we must internalize here:

  1. Jesus obeyed first and is our example of how to live in righteousness and truth
  2. Jesus’ obedience means that even when we fail we will still be righteous in the eyes of God

Jesus was just as human as we are, tempted as we are, and yet was without sin (Heb. 4:15; 2 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5), and Jesus’ obedience has been imputed to our account (Rom. 4:22-25) in order that we might become “the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

The result of this obedience is not only the ability to obey through the power of the Holy Spirit, but the beautiful truth that when we fail (and we will) we can boldly come before the throne of grace and ask for forgiveness – with the confidence to know it will be forgiven (Hebrews 4).

Therefore, because Christ’s righteous life ransomed us from a life of sin and corruption, which would have resulted in eternal death, we give Him our lives as an offering. We serve, we teach, we follow Christ – we obey.

As Christians we now follow the example of Christ by the power of Christ.  Just as He obeyed through the power of the Spirit, so we too “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) and obedience to His commands.

Of Christ’s submission to the Spirit Bruce Ware comments:

Although Jesus was full God, as a man he chose to rely not on his own divine nature but on the power of the Spirit. In this way, he lived his life as an example for us (1 Peter 2:21-22), and fulfilled the perfect obedience that Adam had failed to accomplish…As a man, Jesus submitted fully to the Spirit, even though in terms of rank, within the Trinity, Jesus has authority over the Spirit.

Likewise we Christians are to submit to the power of the Spirit as we follow the example of Jesus. Romans 6:17-18 describes this beautifully:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18, ESV)

15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Disciples Obey and get Joy as a Result

Just as Christ is our example in obedience and walking in the power of the Spirit, so too is He in receiving joy as a result.  Look at what we read in Hebrews 12:

…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)

I think this joy is not only something we experience in heaven, but also here on earth.  There is a joy in obeying your Lord – in serving Him with all of your heart.  This is proven by our own experience, is it not?  We obey Christ’s word and someone benefits by our kindness, or our generosity and it thrills our soul!  In this way the kingdom of heaven’s benefits are made manifest in our hearts even before we see that kingdom consummated upon Christ’s return.

This is what is meant, then, by the psalmist’s exhortation, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Ps. 34:8)

Obedience to God is not drudgery it is joy, and this is so because it is done in love.  That’s why Jesus said above, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”  Love is the overarching descriptor that Jesus uses to explain the nature of His obedience to the Father and our obedience to Him.  Without love your obedience is a “clanging symbol” (1 Cor. 13:1) and is completely unprofitable.

As we’ve said previously, love for God and others is a mark of being a Christian. As was mentioned in chapter 13:

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

Therefore all of this joy springs forth first from a heart that is loving toward others and toward God. Without this love there will be no joy. All of your “righteous” deeds will be like annoying sounds upon the ears of those whom you purport to serve.

A Last Word About This Joy…

There will be sometimes that we obey knowing that it is the right thing to do, and are empowered by God do obey, and yet we don’t experience that joy right away.  It seems like we’re doing something difficult and not something that excites us. But I can only attribute this to our sin nature.

For example, I once told Derek (Stone) that I really didn’t enjoy doing evangelism, but I would sign up to go because I knew it was the right thing to do.  Gradually, I asked for God’s help, and He changed my desires. Am I a gifted evangelist?  No! (I laugh just asking the question!) But boy o boy do I enjoy sharing the gospel when I’m given the opportunity.  What held me back from enjoying evangelism rather than just carrying out my “duty”?  My sin nature.

It is our sin nature that prevents us from being joyful all the time. It is our sin nature that brings millions of Christians to church every Sunday as if it were some perfunctory gathering and not a joyful time of worship.  It is our sin nature that mellows our worship as something mindless and heartless.  It is our sin nature when we think that showing up to church is something special when 90% of our friends are sleeping in.  It is our sin nature that cares more about the style of worship than learning out to worship properly in the first place. It is our sin nature talking after church when we nitpick about the sermon and yet haven’t lifted a finger to serve for months and months.

Don’t be fooled.  You are a sinner, and in this world you will have trouble – and much of that trouble will not be brought on by Satan (as if you’re that important), but by your own sinful self-centeredness.

You will never experience the joy of the Lord if you continue to live in the flesh instead of walking by the Spirit.  Forget yourself and your self-centered schedule and your self-centered dreams, and start reorienting your life around the Son of God. That is my prayer for you this year.

Study Notes 4-8-12

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

3:22-24 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. [23] John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized [24] (for John had not yet been put in prison).

  • Here we see that the narrative has moved away from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus and onto another event/situation in the ministry of Christ.
  • Part of what we see here is that there are dual baptisms going on here.  The ministry of John and the ministry of Christ are overlapping to a degree.
  • One thing we should also note is that Christ Himself wasn’t baptizing anyone, but that it was His disciples that were baptizing (John 4:2).  John Piper says that he suspects this is for the same reason that Paul didn’t baptize too many people because of potential errors in the thinking of the new Christians.  He didn’t want people to think that if they didn’t get baptized by Christ it wasn’t the “real thing” etc.

3:25-26 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. [26] And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

  • What a fascinating thing to interject here.  All of a sudden the disciples of John were arguing about purification and then in verse 26 they seem to move on and start talking about the ministry of Christ and how people seem to be leaving John’s ministry and going to Jesus’ ministry.  So it leaves you scratching your head because you might wonder, “what in the world does purification have to do with anything? And why didn’t they finish talking about the discussion over purification?”  It just seems like an odd piece of information to stick in there all by itself.
  • John Piper has some good ideas on why this is so.  He thought that perhaps there was a confusion over whether or not John’s baptism was “working” since all these people were getting baptized and then going over to Jesus’ ministry.  You have a purification issue John! Or so they seemed to be saying…
  • Piper says that there are parallels between this and what John writes in Rev. 21:9 which says in the latter part of the verse (an angel speaking to John), “‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’”  The church will experience the purification work of the perfect Lamb.  Piper also cites Eph 5:25-27 which says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
  • So John doesn’t answer the purification issue directly but indirectly by saying that the bride of Christ will be purified by the bridegroom who is the perfect and spotless sacrificial lamb.  The marriage picture is the same – we die for our wives, we love them, we sanctify them in the Word.

3:27-29 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. [28] You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ [29] The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

  • Verse 27 is almost a rebuke – he’s basically saying, “nothing that is happening now wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t in God’s will and if He hadn’t ordained it to be happening.”
  • Note “who stands and hears him” is significant.  This is the voice of the Lord.  This is the life-giving power of God in audible form.  This is the voice that called out “Lazarus!” from the tomb.  This is the voice that John had been waiting for!
  • “No body would be going to Jesus if heaven weren’t giving them to Jesus” Piper says.
  • Look at how incredibly happy John is that Christ is the one who is getting the glory, and this is causing him to “rejoice greatly.”  Let’s not miss this.  He is so happy because his ministry is coming to a close, and he’s so happy because that means that Christ’s ministry is about to bloom. Not only is he rejoicing, but his joy is “complete.”  John finds his ultimate purpose in his exaltation of Christ.  This is what makes him ultimately happy, ultimately joyful.

3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

  • What an amazing statement.  Can you say and can I say truly, “He must increase, while I, PJ, must decrease.”   It is this decreasing that is giving him joy.  Jesus commands that we treasure Him over everything else in our lives.  Certainly His work on the cross and His perfect life demands this from us.
  • Piper paraphrases it this way, “When Jesus becomes more in the world and I become less in the world, my joy goes up.” Piper continues by saying that John’s response is “a joyful response to God’s sovereign self-exaltation.”
  • You see, for John the Baptist, his joy increased as Jesus’ ministry increased.  His joy increased as his own worldly value and ministry decreased.  The more it was more about Jesus the more joy he was going to have because that means that the bridegroom was coming, and what could be better for the bride!
  • We celebrate Easter today, I am reminded of Charles Wesley’s famous hymn ‘Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.’   There is a line in that hymn which mirrors the excitement that John expressed here, which calls Jesus the “Dear Desire of every nation” and the “Joy of every longing heart.”
  • You see, we need all of us, for Christ to increase in our lives and for us to decrease.  Paul recognized the same thing when he said “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9) and again when he says, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).
  • And Christ Himself understood this joy – that is why He was able to endure the cross and the shame.  As Hebrews 12:2 says, “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…”
  • So how do we find real joy – and I mean real happy, thrilled, hair-raising joy – in Christ the way that John is describing here?   I would argue that in order for us to find real joy, life transforming joy in Christ we must learn to value Christ above all other things.  John understood the real value of Christ, and so he eagerly looked for Him and was thrilled that he could “decrease.”
  • The thinking goes something like this according to Christ, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).
  • For John, everything he had, his entire life was wrapped up in this ministry and now it was leaving him, and what was his response?  He was thrilled!  Why?  Because he had already sold everything, he didn’t want or need followers, he wanted and needed Christ.  Christ was the object of supreme worth to him.  He had found his treasure. So when his disciples came to him with these issues of purification and of baptism and how some were leaving to go join Jesus, John’s reaction was one of joy.
  • Here’s how it applies to your life.  You have found Jesus.  But you may not be recognizing the fact that He is the only thing that truly valuable to you.  Oh sure, intellectually you understand that because its in the Bible that Jesus is good, and because He saved you and you’re a Christian and so on.  But is your life designed and structured around the fact that Jesus is THE most valuable thing in your life.  Have you sold off everything that gets between you and Christ?  Have do done everything to grasp that pearl of great price?  Or are you still reaching for the world’s brass ring?  When we internalize this truth and apply His supreme value to every aspect of our lives, we realize very quickly that we are idolatrous people.  We have lost our first love (Rev. 2:4).
  • Christ’s value in our lives is brought home to us this weekend by the remembrance of His suffering and of His victory over the grave.  I hope that we let these truths change us so that when we encounter people fleeing us, and life’s pleasantries falling away, we can still say with John, “this joy of mine is now complete!”

 

In summary: We must learn to make Christ the highest priority in our lives, because He is worth it.  He is infinitely worth it.  We must understand that He is a treasure that is far more valuable than any other idol demanding our attention.  He is more worthy than our friends.  He is more worthy than our spouse.  He is more worthy than our career.  He is more worth than our children and the taxicab service we’ve setup to drive them from activity to activity. Furthermore, when we make Him our first and most coveted object of desire and affection, we are promised that He will automatically take care of every other need we have (Matt. 7:7-10).  We need to start living our lives as if He was really the most important thing.