JOHN 15
10 Outlines
John 15:1-7
LIFE IN THE VINE
LIFE'S POWER - Vss. 1-3
- IN THE VINE (CHRIST)
LIFE'S PROCESS - Vs.
4 - ABIDE
LIFE'S PRODUCTIVITY -
Vs. 5 - FRUIT
LIFE'S PROBLEM - Vs. 6 -
FAILING TO ABIDE
LIFE'S PROMISE - Vs. 7 -
ANSWERED PRAYER
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John 15:1-8
LIFE!
THE SOURCE OF LIFE - Vs. 1
THE SCARS OF LIFE - Vss. 2-3 (From pruning.)
THE SYMPHONY OF LIFE - Vss. Vss. 4-5, 7-8
THE SCARE OF LIFE - Vs. 6
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John 15:1-11
FULLNESS OF JOY
(A complete lesson)
John 15:11 - These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
joy might be full.
·
What is the difference between joy and happiness?
·
Why should we want to have joy?
·
Why does Jesus want us to have joy?
·
What has Jesus done to bring us joy?
·
What is Jesus doing to bring us joy?
·
How would you define “fullness of joy?”
Jesus spoke verses 1-10 so that we might
have fullness of joy!
·
A vine is a source of life and fruitfulness.
·
In the Old Testament
·
Jesus is the true source of life and fruitfulness.
John 10:10
·
Every person who is born again is “in Christ”. He has become part of the vine, and part of
the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians
12:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17
·
The husbandman or gardener is our Heavenly
Father. He is the one who oversees the
production of fruit in our lives.
·
We have been placed in Christ, the vine. Why should we
be joyful?
·
What is the context in these verses? Is it salvation, fruitfulness, or something
else?
·
Given the context, what does the beginning of verse 2 not
mean?
·
What is the most important fruit a Christian can
produce? Galatians 5:22-26, Ephesians 5:9
·
Other fruit may include the fruit of righteousness or
winning souls to Christ. James 3:18, Romans 1:13
·
Why and how does God prune us? Psalm 66:10, James 1:2-4, Hebrews 12:11
·
What must we remember when we are being “pruned”. Proverbs 3:11-12
·
How is the Word of God a cleansing agent?
·
How does Christ make His presence known in my life?
·
How do I go about abiding in Christ? Ephesians 5:18, Hebrews 4:14-16
·
Why do you think Jesus wants us to be fruitful? (Verse
8 gives us clues.)
·
What happens when a branch is taken off an apple tree?
·
What lesson about being fruitful is hard to
learn? Why?
·
Are trees always fruitful? What lesson does this teach us?
·
How should Jesus abide in us? Galatians 2:20, Philippians 3:8-10
·
How will abiding in Christ make your prayers more
effective? Ephesians 6:18, Jude 1:20
·
How will God’s Word make your prayers more
effective? 1 John 5:14-15
·
What are some things that we should pray for that we
often fail to pray for?
·
Why is perseverance important?
·
How do we continue in the love of Christ?
·
How does obedience bring about joy?
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John 15:9-12
LOVE!
LOVE'S DEVOTION Vs. 9
LOVE'S DEMAND Vss. 10, 12
LOVE'S DELIGHT Vs. 11
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John 15:11
JOY!
Christianity is a joyful religion, but looking at us,
Christ's followers, you often wouldn't think so. All too often we allow too many things rob us
of our joy.
·
We lose our joy when we don't get up on the right side
of the bed.
·
We lose our joy when we don't get our own way.
·
We lose our joy when we don't feel well.
·
We lose our joy when someone we love gets sick or
dies.
·
We lose our joy when we are abused or persecuted.
·
We lose our joy when we are misunderstood.
·
We lose our joy when we feel lonely or unwanted.
·
We lose our joy when we feel pressured to get
something done for our job or school.
·
We lose our joy over countless other situations as
well.
Now let me distinguish between happiness and joy.
I believe that it is possible to be joyful without
being happy.
I don't have to be happy when things go wrong, but I
should be joyful.
I think of happiness depending on happenings, and joy
depending on Jesus.
I might not be happy about what's happening in my life,
and I might even shed some well-deserved tears, but on the inside I can be
joyful because of my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I wonder how many of you would sincerely like to do
the will of God? That is how many of you
would like to be in the center of God's will?
You can only do the will of God if you learn to be joyful.
John 15:11 -
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.
It is Jesus' intent that Christians be a joyful
people.
It is Jesus' intent that you be a joyful Christian.
Let us consider being joyful as Christians. We'll do
it by discovering six things about joy.
1. PRESCRIBED JOY - These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you…
If you recall, Jesus was delivering what we know as
the Upper Room Discourse, although this part of the discourse was given after
they had left the upper room.
The disciples were sad. The disciples were worried. They disciples
were scared.
They knew that Jesus had enemies.
They knew that were those who wanted to kill Jesus.
They knew that Jesus had told them that He was going
to leave them.
In spite of all the sorrow of the moment, Jesus tells
them "I have said these things so that you might be joyful!"
Jesus is the great physician, and it is as if Jesus is
writing a prescription as he talks. He
is saying here, "If you do what I tell you, you will be joyful." Like a visit with any doctor you can only
become well if you do what the doctor tells you and take the medicine that he
prescribes. You can only be joyful if you do what Jesus tells you to do.
So what were some of the things that Jesus prescribed,
that would help the disciples be joyful?
LOVE EACH OTHER - John 13:34-35
RELAX
You can't be joyful if you are uptight. Jesus said in John
14:1, Let not your heart be troubled:
ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Now, you know
as well as I do, that it's very difficult not to get fretful, worried, bent out
of shape or uptight. How did Jesus ever
expect us to avoid worry? We are trust
God, and we are to trust Jesus.
And there's more! To help us not to be uptight, the
Lord Jesus has sent a special helper to us.
John 14:16-18 - And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever; [17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. [18] I will not leave you comfortless:
I will come to you.
As we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives, he
produces the fruit of The Spirit in our lives, which includes, love, joy and
peace.
Prescribed joy includes loving each other and
relaxing. It also includes:
OBEDIENCE - John 14:15
PERMANENT JOY - These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you…
God wants our joy in Jesus to be permanent.
Not that there won't be bumps in the road and trials
along the way. There will.
But through the trials, He wants our joy in Jesus to
remain. James 1:2-4
The only way we are going to be joyful in Christ, is
if we are faithful to Christ no matter what the circumstances. James
These verses remind me that not only is joy permanent,
but it gets better, when we see Jesus face to face.
If things are going to be so great in the "Sweet
bye and bye", shouldn't we have joyful anticipation in the nasty now and
now.
Every one of us knows somebody who needs the Lord
Jesus as his Savior. Stop and think.
What kind of a commercial are you for Christ?
Does your joy in Christ shine through in spite of difficult
circumstances? If you're just as
miserable as anyone else when things don't go you're way, why should anyone
want your Jesus?
PREEMINENT JOY - These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
joy might be full.
Jesus wants us to be so full of joy, that there's not
room for any sorrow.
It was never Jesus' intent that He'd have a bunch of
grumpy disciples.
When the disciples first saw the risen Lord, they were
joyful. John 20:20
When the early church gathered there was an attitude
of joy. Acts 2:46-47
These early believers were even joyful when they
persecuted for the sake of Christ.
Acts 5:40-41
And may I remind you again, that you can not have
fullness of joy in your life without the fullness of the Holy Spirit in your
life. Romans
PERSONAL JOY - Psalm
The church is to be a place of joy.
There should be joy when we worship the Lord in prayer
and music.
There should be joy as we listen to special music.
There should be joy when read the Scriptures and hear
the Word preached.
The attitude of our church fellowship should be one of
joy!
But our joy should be personal as well. Each of us on
the inside should have a sense of joy.
How is that possible? We must
learn to practice the presence of God in our lives.
Psalm 65:4 John 15:4-5
Do you know why
married couples have happy marriages?
They stay close.
Do you know how
to remain joyful as a Christian?
Stay close! Abide! Talk to Him, and let Him talk to
you.
Talk to Jesus about your problems.
Talk to Jesus about your concerns.
Talk to Jesus about your joys and sorrows.
Listen to Jesus and you remain still before Him.
Listen to Jesus as He speaks through His Word.
Strive to spend time with Jesus.
PRAYERFUL JOY - John 16:24- Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Now think about the Lord Jesus for a moment.
He wants us to be joyful, so He says to us,
"Ask".
Now our asking will only bring fullness of joy as we
ask according to God's will. 1 John 5:14-15
POWERFUL JOY - Nehemiah
Why are we so often defeated?
We lack inward strength.
What will help us have inward strength?
The joy of the Lord!
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John 15:12-16
THE CHURCH
In this passage our Lord
Jesus gives us some vital information about His church.
COMMANDMENT TO LOVE -
Vs. 12
COMMITMENT BETWEEN
FRIENDS - Vss. 13-15
Jesus laid down his life
for us. Vs. 13
We are to keep Christ's
commands. Vs. 14
Christ communicates with
us. Vs. 15, John
COMMISSION TO GO AND
BEAR FRUIT - Vs. 16 (See verses 1-8 as well.)
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John 15:12-17
A FRIEND OF JESUS
To be a “friend of Jesus” one must:
1. LOVE JESUS’
FRIENDS – Vss. 12, 17
2. LAY DOWN HIS
LIFE – Vs. 13
3. LIVE IN
OBEDIENCE – Vs. 14
4. LEARN FROM
HIS MASTER – Vs. 15
5. LEAN ON HIS
MASTER (IN PRAYER) – Vs. 16
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John 15:13-16
FRIENDS WITH JESUS
THE VOICE OF FRIENDSHIP Vss.13-14
THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP Vs. 15
THE VICTORY OF FRIENDSHIP Vs. 16
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John 15:16
SENT BY JESUS
THE CHOICE - "Ye
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you..."
THE COMMISSION -
"...that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should
remain..."
THE CONVERSATION -
" ...that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it
you."
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John 15:17-27
OPPOSITION
There is persecution of
Christians taking place throughout the world.
Give examples that you
know of. For information online about persecuted
churches check out
Brothers Keeper at http://members.aol.com/brskeeper/
When Jesus gave his
"Upper Room" discourse He warned us that there would be
opposition to Him and to
His followers. In John 15:17-27 we find:
THE LORD'S WILL - Vs. 17
Our Lord made this
statement just a few verses before in Vs. 12.
He repeats the statement
just before talking about persecution. I think the
Lord was indicating that
one of the ways to get through persecution that
will come from the world
is through the love of the brethren!
Let's face it, hassles
from the rest of the world are easier to take when
there's love at home.
And hassles from the world are harder to take, when
there is no love at
home!
We all need a place of
peace.
We all need a place of
refuge.
We all need a place
where we feel loved.
The church should be
such a place! The church should be the Christians
second home!
THE LORD'S WARNING -
Vss. 18-21
I don't think that the
Lord was indicating that the world may hate you and
it may not. The Lord was
talking as if the world was going to hate us. Paul
said in
2 Timothy
suffer
persecution."
THE LORD'S WITNESS -
Vss. 22-25
The Jews would not have
been guilty of the sin of rejecting Jesus if He had
not come to them, spoken
to them and worked his miracles in front of them.
His witness made them
guilty of rejecting Him.
THE LORD'S WORK - Vss.
26-27
In spite of persecution,
the Lord is at work today through the conviction of
the Holy Spirit and the
witness of His followers.