John – Believe in Jesus and live!
Part 9
“Stay hooked”
John 15:1-8
For many years I have loved fishing
All the way back to my very early years my fondest memories of my Dad and my Granddad on my mother’s side revolve around some type of fishing
My Dad loved to fish for crappie and sunfish – you know minnows – worms – crickets and bobbers
My Granddad was a bass fisherman- his favorite lure was a hot spot
I actually have one of them in a frame in my office
These were my roots in fishing
I added trot lining - fly fishing and saltwater fishing to the list and have passed those memories down to my kids and grandkids as well as adding to my own memories
All types of fishing
Whether with tiny flies
Rattle traps
Mullet or minnows
Have one thing in common
In order to put fish in the boat
Or in the freezer
You have to hook the fish
But they have to stay hooked
Many a time I can remember
That Giant fish
A world record
Coming right to the boat
So close I could almost touch it
And then
Coming unhooked
It is ironic that it is always the big ones that get away
And
Truth be known
They are always remembered and described bigger than they were
But big or small
In order to catch the fish they have
To get hooked
And to stay hooked
In my younger – thinner years
I rode Bulls and bareback horses
Same deal
In order to make the buzzer
In order to get a buckle or a check
I had to stay hooked
You cutting horse folks
Ya’ll know that a horse that does not stay hooked to a cow
Is not a very good cutter
And certainly won’t win much money
It is so amazing when I begin my studies to bring you a message
God opens my mind and causes me to remember things in my past
Good things
Bad things
Things that at time seemed insignificant
Even things that I had thought I had forgotten
Or wished I had forgotten
And he shows me how to use these things to preach his word
And
How to use real life situations to bring clarity to spiritual situations
This is the case here
I have for years when counseling people told them
To stay hooked
I actually learned this from Mike Morrow over at Cross Brand
As a lay Pastor there
He often told me and the others to stay hooked
You see
If you want to grow spiritually
You must
Stay hooked
If you want to straighten out the mess of your life
You must
Stay hooked
If you want to fix your marriage
Stay hooked
Even Jesus himself tells us to stay hooked
You may be asking
Preacher
Where in the bible does Jesus Christ
Say to stay hooked?
Well
I am glad you asked
Please open your bibles this morning to John chapter 15
We are in part 8 of our study of John
And have been studying what it takes to live in Jesus
We have over the last couple of months
Seen and learned that it is belief
That brings life
Eternal life
Abundant life
Life to the full
Belief in Jesus
Belief that he is the only way
Belief that he is the answer
So now in John 15 we see Jesus tell us to stay hooked
Let’s read John 15:1-4
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
In the book of John we see have read many I am Statements from Jesus
And this morning he says
“I am the way to stay hooked”
Ok
That is not really what he said
He said
I am the True grapevine
And my Father is the gardener
So you may ask
Preacher how do you come up with stay hooked from that
Ok let’s read verse 4 again
Verse 4
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Remain in me
Abide in me some versions say
Hooked to the vine
Hooked to Jesus
Look at verse 5-6 with me again
Let me replace the word remain in
With “stay hooked ”
And you will see what I mean
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who stay hooked to me, and I to them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not stay hooked to me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
Remain in me—abide in me---stay hooked
Jesus says
Apart from me you can do nothing
Without him
Our witness
Our studies
Our preaching
Our prayers
Our Christian walk
Our works
Our good deeds
Our money
Or our charity
Are like a dead branches
Without Jesus
They are
Of no value
Here is where I want to focus our teaching this morning
In our spiritual life
If we are not hooked to Jesus
Like a branch to a vine
We cannot produce fruit
And it is fruit that blesses us
It is that fruit that Blesses others’
And
It is that fruit brings glory to God
Last week we saw how
Jesus is the only way to the Father
How he is the only way to heaven
How many people in the world are trying to tell you?
Convince you and the world that they have a better way
But they are mislead or misinformed
Or they are liars
Snake oil salesmen
Wolves
False prophets
See
They are not connected to the true vine
And as a result
They cannot produce spiritual fruit
They don’t even know what true spiritual fruit is
Jesus says
In plain language
That unless you are hooked to the vine
Hooked to him
Then
As far as spiritual things are concerned
You are dead
Just Dead branches
And that
You will be cast aside
I think it is important to stop here for a second and clarify something
Jesus is talking to believers here
Not the lost
And as a result
Many of those false prophets use the following verse to try and prove to you that salvation is not assured
They say that no one can ever be sure that they are truly saved
They say that you can lose the gift that was given to you through the blood sacrifice of Jesus
They say that only if you live a good life and get lucky will you go to heaven
First let’s look at one of the strongest statements about assurance of salvation in scripture
I love these verse – these are what allow me to get up in the morning and lay down at night
From Romans chapter 8
First verses 1-2
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[b] from the power of sin that leads to death.
There is no commendation--- No hell
For those who are in Christ Jesus
Skip down to verses 35-39
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[o]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why do I use these verses so often?
Because assurance of salvation is the key to salvation
A gift that can be lost or taken away is not a gift at all
Jesus died to give you this gift
And IF you accepted the gift
It is yours
And
It will always be yours
Nothing can ever take it from you
So
Let’s look again at John 15: 4-5 and then I will do my best to shine some light on this
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
All of the branches here are from the vine
The burning of the branches is not a symbol of hell
But instead
It is a metaphor about pruning and culling of limbs
All of the limbs that are discarded are from the vine—they are in Christ
They are not of a different vine
They are part of the vine
But those dead branches produce no fruit—Many Christians in this world do not produce fruit
But if—they accepted the free gift of Salvation
They are in Christ
They are of the vine
Let’s think for a minute about pruning of fruit trees or grapevines
Productive vines are pruned in order to make them more productive
And unproductive vines are removed
Both the branches in this story
Both the unproductive and the productive are the followers or believers in Christ
They are both in Christ
But some produce fruit
Others do not
The ones who produce fruit
Thrive and receive the rewards of the fruit
The ones who do not
Obviously do not receive the same rewards because they are not hooked to the vine
The fire simply signifies the deadness of the unproductive Christian
Not their loss of salvation
So let’s talk about the fruit
What is this fruit that the productive branches produce?
We often think of and talk about the fruit of the Christian life and of a successful
Sold out
All in believer
Being that of
Leading others to Jesus
We know and have studied about how this is our purpose
Our commission and our responsibility
Witnessing
Preaching
Teaching
Showing love and kindness
To others
So they can have what we have
And
Listen
That fruit is important
That fruit is amazing
And when we are productive the blessings we get from this type of fruit can be so sweet
But
We also produce fruit that is for us-----
We often only think of fruit as our reach for the kingdom
But some of the fruit we produce is for us
Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the spirit
I have preached on this fruit man time
Today I want to focus on this type of fruit
The fruit that is for our benefit
It is this fruit that the productive branches – the ones that are hooked receive
And it is this fruit that the unhooked branches miss out on
Flip over top Galatians chapter 5 with me and let me read for you these fruits
Ya’ll have heard this before if you have spent any time here at Caney Creek at all
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.
You see the first 3 fruits are for us
The others help us show Jesus to the world
They help people see Jesus in us
The last 6 can identify us as Christians to the world
We will be known by our fruit
And these are very important
But God in his infinite mercy gives us three gifts that are designed for us and for our benefit
And it is these gifts that the ones who are believers
But
Who have come unhooked
Miss out on
Love, joy, peace,
Love
A couple of weeks back we learned about
Pure love
Unconditional love
Sacrificial love
We saw the pure love that is Jesus put himself aside and wash the disciple’s feet
Those who are not still hooked miss out on that love
I am not saying that Jesus does not love them- he loves us all
Remember he washed Judas feet as well
But
It is only when we are hooked to the vine that is Jesus that we can ever
Realize
Feel
Experience
Know
Or show
This Love
True love
Pure love
We can only give love when we know love
And we can only know love when we are hooked to the one who is love
Joy
The only way we ever experience joy is through Jesus
You see the world seeks happiness
Even our constitution talks about the pursuit of happiness
But happiness is conditional
God’s primary goal for believers is not as many wrongly believe or preach
Is our happiness
This world is filled with times of trouble and hardships and pain
Even for believers
But it is his desire that we know Joy
Joy does not depend on how much money you make
How popular you are
Joy does not depend on another person’s love or even hate for you
Joy comes only from the Lord
Joy is a gift from God
It comes with the gift of the Holy Spirit
And only
Those who reside in the Lord
Those who abide in the Lord
Those who are hooked to Jesus
Will ever know Joy
All believers have it in their hearts to know Joy
But only those believers that are hooked with Jesus will ever find it
Joy is that gift that tells you that no matter what happens
God has got this
A cancer diagnosis without Joy can be devastating
With Joy it can be just another way to glorify the Lord
Joy does not fade like happiness
But
Only those who are in Christ
Those who are hooked will ever know joy
Peace
This is a big one for me
I love the song that the band sings
An old Eagles song that has been rewritten
I’ve got a Peaceful easy feeling
Peace
This is a true gift and a sweet fruit
To know peace
And feel peace in any circumstance
To stand against all comers
Whatever happens?
Whatever Old slick can throw your way
Whatever the world brings
And
Have peace in your heart
To know it is all going to be alright
To know at the end of the day
At the end of the road
At the end of this life
There is more
So much more
Than we could ever hope for
Wish for
Or want for
Guys
That is peace
And only those who know Jesus and are hooked to Jesus will ever find or know this peace
So
I have been talking about
Being hooked
Unhooked
Residing in
Abiding in
The vine
Jesus Christ
So what does all this mean?
How do we stay hooked?
Well
In order to stay hooked
First you have to get hooked
That means you must be saved
You must have made a conscious on purpose decision at some time in your life to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior
You must know that you are in Christ
That you are of the vine
That you belong to God
Listen to me because this is important
If you are not sure that you are saved-----repeat
Then I can tell you
You are not saved
You must know that you know that you know
If you don’t- you’re not
You are still lost
But the good news is
But you don’t have to stay lost
So let’s say you’re saved
You are sure you are saved
What’s next?
How do I stay hooked you may ask
Well first
We must be obedient
And
Our fist act of obedience as a believer is baptism
This is showing the world that we want to be known as a believer
It is showing the world that we are in the vine
That we want to start over
Not for salvation---The water just gets you wet
But
As a confession of your new found faith in Jesus
In cowboy church we like to say that you are accepting his brand and telling anyone who will listen and all who see
That you are going to ride for his brand
You are now playing for the another team
The right team
Before salvation
Even if you were a good person you were on Satan’s team- just like I was
Riding for his brand
And Now
You are riding for Jesus—baptism shows the world who you ride for
Next
Open your bible
Read your bible
Study the bible
Apply the bible to your life
Jesus says if you live me you will follow my commands
That you will do what he says
How in the world can you follow commands that you do not know
How can you do what he says if you don’t know what he says
That is being hooked to Jesus
I don’t know how many times
I have cried with and talked with people in life wrecks and when I ask them how often they read their bibles, they just kind of stare at me
They never open God’s word
Their bibles are on the coffee table except on Sunday
On the dash of the truck, holding down the plastic and gathering dust
Left at Church in their chair
Left in a bag
Only taken out on Sunday
And even then
We project the scripture so maybe it is only carried to church
Not opened
Not read
As much as I wish it would
The bible can’t be put to use in our lives if it is not opened
Not studied
Next
Pray
Talk to God
Tell him your concerns
He already knows what they are
Tell him your desires
He knows them too
Tell him about your life
Confess your sins to him
He already knows what you’ve done
But he knows that by confessing them
You are cleaning the junk out of your own life
Moving out the rubbish to make more room for Jesus
Pray and thank God for your blessings
Even the things that often don’t seem to be blessings
Praise him in the storm and in the calm
When you get where you can do hat
You are truly hooked to Jesus
Then hang out with other believers
Go to church
Go to bible studies
Go to church activities’
Surround yourself with other branches that produce fruit
See how they are blessed
Listen to their testimonies
Share your testimony with them
It is amazing that when we share our Jesus story
That when we talk about our problems
We soon see that we are not alone
That other people have the same problems
Same hang-ups
As we do
And that God loves them and us anyway
So Jesus in cowboy terms tells us
Stay hooked and you will produce fruit
Stay hooked and you will receive the blessings of that fruit
Stay hooked and others will see the fruit and the blessing
And
They will want what you have
Verse 8 says that when we stay hooked
Not only do we become his true disciples
But that the fruit that we produce will bring glory and great Joy to God
Close from the heart
Pray
