Greg Laurie tells a story about a woman, who had finished shopping and returned to her car. She found four men inside the car. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun, and screamed, “I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car.” Those men did not wait for a second invitation; they got out and ran like crazy.
The woman, somewhat shaken, loaded her shopping bags and then got into the car. But no matter how she tried, she could not get her key into the ignition. Then it dawned on her: her car was parked four or five spaces away! She loaded her grocery bags into her own car and then drove to the police station to turn herself in.
The desk sergeant to whom she told the story nearly fell off his chair laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four men were reporting a carjacking by an old woman with thick glasses and curly white hair, less than five feet tall, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed. (Greg Laurie, “A Time to Worship,” Decision, November 2001; www.PreachingToday.com)
It was a case of mistaken identity. The woman mistook another man’s car for her own. No doubt the two cars looked the same, but they belonged to different people.
In the same way, sometimes it is hard to determine who belongs to Christ or not. A lot of people look the same on the outside, especially religious people. But adversity often brings out a person’s real identity.
So what does a genuine follower of Christ do in difficult times? What are the marks of a true disciple of Christ? What identifies the real Christian in times of adversity? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 15, John 15, where Jesus describes what His true followers do especially in hard times.
John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (ESV)
You prove you’re a genuine follower of Christ when you bear fruit, i.e., when you’re productive even in times of adversity. But you cannot do that on your own. You can’t manufacture the kind of character which truly benefits people in your own strength, no. In order to bear fruit even in times of adversity, you must...
ABIDE IN CHRIST.
You must remain in Him. You must stay connected to Jesus through loving obedience to His Word. That’s what genuine followers of Christ do all the time, but especially in difficult times. They stay close to Christ!
Jesus uses the metaphor of a grapevine and its branches. God, the Father, is the gardener. Jesus, the Son, is the vine, and His followers are the branches.
Now, God expects to see “grapes” when He walks through His vineyard, and if He sees grapes, he prunes those branches (vs.2). He prunes the fruitful branches, so they can bear even more fruit! Did you notice the progression? In verse 2, Jesus talks about “fruit” and “more fruit.” Then in verse 5, Jesus talks about “much fruit.” Now, the pruning process can be painful, but it is well worth it!
A schoolteacher described a peach tree that stood in her back yard. Unpruned, the true grew big and leafy, and it was loaded with peaches, although the fruit was disappointingly small and tasteless.
Then her husband, Larry, was laid off for a year. He had nothing else to do, so he went to work on the tree. When the schoolteacher came home from school one day and saw how far back he had pruned it, she stared in shock. “You’ve killed it,” she cried. “Now we won’t have any peaches at all.”
She was wrong. That spring, the pruned branches burst forth with a beautiful blanketing of pink blossoms. Soon little green peaches replaced the blossoms. “Leave them alone,” she begged. Larry ignored her and thinned the fruit.
By the end of the summer, the branches were so heavily laden, they had to be propped up. And the peaches – oh, how large and sweet and juicy they were. There was no denying it: the tree was far better off for the painful cutting it endured under Larry’s pruning shears.
So it is for the fruit-bearing followers of Jesus. They’re not exempt from suffering and pain (including COVID-19). Instead, God uses the painful pruning to make them even more fruitful! So trust God, your Heavenly Gardener, in this time. You WILL come out more productive on the other side! That’s because if God sees grapes, He prunes those branches so they can bear even more fruit.
But if God doesn’t see grapes on a branch, He either props it up or He puts it in the burn pile.
Verse 2 says, if you are connected to the vine, He “takes you away.” Lit., in the original language, He lifts you up. He props you up. He raises you up out of the dark undergrowth into the light of His Word, so you can bear fruit.
Maybe you’re not fruitful, because you’re in a dark place these days. You’re still connected to Jesus, but you can’t see the light. Please, be assured, God will NOT throw you away. Instead, He will lift you up so you can absorb the light and be spiritually productive again.
But if you’re NOT connected to the vine, i.e., if you have no relationship with Jesus, verse 6 says, He throws you away. He considers you useless for His purposes, good only for the burn pile.
So stay connected to the vine. Remain close to Christ if you want to bear fruit and be useful to your Heavenly Father especially in times of adversity. Practically speaking, that means bask in His love so much so that you can’t help but follow His instructions.
John 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. (ESV)
Abiding in Christ is not so much about doing something as it is about receiving His love and responding with loving obedience.
Steve Winger talks about a ski trip where he saw a blind person skiing. At first it surprised him, but he noticed that the blind skier, wearing a bright pink vest, stayed directly behind an instructor, listening for directions on how and when to turn. Over the next several days, he saw many blind skiers always following somebody who gave them the information they needed to make is safely down the mountain. (Steve Winger, Lubbock, Texas, Leadership, Vol.15, no.2)
So often in life, you’re blind, not knowing which way to turn, especially in times like these. Even so, you have a Teacher who loves you. All you have to do is stick with Him and listen to His instructions as He guides you through life. Just pay attention to His Word, the Bible, and He’ll bring you safely through.
As a result, you’ll be blessed instead of stressed. God will answer your prayers (verse 7), and you’ll find real joy even in the face of adversity. Look at what Jesus said on the eve of His crucifixion.
John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (ESV)
Find full joy when you abide in Christ.
Author and Pastor Max Lucado talks about being an avid cyclist at one time in his life. A guy in his church had offered to teach him about cycling. So Lucado bought a bike, some clip-in shoes, and spandex. He went out and loved it.
Then his friend started telling him that he needed to get some gadgets: a speedometer, a monitor for his pulse rate, and a device to read the incline of a hill. So Max Lucado ended up with gauges on gauges. Then there was the music. His cycling expert friend told him, “You'll bike better if you listen to some hard rock.” So Max Lucado did—and all of a sudden, he says, “I was a SERIOUS biker.”
Then, one day, Max Lucado wrecked his bike. He had to borrow a friend's bike—one with no gadgets on it at all. And for whatever reason, he didn't take any music with him on his ride. He was surprised by how much he enjoyed that ride. Lucado says, “It was delightful, just delightful. I was riding for the pure joy of riding.”
Then he makes the analogy to his church work. He says, “I can become so budget conscious, so numbers conscious, so growth conscious… So here I am 62 years old… I think I'm enjoying ministry more because I'm focusing on the “gauges” less. I'm more at peace.” (Max Lucado, interviewed by Paul J. Pastor, “Max Lucado; Beyond Anxious,” OUTREACH, November/ December 2017; www.PreachingToday.com)
All too often people focus on the gauges of success – money, achievement, promotions, the approval of others, their social media presence, etc. But that takes the joy out of life. Instead, keep your focus on the Lord and His love for you. You’ll enjoy life so much more.
I like the way Russell Moore put it in Christianity Today several years ago. He said: For too long, we've called unbelievers to “invite Jesus into your life,” [but] Jesus doesn't want to be in YOUR life. Your life's a wreck. [Instead], Jesus calls you into HIS life. And his life isn't boring or purposeless or static. It's wild and exhilarating and unpredictable (Russell Moore, “A Purpose Driven Cosmos,” Christianity Today, February 2012; www. PreachingToday.com).
That’s the way it is for a true follower of Christ, so come into HIS life. Abide in Christ and experience the joy of a fruitful and productive life. Abide in Christ first. Then, with His life flowing through you...
ABOUND IN LOVE.
Be full of compassion for each other. Give sacrificially to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus says...
John 15:12-17 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (ESV)
Jesus wants you to love each other as He loved you! I.e., He wants you to love each other as “friends,” because that’s the way He loved you!
In Bible days, the word “friends” described the “inner circle” of people connected to a king or an emperor. They were called “the friends of the king,” with whom the king shared his deepest secrets. King David had some of these close “friends” (2 Samuel 23). On one occasion, three of them risked their lives just to get him a drink of water from a well in Bethlehem, which was guarded by a garrison of Philistine soldiers.
That’s what friends do for each other! They love each other enough to risk their lives for each other. In fact, they sometimes GIVE their lives. That’s what Jesus did for us. He died on a cross to save us, His friends, from our sins. And He asks us to do the same for each other.
In his book Dad the Family Coach, Dave Simmons describes a trip he and his two children made to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, one day. As they drove up, they spotted a Peterbilt 18-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, “Petting Zoo.”
Helen (his 8-year-old daughter) and Brandon (his 5-year-old son) jumped up in a rush and asked, “Daddy, can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?”
“Sure,” Dave replied, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. The children bolted away, and he felt free to take his time looking for a scroll saw.
A few minutes later, Dave turned around and saw Helen walking along behind him. He was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. But no, that wasn’t why she was there, so Dave bent down and asked her what was wrong.
She looked up at me with those giant, limpid, brown eyes and said sadly, “Well, Daddy, it cost 50 cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter.” Then she said the most beautiful thing Dave ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is, “Love is action!”
What do you think Dave did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as he finished shopping, he took Helen to the petting zoo. They stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. Dave had 50 cents burning a hole in his pocket, but he never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.
Why? Because she knew the whole family motto. It’s not, “Love is action.” It’s “Love is sacrificial action!” Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive, and Helen was willing to pay the price, because she loved her brother. (Dave Simmons, Dad the Family Coach, Victor Books, 1991, pp. 123-124; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the kind of love to which Jesus calls His followers. He calls them to sacrificial action! In these days, that means stay home if you can, wash your hands, and pray like God is listening, because He is.
If you’re a genuine follower of Christ, abide in Christ first. Then with His life flowing through you, abound in love, sacrificial love, for each other. Then finally...
ADVANCE IN POWER.
Go into a hostile world and give them Jesus. Become an effective witness for Christ even to those who hate you. For Jesus warned His followers that the world would hate them.
John 15:18-25 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ (ESV)
They hated Jesus; they’ll hate His followers, as well.
For example, just a little more than a week ago (March 27, 2020), Katherine Steward in an opinion piece for the New York Times blamed Christians for the Coronavirus spreading so rapidly in our country. She claims that “the religious right’s hostility to science is crippling our Coronavirus response.”
She writes, “Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a [Christian nationalist] movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise. In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that movement has sown.”
She goes on to claim that the “denial of science and critical thinking among religious ultraconservatives now haunts the American response to the coronavirus crisis.” She says it “played a major role in creating and promoting the economic foundations of America’s incompetent response to the pandemic” (Katherine Stewart, “The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response,” The New York Times, March 27, 2020).
Besides grossly misrepresenting Christina people, Katherine Steward displays open hostility towards them. But that’s what Jesus told us to expect. The world hated Jesus; they’ll hate His followers as well.
So if you’re popular in the world, you better check to see if you’re a genuine follower of Christ. J. I. Packer put it this way in his book Knowing God: “Opposition is a fact: the Christian who is not conscious of being opposed had better watch himself for he is in danger” (J. I. Packer, Knowing God; www.PreachingToday.com).
The world hates genuine followers of Christ, but genuine followers of Christ do not hate the people in the world.
On the contrary, they are willing risk their lives introducing Jesus the Savior of the world, to the world. Look at what Jesus said.
John 15:26-27
“Bear witness” is the word martureo in the original language. It’s the same word we get our word martyr from. That’s because many of the original followers of Christ were martyred just for sharing Christ with their neighbors.
You see, it’s risky to testify of Jesus to those who hate Him, but you don’t have to do it alone. Jesus promises a “Helper,” the Holy Spirit, who “bears witness” as you “bear witness” of Christ. You’re part of a team with the Holy Spirit, sharing Christ in His power.
Michael Ramsden, a co-worker with Ravi Zacharias, shared the following true story about a minister from Iran. As the minister was driving with his wife, they stopped in a small Iranian village to purchase some water. Before entering, the minister noticed a man holding a machine gun and leaning against the wall outside the store.
The minister's wife looked at the man's face and the gun, then put a Bible in her husband's hand and said, “Give that man this Bible.”
Her husband looked at the man—his menacing beard and his machine gun—and replied, “I don't think so.”
But she persisted: “I'm serious. Give it to him. Please, give him the Bible.”
Trying to avoid the issue, the husband said, “Okay, I'll pray about it.” He went into the shop, purchased the water, climbed back into the car, and started to drive away.
His wife looked at him and said, “I guess you didn't give him the Bible, did you?”
Looking straight ahead, he replied, “No, I prayed about it and it wasn't the right thing to do.”
She quietly said, “You should have given him the Bible,” and then she bowed her head and started praying.
At that point, he turned around and told his wife, “Fine! If you want me to die, I will.”
When the minister returned to the store, the man with the machine gun was still standing against the wall. The minister approached him and placed the Bible in his hand. When the man opened it and saw it was a Bible, he started to cry. “I don't live here,” he said. “I had to walk for three days in order to get to this village. But three days ago an angel appeared to me and told me to walk to this village and wait until someone had given me the Book of Life. Thank you for giving me this book.”
After that, the minister became a courageous witness for Christ. Eventually, along with many other co-workers in the Iranian church, he was martyred for his faith. (Michael Ramsden, “An Uncompromising Faith Lived Out with Grace,” Just Thinking, 1-26-09; www.PreachingToday.com)
That Iranian minister discovered that he wasn’t alone in his witness for Christ. The Holy Spirit bore witness with him, opening the hearts of people to receive God’s Word. It made him a bold and effective witness, and the Holy Spirit can do the same for you.
So even in the face of hostility, don’t be afraid to share Christ. Who knows? Like that Iranian minister, you may discover that the Holy Spirit has already gone before to open the hearts of people He leads you to.
That’s what genuine followers of Christ do even in difficult times. They abide in Christ, abound in love, and advance with power. You do the same and so prove to be a genuine follower of Christ.
Once upon a time, a man walked through the forest, looking for an interesting bird. He caught a young eagle, brought it home, and put it among the fowls and ducks and turkeys. He gave it chicken food to eat even though it was an eagle, the king of birds.
Five years later, a naturalist came to see him and, after passing through his garden, said, “That bird is an eagle, not a chicken.”
“Yes,” said the owner, “but I have trained it to be a chicken. It is no longer an eagle; it is a chicken, even thought it measures 15 feet from one tip to tip of its wings.”
“No,” said the naturalist. “It is an eagle still; it has the heart of an eagle, and I will make it soar high up to the heavens.”
“No,” said the owner. “It is a chicken and it will never fly.”
They agreed to test it. The naturalist picked up the eagle, held it up and said with great intensity: “Eagle, thou art an eagle; thou dost belong to the sky and not to this earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly!”
The eagle turned this way and that; and then looking down, saw the chickens eating their food and down he jumped.
The owner said, “I told you it was a chicken.”
“No,” said the naturalist. “It is an eagle. Give it another chance tomorrow.”
So the next day, he took it to the top of the house and said, “Eagle, thou art an eagle; stretch forth thy wings and fly!” But the eagle, seeing the chickens feeding, jumped down and fed with them.
Then the owner said, “I told you it was a chicken.”
“No,” asserted the naturalist. “It is an eagle, and it has the heart of an eagle. Only give it one more chance, and I will make it fly tomorrow.”
The next morning, he rose early and took the eagle outside the city and away from the houses to the foot of a high mountain. The sun was just rising, painting the top of the mountain with gold. Every crag was glistening in the joy of that beautiful morning.
He picked up the eagle and said to it: “Eagle, thou art an eagle; thou dost belong to the sky and not to this earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly!”
The eagle looked around and trembled as if new life were coming to it. Yet it did not fly. The naturalist then made it look straight at the sun. Suddenly, it stretched out its wings and, with the screech of an eagle, it mounted higher and higher and never returned. It was, after all, an eagle, even thought it had been kept and tamed as a chicken (James Aggrey).
My dear friends, as a follower of Christ in these difficult days, don’t forget who you are. You’re an eagle, so don’t be content with the food of chickens any longer. Instead, look to the Son of God, stretch forth your wings and fly!
