The Word

The Word

Vol. 9 No. 21

May 23, 2010

Upper Room Discourse

Divine Good Production

John 15:7-8

John 15:7, “If you are occupied with Me, and you are occupied with My words, (Bible Doctrine), begin to ask whatever you all desire and it, (your prayer petitions), will come to pass, (be answered).”

Prayer and Eternal Fruit: Fruit (Divine Good Production) is a work that the Lord produces through His branches (believers). It is a work that remains forever, bringing Him glory and for which He promises reward.

So the questions arise, “How do we live this life of faithful fruit-bearing?”, or “how can we please the Lord and hope to receive a reward when we stand before Him at the BEMA seat?”

Now if we are truly honest with ourselves and look inside, what we typically see is spiritual cowardice. We look around at the world and we see only the storm; a raging sea of reasons to worry with turbulent waves of uncertainty, financial whirlpools, political upheaval, winds of trouble, dark clouds of sickness, and lightening bolts of death striking close.

In the world there is worry where danger roars and thunders, but there is another soothing sound we need to listen for, and that is “the Voice of Truth.”

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Likewise, our Lord proclaims in John 15:7, “abide in Me and abide in My Words”, there He is imploring us to hear “the Voice of Truth.”

Remember that John 15:5 tells us that, “we can do nothing apart from Him.”

As we have also noted, “to abide in Him”, is to remain in, stay close to, make our home with, dwell within, focus on, or be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ. This requires time with Him, which can only be done in the Word, not the world.

Matthew 14:22-31 gives us an illustration. The disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, exactly where Jesus told them to be. Most were fishermen, who could depend on their own skills and abilities to steer their boat, so they thought…“But when the boat was many stadia (about 607 feet) from the land, it became battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.” Fear and panic overtook their faith.

Jesus sees what is going on. He has authority over the storm, but He does not stop the squall, instead He comes to them in the middle of the turbulence, walking on the water. Through the wind He calls, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

The Lord of Glory manifested His power over nature! Will that invoke courage and faith from His disciples? For Peter it did, briefly. For a few glorious moments Peter focused only on Christ. He gave up the security of the boat to walk with Jesus on top of the water. The Omnipotent One made each step sure. What astonishment and wonder must have shook Peter’s heart!

But then Peter did the human thing, he took his eyes off Jesus. Peter glanced down at the swirling water instead of looking up to the Rock of Ages. (Analogous to turning on the TV news instead of reading the Bible). Peter, now disconnected from Christ, sunk fast.

Our Lord reached out to save him, but also rebuked him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Like the disciples, we have a choice: Stay in the boat relying in our own strength or take the walk of faith, trusting all to Jesus.

What thrills await you when faith takes you water-walking with the Lord!

As we saw briefly with Peter, a life focused on Christ exacts a reward even now, as He makes each step an exciting adventure! His power alone will produce the rewards both in time and for eternity.

So moment by moment we must decide “where will I abide”, in the world or in the Lord? Focused on the storms or on Jesus? Where will I invest my time, talent, treasure and truth…in my own flimsy little boat or on the work of God for His glory?

When you abide in the Work of God, “whatever you ask it shall be done for you”, whether it be moving mountains (Mat 17:20; 21:21; 1 Cor 13:2) or walking on water.

Turning to Verse 8 our complete translation is, “In the realm of this, (Divine Good Production), My Father is glorified that you all keep on bearing much fruit and you all become My disciples.”

Principles:

1) There were and are many so called disciples that did not and do not follow Jesus. They are believers but they do not follow Him.

2) In verse 8 Jesus is talking about the essence of true discipleship as Spiritual Maturity. He is using the word “disciple” in the sense of a true follower who goes all the way with His teaching.

3) Disciple is not a synonym for believer. A disciple is one who is committed to spiritual growth and Spiritual Maturity.

4) Glorification of God comes through Spiritual Maturity, through fruit production. That is the goal in the spiritual life.

5) The purpose for our salvation is to glorify God to the maximum, and that doesn’t happen until Spiritual Maturity because consistent fruit bearing doesn’t happen until Spiritual Adulthood

6) “My Father is glorified” is the function of the supergrace believer’s life whether he is thinking, saying or doing.

7) Prayer is a perfect illustration because in prayer you both “think” and “do” as you offer your prayers to God.

8) The issue for the believer in prayer is thinking in terms of Bible Doctrine.

9) The Father is glorified because it is His Plan that you are thinking about when offering your prayers.

10) Likewise, it is the grace Plan of the Father in both your ability to offer prayers and His sovereignty to answer your prayers.

11) God is glorified is the Aorist, Passive, Indicative of DOXAZO.

a) The Gnomic Aorist tells us it is an absolute principle.

b) The Passive Voice tells us the Father receives the glory from His own Plan.

c) The Indicative Mood is the reality of the fact that God the Father is glorified by the thinking of the supergrace believer in prayer and in producing Divine Good.

12) Divine Good is only possible when we are Occupied with the Person / Word of Jesus Christ, and our prayers are the reflection of that Occupation as we invoke God to lead us in Divine Good Production, with the purpose that the Father is glorified.

How the Believer Glorifies God.

1. God is glorified at the moment of our salvation through adoption into the Family of God.

Eph 1:5‑6, ”Having predesigned us to adoption (the appointment of adult) sons (for Himself) through Jesus Christ, according to the kind intention (benevolent purpose) of His will, to the praise of glory (from the source) of His grace, which He freely bestowed on (has pursued) us in the Beloved.”

2. God is glorified through His Plan for the indwelling of Christ in the Church Age believer.

Col 1:27, “To whom the God decreed to make known what is the riches (wealth) of the glory of the mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope (confidence) of glory.”

3. God is glorified by means of the church, Eph 3:21, when believers attain spiritual adulthood and move to spiritual maturity where those believers are said to be “filled with all the fullness of God”, Eph 3:19.

There are three categories of spiritual adulthood:

a. Spiritual Self-Esteem as cognitive self-confidence.

b. Spiritual Autonomy as cognitive independence.

c. Spiritual Maturity as cognitive invincibility, when you are manufactured into an invisible hero.

4. The believer glorifies God when he parlays the Life Beyond Gnosis, Eph 3:19, into the Life Beyond Dreams, Eph 3:20.

a. The Life Beyond Gnosis is EPIGNOSIS Doctrine in the Right Lobe of your soul which is achieved by the consistent function of post-salvation renewing of your mind, Rom 12:2.

b. This means cognition of the Mystery Doctrine for the Church Age through perception, metabolization, and application, by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Learning Bible doctrine in the Old Testament won't advance you in the Life Beyond Gnosis. You must understand the Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age, which is found in the New Testament epistles. It contains all the mechanics for the Plan of God in this Dispensation.

c. The result is the attainment of spiritual adulthood. Then you begin to gather fantastic and dynamic momentum.

d. With spiritual momentum Spiritual Maturity parlays the Life Beyond Gnosis into the Life Beyond Dreams, which becomes the basis for maximum glorification of God.

5. The pattern for glorifying God includes suffering for blessing, 1 Peter 1:6-9, not divine discipline or self-induced misery under the law of volitional responsibility. As John 15:2 states, “He prunes it that it may bear more fruit.”

There are three categories of suffering for blessing:

a. Providential Preventative Suffering.

b. Momentum Testing.

c. Evidence Testing.

6. God is then glorified by our Divine Good Production as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:8. There are three categories of Divine Good Production:

a. Bearing fruit, John 15:2.

b. Bearing more fruit, John 15:2.

c. Bearing much fruit, John 15:5, 8.

7. Glorification of God through Divine Good Production includes:

a. God is glorified through the confession of our sins. Joshua 7:19-20, “Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me’.”

b. God is glorified through our priestly service, 1 Chron 16:4: 23:5, 30; 2 Chron 7:6; 8:14; Ezra 3:10; Neh 9:5.

c. God is glorified by submitting to governing authorities, Rom 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-15.

d. God is glorified through our prayers, 1 Chron 29:10-20.

e. God is glorified through our thanksgiving, Eph 1:3-14; Heb 13:5.

f. God is glorified through our hymns, songs and psalms. Ex 15:1-20; Judges 5:3; 2 Chron 5:13: Psa 7:17; 21:13; 22:22ff; 66:1ff; Acts 16:25.

Ex 15:1-3, “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. ²The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. ³The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name.”

If you would like more information on this subject,

you may listen to lessons 10-055 and 10-056.

A PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you. God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son for you by sending Him to the cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place. Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore our sins will never be held against us. Right where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in your life. To accept the free gift of eternal life by truly believing that Jesus Christ died for you. So wherever you are, pause to reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:

"Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."

If you have done that, I welcome you to the Eternal Family of God!

Property of:

Grace Fellowship Church, Pastor James H. Rickard

James H. Rickard Bible Ministries ã