abide

Bible Study Guides – The True Vine

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September 7, 2008 – September 13, 2008

Key Text

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” John 15:5.

Study Help: The Desire of Ages, 674-678; Christ’s Object Lessons, 139-149.

Introduction

“Do not disappoint Him who so loved you that He gave His own life to cancel your sins. He says, ‘Without Me ye can do nothing.’ John 15:5. Remember this. If you have made mistakes, you certainly gain a victory if you see these mistakes and regard them as beacons of warning. Thus you turn defeat into victory, disappointing the enemy and honoring your Redeemer.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 332.

1 How can one profess to be “in Christ,” yet bear no fruit? John 15:1, 2, 6.

Note: “Since Christ has paid the price for all the service that we should give Him, we are His servants by purchase. Although we are in Christ Jesus by His covenant of promise, yet if we stand in a position of perfect indifference, without acknowledging Him as our Saviour, we bear no fruit. If by failing to be a partaker of His divine nature we bear no fruit, we are taken away. Worldly influences take us away from Christ, and our portion is the same as that of the unfruitful branch.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1143.

2 What is the work of Christ in behalf of those who bear fruit? John 15:2.

Note: “If we do not bear any fruit, the powers of darkness take possession of our minds, our affections, our service, and we are of the world, though we profess to be children of God. This is neither a safe nor a pleasant position, because we lose all the beauty and the glory and the satisfaction that it is our privilege to have. By abiding in Christ, we may have His sweetness, His fragrance, His light. Christ is the Light of the world. He shines in our hearts. His light in our hearts shines forth from our faces. By beholding the beauty and the glory of Christ, we become changed into the same image.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1143.

3 How can we have our character purified? John 15:3.

Note: “The truths of the word of God meet man’s great practical necessity—the conversion of the soul through faith. These grand principles are not to be thought too pure and holy to be brought into the daily life. They are truths which reach to heaven and compass eternity, yet their vital influence is to be woven into human experience. They are to permeate all the great things and all the little things of life.

“Received into the heart, the leaven of truth will regulate the desires, purify the thoughts, and sweeten the disposition. It quickens the faculties of the mind and the energies of the soul. It enlarges the capacity for feeling, for loving.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 100, 101.

4 What changes will be revealed in the life of true believers? Isaiah 1:16, 17.

Note: “The selfish, money-loving man lives only to secure for himself the riches, honors, and pleasures of this world. He loses the eternal world from his reckoning. But with the follower of Christ these things will not be all-absorbing. For Christ’s sake he will labor and deny self, that he may aid in the great work of saving souls who are without Christ and without hope in the world. Such a man the world cannot understand; for he is keeping in view eternal realities. The love of Christ with its redeeming power has come into the heart. This love masters every other motive, and raises its possessor above the corrupting influence of the world.

“The word of God is to have a sanctifying effect on our association with every member of the human family. The leaven of truth will not produce the spirit of rivalry, the love of ambition, the desire to be first. True, heaven-born love is not selfish and changeable. It is not dependent on human praise. The heart of him who receives the grace of God overflows with love for God and for those for whom Christ died. Self is not struggling for recognition. He does not love others because they love and please him, because they appreciate his merits, but because they are Christ’s purchased possession. If his motives, words, or actions are misunderstood or misrepresented, he takes no offense, but pursues the even tenor of his way. He is kind and thoughtful, humble in his opinion of himself, yet full of hope, always trusting in the mercy and love of God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 101, 102.

5 How can we live a fruitful spiritual life? John 15:4, 5.

Note: “A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for our redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first and last and best in everything. But this union costs us something. It is a union of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood of Christ. They must have a change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment as well as a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness—sin in all its forms—must be overcome if we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is that they try to attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from these cherished idols. Testimonies, vol. 5, 231.

6 How is it possible to preserve our union with Christ? Hebrews 12:1, 2.

Note: “After the union with Christ has been formed, it can be preserved only by earnest prayer and untiring effort. We must resist, we must deny, we must conquer self. Through the grace of Christ, by courage, by faith, by watchfulness, we may gain the victory.

“Believers become one in Christ, but one branch cannot be sustained by another. The nourishment must be obtained through the vital connection with the vine. We must feel our utter dependence on Christ. We must live by faith on the Son of God. That is the meaning of the injunction: ‘Abide in Me.’ The life we live in the flesh is not to the will of men, not to please our Lord’s enemies, but to serve and honor Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. A mere assent to this union, while the affections are not detached from the world, its pleasures and its dissipations, only emboldens the heart in disobedience.

“As a people we are sadly destitute of faith and love. Our efforts are altogether too feeble for the time of peril in which we live. The pride and self-indulgence, the impiety and iniquity, by which we are surrounded have an influence upon us. Few realize the importance of shunning, so far as possible, all associations unfriendly to religious life.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 231, 232.

7 What are the key conditions for obtaining answers to our prayers? John 15:7; I John 2:3–5.

Note: “Many are forfeiting the condition of acceptance with the Father. We need to examine closely the deed of trust wherewith we approach God. If we are disobedient, we bring to the Lord a note to be cashed when we have not fulfilled the conditions that would make it payable to us. We present to God His promises, and ask Him to fulfill them, when by so doing He would dishonor His own name. …

“One of Christ’s last commands to His disciples was ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ (John 13:34). Do we obey this command, or are we indulging sharp, unchristlike traits of character? If we have in any way grieved or wounded others, it is our duty to confess our fault and seek for reconciliation. This is an essential preparation that we may come before God in faith, to ask His blessing.

“There is another matter too often neglected by those who seek the Lord in prayer. Have you been honest with God? By the prophet Malachi the Lord declares, ‘Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.’ Malachi 3:7, 8.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 143, 144.

8 With what other conditions must we comply before God can answer our prayers? Psalm 66:18; Mark 11:24.

Note: “If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will answer our petitions. Our own merit will never commend us to the favor of God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will save us, His blood that will cleanse us; yet we have a work to do in complying with the conditions of acceptance.” Steps to Christ, 95.

“The beloved John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks with great plainness and assurance: ‘If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.’ I John 5:14, 15. Then press your petition to the Father in the name of Jesus. God will honor that name.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 148.

9 On what condition can we abide in Christ’s love? John 15:9, 10.

Note: “Always kind, courteous, ever taking the part of the oppressed, whether Jew or Gentile, Christ was beloved by all. By His perfect life and character, He answered the question asked in the fifteenth Psalm: ‘Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.’ [Verses 1, 2.] In childhood and youth His course was such that when engaged in work as a teacher, He could say to His disciples, ‘If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love: even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.’ [John 15:10.]” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 402.

10 How did Christ summarize the law and reveal its essence? John 15:12, 13.

Note: “Christ has given us an example of pure, disinterested love. You have not as yet seen your deficiency in this respect, and your great need of this heavenly attainment, without which all your good purposes, and your zeal, even if it be of that nature that you could give your goods to feed the poor and your body to be burned, is nothing. You need that charity which suffereth long, is not easily provoked, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Without the spirit of love, no one can be like Christ. With this living principle in the soul, no one can be like the world.

“The conduct of Christians is like that of their Lord. He erected the standard, and it is left for us to say whether or not we will rally around it. Our Lord and Saviour laid aside His dominion, His riches and glory, and sought after us, that He might save us from misery and make us like Himself.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 169, 170.

Additional Reading

“Jesus and the disciples were on the way to Gethsemane, at the foot of Mount Olivet, a retired spot which He had often visited for meditation and prayer. The Saviour had been explaining to His disciples His mission to the world, and the spiritual relation to Him which they were to sustain. Now He illustrates the lesson. The moon is shining bright, and reveals to Him a flourishing grapevine. Drawing the attention of the disciples to it, He employs it as a symbol.

“ ‘I am the true Vine,’ [John 15:1] He says. Instead of choosing the graceful palm, the lofty cedar, or the strong oak, Jesus takes the vine with its clinging tendrils to represent Himself. The palm tree, the cedar, and the oak stand alone. They require no support. But the vine entwines about the trellis, and thus climbs heavenward. So Christ in His humanity was dependent upon divine power. ‘I can of Mine own self do nothing,’ He declared. John 5:30.

“ ‘I am the Vine, ye are the branches,’ [John 15:5] Christ said to His disciples. Though He was about to be removed from them, their spiritual union with Him was to be unchanged. The connection of the branch with the vine, He said, represents the relation you are to sustain to Me. The scion is engrafted into the living vine, and fiber by fiber, vein by vein, it grows into the vine stock. The life of the vine becomes the life of the branch. So the soul dead in trespasses and sins receives life through connection with Christ. By faith in Him as a personal Saviour the union is formed. The sinner unites his weakness to Christ’s strength, his emptiness to Christ’s fullness, his frailty to Christ’s enduring might. Then he has the mind of Christ. The humanity of Christ has touched our humanity, and our humanity has touched divinity. Thus through the agency of the Holy Spirit man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is accepted in the Beloved.

“This union with Christ, once formed, must be maintained. Christ said, ‘Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.’ [John 15:4] This is no casual touch, no off-and-on connection. The branch becomes a part of the living vine. The communication of life, strength, and fruitfulness from the root to the branches is unobstructed and constant. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. No more, said Jesus, can you live apart from Me. The life you have received from Me can be preserved only by continual communion. Without Me you cannot overcome one sin, or resist one temptation.” The Desire of Ages, 674, 675.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

The Pen of Inspiration: Abiding in Christ, Part II

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Men and women are going forth more and more to carry the gospel message. We thank God for this, but we need a greater awakening. We slide back into self-indulgence; we do not exercise to the utmost power the virtues that Christ has promised if we ask for them in faith. That which we receive from Christ we must give to others. Just as surely as we receive, so surely we must give. None who receive the grace of Christ can keep it to themselves. As soon as Christ becomes an abiding presence in the heart, we shall not be able to see souls perishing in ignorance of the truth, and be at rest. We will make any sacrifice that we may reach them; and there are none of us so poverty-stricken but we can make sacrifices for Christ daily.

It is our privilege to see the work of God advancing in our cities. Christ is waiting, waiting for places to be entered. Who are preparing for this work? We will not say that we are destitute of laborers. We are glad that there are some; but there is a greater, a far greater, work to be done in our cities. Far greater self-denial is to be practised [sic] in order that the word of life may be carried from place to place. . . .

Little companies of workers are going out into the mountains and laboring for those who have not heard the message, and here and there little companies of believers are being raised up. . . . I ask you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth to take your light from under the bushel, and let it shine forth, that others may be profited. We must let our light shine forth in our actions. If we will seek to do this, the light of heaven will surely abide with us, and we shall stand on vantage ground.

It is worth everything to be where you can reach out the hand of faith, and say, Lord, lead me; guide me; direct me in every place where I shall go. It is the duty of every soul to look to God for guidance, to be taught of God, to be led by God, and to do the work of God intelligently.

The Saviour . . . compares himself and his work and experience of abiding with the Father with the experience and work to which he has ordained us, because he represents humanity and divinity combined. It is our privilege to lay hold of the divine nature and say, Lord, you promised it. We ask thee to give us a spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice. Help us to understand what it means to abide in thee.

To abide in Christ means that you shall be a partaker of the divine nature. Humanity lays hold upon divinity, and you have divine power. But if you cling to old habits and practises [sic] of self-indulgence, and refuse to carry the burden of souls, you will lose your own soul. You will not value your own soul highly, and you will not carry on a straightforward work. It is the privilege of every believer to purify his soul, that he may have the life that measures with the life of God in the kingdom of glory. This is what we all desire—to live through the ages of eternity in the kingdom of glory. But we can never do it if we continue to follow our own habits and inclinations. O, that this burden might be rolled upon souls, and that they might realize that if they will be overcomers, they can help others to overcome. . . .

The work of overcoming is not a joyless work; no, indeed. It means communication with heaven. You can go to God in prayer; you can ask, and receive; you can believe, hanging your helpless soul on Christ. It means that humanity can work the will and ways of God. Humanity and divinity are combined for this very purpose. O, what a different world we should have if every professed Christian would come to Christ just as he is, practise [sic] self-denial, permit the fruitless branches to be cut away, and the good branches to be improved. Such an experience of constantly abiding in Christ would result in souls being brought to a knowledge of the truth. Let the petition come up before God, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do today? Let thy light shine upon me. Terrible trials are to come upon our world, and the world is preparing itself for this. We, too, must be prepared, that we may have the protection of our Heavenly Father. And if we lose our life in the conflict, let us have faith to believe that it will be restored to us again. . . .

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might have eternal life. [John 3:16.] That “whosoever” is firm and sure and broad. He who will follow on to know the Lord shall know that his goings forth are prepared as the morning. My brethren and sisters, let the world see the love of Christ manifested in your lives. This will have a tremendous influence, and souls will take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus and learned of him. Do not feel that you must follow the world’s fashions, and copy its indifference. Lay hold upon the Mighty One. Consider the work to be done for the souls that are perishing all around us. Heaven will unite with you in working for them. . . .

The unity existing between Christ and his followers is to be as much greater than now exists as you can possibly comprehend. When you have that unity, you will have power. Angels will minister through your words and through your works in every place where you are. There will be revealed a living connection with the living God who rules in heaven and in earth. . . . Take your light from under the bushel, and give life and light to the world. God help us that we may arouse from our state of stupor.

O, that . . . the great blessing of God might come upon each one of us! . . . We need to pray, and to pray in faith. We need to carry forward the work that God has given us to do. Our children are to be saved; our neighbors are to be labored for; and we are to act as if eternal life meant something to us. Let us labor unitedly, that the joy of the Lord may be in our souls.

The General Conference Bulletin, May 17, 1909.

Ellen G. White (1827–1915) wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books during her lifetime. Today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world’s attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ’s second advent.

The Pen of Inspiration: Abiding in Christ, Part I

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I am am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” [John 15:1, 2.]

When the purging comes, we frequently feel that the Lord is against us. Instead of this, we should look to ourselves, and see if there is not something we have left undone, or something we need to take away from our lives, before we can stand in right relation to God. We should let nothing interpose between us and the beams of light that will come to every one of us if we will comply with the conditions specified. We do not want to be the branch that shall be taken away, but the branch that shall produce fruit.

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” [Verses 3, 4.] It is for our present and eternal interest that we understand these words. Do we let our petitions come up before God daily? Do we realize that we must have an abiding Christ if we would represent Christ to the world in our speech, in our characters, and in all our dealings with our fellow men? When this is our experience, we shall not be found fruitless.

“I am the vine,” the Saviour continues, “ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” [Verses 5, 6.]

How important it is that we so relate ourselves to our Creator and to our Redeemer that the influence we exert shall represent Christ and represent the Father. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that those who abide in Christ might become the sons of God. Everything is at stake here. What will you do about it, my brethren and sisters? Are you going to let worldly ideas, worldly customs and practises [sic], come into your lives and characters? Are you going to study what this one or that one will say? Or are you looking to the One who so loved the world that he did not withhold from us his only begotten Son? God gave Christ to the world to reveal to men that humanity united with divinity could overcome the temptations that are in the world through lust. This union we must experience. We must be living branches of the True Vine, daily laying hold of our Redeemer, that we may bear the fruits of a Christian character. Christ is our only hope. “I am the vine,” he declares, “ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

“I in him.” It is of the greatest importance that you abide in Christ, and that in your humanity you lay hold upon divinity. Unless you take hold by living faith of his divine power, you will miss that life that measures with the life of God. We can not afford to miss that life. We can not afford to live careless, indifferent, selfish lives; for such God can not accept.

God has given Christ as a pattern of what our lives should be. Do you see him walking in the streets, and looking upon and pitying the sick? His heart is drawn out in compassion for them. He weeps for the afflicted and the suffering. He draws them close to his heart of love, and heals them. . . .

What we need . . . is a faith that abides in Christ, that lays hold upon his power, that is obedient to him, and that leads us to take up the cross of self-denial and self-sacrifice. This unites the soul to Christ, and makes us one with him.

To every one of us the Lord holds out this privilege if we will cut away our own wrong habits and practises [sic]. There are many who think that they can retain their wrong habits, their perverted appetites and passions, and at the last get into a condition of self-denial. But the longer selfishness is practised [sic], the harder it is to break away from it. What the Lord wants now is men and women who have the missionary spirit, who understand why Christ gave his life, why he laid off his royal robe and kingly crown, and came to the world as a little child, to be brought up in poverty.

The Lord has the power to forgive the sins of every soul, . . . if you will repent of your backslidings, if you will turn to the Lord, and will cut away from your lives wrong habits and dispositions and your hardness of heart. What you need is the humanity that was in Christ Jesus, that laid hold upon divinity. Take hold upon that divinity, and bring it into your life, and you will be a savor of life unto life. Every one of us should stand in that position where we can receive a commission from God. Will you not come into that place? Will you not humble your souls before God, that you may comprehend and respond to the immense sacrifice that has been made in your behalf?

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,” the Saviour said, “ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” [Verses 7, 8.] There is peace to be found in continuing in Christ’s love, and in daily carrying out the conditions upon which our salvation depends.

What can you do in the work of saving the lost unless Christ imbues you with his divine power? A little is being done in our world; but O, that the good work might spread abroad and reach every needy soul! O that the present truth might be proclaimed in every city! This great need is kept before me night and day. Some nights I can not sleep. I seem to be proclaiming to companies as large as this the great salvation, the great power of God, the great glory to be obtained by the exercise of a living faith. We need to lay hold of Jesus Christ, that we may have the power to become the sons and daughters of God.

There is something for each one of us to do. It is no use to talk of being Christians if we leave unhelped those who are perishing all around us. . . .

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples.” It is fruit that Christ wants. When we are willing to practise [sic] self-denial and self-sacrifice, as Christ practised [sic] it in his life, we shall bear fruit to God’s glory. Often after a day of toil, although tired and worn with labor, while his disciples were sleeping, his voice could be heard all through the night pleading with the Father that he would clear the highway, that the words of the living God might reach the multitudes, and that they might lay hold of the truth. Such labor as this costs something. It does not mean the making of a little sacrifice. It costs much to be men and women of God. . . .

The General Conference Bulletin, May 17, 1909.

To be continued . . .

Ellen G. White (1827–1915) wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books during her lifetime. Today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world’s attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ’s second advent.

Why is it so Difficult to Turn Around? Part II

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The blood of Christ is so powerful that if we choose to trust in His merits, He is going to save us from every sin we have ever committed, and He is going to save us from the power of sin within. “As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy seat, while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God, so while we confess our sins and plead the efficacy of Christ’s atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour’s character. Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are ever to bear in mind that there is One that can take away sin and save the sinner.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 92, 93. There is Someone, and He can take our sins; He can save us, and He will do it if we look to Him. The next sentence says, “Every sin acknowledged before God with a contrite heart, He will remove.” Ibid., 93. If we confess our sins before the Lord, He will take them away. Then Mrs. White says, “This faith is the life of the church.” Ibid. Does our church have life in it? It only has life in it if we are confessing our sins and asking the Lord to take our sins away.

We are in grave danger—in the Adventist world more so than in some other churches—of becoming Pharisaical in our attitudes. We believe that God will give us the power and the ability to overcome sin, but we are never to say that we are sinless in this world—never. We live in a temple of fallen, sinful flesh, and the only way that we can keep ourselves from sin is the same way that Peter was kept from sin.

Keep Focused

Remember when Peter got out of the boat, and Jesus said, “Come to Me,” and he started walking on water? (Matthew 14:25–32.) As long as he was looking to Jesus, he was held up, but when he turned his eyes away from Jesus, he started to sink immediately. If the most holy man or woman in this world looks away from Jesus, he or she will go down immediately.

People come to me and ask, “Did you hear about so and so? How in the world? They have been a Christian for X many years.” It does not matter how many years. If any one of us turns away from Jesus and we are not keeping our eyes on Him, we are going to go down. As we are told, “We cannot keep ourselves from sin for one moment” without Jesus. The Ministry of Healing, 180.

If we keep looking at Him and toward Him, the Holy Spirit has in mind to work for the people of God today more than at any other previous time in the history of the world. But the Holy Spirit cannot do that unless we will turn and keep focused.

When President Ronald Reagan died [June 5, 2004], an associate was asked, “What did you learn from him?”

One of the things he said was, “I learned from him to keep focused.”

I thought, “That is a good idea for Christians, except we need to be sure that we are focused in the right direction and on the right Person.”

The devil wants to keep us from focusing our eyes, from turning our eyes, from looking to Jesus, because he knows that any day, any hour, when we are not focused on Jesus, we are going to go down. The devil is going to come and tempt us, and the temptation from without is going to be responded to by the sinful nature from within, and we will go down. The devil knows that. Since the devil knows that, what is he trying to do in our lives?

Eclipse

Have you ever heard of an eclipse? An eclipse is when either the light from the sun or the light of the moon is blocked. There is something between it and the earth, and its light is blocked from the earth. That is what the devil wants to do in our lives. He wants to eclipse our view of Jesus, because he knows that if we do not keep our eyes focused on Him, we are going to go down.

Are our eyes focused on a preacher, a teacher, an elder, or a deacon? What if they lose their sight? What if Jesus is eclipsed in their minds, and they start to go down? If we are focused on them, we will go down at the same time. There is One who can keep us from going down, if we keep focused on Him. The devil knows that.

We are living in a generation in which the devil has invented a thousand ways or more to get our attention on all kinds of things so that we will not keep our attention on Jesus. For some people, it is pleasure. We have available to us every kind of imaginable pleasure. Because of all of our electronic gadgets, we have more pleasure in the world today than there has ever been experienced in any previous time in this world’s history. We have videos and soundtracks, CDs and DVDs, television and tapes, and every kind of imaginable thing, and we can easily concentrate on those things and forget about Jesus.

We also have more access to food today than any previous generation that has ever lived. In the town in which my family lived when I was a boy, a person could not go downtown at 10 or 11 o’clock at night and get something to eat. The restaurants in those days were open certain hours for breakfast, certain hours for lunch, and certain hours for supper. Now we have fast food restaurants—called that because you can get the food quickly. An individual does not have to wait ten minutes for their food to be prepared, and many of these establishments are open 24 hours a day.

Some people are not focusing on the Lord, because they have their minds on food. Other people may have their focus on education; others have their focus on power.

Ellen White wrote, “It has been Satan’s determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 93. That is our problem.

Looking to Man

At the ministry, we frequently receive telephone calls from people who want us to answer questions. We are not priests; we are not a pope. How do the people expect us to answer all of these things? We are just human beings. We are not God. We are not prophets. Why do people ask us so many questions? It is because they have been educated to look to man and expect help from man. When people do not know the answer, they say, “I will go to my pastor. If he does not know the answer, we will call some high-powered preacher in some ministry somewhere. We will get the answer from him.” We each need to be looking to Jesus to get direction in our lives. All the pastors I know are just human beings. They need salvation just as much as you and I do. They need direction and guidance from the Lord just as much as we do. The good news is that the Lord is willing to guide and direct each one of His people.

Since I am a Protestant preacher, I do not believe that God’s people have to go to a priest to find direction for their lives. That is the devil’s plan. See to it that the devil is foiled. We need to get our eyes focused on Jesus and turn to Him, because when we look to Him, the Scripture says, “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! Because I am God, and there is not anybody else.” Isaiah 45:22. We have to get our eyes on the real Leader and not simply look at each other.

A very interesting Scripture on this subject is found in John 3:31. John the Baptist said: “The One who comes down from above is above all things. The one who is of the earth is of the earth and speaks of the things of the earth. The One who is coming from heaven is above all things.” That text tells us we can know whether or not we are converted by how we speak and by the things about which we talk.

“What He has seen and heard, this He bears testimony, and His testimony nobody receives.” Verse 32. Why do they not receive it? “The one who does receive His testimony is set to His seal that God is true. For whom God sent, the words of God speaks, for not out of measure does He give to him the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, and He has given all things into His hand. The one who believes on the Son has eternal life, and the one who is disobedient to the Son will not see life but the wrath of God abides [or remains] upon him.” Verses 33–36. Oh, friend, do you have your eyes on the One that can really help you?

Be Set Free

In my work, I deal all the time with people who are having very real and very severe problems. There are people in the Wichita [Kansas] community who are not just sick and in the hospital but who have severe financial problems. There are people who are struggling with different habits of long duration, and they want to be set free. Jesus is the only One that can set them free.

If you want to be set free, you need to turn to where the help is. I am not the help, but I can tell you where the help is. The help is in Christ, not in me. If you really want help, you need to turn to Him and say, “Lord, I am a sinner. I am down here in this pit, and I cannot get out. But You promised that if I looked to You, You would set me free, and I am claiming Your promise.” Can God set people free that are alcoholics? Yes. I have seen it happen. Can God set people free that are fornicators and adulterers and homosexuals? Yes, He can. Can God set people free that are addicted to one kind of drug or another? He can set them free.

Remember, there is One who, if you acknowledge your sin and ask for His help, will set you free from all sin. He has promised to do this. “Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are ever to bear in mind that there is One that can take away sin and save the sinner.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 93. Do not get discouraged because you are a terrible sinner. The longer I live, the more I realize that we are all terrible sinners. It is just that some of us do not realize it. But if you acknowledge your condition to the Lord and look to Him, He is going to deliver you. He has promised to deliver you, and you must not give up just because you do not feel like you are being delivered right at the moment. There are many illustrations in the Bible about that.

Do Not Give Up

Do you remember the time when Elijah was praying for rain and he told his servant, “Go! Look and see if there is any cloud”? (See 1 Kings 18:41–46.)

The servant reported, “No, I do not see any cloud.”

So Elijah knelt down and prayed again. He said, “Lord, you promised when your people repented that You would send rain, so I am asking You to fulfill Your word.” He sent his servant again.

Again the servant reported, “No, no cloud.” Finally, after the seventh time, the servant said, “Well, I see just a little tiny cloud.”

Elijah said, “That is all I need. It is going to rain.”

Friend, if you have the faith of Elijah and you keep praying, the Lord is going to send you a cloud with some rain, too—the rain of the Holy Spirit.

Staying Turned Around

When some people turn toward the Lord, the Lord starts working in their lives and solving problems in their lives, and then, for some reason, they turn back to something else. I have seen that happen so often.

How do we stay turned around? In John 15, Jesus said, “Abide in Me.” (Verses 4–7.) If we want to be delivered from sin, we have to turn toward Him and stay turned toward Him. As Ronald Reagan said, “You have to stay focused.”

Staying focused is the subject addressed in 1 John 3:9–24: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

How to Abide in Christ

In summary, this passage of Scripture teaches how to abide in Christ. If you are going to stay or abide in Him, the following characteristics must be developed in your life:

Number One. The one who abides in Him will cease to sin. You can see that very clearly in verses 7 to 10. If there is some sinful habit in your life and you turn toward the Lord and He delivers you from that, you cannot turn back toward that habit and keep focused on the Lord at the same time. Does that make sense? A minister I know once said it like this: “Even if you are the greatest sinner, and your sin is the biggest, if you turn toward the Lord, the Lord can save you from the biggest sin. But He cannot save you from the smallest sin if you are not willing to give it up.” That is one of the reasons that people lose their souls—there is some sin in their lives that has been called a “darling” sin. (See Messages to Young People, 112.) Do you have a darling sin? Is there some sin in your life that you love more than you love Jesus? Now, let me tell you, Jesus never told somebody to sin another day. If you choose to go on in sin, you love that sin more than you love Jesus, because He would tell you to stop. If you are going to keep your eyes focused on Jesus, you must choose to let the sin fall away. You have to focus on Him, and choose not to sin. You will never stop sinning until you choose to no longer sin. If you choose not to sin, the Lord will give you the strength.

Several years ago, I knew a man who had a problem with alcohol. He asked for prayer that he would quit drinking alcohol. I told him that we would pray for him and assured him that the Lord could deliver him from alcohol. Several of us encircled him, and we prayed that the Lord would deliver him from alcohol, but the Lord did not do it. I could not figure out what was going on, because we had prayed for him, but the desired result did not happen.

A few days later, he returned. He had the victory! He told us why the victory did not come before. “I had a little flask of alcoholic beverage that I always kept under the seat of my car,” he revealed, “so if the temptation became irresistible, I would have a way out.”

One day, after we had prayed for him, and the Lord had not answered our prayers, he said that he was driving, and the Holy Spirit spoke to him: “What about this alcohol? You asked the Lord to deliver you from alcohol, and you have alcohol right underneath the driver’s seat in your car.”

He said, “All right, Lord.” Stopping the car on the side of the road, he retrieved the flask and got out of the car. Going around the car, he opened the flask and poured its contents out onto the ground. Immediately he had victory from that sin. Why? That was his darling sin. He could not give it up on his own, but when he chose to give it up, the Lord gave him the victory.

The Lord will give you the victory, too, just as soon as you are willing to give up your darling sin and say, “I want Jesus to come into my life, and I am willing to give up my darling sin.”

Number Two. The one who abides in Him practices righteousness.

Number Three. The one who abides in Him loves his brother.

Number Four. The one who abides in Him keeps His commandments.

Number Five. The one who abides in Him does those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Number Six. The one who abides in Him trusts in Jesus.

Number Seven. Jesus says that the one who abides in Him receives the Holy Spirit.

Danger of Procrastination

Now I have a question to ask you. Are you going to choose to look to Jesus today? So often there is a darling sin in someone’s life and he or she says, “Yes, Lord, I am going to look toward You tomorrow.” Why do they say that? Because there is some darling sin in his or her life—it could be alcohol; it could be tobacco; it could be drugs; it could be dishonest dealing; it could be pornography; it could be a hundred different things—that they do not want to give up today. They say, “Yes, I realize I have to give that up, but I am going to give that up tomorrow.”

Do you know that procrastination has caused millions of people to be lost? You can only be saved today. Nobody is ever saved tomorrow. You are only saved in the present, when you make a decision. Someone may say, “I will make a decision tomorrow.” Well, I hope you do, but the trouble is that many times, after you have practiced procrastination for awhile, it gets to be a habit, too. It gets to be such a bad habit that the only way God can reach procrastinators is to send them a terrible jolt in their lives.

I have developed a habit of saying, “Lord, help me to learn the lesson You are trying to teach me without having to send these jolts to get my attention.” Do you want to make a decision today and say, “Lord, I am choosing. I am going to look to Jesus”? Do not tell me you are too bad a sinner. That is not true. I am not concerned about the bad sinners. I am more concerned about the people that do not think they are very bad.

If you know that you are a sinner and you need salvation, Jesus came into this world to save people like you that are sinners. If you will look toward Him, if you will focus your attention on Him, He will deliver you from the sins in your life. If you want to turn to Him and be saved, kneel down right now and pray that the Lord will turn you toward Him and keep you focused.

[Some Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316 788-5559