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Jesus is the true vine                                                                                          verse 1- 8

 I AM the true vine – and MY Father is the husbandman

every branch in ME that bears not FRUIT HE takes away

and every branch that bears fruit – HE purges it

            that it may bring forth MORE FRUIT

Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you

abide in ME -and I in you

as a branch cannot bear FRUIT of itself

            except it abide in the vine

                        no more can you – except you abide in ME

I AM the vine – you are the branches – he that abides in ME

and I in him the same bring forth MUCH FRUIT

for without ME you can do nothing

IF a man abides 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

IF you abide in ME – and MY words abide in you

you shall ask what you will

it shall be done to you

Herein is MY Father glorified – that you bear MUCH FRUIT

so shall you be MY disciples

 Jesus commands love for one another                                                            verse 9- 17

 As the Father has loved ME – so have I loved you

continue you in MY love

IF you keep MY commandments – you shall abide in MY love

even as I have kept MY Father’s commandments

and abide in HIS love

These things have I spoken to you – that MY joy might remain in you

and that your joy might be full

This is MY commandment –   That you love one another

as I have loved you

Greater love has no man than this

that a man lay down his life for his friends

you are MY friends

IF you do whatsoever I command you

Henceforth I call you not servants

FOR the servant knows not what his lord does

But have called you friends

for all things that I have heard of MY Father

I have made known unto you

You have not chosen ME – BUT I have chosen you and ordained you

that you should go and bring forth FRUIT

and that your FRUIT should remain

that whatsoever you shall ask the Father in MY name

HE may give it you

These things I command you – that you love one another

 Hatred of world                                                                                                verse 18- 25

 IF the world hate you – you know that it hated ME before it hated you

IF you were of the world – the world would love his own

BUT because you are not of the world

            BUT I have chosen you out of the world

                        THEREFORE the world hates you

Remember the word that I say to you            

The servant is not greater than his lord

   IF they have persecuted ME

they will also persecute you

   IF they have kept MY saying – they will keep yours also

BUT all these things will they do to you for MY name’s sake

BECAUSE they know not HIM that sent ME

IF I had not come and spoken to them – they had not had sin

BUT NOW they have no cloak for their sin

He that hates ME hates MY Father also

IF I had not done among them the works which

none other man did

they had not had sin

BUT NOW they have both seen and hated both ME

and MY Father

BUT this comes to pass

that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law

They hated ME without a cause

 Jesus promises a Comforter again                                                                  verse 26- 27

 BUT when the Comforter is come

WHOM I will send unto you from the Father

even the Spirit of truth

which proceeds from the Father

HE shall testify of ME

AND you also shall bear witness

BECAUSE you have been with ME from the beginning

  

COMMENTARY:           

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

 : 2        Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it                 may bring forth more fruit. (2508 “purges” [kathairo] means to cleanse, prune, clear unproductive wood,                     purify, or expiate)

DEVOTION:  Once we become followers of Christ or HIS disciples, HE wants us to produce fruit for HIS kingdom. HE wants us to be soul winners. We are expected to witness to all those who are in our world. This can include showing people the difference between genuine believers and fakes.

Our words are important to the LORD. If our vocabulary is wrong people will judge us because they know what Christians are supposed to say in any conversation.

Our actions are important because again the world knows what the LORD expects from HIS followers and so they will not think you are a believer if you are using drugs, drinking too much if at all, going places that are not right for believers to go. Watch programs or movies that are not appropriate for believers. Some think the highest a Christian should go is PG. Find sexual material or material that is not appropriate on the internet.

Non-Christians have a higher standard for Christians than many Christians. They know what is expected and that is one reason they don’t want to become a follower of Christ.

The LORD wants all these things out of our life, so that those around us see us as different and want to know way. We are not to be weird. We are not to jam a Bible down their throat. We are to lovingly witness to them of the truths of the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

If we are genuine believers the LORD will look at our life when we first become a believer and begin the pruning process. HE will start slow with the removal of habits. HE will continue to establish better habits. HE will convict us of what changes need to occur in our life one step at a time.

Sometimes HE might even cause something dramatic to happen in our life to get our attention. These divine appointments can be major surgery rather than minor surgery to help us mature faster. We don’t get a say in our divine appointments, we are just expected to learn from them. HE expects us to get better not bitter.

CHALLENGE: What is the LORD cleansing from our life today?  Accept the cleansing to be better servants of the LORD. HE wants you to be more productive for HIM. 

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 16      Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you  (5087 “ordained” [tithemi] means to set, fix, establish, appoint, designate, assign, or to assign someone to a particular task)

DEVOTION:  Those who are followers of the LORD are chosen before the foundation of the world. Some use the word “elect.” The elect are those who will be in heaven for eternity. They are the faithful witnesses. They are the ones that the world is going to hate just like they hated Jesus. This is a special group of people. In this case Jesus is talking to HIS eleven disciples. HE is also talking to all those who are followers of HIM throughout the church age. That includes you and I. We are chosen to serve.

Not only are they chosen but they are assigned a special task. This special task includes producing fruit. Jesus said that those disciples that produced fruit would be pruned to produce more fruit. Then those who produced more fruit would produce much fruit. What is this fruit? They were to go out and reach their world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were to start in their Jerusalem. Then go to all of Judea. Then they were to go to Samaria. Finally, they were to go to the uttermost part of the earth. That was a great assignment. HE chose them to do this task. Their fruit was souls of individuals who would enter heaven for eternity.

The task could only be performed after the Holy Spirit had come to help them. HE would give them the words to say. HE would give them direction. HE would give them encouragement. The Holy Spirit would help them to spread the truth of the message of Christ to the world.

Not only were they to depend on the Holy Spirit but they were to pray for help. They were to depend on the Father. They communicated with the Father through the Son. Their prayer life was important to their mission being successful.

Are we getting the idea of the responsibility of disciples? Do we think that we should produce fruit during our lifetime here on the earth? Do we think that we are to reach our world for Christ?

Another characteristic of the fruit that is produced is that the fruit should remain. What does it take to have fruit remain? It seems to take follow-up. We are not here to just see people follow Christ. We have to teach them how to grow. The Holy Spirit helps in this area but HE uses human beings to help new believers grow.

One area that helps new believers grow is prayer. We need to ask the Father in Jesus name to give us growing Christians. Many Christians are not growing. Why? There are many Christians who never received follow-up after they said they wanted to follow Christ. Part of it might be the prayer life of those who were there to help them grow.

Are we asking the LORD to help us cause others to grow in the LORD? Do we want Christians who never get out of the baby stage? Fruit that remains takes WORK!!!!

CHALLENGE: Develop a good way to present the gospel to those around you. Then before you use it, develop a way to follow them up. This should be taught in the local church to all those who become members. Don’t leave the follow-up to the pastors alone.

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

:19       If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (2889 “world” [kosmos] means people of the world, universe, earth, world system, the people constituting the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in distinction and rebellion to God’s, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution.)

DEVOTION: There needs to be a difference between us and the world. That means that Christians have to look, sound and act different from those who reject Christ. When people meet us they will see an expression on our face of love. They will notice that we care for them. They will see us a different and want to know what makes us different. Once they hear our testimony, they will either make a commitment to become a follower of Christ or avoid us when we come around again. Some will be willing to let us share more with them but a majority will just not want us around them. They will not invite you to their parties.

It is when those who claim to be believers don’t invite you to their parties that you need to look for new friends. Our parties and other activities should be events that we can invite anyone who is a believer to attend.

If you feel neglected or not liked when you are in school or other places it might be because of your relationship with Jesus. Jesus faced these things and we should accept expect it too.

CHALLENGE:  This world, in its present state is not our home if we are a believer. Our eternal home is with Jesus Christ and all those who followed HIM.

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: 26      But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, HE shall testify of me. (3140 “testify” [martureo] means bear witness, to solemnly assert something, offering firsthand authentication of the fact, speak well of, or give evidence.)

DEVOTION:  Again, we see the Trinity mentioned. Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit who will be a Comforter or Advocate. Remember HE will help us in our prayer life when we just don’t know how to pray. HE is the one who gives us gifts to serve in the local church. HE wants us to be a witness for HIM to those who need to know Christ. If we resist HIS leading, we will be quenching HIS influence in our life. HE will also let us know when we are committing sins.

HE wants us to understand the Truth of the Word of God. HE will give us discernment in our understanding whether we are attending church or events or listening to the radio, television or internet or talking to a friend giving us advice as to whether it is Biblical.

HE is coming from the Father to each believer. So, we find all three persons of the Godhead are active in our daily life. Remember that we are to pray to the Father through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Jesus name each time we pray. They are concerned and involved in our life once we become a believer.

CHALLENGE:  Isn’t it great to know what power we have available to us daily?

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level) 

Ask the Father                                                                                          verse 7, 16

 

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

                        Commandments                                                                                verse 10

                            Fulfill that is written                                                                          verse 25                       

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

                     Father                                                                                                     verse 1, 8- 10, 15, 16, 23, 24,                                                                                                                                                             26                                                                  Husbandman                                                                                        verse 1

                        Glorify in fruit bearing                                                                           verse 8

                        Father loves Son                                                                                     verse 9

                        Father’s commandments                                                                       verse 10

                        Not known by world                                                                              verse 21

                        Hated                                                                                                      verse 23, 24

                        Comforter with Father                                                                           verse 26

                        Spirit of Truth proceeds from Father                                                    verse 26 

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah) 

I AM the true vine                                                                                   verse 1

Spoken word                                                                                           verse 3

I AM the vine                                                                                           verse 5

Jesus loves us                                                                                          verse 9

Kept Father’s commandments                                                                verse 10

Abide in Father’s love                                                                              verse 10

Commandment: Love one another                                                         verse 12

Loved disciples                                                                                        verse 12

World hated Christ                                                                                  verse 18

Persecuted                                                                                               verse 20

Hated                                                                                                       verse 24, 25

Send Comforter                                                                                      verse 26 

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

                       Comforter                                                                                              verse 26

Spirit of truth                                                                                          verse 26

Testify of Christ                                                                                       verse 26 

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)    

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation) 

Friends                                                                                                     verse 13

World                                                                                                       verse 18, 19 

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels) 

Not bearing fruit                                                                                     verse 2

Abide not in Christ                                                                                  verse 6

Hate                                                                                                         verse 18, 19, 23 – 25

Sin                                                                                                            verse 22, 24

Law                                                                                                          verse 25 

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) 

Fruit                                                                                                         verse 2, 4, 5, 8, 16

Purged to bear more fruit                                                                      verse 2

Clean through the Word                                                                        verse 3, 7

Abide                                                                                                      verse 4, 5, 7

Branches                                                                                                verse 5

Ask                                                                                                         verse 7, 16

Disciple                                                                                                  verse 8

Loved                                                                                                    verse 9, 10, 12, 17

Keep commandments                                                                          verse 10, 12, 14

Joy                                                                                                        verse 11

Love one another                                                                                 verse 12, 17

Friends                                                                                                 verse 14, 15

Chosen                                                                                                 verse 16, 19

Ordained                                                                                              verse 16

Persecuted                                                                                           verse 20

Comforter                                                                                            verse 26

Witness                                                                                                verse 27 

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events) 

Cast into fire                                                                                        verse 6 

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DONATIONS:

Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org.  Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method.  Thank you.

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QUOTES regarding passage

19–20 Jesus’ choice of the disciples had set them apart for a different kind of life and for a different purpose. Therefore, the world would exclude them. Jesus’ choice was also the guarantee that the lives of his disciples would have permanent value, but it did not guarantee immunity from attack. Jesus could promise them nothing more than what he himself had received. (Tenney, M. C. (1981). John. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts (Vol. 9, p. 154). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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The world would love its own (ὁ κοσμος ἀν το ἰδιον ἐφιλει [ho kosmos an to idion ephilei]). Conclusion of second-class condition (determined as unfulfilled), regular idiom with ἀν [an] and imperfect indicative in present time. But because ye are not of the world (ὁτι δε ἐκ του κοσμου οὐκ ἐστε [hoti de ek tou kosmou ouk este]). Definite and specific reason for the world’s hatred of real Christians whose very existence is a reproach to the sinful world. Cf. 7:7; 17:14; 1 John 3:13. Does the world hate us? If not, why not? Has the world become more Christian or Christians more worldly? (Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 15:19). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.)

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15:19. A fundamental reason for the world’s hatred of a Christian lies in their differences (cf. 1 Peter 4:4; Rom. 12:2). A believer, having left the kingdom of darkness and having been transferred into the kingdom of God’s Son (Col. 1:13), has a different joy, purpose, hope, and love. He now has certainty, truth, and a standard for life. Christians have been chosen (cf. John 15:16) out of the world system by Christ and they now belong to Him. Since they do not belong to the world … the world hates them. (Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 326). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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We do not belong to the world (v. 19). When we trusted Christ, we moved into a new spiritual position: we are now “in Christ” and “out of the world.” To be sure, we are in the world physically, but not of the world spiritually. Now that we are “partakers of the heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1) we are no longer interested in the treasures or pleasures of sin in this world. This does not mean that we are isolated from reality or insulated from the world’s needs, so “heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” Rather, it means that we look at the things of earth from heaven’s point of view.

The world system functions on the basis of conformity. As long as a person follows the fads and fashions and accepts the values of the world, he or she will “get along.” But the Christian refuses to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). The believer is a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) and no longer wants to live the “old life” (1 Peter 4:1–4). We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13–16), but a dark world does not want light and a decaying world does not want salt! In other words, the believer is not just “out of step”; he is out of place! (See John 17:14, 16, and 1 John 4:5.) (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 360). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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These things I command you, that ye love one another.” Not only does the insistent emphasis of our Lord upon this world indicate that here is something which every Christian needs to take seriously to heart, but the large place given to it in the Epistles adds strong confirmation. The following commandments of the Holy Spirit through the apostles are but repetitions and expansions of the precept now before us: “Be kindly affectioned one to another” (Rom. 12:10). “Forbearing one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” (Eph. 4:32). “If any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:13). “See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:22). “Love the brotherhood” (1 Pet. 2:17). “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves” (1 Pet. 4:8). “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous” (1 Pet. 3:8). Envy, malice, ill-feeling, evil-speaking among brethren are a sure proof of the lack of this brotherly love!

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Here the Lord introduces the subject of the world’s enmity, and He begins by pointing out to His apostles that what they would suffer was only what lie had suffered before them; they must not be surprised then at finding themselves in the midst of a hostile people. For their part they must be meek and gentle, living peaceably with all men so far as they would allow them to. They must do nothing maliciously to provoke or warrant the hatred of the world; but if they were faithful to the Lord, they must be prepared for the same evil treatment which He met with.

“Ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” The word “before” here refers not so much to time as it does to experience. Christ was assuring them that He trode the very same path which they would be called on to follow. He had preceded them in it: “When he putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them” (John 10:4). How this should comfort us! It was Christ identifying the disciples with Himself. If we belong to the Lord Jesus that is sufficient to arouse the world’s rancor. But it is blessed to know that it hates us because of Him, not because of ourselves! It is the repulsion of human nature for what is of God. And nowhere is the awful depravity of fallen man more evidenced than in his hatred of that which is pure, lovely, good, holy.

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). Here the Lord proceeds to state the various causes of the world’s hatred. Two are given in this verse: tint, His people are no longer “of the world;” second, Christ had “chosen them out of the world.” The two are really resolvable into one: it is because Christ has chosen us out of the world that we no more belong to it. We no longer share its spirit, are no more actuated by its aims, are not now governed by its principles. Note the Lord’s emphatic emphasis here: five times in this one verse does the Lord mention “the world”! Do you, He seems to ask, desire the smiles of men, are you anxious to stand high in their favor? That would be tragic indeed; that would prove you also belonged to the world. In John 8:23, Christ had declared of Himself, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above; ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” Now, for the first time, He predicates the same thing of His disciples. It is striking to note that this was not until after John 14:31, and Christ had (figuratively) taken His place—identifying the disciples with Himself in that place—on resurrection ground. It is only as united to a risen Christ that we are taken (positionally) out of “the world.”

“I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” It is remarkable that the first reason Christ here gives as to why the world hates believers, is because of their election. “The world cannot endure the thought of God’s sovereignty and electing love” (Mr. F. W. Grant). The world is enraged at the very idea of Christians being the singled-out favorites of God. Strikingly was this demonstrated almost at the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. After announcing that the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, 2 found its fulfillment in His mission, He went on to say how that while the heaven was shut up for three years and a half, during the subsequent famine, though there were many widows in Israel, God, in His sovereign grace, sent Elijah unto none but the widow of Zarephath; and though there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, none of them were cleansed, though God in His sovereign mercy healed Naaman, the Syrian. The response to our Lord’s words was very shocking. “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong” (Luke 4:28, 29). (Pink, A. W. (1923–1945). Exposition of the Gospel of John (pp. 841–844). Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot.)

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Ver. 19. If ye were of the world, &c.] Belonged to the world, were of the same spirit and principles with it, and pursued the same practices: the world would love its own; for every like loves its like; the men of the world love each other’s persons, company, and conversation: but because ye are not of the world; once they were, being born into it, brought up in it, had their conversation among the men of it, were themselves men of carnal, worldly, principles and practices; but being called by Christ, and becoming his disciples, they were no more of it; and as he was not of the world, so they were not of it, though they were in it. The Jews distinguish the disciples of the wise men, from אינשי דעלמא, the men of the world, pretending that they were not; but this is a character that only belongs to the disciples of Christ, in consequence of their being called by him out of it: but I have chosen you out of the world; which designs not the eternal election of them, but the separation of them from the rest of the world in effectual vocation, and the designation of them to his work and service: therefore the world hateth you; and since it was upon that account, they had no reason to be uneasy, but rather to rejoice; seeing this was an evidence of their not belonging to the world, and of being chosen and called by Christ out of it. (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 2, p. 70). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

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FROM MY READING:

James 5
The rich of this world are warned against an uncompassionate use of their wealth.
INSIGHT

James does not condemn wealth; rather he condemns the uncompassionate use of wealth. It is not wrong to have money, but it is very wrong to have money and not use it to further the Gospel and the welfare of the needy of the world. Those in need are often utterly dependent on those with wealth. In support of James’ teaching, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:17-18: “Command those who are rich . . . that they be rich in good works.” Neither Paul nor James tells the rich to give up their riches; rather both encourage the rich to use their wealth compassionately and generously. (Quiet Walk)

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OVERCOMING THE WORLD

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4
John means by this that the Christian is one who conquers the world, who masters it. He actually says a most extraordinary thing here, and for once I have to grant that the Revised Version is superior to the Authorized! The Authorized reads like this: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” But the Revised has, “This is the victory that has overcome”; it has already happened.
Now John is saying two things here that at first sight, as so often with John, appear to be contradictory. He says that the Christian is one who has overcome the world and also that the Christian is one who overcomes the world. Christian people, John tells us, are men and women who are in an entirely new position with regard to this matter. They are not like the non-Christian. Christians are in this new position because of their faith. They have come to see the real meaning of the world; they have come to see what it is, and they hate it. They know that the world has already been conquered by the Lord Jesus Christ, and they know that they themselves are in Christ; therefore there is a sense in which the Christian has overcome the world. Christ has overcome it, and I am in Christ, and therefore I have overcome it.
And yet there is a sense in which I am still overcoming it. I am already victorious, but I still have to fight. The New Testament is fond of saying that. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,” says Paul, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). He is already that to us; so there is a sense in which I am already sanctified, already glorified. Read the eighth chapter of Romans, and you will find that Paul tells us that explicitly (verses 29-30); in Christ Jesus we are already complete, it has all happened. And yet I am also still being sanctified, and I am still on the way to glorification.
A Thought to Ponder: Christ has overcome the world, and I am in Christ, and therefore I have overcome it. (From Life in God, pp. 41-42, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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His Mercy Found Me
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
The third verse of the hymn “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?” sets the stage for the implementation of His majestic plan.

He left His father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
T’is mercy all! Immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me!
The plan involved the death of God the Son. The Creator dying for the creation. The righteous Judge taking on Himself the penalty of the condemned. The rejected Holy One becoming sin on behalf of the true sinner. The convicted ones, powerless to alter the situation, simply receiving the offered grace through faith (see our text).
First, God had to take on Himself the nature of the condemned, live a guiltless life so that He could die as a substitutionary sacrifice. To do so, God the Son had to leave His Father’s throne. And, although “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God [i.e., was willing to give up his kingly status]: But made himself of no reputation [literally, ‘emptied himself’], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: . . . and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Adam had rebelled against his Creator’s authority, and all of mankind suffered. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12), yet Christ’s work on the cross changed all that. “For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (v. 15). Amazing love! (JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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We were on the way home from a visit with family in another state when I found it. I was pumping gas when I noticed a dirty, bulky envelope on the ground. I grabbed it, dirt and all, and looked inside. To my surprise, it contained one hundred dollars.

One hundred dollars that someone had lost and who at that very moment was possibly frantically searching to find. I gave our phone number to the attendants at the gas station in case anyone came back looking for it. But no one ever called.

Someone had that money and lost it. Earthly treasure is often like that. It can be lost, stolen, or even squandered. It can be lost in bad investments or even in a monetary market over which we have no control. But the heavenly treasure we have in Jesus—a restored relationship with God and the promise of eternal life—isn’t like that. We can’t lose it at a gas station or anywhere else.

That’s why Christ told us to store up “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). We do that when we become “rich iHn good deeds” (1 Timothy 6:18) or “rich in faith” (James 2:5)—lovingly helping others and sharing Jesus with them. As God leads and empowers us, may we store up eternal treasure even as we anticipate our eternal future with Him.

(By Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread)

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Daily Hope

Today’s Scripture
Acts 1:1-8 

History is either a boring set of facts or a fascinating account of the past that will give its student a window into the future.  Those who research and study historical records begin to discover that man cycles through incidents and then duplicate and repeat certain key elements.  So perhaps Mark Twain is correct when he stated, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” 

Luke is a physician who traveled extensively with the Apostle Paul in his missionary journeys.  He is credited with writing two historical books in the New Testament, Luke and Acts.  He is writing to Theophilus in order to give him an orderly account of the life and work of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:1-4).  The gospel of Luke chronicles the life of Jesus up to the resurrection and the disciples affirming the risen Lord.  Luke begins this second book by picking up his account with the closing hours of Christ’s earthly ministry and His ascension to heaven.  Luke will then methodically record the spread of this new teaching throughout the Roman empire. 

As we begin our study in the book of Acts, we will notice the emphasis of the power of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish His work and establish groups of believers.  This promise of the Father (v.4) had been given by Jesus early in His ministry in the Upper Room discourse (John 14-17) and now was coming to fruition. 

While they were to know certain facts, other future events remained a mystery. In verses 6-8, the discussion between Christ and his disciples on future events brings Christ’s final challenge to the disciples.  They were to focus on the task assigned and not concern themselves with issues that belonged to God.  His promise to the disciples is that they will have the power to accomplish the purpose of witnessing to their world. 

We have been given the same Spirit to go and announce to our present world the historical facts of the life and work of Jesus Christ.  The historical accuracy of Luke’s writings gives us confidence to share with our culture about Christ.  May we be witnesses to our community as we give an account of what Jesus has done in our lives and what He can do in the lives of those we speak to about Him.  

With an Expectant hope, Pastor Miller 

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We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.

PRAYER AND PRAISE:

• May 3, 2023
• Rev. Richard Sharpe Jr., M. Div.
• Prayer