Finding Jesus in the Gathering Dark - 3

“STORM: Finding Jesus in the Gathering Dark”—3

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• Two sides to the coin
  • Jesus: “If you remain in Me [ are in Christ] and I remain in you [Christ is in ], then you will bear much fruit.”
  • Two sides to the Salvation Coin:
    • → Christ = forgiveness/justification
    • Christ →   = fruit/sanctification
    • Galatians 2:20—“I am crucified with Christ [ are in Christ]: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me [Christ is in ]: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
  • The “Christ is in us” side of the coin:
    • John 15:5—“‘Abide in Me and I .’”
    • Galatians 2:20—“Christ lives .”
    • Galatians 4:19—“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed .”
    • Ephesians 3:17—“ . . . so that Christ may dwell in through faith . . .”
    • Colossians 1:27—“ . . . God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this [Gospel] mystery, which is Christ , the hope of glory.”
    • Revelation 3:20—“‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will and eat with that person, and they with me.’”
  • Jesus—“‘I am the Vine and you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much .”
    • For God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—bearing fruit is a huge deal—because it is the only way to that the branch is truly connected to the Vine.
    • Luke 13:6-9—“‘If it bears   next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
    • Galatians 5:22-23 NRSV—“The   of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
    • Job was bearing fruit that showed he had the faith of Jesus: “Though He slay me, yet will I   Him” (Job 13:15).
    • And what is “the faith of Jesus”? “I will put My   in Him” (Hebrews 2:13).
    • There will be a generation at the end of time that will demonstrate the faith of , because they have the faith of .
    • And the faith of Jesus is revealed in the fruit of the .
  • Desire of Ages 677: “‘Herein is My Father glorified,’ said Jesus, ‘that ye bear much fruit.’ God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own . Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples to bear fruit. He tells them to   in Him.”
  • Mike Mason—“Marriage, even under the very best of circumstances, is a crisis—one of the major crises of life—and it is a dangerous thing not to be aware of this. Whether it turns out to be a healthy, challenging, and constructive crisis or a disastrous nightmare depends largely upon how willing the partners are to be changed, how malleable they are. Yet ironically, it is some of the most hardened and crusty and unlikely people in the world who plunge themselves into the arms of marriage and thereby submit in almost total naiveté to the two most transforming powers know to the human heart: the love of another person and the gracious love of God. So be prepared for ! Be prepared for the most sweeping and revolutionary of a lifetime.’’ (The Mystery of Marriage: As Iron Sharpens Iron 60-61)
• One example to follow
  • Matthew 4:4—“‘It is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every   that comes from the mouth of God.”’”
  • Psalm 40:8/Hebrews 10:7—“‘I desire to do Your will, my God; Your   is within My heart.’”
  • Psalm 119:11—“I have hidden Your   in my heart that I might not sin against You.”
  • Psalm 16:8-10—“I will keep my eyes always on the LORD. With Him at My right hand, I will not be shaken. . . . because You will   abandon Me to the realm of the dead, will You let Your faithful one see decay.”
  • Cameron Schofield: “If you don’t get anything else out of this study, I want you to listen carefully and get this. Take it home with you and do not forget it. How was it that Christ was able to give himself up into the hands of the Father? How was it that no matter how dark the malignity of sin was, how terrible the weight of guilt, how impossible it seemed that there was any way out, how did He conquer? He believed that God would keep His . By faith Christ was victorious! ‘And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.’ 1 John 5:4. Is your faith the faith of Jesus?” (Heralding the Loud Cry 94)
  • Desire of Ages 677: “It is through the   that Christ abides in His followers. . . . The words of Christ [in the Gospels] are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live ‘by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same   as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ.”
  • If you want to abide in Christ and want Him to abide in you, everyday ask for the   of Jesus as you read the   of God.

“Abide in Me and I in you”