Chapter 1: What is the source of true and lasting joy?
We don't want just a little bit of joy. We want all of the joy that the Father has stored up for his people. And the fullness of joy that we have comes from Christ.
The world promises joy in the wrong places. Pursue possessions, wealth, even sin, and you'll be satisfied. But that's not the truth. There's only one source of true and lasting joy, and it's the source of our joy that is our topic today. So I'm glad you're with us for this Thursday edition of Renewing Your Mind. The word joy appears over and over again in Scripture. But do you know this joy?
If you're unsure or if you struggle with joy, take the time to study the biblical topic of joy when you request R.C. Sproul's complete series on joy and his book, Can I Have Joy in My Life? Today is the final day of this offer, so be sure to respond with a donation at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight. Well, here's Dr. Sproul on the source of our joy.
One of the chief characteristics of the gospel of John that has been a delight for Christians of all ages is John's list of the famous I Am's of Jesus. For example, Jesus says, I am the door through which men must enter. I am the good shepherd. I am the light of the world, and so on.
Chapter 2: How does the world mislead us about joy?
Before Abraham was, I am. And in each of these affirmations of Jesus, where Jesus says, I am, the Greek has a strange form to it. The Greek goes like this, ego imi. These are two forms of the verb to be in Greek. Both of them mean I am, and it's almost as if Jesus is stuttering when he says, I am, I am, or really he's saying, I, I am.
What's so fascinating about this is that this particular form of the Greek, egoimi, is the way the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Old Testament, would translate the Tetragrammaton of the Old Testament, the great I Am, which was the name Yahweh, the name for God. The way Yahweh would be interpreted was through the Greek egoimi.
And so, many believe that when Jesus calls attention to His role as the great shepherd and as the door, that He is at the same time identifying Himself with deity here. Now, the last of the I Am's that we find in John's gospel is found in the 15th chapter
of the gospel of John, and I'd like to ask you to turn to that now and let us give some attention to this I am of Jesus, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 15 of the gospel of John. Jesus says this, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.
Well, the first thing I want us to note about this statement is that Jesus doesn't say simply, I am the vine, but rather he distinguishes what vine he is. He says, I am the true vine or the genuine vine or the authentic vine. Why does he do this?
Well, he doesn't tell us exactly, but we have a guess that we can lodge here that most biblical scholars would agree with, and that is this, that in the Old Testament, when God enters into a particular and special relationship with his people, the people of Israel, the people of Israel are sometimes considered in the metaphor of the bride. Israel is the bride of Yahweh.
But also, Israel in the Old Testament is called God's vine or God's vineyard. It is the vineyard that God plants, God nurtures, God prunes, and God uses for the purpose of producing fruit that will nourish and enrich the whole world. But one of the judgments that comes upon the nation of Israel in the New Testament is because of the fruitlessness of God's vineyard.
Now, also, a theme that we find throughout the New Testament is that Jesus comes not only to redeem his people, but to embody the nation of Israel itself. In an ultimate sense, Jesus is the Israel of God. And that idea is being communicated partially here in this statement when he says, I am the true vine. Now, notice also that in the Old Testament, Israel was called the Son of God.
Out of Egypt have I called my Son. And when Jesus is brought back out of Egypt after his parents flee to Egypt from the warnings given because Herod was seeking the life of this baby, remember Joseph and Mary took the baby and fled into Egypt. And then when it was safe, They were alerted that they could return back to Israel.
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Chapter 3: What does Jesus mean when he says 'I am the true vine'?
How can we abide and maintain whatever joy that we do experience in the kingdom of God and not only maintain it, but increase it? Well, just keep that thought tucked in the back of your mind for a moment, and just remember that this is our larger concern as we're looking at this teaching of Jesus. In verse 3, he said, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Now he's addressing himself to believers, to those who are his, to those that already enjoy fellowship with him and have a saving relationship with him. They are already clean. And now comes the command in verse 4. in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."
Now, what happens to the branches that you prune from a tree or from a bush? after you've cut the branch and removed it from the tree or from the bush or from the vine, throw it down on the ground, Leave it there for a week and come back and see what it looks like. See how much fruit it is producing. It's not going to produce any fruit. It's been cut off from its life supply.
It's been cut off from its power supply. And so it is impotent. It withers. It atrophies. It dies. Remember the story of a minister who had a person in his congregation who stopped coming to church. And the minister went to visit this wayward parishioner and tried to encourage him to come back to church and said to him, why did you stop coming to church? And the man said, look, I'm a Christian.
I'm a believer. I don't need church. I can do very well on my own. I'm an independent type of person, a self-starter, have a lot of initiative. I don't need the fellowship of other people and so on. And they were having this conversation in the parishioner's backyard as he was preparing to have a barbecue. And he had already started a fire and a bed of coals, barbecue coals, in his barbecue pit.
And while he was talking to his parishioners, he went over beside the barbecue pit and he saw this stack of coals that were all white hot and glowing. He took one of the prongs and lifted one of the coals that he couldn't touch with his hand because it was glowing red hot, white hot indeed. And he removed that coal and moved it to the outside of the barbecue pit.
and then continued his conversation with the parishioner. He didn't say a word about it. And after a few minutes of this continuing conversation, he walked over and he picked up this coal with his bare hand. And he said to the member of his congregation, do you see what just happened here? He said, only a few minutes ago, I couldn't touch this coal because it was so hot.
But once I removed this coal... from the source of the heat, it lost its heat and became cold and no longer could contribute to the barbecue that you're planning for this afternoon. He says, and that's what's going to happen to you. You need the body of Christ. You need the church of Christ.
You need the fellowship of the saints and the assembling together of the people of God because we are not rugged individualists who are called to live in isolation from others. And if we dry up or cool down when we are removed from connection with other Christians, how much more will we evaporate if we are removed from the real source of power, which is Christ himself.
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