How Can You Have Joy in the Battle?

We'll begin our reading with the last two verses of chapter 14,

and then we'll go through verse 11 of chapter 15.

So John 14, starting at verse 30,

and to John chapter 15, we'll end at verse 11.

John 15 · chapter mention

You can follow along in whatever English translation you have.

I like to read from the King James,

but then I'll make sure to exposit using, I think, more of the ESV as well

so that you can make sure to find where we are.

I think it's really good for us to hear this same Greek text

and a lot of different English translations.

So if you please follow along, and as I read this, remember,

this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

It's God's very own word for you, His people.

If you believe that, you belong to God through Jesus Christ.

And when we're done with the reading, I'll say,

this is the word of the Lord, and you respond, thanks be to God.

John chapter 14, verse 30.

John 14:30

Hereafter I will not talk much with you,

for the Prince of this world cometh,

and hath nothing in me.

But that the world may know that I love the Father,

and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do.

Arise, let us go hence.

15.1

Verse 3.

Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine,

no more can you except you abide in me.

Verse 5.

I am the vine.

You are the branches.

He that abides in me, and I in him,

the same brings forth much fruit.

For without me you 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.

If you abide in me and my word abides in you,

you shall ask what you will,

and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified,

that you bear much fruit.

So shall you be my disciples.

As the Father has loved me,

so I have loved you.

Continue in my love.

If you keep my commandments,

you shall abide in my love,

even as I have kept my Father's commandments,

and I abide in his love.

These things I have spoken unto you,

that my joy may remain in you,

and that your joy may be full.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God indeed.

You may be seated.

The Bible says that the grass withers,

and the flower fades,

but it's the word of the Lord that endures forever.

Would you pray with me?

Would you pray with me?

Would you pray with me?

Father, may your word,

may Jesus Christ,

the true vine,

abide richly in your people.

Teach us what it means to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For your glory today we ask.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

how can you have joy in the battle?

Is it possible to go through the trenches of warfare

and still have joy?

And if so, how?

In 1895, a missionary from Ireland to India named Amy Carmichael.

She traveled on a ship, arrived in India.

The first 40 years of being a missionary there,

she never went back to visit family or relatives,

never went home.

20 years before she ended her ministry there,

she had fallen into an uncovered pit,

and she fell so badly that it hurt her back,

and she had to become bedridden.

So the next 20 years of ministry,

she was laid up in a bed in India.

She saw the spiritual battle,

the wickedness, the violence all around her.

And yet she knew,

even being bedridden and in chronic pain,

she knew a deeper joy,

even deeper than the battle that she had to endure.

Listen to what she wrote.

What prodigal waste it appears

to see scattered on the floor

the bright green leaves

and the bare stem bleeding

in a hundred places from the sharp knife.

But with a tried and trusted vine dresser,

there is not a random stroke in it all.

Listen to this.

Nothing cut away,

which it would not have been

a loss to keep or gain to lose.

There's a deep battle we live in.

Amy Carmichael testifies,

there is a deeper joy.

In this wonderful little passage of John 15,

Jesus tells His disciples,

Satan is coming.

Abide in Me.

My Father will prune you.

Abide in Me.

Apart from Me,

you can do nothing.

Abide in Me.

Jesus tells us the purpose

for this teaching.

Look at verse 11.

These things I have spoken to you.

Why?

That My joy may be in you

and that your joy may be full.

That's where this ends up.

That's verse 11.

Let's walk through the verses

between the end of 14

to arrive at that point

and see how this promise

of our Lord Jesus

is trustworthy.

How can you have His joy,

His deep joy,

even in the battle?

I got eight points to get us there.

Number one,

you and I were born

into a spiritual battle.

We were entering this world

in the midst of a war

that's already going on

long before we were part of it

and that will continue to go on

until the Lord returns.

And the moment you are born

into this world,

there is one person

who has more of a claim on you

than anyone else.

More than your parents

have a claim on you,

more than your country

can claim you,

and it's Satan himself.

You are claimed.

Born into this world

that's at war,

you are claimed by Satan.

Look at chapter 14,

verse 30.

There in the upper room,

Jesus tells His disciples,

I will no longer

talk much more with you

for the ruler

of this world

is coming.

We get a description

of what this will look like

in a couple chapters.

It's chapter 18,

verse 3,

that says,

there will be a band of soldiers,

officers from the chief priests

and Pharisees,

and they will show up

in the garden

where Jesus and His disciples

are with lanterns

and torches

and weapons.

The disciples know

there's going to be

a confrontation.

Peter has his sword

ready to go.

However,

when the darkness

of the ruler of this world,

when Satan himself

through those men

encounter Christ

and his disciples,

the spiritual weight

of this war,

it makes all those

brave disciples

who are speaking

these bold words

just hours prior

in the upper room

flee.

That's the weight

of Satan

coming to fight Christ.

Ephesians 6,

Ephesians 6:12

verse 12,

confirms this.

We battle

not against

flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces

of evil

in the heavenly places.

So before you

have any business

understanding

the joy

that a person

can have

in the midst

of a spiritual battle,

you need to

understand the reality

you're born into.

There is a great battle

over your life.

And unless you belong

to the kingdom of Christ,

Satan has a claim

on you.

Satan

has you

under his rule.

He is the ruler

of this world.

That's what Jesus

calls him.

Unless you are

ransomed out of that.

Because of Adam's sin,

the whole world

is under the curse

and under the dominion

of the devil

in this present evil age.

Satan has a claim

on anyone

who is still under Adam.

But notice what Jesus says

in verse 30.

Chapter 14,

verse 30.

He has no claim

on me.

Jesus was born

of Virgin Mary.

He did not inherit

sin from Adam.

Jesus is the only one

who was born

not being claimed

by the ruler

of this world.

He could have lost that

with one sin,

one false inclination

of his heart.

But Jesus,

at the end

of his ministry,

before he marches

to the cross,

he can say,

Satan still

has no claim

on me.

Is that good news

for you?

No one takes

the life

of the Son of God,

Jesus preached.

He lays it down

willingly

for his sheep.

We saw

in John chapter 12,

John 12:31

verse 31,

that when the Son of Man

will be lifted up,

that's a reference

to him being put

on the cross.

Jesus said,

the ruler

of this world

will be cast out.

That same reference,

the ruler

of this world,

the ruler

of this world.

Christ knows

exactly how

he will defeat

the ruler

of this world,

and it will take

him being lifted up.

We're going to see

in the next chapter,

John 16,

John 16:11

verse 11,

that when Christ

ascends to his

Father's right hand,

the ruler

of this world

will be judged

and condemned.

That's good news

if you belong

to Christ.

That means you,

you are in Christ.

You are not under

the dominion

of the ruler

of this world

any longer.

You're not under

the sin of Adam's curse.

You have been united

to Christ.

And Satan

has no claim

on those

who belong

to Christ.

When you are united

to Christ,

then and only then

can you have joy

in your battle

against sin,

Satan,

worldliness,

and wolves.

There is joy

for those united

to Christ,

even in the worst,

most ugly parts

of this battle

we see here on earth.

Does Satan

have a claim

on you?

Or do you belong

to Christ?

Because if Christ

has a claim

on you,

Satan cannot

touch you.

number two,

the mission

of King Jesus

was to love

the Father

perfectly

as a man

so that you

can share

in the joy

of God's love.

The love between

Father, Son,

and Spirit.

That's a love

that bubbles over

into fullness

of joy.

God wants that

for you,

but it's only possible

if King Jesus

takes on that mission

to love the Father

perfectly

as a man,

as your second

and final

representative head,

the new Adam.

Notice what Jesus said.

This is so cool

when I learn this.

In 1430,

he says,

the ruler of this world

is coming.

Satan is coming.

Jesus says,

he has no claim on me.

I do not obey him.

I'm not enslaved

to the ruler

of this world.

Look at verse 30 still.

I do

as the Father

has commanded me

so that the world

may know

that I love

the Father.

Then he says,

rise.

Let us go up

from here.

So you've got to

picture this scene.

They're in this upper room

in Jerusalem.

Most likely,

the place where they're at

is near the east side

of the temple.

So as you come out,

you look

and you see the entrance

to the temple.

Remember how it faces east?

So those taken into captivity

pray facing back

looking at that entrance

as if they could,

wishing they could be

back in the Holy of Holies

with God.

And as they come out,

they don't go toward

the temple,

they go away.

They go to the Garden

of Gethsemane.

The Garden of Gethsemane,

it sits at the base

of the Mount of Olives.

So if you hear those two,

it's really the same place.

It just depends

how high up you're going.

We read in John 18,

1 through 3

that there was a garden

which he and his disciples

entered.

And this is where

the encounter happens.

Judas,

who betrayed him,

also knew the place

for Jesus often met there

with his disciples.

So Jesus just said,

the ruler of this world

is coming.

Now he tells his disciples,

rise up,

let us go.

Sinclair Ferguson

helped me understand

that that term,

rise up,

let us go,

is a military term.

Ferguson wrote,

he's not talking

only about a physical departure

from the upper room

to the garden.

This is a spiritual

call to arms.

Up and at them

is what Jesus is saying.

Since the enemy is coming,

let us go and meet him.

Jesus calls his disciples

to follow him

out of the light

of that upper room

where they broke bread,

they drank the vine,

the fruit of the vine,

to march out,

glance at the temple,

and go meet the enemy

in the darkness

on his own terms,

on enemy territory.

It's an away game.

I'm not sure if it's because

they had just had the bread

and drank the wine

or if it's because

they saw looking at the temple

what was called the,

make sure I get it right,

it's called the temple vine

and it was this golden piece

of artwork

that formed the arch.

You know,

as you're approaching

the temple grounds

and people would make vows

and they would promise

things to God

and then they would attach

their promise like,

God, if you help me

with have a good harvest,

I'll give you a bunch of grapes

and they would then

take those grapes

and attach them

to this golden archway

in the temple.

So either with that

within their eyesight

or because they just

celebrated the Passover

and that was the flavor

left in their mouth

was the fruit of the vine.

King Jesus is ready for war.

He knows exactly

what this war requires

and this is number three.

The mission of King Jesus

was to become,

look at 15.1,

the true vine

so that you could bear fruit

for his father.

Now Jesus could have said,

I am the true lamb of God.

That would have been true.

We know that's who he was.

But a lamb is slaughtered.

A lamb is an image of death

and defeat and sacrifice.

A penal substitutionary sacrifice.

And in this moment,

going out to meet

the ruler of the world,

he doesn't want them

thinking about him

as the sacrifice.

He wants them to know

I am the true vine.

It's an image of joy

and abundance

and victory and life.

The enemy will come

and plunder the goods

of a nation.

But I am the true vine.

Verse 1 of 15,

he says,

I am the true vine

and my father

is the vine dresser.

We just heard

from Isaiah 5

how God gave

the nation of Israel

every loving care

that they could ever hope for

and yet they bore

sour fruit,

sour grapes.

That's not the only place

we get this image of Israel

as God's vineyard.

Another place is Psalm 80.

In verse 8,

Psalm 80 says,

you brought a vine

out of Egypt.

You drove out the nations

and planted it.

You cleared the ground

for it.

But Israel did not bear

the fruit.

So Jesus says,

I am the true vine.

I am the fulfillment

of all that God

has always promised

for His people.

It's only in me

and it's only through me

that God's people

can do that exact purpose

for which He brought them

into existence.

Psalm 80 goes on to say

that the vine of God

would take deep root

and it would fill the land

and the mountains

would be covered

with its shade

and the mighty cedars

with its branches.

And it sent out

its branches to the sea

and it shoots to the river.

It's the image

of this vine

sending branches out

until God's entire dominion

is filled

to the very borders

all around.

That never happened

with national Israel.

Jesus says,

I am the true vine.

I am the one

who will fulfill Isaiah 5.

I'm the one

who will fulfill Psalm 80.

And I will do it

through you.

In chapter 15, verse 2,

Jesus says,

Every branch in me

that does not bear fruit,

He takes away.

And every branch

that does bear fruit,

He prunes

that it may bear

more fruit.

If you had a vineyard

in ancient Israel,

the owner of the vineyard

himself would be

very careful.

He would not want

to let anyone

destroy the vine.

So he personally

would go through

and clip and trim

just right.

And then his children

or other servants

would follow along.

And their job

was to pick up

everything he trimmed,

leave it in a pile,

give it a week,

now it's dry,

and you set fire to it

and you're done

with what was keeping

the vine from being

as productive

as it could have been.

And that's the image

Jesus is recalling

for his disciples now.

It's Christ's fruit

inside of his people

that brings glory to God.

And that's why Satan

wants to battle

so much

against the fruitfulness

of God's people.

Satan does not want

God to get glory.

Satan wants to injure

the glory of God

as if that were possible.

Satan does not want you

to bear the fruit

of Christ in your life

because that would

bring glory to God.

That's exactly

what Jesus says.

That's why

God the Father

is the vine dresser.

It brings him glory

to see you

bearing fruit,

even if that means

trimming away

and pruning you.

A pastor in the 1800s,

Westcott,

he said,

when God is the vine dresser,

everything is removed

from the branch

that diverts

the productive power

of the vine

to bear fruit.

By cutting away

what hinders our growth,

God makes us

more like his son,

more fruitful

to serve him

and to bring him

more glory.

See,

the triune God,

Father,

Son,

and Spirit

uses the pruning,

even uses the battle

that we're in

to bring God glory.

The fruit of the Spirit

is God's purpose

for your life.

That's the purpose

of your life,

your sanctification.

But it's the righteousness

of the Son

that is the source

of God's fruit

in your life.

It is the pruning

of the Father

that is the means

he uses

to increase

your fruitfulness.

And that's how

the Holy Spirit

carries out

the purpose of God

in bearing fruit,

the fruit of Christ's

righteousness

slowly,

gradually,

increasingly

in our lives

in a way that brings

zero glory to you

and all the glory

to God.

Number four,

Christ justifies you

by your union

to Christ,

not by the fruit

of your life.

See, we're only two

verses into chapter 15

and Jesus already

has to bring this

important correction

to where their minds

might be going.

They're just like you

and I,

our flesh wants to creep in,

but look at what Jesus

says in verse 3.

Already you are clean.

How?

How are you clean already?

Because of the word

that I have spoken

to you.

Now,

he's talking about

being clean.

That's a different metaphor

than bearing fruit.

These disciples

would have just

walked down

the upper room,

stepped onto

the dusty roads again,

walking into the darkness.

From their perspective,

their feet

would have been

very clean

until they just now

started following Jesus

one more time

to do battle

in the darkness.

You know why their feet

would have been clean,

right?

What did Jesus do

in the upper room?

He got down.

He washed the dirt

off of their feet

and took it onto

his own body

as a servant

and he dried them

and he wore their dirt

on himself.

That's why he can tell them,

you are already clean.

I cleaned you.

And as he's doing that,

he taught them.

What he taught Peter

was in chapter 13,

verse 8,

unless I wash you,

you have no share

with me.

What makes you clean

is if Jesus Christ himself

washed you clean,

then and only then

can you have

a share in him.

Jesus takes your dirt

and he puts it

on himself.

You are justified

by faith

upon one condition.

It's Christ's work,

not your own.

You are sanctified,

preserved,

and finally saved

into the age to come

by his washing you,

not by your own fruit.

Romans 8, 32 says that

he spared not his own son,

but delivered him up

for us all.

How then,

how shall he not

also freely give us

all things?

It's God himself

who gave his son

to bear your sin,

to make you clean.

Of course he will preserve you

to the very end.

How could he not?

And Jesus says,

you are already clean

by my word,

by my finished work.

He taught them

in John chapter 14,

John 14:20

verse 20.

You are in me

as I am in the Father.

And the Father

is in you.

You are with God.

You are united to God

through Christ.

That's the ministry

of the Spirit.

You are united

with me already.

My righteousness

covers you already.

You can have joy

in the battle.

And when the remaining

flesh of your own sin

deceives you

into feeling that

you are meriting

more of God's favor

for yourself,

remember this is

the same God

who delivered up

his own son freely.

He freely gives you

all things.

The promise of God's

rich grace

is only for you

who receive it freely.

Not by adding your good works

or your fruit to it.

You receive

his righteousness

freely.

You can pray

in the words of

Milton Vincent

the gospel poem

in saving God

you also have justified me

accounting me righteous

by your own decree

declaring me guiltless

of all of my sin

and bringing your wrath

against me

to an end.

This wrath

Christ appeased

in full brunt

on the tree

when in bearing

my sin

he endured it

for me.

Christ justifies you

by your union to him

not by the fruit

that he bears

in your life.

Number five

abide in Christ

because apart from him

you can do

nothing.

You can have joy

in this battle

if you abide in Christ.

You can have joy

in this battle

when you are

not relying on yourself

to bear the good fruit

because that will

result in frustration

there will be no joy.

But Jesus says

in verse four

abide in me

and I in you

as the branch

cannot bear fruit

by itself

unless it abides

in the vine

neither can you

unless you abide in me.

I am the vine

you are the branches

whoever abides in me

and I in him

he it is

that bears

much fruit

for apart from me

you can do

nothing.

What does it mean

to abide

when Jesus uses

this word here

starting in verse four?

To abide means

to live in Christ.

It means to dwell

in Christ.

It means to conduct

your life

in accordance

with Christ.

If you don't

abide in Christ

you are choosing

to instead

abide in this world

under the domain

of the evil ruler.

you are choosing

instead the eternal fire

along with your true master

who is the devil.

That's what Jesus says

in verse six

if anyone does not

abide in me

he is thrown away

like a branch

and withers

and the branches

are gathered

thrown into the fire

and burned.

If you abide in Christ

he will bear

his fruit in you.

You're attached to him.

It's the sap of the vine

that finds life

and blossoms

and bears fruit

in the branches.

But if you're

not attached to Christ

that's how

that's how despairing

your life should be.

You have only death.

You are dried up.

You will wither away.

You have nothing good

coming from inside

of yourself.

But he says

in me

you will bear much fruit.

It's the fruit

of the Holy Spirit.

And abide

is such a perfect word

to describe

our union to Christ

and how it is

that the Spirit

bears fruit

because abiding

on one hand

is relaxed.

It's resting.

It's not laboring.

But it's also

not passive.

It's not rebellious.

You are abiding.

You are living.

You're resting

in Christ.

This is a hard thing

for us to understand

but I think it's

the key to sanctification.

If you're in this battle

against the remaining flesh

the sin in your body

because the fruit

of the Spirit

according to 2 Corinthians

it includes self-control.

How can it be

the fruit of the Spirit

but it's also self-control?

Who's doing the work here?

Well,

you could not have

self-control

if you're apart from Christ.

You can't.

Our curse from Adam

and the remaining flesh

it's so twisted

and broken.

But the Spirit

is that source

that allows you

to then practice

that fruit of the Spirit

of self-control.

Jerry Bridges

helped me with this.

He said,

think about sin.

It's not that final act.

It's not even,

really that's not

where the battle

is won or lost.

Take it way,

way back to the source.

What's really going on

in your soul,

in your heart,

in your mind.

Jerry Bridges wrote

that the mind

is like a mental garden

of unlawful thoughts.

And when a thought

pops into your mind

you haven't sinned,

that just shows you

you're in the middle

of a battle

in this world.

We always will be

fighting sin

until our last breath.

He says,

our sinful actions

are savored in

your mind

long before they are

tasted in reality.

Your thought life

is your first

line of defense

in the battle

for self-control.

When you have

these thoughts,

abide in Christ.

When your mind

and your remaining sin

wants to indulge

in the fallen curse

of the world,

the ruler of this world

no longer has

dominion over you.

Abide in Christ.

Think of His goodness.

Think of His loveliness.

Think of His righteousness.

Think of His perfect love

for His Father.

Think of His coming

judgment.

Think of the fire.

Think of those branches

thrown into the fire.

And then how Christ

Himself was put

into the fire

in your place.

Think about that

and pray for the fruit

of the Spirit

in your life.

Pray for God

to give you

the self-control

that you and I,

we don't have it.

We need it to give

a free gift

that God will put

in us instead.

And then we can pray

like Amy Carmichael again.

She said,

Rid me,

good Lord

of every diverting thing.

Cut it off.

Strip it away.

May I be in you instead.

Abide in Christ.

John Owen said,

Be killing sin,

lest sin be killing you.

Number six,

As you abide in Christ,

His word abides in you

and transforms you

for God's glory.

Verse seven says,

If you abide in me

and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish

and it will be done

for you.

By this,

my Father is glorified

that you bear

much fruit

and so prove

to be

my disciples.

One pastor commented

on a very hard life

he lived

and he was a man

who also wrote

some of the most

beautiful hymns

we have

named Horatius Bonar,

Scottish pastor

in the 1800s.

Looking back

on his own life

he said,

The road to the kingdom

is not pleasant

or comfortable

as many dream.

The end is glory,

honor, and peace

but the way

includes battle,

thorns in the flesh,

sackcloth,

and a cross.

But this is the way

that bears much fruit.

See,

God is glorified

when you bear fruit

in keeping with repentance.

God is glorified

when the Father

prunes you

and you see

even more

the Spirit

working the righteousness

of Christ

into your life

through that.

God is glorified

when His preserving grace

proves to you

and to the world

that you are

a true disciple

of Christ.

And God is glorified

when you pass

through the fire

and Christ held you

all the way through it

and you come out

on the other side

even more refined

when the dross

has been burnt away.

Martin Luther

was a man

who suffered

much in his life.

He was exiled.

He had to live

in a different country.

He had to be in hiding

and disguised.

And he said,

where the battle rages,

there the loyalty

of a soldier

is proved.

The one who saved you

initially

will preserve you

to the end.

We have this promise

in Ephesians 2.7

that in the ages

to come

He might show

the exceeding riches

of His grace

in His kindness

toward us

through Jesus Christ.

You are saved

for God's glory alone.

God will sanctify you

for God's glory

alone in your life.

God will preserve you

for His glory alone.

Do not let your heart

be troubled

in this battle.

Instead, rejoice.

You are being saved.

You are being prepared

for heaven.

You are being pruned

and refined

for God's glory.

You can have joy

in this battle.

Number seven,

as you abide in Christ,

He works His loving

obedience into you.

He's telling His disciples

this as a promise.

As you abide in Me,

you will bear much fruit.

But what is this fruit

that He's talking about?

I believe these verses

9 and 10,

they show us

He's talking about

divine love.

This fruit that He's talking about,

like the sap

going through a vineyard

through the tree,

it's the sap

that is sourced

by God Himself,

Father, Son, and Spirit,

running through the vine.

It's the love of God,

an otherworldly,

heavenly love.

And that love

pushes itself out

through the branches,

and it transforms

those branches.

the ones that were

withering on their own.

His love pushes through,

and it makes them green,

and it makes them flower,

and it makes the fruit

start to grow

and mature.

It's the only way

that we can not bear

sour grapes.

Israel tried it.

They tried it

with the external law.

If that's all you have,

you will drive yourself mad.

But if it's the love of God

working itself

into your life,

you know,

like the vine and the branches,

it's that simple.

You simply will bear

the fruit of His love

in your life.

Notice the logic here

in verses 9 and 10.

He says,

the Father loved the Son.

How did the Father

show His love to His Son?

Well, He gave Him

a good moral law.

That's the very next thing

He says.

The moral law

on the Son

was a good thing.

It was the loving rule

of His Father

that was the guide

for Christ

in His life

on this earth.

Christ could have joy,

perfect joy,

a fullness of joy,

while keeping

the moral law

of His Father.

And then Jesus says

in verse 9,

in that same way,

does the Son

love the disciples?

And He calls

the law

that the Father

gave Him,

He now calls it

His law

for His disciples.

You see how simple

but how powerful this is?

That's how Christ

loves you.

His moral law,

the same law

He already fulfilled.

He shows you

the Father's love

by saying,

these are my commandments.

I'm the king

over my kingdom.

You obey me now.

You don't obey

to earn your favor

of God

or to escape the rash

by your own merits.

You obey my moral law

because you love me.

It's my good law.

I'm a good shepherd

and it's for you

who belong to me

as my sheep.

In verse 10,

He uses a phrase here.

He says,

just as I have kept the law.

When Jesus refers

to Himself

fulfilling this covenant

of works,

putting Himself

under the law

of God perfectly,

He says in the past tense,

I have kept it perfectly.

And now for us,

the verb is different.

It's a continual,

active,

abiding type

of keeping.

None of us

would be able to get

to the end of our lives

and say what Christ says,

that I have kept

God's law perfectly.

But we can say,

I learned throughout this life

to abide in Christ

and to let His good law

teach me

what it means

to be keeping,

actively keeping,

actively repenting,

actively relying on Him

because He is the one

who kept it perfectly.

number eight.

In the midst of this battle,

our Lord Jesus Christ

gives you joy

through His word.

The people of Israel

did not want

to keep God's law.

They had no joy,

no delight

in trying to please

their Lord

and walking with Him.

Jesus says,

that's what will change.

If you belong to me,

you're grafted into me.

It'll be my love

and my joy in you.

It'll change your desires.

Look at what He says

in verse 11.

These things I have spoken to you.

Everything He's taught

up to this point.

Why?

So that my joy

may be in you

and your joy

may be full.

God wants you

to be full

of the joy.

And what joy is it?

It's the joy of the Son.

That's what He wants you

to be full of.

You can have joy

in this battle

if it's the joy

of the Son

put into you.

It's the love

that exists

between Father and Son

bound by the Spirit.

It's applied to you.

That can be your own joy

in the battle.

Amy Carmichael,

for the last time here,

she said,

thank God

for the battle verses

in the Bible.

We go into the unknown

every day of our lives

to be a battlefield

outwardly.

And it's also

the unseen part

of my life,

my spirit.

It's often where

the sternest battlefield

is happening.

But the Lord,

your God,

goes before you

and He shall fight

for you.

Satan is coming.

Abide in me.

You can have joy

even under extreme pressure

and attacks

by the enemy.

My Father

is pruning you.

I know for a fact

some of you right now

are going through

a season of painful

pruning.

Abide in Christ.

Abide in me,

He says,

and I will put

my joy inside of you.

You don't have it

on your own.

Abide in His joy.

He says,

apart from me,

you can do nothing.

You look at your life

and you want to bear

more of His fruit.

You desire that.

Abide in Christ.

He will bear that fruit

for His Father's glory.

We have a great verse

in Hebrews 12

that tells us

what was the joy

of the Son

because He says,

it will be my joy

in you.

What was the joy

of the Son?

Hebrews 12, 2.

It was for the joy

that was set before Him

that Jesus Christ

endured the cross,

despising the shame.

And Jesus Christ

is seated at the right hand

of the throne of God

for the joy set before Him

to make you His own.

That is the joy of Christ

that He wants to put in you.

It's the joy

that you get to belong to Him.

That's the joy

that should fill our hearts.

How can the promise

for my soul

help me in the battle

against my flesh?

It's the joy

of being united to Christ.

That was His joy

to endure the cross

so that you could be His,

so that you could belong to Him.

So how do you abide in Christ?

That same verse,

Hebrews 12, 2,

tells us to look upon Him,

the founder and perfecter

of your faith.

As you abide in our Lord Jesus Christ,

He puts His joy in you

even in the deepest trenches

of spiritual battle

and He is the one

who makes your joy full.

You be full with the joy

of the Lord.

Let's pray.

Father, we praise You

for the loving righteousness

of Christ.

We praise You

that He is the source

of our love and our joy.

And we ask, Lord,

as empty vessels

to fill us

with that good wine.

Fill us with Christ's

love and joy.

May we drink deeply of Him

and be full of Your love.

For Your glory we ask.

For Christ's sake.

Amen.