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Those Whom God Preserves
(Jn15:1-18)
God is the only God (1Ti1:17).
For Himself He made all things (Ge22:8; 2Ki19:15; Col1:16) and
He can bring death and make alive (1Sa2:6), and He preserves those who remain in Him.
Faith is fully acknowledging this and
The life of this faith is, in order to be preserved by Him, putting effort to become a man after God’s own heart (Jn15:4; Ac13:22).
The only God (Potentate) refers to the one who holds absolute power.
God who created all things by His word (Ge1) also burns up all things by His word (2Pe3:7), and
Like a gardener who works for his profit
He freely cuts off branches or prunes them to be more fruitful (Jn15:1-2).
The Bible records a repeated history of expansion and reduction for God’s purpose.
During the creation God blessed the man and the woman so
They multiplied and the earth became filled with people (Ge1:28).
To one man among them, God breathed the breath of life, making him a living being (Ge2:7),
Adam, who sinned and was banished from the Garden and
Returned to the ground from which he was taken (Ge3:23) to live with the created people (Ge6:1-2).
The deluge was God’s work of reduction that only spared Noah and his family,
In accordance with God’s dispensation:
It preserved only the descendants of Adam the living being (Ge6:9-9) and
Wiped out all those who were just the flesh (Ge6:3-7).
Since their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were blessed to multiply (Ge17:2),
The Israelites who were only 70 when entering Egypt (Ex1:5)
Grew to about 700,000 males 430 years later at the time of the exodus (Nu1:46).
After 40 years in the wilderness, however, only two of them crossed the Jordan.
Furthermore, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 722 BC and
The Southern Kingdom of Judah in 587 BC; after their exile of 70 years, only a tenth returned.
Nevertheless, they longed for the restoration of Israel (Ac1:6) since
The Temple where the name of Jehovah was
Reminded them of God’s promise of the growth of their people and kingdom stood.
Thus, when Yeshua said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days” (Jn2:19),
He was hated by them, but through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,
Not in the name of Jehovah but in the Father’s name of Yeshua (Jn5:43, 17:11), He would make
His people not only a selective group but the souls of all nations (Hos1:10, 2:23; Is63:16).
He called those whom He wanted so they be with Him (Mk3:13) and
He taught them in details (Mt13:11) regarding
The relationship of the Gardener—the vine—the branch as
One of the Father—the Son—souls, that is, an inseparable, life-relationship (Jn15:1-8).
But one of the 12, Judas Iscariot, did not remain (Jn6:70-71) for
He went ahead to do his predestined part of betraying Yeshua (Jn13:26-30).
As Yeshua died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Willingly surrendered His life to the Father who can raise Him back to life (Jn10:17-18; He5:7), and fell as a seed to bear much fruit (Mk4:30-32; Jn12:24), a man after God’s own heart (Ac13:22);
2) Judged the devil who challenged the absolute authority (Is14:12-15; Ge3:4-6); and
3) With His redeeming blood, the life-giving spirit, and brought back to life the living spirit (Jn6:54-56; 1Co15:45; Eph1:7).
After He resurrected, He ascended to heaven and became the only Sovereign and Lord (Jude1:4).
The Holy Spirit came in the name of Yeshua, first to the 120 believers through whom
The gospel spread from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth (Ac1:8).
A disciple is a soul brought back to life by the blood of Yeshua.
He is called in the name of Yeshua into the church His chosen body where
He attaches as a member (1Co12:12; Eph5:30) and
Strives to remain in the vine the church and bear fruit (Jn15:7-8),
Becoming one whom God preserves for
When the Lord returns, he longs to be taken up to the Father’s house as
One of the few, the remnant, with faith (Lk18:8; Jn17:12; Rm9:27).
O Lord,
How You called us and let us remain attached to the church to this day — this is Your grace!
Let us become simple-minded, listen closely to the word (Ac17:11),
Fear the Lord (1Sa13:14) and be faithful to the point of death (Rev2:10) so
We become those after Your own heart.
Hold us fast and preserve us until the end! Amen.
Sermon Trivia
1. According to the sermon, God is __. (1 Timothy 1:17)?
A. The Omniscient One
B. The Almighty
C. The only God (Potentate)
D. The Creator
2. What is required to become a man after God’s own heart, according to John 15:4 and Acts 13:22?
A. Praying daily
B. Putting effort to remain in God and live a life of faith
C. Donating to charity
D. Attending church every Sunday
3. What does the sermon say about God’s actions as a gardener in John 15:1-2?
A. God plants seeds in fertile soil
B. God freely cuts off branches or prunes them to be more fruitful
C. God waters the plants regularly
D. God harvests the crops in due time.
4. Noah was called righteousness because__.
A. He obeyed the Law
B. He made the sacrifice
C. He is the descendant of Seth, a living being.
5. What significance does the Temple have in the restoration of Israel, as discussed in Acts 1:6?
A. It served as a place for animal sacrifices
B. It reminded the Israelites of God’s promise of growth and their people and kingdom
C. It was a place for storing holy relics
D. It was where the Ten Commandments were kept
6. What was the role of the Holy Spirit after Yeshua's ascension, as mentioned in Acts 1:8?
A. To comfort the disciples
B. To spread the gospel to the ends of the earth through the believers
C. To perform miracles
D. To protect the followers of Jesus
7. (T/F) Christians must remain in the vine the church and bear fruit (Jn15:7-8).
Answers:
1.C 2.B 3.B 4.C 5.B 6.B 7.True