"THE WELL GROUNDED CHRISTIAN!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

JOHN 15:4-11

In 1962, a bridge near John Day collapsed as the flood waters raged against it. A man whose car stalled managed to get his family off the bridge before the tragedy, but he ran back to the car to try to get it started. The bridge fell as he sat in the car. Subsequent investigation showed that the bridge footings were not down to bedrock. The bridge fell because it was not well grounded. The leaning tower of Pisa is slowly falling because it is not well grounded. There are also some symbols of soundness and firmness. We talk about something being as "solid as the Rock of Gibraltar." That cliché merely speaks of how unmoveable and firm something is. We say someone is as "strong as a bull" to indicate great power. Jesus wants us to be unmoveable and firm Christians. To do that we must be well grounded.

1. BE WELL GROUNDED IN JESUS SO YOU CAN BEAR MUCH FRUIT:
1. Jesus said, "Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." So, with Jesus: we are fruitful; without Jesus: we can do nothing.
2. What is this fruit? What will we bear or produce?
1. Godly actions.
1. Jesus said, "You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. ... A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit." Matthew 7:16-17 (NLT)
2. John the Baptist said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." Matthew 3:8 (NIV). He meant, "Change the way you act."
2. Godly attitudes: Paul wrote, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self - control." Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).
3. Godly benevolence: Paul called the contribution to the needs of other Christians "fruit" in Romans 15:28.
4. Godly replication: Christians produce other Christians. Sharing the gospel produces that fruit. Paul said, "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing." Colossians 1:6 (NIV) .
5. Godly works and endeavor: Paul wrote to the Colossians telling them to bear "fruit in every good work," Colossians 1:10 (NIV).
6. Godly praise: The Hebrew writer said, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name." Hebrews 13:15 (NIV).
3. So, how do we remain grounded in Jesus?
1. Stay in touch with Him through prayer, the Word and worship.
2. Walk the way He walks and go the way He goes, do the kind of things He does.
3. Stay under His authority and obey His commands.
4. A man had a cherry tree in his yard. A strong wind broke one of the branches clear off the tree. In a week or so, buds on that tree turned into cherries - but only on the limbs still attached to the tree. The severed limb didn't produce a single cherry. It couldn't - it was not connected to the source of fruit: the tree.

To be a well grounded Christian, be well grounded in Jesus.

2. BE WELL GROUNDED IN HIS WORD SO YOU CAN SUCCEED IN PRAYER:
1. "But if you stay joined to Me and My words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!" There is a caveat though. This is clearly not carte blanche, a blank check, to write whatever we want. There is a condition to this asking and receiving. The condition is, "if My words remain in you."
2. What difference will that make? What if His words remain in us?
1. His Word in our hearts will condition the things we ask for. Think about it.
1. With His Word in our hearts and minds we cannot ask for what He forbids: "Lord, let me really get drunk this week-end" would be a prayer that His Word would preclude.
2. With His Word in our hearts and minds we cannot ask for harm to come to anyone else. "Lord, let a school bus run over that guy" would be eliminated by His Word.
3. With His Word in our hearts and minds we cannot ask for anything that is outside His revealed will. John wrote, "And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will." 1 John 5:14 (NLT). "Lord, let all those terrorists never repent so they can burn in hell forever" is clearly different from what He wills. "He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent." 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT).
2. His Word in our hearts will condition the manner in which we ask.
1. We will not ask with doubt or unbelief. James said, "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double - minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:6-8 (NIV)
2. We will not ask selfishly. Paul said, "Don't be selfish; ... Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing." Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT).
3. His Word in our hearts will condition the motive in which we ask. If we ask for purely sensuous, pleasure oriented motives, James tells us, "the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong - you want only what will give you pleasure." James 4:3 (NLT).
3. So, how do we become grounded in His word?
1. First we have to desire it. Peter urges upon us, "like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word," 1 Peter 2:2 (NASB). The NLT puts it like this, "You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk."
2. Second, we have to invest time in reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on His Word. David wrote, "I will study Your commandments and reflect on Your ways. I will delight in Your principles and not forget Your word." Psalms 119:15-16 (NLT).
3. Third, we must not let anything crowd out His word from our thoughts and hearts. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, "The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced." Matthew 13:22 (NLT).
4. And finally, we need to apply His word to all of life's situations allowing His word to govern our behavior. David wrote, "How can a Young person stay pure? By obeying Your word and following its rules. I have tried my best to find You -- don't let me wander from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Psalms 119:9-11 (NLT).
4. A man was struggling in his life and his faith was weak. He spoke to his pastor and told him he found it difficult even to pry. The pastor gave this advice "Pray the promises, brother, pray the promises." What he meant, of course, was to mention God's promises in prayer and to claim those promises as valid in God's way and in God's time. His Word supplies the promises, our prayer claims and possesses them.

To be a well grounded Christian, be well grounded in Jesus and in His Word.

3. BE WELL GROUNDED IN HIS LOVE SO YOU CAN FULLY LOVE OTHERS:
1. "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." God loves us already. He loved us when we were sinners, ungodly, hostile and alienated. But it is possible for us to live outside His love by ignoring or rejecting it. Jesus wants us to abide in His love and He tells us how to do that: "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love."
2. Paul said, "And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is." Ephesians 3:17, 18 (NLT).
3. What has His love to do with our love to others? Can't we enjoy His love without the inconvenience of loving someone else?
1. Paul wrote, "Christ's love compels us." 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV). His love in us is a driving force, a heart changing dynamic that reproduces itself in love for others.
2. John wrote, "We love each other as a result of His loving us first." 1 John 4:19 (NLT). His love for us is a catalyst that stimulates our loving others.
3. And "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11 (NASB). His loving us is an encouragement and example to love others.
4. Let me illustrate:
1. What is in a container is what will come out of the container. A bucket full of water will only spill out water if it is jostled. If Christ's love is in our hearts, then love will pour out.
2. Let me illustrate it another way. Once I had to rinse my mouth with hydrogen peroxide. Nobody told me to dilute it so I poured in a shot right from the bottle. Instantly the stuff foamed up, grew to enormous proportions and I felt like an aerosol can with the stuff spewing out of my mouth. That's how it works. Christ's love in you cannot be contained. It will come out.

Christ wants us to be well grounded Christians. But what is the outcome of being well grounded? What will happen if we ground ourselves in Jesus, His Word and in His love? Jesus puts it this way, "I have told you this so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" And He added, "You are My friends if you obey me. I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are My friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me." And He concluded, "You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My name. I command you to love each other." John 15:11-17 (NLT). To be a well grounded Christian we need to take a stand for Jesus, to declare ourselves for Him, to align our lives with His. Do that this morning; do it as we sing; do it without waiting another day; but do it.