91. Characteristics of a Believer in Christ<\/p>\n
As Revealed in John 15<\/p>\n
Every metaphor and simile of the Christian life elucidates some trait of the character of a Christian.<\/p>\n
1. A Branch for Fruitfulness\u2014Joh_15:5. A branch in a vine is the outcome of the productive quality of the root and stem, and is dependent for its fruitfulness from them. Through the branch the vine manifests itself in fruit. It needs to be cleansed, and pruned to bring its fruit to perfection. Being united to Christ, we bring forth fruit, and as we allow the Vine-dresser to develop us, we bring forth the \u201cmore fruit,\u201d yea, \u201cmuch fruit,\u201d and the fruit that remains\u2014Joh_15:2, Joh_15:8, Joh_15:16. The fruit is \u201clove\u201d (Gal_5:22).<\/p>\n
2. A Disciple for Faithfulness\u2014Joh_15:8-10. Discipleship is evidenced by fruitfulness. Being a disciple, we \u201clearn\u201d of Christ, we follow Him, and we are obedient to Him\u2014Mat_11:29; Luk_9:23; Joh_13:34.<\/p>\n
3. A Friend for Communion\u2014Joh_15:15. Three things evidence friendship, namely, confidence, sympathy, and fellowship. We might call these love in exercise, like the love of Jonathan for David.<\/p>\n
4. A Chosen One for Holiness\u2014Joh_15:16. When anyone or anything is set apart for a given purpose, and that purpose is achieved, the election is seen. We prove our election by selecting the things that faith adds to itself\u20142Pe_1:10.<\/p>\n
5. An Ordained One for Benefit\u2014Joh_15:16. Fruit is produced for another\u2019s benefit, is lasting in its blessing, and is a forerunner of answered prayer. See the \u201cthat\u201d in Joh_15:16.<\/p>\n
6. A Servant for Employment\u2014Joh_15:20. To serve such a Master is a privilege, even though we may have to suffer because of our association with Him. He has saved us to serve, and we save ourselves from many things in serving.<\/p>\n
7. A Witness for Testimony\u2014Joh_15:27. A witness is one who knows, and is able to tell out what he has seen and heard. The thing that gave power and brought conviction in the early days was what was evidenced in the disciples\u2014Act_1:8; Act_2:37; Act_4:13.<\/p>\n
92. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD\u2019S WORD<\/p>\n
The following characteristics of the Word will indicate in some measure what it means to preach it.<\/p>\n
1. \u201cThe Word of God\u201d to reveal (Heb_4:12).<\/p>\n
2. \u201cThe Word of the Lord\u201d to command (1Th_1:8).<\/p>\n
3. \u201cThe Word of Christ\u201d to inspire (Col_3:16).<\/p>\n
4. \u201cThe Word of the Gospel\u201d to gladden (Act_15:7).<\/p>\n
5. \u201cThe Word of Salvation\u201d to deliver (Act_13:26).<\/p>\n
6. \u201cThe Word of Reconciliation\u201d to preach (2Co_5:19).<\/p>\n
7. \u201cThe Word of Grace\u201d to build up (Act_20:32).<\/p>\n
8. \u201cThe Word of Faith\u201d to assure (Rom_10:8).<\/p>\n
9. \u201cThe Word of Truth\u201d to arm (2Co_6:7).<\/p>\n
10. \u201cThe Word of Righteousness\u201d to feed (Heb_5:13).<\/p>\n
11. \u201cThe Word of Life\u201d to attract (Php_2:16).<\/p>\n
12. \u201cThe Word\u201d in its exclusiveness (Mat_13:19-20, Mat_13:21-22, Mat_13:23).<\/p>\n
13. \u201cThe Faithful Word\u201d to instruct (Tit_1:9).<\/p>\n
14. \u201cThe Engrafted Word\u201d to save (Jas_1:21).<\/p>\n
15. \u201cThe Sincere Milk\u201d to feed (1Pe_2:2).<\/p>\n
16. \u201cThe Sure Word of Prophecy\u201d to enlighten (2Pe_1:19).<\/p>\n
By: DR. F. E. MARSH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
91. Characteristics of a Believer in Christ As Revealed in John 15 Every metaphor and simile of the Christian life elucidates some trait of the character of a Christian. 1. A Branch for Fruitfulness\u2014Joh_15:5. A branch in a vine is the outcome of the productive quality of the root and stem, and is dependent for … Continue reading “0095. 91. Characteristics of a Believer in Christ”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}