Whatever You Ask Will Be Given

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  (John 15:16).

Throughout the entire discourse of Jesus from the upper room (John 13:31) to the High Priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 17:26), Jesus revealed a multitude of truths regarding His relationship to the disciples and their relationship to Him. It is all based on Jesus’ love for the Father, His love for Jesus, and His love for the disciples through Jesus. It’s about their life and living in Christ Jesus and being conformed to His image, beginning here in the earth and continuing on throughout the eternal Kingdom. This was a discourse, not a discussion. No doubt the disciples grappled with what Jesus was saying, trying to understand the breadth and depth and height of His words. They would not grasp His truths at that moment, but would come to understand His teaching after the Holy Spirit was given to them.

John MacArthur sums up this discourse better than anyone I have read. He wrote, “The privileges that characterize the friends of Jesus Christ carry with them corresponding responsibilities. It is their nature to love one another, yet the Bible commands them to ‘fervently love one another from the heart’ (1 Peter 1:22). They know divine truth, yet they must study it diligently (2 Timothy 2:15). Jesus called His friends out of the world, so they must be careful not to love it (1 John 2:15). Those who have been granted the privilege of bearing fruit must submit to the Father’s pruning, so they can bear even more fruit (John 15:2). The Lord’s promise of answered prayer demands that believers pray effectively (James 5:16) and unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In short, those who have been granted the inestimable privilege of being the friends of Jesus Christ must ‘walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called (Ephesians 4:1).”

It is given to the Christian the responsibility to continue to abide (live) in Christ Jesus, as the branches continue to remain in the vine, thereby producing fruit of the life of the vine. That is our whole purpose for being Christian and remaining in the earth after we are saved. Heaven is a wonderful place, beyond description, but it is not our destiny. Our destiny is clearly stated in Romans 8:28-29, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. [Why?] For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Many of our fellow Christians have left us for that better place the Lord has prepared for us in glory. They have left us because their work here has been completed. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues on through those who remain so that the full number of those who will be saved are saved. To that end we remain here, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those whom He has appointed and ordained to be saved. To be caught up in the things of the world detracts from that Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) given to us by the Lord. To be caught up in the things of Christ Jesus enables, empowers the Christian to fulfill that Commission until He comes. Amen.

Pastor Martin