Abide in the Vine Final (1)

Introduction

Reading of scripture:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 15:1–8.

Body

CAN NOT BEAR FRUIT OUTSIDE OF THE VINE

Jesus is talking to his discipes here. He is telling the disciples who were already followers of Jesus to remain in Him.This is an image of how the church should look life. a group of believers all connected toJesus. He told them to remain in Him. They were supposed to bear fruit yes; however it is impossible to bear fruit unless you are connected to the Vine. If these branches were to live they would need nutrients, and strength. If they did not remain in Him, they had no way of getting nutrients and their fruit would begin to die until it has all rotted away and there is none left. It is impossible for a branch to grow when it is apart from the vine, rather , it will always die.

FOCUS ON ABIDING WRTAHER THAN PRODUCING FRUIT

The focus is not on doing righteous things, but the focus is on a relatioship with Jesus Christ. Many try to live life as a good person without sinning, howeveer they fail. They think that if they do alot of good things then they can go to Heaven. However this passage shows us that a branch that when it is apart from the vine can never produce fruit, for it is a dead branch. Therefore we cant focus on bearing fruit while we are dead. More importantly, we have to first attatch ourselves to Jesus, the Vine, for it is through Him that we are given life, and receive the power to live above sin. I used to think I had to be free of y addiction and my sins before I accepted Jesus. But that was like thinking a dead branch could produce fruit on iits own. I tried year afetr year and it never worked. Wd cant focus on being addiction free or sin free before we come to Jesus. The Bible says to come to Him just as you are even now. ANd that He will be your help in defearing sin. Our focus must be to Abide in the vine. He says in verse 4 “Abide in Me and I in you”. that is the focus is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Out of that comes.

ABIDING MEANS CHANGE

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 Jn 3:6.

Jesus is holy and sinless. Therefore we cannot remain in Him if we have sin. Holy and sin can not both abide in the same place, they are opposite. For us to abide in Jesus it requires forgiveness from our sins. Remaining in Jesus requires true repentance. Repentance meaning that you ask for forgiveness for your sins and then you leave it behind. 2 Cor 5:17 says Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new. In order to remain in Christ you cant turn back to that old life. Often people will ask for forgiveness of their sins on Sunday morming so that way they wont go to hell, but it doesnt work when you just go back to your sins. That is not true repentance. True repentance is leaving the old and becoming new. It is not asking for forgiveness only but remaining in Jesus. Not only connecting to the vine once a week but every day of the week, always remaining in Him. If a branch is only connected to the vine for one day it is weak… but the more time you spend remaning in the vine the branch begins to grow stronger and stronger. Now when you are tempted to sin you can rely on the strength of the vine to help you to not sin.

PRUNING OF THE FATHER

Jesus doesnt want to just forgive you from your sin, but he wants you to sin no more. If we are in the Vine, abiding in Him, the Father is not done with us. He wants to prune us to for us more into His image. He wants to take away anything not pure in our life and he wants to replace it with righteousness. Part of remaining in the vine is allowing the Father to prune us the way He wants. Sometimes we arent happy that he does that because its hard for us. However, if we are to remain in the Vine we must allow the father to prune us. If we do not allow Him, then we are rejecting the Vine and will begin to seperate from it.