Remain in Christ

Take your Bible and open with me to John chapter 15.

I really enjoy when the new year comes around. There is something about a new year that feels like a new beginning. For me, it causes me to pause and reflect back, and then make plans moving forward. Something I personally do is come up with a word for the year that I want to really go after. Last year it was discipline. This year is more. More in 2024.

As I’ve thought back on 2023, I have been absolutely amazed at all that God has done in my life, in the life of my family, and in the life of our church…and I want more of it. I want to see God do abundantly more.

But as I began thinking about the things I want to see God do, I began to realize my goals were misplaced. It’s not that wanting to see more salvations, more baptisms, more people join the church, more money given, etc are bad things, they just aren’t the best things. What I really want more of in 2024, is Christ himself. When that becomes my aim, then what follows will be an abundance of fruit that only God himself can produce.

Our passage today, John 15:1-8 is one that if you have been around church at all you have heard preached or taught on. With that being the case, there is a real danger for many of you to check out this morning, but let me encourage you to guard against that today. Perhaps the Holy Spirit has something for you in His Word this morning.

Before we get to the text, since we have been away from John the past several weeks, let me briefly catch us up to what has been going on. Jesus is merely hours away from being arrested, tried, and crucified. He is spending his final hours investing in those he is closest to, his disciples.

For the past couple of chapters, Jesus has been preaching to and teaching his disciples. The events of John 13 to where we are in John 15 have taken place within hours of each other. Time has slowed down, and John is zooming in on the final hours of Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus has washed their feet, demonstrating his love…he has called out Judas as the one who would betray Jesus…He has encouraged them by letting them know He is going to prepare a place for them…He has explained to them the soon coming Holy Spirit who will be their helper…and now, in John 15, Jesus will instruct them on how to live fruitful lives on earth.

READ JOHN 15:1-8

John 15 opens with the final of 7 I AM statements made by Jesus. These I AM statements bring about clarity to who Jesus is, and anchors him as the one true God. He’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…he’s the same God who revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 3. By Jesus making these I AM statements, he is declaring himself and revealing himself as GOD.

In John 6—I am the bread of life.

In John 8 and 9—I am the light of the world.

In John 10—I am the door.

In John 10—I am the good shepherd.

In John 11—I am the resurrection and the life.

In John 14— I am the way, the truth and the life.

In John 15—I am the true vine.

This language would resonate with the original audience because the Old Testament is filled with language of the vine, or of planting, or of trees. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel was known as the vineyard that God had planted. Israel was God’s chosen people…they were his vineyard that he planted, that he cared for, that he pruned. But now that a new covenant has come through Jesus, Jesus is now declaring himself as the true vine, not Israel. In order to belong to God, to be one of his children, you must come to the Father through Jesus. He is setting himself apart as the exclusive way to eternal life and spiritual nourishing and flourishing. Being born a Jew will not connect you into God’s family. Being a good person will not connect you to God’s family.

If you want to thrive in this life, you must connect to the Vine.

CONNECT TO THE VINE.

Jesus was such a master at using illustrations to communicate spiritual truths to his disciples and this is what he is doing here.

Jesus is the true vine.

The Father is the Gardner or vinedresser.

We are the branches.

Here’s what you need to know…just because we are branches doesn’t mean we connected to the vine. Branches here is not a universal term for disciple or Christian…every single person is a branch. And as a branch there are one of two possibilities.

You are either a branch that is connected to the Vine and you are producing fruit, OR you are a branch that is not connected to the vine and you are fruitless and dead.

Let me state the analogy clearly, because this is of utmost importance…To be connected to the vine means that you consciously accepted God’s free gift of salvation by confessing and trusting in Christ as both Savior and Lord of your life. In other words…you are a Christian…a disciple of Jesus. True disciples of Jesus are connected to Vine, who is Christ.

Those who are not connected to the Vine, are those who have consciously rejected Christ as the Savior and Messiah, and continually reject to surrender their life to Jesus. Those branches bear NO fruit and as a result are removed, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Now, I know of no person who doesn’t desire to flourish in life. But for many, they desire to flourish in the wrong things. They want to flourish financially, flourish in their health, flourish in their sports or academics…which aren’t sinful desires.

God has so much more in store for your life. One of the greatest fears I have is that I will casually live my life on this earth for however many years God grants me, without making an impact for Christ. That I would waste my life doing things that have ZERO eternal significance.

The good news is, in John 15, Jesus tells us how to not waste your life! Here is how you can flourish in this life as my disciple and it begins by connecting to the vine. It is impossible to grow spiritually if you have not surrendered your life to Jesus. And a failure to do so will end in eternal punishment for you. This is what happened to Judas Iscariot.

Judas associated with Jesus. Judas hung out with the other disciples. Judas knew about Jesus. But he never crossed the line of faith where he surrendered to Jesus which led to him betraying Jesus and ending his own life.

If you are looking for true life, you will only find it in Jesus. If you are looking to be saved from your sin, you will only find it in Jesus. CONNECT TO THE VINE.

Sadly, this is where the journey ends for many disciples of Jesus. They have responded by faith to Christ resulting in the fruit of salvation, and that’s the end. They coast through life without ever bearing much fruit.

Can I tell you church family, that God desires for you to bear not a little fruit…MUCH FRUIT. That is what glorifies God and that is what proves we are his disciples. MUCH FRUIT.

And the reason so many Christians never move past infants in the faith is because they choose not to mature. They choose not to do what it takes for fruit to increase in their life.

Before you can produce much fruit, you must REMAIN IN CHRIST. REMAINING IN CHRIST LEADS TO PRODUCING MUCH FRUIT.

REMAIN IN CHRIST AND PRODUCE MUCH FRUIT.

That’s the formula to flourishing as a disciple of Jesus. REMAIN IN CHRIST. ABIDE IN CHRIST. STAY IN CHRIST. In our instant gratification society, we tend to move immediate to the fruit production. Yeah, yeah, yeah…remain in Christ…got it…but how can I have more joy in my life? How can I have more peace? How can I have more patience? How can I win more people to Jesus? How can I be more generous? How can I serve more? Etc.

We tend to equate our fruit production with what WE can do. I need to do more. And I would agree with you…you do need to do more…you need to do more REMAINING IN CHRIST. ABIDING IN CHRIST.

Which is less doing…and more BEING. This whole passage is about having a relationship with God through Christ. If you want to see growth as a disciple of Jesus, then invest more time with Jesus. If you want to see the fruit of the Spirit increase in your life, then invest more time with Jesus.

The one who remains in Christ is the one who will produce much fruit. It’s that simple. We want the fruit without the remaining. And it just doesn’t work like that!

So what does it mean to remain in Christ…how do we remain in Christ. First…

1. Desire to spend time in His presence.

Remaining starts with a desire to be with Him. Think about this with me in terms of our earthly relationships. Whether it be a spouse, your kids, your friends, co-workers…etc. If you want those relationships to thrive, what must happen? There must be a desire to be together.

If my wife tells me she wants to sit on the couch and watch a movie together, and I do so reluctantly, and with my phone in my hand scrolling the whole time…there is not a desire on my end to spend time with her, and it damages the relationship, and it begins to wither. BUT…if I match her excitement, pop the popcorn, and sit with her on the couch with joy and expectation, that relationship with begin to flourish because there is a desire on my part to spend time with her.

Remaining in Christ begins with a desire to spend time with Christ daily. You must make the choice to cultivate that relationship continually. It will not happen accidentally. You must decide.

2. Remain in the Word.

It is not possible for you to grow in your love and knowledge of God apart from the written Word of God. The Word is what God uses to prune you and what the Spirit uses to produce fruit in you. You will not produce fruit in your life if you are not engaging in God’s Word. You must decide for yourself that it is a priority for you. I can beg with you…plead with you…and resource you all day long…but it is ultimately up to you to decide whether or not you want to remain in Christ by reading the Word.

So many of the issues we find ourselves in can be solved by simply reading and applying scripture to our lives. Invest ample time in reading and studying God’s Word. Be committed to a Life Group. Be committed to the Worship Gathering. Be committed to the Bible reading plan. I know life is busy…but we will make time for what we believe is of greatest importance. Be with Christ by listening to what he has to say in the Bible.

3. Remain in persistent prayer.

When you desire to be with Jesus, and make the decision to spend time with Jesus through his Word, you rely on the Spirit and live in his power through persistent prayer. Prayer is where we demonstrate our utter dependance on God, acknowledging that without him we can do nothing. Remaining in Christ leads us to pray effectively. Because as we are with him we begin to understand him more. We begin to love him more. And so we begin to pray for the things he would have us pray for. And as the Spirit speaks and prompts through prayer, and we walk in obedience to Him, we experience the fulness of his power through us.

Church family…I’m calling you to make an effort to prioritize the Wednesday night prayer gathering where we collectively call out to the Lord, acknowledging him for who he is…confessing our sins before him….thanking him for all he as done…and praying for various requests.

If you want to remain in Christ and produce much fruit…a vibrant prayer life is necessary. Could it be that many of our lives are void of spiritual fruit because of our unwillingness to humble ourselves and pray…asking and relying on the Holy Spirit to do what only he can do in us and through us?

Christians who flourish in life…who make profound Kingdom impact….are those who choose to remain in Christ by desiring Him, reading the Word, and persisting in prayer. Prioritize this in your life in 2024, and God will produce much fruit in your life, in your family, and in our church.

And here’s the best part…God will get the glory, and we won’t!

Glorify God, not self.

Perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to abundant fruit production is the desire to be glorified. The desire to be seen and noticed and recognized by others. I know this is true in my own life. There is a tendency within me to preach in a way that others will compliment me…lift me up…to want to grow this church my way…so that people will tell me I’m doing a good job and then take credit for my creative efforts in it.

That’s not what it looks like to be a flourishing disciple of Jesus. That’s not what glorifies God. What glorifies God is when I choose to remain in him…to lead our church to remain in him…and then let the Spirit do his work in his people, in his way, and in his time, and leave the results of fruitfulness up to him…because he can do abundantly more than we could ever ask think or imagine….and then he get’s the glory for it all, not us, because it wasn’t any of our doing but all his.

I’m not sure how any of that lands on you today but I want to abide in Christ more in 2024 because that is the gateway to producing an abundance of fruit in my life and in the life of our church.

What 1 step do you need to take today to remain in Christ, ensuring that much fruit is being produced in your life?

Let’s pray.

The fruit production in our lives and in our church rests solely on our willingness and ability to remain in Christ. When we choose to accomplish things on our own power and ability, it will produce nothing lasting.

So, I’m calling you to action this morning…to join me at the front here to commit ourselves to remaining in Christ. To giving up on trying to fix things on our own…to give up overcoming sin on our own…to give up reaching the lost on our own…and choosing to remain in Christ and letting him work in us and through us so that his glory would be on display for Malakoff and beyond to see.