Abide

Before we start today I want to thank you for the opportunity to share God’s word with you, but I also want to say that there is a lot to draw from this passage. Many sermons can and have come from these scriptures, so I would encourage you to dive deep into study of them. We will be in John 15:1-11.

The passage of scripture that we are reading this morning comes from what is known as the upper room discourse. John chapter 13-18 is Jesus’s final teachings to His disciples before He faces death and then ascends into heaven.

He gets to chapter 15 and in the first 11 verses He paints this wonderful picture of how a relationship with Him should go. Let’s read it this morning starting in verse 1.

John 15:1–11 ESV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

I love the imagery here in this section of God’s scriptures. It paints a realistic picture of how we interact with our Lord. You could find grape Vines all over ancient Israel. The soil and terrain was great for growing grapes. The world of the ancient middle east and even throughout the Greek and Roman territories, the people drank wine. The region of Egypt drank beer, but the areas to its north and east never really grew accustomed to it, and harder drinks did not come around until much later on, but wine was the main beverage Of the people of Israel. They often watered it down with 2 parts water to 1 part wine, and the alcohol in the wine actually did purify water by killing bacteria. This is why Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his health because when it enters the gut, it can kill bacteria and aid in gut health. Obviously Paul is not advocating for being a drunkard for he as well as others in the scriptures condemn drunkenness and drunken behaviors, I now I will tell you that for medicinal purposes we have far greater medications than wine that help with the gut. So anyways, wine was easy to obtain, and it was readily used in ancient Israel. Vineyards were everywhere.

Also, God referred to the people of Israel as a vine or a vineyard many times in the OT. In the temple of Jerusalem at the time of this

there was a massive decoration made out of gold of a grapevine on the wall of the temple, and it was a well known feature of the temple, it represented the people of Israel.

We also have the idea that the vine was a recognized symbol of the Messiah, Jesus drew all these figures together and told them “I am the true vine.”

So Jesus gives the disciples this comparison to help them understand their relationship. “I am the vine, you are the branches, my Father is the vinedresser.”

Let’s look at that real quick.

What does the vinedresser do? (To or for the vine? To the branches) The Vinedressers ultimate goal is to tend to the vine from top to bottom to insure that a good, healthy crop is yielded. When they monitor the vine and when they notice a blight, they tend to the illness of the plant as best as they know how. When they notice weak spots on the vine they tie them up the supports so the weight does not damage the vine, when the leaves become too thick they will trim back the foliage so that more sunlight will be made available to the fruit. They monitor the soil in the growing process to insure that the vine has the right nutrients at the right stages to grow to it’s fullest potential. When necessary, the vinedresser takes on the most crucial task, they prune the vine. Prune consists of cutting away ill branches so that others will not be effected (if necessary), it means cutting off dead or dying limbs so that all of the nutrients will go to the healthy branches, and they may produce more fruit.

God looks closely at the branches on the vine. When He sees one that is doing well, He prunes it. Cuts parts of it off so that it will grow better. He makes sure that it has everything it needs in order to produce the best fruit, because it will. He also notices the branches that are not producing. He removes it from the vine entirely.

Jesus is the true vine. There are no other vines but Him. Jesus Himself warned that there would be people who came after Him (and there were some before Him) that would claim to be the Messiah. There have even been people who were lead astray by these false Messiahs, and in the end times there will be one, the Anti-Christ, who will lead millions astray… but there is only One True Vine. That is Jesus Christ. If you want life, you must be connected to Him.

Many people search for life in many Things, money, success, material possessions, relationships, fame, you name it, but only Jesus will give you true life.

The Branches are connected to the vine, and they bear fruit. That goes hand in hand. Connected to the vine, bearing fruit. Branches that are not connected to the vine are useless. They are dying. There is no life or purpose for them.

We are the branches, people. If we are not in Christ, then there is no life in use, but if we are in Christ (the true vine) then there will be life and more abundantly. God (the vinedresser) sees to it that we are growing. He cuts and prunes to insure that we are healthy and heading to our best potential in Him

But those who are not producing, He cuts those away from the vine so that the vine will put more toward those who are. We will talk about that in a moment.

The branch depends on the vine for everything, and the vine provides everything for the branch, and the vinedresser sustains the vine.

Sometimes people are tempted to believe they can do things on their own. Ever struck out and made a decision on your own? How did it go? Now I am not saying that success cannot be had on one’s own. If you look around the world, there are thousands of successful people who are following their own compass, doing things their own way, but in the grand scheme of things their achievements will not amount to much. In reality, if a vinedresser wants to end a vine it would be very easy. They can simply walk to the base of the plant with an axe and in one fail swing they will end the life of that vine. If God truly wants to remove you from this earth then there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop that.

Worldly people do things on their own, but what they are doing does not build the kingdom of God in any way. They are only building the kingdom of self, and that will crumble in a very short amount of time.

If you want to live a righteous and good life, you must be connected to Jesus. Just as a branch cannot live without the vine, so a Christian should operate their lives. That they will not survive without Christ being the center of their life.

You must ABIDE in Christ.

If you are not saved, then you cannot live your life for Christ. If you are sitting in a church, if you are singing the songs, it you are even studying the word but you are not saved you are simply a branch that bears leaves, but it does not bear fruit. What does the vinedresser do to those branches? Removes them then and casts them into the fire. An onlooker might say “what a beautiful branch, what grand leaves” but the vinedresser truly knows that the branch is useless.

Don’t be wasting time. We have very little here on earth. Life is a vapor, then judgment comes. Give your life to the Lord and start living for Him.

If you are already saved, how do you grow? How are you useful? How do you take hold of all the promises that God has for us in His word? We abide in Him.

What does it mean to abide?

The definition of abide is To accept or act in accordance with.

How do we abide in Jesus? We keep His commandments. How do we do that? It is simple. You read God’s word, and you do what it says to do. “If you keep my commandments, you ill abide in my love…”

In the previous chapter, John 14:15 says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

As James tells us you become a doer rather than simply a hearer. It is one thing to hear what you should do, and know what you should do yet it is another thing to put that knowledge into practice.

So if we love the Lord, we will follow His words, and if we follow His words we will abide in Him.

It’s not just a list of do’s and don’ts. It is a relationship with the Lord. Love, and abide. If you Love the Lord, you will abide in Him, and if you abide in Him it is because you Love Him.

Jesus promises that if we abide in Him, His joy will be in us and our joy will be full. It does not always light my fire to follow the rules, and I bet it doesn’t always drive you to excitement either. Paying taxes (especially personal property), following speed limits, things that take the fun out of life.

But following the Lord does bring us joy. It makes us happy to make the Lord happy. There are times, many times, when it is difficult and it takes discipline, but there will never be a time where it is not rewarding to our soul.

This is what Jesus was telling His disciples. I am about to leave, but you will remain in me. You will continue to bear fruit, I will be absent in the body but present in the Spirit. Things will not end just because I am gone. Abide in me and I will abide in you. They did not understand what Jesus was saying, but they would come to know.

Nearly 2,000 years later and we can read the stories and understand what He is saying.

These disciples ate with Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They sat down with Him in private and they talked with Jesus. Jesus sat them down and taught them. They worked with Jesus, they napped with Jesus, and for 3 1/2 years, unless Jesus told them to leave Him or go do something for Him, they were in the immediate presence of Jesus.

That is abiding. It’s not following a bunch of rules. It’s not just completing the do’s and do nots. The Pharisees were doing a good job of that, but Jesus said 2 horribly condemning things about them. “You are white washed tombs” (Pretty on the outside, dead on the inside) and He quoted Isaiah in saying “You honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me” (they sing the songs, say the words, do the ‘good deeds’ but their hearts are far removed from God.)

You can work, and toil, you can sweat and bleed, you can even cry out to God… but if you are not connected to Jesus Then everything you do will be in vain.

To abide is like a branch that depends on the vine for nutrients. If it is not connected to the vine, then it will wither, and if it withers then what good is it? It is good for nothing but it be thrown in a fire and burned up.

Think of it as a mother carrying a baby. That baby is dependent on the mother for life. Not something’s in life, not some assistance in life, the baby is dependent on the mother for ALL things essential in life.

As we are with Jesus. Jesus tells us “look, without me you are nothing. You can do nothing.” Jesus has to be everything to us.

Jesus is not a genie, and I feel like we as fleshly people treat Him as such far too often. We get in a pinch and run to Him for help. We have a desire in our hearts and we cry out to Him for blessings. But where are we on an average Tuesday? Are we talking with our Lord? Are we going to His word and seeing our everyday lives rooted in His scripture? Are we living out His word?

It’s more than just reading it to check off the box of a list of do’s and don’t’s. It is a relationship. We literally need Him every day. Like a fish needs to be in water, we need to be with Jesus.

It is more than praying over our food, or praying when we make a mess of things, it is a lifestyle that makes us go to Him in everything.

Aaron Williams, a man born and raised BMA from right here in Arkansas wrote a song called ‘Abide’, you may have heard it, I want to read you a few lyrics

For my waking breath For my daily bread

I depend on you

For the sun to rise For my sleep at night

I depend on You

Where the Spirit leads, as I’m following

For the victories still in front of me

I depend on you

When I pass through death, As I enter rest I depend on You For eternal life To be raised with Christ I depend on You

You’re the way the truth and the life You’re the well that will never run dry I’m the branch and You are the vine Draw me close and teach me to abide

For everything. All things. Jesus is the answer. He’s not an options. He is our only hope. Without Him, there is no spiritual vitality. Yes, you may be saved, but no you do not walk with Jesus if He is not your all in all.

Do you depend on Jesus as if He is the air to our lungs, or do we treat Him as an after thought.

Jesus refers to His followers as children, sheep, and branches.

A child depends on their parents, and a sheep depends on it’s Sheppard,

The branch begins to die the moment it is severed from the vine. Everything comes from the vine. The branch has nothing and is nothing without the vine.

So are we without Christ. You may appear to be well, but if we are not abiding in Christ we are nothing but a branch that is drying out.

How do we abide? That is a loaded question. First you must have a relationship with Christ, next it must be health (you are following Him), as we grow closer and closer to Him we abide in His word. We love His word, we love to go to Him in prayer, we love to give Him praise, we love the things that He loves, and disdain the things that displeases Him.

I think of it as a child who adores their father. Every step the dad takes, the kid has to jump in it. If dad likes sweet tea, the kid is drinking sweet tea. If dad doesn’t like a football team, neither does the kid. The habits of the father soon become the habits of the son. The son looks like his father’s child inside and out. It’s undeniable that that son is the father’s child.

So too are we as we abide in the Lord. We become just like He is.

Pruning: As we begin to abide, the Lord will prune us to insure that we grow. Those who abide in Christ will bear fruit. Paul gives us a list of these fruits and they consist of love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Basically what it boils down to is that as you abide in Christ, you begin to look like Christ. As you abide in Jesus, God will continue to remove things from our lives that we do not need, things that will lead us away from Him. He will take us through situations that build our character and our faith. He will lead us places for His purpose, and all the while we will shaped into the image of Christ that God has for us.

Pruning can be painful, but without pruning The growth of spiritual fruit will be stunted.

How do we have the drive and focus to abide in Christ? Because of the Love of Jesus within us. Not with a brotherly love, not with the love of a parent-sibling-spouse, but with the Love that He Loves the Father with. Did you catch that? “As the Father has loved Me, so I love you.” Jesus Loves us with the same love that God has shown to Him! That is why we abide. We abide because Jesus Christ loves us, and we love Jesus.

If we say we love Jesus, if we are going to show that we love Jesus… we must abide in Him.

Conclusion:

I love people. I am more partial to people in these North Central Arkansas communities, but as a whole I love people. One of the best parts of my calling is compelling people to choose Jesus. Not just one day, but every day. That leads to a decision to make on their parts.

I want to ask you today, are you abiding in Jesus? So many people are simply drifting. They’re not super cold, but they’re not really hot either. They’re just kind of stuck in the middle. That is not where Jesus want’s you to be.

He wants a close, intimate walk with Him.