Sermon Tone Analysis

*Abiding *

*John 15:1-15*

\\ */Christ continued to talk to His remaining disciples./**

Suddenly, He commanded, **"Come, now; let us leave"** (John 14:31).*

*/>>>>>>>walked through the dark city streets toward the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ received the bitter Judas kiss……./**

Somewhere on the way to that kiss Christ spoke the words recorded in John /15./*

*/We Must Remain in Christ/*

*The word **/remain/**/, /**which is repeated eight times in this pas­sage, denotes a key concept.*

!

Abide

The Greek writers used the word /meno/ meaning, "to stay, stand fast, abide, to stay at home, stay where one is, not stray, to remain as one was, to remain as before" The word translated "abide"  is one of the apostle John's favorite words.

He uses it 34 times in the Gospel, and 19 times in his epistles.

In the New Testament /meno/ means "to sojourn, to tarry, to dwell at ones' own house, to tarry as a guest, to lodge, to maintain unbroken fellowship with one, to be constantly present to help one, to put forth constant influence upon one" (Wuest).

*He further reinforces his teaching through an anal­ogy from the world of agiticulture:** I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.*

*Grapevines were a common sight around Jerusalem.*

·         *The coins of the Maccabees bore the engrav­ed in vine.*

·         * The temple gates were adorned with carved vines and grape clusters.

*

·         *Vineyards covered many hillsides outside the city*

* Some scholars suggest that Christ was passing through one of the vineyards when he made these remarks……Imagine him hold­ing up a thick vine heavy with the weight of ripening grapes as he declared,** "I am the true vine."*

*The Old Testament, compares Israel to a vine.**

*

*Hosea 10:1 says, **Israel is an empty vine,*

*Jeremiah 2:21 says, **"I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock" (NRSV).*

* Now Christ claims that he is Israel's authentic Vine and they must remain in him.*

*What does it mean to remain in the True Vine?*

* The equa­tion is this: **A branch is to the vine as a believer is to Christ**.*

* To **remain in Christ** means joining him in a living, continuous, grow­ing way.*

·         *It means refusing to allow sin to hinder our relation­ship with him.*

·         *It means acknowledging our utter dependence on Him for,** **"Apart from me," he says, "you can do nothing"** (John /15:5 /NIV).*

*/We Need to Produce Fruit/*

*We were born for a **purpose** and that purpose is to bear fruit for Christ.**

*

*Our lives will be productive only if we are true branches rather than false ones.**

*

·         *False branches are the disap­pointing ones that fail to produce fruit.*

·         * Christ says He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit:** **(John 15:6).*

*Christ warned about the danger of barren branches.*

·         *Fruitless branches are no good.

They are dead wood, good only for the fire.*

* This sobering warning alerts us about the dangers of /shallow, counterfeit Christianity/.*

*/ Not all who attend Christian churches or mouth words are genuine./*

*What sort of fruit do we exhibit?*

* If you looked up the word fruit in a concordance, you would find that the Bible uses it to refer to /productive, godly character traits./*

* For example, Isaiah /5:7 /says** **God is looking for the fruit of justice and righteousness.

*

*Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the **fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-­control.**

*

*This is the fruit Christ expects to be /hanging from the branches of each of our lives./

*

*~*~*It demonstrates that Christ is the source of life in us.*

* Have you ever spotted a bowl of delicious looking fruit on the other side of a room, and your mouth salivates in anticipation of the first bite of a succulent pear or peach?

Then you make your way across the room toward the bowl only to find disappoint­ment.

A closer examination reveals that the enticing object is nothing more than a plastic imitation.*

* No matter how attractive imitated fruit may look from a distance, it cannot compare with the real thing.

It will never feed you.*

*We produce true fruit only as we depend upon Him, for Christ says**, **(John 15:4).*

* If patience is missing, or joy is incomplete, or self-control is absent, or some other fruit of the Spirit is lacking, **/we can acquire it only by remaining close to Christ/**/./**/ /*

*We will find it only in His strength.

There are no other options, no substitutes, no shortcuts to bear­ing fruit.*

* **We are either growing in Christ or we are dead wood.*

*My father—pruning fruit trees----at first---doesn’t make sense….more

fruitful…fuller** *

*That is precisely what God does in us.

He watches over us and, as He sees the need, determines to do some pruning.*

*/ /**/Prun­ing can be painful./*

* When we are pruned of health, or job, or some valued possessions, or worldly security, there is almost always discomfort involved.*

*We do well to remember that God's pruning knife is always in safe hands.*

* It is in hands that are always loving, wise, and good.*

*Fruit bearing also leads to effective prayers**: **John 15:7*

*What an encouraging promise to motivate us to prayer!*

/There is nothing more vital to your Christian life than prayer./

\\  There are a lot of faulty misconceptions about prayer===

| Some people think prayer is a magic wand.

We kind of wave it at something -- it’s a superstitious approach -- and you get what you want.

God is kind of like a genie that you rub the vase and God comes out and you pray the request -- "/My wish is your command//!"/

\\ \\ |

/Some people think prayer is a first aide kit.

For them, prayer is an act of desperation.

Sign for fire extinguisher: "Use only in emergency."

/

| /Like the deacon who came to his pastor one day.

The pastor said, "I guess all we can do is pray," and the deacon said, "Has it come to that?"/ |

*Does it mean that all prayers find answers?**

No, it does not.

*

*Note the qualifications in the text.**

**We must maintain an unbroken con­nection with Christ.*

* The psalmist reminds us, **"If I regard iniq­uity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"** (**Psalm 66:18** KJV).

*

*When we remain in Christ,** we are more apt to ask for those things that are in line with God's will, rather than self-centered requests.*

*fruit bearing** is that it will serve as a **verification of discipleship.*

*(John 15:8).*

* He also taught in Matthew 7, **/"By their fruit you will know (recognize) them."/**

*

*Ultimately God alone judges the genuineness of each person's faith.*

* *

*[J.

Vernon McGee  “Judge not, but we are to be fruit inspectors.”]*

 

a complete absence of fruit in a life should call into /ques­tion/ whether a person is truly connected to the True Vine.

/Prayer is an act of communication/

Communication with your wife~/husband~/your business.

Most of your problems in life come from /poor communication./

You can’t understand a person in marriage unless you communicate with them.

\\ /And you can’t understand God, God’s will for your life, unless you communicate with Him./ \\ It’s vital in the Christian life.

Prayer is an act of dedication and it’s an act of communication.

| \\ /John 15:15-16/ |

He says the reason you can ask anything in prayer is because we’re friends.

Isn’t that amazing?

God says, "I don’t treat you like servants, like slaves.

I treat you as friends."

\\ We seldom pray -- we have a hard time praying -- because we fail to recognize what a privilege it is to talk to God.

 /If I told you that tomorrow I’d arranged for you a twenty minute personal interview with the President of the United States, and you were to get up at 7:45 and you would have twenty minutes to talk to him about anything of your heart’s desire, what would you do?

One, you’d probably not go to bed tonight you’d be so nervous.