The Blessings of Abiding in Christ, Parts 2&3
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Jesus’ time had come to suffer and die
Jesus knew that his disciples could no longer follow him because he was departing from the world to the Father (vv.1&3)
Jesus knew his departure will throw his disciples into turmoil: fear, frustration, sorrow
because he deeply loved them he spent a great deal of time with them at his last Passover reassuring them, encouraging them, exhorting them
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Bible Truth: Jesus loves his disciples completely: with all of his love, for all of their lives, for all eternity. (John 13:1)
demonstrated that love in his washing their feet
as we come to chapter 15 Jesus and his disciples have left the upper room and are walking together to the Garden of Gethsemane
as they are walking Jesus exhorts them over and over again not to leave him but to abide in him
he told them at the Supper that their faith would be severely tested
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
so great was the testing that Peter denied Jesus not once but 3x
abide occurs 10x in 15:1-11
abide = remain
Judas left the Supper to betray Jesus to his enemies
though he was a disciple, I believe Judas’ true love was money
for 3 years he had served both Jesus and this secret idol
in the end he was confronted with an irresistible opportunity to make a quick buck
in that moment he chose money over his Saviour (Mt 6)
Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter would deny him
Jesus knew full well that the rest of his disciples would also be tempted to abandon him and his teaching
Life Lesson: we easily over estimate how devoted we are to Christ.
Parable of the soils indicates that persecution and the love of money and the cares of life cause some to turn away (1 Tim 6:10)
1 Jn 2:15 - if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him
Mt 6:24 - cannot serve 2 masters
call to self-examination in 2 Cor 13:5 & 2 Pet 1:10-11
along the way Jesus sees a grapevine and uses to illustrate his teaching
Jesus is the vine, the Father is the Vinedresser and the branches are those joined to Christ
the Father is very concerned about all who are with Christ
there are 2 kinds of people connected to Christ, those who bear fruit and those who do not
the Father prunes the fruit bearing branches so that they bear more fruit
his word and troubles, trials, discipline are his pruning tools
the Father cuts off non-fruit bearing branches and casts them into the fire
he removes followers of Christ who do not bear fruit
he does it in this life through the same troubles, trials that true believers face
Life Lesson: Troubles, trials and afflictions which drive true believers to Christ drive false ones away.
he will do it at the last day when all who do not believe are cast into the Lake of Fire
Judas was a non-fruit bearing branch
though he was with Christ he was not vitally attached to him and was cut off
Life Lesson: there are many in the church today who have joined themselves to Christ but have no vital attachment to him.
compare 15:2 with 15:4,5: “every branch in me” vs. “abide in me and I in you”
it’s not enough to abide in Christ, he must abide in us
his words abide in us (v.7)
we keep his commandments (v.10)
the blessings of fruit bearing believers (they are also marks of true believers)
1. They are truly saved (15:3)
you are clean (see 13:10)
their sins have all been forgiven
“because of the word that I have spoken to you”
note the emphasis is on Christ’s work
example of Creation being spoken into existence by the Word of God
out of nothing God created everything by the word of his power
when a sinner repents and believes something happened before
Bible Truth: A person repents and believes after Christ speaks life into that person. (Eph 2:1-2)
this is a blessing because my salvation does not depend on my but on Christ
2. They are fruitful (15:5)
they are focused on glorifying God rather than self
they are growing in righteousness rather than satisfying the passions of their flesh
the fruits of the Spirit are becoming more and more prominent in their lives (Eph 5:22-23 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)
3. Answered Prayer
3. Answered Prayer
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
“ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you”
on the surface an amazing promise - “anything”
name it and claim it prosperity false teachers
if you don’t have it your faith is weak
we know this isn’t a blank cheque for whatever we want
we’ve all asked for things, some of them very good, that have not been done for us
Jesus himself asked that the suffering of the cross be taken away from him
Jesus’ prayer that was answered: “not my will by yours be done”
the question then is, what kind of promise is this?
must see that there is a condition attached to the promise
a conditional statement: “if you shovel the driveway I will give you $20”
you know that you don’t get the $20 unless you do the shovelling
in this passage,
There are 2 conditions to Christ’s promise: first, abide in me and second, my words abide in you.
abide = remain
we are to remain in Christ and his words are to remain in us
"abide in me”
note the “abide in me” phrases and compare to vv. 9-10
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10 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.
Life Lesson: To abide in Christ is to abide in his love and we abide in his love by keeping his commands.
keeping Christ’s commands results in abiding in Christ’s love
cannot keep Christ’s commands unless you know what they are
cannot know what they are unless you know what he has said
what Jesus said is recorded in the Word
Jesus is our example of abiding
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
abiding in Christ restated in another way:
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
context the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus’ teaching “I am the bread of life”
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Life Lesson: We are to constantly feed on Christ, who is the living Word. (John 1)
other examples of what it means to abide in Christ:
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
requires us to study the life of Christ
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
doesn’t live in habitual sin
daily battling with our sinful desires
active vs passive in regard to sin
12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
by actively loving one another we know we abide
a demonstration of the indwelling HS
“my words abide in you”
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
“if you abide (remain) in my word”
holding on, not letting go, not forgetting, not ignoring, staying away from false teachers
remember the attitude of a slave: if he was to do the will of his master he had to know what said and let none of his words fall away
24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
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Part 3
Part 3
briefly explain the vine imagery in context
Jesus keeping the Passover for the last time with his disciples - becomes the Lord’s Table
Jesus’ expressing his love and concern for his disciples knowing he was about to leave them
Judas has left to betray Jesus
Jesus the vine, the Father the vinedresser, fruit and non-fruit bearing branches attached to the vine
Bible Truth: There are two kinds of people attached to Christ, born again believers and professing believers who think they are saved but are not.
professing believers often look the same as born again believers
what separates them from born again believers is their lack of fruitfulness
born again believers bear fruit: growth in righteousness, love for Christ, love for the Word, love for the church, love for one another, love for sinners
professing believers don’t bear fruit: they say they believe in Christ, they might even say they have accepted Christ but they don’t think and live like him
Judas was a professing believer
he looked so much like the disciples that the others had no idea he was false until he betrayed Jesus
Jesus to his disciples: “don’t be like Judas”
by walking away from Jesus Judas showed that he was a professing believer, he was not truly joined to Christ
the proof of a true believer in v.8
“bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples”
what does a fruit bearer look like?
5 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.
the fruit:
love for Christ = love for his worship, love for his Word, love for his people
fruits of Spirit becoming more evident
abiding in Jesus is,
v.7 letting his words abide in us
v.10 keeping his commandments
example of Samuel
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
marks and blessings of abiding in Christ:
truly saved: Jesus has cleansed us by speaking life into us
bear fruit: as the life of Christ flows through us we become more and more like him
answered prayer: as we make it our will to do his will he answers all our prayers
today:
we are loved by Christ
we possess the joy of Christ
4 Loved by Jesus
4 Loved by Jesus
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
“as the Father has loved me”
“as” a very small but significant word!!!
Truth: The same kind of love the Father has for Jesus, Jesus has for fruit bearing believers. (Jn 15:9)
what kind of love does the Father have for his Son?
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
repeated at Transfiguration in Mt 17:5
“beloved”
dearly loved and cherished; preferred above all others and treated with partiality
another way of understanding the Father’s love for Jesus:
Jesus is one with the Father therefore the Father loves his Son in the same way he loves himself!
how do we love ourselves?
we always do what we think is best for ourselves
because we are sinners what we think is best often turns out the opposite!
the Father loves the Son with a perfect love therefore his love is always good, never evil
Truth: Jesus’ love for his disciples is a full and complete love, an eternal love, a love devoid of sin, selfishness, evil, ulterior motive and ignorance. (1 Cor 13)
“so have I loved you” = completed action
Promise: Just as the Father loved the Son for all of eternity past, loved him for all of his life on earth, and will love him for all eternity so the Son loves his disciples!
it is a complete love even though for the disciples the ultimate expression of it was in the cross which, for the disciples, was yet to come
it is was if the cross were already a completed action, so rich and full was his love for them!
because of his love nothing could keep him from going to the cross to satisfy God’s wrath against them!
he loved them like this even though they did love him equally in return
arguing over who among them was the greatest
would abandon Jesus as he suffered and died for them
we look back to the cross and forward to his second coming
Jesus 2nd coming is another amazing expression of his love for his disciples
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
in light of Jesus’ amazing love what does he tell us to do?
“abide in my love” = remain, don’t depart, don’t love anyone or anything more than him
how to remain:
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Application: We abide in Christ’s love by keeping his commands. This is how we demonstrate our love for him! (Jn 14:21)
“If obedience is the condition of continuously remaining in Jesus’ love, it is no less important for us to remember that … our love for Jesus is the wellspring of our obedience to him …” Pillar NT Commentary
Jesus enjoyed all the fullness of his Father’s love because he made it his purpose in his life to speak only the Father’s words and do only what he saw his Father doing (Jn 4:34; 5:19,30; 6:38; 8:28; 14:1,10)
if we would enjoy the fullness of Christ’s love we must do as he did
the greatest test of his obedience was the cross and what were his words?
“not my will, but yours be done”
so Christ says to us in v.10
10 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.
this is the aim of all true believers
(see sermon on our slave attitude to Jesus as our Lord and Master - Dec 31, 2018)
Application: No matter how rich and full the gracious, undeserved love of Christ is for us our enjoyment of it hinges on our remaining in it. (Jn 14:21)
obedience proves the genuineness of our love for Christ
John makes this point in his first letter
believers confess their sins (1:9) unbelievers deny them (1:8,10)
believers obey God’s commands (2:3) unbelievers do not (2:4)
believers demonstrate love for others (2:10) unbelievers do not (2:9,11)
believers live in patterns of righteousness (3:6) unbelievers do not (3:9)
we don’t deserve this love
Fact: The same love the Father has for Christ who was most worthy, Christ has for us who are most unworthy!
The Father’s love to Christ is eternal, immutable, constant, full and perfect, wise and just, free: in all these respects Christ loveth his people as the Father loveth him:
this ought to engage them again to love him, and so to walk as they may continue in that state of favour into which his goodness hath advanced them. John Gill
5 Fullness of Joy
5 Fullness of Joy
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus promises his disciples his joy
this is critically important because:
Fact: If our joy depended on our obedience to Christ we would be filled with despair!
because of our weakness Jesus gives to us what he possesses in himself: his perfect joy as the result of his perfect obedience!
as we struggle to love and obey him, he gives to us his perfect joy
our imperfect love and obedience is rewarded with Christ’s joy, the result of his perfect love and obedience
our failures are covered by his sacrifice
the holy joyfulness of Christ, the glad up-soaring of his soul in the midst of his sufferings are ours through his Spirit
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Application: We look to Jesus in his suffering knowing and believing that he gives us his grace to rejoice in ours. (Heb 12:1-2)
temporal rewards a reason to rejoice in trials:
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
eternal rewards a reason to rejoice in trials:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
“I have spoken to you”
“you” = his disciples
those who have taken up their cross and renounced everything to follow him
those who consider themselves his slaves and make it their life goal to love him by obeying him
those who are working for the “well done good and faithful slave” (Mt 25:23)
those in whom Christ’s words abide
[ask unbelievers: do you want this?; express the amazing wonder of Christ and his love!]
13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Jesus’ is praying to his Father for his disciples
his prayer: that they may have his joy fulfilled in them!
such joy only comes to those who belong to Christ
Fact: King David lost his joy because of unconfessed sin. (Ps 32, 51)
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
where is joy found?
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Fact: True joy cannot be taken away by circumstances or people.
Isa 53:3 - though Jesus was a man of sorrows he knew joy like none of us have never known because of his perfect life and his perfect union with the Father and the HS
true joy does not depend on how much you possess
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Ultimate joy, unmingled with sorrow will not be ours until we are with Christ. (Rev 21:4)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
we will not know joy unmingled with sorrow until the age to come
Truth: Though we experience sin and pain we need never doubt Christ’s love for us or our security in him. (Rom 8:38-39)
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
other passages which speak of joy
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Concluding Thoughts
Application: Our god is where we find our greatest joy.
what you find most joy in is what you worship
joy is the clearest witness of what or who is most important to us
to experience true joy you must first come to know the wrath of God
must know and feel his condemnation
must embrace hell as your just reward for your sinful life
Application: Nothing is more important in life than escaping the furious wrath of the omnipotent God and when you do there is joy unspeakable!
Application: Joy in Christ severs the root of sin!
sin only has power because it promises joy or happiness or contentment or ....
we sin because we believe the promise of sin
the only way to defeat the power of sin’s promise is with the promise of a great joy and satisfaction
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
the sin of loving money is overcome when we discover the joy and contentment of God’s eternal presence and his promise to help us and never leave nor forsake us
believing falsehoods about God will rob us of joy
on the night he was betrayed it says that Jesus was sorrowful and deeply troubled (Mt 26:37-38) and yet Heb 12:2 says “for the joy set before him he endured the cross”
Jesus endured the most painful, most shameful death for the joy set before him
Jesus was the most happy, most joyful person that has ever lived and yet faced a level of sorrow and pain that eclipses everything anyone who has every lived has faced
it is this joy that he would pour into all who would commit to doing everything he commands
Jesus does this through his words
Jn 15:11 - these things I have spoken
Jn 17:13 - these things I speak
it is through the Word of God that we taste Jesus’ joy
a joy which cannot be taken from us