Remaining in Jesus

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME

Good morning - Thank you / release the kids

OPENNING

We are continuing in our series on Discipleship

Last week we talk about the importance of discipleship

How God’s command for his church to MAKE DISCIPLES as we go, baptize and teach is at the heart of our mission statement as a church

REVIEW

Mission Statement: Becoming & Making Disciples

Definition of a ‘Disciple’ (DESCRIBE THE SHAPE - Transferability) - encourage people to draw the shape as they take notes

Worships Jesus

through Ongoing Surrender

with Obedience to God

in Everyday Life

by the Power of the Holy spirit

“Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

THREE (3) CHARACTERISTICS OF A DISCIPLE

T

Draw a triangle: THEN 3 lines from the outside corners toward the center (from him, and two him)

Abiding in Jesus

Growing in Jesus

Fruitful in Jesus

TODAY - We are going to focus on what it means to Abide in Jesus

PRAY

READ

JESUS IS THE TRUE VINE (15:1)

“Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Jesus is the TRUE VINE (15:1)

7th “I AM” statement in the Gospel of John

(700 years before Jesus)

Purpose

“Let me sing for my beloved, my love song concerning his vineyard...” (1)

“he dig it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines;

“built a watch tower”

“awaited the grapes”

BUT the grapes were wild.

Punishment

Remove it’s hedge/protection

Breakdown the wall

I will make it a waste

It won’t be pruned or cultivated

No rain will fall

This was about the nation of Israel, meant to be a blessing to the world. Choice grapes are meant to be sweet to the taste and in fragrance. Wild grapes on the other hand are sour and stink.

IMAGERY of the Vine

The vine remained an important symbol in the nation of Israel.

Less than two hundred years before Jesus the Vine appeared on minted coins - similar to our stars and stripes

One commentary said, “So precious was the symbol to the Jews that a huge, gold grapevine decorated the gates of the temple.”

One early dictionary described it as “a richly carved vine extending as a border and decoration. The branches, tendrils, and leaves were of finest gold; the stalks of the branches were the length of human form, and the bunches hanging upon them were of costly jewels. Herod first placed it there; rich and patriotic Jews from time to time added to its embellishment, one contributed a new grape, another leaf, etc.”

CONTEXT OF WORDS

We don’t know - BUT maybe Jesus was standing in view of this sight as he said the words, “I am the TRUE vine, and my Father is the vinedresser”

I want you to see

This isn’t an abstract illustration but rather and deeply personal, national identity, and that Isaiah the prophet spoke words of punishment against the nation for their disobedience to God.

JESUS then says, that he is the TRUE VINE

Jesus claiming to be God

Jesus claiming to be sufficient - life - health - source

ABIDING: PRODUCES FRUIT (15:2-6)

FRUIT: is an image for good results coming from the life of a believer, probably in terms of bringing benefit to the lives of others and advancing the work of God in the world. (ESV Study Bible)

REMOVES - “Every branch that does not bear fruit he takes away” (15:2)

This is one of several verse in the Gospel of John that indicates that NOT all who follow Jesus for a time and hear his teaching are genuine believers.

tells how many of the people following Jesus turned away when he teachings became difficult.

Unfortunately we continue to see this as it plays out in the news today as people publicly proclaim leaving the faith

A former pastor and author recently said, “I am not a Christian.”

A worship leader and songwriter who denied the faith but then backtracked by saying, “struggling with parts of the system that seem incoherent with ‘common human morality.’”

When we see and hear something like this it is one of two things:

1) The person never believed on Jesus though they tried following his teaching for a season

2) The person is struggling, they have believed, and God will lead them back to repentance.

EITHER WAY - we humble ourselves before God and we pray - for them and each other.

PRUNES - "Every branches that does bear fruit he prunes” (15:2)

Sometimes we can think of pruning as cutting, harsh, painful - something we should not desire…

BUT ...This is an act of tender love, care, and concern.

Nurturing, cultivating, etc

Fruitfulness flow from abiding in Jesus (15:4-6)

- God chose us before the foundation of the world

- “All who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Family Tree...

“A branch cannot not bear fruit by itself...”

“Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit”

“Those that don’t abide with be gathered and burned” - judgement (we stand before God in one of two ways: 1) either under the shade and protection of Jesus by placing our faith and trust in him and him alone, or 2) we stand before God with all of our sins fully exposed, claiming to be perfect and worthy by our own efforts).

Those who trust in Jesus receive mercy

Those who trust in themselves will be judged and separated from God for all eternity.

ABIDING: GLORIFIES GOD (15:7-8)

We’ll come back to verse 7

Verse 8 - Abiding Glorifies God

“By this my Father is Glorified” - HOW?

“That you bear Fruit” - this is where we have to be careful....

The danger is that we conclude that simply good works glorify God without understanding the context which leads us to just go out with our own effort and try to be good people.

What did this passage just tell us about how we can ‘bear much fruit?’ On our own? By working hard? by doing good works?

NO - noone can bear fruit by themselves, you can do NOTHING apart from me.

ABIDE in Me - bear much fruit

Brother Lawrence: “That many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances, and particular exercises, while they neglect the love of God, which is the end.”

ABIDING: COMPLETES OUR JOY (15:9-11)

Abiding complete sour joy

Jesus’ joy is in us “that my joy may be in you”

Our joy is FULL, complete, overflowing, more than we could ever want or need

MY JOY

“The joy of the Lord is your strength”

The joy of God - God is joyous

Speaking of Jesus, for the joy set before him Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame...”

Jesus pursued joy

He gives us his joy

OUR JOY

God fills us with his joy

“The resolute assurance that God is in control and he cares. “

ABIDING: LEADS US TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER (15:12-17)

COMMAND

Love another

HOW - “as I have loved you”

WHAT DOES HIS LOVE LOOK LIKE - “No longer do I call you servants, I call you friend, I call you son, daughter

CHOSEN

We did not choose God, he chose us.

“Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

COMMISSIONED

Go

Bear Fruit

Love one another

CONCLUSION

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABIDE? We see that we can produce spiritual fruit through abiding, we glorify God by abiding, that abiding completes our joy, and leads us to love one another.

But how? We leave here and sit in the car, drive home and say to ourselves - abide! HOW?

STATEMENT OF APPLICATION

Trusting him to meet all your needs and to be my greatest treasure

As a branch - I’m not here by my own effort

Resting in Jesus, drinking from Jesus, faith in Jesus, Belief in Jesus, depending on Jesus

For me to be in the vine is to rest there, Look to the vine, depend on the branch,

“ABIBE IN ME AND MY WORDS IN YOU”

ABIDE IN ME

Resting in God’s Presence

The righteous man is “like a tree planted by streams of water”

God’s Presence - “an ongoing awareness of and dependence on God’s continual presence with us”

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Practical: “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence (400 years old)

“He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”

“That we need only to recognize GOD intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.”

“That many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances, and particular exercises, while they neglect the love of God, which is the end.”

“That many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances, and particular exercises, while they neglect the love of God, which is the end.

MY WORDS IN YOU

Meditating in God’s Word

Before the righteous man is describes as a tree planted by streams of water in , says, “His delight is in the Law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”

One way we can meditate on God’s words is to memorize scripture

Meditating is more than reading - more than study

Meditating in Hebrew literally means to murmur, to ponder, to imagine, to mutter, to talk

MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE

Makes meditation possible at times when we can’t read the Bible

Strengthening our faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God

Helps us minister to ourselves (overcome temptation, etc) and minister to others.

PRACTICAL

This week: memorize “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.”

TOO EASY - Memorize

TOO HARD - Paraphrase

This is a beginning exercise - think of this like stretching before we start to run together in a few weeks.

I am going to add a memory verse to the end of the next two sermons

Something big is coming when we start our new series.