I am the True Vine....Abiding and Prayer

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How to Abide and How to hear God’s will

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John 15:1-11, Abide and Get all I want...

· What does “I am the True Vine” say about God?
· What does “I am the True Vine” say about who I am in Christ?
· How does “I am the True Vine” conflict with views of God outside the Church?
· How does “I am the True Vine” conflict with views of God inside the Church?
· Does, “I am the True Vine” conflict with your view of God?
· How does this passage differ from your walk with God?

Setting

Read John 15:1 ONLY

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Let’s set the context here...
In Chapter 14, they are in the upper room talking about Jesus going away.

You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Then they leave. Where are they going?
Left the upper room but not out of the city yet.
Now it was Passover so the moon was full and it was bright (presumably). Perhaps they passed the Temple. The temple had a beautiful vine sculpted across it. Possibly that was his reference. The reference would also be that while Isreal is referred to throughout scripture as the Vine, Jesus is telling them, no more…He is the Vine, THE TRUE VINE.
Refer to Isaiah 5:1-5

God’s Disappointing Vineyard

5:1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:

My Well-beloved has a vineyard

On a very fruitful hill.

2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,

And planted it with the choicest vine.

He built a tower in its midst,

And also made a winepress in it;

So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,

But it brought forth wild grapes.

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,

Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.

4 What more could have been done to My vineyard

That I have not done in it?

Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,

Did it bring forth wild grapes?

5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:

I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;

And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

So, we have our setting, now what is the message:
John 15:1–11 NKJV
“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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have 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 remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
What purpose did Jesus have for telling them all of this:
John 15:11 (NKJV)

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Followed immediately by a commandment for them to love one another as He loved them.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

____________________________________________________________________
Verse 4 is key to this section as well

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me

...BUT WE WILL NOT FOCUS ON THIS VERSE
v5 - same

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing

...BUT WE WILL NOT FOCUS ON THIS VERSE
v6- Judas

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Jesus is referring to those who choose not to accept Him as Savior. The dead branches are people who are useless to God’s work—people like Judas, who chose to reject Jesus when faced with the truth

...BUT WE WILL NOT FOCUS ON THIS VERSE
NOW THE TRICKY: VERSE 7 is the $$ Verse - Austin Powers, 1MM Dollars

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

WE WILL SPEND SOME TIME HERE.....
SO - I started out with 2 questions:
What does Abide mean
You mean that I can ask anything I desire and I get it
Name it and claim it
$1MM dollars
HOWEVER, THEY ARE THE SAME POINT…LET ME ELOBORATE
V7 again....”you ask what you desire and it shall be done for you”
…but now add v8
V8 again...”By this My Father is Glorified…
you see this in John 14:13 as well
Look at John 14:13

13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

..and John 11:41-42

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

So, we see that v8 states that v7 is true if it will glorify the father…so I wasted my prayers on the lottery ticket I bought…
So we now know the outcome has to be to glorify the Father, but…..
We tend to say to God, “hey God, I am going to go do this, I will give you credit, will you bless it and then I will bless you?”
We also tend to say, “What is God’s will for my life”, when the real question should simply be, “What is God’s will”.
NO - find where God is working and join Him...
• George Mueller and Blackaby example
What Jesus is saying, FIRST have the LOVE relationship (ABIDE) with Him and then you will know his will and then you will have the desire to do his will and he will bless you to do the thing that He already wanted done.
HOW TO HAVE THE LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, HOW DO YOU ABIDE:
Blackaby…we have that relationship with Christ through experiencing Him through doing His will and seeing Him work…
There are 4 components that combine to show us God’s will...
1. HOLY SPIRIT
John 14:17 NKJV
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
2. BIBLE - SCRIPTURE - you have to be in the Word and memorize scripture
a. The Spirit uses Scripture to talk to us, we need a common language
3. PRAYER
a. Really spend time in prayer
b. 7 kinds of prayer (Handbook to Scripture)
i. Adoration of God for His majesty
ii. Confession
iii. Renewal
iv. Petition
v. Intercession
vi. Affirmation
vii. Thanksgiving
c. Ultimately not a “Santa Clause” Christ...
i. worship Him
ii. Be still
4. CIRCUMSTANCES
a. Ever been wrestling with something and just so happens that day’s sermon is about you?
- we tend to pray and then don’t look for answers to those prayers in our typical day…be expectant.
b. who has seen circumstances affirm God’s desire in your life
Get into a Love Relationship with Jesus and then His will will become your will.
??Questions - What gets in our way of this....
Matthew 13:2-9
Matthew 13:19–23 NKJV
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
VERSE 23 - HE WHO HEARS THE WORD AND UNDERSTANDS IT, WHO INDEED BEARS FRUIT AND PRODUCES....
??Based on this text, what gets in the way:
• v19 We hear the Word and don’t understand it - devil takes away our heart desire
• Not abiding fully
• v20-21 Hears and receives with joy but withers with tribulation
• Again, not fully abiding and trusting in Christ
• v22 cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke it out
• Not pursuing what God wants…not deep in prayer
• v23 hears, understands, bears fruit and produces
• Fully abiding, hearing God’s word
??What are some of the ways that we can avoid these traps?

What does, “I am the True Vine” say about God

o He is the only way – have seen this with
§ Bread of life
· I won’t hunger or thirst
§ Door
· Saved
§ Shepherd
· Lead
§ Resurrection and the Life
· Salvation and eternity
§ Way, Truth and Life
· Way to the Father
§ VINE says:
· Really talks about equipping us for His work
What does “I am the True Vine” say about who I am in Christ?
o Am I truly listening for Him and spending quality time with Him to hear His voice
How does “I am the True Vine” conflict with views of God outside the Church?
o Obvious
How does “I am the True Vine” conflict with views of God inside the Church?
o Name it and claim it
o God, bless what I want to do…
Does, “I am the True Vine” conflict with your view of God?
How does this passage differ from your walk with God?
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