Remain in Him

Intro

Both of my kids play soccer. In fact, they have been playing for a couple of years now. But this year more than any other I have really noticed them going from “playing” soccer, to really “competing” in soccer.

Cooper has really started to come into his own, and I might be a little biased, but he is quite good at being goalie.

In fact, I was approached by the travel team about having him try out because of how well he played this season.

But as they have gotten older and more into the sport I have also noticed that their desire to win has also increased.

And as their desire to win increases, their disdain for losing also increases. They both hate to lose.

So this season more than others I have found myself talking to them about while it is great to win, it is equally important that they learn how to lose, and lose well. I want them to fail forward.

Because let’s face it, none of us like to fail.

Were you a competitive athlete in school who ever lost the big game?

What about failing a test, or worse, failing an entire subject?

Have you ever found yourself in an argument with your spouse and you went from disagreeing to being cruel and vindictive?

Have you ever taken your frustration and anger out on your kids even though you’ve told yourself time after time you weren’t going to let that happen again?

Have you said something you shouldn’t have said, done something you shouldn’t have done, broken your word, lacked integrity or self-control, or otherwise not walked the walk you claim to talk.

How did you handle that failure?

Did you quit the sport

Hide the report card

Blame your spouse for your behavior

Blame your kids for making you angry

Blame your upbringing, circumstances, or parents for your bad decisions

Or did you face the music and acknowledge your failure?

Failure has been around since Adam and Eve. What happened with Adam and Eve in the story of the first sin? They felt guilt and shame because they had done wrong. After they knew they had done wrong, they tried to cover themselves, they ran away and hid from God, and then they blamed others.

Genesis 3:11-13 NLT 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

We still do these things today. We try to fix it ourselves or cover it up. We run away and hide from what we’ve done. We blame others.

Big Idea

The truth is, it is human nature to shift the blame, to hide, or to cover up our sin. We dwell on what others will think of us and we gravitate toward insecurity.

And so we retreat, we pretend there isn’t a problem, and instead of learning and growing from our failure, we doom ourselves to repeat it.

And as long as we do that, we will live our lives defined by our failure.

But the truth is, that is not the kind of life that God desires for his people.

Last week we heard the God desires to give you victory. Does it sound like God’s plan is to watch you and I fail over and over again?

Failure does not define the Christian life, victory does. You and I are called to persevere despite failure.

But, we persevere by depending on God to change us.

When we sense our brokenness and failure, our first move should not be denial or self-reliance.

When we hear a sermon on why we should we be loving to our neighbor and we realize that we aren’t, our first reaction can’t be, “I have to do that better!” because the truth is, you can’t do better.

Our first reaction to the feeling of failure has to be, “God show me your love and help me show it to my neighbors.”

We can grieve in our failures, but we must persevere, we must realize that the only way to overcome, to be holy, and to find victory is in our willingness to rely on God to do so.

Power in the Text

Failure reminds us of our limitations, but also of our new life in Christ. We have someone to turn to who is changing us. We are dependent on Christ.

Jesus speaks of this constant dependence in the life of the Christian. In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as a vine, and believers are the branches that stretch from the vine.

John 15:1-8 NLT “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Jesus makes it abundantly clear here that as his followers we are expected to do something; produce fruit.

But he explains that apart from him, that is impossible to do.

In verse 5 Jesus says“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. The word “remain” in Greek is the word meno, which means to remain and not leave.

The many variants of the word meno establish the idea that believers continually have their life in Christ and “live as it were with him, to be continually moving, speaking, thinking, or otherwise operating in him by his divine influence and power”

Jesus is speaking to those who have already come to him, and so his charge is that they remain in him. Jesus here stresses the impossibility of producing this fruit apart from him.

People are able to produce a lot without God, including converts, good deeds and even prophesies, exorcisms and miracles.

Matthew 7:22-23 NLT 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

But the divine life that we see in Jesus is dependent on God the Father’s own character, power and guidance at work in the life of the disciple.

Jesus did not will or speak or act from himself; neither is the branch capable of bearing fruit ‘from itself’.

Why it Matters

This is important to understand because we have been talking about sanctification and holiness throughout this series.

And we have already established the fact that we are all going to fall short and fail. But we want to fail forward and learn from our past mistakes so that we don’t keep going back to the same sin over and over again.

But this morning I need everyone to understand that you can desire all you want to be better and live a more holy life, but you have know that you cannot do it on your own. And you certainly cannot do it your way.

A branch cannot live apart from the trunk or vine of a plant.

In horticulture, nutrients and water flow from the main stem or trunk of the plant to the outer branches or stems. From there the nutrients create fruit or leaves to cover the plant.

A branch cannot grow fruit or leaves if it is not connected to the center of the plant. “Over the growing season, the plant receives sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil to keep growing, helping the immature fruit to continue growing larger

This is how Jesus sees you and I. As extensions of himself. You want to live a holy life, then you have to be connected to Jesus. Not just on Sunday mornings or when it doesn’t conflict with other things in your life.

Not just when what he asks is easy, but especially when it is difficult.

But there is more to it than that. There is a strong implication here. If in order to bear fruit, or to live the kind of life God wants for you, then you must remain connected to the vine (Jesus).

But what happens if you don’t? What happens if you don’t stay connected? What happens if you treat your relationship with Jesus as something unnecessary or unimportant, or you trade it for something else you want instead?

Look at verse 6. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

There is a lot of debate out there on what this verse means. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think God’s word is meant to be all that cryptic or confusing.

God has given us his word to be read, studied, and understood. So when I read this, I believe that Jesus was making one of the clearest declarations in all of scripture with respect to the security of the believer.

In other words can a person be saved and yet live a life of disobedience and just because they made a declaration of faith at one point in their life.

It doesn’t seem as though that is what Jesus had in mind does it?

Application/Closing

God’s word is clear that it is by grace through faith that we are saved, and it Christ who saves, and it is also Christ who sanctifies.

You can’t make yourself a better version of you. Only Jesus as we abide in him can make us into the new creations he died to make us.

But don’t be confused into thinking that if you mess up, then you are like the branch that is cut away and burned.

Understand that to be a Christian is to be under construction. If you ever build something, don’t expect it will go smoothly. You’ll probably be disappointed!

In the world of construction, rarely does an entire project happen without a problem arising— whether it’s rain delays, cost problems, or unforeseen issues that need to be reengineered.

It’s the same as a believer. Things will go wrong, you will fall short and sin will be something that you will be fighting the rest of your life.

The thing we must remember is who to turn to in all things: the one from whom life flows. If you will remain in Jesus, then you will be able to live the kind of life you are called to live.

But if you don’t, then don’t expect anything to change.