Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

*Question: /What is involved in having a vital relationship with Jesus Christ?”/

How can we describe the union that a believer experiences between himself and Christ?

We talk about knowing Christ, being in Christ, walking with Christ, and loving Him.

But what does that union really involve? 

·         It's like the relationship of two people in love, especially like the relationship between a father and his son, where there's mutual love and respect.

·         Or it could be likened to the relationship between two close friends or between two brothers who would defend each other to the death.

·         Perhaps the most graphic illustration of a believer's relationship to Christ is that of a vine and branches, given by our Lord Himself in John 15.

There are many truths in the allegory of the vine and the branches that give us insight into the Christian life.

Our growth together with Christ is perfectly illustrated by a vine and a branch.

·         We are nothing in ourselves; we gather all our strength from Him--our lives are filled with His energy and resources.

·         By ourselves we can't produce fruit; we must be vitally connected to Christ, who produces fruit through us.

·         In the beginning of John 15, Jesus uses that allegory to teach His disciples about a believer's relationship with Him and the Father.

He also explains that the person who only appears to be connected to Him is not a legitimate believer and therefore will be cut off, thrown away, and burned in the fire.

In the last chapter, we met the Vine (Jesus Christ), the Vinedresser (the Father), and the two kinds of branches (the believers who bear fruit and the non-believers who don't).

Jesus continues the analogy in verse 4 by making a heart-stirring plea:

·         "Abide in me."

He envisions people who are superficially attached to Him--people who may go to church, claim to be devout, and even talk about their relationship to Him--but who aren't real believers.

·         He exhorts the unbelieving fruitless branch to remain in Him.

Jesus wants His superficial followers to become true believers, showing the legitimacy of their faith by remaining in Him.

·         That is not to say a believer must work to stay saved, but that he will remain in Christ because he is a believer.

To those who don't remain in Him, He gives a solemn warning in verse 6: "/“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned/" (John 15:6, NASB95)

!! A.                 The Basic Meaning of Abiding (v.4,

8-10).

!!! 1.                  “Abide in Me and I in you… neither can you, unless you abide in Me…”  (v.4a).

!!!! a)                  The plea.

!!!!! (1)                 In verse 4, Jesus is saying to men like Judas, "Don't be superficial; be real.

Abide in Me and prove that your faith is real.

!!!!! (2)                 It's tragic when people superficially line up with Jesus Christ but never become true Christians.

!!!!!! (a)                 There are some believing wives who bring their unsaved husbands to church.

They may appear to be Christians, but they really aren't.

!!!!!! (b)                Sometimes young people come to church only because they want to be involved in a youth program, but they don't know Jesus Christ as Lord.

!!!!!! (c)                 Jesus calls to all who have made a statement of faith or an apparent identification with Him to be sure they're real believers.

!!!! b)                  The /meaning/ of /abide.

/

!!!!! (1)                 The word "abide" simply means "to remain."

Jesus is saying, "Be real, and give evidence that you're for real by remaining with Me" (cf.Philippians 1:10 /sincere/).

!!!!! (2)                 It's not that remaining in Christ saves you, but is the evidence that you are saved.

People often know someone who used to be involved in various church functions, but all of a sudden disappeared and has never returned.

That individual proved he was not a true believer because he didn't abide in Christ.

He never was real to begin with.

!!!!! (3)                 If a person really knows Jesus Christ, it is the character of the salvation experience for that man to remain in Christ.

The false will always leave sooner or later.

!!!! c)                  The /exhortation/ to /abide./

!!!!! (1)                 People who may look like they have experienced a legitimate conversion show that they were never saved to begin with when they fail to remain in Christ and bear fruit.

*Jesus said the seed that *"fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity" (Luke 8:14, NASB95).

*John talks about church attendees who did not stay involved in a Christian fellowship*: "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."  (1 John 2:19, NASB95)

*The abiding believer is the only legitimate believer; John says *"As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.

If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life."

(1 John 2:24-25, NASB95)

!!!!! (2)                 Jesus calls to every apparent disciple to show the reality of his faith by remaining in Him.

He makes a black and white distinction: The true believer abides; the non-believer--sooner or later--departs.

*Speaking to the Jews who believed in Him, Jesus said *"If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine" (John 8:31, NASB95)

*And He goes on to say in Chapter 12 that He has come *“/as /Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46, NASB95)

*Paul exhorted Timothy by saying that *"evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

You, however, continue [remain, or abide] in the things you have learned" (2 Timothy 3:13-14, NASB95)

!!!!! (3)                 Before the shipwreck in Acts 27, Paul warns the centurion and soldiers *(Acts 27:31)*.

Other related passages (John 1:32-33; 3:36; 5:38; 6:56; 8:31, 35; 9:41; 12:46; Acts 27:31; 2Tim.3:14;

1Jn2:6, 10,14,17,19,24, 27,28; 3:6,9,14,15,17,24; 4:12,13,15,16; 2Jn2).

!!! 2.                  “Abide in Me, and I [will remain] in you…”  (v.4b).

!!!! a)                  The promise of abiding.

!!!!! (1)                 Not everyone in the world can claim to experience the constant abiding presence of Jesus Christ; only the one who is constantly abiding in Christ.

The New Testament talks about Christians being in Christ and Christ being in them:

*Colossians 1:27** says,* "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

*Paul said that *"we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

(2 Corinthians 6:16, NASB95)

!!!!! (2)                 We have a relationship with Christ, the Vine.

When by real faith we are truly saved, we will always abide and Christ will always abide in us.

Many people come to church thinking that just because they show up, the Lord is with them.

!!!!! (3)                 Being in a church doesn't mean the Lord is with you.

He lives in the person of the Spirit within the lives of true disciples.

An abiding relationship with Jesus Christ comes only with salvation--genuine faith in Christ.

It's a permanent, eternal relationship.

\\ !! B.                The Expectation for the Believer

!!!! a)                  The ideal pattern for the believer.

!!!!! (1)                 *Walking in open confession before God *– In other words, his life is an open book before God, he confesses all known sin, not allowing any sin to go unconfessed.

*John says *"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I f we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

(1 John 1:6-10, NASB95)

!!!!! (2)                 *Walking and fellowshipping with Christ* – He communes and lives in a consciousness of God’s presence day after day.

*John says *"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

(1 John 2:6)

*He goes on to say that *"the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”  (1 John 2:27, NKJV)

*I love what the Psalmist says about the presence of God *"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

(Psalm 16:11, NKJV)

*And we are exhorted to* "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

" (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)                 *Possesses unashamedness, in life that prepares him for eternity*.

*We need to be read when the Lord appears *"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

(1 John 2:28, NKJV)

!!!!! (4)                 *Not walking in continuous sin*.

*He experiences victory over sin *"Whoever abides in Him does not sin.

Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him…  Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God."  (1 John 3:6, NKJV)

!!!!! (5)                 *Actively surrendering himself to obey God’s commandments*.

*John says *"Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.

And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

(1 John 3:24, NKJV)

!!!!! (6)                 *Experiencing the indwelling presence and witness of the Spirit*.

*John makes it clear that *"If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.