What Does It Mean to Abide in Christ? (John 15)

Lord, as we continue in this time of prayer, we ask um for a a safe time in Jamaica. We ask for um your hand to uh be with this team. We pray that really good work is is done that is a blessing and a breath of fresh air to communities still recovering from such devastation. And we pray that um the memories made and and the service that happens is so transformational in the hearts of everybody on on that team.

Lord, we ask that you be with our country. There are so many ways in which people in general, nations in general fall short because we are imperfect. And Lord, I pray that um that you bring healing to the areas that are broken. And Lord, we also um give thanks for living in a time of relative peace and stability and a place that has so much um opportunity and privilege. We take that for granted often, but we we give you praise for that today.

And Lord, I pray, Holy Spirit, if there’s any barriers in our hearts today, if there’s anything that may be a hindrance of hearing something that you are wanting to speak into our lives, I pray that that gets removed in the name of Jesus so that we can hear your word aresh. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Different feelings in the room 2 min mark

In a room this size, I know that a lot of us are coming in with different feelings. Some of us maybe are coming in feeling numb today. Whether that’s numb, spiritually, apathetic about life, maybe some of you are coming in absolutely exhausted. It is by the grace of God that you crawled through the doors today. Maybe some of you are in a really good state. You’re excited to be here. Maybe you’re looking forward to fellowship and and donuts and coffee that’s happening after service.

Maybe you’re here because you want to grow in faithfulness to Jesus. Wherever you’re coming from this morning and wherever your heart is at, I’m so happy you’re here for many reasons. one, just because I would love to get to know you and I know our church would love to get to know you. But also, I think for everybody in this room, what we’re talking about today has the potential to unlock a level of flourishing and joy in your life that you maybe didn’t think was possible.

And and we’re going to dive into that today. And I’m not going to waste any time. We’re going to jump right into the scripture because I I think it’s it’s that good and that worth exploring.

The final words series 4 min mark

We’re in a series right now called the final words. These are the final words that Jesus shares with his apostles, his disciples before he is arrested and killed. These are the things that he wants his followers to keep in their minds and in their hearts.

We started by talking about the servant-hearted love of Jesus demonstrated by his footwashing and how we are to love one another in that same kind of way. We talked about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life. That he is the path to the father alone. He’s the path, the pariclete, the helper and the Holy Spirit who is coming and has come because of what Jesus has done and his word and his promise to help the believer to help the disciple follow the way of Jesus to to guide them in the path of the truth and to give them a deep and abundant peace.

And you’ve heard us talk both through what Josh shared with us last week and Russ about the the beauty of relationship with God and friendship with God. And we’re exploring more of that today in this passage. We’re going to be in John chapter 15 if you have your Bibles.

Jesus as the true vine 5 min mark

So in the middle of this discussion, Jesus is continuing to demonstrate that he is just a master teacher. In verse one, he says, “I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

So, a a pause there. Jesus himself says that I am the true vine. He didn’t just say, “I am the vine.” He said, “I am the true, genuine, real vine.” And most commentators will note that this is an illusion to a metaphor that has been used for Israel several times in the Old Testament about Israel being a vine that Yahweh took from the land of Egypt and planted in the promised land and has grown and had had moments of flourishing.

But one psalm that I think Jesus might have in mind from John chapter 15 is Psalm 80. And Psalm 80 talks about God as a gardener and talks about Israel being the vine. And this vine over time because of other nations, because of disobedience, has been ravaged, has produced not good fruit. And Jesus is saying, “I am the true vine.” He’s not using a new metaphor. He’s taking a centuries old metaphor and saying a very big claim. I am the vine that Israel was supposed to be. I am the true vine. Where previously people in general and and the nation has failed and produced not the best fruit. I am the true vine. And if you want to produce that good fruit, then you ought to be in me.

The father as gardener 7 min mark

And then this idea of the father as a gardener or more literally vine dresser. The what the image that Jesus is playing off of is a grape vine and branches that come from the grapes or branches that come from the vine that bear fruit of grapes. And the father as the gardener he has two primary functions in this text. One is it says the father cuts off branches that do not bear fruit. So the Greek word there for cutting off is iro. More literally that word can mean to take up or take away. And so in this context it very well could just simply mean he he cuts them off in a in a judgment sort of way.

Either way whether it’s cutting off or t picking up and carrying off the dead branches. Um it it is a a statement of judgment and it shows the importance of fruitfulness in the life of a disciple in the life of a follower of Jesus. You can’t truly you aren’t truly a disciple of Jesus if there is no fruit that comes from our lives.

And the other act of God the father as the gardener in this it says he prunes the fruit bear bearing branches so that they bear even more fruit. That could be a whole sermon series in and of itself of the pruning of God and what that looks like.

I know so many of us in in a room of this size especially, there are so many of us who have walked through so many hardships and trials in our lives, moments of suffering. And in the moment, we can be frustrated. We can ask questions like, “God, where are you? What are you doing?” But how many of us whenever we walk a few years down the road and we look back on these previous seasons that we’ve been in, how many of us can see how God has been using that to refine us or transform us or help make us more like Jesus? That’s what that’s what God’s all about.

Cleaning and pruning in Greek 9 min mark

And there’s actually some word play here in Greek that we don’t see in English because the same word that’s used for pruning is the same word that Jesus uses in verse three for for cleaning or cleansing. It’s the same root word. And the disciples of Jesus are both cleaned and and pure because of what Jesus has done for us because of the word that Jesus has spoken over us.

So that has an idea of justification or our right standing with God. We are clean because of what Jesus has done. Praise God. And we are being cleaned. We are being pruned by the father for the sake of greater fruitfulness which is um kind of justification sanctification lingo if you if you’ve heard that before. We are made right because of Jesus purely from his grace and we are being made right. We are being transformed through the process of sanctification.

The command to abide 10 min mark

Continuing in verse four, Jesus says, “Abide in me as I also abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not abide in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you. Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

So the word for abide that gets brought up so many times in this text, the Greek word behind it is minnow. Not like a little fish but about remaining, staying, lingering somewhere for a while. And abide is I think the best translation of this. And Jesus is saying it is imperative. It is a command that you abide in me as I am abiding in you. Because if we don’t abide in Jesus, there is no fruit, good fruit that comes. He says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

Another way to think about this, we can’t live like Jesus unless we live in Jesus. Or we can’t go anywhere without staying in Jesus. Now in western society, I mean we can chase success, we can chase achievement, and we can probably do pretty well apart from Jesus in those things. However, when it comes to living a life that lasts unto eternity, living a life of eternal

fruit that makes a difference for the kingdom of God, we can’t do anything apart from Jesus. In fact, if we do not abide, we are like a branch that is thrown away and withers and is ultimately burned. You are much like a plant that lives in Kyle Dingus’s office who happens to forget to provide the nourishment and nutrients it needs and ultimately plants wither over time. The further that they are away from the source that gives it life, the more we wither and ultimately die.

But if we do abide in him, if we do live in Jesus, what will come for sure is bearing fruit? This is evidence of being a true disciple of Jesus. Now, a big question is what is bearing fruit in this passage? And from the context of John 15, some of the main things would be following Jesus’ commands, obeying his commands. And that is largely evidenced by joy and love, as we’ll get to in a little bit. But really, bearing fruit is bearing the same kinds of fruit or doing the same kinds of work that Jesus himself did. And we can only do that by being connected to the vine, staying connected to the vine.

The Father’s Love and Jesus’ Commands 13 min mark

We continue in verse 9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love. If you keep my commands, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands and abide in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. So we are to live from the overflow of the love that Jesus has for us which comes from the overflow that the love or overflow of the love that the father has for Jesus. And the evidence of that love is seen through our obedience and following Jesus. Abiding in the love of Jesus naturally produces fruit of following in the way of Jesus.

Joy as Evidence of Abiding 14 min mark

And why do we do this? Why do we abide? Why do we obey? So that we can have joy. And it’s not just momentary happiness, right? You can find a lot of things that make you happy in the moment but ultimately disappoint. This is a joy. This is this is something that lasts in our hearts. This is not just a momentary thing. This is this is like a Vicky Helguson type joy if you know her. Um she she’s gone through a lot in her life, a lot of really hard stuff. And you just see the joy of Jesus emanate from her. It’s that kind of joy. It’s a joy that once you feel it and you see it, it makes you not want to look for anything else because you have found the thing that is the answer for your soul. That is the joy that we have in Jesus. That is the abundant life that he is promising earlier in John.

And I so I think it’s it’s good for us to maybe let joy be a diagnostic for our lives. Am I am I living from a place of joy and a state of joy? If not, I think a helpful question to ask is how much am I abiding in the vine? Because whenever we are living in the overflow of the love that God has for us, it naturally leads us to a place of unending complete joy.

Love One Another as Friends of God 16 min mark

Continuing in verse 12, my command is this. Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this. There is no greater love than this. To lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn’t know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. For everything I learned from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And so, whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. This is my command. Love each other.

So again, we see this flow of love. The love that God the father has for the son. Jesus shows to us and he he demonstrates this incredible sacrificial love and that he lays down his life for us. And the love that we have received from Jesus, we are to demonstrate to the rest of the world. We are to love one another. And it’s amazing to think about and and dwell on and meditate on this idea that we are friends of God. It says you are friends if you obey. Again, I believe the obedience is an evidence that there is true friendship. It’s going to be hard to be friends with someone that you’re constantly disobeying and backstabbing and all those things, right? But we are friends of Jesus. Romans puts it, we are co-airs with Christ. How amazing is it that the king of the universe is also our friend and brother and and not just that that he has chosen you. He has delighted in you enough to choose you and appoint you to go and do the same kinds of work that he himself has been doing.

It’s kind of like whenever you’re playing a pickup game and it’s like you have a whole line of people and then you get chosen and you’re like, “Oh, you’re choosing me. It’s amazing.” That’s like way worse than what Jesus is doing. But that that same kind of feeling of being chosen is is incredible. And yes, we do have our free will choice to say yes to Jesus, but way before we choose him, he chooses us. And he wants us and he delights in us. And we’re not we are servants of God, but it’s a willful servitude. Our status is not of servants. Our status is that of friends. We are friends of God because we do know what the master is up to because Jesus has revealed it. Jesus himself is the perfect revelation of God. He says earlier in John, when you see me, you see the father. Elsewhere in the New Testament, it talks about him being the fullness of deity dwelt bodily, the exact imprint of God. Jesus has revealed who God is, what God’s all about, and what’s coming in the future. So, we are friends. We’re led in on that.

What Does It Mean to Abide? 19 min mark

There is so much depth in this passage. I really do think you could make a whole series on these verses alone. But this morning, we’re going to hone in on the heart of this passage. What does it look like? What does it mean to actually abide in Jesus? How do we do that? Because we do see there’s so many important things linked to abiding such as being in the love of God, true everlasting joy, bearing fruit that lasts into eternity, being considered a friend of God. That’s all great. How do we practically do this? How do we live in Jesus? I’m I’m a big believer that the abiding life is the abundant life. I’m a big believer that you will not experience the flourishing abundant life that Jesus wants for you unless we are connected to the vine. So, how do we do this?

Abiding as a Posture, Not a Practice 20 min mark

Well, I know a guy who wrote a song that’s pretty good on this subject matter. And something that I love about the song Abide is in the chorus there’s a statement of humility. At the end it says, “Draw me close and teach me to abide.” Which demonstrates a level of we don’t know how to do it. Right? There’s there’s something about us as people where the abiding life is so counterintuitive to how we live. So, we need the grace of God to teach us how to abide in him, to teach us how to live in Jesus. Because I think as Christians, I think abiding can kind of be church speak sometimes and and we have different ideas of what we’re talking about. I think we’re tempted to maybe think of abiding in a similar way we think about spiritual disciplines. Like whenever I was reading my Bible in my quiet time this morning, I was abiding. When I was praying before I went to bed, I was abiding. When I was serving somebody, I was abiding. Yes, that is true. But abiding is much more than just the segmented chunks of time that we spend in our minds with God. Abiding is less of a spiritual discipline and more of a posture of our hearts. Abiding is a state of being, not segmented doing.

Think about this. When is a branch not abiding in a vine? Never, right? Unless it’s dead. And sometimes a cut off branch can look alive for a little while, but eventually it will wither. But a branch is always constantly abiding in the vine to the extent it’s hard to see where the vine begins or where the branch begins and the vine ends. They’re so one. It’s that connected. We shouldn’t see our spiritual lives in these segmented chunks of time. A division of the sacred and the secular where I’m doing my work and then I’m I’m kind of doing that apart from Jesus, away from Jesus and then I have some time with Jesus later and then I’m with Jesus. I don’t think that’s the division in our minds that that we need to have. I think of abiding more like breathing than it is active doing. It’s something that is happening constantly in our lives. It’s the with God life as Dallas Willard calls it or brother Lawrence uh the 17th century French monk who wrote practicing the presence of God.

One of the main arguments in that book is you don’t need special times and special places to be with God. He is able to experience the fullness and the joy and the presence of God as much as he does whenever he’s taking the Lord’s supper in times of prayer as he does when he’s washing the dishes. As much as our schedules are so busy, we have so many things going on, we have to take care of our kids, we have stressful work to do, in all of it, we can be living the with God life. We can be abiding in Jesus.

Living with Jesus, no matter how busy we are. This is not a sermon about striving harder and trying to do better. This is a sermon about waking up to the reality that God is with us in every moment in everything that we are doing and to try and stay connected to him through it all.

I so badly want to grow in this. I wish I could talk to you about this like I’m an expert. Talk to the guy who wrote this song. He could probably help you a little bit more. But there is nothing more I want in my life than to know Jesus like a friend. I want to know Jesus. I want to walk with Jesus. I want to be in fellowship with Jesus.

And and why I say that is because in my life I have searched and searched and searched for for things to fill my cup to lead me to that state of joy to find that thing I feel like my soul was looking for. And all of them ended up feeling empty until Jesus. Jesus is the only thing I have found in my life in searching for truth that has led me to a point where I’m like, I don’t have to search for that answer for the longing of the soul anymore. I have found it in Jesus. And and I know that to be true.

And yet so often I live a distracted life away from abiding in his presence. I want to grow in this. And I can tell you the times that I am abiding in the love and the power and presence of Jesus, it is transformative. Whenever I am reminded about who I am in Jesus and my identity, that I’m a friend of God, I’m a co-air with Christ, that I am a child of God, and I let that wash over me. The love of God wash over me. I’m unshakable. There there is nothing that can happen in my life that can truly get me down because I know who I am.

But I’m I’m a forgetful person. It’s easy to forget that truth. And another another way that the abiding presence of Jesus is so transformational is in the pruning that whenever whenever I’m mindful and I’m I’m living the with God life. There are times where God holds a mirror up to some of the the ugly stuff in my life and he maybe gets out his shears and starts cutting some stuff and doing some soul surgery. And it’s needed. It’s needed for all of us.

But I have lived long enough and learned enough to know this. I can say with confidence that you do not have the abundant life without an abiding life in Jesus.

Practical steps to abide in Jesus 26 min mark

So practically, how can we more enter into this state? Well, first and foremost, I think it is asking Jesus to help us to teach us to abide because we can’t do it on our own, right? We this is totally grace. We need Jesus to rewire our brains. Give us that new transformed mind and that new heart that we may live a life of abiding.

Also, spiritual practices are aids to help us enter into that abiding state. They’re not the end in of themselves, but they help us have a mind that is more turned towards God. One of the best practices I think to help live an abiding life and this has been true through history and I think today maybe people might use their phones to set timers for this but it’s a prayer practice called the daily office where people set aside different times of day to pray. And so you could set an alarm on your phone, something like that. And then when that comes to enter into a state again of remembering the love that God has for you and to let the truth of God wash over you again. And the more that you live into that kind of practice, the more naturally your mind starts drifting back towards God, back towards God.

And one other thing I’ll say are physical reminders. I currently am wearing a a prayer bead bracelet. I’m not a jewelry guy at all, and it’s still kind of weird for me to wear this all the time, but I I’m wearing this because I forget stuff all the time. I’m a dingus. I can’t help it. But whenever I have this on my wrist and there are times I’m living selfishly and I’m living in accordance with my flesh and I look down and I see this, I’m reminded of Jesus presence with me in all things.

Whenever I I want to do something for myself that is not maybe what God’s wanting me to do in the moment and I see that I’m reminded of the servant-hearted nature of Jesus. It changes me and and it makes me remember that God is with me in all things. And I know some people put things in their houses, put things by their bed, just things to help them remember the reality of what we’re talking about today in John 15 that we are friends of God and he has chosen you to go and bear fruit.

Vision for an abiding church community 28 min mark

Could you imagine what a church of people who abide in Jesus what what we could do for the community in a community that is so busy that is so distracted if we live with this radical presence about us that we are attuned to who we are in Jesus that we walk with this peace and joy that just is strange how that could open the for for transformation for other people. How that could transform our own families and our own church family.

I pray this morning that there is a longing that wells up in our hearts to know Jesus like a friend, to walk in fellowship with him because there is truly nothing sweeter. There is nothing better.

Song and prayer time 29 min mark

So, we’re going to end our time this morning a little bit differently than what we have. We’re going to sing two songs today. And the first song we’re going to sing is As the Deer. And I want to invite all of you. I think it’s easy for whenever we sing songs that are familiar to kind of go into autopilot and just sing the words that we know without maybe meditating on the words that we’re singing. And so I want to invite all of us whether you just want to sit and listen to these words or if you want to join in and sing.

Uh my my request would be if seeing would make it be to where your mind kind of flips off um from meditating on the the words of what’s happening, then I would encourage you to um maybe just sit and receive these words. But let the Holy Spirit minister to your heart right now through the words of this song. And if your heart echoes the prayer, the longing of this song, then pray pray that out to God. because we want to be a church that is totally connected to him.

So after after that first song, we’re going to sing um another song, Abide. Very fitting. And at that time, I’ll ask our prayer team to go ahead and move through the room. And if you would like prayers for anything today, maybe today you feel like you’re a withering branch. Maybe you feel like you’re really struggling to even make it through the doors today and you’re you’re wanting to experience this life of joy again. This is a great opportunity for prayer.

If you’re someone who’s frustrated because you feel like there ought to be more fruit that’s popping up in your life, remember this is an agricultural metaphor and it is slow. The growth is slow. The the work of God is often times not the speed that we want. where wherever you are this morning, whatever longing of your heart um and after we sing as the deer, if you wanted to get prayers for um whatever it is from the team around the room, we would love to pray with you.

But Lord, we turn to you in this time. You are the only one who satisfies the longing of our souls. There is nothing that is better than walking in friendship with you, Jesus. So Lord, teach us how to abide in you. Teach us how to walk in your ways. May our hearts and our minds ever drift back to God, back to God, back to God.

Whenever we forget who we are in you, Lord, I I pray that you prune anything in us that needs to be pruned and give us faith and patience, longsuffering as you do that hard work. Lord, may this time be a time of devotion to you and a return back to your heart that you have for us, the heart that has chosen us before the world began. Thank you for the immense friendship that we do not deserve, but you so graciously pour out for us. Even though you are our king, it is amazing that we are able to say that we are your friend. and we lift us up in gratitude in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Songs and lyrics 33 min mark

soul longs to you. You alone are my heart desire and I long to worship you. You alone are my strength. To you alone may spit. You alone are my heart desire and I long to worship you. You’re my friend and you are my brother. I love you more so much. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone may my spirit. You alone are my heart desire and I long to worship you. You alone are my heart desire and I long to worship you.

If you’ll stand and sing this last song. for my wake bread. For my daily bread, Jesus, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you for the sun to rise, for my sleep at night. Oh, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you. You’re the way, the truth, and the life. You’re the well that never runs dry. I’m the branch and you are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to go where the spirit leads as I’m following. I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you for the victory. for the victory still in front of me. Oh, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you. You’re the way, the truth, and the life. You’re the well that never runs dry. I’m the branch and you are the blood. Draw me close.

And teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my all, my treasure, my prize. I am yours forever. Your mind. Draw me close and teach me to abide. When I pass through death, as I enter, oh, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you for eternal life to be raised with Christ. Oh, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you. You’re the way, the truth, and the life. You’re the world that never runs dry. I’m the grace and you are the draw me close and teach me to be my strength, my soul in life. Be my all, my treasure, my prize. I am yours forever. You’re mine. Draw me close and teach me to would you teach us? Would you teach us?

Amen. May we as a church feel the overflow of the love of Jesus for you that he has chosen you specifically individually for good purposes and good plans. And this morning, I pray that this rushing of joy, this deep experience of the joy that only comes from knowing Jesus washes over this congregation.

Visitor welcome and announcements 41 min mark

It’s such a joy to be with you all this morning. If you are visiting with us, we are so delighted that you’re here. If you could take a second and as we wrap up here, there’s a white card sticking up in the pew in front of you. If you scan that QR code, it’ll take you to a visitor form. And we would love to have the opportunity to follow up with you and just say thank you for being here because we are truly delighted to have you present with us.

And a couple announcements. One, if you have any kiddos going to calf camp this week, the deadline is today to sign up for it. So, make sure that you sign up today if you’re wanting your kid to be there. And secondly, um we do not have classes today. We instead are having a time of fellowship in the lobby and here. So, we have coffee and donuts back there. We’ll pick up with our normal classes next week.

And also as a reminder, if you have kids downstairs to please pick them up now because um we do not have class going on and we want our workers to also be able to enjoy in the fellowship of what’s happening here.

Closing blessing 42 min mark

So, um, as we go this morning in the name and the power and the authority and the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, may we continue to be a church who loves God, serves others, and shares Jesus together.