"Abiding
in Christ"
On the last evening before the Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified, He preached one of the most important sermons of His
life. In this vital message He taught the foundational truths that would supply
the disciples with what was necessary to lay the basis for their own fruitful
lives plus the principles needed for establishing the future Fruit-bearing Church
of Jesus Christ.
This vital information begins in John 15
verse one and continues throughout this most important chapter. Jesus begins by
revealing the exalted Position in God's future program for the disciples, and
all others who become children of God. "I am the True Vine" is Jesus'
statement revealing that He now was the Source of all of God's dealing with
mankind. This is the last of the 'Seven Great I Ams' found in the book of John.
No longer would the nation of Israel be
God's source as the "The Vine out of Egypt", but Jesus, the Son of
God is now our Source for Provision: "My God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19); He
is also our Source of Peace: "He is our Peace" (Ephesians 2:14); He
is the Source of our Power: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I
live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Jesus is now
the vital Source of all things to the child of God.
Jesus then points out that God His Father
is the "Husbandman", The Gardener, the Keeper, the Caretaker of the
Vine. He will make sure the Vine is
healthy, growing, and bearing fruit by His loving watch-care. God's Pattern for
Fruit-bearing is the primary subject of the next section of this brief but
powerful sermon.
"Every branch in Me that bears not
fruit, He takes away" this statement supplies us with the answer to those
who are truly in Christ but are not obedient to Him, but instead are allowing
sin to cause them to be "taken away" from the presence of God and
therefore they are removed from all the blessings of God’s presence!
"But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He
will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2) "If I regard iniquity in my heart the
Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18) "That he might be taken away
from among you" (Referring to the man who committed fornication) (I
Corinthians 5:2).
God as the Husbandman must deal with sin,
the corrupting influence of the branches, and His first step is to take the one
who sins away from His presence and the presence of those who are bearing
fruit! There is no room for branches that are dead, lifeless, and without the
power of Christ flowing through their spiritual veins, for this kind will only
corrupt those that are indeed living for the Lord and are themselves bearing
fruit!
However, this does not mean, as some
contend, that these unfruitful branches lose their salvation. God merely puts
them away, on the shelf as it were, until they get their hearts right with Him
and resume bearing fruit. This is the chastening hand of the Husbandmen (Hebrews
12). His purpose is to bring them back into fellowship first, and then to the
place of growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In some severe cases as the man in I
Corinthians who committed fornication, it might be necessary to "deliver
such and one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 5:5)
The Great Husbandman's work continues:
"Every branch
that bears fruit He purges it that it may bring forth more fruit"(v.2). Those
believers who bear fruit have the Privilege of being purged, purified and
cleansed in order that they might bear more fruit. The Purging Process of the
Great Husbandman can be accomplished in many ways.
God may purge us by bringing into our
lives tests of our faith, testing us to see if we will rely on Him and His
promises to supply our needs in a time when we are not able in and of ourselves
to make ends meet. His purging process might come in the way of tragic
circumstances bringing us to a total reliance on Him, purging us from any
strength in and of ourselves. Purging in the life of Paul brought him to
realize his strength was made perfect in weakness and God's grace was
sufficient to see him through the most difficult spiritual or physical
infirmities.
(II Corinthians
12:7-10)
So, even though Paul was definitely a
fruit bearing branch connected to the Vine, God the Great Husbandmen continued
to purge him so that he could bear much more fruit for his Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the Master's method of making us more like Jesus His Son, conforming us into His image. (Romans 8:29)
Therefore, we must expect the loving hand
of God to continue to purge us utilizing any method He, in His loving ways,
must use to give us the greatest opportunity for ministry to Him and those He
puts in our path by making us Christ-like.
It is only as we imitate the Lord Jesus as He uses us for His glory that
we can really accomplish anything that will really count for eternity!
Jesus continues His powerful sermon in
v.3:
"Now ye are clean
through the Word which I have spoken unto you." Here, Jesus teaches us
what it is that God uses to cleanse/purge His children. Purging by the
cleansing power of the Word of God!
Jesus later prays that God would "Sanctify them through Thy Truth,
Thy Word is Truth" (John 17:17).
Paul, too attests to this fact in
Ephesians 5:26:
"That He might
sanctify and cleanse it (the church) through the washing of water by the
Word" proving that the Word of God has enormous cleansing power for the
child of God! The positive Purging power that God's Word possesses can not be
measured, but is a vital necessity for the purity of the child of God!
Fully cleansed by the Word, Jesus
immediately gives these eleven disciples one of the most important commands in
Scripture: "Abide in Me" (v.4) Abide, dwell, continue, tarry, endure,
remain in Me! This pointed command carries with it the direct demand for them
to continue, to remain connected spiritually to Jesus, with an intermingling
continual communion which only can be totally effected by the Holy Spirit and
therefore teaching us that our Position for communion with Him is one of
abiding!
Vitally connected to the Vine, we as
branches must remain in contact, yea, in life giving communion with Jesus by
and through the Holy Spirit, as Jesus indicates in the next part of verse four:
"And I in you" indicating the future permanent indwelling of the Holy
Spirit in the disciples at Pentecost. One is impossible without the other.
We can not abide in Christ without Him
abiding in us:
"As the branch
can not bear fruit of itself, no more can ye except ye abide in Me." This
great Privilege of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given to every believer
at the point of salvation.
We are born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8),
baptized (spiritually placed) into the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13),
forevermore to remain in Christ by this great transaction which takes place the
moment we are born again by repenting of our sin and putting our faith in the
Lord Jesus who died on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin!
Jesus, then, repeats this marvelous truth:
"I am the Vine,
ye are the branches; He that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth
much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing." (v.5) The emphasis in this
verse is found in the last phrase, for truly without the indwelling Christ
becoming our very life (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4) we can in and of
ourselves accomplish nothing!
This underlines the marvelous purpose of
salvation, that we might serve God through the power of the indwelling Son of
God, the Holy Spirit! Jesus said in John
14:12 that we would accomplish "greater works" than Him. This can
only be explained as we recognize the all encompassing power of the indwelling
Christ in the multitudes of believers as the centuries roll on!
The great impact that the children of God
have had through the power of the indwelling Christ has truly been staggering
when we recognize how many millions have entered the kingdom and faithfully
served God during these two millennia!
These statistics are indeed overwhelming
when we think of the Lord's small beginnings with these eleven men this night
before the Cross. This Priority of abiding must be foremost in our daily lives
if we are to produce fruit for Him: "for without Me ye can do
nothing."
Jesus continues His sermon in verse 6 by
announcing the Penalty for those who do not abide in Him:
"If a man abide
not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and
cast them into the fire and they are burned." This vivid description points out the destiny
of the child of God who refuses to obediently follow the Lord Jesus by
remaining vitally connected to Him, each and every moment of their life.
The first phrase describes Departing
Fellowship: "He is cast forth" separated from God by allowing sin to
take priority in his life (I John 1:6-8); the second phrase describes the
Deterioration of the Spirit: "Is withered" outwardly and inwardly lifeless without the
Spirit's active influence (Romans 8:13)
The third phrase continues the downward
slide in Defilement of the Temple of God:
"Men gather them
and cast them into the fire" this picture of the branch being tossed away
as so much wasted rubble is the result of the defiling effect of sin on the
temple of God (I Corinthians 3:17) allowing sin to continue it's devastating
effect; the last phrase describes the Destruction of the Flesh:
"And are
burned" showing that God's most extensive degree of chastisement can bring
about "The destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved" (I
Corinthians 5:5).
But, Jesus' magnificent promise in verse 7
is the driving force and Purpose for the child of God to abide in Him: "If
ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it
shall be done unto you." Two Prerequisites to God's opening of the windows
of heaven in answering prayer for the child of God:
1. Abiding in Christ,
remaining connected to the Life-giving Vine through continual communion with
Him.
2. The Word of Christ
must dwell in us richly for it is in and through His Word that we will
experience the power of the Spirit and the Life which Jesus taught in John
6:63:
"It is the Spirit
that quickens, the flesh profits nothing, the Words that I speak unto you, they
are Spirit, they are Life!" So, do we want answered prayer? Do we want the
presence and power of the Holy Spirit? The only way to unlock the storehouse of
God is to abide in Jesus and put His Word in our hearts!
"Herein is My Father glorified, that
ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." (v.8) Jesus concludes
this section of His sermon with a very important statement. If we want to
fulfill our Primary Purpose of glorifying God we must be bearing "much
fruit".
There are divided opinions on just what
Jesus meant by "fruit" in these eight verses, but the majority of
Bible scholars hold to the fact that this is internal fruit, the "fruit of
the Spirit" not the outward fruit which Jesus mentions in v.16 which most
believe refers to souls won to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This type of soul-winning service to the
Lord will only come as we bear fruit internally, preparing ourselves for the
soul-winning opportunities that He will send to us as we are filled with the
Spirit, abiding in Christ and the Word abiding in us! However, all agree, if we are to abide in
Christ, His Word must abide in us, the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly,
filling us with the Holy Spirit of God! (Ephesians 5:18, 19; Colossians
3:16,17)
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