ABIDING IN
JESUS
" I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every
branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; (or lifts
up), and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it
may bear more fruit.”
John 15:1, 2.
Jesus With His Disciples in the Upper Room
The fifteenth chapter of John describes Jesus
earnestly teaching His disciples. They are in an
upper room in the city of Jerusalem. They have
observed the Passover and observed "The
Lord's Supper" for the first time.
Jesus has given them an example of servant
ministry by washing and drying their feet. It is
the night before He would be crucified on the
cross of Calvary. He is preparing them for His
departure back to heaven and their new ministry
after He is gone.
The time Jesus has available for instruction has
come down to a matter of minutes.
What is the subject that is so important that Jesus
will use these precious moments to speak to His
disciples about?
He begins to speak about a grapevine, a
vinedresser, branches, and grapes.
Surely, He has a great truth in mind that He wants
to convey to His disciples.
" I AM the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not
bear fruit, He takes away; (or lifts up), and every
branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may
bear more fruit.”
John 15:1, 2.
OUR TRUE REASON FOR LIVING
In His last message before His passion
and death Jesus wanted all who would
come to know Him as Savior to
comprehend that He leaves them on
planet Earth for one compelling reason,
and that Reason has something to do with
bearing fruit.
Here are the essential elements:
1.
JESUS IS THE VINE.
The vine is the trunk that grows out of the
ground from 36 to 42 inches high. The vine
ends in a large gnarl from which branches grow
in both directions along a trellis.
2.
THE HEAVENLY FATHER IS THE VINE
DRESSER OR KEEPER OF THE VINEYARD.
His one goal is to enable the branches to
produce the largest amount of fruit as possible
3.
EACH OF US BELIEVERS ARE THE
BRANCHES.
The branches are tied to a trellis or propped up
with sticks to
1). Let air circulate,
2). To provide the maximum amount of
exposure to sunshine, and
3). To allow fullest access for tending and
harvest.
The primary function of branches is to bear fruit.
Solomon’s Temple Crowned With Fruit
4. THE FRUIT IS GOOD CHARACTER
QUALITIES AND/OR GOOD WORKS.
“Fruit” is the overflow of God working within us
to produce something good that flows out of us.
The first Psalm teaches us that the man who
delights in and meditates on God’s word
“will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
that brings for its fruit in its season, whose leaf
also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall
prosper."
Psalm. 1:3-5.
After telling us that we have been saved by
grace through faith the Apostle Paul proceeds to
inform us, “For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in
them.”
See Ephesians 2:10.
Perhaps the most helpful revelation of all are
these words, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”
Galatians 5:22, 23.
And to all this we add the words of Jesus,
“By this My Father is glorified, that you
bear much fruit.”
John 15:8.
We bear outward fruit when we allow God
to work through us and as a result, bring
Him glory. Every arena of life, therefore
becomes an opportunity to bear fruit.
FOUR DISTINCT LEVELS OF FRUIT ASSESSMENT
Jesus identifies four levels of spiritual condition in which
His followers find themselves at any given time:
1.
No fruit – “Every branch in Me that does not bear
fruit, He takes away. (or lifts up) . .” 15:2a
2.
Some fruit – “...every branch that bears fruit, He
prunes it.” 15:2b
3.
More fruit – “…that it may bear more fruit.” 15:2c
4.
Much fruit – “…he who abides in Me, and I in him,
bears much fruit…” 15:5.
These statements reveal that each
believer is either producing no spiritual
fruit at all or a clearly defined level of fruit.
We have also seen that as a human vine
dresser works with each vine to make it
more fruitful the heavenly Father is
working with each one of us. His purpose
is to nurture us from no fruit to fruit and
then more fruit and on to abundant fruit.
Are we satisfied with where we are in our
fruitfulness.
As a believer in Christ Jesus it is likely that just
as the nature of branches is to produce fruit as
abundantly as possible even so our spiritual
nature yearns to produce abundant fruit that
brings glory to God.
Let us look more fully at the four levels of
spiritual condition to see how we can grow in
fruitfulness.
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THE BARREN BRANCH
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes
away.” John 15:2.
This statement has been a source of perplexity and
debate among Bible scholars. The first step in clearing
up the confusion has been made by Greek scholars.
The words “takes away” are translated from the Greek
word “airo.” The meaning of “airo” is better understood
in the sense of “take up.” This is the way it is translated
when the disciples “took up” the twelve baskets of food
after the feeding of the 5000. (Matthew 14:20). It is
translated “bear” when” Simon was forced to pick up the
cross of Jesus and carry it for Him. (Matthew 27:32).
The second step in clearing up the confusion has come
from professional vine dressers. They inform us that
new branches have a tendency to trail down and grow
along the ground. Rain causes them to get muddy and
mildewed. The vine dresser walks the rows of vines with
a bucket of water. When he sees a muddy branch he
lifts it up; washes it off and then wraps it or ties it to the
trellis where it can get the most air and sunshine. In a
short time the branch is thriving with fruit. This also
clears up verse 3 where Jesus said to His disciples,
“you are already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to you.”
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For the Christian sin is like dirt. When he or she
lies down in it they get dirty and fruitless. God
will call that Christian to His word to seek
cleansing.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” 1st John 1:9.
It is wise to hear; confess, and be forgiven and
cleansed.
If the Christian defiled by sin does not heed
God’s call to cleansing then God will begin a
process of discipline. God doesn’t begin the
discipline as a result of random sin through
weakness but because of a pattern of behavior
in which we have come to tolerate sin in our life.
God’s process of discipline is detailed in Hebrews,
“…My son, do not despise the chastening of the
Lord, nor be discouraged when you are
reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord
loves He chastens, and scourges every son
whom He receives.” Hebrews 12: 5,6.
·
God is the source of the discipline
·
He disciplines all of His children
·
He does it because He loves His children
When God disciplines His children He is cleaning
them up like a vine dresser cleans his branches.
The goal is to make the barren branches fruitful.
The concluding statement in regard to God’s
discipline is found in verse 11 of Hebrews 12:,
“All discipline for the moment seems not to be
joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been
trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceable
fruit of righteousness.
Let us take note of the steps in God’s
discipline:
1. A verbal warning.
“…do not…be discouraged when you are
rebuked by Him.”
Hebrews 12:5a.
This rebuke may come in the form of
a pricking of our conscience;
a timely word from another Christian,
a sermon, etc.
What if we pay no attention ?
2. Chastening begins.
“For whom the LORD loves He chastens.” 12:5b.
At this level we cannot ignore the pressure. It
may take the form of friction within our family;
pressures at work; meaninglessness in church
services; broken fellowship with God or
problems in health or finances.
We need to begin seriously searching for dirt in
our life with the intent of cleaning it up.
What if we don’t
3. We enter the time of scourging.
“And scourges every son whom He
receives” Hebrews 12:6.
“Scourge” is the word used to describe
how the Roman soldiers whipped Jesus
with “a cat of nine tails.” See John 19:1.
How can our loving heavenly Father do
this to a son or daughter He loves?
1) Because we are clinging to sin with a
rebellious attitude against God.
2). He wants to clean us up so we can
be fruitful
Giving up the sins that keeps us fruitless is called
“repentance”.
We change our mind about tolerating sin because
of benefits we enjoy
and acknowledge the harmful effects sin has on
us, on others, and on our relationship with God.
We begin to value the potential of supernatural
fruitfulness that will be ours when we walk in
unmarred fellowship with God.
We are now ready for a breakthrough into
fruitfulness.
THE LEAFY BRANCH WITH SOME FRUIT
“Every branch that bears fruit He prunes…”
John 15:2b
When we have dealt with willful sin and asked
God to enable us to put it out of our life He
cleans us; allows the refreshing winds of the
Holy Spirit to refresh us and lets the sunlight of
His presence shine upon us. In a short time
there are lush and healthy leaves…and fruit.
Yet, this is not our Savior’s ultimate goal.
There is more.
THE BRANCH WITH HEALTHY CLUSTERS OF
GRAPES
“…every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may
bear more fruit.” John 15:2b, 2c.
Pruning has to do with cutting off the excess so that the
sap flowing from the vine can produce more fruit. God
begins cutting out the excess things in our life so that we
can bear more spiritual fruit. These things are not
“sins”. They are the unnecessary things that use up
our time, energies, finances, and emotions and drain
away our ability to be more fruitful. Anyone who has
ever made a commitment to ministry has discovered that
ministry brings them in conflict with activities in their
lifestyle
Using the metaphor of Jesus
their decision about what stays and what goes
makes the difference in whether they produce a
fourth of a basket or half a basket of fruit or
more.
Giving up wholesome things that have been an
important part of our lifestyle can hurt. Yet, in
the lands of the vineyards a bountiful harvest is
considered crowning the year with joy…
…regardless of what else happened.
This will also be true of the fruitful Christian
THE BRANCH ABUNDANTLY FILLED WITH
FRUIT
“Abide in Me, and I in you…he who abides in
Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” John 15:4a, 5b.
Here is a branch that has more lush clusters of
grapes than it has leaves. The secret is
unrestricted flow of the sap from the vine into the
branch and results in bountiful fruit.
Jesus revealed the meaning for believers is
abiding in Him and Him in the believer results in
much fruit.
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What does it mean to abide in Jesus?
It doesn’t mean putting in an appearance at
church on Sunday morning to say hello to Jesus
and then living as if He doesn’t exist the rest of
the week.
Looking back at the vine and the branch we
learn that at the point where the branches meet
the vine holds the answer.
The branch that has the largest, strongest, least
obstructed connection with the vine is the one
that produces the most abundant clusters of
grapes.
This means that fruitfulness is not us producing fruit for
Him. It means that when we live in close fellowship with
Him that He produces the fruit through us. The secret is
to abide. Jesus uses the word six times. Abide means
to:
Live in His presence.
Make Him our best friend.
Share with Him our deepest concerns.
Tell Him how much we love Him and need Him.
Worship and praise Him from the depth of our hearts.
Seek to know His mind from the scriptures.
From this deeper relationship He will do great things in
us that will flow out from us to others and fruit will be
produced.
What does an abundantly fruitful Christian look
like? This is a question that cannot be answered
because each of us is unique by physical birth,
spiritual birth and God’s purpose for us. Just as
the sap flowing from the vine is out of sight the
work Jesus does in each of us is out of sight but
fruit is produced that brings glory to God
according to God’s unique purpose for us.
What we become as a person will impact others in a far
greater way than we ever imagined.
What we do will accomplish more because it originated
with Jesus and has His supernatural blessing on it.
May each one of us be filled with a burning desire to abide
more deeply and fully in Jesus and Him in us. Abundant
fruit will come that brings glory to God.