This sermon is a companion to the previous sermons: Without Him We Can Do Nothing - John 15:4-5
Abiding in Christ - John 15:4-5
John 15:1-10 reads, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 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. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”
In the opening portion of verse 7, our Lord Jesus Christ presented the conditional statement, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.” Even so, let us consider four principles concerning the matter of Christ’s words abiding in us:
Abiding in Christ - John 15:4-5
John 15:1-10 reads, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 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. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”
In the opening portion of verse 7, our Lord Jesus Christ presented the conditional statement, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.” Even so, let us consider four principles concerning the matter of Christ’s words abiding in us:
Principle #1: If we are not abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we cannot do anything or bring forth any fruit of any spiritual value in our lives.
In the opening portion of John 1:4, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the instruction, “Abide in me, and I in you.” This is a command to us. Thus any time that we are not abiding in Christ and not allowing Christ to be abiding in us, we are walking in disobedience to our Lord. Furthermore, this is a responsibility before us. Thus we must understand that such abiding is not automatic. It will not just happen, but will require a continuing effort on our part. Finally, this is a necessity for us. Even so, our Lord Jesus Christ continued in verse 4 with this warning, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” A branch that has been severed from the vine, that is no longer taking its sustenance from the vine, will quickly wither and die. It most certainly will not bring forth any fruit. In fact, it cannot bring forth any fruit out of itself; for it has no life in and of itself.
Exactly the same is true for us as believers. If we are not abiding in the true Vine, our Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are not allowing Him to be abiding in us, then we most certainly will not bring forth any spiritual fruit to the glory of our heavenly Father. Yea, in such a non-abiding condition we cannot bring forth any fruit because we cannot bring forth fruit out of ourselves. Thus in the opening portion of John 15:5, our Lord gives the reminder, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” He is the Vine. He is the one and only Source of spiritual life and fruitful living. We ourselves are only the branches. The power for spiritually fruitful living is not found within us. It is found only within Him. Therefore, we must be abiding in Him and allowing Him to be abiding in us. If we will, then we be assured of our Lord’s promise John 15:5, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” Yet if we will not, then we must face our Lord’s warning – “For without me ye can do nothing.” If we are not abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we cannot do anything or bring forth any fruit of any spiritual value in our lives.
Principle #2: If we would be allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we must be allowing His words to be abiding in us.
In verse 7 our Lord declared, “If ye abide in me and m words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Now, in the opening portion of John 15:4, our Lord presented the instruction, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Again in verse 5 our Lord spoke of one “that abideth in me, and I him.” In both of these verses, we find that we are to be abiding in Christ, and that we are to be allowing Christ Himself to be abiding in us. Yet in verse 7 our Lord presents the case differently, saying, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.” Herein we find again that we ourselves are to be abiding in Christ, but that we are to be allowing, not Christ Himself, but Christ’s words to be abiding in us.
Even so, through our Lord’s interchange of His own abiding in us to His words’ abiding in us, we learn that these two things are Biblically equivalent. Biblically, when the one is true of our lives, then the other is also true of our lives. Allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us is the objective way for us to be allowing Christ Himself to be abiding in us. At any given time that we are allowing our Lord’s words to be abiding in us, at that very given time we are allowing our Lord Himself to be abiding in us. On the other hand, at any given time that we are not allowing our Lord’s words to be abiding in us, at that very time we are not allowing our Lord Himself to be abiding in us. If we would be allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we must be allowing His words to be abiding in us.
Principle #3: If we would be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us, then we must be keeping His commandments.
In John 15:9 our Lord gives the instruction, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” Herein our Lord instructs us believers to continue in spiritual fellowship with Him throughout our daily walk. In fact, this is another way for our Lord to say, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Our Lord would have us to continue abiding in His love and fellowship, that is – to continue in the place of abiding in Him and He in us.
How then shall we do this? With the second principle, we learned that we must be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us. Yet with this third principle, we move a step further in understanding; for in John 15:10 our Lord proclaimed, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” How do we abide in Christ? How do we allow Christ to abide in us? How do we allow Christ’s words to abide in us? How do we abide in Christ’s love and fellowship? The answer is plain and clear – We do so by keeping His commandments. We do so by walking in obedience to His Word and will. There is no other answer. Through obeying there is abiding, but without obeying there is no abiding. If we would be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us, then we must be keeping His commandments.
Principle #4: If we would grow in fruitfulness to the glory of the Father, then we must be yielding ourselves to the purging work of Christ’s Word.
In John15:16 our Lord delivered His great purpose in choosing us for ministry, saying, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Also in verse 8 our Lord revealed this great purpose, saying, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Indeed, our Lord’s great purpose for our lives is that we bear much spiritual fruit to the glory of the Father. Even so, in verse 5 our Lord revealed how we can bear much spiritual fruit, saying, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” So then, abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to be abiding in us is the very way that we bring forth much spiritual fruit to the glory of the Father.
Yet there are many things that enter into our lives and hinder such abiding and fruit bearing. Thus in John 15:1-2 our Lord declared, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” A grape vine grows an abundant amount of extra wood throughout the season. Yet all of this extra wood is detrimental to a good yield of fruit. All of this extra wood drains away the sustenance that the branch receives from the vine, thus preventing that sustenance from actually going toward the bearing of much fruit. Therefore, at the end of every season the grape vine is “purged” (or, pruned) of all that extra wood; and this “purging” (or, pruning) is in extensive amounts, each branch being cut away almost to nothing. Such is done for one purpose – that the branch may bring forth much fruit the next season.
The case is the same with us believers. We are the branches. Just as with the branches of a physical grape vine, we believers are continuously gathering into our hearts and lives “extra wood” that hinders our fruit bearing. Such “extra wood” may be sinfulness, carnality, and worldliness. Or, such “extra wood” may even be “good” things that distract us from the “best” things. Yet this “extra wood” in our hearts and lives drains away our time and energy, thus preventing that time and energy from going toward the bearing of much spiritual fruit unto the glory of the Father. Therefore, God our heavenly Father will continually do a “purging” (or, pruning) work in our hearts and lives, continually working to cut away this “extra wood” from our hearts and lives.
Even so, the tool (the pruning-hook) by which our heavenly Father will do this “purging” (or, pruning) work is the Word of Christ. In John 15:3 our Lord proclaimed, “Now ye are clean [cleansed, purged, pruned] through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Therefore, brethren, if we would bring forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit, then we must respond aright to this purging work of our Lord’s Word. We must not resist it and despise it. Rather, we must accept it and yield ourselves to it. When our heavenly Father, through the Word, seeks to cut something out of our hearts and lives, we must be willing to have that thing cut out and cast away. We must not hold onto that thing, but must let it go. If we would grow in fruitfulness to the glory of the Father, then we must be yielding ourselves to the purging work of Christ’s Word.
In the opening portion of John 1:4, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the instruction, “Abide in me, and I in you.” This is a command to us. Thus any time that we are not abiding in Christ and not allowing Christ to be abiding in us, we are walking in disobedience to our Lord. Furthermore, this is a responsibility before us. Thus we must understand that such abiding is not automatic. It will not just happen, but will require a continuing effort on our part. Finally, this is a necessity for us. Even so, our Lord Jesus Christ continued in verse 4 with this warning, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” A branch that has been severed from the vine, that is no longer taking its sustenance from the vine, will quickly wither and die. It most certainly will not bring forth any fruit. In fact, it cannot bring forth any fruit out of itself; for it has no life in and of itself.
Exactly the same is true for us as believers. If we are not abiding in the true Vine, our Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are not allowing Him to be abiding in us, then we most certainly will not bring forth any spiritual fruit to the glory of our heavenly Father. Yea, in such a non-abiding condition we cannot bring forth any fruit because we cannot bring forth fruit out of ourselves. Thus in the opening portion of John 15:5, our Lord gives the reminder, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” He is the Vine. He is the one and only Source of spiritual life and fruitful living. We ourselves are only the branches. The power for spiritually fruitful living is not found within us. It is found only within Him. Therefore, we must be abiding in Him and allowing Him to be abiding in us. If we will, then we be assured of our Lord’s promise John 15:5, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” Yet if we will not, then we must face our Lord’s warning – “For without me ye can do nothing.” If we are not abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we cannot do anything or bring forth any fruit of any spiritual value in our lives.
Principle #2: If we would be allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we must be allowing His words to be abiding in us.
In verse 7 our Lord declared, “If ye abide in me and m words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Now, in the opening portion of John 15:4, our Lord presented the instruction, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Again in verse 5 our Lord spoke of one “that abideth in me, and I him.” In both of these verses, we find that we are to be abiding in Christ, and that we are to be allowing Christ Himself to be abiding in us. Yet in verse 7 our Lord presents the case differently, saying, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.” Herein we find again that we ourselves are to be abiding in Christ, but that we are to be allowing, not Christ Himself, but Christ’s words to be abiding in us.
Even so, through our Lord’s interchange of His own abiding in us to His words’ abiding in us, we learn that these two things are Biblically equivalent. Biblically, when the one is true of our lives, then the other is also true of our lives. Allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us is the objective way for us to be allowing Christ Himself to be abiding in us. At any given time that we are allowing our Lord’s words to be abiding in us, at that very given time we are allowing our Lord Himself to be abiding in us. On the other hand, at any given time that we are not allowing our Lord’s words to be abiding in us, at that very time we are not allowing our Lord Himself to be abiding in us. If we would be allowing Christ to be abiding in us, then we must be allowing His words to be abiding in us.
Principle #3: If we would be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us, then we must be keeping His commandments.
In John 15:9 our Lord gives the instruction, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” Herein our Lord instructs us believers to continue in spiritual fellowship with Him throughout our daily walk. In fact, this is another way for our Lord to say, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Our Lord would have us to continue abiding in His love and fellowship, that is – to continue in the place of abiding in Him and He in us.
How then shall we do this? With the second principle, we learned that we must be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us. Yet with this third principle, we move a step further in understanding; for in John 15:10 our Lord proclaimed, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” How do we abide in Christ? How do we allow Christ to abide in us? How do we allow Christ’s words to abide in us? How do we abide in Christ’s love and fellowship? The answer is plain and clear – We do so by keeping His commandments. We do so by walking in obedience to His Word and will. There is no other answer. Through obeying there is abiding, but without obeying there is no abiding. If we would be allowing Christ’s words to be abiding in us, then we must be keeping His commandments.
Principle #4: If we would grow in fruitfulness to the glory of the Father, then we must be yielding ourselves to the purging work of Christ’s Word.
In John15:16 our Lord delivered His great purpose in choosing us for ministry, saying, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Also in verse 8 our Lord revealed this great purpose, saying, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Indeed, our Lord’s great purpose for our lives is that we bear much spiritual fruit to the glory of the Father. Even so, in verse 5 our Lord revealed how we can bear much spiritual fruit, saying, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” So then, abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to be abiding in us is the very way that we bring forth much spiritual fruit to the glory of the Father.
Yet there are many things that enter into our lives and hinder such abiding and fruit bearing. Thus in John 15:1-2 our Lord declared, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” A grape vine grows an abundant amount of extra wood throughout the season. Yet all of this extra wood is detrimental to a good yield of fruit. All of this extra wood drains away the sustenance that the branch receives from the vine, thus preventing that sustenance from actually going toward the bearing of much fruit. Therefore, at the end of every season the grape vine is “purged” (or, pruned) of all that extra wood; and this “purging” (or, pruning) is in extensive amounts, each branch being cut away almost to nothing. Such is done for one purpose – that the branch may bring forth much fruit the next season.
The case is the same with us believers. We are the branches. Just as with the branches of a physical grape vine, we believers are continuously gathering into our hearts and lives “extra wood” that hinders our fruit bearing. Such “extra wood” may be sinfulness, carnality, and worldliness. Or, such “extra wood” may even be “good” things that distract us from the “best” things. Yet this “extra wood” in our hearts and lives drains away our time and energy, thus preventing that time and energy from going toward the bearing of much spiritual fruit unto the glory of the Father. Therefore, God our heavenly Father will continually do a “purging” (or, pruning) work in our hearts and lives, continually working to cut away this “extra wood” from our hearts and lives.
Even so, the tool (the pruning-hook) by which our heavenly Father will do this “purging” (or, pruning) work is the Word of Christ. In John 15:3 our Lord proclaimed, “Now ye are clean [cleansed, purged, pruned] through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Therefore, brethren, if we would bring forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit, then we must respond aright to this purging work of our Lord’s Word. We must not resist it and despise it. Rather, we must accept it and yield ourselves to it. When our heavenly Father, through the Word, seeks to cut something out of our hearts and lives, we must be willing to have that thing cut out and cast away. We must not hold onto that thing, but must let it go. If we would grow in fruitfulness to the glory of the Father, then we must be yielding ourselves to the purging work of Christ’s Word.
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