John 15…
4,
“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.”
5 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.
6 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.
7 If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein
is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As
the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 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.”
The Lord Jesus commands His people to abide
in Him, and He abides in us. In order
for the branch to bear fruit it must abide in the vine. The same is true with us. We cannot abide in the vine except you abide
in Christ. As we study this issue we
will be using information from Dr. MacArthur’s notes on Abiding in the
Vine. I have learned a great deal from
his sermon and I provide my notes here. He
asks a serious question, and it is a question that baffles people is how can I
have a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus?
It is a crucial question for those who want to understand how to have a
vital relationship with Jesus Christ. We
must have a vital relationship with Him because He is the Savior and King. Our ambition should be to please Him, and so,
we ought to abide in Christ, and seek to it with eagerness and
determination. This question that has
been raised is asked in the midst of suffering, sinfulness, confusion and
discouragement. We suffer in life, and
we sin in life. At times we are confused
and discouraged. It is not only
Christians that ask this question but it is unbelievers who do as well. In what way can we describe the union we have
as believers and with Christ Himself? It
is common to speak of knowing Christ. We
say this because we know Him. We should
know Him in an intimate relationship. We
should speak to Him in a way that is God-honoring. We speak of being in Christ. If we are in Christ, we have His
righteousness. We speak of walking with
Christ. Are we faithful in our walk with
Him? We speak of loving him. Are we confident that we love Christ? Scripture says “If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” What does this union with Christ
involve? We can compare it to a
relationship of two people in love. We
can compare it to a relationship between a father and a son. In this relationship there is love, respect
and compassion. We could compare it to
two close friends. Or we can compare it
to two brothers that defend the other’s life till the death. The most profound and graphic illustration we
have is seen in John 15. This was
provided by the Lord Jesus Himself. The
allegory of the vine and the branches gives us profound insights into the life
of a Christian. When we look at the vine
and the branches we see our growth together with the Lord Jesus Christ. In ourselves we are nothing at all. Our strength comes from the Lord above. The lives of His people are filled with the
Lord’s energy and resources. In and of
ourselves we are unable to produce fruit.
As Christians we must be fundamentally connected to the Lord. The Lord produces fruit through His people. We see in John 15 from the start that the
Lord Jesus teaches the allegory about the Christian’s relationship with Christ
and the Heavenly Father. If someone
merely has appearance of being connected to the vine, it is worthless. Such people will be cut off, thrown away and
burned in the fire. This is a very
serious matter, and we must heed the words of the Lord Jesus with caution and
reverence.
In
chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, spoke of the Lord Jesus as the Vine, and the
Father as the Vinedresser. The Lord
spoke of two kinds of branches:
Christians who bear fruit and unbelievers who do not bear fruit. The Lord continues the analogy and makes a
heart-felt plea. He says, “Abide in Me.” The Lord Jesus does not people who are
superficially connected to Him. Such
people who claim to attend church, or attend church, claim to be devoted to the
Lord, and they even mention their relationship with Him. But these people are not real or true
believers. The Lord Jesus exhorts the
unchristian people, who are fruitless, to remain in Him. The Lord Jesus desires His superficial
followers to be real believers. He wants
them to show the legitimacy of their faith and remain in the Vine. When we say this we do not mean that a
believer must work to remain saved. But
a believer will remain in Christ due to the fact that He is indeed a
believer. But for the people who do not
remain in Christ, He provides a sober warning, “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.” What happens with someone who was attached to
Christ and yet departs from the Christian faith? It is certainly natural to wonder what
happened. There is a simple answer. It is this:
The people who departed from the faith were not really true believers to
start. If they were true believers they
would never have departed from the faith.
The branch that is false does not abide or remain in Christ. John
says that those who went out from us were never really of us. This is true with the people who departed
from the faith of Christianity.
First,
let’s begin with basic meaning of what it means to abide in Christ. There is an exhortation for the unbelieving
person. There is plea found in the Word
of God for the unbeliever. Let’s explain
what that is. The Lord Jesus is saying
to unbelieving Judas, “Abide in Me. Do
not be phony. You must abide in Me and
show that your faith is real and true.
The phony branches you carry need saving.” It is a sad thing when people are phony in
terms of having a relationship with Christ.
And these people never become true Christians but remain in their
foolishness. Sometimes we see believing
wives bring their unbelieving husbands to the beloved church of Christ. These people claim to be Christians, yet
these people are not Christians. At
other times we see young people who come to church just to get involved in
youth programs. And these people do not
know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The
Lord Jesus calls all people who identify themselves with Him, and who have made
a statement of faith to make sure they are really His. The Scriptures say the Lord knows those that
are His. The ones who belong to Christ
have the Spirit of God. Those who do not
have the Spirit of God do not belong to Christ. You must make sure you are a
true believer. For if you are not a true
believer your fate is the eternal reality of the punitive wrath of God.
The
Lord Jesus says, “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.” The Lord Jesus meant by abide to simply,
remain. We must remain in Christ. The Lord Jesus is saying, “Be for real. Do
not play games. Show you really remain
in Me by evidence.” Remaining in Christ
does not save you. It is would be ridiculous because that would mean it would rely
upon your own strength. Abiding in
Christ means you have given evidence that you are saved. There are people who are involved in things
of the church. Yet they disappear and
they never return. That person proved he
is not a true Christian. The faith of
these kinds of people was never true to start.
People that really know Jesus Christ will remain in Christ. But the false believers will leave later in
time.
We have explained this
issue, and now we move on to the exhortation.
Let us look at the profound verses that are related to this issue of
abiding in Christ. Luke 8:14: "The
seed which 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.”
What they have heard is the Word of God.
There are people who look like they have experienced a legitimate conversion
into Christ. Yet deep down inside of
them there was no conversion into Christ. There were never saved to begin with.
They simply fail to remain in Christ and produce much fruit. 1 John 2:19: “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.” If these individuals John spoke
about were true followers of Christ, they would have remained in the fold of
Christ. Yet we know that they went out
from them because they were never really of them. 1 John 2:24, “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.” Those that are for real
will remain and have eternal life. The
abiding believer is the only legitimate believer. When people stop fellowship with Christians
they demonstrate that they are not believers to start. We must show the reality of our faith. Believers abide in Christ while unbelievers
do not abide in Christ. Colossians
1:21-23, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged
in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death,
in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if
indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not
moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was
proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a
minister.” Here Paul warns of the
Judas-type branches. The Colossian
people were outside of Christ at one time.
Yet Christ died to bring them in fellowship with Him. But the relationship needs to be maintained. We must show the legitimacy of a person’s
salvation by remaining in Christ. This
is what Paul is saying. Hebrews 3:6, 14,
"but Christ was faithful as a Son over His
house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our
hope firm until the end… For we have become partakers of Christ, if we
hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end…” We must give evidence of our faith and
continue in the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 4:14, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession.” People who made a
profession of faith in Christ must continue to do so in a genuine matter. That would be the evidence of their
salvation. There some people who become
elders and become involved in gross sin and then they leave the ministry. They totally forsake the relationship they
had with Christ. Obviously, if someone
is a true believer they will follow Christ.
Such is the characteristic of being a true follower of Christ.
Jesus, I live
to thee, the loveliest and best; my life in thee, thy life in me, in thy blest
love I rest.
Jesus, I die to
thee, whenever death shall come; to die in thee is life to me, in my eternal
home.
Whether to live
or die, I know not which is best; to live in thee is bliss to me, to die is
endless rest.
Living or
dying, Lord, I ask but to be thine; my life in thee, thy life in me, makes
heaven forever mine.
Amen
(Hymn 438).
The Lord Jesus
gives a marvelous and magnificent promise.
The Lord Jesus says abide in Me and I will remain in you. The world is filled with people who cannot
claim to have a constant abiding in Christ.
But the one who is abiding in Christ can claim that. The Scriptures speak of Christians abiding in
Christ and the Lord Christ abiding in them.
Colossians 1:27 says, “to whom God willed
to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We must remember “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
But Christians have a relationship with Christ who is the Vine. Real faith shows we are really saved. We will always abide and Christ will abide in
us. John 14:4 speaks comforting words to
the Christian. We must not be engaged in
worry that they will not hand on to their salvation. This is a warning to professing
Christians. If they are not true
believers, Christ is not present in their lives, and they are none of His. Some people think that if they go to church,
the Lord is present with them. But if
someone is in the church, it does not mean that the Lord is with them. Christ lives in the person who is His, and
who has the Spirit in them. They, then,
are true believers. To abide in Christ
only comes from a genuine relationship with Christ. We must have genuine faith in Christ. When we have real faith, which is a work of
God in the heart of a person, it shows that it is irrevocable and it is
unchangeable and eternal. Indeed it is a
everlasting relationship. In the verses
8 through 10 we learn several things that the Lord taught. We learn faithfulness, love, and
obedience. First, He exhorts His people
to be true believers. He does not want
fruitless branches that are attached to Him.
If we bear fruit we show that we are Christian. We know that the unchristian person bears no
fruit. Second, the true believer enters
into the love of Christ by His grace. He
continues to live in the love of God, and he never rejects it. If someone does not continue in Christ, it is
a sure sign they were not born from above.
Those who are born from above will remain in His love. Third, Jesus wants people to abide in
Him. “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.”
When we speak of abiding of Christ, bearing fruit,
continuing in Christ and devoted to His commandments; it is various ways of
saying the same thing. A true disciple
of Christ obeys His commands. They
remain in His blessed love and continue on from the beginning of the time they
were saved. Christ wants true
disciples. We must be determined not to
disappoint Him or displease by failing to abide in Him. We know that Judas failed to abide in Christ. Scripture says he went to his own place. He went to the place of hell because he did
not have Christ as his Savior and Lord.
He said not all of the apostles’ feet were clean. He spoke of Judas who betrayed Him. Do not be like Judas who did truly follower
Christ though he was in the midst of His ministry and saw the abounding mercy
of Christ.
The Lord Jesus is an
example to us in all things. He is the
Perfect Example of abiding. He said, “…even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love.” The
Lord wants us to have a relationship that He has with His Heavenly Father. John 17 shows that Christ prayed in His High
Priestly prayer that He wanted His people to be one as He and the Father are
one. Christ will always keep His
relationship with the Father. He wants
us to keep our relationship with Him.
John 15 shows what Christ
said about true and false disciples. He is
contrasting them. It is the one who
abides in Christ and the one who departs from the faith. Christ pleads with the people who have a
phony way of abiding in Him. He wants
His people to abide, bear fruit, remain in His love, and obey His precious
commands. These are qualities of a true
Christian. The Christian remains in an
affectionate and productive relationship with the Lord Jesus. The true believer will never abandon His
faith. John 8:31 says, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye
continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed…”
If you love the
Lord, you will keep His commandments.
All true disciples love the Lord and He wants obedience. We must love and have obedience. The Christian should not think that the
Christian life is complicated. It is
rather in simplicity that we should understand the Christian life. We are called to love God and others. We need the love that brings obedience to the
divine Word of God. We must be true
followers of Christ. We must not be
false followers.
Let us
understand the expectation of the believer.
Through John’s Gospel he draws the line between true and false
believers. He does not contrast one
believer with another. Rather he shows
an idealistic picture of it. Believers
have eternal life. They will never
thirst again for eternal life because they already have it. Some teach that believers can lose their
salvation. Rome teaches that
if someone commits a mortal sin, he or she loses their state of
justification. But in Reformed theology
we know the blessed truth of the preservation of the saints. God will preserve His people. He will complete the work His started. He is faithful and true. He will never forsake His own. Those who eternal life, have the peace of
God. True peace is not losing and
gaining the state of justification but having it throughout life. Either God is faithful or He is not. We maintain He is faithful and He will see us
through. The unbeliever will always
crave or thirst again. We who have
eternal life will never thirst again.
What a blessed truth this is! When
we get a little thirsty we must turn to Scripture. When we turn to Scripture we meet Christ
Himself. It is Christ speaking to His
people. Listen, and listen well. Remember that John 6 speaks of the promise of
those who trust in Him will never hunger.
But have you become hunger for spiritual truth? Sometimes we get hungry for spiritual meat from
our churches. Sometimes we get hungry
for spiritual truth. Do not starve
yourself, but feed upon the meat of those who write sound doctrine, and who
embrace the truth of divine Scripture. We
must understand the ideal pattern which God has made for us to understand.
We must confess our sins to
the Lord. We see this blessed truth in 1
John 1:8-10:
8If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We must confess our sins to the Lord. Unbelievers do not confess their sins to
God. Rome
says we ought to confess to a priest.
But we know differently because we obey divine Scripture alone not man’s
traditions. Sometimes believers fall
short to confess their sins. John does
not deal with them in this case. Rather
he presents the model. Let us read 1
John 2:3-5…
3And hereby we do know that we know him,
if we keep his commandments.
4He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him.
5But whoso
keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we
that we are in him.
Unbelievers disobey but believers obey. Yet we see at times believers disobey. It is true that believers disobey but John does
not deal with exceptions. This does not
mean that we should commit sin with license.
It is wrong and unscriptural to sin with license. Peter says that we should not use your freedom
as a cover-up for evil. Let us read 1
John 2:9-11…
9He that saith he is in the light, and
hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10He that loveth his brother abideth in
the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11But he that hateth his brother is in
darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because
that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
We must always love our brothers. Yet unbelievers never love their
brothers. There are Christian people who
struggle with loving their brothers. 1
John 3:14-15…
14We know that we have passed from death
unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth
in death.
15Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding
in him.
John draws distinctions that show what is and is
not a Christian. 1 John 2:15 says, "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him."
John is not saying you are going to hell because you may desire a new
couch. 1
John 3 6; 8-9 says, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth
hath not seen him, neither known him…He that committeth sin is of the devil;
for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” John is
concerned with the ideal and the positional truths of life of a Christian. John knew of the exceptions to the
ideal. He was aware of them. 1 John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…”
John mentions this because he knows through the Holy Spirit that
Christians fail. Sometimes we fail and
fall into sin. General patterns in the
Word of God show what a believer is and what a believer is not. These general patterns are clear and
plain. Exceptions occur when a believer
hates his brother, disobeys God’s commands and fails to repent of a plain sin.
In
the fullest sense, sometimes believers do not abide. This is true.
Yet it will be to abide in Christ.
This is the general pattern. There
may be a lapse in the life of a Christian with their relationship with
Christ. And we may cease to abide in the
complete sense. John 15 is not entirely
restricted to the unbeliever. It is
possible it could refer a believer. John
assumes that the believer loves their neighbor and yet he commands us to love
our neighbor. It speaks to the exception
of the ideal. The epistles of Paul are
full exceptions. Ephesians chapter 1
speaks of a Christian position. It is regarding him who is in Christ. And the second section talks of Christian
practice. It is about what a Christian
ought to do. Believers make sinful
mistakes, and therefore the Father prunes His people. But if we were free from mistakes, the Father
would not have to prune us. But we see
that the Father prunes His people. Yet
there are exceptions in the life of a Christian. They are not abiding in the complete sense.
The
Lord Jesus wants and longs for His people to abide in Christ fully, completely
and totally. It may seem like a
perplexing thing when the believer cannot abide in the fullest sense or his
failure to do so. Dr. MacArthur wrote,
“One illustration is found in
Galatians 1:6, where Paul, writing to Christians, says, "I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
another gospel." When the Galatians started believing legalistic teaching,
Paul rebuked them for not abiding. In Galatians 3:3, he said, "Are ye so
foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?" The Galatians had been saved in the energy of the Holy Spirit, but
they were living as if they'd been saved in the energy of the flesh. They
believed they needed to keep a list of rules to retain God's acceptance. They
had stopped abiding in Christ and started trying to produce their own fruit
apart from Him. Legalism is one way a Christian can stop abiding; it is
essentially the opposite of abiding.”
“When Christians fail to abide
in the fullest sense of the word, it doesn't mean they lose their salvation. In
John 10:27, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them."
You may be a wayward sheep, but you don't turn into a goat (cf. Matt.
25:31-46). When you stop abiding, it doesn't mean you're out of God's love and
His Kingdom--your position is secure forever. But when you wander a little bit
and cease to abide in the fullest sense, you move away from the intimacy of a
full relationship with Christ.”
“To abide as a
believer simply means to stay close to Jesus. A branch is much better off if
it's connected to the vine. Being only a half an inch away from the vine
doesn't do a branch any good. To abide is to be totally connected to Jesus
Christ in a loving and obedient relationship. As the vine sends its energy
through the branch to bear fruit, so Christ can send His energy through you.”
The question is
how is it possible to be in a close and intimate relationship with the Lord
Jesus? We must abide in Christ and abide
in His Word. Are you in God’s Word? If you are in God’s Word, you are abiding in
Christ. Stay connected to the Word of
God. We must stay in a living and close
relationship with the Word so you abide in Christ. If we feed upon His Word, we can have an energized relationship with the Lord and Redeemer. No believer should operate independently from
Christ. Somewhere in the life of a
Christian, he or she fails to abide in Christ. Some independently make an
effort to produce fruit outside of Christ.
That is, I mean apart from Him.
If the branch is disconnected from the vine, it is worthless. Only if you abide in Christ can you bear
fruit. Dr. MacArthur says, “Bearing
fruit is not a question of whether you're strong or weak, good or bad, brave or
cowardly, clever or foolish, experienced or inexperienced. Your gifts,
accomplishments, and experience are worthless in helping you produce fruit
apart from Jesus Christ. Fruit not produced by Christ is like artificial fruit
tied to branches.” No one bears fruit by
trying but you bear fruit by abiding. We
must learn that in us no good thing dwells (Romans 7:18).
Abiding
comes when you realize you are branch and need to remain in the vine. A closer relationship to Jesus means putting
off sin and self-effort. Rely on the
Spirit of God. Sin robes you of a deep
relationship with the Lord Jesus. Get
into the Word of God. If you do so, you
will abide. Do not worry about
fruit. Christ will bring fruit through
you. Remain close to Jesus, and stay
away from sin. Stay involved in reading
the Word of God. Let us learn that “I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me" and “It is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." The Lord will produce
fruit through you as you abide in Him. By
His grace may you have a closer relationship to Christ by getting into His
Word, obeying Him and loving! God surely
wants a closer relationship then you have now.
John 15:11 says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my
joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Christ speaks through His Word today even
though He spoke two thousand years ago. If
you are a Judas branch, repent, and believe in the gospel.
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