A brief exposition of John 15:1-11. ABIDE IN ME John 15:1-6 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he lifts up, and every branch that does bear fruit he cleans, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. True Vine: Everything else being false. Jesus is the real deal. Vinedresser: Expert who has the exact skills need to care for the branches so they produce overwhelming amounts of fruit. It is all about the fruit. Three kinds of branches: those in him who are producing fruit and those who are not and those who are not his. For those are not producing fruit he lifts ups and take care of them so that they will produce more fruit. It was common for some branches to come untied and fall to the ground where disease and mold would build up. For those that were producing fruit he cleans. For anyone who has worked in a garden Johns use of a word that has two meanings (clean and prune) is clear. I can almost imaging that Jesus still had the towel he used to dry his disciples feet wrapped around his belt and was using it to wipe off branches and leaves as the walked through the vineyards on their way to the garden. Jesus then uses the image he has so expertly created in their minds to talk about the relationship he desired to have with them and with one another. First, cleansing comes through the word. They were made clean through the word and so are we. It is why we must spend much time in it and much time with it in us. Second, the relationship he desired with them was a completely unique relationship: Abide in me as I abide in you. Of course the disciples did not have the ability to comprehend what Jesus was saying. They did not have the Spirit living in them and they would only understand this at Pentecost. This idea of abiding in Christ can only be understood by what is before it and after it (chapters 14 and 16). The soon to be given indwelling Spirit was the thing that would transform their lives as he does ours. The Spirit guides and directs us into truth, makes clear to our hearts and souls the truth of who he is and the fullness of our relationship with him. The Spirit confirms continuously that we are his and at peace with God. We are his child forever and will never face condemnation. We know we are his forever because the Spirit is given as the assurance of our eternal inheritance which is to live with God as our father forever. It is the Spirit that sustains us in the worst of time and in the darkest trials. It is the Spirit that so transforms us that the world is convinced and convicted of the truth of who Jesus is. It is the Spirit that is at work long before we tell others about Jesus. It is the Spirit that is our great comforter. It is the Spirit that teaches how to pray and by that same Spirit we have a joy that will never be taken away from us. John, who is a master at using words, has already prepared his disciples to understand at least in part what abide means. He has told his disciple that in his fathers house there were many dwelling (abiding) places. He told his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans but that he and his father would come and make their abode with them. The word abode (abide) literally means to pitch a tent. So what has taken place in your life and mine is that the triune God has pitched a tent in your heart and soul. (Stop here and reread that last sentence) I was talking to a 13 year old girls at a camp one time. She had come to me talk to me about getting baptized since I was the staff pastor. As we talked I asked her if she saw the Holy Spirit working in her life and heart. She said she did not know what that meant. I asked her to explain why she wanted to get baptized and she told me it was because of all the things God was doing in her life and heart. I asked her again and got the same quizzical response. Finally after the third try her eyes got really big and she started to hyperventilate and exclaimed, You mean He is in me He is really, really in me? I said yes in indeed He is. He has made his abode in your heart and in your life and there he will dwell forever. He has also taken up residency in mine. Christian seldom realize the unity we have in him. It is the foundation for his command that they love one another as I have loved you. It is what motivated Jesus to pray this prayer with full assurance of it being answered: John 17:20-23 "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that

you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. So as the Spirit has made his abode in us we in turn are to make our abode in him. The Spirit is all in we experience him fully -- thus motivating us to respond in kind. There are many passages that talk about keeping in step with the Spirit, allowing the Spirit to lead and direct. Paul declarers that Christ was alive in him and the live he lives he now lives in complete trust in the one who gave his life for him. In short abiding in him would be living a Spirit directed life. However, I think it goes deeper. Many time I have shared this with others and all I get is a nod. It should not be so. The Spirit of the Living God is alive in you. Think about that, meditate on it dwell up on it and in it abide there. It is knowing at the deepest level God is, the full reality of his presence and it is to know the depth of his love for us. (By the way, spend some time in 1 John and see how John describes our relations to God via the Spirit.) Third, it is a completely dependant relationship. Jesus is emphatic on this point. He uses strong words and imagery: apart from me you can do nothing. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. I love how Peter (correct?) shared at the annual meeting. How he stuck out his arm and we all knew what he meant. As your arm is useless without your body so you are useless without Jesus. The unfortunate truth is we most often learn the lesson of what it means to abide in Christ when we dont. Again at camp we had an interim program director. At the start of camp he said, I got this, I can do this. I felt like I need stop by at the end of camp to help him out as he would be exhausted, demanding, demeaning, getting sick and overwhelmed. He was. Weeks earlier he had lost his dependency on Christ and became self-dependent. He suffered badly for his choice. We all do. It is essential that we spend time at his feet so we can stand in his strength. Ministry is hard and it is impossible in our own strength and only in his presence and we receive a strength not of our own. Fourth, it is all about fruit. The most interesting thing is Jesus desire is twofold: we would bear much fruit and our fruit would remain. The remaining part is easy the fruit He produces in us would last for eternity. Fruit is only produced in an abiding relationship with Jesus. It is produce in Him, by Him and for His glory. I use to think that the fruit Jesus is talking about is salvation. I was all over people coming to Christ. However, with age, it is a more refined understanding. Again, an illustration is helpful and it is one you know. Gordon and Debbie felt lead by the Spirit to start a bible study in their home. They felt led to take walks through their neighborhood and pray. On one of their walks a man working in his garage made a v-line towards them as they walked by. He asked if he could talk with them because they looked like nice people. As they talked the found out this man had lost his son in Afghanistan and he did not know where to turn. Gordon and Debbie prayed with him and invite him and his wife to the study. They came and in the course of time they both came to Christ and asked Gordon if it was OK to live together as they had never been married. Gordon share the word and eventually married them. Gordon and Debbie displayed fruit that only comes from God which lead to someone seeking them out which led to eternal and transformed lives. That is fruit that remains. Again in this process God is glorified by what he alone can produce it is indeed the fruit of the Spirit. Fifth, those who are not his burn. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. Perhaps my motivation in sharing the gospel in the searing truth of there being hell to pay for rejecting Christ and his free gift of salvation from that fire. Now this next bit gets a bit tricky for some but this need not be the case. John 15:7-8 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Again, it is all about the fruit. Some mistakenly teach this a free license to think God as the one should give me everything I want: health, wealth you know the drill. However, to understand this all we need to do is answer the question of what is prayers roll in bearing much fruit? The answer is simple. Many times you and I have found ourselves crying out to God to make us more like Jesus, to free us from sins grip, and to have in our lives more compassion, grace and love. We desperately want Spiritual fruit in our lives. It is a Spirit directed cry from the heart filled

by that same Spirit. Paul prayed I want to know him and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own but one that comes from God. We cry out the same thing, over and over. It is a prayer God hears and responds to. It is a cry he will hasten to answer. The asking anything is directly related to bearing much fruit and for one divine purpose to be so different then the world around us that people take notice thus we prove to be my disciples. By this Spirit we are able to share in His divine Spirit and by this same Spirit we are prompted to want to participate still more and more. The greatest demonstration of being a true disciple of Christ is to share in his divine nature and demonstrate his character to others. Now another tricky part and one that is often misunderstood and miss taught. John 15:9-10 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have often struggled with two questions: Why does Jesus bring up abiding in his love here and how much does God love his son? I implore you to do one thing: wrestle with this same two questions, specially the later. This has most often been taught as a command: The way you prove your love for Jesus is by being obedient so get out there and try harder to be obedient. Except it is not a command and that harshness does not fit the context at all. Jesus begins this whole section of teaching with the phrase, let not your hearts be troubled. How are we then to understand this bit? Perhaps John himself can lend us a hand. John who wrote this writes in 1 John that: We love because he first loved us. It would be impossible for me to disclose all my thoughts on what Jesus is communicating here. However, being a father I have some finite idea of what it is to love a son. How infinite must be the love of God for his son. Jesus most often used the term Son of Man to describe himself. It is from a passage in Daniel 7:13,14. It is where His father (ancient of days) gives to his son control over what is his. One of the most important acts of love of a father for a son is to transfer authority. It is interesting when thinking about the love of God for his son: every knee shall bow and ever tongue confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God. Meditate on this as how much God loves his son. Also, every time we hear Gods voice from heaven about his son God always describes his as his beloved. (Mark 1:11, 9:7) Again, this is just the tip of what can be learned about how much and in what way God loves his son. It is important to understand because in the same way Jesus stated that he loved his disciples. John records earlier that Jesus, love them completely. It is the same love towards us. Jesus explained this love to Nicodemus: For God in this way love the world that he gave his only son . . . Paul explains our response to this truth: I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me and the live I live I live by faith in the one who love me and gave himself up for me. The command then in not to keep his commandments but to Abide in my love. I often tell people to never read the bible because you have to but because every day you need to sit at his feet and renew your mind with just how much he loves you. The greatest freedom from sin is a daily awareness of the love of Christ. Abide daily then in his love. The connection then between abide in his love and keeping his commandments becomes clear. What Jesus is stating is what is called a conditional clause: when you are in a love relationship with Jesus (if/when it is true that you love me and know my love for you when you dwell and abide there) the fruit of that relationship is obedience. Again and illustration is needed. I have a friend, his name is Ted. When Ted was 15 he loved playing basketball with his friends. He planned to spend all day playing with them one Saturday. However, just as he was about to head out his father asked him to clean the garage. Whats a boy to do? He father left and said that he would be back in about three hours and the job needed to be done by then. Ted made a plan. He would go play b-ball with is friends as planned and get back in time so as to make it look like he was working at cleaning the garage. Ted stopped at the end of the driveway to tie his shoes and as he did he overheard to neighbors talking. They were talking about him Ted leaned over to hear better. They said they were amazed at the love of Teds father for Ted. Teds father had inherited from his father a rare and valuable car. His dad had spent long hours fixing up that car and restoring it to show room condition. Ted overhear them say that his dad had just left to put the final touches on the car so that when Ted turned 16 later that week his dad could take him to get his license in his grandfathers car which his dad was giving to him. It was reason why his dad wanted the garage cleaned out. The question is what did Ted do next and why? (He even got his friends to help.)

Abiding in Chriss love leads to obedience. It is the fruit that flows from his love. Now we can better understand, if you love me. Abiding will produce in us a natural response love in return in kind. Someone who is in love seeks to please the one they are in love with. If anyone struggles with some area of disobedience that answer is never to try harder to overcome sin, rather the way to lasting victory is to fall in love with Jesus. Jesus states this was his motivation for obedience too. What Jesus is talking about here is a consecrated life. A life free from the ups and downs of sin, guilt, confession, restoration only to repeat the cycle. It is life a life fully given to the one who loves you and because you in return there is both a desire to obey that come from the relationship and a trust to obey but obedience. Complete full, seeking what it means to please the Lord. The reason it is place here in Jesus dialogue is its relationship to what follows. Our abiding in, dwelling in, living in the unending eternal love of Christ produces in us that same love for other Christ followers who have had that same love produce in them: These things I command you, so that you will love one another. We abide in his love sit at his feet to rediscover his love for us over and over again and what is produce in our hearts both a love for Jesus and for others. We become like him and his commandments are not burdensome. There are many places the idea of if you love me you will obey me is repeated. Yes we are called to obedience, to love God, Jesus and one another. We should be quick to respond never in our own strength but his for in our own strength we would fail and if it could be done in our own strength we would not need a savior. We would not need his love, nor would we need to be motivated by it. But we are week and we need to constantly be aware of his love and to be motivate by it: we love because he first loved us. Now the last phrase: John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Read Eph. 3:13-21. It is a prayer about being fill. It is about abiding in the love of Christ. It is a prayer that we need to refer to often. Jesus talks about joy other times in the larger context: 16:24, 17:13. He also describes that his joy given to them was a joy that no one could take away. They would be allow the honor of seeing and serving a risen savior. When they saw the nail scared hands they were filled with a joy that persecution and death could not dampen. Peter talks about the same joy for those who did not see Jesus but who were suffering for him: 1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Obviously there is a connection between love, obedience and joy. Like David said, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. I saw a movie called Bless you Prison. It is about Nicole Valry Grossu who was brutally tortured in prison for no reason other then she opposed a dictators evil rule. She was at the end of herself and deep in despair when she read part of a verse of the Bible that was etched into her cell wall: If God is for us . . . God used that verse to bring to her remembrance all that he mother had taught her about Jesus. She began to etch into the walls of her prison all that her mother had taught her. In time she gave her life to Jesus and found in him and his word a peace and joy she had never know. It became a joy that was noticed by the guards and others and eventually the world. It was a joy that sustained her through the darkest of times. It was a joy given to her by a loving savior that nothing could take away. Jesus joy in us is refined through trials and most seen as the real deal even to ourselves in the midst of those trials. Even now as you read these words his love for you and the joy of knowing him wells up in your soul. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. Abiding in Christ and in his love produces joy. A joy that comes from knowing him more and more, loving him more and more. You have experience this joy many times as you sat down and opened Gods word and His Spirit spoke to your spirit through his word. Or perhaps in prayer and you thought about his love for you and your future with him and the tears began to flow. You see at any time you can sit down and get to know him again and again through his word and through prayer and find ourselves like C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy. We can find ourselves overwhelmed by his love, renewed in his strength and filled with a joy that is not our own. Abide there. Abide in the Spirit, abide in his love, abide in his joy, abide in all that he is: Abide there.