1

Abiding in Christ

John 15:1-17

One of the severe disadvantages we have in our Bibles is the use of chapters and verses. There
is a tremendous upside, in that when I want to take you to a certain portion of Scripture I can say,
“Turn in your Bibles to John 15 and we’ll look at verses 1-17.” That way we don’t have to all have the
same edition of the same Bible, though I suppose we could just put it on the video projector or have
pew Bibles. But to reference it this way has been used for hundreds of years and it’s our life now.

One tremendous disadvantage is it breaks up the story. It loses the context of how the letter
or book was originally transmitted. If it was an early church letter it was to be read aloud and
discussed. Even if it was a gospel it was to be read aloud because not everyone had a copy. Also, it
was just put together without verses and chapters.

Now, when we study, we often focus in on a passage or even a verse… or even a phrase or word.
We lose the context of the passage.

I am guilty of this. I am guilty of it concerning this passage! Especially in a couple of places.

7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for
you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—
fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

I get distracted by those verses. I get caught up in those verses. Every time. I look them up all
over the gospels… and they are all over the gospels!

ASK! SEEK! KNOCK!

ASK and it WILL be given to you!

Then I get visions of prosperity preachers with Rolex watches and flashy gold chain bracelets
and all that…

We get so crazy with these verses… and I get challenged by them every single time I come
across them. I focus in… asking… wondering why it just doesn’t seem true for my own life at times…

1
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 2

And then I remember… CONTEXT. These verses aren’t written in isolation. There is something
going on all around it.

It’s not simply a matter of some guru spouting out some saying like it’s a bumper sticker. This is
in a conversation. What is Jesus saying?

This passage is in the middle of a long discourse. It goes back to Chapter 14 and moves on into
Chapter 17.

In Chapter 14 we have yet another “I AM” statement of Jesus:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (v. 6).

In 15:1, we have another statement: “I am the true vine…”

In the context of all of this there is one common theme: we can indeed know Jesus. And in
knowing Jesus we know the Father.

Philip, in chapter 14, has some doubt. “Show us the Father!”

Jesus says, “Where have you been?”

The Father has been there all along. If you see Jesus you see the Father.

We keep looking for God or for Jesus or for answers or for miracles in our own context. We
have OUR framework of how things should go. We put our blinders on and say, “Okay, I am looking
for the answer. I know it will happen within this very narrow range of sight… so I am going to focus
here and just look for the answer HERE.”

When all along the answer very well could have been right around us and we just didn’t turn our
heads a few degrees to see it.

A couple of months ago we challenged ourselves as a church to rise up and meet some needs. We
wanted to keep making our ministries effective here and we had a need with our children’s
ministries. The one thing the Lord convinced me of is that we have those answers right among us. I
didn’t need to go to North Central and beg. I didn’t need to go anywhere else and beg. The answers
were among us. Just LOOK. Just ASK.

And the Lord has spoken to you and you have responded and we are seeing ministry flow better
because the answer was here all along.
2
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 3

Philip wants to see the Father and Jesus is floored. “Philip, have you been snoozing all this
time?”

Jesus had been there. He had been revealing the Father all along. He hasn’t exactly been subtle
in this! Yet, Philip is looking for the answer HIS WAY.

This is my issue on these verses. I keep focusing on just what it is to ASK. I keep focusing on
times I DID ask, or thought I asked, and got nothing. What was wrong? What am I missing?

How in the world do you just ASK and things “JUST HAPPEN?”

And the answer is quite simple. They don’t “just happen.” They develop. How do they develop?
They develop out of relationship. This is where I need to remember context.

When I read these verses in chapter 15, I need to gaze back into chapter 14 to gain a foothold
in the conversation. I also need to grasp what John has been showing me about Jesus all along the
way.

Where we need to have confidence in our lives as believers is in relationship. We are to WALK
with our Savior. We are to talk along the way.

Years ago I did a series on the Sermon on the Mount and one of things that was dominating in
that series was a saying: The nature of the Kingdom is to ASK.

And I have promptly forgotten that since! Why should I remember? I’ve been there and done
that.

And therein lies the rub. We aren’t very good at building up on what has gone before. We
forget. We do something, get it down, grow… and then forget it and come back to the same spot
years later. Aggravating stuff. It is for me, anyway.

But walk through these verses with me and see what Jesus is saying.

7
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have
seen him.” (Jn. 14:7)

KNOW. Experience. Get in and get involved. Have a conversation with him. KNOW HIM.

3
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 4

And if you would get to know Jesus, you would get to know the Father. He always did what he
saw his Father doing.

Learning how to pray doesn’t start off by going out to the Gulf Coast and standing on the beach
and commanding the hurricane to go another direction.

Learning how to pray or walk in faith doesn’t start out by rebuking cancer or commanding a
demon to come out of someone.

Relationships start with small things. This is about getting to know Jesus. It is about walking in
his ways. It is about spending time with him.

ASKING is not just about ASKING for something in prayer so we can get an answer like a
miracle. ASKING is about, well, ASKING.

It is when I don’t know something and I want to know. “Lord, what is this verse saying?”

And the Lord says, “Read the verse before it.”

Oh.

It is about asking, “Lord, how do I hear your voice?”

It is about the Lord saying, “Check my word. Obey what is obvious. We’ll take it from there.”

Oh.

Jesus comes to this place where he says, “Ask anything in my name and I will do it.” But WHERE
does this take place in the gospel? WHEN does this take place in the life of Christ? It is near the
end. He is nearing the cross. He has spent time with these guys. He has taught them. They have had
conversations. He has demonstrated the Kingdom and the power to them.

Take the obvious steps first! Obey what is in front of you!

15 16
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
17
advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be [c] in
18 19
you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me
20
anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I
21
am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is
4
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 5

the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and
show myself to them.” (Jn. 14:15-21)

We seem to keep trying to love Jesus without obeying him. We want the feeling but we don’t
want the work. Jesus makes it VERY clear how we most easily love him: DO WHAT HE SAYS!

How are we to be reminded? The work of the Spirit. We read the Word. The Spirit teaches.
The Spirit prompts. The Spirit applies. Then, we need to get out and OBEY. THAT is loving Jesus.

“But I just want to feel ooey gooey! I just want to FEEL his presence! I just want to sit and
stare into his eyes!”

Jesus doesn’t mind adoration. He LOVES obedience. And he doesn’t hide it. He gives the parable
of the two sons. The father says to the one son, “Go do this for me.” The son says, “Yes, you
wonderful father. I will do this for you because I am such a good son.”

And then he just keeps on texting on his phone.

The father goes to the second son and says, “Go do this for me.”

The son says, “Get a life! I have things to do! Can’t you see I’m busy updating my ipod?” But
later, he feels horrible. That was his dad asking something! So, he goes and does it.

Which one loved his father?

Yet, we get so bent out of shape saying, “Works don’t save you!”

They don’t. They demonstrate our love for our Father!

Love Jesus? Do what he says!

What does he say? Check the written Word first. He’ll take it from there.

Jesus doesn’t seem to leave any doubt, he continues on in Jn. 14:23

23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will
24
come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my
teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

5
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 6

He keeps at it. What is love? It is paying attention to what he says. It is doing what he says.
When we love HIM, we love the Father.

It is all about relationship.

It is about ABIDING (Jn. 15:1). I have researched this word very carefully and found that the
Greek root means this: hanging out.

Just kidding, of course.

But how does any of this really develop? We walk with our Savior. We ABIDE. We REMAIN in
him. It is a matter of staying with him and NOT DEPARTING.

We are to be people of the presence. I way this quite often. It is the call of Israel. It is the
call of the Church. We are to be people of the PRESENCE. What sets us apart?

Is it our slick marketing? Our “branding?” Is it our awesome worship team? Our superior
technology? A better website?

Now what I am not advocating is we do things SLOPPY. But does a good “product” produce fruit?
Does putting out a nice looking product mean we are truly able to ASK and see great things happen?
Do we really understand the words of Christ when he says, “Without me you can do nothing?”

Sometimes we act in this way: “Well, I can do SOME things…”

How do we get a place where we understand what it is to ASK and we receive? How do we get to
a place where we understand the invitation?

Well, WE ASK. We walk with Jesus. We obey. We talk about it along with the way with him. We
listen.

There is a time when we keep talking about what all this means, and there is a time when we
WALK in what all this means. We just start!

But we don’t do the “been there done that” thing. We don’t have a good experience with the
Lord, then let it go and cease building on it. We keep at it. We allow for grace so that if we stumble
along the way we keep getting up and moving along.

We need to understand this relationship is about a long slow walk in the same direction.

6
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 7

I think of Abraham. He was a worshiper. In his worship he heard God… and he obeyed. He
learned to keep listening and as much as possible, he kept worshiping, listening and obeying.

He didn’t get it right all the time. He went to Egypt and tried to connive his way out of a tough
situation by having Sarah lie about their marriage. He thought maybe Eleazar was his heir. He
thought Hagar would be the solution. Bear a child through her.

Abraham didn’t get it right all the time! He’s just like US!

But here is a HUGE key: he kept walking. He had episodes where he learned to ASK. He
bartered with God over Sodom and Gomorrah. He finally trusted God with the issue of a son and
Isaac was born.

Then there was that day after Isaac was born when the Lord said, “Abraham, offer your son
back to me.”

If I were to ask how many would be willing to do that if the Lord asked it of you, probably no
one would raise their hand. There are times we’ve wanted to offer our kids back to God to be sure.
Send them to Jesus. Federal Express!

But honestly, if God said, “Hey, I want your kid back,” we would hesitate.

Abraham didn’t. He knew what it was to hear the voice of God. He had walked all these years. If
God asked for Isaac back, he was confident. Could he have done that 25 years before? I honestly
doubt it. But he COULD make the journey at this point because he just knew the voice of God.

Think of the time frame. We are so into microwaving and God is so NOT into microwaving. He is
into marinating.

Dear friends, we need to WALK with God. We need to ABIDE. We need to walk in simple
obedience.

We serve a Father who LONGS to do good things for us! He LONGS for us to ask, and keep on
asking, because he LONGS to bring joy to our lives! He is a GOOD FATHER!

11 12
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks
13
for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
him!” (Luke 11:11-13)

7
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 8

Our Father knows how to give GOOD GIFTS! He is not going to give us crumbs.

1. We must know who we are!

We are part of the great Kingdom of God. We have a Father who wants to give GOOD
GIFTS to his children. In Christ, we are attached to the vine of life. We have the DNA of
the Kingdom moving through our spiritual blood.

2. We must walk in relationship.

To abide, we must take on the nature of the Kingdom: ASK. Begin walking. When you don’t
understand something, ASK.

In the 1930s there was a missionary named Frank Laubach who wanted to know the presence
of God in his life. We are studying his work a little in Terri’s LIFE Group.

His goal was to turn his attention to the Lord as often as possible throughout the day. It
wasn’t about the goal of saying, “Wow! I thought of the Lord 45 out of 60 seconds just
now!” The goal was to have his attention on Christ so he could draw from the true Vine.

“So my problem is this: Can I bring God back in my mind-flow every few seconds so that God
shall always be in my mind as an after-image, shall always be one of the elements in every
concept and percept?”

He began an experiment he called “The Game with Minutes.” He would consciously try to see
how often he was turning his thoughts to God during the day. We don’t know exactly how he
measured it, but the point is he really truly wanted to ABIDE. To abide, he knew he needed
to turn his thoughts to the true Vine. Just draw from the Lord.

He began to notice some differences. In his journal he noted that he began to realize that
even in days when the work was hard and he felt he was truly giving a lot of effort, he could
sense that Christ was right alongside working with him.

Friends, we are called to abide. We are not going to have some formula that just snaps our
way into “asking” and “receiving.” We can’t be bumper sticker Christians!

Several years ago I was listening to a pastor who was talking about a church he had been
planting on a university campus. He was in his doctoral work and pastoring and the work was
hard. Yet, the church was doing well. He was seeing good things happening.
8
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 9

One day as he was working on his dissertation, he felt the very presence of God lift from
him. He said it was like a presence lifted up off his shoulders. Then, a huge weight began to
press down on him. He began to weep and ask, “Lord, what is going on?”

The Lord spoke to him and said, “This is what it feels like if I don’t carry this work with
you.”

We learn to walk WITH Christ. We learn that he is there. We see his presence. We draw
life from the true Vine.

3. Learning who we are and SEEING who we are, we step out and ASK as we see the Father
moving. The Spirit teaches, we hear, and we ACT.

Let our walk keep building! Let our hearts keep calling out to him! Don’t stop walking with
him! Don’t back off!

We have a Father who delights in giving what is good to his children!

We need to step out. We hear the Father. We sense the leading of the Spirit. We step out
and ASK. It is the nature of the Kingdom. Our spiritual muscles will build. We will come to a
place like Abraham where we hear the voice of God, know it, trust it, and walk out in faith.

As we come to communion this morning, there are all levels of ASKING that may need to take
place here. As you partake of the table you may need to seek out a prayer partner and again ASK
for God to move in your life for a great need.

You may need to spend some time around these altars just ASKING the Lord for strength to
keep on asking. You may need to ASK about the courage to even start asking!

This I know: There is a loving Father who has you attached to the true Vine. He wants to walk
with you. Tough times. Good times. He wants you drawing life from him.

Words of Institution:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took the bread, and when he had given
thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, 'Take; eat; this is my body which is given
for you. This do in remembrance of me.' In the same way he also took the cup after the supper, and
when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, 'Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the New
9
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God
 10

Testament in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me.'"

10
Abiding in Christ Pastor Dan Thompson
Columbia Heights Assembly of God