ABIDE

One of the things I like about entering a New Year is that if gives you an excuse to wipe the slate clean and take a fresh look at all the possibilities that lie ahead. Most of us are pretty good at that. Some of you may be taking time to dream and plan your year. Some of you may even still go the route of making new years resolutions – like saying this is the year I’m going to finally loose that extra 20 pounds and keep it off. But my guess is that most of us just want to stay the course and enjoy the life we’ve already mapped out for ourselves.

But what if you took a different approach this year? What if you invited God into your plans, your dreams, your life for this coming year? What if you said to God, “You are my Creator, You are my Savior, and I want to put all my plans and dreams in your hands this year.” What might happen if we do that? What might happen if I let Him direct the course of my new year? It might mean your life might change from what you normally experience. It might mean that God will take you out of you comfort zone…

But it also might mean that God might show up in your life in ways you’ve never experienced before. In good ways: in meaningful ways, in joyful and fulfilling ways. Wouldn’t it be great if God came alive in you in ways you never dreamed possible? That’s what I want us to look at this morning as we look at the possibilities that lie ahead for each of us in 2016. And to do that, I want to challenge us from God’s Word to focus on doing one thing this year with God. What is that one thing? It’s what Jesus commands His followers to do in John 15. To ABIDE!  It is here that Jesus spells out What will happen when you abide in Him!

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me, as I also abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

When you abide in Christ you will produce fruit: God wants you to not just produce fruit. He wants you to produce fruit, more fruit, much fruit and fruit that will last.  This is what abiding in Christ is all about. As we stay connected with Jesus, He will begin to produce His life in us so that we live like Him.

In fact, the Bible tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23. As you abide in Christ His love will begin to flow through you. His peace will become your peace. He will help you to be patient with difficult people. He will give you His strength to overcome the trials. And He will create a goodness in you that will positively impact your marriage, your friendships and your dealings with others so that they actually start to see Jesus in you. That’s what abiding in Christ is all about. It’s all about becoming more and more like Jesus.

When you abide in Christ you will experience the Father’s pruning:  If you’ve ever done any gardening, you’re familiar with pruning. You know that if you cut off non-fruit-bearing foliage or thin out the fruit, you will help a plant produce bigger and better fruit. That’s what Jesus’ says the Father does with us. Again, the idea here is that God wants us to be fruitful.

To understand how His pruning in works, we just need to unpack the word Jesus uses here. He doesn’t use the normal word for pruning, but uses a word that means to cleanse, or to purge, or to purify. So how does God cleanse, purge or purify us? Through the washing of His Word. Abiding in Christ means continual exposure to God’s Word so that the Father can clean us and cut away wrong thinking, so He can then fills us with His life, His thoughts and His ways.

Now you might be prone to thinking that the Father’s pruning might be painful. Well, sometimes truth hurts. To be corrected by God’s Word can wound our pride. To be admonished by God’s Word might make us feel foolish sometimes. But to have my pride wounded is okay if God is in the process of making me more like Jesus. After all, God’s Word says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. And sometimes God needs to remove the things in us that will allow Him to bring about healing and health in our lives. So, yes, sometimes his pruning will hurt. But that only means He is stripping away the weeds of our old life that keep us from bearing the fruit of Jesus’ life. He prunes us because He wants to make something beautiful and yes, fruitful out of our lives. That’s what will happen when you abide in Christ. But that’s just the beginning. What’s next?

When you abide in Christ you will know answered prayer:    Verse 7 says,“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” That’s a pretty bold promise. What Jesus is saying here is that, the more my life is being formed in you, the more God’s Word is changing you, the more in tune you will be with God’s will. You will begin to want what God wants. And when you want what God wants, you will ask Him to do stuff that He will be thrilled to answer.

From the beginning we’ve been asking God to awaken people to His presence here at Robson. We’ve been asking God to build His Church. We’ve been asking God to help us get people in Journey Groups. We’ve been asking God to bring people to our Church that haven’t been to church in years. And we’ve been asking God to change lives… And you want to know what God has been doing? He’s been answering those prayers. Every person sitting here today is an answer to prayer. God’s at work here. God is at work in our Church. God is building His church. Why? Because there are people here who are abiding in Christ and asking God to work. How cool is that?

Maybe you’ve never really prayed all that much. Maybe it’s because you’ve not experienced answered prayer. But listen again to this promise: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.   Do you know why God wants to answer your prayers? That’s the next fruit of abiding:

When you abide in Christ you will bring glory to God: Look at verse 8 with me: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

One of the changes that takes place in a person who is abiding in Christ is this new desire they have for others to see how wonderful, how awesome and beautiful God is. A person who abides in Jesus is no longer ashamed of God, but wants God’s to be glorified!  You want others to know that God is loving, good, generous and kind, so you pray to that end. “God glorify yourself in me. Make me like Jesus. Help me to love that neighbor who is hard to love. Help me be compassionate like Jesus. Help me bring glory to your name.” Only a disciple prays like that, because a disciple wants people to see what God is really like. This is why God wants to answer our prayers. Because when we bear fruit of Christ, we bring glory to God. We actually show the world what Jesus is like…   I don’t know about you; but that’s what I want others to see in me. I don’t want them to see me. I want them to see less of me and more of Jesus.   So then, this desire – “to bring glory to God” that’s the fruit of abiding in Christ. This is what will happen in you when you abide in Christ. But there’s even more. The next thing that will happen is

When you abide in Christ you  will grow in your love for Christ and others: Look at verses 9-12, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Jesus gives us the model for abiding in these verses. Abiding in Christ is about abiding in His love: staying in constant, day by day fellowship with the one who loves us as the Father loved Him.   As we learn how Jesus lived among us, one thing stands out. Jesus lived in constant communion with the Father. He said it himself. “I do nothing apart from what the Father shows me. I teach nothing apart from what the Father has taught me.” All of His life revolved around his relationship with the Father. That’s why the Christian life is not a bunch of rules and regulations. That’s why Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. Abiding in Christ is Jesus’ call for us to be in intimate relationship with Him. To learn from Him how to live, and to learn from Him not just how to love but who to love: “Love each other as I have loved you.” This is the life we are called to.  That is why abiding in Christ can change everything in your life as you wipe the slate clean and look at the possibilities for 2016. Love has endless possibilities!

So abide in His love. Soak in the goodness of God’s grace to you in Jesus Christ. Let His love for you fill you up. And as He fills you with His love, let His love pour through you to love those around you. This is the fruit God wants to produce through you. And when He does, you will bring Him glory. But not only that, you will experience joy!  And Joy is the next thing that will happen to you:

When you abide in Christ you will experience the joy of Christ Let me read verse 11 to you again:  “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  

Joy is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to all the goals, dreams and plans we make. There is nothing better than being full of joy. We want to drink deep at the well of satisfaction and delight. And yet, here it is, Jesus has told us where to find joy. Joy is found in God’s love for us. Joy is found in Jesus.

But if we truly desire to experience His joy, Jesus says His joy is found in our obedience. In other words, His joy is found in a lifestyle that is bent on pleasing Him. Joy is the fruit of a loving relationship. Jesus’ joy came from obeying His Father. Our joy will come from obeying Jesus. This is the fruit of abiding. Joy is what will happen in you when you abide in Christ. And this fruit of abiding is also connected to the next one:

When you abide in Christ your relationship with God will change for the better:  Listen to how Jesus describes this change in verses 13-15 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:13-15

A change has taken place. Jesus no longer sees his disciples as servants. The servant/master relationship was characterized by duty and obligation, but it was never regarded as a friendship. A slave was expected to obey his master whether or not he understood or agreed with what was asked of him. So, here we see a profound statement by Jesus for all of us. Two things stand out: First, as friends we are the object of His love. Jesus lays down His life for His friends. Second, as friends, Jesus discloses to us the Father’s heart, the Father’s will. He makes us intimates with the Father. He keeps nothing from us. That’s one of the amazing benefits of abiding in Christ, of following Jesus and obeying His commands: God shares His most intimate desires with us.

This is how your relationship changes when you abide in Christ. Jesus makes us friends with God. For far too many people God seems distant and out of touch. But when we abide in Christ through obedience to his commands, Jesus makes the Father known to us. This is similar to what he said in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

Do you want to know God intimately? Do you want to experience His presence in your life? Abide in Christ. Your relationship will change for the better, for God will open up Himself to you and He will become more and more real to you. The key is in your obedience – you response to His love for you.

This is what Jesus wants for us. To know the friendship of God.  He came not just to save us from our sins, but to reconcile us with God – to make us friends.

This is what Jesus promises to make happen in you this year, if you let Him; if you make it your one goal this year… to obey His command to abide in Him.   If you will, this is what will happen in your life:

You will bear fruit, much fruit and lasting fruit

You will become more and more like Jesus

You will know answered prayer

You will bring glory to God

You will grow in love for God and others

You will know the joy of Christ

You will know the friendship of God

And You will bear fruit that will last!

Perhaps this is the year you focus on doing this one thing: ABIDE

Just imagine what God might have in store for you if you do?