SLIDES

Thriving in Jesus

6D – The Abundant Life - Lesson 4

The Vine and the Branches

Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, tells people that he has abode with American Airlines for twenty years. They are the airline of his choice and this has resulted in an awarded level of intimacy. The level of intimacy is called Platinum. American Airlines has awarded him because of his consistency and loyalty. The Platinum card affords him various privileges that come simply because he has the card. He can fly first class if first class seats have not been purchased. He can get bumped up singly because he has the Platinum card and has flown two million miles. They call him a preferred customer and they have given him a Platinum card that indicates just that. From time to time, they send things to is house in appreciation that he has abode with them for twenty years.

However, there is an American Airlines card that trump’s the Platinum card. It’s called the Executive Platinum. One time when Tony was flying, a seat became available in first class. Evans was in line ready to receive the first-class seat because he had a Platinum card. But behind him was a man with an Executive Platinum card who was awarded the first-class seat because he had a better card. This man flew twice as many times a Tony Evans and had also abode with them longer.

Tony says some American Airlines customers are satisfied with a silver or gold card that has less benefits. They are not as dedicated to American Airlines as others are. The type of card one wants depends on the amount to miles traveled and the length of time was has been a valuable customer. The better the card, the better the benefits.

As we shall see in our lesson today, there are some similarities between abiding with American Airlines and abiding with Jesus. There are a few believers who abide much more in Jesus and are much more dedicated to Jesus than most believers. They produce much spiritual fruit. As a result, they have an Executive Platinum God card with many benefits. On the other hand, there are believers who have a God card but it’s made out of cardboard. There are not may benefits associated with it because there the holders of the cardboard card do not abide in Jesus and have little or not dedications to Jesus. As a result, they have only a few benefits. And then there are all the other believers who are in between believers who have the Executive Platinum God card and those believers who have the cardboard card. The believers in between have either the silver, the gold, or the Platinum God card. The number of benefits they have depends on the type of card they have. What kind of card do you think you have? Let’s read John 15:4.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Before we can properly discuss John 15:4-11 about the vine and the branches, we must first discuss what Jesus meant when He told the disciples to abide in Him. Let’s first go to the Old Testament to see it gives us some insight into the word abide. In the Old Testament we get some indication, yet incomplete, what the significance of that word is. Let’s read Psalm 15:1.

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

The Hebrew word Gur can be translated abide, remain, or dwell.

Kind David asked the Lord who was qualified to spend time worshipping Him in His’ sanctuary. As indicated by the time David wrote this Psalm and by His using the word tent, we know he was not speaking about the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was yet to be built by King Solomon David’s son, so David was referring to the portable Wilderness Tabernacle.

In this verse the words abide and dwell do not have the force of something that could be done continually. Israelites went to the Tabernacle and later to the Temple to stay a short period of time worshipping the Lord and then leave to return again. It’s like attending a Bible study and a worship service at Johnson Ferry. You come to Johnson ferry, you attend our connection class and the worship service, then leave with the view of coming again next week.

In Psalm 15:2-5 David then gives ten qualifications for an Israelite to enter the Tabernace and later the Temple to spend time worshipping the Lord.

· Walks with integrity

· Does the works of righteousness

· Speaks truth

· Does not slander

· Does not do evil to his neighbor or friend

· Despises reprobates

· Honors those who fear the Lord

· Keeps his oath even when it hurts

· Does not put out his money at interest

· Does not take a bribe against the innocent

There are other qualifications that could be added for worshipping the Lord at the Tabernacle, but this was enough to make the point that each Israelite was to be dedicated to God and obedient to the Torah.

In Psalm 91:1 the psalmist added another dimension to dwelling or abiding.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

This verse expresses an Israelites relationship with God the Father. It suggests safety, rest, and a nearness to God, but these terms related to the relationship that an Israelite had with the Father lacks the dimension and the blessings of the New Testament teaching on abiding in Christ, as we shall see.

In John 15:4-11 the Greek word translated abide is Meno. In the book of John, Meno is translated abide, stay, or remain. In verses 4-11, Meno is translated abide ten times. In the physical realm the Meno means to abide, to stay, or to remain. Let’s look at a couple other examples from Scripture.

As Jesus and the disciples entered the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said this to them:

Matthew 26:38 … “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

Acts 28:30 And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him… This verse refers to Paul being in Rome for two years under house arrest.

Basically, abide means to stay put, stay where you are. When you were a kid, your mother may have taken you to a department store or a ladies clothing store. Before she began trying on clothes, she may have said to you, “Sit down and don’t move while I try on some clothes.” She may have said stay where you are or remain there until I finish. She did not want you wandering all over the store where you might get yourself in trouble or in today’s world the possibility of being kidnapped. She unlikely she told you to abide where you are. So basically, the word in the physical realm means to abide, to stay or to remain. Let’s read John 15:4 again.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

4. Jesus requests that believers have continual fellowship with Him

It's easy to determine what these words mean in the physically realm. The disciples had abode with Jesus for three years physically. They understood abiding with Him physically, but He is now asking them to abide with Him but He would not be physically with them? The Greek word Meno is an imperative from Jesus and is in present tense. Jesus is commanding the disciples to continually remain, stay, or abide in Him. The meaning of Meno in the spiritual realm is a little more difficult to determine.

Because this is a command, Jesus gave them no option whether to abide or not to abide. Jesus meant that if His’ disciples abode in Him, He would abide in them. He did not speak of abiding as the inevitable condition of believers. There are believers who do not continually abide in Him and bear no spiritual fruit as we saw in verse one. Sometimes not every aspect of an illustration can be compared point by point. Here we will see one example of that. In verse one Jesus said that every branch in Me that does not bear fruit is lifted up. Those in Him represent those who are believers who have trusted in Christ as Savior. Some of those branches who are believers and permanently attached to Christ, but do not bear fruit. Why? because they are not abiding in Jesus as commanded.

Believers who abide in Jesus can have a more or less intimate relationship with Him. Jesus described His relationship with believers as, depending on their commitment and obedience to Him (14:23-24). He did not present "abiding" and "not abiding" as white and black categories, as being either completely in or completely out of fellowship. Rather, He presented our relationship to Him much more realistically, namely, as having a more or less intimate relationship. The more a believer is committed and is obedient to Jesus, the more he or she abides in Jesus and has fellowship with Him. The less a believer is committed and obedient to Jesus, the less he or she abides in Jesus and has fellowship with Him. The more a believer abides in Jesus, the more of an intimate relationship one will have with Jesus. The less a believer abides in Jesus, the less of an intimate relationship one will have with Jesus. Therefore, the more a believer abides in Jesus, the more spiritual fruit he or she can produce. In the last part of verse 4 Jesus made it abundantly clear that a believer who does not abide in Him will not produce spiritual fruit.

Let’s read verse 5.

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Basically, in verse 5 Jesus is reiterating what He said in verse 1 and 4 for the sake of emphasis. He said there are believers who produce no spiritual fruit because they do not abide in Him. In verse 5 Jesus stressed the importance of believers abiding in Him. Abiding means to cultivate intimacy with Jesus through a commitment to be obedient with the result that much spiritual fruit would be produced. A believer who abides in Jesus continuously fellowships and an intimate relationship with Him. He lives and moves and has his being with Christ. He communes and lives in a consciousness of God’s presence, and from God’s presence, he learns of God and he draws the strength and authority to live victoriously day by day. No contact and an intimate relationship with Him results in no spiritual fruit. Jesus had spoken of no fruit (v. 2), some fruit (v.2), more fruit (v. 2), and now He is speaking of "much fruit" (v. 5).

Thomas Constable in his’ commentary on John says, “Obviously it is impossible for a branch to bear any fruit if it has no contact with the life-giving vine. Many unbelievers appear to bear the fruit of godly character and conduct, but their fruit

is phony. It is similar to plastic fruit that one could hang on trees to give them the appearance of being healthy and productive. It is natural, though not inevitable, that a branch that has vital connection with the vine bear some fruit. The way to bear much fruit is for the branch to maintain unhindered fellowship with the vine, by allowing the vine to have its way with the branch. The alternative would be resisting the Holy Spirit's work by neglecting and disobeying God.”

When we resist the Holy Spirit's work by neglecting and disobeying God, we are, therefore, not abiding in Jesus. We are warned about two things concerning disobedience related to the Holy Spirit. The first one is found in Ephesians 4:30.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

The word grieve means to irritate, offend, or insult. Think about this. When we do not abide in Jesus, we are offending and insulting the Holy Spirit, God Himself. It’s one thing to insult and offend another person, particularly a brother or sister in Christ, but it’s certainly quite another to insult and offend the Holy Spirit. The second one is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

Do not quench the Spirit…

The word quench means to stifle or suppress. As I have said before we are saved by grace through faith for a purpose as found in Ephesians 2:10.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

We are saved for the purpose of doing good works i.e. to produce spiritual fruit. God in eternity past, before we were saved, ordained that each believer was to produce spiritual fruit after we were saved. I have explained that the word workmanship is translated from the Greek word poiema from where we get our English poem. Poems are different and are written for a purpose. Each of us was created by God as an individual poem with different spiritual gifts and abilities for an individual purpose to produce spiritual fruit that is indicative to each one of us. Different fruit trees produce different spiritual fruit and different believers are to produce different spiritual fruit depending on our gifts and abilities.

When we do not abide in Jesus and do not use the spiritual gifts and abilities that God has given us for the purpose of producing spiritual fruit, we are insulting and offending the Holy Spirit. Next week we will see some of the consequences of grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit.

Questions and Comments

Is there anyone here today who is a believer in Jesus because you trusted in Him and Him alone for eternal salvation, but you are producing no spiritual fruit for Jesus because you are not abiding in Him? You know you are a Christian, but you also know that you do not have an intimate relationship with Him. You attend our connection class and worship services, but you are really just going through the motions. It’s like a husband and wife who are married, but they really do not have an intimate relationship with one another that they once had. They just go through the daily motions of being married. People think you are doing great in your relationship with your spouse, but you know better. In the spiritual realm people think you are doing great as well. But again, you know you are not! Maybe you are doing a five-minute devotion from a devotional book and praying for five minutes for your very important needs at the moment, but this does not constitute having an intimate relationship with Jesus. It’s just going through the motions. Maybe you are not even doing that.

There are others of you here today who are abiding in Jesus because you have a relationship with Jesus. Therefore, you are producing much spiritual fruit. The rest are somewhere in between. The spiritual fruit you are producing depends on where you are on that intimate relationship with Jesus scale.

Not abiding in Jesus Abiding in Jesus and producing

and producing ............................................................................... Much Fruit

No fruit

Where are you on that abiding with Jesus scale? Wherever we are on the abiding with Jesus’ scale, no one who totally at the right end of the scale. This is perfection and 24/7 abiding. Therefore, each of us has room for each of us to improve. Regardless of where we are on the abiding in Jesus scale, God is speaking to you today. He is speaking to all of us. Are you listening! In the next several weeks we are going to discuss about how to have a more intimate relationship with Jesus so that you can produce.

SELAH!

Questions and Comments