Now we're looking at John chapter
15 again this morning. We looked at the first two verses
of this chapter, very well known, familiar scripture with most
people who are students of the Bible. I'm taking the title for
the message from what the Lord repeats in these verses, verse
3 down through verse 8 and following. At least nine times he uses a
phrase similar to this, abide in me. Abide in me. Continue in me. Remain in me. Be steadfast in the faith in
Christ Jesus. So I'm titling the message, Abide
in Christ. Now, last week we looked at verse
1 and 2, and we'll read these verses again, and then we'll
consider and begin our study in verse 3. The Lord Jesus Christ
declares unto His disciples to whom He's about to depart from
them. This is on the eve of His crucifixion. And His parting words unto them
declares again that He is God. I am that I am. We looked at that last week.
It's the same person who declared from the bush that burned with
fire and was not consumed, the great I am. Our Lord said before,
Abraham was, I am the great and eternal God. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is not only our great and eternal and abiding everlasting
God, He is the true Savior. He is the true and living God,
therefore He must be the true vine, the true Savior. And then He declares, My Father
purposed all this. My Father is the husbandman.
That is, He's saying the Father purposed this way of salvation. The Father from all eternity
planted this way of salvation. It's His vineyard. He owns it. He bought it. He planned it.
He purposed it. And the Lord God Almighty, He
provided the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Remember what
Abraham said to Isaac, My son, God will provide himself a lamb,
and the Lord Jesus Christ is that very lamb provided by God. He is our true Savior. And then he says, every branch
in me, or every branch that appears to be in me that beareth not
fruit, the Lord said, I take that branch away, and every branch
that beareth fruit, He purges it. He purges it, that it may
bring more fruit. Now again, we'll look at these
verses down through these later verses in verse 6, and we'll
come back and consider this branch that is taken away. But first
of all, we begin with verse 3. Now, he says, right now, now,
you are all clean. Clean, justified through the
Word which I have spoken unto you. Now, what great importance
the Lord puts upon the hearing of the Word. Clean through the
Word. Now, he said before, you remember
back in John 13, he said before concerning Judas, he said, He
said of that group of 12, he said, you're not all clean. You
remember back in John 13 verse 10, the Lord said to him, he
that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean
ever wit, and you are clean, but not all of you. Referring
to Judas, for he knew who should betray him, therefore he said,
you're not all clean. But now Judas having Betrayed
the Lord and having sold the Lord and having departed from
the fellowship of these 12 men and Having gone out to betray
the Lord. He says now into these 11 remaining
Faithful men. He said now you're clean now. You're clean. You're all clean
through the word The gospel which I've spoken unto you now, you're
all clean through the gospel truth Now this is true of all
of God's elect, all of God's people in Christ Jesus. We have
been cleansed by the blood sacrifice of Christ. For by one offering
hath He perfected forever them that are sanctified. We're cleaned
ever with through the blood atonement of Christ. Let me show you a
scripture over here that will help us on this. 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. Turn over there. 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. The Lord said, you are clean,
but it's not that we are made clean or justified or sanctified
by something we do. Not at all. He is the one who
cleanses us with His saving blood. Now, in 1 Corinthians 6, look
at verse 9. He said, Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. You got it? 1 Corinthians 6,
verse 9. Neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, those
who are infeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you."
All of us are guilty. All of us are sinners. All of
us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but something
happened to some people. But you are washed, washed in the blood of Christ.
You are sanctified every whit clean by the sanctifying work
of the Holy Spirit. But you are justified, justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord
Jesus Christ, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of God. You are washed, you are justified,
you are sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now by nature,
by choice, by practice, we're anything but clean. We're dirty. We're dirty through and through.
We're born dirty. born in sin, shaped in iniquity. We're dirty and we're sinful.
Therefore, we have a need of constant cleansing by the power
of the gospel to continually put away our sin. And this is
exactly what the blood atonement of Christ does. It cleanses us,
cleanses us, cleanses us from all our sin, original, actual,
all our sin, past, present, and future, to enable us to constantly
trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation, and to count
everything else but loss. Now you are clean, ever whit
clean through the blood of Christ. In Christ, every believer has
been purged from his sins by his atoning blood, And the Lord
Jesus Christ, in the way of mercy and grace, has made application
to our heart by regeneration, by the work of the Holy Spirit,
and He's made us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Now, we are
never said in Scripture to be justified or sanctified by our
works. For by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in His sight, But we're always justified
by the work of His grace. Justified freely by His grace. Now let's turn to a scripture
here. Find Titus chapter 3. The book
of Titus chapter 3. Look at verse 3. Titus 3, 3. He said, We ourselves
also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice, envy, hateful, and
hating one another." It sounds very similar to that list there
in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, doesn't it? Because it describes what
we are by nature. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us by the washing of regeneration, the work of God in us, being
born of the Spirit of God, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by His grace. that we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life." This is a faithful saying.
Word of all exceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. You see, believers that are put
in the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His grace, shall never be
separated from Him. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
what he said back here in John chapter 10 about the sheep of
Christ? In John chapter 10 he says of
the sheep of Christ, my sheep, verse 27, they hear my voice,
I know them and they follow me. They follow me. They don't follow
for a while and stop. They're continually following
the Good Shepherd. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all. And no man, no person, no one
is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father,
we are one. Now you are clean, justified,
sanctified. How? Not by our deeds, not by
our works. Peter, John, and James and these
apostles, they weren't justified by what they did. They were only
justified by what Christ did for them and in them by His grace. You see, the point is, believers
are one with Christ. The branch and the vine are one. One hymn writer of the past said
this, By nature and practice, so far, how very far from God. We've all sinned. But now by
grace brought nigh to him through faith in his blood. We're nigh
unto God by the blood of Christ. So near, so very near, nearer
I cannot be, for in the person of his Son I'm as near as he. So dear, so very dear to God,
more dearer I cannot be. The love wherewith he loves the
Son, such as his love is unto me." And that's true. Look over here in John 17. John
17 a moment. Look at verse 23. John 17, 43. Songwriters said, so dear, so
very dear to God, more dearer I cannot be. The love wherewith
He loves the Son, such is His love unto me. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus. John 17,
verse 23, I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one. that the world may know that
Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me."
He loves His own with an everlasting love and with loving kindness.
He draws us unto Himself, and He says, all that the Father
giveth to me will come to me, and those that come to me shall
never, no, never perish. You're all made clean, that is,
believers in Christ are justified in Him freely by His grace. Now he says in verse 4 of John
15, verse 4, he says, now abide. Abide in me, remain in me, continue
in me. Abide in me and I abide in you. As the branch cannot, bear fruit
of itself." Now if you look at a natural grapevine, if you cut
a branch off a natural grapevine, how much fruit is it going to
bear? Now you know the answer, it's not going to bear any. It's
going to be cut off from life and nourishment. But if you abide
in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide
in me, abiding in Christ. Abiding in Christ is what? What does that involve? What
does that mean? It means to continue steadfast in the faith. It means
to persevere in the faith. The fruit that comes from being
in the vine and being one with Him causes us to abide in Him,
to continue in Him, to remain in Him, to look to Him, to continue
to rest in Christ. John put it this way, and now,
little children, abide in Him. that when He shall appear, we
may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
Abide in Christ. Look to Him. Find comfort in
Him. Hope in Him. Believers are never looking for
reason to leave a gospel ministry. Not at all. They're always looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ to give them strength, Wisdom, courage
to continue in the faith, to contend for the faith that's
once delivered unto the saints, to abide in Him, to remain in
Him. This abiding in the Lord Jesus
Christ, now listen, is not the condition of salvation, it's
not the ground of salvation, it's not the reason of salvation,
But it is the evidence of being found in Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the true vine. One must first be in Christ before
he can abide in Him. And when that work of grace is
done, we'll have the same testimony as old Saul of Tarsus, who was
totally transformed and made a new creature in Christ. And
after that work of grace was done in his heart, he said, I
count everything else, lost, dung, and ruined, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him. to abide in Him, to remain in
Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving
faith always looks to Christ and delights to remain steadfast
in the faith. Abiding in Christ is a result
of Christ's gift to us of spiritual and eternal life in Him, because
we are joined to Him We abide in Him. Notice the first part
of verse 4. Abide in me, and I abide in you. He says that same statement again.
He repeats it in verse 5. He that abideth in me, and I
in him. The same brings forth much fruit. Christ in you, my friend, is
a hope of glory. Because He lives. You remember
that statement over in verse 19 of chapter 14? He said, Yet
a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but you see
me, and because I live, you shall live also. He ever lives to make
intercession for us. Abiding in Christ is to abide
in His Word. Look at verse 7 of John 15. If
you abide in me, my words abide in you, you shall ask what you
will, and it shall be done. We'll come back and look at that
again. Abiding in Christ is also to abide in His love. Look at
verse 10. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love. The same thing is saying abiding
in Christ. Where is the love of God revealed?
In Christ. And you cannot separate Christ
from His Word. He's saying the same thing. Abide
in His Word. Abide in Christ. Abide in His
love. Abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 5. Except you abide in me. Seems like a pretty important
message, doesn't it? You know it is. Persevering in the faith. Look at verse 5. The Lord says
again, I am the vine. I am the true vine. And you are
like branches in the vine. He that abideth in me and I in
him, and I in him, the same, the same person, bringeth forth
much fruit, much fruit, for without me." Now we repeat this statement
all the time, don't we? For without me, or severed from
me as a marginal reference has it, for without me you can do
not some things, nothing, nothing, nothing. You see, without Christ
we are nothing. He's everything. Christ is all
and in all. Without Him we're nothing. He's
everything. We can do nothing without Him.
The evidence and result of abiding, walking and living in Christ
is bearing much fruit. And this is not the fruit of
the flesh. This is the fruit of the Spirit that's described
in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance,
Faith, abiding in Christ. You remember the parable of the
sower? We read it last week. And that seed was sown, some
among the wayside, and some among the thorny ground, some among
the stony ground, and then some of that seed that the sower went
to sow fell upon good ground. And that seed that fell upon
good ground, what did it do? It brought forth fruit. He that receives seed into the
good ground is he that heareth the word and understands it,
which also bears fruit and brings forth hundred, some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirtyfold. But that seed sown in the good
ground, and that seed is the word of God, The good ground
is the heart prepared by God the Holy Spirit, and when that
work by God the Holy Spirit is done, the evidence of that is
life in Christ, which brings forth much fruit unto the glory
of God. Now, ye would not expect a natural
branch that is severed from the vine to produce any fruit, nor
can any sinner bring forth or produce any fruit apart from
This is the fruit of the Spirit now. This is the fruit of the
vine, not of the branches. Without Christ, he says, without
the vine, without the vine, the branch is nothing. We've got
to have the vine. Christ is that nourishment of
life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
true vine. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Every believer is totally dependent upon the true vine. We're totally
dependent upon Him, aren't we? Without Him, we cannot come to
Him. Without Him drawing us, we cannot
come. No man can come unto me except
the Father which sent me draw him. Without His drawing power,
we cannot come to Him. We cannot believe the gospel
without Him. Without me, He said, you can
do nothing. We only believe according to the working of His mighty
power, remember? Ephesians chapter 1. God who
has begun a good work in you, He will perform it, He will perfect
it. We cannot come to Christ without
Him. We cannot believe the gospel
without Him. We cannot repent without Him. Repentance is the gift of God,
just like faith is. We cannot produce anything spiritual
or saving that would be acceptable unto God without the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, He's everything. He's
everything in salvation. It is God which worketh in you,
listen to this verse, Philippians 2 verse 13. It is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Without
Him, we are nothing. Without Him, we can do absolutely
nothing. The apostles asked the Lord one
day, when a young man approached the Lord on the basis of salvation
by the law, and the Lord preached the gospel to him and that young
man was sad and walked away and then the Lord, the apostles asked
the Lord, well who then can be saved? You remember what the
Lord said? He said, with men it is impossible,
but with God, with God all things, all things are possible. Now don't turn, let me just read
this to you. You remember what the apostle
It says over here in Philippians chapter 4, verse 13, My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. Verse 19, verse 13 says, I can
do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Without
Him, we can do nothing. But with Him, I can do all things
through Christ who is my strength. Without Him, I cannot abide.
Without Him, I cannot believe. Without Him, I have no salvation.
Without Him, I have no hope. We only have a good hope through
grace. Everlasting consolation, a good
hope through grace. Now look at John 15 again, verse
6. Without Me, you can do nothing.
Oh, but with Him. But with Him, all things are
possible with Him. Anything too hard for God? Not
at all. That'll give us confidence to
look to Him, to provide all things for us. Now look at verse 6.
If any man, notice it doesn't say here branch, if any man abide
not in me. You see the branches do. The
branches, the true branches in the true vine, they do abide
in Him. But if any man abide not in me,
and here he's talking about an unbeliever. If any man abide
not in me. a fruitless, lifeless man, a
branch. He is cast forth as a branch
that is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned." Now this verse does not teach that sinners
are justified, sanctified in Christ, and then lost again and
become unjustified. That's just not the teaching
of the body of Scripture, not at all. No, those for whom the
Lord saves, He saves with an everlasting salvation. We read
from John 10 just a moment ago, He says, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. But He's talking here about a
man or person who says that he is a believer and yet gives evidence
that he does not and is not a true believer by not abiding in the
mind, in Christ. There are many who profess to
be believers, who never in reality are possessed of Christ. There are many who make a profession
that they're in Christ, that they're a believer, but in reality,
they are never possessed of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are described
in other scriptures as goats among the sheep. The sheep never
become goats, and the goats never become sheep. They're called
tares that are planted among the wheat. They're called the
vial that are among the precious who will be separated out in
due time by the all-knowing, all-seeing eye of the Lord. I'm not to separate them out.
I'm not to divide out. I'm not to do that at all. That's
not my business. My business is preaching the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what I've seen over the years
of trying to preach the gospel for more than 25 years, when
the gospel is preached, pointing sinners to the Lord
Jesus Christ, when the gospel of God's grace is declared, His
sheep are drawn to Him. You remember He said in John
8, if I be lifted up, I'll draw them to Me? And those who are
not His sheep, the tares and the goats, they are driven away
by the proclamation of the message of Christ and Him crucified alone. Salvation alone in Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 7, John 15
verse 7, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you
shall ask what you will, you shall ask what you will, and
it shall be done. Herein is My Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit, so shall you be My disciples. Now, if you abide in Me, and
My words abide in you, Again, it's the same statement he's
making here, abide in me and I in you, isn't it? Same thing.
Abiding in Christ includes many things. It includes the regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit, giving us life in Christ to enable us
to believe and abide. You hath he quickened who were
dead. It includes faith in Christ, which always looks to the object
of true saving faith, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, victorious,
successful, and seated and enthroned in sovereign power. This abiding
in Christ also includes loving the Lord Jesus Christ. We love
Him because He first loved us. Look at verse 10 in our text,
John 15, verse 10. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love. even as I have kept my Father's
commandments and abide in His love." And abiding in Christ
includes this what we call persevering in the faith. Now turn back to
John chapter 8 for a moment. John chapter 8. And look at this
verse very carefully. John chapter 8 verse 30. John
chapter 8 verse 30. As he spake these words," you
got it? John 8 verse 30, "...many believed
on him. Then said Jesus to the Jews which
believed on him, If you abide in my word, if you continue in
my word, then are you my disciples, and you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free." If you continue in my
word. Abide in my words. Now, look back to the text again. Abide in me, and my words abide
in you. Look at John chapter 14 now,
verse 23. The Lord answered and said, If
a man love me, he will keep, or abide, or continue in my words,
my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our
abode in him. My words do abide in you." What
are his words? Well, it's his gospel promises,
isn't it? The gospel promises that he has promised, they do
abide in us. That is, his promise of mercy
to guilty sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. His promise
of grace and salvation, That's for sinners, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. By His exceeding great and precious
promises, we are partakers of a divine nature in Christ Jesus. For all the promises of salvation
in Christ are yes, and amen, and in Him, to the glory of God. Abide in my words, my promise,
my gospel. Mercy to sinners. It is impossible
for any sinner to abide in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, who knows
not, who loves not, who believes not, and obeys not the Word of
the Lord. You cannot abide in Him and reject
His teaching, reject His doctrine, reject His gospel. And that Word
of the Lord is His revealed will. All Scripture. All Scripture
is given of God. What does a believer have to
believe to be a believer? All the Word of God. We don't
pick and choose. We don't pick out this part and
throw away that part. Well, I like that part, don't
like that part. No. A believer bows to all the Word
of God. All Scripture is given of God. Isn't it? It is. And it's inspired and given unto
us for our instruction, for our teaching. It's the revealed will
of the Lord. Without the Word of the Lord
abiding in us, we cannot continue. We cannot remain steadfast. But
since it does, look what he says in the second part of verse 7.
If ye abide in me, and my word abide in you, now watch this. You shall ask what you will,
and it shall be done unto you, abiding in His will." Now, the
Lord's precious promise to us about asking and receiving. Ask what you will, and it shall
be done. Now, this is not a blanket promise to ask for useless, needless,
material blessings such as riches, honor among men, and physical
luxury. God's people are really not interested
in those things. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added
unto you. Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we are
going to carry nothing out. But rather what He is teaching
is this, those that abide in His Word, What do they desire? Those who abide in His Word and
continue in His Word, continue steadfast in the faith, what
do they desire? How do they pray? Lord, not my
will, Thy will be done. If you ask anything that's in
agreement with His will, has to be done. You see, that's the
way the Lord taught us to pray. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done. What we really pray for
and ask for is for His glory, isn't it? For the furtherance
of the gospel. It's not that I might have more
money in the bank. That's not what we pray for.
We pray that the will of the Lord shall be done for His glory,
for the furtherance of the gospel. Now, let's close by looking at
verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified. Now, here's the bottom
line in everything. His glory. His glory. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, nor the rich man glory in his riches. But he that
let him glory in this, that he knows who the true and living
God is." Jeremiah 9. Herein is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. Those that abide in Christ, by
abiding in His Word, And in His love and in His will, they do
bear much fruit, because they're connected to the Divine. He's
our life, He's our nourishment. That God may be glorified. And
that's the bottom line in all salvation. Turn just across one
page over in John 15, look at verse 16. We are ordained to
bring fruit unto His glory. John 15, 16. He said, you've
not chosen Me, but I've chosen you. Now what's He teaching there?
Eternal election, eternal ordination, and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain, that
whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He'll give
it to you. We pray, not our will, but His
will be done. We are ordained to bring forth
fruit unto His glory. And He does this, as it says
in verse 2, by purging us, or pruning us. Notice what it says
in verse 2, back up there, every branch that beareth fruit, He
purges it, He prunes it, that it might bring forth more fruit. I thought about this. The Lord
purges us and prunes us by doing this. He strips us of all religious
pride and strips us of self-righteous glory and will worship that we
might be humbled in His sight, broken in His sight in the dust
that we might bring forth more fruit to His glory, not ours. And He does this by stripping
off pride, self-glory, self-seeking, will-worship, by putting us and
humbling us, breaking us in the dust before Him that we might
look unto Him, cry out unto Him. Lord, have mercy upon us. Now, the last part of verse 8,
"'So shall you be my disciples.'" A disciple is one who is disciplined
of the Lord. My disciple, a follower of the
Lord. This is the evidence of being
in the true vine, being a disciple. Not a rebel, a disciple of the
Lord. We don't bear fruit to be a disciple,
we bear fruit because we are made disciples by His grace. I am what I am by the grace of
God. In 1 Peter chapter 2, in closing, he said, fit to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in Christ, who delivered us from the power of
darkness, and had translated us into the kingdom of His Son,
the Son of His love, by His grace. So shall you be my disciples,
and therefore the Father is glorified, and therefore you shall bear
much fruit, being one with the vine in Christ."