The Benefits of Abiding

RIVERSIDE INDONESIAN FELLOWSHIP
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The Benefits of Abiding

Riverside Indonesian Fellowship
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2021 · 7 November 2021
It is pretty popular to refer to one’s relationship to Jesus as a personal relationship. In fact, it may be how you view the distinction between a nominal Christian and a genuine Christian. But every human who has ever lived has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and for most of them it’s not a good one. It’s a relationship between one who is judged and the Judge.

Jesus knows every human being personally and intimately, every thought they’ve ever had, every word they’ve ever spoken, every deed they’ve ever done, and every relationship they were ever engaged in. All of that is on record in heaven, and on the basis of that will come eternal judgement. Every person will be judged on an individual basis by the Judge, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible helps us by giving us a series of analogies. Now, today in John 15 is another of those very instructive metaphors so that we can define our relationship to Jesus Christ in biblical terminology; and it is the relationship between branches and a vine. In John 15:7-11 Jesus says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

“8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have 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. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Ten times in those verses, really starting in verse 4, you see the word “abide.” So we’re talking about what it is to abide in Christ. There are branches that abide and produce fruit, and there are branches that do not abide, do not produce fruit, are cut off, dried up, and burned. Judas is the branch that doesn’t abide. Judas was attached visibly to Jesus, but it was a superficial attachment.

Christianity is this reality in the world that is filled with all kinds of people, many of whom have no fruit-bearing power. There were lots of superficial followers of Jesus, who were attached outwardly. In John 8:30, As He spoke, many came to believe in Him. 31 Jesus said, if you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They hadn’t yet come to know the truth. They hadn’t been set free from the search for the truth and from the bondage of sin. In John 12, an interesting group is mentioned in verse 42, “Many of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us.” John knows this now from what he learned about our Lord’s words in John 15 and the experience of Judas and others. This is the promise which Jesus Himself made to us: eternal life. “You abide in Me, and I’ll abide in you.” John is reiterating what he heard on that Thursday night and is recorded for us in John 15.

Remain, abide. Why? Starting in verse 4, there’s an unfolding of the blessings of abiding. Profound blessings come to those who stay. Blessing number one: eternal salvation. The infinitely holy triune God lives in you. That is the essence of what it means to have a relationship with God in salvation. And that may be the best way that we can explain our own lives and our own identities.

It’s a Trinitarian presence. But the world doesn’t see us. It is important to know who we are, so I am literally a body in which God lives. In John 14:23, He says, “If anyone loves Me, if your love is real, you will obey.” Love and obedience go together. And how much will He love him? So that, “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” “This is absolutely who We are.”

It is really stunning and our Lord affirms this in His High Priestly Prayer in John 17:23, “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” What manifests our transformation to the world is the presence of God in us. If you stay, it’s evidence that your faith is real, God is living in you.

Romans 6:19-20, “Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price.” 2 Corinthians 6:16, “We are the temple of the living God.” Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

1 John 4:4, “and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Don’t worry about Satan in the world. Verse 13, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us.” Verse 16, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

If you remain, if you abide, He abides in you. This is an incredibly reality. Think about the condescension of our Lord to take on a human body, but He took on a sinless human body. What kind of condescension is it for the triune God to take on a sinful body, take up residence in us? 1 Peter 1:4, “We have obtained an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

On one hand, we persevere and remain. On the other hand, God keeps us. The best thing that could happen in your life as a believer is to have your faith tested, because when it’s tested and it holds, this proves its reality. False faith cannot survive; it collapses. But when you are distressed, who have a true faith, your faith is proven to be, “More precious than gold which is perishable.”

The second benefit is fruitfulness. Verse 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. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Verse 8, “The Father is glorified when you bear much fruit.”

So, what’s the proof that you’re a true branch? Fruit is the fruit of endurance, patience through trials. “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Because you can’t accomplish the work of God in human strength. The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly. Philippians 1:11 says, “Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ.” So the fruit is righteousness.

Righteousness will manifest itself because righteousness has taken over inside. Hosea 14:8 says, God says, “From Me is your fruit found.” Luke 6:43-44, our Lord said a good tree doesn’t bring bad fruit. “By their fruit, you know them.” And the more you abide in the presence of and the knowledge of and the love of and the obedience to Christ, the more fruitful you become.

How? By abiding in Christ. The more you focus on Christ, the more fruitful you become. There is a progression in our lives related to abiding and remaining. In Colossians 1:9 Paul says, “We have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, so that you will please Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

It’s really important that there be an increase. Go back to Colossians 1:5, “The hope that is laid for you in heaven, that has to do with the truth, the gospel has come to you – ” verse 6, “just as in all the world also, it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you since the day you heard of it.” That just connects with the idea that there’s increasingly more fruit.

And that comes with effort. Paul says in Colossians 1:28 - 29, “So we tell others about Christ, warning and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s power that works within me.” It was the power of God, but Paul was working as hard as possible.

First, applied to repentance, it means that our repentance comes as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. It’s a mark of spiritual maturity to be a person who readily repents. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we give evidence that we repent by confessing our sins, we demonstrate that He is faithful and just to be forgiving our sins.” So the fruit is an attitude of resentment of the sin that is in us.

Secondly spiritual attitudes. Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit who dwells in us is the manifestation of the life of the Trinity in us, which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” And, all of them were perfectly manifest in Jesus Christ. So it is fruit in us to manifest the characteristics of Christ, not in perfection, but in pursuit.

Thirdly, another fruit continually offers up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” That’s worship. Hosea 14 says, “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord.” And in doing so, you “present the fruit of our lips.” Receive us graciously, that a sacrifice of praise.

You can’t worship until you’ve been redeemed. You can’t worship until you’ve repented and been saved. That’s what Hosea is saying. A time in the future is going to come. Israel’s going to repent. They’re going to take words back to God. God doesn’t want to hear those words of praise and worship and adoration unless there has been true repentance and true salvation.

In worship we give back to God the very same things that He has reveals to us about Himself. You go through the Scripture and the attributes of God are scattered all across the pages. So you can say what His attributes are, “God, you are the Creator, the Sustainer and the Redeemer. You are all-wise, all-knowing, all-sufficient, all-powerful and unchanging. You are just, holy and pure.”

And fourthly, Philippians 4:17 says, “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.” That word “profit” is just the Greek word for “fruit.” “Thanks for the gift, but I want the fruit that increases to your account.” He saw that gift, that expression of love, as spiritual fruit produced through them by the indwelling God. So spiritual fruit is contributions to those in need.

Then fifthly, in 1 Corinthians 14, say things that edify. That’s communication that blesses, and communication that instructs. It may be in a prayer, it may be in teaching, it may be in a conversation, it may be in a counseling or in disciple making. When you communicate truth to someone, that’s fruit. When I preach to you, teach you, that’s the fruit of the life in me.

And sixthly, righteous behavior. Colossians 1:9-10, “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respect, bearing fruit in every good work.” So now we’ve talked about repentance, we’ve talked about manifesting Christ-like virtues on the inside, worship, contributions of love to the people in need, communication that blesses others, and a life of righteous behavior.

This is your everyday life that you live among people that do not know God or care to find out whether there is a God. People who are more interested in making money and watching football games or enjoying themselves in the mountains. And people who hate Christians and their standards. Only God can change their hearts and sometimes He gives you an opening to pray for them.

Seventhly, bringing people to Christ – that’s fruit. John 4, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well in Samaria, He was speaking to the disciples as the Samaritans were coming out of the village toward Him. In verse 34, He said, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and accomplish His work. 1 Corinthians: “One sows, one waters and God gives the increase.” This is fruit.

The more you obey, the more you are lavished with divine love. And who is the example of obedience? Verse 10, “Just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father, and the Father poured out perfect divine love on Him. The more like Christ we are, the more of God’s love we experience. The more we obey Christ, the more love of God comes to us.

That’s an amazing thing to understand that I am a true branch abiding in the true vine, that the Trinity lives in me because of the fruitfulness; and then to know that I’ve lived so many years in the love of God just lavished on me. So this is what a true branch is. This is a true believer, saved, sanctified, direct connection to God for what’s on His heart, assurance, and lavished with love.

The final benefit blessing is joy. Verse 11, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be made full.” If there’s any joy in me, it’s His joy. The Christian life is not a life of restriction and deprivation. This is living, “with joy unspeakable,” He says in John 16:22, “You have grief now but I’ll see you again and no one will take your joy away.” Let us pray.



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