[8:00 a.m.] Abide in Me (John 15:1-11)

I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and

every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear

more fruit. Already you are clean because of

the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by

itself unless it abides in the vine, and neither can you unless

you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the

branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in

him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can

do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me,

he's thrown away like a branch and Withers, and the branches

are gathered, thrown into the fire and burn.

If you abide in Me and My words, abide in you, ask whatever you

wish, and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and and

so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so

have I loved you. Abide in My love.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as

I've kept my Father's commandments and abide in His

love. These things I've spoken to you,

that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

This is the word of the Lord. Please be seated.

As we know, this is a significant part of the Gospel

of John starting from chapter 13 on through 18.

These are gems that are not in the other gospels.

The incredible passion and love of the Lord of the universe

stooping down on his knees with a water basin and a towel and

and washing his disciples feet in chapter 13, the way he has

instituted the Lord's Supper in the middle of the Passover meal,

all these details. It is a full incredible moment.

Already they have the disciples and us have benefited from this

profound teaching and demonstrations of his love.

This is last words, kind of kind of poignant severity of what is

about to happen, which they are not aware of, right?

The disciples. And so Jesus is loving them to

the end. It is intimate, it is

relational, and it is intense. And so here he is in this part

of of this incredible set of passages that we know are all

flowing together in one stream in one moment, so pregnant with

meaning and not ever to be dismissed.

And as he engages in the very first verse, he completes that

the 7th and final I am statement by saying I am the true Vine and

my father is the vine dresser. These I am statements just ring

of truth. They know that goes right back

to Exodus when when the Lord God himself on the mountain said I

am that I am and and here he is completing the 7th I am

statement. The other six are I'm the bread

of life, I'm the light of the world, I'm the door of the

sheep. I am the resurrection and the

life. I am the Good Shepherd.

I am the way, the truth and the life, and then here I am the

true vine. And he's diving in to really

what he's picked up already from the previous chapter in 14, this

relationship that we all are embracing as a total mystery.

How is the Trinity to be? How do we understand that Jesus

is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus and that we are in

Jesus? How do we grasp at this?

And he gives us this metaphor of vine and branches and helps us

to understand this relational way that we are to live.

The this passage is truly baked into the discipleship DNA of

Park City's Presbyterian Church. It is woven in different places

and you see vining branches and all.

For 30 years it's been that way, and it's incredible.

And you would think we would be experts in this chapter, but we

are just learning more and more, are we not?

Just the depth, the intimacy of what is transpiring here.

So it's amazing if we slow down and we think about a a metaphor

that meant a lot to the first hearers of this and even the

first early church because they understood this.

But we not very many of us are farmers, we're not in

agriculture. We are a very high tech society

and we are very much based in information and in technology

and not growing things. And so here is this botanical

profound insight. So it's just good to slow down

and kind of think about what it is we're taking in.

So we've got vine and branches. We've got the vine dresser being

our God the Father, and then Jesus has the true vine.

And then the branches are divided into groups, right?

I mean, what I want to do is just hit a few highlights of

this and pull out a few meanings rather and talk about now what,

how does this impact us? And so as we think about buying

in branches, we know that there's two sets, right?

We've got the the ones, the vines, the branches that are

going to bear fruit and that he will prune and then the ones

that don't and they will throw into the fire.

And it's and it is, it is a it is an interesting and and

unnerving a little bit. Where are we in that order?

Which vine, which branch are we in?

Are we connected or not? And this metaphor, it all is

leading to fruit is producing fruit, right?

That is the purpose. That is the purpose of all of it

is that these vines, we do not have vineyards just for beauty,

right? It is is produce the fruit and

so how do they do that and what is that?

Well, it takes very careful, meticulous work.

It's it's done by hand and it is it is done in here falling

metaphor in love. But the fruit should be Christ

like character. We can think about the fruit of

the spirit of Galatians 5. The fruit should also be

obedience. The fruit should also have an

impact on our prayer life. As we see that, we can ask

anything and we know He'll do it as we are abiding.

And then the fruit should be the impact on others, be it through

evangelism, living the gospel, using our words for the gospel,

demonstrating it, and discipline.

Do you know in this body every single one of you just about

could reach out and minister to someone younger than you and

make huge difference and what you think about who you pouring

into do you is there fruit of your ministry by of abiding of

our of our main relational life in Christ.

So it's visible. The fruit is is is known.

It's not hidden and it's all of life.

Everything's connected right. We're all it's this whole thing

is not we're not producing widgets.

Our lives are being changed as Christ is in US and he is

demonstrating the whole relational with father as his

father and then now in US. And so this all points to this

abiding love and we think about how significant the fruit of

love is when you think about just since in chapter 13, there

are probably 10 key verbally explicit and also demonstrative

ways that Jesus is loving the disciples.

You think about it in 13-1 he got having loved his own who

were in the world. He loved them to the end and

then a new command I give you love one another and 15/9 is the

Father's loved me. So I've loved you.

My command is this love one another.

No greater love is this than to lay down your life for your

friends. I have called you my friends

though, as the Father has loved me.

Now I'm loving you. This love, love, love, love,

love, agape, agape, gape. A lot of abiding and a lot of

agape of unconditional love pouring out.

It is the most visible, incredible part of all this,

just woven through there in his humility, Christ is

demonstrating what it means to abide with the Father.

And then he's giving us the road map of how we ought to live in

love. And this is not wimpy, Pansy

love. This is pulled, humble,

powerful, transformational love. You know this.

Many of you have experienced this.

And this abiding is not something we do for one hour on

Sunday. We know it's perpetual, it's

ongoing, it's deepening, it's producing, pruning, producing

and pruning and it's continually going on.

What season are you in right now?

Are you being pruned or are you? Is fruit being produced in you?

Because we're all going in through different seasons of

this, different challenges each row, we could testify to what is

going on inside your own soul that maybe no one else knows.

Is the Lord pruning you in love? Is he producing fruit?

That is incredible. We should celebrate.

So the goal of all this, the goal is to produce fruit and

it's again, it's not like our goal is not to climb Everest or

win the Olympics here. The goal is to absolutely embody

Christ's love and produce that fruit of the Spirit in us, the

fruit of ministry and the fruit of an effective prayer life.

So pruning is necessary. We need pruning and every vine

grower as the as the vine dresser, the farmer, the

gardener, depending on what version you have, he will have

that careful tender process. You cannot do this by robots,

cannot do this by AI, you cannot do this by machine.

You have to do it individually and go and prune the leaves,

taking the branches, lifting up the the the fruit so that the

prune will help the wheat branches be strengthened and

that that every connection allows the fruit of the vine to

flow. This is our lives, right?

This is how we go in and out with the Lord.

The Lord is working inside of us to that end.

How do we to handle and think about those branches that the

Lord takes and throws into the fire?

How do we understand that? Well, we have great confidence

in our reformed theology to know that Lord, the Lord's

irresistible grace, he has died for his chosen ones.

And because of that, we know that if we're in him, we cannot

lose faith. Some people have used a passage

like this to talk about losing salvation, which is not correct.

And we know this. You're the 8 O clock crowd, you

know, So we got this. But the reality is, is that a

great scholar, Leon Morris, points out that there's a little

bit of a Greek composition here that shows that it at the

outset, probably those branches were never in, never connected,

never having the SAP go through them.

And the direct connect is probably someone like Judas who

is never in Christ. So that branch is broken off and

thrown into the fire. And so the others who may be

church attenders or whatnot, but we're never and never showing

any fruit. And I think that's probably the

main thing is that there's explicitly no evidence over time

of any fruit whatsoever. And so that makes it more

helpful for us to understand what's happening here.

But the focus is really not of the branches being thrown away,

but on the taking care of the branches and pruning them and,

and preparing them to bear more fruit.

That is the focus. That is the then the whole point

of this and so that none of us can do this on our own.

Jesus is trying to tell the disciples do not believe in your

own independent way of doing this.

You have to depend on me. Verse 5 makes that explicitly

clear, does it not apart from me, you can do nothing.

So we know that and Amen indeed, because we we are especially in

Dallas, we're like, we can do this, you know, on our own

strength and it is easy sometimes there are a lot of

gifted people with incredible skills and deep resources and we

can make things happen on our own.

But they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength.

They'll mount up like wings, like eagles.

They'll run and not go weary, walk and not go faint.

We must find ourselves dependent on the Lord and waiting for the

Lord and that posture of abiding.

So just to think about abiding a little bit, what is it?

What does that really mean? Abide, abide, abide.

We talk about this all the time. Do not hear the word abide at

least once a week at Park Cities Presbyterian Church.

It's awesome. We need to keep it reminding

each other. Abide, abide.

Do you know that abiding is actually in mine and Pete's job

description? We must abide as a part of our

job. How awesome is that?

That is what all of us. It's really in all of our job

descriptions of life. But to remain, to stay where we

are, to continually to remain dependent, to build our home in

him, to stay connected to him, to slow down and listen to him.

We're remaining so that we hear him, we know him, we're embedded

in him, we are positionally in Christ, but we know that we can

drift and forget, lose our hearing, all of a sudden run

into independence, and all we have to do is just turn right

back, to simply begin again. That is why the liturgy is so

helpful, is it not? We always have confession.

We always have a clear assurance of pardon and forgiveness

because if it's just one prayer away, 1 acknowledgement, I

cannot do this. I need you, Jesus.

So this is what Jesus does. Jesus makes this incredibly

poignant, and he reminds us that remaining in him is not just

passivity. There is rest in remaining in

Him and it's not like we're storing up and then like a

battery and charged up and then we go run on our own way and

then come back and re plug in. But it's continual, it's

flowing, it's organic, it's botanical, it is showing this

vine and the branch reality. So dependent, ongoing, one

source for our life in Christ. This is what the discipleship is

with the Lord and this is what why he's trying to tell them

this because he is just hours away from going to the cross

knowing what is happening here. What's incredible about abiding

is the reciprocal reality of what's happening here.

So just track again, it's if we think of it as abiding, it's

like I got a pony up. I've got to pull myself up.

I've got to abide, I've got to make this happen.

We're missing this whole reciprocal of Christ and us and

we in Christ. So be encouraged by that.

The best part of it is that if if it's just us trying to obey,

then we're missing the point of abiding that he is working in

US, whoever abides in me and I in him.

So each of us are experiencing as we slow down and receive what

Christ has for us. We're able to abide as a result

of Him in US and we in Him. So it's not grappling up to try

to get it and earn it. We already have it in Christ.

So be encouraged by that and live in that reality of that.

He is in US. He's creating desire in us.

If any of you, if any of us all of a sudden feel a tangent

conviction, but something in our lives that maybe we need to

consider, that is proof we're abiding.

If any of us feel a nudge to go and to talk to someone, go

encourage someone, make that phone call, write that e-mail,

that is proof that we're abiding as the Lord is working and is

nudging us, creating desire to be involved in God's church.

That is the Lord working in you. Conviction of sin is the Lord

working in you. It is, it is something to be

encouraged in our very discouraging days that you may

not realize that you're even abiding as the Lord is speaking

and moving and prompting and giving you courage to take that

next step. To know that this is all leading

up to this profound reality that I wish we could spend the next

five weeks on, which is our union in Christ.

Because all this comes together in our union with Christ, that

we are in Christ, that he is in us, that we have this

relationship in such a profound way.

I would encourage all of you all to study up a little bit on this

word union with Christ and, and how it encompasses all of our,

of our justification, our sanctification, our adoption,

our sonship, our identity in Christ.

It's a profound reality that we need to encourage ourselves

with. That we need to once again kind

of marinate in the reality of our union because this really

abiding John 15 is really nailing and not if the word

union is not not in there, but it's all baked in.

Just think about our confession like one of them that we use all

the time the Heidelberg confession.

We think about what is our only comfort in life and death that I

belong body and soul to my Savior.

You know, when we think about we and him and he and us, it it's

reflected in so many of the confessions that our life is

hidden in Christ. Do you know Paul never uses the

word Christian? It's always in Christ, in him,

in the Lord. The identity of the New

Testament church. They rarely use the word

Christian. It was always, I'm in him, we

are in him. That's how they thought and

that's how we need to recapture. That is taking the essence of

what so much of this chapter is all about reminding us it's

relational. It's it's not I'm achieving this

goal and I'm working hard to win to do this.

It's it's this relational reality that we're in.

That is what it's about in Christ.

That's how Paul looked at it in Ephesians 1.

Paul just, you know, hammers this incredible identity of who

we are. And he reminds us over and over

that we're predestined in Him, we're reconciled in him, we've

been pardoned in Him, and on and on and on we've been united with

Him. We see that Christ is at work in

so many ways. And so we have to do what John

Owen talks about it and to labor to draw near.

We have the labour to draw near. It's both active and passive.

Abiding is both a command and a description.

And so how's that going for you? How's it going with your

labouring to carve out time to spend with the Lord?

How's it going with the fruit producing in your life?

And just one or two final things before we close.

I think about this passage is so relational that you can't miss

the reality of the intimacy between that Christ describes

with his Father that he is the vine and the Father is the vine

dresser, the gardener, the farmer, the one, the master and

he's he's perfectly yielding and abiding with the Father and it

affects all the other relationships.

So our vertical relationship with Christ should be affecting

all of our horizontal relationships.

But let's be honest, people sometimes are the problem,

right? I mean, people are sometimes

difficult. People at church can be grumpy,

mean they've been sometimes gossip man.

That's why James spent a long time talking about taming the

tongue in church, because he knows the people can be a little

less than Christ's life, that some of the greatest divisions

have happened in churches. Most of the New Testament

letters are dealing with that exact thing.

So people can be the problem, right?

And we are people of Christ. And so how is the fruit of the

Spirit ruling in you as you abide?

Is there anybody that you need to reconcile with?

Is there anyone that you need to take a second time and kind of

go back and say, are we, are we good?

Is there anything between us? Don't let anyone go to the grave

without making one last attempt at loving and reconciling.

And let's be very honest and our families.

That is one of the hardest things to do.

But John 15 gives us a road map. Abide, abide, abide.

As we abide, Christ will lead us as we seek peace and peacemaking

and reconciliation. This is hard.

Don't do it alone. But these are the relationships

that we have that Lord has placed us in, and it is so

difficult. So is there an application here

where you need to take the next step?

Do it prayerfully, do it in abiding not in your own strength

at all. And then let me ask you another

question too, because bearing fruit is the goal is the, the

reality that we don't, you know, make ourselves all of a sudden

produce the fruit. It's it's in that relationship

that the fruit is produced. And as we're doing that, you ask

somebody that you know, ask someone that you trust will be

honest with you and say, hey, how am I doing with Galatians 5?

How am I doing with First Corinthians 13?

Am I? Am I Do you see chapter 13 of

First Corinthians 4 through 8 in my life?

Am I keeping record of wrongs? Do I need to rethink a few

things. How am I doing with joy?

How am I doing with peace? These are things that are

evidence in life and not to be guilting you just to go and and

see and ask the Lord show me or ask a friend to show me.

See if that fruit is in you working, showing you.

And then the final thing that I think this is something how much

I struggle with this is the reality is every single one of

us, you and me, we're all abiding in something, right?

It's just, are we abiding in the Lord or are we abiding in the

world? Are we abiding in worry and

anxiety? Are we buying?

Are we abiding in the things of this world that are weighing us

down? Because we're all abiding.

And I will be the first to tell you I'm not.

I'm abiding in fear and anxiety and worry about things, right?

I'm I, if I am not careful, I will slowly drift into that

abiding in anxiety. It happened so subtly, right?

But we're all abiding in something.

It's just what are we marinating in?

What are we meditating on? What is our heart folk focused

on that no one else can say? And we at Park Cities

Presbyterian Church are phenomenal actors and actresses.

We could win Academy Awards for our presentations here.

Like, everything's great and inside we're dying.

And So what are we abiding in? And just go before the Lord and

ask that question. Think about how this can inspire

us again to ground ourselves again in this reciprocal

relationship where the power is flowing through us, the SAP, the

nutrients are flowing through this us because we are branches

connected to the vine, the true vine.

And as a result of that, we can abide in Christ and receive his

love. You and I, we should ask, Lord,

help me to receive all of your love.

Do you receive it? Are we in a place where we put

ourselves to say, Lord, show me how much you love me again.

Remind me again, He knows what we're thinking.

And so let the Lord love you. Let the Lord show you again with

fresh ears and eyes. Yes, he does love me.

Let's pray. Father God, You are the great

High King, and we praise you for the mystery of the Trinity.

And how, how is it? How can we possibly fathom that

there are three and one Holy, holy, holy, that's the Lord God

Almighty. You have given us Your Word, and

Your word is a fire in US. And we ask, O Lord, that it

would stir us by the power of your Holy Spirit to love one

another, to do exactly what this chapter is calling us to do.

But, oh Lord, we do not want to do it on our own strength.

So will you empower me and all my brothers and sisters to

receive all of you so that we can love and give to others.

And we pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the

Holy Spirit, Amen.