Abiding in Christ: The Source of Spiritual Fruitfulness
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"Abide in Me, and I in you," verse 4, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." Later on, of course, He will say, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." And this is really a very striking statement when you think about it, that Jesus is saying, "Unless there is a union between you and Me, your lives will never be fruitful." [00:05:19]
The branch is united to the vine, but it's as the branch draws on the significance of that union, that the branch bears fruit. As the Christian believer draws on the significance of this union, the resources that are ours in Christ, as we saw in Paul's letter to the Colossians, the fullness in Christ that is ours. This should enable us to stand tall and to believe that so long as we remain in this union and communion with the Lord Jesus the fruit will begin to grow. [00:06:19]
You are a member of the vine. You are a branch in the vine." So, you're not so much supposed to be thinking, "How can I bear fruit?" He's calling you to think, "How can I continue to live in union and communion with the Lord Jesus," and the fruit will look after itself. Isn't it easy for some of us to get caught up in how well we're doing in Christian service and lose sight of how close our communion to the Lord Jesus is? [00:07:57]
Our union involves pruning if there is to be fruit. Our union involves pruning if there is to be fruit. Look at verse 2, "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." Now when it comes to practical things I am almost totally incapacitated. I can mow the lawn. That's about it. So, I know nothing except what I've read and actually what I've seen about viticulture and how to grow great grapes. [00:08:42]
I understand that when a vinedresser, a viticulturalist, is looking after his vines, he prunes them for two reasons. He wants to cut away what will not bear fruit, "every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He prunes," but he also prunes in order that the vine may bear more fruit and richer fruit and better fruit. So, what to me might seem to be a very violent activity on the part of the vinedresser is actually intended to be a very fruitful activity for the vine. [00:09:38]
The Christian who is never pruned is the Christian who will never grow. It's how He works. And, of course, instinctively we say, "But Father, that hurts," and we need to understand that unless He do these things, unless He chip away at us as a sculptor, unless He cut as a surgeon, we'll never be healthy, we'll never be whole, we'll never be fruitful. [00:12:08]
This union is nurtured and nourished by the Word of God. This union is nurtured and nourished, its nutriments are found in the Word of God. Look at what He says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Now, you would almost think that the Apostle John had told the Apostle Paul he was going to write this. [00:14:14]
The way to grow strong in our union with Jesus Christ is to be fed on His Word. Now, that's exactly what Jesus prays for later on in chapter 17 and verse 17, isn’t it? "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." I want you to notice something. I think we live in a world today among Christian people where we want the Bible to tell us what to do, and we'll do it. [00:15:20]
The Word of God does the work itself. The Word of God does the work itself. That's why it's important for us to be sitting under a living ministry, isn't it? Not so we can be told what to do, but so that we can be taken into the place where the Heavenly Potter does His work so that He's actually working on us under the ministry of God's Word, and we realize this because under the ministry of God's Word we ought to find that we discover things about ourselves that we'd forgotten about. [00:16:46]
When Christ's word is preached, Christ Himself is preaching it and what we experience is Him, and He is able to save to the uttermost all those who call upon the name of the Lord, and when we meet Him, then there is all fullness in Him so that when His word is given the opportunity to dwell in us, and we dwell in Him, then of course our union with Him is wonderfully nourished. [00:19:11]
The most obvious fruit of this union is our love. "They will know we are Christians by our love." Now, this is not John Lennon love, "All You Need is Love. All You Need is Love. Love, love, love. Love is all you need." This is Christ-like love. "Herein," says Jesus, "is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit." And that fruit means that people will see that we are the disciples of Christ because we love one another the way Jesus Christ has loved us. [00:21:14]
What is the ultimate fruit? Well, at the risk of boring you, it's being like Jesus, isn't it? That's not boring. It's Christ-likeness. That's what union with Christ creates in us, a likeness to the Christ to whom we're united. And we want to say, "Thanks be to God for His amazing gift!" [00:22:56]
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