John 15:1-11 – Stay Put – Bible study

John 15:1-11 Staying Put Let me introduce the message by giving you the setting of this text. Concerning the time of the text: Everything John recorded after John 12 is a record of Jesus last six days. Everything John recorded after John 13:1 is a record of Jesus last evening. Everything John recorded after John 13:30 is a record of Jesus actions and words while Judas was gathering the chief priests and the guards. I tell you this because such knowledge sometimes helps us to realize how important an event is. Judas was gathering the arresters and Jesus knew it. It seems to me that what Jesus was saying during that time must be important. Surely, our Lord was very selective in what He spoke that night. Concerning the audience of the text: These words are for Jesus children. Judas was the only lost one in the upper room and he left in \#John 13:30\ so the only ones in that upper room are followers, believers of Jesus Christ. True, their faith is weak and their understanding is limited, but they are believers. If you are here this morning without Jesus, unsaved, separated by sin, God loves you \#John 3:16\; He wants to save you \#2Pe 3:9\; and He will save you this very hour \#2Cor 6:1\, but this passage is not directed to you. This passage is for Gods kids. Concerning the message of the text: You can see the message because Jesus repeated it 9 times. Nine times Jesus told His disciples, those who would become His apostles, "ABIDE." That is nine times in nine verses. You would have to be asleep to miss it. Lets note some things from this text. I. The message is simple. God wants His children to stay put. A. Again, the word Jesus used repeatedly is to abide. B. The word means to remain, to abide, to stay put. C. Exactly where and how does God want us to stay? 1. God wants us to abide in a specific location, in Him. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. a. This message is not saying "Abide in Me for salvation." (1) The only ones in the room are the saved and the saved cannot be unsaved. (2) How do I know that? Because of what the WHOLE Bible says. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. 30 I and my Father are one. (3) That is not Baptist doctrine. That is Bible doctrine and there are many verses that teach that truth. (4) The Bible cannot contradict itself. (a) If it does, it is worthless. (b) If Jesus said His sheep will never perish in chapter 10 but was preaching they can perish in chapter 15, there is a contradiction. (c) Christians must be careful that they dont pervert the Bible to make it say what they want it to say. (5) So what is Jesus saying? b. Jesus message was "Abide in Me for fellowship, for service, for strength, for guidance, for everything." (1) Remember, Jesus was talking to the saved. (a) He was not concerned about them staying saved. That was His job. (b) Jesus was concerned about them staying close. That is our job. (2) My children are grown now but in the old days, when I directed one of them to a location and told them to stay put, I was never telling them to stay a Hall. I was always telling them to stay where I could see them, know where to find them, get back to them, protect them, guide them. So is Jesus. c. Christian, salvation is wonderful but it can only be enjoyed when we are abiding in Christ. (1) When was the last time you felt saved? (2) When was the last time you heard from God? (3) When was the last time you were convicted over sin? 2. God wants us to abide in a specific state, tender. a. It is not just that God wants us to stay IN Him. b. It is also HOW He wants us to stay in Him, tenderly, sensitive to the Holy Ghost of God. c. It has been pointed out that I speak of the Holy Ghost often. (1) It was pointed out as a compliment not a criticism. (2) To be honest, I have never thought about it. (3) Thinking about it I would ask, "How can I not when every relationship, blessing, and prayer must travel through the Holy Ghost. (4) The Holy Ghost is our internal, spiritual, permanent link with the Godhead. (5) We must stay sensitive and tender to Him. d. I was listening to Christian radio maybe a month or so ago and heard one man interviewing another who said that we should not pray to the Holy Ghost but through the Holy Ghost. I do not know his reasoning for that statement. It may be sound, but my own thought is pray to Him and pray through Him. The Holy Ghost is God and it is never wrong to pray to God. e. More questions: (1) Are you listening to the Holy Ghost right now? (2) Do you want to hear from God right now? (3) Would you do whatever the Holy Ghost told you to do right now? f. Abide in a this state, the state of tenderness. 3. God wants us to abide for a specific time, continually. a. Jesus put no time limit on this command. (1) Jesus did not say, "Abide with me tonight" or" tomorrow" or "until I arise." (2) He just said to abide–no time limit. b. That means from now on, God wants us to abide in Jesus. c. I understand backsliding. We must all fight it. In fact, tonight I believe I am going to preach on it \See 2017Sermons on "Psalm 51:1"\. (1) You cannot be backslidden and abiding in Christ at the same time. (2) You cannot be loving the world and abiding in Christ at the same time. (3) You cannot be occupied with everything but Jesus and be abiding in Christ at the same time. II. If we abide in Christ, what will become of us? Jesus mentioned several things. A. Fruit 1. Jesus states three possible harvests in the life of a Christian. a. \#4\ "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself." Thats no fruit. b. \#2\ "every branch that beareth fruit." Thats some fruit. c. \#5,8\ Those that abide in Jesus bring forth MUCH FRUIT. Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 2. There are two ways Christians produce fruit. a. By winning others to Christ. Pr 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (1) If you are going to abide in Christ, you are going to be out among the lost telling them about Jesus, for that is what Jesus does. Lu 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (2) Not that Jesus DID but that Jesus DOES. (3) Is this not the kind of fruit we want to bear? a. Maybe we got saved for selfish reasons, not wanting to go to hell. b. But surely as we have been saved and grow, we want more now than just to be saved. c. Surely we want to serve and bear fruit. b. By becoming a Holy Spirit-filled Christian. (1) Paul listed some of the fruit OF the Holy Spirit. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance. (2) First in the list is love. (a) Love is the number one outward fruit. (b) Paul will tell us in 1Cor 13 that without love, nothing else we do matters. (c) It is the greatest of all gifts or fruits of the Holy Ghost. (3) Second in the list is joy. (a) Joy is the number one inward fruit. (b) What good is having a relationship with God if you have no joy. B. Interestingly, Jesus specifically mentioned these two fruits of the Holy Ghost fruits in this message. 1. Love John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. 2. Joy John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain (Same Greek word for abide that Jesus was using.) in you, and that your joy might be full. C. Answer to prayer John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. III. If we do not, what will become of us? A. Let me just point out one. John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. B. Some think this means the believer is lost and cast into hell. 1. That is not what Jesus said. 2. Notice \#5\ what the saved can do if they do not abide in Christ, NOTHING. 3. Second, \#6\ what happens to the saved if they do not abide in Christ, they wither. a. They have no nourishment and so die on the vine. b. Jesus was talking about spiritual withering. c. What is the point of being alive spiritually and then separating yourself from the that life? d. Sadly, many Christians have done just that. 4. Third, \#6\ notice what happens to the saved who do not abide in Christ, men cast them into the fire. a. Men do. Not angels. Not God. b. \#5-6\ Jesus was describing: (1) what a spiritual person without the Spirit is capable of doing. Nothing. (2) what happens to a spiritual person who does not abide in Christ. He withers. (3) and what men of this world do to saved people who do not abide in Christ. They destroy them. c. This is the same end that Jesus described for the Christians that lose their savoring ability. Matt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. d. And this is where we are today. The saved so far removed from the power and presence of Christ that the world mocks and humiliates them. Jesus was leaving these Christians with an important messageI would judge the most important message. Abide in Christ! Stay where Christ put you in location, in sensitivity, and in duration.