John 15:4, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

John 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.

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.

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.

John 15:9, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

John 15:10, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

John 15:11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

John 15:16, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

John 15:4-15

Why? Because abiding is the key to fruitbearing. The branch does not bear fruit by struggling but by abiding. If you were to walk through a vineyard, you would not detect tension and struggle among the branches. Instead, you would discover a calm, confident resting, an abiding, as the branches draw their life from the Vine.

In the Christian life, there is a difference between union and communion. When you trusted Christ to save you, the Holy Spirit united you to Him in a living relationship. You became a branch in the Vine; a living union was formed. But this once-for-all union is the basis for communion, maintaining a moment-by-moment fellowship with the Lord so that His life is shared with you. The branch that tries to go it alone will never bear fruit.

We must be careful to distinguish between His supernatural life and our own natural qualities. There are many people who by nature are quiet and unassuming, but this attitude is not necessarily Christian humility. Others are naturally optimistic and effervescent, but this may not be Christian joy. How can you tell the difference? In two ways.

- First, when our abiding in Christ produces true spiritual fruit, it is beyond anything that we can do and we know it.

- Second, because this is true, when there is spiritual fruit, God gets the glory. People recognize that it is God at work in our lives doing in and through us what we could never do for ourselves.

Certainly, the Holy Spirit can use personality traits, such as Peter's courage or Paul's self-control; but usually He has to help us overcome these traits when we depend upon them and not on the Lord. Peter's courage almost made him a murderer when he struck at Malchus with his sword.

How do we abide in Christ? Historically, two schools of thought have developed around the answer to that important question: the "quietists" and the"activists."

- The quietists say, "You do nothing. You simply yield to Him and let Him have His way. Christ lives in you, and He wants to use you the way the hand uses the glove. All the glove has to do is surrender."

- The activists say, "Not on your life! We are not dead gloves but living people. God never violates our personality and forces Himself on us. We must yield, but we must obey as well. We must actively read the Bible, pray, worship, and do all that He wants us to do."

Both answers contain a measure of truth. Surrender is important, and cooperation is also important. Abiding is not a passive thing, like a glove on a hand, because a glove does not have intellect, emotions, and will the way a person does. The glove can do nothing else but surrender!

On the other hand, abiding is not such an active thing that we must manufacture the experience. Everybody has a "spiritual formula" for you to follow: A + B + C = D. But formulas for the spiritual life are not always as neat and surefire as chemical formulas or cake recipes.

Paul gives us the best answer -

2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

** God works in; we work out. As we surrender, God works in; as we obey, God works out.

Abiding involves keeping in fellowship with the Vine so that God can work in us. To abide someplace, is to live there, to spend time there, to stay there.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you... John 15:7

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10

- You cannot keep His commandments if you do not know them, and you cannot know them personally apart from His Word,

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:2

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7

- The better we know the Word of God, the better we can pray, for the Word of God reveals the will of God,

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. 1 John 5:14

- Of course, prayer is much more than asking. It also involves giving thanks, expressing love and worship, and also confessing sin.

- Sin always breaks our communion with God. "

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 1 John 1:6

- It is important that we keep our hearts and minds clean and that we confess all known sin.

- David even asked to be cleansed from "hidden" faults,

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.Psalm 19:12

There are sins that we commit that even we may not know about.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8

- God's will for our lives is that we bear fruit and glorify Him.

- His plan will be worked out in different ways with different people, and we must be willing for God to have His way.

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. Mark 14:36

- It is the Holy Spirit Who encourages and enables us to abide.

* He teaches us the Word.

* He enables us to pray.

* He reveals our sins.

* He gives us the inward desire to obey God.

- The Spirit of God uses the Word of God and prayer to strengthen our communion with Christ. This experience of abiding is not always accompanied by "spiritual feelings" or unusual emotional changes.

** Then how can we know when we are truly abiding in Christ? We never have to ask "Am I abiding in Christ?" because there will be several evidences in our lives when we are in communion with the Lord. We will discover these evidences of Abiding in Christ next week.

Abiding is the key to fruitbearing. We are discovering keys to Abundant Living.