God is so good to us. We are looking at first
John chapter 2 Just five verses and hopefully
we can get through these finishing them up Has
to do with the hope that we have in Christ Let's
have a word of prayer ask God for us in all this
time Well, you know our hearts our needs The
things that Lay us aside of following you the
things that distract our attention That causes
to to sin or that leads us into an environment
which we choose to sin I Pray that we look at
these verses. They are really powerful that you
will in spite of the limitations of the speaker
which are great That you would Your spirit would
work in our hearts and in the word that you would
make it alive In our lives that would glorify
our blessed Savior and change us into the likeness
of him Thank you so much for the privilege that
we have and the freedom To meet together in the
Lord's name this morning I pray this in Jesus'
name with thanksgiving. Amen. When we're looking
at the subject of hope, hope that cleanses, that's
taken from the very last verse of that five verse
section where it says that everyone who has fixed
his hope on him, that is on Christ, purifies
himself just as he is pure. This hope that we're
talking about is not to be equated with a wish
doesn't say that it's when it uses hope that
we're wishing for something the idea of this
hope is a recognition of the promises and the
provisions of Christ that will happen and we
are just anxious to see them fulfilled we're
anxious to see them take root in our lives and
and do great things for our Savior's, in our
Savior's name. And so as we start on this text
here, we've already been looking at it, but we've
been looking at the various aspects of hope,
but I want to focus on the text and get this
done. Beginning in 1 John chapter 2 and verse
28, you can follow along with me. John writes,
and now little children, abide in Him. so that
when he is manifested we may have confidence
and not shrink away from him in shame at his
coming. That first verse talking about that hope
is the issue that kind of safeguards safeguards
our life by abiding. Notice at the beginning
of the verse He words it little children, but
it's really not talking about just little children
sitting down. It's been used as a kind of a loving
term. It's like, I was thinking this morning
as I was going over, it's like a great grandfather
or a patriarch sitting at the head of the Thanksgiving
table with his wife and his children and grandchildren
gathered around. And he raised, lifts his hand
and says, these are my children. They're not
all babies. There are a lot of them adults But
when he uses that phrase little children, he's
talking about believers in general We could translate
that and the fact I use that phrase mostly beloved
and now beloved Bide in him Want to talk to you
about this idea of abiding it it carries with
it staying and remaining in Him without yielding,
without being sidetracked. It's a good word.
It reminds us that the relationship that we have
with our Lord and with our Savior is not something
that should be passing, but it's something that's
pretty steadfast. That it should endure, it should
dominate our consciousness and our life. And
to be honest with you, I struggle with that.
It is easy, and I've talked about this, it is
easy for me to seek comfort. My studies last
night, I confess to you, I was very tempted to
turn over to the Alabama football game. And that
is not a good illustration, but I do enjoy the
game. And the temptation is... to sit down and
watch that, which I didn't. I put the sound down,
it was in another part of the house, and so I
couldn't see it. I didn't watch it. With one
or two exceptions, when I had to get something
to drink or whatever, I would go out there to
see what the score was. But there are distractions,
at least there are for me, and I'm sure there
are for you, and things that crowd... Into our
heart and our conscience and seek to push the
Lord aside and this verse is saying here now
beloved Abiding him stay in him walk close to
him you have your bibles turn over to the gospel
of John for a moment and Just let's look at that
idea of a binding because John talks about that
in the text of scripture Where he you know the
verse when he says I am divine the true vine
In that text of Scripture, which we will read,
it focuses on the idea of abiding, of hanging
in there with the Lord. And that's really important.
And what Jesus is doing here is he's painting
an agricultural, in agricultural terms, a picture,
they illustrate the importance of us abiding
in Christ and in the Lord. It's very important
but we can see it more clearly when we see the
illustration that the Lord gives. He says in
verse 1, I am the true vine and my father is
the vine dresser. Now that starts out in kind
of a picture. I used to grow, I used to have
a garden a long time ago when I had time to do
it and one of the things I really enjoyed growing
were tomatoes. I like tomatoes and fresh fresh
tomatoes and stuff like that. And so the picture
is you have this vine coming up out of the ground.
The fact that he uses true vine I think is a
picture that there are many people who claim
to be substitute vines, substitute saviors or
whatever that are not. But he is a true vine
picture in the garden and the father is the vine
dresser or the gardener that comes by and tends
the garden and makes sure that things are doing
well. I can remember doing that many times. Believe
it or not, one of the best times to look at the
garden and see how it's flourishing is at night
when it's dark. The plants that are alive and
they are showing good health if it's a healthy
garden. So anyway, he says that. He says then
that every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
he takes away. This is the gardener. and the
gardener is attending those vines, those tomato
bushes, and he says the goal of the gardener
is for that vine to produce fruit. Now bear in
mind he's making a picture about Christian living.
And so what he's saying here is just as it is
the gardener's intention and purpose and pursuit
for those plants to produce fruit, so it is the
Father's intention for us. to be fruitful, to
us to have fruit as well. And so in this picture,
I'm the true vine. My father is the vine grower
or the gardener. Every branch in me that does
not bear fruit, he prunes, he cuts it away, and
every branch that bears fruit, he cleans it or
prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. So
you've got the gardener cutting off the the vine,
the branches that are not fruitful. And if you
have the blight, you know what it's like to see
these branches kind of withered, stuff like that.
And so it's the gardener's intention to make
them fruitful and to work with the branches that
are growing in the vine and starting to produce
fruit. But the ones that are not growing, he
takes away and puts them in a pile and burns
them. And just bear in mind again that this is
supposed to be a picture of us. the church and
the people that not everybody that's in the church
is fruitful not everybody is part of the body
that there There's one thing to be religious
It's an entirely different thing for the Lord
to own your life be Dominating your heart. It's
completely different the difference between fruit
and non fruit between life and death And so he
says that the father takes it away and prunes
the ones that are not bearing fruit, so they
will bear fruit. And you can do that with tomato
plants by cutting off these suckers that take
the nourishment away from the good vine. And
so that's part of that vine dressing. Then he
goes on to say, you are already pruned because
of the word which I've spoken to you. Again,
that picture of the fruit is applied to Christian
life. And what he's saying there is that the
Word, and particularly the words of Christ, carry
with them the ability to cut off the extraneous,
the extra stuff, the frivolous stuff in your
life. You mentioned this morning, Pete, that
people can look at the Word and not always get
the message, not always apply it to their lives,
and I think... All of us are guilty of that.
I know I am. And I can reinterpret a passage,
not for what it says, but for what I want it
to say. That was R .C. Sproul's strong message
when he was talking about election. He said that
a lot of us don't want election. We don't like
to talk about it. And we want to reinterpret
the Bible on terms. But he says, you're required
to teach what the Bible says. not what you want
it to say. And that's the same with us. We can
do that. We want to reinterpret it sometimes
so that we feel comfortable. So here talking
about abiding, he's now beginning to... He's
painted a picture of the plant and the suckers
being the wasted vine being thrown away and the
good ones that are needing to bear fruit. He
prunes them so they will bear more fruit. And
he says something very interesting. is so simple
and yet we miss it sometimes he says as the branch
cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides
in the vine so neither can you unless you abide
in me if you go in the garden and you see tomato
bushes and you see a few of them with the limbs
that are broken they're withered they're hanging
down they're not going to produce anything. And
the reason they're not going to produce anything
is because the path of nourishment, the path
of instruction, the path of life that goes from
the life -giving vine to the branches has been
severed. They've been broken. They've been cut
off. So you've got this bush, this tree that
you want the fruit on it, but you've got in there
a few branches. that are broken off and they're
just withered and they're not going to do anything.
And the reason they're not going to do anything
is because they can't get the nourishment, they
can't get the strength, they can't get the direction
that they need because they've been broken off.
That's the same illustration here talking about
this branch of this vine. He says, as the branch
cannot bear fruit itself unless it abides in
the vine, so neither can you. Unless you abide
in me. Now, what's the topic we're looking at?
We're looking at the topic of abiding. What is
he saying here? He says that if you want to be
fruitful, you need to abide in me. That's the
key of what he's trying to tell us here. He goes
on to say, I am the vine and you are the branches.
So now the picture is we're looking at this vine,
this bush. Christ said, I am that bush. I am
the vine and you are the branches. He who abides
in me and I in him bears much fruit. What do
you mean? Abide in me and I in him. Well, I think
it's a picture of the communication and the sustenance
that goes back between the vine and the branch.
I abide in you and you abide in me. So you've
got that communication, you've got that nourishment,
you've got that life that goes from the vine
to the branches and the communication of the
branch back to the life. back to the uh the vine
telling it what it needs and so there it is there's
the picture he says um he who he bears unless
he abides in me and i in him he bears let me
back up i'm skipping over it says i'm the vine
and you are the branches he who abides in me
and i in him he bears much fruit apart from me
or cut off from me you can do nothing If anyone
does not abide in me, here it is. He's thrown
away as a branch and dries up and they gather
them and cast them into the fire and they are
burned. There's branches that are there using
energy or stuff like that and they are taking
away the sustenance from the good branches. He
says they cut them off, put on a pile and get
rid of them. Again, it's a picture of the church.
It's a picture of believers and the fact is that
God says I'm going to take those away. that are
not abiding in me and not dwelling in me. That's
a serious thing. It's placed here in the pages
of Scripture and I try to read the Scripture
every morning, but this is a serious warning
to me and to you. The warning is that we want
to make sure that we're abiding in Christ because
we're not going to be fruitful and eventually
he's going to cut... those away that are not
fruitful that are a waste of space and a waste
of energy so he said they are thrown away and
they dry up they're gathered and put into the
fire but if you abide in me and my words abide
in you that idea there means to stay in to be
to be fruitful over the long haul and that's
the idea of abiding not to quit not to turn away
if my words abide in you you You can ask whatever
you wish and it will be done for you. That's
the communication that comes through the branch
to the vine. The communication that goes back
and forth. My words abide in you. You can communicate
with me and ask back and I will hear your prayer
and I will answer you. This is a relationship
and it's a very tender relationship. and it's
a very good relationship pictured in the vine
and the branches but it's actually a picture
of the vine and the branches that's describing
us and our abiding with Christ and that's a powerful
lesson that's a powerful thing because as I've
already said we can easily be sidetracked and
be guilty of a lot of other things and get distracted
and football is nothing It's absolutely, in the
picture of eternity, it's not going to matter.
The man that was most influential in my life
with Alabama is in heaven right now and I will
bet you anything he's never thought about football
since the day he fell at the Savior's feet because
that's so unimportant. Do you see what I'm saying?
But we can, and I can do that, can focus on little
unimportant things instead of the real important
things of abiding in Christ. So he says here,
if you abide in me, and my words abide in you,
verse 7, you can ask what you will and be done
for you. My Father is glorified in this, He's
exalted in this, that you bear much fruit and
so prove to be my disciples. Here it is. He says,
it's a desire that you be fruitful, that you
bear fruit. In the process of bearing fruit,
you are proving to be my disciples. The whole
purpose of planting a tomato bush is not to provide
shade for some bugs on the ground. The whole
purpose of planting a tomato bush in the garden,
and yes, we enjoy it. I enjoy gardening. I don't
do it after the hunt time, but we enjoy it. I
enjoy watching the plants grow. I enjoy watching
them prosper. I enjoy the fruit that comes over.
But the fruit is the purpose for the planet.
Food is the purpose of the garden. And that's
the same thing that Jesus is saying here. You
bite in me and my words are biting you. You can
communicate with me and what I ask you, what
you ask will be done. My Father is exalted, is
glorified, and He is the Divine Dresser. He's
the one that's in charge that you bear much fruit.
And in doing that, you prove to be my disciples.
So the evidence to the church and to the people
is fruitfulness, and we can go on a study of
fruitfulness. Yes, fruit means believers, but
it means a lot more. It means what you do with
your life, or what you do with your time. The
fruit of life means what comes out of your mouth.
If you are abiding in Christ, it affects your
life, and it affects the aspect of your life,
and what people see, and how they react to you.
And so, he says here, if the Father Just as the
Father has loved me, Jesus is saying that, and
that idea of love, I'm going to get my water
over here. I got it under my chair over here.
Sorry about that. The idea of love there is almost
a synonym for salvation. I feel like Eric when
I drink in the bulldozer. The idea of love there,
as the Father has loved me and I've also loved
you, There's a synonym for salvation. If you
remember Paul in Romans, Jesus talked about no
one can snatch him out of my father's hand. That's
John 10, but in Romans 8, I forget now how he
words that. Well, let's look at it. We'll just
take a moment. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? That's it at the end of Romans
8. I'm convinced neither death life, nor angels,
nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to
powers, things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing will be
able to separate us from the love of God. That's
not the emotion of God. That's the provision
of God. That's what love means. And so we cannot
be separated. from God's provision on our behalf,
and that's the salvation, that's Christ, that's
what he's done. We're secure in his provision
and his love. And so he uses that word here,
just as my Father has loved me, has provided
for me, I have also loved you, I have provided
for you. Abide in my provision, abide in the
things that I have done, abide in the truth that
I've given you, abide in these things. Stay in
these things because this is where you get the
fruit from this this is what produces fruit in
your life And so this is important these things
he says I was spoken to you so that my joy May
be in your joy is the flag That flies over the
life of the believer wonders walking close to
God They have in I think it's in Scotland they
have a flag that they fly over the resonance
of the leader when he's home. When he's not home,
the flag is taken down. And I'm getting that
now. I don't know firsthand. I'm getting that
from what I've heard from others. But at any
rate, the flag that flies over the life of the
believer, the person that loves Jesus, is joy.
And that's just an illustration. You need to
be joyful. You need to let your face know that
you love the Savior. It's going to affect your
life and what you do. So that's the first thing
he's talking about here in this verse. He says,
now, beloved, abide in him that is in Christ.
And so that when he is manifested, the idea of
manifested really carries the idea of revealing
by sight. when He has manifested or when He has
revealed to us by sight, we may have confidence
and not shrink away. Let me just say this to
you. I'm a pastor of a church and it can be debated
how closely I walk with the Lord or how closely
you walk with the Lord. But I can tell you this,
I know I'm going to stand before Him one day
and that terrifies me. That's a fearful thing
and in one sense of the word it's a fearful thing.
because it's that final exam, it's that final
standing before the Lord and giving an account
of Him, of what I've done and how I've lived
and the things that I've lusted after and things
that I've pursued. And that's a place that, as
Paul says in Romans 8, I mean Romans 3, that
he says that every mouth will be stopped and
all the world become guilty before God. There
is a time when we stand before the Lord There's
not going to be any way that we can explain things.
We won't have anything to say Our mouths will
be stopped and we'll stand guilty before the
Lord this word confidence here Is exactly the
opposite he said we may have and the literal
meaning is boldness of speech We may have boldness
of speech and not shrink away from him in shame
at his coming so here it is We are definitely
going to stand before Him one day. We are told
to abide in Him, that we can be fruitful if we
do that, and that's going to give us boldness
of speech when we stand before the Lord and we
see Him. In the one hand, it's a terrifying thing
to stand before Him, but another thing is an
amazing comfort to my heart to know that when
I stand before Him, I will have the freedom of
expression, and I don't want to make a joke about
it, but some of us talk more than others. But
when we stand before Him, we'll have the boldness
to be able to communicate. We'll be able to speak
to Him, not because of anything we've done, but
because God has been working in our hearts as
we abide in Him, and He has produced in our lives
an evidence of salvation. And so that's the first
point, and the first point is this, that the
idea of hope, Safeguard is safeguarded by abiding.
Abiding is what protects our relationship there
in this place of hope in that first verse. Well,
I wouldn't have to come back to this because
we're out of time, but we're going to go from
there talking about righteousness and how hope
also affects our righteous standing with the
Lord. Let me just have a word of prayer. Lord,
I want to thank you. Words really are not there
to express how great your love is and your provision
and your call to us. The fact that you have stooped
so low to communicate with us, to tell us what
you're like, to give us these illustrations and
to show us these things when we're not really
interested. We've got other things to do and
we are preoccupied with other things and yet
nothing Nothing is as important as this and so
I pray you'll help us to really focus on obedience
and love and really pursue you make room in our
day for your word and make room in our day for
prayer to you and and make room in our day that
we seek to honor you and glorify you and Lord,
thank you for your your mercy and your grace
You are so good to us and that's your blessing
now upon us this week Help us to learn more About
what it means to abide In our Lord and I pray
in Jesus name with thanksgiving. Amen