Jesus says, you are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Keep that in mind as we go through our sermon today, because we will be referring directly, not from this text, but from other texts that will shed some light on that. So if you want to go ahead and open up your Bibles this morning to John 15, We're going to be spending quite a bit of time in John 15. Let's see here. So it kind of put a bookmark and then we're going to go to some other texts as well. But, um, first of all, let's pray. Heavenly father, I thank you for this pain. I thank you for the fact that this is making me reliant on you father, that your spirit is the one who has to do the work that I might not boast or be proud, Father, use your word today for the good of your people that we might learn to abide in you, to dwell, and to rest in you, Father. So let these not be words of a man, Father, but words of your spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. This is the fifth sermon in our series on Union with Christ, and since it's been a couple months due to me being in Phoenix with my brother passing and all that, I think it would benefit us and bless us if we do a brief review. Our first sermon was a shallow dive into Union with Christ. This sermon series is called Union with Christ. That's fine, yeah. So we discussed in the first sermon our union with Christ in salvation, in sanctification, in fellowship with one another, and in glorification. Solely and uniquely because of our union with Christ, all of the gifts of salvation are ours. Propitiation, substitution, justification, expiation, regeneration, glorification. It says that Christ will not present himself in glory without us. Is that not incredible? Because of our union with Christ, we're bound one to another in this church. We're bound and you're placed here by the Holy Spirit in fellowship in this local church to share your gifts with one another and to love one another, exhort one another, admonish and encourage one another. In our second sermon, we discussed how we are either united to Christ or Adam. We discussed federal headship. We discussed federal representation. We learn that we must consider and reckon our God-ordained union with Adam in all of its ugliness, depravity, wretchedness, which will give us a heightened view of the majestic, God-glorifying, sin-mortifying view of our blessed union with Christ. When we see that we were in Adam, but we were plucked out of the family of Adam, that we were condemned because of Adam's sin, and that now we are united to Christ and all of the blessings of salvation, sanctification, glorification rest in our union with Christ. We marveled at the truths of Christ as our faithful high priest by propitiating and satisfying God's wrath, mediating and interceding for his elect and laying his life down for his bride to present her spotless and without blemish before the throne of God We saw Christ as the loving husband. We saw him as the good shepherd. We considered his condescension and humility for the joy that was set before him as he went to the cross. The fourth sermon in the series was a deeper dive into union where we discussed four biblical examples of our union with Christ, how the Bible portrays four different aspects of our union with Christ. We also examined co-crucifixion. which is a topic and a theological term that is very seldom preached. But yet Paul spends much time on co-crucifixion with Christ. Our mystical union with Christ is described as stones in a building, branches in a vine, members of a physical body, and that of a husband and wife. In Ephesians, we are living stones, with the foundations being the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being the cornerstone, and we are being built up into a temple. We are living stones. So that's one way that we described our union with Christ. You can't just pluck stones out of a wall. Christ being that firm, perfect cornerstone and the apostles and the prophets being the foundation and us as living stones. In the gospel of John, we looked at Christ as he proclaimed that he was the true vine. and that God the Father was the vine grower, the vine dresser. We'll explore more about this today in our passage in John. We also saw Christ as the head of the church and that our relationship with Christ is a living, growing union. One of the greatest comparisons in scripture, I believe, of our union with Christ is that of a husband and wife. Not only does the husband leave his family and cleave to his wife and they become one, but we also see that we're to love our wives. How? Just as Christ loved the church. And that passage he uses just as twice. The apostle Paul continually talked about his union with Christ being so complete that when Christ died, he died. Christ put to death the old man and our sinful self, nailing it to the cross. Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Do you see this radical union with Christ? And I've used this before, but when, when God, the father looked at his son on the cross at Calvary, he saw me in my sin and he poured his white hot wrath on his precious sinless son to settle my debt. And now when God looks at me, he doesn't see whining, complaining, sinful James. He sees Christ. We are so clothed in Christ's righteousness that when God looks at us, he sees his son. Oh, that we would bask in that truth, that we would apply that truth to ourselves. You will walk differently every day when you know your status and your standing of being totally forgiven and not just forgiven, but declared just before a Holy God. Think about that. So often I get down on myself and I'm kicking myself. I'm like, how can I, and I've spent way too much time lately watching the news and what's going on in the Middle East. And in between those watching of the news, other things pop up and it's just, this world is going to hell in a handbasket. And I confess to Mary Beth and I've confessed to the Lord that by spending too much time, I've been robbed of joy. I have been robbed of joy. And today, by the grace of God, once we finish, I hope you'll understand what abiding in Christ entails. that it's not just abiding, but it's also rejecting too much input from the world. We're not supposed to stick our heads in the sand, but when we dwell and meditate and soak in the filth of what's going on in the world, it can't help, but affect us. Was it last week or something you talked about guarding your eyes, making a covenant with your eyes of what you look at. So let's go on. In that same sermon, we studied Romans 6, 1 through 14, where the Apostle Paul spent a lot of time pointing out that Christ died, we died, and we died to sin and to self. I challenge you to read Romans 6, especially those first 14, 15 verses, and see what Paul says about our radical union with Christ. See, God treats us as if we live the perfect righteous life that Christ lived. We're justified, am I just? No, that's my wife. But God declares me just, is that incredible? Boy, that'll put a pep in your step. That will lift you up out of the miry clay and set your feet on a rock, making your steps secure. So the previous four sermons, we delve deeply into our union with Christ. Now we can write this off as some super spirituality thing, right? This mystical union. But once we understand and reckon, count, apply this to us, it will bring about mortifying sin, resting in grace, peace, joy, and bearing good fruit. Today we're gonna be talking about the imperatives of scripture. The glorious truths about our union with Christ that we have studied are also accompanied by commands for obedience. We'll learn what the source is for obeying. It's not yourself. I'll give you a little heads up. It's not me, myself, and I, because all three of us blow it all the time. So again, hopefully you've bookmarked John 15. The following quote, and much of the rest of this sermon, at least the skeleton, the framework of it, is developed from truths taught to me by Jay Wechter, a dear brother who has invested thousands of hours in my life. In person, we still try every week to call and talk, thousands of hours in discipleship. And he has mentored me, but I think his greatest gift is teaching me to marvel in the work of Christ and in Christ himself, to marvel like a diamond when you lift it up. Every time you turn it, there's different facets. You will never ever be able to completely understand all of those facets. We'll spend the rest of eternity learning about Christ and his work and marveling, being in awe. So the following is a quote from an article written by Jay called A Personal Checklist for Abiding in Christ. Quote, what does it mean to abide in Christ? To abide is to remain, to continue, to stay on. It is to abide in the sphera, to dwell, to tarry, to remain in one place with someone. Metaphorically, it means to hold fast, to remain steadfast. In the Gospel of John, abide refers to the closest possible relationship. It alludes to the believer's mystical union with Christ. that of inner unity and fellowship. Abide in the context of union with Christ does not mean holding a position. Instead, it means allowing oneself to be held. Picture the branch abiding in the vine. The branch isn't the one doing the work. The vine, through the xylem and phloem, if I remember my biology correctly, The xylem and phloem, the life source is the root. Continuing to, in the quote, to abide in Christ is not merely a spiritual experience, but life itself. It is a statement of Christ's ownership of the believer. Ownership extending right down to the depth of his being, end quote. So Jay's provided a nine point checklist as a way of us gauging our devotion to Christ as Savior and Lord. I'll be going through just four of those today, but as we go through them, use this as a litmus test. As I go through this, I want you to do some self-examination and be like, okay, am I doing these things? Or am I doing these things under my own power? There's a difference. There's a difference when it flows naturally from a heart of love and obedience from the spirit. First, abiding involves a willing submission to the father's pruning. John 15 to every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. A grapevine is a climbing plant, left to its own, growing wild. The end of the stems, the cane, they bud and they don't produce good fruit. They produce weak, bitter grapes. But a vine dresser should always prune to counter the tendency of rapid growth. Otherwise it weakens the structure of the plant. The vine becomes fragile, difficult to tend and unbearable and unable to bear high quality fruit. A wise and loving vine grower carefully and intentionally prunes the vine. Why? To maximize fruit bearing. So I'm sure we can all attest to pruning is not nice. It's painful. It's painful. It's uncomfortable. But our heavenly father continually and carefully and intentionally prunes us through the crucible of affliction, trials, tribulations, and suffering. Let's look briefly at Romans 5, if you'd like to turn there, so we can better understand the purpose of God pruning, the purpose of trials and tribulations. I love this passage. And this is a passage, as you're going into trials and tribulations, as you're in the midst of them, and as you're coming out of them, this is a passage you should go to often. I'm gonna read the first three verses for context, and we're gonna read all the way down through the end of verse five. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we've obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we boast in hope, knowing that the afflict, I'm sorry, We boast in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that afflictions bring about perseverance. And perseverance, proven character. And proven character, hope. And hope is not put to shame because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The Apostle Paul here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, states that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we have been justified by faith through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, we abide, we dwell. This word means to remain, to persevere, to abide. He then goes on to say we boast in hope of the glory of God, and he's about to tell us one other thing that we should boast in. Verses three through five. we see that the good fruit that we bear because of the God ordained afflictions that the Lord lovingly brings into our lives. I'm so glad he doesn't define what these afflictions are. Otherwise we'd say, okay, it's just some catastrophic life changing thing. Now this could be as little as somebody cutting you off or construction on the road when you're on your way someplace and you're running late. This could be somebody cutting in front of you in line at HEB, taking the last chocolate blue bonnet ice cream. So you can cut and paste any trial or tribulation or affliction that you're going through, that you've been through, or that you will go through into this text. So because of this text, we see that we can be at peace and we can give thanks to our almighty vine dresser for custom tailoring these afflictions to prune us and to cause us to bear fruit. In verse three, he says, we also boast in what? Our afflictions. And then he goes on to tell us why. What's the result of God's careful pruning and what is it accomplishing it in our lives? Afflictions bring about perseverance. Perseverance creates proven character. And proven character produces hope. And just a couple results of this hope are joy and peace in the midst of suffering and afflictions. And hope does not put to shame because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Can we see how afflictions, trials, tribulations, and suffering given to us specifically by the loving hand of our Father prunes away dead branches? It removes self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and self-determination. The result of any trial or suffering fuels spirit-driven perseverance. He can't say it was me who persevered. He perseveres us. And this establishes godly character. And the result is spirit given hope and hope does not disappoint. The vine dresser ensures that we bear good fruit. So he receives the glory. The second one, abiding brings a growing awareness of our utter dependence upon Christ. Let's go back to John 15 verses four and five. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. I don't know how many times I've tried to bear fruit on my own, in my own wisdom, my own strength. I usually fall on my face. We must understand our complete and utter dependence upon Christ in order to bear good fruit. I'm talking about eternal fruit, good fruit, God glorifying fruit, excellent, ripe and lovely fruit. Notice in verse five, he says, apart from me, you can do nothing. He also says, he who abides in me and I in him bear much fruit. The key to bearing the right kind of fruit is only produced when we see Christ as our life source. He's our source. This whole grab yourself by your bootstraps, you can do it, you're good enough, you're smart enough and doggone it, people like you. No, you will fail miserably. You may succeed in the eyes of men, but you're not bearing eternal fruit. In Matthew 7, Christ warns his disciple to beware of false prophets who come in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravenous wolves. He says, you will know them by their fruits. A bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree bears good fruit. Only fruit produced by the spirit as we abide in Christ is acceptable fruit to God. That should remove all striving and human striving. Dear Christian, God has created you for good works. In his infinite wisdom, he has determined that by our abiding in Christ and Christ in us, he will produce the good fruit. He gets the glory. Ephesians 2.10, a passage that you all know very well. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. We were created as God's poema, his poem, his poetry, in Christ Jesus for good works, and these good works, this eternal fruit, is predetermined before the foundation of the world, that we should walk in them. This way he gets the glory, and no man can boast about what he's done for God's kingdom. This one is precious to me. And probably some of this is mentioned in Sunday school as well. This on this personal checklist for abiding in Christ. The third one abiding issues forth a sacrificial concern for the brethren. John 15, 12 through 13. This is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he laid out his life for his friends. The following is another quote from Jay Wechter. In our zeal to be fruitful in ministry, there's a frequent temptation to place our personal goals above the needs of others. We must remember that the quality of our work among the saints depends upon our love for the brethren. At times, meeting a goal will tempt us to rivalry, suspicion, self-assertion. We need to depend upon the Holy Spirit for the power to exhibit supernatural love. Only this supernatural love will be able to choose unity over rivalry, trust over suspicion, and obedience over self-assertion. Close quote, I love that quote. It matters how you do ministry. As we discussed in one of the previous sermons, because of our union with Christ, we are united one to another. We are completely and utterly dependent and united on one another. The great litmus test for your abiding in Christ is how you love the brethren. So examine yourself as we go through these. Are you depending utterly on Christ? Are you willingly accepting the loving pruning of your heavenly father? And are you loving the brethren? Serving and loving one another should be the foundation for any ministry that we're pursuing. When I use the word ministry here, I'm not just talking about the pastor. I'm not just talking about evangelism outreaches. I'm not talking about big things like that. Things that are perceived as more important. Each of you has a ministry to this local body. And it's crucial to the part, to the spiritual health of this church. So I'm here bringing wisdom and discernment. earned from many, many years of serving the Lord. Some of you are prayer warriors. You've learned through pain and suffering that to go into instant prayer is the best way to handle anything. Some of you have a servant's heart and take care of so many tedious things around here, seemingly tedious things, to where we can all enjoy this time together. Some of you have an incredible heart of encouragement, And the Lord has used you in my life in ministry to encourage me and to encourage our pastor. This is ministry. This is spirit driven ministry. Some of you give generously of your resources to allow us to meet here. This is ministry. This is ministry. And this is, I mean, all the people I'm looking at, this should be an automatic, are you abiding in Christ? Yes, because I see how this church operates and I've been encouraged and loved on in times when you didn't know I needed it. These are all ministries that serve to maintain and strengthen the local body of believers and to glorify God. This is bearing good fruit. A great test of your abiding in Christ is how you view his church and how you express your sacrificial concern for the brothers and sisters of this congregation. As you serve with a willing and grateful heart, encouraging one another, praying for one another, and serving this local body of believers, you are bearing good fruit, everlasting fruit, spirit-driven, God-glorifying fruit. There are many other questions we could ask. Like I said, there's at least nine in this article by Jay, but this will be our last one. And this I think is more crucial than ever, as I've unfortunately spent too much time watching the news over the last several weeks. Christian, we are going to be persecuted. We are going to suffer. We are going to be mistreated for Christ's sake. Abiding in Christ involves the expectation of persecution from the world for Christ's sake. should be expected. Let's look at John 15 again, verses 18 through 21. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before I hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me." Christian, you are a called out one. We've been called out from the world. We are not of this world. This world is not our home. Put that on your dashboard. This world is not my home. Put it on your mirror at home. If you're abiding in Christ, you'll be prepared to suffer well. You'll be prepared for persecution, alienation, and hate from this world directed at us, but ultimately it's directed at God, Christ. We must understand that all persecution and hate towards us from this world is the world's hate of Christ. Can we not see that we're so united to Christ that they hate him, they're gonna hate us? Saul of Tarsus was breathing out murders towards the Christians, towards the church. He'd obtained papers. He was going out to arrest men and women and kill them and bring them back in chains. Let's take a quick look at Acts chapter nine. Let's pick up the story there. As you go there, I'm gonna go ahead and start Acts chapter nine, verse one. Now Saul, still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found anyone belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus who you are persecuting. But rise up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. Because of our complete intimate union with Christ, the Lord says, why are you persecuting me? He was going to arrest men and women. Christ says, why are you persecuting me? And then he says, I am Jesus who you are persecuting. Jesus had already ascended to the right hand of the father, but Paul was going after God's people. And again, in Paul's mind, we are never considered outside of Christ in any way or next to Christ. We are in Christ. As we share the gospel through evangelistic outreach, or as you go about your day, you will be persecuted. Be ready for it. Don't try to fit into this world. We're not of this world. We belong someplace else. This world is temporary and fading away. We're just passing through. If you're abiding in Christ and know what his word says, it won't be a shock or a surprise when you're persecuted. We must be prepared to suffer well. And as older mature believers, you should be preparing younger believers to suffer well. 1 Peter 4, 12 through 14. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. We should expect fiery trials. And what do these trials do? They produce perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope. But to the degree that you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Why? So that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you were insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Expect trials. Part of abiding in Christ means that you're continually ready to suffer for his name's sake. and not as a martyr on your own because of your own actions, but as one who is abiding, resting, remaining steadfast, and allowing yourself to be held in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. What does abiding look like? Abiding is a willing submission to the Father's pruning, not bowing your back, not going, woe is me, alas, why me? We're looking forward to those tests and that pruning, that you will bear more fruit. Abiding is an ever-growing awareness of our utter dependence upon Christ. When you sin, where do you run to? Do you run to Christ? Do you run to the cross? Do you preach the gospel to yourself? Or do you wallow in it, self-loathing? Oh, I just need to forgive myself. Really? How arrogant. How arrogant. If you're in Christ, you've been forgiven by God. You've been forgiven by God. Your sin debt has been paid. How can you claim to hold that over your own head? Abiding in Christ creates a sacrificial concern for the brethren. Abiding in Christ involves the expectation of persecution from the world for Christ's sake. Abiding is drawing near and applying the gospel to our lives minute by minute. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that God's power is perfected, what? Through his strength, not through his weakness. Abiding is a deep understanding of our inability to operate in the flesh and a constant reliance on the spirit of God to lead, guide, and direct us. Our source of strength, remaining steadfast, Faithfulness and abiding must not be understood as being from ourselves. We're not the source, but it lies in our daily reckoning, our union with Christ and our reliance on the Holy Spirit as our source and bearing fruit. How is this done? It's accomplished by abiding in prayer, lingering and meditating on the Word of God. and a continual acknowledgement of the precious power of the cross in our lives. I just heard this recently. We often hear a sermon and we head off to lunch and don't think about it again. When we just read a passage or hear a sermon, we should linger and meditate on what we've learned, allowing the Holy Spirit to drive it deep into our hearts. I can meet someone and forget their name in 15 seconds. I do it all the time. Mary Beth's not so bad at that. She's good at that. I'm not. I can meet somebody and be like, what was his name? Literally five seconds. I can read a text and feel the weight of that text and walk away unchanged. I encourage you to linger, to soak, digest the truths that are so richly found, that are found in the word of God. Linger on them, memorize them, write them on your palms, on your hearts, on your eyelids. Soak in them. Soak in these truths. Reject the temptation to try to accomplish things for God on your own strength. Scripture tells us to abide in the vine. Christ is our source. The Holy Spirit is the power and all the glory goes to God. So as we abide in Christ, as we abide, as we dwell, as we linger, as we are being held by Christ, you see, he holds us. He perseveres us. So when you produce good fruit, you should say, thank you, Lord. Thank you for that. And that brings about an assurance of salvation. Your love for the brethren, that's supernatural. How do you grab people from all walks of life, throw them into a congregation and expect them to all get along? That church is messy. But when you see the love one for another, that's supernatural. That's supernatural. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you've given us the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct us. Thank you, Father, that you abide us, that we've been grafted in, that we are part of the true vine, the living vine, and you will prune us. Father, help us to see that pruning and to glorify you rather than complain and whine. Help us to have peace and joy when life seems to be coming down on our heads, because it's not life. It's your loving hand orchestrating everything around us to conform us to the image of your son. Father, I thank you for this church. I thank you for our brothers and sisters for the love and the encouragement and the prayer that they've given to me, and they've done for me, Father, and for my wife, and for our ministry. Thank you, Father, for providing all of these folks that are behind me and next to me. Father, I thank you for Philip, and for his ministry and his commitment to preaching your word. Father, we ask that you would bless him, bless he and Renee, bless his work. And Father, continue to use him to glorify you in our lives and in the preaching of the word. In Jesus' name.