# How to abide in Christ

Key Passage: John 15:1-8
Date: June 7, 2024

The instrumentalists add a lot to the service. I like that. Turn your Bibles, if you would, to John 15. John 15. And if you can play an instrument, we’d love to have you involved in that. See Brother Adam about it. We’re looking for a mandolin player, another one I think, and maybe we can convince to get up here, and another harmonica player. We’re working on that too, and we’re trying to get a couple other folks up here, and maybe some of your other ones you can play instruments that I don’t know of, and we’d love for you to be a part of it, and that just adds to the service. I appreciate it very, very much. John chapter number 15, John 15, a great, great passage. I want you to focus in on this word as we read here: abide, or abide up. You’ll find it seven times in this passage we’re going to read. And really, it’s just the key. The title tonight would be, “How to Abide in Christ.”

I haven’t even started preaching, and Brother Patrick’s back there yawning already. What about that? I’ll tell you what. My goodness. And so we’ll see here. Shame on me. I was yawning sitting there, you know, while it goes. So, I mean, it’s got to catch you. It’s been a great weekend, been a busy weekend. I’ve seen several of you having this cup called Dunkin’ Donuts in your hand tonight. I’ve seen several of those around the auditorium already. In fact, seen some church members driving in tonight there at that place, you know. So, that should add to our desire to get on the new property right across the street, Dunkin’ Donuts. Wow, that’s a fit, you know. I tell you what. And so just get a chicken place in those two acres. Man, everything’s all set now, you know, for sure. Well, we’ll be set for sure. Of course, someone here says Dutch Brothers, you know, there’s always a maverick, you know, as always is, you know.

Amen. John 15, John 15. We’re going to start verse number one. And would you please stand. If you would, please just show respect to the Word of God. John 15. And we’re going to read down through verse number eight. Of course, this is Jesus speaking. And he says, “I am the true vine.” Just a side note. We won’t stop much. We’re going to read through it, but notice how he emphasizes: Jesus is the true vine, the trunk or the source of life, the energy. There are a lot of impostors there, a lot of things. It could be material things. It could be relationships, horizontal relationships. It could be all kinds of things that will try to take the place. But Jesus is the true vine. He’s the one, your energy, your life, your source. He’s everything. And Jesus there, he says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” He’s a gardener, the farmer that oversees the garden. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men notice that, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” He’s not teaching you lose your salvation. Men gather them and cast them to the fire, they are burned. “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples.”

And would you pray with me that God would just maybe challenge us tonight to abide in Him in 2024. Father, Lord, would You show us practically, Lord, how we can abide in You? Father, would You maybe shine the light if there’s a certain thing or sin or maybe just a pattern or something we’re doing in our life that’s hindering us from abiding in You? Lord, even our motives. Lord, help us to truly abide in You. What would You use tonight to that end? Thank You for the privilege and honor and the possibility You give us of abiding in You. That’s amazing. Help us to do so. Use tonight to that. And we’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. We ask for this in the name of Jesus. We pray, amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

They say Lawrence of Arabia a little bit after World War I came and visited Paris. And he brought with him some of his friends from Arabia. They came and they visited. And he showed them Paris and all the lights and the scenery, the Arc de Triomphe. He showed them Napoleon’s Tomb. And they were impressed somewhat by these things, but none of those were the thing that really greatly impressed them.

In fact, when they went to their hotel room, the thing that caught all of their attention was the faucet in the bathroom. They would gather around as they’d turn just one knob, water would come out. Literally, they say that they would applaud, you know, just for the turn of a knob, all the water you wanted came out. You’d turn it back and it just stopped, and they were just—they were like, “Wow.” They would gather around just turning the faucet on, water coming out, turn it off, water stopped. They were amazed at that. They were just shocked. That was the thing that impressed them most of all.

As they were ready to leave Paris, Lawrence stood in the lobby waiting for his friends. They were all late. And he went to check where they were at. They were all running late, and he found some of them in the room with wrenches trying to take the faucet off the wall. They said, “That’s what we need. It’s so dry over there. We need that. If we had faucets like that all over Arabia, I mean, just the turn of a knob and you get all the water, that’s what we need.”

And they said, Lawrence tried to explain to them. It’s not just that little faucet right there. It’s what it’s connected to. That is the source of water. And, friend, there’s nothing outstanding about any Christian, is the honest truth. We’re all sinners. We don’t have life-giving supply, but it’s what or who we’re connected to. And if we’re abiding in Christ, that is the key.

Let me give you just six statements before we get to the heart of this thing here. Number one: Bearing fruit can mean many different things. The subject here is much about bearing fruit. I think it can mean many different things. It can mean a godly life. You’re growing and you’re bearing fruit; you have a godly life. Maybe it means for you a godly home. Some of our ladies are just excellent homemakers, making your home a godly home—a wonderful thing. Maybe the fruit of your life in Christ, you’re abiding in Him, just means you’re growing in the Christian life, the growth of the Christian life. Many things, I think, can be represented by the fruit of a Christian.

Now, the ultimate of that—how many have you ever picked grapes from a grapevine? Anybody done that? Yeah, well, I like that. We used to live, and I was a boy for about a year or so down from a little orchard, and we could walk down there and just pick off of it, whatnot. And that orchard, if you ate those grapes, they were not seedless grapes. They had seeds in there. And the ultimate of a Christian is that seed inside there. You plant it, and it produces another grapevine. The ultimate of a Christian is, yes, winning souls to the Lord Jesus Christ, but I think there are many, many things that can be the fruit of a Christian. So bearing fruit—He’s talking about bearing fruit here in this passage. It can mean many different things, but the ultimate of that is another Christian.

Now here, number two: Just six statements at the beginning. Number two: Vines do not produce the grapes; branches do. Now, I don’t know if “produce” is the right word. They are not attached to the vine. If you go picking on those grapevines, it’s on the branches that you find the grapes. Isn’t it amazing that God chooses to use us? I sometimes say, “Lord, man, You could do a whole lot better on Your own. I mess everything up.” But God said, “No, I want to use you. You’re a co-laborer with me.” And the fruit is on the branches. We used to pick oranges a lot in Florida down there. And you’d climb up the center of that tree, but you’ve got to get out there on the limbs where the fruit is. And so the fruit is not on the vine, but on the branches.

Number three: A desire to bear fruit is a good desire because it brings glory to God. Look in verse number eight, we just read it—verse number eight right there. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples.” I remember years ago a fellow, and I didn’t say anything to him—he wasn’t here to church—but he said, “We’ve been bit by this lie that we’re supposed to win souls. We’re left here to win souls. We’re left here to glorify the Lord.” And boy, that verse is right on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to say, “Hey, you ought to bring Him glory. You bear much fruit.” You know, that’s biblical. It didn’t say anything of someone else’s past, whatnot, but no, that’s a good desire. If you have a desire to bear fruit, whatever it may be—the ultimate of that, of course, winning souls—that’s a great desire. It brings glory to God.

Now, number four: If you abide in Him, you will bear fruit. Look at verse number five right there. John 15, verse number five. “I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same might bring forth much…” Is that what it says? No, He says, “the same bringeth forth much fruit.” That’s pretty clear. I mean, if I’m abiding in Him and He’s abiding in me, then you—I will bear actually much fruit. Pretty clear. Kind of remind you of Jesus when He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Number five: These statements. Number five: If I do not abide in Him, I will not bear much fruit. Last part of verse number five right there, He says, “For without me ye can do nothing.”

So, number six: So the key is not necessarily bearing fruit; the key is abiding in Him. That’s the key. Because He says if you’re abiding in Him, you will bear much fruit. By the way, if I get so focused on bearing fruit that it takes me away from abiding in Him, I’m actually hindering my bearing fruit because that’s pulling me away from abiding in Him. Friend, the key is abiding in Christ. That’s the key.

Now, what does it mean? If you’re like me, all right, I get it, but how, or what does it mean? How can I abide in Him? What does it mean to abide in Him? Let me just share a couple thoughts. It would not be conclusive. As we were reading through it, I thought about the emphasis there on the Bible, and that for sure. We don’t leave that out, and the Bible emphasizes the Bible. But I’m going to just talk about a couple different angles on this thing tonight here.

Number one: What does it mean to abide in Christ? Number one: Abiding in Christ means to have my sins judged and confessed. Now I’m talking about judged—eternal judgment and judgment by the Holy Spirit of God—and confessed. Now here’s the thing: If I have unconfessed sins for however long… I have unconfessed sins. That’s how long I have not been abiding in Him.

And that’s so important. I believe so strongly in during our prayer time seeking the Lord, and He shows us our sin, and we confess it. In fact, I always think it’s interesting in the Lord’s model prayer over there several times, Matthew 6 and over there, Luke. It doesn’t say right off the back, “Confess your sin.” I always think it’s interesting towards the end of that model prayer, it talks about confessing your sins. I used to think, why is that? My thought is, after you spend some time with the Lord and the light, things show up that you never thought were sins before. And that’s crucial in your prayer time, your daily. That’s a daily thing. “Give us this day our daily bread.” He’s talking about going in your prayer closet and shutting the door. Your time alone with God is crucial. And part of that time must be confessing your sins.

Brother Howes used to talk about every once in a while—a couple of times maybe—he came to the motel room. I said, “Preaching together.” Came to the room and was going to say, “Hey, let’s go. Time to go preach.” And John Rice was over there tearing up pieces of paper, tearing paper, and putting it in the toilet and flushing it. And Brother Howe said, “What in the world are you doing?” And he said, “Well, I just confessed my sins. I wrote them down, and I confessed them to the Lord.” That card by my sins, and he said, “I’m tearing them up and flushing them down, amen, right now,” you know, getting them out of here. That’s wonderful. That’s right. That must be. It must be.

And God can do so much in our hearts to get our hearts right with Him during our devotion time. But if I’m to abide—the first time “abide” is mentioned, if I remember right, it’s talking about living in someone’s house, “abide here,” stay here, live here, dwell here. And if I’m going to dwell, if I’m going to abide in Christ, yes, during my devotion time, but throughout the day.

And working at this—saying, Martin Luther, not Martin Luther King, but Martin Luther used to say, “Keep short accounts with God.” Throughout the day, let me say this: You’re trying to walk in the Spirit. If throughout the day you lose the fruit of the Spirit and you don’t have peace, you don’t have love and joy, you stop and say, “Wait a second, something’s not right. I’ve lost the Spirit working in my life. I’m not walking in the Spirit.” And right at that moment, say, “All right, Lord, what’s going on? Somehow, fruit of the Spirit—what’s going on?” And it’s amazing how the Holy Spirit, you spend a little time there, He’ll reveal to you. And you confess it right then.

Look at First John, if you would, please. First John, chapter number one. He doesn’t use this word “abide” over here. He uses this word “fellowship,” which is very similar in the Christian life to abiding in Christ. 1 John chapter number one, look in verse number five. First John 1, verse number five. He says there, he says, “This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship,” abide, if you will. “If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light”—it’s encouraging, it doesn’t mean you’re perfect, but you walk in the light—“but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” Watch this: “And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all our sin.” How do you abide in Christ? You get confessed. You get His blood washing, cleansing your sin. Watch verse number eight. He says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Friend, every one of us, every one of us sin every day. And so if I am going to truly abide in Christ, I must get in the habit of confessing. If it’s in your prayer time, wonderful, but throughout the day confessing our sin. “Lord, I shouldn’t have said that. I had a wrong thought there. My motives were wrong there. Having ill feelings coming up in my heart there, Lord, I need to get right. I should not have said that to my spouse or my children,” whatever it may be, but moment by moment throughout the day confessing my sin. Why? Because abiding in Christ is to have my sins judged and confessed.

If I’d abide in Christ… Take your song book, if you would, tonight. It’s appropriate tonight. We have the instruments, and I love that. Grab your song book. We’re going to use it a little bit tonight. I want you to look over in page 85, page 85 of your song book. And I want you to look there at page number 85. I can find it. We’ll get there. “Nothing Between My Soul and the Savior.” And if you look, the line below the title, the number, you’ll see the man that wrote the song and the man that put the music to the song, C.A. Tinley, or Charles Tinley. You say, “Who was that?” He was a boy that was born—his dad was a slave during the Civil War—and grew up very, very rough. By the time he was five, his mom and his dad both had passed. He worked as a janitor when he was very young at a church in Philadelphia. He had to learn—he had to walk to a place to learn to read, whatnot—and he’s a very young man, but God called him to preach.

As a young man, he went to Cape May, New Jersey—that’s the area my wife is from. He went to Cape May, New Jersey, and he pastored just a little bit of a church, and God blessed there. Really shocking—it’s the south of New Jersey. My wife, she says, if anybody gets offended, she’s from New Jersey. Southern people, she always says, “Well, I’m from South Jersey,” amen, you know. And she’s gotten pretty good at those things, you know. And God blessed just—just—just by the ocean down there and by the coast, and God blessed that work there in a great way. And then a little while later on, he got called to pastor the church in Philadelphia that he used to be the janitor at.

Well, Philadelphia at the time was the second largest city in the United States. And some people said, “Now, look, you can do that in a little bit of town there in South Jersey. God used you there, but it’s not going to work in a big city church. You can’t do it.” But he said, “Well, God just called me there,” and he went there, and he took that church, and God began to bless that church. The church building at first, they had a building of 150, and God filled that. Then they were able to add on a little bit to 300, and God filled that. A little bit more to 600, God filled that. A little bit more to 1,200, God filled that. Eventually, a building of 3,000, and God filled that every Sunday, they say, for 20 years. Some say the membership grew to 7,000; some even, according to who you read, up to 11, 12,000, some say.

And it was a boy of slaves who, as a boy, parents dead by the time he was five years old, and people would come to him and say, “Hey, what’s your secret? How is it God used you there in Cape May, New Jersey, and now there’s a church in Philadelphia and thousands come there? And what’s your secret?” And this is what he always said: “All I have to do is make sure there’s nothing between me and the Lord. And any time there’s anything between me and God, I try just as quick as I can, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get that right. I’ve got to get that right.’” And he’s the man that God used to pen that song.

Look at verse number one, if you would, please. Verse number one: “Nothing between my soul and the Savior, not of this world’s delusive dream. I have renounced all sinful pleasures; Jesus is mine.” There’s nothing between. “Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His favor; keep the way clear, let nothing between.” He is divine.

If you want to abide in Him, what does that mean? You let nothing between, just moment by moment, you’re saying, “I want it to be clear between me and You, Lord.” Anything, anything comes up and you’re not walking in the Spirit, just that very moment, “All right, Lord, what have I done wrong? What’s going on here?” Boy, He’s so forgiving. If we confess—we read it—we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness, moment by moment.

What does it mean to abide in Christ? Having no sins unjudged and unconfessed. Number two: What does it mean to abide in Christ? It means you draw all wisdom, life, and strength. By the way, keep your song book, but we’re going to use them here in a minute here. But that’s what it is: abide in Christ. You’re drawing all wisdom, life, and strength from Him.

You know, a branch, if it’s a large branch, it gets cut off from the trunk or the vine, it’ll last for a bit. If it’s a great vine, it may last for hours; it may last for a couple of days. If it’s a large tree, some of the oak tree or something like that, you know, a big old limb, and it gets cut off in the spring or summertime, and you’ll say it’s cut off, but the leaves are still green. Some of those as large, it may take weeks, it may take a month or two, but slowly it’s going to lose its life-giving power. And after a while, those green leaves on there, and it looks bright and green and beautiful, they’re going to start shriveling up and turning brown. And after a while, they will not have any power. They will not have any life. It won’t have any wisdom, if you will. It’s all drained because it got severed from the vine.

Now, friend, why is it getting all its nutrients from the trunk of that tree? And if I’m to abide in Christ, I’m getting all my nutrients, all my life, all my wisdom, all my—I’m getting it all from the vine. To abide in Christ means I’m drawing from Him everything. Everything.

I like James 1:5. Many of you probably know, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” That means He won’t get on to you for asking. Even sometimes I ask for dumb things, you know. “Lord, what do You want me to wear today?” Any men out there you can’t stand to pick out something to wear, anybody like that out there? Praise the Lord for my life. She often picks it out, and I thank God for it because I can’t stand picking out my clothes, you know. But sometimes I’ll ask, “Hey, Lord, what do You want me to wear today?” you know? And, you know, that’s a silly little thing, but, you know, He’ll never upbraid you. “And if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto them.” Ask about everything. Every decision. You’re always drawing from Him.

Anybody have a hard time getting up from their nap on Sunday afternoon? Anybody out there like that? Woo! Why, I’m getting on our level now. I’m with you on that. My goodness, you know. Hey, I just ask Him for—always you’re just drawing from Him, everything. “Give me some strength, Lord. Give me some energy, Lord.” Abiding in Christ, you’re not relying on the branch, yourself. Not self-reliance; it’s Christ reliance. Paul said that through the inspiration of God in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.” We’re always drawing from Him. Always everything. Everything you need, you’re drawing from the vine. Lord, if I begin to take from myself, after a while I’ll start withering up.

And burnout is a true thing. I’m not saying it’s never a true thing, but sometimes it’s not really because we’re too busy; it’s because we’re burning out because we’re not connected to the vine. And that tree is just kind of withering up, and I’ve got no life, no energy left because it’s trying to self-rely. And sometimes, well, you don’t need to do anything for Christ. No, a lot of times the problem isn’t that; the problem is you’re not abiding in Christ. Abiding in Christ, that’s where everything comes from. That’s why Christians, they just give out and they can’t hardly keep going; they’ve got nothing left in themselves because they’re not drawing from the vine. Everything, everything.

Look in your song book, if you would, page 254, page 254 over there. We sang this song this morning, and some of the words just kind of—man, it just caught my attention. I almost said something this morning when I came up and made an announcement and said, “No, just leave it alone.” And it’s been on my mind; there are some wonderful words to this song, 254. The lady—the lady that wrote this—you’ll see at the top left there; that’s the words, over on the right is the music. But the lady that wrote it—how would you say her first name before I messed up? Louisa, that’s what I thought. Louisa Steed. Would that be right? She had gotten married as a young lady and, of course, loved her husband. I believe his name was George. They had a little daughter, and their daughter’s name was Lily. And we think, the best we know, in 1880, she—she and her husband and the daughter went to the ocean, and they were just having a day outing. And by the ocean, they began to hear a cry out there, and a boy was out there swimming, and he got caught in the undertow in the tide. And he’s just screaming for his life, and instantly George, her husband, he jumped in to go save that young boy, and he swam out there, but the tide was just too strong. And it ended up killing her husband. The sad part is they say that her and her daughter watched their dad and their husband die.

And yet after that, through that tragedy—so many of the songs are written through tragedy—God used her to pen these words. It’s been saying so much down through history. “'Tis sweet to trust in Jesus.” Verse number three caught my attention so much this morning as we were singing, in verse number three right there: “Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; from Jesus simply taking—here it is—simply taking life and rest and joy and peace.” She was abiding in Christ. “Just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace.” “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus.” I love the last line of this song. It’s another one of those lines that just always gets me: “All for grace to trust Him more.” Abiding in Christ, you’re drawing everything from Him. Lord, I don’t have it in me. That’s all right. It doesn’t have to be in you. You draw it from Him. You’re continually drawing from Him.

Number three: Means you take all the burdens of your life and give them to Him. You know, a branch—a branch, it doesn’t hold itself up. A branch does not—it’s connected to the foundation of the ground. All of its weight is dependent, is resting on the trunk of the vine, every bit of it. And it’s not holding itself up at all. I remember we used to have one of them in our church, and we sang that song, “Leaning on Jesus.” He said, “Here lately, I’ve not been leaning on Jesus; I’ve been laying on Jesus.” Oh, that’s pretty good.

And the branch, it doesn’t hold itself up. It’s relying totally on the vine to keep it held up. And abiding in Christ means we take all of our burdens, all of our problems, all of our—whatever you’re burdened of finances, you give them to Him. These are Yours, Lord. It may be, “Lord, I’m trying; I’m doing my best to obey You. I’m working like You told me to. Now, I’m Your servant; You’re my Master. The Master takes care of His servant.” Here, I’m putting the burden of my finances in Your hands. Your burdens. Maybe you got hurt. “I got hurt over the situation. I got wounded over the situation.” And that happens in life, friend. That doesn’t mean, by the way—sometimes we think “offended.” You’re never supposed to get hurt at all? No, no, no. Offended means it makes you stumble, makes you stop. That’s when you get offended—you just don’t keep going for the Lord. You’re going to get hurt; you’re human, friend. All of us get hurt. By the way, sometimes you love deeply, you get hurt deeply. That’s all right. That’s not sinful to hurt. But you take your hurts and you give them to the Lord.

I mean, all your burdens, all your weight—you just got a weighty life. I think about, I mentioned earlier, Brother Lloyd taking care of his sister, and different weights, Ms. Angela taking care of her mom and her brother right now, and the burden—sometimes life just gets a little heavy, you know, and it just got a lot going on. And you take your burdens and you say, “Lord, I’m putting them in Your hands.” That’s what it means to abide in Him. All the burden of your life, every single bit of your burdens, the heavy load, “Lord, I’m giving it to You.”

I love Psalm 55:22: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” You know what? 1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” Give it all to Him.

Look over, if you would please, page 401 in your song book, 401. You’ll notice the author of this one. We’ve already mentioned him already tonight: Charles Tinley, the man that was born—Civil War slave, his dad was a slave. And God used him to pen this song here also. He penned this song when he was pastoring that church in Philadelphia, I mentioned. And he had a lady come to him, and she just—you just kind of unloaded on him, if you will, all of her burdens, all of her problems, and she just went on and on. And he tried to take that time, and he told her—he said, “Lady, would you—would you take all your problems, all of them, and put them all in one sack? Take them all. All the things you just—let’s take them all—and let’s put them all in one sack. Now I want you to take that sack and give it to the Lord and leave it there.”

She left his office and began to think about that. It felt like God had kind of given him what to tell this lady, and the more he thought about it, God turned it into the song we sing right here. Would you look at verse number one right there? Verse number one: “If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, and you have to get along with meager fare, just remember in His Word how He feeds the little bird: Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.”

Would you go down to verse number three right there? “When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail, don’t forget that God in heaven answers your prayer. He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through: Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.” Look at verse number four: “When your youthful days are gone, and old age is stealing on, and your body bends beneath the weight of care, He will never leave you then; He will go with you to the end: Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.”

“Leave it there, leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out: Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.”

Hey, this first Sunday night of the year, let’s decide: I want to abide in You, Christ. I want to abide in You. You say, “We’re focused on the fruit.” Don’t get too focused on it. You can get so focused on it that it takes away from you abiding in Christ. Hey, let’s abide in Christ. If we’re abiding in Him, He says you’ll bear much fruit.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Heads bowed, eyes closed.

You said, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about that thing of no unconfessed sin throughout the day. Just moment by moment, if I go five minutes with unconfessed sin, there are five minutes I was not abiding in Him. If I go a day, a week with unconfessed sin, I spend a day a week without abiding in Christ.”

“Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I want to do better. I want to grow. I want to be sensing. I’m going to be watching if I don’t have the fruit of the Spirit; I don’t have those resources. I can feel it; I’m just drying up, I’m shriveling up. I want to get things right. Nothing between my soul and the Savior.” God spoke to my heart about that right there. That’s you tonight? You slip your hand up, Preacher, that’s me right there. That’s me right there. Oh, me too, friend. Me too, friend. God bless you. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your hearts.

Maybe there tonight you say, “I want to draw from Him.” You know, we just grow up relying on self, and the more I grow in the Lord, I don’t get more independent; I get more dependent. You say, “I want to get more dependent. I want to draw my wisdom, my life, my strength from the vine. I mean, I want to draw from Him all the resources. I want to be better at that, just totally drawing and depending on Christ.” God spoke to my heart about that tonight. If that’s you, just lift your hand and pray to You. “I want to be better about that. I want to grow, just totally relying and drawing from Him.” God bless you. God bless you. It’s wonderful. He has all the resources available for us.

Maybe here tonight you say, “Preacher, I want my limb, my branch to be totally relying on the vine to hold it up. I mean, I want to be totally—I don’t want to be attached to the ground; I want to be attached to the vine. And I want to cast all my burdens, all my hurts, all my issues. I want to put them all on the Lord and, by His grace, leave it there.” God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you? Not sleep your hand, Preacher. That’s what I’m doing. I’m going to grow in that. God bless you. Me too. Me too. Me too.

Would you please stand tonight? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Let’s just do our best. This first Sunday night of the year, let’s abide. Let’s work in this thing: abiding in Christ in 2024. Father, thank You for the amazing privilege we have of abiding in You, just amazing, Lord. We don’t deserve it. Thank You for it. Forgive me, Lord, sometimes I go with unconfessed sins. Forgive me for that, Lord. Help us quickly get things right and get back abiding in You. Lord, help us to draw from Your wisdom, Your life, Your strength. Father, help us to cast all our burdens on You, resting on You for everything. Bless our people these few minutes in Jesus, and we pray. Amen.

Would you come as our entrance music was playing? That’s the key. That’s the key for everything: abiding in Him. So if you abide in Him, you and Him, you will bear much fruit. Amazing promise of God’s Word, amazing. Abiding in Christ, that’s where it’s at, I promise you. He’s the vine. Amen.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - How to Abide - Sunday PM 01072023