Title "Remain in Me" / John 15:1-8
abide in the content”
John 15:1-8, Galatians 5:22-23
What is belief? Realizing the grace of Jesus, giving thanks for His grace, praising Him, worshiping Him, praying in His name, and living like Jesus. Therefore, if we lose or forget Jesus, faith cannot become faith. While we live in a busy world, the focus of our faith is also blurred, so it is easy to think about the extent to which our religious life is vaguely dependent on God and receiving God's help. But faith cannot come apart from Jesus. We are saved from our sins by the grace of Jesus, we go to the kingdom of God through Jesus, and we pray in the name of Jesus. Therefore, there is no faith without Jesus.
In today's text, such a relationship is mentioned using the vine as an example. Jesus is the true vine, and God is the farmer. And he said to have Christians. The key to this verse is “relationship” (關係). What is the relationship between Jesus and I? Who is Jesus to me? That relationship is described in the parable of the vine.
1. abide in me
The first word in today's parable is to 'abide in me'. What does it mean to abide in Jesus? In other words, it means to live in Jesus. What is life in Jesus like? Let the words of Jesus rule my life. It means that the word of the Lord becomes the basis of my life, and I put the values and center of my life on the words of Jesus. It means that my thoughts and actions are driven by the words of Jesus.
Sometimes, even if we work hard in our faith life, when we stop for a moment and look back, we are surprised to discover that I am living without Jesus and living outside of Jesus. How many times do I spend so much time without thinking of Jesus, not thinking of Jesus very much, and not even thanking Jesus for His grace... Sometimes I mistakenly think that coming to church and worshiping for an hour and then returning home is all about faith, my problem Sometimes I think that my faith is great by hanging on to the church and praying, and I am satisfied with myself by taking on a certain task in the church and working hard. All of these are important factors, but if Jesus is missing from it, you wonder if it is really faith. Without Jesus in all the works of our faith, it is just an empty faith. It may even be idol worship.
Our ancestors of faith in the old days thought it was because it was so difficult that they considered living with Jesus as joy rather than material abundance. Jesus was always there in prayer. Jesus is my savior, without me without Jesus, faith without Jesus is vain, life without Jesus is a dead life. Thank you for the grace of Jesus, even if it is difficult and difficult, I will live according to the will of Jesus. The old people always lived with such a confession. This is also reflected in the gospel hymns that people of the past loved and sang.
I don't want heaven without Jesus. Jesus, I don't hate hell either
* Jesus, my lord, come to my heart. I am satisfied with only Jesus alone.
The southeast wind blows, the northwest wind blows, blowing the scent of lilies and Jesus in the thorns
Dear saints, I hope that you will have the faith to always communicate with Jesus. May you live your life in Jesus. I bless you that a life that always thinks of Jesus, always remembers the words of Jesus, and always pleases Jesus becomes your faith life. That is life in the Lord.
2. I will abide in you.
The second word is, “I will also abide in you.” How does Jesus dwell in us? He dwells in the Spirit. Last week we talked about the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, but Jesus lives in us through the Holy Spirit. When we live in the word of the Lord, the Lord comes into us through the Holy Spirit. He said that if we abide in the Lord and the Lord abide in us, we should ask whatever we want.
‘Ask whatever you want. If you do, it will be done.” What a heartbreaking statement! In the Gospel of Mark, He also said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (11:24). It is a promise that God will surely hear you if you pray with sincere faith. What a wonderful promise! But perhaps this is not simply a prayer that satisfies our desires. Of course, the problems we face every day in this world make it hard for us, so we need to bring these problems to the Lord and ask for them. The Lord does not say that he does not know the prayer of such supplication. When the Lord was on earth, He never underestimated or ignored human suffering, pain, and problems. Rather, the Lord solved our problems by sharing our heartaches, compassion, and sometimes even tears. But today's words 'Ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you' is preceded by the condition 'If you abide in me, and my words abide in you' (15:7). It is a word that presupposes faith.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23
These fruits of the Spirit are the fruits of faith that we must bear in faith. These are the signs of faith that we should aim for. However, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc., are not moral fruits that we get through hard work. You don't become loved by trying to love, you don't become happy by trying to be happy. These are the fruits that naturally bear fruit when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. If we abide in the Lord, these are the fruits that bear automatically.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of faith that is produced when we are connected with the Lord in a relationship of life. Therefore, my faith in the Lord and in the Lord in me is the most important thing. I believe that if I abide in the word of Jesus and dwell in the Lord with the filling of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of faith, the fruit of life, and the fruit of grace will bear abundantly in our lives. I bless you.
3. You can do nothing apart from me.
In order to bear fruit so abundantly, you need to be attached to the tree. I heard that a lot of damage was caused by this typhoon ‘Gonpas’. In fact, we have also seen apartments where electricity went out and windows were broken around us. And thousands of trees were uprooted and fell. The branches of the trees were broken and they wandered along the roadside. The broken branches dried out in less than a day, and eventually the cleaners raked them up and took them somewhere. It probably went into a pile of garbage and burned. No matter how fresh the leaves or the most handsome branches, the moment they fall from the tree, they become garbage. Because the line of life is broken in it.
abide in me and i will abide in you
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.
Neither will you, unless you are in me. John 15:4
Unless a man abides in me, he is thrown out like a branch and withers.
People gather these things and throw them into the fire, and they are consumed. John 15:6
Faith is a relationship that shares life with Jesus. If Jesus is not in our faith, that faith is dead. The soul is lifeless. It's alive, but it's dead. There is life (ψυχη), but not life (ζωη).
Faith is an absolutely inseparable relationship with Jesus. Without Jesus there is no faith, and without Jesus there is no salvation. Without Jesus there is no grace, without Jesus there is no life. Just as a branch of a vine cannot be separated from the vine, so faith is inseparable from Jesus.
In today's text, we compared our relationship with Jesus to a vine and a branch. He said that it is an inseparable relationship of life, a relationship that cannot bear fruit in isolation. I hope you will always have faith in Jesus. I hope that you will always have faith that remembers the words of Jesus. May you always have faith in praising Jesus. May you always have faith that walks with Jesus. Think about what Jesus would do. I hope you have in your heart what kind of life is pleasing to Jesus. That is the life that dwells in the Lord, and it will be the life that the Lord dwells in me. I hope that you will have faith in the Lord who is the vine, which leads to life in any circumstance, any problem, and any difficulty, and stands firm. With this faith, I pray that you will become blessed saints who bear abundant fruits of grace and blessings every day.