Abiding in Christ

Abiding in Christ

 This is Chuck Rapp with a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.  

In my last message I shared about the necessity of having a proper view of oneself, to have a “sane estimate” of your abilities (this was Romans 12:3), to avoid thinking too high or too low of yourself, and to give both your personal strengths and weaknesses to the Lord.  

Today I would like for us to look at John chapter 15 as we discuss Abiding in Christ.  In verses 4-8, Jesus tells his disciples and us to “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

If we are to have a proper view of ourselves, we must always keep in the forefront of our minds that we are absolutely, completely dependent upon Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Apart from Him we can do nothing.  What does “nothing mean here”?  It means NOTHING.  We are branches; apart from the vine we wither, fail to produce fruit and eventually die.  

On the other hand, Christ tells us that if we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit; we will have our prayers answered; and we will demonstrate that we are Christ’s disciples.  In Andrew Murray’s book, The Believer’s Absolute Surrender, he makes the bold statement that “Absolute dependence upon God is the secret of all power in work.”  

A second thought from this scripture is that the life of the branch is not only of complete dependence but also deep restfulness.  How can this be?  Think of this.  Which part is doing all the work?  I would suggest that it is the vine and its root system.  Branches receive their nourishment from the vine.  Branches have no work to do other than to stay healthily attached to the vine.  Bearing fruit is the natural outcome for branches that are attached to the vine and receiving its nourishment.  

We will continue our thoughts on Abiding in Christ in our next message.  Until then, continue to receive the nourishment of God’s Word and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within you.  As you do, it is natural that you will produce fruit for the Kingdom.  

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.