Abide in My Love
John 15:9
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes/cleans, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:3 You are already clean/pruned because of the word which I have spoken to you.
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“Abide” occurs ten times in our chapter.
Abide – To be vitally connected to. (Continue in, dwell in, live in, remain in, stay in, persevere, stand firm).
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
- No fruit
- Fruit
- More fruit
- Much fruit
John 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Here we catch a glimpse into the Trinity.
Isaiah 6:3 Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!
Isaiah 6:8 Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us? Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
At the heart of the TRINITY is Great LOVE! Eternal LOVE! Perfect LOVE! (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
We are all saved with a LONGING for this type of GENUINE, LOVING community!
We’re saved ALONE but we’re NOT saved to remain ALONE! We are a body, a family, a spiritual temple (living stones). Look for at least one person each Sunday you can have a meaningful conversation or prayer time with.
John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Jesus LOVES me, this I know – for the Bible tells me so!
John 15:13 There is NO GREATER LOVE than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
This great LOVE springs out of the Trinity! (Our text: John 15:9).
By this we know LOVE.
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (Notice the vertical flow of love from Jesus redirecting horizontally through us to others.)
Our love for Jesus is simply a RESPONSE! Worship is a response to His love.
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
We see these same truths in the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
We should love our:
- Neighbor
- Wife/husband/children
- Enemies!
John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Abide in Me!
Abide in My love!
In our verse we learn that
- LOVE is CENTRAL to the Trinity
- LOVE is CENTRAL to who Jesus is!
- LOVE is to be CENTRAL to who we are as Jesus’ followers!
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Abide in My love!
This abiding love is so powerful (both vertically and horizontally). We forget just how POWERFUL Jesus’ love is in us, in our dark, sinful, world! (His love is so common – or familiar – to us). We forget just how POWERFUL Jesus’ forgiveness is in our dark sinful world! It is so POWERFUL when we’re forgiven and therefore enabled to forgive those who have sinned against us! (A part of the Lord’s Prayer we take for granted.)
Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
This week the Holy Spirit used an 18 year old to REMIND the ENTIRE WORLD of how POWERFUL it is when somebody is genuinely abiding in Jesus and abiding in Jesus’ Love! An 18 year old: Brandt Jean. What God did this week through Brandt Jean is a reminder of how God can (and wants to) use you in teen years to powerfully touch our world. Brandt spoke at the sentencing of Amber Guyger, who killed Brandt’s brother Botham after mistakenly entering his apartment instead of her own. Brandt forgave Amber and directed her to Jesus. Judge Tammy Kemp, inspired by Brandt’s love, retrieved her personal Bible and returned to the courtroom. She gifted it to Amber and pointed to John 3:16.
John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Brandt’s message to Amber is a message to all:
- We hope you go to God with all the bad things you’ve done, your guilt and your shame.
- I know if you go to God and ask Him, He will forgive you!
- I want you to give your life to Christ!