Abide In Christ - Part 2

1. Plugged into the Holy Spirit

The only way to live a Christ-centered life is to become apprentices of Jesus so that we can be with Him, become like Him, and do what He did, and so learn from Him to live the kingdom life. But this requires that we must be in his presence 24/7. We saw last week from John 14:15-30 that this is possible because Jesus Christ is present with us through the Holy Spirit. We learn to live in a constant state of awareness of and connection to the Spirit. And so we bear the fruit of the Spirit. Gal. 5:13-25 — “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” After the acts of the flesh in verses 19-21, Paul comes to the fruit of the Spirit — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

To bear the fruit of the Spirit, we must be led by, walk by, keep in step with, and live by the Spirit. We must be plugged into the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit all the time. We must learn to set the sails of our boats, the sails of our lives so that we can catch the wind, the power of the Spirit, and live by the Spirit. How? We remain, abide in Christ.

2. Remain, Abide In Christ

John 15:1-11 — “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

μένω — used 10 x here, such a small word with such rich and deep meaning — to remain, abide, dwell, continue, keep on, stay, make one’s dwelling (home)

Every season I watch the apple trees produce fruit. On the branches appear small buds, which turn into beautiful blossoms and then into small green apples, which grow into red, mature, ripe apples. We don’t see the branches trying to produce fruit. It just happens. It’s the natural outcome, product, of their lives as long as they remain rooted and connected to the main trunk. If a branch does not remain in the trunk, it withers and dies because it’s cut off from its source of life and the flow of life. It cannot bear fruit.

Jesus is the bread of life, the living bread. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the source of our life. As the water and nutrients flow from the vine into the branches and produce fruit, Jesus through the Holy Spirit gives us life. He transforms us and enables us to bear fruit. His life, the living bread and water, flows into us and empowers us to become like Him and do what He did. When we abide in Christ we enter into the lifestyle of Jesus. We live like Him. And out of that lifestyle flow the fruit of the Spirit. The kingdom life will be the natural outcome, the side effect if you will, of abiding in Christ.  I just love this statement from Oswald Chambers: “The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of principles to be obeyed apart from identification with Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting his way with us.” (Quoted by DW, 8)

Abiding in Christ means that we “… set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds [let your mind dwell] on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:1-2). “… have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” [think the way Christ Jesus did] (Phil 2:5). We fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Heb 12:1-2). When we take intentional steps to abide in Christ, He transforms our hearts and minds. He changes our lives from the inside out. His love, grace, and power bring forth the kingdom life and its fruit in our lives. How do we abide in Christ all the time? How do we keep God before our minds and in our hearts all the time?

3. Practice the Practices of Jesus

We practice the practices of Jesus. These practices enable us to keep God before us, abide in Christ, and remain plugged into the Holy Spirit. These are the Sabbath, rest, prayer, silence, solitude, fasting, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating on Scripture, worship, and service. Today, these practices are called the spiritual disciplines. In the early church, these were called the Rule of Life because they should guide our lives. Everything we do should be rooted in and flow out of these practices. Unfortunately, these practices have been neglected, abused, misused, and misunderstood. Some consider them as obsolete and unnecessary. Others practice them in a legalistic way or idolize them. We do not practice these to earn God’s love. He already loves us, always has, and always will. We practice these practices so that we can be with Jesus.

These are time-tested and proven practices. They are the only way to abide in Christ; the only way to live by, walk with, and keep in step with the Holy Spirit. PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION — full-time ministry same issues as any other work — Zambia — friend to put first things first — Philippines — wanted to go deeper — trying not training — another brother helped me to abide in Christ — new ways of Bible reading & prayer, silence & rest in the Lord — Mongolia — absorbed & ruled by ministry — elephant, returned to practices — here I was in May 2023 — again taking my spiritual growth for granted — using quiet time for sermon study & prep. Not easy, ups & downs — one lesson — when practice we bear fruit, if not things go haywire and our souls suffer.

We cannot discuss in detail these practices now — perhaps another series or our Adult Sunday School. However, there is one practice I would like to highlight today, one we can all begin with this week, and that is, practicing the presence of God. We all have carved out time to be with God daily. However, we all know how quickly we drift away from God’s presence when we become busy and hurried during the day. The practice of God’s presence helps us to direct and redirect our focus to God when we become distracted. This is the practice of Col. 3:17 — “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, Tish Harrison Warren. Wake up in the morning the first thing — make yourself aware of God’s presence. Be still, thank Him for the night’s rest and the new day. Rejoice in the new day. Do your daily routines with Him. Mirror—Jesus and you. Shower—washed in the blood of Christ. Dress—put on the armor of God/new white garments of righteousness. Meals — Jesus Bread & Water of Life nourishes you.

Yes, as we move into and through the day, we will become disconnected. God will move away from the front of our minds and out of focus. Take a moment to stop, to slow down, breathe in, and breathe out. Pray, “God, You are here and have been here all along. I have not been here. I have been … (whatever you are doing). Now You are here. I am here with You together.” Practicing the presence of God is living every moment with Jesus. You don’t have to become a monk in a monastery to do that. You can live with Jesus and do with Jesus whatever career or job you are doing. Be a teacher, logger, doctor, or nurse with Jesus. Converse with Him continually about all you are doing.

Learn more — Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of a Holy Life. Monk in a monastery working in the kitchen cooking and washing dishes — "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament." And I would add that I am possessed by God.

Practice this every day. Don’t give up. The Holy Spirit will change you. The more we practice the presence of God in our lives, the more his presence and power will begin to flow over into the other areas of our lives where we are not with Him or are trying to keep Him out of. He will begin to knock on those doors of our hearts that we are still keeping closed to Him.

4. A Radical Realignment of Our Lives

However, to practice the practices of Jesus requires a radical realignment, reorientation, and rearrangement of our lives. In this world, we are challenged and hindered by our habits of dwelling on things less than God and on things of self. We are distracted by our materialistic and hedonistic habits and lifestyles. Our habits form and shape us. Our lifestyle produces the life we lead. We need to replace these habits with new habits, the practices of Jesus so that we can be with Him, become like Him, and do what He did. If we want to live like Jesus, we need to adopt his lifestyle, and his habits.

Therefore, we must radically rearrange our lives. When we cannot take the steps to radically rearrange our lives, we need to examine ourselves with brutal honesty. What is holding me back? Why am I holding on to this thing? If I cannot practice the Sabbath or cannot find 10 minutes to sit with God during the day because of work, what does that tell me about my trust in God and his provision? We should then seriously consider whether those things that are idols in our lives.

“Idolatry is looking horizontally for a savior. It is hoping that my job, experiences, and successes; spouse, children, and friends; physical strength, intellect, and appearance; or possessions, pleasure, and wealth will give me satisfaction, freedom, healing, wholeness, and peace of heart. Idolatry somehow, someway, buys into the delusion that abundant life can be found outside of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is surrendering the rulership of my heart to something other than the God who made me and who alone has rightful claim to the surrender of everything I am and have.” (Paul Tripp)

Begin this week. Examine your life. Simplify your life to what really matters. Remove anything that distracts you from being with Jesus all the time. Don’t do it all at once. Begin with one thing, one habit at a time. Remove it and replace it with one of the practices of Jesus. Identify the practice that works for you. Insert that practice into your life in the place of the habit you have removed. Later as you learn and grow, add new practices of Jesus to replace more and more of your old habits. Audio/podcasts are good but need dedicated time with God without any distractions. Devotional good but in-depth Bible book study and reading through the Bible. Switch off … Learn to say no. Slow down.

We radically realign our lives so that we can practice the practices of Jesus, abide in Christ, and live plugged into the Holy Spirit. If we don’t do that, we may survive until we die and go to heaven but we will not thrive in this life. We will miss out on the abundant life of Christ. However, He wants us not to just survive but to thrive for his glory. Jesus invites us into his life and He wants us to experience his life to the full.

It’s not easy and life is hard. We live right in the middle of life’s hardships, pain, and suffering. We live in a chaotic world that is falling apart. But life following Jesus, life with God is unbelievable and beautiful. It is a life of peace and unspeakable joy even in the midst of life’s hardships. We have this life, now we must live it. How? Simple, we live like Jesus. Yes, it will take a lifetime of practice but it’s worth the cost. This is how we live with Jesus — “Put Jesus, the risen Jesus, in the middle of your life, your thinking, your living, your work, your pains, your griefs, your anxieties, your hopes, and your fears -- put this Jesus in the middle, and work them all around him. Learn to worship him; learn to love him; and learn to live with [his] new life in his new world.” (N.T. Wright)