ABIDING IN HIM- First Service
Sunday 16th October 2022
John 15:4-7...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. “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. 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. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
[8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Abiding in God is a choice and fruitfulness is what determines whether we are Jesus' disciples or not.
Read Galatians 5:22-23
There is no limit to which you can practice the fruits of the HOLY SPIRIT. This means that you can go as deep and wide as you can in practicing them without restriction.
Mark 3:13-14 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
Jesus did not call them to send them but He called them to first be with Him and then send them. He did not choose scribes, Levites, or priests but raw and ill-mannered men who were nothing to be His disciples (Matthew 4:19).
When Jesus was arrested, all of them fled. He had been with them for three and a half years and had poured Himself into them but they all disappeared from Him when the day of trouble came.
God is so confident of Himself that He doesn't change; the only substance that is subject to change is a man whom He has called (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, 1 Corinthians 15:33
Read Mark 16
When Jesus resurrected, He did not rebuke the disciples for running away. God is so confident in His ability to change a man that He went back to the same man whom He called; He never gives up on His people.
You can never change yourself except with the help of the Holy Spirit. The only way you can be transformed is by coming to Jesus.
How does He transform people?
By abiding in Him and sooner or later, what He has will rub on you. It is what flows from the vine to the branch that causes that branch to bring forth fruit (John 15:7).
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Lust of flesh stands for any attitude/desire not aligned with God's word. The only way a believer can conquer the works of the flesh is by walking in the Spirit.
When Jesus chose the twelve, they were people of terrible behaviors but all He asked them was to abide and stay in Him (John 15:4).
God knows that you can not live a godly life without the Holy Spirit. That's why He sent the Holy Spirit so that He may live His life through us: He wants us to major in fellowship because that is the place where transformation is birthed.
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.
When we come to Jesus, what flows out of Him is grace, the Father brings love and the Holy Spirit brings fellowship.
Fellowship is the gift of the Holy Spirit to a believer. That's why Jesus said;
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
What Jesus was to the disciples in the three and a half years is what the Holy Spirit is to us now. Every time the disciples were stranded and didn't know what to do, they went to Jesus in private (Matthew 17:19, Luke 5:4).
No matter how wise you are, there is nothing you can do outside the Holy Spirit. You must involve Him in every area of your life because He was sent to help you.
We are holding on to the knowledge of the world yet there is a wisdom of God that never fails. There are mo
