Date: August 10, 2025
Series: Fruit bearing
Last week, I gave us some Scriptures to show us that for us to bear the kind of fruit God wants us to bear, God Himself must be at work in us. God must produce in our lives what He wants to see in us. Otherwise, whatever effort we make towards becoming the persons He wants us to be is going to be an effort in futility. And that’s why Jesus tells us to abide in Him. Look at verse 4 of that chapter, St. John’s Gospel, chapter 15, again: “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.” (John 15:4-5NIV)
The Lord has already shown us how to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Yes, we have a demand on us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit and to bring it forth abundantly. We have to bring forth love, faith, gentleness, peace, humility, self-control and brotherly affection as fruit of the Spirit or as the fruit of the life that has been recreated by God. But if we will not abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will not be able to bring forth this fruit. It is impossible to do so. That’s what Jesus Himself says. You have to stay connected to him. And that’s because He is our source. It is from Him that we draw life, the life of God. It is from Him that we draw strength, the strength to live as He wants us to live. Everything we need to be the people God wants us to be is in Him.
Thankfully, we have been included in Him. That’s why we talk about being in Christ: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; all things have become new.” So, we are now included in Him. As the branches are included in the vine, as parts of our body are included in the body, we are now in Him. And for us to bring forth fruit, we must remain in Him; we must abide in him. Because that’s the only way to be able to produce in us what He wants to see in our lives.How, then, do we abide in Him? How do we remain in Him? He has given us our instruction, what we must do in order to bring forth fruit. But how do we do it? We know that we must abide in him. But how do we abide in him?
Now, in 1 John chapter 2, we are told something along this line, which is helpful. Look at verse 24:“As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.” (NIV) Did you see that? As for you, in other words, as far as you are concerned, what should you do? See to it that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. What have you heard from the beginning? The word of God! Now John says, “See to it that the word of God remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in Him.”
So, if you are going to remain in Him, His word must abide in us. And this is what those who are struggling to live the Christian life don’t understand. You cannot live that life God wants you to live, if His word does not abide in you. It is impossible. See, the word of God is not something that you can do without. The word of God is your very life. So, you have to prioritize with it. You must allow it to remain in you. You must make room for it in your heart and not take lightly. If you’re going to remain in Him, that’s what must happen. His word must remain in you.
And think about it because these are figures of speech. So we’re going to use things that we can understand to illustrate them. If you’re in a relationship with somebody, for instance, what is going to strengthen or maintain that relationship? Communication, right? And it is not just communication that will maintain it but also how seriously you take the words of each other.Let’s say we’re just dealing with friends. We want to be friends. One of the things that will tell whether our friendship will abide or not is how seriously we take the words of each other. If I tell you something about myself and you don’t take it seriously, you’re not going to act on it and relate it to me on its basis. And that will offend me. If you tell me something about yourself and I do not take it seriously, I’m not going to act on it. And that’s going to affect our friendship.
So, if our friendship will be strengthened, if it will be maintained, we must take the words of each other very seriously. Otherwise, it won’t be long before that friendship will be ruined.The same thing is applicable to a marriage relationship. What will strengthen a marriage relationship is the attitude of those in it towards the words of each other. ‘I don’t like this’ means ‘I don’t like it’. I’m not going to give it another meaning. This person has said that he does not like whatever ‘this’ is. So, I’m not going to do it because he doesn’t like it. If I don’t take it seriously, something is going to go wrong with that marriage relationship. Well, it is the same when you are dealing with a relationship with God. If we are going to stay in fellowship with Him, if our fellowship with Him will be strengthened, then, we must take whatever He says to us seriously.
Of course, we must first be willing to hear from Him. Second, when He speaks to us, we must take whatever He says to us seriously. And that’s why we are being told here by John to see to it that what we have heard from the beginning remains in us. For if it does, we also will remain in the Father and in the Son. In any case, Jesus is telling us, “Abide in me.” And it is easy to quote. But how do I abide? I must know how to abide in Him. And from what we see in scriptures, one way to abide in Him is to allow His word to abide in us.
So, I must go for His word by reading and studying it. Not only that, I must also be meditating on it. Because if His word is going to abide in me, I must meditate on it. It’s not enough to hear what He’s saying. It’s not enough to read what He’s saying. It is not enough to study what He’s saying. I must also ruminate on what He’s saying. I must meditate on what He’s saying. It is what I meditate on that will be a part of me.
Now think about it. The things that we think about all the time, they are the things that become part of us. If you’re thinking about doing something, if you want to do something, you keep thinking about it, saying to yourself, “I must do this; I must do this.” What happens? You don’t forget to do it. Because all along, maybe a whole day, you are thinking about the same thing. So, you find yourself doing it. Because that’s what you’ve been thinking about.If you want to travel tomorrow, for instance, what happens? You start thinking about it. I’m going to travel tomorrow.
Every now and then you think about it. You think about the money you’re going to spend. You think about the people you’re going to meet there, right? You think about the time you’re supposed to go. You think about the things you’re supposed to take along. So, when you wake up, you’re driven to travel, right? And unless something happens that prevents you from doing so, you will make that journey.So, if the word of God is going to remain in us, we must think and think and think and think about it.
Otherwise, it doesn’t settle in us. And if it does not settle in us, we are not going to act on it. Acting on it is what is going to produce fruit in our lives. But if we are not meditating on it, it won’t become a part of us so that we’ll act on it.I want to show you a scripture, which is Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is a popular one. And from verse 1 it says: