ABIDING IN CHRIST (PART 1): PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – SUNDAY 17TH JANUARY, 2021

SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

TOPIC: ABIDING IN CHRIST (PART 1)

DATE: 17TH JANUARY, 2021

TEXT: JOHN 15:1-8

AMEN! Please join me as we make our DECLARATION OF FRUITFULNESS:

Are you ready to make your DECLARATIONS? Say with me:

The Eternal God is our refuge. He opens rivers in desolate heights.The Lord makes the wilderness a Pool of water.

The LORD God is my Sun and Shield; The LORD gives Grace and Glory.

Therefore, I delight myself in Him. Those who are Planted in the House of the LORD
shall be fresh and flourishing.

Though the Earth be shaken; the Name of the Lord is my Strong Tower. By Faith I affirm that: In Christ alone is my Salvation. In Him I live, And move And have my being.

It is written: The Righteous are like trees Planted by the waters; bearing fruits in its Season.

So I boldly declare: As for me, my God has made me EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL.

In this Season, my Spirit bears fruits of Righteousness, my Talents make way for me. With my hands, I will Plant, I will Build, I will Harvest – Day by day, Step by step.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Last week I spoke about the “FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT” and we didn’t spend time to go into all the FRUIT of the Spirit and their manifestations.

… But we spoke about them in GENERAL.

DMC NOTES: You can access the Full Text of Last Sunday Message on the Link:

https://discoverymediacrew.com/The-Fruit-Of-The-Spirit-Mensa-Otabil

Today we will look at how we get to Produce the Fruit of the Spirit.

And I will do a two (2) Part Message that I have Titled: “ABIDING IN CHRIST.”

It is in ABIDING IN CHRIST that we will bear the Fruit of the Spirit.

My Opening Text will be John’s Gospel 15:1-8.

… These are the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

8 By this My Father is Glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My Disciples.

This is the last of the seven (7) Statements that Jesus made about Himself, when He described Himself as: “I AM” – I AM the Bread of Life, I AM the Light and so on.

This is the last one where He says: “I AM THE VINE.”

And in this Teaching, Jesus is using the analogy – Something to compare with; to teach about His relationship with us. And the Analogy He uses is that of the VINEYARD.

I know that in Ghana, we don’t grow a Vineyard here; but you can imagine another tree in Place of a VINEYARD or a VINE.

You can also listen to the audio here: Abiding In Christ – Pastor Mensa Otabil

And Jesus talks about the VINEDRESSER – Whom He says is His Father.

And then He talks about the TRUE VINE – Which He says is Himself.

And then He talks about the BRANCHES – Which He says are the Disciples.

And then He talks about the FRUIT, which is what is Produced.

Now, normally when we are looking at the Scriptures, it is important to know that when there is an analogy like this in the Bible, we don’t overstretch its meaning.

Because every analogy is teaching something very, very Specific. There is a main truth!

… So you don’t try to use every Part to become a Message!

Now, in the right (8) Verses that I read today (John 15:1-8) the word “FRUIT” is used six (6) times in the Passage; and the word “ABIDE” is used seven (7) times.

So, you can see that FRUITING and ABIDING are very, very Predominant in what Jesus is Teaching today.

So, I would want to define the word ABIDE and then we will take it from there.

So what does it mean to ABIDE – When Jesus says ABIDE IN ME?

It is not a word we frequently used in our normal conversation – You don’t tell your friend ‘abide with me.’

… But it is an English expression!

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

1. It means first, to REMAIN in Place; to STAY without departing.

So, our Christian life is not an in-and-out experience – It is not an off-and-on experience. When we make a commitment to the Lord, we STAY with Him.

So, when Jesus says: “ABIDE IN ME”, He says STAY or REMAIN in Me without departing.

Once you choose Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you must ABIDE in Him, you must REMAIN in Him.

You don’t come in one day and next time you are out there in the world doing something totally different from your Faith in Christ.

… So ABIDE means to remain in Place!

2. Secondly, “ABIDE” means to CONTINUE in Place; to Endure, to Progress, to Grow.

So, when He says: “ABIDE IN ME”, it is not just Staying, but also Growing, Maturing, becoming better.

We remain in Him and will CONTINUE in him; we REMAIN in Him and we GROW in Him; we stay in Him and we MATURE in Him.

So, that is what it means to “ABIDE” – To bear Christian Fruit therefore, we must ABIDE IN CHRIST.

Because we cannot just Hope to be Fruitful by getting things!

Our Fruitfulness must be by being more Christ-like and bearing Fruit for Christ.

… We bear Christian Fruit when we ABIDE IN CHRIST.

Now if you look at Verses 4 and 5 of the Passage (John 15:4-5):

“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 Fruits; for without Me you can do nothing.”

So, it is a two-way thing – It is not just “Abiding in Christ”, He must also be abiding in us – When we are in Him, He is in us.

Our relationship with Jesus Christ therefore, is a two-way relationship – We live in Him and He lives in us.

In John 14:20; Jesus says: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

So, Jesus Christ established the relationship He wants to have with us – He wants us to be in Him, and He wants to be in us.

Of course, if you have the branch of a tree – whether it’s a Vine Tree. In this instance, since most of us are more comfortable with the mango tree or maybe an orange.

The branch of the mango tree is in the tree but that is not all. The tree is also in the branch.

So, there is a relationship that is continuous between the tree and its branches – The tree flows into the branch and the branch is flowing into the tree.

And that is how Jesus Christ wants us to relate with Him – “I in them and they in Me.” We are in Him and He is in us.

These are two (2) important thoughts:

1. The first one is CHRIST IN ME.

CHRIST IS IN ME:

When we say Christ is in US, it means that He shares in our lives; He is Present in our lives, He is Present with us here on Earth.

Although Jesus is not Physically Present with us, because of our Union with Him, He is Present in our lives.

In our Earthly walk, we are never alone, we are never Christless – He lives in us, He moves in us and we have our being in Him.

He is not a bystander in our lives.

When we go through the fire He is in us; when we go through the storm He is in us. When People fight us, He is in us.

… He never departs from us!

Christ is in us, He is Present with us here on Earth! And not only is He in us, we are also in Christ.

“I am in Christ.” – That means I share in His Life, He shares in my life.

And when we share in His Life, His Strength becomes our Strength, His Ability becomes our Ability, His Wisdom becomes our Wisdom – Whatever we can do He empowers us to do!

So, we are in Him!

Not only that, He is also in us.

And because we are in Christ, He is Present in our lives. And we are Present with Him in Heaven – We share in HIS HEAVENLY LIFE.

Christ in us and we are in Him; that is a truth you must always remember as a Christian.

Christ is in me and I am in Him; He lives in me I live in Him. He is the Vine I am the Branch. It is not a branch that is outside of Him, it is a branch that is IN HIM.

SO HOW DO WE GET TO ABIDE IN CHRIST?
… I’m going to give you FOUR (4) WAYS in which we ABIDE in Christ.

1. We Abide in Christ first by ACCEPTING CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR.

… That is the first step to ABIDING in Christ!

1 John 4:15 says: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

This is where everything starts – When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

And by now, you should know that accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour is more than going to Church; it is more than being a Good Person.

It is a conscious Personal decision every Human Being must make at one Point of our life.

To accept that what Jesus did on the Cross was for them: His Death was for them, His Resurrection was for them.

In His Death we have forgiveness of sin; in His Resurrection we have New Life.

And when we accept that, we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Saviour.

And when we accept Christ, He comes to live in us!

To Abide in Christ, we must accept Him as our Lord and Personal Saviour.

It is Good to go to Church, it is Good to be a Nice Person; but that is not accepting Christ as your Lord and Personal Saviour.

You have to accept that His Death forgives you of your sins and his Resurrection gives you a New Life.

And when you accept those two (2) things, you have Him as your Lord and your Saviour.

Do Abide in Christ by ACCEPTING HIM as our Lord and Saviour.

2. We Abide in Christ by allowing HIS TEACHINGS TO ABIDE IN US.

1 John 2:24 says: “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

Accepting Christ as your Lord and Saviour is the first step; but the TEACHINGS of Christ must ABIDE IN US.

And the Teachings of Christ; you will find them in the Gospels as well as the Epistles that the Apostles of Christ wrote.

… Mostly what we call the New Testament.

His Teachings must SETTLE in us, His Teachings must ABIDE in us: do He comes to live in our lives.

His Teachings come into our lives when we Read it and we allow it to SETTLE.

And the reason I say the Word of God must SETTLE is: “It is one thing reading the Word of God it is another thing letting it Settle in you”.

That means: It is must settle ALL your arguments!

When you are determining what to do, the basis for determining what to do should be what Christ taught.

So, no matter how angry you are against somebody and how much you want that Person out of your life and dead; if Christ says you must forgive him or her, that word must SETTLE.

You cannot let your emotions settle your issues.

If we are going to bear Fruits for Christ, then let His Word settle your issues. Whether it is in the way we run our lives, in the way we run our families, the way we run our Businesses; the Word of Christ settles ALL arguments for us.

Until we come to that Point in our Faith, we cannot bear Fruit for Him.

If you can say: Well, Jesus says it, but I don’t feel like it. Jesus says it, but I don’t think that is what I want to do; as for this I will THINK about it.

When Christ SPEAKS, we don’t think about it, WE DO IT.

So, we must ACCEPT Him as Lord and Saviour; His word must SETTLE in our heart.

3. We Abide in Christ BY DOING WHAT HE COMMANDED US TO DO.

1 John 3:24 says: “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

And I know that keeping the commandments of Jesus Christ are very difficult; the most difficult thing in this world is following Jesus.

That is very difficult! Because everything Jesus says is opposite to the way we want to live our lives.

I. Our lives are based on Selfishness, His life is based on Selflessness.

II. Our lives are based on Taking, His life is based on Giving.

III. Our lives are based on Vengeance, His life is based on Forgiveness.

IV. Our lives are based on Doing what Pleases us, His life is based on “Not My Will but Your Will be done!”

So, when we try to follow Jesus Christ, we try to go against everything about us.

That is why it is very easy for us to say we are Christians but never living in anywhere near Christ!

But if He is going to Abide in us, then we must keep His Commandments – And DOING His Commandment is difficult.

The only way we can do the Will of Christ is to see Him as our Master and we as His slaves.

The early Apostles understood that, that is why when you read the Epistles, Paul calls himself: ‘A Bond Servant.’ Peter will say “I am a Servant of Christ.” Even James who was a Physical brother of Jesus called himself: ‘A Bond Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Why did they describe themselves as Bondservants?

Because until you take that Posture, the Word of Christ cannot be obeyed by you.

So the question is: ARE YOU A SLAVE OF CHRIST?

YES, we must be as Christians because that is the only way you can OBEY without question.

So, when He says forgive, and everything in you wants to slap the Person back; you cry ‘Lord I don’t want to forgive him or her, but I forgive.’

That is a Slave, a Bondservant! – Everything in me doesn’t want to do it, but AT THE WORD!

Until Christ’s Word is our command, and we see ourselves simply as a Slave – Do what He says; we CANNOT Abide in Him. And you will not bear Fruit.

… So we ABIDE in Him by doing what He commands us to do.

4. We Abide in Him BY LIVING AND WALKING IN GOD’S LOVE.

1 John 4:16 says: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

Jesus clearly taught that WALKING IN LOVE was the mark of Christiandom.

These days you will think that other things are the mark of Christianity.

Of course, sometimes People think that POWER is the mark of Christianity.

… But that is not what Jesus said!

Jesus said by this they shall know that you are my Disciples, BECAUSE OF LOVE.

The life of the Believer must be characterized by LOVE at all levels: Life in Church, in our Marriage, in our Business – In EVERYTHING, we must Walk in Love.

You must Love the Lord with all that we have, you must Love all the Believers as Brothers and Sisters and we must Love People with the Love of Christ.

Not too long ago, Christians used to call each other Brothers and Sisters – These days you don’t hear much of that!

We used to call each other Brother so-and-so, Sister so-and-so – because there was supposed to be Love.

We seems to have moved away from that ethics now!

So the question is: If you are Married; is the Love of Christ in your Marriage?

You know People think all kinds of things about Marriage – Sexual Compatibility, Mental Compatibility, and all of that but never the Love of God.

It is not just about Compatibility, it is about the Love of God!

If you have the Love of God, there is no way your Marriage will not work. There is no way the Love of Christ can be Present in a Marriage and conflict is Present at the same time.

… The two don’t work together!

No matter all the Compatibility you learn, if we don’t learn to walk in the Love of God, nothing works for us!

How can People know that we are Disciples of Jesus?

Because we have Love one for another; we don’t cheat one another, we don’t defraud one another, we don’t crook one another.

The Church must be House of Love and not “Each for himself and God for us ALL”.

And that is how we BEAR FRUIT.

If you want to be FRUITFUL, walk in Love, obey the Commandments of Jesus.

The Word of God dwells in you and let Christ dwell in your life – That is the only way we bare Fruit.

Let me close with John 15:16.

Jesus said something interesting there:

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

TWO (2) THINGS I want to Highlight:

1. The first one is that Christ Chose us and appointed us to be FRUITFUL.

That is the reason why He chose us, that is the reason why we got Born Again – To be FRUITFUL.

We are apointed to be Fruitful.

Fruitfulness is based on only trusting the Lord; to work out His Purposes in our lives.

But then, Jesus Christ said something very, very radical to us:

2. Jesus says that the Father answers Prayers of those who are FAITHFUL.

Listen to Him again (John 15:16): “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He may give you – Such that whatever you ask the Father He gives it to you.

Jesus linked answer to Prayer to FRUITFULNESS.

I have never seen it in that way – It shocked me!

And this Verse is very Pivotal, because every Promise Jesus gave for answered Prayers (we read everywhere else in the New Testament) is conditioned on this!

So, if you read for example Matthew 7:8 that says: “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Who is the ‘EVERYONE’ who asks and receives?

Does it mean that any Person at all can go and say Father do this for me and it will happen?

… Is that how God answers Prayer?

This ‘EVERYONE’ must be read in the light of John 15:16 – “Whoever BEARS FRUIT – whatever he asks the Father, would be given”.

In other words, everyone who asks and receives, is everyone who BEARS FRUIT.

The “Fruitless Christians” will not only be Fruitless in their relationship with God, but their Prayer life will also be Fruitless.

When Jesus says in Mark 11:24 – “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you Pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Does it mean that Christians can live anyhow, work anyhow, behave anyhow, hate People, be destructive – and then come and say: “According to Mark 11:24: Whatever I ask, I shall receive?

NO!

This verse must be interpreted in the light of John 15:16 – “Whoever bears fruit, whatever he asks the Father, it shall be given to him.

The reason why we quote all these Prayer answering Verses and we don’t have answers is because we are Fruitless.

The Scripture is not a Mechanical Tool – The Principles of God are not Mechanical; you can’t just live anyhow and Pray to God and expect Him to hear you.

When Jesus says in John 16 23-24 – “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My Name. Ask, and you will receive, that your Joy may be Full.”

It must be seen in the light of John 15:16 – “Whoever bears FRUIT”.

So that every “Whoever” that Jesus is Promising this Prayer answering to, is not just “Whoever”; but the Believer who ABIDES in Him, who is bearing FRUIT.*

He is the one Jesus is Promising that: “If you bear fruit, if your life reflects Me, then whatever you ask the Father, He will do it for you”.

WHY IS THAT SO?

Because Praying in the Name of Jesus is not simply saying the Name of Jesus; it is not just adding the Name of Jesus to your Prayer: “Father, I want to travel, I want to go to America, I want to go to Hong Kong, I want to go to Paris, I want You to Promote me, I want you to make me the Managing Director of our Company, I want you to give me 1 Billion, in Jesus’ Name – Amen!

And just because you Add: ‘In Jesus’ Name’ – God must be obliged to do your wishes for you.

Is that how prayer works?

No! – When we are Abiding in Christ and we are Praying in the Name of Jesus; it implies that we have become so aligned with Christ, with His Nature, with His Spirit so that every request will make is in conformity with His Will.

And when we are so much in touch with Him, that every request he make is in conformity with His Word; then whatever we ask, He will do it for us!

And you can’t live anyhow and use the Name of Jesus.

You can’t just think that if you can bamboozle your way with God; work hard and talk enough Tongues, cry in enough Tongues and stamp your feet enough.

God will be so ‘intimidated’ He will answer your Prayer – NO!

The only way He answers your Prayer is because you are in the Vine and the Husbandman (the Vinedresser) has pruned you. And after he has pruned you, you bear much FRUIT.

… Anyway, that is what I will be Preaching on next week!

And because of that, He gives you the Permission: “Ask whatever you want and I will do it”.

Why does He give you the Permission?

Because when you are so in Him, whatever you ask for is not Selfish, it is not Self-centred, it is not Vanity – Whatever you wish for is what Christ wishes for; and because of that your Prayer in His Name is guaranteed one hundred Percent (100%) Answer.

Do you want to have more of your prayers answered?

… Then ABIDE IN CHRIST!

Instead of learning how to Pray on a Mountain or receive an impartation or receive a Mantle; or use Olive Oil and pour on yourself – ABIDE IN CHRIST.

If you Abide in Him, He says you will bear fruit. And because you bear fruit, whenever you ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you!

Do you wonder why you Pray one hundred (100) Prayers and ninety nine (99) are not answered?

Have you ever wondered why you Pray, Pray, Pray – they don’t get answered?

… You are not ABIDING; you are not bearing FRUIT.

You are trying to armtwist God, you are trying to hijack Him.

And some People want to give God threats – “if You don’t do this Lord, then I’m not worshiping you again, You are no longer Jehovah”.

And so? It’s as if the moment you say that God will say “if I don’t answer this guy then I will no longer be God.”

He was God before you were born, before your father was born, before your mother was born, before your grandfather and your great-grandfather were born.

And He will still be God after you die; He will be God in the days of your grandchildren, great-grandchildren!

You think you can threaten God to answer your Prayers? Where did you get that idea?

Our prayers are answered because we ABIDE in Him and we BEAR FRUIT in Him.

And may the Lord help each one of us to be “ABIDING Christians”, who are “Fruit Bearing Christians”; then we will see the Father answering our Prayers; so that His Name will be Glorified!

Not so that you will go and brag to other People, but that His Name will be Glorified.

Let’s bow down our head!

ALTAR CALL

The way to ABIDE IN CHRIST is to ask Him into your heart.

And if Christ is not in your heart you have to just Pray and ask Him to come in.

And so I just want to lead you in a very Simple pr Prayerayer to invite Jesus Christ into your heart; to become your Lord and Saviour.

Wherever you are reading this message on the Label of DMC, just put your hands up on your heart and say this Simple pr Prayerayer with me.

And say:

Heavenly Father, today I come to You just as I am. I am a sinner, I cannot save myself.

I Thank You Father, that Jesus Christ died for me on the Cross of Calvary, He took away my sins. I believe in Him and I accept His forgiveness.

I Thank You Father that Jesus rose again from the dead and He is Alive forevermore; to give me New Life.

I believe in Him and I accept Him.

And so I Proclaim today that Jesus Christ is my Lord; and I commit to live all my life to serve Him, to Please Him and to Honour Him.

… In Jesus’ Name I Pray – AMEN.

And if you really meant that Prayer in your heart, you are now ABIDING IN CHRIST.

You have started a Process – Let His Word STAY in you; OBEY Him, BEAR FRUIT for Him.

Then your Prayer will be answered because you BEAR MUCH FRUIT – Amen!

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