John 15:7 - compound abiding

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (ESV)

Many commentators see the vine imagery ending in verse 6, with the deeper explanation of what He said beginning in verse 7. With the emphasis on “you,” it may seem Jesus is drilling down deeper into the meat of His teaching, focused on those He knew would remain in Him. No more is there any further mention of those who do not abide. However, given the continued emphasis on abiding and fruit bearing culminates in bringing glory to God in verse 8, "the chief end of man" (Westminster Catechism), we will continue this series through verse 8.

From here on through the end of chapter 17, the conclusion of the Farwell Discourse, Jesus elaborates on the nature of the abiding relationship He desires with His followers. He also makes it clear that such a relationship will not be without its costs while we are still residents of this world (15:18-25; 17:14-16). He finishes with a stirring intercessory prayer for both the disciples present with Him at that time but also for those disciples, like us, who were yet to come (17:20-21).

Once again we see in verse 6 the key word “abide,” the word that John uses a total of 67 times in his writings. To gain a broader picture of the meaning of this key term, look at how these opening words have been rendered in other translations:

“Stay joined to Me and let My teachings become part of you…” (CEV)

“But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you…” (MSG)

“If you continue in Me and My sayings continue in you…” (WEY)

We’ve already spent much time on the first part of the phrase, “If you abide in Me,” so let’s take a closer look at the second part: “and My words abide in you.” This two-way interabiding, “abide in Me…abide in you,” represents two parts of the same whole. The one cannot exist without the other. Also, note that there is no distinction being made here between His words abiding in us and His presence abiding in us (vs. 4 & 5). There should be no practical difference in our daily lives between Jesus’ personal indwelling in us and His words remaining in us. After all, He Himself is the embodiment of all His teachings, and He is the incarnate, revealed logos of God (John 1:1).

His teachings must become such a permanent fixture inside of His disciples, that His very words are making their home in them. The true disciple is one who abides in Him and in whose heart His teachings have a permanent residence. As a result, in their mind and in their heart, conformity to Christ and His teachings becomes the most natural, supernatural thing in the world.

The term “words” here is rhēmata, which relates to all that Jesus spoke and taught; His individual sayings and pronouncements. His “words” (rhēmata), here in verse 7, which are to abide in us, are related to “the word” (logos) in verse 3, which He has spoken to us and which prunes us. The logos comprises the sum total of all His teachings in its entirety. The rhēmata represents the individual truths and lessons that are comprised within the logos. Note the significance placed here on the teaching of Jesus, not lightly to be passed over in the interests of promoting religious feelings or feel-good Christianity.

We must become so immersed in His words and teachings that His words make their home in us, as intrinsic and vital to our existence and well-being as the blood that courses through our veins. This mutual indwelling involves a gradual and growing absorption and adoption of Jesus’ teaching in one’s daily life, such that the true disciple will ultimately live each day in full obedience and conformity to His teachings and who He is.

Obviously this is not the same as simply having a Bible lying around the house, somewhere. We could have a dozen Bibles in our homes, but if we don’t open up the Bible and open ourselves up to the abiding of His words in us, those Bibles are simply wasting shelf space.

It is estimated that around the world over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away each year. Gideon’s International alone gives away a Bible every second. According to recent statistics, the Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world’s population. Bringing it closer to home, it is estimated that Americans buy more than twenty million new Bibles every year. That’s in addition to the four that the average American already has at home.

Yet despite this proliferation of Bibles within our homes and the vast number of churches throughout America, the extent of biblical knowledge in America is abysmal. According to a Gallup survey: one out of every four Americans is ignorant of what is celebrated at Easter, less than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible, nearly two out of three cannot name even half of the 10 commandments, only one out of three can correctly identify who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (with “Billy Graham” as a popular answer), and 12% of Americans think Noah was married to Joan of Arc. In the words of George Gallup, America is “a nation of biblical illiterates.”

Standing in sharp contrast to our biblically illiterate society:

Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.” (NIV)

Psalm 119:15-16 “I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” (ESV)

In the New Testament, notice how the writings and teachings of the disciples so frequently are a restatement of the very words Jesus taught them. Through their abiding in Him, the pruning logos, and allowing His rhēmata to abide in them, their vocabulary and form of speech were changed such that the very words they used were a reflection of Him. In other words, His rhēmata became their rhēmata:

Jesus said: “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27)

Paul said: “Bless those who persecute you; if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, given him drink; overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:14,21)

Jesus said: “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5)

Peter said: “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’.” (Acts 11:16)

Jesus’ dying words: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:44)

Stephen’s dying words: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60)

When you look at Stephen’s final words, consider what had been Jesus’ final words before He went up into heaven:

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (NASB)

What does it mean to be a witness? In the Greek, this term is martys, the root from which we derive martyr. Stephen was the first martyr, truly a witness or martys for Jesus in Jerusalem and beyond; his final words and actions both a vivid reflection of His true abiding in Christ.

For those who choose to live an interabiding life: abiding in Him and He in them, and His teachings in them; with His word pruning and cleansing them, we know they will bear fruit, more fruit and much fruit. This fruit is the first product of the interabiding relationship. In the latter half of vs. 7 we see the second product – the power of answered prayer: “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

The fertile environment of abiding not only bears fruit, but it is also the perfect condition for effectual prayer. The contrast between the interabiding disciples and our biblically illiterate society is well summed-up by the following story of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Legend has it that St. Thomas Aquinas, a philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church and the patron saint of Catholic universities, colleges and schools (1225-1274), met with Pope Innocent IV, who had a very large sum of money on the table in front of him. The Pope exclaimed, “You see, Thomas, that the Church cannot now say as the primitive Church, ‘Silver and gold have I none’.” “True, Holy Father,” was the reply, “but neither can she say as did Peter to the crippled man, ‘Rise up and walk’.”

God hasn’t changed, nor has His power: “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear.” (Isa 59:1, ESV)

So why we don’t see miracles in our churches and in our lives today like in the Acts church and in the lives of the early believers? The miracles in the Gospels and Acts weren’t small, little miracles done in a back corner where no one saw them. These were “signs and wonders” miracles that broke out like a sonic boom, shaking everything and everyone around (Acts 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 8:6, 13; 14:3; 15:12):

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” Acts 2:43 (ESV)

The term “signs” is sēmeion, carrying the meaning of an “attesting sign or miracle,” conveying a sense of the confirmation of divine authority.

Did miracles die off with the apostles? Was that simply an apostolic gift? Only a quack today would talk about making a lame man walk or giving sight to the blind, right? Jesus had a different thought: “O ye of little faith.” You see, the vast majority of us who are Christians today – we’re the ones crippled and blind, spiritually speaking.

The power revealed in this verse is so monumental the devil works overtime to keep Christians from reaching out and taking a firm hold of this promise. He can’t tolerate even thinking about the modern church wielding the power of the Church in Acts. If he can keep us so busy that we don’t abide, if he can keep us distracted long enough to take us away from reading the Bibles that sit in our homes, or at least limiting our reading such that it could hardly be said His words are abiding in us, he knows we’ll never comprehend or wield the awesome power of the promise contained in this verse.

How much does the devil fear Christians who have Christ’s words abiding in them? C.S. Lewis captures this fear well in his book, The Screwtape Letters. Consider just two lines taken from an exchange between junior demon, Wormwood, and his mentor demon/uncle, Screwtape:

Wormwood: “Believers have so many weapons at their disposal. It is difficult to neutralize them. It takes a huge effort just to slow the work of a single Christian.”

Screwtape: “Make sure your targets read as little of the Book as possible. Don’t get too wor­ried if they stick to their favorite twenty cliché verses. But make sure they remain ignorant of most of the Word.”

Consider the compounding impact between Jesus abiding in us (v. 4) and His words abiding in us. The concept of compound interest in today’s banking world is in essence, interest upon interest. It’s been widely attributed to Albert Einstein, though completely unsubstantiated, that he claimed compound interest to be the greatest invention of man, the greatest mathematical concept or mathematical discovery, the most powerful force of the universe, and the eighth wonder of the world.

Here we see compound abiding: abiding upon abiding. Jesus abiding in us and His words abiding in us has a compounding impact upon our lives. Such an impact cannot but bring about conformity and obedience to His teachings and His way of life. As a result – much fruit compounded with prevailing prayer:

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (ESV)

1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

This does not mean that He promises to gratify every chance whim or selfish desire, that’s the promise of the charlatans. The promise of answered prayer, is hinged upon our ability to pray in His name. The condition of prevailing prayer is abiding in Christ. In an interabiding life, praying ceases to be selfish asking and becomes aligned with the will and purposes of God in Christ. There is a direct correlation between how one prays and the primary commitments of one's life. As the life of Jesus and His words begin to permeate into our core being, praying ceases to be general, topical and selfish, and becomes specific, pointed and most importantly, consistent with the will and work of the Father.

Prayers of abiding Christians are therefore prayers we make as agents of His, just as if Jesus Himself had spoken the words. Christ’s presence in our lives and His words conditioning and directing our desires and thoughts result in prayers and actions that conform to the Father’s will. The Father’s will cannot be contained, nor can it be thwarted. So with prayers that conform to His will. Such prayers yield a power that must be fulfilled.

“Petitions of the true disciples are echoes (so to speak) of the words of Jesus because His teaching is transformed into a supplication, and so it will be necessarily heard” – Westcott.

Not only does Jesus make available to us His power for “greater works” through answered prayer, He commands us to ask such prayers:

John 16:23-24 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (NASB)

Can you imagine such a life of prayer and power? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if your life was so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if all of us as Christians were so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? No wonder then that the devil works overtime to blind, distract or neutralize Christians. He doesn’t want to imagine what this world would look like if there was an army of abiding Christians.

We as Christians must stop living the Christian life on our own power and initiative. We have to comprehend that our attempts at good deeds and devout living, all wrapped up in our good intentions and religiosity, are not noble, effective or lasting; but in reality, are feeble, misguided, futile and self-centered.

We simply think too small and our faith is too small, looking at things from our own, temporal perspective. What could we possibly imagine or ask that would be beyond God’s infinite and eternal power? This is the God who simply spoke into existence the vast expanse of the universe, which is far beyond our abilities to truly comprehend or explain, even with all of our “scientific advances” and “sophisticated technologies.” Let’s not limit His power within us because we’re focused only on our abilities and our diminutive corner of the universe. Rather, let us be “transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Rom 12:2) as we abide in Him and have His words abide in us.