Slipping Down The Lifeline – But Not To The End (We Hope) Series

SLIPPING DOWN THE LIFELINE – BUT NOT TO THE END (we hope)

Tales are told of people in rescue attempts trying to hold on to a rope in the stormy sea or raging river and over time their grip lessens and through fatigue they slip further and further down the rescue rope until they disappear. That is tragic. What could have become a lifeline and their final hope of salvation became their last connection with this life. Today I am not going to speak of salvation as such, because the lifeline I will consider is not the lifeline of salvation, but the lifeline of living.

A BRANCH HERE AND A BRANCH THERE – WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

{{John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”}}

The passage has caused concern for some people and problems for some theologians. I do not intend examining it exegetically for it is not this passage which is our main focus. Nevertheless a few comments. It is fruitfulness that is the focus here, NOT salvation. It is abiding in the Vine in order that you might be fruitful. It is not the gaining if a redeemed life in Christ – it is growth and sustenance of that redeemed life that is being spoken of by the Lord. It is the lifeline. It also involves a close communion with God.

EXPANSION: What is a productive and successful Christian life? There could be many answers but we want simplicity. Nothing could be more simple than that given by the Lord – “Abide in Me, and I in you - I am the vine, you are the branches.” It is all about dependence and resting. We have been looking at the Lampstand of recent weeks in the bible study and saw that there was one central shaft and branch, but 6 separate branches coming from the main shaft. That was total perfection as each branch played its part in supporting the 7 almond cups that contained the oil for the light.

Now suppose that you made your own light that worked on electricity and you had branches each with a small bulb attached as part of the whole branch. Now suppose that one branch with its light was faulty and gave intermittent light but generally proved unreliable. Then you’d have to replace it for another arm/branch that worked and was productive. You’d still own the faulty one – it is just that it is failing as a light giver. It is sad to say but God has many failed branches. They are intermittent in producing fruit and God has to set them aside regarding fruitfulness and testimony, but He still owns them.

The challenge we face today is, “Where are you to be found?” Are you a branch attached to the Vine, which produces fruit, or are you in a box labelled, “Discarded Branches For Fruitfulness”? Those in that box have slipped down the lifeline and some have let go so their Christian lives count for nothing when it comes to pleasing God.

EXAMPLES OF FAILURE THAT RESULTED IN SLIPPING DOWN THE LIFELINE:

We shall look at some examples found in the Bible of saints who have slipped down the lifeline but to God’s glory, they did not stay down.

NOAH – drunk, and that led to sin, and caused his own son to stumble. What caused this? We might say, lack of self-control or lust of the eyes resulting in sin. However he slipped down the lifeline but climbed up again.

MOSES – disobedience in the matter of the rock he was to speak to, but struck it out of frustration and anger. Some might think that is a small matter to hit the rock when God said he was to speak to it yet it was so serious that Moses was forbidden to enter Canaan. Moses slipped down that lifeline but soon after regained his position and held on tightly.