I really do. And I can't remember exactly when, but I did a verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of John, a study which I enjoyed immensely. And so what I'd like to do this evening, if I might, is to provide you with a study if you will, through this, the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John. And so, you have your Bibles open there, and I have a handout tonight. Now, I'm going to do something that I've done on occasion, but I've not done often and that's I'm going to provide you with a handout tonight which requires a little of any on your part. You don't have to listen, well you do have to listen closely, but not so that you can make sure you can fill in each blank. In fact, there are no blanks or everything is filled in for you. So I've given you a copy of tonight's study and I'm not going to say much more than what's written down. Normally I'd provide you with a handout and you'd have the responsibility to fill them out or fill in the answers, but this evening I'm going to provide you with what I have in front of me and we're going to read it together and I will stop making point along the way. And so, let's go ahead and do that at this time. So I need someone to hand these out, and I'd like to get $10 per copy, if you will. $10 per, one right here, brother, if I might, right here. This gentleman here needs this. In fact, I designed this in Star Study for him tonight, but I appreciate you being here to listen. Okay, Gospel of John, chapter 15. Someone asked me one time, they said, so what is your favorite gospel? They were in conversation. Someone had said theirs was Matthew, Beyond Any Shadow Without Matthew. Someone had said Mark. Someone else had said John. And I don't know if anyone said Luke. I feel sorry for Luke. That's what he gets for being a Gentile, amen? He's a long Gentile of the four. But they asked me, so what's your favorite gospel? So my favorite gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I got real spiritual, he kind of looked at me and I said, oh no, no, no. It would be the gospel of John, the gospel of John. But there's but one gospel, amen? And it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so our study tonight is abiding in Christ. I've attempted to do some things while I've been here, and I've attempted not to do some things while I've been here. I'm not your pastor. I'm substituting for the man of God here as it pertains to his local assembly. And I know I'm filling his shoes, so to speak, but in a sense, I'm just a substitute. I'm feeling in his absence and I've tried not to overstep my bounds. And I'll have no trouble this evening because this is just, straight out of the text, no opinion necessary. Let's pray before we get started. Father, bless our time in your word. We confess to you our belief, our total confidence that the word of God is true, not in some distant tongue that existed 2,000 years ago, but Lord, right here in the authorized version of the text of King James Bible, we believe. that it is as inspired as the original text was inspired, it's as much the Word of God as it was when it was originally given, and so we can have total confidence in it. From Genesis to Revelation, Lord, we have exactly what you intended for us to have. And so we thank you for that. I'm thankful that back in the States, I was raised in a church where the pastor didn't create or generate questions about the Bible. It was taught as being absolutely true. And every church I've ever been a part of has believed the book from cover to cover. And so it is here at Calvary Baptist Church, and I thank you for it. Lord, we're a better congregation having confidence in your word than we would ever be questioning your word. So Lord, I pray that you'd help us as we go through the text tonight to believe the book, to believe the simplicity of the text. May we not read into it anything that's not there. May we only get out of it. What do you intend for us to get out of it? We know, Lord, there are some far-fetched notions as it pertains to this chapter and a lot of false teaching. And teaching that, Lord, worries the believer and creates a perpetual state of nervousness. And so, Lord, may we handle the text correctly and may it be helpful. And I pray and ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Chapter 14 closed with the words, arise, let us go hence. Those words, of course, were spoken by our Lord Jesus as it pertains to the upper room. Thus, Jesus and his disciples began. to walk from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane, an event in the life of Christ we're well-versed in. It's been referenced often by your pastor or pastors down through the years here at Calvary Baptist Church and with good reason. As they passed by the temple, they saw a symbol of the Nation of Israel over the door. I've seen pictures, I say pictures, I've seen facsimile of what it probably looked like, whether it was just painted over the temple or whether or not it was raised. I'm talking about it created a 3D effect. Nonetheless, as they looked, they could recognize that there was an artist's rendition of a vine and it was symbolic of something very dear to the heart of the Hebrew people. And so the vine, if we could go to the Old Testament and prove quite positive that it was used in teaching to a spouse of truth, and it's a very weighty truth, and a very helpful truth. I'm thankful for truths that help us. And that's certainly God's intent. When Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and life, he wasn't saying, hey, look, you're going to find nothing but trouble with me. No. Truth. brings about comfort and contentment, and it's falsehood that leads to confusion and grief. And so, if you will, we have a wealth of Old Testament scriptures about this, but I want to call your attention to just one in the New Testament, Romans chapter 11, and of course Paul in chapters 9, 10, and 11, If I could just briefly say, in the opening chapters of Romans, he deals with sin, and then goes to salvation, and then he goes to sanctification, and then instead of going to service, he goes to the State of Israel. It's a parenthetical discussion in chapters 9, 10, and 11, and so then in chapters 12 through 16, he deals with service. But as he's dealing with Israel, of course, his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. But he uses this analogy, which is based on an understanding of the Old Testament. It is established in the Old Testament, and then it's enlarged upon in the New Testament. The Old Testament is the New Testament can build, and the New Testament is the Old Testament or excuse me, the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. And so it's really at this time that the teaching of the vine becomes a part of the public domain. Before there was hidden mysteries, if you will, it was like, it was a teaching that was a part of Israel's culture, but it was not something that they really fully understood. But now, with Jesus standing and saying, I am the door, he's saying, okay, that was just symbolic, I'm the door. And then he says, you know, he begins to go through the seven great I am's, he says, that was symbolic, I'm the real deal. And so when he says, I am divine, everything begins to click for the nation of Israel and it was at this point that God reveals to Israel himself, God personified, Jesus was God in the flesh, amen? And so he reveals himself as being divine and if you'll note here Jesus taught them a lesson on relationships as he made his divine claim, I am the true vine. I am the true vine. Now it carries with it the understanding all other vines false. Now, you go to the vine to refresh yourself, you go to the vine for many things, but he teaches something about the vine that had yet to be taught, and he enlarges upon Old Testament teachings so that they can fully grasp the significance of this analogy and this symbolism. And so let's observe three relationships. The first one is the believer's relationship to Christ in verse one down through verse number 11. And so you have your Bibles open there, and I'm not gonna read everything into you here tonight, but I do wanna begin reading the first 11 verses because this is the foundation to what he will say verse 12 and continuing, I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Now this carries with the idea of stewardship, okay. Anytime you see a husbandman or a farmer referred to, the idea of farming, the idea of cultivating, planting something into the ground, and then caring for it as a farmer would, as a husband would, and then as a result, it produces fruit, some type of vegetable, and so they were very... cognizant of this because they were, in fact, shepherds and farmers. And so it says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away. Of course, the Father is the one that taketh it away. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it. that it may bring forth more fruit. And so, again, the understanding here is there's an outcome that's expected and, if you will, the father's looking for results. The husbandman, if you you if you will he's responsible to the father to make sure results are there and it says here in verse 3 now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you now and so he's talking about the vine and he's giving this analogy or referencing back to this Old Testament analogy, but now he turns and he's telling them, if you will, point-blank what the analogy is there for and what they need to be privy to. This is why we have this analogy in Scripture. and why we're talking about it right now. He says, Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abided to me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. And so, of course, the analogy bearing this out. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather at them and cast them into the fire that they are burned. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Here it is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue in my word. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken in you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Now, we're going to attempt to bring some clarity here, and I know many of you already have clarity. You're familiar with this teaching, and you know the error that some have come up with as it pertains to the wrong interpretation. But I brought up about Romans chapter 11 or Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11 in reference to Jesus, or I should say Paul, teaching the church at Rome, believers at that time, about God's expectations in reference to the church's stewardship. And he says, okay, just as God stood, or just as the Father stood and expected something of Israel, God now stands and expects something of you, his church. And he explains why they were not productive. And he explains as a result, God removing them from the equation, okay? It's very important that we know in God removing them from the equation, that he did not rip the vine up, he cut the vine back. And in reference to Israel, the church has not replaced Israel. And that's a very important statement. The church, he didn't go in and dig the vine up and go away with the vine. He cut the vine back. And for 2,000 years now, the church standing, yes, in Israel's stead is the entity that God receives glory from and through. It's through the church that the Gospels preached. It's through the church that all the promises in Abraham are realized as are prophesied in the Old Testament beginning in Genesis chapter 12. It's through the church that all people groups of the earth are potentially blessed in and through the declaration of the gospel. Now that's just kind of an overview. But if you'll note here, as we've read the scripture, let's go back and look at that paragraph under number one. It is important that we understand that the main truth that Jesus is teaching is the importance of believers abiding in Christ in order to be fruit-bearing. In other words, results. God is looking for results. God expects results. It stands to reason that the Creator should get results from the creation. We're created for His glory. It's He that hath made us and not we ourselves. He does not exist to bring us pleasure. we exist to bring Him pleasure. But there is pleasure. There is joy in serving Jesus. And so, I'm telling you, He knew what He was doing, although sometimes it appears, as we look around, He said, you know, what's going on? Well, God's sovereign. He knows exactly what's going on. Did you know, has it ever occurred to you that nothing's occurred to God? Has it ever occurred to you that God's never been surprised? You know, it would be nice to be able to throw him a surprise birthday, but he already knows about it. Okay, anyway. But the term fruit here has a two-fold application to Scripture, the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the righteous. The main point is fellowship, not sonship. Now note, and Brother Jared and I were having a conversation the other night about some things, and Jared, right here, the main point is fellowship, not sonship, and verse six does not teach that a person loses his or her salvation. You can't lose that which you didn't provide. I mean it was provided by the Lord. It's called free grace. For by grace you say, through faith in that not of yourselves. I do all the sinning, he does all the saving. And you say, well, what if you continue to sin? Well, the Bible says, shall we continue to sin? That grace may abound, God forbid. So the answer to that is sort of like when someone asks the question, what is your favorite gospel? So my favorite gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ. But that's not what they meant. Well, the idea is, who would want to continue in sin? How do you make privy to them? the Gospels, and that's the understanding there. But it says, but it's very clear, if we did continue in sin, and we do in a sense, do we sin this side of the cross? I bet everyone in here outside of me has sinned this side of the cross. I bet you have. But the thing about it is, that does not cancel our sonship. And so the main point is fellowship, not sonship. Service, not sonship. Rewards, not relationship. Divining Christ does not mean to keep ourselves safe. That's not what's being taught here. Only Christ can keep us safe, and this is not in reference to our salvation. Turn over just quickly to John chapter 10, and we're just going to look. You need a little assurance of your salvation? Look at what gets said here in chapter 10, verse number 27. It said, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Did you see that? Look at verse 29. My Father which has gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. So it's just the opposite. No, no. It's just that, it's just that the father expects results out of his son born children and he has the right as the father to expect results just as the owner of the vineyard has the right to expect results out of the orchard or out of the vine. And so it's altogether reasonable for your pastor to raise expectations as you get into the new year. And that's somewhat of a challenge. You come back in February, you've already had January, but I'm sure he'll get to hit the road running and just to say, okay, now let's give our best to the Lord in 2023. And he'll have, some things that he wants to see the church accomplish in 2023, and he stands literally in Christ's stead as the under-shepherd wanting to please the Father. The Son always wanted to please the Father. Am I right? Did Jesus always want to please the Father? Now the pastor's trying to lead the body, your part of the body of Christ, into one into one reality, and that's the reality is that the Father's going to come and he's going to check up on the vine. Are we producing? By the way, you said, can you refer to the church as a vine? Well, we've been grafted in. So in a sense, the same analogy is fitting for us. And so did you know it's okay if you're a pastor to Even come to you and I mean in a Christlike way and say, you know, you've been missing church Are you you know, I've noticed that you you've slacked up on your on your commitment to the Lord You're not doing as much as you did before you said wait a minute. That's between me and the Lord not so he stands in Christ said he's your pastor and He's not doing this for himself. Remember, Jesus, he didn't seek his own will, but the will of the Father. Thy will be done. So it's not really about Pastor Smith's will being done. It's not about Jared's will being done. It's about Jared and Pastor Smith understanding the Father has a will, and through our cooperation in this local assembly, we're to produce fruit. And so that's why the pastor is always talking about service. He's always talking about witnessing, sharing our faith, and doing what we can to reach our community. Because there's accountability. It's required. Stewart said a man be found what? Faithful. And so you understand that. So you get that. So to abide in Christ, look quickly right here, means to live in his word and pray. Okay, that's verse 7, to live in His Word and pray. You're not going to have results just because you have good intentions. God has placed at your fingertips, at your disposal, the wherewithal to be a fruit-bearing Christian. But if you'll note, you must live in His Word and pray. Without Him, you can do nothing. And so it's in and through Jesus Christ that we produce fruit. Outside of Christ, there's no fruit that's desired or that's long-lasting. And I remember my uncle, a great soul winner, fervent soul winner. And I've heard it said of other people, but I witnessed this myself. And so I'm not borrowing the story from someone else. This is my story, okay? This is my story as a little boy with my uncle. There was someone kind of stumbled up to him and said, you saved me. And my uncle said, I probably did. And his response was, in regards to the condition of the individual and the fact that there's no change, and he just said, I probably did. My uncle was a fervent soul winner. We went to the mission. He himself had been an alcoholic until age 40 when he heard the presentation of the gospel and got saved. And so the idea is, you must be a convert of the flesh and not a convert of the spirit because the Convert of the spirit results in a different outcome than a convert of the flesh And I witnessed that with my own eyes That's not a story that I heard a preacher tell or you know, and then I come back and tell it to you I witnessed that with my own eyes and We we want legitimate fruit. We want real fruit. Amen. We want fruit that remains and and so forth. One of the questions that got asked of me at a, we were supposed to be a panel, we participated in a panel, it was for a marriage Q&A session, and so when Pastor Miller asked us if we would participate. I said, sure. So I thought we'd be like five different couples up there, you know, and we would be filling questions. But no, it was just my wife and I. We did the panel. But one of the questions was about assurance and salvation, about your kids. Have they struggled with eternal security? I said, no, they haven't. And that's not to say if one of yours has, that you did it the wrong way. But I'm just saying that early on, we did not want him to struggle. So we made sure that as we dealt with our kids as they were growing up and desiring to know about price and then desiring to get saved, that we were rote. I mean, it was rote in demand. We were methodical. making sure that they understood, but that's a sidebar. But to abide in Christ and live in His Word, to obey His commandments, verse 10. I'll say this and I'll move on. This is just a practical thing. You have enough information to keep you busy in reference to the will of God for your life. Don't wait around to hear something that you want to do. Go ahead and do that which you don't want to do. I'm saying right now, today, you know enough as a Christian to keep you busy. Keep you busy. The woman at the well had enough to keep her busy, not just the rest of the day, but the rest of her life. And to come see a man that told me all that I ever did is not this to Christ. Much could be said about that. But living His Word and praying, Obey His commandments, verse 10, but then keep our lives clean through the Word. And that's verses 3 and 4. We read it, and you hear it already. To be a branch, look at this, means we are united to Christ and share His life. Now, that's very important. We share His life, and as we abide in Him, His life flows through us and produces fruit. that's the reason and I hope it's just I hope it's not out of routine I hope you really know that it's Christ in you the hope of glory if you do something and someone commends you for doing it that you immediately say to God be the glory and if you mean it that you understand that without him you can do nothing that in your flesh dwelleth no good thing so anything that's that you can appreciate about my life, it's because Christ is a present reality and a help in a time of need. It's Christ, even David, you say, well, Who killed Goliath? We say, David. And David said, no, not really. Who did he say? He gave God the glory. And he said, Goliath, I killed a lion and a bear, and the Lord is going to deliver you into my hands. And so while everybody else was pointing to David and saying, you're the man, David said, no, he's the God. He's the God. Singled out as being, you were blessed because of a lesson or because of a special or something that you've done in Christian service. And when someone points and says thank you, reflect that glory to God because he's the one that gave you the opportunity and made it possible for you to accomplish that task. It's very important. Christ and the believer have the same life. Now this is not a mystery. This is not a mystery. The analogy, a vine is a real vine, is it not? And the vine provides life through the branches. The branches are alive. The fruit is the result of it. And so the life I have in Christ is real. It's real life. I mean, I'm here tonight. Am I not? You're here tonight. It's real. And so Christ and the believer have the same life. As you look back on 2,000 years of church history and you look at what's been accomplished, it's because Christianity's real. It's because men and women have spent time in His presence and His presence has made a difference in their life and His light has flown through their lives and as a result all these souls have been saved and lives have been changed. One blessing is to know that we can have part, not just in the ministry, but to have part in his life. And we're part of the family, amen? I love that song, part of the family of God. I love that song. And to see my wife and then all of a sudden her, her mother and her father, you'll get the accordion and start playing and then the kids or her siblings get around and then grandkids and all of a sudden we're all around and we're part of the family of God. It's just a wonderful thing. Christianity is real. It's real. And so, I'm not here to give you a pep talk. I'm really not. That's not what preaching is, or teaching. Preaching is dealing with real things. This is real, okay. Christ, not only Christ and the believers have the same life, as the branch is entirely dependent upon the vine, the believer is entirely dependent upon Christ. Now, I can give you illustration after illustration. Even since I've arrived here in New Zealand, and this is my only time to be here, I won't be invited back because I Can we turn Brother Smith out? I broke one of his tools, and so I'll never be invited back. But you know, a weed whacker can get away from you. And all of a sudden, a rose is... It's like, it's a beautiful flower, and it just got whacked off with something else, and it's like, too late. And so you see that. So as the branch is entirely dependent upon the vine, so the believer is entirely dependent upon Christ. If the believer abides in Christ, It results in the following. Answered prayer, verse 7. Now, what's the end of reason? Do we have someone praying a selfish prayer who's abiding in the vine? Or are we desiring the same things Christ desires? His life is our life. So we're not praying and asking the Father to do anything that Christ wouldn't pray and ask the Father to do. Am I right? I mean, that's more than implied in the text. And so, it's very important that we see that. And so, answer prayer, verse 7, and we read that in the hearing. But then, right fruit, verse 4 or 5, and then verse 16. Look down at verse 16. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go forth and bring forth fruit. and that your fruit should remain, and whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Now, no asking my name, my authority. One of the telltale signs of being a good employer or an employee is when you seek the pleased employer, the one who has employed you. But then also when you begin to think like the employer and you can speak with confidence and freedom that this is what this is what the boss wants or this is what we should do. And so that's exactly to reach a place spiritually where you're asking God for things. One of the things, one of the benefits or blessings since we've been here is when I pray with you men, it's very evident. I'm listening to you pray and it's like, man, Their prayer lives mirror the prayer lives of the men in our church back home. They've grown in grace, they've reached a place where it's not about them, it's about the Lord, it's about His church, it's about others. And you go in the room with your children and they're just, they're small incarnate. It's everything they talk to you about. They won't, they won't. Do you all have that in your children here in New Zealand? Kids want things, do they not? It's because they're immature. And so that's a part of growing. As a child, you grow into a state of maturity. And so it's exciting to see a young Christian grow and to see them become less selfish. It's a lesson. Now note here, and we'll move through this quickly because I didn't want to finish tonight and not make this a two-week study. not just ripe fruit, but perfect joy. That's verse 11, the last verse we read in New Hearing. God's purpose is not to make you miserable, but it's to bring change in your life so as to secure lasting peace and so as to secure lasting joy. And so I noticed we were in someone's home the other night and a little someone got a book out and mom and dad were teaching the child how to take care of the book, right? And so that's what you do with children. And that's what the Father does through the Son, through His Word, through the Holy Spirit with our lives. He teaches us to take care of ourselves in such a way to ensure lasting joy, to ensure contentment. You know, for a child to come to a parent weeping and have something that bathed in death cells destroyed. And, you know, I want you to put it back together. It's wonderful when you can. Sometimes you can't. But a lot of times that's what we do. We're not living in compliance to the word. And then we bring to God broken pieces. Yes. And now he's merciful, just as any loving father would be. we'd be better off, we'd be better served to listen, amen, and to follow instruction. That's why, you know, parenting reminds us, it reflects upon our journey with Christ, and the Father, and our growth. Okay, now union here, as we move forward with Christ, verse one down to verse number eight, produces communion. And we're gonna be quick, look at the outline on the second page. Union with Christ, verse 1 through 8, produces communion with the Father or God, verse 9 and 10. And disunion with the world, verse 18 down through verse 27. And this is really where the rubber meets the road, and this is where We really have to choose between union with Christ in disunion with the world. And I use that in the sense of that enmity with The phrase is, friendship with the world is enmity with God. And so we have to choose, we have to choose. All right, the second one here, the believers relationship to each other, and verse 12 down through verse 17, believers are members of one body and are one in Christ just as the branches are all from one vine. Believers are to love one another, verse 12. Believers are friends to Christ and as such are friends to each other. Best friends that I've ever had in all the world are the friends that I have made within the local assembly, within the church. I played sports growing up and so I was very close to my teammates and have fond memories, fond memories. But my closest friendships have been within the body of Christ, within the framework of a local New Testament church. while we've been here. I said I'd make some friends while we've been here. You're waiting for me to leave so Brother Smith can come back. Okay. Hey listen, any friend worth having is worth sharing. Amen? You can be friends with Brother Smith and be friends with me. Unless Brother Smith says you can't. No, no, no. He says, no, you've got to choose. No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. Okay, so believers relationship to each other. We talked about believers relationship with Christ, but now it moves into another realm, the believers relationship with each other. And I'm not doing this justice, but I am going to keep my word and finish tonight. I've really focused on what I really wanted to focus on and pretty much shared what I had purpose to share. But look with me at the commandment to love one another stating verse 12 has been called the 11th commandment. Jesus loves us as the Father loved him. That's stated in the text and His love for us is the greatest love we see that look at verse 13 greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends now would he not back that up with Actually lay down his life for his friends. He would And then therefore we should love one another verse 17. That is a very important verse if you'll look at verse 17 and And I've been around church long enough to know that this church, if it's 47 years old, there's been some personality clashes. There's been some rubbing one another the wrong way. That's just part of it. So often we get over it out in the world, but we hold grudges in the church. I've never understood that. Don't get over it with the laws. We have a higher standard. I just expect more out of you, and you expect more out of me in the church. And I guess we should, but at the same time, maybe we need to give people the same break in the church that we give them outside the church. But a lot of times, outside the church, you're paying our salary, but anyway. Therefore, we should love one another. Verse 17, it says, these things I command you, that you love one another. Wow. And getting things sorted out as a pastor between church members, a lot of times between teenagers, you know, things that develop. I mean, you just, can you just ask the point blank question, do you love her? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Well, her, hearing her say that made all the difference. I mean, it's like, we're finished. Having heard the person that you're upset with actually say they love you, canceled out those feelings. I've seen that happen more times than not. And so a lot of times it's just not. not being shy or keeping that to one another, to make sure we express the love to others. How do you like to be told that you're loved from time to time? I had a teacher in Bible college, Dr. Oldham, he said, I told my wife that I loved her when we got married, and he said, it's the only time I've ever told her. He said, if I ever change my mind, I'll let her know. I hope that was just tongue-in-cheek. If it was you and Dr. Odom, that may have been the truth. But okay, number three, the believers' relationship to the world, verse 18 down through verse 27. And I get accused, I say accused, well, you are what you are. I can be a little hard, I guess. I'm not nearly as hard, since I'm not pastoring. But when it comes to coming out from among them and being, you separate, sayeth the Lord. But the believer is separated from the world, verse 18 and 19. I just know, I cannot defend myself. You don't even know what I'm talking about. I love the members of my church enough to the point that when I see what's causing the confusion and when I see what's causing them from progressing as a Christian, I call it out because I want to see them become a fully devoted follower and see them bear fruit. and friendship with this world is imitative with God. It is, it is, it is, okay. The believer is opposed by the world, and then the believer is to witness to the world. So there are three things said here, and we say this in closing, and we're almost done. But the believer is separated from the world. That is a means to an end. You're not gonna bear fruit if you allow yourself if you allow yourself to be intertwined with the world. The believer is opposed by the world. Look at verse 19. I'll say this and I'll move on. Chapter, verse 19. It says, if we were of the world, the world would love his own. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. No one wants to be hated, but the word hated here carries with it the idea of forsaken. I heard a preacher say this years ago, and I know it's absolutely true because I've lived it for over four years, and it's simply this, is you don't have to worry about separating from the world nearly as much as separating to Christ, because as you separate to Christ, the world will separate from you. And if I desired to fit into the world, I wouldn't fit in. I'm totally, I'm ruined. because my language, my speech, and someone asked, I forget the preacher, it was Uncle Buddy, it's a Methodist preacher, said, you know, I was preaching about heaven, but what if you end up going to hell? He said, they wouldn't like me there. And he said, it wouldn't be long before they tell me to leave. And you know, I feel that way with the world now. He just said, I don't have anything in common with it. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a super saint, though I am. heard story, one final story and I'm done, but Uncle Buddy, you don't know who he is, he's not my real uncle, but they said, man, New York City, you ought to see it, you ought to see it, you got to go, you got to go, and so after all these years he finally went and so he went back and so they asked him, so what did you think? He said it was pretty It was a lot to say. And he said, well, what do you like best about it? He said, what I like best about New York City is I didn't see anything alike. I pray that we'll reach that place in the world that we wouldn't have to be told over and over again, come out from a million and be separate. We just realize there's really nothing there that offers joy, peace, and commitment. I find that all in the Father's house. Amen, amen, amen. All right, and so the last thing is the believers to witness to the world, and that's, let's do that this week. Sometimes we'll say, I'll pray and ask the Lord to present me an opportunity to witness, and I do want my witnessing to be led of the Spirit, But he says to be witnesses, so maybe we need to create the opportunity to witness. And I say that in the sense not to force ourself, but to not just wait for God to say, witness to this person. He's already told us to witness that person, as he or as he not. And so let's be obedient. Just take a moment to pray and just make application. where application is needed. We covered an entire chapter, well... In a sense, we only covered the first 11 verses, but we did write by the Lord, abiding in Christ. Are you abiding in Christ? Are you spending time in his word? Are you obeying all that you know to do? As a Christian, is there an area of your life that's unsurrendered? Are you keeping yourself clean through the word? Are you loving your brothers and sisters in Christ like you should? It all goes together. Are you experiencing success as a Christian to your satisfaction? And I say that in a sense hopeful that you would say no, the Lord deserves more than I'm currently producing and I want to be a more effective witness, I want to bear more fruit. And then inside, when it comes to the fruit of a Christian, peace, love, joy, is that being witness in your life like it should? It all comes with the understanding of abiding in Him as we abide in Him. that inward fruit becomes all that God intended it to be, and then we become more effective in our service as his witnesses. Father, I pray that you dismiss us with your blessing. May we be found Witnessing and sharing our faith even this week. May we wait, may we not wait so Pastor Smith comes back and assigns us a responsibility or duty or gives us a yearly theme. May we get a head start before Brother Smith even returns. I pray that perhaps several someone's that are present tonight would set their sights on maybe trying to have a visitor here on the Sunday that pastor returns. What an encouragement to the pastor that would be. Lord, we're not doing it necessarily for Pastor Smith, but for who he stands instead of the Lord Jesus, the true shepherd of the flock. So Lord, I pray that there'll be several visitors here on that very first Sunday that Pastor Smith's back, that someone present even tonight can say, hey, this is so-and-so that I invited to come. This is my pastor, he's just returned from the States. What a wonderful day that would be for a pastor. What a wonderful day that would be for the Father in heaven as he looks down to see that his work's being carried out on earth. Lord, I do pray that you would sovereignly put someone in our path that we might witness and share Christ anew and fresh. Thank you for making us a part of the vine. Thank you for including us. What a wonderful hymn Philip Bliss penned when he penned the hymn, He Included Me. Father, thank you for including me. As undeserving as I might be, I am indebted, and I'm so thankful that you've included me, made me a part of your grand plan of redemption. I pray, Lord, that you'd help us to share that good news with others, and I pray and ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You're dismissed. Thank you.