Let's take our Bibles and turn to John chapter 15. John chapter 15. John chapter 15. Appreciate the message this morning, and I trust it will, each message will complicate, not complicate it, but compliment. Who knows, maybe at this point it's already complicated. Okay, here we go. Alright, so I hope it will complement Brother Jake's message from this morning. But, you know, John Chapter 15, and as we think about the Missions Conference coming up and the message that we heard this morning, it's important that we We put things in the right place, put things in the right order, make sure that we're doing God's work God's way. And making sure that we're not running ahead, making sure that we're not doing what we think is the best way, but we're doing things God's way. And so we get into trouble when we don't do things God's way. we find ourselves, at least I find myself in a lot of strange situations when I decide to forsake the word of God and do things my own way. And when I stop and I think about how doing what I want to do and forsaking the wisdom in God's word, many times in the middle of the testings, in the middle of just the consequences of doing things my own way, the Holy Spirit brings it to mind that, you know what, if you would have followed God's word, things would have been better. And as I was thinking about this passage of Scripture, John chapter 15, a few thoughts came to mind, and I don't think we'll keep you long. I hope we won't keep you long. I know there's a big sports event going on, but church trumps sports events, amen? Amen. Alright, so here we go. John 15, verse 1. John 15, verse 1. And the setting for this passage of Scripture is, if you would just take a moment and look at John 14, verse 31. Jesus Christ is talking to His disciples. They're having that Last Supper, if you will. In verse 31, He says, But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. He says, Arise, let us go hence. And what He was saying is, let's go to the Garden. Let's go to Gethsemane. Judas had already left to do his work and to betray Christ. And so Jesus Christ was giving, essentially giving his disciples the last bit of instruction before the soldiers would show up, Judas would plant the kiss on his face, he would be taken away to the high priest, and the high priest would send him to Pilate, and then because the Jews wanted Christ dead, and then Pilate, because of the Jews, he found no fault in him, but he was willing to satisfy the outcry of the mob. And then he pronounced judgment on Christ and said, I find no fault in him. But then he said he allowed Christ to be crucified. And so this is all about to take place. And so here Christ is giving the last bit of instruction to his disciples before all this happens. And so it's important that we understand the context. And as he just goes through the upper room with his with his disciples, and then as they're walking, many scholars believe that as they're walking to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he was about to go through that time, that kenosis, that emptying of himself, that he was talking along the way. And along the way, in John 15, verse 1, he says, I am the true vine, and my father is the husband bin. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." And so he's not talking about salvation, he's talking about fruit bearing. So once we're saved, once we know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we cannot be discarded. We are part of God's family. We've been born again. We've been birthed into the family of God. We've been adopted into the family of God, so God will not condemn us to hell. Amen? Because we have the righteousness of Christ placed upon us, our soul is secure. Our soul is safe. But he's talking about the Christian and fruit bearing. It 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. And then he goes on to explain it. In verse 5, he says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and 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. Herein 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 ye in my love. 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. And so we see here, it's not talking, Christ isn't talking to his disciples about eternal life. He's talking about fruit bearing as a Christian, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's desire is that we bear fruit, not just some fruit, not just a little fruit. He wants us to bear much fruit. And I would dare say that... All of us want to fulfill our purpose. We heard about the purpose of the church from Brother Jake, and that is to send missionaries out and fulfill the Great Commission. And I believe we all want to fulfill that purpose. We all want to move forward. There is nothing worse in life, as I mentioned the last time I preached, than getting at the end of your life and realizing that you missed the purpose of life. You missed fulfilling your purpose. Our desire is to bear fruit. And that's God's desire for us. And so as we see the events that are about to take place, Jesus Christ wants us to bear much fruit. And so if we're not bearing fruit, we're not fulfilling our purpose as a Christian. if we're not seeing fruit in our lives. And I'm not just talking about having that inward fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. That's important. And we ought to make sure that we are walking daily in the power and control of the Holy Spirit of God. And the fruit of the Spirit is becoming part of us. And the Spirit doing His work in us. And that's producing the love and the joy and the peace and all the fruits of the Spirit. as we think about this passage of Scripture in John chapter 15, Jesus Christ wants us to bear much fruit. And I believe that the major context of this passage of Scripture is that we ought to be winning souls, and we ought to be bearing that fruit. And it's convicting for us, and it was convicting for me as I read this passage of Scripture, and I think about the souls that maybe Not the souls, but maybe the lack of souls that we have won in our lifetime. Think about that. Think about that. When was the last time Christ used you to bring someone to him? When was the last time you opened your Bible, you opened a New Testament, you opened a gospel tract, and you led someone to the Lord Jesus Christ? And I understand that God gives the increase, and it's God that gives the fruit, and He blesses His Word, but I want to make sure that we're doing our part. We have to make sure that we're doing what God has called us to do. The Bible says, he that winneth souls is wise. I want to be wise and I want the blessings of God on our life. And so as we think about fulfilling our purpose and doing what God has called us to do, we need to make sure that we are abiding in Christ. Abiding in Christ. Abiding in Christ is more than just sitting in a prayer closet somewhere. Abiding in Christ is more than just reading large portions of Scripture. Abiding in Christ is continuing in the work that He has called us to do. And so, this passage of Scripture should not only convict us, but it should motivate us, and it should really excite us about the potential of going out and reaching souls for Jesus Christ. Because Christ said, ye shall be witnesses. Ye shall be witnesses. He was saying that to the church, and we should be witnesses. Are we good witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ? If we are going to be that good witness, a clear witness of the gospel, we need to make sure that we are abiding in Christ. And so as we go through John 15, I want us to really just pull out, it's not going to be deep as far as really getting into each particular point in a very in-depth way, but I trust it'll challenge us to abide in Christ so that we can bear much fruit. Because that's our purpose. If we're not bearing fruit, we will be dissatisfied as a Christian. We will be discontent. And someone who is not fulfilling their purpose as a Christian will eventually become a critic. We'll sit back and we'll look at what everyone else isn't doing, but let me ask you, what are we doing? What are we doing? And so John chapter 15 just gives us the recipe, the formula, and I don't like using those words because sometimes in Christianity we just get so focused on one, two, three, this is what we do, and this is how it'll work, and we get so caught up in trying to get the formula right that we're missing the abiding part. We're not abiding in Christ. And so to fulfill our purpose, and fulfill what God has left us on earth to do. Not only are we to send out the missionaries from our church, but we are to be those witnesses. And so the first thing I want us to see in John 15, verse 1, it says, I am the true vine. I am the true vine. And if you're a Bible student, you understand the power that is in those two little words, I am. I am, the self-existent one, the all-powerful one. Jesus Christ is saying, I am the omnipresent one, I am the omniscient one, the omnipotent one. I am. You know, it's not all up to us. In the Christian life, it's not all up to us. Moses, when God came to him, And he said, I want to use you, not only to give you the law, but I want you to go down to Egypt and I want you to tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And when he lets you take the people go, I want you to lead them to the promised land. And Moses is like, I can't do that. There's no way that I can fulfill that. But he was misunderstanding. He wasn't really realizing what God was telling him. He was saying in Exodus 3, verse 15, it says, And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. You know, it's not up to our own power. We have the I Am. Jesus Christ is the I Am. He says, I am the true vine. In Mark 4, verse 39, it says, And He arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? You know this winter, I've gotten up, I've gotten my coffee, I've looked out the window, I've seen the snow coming down. It doesn't really come down in Manitoba, it goes sideways, and it starts drifting everywhere, right? How many know? And you say, man, and you pray, man, I wish I could stop that. You know, man, I wish I could stop the snow. I mean, sometimes in the last summer, as the creek runs through our property, man, the rains were coming down, and the water was rising, and I'm like, I'm sitting there with my coffee, and I said, I'm sure glad we got insurance for this, you know? And there was nothing I could do about those things, but yet here we have Jesus Christ, He steps up, and He says, peace be still. I've never seen anyone do that. Although I'd like to. I've never seen anyone. And He is saying, I am. He's the all-powerful One. He's the all-powerful One. Not only is He the I am, the great I am, but Jesus Christ is the true vine. He's the true vine. In John 1, verse 17, it says, For the law was given by Moses, But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ explains it in John chapter 15 verse 5. He says, I am the vine. I am the vine. One thing about the vine is we understand that the vine is a spreading plant. Now I'm no gardener. All right, and I just can't get anything to grow, amen. But one thing you realize, in our house in Morden, when we lived in Morden, we had a vine that would grow along the fence and man, that thing would just go and go and go. And if we weren't careful and we didn't pay attention to it, it would be everywhere on the yard. And so we were always pruning it and trying to keep it under control, but it was a, Divine spread and that's what a vine does it spreads and that's what Christ is talking about He's saying not only do you receive you're the branches of that vine But we ought to be spreading the gospel and we ought to be not spreading our own Philosophies our own doctrines, but we are to be spreading Jesus Christ. We are to be Lifting him up if it's all about us and all people remember is is our personality. We've missed the boat We've missed our purpose. We need to understand that Jesus Christ is that true vine. The vine is a spreading plant, and Matthew Henry in his commentary says, Christ is the true vine. As truth is opposed to pretense and counterfeit, unfruitful trees are said to lie. but Christ is the vine that will not deceive. Christ is the vine that will not deceive. Have you ever been lied to? Has someone ever tricked you, told you a lie? Man, there were several times growing up with our brothers and sisters, and I think I've told this story before about When mom and dad were gone, we enjoyed making bombs or stuff like that. Not really bombs, you know, we weren't terrorists in the sense, but we played with fire, all right, and fuel. And I remember one time I had a two liter and I was putting all sorts of oil and gas when dad wasn't looking in this two liter and I took a rake and I had this rake and I had this bottle and I threw I threw it in the bottle in the fire, and it was slowly, and I wasn't wise in this, and so don't try this at home, children. And I remember it wasn't exploding like I thought it would. It was just, I know now that the pressure was building, so I took the rake and I hit it. And it was a great mushroom cloud, all right? And I wasn't injured at all. But I remember Julia standing out on the porch step, and she says, what is that? And I said, nothing. It's apple juice or something. You know how it looks. And so next thing I know, she's standing out with a cup of apple juice. She enjoyed the show, all right? And so I lied to her. I'm not sure that I asked for forgiveness. All right. But, you know, I deceived her. And, you know, there were times when we've been deceived and we felt betrayed. But Christ will never betray us. Christ will never lie. He says, He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. And that's who we're lifting up. As we go out and we preach the Gospel, we are being empowered by the great I Am, and we have the greatest message, the message of Jesus Christ. We're lifting up a purpose, a person, not a creed, not a list of things to do. We are to lift up Christ. We are to spread the Gospel. And so we see here the I am in John chapter 15 verse 1. And we see that Jesus Christ is the true vine. And then we see the husbandman. The husbandman is the one that is working the ground and making sure that the ground gets worked up and making sure that things get pruned right and making sure that the harvest is gathered. He's the one that does the work. It's the work that's happening. In v. 1, it says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. The Father. God the Father is the one doing the work. 2 Corinthians 3, v. 5, it says, Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Our sufficiency is of God. What does it mean to be sufficient? It means enough. It means enough. Equal to the end proposed. The Father is qualified. The Father is qualified. You know, it's God doing the work. God is sufficient. You say, well, we may be like Moses, and we say, well, I stutter, or I don't find the right words. I can't be a witness. I can't bear fruit like other people seem to be bearing fruit. It's not about us. It's God doing the work. It's God doing the work. And we need to remember that as we submit ourselves to Him, He is sufficient. He is enough. He's equal to the end proposed. God is enough. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9, he says, For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. And so it's God that does the work. It's God that does the edification. It's God who does the saving. Praise the Lord, I can't save anyone. I don't want to, there's no way I can present myself as a savior. And so often we go out soul winning, we go out telling people about Christ, and in our mind and in our preparation, we're so consumed with what we're doing, and we need to be consumed with making sure that we have the power of God in our life. It's God that does the work. Jesus Christ is the I Am. He's the true Vine. And His Father is doing the work in us. We need the power of God in our lives. In John 7, verse 38, He says, He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, Going back to the scripture, he that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. It's the power of God coming in us and then through us. It's God making the difference. Rest assured, when God is doing the work in our lives and the work through our lives, the work will get done. The work will get done. And so it's the I am, the great I am, and it's God the Father, the husband, and it's Jesus Christ, the true vine. But let's continue to read, it says, in verse five, it says, I am the vine and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and 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. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. And so, when we think about this passage of scripture, There's a purging that takes place. There's a purging that takes place. And this is the part that we don't like. There are some things in the Christian life that as a created being, as a fallen created being, there are some things that we find difficult. And the purging process can be difficult. In verse 2 it says, Every branch that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it. He purgeth it. The purging, one thing we need to remember is the purging is under the watchful eye and careful hand of the great husbandman, God. It's God doing the work. And so when he decides to purge something in our life, we need to have the right mindset, a submitted mindset, understanding that he's doing it for our good so that we can bear the fruit, bear the much fruit. Job 23, verse 10, it says, But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried Me, I shall come forth as gold. Job knew what it was to be purged. Job knew what it was to have things taken away. Job knew what it was to draw near to the Lord, and how the Lord blessed him for his faithfulness. You know, everyone that bears fruit for the Lord Jesus Christ goes through times of purging. Everyone does. Joseph did. David went through times of purging. I think of Peter, how he went through times of purging, those trials. I think of Paul, how things were taken from Paul, and how Paul had to endure so many things, and the purging in his heart and his mind, and the purging in his physical body, and how that must have just really gotten him to the point. And where he said, what's going on, Lord? But we see that Paul was willing to go through the purging. And you know what? Sometimes we have to let God purge us. The purging from a great husbandman enables us to bear much fruit. It enables us to bear much fruit. Sometimes we need to let go of the things of the world so that God can give us spiritual blessings. There are some things that we as Christians need to let go of. And we could take the time and we could list so many different things that are holding us back from really fulfilling our purpose and spreading the gospel and bearing much fruit. But I believe the Holy Spirit will bring it to your mind. What are those things that God is trying to get you to purge from your life? Sometimes it's not all out of discipline. Sometimes we go through times because God loves us and He knows what is best for us, and He knows that we need some things taken out of our life. And so He's coming into our life and He's purging us. And the purging is for our good. And so Jesus Christ, in John chapter 15, verse one through four, talks about the vine, the husbandman, the purging. And then he says in verse 4, 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. Verse 5, I am the vine, Ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. And so, after we see who Christ is, after we see it's God doing the work in us, Jesus tells us to abide in Him. Abide in Him. What does that mean? What does that mean? To abide, it means to continue. to dwell, to endure, to be present, to remain, to stand, to tarry, to continue. Are we abiding? Are we continuing in what God has told us to do? When I think of the word abiding, many times my mind goes to home, a place of rest. A place where we can not forget the cares of the world, but the pressure doesn't seem so great. It's a place where we abide. You know, the last two Saturdays, I'm thinking next Saturday I'm just gonna stay home. Because yesterday we were playing hockey and Brother Gary lost an edge and right into the end boards and he broke his leg in three places and many know he had surgery this morning. I'm thinking, man. You know, that was pretty intense when you're trying to help the guy off the ice, and you're waiting for the medics to come, and it's like, man, you feel bad for the guy, and you're trying to help him. And the Saturday before, I was coming to the church after the Valentine's banquet, and there was almost a head-on collision. A girl was driving, and someone swerved into the lane, and it took off the front tire, and the driver's side door was completely taken off, and I get in. I get there right after it happened, and a couple other guys were there right after it happened, and they're outside in the cold. I said, let's get in the vehicle, and let's warm up, and let's get out off the road and out of the weather. And, you know, after those times, it's like, man, I just want to go home. I just want to go home. Because those times, you know, it can be, it's difficult to process emotionally and you see what people are going through and your desire to help them. And you know, my mind, when I was thinking of that word, abide, abide. You go home. You go to a place where you can share your heart with your loved ones. You know, there are things and times after last night and yesterday or a week from yesterday, there are just some things in your heart and your mind. Man, I just want to go home. I just want to go home. And you can tell your wife and you can just relax a little bit. You just want to go home. And you know, for the Christian, we should abide in Christ. There should be a time where we just wanna go to Him. Where we wanna go to Him. That's a place where we continue. Let me ask you, where are you abiding? Where are you abiding? In John 6, verse 68, it says, Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. You know, if we are to bear fruit, we ought to go to the Son of the living God. We are to abide in Him. If we are gonna reach this lost world for Christ, we are to abide in Christ. If we are to handle the struggles, the turmoils, the testings of life, we gotta run to Christ. We ought to go to Him. 1 John 2, verse 6, it says, "...he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked." To whom shall we go? We need to abide in Christ. We need to abide in Christ. John 17, verse 23 says, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved me as thou hast loved me. How do we abide? We look at that word, we think of that word abide, and I gave you the illustration of where my mind goes when I think of abiding. It's a continuance. It's a continuing in what God has called us to do. In John 8, verse 31, it says, Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed. If ye continue in my word. You know, when I go home, that's a place that is a place of protection. It's a place of refreshment. It's a place where I can go and I can, in some ways, pour my heart out to the ones that I love. And I can just give myself in that place. And yet I receive in that place, I receive love, I receive the affection that I need, and I receive the love from my family. And we can just have that fellowship one with another. That doesn't mean that I can just hunker down and not go anywhere after that. What does it mean to abide? It means that we come to the true vine, Jesus Christ, and we receive the nourishment through His Word for our lives, and it becomes a part of us, And that enables us to go out into this world. Remember, a vine is a spreading plant. And as we receive the nutrients, as we abide, as we continue in that place, listening to the Word of God, the Word of God becomes a part of us. And then as we go out, we bring the gospel message with us. And it's just a natural outflow of being that one who abides in Christ. We have that close fellowship with Him. And every time we get into the Word of God, every time we pour out our heart before Him, and we come to Him in prayer, He will give us what we need so that we can fulfill His will for our life. So that we can bear much fruit. Luke 8, verse 31, it says, But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. We are to continue in the Word. Continue in the Word. The Word of God protects us. There is protection when we are connected to the vine. When we are abiding in Christ, we bear much fruit. We bear much fruit. So we need to ask ourselves, where's the fruit? See, I said, we need to ask ourselves. I don't need to look at my brother and say, where's your fruit? Why aren't you bearing any fruit? No, I need to stop and I need to ask myself, Lord, am I bearing the fruit? Am I fulfilling my purpose? Am I bearing fruit? God wants us, when we are abiding in Christ, we will bear much fruit. Our prayers are answered. In verse 7, it says, If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Our prayers will be answered. When we are abiding in Christ, we have God's love towards others. Verse nine, it says, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. When we are abiding in Christ, we will be effective in our service. We will bear much fruit. So what does it mean to abide? It means to continue. And what I would encourage us to do is really continue in the Word. Get in the Word of God. Abide in the Word of God. Jesus Christ, when He needed refreshment, many times He went out to that solitary place, and He got before His heavenly Father, and He spent that time in prayer. He spent that time communing with His heavenly Father. And if we are to abide, we need to spend the time talking and fellowshipping and being connected to the vine so that we have the nutrients, we have the sustenance so that we can bear that fruit. Because remember, it's in Christ and Him alone. It's Christ working through us, not in and of ourselves. It's Christ working through us. And so, that abiding is, we need to get in the Word of God. The Bible tells us it's in the Word. It's in the Word. Are you in the Word of God? Has the Word become a part of you? Are we praying? Are we praying? Are we working biblically through the trials of life? We all go through trials. We all go through testings. If we're going to bear fruit, we're going to go through those times of purging. Let's not run away from those things. Let's embrace them and say, Lord, what are you trying to teach me? I was thinking about that last night as the last two Saturdays, these different things, these traumatic things in my mind happen and you're processing them and you're thinking, you know, Lord, what are you trying to do? Lord, what do you want to teach me in those things? Maybe it's a relationship that we're going through. You say, Lord, what are you trying to do in my life? Lord, what fruit are you trying to bear in my life? And it shouldn't be one of doubting, it should be one of hope that whatever God is doing in my life, it's for my good. and it's for His glory. And so, let's not run away from the trials of life. And so, how are we to abide? We are to continue in the Word. We are to continue in prayer. We are to continue through trials. And we are to continue preaching the Gospel. We are to continue in those things. That's what it means to abide. We have a relationship through Christ With our Heavenly Father and with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, He enables us, He empowers us to preach the gospel and to bear much fruit. So everything is there for us. Why aren't we bearing fruit? Why aren't we bearing fruit? It's not the vine's problem. It's not the great IM's problem. It's not the husbandman problem. It's the branch problem. It's the branch problem. Let's make sure that we are abiding in Christ. We can go through our plans. We can go through our systems. We can have our formulas in place. We can have our programs in place. But if we're not abiding in Christ, we cannot bear fruit. Let's bear fruit. Continue in the Word.