helper and just see how it works all right John 15 read just a few words well I'll read most of it because I think it's necessary for you to get it's just 14 verses cover covers this particular subject of Jesus being the vine and what all it speaks of because he is the vine and how it'll affect us know how he wants to see how it affects us He wants evidence that it is working in your life. No evidence means that you get cast out. If you're not bearing fruit, you don't belong. Somebody big as Jesus belongs in your life. Somebody most important, the only mediator between you and God and man, the one that has Control your life the one that gave himself for you He must Be seen and evident that he is in your life There have that's what you can base a lot of this 14 verses out and I'll try to go through that this morning I'll try to behave myself and try to get my whole subject. I Am the truth. I am the true vine. I this is what we're talking about the vine is Jesus and he says that my father is the husbandman he's the one that owns it all it all belongs to him and he reverts and reveres his father but then he begins to deal with how that he is the vine and that you there has to be evidence of the effects of the vine upon your life every branch in me that's critical two words in me that beareth not fruit is taken away everyone that claims they're of God professes they belong to God testifies that they belong to God and he says there's no fruit They don't bear any fruit. There's no evidence of it. Fruit is evidence. There's no evidence of it. He says that he's going to cast them or take them away. And every branch that beareth fruit is purged that it might bring forth more fruit. Now you are cleaned through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you. as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except that abide in the vine no more can ye except you abide in me I am 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 you can do nothing. If any 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, 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 you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. You'll be example, a testimony that you really belong to me. As my Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's even as I Jesus have kept my father's commandments and I and abide in his love these things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you it's my desire in dealing with you on this subject that your joy might be full This is my commandment, that you love one another. I'll give you an example, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If ye do whatsoever, I, it doesn't say ask, It says, command you. Father, help us. I know I'm famous for straying and getting off on subjects and I want to stay on this this morning and try to bring the truth out. Lord, I believe that you've led me to and I pray give me wisdom and grace and understanding. I pray you bind every spirit that tries to confuse and distract and I pray Lord to give liberty to the preaching in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Essential issue here is buried fruit and God helps us to see that it's clear you've got to be attached to the vine and from the vine you'll bear fruit. There's a lot of subjects in your Bible about fruit bearing we could turn over to the book of Galatians and it wouldn't be wrong it wouldn't be harm uh... it but you could use the fruit of the spirit uh... is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such as no law it would be no problem attaching this to the vine That comes through the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit of God. He'll speak of me. That's what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. So it wouldn't be no problem using that. There's other verses that speak about mine. Jesus said you'll know them by their fruit. And so you'll be able to tell people by their very actions. By what their life bears. What their life produces. what's coming out of their life and so Jesus made it clear you'll be able to tell by their fruit. There's another verse that you probably know well yourself it's found in the book of Proverbs chapter 11 verse 30 it says the fruit of the righteous is what the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life now the last part of that verse is where you've really heard it The last part of that verse is that he that winneth souls is wise. You've heard that and heard that and heard that. I'm going to challenge you just on the side for you to examine that word winneth. It doesn't mean what we think it means generally. The word winneth there means to bring. Come to cause to come and even uses the word subtle in there so you can write almost Trick of the way to come to church You read that old song or you're singing that old song bring them in and that's what it goes along with it's got nothing to do of you ever bring them to a full a winning of anything the only thing you do is you and I if we bring somebody to church and When it talks about winning, it talks about the Holy Spirit of God is the one that wins them over. Convicts them of sin and righteousness, judgment to come. And deals with their soul about their need to repent. That's the work of the Holy Spirit of God. You can't do that. But you can bring them in. He that winneth souls. Why? So I have a lot of different things I could go to and I want to do and I started to. Holy Spirit of God just wouldn't give me liberty, I just felt that I wasn't going the right direction, so I said, okay, I'll back up, I'll try it again. And I've had a lot of problems really trying to get the connection of this fruit. And really it was simple, it was there all the time. I was just going to the wrong direction. But what it's speaking of here is I've said it a minute ago, I read it in the book of Acts. This is doing with a fruit that comes from the vine. You're attached to the vine, and because you are attached to the vine, it tells you up in verse number five that you can't do anything without God, and so you can't bear fruit without the Holy Ghost of God, but you will bear fruit if you are Part of the vine if you're truly attached to the vine There will be fruit that you will bear. It'll be showing you'll be fruitful fruitful and what picture You'll be fruitful and buried the image and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ So I had a sickness on Christ Liveth in me you will have Where are you coming from? You're attached to who? The vine. You're attached to the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's only natural, and I don't know why I was going around different things with this thing about fruit trying to connect to something else. No! This fruit is the results of you being filled with the Holy Ghost of God and the Lord Jesus Christ being in your life. He's the vine. I am the vine. And what are you? You're the branches. And so the branches are going to bear what kind of fruit? They're coming from the vine. The vine is a source of their life. The vine is what they're attached to. The vine is what has control. And so you're going to bear the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ, of His effect upon your life. We read that verse in Acts. When it dealt with, they were called Christians first at Antioch. Why were they called Christians? Where did they get that word from? It's because the disciples were bearing fruit. The evidence that Jesus was in their life. They could see Christ in them. There was evidence of Christ working in their life. They could see the Spirit of Christ in them. They could see the love of Christ in them. We'll go down through some of this. They could see the character of Christ in them. They acted like Christ. They had a spirit like Christ. And so there was an evidence in their life of the fruit that was born in their soul from being a belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying there'd be an appearance, there'd be an appearance that would show that just like a father son, so would be your I guess you're a child of God, wouldn't you? You're sons and daughters, it tells you over in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. He said, I'll be a father unto you and you'll be my sons and daughters. And so there's going to be that born again effect upon your life. You were born into the family of God. through the atoning grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. And so you're bonded, you're bounded, you're birthed by Him. You gotta get these connections. You were born again into the family of God. You belong to the Lord Jesus Christ because of His atonement. He's the head of the church. And you are the church, His bride. And you belong to Him from the birth, the spiritual birth you had at the time of salvation. And so from that spiritual birth, what's affecting me? What's influencing me? What's controlling me? Who's over me? I belong to who? I'm saying to you all these things show you that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and you are going to bear the evidence that He is in your life. It's going to come out naturally. It's going to be something that you won't have to really work at to do. It's going to be natural. You're born again naturally of the Lord Jesus Christ. of His grace and mercy, His atonement, and so there's going to be evidence of this birth. He's divine and you're birthed into the family of God. Is that right? You're birthed into the family of God. You belong to God. You belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ liveth in me. So I'm saying to you, there'll be visible evidence. There'll be clear evidence of what Christ is like, the attributes of Christ. What is he like? And it gives you just some of them down through here. It gives you evidence of what it's like to belong to Christ. Look at verse number one and two. Now this is the likeness. This is the visible likeness that you belong to the Lord. This is the fruit that he's talking about. Am the true vine my father's the husband every branch. What's the next two words? So very important in me They're very important words to know, you know your position your place Your your your birthmark that you're in Christ every branch in me if you're in him if you belong to him and There's gonna be an effect somewhere or another if you're in Him and you don't bear fruit if you're showing an attachment to Him you're professing that you know Him you're identified with Him and there's no evidence you can't see Christ in you you can't see His kindness His mercy You can't see His justice. You don't see any of His life. You don't see that godliness. You don't see that holiness. You don't see any fruit coming out of the life. The person that was transformed is changed into a new creature. The new creature is created in Christ Jesus and the likeness of Christ Jesus. The new creature is If there's none of that evidence, you claim it? It doesn't mean a thing if there's no outside evidence, birthing evidence. Just like you say with a baby a lot of times, well, looks like the dad, looks like the mom. You all say that. You see a little baby, oh, it looks just like you. Of course, everybody wants to say it looks like somebody, you know. You look just like Jesus. Oh, come on preacher, yes. How can you be birthed in his family and not look like him? How can you have him inside in the Holy Spirit of God and there not be an effect in your life? There's got to be this fruit This likeness, this evidence of Christ in you. His righteousness in you. His leading in you. The Lord is my shepherd. What does that make you? I guess I'm just sheep. I belong to Him. I'm His sheep. I belong to Him. I come from Him. He made me what I am. I'm a different person. I'm not the same person I was as a sinner. I'm created after the image of Christ now. That affects my life and so Every branch that beareth fruit What's he gonna do he's gonna work on him he's gonna work in him that they may bring forth much fruit And so there's going to be an immediate work in their lives There's going to be that relationship evidence They're going to be they're going to shine in that life There's going to be evidence that they've been with God that they belong to God. I Listen to me carefully. You can't hide this. You can't hide this. It's going to be seen. It's going to be evident. There's going to be a glow about you. You'll be able to pick people out that's Christians. Come on, preacher. You'll be able to tell. God's going to guarantee you'll tell. He's going to purge you. He's going to work on you. He's going to feed your souls. God that worketh in you, both are willing to do His good pleasure. It's God! that's working in you to make you more and more to put off your old man and put on the new man after Jesus Christ. That's what it says. It's not after you. It's not after a denomination. It's not after a doctrine. It's put on you after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That you look like Jesus, act like Jesus, talk like Jesus, think like Jesus. Oh, come on preacher. Well, the Bible says, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Do you have the same principles and thoughts in your mind now that you had before you saved? Should change, shouldn't it? We should have a renewed mind. Romans chapter 12. And so I'm saying to you, there are going to be difference. Number two, look at verse three. Now you're clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you. Now ye are clean. You're not part of this filthy world, this immoral, ungodly, wicked world. You don't talk like them, act like them, think like them, desire the things they do. I hear H preaching on contentment, godliness with contentment. You reckon you and I would pass the test? You reckon we don't have covetousness? I know sin, Paul said, except he learned, he heard of covetousness. And it rings a bell in the mind, I gotta have, gotta have, gotta have, can't have, this ain't enough, I want more, I want better. That's not a Christian. That's not a Christian. How do you know? Because my example, my example of Christ slept outside. He had no place to lay his head. He's my example. As the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, he should have had a palace down here, you'd think. He could have made his own palace. What did he choose? What kind of lifestyle did he choose for an example? How do you expect us to? Does the Bible say follow him? Does the Bible say walk even as he walked? Hello? He's, you're clean through the Word. His Word working in you. Ephesians 5, 26 talks about how that you have a cleansing of the water by the Word. If you look in John, 17, 17, we're going to get there one of these days. Listen to what John 17 says. Jesus is praying, and listen to what he says. Sanctify them. You know what the word sanctify means? Make pure, make clean, make holy. Sanctify them through thy truth. That's how we're sanctified, how we're washed. It's through the washing of water by the word, it says in Ephesians. And so, the Christian gets a bath in God's Word, a cleansing power. You don't act like the world. You don't think like the world. You don't desire the things of the world. You say, Preacher, I'm trying to tell you what the Bible says. You can't be like Jesus and be a sinner. You can't be like Jesus and love the world. You can't walk along with the world hand in hand and be like Jesus. No! Friendship with the world is enmity with God. You're an enemy of God. You say, preacher, why you preach so hard? Because hell's real and so is heaven. It's not something to I hear so many preachers tell jokes. They'll preach halfway, they'll preach a little bit hard on sin, and then tell a joke. Tell a joke. Tell a joke. I learned a little bit from some of the preachers I've had behind this pulpit. One was old Brother Burns. Brother Burns burned in my mind. He'd say it all the time. He'd say, this is serious business. Your soul, eternal destiny, hinges upon whether you bear the fruit of righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says you're clean through the Word. Let me go a couple more. Notice in verse number 4, Abide in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me. You can't, you can't be, you can't be an in and out Christian. You can't be. The word abide, you know what it means. It means to continue to remain, to persevere. It means it's something that will endure hardness, something that will sacrifice, something that will stay no matter the storm or the trial, no matter what they're facing, they'll stay true to God. He'll stay true to them and they'll stay true to God. They won't be a Christian on Sunday and a devil on Monday. They'll look like a Christian on Sunday, and they'll look like a Christian on Monday. They'll show the fear of God in their life, and their very apparel, their apparel will show respect for God. Preacher, why do you wear a suit all the time? Because I want to show him that he's the best in my life, and I want to show I fear him, and I revere him, and I love him, and I will try, I'll try my best to show that adoration for him. I'm gonna abide in Him. I'm gonna stay. We've got a Christianity being preached today that you can go out there, you can go out there to the bars, to the bed of fornication, to anything you can think of and come back. I told you Billy Mitchell sat in that little house over there. We was talking about that very subject. About preachers preaching about Christians going way out and saying, they're still Christians, they're good. Billy Mitchell sat in there and he said, Brother Owen, he said it about a favorite camp meeting. I asked him if he goes. He said, Brother Owen, these are exact words, he said. They take them too far out. and bring them back for me." That's his very exact words. You believe this verse is wrong? You believe it's different than what the Bible is saying? You believe a man can be a sinner, go out there to sin, live in sin, practice sin, and be a Christian? The Bible right there says they can. If you don't abide, He's not going to abide in you. You've got to abide and He'll abide in you. You can't just do whatever you want if you're a Christian. How are you going to look like Jesus? Can you show me one day in the Bible or the Gospels that Jesus didn't act holy and righteous, merciful, loving, kind, long-suffering? Show me one. Show me one where you can say that he didn't live right, he didn't talk right, he's in a bad spirit that day. He didn't go to church that day, he was mad at somebody. Let me move on. This next one covers that anyway. Notice in verse 9 and 10. We're talking about fruit. As the Father hath loved me, So have I loved you. Now, do you think there's any imperfection, any phoniness, any hypocrisy in the love between Jesus and the Father? Can you see that? Verse 9 as the father hath loved me so I have loved you continue my love So if I loved you I've loved you Jesus that I've loved you just like I love the father And if you're gonna abide in me you're gonna love that way you're not gonna give up on people I You're going to be kind and forgiving and understanding. You're going to not think yourself above other people or other people not worthy of your affection at the time. Let me ask you a question. I know the word goes around a lot. The word, you know, you say, I love you. How many of you would believe a person Loves you if they never had any action to it They never told you they never did anything how many of you think that they really love you That's crazy. That is crazy. Yeah, you know, it's crazy just because the world has used it doesn't mean that God's people don't show love all the time I don't care what the people are. Now, you don't have to hug and tell a sinner you love them. You can tell them you're praying for them, or you can tell you love their soul. I try to tell Connie all the time that I'm praying for her soul. I love her. I love her soul. I want to see her saved. She asked me, how am I going to do it, preacher? Went down the list again, telling her how she had to repent and tell God she's never going to come back to that lifestyle again. Never going back. I promise you, God, I'll never go back to it. I said, if you'll do that, you'll get somewhere. But sure, Liz, could you, could you match your love Look at me and listen to me. Could you match your love with the way Christ loved you, gave himself for you, was long-suffering over you? And every one of you in here, God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost of God, in some way has kept you alive. We live and move in His bed. You don't determine how long you're going to live unless you want to commit suicide. He might let you not get by with that. If I'm a Christian, if I'm a Christian, that I'm going to have Christ-like love in me. Who else's love can I compare it to? If I belong to Him, I'm His child, who else can I compare my love to? Just sing this song. I love Him because He first loved me. You get back to the other verse. And you can do it again. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. You're clean through the word. Remember, I read that verse. I'm telling you, Wood, a world of difference in the spirit of a church if everybody get over their little bit of differences in one another, and forgive everybody that they're not exactly like them. What a difference it'd make, the spirit of the whole church, of everybody loving one another, and they're not picking and trying to find fault with one another, and falsely accusing one another. Or maybe the big thing of never forgiving one another, Look at me, look at me, look at me. How would you like it if you committed a sin that Jesus wouldn't forgive? You hold God's nose to the Bible, he's gotta forgive. No, he doesn't. I think there's a guy. What's that guy's name in the Bible? Is it Esau? Is it Esau? Is that his name? Esau sought it with tears. Esau sought it with tears and couldn't get forgiveness. It says here that, if you keep his commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I kept my Father's commandments, even as I kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. He wants to show that I think the Bible says in Romans that His love is shed abroad in our heart. Is that in Romans? Is that what the Bible says? His love is shed abroad in our heart. His love is shed abroad in our heart. I believe it's in Romans. I believe it's Romans 5-5 if you want to look at it, if you don't believe me. It isn't even your love. It's His love. Show my love. Show my love as I've loved you. Show my love. Don't show the kind that you determine just what realms it is in. The box that you put it in. It's real. I have long hours of loneliness. And it's taught me some lessons that I didn't have. It's taught me lessons to be more loving to people. I guess I overdo it. I get accused that I'm trying to have an affair with every woman I talk to. So bad that people's got such dirty minds that you can't even get near anybody. Dirty minds. Carnal minds. Wicked minds. But it's helped me. It really is. It's a hundred times easier, and I hate to say it, since my wife's been gone, that I can truly say to another person, I love you. It did something to me. It made me appreciate other people and their kindness and their love towards me that they show. And so I want them to know that I'm thankful. I'm thankful. Well, I'm going to close. He gives us the reason He gave this message. The reason He gave this message in verse number 11. Tells you clear just what he's doing. These things have I spoken unto you that your joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. How many happy Christians do you see? people that's just excited about being along with Christ. You could, you know they used to sing a song, it's bubbling, it's bubbling, you ever heard that song? Bubbling in my soul. Did you ever hear that verse? The joy of the Lord is my strength. You wonder why there's weak Christians? I mean, when you're, when things are settled and you're in the right relationship and you're close to God and He's feeding your soul, He's confirming His love to you and you're confirming your love for Him. I'll tell you what it'd do. It'd work on your eyes more. because it'd work on your heart, you'd get softer. Your heart has been hardened by all the other problems of other people, what you've seen, and so you feel, because your heart is a little crusty, and you don't trust anybody, and you don't think anybody's really a Christian, and so you're proud of yourself, how you just made yourself resistant to the truth, and resistant to being around anybody else, and nobody's perfect, and you've just got that old crusty old heart, and so you figure you're safe, to face God with a cold heart. I don't think I'd want to do that. I don't think I'd want to do that. I don't think that's a very safe way to live. Getting down to the end of the road, I'm getting down to the end of my line, either way, either way. The last thing I'd want to be found as a miserable Christian. Just miserable, hateful, unkind, carnal, thinking themselves wise, they become foolish. The only person they love is themselves, because they're right and you're wrong. He says, I've wrote this, I've wrote this to make it clear of what it's like to have Jesus in your heart and Him working in your life, bearing His resemblance in your continuance, in your purity and godliness, in your love. I'm writing it for you. I'm writing it for you. I want you to enjoy me. I want you to be thankful that I called you and convicted you and saved your rotten soul. We sing it. We sing it. Thank you Lord for saving my soul. He says, my aim, my aim is that you enjoy being your Christian because you belong to me. I want you to have joy. I want you to have peace. I want you to have love. I want you to have determination. I'll go where you want me to go. I'll do what you want me to do. I'll say what you want me to say. I'll be what you want me to be. I'll live for you, I'll die for you. I wrote it for you. Had you in mind. I was thinking about you. And I don't want Christian to make you a miserable old grouchy person that can't be what they ought to be. I was writing this message up and this song came to my heart. I had a hard time finding it. It wasn't on any of my song books. It goes like this. Let the beauty of Jesus, this is what I'm preaching. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. All his wonderful passion and purity. All thou spirit divine. May I truly be thine, till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Let my wonderful Savior be seen in me, his amazing compassion constantly. His great love is my goal, by his spirit control, till my wonderful Savior be seen in me. Let the fruit of the Spirit be seen in me. Grant me grace all sufficiently that I may be true and faithful each day, every step of the way, pointing souls to the Savior at Calvary. Let's stand. I think I read one of the comments, Spurgeon, I don't know who all was here. Spurgeon said, if you want to hear, if you want to hear a preacher that speaks lightly, never bores in on sin, he says, you've made a bad choice. The Bible wants us to preach. reproved and rebuked with all long-suffering and doctrine. You say, preacher, no. I want what Jesus wants in your life. I want you to enjoy Christ. I want you to be able to commune with Him every day. You sing it, you sing my message. He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am. What's on the next two words? Is it his own? And the joy, the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. Is that how that song goes? Easy to sing it, ain't it? Well, I've tried. I try to warn. I try to advise. I try to counsel. And I try, maybe in a feeble, unrecognizable way, I try to tell you I love you the same as he loves you. And I want you to see what a wonderful thing it is to experience all of Christ. you just might go through the house whistling, singing, crying, shouting. If you had the experience, if it's a reality, and you don't have a music going, nobody's telling you nothing, you're just bathing, bathing in the goodness of God in the land of the living. Bathing in it. It's a wonder of wonders that Jesus loves me. Father, thank you. Thank you. You're good to me. And I thank you. See my heart. I do want the best. I want to see these people in heaven. And I don't know any other way to preach it. I can't preach it softly and preach smooth things or preach things that just entertain. And I don't want to do that. I'll quit first. But I want to be. I want to be a faithful. Servant. And sound the trumpet to him. Thank you. Thank you for these is here this morning. I pray work in their lives. I pray they'd seek you with all their heart. I pray, as the old songwriter said, oh, the joy of knowing. It's real. It's real. I know it's real. Work in their lives. May we see the grace of God move in their hearts, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Thank you.