Again, open your Bibles to John
chapter 15. John chapter 15. Tonight's message
shouldn't be very long, and it's a precious truth that we who
are the blood-bought saints of God know to be real. We've experienced this, and we
rejoice in this. What I'd like to speak on tonight
is our utter dependence on Christ. Our utter dependence on Christ.
I was thinking about something this week as I was thinking about
the message and about how we have all kinds of gadgets in
our homes, things that they all require power. They all require
power. And when the power goes out,
None of these things work. As amazing as they are, they
do no longer work. They no longer operate. And so
those objects are, and we who use those objects, they are powered
by electricity. Now, the power can go out, and
your gas stove will still work. But when the power goes out,
and like I know for us, everything pretty well goes out except for
the stove. Now think of this in light of
the vine and the branches. We who are the branches are utterly
dependent upon the vine. Utterly dependent upon the vine.
All the power we have, All the gifts we have, anything that
we have, the abilities that we have, all come from our great
God. All come from Him. And the Lord's
going to use an illustration that, of course, we all have
trees in our yards, and we see them. We drive by them and don't
even think about it. All the time. But all before us, as we're
driving down the road, as we look out our windows, this word
picture that the Lord uses is right there before us. Right
there, and there's many things. There's many things that show
pictures of how we are in Christ. And the gospels, I've told you
that one about going shopping, and you make a list, and you
go to the mall, and you pick out a certain can, and you put
it in your cart, and then you go and you pick out certain other
items, and you wheel those things to the grocery to check out,
and then what do you do? You redeem them, don't you? You
pay for them. But you chose each one of those items that are in
your cart. And then what do you do? You
take them home. You take them home. It's right there before
us, beloved. Constantly. Constantly. Let's
look at this in John 15. And we'll see tonight our utter
dependence upon Christ. Our utter dependence upon Christ.
It says, I am the true vine. Note that too. The true vine.
Not the false vine. The one true vine. My Father
is the husbandman. So he's the one who grooms and
takes care of the vine and takes care of the branches. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch
that beareth fruit he purchased it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. Now ye are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. So as abide in me, and I
in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except
to abide in the vine. Think of that. Think of that
like we got apple trees here, right? Well, in the springtime
the buds come out, and then eventually apples appear on the tree. But
where does all the nourishment come from? Where does all the
life come from to go to those branches? It comes from the trunk. It comes from the vine. If I
cut off one of those branches, all those buds is just going
to wither and die. So all the nourishment, all the strength,
all the fruitfulness comes from the vine. Everything. Everything. So again, it's a very clear word
picture for us. And think of this too. The Lord's
speaking in terms that people can understand, can't they? Because
there's trees everywhere. In Palestine there was trees,
and there still is. And there's trees all around
us. There's trees everywhere you
go in this world. Everywhere you go. And there's vines, there's
fruit vines, there's grape vines, there's grapes that appear off
the branches because of the vine. Look at that. Abide in me and
I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself. Now think
of that. I've mentioned this on Wednesday.
People try to do, do, do in religion, trying to bear their own fruit.
Well, it's called the fruit of the spirit. Because the Holy
Spirit works in us, and he works that fruit. He works love in
us, he works joy, he works patience. He works these things in us.
But look at that, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
Except it what? Abide in the vine. Oh, if you're
in the vine, you bear fruit. No more can ye except ye abide
in me. Now look what this statement
that he brings out in verse five. I am the vine, ye are the branches.
Now remember the other word Petrie uses? Right? The head and the
body. Very similar too. The head tells the body to do
everything, doesn't it? Everything. Well this here is speaking of
the vine and the branches though. And I love this verse here. I
am the vine, and we know he's the true vine in verse 1. And
ye are the branches, speaking of his people. He that abideth
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. And
look at this last statement. And this shows us our utter dependence
upon Christ, beloved. For without me, ye can do nothing. Nothing. Think about how, when
we were a baby, each one of us was a little baby at one time.
Think of how, when we were just a little child, think of how
utterly dependent we were upon our parents. We were utterly
dependent upon them. Utterly. We were dependent upon
them to clothe us. We were dependent upon them to
bathe us. We were dependent upon them to feed us. We were dependent upon them to
keep us out of danger, even though we didn't even know danger lurked,
right? Because when you're a kid, you're
like doing things you shouldn't do all the time, right? And we were utterly dependent
upon them to provide for us. Everything. Everything. I want us to keep this in mind
as we look at tonight and how utterly dependent we are on the
Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and King. Now, our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, has just been discoursing on the close
and vital union between himself and his people. Note the vital
union. Note how close the union is.
He says, I'm the vine and you're the branches. Think of how we're in Christ.
We're in Christ. The vital union is brought here
before us between Christ and his people. And again, he's illustrated
this wonderful and vital union. And it's a vital union, because
without Christ, what? We'd just wither and die, wouldn't
we? It's a vital union. And he uses
this picture, the vine and the branches, to show the vital union
between Christ and his bride, between the head and the body,
between the vine and the branches. And He has shown how the branch
was utterly dependent upon the vine. Utterly dependent upon
the vine. He had brought forth that the
branch would wither and die, would be utterly useless and
worthless when separated from the vine. And He applies this
to the disciples. And how without Him, they could
do nothing. It's the same for us. It's the
same for we who are the people of God. Without Him, we can do
nothing. Nothing. We are utterly dependent
upon the Lord. This includes all of God's people.
And it would be good for us always to keep this precious truth in
our minds. It'd be good for us to keep this
at the forefront, that without him we can do nothing. We who
are the blood-bought, born-again people of God, we are utterly
dependent upon the Lord. Without me, you can do nothing. That's a statement, isn't it?
That's a statement of utter dependence, that we have utter dependence
upon the Lord. And think about this, that his life flows through
his body. He's the head, we're the body.
Just like the vine is the source of all nourishment for all the
branches. The only reason the branches bear fruit is because
the vine supplies what it needs. What it needs. So the believer
is entirely dependent upon Christ. Christ is the only hope of the
believer. Christ is the only rest of the believer. He's our
all in all. He's our all in all. Let us look
at the great truths illustrated before us and how they apply
to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. It says there in verse
5, and I'll just read the latter part, for without me you can
do nothing. Nothing. Without me you can do
nothing. What a statement. Without Christ. Without Christ you can do nothing.
What are some things we cannot know or obtain without Christ?
Well, the first thing that we cannot know or obtain without
Christ is without Christ we cannot have a saving knowledge. We cannot
have a saving knowledge without Christ. Now, men may learn a
great many things of the world. They can be worldly wise. They
can learn a great amount of things, can't they? Great amount of things,
but any spiritual knowledge that we have, must be revealed to
us. It must be revealed to us. It
has to be. It has to be. Christ is the light
of the world. He's the bright and morning star. He's the light of this world.
He's the son of righteousness. And again, he must unveil himself. He must unveil himself as Joseph
did to his brethren or else we will never know who he is. Look
at Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. Look at this in verses 76 to
79. Luke chapter 1. Verse 76 to 79. And thou, child,
shalt be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge
of salvation unto people by the remission of their sins, through
the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on
high hath visited us. And what does Christ do? He gives
light to them that sit in darkness. That was our natural state, wasn't
it? We know that from the scriptures. We know that Ephesians chapter
2 tells us that we're dead in trespasses and sins. We were
in utter darkness. We were in the darkness of our
sin, and what's happened? Well, God's shown his light of
his glorious gospel in our hearts, hasn't he? He's revealed himself
to us to give light to them that sit in darkness in the shadow
of death. Look at this, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Who is our peace, beloved? Christ. And we have peace with
God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's wonderful. It's
wonderful. What's another thing that we
cannot know or obtain without Christ? Well, without Christ,
we cannot have faith. We cannot have faith. Turn, if
you would, to Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. Who is
the object of our faith? Christ. Who is the author of
our faith? Christ. Who is the finisher of
our faith? Christ. Christ. Therefore, as
Jonah wrote, salvation's of the Lord, isn't it? It's of the Lord. He's the author, and he's the
finisher of our faith. And without Christ, we cannot
have faith, because we know that faith is a gift from God, isn't
it? It's a gift from God. It's given to us. It's given
to us, but it only has one object. It only has one object, beloved,
only one. Look at this in Hebrews chapter
5, we'll read verses 8 to 10, and then we'll look at Hebrews
chapter 12, verse 2. Hebrews chapter 5, verses 8 to 10. Though
he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered. And being made perfect, he became, what? The author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, called of God,
And a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now turn to Hebrews
chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, and look
at this. Who is the object of our faith? Who is the giver of
our faith? Well, God gives us our faith,
doesn't he? But look at this in Hebrews chapter 12, verse
2. Looking unto Jesus, the what? Author and the finisher of our
faith. The beginner and the ending of
our faith. And again, we know he's the object.
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. Oh my, despising the shame and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy
that was set before Him endured the cross. My, He did that for
us, beloved. He redeemed His bride. with his
own precious blood. He endured the cross where the
wrath of God was poured out upon him for our sins. Oh my. Despising the shame and is sat
down right now at the right hand of the throne of God, the work's
done. It's finished. This is why it's vital to preach
Christ, beloved. This is why it's vital for us
to preach Christ and him crucified. If one does not preach Christ,
one does not preach the gospel. It's that plain and simple. It's
that plain and simple. Remember, I've said many times,
how do you measure when a man's preaching? Who gets the glory? Who gets the glory? Is he vaulting
up Christ? Or is he vaulting up man? Well, we lift Christ
up. We lift Christ up. Philippians
1, verse 18 says this, What then, notwithstanding every way, whether
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do
rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. We rejoice in the preaching of
the gospel, because Christ is the only way. What does faith
do? Faith is laying hold upon Christ. He's our only hope. He's our only hope before God.
He's our only hope before the justice and law of God. Faith is looking to Him, running
to Him. And Him alone for the forgiveness
of all our sins. Looking unto Jesus. The author
and the finisher of our faith. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the
womb of the morning. Thou hast the dew of thy youth, Psalm 110.3. What is another thing that we
can do, that we cannot do without Christ? Without Christ we cannot
be converted. Without Him we cannot be converted. We do not seek God. The scriptures
actually declare the exact opposite. We run as far away from God as
we can. Scripture says, there's none that understand. And that
means there's none that understand the things of God, or the ways
of God, or who God is. None. Romans 3.11. And then it goes on to say, there
is none that seeketh after God. None. That's why the believer says
it's by the mercy and grace of God that I even seek the Lord.
That I continue to come to Him. Because it's he who's done the
work. It's wonderful. It's marvelous. It's absolutely
marvelous. And the scriptures declare that
the only one who has the power to turn men from darkness to
light is Christ. And Christ alone. Man can't do
it on his own. But yet false preachers are telling
men they can. They're lying to them. I remember what one grace
preacher said, I think it was Brother Henry said, we will never
know the damage that Arminianism or free will religion has done
this side of eternity. We will never know. We'll never
know this side. Turn if you would to Acts chapter
26. Acts chapter 26. Look at this in verses 15 to
18. The scriptures declare the only
one who can turn man from darkness to light Acts chapter 26 verses 15 to
18 and I said who art thou Lord and he said I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest and this is Paul telling us about his conversion
But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both
of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which
I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from
the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. And God did that many times
for Paul, didn't he? There was many times where his
life was in peril. But God kept delivering them,
just like he promised he would. Just like he promised me would.
Look at this though. He sends them to the Gentiles
to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. And from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me. In whom do we receive, in whom
are we turned from darkness to light? The power of the Holy Spirit,
we are regenerated and born again of the Holy Spirit of God. And
we turn to Christ, don't we? We run to Christ. Look at that. To turn them from darkness to
light. We were once darkness. And now we walk in the light.
We'll look at that in 1 John this week. In our study in 1
John. And from the power of Satan unto
God. We were once bound up by our sins. Once bound up by our
sins. Look at Acts 26, 18, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me. That they may receive
what? Forgiveness of sins. How many
sins? How many sins are forgiven for the believer? Praise God, all our sins are
forgiven. All of them. Every single one of them. And
what a marvelous verse this is in Acts 26, 18, to open their
eyes and turn them from darkness to light. Only God can do this.
And from the power of Satan unto God, only God can do this. That
they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. And who's
our faith in? Christ. Christ and Christ alone. The
Lord Jesus Christ must open the eyes of the spiritually blind,
or we'll never see him. He must open the ears of the
spiritually deaf, or we will never hear Him. And He must make he who was lame
able to walk, able to come to Him, because there's none that
seeketh after God. But He makes us seek Him, doesn't
He? We're made willing in the day of His power. Oh my. And how do we hear His voice
and how do we see Him? Through the preaching of the
Gospel. Through the preaching of salvation in Christ and Christ
alone. And the Holy Spirit will point
us to Christ by the preaching of the Word. Turn if you would
to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. The Holy Spirit
will point us to Christ by the preaching of the Word of God. And if He be pleased, if He be
pleased, He will grant faith and repentance. to His lost sheep
when it's His appointed time. When it's His appointed time.
Look at this. In Romans chapter 10 verses 13
to 14. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Have you called upon the
name of the Lord? I pray if you haven't that God
will give you grace and strength to do so. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? How are you to believe in someone
if you've never heard about them? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And what does a preacher do? We get up and proclaim salvation
in Christ, in Christ alone. In and through Christ, in Christ
alone. Scripture says this, therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away, behold, all things are becoming new. The next point I'd like to look
at is, without Christ, we are all condemned. Without Christ, we are all condemned.
Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Look at verse
10, it says very plainly and very boldly. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no not one. So that's our natural state
without Christ. Look at Romans 3, 20 to 24. Knowing that outside of Christ
we have no forgiveness. But all are guilty before God.
Look at Romans 3, 20 to 24. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. So the law can never justify
a man before God. Never. It reveals to us our sinfulness. It reveals to us what sin is.
And it reveals to us that we've sinned against the holy God.
But now the righteousness of God without the law, because
he fulfilled it, is manifested being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Now note
there, unto all and upon all them that believe. Remember the
best robe? Clothed, isn't it? For there is no difference. For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But look
at verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We who are the redeemed
of the Lord are redeemed freely by the grace of God. Because
it pleased Him to redeem us. Because it pleased Him to save
us. It's marvelous. It's absolutely wonderful. Justified
freely before God by His grace. How? Through the redemption of
His own Christ Jesus. Through the shedding of His precious
blood as our substitute. Then look at verses 25 and 26.
Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at
this time his righteousness, his righteousness, that he might
be just and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. See,
all who believe in Christ are justified before God. And all
who believe in Christ are justified by God. It's wonderful. How are we justifying? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ again
paid all that God demanded for our sins. All of it. And there is therefore now, let
this ring in your ears. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but
after the spirit. Romans 8.1. And that condemnation there means
judgment. Praise God. Isn't that good news? That's
good news. There is therefore now no judgment,
no condemnation. None. None. Who shall bring any
charge against God's left? It's God that justifies. This
is wonderful news. Wonderful news for this old sinner.
I love it. It's incredible. It makes me
want to leap for joy, beloved. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Look at
Romans 8. Look at Romans 8, 1 and 2. We're
turned there. Look at this. No condemnation
for them before God's law and justice. The believer will never
be judged because all our sins were already judged at Calvary's
cross. Now that's good news, isn't it? That's good news. There's
not going to be some big old TV screen that's going to replay
all your sins. This is not going to happen. It's not going to
happen. Isn't that? That's good news. That's wonderful news. Look at
this. There is therefore now no condemnation. Again, that
means judgment. To them which are in Christ. Now, outside of
Christ is what condemnation and judgment. But this is wonderful. There's there's no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not up to the flesh,
but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in
Christ. Jesus had made me free. Look
at this. Free. Free from the law of sin
and death. Because it's satisfied, beloved.
It's satisfied by the great substitute. When he died for his people on
Calvary's cross. Beloved, the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin. All sin. In Christ alone, is
our sanctification. He's the believer's sanctification.
Christ alone is our wisdom. Christ alone is all our righteousness. All our righteousness. Christ
alone is all our redemption. Christ the Lord is our all in
all. He's our all in all. What's another thing we cannot
do without Christ? Well, we cannot bear fruit. We
saw that in our text, didn't we? We saw that very clearly
in our text. Let's read that again. John 15,
verses 1 to 5. I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. 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. Now ye are
clean, the word which has 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 you abide in me very clear there
and he goes on to say 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. Now folks in religion are always
trying to do things to supposedly bear fruit for the Lord. But we looked at it Wednesday
night, that the fruit the believer bears is the fruit of the Spirit.
Fruit of the Spirit. Let's go there again, Galatians
chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
It's not the fruit of the flesh. There is a fruit of the flesh,
but what's being spoken of here by our Lord is the fruit of the
Spirit. It's not the fruit of our doing, it's the fruit of
the Spirit. Now some folks say, I need more
patience, I need to be more kind, I need to be more loving, I need
to do this, I need to do that, I need, need, need, need, need,
and all they do is keep failing. I know I was there. I was there. I often had talks with Brother
Norman. We we discuss how we used to
be always trying. Oh, now, now, now we as believers,
I've mentioned this. We desire to live a holy life.
We do. We desire to live a life pleasing to God, don't we? I'm
not saying that at all. But this this. Oh, I got to do
this. I got to do this. I got to do this. The Lord has
to work some of this in us, you know, especially the fruit of
the spirit, because it's the fruit of the spirit. It's the
fruit of the spirit. Look at this. In Galatians chapter
5 verses 22 and 24. But the fruit of the Spirit is
what? Love. God's people love. They love God, don't they? They
love the brethren. They love the gospel. They love
the word. That's been worked in us by the
Lord. Right? Joy. God's people are joyful
people. We're joyful because of the redemption
that we have in and through Christ. And Christ, it fills our heart
with joy, peace. Oh, Paul writes about the peace
that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus. Long-suffering. We're long-suffering
with others, aren't we? There was a time when we weren't
long-suffering, and sometimes we think we're not long-suffering,
but other people see we're long-suffering. And one thing with the fruit
of the Spirit, too, is you will never see your own growth. You
never see your own growth. Others may, but you will not.
We will not. We will not see this growth in
ourselves because we we know that. Oh, my. And then look at
look at this gentleness, gentleness and goodness and faith. And that faith, again, has one
object, and that's Christ's meekness. Meek and quiet spirit temperance
against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. In Christ we are regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God and he works in us and gives us love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. Because
we know that the scripture told us in John 5, verse 15, without
me you can do nothing. And again, the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself. Think of that in light of what
we just looked at there with the fruit of the Spirit. Right? Branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
So what do we pray? Oh Lord, give me more grace.
Give me more grace. Make me more patient. Give me,
give me, give me, give me, give me more love. Joy. Oh my. But without Christ we
can't do any of these things. And think of this, the next point
I want us to think about too is this. Without Christ we cannot
be made holy. we cannot be made holy. We are
sinners by birth, nature, and choice, aren't we? And our great God is holy. We are unholy in our natural
state. We're non-righteous before God. So there's a great divide. There's a great divide, but rejoice. You who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because in Christ the believer is sanctified, and that
means made holy. Made holy. The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanses us from all sin, beloved. Turn, if you would,
to 1 Corinthians 1, verses 30 and 31. This is wonderful news
for sinners. Absolutely wonderful news for
sinners. And it makes my heart fill with joy. And look at what
Paul writes here in verses 30 and 31. But of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom. He's all
our wisdom. Righteousness. Well, He's all
our righteousness, isn't He? We're clothed in His perfect
righteousness, but He's the Lord our righteousness. Sanctification
means to be made holy. And redemption. that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. See,
beloved, there is no room for self-glory in what we just read. Because he's our wisdom, our
righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. That's summed
up like Paul wrote, he's our all in all. There's no room for
us to glory, so we give him all the glory, don't we? We don't
want to steal the Lord's glory because we don't have anything
to glorify, glorify about in ourselves. We don't have nothing
to praise ourselves about because without him we can do what? Nothing. Nothing. Oh, my. That's why we say, oh, praise
God. Praise God for what he's done.
He's wonderful. He's wonderful. Oh, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Oh, brag on the
Lord. Brag on the Lord. Brag on what Christ has done
for you. Oh, it's wonderful. Give him all the glory. Give
him all the glory. He's worthy of it all. He's absolutely
worthy. Oh, he's worthy of it. As I said
earlier, think about the condemned man in the cell and someone comes
and tells him the governor set him free. He's pardoned. because
it pleased Him to do so. That's us. That's us. Oh, give Him all the glory. Give
Him all the praise for setting us free. We know we were on the
slave mark of sin, weren't we? We know we were in the prison
house of sin. We were bound up and chained
up and the door was shut. We couldn't get in. We couldn't
move because we're chained up. And if we could get to the door,
we couldn't even open it. We were locked up. And it was
our own doing. Praise God. He's opened the door. He's done it all. The shackles
have fell off and we are set free. Set free. Think of Barnabas. Think of Barnabas. He was condemned. The law had
said you're going to die. He was already condemned to die. He's a man waiting like on death
row. And could you imagine what he
thought when he heard those Roman soldiers walking towards his
cell? Surely he thought, this is it. And they come and they say, you
can go free. And I remember reading one commentator
and he said, Barnabas' reaction probably would have been like,
is this some kind of sick joke, guys? Because those Roman soldiers,
they were hardened men. And they said, no, you can go
set free. Someone else is going to die
in your place. And the Lord Jesus Christ, what
did they say about the Lord? Crucify him, crucify him. Amen. And then they said, set
free Barnabas. But remember, that's all according
to the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, beloved.
Because Christ went to that cross to redeem us from our sins. But
think of how Barnabas felt. He probably ran out of there.
I know I would. I'd be gone so fast, I'd be running
out of there. Or as fast as I could get out
of that place. Oh my. Oh my. Set free. Set free. That's why we should glory in
the Lord. Although believers are still sinners, and we are,
but we're clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ.
And as we looked at this morning, we have the best robe on. The
best robe on. And one day, I've mentioned this
many times, I'm going to say it again because it's the truth.
One day when we reach glory, we will not sin anymore. And
oh, what a day that'll be. What a day that'll be. We'll
cry out hallelujah. I know we will. We're going to
be sin no more. No more thoughts of sin. No more
actions and deeds of sin. Nothing. Perfect sinless, spotless. All because of Christ. All because
we're in Him. Nothing in us. Nothing. Oh, what
a day that'll be. What a day. So, oh, that's why
it's comforting when we know someone goes home to be with
the Lord. That's why. Now, think of this too. I'd like
the last point I'd like to bring out is without Christ, we have
no peace and no rest. No peace and no rest. None. In religion, there's always
do, do, do. And I came out of that. So I'm
speaking from experience. And it gets tiring. It's labor. It's a lot. You're always trying
to make yourself better. And the preacher tells you to
do something on Sunday, and by Sunday night, you're just in
tatters. Because, oh, I failed again. I can't measure up again. Well, the believer knows we can't
measure up. But oh, what rest and peace we have in Christ.
What rest and peace we have in Christ. In religion there's continuous
labor. There's no rest and no peace.
Not only in religion too, but just in man, trying to work and
gain merit and favor with God. There's no rest. It's never good
enough. It's never good enough. Never. Think of this. Comfort and peace
cannot be realized outside of Christ. It cannot be realized
outside of Christ. There's absolutely no comfort
and no peace outside of Christ. None. A thousand voices may address
us and try to comfort us. But only Christ can give us rest.
Only Christ can give rest to the weary pilgrim. Only Christ
can give rest to the weary sinner. There is no rest outside of Him.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. What
a statement here by our Lord. Matthew chapter 11. Look at verse 28 to 30. Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. Are you heavy laden by your sin? Are you heavy laden by things
people keep telling you you have to do? Are you weary from laboring to
try to gain merit and favor with God? by your own doings. Come unto me, the Lord says,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It doesn't say, I may, if you're
good enough. It doesn't say that, does it?
No, it says, I'll give you rest. See, in Christ, the believer
finds rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart.
Think of the condescension of Christ. Leave in the glories
and splendors of heaven to come down to this earth and to redeem
his people from their sins. Meek and lowly. The King of kings
and the Lord of lords becomes a man to die on Calvary's cross
to redeem his people from their sins. That's meek and lowly,
isn't it? That's meek and lowly. That's
called condescension. He's come down. He's come down
from glory. He's lowly and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Oh, what rest we have. We have an eternal rest, beloved.
We have an eternal rest in Christ. So we find rest from our labors,
our doings to try to gain merit and favor with God. And then
what else do we find? We find eternal rest, don't we?
And that's only in Christ. Only in Christ. Look at this.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The Lord tells us what?
Look unto me and be saved. Just look. No labor. No doing. Just look. That's a light yoke, isn't it?
That's an easy yoke, isn't it? That's a light burden. Think
of how much of a burden it is when you gotta work, work, work,
work, work. and think of how light it is,
how much of ease it is for us when we just have to rest. Just look. Look unto me. Look unto Jesus. What? The author
and finisher of our faith. Look. There's life in the look,
isn't there? There's life in the look. I've noticed in this generation also and speaking to my daughter and
speaking to some other younger people that there's not a lot
of hope. There's not a lot of hope. And the last point actually I'd
like to bring out is without Christ we have no hope. No hope. Folks have different kinds of
hopes. Some hope in their money or their finances or their abilities
or their strength. And some hope in their good works,
again, to gain the merit and favor with God. But the hope
in your supposed good works is the hope that is deceiving. It's deceiving. But oh, what hope the believer
has. And we see it brought out right
here in that text we just read. I'll read it again. Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Rest from our labors again, eternal
rest in Christ, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
What a hope we have in Christ. What a hope. And there's hope
for the hopeless, isn't there? But only in Christ, oh my. The believer's hope is not based
upon our own merit, but the believer's hope is based upon what Christ
has done in our room and place. The believer, what does a believer
do? We look outside of ourselves, don't we? There's a time when
we look to ourselves and to the things that we've done. I remember
telling people I believe that God would weigh me in the scales
of justice and that my good wouldn't outweigh my bad. Well, I was
hoping in myself then, wasn't I? Because the scales are going
to go like that. Oh my, condemned. It's not a
just way, is it? But the believer looks outside
of ourselves. And we look up to Christ. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. And again,
think of this, the believers hope is not based upon our own
ability. But it's holy in Christ and him
alone, because we have seen our master's words, which said without
me, you can do nothing. So the hope in our own ability
even is vain. Because without Him, we can do
nothing. He's everything. He's everything
to us. Is Christ your Savior? Without
Him, there's no hope. Without Him, there's no peace. Without Him, there's no forgiveness.
And the believer rests and is utterly dependent upon Christ
for everything. for everything. And what do we proclaim to a
lost and dying world? Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. Cleave to Christ. He's the sinner's
only hope. And we who have come to Christ,
we just continue to cleave to Him, don't we? We just continue
to run to Him. May God be glorified for the
preaching of his part. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
that you have allowed us to gather together tonight. We thank thee
for thy word. We thank thee for this wonderful
scripture, which shows us the vital union between between you,
Lord Jesus, and your and your body, between you who are the
vine and we who are the branches. the vital union, and, O Lord,
without you we can do nothing. We are utterly dependent upon
thee, O Lord, for our life, for our salvation, for everything. We glorify thy name, and we praise
thy almighty name, we who are your blood-bought people, for
revealing yourself to us, for saving our eternal souls, for
truly, truly we find rest in thee. and thy yoke is easy and
thy burden is light. Praise your name, O Lord. In
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.