Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of John, John chapter 15. John 15. I had no idea what Brother Mark
was going to read. That's what I'm preaching on. John 15. I'd like to read verses 2 to
6. Our Lord says, 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, year clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine,
ye are the branches. He that 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." Last week we considered verse
1 of chapter 15. The Lord Himself revealed himself,
first of all, to be God Almighty. It says, I am. That's his title. That's who
he told Moses to tell the people in Egypt. And they said, when
we go to Egypt and we tell them that God sent us, Jehovah sent
us, who are we going to tell? What are we going to say? What
do we call you? He said, you tell them that I
am that I am. The self-existent one. I am God Almighty, the true vine,
that which clings to another for support. Boy, what an extremity. God Almighty. The one who clings
to another for support. There's a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ in his humility, humbled himself, made flesh without
sin, and depended totally upon his Father for support. The Father said, consider my
servant, the one that I uphold. made himself of no reputation. And then he said, and my father
is the husbandman, my father is the farmer. I am God, one with my Father,
God Almighty, Father, Son, Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead totally
in Him. I am God Almighty, the humbled
one. the root out of dry ground. And
my Father is the husband of the farmer. Now, our Lord is going
to reveal in these next few verses the evidence or the lack of it
of those that are truly joined to Him in electing sovereign
grace. He is going to give us a parable
concerning those that are His and those that are not. He says in verse 2, now listen
to this, now listen to exactly what He says, 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. He just told us what the Father
does. The Father is the farmer. The
Father is the husband of the son's garden. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. Now, let me ask you something.
Did our Lord just say, that a believer, a true believer, might fall from
grace? Did he just say that a believer
can be lost after that believer has been regenerated by God's
Spirit? Absolutely not. Here's the question. True saving
grace. Now I'm not talking about someone
that thinks that they've saved themselves, walked down the aisle,
or they've been baptized, or they've joined the church, or
they've prayed through. I'm not talking about someone
that thinks that they've done something themselves. I'm talking
about true saving grace. If God Almighty saves a man or
a woman, apart from anything that they did, that if God Almighty
comes to them in saving grace, and saves them, and then tells
them about it by His Holy Spirit after He's converted them, that's
the only way they know. Until a man is converted, he
didn't know he was lost. But if God saves a person on
purpose, and then tells him, and that's salvation. The Lord, remember that. He walks
along, and here's a baby lying in his own blood, you know, navel's
not cut, not salted, not swaddled. And the Lord said, I saw you,
and I said unto you, And that's when that baby was
alive. Salvation is altogether of grace. It's altogether of God's purpose,
God's will, God's timing. Is salvation eternal? Well, just turn back a few pages
to John 10, 27. This is what our Lord says, John
10, 27. And my sheep hear my voice, and
I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father, the husbandman which
gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Now,
based on the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation is eternal. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Someone says, well, a man can
be lost I mean, saved and lost, that's not what the Lord said.
And God's true and men are liars. Salvation is eternal. Salvation is forever. Alright,
well, back in John 15, knowing that the Scripture fully declares
eternal salvation, eternal security, what does our Lord mean? Obviously, I can read the words,
and that says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he
taketh away. Someone could say, well, that
means that every person that's in the Lord Jesus Christ that's
not bearing fruit, the Lord says, okay, you're not bearing fruit,
you're out of here. And based on what our Lord said in John
10, that's not what He's saying. So what is He saying? Let the
Scripture explain itself. That's the safest way. As I said
when we were going through the book of Revelation, remember
this? I said, if I can't back up what I'm saying, if it's just
my opinion, well, what difference does it make? Let the Word of
God speak for itself. So what is our Lord saying? Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Okay,
turn to where Brother Mark was reading. Matthew 15. Matthew
15. I'd like to read verses 12 to
14. Matthew 15, 12. Then came his
disciples and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees
were offended after they heard this saying? But he answered
and said, again, may we hear the word of the Lord, hear exactly
what he has to say. Every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into
the ditch." Now, based on what our Lord just said, obviously
there is a plant that is there that the Father didn't plant. Every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." There is a plant
that was not planted by the husband, by the father, by the farmer.
And that plant is going to be rooted up. Now, did you notice
the distinguishing, sovereign grace of God? Every plant that
my Father didn't plant, He plants. the plants that he chooses to
plant. Every plant that my father didn't
plant is going to be rooted up. So our Lord now is referring
to some plants that obviously are there, but the father didn't
plant them, and here's the end result. They're going to be rooted
up. Well, back in John 15 too. every
branch in me that beareth not fruit." That's some plants that
the Father didn't plant, and they're going to be taken away.
And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it that it
may bring forth more fruit. So obviously in John 15, 2, the
branches in him, or that appear to be so, that bear not fruit, God's going
to do something to them. He's going to take them away. They're plants that make claim
to believe Christ. They're either wayside hearers
or stony ground hearers or thorny ground hearers, but the Father
didn't plant them. They appear to be in Christ. They appear to be so. There was a profession. There
is a profession of believing God, but there is no evidence.
There is no fruit. There is no expression inwardly
expressing itself outwardly of God's Spirit having ever done
anything. Look at verse 6. If a man abides
not in Me, He's cast forth as a branch, and it's withered.
And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they're
burned. Now, if a man abide not in Me,
I'm building up to where did those plants come from. Our Lord
said, verse 2, every plant in Me that beareth not fruit, He
takes it away. Now, I'm getting ready to ask
you a question in just a second. Where did they come from? And
who are they? I had to get there. But he said, if a man, verse
6, abide not in me, he's cast forth, withered. If a man abide
not in me, hold your place right there, just turn back to John
6, 65-66. If a man abide not in me. The scripture And when it says,
if he abides not in me, we're going to have to just come to
this conclusion. Those that abide in Christ, abide
in his gospel. They stay in the truth. Paul
the Apostle said in Galatians 1.8, if any man preach any other
gospel. What was the gospel that Paul
preached? Well, you can go back in Ephesians 1.4 and how the
Spirit of God revealed. through the Apostle Paul that
God has chosen us a people. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. That they should be holy and
without blame. So the gospel that we preach is a gospel that
gives no honor, no allegiance, no credit to man or man's free
will. The gospel is not an offer. This is not an offer. I'm not
offering you anything. The Spirit of God does not offer
men anything. Salvation is by the grace of
God. It's on purpose and it's sure. If it's an offer, then that means
I'm leaving it up to you. If I say, I'm going to hand you
something and say, Don, here you go, that means you've got
to take it. It's not an offer. God saves men and women on purpose. So when He says, He that abided
not in Me, It's to not continue to abide in the message that
gives God Almighty all the honor and glory and praise. John 6.65. Our Lord is speaking to a group
of people that's been following Him, and He said, 6.65, Therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me except it were
given unto him of my Father." Now, as I've told you before,
the word can is a word of ability. No man has the ability to come
except my Father call him, draw him, grant him. Man is not capable. It didn't say may, it said can.
No man can come except it were given of Him the Father. And
now, here's the ones that didn't abide. Verse 66, from that time,
many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Someone may ask, well, are you
saying that if you leave and will not hear, God's Word concerning
how God saves sinners sovereignly, powerfully, affectionately, eternally. Are you saying that if you will
not hear the message that gives him all the honor and all the
glory and all the praise, are you saying that you're leaving
the only message of salvation? Therefore, you're not abiding
in Christ. That's exactly what I'm saying.
That's exactly what I'm saying. There's only one message that
gives God all the honor. It's the gospel of God's free
grace. There's only two messages. It's
a message that makes salvation to be an offer and leaves it
up to man to make the decision, or it's a message that gives
God all the honor and he saves men on purpose and then calls
them and tells them what he did. It's only two. There's only two
messages. Call it whatever you want to call it. It's either
free grace or free will. One of the two. Any man that
abides not in Me." These made claim to believe the Lord, and
they left. The Scripture bears out that
there have been men that appeared for a while to believe. Judas
did. Whenever the Lord told the disciples
at the Last Supper, when He instituted, He said, one of you is going
to betray Me. They couldn't believe it. None of them looked at Judas
and said, I suspected you all along. I figured you. I thought
that was you. They did not suspect. In fact, they all started saying,
Lord, is it me? Is it I? Am I the one? Am I the one that
will forsake you? They didn't suspect. Simon, the
magician, the one referred to as Simon Magus, Magus, the magician. Magus is
not... He's never called that. It's
the magician. This man, the scripture says,
he believed and was baptized. But Peter revealed later, he
said, you're in the bond of iniquity. You're bound up in sin. You're
not a believer. He had a mental ascent. What
do you mean? It's too... You can look at Scripture
and say, well, I see what you're saying. I see where it says in
Ephesians 1-4 that God has chosen the people. I understand that,
but I just don't have a heart for it. I mean, I can read it. Simon Magus, the devils believe,
demons believe that there is a God. Demas? There was a time when the Apostle
Paul had some confidence in Demas, thought he was a believer. In
Colossians 4.14, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. But then in 2 Timothy 4.10, Paul
says, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world, its cares and its religion, and is departed unto Thessalonica. So there are scriptures that
bear out that there's been men that have given some evidence
of having been believers. They gave evidence of fruit,
but after a while, inconsistency began to make itself known, and
there's no fruit of which we're going to look at in just a second.
They were never His. They were never his. So here's
my question. Back in John 15, 2, every branch
in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Where'd that
come from? Who are they? I want you to turn
to Matthew 13, 24. Matthew 13, 24. Matthew 13, 24
to 30. All right, here's where they
came from. Matthew 13, 24, another parable,
put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven. All right,
now let's understand. The kingdom of heaven. The bride
of Christ is church. The kingdom of heaven. We are
His subjects, He is the King. The Kingdom of Heaven. It is
like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. The Kingdom
of Heaven has got good seed. God's elect, God's church, God's
bride, the chosen of the Father, the selected ones. It is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way." Now, in the kingdom of God, within the body of God's
church, there is some good seed and there are some tares. That
is what the Lord said. But when the blade was sprung
up and brought forth fruit, Then appeared the tares also. So the
servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst
not thou sow good seed in thy field from whence then hath it
tares? How did they get here? How did
the tares get here? I looked up tares, and I wanted
to know what, you know, I've heard a little bit about them,
but I didn't know. It's said that when the tares are young,
just very, very small plants, it's almost impossible to distinguish
them between the good wheat and the tare. As it matures, the tare and the
wheat, it becomes more and more distinguishable that they're
not the same thing. And the tare, I didn't know this,
the tare is poisonous. Poisonous. It's not wheat. It's an imposter. Looks like wheat. Looks sort
of like wheat. When it's real little, you almost
can't tell it. I mean, to the untrained eye,
it said you could not look at a tare and a wheat when it's
real and tell the difference. But as it gets older, it becomes
more and more evident that they're not the same. The servants, verse
27, the householder came and said, Sir, Gets not thou so good
seed, and I feel, from whence then hath it tares? And he said
unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said,
Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the
wheat with them. Let them grow together till the
harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather
you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn
them, but gather the wheat into my barn." Now, back in John 15-2,
every branch in me that beareth not fruit, how did that branch
get there? According to our Lord, the enemy
sold him. The enemy. Satan. That evidence of man's
free will, man's pride, man's arrogance, that is evident for
being in the fall. Every branch that beareth not
fruit. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, the Father is going to take him away. When? In the harvest. In the harvest
for sure. He may leave. He may not stay. He may leave, but I'm telling
you, the Father is going to take care of it. Every branch in me
that beareth fruit, He, that is the husbandman, purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit. What fruit is he talking
about? Well, I know this. It's not something
that I can produce. Look at 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. Our Lord is talking to the eleven.
Judas is not there. He said, you are clean, he tells
them in verse 3. Now you are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Not clean by the deeds of the
law, not clean by the works of self-righteousness, but by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shed for them that the Father
has eternally seen. He has not gone to the cross
yet. But here are His own that Almighty
God has freely justified, eternally justified. Having seen them,
chosen them in Christ, you are clean. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. That same
gospel by which God Almighty calls His people out. That's
the same gospel by which He washes them. Remember when He washed
the disciples' feet? Peter said, you'll never wash
my feet. He said, if I don't wash your feet, you don't have
any part with me. And he said, oh, my head. He said, no, you're
clean. Only you need your feet washed.
I need, you need, every believer needs to have our walk cleansed
by the same gospel the same blood, the same application of sprinkling
by the Spirit of God of that precious blood that was shed
on our behalf. John 15, verse 2. Every branch that beareth fruit,
he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now, what fruit? Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verse 22-23. You know, when we talk about
fruit, let me tell you how, well, I'll
just tell you how I think. It's something that everybody
can see. Fruit is something that everybody can see. But the fruit
of God's Spirit that I'm going to read to you about in just
a second This is something only God sees. Only God sees this
fruit. A believer, I'll read this to
you, and a believer will say, can that be talking about me?
Listen to this. Galatians 5.22, but the fruit
of the Spirit is love. Love. Love for God. Love for God's people. Love for
God's gospel. Joy. Joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy. Come what may. The Lord put away my guilt. Peace. Peace before God. Peace with
God. Peace wrought by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Long-suffering in whatever the
Lord is pleased to send my way. Patient. Patient. Can that talk about
me? I'm the most impatient person you know. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. I put an article in the
bulletin this morning. Brother Todd wrote, can there
be faith and unbelief at the same time? Brother, you have
two natures. If you're a believer, you do.
You've got one nature that believes God. And you've got one nature
that doesn't. You've got one nature that loves
God. And one nature that hates Him. You've got one nature. The joy
is in the Lord. And you've got another nature.
The joy is in yourself. Verse 23, meekness, temperance
against such. There's no law. Lord, can these
things be found in me? Almighty God has called you out
of darkness. They're all there. And here's the sad part. I don't see him. I see my unbelief. I believe him. Oh, how little
do I see myself believe in him. Long-suffering. Love. Lord, I do love you. Peter said,
I love you, but Lord, not as I ought, not as I shall, not
as I desire, but Lord, I do. Believers see these things in
part. They do see them. When I said
they don't see them, they do see them. But oh, how little
do they see of them in themselves. Believers married to Christ bring
forth, the Scripture says, fruit unto God. Fruit of God's Spirit. They do love. They do believe.
They do rejoice. Every one of us. Scripture says
it has given grace according to the measure of the gift of
the church. Let me just turn over to 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4-10. What a precious, encouraging
word from our Lord to God's people. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election from God. I want to read this
again. I want to read that one more
time. Knowing your election of God.
Here it is. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. And he became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." I mean, here I am struggling, every believer
struggling, struggling. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
Lord, thank You that I can read that Jesus Christ came into this
world to save sinners, because that's what I am, a sinner. Seven, so that you were examples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you shouted
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God's words is spread
abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you
turned to God from idols. to serve the living and true
God. Every believer struggles, but
I'll tell you this, they turn from the idol of themselves.
They turn from the idol of themselves being God. I'm not the Lord. He's the Lord. It's not my will,
it's His will. It's not my ability, it's His
ability. It's not my purpose, it's His purpose. to God from
idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His
Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which
delivered us from the wrath to come. Every branch, back in John 15,
every branch that beareth fruit, He purges it. He chastens it. I've said before, the hardest
chastisement that a believer accepts is that one when the
Spirit of God reveals to him, you've sinned against God. That's
what David said. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Every branch in the Lord bears
fruit and God purges it, trims it and chastens it. Why? That it might bring forth more
fruit. If you be without chastisement
of the heart, grieving because you sinned against God, it's
because you're not His. God's people struggle. in this life. And every branch
sovereignly, mercifully, powerfully, eternally put into the Lord, they bear the fruit of God's
Spirit. Brother Henry says they bear it in measure, but they
bear it. They know it, see it in part,
but they see it. See through a glass darkly, but
they do see, and they're corrected and chastened, and they grow
in grace. And as they grow in grace, this
is how they see themselves, as they grow in grace. I must decrease. He must increase. I must be abased. He must be exalted. And they
bring forth much fruit. And I'll tell you this, and they
abide. They abide. They stay. That group back in John 6, 66
left, and they didn't follow the Lord anymore. And the Lord
turned to His disciples and He said, Will you go away also?
And Peter said, Lord, where are we going to go? 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, and the
Lord mercifully shall produce in His people that which honors
Him. Here is the mercy of God to all
those that the Lord has planted, not those that are in His kingdom,
They are not joined to Him in electing eternal grace, but they
are in that kingdom. He said, the kingdom of heaven.
A man planted a good seed, an enemy planted in that same kingdom
in tares. But here are the ones that He
has planted. Here is His mercy and grace to
them. Song of Solomon 4.6. Awake, O North Wind. is Almighty God by His Spirit,
that north wind, that chilling wind that I need in conviction. My friend, I'm the center. I'm the center. Awake, O north
wind, and come thou south, same Spirit, in comforting, soothing,
grace, mercy that assures me that He's not going to leave
me. He's not going to forsake me. I need correcting. I need
purging. If I be His at all, I need to
be purged. I need to be spanked. I need
for Him to show mercy to me. or wake, O north wind, and come
by south, blow upon my garden, blow upon the branches that my
Father has planted, that the spices, that the graces, the
gifts of God's Spirit thereof may flow out. Let my
Beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits. All those that the Lord has planted,
God the Father has planted the husband in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to purge them. He's
going to correct them. Just like our kids that always
needed correcting. It was for their good. He's going to purge them. He's
going to show them what they are. Show them their need of
Him. They are going to thank Him and
bless Him. He is going to produce in them what they cannot produce
in themselves. I cannot produce joy in the Lord. The Spirit of God does. I cannot
produce love. The Spirit of God does. God is
love and He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
I cannot produce all those gifts, those fruits of the Spirit. But
to every one that God plants, God produces them in them. And one day, they will no more
be joined in this old body of death, and He is going to perfectly
accomplish that which He started. Lord, for Christ's sake, have
mercy on us.