The True Vine

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus being the true vine?

Jesus refers to Himself as the true vine in John 15:1, emphasizing His role as the source of life and fruit for His followers. In John 15:1, Jesus states, 'I am the true vine,' signifying that He is the ultimate source of life and nourishment for believers. This declaration contrasts Him with other false vines, highlighting His unique divinity and role in providing spiritual sustenance. Just as a vine is essential for its branches to bear fruit, Christ asserts that without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). He is fulfilling Old Testament types, illustrating that true life and fruitfulness come exclusively through Him, the chosen and cherished vine planted by God.

Q: Why is abiding in Christ important for Christians?

Abiding in Christ is essential for spiritual vitality and fruitfulness, as highlighted in John 15:4-5. Abiding in Christ, as mentioned in John 15:4-5, is crucial because it signifies a deep, continuous relationship with Him. This connection is not superficial but vital; just like branches depend on the vine for sustenance, believers must rely on Christ for spiritual nourishment and growth. He underscores that without this vital connection, branches wither and are unfruitful, emphasizing the necessity of remaining in fellowship with Him to produce spiritual fruit. This relationship signifies life, growth, and the ability to glorify God through good works and character that reflect Christ's love and righteousness.

Q: How do we know someone is a true believer?

A true believer will bear spiritual fruit, as evidenced by their changed life and character, according to John 15:8. In John 15:8, Jesus makes it clear that true believers are recognized by their fruitfulness. This indicates that genuine faith produces visible changes in a person's life, reflecting Christ's character and glory. The consistency of a believer's life in demonstrating traits such as love, joy, and peace, as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23, serves as evidence of their relationship with Christ. Furthermore, 1 John 2:19 clarifies that those who depart from fellowship and fail to bear fruit were never truly part of the body of Christ, reinforcing the importance of enduring in the faith as a sign of true belief.

Q: What does it mean to abide in Christ?

To abide in Christ means to remain in a continual, life-giving relationship with Him, as He described in John 15. Abiding in Christ means to dwell in Him, as John 15 emphasizes the importance of a steadfast relationship. This involves remaining connected to Jesus not just occasionally, but as a continual presence in one's life. The term 'abide' suggests commitment, stability, and reliance on the vine for life and fruitfulness. It includes surrendering one's will to His and allowing His words to permeate every aspect of life. As believers abide in Christ, they receive spiritual nourishment that enables them to grow in faith and produce good works that glorify God, illustrating a genuine transformation rooted in Christ's love and grace.

Everything false will disappear. Silently now I wait for Thee. Ready, my God, I will to see. Open my ears and open me, Spirit
divine. Okay, John chapter 15. Gospel
of John chapter 15. Our Lord, as a man, spent most
of his time out of doors. He said that. He said, the Son
of Man hath not where to lay his head. He had no permanent
dwelling place, no permanent house. to dwell in, and that's
fitting, too, because our God dwelleth not in buildings made
with hands. Everything's amazing, everything
about the Lord and his everything. The Lord created a garden. The
first thing he created after the heavens and so forth was
a garden. And he put the man in it to live
there. And he himself, the Lord who
made the garden, I believe, walked in that garden. When we hear
of Adam, the voice of God walking in the garden, I believe that's
Christ who is the Word made flesh and dwelling amongst us. But
our Lord, when he was here 2,000 years ago, he liked to resort
to a garden. Garden of Gethsemane where he
was often found. That's where Judas knew to look
for him because he was always there in the garden. Now, they
had been sitting in chapter 13 and 14, they had been sitting
in an upper room in Jerusalem. And the Lord had been speaking
to them. And now, verse 31 of chapter
14, he says the last line, arise, let us go hence. We're leaving. Get up. We're leaving. Let us
go hence. And so they walked out of that
upper room and were walking out of town. Now, Jerusalem was surrounded by gardens and
vineyards, very fruitful land, surrounded by olive gardens and
vineyards and orchards and so forth. Our Lord was always, as
a true bishop should be, at to teach. Always ready to teach,
often using object lessons to point things out to them, parables
and so forth. And I believe perhaps they were
walking by a vineyard at this time. There were many there,
and they were walking by a vineyard, and perhaps he pointed to one
of those vines in that vineyard, and he said in chapter 15, verse
1, he said, I am the true vine. You see, I believe this was because
they were looking at And he just says this, I believe he's showing
them. He says, I am the true vine,
and my father is the husbandman. He says, I'm the true vine, thee. That means the only one. There
are many here in this venue, as you see, but he says, no,
I am thee. I am the true vine, meaning there
are others that seem to be vines, but are not. He says, I am the,
the one and only, true as opposed to counterfeit vine. A vine is the source of life
and fruit to the branches. Everything comes from the vine. A vine is not just what you see
above the ground, but a vine is the root also. Okay? So Christ says, I am the true
vine. Now, I believe also He is referring
to Old Testament scriptures. Let's turn to Psalm 80. Psalm
80. See, our Lord fulfilled Every prophecy of the Christ,
he must. Everything, every jot and tittle
that was written in Old Testament scriptures about the coming Christ,
are you with me? Every jot and tittle, everything
in God's Word written concerning the coming Christ. The Lord Jesus,
who is the Christ, had to fulfill that. He had to typify it, I
mean, fulfill it, that type. He had to say something about
it or do it. He had to be it as fulfillment. That's why they were written. Are you with me? Now, he says,
I am the true vine. Now, the vine is spoken of. The Christ is spoken of as a
vine, the vine. Verses 8 through 11, look at
it. This is wonderful. David in prophecy says, Thou
hast brought a vine out of Egypt. We say the Lord didn't come out
of Egypt. Yes, he did. As a child, his supposed mother
and father took him into Egypt, fleeing from that proclamation
to kill the children. Remember? He came out of Egypt.
Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it, this vine. Thou
preparest room before him. And it caused it to take deep
root, and it filled the land like a vine which spreads. The
vine is one of the most rapidly spreading of all plants. And it fills the land. The hills
were covered with the shadow of it. The boughs thereof were
like the goodly cedars. See, this is a true vine, we're
going to see. This is a true vine. This is a stately, magnificent,
strong vine. Verse 11, she sent out her boughs
unto the sea and her branches unto the river. In other words,
this vine spread through all the earth. Christ said, I am the true vine. Look at Isaiah very quickly.
Isaiah chapter 5. wonderful prophecy of the Lord
and his church, Isaiah 5, verse 1. Now will I sing to my well-beloved
a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved
hath a vineyard, and this is speaking of Christ the beloved,
and his vineyard is the church, in a very fruitful hill. And
he fenced it, gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it
with the choicest Now, our Lord said, go back to
the text, our Lord said, I am the true vine. I am the Christ. I am the one of whom David wrote. I am the one of whom Isaiah wrote,
the vine. I am the vine. You are the vineyard,
the branch. My Father, he said, is the husband. And as Isaiah prophesied, it's
planted with the choicest vine. Our God, God the Father, God
Almighty, is that great husbandman. A husbandman is a landowner. Back in these old days, a husbandman
was a man who was very wealthy and had large landholdings, a
landowner. And he was, as it were, a farmer.
That's what they did back then, owned huge plantations and planted
it with whatever purpose Well, the scripture says that earth
is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that
dwell therein. God is the great landowner. And God Almighty, like a wise
husbandman and landowner, chose the choicest vine, the best stock
from which to raise his vineyard, his church. A man, God Almighty,
chose a man, his beloved son, to be the vine, to be the wand,
the source, the fountain of life from which all of his sons would
grow and bring forth fruit to God's glory. Go back now to the
text if you're not there. Christ said, I am the true vine. I am the true vine. Now, when we think of a vine,
We tend to think of a spinely little, weak little thing like
a, I don't know, a clematis vine or something of that sort, Boston
ivy, don't we? When we think of vines. Well,
that's not a vine. Christ said, I am the true vine. A true vine. That's a vine. Yes it is. That's a vine. A grape vine. This is about 40 years old. Now
over in Israel, they have grape vineyards, contrary to what experts
may say, vineyards do grow grapes as long as the husband is able
to grow grapes on them. If he's a good husband, Some
of those vineyards are hundreds of years old. Some of those vines.
Well, all of the vines were taken from a stalk, an original stalk. What a good picture that is.
But our Lord said, I'm the true vine. Not a spiny little thing
that the branches hold up. But I mean, you can put all your weight on
a vine. It's a good lesson in it. A true vine. I'll leave that right there where
you can see it. A true vine. One that you can lean on. A mature vine. A stately vine. A strong vine. Supports the branches. Not vice versa. The Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
I'm the true vine. Everything is supported by me.
Everything is held up by me. Everything. Scripture says he
upholds all things by the word of his power. That's Christ,
the Word, who upholds all things. Especially his church. He said,
I'm the true vine. Strong, mature, been around for
years. For years. That vine, I planted
A vine on my land, that's what that came from. That's part of
it. It was 35 years old when I planted
it. You can imagine what the stump
looks like. I mean, the real vine. That's
just part of that stump. And it's now 45 years old. Christ said, I am the true vine,
and you are the branches. Look at 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. The vine doesn't depend on the
branches in no way. In no way does the vine derive
anything from the branches. Right? But the branches get everything
from the vine. Now, he says, I am the vine,
you are the branches. He that abided in me, and I in
him. The same fact. It's a fact. Bring it forth fruit. Much fruit. It's a good vine. I have one vine plant. Last year,
or the year before last, I got fifteen gallons of grapes from
one vine. Fifteen gallons. One vine. If it's a good vine,
it brings forth much fruit. If you're in the vine, And every
branch brought forth fruit. Every branch. And unless you're
vitally connected, our Lord says, to me, joined to me, you're a
dead branch. You're a dead branch. Verse 4,
Abide in me, 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. You can't live, you can't bear
fruit, except you are in the vine, and the vine in you. Now
look up at verse 2. He says, every branch, every
eye, I want you to see this. This is the word of the Son of
God. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh
away. Down in verse 6, he says, 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
burnt. What does he mean every branch in me? Can someone be in the vine and
not bear fruit? No. No. What he's saying here is those
that appear to be, those that say they are, a part
of Christ. those that make a profession
of the Jews of old. The Jews said they believed. They said they believed. They
sure didn't show it. But they said they believed. Some thought they believed. Said
they worshiped God, but they didn't. And even now, many claim
to be believers. like the Jews of old who claimed
to be waiting on the Christ. They claimed to be waiting on
the Christ, but when he came, they rejected him. And so many today still claim
to be believers, but they are liars. Look with me at Matthew
chapter 7, the gospel of Matthew chapter 7. One time John said
to the Pharisees, The Pharisees who made a pretense of religion
and even came to hear John. And what John said to them as
a faithful preacher, John said, if you are, bring forth fruit,
meat for repentance. If you really are, then act like
it. Let's see something. James wrote
a whole book about this. You say, he says, show me. Show me. Fruit. That's what you see, is
it not? How do you know if someone is
abiding in Christ or not? How do you know? Same way with
the false prophets. Look at Matthew 7, verse 16.
You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns? You can't find fruit among thorns,
can you? Figs of thistles? No. There are
no figs in an old scrub bush. Even so, verse 17,
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. And every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits, or
lack of them, you're going to know them. You're going to know
them. over there in our text. Go back
to our text. It says men gather them, and they wither. They're
off to themselves, and they're gathered by the men of the world. And they're off to themselves,
and eventually they just wither up, and they're fit for the burning. Those who are not abiding in
the vine. Men gather them. They gather with men. and wither up and then burn. Take it away. But now, in our text, our Lord
says in verse 2, every branch that beareth fruit, he purges
it. He prunes it. This vine of mine,
I prune it every year. drastically cut it back, severely
wound it, but it doesn't kill the vine. It makes it more fruitful. It makes it more fruitful. What
a picture that is of our Lord and how his church issued forth
from his wounds. Our Lord. This is not a beautiful
vine, is it? It's not real beautiful. It's
gnarled-looking, very rough-looking, gnarled-looking. Scripture says of Christ, when
we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire in him.
That's what's wrong with all these modern depictions of Jesus. What you'll see is a Caucasian
fella, a pretty nice-looking fella. No, no, no. Not the Son of God. When he was
a man, Scripture says, when we see him, there's no duty that
we should desire him, he hath no form or comeliness. Well, and God's people are pruned like branches. They must be. If they're not,
they're not part of the bound. And it causes them to grow and
bring forth fruit. These trials and afflictions
and difficulties are not to hurt us, but rather to bring forth
more fruit, fruit of faith. We're going to see in a moment
what that fruit is. Christ said, now I am the vine,
I am the true vine. A vine, a vine is a source of
everything. Everything comes from the vine,
as we see. Christ said, I am the true vine.
He's the source of, well, name something. Name something he's
not the source of. In him we live and move and have
our being. Yea, all flesh, all human beings. God is life. John said life. The life was manifested. In him
we live and move. Everything receives their life
from him. And when he says it's over, he
takes it. He ends it. He's the source of
life, especially eternal life. Christ is life. To be found in
Him is to have life, eternal life. He is the source of all
righteousness, holiness, goodness. Isn't it? There is no holiness,
no goodness apart from God. Isn't there? No one is good outside
of being in Christ. Isn't that right? That's right. There's none good, the Scripture
says, none righteous. Not one. Probably wait. Yes, there is. He's called the
righteous one, the holy one of Israel, divine Christ. One time someone came to him,
the rich young ruler, says, good master. He said, wait, why do
you call me good? There's none good but God. We
should be very careful about using that term in reference
to the sons of men. Scripture says there's none that
doeth good. No, not one. There's none good
but God. If anybody is good, considered
good by God, oh, we're pretty good compared to one another,
aren't we? I'm as good as the next man. What's that saying? Here's one
worm. Here are two worms. Two dogs. Two dogs. One dog says, I'm as
good as that dog. Big deal. They comparing themselves with
themselves, Scripture says, are not wise. But Christ, now, is the altogether
lovely one, the holy, spotless, righteous one of God, the Son
of the Most High God. Now, He is the righteous one.
He is the good man. He's a good man. And our goodness,
if God considers us good, it's in Him. He has made unto us righteousness,
all goodness, wisdom. He's the source of all wisdom.
I know men and women like to think that they're wise. Science. Paul said to young Timothy, a
preacher, he said, you avoid science, falsely so-called. Ever read that? Paul told the
young preacher, Timothy, you avoid it. Don't get involved
in it, don't answer it, don't argue with it, don't try to disprove
it. Science falsely so taught. What does that mean? Science
means the study of truth. The study of truth. Yeah, right. All science begins with a hypothesis,
which is what? What is a hypothesis? An educated guess. It doesn't start with truth.
It starts with a guess. A man says, I think the world
is a billion years old. Well, I think you're wrong. I
think it's two billion. Another fellow says, well, I
think you're both wrong. I think it's ten billion. Well,
they say, well, let's come up with an even figure. We'll call
it four. Okay. We're starting with the
truth. Yeah, right. Idiots. Avoid it. Boy, Christ is the
source. That wasn't worth my breath.
Christ is the source of all wisdom. He refuted, he put down, he reduced
the wisest doctors, lawyers, Pharisees, everybody of his day,
philosophers of his days, they all ganged up on him, tried to
catch him at his words, tried to to refute what he was saying,
and when they left, they were all babbling idiots. I love that. As we noted Wednesday
night, after he answered all their questions, and they all
perceived that he answered so wisely and so marvelously, they
were amazed. Even his enemies, those who wanted
to debate with him, were amazed, John, at his answers. They had
never heard anything like that. Why? Because this is wisdom from
above. This is not man's finite wisdom. If you want wisdom, you start
with Christ. If you want real wisdom, to know
who God is, to know what you are, to know what this is all
about, it's only found in Christ. He's made unto us wisdom. And
after they asked all their questions, it says, after that, after he
answered all their questions, It reads, And no man durst any
more, ask him any more questions. They couldn't. They were ashamed
to. They were embarrassed. Nicodemus, one of the greatest
minds of the bunch. Nicodemus came to him one time,
and our Lord kind of mocked him. He said, Are you a master in
Israel? Are you a teacher? And you don't understand these
things? You're teaching others. And you don't understand the
basics? And then our Lord asked one question,
do you remember? Our Lord asked them all. I'm going to ask you
all one question. He asked that one question, and
nobody there could answer it. Nobody. Like Samson. Samson's
a good type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He asked that riddle,
remember? Nobody could answer it. Nobody.
save he to whom he revealed it. He revealed it to his pride. I am the vine, the source of
all wisdom, the source of all strength. Remember now, the true
vine. The branches are held up by the
vine. I'm not going to raise my voice one time this morning. If you get anything out of it,
the Lord is going to have to raise your soul, raise you up to this. No one lives without Christ,
the true vine. No one lives separated from him.
He that abideth in me, Christ said, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit. Now listen, it says, he that
abideth in me, the smallest twig. Sarah, you're a good listener. I appreciate that. That's why
I call your name. Anybody, if I call your name,
it's not to embarrass you. point you out, it's because you're
listening to me. I'm trying to talk to people
who are listening to me. You ever talk to anybody that's
not listening to you? You'd rather just shut up and leave, wouldn't
you? But thank God so many of you listen and care. So I call
your name, Christopher. I'm not trying to embarrass you. Here, I'm standing in front of
you embarrassed every Sunday. Everybody here is looking at
me. I'm talking to people, that's
why I call your name. And I'm going to keep doing it. Alright? Kill it. The smallest twig attached to
the vine is a part of the vine. And I'm not saying you're small.
I'm just saying that the youngest believer, the weakest believer, attached to the vine, this part
of the vine. It all, whether it's a huge vine like that, a huge branch, or a little
tiny twig, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to
the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine,
if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to
the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine,
if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached
to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to
the vine, if it's attached to the vine, if it's attached to
the vine, if it's attached to the Oh, I believe, but I don't feel
like you. Oh, you do believe, though, huh? Do you? Yeah, but no way, no. Don't but. That means you have
life. Didn't have it before. A branch
can't produce sap. It comes from the vine. And it
bringeth forth much fruit. Now, not at first. A little tiny
That branch brings forth huge clusters of grapes, right? No,
not at first. But it does bud and bloom, doesn't
it? Doesn't it? Your husband, man. Doesn't it? You planted some
old cherry. Henry planted some cherry trees
behind his house, and one year he told me to come down and get
all Man, I've never seen so many cherries in all my life. Man. But when you first planted them,
every little branch didn't just bloom full of cherries, did it? If they were alive, they'd bloom. Eventually, they'll produce much
fruit, but it comes after time, doesn't it? As it grows. Now, let me answer two questions. Ask and answer two questions. All right? What is it to abide
in Christ? Now, the Lord says this nine
times. It must be important. Nine times
the Lord says, except you abide in me, abide, abide, abide. Abide. Abide. Abide. Abide. Abide. Abide. Abide. Nine times. It must be important.
You don't have life for that. All right, what is it to abide
in Christ and He and you? And secondly, what is this fruit
that must be born? What is it? Are you interested?
John, you nodded your head. This is for you. What is it to
abide in Christ? The word abide means to dwell. It means it's where you live.
The word abide means, very simply, to stay in place. Not visiting. Abide. The word abide means to continue.
If you'll notice, the word abide is always present tense. It doesn't
say that he that used to abide. Abide. The word abide means to be present,
to be there. Someone abide somewhere, that's
where they are. Right? That's where you'll find
them. The word abide means to remain. The word abide means
to endure. The word abide means to stand. What does it mean to abide in
Christ and He in you? Well, first, we have to say what
it means for Christ to abide in us. Because if He were not
in us, we would not be in Him. Christ said, I in you. In God's
time, this is how it happened. In God's time, he sends this. This is seed. God's the great
husbandman, owner of all the universe. All souls are mine,
God said. This is the seed. This is the
life-giving seed. Peter said this is the incorruptible
seed by which we're born from above, which life is given, spiritual
life. In the process of time, in God
and the fullness of time, God and The Holy Spirit, who is the
wind that bloweth where it listeth, takes the seed, the preaching
of which, God's Word. More specifically, what's the
seed? What's the seed? Just Bible? Well, he preaches the Bible.
What is this book all about? What is the core of the Atonement? What is the seed? What is the
seed? Christ is the seed. The woman's
seed, the seed of Abraham, he is the seed, the word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever. He is the seed that remains in
God's people, abides there. God the Holy Spirit, in time,
to whom he will, takes this word in old ground, fallow ground. Never been life there before,
but fallow means. Never been life there before.
And God Almighty, through the process of breaking and churning
and up, by the same Word, convicts, convinces, opens, breaks up like
an old hard piece of ground, the heart. It pours in this seed
which speaks of Christ and makes it take root. Oh, it just doesn't
go through here and out into the draft. It takes root. It's
there to abide. It's there to stay. And that
seed, which is Christ, which is the gospel of Christ, begins
to grow. And it breaks forth. Something
growing in you is going to start sticking out, isn't it? Hannah. That's the reason it was called
the pregnant gospel. The old writers used to call
it, in case anybody didn't know, Hannah Parks is pregnant. What
a wonderful thing. Life comes from God. What a good
picture. I noticed this morning, is your
clothes getting a little tight on you? She's starting to stick
out. That's good, isn't it? It means
there's life there. It means there's life there.
So it is with God's people. Wherever the seed is planted,
Christ will start sticking out. He'll start showing on you. As
old Brother Barnard used to say, when God saves a man, the old
hound dog will know about it. Even the old hound dog will know
about it. The neighbor. Hello, Joe. You never spoke to me before.
What is it? Is my cow on your land this time? No, no. Have a good time. The seed is planted, begins to
grow, and produces fruit. Christ in you. Christ, the gospel,
it's all synonymous. Truth, the gospel of Christ,
quickens, gives life. That's what quicken means. And
that person becomes alive unto God. They were dead before. The
things of God didn't interest them. The people of God, they
weren't their companions. They loved the world and the
things of the world. That's a mark of death. Dead things, dead people,
dying people, dead things live among the tombs. Like that crazy
man lived among the tombs with dead people. God's people don't
live among the tombs. This is not the land of the living.
This is the land of the dying. You leave here to go to the land
of the living. And these are your companions. They become
your companions. They are alive unto God through
Christ. The Spirit of Christ begins to
abide in them, set up residence there. The Holy Spirit, truth,
leads and guides them in all truth, begins to direct their
steps, begins to instruct them. The Spirit of God, the Father,
teaches them, leads them, guides them in all truth. They grow
like you do your children. You feed them and nurture them,
and they grow up into young men, old men. That's the way it is. All from the seed, Christ in
us. Alright, what does it mean? And
now, if that life's there, it stays there, right? What does it mean for us to abide
in Christ? What does it mean for us to abide
in Christ? Let me tell you what the word
means again, okay? The word means to dwell. It means it's life. Whenever you hear somebody say
this, and I'm not making someone an offender at a word, but generally,
out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Whenever
you hear somebody say, Christ is a big part of my life, they
don't know Christ. Paul in Colossians 3, when he
talked about the believer and his relationship with Christ,
he said, Christ, our life, we don't have life apart from Christ. And our life, it's not like we
have a life apart from Christ. It's not like here's my life
and then here's Christ's part of it. And whenever I want to,
that's a good picture of modern religion. And whenever I let
him, I let him come in the door. No, no, no, no, no. You don't
understand. You don't understand. If somebody's
in you, I mean, they're living, that's life. Christ our life. Christ our life to dwell. This
gospel, this worship, this what we're doing here is not a part
of your life. This is life. Let's ask Peter
and the boys. Let's ask the apostles. Our Lord
said, everybody's leaving. Will you go? And they said, where
are we going to go? To whom shall we go? To whom
shall we go? Peter said, thou hast the words
of life. This is not just religion, Peter
said. This is life. We were dead before
you came. You've given us life. We were
rowing along it. Row, row, row your boat. We were dead and gone until you
came by. Now we have life. Eternal life. You're life. You are our life.
In you we've lived for three and a half years. Totally depended
on you. Soaked up everything from you.
Gathered everything from you. You are our life. A man and a woman who are truly
married, they don't have separate careers. They might have jobs to meet
expenses, but when two people become one, how can you have
separate careers when you're one? You can't go in two different
directions. You just work to meet expenses
to pay the bills, but you are each other's career. A career,
a life spent in service to the other. Now that's just a fact. It's either so or it's not. Just
like if Christ is your life, he's your life. He's not a part
of it. He's not a convenient part of it. To abide in Christ means to be
present. There's an old tree out here
on this lot. That poplar tree. You don't pay much attention
to it, do you? You men do when you cut the grass. It's been
there for a long time, hasn't it? That was probably here before
this building was here. I'm sure it was. It's probably
a hundred years old. Big old tree. Well, when you come back
next Sunday, it's still going to be there. And you come back
the next Sunday, it's there. What is it doing? It's abiding. Christ said, Where I am. Where the carcass is, that's
where the eagles are going to get it. Where the shepherd is, you'll
find a sheep. What's he doing out there? Must not be a sheep. What could be simpler? To dwell, to be present, means
to remain, to endure, to stand. Must be alive, there to stay. Wherever Christ is, that's where
the branches are. Present, in place, abide. As I said, the word abide is
present tense. It's continual. Like I said,
the disciples could not go away. They could not. The Lord was
trying and testing them. There's a door. There's a door.
Go ahead. They couldn't. They couldn't.
Why? You'd have to cut them off. If they're apart, you'd have
to cut them off. Cast them away. Oh, Christ won't cut off anybody.
Oh, no. Never. Never. Demas, though,
It was a fellow named Demas. Christ said, he's forsaken me.
Why? He didn't love Christ. Everybody
thought he did. He loved his present world. He's
gone. John, one time John said this. He said, they went out from us
because they were not of us. For if they had been of us, no
doubt, they would have remained with us. Why? Because he that
abideth in Christ, that means that's where they are. This is the words of the Son
of God. Right? That's the word. How do you know
someone is abiding? Alright, someone appears to be
abiding. They're there. They're always there. At least
you know that much. where the Gospels preach, whenever,
that's where they'll be found, if at all possible. Well, how
do you know they're abiding, living in Christ? They bear fruit. They bear fruit. They bear fruit. Look back at our text. Verse
5, our Lord said, The same bringeth forth much fruit. Verse 8, he
says, Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. This
duplifies the husbandman, does it not? The husbandman is not
glorified if something doesn't bear fruit. He brings his friends out to
show, or he comes out himself one day to pick some fruit and
to enjoy it. He comes out like the fig tree. Remember our Lord and the fig
tree? He came by, he was hungry, and there was no fruit on that
fig tree. He said, cut it down. And eventually it's going to
be done. What is this fruit? What is this
fruit? Turn very quickly to Galatians
5. I'm going to have you turn to two more passages of Scripture,
okay? And then I'm through. I'm out of here. I'm out of town.
Galatians 5. Galatians 5. Fruit. Now, notice with me, fruit is
singular. Notice that, Melanie? It doesn't
say fruits. It says fruit. Why? Because it's all there. It's all makes it. You can't
have one without the other. It's all together. Fruit. Fruit. In Galatians 5, look at
verses 22 and 23. The fruit of the Spirit, meaning
it's all. what the Spirit produces. You
can't have one without the other. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace. Now, I could take each one of
these and go down through here and show you how each one leads
into the other. How each one produces the other. Love, joy, peace. Love to God
produces joy. Love for the gospel produces
joy. Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness. Faith, meekness, temperance. Fruit of the Spirit. Fruit. It's all there. It's all there. It's all growing. If it's not
there, I'm not a part of the vine. If it's
not growing, I'm not a part of the vine. And I'm not trying
to discourage anybody, okay? And I don't want you looking
for fruit on your own tree. I'm not trying to get you to
look at your own fruit. But it's just a fact now. The Lord is
the one saying this, isn't He? If there's not fruit, there's
no root. It's not a part of the vine.
It's not there. And if it's not growing, the
same bringeth forth much fruit. The vine keeps growing and growing,
keeps growing, growing, growing, cut back growth, cut back growth,
keep producing. Men and women, believers, like
fruit. Their graces, that which comes
from Christ Himself, grows. They grow sweeter, like fruit. You know, as fruit ripens, what
does it do? It gets sweeter. It gets sweeter. Your dad, Stephen,
your dad was an old, softy, wasn't he? He got so ripe, he just mushy. Never met a sweeter man. A rough exterior. All on the outside. Wasn't he?
That's the way it is with God's people. They don't grow mean. If they're growing meaner, they're
not in Christ. That's just so. And they're going
to be cut down. A man or woman to grow sweeter
loves. What's the first fruit? What did Christ say is the first
fruit? What's the first fruit? Love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Our Lord said, He that loveth
not his brother whom he hath Who's my brother? Who's sitting
beside you right now? How could they love God, whom
they hadn't seen? They don't. They don't. But everybody that abideth in
Christ loves. They love. say to me one time, well, there's
different kinds of love. Where does it say that? Where does it say that? Scripture knows only one kind
of love. Look at it. Look at what our Lord said in
John 15, verses 12 and 13. He says, This is my commandment,
not an option, that ye love one another. How? How does love show itself? As I loved you. You lay down your life. You lay
down your own thoughts, your own pursuits, your own Our Lord
said, A man that is married loveth his wife as himself. We love
ourselves. Yeah, we do. Everybody in here
loves yourself. I don't care what we say. We do. How do you
know? You spend money on yourself. You spend time on yourself. You
think of yourself. It's just so. Our Lord said,
He that is truly married loves his wife as himself. Thinks of
her as himself. He that is married to Christ
He thinks of Christ, loves Christ, has Him spent. Spends money,
time, never a day without thoughts of Him. Love? Love. You ask me what love is? You
young people are searching for love. People, listen to me. You don't search for love. Love
finds you. That's what's wrong with this
bachelor program. I'm sure nobody in here watches that. But if
you do, that's what's wrong with that. You don't pick and choose.
Love finds you. What a good picture of Christ
that is, huh? God, who is love. We're looking for Him. He found
us. Love finds you. And after it
finds you, you're not looking for anybody. Well, I'm in love
with two men. Phew! You ain't love. Right? Love finds you. Wait on it. Ask the Lord to send you true
love. And then if somebody says they don't love you, or whatever,
and if it doesn't last, don't worry about it. If the true thing
comes along, it'll last. Love never fails. Never. Somebody says, I don't love you.
I never did. Love never fails. And wait on it. God's love is
everlasting, is it not? So is His people's love. That
fruit remaineth, abideth. They love God, and they're always
going to love God. They love the gospel from the day they
heard it, and they're always going to love it. Matter of fact,
it's going to get sweeter to them. The older they get, the
more they... I preached about as simple a
message as I could preach last Sunday, Brother Henry. Brother
Henry's heard four million sermons. He came up to me with a big ol'
smile on his face, an ol' softie. Here's another, an ol' softie,
Indian, Roberta. He's gotten sweeter since I've
known him. Would you say the same thing
about me, please? I know I was tough on you at
first. I know I was, buddy. How you sat there, I know how
you sat there. I know how you sat there. I know
why you're still sitting there. It must be a binding cry. Now,
I can't run you off, no matter how mean I got to you. But I
hope I'm sweetening up. I hope the messages get sweeter
without compromise. And our Lord said this. He said,
this is my commandment in our text. He said that you love one
another as I have loved you. These things I command you. But
you love one another. It's not only there, it's there.
And it's not something you can produce, either. It's not something
you can produce. It's there as love. It's like
love for the gospel. Nobody can force that. I can't
force anyone to love this message. Oh, God, the Holy Spirit does.
He puts that love in the heart, and it's there to stay. I never
quit loving the gospel. And yet, our Lord said there,
He said, continue in my love. Didn't He, Deborah? He said,
continue in my love. If my words abide in you, you
continue in my love. And you're my disciples indeed.
Continue in my love. What does that mean? Whenever
a plant is under the... A plant is outside under the
rain. the influences of the sun. As
long as it's under the influences of the sun and the rain, what's
it going to do? Grow. Continue in my love. Continue under the sound of my
words. Only way faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
word. This is how we grow. Out from
under it. Cut off. Cut off. This is life. Not just the sermon. These are
the words of the Son of God. All right. Let's sing in closing, Abide in Me. What, 175? 75. A
good hymn to sing. 75. Hymn number 75. Stand as we sing. 75. Abide with me fast, most eventide
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide When other shelters
fail and comforts flee Help of God, helpless, foe of mine, Lamb
of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of
God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb
God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of
God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb
God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of
God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God,
Lamb Shine through the blue and point me to the sky. Then morning breaks, then earthly
shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide
with me. you.

The True Vine

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the true vine?

Why is abiding in Christ important for Christians?

How do we know someone is a true believer?

What does it mean to abide in Christ?

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The True Vine

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the true vine?

Why is abiding in Christ important for Christians?

How do we know someone is a true believer?

What does it mean to abide in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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