All right, let's look back at
John chapter 15. I've entitled this message, Separated
in and Unto Christ. Separated in and Unto Christ. And the reason that I'm going
to take this approach to this chapter, and you know, this is
a really, You know, I hesitate, you get up here and you say,
this is a really important chapter. Well, John 14 is too, it's a
really important chapter. It's all the word of God, isn't
it? But I think when the Lord lays a subject on your heart
for a specific time that you see that shining forth and it
just becomes so important in those ways. And so I don't wanna
set one portion of scripture over another, but this is something
I believe that we all really need to look into. this separation. I've been talking about in the
past few weeks the subject of what I've entitled Holy Christian
Warfare, and that every true Christian, every believer, every
sinner saved by grace daily is engaged in a warfare. It's a
battle. Somebody said life's a struggle.
Life is a battle, and every day it's a struggle. And in this
struggle, and I call it holy Christian warfare, not because
we fight that battle perfectly. Somebody said, well, I can't
do that perfectly. Well, we can't do anything perfectly.
Christ is our perfection. I mean, we know that. That's
the grace of God. If I have any perfection, if
holiness, if you define it as perfection, if I have any perfection,
it's in Christ and not in myself. Now we're all, you know, Paul
said we have a message that is so glorious, but we preachers,
we have this message in earthen vessels. That's clay pots. And I'll tell you something about
a clay pot, it can be broken. And we're in this life, and the
reason, one of the greatest testimonies to our imperfection is that we
have this struggle. I have a warfare. And in this
warfare, I call it holy Christian warfare because it's a separated,
that's what the word holy means, sanctified, holy means separated,
this is different. This is a different type of struggle.
I'm in a struggle now as a believer that I didn't have before I was
a believer. Now I had struggles before I
was a believer, you did too, before you became a believer.
All people have struggles. I mean, life's a warfare and
a struggle for everybody. And, but now we have a different
type of struggle. It's a spiritual warfare that
we have now. And in this warfare, we have
three great enemies. And in this message and subsequent messages,
I'm going to identify these three great enemies and show how we
fight them. And the first enemy is the world. Our struggle with
the world and worldliness. The second enemy is the flesh.
That's sin within us. That's fallen, sinful human nature. In some ways, that's the greatest
battle that we have to fight because we're fighting against
ourselves. And we'll talk about that later.
And then the last enemy is the devil, the accuser of the brethren. We'll talk about him. But when
I think about our struggle with the world, this chapter here
comes to mind. And I'm gonna deal with the verses
that Brother Aaron read, but by way of introduction, look
at verse 18 of John 15. Look at verse 18. This is the
Lord speaking to his disciples. I believe, you remember in John
13, after John 12, he ceased his public ministry to the whole
land and he met in the upper room with his disciples. And
he stayed in that upper room, they took the Passover, that's
where he instituted the Lord's Supper, and then after they left
that upper room and they're on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane,
and that's where we are here. And on your way to the Garden
of Gethsemane from that upper room, you'd see the temple It
was called Herod's Temple at that time because King Herod
the Great, he was dead by this time, but he had started the
refurbishing of that temple and it really had become a house
of idolatry. That temple had become a house
of idolatry. That temple that was intended
to be for the glory of the Lord had become a house of idolatry
because Herod really, he turned it into a monument to Caesar.
And then you know the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Sadducees
had control of the priesthood and it was corrupt and political.
It had nothing to do with the lineage of Levi, the Levitical
priesthood. And then the Pharisees, they
had their self-righteous works religion that they were spreading
and it was a money-making machine. It was a self-righteous system
of works religion that denied the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're
walking by this temple. And it's said on this temple
that there was carved or somehow engraved on the site a huge vine. And I can imagine them looking
at this and then Christ saying, I'm the true vine. And I'll talk
to you about that in just a moment. But listen to what he says here
in verse 18. He says, if the world hate you, now that's conflict, isn't it?
something that hates a believer, hates Christ and his church. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before you, before it hated you. In other words, we're disciples
of Christ, and the world hated him, and the world still hates
him, the world now. You say, well, what world? Mars? No. I'm talking about the planet
Earth, all right? And he says in verse 19, now
listen to this, he says, if you were of the world, if you were
connected to the world, what sometimes the Bible calls inhabitors
or earth dwellers, the world would love his own. If you were
of the world, if you were, and he says, but because you're not
of the world, see that? There's a separation there. You're
not of the world. If you're in Christ, you're not
of the world. There's a separation. And then
there's a conflict, because the world hates you. And they hated
Christ, we follow him. And if we follow him, it's gonna
hate us, just like it did. He said, but I've chosen you
out of the world. That's God's electing grace.
Therefore the world hateth you. Somebody said, well, false religion
hates the doctrine of election. Well, here's why. Christ said,
I've chosen you, I've elected you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you. They hate the election. Because
Christ's people are chosen out of the world. And then he says
in verse 20, he says, remember the word that I said unto you,
the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted
me, they'll also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they'll
also keep yours. In other words, if they persecuted
Christ, they'll persecute his followers, but now if they believe
Christ, they'll be in fellowship with his followers. But see,
there's the conflict. What's he talking about? Look
over in John chapter 16 and verse 33, the last verse of John 16.
Now this is right before he prayed
this high priestly prayer we read the first three verses of. And that high priestly prayer,
he makes a distinction between his people and the world. And
he said, I'm not praying for the world, I'm praying for my
people. He said that. He's the mediator of Christ between
the father and his people his sheep, but look at verse 33 He
says he says these things I have spoken unto you that in me you
might have peace now where we're gonna have peace in Christ All
right. Now, are you looking for peace
in the world? You're not gonna find it He said in me You might
have peace in Christ in the world. You shall have tribulation trouble. That's conflict But be of good
cheer, I've overcome the world. The battle's not ours, and the
outcome is already decided and already made. You say, well,
if the outcome is already decided, if he's already overcome the
world, then why do we have to struggle with it? I'll tell you
exactly why. For the glory of God. God has purposed that we who
follow Christ, that we struggle in these things, to be a living,
walking testimony to the glory and the power and the grace of
God to save us and to keep us and to bring us to glory. Remember
back in Romans chapter 12 and verse two, he says, don't be
conformed to the world. Was he talking about the world?
Well, he's talking about that world system Any world organization
or system or entity that denies or opposes or ignores Christ
and His truth of salvation by God's grace, His sovereign mercy
and grace in Christ, any system that denies or opposes or ignores,
and I emphasize that, that word ignores, because that's just
as bad. Christ said, if you're not for
me, you are what? Against me. There's no neutral
ground here, see. You're either in Christ or you're
of the world. Period. And so my question is
this now, there's the conflict, and we're gonna talk about that
more, but any system of the world any philosophy, any religion,
any morality of the world, any judgment of the world that denies,
opposes, or ignores Christ and his truth and his church, his
people. That's the world that he's talking
about. That world is doomed. Well, what is it that separates
Christians, true believers, from the world? What is it that separates
the true church? What is the church? Well, they're
the redeemed of the Lord, made up of sinners redeemed by the
blood of Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness.
That's what the church is. It's made up of his disciples.
It's made up of those little rocks. So where do you get that? Well, Matthew chapter 16, you
remember when Christ was talking to Peter and the disciples? And
he said, thou Peter, art that little rock? He said, but upon
this rock, that big rock, that's himself, I will build my church.
You see, the people of the church, we're the stones that make up
the building. Christ is the rock of the foundation.
He's the builder of the church. And we're the stones and the
grace and the truth and the love of God, that's the mortar that
holds us together. So what separates us, the church,
from the world? We're not of the world now. Now,
we live in this world. Geographically, in proximity,
we're in this world. We have to do our business in
this world at this time, working, families, all kinds of ways.
But we're not of the world. We're not of that system, that
philosophy, that religion. That economy or government that
denies or opposes or ignores Christ and His truth, the truth
of His glorious person and His finished work or His people.
And that's the separation that brings about the conflict, the
hatred, the warfare. Well, here's what he does here
in John 15, back up in verse 1, that's where he starts showing
them what separates them from the world. so that we can identify
the world and engage in this battle. And what does he start
off with? He says, Christ the true vine. Verse one, I am the true vine
and my father is the husband. This is the last of the great
I am statements of the Lord throughout his earthly ministry. Remember
several times he said, I am, I'm the light, I'm the truth.
I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me." This was him identifying himself as God in
human flesh. I am. This is, listen, nobody,
nobody but God in human flesh could make this statement. I
am the true vine. I'm not the true vine. He says,
I'm the true vine. Down in verse 2 or 3, or verse
5 rather, he says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. No man could
say, I'm the vine. I couldn't tell you that I'm
the vine and you're the branches. You know what happens there?
Life comes from the vine to the branches. I don't give you life.
I don't even give myself life. So anybody who says I'm the true
vine is a liar, except he who is God, who is life. Life comes
from God. Doesn't come from man. Man didn't
create himself. And he didn't evolve from the
primordial ooze. The primordial soup. No, he didn't
do that. God created man. And Christ, who is God in human
flesh, is the source of all life, but especially spiritual life. So that's the first thing that
separates us from the world. The world is dead, spiritually. But all who are in Christ are
alive spiritually, or will be alive spiritually. Spiritual
life. Ephesians chapter two and verse
one, it says, and you that were sometime dead in trespasses and
sins hath he quickened. What is that quickening? It means
given life, made alive. What kind of life is that talking
about? Spiritual life. Spiritual life. What is spiritual
life? Well, people call it different
things, and they'll argue over it and fuss over it. It's useless.
Spiritual life is life from Christ. It's a quality. It's a principle,
powerful principle. And some people call it a nature,
and that's fine. But don't take it farther than
what the scriptures go. But it's life within. Just like
you know you have physical life by certain evidences, you can
know you have spiritual life by certain evidences. What are
those evidences? Well, we'll talk about that more,
but we can talk about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance
of dead works. We can talk about the love of
God shed abroad in our hearts, the desire to hear His word,
the need to worship Him. You notice I didn't say the desire
to worship Him. We do have a desire to worship
Him, but we have a conflict there. Because every one of us, including
this preacher now, every one of us will have rivals to worshiping
God. Don't you? You'll have a rival
that'll keep you from worshiping God, but you have a desire, but
you have a need to worship God. A hunger to worship Him, a hunger
for His Word, It comes through the new birth, being born again
by the Spirit, when He literally raises us from the dead spiritually. Where does that life come from?
It comes from the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. So look
at it, verse 1, 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. What's
he talking about? Here's what he's talking about.
He's talking about a living union with Christ. Now that's what
separates a believer from the world. A believer is in a living
union with Christ. A person who is an earth dweller
is in a dead union with the world. You see the difference? Spiritual
things doesn't matter to them, doesn't draw their attention
and their love and their interest, because they don't have ears
to hear. Remember Christ said that when he talked about sowing
the seed of the gospel, preaching Christ? It's like that old Puritan
said, he said, I must have Christ, I can lose everything else, but
I must have Christ. But those that don't have ears
to hear and eyes to see and hearts and minds to understand, I can
take it or leave it. Now this is, just look, think
about it now. To live physically, can you take
or leave food? No, you gotta have food. I was
telling somebody this morning, I said, I'm finding now that
I cannot eat like I used to. And it's not what I eat, it's
how much I eat. And I wonder sometimes how the
human body can even take it. Well, it doesn't sometimes. Well,
I have a need for physical food to live physically. Well, if
you have spiritual life, you have a need for spiritual food,
the Word of God, and the fellowship of God's people to live spiritually. You have that need. You'll have
rivals that will get in your way and try to keep you from
fulfilling that need. But if you need it, you're going
to fulfill that need by the power of God. That's a living union
with Christ. And so Christ, when he talked
about the sower and the seed, he talked about the gospels preached.
There are some who have no interest in it. There are some who have
a little interest in it for a time, but then they go away. But he
says there are some who must have it. We must have it. I must have it. And so that's
what he's talking about. The life of Christ flowing from
Christ to his people. That's what he's talking about.
That's union with Christ. Let me give you these three things
about union with Christ. First of all, there's a union
of representation and imputation. Representation and imputation.
And that's summarized in this, this phrase. Christ is my surety. before the foundation of the
world, God chose me in Christ and put all the responsibility
of my salvation into his hands. That's what the Bible teaches.
At that time, I was united to Christ eternally. That's kind
of a contradiction, isn't it? But the problem is we can't understand
eternity. We don't know much about eternity.
We're just so limited by time. But I was put into his hands.
My sins were imputed to him, charged to him, and his righteousness
to me." That's union of representation and imputation. He was made sin,
Christ who knew no sin, that I might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Secondly, there's a union of
substitution. That has to do with his work
on the cross. When he died on that cross, he
died for his sheep. He died under the curse and the
guilt of sin, under the wrath of his father, shedding his blood.
And the Bible says in Romans chapter 6, as well as other chapters
and places in the Bible, that when he died, I died. When he
was buried, I was buried. When he arose again, he was my
substitute. He was my sin bearer. He was
my offering, sin offering. God must be just when he justifies
the ungodly. He must be both a righteous judge
as well as a loving father. Yes, we talk about the love and
the mercy and grace of God, but listen to me, any talk about
the love and the mercy and the grace of God that denies, ignores,
or confuses the justice of God is of the world. You see, to
be a believer, to be in Christ, is to be in Him who is both a
just God and a Savior. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? Through Christ, through the blood
and the righteousness of Christ. No other way. No other way. And
then thirdly, and this is what he's talking about here, there's
union of life, faith, and love. That's when the life of Christ
is actually applied to me, to my heart in time by the power
of the Holy Spirit. And he says, I'm the true vine.
My father is the husbandman. God the Father is the owner of
the vineyard. He's the creator. Christ is not
denying his deity here. He's just simply showing the
order of salvation and redemption as it applies to the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit. Christ became submissive to the
Father for the reason of our redemption. God the Father. And this living union is fellowship
with Christ that puts us in opposition to the world. Look over at 2
Peter with me. 2 Peter chapter 1. It's a living
union with Christ that puts us in opposition to the world. Verse 1 of 2 Peter chapter 1.
Listen to this. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious
faith." Where'd we get that faith from? Got it from the vine. Didn't
get it from ourselves. And he said, precious faith with
us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
He's the vine. Life comes from his death. He
talked about that in John chapter 12. Remember he said, except
a seed of wheat fall into the ground and die, it won't bring
forth fruit. But if it die, it'll bring forth much fruit. And then
he said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all unto me. Talking about
his death on the cross and as a result of that, life comes
to his people and they come to him. He said in John chapter
6 and verse 37, all that the Father giveth me shall what?
Come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. He said this is the will of him that sent me that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing but raise it up
again at the last day. He's teaching the same thing
there in John 15. Look at 2 Peter 1, verse 2. Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord. That knowledge that comes through
his word by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a knowledge
of conviction. It shows me my sinfulness and
my depravity. And the fact that if God were
to give me what I've deserved or what I've earned, I would
be damned forever. That separates a Christian from
the world. The world believes it deserves
something better. That's right. Deserves something. But the wages of sin is death.
The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. We're sinners. And
anything we receive from God that's good is something we do
not deserve and have not earned. It's grace, grace, grace. And if you really mean that,
you really believe that, that separates you from the world.
That's exactly right. There are people who think they
deserve it because of who they are, the family or the nation
or the race they were born in. There are people who think they
deserve it because of what they've done or accomplished or tried
to do. There are people who think they
deserve it because they just deserve it. But we don't deserve anything
from God, especially salvation. That's why we're mercy beggars.
We beg for mercy. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And then he says in verse three,
according as his divine power has given us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness. How do we get that all things
that pertain to life and godliness? Through the vine. through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, that
glory and virtue, that honor of God, that's what that's talking
about, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that's the promises of salvation and eternal life
and glory, and they're given, they're not earned or deserved,
they're given by God's grace in Christ, that by these you
might be partakers of the divine nature, What is that word, partakers? It's the same word John used
in 1 John 1 that's translated there, fellowship. Before my fellowship, before
salvation, my fellowship was with the world. Now my fellowship
is where? With the divine nature. What's
the divine nature there? God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. There's the divine nature. You
want to talk about a divine nature, you talk about God. Don't talk
about you or me, even as born-again people. The divine nature is
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And how do we get
into fellowship with the divine nature, the Godhead? Through
the vine, through the Lord Jesus Christ. For in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in Him. And
that's what 1 John 1's talking about. Our fellowship is with
the Father and the Son. And he says in verse four there,
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. You see what separates
us from the world? Now that corruption of the world doesn't just refer
to the dregs of the world, the outcast of the world, the immoralities
of the world. Those are included now. But it
also refers to the world's religion the world's way of salvation
by works. I'll go back to John 15 now.
Now with that in mind, let's read through it. Verse 1, I am
the vine and my father is the husbandman. Christ is the faithful
vine. You know, Israel in the Old Testament
is also called the vine. But every time it's called the
vine, it's called an unfaithful vine. Christ is not an unfaithful
vine. He was faithful and true to do
the work that the Father sent him to do. Verse two, 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 there's a lot of controversy about that verse. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. There are some who say this verse
teaches that a person can be saved and then lost. But that's
not what it's teaching. First of all, that would deny
other scripture. Secondly, it would deny the gospel. I'm telling
you, to believe that is to deny the gospel. You see, that's salvation
by works. And then there are some who say
this is talking about false professors. Those who just have a claim of
salvation, but they don't bear any fruit, so therefore they
reveal they're not really saved. I don't believe that's what it's
talking about, but if you want to deal with that, that's down
in verse 6. He says, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch. He'd never been a branch. He
may have claimed to be a branch, he may have claimed to be a believer,
but he doesn't abide in Christ. Let me tell you something, if
you ever abide in Christ, that means to believe in him, to rest
in him, to look to him, to follow him, if you've ever done that
by the grace of God, you will never quit doing it. You may stray a little while,
but you'll never stop abiding in him. Paul said, I know whom
I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. Salvation,
eternal. And so verse six is dealing with
false professors. And what is verse two? Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Well,
the problem is in the translation here. And the translation, the
problem comes from translating the word, the phrase taketh away. Because when you hear that, you
say, takes him away, you automatically think, well, that means he takes
him out or cuts him off or something. That's not what it means. You
know what this word actually means, this phrase, take of the
way? It means to lift him up. It means to raise him up. You
see down there in verse 6, let's look at verse 6 when he's talking
about false professors. He said, if a man abide not in
me, he is cast forth as a branch and withered. Men gather them and cast them
into the fire and they're burned. They're damned. That's what that's
talking about. But up here it doesn't say they're
cast forth and withered, it says they're taken away. Literally,
he lifts them up. He raises them up. Now, remember what I talked about,
every branch in me, that's union with Christ. Remember what I
said, union with Christ, there's that union of representation
and imputation. That took place before I was
ever born. There's that union at the cross, substitution. That took place before I was
ever born, you see. But I was still in Him, wasn't
I? Still in Christ from the foundation of the Lord. That's what the
Bible teaches. Chosen of God, loved of God with an everlasting
love, purposed by God, redeemed by the blood of Christ before
I was ever born. I was still in him. But what's
the case here? When did I begin to bear fruit?
I didn't begin to bear fruit until I was born again by the
Spirit. When I was lifted up like a beggar off the dung heap.
When I was raised up from the dead. That's what he's talking
about here. He's talking about unregenerate
persons. And he's simply saying those
who are unregenerate, I'm going to give them life, his people. Those who do not know Christ.
Listen, what were you before you were born again? You were
an unbeliever, weren't you? You didn't bear any fruit. You
didn't have the fruit of faith, the fruit of repentance. But
when Christ took you and lifted you up and raised you up by the
power of the Spirit, that's when you began to bear fruit. And
then he says every branch that beareth fruit, that's a believer.
What does he do to them? He purges them. Like the vine
needs pruning, he purges his children. How does he do it?
By trials, by testings. That's how he prunes us. We learn
and we grow by these trials. The life is in the vine, the
life that is in the branches is from the vine, it's not of
ourselves. What's he teaching here? He's teaching total dependence
on Christ for all salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Many today set the work of Christ
on the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit within us at
odds. Let me tell you something, life by the Holy Spirit is the
product, the fruit of Christ and what he accomplished on the
cross. The Bible says, for as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. It says, for as this body is
dead because of sin, this physical body, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
is life because of righteousness. Where are we gonna get righteousness
from? It's from Christ on the cross. Totally, our life is hid
in Christ. And it's totally useless for
us to seek to live the Christian life from our own determinations,
our own power, our own self-will, and our own goodness. It won't
happen. Paul says, the life that I live now in this flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God. Look at verse three, he says,
now you're clean through the word which I've spoken in you.
What is that word? That's the gospel. That's the
gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. How did he
cleanse us through the word? By the washing of regeneration.
By cleansing our conscience by the Holy Spirit applying the
blood of Christ to our conscience. How do we have boldness and confidence
to come into the presence of a holy God? By the blood of Christ,
not by anything else. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse
his way, the psalmist asked, by taking heed unto his word. His word is summarized. His word
is wrapped up in the person and work of Christ. He says in verse
four, abide in me and I in you. If we abide in him, he abides
in us. And he says, as the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself. And I want you to notice something
all through this passage. It speaks of bearing fruit. I
listened to several messages on this passage and the preachers
kept talking about producing fruit. We produce fruit. We're fruit producers, one said. Doesn't say that. It says we
bear fruit. You take an apple tree. And you
go out there and you see the branches full of apples. Cut
that branch off. How many apples do you think
it's going to bear? That branch cannot produce apples. Except it's connected to the
tree. And that's the way it is with
God's people. Turn to Romans chapter 7. Listen to this. We'll get to this verse when
we talk about the flesh even more. In verse four, Romans says, you
see, the branch can only bear fruit as it's connected to the
vine. And that's the way it is with
a believer. That's the way it is with God's people. We can
only bear fruit as we're connected to Christ, abiding in him and
he in us. The life comes from him, not
from us. We don't produce any fruit. Whatever we produce is
evil and useless. But what he produces, Listen
to what it's called here, verse four. Wherefore, my brethren,
you also become dead to the law. That means the law cannot condemn
us anymore. How do we do that? By the body
of Christ, by the death of Christ. That you should be married to
another. That's Christ taking that branch up. That's Christ
taking those in him. We're married to him, united
to him by faith. Even him who is raised from the
dead, that we should what? Listen to, bring forth, not produce,
But bear, bring forth fruit unto God, to the glory of God, to
the praise of the glory of His grace. Verse 5, he says, for
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by
the law did work in our members. When we were unbelievers, the
motions of sin did work in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death. You see, the world, all it bears
is fruit unto death. Now, it may be religious fruit. It may be dedication, it may
be works of charity, but my friend, without Christ, look back at
John 15, without Christ we can do nothing. He says in verse 4, abide in
me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except
it abide in the vine. There's no fruit bearing except
through Christ. No more can you except you abide
in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Without Christ,
it's all fruit unto death. It may appear righteous unto
men. Think about the Pharisee standing outside the temple.
He said, Lord, I thank thee that I'm not like other men. I'm not
an extortioner, I'm not this or that, I fast twice in the
week. Saying his prayers, it was all
fruit unto death. Because he didn't abide in the
vine. He didn't look to Christ. No righteousness there, see.
He says in verse 6, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch. Now there are false professors.
There are people who claim to follow Christ, but they don't
abide in him. They'll leave him for whatever
reason. Go back to the parable of the sower and the seed. Some
leave him because of persecution that comes over the word. Some
leave him because of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness
of riches. They're too busy. And he says,
they're false professors. They're cast forth as a branch
and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire
and they are burned. Look at verse seven. If you abide
in me and my words abide in you, the word written on the heart,
you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. What
he's talking about is our connection with the Father through Christ
there. And he's talking about prayer. Listen to verse eight. He says, here is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit. You see, this fruit that we bear
out of the vine doesn't glorify and honor us. It doesn't lift
us up and draw attention to us. That's Matthew 5.16 when he said,
"...let your light so shine before men that they may see your good
works and do what? Glorify your Father which is
in heaven." And how can that take place? Through the light
of the gospel. Through the light of Christ. And he says herein
is my Father glorified, verse 8, "...that you bear much fruit,
so shall you be my disciples." That literally says this, that
bearing fruit doesn't make you a disciple, bearing fruit just
proves you to be a disciple. That's what it says. Just like
in Romans 12 too when he talked about, I want you to be living
proofs of the grace and love of Christ. And this bearing fruit
is proof. That if back there in verse 7,
it's not a conditional if. It's an evidential if. It's evidence.
And verse nine, he says, as the father hath loved me, so have
I loved you, continue in my love. What kind of love is that? Herein
is love, 1 John 4, 10. Not that we loved him, but that
he loved us and gave his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. That's that unearned grace of love. And undeserved. Verse 10, if you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. Now let me close with this. Keep His commandments. Where
does your mind go to when you hear that phrase? Many people,
it's the Ten Commandments, right? They go to the Ten Commandments.
Well, first of all, even if your mind did go to the Ten Commandments,
you really don't understand what you're thinking there, but I'll
tell you something. Even if your mind did go to the Ten Commandments,
the Lord never commanded Israel to keep the Ten Commandments
in order to be saved. He never commanded that. And
that's why people ask the question, well, why was the law given?
Well, it was given to expose their sinfulness and their need
of God's grace in Christ. That's why it was given. And
in the New Testament, Christ never commanded His people to
work their way into His favor by keeping any laws. He never
commanded that. In fact, he says the opposite.
He said, by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. But what did he command us to
do? He commanded us to repent. Repent and believe the gospel.
Repent of ever thinking that we could work our way into his
favor. That's evil. That's self-righteousness. That's
unbelief. He commanded sinners to believe.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Rest
in him. Look for righteousness not in yourselves, not in the
world, but in Christ. He commanded his people to love
the brethren. And he commands his people to
follow in his word. And he says, these things have
I spoken unto you, verse 11, that my joy might remain in you,
his joy, and that your joy might be for our joy and our peace
that comes in believing and resting in Christ. That's what separates
us from the world. All right.