John 15, this is a blessing to
open up the new auditorium. I'm very thankful. And I know
that Joe McSherry is going to get very angry with me for this,
but I want to thank Joe McSherry for all he has done out here
every single day. He's looking down and mad at
me now, but I hope you'll forgive me. We're going to have a church
dinner next Sunday. John 15, I'd like to read the
first eight verses. Beginning in verse one. I. And 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 percheth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are 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 you except
you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you
can do nothing. If 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. If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will. And it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. So
shall you be my disciples. Can you get that back door, Norman? I'm looking in the light. Thank you. In verse 21, Verse 31 of the preceding chapter,
the Lord said, But the world may know that I love the Father,
and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go
hence. And as they were walking, perhaps
he passed a vine, and the Lord says, I am the true vine. and my father is the husbandman."
Now, this is one of the most well-known passages of Scripture
in the Bible, Christ the vine and believers the branches. Now, remember, this is a parable,
and a parable is an illustration to help us understand divine
truth. You can't strain every detail
of a parable to teach something. For instance, there's the parable
of the Good Samaritan, and the Lord tells us that the Good Samaritan
was left half dead. Now, that does not mean the sinner
is only half dead. It's not given to teach something. It's just part of the story. Now, this passage of Scripture
has been used to teach that a true believer can fall away. You can
truly be saved and yet end up being damned. Look in verse 2.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Look in verse 6. 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. Now, we know from the light of
other scriptures that's not teaching that a true believer can fall
away and be damned. Now, what is this scripture teaching? I feel so burdened about this
message. I pray that the Lord will enable me to preach this
message as it ought to be preached and that you'll be given ears
to hear and that I'll be given ears to hear the vine and the
branches. Now, what is being taught in
this passage of scripture? Our Lord says, I am the true
vine. He saw a vine, perhaps, and said,
I'm the true vine. That's a vine, but I'm the true
vine. And you are the branches. Now what is being taught here
is the union between Christ and the believer. The union between
Christ and the believer is like the union between the vine and
the branches. It's the closest that can be
conceived. Now I want you to think about
the vine and the branches that come out of the vine. There's
really not a connecting point. The fiber that goes through the
vine goes through the branch. There's not a connecting point
where it starts becoming a branch and quits becoming a vine. Fibers
that are in the vine actually go into the branches. The whole secret of the branch's
life, strength, vigor, beauty, and fertility is as it's connected
to that vine. Separate the branch from the
parent stem and there is no life in it. This is such a simple
illustration of the relationship between Christ and the believer. The sap and juice that flow from
his stem, they find, the branch finds all of its power,
all of its sustenance, everything that it has comes from the sap
that flows from the parent stem and cut off from the stem, it
must soon wither and die. Now, the believer's union with
Christ is just as real. More real. I don't know. This
is the closest union that I think can be described, that union
between the parent stem, the vine and the branches that come
out of it. That's the closest union there is. And this represents
the union between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
united to him. Every believer is united to him. Look how this is described in
verse five of our text. I am the vine. You are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him. Now, this is where this union
comes from. This is what this union is. It's an abiding in
him and him abiding in me. If I'm united to Christ, that
means I'm in him. I'm in him. That means wherever
he is, I am. That means whatever he does,
I do. I cannot be separated from him.
I'm in him just like. Judah was in the loins of Abraham. Not what Judah was, but who is
it in Hebrews 7? Levi. That's what I'm looking
for, Levi. Levi was in the loins of Abraham,
and it says when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, it says
Levi also paid tithes. It doesn't say it's as if he
did it or he did it representatively. He said he paid those tithes
because he was in the loins of his father. And so if I'm in
Christ, that means what he did, I did. When he kept the law,
I kept the law. When he suffered and died, I
suffered and died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. We're going to have a baptism
this morning. Nor I was going to confess Christ in a believer's
baptism. And this is what she's confessing. My only hope of salvation
is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. When he lived, I lived.
That's when I kept the law. Here's how my sins were paid
for. He paid for them. When he died, I died. When he
was raised, I was raised. I in Him and Him in me. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Him abiding in me. Now, this is evidence. Look in
verse 7. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you. And this is the evidence of Christ
being in a man. His words, what he said abides in that man. This is talking about a belief
of the gospel. This is talking about abiding in the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the evidence of somebody
abiding in him. Now, here's what the Lord is
saying to his disciples. The relation between you and
me is that of the vine and the branches. I am the source of
all your spiritual life, and you are as entirely dependent
upon me as the branches to the vine. Now, how dependent are
those branches to that vine? That's a complete dependence,
isn't it? You cut that branch off from the vine and there is
no life. There is as close a union between
you and me as between a vine and the branches. And my father
is the husbandman or farmer who watches over this vine. Now,
this is so comforting to me. So comforting. I don't have to
look for a thing out of myself. All I have comes from that vine,
and being united to that vine. Look what he says in verse 5.
I am the vine. You are the branches. He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Now, do you hear
what he says? My marginal reading says severed
from me. Severed from me. You can do nothing. Now, in the context, he's speaking
of fruit bearing. We're going to talk about that
in a moment. What is this thing of bearing fruit? So he's saying,
apart from me, you can bear absolutely no fruit. Without me, you can
do nothing. You don't have the strength or
the ability to perform any spiritual act without me. You cannot believe. You cannot repent. You cannot
love God. You cannot see the glory of Christ.
You cannot praise God. You can't even be thankful. Apart
from me, separated from me, you can do nothing. Do you believe that about yourself?
Do you believe apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, the sap of
His grace coming into you, you can't even stir up a spiritual
desire? Not apart from Him. Now, I know
there's a lot of things that you can do. You can walk into the
house of God and hear the gospel. You can read the Bible. You can
do all those things. But our Lord is saying spiritually,
without Me, severed from Me, apart from Me, you can do absolutely,
positively nothing. Why? You can't even as an act
of your will decide to be born again or decide to believe. Without
me, you can do nothing. Do you believe that? Without
me, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, I cannot do anything. That's the description of me. Remember what a sinner is according
to the Scripture. You can't really understand what
a sinner is apart from this issue of ability or inability. If I'm a sinner, according to
the Scripture, I cannot not sin. I lack the ability. That's what
our Lord is saying. Apart from me, without me, severed
from me, you can do absolutely nothing. And I feel that right
now as I'm speaking. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ,
I can do nothing. Can you say amen to that? It's
the truth. Now, what is the evidence of
being united to Christ like the vine to the branches? What is
the evidence that I am, in fact, united to Christ? How can I know?
Not everybody is united to Christ. If everybody was united to Christ,
everybody would be saved, wouldn't they? Not everybody is united
to the Lord Jesus Christ. How can I know that I'm in Him? Oh, what a blessing to be in
Him. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
If I'm in Him, I have wisdom. If I'm in Him, I possess righteousness. If I'm in Him, I have sanctification,
I have holiness, I have Redemption. I have to look. All of God's
blessings are in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I'm in him, I'm in
good shape. That's the way you put it. If
I'm in him, everything's fine. Now, how can I know if I personally
am in the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, he tells us how we can know
if we're in the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll notice in this in this
passage of Scripture, the word abiding. In the first ten verses,
it's there ten times. Abide in me. Abide in me. Now, the only way I can know
if I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ is if I abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, what's that mean, to abide
in Christ? Well, if you abide somewhere, what's that mean?
You stay there and you don't go anywhere else. It's that simple. You stay there. Where you're
at, you remain there. You continue there. You do not
go anywhere else. Look with me at Philippians chapter
3 for just a moment. Here's what this means. Philippians
chapter 3. Paul says, beginning in verse
7, But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss for Christ. I used to put these things
in the plus column, and now I put them in the minus column. I see
these things as no good. What things that were gain to
me that I thought recommended me, now I counted those loss
for Christ, yea, doubtless. Doubtless. I count all things
but loss for the excellent of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count
them but done that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God. By faith. The only place of salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like the only place of safety,
the only place of deliverance from the wrath of God was in
that ark. Outside of that ark, did anybody make it? No. The only place of security was
in the house where the blood was over the door. God said,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. The only place
of safety was in that house with the blood over the door. And
I know this, by the grace of God, I would have been scared
to death to get outside that house. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't
stick an arm out the window. I'd stay right there in that
house. Just like the only place of safety,
the only place of security was in the city of refuge. If you
got in the city of refuge, nobody could touch you. If you got outside
of the city, what happened? You could be put to death by
the injured blood. The only place of safety and security was inside
the city of refuge. Now, I abide in him by saying
with Paul, oh, that I might be found in him. It's the only place
I want to be found. And I've said this before, but
it repeats saying. You know, I think it's a very
romantic idea to be preaching and to just die preaching. Well,
wouldn't that be something? I'm preaching the gospel. What
a way to die. Just drop dead and come and get me. I'd like
to, when the Lord comes back, wouldn't you like to be found
reading the scriptures? Praying. Witnessing. Seeking the Lord. I mean, we
think of different things we'd like to be found in a certain
way. But that's very vain, isn't it? There's only one way I want
the Lord to find me. That's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nowhere else. I don't want Him to view me in
any way independent of the Lord Jesus Christ. I simply want to
be found in Christ. And that's what it means to abide
in Him. You know, we sing that song,
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When he shall come with
trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found dressed in his
righteousness alone, faultless to stand before God's holy throne. I want to be found in him. That's
what it is to abide in him. You don't want to be seen any
other way than in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, if I would say or somebody
would tell me, The only way your legs won't get shot off is if
you stay right behind that pulpit. Now, there's safety behind that
pulpit, but if you step outside of that pulpit, you'll get your
leg shot off. What would prove that I really believe that? By
staying behind the pulpit. That's the only place I want
to be. Now, if I go ahead and Test the waters and get my legs
cut off and shot off at proof. I didn't really believe that
the only place of safety was behind the pulpit. I really believe
the only place of safety and security, the only place of God's
blessing is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to be found
no other way. Now, this word abide is also
translated continue. We continue abiding in him. We keep abiding in him. It's translated to dwell. Where
you dwell is where you're at home. Our homes are called our
dwelling place. We feel comfortable in our home.
One of the things I love about my home, I can go into any room,
I can open any door, and it's not off limits. It's my house.
I feel comfortable there. If I'm in somebody else's house,
I don't have that liberty. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
I have complete liberty. It's translated Endure. You resist the temptation to
leave. It's translated remain. That's what's left after everything
else is gone. It's translated to stand. This
is where I stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where I
take my stand. Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's translated
to tarry. You only tarry in a place you
enjoy being. Oh, you tarry there. You enjoy it. I so much enjoy
being in the Lord Jesus Christ. I can just tarry there. Don't
want to leave. This is where I want to be. Now,
the evidence, and there must be an evidence. Not everybody
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence of somebody actually
abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ is the fact that they remain
there, they're in Him, and they don't want to be found anywhere
else. Now, is that in your heart? This is a heart thing. I simply
want to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look what
he says in verse 3. of our text, John chapter 15. Now. This is talking about everyone
who is abiding in the vine. Now you are clean through the
word which I've spoken to you. Clean through the gospel. I'm clean. I'm clean. You know what that means? There's
no dirt. There's no filth. I'm clean through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do I feel clean? No. Even when I say that, I'm aware
of my sin. Painfully aware. And I believe this. When God
sees me right now, as he sees me, he sees someone who is clean,
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. Now, what a glorious
gospel we have. Now you are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Now, here is salvation,
union. with the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know that so. What is the evidence that I'm
united to Christ? How can I know if I'm one of
those folks who are in Him? The only evidence is abiding
in Him. But we haven't stopped. We haven't
stopped. This is so important. What is
the result of union with Christ? What is the result of abiding
in Him? The result is always fruit. And that's what this passage
of Scripture is all about. Fruit. What is fruit? Look in verse
2. I want us to see some of the
warnings regarding no fruit. Look in verse 2. Every branch
in me, John 15, verse 2. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth
fruit, He purges it. And that is the pruning of the
grapevine. Cut down, cut down, cut down.
I mean, it's what the Lord uses in our life. And we bear fruit
through being cut down. Oh, thank God for the pruning
knife. I'm grateful for that. Because by that, that's what
the Lord causes to bear more fruit. He says, every branch
that beareth fruit, He purges it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. Look in verse 5. I am the vine,
you are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him the
same bringeth forth much fruit. Verse 6. If a man abide not in
me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Look in
verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much
fruit. So shall you be my disciples. Now here is the result of being
in Christ always. Here is the result of abiding
in him, fruit. Now, what's the fruit he's speaking
of? Well, there's a lot of things you could say, but I have no
doubt that the primary meaning is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Would you turn with me to Galatians chapter 5? Galatians chapter 5, verse 22. But the fruit of the
Spirit, they who have the Spirit of Christ, those who have been
given a new nature. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law. Now, here's the fruit. He's speaking
of the fruit of the Spirit. If I abide in Christ, if I'm
in Christ, you know what? First of all, I'm going to love
God. I'm going to love Him as He's
revealed in this Word. I'm going to love Him. That means
I love His mercy. I love His sovereignty. I love
His holiness. I love His justice. Everything there is regarding
the living God, I love if I've got the Holy Spirit to buy the
fruit of the Holy Spirit. And I love you. If I've got the grace
of God in me, I love you. I love men. I want everybody
to come to a knowledge of Christ. I want everybody to be saved
by the grace of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love. The fruit of the Spirit is joy. If I abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ, I have joy in my life. You know, it gives me great joy
to know that Christ is my salvation. It gives me great joy to know
that my sins are blotted out. It gives me great joy to know
that the Lord leads me and the Lord's hand is upon me and He
won't let me go. It gives me great joy to know that He's in
control of everything. Joy, the fruit of the Spirit
is joy. The fruit of the Spirit. Those
who abide in Christ, you abide in Christ, you want peace? You
know, the only peace I have is knowing that I'm in Him. Nothing
else gives me any peace. I don't get any peace out of
my preaching. I don't get any peace out of my prayers. I don't
get any peace out of my faith. The only peace I get is abiding
in the Lord Jesus Christ, simply being found in Him. And really,
that's what faith is, is just trusting Him. That's the joy
and peace of believing. Long-suffering. If I abide in
Christ, I'll be patient. I'll be patient. You know when
you're patient? When you already know what the outcome is. That's
patience. I already know the outcome. I've
won. I've won. In Christ, I'm a victor.
I'm a conqueror. Therefore, everything that happens,
patience. Don't always show it, but by
the grace of God, I have patience. I know that the Lord is in control
of everything. Gentleness. If I abide in Christ,
I'll be gentle. That's kindness. You're a kind
person if you know the Lord. If you abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ, you will be kind. And goodness. That's the capacity
for mercy. That's found in Him. Faith. Faithfulness. In Him, you believe. In Him, you can be believed.
You know, anybody that abides in Christ, that's a faithful
person, every single one of them. Meekness, that's that humble
spirit that bows to all that God does is good. Temperance
in Christ, you're not drunken with pride, and you have control
from within if you're in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
fruit he's speaking of. Now, if I'm in the Lord Jesus
Christ, if I abide in Him, I bear this fruit. All of this comes
from abiding in Christ. You know, simple faith is abiding
in Christ. Abiding in Christ and faith in
Christ are really the same thing. Resting in Christ. Trusting in
Christ. I trust Christ. I bear fruit. I try to bear fruit. It doesn't work. Only abiding
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only looking to Christ, only
wanting to be found only in Him and nowhere else. That's what
causes fruit to come. But if I don't abide in Christ,
there will be no fruit. Now look what he says in verse
2 of our text, back to John 15. This is a scary verse of scripture.
Verse 2. Every branch, get that word every. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. Now, some have said that this is a
believer who doesn't bear fruit, so the Lord kills him. I don't
think that's what this passage of Scripture means. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit. You can't strain every part of
a parable to try to teach a doctrine like a believer can fall away
or even a believer in Christ could not bear fruit. This is
talking about someone who appears to be a believer. He's in the
visible church. She's in the visible church.
They profess to know Christ, but they bear no fruit. What about that person? that
bears no fruit. What's the same person that is
described in the parable of the sower who becomes choked with
the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the
lusts of other things. They become choked with the cares
of this world. And the Lord says they bring
forth no fruit unto perfection. Wherever anyone is connected
to the vine, they will bear fruit. You're going to tell me that
I can have the sap of God's grace coming into my heart and I don't
bear fruit? Oh, I don't believe that for
a second. Anybody connected to the vine is going to bear fruit. Well, what about those people
who bear no fruit? The scripture says he takes them
away. Now, what all does that mean?
That can mean a lot of things. But what it means primarily is
the Lord just leaves that person alone. He takes his hand off
of you and you are left to yourself. Now, that taking away may be
seen in that person falling grievously. That taking away might be that
person removing himself and maybe even going to a place where the
gospel is not preached and removing himself from the influence of
the gospel. That taking away is somebody
just leaving and becoming indifferent and cold. But there's a taking
away. That's where the Lord just removes
His influence. What would happen to you? What
would happen to you if the Lord removed His hand from you? You'd
leave, wouldn't you? You'd leave the Lord Jesus Christ.
You'd go off. Now, this person who bears no
fruit, He takes away. Well, that's scary. Look in verse
6. If a man abide not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. Cut it down,
that branch that bears no fruit. Why cumbereth it the ground? Now, you cannot be truly united
to the Son of God and not bear fruit. Now, the branches that
bears no fruit, he takes away, he falls away, he loses interest.
But that person is taken away. Think of this scripture, 1 John
2, verse 19, they went out from us, but, but they were not of
us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Now, here's why these people
Bear no fruit, verse 6, if a man abide not in me. There's the
key, right there. He's not abiding in the Lord
Jesus Christ. If a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as
a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them
into the fire and they are burned. Now, look in verse 7. If you
do abide in me, you're going to bear this fruit. If you do
abide in me, and my words abide in you, and that's the evidence
of abiding in him, his words. You believe everything God says. You bow to what God says. The Word of God. You know, I
really believe the Word of God. I believe everything God says.
I believe the Gospel. His words abide in me. Actually,
I'm hanging all of my hopes of salvation on His Word, what He
tells me in His Word. My words abide in you. Look what
he says. He says, if you abide in me and
my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall
be done unto you. Wherever you find somebody abiding
in Christ, you find somebody who God hears their prayers and
answers their prayers. But what about the prayers I
prayed that the Lord didn't answer? He answered. Might have been
no. Might have been not good for
you. But I know that anything we pray according to His will,
He hears us. And truly, our desire is, take my will and make it
thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take
my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne.
My will. My will is His will. Whatever
His will is, that's what I want. And you abide in Him. He promises
your prayers are answered. Now, we ask things in this that
we're not consuming on our lusts. I realize that. But whatever
we ask for His will, Lord, let Your will be done. It's always
answered. We want His will. Now, he says
in verse 8, Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much
fruit. Much fruit. You want to bear
much fruit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit,
love, joy, peace, gentleness, long-suffering, faith, meekness,
temperance. That's a desire of every believer.
I want to bear fruit, don't you? I don't want to be one of these
fellas who's cast off. Ever-branching men that doesn't
bear fruit is cast off. I don't want that to be me. I
want to be a fruit-bearing believer. Every believer is a fruit-bearing
believer, and I know this. Herein is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit. Now, here's the point I want
to make about this. If I bear fruit, you know who
gets all the glory? God does. I know for sure it
doesn't have anything to do with any worthiness or effort or works
or merit in me. The Father is glorified. The
Father is glorified. And I want to glorify God, don't
you? Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. Now, here's the three things
this passage of Scripture is teaching. Get hold of this. And this is
such an important, important passage of Scripture. One, salvation
is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. United to Him. And that's what
we're confessing in baptism. I'm saying by baptism, my hope
of salvation is that when Christ lived, I was in Him, and He lived
for me and He obeyed the law for me. When He died, I died. My sins were paid for. I was
in Him. I was punished in the Lord Jesus Christ. When He was
raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. And I'm now walking
in newness of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my hope.
Nothing else. Now, what is the evidence that
I'm united to Christ, that Todd Norbridge is united to Christ?
I abide in Him. That means I stay right there. I don't want to
be seen anywhere else. I don't want to be viewed anywhere
else. I simply want to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
when God sees me, all He sees is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
it. Now that's the evidence that I'm in Him. I abide in Him. What
is the result of me abiding in Him? Wherever and whenever somebody
abides in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will bear fruit. Every time the fruit of God the
Holy Spirit, and I'll tell you what we want to see our fruit
increase don't we? We want it to grow by the grace of God and
that comes by abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the true vine, our Lord
said. And you are the branches. Isn't
it great to be a branch? I love being a branch in the
almighty vine. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
pray together.