John 15. These are very precious family words. As I've told you
often, our Lord in these four chapters, 13, 14, 15, 16, is having an intimate, private
conversation instructing his disciples before his death. And he says in verse 1 of chapter
15, I am the true vine. What a temptation just to camp
there for a little while. I call this message, I am the
true vine, because there's so many treasures to be found in
this first statement. these five words, I am the true
vine. I am the true vine. Moses said
to God, what is your name? When I go down into Egypt and
tell the people that God sent me, and they say, what's his
name? What shall I say? And the Lord said to Moses, I
am. I am. that I am. And here, the Lord
Jesus Christ, whose name is wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, says, I am. I am the true God. I am the door. I am that bread from heaven.
I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection. And I
am the And I am the way. And I am the truth. And if you
believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. I am the true
vine. There's but one vine. Oh, there
are plenty of counterfeit saviors. There are many counterfeit messiahs.
But there's only one true vine. He says in John 1 verse 9, He's
the true light. He's the true light. He says
in John 6, 32, My Father gives you the true bread. And I want you to look at Hebrews
chapter 8, verse 2. Hebrews 8, verse 2. Let's read verse 1 and 2. Now,
Hebrews 8, 1 and 2, Now of the things which we've spoken, this
is the song. We have such a high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not
man. All these others are figures
and pictures. He's the true vine. He's the
true life. He's the true breath. He's the
true tabernacle. He's the true. Back to the text,
John 1, I'm the true vine. And my father is the husband,
and my father is the farmer, the vine dresser. He planted
the vine. Whose is the vine? The vine is
his vine. Whose is the vineyard? My father
planted this vine. Let's go to Hebrews again, chapter
10, verse 5 through 7. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
an offering thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
and these figures for sin, pictures, thou hast had no pleasure. Pictures
of food can't nourish. Pictures of the Redeemer can't
save. Look at Hebrews 9 verse 24. Across the page that Christ
is entered. Christ is not entered into the
holy place made with hands. These are figures of the truth. These are pictures of the truth.
but in the heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God for us. I'm the true vine, the true life,
the true bread, the true tabernacle. I am the truth, and my Father
is the husband, and my Father is the farmer, and every plant
which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. It pleased God that in him should
all fullness dwell. Now look at verse 2. Every branch
in me, now every branch, there are many branches, only one vine. There's one vine, there's one
true vine, which the heavenly Father hath planted. Him whom
the Father hath sent, a body hast thou prepared me. One true
vine. Many branches. Many branches. Turn to Revelation chapter 7.
Listen to what John says here in Revelation chapter 7, beginning with verse 9. And after this, John said, I
beheld, and lo, a great multitude. A multitude which no man could
number. How many branches are there?
innumerable, nobody can number them, of all nations, in all
tongues, dialects, tribes, people, kindreds, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palms in their
hand, every branch, one vine Only one vine, but oh, how many
branches of every kindred, tribe, tongue, nation, people unto heaven,
God has a people. And all those branches are in
Him. Every branch in me. You see, of God are we in Christ. We didn't put ourselves in Christ,
God did. As I'll preach tonight, you didn't
choose me, I chose you. Of God are we in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us the true Bible. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heaven is in Christ, even as he chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. Accepted us in
Christ. Every branch in me. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. You in Christ is the hope of
glory. I prevail, Paul said, till Christ
be formed in you. Look at John 17, over two pages
in your Bibles. John 17, verse 23. I in them. thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one, that the world may know you sent me, and
you have loved them as you love me, every branch in me." Salvation
is not to be in the church, though it is in the church. All who
are saved, he adds to the church, glorious, glorified, universal. But salvation is to be in Christ.
Christ is the head of the church. If you're in Christ, you're in
the church, but you're not in Christ because you're in the
visible church. Every branch in me. Now watch
this. All right, listen to me now.
Every branch in me that bears not fruit, you take it away. A common interpretation of this
is that these people weren't actually in Christ, they claimed
to be in Christ. That's what almost all the commentaries
say, and my commentary says that. These people were members of
a visible body, but not the invisible body. These people professed
to be in Christ, but they really were not. They were only professors
of religion. And certainly if that be true,
they wouldn't bear any fruit, because the fruit is not the
branch's fruit, it's the vine's fruit. And they shall be taken
away, and they shall perish. But that is not what Christ says
here. He says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit. Is that
possible? Yes. Yes, it is. These people are said to be in
him, and these people are said to be not bearing fruit. Well,
let's see what the fruit is. Now, notice he doesn't say fruits.
It's always fruit. Look at verse 2. "...beareth
not fruit." Verse 2, the last word, "...bring forth fruit."
Verse 4, "...about in me and I in you the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself." Verse 5, "...the same bringeth forth much fruit."
Verse 8, And my Father glorified you by much fruit. It's not fruits,
it's fruit. Spiritual kind. Spiritual kind. Not fruits, works, but fruit. Spiritual kind. And it's His
fruit. It's the fruit of the vine. It's the fruit of the race. It's
His fruit. It's not mine. It's not a product of my nature.
It's His fruit. Verse 4, "...Abide in me, and
I in you as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself." Well, it's defined in Galatians
5. Turn to Galatians 5. Here's the fruit. There's not
a question about it. This is spiritual fruit. This
is His fruit. of the Spirit of God. This is
in us by grace. This is not a product of nature,
human nature. Galatians 5.22, the fruit of
the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness,
faith, humility, temperance. Against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with their
affections and their lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let's
walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain
glory, provoking one another, ending one another. Now, these
branches, he said, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, does not manifest love and joy
and peace, patience and meekness and gentleness and love, faith,
temperance. I'll remove it from the place. I'll remove it. It may be that
branches begin to bear fruit and neglected the word, neglected
the fellowship, of Christ and his people, fell into a state
of indifference and carelessness and worldliness, and God took
them away. And the other we'll deal with
in a moment, down here in another verse. Verse 6 says, If a man
abide not in me, he's cast forward. But if a man abide in me, and
does not bear fruit, does not glorify my name, I'll remove
him from the place. I'll take him away. Barnard used
to say, nobody, nobody, nothing ever happens to a child of God
without God's will. And God will either move a person
when he's through with him or when he gets in his way. He's
still his child, he still belongs to him, but he'll remove him.
for one of two reasons. Either his purpose is served
and fulfilled and it's for his glory, but if that person does
not glorify Christ and adorn the gospel and bear fruit, God
will take him away. That's what he's saying there.
And verse 2, let's read it again. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, I'll take him away. He didn't say I'll burn him.
I'll take him away. I'll remove him from the place. And every branch that beareth
fruit, I'll purge him, I'll chasten him, I'll prune him, I'll deal
with him, that he may beareth sweeter fruit and more fruit.
These branches in me that beareth fruit, they're going to beareth
sweeter fruit because I'm going to deal with them as sons. I'm going to teach them and correct
them and chasten them and afflict them and purge them that they'll
bear sweeter fruit. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews
the 12th chapter. Let's read verse 8. Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 6. Let's start with verse
6. Whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth. He prunes. He scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as a son. What son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? If you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers who are God's children, then you're
bastards, you're not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers
of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall
we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father's spirits and
live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their
own wisdom, as seemed good to them. But he, for our eternal prophet,
God makes no mistakes, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Our fathers are limited in their wisdom and knowledge, and they
correct us as best they can. After their judgment, they make
many mistakes. Sometimes they'll jump on us
when they don't need to, and sometimes they don't jump on
us when we do need it. But the Father never, never,
ever deals with a son or child except in wisdom and truth and
grace for His good, for His glory. I can guarantee you that. Always,
our prophets, Now verse 11, now no chastening for the present
seems to be joyous. You don't joy in the trial, you
joy in the results. Man can joy in trial sick. We don't joy in the trial. You
don't joy when your children are hurting. You don't joy when
someone is being dealt with in sorrow and heartache. You join
the results, you join the fact that God sent it, and God will
work it out for our good, and it will be for His glory. There's
no pleasure in trial. The joy is grievous, and the
trial is grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, listen,
it yieldeth a peaceable fruit. Singular. Makes me work a little harder
in the church. No. No. Makes me walk a little sweeter
in the church. Makes me give more money. No.
You can't buy this. It makes me walk with patience
and godliness and peace and love and faith. That's the fruit. That's not fruits. That's fruit.
And God can't do that for man. He'll take him away. That's what he said. Every branch
in me that does not grow and produce fruit from the vine,
fruit, I'll take him away. And everyone that is bearing
fruit, growing in grace, seeking not vain glory, but the glory
of God and the glory of Christ, I'll do like the vine dresser,
I'll go out and it looks like up here in Ohio, I'll pass those
grape arbors up there, call them arbors I guess, grape vineyards.
I'll pass those vineyards up there going to Columbus and honestly,
it looks like that man ruined those vines every year. Cut them back. Oh, they were
so beautiful in the summer and grew up around all their knobs,
you know. He just cut the fire out of them.
But he knows what he's doing. He knows what He's doing. And
my Father knows what He's doing. And they bear sweeter fruit if
you prune them. If you don't, it won't be worth
a dime. And that's what He's saying here.
Alright, verse 3. Now, you're clean. You're clean. You know, He said that back in
chapter 13. You're clean, but not all of
you. He was washing the disciples' feet, and Peter When he came
to Peter, Peter said, you're not going to wash my feet. The
Lord said, if I don't wash you... He and Peter are talking about
two different things. Christ said, if I don't wash you, you have no part in me. Peter
said, well, wash... Now, Peter says, I'm tuned in
now. You wash my head and my hands
and my feet and everything. And Christ said, verse 10, he's
just washed. Need is not saved to wash his
feet. You're clean. But he's clean everywhere. And
you're clean! You're clean! But not all of you. For he knew
Judas was sitting there, who would betray him. Therefore he
said, you're not all clean. He hadn't even died yet, but
they're clean. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. What God decrees is done. What
God purposes and promises is done. And every child of God
from Abel to the last one is clean. He's clean. He's clean. Now he needs to wash
his feet and that's what we're going to talk about here. He
said you're clean. You're clean through the Word spoken to you.
How are we cleansed? Threefold. There's the cleansing
of blood. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. David said in Psalm 51, He takes us back to the Old Testament
when they dip the hyssop in the blood and sprinkle the lintel
in the side post. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Purge me with hyssop, cleanse me, and I'll be whiter
than the snow. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. But then, there's the cleansing
of the Spirit. In 1 Peter 1.22, let's turn over
there and look at that a moment. The sanctification of the Holy
Spirit. washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
In 1 Peter 1 verse 22, seeing you purified your souls, and
obeying the truth through the Spirit, and the unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart. There is the cleansing of the blood, there is the regeneration,
sanctification, of the Holy Spirit. He sets us apart. Holy. Unblameable. Unreprovable
in the blood of Christ. And then, there's the cleansing
of the Word. John 17, verse 17. Now listen
carefully to this. Listen very carefully. John 17,
verse 17. Here's our Lord's great prayer.
High priestly prayer. And He says, praise to the Father,
Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." Now God's
word, incarnate written, can't separate them. But God's word
brings us to the incarnate word who cleanses us. God's word is
used by the Holy Spirit. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. We're born again not of corruptible
semen, but incorruptible seed by the Word of God. And the Holy
Spirit uses the Word of God daily to cleanse us, to teach us, to
keep us from evil, to teach us the ways of Christ and the things
of Christ. And you neglect the Word, you neglect your bath. Everybody ought to take a bath
regularly. And every child of God needs
to hear the Word regularly. The Word sanctifies us. The Word
straightens us out. We got a bad attitude. We come
and hear the Word. It will straighten it out. We
are acting ugly where we work or where we play or where we
go to school or where we live. The Word will correct that. dirt on us. He'd get it off where
it'll do it. That's what he's talking about
here. And when you stay away from this and you won't listen
to this, this man whom God gives you to listen to, you neglect
your bath. Turn to Psalm 119 and listen
to this. Psalm 119. Most people don't read Psalm
119 because it's so long. But try it sometime. Psalm 119,
verse 1. Listen. I want everybody to see this.
Psalm 119, verse 1. Verse 9. Psalm 119, verse 9.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according
to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought
Thee, O let me not wander from Thy word, Thy commandments, Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against
Thee." There it is. You're clean through the Word
which I've spoken unto you. Don't underestimate the power
of the Word of God. And I'll tell you, as I roam
around the country, I run into people who have no church, who
have no pastor, who have no regular place to attend and hear the
Word of God preached and they reveal it very clearly. They reveal it very clearly.
Their ignorance, their attitude, the way they do things indicate
they are not taught. They are not taught in the Word.
Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. Listen to what he said. Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing
of the water by the word, that he may present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing
that it should be holding without blemish. Neglect the word and
trouble. Trouble for you and trouble for
your household. Verse 4, Abide in me and I in
you. Abide in me and I in you. We're
in Christ by divine grace. We're in Christ by divine choice.
We're in Christ by divine purpose. We're in Christ by divine power.
We're in Christ by covenant mercies. We're in Christ. His blood and
righteousness are ours forever. We're in Christ. He'll never
be changed. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. He that hath begun a good work will complete it. The scriptures
are full of warnings to believers. Warnings about unbelief. Take
heed, brethren, lest there be found in you a heart of unbelief.
Warnings about drawing back. We're not of them that draw back. I'm not quitting, God willing. We're warned to continue in the
faith, if you continue in the faith and be not moved away from
the gospel. We're warned about neglecting
the Word of God. He says, don't let it slip. Don't
let it run out as through a seed. Verse 4, Abide in Me. Abide in Me. How does a man abide
in Christ? Look at John 8. Turn back to
John 8, verse 31. John 8, verse 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews
that believed on Him, if you continue in My Word, then are
you My disciples indeed. We abide in His Word. Abiding
in Christ is abiding in His Word. Look at verse 7 of my text, John
15, 7. John 15, 7. If you abide in Me
and My Word is abiding in you, What is it to abide in Christ?
It is to abide in His love. Verse 9, As the Father hath loved
me, so have I loved you. Continue in my love. Abide in His love. Abide in His
fellowship. If we say we walk in the light
as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
If a man says he walks in the light and walks in darkness,
the truth is not in him. We walk in His fellowship, so
it's abiding in His Word, in His love, in His fellowship. Don't let anything come between
you and Him. And He says this in verse 4,
Abide in Me, and I in you. The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself. This fruit is not of us. except he abide in the vine.
No more can you except you abide in me. This is his print. You know, somebody said about
the disciples, the men took note of them, they'd been with Jesus. What was it about these disciples
that indicated they'd been with Jesus? Their attitude. Their
conduct. So he said, abide in me, In my
word, in my love, in my presence, in my fellowship. The branch
cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. Neither
can you except you abide in me. In Christ. It's just not to hang
around good people. It's to be in Christ. With Him. Verse 5, I am the vine. Here
we are again. Now watch this. I am the vine.
Three things are clear here. I am the vine. He is the head. He is the heir. This is a position.
I am the vine. You are the branches. You are
the branches. Now watch this. I am the vine.
You are the branches. That's our relationship. That's
our position. One, he's the head. He has all
preeminence, all glory. Now he that abideth in me, and
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." That's the secret place, the
shadow of the Almighty. That's the promise. Abide in
me and you will, in God's own time, bring forth fruit. And
here's the positive, without me you can do nothing. Now here's
those people that do not abide in Christ. They're not in Christ. Verse 6. Professors, there are
plenty of them in the world today. If a man abides not in me, if
a person does not dwell in Christ, he is cast forth as a branch
and is withered. Men gather them, cast them into
the fire, and they are burned. These are tyrants. These are
false professors. These are people who are not
in Christ. Why don't we get rid of them now? Have enough wisdom
to do that. Turn to Matthew 13. That's not
our business. That's His business. It's not
our business to judge one another. It takes the eye of God to discern
the false and the true. Matthew 13. Let's look at this
for a moment. In verse 26 of Matthew 13, when
the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, there appeared
tares also. So the servants of the household
came and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in the field? From
whence then hath it tares? He said, An enemy hath done this.
The servants said, Well, do you want us to go and gather up the
tares? He said, Oh, no, no, no. Lest
while you gather up the tares, you root up some wheat. Let them
grow together until the harvest. In the time of harvest, I'll
say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, bind
them in bundles to burn them, and gather the wheat into my
barn." And that's what the Lord's talking about here. If a man abides not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch, and his withered men gather them and
cast them into the fire, and they're burned. And now verse
7, listen to this, if you abide in me, And my words abide in
you. You're in me by grace. You're
in me by faith. You're in me by God's mercy.
My word, my word abides in you. You make much of the word. You
ask what you will. It shall be done unto you. Ask
what you will. Let me dwell here for just a
moment. Don't be impatient. There's something
I need to hear and you need to hear. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, this relationship of love and fellowship and grace
in Christ, ask what you will. What shall I ask? It shall be
done. I really don't know what to ask
for in regard to temporal matters. I really don't. I really don't. I've seen, you ask for prosperity,
but I've seen what prosperity does to most people and to their
families. Ask for beauty, strength, I've
seen what that does to people who are blessed with beauty and
muscles and power. Ask for position, influence and
power in this world, I've seen what that does to people. I don't
guess I need that. Ask for much learning and wisdom
in the world, I've seen what that does. Takes them away from
the simplicity of the gospel and the simplicity of Christ. What do you ask for? You ask
what you will. Is that what you will? Go ahead.
But I warn you, the deceitfulness of riches and power and influence
and beauty and strength Learning and knowledge has really caused
some problems with folks. It has. Well, Solomon said something
about that over here in Proverbs 30. What shall I ask for? What shall I ask for? What shall I ask God to give
me? Proverbs 30 verse 7. Well, two
things. Have I required of thee? Proverbs
30 verse 7. Didn't I mean them not before
I die? Remove far from me vanity, phoniness, lies, hypocrisy. Remove me from the vain show. Put on pretense. Make me real. genuine before God and men. That's the first thing. Remove far from me this phony,
pretense, hypocritical showmanship that's glitter and glamour and
killing this nation of ours. That's the first thing. Then
secondly, don't give me poverty nor riches. Give me what I need. Feed me with food, my allowance. You determine what it is and
feed me. Lest I be full and deny you,
that happens, doesn't it? Who's the Lord? Or lest I be
poor and steal, grumble, complain against God and take His name
in vain. Alright, Paul answers this for me. Ask what you will. He asked four things. In Philippians
3, he said, Oh, that I may win Christ. He said, Oh, that I may
be found in Him. He said, Oh, that I may know
Him. And that I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. If that's what you will, you
ask it. And I'll give it to you. That
I may win Christ. That I may be found in Him. In
I am the vine, you the branches. Abide in me. That I may know
Him. That I may attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. Go ahead. Ask it. That'd be good for you. I know
that's good. John Newton, again, one of our
favorites. And thus thou say, ask what you
will. Lord, I'll seize on this golden
hour. I pray to be released from guilt,
freed from self and Satan's power. I ask more of your presence,
Lord. In part, more of thy likeness
let me bear. Establish your throne in my heart
and reign without rival there. Let me read my pardon seal. Let me from thy grace draw my
strength. To me, thou boundless love reveal
in its height and depth and breadth and length. And grant these requests,
and I ask no more. But to thy will, the rest resign. Living or dying, rich or poor,
All shall be well if Christ is mine. Ask what you will, and
I'll give it to you.