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The Hidden Purpose of Your Pain · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: The longer I walk with Christ and the deeper I
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  Speaker 1: love Him, the more I believe in the importance of relationships.
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  Speaker 1: Anyone who is growing up in the Lord discovers in
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  Speaker 1: a period of time the value of relating in various
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  Speaker 1: areas of life. You realize more and more that you
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  Speaker 1: cannot do it alone nor should you try. I need
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  Speaker 1: you and you need me and We need one another.
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  Speaker 1: Anyone who wonders about Jesus' commitment to relationships, wonders about it,
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  Speaker 1: I suggest the reading of John chapter 15. It is
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  Speaker 1: a chapter that is about really little more than relationships.
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  Speaker 1: If you have a New Testament handy, turn to this
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  Speaker 1: wonderful chapter and let's take a look at it together.
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  Speaker 1: If you have an outline, you will observe on the
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  Speaker 1: back of this outline sort of an overview of John
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  Speaker 1: chapter 15. The theme of this chapter seems to be
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  Speaker 1: the Christian's vital relationships. And as I read the chapter,
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  Speaker 1: I find that there are three realms of relationships that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus talks about in this part of the upper room
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  Speaker 1: Address first of all the first 11 verses he talks
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  Speaker 1: about our relationships with him or our relationship singular with
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  Speaker 1: him in The next six verses he talks about our
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  Speaker 1: relationship With other Christians and Then in the last ten
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  Speaker 1: verses he talks about our relationship with the world now
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  Speaker 1: working back up from the bottom Take special note of
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  Speaker 1: the key words in these three sections. In the last
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  Speaker 1: ten verses, the key word is hate. He uses it
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  Speaker 1: eight times as he refers to the world hating us
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  Speaker 1: because the world hated him. And when the Lord uses
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  Speaker 1: the same word that many times in a brief section,
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  Speaker 1: he's emphasizing it. So there is a hate relationship. between
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  Speaker 1: the people of the world and the people of God.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't that we don't talk to one another, it's
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  Speaker 1: simply that we don't have a ground of affirmation and
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  Speaker 1: agreement with one another. And he calls it here a
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  Speaker 1: hating relationship. Now in the middle section, chapter 15, the
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  Speaker 1: center section, 12 down through 17, You will notice that
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  Speaker 1: the key word is love. Four times in these six verses,
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  Speaker 1: he uses that word love. You will love me. You
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  Speaker 1: will love one another. There will be a love relationship
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  Speaker 1: between you and your brothers and sisters in Christ. When
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  Speaker 1: you get to the first 11 verses, the key term
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  Speaker 1: is abide. And if you can believe it, 10 times
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  Speaker 1: in 11 verses, he uses that same word. Once again,
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  Speaker 1: when there is a repetition of a term, it is
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  Speaker 1: for the sake of emphasis. If you want to relate
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  Speaker 1: correctly with Christ, then you need to know what it
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  Speaker 1: means to abide. That's what this is all about in
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  Speaker 1: my talk. Let me share with you four general observations
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  Speaker 1: of these 11 verses in John 15, if I may.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, this is for believers in Christ only.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't mean the world can't listen. It just means that
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  Speaker 1: the world can't enter into abiding. We've all seen signs around.
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  Speaker 1: Signs read, for adults only, sometime. Sometime a sign will read,
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  Speaker 1: for senior citizens only. At the airport several weeks ago,
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  Speaker 1: I saw a sign that read, for passengers only. No
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  Speaker 1: one but passengers beyond this point. Our restrooms have the sign,
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  Speaker 1: for men only, for women only. Hanging above this chapter
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  Speaker 1: is for believers only. A non-Christian cannot turn to John
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  Speaker 1: 15 and find out how to become a Christian. A
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  Speaker 1: Christian can turn to John 15 and find out an
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  Speaker 1: important way to walk with God. So this is for
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  Speaker 1: the Christian. This is for the person who is in
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  Speaker 1: Christ already. For believers only. Remember now the key is abide.
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  Speaker 1: Second observation I would make of these first 11 verses
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  Speaker 1: is that they revolve around a symbol. If I were
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  Speaker 1: reading this for the first time, I would gather rather
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  Speaker 1: quickly that the symbol, according to verse 1 and verse 2,
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  Speaker 1: is the vine and the branch. It's unfamiliar to us.
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  Speaker 1: If we were writing for today, and if this were
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  Speaker 1: a passage written about Americans, it would be about the
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  Speaker 1: stars and the stripes. It would be about the eagle, perhaps.
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  Speaker 1: But in Jesus' day, the Israelites had the very familiar
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  Speaker 1: symbol that was repeated often in the Old Testament of
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  Speaker 1: a vine and a branch. Very interesting that Isaiah and
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Hosea, all four refer to a
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  Speaker 1: vine related to the nation Israel. And in every case,
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  Speaker 1: the vine is degenerating. And the Lord's concerned about it.
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  Speaker 1: He wants the vine to flourish. But because of the
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  Speaker 1: unfaithfulness of Israel, the vine is dying. It is on
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  Speaker 1: its way to decay. And that's concerning the Lord through
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  Speaker 1: the prophets who wrote of it. Before going any further
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  Speaker 1: than that, let me get to the third. The third
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  Speaker 1: observation is that the main subject is abiding. It is abiding.
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  Speaker 1: And so to stay with the symbol of the vine,
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  Speaker 1: the emphasis in John 15, 1 to 11 is not
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  Speaker 1: on the root, but on the fruit. When you read
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  Speaker 1: these 11 verses, you don't read about salvation, I repeat.
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  Speaker 1: You read about productivity. You read about the fruit that
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  Speaker 1: comes from the branches through the life of the vine.
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  Speaker 1: Fourth and finally, the result of abiding is fruit bearing.
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  Speaker 1: As a result of abiding in Christ, there is the
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  Speaker 1: bearing of fruit. Look, for example, at verse 2. Every
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  Speaker 1: branch in me that does not bear fruit. Verse 2 continues,
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  Speaker 1: every branch that bears fruit. And even further, that it
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  Speaker 1: may bear more fruit. Down verse 5. I'm the vine,
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  Speaker 1: you are the branches. He who abides in me and
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  Speaker 1: I in him bears much fruit. Now the reason I
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  Speaker 1: have taken you through that rather disjointed reading of the
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  Speaker 1: passage is so you can see a progress. He starts
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  Speaker 1: with a vine that does not bear fruit, 2a. He
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  Speaker 1: moves to a vine that bears fruit, 2b. He goes
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  Speaker 1: to a vine that bears more fruit to see. And
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  Speaker 1: he concludes that a vine that bears much fruit. Verse 5.
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  Speaker 1: Woven through the fabric of these verses is the twin
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  Speaker 1: word picture of abiding and fruit bearing. Abiding in Christ
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  Speaker 1: and bearing fruit. Now let's dig a little deeper. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, we have to understand the identity of the vine.
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  Speaker 1: And we don't have to guess. We don't even have
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  Speaker 1: to turn to some other passage that would answer the question,
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  Speaker 1: who is or what is the vine? Verse 1 tells us.
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  Speaker 1: It's the first word. I am the vine. So the
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  Speaker 1: identity is clearly Jesus Christ. He says he is not
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  Speaker 1: only the vine, he is the true vine. The particular
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  Speaker 1: construction in the original emphasizes the adjective. In fact, it reads,
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  Speaker 1: I am the vine, the true one. That's the thought.
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  Speaker 1: And the emphasis is upon true as opposed to false,
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  Speaker 1: genuine as opposed to artificial. All other vines are artificial.
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  Speaker 1: All other vines that you would lean on or draw
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  Speaker 1: life from to bear fruit are dead vines, false vines.
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  Speaker 1: I am the true vine. Isaiah spoke of a vine
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  Speaker 1: as being a wild vine. Jeremiah calls the vine in
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  Speaker 1: Israel's day a strange vine. Hosea called it an empty vine.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says, I am the true vine. So just being
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  Speaker 1: Jewish doesn't give a person entree to God. That vine
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  Speaker 1: is degenerating. Christ is necessary. Now the vine dresser, according
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  Speaker 1: to verse 1, is the father. I am the true
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  Speaker 1: vine and my father is the vine. dresser. He is
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  Speaker 1: the one who works with the branches. He is the
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  Speaker 1: one who cultivates, who spades, who prunes. In fact, you
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  Speaker 1: see in verse 2, he prunes it that it may
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  Speaker 1: bear more fruit. So it's the father who is cultivating
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  Speaker 1: the vine. Now understand, all of this is symbolic. There
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  Speaker 1: isn't a literal vine, there isn't a literal branch, but
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  Speaker 1: all of these symbols are metaphors that give us ideas
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  Speaker 1: about how to grasp the spiritual life. So when you
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  Speaker 1: read of these symbols and metaphors, understand there is a deep,
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  Speaker 1: significant spiritual meaning. I may get part of it and
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  Speaker 1: I may miss some of it. It's left to us
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  Speaker 1: to meditate on these symbols. So the picture is that
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  Speaker 1: life comes from the vine. And the father works with
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  Speaker 1: the vine so that the branches might bear more fruit.
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  Speaker 1: Now the identity of the branch. Verses 2, 3, and 4.
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  Speaker 1: Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away.
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  Speaker 1: Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so it
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  Speaker 1: may bear more fruit. Verse 4. Abide in me and
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  Speaker 1: I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
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  Speaker 1: itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you
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  Speaker 1: unless you abide in me. He says again, I am
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  Speaker 1: the vine. Now look at the identity of the branches.
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  Speaker 1: You are the branches. The wonderful thing about this passage
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  Speaker 1: is that you're not dependent upon a preacher's interpretation of
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  Speaker 1: these symbols. The Lord interprets them for us. So the
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  Speaker 1: vine is the Lord Jesus Christ. The vine dresser is
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  Speaker 1: the Father, God the Father. The branches would be the believers. You,
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  Speaker 1: you and I, are the branches. Look at the word
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  Speaker 1: abide yet again. It's mentioned in verse 4 for the
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  Speaker 1: first time, and then it's mentioned often after that. Abide
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  Speaker 1: in me. To abide, I should say, in abiding in Christ,
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  Speaker 1: we find the secret of fruit bearing. No abiding, no
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  Speaker 1: bearing of fruit. See the way it reads? Verse 4,
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  Speaker 1: as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
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  Speaker 1: abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide
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  Speaker 1: in me now we must accept that for what it
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  Speaker 1: says you and I do not possess anything in our
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  Speaker 1: inner nature that creates any work that pleases God in
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  Speaker 1: and of itself for us to produce a kind of
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  Speaker 1: fruit that will bring eternal reward the father working through
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  Speaker 1: his cultivating A pruning, spading process helps the Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 1: in giving the life to the branches. And through the
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  Speaker 1: branches comes the flowing of fruit. We are simply a
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  Speaker 1: part of the process. And the Father gets the glory.
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  Speaker 1: Now the source of life is the vine. Jesus makes
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  Speaker 1: a distinction between those who are in him and those
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  Speaker 1: who are abiding in him. This is very important. Back
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  Speaker 1: to verse 1. I'm the true vine, my father is
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  Speaker 1: the vine dresser. Every branch in me, now stop right there.
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  Speaker 1: It is impossible to be a branch and not be
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ. But it isn't impossible to be a
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  Speaker 1: branch and not produce. This is a reference to our
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  Speaker 1: position in Christ. When we came to know the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: he grafted us into the vine and we became a
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  Speaker 1: part of the vine as his branches. We are in him,
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  Speaker 1: but it doesn't mean we're producing. It simply means we
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  Speaker 1: are in the vine. We are drawing our life from
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus so that we might live and we
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  Speaker 1: might be found acceptable before God. But that's just a
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  Speaker 1: part of the story. Verse 2 talks about those who
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  Speaker 1: are in him, but verse 4 talks about those who
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  Speaker 1: abide in him. We are never commanded to be in
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  Speaker 1: the vine, but we are commanded to abide. Nowhere in
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  Speaker 1: this passage or anywhere else does the Lord look at
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  Speaker 1: us and say, be in me. But he does say
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  Speaker 1: to us, abide in me. When we came to the cross,
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  Speaker 1: we were placed into the vine. That's our position. But
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  Speaker 1: there is no production until fruit begins to be born.
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  Speaker 1: It takes us down to verse 4. As the branch cannot,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you've marked that some way, as the branch
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  Speaker 1: cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine,
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  Speaker 1: neither can you unless you abide in me. Well, this
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  Speaker 1: brings us to a major question. What is meant by fruit?
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  Speaker 1: There are some who teach that bearing fruit is winning
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  Speaker 1: souls for Christ. And certainly that's a magnificent part of
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  Speaker 1: the Christian life is introducing other individuals to the Savior.
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  Speaker 1: But I don't believe that's what he has in mind here.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I think that this same
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  Speaker 1: symbol is found elsewhere and helps illustrate what that answer is.
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  Speaker 1: Over in Galatians chapter 5. You'll turn for a moment.
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  Speaker 1: Galatians 5 verse 22. Let's start at verse 19. 519.
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  Speaker 1: Now the deeds of the flesh are evident. immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy,
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  Speaker 1: outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and
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  Speaker 1: things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as
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  Speaker 1: I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things
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  Speaker 1: shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit
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  Speaker 1: of the Spirit, notice the word, not the product of
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit, but he calls it here fruit. Remember that.
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  Speaker 1: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
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  Speaker 1: Against such things there is no law. I want to
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  Speaker 1: suggest that fruit that comes from abiding would be the
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  Speaker 1: character of Christ produced through us. And some of those
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  Speaker 1: things are listed for us there in Galatians 5. It
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  Speaker 1: is the life of Christ that flows from the vine
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  Speaker 1: through the branch. What characterized his life begins to characterize
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  Speaker 1: our lives as we abide. No abiding, no fruit. Abiding life.
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  Speaker 1: Some years ago when I taught John 15, I remember
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  Speaker 1: doing a little experiment. I went out into, we were
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  Speaker 1: at the old building down at Woods and Malvern, and
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  Speaker 1: I went outside where there was a big section of
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  Speaker 1: vines that were growing along the ground cover. And I
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  Speaker 1: reached down with some scissors and I snipped a rather
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  Speaker 1: long strand of vine from the source of life, just
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  Speaker 1: cut it off. I brought it inside and I placed
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  Speaker 1: it in my study. As I recall, I put it
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  Speaker 1: under two books, All the Prayers of the Bible and
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  Speaker 1: Robust in Faith, just to make sure it was in
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  Speaker 1: a good setting so that somehow something wonderful might happen.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, even though it was in a pastor's
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  Speaker 1: study and even though it was resting beneath a couple
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  Speaker 1: of excellent books, And even though it was in a
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  Speaker 1: good climate, it never got too warm, it never got
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  Speaker 1: too cool, protected from the weather. By the end of
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  Speaker 1: the week, it had withered and the leaves were just
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  Speaker 1: like dry toast. You could just crinkle them in your
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  Speaker 1: hands and they would grind up into dust. There was
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  Speaker 1: no fruit. Once the vine... and the branch were disconnected.
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  Speaker 1: If there wasn't an abiding, there wasn't going to be
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  Speaker 1: any fruit. Now, this brings us to the work of
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  Speaker 1: the vine dresser. When Jesus says, I am the vine,
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  Speaker 1: and he tells us this only here in John 15,
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  Speaker 1: nowhere else does he give us this name of his.
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  Speaker 1: When he tells us that he is the vine, and
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  Speaker 1: the Father is the vine dresser, immediately the Jewish mind
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  Speaker 1: goes to work. I say that because they're more familiar
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  Speaker 1: with vines than we are. Unless you happen to be
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  Speaker 1: in the farming business, you know what viticulture is about.
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  Speaker 1: Most of us don't. Tells us in this passage what
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  Speaker 1: the father does to help us bear fruit. Every branch
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  Speaker 1: in the Lord Jesus that does not bear fruit, verse 2,
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  Speaker 1: the Father, according to this verse, takes away. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: I prefer to use the words lifts up. People who
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  Speaker 1: work with vines tell me that one of the problems
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  Speaker 1: is that the branches fall down into the dirt and
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  Speaker 1: they never produce down there. So it is the task
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  Speaker 1: of the one who nurtures and takes care of the
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  Speaker 1: vine is to lift them up out of the dirt.
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  Speaker 1: and placed them upon the trellis so that they can
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  Speaker 1: grow up out and off of the ground and there
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  Speaker 1: produce happens. That's what he does. He lifts us up
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  Speaker 1: so that every branch can begin to bear fruit. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: he even prunes us so that we might bear more fruit.
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  Speaker 1: He uses his word to cleanse us. Verse 3, you're
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  Speaker 1: clean already because of the word which I have spoken
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  Speaker 1: to you. I think that's a beautiful thought. Those of
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  Speaker 1: us who love the scriptures and spend time in the
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  Speaker 1: Bible tend to be people who let the scriptures do
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  Speaker 1: a work of cleansing. I say it that way because
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  Speaker 1: it isn't automatic. The Bible has its own detergent. And
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  Speaker 1: by spending time in it, there is a cleansing that occurs.
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  Speaker 1: There is evaluation. There are reproofs. At times you read
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  Speaker 1: a passage and you think, God wrote that just for me.
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  Speaker 1: Or you even think, how did he know that? He's
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  Speaker 1: been watching my life. Look at Hebrews chapter 4, verses
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  Speaker 1: 12 and 13. One of my favorite little sections of Hebrews. 4.12
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  Speaker 1: For the word of God is living and active and
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  Speaker 1: sharper than any two-edged sword. And piercing as far as
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  Speaker 1: the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow.
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  Speaker 1: And is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of
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  Speaker 1: the heart. You know the word of God can get
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  Speaker 1: where no surgeon's scalpel can reach. No surgeon can do
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  Speaker 1: any work on the soul. But the word of God
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  Speaker 1: can separate soul from spirit. Can get right into the
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  Speaker 1: marrow of motives. And excise an ugly. cancerous tumor. No
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  Speaker 1: physician can do that. God's word has the ability to
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  Speaker 1: put our finger on the nerve of the problem and
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  Speaker 1: then guide us in getting rid of it. Look at
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  Speaker 1: the next verse, 13. There is no creature hidden from
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  Speaker 1: his sight. All things are open to and laid bare.
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  Speaker 1: Really means naked. All things are open and naked to
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
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  Speaker 1: He prunes us by exposing those things that are hidden
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  Speaker 1: from other people's sight. Merrill Tenney writes wise words. Viticulture, however,
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  Speaker 1: consists mainly of pruning. In pruning a vine, two principles
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  Speaker 1: are genuinely generally observed. First, all dead wood must be
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  Speaker 1: ruthlessly removed. Second, the live wood must be cut back drastically.
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  Speaker 1: Dead wood harbors insects and disease and may cause the
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  Speaker 1: vine to rot, to say nothing of being unproductive and unsightly.
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  Speaker 1: Live wood must be trimmed back in order to prevent
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  Speaker 1: such heavy growth that the life of the vine goes
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  Speaker 1: into the wood rather than into the fruit. The vineyards
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  Speaker 1: in the early spring looked like a collection of barren
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  Speaker 1: bleeding stumps. But in the fall, they are filled with
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  Speaker 1: luxuriant purple grapes. As the farmer wheels the pruning knife
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  Speaker 1: on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from
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  Speaker 1: among his saints and often cuts back the living wood
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  Speaker 1: so far that his methods seem cruel. Nevertheless, from those
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  Speaker 1: who have suffered the most, There often comes the greatest fruitfulness.
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  Speaker 1: You've been suffering lately. The father been pruning and cutting
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  Speaker 1: the stump back to the point of its bleeding. Good
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  Speaker 1: for him and good for you. It's part of the process.
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  Speaker 1: You produce more. I don't know if you have ever
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  Speaker 1: tried to raise a fruit tree. I've tried to raise
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  Speaker 1: a number of things in my yard over the years
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  Speaker 1: and I have been totally unsuccessful. In fact, my gardener
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: said to me a number of months ago, why don't
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: we have a deal? You just keep your hands off
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: everything and leave it to me. I've done that and
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: it's working beautifully. But back when I didn't have him
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and I thought I could do it, we had a
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: little tree out back that produced a little fruit and
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: I thought, That's great. Next year, it ought to produce more.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: So I didn't touch it. Had a neighbor that reminded
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: me of the necessity of pruning, and I thought, no way, Jose.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: That produced a little fruit this year with more branches.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: It'll produce more fruit. Well, the next year came, and
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: sure enough, a lot of fruit came on, but it's
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: kind of small. Didn't taste quite like it should have tasted,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: but I thought, next year. It'll probably get better. He
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: reminded me again, you need to cut that back. By
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: now it was the green bay tree coming out over
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: the fence. By about the third year, it was all branches.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: It was what they call rangy. It had branches all
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: over the place and very little fruit. I watched him
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: on occasion. He cut his way back to where it
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: was just an ugly stump. But man, the fruit that
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: he got. From that tree. We don't like the father's work.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: We don't like the pruning. We resist the knife. We
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: hate the cutting. But the father is committed to our
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: bearing more fruit. And for some, that means severe pruning.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Severe pruning. It's extremely important that we cooperate with God's
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: game plan. In one part of it, we are active.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Abide in me. That's a command. And in another part,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: we're passive. He will produce the fruit. I am the vine,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: verse 5. You are the branches. He who abides in
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: me And I in him bears much fruit. For apart
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: from me you can do nothing. But we don't believe that.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: We are just too gifted. We are just too skilled.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: And so we work real hard to come up with fruit.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I have never heard a fruit tree groan. Never. You
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: can go all over the San Joaquin Valley and you
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: will never hear one grunt. Just silently and without notice,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: those luxuriant orchards and vineyards bear an enormous amount of fruit.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Because somehow in the process of nature, fruit comes. Now
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: when we work real hard at it, we can produce
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: a fruit. But it's bitter. It's ugly. And it isn't rewarded.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: It's called the fruit of the flesh. It's called carnality.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: One man writes, you can do many things without depending
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: on Christ. This does not mean that without him you
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: remain just an immobile blob. You can operate your business
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: without Christ. You can pastor a church without Christ. But
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: if you try, you will find there's no fruit, no Christ-likeness,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: no manifestation of that beautiful character which arrests the attention
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: of others. Instead, there will be a shabby sham, a
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: phony imitation of the real thing, which will drive people
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: away from Christ. and produce nothing but a dull mechanical religion.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you have ever heard men who've
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: admitted to it, but I have. I've heard men who
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: were pastors for years before they came to Christ. And
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: they have described to me the barrenness, the frustration of
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: trying to do the work of ministry in the energy
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: of the flesh. Oh, the anxiety. The endless turmoil. The
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: ache of heart. The lack of energy. The impurity of motive.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: The manipulation. The hypocrisy. Verse 6 describes the results of
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: an independent life like that. If anyone does not abide
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: in me, he is thrown away as a branch and
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: dries up, and they gather them and cast him into
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the fire, and they are burned. How you read that
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: verse and you think, oh, I thought I was saved forever,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: and I see I'm going to be cast into the fire.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: And that is a favorite text to be used by
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: people who question the doctrine of eternal security. Let's be
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: very careful that we not mishandle verses like this. Let's
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: think very carefully now, very intelligently, as we look at
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: things like singular and plural and nouns and verbs. And
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: just be a little pedantic for a moment in this
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: sixth verse. Look carefully. Look carefully. Try to set your
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: prejudices aside and let's see what it says. If anyone
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: does not abide in me. He's not talking about a
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: person who doesn't know the Lord. Only Christians can abide
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: or not abide. So this is a Christian. If any
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Christian doesn't abide in me. He is thrown away as
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: a branch. And he dries up. Before I go any further,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: let me suggest that there are times when one can
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: walk in carnality so long that God steps in and
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: takes that life off the earth. It's the severest form
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: of divine discipline. The Corinthians experienced it. Paul wrote them
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: for their coming to the Lord's table in a carnal manner,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: and he said, because of this, many of you are
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: weak and sickly, and some of you sleep. Which is
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: a Christian word for some of you have died. You
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: came to the end of God's tether. His long suffering
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: reached its limit. And he said, that's enough. And he
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: took some of you away. If you continue to live
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: without abiding in Christ, he sovereignly chooses to take you
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: off this earth. Described here in verse 6 as drying up.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: But note carefully. Suddenly it changes to plural. Everything up
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: until then is singular. They gather them and cast them
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: into the fire and they are burned. Notice the difference?
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: He is thrown away, but they are cast into the fire.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: I take it that when it changes to plural here,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: He changes from the person to the fruits or the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: results of that person's carnal life. The branch is cut off,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: divine discipline. But the things the branches were producing are
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: burned up. It's described very clearly for us in 1
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter 3. It really is worth a look. 1
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: Corinthians 3. 3.12 Written again to the Christian. If any
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: and straw. Now right away you know that one is
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: going to be able to handle the flame and one isn't.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Or one category will and one won't. Each man's work,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: each man's produce, each man's fruit, Each one's work will
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: become evident for the day will show it, meaning the
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: day that we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Because it is revealed, it is to be revealed with
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: fire and fire itself will test the quality of each
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: one's work. If our work which we have built upon
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: it remains, we shall receive a reward. If anyone's work
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: is burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he himself
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: shall be saved, yet so as through fire. It's a
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: critical passage to read alongside John 15. They explain one another.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: If I don't abide, I produce fruit that is not
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: going to be rewarded, that is going to be burned up.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: And if I live like that long enough, God may
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: step in and say, that's enough. I've had enough of that.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: And for his own namesake, for the glory of Christ
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: and for the purity of the church, he removes me.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: And my works are burned up. Back to John 15.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: What if I do abide? What happens as a result
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: of abiding? Well, there are four results that are mentioned
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: in the balance of this passage. We can take them
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: rather quickly. Verse 7, if you abide in me and
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: my words abide in you, then you'll have answered prayer.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Answered prayer. Second, verse 8. By this is my Father
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: be my disciples. You glorify God. You find that God
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: is glorified as a result of abiding. By the way,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: have I spent enough time explaining abiding? Maybe that's too
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: important for me to pass over without another word. To
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: abide is to trust in. is to lean on, to
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: rely upon. It is to draw one's motivation and direction
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: in life from Christ. It is to begin the day
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: by giving him the hours that are in front of
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: us and saying, Lord, they are yours. I don't want
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: to operate in the flesh. I want this day to
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: be given to you. And at each moment along the
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: way when I hit a churning point or a struggling point,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: Stop me, Lord, and may I come back to you.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Remind me of that through this day that I might
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: draw my strength from you. Trust in the Lord with
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: all your heart, writes Proverbs 3, verse 5. Lean not
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: to your own understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: and he will make your paths straight. When you do that,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: it is amazing what it does to your prayer life,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: verse 7. It is amazing how your life begins to
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: glorify God, verse 8. And then you'll be motivated by love,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: verses 9 and 10. Just as the Father has loved me,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: just as I have kept my Father's commandment and abide
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: in his love. You see, his life begins to flow
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: through our lives. Just as he kept the Father's word
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: and love began to flow, so we keep his word
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: and love begins to flow through us. Ever started the
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: day saying, I'm going to love everybody today if it
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: kills me. And that's usually the day you love the least.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: You can't produce love. You can't work it up. You
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: can't mesmerize yourself or hypnotize yourself or talk to yourself
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: enough in the mirror to get yourself all loved up
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: for the day. Because you've got a freeway between you
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: and wherever you work. That's going to take all the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: love out of you. So you say to the Lord
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: early in the morning, Lord, this is your day. I
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: don't know what in the world is in front of me,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: but nothing is going to separate me from my connection
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: with you and my reliance upon you. This is your day,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: whatever it may mean. Whether I come out on top
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: or bottom, whether I sell or I don't, whether it's
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: a profit or a loss, whether people are liking me
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: or not, whether my grades are good or whether they're poor,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: it's your day, Lord, and it's for your glory. It
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: is amazing what that does. What that does to your spirit.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: It kind of opens the channel for love to flow.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: And then joy will reach its maximum expression. I love
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: verse 11. These things I have spoken to you that
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: my joy may be in you and your joy may
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: be full and running over. That's the idea. Someone wrote,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: joy is the flag that flies over the castle when
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: the king is enthroned. Give me enough time with a
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: Christian and I will tell you if there's joy. It
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: isn't that they're laughing all the time but there is
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: something light and lovely about them. There is a beautiful
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: spirit of cooperation and harmony and fun if I may
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: use the word. Just fun in life. Comes with abiding.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Now I realize some temperaments are given to this more
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: than others. But any temperament according to this passage would
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: be included in that joy being made full. Oh the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: value of being connected to the life. My daughter ran
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: in the Los Angeles Marathon. Our younger daughter. And uh
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: I had to be at church preaching, so I wasn't there,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: but my whole family was there. And it was such
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: a crowd of 15,000 to 18,000 people that were running
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: this marathon today that they at one time lost track
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: of her. It's a little difficult to maneuver cars and
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: scooters and motorcycles and all the pedestrians from one point
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to another, so you can cheer your you're runner on,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: and of course what keeps you on the track is
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: that somebody's there saying, good, we see you, keep going,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: even though you're bleeding from the ears, don't stop, all
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: of those things, you know, keep going, keep going, we
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: see you. So they saw her at mile seven and
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: they thought, we're going to run up to, or drive
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: up to mile 11 and we'll pick her up there,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: but the traffic was tight and they couldn't get in
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: and finally when they got parked and they ran over,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: they missed her, either she was not there or She
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: had already gone past, and they looked and looked and looked,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: and so she missed seeing them. There was a hill
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: to climb, and she missed the connection. And then they
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: tried another place. Finally, they said, let's go to mile 21.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Every mile is marked with a big banner across the street.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: So they got there. Well, she hadn't seen them since
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: mile 7. So when she saw them at mile 21,
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: it was like an oasis in the desert. Oh, wow.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: You know, she almost forgot she was running in the race.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: She saw her family is there. All right, Colleen, go
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: for it. Go for it. You can do it. You
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: can do it. You can do it. She just kind
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: of burst into tears because she suddenly connected again with life,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: with people that she knows and loves, and she knows
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: are with her. And it's amazing how that gives new
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: energy and new motivation. That is exactly what he's describing
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: here in the terms of a vine, a branch. You
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: can't operate between the mileage of life, age 15 and
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: age 35. You can't do it. Something dies if you're
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: disconnected from the power. Tragic things occur if even a
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: brief period of time passes And you're not in connection
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: with the Savior. You start running in the flesh. And
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: dreadful things occur. Brings me to the first of two
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: very practical words of instruction from Jesus. Refusal to abide
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: is barrenness. Don't chance it. Refusal to abide is barrenness.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: Don't chance it. Now, the difficulty is the flesh is
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: very satisfying. The flesh has ways of motivating us because
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: there is a brief period of sin that is extremely
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: exciting and it seems even fulfilling. Moses himself described it
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: as the pleasures of sin for a season, or at
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: least the writer to the Hebrews describing Moses who said
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: no to Pharaoh's daughter and chose to live with the
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: people of God. He refused the pleasures of sin for
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: a season. It has its pleasures. Carnality has its excitement
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: and adventure and even the thrill of getting away with it.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: But my, the barrenness. A gentleman wrote me a very
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: honest letter recently. A man who had fallen. I'm sure
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: most people don't realize the ultimate consequences of their deeds.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: I know I didn't, writes this very honest man. I
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: feel sorry for those who fall because I know what
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: they have to look forward to. I don't doubt God's
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: forgiveness and healing, but the scars go deep and the
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: road back is so long and hard. God eventually will
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: restore the years the locusts have eaten, but it isn't.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: an overnight transformation, and some losses you never regain. Whenever
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: you have the opportunity, Chuck, to tell people, tell them
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: that the time of pleasure doesn't even begin to offset
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the pain of the whirlwind. The scars never leave, and
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: I'm convinced you never really attained the joy that God
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: originally had planned for you. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: not worth the chance to experiment with it. Regret is
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: a gnawing destroyer of contentment. Refusal to abide is barrenness.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: Don't chance it. The result of abiding is fruitfulness. Don't
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: miss it. The result of abiding is fruitfulness. Don't miss it.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: One of my longtime friends is a music composer, Don Wurtzen.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: Some of his pieces have reached national and maybe even
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: international recognition. Some of his beautiful pieces never got that
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: well known for some reason. That's sort of the way
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: it is with composers and authors and such. In a
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: piece most of you have probably never heard, Psalm of
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: My Life, I think Don wrote some of his best lyrics.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Like worthless chaff, the wind blows away, scorched by the
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: bright desert sun through the day, No root below, no
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: fruit born above. My life was thirsting for rains of
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: his love. While roaming far away on my own, I
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: stood with sinners with hearts cold like stone. I sat
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: with scoffing cynics at play until my life changed directions
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: one day. While meditating day and night, his word brought
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: pleasure and highest delight. It quenched my thirst and nurtured
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: my soul. It satisfied me. It made my life whole. Then,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: like a lovely well-watered tree nourished by rivers that flow endlessly,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: weighed down with luscious fruit from his hand, my full
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: life prospered from him. in this land. I'd like us
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: to bow for a few moments of quietness. Our Father,
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: we have all known the gnawing destruction of contentment that
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: comes from regret. We have spent many an hour, many
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: a day As we sum up the years of our
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: lives operating strictly from the human flesh. It grabs us
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: at this moment to think that none of those hours
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: and days will have any eternal rewards. Even though we
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: invested irretrievable time and incredible energy to doing our own thing.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: or trying to do your will our way. Thank you
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: for the vine. Thank you for being the vine dresser, Father.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you for pruning, for cleansing, for lifting us up
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: from the soil, for freeing us so that we can
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: produce fruit. Thank you very much for your forgiveness that
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: comes upon confession. Thank you for release and hope that
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: is a part of the work of the Spirit of God. Now, Lord,
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: may the days that follow be different because of these
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: moments we have spent together In this vital section of
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: your holy word. May our motives be pure. May our
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: thoughts be cleaner. May our actions be driven from. That
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: desire to glorify you. Regardless of the outcome. We pray
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. the preceding message, I
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: Am the True Vine. use is strictly prohibited.