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Abiding Msg 1 16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Some leaders today act as if the most effective way
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Speaker 1: to manage those they.
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Speaker 2: Lead is to stay detached.
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Speaker 1: You know, you just can't get too close to people
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Speaker 1: if you're hoping to lead a successful organization, or so
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Speaker 1: they say. Well, in my opinion, nothing could be further
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Speaker 1: from the truth. According to John fifteen, the passage will
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Speaker 1: consider today Jesus the single most effective servant leader to
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Speaker 1: walk this earth. Model the value of genuine relationships, not
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Speaker 1: surface passing acquaintances, but the cultivation of deep, nourishing connections.
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Speaker 1: In fact, if we desire for him to lead us,
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Speaker 1: we too must commit the stain deeply connected to him,
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Speaker 1: like fruit bearing branches that receive nourishment from the life
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Speaker 1: giving vine. Jesus had one word for this vibrant connection
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Speaker 1: between us and him. You may remember he called it abiding.
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Speaker 1: I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me
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Speaker 1: to this well known section of John's Gospel. I'm referring
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Speaker 1: to John chapter fifteen. I'll read the first eleven verses,
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Speaker 1: and I invite you to follow along. I'll be reading
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Speaker 1: from the New American Standard version John fifteen one through eleven.
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Speaker 1: Jesus is speaking, I am the True Vine, and my
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Speaker 1: father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that
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Speaker 1: does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch
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Speaker 1: that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may
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Speaker 1: bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the
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Speaker 1: word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me
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Speaker 1: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
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Speaker 1: of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can
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Speaker 1: you unless you abide in me. I am the vine,
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Speaker 1: you or the branches. He who abides in me and
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Speaker 1: I in him he bears much fruit. For apart from me,
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Speaker 1: you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me,
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Speaker 1: he is thrown away as a branch and dries up,
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Speaker 1: And they gather them and cast them into the fire,
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Speaker 1: and they are burned. If you abide in me and
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Speaker 1: my words, abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and
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Speaker 1: it will be done for you. My Father is glorified
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Speaker 1: by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove
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Speaker 1: to be my disciples. Just as the Father has loved me,
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Speaker 1: I've also loved you. Abide in my love. If you
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Speaker 1: keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just
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Speaker 1: as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.
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Speaker 1: These things I've spoken to you so that my joy
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Speaker 1: may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
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Speaker 2: We are entering the season of our Lord's birth. He
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Speaker 2: came that great night. Mark has told us this morning
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Speaker 2: he would like to have been one of the shepherds,
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Speaker 2: and Beverly sang like one of the angels. I would
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Speaker 2: like to transport you thirty three years later to another
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Speaker 2: night which was not glorious, not accompanied by angels, nor
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Speaker 2: the voices of the angelic host, nor was their joy.
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Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, the night Jesus spent with
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Speaker 2: his men was anything but those things, at least for
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Speaker 2: his men, and I cannot stand or sit in judgment
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Speaker 2: on them, because they were admittedly confused, they did not understand,
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Speaker 2: and therefore Jesus, with great patience and much compassion and understanding,
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Speaker 2: took the time to talk with these men about how
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Speaker 2: they might carry on without him after he left the earth.
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Speaker 2: The information that Jesus gave his men that night is
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Speaker 2: of prime importance for Christians today and has been down
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Speaker 2: through the centuries. As a matter of fact, as a
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Speaker 2: result of applying what Jesus gave that night, we will
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Speaker 2: have the joy the angel's head and the shepherd's head
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Speaker 2: the night Jesus came to earth. One of the major
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Speaker 2: truths that Jesus revealed the night he was with his
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Speaker 2: men has to do with relationships. In my opinion, that
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Speaker 2: one area represents the greatest area of struggle for the
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Speaker 2: Christian and it might very well be we struggle most
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Speaker 2: in the area of relationships because we have never really
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Speaker 2: understood what Jesus said about them the last night he
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Speaker 2: was with his men. So I would have you turned
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Speaker 2: to John chapter fifteen as we traveled thirty three years
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Speaker 2: after the birth of our Lord to the night before
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Speaker 2: he went to the cross, and we dig together into
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Speaker 2: some of the most vital truth the child of God
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Speaker 2: can know. As you find the chapter, I wish you
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Speaker 2: would turn to the flip side of the outline you
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Speaker 2: got this morning, to the section mark survey study, and
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Speaker 2: at the risk of beginning in a rather mechanical and
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Speaker 2: dictating fashion, I'd like to actually dictate some information that
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Speaker 2: will help open up the areas of relationship that need attention.
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Speaker 2: To begin with, the chapter has a major theme, and
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Speaker 2: having read it through a number of times in the
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Speaker 2: past several weeks, I've come to this conclusion that the
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Speaker 2: major theme of the chapter is the most important relationships
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Speaker 2: the Christian must maintain. That is what Chapter fifteen is
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Speaker 2: all about, the most important relationships the Christian must maintain. Now,
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Speaker 2: if you look over the chart that appears at the bottom,
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Speaker 2: you will notice that the chapter falls into three sections.
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Speaker 2: We'll look at the first in detail this morning, and
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Speaker 2: the second and third in days to come. But just
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Speaker 2: notice in the first section Versus one through eleven, the
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Speaker 2: relationship is the believer with Christ. The believer with Christ.
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Speaker 2: That's first in importance, and that's first in the order
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Speaker 2: of the chapter. The key word or the key term
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Speaker 2: is abide. It appears ten times in eleven verses. Jesus
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Speaker 2: reveals that the secret of relating to him is abiding
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Speaker 2: in him, and the major emphasis is union. It has
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Speaker 2: to do with maintaining that vital union with the Living Lord,
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Speaker 2: in my opinion, is the most important information we could
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Speaker 2: ever know or aply. Now, the second part of the chapter,
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Speaker 2: verses twelve through seventeen, talk about the relationship of believer
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Speaker 2: with believer, and the key word is love. You would
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Speaker 2: expect that it appears four times in these six verses
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Speaker 2: love believer with believer. Once we have established that vital
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Speaker 2: union with our Lord and maintaining it, we come in
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Speaker 2: contact with other Christians, and through a love relationship there
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Speaker 2: is communion, which is the emphasis of the second part
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Speaker 2: of the chapter. We have communion with one another because
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Speaker 2: we have union with our Lord. Now, as you would
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Speaker 2: anticipate if you think it through, there is one other
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Speaker 2: relationship that is continually a matter of struggle, and that
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Speaker 2: is the believer with the world. That's the last part
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Speaker 2: of the chapter eighteen to twenty seven. The key word
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Speaker 2: is hate. That's right. Hate. It appears eight times in
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Speaker 2: ten verses. That's what we can expect in return from
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Speaker 2: a world that's out of touch with God and out
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Speaker 2: of union with Christ, because there is disunion between the
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Speaker 2: believer and the world. Disunion. There's union with Christ, communion
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Speaker 2: with fellow believers. But because of this hate, there is
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Speaker 2: disunion with the world. Okay, Chapter fifteen is of interest
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Speaker 2: to us this morning, and I want to begin in
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Speaker 2: the same vein as we have given you previously. I'd
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Speaker 2: like to give you four observations of the chapter. Thank
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Speaker 2: you for your patience in working through these four or
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Speaker 2: with me and through the outline. Because from the information
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Speaker 2: you're getting down. We're able to build a framework. Let
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Speaker 2: me give you the observations I have made. First of all,
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Speaker 2: the passage is for believers only. A person who is
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Speaker 2: not a Christian and goes to these first eleven verses
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Speaker 2: will be absolutely hopelessly confused. He will try, or she
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Speaker 2: will try to abide in Christ, not knowing the details
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Speaker 2: of that. He will work hard and struggle and labor
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Speaker 2: to abide. The non Christian doesn't abide and cannot. The
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Speaker 2: only thing a non Christian can do to become a
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Speaker 2: child of God is believe in Jesus Christ. That establishes
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Speaker 2: that contact. But this passage is not talking about how
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Speaker 2: do you become a Christian? But how does the Christian
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Speaker 2: become productive? It's for the Christian only. Now there's another observation.
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Speaker 2: The verses revolve around a symbol, the vine the branch.
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Speaker 2: The whole passage has to do with that symbol, familiar
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Speaker 2: to the jew as the stars and stripes are familiar
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Speaker 2: to the American. What the eagle means to you as
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Speaker 2: a national emblem, the vine and the branch meant to
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Speaker 2: the Israelite. In fact, it was often marked on their coins.
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Speaker 2: It was on Herod's temple. Some people believe that Jesus
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Speaker 2: was very near that temple when he spoke this, and
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Speaker 2: even looked up and with a passing gesture referred to
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Speaker 2: the vine and the branch marked there on the temple. Third,
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Speaker 2: the main subject is abiding, not bearing fruit, not even
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Speaker 2: coming to know Jesus Christ. It's abiding, that's the main subject.
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Speaker 2: But that leads to the fourth observation. Abiding results in
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Speaker 2: fruit bearing, and that is what the chapter is all about.
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Speaker 2: Are the first eleven verses of the chapter. Abiding results
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Speaker 2: in fruit bearing. Now it's for the Christian that's basic
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Speaker 2: to understanding the whole passage. It revolves around a symbol,
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Speaker 2: the vine, the branch. The main subject is abiding, and
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Speaker 2: that leads to fruit bearing. If you get that down
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Speaker 2: at least in your head to start with, the passage
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Speaker 2: will come alive with meaning. Let's take it in a
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Speaker 2: verse by verse fashion and spend time first with the vine,
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Speaker 2: and then the bran, and then a vine dresser, and
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Speaker 2: finally the branch. I want to identify all three, or
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Speaker 2: I want the Lord to do that for us just
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Speaker 2: by reading the passage. Let's get the identity of the
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Speaker 2: vine first, Verse one, I am the true vine. Verse five,
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Speaker 2: I am the vine. So the identity of the vine
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Speaker 2: is Jesus Christ himself. There's no question. He declares it.
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Speaker 2: Who is the vine dresser? Verse one, he says, my
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Speaker 2: father is the vine dresser. You don't have to be
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Speaker 2: scholarly or clever or creative. All you've got to do
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Speaker 2: is read it, and there it is the Father God.
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Speaker 2: The Father is the vine dresser. What is a vine dresser, Well,
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Speaker 2: it's the gardener, the one who carries out the whole
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Speaker 2: work of viticulture, cultivating, pruning, working with the vine. That's
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Speaker 2: the father's job. He is looking over the vineyard and
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Speaker 2: he is working with the vine and the branches. He's
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Speaker 2: the vine dresser. Well, then who are the branches? Verse five?
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Speaker 2: I am the vine, You are the branches. There again
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Speaker 2: the answer is clearly revealed, the child of God, the Christian. Now,
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Speaker 2: having gotten that nailed down, I want to go into
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Speaker 2: the passage, but first I want to say something related
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Speaker 2: to the importance of it. I believe that God not
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Speaker 2: only brings times and seasons to change the trees and
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Speaker 2: to change the weather, but to change his children. Really,
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Speaker 2: I believe God gives us certain seasons that we might
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Speaker 2: pause and reflect, that we might look within as we
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Speaker 2: look back. We come to the end of a year,
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Speaker 2: and we come with rejoicing because of the Christmas season
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Speaker 2: and because of the joy of a new year's starting.
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Speaker 2: At the risk of ruining a little bit of the
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Speaker 2: Yule Tide spirit, I think we need to do some
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Speaker 2: serious reflection. Your past will be no different. Your future
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Speaker 2: will be no different from your past unless there are
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Speaker 2: some drastic changes that occur. And in some lives that
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Speaker 2: are sitting right here today now I have no one
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Speaker 2: in mind. There are some deep changes that must occur.
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Speaker 2: You have met the Lord. The Lord has found you.
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Speaker 2: You have become a member of his family, maybe this
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Speaker 2: past year, maybe in years ago, and as you look back,
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Speaker 2: you do not see a whole lot on the branches.
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Speaker 2: God wants to get your attention today. He wants to
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Speaker 2: use John fifteen one through eleven to do that. He
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Speaker 2: wants you to hear what He's saying. Not for them
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Speaker 2: of your parent or your child, or your mate or
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Speaker 2: your friend. He wants you to hear what He's saying
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Speaker 2: to you. So please, in the balance of these few
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Speaker 2: moments we have left, hear the word of God to
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Speaker 2: begin with God speaks to the vine or of the vine,
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Speaker 2: the Lord Jesus. I am the true vine, and my
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Speaker 2: father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that
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Speaker 2: does not bear fruit, he does something with it. I
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Speaker 2: notice a couple of things that are important and distinctive
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Speaker 2: about the vine. I notice first of all that Jesus
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Speaker 2: says something regarding position, and then he says something regarding production.
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Speaker 2: They are not the same, they're mutually exclusive. One has
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Speaker 2: to do with being in Christ. The other has to
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Speaker 2: do with producing fruit. You notice in verse two, every
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Speaker 2: branch in me that's position. You are placed in Christ.
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Speaker 2: You are made a branch of the vine. At salvation,
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Speaker 2: you are in Christ, and thereby a new creation built
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Speaker 2: from within to without, a whole new creature. You came
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Speaker 2: to know Jesus Christ by faith, accepting him eternal life,
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Speaker 2: the gift. Personally, you were in Christ. Now, then, having
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Speaker 2: been placed in Christ, you are in the vine and
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Speaker 2: the branch your branch. You are to produce fruit. No,
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Speaker 2: not really, you are to abide so that fruit naturally flows.
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Speaker 2: One has to do with position you're in Christ. The
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Speaker 2: other has to do with fruit bearing. And that's the
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Speaker 2: whole issue. This morning from this passage. God's concern today
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Speaker 2: is for those who are in Christ but not producing,
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Speaker 2: plain and simple, that's what he's talking about, all right. Now.
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Speaker 2: I noticed in verse four and verse You'll allow me
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Speaker 2: to skip over a couple of things. I'll get back
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Speaker 2: to them in a moment. Let's stay on the subject
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Speaker 2: of the vine. I noticed that Jesus says something about
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Speaker 2: those in him who try to produce on their own
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Speaker 2: verse four, abide in me. It's interesting, by the way
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Speaker 2: that we are never commanded by Jesus be in me.
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Speaker 2: We're already in him, that's position. But when it comes
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Speaker 2: to production, he says, abide in me. He doesn't even
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Speaker 2: say bear fruit. It's never a command. The only command
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Speaker 2: is abide in me. Now, Verse four says, as the
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Speaker 2: branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in
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Speaker 2: the vine, neither can you. I've underscored the word cannot,
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Speaker 2: because it seems to in an emphatic way drive home
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Speaker 2: the impossibility of a branch bearing on its own. You cannot.
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Speaker 2: And then verse five goes on to say, I'm the vine,
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Speaker 2: you're the branches. He who abides in me and I
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Speaker 2: and him bears much fruit for apart from me, you
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Speaker 2: can do nothing. And I've underscored that nothing you can
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Speaker 2: be in Christ and yet unproductive. Now that concerns the Father.
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Speaker 2: There are a couple of questions that probably you're asking
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Speaker 2: yourself right now, and I would ask myself if I
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Speaker 2: were listening to this message. First of all, what is
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Speaker 2: the fruit? And second how do you abide? Those are
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Speaker 2: questions that I think are crucial to an understanding of
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Speaker 2: these verses. Pose your finger here and go back to
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Speaker 2: Isaiah chapter five. This is called a passage of primary reference.
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Speaker 2: The first place in the scriptures where the Lord in
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Speaker 2: detail uses the same symbol is in Isaiah five, and
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Speaker 2: he uses it not with the same picture in mine,
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Speaker 2: but with the same idea. In the case of Isaiah
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Speaker 2: chapter five, verses one to seven, Jehovah is the vine.
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Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Jehovah is the beloved of the passage, and
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Speaker 2: Israel is the vine. Verse one. Let me sing now
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Speaker 2: for my well beloved, a song of my beloved concerning
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Speaker 2: his vineyard. Let me transfer those words to the interpretation.
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Speaker 2: Let me sing now for Jehovah, a song of my
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Speaker 2: Jehovah concerning his nation. My well beloved had a vineyard
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Speaker 2: on a fertile hill, and he dug it all around,
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Speaker 2: removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine.
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Speaker 2: He built a tower in the middle of it, and
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Speaker 2: he hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he
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Speaker 2: expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only
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Speaker 2: worthless ones, wild grapes, strange grapes, tasteless, sour, no good.
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Speaker 2: And now, O, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
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Speaker 2: judge between me and my vineyard. What more is there
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Speaker 2: to do for my vineyard that I have not done
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Speaker 2: in it? God says, I've done all I could do.
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Speaker 2: Why when I expected it to produce good grapes, why
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Speaker 2: did it produce worthless ones? That's a searching question, And
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Speaker 2: it did. Verse six says I lay at waste. Then
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Speaker 2: verse seven, for the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts
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Speaker 2: is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah
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Speaker 2: his delightful plant. Now look, let's stop with verse seven.
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Speaker 2: Thus he looked for justice. There's fruit from the vine,
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Speaker 2: and behold bloodshed. He looked for righteousness. Behold a cry
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Speaker 2: of distress. Look at that verse. If we follow the
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Speaker 2: analogy through the production of the vine was the life
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Speaker 2: of God. God says, I looked at my vineyard and
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Speaker 2: I wanted to see reproductions of my life, and I
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Speaker 2: didn't find it. And he names two of them here,
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Speaker 2: justice and righteousness. They weren't there. Now in light of
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Speaker 2: what we just read back to John fifteen, that's what
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Speaker 2: he's saying to us here. It's remarkable how many people
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Speaker 2: take John fifteen with reference to be to the matter
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Speaker 2: of evangelism. And evangelism, of course, is super important telling
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Speaker 2: people of Jesus Christ, witnessing faithfully sharing one's faith, that's
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Speaker 2: the natural outflow of the healthy Christian's life. But for
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Speaker 2: the life of me, I cannot find that in John fifteen.
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Speaker 2: That is not in the light of the idea of
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Speaker 2: fruit bearing fruit has to do with reproducing the life
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Speaker 2: of the vine in the fruit of the branch. Jesus says,
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Speaker 2: I am the vine, meaning I am the root. I
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Speaker 2: am the source of all life, and I look for
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Speaker 2: fruit on the branches that grow from the vine. I
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Speaker 2: look for the life of myself reproduced in the fruit
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Speaker 2: from the branch, and in some cases I look in vain. Now,
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Speaker 2: I want to remind you that the Lord never once
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Speaker 2: commands us to bear fruit. He commands us to abide.
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Speaker 2: And I take it that when we abide, fruit comes,
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Speaker 2: and it comes in abundance. The Lord's great concern is
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Speaker 2: that there be a maximum production of fruit. All right,
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Speaker 2: What does it mean to abide? Well? I believe the
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Speaker 2: idea of abiding in Christ is identical to synonymous with
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Speaker 2: being filled with the spirit, walking in the power of
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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit, living the dependent life, or as some
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Speaker 2: have called it, the exchanged life. I exchange the energy
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Speaker 2: of the flesh for the work of God in my life.
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Speaker 2: It relates to, first of all, dealing with sin when
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Speaker 2: it occurs in the life. A vine that is dirty
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Speaker 2: is not a productive vine. A branch that is down
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Speaker 2: in the dirt, soiled and covered with debris will never
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Speaker 2: produce good fruit, so that branch must be kept clean.
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Speaker 2: So I take it that the passage is teaching us
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Speaker 2: indirectly the importance of the child of God keeping short
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Speaker 2: accounts with sin. When sin comes to your attention, you
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Speaker 2: acknowledge it, recognize it, and claim His forgiveness. But it
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Speaker 2: has to do with being more than the matter of sin.
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Speaker 2: It has to do with depending daily moment by moment,
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Speaker 2: day by day month by month on the Lord himself,
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Speaker 2: consciously depending on him. Now, the Lord says in verse
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Speaker 2: five that if we do not abide, there will be
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Speaker 2: no fruit. I did a little experiment this week with
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Speaker 2: something that has turned out exactly as I expected. I
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Speaker 2: snipped a vine or piece of vine off of the
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Speaker 2: pretty vine that grows out front on the wall of
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Speaker 2: the church. I purposely selected one that was extremely healthy
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Speaker 2: looking to begin with. It was growing, It had little
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Speaker 2: shoots on it reaching up, and believe it or not,
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Speaker 2: the leaves were not as they appear right now. They
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Speaker 2: were deep green, luxurious color. The vine itself was a
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Speaker 2: healthy color brown. It was on its way. I cut
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Speaker 2: it off on Friday afternoon. I look how it looks today.
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Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I put it thinking that
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Speaker 2: perhaps in a good environment would help bring back the life.
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Speaker 2: I put it in my study and I purposely chose
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Speaker 2: two books to stick it under. One was robust in
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Speaker 2: faith and the other all the prayers of the Bible.
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Speaker 2: And you know what, those books didn't do a bit
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Speaker 2: of good for that vine. It just continued to wilt.
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Speaker 2: Even though it was surrounded by good books. A good
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Speaker 2: environment and quietness had life pretty easy but as soon
29:52
Speaker 2: as it was snipped, it lost all value. As a
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Speaker 2: matter of fact, I set it on my desk last
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Speaker 2: night or yesterday afternoon, so I wouldn't forget to bring
30:02
Speaker 2: it this morning, and our custodian came in cleaning up
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Speaker 2: and he threw it away. I had to go find
30:07
Speaker 2: it because he said to me, I thought it was
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Speaker 2: a piece of trash. So I thought somebody was playing
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Speaker 2: a joke on you. You know what, It's just as
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Speaker 2: worthless as a piece of trash. That's what the Lord's
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Speaker 2: trying to tell us. Being in Christ is being secure,
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Speaker 2: absolutely certain of your destiny. But you can be absolutely
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Speaker 2: secure and live an unproductive life and God won't tolerate it. Now,
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Speaker 2: that's where we come to the vine dresser verse two.
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Speaker 2: I noticed that he does something with a branch that
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Speaker 2: doesn't produce, and he does something with the branch that
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Speaker 2: doesn't produce enough. Look at verse two. Every branch in
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Speaker 2: me that does not bear fruit. Father doesn't ignore that branch,
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Speaker 2: it says he the vine dresser takes away. That's amplified
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Speaker 2: in verse six, and we'll come to it in just
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Speaker 2: a minute. But when he comes to a branch that
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Speaker 2: doesn't bear, he takes it away. It's a severe statement,
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Speaker 2: but it's true. And verse two continues. When he comes
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Speaker 2: to that branch that's bearing fruit, he prunes it. He
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Speaker 2: prunes it for one purpose, that it may bear more fruit. Now,
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Speaker 2: child of God, you are in the category of one
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Speaker 2: who is bearing fruit by the power of the spirit,
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Speaker 2: or you're not bearing enough fruit, or you're not bearing
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Speaker 2: fruit at all. He gives attention here to the last
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Speaker 2: two categories. Let me explain the fruit. The fruit is
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Speaker 2: the life of Jesus Christ. His character traits Galatians five,
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Speaker 2: twenty two and twenty three would be a good list
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Speaker 2: to think of. Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, self control. Oh,
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Speaker 2: there are no better traits. But you cannot struggle to
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Speaker 2: produce those traits. The only thing you can do as
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Speaker 2: a child of God is depend upon the Lord to
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Speaker 2: produce those things through you begin your day and continue
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Speaker 2: your day in absolute conscious dependence on the Lord, and
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Speaker 2: he'll bring him to pass. You say, well, I've done that,
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Speaker 2: but my life has been a difficult life. That's part
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Speaker 2: of the pruning, that's part of his process. Some of
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Speaker 2: you are undergoing the knife, the pruning knife of the vine.
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Speaker 2: Dresser Meryl Tinney does a beautiful job of describing this.
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Speaker 2: Viticulture consists mainly of pruning. He writes in Pruning of
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Speaker 2: vine two principles are generally observed. First, all deadwood must
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Speaker 2: be ruthlessly removed, and second, the live wood must be
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Speaker 2: cut back drastically. Deadwood harbors insects and disease, and may
33:50
Speaker 2: cause the vine to rot, to say nothing of being
33:53
Speaker 2: unproductive and unsightly. Live wood must be trimmed back in
33:58
Speaker 2: order to prevent such a heavy growth that the life
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Speaker 2: of the vine goes into the wood rather than into
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Speaker 2: the fruit. The vineyards in the early spring look like
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Speaker 2: a collection of barren, bleeding stumps, but in the fall
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Speaker 2: they are filled with luxuriant purple grapes as the farmer
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Speaker 2: wields the pruning knife on his vines. So God cuts
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Speaker 2: dead wood out from among his saints, and often cuts
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Speaker 2: back the living woods so far that his method seems cruel. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 2: from those who have suffered the most, there often comes
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Speaker 2: the greatest fruitfulness. That's the way it is with a father.
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Speaker 2: Some of you are undergoing a pruning experience. You don't
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Speaker 2: naturally produce while you're being pruned but that will come.
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Speaker 2: The father doesn't expect immediately after pruning fruit, but he
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Speaker 2: expects the heart of his child to be willing to
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Speaker 2: undergo the pruning so that fruit will come. Now, then
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Speaker 2: the father, we are told that the father, when he
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Speaker 2: comes to a non productive branch, cuts it off. Look
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Speaker 2: at verse six with me, and let's be very careful
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Speaker 2: that we hear what it is saying, rather than what
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Speaker 2: it is not saying. I want to read the verse,
35:33
Speaker 2: and then I want to describe what the verse is saying.
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Speaker 2: If anyone does not abide in me. Now we're talking
35:42
Speaker 2: about the branch. We've looked at the vine and the
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Speaker 2: vine dresser, now the branch. If any branch does not
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Speaker 2: abide in me, he is thrown away as the branch
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Speaker 2: and dries up, and they gather them and cast them
35:58
Speaker 2: into the fire, and they are burned. First time I
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Speaker 2: read that, chilling feeling went up my spine. I felt
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Speaker 2: that it was teaching that the Christian who was not
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Speaker 2: productive went to hell. Because of the mention of burning,
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Speaker 2: and the whole scene of being gathered up and cast
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Speaker 2: into fire admittedly frightened me. Is it may you at
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Speaker 2: first reading, I've come to realize that that is not true.
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Speaker 2: Let me show you what I believe the Lord was teaching.
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Speaker 2: I will be a bit technical, and we must be
36:44
Speaker 2: to get the meaning out to begin with. Will you
36:47
Speaker 2: notice he is referring to the one who habitually does
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Speaker 2: not abide, referring to a person who wilfully, knowingly, habitually
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Speaker 2: lives an independent life as though he were not a
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Speaker 2: Christian at all. He is a child of God, but
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Speaker 2: he's living as though he's not. Okay, he's the one
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Speaker 2: who is not abiding. Now the Father steps in and
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Speaker 2: in his judgment, he does something with that branch. He
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Speaker 2: throws it away and it dries up. The Greek says
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Speaker 2: he is thrown away as the branch, highlighting the singular.
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Speaker 2: We have the branch that is not producing being set aside.
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Speaker 2: I take it to mean divine discipline, physical death, removal
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Speaker 2: from the earth. God will not ruin his reputation or
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Speaker 2: allow his reputation to be ruined by a branch that
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Speaker 2: chooses to live an unproductive life. At his judgment, he
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Speaker 2: removes it. No one will ever know the reasons for
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Speaker 2: death among some children of God. That is not our
38:24
Speaker 2: need to know. But in some cases it is divine discipline.
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Speaker 2: Now the passage says something else. Remember the branch drives up,
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Speaker 2: but it says they gather them that's plural, and cast
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Speaker 2: them into the fire and they are burned. Not the branch.
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Speaker 2: Let me suggest it means the works that were produced
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Speaker 2: by the flesh during the earthly life of that branch.
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Speaker 2: Got it. It's important that you understand that as a
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Speaker 2: child of God, to be instructed in this passage, I
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Speaker 2: wouldn't for the world frighten someone, but I neither would
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Speaker 2: I want to take the bite out of this verse.
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Speaker 2: Jesus said it for the purpose of arresting the attention
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Speaker 2: of all of us who choose to live an independent
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Speaker 2: life the energy of the flesh. The life, while lived
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Speaker 2: in the energy of the flesh, creates works. The child
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Speaker 2: of God, in God's judgment, no longer should live, and
39:50
Speaker 2: God takes him or God takes her. The works that
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Speaker 2: were done during that earthly life, unproductive, fleshly carnal, are
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Speaker 2: gathered up and are burned up. Hold your place and
40:08
Speaker 2: look at First Corinthians chapter three, which is the very
40:14
Speaker 2: best parallel passage to explain John fifteen six. First Corinthians
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Speaker 2: three eleven. For no man can lay a foundation other
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Speaker 2: than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: Now look at the verse. That's a verse that says
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Speaker 2: there's no other source of eternal life, no other foundation
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Speaker 2: for eternity than Jesus Christ himself. No other foundation. Now,
40:50
Speaker 2: then verse twelve bills on that foundation, child of God.
40:55
Speaker 2: Listen carefully to what he's saying about your structure. If
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Speaker 2: any Christian or any man who has the foundation builds
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Speaker 2: upon that foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay straw,
41:12
Speaker 2: the building is a picture of living the life. The
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Speaker 2: materials describe those which are not subject to flame, and
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Speaker 2: those which are each man's work. Notice, we won't be
41:27
Speaker 2: judged as a group, will be judged individually. Each man's
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Speaker 2: work will become evident, for the day will show it.
41:37
Speaker 2: What day the judgment seat of Christ. The day we
41:43
Speaker 2: stand independently, individually, alone before our Lord Jesus, the day
41:50
Speaker 2: we have been brought before the judge who loves us,
41:56
Speaker 2: who died for us. He judges those things done in
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Speaker 2: the life, and it says it will be revealed with fire,
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Speaker 2: and the fire will test the quality of each one's work.
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Speaker 2: In other words, those works done in the energy of
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Speaker 2: the flesh will burn up. Those works done in the
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Speaker 2: power of the spirit, while abiding will endure. Now, what
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Speaker 2: happens when you have those works that endure? Verse fourteen
42:33
Speaker 2: tells us you have a reward. If any man's work,
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Speaker 2: which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive
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Speaker 2: a reward. What about those that don't have reward? What
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Speaker 2: about those works done in the energy of the flesh?
42:50
Speaker 2: Verse fifteen. If any man's work is burnt up, is
42:54
Speaker 2: burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall
42:59
Speaker 2: be saved. Yet, so as through fire, you mean a
43:05
Speaker 2: person will lose his salvation, it's exactly the opposite of
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Speaker 2: what the verse is saying. He himself will be saved
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Speaker 2: by the grace of God while those works are burnt up.
43:24
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, some of those who stand
43:26
Speaker 2: before the Lord would have passed into the Lord's presence
43:29
Speaker 2: under divine discipline, and they are saved. Now. John chapter fifteen,
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Speaker 2: if you will turn back, talks about that very scene
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Speaker 2: in verse six. What about those on the other side
43:53
Speaker 2: who abide? What's the difference? Well, the Lord gives us
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Speaker 2: no less than four results in verses seven through eleven
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Speaker 2: of the abiding life verse seven. If you abide in
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Speaker 2: Me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish,
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Speaker 2: and it shall be done for you. The first result
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Speaker 2: he mentions is the result of answered prayer. Those who
44:25
Speaker 2: abide enjoy a fruitful prayer life. It may very well
44:33
Speaker 2: be that soil that has come into your life without
44:37
Speaker 2: being dealt with and continued soil are sin has broken
44:43
Speaker 2: interrupted your prayer life. If that is true, the sin
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Speaker 2: must be dealt with. Second, another benefit or result is
44:54
Speaker 2: the Father is glorified. That's verse eight. By this is
44:59
Speaker 2: my my Father, glorify that you bear much fruit and
45:03
Speaker 2: prove to be my disciple. The child of God who
45:06
Speaker 2: walks in the power of the Holy Spirit glorifies God.
45:10
Speaker 2: And he doesn't work at it. It's a natural outflow.
45:15
Speaker 2: He doesn't have to say, you see, my life glorifies God.
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Speaker 2: It just happens. One of the great truths that Hudson
45:25
Speaker 2: Taylor captured when he was living and pushing his way
45:30
Speaker 2: into Inland China was the whole theme of abiding Jesus,
45:35
Speaker 2: I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art.
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Speaker 2: I'm finding out the greatness of thy loving heart. And
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Speaker 2: the writer of that song describes the resting life, the
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Speaker 2: abiding life, no longer wanting to live independently. Lord, I
45:52
Speaker 2: want to live dependently, and I am resting in you.
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Speaker 2: You'll produce the fruit, and he says here. When that happens,
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Speaker 2: the Father is glorified. Another result is that you will
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Speaker 2: be motivated by love. That's verses nine and ten. You
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Speaker 2: will abide in his love. You'll be surrounded by it,
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Speaker 2: smothered in it. It will be a normal outflow, a
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Speaker 2: life of love. Fourth, your joy will reach the maximum.
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Speaker 2: That's verse eleven. My joy will be in you, and
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Speaker 2: your joy will be full. What a needed result that
46:33
Speaker 2: is today? How often you meet with a frown, you
46:37
Speaker 2: meet a suffering person, you meet one that's been out
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Speaker 2: of shape, given to grumbling, a bad attitude. Even surrounding
46:47
Speaker 2: us in this time of the year, you still find
46:50
Speaker 2: that what a joy it is to meet those who
46:53
Speaker 2: are not just living like a drudgery through life. They're joyful.
46:59
Speaker 2: Across this statement in my study, I want to pass
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Speaker 2: it on. Joy is the flag that flies over the
47:05
Speaker 2: castle when the king is enthroned. The king is on
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Speaker 2: the throne, the flag flies, and the flag is joy.
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Speaker 2: I find two simple lessons from this which have profound results.
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Speaker 2: The first lesson is refusal to abide is barrenness. The
47:31
Speaker 2: second result of abiding is fruitfulness. If you refuse to abide,
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Speaker 2: you're facing the life of the scorched, barren desert, and
47:47
Speaker 2: possible discipline to the maximum. Nothing is more serious for
47:52
Speaker 2: the child of God to consider than that. If you
47:56
Speaker 2: choose to live in dependence, Oh my, what a fruitful life.
48:04
Speaker 2: Your life would be like a well watered tree that
48:07
Speaker 2: draws its nourishment from the rivers that never cease. Just
48:12
Speaker 2: out of your innermost being shall flow these rivers. You know,
48:20
Speaker 2: it's possible to pastor a church without abiding in Christ.
48:26
Speaker 2: I've done that a few times in my life, and
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Speaker 2: I want you to know that that is super miserable.
48:34
Speaker 2: That's the best way I know to get an ulcer.
48:37
Speaker 2: You know, it's possible to run a business as a
48:39
Speaker 2: Christian without abiding in Christ. It's possible to teach Bible
48:45
Speaker 2: classes and not abide in Christ. It's possible to be
48:50
Speaker 2: a wife or a husband Christian wife and husband and
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Speaker 2: not abide in Christ. It's possible to council people and
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Speaker 2: not abide in Christ, and be known as a Christian
49:04
Speaker 2: counselor we live on borrowed time. When we do that,
49:13
Speaker 2: very frankly, life is like a scorched hot desert. Let's
49:21
Speaker 2: assume that I am not able to play the piano
49:24
Speaker 2: very well. And that's a very accurate assumption. Okay, every
49:29
Speaker 2: time I play, it's just banging it out, just banging
49:33
Speaker 2: it out. And let's say that I'm down here trying
49:38
Speaker 2: to play this piano on a Saturday and I just
49:41
Speaker 2: can't get it together. And suddenly Van Klaiburne walks in
49:44
Speaker 2: the back door and listens and struggles a few minutes
49:48
Speaker 2: as he watches me do a terrible thing with the keys,
49:52
Speaker 2: and he says to me, Chuck, I have the ability
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Speaker 2: that people don't know about. I have the ability to
50:02
Speaker 2: come into and give my gift and genius to those
50:08
Speaker 2: who will depend on me. Now, tomorrow, if you want
50:13
Speaker 2: to play for the church service, I promise you that
50:17
Speaker 2: if you depend on me and I'll sit very near you,
50:21
Speaker 2: you will play beautiful piano. So I say, man, that
50:25
Speaker 2: just sounds great. I'd love to do that. So he says,
50:28
Speaker 2: now you depend upon me. So tomorrow comes Sunday morning,
50:34
Speaker 2: and there he is, and I say to myself right now.
50:37
Speaker 2: I want to depend totally on that man's gift. Oh,
50:42
Speaker 2: I play these carols we sang and the music along
50:45
Speaker 2: with it. Just never miss a note and I start thinking,
50:49
Speaker 2: my hey, everybody's watching me. Just like that, it happens.
50:59
Speaker 2: It's just like that. The Christian life is so sensitive
51:03
Speaker 2: that just a thought, just a thought starts that process
51:12
Speaker 2: of the flesh, and the flesh gives one thought to
51:16
Speaker 2: the next link, which builds on the next link, and
51:20
Speaker 2: before long, life is just one terrible experience. God says
51:28
Speaker 2: to you today, Look, take a very honest look at
51:32
Speaker 2: your life. Ask yourself, First, are you in Christ? And
51:41
Speaker 2: second are you abiding in Him? Let's about together. Life
51:56
Speaker 2: has a lot of somber and sour and notes for
52:02
Speaker 2: those who live in the flesh. Believe me, I can
52:07
Speaker 2: tell you from scripture and I can tell you from experience.
52:10
Speaker 2: As shamed as I am to admit it, there's no
52:15
Speaker 2: life like the exchanged life. If you've never met Jesus Christ,
52:24
Speaker 2: then that's where you need to begin. Accept God's gift.
52:29
Speaker 2: He holds it out to you. He's ready to give
52:34
Speaker 2: you eternal life with Him forgiveness and purpose and meaning
52:40
Speaker 2: and peace. Gifts, spiritual gifts, that you can exercise a
52:50
Speaker 2: whole new life. If you'll receive Jesus Christ this morning,
52:55
Speaker 2: you can have his life. You can become a brain
53:03
Speaker 2: child of God. You know what I want to say.
53:07
Speaker 2: So let's let the spirit of God deal directly with you. Father.
53:17
Speaker 2: I pray this morning that the worthless chaff of the
53:23
Speaker 2: past might be forever blown away, that our roaming might cease,
53:38
Speaker 2: and our living with sinners and scoffing cynics might come
53:43
Speaker 2: to an end. That our souls might be nurtured like
53:52
Speaker 2: a well watered tree, nourished by your rivers. That you
54:03
Speaker 2: would bring to pass luscious, lasting fruit from your hand,
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Speaker 2: that we might prosper for your glory on this earth. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message Abiding was copyrighted in nineteen seventy five,
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Speaker 2: nineteen eighty seven, two thousand, and twenty eighteen, and the
54:29
Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty eighteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
54:35
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
54:39
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.