We thank the Lord for the opportunity to have to have been with you on this particular occasion. This is going to be my last Sunday in this capacity, although I'll be here for another Sunday. That'll be in conference, so we wouldn't be having this as usual. And, uh, we want to thank the brethren for having us to share with you. Uh, we have been, as those of you who have been here with us, sharing on distinctives of New Testament discipleship. And, uh, we said that there are three distinctive, uh, discipleship passages, uh, mentioned by the Lord Jesus, and the three of them are found in the Gospel of John. We dealt with one over two Sundays, that was chapter 8, uh, of John, and the other one is in John chapter thirteen where Jesus said, verse thirty five: by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for the other. We're going to skip that one and go to chapter fifteen this morning. And, uh, in chapter fifteen we have in verse eight, we're going to read the entire section, but in verse eight we have, in this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. And so turn then to chapter fifteen. we shall read from verse one of chapter fifteen, a very wonderful portion of scripture, and in some cases, a very misunderstood passage, and, uh, in some other situations, it's sort of difficult, uh, to get across its truth because of a lot of preconceived ideas that people have when they come to John's Gospel, chapter fifteen. But before we get into its text, let's read, uh, from verse one. You follow while we read from verse one through to verse sixteen. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. Now I'm sure the Lord would bless to us the reading of his precious word. Now, when we dealt with chapter eight, we mentioned that the Lord Jesus used what we call a conditional statement relating to discipleship, suggesting that, uh, in order to demonstrate, we believe the idea is that we are disciples, uh, or, or, or, or to prove that we are disciples, there has to be a practical manifestation in what we do. And so the Lord Jesus, in chapter eight, as you remember, uh, we dealt with in verse thirty one, he said to people who believed on him, uh, he said, then said Jesus to th- those Jews who believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. Now, at length we sought to show that, uh, we do not become a disciple by what we do. We do what we do because we are a disciple. Disciple, to become a disciple is to be saved, is to receive Christ as one's personal savior. You never get saved by what you do, and that's important for us to realize. I did not say it, I don't s- I don't remember saying it here, uh, since we've been sharing, uh, but I often say it. You do not do anything to get salvation. The Bible is very clear on that. And, uh, Paul especially writes, he says, uh, uh, for by grace are ye saved. Help me out now. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So therefore, salvation is never by works. Faith is not works. You remember Paul again seeking to explain that in the book of Romans, right? Romans chapter four, I think it is, when he talked about Abraham. He said Abraham didn't work for it, he believed. So he's saying, he is saying that faith is not work. Now, some people will say, well, you have to believe, so that's something you have to do. But that does not mean that that's works as far as God is concerned. So we become Christians by believing. That's how we become, uh, disciples. And so if we do nothing to get salvation, neither can we do anything to keep salvation. Uh, this is important to realize because, uh, there are those who believe that you be- you get saved by faith, but you have to work to keep it. Now, if you had to work to keep your salvation, how many of you would be saved now? Not one. And so, our going to heaven, I remember speaking with a brother in Greenland the other day when I was there, and uh, some, uh, uh, they were studying the Sermon on the Mount, and his sharing with me somehow made me feel that he was believing that, uh, uh, they were saying that this is what you have to do to get to heaven. And he says, uh, he says, uh, you can never work to get to heaven. You can never do anything to merit God's salvation. I said, that's true, but that's not what the Sermon on the Mount is talking about. You see, but it is also true. It is also true that because you are a Christian, there is an obligation as a Christian to live for Christ. It won't get you to heaven, but it will determine what you get when you get to heaven. Huh? Did I say that right? Thank you. It doesn't get you to heaven, but it determines what you get when you get to heaven. And so you see, uh, when you come to Paul and James, right? There is no contradiction, right? Between Paul's emphasis, salvation by faith, and James' emphasis, show me your faith by your works. There's no contradiction, and this is what Jesus is dealing with. Jesus is saying, if you are a disciple, Paul says you become a disciple by faith, and Jesus, if you are a disciple, then you are to demonstrate this and prove that you are a disciple indeed. So they both go together. And so, hence the conditional statement. Now, when you come to John chapter fifteen, when you come to John chapter fifteen, it's been used quite a bit to prove that you could be saved and lost. But again, as I mentioned, that's not the teachings of John's gospel. That's not what Jesus is talking about in chapter eight or here in chapter fifteen. The emphasis is discipleship, practical discipleship, our demonstrating what we supposed to be, uh, uh, in Christ. And so this is the emphasis. So let's look a little closer at this passage. Now, it's very important. It's very important when you come to this passage to know who he's talking to. Right? Now, that's very important. Now, uh, chapter fourteen concludes what we call the upper room discourse, right? That is teachings and things Jesus did and said, uh, in the upper room when they met to, to start the, or to keep the p- the, the Passover feast. And then at that time, he introduced or started what we now call the remembrance feast, the communion service. It was while they were, uh, keeping the Passover feast with what, which was an annual thing in commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from... Come on now. From Egypt, right. And so the Passover. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. That was to be a perpetual remembrance by Israel. They were never to forget that great deliverance out of the land of Egypt. And so the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, with desire, I have desired to have this, eat this feast with you. That's not the breaking of bread now. That is the Passover feast. During that time, during that time, they had Jesus introduce the communion service. Now that covers from chapter thirteen through the end of chapter fourteen. When you come to the end of chapter fourteen, they go out, right? After they sing a hymn, they go out. And, uh, it's believed that between the upper room and the Garden of Gethsemane, we have, we have chapter fifteen uh, being mentioned by the Lord Jesus. And so, the people he is talking to are believers. He's talking to the eleven because you remember, in chapter thirteen what happened to Judas? Huh? Oh my, my, my, my, my. Judas went out, and it was night. Right. So Judas was not there when Jesus spoke chapter fifteen. So it is exclusively to who? Believers. Now that's important when you come to chapter fifteen. He is not talking to unbelievers. He's talking to believers. And note verse two. Note verse two. Every branch in me. Every branch in me. Now that is a term used quite a bit in the New Testament. In me. If any man be in Christ, uh, uh, as ye have received him, so walk in him. Ye are in him, seated in him in the heavenlies. And so to be in Christ is to be saved. I remember hearing some preacher, I believe it was Cha- Charles Stanley, who said that if it was possible for Satan to cause us to lose or to to take us out of Christ. If it was possible for him to, uh, go in there and get us out, he'll be saved in the process, because he has to go in, right? To get us out. And if any man be... Now, I mean, I, you could take that for what it's worth, but I mean, he was trying to emphasize eternal security, and we don't, we don't, we don't, uh, uh, uh, uh, make any apology for that subject. We preach it because that's what the Bible teaches, and it's very important for us to realize it. So he's talking, he's talking to believers, and he says, if every branch in me. So that's where the believer is. This is where the disciples were. In the Lord, they were saved. These were saved men. And, uh, so, uh, the Lord Jesus then says in verse number eight then, so, uh, if the in, in this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. And it's talking about fruit bearing, not salvation. All right. Okay then, very quickly, let's, let's, let's think about this passage because our, our interest is in so shall ye be my disciple, emphasis fruit bearing. And it's important then for us to, uh, uh, consider what this fruit is, what this fruit is. Now, let me, uh, read just a couple of verses suggesting to us that it is, it is, uh, the responsibility of every believer to bear fruit. Look at, uh, Philippians chapter one and verse eleven. Philippians chapter one and verse eleven. Philippians one eleven says, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Colossians chapter one, just across the way, Colossians chapter one and verse ten, That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. And so then it is the disciple's responsibility to bear fruit. To bear fruit. And, uh, every Christian then is to be fruit bearers. Now, of course, when we think of this, uh, the question is, what is this fruit? What is this fruit? Now, it says, I am the vine, ye are, excuse me, I am the vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth fruit, beareth not fruit, he taketh away. So first of all, the branches are attached to the vine. So whatever fruit, whatever fruit is being referred here has to be the fruit of the vine, right? Because the branches manifest the fruit that is inherent in the vine. All right. And so it has to be the fruit of the vine. And because of, of what it says, Jesus saying, I am the vine, uh, then the fruit is to be the fruit of the life of Christ. Right? We attach to him. So what, whatever, uh, is true of the Lord Jesus, that fruit is to be manifested through the branches. Because you remember Jesus saying, by this shall men know that ye are my disciples, because what they are seeing is what they saw in Jesus, or what I, I, I teach, or, or, or what's true of me. So, uh, uh, uh, what comes out then, what is seen has to be the, uh, uh, the fruit of the Lord Jesus. Uh, I did not, I said I would skip the middle one, that is John thirteen, because when you come to the fruit of the Spirit, when you come to fruit bearing and you note the fruit of the Spirit, one of the aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is what? The very first is love. And so that's a part of the fruit. But very quickly, let me just, uh, uh, give some verses here that we might, uh, uh, uh, identify what this fruit is all about. As I mentioned, the believer is united to Christ to bring forth fruit. So naturally, what is brought forth has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, and so we believe it is his life that is being reproduced in us. Look at the Romans chapter six and verse twenty two. Romans chapter six and verse twenty two. Romans six twenty two says, but now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. Just across the page to chapter seven and verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God, that we may bring forth fruit unto God. Now, if you put those two verses together and, and, uh, other verses that, that we read, Colossians chapter, uh, uh, one and Philippians chapter one, you will note then that, uh, basically the fruit is, uh, uh, Christian character and service. What comes out of, uh, uh, those passages makes reference to Christian character, what we are as believers, uh, in terms of character and service. And so there is then to be the productiveness in character, Christian character, and of course the classic passage is Galatians chapter five verses twenty two and twenty three. That's always a passage, I suppose, that's used to, uh, talk about the fruit that is to be born, the character of the believer. You see, uh, uh, uh, if he, excuse me, Galatians chapter, Galatians chapter, uh, five is character. We are to love. We are to be loving persons. We are to be humble persons. Let's just look at it real quickly. Galatians chapter five verse twenty two. Galatians five twenty two, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, against such there is no law. This, this is character. And so people should be able to see manifested from you this kind of character as a believer. A believer is to be a loving person, right? No one should be able to love their wife like a Christian. Huh? They're supposed to be great lovers. Is it? Hallelujah. Wait. Yes. The Christian is to be better when it comes to character in everything as compared to those who are not. And so they are to be loving. And Jesus says, this is how people will know that you are a loving person, a loving person, and also, uh, joyful, you know? Are you a joyful person? Somebody that's being honest, somebody say something. That's being honest. But how... how often should we be joyful? All the time. And in John chapter fifteen, the Lord Jesus, that your joy might be full, because it's God's interest that we be joyful people. Uh, it's interesting, of course, when you note some of the biblical characters, like Paul, for instance, and the circumstances that he, uh, were in so very o- he was in so very often, like in the Philippian jail. He was joyful, and those are circumstances that is difficult to be joyful. It's not easy to be joyful when things are not going right. Right, sister? It's not easy. It's difficult. It's difficult to be joyful when you are sick, when there are disappointments. It's difficult. When some young man or some young lady writes you a Dear John letter, let me tell you that, that ain't nothing to get out in the street corner and sing about. Huh? It's a painful thing, but we could be joyful just the same. Paul and Silas rejoice. Paul is in the Philippian, rather the Roman prison. He writes to the Philippians and he says, rejoice evermore. And again I say, so that this is Christian character, this is fruit, uh, that we are to bear. We are to be peaceful, have peace in our hearts, the peace of God garrisoning our hearts about in, in disturbing s- uh, situations. We are to be peaceful, and then we are to be peacemakers, having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We are to be peacemakers as well, long suffering, going the extra mile. Jesus said to the, uh, to the people to whom he spoke, he says, if they bid you go one mile, go two. They were obligated to go one. That was a, that was a, a legal situation there in, in, in, in Jerusalem or in, in Israel in relation to the Romans. They could come along and put their, the soldier could come along and put his bundle upon your head, and you have to take it one mile without even uttering a word. You couldn't, he could kill you. But only one mile. Now you could understand, you could understand how a Jew would feel. He was angry anyhow. He didn't like those people anyhow. And for this man to come and put his pack upon his head and says, carry that, and he's carrying that. You think he's carrying that willingly? Ingrudgingly. What I'll do. But Jesus said, go too. You see, only the Christian character could cause you to go the extra mile. And when they went the extra mile, it blew the Roman soldier's mind. Why would he do it? Then he could say, I did it because. I did it because. And so, uh, the fruit of the spirit, so Christian character, but also, of course, it is not only seen in Christian character, it is seen also in service, in service. And so, uh, uh, I have in my margin here, the fruit is to be evidenced in godly character, effective prayer life, blessing through preaching, and by good works, as we have in Colossians chapter one and verse ten. That's the fruit. Paul said to, uh, in relation to ministry, Paul said when he wrote to the Romans in chapter one, and verse thirteen, he says, I, I've been, uh, making every effort to come to be with you, uh, that I might have some fruit among you. That's verse thirteen of chapter one of Romans, that I might, this is what it says, now I wouldn't have, I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you, what was presented thus far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. So, of course, Paul here is talking about, uh, uh, not only fruit in terms of ministry and exhortation, but also in seeing people saved, seeing people saved. Uh, in the Scofield Bible, which I, which I use, uh, there is a footnote, uh, to verse eight and, uh, one part of that says this: the fruit may be con- converts, Romans chapter one verse thirteen, Christian character, Galatians five, and also, uh, Christian conduct, the fruits of righteousness, Romans six and, uh, Philippians one, and then moralities. The moralities and graces of Christianity, which are the fruits of the Spirit, are often, uh, imitated but never duplicated. And so, uh, the fruit of the Spirit, uh, or rather th- this fruit is the production of character, uh, and the effectiveness of prayer. Let's just look in the text, and we will note in verse seven: if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Now there would be effective praying if we are bearing fruit. You remember the Lord Jesus? One of the things about Jesus was that he was a praying man. A praying man. And, uh, uh, we were saying this morning, and we said often that one of the Christian activities or Christian exercises that is perhaps opposed more by Satan than any other Christian exercise is that of prayer. Is that of prayer. When you call a prayer meeting, very few people respond. They're either too tired or too busy. But you call some other service, and they'll be there. They'll be there. Because prayer is perhaps the greatest of Christian exercise as it affects the work of God. This is why Satan, I believe, fights it. You will note that when revivals come, there are three things that's normally true in revival. Number one is what? Is prayer. Number 2, Bible interest in Bible reading. Number three, praising God. Come back to sixty seven. Here in Spanish world, we believe that there was a measure of an awakening, but my personal feeling is, and I'm no authority, my personal feeling is that it was really an awakening that came out of a revival. Because there was a spirit of intercession in this land. And, uh, not only in this land, but wherever Spanish Wells people were and heard about what was happening here, there was prayer. In America, they would call. There were those who were here down in South America on a boat and got saved down there. A revival. And uh, when you go to the We- Welsh Revival, the predominant uh, experience in that revival was prayer, was prayer. And it was such a, such a wave of prayer that uh, uh, God just uh, moved among the, the, the, the church of Jesus Christ, the Christian community, and people were saved as a result of, uh, the awakening that came out of that, that revival. And, uh, and so we, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ was a man of prayer. So if we are, are tapped into him as the branch, one of the things that's going to be true of a disciple is effective praying. He prayed continually. Now, that's not just saying, now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. That's not that kind of prayer. Praying is hard work. Praying is hard work. And, uh, Jesus prayed, I am the vine, and if I'm abiding in the vine to produce this kind of, produce fruit, one of the things is going to be a concern and exercise in prayer, if we are bearing the fruit. And then, of course, uh, the interest in the word of God. This goes back to chapter eight, right? Jesus says, um, uh, uh, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. So that's another aspect, right? The fact of, uh, uh, the word of God being prominent. And so, uh, effect of praying, verse seven: Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Look at verse sixteen: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Prayer effectual is one of the, uh, uh, the manifested fruit in the believer's life. And also, uh, we mentioned in, uh, souls being saved and so forth and so on. Note very quickly, and it has to be quick, not only the meaning of the fruit, but the measure of the fruit. The measure of the fruit. Verse eight, uh, uh, that she bear much fruit. And note now, it says, in this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. When you go to Matthew chapter five, and, uh, I think it's verse sixteen. by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. No, that's not the passage, sorry. Uh, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, fruit, and what? Glorify my Father. So God is glorified by the reproduction of the life of Christ in us. He is glorified. He is glorified. And so, uh, uh, it is important then that we bear this fruit, and God's interest is that it might be maximum production, maximum production, and uh, that we bear much fruit, the measure of the fruit required. We note this in Paul's writings, when Paul wrote to the, to the churches like Thessalonica, he would say to them that, uh, I, I, I know your labors of love and so forth, but I exhort you that you abound more and more, that you abound more and more. And so this is God's interest that we be maximum, uh, producers, uh, in this area of fruit bearing. And, uh, and it goes on then to verse two, says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges it, that it may bring forth much fruit. This verse has created quite a bit of concern by some Bible teachers, and especially certain, the certain Armenian element, because they are saying that, uh, uh, this verse suggests that if a person is not bearing fruit, God takes them away, takes them out, breaks them off, and they are lost. And, uh, but of course, again, you understand that's not what's being taught here. The emphasis is fruit bearing. We are in him, and to be in him is to be saved, to be saved by him is to be saved forever. And, uh, uh, but in order to bear fruit, uh, we are to be in him. And, uh, if we do not bear fruit, he's not talking of a branch that has never borne fruit. The word bear here is in the present tense, and uh, those who are not bearing, suggesting that at one time they were bearing, and uh, that now perhaps they are not bearing fruit. And so, uh, uh, those he takes away, some believe that he takes away in judgment, takes away like in First Corinthians chapter eleven where it says many are asleep, means death. There's sickly among you, and many are asleep. Sleep means death there. And, uh, he chastens, uh, whom he loves, and some he scourges. They believe that that more severe aspect of chastening is death. And, uh, we know that that has been true. We have it from the word of God, First Corinthians chapter eleven, if no other passage. He does come in with these measures of discipline if we're not functioning as we should as God's people. But some sources that I had read, uh, suggest that, uh, the word taketh away, uh, the word taketh away, uh, is not always translated taken away. It is translated in some other places to lift up. They took up stones to stone him. That's the same word. And so, uh, uh, they suggest that what he's saying, if it's not bearing fruit, he raises it up, that it might get the sunlight, so to speak, like a farmer, and uh, uh, give it some nourishment that it might, uh, uh, bear fruit. He raises it up, and uh, and uh, then those who bear fruit, he purges it, and that it may bring forth more fruit. Another source that I had consulted says the word purging here, uh, could be translated cleansing, cleansing the fruit, the vine, cleansing the vine. Because when you come to verse three, this is what it's talking about, right? Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. And so, uh, he's, he's talking about cleansing, and I understand in those parts they have mildew on the plants and, and other insects that affect growth, uh, uh, the maximum production. So what they do, they, they cleanse the vine. We do it today, don't we? When little bugs come along and so forth, we go get seven dust and we get, uh, uh, insecticide to cleanse off those things that affects production. And, uh, and so, uh, this seemed to be the suggested idea here, the, uh, uh, placing of the vine that it might bring forth maximum fruit. And so then, and so then, the cleansing, when we experience certain things in our life, what we would call adverse things, God, uh, God is using them to, to cleanse us, to purge us, to bring us in that condition that we would produce maximum fruit. That's God's desire, and this is how God is glorified, and God wants to be glorified in your life and my life. And the only way he could be glorified if we bear fruit as believers in this world. And so, uh, the measure of this fruit is the maximum production. I'm gonna close. And, uh, when we think of fruit then, the manifestation of this fruit, it is, uh, it speaks of representation. Fruit speaks of representation. In other places, James says, uh, uh, uh, or, or another passage says, you don't go to a, a, a, a great tree to get figs, or vice versa. So the fruit represents the tree. You go to a coconut tree for coconuts. And so the fruit then, fruit bearing, it manifests our relationship with the Lord and our representation of the Lord. We are ambassadors, and an ambassador is one who represents his country, his king. That's the ambassador. And, uh, so fruit bearing then, uh, is representative, representative of, uh, of our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, but it's inside of us and so forth. It speaks also of reproduction. Uh, we mentioned this, uh, already, and also speaks of responsibility. I close with this, verse five: I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. Uh, it speaks of responsibility. We are to bear fruit for the Lord. We are responsible to be, uh, productive as believers. I think of a little booklet, uh, that I saw some years ago, written by Dawson Trotman. Some of you might remember that name, the founder of the Navigators. He was asked by Billy Graham to, to develop a, a counseling and follow-up program for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. And, uh, uh, some many years ago, before he died in an accident, he was drowned and trying to save someone's life at a camp, and uh, he wrote a book titled Born to Reproduce. You and I have been born to reproduce, to reproduce the life of the Lord Jesus. And again, I say, by this shall God be glorified, and men would, uh, know that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless his word to us, use it to, uh, create a, a soul first in us for maximum reproduction. Let's pray. Our Father, we pray thy blessing upon your word, and grant that it would be all of our interest, uh, to bear fruit for you, to let the Spirit reproduce in and through us the life of Christ, that people will see him, for he has said that if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me. And it's only when people see him, they are drawn to him. He is in the glory next to thy right hand, and the only way that they could see him is through your children. May we allow the spirit then to manifest that light through us, that men and women might be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for our gathering and for these times of Bible.