Furgeon reading or rendering of that helped it somewhat. Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, but our vines have tender grapes. There are three things noticeable in this text. The first one is the vine, the second one, of course there is fruit, and the third, the foxes. And so I want to speak on the fox hunt. And I'll assure you of this, you have foxes in your life that need to be caught and killed. And if you say you don't, well, I thought you were convinced to behold a truth. First of all, the vine. The Lord Jesus said in John fifteen, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He was referring to his own. He was referring to those who were saved, his disciples. I am the vine, ye are the branches. And of course, The branches abide in the vine, producing fruit, and that is the duty, the responsibility of the Christian, to produce fruit for Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches, in the measure that I abide in him, and his life grows through me. In that measure, I can produce fruit for his glory. Now we have the necessity of this union. between Christ and the branches? You can never get to heaven, friend, unless you're united to Christ. By nature, we are separated from God. Your sins have separated between you and your God. And that man who is not saved, he separated from God. There is no union. And because there's no union, there is no communion. Because there's no root, there is no truth. And so an unsaved person cannot bring forth fruit unto God. There is no union. The branch is not in the vine. Not only so, the branch is dead. For you're dead, as the Bible says. Ephesians two one, you, happy crickons who were dead in trespasses and in sin. A dead person can do nothing. A dead person can't work. And a person who's dead in sin cannot bring forth fruit. onto God. And so those who are not saved, they are separated from God, and they are dead, and thus fruitless. But if the branch is not in the vine, there is no fruit. And if you are not united to Christ, then there is no fruit. Nothing in your life that pleases God. Nothing in your life that God can feed on. That's a solemn thought. The thing of a man or a woman living in this life. And not one thing that God can command. Not one thing that pleases or glorifies God. Not one thing that he can feed upon. Just because you're not born again and you do not have the life of the vine in you, that's the secret of the fruit of the grass. Now how is this union brought about? By nature there is no union. Here is Christ the vine. Here you are a destiny separated from here. Now how is this union brought about? is brought about by the gospel and by the Holy Spirit. When he preached the gospel, which is Christ, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried and raised again the third day according to the Scriptures. And when a whoer lost in us, one conscious of his own inability to save himself, where he comes with all his needs, and accepts Christ as his own personal Savior, he knows the efficacy of that precious blood, cleansing him from all sins. When he believes the gospel story, then the Spirit of God unites him to Christ. And by that one spirit, according to First Corinthians, twelve, thirteen, by one spirit, we're all baptized in that one body. The Spirit of God unites you to Christ. You become a branch in the vine, grafted into the Son of God. And the life that's in the vine begins to flow through the branch. And then that's the only way you can have the life of God in you. Do you know yourself? The branch is dependent on the vine. The vine has the light. And the vine puts that light through the branch. And if you have a Christ, if you're not in Christ, then Christ is not in you. You find those two expressions time and time again in your Bible, especially in Ephesians. We are in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. Then you read Christ in you. Christ in you, Christ in you, in you the hope of glory. Yes, the branch is in the vine, but there's a sense in which the vine is in the branch, for the life of the vine courses through the branch. I am in Christ, if I am saved. That's my position before God. But Christ is in me. That's my life. He's the reservoir of all the strength and energy I need to live for God in this world and produce fruit. And just as the life of the vine comes up and goes through the branch, so the life of a risen Christ is in a Christian, Christ in you, and that Christian is able to live the Christ life. I can't live a Christian life unless I have Christ if impossible. Only if you have Christ And Christ is living in you, and through you. Can you live a Christian life, and bring forth fruit unto God? And so you have this union brought about by the God. You as a branch in Christ. In Christ. Let me ask you, are you in Christ tonight? Is Christ in you? Then if so, the result is fruit, not only life, but truth. If you abide in him, you will bring forth peace. You say, how may I abide in Christ? As a Christian, you need to read the Bible. You need to spend time in prayer. And by faith abide in Christ. Realize that only through him can you live the life that pleases God. Only through Christ who strengthens you. Only through Christ who live in and through you, can you be a happy, fruitful Christian? In this life, that's the only way to a life of victory over the world of flesh and the devil and the many temptations that are Christianist and prodigy. You know, the branch, yes, the branch sometimes needs to be pruned. In John, the Bible plainly says he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. When he sees a Christian bringing forth some fruit, because there are degrees, thirty, sixty, a hundredfold, when he sees a Christian bringing forth some fruit, the Bible says, strange it may seem, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. What is the purging? Pruning. Friend of mine, now in heaven, Ben Bradford, great preacher of the Gospels, He was staying with the Campbells, Ben Campbell in Petersburg, Virginia. Mr. Campbell had a wonderful grapevine down his backyard. Mr. Bradford said I was staying there, having meetings. And one day Mr. Bradford said to Campbell, took some clippers and he went out in the yard. He said he was going to prune his grapevine. Well, he said I went uptown. When I came back, a couple of hours later... He had finished his job. And he said, I looked at him. I said, Mr. Campbell, have you ever had an experience of pruning? Yes. I've had a little experience, Brother Bradford. You have. Well, I haven't. But as far as I can see, you ruined that grapevine. What he said, it was just about as straight as a stick. He had just about locked off every branch. Mr. Campbell... smart. Mr. Bradford said, I went back the next year for a short visit and stayed with Mr. Campbell. He thought I never saw such a grapevine loaded with gifts in all my life. He thought he had ruined it. No. He knew what he was doing. You know, sometimes Christians are thus groomed. They're bringing forth some fruit, but the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard, Christ himself. Ah, he says, I can bring more fruit out of that branch. I'm going to do a little purging. And it begins to purge and through. And he takes off a little here and he takes off a little there. Oh, he goes like the flesh recoils from it. And the vine, the branch is made to bleed as the shaft begins to run. How often a Christian bleeds under the pruning of the vine, the branch. The Jew ate. It seems as though everything has been trimmed off. Oh, yes, the owner of the vineyard has gotten very close to your heart. You know what is the food. The Jew ate. There will be more fruit in that Christian's life in a little while than ever before. For there's no time the dresser of the vineyard is so close to the branch as when he's craving. There's no time the Son of God is as near to a Christian when he's purging that Christian, as when he's doing. Ah, yes, he knows what he's doing. He has perfect knowledge of your capability. He knows what you can stand. The pruning is painful, is true. We don't like this purging. But he says, I want you to bring forth more fruit. I see possibilities of more usefulness. And so we have the fruit, the results of purging. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Tune in again tomorrow, dear friends, when Mr. Wilson will take up right here in the continuance of this message. And to Galatians five, twenty-two, you'll find it. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, self-control. Now there you have the fruit. The Lord says it's not the fruit of the flesh. It's the fruit of the Spirit. A lot of people mix this up. You know an atheist, an unconverted sinner, can practice charity. Give money to the good cause. Give money to the poor, yes. But remember that kind of love and charity is not divine love. I know some people, they have a happy, joyful disposition. They live on the sunny side of life. That's not the fruit of the Spirit. That's natural fruit. That's that person's natural characteristic. That's the expression of his personality. Thus this love is not human love. This is divine love. This is calvary love. This is redemptive love. This is the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. It's not the fruit of the flesh. This joy is not natural joy. It's heavenly joy. This peace is not earthly peace. It's heavenly peace. and so the fruits of the Spirit is love and joy in Jesus. And oftentimes men and women, by nature, people who are not born again at all, can produce some of these traits, but it's not the fruit of the Spirit. It's just natural fruit. That's that person's makeup. And God doesn't get anything out of that. God only is glorified when he receives the fruit of the Spirit. And so you have a ninefold. And it's divided into three. First of all, love, joy, peace. God words. Love to God, joy in God, peace with God. So the first three, and I might mention, when you read the fruit of the Spirit and then the nine things are mentioned, That word fruit is in the singular, not the plural. It doesn't say the fruit of the Spirit. It says the fruit, one cluster, one bunch. In other words, you can't bear one of these things without producing all. If you're in the Spirit, you're bearing all these things. The fruit of the Spirit loves God's gift. That's the God-word side of this bunch of grace. The next three, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. That's man-word. Long-suffering toward your fellow men, gentle toward them, and good toward them, engaging in good. There you have the second three, man-word. Then the last three, self-worth. Faith, meekness, self-worth. and stole the fruit of the Spirit, which is ninefold, three to God, three to man, three concerning seven. You know, there's a nice little cross stick. Some people said, I'd like to be happy all the time. I'd like to be one of those joyful dishes. Would you? Do you ever hear of an acrostic on joy, J-O-Y? Well, you have it right here. The first three things, God will. Toward Jesus. The next three, toward others. The last three, toward yourself. Now get it. J, Jesus first. Oh, others next. Why? Yourself last. Do you want to be happy? Put Jesus first. Put others next. Then you come in on the caboose. You just about forget this stuff. you'll be so concerned about pleasing God than having us that you'll forget all about yourself. That's the happy love. But you know some Christians, their first, second, third. That's the trouble. That's why they're unhappy. That's not the fruit of the Spirit. And so you have the first three Christian power, the second three Christian contact, Christian power having to do with God, Christian contact having to do with men, the second three, and then the last three, you have Christian control, sense control. Here you have the fruit on the vine. But now the foxes. Take us the foxes, or take us the foxes, the little foxes, the spoil of vines, for our vines are tenderly. Or catch those little foxes that spoil the vine so they won't produce the fruit. And that's true. These little foxes get through the fence, or they may leave over the fence, and they get into the vineyard and they begin to nibble around the vine. They do damage to the vine, and of course that prevents that hindered fruit. Sometimes they get at the fruit itself. But in most cases they nibble off those little tender branches that bear the fruit. And so says God kept those foxes, those little foxes that spoil the vine. And now for our fox hunt. What are some of these little foxes? Well, just take the opposite to these things I've mentioned. The first one, love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And the love of God is sevenfold. Love to God, love to Christ, love for the Holy Spirit, love for the Scriptures, love for the people of God, love for the unsaved, the sinners, and love for your enemy. Can you fulfill it? Only in the Spirit can you love all. You know by nature we love those who love us. There are certain personalities that we are drawn to. There are certain individuals you are attracted to. And it's so easy to love. But there are others and the sparks begin to fly as soon as you make contact. Somehow you just can't get along. There are some people that just love me the wrong way. Yet as a Christian, I've got love me. How can I do it? Not with a natural man that God will help you belong. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And only in the measure that I am abiding in Christ and the love of God does that mean in my heart can I love that person. God loved me and I was unlovely. I have injured God far more than anyone's ever injured me. And if God could forgive me, certainly I can forgive another. And I should love another. The only way I can do it is by the Holy Spirit. that dwells in me as a Christian, the fruit of the Spirit with love. And you know, love lavity, love gives. Yes, that's true. Well, what's the oven? Semptishness. Is there a loving oven? You love that. That's that little pot. Semptishness. Is he in your vineyard? Do you know anything about that little pot? Semptishness. Oh, yes. You know, you see it coming out in the child by nature, and there's no use any one of you trying to excuse yourself. But did you ever see a child that passed up the biggest piece of cake on the plate? Did you ever see a child pass up the biggest piece of pie or the biggest piece of can? No, you didn't when you were a child. It is something about human nature that wants the biggest piece. And the best piece. Doesn't it? One time, a certain Christian farmer knew he was going to have some cows around the farm a little while, and a revival was coming up in the church, and so he said, well, one day, talking over the white, the first calf that comes along is the Lord. He's going to give it to the Lord. He's going to sell it and take the proceeds to the revival. What in the morning of that, that he went out to the barn. Wow. What a lovely calf. Hmm. I'd like to keep that cap. Nice little help. Why a battle went on inside here. He had promised that to the Lord. Two days later, he went out. Another cap, a little bull cap. Not near as strong as he has been. Oh, that's the one. The Lord doesn't mind. I'll give the Lord just a second. Mr. Hall, he wanted the first. Well, a few days, a couple of weeks went by. The day or two, four of the revival. Well, well, I'm going to take that little tap over to the bush. Well, he did. Second tap. He got his money. He didn't get to go to church on the Sunday night, but he went on the money. As he had walked in, he lived about a half a mile from the little church. He was a little late getting there because of the stores around the fire. Then he got near the church. The congregation was singing. The half has not been told. The half have not been told. That was the hymn. But that's not the way he heard it. He thought they were singing. The calf has not been told. The calf has not been told. He couldn't take it. He turned around, he went home, and he spent a restless night. The next morning, nothing against his will, he went over to these bushes, and he sold the first catch, and God got the proceeds of those. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. We shall eagerly await tomorrow's broadcast when we shall hear more about human nature as it really is. Oh, you know that nature in you and in me. You'd even try and rob God. I could tell you something right here in Albany. We were looking over a piece of territory here, a certain real estate man in town trying to sell us a lot to build a church on. You know, he had reserved in that development, and there were hundreds of lots. And he took us to the one that he had reserved for a church. And I believe it was the lowest lot in the place where all the water was set up. that for the Lord. Oh, yes. You know that selfish disposition in every one of them. One time ran across another, and they began talking, and this fellow is a happy Christian. He said to the other fellow, Are you a Christian? Yes. I'm a Christian. You sure you don't have it? Yes. I don't know. Well, I suppose that seeing you're a Christian, you will gain the Lord and baptism. No. He says the thief on the cross. He went to heaven. He didn't get that far. Yes, but he didn't have the opportunity. I suppose you know what it is to serve the Lord now that you're saved. Do all you can to win others to the Lord? No. He says the thief. He didn't serve the Lord. He went to heaven. Yes, but he didn't have any opportunity. I suppose you cry and give some of your income to the Lord, help on the Lord's work. No. He says, see, he didn't give any. He didn't give any. This man said, now listen here, but if you're a Christian, that may have been a dying thief, but you're a living.