The Promise Is Bigger Than The Problem Pt. 12

[Music] open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of John at chapter 15 verses 1 through verse number 8 in our last sermon in this series the the promise is bigger than the problem John at chapter 15 verses 1 through verse 8 I am The True Vine and my father is the husbandman 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 more fruit now he are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you abide in me and I in you as the 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 he abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what he will and it shall be done unto you herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples thank you you may have you season the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God shall stand forever I am The True Vine and my father is the vine dresser that word husband men means gardener or fine dresser I am The True Vine is the last of John's I am sayings and the only one adding a further assertion that the father is the vine dresser this pericope magnifies the Incarnation 'el Ministry of Jesus moving him from his tabernacling presence as a human like we are to his role as the embodiment of Old Testament Israel just as he bore our flesh and entered into the sinful condition of humanity so also did he bear the embarrassing condition and record of Israel a vine that had been uprooted thrown to the ground stripped of its fruit and consumed by fire Jesus entered into this sinful and failed state of our humanity and that of the nation of Israel but in distinction from our individual existence and Israel's corporate existence Jesus filled to perfection the role of Israel Jesus restored Israel becoming the mediator that meant that Israel was intended to be in him thus Jesus brothers and sisters is the true Israel all the Old Testament places and people have been fulfilled and replaced by one person the man Jesus Christ every other fine including the rich and biblical heritage of Israel is declared bankrupt and counterfeit in contrast to the True Vine Jesus Christ theologically theologically John's point is that Jesus displaces Israel as the focus of God's plan of salvation with the implication that faith in Jesus Christ becomes a decisive decisive characteristic from membership in God's family in fact Jesus had always been God's intended true vine just as the husbandmen or the vine dresser who had been planting and tending his vineyard has always been God the Father there is in this lesson there is in this text a lesson about relationship in verse two Jesus uses the phrase in me he is speaking here to people who are in a vital life-giving relationship to himself he's speaking to those of us here who are saved no one can be considered a branch in the Lord's vine unless there is a vital Nexen to Jesus Christ through the new birth no less than six times in these verses verses 1 through 8 does Jesus use the phrase in me he is telling about a situation that is an absolute necessity for life and fruit-bearing you cannot have life apart from the vine you cannot bear fruit apart from the vine you cannot be a Christian disconnected from Jesus Christ now there are plenty of people who are in a religion there are plenty of people who are in a church there are many who are moral and upstanding but that does not mean that they are in Christ because you can be in a religion and never be in Jesus Christ you can be in the church and never be in Jesus Christ before you can have anything else from God or with God you must have a relationship to God through faith in Jesus Christ he says apart from me you can do nothing unless you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ unless you are connected to the vine you cannot bear fruit that God will ever Excel God will not accept your good works God will not accept your beautiful voice God will not accept your aristocratic ways God will not accept your scholarly preaching God will not accept your works of charity anything Jew that's not connected to Christ is a dead deed Paul said it better than Akio and in in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 he says though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels I wish I had a Bible reader and have not charity I'm a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal though I give my body to be burned and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have faith so that I could remove mountains if I don't love anybody it profits me nothing love bears all things hopes all things endures all things love never fails I wish I had a witness in when I was a child I spoke like a child I thought like a child I understood like a child but when I became a man I put away childish things unless you are connected to the far end you cannot bear fruit if you're here this morning and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ don't even wait until I get through preaching get up right now make your way down front and accept Jesus Christ as Savior don't wait for an invitation because you might not live the next 20 minutes of this sermon you need right now to know that without God I can do it's a lesson about relationships well in the second place it's a lesson about reproduction it's a lesson about relationships but it's also a lesson about reproduction a vine has one distinct purpose and the one distinct purpose of the vine is bearing fruit but notice the vine itself does not bear any fruit the branches derive their life from the vine the vine produces its fruit to the branches the vine itself does not produce fruit it just provides life and when there is life in the vine there ought to be some fruit on the branches and if there is no fruit on the branches it's not because there's no life in the vine something got to be pruned some stuff got to be cut off I wish I had some help right here you might have to cut some people off your life you might have to cut off some social engagements you might have to cut off some family ties because if you are not bearing fruit something got to be cut away I'm gonna get to that in a minute listen to me his fruit Jesus fruit is the souls saved by His grace we you and I we believers are Jesus fruit his fruit is those branches that have been grafted into him by grace we were not naturally his we've been adopted we've been grafted into the vine somehow help me preacher let me see if I can make that make sense harder culturally as it relates to tending plants you can graft a branch from a peach tree unto an apple tree and the the energy and life from that apple tree will take on that grafted peach branch but the branch that you grafted to the apple tree will not bear branches or apples because it is a peach branch it's alive but it will not grow apples because you grafted it from a peach tree it does not take on the life of the apple tree it takes the energy and the SAP from the apple tree but it still bears peaches someone help me preacher that's how it is harder culturally but theologically when we are grafted into the vine that is Jesus Christ we take on a new nature we are not what we used to be if any man be in Christ the very man being grafted in the Christ you can't walk your way you can't do what you want you can't have your desires cuz you take on his life [Applause] Paul said the life that I now live I wish I had a witness in it's not mine but Christ who lives inside of me [Applause] Peachtree will stay a peach limb as long as it's connected to the apple tree but if you connect it to Christ you can be the same I wish I had one or two more Bible reading no no no no once you come into him you got to change your attitude you got to change your way of doing things want to help me preach if you can our elders had it right I looked at my hands and my hands look new I started to walk and I had a new walk you're not what you used to be once you come into Jesus Christ because when you come into Christ he changes your nature because naturally we are children of disobedience but we've been engrafted we have been added on to the vine and the life that we have now does not come from us because the branch can't live apart from the vine [Applause] hear me hear me sisters and brothers when we speak of bearing fruit what is it that we mean there are three basic fruits that the Lord bears in the life of his children there is the fruit of sanctification we become more like him that's the fruit of spirituality we behave more like in them have the fruit of saving souls we are burned and like him so we become like him we behave like them and we are burdened like him if you're not different 15 years from your salvation you might be disconnected from the vine I wish I had somebody to help me and disconnected from the vine does not mean that you're not saved it means that you lost your fellowship you lost your intimacy you lost your joy because when you are sanctified some things are happening to you that's different than when you first got saved stuff that used to bother you roll off your back now folk who used to annoy you you just ignore them now things that used to make you fly off the handle you just come on the church and give God some praise because you're not what you used to be you are under the process of sanctification I know somebody in here who's told somebody not ten years ago if you talk to me like that [Music] it had been some consequences and repercussions but I'm gonna let you live right now I'm gonna move on from that right now that ain't cuz you're so good it's because God isn't shipping away that cold heart of yours God is in the process of sanctifying you because you can't get in his presence until you've been sanctified you become like him you behave like him and then you get a burden like him if you're not burdened about the loss it's because you're not connected to the vine it's like why'd you got right there if you are not a soul winner you're not connected to the vine because the way we know that you're burdened like Christ is you talkin to somebody about their salvation I want somebody else to come in the kingdom I want somebody else to come and know about this joy that I have experience because once you know Christ you want everybody to know Christ he that winneth Souls is wise that's it that's that's that's reproduction that's relationship but that's the whole you too long there's also a lesson in here about responsibility the one thing required of the branches in order for fruit to be a reality is for the branches to be connected to the vine fruit bearing is an absolutely passive activity if the branches will abide in the vine then they will bear fruit for the glory of God the only thing that the Lord requires of the branches is for them to rest in him and to draw their life from him if this happens fruit will always be the result we went into this fast of 21 days we've got a few days left in this fast and and the purpose of it was not for you to lose weight the purpose of it was for you to draw close to God so that you could bear fruit and somebody here will help me testify before the sermon is over you already seeing the results of your fasting and praying because some problems can't be worked out in your life unless you fast and pray about it there are some situations God can't bring you through unless you struggle and strive to get to where God wants you to be and that comes only through self-denial if any man will come after me I need two or three more Bible readers he must deny himself take up a cross and follow me God wants to do some things in your life but he wants to see how badly you really want it done because if you really want it done badly enough you'll give up some stuff I wish I had somebody to help me anything that God tells me I have to do without to get his glory it might hurt me but I'm ready to do without it because I would wrap up the glory of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season am I making sense the oldest my brothers I've never seen a fruit tree a vine or any other fruit bearing plant listen struggle to bring forth its fruit because the branches yield themselves to the will of the vine apples don't try to be oranges the too busy being Athens I wish I had a witness bananas are not trying to be pomegranates they're too busy being bananas because they are yielding to the life energy in the plants root system and until you get rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ the transplant may shock your growth [Applause] the only way to mitigate shock in the growth of a plant is to cut off some dead stuff i'ma get to that in a minute [Applause] fruitfulness is an infallible mark of Christianity is a lesson about relationship it's a lesson about reproduction there's a lesson about responsibility but here is where I want to get to it's a lesson about a painful reality it's right here in the text let's look at verse 2 again every branch that's bearing not true he takes it away but every branch that's bearing fruit he purges it now is already bearing fruit so why cut it why bruise it why prune it it's doing all right it's bearing fruit it's not like a dead branch is bearing fruit leave it alone Jesus I know every branch that means every body in here got a nice with your name on it [Applause] see I cried to God right there the pruning is not for the dead branches the pruning is for the last branches and every branch thus bearing fruit he got to prove you that you may bear more fruit but hear me beloved the pruning all it takes place in the winter and if you don't know what season you're in [Music] [Applause] you'll get mad with the pruning process somebody should've shouted Reza you try to do all that act and the Lord a pruned you yet because the plant that's not pruned will get top-heavy and you stop thinking you doing this on your own you stop thinking you making it because you're so smart and you've got so many talents and you got so many gifts God got to put that pruning knife on you to cut you down the side now hear me brothers and sisters this idea of pruning is painful but it's a loving process because whom the Lord loves he chastens he disciplined and you all want to know that God loves you and the way you know that God loves you is that even while he's pruning here and he got his hands on you when when stuff I want is taken and stuff I love is gone I think I can't make it without that stuff but then God shows up and assures me that what you lost and even compared that was you about the game that it may seem like loss but just keep on coming to church just keep on reading the scriptures just keep on fasting and praying you've got to come to your breakthrough the reason why you faint in the day of adversity is because your strength is small if you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you how shall you continue with horses if you can't make it in the land where peace and prosperity abide what are you gonna do at the swelling of the Jordan [Applause] stop crying and complaining and whining when God is pruning you you just in the winter season of your life somehow to help me preach it spring is just around the corner [Applause] [Music] help is on the way John is gonna come in the morning it's painful for a moment oh yes oh yes it's it's hard not to have a job but whenever God closes a door he's getting ready to open a window it's hard to be in the world by yourself without members of your family but there's a bright side somewhere have I got a witness here God has blessed you in so many ways and he's just pruning you because his winter in your life he's getting ready he's getting you ready for bearing more fruit look at the progression in the text it moves from no fruit to fruit to law fruit too much fruit I wish I had somebody to help me some here have no fruit some here got fruit some here got more fruit but thank God for the many of us in here who can shout about much fruit and the only reason you can have much fruit is you got to go through much pruning you got to go through much sorrow you got to go through much pain you got to go through much heartbreak but then you come out of it with much fruit bouquet I understand why you're still standing when the enemy has tried to pull you down why are you still giving God the glory and everything that's important seems to be out of your life but as long as you got Jesus you can still shout on the Sunday morning and it don't even have to be Sunday morning when you think about God's goodness and God's mercy in your life you should have been dead sleeping in your grades but God's been good to you gods have given you much fruit that's why you have much joy read down in verse number 8 he says my father is glorified in that you bear much fruit and that much fruit will bring you much joy you might be sitting by some fruit less people in your Pew today you might be sitting by some folk who got more fruit today but you ought to want to have much fruit this morning don't let those fruitless people stop you from shouting about your nuts fruit don't let those people who are not growing make you feel bad because you're praising God don't let those folk who don't have any joy make you sad because of our situation this job I have the world didn't give it and the world can't take it away is there anybody here bearing much fruit then you know you've been through much trials much disappointment much tribulation but if you be not weary in well-doing in due season you will reap if you faint not if the Lord been good to you and you're not ashamed to testify if the Lord been pruning you and you don't care who's looking at you if the Lord been working on you and you don't mind justified if the Lord been improving your shout refining your job shining up your satisfaction why don't you grab somebody tell them I don't know about you but I want much fruit much fruit comes with much pain but the more pain the more you gain the more you cry the more happiness you have the more you go through when you come out on the other side you got a test and now you got a testimony it was nobody but Jesus nobody but Jesus if you been through the test and you got a testimony why would you hug somebody why don't you grab somebody grab you a praise partner grab your shouting platinum grab somebody who's been through some of the stuff you've been through somebody was cried like you prepped and the mob brought you out why don't we go right now telling st. you for my winter season sang it for my winter problems sang it for my winter suffering thank you for the tears and winter term cuz I know spring is only I don't know chai is on the wind I know peace is on the way I know heaven is on the way I know he's all [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I've had many tears and soul questions for tomorrow there were times when I didn't know right from wrong when every situation God gave blessed consolation that my trials come only to make me strong so I thank God for my Mountain I thank God for my valleys I thank him for the storms that he brought me through because if I had never had a problem I would never know God could song and I've never known what faith in his word could do through it all [Music] through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus to learn to trust in God through it all through it all I've learned to depend upon his word haven't got a witness here this morning I didn't like it while I was in it it hurt while I was in it but now that I'm on the other side of it I thank God for the winter problems in my life because we're after winter spring is coming [Music]

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Id: LONZXDaIOjA

Length: 38min 44sec (2324 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 10 2018