 The title of our sermon this morning, again, is the urgent necessity of a fruitful abiding. The urgent necessity of a fruitful abiding. We've been working our way through John chapter 15 verses 1 through 8, and in working through the text so far, we have begun by asking and then answering three basic questions from this text of Scripture, where the Lord uses an allegory or an extended metaphor to teach fundamental truths to us about the Christian life. The questions so far are one, on your notes, who is involved? Who is involved? Two, what is expected? And three, how is this accomplished? Question one, who is involved? We answered in detail over two sermons from verses one and two. Verse one, I am the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me, verse two. Jesus Christ is the true vine. God the father is the vine dresser, professing Christians. Some true, some false are the branches. Question two, what's expected? We answered that in detail from verse two. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. In every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. What is clearly expected in the text is fruit from the branches, the necessary goal, the necessary object, the aim of all three, the vine dresser and the branches. The aim of all three is fruit from the branches to the glory of God, the fruit of holy character, the fruit of holy conduct, the fruit in the pursuit of our great commission. The vine dresser, God the father, is not passive in the work of fruit bearing. Fruitless branches he takes away and they're burned. Fruitful branches are lovingly pruned so that they bear more fruit, all for his own glory according to verse eight. Question three, how is all this accomplished? How is this all accomplished? We answered that beginning in verse three. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing. How is this accomplished? It's accomplished number one through union, genuine, true, born again union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You must be verse three genuinely clean because of the word which he has spoken to you because of the gospel, because of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. You must be genuinely clean. Secondly, how is this accomplished? Secondly, you must abide. You must remain. You must persevere in Christ. And verse four, he in you. And then we looked at seven directives from our text for how we are to abide in him. No branch, no branch has life in itself. The branches derive their life, derive their fruitfulness entirely from the vine. In fact, apart from him, apart from the true vine, you can do absolutely nothing. Now in verses four and five, we see both the command to abide. And we also see a promise of Christ to abide in the believer, which abides in him. And that presents to us two truths that we need to understand. If you will, there are two sides of the same coin that we began to explore last week. One side is this, that Christians, genuine disciples must persevere in the faith to the end to be saved. Christians, genuine disciples must persevere. Second truth is this, the other side of the coin. God is the one who both saves and preserves his people and causes them to abide in him. One side, man's responsibility, you must abide. The other side of the same coin, God is the one who preserves his people. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, saves and preserves his own. And one means by which he does that is the striving of his people to abide in him. And one means by which he does that is the exercising of his people toward godliness. Those who have this hope in him purify themselves. That labor on the part of the believer is one means by which God causes his people to persevere. That just as a branch could never be the ultimate cause of the vines abiding. Do you see the analogy there? Just as the branch could never be the cause of the vines abiding, believers abiding is never the ultimate cause of Christ abiding. Christ abides by sheer grace alone. Undeserved favor, undeserved grace. And you're going to see in scripture, many conditional statements. There are many conditional statements in scripture. John chapter 15 verse four is one of those. Abide in me. And then Christ says, I will abide in you. John chapter 15 verse six that we'll look at today is also a conditional statement. Abide in me or you'll be cast out and burned. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse one, if you're saved, you're saved if you hold fast. Colossians chapter one verse 21, he has reconciled you if you continue in the faith. Hebrews chapter three verse 14, we have become partakers of Christ if we hold steadfast to the end. You got to get used to conditional statements in scripture. Again, all of those, however, our abiding, our holding fast, our remaining steadfast, our persevering, all of that is never the ultimate cause or the ultimate reason for Christ's work in our salvation, for Christ's work of our salvation. Christ's work is entirely by the grace of God. Those conditional statements, that abiding, that holding fast, that remaining steadfast, that perseverance, are simply means that God uses to himself cause us by his own power, by his own might to abide, to hold fast, to persevere to the end to be saved. Two sides of the same coin, do you see? These truths are not contradictory. They're not contradictory. God is the one who preserves us. We must persevere. God's sovereignty and salvation, man's responsibility to abide in him. Now, considering our responsibility then, considering our responsibility, communicated to us in our text, we come back to our premise statement. It is the urgent necessity of every professing Christian. In fact, our highest priority must be to glorify God by bearing increasing fruit in true union with Jesus Christ through a prayerful abiding in him. This is not optional to the Christian life. This is essential. It is critical. It is critical in the Christian life that you, that I, that we abide in Christ. If we abide in him, then he abides in us and we will bear fruit. Not optional. It's essential. So far, we've been given clear instruction with respect to this from the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been abundantly clear in the text, right? What we must do. And it also has been abundantly clear from our text how we are to do it. So now, point four on your notes, verses six and seven, what are then the results? What are the results? There will be professing Christians who abide in him. And there will be professing Christians who do not abide in him. Right? So what happens in either case? We find the answer to this question in verse six and verse seven, beginning in verse six. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and he's withered. And they gather them, throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. Now, verses six and seven, two basic responses, right? Two basic responses to the command that we see in verse four to abide in him. The responses are this. Verse number one, in verse six, if anyone does not abide in me, that's one response. He gives the command in verse four, abide in me. Some of those are going to do that. Others are not. So one response, verse six, if anyone does not abide in me. The second response is in verse seven, if you abide in me. Pretty clear, right? Now think about what's being presented to you in verses six and seven. I want you to consider for a moment as we've worked through the text, as we've understood together what the Christian life from this text looks like. What is being presented to you is an ultimatum of sorts. It's a decision of sorts. The Lord gives a command in verse four and he gives the reasons for the command. You then are charged with responding to responses here to the Lord's command to abide. And on either side of those responses, there is a great gulf fixed, a tremendous cavern, chasm between these two responses that consider the Lord's command here. And we can apply the words of Moses in our context, considering our text. It's like the Lord is saying to us, look, I've set before you today life and good, death and evil. In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, his statutes and his judgments, abide in him that you may live. Moses would tell us this commandment, which I command you today. It's not too mysterious for you. It's not too mysterious for me, nor is it far off. The word is very near you. It's in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. But listen, there's a warning in verse six. If your heart turns away from abiding in him so that you do not hear and you are drawn away and you worship other gods and you serve them, then I announce to you today that you will perish. I call heaven and earth, Moses would say. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I have set before you from this text in John chapter 15. I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, abide in him and live that you may love the Lord your God. That you may obey his voice. That you may cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days. Now the first response to this charge of the Lord we find in verse six. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and he is withered and they gather them and they throw them into the fire and they are burned. The first response of his anyone does not abide. If anyone does not abide. If the branch does not abide in the vine, then the branch will be unable to produce fruit. The branch unable to produce fruit is cut off from the source of its life. Brother, listen sister, if you do not abide in Christ, you will be unable to produce fruit. Apart from him, you can do nothing. You will be unable to bear fruit. You are cut off from Christ who is your life if you're not abiding in the vine. Not only are you cut off from the vine, not only are you powerless then to produce fruit, but if you continue in that state, verse six, you will be cast out. You will be dried up and you will be thrown into the fire to be burned. That's what that word withered means. It means to be dried up. All of that life giving moisture, that life giving, those life giving nutrients from the vine. You will be cut off from that vine. You will be dried up, cast out, thrown into the fire to be burned. Now the two verbs there, why don't you see these with me? The two verbs there cast out and withered. For you folks studying Greek, those are heiress verbs, heiress verbs. What's being communicated by those two Greek verbs is a completed and decisive act. It is a completed and decisive act. Notice that both verbs there are passive. They're passive verbs. They're called divine passives. They're called divine passives because it is God who stands behind the passive voice, stands behind the action. And so the completed and decisive act is God's act. The vine dresser, God the Father, the vine dresser is the one who casts out the fruitless branch. What's being referenced here is God's judgment. It's God's judgment. It's the judgment of God that awaits those who do not abide in the true vine. All that is not to say, right? All that's not to say that a genuine Christian can fail to abide, become fruitless and lose his salvation. Remember the two sides of the coin. On one side you must abide. You must abide. On the other side of the coin it is God who preserves his own, right? Remember the two sides of the coin. We spent time in John chapter 6, John chapter 10 refuting the idea that a genuine Christian can lose their salvation. It's not possible. The Lord Jesus Christ says in John chapter 6 that I have given them eternal life. You have eternal life and you will never perish. John chapter 10, no one will snatch you out of his hand. But if a professing Christian walks away from the vine, they demonstrate that they were never really connected to the true vine in the first place. First John 219, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out for the purpose that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. Now verse 6 then goes on to say that they, they gather them and throw them into the fire. What does the they refer to? Who does they refer to? Reminds me of the parable of the wheat and the tares from Matthew 13. And I want you to turn there with me. Matthew chapter 13 and the parable of the wheat and the tares. Who does the they refer to? We have an indication of this from Matthew chapter 13. And drop down there with me beginning at verse 36, verse 36. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and he went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. I answered and said to them verse 37. He who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. I don't know who started it first, right? But that wrong interpretation of this text has persisted even to this day. I continue to hear it. The wrong interpretation is this, that the field is the church. The field is not the church. Very clearly verse 38, the field is the world. Those that say that the field is the church are trying to explain. This is a parable to them about true and false converts in the church. For most of them, it's a way to explain worldliness and sin in their church. But the Lord isn't talking about the world in the church. The Lord is talking about the church in the world. And here the field is the world. Now looking on at verse 39. The enemy who sowed these weeds, these tares, the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest or God's judgment is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels. Those are those who will execute judgment. The reapers are the angels. Verse 40. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned. Sounds like our text in John 15, doesn't it? As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness. They will cast them into the furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. A wailing and a weeping of the knowledge, the realization of your eternal torment. The gnashing of teeth in anger at God for having cast you there. Look at verse 43. Then the righteous will shine forth as the Son and the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. There's another parallel here. One that they in John 15 are the reapers. Those angels that will execute that directive of God in judgment on those who will be gathered up and cast into the fire. The angels are the reapers at the end of the age. There's another parallel here. Wheat and tares, if you're familiar with this text, look almost identical up to a point. They look almost identical up to a point. Up to what point? Up to the point the wheat produces fruit. When the wheat produces grain, the wheat and the tares are then distinguished from one another. Flip the page and look back at verse 26, where he gives the parable. Look at verse 26. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, in other words, when that wheat stalk produced fruit, when grain was produced, then it was then that the tares appeared. How is that? Why is that? It's because by distinguishing wheat from tares, you know them by their fruit. Tares, the tares were fruitless. Tares are fruitless. Genuine Christians are going to produce fruit. Now, what do the reapers do with the tares? In our parable here in Matthew 13, what do they do with the fruitless branches? Again, like our text in John 15, they gather them, they throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Now, this is speaking of hell. This is speaking of hell. If you do not abide in Christ, if you do not abide in Christ and bear fruit to the glory of God, then you will be cast into hell. If you do not abide in Christ and bear fruit to the glory of God, you will be cast by the reapers into hell on that day. You will die, you will perish. You know, a vast majority of people today simply do not believe that they're going to go to hell. They just don't believe it. There was a Gallup poll that I read, it was done in 2004, where 70% of Americans believe in hell, but only 6% of those believe that there was a possibility they would go there. Turn with me to Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 13, and drop down with me to verse 22. Verse 22, in verse 22, the Lord went through the cities and villages teaching, journeying toward Jerusalem, and one said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many I say to you, we'll seek to enter and we'll not be able. When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you began to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open for us. And he will answer and say to you, I do not know you where you are from, and you'll begin to panic. You'll say, we ate, we drank in your presence. You taught in our streets, but he will say, I tell you, I do not know you where you are from. Depart from me all you workers of iniquity. And there it is again, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and yourselves thrust out, and they will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first and there are first who will be last. They were surprised. They were surprised. There are going to be many in that day shocked, caught, if you will, unawares, never having imagined that they would be cast into hell. We say we believe in hell, but we don't live like we believe it. There are multiple reasons for that shock. Multiple reasons. One among many reasons is that the word of God on this subject has been virtually ignored in pulpits. Think about it today. Of all the churches, of all the churches today across our country holding services or all year for that matter, in very few of them will you ever hear anything about hell? Very few of them. By their silence, they shout that they simply don't believe it. Either that or they're just too cowardly or they lack the conviction to talk about it, to preach on it. It's hard to imagine if you think about the state of the church today and let this not be said of us. This is something we need to talk about, amen? It's hard to imagine that one of the most famous sermons ever preached was on hell. It was on hell, 1741, during the height of the Great Awakening. This is Jonathan Edwards preaching a sermon entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. O sinner, consider the fearful danger that you are in. Tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit full of the fire of wrath that you are held over in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and ready every moment to sing it and to burn it asunder. Remember talking to a woman who's with a brother. We were witnessing door to door have this conversation not long ago with this woman and she was trying to say, this is hell. Our life now, this is hell. I don't believe that hell exists. We're living hell now as she stands on the front porch of her house, her quick conditioning flowing out of the house on us as we're talking with food on her table, clothes on her back. That's the American idea of hell, the American conception, the world's conception of hell just don't believe it. But second, the reason that this is lost on most people, the reason for their shock when they close their eyes in this life and then open them in eternal torment. And that's because the word of God has been largely ignored. The word of God on this subject has been largely ignored and most professing Christians simply don't understand the character of God. Don't understand the character of God. God is holy. God is just. He is a God of justice. He who justifies the wicked He who condemns the just both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. Psalm chapter 7 verse 11 God is a just judge and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he does not turn back, if he does not turn back he will sharpen his sword. He bends his bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for himself instruments of death. He makes his arrows into fiery shafts. Listen, that is God Almighty. Our God is a consuming fire. No one needs the gospel if God is not a God of judgment. They render the gospel ineffective in their own hearts and minds by rendering the nature and the character of God of no import. After a nature of God they cut out those things that they don't like. The only thing of God in terms of grace in terms of love but God is a God of wrath. The gospel tells us that we're saved from God's wrath. Do you see? Listen again to Edwards. The God that holds you over the pit of hell much as one holds a spider or some loath, some insect he abhors you and he is dreadfully provoked. His wrath toward you burns like a fire. He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire. He is of pure eyes than to bear to have you in his sight. You are 10,000 times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful, venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else that you did not go to hell last night. That you were suffered to wake again in this world after you closed your eyes to sleep. We have to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ apart from Jesus Christ apart from Jesus Christ you are a loathsome insect a loathsome serpent God, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ God abhors you it's because God also being a God of love with the great love with which he loved us sent his only begotten son to die for those that he would redeem to himself, that he would call his own. We don't understand the character of God. Thirdly, third reason for this difficulty today is that people don't understand their own need. They don't understand their own depravity. The more that you and I understand how needy how undeserving we are and that understanding only comes by the spirit of God the word of God the more that you understand how needy you are, the more that you will run to Christ the more that you will flee to him and abide in him Edwards again there's no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose this morning but that God's hand has held you up there's no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell and sat here in the house of God provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell we have to understand our need part of understanding our need is understanding the danger that we are in if you are apart from Christ you need Christ flee to Christ you brother listen sister you must abide in him brother sister you must abide in him or you will be cut off you will be withered you will be cast out thrown into the fire and burned you must abide in Christ flee to Christ for refuge how clearly sometimes we treat these things we just don't see these eternal truths from the pages of God's word as those things that are critical to our souls to our lives consider our text if anyone verse 6 does not abide in me he is cast out as a branch and he is withered and they gather them and they throw them into the fire and they are burned kids listen I want you to listen to me for a minute it is so easy to avoid this reality and to fall into the devil's trap of escapism through entertainment or escapism through TV the enemy has arranged this world's system to distract you from this truth if you do not turn to Christ turning from your sin to put your faith in him if you do not entrust yourself to him you will be cast into hell forever and burn with the devil and his angels you must turn to Christ entertainment is a distraction TV music video games movies all those things constant droning on of self pleasing self indulgent self pleasure that constant droning on will distract you from the truth of God as it is in Christ some people use religious activity to do that right adults use religious activity some adults use video games and TV and movies to do all that too right use religious ritual to to placate a guilty conscience to tell themselves that everything is okay when everything is not okay they want preachers who will preach peace peace when there is no peace consider the Lord's warning here in John chapter 15 verse 6 turn at his reproof your only hope is Christ that's interesting in John chapter 15 there too in verse 6 the Lord makes reference to a withering the withering again it begins to be dried up you cut off from the vine and so you begin to dry up spiritually life giving moisture from the vine is cut off and so the branch withers let me ask you if you've been in Christ for any length of time you can feel this can't you a withering when you begin to depart in your heart from the living God that begins to turn cold that begins to dry up you grow indifferent toward the things of God that coldness or that distance that indifference that apathy in your heart is the first signs of a withering death those are the first signs of a withering death you grow cold toward the things of God when you do not abide in the vine seek Christ in his word love Christ more seek the Lord in prayer draw near to him and he will draw near to you if you will abide in him he will abide in you that's what that means seek Christ in his word love him pray draw near to him and communion with him draw near to him in prayer if you will abide in him he will abide in you Luke chapter 8 verse 17 4 nothing is secret that will not be revealed nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light therefore brother sister listen take heed how you hear for whoever has to him more will be given and whoever does not have will be taken from him it's the importance of being in a biblical church one of the importance the priorities of being in a biblical church you have these glorious means by which God takes care of his people he uses his people to take care of his people it's one of the means that he uses if you're in a biblical church and you have brothers you have sisters that look out for you you're involved in one another's lives you pray for one another you show love to one another you exhort one another you bear one of those burdens when someone begins to trail you pursue them that's what happens in a biblical church brothers watching out for brothers sisters involved in another sister's life that's why it's so important to be in a biblical church to the Lord's command to abide in verse 4 we see first the consequences to those who do not abide in verse 6 second the results or consequences to those who respond with a fruitful abiding in verse 7 results or consequences to those who respond with a fruitful abiding in verse 7 verse 7 if you abide in me and my words then abide in you you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you the second response if you abide in me those that abide in him if you persevere in the faith through the means that he has appointed and if his words then mutually abide in you two inevitable eventualities follow one you will ask what you desire two it's going to be done for you alright now the wording of verse 7 here should remind us of John 8 verse 31 if you remember when we were there in that text in a conversation with those who supposed that they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord rebuked them in John 8 verse 31 and said if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed in other words if you continue in his word if you remain in his word in other words if you obey it from the heart by faith in him then you are my disciples in other words a disciple is not merely a learner a disciple is not merely a learner a disciple is a learning follower a learning doer a learning apprentice so to speak not merely a hearer of the word but a doer of the word so now by the time we get down to John 15 verse 7 we understand here that a condition for being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ in other words a mark of a genuine Christian is abiding in Jesus's words abiding in his word that abiding is not a mystical thing it's not this superstitious thing this ethereal thing it's a tangible thing it's a material thing it's also a spiritual thing but it's something that is tangible and that's clarified by verses 9 and 10 drop down to verse 9 one way by which you abide in his word is to abide in his love by verse 9 this is clarified by verse 9 as the Father loved me I also have loved you abide in my love if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love we can then deduce right from the text the reverse is also true if you do not keep the commands of Christ then you are not abiding in his love so important to understand this right so important to understand this we need to be reminded of this continuously understand this from scripture right we've talked about this text God's love for his people is all entirely of grace God's preserving of his people is entirely is completely of undeserved grace however however it's passages like this in John chapter 15 that make it clear that our response to that grace is a critical part of our relationship to him it's a part of how we relate to him if you understand the sovereignty of God and salvation you know that even that response is a gift from him right we don't bear fruit because we abide in him we bear fruit because we abide in him and he abides in us it's because he is in us that we bear fruit it's his abiding that produces us even the response is a gift of God now what flows from this then is a glorious consequence of that mutual abiding first our response is you will ask what you desire right this is an expression of faith and dependence you're going to ask what you desire our response in that mutual abiding is that we're going to ask in prayer what we desire prayer is an expression of faith when you pray you are expressing your faith and trust and the one whom you pray to you're expressing faith and trust in God it expresses our dependence upon him it's um it's a tangible way that you demonstrate the fact presented in verse 5 that you can do nothing apart from him when you realize that you can do nothing apart from him then you express your faith and trust in him by praying it's faith and dependence now drop down to verse 16 this prayer is clarified a little bit by verse 16 verse 16 clarifies that it's fruit that's being prayed for verse 16 says this but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you you go and bear fruit your fruit should remain so that whatever you ask my Father in my name he may give you ties prayer to fruitfulness now notice in this that the Father the vine dresser is not passive he's not passive in pruning the branches and you should not be passive in praying right the Father prunes for the sake of fruit you must pray for the sake of fruit for the sake of abiding in him one said he's not wasting his time in pruning and you're not wasting your time in praying you must pray for the sake of fruit first thing that flows from this glorious consequence of our mutual abiding is our response you will ask what you desire that even that response is a gift of God you're going to do that as a genuine Christian because it is God who is at work in you both the willing to do according to his good pleasure you're going to pray if you're a Christian you pray by praying through the means of prayer God causes you to abide in him okay so we see God's response in verse 7 God's response his part of the his side of the coin so to speak is it shall be done for you it shall be done for you look at verse 7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you one you will ask what you desire other side of the coin and it shall be done for you abiding through prayer which is an expression of faith an expression of God there will be fruit because God has said there will be fruit there will be fruit because God has promised and God is faithful fruit in the Christian life then is a consequence among other things of a prayerful abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ you just need to persevere in the faith you and I need to persevere in the faith a fruit is a result of that which flows it is that which flows from the prayers of the righteous when someone prays and they pray according to the will of God they pray in faith they pray independence upon God and they're praying for fruit fruit is what flows from the prayers of the righteous in other words prayers in accord with the Lord's name prayers in accord with the Lord's Lordship over you in accord with his purposes his desires which if you're a Christian are also your purposes and your desires your prayer conforms to the will of God if your prayers or if you are abiding in the word of God and his words abide in you then your prayers are going to conform to the word of God your prayers are going to be informed by the word of God your prayers can be prayed with the expectation of faith knowing that they're in accord with God's word that you'll have that thing that you've asked for therefore the fruit would be anything that flows from that anything that flows from that love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control right don't you want those things if you're a Christian when you pray for those things you're praying in accord with his purposes you're praying in accord with his desires and as a Christian you desire those things you're praying in accord with your own purposes with your own desires and what flows from that prayer are those fruits because God has promised and God is faithful if you're in Christ abiding in him you're praying for love joy peace patience kindness and so on you're going to get love joy peace patience kindness those are fruits of God's spirit at work in you when you pray for victory over sin right praying in accord with God's will God's purposes when you're praying to love your brother love your sister more the way that Jesus has commanded you to love them that fruit is going to flow from that righteous prayer God is going to do that you're going to ask what you desire which is those things and he's going to do it it shall be done for you your prayer conforms to the will of God you're going to get God's answer the gospel going out when you're out witnessing sharing the gospel pleading for their soul lost people are going to hear the gospel people who are saved there are many people today who are sitting in this room that are the fruit of our prayers you are the fruit of our prayers remember Pastor Rick preaching through Daniel on Sunday nights think about Daniel when Daniel prayed in Daniel chapter 9 he prayed it says there with understanding understanding from God's word he prayed having read the scroll of Isaiah knowing that the time of their captivity was at an end and so Daniel's prayer was with understanding from God's word and before Daniel could even finish the prayer God was dispatching the answer you see that's the way that we're to pray pray in accord with God's word if you are abiding in the vine if you're abiding in his words and if he is abiding in you and his words and this is the way that you're going to pray and God says it shall be done for you all of this why is this so important we've taken our time through John 15 looking at how the Christian life is characterized by abiding in the vine and how that abiding in the vine produces fruit why is this so important last point on your notes like at verse 8 because by this the Lord says my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples notice first why is this important one because the father is glorified the father is glorified fruitfulness in the Christian life brings glory to the father through the work of the son and the work of the Holy Spirit fruitfulness in the Christian life glorifies God fruitfulness in the Christian life is a way in which the son himself glorifies God the father you see the connection by this my father is glorified that you bear fruit fruitfulness brings glory to God through the work of the son our fruitfulness as believers is one way in which the son himself glorifies his heavenly father brings glory to God the father it is critical that you and I bear fruit fruitlessness fruitlessness robs God of the glory that he deserves fruitlessness in the Christian so called Christian life robs God of glory it is a failure to honor the son a failure to honor the son is a failure to honor the father we must bear fruit he says secondly in verse 8 that it is in this way that you are to be disciples of me so you will be my disciples it is in this way so to speak in which you will be disciples of mine consider this for a moment another way of saying that a genuine Christian will abide in the vine and bear fruit to the glory of God not only is it the responsibility of every genuine Christian to abide in him and then bear fruit to the glory of God it is a mark of genuine conversion it is a guarantee so to speak it is that which Christ himself has purchased on Calvary when he bought you with his own blood you if you are in Christ you will bear fruit to the glory of God this is the way that you are going to be my disciples the Lord Jesus Christ is saying you want to be my disciple this is the way that you are going to be my disciple you are going to bear fruit you are going to abide in me bear fruit to the glory of God that is how you are my disciples in other words, if you do not if you do not abide in the vine and bear fruit to the glory of God you are not his disciple you are not his disciple now to the one who has that unhealthy fear of God we talked about before that will drive you away from him it will drive you away from him in unbelief, in faithlessness you will be driven away in faithlessness and unbelief but listen the response of the Christian to you here today if you want to follow Christ your response is faith and trust in him I will abide because I desire from the heart with every fiber of my being to produce fruit to the glory of God I want to produce fruit I want to glorify God who made me my creator I live for his glory I want to produce fruit to the glory of God therefore I will abide in the vine you see it is a charge it is a charge to us abide in the vine takes us back to our premise it is the urgent necessity of every professing Christian in fact our highest priority must be to glorify God by bearing increasing fruit in true union with Christ through a prayerful blessing in him John chapter 15 verses 1 through 8 and as we work through the rest of the text and sermons to come is a call to commitment it is a charge to follow Christ it is a charge to press on in faith don't be weak or cowardly or unbelieving put faith in Christ he is faithful amen you are not kept by your own power you are kept by his power you don't accomplish these things in your own strength you will accomplish them in his strength so when you are battered you are beaten about the head and shoulders over your sin put faith in Christ and you press on in faith sin will not have dominion over me because I trust the living God who died and gave himself for me you put faith in Christ and you press on when you are persecuted you have every manner of men thinking and speaking evil of you you press on you wear that as a badge of honor and you press on and follow Christ follow Christ put faith in him doesn't matter what men think here only matters what God thinks when you are facing difficulty, trials we have had some significant trials in this church many of you are in significant trials even now when you face trial put your faith and trust in the one who keeps you by his power put faith and trust in the one who will see you through it and you bear fruit in that trial to the glory of God it is glorifying to God to bear fruit in the midst of a difficulty like that it's in this way that you are disciples of me it's in this way that you will be my disciples the Lord says motivating to the Christian amen we've not been called to a life of ease we've been called to a life of labor to a life of work to a life of striving to a life of glorifying God bearing fruit in his name we've been called to abide in the vine and bear fruit on behalf of Christ I implore you abide in him Father in heaven we thank you for this text thank you Lord for what you instruct us with here and I pray God that by your spirit through a prayerful abiding he will heed your command out of love for you Lord from the heart that we might bear fruit to the glory of God that in that both God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit for your great name God bear fruit through us abide in us Lord cause us to abide in your word cause your word to abide in us and bear fruit for your glory we love you Lord our desire is to see you high exalted, lifted up all praise honor and glory be to your name now and forever in Jesus name we pray Amen