 So I'll go ahead and read John 15.5. And it says, Jesus said, I'm 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. You know, I read a story about a father who watched through his kitchen window his son struggling to pick up a rock out of his sandbox. He was a big rock and he could tell that his son was struggling. He was having a hard time trying to lift it up. He wasn't really getting the leverage he needed to lift this thing up to the side of his sandbox. So as he struggled and struggled, he gave up. So he went to the side and he sat at the side of his sandbox, frustrated, and he put his head in his hands because he was bummed. He couldn't do anything about it. Well, his dad went out and he said to his son, son, what is the problem? And he told his dad, I can't get this rock out of this sandbox. He says, are you not strong enough? And he says, I'm not. It's too hard. And his father then asked him, have you used all the strength that is available to you? And his son said, yes, I have. No, you haven't replied his father. You haven't asked me to help you. You see, self-reliance was that little boy's problem. He didn't want to ask for help. It was something that he wanted to do himself. He wanted to accomplish himself and yet he had a little bit more strength outside of his own strength and that's his daddy. And it's interesting to me because this kind of reminds me of what we're looking at today. Self-reliance, dependence, trust. I mean, when we talk about trust, I think trust is perhaps one of the most unnatural things for human beings, don't you? Don't you think? I mean, when it comes to trust, we are prone to trust in ourselves. We are prone to trust in others, in money, in our strength, and sometimes in our own fame. And when we talk about dependence, dependence is something that has to be relearned on a regular basis for us as Christians. You know, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that I've already learned that lesson. If you ever get there, be careful as a Christian because if you don't know by now as a Christian that you relearn things over and over. You may think you got it the first time, but then a month later, two months later, God puts you to that test again and you wonder, wait a minute, help me, what's going on? And you've learned that lesson. Well, no, you haven't. It's something you learn on a daily basis. Dependence on God is one of those lessons that we will never fully grasp once and for all. It's something that we learn on a daily basis. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I was there, something that I had to rely God on and I can tell you I've learned this lesson before. But it was, to me, it was brand new. It was like, okay, I got to learn this again. It's not something that sticks with you. Tonight we continue in the series, Identity, Who Are You Really? And we're going to look at what it means to be dependent people of God, because that's who you are. You are dependent, but on God. That's what we're supposed to be when it comes to the Christian life. Our dependence on God is on Him alone. And what we need to do is develop a God-dependent life. That's what we really need to learn, is how do we live a God-dependent life? How do we learn to depend on God? Well, here I think Jesus in John chapter 5, just in this verse 5, shows us something very, very important about dependence. And notice what he says in verse 5. He starts it by saying, I am the vine, right away. Now, if you go to verse 1 of chapter 15, Jesus added an important word called true, or it's true. He says, I am the true vine. What does that mean? Well, I am the genuine vine. The real one is what he's saying here in verse 1, and as he goes into verse 5, it's interesting because he's trying to reveal himself to his disciples of who he really is, one of his attributes. It was A.W. Tozer who once said, the most important thought anyone can have is a correct understanding of God's attributes. When you don't have God's attributes down, or understand them, when you go through trials in your life, you're going to have a hard time. In fact, I've known people who have gone through hard times, and most of their issues that they have with God is not because God is mean, or because God doesn't care, or God is not listening. It's because they don't understand who God is. That's what happens. And I think it's important here for us to understand what is Jesus saying when he says, I am the true vine. This is what he's saying. That I am your life source. Just what Jesus is saying. He is our life source. Right away, he makes that clear to his disciples, listen, I am the vine. But he doesn't stop there. Now he identifies as disciples by saying this. Notice, you are what? The branches. So he says, I am the vine. You are the branches. A great vine was a little twig. It's interesting to me that when Jesus describes his children, he uses sheep and now a twig. You know, I find it interesting because I believe there are Christians today who have this inflated view of themselves as these big messengers of God. No, you're a twig. You're a sheep. You're not going to find anywhere in the Bible that God is calling you a lion. He's not matching you to Michael the Archangel or Gabriel. No, you're a sheep and you're a twig. A little piece of wood is what you are. You know, it's interesting because when we see this here and we look in Scripture, I mean, Paul the Apostle, who would you... I mean, I would think he's a big messenger of God. He didn't consider himself this big wig. What did he say? He says, I am the chief of what? Sinners. Paul the Apostle. And if you go in the Old Testament, Isaiah the Prophet. What did he say? I'm a man of unclean lips. That is the correct view. And we see here that a branch was utterly useless when it was off the vine. In fact, it was so useless that we had nothing with it. And the only thing they can actually do is actually use it to help kindling to start the real wood. That's what it was actually used for. That branch, that little twig, took on real significance when it was connected to the vine. And let me apply this to us. Your life will take real significance when you're connected to Jesus. When you are dependent on Christ, that is when life takes on real significance for you and for me. Did you know that? What do you mean by that? Well, you find purpose in Jesus. Not only do you find purpose in Jesus, you find fulfillment in Jesus. You find satisfaction in Jesus. You know how it is to be without Christ. In our secular world today, our humanistic world today, we don't look at what people are into and what's going on outside of Christ. People are left very empty. People that are into this humanistic culture, they pursue many things, thinking that in these things they're pursuing, they're going to find some kind of meaning. What kind of things do people pursue? Well, they pursue business success, wealth, good relationships, sex, entertainment, and doing good to others. And they think that in those things, I'm going to find some kind of satisfaction, but you know what? People that have tested, or actually have testified that while they achieved these goals, they were still left empty. I mean, you probably have seen interviews of these celebrities who have made a lot of money, and when they interview them, they're like, I'm still empty. I mean, I can go on with a list of different people that you would probably know. I'm just going to move this down a little bit. But we know that this is something that happens to even famous people, that in their pursuit of fame and all the wealth that they have, they're still left empty. So it doesn't work. And then, so Jesus here, as he's speaking to his disciples, and to us, he says, I'm the true vine, you're the branches, and notice what he says here. Here's where it really hits us between the eyes. Notice. Verse 5, for without me you can do nothing. That's pretty bold, huh? Like, excuse me? What do you mean? Without you, I can do nothing? What is he saying here? I mean, Jesus is being straight forward here with us. I mean, how many of you guys here have tried to do something just on your own without God's help? Raise your hand. Be honest with me here. I should see every person here and if you haven't done that, you're going to do it. What was that like? I'll tell you what it was like. For me, I felt flat on my face. When we decide to say, okay, God, listen, you've helped me here and there, but today I'm going to take this on my own. Watch me. Check it out. It doesn't work. Something happens. There's a problem that happens. It's important for us because we think that God is depending on us. God wants us to depend on him, but we think sometimes, no, he's depending on me. So watch this, Lord. Look how I'm going to help you. You know who did that in the Old Testament? It was Moses. Remember Moses? 40 years, right? He went out and he thought he was the deliverer. He just said, Lord, you're depending on me. I'm going to do it. Here we go. And he did it wrong, didn't he? And then buried him under the sand. That wasn't the way God wanted him to deliver his own people. That was the wrong way. But Moses wanted to do it himself. It didn't work. It didn't work out in what happened to him. Well, he ended up just basically being pushed out into the desert and he was there for 40 years and it took God another 40 years to finally bring him to a place in his own life that, listen, you have to come to the end of yourself. You have to be dependent on me. And at 80 years old, God came to Moses and he spoke to him through a burning bush. Moses, Moses. And right there, that's where he started the ministry. That's where Moses, as an 80-year-old person, finally leaned on God. And he learned his lesson in that. I love what he said in Exodus 33-15. Notice this. This is not the same Moses when he was in his 40s. If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. Isn't that cool? It's like, God, if you're not in this, please don't make me move forward. Don't let me move forward. If you don't go with us, I am depending on you. That means that if you're not with me here, if you're not going in this direction, Lord, then shut this door. That's what we need to do. And we'll talk about this here in a moment. That we are so dependent on God that we want him included in what we do in this life. Because God, if you're not in this job, Lord, if you're not in this relationship, then Lord, get me out of this. Because that's what means, what it means to be dependent on God. We want his way. So I love what he said there in Exodus 33-15. So our identity in Christ is basically, I am a branch. I'm a branch. I'm a twig. I'm a piece of wood. I am dependent upon God is what I'm trying to say here. I am dependent upon God. And remember, we are dependent upon Jesus. It's not the other way around. He is not dependent upon us. That is why Jesus said, I am divine. You're the branches. You're the one connected to me. When we talk about depending on God, depending on God is a basic to the Christian life. It really is. When we think about trusting God and being dependent on God, think about this. We depend on God for salvation. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. I cannot save myself. You cannot save yourself. Therefore, all of us here who are born again have dependent on God to save us. And now we stand saved. That's the very first dependent. The first thing we trusted God with is our salvation. Very basic, very practical, but yet very powerful and very important. We trusted Him. So we see that not only that, but we also trust God in regards to wisdom. We depend on Him for wisdom. When we lack wisdom, we ask for it according to James chapter 1 verse 5. And we depend on God for everything. I mean, Jesus provides our daily bread. In John chapter 6, they didn't Jesus say, don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about tomorrow. He didn't say, don't worry about next week or next month. Just don't worry about tomorrow. Don't go beyond tomorrow. Sometimes we're worried about tomorrow. Some of you are probably worried about tomorrow right now. You're wondering, how am I going to do this tomorrow? What am I going to do that? Listen, Jesus said, I am already taking care of tomorrow. Just trust me. Depend on me here. I'll take care of things. We see very clearly, not only do we depend on God for everything, but we depend on God in everything. I love what Acts chapter 17, 28 says. It says, for in Him we live and move and have our being. You're all here breathing because of God. When you go home tonight and you lay your head on your pillow, you lay your head on that pillow with a peaceful heart because your life is in His hands. And if the roof fell on your head overnight and it's what happens, then hey, you wake up in heaven. But when you wake up in the morning tomorrow and you take that first breath, you're like, wow, and you see the sun through your window, then you're like, God, thank you for this day. You depended on Him. How many of you here, as you're sleeping, are worried about, like, am I still breathing? Am I still breathing? Honey, honey, am I breathing? Yes, you are. Okay, good, good, good. None of us, right? We go right in there, we sleep, we're done. Next, you know, we're waking up at 4 or 5, whatever time you wake up, and you're like, whoa, that was a quick night. Imagine all that time sleeping. God is there watching you. Your organs are moving. Your organs are working. Your brain is functioning. Everything is going on. You're not going to get a slab or coming out. That's all, you know, part of your whole thing, you know what I mean? But it's like, you depend on God in everything. Your body, your health, everything. So we see here that dependence on God is important. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, one of my favorite verses, trust in the Lord with all your hearts. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. All your heart. There's not even room for you to be like, I don't know if I want to trust them here. No, trust them with all your hearts. And then lean not on your own understanding. Here's where we get in trouble, right? We can trust God, but then all of a sudden we start thinking too much. And we're thinking, wait, let's see. Okay, Lord, I know I'm supposed to trust you in this, but here we go. There's where we get in trouble. But the Bible makes it clear that God wants us to trust him with all of our hearts and to not lean on our own understanding, to be very careful, because sometimes we get ourselves in trouble. We make things worse when we do that. So the Lord wants us to depend on him alone. And depending on God alone does not mean we act foolishly, okay? Let me just add that. Jesus is a great example of this. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 4 verses 5 and 7. Matthew 4. Let me just show you quickly here. Matthew chapter 4. When Jesus was tempted or attacked by Satan himself, we see something interesting that happened here. Remember, depending on God alone does not mean we act foolishly. Chapter 4 of Matthew verse 5 and 7. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you. And in their hands, they shall jump up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Did Jesus say, okay, here we go. No. Jesus said it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. I mean, right there, he just stopped it. Very, very clearly, Jesus is basically saying basically here in this attack is what he's saying. He's like, listen, I don't need to jump off the pinnacle to prove that I am dependent on God. And neither should you. I mean, there's a difference between trusting God and putting God to the test. What's the difference? Well, putting God to the test is like saying, closing your eyes while you're driving home tonight and saying something like this, I am going to depend on God alone to drive me home. Please don't try that. That's putting God to the test. And we see that we can still depend on God in those things and we can trust him. Or here's another example. Let's say you cut your hand in a very deep way and you're bleeding. I mean, you're bleeding really bad. And again, you say to yourself, I am going to depend on God that he's going to stop this blood flow while it's just rushing down your hand. Again, that's putting God to the test. You have an ER. You have a hospital. See, sometimes we think that we lack faith or that we're being, you know, or God's going to get mad at us because we're not trusting in him. No, no, that's acting foolishly. That's not what the Bible supports. When you get into these things, we can still depend on God while we visit the doctor because we know that all healing ultimately comes from God and we can depend on God as we drive home because we know that God has given us the ability to steer a car, right? We went to DMV. We took the test. God expects us to use that. So there's a difference in that. When it comes to the depending on God you can put God to the test. We depend on God all the time and sometimes there are times that we depend on God and that's all you can do. I mean, that's all you can do. Is nobody there to help you? There's nothing you can do. It's just, I just got to trust you here. There's many examples in the scriptures where God gave them the faith they needed to make it through those times. Daniel chapter 3, if you remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego those three young Hebrew boys were put to the test and Nebuchadnezzar erected this image and at the sound of all these instruments he said, I want every person to bow down to this image to bow down, to submit to it and if they don't they are going to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Well when that happened again all these people were there and the instruments went up and then all of a sudden the only three that were left standing up were the three boys a young Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the ones kind of like this standing up. When they go down well they were basically they got in trouble. The magistrates and the officials went to Nebuchadnezzar and said hey you know those three guys guess what when you did all the instruments they stayed standing up bring them over let's throw them in, barbecue them that's what they did, they brought them over he threatened them again who is your God he's mocking God and all of this and that and he's got that furnace going he says well you're going to go down in this furnace like I said and Nebuchadnezzar Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego they weren't afraid they were totally depending on God for deliverance amazing and this is what they told him as before they were thrown into the furnace listen to this Daniel chapter 3 verse 17 if this is the case speaking to Nebuchadnezzar our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning furnace and will deliver us from your hand oh king and of course they said but if not he said we will not worship your idols and then he just got upset he threw them in right and these guys went down and this guy was so upset he even cranked up the heat even more like that's going to do anything right they're already burning in fire another 20 more degrees hotter it doesn't matter they're dead it didn't happen right see these guys were at a place in their life where they were depending on God just alone on God there was nothing else they could do they could have run away but they were there it's us and God Lord we are at your mercy and there are times in your life that you're going to be in that place all you can do is just depend on God depend on God for the outcome because that's exactly what happened with these guys they said Lord we are going to trust you with the outcome either you can deliver us which we believe you can or listen if we go down and we die then hey we'll see you and we see here that life has those times where all you can do is just depend on God alone for that outcome whatever it is God of your control no one can help you but yet God will give you the faith to make it through those times and maybe you've gone through those times before and you're like I know what you're talking about Robert I know exactly what you're talking about I've been cornered before and I have nowhere else to go no one else to look to but it's only to God and the outcome and he took care of it and here I am sitting smiling been there done that and we see here that this is exactly where Jesus is kind of encouraging us about depending on him these guys are thrown in this fiery furnace here's another example and this example is even worse turn with me I want you guys to actually see this yourself turn to act 16 verse 22 act 16 verse 22 a lot of you are familiar with this story but it's really it's a good reminder of how these guys were so dependent on God for the outcome there's nothing else they could do they literally couldn't go anywhere else act 16 verse 22 I'll read verses 22 through 26 Paul and Silas are imprisoned for preaching Jesus they were beaten and they were thrown into the inner dungeon the stinking hole basically is what it was and it says in verse 22 the multitude rose up together against them and magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods and they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely having received such a charge he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks but at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors opened and everyone's chains were loosed isn't that crazy what would you do in that moment God where are you these guys were singing and praying I wish look you know posted the song they were singing what was this song what was that hymn what were they praying what were they saying to God in this uncomfortable spot see they trusted God they depended on him and the outcome was in God's hands it's like we're just gonna pray and sing follow me Silas you ready let the Lord what was it I mean awesome listen when you're going through those dark times in your life here's a good thing to do begin to sing and practice practice that worship the Lord pray and worship pop in a CD or whatever it is on your iPhone or what not and just start singing put in your favorite song and just start singing to Jesus watch how quickly that issue disappears from your mind it's like it just fleas why because your heart and mind is centered on Jesus Satan wants you to focus on the issue because he wants to drag you down he wants to scare you he wants to tell you that problem that you're going through is so huge that not even your God can bail you out the moment you get your mind off of that and you do something different like that pray and sing you're going to see victory big time that's exactly what happened to these guys they were not going to allow Satan to destroy the work that God was doing in their lives so they just said Lord let's do it and God responded in a very powerful way so powerful that everybody's chains lose were lost the jailer, if we read on wanted to commit suicide because it was his life there that was put on and on the spot to guard these guys but yet he stopped them and that man got right with God it's interesting here going back to our text here that this is something that we need to understand again that life has those times where all you can do is depend on God alone for the outcome and those two examples I gave you so how can you and I be more dependent on God when we talk about being dependent on God and a lot of us in our head we think yeah of course I depend on God I trust them but what does that look like in your life do you really really really depend on God can you well how can you well let me give you some practical things here one put God first in your life start there put him first in your life you know Jesus said I am the vine you're the branches stay connected well what does that look like when it comes to putting God first in your life well doing this let his will be done not yours let his will be done not yours Matthew 633 listen to this Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness in all these things shall be added to you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness he said that's where you start put God first you know that Jesus's life was characterized by submission to the Father's will I mean it was very clear his service to others prayer everything Jesus did was according to the Father's will that's the way it should be for us as Christians you know when we make decisions in life we actually should want to make those decisions based on what God's will is for us what is your will Lord in this decision that I am making praying through it talking to God about it we want his will we desire his will in our decisions because why because he knows what's best and he knows what tomorrow brings he knows the future we see what we see in front of us we can guesstimate we can forecast and think well maybe if I go this way this is what's going to happen but it's God who really knows exactly what's going to happen if you make that decision begin to allow God to come into those decisions and ask for his will you know when when they lost Judas they were missing a partner a minister partner so they went to God because obviously they wanted this decision to be according to God's will and this is what they said in Acts 124 they prayed and said you oh Lord who know the hearts of all show which of these two you have chosen do you see that which of these two you have chosen that's the way that we should approach decisions on this side of heaven Lord which way do you want me to go Lord if you have a job Lord which job do you want me to take Lord I'm praying for this person to marry you know their heart so Lord you let me know are they my husband are they going to be my wife and if so let's go for it if not then tell me sometimes you don't pray that way we don't want to hear the answer right right I mean we're like I'm going to take a chance on this Lord because there's a lot of grays you know and then all of a sudden you get married to the wrong person and then you're just going through a long you know I mean I've seen that happen a lot unfortunately I remember one time a friend of ours my wife and I Kareens we have this friend who was engaged to this guy and man we saw red flags like this big you know what I mean we've learned her about it don't it's not happening this is not good didn't care she did it she got married marriage only lasted I don't remember a couple years three years maybe with that because of those red flags and unfortunately she's like I knew that I just did not want to hear the truth we see here that we want God His will on these things what school do you want me to attend Lord what do you want me to say in this situation Lord we want His will we want His our decisions to be part of His will what do you think Lord which brings me to the next thing not only put God first but also pray more pray more talk to God more prayer shows our dependence on God I mean more so in this day and age with the whole thing that's going on with terrorism now it's official we should be on our knees even more Lord help us Father please help us I'm dependent on God I mean thank God for our law enforcement people out there totally awesome I have a brother in law who's a CHP I have a good friend of mine in the county love those guys thankful that they do their job and that they're protecting us but they're very limited in what they can do my true dependence is on God it's totally on God and I want to be more connected to him especially in these days to be prayed up to be totally prayed up because it's important how important is prayer in the Bible 650 prayers listed in the Bible and out of those 650 prayers listed in the Bible 450 are recorded answers to those prayers God speaks that's cool it encourages me did you know that prayer is one of our powerful weapons of warfare we could use that against the enemy we could do some damage if we learned how to pray we could do some damage the enemy hates it when Christians pray oh he hates it a lot of us don't pray and I can be guilty of the same thing get busy at home with kids and whatnot that I don't realize the importance of prayer the privilege of prayer as God says in Hebrews 4 16 let us come boldly to the throne of grace let us come boldly to the throne of grace we have free access to God we're always looking for free access free wifi we find it we're like yes I got free wifi and you're on the internet for hours listen you have free access to God's throne you can talk to God anytime he's not charging you maybe he should charge us to make it worthy right I mean we have the privilege to pray to the God of heaven the creator of the heavens and the earth just destroy this earth and bring up a whole new heaven and new Jerusalem a God that you see just raining bowls of wrath and trumpets of wrath and revelation that's the same God that you're talking to that's pretty cool and guess what you're on his side now you're not an enemy to him we have a strong God don't forget that he's powerful we have the privilege to pray pray without seizing the Bible says pray without seizing well what do you come to God for what do you pray for I know in my life I've come to God for help protection direction wisdom, peace, strength boldness to love others seeking his will for my life those are things that I have gone to God over and over and I'm going to continue that list over and over until the day I die it repeats it over and over and over and over the only God can provide those things for me man is limited nobody can give me that I love what David said in Psalm 118 it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man that's pretty cool it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man how many of you have been let down by somebody listen God will never let you down isn't that cool he's never going to let you down you can trust him that's what the Bible says here you can trust him it is better to trust God than your next neighbor that didn't bring you those eggs that you asked for seriously it's important but let me conclude part of who we are in Christ Jesus made it very clear that he's divine were the branches significance when it comes to life it has to be connected we have to be connected to Jesus you cannot try to live your life apart from Christ's you will not find true satisfaction true fulfillment and you will always be left empty and it's important for us to understand that we have we have surrendered our lives to Christ because we want him to take over our lives let me say this self-reliance shuts out God self-reliance shuts out God if you want to shut God out of your life then do it yourself just do things on your own that's how you're going to shut God out of your life and it's important for us to understand that without God we are powerless defenseless and helpless a branch can't really even be a branch without the vine and the same thing a Christian can't even be a genuine Christian without being connected to Christ it's not going to produce the fruits that Jesus is even wanting we need Jesus every single day don't we every single day apart from him what did Jesus say we can do nothing so you have to answer the question are you dependent on him where is your dependence who do you depend on