 Okay, we're in John chapter 15. We're going to look at verses 1 through 8 and I'll begin by reading those eight verses to you and then we'll get into our study. What we're looking at is a place where Jesus refers to Himself as the true vine, the true vine. So beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 8, John chapter 15, Jesus said, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. 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. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. They gather them and 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. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. So notice how Jesus has just made a statement. He said, I am the true vine, my father is the vine dresser. In all of this, let me give to you a context, a little bit of a backdrop. I would remind you how in chapter 14 in verse 31, how Jesus had just said to his disciples, as a father gave me commandment, so I do. As a father gave me commandment, so I do. So the command that Jesus is speaking about here is to lay down his life for the sheep and that's what he's about to do and that's what he's on his way to do. We saw in chapter 10, verses 17 and 18, how Jesus said, my father loves me because I laid down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. He went on to say, I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my father. And so as a father gave me commandment, so I do. What was the commandment to lay down his life? And so he's on his way to complete the events that will eventuate in his crucifixion. Now he's left the room. Notice in verse 31 of chapter 14, once again, it says that he said, arise, let us go from here. So he's left the room. It's the room that they had celebrated Passover in. He's on his way to a place called Gethsemane. He's on his way ultimately to the cross. And as they're walking, he is sharing with them and he gives what would be called an allegory, an allegory that is intended to illustrate the fruitful Christian life. What we're going to see here, and let me develop this as part of my introduction. I'll return to this in just a few minutes. But what we see here is that Jesus is speaking concerning what a genuine Christian is and what a genuine Christian does. And we're going to see in this first eight verses of chapter 15 that a genuine or a real Christian bears spiritual fruit. Now, when I was first saved, I began to encounter a new language like all of us did, a new language. I didn't know what the language was. I now call it Christenese. It was a new language that I'd never really heard before. People would use words I wasn't familiar with. They talk about the rapture, a word I'd never heard about in terms of theological meaning. They'd talk about backsliding and they would talk about agape and just various things. This was a new language to me. It was called Christianese. It was a language they were very familiar with, very fluent in. But I'm a brand new believer. And I came to think about that. And even as I was preparing the study, guys, I started thinking about how we use language and sometimes we don't really define what we're talking about. And so what I want to do is I want to talk to you a bit about what it means to bear fruit and what the fruit is that he's referring to because fruit is one of those words that is thrown around as if everybody understands its meaning. So the question has to be asked, what is he talking about? And just what is fruit? Well, without going into great detail, the word fruit in Scripture is used in a variety of ways. It can speak about your repentance that you actually genuinely repented. That word is used in the context of repentance in Matthew 3, verses 7 and 8, where John the Baptist told the Sadducees and Pharisees, this is what he said to them. He said, Brut of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? And then John went on to say, therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. He used the word fruits and he says this is a fruit or an evidence that is worthy of repentance. So fruit can be demonstrated as an evidence. It can be used to describe false prophets. The word is used to describe bad teachers. In Matthew 7, verses 15 and 16, Jesus said, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. He went on to say, you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? You know them by what is produced by them. You'll know them by their fruit. The word can be used to describe the works that are performed. In Colossians 1, verse 10, the apostle Paul said, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So fruit can be used for repentance. It can be used in terms of identification of a false teacher. It can be used to describe the works that are performed. It can also be used to describe the character of somebody. In Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23, as well as 2 Peter 1, verses 5 through 8, we find lists that describe the character of a believer. The word is used, fruit, the fruit of their life. So you see love. You see self-control. You see joy and peace. You see long suffering. You see kindness and goodness. You see faithfulness and meekness, virtue, knowledge, endurance, piety, brotherly love. This is all character. This is all evidence. These are the things that believers are supposed to be known by. So I could ask myself this question as a believer, am I known by the love of God? Am I? Am I known for having self-control? Am I known because I have joy and peace? Am I? Am I known because I have long suffering or I'm kind? Am I known as a believer because I evidence goodness and faithfulness? Do I have the fruit of meekness? Is there a virtue in my life, knowledge of the things of God? Am I known for my endurance, my piety? Am I known by these things? Because that's fruit. There's a variety of fruit. We'll see it again in a little while. I'll develop that a little further. But that's something we have to ask ourselves is that if people see me, do they see these things? I'm telling you there are many of us who love Jesus who have yet to understand that the greatest evidence that I know him is I become like him. That's what it means to be a Christian, right? To be Christ-like. You're being changed. Jesus is talking to us about this, by the way, guys. He's talking about how that organically occurs because Pharisees can put on self-righteous people or religious pretenders can put on these things. They can put on as if they have love, as if they have patience, as if they... It's not hard to do. It really isn't hard. We all know that. We've been around a long time. It's not hard to put on these things. Years ago before Marie and I were dating, I was taking a young lady out, went to a church that I had started going to for Thursday nights and Sunday nights for fellowship, and I started dating this young lady. Her father, when I met him, was kind of an abrupt, even a rude man. Made me feel very uncomfortable when I went over. I wasn't really dating her that long, but it was pretty immediate. As a matter of fact, the first time I went to pick her up for a date and he was rude, I walked out and I said to her, I said, is there something wrong? Your dad mad about something, and she said, no, he's just that way. He's just like that. And I said, really, he's just rude, huh? She goes, yeah, that's my dad. I said, okay, that's fine. And so one day I went to pick her up for something and knocked on the door of the door. She opened the door and said, let's go. And she says, okay, she turns to her dad and says, dad, I'm leaving. And he says, okay, baby, have a great time, honey. Love you. And I looked at her as we walked to my car and I said, why do you do that? Because he wasn't like that. She says, oh, he always does that when company's over. He always does that when company's over. It's really not hard to act as if you're kind, to act as if you're loving if someone's watching you. But that's what's called hypocrisy. And the Pharisees were self-righteous. They prayed. They fasted. They gave. They did the spiritual things, right? We know that we read our Bibles and that's what you see them. But Jesus said, he said, they're hypocrites and he called them names, strong names, because they acted in one way, but were really different. So that's what we're looking at today. We're looking at fruit out of John chapter 15. We need to remember that, that when we're in the true vine, as Jesus is about to teach us, we produce these character traits. And when you're doing that, that's actually what the scripture refers to as bearing fruit. Remember always that right character results in right conduct. And that means that we'll live a life that produces good works. And Jesus made it clear, he said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven, Matthew 5.16. We live in such a way that people will see. And so when you're producing these good works, we do things. Once again, it's fruit. We live a life that is open to sharing about the love of God. Romans 113, for example, this is again fruit where Paul said to the Roman church, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you and was prevented until now. So this is what he says, so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. So fruit is also used to speak in terms of what is produced through the effort of evangelism where people are coming to the Lord. And Paul said, well, that's fruit. That's something that abounds through what God has done. And so again, the fruitfulness of a Christian life is organic. It's not based on trying hard. It's based on abiding. And you'll see this in a minute, abiding in him. Psalm one, verses one through three. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night and he goes on to say, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither whatever he does shall prosper. Have you ever been by a river that has trees that are lining the river? I have. I've gone by and I've seen these trees eucalyptus. I was in South America one time doing some ministry and happened to be on a walk walking by a river path. And there were these huge eucalyptus trees that were lining the path as we're going, actually lining the river. And you can see that these trees, their roots had gone into that current, that source of water. They were like trees that were planted by rivers of water. And I thought, so that's what Jesus is talking about, that the tree, it doesn't go through the drought. It's constantly being refreshed by water. So that's what you want from me. You want my roots to be deep in you and the water of life so that I might produce fruit even in times of drought. I'm there receiving from you. Oh, that's what you mean. You see, God intends for us to produce fruit and to do so in a fairly continuous fashion. It isn't something that's sporadic or very occasional. It's pretty much a continuous working of the spirit in us, because a continually bare life, if you will, a life that is barren of fruit is very often indicative of an unsaved condition. If you're on the job site and somebody approaches you to witness to you, God may be telling you something. That person who's witnessing to you thinks you don't know Jesus Christ. And so be aware of those things, because when you're in the Lord and the Lord is working in you, fruit will be produced. And that's what we're looking at here in John chapter 15. And so in verse one, Jesus refers to himself as, notice, the true vine. He says, I am the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. Now, John's Gospel, as I mentioned in the introduction of our study of John, John's Gospel records what are called seven I am statements. And this is the last of the seven I am statements. Remember in John six, verse 35, he said, I am the bread of life. In John eight, verse 12, he said, I am the light of the world. In John 10, verse seven, I am the door of the sheep. In chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. In John 11, 25, I am the resurrection and the life. In John 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. And now he says, in verse one of chapter 15, I am the true vine. Now, why would he refer to himself in that way? Well, we need to remember something in terms of context. I am the true vine. He had just celebrated Passover, which is now we regard the celebration of Passover when he broke the bread and took of the bread and the juice. We now recognize that as when he established what we call communion. So Jesus had just partaken of the fruit of the vine in Passover and what we now call communion. And so when you look at him saying, I am the true vine, we need to look in the Old Testament for a moment and remember that the nation of Israel is portrayed in the Old Testament sometimes as a wild vine. That's an interesting way to put it, but it's looked at as being wild. Isaiah, for example, chapter five, verses one and two, we read, I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choices vines. He built a tower in it, cut out a wine press as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. So in the Old Testament, Israel is this vine producing bad fruit. In Jeremiah, chapter two, verses 21 and 22, I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, sayeth the Lord God. The Old Testament was a vine of God, but he says you became an alien vine, a wild vine. You are worthy of judgment. He's saying you have become faithless and you're an object of punishment. So in John 15, verse one, when Jesus calls himself the true vine, what he's doing is obvious. He's drawing a comparison between true and false. Israel has been faithless, but he is genuine. He is faithful. And notice again, his father, as he's mentioned in verse one, is the vine dresser. In other words, my father and I are working together. We're never working separately. So every branch, verse two, in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Now, when he's speaking about this, and you need to note this, every branch in me, it is a branch that is loosely connected. It's an offshoot of the vine, but it's easily broken off. I wonder how many of us have experience with that. I do. I've killed many, many plants in my backyard. I have great experience in destruction. And I can tell you that there have been vines in my backyard that I'll look at the vine and one of the leaves, like ivy, for example, something like ivy, the leaves will be browner than other. So I'll walk up and I'll tap on the, on, and I do, I just tap on it and it breaks right off because it's only loosely attached. That's the picture we have here. It's a loosely attached offshoot. But how does that work? Let me give you two applications of this picture speaking of connected to the vine. When Jesus again says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away every branch that bears fruit. He prunes that it may bear more fruit. What is he talking about? He's talking about something that's loosely attached. That's easily broken off. What would it speak of? Well, one, an outward only kind of connection. That would be the result of creation. You see an example of this. I'll develop this, but you see it in Acts 17, 28 and 29. The Apostle Paul in the book of Acts in chapter 17, 28 and 29 in that general area. Paul is in Athens and he's debating with some of the philosophers, the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. And as he was up there sharing in all, he has opportunity to speak concerning what it means to be a believer in God and all. And so in Acts 17, as he's speaking to these Greeks, he's speaking to the philosophers and all. It says in Acts 17, 28 and 29, notice in him, we live and move and have our being. As also some of your own poets have said, we are also his offspring. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. By virtue of creation, humankind can speak concerning the fact that they can be loosely connected to the reality of a God who gives life to the world. And so there's a loose connection, if you will, and the way that Paul is using it when your own poets who are not believers are saying we are also his offspring. We're given inference that there is the general creation of humanity that God created all, including those unbelievers. Judas is a good example of someone who is outwardly connected. Look at his life. I used to ask this question. I'll ask it again, might as well. But look at his life. Judas was loosely connected. When you look at him, he was one of the 12. When you look at the list of the 12 apostles, he's always included in it. He always is the last one, interestingly enough. When you look at the list of the 12, it always begins with the Apostle Peter, but it always concludes with Judas. He's always part of the 12. He's always mentioned as part of the 12, but he eventually is identified as the one who betrayed Christ. But Judas was identified as a matter of fact, as we know by our reading in the Bible. We know that he was highly regarded, greatly respected. He was out of the 12 apostles. He's the only one who was from the South. I've mentioned this to you before, but sometimes when you look at Judas and you see the name Judas Iscariot, you may be thinking Iscariot was his last name and it wasn't. His name was Judas Iscariot. And the word Isch is man. Cariot is a city or a village. And it's Judas the man of Cariot. That's what that means. Judas Iscariot. The other 11 were Galileans. Judas was the only one who was from the South. And he was in a place called Cariot. He was different. He was the one who was sophisticated. The other 11 were looked at as kind of like we used to use the term disparagingly, country bumpkins, because the Galileans were not regarded. They had their own, they had their own accents. You know, when they spoke, that's why Peter, when he was there and around that fire, the young woman, when he was there, and he was he was denying the Lord, it was said of him, you are with this man. Your speech betrays you. That's another way of him saying you have an accent. You are from an area. All you got to do is think of all the accents we have here in the United States and every region has its own accent, right? I mean, you go up to Brooklyn, New York, and that's an interesting accent that they have. If you go down south, there's an accent there. There are various accents here in California. We've got a variety of accents. We're speaking the same language with a different intonation. We have different accents and stuff like that. Well, Judas was one of those that was in the sophisticated South. He was closer to Jerusalem where the intellectuals were and all. And so when you look at him and you see his life in all, very trusted, carried the money bag. When Jesus said, one of you betrays me, not one of the apostles turned and looked at Judas and said, it's got to be him. They said, is it me? Is it I, Lord? You know, they could not have, for a moment thought of it was, it would have been Judas. And yet there's Judas and Judas is the betrayer of the Lord. And I've often asked this question and I've said it in a way that we should make us think. Do you think he knew he was Judas? Because that's something worthy of consideration. Did Judas know he was Judas? You know, did he know he was going to betray Christ in the way that he did? That's something that I often wonder about because people can think that they're right with God when in fact they're only loosely connected. They go to church. They may right now be watching a Bible study and they think they're right with God, but they're really loosely connected. They're not in the vine. In outer appearance, Judas seemed to be connected, but he typifies a person who believes only in name, name only. John 13 told us in verses 10 and 11, Jesus said, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but it's completely clean. But he went on to say, you are clean, but not all of you, for he knew who would betray him. Therefore, he said, you're not all clean. He's a great example of when he was only outwardly connected. You know, in the Jesus movement, the movement that I got saved in, there were quite a number of people who were loosely connected at first, quite a number of people who identified with Jesus, you know, the posters and the bumper stickers and going to Bible studies and all of that. There were so many of them that were claiming to be followers of Christ when in fact they were loosely connected. I saw this happen in my own lifetime. And so there's a loose connection. But when you're in the vine, every branch in me, when you're in the vine, there is a spiritual vital connection. And that comes through what is called regeneration. It's a connection that produces fruit because it is of what is called the vital connection. And those who are vitally connected are pruned, Jesus says. Why? That they might have greater fruitfulness. So he prunes or he cleanses the branches. And how does he do that? Notice verse three guys. He says, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. When we were in Israel for the very first time in 1983, my pastor Chuck Smith was the teacher for all of us. And we were at a vineyard. And when we were at this particular vineyard, he said it's not the season for harvesting grapes. He says, but if it were the season for harvesting grapes, he says, you may find this interesting. He said they take them off of the, they actually have some kinds of wooden frames and structures that the grapevine climbs on. He said they remove them and put the vines on the ground. And then they come with buckets of water and they wash the the grapes. And he illustrated how that's what Jesus is speaking about when he's talking about the washing, because they would come in, they would wash the vine. And as they did that, the washing would cleanse them. And so Jesus is speaking about them being clean. This is how he cleanses his branches. And notice how he does it. Verse three, you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. God's word is intended to cleanse, to purify our lives that we might serve him. In Psalm 119 verse nine, how can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed there to according to your word? Psalm 119 verse 104, through your precepts I get understanding. Therefore I hate every false way. Ephesians five, 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her, the bride, with the washing of water by the word. First Peter one, 22, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, obeying the truth of the gospel. How are you cleansed? How is my life cleansed? How is a young man's life cleansed? Jesus says in verse three, we're cleansed by the word. You are already clean by the word. How are you going to live a pure life before God? Guys, how do you do that? Stay in the word. Stay in the word, not just reading it, by saying God, give me the strength and ability to obey it. It's not just what I know, what I do shows you what I know. And I have been cleansed by the word and it comes through the preaching and the teaching of the word of God. And he's saying that you are already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. Abide in me. Verse four and I in you as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. Now notice how he says abide. The word abide or abides is repeated seven times from here to verse eight. The word abide means to remain, to tarry, to sojourn, not to depart, to continue to be present. He's saying abide in me, get connected, get connected with Jesus through salvation. Get connected to him. In first John 4.15, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him. And he and God, it has nothing to do with going through certain classes. It has nothing to do with receiving certain rights of the church. It has nothing to do with any of that. Before I got saved, if you would have asked me, am I a Christian? I would have said, yes. My background was a religious background. So I had received the rights of the church that I was raised in, you know, the baptism and confession and communion and, and, and confirmation. Those things are what we call sacraments. And if you'd have asked me, if I was saved, I would have said, yes, by virtue of the fact that I had those things done in my life, that that's not how you're saved. You're saved by abiding in Christ. And you're saved by, by, by abiding in his word. You are made cleansed or clean. He said in verse three by the word. And you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. He washes you and cleanses you. And that's how you are connected. This is, this is a call not just to say, I intellectually believe this is a call to be converted. And he says in verse five, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. Now notice for without me, you can do nothing. What is the key guys to Christianity? People say, how do you, how have you remained with the Lord? God knows that when I was saved as a 20 year old from a background of the life that I used to live, I had so many bad habits, so many sins. But, but now, you know, almost 50 years later, what has been the key? What has been the key of remaining close to the Lord? I have come to know something that Jesus wants us to know. I'm telling you the same thing that he said. He said, without me, you can do nothing. That's the whole key, isn't it guys? Without me, you can do nothing. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, combine those two thoughts. Without me, you can do nothing, but with me, you can do all things. So instead of me relying on anything that is natural, anything in me that maybe I could rely on, I've had to learn over time that without him, I can do nothing. And I know that. And I'm reminded daily, God is merciful to remind me, pretty much every day, how without him, I could do nothing. How about you? How about you? In your walk with God? In your life with Jesus? How about you? Do you ever say to yourself, I can do that? No problem. I can do that. Well, I can do all things through Christ, if he strengthens me. But I don't want to go out there and try and do something in his name, if he's not strengthening me to do it. I want to be careful with that. And the bottom line, as a believer, is always understanding that without him, you're not going to be able to do anything. So understanding that without him, you can do nothing, that's part of what it means to be abiding and continuing. It's clean and holding fast to it's being in that vine. Now he says in verse six, if anyone does not abide in me, he's cast out as a branches and it's withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire. That's a very descriptive term, the guys. In the end, those who didn't have a relationship to Jesus Christ will suffer eternal condemnation, eternal punishment. And look at how the word he chooses to use. He says they gather them and throw them into the fire. That's judgment he's referring to. In Matthew 3, verse 12, his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor, gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew 13, 41 and 42, the son of man will send out his angels. They will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25, 41, he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Revelation 20, verse 15, anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. You don't automatically go to heaven. You make choices in life. If you go to go to hell after hearing this study, you're going by choice. You're determining to reject the invitation to be right with God. Hear Jesus is making it clear, abide in me. My words will abide in you. Jesus is making it clear that there needs to be a connection. And if anyone is not connected to me, only loosely connected, by virtue of the fact that God has created all things and therefore you see him as the creator of all things, but not your father because you don't have a relationship with him, then you're making a choice on your own to go to a place that he's warning you about. And Jesus is very clear here. You know, there are people, how can someone, Jesus, like Jesus, how could he, no, he never said something like going to hell. No, he did. He did, he said it often. Why? Because he didn't want you to go there and you can make a choice to go there on your own. And so he's saying this, the branches that are not vitally connected are useless and they're good only for firewood. So you go out there and after the vines have been collected and everything and you've got dry wood there, they would collect that wood, they take it, they use it and they burn it. So abiding in Jesus produces fruit even as he began by saying that my father is a vine dresser and went on to say every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. If you're a believer in Christ, you produce fruit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit as revealed by Christian character, like I said a moment ago ago. Another thing I didn't mention was good stewardship is described as fruit. Philippians 4, 16 and 17. For even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessities, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Because when you give to the work of the Lord, God blesses you and that is fruit that comes through the giving. Again, a third thing, people who come to Jesus Christ are our witness. Once again, that's fruit. I mentioned that, but would you know that the fruit of our lips is praise to God and that's also fruit. The person who loves the Lord in other words demonstrates it by the fruit of his mouth. In Hebrews 13, 15, by him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. That's fruit. In the midst of what we're going through as a nation and individually, learning to praise the Lord in the good times as well as the difficult seasons is fruit. And people very often wouldn't understand why you can still smile and why you can still have joy because joy is the fruit of the Spirit. It's because I'm clinging to him and abiding in him. And I know that no matter how it looks, we're going to get through this. We walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We walk through. We don't live there. We're going to make it. And so what do we have? We have praise in our lips to the Lord because we have joy in our heart. And then finally, he says in verse seven, if you abide in me, my words, abiding you, you will ask what you desire. It shall be done. So abiding gives you access to God in a personal way. It ensures answered prayer. As you read his word and as you obey what he says, you learn his ways and you learn how to pray. Remember in chapter 14, verse 15, how he had said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Well, if my words abide in you, that's what guides you in your prayer life. You're wanting to do that, which he says. You want to do those things that bring praise to him. And I want to point something out to you because he says, you will ask what you desire. It shall be done. We always need to remember that one of the aspects of answered prayer is asking according to his will. He had just said, if my words abiding you. So that's more than simply quoting his words back to him. It speaks of living his words, trusting him. And prayer is answered because we are lined up with his desires and it's pleasing to him. We learn not to get him on our side. We learn to be on his. We learn to follow his will and not to try and get him to do ours. That's prayer. Lord, I want to line up with you. And when I pray, by the way, I want to do so in an attitude of faith. Because if you said it, I want to believe it. And I want to hold fast to it. Remember in Mark 11, 22, 3, 24, how Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be removed, be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. There's no point in asking for that which you don't expect to receive. What's the point? We need to learn God's word and we need to say, you know, this seems to line up with your general will for us and Lord in Jesus' name. I would pray and I pray according to your word and I'm going to hold fast to what you have to say. And I'm going to trust you in this through this season, guys. I don't know about you, but I'm assuming I'm saying this for all of us. I've learned things about the faithfulness of God that I needed to be reminded of. Have you? I have. I have learned of the faithfulness of God that I needed to be reminded of. You can kind of go on autopilot. I found myself doing that, autopilot. And I get up, I have the same routine, I do the same things. So this season that we're going through is awakened to freshness in me and my walk with the Lord. And have you been praying? I've been praying, God, I want to be deeper. Could you give me deepness in a different way, Lord? I would prefer it another way, maybe in a book. I still remember speaking to my pastor, Chuck, one day, and I shared with him some of the things we were going through. Murray and I went to visit him and talk to my pastor and Chuck Smith. And he said, well, Dave, he goes, I'll never forget. He called me Dave. He said, well, Dave, he goes, that's how you learn these things. And I said to him, can't I read it in a book? Can't you recommend a book for me to read? And he starts to laugh. And he says, no, some lessons you've learned by experience. And that's what you're learning right now. How about you guys? You're learning things by experience? Yeah, I'm sure you are. I know you are. Me too. I'm learning things. And you know what I'm learning? God is faithful. God is faithful. He didn't raise us up to let us fall. God is faithful. And our lives are built on his word, not emotions or how we feel about right now. We're trusting him. And we have entered in like a tunnel, I think. And as we've been going through, it gets darker and darker. And one of the things I know about darkness is I'm, I am physically night blind. So I need a guide. I need somebody to help me. I need light. And I need somebody to help me to make it through the darkness. And guess what? God provided both of those. He gave me the light of his word. And he gave me the comforter who goes with me. And I'm never alone. Neither are you. He's always with us. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. He always provides for us because he loves us. Let's not forget that. And abiding in him, we produce fruit. People have an opportunity to look at the church and say, what are you guys all about? What are you all about? They get a chance to see what we're all about. Because the enemy has attempted, I think, to snuff out once again the light of the gospel. And what has that caused? It's caused it to breathe even deeper and to glow even brighter. So we have greater opportunities to reach out. We're being stretched in ways that, I have to be honest with you, are uncomfortable, but are good. They're good because God is moving in some very powerful, new, and sweet ways. And we're seeing the Lord move. And so we hold fast to him. And he says, finally, by this, my father's glorified, verse 8, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. God is glorified when we produce the fruit. The evidence of his work in our life, like he says in 1 Peter 2 9, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. A holy nation is special people. That's who we are. Who are we? We are that. That's what we are. And we live for him. And it brings glory to God in the midst of the darkness. We shine brightly because our God makes us to shine by the power of his Holy Spirit. That's because we abide in him. And if you are listening today and you aren't abiding in Christ, if you're not saved, this is your opportunity to give your heart to Jesus Christ, to say, God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. I need you. God, I need help. I need you. And if you in your heart can say, this is for me, I need to be right with God, I want to be not loosely connected just because there's a God who created all things, but I want to be vitally connected to you through faith in Christ. I want to give you an opportunity right now to give your heart to Jesus Christ, not just to pray a simple prayer, because it's not the prayer that saves you. It's faith in Christ who forgives you of your sins. Your sins have made a separation between you and God. And those sins have to be dealt with. He invites us to come to him, but not in our sins. Our sins need to be left out. And those sins are left out of that door by the cleansing of the blood of Christ. He washes us and cleanses us. Now we have access to him. So if you have sin that you're dealing with, a life of sin that you haven't forsaken, first thing you need to do is confess and say, God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from my unrighteousness. Jesus, make me new. I want to follow you, enter into my life. God transform me. If you desire to do that, let's pray together right now and do that. Pray with me. Repeat, Father, I'm a sinner. Jesus died on the cross to save sinners. Jesus died to save me. Forgive me of my sins, cleanse me, give me a new life. I will follow you every day from this day forward in Jesus' name. Amen. And if you prayed that with me just now, please contact us so we can speak to you. We could follow up, minister to you. Please contact us. And for the rest of you, I'm going to close with prayer and we're going to close with the song. And Father, we ask that you would just continue moving in our midst. You have been faithful to do so. You will continue to do so. We are biding you. You are the true vine Jesus. We are your branches. And Lord, I ask that fruit would be produced that brings glory to you. And I would pray these things in Jesus' name.