Fruit that Remains

Take your Bibles from John 15 this morning. John 15 as we talk about fruit that remains.! But I just wanted to encourage you here this morning for just a thought here. You know, when we have an! instrumental special like that, one of the things that you can do and is very helpful for you is going to benefit you is why they're playing. And I know that's something to enjoy, but be thinking about how you prepare your heart for the message that's going to follow. You know, to really concentrate upon what the Lord would have for you. You know, because we need to keep in mind one thing, that church is not for our entertainment. There's things we can feel, get our attention and grab a hold of us and even touch us, but you know, it's not there about us, it's about Him. And we ought to focus our things on that. I appreciate Matt playing this morning. And, but when you have those opportunities, I just want to encourage you to be thinking in that line instead of just kind of listening along, be thinking, Lord, how are you going to prepare me through this? And to do that. And so just something for thought there, be benefit to you. And as you prepare each Sunday, you know, if you come prayed up, you're going to get something. You know, I want to let you know that if you don't get something at church, it's probably because you're not prayed up. Because you're not happening what exactly we're talking about here, and that's abiding in the vine. You know, you're going to feel distant if you're not attached to the vine. And that's the reason Jesus had spent much time as they made their way to the garden here, as we see in John 15. You know, he knew there'd be one that would soon betray him. And that it'd be one that was known by the other 11. And that he understood the essential nature of this time. And he understood the need to comprehend that necessity of abiding in him, the true vine.

You know, because the disciples were about ready to go through a very difficult, what you might say, pruning process. God was going to put them through some things that was going to challenge them in a great way. Hey, Darren, can you turn that, my mic down just a touch? It's kind of echoing up here.

I'm hearing myself twice. And I want you to understand that even as we go through a pruning process in our life, that God prepares us for it. You know, remember Jesus, last week we talked, Jesus talked about a friend tells you what's going to happen. You know what? When you're connected to the vine, connected to Jesus Christ, he tells you that there's going to be some pruning process happen in your life.

You know, he doesn't promise you everything's always going to be great. But what he does say, it's for your good, it's for your benefit, it's for his glory. You know, I want you to understand that it's not always easy, but it is what the master says is best to produce fruit. You know, because one of the things I think we have a problem with in society, especially amongst believers today, we all think, what is in it for me? You know what? A branch on the vine isn't about how bushy it can get and how prosperous it may look. It's about what fruit does it develop. You know, the measure of a branch is by the fruit that's developed upon it. And the importance of it, today we're going to be talking about the fruit that remains, because Jesus made it clear that if they're not a part with, if they're not a part of him, that branch is no longer getting substance that it needs from the vine, fruit is going to linger. Fruit is going to be shriveled up. Fruit is going to be non-existent. But you know, you were saved to produce fruit for God's glory. You know, and fruit to our account is, we're going to look here this morning, fruit that remains. And he tells us why he's doing all of this because he understood the importance of it, that a believer would abide in him, just as his disciples were about to face a very challenging moment. You know, I don't know if you ever stopped to think about what the disciples went through as Jesus went to the cross. What was going through their mind? That they had given three and a half years of their lives following the one they thought in their mind was the Messiah. Now he's telling them, hey, we're going to go to the cross and die.

But he says, you know, be of good cheer. You know, understand something. I'm going to rise again. But you know, just like them, oftentimes we hear the first part, not the second part. We don't understand what was going on. They were going to go through a very challenging time.

It was going to try them in many ways. And Jesus said, you need to abide in difficulties. To understand, because as we've been talking through this series, you know, where a branch stays, a branch bears. You know, when you think about that reality, when you're attached to the vine, you will survive. You will produce fruit. You will become fruitful. It's just a dynamic of it.

You know, when the branch stays, the fruit stays also. And he tells these 11 men that he did not, that they did not choose him, but he chose them for what he was going to do, to send them out.

And that's what they were to do. They were supposed to bring forth fruit that will remain. So the question this morning is not whether you've been fruitful for a moment, but I want you to think about, is your fruit something that's going to remain? Is this something that has substance in your life? Everything from your character to eternal fruit that's laid up in heaven where moth and rust is not corrupt? Because I want you to understand, Jesus isn't looking just in the future, but he's looking in the present. That there ought to be fruit present in your life. That's the essence of what Jesus is telling him. No matter what, there ought to be fruit. So if you found John 15 this morning, let's stand together in honor of reading of the word of God. And we'll read here verses 16 and 17, and we'll have a word of prayer. And then we'll get into the message here this morning. So let's look here at verse 16.

He says, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go forth and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. That whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you that you love one another. Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we just come before you this morning, Lord, once again. Lord, we're thankful that you are the one that sustains. You're the one that provides. Lord, you're the life giver of everything in our lives.

Lord, that our fruit is dependent upon you and us staying in you, abiding in you, remaining in you. And Lord, help us to see the necessity of even the challenges of life that we might stick to you.

Lord, we might abide. Lord, we understand the principle here. And Lord, we pray that we might apply that truth. And Lord, we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. May be seated.

You know, as we see here, God starts, Jesus starts out with a very direct statement as he looks at these 11. He says, I have chosen you. You know, he tells them that very clearly. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you. Now, this is important because this is where some people get confused because the question is, what did Jesus choose them and ordain them to do?

Because he didn't choose them to salvation. That's not the context of the passage. People will twist it that way, but I want you to understand that's not the context. He's talking to a group of men who had something very important happen in their life. I want you to understand they were chosen and ordained for a purpose. Their purpose was to be a foundation of the church that Jesus was going to form and to put forth. And as the churches go forth in the order and things established by the prophets and apostles, these men were chosen for a very specific task for a very specific time. They were chosen for responsibility. And we're going to see, because I want you to understand that it's not just them. God, when you get saved, God has chosen you. He has placed you.

He's got some things for you. But we want you to see that they did this. These individuals, if you understand the New Testament, you'll find that God chose them out from among all that followed.

Jesus didn't have 12 guys following him. When he chose the 12, there wasn't just 12 in the crowd. They didn't get selected because they showed up. The Bible tells us and makes it very clear that they were chosen. They were appointed by Jesus to the apostolic office. And he's speaking now to 11 of them because Judas is having gone out. And that's a whole other thing to talk about on a different time. You can get on a whole rabbit trail about Judas. But I want you to understand that what Judas did was already foretold. The Old Testament told exactly what Judas was going to do.

It did not catch Jesus by surprise. That's a whole different dynamic. But I want you to understand, Judas is gone. And it was an office that no man can just take on themselves. When he put, Jesus put those 11. At this point, he says, I've chosen you. I have ordained you. And he put them forth. I want you to understand, they had a specific task and responsibility given unto them.

They were selected for this purpose. That's the chosen that it's talking about. Because these men were chosen out of a crowd of learners and qualified by years of following Jesus. And they laid a foundation in the church. Now look over Ephesians chapter 2 for a moment. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 20.

And it says, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. What's that talking about? It's talking about the church. A local church. And I want you to understand, it's not a universal church. It's a particular, each church is independent before God.

Amen. It's the only way it works. I've never seen a universal assembly of the saints. But I have seen a physical assembly of the called out believers in an area gathering together. That's a reality that we see. But he says, built upon the foundation of the apostles. These men had a commissioning to go forth. It's not a statement though about their salvation. Because salvation, I want you to understand, was to whosoever will may come. Jesus made it very clear when speaking to Nicodemus. It says, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You know, the whosoevers.

You know, I love that song we sang a few weeks ago. Whosoever will. You know, I'm glad that God didn't condemn some to hell and put some in heaven. He put it upon you and I as an individual say, what am I going to do with God's free gift of salvation? God offers it freely.

But a gift is only good if you accept it. That if you take it, you know, Peter goes a little later and says this. He says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know, that is key to understand that God doesn't rejoice in the death of the wicked.

You know what God desires for everybody to turn to him? But you know what the reality is? Many people reject him. Very blatantly. We live in a society today that wants to blatantly reject God.

Reject his truth. That's the reason we have people celebrating a mom who slaughters her children in a place that wants moms to be able to murder their babies up to the moment right before birth.

You know what that is? That is against nature. That's against God's creation. It's a rebellion, an open rebellion against God. God didn't reject them. They rejected him. I want you to understand that because the world wants you to think opposite. That God hates people. When you think about it, I want you to think about when you hear people talk, their opinion is, God wants to just judge me.

God doesn't want to judge you. He provided a way for you not to be judged. He said, I took the penalty of your judgment upon myself. That's a loving God that prepared. And Jesus said, I'm preparing you to do this, preparing you to go forth as I would describe and desire for you to do. But their office is something that God put them in for a particular time at a particular place, and they were going to have to walk in it. I want you to understand, we talked about this a couple of Wednesdays ago about what is an apostle. So if you weren't here on Wednesday, you can go back and look at that. That should be up online. We spent about 25 minutes talking about an apostle. So I'm not going to get back into all the details of that. So you can go back and reference that if you want, and where we talk about all that. But I want you to understand that the apostolic office is closed today. It closed in the New Testament.

When those men died off, they were not replaced. But I want you to understand there are something about us today because God has chosen us in a different way. Similar in a parallel way because we're not called or chosen to be apostles, but we are a chosen generation. We are set apart for him.

He has chosen us for a purpose. When you called upon him, he made it very clear. This reality, Ephesians 2 in verse 10 tells us this, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus under good works with God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. You know what? If you're saved, God has ordained, God has chosen you to be obedient and to walk in those things that he has instructed. But oftentimes, we miss the point that it's a responsibility. When we understand what Jesus is telling them here, the reality of this, and so I don't want you to just sit here this morning and think that what Jesus ordained them to accomplish is finished because what he sent them to do is still going on in the sense that we follow through. You know, look a little later. Look over to John 17. Just turn over a page in your Bible there, and you'll find as you look at John 17, and you look down in verse 20, Jesus here in John 17 is his great priestly prayer before he goes to the cross, and he says this, for them also which shall believe on me through their word. In other words, we are a continuation of what took place.

If you're saved today, Jesus was praying for you right then. You're a part of the fruit that remained. I want you to understand every church that is a true church of Jesus Christ that follows the scripture, follow those things. I want you to understand is the reality of what Jesus is telling there's going to be fruit that remains. We are fruit that remains when you partake in what Christ has done. It's a lasting dynamic. Bible tells us that Jesus is the one that's going to build it, and the devil's not going to prevail against it. When we understand what's happening here, that he's sending them forth, and this dynamic applies to us, the branch that abides is a branch that bears, and it applies to us just as it did to them. Because look here at verse 16 again, and he tells them this, that you should go and bring forth fruit. He sent them for a reason. He sent that the fruit might remain, that your fruit should remain. You know, we see here that he tells them and instructs them. He says to go. I want you to understand if you're going to follow Jesus, it takes some action. You don't follow Jesus in a chair. You follow Jesus by doing. Following is an active participation. I want you to understand. Jesus is telling them this dynamic and understood that fruit ought to be something that makes a difference in your life to go and to do. Jesus gives us instructions to go. You know, the gospel doesn't go out by osmosis. The gospel's validated by your life, but it's shared when it goes forth. When you tell somebody about what Jesus has done in your life, that I'm not just a good, I'm not good in your eyes of the choices I make because of who I am, but it's because of who he is. You know, oftentimes I think we get a little self-righteous and think we're good because of ourselves. We forget that we're a sinner saved by grace and our goodness and righteousness and everything is in Christ. It's only in him that makes a difference. That's the reason this abiding is essential for us to go and to do what he would want us to do because when we think about this fruit, the going produces fruit. And these, you know, a couple weeks ago we talked about that fruit in our life. We talked about three areas. We talked about our character, our conduct, and converts. Who did your life impact? How was your character? You know, I want you to understand fruit isn't just seeing people saved. Fruit is abiding. It's all of the above. Because I want you to understand sometimes people replace abiding with saying, well, I handed out 2,000 tracts. I want you to say that might be a good thing, but if you didn't abide with Jesus, you missed the point. Well, some people say, well, I'm abiding, but I never share. You know, you missed the point. Because notice what he tells them here, that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.

What ought to remain in you? You know, Romans chapter 6 tells us this in verse 22. It says, now being made free from sin and become service to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. I want you to understand holiness in your life is not seasonal. The vine that grows in our character and it ends in everlasting life. You know, I want you to understand that your character of where God really works in your life happens under pressure. What are you abiding in? You know, a believer's character shows up under pressure. Not when everything's good. When life presses down on us, when things get difficult, when things are a challenge, is when you find out, am I connected to the vine or has everything been strangled? Because if you're connected to the vine, it doesn't matter. When something weighs in your life, you're going to be able to withstand it, whether it's a wind, the drought, or even the husbandman that comes and prunes in our life, what comes out is whatever the vine has been feeding it. You know,

I want you to understand, if you abide in the vine, you're going to be provided with what you need. He's going to take care of you. He's one that's going to provide the nourishment of your life that your character might stay intact.

Because when God allows a hard thing in your life, He's not manufacturing your character. He's revealing are you actually have godly character that you ought to have. How do you respond under pressure?

Is what He's producing growing in your life? You know, James chapter 1 tells us this. He says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, and let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. What's James talking about there? He's talking about abiding in the vine, that you might stay nourished. You might have that joy, that peace, that love, all those things of your character that ought to come forth from the Spirit of God being viable in your life. When you're yielded to the Spirit, you will do those things. Those things will come forth. I want you to understand, a trial doesn't make you. A trial reveals what you've been abiding in.

What you've been trusting in. When life gets hard and it affects your relationship to the Lord, you need to evaluate some things. Because if it didn't make the connection stronger, there's an abiding problem. Preacher, that's hard. That's what Jesus is telling them.

He says, guys, if you're going to go through this difficulty, you must continue to abide. Because it not only remains in you, it remains in others. You know, think about 1 Thessalonians 2.

It says, for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ is coming, for ye are our glory and joy. You know, Paul's saying the fruit had names and faces in his life, the ones he impacted. Everybody from Timothy that we're talking about on Wednesday night, the impact and the fruit that had been produced in Timothy's life through his abiding in Christ. And Paul makes note of it as he writes to him. But I want you to understand, your fruit doesn't just remain here. Fruit is everlasting to your account.

You know, Romans chapter 7 says, but you also become dead to the law by the body of Christ that you should bring forth fruit unto God. I want you to understand, when you get saved, your fruit isn't unto yourself. Your fruit is something that's unto God. It's for his glory and his honor. The union with the risen Christ is essential. The fruit follows. The fruit is unto God, not us. You know, that's the reason 1 Corinthians chapter 3 talks about there's different things that we produce in our life, and some of them are wood, hay, and stubble, and they're burned up. Gold, silver, and precious stones, it talks about. Things that survive the fire. Things that are laid up in heaven. I want you to understand that when Jesus talks about our treasures being laid up in heaven, he isn't referring about sending ahead a 401k. He's not talking about how much money you can send forth. He's talking about fruit. The fruit in your life to his glory. Because that's the reality.

You know, Mark, notice here how it remains. The word rendered here, abide, is the same one in verse 4. It talks about remain. That's the same word. Abide and remain are doing the same task.

Your fruit will stay. It'll be something that is there. The fruit stays where the branch stays. A severed branch does not keep its grapes. They go off with it. It's a necessity that the reality of continuing. And here, I want you to understand this carefully. Not that you're standing with his hands by the strength of your grip. I want you to understand that no man plucks him out of heaven.

We're not talking about salvation here. That's important to keep in mind. What we're talking about today is not salvation when it comes to abiding. Because you don't put yourself in salvation.

Salvation happens when you recognize the free gift that God has given to you. And Jesus says that once you're saved, he has you. Nobody can take you out of his hand. You don't care what other people say.

I'll trust God. I'm glad that my security in him isn't dependent upon how much I can hold on. The abiding is different.

It means you're already attached. You're already there. And you have a choice of what you're going to do with it. How are you going to bring forth fruit?

And Jesus is encouraging these men because they were about to face a challenge that many people would probably wane away from. Going to feel isolated.

Going to have people that want to kill them. But Jesus said remain. Abide. Trust me. Do those things. Reveal the reality of it.

I want you to understand that fruit which is no longer fed does not keep. You know, think about Psalm 1. Psalm 1 says, And he shall be planted by the rivers of waters that bringeth forth his fruit and his season.

His leaf also shall not wither. What a powerful reality. Colossians tells us, he says, Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.

The reality of abiding and the importance of it which brings us back to the hard thing that God has allowed in your life. It will do one of two things. It will either drive you deeper to the vine or it will pull you out of fellowship with him.

As you stop feeding and you stop abiding you stop fellowshipping with him and the fruit will tell on you either way. You know why Christians keep fading farther and farther away?

Because they stop abiding. Remember we talked about abiding getting that nourishment from the vine. His word, prayer.

You know it amazes me how many people can read the Bible and say they say a prayer but they never live godly. I think the problem is we read with our eyes and not our mind. Our reading is a task and not a connection.

To be rooted and built up. The fruit will tell on you trials don't cut off the branch. He holds it but it does decide whether the branch keeps drawing and what it needs for nourishment to continue.

You know we talked a few weeks ago about that about the joy. Jesus says my joy might remain in you. He says guys you're going to have a lot of pressure. Life is going to go upside down.

You're going to be shaken. You're going to have all sorts of adversity. And he says but you ought to still have joy. In our minds it doesn't make sense and Jesus said hey if you abide in me you will have my joy.

It makes a difference. When we understand the picture here that you might be joy he doesn't say that you might be joyful. He says that my joy might remain in you.

You know today we say I want the emotion. I want the feeling. But I want you to understand joy is not an emotion. The joy that Jesus talked about here is a calm reassurance that he has it under control.

You know we live in a generation that everything's run off the cuff of emotion. Jesus doesn't tell us to run our life from emotion. How I feel about it doesn't matter in a lot of ways.

Now that's hard for people to grab a hold of. I know a lot of people don't agree with me because people want to live by their emotions. How does it feel? What does it make me you know oh that didn't feel good so I'm not going to do it.

It's like you know what some of the best things in life are things you did that were uncomfortable. That took you outside of your comfort zone. When you step out by faith to follow Christ it's going to step you outside your comfort zone.

But you know what a lot of people won't step out their comfort zone. I have a box and a perimeter and say I'm perfectly content where I am. I'm not going to be obedient in this area or that area.

I don't know what that area might be in your life but I guarantee we all struggle with areas where we say Lord I don't know if I can be obedient to that. But you know what Jesus said trust me abide in me.

Because look here what he promises them here he says this that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it you. You know the sender supplies the sent.

In other words Jesus said if you abide in me I'm going to supply what's needed. It's amazing the Bible talks about us being there's a spiritual war going on around us. When you look at history of warfare you know one of the biggest reasons that armies lose?

Supply chain. No matter how big your army is if it's not supplied with what it's need it will be overrun by an enemy that's supplied. Abiding means in the midst of trial in the midst of struggle I'm connecting to my supply chain.

Prayer is one of those connections to your supply. He supplies as he says that whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name he may give it you.

You know think about John 16 he says this and in that day you shall ask me nothing verily verily I say unto you whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you hitherto you have asked nothing in my name ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full.

You know what he's saying? hey your joy that is in me my joy is channeled through your connection. You cannot receive the supply you need if you're not connected to the one who supplies it.

It's important for us to understand because the one who is sent is given access to the resources of the sender. Jesus is saying you can go forth you can have confidence you can abide and understand there's going to be fruit that remains because there's going to be a flow of supply to meet the need in the moment.

Look up at verse 7 he told him earlier it says if ye abide in me and my word abide in you you shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.

Here in verse 16 he brings this very idea again to them he connects it to the supply. Christ opens this section with a promise of prayer and closes it with a promise in prayer and everything between the two much fruit his joy love one another fruit that remains is what the promise is for.

I want you to understand Jesus promises these things but he says this is how they get there. If you're not connected to the supply chain you will miss out. there's a lack of those things in your life you ought to check and see how is my supply chain working.

It's important to grab a hold of because we notice here that he fences these promises with the word abiding his word abiding in us and in my name he puts those things together it's not a phrase to close in prayer with but to ask as his representative on an errand with his authority.

I want you to understand Jesus said I've already determined you will have the supply that you need if you're connected to it. You remain if you abide but if you disconnect now remember we're not talking about salvation we're talking about fellowship.

People get that confused because once you're part of God's family at the moment of salvation nothing changes the family connection. you are legally placed in the family of God.

Jesus referred to as adoption. You know people get in a family two ways you're either born or you're adopted. Jesus says you must be born again and then he puts it a little later and he says that you're adopted you're placed in in other words he says not only are you there by the blood of Jesus Christ that purchased you that you're born again by but he says I'm going to put a legal stamp on it and adopt you.

That's security. He says I want to leave no question so we can be secure but I want you to understand that we can have confidence you know look over what 1 John tells us 1 John chapter 5 and verse 14 tells us this and it says this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask we know that we'll have the petition that we desired of him.

Now I want you to understand that's not a name and claimant that's saying according to his will if you're abiding in him and you have his supply you're going to say Lord I want some more of your supply in this.

Not my supply but your supply what I need. Put this together whether the word decides what you ask for and the name decides whether it's his business.

In other words he says if you're about my business if you're abiding and doing what you're supposed to do Jesus said I will supply. We have a God that's greater than any other.

What about the sequence? Abide ask bear and remain. The asking is not the branch straining it's the branch drawing the resources that are offered to it.

Given those things because notice look at verse 17 and it says these things I command you that you love one another. Finds us back to the reality of fruit to love one another.

The fruit is to love one another. Now I want to make this very clear because sometimes people get this confused. Text in the scripture is important.

who's he talking about? He's talking about the other believers. He said the family tie ought to supersede everything else.

To understand the fruit he names is to love one another. These things I command you that you love one another. It lands back here. It means this dynamic love isn't just oh I love you.

I want you to understand think about the descriptions you find of love in the scripture. Love involves being patient. Oh preacher you're asking a lot.

This person is prickly. You want me to have patience? They make me uncomfortable. Yes. Being kind.

Talks about love being kind. Oh no we got another one. Long suffering. They get that right. Do they know they offended me?

Probably not. But they do. Jesus loved you. He was long suffering. Giving. Oh. You know that's the fruit that remains.

Kindness. Long suffering. Forgiving. Restoring. Is willing to reconcile. Problems is a lot of people refuse to reconcile.

We would live by the principle and the fruit that God gives us. What he gives us to sustain and produce fruit. These are the things that will be produced in life. Biggest problems with couples when they're married is a failure to forgive.

A failure of long suffering. Why don't they change right now? You know instead of worrying about them you ought to worry about yourself. What are you doing that needs to be different? Are you willing to say Lord I'm going to love them because love isn't an emotion attached to them it's a choice attached to them.

It's forces and be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. It's a theme you'll find through this section of scripture.

He commands it to 11 men who are in an hour about to be scattered. Their love one for another was to be the fruit that had to survive not only that night but the things to come.

They had to hold it together. You know what happened is they did what Jesus told them to do. They held things together when they saw Christ resurrected it changed. On the day of Pentecost they saw great fruit they saw 3,000 souls come to the Lord because there was already other fruit present.

One for another. Their long suffering towards one another. Understand the disciples weren't a bunch of guys that sat around and sang Kubayah together.

They were men who were focused together on the principle of what Christ had called them to do. They had to lay aside their personalities their preferences to the fact that I want to abide in the vine.

Those things are secondary to what he's chosen us to do. The same is true for you and I today. Understand being part of God's family and abiding isn't about a personality of us it's about the person of Jesus Christ.

Our eyes on the right things it makes a difference. You know Jesus tells them in John 13 just before this he says this by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.

The reality make a difference. You know sometimes we look at the great men of the Bible that stand out you know Peter and Paul and others that you read about.

Have you ever considered Andrew? Peter's brother. Single sermon recorded by Andrew. The Bible doesn't record a single sermon from him.

I'm sure he preached some. He's known for that when he found Jesus the first thing he did is he went to his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. He used Simon Peter in a mighty way.

It's part of Andrew's fruit. It looks like much what it starts out. I want you to understand the importance of this that God wants to look at fruit as it's completed not how it might look today because when you abide in him it changes the fruit.

You know this morning I want to encourage you if you're not saved don't leave this building without knowing him. For sure that of who Jesus is and what he's done for you that I want you to understand he is calling you today to turn to him.

He tells us he says whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. He wants you to come and get things settled with him today. He has called you to say I provided everything.

Will you accept my gift of salvation? Gift. You have to do something. I'm not talking about works.

I'm talking about response. Recognition. to understand what he's done for you. If you know that you're saved and you've just been sitting there the charge is there to go and to bring forth fruit.

I want you to understand he didn't ask you to be Peter but you are asked to be an Andrew. Part. Maybe this morning I want to encourage you maybe you need to come and just pray and say God I have a specific person on my heart that I need to pray for.

Family member, co-worker, your neighbor, your aunt, uncle, your fifth cousin twice removed. I don't care who it is. They all need the Savior. Maybe it's been a rough time.

Maybe it's been a time where God is pruning you and that God prunes to prepare for fruit. God doesn't do things without the foresight of saying this is what's going to bring forth much fruit.

And his fruit in your life will remain. Don't waste what God is doing in your life. Come and yield to what God is doing.

Get connected to the vine. The vine has not changed and the one who keeps it, the husbandman, God the father, has not retired. He's still doing the same thing today.

He did when he told the charge to these apostles. But the question is, will you stay in the vine?

His heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning. What about you today? Do you know for sure that you're saved?

Do you know for heaven? Let me ask you a question. If somebody was asking you, are you 100% sure you would go to heaven? If your response is, I hope so, you've missed the promise.

Because Jesus says that you might know that you have eternal life. A confidence in a living Savior. Maybe you need to call upon him.

Maybe you're here this morning and God has spoke to you about something in your life that's affecting your abiding. Are you going to keep it there or are you going to deal with it? Are you willing to lay it before him this morning?

Heavenly fathers, we come before you today. Lord, we just thank you and praise you for your word. Lord, for the opportunity we have. Lord, to respond to you. Lord, this invitation, this opportunity to make a difference in our own lives towards you that we might be connected solidly.

Lord, that we might get the supply that we need, not from ourselves, not from the things of the world, but Lord, from you, the giver of life. Lord, I pray that you just work mightily in hearts and lives today.

Lord, we have an opportunity to respond to you and we turn this time to you in Jesus' name. Amen. His heads are bowed and eyes are bowed.