[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:15] All right, take your Bible if you would and open it to the book of John, chapter 15. John chapter 15. We're going to look at one of the most exciting passages in the Bible for any believer, any Christian.
[0:26] The Lord is talking to his apostles. He is letting them know very well that they will have success. He will soon step out of this world. And he's going to show them how they can be fruitful by abiding in him.
[0:41] Look, if you would, with me, John chapter 15, verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.
[0:52] And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine.
[1:08] No more can ye except you abide in me. And I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.
[1:20] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.
[1:35] Herein is my father glorified that you bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples. As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue you in my love.
[1:45] If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love. Even as I have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. Father, I do not understand this passage well enough to get all these wonderful, beautiful truths.
[2:01] I am just now understanding them a portion. But I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would do your work, and you would speak to hearts, and you would encourage your people tonight. I pray, God, that you would help them to live a life of victory that they were meant to live.
[2:14] I pray, God, tonight that they would understand wonderful truths about how the work of God is done, how your work is done, and how we are fruitful simply by abiding in you.
[2:25] Give us, God, ears to hear and a mind to understand. Touch heart. Save people. Draw people to you. Magnify yourself, and I'll give you praise. In Jesus' name, amen.
[2:36] I'm going to share three simple truths out of this passage. In fact, it's Sunday morning. I'm preaching all the exact same verses. I'll just add a few on the end of it. But I want you to look with me, if you would, at something really wonderful.
[2:48] Hudson Taylor was probably one of the greatest mysteries that ever lived. He got to a point that he was so extremely discouraged that he didn't know if he could go on. I'm going to read quite a bit to you out of a book called Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret before the evening's over.
[3:03] But I want you to notice three wonderful things here. Sometimes, as a younger man, years ago, my heart was I wanted to do something for God. I wanted my life to count for God, and I was so eager about what I would do for God.
[3:17] And that's exactly where Mr. Taylor was when God used this passage of Scripture and others like it to change his life. So if you would, maybe you could mark down three things straight out of the text. Anybody could see it.
[3:28] I just don't always grasp it like I should. Number one, look at this. My fruitfulness is first the work of the Father. Write that down. My fruitfulness is first the work of the Father.
[3:40] Look at what it says in John chapter 15 and verse 1, if you would. John 15 and verse 1. I am the true vine. My Father is the husbandman. Every branch of me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.
[3:52] Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. That's verse 8. Excuse me, I should have told you. Jump to verse 8.
[4:03] Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. First thing I want you to look at is we start in this story about bearing fruit, and we're going to talk about being fruitful through abiding.
[4:14] And as you start into that story, it's pretty easy for me to jump up and say, I have to do all these things, and I have to produce. But the chapter starts off with this.
[4:24] It says, I'm the vine, but my Father is the farmer, the vine keeper. He's the one that's taking care of the work. So I want you to just look at several things with me.
[4:35] The Father is the husbandman, the keeper of the vine. The work belongs to the Father. The Father's in charge of the work. The Father's causing the fruit to be produced. The fruit progresses through the work of the Father.
[4:47] Look, if you would, at verse 2. In verse 2, underline, it says this. Every branch you be that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit. Stop right there. Verse thing, I want you to notice that we bear fruit.
[5:00] All these branches bear fruit. It's a natural thing when you're a part of the vine that you're going to have fruit. Look at the last part of that verse. He causes us to bring forth more fruit.
[5:11] The Bible said he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. So he works in my life. I'm going to bring forth fruit. That's my nature. He works in my life that I'll bring forth more fruit. Now skip down to verse 5.
[5:22] Look at verse 5 if you would. He causes us to bring forth much fruit. We went from fruit to more fruit and now to much fruit. Verse 5. I am the vine, you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
[5:36] For without me you can do nothing. His work in our lives causes us to bring forth much fruit and that glorifies him. Look at verse 8. Herein is my father glorified that you bear much fruit so shall you be my disciples.
[5:52] Just some real quick things about the father and what he's doing in our lives. I think if I know where the pressure is, it can help me. If I realize that he's doing the work, I'm a part of the vine and he's doing the work in me.
[6:05] It can take some pressure off me to realize that he's working in me so that I will be fruitful. So look what he does. Look at verse 2. What's one of the things that he does? He takes it away. Every branch of me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.
[6:18] And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. So he takes it away. He works in our lives to cause us to bear fruit. He removes whatever is in the way.
[6:29] It's the idea that he lives and does whatever is best and he causes us to be fruitful. He's working in my life. I'm in the vine. He's working in my life. He actually lifts me up, draws me to the sun, brings everything into my life so that I'll be fruitful.
[6:43] Because I'm his product. He's working in my life. I'm going to be a missionary wherever I'm going to be. He's working in my life. He purges it. He cleanses it. Look at verse 2. Every branch of me that bears not fruit, he, the husbandman, takes away.
[6:58] And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. He's working on me. He's cutting sin out of my life. He's cleaning me up. He's cutting out what ought not be there so he can be glorified.
[7:10] The first thing is enough to go home on if you get a hold of this. I'm going to be fruitful. And it's not me that's going to make me fruitful. It's him that's working in me. And to be blunt honest, if I were to go outside and I were to show you my plants and it was me that was fertilizing them and me that was watering them and me that was putting insecticide on them.
[7:31] And me that was clipping off what needed to be clipped off and me that was lifting up whatever needed to be lifted up. It'd be me that was getting the work done. Can you say amen? And it's really not the limb that's getting the job done.
[7:41] It's really not the fruit producing thing. It's the father doing all the work. There's a husbandman doing all the work in the plant. That's the first truth. Second truth. Look at this thing here. The second one is Jesus is the true vine.
[7:54] Look at verse 1. Go back to verse 1 with me. I am the true vine. Jesus is talking. My father's the husbandman. We can stop right there. You see what's happening, don't you? It's really Jesus is doing everything anyway.
[8:06] And it's the father working with Jesus to get everything done. And I'm just connected to the guy that's doing everything. Watch what the verse says. Look at verse 5. We're the branches. I am the vine. Ye are the branches.
[8:18] He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. He's the source of all life. Without him we can do nothing. Fruitfulness comes from his life flowing through us.
[8:31] Consider what he's done. I want to just give you some verses. Background before I read some other stuff to you. Look if you would write these things down. Just think of where you are, where you were and what God's doing. The first thing I want you to write down is this.
[8:42] He took my place. He took my place. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 the Bible says, He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
[8:53] So when I was all messed up and ought to have gone to hell and I didn't have any reason that God would ever choose me, ever use me, ever do anything with me, Jesus came and took my place. He came and put himself in my place so that he could make me the righteousness of God in him.
[9:09] You ought to underline that in your Bible so that he could make the, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Who am I tonight? I am made the righteousness of God in him.
[9:22] He did that in me. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18. You ought to write these down somewhere. The Bible says, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
[9:34] Underline that. Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He said, you know what? You're a, you were messed up. You're a long ways from God. But I died for you so I could bring you to God.
[9:45] You would have never gotten to God. You would have never gotten your life straightened out, but I brought you to God. He took my place. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 24. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
[10:02] So number one, he took my place. The way I can be fruitful, the way my life can count is he took my place and he changed me. He brought me to God. He cleans up all the mess I've made.
[10:12] He took my place. The second truth, maybe you could look at with me. He saved us. Look at what he says in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16. He saved us. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
[10:27] Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. If you got your Bible open and you're taking notes, you ought to underline something here.
[10:40] I got saved. He saved me. It wasn't what I did. It was what he did. And notice if you would in the verse here, I'm justified by the faith of Christ. Not what I did.
[10:52] You know how I got right with God? Not what I did. You know how I got to God? Not what I did. You know how I could be used to God? Not what I did. But what Jesus did. He took my place and he saved me. Third thing you should have.
[11:04] Already been mentioned to you. He made me a new creature. He made me a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away.
[11:14] Behold, all things are made new. He gave me his nature. He gave me his nature. You ought to write that down somewhere. You see, I was born with another nature and he gave me his divine nature.
[11:28] Read with me if you would. 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 through 4. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things. Here I am, worthless and no good, and somehow the holy God of heaven and his power gave me all things that pertain to life and godliness.
[11:46] I've got everything I need. He gave it to me through the knowledge of him that called us to glory. Verse 4. Whereby are giving unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be made partakers of the divine nature.
[12:01] Partakers of the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust. He made me a new creature. But he didn't just make me a new creature. I'm not like not human and not divine.
[12:12] He made me part of the divine. He put me in him and he gave me part of his nature. All that's, that's all that's going on here. I'm plugged in to Jesus. Now, if that's true, look what he did for me.
[12:25] Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. As new creatures, we live our new life the same way we got our new life. We live our new life the same way we got our new life.
[12:35] Look at what it says. Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. The Bible says, As ye have therefore received Christ, the Lord Jesus, Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him.
[12:47] Rooted and built up in him. Established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therewith with thanksgiving. So I am saved by grace.
[12:58] I believed him. I received him when I didn't deserve him. I'm going to live in that. I'm going to walk in that. This is what changed Hudson Taylor's life. He gives us life through us.
[13:10] He lives his life through us. Actually, if you're a born again Christian, he lives through us. He lives through it. Look what the Bible says. See if it says that. But Galatians 2 20.
[13:21] I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[13:33] Now, you know, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I misinterpreted that verse for so many years. I kept thinking I needed to do something. I kept thinking I needed to be crucified. I kept thinking I needed to crucify myself.
[13:43] I kept thinking I needed to die. But here's what it says. I am crucified with Christ. And I am alive, but I'm not alive. It's not me that's alive. But it's Christ living in me.
[13:55] And the life which I now live in the flesh by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Colossians 1 27. The Bible says to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you.
[14:11] The hope of glory. A guy named Jack Taylor. I read his book probably 25 or 30 years ago. Jack Taylor said this. He said, I was at wits in corner. I didn't know where to turn. I didn't know what to do with my life. And I read a verse that changed my life.
[14:22] I found out it was Christ in me. The hope of glory. It's Jesus in me. It's Jesus in me. And it is not what we do for him. But it's what he did in us and what he's doing now.
[14:35] This is all the Jesus part. I'll go back to the verse and I'll give you the last thing. The main thing I want to show you tonight. 2 Corinthians 9 8. God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound every good work.
[14:49] Now watch this for me real quickly. And you won't get this. Honestly, I'm afraid when it's all said and done, we go home. You'll say he said a lot of nice stuff. I don't know what he said. But here's what I'm telling you. I spent a long time and I still worry about this.
[15:02] I still work on this and I'm still having problems with this. I'm always trying to please God. And I'm always working at this thing of God's really not that happy with me. And I got to produce and I got to get people saved.
[15:13] And I got to get lives changed. And I got to get churches started. And I got to and I got to and I got to. And here's basically what John 15 says. I am divine and my father's a husband. Number one, dad's doing the work.
[15:25] This farm belongs to him. And everything on it belongs to him. And he's at work in his vines. In his great vineyard. He's at work in it.
[15:36] Number two, Jesus said, and I'm the vine and you're part of me. I'm in you and you're in me. I love this. I think I'll read it to you in just a second. But Hudson Taylor said, how could I be hungry if my head ate?
[15:49] If your head eats, the rest of you eat. And if Jesus is your head and he's okay, so will you be okay? So anyway, Hudson Taylor came across this wildest thought.
[16:00] In John chapter 15, I'll read to you in just a minute. And that is that my job is to abide in Christ. Now some of us probably never really worry about pleasing God that much.
[16:11] Some of us kind of live a kind of shaky life anyway. It's kind of like, I don't know. I just want to get through life. I do my thing. I go to church on occasion. But some of us hunger to please God.
[16:22] And we work to please God. And sometimes we find that to be extremely frustrating. So that brings us to point number three. Our fruitfulness is based on our abiding. And look, if you would, our part is abiding.
[16:36] Look, if you would, at chapter 15 and verse 6. We are to abide in him. Verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered.
[16:46] And men gather them up and cast them into the fire and they're burned. His words abide in me. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done to you. You see, it's the father's vineyard.
[17:00] The father's at work. The father is carefully and tenderly picking up the branches, putting them where they ought to be, cleaning the branches off, fixing the branches up. He's making sure the branches get the right kind of light.
[17:12] He's making sure there's enough nutrients placed and given to the vine. So everything about this plant here, the father's working on it. Then I really don't, I need to really figure out that it's the branch. I'm a branch and he's the vine.
[17:24] He's doing the work. I'm not doing the work. The life comes through him. Let me read to you what Hudson Taylor said. And this is a lot. So listen to this. If you would Hudson Taylor, missionary leader endured intense stress and now waged an inner conflict.
[17:39] And this is what he said. I hated myself. I hated my sin. Yet I gained no strength against it. He prayed and agonized and made resolutions.
[17:49] He read scripture, but with little effect. The more he struggled for holiness and vitality, the more it eluded his grasp. He realized in Christ was all I needed.
[18:01] But the practical question was, how do I get it out? Christ is rich, but I'm poor. He is strong, but I am weak. Taylor read a young believer's letter reporting his own discovery.
[18:14] To let my loving Savior work in me his will. Abiding, not striving and struggling. Not striving to have faith, but looking to the faithful. To the faithful one seems all we need.
[18:27] Arresting, wrote the co-worker. Amazed at his own blindness. Taylor's inner eyes were now opened. I looked at Jesus and saw. I've striven in vain.
[18:38] I've striven in vain to abide in him. I'll strive no more. For has he not promised to abide in me? Taylor's struggle to get it out of Christ was mistaken.
[18:49] I am one with Christ. I am part of him as a branch of the vine. He exclaimed to the household. Hudson Taylor had discovered a spiritual secret and it changed his life.
[19:00] He had grasped the blessed reality. Christ lives in me. Now Hudson could testify the sweetest part is a rest.
[19:11] Which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about everything. Do you know? I now think that this striving, longing, hoping for better days to come.
[19:23] Is not the true way to holiness, happiness or usefulness. It's better no doubt far better than being satisfied with poor attainments. But not the best way after all.
[19:34] To let my loving savior work in me his will. My sanctification is what I would live for by his grace. Abiding. Not striving or struggling.
[19:45] Looking off unto him. Trusting him for present power. Resting in the love of an almighty savior. In the joy of a complete salvation. From all sin.
[19:57] This is not new. Yet tis new to me. Christ literally all seems to me. Now the power. The only power for service. The only ground for unchanging joy.
[20:10] How then to have our faith increased. Only by thinking of all that Jesus is. And all that he is for us. His life. His death.
[20:20] His work. He himself has revealed to us in his word. To be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith. But a looking off to the faithful one.
[20:31] Seems all we need. A resting. In the loved one entirely. For time and eternity. Perhaps I may make myself more clear. If I go back a little.
[20:43] I prayed. Agonized. Fasted. Strove. Made resolutions. Read the bible more diligently. Sought more time for meditation. But all without a veil.
[20:54] Every day. Almost every hour. The consciousness of sin. Oppressed me. I knew that if only I could abide in Christ. All would be well. But I could not.
[21:06] I would begin the day with prayer. Determined not to take my eye off of him. For a moment. The pressure of duties. Sometimes very trying. And constant interruptions.
[21:16] Apt to be so wearing. Caused me to forget him. Then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate. That temptations to irritability. Had thought sometimes unkind words.
[21:28] Are more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin. And failure. Of a lack of power. To will was indeed present with me. But how to perform.
[21:40] I found not. Then came the question. Is there no rescue? Must it be thus to the end? Constant conflict. And too often defeat.
[21:51] Instead of growing stronger. I seem to be getting weaker. And to have less power against sin. No longer for faith and even hope. We're getting low. I hated myself.
[22:04] I hated my sin. Yet gained no strength against it. I felt I was a child of God. His spirit in my heart would cry in spite of all. Abba father. But to rise to my privileges as a child.
[22:16] I was utterly powerless. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so. And asked him to give me help and strength. Sometimes I almost believed that he would keep and uphold me.
[22:28] But on looking back in the evening. Alas. There was but sin and failure to confess. And mourn before God. And yet never did Christ seem more precious.
[22:39] A savior who would and could save such a sinner. And sometimes there were seasons not only of peace. But of joy in the Lord. But they were transitory.
[22:50] And at best there was a sad lack of power. I knew full well. That there was in the root. The stem. Abundant fatness. But how to get it into my own puny little branch.
[23:02] Was the question. As gradually light dawned. I saw that faith was the only requisite. Was the hand to lay hold of his fullness and make it mine. But I had not this faith.
[23:15] I strove for faith. But it would not come. I tried to exercise it. But in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus.
[23:26] The fullness of our precious savior. My guilt and helplessness seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared. But his trifles compared with the sin of unbelief. Which was their cause.
[23:38] Which could not or would not take God at his word. I prayed for faith. But it came not. What was I to do? When my agony of soul was at its height.
[23:51] A sentence and a letter from dear McCarthy. Was used to remove the scales from my eyes. And the spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Christ. As I had never known it before. But how to get faith strengthened.
[24:03] Not by striving after faith. But by resting. On the faithful one. As I read it. I saw it all. If we believe not.
[24:14] He abideth faithful. I looked to Jesus and saw. And when I saw. Oh how joy flowed. That he said. I will never leave thee. Ah there is rest.
[24:26] I thought. I have striven in vain to rest in him. I'll strive no more. For has not. Not he promised to me. To abide with me. And never leave me.
[24:36] And never fail me. And he never will. As I thought of the vine. And the branches. What light the blessed spirit poured. Direct into my soul. How great seemed my mistake.
[24:48] In wishing to get the sap. The fullness out of him. I saw not only what Jesus. That Jesus will ever. Will never leave me. But that I am a member of his body.
[24:59] Of his flesh. And of his bones. The vine is not the root merely. But all. Root. Stem. Branches. Twigs. Leaves.
[25:10] Flower. Fruit. All Jesus. And Jesus is not that alone. He is soil and sunshine. Air and showers. And ten thousand times more than we ever have dreamed.
[25:22] Wished for. Or needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth. I do pray that the eyes of your understanding too. May be enlightened. That you may know and enjoy the riches.
[25:32] Freely given us. In Christ. It's a wonderful thing. To be really one. With a risen and exalted savior. To be a member of Christ. Think what it involves.
[25:43] Can Christ be rich. And I poor. Can your right hand be rich. And your left poor. Or your head be well fed. While your body starves.
[25:54] No more can your prayers or mind be discredited. It offered in the name of Jesus. So long as we keep within the limits of Christ's credit. A tolerably wide limit.
[26:05] The sweetest part is the rest. Which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything. As I realize this. For he I know is able to carry out his will.
[26:18] And his will is mine. It makes no matter where he places me. Or how. That is rather for him to consider than for me. For the easiest position. He must give me his grace.
[26:29] And in the most difficult. His grace. Is sufficient. So if God should place me in serious perplexity. Must he not give me much guidance. Positions of great difficulty.
[26:41] Much grace. In circumstances of great pressure. And trials. Much strength. No fear that his resources will prove unequal. To the emergency. His resources are mine.
[26:53] For he is mine. And is with me. And dwells in me. And since Christ has thus dwelt in my heart. By faith. How happy have I been. I am no better than before.
[27:04] In a sense I do not wish to be. Nor am I striving to be. But I am dead. And buried with Christ. Ah. And risen too. And now Christ lives in me.
[27:16] And the life that I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me. And gave himself for me. Do not let us consider him far off. When God has made us one with him.
[27:28] Members of his very body. Nor should we look upon this experience. These truths as for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God. No one can dispense with them without dishonoring our Lord.
[27:41] The only power for deliverance from sin. Or for true service is Christ. It is all so simple. And practical. But are you always conscious of this abiding in Christ?
[27:53] Mr. Taylor was asked many years later. He replied. While sleeping last night. Did I cease to abide in your home? Because I was unconscious of the fact. We should never be conscious of not abiding in Christ.
[28:06] I change. He changes not. The Christ can never die. His truth. Not mine. The resting place. His love. Not mine.
[28:17] The tie. That's a whole lot. Never do that. But if you'd get those words. And I'll be glad to give them to you written. But you listen to this. He's the one doing the work. You're in his vineyard.
[28:29] The father's working. And he's working to make you productive and fruitful. You're part of the vine. You are the branch in the vine. Every part of your life comes from the vine.
[28:40] It is him doing the work in and through us. I should realize that he's at work in me. I should realize that all my strength and all my life comes from the Lord Jesus.
[28:52] So I act on what I know. In Romans chapter 6 and verse 11. The Bible says. Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. But alive unto God. Through Jesus Christ the Lord.
[29:02] We know the truths. You know he loves you. You know he's in you. You know he's given you promises. You know he's great and he's wonderful. You know he's bigger than whatever emergency you're in.
[29:14] So act like it. So stand up and just say it's true. God is taking care of me. In Romans chapter 6 and verse 19.
[29:26] We present ourselves to him. And whatever plans he has for us. Romans 6 19 says. I speak out to the manner of men. Because the infirmity of your flesh. Whereas you have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness.
[29:38] And to iniquity unto iniquity. Even so now. Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Trust him. Rest in him. And who he is.
[29:48] And who he made you. It's about being. Not doing. Let me give you this last thing. I don't know if really. Anybody in this room even struggles with this. But me. But you know I've lived my life since I was a little boy.
[30:01] With one thing in mind. I must be a good boy. I didn't do what everybody else did. I didn't go where they went. I didn't do what they did. I didn't participate in their escapades.
[30:15] I didn't drink. I didn't have sex. I didn't use drugs. I just wanted to serve God. And I tried my best always to please him. But almost always ended up frustrated.
[30:27] I was never quite good enough. And here's what he's saying. Austin. I'm glad you love me. And I'm glad you're trying to please me. And that's wonderful. But you can relax.
[30:39] You already pleased me. Because of what my son did in you. And then he says to us. Austin you are going to be used. And people are going to get saved. Your life is going to produce fruit.
[30:50] Because I'm the father. And I'm working in you. And I'm lifting you up. And I'm cleansing you. And I'm purging you. And I'm fixing you. And I'm strengthening you. And Austin if you don't catch.
[31:01] On to what's happening. Not only is the father at work. But you're a part of Jesus now. He brought you into his body. And when he died. You died. And he rose again. You rose again. And he lives through you. And Austin it's all about.
[31:12] What who I am. And who Jesus is. And Austin. If you'll just abide. If you'll just sit back. And relax. I don't know how many times.
[31:22] I've flown on big jets around the world. You know not one time. If I had to flap my arms. And not one time. If I had to do anything. To help the planes get there. I just get on.
[31:33] Usually I do everything in my power. To go to sleep. And if I could. I mean I put on Bose headsets. I've put on loud. Books reading to me. Or even vision.
[31:44] People singing on the first vision. See what they did. And I try to sleep. I get up. I go to the bathroom. I walk around. I mean. But I don't have to do anything. I just get there. I just get there. Because the work's being done by somebody else.
[31:57] And here's what he's saying. You can relax. I'm already happy. You don't need to try to make me do stuff for you. I already did stuff for you. And I am doing stuff in you.
[32:09] And I'm going to continue to do stuff in you. And you are going to be fruitful. Because the Father's at work in you. And because you're hooked to the vine. So relax. And abide.
[32:20] Father I love you. I pray your name will be glorified and magnified. And I pray you'd take the feeble attempt tonight. And help somebody to see how wonderful you are. And help us to trust. And God help me to grow in this.
[32:31] Lord I so desperately need to know how great you are. And how wonderful a vine keeper you are. A husbandman that you are. And I need to know that I'm in the vine.
[32:42] And the vine's in me. And I abide in you. And you abide in me. I need to know that you're cleansing me. And perfecting me. And making me all that I need to be. God I pray tonight that you'd help Christians to trust you.
[32:54] And believe you. And look to you. And I pray God that you'd give us joy. The joy of our salvation. Abundant life because of who you are. And what you're doing. You have been listening to Austin Gardner.
[33:08] Pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information. Location. Service times. Or more audio and video recordings. Log on to www.visionbaptist.com www.visionbaptist.com