Brother Gary Sunday Morning 3/9/14

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 3/9/14

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The true vine is Jesus; we are the branches.  Abide in Christ.  Christ abides in us.  The design is that we bear much fruit.  Without Jesus we can do nothing.

Thank God we can know the truth and know that Christ is the true vine. 

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We think of the design of God to have the true vine available in the time world.  It cost heaven’s best that the true vine would be available in the time world to men and women just like you and I.  God sent His only begotten son, who is the true vine, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish.

Christ is the only source of salvation, “Neither is there salvation in any other than Jesus Christ.” 

Salvation means deliverance.  It is wonderful that there is a vine that we can be grafted into that delivers us and keeps us delivered from those terrible bondages in the world today.  I think of the bondages of individual’s minds:  not being able to forgive.  If we don’t forgive those that have trespassed us then we will not be forgiven. 

The true vine, Jesus, liberates us from all the bondages of the past whether they be in our mind or our heart, whether they are acquired from the misfortunes of our past or of our family.  Christ gives us deliverance.

The true vine gives us help.  Zech shows the Word and the Spirit flowing as oil into one large bowl and there are golden pipes going out into the candlestick.  There is an abundance of the good things of God and in John 15 it shows that these good things can come into our lives through the golden pipe of faith.

There is safety.  Having communion with God in that secret place will warn us from danger and help us know what we should or should not do.  It is part of the vine, of being graft in, and a part of the life flow that goes into the branches.

We can talk all day of the battle and how hard it is.  Life is full of battles but God has victory for everyone.  Our source of victory is being grafted in to that true and living vine.  We are not crystals or magical that nothing ever bothers us. 

We learn pretty fast, that there is plenty of diesel or gas and you can have it without a special permit from the government, if you have the money.  We think of the difficult adjustment season of getting old.  Sister Margaret is there with the thought, “I want to be a missionary and a help to whomever else is here.”

Wherever you are, by being grafted into the true and living vine, you can have victory.  We try to tell those with babies to enjoy the beautiful season.  We could write a book of the empty nest reality.  Yet there is victory. 

When you are disappointed, if you are grafted into the true and living vine you can have victory.  You will still feel disappointment and you may still feel loneliness, but you can have victory.  We can be grafted into that true and living vine and still have victory.

Jesus added health.  By being grafted into the true and living vine you can have health in your mind.  Every time you pick up the newspaper you read of people that went into eternity. 

One thing I know: if we will stay rightly related to the vine and not allow anything to hinder the flow of Christ into our soul, (Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee), that golden pipe that flows from Christ, flows into our heart and into our mind and encourages us to think on things that we should think on.

Everyone that reaches the age of accountability comes to the place where they realize, “My sin has separated me from the true and the living God.”  There is a faithful, merciful high priest that paid the price for our sin.  If we ask Him to forgive us, He is “faithful and just to forgive us of our sin.”

He doesn’t just forgive us once but dwells before the throne forever making intercession for us.  What a faithful Lord!

The majority of people may reject Jesus but that doesn’t change Him at all.  He is still the true vine.  He is still the faithful High Priest.

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

It is so sad when you think of all that God designed for the literal Jew, that they did not take advantage of it. 

Our roots may not be of the literal Jew, if you are a literal Jew we are happy to have you, but most of us acknowledge that we were not of the literal Jews and come from different nationalities.  We would be as the scripture refers, ‘a wild olive tree.’

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

We see because of the unbelief of others, they were broken off.  Because of the goodness of God, when we come confessing, repenting of our sin, He has a way of grafting us into that true and living vine.

Abiding in Christ:

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

It is a marvelous thing that we are called by the Heavenly Father, one of His sons or one of His daughters.   Everyone, in time, experiences the loss of their literal father or mother.  There is something so unique about when you lose them.  If they were not a good mother or father, and you know that, there is still a terrific loss:  The hope that might have been is never fulfilled.  That is never the case with God the Father.  He loves us. 

You and I fully believe that every child should be loved.  If we had our way, every child would be loved without any thinking harm or evil to them.  This is how it is with the true vine.  He loves with such a marvelous way that allows us to be a son and He abides with us.

When you and I are grafted into the true and living vine, there is the son of God, that is the vine, that wants to abide with us.  He wants us to have a clean environment, and wants something good for us to eat.  There is really something about having someone come and stay with you and it is the same with Jesus.  He comes to abide with us. 

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Among the things that I really like about God is He knows how to say, “You are my son.”  He knows how to challenge us.

He gives hope.  We shall be like Him.  He is a wonderful Son of God.  He is not the elder son that has a problem with everything that the Father is doing.  He is the Son that says, “I’m glad that you started to serve me.  I’m glad that you are doing your best.  I’m going to work with you.

1Jn 3:5  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

1Jn 3:6  Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

He says, “Son, choose to do that which is right.  Don’t yield to that which would destroy you.”

1Jn 3:9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

We love Him because He first loved us.

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Before we get saved, we have real heart troubles.  It can be hard, stony, and rebellious.  When we get saved, we get a new heart.

I will cause you to walk in my statutes:  Being graft into the true and living vine, it is not that we have a bunch of rules to live by but being graft in causes us to desire to know the will of God.  We have a desire to know, “What does God want me to do?”

I have a strict regiment between now and Wednesday night.  But there is something that supersedes my regiment.  While I am worshipping, having my devotions, as God and I visit, He can break in on my regiment.  “I have this hospital visit I want you to make; I think you need to call this young man that is in a desperate situation; this one needs you today, not Thursday.”

The ‘judgments’ is the word of God revealing what is right and what is wrong.

There are three that bear witness in heaven, the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost.  There are three that bear witness in earth:  The Spirit, the Holy Spirit witnesses to our heart what is right; the Water, which is the Word of God, witnesses to our heart what is true; the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ helps us to know we abide in Him.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We all remember conviction and we realized, “I need a savior.”  The sins of our past we recognized and we wanted to know, “What can I do.”  The sins of our past are taken from the pages of the book and they are cast as far as the east is from the west and are buried in the depths of the sea, never to be remembered again.

Without me you can do nothing.  Isn’t it wonderful that you can be grafted into the true and living vine and have that golden oil flowing into your mind and your heart.  We can live and abide with Christ.  It is wonderful.  Not only can He live with us, but we can live with Him.

Oh that we can bear much fruit!  “Without Jesus we can do nothing.”