Thank you. Greetings, friends. John's Gospel, chapter fifty, verse one. We have another of those wonderful statements made by the Lord Jesus himself. When he was here on earth, tabernacling amongst men, when he used that marvelous expression, I am. A.M. I am. The ever-existing one. The one who had no beginning. No end. Our finite minds cannot comprehend this, but the Word of God declares it, and therefore we believe what we're not able to understand. He was before the beginning of the world. He was with the Father in eternity time. And he had a beginning on earth, of course, when he was born in Bethlehem. And when he was to be called Jesus, for he should save his people from their sin, this is in the marvelous progress of the plan of God for mankind, for the blessing, the salvation of the human race, for all who will believe, the whosoever that will come. the whosoever that will believe, the whosoever that will receive, and that whosoever will take in from the lowest to the highest, from the richest to the poorest. It takes in everybody. It's offered to everybody. So here in verse one of chapter fifteen, the Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine, and my father is a husband man. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, or prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now here's the metaphor. The Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine. He likens himself to undoubtedly the grape vine. It has no value as wood. The vine has no value as wood. It doesn't produce too much heat because it burns in a flash. It's consumed by the fire in a fly. It's sole purpose, and therefore it's a marvelous example here. The sole purpose of the grapevine is to bear fruit. And so the Lord Jesus after me states, I am the true vine, and my father is a husband-man. And then he said, I am the true vine in verse five. Ye are the branches. Oh, yes, here is that relationship that is maintained by the Lord with those who have accepted him as their Savior. John wrote again in the epistle, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us? that we should be called the sons of God. Think of that. This nearness, the relationship that can't be broken, that's eternal, settled in the heaven. My friends, it pays to be saved. It pays to know the Lord Jesus as Savior. It is a wonderful experience. It's the greatest experience on earth to know that the Lord Jesus is your Savior. And if he's divine, and that you are a branch, since you have accepted him as your Savior, you've made him your own. You become one with him, and he with you. I and him, and you and me, as he has already stated in this John's Gospel. Oh, my friends, here's the relationship that is beautiful. Here's the relationship that is fruitful. It is valuable. I am the true vine. Ye are the branches. So the branch cannot bear fruit of itself? Of course not. The branch must abide in the vine if it's going to bear fruit. And at three stages here, of fruit, bear fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. So the Lord Jesus desires that those who are his, those that have trusted him, those that are born again, and abide in him, as the branch abides in the vine, so that we might bear fruit to his glory. for man was made to bring glory to God. But man fell, and therefore he can't bring glory to God until he's restored to God through conversion, through salvation. Then he's brought back to God. He fell from the presence of God at the middle tree in the Garden of Eden, in Eden, and he's brought back to God at the middle tree in the garden where he was crucified, where the Lord Jesus was crucified on either side a malefactor, the middle tree at the cross. So if we abide in him, you see, what a lovely example here. What a lovely illustration here. Abide in him. The branch abides in the vine. And then... It draws its sustenance. It draws its strength. It draws its fruitfulness from the vine. Oh, yes. And so the Lord Jesus says, Without me ye can do nothing. This is verse five. I am the vine ye of the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him. The same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Put an app, illustration. Example, divine is, to the Lord Jesus himself. And the branches are to you and to me. If we trusted the Savior and were brought into relationship with him, then we can abide in the vine. We can abide daily in the Lord Jesus, and this is what we should do in his conscious presence every day. Working at our daily work, but doing it as for the Lord. Taking advantage of every opportunity we can to spread the gospel, to win souls for Christ, to live a godly life, to live a life that's noble. above board, an honest life, a full life, because we are to bear fruit. And the fruit of the Spirit, the nine different great areas. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, compass. Nine different valuable fruits, the fruit of the Spirit. All nine the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And as we abide in the Savior, we're walking consciously within His presence from day to day. We commune with them as the day goes by. We speak with them at any time. We call upon them at any moment. He's always near. He never leaves nor forsake. He gives us help with our daily toil. He gives us help to serve Him. He makes His presence very real and time of trouble. Oh, my friend, do you know the Savior? Do you know Him and the consciousness of His presence with you every day, every moment of the day? Do you live an abiding life in the Lord Jesus? If you profess to be a Christian, then do you bear fruit? Can you look into your life and say, well, I did try to do something for the Lord there. I did try to serve him there. I did keep myself unspotted from the world there. I did proclaim the gospel message there. These are just plain practical matters, and the Holy Spirit will enable us to bear fruit, to live for God, to serve Him. and to bring honor and glory to his name and publish the gospel from shore to shore, helping our fellow men to find their way to the cross to the Lord Jesus who hanged there and died for their sins, died to shed his blood to put their sins away and make them free, make them cleansed, make them whole. Born again, born anew, a new creature. in Christ Jesus. I am the true vine. Ye are the branches. O friend, are we bearing fruit if we're saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, Father, thank me for thy good word, thank me for the closeness and the relationship here with the Lord Jesus Christ, the true vine. And we the branches, we praise thy holy name. that many souls may trust Christ. May we be fruitful, Lord, in our lives. Help us to live Godly lives. Help us to live honest lives. Help us to honor the name and person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless our president. Bless all who are in authority in our country, our government. We pray, Lord, for the mayors of the cities, the mayor of our city, the national nation's capital. God bless each one. Help us, we pray, Lord. to serve thee and bear fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. In the name of the Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.