Rick Flanders: Now, let’s all find the book of John, if you would, and we’ll turn to chapter 15, John chapter 15. Here are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he’s going to give us a metaphor, which is a word picture that really does describe for us what it takes to have the Christian life working for us. John chapter 15, let me just read the words first.

Verse 1. Jesus said, I am the true vine. You know, some people say that Jesus Christ was a great teacher, but he wasn’t God.

Of course, these are infidels and unbelievers. But did you know that the central teaching of Jesus Christ was about himself? And in the book of John, the I am statements tell us so much about him.

I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Now, here’s one for the folks who are here today. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman, meaning like a vine dresser. Like in college, you could take a course not at BCM in animal husbandry.

Husbandry means farming. Okay, here is a farmer who oversees a vine. So he’s like a vine dresser.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

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.

Now, here’s a word picture that really brings the whole thing together. It really does. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, if all you were reading was the book of John.

Now, I got saved reading the book of John. I went to a liberal church, and the liberal church does not mean a church in town that has lower standards than yours. You know, I came from the real liberalism.

And when I joined the church at age 13, our assistant pastor in a class for those joining the church taught us that the Bible was full of myths, fairy tales, legends, and could not be relied on. I never heard a gospel message, never. I never heard a real message from the Bible in all my years growing up in our church.

But you know, when I was about 13 years old, a friend of mine got me listening, of all things, and I wasn’t interested in religion, listening to a radio preacher who preached the Word of God. He called himself a fundamentalist. Didn’t even know what that was.

And he was a troublemaker all across this country. He was exposing the churches for their unbelief, and he got me interested, and I would listen to him. But to make a long story short, when I was 15 years old, I got a Bible correspondence course from the radio preacher in the book of John.

I read the book of John first time I had ever read any part of the Bible with attention. And with my little booklet that were the lessons from the book of John, I was coming to understand what salvation was. When I read the third chapter of John, he must be born again, I said, that’s never happened to me.

I was christened as a baby. I joined the church when I was 13, but I’ve never been born again. When I finished that lesson, I realized I had to ask Jesus Christ to save me.

And I think that the very first day I understood the way of salvation, I got saved. I was in my own room, 15 years old, and I asked Jesus to save me. And I’ve never been the same since that day.

Now watch, if all you were reading was the book of John, and you asked the book of John, what must I do to be saved? One of the key phrases used by the Lord Jesus about the salvation of a sinner is, come to me. Come to me.

I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. That’s how to be saved. Come to Jesus.

Dr. Frank Bumpus, a well-known fundamentalist preacher now in heaven from down there in the Chicago area, I remember hearing him say, you know, you could come to my church for 20 years and not be saved. You could come to our Christian school for 13 years and graduate and not be saved.

But you couldn’t come to Jesus and not be saved. See, salvation is simple. Jesus Christ did the hard part.

He died for our sins. He invites us to come. Now watch.

Book of John says salvation is come to me. It’s always already been referred to, but I’m going to mention it again. In chapter 10, Jesus said, I am the door.

By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. He’s the door of the sheepfold. When they come in through that door at night, they’re safe from wolves and bears and other predatory animals.

Saved. But during the daytime, when they go in and out through that same door, they find pasture and still waters and protection. and anointing with oil, and the companionship of the shepherd in the dark valley.

See, that’s a good thing. And then the next verse, he said, I am come that they might have life. What’s that?

Salvation, eternal life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Now, here’s the way this goes. Jesus said, the way I get eternal life is by coming through the door who is himself for salvation.

Come to me. The way that I have the abundant life, the way I get to experience all Jesus bought for me on the cross and at the empty tomb is abide in me. There’s the key.

Come to me and be saved. Abide in me and enjoy the abundant life. And that’s what makes it click.

What do I mean by that? That’s what makes it work for you. That’s the key.

It’s not complicated. One thing about a long conference, and this is a long conference just a couple of days, but a lot of sessions, is that sometimes a person coming can think, oh man, this is complicated. Absolute surrender, a clean heart, you know, prayer.

Man, I don’t know if I could put this all together. Oh, yes, you can. It’s really one thing.

Abide in me, and here’s the metaphor. It makes sense. A vine with branches.

The fruit comes out on the branches, but the branch does not produce the fruit. If when I arrived this time, I went to Pastor Van Gelren and said, Pastor Van Gelren, I found something just terrific. My wife and I were away somewhere, and we came across this family that has a very fruitful vine on the side of their house.

And we were visiting with them and enjoyed the grapes for several days. And I got thinking, you know, Wayne Van Gelren would love these grapes. So what I’ve done for you is I’ve broken off that very branch where we got the grapes.

It’s got grapes on it. And if you’ll just put it on your desk, you can have grapes anytime you want. Uh-uh.

No, you see, the fruitfulness of the branch has to do with being connected to the vine. The Greek word translated abide is translated remain and continue in this same chapter. It means stay connected.

He says, you want to be saved? Come to me. I’ll do the rest.

You want to enjoy the abundant life? Stay connected to me. And you will.

Because the fruit you will bear will not be your fruit. It’ll be my fruit. The life-giving sap that comes up through the vine will go out through you as the channel and as the branch, and out pops that fruit.

It’ll be my fruit through you, and that’s the way you can have this great life. So all I’m going to do now is read things Jesus said and point out to all of us what it takes to make this work. Now, Lord, I pray that you’d make this so clear that everyone who has come to you will know what it is to abide in you.

May we all enjoy the Christian life today. May it click. May we understand.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. It was 1904 when the big event took place, but actually the young man had been saved for 13 years.

He was now 26. When he was 13 years old at the Mount Moriah Church, young Evan Roberts came to Jesus Christ and was born again. Now, he lived in the country of Wales, and Wales has a history of many powerful revivals.

One of them had happened in 1859. This is now, you know, in the 1890s when he got saved. And there are plenty of people who were around during the great revival of 1859, even preachers that he knew.

And they all would speak about when the Spirit came. That’s the way they used it, used the term, and prayed that the Spirit would come again. And a deacon on the day Roberts got saved told him, now, Evan, you be sure not to miss any meetings.

Now, you come to church every time we have a meeting, because one day the Spirit will come, and if you’re not at the meeting, you’ll miss him. Now, I can’t explain that to you theologically. I’m not sure exactly what he meant, but it really impacted Evan Roberts.

And although that same year his father was hurt in the coal mines where he worked, Evan had to drop out of school and work at the coal mines to support the family. And even though his education came to an end and he was a working young man all the way through his teenage years, he never missed the meetings. Not the classes, not the prayer meetings, not the services.

He would never miss a youth meeting, never, never did. And then when he got into his 20s, God called him to preach. He needed to catch up, but he was going to go off to a college to prepare for theological school.

And we’ll pick up the story a little bit later because all those years he said, Lord, he said, I’m saved, but I want to be filled with the Spirit. And when he was 26, he was able to understand how that could happen. Now, let’s take this metaphor of this story and what Jesus said that night and put it together in simple terms.

Okay? Number one, the Christian life is the greatest life in the world. Now, I know we’ve heard that, but let’s hear this from the lips of Jesus.

Turn back to chapter 14. Would you do that? Now, John chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, five chapters record one talk by Jesus Christ to his disciples the night before he died on the cross.

Now, they didn’t know he was going to die tomorrow. They didn’t know that that night he would be arrested, John chapter 18. They had no clue.

They didn’t know that. But they knew that in this talk, John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, He told them, I’m going away. And you may remember their hearts were troubled.

They were sorrowful. You’re going away. But he encouraged them, John 16, he said, it is expedient for you that I go away.

Expedient means better. Now, it would be like this. You know, man, I’ve been with you for three and a half years.

We’ve shared a lot of wonderful experiences. You’ve heard me preach and teach. You’ve seen me perform miracles.

You’ve watched my life. I’ve been there for you. And we’ve been very close for three and a half years.

But I’m going away, and your heart is sorrowful. But I want to tell you, it’s expedient. It’s better for you that I go away.

I’m going to tell you, fellas, if you think this has been great, you ain’t seen nothing yet. That’s in the Greek. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

And what he taught them was this. he was going away to usher in the New Testament age. And they’d been living under the old covenant, but now the new covenant was going to bring great blessings.

And I’ll show you what this is a little bit without getting complicated. And that night he was telling them the way it was going to be when he would go away and about the abundant life. Okay, now chapter 14, would you look at verse 12?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, now imagine being there and hearing these words for the first time. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me the works that I do, shall he do also. Wow!

And greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. Now he unfolds for them that night the power of him going away. It was about where he was going.

Tomorrow he was going to the cross. Three days later he was going to come out of the tomb. And weeks later he was going to ascend to heaven from the Mount of Olives to be seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will win the victory over sin and death and the devil and hell. And then he will be seated at the right hand of the Father as the victor. and with the victor enthroned at the right hand of the father as my mediator, it was going to provide wonderful privileges for believers in prayer.

Now, let me keep reading. You’ll see that. It says, because I go unto my father and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Wow. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. Now, we have scriptures down there that I’ll let you look at later.

Yeah, later in this talk that night, he brings it up more than once. He says, when I go away and I’m at the right hand of the Father, you’ll be able to ask for things in my name. You know what that means?

You’ll be able to come to the Father and say, your Son authorized me to ask for this. And you know what? When you can come to the Father in the name of the Son, it’s a done deal.

Your Son authorized me to ask you for this, and whatever you ask in that way will be yours. He says the Christian life is going to be a miraculous life. You’re going to have a life lived where you see God answer prayer in a very phenomenal way.

That’s going to be the norm for you. Now let’s keep going. Keep reading.

He says, if you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him. For he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.

Now, you know the New Testament age, and that’s the one in which we live, is great for believers for two reasons. Number one, because our mediator is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, giving us fantastic, unlimited privileges in prayer. Wow.

Number two, because the Spirit of Jesus Christ has come to live in us. Now, the Spirit of God lived at the temple behind the veil and the Holy of Holies for a long time. But the next day when Jesus Christ would be hanging on the cross, that veil would be, quote, rent in twain, torn in two.

And the Holy One that lived in the Holy of Holies would vacate the house. Your house shall be left unto you desolate. And the Spirit of God would leave the temple, but on the day of Pentecost, He would come back to earth to live in us.

And now your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Wow. The New Testament age, now think with me, the New Testament age is the age of Jesus’ absence and the age of his presence.

See, he’s absent at the right hand of the Father interceding for you and me. And that has earthly consequences. But he’s present because his very spirit has come to live inside us.

And although when he was on the earth with the disciples, he was with them basically three and a half years, sometimes he wasn’t with them. I remember reading in the Bible about a day there, I think it was at Capernaum, when the whole town showed up at the door of the house where Jesus and some of his disciples were staying. And they were there early in the morning looking for Jesus because they wanted to be healed.

And Simon Peter got up, probably because they were knocking at the door, and he looked over at the cot where Jesus had been sleeping, and he was gone. And the whole town was there looking for Jesus. So the Bible teaches us that Simon Peter went out into the woods looking for Jesus, and he found him out there praying.

And he said, Lord, the whole world is seeking for you. And that morning, although he went to bed in the same house with Jesus Christ, when he woke up in the morning, Jesus was gone. You know what he was saying this night?

He was saying, you will never wake up and find the Holy Spirit gone. And one time they were in a boat, and they were in major trouble with a storm, and Jesus Christ was in the back of the boat. What?

What was he doing? He was sleeping. And he was saying this night, he was saying, you know what?

You will never get into a bad situation and find the Holy Spirit sleeping. He will never tell you, I am going away like I’ve told you tonight. He will abide with you forever.

He’s going to be inside you 24-7 from now on. And he’s coming mainly for one reason. Now put yourself there, sitting at the table in the upper room.

And the Lord has said, I’m going away, and your heart is troubled. But he’s comforting you And then he says this, if you love me, keep my commandments. Okay, I’m going away.

While I’m gone, here’s what I want you to do. Keep my commandments. How would you feel when he said that?

Now, let’s put the question to ourselves. If Jesus Christ were here where you could see him, And he looked across the room, and his eyes met yours. If he said, do you love me?

What would you say? How many of you would say, I believe I could say that I do love Jesus Christ? You know, Simon Peter got backslidden real soon after these events when he denied the Lord.

And several days later, the Lord Jesus met him somewhere and said, do you love me? and even though he was a backslider, he loved Jesus Christ. So let me ask you a question.

I don’t know what condition you’re in, but who would be able to say if Jesus Christ looked me in the eye and said, do you love me? I believe I could honestly say, I love you, Lord. Raise your hand.

Come on, I want you to answer the question. Now watch. So he said, keep my commandments.

Would their thoughts be, oh, that’s easy. Yeah, he’s going away. I don’t know where he’s going.

I don’t understand this. All I have to do is keep his commandments. Piece of cake.

That’s all I have to do. Get up in the morning, review what the commandments were, do them. That’ll be easy.

I don’t think so. I think they were daunted by that statement. Taken back.

I think inwardly, if it was me, I’d wither. of. What were the commandments of Jesus?

Book of Matthew records his first sermon, and he made some commandments like, thou shalt love thy neighbor. Now, I might think, I can do that. I got a pretty nice neighbor.

I don’t hate him. I can love my neighbor. But then the Lord said, as thyself, love your enemy turn the other cheek go the extra mile be perfect like your father in heaven is perfect and then his calls to discipleship he said if you don’t forsake all you have you cannot be my disciple he said more than once love me more than father wife, mother, brother, sister, love me more, or you cannot be my disciple.

Take up your cross. Declare the end of your life and follow me. Now, I’ll tell you, friends, if you love me, keep my commandments was quite a statement.

But then he comforted them. Here’s what he said. And I, when I get up there, I’m going to pray, I’m going to ask the Father, and He’ll give you another comforter.

Some of you Greek scholars know that the word another there means another of the same kind. I’m going to send you a replacement for me, who is just like me. Did you know the Holy Spirit is just like Jesus Christ?

The Holy Spirit is God, and Jesus Christ is God. Okay, now watch. He’ll come as your comforter.

He will abide with you forever. And you know what the word comforter means? In this passage of Scripture, the word comforter doesn’t mean somebody that just consoles you.

Oh, you’ll be all right. The word comforter means helper. In Romans chapter 8, a great chapter about the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, our weaknesses.

He’s our helper. So here’s what the Lord said to you. That night, he says, if you love me, keep my commandments.

How many of you folks say, I love Jesus Christ? Raise your hand. Okay, now we know what to do.

Keep my commandments. That’s daunting. That’s withering.

What a challenge. It’s an impossibility. He says, hold on.

I’m going to give you a helper. One that will help you keep my commandments. You know, some people think the Christian life is different men getting up here and raising the bar.

higher and higher and higher. And I come to church and I think, well, I pretty well got it together. And then I hear another sermon.

Uh-oh. I’m supposed to treat my sister nice? I’m supposed to witness?

Ah, higher and higher goes the bar. Higher and higher goes the bar. Then a preacher comes to us and he says this.

Now your loving Heavenly Father wants you to obey Him. He has given us many commands to fulfill. One day we’ll answer to Jesus Christ as to how well we did.

And some few, very few, will hear, well done. And you’re thinking, oh man. And then he throws this in.

And this is biblical truth. He says, your father loves you so much that when you get out of line and start disobeying his commandments, he’ll chastise you. You know what chastisement is?

It means a whipping. It means he’ll spank you. He’ll make you physically uncomfortable.

He’ll give you trouble in life. And then you know what? If he’s an evangelist instead of a pastor, he’ll probably get up there and say this.

He’ll say, I knew a man who missed church Wednesday night. You know what happened? his whole family was killed in a car accident on Thursday.

I knew a man who didn’t write a tide check just one time. You know what? He lost his job.

He lost his house. He lost his career. His wife divorced him.

I’ll tell you what, you better be careful. Your lovingly heavenly father loves you so much that if you step out of line and fail to obey his commandments, he’ll come down and whop you. We wonder why people walk into church looking like they do.

You know what? A lot of people in church don’t know that preachers can see them. Do you know preachers can see you?

And here they come. They come through the door, and they look like this. And then they walk up to an usher or a deacon or a preacher, and they go, Hi, brother.

How are you? Had the Lord given us a wonderful day? Amen.

Good to see you. Good to be in the house of God. I know why.

There are people, a lot of people in this room, not a few, who think that’s what the Christian life is. Oh, they’re dragging me off to the revival conference. I know what’s going to happen.

The bar will be raised higher and higher and higher. And I don’t just have to quit rock music. I have to quit Beethoven because he was worldly.

Whoa. And you know what? I don’t have to just be careful about social networking and the computer.

I have to stop using the telephone. And I don’t just give up the prom and dances. I’m not allowed to roller skate or even jog.

And I’m going to come home with new restrictions and with warnings. There was a young person who came last year, and you know what he did? He went jogging.

Yes, he did. You know what? I said, my truck ran him over.

You may think, I can get away with jogging for a few weeks and then get right. But no, it was the very first time he went jogging. But did you know that’s not the Christian life at all?

Here’s the Christian life. Christian life is getting saved, and God comes to you and he says this, I got a new way for you to live. And I’ve got somebody here who’s going to help you every step of the way.

His name is the Holy Spirit. I want to be reverent. You’re the Holy Spirit?

Yep, I’m with you forever, 24-7, all the time. And how much help are you going to give me? You don’t know who you’ve got here.

I need a lot of help. I’m going to give you all the help you need. And you know what?

There’s someone who lives inside you who will give you the power to overcome anything, anything, anything that keeps you from living the Christian life. That’s why Jesus said, take my yoke upon you. That means yoke up with me.

Link with me. Don’t live apart from me. Live in fellowship with me.

Abide in me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is… there’s a word we don’t use in church. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

You know what the Lord Jesus was saying that Christian life is? Easy, easy, easy, easy, piece of cake. Not because his commandments are easy, but you know what?

With the help of the Comforter, with the Holy Ghost helping you, it’s easy. You can say things you never thought you would say. You can keep yourself from saying things that you usually would have said.

you can live a holy life. It all has to do with the Holy Ghost. Wow.

So the Christian life is the greatest life in the world. It’s miraculous. It’s victorious.

And I won’t take time on all of these, but I do want to spend a little time on them. Look at verse 18 now. Jesus said that night, I will not leave you comfortless.

I will come to you. Whoa. You know, he was saying when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside you on the day of Pentecost, it’ll be me.

I’m going away, but I’m not abandoning you. I’m going to be right here for you, and everybody who believes in my name. Now watch this.

Now you got to watch it. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more. And when they heard him cry, it is finished.

And watch those who loved him take him down from that cross. And when he was sealed into that tomb, the world saw him no more. The ones who saw him were believers.

And he spent time with them, but the world saw him no more. But now watch this. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.

But ye see me. Because I live, ye shall live also at that day. ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you.

What day? The day of Pentecost. At that day you’ll know that I’m in you.

You know why? You’ll see me. Now go back and read the book of John 14.

Matter of fact, if you’ve got a long way home, if you’re driving back to Fresno, California, you’ve got plenty of time to do this. have somebody read John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 slow, right in a car, and let Jesus Christ talk to you. And you know, one of the things he says is this.

He was saying, I’m going to manifest myself to you. You’re going to be able to see me. Now, if I asked the group, how many of you have seen Jesus Christ?

Probably no one, being honest, would raise your hand and say, I have, but you have. Not with your physical eyes. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

And I’m convinced that’s just not talking about going to heaven when you die. You know what keeps us from seeing God? Have you ever stopped to see that?

You say, God’s invisible. Well, in the physical world of molecules and refracted light, he’s invisible. But what really keeps us from being aware of God is sin.

But when that’s removed, people see him. Now, you’re looking at me like I’m weird, but I want to read a little more of what he said. Did he mean that?

He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved to my father, and I will love him, watch this, and will manifest myself to him. Manifest, let’s show, I’m going to manifest myself to you. You’ll be able to see me.

Oh, yes, you will. Now, to prove that’s what he meant, look at verse 22. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, not Judas Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?

He knew what he meant. When the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, is going to manifest to us. And there will be times when we’ll see him and the world won’t be able to see him, but we will right in this building.

I remember years ago being in a prayer meeting and when we were praying, God’s spirit was leading us in how to pray. He was giving us confidence in knowing what to ask the Father in the name of the Son. And you know what?

His presence was manifested. And I’m no different than you. I’m no different than you.

I had never heard talk like this before, but I remember praying and I remember somewhere over in that part of the auditorium, I said to the Lord in my heart, I said, Lord Jesus Christ, you’re so real in this room right now. I feel like I can open my eyes and see you. I remember a time when I was a little older than a few of you and a little younger than some of you, and I had just got right with the Lord.

How many of you know what it feels like to get right with the Lord? That morning in my devotions, he pointed out something pretty grievous. I confessed my sin and he forgave me.

And I walked out of where I was, had to take a walk down the sidewalk, and I was thinking about how wonderful it is to be loved by Jesus Christ. That he, with the billions of people he knows and has in his family, in heaven and on the earth, cared about little old Rick Flanders that I had strayed, enough to convict me and bring me back. And you know what?

Walking down this sidewalk, I was experiencing the presence of God. and I remember thinking you know what I can’t believe there’s anybody in the world who doesn’t believe in God because right now Lord you’re more real to me than those buildings or that tree or this sidewalk. You’re more real to me than anything.

Now I’m going to tell you I believe there are Christians all over this room who know exactly what I mean by that. I remember when I became the pastor of this church I served for 34 years found out there were major troubles. You newly become the pastor.

They never have told you everything. And, ooh, it was big. I was 25 years old and inexperienced.

It felt so weak. We were still unpacking in the parsonage. And after a little while, I turned to my wife and I said, you know what, Tony, I’m going upstairs for a little while.

I’ll be back. We had one room in our house that had air conditioning. I went to that room.

I knelt down next to the bed, and I said, Lord Jesus, in a few minutes, I’m going to ask you for a few things. But right now, I just need to know you’re with me. And in just a few minutes, I knew.

And I’m going to tell you, it’s a privilege of the Christian life, the greatest life in the world, to enjoy actual fellowship with Jesus Christ. Oh, it’s great. And now look at the others and read them all.

It’s an astounding life, as I put it. It’s an enlightening life. In the next few verses, he says the Holy Ghost is going to interpret the Bible to you.

Actually, it promises the apostles that he is going to help them write the New Testament. And by inspiration, God’s word was going to be ours. But not only will I have a perfect book, I’ll have the author of the book inside me to help me understand it.

Did you know the only thing you heard in these couple of days of conference was that you have the author of the Bible inside you who actually will interpret the Bible for you if you let him? And not only that, he’ll apply it to your own life. Try it.

It’ll really work. Verse 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. The Lord goes on and he says this is going to be an enjoyable life.

You’re going to have peace that doesn’t make sense. Another verse says peace that passeth all understanding. Oh, yes, you will.

You know what? It’ll be my peace. I’m inside you by the Holy Spirit.

You won’t be feeling peace. You’ll be feeling the peace of God, my peace, the same peace that allowed me to fall asleep in a boat during a storm. It’ll be my peace you’ll experience.

And in chapter 15, and I think the outline tells you where, he speaks of my love and my joy. And you’ll be able to have my love, my joy, my peace with you all the time whenever you need it. And of course, the book of Galatians calls that the fruit of the Spirit.

Wow, what an exciting life. It’s going to be great. And then a productive life, which is where we have just been reading, where he says, if you stay connected, he says, if you’ll abide with me, you will bear much fruit.

What if this morning, Brother Jim Van Gelderen came up to me and said, this is a little unusual. I know you and Brother Ingram are going to be preaching. But we had some people come in.

I think we have about 45 unsaved people there. We’re going to have unsaved people out there. I mean a lot of them.

And they’ve just come in. We’ve allowed them to come to the morning sessions, and you and Brother Ingram are going to preach. Now, I can tell you the kind of thoughts that go through the mind of a preacher.

Of course, hearing that, we would pray about that particular issue especially. But I want you to put yourselves in our place. Okay, I’m going to get up and preach, and there’s 45 young people that have come in off the streets of Milwaukee, and I’m going to be the vessel or the vehicle by which the gospel is communicated.

What if I had someone come up to me and say, Brother Flanders, do you think any of them are going to get saved?

To be safe, I would say, “I pray they will.” But what if you were kind of a pushy teenager and you said, “No, I want to know. Do you think there will be people saved?”

Now, you talk about bearing fruit, and that’s what these verses are about: reproduction, the kind of bearing fruit Paul spoke of when it comes to evangelistic success. Do you think anybody’s going to be saved? How many do you think is going to be saved?

There’s 45 of them out there, and maybe a few more that came for the conference. How many out of 45 do you think will be saved? Well, I can tell you how you feel about that.

You know what the problem is? I know the gospel works, but I also know me. You don’t know me; you may have read my name tag or heard the introductions.

You don’t know me, but I know me. I’m going to be the vehicle through whom the gospel will come. Oh, my.

How many do you think will be saved? Do you think all 45 will be saved? Do you think 40 will be saved?

30 will be saved? 25 will be saved? What do you really think, Brother Flanders?

You know what I would say? I’d say, get off my back. But I tell you what, the whole picture changes.

When I don’t think about how much fruit I can bear, I think about how much fruit Jesus could bear in that situation where it’s his. How many people do you think Jesus could save this morning? How many do you think he wants to save?

How many people do you think he has the power to save through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I would save all of them. And I’ll tell you, faith rises when you realize it’s him and not you.

But it’s all about being connected. Now, I’m going to make just a couple of more points, but this is the big one. If I’d have been there that night, and by now, if you follow the narrative, they’re out of the upper room and they’re walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane.

And here, you and I, I’m one of the 12 apostles. We’re following him, and he’s talking to us, and he gives us this metaphor of the vine and the branches. Well, let’s make you one of the minor apostles, okay?

We don’t want to puff you up. Let’s say that you’re Bartholomew, and I’m Philip. And I’ll say, Bartholomew, are you going to ask him?

Ask him what? What do you mean, ask him what? You know what?

Are you going to ask him? What are you talking about, Philip? I mean, are you going to ask him, or are we going to go through this whole night and nobody ask him?

Ask him what? Here’s what. Are you going to ask him what abide in me means?

Can’t you tell through what we’ve heard tonight from chapter 13 right up through this point that the focal point is abide in me? Abide in me? That’s what makes it work.

I’m talking about victory over your sin. I’m talking about wonderful answers to prayer. having him manifest himself, understanding the Bible, peace, joy, and love.

Man, we don’t want to miss it. He said, you know, if you stay connected to me, you’ll have it all. Are you going to ask him?

Well, whether you asked him or not, I’m glad to tell you, the Lord Jesus explained it to us in words we can all understand. Look at verse 9. Here he comes to explaining what abide in me means.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. Okay, now, here’s the explanation. He says, I want to tell you a little something about eternity.

In, from eternity past, in all times, there has been God. And God has always existed in three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now, you can’t quite grasp this, he would have said, but I want to tell you, my Father loves me. Now, around February the 14th, preachers find ways to preach on love because it’s Valentine’s Day. One of the toughest parts about a sermon on love is defining love.

You can describe love as it’s described in 1 Corinthians 13, but it’s awful hard to define. What is love? You know what love is?

Love is the emotional attachment that has always existed between the persons of the Trinity. Man, made in God’s image, has a capacity to love. But what is love?

The Father loves the Son, loves the Spirit, loves the Father. They have loved each other before there ever was time, before there ever was anything. He says, my father loves me.

And I respond to his love by submission. You know, it’s a false teaching to think that if you have to obey somebody, it means you’re less than they are. You know, the Trinity is made up of three co-equal persons, all of them divine.

But there is a chain of command in the Trinity. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, my Father loves me, and I keep his commandments because he loves me. It’s my way of responding to his love.

Now listen to me. If there was ever a preacher on the face of the earth who had a right to take credit for what he was doing, it was Jesus Christ. But follow him in the book of John.

He would say, these words, they’re not my words. These works, they are not my works. I have come to do the will of my Father.

That’s why I’m here, to obey Him. That’s who Jesus was. One of the commandments my Father gave me was to love you.

And I do love you. And tomorrow I’m going to prove it. Now, if you’ll respond to me in my love, the way I respond to my Father’s love, you’ll abide in me.

In other words, by absolute no strings attached, total and complete submission. Think of Jesus. Jesus experiences a love that we cannot describe in English words, A love from the Father to the Son.

And he responds in absolute, total, without reservation. Submission. He does his commandments.

And he says this. If you’ll respond to my love by obeying my commandments, you’ll abide in me. Now it takes a little more.

He gives another metaphor. Look down there in verse 13. You’ve got to look at this.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Now that was going to happen tomorrow. Those words perhaps were ringing in their ears.

When they saw him unexplainably yielding to wicked men. And being mistreated and beaten and scourged and nailed to a cross. And all the world cried out, why?

Why would such a man be so mistreated? Where is God today? but maybe somebody remembered that last night he said the greatest love ever known on the earth is when a man lays down his life for his friends.

And you know what Jesus up on the cross is Jesus saying, I love you. I love you. It cost me everything.

But I gladly gave down my life. because I love you. Now look at the next verse.

Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Wow. Now wait a minute.

I want to clear something up. When the Bible speaks of doing His commandments or whatsoever He commands us, He’s not talking about what we usually think about, and that is this, Living a life that’s acceptable at Falls Baptist Church. Living at a level that makes it so people don’t pray for us on Wednesday night.

Living a life that makes the youth director say, I’m a good kid. That’s not what he meant. He didn’t mean he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t chew, he doesn’t run with them that do.

His music’s good, his haircut’s fine, she’s got nice, modest clothes she wears. That’s not what he meant. Don’t let it be.

Don’t miss this. When he said, what he was saying is this. I’m your friend.

I’m going to prove it tomorrow when I die on the cross. Are you my friend? If you’re my friend, you’ll do whatever I command you, which means this.

You’ll be at my beck and call. Now, I think you know what that means. I used that illustration at a retreat in Nairobi at the first of this year where I said, you know what?

Doing whatever he commands means you’re at his beck and call. Then I looked at their faces and realized, although that’s an English-speaking country, Kenya, they had no clue what beck and call meant. I said, do you know what beck and call means?

Do you know what it means? That means Lord Jesus, I’m your friend. You’re the best friend I ever had.

anything you want done today? Anything. Now, I know most of what you want me to do is write in the book, and I’m going to do them.

I’m going to work right now and provide for my family. I’m going to go to school. I’m going to do whatever you do.

But Lord, is there anything else? And you know what? When you put yourself at his beck and call, it cracks up.

The Christian life happens. The whole thing, it really does. You know, you hear about people saying, God led me.

And you go, God never led me. I don’t know what they’re talking about. You will.

I think you will before the day’s over. You put yourself at his beck and call. You say, now, Lord, I’m not just going to live at arm’s length from you.

I’m going to let you direct my whole life. My life isn’t about sometimes doing your will. My life is doing your will.

Whatever. Whatever. I’m going to tell you, everything picks up.

Everything picks up. And you know what? If you say, anything you want me to do, you know, all of a sudden, a thought will come to you.

That person over there? I don’t know him, but I got a tract. Is that what you want?

Okay. Hello? Hi.

I thought I’d give you something here that I think will help you. Would you let me give it to you? It’s a tract about how to go to heaven when you die.

That’ll happen to you. Lord, they need a phone call? I can imagine why, but, well, I’m at your beck and call.

I’ll do whatever you say because I’m your friend. Hello, I’m not even sure why I’m calling you. I think the Lord put you on my heart.

And I’m going to tell you, it’s the greatest life in the whole wide world. And this makes sense. Let me go a little further.

When I was a young person like you, the first book of the Bible I read all the way through was the book of John. When I came through these chapters, I was a little dismayed. Because Jesus keeps saying, if you keep my commandments, if you love me, you keep my commandments.

Those who love me keep my commandments. You will keep my words if you will love me. He keeps saying that all the way through chapter 14 especially, and my mind goes, whoa, I thought salvation was by grace.

All the way through 14 and 15. Keep my commandments if you do my will, if you keep my words. But you know what?

Chapters 14 and 15 isn’t about being saved. We are saved by grace. It’s about abiding me.

And here’s what he’s saying. Did you know the whole thing starts to work when you live a life of submission to me? And it just makes sense.

Like, he says, if you love me, keep my commandments, and I’ll give you someone to help you keep my commandments. Can I tell you something? A teenage boy who could care less about keeping his commandments will never know anything about the power of the Spirit for victory.

Why would the Spirit help you live a holy life if you don’t care to live one? No, thank you, Lord. I don’t want to live a holy life.

Well, then you’ll know nothing about the power of the Holy Spirit. Why would the Lord encourage you by manifesting Himself to you? Here you are, elbowing somebody and saying, that Flanders guy is kooky.

God manifests. He’s going to say, I saw a vision. I told you they’re a little bit over the top over there at Falls.

A little crazy. Can I ask you something? Why would God give you a spiritual experience like that if you don’t care to keep his word?

If you’re wandering out there in the wilderness doing whatever you please to do, I’m going to tell you you’re going to do it without God and without spiritual experiences. And he says, if you keep my word, the Holy Spirit will interpret it to you. He will teach you all things.

Now, use your head. If you were a person who doesn’t intend to obey the Word of God, why would God interpret it to you? Did you know God doesn’t satisfy people’s curiosity?

You know, I’m reading my Bible because I get to turn in a report that says I read my Bible this week. And I’m reading more chapters than last week, and I’m going to get a ribbon. And maybe they’ll tell my parents that I’m doing better than anybody on reading the Bible.

But you know what?

it’s dull it’s words it’s thee and thou it’s verse after verse duh but i’ll tell you what i do it anyway because i’m supposed to i’m going to tell you something friends did you know if you stop reading your bible just out of duty and start reading it as orders from headquarters your devotions will come alive because if someone said i want to know what verse 15 means just to find out what it means, and I’ll decide later whether or not do I obey it.

God is not going to help you at all. Not at all. But if you come to God, teenager, and you’ll say, Lord, when I read my Bible today, if I read a commandment, if you’ll help me, I’ll keep it.

If I read a promise, I’ll claim it. If I read a doctrine, I will accept it. These are orders from headquarters.

That’s the way I’m going to live. What I’m going to tell you, what I’m saying is, it only makes sense that the Christian life will not work for you until you’re submitted and surrendered to Jesus Christ without reservation. That’s the key.

Somebody says, I even heard somebody pray yesterday from my youth group. Never heard him pray out loud before. Man, these lofty words, these words of love, of surrender, of faith.

I could never pray like that. That’s not what the Christian life is to me. I’m going to tell you something.

I know why. You have never come to the place where you told Jesus Christ, I want to live for you. I want to declare this day that my life is over so that you can live your life through me.

Lord, I’m going to do whatever you want me to do if you’ll just help me do it. And I mean not just about marriage or college or career, but today I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ll be in your beck and call if you’ll just help me.

I’m going to tell you something. That’s when it’ll all happen for you. That’s when it’ll all happen for you.

Like Evan Roberts. 13 years old. That’s been 13 years ago.

He got saved. He’s been praying. He’s had a pretty phenomenal spiritual life.

But he comes to a conference that I would call a revival conference. They had a name for it. 1904 and in previous years all over the principality of Wales, they were having revival conferences.

And revived preachers were talking about the abundant life. And you know what? Some people thought they were crazy, but other people took it on.

And there was a revival happening in Wales all over the country in the fall of 1904. Evan was off at a school. They call it a grammar school, which means like a junior college, to prepare him for Bible school.

He was there when one of the, actually several of the evangelists with the revival conferences had come to have a revival conference at his school. And like some of you, he was thinking, I don’t understand this, but I want to understand it. He went to the head of the school and he said, I wonder if you would give me some time out of school to be able to follow the evangelist to the next town.

I want to hear more. The kindly schoolmaster said, you have permission. He and his best friend got in a wagon, and they went over to the next town, and they heard some more preaching about just exactly what we’re hearing.

And early one morning, they had a service that was before breakfast, and there was a good sermon by W.W. Lewis. But then at the end of the sermon, the evangelist who ran the meeting named Seth Joshua prayed at the end of the service.

And in the prayer he called on God to continue and expand the revival across their country, for God to have his way in our life. And then he said this, And Lord, bend us. That was kind of a Welsh way of saying, cause us to surrender.

And in his diary, Robert says that as they left that meeting and went to where they were going to have breakfast, he couldn’t get away from those words. Bend us. And he said to God, God, for years I’ve been praying to be filled with the Spirit, but I’ve never been bent.

I’ve never been bent? That’s what’s wrong. Matter of fact, in his diary he said, the Bible says you commended your love to us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

But even though you commended your love to us by Jesus dying on the cross, I have never found anything in it to commend. And I’ve never really given my life without reservation to the one who died for me. And I’ve been wrong, and that’s him talking in his heart to God.

That’s what’s wrong. I’ve never been bent. I’ve been interested.

I’ve tried to live right, but I’ve never been bent. And he sat down at breakfast, and a woman, he even names her, offered him bread and butter. At the breakfast, he said, no, thank you.

And then he thought, could it be that God is offering me the blessing of his power, and I’m not ready to receive it? And I’m telling you what, he was emotionally overcome. And then they went to the next service, which was a prayer meeting.

and like all prayer meetings different ones stood and led in prayer he was in about the second row and all he could think was the thoughts I was giving you a few minutes ago oh God I’ve loved you but I’ve never been bent and you know someone sat next to him and said that he was so emotional his breathing was heavy he was sweating the lady thought they might need a doctor for him She reached into her purse. She pulled out a handkerchief.

She wiped his brow. So worried for him. Leaning over on the pew in front of him.

And he was talking to the Lord. And he said, Lord, should I pray? Should I be the next one?

Then the way he tells the story, he thought it was time to pray. And he stood to pray and all he could say was, Bend me!

bend me oh God bend me bend me bend me I don’t know if I have this story totally right but he went to his knees went to his face but Seth Joshua wrote in his records these were good meetings and none of us will ever forget the prayers of a young college student Evan Roberts who cried out bend me and not only did the evangelist not forget Evan Roberts? The world couldn’t forget him. He went home.

I won’t tell the details. I know the details. And he started leading members of his youth group, and the youth group was teenagers and 20s, to other churches.

Their church experienced a revival, and he began talking about Jesus Christ, his love for us, his death on the cross, his salvation, and his power to lift us up from our sinful life. And you know what? In a couple of months, I’m not talking about years, in a couple of months, dated from the last day of September, 1904, to about Christmas time, it is reported that there were 20,000 people came to Jesus Christ through the simple preaching of Evan Roberts.

And into the next year, and we call it the Great Welsh revival and Evan Roberts wasn’t the whole thing. Matter of fact, he was a product of the revival. But God used him in a very phenomenal way to bear much fruit when he was bent.

And I don’t know what God will do with you when you get bent. But I know he’ll do amazing things. He’ll do things that only God can do.

And you know what? The whole thing happens if we just abide in him, which means live at his beck and call. Surrender once and for all and keep surrendering and live a life that’s just Lord, whatever you want.

Let’s bow our heads together in prayer.