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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning to everyone welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church for all our regular folk and if you're a visitor here with us this morning it's a joy to have you uh in the house of God for the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit so we pray it will be a blessed time of worship for all of us just before we get to that worship a few announcements uh reminder that tonight is the Lord's Supper service so that will be at uh 5:00 P PM our regular evening start the Lord's Supper uh secondly there is no Wednesday night bible study for the months of July and August will'll reconvene in September and there will be an email that will come out with regards to that and then lastly there's a Pulpit swap next Sunday so we'll have Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick here and uh Pastor Butler will be in Su well let's turn to our Bibles then as we begin worship this morning if you'll turn with me to Psalm 67 Psalm 67 is our call to worship this morning this is the word of God to the chief musician on stringed instruments a Psalm a song God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us say la that your way may be known on Earth your salvation among all nations let the peoples praise you oh God let all the peoples praise you oh let the Nations be glad and sing for Joy for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the Nations on Earth say la let the peoples praise you oh God let all the peoples praise you then the Earth shall yield her increase God our own God shall bless us God shall bless us and all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him amen well let's stand and sing our first hymn is going to be Psalm 103 Psalm 103d to a familiar tune uh that's uh tune 291 so let's stand and sing 103 Diaz in Delta together [Music] father for all his children the Lord on them we are and Alles are like T and as the [Music] by the wind with so is quickly away the last of death Ching the to the way to all his will and his to his gra the Lord [Music] will children children shall to see his right [Music] amen let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we come to you in prayer now rejoicing that we can gather as the Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ in this place we pray that you would help us once again to hallow your most high name we pray that we would joyfully bring praise and worship to Father Son and Holy Spirit the one and only living and true God we thank you that you have given us your spirit for those here that believe in your name that you've given us your spirit bringing us alive from the deadness of sin to life in Christ bringing us from out of Darkness into the kingdom of the son of your love into the the Blessed Kingdom of the light of Jesus Christ we do pray that you'd help us to bring worships uh to bring worshiping and praise to you we pray that we would worship you in spirit and in truth and we do pray for the ministry of the Spirit uh in this place to lift our hearts to worship and to illumin our minds according to your revealed word we pray Lord God that as we as we sing as we read the scriptures as we pray as we engage in that Central act of worship the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the preaching of your holy word we do pray that you would be honored that you would be glorified that your Saints would be edified and strengthened in their walk in faith and Lord God that you would bring dead Sinners to life in Christ by amazing and Victorious Grace we pray that you'd be with those unable to join us uh whether it's for travel whether it's for for illness or sickness or injury we do pray that you'd be with our dear brothers and and Sisters in Christ struggling physically with these things we pray that you'd watch over them that you'd be near to them in their struggles that you would heal them that you would tend to their bodies and heal their wounds and we also pray for those struggling in their spiritual walk we pray that you would strengthen them be near to them return them unto the joy of their salvation ation attend to their souls that you might lift them up to to High Praise of our Triune God and rejoicing in Jesus Christ in the Blessed gospel we do pray God that you would be with our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are in Nations where there is much persecution as we uh we read about them uh in our in our prayer meetings and as we uh we read about them through the the week it it just Grieves us to hear of the The Tyranny the opposition the violence uh even unto death that uh that obtains amongst these nations where there is such persecution at coming from the government coming from their own countrymen and sometimes their their own families we do pray that you'd be with our sisters and brothers in Christ be near to them strengthen them in the midst of such Affliction and opposition we pray that you would cheer their hearts with the knowledge of Christ that they would contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints that they would be able to in the midst of the Tyranny and opposition and violence and in persecution be able to look with eyes of faith upon an exalted and ascended Christ and and know that he is on their side that he stands in in support for them at the right hand of the father uh and he stands in judgment over those who would persecute his precious church we pray that you would bring an end to persecution that by the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit many of those presently your enemies would be made your friends by by Victorious Grace and they would they would be found among those whom they formerly persecuted singing the Praises of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for those who would remain in their reprobate opposition to the Church of Christ that you would bring an end to them that you would cause them to wither as the snail that you would tear out their fangs that they would no longer bring violence against our precious Christians in these nations we pray for your name to be Vindicated throughout the Earth and in the the rank and file of the government and those who rule over us uh for those who are in Authority we pray that you would take those out of the way who seek to put down righteousness and Cast Away Justice we pray that you would raise up those who would rule over us in Injustice righteousness and according to proper truth we pray Lord God as we do continue in worship we would ask that you'd be with Pastor Butler as he comes up here in a number of minutes to preach your word as we pray each and every Lord's day we know that the the minister of the Gospel does not rest upon his own strength his own Acumen his own intelligence but much rather he rests upon the gifts afforded by the Triune God and the spirit given to those who are ministers true Ministers of your word so we pray that this morning for pastor Butler that he would know your presence that he would know your strength that as he opens up his Bible to preach to us he would have the the confidence of God on his side and he would preach with great conviction do be with us now as we continue in worship help us to to uh engage in worship rightly and we do pray Lord God that we would be tuned to that worship that we would attend unto these things with joyful Christian hearts and that upon the Praises of this gathered assembly our Lord Jesus Christ would be exalted and we pray in his precious name amen amen well let's stand again and sing as a church this time we'll sing hymn number 447 let's stand and sing together 447 [Music] all my Still Still for you my and still for you my and heart your fear my be your prise my highest your be your smile my of GRA fre from your till I my Earthly may I Christ to live I Pro in Christ to live firly TR in your BL nothing [Music] shall saing man ground saely reaching to the [Music] of in Christ to live let me GL to die let me you can turn in your Bibles with me to the gospel of Mark as we read through the New Testament on each Lord morning we're now at Mark 1 we'll read from Mark 1 verse1 to verse 20 once again this is the word of God the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the son of God as it is written in the prophets behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins then all the land of Judea and all uh and those from Jerusalem went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist and he ate locusts and wild honey and he preached saying there comes one after me who is mightier than I whose Sandal strap I am I am not worthy to stoop down and loose I indeed baptized you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and immediately coming up from the water he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like d like a dove then a voice Came From Heaven you are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased immediately the spirit drove him into the Wilderness and he was there in the wilderness 40 days tempted by Satan and was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him now after John was put in prison Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel and as he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen then Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you become Fishers of Men they immediately left their Nets and followed him when he had gone a little farther from there he saw James the son of zebede and John his brother who also were in the boat mending their Nets and immediately he called them and they left their father zebede and the boat with the hired servants and went after him amen just a few few observations quickly one of the things we see here at the beginning of the the gospel of Mark in these first few words is is not only this but something of a direct challenge to the gospel of the Roman Empire we see the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the son of God there were many ascriptions to the Caesars in that day that read very similarly for example the one who was Caesar at the time of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ Caesar Augustus there were birthday announcements given to him or announcements of Victory where it would say the beginning of the Gospel of Augustus Caesar the son of God divine Savior and the gospel of Mark comes as the obvious direct challenge because it is truly Jesus Christ who is the Son of God it is Christ who is the divine Savior and so Mark comes with the weight of divine strength and inspiration bringing the true Gospel of the true Son of God Jesus Christ to these who uh to whom he writes we also see here as Pastor Butler has reminded Us in his preaching the last couple Lord's days in the Gospel of John we see the narrative moving just like The Narrative of Israel the disobedient son in the old Covenant Jesus Christ comes out of Egypt though that's not acknowledged in this gospel he comes out of Egypt he goes through water and then he goes into to the Wilderness where he is tested just like Israel who was disobedient in this process Jesus Christ the true Israel and true son receives this declaration you are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and he proves this declaration of the father The Well pleasingness of the Father by going into the Wilderness and being victorious in his testing by the devil he comes out Victorious after angels are ministered to him and then he preaches the gospel of himself you know one of the things we see here that's acknowledged by John the Baptist is there comes one after me who is mightier than I we should be drawn in a sense from this passage to Hebrews 1:1 where it says God in various ways and in different times preached to the fathers through the prophets but in these last days the time is fulfilled he has spoken to us by his son it wasn't just a Chron ological statement that the prophets spoke and now Christ spoke but there is a stark difference one coming who is mightier than the old prophets this Jesus Christ is both preacher of the Gospel but also content of that gospel preached in the very uniqueness which is only uh to the which is only with respect to the Son of God he comes and he says the time is fulfilled the the time purposed in eternity passed between Father and Son and Spirit regarding the Covenant of redemption and the salvation of the elect the time of the cessation of the Mosaic economy all of those old Covenant types and shadows and copies that pointed forward to this Christ that time has come the time of the prophets who promised that there would be a time where the Christ would come forth and save his people this Christ has come the time is fulfilled and he preaches repent and believe in the gospel and 2,000 years removed were gathered here to together in the name of this blessed Son of God we worship him we worship our god father Son and Holy Spirit by virtue of the excellencies of this gospel which he preached what a blessed thing to be here gathered because of Amazing Grace well let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your truth we rejoice in your word to us we thank you for Jesus Christ both preacher of the Gospel but also content of that preached gospel he is the one who came in into this world Sinners to save and he has done so perfectly and throughout the centuries even now and into the future by the power of His Holy Spirit and the Perfection of his gospel he brings forth dead Sinners to life might we as Christians be encouraged in this place this morning by this blessed gospel and might Sinners be saved by word and spirit to the praise of your glorious Grace and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior amen our final hymn then before the preaching if if you'll stand with me again is 471 let's stand and sing 471 [Music] together Heaven the for I the be [Music] BN and glor glory in is [Music] is and Glory [Music] Glory Christ he is [Music] the on Earth tast [Music] for Mery and Glory Glory [Music] I will glor my of [Music] prise is all the [Music] glory well before we turn to scripture I just want to mention something that happened this past week Jenny Neil's mother passed away uh so I wanted to make sure that we remember that I'll pray for the family uh kind of rationale for singing that particular hymn she now sees the king of glory and all of his grace so let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we know that precious in the sight of our God is the death of your holy ones and Lord we know that it's a great blessing and and a boon for us to pass from this present evil age into the presence of the king of glory just pray for your blessing upon Jenny and upon her father and her family at this time time we pray that they though they grieve would not grieve like the world that their sorrow would not be that of Despair but they would know that pain for sure but they would know the joy that she is in the presence of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world I pray for your blessing upon the extended family that you'd watch over each one of them encourage them at this difficult time and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen will you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of John John chap 15 as we move our way through the Gospel according to John John 15 I'll read verses 1 to8 and then our Focus this morning will be most likely just on Verses 1: 4 I promise you we will get through the end of this section and I will show you the practicality of abiding in Christ but there are some things that I think are very important in the first few verses of John 15 again as we asked the question who is the true vine we've tried to answer that chist he fulfills all that old Covenant Israel failed to do and then if we ask who are the people of God it's not the ethnic Jews it is rather the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ the Israel of God are those who believe the gospel they are sons of Abraham according to the Apostle in Galatians 3 there's another question I think is assumed or at least uh somewhat Drive from a a Moder a modern rather contemporary application of verse two I want to deal with as well so I'll just read the section and then we'll get to it beginning in verse one I am the True Vine and my father is the vine dresser every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in the in me I am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him Bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing if anyone does not abide in me he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned if you abide in me and my words abide in you you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples amen well let us pray our blessed God and Holy Father we thank you for this beautiful day certainly we see your power your wisdom your goodness manifested in the created order we see the same Perfections revealed in in rede uh Providence we see that in Redemption as well specifically Your Grace your mercy your loving kindness to Hell deserving Sinners we thank you for the gospel of our salvation we thank you that the Lord Jesus is in fact the True Vine that we are united to him by grace through faith in him and we rejoice in your mercy to us we ask that you would guide us now by the presence and the power of the holy spirit that you would cause us to reflect upon passages like these and may they inform us much concerning the mission of our savior and as well the blessedness of being found in him we ask that you would save Sinners and sanctify the Saints and forgive us all for all of our sins now and we pray pray through Jesus Christ the Lord amen well we are in the upper room discourse jesus' last discourse before he dies and is raised and then ascends on high and participates in what we call the current session of our blessed savior so notice specifically in 141 he wants to encourage his disciples let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me he continues that specific emphasis here in chapter 15 as well wants to show them the relationship between the branches and the vine they abide in him he abides in them and this again to steady to encourage and to help them as they face the various troubles they're going to face he's going to deal with the world's hatred against them in this particular chapter so he wants to encourage them he wants to steady them he wants to help them and enable them and prepare them to carry out the Greater Works that he speaks of in 142 most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do he will do all also and Greater Works than these he will do because I go to my father so as a result of the Ascension on high the giving of the Holy Spirit In accordance with Joel 2 the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will do those Greater Works not in competition with the Savior but as an extension of the savior's power from the right hand of God Almighty well as we come to this particular passage we are dealing with the vine the vine dresser and the branches which I think is pretty simple to understand the vine the True Vine is our Lord Jesus Christ the vine dresser is his father and then the branches are those who are connected to him so I want to look first at the explanation of the metaphor that Jesus uses in verses 1 to 4 and then secondly the exhortation to the disciples in verses 5 to8 now there is some overlap certainly it's not the case that 5 to8 isn't connected to 1:4 but I think 1:4 gives us the explanation of what he is doing and again presents us with an answer to who are the people of God so we'll look at the explanation of the metaphor under three heads first the identification of the parties verse one secondly the function of the vine dresser in verse two and then thirdly the description of the branches in verses 3 and four but with reference to the identification of the parties in verse one Jesus says very clearly I am the True Vine we took the last two weeks to show that that was language applied by Yahweh to the nation of Israel and just as Adam was created by God and then put into a covenant of works so was Israel and what Adam forfeit by his transgression and Rebellion so does Israel so Christ is the last Adam and Christ is the true Israel and all those who by Grace believe in him are called the Israel of God it's not ethnic Jews it is rather the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ Christ salvation is not by race it's by grace and the people of God in the New Covenant are called the Israel of God in fact the Apostle in Galatians 3 tells us who truly is a child of Abraham remember in that discourse in John 8 the Jews said we're the sons of Abraham and Jesus rebuked them if you were the sons of Abraham you wouldn't be trying to kill me in Romans 9:16 the Apostle says not all Israel is Israel in other words amongst old Covenant Israel you had the remnant or the true people of God within and so Paul in Galatians 3 says for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ there's neither Jew nor Greek there's neither slave nor free there's neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed and HS according to the promise so an ethnic Jew today that rejects Jesus as the Messiah is not a son of Abraham but an ethnic Gentile who by God's grace confesses faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel is in fact a son of Abraham it is very clear and so we need to understand that this passage is diametrically opposed from what we call an ecclesiastical or theological settings dispensationalism and what we refer to in the political realm as Zionism which is basically Jewish Supremacy so we then have Jesus identify his father as the vine dresser notice in verse one I am the True Vine and my father is the vine dresser just like we saw last time when we looked at ISA Isaiah chapter 5 Yahweh comes to the nation of Israel who is his Vineyard and Yahweh looks for fruit and because there's no fruit he promises judgment upon them in Matthew chap 21 when Jesus is teaching Jesus uses the same sort of a language or application he points to Old Covenant Israel and then he basically shows us a history of Israel in the spaces of verses 33 to about 46 and it culminates with him saying therefore the kingdom of God is being taken from you and it's going to be given to a nation that is bearing the fruit Roots consistent of it and that nation is the church it is the the people of our blessed savior the blessedness of this in verse one as well again this is going to get real practical especially when we come to the exhortation of the disciples notice that it says and my father is the vine dresser why does the father in Old Covenant Israel come to the vineyard to make sure there's fruit what does God do now as the vine dresser in this new covenant Arena he makes sure that we produce fruit and as one commentator says now to cultivate something is to devote one's interest to it so practically the fact that the father is the vine dresser that he has a vested interest in pruning us a vested interest in you know pairing off our rough edges and getting rid of our our sins and our our wretchedness that's an encouragement that's a blessing we're in this together to use an old covid reference but us with our blessed God we abide in Jesus the father is the vine dresser Jesus gives us another helper the holy spirit so we have that blessed Union with our Triune God through faith in our lord Jesus wherein the father is cultivating he's a Vine dresser he's about our progress in Grace and growth he's about our advancement he's about our holiness he's about our Mo moving forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit now in terms of the theology involved before we proceed Jesus is the True Vine and my father is the vine dresser the Lord Jesus as the Israel of God is such according to his Humanity His mediatorial function not as the Divine word though not divorced from the Divine word but as Thomas says there are two Natures in Christ the Divine and the human because of his human nature is like us and is less than the father because of his divine nature is like God and above us thus he is the True Vine in so far as he is the head of the church the man Christ Jesus so that's the identification of the parties verse One True Vine Jesus verse one true uh Vine dresser the father and of course the branches are the people of God to which we now turn the function of the vine dresser notice in verse two this is where we're going to get a little Sidetrack this morning again pick up the question who are the people of god notice in verse two every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit I want to deal I actually don't want to deal but I think it's necessary because of our context because of exposure because of the internet and because there's no shortage of misapplication of this particular section relative to what we call po baptism now for those of you who haven't heard that term poed simply means infant or baby it's the practice outside of a Baptist context where P namely infants or babies are baptized typically they're sprinkled and they are welcomed into the New Covenant well in the last little while this particular uh scheme of poed baptism has utilized John 15 in their search for a theology it's a practice that's always been in search of a theology now it's interesting because serial of Alexandria in the fifth century mentions nothing about poed baptism when he comments on John 15 Thomas in the 13th century mentions nothing about poed baptism when he comments in the 13th century so again I think it's a recent development I think it's sort of a new kid on the Block I'm not a historical Theologian I don't have the particulars or the facts or the data but I know that it's used by Federal Vision I know that they employ this and Romans 11 the grafting of the branches into the Olive Tree which we see there so I just want to try to disavow the notion that this teaches what poed Baptists teach so again I think it's relatively recent use of this passage and I think there's an unjustified assumption that is forced into the text namely that there are externally connected branches in the New Covenant that there are externally connected branches in the New Covenant they have to maintain that because when you baptize a p you are basically saying that that ped is now a part of the Covenant and if you ask the question the only possible answer could ever be the New Covenant why because the old has been fulfilled by our lord Jesus we see the blessedness of the superiority of the New Covenant in Hebrews a it's a better Covenant founded on better promises that affords a better hope so what we find then is this idea that we've got to bring in some old Covenant Nish or old Covenant is stuff into this New Covenant setting so again if you're not thoroughly confused just stick with me you'll probably be screaming for mercy in about 10 minutes so the unjustified assumption that the New Covenant has externally connect connected branches and I want to turn you to Jeremiah 31 it's going to come up a couple of times by the way this isn't the only passage that krto Baptist that means believer Baptists used to justify their covenant theology but it's certainly a very strong one in terms of what I'm not going to argue for this morning notice in Jeremiah 31 specifically at verse 31 you have a promise of the New Covenant from an old Covenant prophet and there are certain things that you need to observe in This Promise of the New Covenant that comes through an old Covenant Prophet notice in 31 behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel with the house of Judah and then notice the negative statement not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt there's something different about the New Covenant that God is going to make he announces it through Jeremiah and we ought to expect that when Christ comes fulfills the obligations placed upon Him ushers in that New Covenant blessing and situation we ought to expect some discontinuity with the old Covenant why because the old Covenant Prophet announced discontinuity with the New Covenant so notice not according to the Covenant that I made with the their fathers that doesn't mean it's completely you know brand knew there's no connection whatsoever that's not the argument there is some discontinuity that we need to observe not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt now here's the first discontinuity which they broke my Covenant which they broke That's Heavy in poed Baptist theology you've got a ba a PO or a baby or an infant baptized into the C and at some point if they don't own a a profession of faith in Jesus if they don't carry on to the very end with Jesus what's the argument they broke the Covenant but wait a minute the New Covenant says you can't break me if you're in the New Covenant it's not like the one that God made previously at sin and then ratified or or renewed at Moab it's one that you cannot break then notice he goes on though I was a husb hband to them says the Lord but this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord now these are essential features that have to obtain in the New Covenant they're there in the old Covenant Brethren David knew all this David enjoyed all this so did you know Abraham Isaac and Jacob they weren't essential features of old Covenant religion it was not the case that everyone that was a good and faithful old Covenant member had this experiential salvation with god notice what we see but this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts I will be their God and they shall be my people no more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them says the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more that's descriptive of the New Covenant Community so the admission of pados to the baptistry admits some something that is abnormal we have no sure inclination to believe that all these things are true of them now conversely we don't know that they're not true of them but who is the sign and the seal for it is for those who profess faith in Jesus for those who have repented of their sins you see that pattern laid down in the book of Acts they believed and were baptized they believed they were baptized they believed they were baptized over and over again why because it's consistent with an old Covenant announcement of New Covenant blessing Jeremiah 31 and our Lord's insistence in the Great Commission go therefore Make Disciples of all the nations baptize those disciples and then teach those disciples the argument is not that children can't be saved that's not the argument the argument is is that to willy-nilly include our infants into the New Covenant seems to proceed along the same lines as dispensationalism not race necessarily but familial connection but as we've seen it's not salvation by uh race but by Grace it's not salvation by connection to believing parents it's salvation by grace and so the pedal Baptist with John 15 has to H H has a a playground as it were well there's these branches that are not fruitful and then they're cut off the same thing obtains in in Romans chap 11 so back to the argument I would suggest that the general interpretation of this text the general interpretation of verse two every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears more fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit I would suggest the General on the face of it interpretation is simple there are those who fake being Christian they make a profession of Faith but they're fake they're not legit they're not real they're not born again when they come to James chapter 2 they're found wanting because remember the faith that justifies is faith alone it is the instrument the alone instrument of justification but it doesn't remain alone but it's always accompanied by all other saving Graces and is no dead Faith so there's those who fake it they profess for a Time make a show they make a signification they come to the church they do their thing they get a Bible but it's not really true I would suggest that General interpretation is all over the Bible the parable of the soils Matthew chap 13 there's different types of ways that people receive the word some receive it I don't want that it's wicked it's horrible I don't want it others make a show for a time but the cares of the world the anxieties the difficulties that come choke it out there's others that that that that receive it and they produce good growth so I think the general interpretation of the text is very simple that those who fake it are not real and God is going to cast them away again Matthew 13 look at John 8:31 John 8:31 then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed I guess we could finagle po baptism out of that but I don't think so uh Hebrews uh 3 chapter 14 uh veres 14 to 19 why doesn't Israel find blessing because they they went into the land without faith Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 those are the apostasy passages and again to read infant baptism into that as the justification for infant baptism is to try to construct an external connection to the vine that the New Testament or New Covenant rather knows nothing of as well you've got first John 2:19 they went out from us but they were not of us for if they were of us they would have continued with us but they went out that they might be exposed notice that John doesn't lament we shouldn't baptized them when they were babies no the problem is is they faked it they professed Faith they reneged on that and they weren't converted not a hint of pedal baptism I would suggest then the specific interpretation of this text in its context you've got General there's fakes that will profess to be real they're not so the father casts them away on the day of judgment but specifically in this context you've got the relationship between old Covenant apostates and the True Vine that's what he's talking about I am the True Vine and my father is the Vine dresser every branch in me that does not bear fruity he takes away and every branch that bears fruity he prunes that it may bear more fruit I would suggest that we understand this primarily with reference to what sirel says by the branch that is separated from fellowship with Christ by being cut off by the father I think he means the people of the Jews who are not capable of bearing good fruit it's not a poed baptism text it's it's an old Covenant apostate relation to the New Covenant True Vine text and I would suggest Romans 11 is the same the poed Baptists instead of seeing rightly old Covenant apostates relative to the New Covenant Messiah create a third category that within the New Covenant you've got two subsets you've got the branches that produce and then the branches that don't produce that's not the categories that John or Jesus is dealing with here in John and it's certainly not what Paul's dealing with in Romans it's not dealing with a subset you've got the New Covenant and in the New Covenant you've got believing parents and then you have you're not sure whether they're believing or not but they're baptized they're part of the part of the Covenant externally connected to the true F that's not Paul's point I I realize that's not a death nil to Pedal baptism but it isn't Paul's Point what we find here is the general reference that there are fakes who aren't the real deal they'll be cut off by God but as well in the context Jesus as the True Vine remember why does he say True Vine he is contrasting himself with the false Vine old Covenant Israel we've seen that old Covenant apostates announced in 111 in John's gospel he comes to his own his own do not receive him the connection made or rather contrast made by Jesus he's the True Vine connection Vine but contrast he's the true one and then as we looked through our our our new testament last week we saw that what Jesus does here when he uses true is to distinguish himself from the deformed or spoiled Vine which is the Jewish people as well we saw the illustration Matthew 21: 33-46 therefore I say to you the kingdom is being taken from you and it's given to a nation bearing the fruits consistent with it why do we think that God's going to take the kingdom back from the church and Rehand it over over to ethnic Jews because our eschatology drives us that way and our eschatology unfortunately is incorrect at that point it is a backward movement in Redemptive history and then if we create further sorts of groups within the New Covenant we're trying to bring old Covenant stuff into the New Covenant now you may not this may be as clear as mud for you but it's Crystal Clear in my mind and that's all it matters I'm kidding that's a joke please don't put that on Twitter and denigrate me and all that sort of a thing but I think we need to appreciate that poed baptism the words of Gary krampton I think he's right it's a practice in search of a theology do you think that the early fathers baptized infants because of the abrahamic Covenant no they did not that was a Reformation gift to the church in terms of trying to justify ped baptism do you think that the reformers again I didn't have extensive time to do great historical research but I'm guessing that the reformers didn't see necessarily that John 15 and Romans 11 were the lynchpin arguments with reference to Pedal baptism because it talks about the branches externally connected to the vine that's a recent Innovation why because we've got to justify the practice of including our infants in the New Covenant Brethren as bad Baptists bring them to church sleap them beautifully each and every Sunday morning and evening to the house of God if it's a gospel preaching CH Church you are putting them in the right place as well open the Bibles with them each and every day catechize them sing with them pray for them Point them to the Savior King I'm not suggesting they're Heathen and they're wretched and we just cut them off but to suggest that they're somehow participants in the New Covenant based on their parentage flies against everything we know grace through faith in Jesus Christ why create a third category Why Try to botch up the New Covenant by putting in a feature of the old Covenant that God remediates with the New Covenant don't you want to be in a covenant that you can't break don't you want to be in a covenant that you can't dissolve don't you want to be in a covenant where wherein we learn that he who begins a good work in US will complet it under the day of Christ don't you want to be in the Covenant where Paul says there's nothing height depth nothing nor any created thing that shall ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our lord so if you think that not sprinkling your PES is somehow detrimental to their soul I would suggest you need to get a good dose of John 15 in your head and the general overarching theme that we find in the New Covenant people fake it they come in for a time they they buy study Bibles they listen to RC sprawl they put pencils in their pockets 25 years ago they had a they had cassette tape of Albert and Martin in their pocket they look like the real deal you know what they're fakes irrespective of pedal baptism irrespective of creating a tan quit a third thing in John 15 and in Romans 11 the obvious and again maybe not the obvious application is we've got apostate old Covenant ethnic Israel how do they relate to the True Vine well in John 15 they're being cut off again we saw that last week the buildup to the olette discourse olette discourse in Matthew 24 is the grand indictment they're going to be cut off that's what Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 promised for those who were Unfaithful and broke the Covenant with God that they swore at the base of sign and I all that Yahweh has commanded we will obey Brethren this is the Bible it's a consistent book it's it's it's fullprof in the sense that we don't have to create categories to justify a practice and again the argument isn't Treach your children like little Heathen baboons and have nothing to do with them sleap them to church read them scripture teach them the catechism Point them to the Savior you can do all that without having sprinkled them and you need to find warrant for sprinkling them which again it's an argument largely built on implication and I've got to suggest I know this going to sound mean-spirited but okay it's bad implication it's faulty I'm all for NE good and necessary consequences I live by that that's a great way to interpret scripture what is explicitly laid down or what can be DED deduced by good and necessary inferences or Consequences we we construct much of the doctrine of the Trinity on that whole concept of good necessary consequences we don't have a verse that says in this Divine and infinite being there are three subsisten the Father the word or Son and the Holy Spirit each having the same or uh of of the same substance and power and Eternity having the whole or each having the whole Divine Essence but it's built from good passages in scripture when we ask the question who's Jesus talking about in verse two well he's talking about apostate Israel he talk about old Covenant Israel he comes to his own and his own receive him not they had the scriptures they had the announcement they knew yah way said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol they had Isaiah 96 and7 they had Micah 5 two whose goings forth are from of old even from Everlasting they had the alter they had the the the testimony of Moses they had it all Brethren and then he comes to them and what do they do Paul tells us in First Corinthians They Crucified the Lord Of Glory so when we look at the question or we ask the question what's he talking about in verse two he's talking about the apostate you know nation of Israel that he's condemning but as well just to add further confirmation to the general inter ration of the text remember who's sitting there or was sitting there just a little while ago Judas a scariot that Covenant breaking wretch that sold our blessed savior for 30 pieces of silver so there is the general of it you fake it you're going to be Cast Away by God and may I say right here don't fake it there's every reason why you and I should come to the Lord Jesus Christ in the language of the Bride she says cuz he's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 now that language can sound a bit of feminite to you know the masculine R rugged men among us all together lovely it's talking about the spiritual realm and the fact that he brings to us the Forgiveness of sins that he brings to us us a righteousness clothes us so that we can stand in the presence of God imagine getting a wedding invitation the king well let's not use let's say the king and queen of a fictional wonderful place invite you to come to their their wedding reception but you just have jeanss with holes and you know that when you get to the door they're going to say nah no bueno for you you're out what if somebody in his graciousness and in his kindness gave you the best suit of clothes ever so that you can appear in the presence of the king and the queen that's precisely the language of the wedding feast in Matthew's gospel you need to be clothed you need to be ready you need to meet the god who's absolutely positively holy whose eye is too pure to approve any evil how do we gain that we're cleansed in his blood and clothed in his righteousness this is why the bride says allog together lovely Chief among 10,000 the one in whom whom is my salvation the one in whom is my Redemption the one in whom is my reconciliation the one in whom is All My My My All In All My standing with God so don't fake it don't pretend you don't go in your backyard cut the apples off of an apple tree and and and and tie oranges to it say look at my orange tree there's no reason to fake there's every reason to come every reason to believe every reason reason to go to him whose whose will is to do the the will of the father who sent him and that to secure the salvation of Sinners so there are fi Judas was one of them Jesus announces it in John 13 and now he's gone he's one of those branches that did not bear fruit so God takes away but then notice the pruning of the living branches in verse 2B every branch in me that does not bear fruit that means there's no saving faith that's the relation no faith no fruit no faith no fruit you can fake the fruit you can tie oranges to an apple tree but it ain't real and anybody who reflects for a moment realizes it ain't real lots of modern applications to that in our degenerate culture presently it ain't real you got a beard it ain't real the bottom line is there is that every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes AK away but notice in every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit this morning I was thinking about this text and I remembered when I preached it I think I went through John in probably 2000 thereabouts and I was still fresh on having moved here from California which was in 1997 this isn't a history Lesson by the way but there's an illustration here we had a a house that we lived in when we were in Southern California it was a rental and I say that was such derogatory it was a rental it just was we used to go to laundr mat and everything man we were just you know anyways in the backyard were a whole host of rose bushes and they were quite Untamed I mean they were they were a sore sight so of course probably at the behest of my beloved I went out there to prune the rose bushes now now when I say prune rose bushes what's the image that typically Su suggests itself to you for me it's a middle- aish woman with a sundress and a big Bonnet with snippers she's got snippers and she's snipping away the the dead growth on her her rose bushes so that it can promote New Growth now let me tell you that was not me I had access to a chainsaw and went out out there and went Hog Wild there was nothing bonety about it there were no snippers involved there might have been pain and suffering from all the debris that was flying around probably didn't wear goggles hats come on who needs that God prunes his people that way usually with snippers in an indiscernable way they come to church they read the their Bibles they pray and lo and behold they get more like Jesus he does that doesn't he you got to admit at times he takes the chainsaw out not violently not with misdeeds in mind but some of us got some thorns and some growth that need some pairing away see the fact that the father is the vine dresser and he loves us means that he's going to prune us that pruning doesn't always feel good but that pruning is necessary now I'm speaking like a botanist you got to get rid of the Dead wood the dead growth got to get rid of all the stuff that gets in the way of the transfer of the sap from the vine to the branch and sometimes in our lives that means affliction it means hardship it means suffering and Agony I I wish it didn't again the comely or calm ideal of the snippers and the Bonnet is far more interesting to me than the chain chainsaw you see our father's about our good our father's about our Conformity unto his son our father's about pairing away the dead so that life and vibrancy and goodness and all things conducive to his glory will flow because you see that's the end game in verse eight what's the end game when you do good works everybody on Facebook is going to praise you I think that's how Christians operate to some degree today unfortunately if you do good works then everybody's going to know you're a real apple on an apple tree if if you do good works and you know the church that you're a part of might might give you an award because you're so wonderful look at jesus' endgame in verse 8 by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit when he says so you will be my disciples we'll get to that theology he's not talking about be fruitful and be my disciples you are fruitful because you are my disciples you're rightly connected to the vine through faith in me so we've got the blessedness in the particular passage of the removal of the Dead branches every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away but the promise of the pruning of the living branches and every branch that bears fruity he prunes that it may bear more fruit we've used Judas for the former Pate Israel for the former think about a new covenant illustration of the latter remember when Peter denies Jesus after saying after denying that he's going to die deny him and doing so he kind of throws all his buddies on well you know everybody else may deny you Lord but not me all these degenerate Slavs they may deny but but not me he denies that he's going to deny Jesus so what happens he denies Jesus couldn't imagine that coming after the Lord announced it prophetically and said that it was going to happen remember when Jesus walks out and Peter sees him and then Peter weeps bitterly I heard a sermon many many many years ago and the fellow explained the look of Jesus did Jesus mean mug him can't believe you denied he just looked at him he looked at him and Peter wept bitterly you see Peter needed some pruning that he wasn't converted sometimes converted people can do some kind of miserable well some very miserable things the snippers came out Jesus didn't wield a a a chainsaw at him Jesus looked at him it was a snipper what happens that's enough to convict Peter he goes out and he weeps bitterly Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost as the first among equals to Proclaim Christ and him crucified and him resurrected and that we've entered into the Joel prophetic phase of the spirit Peter needed pruning we all need pruning God in his grace prunes so we've got the True Vine which is our lord Jesus we've got the vine dresser which is our father we've got the specific purpose to cut off apostate Israel old Covenant Israel to cut off anybody who fakes it but as well to prune the living branches such that they may be more and more conformed under the image of his beloved Son and I think that's a good place to stop we'll pick up the next section God willing in two weeks again just so I can reconf everybody we won't cover the same ground but I want to show you the exhortation to the disciples and I think three and four fit there as well because three is similar to something Jesus already said in 13 in terms of their status before him they've been regenerated by the presence and the power of the holy spirit that means they belied the gospel they've heard his words they are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and now thus begins or continues the sanctification process wherein they abide in him and he abides in them as I've mentioned the endgame isn't they're parading through the streets as as the wonderful doers of God's works but the fact that God is glorified in the works of his people so I want to end with two quick applications first if you've not believed the gospel believe the gospel it's a very simple application in the text who are the branches those who are connected to Jesus by faith those who look to him and when you look to him it means you're looking away from yourself see it's kind of always in us to try to fix things well I can be better I can do more I can try harder I can engage in some reform I can stop going here I can stop going there I can stop doing that and then I'll be okay no you won't the only way to be okay spiritually speaking is to look outside of yourself to the Lord Of Glory to Jesus think back to John 3 when Jesus says just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up when that Brazen serpent was lifted in the wilderness the argument was not suck the venom out of your wound drag yourself to the base of that Bron serpent kiss it fawn over it and then you will be saved no it's very simple I got bit what's the remedy look and live well wait a minute don't I have to do anything look and live I don't have to drag myself look and live I don't have to suck the vet look and live pretty simple we call it the simple gospel good news Christ lived Christ died Christ was raised again so that everyone who looks to Christ in faith will have everlasting life that's good news to unbelievers the second thought is on sanctification for the believer Brethren the chainsaw smarts no training for the present is Pleasant according to the Apostle in Hebrews 12 but what happens it yields the Peaceable fruit of righteousness don't B at God's chastening don't B at the way God deals with his people I hope you parents are training your children that way when I discipline you it's because I love you when I discipline you it's because I care for you when I discipline you it's because I don't want you to go astray so that when you exercise the discipline and they lose their ever loving minds and they say oh it's because you hate me it's because you despise me you're right there with the wagging finger saying no son no daughter I do it because I love you Brethren never miss that with our God and Father sometimes the lessons the the the the the the pairing the pruning process can at least humanly speaking feel a bit much but that is to suggest or rather call into question I'm preaching to myself here you can all go to sleep the infinite wisdom of God most high for whom he forne these he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son how does the son according to his Humanity learn obedience through suffering through heartache listen to the prophet he was a Man of Sorrows he he was acquainted with grief he was stricken smitten of God and Afflicted the Lord was pleased to to bruise him Brethren is it going to be any different for us as Jesus continues in thiser room he says if the world hates me they're they're going to hate you too do you ever get that you're looking at the news you're hearing about the reports and I can't believe the Christian people are being treated so poorly really you can't believe that Christ was treated so poorly if we're going to be like him that's going to invite the same enmity and aggression and oppression and persecution from the enemies of Jesus so for unbelievers look to the Lord Jesus and believe for for believers thank God most high that he wants to cultivate that he's in the business of pruning and that he wants to keep that vital Connection open wherein the sap flows from the vine to the branches to promote and produce and to sustain good growth so that we may honor our great God well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for what we see to be just a gracious and a wonderful father father a blessed and a glorious Lord Jesus and a wonderful holy spirit yet not three Gods one God one glorious being who exists eternally as Father Son and Holy Spirit we praise you for your mercy We Praise You For Your Glory we praise you for the fact that you are in the business of saving Sinners to sanctify them and to prune them and to promote in them growth so that you may be glorified I pray that you would go with each one of us now that you would watch over us that you would keep keep us and protect us and bless us and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well for our closing hymn we can turn to 569 569 we'll stand as we sing [Music] together all blesss praise him all him PR father and [Music] holy Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you you and give you peace thank you Father for this great time together go with us now may we know these blessings upon us and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we please be seated for a brief time of meditation e e e