Abiding in Christ: The Path to Spiritual Fruitfulness
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1. "Our lord says that I am the true vine, we are the branches and and god's will is that we bear much fruit. God wants you everyone to have a fruitful spiritual life. It's directly relational to our connection, our relationship with him. As we abide in him, we will bear fruit. The key is that abiding. You see it oft repeated through this chapter, through these verses. He tells us, abide in me, abide in me." [20:02] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Fruitfulness is about abiding. Secondly, we could consider another truth about fruitfulness is that fruitfulness is about the pruning as well. The pruning helps to bring a greater fruit. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purged it that it may bring forth more fruit. So this sense of purging, it's got the sense of pruning. So he does that correcting work. He gets the shears out as it were and he pulls off those branches so that the branch can be fruitful." [23:48] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "When those pruning seasons of life come, we can find our sustaining power is Christ. We can draw strength from him and God can use those trials and disciplines to grow our faith. So he says that he purges it, he prunes it. Again, some challenges, some tests, some trials, and likely there's more to come. God's doing a work still. There's a refining work, there's a purging work, there's a work that's going to see you're more fruitful for it." [25:08] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The fruitfulness that we have also blesses others. Here's another thought about fruitfulness is that the fruitfulness is not for you. Think of it, if you're a fruitful Christian, you're benefiting others with your fruit. And there's a sense where as God's people, we are meant to be witnesses and there's a fruit that we bear of souls being won. Our lives should be a testimony of his love and grace, leading others to know him." [37:13] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Ultimately, the end result is in verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. It's not about you having necessarily a blessing of yourself. The fruitfulness is to the glory of God. That's our motive, isn't it? For everything, for anything, that he would be glorified. Will you bear fruit to the glory of God? That your life can be to his praise, that you would be a living sacrifice." [39:41] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Think of it, friends. You can be a fruit-bearing Christian. You can be a fruitful one, all to the glory of God. Colossians, as he prays, he says, I pray for you that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. What a prayer to pray, that we would be fruitful in every good work. Likewise, that's my prayer for you." [54:27] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "To recap some of the key lessons we could find of being a fruitful believer, just to recap real quick, to sum up some of the key points: Abide in me, he says. Develop that, nurture that, cultivate that abiding, that depending upon him. That's the key. And then a pruning is a greater fruitfulness too. Don't shy away from the pruning. Receive the pruning, yield to the pruning of the gardener. Learn to yield." [51:00] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "And know that also the work of fruitfulness is a work of his Holy Spirit. Don't feel like, oh, I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not striving hard enough. It's actually you're not yielding enough. That's generally the problem, isn't it? I can say for myself, I can do nothing. So maybe stop striving and trying so hard of your own flesh, and actually start yielding some more to him. Learn to have that dependence upon him." [51:50] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "When you bear much fruit, at the end of the day, you don't sort of stand back and think, oh, what a good boy am I, what are all these good things that I've done. No, it's all to the glory of God. It's all to his glory, it's all to his praise. He would get all the glory. When you are a fruitful believer, it's no praise to you, it's all praise to him that you've yielded to his work, that he has had his way with you." [53:21] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "You can bear fruit, you can be fruitful. It tells you how. John 15, dwell on it, think of it, and put it into practice. And of course, friends, tonight I've been addressing really believers. If you've yet to trust him, then that's the first step to be in the vine, is to trust Christ, to know him, to know his life, to know his saving grace." [55:05] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "Fruitfulness is about abiding. Secondly, we could consider another truth about fruitfulness is that fruitfulness is about the pruning as well. The pruning helps to bring a greater fruit. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purged it that it may bring forth more fruit. So this sense of purging, it's got the sense of pruning. So he does that correcting work. He gets the shears out as it were and he pulls off those branches so that the branch can be fruitful." [23:48] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "When those pruning seasons of life come, we can find our sustaining power is Christ. We can draw strength from him and God can use those trials and disciplines to grow our faith. So he says that he purges it, he prunes it. Again, some challenges, some tests, some trials, and likely there's more to come. God's doing a work still. There's a refining work, there's a purging work, there's a work that's going to see you're more fruitful for it." [25:08] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The fruitfulness that we have also blesses others. Here's another thought about fruitfulness is that the fruitfulness is not for you. Think of it, if you're a fruitful Christian, you're benefiting others with your fruit. And there's a sense where as God's people, we are meant to be witnesses and there's a fruit that we bear of souls being won. Our lives should be a testimony of his love and grace, leading others to know him." [37:13] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Ultimately, the end result is in verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. It's not about you having necessarily a blessing of yourself. The fruitfulness is to the glory of God. That's our motive, isn't it? For everything, for anything, that he would be glorified. Will you bear fruit to the glory of God? That your life can be to his praise, that you would be a living sacrifice." [39:41] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Think of it, friends. You can be a fruit-bearing Christian. You can be a fruitful one, all to the glory of God. Colossians, as he prays, he says, I pray for you that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. What a prayer to pray, that we would be fruitful in every good work. Likewise, that's my prayer for you." [54:27] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "To recap some of the key lessons we could find of being a fruitful believer, just to recap real quick, to sum up some of the key points: Abide in me, he says. Develop that, nurture that, cultivate that abiding, that depending upon him. That's the key. And then a pruning is a greater fruitfulness too. Don't shy away from the pruning. Receive the pruning, yield to the pruning of the gardener. Learn to yield." [51:00] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "And know that also the work of fruitfulness is a work of his Holy Spirit. Don't feel like, oh, I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not striving hard enough. It's actually you're not yielding enough. That's generally the problem, isn't it? I can say for myself, I can do nothing. So maybe stop striving and trying so hard of your own flesh, and actually start yielding some more to him. Learn to have that dependence upon him." [51:50] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "When you bear much fruit, at the end of the day, you don't sort of stand back and think, oh, what a good boy am I, what are all these good things that I've done. No, it's all to the glory of God. It's all to his glory, it's all to his praise. He would get all the glory. When you are a fruitful believer, it's no praise to you, it's all praise to him that you've yielded to his work, that he has had his way with you." [53:21] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "You can bear fruit, you can be fruitful. It tells you how. John 15, dwell on it, think of it, and put it into practice. And of course, friends, tonight I've been addressing really believers. If you've yet to trust him, then that's the first step to be in the vine, is to trust Christ, to know him, to know his life, to know his saving grace." [55:05] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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