Taking in this sermon and applying it to your life will be the key to your making it to Rapture ground. It will separate the Bride of Christ from those who won’t make it. One day, when Jesus was speaking to His followers, He said, 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 (John 15:4,5).

Notice the last phrase, “For without me ye can do nothing.” Do you walk before your Lord with that in mind? Are you that dependent upon Jesus? In order for a life to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God, Jesus reveals that two things are required: Jesus is to abide in a person; and, in turn, that person is to abide in Jesus.

Jesus goes on to say, 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 (John 15:2). That is a very sobering thought. Jesus is not speaking about the life of a sinner; He is speaking about a life that is simply barren and unfruitful before the Lord. A branch that is connected to the vine but is barren and not producing any fruit is a branch that is not drawing its source of life from the vine, Jesus.

Branches Must Be Purged

If a branch is producing fruit for the Lord, He will purge it so it will bear even more fruit. In that context, “to purge” means to rid someone of unwanted qualities, conditions or feelings; and God will purge a life by different means. That purging can be in the form of trials, tribulations and persecutions. Purging can also take place through prayer, fasting and complete submission to the Word of God. The purging process allows the life of the vine to flow more freely to the branch, and the result is a greater abundance of fruit.

Some lives that have Jesus abiding within become so barren and unfruitful that the Heavenly Father, the Husbandman, will not just purge that branch but prune it completely off the vine and cast it away. Jesus said, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:6). If a life is not abiding in Jesus and bearing fruit as it should, the Husbandman will, sooner or later, prune that branch off the vine and cast it into the fire.

Are You Drawing on Jesus?

I want to emphasize that Jesus is always faithful to abide in people who will open their heart’s door to Him. The problem is that people are not always faithful and willing to abide continually in Jesus. Some people start out well; but later, they start drawing on sources other than Jesus.

What does it mean to abide in Jesus? “To abide” means to continue in a place or to remain stable or fixed in a particular state. Child of God, have you remained fixed and stable in Jesus since you were converted? Have you continually sought to draw your life from Jesus as the Word of God teaches?

When a person receives a born-again experience, they tap into the life and the power of the divine blood that flows in the vine, Jesus; and that life and power begin to flow into them, the branch. That divine blood will cleanse a person of all sin and unrighteousness, deliver them from all demonic bondages and give them a brand-new life.

Once the divine blood power has done its perfect work on that branch, Jesus can abide in that person. He sets up His abode and dwells there. Paul said, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17).

Notice the order of Paul’s words. He did not say, “If Christ be in you, you are a new person.” He said, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” That means that to keep the new creature living, working and manifesting through you, you must be in Christ; and you must continually draw from the life of the vine. If you start once again drawing on other sources, then the old, adamic nature will begin to manifest once again. As a child of God, you must continually draw life from Jesus just as a branch continually draws life from the vine. You must draw on His love, His peace and His joy.

Jesus Must Be Your Life

Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). If you claim to be a child of God, and that abundant life is not manifesting through you and working within you, you are not abiding in Jesus as you should. You are not drawing on the abundant life that is in the vine.

Jesus said later, I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus is the life that every child of God should draw from. He then went on to say, No man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

Drawing from the vine, Jesus, is a responsibility; and when you are careless and negligent in that responsibility, you will become spiritually dried up, barren and unfruitful. Then you will no longer abide in Jesus, and you will begin to draw on sources other than Him. You may draw on people such as your husband, wife, children or parents. You may draw on worldly sources; selfish, fleshly sources; or worse yet, sinful and deceitful sources.

When you, as a child of God, do not abide in Jesus and draw on Him as you should, it will become evident in your spiritual life over time. Just as a branch that may appear to be connected to a vine but is not drawing life from it will die, so will you die spiritually.

The Word Must Be In You

Again, I want to emphasize that this message is not about Jesus abiding in you because Jesus is faithful to abide in people. This message is about you abiding in Jesus, and that is what Jesus addresses in John 15.

Jesus said, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7). How often do you get answers to your prayers? If the Word abides in you as Jesus said it should, the Lord will answer your prayers. Are you faithfully drawing from the life in the vine day by day?

Jesus went on to say, Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:8). Jesus makes it clear that you glorify your Heavenly Father and become His disciple when you bear fruit for the Kingdom; and to do that, Jesus said you must abide in Him.

Jesus also said that His Word must abide in you. You can’t just read the Word, listen to it or give it mental assent; you have to know it, obey it, live by it and do it. The Word must become a part of you. Then divine love will abide in you as well. Jesus said, 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 (John 15:10). You can’t just say, “Lord, I love you”; you must have that love abiding in your heart. God knows those who are truly His and those who are not.

Seek Divine Peace and Joy

Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). When you abide in Jesus, divine peace will flow no matter what is going on around you or what you are facing in life at the time. Paul referred to divine peace as the peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Divine peace doesn’t make sense to most people because they are not abiding in Jesus.

Abiding in Jesus also brings you great joy. Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you (John 15:11). When you draw your life from the vine every day, that divine life will manifest itself as peace and joy.

Such wonderful life can be yours through Jesus Christ, His Word and His divine blood; yet so many people all over the world are frantically searching for that life in all the wrong places. Some look to sports, worldly entertainments, family and friends. Others seek life in drugs and alcohol, but those things are just bondage and will only bring death. Some put so much time and effort into careers and making money, but those things are just temporary and will never bring true peace, joy and everlasting life.

True peace only comes through Jesus Christ. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3).

Jesus and the World Don’t Mix

The Bible says there is pleasure in sin, but it is only for a season. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:24,25). Don’t confuse pleasure with true life because they are two totally different things. The pleasures of sin are only temporary, and they do not last.

The Bible says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (I John 2:15). You can’t draw from both of those sources. The Word makes it very clear that there is a distinction between the two. You can’t tap into Jesus and draw from Him and then turn around and tap into the world and start drawing from it because it won’t happen. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (I John 2:16-17). There is no life in the world or in anything it offers; and one day, it will all pass away.

The vine, Jesus, will abide forever; so when you are abiding in the vine and doing God’s will, you too will abide forever. That is true life. When you as a child of God start drawing on the world and the things of the world, the life of Jesus in you becomes contaminated; and it is no good to God. Then sooner or later, your life will become barren and fruitless in God’s Kingdom; and it will be worthy only of being pruned off the vine and cast into the fire.

Separate from the World

In the Word, James rebuked those who claimed to be children of God saying, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4). You cannot be a friend of the world and a friend of God. You cannot draw on both sources and think you will make it into Heaven because God, as the Husbandman of His vineyard, will prune you off the vine.

In that verse, James was accusing some people in the church of being unfaithful to Jesus. He is the Groom, and children of God are His Bride; so when certain members of the Bride are unfaithful to the Groom, Jesus, they are committing spiritual adultery. That is why James called those who had neglected Jesus and were drawing on the world adulterers and adulteresses.

Jesus prayed this prayer over His disciples at the time and over all who would follow in the future: I have given them [His disciples] thy [His Father’s] word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (John 17:14-17).

“To sanctify” means to set apart, and Jesus wanted His disciples to be set apart from the world through the truth in the Word of God. Jesus is the Word made flesh; so if you want to stay separated from the world, you must abide in Him. He is the Word, and that Word must abide in you.

Demas did not stay separated from the world; and the Apostle Paul wrote, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world (II Timothy 4:10). Demas had been following Paul, and I’m sure he had heard Paul preach many sermons. I’m sure he had witnessed and received many miracles and healings. We don’t know how much Demas had sacrificed for the sake of Christ or how much persecution he had endured with Paul; but somewhere along the line, he had stopped abiding in Jesus.

Demas had turned to the world as his source of life; and over time, he grew spiritually weaker and weaker while his love for the world grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, Demas chose to abide in the world, and the Father pruned him off the vine.

Your Life Must Bear Fruit

Jesus said, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Matthew 16:25). If you are seeking to save your life, you will lose it in eternity. If your motivation and goal are to make yourself the best life in this world, you will have no life in Heaven. If you abide in selfish ambitions and desires and dwell more on the cares of this life than the life of Jesus, the Word will be choked out of your mind and heart; and your life will become barren and fruitless. Only by giving your all for the sake of Christ and no longer considering your life on Earth to be a top priority will you find eternal life in Heaven.

You have to live in the will of God for your life to bear fruit for God’s Kingdom. Jesus said, Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:20,21). You will only find the will of the Heavenly Father as you abide in Jesus, and the Word abides in you.

God considers a life that is barren and unfruitful to be a worthless branch that has to be cast into the fire. The Bible gives a clear example of this in Mark 11. That chapter tells us that Jesus approached a fig tree looking for some figs. When He saw that it had no figs, He cursed it saying, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever (Mark 11:14).

The next day, Jesus and His disciples passed by the same tree; and it was dead. Peter said, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away (Mark 11:21). When Jesus responded, He did not even mention the tree. Instead He said, Have faith in God. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:22,24,25).

Jesus was not concerned about that fig tree being dead. He had cursed that tree as a physical demonstration to the disciples and to us today that divinity hates a fruitless life. Is your life producing spiritual fruit? Does your Jesus light shine brightly in this dark world?

A Good Witness Must Fast

Today, God’s true children are to be witnesses for Him through the power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus told His followers, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The baptism combined with that power will make people Jesus witnesses.

Jesus demonstrated that power in His own life and ministry; but He told His followers, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). So why are more of God’s Holy Ghost-filled people not bearing much fruit? Why are they not doing more to bless the Kingdom? It’s because of the lack of prayer and fasting. Only through prayer and fasting will the power of the divine blood and the Holy Ghost flow through humans. Only then will they be a branch that bears much fruit for the Kingdom.

It’s not enough for Jesus and the Holy Ghost to abide in you. Don’t be satisfied and content with that. You must go on to abide in them, and that means you must submit to them and surrender everything to them. Do you allow Jesus and the Holy Ghost to have their way by submitting to them in prayer and fasting? As you live and walk in the Spirit, divine power will operate in and through your life to make you the witness Jesus wants you to be.

Jesus said His disciples would fast when He went back to Heaven. But the days will come, when the bridegroom [Jesus] shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days (Mark 2:20). Jesus is no longer on Earth, so His followers must fast. Bible fasting enables you to die out to self and be purged of your unwanted qualities, characteristics and feelings. Then the life of the vine can flow more freely into you and through you, and your life will bear more fruit. Self is the greatest obstacle and hindrance for many Christians. It is the reason why they are not bearing more fruit, and why the Husbandman has to prune them again and again.

A Carnal Mind Is Death

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). Do you abide in the flesh or the Spirit? Whichever you abide in is what you think about and act on. What you abide in becomes a part of you.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6). If you have a carnal mind, it will lead to barren, spiritual fruitlessness; and eventually, it will lead to death. On the other hand, the spiritual mind is a mind that abides in and draws from Jesus. It draws from the Word, and it produces spiritual life and fruit for the Kingdom of God.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7,8). Now, you can see why those with carnal minds are branches God hates and ones He prunes off and casts into the fire.

Again I say that Jesus may abide in you; but if you neglect to abide in Him, you will become barren and unfruitful for the Lord. If your mind is continually centered on self, your affections, your desires and what you want to do, sooner or later, the Husbandman of this vineyard will prune you off the vine.

Separate into Truth and Love

Jesus said, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mark 8:34). To come after Jesus, you have to deny self and abide in Him. Paul said, Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). That is what children of God are to grow into as they abide in Jesus and draw life from Him.

Paul went on to say, That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ (Ephesians 4:14-15). You have to grow into a perfect man or woman, into the stature of Jesus Christ. To do that, you have to abide in Jesus; and His Word must abide in you, so you will be fixed and established.

Ephesians 4:15 also says you must speak the truth in love. Only a life that is healthy and fruitful in the Lord can do that; however, to speak the truth in love, you must first have the truth in you. Divine love and truth abiding within will protect you from false doctrine. They will separate you from the cunning craftiness of those who gossip and deceive and from those who seek to cause division and confusion in the body of Christ.

Abide in the Word

Paul said, Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1,2). You have to lay aside all false doctrine and gossip and turn away from those who seek to undermine the work of God with their deceit. You can’t let anything contaminate the life of Jesus you are drawing on, or your life will become barren and unfruitful.

I say again that you must abide in the Word because it is your safety. God told Rev. Angley many years ago that every thought, manifestation, revelation or anything else that comes to your mind must be taken to the Word. If it does not measure up to the teachings in the Word, you have to get rid of it. There are some who think they are tapping into spiritual things when they are not. What they think they are getting from God does not even come close to measuring up to the Word of God, so it is deceit. You had better be careful because if you tap into deceit thinking it’s God, it will show up in your barren and fruitless life.

If you are a born-again child of God, Jesus abides in you; but I ask you again, are you abiding in Jesus? Are you drawing daily on the life and power of Jesus; or are you drawing on self, people and the things of the world? If you are drawing on sources other than Jesus, and you continue to do that, sooner or later, God will prune your fruitless life off of the vine. You will be a branch only worthy to be cast into hell fire.

Give Jesus Your Life

Friend, examine your life in light of this sermon. If you find anything you are doing or saying to be unlike God, you need to let God change you. If you find you are drawing on people or things more than Jesus and His life, it’s time to make things right. It’s time to surrender all to Jesus because once you read a message like this one, you are held accountable for it. You must be not only a hearer of the Word but a doer, lest you deceive yourself.

We are living in an hour of great deceit, so you must give yourself completely to Jesus. Learn what it means to be a new creature in Christ. Learn what it means to abide in Jesus and draw on Him every day.

Pray with me now, and ask Jesus into your heart. Oh, God, I confess all of my sins before you. Forgive me, Lord, and I will serve you for the rest of my life. I believe there is power in the divine blood of Jesus to wash away all of my sins, all contamination of this world and all disobedience. Come into my heart, Jesus. Come into my heart. Friend, if you meant that prayer, Jesus abides in you. Now, you must abide in Him from this day forward and never stop.

Receive a Miracle and Power from On High

Now that you have Jesus abiding within, you are as a branch attached to the vine; and you can draw the healing power from the vine into your life by faith. The Bible says, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15). It also says, These signs shall follow them that believe…they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17,18). The healing life of the vine will flow into that branch to heal it completely.

It doesn’t matter what your sickness or disease is or how much pain you are in, the life in the vine can set you free. Lord, in the name of Jesus, I bring all those who are sick in body or in great pain before you. Lord, let the healing power of the vine flow into their bodies now. In the name of Jesus, heal! Let your virtue flow to make them whole for your honor and glory. Amen.

Friend, let us know how God has healed you and delivered you today. Send us your testimony; we would love to hear about it. You can send it by email, through social media or however you choose to. We will welcome your testimony and rejoice in the Lord with you.

Now, you need the Holy Ghost; He is power from On High. You must have Him in this hour because He is power for service and the power you need to do the will of God. You can draw from the life in the vine, Jesus, in a greater way through the Holy Ghost, so it’s time to tap in and receive this power. Let the divine life flow into your branch, so it will bear more fruit than ever before.

Praise the Lord with your whole heart and give over to those praises. Yield to the Holy Ghost completely, and He will come in and take over.