"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 15:5
Jesus said that the believer who abides in Christ and allows Christ
(i.e., the Word of God, John 15:7) to abide in Him, the same
bringeth forth MUCH FRUIT. The Bible doesn't say that he who abides
in Christ will become an accomplished musician. The Bible doesn't
say that she who abides in Christ will become successful in her
career. The Bible doesn't say that he who abides in Christ will have
good things happen in his life. No, the Bible undeniably states that
he who abides in Christ and has Christ abiding in him BRINGETH
FORTH MUCH FRUIT. The Bible is speaking about soulwinning.
A woman who has been playing piano in her church for 17-years and boasts of having served Christ has done NOTHING for God if she has not been a soulwinner and has not used her talent to win souls to Christ. There are many church members today who "think" they are serving God because they do something as part of a religious organization. They have been woefully deceived and are wasting their time, serving God in vain. Any religious work that does not center entirely upon winning lost sinners to Jesus Christ is a work of the Devil, a false religion.
Most religious organizations and ministries today DON'T have even the slightest concern for the eternal destiny of lost sinners. The Word of God teaches eternal damnation for the unsaved, i.e., for all those souls who perish in their sins without Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We read in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." The Bible is clear that all who refuse to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal damnation.
Perhaps you are thinking, “I don't agree with that,” or “That is not fair,” or “God is love and would never send anyone to burn in Hell forever.” May I say to you friend, if that is your way of thinking, that God's Word cannot be broken. Jesus said in John 10:35b, "the Scripture cannot be broken." God said what He meant, and meant what He said. You can rest assure based upon the warning of 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9, that every person who dies in their sins, having refused to obey the Good News of Christ crucified, will suffer the eternal vengeance of God in punishing flames of fire. But you say, “I just don't agree with that.” That is your opinion!
So many people today are involved in religion, but there is no conviction for lost souls and no warning people of the judgment to come. Hell is real. Either you believe that the Bible is God's Word or you don't. If you do, then you absolutely must believe that there is a literal place of torment and flames called Hell where the wicked will spend eternity. I believe the Bible. Do you? The reason why we don't see MUCH FRUIT being born anew of the Spirit of God nowadays is because there is hardly any teaching on eternal damnation as punishment for sins committed in this life. The Bible teaches that every believer ought to be a SOULWINNER, who abides in Jesus Christ and His Word abides in us, and we preach the Gospel wherever we go.
I was in a restaurant this week (where I eat often) and the manager came up to me, whom I know as “DJ.” He said, “Hello Mr. Stewart. I just wanted you to know that I read that little paper you left on the table last week and I shared it with one of my workers. Do you have any more of them I can share with others?" It was a Gospel track, How to Know You Are Going to Heaven by Dr. Curtis Hutson, former editor of the Sword of the Lord.
I had an old torn shirt on last week and felt sad. It was just a bad day and my constant neck pain and medication play a big part. I decided to do something nice for someone else and make it a better day for someone else at least. I took a Gospel of John, taped a $20 bill inside (which was sticking out the top and bottom). I said, “Lord, I'm going to go find a homeless person and give this to him or her.” I drove to an area where I know homeless people live. I saw a man who looked dirty and homeless. He was napping on a hard concrete bench. His clothes were also torn. I gently tapped on his arm and when he awoke handed him the Gospel of John with the $20. He was surprised and I was a bit happier.
There is much we can do for God, but only if we abide in Christ and allow His inspired Word to abide in us. Most religious work nowadays is done in the flesh, and no souls are saved. For souls to be saved, there MUST be truth and the Spirit of God (John 4:24). Martin Luther King Jr. was a false prophet, who denied the inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Birth of Jesus. Yet people still foolishly call him “reverend.” King was a sinister minister if anything. King may have gathered a large following for civil rights; but he never led anyone to Jesus Christ to be forgiven of their sins. King DIDN'T bear any fruit to Jesus Christ, just like Jesse Jackson doesn't. Their gospel is a false social gospel.
Biblical salvation must
begin with mankind acknowledging his sinnership for breaking God's
holy commandments. Jesus came to pay for our sins so we could be
redeemed. Our best efforts are filth to God, because the sins we
have committed are still there (Isaiah 64:6). Only the precious
blood of Jesus Christ can forever take away our sins and save us
eternally. This happens through our faith in Jesus Christ as the
Savior, the Lamb of God, who took our sins upon Himself at Calvary.
1st Peter 1:18-19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot." Amen!
Obeying the Scriptures
You had better obey the Scriptures and trust upon Jesus Christ as your Savior to forgive your sins before it's too late. Jesus paid your sin debt and mine, and what a debt He paid! We all deserve to plunge immediately into the flames of Hell for violating God's holy Law. America has not kept God's Law, just as the Jews didn't keep God's Law. John 7:19, "Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?" It is evil that many of America's laws today go blatantly against God's Laws; such as, abortion, same-sex marriage, nude beaches, pornography, gambling, drunkenness, divorce, immodest clothing in public, lewd public behavior and fornication. America is a cesspool of iniquity.
As a tragic result, few preachers preach against sin anymore, because people won't attend such churches anymore. 2nd Timothy 4:3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." It's a shame that Christian men can't even go to most churches nowadays without the Devil tempting them, because of immodestly dressed women in the church. The problem is cowardly pastors who are afraid of losing financial support, tithers. What America needs is working pastors, so that the pastor can say what needs to be said from the pulpit without fear of going hungry. America's churches are going to Hell in a wheelbarrow because of compromised and cowardly pastors who don't preach. The great need of our time is preaching preachers!
I guarantee you that in
churches where the pastor is afraid to preach against women wearing
pants, that the next thing that goes is the King James Bible. Then
the pastor starts teaching a false gospel of Lordship Salvation,
which is spewed from Romans 10:9 of the
New International Version. A
false bible will bring forth false doctrine.
Bringing Forth Much Fruit
It's the churches where pastors preach the hardest against sin where the most souls are saved. This is because the knowledge of the Law is what POINTS sinners to Christ for salvation. Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” If we are to win many souls to Christ, then we must show lost sinners their need for a Savior.
There are many church members today who are icons in their own denomination. They've been faithful to their particular religious circle for decades. Yet, they've never won a soul to Christ. They've never given out a single Gospel tract. They've never witnessed to anyone, sharing their own testimony how they were saved. That's all soulwinning really is you know... sharing with other people how you got saved. If you don't know how you got saved, then you need to get saved.
I was saved at age 12. The preacher said that morning, “If you don't have the Holy Spirit convicting you of sin in your life, then you're not saved.” I knew that morning I needed Christ. I knew I was a sinner deserving of Hell. I believed on Jesus to forgive my sins and save me and He did as He promised in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I've been saved now for 30-years. Although I have many regrets in life, I've never regret being a Christian. My desire is to win more souls to Jesus Christ, until that glorious day when this life is over. For the Christian, true life begins at death.
