In this sermon, the preacher uses the analogy of a vine and its branches to explain the relationship between believers and Jesus. He emphasizes that just as a vineyard owner prunes the branches to bear more fruit, God will remove any cause for unbelief in the hearts of believers. The preacher encourages the congregation to see themselves as luscious grapes, bringing life to others through their relationship with Christ. He also warns against pride and urges believers to continue in God's goodness, lest they be cut off like the natural branches. The sermon concludes with the reminder that even those who have fallen into unbelief can be grafted back into God's love and grace.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing WORLDCHALLENGE P.O. BOX 260 LINDELL, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. I want to talk to you this morning about being grafted into Christ. Grafted into Christ. Would you go to John, please, the 15th chapter? 15th chapter of John. I'm reading from King James. Grafted into Christ. 15th chapter of St. John. We welcome visitors. We welcome those in the annex and in all the overflow rooms, wherever you're at, all over. Spilled over everywhere. We welcome you and pray God bless you and give you a word this morning. Beginning to read 15th chapter of St. John, verse 1. I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruity taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot beareth fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch. He's withered, men gather them, cast them into the fire and they're burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit so you be my disciples. We pray now. Father, I thank you for your word that keeps us, trains us, strengthens us. It's the meat of our souls and the strength of our life. But Lord, that word has to be anointed. It has to be touched by the Holy Ghost to have an effect in our lives and to change us. Lord, I yield to you. I yield to your anointing. I ask you to come upon me. Let it flow as a river out of my innermost being. And Lord, as we leave this church this morning, let us understand this truth. Holy Ghost, open our eyes and our minds to the reality of being grafted into Jesus Christ. Unmovable, set in Christ. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. The eight verses I've just read to you are powerful warning Jesus gave against the withering power of unbelief. Now, evidently, this is still in the upper room, in the Passover room. The Passover meal is finished. By now, Judas has left the Passover chamber and he's on his way to the priest to deny Christ. And he's soon to be crucified. The Lord has, in the previous two chapters, he's told them about what is coming, that he's going to be leaving. He's going to send the Holy Ghost to them and the Holy Ghost would comfort and lead them. But that upper room was filled with dismay and unbelief, even as he taught. Here's Thomas in that room, even after Jesus is revealing his glory and power. Here's Thomas saying, Lord, you tell us that you're leaving and that we know where you're going. But we don't know where you're going. How could we know the way? Here's Philip in the same room, after all of this marvelous teaching, saying to the Lord, Lord, you say to us that we've seen the Father, but we don't see him. Show him to us. The unbelief in that upper room must have absolutely shocked and hurt and wounded our blessed Savior. He speaks to Philip and then, of course, to all of us when he said, Have I been so long with you, Philip, as yet you have not seen and know me? He that has seen me has seen the Father. And how can you say then, Philip, show us the Father? How can you be so full of doubt and so full of unbelief when I've made it so clear that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father? And Jesus bluntly turns to these in the upper room and he says, Believe me that I'm in the Father and the Father in me. And then he goes on, he said, If you can't believe that, at least believe me because of the mighty works you've seen me do, all the miracles you've seen me to do. And three times he says, Believe me, believe me, believe me. Why this appeal to his disciples to believe? Because here in this upper room with the foundation of the church that Jesus was going to build, these are the pillars, these are the foundation men, and they're filled with unbelief. They're filled with fear. They don't even understand the relationship to him. They don't understand the teaching that he has. And the Lord knows that if they go out full of unbelief, the church would be crippled. There would be no life. There would be no foundation for the church of Jesus Christ in the days to come. He had witnessed the withering, crippling effect of unbelief in their lives. Come down from the mountain and there was a demon-possessed boy. And their father had asked them to cast them out. And Jesus had seen the crippling, damning effect of unbelief in their life. They couldn't cast them out. The demons mocked his own disciples who were absolutely full of unbelief. And Jesus said, O faithless, turning to his disciples, the foundation stones of his church. O faithless, perverse generation, speaking to his own disciples. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? How long must I put up with this unbelief? And now in this upper room, they're gathered around him. And this brings us to John 15th chapter and these verses that I've just read to you. Here is the Lord's attempt to strike a fatal blow at the unbelief. To show them that they are going to enter into a new relationship with him. A new relationship that's going to be founded completely on faith. There's no room for unbelief. In fact, he's going to give them a truth so strong and so powerful that he's going to raise any opportunity or any reason or any cause for unbelief. He's going to strike a fatal blow to any cause, any reason for unbelief in their hearts. The warning is given in the way of an illustration they could all understand. Something they're very familiar with. He's going to talk to them about a relationship with him having to do with the vine and the branch. Now, they would understand this simple illustration because they had seen in their walk through the land. They'd seen one vineyard after another. They had stopped many times and plucked luscious grapes from these vines. They stood by and watched in wonder as the husbandmen or the gardeners would prune these branches so they bear more fruit. They watched the grafting process, the amazing grafting process. Jesus knew they were familiar with it. And in explaining a new relationship that they're going to enter into with him, he uses this simple illustration. He says, I'm the vine. This is verse 1, chapter 15. I'm the vine and my father is the husbandman. The husbandman means the gardener, but in the Greek it means gardener-owner. He's the horticulturist. He's the gardener. He's the one who does the planting. He does the grafting. He does the pruning so that fruit is produced. He's looking for fruit. That's the purpose of a vineyard. Furthermore, he says, I am the vine and ye are the branches. And what Jesus is saying from now on, you are going to enter in. I'm going to be leaving here, but you and I are going to enter a new kind of relationship. There's going to be a new connection with me that you have never heretofore had. It's going to be a whole new relationship with me because I go to my father. And I want you to think of this relationship as a branch and a vine. Now, I want you to follow very closely because if you will get this this morning, you will have a defense against the enemy. You'll have a defense against unbelief, against the fear of falling. And the Lord will change your whole concept and your relationship to him if you'll see it. Now, when Jesus refers to himself as the true vine, what he's saying to these men, I possess all the resources, all the nutrients. I produce all the life force that you will ever need to produce fruit and to grow. It's in me. Forget once and for all that there's anything in you. You have no resources. If you are not connected to the vine, you cannot succeed. You will wither and you will die and you'll be cast into a fire because when the branches are cut off, the workers come along, get up those branches and go and burn them and cast them away. And he said, unless you're connected to me in a new manner, unless you understand this connection, you've got to understand I'm the only source of everything you ever need the rest of your life. When Jesus called them the branches and his father, the gardener, he's trying to tell them, unless you are connected to me, unless you understand where your resources come from and all the nutrients that you need, unless you are connected to me, I may have the life, I may have everything you need, but unless you're connected to me, it doesn't get into your branch. Only as you are connected to me, surgically connected to me, you cannot survive. You won't survive what's coming. You can't survive when the devil comes in like a flood. You have no power. You have no resources. I am the vine. I am everything you need. When he says, I am the good vine, I'm sure they could picture in their minds the many times, you know, often they'd stop to pick these luscious grapes and they're looking at each other now and they're saying, this sounds pretty good. There's going to be a new relationship and we're going to have all the resources we need. We're going to be able to draw in him in some manner. He's going to explain this to us and they're already picturing this from what they've seen in all their travels and we are going to be these luscious grapes, this sweetness that flows out and brings life to others. What a wonderful concept. What a wonderful thing he's saying. And maybe now they're looking at each other, it's dawning on them somehow. Maybe it's the Holy Ghost. Somehow we are going to be connected to our Savior and somehow we're going to bear this wonderful fruit. While they're still trying to picture this new vine life, Jesus says something that must have shocked and befuddled them beyond comparison, beyond thought. Jesus then immediately, he begins in the second verse, before he talks about fruit, before he talks about resources, before he talks about anything else, he starts on a negative note. And look at verse 2, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Every branch in me, they're just beginning to try to understand the concept that they're going to have resources. And suddenly the Lord said, every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit is cut off. Jesus makes it even stronger in verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as a branch and he's withered. Men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. What is this awful word, cut off from the vine, cast forth, withered, burned? The warning is to his beloved disciples. It's not to Judas, who's already walked out and denied him. It's not to the scribes and Pharisees and the priests that are now conspiring to kill him. It's to his own beloved disciples, he's saying. It's possible to be cut off if you don't bear fruit, he said, you're cut off from this vine. The sin of unbelief is a damning sin, he's trying to say, it's a withering sin. These disciples were infected with this, in fact, right up to the last of the time of Christ here on earth. Just before he was about to leave after his resurrection, the scripture says he came to the eleven while they sat at meat and he upbraided them. In other words, he reproved them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. You see, when Jesus said, I am the good vine and you're the branches, he then and there did away with every excuse for unbelief. He's saying, I have everything you need. I have all you need for every process, every crisis in life. So there's no need in anything that you endure, any place that you are, any crisis. There's no reason for unbelief because I have everything you need. It's in me, I'm divine. He struck down any possibility of unbelief. There is no reason on earth for any Christian to have unbelief in their heart. It's done away with in Christ because he's all resources, all nutrients, everything that we need. It is in him. He's saying, I am God. God is in me. I am the most high. I'm possessor of heaven and earth. I am God, all powerful, all sufficient. I am the Lord who sees and provides, Jehovah Jireh. I am the Lord who heals you. I'm the Lord who chastens you. I'm the Lord, your banner. I'm the Lord of hosts. The Lord, your peace. The Lord of righteousness. I'm the Lord who dwells within you. The Lord, your shepherd. I'm Emmanuel. I'm the Lord who forgives you, ready to pardon and forgive. I'm your intercessor. I'm your priest. I'm your mediator. I'm your wisdom. I'm your high tower. I'm your refuge. I'm your source of life. You have no possibility. You have no excuse for unbelief. I'm everything you need. You see, it's this simple. You were placed by the heavenly father into the vine. You were connected to all that is in him. The Bible says the branches are partakers of his divine nature. His divine nature is in him, and once you are in the vine, you are a partaker. The apostle Paul taught that the branches were cut off because of unbelief. And Jesus, before he talks about fruit, before he goes any further about abiding, he said, I'm telling you now there is a possibility if you're going to continue in this unbelief that I've seen in you. If this continues, it's got to stop because you cannot abide in me. You cannot understand where you're going if there's unbelief in you. Paul, the apostle, in Romans 11 20, he said, because of unbelief, they, meaning Israel, were cut off. He said they were cast away, in fact. You see, they were the natural branches. They had been given the covenants and promises of God. But time and time again, the Lord came to them and says, look what I've done for you. Look what there is in me, my resources, my power, and what is yours and available. And the Bible said that because of unbelief, they were cast away. They were cut off of the vine. They were cut off to this very day, and only a few are remnant, have been grafted in, because even the natural branches, since the cross have to be regrafted into the tree, they're not there by nature anymore. The Bible said we were branches of a wild vine. And one day God, in his mere mercy, came and he took you off the devil's vine. You were producing an evil fruit, and the Lord Jesus came. God, the Father, came. He is the horticulturist. He is the one who grafts us into the vine. He saw you not of a mere love and grace. He brought you into his vineyard. He brought you to the vine, and he grafted you into Jesus Christ. A wild vine into the natural vine. The good vine. No good works. You didn't seek him, he sought you. He found you. Now, the vine is called the woodstock. Now, folks, I got so intrigued by this, I called a horticulturist. For two weeks, I got so intrigued by this concept, I called in New Jersey, in one of the colleges, and I found a horticulturist who had talked to me. And after it was all done, he said, I said, Reverend, what's this all about? And I explained it to him, and I got a chance for 15 minutes to witness to him about being in Christ. He said, this is so interesting. He said, I go around lecturing on this. This is a whole new concept. Now, let me talk to you what he said about the grafting process, because Paul says he used the olive tree. Paul fully understood this concept that Christ is teaching us about being grafted into Christ. And he said that we are grafted into Christ. The graft is called the graft union. The process, these are his words, a process in which a part of one plant is surgically attached to a part of another plant, or the rootstock, and they grow together to become one plant. He said a V-cut is made in the rootstock. That's the vine. That's Jesus. A V, or a wedge cut, is cut into the tree, and the tree must be allowed to bleed. And after a process of bleeding, the woodstock, or the branch, I used to think the branch was a great big thing with twigs and buds. No, the whole thing is stripped. The branch is about 8 to 12 inches long. Don't think you're something in Christ without Jesus. It's just a little wee stalk about this big, and a similar cut is made to fit the wedge, and that little, first of all, all the twigs are cut off, all the buds are cut off. It's nothing but a stick. There's no fruit, there's nothing, unless it's soon connected to the life source, the sap that's coming out of the vine, it'll die. All right, the little woodstock is fitted into that V-stock, into that wedge cut, lined up, and sealed with wax. Bible tells me we're sealed by the Holy Ghost. We are sealed into Christ by the Holy Ghost. Then it's wrapped. It's wrapped with, what do you call it, you've seen them wrap packages. Not twine, but that real thing gets wrapped around that tree to hold it in place until there is a physical take. Now let me tell you why the vine has to bleed, according to this man. And I wrote it down, so I quote it right. An incision is made in the trunk, that's the vine, that's Jesus. That incision was made at the cross to allow the bleeding. This has to be done before the graft is made, since there's a likelihood that the pressure from the sap flow in the vine will push the graft out. Now think of the implications. There is so many resources in Christ. There are so many nutrients in Christ, that if we're not sealed by the Holy Ghost, everything Jesus wants to put in you would push you out. He is so full. He is so full of Holy Ghost sap. He is so full of a life flow, that you are sealed by the Holy Ghost, so that that life flow is infused in you. You've got nothing in you. It's infused in you by the vine. I am grafted into the vine. I am sealed by the Holy Ghost. There is no life in me so that Paul says, Oh yeah, I live, I'm a branch. But not I, it's Christ infusing his life in me. Hallelujah. Didn't he say he's more willing to give than we are to receive? Didn't he say blessings in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over? Folks, you don't have to worry about being blown away. I'm going to tell you that when the Bible said the Father was the one who grafted you into Christ, and my Heavenly Father doesn't make a false graft, there is no way when my Father seals you to the vine and wraps you to the vine, there's no wind, there's no wave, there's no demon, there's no devil, there's no failure, there is nothing to break you away from the vine. He is full of everything I need and it flows in me. Our part is to abide, the Scripture says. Now let me tell you what I believe it means to abide in Christ. It's simply this, I have a settled view, a settled faith in my position in Christ. I have a settled view of my position in Christ. We abide in Christ only as we believe in the graft. How sad it is that so many Christians believe that every time they tell a fib, every time they fail, that somehow they drop off the vine, every time they feel bad, that somehow they get in and off this vine. No, once you're in that vine, within two weeks it's sealed by the nature of the vine itself. It's no longer held by the wax seal, it's no longer held by the tape around it, it's held by the very life of the vine. It's life that holds us. The life of Christ. Now I'm not preaching eternal security, because I'm telling you that there is a way that you are off this vine and that is unbelief. We abide in the vine as a daily act of faith. We get up each morning and say, I don't care how I feel. I don't care if perhaps the last two days I haven't studied and prayed like I ought to have prayed. I said I'd fast three days and only got through one day. No matter how depressed I may be, no matter how guilty I may feel, no matter how overtaken by temptation, even if I have fallen into temptation, yet I turn to my position in Christ and say, I am in Christ. Listen to me now. There are antibiotics in the blood of Jesus Christ for every failure. There's an antibiotic flowing into your system. You take a stand and say, I am in the vine. Oh, Jesus, send your life to me now. I failed you, but the life is still flowing. It's still flowing in my body. Hallelujah. Now, how do I get that sap of Christ, that life flow out of him into me, into my branch? It's extracted by faith, the Bible says. There's only one sin that can separate you from the vine, and that's the sin of unbelief. I want you to go to Romans 11, please. Romans 11 chapter. Hallelujah. Romans 11. Let's start verse 18, please. Or verse 17. No, verse 16. Chapter 11, Romans. If the first fruits be holy, the lump is also holy. If the root be holy, so what? Are you grafted to Christ? Where does our holiness come from? From the vine. And if some of the branches be broken off, that was Israel, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree, boast not because of the branches. If thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say, then, the branches were broken off, that I could be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off. Folks, why were they broken off? Unbelief, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches that take heed, lest he also spare not thee. Now, folks, he's talking to his disciples in the upper room. On the previous first eight verses of 15, Paul now is talking to the church. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God, on them which fell severity, but toward thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shall be cut off. Otherwise thou shall also be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. If they were cut off out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, if thou were cut off from the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted according to that nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the natural branches be grafted, grafted into their own tree? You understand the process. The Lord, God our Father. The Jew was cut off because of unbelief. Paul the Apostle comes and warns us now. He said, that's the example. They didn't have to be cut off. It was their unbelief that cut them off. It was not adultery. It was none of these other sins. It was unbelief that cut these people off from the vine. Folks, you never have to worry, once you're grafted in this vine, that you're going to fall off. Beloved, in the days that are ahead, God has to bring to His body a Holy Ghost knowledge of our security in Christ. We have to claim our position. I didn't put myself in Christ. I'm not holding to the vine. The vine holds me. The vine holds me. Christ holds me. He's in unison with me. I sought you. I found you. He reached out and He found you in your despair, in your blackness. Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who's going to pull me off the vine? Who's going to separate me from Christ? God put me. Folks, I went around the apartment we're renting, and I walked around for days, and I kept thanking God. I just picture this in my mind, that God, this universe creator, chose me, for what reason I don't know, out of sheer love and mercy. And He said, David, I'm going to put you in Christ. He planted me. He put me in Christ. He sealed me. Wrapped me in His love to that tree, to that vine. And life began to flow. I don't have to worry anymore because I know God could not do a bad graft. I know that God didn't do a half job. I know that God did it. And I can say, God, I didn't plant myself in Christ. You planted me. His life is flowing in me. And no matter how I feel, how many lies the devil tells me, life is in me. So now, who's going to separate me? Not tribulation. Not distress. Not persecution. Not famine. Not nakedness. Peril. Sorrow. Death. Life. Angels. Principalities. Powers. Things past. Things present. Nothing shall separate us from the love that is in Christ. Nothing. You see, I can't allow my feelings. I can't allow my failures. As long as I have a heart for Him, and as long as I get up every day and through every waking hour, with everything the devil throws at me and every lie, I can look back and say, but sir, I'm grafted. I am in Christ. And I claim my position. I stand on my position in the face of my failures, in the face of my feelings, in the face of all of it. I believe God grafted me into Christ. And it is that faith that extracts all that we need out of Christ into our being. Go to Hebrews 4, please. Thank you. Welcome back, he said. Okay. Hebrews 4. Now, folks, before going further into Hebrews, you've heard about the rest that belongs to God's people. He said he offered it to the Jew. They rejected it. He offered it to the time, even before that, to the prophets. It was rejected by Israel from the very beginning. It was offered even during the time of Christ, even in the time of David. It was offered a rest in Christ, a rest in the Lord, a place of rest. And he said it hasn't been accepted, but he said somebody's going to have to move into it. It's offered. It belongs to somebody. And, folks, that's been a challenge every time I read it. God, you said somebody has to enter into the rest. I'm going to come in. I want to have my soul at rest. I want to enjoy Jesus. I don't want to live with fear and guilt and condemnation. I want to enjoy. I want to get up every day and say, I am secure in Christ. He loves me, and I love him. Doesn't mean I'm perfected. Doesn't mean I've arrived at all. In fact, I may sometimes be tested more than I've ever been tested before. But I want to know. And, folks, it's when you understand your position in Christ, only then do you enter into the rest. Hebrews 4, verse 1, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left to us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Go to verse 8 through 11. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. If they had accepted this, we wouldn't be offered it now. We'd have entered into it. Verse 9, There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Folks, look at me. It's hanging there. It's out there. It's there. God said there is still a rest I'm offering to my people. Have you entered into it? A few amens. For he that has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own work as God did from his own. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of what? Unbelief is the only thing that keeps us out of this promise of rest. Now, folks, when this branch is planted into the vine, it's at rest. That's where the rest is. Laying hold of that promise, unshakable, unmovable, that I am going to draw everything I need out of Christ and I am in Christ. And when I claim my position by faith, my soul is at rest. That is the rest. It can be nothing else. That I have taken my position in Christ where God has planted me and I'll not be moved. You know what amazes me? The horticulturist used a phrase. He said when that branch is seated, once it is sealed and wrapped, it's seated. What would Paul say? We are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Now, don't get some idea that you're out there somewhere in the cosmos or up there at all. No, you see, when he seated you in the vine, all the glory of God, the power of Christ, that's heaven, that's heaven. All the nutrients are flowing into you. You are seated in Christ. Wait until you get it. If I'm seated in Christ in the vine, that's rest. And the only thing that keeps me from enjoying all the benefits is my unbelief, my lack of faith. He said those who do believe do enter into rest. Now, let's talk about this unbelief that causes those to be cut off from the vine. This damning unbelief. See, it's not the unbelief of the unconverted. Not at all because the Lord's grace comes to all of those unbelieving unconverted people. That's not the kind of unbelief. And folks, it's not really the unbelief in the resources. I doubt there's anyone hearing me now or who will hear me on tape on this message that doesn't believe that Christ has all the resources and all the power that you need to live an overcoming life and bear fruit. It's not unbelief in what is in Christ at all. We have no doubt that he's bursting with life. So much so that it just bleeds out of him waiting for your graft. You see, if we really believe that God connected us to Christ by an unbreakable graft, we would quit trying to establish our own righteousness. We wouldn't try to finish anything to please God on our own strength and might and abilities. We would settle down in our position in the vine and by faith alone partake of his divine nature. According to the power that worketh in us that is drawn from the vine. And the Bible comes to life when you really take your position in Christ and see this grafting. The whole Bible, the New Testament, especially Ephesians and Galatians and the epistles all come to special life. He said, if a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them, cast them into fire, and they are burned. Picture a husbandman, the horticulturist coming into his vine, his favorite vine, and he sees a branch that he has seen fruit bearing in the past. This vine did bear fruit at one time. He grafted it and it even bore more fruit. But he comes this time and he sees a withering taking place on this vine. It's withering, there's no fruit, the buds are dead. And he comes to this branch, the vine, and he's inspecting it. Now it's still in the vine, but it's dying. It's still in the vine. All the resources are there. See, this vine is a living vine, it's Christ. But somehow a poison, somehow a disease of unbelief has laid hold of that branch. And a vine will not feed a poisoned branch. It will not feed into it. It will for a season because life, the antibiotics are given, but there comes a time when, you see, also the branch has a mind of its own, it has a will. Because we're talking about people. And this unbelief, this disease of unbelief lays hold of that. And after so much time, so much patience, there comes a time that if God doesn't cut that vine, or that branch off the vine, that disease spreads. And one day, and that's what he said, unless you abide in me and my words, my life is flowing in you, by faith, simple childlike faith, you're believing my word, you're trusting in my word. You believe in your crisis. You believe that the Lord's not going to let you down. Even if you have to go through a death situation, that there is going to be strength for you to see you through. He's going to bring you through with a testimony where you minister to others, and you can look death right in the eye because you say, I'm connected to the vine, and all that I need and the power of the Holy Ghost will see me through. It's there, and you claim it. But when you turn away in unbelief, and you have set yourself in unbelief, it's become a way of life now. Nothing changes. Every time you hear the word, so what? It doesn't apply to me. And you're not mixing the word with faith anymore. And you have developed a lifestyle of unbelief. That's all that comes out of your mouth. That's all that comes out of your heart. There is doubt, and there's unbelief. And where is God? And why has God brought this upon me? Now, God is patient. He's merciful. He will prune, and He will do everything. He'll try to prune off that first thing He sees of it. He'll work on it and try to get that off of you. But folks, some people are set in that absolute unbelief. And I'm telling you that there are Christians that once bear fruit are going to be damned. They're going to be lost. Because they have set their heart in unbelief. And it's like concrete, and they can't be moved anymore. Because just like Israel, ten times the Lord came and loved to deal with their unbelief. And ten times He said, you provoked me. And finally there came a time when God says, all my grace and my love cannot reach you anymore. And that is when, that is the kind of unbelief. Let not that man think he shall receive anything from God. He's talking about the wavering man. But now I'm going to close on a negative word. I want you to go to Ephesians in closing. The second chapter of Ephesians. Second chapter of Ephesians. Chapter 2, verse 1. Will you stand please? With your Bibles open. And you hath He quickened. Another word for quickened is grafted. In other words, He has connected you to the life flow. Resurrection power that is in Jesus. You were dead in trespasses and sins. In time past you walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air. And the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. So you were in a wild tree. You were producing that kind of fruit. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Whereby nature the children of wrath even as others. By nature you were grafted. The Adam nature you were grafted into that wild tree. But God, the husbandman. Who is rich in mercy. For His great love wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in sins. A dead old branch. Hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you were saved. And has raised us up together. And made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Where do you sit right now while you stand here? You are sitting in the vine. Grafted by Jesus Christ the Lord. Hallelujah. Now when the accuser comes and he tells you lies. He tells you how weak and helpless you are. Tells you he is going to snare you and going to ruin you. Your faith rises up and says no. I know my position. I know that I am in Christ. I know that His life is flowing through me. I may be drawn away by temptations. Sometimes I may be slothful rather than diligent. I say things and do things that may not be righteous or pleasing the Lord. The wicked one comes and calls me a hypocrite and a phony. Saying that I preach what I don't practice. But my faith rises up and I take my position in Christ in the vine. And I say I am connected to Jesus Christ. That settles it. I am connected to Christ. Not my connection but connection of my Father. Glory be to God. So now I sit. We sit together in a heavenly place. In Christ Jesus. In Christ. Raise your hands and thank God for the grafting of the Father into the vine. Lord we give you thanks. We give you praise that we are grafted into Christ. We belong to Him. His life is our life. I live yet not I but Christ is living. He is living. He is flowing in me. Hallelujah. Christ is living. Flowing in me. Hallelujah. There's an old song we used to sing. I've anchored in Jesus. The storms of life are brave. I've anchored in Jesus. I fear no wind or wave. I've anchored in Jesus. Don't know the rest. I had it but I lost it. You get the point. If I'm anchored in Jesus it means I'm grafted. God anchored me in Christ the vine. Hallelujah. Father, my heart is so full. I so rejoice in that mercy and that grace that found us unworthy, sinful, bearing wild fruit. And you said, I want you. I choose you. You said, you've not chosen me. I chose you. And I've called you. I thank you, Lord, for my position. I thank you, Lord, that if I just by faith claim that position every waking hour of the day, I am grafted into Christ. If I take that, oh God, I'm secure. I am secure in Christ, in his goodness, his mercy, his grace. But, Lord, I pray for those in this congregation, in the annex and overflow rooms and here in the main auditorium. Lord Jesus, that living in such fear, always afraid. Afraid of the judgment. Afraid of every failure. Afraid of their feelings. And, Lord, there are some that have sinned, and they've sinned grievously against you, but they don't understand. They've never had faith in your forgiveness. Lord, I believe in your forgiveness. I believe in your pardon for those who simply turn to you and say, I repent. I want you, congregation, I want this congregation, those who are in need, I want you to experience his pardoning love. He said, I'm more willing to forgive than you are to receive. I am more willing. And some of you are in the vine and don't enjoy it. You have no rest because you've not claimed your position. When I look in the balcony in the main auditorium, if you say, Pastor Dave, I am living in some kind of torment. I'm living in some kind of fear or guilt, whatever it may be. And some of you have to honestly say, there's a lot of unbelief in me. Because I haven't seen answers to prayer. I haven't seen God do things that I've really believed for. And there's just a lot of unbelief that's piled up in me. And I want to pray, Lord, help my unbelief. Now, we don't count numbers. We don't try to build up numbers here. We don't judge the blessing of God in this church by the numbers who respond. We judge it by the growth and the people that attend. And upstairs and downstairs, if you feel the tug of the Holy Spirit, say, Pastor Dave, I feel God's spirit pulling and tugging me. I don't want to walk out of here with the unbelief that I had. I don't want to walk out of here with the burden of sin that I brought into this church. Get out of your seat and just come forward up and about and go to the stairs. There are stairs on either side. You can come down any aisle. Just stand here and I'll pray with you. We'll believe the Lord to touch you and change your heart. And those in the annex, if you'll just step forward, not in front of the screen, but between the screens so you won't block the vision. And just that step of faith, you're just saying, Lord, I'm stepping out of my unbelief. I'm stepping out of my fear and my guilt. I want to enjoy you, Jesus. I don't want to carry around any of what I've been carrying the past few weeks. I want to be free in Christ. Hallelujah. By faith, I'm going to take my position. I'm going to stand on it. I'm not going to let the devil rob me of my peace. Remember that in time past, there were Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision. At that time, you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers from the covenants and promises, having no hope without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes far off or made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He is our peace, who hath made both one and broken down the middle wall of petition between us. For He's abolished in His flesh all the enmity, all the law and commandments contained in ordinances, so that He can make it Himself of twain, one new man, making peace. He can reconcile both under God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity, thereby came and preached peace to you. He's preaching peace to you by the Holy Ghost this morning, to bring peace to your soul and rest. Any man being Christ Jesus, he's what? He's a new creature. That new creature means that all the resources of God are now made available to him in strength and power. Look at me, folks. You understand when a branch is grafted into a tree, that even though that life begins to flow within hours, according to the experts, there's such pressure in that vine to infuse and push into the branch everything that's needed to produce that life. That life doesn't show immediately. In fact, it doesn't bear grapes sometimes for two to five years. But there are buds and there's evidence of life and usefulness. And sometimes we get discouraged because we come to the Lord and the Lord does, you know, those resources I'm talking about, not just happy feelings. It's something that goes beyond feelings where you don't depend on your feelings. You don't depend. Pastor Carter preached a masterful message about dry spells. And we go through those and the grace of God. But it's simply I'm not looking for a feeling. If you came here looking for a feeling, you'll be disappointed. But you came saying, I believe what God said. He has what I need. If I just trust him, it's going to be there. It'll be there. You'll be surprised. You'll look back and say, hey, it was there. The strength was there. The blessing of God was there. The strength. You know, when we first got word of Tiffany, it's different when it's a child. You know, it's adult. You can take it easy. But when it's a little child, it's hard. And all the way down, we drove down six hours to where they live. And I kept praying, oh, God, I can't handle this without strength. There's no way we can handle this. It wasn't until we got to the hospital. And, in fact, it came in the room when the doctor said this is a rare kind of cancer. Very rare. It's going to need, in so many words, a miracle. It was then that a peace that came. It was then that it all just drained out, all the fear and everything else. But it didn't come until I needed it, see. It'll come when you need it. He's there. He said, I'll supply every need. I come now leveling against unbelief. If you have any unbelief in your heart, ask the Lord not to help you. Pray the prayer of the man who prayed who needed a miracle. Lord, help my unbelief. He is patient. You know, when I said unbelief, God cuts only those who have set in unbelief like concrete. It's not that feeding unbelief. It's that setting of the heart. Your heart hasn't been set on that, so open your heart. Pray this prayer with me right now. Lord Jesus, help my unbelief. I want to rest in you. I come to you, Jesus, to receive you truthfully as my Lord and my Savior, as resources for everything that I need in my life. Help me, Lord, not to depend on people, not on friends, not even on ministers, but to depend on you. Oh, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with the love of Jesus. Thank you, Savior. Thank you, Father, for grafting me into Jesus Christ. I am in Christ, resting in Christ, secure in Christ, with a promise that I'll have everything I need when I need it. For this, Jesus, I give you thanks. I give you praise. I want you to raise your hands and thank Him for that right now, Lord. I give you thanks. And in the annex, raise your hands and just thank Him right now. I give you thanks, Lord. I give you praise. Now, Father, we truly thank you. You said if we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You said we come to you by faith. Oh, Heavenly Father, plant us in Christ so firmly in our faith that nothing that we face in the days ahead will shake us. No wind, no wave, no demon, no devil, no principality, no power shall separate us from this great love of God. We give you thanks. We give you praise. Hallelujah. Could we have a praise chorus? Could we have a praise chorus? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, we give you praise. Hallelujah. While we sing this, would you turn to at least three or four people and say, I am grafted into Christ. And begin to say it to yourself every day. I am grafted into Christ. I am grafted into Christ. This is the conclusion of the message.