Well, a good morning to you all on this Soledad week, and we have things to do here today that we need to do. So let's pick up with our verse first of all. You'll see it in your bulletin in the middle panel there, January Adult Sunday School Verse, John 15, 4. So let's pick it up one last time and see what we can do. We're reading together now. John 15, 4. 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 they abide in me. John 15, 4. Let's commit this to memory over the next few minutes here, and see what we can do together. Okay, this is a short one. Let's see what we can do to pull it off. John 15, 4. Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. John 15, 4. Good encouragement for our time. We often get off track and do things our own way, and we do not abide in the vine, perhaps too often. He gives us that expectation. Okay, now, we've been talking about abiding in Christ from John 15, this month of January, and I'm going to do a recapitulation, I'm going to do a reminder and go back through. You, who are teachers, know what reviews are. Well, this is a review. And I'm going to be talking about one aspect of abiding in Christ, the rewards. There are rewards. There are things that come as a result of abiding in Christ. Well, what kinds of things come as a result? When we went through John 15, we noticed in verse 7 and 16, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will. It shall be done to you. So it opens the door of blessing. In 16, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and I have ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. So it opens the door of blessing when we abide in Christ. Verses 7 and 16. And in verses 2 and 5, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it, that I may bring forth more fruit. Verse 5, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same, bringeth forth much fruit. So it's not just bringing forth fruit, bringing forth much fruit. And this is in verses two and five. Another blessing, open the door. Blessing really covers these others. And I have a list of nine here as we go down through. So bearing fruit. John 15, three, now you're clean through the word which I have spoken to you. So cleansing, bearing fruit, cleansing. Getting rid of those extra things that we don't need, or the things that would corrupt and defile us, cleansing. John 15, seven, also, ask what you will, and it will be done to you, if you abide in me and my words abide in you. I wrestled with this a little bit. I said, okay, is this a consequence? Is this an also, you know, do I have a cause effect here? If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you have that word and there. And I think as I look at it, we're dealing with both. You abide in me, my words abide in you. Now if we don't abide in him, obviously his words don't abide in us. We don't have him working through us, living through us the way he could. So they probably go together. Abide in me, and my words will abide in you. So Christ's words abide in us as we bear fruit and have cleansing. Also, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done to you. Now, I don't know how many of you had your prayers answered, but it's always a nice thing, isn't it? You pray, God answers. Now, there are three, right? Yes, wait. And no. So however he answers, he answered, OK, fair enough. But it is kind of nice to get yes once in a while. You know, you who have parents, hey, Dad, can I have the car? You want to hear yes. Hey, Dad, can I have some extra money? You want to hear yes. But sometimes you have to hear, wait. Sometimes you have to hear, no. So leaving it up to the wisdom of the one who has the power, who does the leading, can be a blessing. Abide in me. So trust me, obey me. We see the connection. Prayer is answered. Verse eight, herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. So as we abide in Christ, we are bearing much fruit, and herein is my Father glorified Christ says these words, so we bring glory to the Father, a blessing upon God. You wanna bless God, abide in Christ, bear much fruit, brings glory to God the Father. Next, number seven on the list here, in verse eight, and ye shall be my disciples, so shall you be my disciples. So Christ claims us. No, this is big. We just have to think about it. He's the creator of the universe. He spoke and planets came into existence. And he claims us? What are we? We look at our little blue dot in a vast expanse of the universe and think, man, that's really small. And then we look at that little blue dot and we see people on the surface. How big are we? How many of you have been above the 100th floor of a skyscraper? How many of you have looked down through those clear glass floors? What do you see down there? Man, the people are smaller than that. And from 100 kilometers up, you can't even see us. You'd have to have a microscope, you know, applying that. We're so small people. He claims us. That's huge. Let it sink in. The great God who is able to do all these things claims us. We don't deserve it. I mean, look at the size of us. Look at how powerful we aren't. We have to walk. We have to invent automobiles and airplanes to get around. We can't just be somewhere else, you know. But God and his spirits, his ministering spirits, they can appear, boom. They don't need a car, they don't need an airplane. And they don't pay the extra fees and go through customs either. Yes. Incredible, right? He claims us. You know, that's one of those times just a few words should have a huge impact on our thinking. This is incredible. Verse 11. These things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. So I told you these things, abided me, and I in you. Why? That my joy might be in you, but we're not done. And that your joy might be full. No gaps, nothing missing, everything there. Now, we all kind of like, you know, at least as far as I know, we all kind of like amusement rides. You go to Lotte World or some other place and you get on the coaster or you ride the bumper cars and it's fun for a while. Okay. There's some fun there. But he says that your joy might be full. It doesn't end. And think about this. If you enjoy the presence of Christ now, think about what it will be. There's a day coming when he says, come up. And we go up to be with Him. And we're removed from the presence and power and penalty of sin. All. And we're in His presence. That your joy might be full. Oh, wow! Let that sink in. This is serious stuff. And yet, joy. And it comes from within. It's not external. You know, happiness, you put on a smile. You're miserable inside, but you put that smile out there, and people think, oh, he's got a good life. You don't know, do you? But his joy springs from within. It's a genuine thing. And it's something that's not worked up. It's not made up. It's not fake. It's real. His joy. And if you've ever experienced that, now, I've been in places where people get happy, but I think in part, they experience the goodness of God and they just get excited about it. Now, I'm a Baptist, you know, I have this thing where you just do certain things in service and that's it. But every once in a while, I have experienced that joy in Christ that makes you wanna shout, you know. You realize you are in the depths of sin and depravity. You are in the garbage heap. And God with his mighty hand reached down in the garbage heap of life and pulled you up out of that garbage and set your feet on a solid rock and made your life something different. Hallelujah! Hey, how about it? Did he do something for you? Did God do something for you? I hope so. See, this is the big thing. This is something different. Joy in full measure. And John 15, 16. You have not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, but we're not done. That your fruit should remain. Fruit that remains. So number one, opens the door of blessing from God. Number two, bearing fruit. Number three, cleansing. Number four, God's word abiding. Number five, your prayers are answered. Number six, glory to the Father. Number seven, claimed by Christ. Number eight, joy in full measure. And number nine, the fruit that remains. It doesn't come and disappear. Now, we're all familiar with the persimmon tree. Talk to me about the persimmon tree. What happens? Well, tree grows up, it produces fruit, right? So you got fruit on this tree. Now you reach up and you pluck some persimmons out and they're ripe and you enjoy them and they're wonderful. But then the tree is clear and clean and there's no more fruit. And you have to wait another year. We're talking about something where the fruit remains. The persimmon tree, the apple tree, you can name it. When I was a child, we had a tree. I talk about this. We had a tree of apples that tasted absolutely marvelous. They were wonderful. You reach up and have an apple any time you want. Thing had apples. But there came a time in the fall when the apples fell out onto the ground, and the apple tree was bare, no fruit. And the winter snows came and blanketed the earth. And you could go out there and look at that tree, but you would see no fruit. So in those days, winter was sad because you didn't have the opportunity to go out there and pick that fruit out of that tree. It was not there. Hopefully, you found a way to preserve the fruit from the tree so that all winter long, you could have applesauce, apple pie, some of you are dreaming now, right? All that good stuff. But this is fruit that remains. It comes and it stays. Think about the people. you ministered to, perhaps you saw somebody get saved. Where's that person now? And sometimes we get messages back from people, still serving the Lord, still serving the Lord, faithful, good, fruit that remains. I have a friend who sat in a chapel seat at a university, and one of his young students that was riding on his bus said, You're the bus driver, you used to take me to church. Hallelujah, hallelujah. And now that person is studying to serve God alongside of you, and you used to drive that bus. Man, that'll lift you right up. That'll encourage your heart. So fruit that remains. Now, there's a question that came up, and I thought, well, hang on, wait a second. What about beyond? Because we're talking about this life, right? But there are crowns yet to come. If you abide in Christ, you can have crowns, rewards from God. So let's take a look at those. We're gonna turn to 1 Corinthians 9. Go there. Okay? 1 Corinthians 9. And we're gonna go down, down, down to verse 24. Now, Paul's talking in sports terms here. And people who love sports, hey, Paul is your guy. He likes to talk about that stuff. So here we go. Verse 24 of 1 Corinthians 9. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all? They're all in the race. They're all running. They go, they complete the course. Now, there might be a few people that don't make it all the way. Have you ever been in a race and didn't quite make it all the way? I think, if I remember correctly, every race that I was in, I finished. Now, did I finish first? No. I have this memory that haunts me to this day. One thing, one choice I made that didn't help. I was running a foot race against some people. And I was running and going, and man, I was ahead of the pack. I was enjoying the moment. You know what I did? You don't do that. You don't look back. When you go for that finish line, you do not. Look back. I was second. Man alive, I could have just kicked myself upside down and backwards. Why? I had one choice. So we don't look back. We look forward. Those who run in a race run all, but one, one receives the prize. So that day, it was somebody else. So run that you may obtain. Keep looking forward. Okay. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. They're gonna get the leaf laurel. And you know how long that lasts? Maybe a week. They get that wreath. Oh, look at glory and honor upon this runner who was first But a week later, it's all wilted and falls apart, and so much for that. You gotta go back out and run to get another one. But we, an incorruptible, that's how it ends. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible. So we run in the race that God has set before us, and when we win, we win big. And it doesn't fade away. It doesn't wilt. It doesn't rot. It does not fall apart. Glory to the Lamb who was slain, who gave us this opportunity. 1 Corinthians 9, 24 and 25. An incorruptible, there it is, imperishable crown. It doesn't perish. Let's go to Matthew 6. Take another look. We're gonna go to Matthew 6. Okay? Just start with verse 19 here. Now, part of this whole story is what Christ dealt with on teachings on treasures. Now, as far as I know, everybody in this room likes treasure. Okay? Maybe some more than others, but treasure is one of those things you look for. You have a treasure hunt, what do you do? You have people looking for those hidden things. Treasure. So Christ says in verse 19 of Matthew 6, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth Nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." So that kind of gives a direction to it, doesn't it? You put your treasure in a place, your heart's going to be there. You put your treasure somewhere else, your heart's going to be there. Wherever you put your treasure, that's where your heart is. cause and effect. Nonetheless, what do we have? Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. So he's putting that emphasis on that, that treasure, that imperishable crown that thieves can't take, moths can't eat, rust can't rot. Imperishable. Then we go to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter. Okay. 1 Peter 1. I'm going to go there. I'm going to look at verses 3 and 4. And Peter is rejoicing. He's exhibiting this joy of the Lord. 1 Peter 1, 3, and 4, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath gotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Here's somebody that believes in the resurrection, people. He saw it. He was a witness to an inheritance incorruptible. and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Peter, you're the one that was there. Yeah, he likely received that, but you know what? It's reserved in heaven for those who trust in God's abundant mercy, being begotten in a lively hope by the resurrection. And if you read 1 Corinthians 15 with some understanding, belief in the resurrection is one of those things a Christian has. Yeah. So the imperishable crown, that is incorruptible and inheritance for us. Let's go to the next one. 1 Thessalonians, gonna go there. Okay, I'm gonna go first Thessalonians now, I'm gonna take you all over the place Just know that First Thessalonians 2 Now this is an interesting thing if you ever thought about it first great first Thessalonians 2 verses 19 and 20 And Paul is talking about glory and joy and thanking God without ceasing. And he says, in verse 19, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? For ye are our glory and joy. Paul led some folks to the Lord. He ministered to the local assemblies in various places. Even when he was stoned outside town and left for dead, he got up, brushed off the dirt, went back into town. What'd he do? He ministered to the people who believed the gospel story. And then he went on to the next town. But he ministered to those people. I mean, can you imagine? You are our glory. You are our joy. Let that sink in. We're not done, because this is just the beginning of the story. But this is the crown of rejoicing. What is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ? With all the saints, in fact, because He's not the only one there. It's gonna be more. Glory and joy. Well, let's talk about Philippians 4.4. What does it say? Rejoice in the Lord always. But he doesn't leave it there. And again, I say, rejoice, like he had to tell us twice. Get that frown off your face, you know. Have you ever had days where your frown doesn't leave? Rejoice in the Lord. You know, there are serious times, there are hard moments, there are things you just don't like. Oh, I have to do this again, you know. Rejoice in the Lord. Think about what he did for you. Think about where you are now because of what he did. Think about that and rejoice in the Lord. Stop frowning about all this other stuff and focus on the Lord. When you focus on the Lord, joy is gonna be there. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. Not only that, Luke 15. Go to Luke 15. Luke 15, 4. And here Jesus is talking about, well, that's the sheep. Now, any shepherds here? We have an under-shepherd, but he knows something about that, I guess. Those who keep sheep, read this and see. There's a message here for you. Having 100 sheep, if you lose one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until you find it. You got 100 sheep. OK, you lost one. No, you're going to find that sheep. That sheep's important. We're going to go find that sheep. Yeah, but what about these others? They're in the sheep coat. They're safe. We're going to go find that one. OK. Whoa. Where's the sheep? And you look down over the cliff, and a sheep fell into a crevice between two rocks. Dumb sheep. Now what? You reach down with your staff, you pull the sheep up by the neck, you grab that sheep, put your staff behind you, take everything out. And sometimes you have to break the leg You know, because that sheep, this is the 15th time this week. Something's going to change, you know. But he claims that one. When he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Now, folks, this is hard work. You're chasing after this stupid sheep. You find this one. You rescue him off that cliff edge that he very well could have gone on and on and fallen to his death. And you're hauling the sheep back home. Maybe he's struggling and kicking around, too. Who knows how sheep maybe can help. And you haul them back home. But in your heart, you're saying, this is good. This is good. Why? That sheep that was lost is now found. Rejoicing, even in the midst of hardship and hard work, maybe it's cold out there. I don't wanna go out there again, but that sheep is lost, so I gotta go get him. But you go out there, and you get that sheep, and you bring him back. And there's rejoicing. Okay. Revelation 21, four. We need to see this. We need to see this. Because not only is that shepherd that gets that lost sheep rejoicing, but take a look at Revelation 21 and 4. This is to come. This is still future. But, here he says, actually I'm going to back up to 3. I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Okay, what's God gonna do? And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There was sorrow, there was crying. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, Neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. The former things are passed away. This is what we're talking about here. No more pain. There's gonna be that. God's gonna remove the very effects of sin upon the life of the believer. You wanna talk about a crown of rejoicing? We're going to have a good time then, when God removes the pain and the sorrow and the crying. How many friends have you lost? Cancer, other diseases. They're here, and then they're gone. How many people have you known? In church, outside of church, relatives. They're here today. Tomorrow they're gone. Both my wife and I have had to bury at least one parent. You know how hard that can be. If you've ever buried a father or a mother, you know. There is sorrow. Yeah, if they're saved, you're saved, you're gonna see them again, but in the meantime, there's crying. But God's gonna wipe away all tears. There will be no more sorrow, no more death, no more crying. Crying of rejoicing? We're not done yet. This is yet future. This is what can happen. This is who God is. Satan does not wipe away tears. He makes them. God, he wipes away all tears. He gives us hope. Satan could never give. Yes. 2 Timothy 4 is our next one. So we've got the crown of rejoicing and then number three, the crown of righteousness. 2 Timothy, gonna go there. Chapter 4, 2 Timothy 4. I'm going to start with verse 6, go through 8. 2 Timothy, chapter 4, is authored by a man who is about to be offered up. He's nearing the end of his ministry and of his life. And this is what he says. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but to all of them also that love his appearing. You're looking forward to Jesus showing up. He's gonna come in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, and the trumpet of God will sound, and up we go. You ready for that? Those who love his appearing will receive this crown of righteousness. We're not righteous, be honest. The one standing before you is speaking loudly. No. If I had to go to heaven on my own merit, I would never even get near their front door. So what? It's the work of God and Christ, the sacrifice he made Living the righteous life being my substitute That's what makes the difference and the crown of righteousness is on top of All the benefit of going to heaven and being with him See God does things in full measure joy in full measure Righteousness in full measure you're going to be righteous in like you're not right now. And in the eyes of God, what, justification, just as if I had never sinned? Well, yeah. In the courtroom of God, he looks at Christ's wounds, and he pleads for us. Even now, he's our advocate. Did you see what she did? And Jesus opens his arms, and there's the wound in the side, Five bleeding wounds he bears. They plead effectual. God the Father sees them. And what do they say? Forgive him. Forgive, they cry. Oh, man. This is the Jesus we're talking about. His wounds plead for us. even this day. And think of it, to be with Him forever. Wow. The crown of righteousness. Well, the other passage that I have here is Philippians 3, 14 to 17, in verse 20. I'll move on now. We've got the crown of glory. 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5, 1 through 4. Time's running short. We have to keep this thing moving. 1 Peter 5, and it's 1 through 4, but I'll read verse 4. When the chief shepherd shall appear, that is Christ, he shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. So he's talking to the elders in the church. He says, your service to God is not going to be forgotten. When the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive the crown of glory. Acts 7, 54 to 60, Stephen's there preaching. He's carried forward out of town. And they see him as he looks up and sees Christ on the right hand of God. I see the Son of Man. and they get angry and they stone him to death. He dies. And what does he say as he parts this life? Father, forgive them. Even as Christ did. Christ, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. The crown of glory. Galatians 1. 3 through 5, Isaiah 42, 8, Isaiah 48, 9 through 13, Romans 8, 18, all those speak of glory. Five, last one, crown of life. We go to Revelation, Revelation chapter 2. Getting ready. Speaking to the churches. The church in Smyrna was a church that was facing persecution. Verse eight, and unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, these things say of the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. And what's Christ's words to Smyrna? Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Don't be afraid. Go right through it. Marching through the very gates of the enemy. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death. You know what this means? They weren't just thrown in jail. Some of those Christians in Smyrna were killed for the testimony. Be thou faithful unto death. And I will give thee a crown of life. You lost it over here, I'm gonna give it to you over there. You face persecution here, you're gonna know joy and blessing beyond measure here. Is God's word complete? Is it perfect? Absolutely. The crown of life. Even in the midst of death, And where else do we see life coming out of the midst of death? When Christ came out of that tomb. Satan may have been wringing his hands saying, I've got him now. Surprise. Oh. He's not supposed to come out of that grave. He didn't. So there you go. The head of Satan was bruised on that day. And Genesis 3.15, the promise was fulfilled. The seed of the woman who is going to be bruised in his heel, bruised the head of his enemy, came up victorious and will one day completely and utterly defeat his enemy Satan and all his followers and reign supreme. And he shall reign forever and ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. So my question to you is, who do you want to stay with? Where do you want to abide? How about with the one whose kingdom will never end? Abide in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. Let's pray. Lord, praise you for today. We thank you for your kindness and for what you've done for us. Immense, amazing, beyond our imagining. Thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen.