He is the Vine - We are the Branches

If you would go ahead and take your Bible and turn with me to the gospel of John Be in John chapter 15 John chapter 15 verses 1 through 2 if we notice if we pay attention and I'm gonna help you see that We will see that Jesus changes his teaching tactic In John chapter 15 now you go back and we glance at chapter 13 and 14 Jesus had taught the disciples in a very deliberate manner He washed their feet you remember there at the Passover celebration, and then he talked around that event very deliberate He spoke of one betraying him one of his own betraying him and the group This was all in the context of that Passover meal Then he gives them a new commandment that they might love one another then he comforts his disciples and their confusion And their anxiety he taught them that he was going away But remember he taught them that he would not leave them desolate He wouldn't leave them as orphans And then he taught them that the Spirit would be provided the Holy Spirit would be provided by God the Father now I go back and I call your attention to these two chapters because I want you to see that this was Straightforward teaching there in the upper room or just after the Passover meal now We know the disciples didn't understand much of this But it was very deliberate and very straightforward Now here in chapter 15 he begins to use an analogy now you might ask what is an analogy?

Webster's dictionary gives us a good definition. I think it fits Webster says an analogy is a comparison of two things based on their being alike in some way And this is not the first time that Jesus says done this. This is not the first time he's taught like this I'll give you quite a few examples You might want to jot these down and look at them And I want to bring these to your attention because this will help you see how Jesus is teaching If we look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 Paul says to the Ephesian church So then you are no longer strangers and aliens But you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God Paul is using an analogy much like Christ and He's comparing two things based on their being alike in some way He is saying that we as God's people are like a household see the analogy The psalmist does this in Psalm 23 verse 1 a very familiar verse Verse 1 says a psalm of David the Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want Here the psalmist is using an analogy He is saying that we as God's people are like sheep and the Lord is like a shepherd We see this in 2nd Corinthians 11 2 Paul's writing to the Corinthian church He says for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure Virgin to Christ here Paul is saying we as the church are to be like a pure bride to Christ Who is like a husband to us? Ephesians 2 20 he is the builder. We are the building then we see Matthew 10 24 He is the master.

We are the slaves then in Ephesians 1 22 He is the head we are the body see the New Testament is full of analogies that teach The truths of God's Word we need to see that Jesus was the master teacher And he did not always teach in the same way many times He taught in a very straightforward manner like chapter 13 and 14 many times Jesus taught in parables And then here we see that Jesus is teaching using an analogy now Let's look at the analogy look with me at verse 1 Let's look at verse 1 Jesus says I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser Look at verse 2 every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes it away at every branch that does bear fruit.

He proves it or he cleans it so What we have here is the vine are the vineyard now the vine of the vineyard was a was Common in the day of Jesus and it was common all the way back into the Old Testament even before the days of Abraham After Noah came out of the ark that was after the flood Genesis 8 says that he built an altar to worship God Noah was a righteous man and the first thing he does is worship the God that had delivered him But then if we go on into chapter 9 we see that he planted a vineyard So we see that it was common in Old Testament days as well. See grapes were an important part of the Jewish diet They were used for cooking.

They were used for foodstuffs First Samuel chapter 25 verse 18 says they were used for raisin cakes They were a source of sugar And then the juice of the grape was used for a beverage either fresh or fermented for wine We know that they did not have good water. So they had weaker wine and stronger wine and it was used for a beverage So grapes were an important part of the diet of the Jewish people as well as the other Peoples who lived in the area are lived in the region now unlike some of us who might have a hard time identifying with this imagery the disciples in any Jew would have understood easily the imagery of the vine and the vineyard Now this leads me to the title of the message and the thought of the message is simple He is the vine.

We are the branches He is the vine. We are the branches And like I said, we're gonna cover verses 1 & 2 I'm gonna go back and read these verses although I read them just a moment ago to introduce you to the vine and the vine The vineyard, so let's look at verses 1 & 2. I Am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away in every branch that bears fruit He prunes it or he cleans it that it may bear more fruit And then we will move on down will grab one verse a little later Verse 6 and we'll read that as we progress now you see how we're gonna divide these passages very simple we're gonna look at the main characters there in the analogy and Then we're going to look at the activity in the analogy the main characters and the activity very simple This will set us up for the main teaching that is in these verses We will see a little more what the vine and the imagery of the vine looks like as we continue So let's look at our first main truth Let's look at number one the main characters in the analogy now I have chosen to use this term main characters on purpose.

It might seem strange for you But I've done this on purpose and we see this and other teachings in the gospel Let me give you an example of what I mean if we go back to one of the synoptics Matthew chapter 13 We see the parable of the sower I've referred to this parable many times and I've taught you from this parable many times But in the parable there in Matthew 13, it's the parable of the sower of the soils but in that parable we have a farming example as well and Notice the characters within that parable you have the seed then you have the sower and then you have the soil The seed speaks about the gospel see the gospel is sowed That seed of the gospel is sewn into the hearts of individuals Then we have the soil the soil represents the different types of human hearts And then we have the sower that represents the one that sows the gospel seed in human hearts So in looking at Matthew 13, we see those main characters We see the sower we see the seed and we see the soil and that's what I want us to do here I want us to see the main characters in These verses and there are three main characters and I want to draw your attention to them first I want you to see that Jesus is the true vine.

We see that right away in verse 1. I am the true vine Now whether you know it or not here Jesus makes two very powerful statements that must be understood Just in the beginning of this one verse First Jesus uses the term I am look at the verse I am the true vine now those of you who've been in the gospel of John with us for quite a long time Will remember that this is one of the I am Statements as a matter of fact, this is the seventh of the I am statements now We might not catch it But in their society these Jews would have understood it and in that Jesus was affirming and declaring He is deity it is very important for us to see that Because in their mindset they knew the Old Testament and this echoes back to what God told Moses to say to Pharaoh When God sent Moses to rescue the Jews out of the Egyptian slavery remember that story Moses is bargaining with God And what does he say who do I say sent me?

God said you tell him I am sent you So when Jesus is saying I am every good Jew who knew the Old Testament would perk up they remembered they knew that language and Jesus was saying I am God and we know that Jesus had been affirming his deity all through the gospel of John And this is one of the very emphatic places that he does that Then second I want us to see Jesus calls himself the true vine Jesus calls him for self the true vine This is the second of those two powerful statements go back to the verse I am the true vine now all of the translations that you and I look at reads the exact same thing All throughout the Old Testament Israel is portrayed as God's vine Again when Jesus used language like this they really perked up because these men knew their Old Testament I'll give you an example and then I'm going to refer to several in Psalm 80 verses 8 through 9 the Psalmist writes You brought a vine out of Egypt you drove out the nations and planted it you cleared the ground for it It took deep root and filled the land now What is that imagery describing that is the nation of Israel when God called him out of Egyptian slavery?

He put them in the land of Canaan and what is he saying? I brought a vine out of Egypt and I cleared the land for you and you took a deep root There is the imagery of the vineyard applied to the nation of Israel in this kind of languages all through the Old Testament We see it in Isaiah 5 starting in verse 1 We see this language in Jeremiah 2 starting in verse 21 also in Jeremiah 12 verse 10 We see it in Ezekiel 15 and Ezekiel 17 and Ezekiel 19 we see it in Hosea I'm just naming a few because it's all throughout the Old Testament Israel being the vine of God being the vineyard of God But Israel had a problem It was a great problem They chose to be an unfruitful and an unfaithful vine We're learning that in our study of Ezra in Nehemiah on Sunday nights They are coming out of slavery and out of judgment why because they had been an unfruitful and an unfaithful vine But by God's grace Israel now has an opportunity to be faithful only Only if they follow Christ because Jesus was the true vine of Israel Jesus was the long awaited spoken of Messiah Jesus was the only way they could be the true vine of God and This word true speaks of what is real what is perfect and what is genuine as opposed to what is imperfect That which is disingenuous and that which is counterfeit So that very first verse is very powerful.

Jesus says I am I am the true And let me tell you something the very moment that Israel chose to reject Jesus they rejected God Second observation of the second of the three main characters is the father is the vine dresser The father is the vine dresser go back to the verse I am the true vine and and my father is the vine dresser Here we see that Jesus speaks of God the Father as the vine dresser the King James uses the word husbandmen Now one of the translations I will glance at at times is called the home and Christian Standard Bible It uses the word vineyard keeper.

We can identify with that language a little better But in this we need to see two observations as well This the father as the vine dresser first Jesus is not diminishing his role or deity by signing the father a more prominent or authoritative role now listen Examining the roles the function in the authority of God of the Godhead here is not the point of the analogy And a lot of people make that mistake The emphasis in the analogy is on the faithfulness and the fruitfulness of the true Christian So if we're not careful, we can stretch the analogy here and look at the Godhead in an improper manner So Jesus is not diminishing his role or he is his deity by signing the father a more Prominent and authoritative role in the analogy In the second observation with this the father is the vine dresser is the meaning of the vine dresser This word speaks of one who is a farmer or a vine grower.

We learn we've looked we glanced back at Genesis Not Noah was a vine dresser He planted the vineyard and cared for the vineyard and this is an agricultural word And we will see more of what the vine dresser does as we continue when we examine the activities Now what have we seen the first two of these three main characters Jesus is divine and then the father is the vine dresser And then third I want us to see the branches are those who follow Christ The branches are those who follow Christ. I am the true vine.

My father is the vine dresser Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes and he cleans it that it may bear more fruit here we see that Jesus speaks of followers as branches that are attached to the vine and within the vineyard there is the actual vine and Then the branches come off of the vine and if you understand anything about the vineyard you can have that imagery in your mind the vine and the Branches so in summary, what are we seeing right out of these two verses? We see what I call the three main characters the vine the vine keeper and the branches Jesus is the true vine.

He's God the promised Messiah He is the one spoken of for ages all throughout the Old Testament He is the true vine that comes out of Israel and the father God the father is the vineyard keeper and Then the followers of Christ are the branches Now I understand much of what I'm sharing here is informational it's Illustrated it helps us see the teaching that we have before us and I don't want you to get lost in the Informational side of the message there are lots of times when you just have to have the proper information to be able to learn what the Lord wants to teach us as we continue so here's my Encouragement to you make sure you understand who the main characters are it should be very simple Jesus is deity God in the flesh.

He is the true vine of Israel God the father is the vine dresser and We those of us who profess to follow Christ. We are the branches now as we continue we're gonna learn some truth about the branches and How we fit into That verse so let's continue. I want us to see our second main truth and that is the activity in the analogy I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser now here comes the activity Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he that's the vine dresser the father He takes it away and every branch that bears fruit He proves it or he cleans it that it may be more fruitful or bear more fruit Now to complete that verse 2 I want to step down to verse 6 if any of you step down to verse 6 if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away as a branch and Drives up and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are murdered Now in keeping the analogy the comparison we must realize the activity in and around the vineyard This is the example The vineyard was never planted and left to produce fruit on its own The vineyard required constant care The ground was plowed constantly to keep out weeds to keep out Unwanted vegetation within the vineyard when harvest time came Guards or watchmen were stationed at different places and at towers to guard the crop from thieves As a matter of fact sometimes families would even live in temporary dwellings within the vineyard to protect the crop but each spring the vineyard was pruned and The prune branches were burned this activity of pruning and burning is what Jesus uses Right here in the analogy.

So for those Jews when he when he used language like this They had vivid memories and images in their mind Now here in this activity, we will see the father Illustrated by the vineyard keeper and he takes decisive action He watches over his vineyard and he works his vineyard for one purpose fruitfulness Write that word down for one purpose and that is fruitfulness Now there are two observations. I want to make just out of this one verse First I want us to see the father cuts off and burns The father he cuts off and burns verse to every branch that does not bear fruit.

He takes it away And then if we look on down to verse 6 we read it earlier if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away as a branch and Drives up and they are gathered and cast out into the fire So the father cuts off and he burns and keeping with the analogy Jesus states that the father cuts off any branches that are unfruitful Here now is where proper scripture Interpretation must be applied here is where some venture into heretical teaching Jesus is not teaching that Christians can lose their salvation He is teaching the false followers who are not obedient or cut off Now this fits perfectly into what Jesus taught earlier in chapter 14 Remember in chapter 14 verse 15 21 and 23 Jesus taught that true Christians love Christ True Christians obey Christ and we see that true Christians do produce fruit So Jesus is not teaching that a Christian can lose their salvation This speaks of those false followers who were always following Jesus throughout his entire Ministry, but there are two specifics that need to be seen here.

This is still part of the father cutting off and burning first Jesus is not teaching that Christians can lose their salvation I'll repeat that because you need to get that in your mind you will run across people who will tell you that this is what that Means but that would contradict other scripture go back to chapter 14 verse 16 chapter 14 verse 16 And I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever That word forever means forever these men could not lose their salvation Because the Spirit will be with them forever and So Jesus is not teaching that they could lose their salvation Second the analogy can't be pressed past the simple intended meaning Let me give you an example.

The analogy does not state what fruit is there No doubt it is true Christian character that is listed all throughout the New Testament But the analogy does not explain what the fruit is So we need to see that this is not teaching that one can lose their salvation and we don't know what kind of fruit is Listed I've known ministers who would stretch this for their own pet peeve So now to see the full activity of the father We need to skip ahead to verse 6 go back to the verse if anyone does not abide in me He is thrown away as a branch that's been cut off and it dries and they are gathered and they're Cast into the fire that they may be burned here We see proof that they were not true followers of Christ.

They are burned. They are judged So what do we see the father cuts off any burns any judges this speaks of those who are following Christ or Attaching their lives to Christ, but they are not true followers Then second we see the father prunes and cleans the father prunes and Cleans every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes it away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes or he cleans it that it may bear more fruit Keeping with the analogy Jesus states that the father prunes the branches that are fruitful This is not judgment, but this is far more Fruitfulness the word prune here can mean clean the King James Translates this word purges the picture here is of a pruning of a cleansing of purifying making something that is fruitful more fruitful So what do we see here?

The activity of the vine dresser the activity of the father he cuts off those Who are false followers of Christ? He cuts them off from Christ and his word and he prunes and he cleanses true Christians to more fruitfulness Now an application just of this one verse There are two insights that I want to bring to you from two different commentators And I think that they will help you and they will speak to you and that I'm going to make some comments of application on my own first of all, I ran across this statement earlier in the week by a Commentator named Leon Morris and notice what he says The fruit of Christian service is never the result of allowing the natural energies and inclinations to run riot Now think about that.

What are you saying is very true? Christian fruitfulness never comes from our own inclinations and from our own personal energies We need to see that Christian fruitfulness can only come from the activity of the father in our own lives If you and I are left to our own selves if we are left to our own energies and natural energies to borrow Morris's language We will never produce more Christian fruit as a matter of fact if you and I are left alone We will not produce any Christian fruit.

No We don't have anything good in us We really need to see that many of us feel like many times They're Christians that feel like through their gifts and their abilities and their talents and their hard work that they can produce True Christian fruitfulness. That is not the case. It requires a work of the loving father working in our lives Natural energies and inclinations and hard work will not do But then the second statement comes from John MacArthur.

I Love how he says this the father and I'm quoting proves the true branches by removing anything that would stop spiritual energy and hinder them from fruitful results his pruning involves cutting away anything that limits righteousness including the discipline that comes from trials suffering and Persecution now, what do we need to see here? God works in our lives and he uses trials and suffering and persecution and circumstances Why to produce fruitfulness God wants us to be more fruitful than we want to be fruitful and God? Does whatever he has to do to take those things and I like his language that sap spiritual energy out of our life?

I Guess to continue with what MacArthur says. I want to ask you a question What in your life is sapping spiritual energy? What is hindering you from more fruitfulness? And without God working without the loving vine dresser working you cannot attain that Fruitfulness in your own natural energies inclinations are hard work It's the father working in our lives for one purpose and that is fruitfulness Now I want to make a few of my own Statements and application here still dealing with verse 2 the activity in the analogy First of all I want us to see that we live in a day where true Christian faithfulness is optional Now think with me on this for a moment Most churches many churches in our day true Christian fruitfulness is optional You can have your name on the roll you can sit on the pew I mean you can live your whole life within the life of the church or of the shadow of the church and have no Christian fruitfulness that's the norm in the life of the church But it's not the Bible norm We learn back in chapter 14 that you cannot love Christ without obeying Christ and we're going to learn in our learning That you cannot love Christ without obeying Christ and without being fruitful But we have a whole class of individuals a whole class of so-called Christians That they can be saved and they can be loved God, but have no Christian fruitfulness It's just like there's one category over there, and it's not biblical Many churches are full of these kinds of people, but if we study chapter verse sometimes phrase by phrase We begin to understand wait that's been invented by man Second we need to see how the father works to cut off those false followers of Christ today See if the church does their job if the ministers of the gospel do their job in the life of the church if the Elders govern the affairs of the church Well if they teach and preach the word of God well and they do the work of the church properly many times those people Will be cut off within our own very sight Let me explain what I mean by that if we exalt true church membership, and we've worked real hard to do that That cuts off many people who are not truly converted People will come they don't want to join the church and listen if we take these truths just from chapter 14 and 15 and say We've got examine your life and your profession in light of what's taught that cuts off many people now We don't want to cut people off We don't want to offend people, but we want to declare the truth church discipline does the very same thing Now listen a lot of times when you say church discipline people will say well you believe in church and folks now That's not what I'm talking about Church discipline goes on all the time and most of the time you don't even know what's going on What it is it is the leaders of the church and brothers and sisters come alongside?

Warning to see godliness in people's lives, but many times when church discipline is exercised There are some who are false followers, and they're cut off I'll show you another way that sometimes people are cut off. It's by the this will shock some of you the persecution of the Word of God You might not realize it, but the Word of God can persecute in Matthew 13 verse 21 in the Exhalation of the parable of the sower Jesus says that there are those who receive Christ it is a shallow Superficial decision it is emotional decision, and they are persecuted by the word And I have seen the Word of God Persecute people I've seen truth preached truth declared I've met with people I've shared the truth and I've seen them cut off by the Word of God I've seen people cut off by biblical church membership.

I've seen people cut off by discipline What am I showing you because we live in a day where this whole class of so-called Christians has been created? You can be a Christian and never be fruitful is confused things But we need to see that those things are dealt with those issues and those people are dealt with in operating and functioning as we should as a church and Then third we need to see that false followers always followed Christ, and they will always be around the church Let me restate that we need to see that false followers always followed Christ wasn't Christ patient with these people Now there were some that reviled But there were some that were seeking for various reasons, and he was always loving them We saw in John chapter 12 even the Jews who rejected him who God the Father had pronounced judgment on them He was still urging them to repent He was loving and patient with all types of people who followed him and Jesus always had False followers have converted individuals who were not converted following and he was constantly loving them Constantly teaching them the truth and if Jesus had those types of people following him there will always be people like that in the church And around the church now they're not in the church Only the converted are in the church only the ecclesia the called out ones the born-again ones are in the church But then there are some that attach themselves to the church they might come worship with us we might know them and we might minister to them and What we do is we teach the word and we teach the truth and we let the Spirit of God do what only the Spirit of God Can do if they're converted and they come to know Christ we welcome them into the family, but if the word of God Persecutes them and they reject it then we step back and see they were cut off.

They were cut off. They were cut off Many times this can be hard for people many times We don't understand the timeline many times were surprised that people can hear the truth of the word of God I've taught and it seems to take no effect But we must realize this is God's work and it's God's timing and I've seen individuals sit in the pew for years Never profess to be converted and hear the truth and hear the truth and hear the truth and finally one day It's like a light bulb goes off and you think where have you been all this time?

So you see how it works you see how this really fits where we are today So many churches just create this whole group of people they're not fruitful they're not obedient to the word Oh, but they're Christian you let one of them die. They'll preach them right on into glory But the church has to deal with these properly and if the church deals with it properly many times They'll be brought to conversion or I'm sad to say they'll be cut off And we need to see that they will be around us More and more and we love sinners now as we move to the conclusion of the message within this analogy Jesus is teaching on the true Christian life He is teaching on Christian fruitfulness And I ask you to write down that word and I ask you to write down the second word abiding He is teaching on abiding in Christ and true Christian fruitfulness now I teach in preaching the new American standard most of you know that Reading study other versions But five times in the new American standard we see the word fruit I Challenge you go and look in your version and see how many times the word fruit is there six times in the new American We see the word abide So that's the predominant themes Abiding in Christ and Christian fruitfulness Now to be honest with you, we're just getting started We're just getting our big toe in the pool of what God wants to teach us here And really when we dive off into chapter 15 We're gonna dive off in the deep end and what we've looked at this morning just in these three verses Helps get us ready For all that he's gonna teach us In the rest of the chapter and in this analogy Let's pray and then we'll close.