Intro.

This morning we are concluding the series that we have been working through this fall.

So to start with, let’s go back and recap.

When Moses stood before the burning bush in the Sinai desert, he asked God for his name.

It these descendents of Abraham were going to believe that a former prince of Egypt REALLY had a one on one with the Almighty then there was probably an introduction.

Names in Bible times were significant. They told you something about the person. They knew that the Egyptians had:

Ra -the sun god Horus -the god of the sky

(and scores of others)

But they didn’t know the name of their own God.

He was the God of their ancestors: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But His name was the same as any other god. Just… God.

What is He LIKE? How does His name describe HIM?

In Bible times, your name described you, said something about you.

Throughout the Bible God reveals many aspects of His nature through names:

El Elyon The God Most High

El Shaddai God Almighty

El Olam The Everlasting God

Jehovah Shalom The Lord our Peace

Jehovah Tsuri The Lord our Rock

Jehovah Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness

But God shares with Moses the name that would supersede them all.

The name that said:

Wherever you are: I AM

What ever you need: I AM

However you feel: I AM

God told Moses that: The only name that encompasses everything about me is...

I AM

YHWH (Yahweh)

From that day to this the name of God is holy to the Jews.

Too holy to be spoken. Too holy to be written.

(written out with a dash for the “o” “G-d”)

Of course we believe that God shared His name with us because He wants us to call on Him.

Eight times in the book of John Jesus uses the emphatic mode of the phrase: I AM.

You might say, “Doesn’t everybody say, ‘I am,’ at one time or another?”

“I am hungry.”

“I like to ride bicycles.”

Very true. But Greek has grammatical constructs that separate...

“I am very handsome.”

from... “I AM… GOD”

7 times throughout the book of John Jesus uses the emphatic “I AM” to describe how He is God to us.

The 8th time He says I AM was in the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest Him.

The soldiers said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus responded with;

John 18:5 (ESV)

I AM (HE).

John tells us that the soldiers (over 600 of them) were pushed back and fell to the ground.

Jesus declared himself to be God.

If you go on the internet today you will see lots of people trying to undermine the Bible.

You can find numerous content creators online who will say,

“Jesus never declared to be God.”

HOGWASH!

Jesus declared himself to be God MANY times… in VARIOUS ways.

Not least of all… HERE!

If that isn’t plain enough for you:

John 10:30 ESV

I and the Father are one.”

Okay. With this understanding, we went into this series of messages:

I AM: The Light of the World

I AM: The Bread of Life

I AM: The Door

I AM: The Good Shepherd

I AM: The Resurrection and the Life

I AM: The Way and the Truth and the Life

And today we finish with:

I AM: The True Vine

Jesus is the True Vine

John 15:1–2 (ESV)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Jesus and the disciples are transitioning from the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane when He says:

“I am the true Vine”

If you remember from last week, Jesus was again trying to get the disciples to understand that He was… going away.

They were confused. They were afraid.

So Jesus now helps the disciples understand that His ability to be there for them was not limited to his physical presence.

Jesus wanted His disciples... and … He wants you to know that if you are a Christian... if you are truly a believer in Him... that you are... CONNECTED o Him.

People read this passage and sometimes they… overthink it.

But if you read the passage… as it is… it’s not too hard.

In the Old Testament, the Bible refers to Israel as a grapevine.

Psalm 80:8 ESV

You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

Isaiah 5:7 (ESV)

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting...

Unfortunately, more often than not, Israel did not follow it’s role very well.

Jeremiah 2:21 ESV

Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

Isaiah 5:2 ESV

He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

God’s plan was for Israel to share his love with the world.

But… they didn’t.

So now Jesus has come to fulfill the plan and tells the disciples:

“I am the True Vine.”

Before… all who wanted to know and worship the true God were grafted into Israel.

Now...

The salvation that comes from Jesus and His Spirit are where we must connect.

Jesus was telling them:

“I know it scares you for me to say that I’m leaving, but even though I won’t be here physically...

you can still be connected to me.”

The Message is for The Branches

John 15:5 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus is speaking to His closest followers, and they found their connection to God through Him.

They believed Jesus. They obeyed Jesus. They loved Jesus.

Jesus said, “That makes you branches.”

Little shoots from me that get their life from me.

They were already believers in Him.

John 15:3 ESV

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Ephesians 5 talks about Jesus sanctifying the church by the “washing of the water of the word.”

These people are Christians.

So… as believers... we have to “abide”

How do we “abide”.

Reading the Bible? Yes.

Praying? Yes.

Worship? Yes.

Fellowship? Yes.

But the disciples knew all this. So... What was Jesus point?

Jesus was telling them that all of those.... THINGS that they knew to do.... could be full of Life.

Or.

They COULD just be rituals… empty, dry, lifeless activities;

2 Timothy 3:5 (ESV)

having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power...

Without the life of Jesus flowing through you, any spiritual discipline is a waste of time.

But when we “practice the presence of God” we experience the LIFE of JESUS flowing through us.

Psalm 16:8 ESV

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

when we encounter Jesus on a daily basis our spiritual muscles become strong.

(Daily encounter with Jesus is one of the values of BridgeWay Church.)

When this happens the hard times can’t topple you.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

all that’s required of us is to stop and take time for Him.

Psalm 46:10 ESV

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

He will be exalted in you.

Branches are meant to improve

John 15:2 (ESV)

...every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

If a grape vine isn’t pruned correctly it fails. It takes the care touch of an experienced gardener to keep the grapevine healthy and strong… and producing fruit.

To an inexperienced eye, it would appear that the pruning is harmful to the plant.

For Example:

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

that’s pruning. Pruning doesn’t feel good.

But when a knowledgeable vinedresser has the pruning shears, He brings new growth and more fruit to the vine.

So what’s the fruit that we are supposed to be producing.

These verses give us some expamples:

Endurance

Character

Hope

Galatians 5 gives us another list

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

It’s all the things that God has hoped and dreamed for your life.

And it’s God’s job to grow them.

It’s our job to let Him.

Branches that disconnect from the Vine, die

John 15:6 ESV

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

You can go to church 7 days a week. You can get on your knees to pray until you have callouses. You can sing at the top of your lungs until you’re hoarse.

And. Still. Die.

If you are not “abiding” in the vine... letting the love and life of Jesus flow through you.

You will be mal-nourished in your spirit.

You will wither.

You will....... die.

Maybe you are sitting out there this morning wondering...

“What if I’m… disconnected?” “Is there hope for me?”

Let me tell you.

Jesus specializes in hope.

Let’s go back to verse 2

John 15:2 (ESV)

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away...

“Ouch, that sounds kind of… final.”

Maybe not.

those last two words, “takes away” “takes away” is ONE way to translate those words from Greek.

Another way to translate them is:

“lifts up”

That’s a common thing in vineyards.

When a branch is dragging on the ground and failing, the vine dresser will come along ,

pick it up and nestle it with the other branches.

The Vine-dresser doesn’t want the branch to die. He’s on the branch’s side.

The way the analogy transfers over to you is:

You have a say in all this. You don’t have to lay in the mud. You don’t have to be mal-nourished. You don’t have to… die.

The question for you is...

Do you want to be lifted-up?

Conclusion