The Vine and the Branches

John 15:1-11

Everyone say “abide.”

I visited a cemetery, to find my wife some flowers… for her birthday... Don’t be critical… Sometimes I think about putting fake flowers in my yard.

Those fake flowers look good and they last so long. I know they are fake. But I do not have to grow them, water them, fertilize them, prune them…and so on...

You do not have to do this with fake plants/flowers. No, they don’t smell good. No, the beauty is not quite the same...

Why? They are not real.

You have to do this with real flowers...

You have to do this with real Christians...

Real Christians need some things. Real Christians need to do some things.

The main truth Christ is teaching in this picture is the importance of abiding in Christ, in order to bear fruit. The main point of the teaching here is fellowship with Christ.

To use v. 6 to teach that a Christian loses his salvation and is burned in hell if he fails to bear fruit is to twist the meaning of the lesson. In the first place, such a teaching contradicts the plain teaching of other verses—John 6:27; 10:27–29; etc.

This is not someone who is losing or has lost salvation. This is not a picture of a child of God, who is then thrown into hell.

Jesus is teaching His disciples something, and verse 11, and this something will keep the joy of Christ inside of them… and they can be filled with joy if they abide in these teachings.

Disciples… You need to do something. Real Disciples need something.

Follow this throughout God’s Story:

Isaiah 5 shows us God being a Gardner, tending His vineyard… only to be rewarded with worthless grapes.

Psalm 80 along with other texts show us that Israel was to be that vine that God would deliver from Egypt and would use to drive out the nations and fill the earth with His glory.

Israel was called to be the channel through which God’s blessings would flow to the world. But Israel ultimately failed to do this. Israel proved to be fruitless and an unfaithful vine.

God called Israel to produce good fruit, but she proved to be unfaithful over and over again.

Israel turned away from God. Cut themselves off from God and God has handed Israel over to judgement.

Israel is not the true vine. But through Israel, One was coming and has come to be the True Vine.

Jesus Christ is the True Vine. In and through Christ, Life is going to flow, the Spirit of God will be given, the blessings of God will be given, and the fruit of the Spirit will be experienced.

Jesus is the True Vine, Not the Nation of Israel.

And this is the 7th and last “I am” statement before He is arrested. The 7th and perfect description of Jesus Christ.

Disciples: I am the True Vine, Your Life Source… and you are the Branches.

Get this straight. Get how this works. You are not the Vine. I am the Vine, and you are the branches…

How can you have fruit? How can you be fruitful? How can you have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?

How will you be salt and life and glorify God throughout all the nations, bringing all to Christ through the Gospel?

How will you make it? How can your survive this world and bear Christian fruit?

There is only One Way. “You must abide in Me.”

Everyone say, “abide.”

Listen: God is the Gardner. God is planting. God is watering. God is fertilizing. God is removing that which does not bear fruit and He is pruning that which does bear fruit.

Listen up Real Disciples… there will be those who are around you that do not and will not bear fruit. True Branches, in the Vine, will bear fruit.

John the Baptist spoke to Israel, to the Jews, in Matthew 3:8-10. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance… The ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire...”

The nation as a whole was called to abide in God, and God is going to cut them out, and graft others in.

Can this text apply to those inside the church today? Quite possibly. For example: Matthew 7 - Good trees bear good fruit, and bad trees bear bad fruit… and you keep reading about those who will claim Jesus to be Lord… they will not bear good fruit...

Why? Because they are not in Christ. And Jesus says, that “He never knew them.” They were not attached to Him. There was no union. No relationship.

And their fruits, their lifestyle, showed it.

Were they in the church? Most likely.

(picture) “What is that like?” Go out into the woods. You have trees growing beside one another. The pine tree limb might fall onto the oak, or the elm tree limb may fall on the dogwood… They may look connected to the tree… But they are not.

They may be among us… But they are not of us. They are not connected to the tree… They are not connected to the Vine.

Who are they? Judas look-alikes. He was around Jesus and the disciples, but he was never connected to Him.

And these will be gathered and destroyed in the end.

The Father will have them gathered in the end.

What else is the Father doing?

The Father is also Pruning

Why? Tree pruning promotes growth. God wants to remove all things that hinder your growth. God wants you to be fruitful, to grow in Christ-likeness, and be filled with joy and peace.

There are things that drain your spiritual life. There are people that are draining you, hindering you, distracting you. There are those carnal desires that pull you in the wrong directions. There are idols (money, possessions) that keep you from growing. You are consumed by them.

And God loves you too much to leave you there. God desires for you to glorify Him, and to be set free from hindrances that keep you from being content and satisfied in Him.

The world will choke the fruit out of you. The cares of this world will keep you restless and fruitless.

The flesh will keep you chasing your best life now and the pleasures of the world.

And the devil will convince you that this is better than God. Or that this is God’s will for your life.

Christian, the Father desires much fruit. Christ deserves more fruit. There are things in our lives that are holding us back. And God is working on us today, to cut these things out.

Everyone say “Abide.”

“Abide in Me!” What Does this Mean?

The word, “abide” means to remain, to stay, to continue daily.

What does it look like to abide? When we abide, we trust on a daily basis, we turn to Christ continuously, we pray and study God’s Word, and live a life of obedience as a lifestyle. This is our practice.

To be a branch in the Vine means we are united to Christ and share His life. As we abide in Him, His life flows through us, and produces fruit.

Going back to verse 3 - God cleanses us through the Word, disciplining us to make us more fruitful, which also helps to explain why a dedicated Christian often has to go through suffering.

“God’s Word causes us to suffer?” Have you ever had a scrub bath by Momma?! Those baths hurt!

The Word is going to reveal sin. The Word is going to call you to obey Him in a world of darkness. The Word is going to cut through your soul and deal with the depths of your being… and it will hurt… as He prunes you...

But this is the good news.

Christian, is God dealing with you about something? Is God revealing truth to you, and is He calling you to obedience and faith? Is it difficult to be a Christian right now, but you are fighting forward?

There is good news for you. You are a Christian and God is working on you and you are going to be more fruitful than ever.

God is pruning you.

The Father loves you and He is working on you.

He is revealing idols and He is doing a work in you to make you more like Jesus… Hang on. More fruit is coming.

You are going to be used by God. God is doing a great work in you. He doesn’t hate you. He is going to produce more joy and peace in your life.

Through the pruning you are going to grow. Through the pruning, you will see things, experience things you have never experienced before.

You will have a greater security and peace in Jesus, a greater love for Him… Your prayer life is going to grow and your worship is going to grow louder and sweeter.

Keep obeying. Keep your eyes on Him and Abide.

Say “abide.”

Stay close. Apart from Christ, you are not going to grow as a Christian. You are not going to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. You are not going to grow in holiness, purity, righteousness, boldness, courage, spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding.

You are joined to Christ. Draw your life from Him and grow.

And remember… When the pain comes… The Father is preparing you for more fruit.

May your joy remain. May your joy increase. May your joy be full.

Just keep abiding. Just keep seeking His face.His best in you is yet to come.

Close.