John 15
Notes
Transcript
Abiding In The Vine
Abiding In The Vine
First of I want to say what a privilege it is to be standing before you all this morning proclaiming the word of God, Its not a task that I take lightly by any means we know James says those who teach will be judged with a greater strictness, so I take this very seriously my prayer this week was Lord dont let me go above what your word is saying or below simply present was is there Let the word do the work because our words dont change people his words do.
So we will go through John 15 with a very verse by verse style approach and hopefully well all walk away with a well rounded idea of what it means to abide.
Its important to know the background and context of what was taking place. In chapter 14 Jesus and his disciples are in the upperoom where he would give one of his last teaching to them and he gave the famous words from John 14 6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Not being a good person not Muhammed, not hinduism. Not by being a good little Christian and making it too all your bible studies. One of the most dangerous ideas I hear nowadays that life is just about being a good person which tries to steal concepts from Christianity while leaving out the most important part Jesus.
People will say Yeah its cool to be a Christian but dont say Jesus is the only way thats insensitive thats too far. But we remember the words of John 14 6
Then we get the words of John 14 15 which I remember I was in small group like the ones we are starting soon and I heard this verse and it made me look at staying away from sin with a whole different perspective.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
I think a lot of us try to do it the opposite way keep the commandements then you will love Jesus,but thats where we get it twisted love Jesus and you will obey his commands I remember when I became a Christian I was addicted to nicotine, weed, alchohol, yet I went into my walking just wanting to know more about Jesus and learning to love him, and a ton of time in the word, studying theology . You know what nobody had to tell me Zach i think you should stop drinking, or smoking or cussing or listening to crazy rap music. No through growing my relationship with Christ he revealed that too me.
But how was this possible though the the power of the third person in the trinity the HS I would not have been to do it without the supernatural strength giving me the ability to say no those desires . and thats the helper Jesus promises us at the end of John 14 in verse John 14 26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Jesus knew he was soon going to be with the father that he would not be able to remain on earth for long but that in turn gave us the HS giving us the peace the strength to remain in Christ. Which brings us to our text today John 15 1-5
“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. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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.
Most scholars believe that Jesus and his disciples were leaving the upper room after these great teachings and promises we just read about in chapter 14 heading through Jerusalem, on their way to the garden of gethsemane, and while on thier way passing the temple. This would have been during passover feast so they likely would have been traveling at night under a full moon the temple would have been glistening or illuminated in the moonlight. Jesus is likely looking at the temple gates which were these huge some estimates say around 60ft tall gates and on these doors there were these vines and grapes engraved on them made out of Gold and it went across the entire frame of the door. There would have been these clusters of golden grapes on them. Josephus accounts some of these clusters as large as a man this was a extraordinary sight.People going to Jerusalem would bring jewelry to donate to the temple so they could just keep adding more gold . And As there passing by the temple I imagine Jesus just stops and points and says “I am the true vine” so why is he saying this. What dose mean?
We have to understand that the vine is very significant to the Jews everyone in this day knew what the vine meant it would have been like the national emblem of the country. Its like for us when we think of a emblem for the United States what do we think of an eagle. But for the jew it would have a vine because they believe that they were the vine of God that was going to produce fruit for the Lord.
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.
Here David is telling us the vine is a representation of the nation of Israel they were brought out of the land of egypt which we just read about in exodus. Planted in the promised and there they were to grow and flourish
10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. 11 Its strong stems became rulers’ scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
Gods desire for his chosen people the Israelites was for them to be planted in the promised land that these great leaders would take root and sort of rise up out of Israel and bear much fruit for the Lord .
But instead lets see what the prohet Jeremiah had to say about this vine we read in Jer 2 21
Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?
Isreal had an expectation from God to produce good fruit but as we read in the OT they fell very short. Time and time again we see them failing to produce good fruit but instead wild grape. Which will result in Judgement
So Jesus says I am the true vine, which is his last of 7 I am statements no doubt connecting his divninty to the great I am of the OT God the father which the jews would have known as soon as he said this that hes calling himself equal to God thats why they tried to stone him multiple times .But nonetheless he says I am the true vine. he looks at this national emblem and it applies it to himself and essentially says look Israel is not the true vine they failed to produce fruit unto the Lord but rather Im the true vine, Even though Isreal failed to produce fruit I will not fail at producing fruit unto God.
Possibly hes saying this because as we read at the end of this chapter soon the disciples will soon be kicked out of temple worship, not aloud in the synagogue. banned from the glory , beauty and tradition of Judaism all for the sake of following Jesus . So i believe its in this context he says I am the true vine as if to say don’t be deceived its not Judaism its not religion its me.
We will see this relationship between the the vinedresser the Father the vine Jesus and people as the branches that every good fruit that comes out of a branch comes from abiding in the vine a personal relationship with JC. We will also see the unfortunate reality for those who choose not to abide in JC.
V2 So picking up in verse 2 he says every branch in me that dose not bear fruit he takes away, now there is some debate on whats meant here, the 1st being someone that is a unbeliever who wants nothing to do with God, which is possible and the second being a believer but for some reason is not producing any fruit . maybe a believer who was on fire for the Lord at some point, starting bible studies, being fruitful in your church your job, even leading others to the Lord, and for some reason the branch started to dry up it stopped abiding in the vine.
I run into people all the time and ill tell them were going to mexico, the school , starting ministrises just doing the work of the Lord. They tell me “ I used to do all that stuff, when I was your age.” and it brakes my heart because its a cop out for many like you should still be producing fruit,
now dont hear what im not saying I understand there are health reasons, family responsibility , money problems, but im sorry for far too many they use retirement or fear or work or just laziness as an excuse to just not produce any fruit unto the Lord, do you know how many apostles in the bible retired from sharing the gospel ? 0 can you imagine Paul writing in one of his letters, Im taking a step back from ministry as i am enjoying my retirement, need to work on the boat, and I gotta big fishing trip coming up… What never wouldn't happen it wasnt even a concepept for them
my point being from the moment we accept Jesus the rest of your life you should wake up this zeal, to get as many people to accept the same salvation, the freedom that redeemed you through Christ.
even if your just someone who was once on fire for the Lord and now you struggle to read your word, you struggle with faith , you struggle to have that same joy for following Jesus
My hope is if that is you this morning you would come back to your first love its never too late that you would begin to abide in JC once again bearing much fruit.
V2 Moving forward end of V2 says every branch that dose bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. As some of you may know I cut trees and bushes and do landscaping for a living and I love how Jesus always using something physical to explain the spiritual this is true when you are pruning a tree you take out all the limbs that are sucking the growth from the limbs you actually want to grow you almost want the tree to look like an umbrella if you will
so like the limbs growing right where you park your car you take those put but the ones going up giving that umbrella look you would keep.to send the nutrients where you want it too go.
That’s how the father gets rid of things things in our lives that are sucking the fruit of his ministry to other places in your life. And man let me tell you being pruned hurts, its not easy, sometimes it involves cutting things out you have been doing your whole life out but its necessary to become a man or woman of God you know something else about cutting trees theres seasons to it you dont cut in the summer because the tree is sucking up so much water it will bleed out so you it in the winter.
Possibly your sitting here today and you know its winter for you because God is cutting a lot things out of you. and its just been a season of trials. its not easy ive been there these past few weeks has been chaos in my life but trust in him his ways are better than ours his thoughts are higher than our thoughts
Wether its a Job
A relationship a friend
a hobby
Pride Ego
always talking about someone else gossiping
idols in your life your phones, your routines
if those are coming before his work in your walk then you should pray this prayer say Lord, prune me clean, show me where im lacking in relationship with you and give me the strength to do better and God will meet you where you are at. Psalm 51 10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
V3 Jesus here is echoing a point he made back in chapter 13 where he is washing the disciple feet and says Jhn 13 10
Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
He says not everyone of you referring to Judas because he knew he would be betrayed by him shortly. So in some sense the process of pruning and cleaning has already begun in the disciples, they have heard many of his teachings and have been cleaned by the word.
The word of God is our cleansing agent, It condemns sin, it inspires holiness, it promotes growth.Dont expect to grow much in your walk if you arent consuming the word of God on a regular basis Jesus continues to wash people through his word. Eph 5 26 reffering to the church
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
I'm so grateful when I go through long days, being out and about getting corrupted by the ways of this world, hearing gossip, and filthy language, seeing the state the world is in. next thing you know begin to talk like the world act like the world, your interests shifts to less Godly things, That we can sit down with the word of God sharper than any two edged sword and say Lord wash me. and he will he will purify us, Create a clean heart in me O God
V4-5 Now its not saying one cant do anything aprart from Jesus enemies were doing a lot to get him persecuted at this time and they sure were not apart of him but apart from him the fruit in your christian walk will be nothing there will not be any real eternal fruit. I think its important to define some of these fruits, Galations give us a list of just a few, Gal 5 22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Romans 15 28 Define financial giving as fruit. Collisions 1 describes fruit as helping with practical needs hebrews 13 tells us the fruit of our lips or giving him praise is a fruit.
Jesus knows soon he will be crucified and the disciples will have this choice to either abide or not, I like how it not just abide in me as if jesus just wants wants followers and is some dictator who dosent interact with his people him but he says and i will abide in you its a partnership a relationship. In other words we will do this together
When abiding in Christ these fruits will naturally flow out of you you wont have to force it, or try to remember today I need to have these fruits so I look Christian a tree dosent have t try to grow fruit. that will naturally flow from you.
V6 Now there are 3 different views on this verse
The first being that the cast out branches are ones who were once true believers and end up in hell for lack of abiding and fruit, Which i personally dont agree with I believe in once saved always saved. That we can rest in our salvation the bible seems to make it pretty clear that when you become a believer you are sealed by the HS forever. Also with verse like Phil 1 6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
we can rest in are salvation being secure
The second view being the cast out branches are people who only appeared to be disciples such as Judas and never truly abided and in turn go to hell. Which I believe we have a ton of Judas in this day people who want to wear the banner of Christian but truly are not. Which I would probaly agree the most with this view
The third view being the branches are disciples who have no fruit they wasted their lives not that are in effect burnt up not their eternal destiny just their lives here on earth
regardless of the interpretation the emphasis is clear that there is no true disciple of JC that dose abide in him. Choosing to reject JC is declining the gift of salvation in turn you will be judged on judgement day.
To wither it takes time, when you lop a tree branch off a tree dose it immediately turn brown and crumble? No it takes time when you first cut it it looks the same as when it was on the tree I believe thats how it is for us, we dont wake up one day and say well i think im going to stop abiding today. It happens over time, miss a few Sunday's, ease up on the personal devotion time, next you thing you know you find yourself in this positon of how did I get here Lord I once felt so close now I feel so far I think our flesh and the devil are very good at distracting us without us even noticing we must be disciplined to abide!!
we need to be sober to that fact that thier are spiritual forces doing everything they can too get you to take your eyes off Jesus not something we need to be afriad of just aware of
That our flesh dose not want to abide in Christ it wants to do whatever will bring it pleaseure. We dont wake up thinking oh gee cant wait to abide today let me crack open the ol bible at 5am before a long day at work. No it takes one who wants to abide to do this.
V7 You could take this verse alone and go all sorts of directions with but it the point is If you abide in him and his word abides in you will pray and those prayers would align with his heart. You will pray according to his will
Spurgeon writes “ Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus… Prayer is a natural out gushing of a soul in communion with Jesus.
This is not saying if you pray to become rich, it will happen no because if thats your prayer life then its likely you arent truly abiding.
V8 The point of us bearing fruit in our lives i that the father would get the glory. That people would see our good works and give God glory because of it ! People would look at us and say hey I remember that guy and he is way different ever since he became a Christian.
God is glorified not by praise and music alone but also bearing fruit.
I remember when i was younger I would so something to get in trouble not clean my room, forget to take trash out, ick on my brother, and I would always say im sorry ill never do that again to my mom and she would say actions speak louder than words. In other words ill believe it when i see it
The same is true for our Christian walks we can jump and down saying im a christian im a chrstian, i go to church every sunday, I do this that and the third, I even post bible quotes on my instagram and FB, but if you do all that but still fail to bear any fruit my friend you need to self examine you walk.
There a plenty of people and organizations that do good for the communities that are not Christian, for whatever reason they join it may be appease to a guilty consience, makes you feel good, make new friends whatever it may be but only what you do in christ and for Christ will matter in the next life. That is what makes a true disciple.
V9-11 Jesus loved his disciple the way that God the father loved him. Jesus was in perfect obedience to the father and spoke only what he wanted him to say. The fathers love was for his son was so great we cant even fathom it and thats the same way Jesus love his disciples notice the illustration he uses he dosent say
i love you as a mother loves a baby
or as a husband loves his wife
or a soldier loves his buddy
no the only way he could paint the picture was to use the fathers love for the son that has no beginning no end, it is unchanging it is close and personal. Theres nothing else like that love
Whats the responsibility of the disciple to remain in his love. Whats the best way to do that?
Leon Morris writes on this he says “ Notice that this is done as an explanation of the means of abiding in his love. This is not some mystical experience. it is simple obedience, It is when a man keeps Christs commandments that he abides in Christ love.
As the Son obeyed the father we are to obey the Son.
Obedience is not burdensome 1 John 5 3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Satan wants to make us think it is but in reality obedience frees us from the ways of the world when we allow every day to be directed by the will of God.
The end of v11 says that this love will give us Joy that our joy may be full.
When you dont obey his commandments and choose to live in sin, it will truly separate you from the love of Christ, now i’m not saying he stops loving when you live in sin, but it dose become way harder to pray, read your word, go to church when their is active ongoing sin in your life, because you feel too guilty
It can seem as small as just watching the tv putting that above your walk letting it become an idol or our phones can I be honest with you guys I have had such a hard time getting in my word lately because you whats a lot easier scrolling on my phone sad isn't it?
Or maybe your watching something you shouldnt be and will justify it in our minds, well Ill just do this one time how much damage could it really do? A LOT.Friends sin will separate us faster than we would like to admit we need to truly abide to be able to withstand.
V12 We get a command from the Lord to love eachother it dosent matter how much theology we know or how much wisdom you claim to have, if you dont love the person sitting next to you nothing else matters.
theres a saying that goes no one cares how much you know till they know how much you care.
Notice its a commandment which means love it not a matter of emotion but of choice. Hes not commanding us to feel something but to do something that we would help the world see that he is alive. The world may think Jesus is dead but how will they know he is alive our love for another. In the context of Jesus teaching love is not so much a emotion but a desicon.
We may run into someone tomorrow who initially it may seem like an interruption to your schedule maybe they stink really bad . But if you say wait a minute heres an oppurtuinity for me to love, you know what will happen as you make that descison there will be a change in your emotions the Lord will meet you in that place. That interaction may change your whole day for the better.
V13 Laying down your life for your wife, friend, child, neighbor is not only proof of your love but the pathway to love because love is not just some feeling you hope returns its not some mystical emotion Its the descison to die to your dreams, your desires, your needs , your wants and instead lay down your life for your friend your family your neighbor.
My friend will you lay down your for Christ ?
This is exactly what our Lord and saviour did for us see Jesus is telling them all this because he knows whats getting ready to happen he will soon be handed over by the Pharisees to the romans and the same people shouting Hosanna the king has arrived in chapter 12 to now Crucify him , with false charges brought against him they beat him, whipped him usally its was about 20 and the person would die they did just shy of double that on Jesus they whipped him 39 times saving the 40th becasue they knew he would die, this whipp had a a bunch of bone shards all throughout to make it sharp with everyone pulling out chunks of skin. Shoved a crown of thorns into his head some estimates say each thorn being about an inch long to then have to talk his cross barely even able to stand, he had to have help. All brusied in covered in blood one could hardly recognize him To then be hung there naked, mocked laughed at humiliated in front of his friend his family the world dying the most gruesome death imaginable.
So that we may have the ability to be forgiven our sin. In the OT they had to sacrifice animals to atone for our sin, sin has to be delt with in they eyes of a perfect holy and just God, and the NT sacrifice is JC and the bible says all we have to do is put our faith and trust in him to recieve this eternal life and we will be saved. Friend today if you are sitting here knowing that you are not abiding in JC do not leave here without coming to terms that and getting prayer and guidance I would love nothing more than to pray with you after this.
V14-15 This is best news one could hear to be a friend of God, as people who know we are flawed foolish and so unworthy, but yet he looks at you and calls you his friend because he finds joy in each and everyone of us Isn't that amazing and because were his friends he wants us to know what he is doing. When you begin to abide in him you will see that the Lord is moving he is working,he is doing great things in the kern river valley . I believe we are in the last days but I also belive we will see an outpouring of the HS before he returns. a revival will take place and many will be saved through it. Now how dose God want to use you to accomplish this ?
V16-17 he chose us that we may go and bear more fruit. not to sit in pew the rest of our lives and never tell anyone about him but to involved in ministry. Helping others see the hope that is within you. Friend I want you too truly self reflect and ask yourself have you been abiding in the vine which is JC as we go through communion. and if not find where the changes in your life need to place to that you may, because ultimately we will all die one day and you know what Jesus isnt going to ask how much money you made, how well you were liked amongst your friends, How nice your house was, if you were a good person. Hell say its great you did all of that but did you love Me? Did you abide in my love?
Ill pray for us then deacons will come up too lead us through communion.