In Christ
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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 ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Lets begin this evening by looking through this passage and discovering on a surface level what is communicated. When that is done I do want to focus in a bit on one phrase, but first the passage.
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” Not too much needs to be said on this point now. Jesus is the vine, or source of strength and sustenance for the branches. It is in Christ that the branches, which refers to all Christians are nourished. John 15:2 “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” This verse almost contains a warning to those who heed not the words of Christ and I guess a bit of a warning to those who heed as well. What is the means of our salvation? How is it that we are made to be branches, connected to the vine of Christ? Perhaps the clearest statement of the means by which we enter into union with Christ is Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It is not though anything that we do that we receive this precious gift of salvation and union with Christ. This verse references true branches of the vine. Every branch in me it begins. This verse attacks two false doctrines simultaneously. Every branch that beareth not fruit he (the Husbandman, which is the Father) taketh away. Well what does this teach us? Firstly and most obviously it teaches that branches can be removed. We believe in a know so salvation, one in which we are confident of our eternal destiny. If we have entered in by grace through faith into union with Christ we have utmost confidence that He will accomplish in, through and for us all that he has promised. And yet He does ask for our participation! So often we read Ephesians 2:8-9 and rarely read verse 10. Now that we have entered in at the straight gate and begun to walk on this narrow way, what does God have for us? Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” This is the fruit that Jesus refers to in our text passage. Those who doe not bring forth good works are those who are removed. The first false doctrine that this verse destroys is that of unconditional eternal security. Branches can be removed. The second is a doctrine that goes by deceiving names but teaches that walking righteously has nothing to do with our final salvation or our continence in the faith, yet here we see that those who do not walk in the good works that are foreordained that we should walk in are the ones who are removed. It is not by works that we are saved but St. Chrysostom point out “that without works it is not possible to be in Him.”
I said this was a warning to those who do not heed. Those who built their houses of faith upon the sand by hearing but not doing what Christ teaches, their houses fall, they are cut off and cast out. Yet in one sense the warning continues to those who are like the wise man, they hear and do that which is taught by Christ. What is the warning to them? I would call it a warning of painful good. “And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it.” This was alluded to this morning as Ryan talked about how God guides and corrects our minds, and our habits, and our character all throughout our lives. So it is that those who hear and obey, who bring forth the fruit of good works still need purging. We enjoy great care from the husbandman. But that care is not always pleasant. God takes stock of our lives and begins, with our consent to clip things out of it. Perhaps some non-sinful habit needs to be taken away so that you may bring forth more fruit. Perhaps something in your life uses up some of the sustenance you receive from the vine in unprofitable endeavors. Or perhaps it is that some aspect begins to block the flow of strength from the vine. Some habit sucks time away from God or presents some unnecessary degree of temptation that you need not face. If all the strength we receive from the vine is used up in not dying spiritually it is difficult to ever bring forth fruit, it is impossible to grow. If we are willingly allowing the flow of His Spirit to be blocked or hindered or bringing some temptation into our lives needlessly it is likely that spiritual death is imminent.
Yet this is not bad news, the special care that we get from the husbandman as fruitful branches so that we can bring forth good fruit? Oh it the best sort of pruning. God takes what is wasteful and harmful and gives that which is profitable and helpful! Let us grow in Christ both by things pleasant and things painful.
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 ye abide in me.” To abide is to live in Christ. To remain, to stay, to live, to dwell to lodge in Christ. I do not think this is some simple thing. It seems to me that I am only beginning to learn to Abide in Christ. It is not just to spend moments with Him but to live each moment through Him. It is not something that I can easily explain with words, but I think this is also the same as what is meant by pray without ceasing. Each moment, always, Christ is with you, He is in you, He is your source of strengyh. When we begin to recognize the closeness that we can have in Him we begin to abide more conscoiuously in Him. The next verse reminds us that we are the branches. The entire source of all that we are comes from God. That by abiding in Him we bring forth much fruit, and that without Him we can do nothing.
Verse 6 echoes back to verse two reiterating the neccessity of abiding in Him so that we may bring forth good fruit.
Verse 7 contains an almost frightening promise. John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” This is challenging to me. This calls me further up and further in. I have asked God for things that have not come to pass. How is it that this verse is true? How is it that we can ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us? James 4 answers that question. Ye ask and have not because you ask for the wrong things, you ask for thing to consume them on your own desires. If we abide in Him, and if His word abides in us we will ask for what we will, because by His word abiding in us, we do not ask selfishly or for our own desires, but rather we ask selflessly and according to His word, and thus it shall be done unto you. So it would seem that there is no point in asking since its what God wants anyway right? Well we are told that we have not because we ask not. So God does want us to ask, but we must first abide in Him and allow His word to abide in us for only then do we have power with Him and only then can we be sure that we do not ask amiss for selfish desires, but then we will ask according to His will.
John 15:8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Do we want to be disciples of Christ? Do we want to glorify the Father? Bear much fruit.
Now I want to dig deeper into the theme of this passage. This is something that I am bad at learning and need reminded of far too often. The reason that this message is on my mind and heart is because God has been bringing it to me often recently, so that I do not forget. The phrase that sums up this passage is, without me ye can do nothing! Nothing? not even a little good for God? Not even a little advancement for His kingdom? Just in case we as branches start feeling like we are something this verse does not say, without me ye can do little, but rather, ye can do nothing. Just like a branch broken from a tree, and cast aside brings forth no fruit, we are unable to bring forth the spiritual fruit of good works which we have been before ordained to walk in without Jesus Christ. Augustine said “The branch is suitable only for one of two things, either the vine or the fire: if it is not in the vine, its place will be in the fire; and that it may escape the latter, may it have its place in the vine.”
Sometimes I feel like I can do something on my own. Sometimes I forget how much I need God. Have you ever walked down that road? Have you ever thought that you could live for God without the strength of God? It doesn’t work. This lesson is not always a quick lesson and it is never an easy one.
Children I think learn this lesson in their lives. Of course it is not a perfect illustration, but we are the children of God and He is our father. Infants can do very little for themselves. It is a struggle for them to even learn to move about. Yet as kids learn to communicate they suddenly are able to do far more than their is in their own strength. It is not very long until when a child wants something he can point it out. Then he is able to get it, not through his own strength but through the strength of a parent or other adult. Children might ask while on a swing to swing very high. They are unable to in one sense, and yet they are quickly able to when someone else gives them a push. Maybe the child is running and says I want to go really really fast, but they are child, so they are really slow, but when an adult runs by and scoops the child up in his arms and continues to run together they go much faster than the child could ever hope to alone.
The difference is that children are able to do some things to a limited sense themselves. However, were we left to our own devices, we could never stand for a moment against the wiles of Satan. We would become entirely unable to bear fruit. The truth is that we are able to do nothing without Christ. We would be dead branches, only good for the fire.
Yet the inverse if also true! This is not always the case, but often it is. In math we learn that if A is greater than B then the inverse is also true. B is not greater than A. If 5 is greater than 1 that also means 1 is not greater than 5. For one to be true, the other also must be true. We can do no things without Christ, and in this case the opposite is true. By abiding in Him we can do all things. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” If it were only true that without Christ we could nothing it would be a depressing message tonight, yet we can abide in Him and with Him we can do all things! We ask and receive when we ask according to His word. We ask and receive not if we ask according to our desires. When we rely on ourselves we can accomplish nothing. But when we rely on Christ we can accomplish all things!
The unfruitful branch is cast out. That does not need to be a scary thing. I know that it is for anyone trying in their own strength! Anyone who is trying to walk in the righteous paths that God has ordained for His children to walk in knows that its a frightening and impossible task. The Sermon on the Mount, which we find to be so encouraging, many find to be discouraging. I read a new one the other day. The point of the sermon on the mount is clear. Jesus is explaining that God looks on the heart and that the law is a law of the heart, a law of love, not a law of outward action. Some have misconstrued that point to be that no one could measure up and so we don’t need to worry about trying! Since the pharisees were not righteous enough than no one could be righteous enough! But the pharisees were hypocrites, they did not obey God for God’s glory, they did it for their own benefit! their hearts were wicked, so their righteousness did not measure up because they were not righteous at all!
But can we keep the sermon on the mount? Can we walk in the paths of righteousness? Can we be branches that bear fruit? Yes we can! Oh, not though our own strength! For without Christ we can do nothing, but is anything to hard for God? Are we more that God can handle? Is the curse greater that the Redeemer? Is the Sermon on the Mount just an impossible aspiration? Something to strive for with the knowledge of certain failure? No, and to say so makes God a liar. Is He not big enough for you? Is the creator not great enough to fix His creation? Is God not greater the great deceiver? Let me tell you He is greater, He is honest, He is big enough! As someone who has walked the road, not that far down the road, but the hair is starting to tun grey so I think that means I know what I am talking about! No, I know because the Bible tells me so, but I have lived both sides of this. I have tried and tried to walk the paths of righteousness and failed. I have lived as an unfruitful branch and been cast away. I have been that branch who refused the pruning shears and staunched the flow of power and become unfruitful! I have been there I have looked at the impossibility before me and crumbled in fear, retreated and walked away! But no more, but no longer! Oh not because of anything that I have done, Not because of any strength that lies in me! Please don’t misunderstand that I claim to be anything or to have done or to have accomplished anything, but now, Oh now I don’t walk alone. I have begun to abide in Christ and so can you! I can do nothing, but through Christ I can walk in ways of Righteousness. I can live the Sermon on the Mount. I can be what God has foreordained that I should be and so can you! God has strength in your weakness. God is able to do abundantly above all that we could ask or think! God can cause you to bear fruit. God can make the impossible possible! God can lead you all the way home to be with Him. Christ says to us, Without me you can do nothing, but by abiding in me all things become possible.
