The Vine and the Branches
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1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Desktops — An Analogy for the Christian Life
Desktops — An Analogy for the Christian Life
Laptops are truly great. Unfortunately my primary computer isn’t a laptop. The computer I work from throughout the week is my desktop that I have in my office at the church. And I felt the consequences of having a desktop the other day. There was a brief power surge last Tuesday — and while everyone else in the office who has laptops was hardly affected by the power surge — I was only one who’s computer shut down as soon as the power was disconnected.
Laptops are great — and in my opinion, they are just better than desktops. But laptops make for a terrible analogy for the Christian life.
4 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.
Branches don’t connect and disconnect from the vine without some serious consequences. If the branch is going to draw life and power from the vine, it must abide — that is to say, it must remain, persist, in the vine.
Understand what I mean when I say a laptop makes for a terrible analogy for the Christian life. There are many so called Christians who think they are doing in their faith because they go to church on Sunday. They sing the songs, they hear the sermon, they take communion — they are all charged up like our laptops and phones — and they then go on throughout the remainder of the week drawing from the life and power of the Word that they received on Sunday.
But this is not the picture Jesus gives us for the Christian life. Our Lord said, that if the branch does not abide in the vine — it will not bear fruit.
Picture my desktop computer — the only way my desktop will work — is if it is plugged into an outlet that supplies it with power. So too, a branch that is not abiding in the vine will not bear fruit.
We know this same principle even if we are not vinedressers. Have you ever seen a bouquet of flowers in a vase? They look pretty for a short while — but they do not grow, and they certainly don’t live for very long either.
So it is with the person that doesn’t abide in Jesus. If you are not remaining in Jesus — you will not bear fruit.
4 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. 5 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.
1. Apart from Christ, you can do nothing
1. Apart from Christ, you can do nothing
Surely Jesus is exaggerating a bit here… right? My guess is every one of us has gone a day without abiding in Christ. In fact, I bet many have gone weeks or months, perhaps even all your life without constantly abiding in Jesus. So is it true that we can’t do anything without Jesus?
Let’s consider an easy one… Consider what salvation there is apart from Christ.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
28 for
“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
Many of us wrestle with sin — and can’t figure out how we can be free from sin — but all the while we are not abiding in Christ…
4 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. 5 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.
If that wasn’t already enough to cause us to abide in Jesus — our Lord continues
6 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.
Jesus has been talking in metaphors — and here he talks about the outcome for those fruitless branches. The metaphor he is using is that of the burn pile.
But this metaphor is not to be brushed off lightly — for it gives us a glimpse into the eternal torment that is prepared for those who do not abide in Jesus — for those who do not love Jesus — for those who do not keep his commands.
40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Do you remember the outcome of Sodom? The fire that rained from heaven? —
23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
So in our text —
6 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.
this metaphor is not just poetic language — the burning of these branches is a reality that fruitless believers will in fact experience if they do not abide in Christ.
Listen, if you spend this week close to Jesus — only to go home from here and not remain in Christ — this camp is of no benefit to you.
If you go to church every Sunday — but in the remainder of the week you do not abide in Christ — Your religious activity will be of no benefit to you
If you do not abide in Christ, and if Christ does not abide in you — you can be sure of this — hell will be your reward.
Jn
Don’t try to live like a laptop — reading the Word only when your battery is running low. If that’s how you live your faith, understand this. You will not bear any fruit
