John 15: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He [a]cleans it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already [b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are 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 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [c]prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
Well, I chose the message last week, and this morning, as a response to our hearing the results of our “Natural Church Development Survey.” This is actually the 3rd part of this sermon.
A few months ago, most of you took a survey designed to evaluate the health of our church. And, just to summarize, the survey asked you all about our church, and what you see in our church around 8 areas. These eight areas are the characteristics that are typically flourishing in a healthy growing church, and typically languishing in an unhealthy dying church. These are the eight characteristics; empowering leadership, gift-based ministry, passionate spirituality, effective structures, inspiring worship service, holistic small groups, need-oriented evangelism, and loving relationships.
And the strategy is that any church who takes this survey will then look at the results and see the areas in which the church is strongest, and weakest.
Well, when we took the survey, the two weakest areas were gift-based ministry and need-oriented evangelism.
Gift-based ministry can be described as a focus in a church of helping people identify their individual gifts, and finding or creating ministries through which they can serve using their gifts.
Need-oriented evangelism can be described as a focus in a church on connecting to lost people through their needs, and thus creating opportunities to build a loving relationship which can lead to salvation.
But, as important as those different attributes are, the real issue for us, or any church, will come down to something far more basic; our relationship to Jesus Christ. All of these characteristics are pointless if we try to muster them up out of our flesh. They are really results, or consequences of our relationship to Jesus Christ, our abiding in Christ.
That’s why I chose this passage of Scripture.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Abide means to stay, remain, tarry, continue. In the vine, in Jesus Christ. And Jesus really chose a great illustration for what He meant. He has been describing how a branch that abides in the vine.
The Biological Relationship Between the Vine and Branches
The vine and branches are interconnected through a system of vascular tissues that transport water, nutrients, and sugars throughout the plant. This system, known as the xylem (zi-limb, flo-em) and phloem, is like the plant's circulatory system.
The xylem transports water and nutrients from the roots up to the branches, leaves, and fruit. The phloem, on the other hand, transports sugars produced by photosynthesis in the leaves down to the vine and roots.
This two-way transport system ensures that all parts of the plant receive the resources they need to function and grow. It also means that the health and productivity of the vine and branches are closely linked. Damage or disease in one part of the plant can affect the entire plant.
That’s why Jesus used this illustration. Because it describes the interconnectedness and dependency of the Christian on the Christ in a way that Christians could understand from the disciples 2000 years ago, to today; A branch can not produce fruit unless it is abiding in the Vine.
I began weeks ago sharing with you 5 things from this passage about what it means to abide in Christ. You have to be in the True Vine. You have to abide in the True Vine. You have to understand your dependence. You have to submit to pruning. If you do all that you have to get ready for fruitfulness, love and joy.
I. You have to be in the True Vine.
We started by looking at this simple claim from Jesus. “I am the true vine.” Jesus was claiming to be the, One and only true vine. What was He saying? Well, He was speaking to His 11 Jewish disciples, who would have associated the idea of the vine, the analogy of the vine, with Israel. In a number of places in the Old Testament, Israel is compared to a grapevine. And since they were all born as the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were branches off of that Jewish vine.
But the Jewish teachers had taken it one step further than that. They believed that simply being born a Jew was enough to ensure you’re going to heaven when you die.
So, what does Jesus say to His 11 disciples here. Israel is not the True Vine, I am the True Vine. The only assurance of the eternal inheritance of heaven is if you are attached to me, not Israel.
And we reiterate the same truth to you today.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
So, you have to have the right vine. It’s not by birth or church affiliation. It’s by rebirth into the family of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. It means you have to abide in the true vine.
What does that mean? Abiding in the True Vine means you are a Christian. You have to be a Christian.
We discovered as we looked at these verses, we discover that it is possible to be “in” the vine, but not abiding in the vine. Look at the verses again.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He [a]cleans it so that it may bear more fruit.
burned
Notice first, that He calls Himself the true vine, we’ve already said that. There is only one of those. But He is talking about how many types of branches? There are two types of branches that are attached, or “in” the true vine.
There is a type of branch that is superficially attached but doesn’t have that interconnectedness with the vine. We know they are not connected because they don’t produce fruit. This type of branch is illustrated well by Jesus’ parable. Matthew 7: 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
III. You have to submit to pruning.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; every branch that bears fruit, He [a]cleans it so that it may bear more fruit.
What does it mean to a Christian to be pruned? Well, let’s think about a vine and its branches. What does the vinedresser cut off of the branches? He cuts off parts that are dead, and parts that suck off the moisture, life and nutrients from fruit-bearing. For the Christian I think that comes down to two main things. The dead leaves are sin. We have sin in our lives. The superfluous leaves are the myriad things in our lives that are not necessary. But we are expending a great deal of energy producing them. So, God prunes those to cause us to produce much fruit.
Isaiah 18:5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches.
So, if you want to abide, you will have to change your mind about pruning. You have to begin to agree with God. You have to say to God,
Psalm 139: 24 And see if there be any [a]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
The abiding vine does not run from pruning, but to it. Now before you say, “Amen” which nobody did, let’s answer an important question. How does God prune us?
https://biblifocus.com/blog/signs-god-is-pruning-you/Sign 1: Loss of Comfort, Sign 2: Challenging Relationships, Sign 3: Redirected Priorities, Sign 4: Emotional Turmoil, Sign 5: Closed Doors, Sign 6: Increased Spiritual Sensitivity, Sign 7: Growth in Character
Let me summarize for the sake of brevity here. The way that God prunes is usually through some pain. Think about the process of pruning. It involves cutting or pinching, removing something, putting limits on something, declaring that something is not good, or unnecessary. Those are not pleasant things.
But instead of an attitude of gratitude..We often ask as believers, why is this happening to me? Why is God allowing this pain in my life? Well, here we learn one of the big answers to that question; He is cutting away anything that impairs or impedes your spiritual fruitfulness.
Hebrews 12: 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the [e]Lord, Norfaint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For thosewhom the [f]Lord loves He disciplines, And He flogs every son whom He receives.”
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
We might say, “well why must He use pain?” Well, you tell me. When do you go to the doctor? When you have pain. When do you change your diet? When eating as you are eating becomes painful. When do you stop and consider how you treat other people? When someone gets angry and points out your selfishness. When do you put on a coat? When you feel the cold. When do you get a drink of water? When you feel thirsty. The inherent nature of our humanness is such that we don’t naturally gravitate to what is good for us and glorifying to God. We naturally gravitate to sin and self-indulgence.
We are like a mindless branch that just randomly chooses to produce more and more foliage instead of fruit.
And God uses natural consequences, and His sovereign care and pruning to cut away that self-indulgent tendency.
Pruning often involves pain. It can be physical, or mental, relational. Now when it happens, we have a choice. We sit around and ring our hands, singing “Why me Lord, what have I ever done.” Or we can trust Him and ask, “What are you teaching me Lord?”
And we will not bear much fruit as individual believers, or as a church if we are resisting the Lord’s pruning.
How do we resist pruning? By defiantly continuing in sin, even when we feel the mental, spiritual, emotional, and mental pain it is causing us, and even others. We resist pruning when we ignore the promptings of the Spirit leading us to cut out some of the self-indulgent aspects of our lives. We grieve the Spirit, and even quench the Spirit. We resist pruning when we refuse to listen to other believers who are exhorting us to forsake something, or to take up something good. We resist pruning when we drown out the voice of the Spirit with all kinds of other superfluous noise from our world.
Let’s put it the opposite way. We embrace God’s pruning when we “walk in the Spirit.” We walk in obedience. Meditating on the Word. Praying without ceasing. Ever aware that everything that comes our way, God has allowed, and wants to teach us or move us, or prune us with.
That is how we will bear much fruit. How else?
IV. We realize our dependence on Him.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
There are two points to make here. The first point is that a branch that is not connected to the vine will produce no fruit. That is obvious on its face. If you cut a branch off of an apple tree and throw it in your yard, it will no longer produce apples.
Here He goes back to another part of the analogy of the vine. He has just described the Father removing an unfruitful branch. That branch is cast away and burned. We know that one produced no fruit.
And so, we as Christians, and the church have to be reminded. “Apart from me, you can do ___________.” Without Christ, we are powerless to produce eternal spiritual fruit.
Try as we might, asking any human being to produce eternal spiritual fruit is like telling a dead man to “get up and walk.” People try really hard to be good. And they produce some human goodness. But human goodness is nothing but filthy rags.
We were watching a movie the other night “The Miracle Club.” It was about a group of women from Dublin Ireland who win a trip to go to Lourdes, France, the famous location where the Virgin Mary was supposed to have appeared in 1858. The place is famous because people go there in search of a miracle. In the movie one of the women has breast cancer, and another hoped that her mute son will be healed. But at one point in the film, the ladies find out how many confirmed miracles have happened at Lourdes; 69. In over 100 years; 69.
And the truth of the matter is, that is an illustration of human effort in spiritual things. There are occasional moments where effort, or overwhelming emotions, or the strength of will produces a good result. But they are few and far between.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/15-1.htm
“Morality comes and stands over the cripple, and says to him, ‘Look here! This is how you ought to walk,’ and he lies there, paralysed and crippled, after as before the exhibition of what graceful progression is. But Christianity comes and bends over him, and lays hold of his hand, and says, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,’ and his feet and ankle bones receive strength, and ‘he leaps, and walks, and praises God.’ Christ gives more than commandments, patterns, motives; He gives the power to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and in Him alone is that power to be found.”
And that is the nature of a vine and its branches. That’s why this is such a wonderful illustration of a Christian’s life, and the life of the church. It portrays such dependence. There are many illustrations in the Bible to help us understand the nature of the church; the church is the family of God, the church is a kingdom. Jesus portrayed Himself in relation to us in a number of ways; He is the Door, He is the Good Shepherd. But nothing portrays our dependence on Christ and His investment in us like this. The vine literally passes nutrients and moisture from the soil to its branches and eventually the fruit. It’s not just an external relationship, like a family or a flock. He is our lifeblood. And so, even in the end, we recognize that even the fruit, is the fruit of the vine, not the fruit of the branch. Even our spiritual fruitfulness is attributed to Christ, not ourselves.
We depend completely on the Lord.
So, you want to know how you abide in Christ? First, you are a repentant believer in the One and only true Lord Jesus Christ. Second, you live your life in constant awareness of your dependence on Him.
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13
How else do I abide in Christ?
V. You have to abide in His Word.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Here we have a very practical application of the truth that we must abide in Christ. I say to you “Abide in Christ.” And you say, “how?” He is in heaven, or He is not visible to me, how do I abide in Him. Abide in His Word.
John 14: 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words;
What is the last thing you need to understand in order to abide in Christ? That if you do so, you will produce much fruit.
VI. You are Fruitful, the Father is glorified, you experience love, and joy.
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [c]prove to be My disciples. 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
What happens if you do all this? What is the result?
https://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2012/03/24/vinebranches/
Vine … Branches: A Lesson From Tree Anatomy
What is the bottom line?
Trees don’t struggle to produce food and fruit.
They abide, and through naturally occurring processes that just occur, they
grow and produce fruit. If Yeshua abides in us and we abide in him, through the
work of the Set-Apart Spirit in us, we should be naturally producing the fruits
of the Spirit so that everything we do, say and think should imitate him. We
should be outgrowths and extensions of his life and a reflection of him in
every way.
And shortly, this passage describes 5 glorious results of our abiding in the vine.
1st: God is glorified.
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit,
He is the owner and vinedresser. And since it was His work that planted the vine, and pruned the branches, He gets the glory when we produce fruit. We cast our crowns at His feet.
2nd: We bear much fruit.
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit,
This goes back to what I said at the start about our church. We just took the Natural Church Development Survey. It is called natural church development because, if the 8 evidences of Abiding in Christ are present in the individual members of our church, the growth will take place naturally. “We bear much fruit.”
3rd: We prove our discipleship.
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [c]prove to be My disciples.
Bearing much fruit is the outer evidence of the inner life.
4th; We will abide in love, and joy.
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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
He is essentially describing the fruit of the Spirit here. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. And if you abide in Him, if you seek Him, desire to know Him more, obey Him, walk in His Spirit, come out of the world, think on His things, not the world’s things, then you stoke the flames of the Holy Spirit within you. And His fruits of love, joy and peace blaze within you.
And that, my friends is the key to success as a Christian and as a church. That is the guaranteed way to growth; Abide in Christ. It will produce growth without fail.
prayer