The Vine and the Branches - 7

Become to date of the seventh and last of the great I am statements of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All of them found in the Gospel of John.

Each of them has the familiar pronoun and verb. I am but in these seven cases followed by an instructive predicate.

I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life I am the way the truth and the life. Now as we come to John 15 five I am the vine, divine grapevine that was a very familiar symbol scattered all throughout the Old Testament use regularly of the nation of Israel must be more than a dozen times where that particular symbol is used to speak of God's chosen people Israel. But most of those references, we find that the vine which was planted by God belongs to God. But it failed to produce the fruit that God had designed for it proved to be a disappointment to prove to be a failure and so there must be something else that is going to fulfill these words about the vine from the Old Testament and the date that's what we find in John 15, where Jesus says I am the vine is the vine that never disappoint seize the vine that never fails to fulfill all that he has promised, I'm going to read just one of those Old Testament passages to give you a bit of the flavor of how this imagery is used in the Old Testament. This is an extended one from Psalm chapter Psalm 80. She probably shouldn't say chapter just solve 80 the 80th Psalm anyway. But notice as I read this several things about the vine and notice how toward the end of the passage. The attention moves from the vine to a person, the man of God's right hand already in this in the Old Testament said and there's a moving of the focus from the vine to the one who fulfills perfectly what this vine represents but here it is. Psalm 80 beginning in verse eight.

You have brought a vine out of Egypt. You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

You prepared room for it.

You caused it to take deep root and it filled the land. The hills were covered with that shadow in the mighty Cedars with its bow. She set out her bows to the sea and her branches to the river.

Why have you broken down her hedges so that all who pass by the way plucker fruit. The bore out of the woods uproots it in the wild beast out of the field, devours it return, we beseech you, O God of hosts looked down from heaven and see and visit the vine in the vineyard which your right hand has planted in the branch that you made strong for yourself. It is burned with fire. It is cut down.

They perish at the review of your countenance, let your hand be upon the man of your right hand upon the Son of Man, whom you made strong for yourself, then we will not turn back from you, revive us and we will call upon your name, restore us, oh Lord of hosts because you are face to shine and we shall be saved well in John 15 Jesus is divine in this passage in John 15, there is is there often is some disagreement some debate over how to interpret this passage exactly as some think that this passage teaches that it's possible for believer to lose his salvation to be joined to the vine and then severed from the vine we could understand how some might want to take it that way. But of course then you have to reconcile that with other passages of Scripture which clearly teach the opposite. So we got something to wrestle with their and others recognizing that there's a problem in trying to teach the loss of salvation. They will take those references to severe chastening to being cast off to being burned as not dealing with salvation, but simply dealing with very very severe chastening by the people of God, but that really doesn't fit the message of this passage properly either and I think that these questions are largely cleared away when we interpret this passage in John 15 by the broader context that makes everything fall into place, at least in my mind.

So as we look at this today with the look. First of all of the setting could call that the general context for the call of the setting. In this case then secondly were going to look at the context of that's the immediate context of the verses that surround our text in John 15 and then finally were going to focus for a few moments upon the main text, namely verse five the one that were most familiar with where Jesus says I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit, so let's follow that plan.

Plan first of all, the setting.

Now the setting of this passage like the one we looked at last Sunday in John 14 is all found within what is generally called the upper room discourse begins in chapter 13 continues, at least, or chapter 16, probably through chapter 17. The all of chapter 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus, but it is after that high priestly prayer that Christ and his disciples across the brook Kedron go on up to the Mount of olives there. Jesus prays and is betrayed and his trial and subsequent crucifixion begins. But back to the upper room setting. And what took place during those those times with Jesus you recall the begins with the foot washing account that opens chapter 13 which will come back to in a moment, which is followed by the Last Supper, the Passover meal from which Christ inaugurates the Lord's table from the elements that he takes from the Passover table, but these two events, as well as several others and a volume of Christ teaching are all to prepare the disciples for his departure. That's why last week in chapter 14 we saw this preparation. Let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me, and so forth. And then to that great text. I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me. This is all part of the same setting of our text for today but in regard to today's text in John 15. I think there are two elements in the prior contacts that are most important. What are the they are number one, the foot washing account a number to the dismissal of Judas, the foot washing account is the opening part of chapter 13 Jesus as you know takes the servants plates. They entered the upper room normally in a situation like this, there would be a servant there with the basin and towel who would wash the feet of the guest as they entered the room, but there was no servant to perform that task itself. Jesus takes the basin Jesus hurts himself with a towel like a servant, Jesus begins to go around to each of the disciples and to tenderly wash their feet and when he came to Peter. Peter protested this act by Christ, he considered it a task to be far too lowly for the son of God, far too lowly for his lord and master. You remember that. Then he came to Simon Peter.

And Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet Jesus answered and said to him what I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this, Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only but also my hands in my head. Jesus said to him, he who is vain needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean and you are clean, but not all of you goes on to make clear that the not all of you as a reference to Judas there's a distinction here between 11 of the disciples who are already clean and yet, paradoxically, need to be cleansed by foot washing but do not need to be completely plans because they have already. These are symbols of course the symbolism is him is that they have already been justified. The clarinetist, but there is that daily defilement of walking in the world and getting the dust of the world on their feet and that needs to be washed off those sins of each day need to be confessed afresh. So there is this we might call it touchup cleansing that is necessary. Jesus said if you don't let me touchup your feet to let me wash your feet, you have no part in me. This is necessary, but nevertheless you don't need an entire bath and entire cleansing because you already clean that is all of you, but one Judas following that there is a dismissal of Judas from the gathering of the 12 apostles, Christ said that someone would betray him. They were all saddened by the Latin that caused a lot of heart searching personal heart searching on the part of each of them and then Jesus identified the betrayer Judas and he dispatched an ascending way. Leave now and Judas went out into the night. You're told that dismissal of Judas is a warning to all and it is a reminder of responsibility to all that we must, as we learned our passage today, abide in the vine, abide in the vine, you gotta keep abiding. There is a responsibility there is this instruction that we must give attention to our spiritual state. We must not presume upon it, there's always this paradox always is tension between the great declarations of justification and eternal salvation which could never be taken away. But paradoxically was our responsibility to tend to our spiritual state and to not presume upon a relationship that's the broad setting we come. Secondly, to what I call the context and that of course is the verses surrounding verse five which is our text and let's work our way through that quickly verses one and two we have the figures it will be employed in this extended metaphor.

I am the vine, and my father is the vine dresser the husbandman's translation say the farmer and other translations say every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit.

He pruned that it may bear more fruit. So we begin with the vine identified in Jesus Christ. He said so right in the beginning I the very first statement I am not in this first statement I am the vine, but I am the true vine. Obviously there's something that would be identified as the vine, but is not the true vine, what would that be will I think in the context it's clear, it is that Jesus is the true Israel. All of the promises to the to Israel as the vine must be fulfilled in Christ and they are made to those who are in Christ. Even the Old Testament sense of trusting in him, but those who are not trusting in him. Those who are not trusting in God's promises those who only have an outward external religion but are not really joined to the vine. There not part of the true Israel to be part of the true Israel. You have to be joined to the true Israel. I am the true vine.

So Jesus you are the branches. You are expected to bear fruit. There's going to be a good deal of pruning the takes place. My father, the husbandman, the vine dresser is is watching closely the branches and does looking for elements on the branches which would in some way prohibit the full development of fruit in the greatest amount of fruit bearing and so those he cuts off he prunes them. That's painful talking about the various chastening's and disciplines that come in the lives of believers that make it possible for us to bear more fruit. This pruning and interestingly that word pruning can also be translated cleansing and so there's there's this element of both pruning than the cutting off process but cleansing that fits beautifully in the passage, but these figures in which the branches receive their life from the vine and they have to be attached to the vine in order to receive that life giving substance that that the sap that flows from the vine into the branches and is necessary for the branch to be alive because of that sap is in flowing the branches. Dad so the branches receive their life from the vine but the vine produces its fruit through the branches, that's an astounding thought use realize what Jesus is saying there not the instruction that flows from that goes on for quite a ways I ended verse 11.

Let's see if we can work through the first of all see something about the disciples present condition. Verse three he says you are already clean because of the word which I spoken to you. You see their direct reference to what we found. Chapter 13 were Jesus said to Peter, you don't need to be washed all over you are what you are already clean. I wash your feet, but you're already clean Jesus repeats that here you are already clean through the word which I have spoken unto you, cleansed by the word Christ word has already taken hold of these apostles and what he says here that's true of them is true of all who have believed his word, truly, and have been born again, have been made alive by the word of God. That's a disciples present condition, but it moves immediately to the disciples present responsibility.

Verse four abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, and less and less.

It abide in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. Yes, you are cleansed. Yes, you are joined to the vine. Yes, you are one of the branches that bears fruit, but still it is a bit paradoxical but it is the teaching the consistent teaching of Scripture still you bear some responsibility to maintain your connection to the vine to keep it in healthy condition. You gotta give attention to that you got a responsibility to abide in Christ like.

In order to bear fruit.

Christ, that's followed by our text in verse five, which I skip over for the moment and move on to the disciples, sober warning in verse six if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them those branches and throw them into the fire, they are burned. Say all failure to abide results in what separation and destruction and we saw an example of that. In chapter 13 in the person of Judas Judas had a superficial external, but rather impressive outward connection to the vine to Jesus. So much so that when Jesus identified him as the betrayer of the other 11 suspected him.

Even though he'd been pointed out, they they were so impressed by his outward performance that they didn't recognize his lack of life and so they were not prepared for what happened. But Jesus dismissed him. He said be God and he went out into the night. That's highly symbolic. He went out into the night out into the darkness. What because he wasn't abiding in the vine, and truthfully, because he never been saving the joint to the vine, but he was not tending to his soul. He was not attending to spiritual things. He was not attending to inward realities. He was he was only meticulously and very meticulously observing the outward things that other people could see to make sure that they work. They were in the right place that he could impress others, but you see he was not a true branch and so he was separated and went to destruction, and what we learned.

By this, both in symbolism and in in the meaning of the symbols is a divine branch is good for fruit or fuel. Nothing else this verse Old Testament passage into the talks about this how that the the vine grapevine what is good for nothing.

You can't make anything out of it. You can't construct anything out of it you According to the Old Testament Scriptures. You can even make a decent peg to hang your hat on. It just won't do that. It's just useless for anything but two things.

Number one bearing fruit.

If it's joined to the vine.

That's a wonderful purpose give you all the wonderful grapes but if he doesn't do that was a good for fuel. That's it. Fruit or fuel.

One of the other bow that follows in verses seven through 11 for encouraging promises that Christ makes in regard to those disciples who are abiding in him.

The first one has to do with prayer. The second went with assurance, 1/3 one with God's love and the fourth 12 joy will look at them quickly. First of all prayer verse seven.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you while what is that mean let's think about what it means first of all, this is saying that Jesus abiding in us and his word abiding in us are one of the same or maybe another way of putting it is the way Jesus abides in us is by his word abiding in us and hear the word is actually plural words in the Greek word is plural. Unlike the word singular. In verse three, you're already clean because of the word singular different record that slog us and that distinction is rather instructive. On the one hand there is the word that that represents the the general message of Scripture and Jesus says in verse three you are clean because of the message of the truth of the message of Scripture that has been declared to you, Downey says the way you abide in me is that my words plural abide in you, that's talking about individual words and phrases. How do we get God's wonderful log on some of God's wonderful word within us. One word of the time, one phrase at a time, one verse of the time. That's the way we go at. That's the way we get it into our soul and did abides in us.

And when is abides in us. Jesus is abiding in but in regard to prayer in verse seven what Christ is saying is obedient. Prayer is effective because all the requests conform to God's word. Another word when Christ is abiding in you. You are abiding in Christ and his words are abiding living active guiding your thoughts guiding your desires guiding your actions leading you to understand and appropriate God's revealed will for your life when when the word is controlling you to that extent, then whatever you pray is going to be God's will, then whatever you pray is going to be answered is a wonderful promise a stunning promise, but it depends upon our being controlled by the living word of God within us, great prayer, promise that's followed by word of assurance with comfort in verse eight.

By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples or some translations put it so you will manifest that you are my disciples, how by bearing fruit you want to know some people struggle with assurance of salvation. Am I am I not, how do I tell become a food inspector in your own life. What's really looking for the fruit of the spirit, Christ likeness affect some of the things that are right in this passage answered prayer.

If you're one of these people who says I pray and pray.

God never answers my prayers don't get irritated with God and don't doubt the promises of his word checkup. The level of of the word that's abiding in you answered prayer is fruit an abundance of God's love that will get to in verses nine and 10 is fruit joy. We get to verse 11.

That's fruit, and a lot of other things to an end when you see these things developing in your life. Not perfectly. Not as much as we would like. Ever this side of heaven.

But when you can see this happening when you can see that God is really shaving off the rough edges God is really giving me stronger and stronger desires for him and for his work.

God is really making me more and more discontent with the sale and with the things of this world. God is really bearing spiritual fruit in my life.

It is coming out and he's using me in various ways for his glory. What does that mean by this, you manifest you are one of my disciples. There's the comfort there's the insurance.

Third, God's love verses nine and 10 is the father love me. I also have loved you abide in my love. 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 divine love wonderful wonderful promise, but divine love. We are told is what we might call responsible love again.

We have responsibility to keep his commandments. That's how we keep ourselves in the love of God. That's how we increase the sense of and the effect of God's love in our lives affect Jesus as and can anyone doubt that the father love the sun to an infinite degree to the highest degree possible, but you notice that even Jesus links that to his obedience to the father's will. The father loves me because I keep his commandments because he kept them perfectly into the ultimate degree. He experienced the father's love perfectly into the ultimate degree and to the degree that we keep his commandments and the will not keep them perfectly, but to the degree we could keep his commandments, we shall experience greater measures of his love and then finally joy. Verse 11 these things I've spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full, and again Christ obedience is the ground of his joy why he is so so joyful in his relationship with the father even going to the cross, despising the shame, but for the joy that was set before him. Reread Hebrews and the reason Christ was so joyful in all that he did even those difficult things that he had to do is because of his perfect obedience to the father and his experience of the father's wonderful love in his life and to produce this inner joy that nothing the circumstances couldn't take away and the same thing is true of us to the degree that we are following the Lord paying his word's cultivating a greater stronger relationship with the father with his son and experiencing the love of God, to that degree. Our joy is going to grow and grow and grow. Joy is not like happiness.

Happiness depends upon happenings when when nice things happen were happy when bad things happen was set, but joy is an inward quality that bubbles up within us because of our relationship with Christ and the nourishment of God's work in this being joined to the vine in this life of the vine continually flowing to us and that produces a wonderful joy now. The text verse 15 will zero in on that finally have verse five rather is great text.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.

This teach text teaches us something about Christ and something about the Christian something about fruit bearing. What about Christ. I am the vine. I'm the true vine. I am the true Israel. I'm the fulfillment of all the promises to Israel and I'm the vine I'm the only source of life and I'm the only source of fruitfulness. I'm the vine, you must be attached to me I am the vine, not a vine. There's not a lot of different vines and whichever one you attached to that's all right.

Doesn't matter know one 11.

I am the vine, you must be attached to Christ by the creative power of Almighty God. It's a miracle it's a creative act that takes a branch and living Lee joins it to the vine and Jesus is that vine I am the vine, when we learn about Christians. You are the branches grow out of the vine, you are joined to the vine by the creative act of God, you are dependent upon the vine for life and for nourishment that comes from the vine that comes from Jesus you get it no place else and you fulfill the purpose for which the vine exist, namely to bear fruit, and how has God designed the vine. How has God chosen to bear his fruit in this world the fruit that comes from his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has designed for that fruit to be born on the branches of his children who are joined to the vine that is astounding. That is true, that is a privilege that is a responsibility but it's a great encouragement. This is what God says he is doing. This is what he says he will do if you are joined to the vine in saving grace. And if you are attending to your your relationship with Christ by bearing your part of the responsibility for abiding in him, that God is going to use to bear his eternal fruit you will bear some of it.

Other believers will bear other parts of it, but this is a promise for every true child of God, no exception. All will bear fruit. So will bear much fruit. If you're joined to the vine. The father will see to that. He's gotta you to make it happen when he's pruning. Don't object say hurry up so I can get back to this vine to this fruit producing purpose for which you have attached me to the vine and so the required activity is fruit bearing is he who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. There is a required activity. We must abide in Christ that's in active thing that's not a passive thing. What you do to actively abide in Christ. Well let's take some simple things. Pray the more you cultivate a genuine and consistent prayer life.

The more you are tending to this connection to abiding in Christ. What else give attention to the word read it here at study it, the more you give attention to that.

The more you giving attention to abiding in Christ. Be faithful to the assembly of the saints, and not just to attend but to be an integral part of working part connected to the body ministering to one another in the body of Christ and beyond that to the world. All there's so many things that we can and should do and to the extent that we are faithful to do them.

We are tending to this connection to abiding in Christ and to our fruitfulness because the promised result of this required activity is that we will bear much fruit, but this important reminder without me what you can do nothing. Let that sink in. Is that all-inclusive statement. Truthfully, yes, if you think about it. What can you do. Apart from God's enabling you can draw another breath, your heart can't beat another bait you can swallow another morsel you get another drop of water truly without Christ.

You can do absolutely nothing, but in the context he's probably talking more in terms of what we can do that has eternal impact. We can do a lot of things in this life and all that only by God's giving us the life of the strength to do it the breath and all that it takes but all of the things we do. Even the good things we do. If they're not all related to the vine and happening because were drawing nourishment and life from the vine than they amount to what and 0TH I and G nothing.

How many people waste their lives on good things and accomplish when eternity comes accomplish nothing of what of the lessons grow out of this text. Certainly there's a clear lesson about salvation.

Salvation is in Christ alone. You gotta be joined to the vine do not joined to the vine and not saved you not joined to the vine, you are going to be cast out and destroyed. But secondly, this text teaches us about satisfaction in life and it's found in the same place. Salvation is found in Christ alone satisfaction in life is found in Christ alone.

Where do you find joy in Christ. Where do you find peace in Christ. Where do you find love, real love in Christ. Where do you find the sense of accomplishing something purposeful in life in Christ satisfaction in life depends upon your big joined the Christ and abiding in him, drawing nourishment from him. It's in Christ alone. Salvation is in Christ alone. Satisfaction is in Christ alone services in Christ alone and not by that I mean your usefulness in this light to others. It all depends upon your relationship with, as I've already explained. Now let me make one specific application to something that so far I haven't mentioned though it was mentioned in Ryan's opening prayer that is today's Father's Day and I think this is very applicable to our consideration of fathers in their privileges and responsibilities when it comes to fatherhood which you argue with me if I said that to be a successful father is difficult, even under the best of circumstances, and nobody experiences all favorable circumstances. We live in a wicked world there is an awful lot that is warring against our efforts to bring up our children in a productive way in the way that honors the Lord. Fatherhood is a tremendous responsibility in our desire as fathers is to guide our children into productive adulthood and old in order to do that to avoid the pitfalls that will destroy them in so many ways. We live in a world that is filled with with enticements to illicit drugs in the far kids get hooked on that they may get that may get out of that eventually they may never or alcohol to drug to they may get addicted to that end, and in waste their life in spite of all of our effort. We tried our best, something hooked into them or were were inundated with immorality with illicit sex and every hand in all kinds of opportunities to involve oneself in it in various ways, and people who go to down that path generally end up in self-destruction. They think they can they can steal the fruit and not get bitten by the snake and doesn't usually happen they might for a while but doesn't usually happen and work.

Facing all these things as fathers and it's our desire to bring our children to achieve their God-given potential in life and of course most importantly for eternity were not trying to prepare them only for life were trying to prepare them for life and eternity trying to prepare them to live a God honoring life while they live, and that to live with Christ forever beyond the grave. Even if we succeed in the first part but don't have the blessing of God to see success in the second part then we haven't achieved what we want to, and were still going to find great grief. We want our children to live productive lives on earth. We want them to live for Christ on earth. We want them to spend eternity with Christ in heaven who can do this.

Who can accomplishing this.

Here it is. John 15 because without Christ, how much of this are you going to accomplish zero. That's what nothing means zero. But with Christ. What prospect would promised what encouragement abiding by. As you abide in me and I abide in you will bring forth much fruit, but never forget… Start abiding in May and depending upon me and saying that wonderful results that flow into your life because of that connection and then forget it.

Be careless about it. Forget that without me you can do nothing. You gotta keep abiding. Keep working at it keep working it. One of the challenges of Christian theology.

I suppose, is to get right. What parts are entirely dependent upon God.

We can't really do anything about it except just entreat him for help and what parts we have a definite active responsibility for and will be held accountable for our obedience. We gotta get that right with God to yield to the sovereignty of God and recognize are things that doesn't only he can do and we can't do them. We can only pray to him for his intervention is working in lives hours and our children's but there are a whole lot of things that we can do. Looking to him, all the while I'm done doing this, Lord in obedience to Dick to you. I'm doing this so Lord by your help and grace. I'm not doing this in my own strength. My own wisdom my own cleverness my own superiority of why know how this audibly done.

I'm doing this in humility and in weakness in the dependence upon you, but I'm doing it because you tell me to do it. I doing it. I'm doing these things depending upon you for the fruit.

How does the father succeed by abiding in Christ. How does a father succeed by continuing a serious commitment to Christ into things of Christ. How are you doing that saying this to try to embarrass you or shame you but I just ask you how are you doing and if you're not seeing what you want to see.

Then I puncture to the vine get back there and work did give attention to your connection to your abiding responsibilities in the vine, shall we pray father take your word and make this portion of your word enable us to have your words living within us that we might see your fruit developed within our lives and blessing the lives of others as we ask it in Jesus name