Sermon Title John 15.1 I Am The True Vine May 29 2016 a.m.
We deliberately come to this statement of the Lord on this Thanksgiving Sunday. Who could be a stranger to the Vine and the Vineyard in BC? In the Mediterranean world the vine is one of the most valuable plants. The climate for the productions of grapes is as old as Noah. So much can be learned from this analogy which the Lord used to speak about Himself.
By way of introduction look at this acrostic:
V = vitality the profusion of foliage and grapes from one stock of the vine is astonishing. It is a thing that multiplies and multiplies. Its foliage covers decks and even houses. Its fruit is bountiful. One stock many branches and so much fruit. That is the picture of the Lord Jesus. He is one vine but His grace has produced so many believers as branches in the Vine. The whole church is by union to Him.
I = inward life The production of this vast array of foliage and fruit is due to the inward life of the vine. There are veins or arteries inside the rough mangled looking stock which give life to every branch. In winter the gnarled looking vine looks deathly when bare of its leaves. But within there is surprising capacity for life. That is again the picture of our Lord. His human flesh veiled another hidden life within. He was God in the flesh. Behind the human form there was an infinite Person. He is the supernatural life giving Saviour of the world.
N = Nourishment The ability of one vine to supply a multitude of branches with life giving food is the wonder of the vine. Every one of those little stringy tendrils that are truly joined to the vine shall have a life giving supply of rich nourishment. The union is seeming weak but the ability of feeding the clusters that hang from the vine is never in question. So with our Lord and His people. Your union is by faith in the Son of God. You are called to believe on the Son. Some despise this tendril called faith. They think it such a small link of attachment to the Saviour, but they know little of the reservoirs of nourishment available to those who believe on the Son.
E = Effusion of life supply The vine can bleed and bleed and show forth great supplies even in drought. Those succulent grapes each borrow their juices from the great supply in the vine. Our Lord Jesus has infinite supply of grace for believers who are united to him as branches to the vine. His blood shall never lose its power. By His Spirit life is guaranteed to each believer grace to supply each need. Grace sufficient for every time of need.
So much for the analogy. What did the Lord say about Himself as the True Vine? He is no empty vine or false hope, but the real fulfillment of all that men would expect from the Son of God the Saviour of souls.
1. WE NEED TO IDENTIFY THE TRUE VINE The Lord insists that he is no false hope. He insists that He is the fulfillment of this type and picture given in nature. The world will have many false Christs. They come to deceive and each of them disappoint. They are like the poisonous vine, which Elisha’s servant gathered. It caused death in the pot.**** Likewise there are supposed saviours and religions which are death to souls.
[1] The true Vine is known by the fruit He produces. V2 See the care of the Husbandman v2 “he taketh away”- that is God the father who superintends the work of bringing souls into union with Christ. He will not tolerate dead wood. The fruit which the Lord Jesus produces must be real and God honouring. God sent His Son to save a people who would be peculiar, holy and separate from sin.
[2] The Branches in this vine are known by their fruitfulness. Dead wood is taken away. Due care is taken that the branches do not trail in the dirt. The most fruitful are purged/washed/trimmed so that they be more fruitful. V3 shows us that this is done by submission to the Word.
So the application of this in our time is this: Where you find a congregation of people delighting in the Word and obeying its commands there the true Christ abides and they are true disciples. See v 10 & 14. Where there is no interest in the word; no interest in the spiritual truth, where the love of the world reigns - there the true vine is not bringing forth fruit.
Are we such a church? How can we answer this? Disciples of the True Vine bring forth much fruit: Love for brethren v12, Humility versus pride - the spirit of submission as branches. Servant spirit versus selfishness. Joy in godly things versus boredom. V11. A spirit of praise. Power in prayer versus defeat in prayer.
Are you such a Christian? Where this is not happening and you are slipping into greater evil and hardness of heart you cannot claim to be united to the Lord Jesus – the True Vine.
2. WE NEED THE POWER OF THE TRUE VINE INDWELLING US V4 “Abide in me and I in you.” Here is this twofold aspect of Union with our Lord Jesus. We are to abide in Him and He abides in us. See v5 “He that abideth in me and I in him.”
Our responsibility is to abide in the Lord Jesus. We are to cleave to Him and seek our life and strength from Him. The other part is that He indwells us.*** This is beautifully illustrated by the branch attached to the Vine. All the life for nourishment and growth comes from the Vine. The sap flows up from the root through the stock and along the main wood. The sap flows into the branches and on through the little tendrils which produce the fruit.
This is a great picture of the Christian living in devotion with the Lord by faith. As we believe, read the Bible, pray and live in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, there is the flow of His life into us. He sends His Spirit into our lives. See Ch. 13:30 & ch14. Once Judas was gone out the Lord was speaking to his disciples and about his departing through death and resurrection. But he would never leave them. He would abide with them. See ch. 14: 16 – 20. & v23.
Here is the answer to our struggles in Christian living. Here is the way to know power in enjoying the Christian life. This is the essence of Christianity.*** Christianity is a Person. It is not just to know about an historic Jesus. It is to know that he lives and dwells in your soul. The key is this abiding. Mentioned 10 times in these immediate verses. The GREEK word for remain means to be joined unto. The Lord did not save you to leave you an empty shell. He did not purchase a house to leave it dark and dismal. No, he comes to dwell in His people. He comes to live in the very soul. This is the life of God in the soul of man. Vines come in many varieties. Some produce, black grapes, some are green, red or almost white. The nature of the stock will dictate the type of the fruit. The Lord Jesus as the TRUE Vine - the perfect Vine the God-Man, holy, sinless, and blessed. His life in you will produce that true fruit.
How can anyone profess the name of Jesus and bring forth the sour grapes of worldliness? How can the love of sin and uncleanness be in the heart of one in whom dwells the spirit of the Lord?
All of this is contrary to the idea that it is acceptable to talk about professors of Christianity as carnal Christians as through they be real Christians. If there be a carnal Christian it is one that will be grieved with himself and repent, with a sorrow that does not need to be repented of. We would have to conclude that the more of the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ is poured into a believer the more he will desire conformity to the revealed will of the Lord through His word. The Bible will be his delight. [ This is the subject of this evening’s sermon]
3. WE NEED THE MANDATE OF THE TRUE VINE
[1] Honouring the Father v1 [2] Producing Fruit for the Father v8 [3] Raising disciples to produce fruit. V8 We are not only called to be faithful but also to be fruitful. TO PRODUCE FRUIT AIM FOR ABIDING in CHRIST. Our mandate is to produce fruit but we must aim for abiding. We must aim to have the indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord by abiding in him. We fail every time if we seek to bring forth the fruit without abiding in the Lord. You cannot make dead wood produce fruit. Dead wood is taken away. You cannot produce this life in yourself. See v5. This is the most fearful text in the Bible for the Christian. All effort and work and programs without abiding in the Lord is a sure-fire way to fail.
That is why we call the church to pray before we work. All work that is done without much prayer will be fruitless. When God’s people do not pray there will be no fruit. Sunday School teacher do you pray?
Preacher do you pray? Congregation do you pray? If we be branches united to the vine we will be a people much in prayer. Prayer will be a happy thing and a necessary thing. We cannot afford not to pray. If you love this church and its ministry come to its prayer meetings.
Apply to your devotions. Aim at abiding in the Lord. Devotions which fail to bring you into an experience of the indwelling of the Spirit is only a sham - there will be no power or blessing to produce fruit. Stay in the presence of the Lord until you feel His strength flowing into your soul.
Conc: There is no telling of the fruitfulness that the Lord can give in our lives if we learn to abide in the Lord. The life changing lesson of Hudson Taylor in China was when he discovered this truth based on John 15. He saw many many souls converted. The fruitfulness of a healthy vine is amazing. Through the secret silent processes of growth in the vine abundant fruit is brought forth. This too can be true of each Christian. My last word today is AIM for abiding in Christ and you will prove the Lord. You will find he will fulfil His own word in you.
