I am the true Vine
I Am Series
Thesis: Jesus said He is the vine and He is the one that gives life and He is the one that enables a vine to produce fruit. Without Him we can do nothing so it is imperative that we stay connected to the true vine.
Visual Illustration: I have a vine from the garden! Notice what has happened to this branch which is not connected to the vine. It is dead and brittle. It will never produce fruit because it is not attached to its life source the vine!
Text: John 15
1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Key Verses: John 15: 1 and 15:5 (NIV)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener."
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing."
Note: KJV "Abide in Me" instead of "remain in me."
Introduction:
Jesus said: “I AM THE TRUE VINE!”
The statement "I Am":
The words "I Am" in John’s Gospel is a pivotal assertion by Jesus Christ. Jesus uses this name to reveal who He is. The titles, "I Am" and "Yahweh" come from the same root word. The difference though, in these names is the tense.
"I Am" is first person.
"Yahweh" is third person.
The "I Am" assertion signifies that Christ is the "I Am" who appeared to Moses in Exodus 3. The assertion Christ makes is "The Great I Am is standing right now in your presence.”
The statement "True Vine":
This proclamation by Christ is spoken to show those listening that "I Am" Christ is the Truth. The context makes a comparison to what is true (Christ) and what is false (Jewish religiousness), Israel’s present condition with God. We may take these words in opposition to what is spoken concerning Israel. Israel was referred to as a vine in the Old Testament by God several times.
Psalm 80:8 : You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
Isa 5:7: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts [is] the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry [for] [help].
Jer. 2:21: Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
Historical Background:
Viticulture in the Near East.
The vine has been cultivated in Pal. from the earliest times. The climate of Pal. is peculiarly adapted to viticulture with the country’s bright sunshine and the heavy dew of the late summer nights (Tenney Pg. 882)
Its Cultivation
The cultivation of the vine requires constant care or the fruit will very soon degenerate. After the rains the loosely made walls required repair; the ground must be ploughed or harrowed and cleared of weeds -- contrast with this the vineyard of the sluggard (Prv. 24: 30-31); in the early spring the plants must be pruned by cutting off dead and fruitless branches (Lev. 25: 3,4; Isa 5:6) which are gathered and burned (Jn 15:6). As the grapes ripen they must be watched to keep off jackals and foxes (Cant 2:15), and in some districts even wild boars (Ps 80:13).
I. “The true vine!”
a. The true vine is Jesus – His life, His Word, His death, His resurrection and His teachings are the truth.
i. Jesus is the source of eternal life.
ii. He is the source which enables us to produce eternal fruit.
1. The main point made by "I Am" is that Israel had been the vine and all who wanted to worship the true God had to be grafted too it. But from now on Christ and His teachings are what we must be attached to if we want the truth and if we want to serve the true God.
1. Israel had once been the True vine but because of sin and pride it no longer was the truth.
2. Israel and Judaism is now the false vine and it no longer produces good fruit but produces wild fruit that is poisonous.
3). This text shows us that we as a church can fall away from God and become a false vine even if we started out being a true vine.
a). Jesus wants each of us to stay rooted and attached to Him and His word and not to allow ourselves to be transplanted onto a false vine.” He says for us to stay with Him and then He will stay with us!” This is a promise from His Word for us to never forget.
1. I have often heard people say to me, “God has deserted me!” But if the truth be told they always had walked away from Him and His Word.” He never moved they did! (Verse 4)
2. He also reminds us and Israel that they can do nothing if they are not attached to the true vine which leads to God. They cannot bear fruit outside the realm of Jesus Christ no matter how many laws they create, no matter how much they try to be Holy if it is done by themselves then it is to no avail and it’s all meaningless.
b. The N.T. affirms that Israel is no longer the way by asserting that Christianity is the way.
1). In Acts 11:26 the disciples of Christ and remember many were Jews are no longer called Jewish but are given the title Christian. This first happened at Antioch.
2). The problem with Judaism is it wanted nothing to do with Jesus. They rejected Jesus and therefore they rejected the God who they said they were serving. The truth is they wanted to do it their way and not God’s way. This will always lead us away from God not toward God.
a).The Jewish religious leaders wanted everyone to remain in their teachings-not in Jesus’ teachings. But Jesus makes it plain in John 15 that for us to remain attached to Him we must remain-abide-reside-listen to his words.
1. This means we choose to follow His teachings.
2. This means we follow His leading and insight.
3. This means we do things His way not our way.
4. This means we have nothing to do with sin.
5. This means we follow His truth not our deception of truth.
c. It’s important to remember that Christ made this statement after He had instituted The Holy Act of Communion.
1). He stated, "This is the New Testament in my blood" and from there He adds, "I am the true vine" so that the church may know and so that Israel may know that God’s kingdom, His church is under Christ’s New Testament teaching and not Jewish synagogues and their Old Testament teachings which have become distorted (Lightfoot, pg. 402,403).
a). When you come to Communion you must come with the attitude of “I will do it His way!” It’s coming to this table of sacrifice and saying Lord I will make to you a sacrifice of my life! It’s coming to Jesus saying, “I know what my real job is here on this earth it is to bear fruit for you and the kingdom of God!”
2). The point here to apply to us today is that we are to be grafted to the teaching of Jesus Christ not to the teaching of Judaism (Salvation by works) We are to embrace and live Salvation by grace. I produce fruit because of this free gift of eternal life.
a. Some believe this statement in John can be tied to the Old Testament quote from Deut. 32:32 where it mentions the "vine of Sodom". Israel had received a warning here that their vine’s fruit was bitter and poisonous.
1. Don’t miss the thought that challenges you to evaluate what type of fruit you are producing in your life. Is it good? Is it God honoring? Is it tasteful? Is it poison? Is it from the venom of the works of the flesh? What’s it look like and taste like to others?
2. We once again learn that we need to bear the right kind of fruit. The Jews had thought they were serving God but the truth was they were serving themselves and therefore poisoning the ones whom they influenced. Instead of leading them to God they lead people further away from God.
3. Let me ask you a question: Look at the people around you whom you have influenced are they producing good Godly fruit? Or are they producing fleshly rotten fruit? Your influence can either impact then positively or negatively.
4. How are you living your life? Are you personally attached to the true vine? Or are you attached to a false vine that produces nothing but poison?
d. Because Jesus is the true vine then we can do nothing unless we are attached to Him.
T.S. - Jesus challenges us in the first part of chapter 15 to be attached to Him so we can produce eternal fruit in our lives and also so the Holy gardener God can work on us to make us more fruitful.
II. "God the Gardener"
a. God the Father is the one who takes care of the vine and He is the gardener who has cultivated the ground, planted the vine, cared for the vine to grow and seen to it that it bears fruit. He prunes the vine to help it bear more fruit and protects the vine from predators that might kill or damage the vine and its fruit.
1). God the father is the one who cultivated the ground of the world so the vine would be planted in the soil of the world. He prepared the way!
a. He did it with John the Baptist (John 1).
b. He did it through the OT teachings.
c. He did it through the Spirit.
2). God the Father planted the vine which was and is grafted to Him (John 1:1).
3). God the Father cared for the vine Jesus by the Virgin birth and by protecting him from King Herod and many others along the way.
4). God the Father is the pruner of His church body.
a. God is the one skilled in pruning the vine and cleaning up the branches.
1. Harvey notes this, “A vine produces certain shoots called “Sucker shoots,” which start to grow where a branch joins the stem. If they’re allowed to continue to grow, they would dissipate the life of the vine through so many branches that the vine would produce little or no fruit and would produce mainly leaves instead. Every vinedresser knows it is important to prune away those sucker shoots to ensure plentiful fruit” (True Vine sermon, sermoncentral.com).
2. God is the one who picks the vines up out of the dirt so that it can get oxygen and sunshine so as to produce fruit.
a. Vinedressers go along the vine and pick it up off the ground because fruit cannot grow on the ground it will root and the insects will destroy it. So he lifts it up to get air and sunlight to produce fruit – grapes.
b. The art of pruning. What is It?
a. Pruning is the removal of any part of the plant either root, stem or branch, to discourage growth in one direction and turn the energies of the plant in another direction. In orchards and fruit gardens pruning is necessary, the object being, not to produce timber or utmost luxuriance of trees, but fruit in the greatest perfection and abundance. Pruning is also necessary for the development of fruit -buds on the inner branches of the tree.
b. John 15:5 God prunes the vine and if a branch bears no fruit it is cast into the fire to be burned up because it is not good for anything.
1). A few notes about bearing fruit:
a. You cannot bear spiritual fruit on your own (John 15:5)
b. If you are attached to the Word then you will bear eternal fruit. There is also an attached perk to this – Jesus says what you asked for in His name will be given you – Do you want to bear eternal fruit? Then ask Jesus for help.
1). A fruitless life is a meaningless life and it leads to death without honor.
c. When you bear fruit it is motivated out of love not duty. We are not to go bear fruit out of a slave status but we are to bear fruit because we are friends of Christ.
1). A friend bears fruit for another because of love not because of duty!
T.S. – God is the gardener and He is pruning back the church today so it will bear fruit, He is even removing dead branches which bear no eternal fruit and they will be cast into the fire. So we need to bear fruit!
III. The branch is - Christians – it’s us!
a. We are all called as Christians to bear fruit.
b. You might ask, “How do I bear fruit and what should it look like?” Good question!
1. Let us look at Fruit bearing 101
a). You must be connected to the life giving source- Jesus Christ.
1). This happens at the point of our salvation.
b). You must allow the Holy gardener God to prune you.
1). A willingness to die to self and let go and let God is a must as a Christian.
c). You must keep yourself elevated and out of the dirt and filth of the world.
1). We must keep our self focused on the eternal goal and not allow our self to become dragged down by the world.
d). You must allow the Holy Gardener to protect you from the wolves who want to eat you.
1). Learn to stay under the Fathers protection.
2). Learn to use the name of Jesus to defeat the enemy.
3). Learn to use the Word of God to beat back the lies of the enemy- Jesus did this in the wilderness by Satan.
e). You must allow the Gardener to repair any damaged ends.
1). We must allow the Lord to repair the hurts of the past.
2). Bitterness must be cut out.
3). Un-forgiveness must be trimmed off the branch.
f). Fruit bearing takes patience.
1). For a vine to produce it takes time.
2). For a vine to produce it takes sunshine
3). For a vine to produce it takes rain
4). For a vine to produce it takes pruning over and over
g). But fruit bearing will come to those who are attached to the vine of life Jesus Christ.
b. Why does the world hate that which is good and godly. Jesus said it well “They don’t know God!” (verse 21)
1. They are unable to know what truth looks like because there is no truth in them only the lies of the evil one. This is why they can never bear good fruit!
2. It does not even matter if miracles were happening here at New Life on a weekly basis there would still be some who would not believe the miracles or God because they are convinced that their way is the best way.
3. But Jesus still tells us in verse 27 “We must testify”
a. We must stand up for the truth even if it is not popular!
* Living together outside of marriage is sin not fruit bearing.
* Gossip is sin not bearing fruit.
* Lies are not of God they are sin not a fruitful practice.
* Porno is sin and it causes us not to be attached to the true vine.
* Un-forgiveness is sin not a fruit bearing action.
* Gay lifestyle is a lifestyle of sin not one that produces fruit.
* Dishonesty is sin not a fruitful action.
4. To impact this world we must bear fruit the way Jesus tells us to. We must testify to the world that we are attached to the truth by bearing fruit. This fruit will glorify God and point to God and we need to make sure we are fruit bearers. It is our divine call our divine mission.
T.S. – We Christians are the branch which is to be attached to Jesus the true vine and we are called to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
IV. Fruit is eternal acts of Christians which make an eternal difference (John 15:9-17)
a. 9“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14You are my friends if you do what I command.
15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
17This is my command: Love each other.
i. Love is a fruit of the Spirit.
b. “What should my fruit look like?
i. Galatians 5:22-26 the fruit of the spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
1. LOVE: The act of acting like God.
2. JOY: The act of being happy no matter what happens in your life because you know your destiny.
3. PEACE: The state of mind that is calm even in midst of storms and crisis’. Because you know who your protector is.
4. PATIENCE: The ability to wait on God’s direction and answer when things are pressing in. It’s also the ability to enjoy the sunshine and also the rainy days. It’s having the knowledge that God is in control and knows what is the right timing for everything.
5. KINDNESS: The ability to be nice to others even when they irritate you. The heart that says I love you in spite of what you did or who you are. The heart that sees the needs of people and empathizes with them rather than criticize them.
6. GOODNESS: The character of God is rooted into every part of your life, and you mind. Goodness is the character of God that directs your decisions and actions.
7. FAITHFULNESS: The decision of an individual to trust God for his or her life and lives with His way in their life.
8. GENTLENESS: The lifestyle that does not point fingers but puts their hands together and prays for others. It’s the attitude of being gentle toward the lost because love is rooted in their heart.
9. SELFCONTROL: The ability to control the impulses of self-of ego-of flesh-of sin in one’s life so as to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Galatians 6: 19-21: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
c. Byron Harvey – gives a good definition of fruit bearing in his sermon “The True Vine” sermoncentral.com:
i. Here is a simple, functional definition of “good works”, good fruit to be borne by a Christian: “The right deed, done the right way, with the right motive, for the praise of the right one – Jesus.”
ii. He adds, “Those who don’t know Christ may do the right thing, and even do it the right way, If the motive, however, is in order to earn salvation, to establish one’s own goodness, then fruit is not good, for Christ does not receive from any work done from selfish motives.”
CONCLUSION:
We are chosen by Jesus to bear fruit – that is our divine purpose on this planet – in this life. We are to bear fruit that will last for eternity! Bearing fruit brings God glory. When we bear fruit and follow His Word we prove that we are a friend of God.
We stay attached to the vine by feeding on His Word, we then bring God glory by living out the Word with our lives.
CAUTION: IF WE FAIL TO BEAR FRUIT WE BECOME WORTHLESS TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND GOD WILL PRUNE US OFF AND CAST US INTO THE FIRE.
WE ALSO NEED TO REMEMBER THAT ISRAEL AT ONE TIME WAS ON TRACT BUT BECAUSE OF SIN THEY BECAME A FALSE VINE AND GOD CUT THEM OFF BECAUSE THEIR FRUIT BECAME POISON TO THE WORLD.
JUST BECAUSE WE ONCE WERE SAVED AND IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DOES NOT MEAN WE WILL ALWAYS STAY THAT WAY IF WE WALK AWAY FROM GOD. IF WE FALL AWAY FROM GOD BY NOT BEARING FRUIT OR BY GIVING OUT POISONOUS FRUIT HE PROMISES US THAT WE WILL BE CUT OFF.
