VINE AND BRANCHES
John 15:1-16
By William Akehurst, HSWC
Life Lessons from God’s Creation
Jesus is the true vine. God’s chosen people are His natural branches. We have the right to be grafted in, becoming a part of God’s family tree.
Today we will begin with a lesson in Botany
Props: a branch with leaves, some dead wood and a few broken branches.
A separate branch, to be used to demonstrate grafting
Rooted in
In order for a plant to grow, it must have roots
In order for us to grow spiritually, we must be well rooted in the WORD.
Vine, shoots, stems, branch
As with any plant, once the roots begin to grow, a shoot, must come up out of the dirt, it must emerge forth
Spiritually, we must emerge from the miry clay Psalm 40
Branch out
The shoot then puts out branches
Gives structure. Allows to not only have upward growth, but expansive growth
Gathering strength and developing
Buds and Blooms
Must put out new growth
Constantly growing
Blossoming and blooming
Colors
Spiritually, we are to bud, blossom and bloom, showing our colors
Blooms are for pollination, for reproducing
Blooms are beautiful
Others must see Christ’s love and beauty in us
When others see Christ’s love in us, it spreads.
We pollinate others with the love of Christ
Leaf – we are to leaf out in order to get nourishment
Leaves are what gathers sunlight which becomes food for the plant
We must feed on the SON’S light
Fruit
Our rooting, branching, leafing out, budding, blooming, pollinating, leads to fruit.
Fruit is
The Fruit is nourishment to others.
Fruit is known as Produce. Produce aisle in the grocery store. It is what was produced by the plant. A useable product
Spiritually, it represents our ability to perform, to reach the goal
Represents
Fruit and Fruitfulness represents
Success
Productivity – the sign of reaching the goal, the fruit of the plant
Abundance – shows how successful
Fertility – fruit holds seed to reproduce again
Effectiveness – the effectiveness of the plant’s performance to reach the goal
Fig tree in the garden. Jesus went to the tree, which should have had fruit, it did not, so it died. It was worthless for what it was made for.
We are made to GLORIFY GOD
1. ROOT IN, GRAFT IN
1st, we must be part of his family
Rooted in Christ, the RIGHTEOUS BRANCH
Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
God’s Chosen people of the OT were the Jewish nation of Israel.
This nation, was from the original ‘family tree’ of God.
But the Lord made it possible for others, outside of the ‘family’ to become family.
But God gave the right for us to be Grafted in.
Fruit trees are often started and grafted into another tree which has a better root system, or a stronger tree structure.
A branch is cut from one tree, and inserted in an incision in the bark of the rooted tree.
The bark is wrapped around the inserted branch and as the tree continues to grow, the new branch becomes infused into the rooted tree.
A branch that is grafted in, must first accept the vine to which it is grafted. The vine carries the nutrients to the branch. The branch which was once cut off, must be made alive by the graft.
The Bible tells us of the Righteous Branch available to all who accept Him
To be part of Christ, is to 1st believe. John 3:16
To be part of Christ is to accept
To be part of Christ is to confess
Matthew 3:6
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 10:32
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
To be part of Christ is to obey
Jeremiah 7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The branch that does not produce is to be cut off and burned
John 15:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
There is a hell! To which those who do not conform to Jesus, the righteous branch, will be cut off, gathered up, and cast into its fiery pit.
2. LIVE, GROW, PRODUCE
To be part of Christ is to live
Philippians 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
To be part of Christ is to reflect
We were made in His Image, we should live, act, move
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
To be part of Christ, we must also produce
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesus says He is the LIGHT, and that we are to have that LIGHT in our lives.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are to let our LIGHT, HIS LIGHT in us, Shine before others. This is our FRUIT. This is what shows others to our Heavenly Father. This brings Glory to HIM.
And it is to be all the time. We are to produce this fruit, whether we are young or old.
It is never too late to produce the fruit that Christ is talking about. It is never too late to let His light shine forth to others. In fact, it is even a promise.
PROMISE TO US EVEN IN OUR LATER YEARS OF LIFE.
Psalm 92:13-14
13Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14They shall still bring forth fruit in old age…
We are to believe, receive, accept, confess, live for Christ.
We are to be fruitful in the LORD.
We are never to sit back on our laurels.
We must continue to produce fruit.
If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, why not do it today.
Jesus chose to love us, live on this earth, and die for our sins. He made the first choice. He chose to do this.
We must make the choice to accept and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Then He wants us to become complete friends with Him. A true friendship, that far outweighs any other.
If you have already called upon the LORD JESUS to save you, I ask you today, are you living your life so as to be productive in the Lord?
Let’s pray.
Scriptures Referenced:
Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Matthew 3:6
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 10:32
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Jeremiah 7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
John 15:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Philippians 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Psalm 92:13-14
13Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14They shall still bring forth fruit in old age…
