John 15: the Vine and branches

John chapter 15 verse 1. I am the true vine and my father is the husband man. Every branch in me that birth not fruit he taketh away or lifts up and every branch that birth fruit he purges, purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches.

He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me he can do nothing. If a man abide not in me he is cast forth, he has already been cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and they are cast into the fire and they are burned.

If he abide in me and my word abideth in you, ye shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you.

Continue ye or abide ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain, abide in you, and that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that ye love one another. The Lord will bless thee for the reading from his word. Now, all that Israel should have been for God, they should have been fruitful, they should have been good.

Back in Psalm 80 and verse 8 we read that he brought a vine out of Egypt, God cast out the heathen and planted it. Isaiah 5, we read there that the Lord planted his vineyard with the choicest vine, but instead of that vine bringing forth good grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. So instead of Israel being fruitful to God and bringing the worship and devotion that was due to his name, instead they were disobedient, they were wicked, they turned away from the Lord, they turned eventually to idolatry.

Jeremiah chapter 2, we read about a noble vine, but it became a strange vine, it became wild and unpruned. And then in Hosea chapter 10, Israel is an empty vine. As the Lord will lament there, the idolatry of the nation that is the burden of Hosea.

So against this background of what God intended for Israel and their failure, we have the Lord Jesus now teaching in the upper room to his disciples, I am the true vine. One who was fruitful for God. This is the last of the seven I am's in John, who gives witness to the Savior's deity.

And this is the one that brings forth for God all that God expected in man, true fruit to God his Father. It was the fruit, as we were thinking this morning, the fruit of obedience, the fruit of true devotion, of true love, of true service, of true worship to God. He glorified the Father in all that he did.

And in that lovely prayer in John 17, he could say, I have glorified thee on the earth, I've finished the work which thou gavest me to do. So he is the true vine. Now we must remember that it's not true so much in relation to false, but rather he is the substance of what was the shadow.

In John's Gospel he says he is the true bread, and that is brought out as the antitype of the manna that God gave from heaven. He's the true light. He eclipses John the Baptist, who said that he was not that light, but he was a shining lamp.

And then we come over to the book of Hebrews, and we find that the Lord Jesus has spoken up as the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched on that man. So we see him now as he uses this expression, the true vine, he's the antitype. He is the substance of what was the shadow.

Israel was the shadow, but they failed to bring forth fruit to God as they ought. Now he's going to address his disciples, and he says ye are the branches. We note that in these verses there are three kinds of branches.

In verse 2 there is the branch that lacks fruit, then there is the fruitful branch in verse 2, and we find a withered branch in verse 6. So basically those three categories of branches. Notice in verse 2 then, we have the branch that lacks fruit. Every branch in me, notice that, in me that birth not fruit, he taketh away, or he lifts up.

Now the Lord is not teaching here, as some would seek to bring out, that it is possible to be saved and then lost, and that they would work, they would try to work in verse 6 as well, but there's a clear difference between verse 2 and verse 6. In verse 2, as we come to it, this branch is attached to the vine, every branch in me. However, in verse 6, you'll notice that as we come to it, this branch is not attached to the vine, and I understand the thrust of the grammar is it's already cast, it's already a branch. As you come to it in the vineyard, it is, there's a branch laying there, it's not attached to the vine.

So we find then that this fruitless branch is in the vine, it's lacking fruit, it's in the vine, and it has the attention of the husband man, isn't that good? You know, whatever our spiritual condition here this afternoon, it is good to know this, that our Heavenly Father has an interest in us, and even the very fact that we're gathered amongst the saints of God, with the Word of God before us, would be an indicator of his working in our lives. He has an interest in us, his interest is that we would bear fruit. Now the verb that is used here in the King James translates, take us away, can equally be translated, lift us up.

You have it again in chapter 17, in relation to the Lord Jesus, verse 1, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven. So here I take it, it is the Father that is lifting up this branch that is drooping down to the earth. You see, the fact is, if you have a vine in your yard, branches that droop down to the ground will actually take root, and they'll become earthbound, unless they are lifted up off the earth.

So I take it that that is the thought here, in relation to bearing fruit for God. How much are we earthbound this afternoon? How deep have we got our roots into earth? One way to determine the degree to which we are bearing fruit for God, inversely, would be to determine the degree to which we are earthbound. The degree to which we have got our roots deep down into this earth.

So he lifts up, he would sever our links with earth. And every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it might bring forth more fruit. This is another thing that is necessary if you have a vine and you want to produce fruit each year, it is necessary to prune back the branches.

A couple of buds passed last year's new growth, so that it will bear more fruit. That would indicate to us that God's interest in us sometimes requires discipline in our lives. And discipline, the writer to the Hebrews will remind us, is not joyous, but rather grievous.

So it's speaking to us now of trials that come our way that the Lord permits in our experience. We must always remember that trials that come into the experience of a believer are not always punitive, it's not punishment always for doing wrong, but sometimes it may be formative, that he might form character in us. Or it may be preventative, to prevent us from falling into sin.

But any discipline that comes our way, from the pathway home, is always from our Father who is good. And he always does good for us as his people. It will be for our spiritual good.

The poet has put it this way, yet how often we shrink from the purging and pruning, forgetting the husband man knows, that the deeper and closer the cutting and paring, the richer the cluster that grows. Oh how well does he know, the afflictions are needed. He has a wise purpose in view, and within the dark valley he whispers to comfort, hereafter thou'll know what I do.

There is a purpose to trials, as the Lord would graciously work with us from day to day, that we might produce fruit for his glory. Now in order for a vine to bear fruit, two things are needed for those branches, two things. Number one, there must be union with the vine, union with the vine.

And number two, there must be communion with the vine. See the fruitless branch in verse two has union with the vine, but there's interference from earth that needs to be dealt with, and so that is interfering with fruit bearing. And it is still true that a believer joining in himself with this world, will in that measure not be bearing fruit for God.

I don't have time to do it, maybe it should be dealt with sometime. What is worldliness in this day, in this context, in this year in which we live? What is worldliness? I think our generation has redefined what it means, not for the good. I have to leave that.

But communion with Christ is needed, communion with Christ. He is after all the fruitful one. He is not of this world, not of this world.

So fruit Godward will be produced when we are enjoying communion with him, the true fruit giver, in obedience, in love, in true worship, and in true service to God. Christlikeness. Back to the same thing, that's the secret of Christian living.

So the Father lovingly prunes, he cleans, he cleanses that fruitful branch to encourage more fruit. Verse three, now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. So there's another key element, being in the word of God will cleanse us.

And the Lord speaking to these disciples, they had literally heard his word, we have now the written word and we need it. We need to be in the word from day to day if we're going to bear fruit. That's where energy to live for God will come from.

From communing with the true vine through his word, that one who always bears fruit for God. I am the vine, verse five, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.

And without me he can do nothing. So that secret again of bringing forth fruit is to be enjoying our links with Christ, what we are in Christ, our position in Christ that we've been hearing about. To enjoy that in our souls and to live in the good of that.

And we will become what we're occupied with. We will become like what we're occupied with. We're occupied with Christ.

We'll take on a little of likeness to him and reflect his character in fruitfulness to God. Let me come to verse six for very briefly. If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered.

Now there's obviously here no abiding because there is simply no union. With the branch. It's a cast branch and as you come to it in the verse it's a cast branch.

No union with the vine. It's only an old piece of twisted, withered looking stick. That's all it is.

No vital union, no vital communion, no drawing of resources, no possibility of producing fruit. Zero. None.

We were hearing about the hypocrite earlier. I take it that Judas would be the prime example in the context here. He's already gone out and it's night.

The Lord is comforting those that are real. And how could it be possible that one of their number could become a traitor? That would be traumatic for them to think about. But in this illustration the Lord is explaining that that is indeed possible.

Now if you go to the book of Ezekiel chapter 15 we learn that fire is the only thing for vine wood. It's not good for making desks. You can't turn it on a lathe.

The only thing it's good for is fire. And I take it that here the Lord is referring to eternal judgment. This is one that's not real, not attached to the vine.

Verse 7, if you abide in me however, this is the true believer, and my words are abiding in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. So here's one who is abiding in Christ in communion. And furthermore his word is abiding in his heart, affecting his heart, affecting his very desires.

And what he longs for is the very longing of God. And so those are the things he'll ask for. And he'll be asking according to the will of God.

And the guarantee is and it shall be done unto you. So what we learn from this is just the fact that fellowship with divine persons will bring our thinking into line with God. And even our very desires and what we want out of life will be formed as that which aligns with his will.

Now I got to sit down. I said I would. So verse 11, here's the purpose of it all, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy may be full.

There is a joy in abiding in Christ. There's the joy of bearing fruit. There's the joy of communion with him.

There's the joy of obedience to his commandments. There's the joy that is expressed in love and as we receive and enjoy his love toward us. And all these benefits, the fullness of joy comes directly through abiding in him.

May the word of God then encourage us as our another brother will speak to us. Thank you.