Sudden Impact 6
Thesis: When Jesus said “I am the vine; you are the branches” he created another sudden impact moment between God and Israel by stating to them all that he is the source of life and truth in regards to serving God and the Israelite religion did not represent the true way to God but had become a poisonous vine which lead to death and not life.
Video Illustration: The reward of bearing the godly kind of fruit- Fruit bearing! Clip from the end of Mr. Hollands Opus.
Have a grape vine from the garden! Notice what has happened to this branch which is not connected to the vine. It is dead and bridle. It will never produce fruit!
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.
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.
18“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
26“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
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."
The Message states: John 15:1-8
I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
Introduction:
Jesus said: “I AM THE TRUE VINE!”
The statement "I Am":
The word "I Am" found 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 here "I Am" 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.
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. The best location of a vineyard for the direct sunshine is on the gentle slopes of the hillside where most of the vines have grown throughout the centuries in the Holy Land (Jer. 31:5; Amos 9:13). Of course, not all the vineyards are on hillsides. Important vineyards are on the plains, such as the Plain of Esdraelon and around Jericho.
When the Israelites arrived in Canaan the land was already devoted to viticulture (Deut. 6:11, Jos 24:13; Neh. 9:25) The Israelites are said to have taken over this industry. Viticulture thrives best under peaceful conditions because the vines need constant care and several years of watchful cultivation are necessary before they bear fruit (Zeph 1:13). A vineyard calls for harder and more regular labor than any other form of agriculture. Constant pruning of the vines is necessary if the clusters of grapes are to grow to full maturity. The prophet Isaiah describes the procedure usually followed in the cultivation of a vineyard (Isa 5:1-4). The husbandman planted his vineyard "on a very fertile hill" which was fenced in for its protection from animals and thieves (Ps 90:12, 13). He "digged it and cleared it of stones" before planting it with choice vines (Isa. 5:2) in orderly rows about three paces from each other. "He built a watchtower in the midst of it" (Isa 5:2; Matt. 21:33) to guard against the approach of intruders including foxes and boars (S of Sol 2:15: Ps 80:13). (Tenney Pg. 882)
Its Cultivation
The mountain regions of Judaea and Samaria, often little suited to cereals, have always proved highly adapted to vine culture. The stones must first be gathered out and utilized for the construction of a protecting wall or of terraces or as the bases of towers (Isa 5:2: Mt. 21 33) Every ancient vineyard had its wine press cut in a sheet of rock appearing at the surface. As a rule the vinestocks lie along the ground, many of the fruit-bearing branches falling over the terraces (of Gen. 49:22); in some districts the end of the vine-stock is raised by means of a cleft stick a foot or more above the surface; exceptionally the vine branches climb into trees, and before a dwelling-housing they are sometimes supported upon poles to form a bower (of 1 K 4 25, etc.)
The cultivation of the vine requires constant care or the fruit will very soon degenerate. After the rains the loosely made walls require to have breaches repaired; 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). The watchman is stationed in one of the towers and overlooks a considerable area. When the grape season comes, the whole family of the owner frequently take their residence in a booth constructed upon one of the larger towers and remain there until the grapes are practically finished. It is a time of special happiness (of Isa 16:10). The gleanings are left to the poor of the village or town (Lev. 19: 10; Dt 24:21; Jgs 8:2: Isa 17:6; 24: 13; Jer 49: 9; Mic 7:1). In the late summer the vineyards are a beautiful mass of green, as contrasted with the dried-up parched land around, but in the autumn the leaves are sere and yellow (Isa 34:4), and the place desolate.
I. The meaning of Jesus sudden impact statement “I am the vine!”
a. The main point made here by "I Am" is that Israel had been the vine that all who wanted to worship the true God had to be grafted too. But from now on Christ and His teachings is what we must be attached to if we want the truth and we want to serve the true God.
1). Israel had once been the True vine but because of sin and pride it no longer is 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.
* 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)
* He also reminds us and Israel at this time 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 its 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 who 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 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.
* This means we choose to follow His teachings.
* This means we follow His leading and insight.
* This means we do things His way not our way.
* This means we have nothing to do with sin.
* 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). I want you to realize that soon today we will be having Communion and once again I want to make sure that you understand what Communion is all about. It’s all about the sacrifice of Jesus and choosing to be attached to him as you life source, as your guide.
b). When you come to Communion you must come with the attitude of “I will do it His way!”
c). It’s coming to this table of sacrifice and saying Lord I will make to you a sacrifice of my life!
d). 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 Christ not to the teaching of Judaism (Salvation by works but Salvation by grace and because of this free gift I will then stay rooted in Jesus so I can honor Him by bearing fruit for the Kingdom.
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.
* 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?
b. The Colocynth was a herbaceous vine know to the Dead Sea area in Palestine as a "bitter gourd" and "bitter apple". It was a wild vine whose fruit was round and looked like oranges some times mottled with green. The fruit’s pulp though was poisonous (Tenney, pg. 884).
c. We once again learn that we need to bear the right kind of fruit. The Jews had thought they were serving Gos but the truth was they were serving themselves and therefore poisoning the ones whom they influenced. Instaed of leading them to Gos they lead people further away from God.
1). Let me ask you 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. Your fruit will determine their fruit! Just a thought!
Illustration: Old Age -Fruit of God
A young man came to a man of ninety years of age and said to him, "How have you made out to live so long and be so well?" The old man took the youngster to an orchard, and, pointing to some large trees full of apples, said, "I planted these trees when I was a boy, and do you wonder that now I am permitted to gather the fruit of them?" We gather in old age what we plant in our youth. Sow to the wind and we reap whirlwind. Plant in early life the right kind of a Christian character, and you will eat luscious fruit in old age, and gather these harvest apples in entity. Dr. Talmadge
Refuge-Seeking (wrong fruit).
Some parts of the coast of the Isle of Wight abound caves. In one of these was found the body of a poor Frenchman. He had been a prisoner, and had escaped from prison, and for a long time concealed himself there, probably in the hope of escaping by some vessel which might pass by. Many a weary day passed, however, and he still remained a prisoner, till at last he starved to death. So it is with those who make lies there refuge and live under falsehood but in the end they find out to late that they bore the wrong fuit and reap the consequence of death. Bowes
How are you living your life- Are you attached to the true vine? Or are you attached a false vine that produces nothing but poison.
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 the Holy gardener God can work on us to make us more fruitful.
II. "My Father is the Vinedresser (Husbandman, 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 bear fruit, He pruned the vine to help it bear more fruit and protected 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!
He did it with John the Baptist (John 1).
He did it through the OT teachings (Abraham).
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 protecting him from Herod and others.
4). God the father is the pruner contrary to some religious people of today.
1. God is the one skilled in pruning the vine.
2. 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 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 your attached to the word you will bear fruit and what you asked will be given you and it will give God glory (often a forgotten scripture in some circles).
* 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.
d. We are not to go bear fruit out of slave status but we are to bear fruit because we are friends of Christ.
e. Remember when you bear fruit you will be hated by the world *EXAMPLE OF LETTER from O.H. resident. But remember the spirit of Truth will be with you and He will help you testify of Christ.
*EXAMPLE of my former death threats.
*EXAMPLE of people who have lied about me.
*EXAMPLE of people who have hated me because of my stand on the truth. Professor at BSU.
T.S. – The reality check is spelled out for us in Scripture people will not like you because you bear Godly fruit. They will actually hate you. This is what is happening in the nomination for new judges today. Any one who is Christian and bears good fruit is opposed and condemned by the Democrats. God said through Jesus this would happen! We see the same with the press coverage of President Bush. But we still need to bear the right kind of fruit in spite of the world’s reaction.
III. How do I bear fruit and what should it look like?
a. You might be asking “How do I bear fruit?” Good question!
1. Let us look at Fruit bearing 101
a). You must be connected to the life giving source- Jesus Christ.
* Salvation
b). You must allow the Holy gardener God to prune you.
* A willingness to die to self and let go and let God
c). You must keep yourself elevated and out of the dirt.
* Keep yourself focused on the eternal goal and not allow yourself to become deflated were you crawl around into the sin of the world.
d). You must allow the Holy Gardener to protect you from varments who want to eat you.
* Learn to stay under the Fathers protection.
*Learn to use the name of Jesus to defeat the enemy.
*Learn to use the Word of God to beat back the lies of the enemy- Jesus did this in the wilderness.
e). You must allow the Gardener to repair any damaged ends.
* We must allow the Lord to repair the hurts of the past and in the future.
* Bitterness must be cut out.
* Unforgiveness must be rooted out of the branch.
f). Fruit bearing takes patience.
* For a vine to produce it takes time.
* For a vine to produce it takes sunshine
* For a vine to produce it takes rain
* 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. What will my fruit look like?
1. Galatians 5:22-26 the fruit of the spirit:
a). 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 ones 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.
b). Do the fire illustration- Put the grape vine in the fire and burn it up!
c. 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.
* Gossip is sin.
* Lies are not of God they are sin.
* Porno is sin.
* Un-forgiveness is sin.
* Gay lifestyle is a lifestyle of sin it is not attached to God.
* Dishonesty is sin.
* President Bush says we are not in a war with religion in Irag but the truth is we are. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers…” We are at war with an evil force and we must bear the fruit that will chase back the enemy.
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.
CONCLUSION:
WE ARE TO BE ATTACHED TO THE VINE AND WE ARE TO BEAR FRUIT FOR CHRIST AND GOD.
IF WE FAIL TO BEARFRUIT WE BECOME WORTHLESS AND GOD THEN PRUNES US OFF AND CASTS 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.
CAUTION: 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 GIVING OUT POISONOUS FRUIT HE PROMISES US THAT WE WILL CUT US OFF.
COMMUNION: Lets come to His table of sacrifice and determine to bear fruit for His Kingdom!
