INTRODUCTION
A. THE SERIES
1. Eph 2.10 – “He Wants You To Know” - Artist/Masterpiece – God, thru Christ, desire to work through you to make you the Masterpiece He has planned.
2. Rom 12.1-6 – “What Is Expected?” - The Relationship expected is that of a Living Sacrifice not only to God but to others.
3. Jer. 18.1-6 – “The Potter & The Clay” - God, the master Potter, gives Us, the marred Clay, value by shaping us to be His masterpiece.
Each week we have seen the same thing. God, through Christ, desires a relationship with His Children that will allow Him to work in our lives to accomplish the “good, pleasing, and perfect” (Rom. 12.2) will mapped long ago!
APPLICATION: We have seen that to “Discover and Experience God’s Will”, we must allow God, through the many tools around us, to work His good, pleasing, and perfect will. We must “reverse the thought that “we must do anything” and teach ourselves to believe that “God, the master, must do everything!”
B. TODAY – A VINEYARD
Today, to end this series, our study is built around a Vineyard – a GRAPE VINEYARD. In our passage, Jesus is talking to His disciples who, because of their Jewish descent, would be able to understand the significance of the Illustration Jesus used!
1. OT – Israel – a Vine
Several passages in the OT referred to Israel as a Vine that had been “transplanted” into Canaan. Listen to what God later wrote of the Vine:
Isaiah 5:4 (NIV)
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
You would think that this marvelous display of mercy and grace would produce tremendous fruit. God gave them every invitation for a relationship that would allow Him to work through them providing spiritual blessings, but instead of trusting God’s Hands, the vine produced wild grapes!
2. NT – Christ – A TRUE Vine
While Israel was the past vine, the present and true vine was and is the Lord Jesus. And to teach them the relationship that God desired through Christ, Jesus used what they would know, the Vineyard, the Branches of the Vine, and the Fruit of the Vine.
3. Passage is found in “JOHN 15:1-8”
As last week, because of the way the passage is written, I feel it best to read the entire and then break out the parts. There are 4 parts: The Vine, the Vinedresser, The Branch, and The Fruit.
I. THE VINEDRESSER – THE GARDENER
Let’s 1st consider the Vinedresser – the Master Gardener. Verse 1 tells us that God is the Master Vinedresser – the Gardener.
* SCR: “Without the Master Gardener, There is No Vineyard!”
Webster says the part of the Vinedresser is to
(1) Cultivate, (2) To Purge & (3) To Prune the Grapevine.
A. HE CULTIVATES
The word “cultivate” means “to prepare or prepare and use for ‘the raising of crops’”. So the Vinedresser has the part of getting everything ready ! Let’s think about that part of the definition that describes “the raising of crops”
The Cultivator must have good soil, right mix of water. He must constantly work to make sure there are no insects, disease, or infection. In fact, without proper cultivating, the VINE nor the BRANCH stand a chance to survive. There is no CROP/FRUIT without that Vinedresser.
B. HE PURGES
Vs. 2 says “he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit”
READ Vs. 6 further says …
There has been a lot of discussion on these 2 verses. What is the meaning here and is this a statement or a warning? It IS NOT a statement showing the possibility of one loosing their salvation but rather a WARNING to one who makes a superficial commitment.
Follow The Process:
1. John 10:29 (NIV)
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (obviously once saved always saved)
2. Matthew 7:16 (NIV)
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (if they are really saved, you will know it)
3. Matthew 13:21-22 (NIV)
21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears (not receives) the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Anyone can follow Christ, when everything is going well! That’s easy. But it’s the toils and snares of life that expose what is in one’s true heart. I don’t mean a mistake, a stumble, a temporary setback. I’m talking ones life.
* It’s one thing to praise God when all is going well!
* It’s one thing to praise God when everyone is talking well of you …
* BUT it’s another when you are being verbally attacked or persecuted because of your stand not popular!
* It’s one thing to praise God when you are blessed financially and able to take care of your needs.
* BUT it’s another when you’ve just lost your job or your house or your ability to provide for the needs of your family.
* It’s during those tough times that one’s heart is exposed.
* That warning is a call and invitation for change. And if you don’t make the change, God WILL!
C. HE PRUNES
One responsibility of the Gardener is that of “pruning”. The Greek for “pruning” means to “cleanse”. It is the part of the gardener or vinedresser to cleanse the branches in order to produce more healthy fruit overall.
The same meaning comes from the word ‘pure’ in Matthew 5:8.
Matthew 5:8 (NIV) “8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
As the Gardener Cleanses Us (so that our heart is pure), we will see God and IF WE SEE GOD, then WE DISCOVER AND EXPERIENCE GOD’S WILL!!
The Process of Pruning:
1. He cuts living tissue that is robbing you of spiritual blessings!
- Sometimes we allow good things to get in the way of our depending on God.
2. When we have failed to see the warning, he must discipline us.
- Just as you discipline your children b/cause of your love!
- This helps to prepare us for His blessings!
- Yes, it hurts but without that pain, there is no gain!
APPLICATION:
- What tremendous responsibility is placed on the part of the MASTER GARDENER!
- But then THIS GARDENER is THE MASTERFUL GOD!
II. THE VINE – THE TRUE VINE (VS. 1)
The Vine is the Living Link. The part of the plant that allows the work of the gardener to produce fruit in the end. Without the vine, the branch cannot exist.
** SCR: “The Vine Gives Life To The Branches so the Fruit Can Be Produced”
(without it, there is no LIFE – It is the ONLY WAY)
John 14:6 (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The VINE is the WAY to life – THE WAY to the GARDENER.
Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
7 In him (the VINE) we have redemption through his (the VINE) blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s (the GARDENER THE VINE is providing) grace!
In the culture of our society, living in a day of rights, we look at belonging to Christ in a negative way – as though we lose something but rather it’s the opposite!
ILL: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BRANCH/VINE
Hudson Taylor says it perfect: “The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; At just the right time, and in the right way, there is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus.”
III. THE BRANCH
We must REMAIN IN THE VINE! By itself, the branch is weak and useless. The branch is good for EITHER ‘BEARING OR BURNING’ but NOT for BUILDING.
*** SCR: “The Branch is Useless Unless he Remains in the Vine for Life”
A. KEYWORD ‘REMAIN’
The keyword in this entire passage is the word “REMAIN” and it is located 8 times within the passage and even 3 more if you continue reading.
The Greek meaning gives us our English word “Abide” and means that we “should remain where we are”.
John 6:56 (KJV) 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, ‘dwelleth in me, and I in him’.
B. REMAINING IN CHRIST
Many of the images of Christ and the Believer throughout the Bible emphasize this important concept of “remaining in Him”.
1 Cor. 12 – the Body and its Members
Eph 5.25-33 – the Bride and the Bridegroom
John 10 – the Shepherd and the Sheep
C. MEANING OF ‘ABIDE’
To ‘Abide in Christ’ means to have fellowship with Christ so my life (your abiding in Christ) will produce fruit. Because of how God is ‘transforming’ our lives into a Masterpiece, fruit will be produced.
ILL: S.D. GORDON’S ‘CHERRY TREE’
Gordon tells of a spring storm that broke a large limb on his cherry tree. Although it hung by a very small strand, to his surprise the blossoms came anyway. Later some fruit began to grow as it did on the other branches.
He noticed, however, that only those in full contact with the tree bore "much fruit," while the partially severed branch produced only a scanty supply.
APPL: As believers, we must be careful about our spiritual connections, making sure we are fully abiding in Christ. The fruit produced, whether much or little, tells the story.
IV. THE FRUIT
Finally, what about “THE FRUIT”?
A. Who Produces the Fruit?
In V. 2, Jesus described the fruit of the believer’s life being that of fruit and more fruit. Then in V. 5, He then says that “if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit!” And then in V. 8, He says “that you bear much fruit”
In V. 5, don’t miss his promise that “apart from me (the vine) you can do nothing.” Then in V.8, He closes saying “it is to MY FATHER’s glory, that you bear much fruit,”
APPLICATION:
The word results or works often come up in the conversations of Christians but it is NOT a Biblical concept. A machine can produce results, so can a robot, BUT it takes a living organism to produce fruit and a BRANCH is NOT a living organism.
WE ARE A DEAD BRANCH ON OUR OWN. The fruit is only produced by our remaining in the Vine so that GOD can produce the fruit (which is why He gets the glory!) It’s HIS WORK!
We remain in the VINE – WE make the choice to be AVAILABLE!
Understanding this principle as we’ve discussed for 4 weeks TAKES US SO FAR down the road to “DISCOVERING AND EXPERIENCING GOD’S WILL”.
The part of the Branch:
Eph 4.1 ‘Walk worthy of the calling” (what is the calling?)
Eph 1.4 tells us: ‘for He chose us in Him… to be holy and blameless”
2 Cor 5.14-15 (my paraphrase) ‘for Christ’s love compels us that those who live should NO LONGER live for themselves BUT FOR HIM who died for them’
B. The Promise of “Remaining In the Vine!”
Notice V. 7 ‘if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.”
Is it as it seems? YES it is! It’s HIS PROMISE! BUT notice the condition!
APPLICATION:
As we allow God to produce fruit in our lives through Christ, because we have remained in Him and He with us, OUR THOUGHTS, OUR PATTERN, OUR LIFE’S DESIRE ALL BECOME AS HIS!
We no long ask for selfish requests but instead ask as He would desire! And because we are being transformed to become like Jesus, God would be praised in having the opportunity to show His approval on what He has made us to be!
V. SUMMARY
As only God could do:
1) God the Gardener; 2) Jesus the Vine; 3) Believers as the Branch; 4) They all work together to Produce Fruit
What a study. You know, when it comes to Christ and His Word, I’M ONLY A STUDENT WHO IS EAGER TO LEARN! And wow what He has taught me!
1. GOD IS THE ARTIST
2. WE ARE THE MASTERPIECE
3. CHRIST IS THE WAY, TRUTH & THE LIFE
4. AS HE PLANNED
