I Am the True Vine; John 15:1-8
In the book of Exodus 3 when God called Moses to go into Egypt and lead the children of Israel out of the land, Moses said, “Who am I that I should go?” Moses knew that he could not do this in his own strength, ability, wisdom… But God said, “I will be with you.”
Moses in turn asked, “When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said tell them that, “I AM hath sent me unto you.”
In Matthew 16:13b-16 Jesus asked… It’s interesting that the religious leaders didn’t know because Jesus had told them who He is in John 8:58 He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” When He spoke those words He shocked His hearers because He was not only saying that He is the eternal God, He was also saying that He was the One that spoke to Moses through the burning bush.
But many still ask today, “Who is Jesus?” Some say He was a great teacher, others say He was a great prophet, and others say He was just a man that did great things. But Jesus said, “I AM: the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Door of the sheep, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” And in this passage Jesus said, “I am the True Vine… Abide in Me.”
What does it mean to abide in Christ? (radio)… The relationship between the branch and the vine is one of dependence. The branch relies on the vine; the believer continually must rely on Christ. The believer must abide in Christ, but Why???
I. That We May Bear Fruit – Vs. 2b-5
What is fruit or what are fruits that a Christian can bear: The New Testament gives several answers to the question.
A. Developing Christian character is fruit. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in nine terms in Galatians 5:22-23, and Peter urges the development of seven accompaniments to faith in order that we might be fruitful (2 Peter 1:5-8). To show these character traits is to bear fruit.
B. Right character will result in right conduct, and as we live a life of good works we produce fruit. When Paul expressed how torn he was between the two possibilities of either dying and being with Christ or living on in this life, he said that living on would mean fruitful labor.
C. Those who come to Christ through our witness are fruit. (Romans 1:13), Paul longed to go to Rome to have some fruit from his ministry there. (1 Corinthians 16:15), He characterized the conversion of the household of Stephanas as the first fruits of Achaia.
D. (Hebrews 13:15)… We may also bear fruit with our lips by giving praise to God and thankfully confessing His name. In other words, our lips bear fruit when we give thanks and praise to the name of God. And this is something we should do continually.
E. We bear fruit when we give money. (Romans 15:28)… Paul designated the collection of money for the poorer saints in Jerusalem as fruit. And, when he thanked the Philippians for their financial support of his ministry, he said that their act of giving brought fruit to their account.
To sum up, fruit includes: (1) a Christ like character, (2) a life characterized by good works, (3) a faithful witness, (4) lips that give thanks & praise to God, and (5) a joyful giving of one’s money.
Now we can do these things apart from Christ but they will not be fruitful. You can change your character, but that won’t change your destiny. You can change your conduct, but that won’t bring conversion. You can witness, but apart from Christ you cannot win souls. You can praise God with your lips, but not with your life. You can give generously, but you can’t buy your way to Heaven.
All these things are already done in Christ; therefore we must abide in Him. We must also abide in His word and allow His word to prune our lives – Vs.2b. Allow His word to cut away the things that don’t need to be in our lives, that we may bear more fruit.
II. That Our Prayers may be Answered – Vs. 7
I know you are probably saying, “I’ve asked many things in prayer and never received an answer.” The same is true for me too. I have prayed many times for things to happen that never happened:
I have prayed for people to get well and they didn’t, marriages to be saved and they weren’t, for success of church programs but they failed, for people to live and they died, for a lot of things over the years that never happened. Yet, I believe with all my heart that God answers prayers. I have learned from the scriptures that there are conditions for answered prayer.
1. We must have a right relationship with God. Vs.7 That’s a beautiful promise. But in Scripture every promise has a condition. God requires that we listen to Him first before He listens to us. If I don’t pay attention to what God says to me in His word, why should He pay attention to me when I talk to Him? If I ignore His word, why should He pay attention to what I say to Him? God never hears a sinners prayer unless repentance…
If we have a right relationship with Him & His word is in us then we understand His will… 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
2. We must have a right relationship with others: Mark 11:24-25
3. We must have a willingness to share God’s blessings: Proverbs 21:13, “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” God blesses us so that we may bless.
4. We must ask in faith: James 1:5-7
5. We must ask in the name of Jesus: John 14:13 Again this has much to do with a right relationship with Christ. As we abide in Him, and His word abides in us, we can ask anything according to His will and He will give it to us.
Of coarse we must also understand that God answers our prayers in ways we don’t always understand. Sometimes He answers yes, no, wait…
III. That We May Glorify the Father – Vs. 8
This is our purpose for living. We as the creature were made to glorify the creator & when we abide in Christ we can do that, not because our lives are pleasing to God but because Christ’s life is pleasing (Baptism, Mount of Transfiguration… My Son whom I am well pleased…).
When we abide in Christ, God looks at us and sees His Son, and that glorifies the Father… also when we abide in Christ we bear much fruit and that glorifies the Father… Why? Because we can only bear fruit by the grace of God.
IV. That We May Be Filled With Joy – Vs.10-11
I don’t know about you but I want to live a life filled with joy. Now I now there are people out there that would just prefer to be miserable, or at least they live as if they prefer misery (Gloom, despair, agony on me. Whoo…).
This week at the Minister’s retreat Brother H.B. London kept referring to joy suckers – people that are always complaining about something. The church doesn’t need joy suckers; the church needs joy spreaders – people that are excited about what God is doing in their lives & in the church. They are an encouragement to others because God has blessed them and they are filled with JOY.
I not saying that we will not endure some hardships, go through difficulties, or life will be easy. Remember I mention pruning… The cutting away of some things in our lives in not always joyful, but necessary that we may bear much fruit, and in turn cause us to be filled with joy.
Conclusion: Dr. Howard Hendricks tells of a small town in Texas where one year the school burned to the ground with the loss of more than 200 lives, because they didn’t have a sprinkler system. They began to rebuild after the initial shock had passed and called in the foremost company in fire prevention equipment to install a sprinkler system. When the new school was opened for public inspection, guides pointed out the new sprinklers in each room, to alleviate fears of another disaster. The school operated without incident for a number of years, then they needed to add on to the existing structure. As work progressed, they made a startling discovery. The new fire extinguishing equipment had never been connected to the water supply! They had the latest in technology and equipment, yet it was entirely useless!
