The Union of Christ and the Redeemed
John 15:1-17, Psalm 80:14-18
We have been looking at the teachings to His disciples of Jesus in the hours preceding His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion, beginning in the Upper Room. John 14:30-31, Jesus says: “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. "Come now; let us leave.” So Jesus and His disciples are probably walking with his disciples and comes upon a grapevine and uses it as an object lesson that they would never forget.
In John 15 Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain 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.”
15:5 "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. 15:6 If 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. 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 15:8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
1. Jesus’ Work as the Vine: To Provide Life
Let’s look at the the PARTS of the PICTURE for a moment, three works or functions. First of all is Jesus, himself, whose work it is to Provide Life as the True Vine. In the Old Testament, Israel was referred to as the Vine, but they were judged for not bearing fruit; now Jesus says, I AM the true vine. Remember all the “I AM” statements we read last week appearing in John. Now Jesus tells His disciples: I AM THE TRUE, THE ORGINAL, THE GENUINE VINE. Well, the vine is the source of life- it’s how the branches and the fruit get their nourishment. It is very basic to FRUIT-BEARING, and there is no life apart from the vine. The trunk of any vine or fruit tree serves the same purpose and same importance.
Psalm 80 gives us a prophetic picture: Psalm 80 : 7 Restore us, (used 1050 times in the OT-REPENT US! TURN US!) O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. 14 “Return to us, (REPENT US! TURN US) O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, 15 the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. 16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. 17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. 18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, (REPENT US! TURN US!) O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” No longer is a man blessed by being in Israel, any more than you are TRULY blessed by being in America or a citizen of any other country. A person is only truly blessed when he is in Christ: Israel bore no fruit and the true vine, the true Israel of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. LORD TURN US to you that we may be saved and sustained by the TRUE VINE.
You have to notice the word that is used 10 times in 10 verses: the word REMAIN or ABIDE (Meno.) We probably would use the word “stay”, DON’T MOVE! It is used here in the sense “to be held continually”: It is a condition of permanence. JESUS ALONE IS the ONLY WAY to receive life that is permanent and fruit-bearing, God-glorifying: To REMAIN continually in Christ is to have life. Jesus would shortly GIVE HIS OWN LIFE for those who would believe IN HIM (BY FAITH), and they WOULD have eternal life, remaining in Him. HE HAS THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.
2. The Work of the Father is to PRUNE and PURGE branches
The second work or function is that of the VINEDRESSER or gardener, who is God the Father. The Work of the Father is to PRUNE fruit-bearing branches and PURGE fruitless branches. Our scripture says, “(The Father) cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.” When Jesus gave this example to the disciples, they no doubt thought of Judas, who had just deserted them and would soon betray Jesus. Jesus has endured millions of Judas’s, people who outwardly attach themselves to Jesus Christ, but have no inward life with Him. Maybe they do it for the fellowship of the people or maybe they want to fool themselves into thinking they're religious. Maybe they want to pacify someone in their social or family network, so they cover up their own guilt by certain behaviors that APPEAR to be “religious”. Maybe they're afraid of God, and they want God's salvation on their terms and so they think if they behave “religiously” they will pacify God and He won’t leave them out of His Kingdom.
Our text tells us that spiritual fruit is the sign of spiritual life, that you are IN the Life-giving TRUE VINE; and if there IS no fruit, the Father “cuts off every branch… that bears no fruit”. “Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
If you don’t prune a vine (or a fruit tree) it actually ends up not producing any quality fruit at all. Eventually all the non-producing branches steal the life from the fruit. So the Father cuts off, purges the dead branches but prunes, cuts and cleans away some of the stray sucker branches. He prunes us by the Word of God (“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”) The Word IS LIFE, the Spirit gives LIFE and salvation: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” Apart from abiding in me, you are DEAD. Separate a branch from the vine, it dies; separate a coal from the fire and it dies.
Those sucker branches that must be removed are sins or distractions that are diverting, distracting, and stunting our fruit-bearing ability, and the Father will see to it that branches that are living IN CHRIST will be healthy, even through the pain of pruning, to produce much lasting spiritual fruit. So Judas was cut off, He was purged from the vine, but the other 11 disciples will abide: Jesus URGES them to abide, to stay in Him, to produce more fruit. The Father will continue to care for these branches, as they ABIDE in Him.
3. The Work of the Branches is to Produce Fruit.
Jesus teaches that the Work or function of the Branches is to ABIDE in Christ and by so doing, to Produce Fruit. Who are the branches? The disciples, people who are called to follow their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and so WE are the branches. All Branches will have some fruit, even if it is just a little. It might be much fruit; in some cases even more fruit but always God-glorifying fruit, NOT self-glorifying fruit. There is no place in God’s Kingdom vineyard for barren, NO-FRUIT branches. There is only life and fruit for those who are IN THE VINE.
Jesus is clear in explaining this fruit producing principle when he said: “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5): If you abide, if you stay attached to the vine, you bear fruit. This is just common sense: I think anybody over 5 years old knows that if you lop off a branch from a tree or a vine it is going to cease to exist on its own. You don’t have to be an arborist, botanist, or horticulturalist to understand that principle. If the branch is DEAD, it is lopped off with no chance of coming back to life. The options are up to the vinedresser because THE GARDENER KNOWS! The branch is at the MERCY of the vinedresser and lives by the GRACE of the VINE.
As long as the branch is attached to the vine, the branch is totally reliant on the nourishment provided. A branch does what a branch should do when it is attached to the trunk. A branch doesn’t perform better by trying to be a better branch, or trying to suck out more and more nourishment from the vine. A branch doesn’t say, “I’m going to be a better producer of fruit, I want more fruit than that branch over there.” You produce if you have been born out of the true vine, Jesus. His word abides in you because you’re attached to Him. Your life is in the vine because the vine produced you and now you abide in the vine.
Close with the verses 10-17: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I 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. 16 You 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. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
LOOK at the results which demonstrate the power of Abiding in Christ in staying attached to the vine: Abiding will be fruitful and it will produce HOLINESS. Bearing spiritual fruit is for all God’s branches. You can’t be barren. That may not be your intention, but it is the result of being IN CHRIST: to bear wholesome (holy-some) Fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 says: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (staying attached and bearing fruit) gentleness, and self-control." The fruit of the Spirit, is the character of Jesus Christ. If you're abiding in Him, if you are spiritually and vitally connected to Him, then His character, His fundamental nature, His Spirit is going to flow through you and become evident in your life, evident in your thoughts, feelings, in your words and in your actions. The point is this: The heart of your life in Jesus Christ is not your reformed, renewed or restored character: The heart of your life in Jesus Christ will produce the fruit of the character of Jesus Christ, Himself, alive in you, working, having an impact, and becoming evident and observable. YOUR LIFE takes on the character of the vine.
Abiding in an unbroken connection with Jesus Christ will produce LOVE (verse 9). You are remaining connected to the divine love of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't reject you as a branch that’s attached to Him. He knows all about you and still chooses to love you. He calls you His prized possession and He commits Himself to care and to provide for, and to protect you. Why? Because you belong to Him, you’re part of His vine. He pours his love into you and don’t YOU JUST LOVE IT! You get all the heavenly love you need In order to produce the fruit of love; people are drawn to the fruit that you are producing because it is GOD FRUIT. It’s the fruit of HIS immeasurable love, love that has existed within the Trinity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, from all eternity that has been poured into you. And people without HIS LOVE will be drawn to that succulent fruit of the vine.
The third result of maintaining an ongoing, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ, is OBEDIENCE (verse 10). Obedience is the natural outcome, the result of God’s love. Abiding in this love that Jesus has for us is not some mystical feeling, some emotional high. This love is very concrete and active. When you keep Christ's commands you are abiding in His love. John 14:15: "If you love me, obey my commands." John 14:21: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." John 14:23: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teachings." The point is obvious, God’s love in us will result in greater obedience to HIM and greater love for Him!
Obedience is a natural fruit that just comes as a result of being in the vine. We don’t have to worry about , let’s say, producing a certain amount of fruit, or worrying if I’m going to produce a pineapple or peach instead of grapes. Grapes are to the grapevine as obedience to God is to the one who is one of the branches attached to the vine, just a result of being attached forever to Christ and His love.
And the final result of abiding in the true vine, Jesus Christ, is JOY. Verse 11 says, "I have told you this that my joy (chara) may be in you and that your joy may be complete (to the brim)."
Abiding in Christ, totally feeding and relying on HIS GRACE, bearing fruit, loving, and obeying produces the JOY of the Lord in you. Jesus came into the world to bring to us the fullness of joy: to bring good news and great, great joy. It is not an emotional high but an enduring fullness of BEING AND LIVING IN THE VINE OF CHRIST.
The obvious question at this point is simply this: Is God producing fruit in your life? Are these things in your life that you can only explain by saying, "God is at work in me." Do you know the pruning work of God in your life? Jesus is encouraging His disciples that they ARE true branches because THEY ARE connected to the TRUE. They have been cleansed of their sins, because they have heard the words of Jesus and believed in the words of Jesus. That’s what he wants us to know too. Remain in me and BEAR FRUIT!
1 John 2: 24-25 says: “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. (Make sure that this is the case) If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.”
It is all of God’s Grace, and your condition or position of STAYING has nothing to do with your performance, but on you being totally dependent on Him and Him alone, and producing what He intends for you to produce: Good and Godly fruit that will last. “If you believe in my name, you’ll continue to abide with me because you belong to me!”
OUTLINE 1. The Work of Jesus is to Provide Life as the True Vine.
2. The Work of the Father is to PRUNE fruit-bearing branches and PURGE fruitless branches.
3. The Work of the Branches is to ABIDE
