Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD, USA
www.mycrossway.org
View this and other messages at: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/channels/8118
As we begin this new year of 2022, I wanted to take a few moments as a church and remember some important factors facing the modern church and especially as it relates to us. We the Church are founded on the Cross of Christ. This began from the very opening chapters of Genesis and flows through the Old Testament into the Gospels and beyond.
The Bible is the very Word of God and will often stand in contradiction to the ways of this world As believers living in this fallen world and awaiting our eternal home, we are living in a time faith is not only imperative, but it is a matter of eternal life. This being the case, the Word of God must also be central because this book is the only source of knowing how we may have eternal life.
I have always seen myself as a waiter instead of a chef. When we come together, we don’t come together to hear men speak, we come to hear God speak. The responsibility then of the pastor and the preacher is to take the message from God and bring it to the people. Therefore, the preaching and teaching of the full counsel of the Word of God is a matter of life and death. It is the eternal source of hope for the world. If we as a church diminish the value of this word that we are robbing the world of the hope it needs.
Within this book is the eternal plan of redemption from God for man. But a modern trend in the church is to skip over difficult or controversial parts. Mark Dever said, “A healthy church is a church that hears the Word of God and continues to hear the Word of God. Such a church is composed of individual Christians who hear the Word of God and continue to hear the Word of God, always being refashioned and reshaped by it, constantly being washed in the Word and sanctified by God’s truth.” That must describe CrossWay Christian Fellowship and we as a church must be committed to this being the central hub of who we are at Crossway.
So here we are at the start of 2022 and we must continue to be a church of biblically literate Christians. I fear there are too many in this world that are coming to church or attending church based on their own feelings or agendas and not being fed the bread of life. Today the world is finding a church saturated with entertainment and motivational speakers. In its pursuit of hope, the world turns to the church only to discover nothing more than its own reflection decorated in religion.
Now, I realize this seems overly critical, but I mean it as a word of caution to us, rather than to be demeaning toward others. It is, however, central to our message today and for the next few weeks.
Let me set the scene for you as we take a look at the opening verses of this chapter. John 15 is what is known as the Mount Olive or Farewell Discourse of Jesus to his eleven disciples. It is the night before his crucifixion. They have just finished the Last Supper, Judas has departed to prepare his betrayal, and Jesus and his disciples have left the upper room and are making their way from Jerusalem across the Kidron to the Garden of Gethsemane. From here, Jesus is going to pray under such pressure that he sweats drops of blood. He will be betrayed by Judas. He will be arrested. His disciples will abandon him and ultimately he will go to the Cross.
It is during the walk from Jerusalem to the Garden that he shares with his disciples these words:
?
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15:1–6)
1. Jesus the True Vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1)
In the Gospel of John there are 7 “I AM” statements made by Jesus. This is the last of the 7 statements:
I am the Bread of Like (John 6:48)
I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)
I am the door (John 10:9)
I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)
I am the true Vine (John 15: 1)
If you were to go back to Exodus 3:14 you find here the root of these statements. As Moses is standing before the burning bush, God tells Moses to go to Pharoah and demand God release the people of Israel. When Moses asks for God’s name, he tells Moses, I AM that I AM. This name, the Tetragrammaton, meaning the One who was, who is, and who is to come, is as much a part of the Divine nature of Jesus who unmistakably declares himself Holy. In fact, when Jesus is arrested, the soldiers come looking for him and tell him they are looking for Jesus to which he declares “I AM” (John 18:5).
“...the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” (John 10:38)
“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
Over and over again, Jesus not only declares himself Holy Divine, but he also proves it in word and deed. So coming to John 15 we have a serious matter of eternal life and a grave issue of salvation. His words are a picture of the life of the disciple and expressly clear that if you are living in faith that Jesus is Lord, then you are in danger of eternity in hell.
The image of a vine is part of Israel’s identity.
Psalm 80 is one of many Old Testament references to Israel being God’s vine. But they were surrogate vine to point the world to God until Jesus came. The problem was that Israel never produced the fruit that God desired. That was the point of Israel, to bear fruit for God to the world.
?
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (Isaiah 5:7)
?Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? (Jeremiah 2:21)
A missionary in Africa lived in his central mission which had a small generator to supply current for his church and a small rectory.
Some natives from an outlying mission came to visit the pastor. They noticed the electric light hanging from the ceiling of his living room. They watched wide-eyed as he turned the little switch and the light went on. One of the visitors asked if he could have one of the bulbs. The priest, thinking he wanted it for a sort of trinket, gave him one of the extra bulbs.
On his next visit to the outlying mission, the priest stopped at the hut of the man who had asked for the bulb. Imagine his surprise when he saw the bulb hanging from an ordinary string. He had to explain that one needed to have electricity and a wire to bring the current to the bulb.
We may share an understanding smile at the innocence of the African native, but we may not be much better. In our text for today, Jesus tells a story about the importance of our connection to the true source of life. Of the true source of power. Our Lord uses the analogy of the vineyard of the vine and the branches.
Just as the electricity provides the power necessary for the bulb to produce light, So the vine provides the life necessary for the branches to produce fruit.
The same is true of the true vine\. Jesus is here and he tells his disciples that he is the True Vine. The vine is the main branch of the grape plant that supplies everything to the branches. Without the vine, the branches cannot exist. There is no life. There is no fruit.
2. The Father is the Vinedresser
?
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (John 15:1)
I don’t know much about growing grapes, but from what I hear, growing a vineyard requires a great deal of tending, care, and careful cultivation in order for there to be a large yield of grapes. Jesus depicts the Father’s personal activity tending to his cherished vine. This description emphasizes the Father’s personal and protective care. He diligently watches over the daily condition of each branch. He is involved and caring for the vine. (Phillips) A. W. Pink comments, “He does not allot to others the task of caring for the vine and its branches, and this assures us of the widest, most tender, and most faithful care of it.”
The vineyard is the world and God is the vinedresser. The vinedresser is the owner and caretaker of the vineyard. His purpose is to cultivate a healthy and fertile vineyard and he is to care for the vine. This is not an easy job and requires careful and expert attention. This is a great description of our Heavenly Father. He created this world that we live in today and even though the corruption of sin has ruined his perfect creation, He tends to the vineyard and to the vine and branches.
?
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, (Psalm 24:1 ESV)
In Hampton Court near London, there is a grapevine under glass; it is about 1,000 years old and has but one root which is at least two feet thick. Some of the branches are 200 feet long. Because of skillful cutting and pruning, the vine produces several tons of grapes each year. Even though some of the smaller branches are 200 feet from the main stem, they bear much fruit because they are joined to the vine and allow the life of the vine to flow through them.
Without the vinedresser, the vine and the vineyard would be fruitless and eventually die. The work of the vinedresser is to keep the vine healthy and strong. Often this requires pruning, tying the branches up, and getting rid of dead limbs. Branches are pruned back each year in order to cleanse them. That is, a vine produces certain shoots (called "sucker" shoots) which start to grow where the branch joins the stem. If they are allowed to continue to grow, they would dissipate the life of the vine.
This is the case in our own lives as well. Our Heavenly Father, with care and precision, will intervene in our lives by pruning away things in our lives or getting rid of the dead branches in our lives. This can be painful and distressing, but everything the Vinedresser does is to help us be more healthy and ultimately help us be more fruitful.
Everything that happens in your life God is using to build you, shape you, and make you into a fruitful person. How encouraging to know that that Almighty God who owns the vineyard and sustains the whole universe is watching over you. No detail is too small and no mountain too big for His strength and His love.
More on all of this next week, for now, we are going to go to verse 5:
We Are the Branches of the Vine
?
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15:5–6)
Jesus is the vine in His Father’s vineyard and we are the branches of the vine. Now, this has caused a lot of problems through misinterpretation. Let’s break this down to better understand it.
First, some people believe this to mean that all the branches on the vine are believers. If we aren’t fruitful, God comes along and cuts us off and throws us into the fire (meaning hell). The problem with this interpretation is it isn’t in harmony with the rest of Scripture.
?
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28)
Another way people misinterpret this is by changing the meaning of what the Father is doing. In that, He isn’t really throwing any branches on the vine into the fire, but just moving them. Clearly, this isn’t what Jesus says. Jesus is literally saying the dead and useless branches are thrown into the fire. This is a clear reference to God’s eternal judgment.
The better interpretation of this is that all life is on the vine of Jesus. He is the giver of all life and everyone who is alive is given life by God
?
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:3–4)
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.? (Job 33:4)
So now, there are only two choices here. Will the person be alive through the vine of Christ or wither and die. The day will come, and is coming soon, when the Vinedresser will decide. This is the critical choice we must make today and why Jesus tells all people to abide in him. And if we abide in him, we are alive in him. If we are alive in him then we will bear fruit through him. That is life on the vine.
?
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4–5)
So now that you are alive in Christ, you will be a branch on the vine that produces fruit and this is life on the vine. What does a fruitful Christian look like? We’ll answer that question next week!
