John 15:1-4
Sunday Morning Bible Study
September 15, 1996
Introduction
We are in the time of the last night before Jesus' death.
We've been looking at the events and discussions between Jesus and His disciples during the time we call "the Last Supper".
It's the night that Jesus instituted communion as a way of remembering Him.
Eating bread to remember how His body was broken for us.
Drinking wine (or, in our case, grape juice) to remind us of His blood that was poured out to pay for our sins.
During the Last Supper, Jesus said:
Mt 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. (AV)
We left off last week with Jesus saying:
Arise, let us go hence.
And now we believe that Jesus has gotten up from the table and is possibly walking towards the Garden of Gethsemane, continuing His final instructions to the disciples.
:1-8 Abiding in the vine (read entire section)
:1 I am the true vine
It's possible that Jesus' instruction about communion is still fresh in their minds, talking about the fruit of the vine.
Jesus' choice of using a grape vine as an illustration to teach with would be familiar with the disciples.
But it's not for us.
How many of you grow your own grapes?
In Jesus' day, vineyards were very common things.
Back in ancient times, when the spies were sent to spy out Canaan, they came back with a huge cluster of grapes that took two guys to carry. (the place was loaded with grapes!)
In the days of the Maccabees (before Jesus' time), the Jewish coins had a vine on them.
Most important of all is the fact that the nation of Israel itself had been known as God's vine or vineyard:
Jer 2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? (AV)
Also: Is.5:1-7; Eze.19:10; Hos.10:1
true - alethinos - that which doesn't just have the name only, but is the real thing; real, genuine.
In the past, it would be in a Jew's mind that he has salvation because he is a part of God's chosen people, he is a part of the "vine".
But Jesus is now coming along and saying that the real vine to be a part of is not the Jews (though there's nothing wrong with it), but it is being a part of Him.
Lesson:
Where are you plugged in to?
Where do you draw your strength from?
Where do you get your hope from?
This whole passage is about "abiding" in the vine, in staying connected to the vine.
Jesus is going to be saying that the only way to bear fruit is for a branch (that's us) to be connected to the vine.
Yet it's important to be connected to the TRUE VINE.
Illustration:
In this day of electronics, we're pretty aware that you need to plug things in to make them work.
But what if you plugged them in to a bad outlet?
What if the outlet had no power?
How would that run your stereo system?
It's important to be connected to the proper power source.
Jesus is the true vine.
He's the right "power source".
It's kind of strange, but there are actually people in the world who are actually aware of this!
Illustration:
From U.S. News & World Report, Sept.9, 1996, cover article entitled "The Faith Factor, Can churches cure America's social ills?" pg.50-51 -
What's the surest guarantee that an African-American urban youth will not fall to drugs or crime? Regular church attendance turns out to be a better predictor than family structure or income, according to a study by Harvard University economist Richard Freeman. Call it the "faith factor." The link between religious participation and avoidance of drug abuse, alcoholism, crime and other social pathologies is grist for some intriguing new research. Says Brookings Institution political scientist John DiIulio, "It's remarkable how much good empirical evidence there is that religious belief can make a positive difference." Policy makers are loath to promote faith because of their intellectual bias, he argues. But in most inner cities, where government, schools and other institutions fail the poor, says DiIuilio, it is church programs that are "leveraging 10 times their own weight and solving social problems for us." ... A survey by John Gartner of Loyola College of Maryland and David Larson of Duke University Medical Center found over 30 studies that show a correlation between religious participation and avoidance of crime and substance abuse ... Federal prisoners who got leadership training from Prison Fellowship, a prison ministry started by Watergate conspirator Charles Colson, were 1 percent less likely to be rearrested after 14 years, according to one survey ... The divorce rate for regular churchgoers is 18 percent; for those who attend services less than once a year, 34 percent ...
Are you plugged into the "true vine"?
Are you drawing your strength from the Lord Jesus?
Are you looking to Him for your answers and direction in life?
:1 my Father is the husbandman.
husbandman -
o gewrgoV - a husbandman, tiller of the soil, a vine dresserWe get the name "George" from this word (you could kind of get away translating the verse, "I am the true vine, and my Father is George." ha!)
In this allegory that Jesus is going to teach from, the Father plays the part of the vine dresser, the keeper of the vineyard, the gardener.
:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
There are two kinds of branches in this allegory:
Ones that abide in the vine and bear fruit.
Ones that don't abide, and don't bear fruit.
beareth not fruit
This is the whole purpose in planting a grape vine.
Fruit.
What is meant by "fruit"?
The Scriptures often use the term "fruit" to describe the natural product of a person's life:
(Mat 7:15-20 KJV) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. {16} Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? {17} Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. {18} A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {19} Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {20} Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Specifically, here we're talking about "good fruit", the right kind of results that happen when Jesus comes into your life.
Good fruit includes:
1) The Fruit of the Spirit.
Ga 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (AV)
2) People brought to the Lord.
Ro 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. (AV)
3) Good works
Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (AV)
4) Praise
Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. (AV)
Jesus said that those branches that claim to be a part of His vine, but don't bear fruit, the gardener ...
taketh away - airo - two different meanings that can have two different interpretations:
1) to raise up, elevate, lift up
2) to take off or away what is attached to anything
Some would look at this and say that when a branch isn't bearing fruit, that the vine dresser will lovingly and gently lift up the branch and take care of it until it bears fruit.
But that's not the way you grow grapes.
If you have branches growing from your vine that aren't bearing fruit, you cut them off.
Any branch that isn't producing fruit is just drawing nutrients and fluids from the vine, nutrients and fluids that could be going to other branches that are producing fruit.
I know.
I have a grape vine in the backyard, and haven't been able to keep up with cutting off all the "suckers", and this year I haven't seen any fruit.
This also fits the context better when Jesus says:
(John 15:6 KJV) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
See also Mat.3:10; Mat.7:10
Is this talking about losing your salvation?
If a person doesn't bear fruit, or doesn't abide, will they lose their salvation?
Some would say, "No, you can't lose your salvation." "Those who aren't abiding were never really saved."
Others would say, "Yes, you can lose your salvation if you do not abide in Christ."
You can choose which one you want to hold to, but they're really two sides of the same coin.
The point is that we are to abide in Christ.
The point is that we are to see fruit in our lives.
If this isn't happening, we're going to be "taken away".
:2 every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
If your claim to be a Christian is true, then you will be producing fruit in your life.
But because God is such a good "husbandman", He's not just satisfied with just a few little itsy-bitsy grapes, He wants lots of fruit from His vine.
Illustration:
We planted a grape vine in the backyard a few years ago, and last year it finally produced fruit.
Little teeny grapes.
Miniature...small ... I'm not satisfied.
purgeth - kathairo (i.e. - catharsis) - to cleanse, of filth impurity; to prune trees and vines from useless shoots
From the Sunset Western Garden Book: (pg.363) "To get quality fruit you must choose a variety that fits your climate, train it carefully, and prune it regularly".
"train it carefully" - like "sit up vine", or "fetch"?
The key to fruit production is pruning.
Lots of pruning.
If you don't keep the excess "suckers" trimmed back, they drain all the nutrients from the plant, and all you see is leaves.
Just look at our backyard vine.
I haven't had the chance to prune it much at all this year, and it's gotten HUGE, but sorry, no grapes.
Illustration:
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.
Lesson #1:
Too many branches hinder the fruit.
Maybe we could learn a lesson from the vine ourselves.
Could it be possible we might have too many "suckers" in our lives that take our time from the important things?
It seems to be my tendency to get involved in so many things that I don't feel very productive in anything.
I'm sending out shoots here and there, and I'm not so sure I see the kind of fruit I ought to.
"Good things" are the greatest enemy of the "best things".
Illustration:
When Moses led the people out of Egypt, he found that he had a few things to become concerned about - about two million of them.
He started having the people take their problems to him so he could teach them how to resolve them God's way, and after a few weeks, it got to the point where the lines for Moses were longer than the Indiana Jones ride, and Moses' father-in-law said:
Ex 18:17-18 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest [is] not good. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that [is] with thee: for this thing [is] too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. (AV)
Moses had to change his habits.
The things he was doing were good.
But there were too many of them.
And he didn't have time to do the best things.
Is it possible that some of us need to be pruned back a little?
Lesson #2:
God's pruning shears.
How does God prune us? (ouch)
One of the methods He uses is through trials.
It's kind of like how gold is refined:
Peter writes:
1Pe 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (AV)
Illustration:
The goldsmith - It is said that as a goldsmith heats the gold to a liquid state, that all the impurities, the dross, comes to the surface, where he can skim them off. A goldsmith knows he has the impurities gone when he can look at the gold and see his own reflection.
God is our goldsmith, refining us, looking for His reflection.
Job went through the worst set of trials anyone could ever go through, and through it, God pruned a lot of things away from his life. Yet at the end he said:
Job 42:5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. (AV)
One of the results of the trial was a clearer understanding of the Lord.
:2 that it may bring forth more fruit
literally, "that it may keep on continually bearing more and more fruit".
Keep in mind, those of us who are experiencing some pruning, it's for a reason, so we'll be more fruitful in our lives, so we'll be more effective in our lives.
Lesson:
Let the pruning take place.
I think there are times when we find ourselves fighting the pruning shears.
It's not fun to have someone snip away at you.
Especially if you're kind of fond of some of the branches that are getting trimmed.
But don't fight God's pruning.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (AV)
Heb 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIVUS)
Are you allowing yourself to be "exercised" or "trained" by your difficult times?
What are the lessons you've learned?
:3 ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
clean - katharos - clean, pure
Sound kind of familiar?
It's the root word that "purged" in verse 2 comes from.
Even though some of our Bible translations use language that doesn't make us connect the two (NAS and NIV use "prunes" and "clean"), they're connected.
Lesson:
More on God's pruning shears
What's one of the ways that God prunes us?
His Word.
Jesus is saying that some of this pruning has already taken place in the lives of the disciples because of the things that He has spoken to them.
In the same way, God's Word acts as pruning shears in our lives.
Ps 119:9-11 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed [thereto] according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (AV)
How does it work?
Perhaps I'm reading my Bible, listening to a tape, or even sitting in church listening to the pastor teach.
And as I listen, God uses His word to speak to my heart about something in my life - a direction I need to be going, something I need to be changing, etc.
And if I obey what God is saying to me, then God's pruning has taken place.
Stay in the Word.
Let God's pruning take place.
:4 Abide in me, and I in you.
I used to have a hard time with this verse.
It's obvious that this is one of the most important, profound passages in all of Scripture.
No one wants to be cut off and cast into the fire.
We all want to be producing fruit.
And it looks as if it all revolves around this word, "abide".
I used to wonder if it meant something really incredibly secretive and only certain people knew just how to do this.
I kind of had it in my head that maybe it was some kind of meditation thing.
Maybe if I would just close my eyes, clear my mind, and think the right things, somehow I'd magically be able to do this "abiding" thing.
not.
abide - meno - to remain, abide.
It can carry the idea of not moving from where you're at, or the idea of sticking it out, or not to try something else.
Summary - it means to just stay put.
As a vine grows, little buds sprout along it.
If you don't trim the buds, eventually they turn into branches.
For a branch to "abide", it simply meant that it stayed where it developed, not jumping to something else, like a cat.
In Jesus' day, the practice of grafting was often used in vineyards.
The idea of grafting was to take the branch of one vine, cut it off, and transplant it onto the vine of another plant.
For a branch to abide, it meant that it didn't get up and go anywhere, it just stayed put, connected to the branch.
What's the secret to "abiding"?
There's no secret.
It means staying with Jesus.
It just means staying connected to Jesus.
:4 As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
For those of you who are beginning to get a little worried about your salvation and worried that you might not be "bearing fruit", you have to realize that you can't be the one to produce the fruit.
You can't go down the list I just gave you and say, "Gosh, I'd better start leading people to the Lord, and be more loving, and sing more praise songs ..."
A branch by itself cannot produce anything.
We are totally helpless.
There's nothing you can do, except just stay with Jesus.
:4 except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Our only responsibility is to abide, to stay where we are, connected to Jesus.
Are you connected to Jesus?
Lesson:
The key to fruit is staying with Jesus.
"Hey, but what about the fruit?" you say.
Give it time. Fruit doesn't grow overnight.
If you're connected to Jesus, you will bear fruit.
(Psa 1:1-3 KJV) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. {2} But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. {3} And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.