Would you please stand as we read the Word of
God? This is coming from John chapter 15, verses
1 through 11. John chapter 15, verses 1 through
11. I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinedresser. 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. Already you are clean because of
the word that I have spoken to you. 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. 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. 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. If you abide in me,
my words abide in you. Ask whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. By this, My father
is glorified that you bear much fruit and so
prove to be my disciples. As the father has loved
me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my
love, just as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. These things I have spoken
to you that my joy may be in you and that your
joy may be full. This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. You may be seated. So I could
hear the disciples talking amongst themselves,
saying, that triumphal entry really triggered
something in Jesus. It's almost as if as soon
as he entered Jerusalem, Jesus was different.
He's even doing some strange things. First, after
raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus' Lazarus
entourage, they meet him in Jerusalem with palm
branches and they're giving him a kingly entrance.
Then instead of hopping on top of a horse as
a sign of a conquering king, Jesus... The one
whom all things are made chose to make his way
through Jerusalem sitting on a baby donkey. The
optics aren't good, Jesus. Then Jesus is once
again talking about his soon -to -be death. How
he has to be lifted up in order to cast out the
ruler of this world. The crowds who sought to
crown King Jesus even recognized that Jesus'
death statements were off because they knew from
the law that the Christ remains forever. How
can you, Jesus, say that the Son of Man must
be lifted up? See, this statement, along with
the miracles that Jesus performed, really divided,
well, actually confused his audience. His mission
is not just to save Israel from the Romans, but
to save the whole world? And all this happened
in chapter 12. And I dare not speak of what happened
in chapter 13. Well, I already started, so I
guess I might as well. See, Jesus continued to
go on and on about his hour having come, which,
as he stated earlier, had something to do about
his soon -to -be death. Then, at the Passover
dinner party, Jesus does something else unbecoming
of a king. Jesus subjects himself to a foot -washing,
door -tended slave and claims that if he doesn't
wash his disciples' feet, that they will have
no share with him when he comes into his kingdom.
Also at the party, in some... random act of clairvoyance,
he predicts not only that one of his disciples
will betray him, but he openly identifies the
disciple who would do it. He also predicts that
another one of his disciples will deny him before
men. In chapter 14, Jesus first stated that he
was the way, the truth, and the life, and that
no one comes to the Father except through him.
Now when one of his disciples longing to see
the Father asks Jesus to show him the Father,
then Jesus in some mysterious and confusing way
said that the Father was in him and that he was
in the Father? Now the only thing that he said
that made sense was the new commandment that
he issued for his disciples to love one another
just as Jesus had loved them. But even this was
perplexing because just what was special about
Jesus' love for his disciples? Or what was the
nature of the connection that Jesus has with
God the Father? Or this promised Holy Spirit
whom the world cannot receive because it neither
knows him or sees him? Now John... chapter 15
verses 1 through 11 should help clarify these
questions and jesus's overall behavior during
this also special stretch of jesus's time during
holy week now in these verses jesus in his seventh
of seven i am statements shows us four aspects
of him being the true vine and they are the vines
vine dresser the vine's vitality, the vine's
victory, and the vine's vicarious love. Now,
these four aspects of Jesus as our true vine,
they compel us by faith to call him your sweet
vine of mine. It's the title of my sermon today,
Sweet Vine of Mine. Let's look at the vine's
vine dresser in verses 1 through 3. Now, God
the Father's inextricable connection with Jesus
the Son begins to come into focus with the Father's
role as the vine dresser to Jesus' vine. In verse
1, Jesus stated, I am the true vine, and my Father
is the vine dresser. Now, by calling himself
the true vine, Jesus wasn't saying anything new
that the apostle John hadn't already said about
him in chapter 1. In chapter 1, John said that
in Jesus was life and the life was the light
of men. See, Jesus' disciples would have recognized
the agricultural importance of a vine and its
ability to impart sustaining life and produce
fruit through branches that it spawned. Now,
Jesus stated that it wasn't just a vine nor the
vine, but the true vine. Now, in the phrase the
true vine, the adjective true is meant to modify
the noun vine. Jesus is speaking primarily to
the vine's quality of being the opposite of what
is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated,
or pretended. Meaning Jesus, like a vine, is
teeming with life -giving power that sustains
all that came forth from him, or as we'll see
later on, that which would by faith attach itself
to him. Now Jesus says, God the Father is so
intimately connected to him, the true vine, that
the Father, in conjunction with the sun, not
only sustains the branches, but he also preserves
the vine from supplying its precious life -giving
power to non -producing branches. Now, as any
farmer in Jesus' time would know, the vinedresser's
careful attention to an observation of the vine
was pivotal to the vine's life -producing capabilities.
I know we have farmers in our midst, so I want
to be careful about what I'm saying. Now, Andrew
Murray, he said that the chief care of the vine
dresser is the pruning. The pruning is a cleansing
for the vine. Now, in verse 2, Jesus mentions
two types of branches in him. One type is a branch
that does not bear fruit. And the other type
is a branch that does bear fruit. Now the father
takes away the non -fruit producing branches
and he prunes the fruit producing branches that
they may bear more fruit. Sort of like our liturgy
just said. Now the pruning process, as Murray
put it, is not the removal of weeds or thorns
or things. from without that may hinder the growth
of the vine it's the cutting off of the long
shoots of the previous year the removal of something
that comes from within the vine that has been
produced by the life of the vine itself we're
talking about cutting healthy fruit producing
branches sometimes eight and ten feet long leaving
just one to two inches coming from the wood which
is enough to bear The grapes. Here's a real -life
example of the two types of branches. Judas and
Peter. See, Jesus, the true vine, he hand -picked
both Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus for
30 shekels. Peter denied Jesus three times. Judas
was not bearing good fruit at the time of his
betrayal, and Peter was not bearing good fruit
at the time of his denial. So what's the difference
between these two men? In John 13, Jesus, after
Satan had entered into Judas, told Judas, what
you are going to do, do it quickly. In Luke 22,
Jesus told Peter, but I have prayed for you.
that your faith may not fail, and when you have
turned again, strengthen your brothers. In other
words, the vinedresser took away Judas and pruned
Peter. Well, what does the vinedresser use as
his pruning tool to cleanse the true vine? Now,
intuitively, we would think it's primarily affliction
and adversity. But in verse 3, Jesus says, already
you are clean because of the word I have spoken
to you. See, the vine dresser's pruning shears
and his loppers are his word. For the word of
God is living and active, sharper than any two
-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul
and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions. of the heart. And
when the word of God makes contact with our hearts,
it either accuses or excuses our consciences.
So it's only appropriate that Jesus only said
what his father, the vinedresser, told him to
say to reveal what type of branches we are. In
John 12, Jesus said, The one who rejects me and
does not receive my word has a judge. The word
I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
For I have not spoken on my own authority, but
the Father who has sent me, he has given me a
commandment what to say and what to speak. It's
as if Jesus' words are the vine dresser's pruning
and cleansing tools. See, affliction or adversity
are merely the means by which the word comes
to life for us. See, if the word of the gospel
has no effect on your life, then there is no
level of affliction or adversity that will bring
you to saving faith in Jesus Christ. You're just
going to simply find yourself taking lap after
lap on the track of hard times, never bearing
the fruit that you were intended to bear. You,
my friend, are a branch that the vinedresser
will take away. However, when you're faced with
affliction or adversity and the word of the gospel
penetrates through the coarse cracks of your
crusty heart, Then the supernatural response
is a person who finally has a sense of their
sin and the mercy of God in Christ. And with
grief and hatred, they turn from their sin and
they turn to Christ with the full purpose of
an endeavor after new obedience. If this is you,
then you, my brother or sister, are a branch
that the vine dresser is pruning. Now this time
of pruning, it's good for you because of the
true vine's vitality that continually supplies
you with what you need to continue producing
the fruit. And that's what verses 4 to 6 say
in regards to my second point, the vine's vitality.
Now, particularly in verse 4, Jesus showed the
importance of the continual life -giving power
of the vine by commanding his disciples to abide
in me and I in you. Now, by abide, Jesus means
to stay, and this is in a given place, a state,
a relation. or expectancy. It also means to continue,
to dwell, to endure, to be present, to stand,
and to tarry. More importantly, it means to remain
as you are, to not become another, or to not
become different. Abide in Christ. Or die. Now
after the command, Jesus further illustrated
the importance of abiding in him in verse 4 with
an agricultural reality. As the branch cannot
bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
Abide in Christ or die. And just when you thought
the command and the agricultural reality were
enough, Jesus in verse 5, I'll write, reiterated
what he said earlier. 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. Abide in Christ or die.
In verse 6, all Jesus did was further elaborate
on what happens to the non -abiding, non -fruit
-producing branches. They are thrown away like
a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered,
thrown into the fire, and burned. Abide in Christ
or die. Now, this further look. and to the non
-abiding branches is no doubt an allusion to
hell. The place of unquenchable fire, where non
-abiding branches do not die. They are not consumed.
They are tormented day and night, forever and
ever. See, this is eternal defeat. However, this
is not the destiny. of the abiding branches.
The abiding branches experience the vine's victory,
my third point. See, victory in the vine is God
being glorified in the fruit -bearing prayers,
words, decisions, and actions of his covenant
people. In verse 7, Jesus gave his disciples
some scary assurance. If you abide in me, and
my words in you, then ask whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. See, here Jesus
writes his disciples and us a blank check to
ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done
for you. Now, you're probably thinking, there's
no way Jesus means what he says. Well, I think
he does. He means what he says because he said
it before. Look with me in some of the ask and
receive verses in the Gospels. Matthew 7, 7.
Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you
will find. Knock, and it shall be opened. Matthew
7, 8. For everyone who asks, receives. And the
one who seeks... and the one who knocks it will
be opened. Matthew 18, 19. Again, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth about anything that
they ask, it will be done for them by my Father,
the vinedresser, in heaven. Matthew 21, 22. And
whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive
if you have faith. Well, Jesus, you got me. You
got me. What's the catch? The catch is that you
abide in Christ and his words abide in you. Abiding
in Christ and his words, abiding in you, is the
only condition standing between you and whatever
it is that you desire. Now, when I read this,
when I say this, I get the prosperity gospel
heebie -jeebies. You know, the health. wealth
and prosperity gospel, the name it and claim
it gospel, the blab it and grab it gospel. I
know and I have seen the damage of this brand
of gospel, if you want to call it that. I know
what it can do to a person, to a family, to a
church. and to a society who's on the outside
looking in for some kind of hope in this garden
of Whedon. Yeah, okay, all right, all right.
So we must hold Jesus' words not only in context,
but we must hold them in tension. For example,
if your tendency is to think to ask for wealth,
fame, or riches, Then you also got to remember
that the very same Jesus who said, verse 7, also
said to a rich young ruler who couldn't stand
the idea of pardon from his stuff, that it's
easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Uh -oh. Or how about the same Jesus
who in his Sermon on the Mount said, don't lay
up for yourselves treasures. Here on earth, where
moth and rust destroy and where thieves break
in and steal. Or how about this same Jesus who
says you can't serve God and money? Don't get
me wrong. I'm not saying that Jesus is saying
that being rich is bad or somehow it's a sin.
Rather, Jesus is alluding to how our sin nature
can turn a good thing like money into an ultimate
thing. thus making it an idol. So if you who
are spiritual, if you have Christ's words abiding
in you, then the things you are praying for,
which will be granted, are of a spiritual nature.
Things such as your kingdom come and your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. See, these
types of prayers and the results that they bring,
as verse 8 says, it serves two purposes. They
bring God glory and they prove you to be Jesus'
disciples. In fact, this is the example that
Jesus gave his disciples to pray. Wanting and
yearning and praying for the spiritual things
of Christ are the result of a pruned faith. Christian.
The true vine is supplying you with his abundant
life, and through his abundant life, you produce
the fruit of an abundant life. This, my brothers
and sisters, is the vine's victory in the Christian's
life. This is the life that Jesus came to secure
for you, Christian, both in the life now and
in the one to come. The only thing I could think
to call Jesus' act of securing this life for
you and me now is divine's vicarious love, which
is my fourth and final point for this text. Now,
verses 9 through 10, Jesus once again showed
his disciples the inseparable nature of the eternal
and qualitatively perfect love between him and
his Father. of the vine and the vine dresser
but the eternal love that jesus and his father
have for one another doesn't terminate between
the two of them jesus brings his disciples into
that love look at it in verse 9 as the father
has loved me so i have loved you see first jesus
talks of the from before The foundations of the
world love that his father had him. The entirely
self -sufficient love that his father had for
him. The I didn't need to create to know what
it means to love, love that the father had for
him. The holy, holy, holy love that the father
had for him. Then Jesus says, with that same
measure of love, so have I loved you. Jesus loves
us with the very same love that his father loved
him with. Let that sink in for a moment. And
then think about John 3, 16. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son
so that the believing one should not perish eternally,
but have everlasting life. See, God's love led
him to giving his only begotten son. Jesus' love
for the Father led him to voluntarily lay his
life down for the sheep. God the Father's love
and God the Son's love are identical in their
purpose to seek and save at great cost sinners
like you and me to the glory of God the Father.
And the eternal nature of divine and divine dress
is love. It had no beginning. And guess what?
It'll have no end. Christian, your only hope
in life and in death is to, as verse 9 says,
abide in Jesus' love. Abide in Christ's love
or die? Those are your options. Now, this love
that we're talking about, it's not the superficial
and the fickle and the artificial love that the
world has to offer. See, the world's idea of
love... is that it strings us along, and then
it leaves us high and dry, and it has us afraid
to risk the vulnerability that God's love would
have us receive and reflect to one another. See,
the world's love has given God's love a bad name.
Well, how do we abide in Jesus' love? Verse 10
tells us, by commandment keeping. If you keep
my commandments, you will abide in my love, just
as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide
in his love. Earlier in John 14, 15, Jesus said,
if you love me, keep my commandments. The condition
of abiding in Jesus' love is that we keep his
commandments. Commandments. Adam and Eve blew
it with just one commandment. Just how are we
to keep commandments? If Jesus expects us to
keep commandments, we are cooked, baked, fried,
and filleted. See, Jesus knows this, and he makes
a way for us to be able to keep his father's
commandments. He himself fulfills his father's
commandments. Listen to this. Listen to this.
Out of the love he has for his father. See, Jesus'
example of commandment keeping is as verse 11
says, a joy to him. Jesus received joy from obeying
his father, and his joy was full. Now, Jesus
wants to transfer the same eternal joy he felt
in following the Father's commandment to us in
the midst of this fallen condition. It's as if
Jesus is saying the only way for you to experience
the eternal love and joy he experienced with
the Father is if you live vicariously through
him. Abide in Christ or die. Just like a father
or a mother may live vicariously through their
children. You've all seen it. They look silly.
You've seen them on the sidelines. Right? And
I'm ashamed to admit that I'm one of those parents.
But the idea of the father or the mother trying
to live vicariously through their children, you,
Christian, must live vicariously through Christ
to make it in this life. And the one to come,
abide in Christ or die? Well, just how do we
abide in Christ? This brings me to the centrality
of Jesus. How do we abide in Christ? It's through
a theological phrase titled union with Christ.
Union with Christ means seeing your life. as
inseparably bound up or united with Christ's
life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension,
and intercession, otherwise known as the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Union with Christ is by faith
and repentance, living your life through the
lenses of the gospel to experience and enjoy
the eternal love that the vine and the vinedresser
had. from before the foundations of the world.
Union with Christ is prioritizing Jesus above
everything, putting Jesus smack dab in the middle
of everything, and then having Jesus right at
the end of everything. See, this is the type
of focus that Jesus had while he was here on
earth, exemplifying what true humanity is and
complete and utter devotion to God at all times
and in all ways. This is God's standard. You
shall be holy, for I am holy. Now, this type
of focus is truly supernatural. That for us to
have it, it's almost as if we at least have to
die to ourselves and be born again anew. And
at most, we have to literally be God to do what
God says. Now, if you're thinking this, you're
right. This is what Jesus secured for us so that
we could vicariously experience the fullness
of the inseparable love and joy that freely flowed
between the Father and the Son. Are you abiding
in Christ? Well, I submit to you that we are
not, at least not as we should be. How do I know?
Because I heard it through the grapevine. See
what I did there? Yep. Now, by grapevine, I mean
Jesus. See, Jesus knows that without the Holy
Spirit, the Comforter, the one that he promised
to leave us in John 14, 16, we couldn't and we
wouldn't be able to stomach the idea of someone
besides ourselves being in the forefront of our
lives. And I speak of this in moments of our
greatest joy and our greatest despair. It's us
at the center of our universe. In our greatest
moments of joy, pride creeps in. And it deceives
us to think how good we are. How fortunate my
spouse is to have me. How lucky my job is to
have me. How blessed my church is to have me.
In our greatest moments of despair, pride creeps
in and it deceives us, making us think that nobody
knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows my
sorrows. Have you ever thought to yourself that
this world would be a better place if you weren't
in it? That everything and everyone that you
touch goes to waste? Ever think you can't be
redeemed? Well, my friend. This could be you
still being at the center of your universe, and
you must surrender from this pride. This pride
is the reason that most of our relationships
suffer. See, pride is the number one destroyer
of marriages, thinking that your spouse exists
to worship you, or even worse, that they exist
to complete you. Come on. Union with Christ is
the life -giving source of marriage. For marriage
is a picture of the saga of redemption between
Christ the bridegroom for the church his bride.
Christ's humility and his obedience is where
we find the security in the traditional vows
that husband and wife say to one another. See,
the biblical prescription is husbands loving
their wives and wives respecting their husbands
as Christ loved and revered the Father. To all
my married folks, you ever go back to look at
your vows? You promise that you'll stay together
for good times and bad times, sickness and in
health, richer for poor, to death do you part?
You know where that comes from? That comes from
Christ's example to his church. And we are called
to be little pictures, little micro pictures
of the macro imagery and reality of what Christ
is doing with his people. Abide in Christ by
vicariously living out your marriage through
the lenses of Christ's example. Pride is the
number one destroyer of our vocations, our jobs,
what we do every day. Thinking that you exist
for your job. Or that you're irreplaceable. The
constant search for validation from your employer
or your employees as if that's the justification
for your existence in this world. Union with
Christ is the life -giving source of our vocations.
See, Jesus' validation didn't come from man.
Jesus' validation came from God the Father. God
the Father? perpetually and eternally recognize
Jesus as the employee of the month. Remember
when he said, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. And he exalts him and he gives
him a name that is above all names so that at
the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Now the biblical
prescription for not feeling validated by your
employer or your employees is to work heartily
as for the Lord and not men. Knowing that from
the Lord you will receive the inheritance as
your reward. Abide in Christ by vicariously working
as one serving not man, but ultimately the Lord
Jesus Christ. Pride is the number one destroyer
of our children. Thinking that you must model
strength and infallibility before your children
to earn the respect that you think you deserve.
Or even worse, failing to disciple your children
out of laziness. I've been there. Or failing
to discipline your children for fear that they
may not like you. Been there too. Union with
Christ is the life -giving source of our parenting.
For parents are to raise their children in the
fear and admonition of the Lord, and children
likewise are to obey their parents. See how the
Bible sets it out for you in those clear terms?
Abide in Christ by vicariously teaching, admonishing,
and obeying all that the Father gives you before
your children. Apologize to your children. Admit
fault and wrongdoing. And then model faith and
repentance to your children because of the free
grace that Christ won for you. It's amazing,
especially in my generation. I have a lot of
friends, a lot of my professional colleagues
who have the bitterness of their mother and their
father as an impediment that keeps them from
coming to Christ. This is true. All because you
can't apologize and say that you were wrong.
What do you have to lose? Your life is hidden
in Christ. In him you live, move, and have your
beings. You're a sinner who's been saved by grace
that's going to keep making mistakes. Why not
model that to your children so that when they
grow up, they don't feel ashamed and prideful
and admit the same thing? Pride is the number
one destroyer of our friendships and common bonds,
especially when you put unrealistic expectations
of what a friend should be on another. And then
you get mad when they don't reciprocate what
you've given them. I've been there. See, union
with Christ is the life -giving source of our
friendships and common bonds. For it was Christ
that said, greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Abiding Christ by vicariously understanding your
own sinful nature. as well as others, so that
your expectations are realistic even when your
close friends let you down. And if you haven't
been there yet, that day is coming. Your joy
in this life cannot be conditioned upon other
people because that, my brothers and sisters,
is a miserable existence. Believer, allow the
word of God to prune you. Do you know that the
word prune is where we get the word catharsis?
See, a cathartic activity is an activity that
provides psychological relief through the open
expression of strong emotions, such as crying
or screaming or physically exerting oneself.
And with God, your cries and your tears are not
in vain. The Father's pruning is cathartic in
that the whole point of the Christian life is
to bear fruit. And that bearing fruit is proof
that you are one of Jesus' disciples. So the
vine dresser's pruning is good for us. Unbeliever,
if you're not in union with Christ, you're not
bearing fruit. If you're not bearing fruit, then
you're not being pruned. If you're not being
pruned, then you are being prepared to be fuel
for the fire. So believer and unbeliever alike,
turn from your sin and by faith abide in the
vine. My prayer is that you come to see the sweetness
of the vine and you sing. He's sweet. I know.
He's sweet. I know. Storm clouds may rise. Strong
winds may blow. That's the pruning. But I'll
tell the world wherever I go. That I found a
Savior. And he's sweet, I know.