Alright. If you would, turn back
to John chapter 15 again. I'm going to try and speak a little
more on the true vine and the husbandman. Or I may just say
the same thing over again. Because I do like this. But John
15, I'm going to begin reading in verse 5 today. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye
can do nothing. 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. If ye abide
in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto
you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might
be full. As I said last week, this is
not a parable, it's an illustration, and as such, As Christ is speaking,
he is explaining what he means by using this vine as the illustration. He is the true vine, and the
father, my father, is the husbandman. Then he goes on to explain the
work of the father. The work of the husbandman was
to purge branches, to prune, to cut back. But here in verse 5, which is
where I'm going to start, guess what? It starts with the same
thing. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. I think
he's being serious about this illustration. He's repeating
himself. And he's repeating himself to
ones that he had already told. Now ye are clean. Repetition is necessary for human
beings. Saved though we might be, regenerated,
converted, we are still fallen creatures. And our minds can
forget almost faster than we can learn. I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Now I want you to notice very
carefully the order here. And the reason I say that is
because most people and most religious people get it backwards
every time. Because though he states, he
that abides in me and I in him, he starts out before that saying,
I'm the vine, you're the branches, okay? I'm the source, you're
the result. And you can never, ever forget
that. And if you know him, you never
will forget that. But most religious people get
it backwards. The branch does not grow into
the vine. The vine produces the branch.
I know that's simple, but that's what the illustration is. The
vine doesn't attach itself. I mean, excuse me, the branch
doesn't attach itself to the vine. The branch is a natural
outgrowth of a vine. If he says I'm a vine, he's gonna
have branches. And he's already said my father's
the husbandman, the husbandman's gonna make sure he's got branches.
And not only that, he's gonna make sure he's got fruitful branches. But also this. Living in Christ
and Christ in you precedes fruit. That's another thing the world
gets backwards. Being a branch, being a branch
comes before bearing fruit. Again, it's a simple illustration,
but that's all right. We're simple people. We need
simple illustrations. That doesn't detract from the
profoundness of it, because it is that simple. Everything is
in Christ Jesus, or it's nothing. And that's the truth of the matter.
This illustration, because we already said it in verse three,
or verse two, excuse me, before you're gonna see much fruit,
you're gonna see abiding in Christ, and Christ abiding in you. But
you are also going to see what? Every branch that beareth fruit,
he purges it, that it may bring forth, what? More fruit. You're a branch before there's
any fruit. And I said it before, and I meant
it. This is talking about the fruit
of the spirit. This is not talking about soul winning. I've heard
that. This is talking about the fruit
of the spirit that comes from God, the Holy
Spirit. but it only comes if you are
a branch in the vine tended by the husband. I've said it last
week, there's no talk of grafting here. These are natural grown
branches of the vine. I said it also last week, this
is not the olive tree in illustration. You don't join the true vine,
you are either a branch of the true vine, or you are not. And it is that simple. You're chosen in Christ from
before the foundation of the world, if you're a branch in
Jesus Christ. And you will be tended by the
husbandmen, you will be purged, you will be cleansed, you will
be cut back, And the same bringeth forth what? Much fruit. Now I talked last week about
how you trim back a vine in the early, late winter and the early
spring. So that when it starts out, the
vine is not supporting a branch way out this far that may just
suck up life and not produce fruit or good fruit. The other
thing I didn't say last week is that during the growing season,
you trim that vine. When you start and you've got
a couple of bunches of grapes starting to grow off of this
vine on these branches, they'll trim off the end. Purging never stops. Cutting back never stops. because we are still fallen creatures
in this world, even though we are branches of the true vine. The Father's work is never done
until the end. If you are a branch, you are
abiding in Him, and He is in you. And you are abiding in him
because he is in you. But here's the point. The true
vine, Jesus Christ, is our abode. I like that. That's why I like
the word abiding. We live and move and have our
being in him. We have life. Believers, those
who have been given faith by God, have life. But it's his
life that's been given to us. Our life is in him. Without the
branch, we're dead wood. He's gonna go on to tell us that
and tell us what happens to dead wood. Because if you are a branch,
you are abiding in Him. You are living in Him. You have
your residence there. That is your abode. He is your
abode. Now you're gonna be purged. You're gonna be cut back. You're
gonna be pruned. That, that, you bring forth much
fruit. And you've got the best husbandman
there ever was. And I said, this saying, bringing
forth much fruit is the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5 and
22. But the fruit of the spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance, against such, what? There is no law.
There's no law against any of that. And there's very little time
spent on it in most of the majority of churches today. The fruit
of the Spirit. They're worried about your walk,
your giving, your this, your that, your this, whatever. No,
this is the work of God. This is the work of the husbandman.
This is the fruit that you bear. Galatians continues on, and they
that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts. It's part of that internal pruning. But it also
says this, verse 25 of Galatians 5, if we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit. Abide in Him. Abide in Him. We live in Him. We live because
of Him and we live in Him. And He lives in us. Walk in the
Spirit. Because living in the Spirit
is living in Christ Jesus. Abiding in the true vine comes
first. Just like Jesus Christ said.
I am the vine, you're the branches. I'm sorry, you know, people may
not like it, but Christ is not only, not just primary, Christ
is ultimate. He is the alpha and the omega.
He is the beginning and the end. He's also the middle. A lot of people want to forget
the middle, Mason. A lot of people want to leave out the middle.
But you can't get from the beginning to the end without the middle. He's Lord now, he's King now,
whether you know it or not, whether I know it or not. And he is the
true vine. He was the true vine then, he
is the true vine now, he shall always be the true vine. Any
life we ever have is going to be because of him. Because he
is life. That is what being a branch of
the true vine means. We live in the spirit, we walk
in the spirit because we abide in him and because he abides
in us. And then we have this statement. Without the true vine, Without the true vine, you can
do nothing. That's just as true as I am the
vine and ye are the branches. The same man said it, the God
man. Without the true vine, you can
do nothing. What does it mean? Without me,
without me, without Jesus Christ, We can do nothing. And I like this, Walter, there's
another place where he doesn't say outside of me. He says without me. Because
in a real sense, there's nothing outside of Jesus Christ. By him,
all things consist. But there is a difference between
being in Christ and being without Christ. Because you know, you can be
without Christ and be elect. Now you're chosen in Christ.
before the foundation of the world, that's not the same thing
as being brought into the vine, being brought into Christ, being
a branch of that vine and bringing forth fruit. But without Him,
you can do nothing. And I looked at that word, and
guess what? That word nothing, it means nothing. That's what it means. It means
nothing, no thing. So what can you do of yourself? Nothing. Is that too hard? What can you do without Christ?
Nothing. Is that too hard? I can tell you this, what a man
can do without Christ is absolutely nothing of any eternal value. Now there are myriads of works
going on all around us and some of them are really nice works
as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad some people have these
food storage places and they feed the poor. I don't have a
problem with that at all. I do have a problem with the
Christ they preach. And I'm gonna tell you something,
without Christ, that's of no value. It may be nice, it's wonderful,
and it makes for a happy Thanksgiving or Christmas for people. I will
probably get some toys to take for Toys for Tots. I do that. I don't know why. I like toys,
probably. But without Christ, that's of
no value. It's nothing, no thing. What about come to Christ? You
can't do nothing. What about taking the first step?
Nothing. Actually, I wrote, don't make
me laugh, but okay. What about praying? Without Christ,
nothing. What about receiving the gospel?
You can't do nothing without him. What about believe? Nothing. can do nothing of any eternal
value outside without, without being a branch of the true vine. That's the illustration. There
is only life in that vine and nowhere else. Without the vine is death. That's the illustration. And
those are the words of the Son of God. They're not my words.
I believe them. I'll preach them. He's the one
who said them, and he's the one with whom we have to do. And
this is what he said, without me, you can do nothing. And what he meant by that is
without him, you can do nothing. Because he tells us in the next
verse, about your part if you're not part of the true vine. If
you're not a branch of the true vine, you are firewood. That's what it says. 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, what? And they are burned. Here it is. Now I know this is
entirely the wrong season to be preaching something like this. People this time of year want
to hear about sweet little Jesus, meek and mild. Well here sweet
little Jesus tells us what happens to dead wood. And what is dead
wood? Dead wood is all the wood that
there is that is not a part of the true vine. Because if you're
not a part of the true vine, this is not a vine in the wild. This is a garden. Now I personally don't do well
with gardens, okay? They take more work than I really
usually put into them. Mine grows up. But I'm gonna
tell you this, this true vine and this husbandman are perfect. You don't want dead things, dead
wood, laying around in your garden. And the husbandman is not going
to have it. All of my branches bring forth
much fruit. And if it's not, it's because
you're not abiding in the vine. Christ also said it this way
in Matthew 15 and verse 13. But he answered and said, every
plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Why? Because he's the husbandman. He's the husbandman. Every plant
that he hasn't planted is going to be rooted up. Of course, he continued on, he
said, let them alone. Why? They'd be blind leaders
of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Guess what? If a man abide not
in me, he is cathorsed at a branch, and is withered, and men gather
them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. A man is either planted by the
Heavenly Father, or he's rooted up. It's what Christ said. And
if he's rooted up, he's not a branch of the true vine. Because this
husbandman, the father, does not make any mistakes. He knows
what he's planted. And the husbandman also knows
what he has not planted. And you can take that any way
you want. But I take it this way. The potter has power over
the clay out of the same lump to make vessels of honor and
vessels of dishonor. And that word is dishonor. It's
not common. That word is dishonor. People
don't like that. Grace preachers kind of shy away
from it. They just kind of slide. Well, you make honorable vessels
and you make common vessels. Well, I understand that. There
was such a thing as you made an everyday pot or an everyday
plate or you made something really fancy. That's not what he said. That's not what Paul wrote. Paul
wrote you make some vessels under honor and he makes some vessels
under dishonor. And every plant which my father,
the husbandman, has not planted is going to be rooted up. That's what it says. That's part
of the gospel. Because if he has made a vessel
unto dishonor, guess what? It is fit to be burned. That's hard. Yeah, it is. But that doesn't make it less
true. Branches that are not abiding in the true vine are gathered
up and cast into the fire and they are burned That's what it says Verse 7 says if you abide in
me and my words abide in you you shall ask what you will and
it shall be done unto you I Don't know what others say about this
verse I This is used as a declaration of the power of man to tell God what man wants. That's what they use it for.
It's entirely wrong, but that's what they use it for. Because
the will of those that abide in him, those who have his words
abiding in them, will ask according to the will of the Father. where
they will ask in the name of the Son. James told us about some things.
John told us here, and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that
will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye
shall ask anything in my name, in my name, I will do it. Don't be asking for nonsense
in the name of Christ and expecting a result other than no. I'm scared to ask God for things
sometimes. People say, why don't I get what
I want? Why don't I get what I ask for? Well, the problem's
with you. James told us that. James four
and verse three says, ye ask and receive not. Because, because
ye ask amiss. You ask wrong. And guess what? Because means
you're the cause. That ye may consume it upon your
lusts. And I can tell you this also. Paul wrote about it. You can pray and ask for something
and sometimes the answer's no. He said he prayed three times
that a thorn in the flesh be taken from him. And God said,
no, three times. He said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. Sometimes it's good for a branch
to be vexed or distracted or have a thorn in the flesh. Don't
worry, the husbandman knows what he's doing. I said it last week,
I'll say this. We don't always know what he's
doing. I don't always know why he's doing it. But I know if
he's doing it, guess what? It's the best for the true vine
and it's the best for the branches. And it will bring forth much
fruit. And if you're not a branch, it
ain't good for you. And that's all there is about
that. There is no relationship to the
father except through the son. There's no relationship to the
husbandman except you abide in the vine. The true vine is in
true accord with the husbandman's will. And the branches are to
be in true accord with the vine's will. The will of a branch abiding
in the vine is not what it used to be. Gotta change your will. Because branches, true branches
of the true vine want to bring forth much fruit. True branches want to bring forth
much fruit. Why? Verse eight. And this is
an astounding statement to me. Herein is my Father glorified. That ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples.
Now can you be a disciple without fruit? Doesn't sound like it. But my Father is glorified by
you branches bearing much fruit. And that fruit is the work of
the vine and the husbandman. How can I glorify God? That's
one of those answers to whether the catechism was the chief end
of man, to glorify God. So how can I glorify God? Bear
much fruit through His work. Love, joy, peace. That whole list of the fruit
of the Spirit in you glorifies the Father and the vine, the
Son. I mean, how can I glorify God?
That's a worrisome question sometimes. Because it can cause you to worry
about yourself. But we glorify God by the fruit of the Spirit. That just astounds me. It just
amazes me. He says it later on, I read it.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love. John
says, this is my commandment. First John 3 and 23, that we
should believe on the name of the son and what? And love one
another as he gave us commandment. And he does that actually down
here just a little bit later, well, just a little later in
the same chapter. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you and ordained you that you should go and what? bring
forth fruit. And your fruit should remain. Verse 12 says, this is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you. The love that we have for one
another, the love that we have for Christ, the love we have
for the Father, comes from, is given to us by the husbandman
through the true vine, Jesus Christ. He gives us what we have to have
in order to glorify his name. That is just beautiful. That is just marvelous. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. Continue in my love. Continue ye in my love. If you're a branch, continue. Everything starts with the husbandman
and the true vine. Everything continues from the
husbandman and the true vine. the fruit of the spirit, the
love of Christ, the love for Christ, the love of one another, he is going to continue in you
until the end. Because if you're a branch of
the vine, you will always be a branch of that vine. The husbandman's
not gonna lose a branch off of his vine. not his perfect true
line. He never will. And I thank God for it. Our heavenly
father, we are thankful again for this time, this place, most of all, thankful for you who have done everything for
us. You've done marvelous things
to us. You are doing things in us. And
we give thanks in the name of our Lord, savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.