If you would, turn to John chapter
15. John chapter 15. I'm going to read the first eight verses. John 15, verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father
is the husband man. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except
it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide
in me. 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 the 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. I've entitled this, I Am the
True Thine. It was tough to come up with that title. And there
are a couple of things I want to say at the beginning before
I get really into it. First of all, these are the words
of Jesus Christ. God incarnate in human flesh. And as such, therefore, these
words are full of grace and truth. because he is full of grace and
truth. Second of all, the thing I want
to point out is this is not a parable. This is an illustration. Or if
you prefer, this is a metaphor. A parable is a story with a meaning
that may or may not be hid to them that heard it. Some will understand and some
will not, as it is given. An illustration shows forth a
truth in comparison to an earthly example relating to a heavenly
thing, a heavenly reality. This is an illustration. Jesus Christ said these words,
I am the true vine. This is a flat statement. Just exactly as he said, I am
the good shepherd, he said, I am the true vine. Just exactly as
he said, I am the bread of heaven, the bread come down from heaven,
he says, I am the true vine. Now these are both, all three,
excuse me, illustrations, and they're all three in the book
of John. He also said, I'm the resurrection,
the way, the truth, and the life. Those aren't illustrations, those
are facts. This is an illustration. He is using this example of a
vine to illustrate his relationship to us, our relationship to him,
and the relationship to the Father. and the father to us. And he explains it as he goes
along. There's no need for interpretation.
He tells us what he means. That's the beauty of this. I
don't have to interpret anything. He tells us what he's saying. An illustration has no need for
interpretation. I like that, I do. When he said,
I am the good shepherd, then he told you what the good shepherd
did. I speak, my sheep follow me. He's gonna do the same thing
here. I'm the true vine, and he's gonna
tell us exactly what that means. But I can tell you this, from
this statement, there may be other vines, but there is no
other true vine. I am, what, thee. true vine. There is only one. There is only
one. There only ever has been one.
There only ever will be one. There is only Jesus Christ. Now
why did he use a vine? Well, a vine specifically It doesn't
say it here specifically, but I'm pretty sure this means a
grapevine, is what he's using as an illustration. Because the
grapevine is the most fruitful plant there is, per capita, for
the size of it. You can get a lot of grapes off
of one little vine. And if you get a big old vine,
you can get even more grapes off of it. Second reason, the
fruit of the vine is sweet. Third reason is wine can be made
from grapes. And wine has its own applications. Fourth reason, more branches
per vine than in just about any other plant that's made. We'll
get into that. Fifthly, grapevines have flowers
and fruit. Sixthly, Old vines are the best,
because the best wine comes from the oldest vines. That means
the best grapes, the best fruit, come from the oldest vine. And
this is the oldest vine there is. This is the vine from all
eternity. Lastly, the best vine, and thereby
the best branches, are cultivated. They are tended by a very talented
husbandman. Now that's what man says. Here's what Christ said, I am
the true vine. And, and, and, my father is the
husbandman. The other two illustrations I
said before this, the, I am the bread from heaven. And we said,
I am the good shepherd. When he talks about the bread
from heaven, he doesn't mention the work of the father. When
he talks about the good shepherd, he talks about his relationship
with the father and the father's relationship with him. But he
doesn't mention anything about the work of the father or what
the father, here he says it. In this illustration, my father's
the husbandman. I'm the vine. and my father is
the husbandman. Jesus is the well-beloved, only
begotten son of the father, but he willingly submitted himself
to the will of the husbandman. I don't know if you know anything
about grapevines. I don't know a whole lot. I've done a little bit of
reading on them, and I've got neighbors that have them, and
I've listened to them. When that vine grows up first, you have
to shape it so that it grows where you want. And it grows
what? The way you want. The Lord Jesus Christ came not
to do his own will, but the will of the Father. He is the husbandman
of the vine. It is under his direction that
the vine grows up, and then across if you've got a trellis set up,
or if you've got just clothesline basically, two poles with wires
in between them. But that vine will grow according
to what the husbandman does. And Jesus Christ said, this is
what I came to do, to perform what the will of the Father.
Though they are one, the Son always gave glory to the Father.
The son always said he was only performing the will of the father,
even though it was his will also. He gave glory to the one who
sent him. And my father is the husbandman. He's the one who keeps the ground
and tends the vine, the true vine. Because a good vine always
has to be tended to. Now this is the illustration
of what he said. I'm not adding anything here.
I'm not taking anything away. This is what he compared himself
to here. Because this is not a vine in
the wild. It's not. That's not the illustration.
This is the true vine, which was planted exactly where the
husbandman wanted it to be planted. which grew up exactly the way
the husbandman wanted it to grow, and it had just branches all
over the place, just exactly as the husbandman purposed. Is that a good word? This true vine is exactly the
way the husbandman wanted. And we see this in verse two,
where it says, every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he
taketh away. And every branch that beareth
food, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Every branch that beareth not
fruit, he taketh away. No fruit means there's no branch. No fruit means there is no attachment
to the true vine. Now if you remember, I want to
remind you of the parable of the sower. Jesus explained this
parable to his disciples. And in explaining about the seed
sown among thorns, he says this. And these they are which are
sown among thorns, such as hear the word. And the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
things entering in, what? the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. Those are sobering words. The
unfruitful are taken away. Because the unfruitful must be
taken away. Because this is the illustration
of the husbandman and the true vine. The husbandman will not
have unfruitful branches on his vine. It's not gonna happen. And not only that, it says it
specifically, he takes them away. Now we know from the illustration
that these are those who are unfruitful. We also know from
our reading every branch that's in me is gonna be fruitful. So they're not a part of him.
Just like these that were choked the word, that were sown among
thorns so that the word became unfruitful. They are not abiding
in the vine. Here's another point. It's not
up to me to look for or to drive out unfruitful branches. He'll
take them away. He'll take them away. Now you
want to apply that to here, we can do it, boy. We have had many
people who made a profession. baptized some of them, a lot
of them. Where are they? Where are they? They're not here because he took
them away. I know you've heard this expression,
I'm gonna preach them out of here. No, you're not. I don't have
to. All I gotta do is preach the
gospel, preach the truth, that's all Walter's got to do, and they'll
leave. They'll think it's their own
idea. But it's not their idea, it's God showing them that they
don't belong here. They don't wanna be here, and
guess what? They quit coming here. He will
take out the unfruitful branches. And in a couple verses, he'll
tell you what happens to them. Because when he takes them away,
away they will go. Then he says, every branch that
bears fruit, he purges it. That, that, it may bring forth
more fruit. Every branch that bears fruit,
now the husbandman, purges it. I ain't in the job of purging
fruit. I ain't in the job of purging
branches. My job is to preach the gospel.
My job is to preach the truth as best as I can from the message
that I believe God gave to me. This is another job of the husbandman. Every branch that bears fruit,
the husbandman, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ, purges. And that word, I looked it up,
it means to cleanse. Specifically, specifically, it
means to prune. And metaphorically, it means
to clear unproductive wood. And let's be honest, folks, we
all got some. We all got some. Earl explained
this to me years ago, and I did some checking. He was right. The illustration of a vine that
bears fruit, it's like a grapevine. And in order to bear the good
fruit, every winter or early spring, late winter, early spring,
you trim back the branches on the vine. And I watched a video
on YouTube yesterday, or Friday, just to watch it. And the guy
did it. It's exactly what Earl said. You take a branch that
grew out, and it's grown out, and it's about this long from
last year. It's still there. You trim it off to where there's
only like two or three buddings left, and you cut that dead wood
off. And then you go along and you
do that to all the branches on the vine. And guess what? That vine will
produce more fruit on those branches because there's only these two
buddings where new leaves will come out and new flowers will
come out instead of trying to feed this whole long whip here
because it will grow fruit. It will grow flowers and it will
grow fruit if you don't trim it, if you don't purge it. But
you end up with grapes like my neighbors did because they didn't
trim it back last year. You get grapes this big. And
them grapes are not fit to eat, okay? They're little bitty teeny
tiny things and they're not fit to eat. Now there may be a bunch
of them on there, but it's not fit fruit for the husbandman. So guess what? He's gonna cut
it back. That's what he does. The fruit
gets bigger and better because there's less of the branch taking
the nourishment. That's the illustration. I mean,
I'm not trying to add anything to it. This is what we're talking
about. This is what Christ is talking
about. And these people knew how to grow grapes. They knew
what he was saying. Everybody grew grapes in their
backyard. They did it when I was a boy. Because we used to go
over across the street to Mrs. Thomas's and we'd get some grapes
right off the vine. And Mason, we didn't even bother
to wash them. And some were sour, some were good, though some were
sweet. But they knew how to take care of a vine. And listen, the
husbandman, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the best
husbandman there is. To purge a branch is to cut back
the branch. Because you know, and I said
it, you know there are things you don't need. And some of this purging is internal
and some of it is external. Because it's in our nature as
a branch to grow wild, to reach as far as we can reach and then
reach a little more. That's our nature. And just to
be honest about it, I will admit to it, I reach for some stupid
things sometimes. Just the wrong things. We need to be purged and the
husbandman, this is the beauty of this illustration, the husbandman
knows exactly what he's doing. I may not know. And getting purged
may not exactly be the most pleasant thing in the world. Because I
don't like it when things are cut off, Mason. You know, I was
right there. What Earl used to say, the burned
hand teaches best. Sometimes it does. Sometimes
we're too dumb to learn that way. But you will find out this is
true, especially with this husbandman. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according
to his purpose. And that includes being cut back. Because what in you may need
purged, and also what around you may need to be purged. A little bit of that in you part,
look at Colossians 3 for just a moment. If then, Colossians 3 and verse
1, if ye then be risen with Christ, what? Seek those things which
are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, and here's the negative part, and not on things on the
earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Verse
five. Mortify, therefore, your members
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which
things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience,
in the which ye also walk some time when you, what, lived in
Used to live it. They're still there. They ain't
gone nowhere. They're still in you. This is
part of the stuff we're supposed to do. But I'm going to tell
you something. You can't do it without the husband.
It don't work. The world has tried. There are
12-step programs for everything nowadays. You got 12-step programs
for alcohol. You got 12-step programs for
drugs. And I'm glad they're good things. Maybe, yeah, maybe. But that's
something of the flesh. And this says, keep your mind
on heavenly things. And that's something the world
can't do, and that's something the 12-step program can't help
you with. But the husband man can. The branch itself has to be pruned,
too. That's you and me. Now as far as external things,
it might be your family, it might be your job, it might be money. It'll make an idol out of anything.
It might be Garth Brooks for all I know. Some people think
way too much of Star Wars. I like the movie, but come on,
let's not get crazy. I don't feel the force. Come on, I was serious. And there
are believers who can get caught up in all kinds of things. And
he can remove people from you, he can remove things from you,
and he will if it suits his purpose as the husbandman. Because what
he wants is fruit on the branches that are on his vine. And he's
going to have that fruit. He will have it that way. Because if you get too caught
up with something, God may take it from you. He may just slap
you down. Because he wants your attention
as a branch on the vine. This is where I am, this is what
I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to be making fruit,
Walter. And the branches must be tended
or they will just grow wild. Guess what? Just like sheep have
to be tended or they'll wander off. Boy, that's illustration, isn't
it? Illustration of the bread of
life and the good shepherd. Christ does not say, like I said,
didn't say much about the Father's work, but you understand here,
all this I've just been talking about, this is the work of the
Father in you. and to you. This is not something he's done
for us, although he's done so much for us. This is something
God the Father does to you. That's just simply amazing to
me. I mean, Christ, I'm the vine, and I'm his vine, and you're
the branches. And if I'm his vine, you're his
branches. And guess what? My father is
gonna take care of you. He's gonna purge you as needed
and you are going to bring forth fruit if you're one of my branches. I think this is wonderful because
this is the work of the husbandman who is my father, Christ said. He will cut away at you and make
you productive. And you'll like it. I used to get told that when
I was a kid. I didn't believe it, Mason. You're going to eat those
peas, and you're going to like it. I ate them, but I never liked
them. And I still don't. And they wonder why. but he can
make you like it. He can make you willing to go
and then he can make you happy there. You understand folks, this is
God we're talking about. Not me, not my father, not my
dad, put it that way. My earthly father. He had a way
of making you go but not so much about liking it. And my mom was
no slouch at that either. And I know there are some people
that went through that same thing. But this is the husbandman, the
father, the one who planted the vine, the one who made you a
branch. This is his work. He will cut
away until you are just exactly the way he wants you to be. Take
heart in that. Take comfort in that. It's an
amazing thing. It's a gracious thing. It is nothing but grace and mercy
and love in his son, our true vine. Then you get to verse three. Now, Now, now, now. What are we talking about? Now,
now ye are clean. Through the word which I have
spoken unto you. Now, Walter, when I read this,
and I have quoted this before, because I love this verse. Now
ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
That's just glorious all by itself. And if you really wanna look
at it, it doesn't, it almost seems like an aside. But it ain't. Jesus Christ said this exactly
when he meant to. And they've got this separated
out in our book by verses. And it does kind of seem like
it might be a little bit, you know, separate. You know, like
this is just an aside here saying, now you're clean. Through the
word I've spoken to you. No, this is exactly having to
do with the true vine and the husbandman. And the work of the
husbandman. and the being in the true vine. Because this is an integral part
of the truth of the true vine. What does that mean? Well, that
means that there is no one clean except in the true vine tended
by the husband. There's no one clean without
the true vine. Because the context is still
here, it's just right after, is about branches bearing fruit. Now you're clean. Now, I will say this, that don't
mean sinless. Blameless, yes. But it's not
sinless. But you are clean if you're in
the vine. And you are clean if you're in
the vine tended by the husbandman. because that's the only one that
counts. That's the only vine that counts, and that's the only
husbandman that counts. There's wild vines all around us, but
I'm the true vine, Christ said. Because the context is that still
the branch that bears fruit, the branches that are purged,
the branches that are tended by the husbandman, and the context
is right now. If you're in the vine, You're
clean. Why? As far as who's concerned? As
far as the vine is concerned and as far as the husbandman
is concerned. You're clean. You may not be clean as far as
the world's concerned. Sometimes our little things leak
out on us, not the good things. You understand? You lose your
temper and you say something you shouldn't. And you say it
in front of people you shouldn't. You shouldn't even say it in
front of yourself. And they say, oh, you're supposed
to be a preacher. Key word, supposed to be, okay. This is it. I got to be who I am, even up
here. This is the way the Lord has
said to do it. Preach the gospel. And I can't pretend to be perfect
when I'm not. I'm not gonna think one thing
and speak another. But now, in the vine, by the
husbandman, I am clean in his eyes. And so are you. If you are one of those branches,
of that vine by that husbandman purged, pruned, cut back, but
bared fruit. Much fruit, much fruit. Now you are clean. This is a
current thing, a present thing. Being clean in God's eyes is
right now. Christ is speaking to his disciples
here. In matter of fact, he is speaking to his disciples after
Judas left. We've already been through the
foot washing thing. He says, you are clean, but not all. Well,
Judas is gone now. And he says to these fellas here,
now you are clean. He's talking to people. At that
moment, in God's eyes, according to this man, Christ Jesus, they
were clean. And right now, right here in
2016, ye are clean if you are a branch in that true vine. What did Jesus tell him? I think
I quoted this a week or two ago whenever I did it. Jesus saith
unto him, he that is washed needeth not to save to wash his feet. But is clean every wit. That's
before he washed the feet. The foot washing doesn't clean.
The purging doesn't clean. You're clean if you're a part
of the vine. He's going to purge you. That's
coming. Or it's happening, or it's already
happened, and it will happen again. Because this is a grapevine
that lives for years. And it's every winter, or late
winter, or every early spring, those branches got to be trimmed
back. Why? Because they grow all during the summer. He that is washed is clean every
whit. Now at that time he told them
you're not all clean. But now he's saying you are clean.
Judas is gone. This is nothing but the disciples
he's talking to here. You are washed, you are clean
now. There is no question about cleanliness
among those whom Jesus Christ has washed. And I'll be bold enough to say
this. It doesn't matter what I do. If I'm in him, I'm clean. I'm clean. in his eyes. I may not be clean in my own.
I may feel dirty as can be. I may feel unworthy. I might even complain against
God. No, you wouldn't do that. Yeah, I might. I have. And I'm probably dumb enough
to do it again. Because you know, there's one
thing about sheep and one thing about vines. There's still sheep
and there's still vines. I'm gonna grow out there, you
know? If I'm a sheep, I'm gonna wander off as far as the shepherd
lets me. Because that's the only thing
stopping me from being way out in the outback. Is the shepherd or the husbandman
purging that vine, pruning it back. Because this is what we are In
Christ Jesus, right now, we are clean in God's sight. That's
another amazing, wondrous, gracious thing. And Peter's vision of
unclean animals that were let down from above, which preceded
Peter's visit to Cordelius. The Lord told him, rise Peter,
slay and eat. Oh, Lord, nothing common or unclean has ever crossed
my lips. I don't want to eat them nasty
animals. But the voice spake unto him
again the second time. What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common. Don't do it. What God has cleansed,
now that's the qualifier. There is a qualifier there. What
God has cleansed, you don't call common or unclean. That's what
that word means. Because they're not unclean if
God cleansed them. Because what God has cleansed
is clean whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not.
Jonah didn't like going to Nineveh. I was thinking about that this
morning, Walter, when you talk about God sends one sinner to
another sinner. Jonah was sinning all the way
to Nineveh. He sent his way right into the belly of a fish. He
said, I'm not going, because I know you'll forgive him. Guess
what? He went anyway. What God has cleansed is clean. And I'll tell you, what the Son
has cleansed is clean. And I'll give you this for free.
Cornelius was already clean when Peter went to him. That's what
that whole vision was about, folks. And I don't care if he
was a Jewish proselyte or not. Guess what? Jewish proselytes
gotta be saved just like everybody else. Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews.
Guess what? Gotta do something for him. Something changed between
him standing there, what, consenting under the death of Stephen, and
then him getting knocked off his donkey on the road to Damascus. God cleaned him. God cleansed
him. God gave him life. And God breathed
into him. There's no argument, there's
no debate, and listen, there's no qualifying to be performed
by you to be clean. Now you're clean because I cleaned
you. See, this is the true vine and
the husbandman. That's all we've got up there.
And we've got the husbandman's work. And the next statement,
now you're clean. Now you're clean. Why? Because you're in the vine, and
you got put there, and you're taken care of by the husbandman.
Now you're clean. Man, I think that's great. I
gotta quit. I can tell you this. God the Father ain't making new
vines. There's only one. I love this point. I think a
lot of preachers ignore it. There's only one good shepherd.
There's only one true vine. There's only one bread to come
down from heaven, and then you get to Romans 11, there's only
one olive tree. You understand, this is the vine.
This ain't the olive tree. Ain't nobody being grafted in
or out. Not in this example, not in this illustration, not
in this metaphor. That comes later. That's an explanation
by the apostle Paul to the Roman, to the Jews that were in Rome.
Here, you know, there is none of that. There's only one vine.
And even then there's only one olive tree. And you're either
in it or you're out of it. Or without it. I like that. Inclusion is this. There is no
life without the true vine. And there is no fruit without
the husbandman of that true vine. The father, my father, Christ
said, is the husbandman And that husbandman tends his garden like
nobody's business. You talk about having a green
thumb, that's the man. You understand? Everything he
does is perfect, even his purging. Now you're clean. The fruit is
of the spirit and not of the flesh. I can get into that, but
that's what we're talking about. We're not talking about health
and wealth and any of that nonsense. Look at the examples in the Bible.
How did these people end up? In exile on an island or crucified?
Stoned to death? Read Fox's Book of Martyrs. I'm sorry. I'm to the point where
I think you've got to be an idiot to believe the health and wealth
gospel. Well, maybe you don't have to be, but it helps. Come
on. I'm being facetious, but I'm
also being serious. Well, it's either laugh or cry,
and I'd rather laugh at them than cry about them sometimes.
I'm sorry I'm mean that way. If you are a branch of the true
vine, you will bring forth much fruit. You may not feel like it. You
may not know some of it. You may not know what you do
that is fruit towards somebody else. You just may not. But don't worry,
the husbandman knows. The vine knows. And I'll tell
you something, that's the ones that count. I don't have to know. I just
believe. I believe. And as you grow along,
you will see That whole thing about all things working together
for good to them that love God. Them that are called according
to his purpose, and it's his purpose for you to bear much
fruit. You will be tended by the husbandman,
and you will be purged. You will be pruned, you will
be cut back. Internally, externally, whatever you need. It's not the
same for everyone. but you will be purged that you
bring forth fruit. Much fruit. Because in the true
vine there is nothing but life. And what we are to do is to abide,
to dwell, to reside. Whatever other word you wanted
to use. Take up residence. Purging never stops in this world.
Not as long as we're in it. But, neither does this stop. Now ye are clean. Through the word which I have
given you. And that is not the gospel. I've looked at the commentaries.
About half of them, not three quarters of them, oh that's what
Jesus said to them. Well Jesus said, that had something
to do with it. But that word, through the words which I've
given to you, that's when those that are dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and those that hear shall live. That's
the word. That's the context. Life is in
the vine. And the vine is in the hands
of the husbandman. And you are in the care of both. Our Heavenly Father, thankful
for this day, this time. And we are thankful for the true
vine. And for everything that you do
to us, for us, in us, and all around us. Thank you. In Christ's name we pray, amen.