Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us this morning. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the Gospel
of John, John chapter 15. The title of the message is Christ
the True Vine. Christ the True Vine. And this
is where Christ says in verse one, he says, I am the true vine. My father is the husbandman or
the vine dresser. Now, this is one of the I am
statements. I don't know if you're familiar
with that, but there's several statements that the Lord Jesus
Christ made, especially in the book of John, where he would
say, I am, I am the bread of life. I am the water of life. He would say, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh under the Father,
but by me. That was back in John chapter 14 and verse six. And
these I am statements connect him with the Father and the Spirit
as the second person of the Trinity. And these are statements that
only Christ could make because they were only true of himself.
Now, if we're saved by the grace of God, If we're true children
of God, I can say I am a child of God. I am a sinner saved by
grace. But the I am that I say is not
the same as the I am that Christ said. There is the connection
with the term Jehovah. Now, the name Jehovah, is really
one that has been transliterated and come down in the English.
It comes from the name of God in the Bible, which is like Yahweh,
or Yehovah, Yahweh, and they added the vowels and all of that.
But it's just an English term that we use to speak of God,
God Almighty. and Christ is God manifest in
the flesh. God manifests in the flesh, Yahweh,
or however you want to pronounce it. But we have these barriers
of language and these issues of language that we have to get
through in order to communicate. And God communicates with us
through this language. And I know a lot of people say,
well, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament
in the ancient Greek and the Aramaic. You don't have to know
Hebrew and Greek and Aramaic in order to understand the Bible.
But there are tools that are helpful in word studies and things
like that that can enhance the Word of God for us and sometimes
settle us down on a meaning of a term. But remember this now. And there are rules of interpretation.
I wrote a book on that. We make it available to you on
our website, free of charge. You can read it on the website
or you can order the hard copy. Talking about how rightly dividing
the word, you know, how the Bible says, you know, that we need
to rightly divide the word of truth. And most people don't. They read the Bible in segments.
They take verses out of context. They don't keep within the whole
context. They don't understand the basic
principles. And so if you're interested and
you really want to study the Bible, get that book that I wrote
called Rightly Dividing the Word, Rules for Interpreting the Bible. And if you don't agree with me
on the rules, then write me and tell me and we'll talk about
it. But there are basic rules of interpretation that most scholars
agree on. But anyway, my point is that
we need to understand what's being said here. And when Christ
says, I am the true vine, he's speaking himself as the author
and the giver of life. Now he is the author and giver
of physical life. He is the one, he is the creator.
The Bible talks about the father, the son, and the spirit conjointly
in one God now and not three gods, but one God in three persons,
operating in the creation of the world. And in fact, when
the Bible opens in Genesis chapter one, talking about God, it's
in the plural, but it's not talking about polytheism. as if we have
many gods, no, or three gods, no. It's one God who subsists
in three persons. Now, that's mind-boggling, but
you have to understand, when you talk about God dealing with
created beings like us, and especially sinful human beings, how is God
going to reveal himself and connect himself. God is eternal and immutable. And that's mind boggling. We
don't really understand the concepts of infinity, the concept of immutability. Someone, a being who never changes. And God is holy. So how's he
gonna connect with his people? And he does it in the three persons
of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. God the Father representing the sovereignty, the greatness,
the rule of the Godhead. God the Son who is the Redeemer,
who is our connection with the Father. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me, Christ said. And in order to do that, he had
to become incarnate, he had to become flesh without sin. And
then God the Spirit who applies and reveals all of the glory
of the Godhead in Christ to us. And that's His office. And so this is how God connects
with us. Well, Christ says, I am the true
vine. He is the author and giver of
life, physical, but mainly in what He's talking about here
now. I am the giver and the sustainer, the author, the finisher of eternal
life, spiritual life. And he says in verse one, my
father is the husbandman. God the father represents the
vine dresser, the one who set it all in motion in the sovereign
purpose of the Godhead. And so we see the father and
the son by the power, by the revealing power of the spirit,
who is the applier, you might say, working consistently together
as one God, in three persons, saving his people. And look at
verse two now. He says, every branch in me that
beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth
fruit, he purgeth, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. Now the branch is there speaking
of God's elect. the children of God, sinners
saved by grace. And he says, every branch in
me that is in union with him, he's the vine, we who are saved
are the branches. And when you look at this, he
says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh
away. Now, there's a lot of different
views on that. And sometimes it's a little difficult
to pinpoint the specifics of a particular statement. Sometimes
particular statements can have more than one application. Sometimes they can have two applications. varying applications that may
seem contradictory, but neither one denies the gospel. But here's
what I want you to understand about biblical interpretation
now. Whatever you think about these passages, these verses,
these words, sentences, there's no interpretation that
is correct if it denies the basics of the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace to save sinners by His grace through the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. So when you read a verse, a lot
of times you can know what it does not mean. But maybe you
might not know exactly what it does mean. But you may have an
opinion, and of course we don't deal in opinions now. If it's
an opinion, if it can be, if believers can disagree on it,
here's what you need to understand. It cannot deny the gospel and
it cannot be rudimentary truth. In other words, basic necessary
truth. Because the gospel, listen, the
true gospel is not divided. It's a perfect message. on which
believers must agree without controversy, he said. God was
manifest in the flesh and all of that. See, there's no opinions
that can be accepted on the issue of who Christ is. He's God and
man in one person without sin. Anything else is heresy. Anything
else is a lie. Those who deny the deity of Christ
They don't know the gospel, they don't know the true Christ. And
those who deny the humanity of Christ, they don't know him either.
Those who claim Christ could be a sinner or made a sinner,
they don't know him. He is the perfect God man, the
word made flesh. And there can be no division
there. And then what did Christ accomplish on the cross when
he died for the sins of his people? Well, he accomplished redemption.
He put away their sins. The sins of God's people were
imputed, charged to him, and they cannot be charged to God's
people. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's leg? They cannot perish. All for whom
Christ died cannot perish. Now we cannot differ on that.
If you believe that anyone that Christ died for could perish
in hell, then you don't know the gospel. because you have
to make salvation conditioned on you, and the gospel salvation
conditioned on Christ alone. So here's what I know. He said,
all that the father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. This is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. So what
he accomplished on Calvary is the full redemption of his people
by the blood of the cross, wherein he established a perfect righteousness
whereby God is just to justify them. And to be justified means
to be forgiven of all our sins and to be declared righteous
in God's sight. And if you're forgiven of all
your sins and declared righteous in God's sight by his righteousness
imputed, You cannot ever perish. You must be saved. You must be
given life. And that's what the vine and
the branches are. Every branch in me. How do I know that I'm
one of those branches in him? Well, he says every, look at
verse two again. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. Now, what is he talking about?
Well, most commentators say that he's talking about those who
just claim to be saved but they do not bear the fruit of faith
in Christ, true faith, true repentance, and perseverance. Now, faith,
repentance, and perseverance are not the product of the goodness
or the free will of man by nature. Now that's what a lot of preachers
preach today. that Christ died for everybody
and it's up to you, you've got to make the decision to kick
it in and make it real or make it a real salvation. No, no. Faith in Christ is that
revealed knowledge that the Spirit gives to God's people under the
preaching of the gospel where He brings them to trust Christ,
to put all of their confidence in Him, and what he did on Calvary,
not in themselves. You see, I'm not saved because
I made a decision for Christ back when I was a teenager or
something. I'm not saved because I accepted
Jesus as my personal Savior. I'm saved because God chose me,
justified me, and redeemed me, and I know it because he regenerated
me and converted me by the power of the Spirit, that's the new
birth, and brought me to believe in Christ. He gave me the gift
of faith. How many times have I quoted
on this program, Ephesians 2, eight and nine, for by grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So
that's the fruit. And then repentance. Repentance
that comes from that faith. Once we see Christ in the glory
of his person and the power of his finished work, and know that
He alone, His blood alone, His righteousness imputed alone is
the ground of our salvation. God brings us to turn away from
everything and anyone else. We repent of our dead works,
works aimed at trying to save ourselves. If you believe salvation
by works, do you know that that's dead works? I'm gonna show you
that in just a moment. Any sinner, who's trying to save
themselves by their works. The Bible calls that dead works,
evil deeds, and fruit unto death. Because salvation is not by works.
Salvation by works does not, by human works and efforts and
even decisions, doesn't glorify God. The Bible says that we all
fell in Adam into spiritual death and depravity. And that includes
our will, our desires. Romans 3 in verse 10, none righteous,
no not one. None good, no not one. None that
seeketh after God, no not one. That doesn't mean we can't be
religious now. But the God we worship by nature
is an idol. And so we have to be brought
by God with the fruit of repentance of dead works and former idolatry. And so when God gives us the
gift of faith and repentance, we turn away from all those dead
works, all those evil deeds, even the best, not just the immorality,
but even the religious efforts, trying to establish our own righteousness
before God. And then there's the fruit of
perseverance. That is continuing in the faith,
not by our own power or goodness, but because God preserves us. and perseverance is the fruit
of that. So look back at verse two, every branch in me that
beareth not fruit, he taketh away. So if that's talking about
a person who just has a claim of faith, but no real true faith,
just a false profession, He takes them away. Now, how He takes
them away, it's not specified here. That may mean He takes
them out of the assembly of the brethren. Like in 1 John 2, 19,
where it talks about those who went out from us, but they were
not of us. So when he says every branch
in me, he's talking those whom he takes away who do not bear
the fruit. He's talking about those who
just have a profession and that's the New Testament is full of
that. Showing believers that we've
got to be aware that our profession of faith is real and not just
sham religion. And it gives us those things
by which we can examine ourselves, not in order to be saved now,
but it's kind of like this. Am I truly? looking to Christ
for my whole salvation. King David on his deathbed, he
said, he said, although my house be not so with God, God has made
a covenant with me that is ordered in all things and sure. And then
he said this, he said, this is, this is all my salvation and
all my desire. Christ is my whole salvation.
Paul said it in this one, in 2 Timothy 1.12, he said, I know
whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Well,
what have I, if I'm a true believer, a sinner saved by grace, if I'm
a true branch in Christ, united to Christ, representatively,
legally, spiritually, if I'm united to him, What have I committed to it?
My whole salvation is committed to Christ. None of it is committed
to me. It's all conditioned on Him.
And He fulfilled those conditions by His obedience unto death on
the cross as my surety, having my sins imputed to Him, as my
substitute dying for me on that cross, and as my Redeemer, having
died and raised again the third day because He paid the debt
in full. And that debt cannot be charged
to me. I have His righteousness imputed
to me. So if you're a false professor,
he's gonna take you away. Now it may mean this, it may
mean he'll take you out of the world and you'll be dead. So however that goes, but now
look on at verse two. He says, and every branch that
beareth fruit, the fruit of faith, the fruit of repentance, the
fruit of perseverance, which includes the obedience of the
brethren, he purges it, he prunes it. that it may bring forth more
fruit. And how does he prune it? By
the chastisements of a loving father. The sufferings, the persecutions,
growth in grace and in knowledge. That's God the husbandman through
the vine, where life comes from the vine. Life doesn't begin
with the branches. It begins with the vine. The
vine gives life to the branches. Christ is our life. And through
the Christ, He prunes us, He purges us. Now that purging is
not a purging that pays for our sins. The sins are already paid
for by Christ. But that purging is the sufferings
and the persecutions and the experiences, not necessarily,
it doesn't have to be suffering, it can be good experiences, worship
experiences. All of the things that we go
through as sinners saved by grace, washed in the blood of Christ,
clothed in His righteousness, and He brings it about to our
good, His glory and our good. All things work together for
good to them that love God, who are the called according to His
purpose. And so He prunes us. So the things that a believer
goes through, I know we complain and we doubt and we have to fight
sin all the way through, but realize that Those who are saved
by the grace of God, every experience they have in some way is a purging,
a pruning, that they will bear more fruit. Now, more fruit has
to do with greater faith, understanding repentance even more, and greater
perseverance, more obedience, and all of that. Well, look over
at Romans chapter seven with me. And this thing about fruit,
One thing we need to understand about this is we do not produce
fruit. As believers, we don't produce
fruit. We're not fruit producers. I
know I used to, one of the first jobs I had was as a checkout
and a bag boy in a grocery store. And sometimes I had to go back
to where they had the fruits and the vegetables and they called
it produce, the produce department. Well, we don't produce fruit. We bear fruit. The vine produces
the fruit. Do you understand that? Well,
look at Romans 7 and verse 4. Paul writes, wherefore, my brethren,
you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Now, what is it to be dead to
the law? It means the law cannot condemn us. There's no condemnation
to them which are in Christ. Because Christ was made under
the law to keep the law unto death, to remove any notion of
condemnation for his people. And how did we become dead to
the law? Not by our works, but by the body of Christ. You understand
that? And he says, you become dead
to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to
another, united to Christ, legally, representatively, spiritually,
eternally, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God. Not that we should produce
fruit, but we bring forth fruit. Verse five says, for when we
were in the flesh, that means when we were unregenerate, unbelievers,
not born again, the motions or the passions of sins, which were
by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Now that's when we were unbelievers, we looked at the law of God and
we assume, well, I've got to keep that law to be accepted
with God. Well, all that is is fruit unto
death. But he says in verse six, but now we are delivered from
the law. The law cannot condemn us. The
law is not our motivation. that being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in
oldness of the latter. Now, serving in newness of spirit
is bringing forth fruit unto God, not fruit unto death. And that's the perseverance,
the faith, the repentance, the perseverance of a believer. continuing
in the grace of God, not by the person's own power and goodness,
but by the goodness and power of God in Christ. We'll look
back at John chapter 15. Look at verse three. Now you
are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. The cleansing
of the word refers to the regeneration and conversion, the new birth
of a believer, where having been brought by the Spirit under the
preaching of the gospel, He cleanses our minds and our hearts to know
Christ. Now, there is a cleansing by
the blood of Christ. That's our legal cleansing, washing
away the sins, removing all of the condemnation, the death that
sin brings. And we're not perfect in ourselves
now, but we're perfect in Christ. and so the cleansing by the blood
the cleansing by the word is when we are brought by God through
the Spirit from Christ out of darkness into light out of the
state of unbelief where we don't know Christ and don't believe
in Him to the state of light where we know Christ and we believe
in Him. Now we still have the flesh And
we still have to battle against the flesh and fight against the
flesh. But now we have new hearts, new minds. The old things have
passed away. All things have become new. That's
not saying that we're now perfect in ourselves and that we can
now keep the law perfectly, but it now shows that we are in Christ. And that's what the branches
do. How do I know I'm a branch? Well, I've been cleansed by the
water, washing of the water of the word. I know Christ, I believe
in him. I know my sinfulness and I know
my only hope of salvation is the blood and righteousness of
Christ. My mind has been cleansed in that sense. My conscience
has been purged to know that there's no condemnation to them
who are in Christ, who walk not according to the flesh, but according
to the spirit. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.