I Am the True Vine

Q: What does the Bible say about the True Vine in John 15?

John 15 teaches that Jesus is the True Vine and believers are the branches, emphasizing the need to abide in Him to bear fruit. In John 15, Jesus declares, 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.' This imagery signifies that Jesus is the source of spiritual life and nourishment for His followers, who are represented as branches. The critical call is to abide in Him, as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains connected to the vine. The Father, as the gardener, tends to the vine and its branches, removing those that do not bear fruit and pruning the fruitful ones to enhance their productivity. This passage exemplifies the divine relationship between Christ and believers, underscoring the necessity of continual fellowship with Him.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is the True Vine?

Jesus' declaration in John 15:1 establishes Him as the True Vine, emphasizing His unique role as the source of spiritual life. The assertion of Jesus as the True Vine is integral to Christian doctrine, rooted in His own words in John 15:1. By calling Himself the 'true vine,' Jesus distinguishes His divinity and His role as the sole source of spiritual sustenance—the ultimate fulfillment of what the vine symbolizes in Scripture. In contrast to the false vices and practices that the Jewish religion offered, Jesus is the authentic path to life, sanctification, and fruitfulness. Additionally, the theological implications here are profound; it indicates that believers are organically connected to Him and derive spiritual vitality from their union with Christ. This truth is reinforced throughout Scripture, affirming that there is no other source of true life apart from Him.

Q: Why are the branches important in relation to the True Vine?

The branches represent believers who draw their life and ability to bear fruit from their connection to the True Vine, Jesus. In the analogy of the True Vine, the branches signify the followers of Christ, who are dependent on Him for spiritual life and productivity. According to John 15:4-5, Jesus clearly states that 'the branch cannot bear fruit of itself' and that only by abiding in Him can believers produce 'much fruit.' This framework establishes the mutual relationship between Christ and His followers; as branches, they must remain reliant on the vine for nourishment. The importance of the branches not only lies in their identity as believers but also in their role in glorifying God through the fruit they bear—evidence of their connection to Christ. This paradigm reinforces the Reformed understanding of grace, where believers are chosen and empowered by God to achieve true goodness that manifests in their lives.

Q: How does pruning relate to a Christian's spiritual growth?

Pruning represents God's work in a believer’s life, removing hindrances to ensure greater spiritual fruitfulness. In John 15:2, Jesus identifies two actions performed by the Father, the gardener: taking away branches that do not bear fruit and pruning those that do. The pruning process symbolizes the divine discipline that God applies in a believer's life to foster spiritual growth and maturity. Just as a vine must be pruned to produce more abundant fruit, Christians often undergo refining trials that strengthen their faith and reliance on God. This process entails the removal of sin, distractions, and anything that might inhibit spiritual development. By viewing trials as God's pruning, believers can understand that He desires not only their survival but also flourishing in holiness and bearing fruit that glorifies Him. It is an essential aspect of the Christian journey, emphasizing the necessity of enduring hardship as a form of God's grace.

I've been preaching for the last
two weeks in North Carolina and in the
state of Tennessee. And in both these areas, I spent
some time with men who have large grape vines, grape vineyards,
and some men who produce a lot of grapes, both in North Carolina
and in Tennessee. I went out to their homes and
saw the grape vines and talked to them a little bit about the
care of the grape vines and the producing good grapes and so
forth. And this led me to read again
John chapter 15 and to speak to you this morning
on this subject. I am the true vine. I am the
true vine." John 15. Let's look at this. I believe
we'll try to look at seven verses, the first seven or eight verses
of John 15. Now, all the words of our Lord
are important. All the words of our Lord. I
don't mean to set one scripture against another. All the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ are special, special to His people.
But here in chapter John chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16 are the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, His words of instruction, His words of comfort, His words
of warning to His disciples just before He went to the cross.
All of these words, 13, 14, 15, and 16, were spoken over a period of just a matter
of hours before the cross, just 48 or 72 hours before the cross,
before our Lord died on the cross. He spoke all of these words.
John chapter 13, that's when He washed the disciples' feet
at the Last Supper. And John 14, let not your heart
be troubled. This John 15 and John 16 are
all right in this period of time. Forty-eight or seventy-two hours
before he went to the cross, he spoke these words, and they
are very special. Let me read for you the first
eight verses of John 15. He said to the disciples, he's
talking to his inner circle, to his disciples, I am the true
vine, and my Father is the husband one. 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
you 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 you, except
you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit, for without me you 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 you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will,
it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit. So shall you be, my disciples."
Now let's go back to verse 1, in which our Lord said to the
disciples, I am, I am the true vine. And what a temptation there
is to camp right here for a little while. I am, I am. For that's the purpose of this
book, to reveal I Am, who He is. That's the purpose of this
book. He says, I Am. He's telling the
disciples who He is, I Am. I Am. That's the purpose of this
book. That's the purpose of this preaching. And if everybody here
could learn and learn well, all of us, who Christ is, it'd be
time well spent. I Am. Moses cried at the burning
bush when the Lord told him to go down into Egypt and lead the
people out. He said, well, when they ask
me, when they ask me who sent me and what is His name, what
shall I say? Will you take just a moment and
turn to Exodus 3? I want you to look at this. Yes, everybody here needs to
look at this Scripture. Needs to look at it. Needs to
read it themselves. What God said to Moses in Exodus
3, verse 14. Moses said, when I go to them
and they ask me, who sent you? What's his name? What shall I
say? And God said, verse 14, Exodus
3, I am that I am. Capitalized. See it? I am. You young people say it. I am. Underline. I am. I am. And He said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am. Hath sent me unto you. Not I
was, not I will be. I am. I am. Same yesterday, today, and forever.
And here the Lord Jesus Christ begins this exhortation here
in chapter 15 of John to His disciples, I am. I am. Before Abraham was, I am. If you believe not that I am,
you die and you sin. I am. He uses this several times in
the book of John, I am the door. I am the bread. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. I am the good shepherd. I am
the resurrection and the life. But here he says, look at it,
I am the true vine. Why didn't he just say, I'm divine? He says, I'm the true vine. Why
not, I'm divine? I say that often when I'm talking
about him. I say, he's the vine, we're the
branches, he's the head, we're the body. He says, I'm the true
vine. I'm the true vine. But you know, he does that often.
Don't turn to it, but he says, they say, the Scripture says
in John 1, 9, that was the true light. Well, he is the light,
but he says, that's the true light. And then he said in John 6, he
said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread. The true bread. Hebrews chapter 8, Paul said
this, Christ is the minister of the true tabernacle, which
the Lord pitched and not a man. The true light. The true bread,
the true tabernacle, the true vine. Why does he do this? Well,
the answer is found in Hebrews, chapter 9. Turn over there. I
want you to look at this one too. Hebrews 9. Here's the answer. Here it is, right here. Right
here. I am the true vine, the true
bread, the true tabernacle. Hebrews 9, verse 24. As distinguished
from all other, Vines, doors, light, and so forth. Listen.
Hebrews 9, 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place, places made with hands, which are the figures
of the true. These are just symbols and figures
and pictures of the true. The true what? The true holy
place. But into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. When our Lord, listen,
when our Lord uses the adjective true, I am the true vine. I am the true light. I am the
true bread. And He ministers in the true
holy place. When He uses that adjective,
He uses it to show that all persons, ceremonies, sacrifices, buildings,
types that have gone before, are but pictures and types of
him, and they have no value in and of themselves. None. None. There's a light, but it's not
the true light. It's a picture of the true light. And it won't
help you. And when we break bread, and you hold that bread in your
hands, the bread at the Lord's table, Don't you make it more
than it is. Don't you dare make it more than
it is. It's nothing but bread. He's
the true bread. He's the true bread. Oh, if we
could just get that across to our... Symbolism is a great enemy
of true worship. I watched a preacher this morning
for just a few moments on the television, and he was blessing
the congregation. He did everything but make the
cross. He wanted to so badly, a Protestant preacher, but I
watched him. I said, watch, honey, he's almost doing it. It's that
raising the hand and blessing. Let me tell you, he's the blesser.
He's the blesser. It's in him. He's the true bread. He's the true light. He's the
true tabernacle. He's the true vine. Everything
else is symbolism. Everything else. It has no value
in itself. And we have to watch ourselves
and force ourselves not to set value upon these things. This
building. It's a great temptation to hallow
a building. It's a great temptation. It's
a great temptation. Great temptation. But he says,
I'm the true vine. I have no competitors. I have
no rivals. There's nobody in the league.
I'm it. Alright, my father is the husbandman. What's a husbandman? He's a farmer. He's a farmer. Our Lord's talking
about a grapevine now. I'm the true vine. My father's
the farmer. He planted the vine. These men
I visited over there in North Carolina and down in Tennessee,
they planted the vine. It didn't come up wildly. They
planted it. They planted these vines. And
it's the will of the farmer to have a vineyard. It's the will
of the farmer to have a grapevine. And so the farmer selected the
vine and planted it. And planted it. It's all done
according to His will. The Father ordained the Son to
be the vine, to be the Savior. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. In the fullness of time, God
sent His Son made of a woman. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. Christ glorified not even Himself
to be made the High Priest, but He who said unto Him, Thou art
my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. He made Him the High Priest.
I am the true vine. My Father is the Husband. My
Father sent me as my Father sent me. And I'll tell you this, the
Father not only planted the vine, But the branches are in the vine
by the will of the Father, too. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. And I'll tell you, we need to
dwell on this right here. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. Listen. But of him are you in Christ? Of Him are you in Christ, Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. I'm the true vine, my Father
is the husband. My Father is the husband. And
look at verse 2, John 15, and every branch in me, in me. There is but one vine, but there
are many branches. I'm the true vine, but there
are many branches. Out of every tribe, nation, tongue,
and people, the branches are in the vine. You know, I hear people say that they came to faith in Christ.
No, we came to Christ in faith. We don't come to faith. We come
to Christ. We come to Christ in faith. It's
in Christ. We're chosen in Christ. Every
branch in me. We're in Him. We're not in a
faith. We're in Christ by faith. And
those branches are in that vine by divine grace. Chosen in Him. Accepted in Him. And those branches
know who the vine is and they know that they're in Him. Alright, look at verse 2 now.
And 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
get the picture. Christ said, I'm divine. The
only one. The true God. True life, true
salvation, true redemption. I'm divine. You're branches.
You're the branches. My father is the farmer. My father's
purpose is accomplished in all of this. This vine and its branches. Now, he makes two statements
here. Every branch that bears not fruit, my father takes away.
Every branch in me that bears fruit, he prunes it. Now, we've
got to determine, first of all, what the fruit is. What is the
fruit? It's called fruit. Look, it's
singular, isn't it? Fruit. It's not fruits. It's
fruit. Secondly, it's the fruit of the
vine and not the branches. The branches bear it. But look
at verse 4. Abide in me, and I in you, as
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine, neither nor more can you, except you abide in me.
It's the fruit of the vine. Not the fruit of the branches. It's fruit, singular. It's the
fruit of the vine. It's not works. It's something
they bear, something that comes from within, out, not out, within. It comes from within, a grape. Here's the vine. Here's the branches. This grape was produced, produced
by the vine, and the branches bore it. What is this fruit? Turn to Galatians chapter 5.
I'll show you what this fruit is. Without a doubt, without
hesitation, here's the fruit. Singular. Now the works of the flesh are
listed. These are the deeds of the flesh.
Flesh, outward flesh. Verse 19 of Galatians 5. Now
the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, that's divisions, emulations, jealousy, wrath,
strife, sedition, that's a party spirit, heresy, envying, murder,
murder, drunkenness, reveling, such like, of which I tell you
before, as I've said, also told you in times past, that they
that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. These
are the works of the flesh. These are the works and labors
and product of the flesh, the deeds of the flesh, the goings
about of the flesh. But, fruit, singular, the fruit The
fruit of the flesh comes from within and out. It comes from
within. It's the fruit of the flesh of
the Spirit. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit of Christ. It's the fruit of the Spirit
of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Love for God. Love for His Word. Love for His
people. Love for others. It's love. That's the fruit. It's the vine's fruit. But it's
hanging on us. And it's from the Spirit. It's
from within. It's the fruit. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
Of the Spirit. The Spirit of God within. The
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit. It's
the fruit of the Spirit. Love. Joy. The joy of the Spirit
of God. Joy. Rejoicing in Christ. Joy. Peace. patience, gentleness, be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, gentle, forgiving one another,
goodness, liberality, generosity, goodness, faith, faith in Christ,
faith in His blood, I believe God, meekness, humility. I told my clerics this morning,
pride and grace, they are incompatible. They're incompatible, totally
incompatible, like darkness and light. They cannot exist together.
Where grace comes in, pride goes out. Has to. It's opposites. This is fruit. Meekness, temperance, moderation. Against such, there's no law. And they that are Christ's, that
are His, have crucified the flesh with their affections and lust.
If we live in the Spirit, we walk in the Spirit. That's the
fruit. That's what he's talking about here. Now, let's read verse
2. And every branch in me that beareth
not this fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, temperance,
faith, longsuffering. Every branch in me that bears
not this fruit, that Amplified Version says it stops bearing
this fruit, that ceases to bear this fruit. Now a lot of writers,
this preacher included, at various times have applied this to people
who said they were in Christ, who professed to be in Christ,
who they thought were in Christ and others thought they were
in Christ. That's true, they won't bear fruit and they'll
be taken away. But he says here clearly, every branch in me, it's in me that ceases to bear
fruit, that stops bearing fruit. Their lives and their spirit
and their walk do not manifest the grace of God. He says, I'll
take them away. That word take away means to
lift up. to be removed, just removed.
Take them up. Now, both of those applications
could be given here, could be applied here. Every branch that
claims to be in me bears not fruit, but that's really not
what he says. He says every branch in me that does not bear this
fruit, I'll take it away. I'll take it away. It ceases
to bear fruit. Evidently, there was a time when
it bore some fruit, the very fact that it's there. But then
he goes on and says, and every branch that beareth fruit, he'll
purge it, he'll prune it. Why? That it may bring forth
more fruit. Cut away the things that need
to be cut away. I was standing The first time
I experienced this was driving up 23 towards Columbus. There's a huge winery there,
or grape arbor, and I'd drive up sometimes at certain times
of the year, and I'd look out there, and there'd be nothing
out there but just knobs. I mean, during the summer you
drive by, You know, vines everywhere, everything green and vines growing
and beautiful and looks like that they could feed the world
with those. And I drive by other times, there's just a bunch of
knobs sticking up there. They've cut the limbs off. They've
sliced it and cut it and hacked it till there's nothing left
but just the vine and a few runners. Well, I was talking to this fellow
over in Tennessee, and I said, show me how you prune a grapevine. But it had this huge vine he's
had for years and years and years, years and years, and you're big
as four inches in diameter, I guess. And it's green right now, and
a lot of the grapes have just finished bearing. There's a lot
of runners. And he said, I'll start right here, and I'll just
cut that off, and I'll cut that off, and I'll cut that off. I
said, there won't be nothing left. He said, there'll be enough
left. But if I don't cut it, it won't produce. And he said,
I'll give you this advice if you ever plant a grape vine.
When you think you pruned it too much, prune her some more.
When you think you've cut too much, cut her again. And that's
what our Lord's saying here. He said, I'm the vine. My Father
did all this. My Father sent me and my Father,
it's by the will of God the branches are in me. But now if a branch
is in me and doesn't bear fruit, my Father will take it away from
me. And I've seen some taken away that I believed knew God,
believed they knew God, but they didn't glorify God. They didn't
glorify God, and they were just taken out of here. And then he
said, those that do bear fruit, do bear fruit, I'm going to purge
them, cut them, cut them, cut them, cut them, cut them, that
they might bear more fruit. I've told this story I guess
a hundred times, I'll tell it again. There was a traveling
salesman, there's some new people here, but a traveling salesman
going through Arkansas and he stopped in an old general store. And there were some men sitting
around the store talking and whittling and spitting and chewing
and gossiping. And he was trying to talk to
the proprietor about buying his goods. He looked up on the shelf,
and there were some carved figures. And they were a bunch of hound
dogs, just old, long-eared, flop-eared hound dogs carved out of wood.
And he said to the proprietor, he said, who carved those hound
dogs? They're excellent, wonderful
work. And the proprietor said, you
see that old man sitting over there by the stove? He carved
the hound dogs, and he's carving one now. Go over there and watch
him. So the sailor man walked over there and he stood for a
few moments and watched this old man carve that piece of wood. He said to him, he said, how
do you do that? The old man looked up and said,
how do I do what? How do you carve those hound dogs? Well, he said, I never gave it
much thought. He said, looked at his knife,
he looked at the Wood, he said, I reckon I just cut off everything
that don't look like a hound dog. That's the best illustration
I know for this business of pruning the vine, the branches. God will
cut off everything that don't look like a believer. And some things Die hard, don't
they? But they got to go. Every branch
in me that stops bearing fruit, I'll take him away. I'll take
him away. And every branch in me that bears
fruit, I'll take away from him that which hinders his proper
use. That's right. I'll do it. Now he says in the next verse,
he says, now you're clean. You're clean. Over here in John
13, just a few hours ago, he said, you're clean, but not all
of you. Look back at John 13, verse 10. Jesus said, John 13, 10, Jesus
said to him, he that's washed, needeth not save to wash his
feet, but is clean everywhere. And you're clean, but not all
of you. Who was there, Jim? Judas, the
traitor. He's gone now. He's gone. Our Lord's talking just to His
people here now. He's gone. So He says, you're
all clean. You're clean. But you know something
here? I looked at this. You're clean
through the Word. Through the Word. Oh, stay with
me a moment. This is so important. You're clean, not by works. You're
clean by the Word. In other words, the Word of Christ
came to them in power. The Word of Christ came to them
in the Spirit. The Word of Christ came to them
effectually. They heard His Word. They believed
His Word. And they were cleansed by His
blood and by the Word. Our cleansing is attributed to
the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us
from all sin. Our cleansing is attributed to
the Holy Spirit. Listen to this, I'll read it
to you. You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit. You have purified your souls
in obeying the truth, the Word, through the Spirit. And then
it says that cleansing is attributed to the Word of God. Sanctify
them through thy Word, thy Word is truth. Cleansing, purifying,
justifying, saving a sinner is through the Word of God. Don't
underestimate the power and importance of the written Word and the preached
Word. It's the power of God unto salvation. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. I'll tell you why I take this
so seriously, because it is serious. I wish I could get everybody
that pretends or claims or does serve
God and just get them in front of
me and say to them, He deserves your best. He deserves your best. Lack of preparation is absolutely
inexcusable as far as I'm concerned, where God's work is concerned,
where God Almighty's glory is concerned. Preaching of the Word, Proclamation
of the Word is so important. It's so important. You're clean
through the Word. I want to say to these singers
on television and entertainers, stop it. Stop it. Preach the
Word. Read the Word. They don't even
carry a Bible. Give them the Word. It's the
Word of God that comes forth in power. It's the Word that
comforts. It's the Word that begets faith.
It's the Word that instructs. It's the Word of God that gives
hope. It's the Word that sanctifies. It's the Word that purifies.
It's the Word of God by which we live. It's the foundation
of faith. It's the one that sustains me
and keeps me in every time of difficulty and trouble. It's
the Word. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. So I can say, He's my helper. I dare not say it till He says
it. And I've got to know what He says. We're just robbing people
of their heritage. We're robbing people of the means. It's like doctors who have medicines
in their cabinet and won't dispense them. If a medicine will heal,
give it out! come to the doctor with aches
and pains, he says, I'm going to sing for you. Now let's all
wave our hands. You wave your hand and I'll wave
my hand. And we'll be happy all the time. But I'm sick. I'm hurting. Oh, but we're happy, aren't we?
Aren't we happy? It's fun being saved. Teach them. Give them the Word. If God wants them to have fun,
they'll have fun. And joy, they'll have joy. But it'll be based
on His Word. Now watch this. I've got to give
you this. It may take a minute or two more. Verse 4, Abide in
Me. Now listen. Abide in Me. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except you abide in the vine. Abide
in Me. Abide in the vine. Verse 6, If
a man abides not in me, verse 7, if you abide in me, my words
abide in you. A-B-I-D-E. Abide. Alright. Everybody listening?
It's one thing to be in Christ. It's quite another to abide in
Christ. Now listen to me. It's the same. It's the same, but it can be
different. The word abide has a meaning.
Look it up in your concordance. It means to stay. To stay in
a given place. To stay in a given relationship. Stay there. Now listen, I'll
make good on this. I'm in Christ by God's choice,
by God's will, by God's love, by God's power, by God's grace
and nothing can separate me legally, officially, by title in Christ. I'm in Christ. Every believer
is in Christ. To abide in Christ speaks of
walking in fellowship with Christ. In fellowship with Christ. People neglect their first love. They're in Christ legally. They
are in Christ officially. But he rebuked some folks for
leaving their first love. Turn to Revelation. Revelation
chapter 2. Now listen to this. Revelation
chapter 2. Chapter 1, 2, and 3 of Revelation. This message to the churches
is the message to the churches. You know that scripture, where,
behold, I stand at the door and knock. Any man open up, I come
in and sup with him. That wasn't written to unsaved
people. That's the church. Don't you remember in the Song
of Solomon when the bride said, My beloved is outside knocking
and I'm inside asleep? And I told him I've gone to bed.
And then I got up to let him in. And his hand reached through
the hole in the door. And I opened the door and he
was gone. And I sawed him. That's the beloved. And here
in Revelation 2, 4, listen. Verse 3, he brags on them. Verse
2, let's read verse 2. He brags on, I know your works,
I know your labor, I know your patience, I know how you can't
stand, bear them that are evil. You've tried them which say they're
apostles and not, and have found them liars, and you have borne
and have patience, and for my name's sake you've labored and
you haven't fainted, nevertheless I've got something against you.
You've left your first love. You've left your first love.
Not permanently. Not a divorce. But you've left
it. You've left Him. You've neglected the prayer closet.
You've neglected worship. You've neglected fellowship.
You've neglected that walking with Him. Where is the joy that
once I knew when first I found the Lord? Where is that soul
refreshing view? Jesus and His Word. Huh? Know
anything about that? I do. Now He says, if you abide in
Me, if you abide in Me continually,
and My Word abides in you, you'll ask what you will, it'll be done
unto you. Abide. Look at verse 7. If you abide
in Me, My Word abides in you. Look at verse 10. Verse 9, As my Father hath loved
me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. Why would
a believer be told to continue in his love? Because we get attracted to some old
things. Some things get mighty big, mighty important, and we
neglect our first love. Brother Walter Gruber tells an
amusing thing. And it is amusing, but it's illustrative. He said when he and Betty first
got married, he was number one. And then the first child came
along, he was number two. And the next child, he was number
three. And the next, he was number four. He said, I've got eleven
grandchildren now, number sixteen. You know something about that? When I met the Savior, Number
one, first love. Oh, I love the preaching of the
Word. I love the conferences. I love
the fellowship. I love the prayer meetings. I
love the way of God. I love the people. I couldn't
wait. But I'm busy now. I'm busy. I'm making a living.
This whole world is so attractive. Just think, I can get a bigger
house now. We got this and paid for it, so we'll just Dive in,
get a bigger one, bigger car, bigger job, bigger this, bigger
that. Abide in me and my words abide
in you. Ask what you will. See, look here in verse 4, he
says, Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can you except
you abide in me. Abide in me. Let me tell you
something. First love. First love. And all these things will be
added to us. They're all right in there. We
can use this world, but don't abuse it. Don't let it take the
place of Christ. Huh? Verse 5, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Without me you can
do nothing. And he's just repeating what
he says in verse 4, that strong, continual relationship with Christ
which produces the fruit of the Spirit. It's that strong power,
influence, and life of the vine that produces the fruit. Now
remember this, it's the influence of the vine that produces the
fruit. And as we, as the vine and our
relationship is affected, the fruit will be. You understand
what I'm saying? In other words, if the branch
and the vine are in a strong union, then there's more fruit
from the vine. But if the branch and the fruit
have an interference, whether it's a disease or what it might
be, The interference with the branch and the vine is going
to affect the fruit. And that's what he's saying here in verse
5. I'm the vine, you're the branches, he that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Much fruit. Without me you can do nothing. Now verse 6. And I kind of believe
verse 6 may refer to the unsaved. If a man abide not in me, if
he's not in me, I don't know, I'm just not sure, but he is
cast forth as a branch, as withered men gather them, cast them in
the fire, and they're burned. I can't connect people who know
Christ and love Christ with being gathered by the angels at the
end of the world and burned. But verse 7, if you abide in
me, and that's the word I want you to say, and I want to say
it too, abide, abide in me. And my Word abides in you. You
ask what you will. And that's not talking about
material things and physical things. That's asking what you
will in a spiritual relationship. And my Father will do it. All
right. May God bless that to our hearts.
Turn to 219.

I Am the True Vine

What does the Bible say about the True Vine in John 15?

How do we know that Jesus is the True Vine?

Why are the branches important in relation to the True Vine?

How does pruning relate to a Christian's spiritual growth?

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I Am the True Vine

What does the Bible say about the True Vine in John 15?

How do we know that Jesus is the True Vine?

Why are the branches important in relation to the True Vine?

How does pruning relate to a Christian's spiritual growth?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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