Sermons from the Gospel of John

I AM THE VINE

JOHN 15:1-3

January 7, 1996

Our union with Christ is vividly displayed in the images of the Vine and the Branches. Understanding the images, issues, and realities within this text will help lay the groundwork for grasping one of Christ's fullest teachings on the Christian life.

So much of cultural Christianity in our day has a perverted view of true Christianity. There is no clearer picture of the relationship a believer has with His Lord and the reality of how his life is distinctly different than that which we see in this text. The believer's union with Christ as the Vine distinguishes him from the false believers who masquerade as Christians. Let's see how this is true as we begin our study of John 15.

I. Images in the Vine and Branches

It is important to recognize that the teaching on the Vine and Branches is a parable. This means that we must follow the rules for interpreting parables while studying this text. J.C. Ryle reminds us, "The general lesson of each parable is the main thing to be noticed. The minor details must not be tortured and pressed to an excess in order to extract a meaning from them" (Expository Thoughts on John's Gospel, 195). We could easily take every symbol and image within our text and create a massive theological structure. But that is never the reason for parables. Parables drive home a primary truth in colorful word pictures and graphic imagery, so that both our minds and imaginations are nourished with understanding of the point being taught.

With this in mind, let's proceed by looking at the distinct images within this text. Unlocking their meaning will help us along the way as we continue our study through John 15 in the weeks ahead.

1. The True Vine

The image of a vine was not a new thing in either Jewish literature or ancient literature. Since grapevines were common to that area of the world, as well as to much of Europe, it was not unusual to see people using it to illustrate or explain some matter, whether religious or otherwise.

Perhaps for our background we need to take a quick glance at some of the passages in which the vine-motif is used in the Old Testament. There is a consistency in the Old Testament passages of the vine representing Israel. Sometimes this was done positively, though usually it showed some negative aspect of Israel. D. A. Carson points out that "whenever historic Israel is referred to under this figure it is the vine's failure to produce good fruit that is emphasized, along with the corresponding threat of God's judgment on the nation" (The Gospel According to John, 513).

Psalm 80 pictures Israel as a vine being removed from bondage in Egypt by the gracious hand of God, so that it grew and prospered. Then the scene shifts to God's judgment on His wayward people and a heart-cry for the Lord to return to the people and revive them.

O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech Thee;

Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

Even the shoot which Thy right hand has planted,

And the son whom Thou has strengthened for Thyself....

Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand,

Upon the son of man whom Thou didst make strong for Thyself.

Then we shall not turn back from Thee;

Revive us, and we will call upon Thy name.

O Lord God of hosts, restore us;

Cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. (Psa. 80:14-15, 17-19)

Isaiah 5 pictures Israel as God's well-beloved whom He planted in His vineyard, lovingly, carefully providing for the nation's well-being. But because of her rebellion against the Lord, He broke down all Israel's protection allowing judgment to strike them. On their part they produced only worthless grapes. (Other vine-motifs can be seen in Jer. 22:21; Eze. 15:1-8, 17:1-21; Hos. 10:1-2).

I digressed into these OT parables to illustrate that we must understand an image before pressing its meaning. In those cases the vine represented Israel--that is quite clear. But in our text of John 15, the vine clearly represents Jesus Christ without any parallel to the Old Testament usage's. Some have speculated that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that Israel was meant to be and indeed He is. Perhaps there is something of this in the words, "I am the true vine." The point is that the vine is not Israel in this parable, but it is Jesus Christ the Lord. Rather than being a fading or false or failing vine, as Israel, Jesus Christ is the true vine, one that is genuine in all He says and does. Ancient Israel was marked by her apostasy, i.e., her profession of following Jehovah, but her constant disobedience, rebellion, and hypocrisy. Jesus Christ is just the opposite as the true vine.

There is a strong emphasis on the words, "I am" in this passage. We have already seen that Jesus has used this "I am" expression in striking ways before in John's Gospel. Each instance carries with it the same thought as the covenant name for God which was given to Moses in the wilderness, "I AM THAT I AM." And so we have Jesus saying, "I am the Door," "I am the Good Shepherd," "I am the way, the truth, and the life," "I am the bread of life," "I am the light of the world." Each identifies Him as the One, true, eternal God who has become incarnate on behalf of sinners.

There is no substitute for Jesus Christ as the Vine in your life, that is, the one who is the very source of all of your life, the one in whom all of your spiritual life, strength, energy comes. Some try to substitute some religious means or observance of ordinances for Christ. But the point Jesus makes in simplicity is that He alone is the vine which supplies you with true spiritual life.

2. The Vinedresser

The Father is pictured as the vinedresser. The word in the Greek, GEORGOS, is the root for the name "George." It means one who is a farmer or one who tills the soil. In this context it refers to one who is a vinedresser or who is an expert at caring for the vines.

One of the vinedresser's primary jobs is that of pruning the branches of the vines. Pruning is an exacting science. It must be done properly or else the growth and fruitfulness of the vine will be impeded or even ruined.

When we lived in Alabama, we had an apple tree in our backyard that I decided I would prune. I must admit that I am not an expert on pruning. And I proved it when I took the pruning shears to that apple tree! I cut and cut without any particular rhyme or reason. I would cut some more, step back and take a look, then cut again. I was more interested in shaping the tree as you would do a shrub than in pruning it for fruitfulness. When my dad came over one day he took one look at my pruning job and said, "This tree won't have any fruit on it next year. You did not prune it the correct way." I thought surely he was wrong, but sure enough, the next year the tree had plenty of branches and foliage, but no fruit! The pruning was not done correctly so that there was no fruit.

But you never find this with the Father! He is THE expert on pruning the precious branches which His Son has redeemed and given life. He knows how much to cut back and when to prune. There is never an error with His handiwork. He is the faithful vinedresser who has an infinite care for us as the branches.

3. The Branches

The second verse of our text speaks of the branches who either bear fruit and are pruned or bear no fruit and taken away. Now we must understand this image or else we will find ourselves missing the point of this parable or delving into heresy.

Some mistakenly state that the branches are all true Christians, with some being secure for eternity and others losing their salvation. This cannot be the case because it would contradict the clear teaching of the New Testament. For instance, Romans 8 teaches us that salvation is an eternal matter in which nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus. I Peter 1 teaches us that we are kept by the power of God unto a salvation that is ready to be ultimately revealed in all its glory at the coming of Christ. I John teaches us over and over that we can know for certain that we are saved. If you can lose your salvation then it would be impossible to know for certain about your salvation because you would always be wondering if you have done something to cut yourself off from Christ. If we can lose our salvation, then it cannot be wholly a work of grace as taught in Ephesians 2, Romans 3, Titus 3, etc., but must be based upon our works, for only our works could ruin our salvation. There are many other passages we could dig into to prove this, but let these suffice for the present time. We conclude that the branches mentioned in verse 2 do not imply only true Christians.

Others take this verse as meaning each Christian has multiple branches in his life, some of which need to be pruned and others which need to be cut away. Obviously, we have areas of our lives that sometimes we desire to cut away, as areas of sinfulness. And we certainly have areas in which we can be refined and better disciplined. But that does not follow the simple logic of a parable. It is reading into the text something of one's own making.

Instead, we see that this verse tells us about two types of branches, clear and simple:

Non-bearing branches,

Fruit-bearing branches.

Who are the non-bearing branches? These are those who appear to be Christians but are actually false believers. We can refer to them as apostate Christians, that is, those who make an outward profession of Christ, but ultimately turn away from Him. In terms of outward appearance, they seem to be religious, they may use the words of "Zion," they may exercise many fine religious traits, but they are devoid of the fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus spoke clearly in many passages about such false professors of Christianity. Matthew 7:21-23 tells how Christ declares, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." Jesus then describes their religious activity which they purport to be enough evidence of being a Christian, but which Christ does not accept: "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'" Notice the emphasis on what they did, but no reference to what Christ had done in them. Genuine salvation is not what we do but what Christ does. That's why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that he must be 'born again', a work which is clearly of God and none of man. The declaration of Christ is shocking to those who are false professors of Christianity, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'."

We have already seen several instances in John's Gospel of false professors of Christianity. I mention just one thing Christ said to the group who claimed to disciples to show how there are many who outwardly appear to be Christians, but are truly lost. "But there are some of you who do not believe," our Lord told the ones following Him as noted in John 6:64. Right after this many withdrew from Christ or "apostated" by falling away. Did they lose their salvation? Of course not! They never had a salvation to lose, because they had never truly believed.

But our text also speaks of fruit-bearing branches, which refers to those who are genuine believers. What distinguishes the true believer from the false believer? Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount that the issue of "fruit" would be the clear-cut sign to distinguish the true and the false. He said you can pick out the false prophets "by their fruits." Then our Lord adds, "Every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit....So then, you will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:15-20).

What kind of fruit does a Christian bear? Quite simply, a true Christian will bear the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-23.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

A true believer will exemplify regenerate life. He will demonstrate quite naturally that he is a new creature in Christ. The character of Jesus Christ will show up in his life. He will have a disdain for sin. He will love holiness, righteousness, and truth. His desire will be to please Christ and not himself nor the world.

The question you and I must face is 'what kind of branch am I?' Our text goes on to describe the work of the Vinedresser toward these two types of branches.

II. Issues in the Vine and Branches

Now that we see the meaning of the images in the Vine and Branches, it is imperative that we go deeper and see the issues involved. What are the specific truths which our Lord is impressing upon us through this parable?

1. Removal of non-bearing branches

As we noticed earlier, there are branches that give the outer appearance of being genuine but are instead, non-bearing branches. In other words, these are false believers who perhaps have given some kind of outward assent to the gospel, but have not really come to faith in Christ. These are the ones described in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, in which they hear the Word and make a quick decision, but when affliction or persecution arises due to the Word, they quickly fall away. Others are described as giving every outward appearance of faith, but when the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of riches arise, the word sown in their hearts is choked and they fall away. These are apostates, people who were never saved in the first place, whose true colors eventually show.

What do such people rely upon? They trust in their profession of faith or their baptism or their participation in the Lord's Supper or their church activities or their walking an aisle or their claim to religion. But they are devoid of Holy Spirit-born life. The seed of God does not dwell within them. The soil of their hearts was never regenerated by the Spirit so that they might trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Now, what happens to such people? Can they fool the Lord in the day of judgment? Can they really stand up for Christ in the face of intense persecution and opposition?

Our text says very simply that "every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He [the Vinedresser] takes away." The word is a clear picture, one that you can almost envision while thinking of a hillside covered with grape vines. There are branches that produce foliage, but are not fruit-bearing. They cannot produce fruit. The vinedresser carefully cuts them away so that they have no more part in the vine. He then piles the vines together and burns them.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (v. 6)

It is not our job to cut away non-bearing branches; that is the work of the Father. God will cut away the apostate Christian so that the day finally comes when it is clear that such a one has no part in the inheritance of the children of God. That day may come during that person's lifetime or it may come at the day of judgment as is pictured in Matthew 7. Some who followed Jesus were exposed as unbelievers by the demands of the gospel. Others were exposed by their resistance to the truth of God. Some, by their conspicuous absence from the fold of God, expose themselves. Still others continue to hide among the sheep of God, but they are inwardly wolves. However they are exposed, you can be sure that the day will come when God the Vinedresser cuts them away. And when it does, that false professor will realize that our Lord was quite serious when He said, "Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

2. Pruning of fruit-bearing branches

The Vinedresser also works on fruit-bearing branches. "Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit." Notice that He points out that there are no exceptions. All who are genuine will bear fruit. All who bear fruit will be pruned by the Father that their fruitfulness might increase and continue. There are some vital truths for us to consider in this for just a moment.

True believers will bear fruit. We have already seen this, but it needs to be reiterated lest we forget. We have such a vapid idea of what a Christian is in our day! Just as long as a person makes an outward profession of faith and perhaps has been baptized or joined a church then we acknowledge that they are Christians. But the Word of God does not such thing! It is only when the fruit of the Spirit, i.e., that character of Christ which the Holy Spirit alone can produce within the believer, when that fruit comes forth clearly and faithfully, then you realize that a person is a genuine believer. My friend, you may have made a lively profession, but if there is no fruit in your life you are still in your sins!

True believers will be pruned or disciplined. Every believer has room to grow. That is why sanctification, the process of our growth in holiness and truth, is a lifelong work. We have areas of our lives that need to be renewed by the Spirit; other areas that need to be stripped away; still other areas that need to be transformed through godly discipline. The Father who began a good work in us will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). He works in us to purge, purify, cleanse, renew, recreate. Sometimes He must chasten us for our disobedience in much the same way we lovingly chasten our own children when they disobey. At other times He reproves us or convicts us or instructs us. Listen to the way the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 12:3-13.

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,

and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

God's pruning demonstrates His care for you. If you have a grapevine and let it go without pruning it each year, it will quit bearing fruit consistently. It will become unmanageable and fail to do what it is supposed to do: produce luscious grapes. To neglect pruning a grapevine would show that you are uncaring in your responsibilities. How much more would that be if the Father neglected pruning His own children! The Hebrew writer reminds us, as noted above, that His pruning is evidence of His great love and concern for us.

Pruning prepares us for greater fruitfulness and usefulness. Without the pruning, we will go on following the pattern of the natural man. But through the Word of God, through the trials of life, through the work of the Spirit, through adversity, through our circumstances, the Father disciplines us so that the character of the Lord Jesus might become more evident in us and that we might be more effective in carrying out our missionary purpose in the world.

Pruning places the focus on the glory of God. Jesus tells us in verse 8 that the Father is glorified by our bearing much fruit. When He prunes us, we become better fruit-bearers, thus glorifying the Father who has brought about our redemption.

All of you will one day face the work of the Vinedresser. Either He will prune you throughout your life for greater fruitfulness. Or He will one day remove you so that you cannot continue masquerading as a Christian. Those are the heart issues of the Vine and Branches in our text.

III. Realities in the Vine and Branches

We fittingly close our look at these first few verses of John 15 by noticing a couple of realties in the Vine and Branches.

1. The distinguishing mark of genuine Christians

Christians are distinguished from false professors by the fruit they bear. Please understand, a false professor can be very religious, extremely moral, and a nice person. The difference is that their trust is not in Christ alone. They may have faith in faith or faith in themselves or faith in the church or faith in the preacher or faith in positive thinking, but assuredly, they do not have faith in Christ alone for their salvation. And it shows up by the fact that the true character of a child of God cannot be found in their life.

Perhaps J.C. Ryle's comments will be helpful.

He that would know what the word 'fruit' means need not wait long for an answer. Repentance towards God, faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, holiness of life and conduct--these are what the New Testament calls 'fruit'. These are the distinguishing marks of the man who is a living branch of the true vine. Where these things are wanting, it is vain to talk of possessing dormant grace and spiritual life. Where there is no fruit, there is no life. He that lacketh these things is 'dead while he liveth'. (pp. 196-197)

Jesus stated clearly, "For each tree is know by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart" (Luke 6:44-45). We must be sure that we call "Christian" what the Bible calls "Christian," or else we will be opposing the truth of God. It is no wonder that in right after these same verses in Luke our Lord asks the perplexing question to those who were false professors, "And why do you call Me,' Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

2. Genuine Christians have embraced the Gospel

But there is a distinct difference in those who are genuine believers. Jesus told the eleven remaining disciples, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." What was that 'word' which Jesus spoke to them and consequently to us? It is the word of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The use of 'the word' [TON LOGON in the Greek] refers to the teachings of Christ (cf. 14:23-24). His teachings can be summed up as referring to the revelation of His Person, that He is both God and man through the incarnation, and His work, which is the whole process of redemption which He completed. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ which the disciples had embraced or believed. It is the gospel that has taken root in their hearts and produced good fruit.

Does this mean they will no longer need pruning? Of course not, for the pruning continues throughout life to increase fruitfulness. But it does mean that there is genuine life present through faith in Christ so that there is something to prune.

Conclusion

Now we come to the end of this sermon, but not the end of its usefulness. You must come to terms with what kind of branch you are as represented in this parable. Are you one that bears fruit and thus knows the Father's pruning? Or are you one that does not bear fruit that must ultimately face the fierceness of the Father's wrath as He cuts you away and casts you into everlasting fire and darkness?

My friend, do not treat this text lightly. It is a clear call to come to Jesus Christ as your only hope, as the One whom you trust for your eternal salvation by the sacrifice of His life. Trust Him alone that He might bear His good fruit through you and that you might know the Father's gracious care in pruning you for His glory.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.