The True Vine – Part 1

John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

Pastor Kyle continued in His Sunday sermon series titled “The Upper Room” by stating that “the vine and the branches” is teaching us what to expect as a Follower of Jesus Christ and to connect and stay in the Father, we must connect and abide in Jesus. We must be totally dependent upon the Vine and Vinedresser. Plants must be pruned and cut back periodically in order to produce. This pertains to our fruitfulness as Christians also. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “abide” as to be, or exist, to continue; to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely. It may be easier to visualize when we think about the phrase: “We abide in our house”, which means “the place that we live in and make our home.” We are intimately connected to our home. So, to abide in Christ is to live and make our home in Jesus.

John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Kyle gave us six things that every Christian should expect as a branch abiding in the vine. (1) Expect pruning – God decides what gets pruned out of our lives and redirected by the Lord. Whatever we are going through is orchestrated and used to bear more good fruit. God’s not worried about losing some branches because He looks at the bigger picture. (2) Expect to be used by God – Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Being used but God for Good works that produce fruit towards God’s purposes is a foundational expectation of the Lord. Verse 6 speaks to fruitless disciple’s that bury their talents.

John 15:7-11 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Let's continue this message by Pastor Kyle abiding in the true Vine on the next post.

In Christ, Brian