WE ARE BRANCHES OF THE TRUE VINE; JESUS
John 15:1-17
JESUS, THE TRUE VINE
V:1-2 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that
does not bear
fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so
that it may
bear more fruit."
A. God the Father is the owner of the vineyard.
1. He takes full
responsibility of the vineyard.
2. He is the
creator of the vineyard.
3. God the Father
is the cause that vineyard has vines
4. God the Father
is the good steward of the vineyard.
5. God the Father
Loves His vineyard.
B. God the Son is the true vine.
1. In other words,
there are other vines that are
imposters.
2. There are other
vines that are not the Fathers vines.
3. Jesus is the
root of all fruit.
4. Jesus is the
one through which all fruit is produced.
C. The church is the branches of the vine.
1. Each believer
in God the Son, is a branch of the true vine.
2. There are two
types of branches, those that bear fruit and
those that do
not bare fruit.
3. Those branches
that bear fruit, the Father prunes to bare
more fruit
4. Those branches
that do not bear fruit, the Father removes them from the vine
D. The objective for every believer is to bear fruit.
1. We were call
out of the world and given the gift of salvation because of
God's
divine love.
2. Every believer
is call and equipped to produce fruit.
3. Spiritual
growth and development of each believer can be measured
by the volume
of fruit produced.
4. There are three
levels of fruit; fruit, more fruit and much fruit (verse 5).
5. The fruit of
the spirit are found in Galatians 5: 22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.
CLEANED BY THE WORD
V:3 "You are
already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."
A. Any time you buy
fruit from the market you should wash it to rinse of
any dirt and
impurities.
1. God called us
out of the world in our sinful and impure state.
2. It is the Word
of God that cleans us from our impure state.
3. The washing is
continuous as we study and meditate on the Word.
4. Positionally,
our sins have been washed clean by the blood Jesus shed on the cross.
5. But experiencally,
there is much washing to be done to present us in the
image of Christ.
B. Any man in Christ is a new creation.
1. Our desire to
sin is being constantly replaced with the desire to
be righteous
before Christ.
2. We have the
potential to be like Christ when we first believe.
3. We have to
continue to work on our soul salvation.
WE CAN DO NOTING GOOD WITHOUT CHRIST
V:4-5. "Abide in
Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
abides in the
vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you
are the branches; he who abides in Me and
I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart
from Me you
can do nothing."
A. If you take a branch from a tree, it is no longer
connected to it's source of nutriments
and it soon will
dry up and die.
1. A branch cannot
exist on it's own.
2. A branch cannot
produce any fruit on it's own.
B. The word abide means to continue, remain or dwell.
1. If we continue
in Christ, He will continue in us.
2. The more we
study and meditate on the Word, the more we learn
about Christ.
3. Abiding means
constant communication with Christ.
4. When we take our
focus off Christ, we put our focus on the World.
C. We can do no deeds acceptable to Christ outside of the
body of Christ.
1. If you disconnect
a limb from the tree, it can no longer receive the life
giving sap
from the tree.
2. If we separate
ourselves from God we cannot do the work of God.
3. The life
giving sap for the believer is the Holy Spirit.
4. Any spirit
operating in us other than the Holy Spirit is the spirit of
the devil.
D. If we submit
ourselves to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit,
we will produce
much fruit.
1. Without the
guidance and direction of the God that dwells in us, we
can produce no
fruit.
2. Galatians
5:22-23 list nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be manifested
in us without
a connection with Jesus.
3. For example; we
can say we love, but without Jesus true love does not exist.
a. True love
is unconditional.
b. By the
world's standard, love exist if someone has an acceptable behavior.
c. By the
world's standard we can select those we want to love.
d. By Jesus
standard, love is commanded for everyone, and is unconditional.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNBELIEF
V: 6 "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."
A. There are two ways looking at this verse.
1. A outward
confession of Jesus without belief in Jesus,
keeps one in a state of condemnation. (Judas for example)
2. A believer that
has no spiritual growth. One who is backsliding.
a. He has no
good works which will tested by fire at the judgment day.
b. He is a
branch that has no fruit.
3. Christ does not
abide in a non productive believer.
B. In either case, there is a judgment for one who fails to
abide in Christ.
1. A believer who
abides in Christ leads a successful life.
2. A believer who
does not actively continue in Christ will lose blessings
God has for
him.
THE BENIFIT OF ABIDING IN CHRIST
V: 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you."
A. You are assured that your prayers will be answered.
1. Your will and
the will of Christ will be the same.
2. Your desires
will be the desires of CHRIST.
B. The success of your
mission is assured.
1. God will work on
your behalf.
2. All your needs
and desires will be supplied.
3. You will have
confidence when you call on the Lord.
OUR JOB; GLORIFY THE LORD WITH SERVICE
V:8 "My Father
is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples."
A. Life is not all about you.
1. Our lives were
designed to give God glory.
2. When our desire
is to bear fruit, we will please the Father.
B. Abiding in the
Lord demands;
1. Prayer:
We must be in constant communication with
the Lord.
2. Worship:
We must honor the Lord in all that we do
giving
Him credit for our well being.
3. Meditation:
We must study the Word but also meditate
on the Word for
enlightenment by the Holy
Spirit.
4. Sacrifice:
Jesus sacrificed His life for our sins,
therefore we must make
sacrifices for the good of
others.
ABIDE IN THE LOVE OF JESUS
V.9.-10. "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also
loved you; abide in My love. 10 "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."
A. A prerequisite for abiding in Jesus love, is keeping His
commandments.
1. We must
reverence God enough to keep His commands before we
can love Him
or anyone else.
2. Jesus is our
role model for love and obedience.
a. He loved us
enough to sacrifice His life for our salvation.
b. He love the
Father enough to keep His commands.
B. God's love for us
is shown in what He did to His Son.
1. Even though
Jesus knew no sin. It pleased God to bruise
Him for our
sins.
2.. Jesus delighted
in the task of the cross; He did not fail
or get
discouraged, Isa 42:1-4
EXPERIENCING JESUS JOY
V:11. "These
things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your
joy may be made full. "
A. Jesus wants us
to have the complete joy in Him that He has in the Father.
1. His
objective of teaching the Word is that we have knowledge of Him,
the Father
and have complete joy.
2. The road
to complete joy begins and continues with abiding in Jesus.
B. Life presents
us with trials and tribulations each day.
1. The key is
to renew your joy in Jesus each day.
2. The world
describes joy as being happy with your circumstances.
3. Jesus Joy
has nothing to do with circumstances.
4. Jesus Joy
is joy in mist of your circumstances.
5. Abiding in
Christ gives us confidence that our circumstances
are there
for our benefit and will work out for our good.
THE GREAT COMMAND; LOVE EACH OTHER
V:12-13 "This is My commandment, that you love one
another, just as I have loved you.
13
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his
friends."
A. Jesus spoke to His
disciples about His sacrificial death on the cross.
1. True love
always require a sacrifice.
2. We have to give up something of ourselves to
love our brothers and
sisters in
Christ.
a. We may
have to sacrifice some time to listen and encourage.
b. We may have
to step in and help one that is in need.
c. We may to
have give council and direction.
d. We may
have to use our hard earn money to assist another person
e. We have
the mission to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior.
B. Jesus loves us by taking time to teach us the truth.
1. Jesus loves us
by showing us compassion in times of need.
2. Jesus loves us by opening closed doors.
3. Jesus loves us
by His protection, provisions and forgiveness.
4. Jesus greatest
love for us is His death on the cross.
a. Jesus
death on the cross elevates us to a new level; friendship.
b. Since Jesus is our friend, we can
call on Him anytime.
c. Since
Jesus is our friend, we can ask him anything.
WE HAVE A FRIEND IN JESUS
V:14-15 "You are
My friends if you do what I command you. 15 "No longer do I call
you slaves,
for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called
you
friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to
you."
A. The prerequisite for friendship with Jesus is obedience
to His commands.
1. Relationship
and friendship are two different things.
2. Our
relationship with Jesus was established when we confessed with our mouth
and believed
in heart that Jesus was our Lord and Savior.
3. Friendship
with Jesus is developed as we commit to obeying His commands.
B. Jesus owns us with His payment of His life to satisfy God
demand for justice
for our sins.
1. Legally we are
His slaves.
2. Legally we have
an obligation to do what He tells us to do.
3. But Jesus don't
want slaves, He want friends.
4. A slave is kept
in the dark about the desires of the Father.
5. But Jesus tells
us everything we need to know about the plans of the Father.
C. One of the commands of Jesus is that we study the Word to
show ourselves approved.
1. When we study
the Word, we are abiding in Jesus.
2. When we study the
Word, we gain knowledge of Jesus and the
Father.
3. When we study
the Word, we gain knowledge about the plans of the Father.
4. When we study
the Word, we know what the Lord expects of us.
4. As friends of
Jesus, we know how our story ends.
D. Jesus said you are
my friend IF, IF you do what I command.
1. How unfriendly
have you been to Jesus?
2. What are you
going to do about your friendship with Jesus?
V:16-17 "You did
not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go
and bear
fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the
Father in
My name He may give to you. 17 "This I command you, that you love
one
another."
A. We were chosen by
Christ to be His disciples.
1. Our salvation
has noting to do with our goodness.
2. Salvation is
a free gift from the Lord according to His grace
mercy.
a. It is
mercy because He look past our sins with the atoning blood
of His
Son.
b. It is
grace because He favored us before the foundation of the World.
B. Jesus appointed
us the mission of bearing fruit.
1. The fruit
that we bear is though obedience to His commands.
2. The fruit
that we bear is through abiding in His Word and Jesus
abiding in
us.
3. The fruit
that we bear is through submission to the will of the Father.
C. There is a promise
that our fruit will remain.
1. As we serve
the Lord we are storing up treasures in heaven.
2. Because we are
serving according to the will of the Father, our
fruit will
stand the test of the fire on judgment day.
D. Jesus gives us
promise of a successful prayer life.
1. What we ask in
Jesus name will be done for us.
2. The Lord
reemphasizes His command that we love each other.
THANK YOU JESUS FOR CHOOSING ME
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lesson, follow me on facebook and visit my blogs;
www.revmitchell.com and goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
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