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John 15:1-17
The True Vine
Rev. Charles R. Biggs
The Living Covenantal Vine
John 15:1-17
I.
The True Vine (15:1-4)- Union with Christ, A Reality
In
the OT, Israel was the vine.
Jesus is the True and Faithful Israelite and thus the True
Vine. His people are united to Jesus
and take part in all of the benefits of the union: life-giving and life-changing power!
o
John 15
located in the context of the Jesus’ teaching the Apostles about the
Spirit to come when he is glorified (John 14-16).
o
Life-Union- sap from vine, Spirit of Christ, A Living Union
o
Spirit with the Word- regeneration,
sanctification.
II.
Abiding, Remaining, and Bearing (15:5-8)- Union with Christ, An Ability
V.
4- “Abide/remain in me and I in
you…” (10x)
o
Abiding/Remaining
is a passive-active
dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the riches of his grace.
V.
5- “Much fruit”- Absolute dependence upon Jesus for
fruitfulness and fruit-bearing (“without me you can do
nothing”). [cf. John 15:16- “I have chosen you to go and bear
fruit that will last.”]
Colossians 1:11-14
V.7-
“Abide in me…my words abide in you…” This stresses
the importance of Jesus’ words given through the Apostles to his
people today in the Scriptures. [Reading, preaching, memorization, meditation on the
Word]
o
Word-
Meditation, not merely a reading of the Word”
- Historically
called the “means of grace”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today
shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to
your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when
you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates.
Colossians 3:16-17: “Let
the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…”
o
Prayer-
“ask what you desire”- A Holy-Spiritual
desire to be fulfilled- “Lord, I want to be more like Jesus”.
Produce of the Spirit and the
Word:
o
Holy-Spiritual-Fruit- compare with Galatians 5:16-24: Fruits of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:17-24: For the desires of the flesh
are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,
for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you
want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual
immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I
warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things
there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
In
other Words: A “Jesus-Likeness” over time will be developed and
produced.
o
Goal of the
Christian life: to glorify the Father (because he is the
Vinedresser/Gardener who prunes and gives life to all men).
V.
8- God is the one who works in us that which is good and pleasing so that
we will bear much fruit.
o
It is
important to remember to think of the Christian life and the growth of
Christians from a farmer’s perspective. Jesus’ illustrations having to do
with our relationship to God were usually agrarian analogies of organic
growth. Business models were used
when Jesus spoke of our relationship and what we owed to God.
o
James 5:7-9: Be
patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the
precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the
early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient.
Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be
judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
o
Pruning from
the Father (v. 2)- - so there will be more growth.
Pruning
“Fruit is only produced on the previous year's wood. Vines
allowed to grow for many years without pruning accumulate much old,
unproductive wood. The object of pruning is to remove all the old wood and
leave 4 canes that will produce next year's crop…Grape pruning
regulates the health and vigor of the vines. This is done by pruning
the vines so the fruit load is about what the vines are able to mature.
This is done through a system called balanced pruning. The system is based
on the vigor of the vines in the previous growing season…Grapes
are pruned during the dormant season in late winter or early spring. Buds
that have begun to swell are easily knocked off during the pruning
operation.”
III.
Abiding in Jesus’ Love (15:9-17)- Union and
Communion
V.
10- “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love”,
Jesus says. Keeping Christ’s
commandments is the result of abiding in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives to us Life-giving
as well as Life-changing power.
o
Mortification/Vivification-
Romans 6:1-14-
Dying to sin, living to Christ!
Romans 6:1-14: What shall we say then? Are we
to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can
we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all
of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into
death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if
we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that
our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For
one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have
died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We
know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no
longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died
to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So
you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ
Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to
make you obey their passions. 13 Do not present your members
to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as
those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as
instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion
over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
V.
11- True joy through obedience- Commandments are not burdensome!
V.
13-17- True love for God and one another.
Summary of the commandments in Matthew 22:37ff-
Love- “Union of
the branches on the Vine”- One Vine, many branches, but unified by
One Vine, which is Christ. The love
we have for one another ought to be the love that Christ had for the
father. Loving obedience and
selfless giving (i.e. laying down our lives for one another).
Matthew 22:37-40: And he said to him, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. 38 This is the
great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two
commandments depend all the Law and the
Prophets."
On the
eve of Jesus’ death he instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is another way
(in addition to God’s Word) where the Holy Spirit communicates
Christ’s grace and nurture to us by faith. Christ uses the fruit of the vine as cup
that represents his death and the benefits of his death to his people by
faith.
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