Pruned, but abiding in the Vine

Life in the Lord’s Vineyard – 4 Sermons

Part 1: “Jesus – The Fruitful Vine”

(John 15:1-8, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 1, 2009)

John 15:1-8 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

What does Jesus teach us concerning His place and our place in the Lord’s vineyard?

A: “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:5)

The Father’s Vineyard (1-2)

The Lord has a vineyard. It’s not all about grapes. We know that He is talking about people. Throughout the Old Testament God called His people Israel His vineyard. Especially in Isaiah 5 He reviews His great work in planting Israel and caring for her. Then He says in Isaiah 5:4, “What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” It is obvious that the failure of Israel as a vineyard was not a new fact that just came forward in the days of Jesus. It was spoken of throughout the Old Testament. God was the owner of the vineyard, the vinedresser, and the problem was that Israel did not produce the kind of spiritual fruit that should have come from those who loved God and His Word.

God had plans for a new vineyard that He talks about throughout the Old Testament. That new vineyard would start with something of a new beginning that might seem very small, but eventually that vineyard would be much larger than Israel. Jesus, on His way to the cross says, “I am the true vine,” meaning He is the fruitful vine. When we are in Jesus, we are a part of a new vineyard, and we want to be fruitful there. The key to being fruitful is not staying out of trouble, but staying in the vine, Jesus Christ. It is only in Him, that we can bear the fruit that God desires.

The work of making the vineyard fruitful is divine work, and it involves cutting and pruning. Some branches do not bear fruit at all, and they are cut off of the vine. Even those branches that bear good fruit need to be pruned, because that is the way that more fruit will come forth. This pruning work is suffering work. The ultimate vine, Jesus Christ, was cut for our sake. If He refused that pruning work, there would have been no fruit at all. Without the cross, we could not have life in Him. Our sin stood against us, and we needed to be counted as right before God. This could not happen without Christ and without the horrifying cut of the cross that He willingly took for us.

This is not the end of the story of the Father’s pruning. In each life that is in Christ, the Father continues this work of pruning, and this is especially why Jesus is warning the disciples here. Yes, He is warning them about the cross, as He has done before, but He wants them to see that the suffering that they face has divine purpose. God is after fruitfulness, and fruitfulness usually requires some measure of suffering. How much do you want to be fruitful in the Lord’s service? Your continued connection to Jesus the vine through times of suffering granted to You by the Father’s love, this is a key to fruitfulness in a fallen world. If you are suffering as a Christian, you have been given a special trust and gift from God. Do not be shocked by pruning. Use it fruitfully in the Lord’s service.

Our Place in the Vineyard (3)

It may help you to understand that the word for being cleansed is the same word as the word for pruning. If you are talking about vines, then it means pruned. If you are talking about people, or about other things that could become ceremonially unclean, it means cleansed. There were many things that could make people unclean in the Old Testament world; leprosy, contact with a dead body, eating the wrong kind of food. All of that was symbolic for what really makes a person unclean; that is, sin.

Sin made Israel very unclean, and there was no amount of ritual purification that could change that. Something had to come from God in order to cleanse Israel. Even the best among the people of God had become unclean, not only through one’s own sin, but in association with others. In Isaiah 6:5, in the calling of the prophet, we read of Isaiah’s reaction to the sight of God in heaven. He says, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” He had a sense of His desperate need. We all need to have a sense of that. From the depths of our souls we have an unclean problem. But Jesus is able to cleanse people, and He can forgive sin. For Isaiah, this was displayed through something that took place in heaven. In His vision He saw an altar, a place of sacrifice, a place where sin is dealt with or atoned for. An angel flew to him with a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the heavenly altar, and the angel touched him on the mouth with that burning coal, and he said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” That is a pretty impressive coal that can atone for a man’s sin. Who do you suppose that coal was all about? There is only one sacrifice for sin that really works. The burning coal that takes away sin must be the same man who said to His disciples before His death, “I am the vine.”

The way that we can be judged to be clean is through the Word that Jesus has spoken to us. This is the only way for anyone to be cleansed. A Word comes from our King, normally through His ambassadors who are charged to bring a message about Him to those who will believe. It is message calling us to be reconciled to our Maker through Jesus Christ. He is the only vine. He is the only burning coal. He is the one who died for our sins. In Him we are already clean. The pruning that God does is not to make us clean, but to make us more fruitful. The cut that Christ received is the source of every good gift for us. We hear of His dying love, received His word, and our sins are forgiven. If you are not in Jesus, the way before you is clear. You need to be in that one vine. You need to see Him as your provision for eternal life. He is the promised One who stands in the way of God’s judgment on behalf of the many. Believe in Him. Believe in His cross. Believe in His resurrection. Believe in His Word.

Our Fruitfulness in the Vineyard (4-8)

And then what? Stay in Jesus, and let Him stay in you, especially when the Father is pruning you through suffering. That is the only way to have fruit for heaven. Jesus is the fruitful vine; and His works remain forever. Our charge from the Lord here is to remain in Jesus.

If we will not remain in Him, we will not be able to have a fruitful Christian life. This is not to say that people won’t like us and even love us; it is not to say that our gifts will not be useful in many ways. (Example of the delicious dinner that I enjoyed in Manchester the other night and some simple act that is done by someone in the vine of Christ) It is to say that our fruit that we have if we are not in the fruitful vine of Christ will only be fruit for this life, can we say that we will have the wrong kind of grapes. It will not be the kind of fruit that remains for heaven. Only that which is done in Christ will be heavenly fruit. The rest is simply a part of this present age.

How to have good grapes: Let His Word have the highest seat of authority in you, and then ask whatever you wish, and consider it done for you as a part of your service of Christ. When God’s Word abides in you by the Holy Spirit, you begin to think about things God’s way. The person who stays with God for a few years, and who stays with others who stay with God, naturally begins to think more like God. This is only normal. Bad company corrupts good morals, but it is also the case that good company has an impact on a person. God’s company is good company.

If you are going to spend a lot of time with God, you are going to have to recognize that there are certain things that interest Him. He is very interested in His own glory. He is very interested in everything having to do with Jesus Christ. He is interested in His own plans of what He is accomplishing in Christ. He is interested in the cross and what Christ accomplished for us there. He is always talking about that. He is very interested in what His Son did after being in the tomb, that He rose again from the dead. He is interested in what that means for you. Here’s something else: He is interested in you. If you are abiding in the vine, He considers you in your heavenly state to be a rich present for His Son. He is interested in all the twists and turns in your life that will make you more like His Son, and will prepare you for the life that He has for you beyond this life. He is interested in pruning you for Jesus sake, and He is sorry that His pruning may hurt you for a time. He needs you to trust Him on this.

What you can do now is to remain in Jesus, trusting that He is the true vine. What you can do in the world of Jesus is what God told the first man to do in Adam’s world. “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.” You know what that would mean for Adam. Do that now for Jesus. Stay around Him so much through His Word and His people that doing things for Jesus’ world becomes more and more of a normal way for you to live. There are certain things that make no particular sense in Adam’s world, but they make plenty of sense in Jesus’ world. To pay attention to what someone is saying to you who can do absolutely nothing for you makes little sense in Adam’s world, but it makes good sense in Jesus’ world. To give an anonymous gift makes little sense in Adam’s world, but it makes perfect sense in Jesus’ world. To quietly give yourself in love for the powerless and the poor makes little sense in Adam’s world, but it is just what Jesus does. To die on a cross for the unworthy makes no sense in Adam’s world, but there is nothing that makes more sense than that in Jesus’ world. Enjoy the Lord. Let Him talk about the things He likes to talk about, and allow yourself to be changed by His Word, and when you see an opportunity to be fruitful, go for it. Let your light shine. Stay in the vine. That is part of the way to live in the Lord’s vineyard.

1. What is the Old Testament concept of the Lord’s vineyard?

2. How can the unclean come into the Israel of God?

3. What is the difference between the vine and the branches?

4. What does it mean to abide in Jesus?