Dear congregation, on occasion of the administration of holy baptism, it is my desire to meditate with you, with God's help, from God's Word in our text that you can find in the passage read together, John 15, verse 5. John 15, verse 5. When we hear God's Word to us this morning, I am divine. ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing." Our theme is the church related to Christ. In the first place, her position in Him. In the second place, her duty to Him, and in the third place, her blessing in Him. The church related to Christ. In the first place, her position in Him, as branches in the vine. In the second place, her duty to Him, to abide in the vine, in Him. And in the third place, her blessing in Him. bearing much fruit. So, in the first place, then, her position in Him, or her place in Him. The Lord Jesus prepares the church before us in this chapter as a vine with branches. The Lord Jesus, boys and girls, had just earlier instituted the Lord's Supper. They've been eating bread, they've been drinking wine, which is the fruit of the vine. Lord Jesus has told them, do this in remembrance of Me. And now in this chapter, chapter 15, He tells them to continue to remember Him, to continue to be aware that there must be partakers of His body and of His blood, of His life. saying to them, I am the vine and you are the branches. You see, the occult should continue to remember that they have their life only in Jesus Christ. Do this in remembrance of me. I am the vine, you are the branches. And that continues to be so. For he says, without me you can do nothing, even though I will leave you behind. Because that's how he told them, too, at the beginning of chapter 14. He says, I go to prepare a place for you. I go away. But, he says, I will come again to take you unto myself. And not only that, he also says, my father shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you, remain with you, and have the same word, abiding with you, remaining with you. I will not leave you comfortless. Be not afraid, he says. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I will send you my Holy Spirit to abide with you while I must necessarily go to my Father to prepare a place for you. But remember me. Do not forget me. You are branches in me. You cannot live without me. That's great encouragement, but also a great responsibility. It was great comfort the Lord Jesus gave them there. But He also now teaches them a very important lesson. And not only them, but us as well. In a text we read, I am the vine. But in verse 1 we read, I am the true vine. Why that emphasis? Well, not only was the vine a very common plant, well known among the Jews, but more importantly, it was known among them as a picture of the people of God, of the Church. In the Old Testament already, we read in Psalm 80, Verse 8, Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Boys and girls, that's so clear, isn't it? So, Israel was led out of Egypt as a vine, transplanted and brought back into the promised land in Canaan. So, they knew when Jesus spoke about the vine. But what happened with that vine? You know, don't you? We read that in Jeremiah 2 verse 21. Yet, here the Lord complains, yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? I planted you right. What happened to you? He says. And in Hosea 10, verse 1, he says, Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself, not unto the Lord their God. They had fruit, but they were sour grapes. They were wild grapes we read in other places. Not unto God, but unto themselves. So, it's clear. They were a vine. They were all part of that vine. They were all branches in that vine. They were all considered the people of God. But, they were fruitless. They were empty. They did not bring forth fruit unto the glory of God. That was their chief sin. That God had planted them rightly. He had given them everything they needed. Law and Gospel. And they had forsaken Him. fountain of living waters, hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. So they departed from God's way. So they were indeed part of God's people, but in an outward way. They were set apart, they were sanctified, but they didn't live it. They were not inwardly part of the divine in a saving manner. They were circumcised, sure they were, but They didn't live up to it. They were set apart as God's people. And so it is with us today. We too are separated from the world. We too are set apart as a people of God by means of this very baptism this morning. That's the sign and the seal of it. We are a separated people. The people, as they saw us come into the house of God, they think that we are all Christians. And these little ones, God claimed this morning, as branches of the vine. Just like us, all is right. We're His, as branches of His vine. They are my children, He says. They're my people. Sanctified. That's what it means in the form of your Reddit. Our children are sanctified, set apart for a holy life. And, dear parents, I hope and I pray and I trust that that's your desire, that you would bring them up unto the Lord, that they would not just be branches, but that they would be fruitful branches, that you and your little ones together may bring forth that fruit, more fruit, much fruit, in abundance, as we read in this chapter. So, Israel was indeed the vine of God, but they were not the true vine. for the simple reason they did not bring forth the fruit. They were fruitless. That's why Jesus emphasizes and says, I am the true vine. You are a lifeless vine. That's why I came to bring you life. And then Jesus goes on to say, And my Father is the husbandman. Now, husbandman, boys and girls, is like a farmer, a vine dresser. He takes care of that vine. Vines need much work. They need pruning. They need all kinds of other work. Especially we read here about pruning. He takes care of the vine and of its branches. In verse 2, every branch, in me, Jesus says, every branch, every single one of them, that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more. In other words, it's not enough to be considered a branch of the vine. It's a great privilege, but without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it will not be of any advantage to us. Then we will perish like the world, but worse than the world, for we will perish as a branch from the vine. We will perish as one of God's separated people who have known the way that's been revealed to us. It's not enough to be considered a branch in the vine. It's not enough to be considered an Israelite. It's not enough to be considered a Christian. We must be one. We must bring forth fruit. We must be born again. As the Lord Jesus said to one of these branches, Nicodemus. He was a true branch, but he wasn't yet bringing forth fruit. So, the focus is on fruit bearing. There are two kinds of branches in the vine. Two kinds of people in the church. Fruitless and fruitful. There is no other kind of people in this church gathered this morning. It's one or it's the other. See, we're not talking now about the people out in the world. They're lost if they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. If they don't have this Word of Life, they're lost. They're talking about us, you and me. We are these branches. And among us, there are two kinds. It's one or it's the other. We all carry the name Christian, follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Israel was all called Israel. But we read in Normans 9, 6, they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. and such ones that were called Israel, but weren't Israel in truth, were cut off, were cast away into eternal condemnation. And my dear congregation, then it be better that you were never born and raised and baptized in the church of God, having known the way and not what therein, smitten with many strifes. But the fruitful branch, those that are bringing forth the fruit, those that are not only a name Israel, but truly, those that are not only a name Christian, but truly a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be purged, pruned. The pruning knife will come to them, where all that is excess, all that is sinful, will be cut off. See, then the branch is not cut off, but all that doesn't belong on the branch is cut off. the branch will be spared. Yes, not only that, the branch will bring forth more fruit. And the Lord has so many ways in which he can do that, by his word, by providence, all the circumstances of our lives, trials, afflictions, as well as blessings. But then the Lord Jesus continues and says something very remarkable in verse 3. He says, after he speaks about these two kinds of branches, Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Now what does that mean? Now ye are clean through the word. Remember this. It's a very important passage. Ye are clean through the word. To understand what he is saying to them, you have to go back to chapter 13. Boys and girls, in chapter 13 we read about the foot washing. The Lord Jesus Christ washing the feet of the disciples just before the Lord's Supper. Before Passover. And there we read that the Apostle Peter didn't want that. But then the Lord Jesus warned him. He said, then you have no part with me. Then Peter said, then wash also my hands and my head and my feet. And then Jesus says, And that relates to this chapter. In verse 10, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every wit, and ye are clean, but not all. Then he says it again, ye are clean, ye are washed already. In other words, you already are justified, sanctified, regenerated, but not all. You see, Judas was part of them yet. He was yet with them. He wasn't born again. He was a branch all right, but he was not the one that bore any fruit. And the Lord Jesus says to such that are clean to those other of the disciples that were washed and born again, they only needed to wash their feet. And the Lord Jesus is alluding here to Not only justification, but also sanctification. As we walk through the dirt of this earth, literally in those days, so we walk through sin and we get dirty from sin. As we mingle with the world, as we have our own old nature still with us, as we continue to sin, but we need not to be regenerated over and over again. That's what the Lord Jesus says. Be a clean through the Word. And in verse 11 of chapter 13, he actually explains it. He says, for he, that is Jesus, knew who should betray him. Therefore, said he, ye are not all clean. Judas was there among them. He is set before us as a solemn reminder as how close it can come to imitate a real branch. The other disciples? had Judas in their fellowship as one of them. But he was never in the vine. He seemed in the vine, but he wasn't truly in the vine in a sathing, inward way. He professed to be a Christian, but he wasn't a Christian. He professed to be a follower of the Lord Jesus, but he wasn't. He followed along for other reasons, for money in this particular case, for honor. He was exposed in a terrible way. He did not bear fruit in his life. And why not? Well, that's what we hope to see in the second place. He did not abide in the vine. And now we look not only at the position of the Church with regard to Christ, but also at her duty toward Him. It's a great privilege. Judas had a great privilege too, but he was a fruitless branch. He was in the vine, but he did not bring forth fruit, because he only lived by appearance, not by reality. He had a profession of following the Lord Jesus. It appeared good, it looked nice. Maybe we would say it would be a vine, maybe there were blossoms at times, promising signs, but they didn't grow into fruit. Maybe they withered and fell off. Sometimes vines can bring forth a lot of leaves, boys and girls. Looks beautiful, green. But all the strength of the plant goes into the leaves. No fruit. Judas had a great advantage. But he lost it. Because he did not make use of it. Israel, as the people of God of the old dispensation had a great advantage, but they lost it. They sinned in the way, it's our benefit, it's our blessing that we as Gentiles now may hear the word of the living God, but it was their great sin and their great loss. The Jews lost. their advantage. But what was that advantage? What really was the heart of the advantage that the Jews had over the heathens that we have today over the people of the world? We read in Romans 3, verse 1, the answer. Paul asks the very same question. What advantage then has the Jew? Or what profit is there in circumcision? What good does it do? What benefit? And then the apostle answers, much every way, chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. We could say today, what advantage is there in baptism? What benefit, what profit is there in being a Christian, in being baptized? We could say, much every way, means many blessings, all blessings, chiefly what? What are us committed to the Old Testament people of God? Committed to them the oracles of God, meaning the words of God, the utterances of the living God. We have the words of the living God, that's our chief advantage. All other advantages flow through these words. Remember what Jesus said, they are clean through the Word which I spoke. The Word of the Living God is committed to us. We are entrusted with the Word of God, not only, dear parents, with children, but also with the very means by which we must train them up unto the Living God. The Word of the Living God. What is the advantage of having the Word of God? Now, that is the chief means wherewith God regenerates the elect. That's the sword of the Spirit. There is none other. He uses the Word, the Word of God which we have in our homes, in our church, in our schools. A living God speaks, giving to us the way of life, law and gospel, death in Adam, life in Christ. Peter says in 1 Peter 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. What a wonderful thing. The Word of God, which lives and abides. Now, that's Jesus. He abides with us. He says, I will abide with you. How? By my Word, by my Spirit. It is He who speaks. You see, so many among us and among others, they consider this book a dead letter. That's not true. It is read. It lives and abides forever. It's not this Word that is dead. It is we who are dead. in trespasses and sins, we read in Ephesians, by nature. We are the dead ones. We must hear the word of the living God, the word of life, which is Jesus himself. The living word comes to us. And here, dear congregation, lies our hope and our expectation. What a great privilege to have the word of God in our midst. to have the means wherewith Jesus Christ abides in the midst of His people, even till this very moment. Here lies our hope. No man can save himself. You cannot, I cannot. But that's not an obstacle. God knows that. God knew that from all eternity. That's why He provides all that is needed through this Word. Out of a free Sovereign good pleasure, eternal one-sided fountain of love, pouring forth through this Word, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He devised a simple, yet complete, perfect and glorious way to save such dead sinners as you and I are by means of the Living Word. It's God's gift. God's unspeakable gift. the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He speaks to us this morning and He says, I am divine. Without Me, you can do nothing. In other words, without My Word, you are hopelessly lost. Can you imagine, boys and girls, young people, older ones, if you would have been born without this Word, humanly speaking, you and I would have not been saved. If he would have been born even in the first 4,000 years of this world, we would have not had this word because we did not belong to the vine. All nations were lost in darkness. And if he would have been a Gentile in those 4,000 years, none of us would have had life. What a great blessing. What a privilege. What an advantage. But oh, my dear congregation, what a great responsibility as well. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, he says in our text. And maybe you ask, how? How shall I abide in Jesus and he in me? Isn't that God's work? How can it be that a vine could abide on its own in a branch? Or in a vine, a branch in a vine? A branch couldn't do anything on its own, can it? Absolutely true. But we read about the husband man. Jesus says, My Father is the husband man. He is at work. He is doing this. He is indeed at work. You see, it's not only the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not only the Holy Spirit, but it's also God the Father. It's a trying God who is at work even now. Is it not by His fatherly providence that you and I are not only baptized but have been in church this morning? Instead of being somewhere in Africa or in South America, ignorant, without God, without hope, without Christ, you're here, God the Father at work. He ordained this moment from all eternity, that you and I should hear about His Son. God the Son says to you, abide in Me and I in you. And God the Holy Spirit convicts you at this very moment of the truth of it. A great privilege, but the awful, solemn responsibility as well, that we may hear His voice and hear about our most urgent need, not only that we are convicted to do what He commands us, but also to know that He has done everything that we are commanded to do. He has done everything. He will work both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So that we cannot save ourselves is not an obstacle, but to realize it is the way of understanding. To see that God has provided everything in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and has revealed it in His very Word, which you may hear today. Thanks be unto God. He not only can do it, and will do it, but He is doing it, audibly and visibly. by means of the preached word and by means of the visible sign and seal of baptism. What advantage, thou, to hear the word of God. And faith, we read in Romans 10, cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and that is happening even now at this very moment. My dear friend, what have you done with this word? The Lord Jesus makes it so plain that He is not to be known, that God is not to be savingly known apart from this Word of God. Are you really making use of it? Is it indeed your prime position, your chief delight, to return to this Word by day and by night, searching the Scriptures? For day by day, Jesus says, which testify of me. by doing that daily, privately, repeatedly, not as a duty only, not as something that you could do to then indeed be satisfied that you've done what you're supposed to do, be it at supper time, be it at dinner time, and so, I've done my duty. Not that way. But hungering and thirsting after the righteousness that we so desperately need knowing that we cannot live without this God and without His Christ. And those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. Seek and you shall find. No, indeed, we cannot save ourselves. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Indeed. But you and I, my dear friends, can read the Bible. You can take the time to do that, unless you cannot read, and there are too many among us that cannot read. Do you do that, though? Will you? Do you turn to the Bible? For this is how God saves sinners. If you desire to be saved in truth, you will go to the Word of God. Can't be otherwise. You will not be saved with a closed Bible. And I mean the private, the personal, the searching, not just reading it, but searching for a lost treasure. And you will not rest till you find it. See, that's really coming to Jesus. Some people wonder what it is to come to Jesus. Well, is it not to come to the Word? Is it not to turn to Him? Or how, my dear congregation, how shall you and I abide in Him? Remain in Him? Mean, if we haven't first come to Him. And how shall we come to Him? Without coming to the Word. Turning to the Bible. And dear believers, if it is true that you have come to Him, how can it not be but that you desire to abide in Him? having tasted of so great salvation, being delivered from such great misery to be brought to such great good. How could we live without it? It's our life. How can you have life, dear believer, if you would not be continually in the Word of God? That's what the Lord Jesus means with abide in me. The Word must abide in us. and we in Him. And it cannot be apart from being daily and diligently disciples of the Word of the Living God. That's how the Spirit works in all those that come to know God savingly. Convicts them to turn to the Word of God and read it and meditate on it and pray for the light of the Spirit upon it until we have some measure of our sinfulness before God and an awareness of the forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ, the cleansing power of his blood. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. You notice that it doesn't say, ye can do nothing. It says, without me ye can do nothing. That means with Him you can do all things, and it's what Paul says too. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Abiding in Him. And that's the only way whereby we shall bear fruit. And that's what we hope to see yet briefly in our last point. Her blessing in Him. So the Church in her position in Christ all branches in Him. fruitful and fruitless. A duty to Christ, to abide in Him, meaning to come to Him and to then abide in Him as He has revealed in His Word, and then now Her blessing in Him, to bear much fruit. You see, this is not just a command. Some people treat this passage only as a command, but it's a promise. God commands, but He promises to do what He commands. That's the advantage of being in the vine. The main question this morning is not, am I a branch? If you're baptized, you are. But am I a fruitful branch? Am I bearing fruit in Christ, from Christ? The Lord demands us to bring forth more fruit, it says, much fruit, it says. What fruit is he speaking about? The Bible speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. But really, what can it be summarized? Is it not Christ-likeness? What else would the branches be like, but like the vine, drawing its sap from the vine, in order to bring forth the very same things and fruit that Jesus Himself displayed in His life? drawing life sap from the vine. That's why we must abide in the vine, abide in Him, not only to receive life initially, but also continually. Abiding means continue to remain in, in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, not only for justification, righteousness, but also sanctification. The Lord Jesus says, you are clean through the word that I have spoken to you. But you must be continuing in that word in order to be cleansed also in your daily walk. To show Christ-likeness in our lives. Honouring and glorifying God as our Heavenly Father. Hating and fleeing sin, having no fellowship with it. And that is realized only by means of a continual coming to the Word of God. That's why we come to church on Sundays. That's why we go daily to the Word of God to meditate in it and with it. At a time of fellowship with God, being, dear believer, in union with Him by faith, but also seeking for fellowship and communion that flows out of that union, for that really proves the point. whether we are really in the branch, if it shows forth in our Christ-like walk or not. We must daily eat and drink from Him as we eat and drink from the Word of God, eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. That's the blessing that's associated with abiding in Him, eating daily the bread of life, drinking daily the water of life. And for one who is hungry and thirsty for it, will do it. And if we will not, then God, as our Heavenly Father, will come with His pruning knife, and soon we will hurt and smart that much, we will be back in the Word, repenting and weeping for our sins, looking again afresh to Jesus Christ, so that we would bring forth more fruit. For seven, Jesus says, if you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. You see, it is exactly because we have no life in ourselves that we look to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we turn to Him. For we cannot do anything without Him. We have no life without Him. We cannot live without Him. And that's why we continue to turn to the Word of God, whether we feel like it or not. We know we have to. Especially in those times when we are so lifeless. It's all the more reason to turn to the Word of God. And, dear believer, hasn't that happened many times? When you go to the Word of God cold and listless and ashamed of yourself. And say, Lord, here I am. I ought to be desirous to turn to Thee and to Thy Word, but I am not. I'm so polluted, so corrupted, so wicked, so sinful. And what does the Lord do when you turn to the Word of God? He feeds you. He strengthens you. He quickens you by His Word and by His Spirit. And He gives you life even more abundantly. So, this is not just a commandment, it's a promise. The Lord says, if you do come to Me, and if you do abide in Me and in My Word, you shall have life. He assures us in verse 8, herein is my Father glorified, he says. It is not only for your well-being, but for my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. This is the only way. By the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Already that was in the Old Testament too, when the very same Jesus spoke as Jehovah. Hosea 14 verse 8, From me is thy fruit found. They already knew what to turn for fruit to Jehovah. To turn to that everlasting fountain of one-sided free and sovereign love. To that fountain that is opened for sin and for uncleanness. Jesus confirms that in verse 9. He says, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. It's rooted in that eternal love. He says, As my Father loved me, so I love you. And then he says what? Continue ye in my love. In the original, the word continue is, boys and girls, guess what? The same as the word abide. abide in my love, abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to abide in His Word, to abide in His love, for that's the only reason, the only cause through which we have a fruitful life that is none else but only in Him. That is to abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is to bear fruit. For then Jesus Himself, by means of His Spirit, And by means of His word, He will cause us, He makes us willing and able to do of His good pleasure. To love Him above all, and our neighbor as ourself. Isn't that the fulfillment of the law? Isn't that bearing fruit? To do that which God has commanded us to do, to be true image bearers of His glory? And that's why He says in verse 11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you." Then you have the word again, abide, continue, remain. It all centers on the very same thing, that my joy might remain in you. Oh dear fellow believers, how come that we're often so joyless? so fruitless? Examine your heart in your daily life. Why is it, when you profess to know His name, that there is so little joy in believing when Jesus says, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain, abide, continue in you? And then He says, And that your joy may be full. their congregation how stubborn we are, how foolish to neglect so great salvation. My dear unconverted friend, if you've not yet turned to this joy, to this love, to this Jesus, to this Word, then you're cutting yourself off from fellowship and communion and peace with God and joy unspeakable. You see, this is not only as those that live out in the world do, but that it be found even among us, among the branches of the vine. How utterly foolish, how utterly wicked, when God has given, committed unto us the oracles of God, the word of life, and instilled to see that in spite of how persistent we may be in our unbelief and how stubborn we are ourselves, dear fellow believers, in not believing this Word and rejoicing in Him, He still comes to us today and says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Amen.