John chapter 15 and verse 1 the words of our Savior, I am the true vine and my father is the husband man. Well today I feel like taking you for a walk. right through a vineyard, that we might learn the lessons that our Savior gave to His disciples. I don't think you had to go very far in the Jerusalem area until you would find a vineyard of some kind, or a vine growing even hanging over a wall. When I read of this and think of vines, I cannot but think of the Okanagan. In fact, there is, in the city of Penticton, a tub along the street out of which grows a vine. And from that single tub — I can't even remember the make of the tub, if it's a barrel, wooden, metal, concrete — but I know that the stem that comes right out of it, and it goes up over this trellis, and it creates a covering over the street. And it really is a marvel of production, of abundance, from one little stalk, that all this mass of foliage. Now, I'm never there to pick the fruit. I don't know exactly how much fruit it produces, but certainly from the foliage, it creates great expectations. Now, when we come to John chapter 15 and we read where the Lord Jesus says, I am the vine, ye are the branches, well, it also creates great expectations in our hearts. This teaching in this passage of Scripture has helped so many Christians and so many of God's servants. The godliest of men and women have leaned heavily on this passage of God's Word. It has translated many from being mere theorists of the doctrines of the gospel to its practical application in their own lives, and so it has really been life-changing. No doubt it relates to our fellowship with Christ, but it is inextricably linked to fruit-bearing. And that's what you want, right? Who here wants to be barren? Who here wants to be unproductive for the Lord? Do I not hear many praying, Lord, use me. Make me useful in your kingdom. And so here is really so much for us to learn. Now, The more we study the Bible and the more we look at the world around us, we begin to realize that the world is God's picture book of so many of the great truths of the gospel. To those who have eyes to see, We can see the wisdom, the design, and we can see parallels from which our Lord Jesus drew so many parables, and He taught on that vein so often. The Lord taught about water, light, the very insects, leaven in the bread, the shepherd of the sheep, and here again in this vine. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Now, do not confuse simplicity of language for shallowness. There is no shallowness in this passage. There are depths to this analogy, which the Lord keeps up right through to the end of our reading there in verse 16. And no doubt, they can satisfy a child. You could teach a Sunday school class on this passage. But they also challenge the sage saint of God. I had a brother say to me last Sunday that every time he goes to John 15, it challenges and it stirs his heart again. Now, I have prayed much about how to preach this, because coming to this subject, it's a bit like a vine itself. It seems at first a tangle of wood and all this foliage, and then where does the fruit come from? And how do you put it into structure? How do you put it into a preachable format that we may grasp the salient lessons of this line of teaching the Lord Jesus gave? Well, here are my three points. The infinite person of Christ. Who else could say, I am the true vine? Muhammad couldn't say that. Abram couldn't have said that. Even Paul the Apostle could not have said that. I am the true vine. And so this leads us to recognize the infinite person of Christ. There's also here the believer's participation in Christ. I am the vine, ye are the branches, Jesus says in this passage. And then there's the practical value of his life flowing into our lives. There's just so much here. Indeed, I'm concerned that will I ever get to preach this fully? So let's begin with the first one, then, the infinite person of Christ. Now, I want you to know what the Lord Jesus did not say. Very important to get this. He did not say that my father is the vine. No, the father is the husband man. He is related to as the owner of the vineyard, or the one to whom the fruit is brought. It is the Lord Jesus himself who is the vine. Also, Jesus did not say that he is like the true vine, but rather that he is the true vine himself. And so while there are parallels and similarities, Jesus calls himself the true vine. Now, to the disciples who grew up in Israel, Jerusalem, and to Jews, this term, the true vine, was really so full of meaning. God had referred to Israel as a vine taken out of Egypt. And there are multitudes of references right through the Old Testament to Israel being a vine. The Jew understood this so clearly that in the Maccabean period, somewhere around 300 BC, they put the symbol of the vine on their coins. Now, you know when something gets to that dissemination in a nation, that it has great value and great significance. It's like the maple leaf. on our coins here in Canada. And to every Jew, the vine had tremendous national significance. And so when the Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine, He was switching the mindset of the disciples and all who would hear this. from national Israel now to Christ, the head of the church, and to the gospel. And that is a tremendous transmission or switchover. And the teaching of our Lord to the disciples here was so filled with meaning. Now, the Lord also had instituted the Lord's Supper and talked about the fruit of the vine. and it being the covenant of his blood. And there again we see the significance of the vine. Another thing that comes up in the early ministry of the Lord Jesus was at the marriage of Cain of Galilee. The first miracle Christ ever performed was to turn water into wine. And now he's saying, I am the true vine. This is pregnant with meaning. It is so satiated with truth and significance, it ought not to be missed. To make such a statement, he had to be God. He had to be infinite in person. Just like all of the I am statements of the Lord Jesus. And of course the Jews picked up on it and they said he was making himself out to be God and would stone him. The Lord Jesus unashamedly, clearly taught that he was God come in the flesh. That he was not just a teacher, prophet, or disciple. He was the true vine, God in the flesh, who would support, supply, and give life to all who would believe in Him. Now, the doctrine of Christ's deity comes up in John's Gospel so clearly. Chapter 1, verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. In creation, nothing was made without Him. And then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And He was full of grace and truth. Grace and truth. And of His grace have we all received. Grace for grace. And if you can get the picture of the vine supplying the branch, every branch, and the abundance of the life of Jesus, God in the flesh. flowing into the lives of His people, He can do so because He's infinite, and He is God. The Lord Jesus, therefore, meets every need of every heart that looks to Him. This is how Christ can be real to you, personal to you, effective in your life, because he has all the sufficiency to supply the need of your heart. every soul that needs to be saved. You might be asking, can Christ save me? Can He give me this gift of eternal life? Turn me from being dead, dry wood, living in vanity, heading to be burned? Can the Lord give me this life? Yes, He can. He's got the power and the life, the sufficiency to do it. And when we become united to Christ, He feeds every soul. He satisfies the heart of every Christian, every believer, every church ministry. He hears and answers the prayers of every mother, every Christian father. He hears the prayers of Sunday school teachers for the needy boys and girls they teach. He meets the need of the missionary on the mission field to the needy of the world. This is the one who said, I am the true vine. and my Father is the husbandman." I want you to see the point that there is all fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that comes to life here in this analogy, but it is a solid Christian doctrine. I want you to go to Colossians chapter 118. Colossians 118. Speaking here of our Lord Jesus, verse 15, he's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created. And then verse 17, he is before all things, and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And when you link the analogy of John 15, Jesus the true vine, with this doctrine that Christ was Trinitarian, He was the second person of the Trinity, in Him dwelt all the fullness of Godhood. He is the infinite Savior, and He comes down to dwell with men, and He ministers to every need of every soul. Now man is a complex person. You are body and you're soul. You are mind and you are heart. No doctor can meet every need of your physical, mental, spiritual frame. But the Lord Jesus can. He is the great physician. He is the great minister of grace. There is no loneliness that he cannot address. There is no heartache that he cannot console. There is no loss that he cannot complement to fill with his own ministry of grace. We could stop there and apply all of that. to the various needs of the human heart. And we all know that in the rough and tough and tumble of this world, our hearts ache so often. Do you go to Christ with your burdens? Do you take your needs to the one who is the friend of sinners? What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. So these are not just pretty words, these are messages of hope and comfort. This is the ministry of grace. You didn't come to church today to hear about a theoretical Jesus who's some kind of puppet figure, no but the real Savior, who is touched by our infirmities, who sympathizes with all our needs. But do you run to Him? Do you tell the Lord Jesus the problems of your heart? We're living in the medical age when there's supposed to be a pill or a drug for nearly everything in life. There are many things that a drug cannot cure, but the Lord Jesus can minister grace to you, and He can be the all-sufficient and all-helpful Savior to your heart. That's why we are called to pray for one another. There's meaning in prayer when we understand that Jesus is infinite. the true vine, and our Father is the husbandman." Now we move to the participation that believers have with Christ, and we really don't get that link till we move to verse 5, "'I am the vine, ye are the branches.'" I have to say that in my reading and study of this, the thought of the tangle of the vine, the wood, and the foliage really is like the way that things are here. I preached the first message on verse 16 last Sunday evening in John 15. And I thought that was the purpose statement of the passage. And I wanted to get then to verse 1 today to see that Christ is the true vine. But the participation part, where we have the clear statement of our Lord Jesus, I am the vine. and ye are the branches." I want you to see here that in this participation that the branch is dependent on the vine for all of life. The important thing to note is that you as a Christian, a branch in Christ, you are not the source. You are the channel. That changes everything. Changes every concept that you can imagine of. The Lord Jesus taught that the Christian, as the branch, is the channel. You are the conduit to receive and carry the life of the Lord Jesus through you. You are not the source. The vine is the source. The vine has the roots in the ground. The vine produces the sap of life. The vine offers that life to every branch. We receive that life. We are not the source of it. Sometimes we get ourselves into mental hoops and problems because we think we've got to work it up. We've got to concoct it ourselves. We've got to produce it ourselves. We can't produce a thing. Jesus said it without me, ye can do nothing. We are totally, absolutely dependent on the life of the Lord. And that ought to work humility and a spirit of faith and trust and prayer in the life of every Christian as a branch. Is it doing that in your life? Or are you trying to be the vine? Are you trying to be the producer? Are you trying to be the one in control? Or are you willing now to take the position as a branch? I was going to say just as a branch, but I checked myself. It is a privilege. to be a branch in this vine, because out of that abundance comes our satisfaction, our joy, our peace, all the fruit of the Spirit. Now, this participation, it makes sense of some great Bible texts Like Galatians 2.20, where Paul said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Now, in doctrinal terms and theological terms, you can wrestle and struggle with Galatians 2.20 for a long time, but this passage just—it pictures it for us. It's a visual aid. It enables us to see that by the cross, I am crucified with Christ. I'm united to him. And the life that I now live, it's no longer the old life of self. It's no longer the old me. It's a new life. It is the life of Christ, and it is His life flowing in my life. So what I'm doing, I'm doing in His strength. I'm doing in His power, at His direction, and thereby we pray that the Lord is working and producing fruit in our lives. Another verse that it answers to is that text, Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. That verse puzzled me for a long time. It's a puzzling verse, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." To do that, you're really saying, I'm a branch, and the Lord is the vine, and out of my union to the Lord, His grace, His power flows into my life. That's transforming. That is absolutely, miraculously transforming. And if you're living the life of a branch united to Christ, you will have his life flowing into your life. By this participation, we are never alone. We are the channels of the Lord. And again, I'm back to the difference between a source and a channel. The source, well, it has all responsibility. It must produce everything. It must have the program. It must have the mind and the wisdom and the fullness to produce this. The channel just lets it flow. The channel has no strength. no comprehension of the end from the beginning. The channel just lets it flow. And that's what we do as participants with the Lord Jesus. Now, in the history of the church, some people have come up with that catchy phrase, which they have turned into a maxim of Christian life, let go and let God. Have you ever heard that? Let go and let God. Well, don't let go of truth, Don't let go of the gospel. Don't let go of things that the Lord commands, but do let God. That's the life of the branch. We're to let God work in our lives. Do you pray that way? Do you spend time in prayer and say, Lord, here am I. Work your will in me. Let your purpose, your life be worked out in me. I'm just the conduit, I'm just the channel. Lord, let your life flow into mine and I will be the channel. Now that means that you're asking the Lord to lead you. Lead me, lead my footsteps, guide my decisions, and then let them fill you. You know, you're going to pray all of this. You're going to say, Lord, I need you to guide me. I need to know your will, but then, Lord, I need the power to do it. And this is not a self-help program. This is the brunch life for the Christian. Lord, I'm praying for your will, and I believe if I'm in your will that you'll give me the power, the grace, the Holy Spirit's anointing to do your will. And that might mean stepping out into tasks that you normally wouldn't do. Because you might say in your loneliness, not thinking of the union between the branch and the vine, thinking of that being separate, you might say, well, I could never do that. I could never serve God in that way. I don't have the capability. I don't have the wisdom. I don't have the power. But when you see your life as a channel, you say, Lord, with you, all things are possible. When your power is flowing in my life, I have to leave the outcome and the work to you. Just flow in me." And you ask God to use you. And you literally step out on the promises, and you believe on the Lord. Now, would that be a good summary of your life? You're stepping out on the promises. Is that the basis in which you're living your Christian life and testimony? God has made certain wonderful, glorious promises in this book, and really all I'm doing is I'm stepping out on the promises, and I'm trusting God for the outcome. Young people, Your life's ahead of you. Career, Christian service, it's all ahead of you. Are you stepping out on the promises, or are you saying, oh no, I could never do that? I dare not even try that. The life of the vine, the branch in the vine, is the life that says, well, as the Lord lead me, and as He gives me the grace and the power to do, I'm willing for the will of God. That's the surrender that the branch life takes in this scene. Also by this participation comes the secret of tranquility in the Christian life. I love that word, tranquility. It sort of reminds me of sitting by a little stream And there's the water bubbling and babbling over the rocks, and it's just pastoral, rural, and there's not an interference. What a beautiful sight to be tranquil. I believe Jesus wants his people to have that peaceful life, that life of peace. That doesn't mean a life of ease and a life of laziness, where you're always just watching water babble over rocks. But I believe that there is underlying every testimony of a Christian, the one who is living in union, in faith with Christ, there is an underlying peace. I believe the Lord Jesus had that when he was on earth. If ever one had a toughest mission ever imaginable, it was Christ the Son of God. And He said this, that He was come not to do His own will, but the will of the Father. All the way to the cross, in suffering, even in Gethsemane, even in the judgment hall where His tormentors put that crown of thorns upon His brow, there was underlined the life of our Lord Jesus. peace with God. He was in the will of God. And we know that the Father sent angels to minister to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. We know that the Father strengthened Him. We know that the Holy Spirit was with Him, even on the cross. There's a verse in Hebrews that talks about, through the eternal Spirit, He offered up Himself to God. And so in that hour of crisis and judgment and of wrath upon His own person, there was the underlying ministry of the Spirit of God in the life of our Lord Jesus. Sometimes, and indeed often, God asks Christians to do very difficult things, things that we would not choose ourselves. We would run. But the Lord gives us, in the midst of our crosses and losses, He gives us that tranquility, that peace. There's a point where you just let go, and you say, Lord, you've got to do the work. You've got to do it, Lord. You've got to take over. I recognize I'm not in control, and I'm just handing the whole matter over to the Lord. Is that not what Peter meant when he said, casting all your cares upon him, for he careth for you? It means to roll your burden over onto the Lord. And if we are branches, we do that. And we said, Lord, I'm a branch. I'm depending on you. And I'm praying that your love, your spirit, your grace flows through me. Now this participation makes the Christian life meaningful. Every aspect of the Christian life becomes meaningful because it's all about fruit for the Father. What's my life for? Why am I enduring this? Why is there the cold and the frost of winter? Why is there the heat of summer? Why am I enduring these things? The will of the Father is that I bring forth much fruit. And all that you do is done with all the dignity of Christ behind it. just as the branch. The branch is not independent, it's not boasting of itself, but yet it has all the dignity of the vine. The life of the vine is flowing into the branch. The health of the vine is in the branch. That foliage, those budding fruit, it's all because of what's coming from the vine. And when we live as Christians as branches in the vine in Christ, Every aspect of our life now takes on a dignity as a Christian. We do all things in his name, through his strength, and at his direction. And there's work for us all. There's not a twig, there's not a tendril in the vine that doesn't have to part in bearing fruit for the Lord. Sometimes God works in little providences in my life, I suppose, behind the curtains of preaching. I was thinking on these things and woke up, I think it was Thursday morning or Friday morning, and my devotional that morning, and I read the sermons of a man called George Morrison. They're on eSword if you want to get them. And every morning I read one of his sermons. And the text was, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might unto the Lord. And he talked about an acquaintance of his. His name became Lord Kelvin. You know, the man who gave us the thermometer or the thermo—Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin, and so on. He was a scientist. He was a bit of an entrepreneur. He, at the age of He, in 1826, returned to Glasgow and became the head of the Natural Philosophies Department of the university. He was honored for being the head of the program to get the first line of communication from Europe to America, and he was honored by the Queen for that work. But it was said of Lord Kelvin that he could keep an army of people busy. There were scientists, engineers, writers, secretaries, inventors, and cleaners, and he could keep an army of people busy with all his ideas and all his attempts at advancing knowledge. The Lord Jesus is like that. And he has a place for every one of us in his kingdom work. His business is to bear fruit for the Father's glory. And you have a part in it. You have a work to do. And this taking the life of a branch in the vine gives you a part in the great kingdom work of advancing the church of the Lord Jesus. And so I say to you, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. This is not a life of laziness becoming a branch. This is a life of production. This is a life of blooming and blossoming and bearing fruit for the Savior. But it is the life of the branch not taking the place of the vine. Now, I come then to the practical value of Christ's life flowing into us. There's the value of doing all in Jesus' name. And what a wonder we're allowed to use the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, note how this comes. Well, in Colossians 3.15, we're told, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. then whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." And it's abiding in Christ, abiding in the Lord's Word, and then, do whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. And so, the branch strives and does everything through the sustaining grace and life of the vine. And so, to plead the life of the vine, it brings the branch right into right proportions. It brings us into the place we ought to be in practical value. Your own work, however little, will be valuable. You remember how the Lord Jesus talked about some fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. I'm not sure where to put the little fruit that we have, but it's all precious, it's all meaningful, and it's all marked. And the ministry which God has given you will be important to you and to God, There is no such thing as living apart from bearing fruit for the Lord. Missionaries, parents, doctors, nurses, farmers, office workers, whatever your call in life may be, your commission is to bear fruit for the Savior. And there will be value in the work that we do. Something else I'd like to point out. Not only will we value the fruit in our own lives or the testimony the Lord gives us individually, but we'll also value the fruit of other Christians. Think of each branch in the vine. And here's a branch on the left viewing over a branch on the right. And here's this branch on the right, it's way down with fruit, it's loaded. And the branch over here is struggling in the heat of the day to bear its fruit. And it looks over and sees the bloom on this, and the fruit it's bearing. Well, what's going on in the life of this vine? Is it filled with envy, jealousy, pride? No, the branch in the vine will say, look what the vine's doing over there. Look at the glory that is to the husband man. Look at the fruit that's being born, and rejoices in it. And so here is the picture of many branches one vine, many Christians, many ministries, all bearing gospel fruit. And there ought to be fellowship, and ought to be delight in valuing one another's work. And then, while I'm not sure if this is a conclusion or a preparation for tonight's sermon, we begin to value the need to abide in Christ. If ye abide in me, and I in you. If, there's the big if. And so much of the Christian living is really about how do I abide in Christ that I might live the branch life and that I might bear much fruit. If I don't abide in him, I am told that I will produce nothing. And so I will just ask you the question in the close of this morning service. Are you abiding in Christ? I'm not asking you, are you a Christian? I think that's a separate question. Maybe not. Maybe it's more the same question than we would think. But I do think it's possible to have a clear profession of salvation and be justified and neglect the need to abide in Christ as we should. I think that we need to take a very close look at the reason for the dissatisfaction that you may feel in your Christian life, the lack of joy that you express, the lack of victory that you have, and the little fruit we produce, and ask, is it because I ought to be abiding more in Christ? Now, as I mentioned, tonight's sermon is going to be on motivations and methods of abiding in Christ. You all come back now, you hear? You must come back. If you don't come back, I'll have to pray for you. And I pray that God will lead us all to abide, and in abiding, that our Father will be glorified through the fruit that he wills and he works in us.