Well, praise the Lord if you would take your Bibles and turn with me to John chapter 15 John chapter number 15, it is a joy to see each and every one of you here. I know that there are several that are sick and need our prayers. And, uh, and I, you know, a reason why there's a few out this morning and then others, uh, the snow kept them out, uh, yesterday. And, uh, but, uh, it's a joy to see each and every one of you. John chapter 15. It's been a while since we have preached out of the series that we've been preaching from for some time. I think it's been since November that we have preached out of the Gospel of John. But as many of you know, if you've been attending here for some time, we have been preaching through this particular gospel. And we started in January of 2017. And we're just now in the 15th chapter. But as you know, we've taken some breaks along the way. And I can say for myself, it has helped me preaching through this tremendous gospel, the gospel of John. John chapter 15 and verse number one. Jesus says, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman, or the vine dresser, the gardener. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me. and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can you accept ye abide in me. I am the vine and you're the branches. He that abided in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me. ye can do nothing. Let's pray together. Our Father, Lord, we ask you, Lord, during this time, as we have heard from you through your word, we ask you, Lord, to teach us, Lord, what you are saying. Father, I pray that the things that we learn, the truths that we behold, father, that they would be applied to our heart. And Lord, help us to focus completely upon you, Lord, during this time. May every distraction and the thoughts, Lord, I pray that they would be removed and that we're able to focus wholly and completely upon your word. We ask, Father, all these things in Christ's name. Amen. I want to kind of remind you as we think about lessons from the Lord's Vineyard this morning, kind of remind you of the setting. Starting in chapter 13 and going all the way through chapter 16 is what we call the upper room discourse. We see that Jesus has gathered his disciples into the upper room. They have celebrated Passover on the night before Jesus would die. And they met together in that upper room. And our Lord just spent some wonderful one-on-one time with them as he discloses to them some wonderful things. He gives them many wonderful promises. And as the night moves on, we know that in chapter 13, the Lord exposes Judas, the traitor, and he dismisses him to do his dastardly deed. And by the time we come to chapter 15, Judas is gone and only the 11 true disciples remain. And so this is a very intimate time with Jesus and his 11 remaining disciples. We know that Jesus, His public ministry has come to an end. He's no longer preaching to the crowds. He's only now investing in His disciples in this private setting. We read in the last verse of chapter 14 that Jesus says to His disciples, go or arise and let us go up from here. Now many believe that at this point that Jesus and his disciples, they leave that upper room and they make their way to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is going to pray to the Father and where Jesus is eventually going to be arrested. And it is quite possible that as they are walking to the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus speaks the words which make up chapters 15 and 16. Now, before we get into chapter 15, I want to kind of give you a general overview of the chapter in this introductory sermon. Kind of give you an overview. It seems to me that John here is, in chapter 15, is focusing on three of the most important relationships we have as believers in Jesus Christ. We see in verses 1 through 11, that he focuses on our relationship with Christ. And we find that the key word in those 11 verses, the key word is the word abide or remain. That word appears some 10 times in those 10 verses and it emphasizes our union with Christ Jesus, that we are connected to him. The second section runs from verses 12 through 17, where the focus is on our interpersonal relationships with other believers. And we find in those verses that love is the key word, for it's used some four times in those six verses. And the point that John stresses here is that of communion. And Jesus said, they will know that you're my disciples and that you love one another. And then the final section goes from verses 18 through 27, where John highlights the believer's relationship with the world in which we live in. And if you read those verses, it's fairly obvious that the key word there is the word hate, because it pops up some seven times in just those ten verses. The lesson John underlines here is that of disunion. He mentions how Jesus told his disciples, the world hates me, and because they hate me, they're going to hate you. Now when it comes to chapter 15, the first thing we need to really look at and to understand is that for the entire chapter, Jesus is only speaking to his disciples, his true disciples. Jesus is talking one-on-one with his disciples in the upper room. He is not addressing the multitude here. Also, it's very important to note that these verses, they revolve around a metaphor. This is a word picture. And here Jesus talks about a vine. He talks about the vine dresser. He talks about the branches. And it's a great visual aid that people could easily identify because it is a very familiar image to the Jews. They could handle this metaphor, this word picture with no problem at all. They could understand every bit of it. We also see in this introductory sermon, we see the four symbols. The four main symbols in John 15, and that is the vine, the vine dresser, the branches, and the fruit. The first two we meet in verse 1. The third and fourth we see in verse number 2. But we see the true vine is none other than Jesus Christ himself. The vine dresser, or the gardener, is our Heavenly Father. The branches are you and me, those who have been saved by the grace of God. The fruit is the product of Christ's likeness in our lives. Now, in verse 2, there is a verse that I think we need to spend a little bit of time to, time on, because it is a verse that has caused some division and some contention amongst some believers. Verse 2 tells us this, every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Now basically there are two lines of thought here. One is that some claim that this verse is proof that one can lose their salvation. And really their argument is that the words takes away signifies loss of salvation. But this interpretation of that verse is absolutely, it absolutely contradicts the very plain teachings that are found in many, many other places in the word of God. Scriptures such as Romans 8, where it talks about nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Or Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, where it talks about that we're sealed until the day of redemption. Or even Jesus speaking in John chapter 10, that he is the good shepherd, and he gives his sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. And so the Bible teaches that our eternal security is purchased by Jesus Christ, is promised by God the Father, and it is sealed by the Holy Spirit. And so this thought that this verse speaks of, that we can fall away from grace and lose our salvation, is false. The other argument is that Jesus is speaking about a person here in verse 2, about a person who is a professor and not a possessor. That is, he or she professes that they are saved, but is not a believer at all. But I do not believe that this is what Jesus is talking about. Now again, we need to be reminded, we need to remember that Christ was not talking to a mixed audience. He's not talking to a group of people where there were both true believers and false believers. No, He is speaking to His 11 true disciples. So I believe in verse two, it deals with the believer. He's dealing with the believer. And the reason I believe that is found in verse two, where you see that key phrase that Jesus said, in me, in me. He's telling us that he is speaking here to a people who are in a vital life giving relationship to himself. He is speaking to those who are saved. Because listen, friend, no one can be considered a branch in the Lord's vine unless there is unless there is a vital connection to him. Six times in these verses, Jesus uses this phrase in me. How does one get to be in Jesus? How does one get to be in Christ? Well, listen, the only way this can happen is for the new birth to take place. This occurs when a person comes to see themselves as a sinner. And this, they become convicted of their sin and they sense the Lord calling them unto himself and then they respond to him by faith. There has to be the new birth. before you are in Christ. Now there are plenty of people today who are in religion, but that does not mean that you are in Christ. There are a lot of people today who are in church, but that does not mean that you are in Christ. There are a lot of people who are moral and upstanding people, but that does not mean that you are in Christ. So you must be sure that you are saved and that you have been grafted into the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now going back to the setting, we may ask ourselves this question, why did Jesus give them this teaching now? Why did Jesus teach them this metaphor now? Well, I will say simply, it's because they desperately needed it. They needed it. Remember, Jesus is speaking to worried and desperately anxious men. I mean, they are absolutely frightened. They are downhearted. They are discouraged. Why? Because Jesus has just told them their master, Jesus, is going to be leaving them. He has already told them in the previous chapter. He said, let not your heart be troubled. Jesus knew that they were men that had troubled hearts. He also said in verse 18 of chapter 14, he said, I'm not going to leave you as orphans. Now, why did he say that to them? Because he knew that that was on their heart. They were afraid that they were going to be left high and dry, you could say. And then he also tells them, because I've said these things to you, because I've said that I'm going to be leaving, you have sorrow. Sorrow has absolutely filled your heart. And so here are grieving men, here are sorrowful men who love the Lord and they absolutely depend upon him greatly. And it is here we see Jesus comforting these sorrowed men. So that's the context. Here are these sorrowful, apprehensive, anxious men. And they're thinking, what are we going to do? What's going to happen to us? Our Lord is going away. He's going to leave us. We're going to be in trouble. And so that's the context that he gives them this teaching. And it's a great, really a great part of this teaching to his disciples. He is reassuring them. He's reassuring them. And I pray that as we go through this lesson, this sermon this morning, that the Lord reassures us that we are in Christ as well. First thing I want you to notice with me this morning is this, the true vine, the true vine. Jesus said in verse one, I am the true vine. Again, Jesus uses the metaphor of a vineyard and it was a metaphor that each and every disciple was very familiar with. I mean vineyards in that land was plentiful. It was a very common sight. As a matter of fact, there was a huge golden vine on the gate of the temple. And it's even possible that they were standing near it as Jesus spoke to them this metaphor, this word picture. But what does it mean that Jesus is the true vine? Well, notice for one thing, it means that Jesus is the answer. to the spoiled vine, Israel. Jesus is the answer to the spoiled vine, Israel. You have to understand that the vine was their national symbol. It was their bald eagle. It was their stars and stripes. As a matter of fact, it was printed on their coins, in their ancient coins. And so the vine was Israel. This was their national symbol. This is who they are. And the Old Testament has many references to the nation of Israel as the vine. For instance, in Psalm 80 and verse number eight, it says this, you brought a vine out of Egypt. Now listen, who did God bring out of Egypt? He brought out of Egypt the people of Israel, the children of Israel. They were the vine. We also see in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 7, it says, The vineyard of the LORD, of hosts, is the house of Israel. So the vine was the nation of Israel. But as you study this out, you'll find many, many Old Testament references how they often spoke of the fruitlessness and the failure of the vine. The vine of Israel was a great disappointment to the Lord. We see this in Jeremiah chapter 2. In verse 21, God says, I planted you a choice vine, a completely faithful seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? So here, speaking of Israel, is a spoiled vine. It is a fruitless vine. And again and again, we see how Israel, the vine, how they disobeyed the Lord. They turned from the Lord and now in Jerusalem, during Jesus' day, you have a godless, cruel leaders and shallow, unbelieving people. And so at this point, the Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine. And to say this was a very shocking, very radical, loaded, political, religious statement. But yet at the same time, it was wonderful. And no doubt there was a silence as Jesus made this statement because they knew what he was saying. He was saying, you all know how Israel is pictured as a vine that is meant to produce refreshing fruit. Well, I am the fulfillment of all that that symbol suggests. Listen, what national Israel failed to do, Jesus has come to do. All the promises and the blessings of the covenant are now embodied in Christ. And you see, you have to understand that the disciples had been thinking to themselves, Israel has cast us out. Israel is against us. But Jesus is saying to them, no, no, God has set Israel aside. I am the true vine. So the disciples here can rest assured that it does not matter if the religious leaders are against them. Why? Because the religious leaders are false. It is in Jesus that there is the truth and the blessings of God. And so here is reassurance. Reassurance to these disciples that even though Israel has rejected them, Listen God has received them and God has grafted them into Jesus the true vine. Oh How that speaks to us today that many times it seemed as if that we are a tiny minority in a losing battle But we must never never be intimidated Why because here's the truth Jesus is the true vine you may feel that you are a minority. Listen, here's the thing, we are the master's minority. So he's saying to his disciples, all these men are against you. All these great teachers, these clever rabbis, these high officers are against you, but it does not matter. I am the true vine. So Jesus says, I am the true vine. And I think it's very important to notice And to point out that he does not say, I am like a vine. Nor does he say, I want to be a vine for you. And he does not say, I hope you will take me as a vine. He just says, hey, I am the true vine. Now what does that mean? Well, it not only means that Jesus is the answer to the spoiled vine, Israel, but it also means that he is a source of all spiritual sustenance. He is a source of all spiritual sustenance, just as the vine is the source of all that is good for the branches, all that is needful for the branches. So it is true of Jesus Christ, our true vine. Listen, Jesus, our true vine, is the source of all spiritual grace. He is the source of all spiritual life. He is the source of all spiritual fruit. He is the source of it all. Everything that the branch receives comes from the vine. And these glorious and divine things that I have mentioned, these things of grace, this thing of spiritual life and spiritual fruit, these things that I have mentioned cannot come from us. They cannot be drawn from the barren well of our own sinful humanity. We cannot produce spiritual grace. We cannot produce spiritual life. We cannot produce spiritual fruit. He is the source of all spiritual sustenance. If we have received anything that is of any good to us spiritually, it can only come from him and no one else or nothing else. Now, that's not preached too often today. But that's the truth. You just go to the average Christian bookstore. And you'll see all kinds of books that I say, if you want this from God, you do this. You want to grow this way, you just follow these five steps. You want this or that, you follow these steps. But the only problem is those steps will only lead you into frustration. Now, they will sell books. But they will only lead you to frustration. Why? Because he is the source. And listen, I could just spend my entire message this morning just repeating that Jesus is the source of all spiritual life and truth. That's what he's saying here. When Jesus says that he is the true vine, he is saying that he is what? He is essential. He's needful. He's indispensable. And apart from Him, you and I, we are nothing. And we can do nothing. Being the source of all spiritual sustenance means that He is absolutely essential. Listen, when Jesus says that He is the true vine, He is saying that He is not an accessory. He is not something that needs to be added onto and in your life. Jesus is life. Now today in contemporary Christianity, people basically do evangelism much like this. And by saying things like this, well, hey, you have a wonderful house. You've got a wonderful job. You have a wonderful family. You have a wonderful car. You just need to add one more thing to that list. You need to add Jesus. But do you see what's wrong with that picture? Listen, that is not an essential Jesus. That is not an indispensable Jesus. This is an accessory Jesus that saves no one. Listen, you have no life if you don't have Jesus Christ. He is essential. He is indispensable. He is not an accessory. He is not something you add to your life to make your life sweeter. He is the true vine, and if you are not grafted into Christ through the new birth, you are spiritually dead. Jesus never commanded those to whom He spoke to follow Him by adding Him to their list of other needs. The apostles never preached In the book of Acts, hey, just add Jesus to your life. No, they preach that Jesus is essential. They preach that Jesus is needful, that he is indispensable. And that's what Jesus means when he says that I am the true vine. The second thing we look at this morning and just this introductory message of John 15 is the vine dresser. The vine dresser. Uh, verse one again, it says, my father, Jesus said, my father is the vine dresser in the King James. It says husbandman, but the word means a gardener, a farmer. When Jesus says that his father was a bind dresser, you need to make sure you understand that Jesus was in no way implying that he was denying full equality with the father. No, he was 100% God. But the point of the analogy here is not to define the relationship of the father to the son, it's really to emphasize the father's care for the vine, the son, and the branches, his saints. But the vine dresser refers to the one who tills the soil, who watches over and protects the vine. Vineyards, they just do not grow on their own, right? They do not produce as they should without the work of a gardener or a vine dresser. And so the vine dresser is involved in everything that has to do with the vine. And so the vine dresser in verse one, as I said, is God, our father. And he is busy. He is active. He is on the job. He is a faithful gardener. And in verse two, Jesus revealed two actions which the gardener has to do from time to time. One is that he does something with a branch that isn't bearing any fruit. And the Bible tells us there in verse two that he takes away. He takes away. Now, if you have a new King James Bible, you'll have a little one by that word away, which tells us that there is a alternative translation there of that word. The phrase takes away comes from one Greek word, airo. And this Greek word is oftentimes translated elsewhere as lifted up. For example, in Luke, the Bible says, and they lifted up their voices. That's the same Greek word that is used here in John. John chapter 11, it says, and Jesus lifted up his eyes. Same Greek word here in verse number, or chapter 15 of John. And so I believe that this is the best translation that fits the context here. As Jesus, as the vine dresser, God the Father, he lifts it up. He picks up the branches, if you will. And so he's speaking about the branches that have gotten dirty. They have fallen into the dirt and that dirt has hindered them from bearing fruit. And so when the vine dresser finds these branches, he lifts them up. Those vine branches, those grapevine branches, they have to be hanging free. They cannot bear fruit if they're hanging on the ground, lying on the ground. They can get diseased and they're not able to have the air or the sunshine. And so he lifts them up. And we see the application to us is so obvious and so easy to see that when we are, uh, beat down and we, when we have falling into the dirt of this old sinful world, listen, our loving heavenly father, he comes to us by his grace and he lifts us up. I wonder this morning, have you ever experienced that when you're beaten down and discouraged? And then comes your heavenly father by his grace and he uses different means to lift you up. And that's the word. Of God, the scriptures. Maybe he uses some other believer encouraging you, maybe it's some gospel song, but whatever, he comes along and he lifts you up, encourages you. We also see that the vine dresser, he does something with the branch that's not bearing enough fruit. He prunes it. He cuts it back. And this can be very painful, but it's always, always highly effective. He gets rid of those things that takes away its vitality and takes away its strength. And my dear friend, listen to me, God will do whatever He needs to do in our lives so that we can be fruit-bearing Christians. But I think it's very important for us to understand and notice that the gardener, the vine dresser, our Heavenly Father, does what's best for the branches. He does what is beneficial to the life of the vine. And we should never forget That He is never closer to us when His ministering hand is laid upon us. And this brings us, this brings up the basic question, what is fruit? What is fruit? And no one would argue with the statement that every Christian is to bear fruit, but what is fruit? Well, first of all, I want to kind of give you a general answer, and then I'll answer that question more specifically. Generally, fruit is the outflow of Christ's life. The life of Christ, the vine, flows through the branch, and the result is fruit that reflects the life of the vine. You see, beloved, the Christian life is Christ's life flowing through us to produce a fruit that is Christ-like. I love what Philippians 1 and verse 11 tells us. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. And that's what fruit is, generally speaking, in the Christian's life. Now, to look at it more specifically, we see that fruit is a one fruit that Christians will bear upon their life is that a holy life. is fruit. A holy life is fruit. Romans 6.22 tells us, but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. Hey, listen, beloved, God has called us to be holy as He is holy. Living a holy life is to live a life that is a separated life. We choose to walk in a way that is pleasing to our Lord as is revealed in Holy Scripture. So holy life is fruit. Good works. are fruit. Good works are fruit. Titus chapter 3 and verse 14 tells us, and let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. And then Colossians chapter 1 verse 10 tells us that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So good works we know cannot earn salvation, but they are a fruit of our salvation. Titus 2.14 describes the Christians as people who are zealous for good works. And so a fruit of the life, of a Christian life, is not only a holy life and one that is filled with good works, but also we see the third thing, Holy Spirit-produced, Christ-like character is fruit. And we see this in Galatians 5, verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now listen, if you had to pick the nine qualities that described Christ's life, you couldn't do any better than these nine qualities that's mentioned here in Galatians 5, verse 22. This is a nine-fold description of what Christ's life flowing through us should look like. And each of these qualities finds their ultimate manifestation in the person of Jesus Christ. And so the purpose of the branches is to do what? To bear fruit. The fruit of a holy life, the fruit of good works, the fruit of the Spirit of Christ who manifests Christ's life through us. Jesus is the true vine. Listen, our prayer ought to be that Jesus live through our lives so that we might bear fruit for the glory of the heavenly father, the vine dresser. And that's what verse eight tells us. Jesus said, by this, my father is glorified. How that you bear much fruit. As we close this message this morning, I ask you this morning, are you in the vine? Are you in the vine? Have you been saved? Are you grafted in to Jesus? And if you are saved, are you bearing fruit today? Are you bearing the fruit of a holy life? Are you bearing the fruit of good works? and showing forth his character to those in our lives. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for this powerful metaphor, this word picture. Lord, that was so vivid to those to whom you spoke. And I pray that through the Holy Spirit, it would be vivid for us today. I pray you, Father, that we would understand the truths that you have shown for us here today and apply these truths to our heart. We ask you, Lord, to bless each and every person that is here. And that person who is here that has never trusted Christ, they've never been connected to you through the new birth. Oh, our Father, I pray that you would show them their lost condition and show them that Jesus is absolutely essential and indispensable and needful. Oh, Father, bring about Holy Spirit conviction. And then, Lord, by faith that they would call upon you to be the Lord and Savior. I pray, Lord, for those that are here, that are saved, Lord, that we would all bear much fruit for your glory. We ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen. Preach the word. Preach the cross. Preach redemption to the lost and dying. Lift your voice, I'm ashamed Of the gospel of His name