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Sermon Notes for Oct. 26, 2008
Who Is Jesus?
Sermon Series
“Jesus Is The Vine”
John 15:1-8
Introduction
A. We Continue Our Sermon Series On “Who Is Jesus?”
1. In our world today, we are finding that some people do not have an answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”
a. some have no opinion
b. some think that He was a good man; some a prophet
2. But very few people really know who Jesus Christ actually is . . .
a. who the Bible say that Jesus is
b. AND, WHO DOES JESUS SAY THAT HE IS?
1. we hear people say, “The Jesus that I know is this way”
2. well, I believe that we must get to know the JESUS OF THE
BIBLE!
3. so, let us see what Jesus said ABOUT HIMSELF!
B. We Will Look Today At Jesus As The Vine.
1. There are seven “I am” passages in the gospel of John – these are statements that Jesus said about Himself:
a. John 6:35 – “I am the bread of life.”
b. John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.”
c. John 10:7 – “I am the door of the sheep.”
d. John 10:14-15 – “I am the good shepherd.”
e. John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life.”
f. John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
g. John 15:1 – “I am the true vine.”
2. Today, we will focus our attention on Jesus calling Himself “The True Vine.”
a. in many cases, Jesus used pictures or allegories from the physical world around Him to talk about Himself
1. bread
2. light
3. door
4. sheep
b. in this case, Jesus said that He was THE VINE
1. Jews would understand what Jesus meant by referring to a vine
because the Jews were referred to as a vineyard in the Old
Testament
a. verses
1. Isaiah 5:7 – “The vineyard of the Lord
Almighty is the house of Israel and the men of
Judah are the garden of His delight.”
2. Psalm 80:8-10 – “You brought a vine out of
Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it, and it took root
and filled the land. The mountains were covered
with its shade, the mighty cedars with its
branches.”
b. the Jewish coins of the day had a cluster of grapes on
them
c. even the doors of the Temple had grapes placed on it
made of gold
2. but, in calling Himself THE VINE, Jesus was calling Himself
the “true vine”
a. He was more than “a vine,” like Israel – He was calling
Himself the true vine
b. HE WAS CALLING Himself the giver of all life – for,
in a real sense, branches of the vine have no life in and
of themselves, branches derive their life from the vine
c. Jesus is clearly telling His disciples AND US:
1. that He is the source of our lives
2. and that we must be part of that vine if we expect to have any
spiritual life at all
3. David Tryon - “There are many Christians, struggling to
live the Christian life, who have never discovered where
the strength to live that life is to be found. There are
many earnest believers, young and old, who are continually
being disappointed and cast down because they are finding
their own resources so inadequate to meet the demands of
real Christian living. There are hundreds of Christians of
all ages who are hungering and thirsting after a fuller,
deeper life than that which they now experience. What
they need to know, and to know experimentally as well as
mentally, is that all the resources of the Christian life are in
CHRIST, and in Him ALONE, and that He lives in them
by the Holy Ghost.”
I. The INTENT Of The Vinedresser.
A. The OBVIOUS INTENT Of The Physical Vinedresser.
1. What do you think would be THE GOAL of a person who owned a vineyard?
a. Would it be to simply grow a lot of plants?
b. Would it be to keep the plants healthy and clear of pests and insects?
c. Would it be to create a beautiful field of plants?
2. It would seem obvious that a vinedresser would DESIRE TO GROW GRAPES in His vineyard.
a. yes, the vinedresser would be concerned about the health of the plants and the impact of disease and insects on the plants
b. BUT, A VINEDRESSER’S MAIN CONCERN WOULD BE TO GROW GRAPES . . . AND LOTS OF THEM
1. for, you don’t make money by growing plants that are simply
“healthy”
2. in a vineyard, you grow grapes because that is how vineyards
make their money!
3. my father’s cotton fields
a. when I was a kid, I would ride with my father through
the cotton fields. My father was so concerned about
seeing weeds in the cotton fields
b. as a young child I thought that a “clean” cotton field was
the goal of farming
c. later I found out that weeds, when harvested with the
cotton, reduced the quality of the cotton and thus the
amount of money made when the cotton was sold to the
manufacturer
d. it wasn’t about the weeds, but the cotton!
B. The LESS OBVIOUS INTENT Of The Spiritual Vinedresser.
1. If the goal of the “physical” vinedresser is to grow grapes, or fruit.
2. Then the goal of the “spiritual” vinedresser would be to “grow fruit” as well.
3. Notice how often this text speaks of the need of the believer to “bear fruit.”
a. Vs. 2 – “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
b. Vs. 4 – “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
c. Vs. 5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
d. Vs. 8 – “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
4. We must realize that the goal of the Christian life is TO BEAR FRUIT.
a. there is inner fruit – your attitude
Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
b. there is external fruit – your actions
Colossians 1:10 – “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”
5. So, let us see how we can “bear fruit” in our lives as Christians.
II. The IDENTITY Of The Vinedresser.
A. The PHYSICAL PICTURES Of The Vine.
1. Jesus is comparing the Christian life to a vineyard.
2. In a physical vineyard, there are three general elements:
a. the vine
1. the vine is the foundation or source of life for the branches
2. there is a place called Hampton Court in London where there is
a vine, which is almost 240 years old and 120 feet long:
a. it is the oldest vine in the world, planted in 1768
b. notice the vine in this slide
b. the branches
1. the branches grow out of the vine and are the “producers” of
the grapes
2. because the branches produce the grapes - the branches must be
constantly cared for and monitored for maximum production of
the grapes
3. but . . . please notice: the life of the branches comes from the
vine!
c. the vinedresser
1. because grapes cannot “tend” themselves :
a. a caretaker or vinedresser takes care of the vineyard
b. the vinedresser is very concerned about the growth of
the grapes
2. the vinedresser will do everything that he can to cause the
branches to produce more grapes
B. The SPIRITUAL PICTURE Of The Vinedresser.
1. Jesus used the vineyard as an allegory for a purpose; to show the disciples what He desired of them.
2. In a “spiritual” vineyard, there are three general elements:
a. the vine
Vs. 5a – “I am the vine.”
1. Jesus pictures Himself as the vine – the source of life from the
vineyard, or church
2. AS WELL AS THE PARTICULAR CHRISTIAN
b. the branches
Vs. 5b – “I am the vine and you are the branches.”
1. as Christ is the vine, so Christians are the branches
2. now, notice how “obvious” this is: branches cannot
PRODuce fruit UNLESS THEY ARE TIED TO THE
VINE!
c. the vinedresser
Vs. 1 - "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
1. Jesus says that the vinedresser is the Heavenly Father
2. notice that the spiritual vinedresser has the SAME GOAL as the
physical vinedresser – TO PRODUCE A QUANTITY AND
QUALITY OF FRUIT!
a. THIS IS WHAT BEING A SPIRITUAL VINEYARD
IS ALL ABOUT
b. the vinedresser has a goal for His vineyard to produce
more fruit!
3. NOW, HOW DOES THE VINEDRESSER DO THAT?
III. The INTERVENTION Of The Vinedresser.
A. The Vinedresser Persuades Us To Produce More Fruit.
Vs. 2a – “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.”
1. The meaning of the word “cut off.”
a. There are several possible ways that the vinedresser can cause the branches to produce more fruit. One of the steps of the vinedresser to produce more fruit is to “cut off” some of the branches.
b. we need to look very closely at these words “cut off;” the Greek word airo
1. the problem with translating the Greek as “cut off,” as in the
NIV, is that the verse reads, “He cuts off every branch IN ME
that does not bear fruit.”
2. now, if the Greek means to “cut off,” it would suggest that a
believer in Jesus could “lose their salvation”
3. this translation would conflict with the many verses in Scripture
that do not teach that a Christian can lose their salvation
c. IN ACTUALITY, the Greek words mean to raise up; to lift up; to elevate
1. vineyard growers shed some light on what this word really
means:
a. a branch of grapes can grow so much that it can reach
the ground with its weight
b. so that, when the loaded branch is on the ground, the
leaves and fruit become dirty, muddy and susceptible to
disease
c. as a result, the vinedresser will:
1. clean off the branch
2. lift it off the ground
3. or tie it on a trellis so that it can continue to grow
4. Slide
2. the translation “cut off” is probably NOT the correct translation
for this text
2. The application of the word “cut off.”
a. it is my belief that Jesus is speaking primarily to new believers, those who are not yet ready to produce fruit
1. most vineyards do not expect to yield fruit from a new vine in
less than three years
2. there may even be a great deal of “foliage,” but very little fruit
a. so, you may be a new believer, but you are not ready to:
1. teach
2. disciple someone
3. become a spiritual leader
4. become a prayer warrior
b. so, Jesus’ work in your life is to simply “lift you up” –
to allow you to walk with Him and get to know Him
better before you serve Him
c. if you are new in the faith, don’t be concerned about all
of the people who are spiritual leaders: you are not
ready to do that yet
d. your greatest concern is actually growing on a consistent
basis
1. my grandson, Thompson, is 11 weeks old – he
sleeps all of the time
2. my granddaughter, Daveney, is 2 ½ and is
beginning to “become” who she is
b. HOWEVER, there is another possible understanding of lift up. It could refer to those believers who have been “laying on the ground” and have become dirty and diseased
1. and what must be done by Jesus is that He “lifts you up”
a. Jesus must wash you off
b. to put you in a different place spiritually
2. but, we are “lifted up” with because “we are doing something
wrong”
3. notice that this “lifting up”may be seen in three areas of
spiritual discipline as seen in Hebrews 12
a. rebuke
Hebrews 12:5 – “My Son, do not make light of the
Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He
rebukes you.”
1. a rebuke is a verbal warning
2. when you come to Christ, He may “prick your
conscience” about your lifestyle
3. you may get a timely word from a Christian
friend
4. you may be reading the Word and God speaks
directly to your heart
5. as a new believer in college – I sensed God’s
conviction as I thought negatively about other
people. I knew that God was displeased with
me. In a way, He rebuked me.
b. discipline
Hebrews 12:6 – “Because the Lord disciplines those
He loves.”
1. if a believer does not respond to the Lord’s
rebuke, He may “press it” further with His
discipline
2. this could be seen in various “struggles” in your
life
a. frustration with work
b. money problems
c. a physical struggle or sickness
d. a discontentment with your life
e. as a new and growing believer, I had so
many problems and sins
1. God graciously “disciplined me”
to break those bad habits
2. I was so self-centered – God
spoke to me through Dr. Larry
Crabb