The
True Vine
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my
Father is the husbandman.
2
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.
3 Now ye are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you.
4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no
more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5
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.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is
cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men
gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they
are burned.
7 If ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will, and it shall be done unto you.
8
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
1. The Vine
2. The Husbandman
3.
The Branch
4. The Fruit
1. The Vine
The first part of verse one is: “I am the true vine.”
In Psalm eighty, verse eight, we find the Scripture showing Israel as being a vine being brought out of Egypt, and planted in the PROMISED LAND. “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.” [Psalm 80:8]
In the New Testament we find someone else is a VINE.
This someone else is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ the TRUE vine! Amen!
The Word of God is like the word of God, in that, they are both TRUE. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14]
“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” [Psalm 119:160
There is an acknowledgement in this verse, by the SON of GOD, that there is more than one vine out there.
There being a TRUE vine points to the fact that there is also a FALSE vine.
We see in the book of Revelation that there is a vine of the earth. In the clusters of the vine of the earth are those who have rejected Jesus Christ.
[Revelation 14:18-19] “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.”
They are unsaved people living in the period of time known as Jacob’s Trouble. [Jeremiah 30:7] “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”
2. The Husbandman
The second part of verse one is: “… and my Father is the husbandman.”
Jesus Christ is the TRUE VINE, and God the Father is THE HUSBANDMAN.
The Husbandman is patiently seen waiting for the fruit of the TRUE VINE at the end of this age, which is called the fullness of times.
We see this in [James 5:7] “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”
It is the FATHER [THE HUSBANDMAN], WHO will put it together [the precious fruit], as the Bible says in the book of the Ephesians, chapter one, verse three: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: …" [Ephesians 1:3]
There is more. Now verse ten: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.” [Ephesians 1:10]
How can we imagine this whole thing in our limited finite mind?
Even while THEY [THE FATHER and THE SON] are separate in roles, they are ONE.
Let the Scripture explain this.
Let’s go to the book of Colossians. In Colossians chapter two, verse nine, we will find a term called: the GODHEAD.
Let’s read there. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” [Colossians 2:9]
God [THE GODHEAD] is manifested in bodily form in the person of Jesus Christ.
The book of First Timothy bears witness to this FACT. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” [1 Timothy 3:16]
This GODHEAD, as revealed in the BOOK, is TRIUNE in nature. God the Father, and God the Son, according to First John chapter five, verse seven, are ONE. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” [1 John 5:7]
This truth is so evident for all to see. The Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, and the Unitarians have no excuse for denying the TRINITY.
Now friend, do not believe me [about the Godhead].
Believe the BOOK! You will face the consequences if you don’t.
Turn to Romans chapter one, verse twenty: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” [Romans 1:20]
3. The Branch
The first part of verse five: “I am the vine, ye are the branches …”
To understand our heritage as “branches” on the “true vine,” we will need to understand WHO the BRANCH is the Bible.
It is shown that a righteous Branch will come from the legal line of David [a KING].
This is found in Jeremiah chapter twenty-three,
verse five: “Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
[Jeremiah 23:5]
• Jesus Christ will be the
KING.
• Jesus Christ is the
BRANCH.
Let us pause here for a moment, to make an acknowledgment.
We are indebted to Israel. We owe much to the Jews! Amen! Why?
Here is the reason why:
• From the Jews
we received our Bible. [Romans 3:2] “Much
every way: chiefly, because that unto them were
committed the oracles of God.”
•
From the Jews we received our SHILOH
[our SAVIOR and our salvation].
[Genesis 49:10] “The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the
gathering of the people be.”
Now, the BRANCH [Jesus Christ] of Jeremiah came forth from a stem, growing out of the roots of Jesse [[Israel], to become the TRUE VINE [Jesus Christ].
In the TRUE VINE, we [the believers in the Son of God Jesus Christ] need to abide as the [small case] branches. [Isaiah 11:1] “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Psalm eighty is a prophetic picture of this. “And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.” [Psalm 80:15]
4. The Fruit
The second part of verse five: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
The operative phrase here in this verse is: “abideth in me.”
In order for you, and I, to be able to bring “forth much fruit” in our life … we will need to be BORN AGAIN.
Being born again puts us … IN Christ.
Without being in Christ, we can do nothing!!!
We entered into this life physically by way of our mother's womb. This was our first birth. But to be a branch on the true vine … we will need a second birth!
Again, it is the second birth [the spiritual birth] that connects us [as a branch] into the True Vine Who is Jesus Christ.
In the Song of Solomon, the Spirit of God has given to us a foreshadowing of the actual things that were to come in the New Testament. This foreshadow is nothing less than a picture of Jesus Christ the Son of God, and His bride, the Church.
Let me read from there in chapter six, verse eleven, and we will see this “true vine”, and its branches, [which is us], bearing the pomegranates [which is our fruit]. “I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded.” [Song of Solomon 6:11]
The failure of you NOT SEEING your need of being born again, or being IN Christ, in a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ will be FATAL.
My friend, you need “the wisdom of God” to OPEN up this mystery of SALVATION for you. [1 Corinthians 2:7] “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.”
The BRANCH is in a relationship with THE TRUE VINE.
Furthermore, the relationship is a PERSONAL relationship. It is absolutely critical for you and I to understand this. Being a CHRISTIAN means to have a personal relationship, every day after being BORN AGAIN.
This “every day relationship” for the branch is called: ABIDING in the TRUE VINE.
“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye
bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”