Microsoft word - vine message.doc

The Vine: [Matthew 13:1-9]
This parable is talking about four different kinds of Christians: The ones who hear the
word of the Kingdom of the heavens, but they do not understand the message of the
Kingdom, so the wicked one snatched it away; the ones who received the Word of the
Kingdom with joy, but did not endure when tribulations popped up; the ones who hear
the message of the Kingdom, but are more concerned with this world; jobs, cars, bigger
houses, women: whatever, the Kingdom did not come first (in the parable, he was
fruitful at one time, because he became unfruitful). That’s 75% of Christians, at least by
type, if not by numbers.
[Matthew 13:23] Right now, I want us to concentrate on the 25% of Christians who are
bearing fruit. They hear the word of the Kingdom, and understand it. [Epignosis]
[Matthew 13:23] Verse 23 tells us that “he is indeed bearing fruit”; it’s emphatic! He is
bearing the fruit and producing it. [“Bringeth forth” is “producing”.] He’s excited about
the Kingdom of the Heavens. He is faithful. He is doing what it takes to be bearing fruit.
He’s working! Some bring forth 100 fold, some 60 and some 30. But what is the vine?
What are the branches? What is fruit bearing and what is fruit producing?
[John 15:1-8] Verse 1 tells us in a few words, what the vine is. Jesus is speaking and
says, “I am the true vine”. Literally, it says, “I am the vine, the true”. This is very
emphatic that Jesus is telling them that he is the genuine vine; He’s not a substitute. It
also says that His Father, God, Yahweh is the husbandman; God is the one who
cultivates. This could not be any simpler: Jesus the Christ is the true vine.
Psalm 80:8-11 says, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the
heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep
root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs
thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her
branches unto the river.” A vine grows over the walls and goes everywhere!
But, in John 15, Jesus says, “I am the true vine”. Jehovah had planted a vine brought out
of Egypt. This is Israel after the flesh, but Israel was not the true vine. The true vine was
Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed Son of God. The true vine was God’s Son,
whom he also brought up out of Egypt. Jesus presents himself as such to His disciples.
This is distinctively talking about His role here on Earth.
The disciples would have considered Him as the greatest branch of the vine, but as such,
He would have only been a member of Israel. He was not simply a member of Israel; He
was the vessel, the source of blessing, according to the promises of God. The true Vine,
therefore is not Israel; quite the contrary; the true Vine is Christ in contrast with Israel,
but Christ planted on earth, taking Israel's place, as the true Vine. The Father cultivates
this plant on the earth. There is no need of a husbandman in heaven. Those who are
attached to Christ, as the remnant of Israel, the disciples, need this culture. It is on the
earth that fruit-bearing is looked for. The Lord therefore says to them, "Ye are clean
already, through the word which I have spoken unto you"; "Ye are the branches." Judas,
perhaps, was taken away, and so also were the disciples who walked no more with Him. The others should be proved and cleansed, that they might bear more fruit or produce more good works. Look with me here in verse 2 [John 15:2]: We know who the vine is, and we know who the husbandman is, but what about the branches? Like everything else in the Bible, the Bible will answer itself. You just have to look. We don’t have to look very far sometimes. Verse 5 tells us the answer: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Who is Jesus referring to? The “you” is plural, or as it’s said by those who speak proper English, “ya’ll”. He’s talking to disciples; He’s talking to Christians. Everyone who is a Christian is a branch. We’re the branches. God the Father is the husbandman or the farmer; the one who is cultivating. Jesus is the vine, the true vine. We’re the branches. Verse 2 tells us that we are to be fruitful. What is the fruit of a Christian? Is it another Christian? Is the fruit of a vine branches? I’ve heard it taught that the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. As branches, if all we produce are more branches, we will not have been profitable branches. I’ve actually heard it taught that we will produce seeds. But what does a seed produce? Another vine. I don’t think we’re to produce more Christs. If we’re not to produce branches, and we’re most certainly not to produce vines, what are we to produce? [Judges 9:13] The fruit of a child of God is not another child of God, but fruit that will cheer the hearts of both God and man. If I am producing the kind of fruit that glorifies the Father, I am being a blessing to you. If you are producing the kind of fruit that pleases the Lord you are blessing me. We are to be a blessing to each other and to the saints. [Hebrews 6:7-10] These verses deal with blessing the saints and the ministers; fruit bearing. The earth bears fruit, God bears fruit, and we bear fruit; we are to bear good fruit and not thorns and thistles. This passage doesn’t quite convey the true meaning of the Greek. The way this is translated, it puts the contrast between two kinds of soil; one is well watered and fertile and the other is not watered and is sterile. This sort of contrast would illustrate the difference between those who have enjoyed hearing the gospel and those who have not. To the contrary, this passage puts the contrast between two classes of Christians under equally favorable conditions, out of which they develop into opposite results. A little expounding would better render it, “but if it (the ground that receives the rain) bear thorns or thistles,” it’s rejected or disqualified or near unto a curse. This enhances the idea of “rejected”. This land that has benefited from the rain, if it continues producing thorns and thistles, is exposed to the possibility of abandonment to perpetual barrenness. The Greek word translated as “thistle” (briars), is “tribolos”. It comes from the Greek words for “three” and “dart”; having three darts or points. It’s talking about a star thistle. It’s a word that describes a ball that rested on three iron spikes with a forth one that projected upward. They were scattered over the ground by Roman soldiers in order to impede the enemy’s cavalry. A “tribulus” is a kind of thistle. It’s referring to the exact opposite of fruit-bearing; it’s talking about hindering the saints. If we are ministering to the saints, by bearing fruit, we are doing it by a work and labor of love. Now, remember, not all Christians are saints. Saints are those Christians that obey the commandments of God. They’re being holy in their practical, day-to-day living. That doesn’t mean that you’re perfect; it means that you love God and you love His commandments. And when you do fail; when the temptation, the monster gets in the armor because you put down the shield of faith for a moment and that dart comes in and hits you and your garments are spotted like it says in Jude 23, you go to Jesus Christ, your high priest and you confess your sins. And He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. If you do this, you’ll be set apart as a sanctified one for an inheritance in the coming millennial kingdom. These are saints. If we are ministering to the saints, that ministry will not be forgotten by God. We bear fruit by labor. Just as the fruit of God is not another God and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not another Holy Spirit and the fruit of the vine is not another Messiah, the fruit of a Christian is not another Christian. The husbandman cultivates another branch. The fruit of the vine, if Jesus is the vine, and the word says he is, is not another Messiah. The fruit of a Christian is the ministry that you produce for others. If God is the husbandman and Jesus is the vine and we are the branches that produce and bear fruit, then the Holy Spirit can be likened to the sap that flows through the vine into the branches to sustain them and help them be fruitful. Fruit is how you treat your brother. [Galatians 5:22-24] God, through the Holy Spirit expects us to do works that are a blessing to our brethren. Who are our brethren? Matthew 12:50 tells us that our brethren are those who are obeying God. How can we tell who our brethren are? Some are easy to spot. Look with me in [Matthew 25:37-40]. Bearing fruit is work! Acts 16:31 says, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and continue in good works, and you shall be saved.” It doesn’t say that, does it? It simply says “believe”, one time plus nothing else. Spiritual salvation does not require any works; it doesn’t require being fruitful; it requires only to believe. Bearing fruit is not talking about salvation, but it’s talking about works that occur after you’re saved that please the Lord and this obedience results in rewards in the coming Millennial Kingdom. What is it that lets us bear fruit? Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”. This passage seems to say that we are saved by grace through faith. Grace and faith are not mentioned in Acts 16:31, so how are they used in this passage? In a nutshell, what Ephesians 2:8 is saying is this: “Having been saved, ye endure by grace through faith.” Verses 8 and 9 of Ephesians 2 are not dealing with salvation because the Greek grammar plainly states that salvation occurred in the past and this salvation continues to the present. The gift of God in this verse is grace and not salvation. Grace is what we use to bear fruit. What is the grace of God? 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” How do we get the power of Christ? The answer to this question is in Romans 5:2; “.we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” If we make shipwreck of the faith, then grace will not be available for us to endure in times of testing. We need the grace of God if we expect to serve Him in an acceptable manner. Hebrews 12:28 says, “.Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” If we cannot access the grace then we cannot expect to “.receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ,” as it says in Colossians 3:24. Grace must reign! Romans 5:21 says, “So might grace reign through righteousness.” Grace does not reign just because we are saved. The verb “might reign” in this verse is subjunctive and indicates that grace might not reign. Grace reigns if we continually come to the throne of grace as in Hebrews 4:16; “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the substance that allows us to please God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him.” Only the just; the obedient, can live by faith. Faith gives substance to grace. Romans 5:2 tells us, “.we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” If we do not access grace by faith we will not have the power of God we need to endure. If we do not access grace by faith, we will not bear fruit. What are works for? [James 2:14,17-26] Works in James are works that make faith profitable. We are justified by our works. We endure by grace through faith. How? [John 15:2] That word that is translated as “taketh away” is the Greek word airo. The primary definition of the verb airo is to lift up or to raise or to lift from the ground. In the LXX, we see this word used several times, such as the Testament of Solomon, Genesis 40:16; 45:23, 35:2 and many other places. Matthew 4:6 says, “And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up (airo; same word), lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone”. Revelation 10:5 says, “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up (airo) his hand to heaven”. Acts 27:13 says, “And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence (weighed the anchor; airo), they sailed close by Crete”. Kathairo is from “kata” (down) lift, so it means to tear down or to unlift. You can find it in a few places such as Mark 15:36, which says, “And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down (kathairo).” Verse 46 of that same chapter, Joseph of Arimithea “bought fine linen and took Him down (kathairo).” I spent a lot of time growing up on a farm, and one of the things that we raised were grapes, mostly muscadines and scuppernongs. Do you know what we would do when we discovered a branch that wasn’t bearing fruit? We’d support it. We would build a trellis and lift it up, off the ground! Grapes don’t usually bear fruit when they’re down on the ground. Verse 2 in John 15 is saying, “Every branch in me not bearing fruit, He lifts up!” He supports us; He provides us grace. Verse 6 tells us if we’re not abiding in Him, we will be cast out. He lifts us up, at least for a little while, if our hearts are after Him, even if we’re not producing fruit. If we continue in being unfruitful, we’ll be cast out. We won’t lose our salvation; that can’t be lost. But, we’ll lose out on our inheritance on the rewards in the age to come. Lifted up by grace. What about those who are producing fruit? Look in verse 2. [John 15:2 last half]. He’s pruning those who are being productive so they can be more productive. I want you to notice a correlation here between John 15 and Matthew 13. In Matthew 13, there are some that bear 100 fold, some that bear 60 fold, and some that bear 30 fold. In John chapter 15, there are those that produce fruit. They are pruned so that they may bear more fruit. Those who are abiding in Him (present, active), and therefore He’s abiding in them, what do they bring forth? They bring forth much fruit. Fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. But, He’s pruning those who are being productive so they can be more productive. Is pruning a pleasant experience? No! It’s painful! That’s the same word as we were looking at in Mark: Kathairo. Those who aren’t being fruitful, he lifts or supports, at least for a while; those who are being fruitful aren’t in need of being lifted up; they have a firm foundation already. But, the fruitful branches can expect tribulation and pruning in their lives. Dr. Ironside once told this story about a woman who came up to him and asked him to pray that she would have more patience. He said, “Let’s pray right now”, bowed his head and said, “Oh, Lord, please bring tribulation upon this dear lady.” She interrupted him and said, “No, no, no! You misunderstood! I want patience.” What does Romans 5:3 tell us? It tells us that tribulation brings about patience or endurance. Those that are being productive; those bearing fruit; can expect tribulation. They can expect to be pruned. If the fruit is not used and replaced, it rots on the branch; then what good is it? We are to continue in being productive and producing fruit.
Just because our lives are going well doesn’t mean that we are being pleasing to God. Of
course, just because our lives are going well doesn’t mean that God’s unhappy with us,
either. Much of it may be attitude. When I broke my ankle, I had the comfort of
knowing that God would provide and God had a purpose and a plan for my life. Without
that comfort, this may well have been devastating.
God doesn’t unjustly cause tribulation, but He permits it. He also will not allow more
than we can handle. He will lift us up and protect us from tribulation that is too much.
What will He do to those who cause tribulation to befall us? [2 Thessalonians 1:6-8]
Hosea cries in Hosea chapter 10, "Israel is a vacant vine. The fruit is equivalent to it".
Israel failed to gladden the hearts of either God or men. Christ came and did both. Jesus
is the vine, Jehovah is the husbandman, we are the branches. We’re to produce fruit;
we’re to produce the fruit that cheers the heart of God and men. If we’re being
unproductive, God will support us for a while; if we’re being productive, we can expect
pruning and tribulation that we may be more productive. We’re to abide in Christ; we’re
to be after His heart, and if we permit Him to abide in our heart, we will produce much
fruit!
If we’re unproductive for too long, watch out! At a certain point, we will be cast forth as
a branch and burned! We will lose our inheritance, and we won’t get another chance.
We’ll still be saved; that can’t be taken away, but our crowns and rewards will literally be
up in smoke! It’s all about our rewards and crowns! It’s about our inheritance!
We’re to produce good fruit and not thorns and thistles; don’t cast tribulations into the
paths of others!
Why are we to produce good fruit? To be a blessing to the saints. Why are we to be a
blessing to the saints? In order to be able to inherit the Kingdom that was prepared for us
from the foundation of the world. We’re to produce good fruit.

Source: http://www.hopeofglory.net/Sermons/TheVine.pdf