RCCG – The House of Prayer

Title: The True Vine

Text: John 15:1-8

[Joh 15:1] “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

[Joh 15:2] 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.

[Joh 15:3] You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

[Joh 15:4] Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

[Joh 15:5] “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

[Joh 15:6] If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

[Joh 15:7] If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

[Joh 15:8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Introduction

[Joh 15:1] “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
A vine – a plant whose stem requires support and which climbs by tendrils or twining or creeps along the ground
Jesus said, I am the true vine. If there is a True Vine, there must also be a false or fake vine
If you look at a vine, like a grape vine, you will notice that the branches are supported by wires or sticks to keep them up
A vine cannot stand on it’s own. It needs to be supported.
A Christian cannot stand on his own. He needs to be supported by the Holy Spirit.
In a vine yard, a support system is used from one tree to another. When the plant grows, they begin to support each other through that support system
Believers are supposed to support one another to keep each other going and growing

Main Topic

Fruitless Branches

[Joh 15:2] 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.
Fruitless branches are removed
The fruit is the evidence of our faith in Jesus Christ
How did a branch that was not bearing fruit become part of the vine?
A branch that was fruitful in the past must continue to be fruitful
Things that causes a branch to stop being fruitful
- When a branch is not pruned, it becomes fruitless
- When a branch is no longer connected to the vine, it becomes fruitless
  - From the outside, it may seem there is a connection, but there may be parasites on the inside that has disconnected the branch from the vine internally
  - These are Christians that are still in the church, so they appear to be connected, but on the inside they are filled with the world
A fruitless branch is occupying the space that a fruitful branch can use
- There are believers occupying positions, but are not being productive to the Kingdom. They will be replaced.
A fruitless branch is a wasteful branch – it received the same nutrients from the vine, but has nothing to show for it. It must be cut off
- There are believers that heaven has invested so much into, but they are not bring back any return.
- There are those that pretend to be a Christian, they are being fed the Word of God, but the Word of God is not reflected in their lives.
- Ask the fig tree of Mark 11 (v12-14, 20).
  - [Mar 11:12] Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. [Mar 11:13] And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. [Mar 11:14] In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.
  - [Mar 11:20] Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
- Jesus is hungry to see the evidence of your faith in Him. When He stops by your tree, will He find any fruit?
How much investment has heaven made in your life? Is the Kingdom receiving returns on the investment?

Pruning Process

[Joh 15:2] 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.
In the process of bearing fruit, a part of the branch is the fruit
When the fruit is taken off, which is by cutting, there remains a part of the stem from the fruit on the branch
- Even the process of releasing your fruit can be painful
If that stem part is not pruned, a fruit may not grow there again.
When it is pruned, it becomes ready for more fruit to grow
When the fruit is taken off, does it ever return to the branch?
- As a Christian, stop looking for your fruit to feed you, let it go. You are being fed by the vine, which is our Lord Jesus Christ
When a fruit remains too long on the branch, it starts to rot.
- There are Christians that refuses to let go of their fruits, as a results it starts to rot
When a part of the branch becomes dry, it must be pruned, so that a fresh part can grow that will be fruitful
- The pruning process is painful. It involved sharp objects being used to perform surgery on the branch
- As a Christian, there are some things we need to cut off
- There are behaviors, ways of life that we must let go
- [Heb 12:1] Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [Heb 12:2] looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Every weight and sin that ensnares us must be let go.
- There are habits that the Lord wants to cut off from us, provided we allow him
- There are changes we must make, to become more fruitless
- If we do not allow the Lord to prune us, we will become fruitless
- Remember, fruitless branches are cut off

Abiding In Christ

[Joh 15:4] Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. [Joh 15:5] “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. [Joh 15:6] If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. [Joh 15:7] If you abide in Me, and My wordsabide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
The word abide was mentioned 6 times in the 4 verses. I think it must be important for Jesus to use the same word 6 times in 4 verses
The word abide means
- to bear patiently : TOLERATE
  - A believer must bear his cross
- to endure without yielding : WITHSTAND
  - A believer must endure and not yield to temptations
- to wait for : AWAIT
  - A believer must be patient
- to accept without objection
  - A believer must accept the Word without objection – v3, 7
- to remain stable or fixed in a state
  - A believer must remain stable with the Lord
- to continue in a place : SOJOURN
  - A believer must always continue in his race
If you abide in Christ
- You will bear much fruit
- You will not wither away
  - [Psa 1:3] He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
- His Word will continually cleanses you – v3
- There will be answered prayers – v7

Levels of fruitfulness

[Mar 4:20] But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
There are believers that bring back 0% return – these believers don’t do anything for the Kingdom
There are believers that bring back 30% return – these believers bring back fruit, but could do more
There are believers that bring back 60% return – these believers equally are fruitful, but they are not maximizing their potential
There are believers that bring back 100% return to the Kingdom – these believers are truly being fruitful to the Kingdom
Which one are you?

God is glorified

[Joh 15:8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Through your fruitfulness, which is the evidence of your faith in Jesus Christ, is the Father glorified
If there are no evidence of one’s faith, God is not glorified.
There must be evidence of your faith

Conclusion

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the true vine
We are the branches of the Lord Jesus Christ
We must not be fruitless branches
We must be fruitful branches
We must allow the Lord to prune us so that we become more fruitful
We must abide in Jesus Christ
Our levels of fruitfulness must be proportionate to the investment heaven made in us
Lastly, God is glorified only when there is evidence of our faith in Jesus Christ.

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Sermon

The True Vine