I Am -- I Am the True Vine -- John 15:1-17

1. Introduction
I have preached probably 15 sermons on connection since I have been at LABC and probably at least one other sermon on this very text.
But, in the kingdom of God what we call connection in the modern vernacular what we called relationship 20 years ago, what was called community, loosely speaking 50 years ago, is simply the idea of having 3 different spheres.
Of course the three spheres are a relationship with God, A relationship with the body of Christ and a relationship with the lost.

2. Describing the Biblical Text
This is the final or our ‘I am’ sayings.
BTW if you want to se some stained glass that beautifully depicts these seven sayings, head over to Wesley Memorial Methodist church and check out the stained glass in the main sanctuary.
This is spoken in the upper room discourse as Jesus is teaching his disciples about their relationship to the Son.
In terms of the vine, Jesus is discussing the grapevine here.
It is a common image that all of his disciples would understand.
When you ride down the road, you don’t see vineyards with vines spreading all over the place you see vines that are well groomed and well maintained.
If you let the branches grow everywhere, then the energy that could be used for the fruit is used up in leaves and in stems.
It is a balance you need enough leaves to photosynthesize and enough stems to support the right amount of fruit.

3. Narrate the Contextual application
The context for us is our connection to the vine.
Are we bearing fruit and are we allowing God to deal with our lives in such a way that we are always prepared and ready to bear fruit for Him.
Now just to consider one more thing before we actually get to the body of this message.
Just exactly is the fruit that we are supposed to bear.
A grapevine bears grapes so we are expected to bear whatever the Father, the husbandman, the vinedresser is preparing us to bear.
When we look at the gifts that are listed in Romans 12 we see that we might be called to bear different kinds of fruit but it will always be the fruit the Father intended us to bear.

4. Life Application (thesis)
The key then is connection.
We must be connected to Jesus, the vine, in order to bear fruit for God.

5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at tat thesis this morning, I want us to consider that a vine attaches itself to its trellis with tendrils.
As we are seeking our attachment to the vine, let’s examine 4 tendrils that will help us to see how being connected to the vine enables us to bear fruit.

We must let God prune us for growth.
I want to look at something that a friend of mine back in the 80’s used to try to make me believe.
He was a huge Jimmy Swaggart fan and as you know Swaggart was a charismatic.
One of the defining doctrinal tenets of Pentecostalism and charismatics is the belief that one can lose his salvation.
He would always bring me back to this passage.
He would look at verse 2
Then he would read to verse 6 and relate that to former branches burning in hell.
But, understanding the husbandry that the hearers of Jesus understood, verse 2 is the regular pruning of the suckers from the vine. They will never bear fruit because they will be taken away before they do and the branches that are intended to bear fruit, you and me, will receive what we need to do so.
The 6th verse does not refer to any type of branch but to the person who never trusted or abided in Jesus Christ.
Now in case you have an Arminian friend who would try to convince you of this point from this verse you at least have context to defend the idea of God keeping His own.

What does it mean to let God prune us for growth?
Well, we all have things that in our lives distract us from serving Christ and doing the work of the gospel.
But if truly want to serve Christ and do the work of the gospel, then we must be willing to let God come into our lifers as an interloper who will strip from us anything that would hinder or prevent our service to Him.
The problem is that most followers of Christ are not willing to do that most of us just want to live our lives for ourselves and our own agendas take center stage to the agenda that God would have for us.
Hence pruning takes place.
The unproductive things in our lives begin to move out of the limelight and towards the back burner.
Our passions and our desires become more and more conformed to that which is Christ.

Right now, you might be seeing your interest wane in areas that surprise you.
I used to love to listen to the radio but it is harder and harder for me to find songs on the radio that I like.
Speaking of songs I like, I am nuts about Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace.
But back to our being pruned, God will take away anything in our lives that is not bringing Him honor and we should look for, expect, and desire that.
We should be disappointed by the things that have not yet been pruned and look forward to him doing His work.

Another tendril that we might see here is that bearing fruit gives glory to God.
Every summer, Paul Wilson will announce on a Wednesday night that he has left vegetables that he has grown in his garden on the back table in the FLC.
You know what happens, there is a stampede to the back when the final amen is said in the service and most of the vegetables are taken pretty quickly; don’t ask me how I know that.
But I have to believe that Paul feels pretty good that he is able to bless people with his garden.
So when you get all the crookneck squash and the tomatoes and all the cucumbers and all the butterbeans, it gives glory to the gardener.

Look at verse 8 and please note that I am going to be slightly out of order this morning.
The very first question and answer of the Westminster confession’s shorter catechism is what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
All that you are, all that you have, and all that you ever will be should be bringing Glory to God as we are living to serve Him.
There is really no other purpose for us to be connected to God if it is not for His glory.
Yet when we think of salvation, we tend to think of it in mostly human terms.
We think of it in terms from our side of the equation.
I am going to heaven; I have eternal life; my sins are forgiven.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Salvation and all of its benefits are to one end and one end alone and that is the glory of God.

Our third tendril is that we must bear the fruit that we are appointed.
It is important for us to see that the only way we can bear fruit is that we are connected to Jesus.
Notice in this text he said that apart from Him we can do nothing.
Yet in Him, we are fruitful followers of Jesus Christ.
Think then about how we are fruitful for God.
We have some kind of gift that is especially given to us to better serve Him.
I’ll even bet that many of us in the past have taken some kind of battery that has told us what our spiritual gifts would be.
Some of you just know that you are good at certain things.
I’m a big picture thinker and details just get in my way.
But I realize that without details, the big picture is never realized.
It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no pieces.
The picture on the box just doesn’t accomplish anything.
The church is a body in which we are all an important part.
Remember the pruned branches are pruned to bear more fruit.

Only you really know if you are bearing you appointed fruit in the amounts that God is glorified.
When you think about that, where do you stand?
Is your fruit what you know God wants it to be?
Is the nature of the fruit that you bear in the kingdom that which ultimately gives glory to God?

Here is a final tendril for your consideration.
We must love the rest of the vine.
I think we all need to realize that we are all connected.
We are connected to one another through our connection to Jesus.
Look at verse 12 to the end.
We are commanded to love each other.
Some people might read that and think how can I love them if I don’t feel love?
If we are commanded to do something then we must see it as more than a feeling.
If we look at 12 Corinthians 13, we will not see touchy feely stuff there.
It is all about how we treat each other isn’t it.
How would a vine bear any fruit if the branches turn on each other?
It is like these people whose white blood cells start to attack healthy red corpuscles.
Their bodies are working against themselves.
We cannot afford to do that in the church.
If we do, then the vine is sick and cannot bear fruit.
We cannot accomplish God’s plan without loving each other.

Answer these 4 questions this morning
Is God able to reach into my life and to prune the dead weight?
Am I glorifying God in the fruit I bear?
Am I bearing the fruit that God wants me to bear?
Do I love the rest of the vine?
If we are branches called to bear fruit in the vine that Is Jesus Christ, then our goal must be to bear fruit for Him.