The
MESSAGE for April 2, 2023
“The
Truevine”
John 15:1-8
Live Broadcast
By:
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Cullian W. Hill
Greater Concord Missionary Baptist
Church
This morning as we come together to view another
“I Am” statement, we must do it with the greatest of care. At
this point, Israel has failed in its mission. In
Matthew 21:
33-46b, Jesus told the parable of the wicked husbandmen.
This certain householder planted a vineyard, hedged it in, built
a tower, and then rented it out, and he went into the far
country. But at Harvest time he came home. He sent his servants
to the husbandmen to collect on his investment. The husbandmen
killed all the owner’s men. Finally, the owner sent the heir,
his only son, and the wicked husbandmen caught the son and cast
him out.
Matthew 21:42-43: “Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read
in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the
same is become the head of the corner, this is the Lord’s doing.
Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit.” Now when
the Chief Priests and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they
perceived that He spake of them; but when they sought to lay
hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him
for a prophet (Matthew
21:45-46).
It is against this background that we must
interpret this “I Am” saying of Jesus. Israel was God’s
vineyard. He had taken the nation from Egypt, carried it across
the Sands of Sinai, planted it in the Promised Land, hedged it
around, and entrusted it to a series of divinely appointed
leaders, husbandmen. Time and time again He had sent His
servants, looking for a return on His investments in the nation;
but the nation’s leader had ill-treated some of those servants,
and murdered others. Last of all, He sent His son and they were
now preparing to murder Him.
Now Jesus turns to His disciples and followers (John
15:1-2) and gives them some revelations about God the Son.
The Lord talks to them about their fruitfulness (John
15:1-5). There is a secret in fruit bearing. Jesus said to
them (verse 15:1)
“I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandmen.” The
Father, as husbandmen, tends to the branches, both the true ones
and those that had no place in the vine. We see Him at work with
the pruning saw, cutting off dead, useless, and unproductive
branches. The branches cannot be productive except it abide in
the vine.
The first thing the vinedresser did was prune the
branches. He purged the branches. (John
15:2-4) “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.” “Love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance” (Galatians
5:22-23)
After the purging of the branches the Lord talked
about the place of the branches (John 15:4). “Abide in me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the true vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
The place of the branch is in the vine. A vine branch is
lifeless, useless, and fruitless, unless it abides in the vine,
remaining vitally attached to the vine.
Having looked at the vine and its background, and
its branches, I must now look at the vine and its bounty (John
15:5). I am the true vine and 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.” Each branch runs back to the
source. The source is Jesus! Such is the Christian Life!
“Without me ye can do nothing,” In him we live, move and have
our being. Apart from Him there can be no spiritual life, no
spiritual fruit. No man or woman, boy or girl, has what it takes
to live a Christian life, because it is a supernatural life. The
same is true of a local church. It has no life of its own. I
cannot flourish and bear fruit only by maintaining its
connection with Christ. The abiding life is the abounding life.
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John
15:7)
The key to God’s inexhaustible riches is given to
those who abide in Christ and who have His words abiding in
them. To have Christ’s words “abiding” in us means more than
merely memorizing them. It means meditating on them until our
conscious natures are impregnated with them, until they become a
vital part of us, so that they enlighten our understanding,
enthuse our emotions, energize our wills. When our innermost
beings are influenced by the indwelling, pervading words of the
Lord Jesus, then we can demand as our due, and it shall be done.
The abiding life is the abounding life.
The Father was certainly not glorified in the
behavior of these disciples within the hour: Peter, James, and
John sound asleep in Gethsemane. Why did they do such things?
His word was not a biding in them. Why do we do such things? His
word is not abiding in us. When His word does abide in us we
bring forth fruit and His Father is glorified. The great
husbandmen, in dealing with the church and its members, does not
always have to resort to the pruning knife. A gentler method is
the cleansing power of the word of Christ. The disciples and the
local church who keep Christ’s word are kept clean by its
effective power. It is a source of continual cleansing to the
soul. It keeps us from evil. It drives away pretenders. Hearing,
believing, and obeying the word of Christ are the springs of
vital spiritual life in the Vine.
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Cullian W. Hill