BEARING FRUIT: THE VINE & THE BRANCHES
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Bearing Fruit
a) The parables of the Vine and the Branches, the Barren Fig Tree, and the Sower, are collected together because they picture garden plants bearing fruit. Fruitfulness is one of the many characteristics of true obedience to God.
b) The three parables teach us about the importance of obedience to God.
c) We also observe, in the parable of the Barren Fig Tree the mercy and long-suffering of God. The parable of the Vine and the Branches the severity of God (John 15:1-6, Luke 8:5-15, Luke 13:6-9).
2. The Vine And The Branches
John 15:1-6
“1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. 2 Every fruitless branch in me he removes, and every fruitful branch he prunes, so it bears more fruit. 3 Already you are clean pruned, because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself. It must abide in the vine. Likewise you cannot be fruitful unless you abide in me”.
“5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them, they bear much fruit. Separated from me, you can do nothing. 6 Those who don't abide in me are thrown away like a branch to wither — then to be gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned”
a) This parable describes a vine with branches. When branches fail to bear fruit, the vine-dresser cuts them from the vine and burns them. When branches do bear fruit, the vine-dresser allows them to abide in the vine, but he prunes them back so that they will bear even more fruit.
b) John 15:1 partly interprets the parable before it is told. The vine in the parable represents Christ, and the one tending the vine represents God the Father.
c) John 15:2-5 shows clearly what is represented by the branches. "You are the branches". The "you" refers to the disciples of Christ, not only those to whom Jesus was speaking, but "the one who abides in Me" whoever that may be.
d) John 15:2, 6 show a ruthless and severe side of God’s nature, but not in any sense nasty or sinful. A good husbandman takes away the unfruitful part of the vine and burns it. What is left he prunes back to make it more fruitful. This illustrates that being a disciple involves discipline, and that discipline is strict.
e) John 15:3-5 is summed up in the words, "Abide in Me" by which Jesus means to continue in obedience to "the word which I have spoken to you". We cannot bear fruit of ourselves. Only by Christ and his word can we bear fruit acceptable to God.
The End ...
1. Bearing Fruita) The parables of the Vine and the Branches, the Barren Fig Tree, and the Sower, are collected together because they picture garden plants bearing fruit. Fruitfulness is one of the many characteristics of true obedience to God.
b) The three parables teach us about the importance of obedience to God.
c) We also observe, in the parable of the Barren Fig Tree the mercy and long-suffering of God. The parable of the Vine and the Branches the severity of God (John 15:1-6, Luke 8:5-15, Luke 13:6-9).
2. The Vine And The Branches
John 15:1-6
“1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. 2 Every fruitless branch in me he removes, and every fruitful branch he prunes, so it bears more fruit. 3 Already you are clean pruned, because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself. It must abide in the vine. Likewise you cannot be fruitful unless you abide in me”.
“5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them, they bear much fruit. Separated from me, you can do nothing. 6 Those who don't abide in me are thrown away like a branch to wither — then to be gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned”
a) This parable describes a vine with branches. When branches fail to bear fruit, the vine-dresser cuts them from the vine and burns them. When branches do bear fruit, the vine-dresser allows them to abide in the vine, but he prunes them back so that they will bear even more fruit.
b) John 15:1 partly interprets the parable before it is told. The vine in the parable represents Christ, and the one tending the vine represents God the Father.
c) John 15:2-5 shows clearly what is represented by the branches. "You are the branches". The "you" refers to the disciples of Christ, not only those to whom Jesus was speaking, but "the one who abides in Me" whoever that may be.
d) John 15:2, 6 show a ruthless and severe side of God’s nature, but not in any sense nasty or sinful. A good husbandman takes away the unfruitful part of the vine and burns it. What is left he prunes back to make it more fruitful. This illustrates that being a disciple involves discipline, and that discipline is strict.
e) John 15:3-5 is summed up in the words, "Abide in Me" by which Jesus means to continue in obedience to "the word which I have spoken to you". We cannot bear fruit of ourselves. Only by Christ and his word can we bear fruit acceptable to God.
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