Sunday, May 23, 2021 ~ The Book Of John ~ Series: LOVED BY JESUS ~ Message: The Vine ~ Scripture: John 15:1-17 ESV ~ Pastor Philip Miller

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

SERMON NOTES

Sunday, May 23, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Vine

Scripture: John 15:1-17 ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

The Vine: What does it mean to abide in Christ?

Here in John 15, Jesus teaches his disciples and us about the secret to a fruitful life is abiding in Him.

At the heart of this discourse is an extended metaphor 1-8 which Jesus then expounds upon in 9-17.

The Vine

• Jesus provides true access to the living, pulsating, abundant life of God.

1. The Vine: “I am the true vine” is the 7th and final “I AM” statement in John. The vine is used as a symbol for God’s covenant people, Israel. And whenever this comparison is made, the emphasis is always on Israel’s failure to produce the fruit that God desired. Now we have Jesus applying this metaphor to himself. Jesus is saying that He is the “true” vine, and the fruit Israel failed to bear He will bear in Himself when he is crucified. He provides true access to the living, pulsating, abundant life of God. When we try to find life in everything else, it never really satisfies.

The Vinedresser

• The Father’s pruning cuts away what’s dead and fruitless and cultivates what’s alive and fruitful.

2. The Vinedresser: God the Father is caring and tending for the vine through pruning. If Jesus is the vine, and his disciples are the branches, He’s letting them know that a cutting is coming. They will feel the Vinedresser’s knife. The question is: Will they abide and become even more alive and fruitful? Or will they fall away, wither and die? The Father’s pruning cuts away what’s dead and fruitless and cultivates what’s alive and fruitful.

The Branches

• Abiding is to dependently welcome Christ’s life into ourselves so that his word, love, obedience, peace and joy become our very own.

3. The Branches: The secret to a fruitful life is abiding in Jesus. Everything hinges on the strength of our connection with Him. That’s what makes us alive! That’s what makes us fruitful! Apart from him we wither and die; not only is there no fruit, but there is no life either. The abundant, self-giving love of the Father for the Son now overflows from Jesus into us. He invites us to make our home in his love, to settle down and abide in it. So, His love for us becomes the most real thing about us. How do we abide in the love of Jesus? Abiding is to dependently welcome Christ’s life into ourselves so that his word, love, obedience, peace, and joy become our very own.

The Fruit

• Only Jesus’ life in us can produce the abiding Christlike fruit of loving obedience, joyous self-sacrifice, and faithful mission.

4. The Fruit: If we abide in Christ, if his life is flowing in and through us, we will bear much fruit. All kinds of people claim to be followers of Jesus, but it is the fruit that will prove them out in the end. Note: Bearing fruit does not cause us to be disciples; bearing fruit characterizes us as disciples. Fruit naturally and necessarily flows from a life-giving connection with the Vine. What fruit does Jesus have in mind here? Love one another as Jesus loved us. Only Jesus’ life in us can produce the abiding Christlike fruit of loving obedience, joyous self-sacrifice, and faithful mission.

The Sap

• In prayer, we open ourselves up to the abundant life of God for us, in us, and through us.

5. The Sap: If the branches draw their life-nutrients from the vine, what carries it along? That’s the role of the sap. If the sap enables the nutrients to flow from the vine into the branches, what is it that enables Christ’s life to flow into ours? Prayer is the sap. In prayer, we open ourselves up to the abundant life of God for us, in us, and through us.

Takeaway: Jesus is life.

• Do you know His life?

• Are you abiding in His life?

• Is His life bearing fruit in yours?

The Vine Sermon Q&A

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Pastor Philip