Start of the Year 2003 (2)
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This is the first Sunday of 2003 and with the start of a new year comes a natural opportunity for us both as individuals and as a church to stop and take stock as we begin a new year.
Looking back we have much to be thankful for as a church. We have seen increases in the numbers attending Sunday services and home groups. We had the largest ever Carols by Candlelight service in recent history. Many of us took part in and benefited from the 40 days of Purpose programme. You will also no doubt have your own highlights as well as lowlights from that past year.
Well tonight we be focusing on Jesus' words in the first 8 verses of John 15. It would help if you could turn to that.
It is a passage that has a lot to say to us all. It may be familiar to you, but it is a timely reminder as we begin the near year. My prayer is that it will help us start the year by focusing again on Jesus.
Here we find a metaphor, or image where we see that
Jesus is the true vine
We are the branches
Apart from Jesus we can do nothing
First, Jesus is the True vine
At this point in John's account of the life of Jesus we are in the last day before Jesus is crucified. They are all together in an "upper room" and while they were there Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples and told them that he was about to leave them. He has broken to them the shocking news that one of them will betray him and Judas has already left to do that. Jesus has promised them that after he has gone he will send the Holy Spirit. Then at the end of chapter 14 Jesus says to his disciples, "Come now; let us leave".
Where are they going? Jesus and his disciples were now on their way to Gethsemane where Jesus will later be arrested and hours later crucified. On the way, he is still teaching them and preparing them for his departure.
We don't know because we are not told, but it is possible that on the way they passed the entrance to the temple of Herod. And if they did they would have seen over the doors a massive golden vine. Josephus, a historian at the time writes this:
"The temple had doors at the entrance, and lintels over them, of the same height as the temple itself. They were adorned with embroidered veils, with their flowers of purple, and pillars interwoven: and over these, but under the crown-work, was spread out a GOLDEN VINE, with its branches hanging down from a great height, the largeness and fine workmanship of which was a astonishing sight for the vastness of the materials and the great skill of the artisans."
Now whether or not Jesus and his disciples did actually go past the temple at this time is not that important: the significance of the vine was well known as the national symbol of Israel. Some of the coins at the time of Jesus were even decorated with the vine.
And when modern Israel was established, this first coin it produced also had this vine on it.
The reason the vine was a national symbol of Israel is because the Old Testament is full of references describing Israel as a vine. An example of this is Psalm 80:
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. 10 The Mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 It sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
Israel was God's people. They were chosen to be his special people. God had rescued them from being slaves in Egypt and had given them a land and cared for them. He is like a gardener who cleared the ground of weeds and planted the vine and then cared for it. They in return were to be obedient to him and faithful to him. They were his vine, and he had planted them. He was the Great Gardener.
So when Jesus says in verse 1, "I am the true vine," the implications of what he is saying are huge. What he is saying is "I am the vine, the true one."
Israel was supposed to the vine. It called itself the vine. But Israel was actually a dead vine. It was not the obedient people of God and actually had never been. Now faithful Israel was just 1 person: Jesus. Jesus was the only one who was perfectly obedient. He was the only True Israelite. So while God was still the Great gardener, Israel was a useless vine that was producing no fruit. It had no life.
But Jesus is the vine. He is the source of life. Without him there is no life or fruit.
So firstly, Jesus was the true vine.
And then Secondly, WE ARE THE BRANCHES
Let's look together again at verses 1-8:
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Verse 5: "I am the vine, you are the branches."
He is talking to his disciples and that includes us. The analogy is clear and it is simple. We are to be to Jesus what a branch is to a vine. As the branch remains in the vine, we are to remain in Jesus.
It is hard to escape the intimacy of the relationship that is being described here. The branches depend on the vine for their very existence. Without the vine they would wither and die. Their very existence, their life and their growth depend on them being attached to and part of the vine.
And it will come as no surprise to you that these branches have a purpose: to bear fruit.
But what exactly is that fruit?
It is anything that shows that you are a disciple of Jesus. It is anything that is evidence of life and spiritual health. It most certainly includes developing more and more like Christ in your character. Galatians 5 tells us that :-
22 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control
Another evidence of life and spiritual health is loving relationships: earlier in John Jesus said this:-
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
And it definitely includes being influential in a lost world for him. In verse 16 Jesus said
I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last."
Jesus chose and appointed them "to go and make disciples of all nations" in Matthew 28:18. And those disciples are themselves some of this fruit.
The fruit is anything that shows that you are a disciple of Jesus. It is anything that is evidence of life and spiritual health.
But of course, not all the branches bear fruit. Verse two: "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit" and verse 6 "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."
What does this mean?
Is it talking about people who once had a close relationship with God, but are now no longer required because of some sin or mistake or because they are lazy or just simply because God has had enough of them? NO!
Earlier in John Jesus said that "whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37) and "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:28)
No, these fruitless branches are cut off and throw away because they have no life. We can see they have no life because they produce no fruit. They are people who do not have the kind of intimate relationship with Jesus that the fruit bearing branches do.
John Stott: "The Christian is likened to a fruit tree, not a Christmas tree. For the fruit grows on a fruit tree whereas the decorations are only tied on to a Christmas tree."
It's important to stop and ask yourself: what kind of branch am I? You see it is perfectly possible to belong to the church, to have had a special spiritual experience, to work on the staff of a church or even to stand up here and teach the Bible AND STILL NOT HAVE LIFE! A good example of this is Judas. He claimed to be a disciple of Jesus. He was always around Jesus. But in reality he did not have a close personal relationship with Jesus.
We only have life if we are BY FAITH joined to Jesus as a branch is joined to the vine. If you recognise that without Jesus you are lost. If you have realised that Jesus can bring you forgiveness and a fresh start. If you have called out to him and asked for that forgiveness, then you are in a relationship with him and are drawing your life from him! Do not let Satan or anyone else tell you otherwise. As it says in verse 3, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."
If you have never asked Jesus to forgive all that you have done wrong then what is stopping you from doing it? It may be that you have a lot of questions still. If so why not pick up one of the many books at the back that might help you answer these questions. An example is this one, called Why Jesus?
But for those who are in a relationship with Jesus there is a warning here for you. You should expect to be pruned.
I am no expert gardener and I have never grown a vine. But this I do know. Vines need to be pruned. Not only are dead branches removed but healthy living ones are cut back, at times quite dramatically. Why? To produce more fruit.
God is the Great Gardener. We are in safe hands; thanks to his skill we will produce the fruit we were chosen to produce.
But, it is a warning. This next year WILL bring with it times of pruning. These times will be painful. They will be hard times. But we need to remember it will help deliver the fruit.
Don't be surprised when these times come. And when God prunes us we can either grow from it or complain. Remember that God is indeed a sovereign God who made the heavens and the earth by his great power and outstretched arm.
And this picture of Jesus as the Vine and us as the branches teaches us a very important lesson:
Thirdly, APART FROM JESUS WE CAN DO NOTHING
We have seen that Jesus is the true vine. We have seen that we are branches with the purpose of bearing fruit. But how can we be fruitful?
If you take nothing else away with you tonight, take this! Apart from Jesus we can do nothing.
Look at verse 5 again,
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
We've all already got a verse for the year in our service sheets, but maybe this can become our church motto! But in any case, we need to memorise and take the time to dwell on the implications and the truth that it contains.
We can produce nothing for him without him and his life-giving strength. It is so very easy to do all that we do in our own strength. It can be easy to try and become more like Christ in our character. It is often tempting to try to work out our relationships on our own. And it is very easy, after seeing God at work, to rely on our own efforts to tell the world about Jesus. But if we do it in our own strength it will be fruitless work!
So, what does it mean to remain in him?
Look at verse 7 again:-
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Remaining in Jesus is connected with letting his words remain in us. Older translations of this verse talk about his word abiding in us. His words must have a home on our hearts. It is about being more than just "hearers of the word". It means being "doers of it". So we need to take the Word of God seriously and seek to obey it in practice.
Have you spent time recently feasting on his word. So often we allow the good to take the place of the best. I know this is often true of me. It is so easy to be so busy doing that there is no time to be. Maybe that is why we need pruning.
But as we start the new year this is a great time to make sure you are in the habit of faithful reading and diligent study of the Bible. Why not see Andrew Smith at the Bible Notes stall at the back of church. The bookstall, Tape Desk and Website also have a mass of resources to help you understand and apply the Bible.
But knowing we must depend on Christ is not enough. How do we express it?
There is only way that we can express our dependence on God, and that is PRAYER. Do you want to see how seriously we believe that apart from Jesus we can do nothing? It is NOT if we teach it. It is not if I stand up here and remind you that it is true. It is important to do that. But it is actually if we express our dependence on Jesus, by calling out to him in prayer.
Spurgeon, a preacher from a very long time ago said:
"the condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer."
We must all face the fact that for our church and ministry to be all God wants them to be, they must be saturated with prayer. No new revelation or church-growth technique will change the fact that spiritual power is always linked to communion with God. If you and I are prayer-less, if as a church we have no appetite for God's presence this coming year, we will never reach our full potential in him.
This is not supposed to guilt you into prayer. That is a rubbish driving force to prayer. Prayer has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. If I say, "I ought to pray," I will soon run out of motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. I have to be driven to pray.
A pastor of a rough inner-city church in New York says this:-
"the roughness of inner-city life has pressed us to pray. When you have alcoholics trying to sleep on the back steps of your building … and when your teenagers are getting assaulted and knifed on the way to youth meetings, you cannot escape your need for God. The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray. And the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray".
Is it too radical to say, "We are not New Testament Christians if we don't have a prayer life"? Acts 2:42 says "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" – we can see that prayer is an essential component of a healthy church: as important as faithful teaching of God's word. If we are not praying, individually and as a church, we should not be boasting in our orthodoxy, our faithful teaching or our Sunday service attendance figures."
The pastor from New York continues…
"If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are…if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment…if we are facing spiritual fight in our own homes and churches…then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore him."
So don't ignore him.
Think about trying to come to the central church prayer meetings. We meet 8-9:30pm on Wednesdays when there is no home-group and we pray for the needs of our church, wider issues in this country and for international issues.
Or try and set aside an hour or two when we have the next day of prayer. That is a time when the whole church is open from very early in the morning to late at night for a whole day. You can come and pray on your own or join the groups that meet throughout the day to pray for various areas of the church life.
Or maybe you might think about meeting up with a few other people to regularly pray for each other and for your ministries. If it is something you would like to do, take the initiative. Find others you would like to meet with and suggest it to them.
The way or the time or the place doesn't matter. The important thing is that we remember that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Then we will want to pray!
And when we do we have that wonderful promise in verse 7:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
If our aim is that same as the Gardener's, if our purpose is to bear fruit, then we can ask anything we want and the answer is always yes!
So to Conclude:
We have seen that Jesus is the vine. He is the source of life. Without him there is no life or fruit. That is true of both our individual lives and our corporate life as a church.
We have seen that we are the branches. Our very existence, our life and our growth depend on us being attached to and in relationship with Jesus. Our purpose is to bear fruit and to achieve that God not only tends and nurtures us, but when necessary prunes us.
And most importantly we have seen that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. We must root ourselves in his word and remain in him. We must depend on him in everything and express that in a life of prayer.
Let us pray…
Father as we enter this year we come with thanks and praise for all you have done in our lives and in this church. Thank you that through you there has been much fruit this past year. We thank you that you are the all sovereign Great Gardener and that through Jesus you have given us life appointed us to bear fruit for your glory.And as we look to the year ahead, Father we acknowledge before you that without you we can do nothing. Help us never to forget that. Press upon us our need for you day by day and never let us forget or forsake you. Humble us we pray, bring us to our knees before you and teach us what it means to be a church that calls upon your name.And finally Father we pray that this would be a year where there is much fruit and that it is all to your praise and glory. Amen