True Vine And Branches

John 15:1-7

1          I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2          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.

3          Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4          Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5          I am the vine, 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.

6          If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7          If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

(KJV)

THE VINE  –   REPRESENTS………..JESUS

THE BRANCHES…REPRESENT……DISCIPLES OF JESUS

The branches are dependant upon the VINE for

LIFE AND PRODUCING !!!!!!!

Ps 80:8-16

8          Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

9          Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10       The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

11       She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12       Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13       The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

14       Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15       And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

16       It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

(KJV)

Jer 2:20-21

20       For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

21       Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

(KJV)

I planted thee a …….noble vine..a right seed

How?  Art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine

unto me?

Isa 5:1-18

1          Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2          And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3          And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4          What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5          And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6          And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7          For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Hosea 11:1

1          When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

(KJV)

Rom 11:1-32

1          I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

2          God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,

3          Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

4          But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

5          Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

6          And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

7          What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

8          (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

9          And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

10       Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

11       I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

12       Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

13       For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

14       If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

15       For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

16       For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

17       And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18       Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

19       Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

20       Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

21       For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

22       Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

23       And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

24       For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

25       For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26       And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27       For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28       As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

29       For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

30       For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

31       Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

32       For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

(KJV)

Jesus  is the …..true vine.  His message is one of healing, deliverance, and the preaching of good news.

As we are joined to him through his indwelling……we receive the spiritual nourishment, and produce

Fruit.

Jesus said…..I am ….the true vine

Israel had been a disappointing vine

There is no other source of spiritual life….but …..Jesus

The believers are the productive branches

The branch cannot bear fruit of itself……except….it abide in  the vine.

Pruning is necessary…..the primary tool used…..is the Word of God

JOHN 15:3   YE ARE CLEAN THROUGH THE WORD WITH I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOU.

Every branch not bearing fruit taketh away…..withered…..cast into the fire.

Pruning is not destructive, but it will eliminate unnatural growth, bringing  the branch to just the right place for maximum growth and quality.

Jesus said…I AM THE TRUE VINE……the vine is the source of life for the branches.  The only hope the branches have of bearing fruit is to stay connected to the vine ( abide in ) ……not only must the branches

Stay connected but the life of the vine must flow

Through the branches to produce fruit.

There is no other source of true spiritual life….except through Jesus!!!

The Holy Ghost is the supernatural life which flows from Jesus Christ into and through the believers

Since the words of Jesus are spirit and life…..the believer must allow Jesus

Words to abide in him.

The word of God abided in the believer as he meditates upon it.

GALATIONS 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,

Branches that do not bear fruit……taken away…cast out…wither….are gathered…cast into fire…..burned.